Editor’s Note – A level of criminality never before seen

Stephan: 

Today's SR is mostly focused on a growing trend that should concern all of us. I am speaking here about the level of criminality that defines the Republican Party. I've picked just a few stories that have come out in the past several days, and I could have added half a dozen more. Both parties have had criminals amongst their number, I want to be clear about that, but the criminality of the Republican Party is unlike anything ever seen before in U.S. history. There are so many criminal Republicans that it has become not just a story of individual cases, but the story of a trend. The media treats these as stories about individuals, they don't seem to see the trend. But to me, it is the trend that is the big takeaway from all these stories. We are in grave danger as a two-party political system nation, when lying, willful ignorance, and criminality are defining characteristics of one of those parties.

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Biden proposes $6.8 trillion budget to make rich pay “fair share”

Stephan: 

To provide contrast to the rest of this issue, here are the details laying out Biden's budget iand what it is designed to do. What do the Republicans want? Cut Social Security payments, increase the retirement age, cut or eliminate Medicare, and lower taxes on the rich. What I find amazing is that the people who make up MAGAt world are so, what can I say but dumb, and ill-informed that they don't seem to understand the Republican budget program would trash their lives.

Credit: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty 

President Biden is using the release of his $6.8 trillion budget for fiscal year 2024 to challenge House Republicans to produce their own tax and spending blueprint without cutting Medicare or Social Security.

Why it matters: Biden’s plan, which has little chance of being enacted by Congress, amounts to the clearest distillation of his political priorities as he prepares to mount a re-election campaign by running against congressional Republicans.

  • “I want to make it clear: I’m ready to meet with the Speaker [Kevin McCarthy]) anytime — tomorrow if he has his budget,” Biden said in Philadelphia.
  • “My budget is going to give working people a fighting chance,” he said. “We have made a lot of progress in the first two years.”
  • The message to the wealthiest Americans was clear: “You have to begin to pay your fair share,” Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters. “We are happy to have that debate.”

By the numbers: Biden is proposing $885 billion in overall defense spending to help fund the war against […]

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Sold the Statehouse’: Jury convicts 2 well-known Ohio Republicans in $60 million racketeering case

Stephan: 

Every week I see one or two stories, sometimes more, on Republican politicians being arrested or indicted for some kind of criminality. Here are two leaders of the Republican Party in Ohio recently found guilty of a $60 million dollar bribery scam. 

Former Speaker for the Ohio House of Representatives Larry Householder Credit: Screengrab

In Ohio, two well-known Republicans — Larry Householder, former speaker for the Ohio House of Representatives, and ex-Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges — have been facing federal corruption charges in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. And on Thursday, March 9, a jury in Cincinnati found both of them guilty.

According to CBS News, the jury found Householder and Borges “guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering, after about 9.5 half hours of deliberations over two days.”

After the verdict was handed down, Kenneth Parker — a federal prosecutor in the case — told reporters, “(Larry) Householder sold the Statehouse, and thus, he ultimately betrayed the people of the great state of Ohio he was elected to serve…. Through its verdict today, the jury reaffirmed that the illegal acts committed by both men will not be tolerated and that they should be held accountable.”

CBS News explains, “Prosecutors alleged […]

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Fact checkers discover additional embellishments GOP Rep. Andy Ogles made about his resume

Stephan: 

Another Republican MAGAt lying about his background, claiming credit for things he never did, jobs he never held. George Santos is far from the only such liar in the Republican Party.

Tennessee Republican MAGAt Representative Andy Ogles Credit: Official photo

Tennessee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles has marketed himself as a successful entrepreneur and real estate investor, a tax policy expert, and the head of an international nonprofit rescuing sex trafficking victims. But according to recent reports, he has exaggerated many part of his resume, making him the latest Republican to accused of lying about his past in wake of revelations about New York GOP Congressman George Santos.

Nashville’s NewsChannel5 reported weeks ago that Ogles had studied languages in college, but not economics or international policy, as he had claimed. His alleged history of rescuing sex trafficking victims was also greatly exaggerated.

Now, fact checkers at The Washington Post have found more embellishments from Ogles, this time in regards to his business career.

In 2009, he submitted a resume that claimed he ran a consulting firm from 2003 to 2010 that could not be corroborated by The Post. The résumé states that at E. Net Media he represented “a variety of […]

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Former Trump campaign chairman hit with $3.2 million fine to settle tax-dodging charges

Stephan: 

It just goes on and on, I could do another half dozen stories like those I am publishing today. I want to be clear, there are Democratic politicians that are dishonest but, and this is the important point, the criminality of Republican politicians is unlike anything ever seen in the United States before.

Donald Trump, Paul Manafort Trump campaign manager and Ivanka Trump during the sound checks on stage in the Quicken Arena for the Republican National Convention. Credit: Mark Reinstein / Shutterstock

Donald Trump’s one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort is paying a whopping $3.2 million in fines to finally settle federal tax-dodging charges.

A judgment against Manafort was entered for his “willful” failure to file timely legally required annual reports disclosing his ownership — or control — of more than three dozen offshore companies and accounts, according to the watchdog news site The Florida Bulldog. The penalties and interest assessed against him covered the tax years 2013 and 2014.

The $3.2 million settlement was approved by Miami U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz last week.

Trump pardoned Manafort before he left office in 2021, which freed him from jail, but didn’t let him off hook for tax fines.

Manafort served as Trump’s campaign manager from May to August of 2016. He left his job before he was charged with any crimes, following a flurry of concerns about […]

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