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Some House Republicans concerned McCarthy speakership would continue ‘past and ongoing Republican failures’

January 2, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Prospective House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is still tussling with some members of his party who are concerned electing him to be speaker would be a “continuation of past and ongoing Republican failures.”

Last week, the California Republican floated a congressional rule change that would make it easier to remove a House speaker in exchange for his rise to the post, a key demand from powerful GOP opponents.

Under current rules, which were imposed under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, only a member of the House leadership can offer a motion to vacate, while the new proposal would allow any member of the House to force a vote to remove the speaker, at any time.

KEVIN MCCARTHY FLOATS CONCESSION ON ALLOWING CONSERVATIVES TO REMOVE HOUSE SPEAKER

On Sunday afternoon, McCarthy met with GOP members to try and rally support for his speakership vote on Jan. 3, when the new Congress takes office. The embattled Republican leader conceded rank-and-file members will be allowed to call for the speaker’s removal, though he wasn’t clear about how many members would need to sign on to the motion, according to reports.

The meeting came after his letter on New Year’s Eve, titled “Restoring the People’s House and Ending Business as Usual,” which was his admission of the deep dysfunction of the House of Representatives and his pitch to make it right.

In response to McCarthy’s letter, GOP Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Chip Roy of Texas, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Harris of Maryland and Andrew Clyde of Georgia, along with Rep.-elects Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Eli Crane of Arizona sent a letter of their own.

“Regrettably, however, despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd,” the letter stated. “At this state, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial points still under debate are insufficient. This is especially true with respect to Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker because the times call for radical departure from the status quo – not a continuation of past and ongoing, Republican failures.”

SEVEN MORE HOUSE REPUBLICANS THREATEN TO OPPOSE MCCARTHY WITHOUT CONCESSIONS ON HOUSE RULES

The letter continues to say that McCarthy’s 14-year presence in senior house leadership puts the burden of House dysfunction on him, which he now admits.

Rep. Andy Biggs announced in early December that he would run against McCarthy for speaker.

“We cannot let this all too rare opportunity to effectuate structural change pass us by because it is uncomfortable to challenge the Republican candidate who is a creature of the establishment status quo, or because the challenge is accompanied by some minimal risk,” Biggs wrote in an Op-Ed for the Daily Caller at the time.

Biggs and four other Republicans pledged to vote against McCarthy, which could be problematic with the party’s slim majority — 218 votes are needed to clinch the speaker seat.

ANDY BIGGS TO CHALLENGE KEVIN MCCARTHY FOR SPEAKER ON HOUSE FLOOR

Biggs’ candidacy is largely seen as an opportunity to showcase that McCarthy cannot get the 218 votes required to be speaker. McCarthy’s opponents say that once that reality becomes clear, other alternatives will step up.

Republicans in the incoming House have a majority with 222 seats, and McCarthy needs 218 votes to clinch the speakership. With five opposed, theoretically he only needs one vote from those five to get that spot.

But those votes could be fluttering away.

“Mr. McCarthy’s statement also continues to propose to restrict the availability of the traditional motion to vacate the chair as a means of holding leadership accountable to its promises; we have from the beginning made clear that we will not accept following Nancy Pelosi’s example by insulating leadership in this way,” the nine House GOP members said in their letter on Sunday. “We also note that the statement fails completely to address the issue of leadership working to defeat conservatives in open primaries. The progress made thus far has been helpful and should guide our thinking going forward.”

 

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Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green dead at 45

January 2, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Just days after his cancer diagnosis was publicly announced, Jeremiah Green – the drummer for the rock band Modest Mouse – has died, according to statements from his mother and bandmates.

He was 45 years old.

“It is with a very heavy heart that the Green and Namatame families announce the passing of their husband, father, son and brother, Jeremiah Green,” his mother Carol Namatame posted on Facebook.

“Jeremiah, drummer and founding member of the Issaquah based band Modest Mouse, lost his courageous battle with cancer on December 31. He went peacefully in his sleep,” the post read.

“Jeremiah was a light to so many. At this time the family is requesting privacy. More information will be forthcoming including a Celebration of Life for friends and fans in the coming months. Jeremiah’s loved ones would like to thank everyone for their continued well wishes and support.”

