Greg Casar elected head of the Pergressuve Cucks; And?

That's what I call the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and with good reason.

Casar, a freshman Congresscritter from right here in Tex-ass, has been elected head of the group.

The only way he can make the org better is to boot about half its members, one of the things I said at that top link that's a problem with it.

Unfortunately, per the Trib story, he likely won't:

He would rather build coalitions than pass ideological purity tests that have pushed voters away from the left. He espouses a more working class message, steering away from the culture wars and back to economic concerns that dominated voters’ minds this year.

Business as usual. Oh, sure, in various places in various stories, he condemns the Joe Manchins of the world, but says it wasn't that Yachtsman Joe wasn't too liberal or too conservative, but that they didn't offer enough progress. It's statements like this that lead me to use the word "pergressuve."

Current head Pramila Jayapal, one of the worst cucks, didn't run again, because she was term-limited.

That said? 

Nobody else wanted it.

Indeed, per this piece, Casar was unopposed.

Also meanwhile, what if anything will the Cucks as a caucus say about Ukraine, the issue in my top link that got them the name "Pergressuve Cucks." Or Israel and Gaza, where the Cucks' cave-in got Jayapal designated as "one of the worst cucks." I mean, St. Bernard of Sanders follows the left hand of the duopoly party line on foreign policy, slight noises on Israel aside.

Well, actually, we know Casar is a cuck on this issue. He willingly conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism, supports full support for Israel, opposes BDS etc. And, Greg? The two-state solution is as dead as a fucking doorknob because Israel killed it. He opposes "offensive" military aid for Israel, but who knows what that is? None of this is different from St. Bernard. The Austin chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America unendorsed him, in fact in this year's general election to his second term.

Let's get back to this "unopposed," though.

OK, the Cucks tout having about 100 members. And, NOBODY besides Casar — a freshman, I remind you — wanted this? Shit, that's a caucus that has clearly decided to File 13 itself. Seriously. It's like saying, "We're OK with being semi-irrelevant."

US/NATO/Nat-Sec Nutsack Axis wants to fight PAST the last Ukrainian?

John Helmer reports that with the failure of Ukraine's vaunted counteroffensive, it's doubling down instead on a new PR counteroffensive. He adds that polling inside Russia shows growing support for Putin, despite the wishful thinking of the US-NATO/Nat-sec Nutsack axis, and growing acceptance the war could continue into 2024.

BUT, contra what Helmer and others of us had been led to believe? The Axis apparently is going to ignore its previous end-of-year deadline for Ukraine and is already looking at next year's fight, specifically a spring offensive, because this year's "vaunted Ukrainian counteroffensive" went so damned well. That said, with good info that Zelensky is over 100,000 casualties, where are the warm bodies coming from? I've already, with both hashtags, asked the #NAFOFellas aka #NAFONazis if any of them is leaving the Fighting 101st Keyboarders and going to the actual front lines.

Sadly, from the non-duopoly POV, both the #BlueMAGA and #MAGA parties, outside the House Freedom Fries Caucus, will continue to support this nuttery. Just like Afghanistan. Just like Iraq. Just like Vietnam. And, I'm sure that within #BlueAnon, the Progressive Cuck-us, minus perhaps part of the Fraud Squad, will continue to sign off, too.

Pramila Jayapal continued to be the head Progressive Cuck

That's of course punning on the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which she is the chairwoman.

Nine months after caving to Warmonger Joe over Ukraine, she collapsed again, this time to Zionmongers of both parties in the House, over a nonbinding "sense of the House" resolution to support Israel, as offered up by Tex-ass' Charlie Pfluger (R-Not from Pflugerville but worse).

Once again, per the 412-9 vote, most of the Cuck-us caved in. Betty McCollum showed the same courage of convictions that she did over Warmonger Joe's cluster bombs a week ago and voted "present." That stood out even more as a vote of "one." Jayapal couldn't even "help a sister out" with a second "present" vote. Ruben Gallego may actually have been absent, or he may just have absented himself. I won't speculate about the other absentees.

