Category: Politics

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Domestic Policies Foreign Policies Healthcare Israel News ObamaCare Palestine Politics Russia

The Silly Season Gets Serious

I took my talents to South Beach over the weekend for a relative’s surprise birthday party, and on the plane to and fro I had the opportunity to…think. Love airplane mode. Phones and tablets should have other modes, such as marriage mode, play-with-children mode, just-watch-one-screen mode, or perhaps physical media mode, where you would be forced to consume news and entertainment using a newspaper or magazine. I know, I know. I’m old and out-of-touch.

Not really.

Consuming news over the past 10 days has been a wild ride. The Middle East is blowing up again, Malaysia Airlines underwent another tragedy. U.S. courts are issuing contradictory opinions on the same set of facts. We have reached a news critical mass.

I am worn out about the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian war and the war over which press outlets are too pro-Israel (FOX) and too pro-Palestinian (The New York Times). Terrorist groups and organizations have for too long molded the narrative and have sabotaged every attempt at peace in the region. And the governmental authorities in the warring camps have let it happen. Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is not the man who will lead Israel to recognize a two-state solution and there is no current Palestinian leader with the credibility to make peace with Israel. As long as countries in the region refuse to recognize Israel’s sovereign right to exist, there is no basis for meaningful talks. As long as Israel continues to blow up Palestinian homes, the world will continue to paint it as an immoral country.

And speaking of leaders with no credibility and few morals, Vladimir Putin has almost succeeded in building his neo-Soviet state out of the ashes of the USSR. Covering up the shooting of the Malaysian airliner, then having his thugs block access to the crash site is right out of the Chernobyl 101 textbook. The problem is that textbooks are so passe and the technology we have now has laid bare his claim that it was Ukrainians, not pro-Russian separatists, who perpetrated this horrific deed. I don’t believe that this will lead to Putin’s downfall in the short term because he’s still very popular in Russia and he controls the media. Some Russians even believe that Putin himself was the target as he was flying in the general vicinity at the time the Malaysian plane was destroyed. Next up to blame will probably be the Israelis. Putin loves the Israelis.

As for the latest domestic squabbles, the Third Circuit Court in DC struck down the ACA subsidies and the Fourth Circuit in Richmond upheld them. Gotta love our judicial system. Both sides can claim victories, but my sense is that the ultimate decision by the Supreme Court, either next year or the year after, will uphold the subsidies that people get when buying insurance on the national exchange even though the law says that subsidies should only be given to people who buy on the state exchanges. Of course, the last time we tried to parse the ACA arguments in the court, the general consensus was that the law was toast. Ouch. And even if the Republicans win the Senate in November, which they won’t, the law will still survive.

Meanwhile, sleep tight America. Rick Perry’s got the border covered. 

But don’t worry; he’ll never be president.

You want more? That’s easy. Simply go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Barack Obama Featured Politics Sarah Palin

More Impeachment Noise from Republican Mouthpiece Sarah Palin – Video

Sarah Palin and the Republicans are continuing to sing the impeachment song. Over the weekend, Palin once again floated the idea of impeaching President Obama because… well, because she says so. And the Republicans at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver loved it!

“There’s only one remedy for a president who commits high crimes and misdemeanors, and it’s impeachment,” she said. “It’s the ‘I-word.’ You don’t need some fancy law degree hanging on your wall there to know laws are not being enforced today. Illegal immigrants all over the world also know that.”

Democrats are hoping that Republicans jump off that impeachment cliff again.

Since Boehner’s lawsuit against Obama and the constant Republican drumbeat for impeachment, the voting base of the Democratic party are getting riled up for the midterm election, an election they generally sit out.

The Washington Post reports that The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised $3.7 million from 200,000 online donations since Boehner announced his lawsuit on June 25.

“Republicans are drastically overreaching with their lawsuit and impeachment talk, and the result has been a massive surge of enthusiasm from our grass-roots supporters,” DCCC chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y) said. “A stark contrast has developed between Republicans’ focus on suing or impeaching the president and Democrats’ focus on strengthening the economy for the middle class.”

Click to view video.

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Politics

Poll: Republicans Admit Minimum Wage is Too Low, Yet Refused Raising It

In the poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, the majority of Republicans admitted they would not be able to live on today’s minimum wage, but when the question of raising it was asked, the majority of Republicans refused.

The poll found that 69 percent of Republican respondents said they don’t think they could live off the minimum wage, versus 80 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of voters overall. However, when asked if they support raising the minimum wage, just 37 percent of Republicans said they would back an increase. (74 percent of Democrats said they are in support of a hike.)

