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chloepoliticat.bsky.social
ChloePolitiCat
@chloepoliticat.bsky.social
4.7K followers 5.3K following 5.4K posts
Retired. Concierge to cat clowder. Voracious reader. Animal rescuer. Water is Life.
The answer is 42. Support public education and libraries. Sapere aude. 📚☕️🐈
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chloepoliticat.bsky.social
On my phone, I found pictures of the Oval Office during President Obama’s presidency. I want that trashy orange fiend to pay attention least $5 Billion for the complete restoration of the White House including the East Wing and Jackie’s Rose Garden.
Oval Office during Obama’s presidency President Obama on the phone in the Oval Office. Picture of the rug in the Obama Oval Office. President Obama working at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
November 27, 2025 at 7:04 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
@averybanks.bsky.social I’m so sorry to hear about Jessa. I didn’t know you had lost her. 😔💔😢🤗 I remember when you and Carey rescued Jessa and her puppies. Jessa was such a beautiful, wonderful dog. You and Carey gave her such a loving, happy home. RIP sweet girl 🌈🕊️🤍
Jessa in a car. Black and white dog in a car or SUV.
November 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
"The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world." The Boston Globe RUTH RENDELL AN INSPECTOR WEXFORD MYSTERY AN UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS He seemed an average husband and father - until his disappearance exposed a tangled web of lies..
November 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Jeff Sharlet’s book The Undertow is well researched and upsetting.
November 13, 2025 at 4:04 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Republicans have a history of pardoning co-conspirators. Ford pardoned Nixon. Bush41 pardoned Iran Contra co-conspirators. Trump has pardoned co-conspirators and thousands of criminals convicted of violent crimes. Trump administration negotiated the release of 5000 Taliban members in Afghanistan.
REPUBLICAN PARDONS OUR HEROES WHO STARTED IT ALL! SEPTEMBER 1974 FORD PARDONS NIXON GEORGE H W BUSH HOLDS PARDON RECORD DECEMBER 24, 1992-OUR DAY IN UNACCOUNTABLE INFAMY ABRAMS IRAN-CONTRA HEROES CLAIR GEORGE - CIA ALAN FIERS - CIA PoPpY WEINBERGER MCFARLAND DUANE CLARRIDGE - CIA POPPY ICES CAKE WITH MEDAL OF FREEDOM BUSH PARDONS 6 IN IRAN AFFAIR, AVERTING A WEINBERGER TRIAL; PROSECUTOR ASSAILS 'COVER-UP' Caspar W. Weinberger, former Secretary o Defense. Charged with perjury and making faise statements stemming from a secret missie shipment 10 tran in 1985. Trial was scheduled for next month. Duane R. Carridge, former son-ior C.J.A. oficial. Charged with seven courts of perjury and making false statements stemming from secret missile shipment to Iran. Trial was sched uled for March. Clair E. Geerge, former head of C.I.A. covet operations. Found guilty this month on two felony counts of lying to Congress. Was awaiting sentence. Eillott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary d State. Pleaded guity in 1991 to withholding information from Congress. Sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service. Alan G. Fier Jr., former head of C.L.A. Central American Task Force. Pleaded guilty in 1991 Sentenced so one year probation and 100 hours of communty service. Robert C. NcFarlane, former national secutty adviser, Pleaded quilty in 1988 to withholding in-ormation fram Congress. Sentenced to tuo years probation and 200 hours of community service and fined $20,000. BUSH DIARY AT ISSUE 6-Year Inquiry Into Deal of Arms for Hostages All but Swept Away Former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Winberger after he was granted a pardon by President Bush in the armsfor-hostages case. By DAVID JOHNSTON Seesalto Te New Yars Tunes WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - Six years after the arms-for-hostages scandal began to cast a shadow that would darken two Administrations, President Bush today granted full pardons to six former officials in Ronald Reagan's Administration, including former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinber- ger. Mr. Weinberger was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. S on charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of the arms sales to Tran and effors by other countries to help underwrite the Nicaraguan rebels, a case that was expected to focus on Mr. Weinberger's ¡vste notee that conta… Bush Pardons Weinberger, 5 Others in Iran-Contra; Act Called Cover-Up: Inquiry: Prosecutor accuses President of misconduct, claims Bush kept own notes of arms-for-hostages affair. Christmas Eve clemency scuttles six-year investigation. BY ROBERT L. JACKSON AND RONALD J. OSTROW DEC. 25, 1992 12 AM PT TIMES STAFF WRITERS WASHINGTON - President Bush granted Christmas Eve pardons to former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and five other former government officials Thursday, wiping out all pending criminal prosecutions in the Iran-Contra case. In an angry statement, the Iran-Contra independent counsel, Lawrence E. Walsh, accused Bush of "misconduct" and declared that the pardon was part of the cover-up that "There were some people arguing just for [a pardon for] Weinberger, and I said, 'No, in for a penny, in for a pound," Barr told the interviewer. "I went over and told the President I thought he should not only pardon Caspar Weinberger, but while he was at it, he should pardon about five others." Which is exactly what Bush did, on Christmas Eve when most Americans were with family instead of watching the news. The holiday notwithstanding, the result was explosive. America knew that both Reagan and Bush were up to their necks in Iran-Contra, and Democrats had been talking about impeachment or worse. The independent counsel had already obtained one conviction, three guilty pleas, and two other individuals were lined up for prosecution. And Walsh was closing in fast on Bush himself. So, when Bush shut the investigation down by pardoning not only Weinberger, but also Abrams and the others involved in the crimes, destroying Walsh's ability to prosecute anybody, the New York Times ran the headline all the way across four of the six columns on the front page, screaming in all-caps: BUSH PARDONS 6 IN IRAN AFFAIR, ABORTING A WEINBERGER TRIAL; PROSECUTOR ASSAILS 'COVER-UP.' Bill Barr had struck.
