Category: Politics

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Politics

GOP Threat: Stop Us Before We Kill Ourselves!

Can the Republican Party possibly do more to inflict damage on itself? Is this a cry for help from a psychologically wounded group? Perhaps we should give every GOP member of Congress a gun and watch them shoot themselves in the foot. Or form a circular firing squad.

The honest truth is that we are witnessing the end of an era and the implosion of the party. The election of 2012 signaled the beginning of the end of the conservative era and like most things these days, the decline is coming swiftly and unmercifully. The fiscal cliff deal is emblematic. Denying the Northeast hurricane aid was a public-relations disaster. The worst is yet to come.

Now we get to look forward to two more rounds of economic negotiations on the debt ceiling and entitlement programs. Other writers are saying that these will be fought on more sure-footed GOP ground. I don’t buy that for one second. Having been beaten soundly by the president on the tax issue, they now have little leverage on the debt ceiling or budget cuts.

Think about it.

Most Americans already blame the Republicans for almost scuttling a New Year’s deal and then witnessed first hand the comeuppance of John Boehner at the hands of those frisky Tea Party conservatives. They saw how the party hesitated to even raise taxes on millionaires and how the House abdicated its responsibility and needed to be bailed out by Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden.

And this was the easy deal.

Most Americans, again, do not want severe cuts to their government Medicare and safety net programs, but that’s exactly what the GOP is peddling. And the sheer size of the cuts that will be necessary to achieve Paul Ryan’s aims will ultimately prove to be a disaster for them. I just know that Boehner and Cantor will overstep the mandate they think they have and will also want their pound of flesh from Obama to make up for the just-completed deal.

Likewise for the debt ceiling. The country certainly remembers that it was the right that played brinkmanship with the budget in 2011 and got us a lower credit rating. Just let them do the same thing again and see what happens.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the idea that the president keeps his cool and doesn’t give away more than he needs to in the negotiations. The left is not happy with the tax deal, but really, how much can you push tax cuts for the wealthy? The difference between what he wanted and what he got is miniscule, which is exactly the problem, budget-wise, and Obama still came out a winner. Plus he’s already offered cuts to social programs that the GOP has rejected as too little. He’s in the driver’s seat.

The GOP is still convinced that only their ideas are correct and I seriously doubt that they will come out with specific proposals on how to retire the debt responsibly or which tax loopholes they want to close (which will also be unpopular). So the way I see it, this should be a good season for the president and Democrats.

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Politics republican fail

Today, the 112th Congress of the United States of America finally ends. Thank God.

Ezra Klein writes:

What’s the record of the 112th Congress? Well, it almost shut down the government and almost breached the debt ceiling. It almost went over the fiscal cliff (which it had designed in the first place). It cut a trillion dollars of discretionary spending in the Budget Control Act and scheduled another trillion in spending cuts through an automatic sequester, which everyone agrees is terrible policy. It achieved nothing of note on housing, energy, stimulus, immigration, guns, tax reform, infrastructure, climate change or, really, anything. It’s hard to identify a single significant problem that existed prior to the 112th Congress that was in any way improved by its two years of rule.

The 112th, which was gaveled into being on Jan. 3, 2011, by newly elected House SpeakerJohn Boehner, wasn’t just unproductive in comparison with the 111th. It was unproductive compared with any Congress since 1948, when scholars began keeping tabs on congressional productivity.

When it ends, the 112th Congress will have passed about 220 public laws — by far the least of any Congress on record. Prior to the 112th, the least productive Congress was the 104th, from January 1995 to January 1997. Not coincidentally, that Congress also featured a new Republican House majority determined to ruin a Democratic president in advance of the next campaign. The 104th, however, passed 333 public laws — almost 50 percent more than the 112th. The 112th stands alone in its achievement of epic failure.

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Immigration Immigration Reform Politics

After Big Fiscal Cliff Win, Obama’s Next Battle – Immigration Reform

Despite a bruising fiscal cliff battle that managed to set the stage for an even more heated showdown that will likely take place in a matter of months, President Barack Obama is planning to move full steam ahead with the rest of his domestic policy agenda.

