Category: Politics

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

The Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks

There’s something telling about Mitch McConnell saying that the health care act will be the major issue in the 2014 midterm elections. It means that he realizes that the GOP will smoke its triple scandal orgasm cigarette and move on before the year is out. It also means that he operates in the same blindered echo-chamber the far right has occupied since March of 2010. Yes, the IRS does have a role to play in the ACA’s rollout and implementation, but it’s not going to be responsible for the death of the Republican Party. The party faithful are doing a good enough job of that.

After a week of terrible news, two major polls–CNN/ORC and Gallup–are showing that President Obama’s approval ratings are holding steady in the low 50s, but that many Americans are not satisfied with many of the answers the members of his administration, and he, are giving. That’s understandable. These are undeniably poor governmental practices, and if anybody has broken the law, then they should be punished. But that will be difficult.

What happened at the IRS office in Cincinnati sounds suspicioulsy like the office of any other overworked, understaffed institution in the United States. People made choices on their own, seemingly without a lot of oversight, and they tried to be efficient in the face of technology inefficiencies and a dash of confusion. There’s no conspiracy here, despite the right wing’s continuing bleating, because there were some left wing groups that got caught up in the excess scrutiny. Plus, at the time, most of the new groups asking for tax-exempts status were Tea Party affiliated because that’s when they rose to power, so that was the bulk of the applications to begin with. And there’s no evidence (yet) that a majority or even a large cohort of these groups was denied their tax-exempt status because of their affiliation. This is not a scandal: It’s incompetence, and that’s not criminal.

The ongoing drama in Benghazi is likewise a government muddle, but it looks like it’s mostly a CIA-State Department fight that resulted in terrible editing and a tragic miscalculation of what was happening on the ground. Again, is there  evidence of illegal activity? Probably not, but the GOP will spend more time than it needs to trying to unearth something that isn’t there.

The Justice Department’s rummaging through the Associated Press’ phone records is the most chilling of the three issues because it combines the worst of the War on Terror with a violation of the trust that journalists have with their sources. Its’ also the most disappointing aspect of the Obama Administration’s continuation of policies put in place during George W. Bush’s tenure in the White House. Perhaps this will result in a national shield law, something that, until now, the Obama administration has been against.

The right wing has been waiting for the opportunity to investigate the president for over four years, and they’ve finally received their opportunity. They will probably be disappointed, but not until they’ve extracted some political coinage for their trouble. This will boomerang on them if it means that immigration and tax reform are sacrificed in the name of non-existent conspiracies.

And really, if you want to compare Obama to Nixon, then you probably weren’t alive during the 1970s, and if you were, you learned the wrong lessons.

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

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Politics

The NRA – Tricking Voters Into Thinking Kelly Ayotte Supports Background Checks

The NRA is at it again. After Kelly Ayotte voted against background checks, her poll numbers plummeted by 15 points. But have no fear, the NRA is here. Doing what they do best, the NRA made an ad that straight out lie, telling voters that Kelly is for background checks.

Talking Points made this observation:

The ad’s core claim is that “Kelly Ayotte voted for a bipartisan plan to make background checks more effective.” In reality, Ayotte opposed the bipartisan background checks plan co-sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). What she voted for instead was a plan by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) that would actually weaken gun laws by making it easier to buy and transport guns across state lines. Gun sales in states with lax gun laws are a common method of evading strict state and local laws, and are a major driver of gun violence in cities such as Chicago. So the proposal Ayotte supported could make gun violence worse.

Here’s the Ad.

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Building The Middle Class

This week’s Presidential address focused on the Middle class and how to continue building on the progress of the last four years. President Obama stated three areas where that focus on the middle class must continue: jobs, skills and opportunity.

The President:

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Politics

Heritage Foundation to Republicans: Don’t Work, Promote Obama Scandals Instead

The Republican voter should be outraged. You go to the polls and vote for someone who campaigned and told you that they will represent you in Congress. You think you’re doing your civil duty by voting, only to realize later, that other companies and organizations are the ones pulling your congressperson’s strings.

Here’s an example. The Heritage Foundation recently sent this letter to all Republicans in Congress, urging them not to do the work of the people, but focus on so-called “scandals” surrounding the Obama administration instead.

Here’s the email, addressed to Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor

Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor:

For the first time, the activities of the Obama administration are receiving a sustained public vetting.  Americans’ outrage over Benghazi is amplified by the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation of conservative grassroots organizations and a cascade of negative headlines.  There is the real sense the Obama administration has been less than forthright with the American people, the press and lawmakers.

Recent events have rightly focused the nation’s attention squarely on the actions of the Obama administration. It is incumbent upon the House of Representatives to conduct oversight hearings on those actions, but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference.

To that end, we urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference. Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another “circular firing squad” article.

Make no mistake, principled conservatives will still oppose bad policy if it comes to the floor.  Rather than scheduling such legislation for consideration, we urge you to keep the attention focused squarely on the Obama administration. As the public’s trust in their government continues to erode, it is incumbent upon those of us who support a smaller, less intrusive government to lead.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America

But then, who’s really surprised. In his first week in office, Republicans bought into Rush Limbaugh’s demand that Obama should fail. Heck, even Senator McConnell said that his main objective was to deny Obama a second term. And Republicans have put up stumbling blocks to every policy initiative the President pushed.

