Category: Politics
No one is safe from the GOP obstruction
Senate Republicans used a filibuster to prevent a vote on expanded veterans benefits after Democrats blocked efforts to add an amendment on Iran sanctions.
The vote Thursday was 56-41 in favor of a bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt., to — among other things — expand healthcare programs and provide breaks on college tuition for veterans. Sixty votes were required to overcome the filibuster, the Hill reported. Two Republican senators, Dean Heller of Nevada and Jerry Moran of Kansas, voted with the Democrats, the Capitol Hill publication said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., refused to allow an up-or-down vote on a Republican amendment that included provision for further sanctions on Iran over that country’s nuclear program.
“I hope all the veterans groups have witnessed all the contortions the Republicans have done to defeat this bill,” he said. “Shame on Republicans for bringing base politics into a bill to help veterans.”
As more and more Americans fall in love with finally being able to buy their own private healthcare through the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, Republicans, led by the Texas Senator from Canada are determined to repeal the entire bill, kicking millions of people off their healthcare and putting Insurance companies back in the driver’s seat when determining who to insure and who to deny.
Ted Cruz, speaking on behalf of his Teaparty colleagues and congressional Republicans, continued their promise to take away your health care.
“I am absolutely convinced we are going to repeal every single word of Obamacare,” Cruz told a group of Teaparty members as they celebrated their 5th year of obstruction and regression.
“If you listen to the media, if you listen to Democrats — although I repeat myself — they will say the fight to stop Obamacare did not succeed,” Cruz said. “Really? Well, I’m a big believer the proof is in the pudding. Last fall, millions of Americans rose up and said, ‘Stop the disaster that is Obamacare.’”
Of course, Cruz cannot point to any documented proof showing the “million of Americans” who want to stop Obamacare. But it’s a good talking point and his brainless believers – some of them on government insurance – eat up his nonsense.
“I am hopeful, I am optimistic, I am filled with the promise that we’re going to turn this country around,” the Canadian born leader of the Teaparty said, “because there is a grass-roots revolution sweeping this country.”
Again, Cruz cannot show this so-called “grass-roots revolution,” because it doesn’t exist. In fact, new polling states that 64% of Americans are against the Teaparty. But this small fact never stopped this fella from lying before, so he continued. And the 300 or so in attendance loved every moment of it!
And I must say that I agree with the vice president. Most of the times, Democrats are on the ropes, taking punches from a completely dead Republican party.
Democrats are considered the underdogs in this year’s elections, but Vice President Biden is urging the party to stay positive.
“I am so tired about hearing about the demise of the Democratic Party — give me a break!” Biden told members of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday.
“My central message to you is, look: I think we should not apologize for a single thing,” said the vice president.
That includes the new health care law, expected to be a central issue in the November congressional elections.
Democrats are battling to maintain control of the Senate in this year’s elections; they are not expected to be able to re-take control of the House of Representatives.
President Obama gets his turn before the Democratic National Committee on Friday afternoon.
Former third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader doesn’t think much of Sen. Ted Cruz, calling him a “train wreck” in a new interview.
“Ted Cruz you know, he’s a train wreck,” Nader said on Larry King’s “Politicking” on Ora TV on Thursday night. “He’s willing to shut down government, willing to tie up the Senate. He doesn’t seem to be able to have a two-way conversation.”
Nader also slammed the Texas Republican for his ties to Big Business, a criticism the activist has also leveled at politicians including President Barack Obama.
“I don’t think he’s really all that libertarian,” Nader said of the tea party favorite. “I think he has corporatist tendencies, Big Business tendencies, regardless of his rhetoric, but he’s not accomplishing much. If he was really serious, he would push a movement to get all government contracts online. … He’s not achieving anything.”
If your wife is planning a run for the presidency and the opposition has an in your face effort to suppress the vote, you would do whatever you can – legally of course – to make sure that she gets a fair shot at winning. And you wouldn’t wait until she announce her intention to run.
