Showing posts with label Jeff Flake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Flake. Show all posts

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake puts Trump in his place again


Jeff Flake and Donald Trump at war
Jeff Flake told Harvard Law School's newest graduates the Oval Office lunatic "seemingly has a bottomless appetite for destruction and division." He continued, actually repeating himself, apparently for effect, "Our presidency has been debased. By a figure who seemingly has a bottomless appetite for destruction and division. And only a passing familiarity with how the Constitution works," If the retiring Senator isn't running for President, then we are getting a welcome continuity of characterizations of the kind of idiot that was elected by more idiots to the White House.

Jeff Flake has decided he cannot defend his Senate seat in Arizona, but really should know a run for president is also useless for a virtual national unknown. However, the latter may have changed lately with his regular attacks on T-rump, and the man does come off as an affable guy, the complete opposite of his opponent. Here is an interesting analogy by the Senator...
"You could say that we are witnesses to history. And if it were possible to divorce ourselves from the obvious tragedy of this debacle, I suppose that might even be interesting, the way some rare diseases are interesting to medical researchers."
I can certainly agree that Donald Trump is a disease, something like Ebola, perhaps, the worst kind that kills everything around it, highly contagious as it spreads from person to person, until it has wiped out an entire population. And Flake has been doing some of his blasting of Trump from the Senate floor where fellow Republicans, some Trump supporters, have to listen to his barrage. He even used the "Make America Great Again" battle cry as an example of T-rump's failure...
"To be clear, we did not become great — and will never be great — by indulging and encouraging our very worst impulses. It doesn’t matter how many red caps you sell."
Jeff Flake's general tenor, which runs through most of what he says is that Washington has given itself to the likes of Donald Trump, and that many, like himself, don't like this style of government and aren't going to take it anymore. And that seems perfectly clear with the recent exodus from Congress, mostly Republicans. This all means someone must save our country, but who will that be?

Recommended reading: Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake bashes Trump again
                                     

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Senate Dropout Jeff Flake says Tax Reform still in question


Arizona's congressman, Jeff Flake, who is fed up with Congress, says the budget is on-track for passage but Tax Reform is not certain. Democrats got their way eliminating Trump's border wall funding adding things like increasing health allocation. Also in question is how GOP will pay for the tax plan and its favoring the wealthy. And Kevin Brady's secrecy isn't helping with lobbyists having a field day. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that it's difficult "not to give tax cuts to the wealthy," which Flake agreed with. Guess we should be glad he is going.

Jeff Flake back in the news...

GOP not sure how to pay for their Tax Reform...

Kevin Brady planning just heaps on more Republican secrecy...

Democrats got their licks in...

Friday, October 27, 2017

Can Arizona elect a Senate Democrat to replace Jeff Flake?


Not so red afterall
Arizona's GOP thinks the Exit of Jeff Flake from the Senate gives them a chance to hold on to the seat. His popularity had dropped to 18% and was expected to lose against contender Kelli Ward in the primary. There are numerous potential candidates (see links below) that may plan to go up against Ward who tried to outlaw enforcement of federal gun laws in Arizona, and is a Tea Party insurgent. Being from Arizona and closely following the politics here, my gut tells me that state Progressives are ready to take up the mantle, elect Kyrsten Sinema and start turning Arizona blue.

Republicans struggle to fill Jeff Flake's seat...

Arizona a fairly red state...

Jeff Flake's Senate exit a shock...

Arizona Republicans worried...

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Arizona's Sen. Jeff Flake leaving Senate


Jeff Flake-What the GOP says
I have never thought Jeff Flake contributed to the U.S. Senate, nor to politics at all, even in the House. But today I did some solid research and uncovered this. In 2006, three out of five mayors in his home district opposed his re-election because, according to Flake, he did not "bring pork barrel spending" to the mayors' cities. In his swan song (leaving end of this term) he lambasted Trump's reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior, joining Tennessee's Bob Corker who is also leaving the senate. However, he did not once use Trump's name.





