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Texas GOP Adds Not One But Two Anti-Trans Bathroom Planks to Party Platform

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Calls for Overturning Same-Sex Marriage, ‘Dispelling the Myth of Separation of Church and State,’ Supports Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Legislation

While Texas GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was busy railing against the Obama administration’s directive this week on transgender restroom use in public schools, delegates to the Republican Party’s state convention were quietly backing him up by approving two new anti-trans platform planks. 

The first anti-trans plank appears in a section of the 2016 Texas GOP platform called, “Strengthening Families, Protecting Life, and Promoting Health: Celebrating Traditional Marriage.” 

It reads: 

Gender Identity — We urge the enactment of legislation addressing individuals’ use of bathrooms, showers and locker rooms that correspond with their biologically determined sex. 

This plank was approved by a whopping 90 percent of GOP delegates to the party’s state convention in Dallas. 

The other anti-trans bathroom plank is under “Educating Our Children: Local Control and Transparency of Curriculum and Funding: Governance.” The mention of local control here is ironic given that Patrick, a statewide elected official, has inserted himself into the debate over a local policy on trans students in Fort Worth. But here’s what the plank states: 

Facility Utilization-We support public school facilities such as restrooms, locker rooms and showers being reserved for the use of students based on biological birth gender. 

This plank was approved by 93 percent of delegates. 

In addition to the anti-trans planks, the party added several that are specifically anti-gay or generally anti-LGBT, including this one calling for same-sex marriage to be overturned: 

Overturning Obergefell v. Hodges- We believe this decision, overturning the Texas law prohibiting same sex marriage in Texas, has no basis in the Constitution and should be reversed, returning jurisdiction over the definition of marriage to the states. The Governor and other elected officials of the state of Texas should assert our Tenth Amendment right and reject the Supreme Court ruling. 

The party also added a plethora of new anti-LGBT “religious freedom” language to the platform: 

Protection for Religious Institutions- We believe religious institutions have the freedom to recognize and perform only those marriages that are consistent with their doctrine. … 

Safeguarding Religious Liberties- We affirm that the public acknowledgement of God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom, prosperity, and strength. We pledge our influence toward a return to the original intent of the 1st Amendment and toward dispelling the myth of separation of church and state. Tax deductions for charitable contributions are not 1521 government subsidies and give no authority for government oversight. Americans should be free to express their religious beliefs, including prayer in public places. We urge the legislature to increase the ability of faith based institutions and other organizations to assist the needy and to reduce regulation of such organizations. We also support vigorously protecting the rights of commercial establishments to refuse to provide any service or product that would infringe upon freedom of conscience of religious expression of the commercial establishments as stated in the 1st Amendment. … 

Adoption- We support reducing the time, bureaucracy, and cost of adoption. We oppose mandates that deny mothers a choice in selecting a traditional home for their children. We oppose mandatory open adoption. We oppose any government agency from forcing faith-based adoption or foster care organizations to place children with same-sex couples. 

The Texas GOP is somehow getting credit in the media for softening language in its infamous pro-“reparative therapy” plank. But a review of the entire document shows this credit is hardly deserved. In fact, the Texas GOP’s platform appears to be more anti-LGBT than ever — and that’s saying something. 

You can read the full platform here. 

 

 

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Trump Seen Struggling to Stay Awake Repeatedly in Cabinet Meeting Video

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Once again, President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to stay awake, this time during his mid-Tuesday televised Cabinet meeting. At several points, the president was filmed with his eyes closed, occasionally reopening them while seeming disengaged.

In one 30-second clip, the president’s eyes close numerous times, then Trump nods when he is mentioned. In a shorter clip, Trump also struggles to keep his eyes open, as his hand holds up his head.

In a 23-second clip, the president is hunched over, slouching in his chair, his eyes closed in what could be described as appearing to nod off.

Trump slouches and appears to try to listen as HUD Secretary Scott Turner speaks, in this 79-second video.

READ MORE: GOP Touts ‘Gulf of America Act’ in Bold New List of Party ‘Accomplishments’

In a 17-second clip, journalist Aaron Rupar wrote, “Trump’s face is becoming contorted as he desperately tries to cling to consciousness.” In another, he called the president “Dozy Don.”

But in perhaps the most extreme capture of the president appearing to doze off, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks, Trump is totally hunched over, his eyes closed, his head then falls forward, and he appears to try to wake up before seemingly falling back asleep.

While this is not the first time the president has appeared to fall asleep on camera, it comes after a massive late-night social media spree, in which Trump posted or reposted over 150 times, as Alternet reported.

Axios’ Marc Caputo noted that “Trump went on a Truth Social bender last night, posting 158 times from 9pm Monday to 12am Tuesday Just before 5:30 am, he started hitting social media again.”

The media is beginning to notice.

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Last week, The New York Times published an in-depth look at Trump’s “signs of fatigue.”

“Mr. Trump appeared to doze off during an event in the Oval Office,” one week after Halloween, the Times noted.

The president “has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office, in 2017, although he is taking more foreign trips,” according to the Times. “He also keeps a shorter public schedule than he used to. Most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5 p.m., on average.”

