Senators

May 30, 2021June 16, 2021

35 GOP Senators Who Voted Against A Bipartisan Jan 6th Commission

05/28/21 will be memorialized in History textbooks, as one of the most shameful days in U.S. Senate history, as 35 Republican Senators voted to kill via filibuster, a bill to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate what led to the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex, aka DC insurrection. The final vote tally was 54 yeas, 35 nays, with 11 Senators not voting. 60 yea votes were needed to overcome the filibuster.

The violent insurrection by former President Trump’s supporters on Jan 6th, was an attempt to stop a joint session of Congress from certifying the results of the electoral college, officially making Joseph R. Biden Jr the 46th President of the United States. During the violent insurrection, most of which played out on live TV, sitting members of Congress could be seen frightened for their lives, and being ushered into safety by Capitol Police officers. Five people lost their lives that day, including one Capitol Police officer, and many others had to be rushed to local DC hospitals with serious injuries.

January 6th 2021 will go down in history as one the lowest points in American democracy for several reasons, chief among them, the fact that it shattered America’s towering reputation around the world, as the only country where a peaceful transition of power was a guarantee, following every presidential election. On January 6th, the world watched with disbelief, on live TV, as violent Trump supporters fought to prevent the transition of power to the 2020 presidential election winner, Joe Biden.

Given the seriousness of the events that transpired on January 6th, any reasonable person would have expected U.S. Senators to vote overwhelmingly(all 100 of them) in support of establishing a bipartisan investigative commission, as has happened in previous national tragedies like the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. Instead, 35 GOP Senators, out of fear of upsetting former President Trump, found a way to vote against such a commission–a total shame.

Because this is one of the most shameful votes in U.S. Senate history, It is only fair that the names and faces of the said GOP Senators be memorialized for future generations. Below is a handy list of the 35 Senators.

Bottom line folks, something is seriously wrong when sitting members of the United States Senate, whose very lives were threatened on January 6th, filibuster the formation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the incident, simply because they are afraid to upset former President Trump, whose election fraud lies led to the incident. It is not only the epitome of political cowardice, but a total dereliction of their oaths as U.S. Senators, to defend the U.S. Constitution. It also inevitably raises the question as to whether the 35 GOP Senators are trying to cover up their direct or indirect involvement with the violent 6th insurrection.

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You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

February 14, 2021June 16, 2021

A Handy List Of 43 GOP Senators Who Voted To Acquit Trump Of Inciting DC Insurrection

The U.S. Senate voted Saturday February 13th, to acquit former President Donald J. Trump of inciting the January 6th 2021 insurrection in Washington DC, which led to five deaths, including two Capitol police officers, and an interruption of a live joint session of Congress. The incident, which mostly played out on live TV, will forever remain one of the lowest points of American democracy because it shattered one of the globally revered cornerstones of American democracy–that regardless of who wins the election, one could always bet on a peaceful transfer of power.

While generally acknowledging that former President Trump did indeed incite the violent mob that descended upon the Capitol building as alleged in his House impeachment, 43 Republican Senators still voted to acquit him, hiding behind the jurisdictional argument that because Trump was no longer in office, the U.S. Senate had no jurisdiction over his trial. In other words, they acquitted Trump because they argued that because he had already left office, his entire Senate trial was unconstitutional–a very shaky legal argument.

It bears pointing out that Trump’s impeachment by the House for inciting DC insurrection happened on January 13 2021, while he was still in office. The House sent the impeachment papers a few days later to the U.S. Senate, then under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. There was enough time for the Senate, then under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to commence a Senate trial while Trump was still in office. Instead, McConnell made sure there would be no Senate trial until after Trump’s term expired on Jan 20, 2021. So it’s quite disingenuous and insulting for Senator McConnell and his fellow Republicans who voted to acquit Trump, to now turn around and hide behind a jurisdictional loophole that they manufactured. The fact of the matter remains that Senate Republicans knew full well that Trump’s incitement of the DC riots was an impeachable offense, so they created the jurisdictional loophole they could hide behind, as they carried out their goal from the beginning–acquit Trump at all costs.