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Don’t forget the financial institutions that enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking. For years Wall Street on Parade has been reporting about Epstein. You can search its archives for past articles. wallstreetonparade.com/2025/09/its-...
Jamie Dimon Is Fighting a Deposition in a Devastating Lawsuit Charging JPMorgan With Being the Cash Conduit for Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Crimes By Ram Martens and Russ Martens: March 6, 2023 ~ The Attorney General's office of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) has filed a First Amended Complaint against JPMorgan Chase that has less redactions than an carlier version. The complaint makes devastating and detailed charges. It charges that the bank sat on a pile of evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was running a child sex trafficking ring as it continued to keep him as a client; accept his lucrative referrals of wealthy clients; and provided him with large sums of cash and wire transfers to pay off victims - one of whom was a "14-year old sex slave." Attorneys for the bank are now resisting allowing Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon from being deposed under oath in the matter as to what he knew and when he knew it. The case is USVI v JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. (22-cv-10904) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. As is becoming a regular occurrence when there is a politically sensitive case involving JPMorgan Chase, Judge Jed Rakoff is the presiding judge. (See Judge Rakoff Signs a Dangerous Protective Order in Whistleblower Case Against S-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase.) The lawsuit includes the following charges against JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States with more than 5,000 local branches serving mom and pop accounts: "JP Morgan did business with Jeffrey Epstein from as early as 1998 to 2013. In that time, JP Morgan serviced approximately fifty-five Epstein-related accounts collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars. "...at least 20 individuals paid through JP Morgan accounts were victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St. James, New York, and/or other Epstein properties. These women were traflicked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women r… JPMorgan Is Alleged to Have Used Its Hedge Fund's Private Jet to Engage in Sex-Trafficking for Jeffrey Epstein By Pam Martens_and Russ Martens: June 19, 2023 ~ At a March 13 court hearing this year, prominent attorney, David Boies, argued in open court that the largest federally-insured bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase - which has more than 5,000 Chase bank branches holding mom and pop savings from coast to coast - had used a private jet owned Attorney David Boies with Virginia Roberts Guffre at dowray coston count hourng a wow tork, rogust 2r. by the bank's hedge fund, Highbridge Capital, to transport girls for Epstein's sex traflicking operation. A January 13, 2023 amended complaint filed by Boies' law firm, elaborated on the allegation as follows: "As another example of JP Morgan and (Jes) Staley's benefit from assisting Epstein, a highly profitable deal for JP Morgan was the Highbridge acquisition. "In 2004, when Epstein's sex trafficking and abuse operation was running at full speed, Epstein served up another big financial payday for JP Morgan. "Epstein was close friends with Glenn Dubin, the billionaire who ran Highbridge Capital Management. "Through Epstein's connection, it has been reported that Staley arranged for JP Morgan to buy a majority stake in Dubin's fund, which resulted in a sizeable profit for JP Morgan. This arrangement was profitable for both Staley and JPMorgan, further incentivizing JP Morgan to ignore the suspicious activity in Epstein's accounts and to assist in his sex-trafficking venture. "For example, despite that Epstein was not FINRA-certified, Epstein was paid more than $15 million for his role in the Highbridge/JP Morgan deal. "Moreover, Highbridge, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JP Morgan, trafficked young women and girls on its own private jet from Florida to Epstein in New York as late as 2012." This allegation is unique and explosive because it moves JPMorgan Chase from being just a cash facilitator for Epstein's sex-traffi… Time to Name the "Wall Street Financiers" in the Epstein Files An Open Letter to Congressman James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ~ September 2, 2025 ~ Dear Chairman Comer: On August 31 you sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seeking, no later than September 15, all Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by banks "in reference to or relating to Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and/or Ghislaine Maxwell." Your letter of August 31 follows a letter dated July 21 that Senator Ron Wyden, the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In that letter, Senator Wyden reveals that bipartisan staff of the Senate Finance Committee were allowed earlier this year to look at the SARs material you are seeking from the U.S. Treasury, but not make copies. Senator Wyden writes: "On February 14, 2024, bipartisan staff of the Senate Finance Committee conducted in camera review of thousands of pages of Treasury Department files documenting the flow of money in and out of Jeffrey Epstein's accounts. The Treasury Department's Epstein file contains significant information on the sources of funding behind Epstein's sex trafficking activities. For example, one of the documents in the Treasury Department's Epstein file indicates that between 2003 - 2019, there were more than 4,725 wire transfers totaling $1.08 billion involving Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, including Darren Indyke, Harry Beller, Richard Kahn and Erika Kellerhals. The Treasury Department's Epstein file also contains details of hundreds of millions in payments to Epstein from Wall Street financiers..." I want to call your careful attention to the fact that Senator Wyden is using the plural form in his phrase "Wall Street financiers." Thus far, the only Wall Street financier that has been publicly named for wiring huge sums to Epstein-related accounts is Leon Black, whom Senator Wyden confirms wired $170 million to Epstein's accou…