Modest Mouse announced Green’s passing in an Instagram post Saturday.

“Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah. He laid down to rest and simply faded out,” the post read. “I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people.”

Modest Mouse, famous for the song “Float On,” was formed in the 1990s and released its debut album in 1996.

Modest Mouse has released eight albums, including “The Golden Casket” in 2021.

Last week, band frontman Isaac Brock announced Green had been recently diagnosed with cancer but did not specify what kind of cancer.

Radio DJ Marco Collins tweeted last week that Green had pulled out of a tour because he had stage 4 cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

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Arizona governor's tenure defined by push right, Trump feud

January 2, 2023 Published by

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey beamed as an excavator’s heavy claw smashed through the windows of an old state office building and began tearing off the façade.

In one of his last public appearances in mid-December, the outgoing Republican governor watched the physical manifestation of a project that has defined his eight-year tenure: tearing down state government.

Ducey also cut taxes, vastly expanded school choice, restricted abortion and built a makeshift wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in defiance of a Democratic president, checking just about every conservative box.

At a time when the conservative movement is almost singularly oriented around “owning the libs,” Ducey spent his two terms outmaneuvering Democrats to advance Republican priorities, reshaping his state in a decisively conservative direction.

Yet he leaves office Monday with a limited national profile and the enmity of GOP foot soldiers less interested in the pile of things he accomplished than the one thing he would not do: overturn then-President Donald Trump’s defeat in the state’s 2020 election.

“Ducey really gave the road map of how to govern, how to stay relatively popular and get things done,” said Mike Noble, a Phoenix-based pollster who used to work for Republicans and now focuses on nonpartisan surveys.

Democrat Katie Hobbs is becoming governor, but a Republican-controlled Legislature will limit her ability to undo much of what Ducey enacted. Ducey’s preferred successor, businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson, lost the GOP primary to Trump-backed former television anchor Kari Lake, who rose to prominence on the right as a fierce proponent of Trump’s election lies.

Ducey offered a tepid endorsement of the entire Republican slate but did not campaign with Lake, who lost narrowly to Hobbs and continues to claim the election was marred by intentional misconduct. She frequently attacked Ducey on her way to winning the GOP nomination.

The governor also feuded openly with Kelli Ward, the state GOP chair. But despite the dominance of Lake and Ward in the current state GOP, he plays down their significance.

“They are inconsequential and have zero power,” Ducey told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

Ducey has said little about his plans after leaving the governor’s office. He is sometimes mentioned as a top-ticket recruit for Arizona’s 2024 Senate race or as a dark-horse candidate for president or vice president — if the GOP is interested in his brand of limited-government conservatism.

He rejected a recruitment effort by establishment Republicans to run against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who was reelected in November. Ducey also has largely eschewed the social media taunts that helped Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis build a national profile.

Ducey offered his most candid assessment of the modern GOP in a September speech at the Ronald Reagan President Library and Museum. The governor warned that “a dangerous strain of big government activism has taken hold” within the party and he lamented that a segment of the conservative movement is driven by anger instead of substance.

“I look at the party and worry that candidates are more defined by their attitudes than the policies they propose,” Ducey said. “And yes, a good many small-government conservatives have morphed into bullies — people who are very comfortable using government power to tell companies and people how to live their lives.”

Ducey walked a tightrope during Trump’s presidency, initially forging a strong alliance with him and never issuing public criticism, even when his tweets or border policies threatened to be problematic for Arizona.

But their relationship crumbled live on television, when Ducey silenced a call from Trump — signified by a “Hail to the Chief” ring tone — as the governor signed the paperwork certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow presidential victory in Arizona. Trump more recently called Ducey “one of the worst governors in America.”

Democrats, including state Sen. Martín Quezada, say Ducey could have done more to help prevent Trump’s lies about the 2020 election from taking root in the state Republican Party.

Ducey avoided, for example, weighing in on an unprecedented partisan review of the 2020 election conducted by Trump supporters on behalf of Senate Republicans, an episode that became a widely mocked spectacle. He also raised millions of dollars for some of the most extreme voices in the Legislature to keep a GOP majority.