You’ll get on the ball as soon as possible, explaining to all that what the opposition is trying to do is wrong. You’ll go on the offense. You’ll fight!
Bill Clinton has began the fight. Realizing that his wife would need a supportive Congress, the former president has already been on the campaign trail, supporting other like minded Democratic candidates, and now this – an ad painting out how the opposition is trying to suppress the vote.
For all those wondering if Hillary was going to run for president, wonder no more.
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It’s perfect…
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” – the now infamous quote by Bridget Kelly that closed down lanes on the busiest bridge in the world – was not the first time Christie’s people spoke about willfully causing problems for the constituents of New Jersey.
Documents released by Wildstein to a state legislative committee probing the incident, in which lanes were shut near the busy George Washington Bridge, causing a huge traffic jam, reveal that on August 19 he and Kelly discussed another traffic scheme.
“We cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we?” Kelly wrote in a message to Wildstein.
“Flights to Tel Aviv all mysteriously delayed,” Wildstein wrote in reply.
Kelly and Wildstein appear to be joking.
“This is part of the drip, drip, drip of bad news for Christie,” said Lee Miringoff, a political observer and a pollster with Marist College.
The Star-Ledger newspaper has identified the rabbi as Mendy Carlebach of the Chabad of North and South Brunswick who was also a chaplain for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.
“He has officially pissed me off,” Wildstein wrote.
Carlebach did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorneys for Wildstein and Kelly also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
I’m wondering how long it took this so-called pastor to come up with this one. A claim without facts is not just an accusation, it is a lie. But that didn’t stop Rev. James David Manning of New York from making his baseless, fact less claim.
In a YouTube video posted on Tuesday, Atlah World Missionary Church Rev. James David Manning said that he had displayed the following sign outside his Harlem church: ”Obama has released the homo demons on the black man. Look out black woman. A white homo may take your man.”
“Obama has released these demons, particularly upon the black males,” he explained. “This homosexual demon, hoping to influence as many black males to subscribe to ideas that homosexual perverted LGBT as possible.”
As evidence, Manning pointed to the “outing” of basketball player Jason Collins and football player Michael Sam.
“I have noticed that Obama is influencing the few black men that are left to come out of the closet — or be homosexual — and they are being scooped up by white homos, leaving the black woman in more dire straits and with less of a choice of a man to come and be her husband, and father her children,” he said.
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Why are Republicans against people taking their health decisions into their own hands? Why are they so against Americans paying their own way? Why do they insist on taking away our health care and replacing it with nothing?
Besides them just being evil, who knows?
Meanwhile, Americans are enjoying the benefits of living more health conscious lives, now that they’re finally able to afford healthcare.
Some 700,000 people have enrolled in Obamacare so far in February, raising total enrollment to roughly 4 million with a little more than a month to go before the sign-up deadline expires to get insurance this year.
The new figures for state and federal exchanges released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday illustrate participation in the sweeping initiative continues to grow steadily, a point raised by President Barack Obama at a White House event later in the day.
A new poll is showing stronger acceptance of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Fifty six percent of those polled accept or are in favor of the bill while thirty one percent want it reoealed.
The poll shows that 48 percent want to keep and improve the law, and another eight percent want to keep it as is — for a total of 56 percent who want to keep it. (50 percent of independents want to keep and fix.)
Meanwhile, 19 percent want to repeal the law and not replace it, while 12 percent want to repeal and replace with a GOP alternative — totaling 31 percent.
Back in October Kaiser found that 37 percent want repeal/replace or just repeal, versus 47 percent who want to keep/expand it. There was a temporary spike for repeal in December, at the height of the problems; now it appears to be back down to below where it was.
Two years ago today, on February 26th, Georgia Zimmerman murdered seventeen year old Trayvon Martin. Two years later, the loved ones of Trayvon are still feeling the pain of their loss.
Trayvon’s dad Tracy, marked the anniversary of his son’s death by making an appearance on Politics Nation with Al Sharpton and dropped a sad truth – that America shows more love to guns, than they do to the life of our kids.
Watch the clip below.