November 13, 2025 at 3:20 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
If you have time, watch the Netflix documentary The Family, or read Jeff Sharlet’s book The Family. The Fellowship teaches its members that God will use an evil man to advance the “Christian”agenda. It’s wild how much this secretive Christian Nationalist group has weaponized the New Testament.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Ofall the important studies of the American right, The Family is undoubtedly the most eloquent. It is also quite possibly the most terrifying THOMAS FRANK, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS? THE FAMILY THE SECRET FUNDAMENTALISM AT THE HEART OF AMERICAN POWER NETFLIX A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY JEFF SHARLET
November 13, 2025 at 3:08 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Union response to Buffett’s BNSF earning letter. www.smart-union.org/smart-td-res...
Berkshire Hathaway For decades, Warren Buffett has reigned as one of the most-recognizable brands in American business. He leads BNSF's parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and his decisions play a large role in the direction of the rail industry. Buffett and Berkshire's reach extends into industries all over the globe. It influences many common U.S. business sectors, from insurance, real estate, and the energy sector down to jewelry stores and the groceries we buy labeled Kraft or Heinz. It is easy to understand why the alleged "Oracle of Omaha" and his annual letter to investors is widely read. His words are embraced by the owning class, who dream of hoarding even a fraction of Buffett's great fortune. This year, Buffett complained in great detail about BNSF as well as railroading in general. First and foremost, Buffett expressed his disappointment that BNSF's revenue and profits fell last year. He also noted that our new contract provided raises that were "far beyond the country's inflation goals." Nobody in the SMART Transportation Division is regularly found in Forbes or Fortune magazine. Still, our interpretation of his letter is that, in his billionaire opinion, the raises our members earned in the 2022 National Agreement were "too much" and that what it did to Berkshire Hathaway's stockholders was "disappointing" because they - the ownership - deserved more. • 'It's almost like you're in free fall': Picking up the pieces after BNSF layoffs (KOLN) • BNSF layoffs announced in Nebraska (KFOR) • BNS lays off dozens (KOLN) Let's be crystal clear, his statement never stated that BNSF lost money. His disappointment is that an overdue raise for the people who actually do the work cut into the obscene amount of profit they wanted to make. The 92-year-old billionaire, sadly, did not make as much off workers' backs as predicted. SMART-TD will not apologize to Buffett or anyone else on Wall Street for our men and women getting paid what they have rightfully earned while keeping this nation's economy humming. He went on to describe how BNSF's profit margins have fallen relative to the other Class I railroads and promised that these "margin comparisons can and should improve." Maybe that's why he decided to have BNSF cut the jobs of maintenance workers, pipe fitters and other unionized workers across the railroad. These men and women many with mouths to feed, were shown the door the VERY WEEK after his public-facing letter. Our union hears this loud and clear. If the profits being returned to the stockholders are disappointing, the answer for Berkshire Hathaway and BNSF obviously isn't for the company to try harder to grow, to earn new business, or expand its relationship with the customers they have; it is to increase the operating (Profit) ratios. The easiest and most-expedient way to do that is to start handing out pink slips and furloughs because the executives and shareholders MUST get theirs first and foremost. We know what it looks like when railroad-owning hedge funds start managing railroads based on operating ratios and profit margins. Safety goes out the window, trains get longer, brake inspections get rushed, extra boards get smaller, PO days get canceled, maintenance workers are axed. Life gets harder at home and more hazardous for those on the job. If Berkshire Hathaway's profit isn't growing fast enough, the executive perspective is it's far cheaper to buy additional whips than to add more horses to the team. This is the same mentality used by Wall Street to run our industry into the ground since 2017. Buffett went on to discuss the work conditions that our members/his employees face. He discussed how he works in an "always-comfortable office" while railroaders are doing their work in harsh winter conditions that are both "tiring and dangerous." If these are actual concerns he holds, SMART-TD and our General Chairpersons would be happy to discuss more structured rest schedules, the end to BNSF's ridiculous "Hi-Viz" attendance policy., as well as the implementation of the many safety protocols and redundancies our union has long advocated. Additionally, if Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway's upper management are truthfully concerned with the level of danger for their employees, they could follow Norfolk Southern's lead and join the Confidential