“He could have been a leader and stood on a platform and said, ‘Our elections are safe, our elections are secure and people can trust our election system,’” Quezada said. “That’s an opportunity he really missed.”

Democrats also fault Ducey for being slow to restore money for schools as the state rebounded from the Great Recession. Meager funding and stagnant wages led to a teacher walkout in 2018, culminating in a 20% raise for teachers that was brokered by Ducey. He took heat from the left for rapidly lifting his COVID-19 restrictions, which was followed by an immediate surge of deaths in the summer of 2020.

Ducey said his approach to election denialism is to “address it with facts” and recognize that there are “very good people who have been misled.”

“Sometimes you need a ‘clean up on aisle nine’ to focus the mind,” he said. “And I do think the candidates that you saw focusing on the future, rather than looking in the rearview mirror and talking about the past, were the ones that had great success.”

During his tenure, Ducey notched victories for just about every piece of the conservative coalition that defined the GOP before Trump’s 2016 victory reshaped the party’s tone and focus.

He signed a first-in-the-nation universal school voucher law, which lawmakers approved just two years after voters decisively rejected a less ambitious measure.

He backed new restrictions on abortion year after year, including a ban on terminating pregnancies after 15 weeks gestational age. A state appeals court ruled Friday the law takes precedence over a near total abortion ban that dates to the Civil War.

He expanded the state Supreme Court and packed it with conservatives, creating a legacy that will endure long after he leaves office and could further constrain Hobbs’ ambitions. He rejects comparisons to a push by liberals to expand the U.S. Supreme Court because, he says, Arizona’s high court was always expected to grow with the state.

He presided over a diversification of the state’s economy, liberally offering tax breaks and a hands-off government to technology companies and manufacturers. He inherited a massive budget deficit in 2015 and leaves with a record surplus that allowed him to cut taxes.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Ducey graduated from Arizona State University and went on to run Cold Stone Creamery, which he built from a neighborhood ice cream shop near his alma mater into a franchised national brand.

He sold the business and turned to politics, getting elected state treasurer in 2010 and governor four years later.

As head of the Republican Governors Association, Ducey built his profile among conservative donors and GOP political operatives, relationships that could be useful if he decides to run for another office.

Ducey said he’s still considering his next move and did not rule out another run for elected office, adding, “I do think I’ve got another act or two in me.”

“I’ve loved being part of the conservative cause, and I care about it greatly,” Ducey said. “So I’m open-minded to what’s next.”

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Havasupai Tribe Will Get US Federal ‘Flood Damage’ Aid

January 2, 2023 Published by

USA – Voice of America 

President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration made by the Havasupai Tribe in northern Arizona, freeing up funds for flood damage as it prepares to reopen for tourists after nearly three years.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed Sunday that federal emergency aid will be given to supplement the tribe’s own recovery efforts from severe flooding last October.

The funds will be for the tribe and certain nonprofits to share costs for emergency work and repairs from flood damage.

It comes as the Havasupai Indian Reservation, which lies deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon, is preparing to open its majestic blue-green waterfalls for visitors for the first time since March 2020. The tribe had closed to protect its members from the pandemic. Tribal officials decided to extend the closure through the 2022 tourism season.

In an update about tourism posted on their website last week, the tribe described how flooding had destroyed several bridges and left downed trees on trails needed for tourists and transporting goods and services into Supai Village.

The tribe, however, also said they are eager to welcome back tourists in February to see “flourishing flora and fauna and new waterfall flows.”

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2 dead and 4 others injured in New Year's Day shooting in Florida

January 2, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Two people died and four others were injured in a shooting in Ocala, Florida, early Sunday, authorities said.

Gunfire broke out around 4:30 a.m. near the 1600 block of Southwest 5th Street, in an area where a crowd of about 100 people were gathered, police said in a news release.

Davonta Harris, 30, and Abdul Hakeem Van Croskey, 24, were identified by the police as the two people killed. Four other victims, whose names were not released, were in stable condition.

“Detectives are investigating the crime and are working diligently to determine the facts behind the fatal shooting and are actively working on leads,” Ocala police said.

“The tragic event has left many devastated and mourning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this terrible act,” police said.