Shockingly, all of the Fraud Squad, including the self-alleged Sephardi Jew Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, actually voted against it.  So did Squad add-on Cori Bush, plus Jamaal Bowman, Andre Carson of Indiana, Summer Lee of greater Philly, and Delia Ramirez of Chicago.

Of course, the CPC surrendered leverage when all Dem Congresscritters, including all of the Fraud, voted for Warmonger Joe's first big Ukrainian arms bazaar bill. And, before AOC, Ilhan, etc. speak out, the Tweet above says Jayapal as CPC chair was speaking for the caucus, not just herself. (And, I checked AOC's Twitter Tuesday night.)

Since over that issue, Jayapal threw her own staff under the bus:

"The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine. 

"The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately released by staff without vetting. As chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this."

Today's action not surprising, as the denouement of the past few days.

Of course, the Congressional Progressive Caucus itself has become more and more bullshit. Per its own website, it has nearly 100 members, or 40 percent of the Dem Congressional caucus. If you think everybody in there is truly progressive, I've got beachfront in North Dakota to sell you. Proof of that? If those nearly 100 members, only 30 signed the letter to Warmonger Joe.

Of course, the Fraud Squad still hasn't worked to put any actual standards of membership up to become a Progressive Cuck, as tackled by Lily Sanchez at A Current Affair in an AOC call-out, nor has it tried to vote out Jayapal. 

The bottom line on this is that "duopoly exit" is about more than presidential voting.

#Debtmaggedon - Obama shafts House Dems blows McConnell

Here's where many a Member of Congress stands:

"I don't want my hands on (Debtmaggedon.)"

Those were the words, in part, of North Carolina Democrat G.K. Butterfield:

“I wouldn’t call it anger, but we are perplexed that it has turned out like it has. But we’ve run out of options and we know the consequences. I’ve heard horror stories from the Great Depression. I don’t want my fingerprints on that.”

Well, thanks to Preznit Kumbaya's surrender on the Bush Obama tax cuts last December, along with the asymmetric warfare of tea partiers, you're being forced to put your fingerprints on something that may cause a second depression as long-lasting as the current one.

Because, Mr. Butterfield, a second recession appears more likely. That's even as Wall Street, in hypocrisy mode, both worries about the effects of these cuts and kvetches about the deficit at the same time.

Those same markets don't like the economy as it is, and now that eurozone problems are becoming more pronounced in Italy, an economy too big to get the Greece treatment, they're more worried there too.

Meanwhile, Rep. Butterfield and other Dems are going to be put on the hook for two votes, the second coming just as 2012 and elections loom, as this NYT graphic of the process illustrates. Technically, it's not for the debt ceiling, but on how to address the debt ceiling, but in spirit, this is another thing Obama said he opposed ... and now doesn't.

Surrender? This is Yalta, or the stereotypical story of Yalta.

Meanwhile, back to Democrats, and back to what this means.

In his excellent analysis, Nate Silver points out that, in making this deal, Obama pissed off Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, having long ago pissed off House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi by largely freezing her out of the process.

As for Obama? Most the heavy budget hits start in 2013. Should he be re-elected, he's already hoist himself and his policy options by his own fiscal petard. Were it not so sad for the country as a whole, I'd laugh at the schadenfreude.

Back to other Democrats and the top-linked story. At least one leading black Democrat, Elijah Cummings, is already prepared to hold his nose and vote yes.

Pelosi? Well ... not yet, at least not for public comment.

“I look forward to reviewing the legislation with my caucus to see what level of support we can provide,” she said in a statement.

Whether a Raul Grivalja type really wants to vote no, and whether he can cross hands, and hold his nose, and get enough tea partiers and progressive Democrats to combine to sink the deal, I don't know, either.

Raul, here's what Team Obama thinks of you, anyway:

Senior White House officials said they were hopeful that Congressional leaders from both sides would manage to sell the deal to their parties. While “there are some Democrats who simply don’t believe in the necessity of deficit reduction,” one administration official said, “most do. I think it’s important as a party to show Americans that we’re serious about deficit reduction.”