“During an Oval Office event that began around noon on Nov. 6,” the Times added, “Mr. Trump sat behind his desk for about 20 minutes as executives standing around him talked about weight-loss drugs.”

“At one point, Mr. Trump’s eyelids drooped until his eyes were almost closed, and he appeared to doze on and off for several seconds. At another point, he opened his eyes and looked toward a line of journalists watching him. He stood up only after a guest who was standing near him fainted and collapsed.”

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GOP Touts ‘Gulf of America Act’ in Bold New List of Party ‘Accomplishments’

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Speaker Mike Johnson in a House Republican leadership press conference on Tuesday told reporters, “Republicans are not just going to hold onto the majority,” in 2026. “We’re going to grow it.”

Earlier, during their conference meeting, Johnson “told House Republicans that he expects the GOP to defy history in 2026 — win more seats/not lose majority — due to their performance this year,” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported. “The party in power usually loses seats in a midterm.”

At the press conference, as reported by The Hill’s Emily Brooks, Republicans displayed three large posters detailing “House GOP Accomplishments.” The three posters list less than three dozen successes. Many of them are not related to what President Donald Trump ran on — mainly, reducing the cost of living for Americans.

READ MORE: ‘No Republicans Willing to Negotiate’: Health Care Subsidy Deal in Doubt

Among the thirty-plus accomplishments is the passage of the “Gulf of America Act,” which directs federal agencies to observe President Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

The posters also brag that they defunded USAID, NPR, and PBS.

Reports, including from The New Yorker, charge that defunding USAID has or will lead to the death of hundreds of thousands, including children:

“As of November 5th, it estimated that U.S.A.I.D.’s dismantling has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”

In July, the UCLA Newsroom reported that “USAID cuts may lead to more than 14 million deaths globally, including 4.5 million children under 5 by 2030, researchers say.”

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The House GOP’s posters also brag that they passed President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which is responsible for gutting about $1 trillion from Medicaid. It also effectively forces cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare, and takes a large chunk out of SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The posters also claim the GOP passed 331 bills, codified 67 executive orders, and accomplished the “Total Defeat of Government Shutdown.”

Bloomberg News’ Erik Wasson added that “One of the accomplishments is passing 3 out of 12 annual spending bills that were due Oct. 1.”

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Image via Reuters

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‘No Republicans Willing to Negotiate’: Health Care Subsidy Deal in Doubt

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A portion of House and Senate Republicans would like to extend the Obamacare subsidies that expire on December 31, but an even larger portion would not. There is no consensus among Republicans in either chamber on how to move forward, and Democrats are complaining that Republicans are unwilling to negotiate to save the subsidies before the fast-approaching deadline — a feat that is being seen as increasingly unlikely.

“There are no Republicans willing to negotiate over this. None,” lamented U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), according to The Hill. “Where is Donald Trump? Where is the Republican leadership in the House or the Senate? None of them want to talk about health care assistance for American families.”

“They don’t want to talk to the Democrats about that,” added Warren, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership. “They want to go off an[d] engage in some fantasy conversation with each other about people who can afford to pay for health care. They have voted to cut health care, and they don’t want to reverse those cuts.”

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If, as planned, the Obamacare subsidies expire, millions of Americans will see their monthly health care premiums skyrocket, in some cases by more than double.

While some Republicans have said they do want to extend the subsidies, a major issue is abortion.

Republicans want to put extra guardrails in place to ensure no federal funds pay for abortions, something Democrats say are already in place. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of abortion.

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune says for next week’s planned vote on health care, “we might not be far enough along on the bipartisan discussions.” And he warned, “there are some significant sticking points.”

Thune “highlighted an escalating fight over adding language to any bill extending the subsidies to ensure federal money is not spent on abortion care.”

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“Dealing with Hyde is a big issue, obviously, for both sides,” he said.

But Thune also insisted there is “a lot of interest” from Republicans, and “a lot of good ideas that go back to try and address what we think are some of the underlying problems with ObamaCare in the first place.”

He said that includes “affordability,” and that “premiums continue to escalate year over year, and we think that has a lot to do with the way it’s structured and how it incentivizes insurance companies to cover people.”

Rather than extending the subsidies, some Republicans want to give federal funds directly to Americans, for individual health care savings accounts, to help them pay for insurance. Funds from those accounts generally are not permitted to pay for insurance premiums.

Meanwhile, others see President Donald Trump as the major sticking point.

“Some Senators in both parties agree that the only path to an extension of some sort relies on heavy involvement from President Donald Trump,” Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday. “Trump, they argue, is more than capable of pushing enough Republicans to accept a compromise that stabilizes health care costs while preventing big GOP electoral losses next November.”

“I don’t think anything will pass without the president’s approval,” said Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). “There’s lots of ideas out there. Let’s see if we can’t put something together and take it to him.”

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) said it would “help” if Trump just told Republicans to “Make a deal.”

READ MORE: Trump Leaves Lawmakers in Limbo on Health Care Fix

 

Image via Reuters

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