Category: Politics

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Good Economic Signs So Far, But More Needed

Another week, and another weekly address by President Obama asking Congress to do their jobs and work for the American people. The President spoke about some of the positive things that have happened since his policies were put in placed, and he suggests that more can and should be done if Congress cooperated.

 Thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, our businesses have now created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months.

An auto industry that was flat lining is once again the heartbeat of American manufacturing – with Americans buying more cars than we have in five years.

Within the next few months, we’re projected to begin producing more of our own crude oil at home than we buy from other countries – the first time that’s happened in 16 years.

Deficits that were growing for years are now shrinking at the fastest rate in decades.  The rise of health care costs is slowing, too.

And a housing market that was in tatters is showing new signs of real strength.  Sales are rising.  Foreclosures are declining.  Construction is expanding.  And home prices that are rising at the fastest rate in nearly seven years are helping a lot of families breathe a lot easier.

Now we need to do more.

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Politics

Democrat Jim Graves Will No Longer Run For Bachmann’s Congressional Seat

The Democrat who almost won Michele Bachmann’s Congressional seat in the last election is now dropping out of the race. “Mission accomplished,” Jim Graves said, after hearing that Bachmann will not run again for re-election.

“Basically, after all that’s gone on, and with Michele Bachmann now stepping down, I’ve been talking to my friends and family and frankly, the feeling is, ‘Mission Accomplished,’” Graves told MinnPost in an interview published Friday. “She wasn’t representing the people of the 6th District appropriately, and now she won’t be representing them. There’s no way anyone could run and win who would be worse than Michele Bachmann. So we accomplished that task.”

According to Graves, he plans to leave public life for the next few months and return to his role as a businessman and hotelier. He said he hopes another qualified candidate will pick up where he left off and give Democrats a shot at taking the seat.

Graves ran a strong campaign in 2012, coming within 4,300 votes of ousting Bachmann despite being outspent by a 12-to-1 margin. National Democrats largely ignored the race until the final weeks, however, primarily because Bachmann’s fundraising advantage was initially believed to give her an uncontested path to reelection. Their ears perked up after Graves’ near-miss, and earlier this year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee expressed excitement at getting involved in a Bachmann-Graves rematch.

Graves has said he’s satisfied knowing that Bachmann is no longer plotting a return to Congress. But with her name recognition gone from the race, he told MinnPost that he thinks national Democrats and the media will soon lose interest. It appears that Graves already has.

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Politics

President Obama’s Poll Numbers Rise Despite G.O.P’s Manufactured Controversies

President Obama’s approval ratings have increased since a trio of controversies involving his administration began dominating the news cycle.

Fifty percent of those surveyed in Gallup’s three-day tracking poll released Wednesday say they approve of the job the president is doing, compared to 43 percent who said they disapprove.

The 7-percentage point positive margin is better than where the president stood in the poll over the two weeks before the IRS and Department of Justice scandals broke, and is near Obama’s rating over the waning days of the 2012 campaign when voters convincingly elected him to a second term in office.

Obama’s Gallup numbers are up three percentage points since the pollster’s May 23-25 survey and suggest Obama’s approval ratings held steady, even as the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups made headlines.

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Politics sex Teacher

Maryland Teacher Arrested – Had Sex With Family Dog

A Maryland teacher has been busted for bestiality after sick footage emerged of her having sex with her family’s pet dog, police said.

Stephanie Mikles, 45, allegedly engaged in a variety of sexual acts with the canine over a month-long period in August 2008.

But she was only arrested earlier this year after child advocacy center officers searched her home on an unrelated matter and found pictures and video of the disgusting acts.

Mikles, who looks after special needs students for Hartford County School District, was charged with unnatural or perverted sexual practice.

She denies the allegations and has been suspended from her job pending the outcome of the case.

If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1,000 fine. The dog, reports ABC2, is still living with the family.

Mikles is out of jail on $5,000 bond.

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Abortions Oklahoma Politics

Oklahoma Republican Asks: “What Happened To The Republican Party I Joined?”

Oklahoma state Rep. Doug Cox (R), published a piece today in The Oklahoman. The article discussed the Republican’s unforgiving stance on abortions and not providing contraceptives to women. And in the piece, Mr. Cox asked what happened to the party he joined and wondered if his fellow Republican colleagues lives in “the real world.”