So no, we’re not surprised now when Heritage sends this letter telling Republicans what their goal is. But we do feel a sense of disappointment knowing that the average Republican voters have no say. We’re saddened that these voters think they’re participating in a Democracy, when in fact, they’re unknowingly taking part in a Plutocracy.

And these voters don’t know the difference.

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Citizens United Nancy Pelosi Politics

Nancy Pelosi Blames Citizens United for IRS Controversy

I completely agree with Nancy Pelosi. If the Supreme Court had done the sensible thing instead of catering to partisan idealogy and struck down Citizens United, we would not be dealing with this nonsense today.

The IRS is under heavy fire from both parties following recent revelations that some in the agency singled out conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for a certain tax-exempt status.

Pelosi condemned those actions Thursday, saying those responsible “were wrong and must be held accountable.”

But the Democratic leader was also quick to link the scandal to the broader issue of campaign finance, arguing that the episode would never have happened if Congress overhauled the system to eliminate so-called 501(c)(4) groups altogether.

Those groups, which do not have to disclose their donors, have gained power and prominence since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision empowered them to participate directly in elections provided they focus primarily on “social welfare” and not candidate advocacy.

“These actions highlight why we must overturn Citizens United,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “There is a very thin line … that these so-called ‘social welfare’ organizations must make their priority promoting social welfare, rather than engaging in politics. Clearly, this has not been [the case].

“I paint everybody with the same brush, right to left,” she added. “I think it all should go.”

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Chris Matthews Politics

Chris Matthews is Apparently Auditioning for a Fox News Show

Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball seems to be auditioning for a show of Fox News. Over the last few nights on his program, Matthews has taken the unusual position of hauling unwarranted attacks on the President, questioning the President’s leadership skills and wondering if Mr. Obama has any idea what is happening in America.

Here is an example of how Matthews is updating his resume with some Fox News talking points;

“What part of the presidency does Obama like? He doesn’t like dealing with other politicians — that means his own cabinet, that means members of the congress, either party. He doesn’t particularly like the press…. He likes to write the speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau and the others wrote for the first draft.

“So what part does he like? He likes going on the road, campaigning, visiting businesses like he does every couple days somewhere in Ohio or somewhere,” Matthews continued. “But what part does he like? He doesn’t like lobbying for the bills he cares about. He doesn’t like selling to the press. He doesn’t like giving orders or giving somebody the power to give orders. He doesn’t seem to like being an executive.”

Matthews also said that the President, who gave him a thrill up his leg back in the 2008 campaign, “obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch.”

The people at Fox News are taking notes.

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

Emails Reveal No Wrong Doing by White House on Benghazi Crisis

There was an active investigation going on in reference to what happened and who was responsible for the embassy attack in Benghazi.

The emails show that the State Department and the CIA wanted to use the correct language, to allow the investigation to proceed without opinions on what might have happened.

The Obama administration released 100 pages of emails Wednesday that reveal differences between intelligence analysts and State Department officials over how to describe the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. post in Benghazi, Libya.

The internal debate did not include political interference from the White House, according to the emails, which were provided to Congressional intelligence committees several months ago.

Since the assault that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Republicans have accused President Obama and his senior advisers of mischaracterizing the attack, largely to prevent political repercussions during what was then a close re-election campaign.

Much of the Republican concern has focused on whether administration officials acknowledged early enough that an Islamist terrorist organization was behind the attack, rather than groups of demonstrators participating in anti-American protests outside many U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the emails and initial CIA-drafted talking points, the agency believed the attack included a mix of Islamist extremists from Ansar al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda affiliated group, and angry demonstrators.

White House officials did not challenge that analysis, the emails show.

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News Politics taxes

Acting IRS Chief Resigns, Obama Condemns ‘Inexcusible’ Targeting of Tea Party Groups

President Obama announced on Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner Steven Miller has submitted his resignation for his agency’s “inexcusable” targeting of conservative groups who had applied for tax-exempt status.

“I reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog’s report and the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable,” Obama said in the East Room of the White House. “Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I’m angry about it.”

“I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially at the IRS given the power that it has and the reach it has inside of our lives,” he added.

His comments come after the Treasury Inspector General released a report on Tuesday implicating “poor management” for allowing the practice to singling out groups with names like “tea party” or “patriot” in their names for additional scrutiny.

Obama said that he intends to hold the “responsible parties accountable” and pledged to work with Congress and the Treasury department to investigate the problems at the IRS and ensure that it never happens again.

h/t/ – ABCNEWS

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Politics

Schools In Pennsylvania Now Allowing Students To Be Armed In Class

What could possibly go wrong?