An Obama administration official said the president plans to push for immigration reform this January. The official, who spoke about legislative plans only on condition of anonymity, said that coming standoffs over deficit reduction are unlikely to drain momentum from other priorities. The White House plans to push forward quickly, not just on immigration reform but gun control laws as well.

The timeframe is likely to be cheered by Democrats and immigration reform advocates alike, who have privately expressed fears that Obama’s second term will be drowned out in seemingly unending showdowns between parties. The just-completed fiscal cliff deal is giving way to a two-month deadline to resolve delayed sequestration cuts, an expiring continuing resolution to fund the government and a debt ceiling that will soon be hit.

h/t Huffington Post

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Politics

The Fiscal Abe: What Lincoln Can Tell Us About the Cliff

Just when you thought we knew so much, along comes history to teach us a lesson in humility. Of course I’m talking about the present political and fiscal morass, but the history lesson comes from our star attraction of the season, Abraham Lincoln.

Neither the left nor the right seems to be happy with the deal worked out in the Senate concerning the tax hikes and lack of spending cuts to avoid the fiscal calamity that won’t come quickly anyway. But the larger lesson here is that solving the nation’s problems take time and, in most cases, many steps. There will be no grand bargain, and I challenge anyone to show me an instance where the two parties immediately came together to solve a problem the first time they attempted it (outside of war). Far-reaching bills and programs have evolved over time, for good and for ill, with additions and tweaks based on the moment and level of political will. So it will be with us.

For perspective, consider Lincoln and the major issue of his day: Slavery.

Think the parties are divided today? The debate over slavery led to beatings of legislators, acts of violence in statehouses and a rehearsal for civil war in Kansas. Abolitionists protected runaway slaves when it was expressly illegal to do so and proponents of slavery abducted free blacks to make up for their losses. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled that slavery was legal. Case closed.

But of course, case not closed. So how did we get from the Dred Scott decision to the Thirteenth Amendment, which ultimately abolished slavery? Very slowly.

Columbia University History Professor Eric Foner does his usual terrific job framing the story in this article from Tuesday’s New York Times. In it, he reminds us that Lincoln did not, in fact, free the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation, whose 150th anniversary was January 1. It took years to do that and Lincoln made many enemies along the way.

The real lesson, though? From the article:

Like all great historical transformations, emancipation was a process, not a single event. It arose from many causes and was the work of many individuals. It began at the outset of the Civil War, when slaves sought refuge behind Union lines. It did not end until December 1865, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which irrevocably abolished slavery throughout the nation. 
But the Emancipation Proclamation was the crucial turning point in this story. In a sense, it embodied a double emancipation: for the slaves, since it ensured that if the Union emerged victorious, slavery would perish, and for Lincoln himself, for whom it marked the abandonment of his previous assumptions about how to abolish slavery and the role blacks would play in post-emancipation American life. 
The slaves were freed first in areas where the Northern government did not even have jurisdiction (the southern states), and not in areas where it did (border states such as Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri). For abolitionists, this was not enough. For slaveholders, it was an abomination.
And then there was President Lincoln’s attitude, which also had to change. Slowly:
While not burdened with the visceral racism of many of his white contemporaries, Lincoln shared some of their prejudices. He had long seen blacks as an alien people who been unjustly uprooted from their homeland and were entitled to freedom, but were not an intrinsic part of American society. During his Senate campaign in Illinois, in 1858, he had insisted that blacks should enjoy the same natural rights as whites (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), but he opposed granting them legal equality or the right to vote. 
By the end of his life, Lincoln’s outlook had changed dramatically. In his last public address, delivered in April 1865, he said that in reconstructing Louisiana, and by implication other Southern states, he would “prefer” that limited black suffrage be implemented. He singled out the “very intelligent” (educated free blacks) and “those who serve our cause as soldiers” as most worthy. Though hardly an unambiguous embrace of equality, this was the first time an American president had endorsed any political rights for blacks. 
It took a four-year war and the suppression of southern representation in Congress to finally rid the country of the scourge of slavery. There was no grand bargain. It required a president who took a stand, and a slow process that pleased no one.
Our constitution was written to slow down the pernicious influence of passion and haste. We are supposed to deliberate and debate and recognize that a balance of powers will provide us with the best chance of solving our problems. It is frustrating and sometimes we do ourselves some harm while paying it respect. So for those of you who see evil in the Republican’s attempts to undermine President Obama’s every turn, or see the president as having given up too much in the fiscal negotiations, I say, relax. Take one step at a time. Neither side is evil and neither side’s program will lead to the country’s destruction. Taxes will go up and some social programs will need to be changed, slowly. The tax code will be modified, slowly The chances that you will be completely satisfied with any of these developments, or the speed with which they occur, will be close to zero.That’s how we know we’re getting it right.

