Year: 2011

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Elizabeth Warren Politics

Elizabeth Warren Out As Head Of Consumer Protection Agency

Elizabeth Warren, the favored candidate Progressives have pushed over the last few months to head the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, just confirmed that she would not be the nominee. Reports indicates that President Obama has decided to go with Richard Cordray instead, and will make that announcement as early as Monday.

Mrs. Warren explained to The Huffington Post:

“Rich has always had my strong support because he is tough and he is smart-and that’s exactly the combination this new agency needs. He was one of the first senior leaders I recruited for the agency, and his work and commitment have made it clear that he will make a stellar director.”

One of the most vocal voices for Warren’s nomination voiced their disappointment. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said;

“With her track record of standing up to Wall Street and fighting for consumers, Elizabeth Warren was the best qualified to lead this bureau that she conceived — and we imagine Richard Cordray would agree,” PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a statement. “That said, Rich Cordray has been a strong ally of Elizabeth Warren’s and we hope he will continue her legacy of holding Wall Street accountable.”

Mrs. Warren was originally chosen by the Obama Administration to set up the mechanism need for the new agency. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is scheduled to begin its duties on July 21st.

Because of her liberal stance, it is said that Elizabeth Warren would have never gained the Republican votes in congress necessary for confirmation if the President nominated her.

Richard Cordray is the former Attorney General of Ohio.

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Barack Obama Politics Republican Tax Tax break United States

President Obama – “Wealthiest Americans Must Pay Their Fair Share!”

In his weekly address to the nation, President Obama continued his push for a balanced approach to the nation’s debt problem, and called for Republicans to agree to raising revenues along with spending cuts.

“The truth is, you can’t solve our deficit without cutting spending. But you also can’t solve it without asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share – or without taking on loopholes that give special interests and big corporations tax breaks that middle-class Americans don’t get.

It’s pretty simple. I don’t think oil companies should keep getting special tax breaks when they’re making tens of billions in profits. I don’t think hedge fund managers should pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. And I don’t think it’s fair to ask nothing of someone like me when the average family has seen their income decline over the past decade – and when many of you are just trying to stretch every dollar as far as it will go.

We shouldn’t put the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of folks who’ve already borne the brunt of the recession. It’s not reasonable and it’s not right. If we’re going to ask seniors, or students, or middle-class Americans to sacrifice, then we have to ask corporations and the wealthiest Americans to share in that sacrifice.”

The President:

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Democratic Republican United States Wisconsin Wisconsin Union Bashing

Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker Admits He Made A Mistake

Scott Walker and his Republican goons instituted some of the most radical right winged policies Wisconsin has ever seen, but what caused the Republican governor to admit he made a mistake was not the policies themselves – policies that caused hundreds of thousands to protests on a daily basis and to takeover the assembly house for weeks – Walker admitted to being sorry about the method in which he implemented his agenda.

“Aside from criticism by those who thought Walker was unfairly undercutting state worker rights, he and his fellow Republicans came under fire for tactics seen by some as bullying and not allowing for sufficient debate or possible compromise.

“The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it,” Walker told Reuters at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City.

“I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done,” he said.

It’s not how you forced your policies on the people of Wisconsin that have you polling among the lowest governors in America Mr. Walker, its your policies themselves.

Six Republicans who helped Walker push his union busting policy on Wisconsin’s middle class are facing recalls in August. Walker himself must serve one year before he is eligible for recall, that happens in January of 2012.

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Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican

Gingrich Campaign Is Financially Busted

ATLANTA –Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign is more than $1 million in debt, according to his campaign disclosure provided to The Associated Press on Friday.

The former House speaker’s campaign raised $2.1 million since he got into the race earlier this year. But he spent $1.8 million, and listed $1.03 million in debt, including more than $100,000 in legal fees. Gingrich listed $322,222 cash on hand.

His campaigners said he had received contributions from 20,217 donors, with 17,959 donating $100 or less.

Gingrich’s White House bid has struggled since 18 staff members – consultants and advisers, including his two chief fundraisers – resigned earlier this year. He scaled back his spending, flying commercial airlines rather than taking corporate jets.

Source

Categories
Politics taxes

Russell Simmons To The Rich – Stop Bitching, Pay Your Damn Taxes

Republicans have shown time and time again during these negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, that they are willing to allow the good faith and credit of America to be ruined, just to protect the tax loopholes their rich friends enjoy. Loopholes like providing $600 billion a year to oil companies and giving tax breaks to companies who close down businesses in America and open those same businesses in other countries. Well, Russell Simmons, a millionaire whose net worth is listed as over $340 million, has some choice words for his fellow millionaire friends: “Stop bitching and pay your damn taxes!”

Mr. Simmons wrote a piece in Huffington Post in which he rightly criticizes Republicans for attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class and poor, while the rich gets richer.

To all my Republican friends, billionaires and multi-millionaires, stop bitching and pay your damn taxes. How dare you make record profits and not want to contribute more to fixing our problems while some in our country are suffering the worst economic times since the Great Depression? I DON’T NEED A TAX BREAK. I AM RICH. AND SO ARE YOU!

