On March 8th Roy Blunt (r) announced that he would not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Ann Wagner (r) noticed.
Today:
Ann Wagner @AnnLWagner
Socialized medicine doesn’t work. Never has, never will. 10:25 AM · Mar 24, 2021
Cue the ratio:
A few *facts*:
– 39 of the top 40 OECD nations have socialized medicine
– Americans pay over TWICE the cost that citizens of those other countries pay
– Americans’ lifespans are 3 years shorter than the OECD average
Why does the U.S. military have it, proud West Point mom?
How do you define socialized medicine? Is the VA socialized medicine? Is Medicare? Is the NHS? How about Canada’s system? Why does the US spend more HC and get worse outcomes than other developed countries? Should people who don’t have insurance due on the street?
It works all over the world. In other news – you’re an idiot.
It’s all bullshit—these fools will talk shit until the cardiologist schedules their open heart surgery. Then Medicare magically becomes something worth having!
If, by “doesn’t work”, you mean socialized medicine shuts out insurance companies and corporations from profiting from illness, prevents cancer patients from organizing Go-Fund-Me requests / garage sales and treats each sick person equally regardless of income, you nailed it.
Nailed it. This is the real reason why conservatives continue to put fear in the hearts of less informed people, the word ‘socialism’ is the scary word. But it’s big corporations, insurance companies, drug companies that keep paying to keep this farce up.
You have absolutely no idea what single payer healthcare means. It works in MANY Countries, including your neighbor to the north – Canada.
“Socialized medicine” is a buzzword your insurance Corps use to scare people off public healthcare b/c most of them would cease to exist.
Today’s ratio winner. I swear the GOP is in a race to the bottom, among its candidates.
It’s not a race if you’re already there.
Except for in Canada, England, France, Germany, all of Scandinavia and pretty much the entire developed, industrialized world.
Okay, now do socialized medical insurance. Also known as INSURANCE.
Why? Because that’s all anyone is proposing, making insurance guaranteed and nonprofit. The medical care itself remains the same – other than being more affordable/universally accessible.
Lies ain’t cool, lady.
It works really well, patients get the care they need without having to worry about being bankrupted. Australian spending per head is 7% of GDP compared with 17% in the USA. And our health outcomes are better. How does it “not work”? Love Australia.
I’d be embarrassed to advertise my ignorance like this.
She’s from Missouri.
There are so many studies on this, Ann. I would post a study, but I know nobody would read it.
USA is the only developed capitalist nation to not have universal healthcare.
We pay twice the avg of our OECD counterparts (most expensive in the world), and we get worse results.
Yes if by “not working” you mean “produces better outcomes at far lower costs per capita” It’s been “not working” in almost every other industrialized nation for years.
I’d be ok with it “not working” here as well.
That’s just dumb!! I can go to a hospital have MRIs, ct scans and it cost me zero! My friend in the US with the same condition paid over $25000 for the same tests, and didn’t have some because she just couldn’t afford it. Where is it right that only rich people survive??
Well, some form of it seems to work extremely well for most every first-world country. So why do you think it doesn’t?
The interesting thing is that with all the countries that you mentioned.
Less is spent per capita on health care than what is spent in the US and with better health outcomes.
That’s because less goes towards profits, corporate bonuses and lobbyists etc.
That is absolutely not true. Medicare is socialized medicine and it works pretty well. Healthcare in Canada is socialized and works extremely well. Healthcare in much of Europe is socialized and yes, it also works well. Make a statement like that and you better have facts.
Well Ann, it works for the most of the world, even many country less developed.
Perhaps you meant, it doesn’t work like in not as profitable for some. Well, it shouldn’t, at the minimum the tax payer will expect return of his money in a decent healthcare system.
There are multiple examples that it does. For Profit healthcare is what doesn’t work. How can you love a system that can bankrupt entire families for a simple procedure? Absolutely ridiculous.
