Another desperate, lying Facebook post by Congressman Cline.

The “Working Families Tax Cut Act,” narrowly approved last year, slashes more than a trillion dollars from federal programs providing health care and food assistance to low-income families. It was previously known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” until Cline and other Republicans became too embarrassed to call it that anymore.

The law provides huge tax cuts for the very rich, tiny tax cuts for the working class and actually reduces incomes for the poorest Americans.

The law did not stop “illegal aliens” from receiving “taxpayer-funded benefits” because they were not receiving them before it was passed.

• Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal benefits such as Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, Social Security, or Affordable Care Act Marketplace health insurance.

• Some lawfully present immigrants can qualify for benefits, but eligibility is severely limited. Green card holders must wait five years before qualifying for SNAP, and new federal restrictions have narrowed eligibility for Medicaid and SNAP beginning in 2026.

• Undocumented immigrants can still receive emergency medical care. Federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency treatment regardless of immigration status.

And this is true no matter how many times Cline lies in his effort the demonize and scaremonger about immigrants.

Congressman Cline’s latest post on his campaign Facebook page:

Let’s lay aside for now the question of whether the tens of billions of dollars spent so far on Trump’s unwinnable war in Iran (which Cline supports) is a “reckless waste of your tax dollars.”

The only recent increase in taxes on working class families is Trump’s tariffs, which these families have to pay in higher prices– something else Cline supports.

Another ridiculous Ben Cline “solution” to a non-existent “problem.”

How does this even remotely help the people he purports to represent in Congress?

As Donald Trump awards no-bid contracts for his taxpayer-funded projects and pardons well-connected convicted fraudsters without a hint of objection from Congressman Cline, the congressman laughably posts stuff like this on his campaign Facebook page.

One result is comments like this:

You’ve got them rolling in the aisles, Congressman.

As the midterm elections approach, and with no meaningful achievements to boast about, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are latching onto the Democratic primary victories of a handful of self-described democratic socialists to try and scare voters about what they variously describe as “socialism,” “communism” and “Marxism.”

It took Congressman Cline awhile to join in, but here’s what he posted today on Facebook:

Of course there’s nothing “new” about any of this. Republicans have engaged in the same sort of scaremongering for nearly a century.

Speaking of Republicans in 1952, President Harry S Truman observed:

Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.

Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called social security.

Socialism is what they called farm price supports.

Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance.

Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations.

Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.

As far back as the 1930s Republicans were calling President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal “socialist” and “communistic.”

What Republicans called “socialism” proved so popular that they had to pass a Constitutional amendment to prevent anyone else from being elected president four times, as FDR was.

I actually believed that once I documented that it is Ben Cline– and not his Democratic opponent Beth Macy– who receives tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from Big Hollywood, he wouldn’t again have the nerve to accuse Macy of being the candidate of an “out of touch Hollywood elite.”

How foolish I was. And how frightened and desperate he must be.

(Hat tip: Augusta Free Press.)

Apologies to Cline: I will never again underestimate his willingness to brazenly distort and lie in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Remember when Congressman Cline posted this on Facebook?

You don’t have to think back very far. It was only last week.

Desperate for some tangible achievement as the midterm elections approach, Cline and most other House Republicans joined all Democrats to vote for the ROAD to Housing Act, designed to make housing more affordable for Americans.

The Senate also overwhelmingly approved the measure, and it went to President Trump’s desk Wednesday for a signing ceremony– which Trump abruptly canceled. He demanded that Congress first approve the voter suppression bill known as the Save America Act. Republicans don’t have the votes to pass it in the Senate.

But that’s not all. Trump went on the humiliate Cline and other Republican supporters of the measure by calling it an “Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren centric housing bill,” writing that it is “of minor importance compared to lower interest rates, and even FISA, pales in comparison to passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”

Warren, one of the main backers of the bill in the Senate, responded: “Huge bipartisan majorities in Congress passed a bill to lower housing costs. But at the 11th hour, Donald Trump is refusing to sign it into law. His policies have made your costs go up — and he doesn’t care.”

And Trump reportedly told House speaker Mike Johnson that “no one gives a [bleep] about housing.”

What do you have to say, Congressman?

NPR reports:

It’s a problem the labor movement has decried for years: After a successful union election, it takes far too long — an average of 465 days, according to Bloomberg Law — for workers and their employers to reach a first contract.

In some cases, it takes even longer. Neither the Buffalo, N.Y., Starbucks baristas who unionized in late 2021 nor the Staten Island Amazon warehouse workers who unionized in the spring of 2022 have a contract.

Now, by a vote of 230 to 193, the House has approved a bill that would force employers to the table, allow federal mediators to get involved if a deal is not reached within 90 days, and — if needed — settle the matter through arbitration shortly thereafter.

Twenty Republicans joined Democrats in voting on Tuesday evening to pass the measure, called the Faster Labor Contracts Act.

Congressman Cline, of course, joined most Republicans to vote NO.

I say “of course” because Cline’s hostility to workers who organize unions and seek to bargain collectively with their employers is longstanding and well-documented .

The fact that Cline once said something favorable about unions at a Labor Day event in Covington doesn’t change that. It’s more telling that every time he addresses a crowd at Labor Day in Buena Vista, he endorses anti-union “right to work” laws.

 He emphasizes that the only right he supports for workers is the right not to join a union.

Never mind that as of last August, 68 percent of Americans approved of labor unions. Never mind that up to 70 percent of non-union hourly workers would join a union if given a chance.

And never mind that in 2016 Virginia voters– including a majority in Cline’s Sixth District– rejected a Republican effort led by then-delegate Ben Cline to enshrine Virginia’s “right to work” law in the Commonwealth’s Constitution.

It seems most of the people Cline represents in Congress don’t hate unions as much as he and other Republican politicians think they should.

This is a good thing, but it would be much better if more than 3.5 million Americans (including thousands of Congressman Cline’s own constituents) were not losing SNAP food assistance as a result of the “Big Beautiful Bill” which he enthusiastically supported.

The New York Times reports:

The House voted on Thursday to approve new aid for Ukraine and impose a fresh round of sanctions targeting the industries fueling Russia’s war economy, after 18 Republicans defied their leaders to join Democrats in support of a bill that runs counter to President Trump’s agenda.

The legislation, which passed 226 to 195, would provide $8 billion in loans to Ukraine and $1.8 billion in aid for military and security assistance. In addition to putting new sanctions on Russian-affiliated businesses and officials, it would also punish foreign companies, organizations and individuals that attempt to evade sanctions in an effort to support Moscow.

It now heads to the Senate, where Mr. Trump’s opposition has stopped similar attempts at new penalties on Russia and its allies. And even if it were to clear both chambers, it would likely be vetoed by the president, who has repeatedly balked at legislation that seeks to constrain his ability to negotiate on foreign policy matters.

Cline was not among the 18 Republicans who voted to support Ukraine against the brutal and murderous Russian aggression. Instead he submitted to Trump and the GOP leadership by voting NO.

Shortly after the invasion began in 2022, Cline tried to raise campaign funds based on the fact that Russia had sanctioned him– along with 397 other members of the House, ranging from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Marjorie Talyor Greene.

Since then, Cline’s voting record in Congress has aligned a lot closer with Putin’s interests than with Ukraine’s.