Ocala is about 75 miles northwest of Orlando.

A few hours earlier, a New Year’s Eve shooting left a 24-year-old dead and nine others injured in Mobile, Alabama, police said. The shooting happened just blocks from where people had gathered for the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration.


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McCarthy commits to key concession in call with frustrated lawmakers but it's no guarantee he'll win speakership

January 2, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy outlined some of the concessions that he has agreed to in his campaign for speaker on a Sunday evening conference call – including making it easier to topple the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources on the call. But McCarthy could not say whether he would have the votes for the speakership, even after giving in to some of the right’s most hardline demands.

And not long after the call, a group of nine hardliners – who had outlined their demands to McCarthy last month – put out a new letter saying some of the concessions he announced are insufficient and making clear they’re still not sold on him, though they did say progress is being made.

“Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and thus, no means to measure whether promises are kept or broken,” the members wrote in the letter obtained by CNN.

This group is still pushing to give a single lawmaker the power to call for a vote toppling the speaker, and they also want a commitment that leadership won’t play in primaries, among other things. Since McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes on the House floor, it means he still has a lot of work to do before Tuesday.

The California Republican had told his members in Sunday’s call that after weeks of negotiations, he has agreed to a threshold as low as five people to trigger a vote on ousting the speaker at any given time, known as the “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair, and pitched it as a “compromise.” CNN first reported last week that he was supportive of that threshold.

Some moderates – who fear the motion to vacate will be used as constant cudgel over McCarthy’s head – pushed back and expressed their frustration during the call, sources said.

Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said he wasn’t happy with the low threshold McCarthy agreed to, though he indicated he would swallow it, but only if it helps McCarthy win the speakership. Other members made clear that the rules package that was negotiated will be off the table if McCarthy’s critics end up tanking his speakership bid.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida pressed McCarthy on whether this concession on the motion to vacate will win him the 218 votes. But he did not directly answer, though McCarthy said earlier on the call that people were “slowly” moving in the right direction.

However, later in the call, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz – one of the five “hard no” votes for McCarthy – said they would not back McCarthy, despite all the concessions.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida then repeated Diaz-Balart’s question, asking McCarthy to answer it. McCarthy’s response, according to sources, was that they have a couple days to close the deal, and they need to close.

Rep.-elect Mike Lawler of New York asked Gaetz if he would back McCarthy if he agreed to bring the motion to vacate threshold down to a single lawmaker, which is what it used to be before Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, changed the rules. Gaetz replied that McCarthy had refused to entertain that idea, but if he is making that offer now, than he would consider it.

McCarthy said he disagreed with Gaetz’s characterization, arguing that the rest of the conference can’t support the threshold as low as one person. “It’s not about me,” the California Republican said. However, he asked Gaetz if he could get to “yes” if McCarthy came down to a one-person threshold, to which Gaetz was still non-committal and said if it was a real offer, he would entertain it.

House Republicans are planning to release their final rules package, which will formalize a number of these concessions, later Sunday evening. But sources cautioned that nothing is truly final until the package is passed.

After the House elects a speaker and swears in members, lawmakers vote on the rules package, which governs how the House operates.

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In 1977, The BMW 7-Series Was Just As Cutting-Edge As The i7 Is Today

January 2, 2023 Published by

Carscoops 

Now that the seventh-generation BMW 7-Series has been revealed, BMW Group Classic thought that it was the perfect time to take a look back at the history of the model line. The department’s YouTube channel, then, has taken a look back at the very first generation of the car.

The 7-Series was the last model to get BMW’s new numerical naming conventions and was produced from 1977 until 1986 and the top-of-the-line 745i was powered by a big, beefy 3.2-liter inline-six when it was introduced.

That is not, however, 4.5-liters, as the model name would suggest. The hosts explain, though, that’s because the engine was turbocharged, and by BMW’s math, it produced the same amount of power (248 hp/185 kW/252 PS) as a naturally-aspirated, 4.5-liter engine.

Read: This Guy Loves Old BMW 7 Series Models So Much That He Owns 15 Of Them

Proving that BMW was happy to round up and down when it suited them, the 745i was offered with a 3.5-liter I6 in South Africa between 1984 and 1986. That must have been exciting for the people there, because that was the same engine that powered the BMW M1, and it made 281 hp (210 kW/286 PS) in the luxury sedan.