Close Call Reporting (CRS) program as the FRA, NASA, and the Department of Transportation have been suggesting. This way, they can enable the safety benefits for their employees that other railroads have realized by participating in this program. It'd be preferable to going down the dangerous path of crew-size reductions and automation. Along those same lines, another change Buffett and BNSF CEO Katie Farmer could make for safety is not to follow through on the planned job cuts for workers in the nation's heartland. Cutting 362 jobs in crafts charged with inspections, safety compliance, and making pivotal repairs to the tracks and rolling stock does not square with any concern expressed for worker safety. It does line up roughly 100% with the OTHER comments made about easing the "disappointment" of Berkshire's stockholders. Buffett's letter also laments that "a growing percentage of Americans are not looking for the difficult, and often lonely employment conditions inherent in some rail operations." Why would Buffett help fund the fight against two-person crew regulations if he is so worried about this aspect of our lives? Until Buffett and the machine at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., as well as the rest of the rail executives and their all-important stockholders, are ready to address workers' issues in a serious, thoughtful way, the hard-working people represented by SMART-D would appreciate it if they didn't use the crosses we bear to shield themselves in their "always-comfortable offices." It is inappropriate to hide behind the dangers and hardships we endure on your behalf; hardships we tolerate for the good of our families, to gain wiggle room with stockholders who aren't happy with the size of your dividend check. As a reminder, you and your fellow shareholders make money. because of us, not in spite of us, even though the Association of American Railroads claimed otherwise in 2022 that "Labor Does Not Contribute to Profits." We are exploited enough in our day-to-day duties at BNSF and the other big railroads with inflexible attendance policies and a desire to place profitability over safety and humanity. You have no right to use our hardships to justify anything to the stockholders. You have no right to twist the worst aspects of our lives into a justification for a recommitment to longer trains, more grueling schedules, and a diminished commitment to appropriate staffing and safety. We resent the manipulation of your backhanded compliments on our toughness and ability to overcome our job conditions despite your lack of actual assistance. Mr. Buffett, you have done nothing in this letter but show that the owning class believes in its own story that what they do in the comfort of their own office matters more than what happens where the boots hit the ballast, at all hours of the day and night and types of weather. How can you justify telling the world that an overdue pay raise is problematic for stock dividends while you also use our lifestyle to hijack any em…
November 11, 2025 at 8:51 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Warren Buffett’s management of BNSF railroad has endangered lives with cuts to workers and lobbying against safety regulations. www.vice.com/en/article/m...
Insight - Buffett's BNSF helped lead fight to delay train safety technology David Morgan November 4, 20158:13 AM CSTUpdated November 4, 2015 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Philadelphia in May, killing eight people and injuring scores more, the railroad industry's campaign to delay a Dec. 31 deadline to install technology to prevent such disasters appeared to be finished. Not, as it turned out, if billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, had anything to do with it. Thune chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the rail industry. Last week, under pressure from companies including Buffett's BNSF Railway Co, which has spent more money lobbying Congress this year than any other railroad, U.S. legislators passed, and President Obama signed, a law that delays the so-called positive train control mandate for at least three years, with the possibility of an additional two-year delay. That means railroad operators can put off having to buy and install equipment that safety advocates say would have prevented accidents that have claimed more than 245 lives and caused over 4,200 injuries since the National Transportation Safety Board began calling for the technology in 1969. Railroad advocates presented a blunt argument: Unless the mandate to install positive train control technology was delayed, the railroads would attempt to cripple the economy. Railroads that missed the deadline to install systems that automatically slow or stop a train under dangerous circumstances claimed that they would face heightened liabilities by operating outside of federal law, and that therefore they would decline to carry passengers, including commuters. They wouldn't deliver commodities that are classified as hazardous, but are also vital to the economy - including chemicals like chlorine and ammonia needed to run city water treatment plants, refine oil and keep farms and factories running. BNSF Railways Workers Forced To Ignore Oil Train Safety Air Date: Week of July 11, 2014 5440 PETROLEUM BNSF transports crude oil throughout much of North America (Photo: Roy Luck) One of the largest freight railroad companies in North America, BNSF, transports much of the
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Other senators viewed as potentially voting for a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government are Shaheen, Ossoff, Gary Peters, Mark Kelly, Maggie Hassan,Peter Welch,Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, Elissa Slotkin along with Fetterman, King and Cortez-Masto. Please call your Democratic Senators.
