Reps. Gosar and MTG launch "America First Caucus" to "follow in President Trump's footsteps" (Update: called off) (2 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Reps. Barry Moore (R-AL) and Louis Gohmert (Lunatic-TX) have agreed to join.

The group's policy platform is found here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20617762-america-first-caucus-policy-platform-final-2




Some of the highlights:

Defintion and purpose:
The America First Caucus (AFC) exists to promote Congressional policies that are to the long-term benefit of the American nation. The North Star of any policy proposal will be that which serves the American people, and any consequential analysis of policy platforms must be based on this first principle. As this implies a degree of ideological flexibility, a certain intellectual boldness is needed amongst members of the AFC to follow in President Trump’s footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation. Policy areas as far ranging as foreign intervention, economic development, immigration, trade, tech regulation and social policy need to be re-examined from the ground up to ensure that what remains keeps the interest of Americans at heart.

Elections:
Mail-in voting, long recognized as subject to fraud, has become normalized. We will work towards an end to mail-in voting, implementation of national voter ID and substantive investigations into mass voter fraud perpetrated during the 2020 election.

Big Tech:
Silicon Valley tech firms have become the most powerful arbiters of information in the history of mankind. The treasure trove of data they have collected from Americans have given them powers that would make a Soviet dictator blush. We have seen these powers weaponized and deployed against conservatives in recent years, even as Big Tech firms continue to allow terrorists and pedophiles to organize and publish on their platforms. This represents an egregious offense against the First Amendment and the values enshrined within it. The America First Caucus is calling for a solution that starts with reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Immigration:
The America First Caucus recognizes that our country is more than a mass of consumers or a series of abstract ideas. America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions. History has shown that societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country . . . .
As such, America’s legal immigration system should be curtailed to those that can contribute not only economically, but have demonstrated respect for this nation’s culture and rule of law. America’s borders must be defended, and illegal immigration must be stopped without exception.

Infrastructure:
The America First Caucus will work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture, whereby public infrastructure must be utilitarian as well as stunningly, classically beautiful, befitting a world power and source of freedom. As the Romans demonstrated with aqueducts, walls and roads, function and beauty are not at odds. Federally funded infrastructure, including roads, buildings, airports, seaports, bridges, should demonstrate a pride of workmanship.

COVID:
It is essential to discontinue the lockdowns, remove capacity restrictions and allow businesses to continue operations. Now that the damage is done, many Americans are in need of assistance to pay their bills: the government should thus effectively provide direct financial support to improve the livelihood of Americans. The America First Caucus will work to make sure we do not overreact to a pandemic in this same way again.

"American Savings":
We must oppose international currency manipulation and its detrimental long-term impacts for the American economy and U.S. dollar. We must protect the rights of Americans to best position themselves for a changing economy by promoting the development of cryptocurrency companies domestically, and defend the rights of Americans to hold private stores of wealth – including gold, silver, and other blockchain-based currencies like Bitcoin.

Energy:
Our elected officials should stand proudly with America’s struggling coal country against job-killing regulations, and welcome the ongoing shift towards clean coal. In addition, the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines will promote North American energy independence and allow the United States to more easily extricate itself from the conflicts of the Middle East. Moreover, hydraulic fracking technology, when used appropriately, can provide more affordable oil and gas for Americans, and therefore any attempts to ban this practice on a national level should be resisted. The America First Caucus supports innovation in green energy, such as in the form of nuclear energy.

 

[TaylorB]

I'm honestly surprised there was already enough blowback in the GOP to snuff this caucus out before it gained traction. Surely we can expect the Tea Party to very quickly try to reincarnate itself to re-take the House and Senate in 2022, so the "America First" caucus, or something like it, seems inevitable. It's much harder for further-right voters to coalesce around subtle racial messaging (e.g. addressing their "economic anxiety") when the guy in the White House looks like them, and therefore doesn't elicit the same visceral fear that his Dem predecessor did just by existing, or that his GOP predecessor did purposely every time he opened his mouth. This is anecdotal, but for example, I remember reading that CPAC tried to sell anti-Biden merchandise but that it just didn't sell like anti-Obama or pro-Trump stuff -- why is that? Biden's COVID bill was similar in size to Obama's in 2009... but no Tea Party, no emails from my uncle about how Biden's the anti-Christ... what's different?

When I see Steve "David Duke without the baggage" Scalise walking around Congress with a milk carton showing Kamala's face and the words "missing," it seems to me that he's frustrated that this woman of color hasn't been visible enough for him to get his voters angry at her. I can't help but think that part of the purpose behind Kamala keeping a low profile is to avoid letting herself become a target of these sorts of propaganda campaigns in 2022 -- Biden too, to some extent, but perhaps for slightly different reasons.

The backup plan for the GOP to get that racial message across, I'm sure, is the tried-and-true border crisis. That's all Clay Higgins cares about these days. His own state doesn't have a border with Mexico, and is literally sinking into the Gulf of Mexico... but which of those two crises do you think he's obsessed with? Ted Cruz' entire state nearly froze to death due to its failing infrastructure, but he's out there doing border video selfies.