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Benghazi dead Politics twitter

Republicans Cannot Contain Their Excitement At The News Of Hillary Clinton’s Hospitalization

Republicans cannot contain themselves tonight with the news that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hospitalized with a blood clot. A brief scan of Twitter shows some of these “people,” and I use that word very loosely, as they expressed excitement hearing the unfortunate news.

These people just can’t figure out how common decency works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Politics

Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton Is Hospitalized With A Blood Clot

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hospitalized Sunday after doctors discover a blood clot had formed, the State Department said in a statement.

Philippe Reines, a State Department senior advisor, said in the statement that the clot stems from a concussion she sustained several weeks ago.

Reines said Clinton is being treated with anti-coagulants at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She will be monitored there for the next 48 hours, he said.

“Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion,” he said. “They will determine if any further action is required.”

h/t NBC News

 

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Politics

President Obama Chastised Republicans For Failure To Work For The Middle Class

President Obama met with reporters today after his much anticipated Fiscal Cliff meeting with Congressional leaders. And based on the President’s tone, a deal is still far from complete. “I still want to get this done,” the President said, signaling that talks were still ongoing between the party leaders. “The hour for immediate action is here. It is now.”

The president showed a tone of frustration rarely seen, and pointed out to those in Congress that the American people are watching. “This is deja vu all over again,” he said. ” America wonders why it is that in this town for some reason, you can’t get stuff done in an organized timetable.”

Watched the video below.

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Politics

The 112th Congress Will Be The Least Productive In History

Thanks to a Republican controlled House of Representatives of course.

With just days left in the 112th Congress, this session of legislators is set to become the least productive in modern American history, according to a review by The Huffington Post. President Barack Obama has signed just 219 bills into law since January, 2011. This Congress would need to pass another 100 bills between now and the close of this Congress’ business in order to surpass the 104th Congress which, up to now, has had the honor of being the least productive Congress since records going back to 1947 have been kept by the U.S. Clerk’s office.

Both the 104th (1995-1996) and the 112th Congress share the distinction of including a number of Republican legislators swept into office after a wave election. They also governed during a Democratic presidential administration.

h/t The Huffington Post

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Mitt Romney Politics Wayne LaPierre

So Mitt Romney Lost The Presidential Election. Now What?

Well, two things he shouldn’t do – 1. Go to Disneyland, and 2. visit any more future Pacquiao fights. But that’s just my list. Margaret Carlson from Bloomberg makes her own suggestion:

My suggestion is to take on Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association. LaPierre says he represents beleaguered gun owners, but his massive war chest comes from the gun industry (which has provided him with almost $40 million in recent years), not necessarily from NRA members.

What Romney first needs to do is quash the NRA’s unhinged crusade to put armed security guards and out-of-work police officers at every school. LaPierre announced this last week after the unspeakable massacre of 20 small children, and some of the teachers who tried to save them, in a small town in Connecticut. The deranged gunman, wielding a military-type assault weapon, also killed his mother and himself.

