And of course, the Republican delegation in New York supports his candidacy.
The district attorney who oversaw the investigation into the police-involved death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., announced Friday that he would run for the congressional seat vacated by Michael G. Grimm, who pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion.
Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan Jr. said he decided to enter the race after noticing a groundswell of support for his candidacy over the last week.“The enthusiasm for my candidacy has only broadened and intensified, with expressions of support also from beyond the two boroughs,” he said in a brief statement Friday afternoon.
He is the first person to officially announce his candidacy for the seat, which serves Staten Island and part of Brooklyn.Grimm, a Republican, resigned from Congress this month after pleading guilty to a single charge that stemmed from a 20-count indictment accusing him of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service and concealing more than $1 million in revenue.
My apologies if the image of Chris Christie in a swimsuit finds you eating a meal while reading this. It’s one of the hardships of the blogging trade, I know.
As mid-January hurries into late-January (a month of Mondays if there ever was one), we find ourselves confronted with news from the right side of the political spectrum as Hillary Clinton and any other would-be Democrats are seemingly taking the month off.
The big news, as usual, comes from New Jersey where the main question revolves around whether the Governor’s actions in Dallas last weekend dealt a fatal blow to his presidential hopes. The thinking is that Christie’s awkward embrace of Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones while wearing an orange sweater, was akin to Michael Dukakis in a tank or Howard Dean screaming. That is, an unpresidential image so egregious that it renders a candidate unelectable. My sense is that, no, this did not end Christie’s run before it began (and it will begin later this month), but it did project Christie as the wanna-be he clearly is. And it also reinforces the notion that the man just doesn’t think before he acts sometimes. He believes that he is always right and his aides reinforce that daily. The Dallas escapade might not be the end, but it presages another event that will hurt him sometime down the road. Bank on that.
More bigger than Christie, though, is the news that Mitt Romney is strongly considering a third run for the White House. This would be a very bad idea because third time candidates tend to become parodies and, then, national jokes.
William Jennings Bryan ran for the Democratic nomination four times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, matching the Buffalo Bills for important national losses. Bryan, though, will always be remembered for his Cross of Gold speech, where he attempted to tie the business-friendly Republicans to a policy that would increase the suffering of the lower classes at the expense of the wealthy. Sound familiar? Today, Romney would more likely make a speech saying that a Cross of Gold would be a sound investment.
Even Teddy Roosevelt lost some luster when he ran for a third time in 1912, but he had the extra added legitimacy of having previously been president for almost eight years, and for being a firm advocate for responsible corporate behavior and for his solid conservation record. You know those national parks that Romney wants to open for drilling, exploration and timber? Roosevelt made them happen. Romney can only dream of that kind of influence, even if he does manage to get out of the primaries. Which he won’t.
And finally, there’s Jeb Bush, who apparently is evolving as we speak. And for someone whose view on evolution is somewhat suspect, it’s refreshing to read that:
“There is an evolution in temperament and an evolution in judgment and an evolution in wisdom — and there is an evolution in his respect for others’ point of view,” said Al Cardenas, a longtime friend who insisted that Mr. Bush had “not changed his conservative values.”
Perhaps by the end of the campaign, Mr. Bush will evolve into a Democrat. OK, OK, I know, but a fella can dream, can’t he?
So there you have it: the early mid-January political report. By the end of the month I would suspect that Mitt and Chris will join Jeb in the money-raising competition and then they’ll all jump head first into the campaign sometime after the Supreme Court affirms the Affordable Care Act.
Hey, Mitch McConnell went on the Senate floor and lied to the world that he and the Republicans are responsible for the economic growth. Yes, he was lying, but he is a Republican so lying is expected.
But if Mitch can lie about something he did not do, why can’t one of the people responsible for the economic recovery speak up and acknowledged that positive growth?
President Obama has been doing just that and now Nancy Pelosi is doing the same.
After the report today that the unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent, Pelosi issues this statement.
“Last month, our economy added another exclamation point to the longest uninterrupted period of private sector job creation in our history: 58 months, 11.2 million jobs. In 2014, we created nearly 3 million new jobs, more than in any year since 1999. For all our progress, however, too many Americans are still out of work and too many middle class families still feel squeezed. It is clear the 114th Congress must act to create jobs and expand the opportunities of working people and middle class families.
“On the first day of this Congress, Democrats put forward a legislative package to increase paychecks for working families and put Americans back to workbuilding the roads and bridges our country needs – paid for by keeping our tax dollars here at home. The CEO/Employee Pay Fairness Act will ensure that workers share in the fruit of their productivity, by denying CEOs the ability to claim tax deductions on income over $1 million unless they give their employees a well-deserved raise. With the Stop Corporate Expatriation and Invest in America’s Infrastructure Act, we will prevent U.S. corporations from renouncing their citizenship to dodge paying their fair share of taxes and use those dollars to create good-paying jobs here at home.
“Republicans, however, blocked the House from considering both bills – choosing instead to spend the opening days of the new Congress advancing more special interest priorities. The American people expect Congress to champion the paychecks of middle class families, not the profits of big banks and corporations shipping jobs overseas. Republicans should stop undermining the middle class, and come together with Democrats to create jobs, bigger paychecks and better infrastructure for every American family.”
In a video message done in French, the hacktivist group Anonymous vowed to avenge the deaths and murders of the souls lost at Charlie Hebdo. “We can not fall to the ground. It is our duty to react,” the group said.
The group vowed to fight for the “inviolate and sacred right to express opinions in any way” and said those who opposed freedom of expression can expect “a massive frontal assault from us, because the struggle for the defense of these freedoms is the foundation of our movement.”
“We are declaring war against you, the terrorists” and vowed to close accounts on social networks linked to terrorists. He wore a Guy Fawkes mask to disguise his identity.
