Key facts about Americans and guns – (Pew research Center)

Guns are deeply ingrained in American society and the nation’s political debates.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms, and about a third of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun. At the same time, President Joe Biden and other policymakers earlier this year proposed new restrictions on firearm access in an effort to address gun violence ranging from rising murder rates in some major cities to mass shootings.

Here are some key findings about Americans’ attitudes about gun violence, gun policy and other subjects, drawn from recent surveys by Pew Research Center and Gallup.

1 Four-in-ten U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 30% who say they personally own one, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in June 2021.

2 Personal protection tops the list of reasons why gun owners say they own a firearm.

3 Around half of Americans (48%) see gun violence as a very big problem in the country today, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April 2021.

4 Attitudes about gun violence differ widely by race, ethnicity, party and community type.

5 Roughly half of Americans (53%) favor stricter gun laws, a decline since 2019, according to the Center’s April 2021 survey.

6 Americans are divided over whether restricting legal gun ownership would lead to fewer mass shootings.

There is broad partisan agreement on some gun policy proposals, but most are politically divisive,

Gun ownership is closely linked with views on gun policies. This is true even among gun owners and non-owners within the same political party, according to the April 2021 Center survey.

Americans in rural areas typically favor more expansive gun access, while Americans in urban places prefer more restrictive policies, according to the April 2021 survey.

Read more at https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/

Read the full Trump indictment charging him with 34 felony counts

Former President Donald Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a scheme that directed hush money payments to two women before the 2016 presidential election.

The 16-page indictment against Trump was unsealed Tuesday as he became the first former U.S. president ever to be arraigned on criminal charges.

“Not guilty,” Trump said from his seat to Judge Juan Merchan during the hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The indictment says those payments were part of a broader scheme to suppress claims by the women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, that they had sex with Trump, in a bid to keep their stories from affecting Trump’s chances against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Follow CNBC.com’s live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s surrender and arraignment at the Manhattan criminal courthouse.

Prosecutors also said a Trump-friendly publishing company, American Media Inc., paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.

All three payments were part of an alleged “catch and kill” effort by Trump and others, among them then-AMI chief David Pecker, from August 2015 to December 2017 “to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” prosecutors said.

Read the indictment against Trump

A Proclamation on Women’s History Month, 2023

 

Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/02/28/a-proclamation-on-womens-history-month-2023/

During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the countless women who have fought tirelessly and courageously for equality, justice, and opportunity in our Nation.  We also reaffirm our commitment to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in the United States and around the world.  We are mindful that we are building on the legacy of both recognized trailblazers and unsung heroines who have guided the course of American history and continue to shape its future.

The full participation of women is a foundational tenet of democracy.  Women — often women of color — have been on the frontlines, fighting for and securing equal rights and opportunity throughout our country’s history as abolitionists, civil rights leaders, suffragists, and labor activists.  Women continue to lead as advocates for reproductive rights, champions of racial justice, and LGBTQI+ equality.  Throughout history, these women have opened the doors of opportunity for subsequent generations of dreamers and doers.  As community leaders, educators, doctors, scientists, child care providers, and more, women power our economy and lead our Nation.  As first responders and service members, they stand watch over our lives and liberties.  As innovators, entrepreneurs, and essential workers in every industry, they represent the very best of America.

But despite significant progress, women and girls continue to face systemic barriers to full and equal participation in our economy and society.  Last year, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, stripping away a constitutional right from the American people and the ability of millions of women to make decisions about their own bodies, putting their health and lives at risk.  Disparities persist in economic security, health care, and caregiving responsibilities, especially for women and girls of color.  Those who perform critical work, including those who care for our children and our families, are too often overlooked, underpaid, and undervalued.

Ours is the only Nation in the world established upon a profound but simple idea — that all people are created equal.  My Administration is committed to upholding that idea and to making its promise real for every American.  That is why I created the Gender Policy Council to advance gender equity and equality across the Federal Government.  It is why I released the first-ever national gender strategy to promote the rights and opportunities of women at home and abroad, which outlines my Administration’s commitment to equal access to education, economic security for women and families, health care, and freedom from gender-based violence.  As we implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, we are working to reduce barriers so that women can access new jobs in sectors where they have been historically underrepresented.  I have signed historic legislation to ensure equal protection for pregnant women and nursing mothers in the workplace.  And I strengthened and reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to ensure all people can live free from violence.  Finally, in December 2022, I was proud to sign the Respect for Marriage Act and defend the rights of LGBTQI+ and interracial couples.

