Is this guy working for the Democrats? LOL… Maybe he is.
On a simple vote to raise the debt ceiling, a move House Republicans had already passed with no strings attached, Ted Cruz made life extremely difficult for his comrades in the Senate. The measure to raise the debt ceiling in the Senate could have passed along party lines with a simple majority vote, but Cruz demanded that a 60 vote Super Majority threshold be met instead, forcing some of his Republican friends already facing heat from their home districts, to change their votes.
While the Senate Republicans scrambled and fight on the Senate floor to come up with enough votes to pass the measure, it has been reported that Senator Cruz sat with his eyes “glued to his mobile device as the chaos he provoked ensnared.”
After what seemed like an eternity, a grim-faced Sen. Mitch McConnell, the party leader who faces a tea party challenge back home, finally voted yes. An equally grim-faced Sen. John Cornyn, the party’s No. 2 leader and Cruz’s Texas colleague, changed his vote from no to yes.
Cruz showed no mercy in exposing Republican leaders to widespread criticism from their primary challengers over a procedural vote on the debt limit after their pronouncements about the imperative of spending cuts. It could have been a simple 50-vote requirement, with Democrats delivering the votes to lift the debt limit, but Cruz insisted
Pressed after the vote about what he made his leaders do, Cruz was unapologetic.
“It should have been a very easy vote,” he told reporters. “In my view, every Senate Republican should have stood together.” He added that the verdict on McConnell “is ultimately a decision … for the voters in Kentucky.”
McConnell’s GOP challenger, Matt Bevin, seized on McConnell’s vote to criticize him. The Madison Project, a conservative group backing Bevin, accused McConnell of giving President Barack Obama “a blank check.”
It wasn’t the first time Cruz, a tea party favorite, had created massive headaches for Republicans. Last fall, he and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, precipitated the 16-day government shutdown with their demand that Obama gut his 3-year-old health care law.
The quest had the backing of the Senate Conservatives Fund and other outside groups that raised millions during the process — and spent a good chunk of it to boost GOP challengers such as Bevin and Chris McDaniel, who is running against Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran.
This week, the conservative groups Heritage Action and Club for Growth urged Senate Republicans to oppose lifting the debt limit. Determined to avoid brinkmanship, the House voted for a debt limit with no strings attache. After Wednesday’s drama, the Senate followed suit.
Washington (AFP) – House Republicans said Tuesday they will introduce a measure this week to extend US borrowing authority with no conditions attached, marking a clear victory for President Barack Obama.
House Speaker John Boehner said he will now seek to pass a clean debt ceiling hike with help from most Democrats in the chamber, admitting it was “disappointing” that the party leadership did not have the votes to pass the measure with an attached provision reworking military pension benefits.
“This is a lost opportunity,” Boehner told reporters after a closed-door meeting with his caucus.
“We could have sat down and worked together in a bipartisan manner to find cuts and reforms that are greater than the increase in the debt limit.”
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned last week that the country would exhaust its borrowing authority by February 7, and that it could use extraordinary measures only until February 27 before the debt ceiling would need to rise or government would risk not being able to pay all its bills.
The White House has insisted for weeks that raising the debt ceiling was non-negotiable, and it did not want to see policy riders attached to the measure.
The Republican secrets are slowly coming out. About a week ago, we heard one of their secret when a Republican unknowingly explained the reason they wanted to delay the implementation of Obamacare – they wanted to delay it for a year in hopes of winning the Senate in 2014 and then totally repealing the law. That secret came to light complements of Trey Radel – Representative from Florida.
Now, Republican brainchild Louie Gohmert is unknowingly explaining that – although his party is responsible for shutting down the government right before this country hits the debt ceiling on October 17th – if America default on the debt, President Obama will be impeached.
So with this second secret known, do you really think Republicans will deal in good faith with Democrats to avoid hitting the debt ceiling on October 17th? I’ll say no. They are more willing to launch this nation over the financial cliff. And if they get a chance to impeach the president before we hit bottom, then so be it.
Let it be Known that THIS President is Fed Up! He’s just about reached his Boiling point and so has America.
In his press conference on Tuesday, President Obama reiterated his position of Not negotiating with the Republican hostage takers unless they “do their jobs” and put an end to the Government Shutdown and their threats of not raising the Debt Ceiling.
President Obama did not mince words in his opening statement calling on Republican Speaker John Boehner to take the bill to a vote, something he had been asking Boehner to do since the shutdown began. The President spoke on Tuesday and said he was Willing to negotiate and have open discussions with Boehner and any other Republican on any issues, even the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) but not under extortion threats and not until they ended the shutdown.