And luxurious it was, with its blue velvet interior and wood trim. Not only that, but it was also a tech showpiece for the brand. Featuring as many buttons you could reasonably be expected to shake a stick at, the interior has fascinating features like a control panel checker. This allowed the driver to press a button and quickly check if they had enough of all of their fluids.

Despite being designed for the 1977 model year, the 7-Series was also endowed with an onboard computer. Although it wasn’t the first BMW with a computer, it did introduce futuristic features, like an estimated time of arrival for your trip. In terms of safety, it was also a leader, with newfangled crumple zones as well as strengthened A, B, and C pillars that meant that the car was much safer in an accident.

Ultimately, the 7-Series tells a story of the wider automotive world. This first-generation car heralded the advent of modern safety and computer technology, and now the BMW i7 is coming at a time of similar advancements in the field of propulsion technology. It will, therefore, be interesting to see how the car is remembered in another 40 years.

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Zelensky signs controversial law expanding government power to regulate media

January 2, 2023 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a controversial statute expanding the government’s power to regulate media groups and journalists in the country.

Zelensky signed the legislation on Thursday over the objections of media unions and press freedom organizations, who warned it will have a chilling effect on free speech.

Under the new law, the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council, whose members are appointed by the president’s administration and by members of parliament, will have broader authority over Ukrainian media organizations and journalists.

The regulatory agency can effectively shut down news sites that aren’t registered, according to the Kyiv Independent.

In a statement last month, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine said the bill posed a “threat” to press freedom in the country.

“Such powers are clearly excessive,” the organization wrote. “No one has yet managed to tame freedom of speech in Ukraine. It won’t work this time either.”

Zelensky’s administration has been accused of suppressing press freedom. He first ordered the drafting of a new law to boost media regulation in 2019, the year he entered office.

The law was passed along with several other new statutes lawmakers say are required in order to become eligible for European Union membership, which Ukraine applied for last year.

The bill for the legislation, which the Ukrainian parliament passed on Dec. 13, was watered down after mounting criticism.

Previous draft versions handed the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council a greater ability to impose fines on media groups, revoke licenses from printed media and block online outlets from publishing restricted information.

When the draft versions were released, several international media organizations voiced opposition to the law, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists (EPJ).

EPJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez told The New York Times the law still contradicted European press freedom standards.

“Ukraine will demonstrate its European commitment by promoting a free and independent media, not by establishing state control of information,” Gutiérrez said.

​News, media regulation, VOldymyr Zelensky Read More 

NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reach tentative agreement as nurses at other city hospitals still intend to strike

January 2, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Nearly 4,000 union nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a contract, while approximately 12,000 nurses at seven other hospitals will move forward with their intention to strike beginning January 9.

New York State Nurses Association members at NewYork-Presbyterian reached a tentative deal just hours before their contract expired Saturday “and one day after delivering a 10-day notice to strike,” according to a news release from the group.

The notice allows time for the hospitals to plan patient care in case of a strike. Nearly 99% of the union members voted last week to authorize the strike, which would affect seven hospitals in all five boroughs of the city.

Nurses at the seven remaining hospital facilities are expected to continue negotiations this week, according to the union.

“Nurses are expected to be back at the bargaining table all week at the seven other facilities,” the release noted. “They have been sounding the alarm about the short-staffing crisis that puts patients at risk, especially during a tripledemic of COVID, RSV and flu.”

The union argued hospitals are not doing enough to keep caregivers with patients, and they say hospitals need to invest in hiring, and retaining nurses to improve patient care.

“Striking is always a last resort,” union president and nurse Nancy Hagans said in a news release last week. “Nurses have been to hell and back, risking our lives to save our patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes without the PPE we needed to keep ourselves safe, and too often without enough staff for safe patient care.”

The last-minute negotiations are the latest example of a growing trend of unions leveraging strike threats to improve working conditions. Unions representing workers of train crews at the nation’s freight railroads, mental health professionals, and teachers have all been among the groups to recently strike or lay the groundwork to do so.

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