After the Senate vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement which correctly summed up the decision by Republican Senators to acquit Trump:“Today an overwhelming bipartisan vote to convict Donald Trump speaks to the courage of the United States Senate. I salute the Republican Senators who voted their conscience and for our Country. Other Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold Trump accountable for igniting a violent insurrection to cling to power will go down as one of the darkest days and most dishonorable acts in our nation’s history.”

Because we totally agree with Speaker Pelosi that the decision by these 43 GOP Senators to acquit Trump of inciting DC insurrection “will go down as one of the darkest days and most dishonorable acts in our nation’s history“, we have to do our traditional name and shame for the sake of future generations. When our children and grandchildren read in History textbooks, that a group of U.S. Senators decided to acquit a U.S. President, even after he incited an insurrection which led to a mob storming the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead, it is only fair that they also see the names and faces of the shameful U.S. Senators behind such a horrendous decision. Here’s a handy list of the 43 shameful GOP Senators.

Bottom line folks, as horrible as Trump’s acquittal verdict was to people who love democracy worldwide, there may be a silver lining where Democrats are concerned. Yours Truly has repeatedly stated that the increasing radicalization of the Republican party could provide an opening for Democrats to go after corporations that traditionally sponsor the GOP. A healthy two-party system is good for American democracy, but given everything we’ve witnessed so far with the GOP under Trump, it is debatable whether the GOP is even a political party anymore. This was true even before DC insurrection, but now it is totally impossible to ignore the issue. The radicalization within the GOP under Trump has gotten so bad, that some establishment Republicans are already mulling branching away to form a reasonable “center-right” party. As we approach the 2022 elections, Democrats should seriously pressure corporations that traditionally donate to Republicans, by asking them to justify their continued funding of a party that has basically devolved into a Trump cult. Maybe, just maybe, guilt tripping major corporations into starving Trump’s GOP of major $$$, especially after DC insurrection, is the best way of slapping the Party of Lincoln back to normalcy.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

June 12, 2020June 4, 2021

Handy List Of Iowa GOP State Senators Mad About Record Voter Participation Due To Mail-In Voting

Iowa witnessed record voter participation in its June 3rd primary elections as a result of a provision that allowed the secretary of state to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters due to the covid-19 pandemic. The noble goal of this provision was to save Iowa voters from going into crowded polling centers which would have increased their chances of contracting the virus. Given the ease and convenience of voting by mail, Iowans voted in record numbers, much to the delight of democracy lovers. Well, it turns out republicans were not happy with the record voter participation. They quickly moved in the Iowa state legislature to prevent universal voting by mail in the November elections–a clear cut effort at voter suppression.

On 6/10/2020 a bill that prohibits Iowa’s secretary of state from mailing absentee ballots to all registered voters for the November general elections passed the Iowa state senate by a vote of 30-19. Needless to say, all the 30 state senators who voted for this voter suppression bill were republicans. Because this is one of the most brazen acts of official voter suppression to date, we have no choice but to name and shame these 30 GOP state senators using our famous “handy list”.

Here’s a handy list of the 30 shameful Iowa GOP state senators who are mad that mail-in voting allowed record voter participation in the June primary elections, and are on a mission to prevent that from happening again this November.

Bottom line folks, there’s no longer any doubt that the unpopular policies of the republican party are increasingly turning it into a marginal/regional party. Republican party leaders have long realized that their only chance of clinging to power is to make sure as few people as possible vote, especially minorities who traditionally vote against them. Where, as here, we witness such a brazen attempt at voter suppression by elected officials, we have no otherwise but to loudly call them out.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

January 16, 2020January 16, 2020

Lev Parnas Says It Was All About Biden, Not Corruption

In an explosive interview on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show, Lev Parnas, the indicted Ukrainian-American at the very center of President Trump’s impeachment saga, appears to have dealt a death blow to Trump’s defense when he told host Maddow that all Trump wanted from President Zelensky of Ukraine was dirt on Biden and that he was never interested in rooting out corruption in the country.

Parnas told Maddow, “It[Ukrainegate]was all about Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and also Rudy [Giuliani]had a personal thing with the Manafort stuff, the black ledger. That was another thing that they were looking into. But it was never about corruption, it was strictly about Burisma which included Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.”

This is a very problematic revelation for the Trump team because their entire defense has been that as President, Trump had every right to deny aid to Ukraine if he felt that hard earned U.S. tax dollars would be misappropriated by corrupt Ukrainian officials.