Everyone here knows this to be true, but it's worth saying that the failure of the America-First-caucus-trial-balloon isn't the last time we'll see the GOP try to rally voters around a race-centric message. A big chunk of them are in office because of how well it's worked since that one time a black family lived in the White House. They will just have to figure out how to be more subtle about it in the Biden era than "Anglo-Saxon political traditions" and "Roman architecture."

 

[superchuck500]

I'm honestly surprised there was already enough blowback in the GOP to snuff this caucus out before it gained traction. Surely we can expect the Tea Party to very quickly try to reincarnate itself to re-take the House and Senate in 2022, so the "America First" caucus, or something like it, seems inevitable. It's much harder for further-right voters to coalesce around subtle racial messaging (e.g. addressing their "economic anxiety") when the guy in the White House looks like them, and therefore doesn't elicit the same visceral fear that his Dem predecessor did just by existing, or that his GOP predecessor did purposely every time he opened his mouth. This is anecdotal, but for example, I remember reading that CPAC tried to sell anti-Biden merchandise but that it just didn't sell like anti-Obama or pro-Trump stuff -- why is that? Biden's COVID bill was similar in size to Obama's in 2009... but no Tea Party, no emails from my uncle about how Biden's the anti-Christ... what's different?

When I see Steve "David Duke without the baggage" Scalise walking around Congress with a milk carton showing Kamala's face and the words "missing," it seems to me that he's frustrated that this woman of color hasn't been visible enough for him to get his voters angry at her. I can't help but think that part of the purpose behind Kamala keeping a low profile is to avoid letting herself become a target of these sorts of propaganda campaigns in 2022 -- Biden too, to some extent, but perhaps for slightly different reasons.

The backup plan for the GOP to get that racial message across, I'm sure, is the tried-and-true border crisis. That's all Clay Higgins cares about these days. His own state doesn't have a border with Mexico, and is literally sinking into the Gulf of Mexico... but which of those two crises do you think he's obsessed with? Ted Cruz' entire state nearly froze to death due to its failing infrastructure, but he's out there doing border video selfies.

Everyone here knows this to be true, but it's worth saying that the failure of the America-First-caucus-trial-balloon isn't the last time we'll see the GOP try to rally voters around a race-centric message. A big chunk of them are in office because of how well it's worked since that one time a black family lived in the White House. They will just have to figure out how to be more subtle about it in the Biden era than "Anglo-Saxon political traditions" and "Roman architecture."

South Carolina's governor made a similar media push last week about the border (and visited SC's guard troops there).

 

[TaylorB]

South Carolina's governor made a similar media push last week about the border (and visited SC's guard troops there).

Right. After my post, I dropped by Scalise's twitter feed to see what he's up to. Efficient in combining Kamala + border crisis:



This isn't to say there isn't a legitimate problem. It's just obvious why no-David-Duke-baggage Scalise and his ilk are doing this, and it ain't to solve the problem. They love the border crisis.

 

[samiam5211]

Right. After my post, I dropped by Scalise's twitter feed to see what he's up to. Efficient in combining Kamala + border crisis:



This isn't to say there isn't a legitimate problem. It's just obvious why no-David-Duke-baggage Scalise and his ilk are doing this, and it ain't to solve the problem. They love the border crisis.

It is pathetic that their angle is to complain about the terrible conditions these kids are having to suffer. Like they wouldn't all vote against funding better conditions if given the opportunity.

 

[insidejob]

MTG ran unopposed for her seat. If there isn't someone in her very sparse, unpopulated district with the brains and balls to run against her in 2022 and expose her for the racist moron that she is and run her out of office, I'll be very disappointed with Northwest GA.

Also, for someone to run unopposed and only get like 3/4 of the vote, I'd be doing as much as possible to not advertise that fact while she thinks it's something impressive. A Democrat who dropped out of the race in September still got 25% and she thinks that's a good thing. They are probably not going forward with this purely because she's very visible in it. I bet they redo the same thing, just without someone as controversial and stupid as Greene as cofounder. It fits the current GOP perfectly.

 

[Optimus Prime]

More on the caucus
=========================

.........And since then, we’ve seen a steady backtracking on the idea. It all culminated Tuesday in Greene herself effectively disowning it altogether and blaming staff — albeit implausibly on both counts.

“The media continues to lie about a fake story,” Greene maintained in response to a story about Republicans distancing themselves from the group. “They do this all the time to smear people like me and divide the @GOP. I am one of the proudest members of the @freedomcaucus! I don’t need another caucus & this is an attack on HFC.”

Except, as it was quickly pointed out, Greene’s spokesman Nick Dyer had initially responded to the story blowing up by confirming the impending launch of the group — just not necessarily with the draft platform initially reported. He told people to “be on the look out for a public release for the America First Caucus platform when it’s released publicly very soon.”

