A very important stop for Pope Francis was his stop in Washington, his address to the elected leaders of this country, his address to Congress.
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Tag: Congress
If Benjamin Netanyahu feels this way about America, why is he coming here to address a joint session of congress?
Thanks Republicans! Netanyahu disrespects America, and you invite him to address a branch of our government.
The black-and-white text reads, “In 1948, Ben-Gurion stood before a fateful moment: The creation of the State of Israel.”
The ad continues: “The U.S. secretary of state firmly objected [the establishment of Israel]. Ben-Gurion — contrary to the State Department’s position — announced the establishment of the state… Would we be here today had Ben-Gurion not done the right thing?”
The clip ends with the slogan “Only Likud. Only Netanyahu.”
For the Republicans to invite a foreign leader to address a joint session of congress, and have that leader give a partisan speech against the United States government is a slap to our faces. For Benjamin Netanyahu to accept that invitation is even lower than the invite itself. And it is clear from that acceptance that Netanyahu knows nothing about the words “friend” and “alley.”
Negotiations with Iran have reached a critical point. The United States and our partners on the United Nations Security Council have set a July 2015 deadline on reaching a deal for Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The fact that we’re talking is significant. But, clearly, Iran wouldn’t even be at the table if it wasn’t already hurting from sanctions already in place.
So why not add more sanctions? There’s the rub. Most Republicans and several top Democrats, including the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), believe that enacting more sanctions now would force Iran to make a deal.
President Obama and former national security advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft, however, argue that slapping more sanctions on Iran now would kill the talks. Obama has vowed to veto any new sanctions bill from Congress, while promising to impose additional sanctions if negotiations fail.
This is an important issue on which honest men and women disagree. But here’s the point: You don’t invite the leader of any foreign country to walk into Congress and disagree with the president of the United States. For three reasons.
First, there’s no need to. Menendez, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others are perfectly capable of making the argument for more sanctions. Why do they need Bibi Netanyahu?
Second, it’s a serious breach of protocol. Relations with heads of state are handled by the White House and the State Department, not partisan leaders in Congress. Those dealings should be above politics.
Third, throwing any foreign leader into the middle of a policy debate in this country is a dangerous mix of foreign policy and partisan politics. We know what’s behind it. Boehner’s counting on Netanyahu to dump on Obama and accuse him of being soft on national security. For his part, Netanyahu wants to use our Congress as a forum for helping him win reelection, just two weeks after he was invited to speak. Both are abusing the honor of addressing a joint session of Congress in order to play their political games. And both are willing to risk undermining the strong bonds between the United States and Israel in the process.
Surely, members of Congress and the White House can work this out on their own without having to bring in an outsider. Both Boehner and Netanyahu should drop their silly, and dangerous, caper.
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.
Torture is a serious crime and the interest in the newly released torture report is necessary and warranted. And it is a perfect diversion for a congress determined to fatten their own pocket.
Two measures were snuck into the must-pass spending bill this week — all without formal debate.
The first was a rider that essentially overturns the District of Columbia’s ballot initiative legalizing marijuana, which passed by a more than 2-to-1 margin last month. (Remember, D.C. doesn’t even have elected House or Senate members.)
The second measure Congress snuck into the spending the bill will be more galling to some, because it amounts to a pay raise for the two unpopular political parties: It raises the $32,400 maximum that donors could give the Democratic National Committee or Republican National Committee to a whopping $324,000 per year, gutting what’s left of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law. The Washington Post says this was inserted on page 1,599 of a 1,603-page bill (!!!). These two measures — and probably more like them — will become law because they were jammed into a must-pass spending bill to keep the government open.
I admire people who will stand up for something, anything, just stand up… and while you’re at it, raise your hands in support of the movement!
Four members of the Congressional Black Caucus did the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture during remarks Monday on the House Floor, to show solidarity with protesters in Ferguson, Mo.
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) and Al Green (D-Tex.), referred to the gesture that has come to symbolize the outrage over the death of Brown, the African American teen shot dead by police officer Darren Wilson in August..
“ ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ is a rallying cry of people all across America who are fed up with police violence in … communities all across America,” Jeffries said.
Two of the members of Congress, Reps. Lee and Green, also offered their praise for the five St. Louis Rams who gave the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” signal on the field during a game Sunday night.
“I saw this clip where the Rams players came into the arena: ‘Hands up; don’t shoot’ … this has become the new symbol, a new statement,” Green said.
The days after elections are so much fun. Sort of like the day after Thanksgiving when the turkey and fixin’s get a chance to mature and mellow and the remembrance of a holiday is still fresh in the memory.
Well, at least it’s like that for the Republicans. They get a chance to gloat and tell the country just how much they’re loved and how the voters want them to change the tenor and direction of the debate in Washington and how the war on women didn’t work and Hispanics are more interested in the economy than immigration and that the president is not relevant any more and other things that, take a breath please, just aren’t true.
Democrats did a terrific job with those rose-tinted political spectacles on their noses hoping that the poll numbers were under-counting the young and African-American and female voters who were poised to spring out of their homes and rescue the party one final time before Obama takes his techno-laden GOTV effort back to… well, wherever he’s going come January 20, 2017.
What this election will be remembered for is that the South went all Republican, completing a 150 year flip from solidly Democratic and segregationist to solidly Republican and conservative. We can talk all we want about how diverse the country is becoming; the South is having none of it, even in Georgia where the left left its heart in the not very capable hands of the descendants of Carters and Nunns. What, none of the Mondales or McGoverns wanted to run? And who’s up next? A Clinton? We might need to rethink this one.
This election will also be remembered for how ordinary it turned out to be. The unpopular president’s party took a beating in his sixth year. Yawn.