Republican Senators, especially those from swing states who are up for reelection this year, have found it impossible to defend Trump against allegations that he sought help from a foreign country (Ukraine) to dig up dirt on his political opponent (Biden). These Senators have instead rested on the more palatable anti-corruption defense.

If Parnas’ allegation that this was all about Joe Biden pans out, and all indications are that they will, then the vulnerable Republican Senators who have relied on the anti-corruption defense will have no leg to stand on and may be forced to do the unthinkable–put the country’s interests over the GOP and vote to remove Trump from office .

Bottom line folks, we all know that Washington and indeed the rest of the country has become deeply polarized as a result of the Trump presidency. Under any other normal administration, the revelations brought forward by Ukrainegate would be enough to garner bipartisan support both in the House and Senate for a president’s impeachment and removal from office. It will be interesting to see whether partisanship in Washington has become so bad under Trump, that he is allowed to get away with his very troubling conduct re Ukrainegate–the quintessential “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

October 5, 2019October 5, 2019

53 GOP Senators Set To Destroy America Over Ukraingate

As the scandal over President Trump’s efforts to get the Ukrainian government to investigate his chief domestic political rival Joe Biden continues to spiral out of control, the question is no longer whether the President engaged in impeachable conduct but whether Senators from his own party would do the right thing and remove him from office. Since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry on September 24, 2019, overwhelming evidence has been presented to show that President Trump and several of his administration officials were actively involved in a scheme to pressure Ukraine to investigate leading Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden as a condition for the European country getting the military assistance it desperately needs to fend off Putin’s Russia.

The latest reports show that House Democrats are all but set to vote to impeach Trump for the Ukraine incident and possibly other infractions that are currently under investigation. If and when House Democrats vote to impeach Trump, it will be up to the U.S. Senate to vote on removing Trump from office. The latest reports are that the U.S. Senate as it is currently constituted (53 Republicans, 45 Democrats) will never vote to remove Trump from office regardless of the damning evidence the current impeachment inquiry uncovers. This is clearly a violation of their oath of office and is why Yours Truly believes a vote to keep Trump in office in spite of his clear threat to our national security would be a vote to destroy America for which these GOP Senators must be called out for.

You don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it, just listen to how this concerned Iowa voter cornered her Senator Joni Ernst regarding this very topic.

It also bears pointing out that Republican Senator Mitt Romney has gone on the record and chastised Trump over his actions vis-a-vis Ukraine. This is therefore not just a partisan liberal attack on Trump but something all U.S. Senators know is both wrong and a threat to our national security.

By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 4, 2019

So you say “@Emolclause, don’t be like the mainstream media and bore us with all these stories about Ukrainegate. Cut to the chase and give us a handy list of these GOP Senators set to destroy America.” Alright folks, your wish is my command. Here’s the handy list of the 53 GOP Senators set to destroy America by voting to keep Trump in office despite the damning evidence brought forth as a result of Ukraingate that his presidency is a threat to our national security.

Bottom line folks, Congress is very well known as a revolving door where politicians serve for a few years and then upon leaving office, morph into other careers with little to no question about their previous records in Congress. For the rest of us, what you do in one job can often be used against you in future applications for employment. In other words our records follow us. It is very important for the public to watch very carefully what transpires during the Trump impeachment inquiry proceedings. If these GOP Senators vote to keep Trump in office despite evidence showing without a shadow of a doubt that he is a national security threat, their shameful records should forever follow them. They should never be allowed as political pundits in any credible news media outlet and any high profile company that rewards them with a high paying board position should be called out. Simply put folks, these GOP Senators must not be rewarded for destroying America.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

March 13, 2019September 26, 2019

McConnell, Graham Impeachment Hypocrisy

In case you missed it, CNN recently dug up video footage(1999) of GOP Senators Mitch McConnell(KY), Lindsey Graham(SC), and Chuck Grassley(IA) explaining their reasons for supporting President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Listening to the explanations given by Senators McConnell, Graham and Grassley in support of Clinton’s impeachment in 1999 and considering the fact that all of them are now staunch defenders, even abetters of President Trump who is accused of doing far worse, it is hard to avoid the shocking hypocrisy displayed by these three senior U.S. Senators.

