Category: House republicans

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fail House republicans immigration reform Immigration Reform Politics

President Obama Continues to Push Republicans on Immigration Reform

The Senate passed their version of immigration reform over a year ago, but House Republicans have failed to address the Senate’s bill or any bill containing the words immigration reform.

On Wednesday, President Obama once again called them out on it.

“Unfortunately, Republicans in the House of Representatives have repeatedly failed to take action, seemingly preferring the status quo of a broken immigration system over meaningful reform,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

“I urge House Republicans to listen to the will of the American people and bring immigration reform to the House floor for a vote,” Obama said.

He repeated that plea in a private conversation with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican said.

The Senate legislation, unveiled on April 16, 2013, and passed by the full Senate in June, has remained stalled in the Republican-led House, despite a strong vote by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

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House republicans Politics

Defeated House Republicans Concedes – They Will Raise The Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON — Backing down from their hard-line stance, House Republicans said Friday that they would agree to lift the federal government’s statutory borrowing limit for three months, with a requirement that both chambers of Congress pass a budget in that time to clear the way for negotiations on long-term deficit reduction.

The new proposal, which came out of closed-door party negotiations at a retreat in Williamsburg, Va., seemed to significantly reduce the threat of a default by the federal government in coming weeks. The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said he was encouraged by the offer; Senate Democrats, while bristling at the demand for a budget, were also reassured and viewed it as a de-escalation of the debt fight.

The change in tack represented a retreat for House Republicans, who were increasingly isolated in their refusal to lift the debt ceiling. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio had previously said he would raise it only if it were paired with immediate spending cuts of equivalent value. The new strategy is designed to start a more orderly negotiation with President Obama and Senate Democrats on ways to shrink the trillion-dollar deficit.

h/t The New York Times

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House republicans Politics Senate

Harry Reid – Thanks To Republicans, It May Be Too Late To Avoid The Fiscal Cliff

Sounds like we’re going over!

Republican House Leader John Boehner played around with this all year. He knew we were quickly approaching a deadline, but instead of working with the President to come to a deal of the Fiscal Cliff, Boehner continued the games and now expects the Senate to solve his problems.

But Senate Leader Harry Reid has something to say about that:

Speaking on the Senate floor, Reid castigated Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for sending members of the House back to their districts last week after he was forced to scrap his “Plan B” tax plan for lack of support.

The Democratic leader said that even if Boehner agreed to hold a vote extending the Bush tax rates for incomes up to $250,000 — as Democrats have demanded to avoid one part of the fiscal cliff — it might not make it through Congress in time to prevent tax increases from beginning next year.

“I have to be honest — I don’t know, time-wise, how it can happen now,” Reid said.

Boehner said last week that he would give members of the House 48 hours notice if they needed to return for a vote on fiscal matters, but GOP leaders have yet to give the order for them to return.

“[Boehner] should call them back today — he shouldn’t have let them go, in fact,” Reid said.

Senators returned to work on Thursday with time running out to reach an agreement on a slew of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are set to begin in January.

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EPA House republicans Politics

Before Skipping Town For Their Next Vacation, House Republicans Tried to Kill The EPA

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers skipped out of town on Friday until after the November elections, but not before pushing through a sweeping anti-environmental package that has no chance of becoming law.

Republican leaders teed up the Stop The War On Coal Act, H.R. 3409, as their last vote before lawmakers hit the campaign trail full time. It passed 233 to 175, with 19 Democrats joining nearly all House Republicans in voting for it.

Despite its title, the bill isn’t just about the coal industry: it repackages four previously passed House GOP bills, plus adds in another one, aimed at blocking carbon pollution standards. Specifically, the package would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s clean car standards, nullify the EPA’s mercury and air toxic standards, weaken the Clean Water Act and block efforts to reduce damage from coal mining.

The bill already has a White House veto threat on it, and there’s no chance it would move in the Senate, but Republicans went ahead and passed it anyway.

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Abortion House republicans Planned Parenthood Politics Republican

Scott Brown: Cutting All Funding For Planned Parenthood Goes Too Far

One of the ways Republicans propose to bring the budget under control, is the elimination of all funding for Planned Parenthood… ALL! However, one Republican/Teaparty senator, Scott Brown – representing Massachusetts, thinks this is going too far. After House Republicans voted and approved the cuts, Senator Brown had this to say;

“I support family planning and health services for women. Given our severe budget problems, I don’t believe any area of the budget is completely immune from cuts. However, the proposal to eliminate all funding for family planning goes too far. As we continue with our budget negotiations, I hope we can find a compromise that is reasonable and appropriate.”

Although the Hyde Amendment prohibits all public funding to be used for abortion services, Republicans have long argued that agencies like Planned Parenthood should not receive federal funding because it allows other funds to be made available for abortions. The cuts, if approved in February, would save $300 million. Republicans have promised their supporters and the Teaparty to cut as much as $61 billion from the federal budget.

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