The poll’s release comes on the heels of a new campaign by Americans United for Change challenging lawmakers to “Live the Wage” and live off just $77 for a week. Democratic Reps. Tim Ryan (Ohio) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) as well as former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland announced that they will begin the challenge Thursday.

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MSNBC Palestine Politics

MSNBC Contributor Who Spoke Out Against MSNBC Bias, Gets “Cancelled”

Yesterday, a paid MSNBC contributor spoke out against her network’s apparent bias in the way it reported the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

According to Rula Jebreal, MSNBC showed clear favoritism in their reporting to Isreal, and disregarded the other part of the story – the suffering being caused by Israeli bombs in Palestine.

“Because of AIPAC, and because of the money behind it, and because of Sheldon Adelson, and because of all of us in the media,” Jebreal said. “We are ridiculous. We are disgustingly biased when it comes to this issue.”

She went on… “Look at how many airtime Netanyahu and his folks have on air on a daily basis. Andrea Mitchell and others. I never see one Palestinian being interviewed on theses same issues.”

Well that was yesterday, and it seems that MSNBC cannot take criticism. After making her pont, Jebreal tweeted that all her upcoming appearances on the network were mysteriously cancelled.

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Health insurance Healthcare ObamaCare Politics

New Report – 20 Million Americans Covered Under Obamacare

This bit of news will totally mess up your crazy Republican uncle’s day. So be my guest and share this news with him.

A report published last week in the esteemed New England Journal of Medicine provided an overview of Obamacare’s first year, its successes and the challenges ahead. It also offered a yet another estimate of the number of people covered by the law: 20 million.

The NEJM report pulled a wealth of information, much of it already known by those closely following the law’s implementation but presented together by the journal, from think tanks and government agencies. It covered a range of topics, including the number of people covered, 2015 premiums, and the adequacy of provider networks for plans offered through the law.

But its bottom line was that millions of people have become insured under Obamacare.

“Taking all existing coverage expansions together, we estimate that 20 million Americans have gained coverage as of May 1 under the ACA,” the authors wrote. “We do not know yet exactly how many of these people were previously uninsured, but it seems certain that many were.”

They reached the 20 million total this way: 1 million adults under age 26 enrolled in their parents’ plan; 8 million enrolled in private coverage through the insurance marketplaces; 5 million enrolled in private coverage directly through their insurer; 6 million enrolled in Medicaid.

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contraception contraceptives Politics

Ted Cruz: “I have literally never met anybody who wants to prohibit Americans from using contraceptives”

Ted Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas is a liar!

He is the same Ted Cruz who is on the front lines of the Republicans’ war on women, ensuring that contraception and other essential methods of health services for women get cut, defunded and destroyed – as is the case in his state of Texas.

In the midst of his personal vendetta to eradicate contraception and other forms of women’s health services, Cruz lied again by saying,  “I have literally never met anybody who wants to prohibit Americans from using contraceptives.”

“They tried to convince Americans, and sadly they succeeded in convincing a number of Americans, that were somehow some people in the political sphere out to stop people from using contraceptives. I have literally never met anybody who wants to prohibit Americans from using contraceptives if they so desire. The allegation that there is somehow any effort at all to restrict access to contraceptives is looney, in the U.S. Senate the number of Senators advocating doing that is zero, they never have.”

Can you say Republican Hypocrite?

Audio

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MSNBC Politics war

MSNBC Gets Slammed by Guest For Their Pro Israel Broadcasting -Video

Their one sided coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was a little too much and a little too obvious for Rula Jebreal, the guest on today’s MSNBC program “Ronan Farrow Daily.”

During the interview, Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal unloaded on Western media outlets, including MSNBC, arguing that influence from pro-Israel forces makes the news coverage more favorable to the likes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Because of AIPAC, and because of the money behind it, and because of Sheldon Adelson, and because of all of us in the media. We are ridiculous. We are disgustingly biased when it comes to this issue,” Jebreal said.

“Look at how many airtime Netanyahu and his folks have on air on a daily basis. Andrea Mitchell and others,” she continued, referring to the MSNBC stalwart whose show airs right before Farrow’s afternoon program. “I never see one Palestinian being interviewed on theses same issues.”

When Farrow pushed back gently and pointed out that Palestinian guests have been interviewed, Jebreal continued her criticism.

“Maybe 30 seconds! And then you have 25 minutes for Bibi Netanyahu, and then half an hour for Naftali Bennett and many others,” Jebreal said.

Video

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Politics

Dutch Investigators Examine Bodies from MH-17 Crash Site – Video

Click to view video.