The Republicans had better candidates who mentioned rape not once and found that they could win more votes than the Democrats who ran Usain Bolt-like from Obama. Yawn, roll over.
The right finally learned how to use the new media and mobile landscape to close the techno gap that the Democrats owned for two election cycles. Bound to happen. Yawn, toll over, hit the snooze button.
We also got the day-after sermons from the pulpit about how Boehner, McConnell and Obama will now learn to work with one another for the good of the country and find common ground on the major issues that concern Americans in their daily lives. And they said all of these things with straight faces.
What will really happen is that the Republicans will take out their pent-up frustrations with Harry Reid with laser-like precision, using their slim majority to pass as many bills as they can using reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes, rather than submitting legislation that could be filibustered. There will be no climate change regulations or carbon taxes, but we will get the XL Pipeline. There will be no immigration bill with a path to at least being able to stay in the country, but we will get a bigger, thicker, more secure fence in Arizona and New Mexico, ensuring that fruit prices will skyrocket because it will be rotting on the vines and in the fields for lack of pickers. We might even get some modifications to the ACA, but just enough to mess the law up for those who need it most. And we won’t get any judicial nominees through the Senate. Period.
The country will muddle through for the next two years with the economy continuing its slow $8.25 per hour recovery, states will continue to lead on marriage equality and legalization of marijuana, lower gas prices will help squeezed households, and technology will wow us anew with its ability to make us more productive and efficient.
Big change, though will need to wait.
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At a time of crisis in the Middle East, Congress has gone “AWOL,” Rep. John Larson said Monday.
“Congress has been off for more than six weeks,” the Connecticut Democrat said on MSNBC. “Some have said, and I can’t disagree with them, that we’re AWOL,” Politico reports.
Congress began its recess on Aug. 1 and reconvenes on Sept. 8, but as news of threats in Iraq and Syria mount, Larson said lawmakers “cannot wait till next week” to join the discussions on what should be done in regard to foreign policy.
“We ought to be back there making sure that we’re meeting as a committee of the whole and debating and defining this issue clearly,” Larson said.
Larson’s interview came on the Labor Day holiday, as members of the House and Senate enjoyed their last week of vacation.
“Today is Labor Day, where we celebrate work and we celebrate the efforts of those who labor throughout the year,” Larson said. “Congress is not at work.”
He added, “I agree with the premise that these are issues that have to be debated and the time is now, and Congress has a responsibility and an obligation to the American people.”
Sometimes, I strongly disagree with Chris Matthews of MSNBC, like when he went on his show and clearly parroted talking-points from the Teaparty, or when he said that Democrats should accept the Teaparty and their crazy ideology. His acceptance of the Teaparty and their message has caused some rather angry posts to be written about him, right here on this site.
But there are other times when the unpredictable host of Hardball say things that’s worth repeating. Like on a previous broadcast when Matthews suggested that if Boehner and the Republicans are suing Obama for… absolutely no reason whatsoever, then maybe the President should sue Congress for not doing their job!
I’ll agree with that, but I’ll be more specific and suggest that President Obama should sue John Boehner and the do-noting Republicans in Congress.
Now you know this wouldn’t happen, even if it were possible for the Executive branch to sue the Legislative branch. This president, for whatever reason, seems to want to stay above the fray, and maybe this knowledge that Obama would not do anything, is the reason why Congressional Republicans are the way they are… determined to do nothing, determined to collect a paycheck from the rest of us, while not performing their duties!
Following his meeting with Texas Governor Rick Perry, President Obama issued a statement saying that there are no real differences between what he an Perry wants in regards to the border security and immigration issues in South Texas. The President stated that the real stumbling block is getting Congress to act on getting things done.
“The problem here is not a major disagreement around the actions that could be helpful in dealing with the problem. The challenge is, is Congress willing to act to get this done,” the president told reporters. “The question is are we more interested in politics or are we more interested in solving the problem.”
The president urged Republicans to put politics aside and act on his request for $3.7 in emergency funding to cope with the influx of unaccompanied minors flooding across the border.
“Congress has the ability to work with all parties involved to directly help this solution,” Obama said. “This supplemental offers them the ability to work immediately to get this done.”
Earlier this week, President Obama took the initiative by signing an order requiring that federal contractors pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. In this week’s weekly address, the president once again called on Congress to do their part for the American people and the economy, by raising the minimum wage.
But to finish the job, Congress needs to act. In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs. More states, cities, counties, and companies are taking steps to join them. An overwhelming majority of Americans support raising a minimum wage that’s worth about 20% less than when Ronald Reagan took office.
Right now, there’s a bill in Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. That’s easy to remember: ten-ten. And remember, the average worker who would get a raise if Congress acts is about 35 years old. Most lower-wage jobs are held by women. And raising the minimum wage wouldn’t just raise their wages – its effect would lift wages for about 28 million Americans. It would lift millions of Americans out of poverty, and help millions more work their way out of poverty – without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. It will give more businesses more customers with more money to spend – and that means growing the economy for everyone.
Maybe the most reasoned voice in Congress these days is that of Chaplin Barry Black. The Chaplin has opened all the floor sessions with a prayer, mostly geared towards the dumb path Congress has laid out for this country with the Government Shutdown and the unbelievable eventual outcome of America defaulting on paying its bills.
“Save us from the madness,” the Chaplin was heard praying in one of his sessions. “We acknowledge our transgressions, our shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness and our pride,” he went on. “Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable.”
Well leave it up to Saturday Night Live to bring some humor in this very serious time. Just hours before America defaults for the first time in our history, SNL extends the role of the Chaplin Barry Black.
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