Here we go with Fox News again. Following the shooting in France where 12 people at a satirical newspaper were killed by Islamic terrorists, Fox News went to their general in chief, their apparent terrorist expert, their well schooled man in everything Islam! Fox News went to their military expert Tom McInerney and his conclusion is “Political correctness is killing us” and New York better watch out, because of the “communist” New York mayor Bill De Blasio could see the same attack happen in New York!
Did you know that Bill DeBlasio was going to take away the guns from the New York police? Well I didn’t know that either, but Fox News and Tom McInerney apparently think that is the next step here in New York!
The president’s proposal will offer the first two years of community college for free. The president will formally announce the details of this plan in his upcoming State of The Union Address later this month.
No wonder the jokers in the Republican party are now trying to take credit for the economic growth in this country. Who wouldn’t want to be in charge of an economy with a 5.6 unemployment rate?
The U.S. capped its best year for hiring in 15 years with a healthy job gain in December and the unemployment rate falling to a six-year low. The data adds to signs of strength that contrast with sputtering global growth.
The Labor Department says employers added 252,000 jobs last month and 50,000 more in October and November combined than previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent and is at the lowest level since June 2008.
Taking away a woman’s right to choose. This is their priority. We saw it already on the state level where Republicans are in control and now that they control Congress, Republicans are making this war on women’s rights their number one priority.
Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Monday reintroduced a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which the GOP-controlled House already passed once in 2013. And Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced four bills on Wednesday that would bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal family planning funds, require all abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, ban abortions performed on the basis of gender, and allow hospitals, doctors and nurses to refuse to provide or participate in abortion care for women, even in cases of emergency.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards condemned the onslaught of anti-abortion bills on Thursday and the attack on her own organization.
“The public wants Congress to protect women’s health, not interfere in women’s personal medical decisions,” she said in a statement, “which means making sure all forms of birth control are affordable, women can get preventive care at Planned Parenthood and other trusted providers, and abortion remains safe and legal.”
While the 20-week abortion ban never received a vote in the Senate after passing the House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has promised anti-abortion activists that he will bring the bill to the floor. It would ban abortions two to four weeks earlier than the fetus would be viable outside the womb, violating the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. (In that case, the court ruled that women have a constitutional right to legal abortion up until the fetus would be viable outside the womb.)
Rand Paul appeared on The Sean Hannity radio show today to discuss, among other things, the recent shooting on Charlie Hebdo in France, and while talking to the Fox News host, Rand Paul, a top Republican actively pursuing the White House in 2016 said, “That barbarous aberration of a religion is opposed to the free flow of ideas.”
Even though the two suspects still at large were reportedly born in France, Paul soon brought up immigration policy, suggesting, “You’ve got to secure your country. And that means maybe that every Muslim immigrant that wishes to come to France shouldn’t have an open door to come.” He continued: “It’s also my concern here. I think our border is a danger to attack, as well as our student visa program. Several of the attackers on 9/11 were here on student visas they had overstayed.”
When Hannity quoted a New York Times editorial saying it’s no time “to smear all Muslims with a terrorist brush,” Paul laughed. “I think they must be totally deaf and dumb,” he said, “Because, think about it. I haven’t seen any Christians or Jews dragging people of the Islamic faith through the streets, but I am seeing the opposite. I’m seeing Christians beheaded, I’m seeing people who say anything about Islam being shot, unarmed, being shot.”
He continued: “And so, yeah, should the rules always protect everyone’s rights? Yeah, but I’m not worried too right now that we’ve infringed on their rights, I’m worried that Christians and Jews are being killed around the world.”
In the muck that is today’s politics, hearing the news that Congress agreed on anything is a rarity. But in this new congress, a bill actually passed both the House and Senate and is on its way to the president’s desk.
This is news! Politicians actually doing their job!
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a six-year extension of a terrorism insurance program Thursday, wrapping up work on an unfinished piece of business from the last Congress and sending the bill to President Obama for his signature.
The passage of the bill marked the first time legislation was cleared by both chambers of the 114th Congress. The bill passed the House on Tuesday Wednesday.
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) was signed into law in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush after the 2001 terrorist attacks. It allows the government to serve as a financial backstop for businesses suffering losses due to catastrophic attacks.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced an amendment to the bill that would strip it of a provision that would alter the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. Warren’s amendment failed.
“Wait, did you just ask if I support ISIS?” That was the comeback from human rights lawyer and activist, Arsalan Iftikhar. as he tried to wrap his head around the rather outlandish question from CNN’s Don Lemon. The two were discussing the events in France where Muslim gunmen murdered 12 people because of satirical cartoons they made about the prophet Mohammed.
Lemon’s question stemmed from a report saying that 16% of French citizens support ISIS and he asked the questioned if Iftikhar supports the terrorist group as well. After asking Don if he really just asked that question, Iftikhar skillfully carried on the conversation talking about the 16% report.
Earlier in the interview, Iftikhar compared the violence of Islam to the violence of Christianity. “It’s important to not conflate the actions of a very few to a population of 1.7 billion people, which represents 20 percent of the word’s population,” he said. “When Christians commit acts of terror, we don’t ask priests and pastors to go on national television and condemn these acts. But sadly, Muslim public intellectuals, thinkers, leaders, and Islamic scholars have that double standard that we have to deal with.”
Like the rest of the world, Jon Stewart expressed his frustrations with the recent shooting in France, where 12 people were executed by Islamic terrorists because of the apparent deadly combination of satire and the Islamic faith.
Jon Stewart of Comedy Central had this to say.
I know very few people go into comedy as an act of courage, mainly because it shouldn’t have to be that. It shouldn’t be an act of courage, it should be taken as established law. But those guys at Hebdo had it and they were killed for their cartoons.
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