My Administration will continue to defend reproductive freedom to ensure that all Americans — regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or income — have the ability to make the choices that are right for themselves and their families.  I have taken executive action to safeguard access to reproductive care, including medication abortion, help ensure women can receive emergency medical care, protect patients’ privacy and access to accurate information about their reproductive rights, and combat discrimination in the health care system.  I continue to call on the Congress to pass a Federal law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade so all women in every State have the right to choose.  And my Administration released the first Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis to save lives and address systemic discrimination that many women face every day in our health care system, including women of color, women in rural communities, and women with disabilities.

Leading our efforts is the most diverse group of women at the highest levels of Government in United States history, including Vice President Kamala Harris and a record number of female cabinet secretaries.  Together with the most diverse set of judges ever nominated to the Federal bench — including Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — women are seated at every table where decisions are being made.

This month, as we continue our work to advance gender equity and equality, let us celebrate the contributions of women throughout our history and honor the stories that have too often gone untold.  Let us recognize that fundamental freedoms are interconnected:  when opportunities for women are withheld, we all suffer; and when women’s lives are improved, we all gain.  Let us strive to create a Nation where every woman and girl knows that her possibilities know no bounds in America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2023 as Women’s History Month.  I call upon all Americans to observe this month and to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.  I also invite all Americans to visit WomensHistoryMonth.gov to learn more about the vital contribution of women to our Nation’s history.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

                                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

 

The Biden/Harris Record

The Republican party can only snipe at this current administration hat is successfully getting America back on track for an amazing future!

When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, our country faced unprecedented crises – a raging pandemic, economic crisis, climate crisis, and racial injustice. The President and Vice President ran for office on the promise to move quickly to tackle these crises head-on and deliver results for working families. That’s what the Biden-Harris Administration has done.

Click and read more at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

Opinion: The Red Splash: Republicanism in Disarray BY Aiden Miller, Copy Editor|December 12, 2022 THE KNGHT CRIER

As the 2022 midterm election results finalize with the conclusion of the Georgia Senate run-off races, the outcomes are contrasts to the narratives and expectations that carried on throughout the electoral process. Instead of a presupposed widespread failure for Democrats on election night, Republicans are now the party fighting over who’s to blame for their losses.

With the conservative-projected “red wave” failing to materialize, the chambers of congress and Senate still exude a Republican lacking. The Senate is still held by Democrats who gained a seat with Senator John Fetterman’s election victory, a scenario of which last had precedence in 1934, and the House of Representatives gained a slim Republican majority. This conservative underperformance thwarted their hopeful red wave into a disappointing red splash

Their lack of soul-searching and refusal for recourse after the 2020 election plays a significant role in these flopping results.

Looking for a pundit to blame for their election failures, Republicans are in shambles trying to pinpoint their obvious culprit: Donald Trump. Many Republicans outside of Washington are eager to divert from the rails of the Trump train, while those with seats in government, in fear from his wrath, attempt to deflect it.

Trump, who pushed for extreme MAGA candidates across the board, and who was met with initial unyielding support in doing so, is now being ridiculed by moderates and conservatives alike for such efforts after they proved to be futile.

While midterm elections are usually reviewed as referendums on a current president, they rarely mark as one on a former president. However, Trump’s influence is being highlighted and questioned in prominent ways President Biden has not recently. Trump strived to revolve himself around this election, and he in part succeeded, yet not in the way he aimed for.

Aforementioned Republicans in office, however, are forming an opposing narrative. They’re predicting that Trump will still have a grasp on the party as a whole and hold a great deal of power over future primaries, and that denouncing him could cost them their Senate or congressional seats. Their deflection efforts in question have caused some GOP senators to zero on potential figures responsible for their failures, and most recently Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McConnell, who’s attempts failed vastly to advance his endorsed candidates through primaries, generously backed Trump-endorsed nominees after his disappointment. Yet, Republican Senators like Marco Rubio of Florida and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming are vilifying him nonetheless. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, like his colleagues, has joined in on the condemnation, claiming that the old Republican party McConnell is familiar with is dead and that it was time to birth something new. Even Trump has made his disfavor for the Senator obvious by endorsing Florida Senator Rick Scott as the next Senate party leader, McConnell’s potential opponent.