As a practicing physician (who never has or will perform an abortion), I deal with the real world. In the real world, 15- and 16-year-olds get pregnant (sadly, 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds do also). In the real world, 62 percent of women ages 20 to 24 who give birth are unmarried. And in the world I work and live in, an unplanned pregnancy can throw up a real roadblock on a woman’s path to escaping the shackles of poverty.

Yet I cannot convince my Republican colleagues that one of the best ways to eliminate abortions is to ensure access to contraception. A recent attempt by my fellow lawmakers to prevent Medicaid dollars from covering the “morning after” pill is a case in point. Denying access to this important contraceptive is a sure way to increase legal and back-alley abortions. Moreover, such a law would discriminate against low-income women who depend on Medicaid for their health care.

But wait, some lawmakers want to go even further and limit everyone’s access to birth control by allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraception.

What happened to the Republican Party that I joined? The party where conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater felt women should have the right to control their own destiny? The party where President Ronald Reagan said a poor person showing up in the emergency room deserved needed treatment regardless of ability to pay? What happened to the Republican Party that felt government should not overregulate people until (as we say in Oklahoma) “you have walked a mile in their moccasins”?

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Democrat Politics Republican

Rhode Island Independent Governor to Switch To Democratic Party

Just like a politician. Chances of reelection are not looking good for Chafee as an Independent, so the once Republican will now switch to the Democrats.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) intends to run for reelection as a Democrat, according to two people familiar with his decision, a move that suggests that the first-term governor does not see a path to reelection as an independent.

Chafee, a former Republican senator, won the governorship in 2010 in a competitive three-way race. His prospects for a second term have looked dim, as polling shows his numbers are downright bad. Chafee’s made no secret about the fact that he has been considering switching to the Democratic Party. His decision signals that he believes his best chance for survival is competing in what is expected to be a competitive Democratic primary.

Chafee is expected to announce his decision shortly, possibly as soon as this week, the people familiar with his decision say.

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Politics

Another Record for Stocks – Not a Good Definition of “a Crisis”

U.S. stocks surged Tuesday as investors digested stellar economic data that appeared to put the housing and financial crises far in the rearview mirror.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high of 15,409.39, after gaining more than 100 points, or 0.7%. (Tracking the Dow 30).

The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, and the Nasdaq added 0.9%.

At the same time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note surged above 2.1% — its highest level in more than a year.

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Politics

Michele Bachmann Will Not Seek Re-Election. Her Smartest Decision Yet

I never understood why she was in Congress anyway. A rock placed in her seat would have been more productive for the American people.

Then again, a rock placed in any Congressional Republican’s seat would produce more than the sorry group occupying those seats today.

Michele Bachmann, the firebrand conservative 2012 presidential contender, announced Wednesday she will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, did not rule out another run for the Republican presidential nomination.

She said in a video posted on her campaign website that four two-year terms was enough time for anyone to serve in the House. She gave no other specific reason for not running for a fifth term.

Bachmann faced a House challenge from Democrat Jim Graves who came within one percent of beating her in 2012. But fear of a difficult race in 2014 was not her reason for leaving the House, she said in the video.

Bachmann’s campaign for the 2012 nomination, which centered around charges that President Barack Obama was putting the U.S. “on the road to socialism,” brought her wide attention. But much of it was negative thanks to regular misstatements of fact.

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Politics

This Republican Took Millions in Government Farm Subsidies, then Voted to Cut Food Stamps

Did you hear the one about the Republican congressman who is milking the government for personal farm subsidies, then turns around and voted against food stamp benefits for the poor?

Meet Republican Representative Stephen Fincher.

Using Agriculture Department data, researchers at the Environmental Working Group found that Representative Stephen Fincher, a Republican and a farmer from Frog Jump, Tenn., collected nearly $3.5 million in subsidies from 1999 to 2012. The data is part of the research group’s online farm subsidy database from which the group issues a report each year.

In 2012 alone, the data shows, Mr. Fincher received about $70,000 in direct payments, money that is given to farmers and farmland owners, even if they do not grow crops. It is unclear how much Mr. Fincher received in crop insurance subsidies because the names of people receiving the subsidies are not public. The group said most of the agriculture subsidies go to the largest, most profitable farm operations in the country. These farmers have received $265 billion in direct payments and farm insurance subsidies since 1995, federal records show.

During debate on the farm bill in the House Agriculture Committee last week, Mr. Fincher was one of the biggest proponents of $20 billion in cuts to food stamps in the legislation. At times he quoted passages from the Bible in defending the cuts.

