Day: October 16, 2013

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Politics

New Yersey Election – Teaparty Lose Again With Cory Booker Win

The Teaparty’s attempt to make this nation bow down on all fours came to a crushing defeat tonight, as both Senate and the House voting to end the Republican induced government shutdown. And now this: the Teaparty favored candidate in New Jersey failed to topple Cory Booker for the US Senate.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor.

Booker, 44, will become the first black senator from New Jersey and heads to Washington with an unusual political resume. He was raised in suburban Harington Park as the son of two of the first black IBM executives, and graduated from Stanford and law school at Yale with a stint in between as a Rhodes Scholar before moving to one of Newark’s toughest neighborhoods with the intent of doing good.

He’s been an unconventional politician, a vegetarian with a Twitter following of 1.4 million – or five times the population of the city he governs. With dwindling state funding, he has used private fundraising, including a $100 million pledge from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, to run programs in Newark, a strategy that has brought his city resources and him both fame and criticism.

Booker was elected to complete the 15 months remaining on the term of Frank Lautenberg, whose death in June at age 89 gave rise to an unusual and abbreviated campaign. If he wants to keep the seat for a full six-year term – and all indications are that he does – Booker will be on the ballot again in November 2014.

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Politics

America, Don’t EVER Drink The TEA

Finally! After over two weeks of a Government Shutdown in which even Sen. John McCain admitted in a Fox News interview, was completely the GOP’s fault, the Republicans are going to relinquish their unpopular battle and vote on a Clean Continued Resolution which will re-open the Government and put a halt to the ‘Default Talk’ of the Debt Ceiling.

So many questions still remain in this Failed takeover by the TeaPublicans. What was the purpose? Why did they take America to the brink of National Default of paying it’s bills? What Next?

It’s all Very Simple.

The Purpose: Ruin and destroy the Obama Presidency.

Why did they take America to the Brink? Ruin and Destroy the Obama Presidency.

What Next? Ruin and Destroy the Obama Presidency.

From the Beginning of the Barack Obama Presidential Term in 2008, the Great Obstructionist Party’s game plan was to Nullify, Deny, Embarrass, Destroy, Obstruct, Defame, Denounce and Negate the Legitimacy of his presidency.

The very idea that a small faction of the United States Congress could hold this Nation hostage because they don’t like President Obama and Obamacare is unfathomable. Now, as this stage of their hostile Government Takeover comes to a close, it appears the negotiations will last until January 15, 2014 and the Debt Ceiling will be revisited on February 7, 2014. Surely, you know we will go through this again in January.

We have to #EndThisNow!

“Kicking the Can Down the Road” is not the way to govern a Nation. But it appears since President Obama became the Commander in Chief, he has put out fires instead of initiating his policy. I believe this is the GOP’s plan: Manufactured problems like the NSA, IRS, Benghazi, Sequester to the GOP Shutdown and the near Default of the Debt Ceiling has kept this President on defense and reactive than on the Offensive and Proactive. For 5 1/2 years of Obstruction and hindrance from the TeaPublicans, much of the planned agendas from the Obama Administration have not been addressed or implemented.

Remember Immigration Reform, Jobs Initiatives, Increasing the Minimum Wage, Gun Control, Climate Change and Energy Initiatives and Oil Drilling in this country? I do. But what has been done on any of those in the last 6-months? Correct! Nothing. Unfortunately, I feel this will continue. The Teapublican Plan is to make this President look worse than Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. You remember the Great Recession where banks and financial investors failed, housing market declined, auto companies were abandoned to fail and the stock market dropped below 8,000?

To make President Obama look worse than those disastrous moments in Bush Administration’s history is the plan, so don’t for one second believe this is over. Yes, the TeaPublicans have retreated but the fight is not over. They’ll regroup and between now and January, they will manufacture another crisis.

America, if you’ve seen enough from the extremely radical Tea people. Voting in every election is more critical than ever before! The Koch Brothers and Heritage Action are throwing money into every local election to sway votes with advertisements filled with lies and deceptions. Our Job: Make folk aware of the importance of voting. We’ve got to get behind the President and express our concerns by Voting Out Extremism!