November 10, 2025 at 3:25 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Please call your Democratic Senators. Looks like Schumer and Gillibrand is voting no, but possible YES votes are Kaine, Ossoff, Baldwin, Welch, Peters, Slotkin, Hassan, Shaheen, Kelly, King, Cortez Masto , and Fetterman. thehill.com/homenews/sen...
8 Democrats at center of potential deal to end government shutdown this week by Alexander Bolton At least eight moderate Senate Democrats are meeting in hopes of finding a deal to end the monthlong government shutdown, but sources familiar with the closely held conversations say they will need strong assurances from the GOP before voting to reopen the government. The eight Democrats, who include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the latter a top Republican target in 2026, will need to feel comfortable with whatever is offered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and they may need to hear from President Trump himself, sources told The Hill. The group huddled in the Capitol basement during votes Thursday in an attempt to put themselves in a position to end the shutdown before the scheduled Veterans Day recess. "Bipartisan conversations are continuing, and that's a good sign," Ossoff told The Hill. Asked how optimistic he was of reaching a deal this week, Ossoff, who voted earlier this month to pay essential federal workers during the shutdown, said, "We need a resolution that does right by our constituents." https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5584077-democrats-snap-funding-shutdown-cono "My constituents don't want their health insurance premiums to skyrocket. They want the government reopened," he said. "It's good that bipartisan conversations are continuing." The senators viewed as most likely to vote for a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government are Shaheen, Ossoff and Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). The eight lawmakers were spotted emerging from a meeting in a Capitol hideaway Thursday before the Senate adjourned for the week, and some of them, including Shaheen and Kelly, said they wanted the chamber to stay in session over the weekend to get the deal done. Along with Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev. and Angus King (I-Maine), they would be able to provide more than enough votes to reopen federal departments and agencies this week. Fetterman, Cortez Masto and King have voted repeatedly for a House-passed bill to fund the government through Nov. 21. A Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on the prospect of a deal this week said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is eager to end the shutdown after funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits expired and the open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace started Saturday. "They don't want to go through another week with federal employees not getting paid and the food banks being shut off," said the Democratic lawmaker, referring to Democratic colleagues eager to reopen the "What I can promise them is a process. They would get their vote, and they can have their vote by a date certain, which ... initially, at least, a lot of them were asking for," he said. Moderate Democrats are weighing whether Thune can help them deliver a bill to keep health insurance premiums in check that can pass the House and secure Trump's signature. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a prominent centrist who is up for reelection next year, said he's skeptical of any deal with Republicans that doesn't have Trump's blessing. "I have a concern that so many ci my Republican friends, who I know are concerned about the governmert being shut down, health care costs, the SNAP benefits - I do worry whether they are willing to make that deal with the president's sign-of " he said. "Unlike in the past, we probably got to get the president deeply engaged," he said. "It goes back to trust."
November 10, 2025 at 3:08 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Democratic senators viewed as most likely to vote for a clean CR to reopen the government are Shaheen (D-NH), Kaine (D-VA), Ossoff (D-GA), Peters (D-MI.), Kelly (D-AZ.), Hassan (D-N.H.), Peter Welch (D-VT),Baldwin (D-WI),Slotkin (D-MI., Fetterman (D-PA),Cortez Masto (D-NV) and King (I-ME).
8 Democrats at center of potential deal to end government shutdown this week by Alexander Bolton At least eight moderate Senate Democrats are meeting in hopes of finding a deal to end the monthlong government shutdown, but sources familiar with the closely held conversations say they will need strong assurances from the GOP before voting to reopen the government. The eight Democrats, who include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the latter a top Republican target in 2026, will need to feel comfortable with whatever is offered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and they may need to hear from President Trump himself, sources told The Hill. The group huddled in the Capitol basement during votes Thursday in an attempt to put themselves in a position to end the shutdown before the scheduled Veterans Day recess. "Bipartisan conversations are continuing, and that's a good sign," Ossoff told The Hill. Asked how optimistic he was of reaching a deal this week, Ossoff, who voted earlier this month to pay essential federal workers during the shutdown, said, "We need a resolution that does right by our constituents." https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5584077-democrats-snap-funding-shutdown-cono "My constituents don't want their health insurance premiums to skyrocket. They want the government reopened," he said. "It's good that bipartisan conversations are continuing." The senators viewed as most likely to vote for a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government are Shaheen, Ossoff and Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). The eight lawmakers were spotted emerging from a meeting in a Capitol hideaway Thursday before the Senate adjourned for the week, and some of them, including Shaheen and Kelly, said they wanted the chamber to stay in session over the weekend to get the deal done. Along with Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev. and Angus King (I-Maine), they would be able to provide more than enough votes to reopen federal departments and agencies this week. Fetterman, Cortez Masto and King have voted repeatedly for a House-passed bill to fund the government through Nov. 21. A Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on the prospect of a deal this week said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is eager to end the shutdown after funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits expired and the open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace started Saturday. "They don't want to go through another week with federal employees not getting paid and the food banks being shut off," said the Democratic lawmaker, referring to Democratic colleagues eager to reopen the "What I can promise them is a process. They would get their vote, and they can have their vote by a date certain, which ... initially, at least, a lot of them were asking for," he said. Moderate Democrats are weighing whether Thune can help them deliver a bill to keep health insurance premiums in check that can pass the House and secure Trump's signature. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a prominent centrist who is up for reelection next year, said he's skeptical of any deal with Republicans that doesn't have Trump's blessing. "I have a concern that so many ci my Republican friends, who I know are concerned about the governmert being shut down, health care costs, the SNAP benefits - I do worry whether they are willing to make that deal with the president's sign-of " he said. "Unlike in the past, we probably got to get the president deeply engaged," he said. "It goes back to trust." Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Iic. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, reu ritten or redistributed.