So, go ahead, Raul, make his day.

The person who really logrolled Preznit Kumbaya, in the vulture-like fashion so typical of him? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who else. In 16 months, he'll be majority leader, and Obama just hoisted his second term by yet another petard.

Obama otherwise failed to get around a balanced budget amendment, and failed to get around having some sort of debt-related vote again before elections.

Grover Cleveland? Jimmy Carter? Buck Buchanon maybe? Unless you're an Obamiac who continues to blind him/herself to reality, none of this should surprise you. He's only done it at least half a dozen times on major issues, as documented here. The stimulus, health care, the Bush Obama tax cuts, immigration,

Congressional progressives feel slighted and shall remain so

There’s a good reason President Barack Obama has yet to meet with the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Y’all have yet to make enough noise against him, unlike House and Senate Blue Dog caucuses, as David Sirota notes:

“The fact that Obama has spent time courting House Republicans, the most legislatively irrelevant group on the Hill, and still hasn’t met with Progressives, the center core of his party — it’s incredible,” said David Sirota, a liberal columnist and former aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who founded the Progressive Caucus in the early 1990s when he served in the House. …

“The Progressive Caucus won’t get the respect they deserve unless they show they’re willing to play hardball.”

Vote against some Obama measure. Vote against ANY Obama measure connected to Tim Geithner.

That will get you noticed. And, in combination with conservatives, might actually kill some nonsense.

Democratic leadership scaring me on proposed FISA renewal

Here’s why: House progressives say they’ve been shut out of the bill-writing process and the ACLU says it hasn’t even been briefed. House progressives fear that at least some of the incredible spying on U.S. citizens incorporated into a six month renewal of FISA late this summer are going to be made permanent.

But, they’re fighting back. The entire Congressional Progressive Caucus, all 72 members, has released a pre-emptive list of items they want to see in a FISA renewal bill:

1. It should be the policy of the United States that the objective of any authorized program of foreign intelligence surveillance must be to ensure that American citizens and persons in America are secure in their persons, papers, and effects, but makes terrorists throughout the world feel insecure.

2. The best way to achieve these twin goals is to follow the rule of law. And the exclusive law to follow with respect to authorizing foreign surveillance gathering on U.S. soil is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). As initially enacted by Congress, the exclusivity of FISA was unambiguous. Legislation must reiterate current law that FISA is the exclusive means to authorize foreign surveillance gathering on U.S. soil.

3. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) should be modernized to accommodate new technologies and to make clear that foreign to foreign communications are not subject to the FISA, even though modern technology enables that communication to be routed through the United States.

4. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is indispensable and must play a meaningful role in ensuring compliance with the law. This oversight should include, where possible, regular judicial approval and review of surveillance, of whose communications will be collected, of how it will be gathered, and of how content and other data in communications to and from the United States will be handled.

5. Congress must have regular access to information about how many U.S. communications are being collected and the authority to require court orders when it becomes clear that a certain program or surveillance of a target is scooping up communications of U.S. persons.

6. Once the government has reason to believe that a specific account, person or facility will have contact with someone in the United States, the government should be required to return to the FISC to obtain a court order for continued surveillance. Reliance on the FISC will help ensure the privacy of U.S. persons' communications.

7. Congress should not grant amnesty to any telecommunications company or to any other entity or individual for helping the NSA spy illegally on innocent Americans. The availability of amnesty will have the unintended consequence of encouraging telecommunications companies to comply with, rather than contest, illegal requests to spy on Americans.

8. Authorization to conduct foreign surveillance gathering on U.S. soil must never be made permanent. The threats to America's security and the liberties of its people will change over time and require constant vigilance by the people's representatives in Congress.

These are, or should be, no-brainers. Then why do House progressives still feel locked out of the loop by people like House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer? Why did Hoyer postpone a FISA press conference after hearing of the caucus’ bottom line demands?