Five of Pennsylvania’s state universities — Kutztown, Shippensburg, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and Millersville — will now allow students to carry firearms at school, due to advice from attorneys in the governor’s office and state higher education office claiming that “blanket firearms bans were vulnerable to constitutional challenge and exposed the universities” to lawsuits. Penn State, the largest university in the state, is maintaining its ban on weapons on campus, with exceptions for hunting or other recreational firearms stored with police.

Last year, a similar narrative played out in Colorado, when the state Supreme Court held that students with concealed carry permits must be allowed to carry weapons on campus due to a state law. University of Colorado’s Boulder and Colorado springs campuses reacted by creating special dorms for students wishing to keep a concealed weapon in their room, but no one wanted to live in these dorms as of late last year.

Under the federal Constitution, at least as interpreted by the five conservative justices in District of Columbia v. Heller, guns may be banned “in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”

h/t ThinkProgress

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democrats Politics

Remember Something Called The Economy?

Remember the economy?

The election year was dominated by talk about jobs and the economy, but neither the administration nor Congress seems to have any grand ideas for jump-starting a still sluggish recovery — and they’re not even talking about it much.

President Obama sought to turn attention back to economic issues with a speech last week in Texas on manufacturing, but that’s already long since been forgotten. A cascade of scandals has driven the issue entirely off the Washington radar.

Even before Benghazi, the IRS and the Department of Justice controversies started heating up, the economy had consistently taken a back seat to issues such as immigration and gun control.

“The economy is by far the most important issue for voters,” says Karlyn Bowman, a polling expert at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s not unusual for Washington preoccupations to be different than those of the public.”

She says that the public is skeptical that Washington can provide economic answers at this point. Politicians themselves seem a little dubious.

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

Obama: Benghazi Talking Points a ‘Side Show’

Washington (CNN) – GOP outrage over a changed set of talking points related to September’s attack in Benghazi is a political “side show,” President Barack Obama argued Monday, asserting the tragedy was being used for political gain by his rivals.

The Republicans who claim Obama’s administration was intentionally misleading in the way they characterized the Benghazi attack are ignoring key facts and sullying the memory of the four Americans who died, the president claimed.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of people in the State Department who consistently say, ‘You know what, I’m willing to step up, I’m willing to put myself in harm’s way because I think that this mission is important in terms of serving the United States and advancing our interests around the globe.’ And so we dishonor them when we turn things like this into a political circus,” he said.

Obama was speaking at a press availability alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron, in Washington to discuss next month’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Republicans’ accusations of an administration-led cover up in the immediate aftermath of the Benghazi attack were fueled last week by the release of internal e-mails showing top administration officials scrubbing any mention of al Qaeda from talking points given to members of Congress and Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The unclassified talking points have become a political flashpoint in a long-running battle between the administration and Republicans, who say that officials knew the attack last September 11 was a planned terror operation while they were telling the public it was an act of violence that grew out of a demonstration over a video produced in the United States that insulted Islam.

That was the story that Rice told five days later when she made the rounds of all five Sunday morning television talk shows.

The attack occurred two months before the November election, in which President Barack Obama’s campaign often pointed out that it had “decimated” al Qaeda.

Obama noted Monday that he referred broadly to “acts of terror” in a Rose Garden statement the day after the attack, and that Republicans pointing to an administration “cover up” were ignoring stated facts by himself and other officials.

“The whole thing defies logic, and the fact that this keeps getting churned out, frankly has a lot to do with political motivations,” Obama said, echoing other Democrats who say the GOP focus on Benghazi is founded in an attempt to discredit former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the leading 2016 Democratic presidential prospect.

h/t – CNN

Categories
ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Another Republican Attempt to Deny You Health Care Coverage

Republicans are so intent on making sure Americans lose their health care and that heath insurance companies make as much profit as possible, that they are willing to anything to accomplish their goal.

Besides wasting taxpayers money with fruitlessly attempting to repeal the law over 37 times and counting, Republicans have now come up with another plan – stop the implementation of the law by refusing to provide a committee necessary for the full implementation of the law.

In a letter to President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) noted their original opposition to Obamacare, reiterated their intent to repeal it entirely, and declared that they would not make any appointments to the Independent Payment Advisory Board.

The IPAB is a 15-member panel whose members must be confirmed by the Senate. The President selects three members himself and is required by law to seek three recommendations each from the top Democrat and Republican in each chamber. With Thursday’s letter, Boehner and McConnell refused to make any recommendations.

The IPAB will be stood up in 2014 by Obamacare and tasked with making cuts to Medicare provider payments (it may not touch benefits) if costs exceed economic growth plus an additional percentage point in any given year. Congress can override it by passing equally large cuts with a simple majority or waiving the cuts entirely with a three-fifths majority.

“Because the law will give IPAB’s 15 unelected, unaccountable individuals the ability to deny seniors access to innovative care, we respectfully decline to recommend appointments,” Boehner and McConnell wrote in the letter.

But there is a catch: if IPAB fails to do its work for any reason, the Health and Human Services secretary must order the cuts herself. So in a way, Boehner and McConnell are surrendering some of their power in order to appear as though they’re thwarting Obamacare — when in reality they’re merely turning over more control to the executive branch.

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