Now is the Perfect time. Never forget America, who Shutdown our Government and nearly Defaulted our country in the eyes of the World.

If you want to make a difference, Vote! If you want this country to Move Forward, Vote! If you believe extremism is what keeps us bound, Vote! Obstructionism is Not Governing! Democracy and Compromise is Governing!

Vote America, Vote!

Categories
Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Let’s Fake A Deal

In the end, we got a terrible economic deal, but a nice political gift. Congress essentially kicked the problem down the road and ensured that early January would mark the beginning of other round of hostage-taking on the part of the right, more attacks on the health care law, and an intransigence on raising revenue in a fiscal deal that will raise hypocrisy to a new level, after they lambasted the president for not negotiating on the debt. Which he did. Anyway.

Even worse is listening to chastened Republicans talk about the importance of bipartisanship and how they hope that Democrats learn the lesson that they shouldn’t do this when they’re in the GOP’s position. Remember: Only the right can shut down the government and scare the world into thinking we’d default on our loans.

The good news is that this deal was worse for the Republicans than even I thought it would be. It was clear that this gambit was not going to help them, and Ted Cruz made it even better for the left because he was convinced that everyone outside of the major cities agreed that the ACA was from the devil and needed to be exorcised. The president stood his ground and public opinion shifted severely away from the GOP. It will take quite a bit of work on their part just to maintain their ranks in the Congress next year. They can kiss the Senate goodbye and might even lose the House, gerrymandered or not.

That this all occurred at the same time that the ACA rollout produced disastrous results makes the episode even sweeter, and is the political equivalent of rubbing salt in right wing eyes. If they had played it straight, they could have earned two years of political capital and would have had the Democrats on the run. But the right made sure that the computer problems will be mostly fixed by the time they’re ready to renew their attacks, and most people won’t pay attention anyway.

The only positive redemption I can see is if the GOP makes the debt and deficit an issue that only they can solve. The public is on their side on that argument, but that would also include cuts to Medicare and Social Security that will not go down well. The shutdown showed that Americans were upset because national parks were closed. Does the GOP think we’d also like to privatize entitlements? I think not.

Let’s hope that Barack Obama keeps his spine straight and forces the right to accept a deficit deal mostly on his terms and without significant consequences for the health care bill. He can also push the immigration bill while the right is down and hope that enough of them see fit to change their minds. Probably not, but it’s fun to dream.

In any case, enjoy the next six weeks. Then it all starts again.

For more please go to:
www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest  

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Politics

Professor Alan Dershowitz Schools Ted Cruz on The Constitution

Mr. Dershowitz made an appearance on CNN with former New Mexico’s governor Bill Richardson,  and he had some choice words for his former Harvard student, Ted Cruz.

Speaking about the government shutdown and the looming breach of the Debt Ceiling, Dershowitz said this about Cruz:

“I think it raises very serious constitutional questions of the kind that Ted Cruz should be interested in. Could you imagine Hamilton and Madison sitting around and drafting the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. They’re talking about how the government has to pay its debts, how it has to secure the credit of the United States, how the House of Representatives to originate bills on revenue.

Nobody in a million years would have contemplated the power of Congress to shut down the government, to create doubts about our creditworthiness.”

Nobody except little Teddy that is. I guess Cruz wasn’t paying attention in class.

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Piers Morgan Politics

Piers Morgan Battles Marsha Blackburn Over Republican’s Government Shutdown – Video

Ladies and gentlemen, Marsha Blackburn, a member of the trusted Republican party, went on CNN’s Piers Morgan show and continued showing just how puny her brain is. The two went at it when it came to who should be blamed for the 16 days government shutdown and they went at it when Blackburn insisted that the Republicans shut down the government “for the American people.”

Morgan asked Blackburn if the government shutdown was done with Americans and the world economy in mind or was it done to further Ted Cruz’s political ambitions, to which Marsha answered, “we shouldn’t talk about personalities,” before she rambled on.

“Oh come off it Marsha!” Morgan injected. He then asked about the debt ceiling and wondered what Marsha would be doing to avoid America going into default.