November 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
My cat Scout loves to help me with putting away groceries. She always greets me at the door whenever I get home. She does the cutest little dance around my legs. Scout is my Beatrix Potter cat.
Grey and white cat sitting in a purple tote bag next to groceries. The Tale of Tom Kitten
November 6, 2025 at 4:02 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Many of these ICE “agents” have not passed criminal background checks. In my state, an employee or volunteer cannot be around children without passing a criminal background check.
NBC NEWS Some new ICE recruits have shown up to training without full vetting The recruits have had criminal backgrounds or failed drug tests or were unable to meet physical or academic standards, raising concerns about the agency's rush to hire immigration officers, sources told NBC News. Then, on Wednesday, NBC News reported that ICE has advanced recruits to the training program before the agency's vetting process is fully complete because they're rushing to get people into uniform. That has led to people traveling to Georgia for training, only for officials to learn that they failed a drug test or have past or pending criminal charges, though that has been a problem for fewer than 10 people, sources said. Still, some recruits hadn't even submitted their fingerprints for necessary background checks. NBC says that, since the hiring surge began this summer, ICE has dismissed more than 200 people for not meeting requirements while they were already in training. (ICE said these figures are for people who haven't worked in law enforcement before and that former cops and former ICE officers go through a different training process.) The most common reasons for getting the boot were not clearing the fitness standards and being unable to pass an open-book exam on legal issues. NBC said that nearly half of those sent home failed the test, which it described as "an exam in which officers are allowed to consult their textbooks and notes at the end of a legal course on the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Fourth Amendment, which outlines when officers can and can't conduct searches and seizures." Bruh. All of this is undoubtedly funny, but it's also scary since some people will undoubtedly slip through the cracks of an overwhelmed human resources office fielding tens of thousands of applications and get hired despite red flags. "[One current DHS official] said many of the issues that have been flagged during training surface only because the recruits admitted they didn't submit to fingerprinting or drug testing before they arrived. "What about the ones who don't admit it?" the official said. Because this is too dark to contemplate at the moment, we will leave you with two amusing video clips. ICE Director Admits He's Rounding Up People Without Criminal Records In an interview with MSNBC, Tom Homan quadrupled down on his nationwide crackdown.
November 5, 2025 at 11:20 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Should poorly vetted ICE agents be around schools and daycare centers? In my state, schools and daycare facilities require a criminal background check for all employees and volunteers.
Some new ICE recruits have shown up to training without full vetting The recruits have had criminal backgrounds or failed drug tests or were unable to meet physical or academic standards, raising concerns about the agency's rush to hire immigration officers, sources told NBC News. Then, on Wednesday, NBC News reported that ICE has advanced recruits to the training program before the agency's vetting process is fully complete because they're rushing to get people into uniform. That has led to people traveling to Georgia for training, only for officials to learn that they failed a drug test or have past or pending criminal charges, though that has been a problem for fewer than 10 people, sources said. Still, some recruits hadn't even submitted their fingerprints for necessary background checks. NBC says that, since the hiring surge began this summer, ICE has dismissed more than 200 people for not meeting requirements while they were already in training. (ICE said these figures are for people who haven't worked in law enforcement before and that former cops and former ICE officers go through a different training process.) The most common reasons for getting the boot were not clearing the fitness standards and being unable to pass an open-book exam on legal issues. NBC said that nearly half of those sent home failed the test, which it described as "an exam in which officers are allowed to consult their textbooks and notes at the end of a legal course on the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Fourth Amendment, which outlines when officers can and can't conduct searches and seizures." Bruh. All of this is undoubtedly funny, but it's also scary since some people will undoubtedly slip through the cracks of an overwhelmed human resources office fielding tens of thousands of applications and get hired despite red flags. "[One current DHS official] said many of the issues that have been flagged during training surface only because the recruits admitted they didn't submit to fingerprinting or drug testing before they arrived. "What about the ones who don't admit it?" the official said. Because this is too dark to contemplate at the moment, we will leave you with two amusing video clips. ICE Recruits Are Failing Background Checks, Drug Tests, Fitness Standards, & Open-Book Exams Barf Bag: It turns out that the folks most eager to brutalize non-white people aren't exactly our country's best or brightest. BARR BAC POLICE ICE Welcome back to Barf Bag, a subscriber-exclusive column. Here's everything you get when you subscribe. People may know that the Trump administration is seeking to hire and train 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents by the end of the year to carry out an openly racist mass deportation agenda. The Big, Ugly Bill that passed in July gives the agency $/5 billion over four years, nearly tripling its budget.