Thursday, March 30, 2017

Trump Internet privacy action spells doom called BIG BROTHER


I worked in the junk mail industry for over 35 years and can vouch for the fact that your personal data is neither private nor is it protected to the extent it should be. So, it comes as no surprise to me that the Congress has just sent Donald Trump legislation that literally obliterates any advances in privacy that former President Obama was able to get passed. Here's the Washington Post's coverage of that milestone by the Federal Communications Commission. It blocked many of the plans of...
"...AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, which had hoped to use their privileged access to user data to build lucrative businesses by targeting advertising across multiple devices."
The greed for data is never-ending and many people ask me, why do you keep harping over the loss of more personal information like this if you claim that most of it is already out there...all over the world? My answer is the same when questioned about my advocacy for gun control, stating that putting more guns on the street won't help the problem like the NRA claims. It just results in more violent deaths as we've seen. Likewise, putting more personal data out there is a huge benefit to businesses wanting to track your personal data, but can end up resulting in more identity theft.

The simplest amount of private information can benefit the identity thieves in finding your most personal and exclusive data, like bank records, passwords, investments, etc. That small need is no more than name and date of birth. That's right, that small measure of data can be matched to your address, which is available everywhere including Facebook, which turns the crooks on to all the bells and whistles they use to walk right into your bank account. If you have never been to the Internet Underground take a look. You'll find your Social security number there if you look hard enough.

So, the Republican morons of Congress, because they want no obstacles in the way of corporate profit, have opened the door to "...what companies could do with information such as customer browsing habits, app usage history, location data and Social Security numbers..." by freeing the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from earlier restrictions. Here's more from the Senate...
"The Senate has already voted to nullify those measures, which were set to take effect at the end of this year. If Trump signs the legislation as expected, providers will be able to monitor their customers’ behavior online and, without their permission, use their personal and financial information to sell highly targeted ads — making them rivals to Google and Facebook in the $83 billion online advertising market."
Your personal data is sold to junk mail companies for solo offers and their catalog mailings which are in the billions every year. It also goes to other marketers and the financial industry, providing all of them the information necessary to come up with a profile of you that is so scary, it challenges the imagination. It's called targeting, and companies are getting so good that they can very accurately predict the results from any advertising campaign. And get this...
""...the Federal Communications Commission, which initially drafted the protections, will be forbidden from issuing similar rules in the future."
In other words, you no longer have even the minimum of protections, and I would make a bet right now, identity theft incidences will start climbing and 2017 could be a banner year.

Want to know what happens the minute you open your browser and start searching? How-To Geek explains the whole process...
"...your web browser stores data about your browsing history. When you visit a website, your browser logs that visit in your browser history, saves cookies from the website, and stores form data it can autocomplete later. It also saves other information, such as a history of files you’ve downloaded, passwords you’ve chosen to save, searches you’ve entered in your browser’s address bar, and bits of web pages to speed page load times in the future (also known as the cache)."
After reading this, think all is lost? Not really if you choose to use Chrome's "Incognito" window, or Private Browsing, or InPrivate Browsing, sites that will improve your ability to stay private, but are not proof positive. As an example, here is Incognito's caveat...
"Pages you view in incognito tabs won’t stick around in your browser’s history, cookie store, or search history after you’ve closed all of your incognito tabs. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be kept.
However, you aren’t invisible. Going incognito doesn’t hide your browsing from your employer, your internet service provider, or the websites you visit."
So, with Donald Trump in the White House and as long as Republicans have control of Congress, my advice to you, and also from the top privacy advocates, GO INCOGNITO OR PRIVATE! 

If you're not completely sure yet, read this admonition from Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy...
“Today’s vote means that Americans will never be safe online from having their most personal details stealthily scrutinized and sold to the highest bidder.”
Privacy advocates have been attempting to convince the public for years to be careful who they give their private information to, especially things like your Social Security number and driver license number. Either of those numbers plus a name and address is an invitation for identity thieves to come in and help themselves to everything personal about you. Of course there is some credibility to the fact that the use of this data could help marketers to better target your needs. The problem with these people is, they never know when enough is enough. And the consumer is always the one who suffers.

