That's right Johnson, tell those Republican fuckers to shove it!

Mike Johnson Defiant After GOP Votes Down Its Own Government Funding Bill

The House has until Sept. 30 to pass a spending bill�or face a government
shutdown.
Zachary Folk

House Speaker Mike Johnson�s spending bill was rejected by Congress on
Wednesday after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the
stopgap measures�even after the speaker attached a Trump-endorsed voter
registration act to the legislation.

The House now has until Sept. 30 to pass a spending bill or face a
government shutdown.

Johnson previously scrapped a vote on the bill last week to spend the
weekend rounding up support from hesitant members of his caucus. He also
attached the SAVE Act to the legislation, which would prohibit states
from registering non-citizens as voters�something Johnson himself has
admitted is already illegal under federal law.

McConnell Pleads With GOP: Don�t Shut Down the Government
�BEYOND STUPID�
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

�If Republicans don�t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they
should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,�
Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Wednesday.

Johnson was defiant, chalking the loss up to �the legislative process at
work.� Speaking to a group of reporters, Johnson said �the play that we
ran tonight was the right play. It�s the right fight for the American
people. It�s the one that they demand and deserve.�

He added that there was plenty of time to �draw up another play��but did
not elaborate on what that might look like.

Later in the evening on Fox News, Johnson criticized Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats for not bringing any of the
Republican House majority�s appropriations bills up for a vote.

�There�s nothing that we can negotiate because there�s nothing on the
table, Johnson told host Sean Hannity. �We�re pushed into this scenario,
this dilemma, because of the Senate�s inability, or unwillingness, to do
their job.

The Republicans who joined the Democrats to defeat the bill included Rep.
Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Rep. Andy
Biggs of Arizona.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mike-johnson-defiant-after-stopgap-
government-spending-bill-fails

He'd think differently if it was his kids.

This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating
suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
988.

Calling it a “dangerous practice,” Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive
order Wednesday that bans conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky.

Speaking in Frankfort, Beshear said such attempts to alter a young
person’s gender expression or sexual attractions have “no basis in
medicine” — a view supported by experts in medicine and mental health.

Conversion therapy has been condemned by the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), among other medical and psychological
organizations. AACAP says conversion therapies “lack scientific
credibility and clinical utility” and “there is evidence that such
interventions are harmful.”

The practice involves “interventions purported to alter same-sex
attractions or an individual’s gender expression with the specific aim to
promote heterosexuality as a preferable outcome” according to the AACAP.

The American Psychological Association says that people who have undergone
“sexual orientation change efforts” are much more likely to be depressed
and suicidal. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988.

Beshear’s executive order states that neither state or federal dollars can
be used “for the practice of conversion therapy on minors.”

“Today’s action does not force an ideology on anybody,” Beshear said. “It
does not expose anyone to anything in a library or school. It simply stops
a so-called ‘therapy’ that the medical community says is wrong and hurts
our children.”

Beshear’s order comes after Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, has
repeatedly sponsored legislation to ban conversion therapy in Kentucky.
Each year, her bill has had bipartisan support. Given that, it’s always
been a “mystery” to her why it didn’t pass, she told the Lantern
Wednesday.

“That’s a question I’ve asked myself for six years: Why can’t we get this
across the finish line?” she said. “It’s such a discredited practice. It
has caused such harm to so many young Kentuckians, including suicide. And
it has had such strong bipartisan support.”

“I’m incredibly grateful for the executive order, and that, at long last,
there will be protections in place,” Willner added.

Snags in 2025?
Beshear’s move could hit snags in the 2025 legislative session.

Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, wrote on social media that he would file
legislation next year to “stop this governor from pushing his harmful far-
left agenda on struggling kids.”

Calloway shared a screenshot of the email the governor’s office sent to
announce the executive order and wrote, “why is @AndyBeshearKY determined
to keep vulnerable children confused?”

“I will fight this with every fiber of my being,” Calloway wrote. “I am
also exploring other legal options to stop egregious overreach.”

Meanwhile, 12 Republican Senators slammed Beshear for the order, which
they said “disregards the First Amendment rights regarding freedom of
religion and speech and violates the fundamental parental rights and
responsibilities for their children.”

“Time and again, the Kentucky Supreme Court has told the governor he lacks
the power to create policy in the Commonwealth. Yet again, the governor is
defying the Supreme Court, the General Assembly, and the doctrine of
separation of powers,” those senators said in a statement. “The executive
order uses such vague and overbroad language that health care providers
are at risk, and children will be left without needed mental health care.”

The 12 Republican state senators issuing the statement condemning
Beshear’s action are: Senate President Robert Stivers, Manchester; Robby
Mills, Henderson; Shelley Funke Frommeyer, Alexandria; Lindsey Tichenor,
Smithfield; Whitney Westerfield, Fruit Hill; Gary Boswell, Owensboro;
Donald Douglas, Nicholasville; Greg Elkins, Winchester; John Schickel,
Union; Phillip Wheeler, Pikeville; Majority Whip Mike Wilson, Bowling
Green; Max Wise, R-Campbellsville.

Willner is “sure there will be efforts” to block the executive order, she
told the Lantern.

“There are people who, I think, willfully misunderstand what this is
about, and that this is a practice that traumatizes people for decades,
for the rest of their lives, and that ends lives prematurely,” she said.
“And for people to misunderstand this is beyond disappointing. I will do
everything I can to make sure that any efforts to turn this back will
fail, and I really hope that they will.”

Protections ‘at long last’
Advocates for mental health in Kentucky praised Beshear’s action.

Sheila Schuster, the executive director of the Kentucky Mental Health
Coalition, called the practice “torture” and teared up as she spoke
alongside Beshear in the Capitol Rotunda.

Her coalition has listed ending conversion therapy as a top priority for
the legislature for nearly a decade, citing the “harm” the practice
causes.

“While we have not been successful in the legislature, it’s not for lack
of effort from our heroines and heroes,” Schuster said.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said Beshear
would “save countless Kentucky kids’ lives” with the move.

“Today, we all join Governor Beshear to send a crystal clear message to
all of Kentucky’s queer kids and their families,” Hartman said. “You are
perfect as you are.”

Eric Russ, the executive director of the Kentucky Psychological
Association, called conversion therapy a discredited practice that “has no
place in the mental health care of LGBTQ youth.”

“We know that survivors of conversion therapy not only do not change their
sexual orientation, but have worse mental health outcomes, including self
blame, guilt, shame, anxiety, depression,” Russ said. “We know the best
thing we can do as mental health providers is to affirm the identity of
the kids in our care. When a kid walks into a licensed mental health
professional’s office with their family, we have an ethical obligation to
provide them care that is supportive, evidence based and affirming to
their sexual orientation identity.”

https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/09/18/beshear-signs-order-banning-
conversion-therapy-on-kentucky-minors/