Yep yep, the Government may be shut down, but the good news can’t be stopped. Can’t stop won’t stop don’t know how to stop OH GOD GET OUT OF THE WAY THE BREAK LINES ARE CUT!
*Ahem* Anyways, on to the news.
WASHINGTON — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s calls to end Senate filibusters.
When filibusters of legislation are underway, it takes 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to halt them.
Republicans now control the chamber 51-49. But strong Democratic opposition and some defecting GOP senators have kept Republicans from getting the votes needed to end the shutdown — now in its second day.
McConnell may be a slimy rat, but he’s no fool (Well he is a fool, but not THAT big a fool). He knows better than to mess with the Fillibuster, especially with the Blue Wave right around the corner. He’s not foolish enough to mess with it, Which means Dems will continue to have the power to curtail the worst Republican excesses this year until we can (hopefully) take control back in November.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a sharp critique of the White House on Sunday afternoon, telling reporters, "somebody's got to lead," in order to put an end to the ongoing federal shutdown that has entered its second day — as no clear indication of an end is in sight. Graham also took specific shots at White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, and said he hoped for a "breakthrough" on negotiations as early as Sunday night. He warned things would only get uglier otherwise.
More signs of civil war within the GOP. The Congress and the White House are very much not on the same page, and that’s good for us.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Sunday blamed President Donald Trump’s inability to “take yes for an answer” and strike a deal with Senate Democrats to solve the ongoing government shutdown.
Schumer said he “essentially agreed to give the President something he wants in exchange for something we both want” during a meeting on Friday.
“The President picked a number for a wall,” Schumer said, referring to Trump’s proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. “I accepted it.”
After meeting with Trump on Friday, Schumer said that he floated the idea of funding the wall in exchange for continued protection for undocumented immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Schumer on Sunday said his accord with Trump “was only tentative, no handshakes,” and ultimately did not prevent the government shutdown.
“It all really stems from the President, whose inability to clinch a deal has created the Trump shutdown,” Schumer said. “He can’t take yes for an answer. That’s why we’re here.”
“Can’t take Yes for an answer.” Now THAT is a soundbite worth spreading around. And it really illustrates how inept Trump is. Schumer offered him the Wall. THE WALL. And Trump still dropped the ball by getting too greedy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tessa Fowler turned 9 on Saturday, and thousands of women sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
The daughter of Kelly Fowler, 36, newly elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, Tessa was born on the day of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration and had been eagerly looking forward to the inauguration of the United States’ first female president on her eighth birthday. After Donald Trump won the election in November 2016, though, something happened at school that turned her away from politics. “There was a little bit of bullying that went on. … She did come home different. She came home telling me that she was going to go back to playing with dolls,” her mother said Saturday, in front of the Lincoln Memorial before the Women’s March on Washington. “I knew that I needed to do something for her.”
So her mother took her to the Women’s March the day after her birthday — and Trump’s inauguration — last year. It turned out to have a transformative impact on them both. A public school teacher turned home renovator and real estate team manager, the Virginia Beach resident from a military family had begun calling her local representatives after Trump’s win, without much response. The march, she said, “changed both of us.” “The next week, I said, ‘We need to do something about this representation that doesn’t listen.’”
And of course how could I not give a shout out to the women’s march on Saturday. Let them know what’s coming in November.
And finally some Net Neutrality news.
Last month, the Federal Communications Commission voted to reverse net neutrality regulations. The repeal means internet providers are one step closer to no longer being required to give consumers equal access to online content. But how do we know if carriers aren’t already violating net neutrality? This week, we have an app that will help you to see the extent that your provider is slowing down or even speeding up certain apps.
Wehe‘s goal is to let you know if your network provider is giving different service to different applications that you use on your phone. Developed by researchers from Northeastern University and The University of Massachusetts Amherst, it’s currently available for download on both iOS and Android.
Companies like Google or Netflix won’t simply allow researchers to run arbitrary tests on their infrastructure. So, Wehe records the network traffic that the apps (Youtube, Netflix, Amazon, and more) generate when people are using those apps, and then uses its own servers to simulate what is happening.
Now this is a useful item. Net Neutrality is not dead yet, and this app will allow us to bring to task companies who try and jump the gun on violating it before the dust is settled.
That’s all for now, see you guys next week.