By the way, the changes in the privacy rules were brought to you by none other than our do-willie Arizona Senator, Jeff Flake, who certainly lives up to his last name. He has been in office for three years and was polled as the most unpopular Senator in Washington, replacing Mitch McConnell. Now, in my opinion, anyone who could replace this asshole must be lower than the bottom of the barrel. Contact Jeff Flake and tell him what you think: AZscheduling@flake.senate.gov Tell him we're all sick of Congress letting big business trample our rights.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

JOHN MCCAIN's TIME HAS PASSED

John McCain
He served the state of Arizona in the U.S. Senate well after being elected based on his Vietnam incarceration. Yes, there was a sympathy vote there which has arisen in many political articles over the years. Regardless, John McCain did good things for Arizona and the country. I had a great deal of respect for him as a GOP moderate and maverick who stood up for what was right, regardless of the party connection. But this is all history now. First there was his run for President against Barack Obama that was noteworthy...until he named Sarah Palin as his Vice President. Sheer stupidity based on choosing someone like Palin and dumber because it made the Republican Party look like a bunch of idiots. And then there were all the flip-flops first on immigration, on climate change, then on Bowe Bergdahl's prisoner exchange. All done for the sake of getting reelected. It's time to move on from John and hopefully in his next reelection we can send Jeff Flake packing.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Jeff Flake: The Constitution isn’t sacred

It sounds like blasphemy coming from a Republican, especially one who is solidly entrenched in the Tea Party.  All we have heard from these far-right fruitcakes in the last couple of years is just how enshrined this document was and is meant to be.  Especially when it comes to gun rights and the 2nd amendment.  Although he hasn’t even won his primary yet, and it’s doubtful he could beat his Democratic opponent if he does, Jeff Flake is already attempting to manage his reelection.

Senate candidate Flake says he favors ending the direct election of U.S. Senators, and wants to repeal the Constitution’s 17th Amendment.


Jeff Flake...precisely

Flake now represents Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 6th Congressional District and is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jon Kyl, another “flake.”  There is talk of his opponent in the primary, businessman Wil Cardon, giving up his primary fight; at the end of July Flake led Cardon by 22 points in the polls.  Assuming Flake wins the primary, he appears to be looking ahead to solidify a second term with the Arizona legislature behind him.

As a resident of the great state of Arizona, I cannot imagine putting a decision like naming a U.S. Senator in the hands of these legislative kooks.  I wish I could take credit for coining the term but Laurie Roberts, columnist for the Arizona Republic, gets the kudos for her series started recently called “DeKook the Capitol,” of course, referring to the Arizona Legislature, especially Republicans.  Over the last 3 years, this bunch, along with a completely incompetent Gov. Jan Brewer, has made the state a complete laughingstock.

Agreed, the 17th Amendment was not given to us by the Founding Fathers like the 2nd Amendment was; but it was passed by the Congress and on May 13, 1912 was submitted to the states for ratification and was adopted on May 31, 1913.  Tell me.  Is there a difference in the sacred value of a document created in 1787 with one conceived in 1912?  I think not.  Now if you are talking a U.S. Congress of the last few years, then, I would strongly question its ability to devise anything sensible and worthwhile.

Here’s what Jeff Flake is all about, according to the Payson, Arizona Roundup:

Flake advocated additional deep cuts in taxes and spending and the wholesale repeal of federal regulations. He said he opposed any restrictions on guns, ammunition or magazines, despite a string of recent shootings. He also said he favored eliminating both the federal Department of Energy and the Department of Education.

As is Mitt Romney, Flake is solidly behind GOP V.P. contender, Paul Ryan’s radical budget plan, covered in my Monday, August 13, post.  Democratic strategist, Donna Brazile, says that by selecting Ryan as his running mate, Romney has thrown, “…seniors under the bus and undermined their health security by ending Medicare as we know it.  It would increase health care cost for seniors, including those on fixed income, by thousands of dollars a year.”

