Come on. Did you really expect Reince Priebus to disagree with Ryan?
Priebus made an appearance on CNN over the weekend and responded to the controversial hole Paul Ryan dug for himself when he casually said that the inner cities, “generations of men” are “not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work.” Priebus – who once proclaimed that the Republican party needs to do more to reach Blacks, Latinos, Women and younger people – couldn’t use the opportunity to denounce Ryans racist statement. Instead, he commended the racism.
On Sunday, CNN’s Candy Crowley asked Priebus if he thought the remarks were “artfully phrased.”
“I’m not sure,” Priebus shrugged. “Here’s what I would say, why was Paul even talking about this? The reason he was talking about it is he devoted a large part of his life — starting back when he worked for Jack Kemp — on finding ways to tackle poverty, to free up capital, to create opportunities in urban areas around this country.”
“Whatever race, whatever gender, we are the ones leading the way, I think, in this country on these issues,” he added. “And so I commend Paul for his work that he’s doing around country.”
Although Sen John McCain thinks otherwise, Senator Chris Murphy told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos there was nothing the U.S. could do militarily to prevent Russia from moving into Eastern Ukraine following its seizure of the Crimean Peninsula. But Murphy advocated for new sanctions on Russia that could put economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin and prevent further Russian action in Ukraine.
“Clearly, this is a longer-term effort to build up the Ukrainian military,” said Murphy. “But if on Monday, we announce – with the European Union – a set of crippling sanctions coming after not only individuals, but Russian business entities, I think that sends a strong message to Putin.”
“I think [Putin] marched into Crimea because he didn’t believe that the United States and Europe would actually take a chunk of flesh out of his economy,” Murphy added. “And, if we stand together on Monday, that gives us a chance, at least, to change the calculus in Moscow.”
When asked about the effectiveness of economic sanctions, Murphy said, “We have to wait for our European friends to tell us if they’re willing to move forward… There is no doubt that if you cut off Russian gas to Europe, it will hurt. There’s no doubt that if you freeze Russian assets in places like Germany and Great Britain, it will hurt them.”
“But this is a threat to the territorial integrity of Europe – who knows who’s next?” he added.
I think I’m just going to assume that the Democrats will lose the Senate in November and prepare myself as I would for any frustrating event I’ve endured over the past few years. That way, if they do eke out a win or tie, then it will be that much sweeter.
There’s been no shortage of discussion about the ramification of a GOP takeover of the Senate, but not much would really change, save for the fact that no judges or executive appointments would be ratified. The Congress would pass some bills that President Obama would veto, and the country would be treated to an intramural fight as the far more conservative House would pass more extreme bills that the less extreme Senate would either ignore or try to temper so that they’re palatable to the larger caucus. In short, how would this term be different from all other terms, save for Obama’s first two years in office?
Which makes former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ comment that a Democratic loss would mean that “The party’s over” seem rather quaint. The party’s been over and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back anytime soon. Even if the Republicans take the Senate, they will most likely lose it back to the Democrats in 2016, because the GOP will have to defend a whopping 27 seats and convince the young, the Hispanic and the African-American that they have their best interests at heart. And they’ll have to win the presidency, which at this point doesn’t look like it will ever happen.
The GOP seems to think that young people are in play because they aren’t signing up for health insurance at the rate that the ACA needs in order to function, but recent surveys show that the millennials aren’t attached to either political party, and less so to the Republicans. It is true that many people become more conservative as they gather life experiences such as marriages, children and mortgages, but let’s remember that on social issues, the younger generation is far removed from the right wing scolds who want to decide who gets rights and who doesn’t. And we’ve also seen the effects of less government involvement in, say, North Carolina, that should scare people away from a more libertarian direction.
It hasn’t been a good year for Democrats so far, but nothing that a more robust turnout can’t alter. But the party? Turn out the lights.
If it’s Sunday, John McCain is on a television network somewhere calling for a war somewhere in the world and this Sunday was no exception. On CNN’s Candy Crowley’s The Situation Room, McCain – who is slowly becoming a regular on Crowley’s program – called for the United States to step up our military presence in Ukraine against Russia.
McCain of course would disguise his new military presence in Ukraine as a support group.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday called for economic sanctions against Russia, arguing that they would be effective since its economy depends on oil and gas exports.
“Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
While McCain said that in the short term Russia has won Crimea, the U.S. can still work to help Ukraine gain that land back in the long term.
McCain said that in addition to sanctions the U.S. needs a long term military plan to help Ukraine, but not one that will lead to American troops in the region. The senator suggested aid to the Ukrainian military so “at least so they can defend themselves.”
Based only on our past track record, sending in military “support” to Ukraine will not de-escalate the situation, but looked upon as a move of aggression by the opposition, in this case Russia. At that point, the obvious will be true. If our military is there and Russia attacks, then we will be bound to protect ourselves and Ukraine, thus, war!