Blackburn answered that she didn’t want to see the nation default then went on about her plans to talk with fellow Republicans to see what could be done to avoid a default. She then said that “every economists around here” tells her that we have to get in control of the debt. Morgan hit back, “every economists around here tells me what is going on is utter nonsense, and should never have gotten this far.”

Morgan went on, “there are many issues to deal with, Obamacare, the American economy and all sorts of things. What you don’t do is shut the government down over what is a law.”

Video

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Politics

Actor Robert Redford – Racism Driving Some Obama Critics

Truth coming out of Hollywood

Actor Robert Redford says some of President Obama’s critics are intentionally trying to wreck his administration, and some of it is driven by race.

“There is a body of congressional people that wants to paralyze the system,” Redford said on CNN. “I think what sits underneath it, unfortunately, is there’s probably some racism involved, which is really awful.”

Saying that Obama’s opponents are trying “to destroy this person,” Redford said that “they wanted, if it meant destroying the government, anything to keep him from succeeding.”

The Oscar-winning director and veteran actor added: “I think just the idea of giving credit to this president, giving him credit for anything, is abhorrent to them, so they’ll go against it. Never mind that it’s the better good of the people, never mind that they’re supposed to be in office representing the interest of the public. They’re representing their own self-interests, which is very narrow and in some cases bigoted.”

Categories
Food And Recipes

Research: Oreo Cookies as Addictive as Cocaine

Oreo cookies are as addictive as cocaine – especially when it comes to the creamy center, a new study claims.
Lab rats who ate “America’s favorite cookie” formed an equally strong association as they did when injected with cocaine or morphine, student researchers at Connecticut College claim.

The cookies also ignited more neurons in the “pleasure center” of the brain than exposure to abusive drugs, according to the researchers.

“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/ high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” said Neuroscience Professor Joseph Schroeder, who led the study.

“It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”

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Politics

Breaking: Deal To Reopen Government Reached… Reportedly

WASHINGTON — Congress was heading towards a climatic resolution Wednesday to reopen the federal government after a 16-day partial shutdown as well as avert an unprecedented debt default.

House and Senate leaders were negotiating how to maneuver a package through both chambers and get it to President Obama’s desk before the Oct. 17 default deadline. However, there was an air of certainty on Capitol Hill that a formal deal was at hand between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Senate leaders were on track to unveil a narrow package that includes a stopgap spending measure through Jan. 15, a suspension of the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, and a framework for formal budget negotiations to begin. Negotiators are tasked with reporting out by Dec. 13 recommendations for longer-term spending levels and deficit reduction

Categories
ObamaCare Politics

Quote of the Day: John McCain – “Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle”

The New York Times.

“It’s very, very serious,” warned Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. “Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not be able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.”

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Politics

Peter King: “it was madness to follow Ted Cruz”

In an interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, Republican Rep.Peter King continued scolding his party for their dumb decision to follow first year Senator, Ted Cruz and his failed efforts to take away health care from the American people.

“The game is over,” King told Cooper. “We have to get this done. [House Speaker] John Boehner’s (R-OH) tried everything he can, but there’s some people in our party, no matter what he tries to do, they won’t go along.”

After Boehner’s failed attempt on Tuesday to put a bill forward ending both the government shutdown and avoiding the imminent deadline on raising the U.S. debt ceiling, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are reportedly ready to bring their own agreement, a development King said he would support.

“I’ve said all along, this is madness — it was madness to follow Ted Cruz,” King said to Cooper. “It was absolute madness to say we want to shut down the government, to defund Obamacare. It never made sense and now all we’re down to, apparently, is trying to pass a [continued resolution] to take away healthcare from congressional employees. That’s what we shut down the government for. It makes no sense.”

Cooper then pointed out that King has made multiple statements to that effect, before asking him if he felt that a Senate bill including funding for the new law could pass the House now.

“As certain as I can be of anything, I’m certain of that,” King answered. “If it comes to a vote on the House floor, we’ll probably get all the Democrats and certainly enough Republicans to get it through.”

“And you’re confident Speaker Boehner would allow it to come to the House,” Cooper pressed.

“I don’t know what John would do,” King conceded. “But I would think, though, if he’s gonna be involved in expediting the process at all, he probably then would allow it to come to a vote in the House floor. It’s getting too close to the wire.”

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