Massie's lapel debt clock: I wanted to 'instill anxiety among my colleagues. It’s hit the mark'

Roll Call reports, “It’s not a doomsday clock or a pedometer, though it’s been confused for both.

The copper-cased ticker affixed to Rep. Thomas Massie’s lapel is a debt clock, tracking the country’s debt in real time using a complicated algorithm of the Kentucky Republican’s design — and raising eyebrows in the process.

Best article on my wearable debt clock so far…https://t.co/iGFoyDEUCO

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 3, 2023

Since Massie, who has voiced reservations about hiking the debt ceiling, debuted the device in late January, he’s worn it around the halls of Congress, to votes and at an event in his home district…

Massie, who studied electrical and mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first got the idea around Christmas and decided to order the parts. They include an Arduino ESP32, an advanced microcontroller that he programmed to scrub current and historic debt totals posted on the U.S. Treasury’s website to approximate the real-time debt, which exceeds $31.5 trillion and has hit the country’s statutory borrowing cap.

One of the reasons I built a wearable debt clock was to induce anxiety and a sense of urgency among my colleagues regarding the $31 trillion national debt. @KennedyNation pic.twitter.com/8Z07lYaDMq

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 27, 2023

The difficult part of the process, Massie said, was writing the roughly 500 lines of code that feed the ticker — including programming that gives the steadily growing number a blurred effect, to hammer home the growth of the country’s mounting debt. ‘My design specification was to instill anxiety among my colleagues,’ Massie said. ‘And it’s hit the mark.’

With or without his debt clock, there’s anxiety enough to go around the Capitol regarding the debt ceiling.”

Read the entire story.

End the COVID emergency now

Why does Biden want to delay ending the COVID emergency for another 100 days? Because he wants to use emergency authorities to shove more money out of the door. It’s been 1000+ days to slow the spread. End the COVID emergency NOW.

H.J. Res. 7 passed 229-197. pic.twitter.com/BzNOmOzXAZ — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 1, 2023

End the 'unscientific, illogical, unethical' vaccine mandate on healthcare workers

Rep. Thomas Massie delivered the following remarks on the House floor on Tuesday, January 31, opposing the ongoing vaccine mandate on healthcare workers.

“I rise in support of this resolution because it would facilitate the passage of H.R. 497, the ‘Freedom for Healthcare Workers Act.’

What does that bill do?

The unscientific, unethical, unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was predicated on lies which I exposed on the House floor. The House will vote to end this mandate today. pic.twitter.com/6dVRTPb41l

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 31, 2023

It ends the unscientific, illogical, immoral, unconstitutional, unethical, on healthcare workers that is predicated on lies…”

Rep. Massie listed four big lies about vaccines and mandates:

The vaccine prevents spread.

The vaccine don’t/can’t cause any harm.

The vaccine is scientific.

Ignores natural immunity.

“This is the epitome of hypocrisy. Nobody in this room was mandated to take a vaccine. And we’re voting on whether we’re going to force people who want to take care of people, whether they have to take the vaccine.

End the hypocrisy. None of us were mandated. None of the staff in this room were mandated to take a vaccine. End it now.”

Now that Biden is trying to avoid embarrassment, how will Democrats vote?

Republicans already getting results. This week we are voting to end the COVID emergency. In response, Biden announces HE IS going to end the COVID-19 emergency declarations. Now that Biden is trying to avoid embarrassment, how will democrats vote? What about vax mandates? https://t.co/WzotJu3ulG

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 30, 2023

31 fewer tanks to defend the U.S.

We look weaker if burned out shells of these iconic American tanks begin to litter Ukrainian fields. And they’re not coming back, so that’s 31 fewer tanks to defend the United States. pic.twitter.com/BwlHUfceTQ

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 25, 2023

Biden administration still fighting in court to force citizens to wear masks on planes

Biden’s DOJ & CDC are still fighting in court to assert a non-existent authority to force citizens to wear masks on planes.

As with Trump’s eviction moratorium, the lower court has ruled no law exists to grant them this kind of power to rule our lives.https://t.co/bKgjmRGeW2 — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 23, 2023

Possibly the most depraved of the COVID-19 shot mandates are the college mandates

Possibly the most depraved of the COVID-19 shot mandates are the college mandates.

Young adults are LEAST at risk for COVID and MOST at risk for myocarditis from the shots. Young adults also have half a century of life before them, while long term effects of shots are unknown. https://t.co/SCKuF0wCin — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 22, 2023

Hollywood doesn’t portray the truth about self-defensive use of firearms

Surprise! Hollywood doesn’t portray the truth about self-defensive use of firearms…https://t.co/jOPn8y0zM0

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 19, 2023

Republicans introduce legislation that would end the CDC's vaccine mandate for air travel

BASEDPolitics' Brad Polumbo writes, “Most COVID-19 restrictions have long since lapsed in the US. But the Centers for Disease Control continues to require, with very narrow exceptions, that all international travelers coming to the US via air travel show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter our country.

A group of House Republicans wants to consign this mandate to the dustbin.

The COVID shot doesn’t prevent spread so why is Biden requiring visitors who travel to the US by air to have received it? (especially for COVID shots taken two years ago for a strain that no longer circulates) End the unscientific travel mandate!https://t.co/NnD59jfCBk

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 16, 2023

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, just introduced legislation that would override the CDC requirement and prohibit a similar requirement from being reimplemented. His legislation is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Mary Miller, Ralph Norman, Scott Perry, Bill Posey, Greg Steube, Brian Mast, and Michael Cloud.

'If you watched C-SPAN last week, you saw 434 Members of Congress gathered in the Capitol screaming, yelling, cheering, and speaking. Many of these members are unvaccinated, and many haven’t taken boosters,' Massie said. 'So, why do we subject visitors who want to see their families to this COVID-19 double standard?'

'The CDC’s unscientific mandate is separating too many people from their families and has been doing so for far too long. It needs to end,' the congressman concluded.”

Read the entire column.

Changing the definition of 'vaccination'

Because COVID shots don’t provide immunity, they don’t even meet the widely accepted definition of a vaccine. CDC changed their definition. I would argue that lawmakers who created federal laws limiting liability for vaccines did not intend for their laws to cover these shots. pic.twitter.com/LsYlyI4Bj9

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 12, 2023