But Greene in a later tweet Tuesday blamed staff for the drafting of the document and suggested she herself wasn’t actually involved.

“I have dealt with the staff that had discussions that took place without me or my approval, during the time I was home for my father’s funeral,” Greene said. “People own their own words. Those were not mine.”

Dyer echoed Greene’s comments to The Washington Post. Asked about his initial confirmation of the caucus’s impending launch, he said he had “owned up to my mistake.”

The idea that this was just a bunch of staffers freelancing is very difficult to swallow. For that to be the case, the situation would have been blowing up and her office would have confirmed the launch … without actually checking with her? Secondly, the draft platform wasn’t just a quick declaration of principles; it was a seven-page document full of details on specific issue areas.

And thirdly, other members were showing interest. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) said he was considering joining the group and confirmed Greene’s involvement, according to NBC News, while saying he hadn’t seen the specific language in the document. Embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) even announced publicly that he was joining the group, which Greene now maintains was never a terribly serious proposal in the first place.............

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[TaylorB]

I am probably way late to the game in realizing this, but it finally occurred to me that the architecture section is homage to WW2-era fascism, right?

Infrastructure:
The America First Caucus will work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture, whereby public infrastructure must be utilitarian as well as stunningly, classically beautiful, befitting a world power and source of freedom. As the Romans demonstrated with aqueducts, walls and roads, function and beauty are not at odds. Federally funded infrastructure, including roads, buildings, airports, seaports, bridges, should demonstrate a pride of workmanship.

I googled "fascist architecture":

Fascist architecture is an architectural style developed by architects of fascist states in the early 20th century. The style gained popularity in the late 1920s with the rise of modernism along with the ultranationalism associated with fascist governments in western Europe. The style resembles that of ancient Rome.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_architecture

I guess it took me a couple days to put my finger on why the bizarre infrastructure aesthetics part stood out so much to me. Now it's hard to see how I missed it. Hard to understand why they get mad when they're compared to the fascists they emulate.

 

[brandon]

I am probably way late to the game in realizing this, but it finally occurred to me that the architecture section is homage to WW2-era fascism, right?

I googled "fascist architecture":

Fascist architecture is an architectural style developed by architects of fascist states in the early 20th century. The style gained popularity in the late 1920s with the rise of modernism along with the ultranationalism associated with fascist governments in western Europe. The style resembles that of ancient Rome.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_architecture

I guess it took me a couple days to put my finger on why the bizarre infrastructure aesthetics part stood out so much to me. Now it's hard to see how I missed it. Hard to understand why they get mad when they're compared to the fascists they emulate.

Yea, I knew what this was getting at from watching The Man in the High Castle on Amazon. The show had a distinct architectural style in Berlin that was very "modern Roman."

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

The thing reads like an Onion article. We've arrived at the point where real life is better satire.

 

[DaveXA]

The thing reads like an Onion article. We've arrived at the point where real life is better satire.

I'd argue we've been there for more than a minute.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

 

[DaveXA]

What the ever loving hell...Santorum has gotten worse? What a moron.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

What an asshat...

 

[Optimus Prime]

More on this
===============

......“We came here and created a blank slate. We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” Santorum said. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture. It was born of the people who came here pursuing religious liberty to practice their faith. To live as they ought to live.”

This is the story that many Americans like to tell. A freedom-loving people escaping oppression in Europe, coming to this continent and creating a new nation predicated on liberty. And there’s an element of truth to that narrative, of course.

But Santorum glosses over several complications to that tale.

For example, it’s not clear how he’s measuring the “evolution” of those older countries over time, but it does seem a bit silly to compare China’s cultural traditions with those of the United States, given that China has been around 3,000 years and America less than 300.

Santorum also presents a view of the role of religion in the founding of the country that is far simpler than the one historians understand to have been the case. There's some irony to Santorum's embrace of religious freedom by the original settlers and his insistence that the country was rooted in one particular religious tradition, but it's important to the story he wants to tell that those things work in concert.

The most obvious complication that trips up Santorum, of course, is that reference to Native Americans. He wants to tell a story about a new nation being created on a virgin continent, a version of the story that’s been told many times before. But listeners today understand that isn’t the case. So Santorum downplays what happened.

One reason there “isn't much Native American culture in American culture” is because Americans two centuries ago viewed Native American culture as something to be overcome, if not destroyed. The story of America is not one about settlers coming to North America and working with Native Americans to build a new land, however central that idea may be to the Thanksgiving holiday. It was far more complicated and often far more bloody.........

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

santorum out at CNN because of these comments

 

[DaveXA]

santorum out at CNN because of these comments

I don't watch CNN, but, good riddance anyway.

 

[bird]

The whole problem the idiocy of Marjorie Taylor Guam’s trying to backpedal is that the entire thing was poorly messaged by the racists who were setting up this “caucus”. You can bet your azz that there are plenty of Republicans/conservatives who would back it in a heartbeat. Eternal vigilance is needed when it comes to these people

 

[GrandAdmiral]

There's no way this woman is a bigot, right? Right?