November 5, 2025 at 9:06 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
OBAMA 28 SINCE RULES DON'T EXIST ANYMORE
November 4, 2025 at 9:23 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
@ossoff.bsky.social Senator Ossoff, I just read your report regarding humanitarian conditions in ICE prisons. Thank you for your continuing investigation of medical neglect in ICE prisons.
Jon Ossoff U.S. SENATOR FOR GEORGIA MEDICAL NEGLECT & DENIAL OF ADEQUATE FOOD OR WATER IN U.S. IMMIGRATION DETENTION
November 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
A fitting tribute to a truly awful human being. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the rest of the Bush43 administration built the authoritarian structure that tRump is using against us. Cheney was one of the primary supporters of the Unitary Executive Theory.
ANGLER THE CHENEY VICE PRESIDENCY BARTON GELLMAN VICE DICK CHENEY AND THE HIJACKING OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY LOU DUBOSE ORD FOR PAPERBAC NO THE SCOOTER LIB THE INSIDE STORY OF SPIN, SCANDAL, AND THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR HUBRIS NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN WHY WE FIGHT A FILM BY EUGENE JARECKI It is nowhere written that the American empire goes on forever. WINNER GRAND JURY PRIZE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL THE FINANCIAL TIMES "Excellent... alarming... superb"
November 4, 2025 at 7:13 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Adorable ginger kitty 🥰
Here are my ginger boys Jake and Elwood. Jake is sitting in the bowl. Elwood is sitting in the red car.
Here are my ginger boys Jake and Elwood. Jake is sitting in the green bowl. Elwood is sitting in the red car.
November 1, 2025 at 2:47 AM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Never forget the morbidly rich who are demanding their tax cuts and subsidies while denying pay to government employees and food to 42 million children, disabled and elderly Americans. Remember that class warfare has a body count.
The Billionaires Are Abandoning Humanity Peter Thiel and his friends feel they no longer belong to our species. American billionaires: 607 Americans in poverty: 38M CEO/worker pay ratio: 278:1 Wealth of 3 richest Americans: $345B Wealth of bottom 50%: $250B Top 1% wealth since 1989: +$21T Bottom 50% wealth since 1989: - $900B The billionaire class is crushing everything in its path. Just one year of a 2% tax on billionaires would cover ending homelessness and hunger, providing tuition-free public college, universal childcare, and replacing all of the lead pipes in the U.S. - and it wouldn't affect how billionaires live their lives at all. to Stuff Your Treasuries Will Senator Toomey Engage in Koch-Speak at Today's Senate Confirmation Hearing? → More than a Year Later, Americans Have No Idea Where $9 Trillion of Fed Money Went By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 1, 2021 ~ Beginning on September 17, 2019 - months before there was any report of a COVID-19 case anywhere in the world - the Federal Reserve turned on its money spigot to the trading houses on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Wall Street. By October 23, 2019 the Fed announced that it was upping these loans to $690 billion a week - again, months before any report of COVID-19 anywhere in the world. Earlier in October 2019, the Fed had also announced that it would be buying back $60 billion a month in Treasury bills. Within a span of six months, the Fed had pumped out a cumulative $9 trillion in loans to Wall Street's trading houses, according to its own spread sheets, with no peep as to which Wall Street firms were getting the bulk of that money. It's more than a year later and the American people still have no idea what triggered that so-called "repo loan crisis" or which Wall Street firms were in trouble or remain in trouble. The Federal Reserve, as is typical, outsourced this money spigot to the New York Fed, which is literally_owned by some of the largest banks on Wall Street. We wrote at the time the New York Fed was making these massive repo loans that this action was unprecedented in Federal Reserve history for the following reasons: No Wall Street crisis has been announced to the public to explain these massive loans and Treasury buybacks; Not one hearing has been held by Congress on the matter; Not one official elected by the American people has authorized these loans; The loans are not being made to commercial banks (which could re-loan the money to stimulate the U.S. economy). The loans are going to the New York Fed's primary dealers, which are stock and bond trading houses on Wall Street who count hedge funds among their la…
