Author: Ezra Grant

I'm just tired of the lies and nonsense coming from the GOP, so this is my little contribution to combat the nonsense!

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Politics

Death Benefits to Military Families Withheld Because of GOP Shutdown

(Left to right) Pfc. Cody J. Patterson, Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins, 1st Lt. Jennifer M. Moreno and Special Agent Joseph M. Peters were killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on Sunday.

In what veterans call an outrageous slight after the ultimate sacrifice, the shuttered federal government is withholding a $100,000 payment normally wired to relatives of fallen soldiers — including the families of five killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.

The payment, known as the death gratuity, is typically sent to families of the fallen within three days to help them cover funeral costs or travel to meet the flag-draped coffins of their loved ones.
The families of five American service members killed over the weekend in Afghanistan have been notified that they will not receive the payment. A relative of one of the five called it “devastating.”

The families of five U.S. troops killed overseas this weekend will not receive the usual “death gratuity” due to the government shutdown. A typical $100,000 compensation is wired to families within 36 hours to help with funeral and other expenses.

“Impacting grieving families when they are at their absolute weakest point is just disgusting,” said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the largest organization of combat veterans in the United States.

“Veterans, military personnel and now their families are not to be used as leverage in this political game of blame,” he said. He called on leaders in Congress to “put the country ahead of their politics.”

Congress passed a law last week to pay the military during the shutdown. Pentagon officials studied it to assess whether it might cover the death gratuity and determined that it was not possible, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday.

Republican aides in Congress said that they were drafting legislation to restore the death gratuity, and that it could be put to a vote as early as Wednesday. The aides also said that they believed that last week’s law had covered the payment.

But for now, the $100,000 payment, meant to tide families over until military survivor benefits kick in, is being withheld for relatives of the killed over the weekend in Afghanistan, four from the Army and one from the Marines.

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Politics

New Ad: Chicken Boehner – “Tell John Boehner to grow a spine.”

The ad by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is being played mainly in John Boehner’s district in Ohio. John Boehner has been adamant over the last few days about not bringing a clean Continuing Resolution to the House floor for an up or down vote, because as he sees it, the votes are not there to pass such a bill.

Democrats on the other hand and even some Republicans say there are more than enough votes in the House pass the clean CR which will bring the Government back to full operation, but John Boehner is insisting everyone is wrong.

“Tell John Boehner to grow a spine,” the ad says.

President Obama has urged Boehner to bring the clean CR for a vote, stating if he is right about there not being enough votes to pass the Resolution, then he should prove it with the vote!

So far, Boehner would is not budging.

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ObamaCare Politics

Kentucky Governor Makes a Powerful Case For ObamaCare – Video

Good to know there are still some sensible politicians out there who see the needs of their constituency and do whatever they can to help. After all, that is the most basic function of a politician – to institute laws that would make the lives of the people who voted them into office, better.

Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Steve Beshear. Would you be surprised to learn that he is a Democrat? You expected that, right? I know…

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Politics

Remember When Boehner Said “Obamacare Was The Law Of The Land?” – Video

It wasn’t that long ago! As a matter of fact, Boehner said it right after President Obama won re-election in 2012.

Back in November, when Americans went to the poll and overwhelmingly reelected President Obama who ran his entire campaign on his signature law, John Boehner gave an interview to ABC. Host Diane Sawyer asked if there would be any more votes to repeal the law and Boehner answered that “the election changes that.” He then went on to proclaim, “Obamacare is the law of the land.”

That was then. Today, Republicans have attempted to repeal Obamacare over 41 times. Unable to do so, they have now shut down the government hoping the President would somehow take away this life saving healthcare provision from millions of Americans.

Let’s take a short stroll down memory lane.

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Politics

John Boehner: The President won’t talk to me, so I will let the nation default

You can’t make this stuff up!