He then questions the wisdom of American citizens who would support Republican candidates who only have intentions of protecting millionaires.

Who amongst us is stupid enough to support politicians that want to protect guys with corporate jets and five homes around the world? What rock are we living under? I know this may not sound like the voice of a yogi, but even Krishna would have told Arjuna stop crying and pay your damn taxes. So, stop this nonsense and start giving.

Simmons then questioned the claim by many rich folks who claimed they “worked hard,” to  attain their wealth and asked them, “what box you lifted today?” He continued;

Most of you, not all of you, but most of you got some lucky break or your daddy left you all that you needed. I know, for one, I am one of the very lucky ones. Talent was a small second to the luck I’ve had while building my businesses. The “hard work” is the fun part; the only happiness we get is derived from that service.

He then praised the efforts of President Obama for wanting to put politics aside to get America back on the right economic track, while the rich and their Republican friends exert no effort to do the same.

The President has shown he is willing to make compromises and make difficult decisions to put this country back on the right track while it seems that all you want to do is play Russian roulette with the most vulnerable people of our nation. The President is showing leadership and you Republicans are showing how silver your pockets are lined by the corporate interests. That is not acceptable and you should be targeted for support. You ought to know full well that we cannot decrease our deficit by only cutting our spending. We MUST raise revenue. And those who have made the most should give the most.

And we couldn’t agree with him more. Because of the policies and hard work of middle class Americans, the rich in this country have prospered beyond their wildest dreams. It is only right that now when the country needs their support, they should pick up the slack and do their share. The middle class and the poor are already carrying the majority of the burden.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Ted Kennedy’s Warning About Republican Mitt Romney

From beyond the grave, Ted Kennedy is educating Americans about the Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. The ad below is 17 years old and was released today by Politico. It was filmed by the Ted Kennedy team against their opponent, Romney. It seems that even in 1994, Romney was a businessman who was more concerned about making that profit, no matter how many middle class jobs were lost in the process.

The voice in the ad states;

 “Mitt Romney says he saved Bain and Company, but he didn’t tell you that on the day he took over, he had his predecessor fire hundreds of employees. Or that the way the company was rescued was with a federal bailout of $10 million.”

The ad was never shown, but the message for today is still the same. Like he did back then, Romney is now trying to present himself as someone who knows how to create jobs… even though when he finished his job as governor of Massachusetts, that state ranked 47th out of the 50 states in jobs creation.

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Michele Bachmann

Jon Stewart And Jerry Seinfeld – Is Marcus Bachmann Gay?

Okay, I’ll admit it. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, you can watch someone’s behavior, their mannerism, the way they talk, walk and dress, and from these appearances, you can most of the time accurately determine the sexual orientation of that person. Most of the time…

Have you ever seen Marcus Bachmann’s movements or listen to his speech patterns? My opinion is not conclusive, but in my view, it all points to one thing…

Marcus opened a clinic with his wife and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, and their claim to fame is the ability to cure gay people.

It is with this in mind I direct your attention to the video below, where Jon Stewart tries to figure out Michele Bachmann’s husband’s preference. And while having some, um, issues trying to come to an initial conclusion, Mr. Stewart invites Jerry Seinfeld to contribute his opinion.

In the end, the conclusion is made that Bachmann’s husband Marcus, cures gays, so he can “hoard all the gayness for himself.”

Categories
Sarah Palin Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin to G.O.P – “Do not Retreat… It’s Time To Reload!”

In what could be said  was a blatant attempt to grab the spotlight or just willfully ignorant,  Conservative’s Queen, Sarah Palin, used the very same phrase that many believed led to the killing of six people in Tucson Arizona, and the attempted assassination of Congressman Gabriel Giffords.

Last night, the insensitive and maybe just plain ol’ dumb Sarah Palin went on Fox’s Hannity show, and offered some advise to Republicans negotiating the debt ceiling issue with President Obama, telling them not to back down!

“We cannot default, but we cannot afford to retreat right now either. Now is not the time to retreat, it’s time to reload.”

We can only hope that it was the realization of how insensitive her remarks were, that caused her to elaborate…

“We reload with reality by giving facts and numbers to the American public so that those of us across the United States can start chiming in and letting our representatives know that we will not capitulate.”

Back in 2010, Congressman Gabrielle Giffords questioned the wisdom of Palin using this very same phrase and putting cross-haires on hers and other Democratic Congressional members’ districts. Mrs. Giffords was shot in the head earlier this year, while having a political event in her district. Six other people were killed in that attack.

What’s next for Sarah Palin, is she going to put cross-hairs on the White House?

Although no one ever confirmed any links between the shooting in Tucson and Mrs. Palin’s rhetoric, one would have to be somewhat mentally deficient to make that very same statement again. Mentally unstable or willfully ignorant!

Watch the latest video at <a href=”http://video.foxnews.com”>video.foxnews.com</a>

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Medicare Mitch McConnell Politics Republican South Carolina United States

Lindsey Graham Blames His Fellow Congressional Republicans

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has a message for his Republican friends in Congress. Don’t blame the President or even the Democrats. Don’t blame anyone else for the mess over raising the debt ceiling, blame yourself.

“Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months. How many Republicans have been on TV saying, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit.’ You know, Mitch [McConnell] says, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit unless we talk about Medicare.’ And I’ve said I’m not going to raise the debt limit until we do something about spending and entitlements.’ So we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.

“We shouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it.”

The Republicans are beginning to break.

With the President holding his ground in the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, and with Americans looking at the Republicans as obstructionists whose only goal is protecting the rich while the rest of the country slides into default, Republicans are beginning to wonder out loud why they intentionally mislead the American people over a very routine matter – raising the debt ceiling. On Tuesday, Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell proposed a feeble detour to get the debt ceiling raised, and now this from Lindsey Graham.

The American people are keeping track of what’s going on, and the Republicans are beginning to see the writing on the wall… in the form of a political suicide note that is.

Categories
Politics United States

Moody’s Place America’s Triple A Ratings On Notice For Downgrade

And so it begins. The triple A(Aaa) ratings that America has enjoyed since 1917 was put on notice for a downgrade today by Moody’s Investors Service.

Bloomberg reports that Moody’s took this initial move to lower America’s credit ratings over “concern(s) the debt threshold will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes even though the risk remains low”.  Additionally, the report stated that Moody’s  “…rating would likely be reduced to the Aa range…”  and  that ” …that there is no assurance that Moody’s would return its top rating even if a default is quickly cured.”

Meanwhile, Republicans continue protecting the tax loopholes for the rich.

Categories
Barack Obama Democratic Party Mitch McConnell Politics United States

Mitch McConnell – “I Refuse To Help Barack Obama Get Re-Elected!”

For the 3 people in the entire world, who think Mitch McConnell is sincerely trying to work with the President to set America on solid economic ground, this one’s for you. Today, the Republican Senate minority leader clearly stated his reasoning for coming up with a “solution” to the debt ceiling, saying, ” I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy.”

“We knew shutting down the government in 1995 was not going to work for us. It helped Bill Clinton get reelected. I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy. It didn’t work in 1995. What will happen is the administration will send out to 80 million Social Security recipients and to military families and they will all start attacking members of Congress. That is not a useful place to take us. And the president will have the bully pulpit to blame Republicans for all this disruption.

“If we go into default he will say Republicans are making the economy worse. And all of a sudden we have co-ownership of a bad economy. That is a very bad position going into an election. My first choice was to do something important for the country. But my second obligation is to my party and my conference to prevent them from being sucked into a horrible position politically that would allow the president, probably, to get reelected because we didn’t handle this difficult situation correctly.”

Meanwhile, America’s economy moves closer to the brink of a second Great Depression. But no surprise here. This is the same Republican leader who said his number one priority was making sure the  President is a one-term president.

Categories
Barack Obama Mitch McConnell Politics Republican

Mitch McConnell Raised The White Flag On The Debt Ceiling…Or Did He?

When President Obama earlier stated that “nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon”, no one really understood where the President was going in terms of the negotiations concerning raising the debt ceiling. Later when he put forth his plan for a massive $4 trillion dollars in spending cuts – if Republicans agreed to ending the tax loopholes for the wealthy – the connection between his statement and his plan still wasn’t realized.

However, when the Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell yesterday told the press, that he is willing to “authorize” the President to submit a request to congress to raise the debt ceiling, a light bulb went off in the Host of MSNBC’s The Last Word – Lawrence O’ Donnell‘s head. The President’s statement on a $4 trillion spending cut proposal finally began making sense.

The way O’Donnell explains the connection is like this: President Obama is winning the debt ceiling argument with Republicans. By making the statement, “nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon,” the President put Republicans on notice, that to have a deal, both parties would have to agree to major sacrifices. He then announced a huge spending cut proposal, with the knowledge that Republicans were too much against imposing any taxes or ending the loopholes on the wealthy. With this in mind, the President essentially called the Republican’s bluff. If they were really serious about deficit reduction, they would have jumped on the opportunity to cut spending by ending the tax loopholes.

Then yesterday, Mitch McConnell came out and basically handed the President the win. What Mitch wants is a resolution to allow the President to raise the debt ceiling all by himself. The President would request congress to raise the debt ceiling. Congress would then vote to “disapprove” the request, which the President would then veto. With that veto, the debt ceiling would automatically be raised on the President’s terms.

This move by McConnell, basically giving up the fight and allowing President Obama to make the decision, brought it all home for Lawrence.

Of course, we are talking about Mitch McConnell – the same Republican who said his primary goal is to see Obama fail. It is therefore wise to look at this “plan” by McConnell from that perspective and realize the politics behind it. McConnell realizes that the Republicans have taken a dangerous position. Any default by the United States government by not raising the debt ceiling would be political assassination for the GOP. With this move, McConnell removes the Republicans from the decision-making process, that way, the President makes the decision and avoids America going into default.  McConnell can tell his Teaparty constituents that he voted against raising the debt ceiling.

The punk’s way out if you ask me.

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