The President also spoke on the looming Debt Ceiling crisis that is set to take us over the cliff on October 17th. During his opening comments, Mr Obama read statements by bankers, investors, the Treasury Dept., economists and even billionaire Warren Buffet, a staunch supporter of the President.
In those statements, the president described the potential outcome of defaulting on the nation’s debt. The president used words like insane, catastrophic, irresponsible and Buffet comparing the Default to the likes of an Atomic Bomb going off in America’s financial district.
With these highly qualified and financially successful individuals expressing such dire outcomes to this unfathomable inaction of not raising the Debt Ceiling, the Republicans have shown NO indication of giving in to the desires of the President, the Democratic and Independent members in Congress or the hundreds of thousands of Americans already suffering from the Government Shutdown. To be clear, some Reublicans have gone on record to say the Debt Ceiling is not a big deal.
Rep. John Fleming, (R) of Louisiana said of the economist predictions of castrophic events if the Debt Ceiling isn’t raised, “Many times they’re wrong. So I don’t think we should be running government based on economists’ predictions.” Rep. Richard Burr, (R) of NC made similar comments about not taking the Debt Ceiling seriously. Tom Coburn, (R) of Oklahoma was made an even worse assessment of the Debt Ceiling crisis by saying on an CNN interview that there is NO DEBT CEILING.
So, with the Republicans and Tea Party cheering on these self inflicted crises one after another, why would they – the same people who champion themselves as being Patriotic, Responsible and “Country loving” Americans – allow this Country to fall into Default? Why did they shutdown the Government and place thousands in financial dismay and/or ruin?
The shutdown has not only caused furloughs to hundreds of thousands, but is also affecting WIC programs and children that depend on that program for food and other necessities. It has affected the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in being able to pursue the aggressive viruses and diseases. And now, it is affecting loved ones who have had service men and women killed in the line of duty.
The Republican Party and Tea Party members are demanding the President negotiate with them or they will not end the shutdown AND will allow this country to Default on its obligations. Obama said yesterday that America has never defaulted in the last 225-years so why are the Republicans so Willing to let it occur now?
It’s not about Negotiations. It’s about Destroying a President.
The President said the Democrats have attempted to negotiate with Republicans 19-times only to have them squash talks with more of their wants but not giving anything in return.
No, the Republicans and Tea Party members are so willing to let this Country and the Amerian people suffer to destroy President Obama. Their plan is to tarnish, defame, discredit, nullify and destroy Obama’s legacy.
They are trying to kill this country and all of Obama’s successes will become null and void in their eyes and in their hopes, the Americans as well.
It’s a careless, irresponsible and harmful gamble by the Republicans and Tea Party members, but they seem oblivious or just plain ignorant to what may be their political demise.
Polls show that Americans are placing the government shutdown blame on Replublicans at 39% in the latest Pew Poll while 30% blamed Obama. But Republicans aren’t listening to Polls nor Americans because the end game is shutting down a President. And to think, the shutdown began with Obamacare but has now shifted to the Debt Ceiling.
What the outcome will bring is unclear but to the rest of the World, America’s Bright and Shiny Star is becoming a dull rock on a dusty hill.
We can’t, as President Obama said Tuesday, continue to manufacturer these crises every 3-months. Government wasn’t meant to operate in this fashion. But we have a group of people in Congress that have yet to accept This President as a Legitimate Leader of the Free World.
In reading some Twitter feeds on yesterday, one stuck out the most. It said, “The Black race has been more willing to Overcome and Work with the white race even after the Atrocities performed against them vs The White race Accepting a Black Man as President and working With Him.” Poignant indeed.
While No One Wants to Believe this is Racially motivated by the Republicans and Tea Party members, it’s been amazing to see how white America has reacted on Twitter and other social media outlets. If our white brothers and sisters are crying racism against the President, it’s clearly racism.
So what do we do about it? We Vote! Outvote the Extremists that elect these Extreme Members of Congress. We Expose them for who and what they are and Vote Them Out!
They say it’s time to take back Their country? Well I say It’s Time We Expel, vote out extremism and allow this Country To Move Forward! Now IS THE TIME! Vote America! If you want TRUE CHANGE, VOTE Out THE EXTREME!
President Obama on Tuesday said he’s willing to sit down and talk with Republicans over anything they wish to negotiate after they re-open the government and drop the threat of letting the nation default on its loans, if only for a few weeks.
“I will not eliminate any topic of conversation, and I’ve shown myself willing to engage all the parties involved, any leader on the issue,” Mr. Obama said from the White House press briefing room. “The only thing I will say is that we’re not going to pay a ransom for America paying its bills. That’s something that should be non-negotiable.”