On Sunday John Boehner basically said that because the president of the United States is not talking to him, or is not “having a conversation” with him, he, John Boehner, is willing to let the nation default on its debt. A move that many economists have said would result in worldwide catastrophe.

Don’t just take my word for it, this is what John Boehner said on Sunday’s show;

“That’s the path we’re on. … I don’t want the United States to default on its debt. But I’m not going to raise the debt limit without a serious conversation about dealing with problems that are driving the debt up.”

“The nation’s credit is at risk because of the administration’s refusal to sit down and have a conversation.”

Republicans are doing everything they can to make sure that the presidency of the first black man in the White House result in failure. There’s no other logical explanation. They cannot say it’s because of his policies why they’re against him, because before he was even sworn and any of his policies took effect, Republicans were already holding meetings trying to figure out how to make the President a failure.

They have said no, and have put up stumbling blocks to every policy the president tried to initiate. Even policies they once supported. And even with all their lies and misinformation about the president, Mr Obama was still able to pass and sign historic legislations into law.

And that brings us to this present government shutdown and the catastrophe of a default. Republicans know that when they force the nation into its first default, their propaganda machine over at Fox News will help them place the blame squarely at the feet of Barack Obama.

In there effort to make this man a failure, Republicans will destroy the full faith and credit of the United States of America. They will destroy the very fabric of this country. They will destroy everything you know and love about this great nation.

Yes al Qaeda. You needed people who were willing to be internal terrorists in the United States? Well you got them and they’re called Congressional Republicans.

Just sit back and watch in amazement as these fools do everything they can to accomplish what you couldn’t on September 11 2001.

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Politics

Rep. Peter King – Up to 150 Republicans Would Vote for a Clean CR

On Sunday, Republican John Boehner told ABC’s Stephanopoulos that he didn’t have the votes in the House to pass a clean Continuing Resolution. But members of Boehner’s own party strongly disagree with Boehner’s conclusion.

Rep. Peter King is one of those Republicans. King, in an interview with the New York Times, said that if Boehner brought a clean CR to the floor for a vote, the bill will pass and the government will reopen. King also stated that if a secret vote was held, about 150 Republicans would support it.

“I’m positive that a clean C.R. would pass,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York.

“If it went on the floor tomorrow, I could see anywhere from 50 to 75 Republicans voting for it,” he added. “And if it were a secret ballot, 150.”

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Politics White House

White House to Boehner – Prove Us Wrong, Bring a Clean CR

House Republican “Leader” John Boehner went on television again on Sunday and told George Stephanopoulos that he would not bring a clean CR to the floor of the House for a vote, because he say, the bill will not pass. But the White House and other Democrats disagree, and they are asking Boehner to prove them wrong.

The White House on Sunday challenged  Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to prove his assertion in an ABC News interview that “there are not the votes in the House” to pass a “clean” continuing resolution. 

“If he’s right, why not prove it?” White House press secretary Jay Carney asked on Twitter. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House’s senior adviser for communications, tweeted that either Boehner “is all wrong or all his members are lying.”

“That files in the face of all the math and public statements of GOP members,” Pfeiffer said.

Democrats have repeatedly called on Boehner to allow a vote on a so-called “clean” Senate bill that would reopen the government for a short period of time, but not include Republican demands to delay or defund ObamaCare.

A whip count by The Washington Post found that 20 Republican representatives supported a so-called clean continuing resolution (CR), with another four counted as “leaning yes.” If all 200 Democrats voted for the legislation, they would need just 17 Republicans to vote with them.

Boehner made the comment during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” after host George Stephanopoulos asked him if he was “prepared to schedule a clean bill on government funding.”

When Stephanopoulos pressed Boehner on whether it was true that the votes did not exist, the Speaker said that the American people expected leaders in Washington to “sit down and have a conversation.”

“We’re interested in having a conversation about how we open the government and how we begin to pay our bills,” Boehner said. “But it begins with a simple conversation.”