Then Romney can lead the campaign for the assault-weapon ban, which is being readied for the new Congress and is much tougher than the one that lapsed in 2004. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney embraced gun control, signing an assault- weapons ban. He could stiffen the resolve of lawmakers whose fear of the NRA is greater than their grief for dead 6-year- olds. That’s a battle Romney could be proud of fighting — even if, shudder to think, he loses.

But then again this is Mitt Romney we’re talking about, and Republican couldn’t wait to usher him off to Never Never land after the November elections were over. It is highly unlikely that any Republican in Congress will be moved to do the right thing simply because of Mitt Romney is behind it.

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Politics

Former President George H.W Bush In Intensive Care Surrounded By Family

Former President George H.W. Bush remained in guarded condition overnight in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital after a day marked by “a series of setbacks including persistent fever,” according to his spokesman.

In a brief email Wednesday, Jim McGrath, Bush’s spokesman in Houston, said the 88-year-old former leader had been admitted Sunday to Methodist Hospital. McGrath said Mr. Bush, the oldest living former U.S. president, was alert and talking to medical staff, adding that doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment.

No other details were released about his medical condition, but Mr. McGrath said Mr. Bush is surrounded by family.

Mr. Bush has been hospitalized since Nov. 23, when he was admitted for a lingering cough related to bronchitis after having been in and out of the hospital for complications related to the illness.

h/t Wall Street Journal

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Politics

Fox News Made Me Do It – Man Admits Burning Down A Mosque Because of Fox

An Indiana man convicted of setting fire to an Ohio mosque attributed his crime to the influence of Fox News, which he says convinced him that “most Muslims are terrorists.”

Randolph Linn, 52, of St. Joe, Indiana pleaded guilty to arson for burning the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. His plea will result in a 20-year prison term; prosecutors had sought a 40-year sentence.

Linn told the court that on September 30 he had gotten “riled up” as a result of watching Fox News and drinking beer. Linn claims to have drank 45 beers in seven hours before heading to the mosque and setting a fire in the prayer room. He was also reportedly armed with a revolver at the time.

During the court proceedings, Judge Jack Zouhary asked Linn if he knew any Muslims or knew what Islam was about.

“No, I only know what I hear on Fox news and what I hear on [right-wing talk] radio,” Linn replied.

“Muslims are killing Americans and trying to blow stuff up,” Linn told the judge. “Most Muslims are terrorists and don’t believe in Jesus Christ,” Linn falsely stated, ignorant of the fact that Jesus is revered as a prophet in Islam.

After he was arrested on October 2, Linn told officers, “Fuck those Muslims… they would kill us if they got the chance.”

Linn will be formally sentenced on April 16.

h/t Digital Journal

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House republicans Politics Senate

Harry Reid – Thanks To Republicans, It May Be Too Late To Avoid The Fiscal Cliff

Sounds like we’re going over!

Republican House Leader John Boehner played around with this all year. He knew we were quickly approaching a deadline, but instead of working with the President to come to a deal of the Fiscal Cliff, Boehner continued the games and now expects the Senate to solve his problems.

But Senate Leader Harry Reid has something to say about that:

Speaking on the Senate floor, Reid castigated Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for sending members of the House back to their districts last week after he was forced to scrap his “Plan B” tax plan for lack of support.

The Democratic leader said that even if Boehner agreed to hold a vote extending the Bush tax rates for incomes up to $250,000 — as Democrats have demanded to avoid one part of the fiscal cliff — it might not make it through Congress in time to prevent tax increases from beginning next year.

“I have to be honest — I don’t know, time-wise, how it can happen now,” Reid said.

Boehner said last week that he would give members of the House 48 hours notice if they needed to return for a vote on fiscal matters, but GOP leaders have yet to give the order for them to return.

“[Boehner] should call them back today — he shouldn’t have let them go, in fact,” Reid said.

Senators returned to work on Thursday with time running out to reach an agreement on a slew of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are set to begin in January.

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