Republican leaders denouncing Trump then backing him in little time afterward has a precedent, though. Leading Republicans announced their severed ties with Trump after the January 6th insurrection, yet mended those ties and found their way back to his influence just weeks later.

Even through these postelection dilemmas within the party, two distinct pathways forward are still present: Continue embracing Trump’s leadership in every category of influence, or to overthrow him in hopes of actually gaining significant election victories.

Inter-party factions are equivalently distinct, with those outside the chambers of government voicing differing notions from those within them. Hence, Republican voters are listening to diverging narratives, and what they believe about the former president, whether he’s aiding their party or killing it, will be pivotal in determining the future of Republicanism as a whole. With Trump announcing his next presidential run, we as Americans will know very shortly which path the party is choosing.

Current US Senate leadership and Officers 2023

Listed below are the current leadership and officers for the 117th Congress.

Constitutionally Mandated Officers

About the Offices of the Vice President and President Pro Tempore

 

Political Party Leaders

About Leadership Positions

Democratic Leadership

Murray, Patty
Assistant Democratic Leader
Murray,
Patty

(D-WA)
Warren, Elizabeth
Vice Chair of Conference
Warren,
Elizabeth

(D-MA)
Warner, Mark R.
Vice Chair of Conference
Warner,
Mark R.

(D-VA)
Klobuchar, Amy
Chair of Steering Committee
Klobuchar,
Amy

(D-MN)
Sanders, Bernard
Chair of Outreach
Sanders,
Bernard

(I-VT)
Cortez Masto, Catherine
Vice Chair of Outreach
Cortez Masto,
Catherine

(D-NV)
Manchin, Joe, III
Vice Chair of Policy & Communications Committee
Manchin,
Joe, III

(D-WV)
Booker, Cory A.
Vice Chair of Policy & Communications Committee
Booker,
Cory A.

(D-NJ)

Republican Leadership

Scott, Rick
Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman
Scott,
Rick

(R-FL)

https://www.senate.gov/senators/leadership.htm

Elections and Voter information from the CA SOS website

Go to https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections

 

For election results go to https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/

 

Election results are updated as often as new data is received from county elections offices after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Ballots continue to be counted after Election Day during the canvass period; county elections officials must report final official results to the Secretary of State by December 9, 2022.

Use the California Democratic Party Look Up Tool to find your local CADEM Endorsed Candidates

Go to https://cadem.org/ourendorsements/

Top House Democrat says ‘mainstream’ Republicans are fighting against MAGA to defend democracy

Found -in THE HILL by Brad Dress – 09/04/22 10:15 AM ET

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) on Sunday said “mainstream” Republicans are pushing back against the MAGA wing of the GOP to defend democracy, adding that “leading conservative voices” are largely in agreement with Democrats in condemning the attack on the U.S. Capitol and pushing back on claims the 2020 election was stolen.

During an interview with “Fox News Sunday” anchor Mike Emanuel, Maloney defended President Biden’s prime-time speech on Thursday night, when he warned Americans that the nation faces a threat to democracy from “extremist” supporters of former President Trump.

“The point of that speech is that mainstream Republicans and Democrats agree on things — it’s wrong to attack the United States Capitol, to spread a pernicious lie about the election being stolen,” Maloney, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said. “I mean, Republicans and Democrats are in large part in agreement.”

“It’s the MAGA movement that is extreme, that has ripped away reproductive freedom, that justifies the attack on the Capitol, that plays footsie with white supremacist and QAnon conspiracy theorists,” he continued. “That’s what the president was talking about.”

Biden delivered the prime-time address to Americans after he compared the MAGA movement to “semi-fascism,” drawing the ire of GOP leaders who called for him to apologize for the comments.

His address last week drew more consternation from the GOP, with top Republicans blasting him as a “divider-in-chief” and saying his speech was a “condescending lecture” that will further polarize the nation.

But Maloney on Sunday noted that some GOP leaders and former members of Trump’s administration, including former Attorney General William Barr, have spoken out against the claim backed by Trump that the 2020 election was stolen.

“This is mainstream [Republicans] versus MAGA,” he said. “The president has a duty to defend American democracy, and he is in agreement with leading conservative voices. … This isn’t just President Biden.”

Tags Biden MAGA Mike Emanuel Patrick Maloney republicans Sean Maloney Sean Patrick Maloney Trump Trump

California Election News

Read here for the latest news on the upcoming Nov 8 election!

https://calmatters.org/california-election-news-2022/