“We have to remember there is not a big printing press in Washington that continually prints money over and over,” Mr. Fincher said during the debate. “This is other people’s money that Washington is appropriating and spending.”

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Politics

Republican Bob Dole Blame Republicans for Washington Gridlock

Former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole doesn’t think much of his party these days.

Dole, who ran against President Bill Clinton in 1996 and was the leader of Senate Republicans for much of the 1980s and 90s, slammed the GOP for excessive obstructionism and for failing to convey a forward-looking agenda during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Never one to mince words, Dole did not absolve President Obama of the blame for the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., but he directed the lion’s share of his criticism at his own party.

“I think they ought to put a sign on the [Republican] national committee doors that says ‘closed for repairs’ until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas,” Dole said.

Asked whether Republicans of years past, many of whom had a more diplomatic approach to compromise and governance than today’s Republicans, would be able to make it in the modern GOP, Dole said, “I doubt it.”
“Reagan wouldn’t have made it. Certainly Nixon couldn’t have made it, because he had ideas,” he explained.

“We might have made it, but I doubt it.”
And much of the blame for the gridlock, Dole said, rests with a fractious Congress that seems more interested in partisan drama than doing its job.

“It seems to be almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” Dole said, comparing today’s Congress unfavorably with the institution in which he served for decades. “We weren’t perfect by a long shot, but at least we got our work done.”

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Politics taxes

Man Files 122 False Income Tax Returns – Gets $92,000 in Returns

Here’s something original. Barry made over $92,000.00 filing 122 false income tax returns using the information of dead people.

In other news, Republican Senator Rand Paul recently defended Apple’s decision to cheat the American Government out of billions in taxes, by shipping their income overseas. Paul was heard saying that everyone game the system in some way, so Apple did nothing wrong.

I guess what this guy did is okay, using Paul’s standard.

The U.S. attorney’s office said in a release John M. Berry Jr. of Dunkirk, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Buffalo to making a false claim against the United States. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, said between Sept. 3, 2008, and March 25, 2009, Berry filed 122 false income tax returns for the tax years 2007 and 2008 with the IRS.

During that time, Berry obtained the personal and identifying information for 122 recently deceased individuals and then used that information to file federal tax returns. The defendant created fraudulent income and withholding information for the dead taxpayers and filed the returns electronically, Mango said.

The 122 tax returns sought refunds totaling $217,520 from the IRS, of which the defendant received $92,462.12. The refunds were deposited directly into Berry’s bank account, Mango said.

“This case should serve as a warning that our office, working with our law enforcement partners, will not tolerate attempts to either steal the identities of individuals, or the money of the taxpayers of this country,” U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. “That this defendant would rob the identities of deceased individuals is concerning, and could have brought additional grief and pain for their loved ones.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.

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Domestic Policies News Politics Republican Technology

The Party’s Over

The signs of decline are everywhere. No ideas. No strategy except saying no. Extreme candidates. An unbending view of the constitution that allows no other interpretation. An aging, angry, declining electorate. Technology that doesn’t work and that isn’t attracting the best young talent in Silicon Valley. A pollster who was so wrong last November it actually skewed the numbers in many election forecasts is saying that the president is in trouble. And perhaps worse, a Ronald Reagan fetish that misinterprets what Reagan really accomplished, and how he accomplished it. Tell me what’s positive about the Republicans.

It’s as if the party is driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with its eyes closed. Nothing good can come of this. They’ve already alienated a majority of people by voting down background checks. And now they’re making noise that they will reject an immigration bill that has wide support and will address serious deficiencies in our system. Siding with big business on tax reform would be a sweet third strike as we move into next year’s election season. In fact, 2010 will be seen as the swan song of the far right; the last gasp of a fading and rudderless movement that will take up residence in the south and fight the good fight, 150 years after the last major battles.

The Democrats, by contrast, are beginning to move out of the morass they found themselves in after the 2010 elections. Yes, they are presently mired in scandal muck, but this too shall pass. The scandals might slow down their momentum, but as the GOP will use them as an excuse to do nothing, the population will see their tactics for what they are, and have always been, and will vote accordingly. The Democrats will probably not take the House, but they will make inroads on the path to a majority in 2016. They’ll also hold on to the Senate, but perhaps by a smaller margin than today.

From there, it will be up to the Republicans who are left to either help make this country better or continue their obstruction. Yes, they have Rubio, Paul, Ryan and Christie. But up against O’Malley, Cuomo, Clinton and Malloy, they don’t stand a chance.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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