Senator Mitch McConnell for example said on February 10, 1999, “The problem is lying under oath and obstructing justice. The subject matter[Monica Lewinsky] is not what is significant here. It is lying under oath and obstructing justice.”

Senator Lindsey Graham said on January 16, 1999, “The point I’m trying to make is you don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic. Impeachment is not about punishment, impeachment is about cleansing the office.”

Senator Chuck Grassley said on January 9, 1999, “We are miraculously transformed from politicians to people who leave their Republican and Democrat labels at the door. We’re there to seek the truth and to find out whether the president is guilty or not guilty, and no stone should be left unturned to make that determination.”

From what we have seen so far, I think it is fair to conclude that Mitch McConnell will never vote to impeach Trump even if evidence was produced proving that Trump obstructed and is still obstructing justice. It is also fair to conclude that Senator Graham will never vote to impeach Trump without a conviction in an effort to “cleanse the office” even if a mountain of evidence was presented showing Trump has defiled/is still defiling the office. As for Senator Grassley, it is likewise fair to conclude that he will never shed his Republican label and vote to impeach Trump even if a determination was made that he was guilty of a crime.

Bottom line, it is not uncommon for politicians from both sides of the aisle to be caught in hypocritical stances. The Trump presidency however has brought political hypocrisy to a whole new alarming level. Simply put, no self-respecting individual who took issue with President Clinton’s lying and obstruction of justice would ever fervently defend Trump, a far worse and serial offender, as Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley have. It is such sickening hypocrisy that turns a lot of young impressionable people away from politics–a sad state of affairs indeed.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com

January 28, 2019December 8, 2019

GOP Lawmakers Who Spent July 4 In Moscow

GOP Lawmakers at a meeting in Moscow on July 4th weekend(2018)

You will remember that eight Republican lawmakers spent the July 4 (2018) weekend in Moscow. The story was met with outrage back in the U.S. as was very well stated in this July 5, 2018 WaPo piece, by Karoun Demirjian.

The most troubling aspect of this July 4 visit was that while the GOP lawmakers were in Moscow, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report concluding that Russia did indeed interfere in the 2016 U.S. elections to help then GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Even more troubling, according to Demirjian’s piece, the Russians were mocking the GOP Legislators on Russia’s state TV, with one military expert Igor Korotchenko reportedly saying, “We need to look down at them[GOP lawmakers] and say: You came because you needed to, not because we did.”Simply put, this July 4 Moscow visit was a total embarrassment to the U.S. and the Russians knew it too

This was a very important story but for some reason Yours Truly never made the now customary HANDY LIST to “name and shame” the GOP lawmakers involved. Here is a belated HANDY LIST of the shameful GOP Lawmakers who saw it fit to spend the 2018 Independence Day weekend in Moscow, palling around with Kremlin-tied politicians even as the Senate was releasing a report back in the U.S. that Russia interfered in our 2016 elections.

Bottom line given all the smoke surrounding TeamTrump’s ties to Russia, ongoing questions about Russia’s continuing influence on the Trump White House, and the ongoing threat Russia poses to our election infrastructure, the mainstream media and House Democrats owe the public a duty to investigate exactly why these Republican lawmakers saw it fit to visit Moscow on Independence Day weekend despite news reports that Russia was planning to interfere with the 2018 midterm elections.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.

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January 18, 2019October 5, 2019

GOP Senators Voted Down Deripaska Sanctions

In case you missed it, on January 16 2019, the U.S. Senate voted on a resolution to keep sanctions against businesses ran by Putin-allied Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in place. This is after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin inexplicably lifted sanctions against the TrumpRussia mastermind.

To overcome Trump administration’s move to lift sanctions against Deripaska’s businesses, the Senate resolution would have to pass by 60 votes. In the end the resolution failed after a final tally of 57-42, three Senators short of the required 60 votes.

Here’s a HANDY LIST of the 42 GOP Senators who voted down the resolution, essentially opposing sanctions against Deripaska’s companies.

