The GOP could not get enough of inflation talk during the midterms and they’re still constantly yammering on about it. Let’s see what they’ve done recently.
Per Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, House GOP leadership is in the process of forcing him to remove the cap he’s been wearing as he goes through chemotherapy:
Rep. Jamie Raskin gets a standing ovation in Dem Caucus after saying he will push back on Republican efforts to make him take off the cap he's been wearing as he undergoes chemotherapy.
"And I will make them take off their toupees," Raskin said to Dem cheers
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) January 31, 2023
There are rules about no hats on the House floor, but you would think there would be some nod toward what he’s dealing with. I’m not sure how this helps inflation, to be honest.
The topic that every Republican wants to get on TV to talk about is DirecTV’s dropping the right wing network Newsmax. Unlike when DirecTV dropped the super wingnut network OANN over its pushing misinformation, this involved a simple carriage fee dispute. Newsmax was going to cost too much to add to the provider’s bottom line, so the relationship was terminated. Pretty straightforward business decision, right?
Nope. The Outrage Machine needs constant fuel, so even though they were dropped due to their own business decisions, Newsmax began complaining about censorship and discrimination. TFG got in on the action, and so did Ron DeSantis. Finally everyone on the right had a new thing to whine about.
But there is a twist this time—the GOP holds the House (for now). Imagine how excited the new Oversight Committee Chair, James Comer, is about having the national spotlight for his ring of this circus. Lest you think he’s only doing it for the attention, he has a serious basis for this investigation:
Oversight Committee chair James Comer says Republicans will hold hearings on DirecTV dropping Newsmax, adding that "this is having a negative impact on my congressional district" pic.twitter.com/PyDxC7ZbGf
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 27, 2023
(Everyone all together now: “Comer is a negative effect on his district.” These jokes write themselves.)
I thought that’d be the end of it until those hearings start, but on Tuesday 2 Republican House members made a point of talking about it. Eric Burlison of Missouri compared it to the Holocaust:
Rep. Eric Burlison compares DirecTV dropping Newsmax to the Holocaust pic.twitter.com/XsyefbbRTr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 1, 2023
And Lauren Boebert, bless her heart, was worried for other networks who might soon face the same oppression:
"Will the Weather Channel be canceled next if they refuse to bow to the left's altar of climate change?" — Lauren Boebert on the House floor on DirecTV dropping Newsmax pic.twitter.com/CIPVUkcnxX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 1, 2023
She’s such a giver. No one tell her that the government isn’t involved in the Newsmax stuff and that all Newsmax has to do is to lower their carriage fee.
That’s it for this week’s look at the GOP’s effort to lower inflation. This tune seems fitting and Elvis can sing us out.
Apparently Fox has a similarly high carriage fee, $2 per end user, where the industry average is more like 25 cents per channel per end user. I’ve been thinking of requesting a package that would be identical to what I have now, except no Fox, and paying one dollar less, splitting the difference with them. We’d both benefit by one dollar, win/win!