Now I don’t want to turn this into a referendum for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment, but if the 17th Amendment is fair game, then so is the 2nd Amendment.  Therefore, when an ultra-conservative like Jeff Flake, a solid Tea Party patriot, comes right out and says we should repeal part of the U.S. Constitution, it gives us gun control advocates the right to stand up and say, by the way we have something else to propose that needs the public’s attention.

Like the number of deaths per year due to firearm homicides according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): 11,493.  That’s 3.7 per 100,000 population.  Like the fact that since I have been publishing a Monthly Shooting Report starting this past March, 432 have died from firearm homicides in 1,077 shootings.  And this only represents what is reported by the media which is very conservative. 

There can be no argument today against the fact that something has to be done about this and now.  And the 2nd Amendment may or may not be the answer.  But the Tucson, Aurora and Wisconsin massacres do rigidly point toward stronger firearms regulation.  Jeff Flake has opened a can of worms in the sanctity of a Constitution that many have claimed cannot and must not be tampered with.  The question is whether this is more important than American lives.                        

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

GOP Congress masterful at blocking anything Obama

The GOP stonewall
The Republican merry band of stonewalling bunglers started out the new year with their same tactics of saying no to anything President Obama presents.  On January 18, the GOP Congress voted to block Obama’s request for $1.2 trillion in additional borrowing authority, indicating the same Republican reaction to “anything Barack Obama” would continue throughout 2012.  Oh, that’s right, it’s an election year. 

Tea Party flake, Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican representative, said, “Until we have a plan to deal with our fiscal crisis, we should not raise the debt ceiling any further.”  In other words, push the problem to as close to the November election as possible, and, by the way, I’m running for Senator.  He also voted against the temporary payroll tax extension back in December 2011, the bill to extend payroll tax deductions and unemployment compensation.

Following is a list of bills, appointments, etc. that this gang of obstructionists has stalled or stopped in their tracks:


And there are more that you can see here.

All of which brings us to President Obama’s proposed budget that he says is a "blueprint for how we can rebuild an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded." 

At the same time there is the end of February deadline to pass an extension for the payroll tax cut and unemployment compensation which is sure to heat up the rhetoric since Obama wants to cover the cost with a “surtax on income over $1 million and eliminating some corporate tax subsidies, like those going to oil and gas companies.”  Republicans want to cover it partially byextending the current pay freeze on federal workers and requiring wealthier seniors to pay higher Medicare premiums,” according to CNN.



If we run into the same GOP barricade that we did in December, the result is that 160 million American families would pay an additional $1,000 in taxes per year.  The package will cost an estimated $160 billion and that is where the President wants millionaires to step up to the plate and pay their fair share.  New chief of staff Jack Lew would not predict passage but recounted the “ugly fight” this past December over the payroll tax, something we need to avoid this go around.

This past Saturday in his weekly presidential address, Obama urged Congress to "stop this middle-class tax hike from happening, period."  He also said "No drama. No delay.  And no ideological side issues that have nothing to do with this tax cut. Now is not the time for self-inflicted wounds to our recovery. Now is the time for common-sense action. And this tax cut is common sense."  Naturally Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, did his number to make the Dems the bad guys.

GOP House Speaker John Boehner wants to vote this week on a Republican plan to extend “…the payroll tax cut -- but not unemployment benefits or a delay of cuts in fees to doctors who treat Medicare patients,” as reported in USA Today.  The White House is wary and press secretary Jay Carney says there is still time to negotiate a settlement.  Not sure there are many Americans that would agree with Carney.

People throughout this country have become weary over the shenanigans of the GOP Congress, including some Democrats, and their lowest approval rating ever supports this.  It’s like they just don’t get it, and until this self-serving clan of taxpayer moochers decides that they do work for us, there will be no change.

We all have a chance to do something about this in November and it will be interesting to see just how concerned voters really are.  Or will it be business as usual?

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