Ah. The never-ever argument. Nationalized healthcare works in most countries in world. The only difference is we want to keep the shackle of workplace/insurance dynamic. Why? Because no one has a better system?
– no one pays more for less than Americans.
On Monday Roy Blunt (r) announced that he would not seek reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Ann Wagner @RepAnnWagner
It is shameful that Democrats have disregarded their obligation to provide real COVID relief to the American people and are instead attempting to use this process to jam through partisan agenda items. This bill is not targeted, timely, nor tied to COVID. 10:47 AM · Mar 10, 2021
Yes, shameful, that’s the word.
There is much hilarity in the responses. First, from Ann Wagner (r):
We need to focus on solving the critical issues at hand—getting vaccines to Americans, providing relief for our local restaurants and entertainment venues, and supporting those who have been seriously impacted by this pandemic.
Uh…
Anyway, my family will happily accept the aid offered in the COVID relief bill, and we will remember that you didn’t want us to have it.
Timeliness would’ve been a lot better with a modicum of Republican support.
How much crack does the right smoke?
You are shameful.
It was shameful to go maskless in your district during a pandemic this Christmas (on a carriage ride, no less), and then to allow constituents to die because of your ineffective leadership to provide vaccines and meaningful aid. Talk about shameful. Take some responsibility, Ann.
This bill is the worst nightmare possible for Republicans like you. I feel your pain but frankly don’t care. You don’t understand what COVID did to this country, to families who have suffered under GOP policies for decades.
The Empire Is Striking back. You lost. We won.
Not quite the analogy I would have chosen, but it still works.
You’re lying. The bill addresses both The pandemic directly and the economic crisis that was created by COVID. These crises—made exponentially worse by the terrible leadership of the previous administration—must be tackled simultaneously.
It’s shameful that you, yet again, failed to support your constituents. We lament having you as our representation on a daily basis. We wonder how you sleep while you try to destroy so many lives and hope for someone who actually gives us a voice sometime soon.
There’s that shame thing again.
High irony using the word ‘shame’.
They haven’t. We know they haven’t. Stop lying. You’re embarrassing yourself, and your state.
Quit your damn lying. For once try to represent the interests of your constituents. Your cowardice and corruption are pathetic. [….]
You are so full of it. You are voting AGAINST $1,400 direct payments, jobless benefits, state and local aid, school assistance, and so much more. Why do you hate your own constituents? Why do you lie so much? Why are you so damn worthless, unethical, and corrupt?
Give it up Ann, you lying liar. This bill has incredible bipartisan support everywhere, even with republican voters. The only ones that don’t like it are republican obstructionists like yourself. [….]
@RepAnnWagner
Hey, traitor. Here’s the breakdown on the 2017 GOP Tax Bill.
-1.3 Trillion Corporate tax giveaway
-83 B to let heirs inherit larger estates
-435 Billion tax cut for the wealthiest 1% of Americans
You voted to overturn the Democracy. You are a traitor.
#GOPHypocrisy
Feb 4, 2021 Press Release
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) released the following statement on Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene:
“The statements and conspiracy theories promoted by Representative Greene, including QAnon, calling into question school shootings, anti-Semitic and other offensive slurs and threats, have no place in the Republican party. To be clear, I find the statements and actions in question abhorrent and firmly untethered from reality. They only serve to place people in harm’s way and should be shunned by all Americans.
“It is also true that these actions took place before she was a Member of Congress, and her constituents appeared to largely be aware of them when she was elected. This is the People’s House, and removing Members from committee assignments for actions and comments prior to their service would set a bad precedent in Congress.
“I spoke with Representative Greene one on one last night and she made it clear to me she no longer believes the dangerous views espoused in her previous statements, and that she will not advance such views as a Member of Congress. She has now publicly expressed regret on the Floor of the U.S. House for her past actions and statements.
“For now, I will take her at her word, but I will be watching.”
Rep. Wagner (r) must have missed Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (r) floor speech last night.
“…It is also true that these actions took place before she was a Member of Congress…”
From Marjorie Taylor Greene (r), while a Member of Congress:
Washington D.C. — Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene released the following statement on the Democrat threat of Impeachment:
“For the entire four years of the greatest Presidential term of our lifetime, Democrats led by Speaker Pelosi and radical Socialists in her party attempted coup after coup against President Donald Trump.
Whether it was threatening to remove the President with phony 25th Amendment attacks, ridiculous Russian collusion conspiracy theory lies, or false criminal accusations about a perfect phone call with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Democrats tried to overturn the 2016 election because they simply couldn’t handle the results.
Not only have the radicals in the Democrat Party tried to throw out the will of the American people, they have attacked anyone who dares support this President.
Everyone remembers the last four years of political censorship by the Silicon Valley Cartel targeting President Trump and his millions of supporters. Everyone remembers the occupation of the Senate office buildings by the Communist Women’s March screaming lies about Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Everyone remembers the harassment of Republicans including Senator Rand Paul, who was surrounded by a violent Black Lives Matter mob in the streets of Washington, DC. And, of course, everyone remembers the entire year of domestic terrorism conducted by Antifa / BLM militants, and championed by Democrat elected officials.
Now, 12 days before the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, these same Democrats, following their marching orders from the activist spokesmen in the Fake News Media, are launching another lie-filled assault on our Republic by threatening to impeach our duly-elected President, yet again.
Speaker Pelosi’s pursuit of impeachment will not “heal and unite” this nation as Joe Biden has called for in speeches. Another coup attempt will only further inflame half of the country.
This Hail Mary attempt to remove President Trump is another attack on the Silent Majority that Democrats have always looked down upon.
I have a message for Democrats, including Joe Biden: the time of demeaning and destroying conservative Americans simply for their beliefs has come to an end.
The new generation of MAGA Republicans will not back down to your threats. We will not back down from the smear campaigns from the Enemy of the American People, the Fake News. And we will not be silenced by Big Tech who wants to end free speech.
We will stand up and defend the 75 Million Americans who you are trying to cancel and ruin the lives of for daring to reject your Marxist ideology.
President Trump taught us how to defend our values.
We aren’t going away. We will never give up.
America First. Always.”
###
That was after the sedition and insurrectionist breach of the Capitol.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (MO-02) released the following statement on the Electoral College Certification vote:
“On January 3, 2021, I took a solemn oath before God and Country to, ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ I have faith in our nation’s legal process, believe in the rule of law, and will always uphold that oath to support and defend the Constitution.
“Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment are clear. The power to elect the President of the United States lies with the States and the People, not Congress. Specifically each State ‘shall appoint, in such Manner as the (State) Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors’ and ‘the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President.’ It is time for Congress to count the electoral votes from each State and fulfill our Constitutional duty.
“I cannot and will not unconstitutionally insert Congress into the Presidential election in this manner. This would amount to stealing power from the People and the States. It would, in effect, replace the Electoral College with Congress, and strengthen the efforts of those who are determined to eliminate it or render it irrelevant.
“At this point, all States have certified their election results and electors and alleged irregularities have been taken to State and Federal court over five dozen times and rejected, even by judges appointed by President Trump.
“I even signed on to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States asking the Justices to examine the election changes made by several States and determine if they went beyond the scope of the Constitution’s State legislative requirements. The Supreme Court made a ruling and rejected the merits of our filing in an exceptionally expeditious manner.
“Although some States needlessly injected controversy into this year’s election by making last minute ballot changes and casting doubt over the management and integrity of their election process, that controversy must be decided either by the States themselves, or the Supreme Court. Both avenues have been tried, the legal process followed, and with that comes a finality that Congress and our nation must respect.
“While I may not like the outcome of the election, that does not mean I can, nor should I, try to usurp the powers of the individual States of our republic. To allow Congress to alter the decided outcome of the election would irreparably damage our system of government and defy the Constitution. It is for these reasons I will not support any objection to the certification of electoral college results.”
Apparently sedition is too much for some republican members of Congress.
Then again, right wingnuts on Twitter are another matter:
These irregularities have never been heard in our corrupt courts. They have merit but no standing means you have a case but we won’t hear it.
So it’s ok to tamper with voting? There needs to be someone to look out for us and if it’s not our elected representatives, who will?
Thank you for doing…your job?
RINOs like this only want to appease and fly under the radar. They think striking back at their party wins them favor with the so called moderate. It doesn’t. And she’s foolish.
good luck in your primary
Pass the popcorn.
Pass the popcorn.
Straddling the sedition fence.
I just read your statement on this Election Fraud.
Missourians hear you are OKAY with this Fraud.
The constituents who elected you, do not think this is OKAY & you need to follow @HawleyMO, do your Constitutional duty, & denounce this certification.
There is evidence of FRAUD.
You are a coward. This election was fraudulent and it’s your job to protect the process from fraud. This isn’t about inserting Congress into the process. This is about protecting the vote from fraud.
Buh-bye Ann!! You and many other weak politicians won’t EVER get my vote again!! The day calls for bravery and you clearly have none!!
You are aware the Constitution provides for this right? It’s called “checks and balances”. I hope you get primaried
Well, if you live in the district, go ahead, knock yourself out.
You’re on the wrong side of this fight.
Supporting the fraud makes you complicit and a traitor to those of us who elected you.
No, seriously, tell us how you really feel.
so fraud is ok with you ?
I read your statement. If you do not stand up against election fraud you are condemning the constitution not following it. Do you damn job and stop being a coward. You will be dealt with in the primaries if you shirk your constitutional duties you swore to uphold.
Sounds a mite bit touchy there.
You are a failure as a representative of the People. With so much event fraud and massive irregularities, you turn a blind eye the very system of law and the Constitution you allegedly support. You would allow the criminals of the Democratic Party steal what is rightfully ours.
Shame on you…you will be out of office soon…
Glad didn’t vote for you last time around. Coward.
Very disappointed in your stance. I live in Wildwood Mo and will actively help the republicans to primary you. You have done nothing the entire time you’ve been in public office. You could have when the country needed you.
Support the Constitution or get out. Who’s paying you? Who owns you? You are there to uphold the Constitution on behalf of others. Share your bribe, b!tch.
Baskets of deplorables.
Weak sauce Ann. I’ve supported you but felt you weren’t strong. I will no longer support you. If you cannot see with your own eyes the degree of election manipulation, that tells me you’re looking out for someone other than the people and our Republic. Very disappointed in you.
Bye bye. Enjoy your last term.
Hey rep Ann you know what irreparably damages our government? A stolen election. You are on the wrong side of history. Your time in congress will be short
[says the account with a troll avatar]
Shame on you. Enjoy your time in Congress because you will never get elected again. #WeWillNEVERForget
How is it possible for someone to be this stupid? I’m gobsmacked at your horrific stupidity. Objecting would cause irreparable damage? Are you f*cking joking?! And accepting criminal election fraud won’t?! You are yet ANOTHER obscenely corrupt 3rd world banana republic politician
Supporting and verifying criminal election fraud CAUSES IRREPARABLE DAMAGE TO OUR COUNTRY. TO DEMOCRACY. TO OUR CONSTITUTION. TO OUR LAWS. Fighting against it is vital to protecting our country. How in the holy hell are you this f*cking stupid?
I can only conclude either you are horrifyingly stupid or you are owned. How much did Dominion pay you? How much did China pay you? I simply cannot believe someone can be so horrendously stupid as to think accepting criminal election fraud is good for the country
Your career is over.
How very disappointing to read this.
With this statement (and after just voting for you again, and many times before), there will be no “next time”. You’ve given up, and gave in. How can I stand for you, if you will not stand for our Constitution, and fair elections? I cannot.
NOT GOOD. The People will remember what a coward you are.
You are a psychological experiment at this point. I’m sincerely concerned for your mental health. One question – do you believe accepting criminal election fraud will sh*t rainbows and unicorns on this country?
Is that performance art?
Your complete trash. Most Missourians were so proud of Josh Hawley. We know who the real traitors are to our republic! You Anne, are one of them. You need to resign or go to prison.
Really, pass the popcorn.
The constitution allows exactly what will on the 6th. The people in this country know their votes were stolen. No court allowed the presentation of evidence. It will happen on the 6th. Those who do not represent the Trump voters are traitors and their political careers are over.
It’s a sad state of affairs when overwhelming evidence of electoral fraud is ignored by the very people we entrust to defend it. Seven states have submitted disputed electoral votes, because of this overwhelming evidence. You choose to kick the can down the road? ByeBye GOP.
I think you will be looking for a new job in 2 years, MS Wagner. I am not from Missouri; I think Josh Hawley has a great abundance of courage and doesn’t back down from what is right. You have watched President Trump badgered for the last 4 years and you don’t have the nerve.
Not from Missouri, eh?
You don’t even care what your voters think. Your a republican and most republicans believe there is Fraud. You are a FRAUD and will lose . You will go down in history as a LOSER/ your not alone on the soon to be island of forgotten traitors.
That’s right next door the Island of Never Learned Grammar.
Your analysis of the constitution and facts about the election are completely wrong. You have gone on record with your mistake and will not listen to further reason or evidence in chambers. Only one conclusion is left, you will be VOTED-OUT!
57% of Missouri voted for Trump!
There’s no accounting for taste.
Another RINO that chooses to not only accept a fraudulent election in those 6 states, but also doesn’t advocate for an audit commission to investigate the fraud that occurred in the Presidential election.
You will be primaried in 2022, Ms. Wagner.
I’m a Missourian and can’t wait to help end your career
Primary 2020
Uh, too late?
Did you read and listened to all of the evidence? There was MASSIVE FRAUD!!!!!!!!!
It is also your duty to protect our votes. So even in the face of blatant voter fraud you are going to stand down. Then there is no reason to vote for you again if you believe it’s ok to let it be stolen away.
You may not like your when your term is done. Your term is complete it’s time for you to go. You going against what We The People want. This election was stolen
You’re traitor !!
Your political career is over soon.
You suck! Remember, your political career lies in OUR hands and without helping President Trump, you’ll be gone in a heartbeat.
Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…
This evening, an order at the United States Supreme Court in the election case Texas filed against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The court denied the complaint for a lack of standing and “All other pending motions are dismissed as moot”:
7-2. Alito and Thomas. Go figure.
So much for pandering right wingnut “constitutional scholars”.
State Senator Jill Schupp (D) announced today that she will be a candidate in the 2nd Congressional District – the seat currently held by Ann Wagner (r):
Jill Schupp @JillSchupp
People are tired of name-calling in DC. Since my school board days, people have elected me b/c they trust me to work on their behalf & find common ground to get things done.
I’m running for Congress in #MO02 to restore civility & trust in gov’t. Join us
[….] 5:20 PM · Dec 3, 2019
Who pulls Rep. Ann Wagner’s strings? Not the voters in Missouri’s 2nd district for sure, who have been complaining for some time that she’s missing in action. She’s held no town hall meetings with constituents apart from some hilariously stage-managed “telephone” events – characterized by pre-selected participants and questions – and appearances before employees at friendly business venues that often offer no chance for questions. In fact, she’s so allergic to demands for direct accountability that, according the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Todd Robberson, she has “repeatedly” refused to meet with the paper’s editorial staff in order to secure its endorsement.
Rep. Wagner does frequently send out an email “newsletter’ filled with treacly PR, news about her photo-ops and questionable claims that conform to GOP talking points. Claims, for instance, that the GOP tax cut for the rich has actually benefited working-class Missourians, which she put forward in her email newsletter of Sept. 3, are debatable – although we’re not likely to get the chance to debate them with the congresswoman herself.
So if Rep. Wagner is more interested in constructing a smoke screen than in finding out how her constituents really think about what she is doing in Washington, they can’t be blamed for wondering for whom she’s actually working when she’s in D.C. And it’s not too hard to figure out.
We all know about her huge campaign war-chest, currently ca. $3 million, made up of cash donated by “private donors hoping to influence or advance the people who do the public’s business.” And the cash rewards are not limited to “getting the message out.” The Post-Dispatchreported recently that “members of Congress use ‘leadership PACs’ – separate campaign fundraising entities from their regular political committees – to buy everything from rounds of golf to trips to posh resorts to tickets to Broadway shows.” These so-called “life-style enhancements” are on the pricey side, as indicated by some of the particulars pertaining to Wagner:
Wagner’s “leadership PAC, Ann PAC, spent $21,831 from 2015 through 2017 for event expenses, lodging, catering, and travel at various locations in Las Vegas, including the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel and expenses from Tao Restaurant Vegas, an ‘unparalleled Asian-inspired restaurant’ that is the sister to the ‘trendsetting’ Tao in New York. The payments to the Venetian/Palazzo in 2015 correspond with the Republican Jewish Coalition Spring Leadership Meeting.” Spokespersons for Wagner did not respond to a request for comment.
Who pulls Rep. Wagner’s strings? Tell me who is it who keeps Wagner in D.C. and shows her a good time while she’s there and I’ll show you who has her ear.
Today Donald Trump kissed up to Putin and sold out the United States. His performance was so horrifying that a former CIA director, John Brennan, characterized it as exceeding “the threshold of high crimes & misdemeanors. It was nothing short of treasonous.” Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper added that, “on the world’s stage, in front of the entire globe, the President of the United States essentially capitulated and seems intimidated by Vladimir Putin. So it was amazing and very, very disturbing.”
All of which tends to confirm what we’ve all known all along: our president owes Putin big-time and is running scared as the extent of the debt is close to being exposed by the special prosecutor.
Even a few Republicans were outraged by the Trump’s craven performance (see here and here). But not all. Not even very many. As Paul Waldman noted in The Washington Post:
When it comes to Republicans, we’re faced with two related issues. First, there are members of their party who actively benefited from Russian manipulation of our election, and even sought out help that turned out to come from Russia, whether they fully understood it at the time. Second, much of the rest of their party is now arguing that it’s really no big deal if the Russians manipulate American elections, so long as the GOP is the one that benefits. […]
We all know how eager the Trump campaign was to work with the Russian government when the campaign believed the Russians had dirt on Clinton to share. But just as we’ve seen so many times before, Trump’s naked corruption is merely a more unapologetic version of what’s happening within the Republican Party. So the question now is: Is this still going on? Are any Republican candidates currently receiving information obtained through Russian hacking about their opponents?
Which leads me to ask: what does GOP Senator Roy Blunt have to say about how Donald Trump is putting the security of our country at risk? Or my 2nd district GOP representative, Ann Wagner? So far nothing but crickets. And that goes for the rest of the Missouri delegation.
But it’s early times yet – just a few hours after the press conference after all. I’ll be watching to see how our GOP delegation responds after they’ve had a chance to test the direction of the wind in order to decide where their convictions lay. Who knows, just because they didn’t condemn daddy right away doesn’t mean they won’t manage to summon up some mild distress as long as it doesn’t look like it’ll get the red-meat pitchfork brigade too fired up.
I’ll be getting back to you when/if I learn who has an incipient backbone and who doesn’t. It’s important. We’ve got vitally important midterms coming up – and Trump’s public stance, in terms of what he says and his policies amounts to a giant “so what?”. All of which leads one to really worry about what deals may have been made – or further elaborated – in the two hours when the dictator and the wannabe dictator conferred unattended.