The founder of the Wesboro Baptist Church, Fred ‘God Hates Fags’ Phelps is reported to be “on the edge of death.”
The news comes via Nate Phelps, one of Fred’s estranged children, who wrote this in a Facebook post Saturday night:
I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, was ex-communicated from the “church” back in August of 2013. He is now on the edge of death at Midland Hospice house in Topeka, Kansas.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made.
I feel sad for all the hurt he’s caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather and father they loved. And I’m bitterly angry that my family is blocking the family members who left from seeing him, and saying their good-byes.
DailyMail is quoting a report from a website known within the intelligence and armed services community, claiming that the real reason the government refused to show pictures of Osama Bin Laden’s body, was because the body was riddled with bullets.
Citing two confidential sources, The Special Operations Forces Situation Report tells how ‘operator after operator took turns dumping magazines-worth of ammunition into Bin Laden’s body’.
The site goes on to argue that while the Navy SEALs may have felt it was ‘morally, legally, and ethically appropriate to shoot the body a few times to ensure that he is really dead and no longer a threat,’ that does not justify the extent of this damage.
‘What happened on the Bin Laden raid is beyond excessive. The level of excess shown was not about making sure that Bin Laden was no longer a threat. The excess was pure self-indulgence,’ author Jack Murphy writes.
At the time of the assassination, President Obama and his administration argued that they were justified in never releasing the photos of the dead body or the burial at sea because they could be used as propaganda for al Qaeda.
With the deadline for Americans to sign up for healthcare fast approaching, celebrities are beginning to step up their effort to get the word out.
This message is from former NBA star Alanzo Mourning, advising the uninsured and those with sub par insurance to get quality coverage under the Affordable Care Act before March 31st, 2014.
In this week’s address, President Obama highlighted the action he took this week to reward hard work by strengthening overtime pay protections. As part of this year of action, the President has ordered the Secretary of Labor to modernize our country’s overtime rules to ensure that millions of American workers are paid a fair wage for a hard day’s work.
The Mavericky Maverick is mad again. Watch, as Senator John McCain pants around his podium on the Senate floor, slamming single sheets of paper down, upset and irate with members of his own party over the IMF and the whole Russia/Ukraine thing.
Aid to Ukraine passed without IMF language, but many non-Reagan Republicans voted against it. In January, Obama and Democrats tried to pass a reform to the IMF legislation, but failed. Had it passed, perhaps this embarrassment would’ve been avoided for the Senator. He brought up a valid point: the Republicans shouldn’t be arguing about fixing the IMF language; the focus should be on the deaths of thousands of people and how to end it.
“I’ve been embarrassed before on the floor of the Senate, I will tell the President. But I haven’t been embarrassed this way about members of my own party.”
A 14-year-old Queens girl was shot Friday by a younger brother who was goofing around with a gun, police sources said.
Jessamin Lopez is in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital after being blasted in the abdomen by her 12-year-old brother, sources said. The bullet exited the teen’s back.
A source said the brother was only playing with the gun and did not intentionally strike his sibling.
A friend who is staying at the family’s 164th Street apartment told police she woke up to find the boy playing with a .22-caliber Colt revolver.
“She tells him, ‘What are you doing? Stop playing with the gun,’’’ a source recounted. “The boy says, ‘Don’t worry about it’ – and starts pulling the trigger.’’
The children live with their mom, Silvia Peralta, two other siblings, the mother’s boyfriend and two family friends, sources said.
The same caliber gun was used in the Jamaica neighborhood earlier this week; cops are investigating whether there is a connection.
Wall Street worker Mohammed Hamwi, 48, was shot in the head and torso just after midnight at a Jamaica Station street corner.
Fox Business host Stuart Varney said on Thursday that the efforts by President Obama to authorize overtime pay for millions of Americans making less than $50,000 a year, amounts to “redistribution” by the president, amounting to “buying votes” before the November election.
“This is redistribution by executive order,” Varney says. “The president is buying votes. He is commanding higher salaries for millions of people. Right before an election. Don’t you think that those millions of people will be grateful and say, ‘thanks for the pay raise, Mr. President. I’m voting Democrat.’ Don’t you think that’s in there?”
Varney then mentioned a tech company on the verge of apparent death because the young people who worked tirelessly day and night for little to no pay, would now demand proper payment, thus killing the company. He mentioned Google… yes, that poor company that went out of business years ago because they had to pay people for the work they did.
“Let me take you back to Google,” Varney opined. “In the earlier days of Google, they had all kinds of youngsters, up and coming strivers, who would work day and night. That’s how they built the company. Tech startups with really a drive to succeed and climb that food chain.”
“Now if you bring this in, those high tech workers who started all these brilliant companies, they’ll be on the clock,” he insisted. “Instead of these overnight creative meetings, they’ll be saying, ‘Oh, I just exceeded my 40 hours, I’m due overtime. And if I don’t get it, I’m going to sue.'”
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