BBC News is reporting that three Dutch investigators have examined bodies from the MH 17 plane crash. The bodies are stored in a refrigerated train by the crash site.

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Barack Obama Joe Scarborough Politics Ronald Reagan

Joe Scarborough Tells Big Lie On Television, Issues Small Apology on Twitter

There was a disagreement on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, between host Joe Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski.

The discussion had to do with the downed MH17 flight in Ukraine and the way two American presidents handled the situation when planes were shot down during their administration. The presidents? Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan.

Mika Brzezinski tried to educate the Republican with the fact that Ronald Reagan handled a similar situation by staying on vacation for 4 extra days before finally making a statement. Joe lamented how wrong she was about his faithful leader, Reagan.

The convo went like this:

BRZEZINSKI: At the same time there’s these parallels being made to Ronald Reagan and how he responded to the Korean airliner. It took him four days to go back and make the strong statements that he made, just for some perspective.

SCARBOROUGH: He immediately canceled his vacation.

BRZEZINSKI: No, he didn’t, actually.

SCARBOROUGH: Yes, he actually did.

BRZEZINSKI: No, he didn’t immediately cancel it.

SCARBOROUGH: Yes, he did. He immediately canceled it. He immediately went back to the White House. He immediately canceled fund-raising events and campaign events. Yes, he did. You can go back and look. Ronald Reagan didn’t keep campaigning. He stopped when the Korean airliner went down.

Brzezinski, it turned out, was right. Reagan’s address came four days after the attack, in between which he had an aide make a statement about the incident before making a shorter one himself. At the time, Reagan had been on a twenty-five day vacation in California, and resisted returning to Washington, having an aide tell reporters that he had “every facility, every capacity, every capability” to deal with the crisis at his California ranch. The trip was eventually cut short.

Scarborough conceded the point on Twitter about fifteen minutes later:

And thanks to all the kind souls on Twitter who pointed out my boneheaded error as well. You are great ombudsmen! I was wrong. @morningmika

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) July 21, 2014

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Israel News Palestine Politics

7 Nobel Peace Winners and 64 Public Figures Want International Arms Embargo on Israel

Sixty-four public figures, including seven Nobel Peace Prize winners, have called for an international arms embargo on Israel for its “war crimes and possible crimes against humanity” in Gaza. The statement came in a letter published in Britain’s The Guardian on Friday.

“Israel has once again unleashed the full force of its military against the captive Palestinian population, particularly in the besieged Gaza Strip, in an inhumane and illegal act of military aggression. Israel’s ability to launch such devastating attacks with impunity largely stems from the vast international military cooperation and trade that it maintains with complicit governments across the world,” read the statement.

“We call on the UN and governments across the world to take immediate steps to implement a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during apartheid,” the letter concluded.

Among the signators were Nobel peace laureates Desmond Tutu, Betty Williams, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Jody Williams, Adolfo Peres Esquivel, Mairead Maguire and Rigoberto Menchu.

Also signing were academics Noam Chomsky and Rashid Khalidi, filmmakers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, musicians Roger Waters and Brian Eno, writers Alice Walker and Caryl Churchill, and journalists John Pilger and Chris Hedges. Two Israelis, academics Ilan Pappe and Nurit Peled, signed the letter as well.

h/t Haaretz

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News Politics

The Republicans Idea of a Leader, Vladimir Putin, Is Pissing Off The World

Yes, the world is mounting pressure against Russia’s president Vladimir Putin since evidence suggests that Russian equipment shot down Malaysia Airline MH-17, killing 298 innocent people. But what do Republicans think of the man they call “a leader?”

Crickets…

Circumstantial evidence suggests that Russia provided the missile that Ukrainian rebels used to shoot down the Malaysian Air jetliner on July 17, killing 298 passengers and crew, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in television interviews.

“There’s a build-up of extraordinary circumstantial evidence,” Kerry said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing.”

Putin confronts worldwide scorn just as the U.S. and its allies were trying to push him into a corner over the annexation of Crimea and his support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe tightened sanctions last week, and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told Putin on a call yesterday that the attack was “totally unacceptable,” his office said in a statement.

“Russia risks becoming a pariah state if it does not behave properly,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said yesterday in an interview on Sky News. “We now need to use the sense of outrage that is clear to get a further round of sanctions tightening against Russia.”

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Employment Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Giving Workers The Skills For Today’s Jobs And The Future

In his weekly address, President Obama spoke about the importance of educating and training today’s work force for the jobs of today and for the jobs of the future. Through his opportunity agenda, the President is focused on creating more jobs, educating more kids, and working to make sure hard work pays off with higher wages and better benefits.

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