October 30, 2025 at 8:07 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
The Ellison family is proving just as toxic as the Murdoch
Nice little merger you got there. Ild be a shame it something were lo happen lo it. FACTS ORACLE SKYDANCE ORACLE Paramount PROJECT STARGATE PROJECT STARGATE SKYDANCE 5口 LARRY ELLISON OWNS ORACLE HIS SON DAVID OWNS SKYDANCE LARRY FINANCES DAVID DAVID WANTS TO MERGE SKYDANCE & PARAMOUNT TO MAKE A MEDIA GIANT LARRY WANTS THE US TO FUND HIS AI MOONSHOT PROJECT STARGATE TRUMP CAN GIVE OR DENY LARRY THE MONEY HE CAN ALSO BLOCK DAVID'S MERGER ALTHOUGH HE KNOWS PUBLIC FIGURES DON'T WIN DEFAMATION SUITS HE'S SUING PARAMOUNT FOR DEFAMATION BY A 60 MINUTES INTERVIEW PREDICTIONS PROJECT ORACLE STARGATE DAVID (AND DAD) GETS THE MERGER CREATING ANOTHER MEDIA GIANT SKYDANCE BEHOLDEN TO TRUMP LARRY GETS A BOOST IN HIS AI RACE BEHOLDEN TO TRUMP TRUMP GETS MONEY WHEN DAVID'S MERGER TARGET MINUTES SETTLES THE ABSURD CASE WHICH WOULD MATCH THIS FLOW OF MONEY ORACLE Billionaire Larry Ellison says a vast Al-fueled surveillance system can ensure 'citizens will be on their best behavior' To be clear Larry Ellison, a billionaire Trump donor who believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, used his own money to buy CBS and install his son as the boss. They'll then convert CBS into another right wing propaganda mill like Fox News. It's not really subtle!
October 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
In Texas, our government and courts are a wholly owned subsidiary of fossil fuel billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.
Two West Texas billionaires are attempting to take over our government, warns one state representative, who is urging politicians from both sides of the aisle to fight back. "There is something happening here in Texas," state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, said during an impassioned speech at the State Capitol. "Their names are Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, and they're the biggest Republican donors in the state... And now, to complete their takeover, they're going to try to buy the Texas House." James Talarico @jamestalarico • Follow Two billionaires are trying to take over our state government. They've bought the Governor. They've bought the Attorney General. They've bought the State Senate. Now they're trying to buy the State House. Texas is too big and too great to be sold to the highest bidder.
October 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
My father served in the Army Air Corps during WWII. Due to a compound fracture that required surgery and pins in his left arm, my dad could have been 4F. Because he wanted to stop Hitler and Mussolini, my father had to see several doctors before they would certify him for military service.
ANTI-FASCISTS DISRUPTING A LARGE GATHERING OF WHITE SUPREMACISTS... Antifa Class of 1945
October 17, 2025 at 1:49 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
I’m so sorry about Fergus. 😔💔My cat Hollister died from a fast growing cancer about ten years ago.
Tuxedo cat peaking out from under a quilt. Tuxedo cat
October 9, 2025 at 8:57 PM
chloepoliticat.bsky.social
Only about 3% of Texans were talking about secession. Most Texans know that secession would be an economic disaster. I doubt EDS, General Dynamics and the other defense contractors would allow Texas to secede from the US. Texas produces more renewable energy than California.
These are the states that produce the most total renewable energy (millions of megawatt-hours), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration: 1. Texas (33.95) 2. Washington (25.01) 3. California (19.52) 4. lowa (13.30) 5. Oregon (13.11) 6. Oklahoma (10.50) 7. New York (9.38) 8. Kansas (8.27) 9. Illinois (7.11) 10. Minnesota (5.40) While not categorized by the ElA as renewable, nuclear energy has also served as a popular alternative to fossil fuels, making up 8% of nationwide energy usage in 2021, though that figure has grown only a modest 3% since 2000, according to USAfacts. Production of Fossil Fuel Alternatives by State Millions of megawatt-hours produced from January-March 2022. ... State Wind Solar Hydro. Geo. Texas 28.9 4.4 0.3 一 Washington 2.7 - 22.0 California 3.9 7.7 3.6 2.9 lowa 12.9 0.1 0.3 - Oregon 2.3 0.3 10.2 0.1 Oklahoma 9.7 0.0 0.7 New York 1.5 0.3 7.1 - Kansas 8.2 0.0 0.0 Illinois 6.7 0.3 0.0 - Minnesota 4.4 0.4 0.3 - North Dakota 4.7 - 0.7 - Colorado 4.3 0.5 0.5 North Carolina 0.2 2.3 2.0 South Dakota 2.9 1.7 - Alabama 0.2 3.6 New Mexico 3.9 0.4 0.0 Montana 1.1 0.0 3.2 一
October 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM