Quote from: Herman on November 18, 2025, 08:29:04 PMThe senate voted to release the Epstein files. It goes to Trump's desk for his signature.

it made it to the senate already?

I thought it was just the house that voted today

In any event, Trump better not cower or cave when it comes to putting his john Hancock on that bill

Quote from: Biggie Smiles on November 18, 2025, 08:31:31 PMit made it to the senate already?

I thought it was just the house that voted today

In any event, Trump better not cower or cave when it comes to putting his john Hancock on that bill

Maybe I read it wrong. But, I do know Trump and Johnson now support releasing all the Epstein files.

Quote from: Herman on November 18, 2025, 08:41:58 PMBut, I do know Trump and Johnson now support releasing all the Epstein files.

Only when they had no other choice due to popular pressure from voters of all kinds.

Johnson could have stayed neutral and avoided a lot of scrutiny but no, he had to propose doing a "unanimous consent" vote which would have avoided putting the votes of individual house members on a permanent record; the only reason to do that was to protect house members from either publicly splitting from Trump or being forever known as a pedo protector.

Trump only 'encouraged' house republicans to vote *for* the bill when it became undeniable that not only was it going to pass but many republicans were going to vote for it despite all Trump's rhetoric about it being a "democrat hoax" etc. which would have been yet another blow to the perception of his power/influence within his own party (and to his ego). He may have sidestepped the problem of needing to ragepoast at dozens of house republicans as he's already been doing to Greene and Massie but his sudden 180° attitude toward the release of the files will no doubt cause some damage all by itself.

This whole debacle could have been easily avoided by releasing all the files already instead of handing the democrats a bludgeon to hit Trump and the republicans with against which they really can't effectively defend themselves without looking even worse than they do now.

Play stupid games; win stupid prizes.

Maybe it is like old Biggie says that Trump might have been purposely holding back allowing democRATs to make a big holy stink about releasing them.

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, was featured along with five other Democrat lawmakers in a video last week urging the military to "refuse illegal orders" from the Trump administration.

Neither Slotkin nor the other Democrats bothered identifying in the video precisely which orders were illegal. They did, however, insinuate that the administration posed a general threat to the U.S. Constitution.

After the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces took issue with the apparent call for rebellion and identified those responsible as "traitors," the six Democrats began painting themselves as victims.

In the process of attempting to shift attention from her action to the president's reaction, Slotkin made a telling admission that casts the controversial video in a whole new light — namely that she couldn't identify a single "illegal order" from the Trump administration warranting refusal.

President Donald Trump characterized the apparent call for rebellion as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL" and noted in a Truth Social post on Saturday that "MANY GREAT LEGAL SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE DEMOCRAT TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS, AS PRESIDENT, HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION!"

Chicago Public Schools Blew $23.6 MILLION on Luxury Trips — While Students Fall Behind
Chicago Public Schools just got hit with a brutal watchdog report — and taxpayers have every right to be furious.
Over the past six years, CPS employees racked up $23.6 million in travel expenses at 5-star hotels, international trips, luxury resorts, and Vegas conferences — many never approved and some blatantly abused.
We're talking:
• $945-a-night Vegas hotel rooms
• "Professional development" trips doubled as South African safaris, hot-air balloon rides, and camel tours
• $4,700 Hawaiian vacations labeled as seminars
• Round-trip flights costing over $1,000
• A principal bringing their spouse to celebrate their anniversary — on taxpayers' dime
• Over 600 employees flocking to Vegas for seminars but skipping the exact same one when it was offered in Chicago
All while:
- Only 2 in 5 CPS students read at grade level
- Only 1 in 4 meet math proficiency
- Teacher absenteeism stays sky-high
The spending exploded when federal pandemic funds arrived — money meant to help kids recover from massive learning loss. Instead, it helped fund luxury trips.
CPS finally announced a travel freeze in October

Quote from: Herman on November 25, 2025, 06:57:38 PMChicago Public Schools Blew $23.6 MILLION on Luxury Trips — While Students Fall Behind
Chicago Public Schools just got hit with a brutal watchdog report — and taxpayers have every right to be furious.
Over the past six years, CPS employees racked up $23.6 million in travel expenses at 5-star hotels, international trips, luxury resorts, and Vegas conferences — many never approved and some blatantly abused.
We're talking:
• $945-a-night Vegas hotel rooms
• "Professional development" trips doubled as South African safaris, hot-air balloon rides, and camel tours
• $4,700 Hawaiian vacations labeled as seminars
• Round-trip flights costing over $1,000
• A principal bringing their spouse to celebrate their anniversary — on taxpayers' dime
• Over 600 employees flocking to Vegas for seminars but skipping the exact same one when it was offered in Chicago
All while:
- Only 2 in 5 CPS students read at grade level
- Only 1 in 4 meet math proficiency
- Teacher absenteeism stays sky-high
The spending exploded when federal pandemic funds arrived — money meant to help kids recover from massive learning loss. Instead, it helped fund luxury trips.
CPS finally announced a travel freeze in October

It shouldn't be any surprise since the union installed that idiot of a mayor.