Other Democrats have also seized on Boehner’s assertion, daring the Speaker to bring the clean CR to a vote.

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Politics

Polls: Americans Preparing to Kick Republicans Out of The House

Americans have learned a lesson. When you allow the spoiled brats to control the house, their immaturity will show. The bills will not be paid and before long, bill collectors will come knocking including the mortgage company who will start the foreclosure process.

At some point, the adults will have to take over to get the house in order. There will be a struggle for power as the brats will put up a fight. But eventually, the adults will prevail, regulating the brats to their rooms or even worse, kicked out completely.

Put them in boarding school!

That’s the apparent message being sent by frustrated Americans who correctly blame the Republicans for the government shutdown. This is based on different polls released Sunday.

A series of polls released Sunday show just how damaging the shutdown has been for the GOP. The liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling compiled two dozen surveys, commissioned and paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, from House districts around the country, taken from Oct. 2 through Oct. 4. Sample sizes were between 600 and 700 voters in each district.

For Democrats to win a House majority, 17 seats would need to switch to their party’s favor. Results show that would be within reach, as Republican incumbents are behind in 17 of the districts analyzed: CA-31, CO-06, FL-02, FL-10, FL-13, IA-03, IA-04, IL-13, KY-06, MI-01, MI-07, MI-11, NY-19, OH-14, PA-07, PA-08, WI-07. In four districts, the incumbent Republican fell behind after respondents were told their representative supported the government shutdown: CA-10, NY-11, NY-23, VA-02. Three districts saw GOP incumbents maintain their hold over their Democratic challengers, even after hearing their elected officials’ views on the shutdown, including CA-21, NV-03 and OH-06.

Back in 2012, Democrats picked up eight seats in the House, closing the gap of Republican control to 234-201.

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Politics

The Egos In The GOP Are More Important Than The Full Faith and Credit of The United States

I sat today and listened as the Republican House Speaker John Boehner talked to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos about the government shutdwon, and I couldn’t help thinking that Mr. Boehner – sometimes described in other media outlets as a “reasonable man” – is one pompous, egotistical ass!

Boehner and the House Republicans followed the leadership of a freshman Senator and allowed the United States government to shut down last week Tuesday. Now, almost seven days into the shutdown, Boehner is indicating that he and his republican accomplices have no intention of re-opening the government, even if it means America defaults on its debt!

The absolute final date for America to default is October 17th. That means that these so-called Congressional leaders must come together and figure out a way to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. But Republicans have put a padlock on the nation’s government, and they are refusing to unlock and open the door until President Obama succumb to their demands and dismantle a law that is already giving millions of Americans healthcare.

Stephanopoulos asked the question on different occasions throughout the interview. What’s the end game? Would Republicans let the nation default on its debt if President Obama refuse to bow down to their demands?

Boehner answered, “That’s the path we’re on. … I don’t want the United States to default on its debt. But I’m not going to raise the debt limit without a serious conversation about dealing with problems that are driving the debt up. It would be irresponsible of me to do this.”

So Mr Ego here is telling America… telling the world for that matter… that he and his Republican cohorts are willing to allow this nation to default for the first time in our history. And of course, he’s doing this “for the American people!”

No Boehner, you are not doing this for the American people.

The American people want to live and be healthy! We want to purchase healthcare and pay our monthly policy bill so that in the unfortunate event that we are hospitalized, we would not have to sell our home or file bankruptcy to avoid paying the bill!

What we want is for the government of the greatest nation on earth to function, and to function for we the people!

What the American people want is majority rule! That’s why we have elections. We do not want a minority party that will force the majority in the government or the majority of the people to do things their way by shutting down the government, and then threaten defaulting on the nation’s debt because they think they have a made-up, imaginary mandate that must be carried out!

Like President Obama said in a CNBC interview, “I am exasperated with the idea that, unless I say that, ‘Twenty million people, you can’t have health insurance,’ these folks will not reopen the government.  That is irresponsible!”

The President explained in that interview that he is ready to talk with Republicans, but only if the reopen the government using a clean continuing resolution or CR to allow the government to pay the bills that Congress already racked up.

“Until we get that done, until we make sure that Congress allows Treasury to pay for things that Congress itself already authorized, we are not going to engage in a series of negotiations.”

“It is not acceptable for one faction of one part in one chamber to say, ‘Either we get what we want or we’ll shut down the government.’  Or even worse, ‘We will not allow the U.S. Treasury to pay its bills and put the United States in default for the first time in history.’”

“If we get in the habit where a few folks, an extremist wing of one party, whether it’s Democrat or Republican, are allowed to extort concessions based on a threat of undermin[ing] the full faith and credit of the United States, then any president who comes after me, not just me, will find themselves unable to govern effectively.”

But apparently, the egos in the Republican party is more important than the full faith and credit of the United States!

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Healthcare New York ObamaCare

Bill Maher Tests New Yorkers Knowledge on ObamaCare – Video

Jimmy Kimmel did this a few days ago, when he sent a camera crew out on the streets of California to find out exactly what people knew about The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The results were quite shocking, and they proved that the propaganda machine from Fox News and the Republican party was successful in dumbing down the American public on this healthcare law.

Now, Bill Maher followed and sent his crew out on the streets of New York. You would think that in a place like New York, the people would at least know what Obamacare is, but you would be wrong.

I guess when Republicans say they’re “winning” well, it’s hard to dispute that. Just look and listen to the ignorance displayed in a state where, in 2006, had the most post-graduate life sciences degrees awarded annually in the United States, 40,000 licensed physicians, and 127 Nobel laureates with roots in local institutions according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Here are some examples:

INTERVIEWER: What do you think about the Affordable Care Act?

  • “I think it’s …I think it’s affordable.”
  • “The worst thing about Obamacare…is the first name. Obama. Why did he name it after HIMSELF?” (Prior to Obamacare, there was Clintoncare…a term coined in the 90s. When Hillary ran against Obama, she used ‘Obamacare’ to describe his ‘inferior’ healthcare plan. Republicans picked it up as a pejorative, and Obama began taking it back when he countered to Romney during a debate, “Obama DOES care.”)
  • “Obamacare? I think he’s a stupid motherf***er.”

Categories
Politics

Fox News Reports Another Fake Story as Truth

But what else is new. Reporting fake stories or stories filled with lies and misrepresentation is something perfected by Fox. So this story – originated from a satirical website – was included in a on Fox broadcast. Apparently, it fell right in line with their Modus operandi.

On October 5, the co-hosts of Fox & Friends Saturday discussed the closure of the World War II Memorial, which resulted from the Republican-led shutdown. During the discussion, co-host Anna Kooiman claimed that while the memorial is closed, “President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture.”

KOOIMAN: The Republican National Committee is offering to pay for it to keep it open so that the veterans from Honor Flight are going to be able to go and see this because who did it honor? It honored them. It really doesn’t seem fair, especially — and we’re going to talk a little bit later in the show too about some things that are continuing to be funded. And President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture out of his own pocket, yet it’s the Republican National Committee who’s paying for this.

Unfortunately for Kooiman, the claim that Obama offered to pay out of pocket for a “museum of Muslim culture” originated from the satirical website the National Report. As the fact-checking site Snopes.com points out, a now-removed disclaimer on the National Report noted: “National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news.”

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Politics

SNL: John Boehner And Michele Bachmann Sings about Shutting Down The Government Remix

Leave it up to Saturday Night Live to come up with this idea. Remixing a Miley Cyrus song and turning it into a song about the biggest political event in our nation today – The Republican Government Shutdown.

The stars of the parody music video below are the usual culprits – Republican House Leader John Boehner and Republican Minnesota House Rep. Michele Bachmann, singing about how they shut down the government.

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