Sen Barrasso(R-WV
Sen Blackburn(R-TN)
Sen Alexander-TN
Sen Blunt(R-MO)
Sen Burr(R-NC)
Sen Capito(R-WV)
Sen Cassidy(R-LA)
Sen Cornyn(R-TX)
Sen Cramer(R-ND)
Sen Crapo(R-ID)
Sen Cruz(R-TX)
Sen Enzi(R-WY)
Sen Ernst(R-IA)
Sen Fischer(R-NE)
Sen Graham(R-SC)
Sen Grassley(R-IA)
Sen Isakson(R-GA)
Sen Inhofe(R-OK)
Sen Hoeven(R-ND)
Sen Risch(R-ID)
Sen Roberts(R-KS)
Sen Romney(R-UT)
Sen Rounds(R-SD)
Sen Scott(R-FL)
Sen Scott(R-SC)
Sen Shelby(R-AL)
Sen Sullivan(R-AK)
Sen Thune(R-SD)
Sen Tillis(R-NC)
Sen Toomey(R-PA)
Sen Wicker(R-MS)
Sen Young(R-IN)
Sen Braun(R-IN)
Sen Lankford(R-OK)
Sen Lee(R-UT)
Sen McConnell(R-KY)
Sen Murkowski(R-AK)
Sen Paul(R-KY)
Sen Perdue(R-GA)

Interestingly Sen Bernie Sanders did not vote on this measure–no reason afforded as to why

Bottom line, as Yours Truly has said repeatedly before, even though the mainstream media pays a lot of attention to Trump in regards to the Russian stories, it is very important that they also keep in mind that he is not the only Russian asset. He has ample company among GOP Members of Congress.

#BREAKING:This cannot be emphasized enough. #Trump is not the only #RussianAsset. He has ample company among @GOP MoCs#TheResistance #TedCruz #TrumpRussia #CNN #MSNBC #Yahoo #MondayThoughts #FBRParty https://t.co/m74H3OsPB2
— Emoluments Clause (@Emolclause) January 14, 2019

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May 12, 2018October 27, 2021

A Handy list of Texas GOP Politicians Pushing Koch Brothers/ALEC Radical Plan To Change The U.S. Constitution

In a previous post, Yours Truly highlighted a radical plan by the Koch Brothers and their outfit American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC) to get Republican-controlled State legislatures to support their effort to Amend the U.S. Constitution and thereby ELIMINATE programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that have greatly benefited the poor.

This rare constitutional maneuver referred to as Constitutional Convention (aka #ConCon in Twitter circles) or Convention of States would require the approval of 34 State Legislatures for it to initiate (begin debate). However for any proposed amendment to be ratified, it would require the approval of 38 State Legislatures. Because this is such a radical maneuver by the Koch Brothers and their State GOP enablers, our target should be to prevent them from getting to the 34 states required to begin the constitutional amendment process.

Texas has traditionally been a hotbed of Republican politics. It follows therefore that the Koch Brothers/ALEC would push their radical Constitutional Convention campaign heavily in the state---and they have. All elected Republican politicians in Texas have bought into the ConCon idea, from The Governor, Lt Governor, the two U.S. Senators and virtually all GOP State elected officials. The Texas Senate for example approved the ConCon idea on February 28, 2017 on a 20-11 straight party line vote. The same thing happened on May 4, 2017 when the Texas House of Representatives, adopted the Senate's proposal on a 94-51 straight party line vote. You would think that on an issue as consequential as changing the U.S. Constitution, the Texas GOP would at least strive for some support from Democrats, but no, they are controlled by what Koch Brothers/ALEC want, not what is in the best interests of the State.

Given the heavy investment Koch Brothers/ALEC have made in Texas as a ConCon state, it naturally follows that Texas also has to be ground zero for the #NoConCon movement--people like Yours Truly, opposed to Koch Brothers/ALEC radical idea to amend the U.S. Constitution. That of course begins by knowing who our enemies are--The Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Lt Governor Dan Patrick and the Texas GOP State Senators, without whose support the radical Koch Brothers/ALEC agenda would be dead on arrival

Below are the 20 Texas State Senators who supported Koch Brothers/ALEC radical plan to change the U.S. Constitution. Governor Abbott, Lt Governor Patrick and most of the GOP State Senators below are seeking re-election this November. Because the said Texas Senators are supporting Koch Brothers/ALEC's radical plan to kick Grandma and Grandpa out of their Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, let's return the favor and kick these shameful Republicans out of Austin this November. We owe that much to poor Grandma and Grandpa.