After eight days of a government shutdown, with the deadline to raise the nation’s debt limit less than two weeks away, Washington has found itself incapable of overcoming their partisan disagreements. The stalemate stems from the Republican Party’s insistence on dismantling or delaying parts of the Affordable Care Act as part of these fiscal policy matters.
WASHINGTON — Backing down from their hard-line stance, House Republicans said Friday that they would agree to lift the federal government’s statutory borrowing limit for three months, with a requirement that both chambers of Congress pass a budget in that time to clear the way for negotiations on long-term deficit reduction.
The new proposal, which came out of closed-door party negotiations at a retreat in Williamsburg, Va., seemed to significantly reduce the threat of a default by the federal government in coming weeks. The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said he was encouraged by the offer; Senate Democrats, while bristling at the demand for a budget, were also reassured and viewed it as a de-escalation of the debt fight.
The change in tack represented a retreat for House Republicans, who were increasingly isolated in their refusal to lift the debt ceiling. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio had previously said he would raise it only if it were paired with immediate spending cuts of equivalent value. The new strategy is designed to start a more orderly negotiation with President Obama and Senate Democrats on ways to shrink the trillion-dollar deficit.
Whatever happened to the Republican opposition? President Obama hasn’t even taken the oath of office for the second time and already the GOP has caved on the fiscal cliff, the prospect of immigration reform, and Sandy relief. Oh, and their opposition to any and all forms of gun control is going to cost them at the ballot box. Maybe not in their gerrymandered districts, but on a national level. Newtown was a tipping point. Mark my words.
The negotiations over the debt ceiling and spending cuts will likely go the president’s way too. Why? Because more of the public wants a compromise that includes modest adjustments to entitlements rather than the slash and burn Greek/Spain approach that the “take your medicine” caucus led by Eric Cantor is proposing. Do not ever forget that the true purpose of the Republicans Party’s spending program is to overturn the New Deal and Great Society. They’ve hated those programs for almost 80 years now and for a long time they could taste the victory they believed was rightfully theirs.
But then came November 2012 and the revenge of the real math league that correctly forecast an Obama victory. That didn’t just anger the right; it led to conspiracy theories and a final take-no-prisoners approach to governing that the GOP thinks is a winning strategy. It isn’t.
So now they’re talking about forcing the president to accept drastic cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling rise. The only problem is that most Americans are on Obama’s pragmatic side because they understand that the Recession caused the deficit, not the other way around. Once we get ourselves out of the downturn, and we’re slowly doing just that, the deficit will narrow. People will be productively back at work. Tax revenues will rise. Consumers will begin spending again, if only cautiously. So the GOP’s strategy is doomed to fail. They’ve tried it before and our credit rating was cut. Now there’s evidence that it could be cut more. We’ve seen this movie. It doesn’t end well.
President Obama seems like a new man these days, issuing ultimatums and using the power of his office to effect change on gun control and, I’m assuming, on immigration. He’s said that he’s no longer going to negotiate on the debt ceiling and he’s exactly right. If push comes to shove, he should invoke the 14th Amendment and let the Congress and the Courts figure out if he’s right. He’s said he won’t do that. Too bad. The other option is to call Congress’s bluff and let them take the heat when the government shuts down. Ask Newt Gingrich how that worked out the last time.
Oh, wait. I don’t care what Newt says.
The boss has a new attitude. And things are about to change.
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday warned Republicans against refusing to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, calling such talk “irresponsible” and “absurd” and saying it would set off an economic crisis and financial hardship.
“They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy,” Mr. Obama said during his final news conference of his first term in office. “The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip.”
The president repeated his vow to seek what he called a “balanced” approach to reduce the nation’s deficit during the months ahead. But he said he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling, and he said Republicans in Congress would be responsible for the effects of a refusal to raise it.
“It would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy,” Mr. Obama said. “It would slow down our growth and tip us into recession. To even entertain the idea of this happening is irresponsible. It’s absurd.”
He added: “America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they’ve already racked up.”
Congress narrowly avoided pushing the country off the fiscal cliff. But it has done nothing to address the next and potentially bigger risk to the economy: the need to raise the debt ceiling.
To help separate fact from fiction in the battle, here’s what you need to know about the issue.
Why does it need to be raised? The debt ceiling needs to be raised for a simple reason – because both parties in Congress have approved tax cuts and spending increases over recent years, knowing full well this will add to deficit. Raising the debt ceiling then, ensures that we are able to pay for services we’ve already used. It is not a “license to spend more,” as some Republicans assert. It simply lets the Treasury Department continue to pay all the country’s obligations that Congress has already approved — whether it’s a payment to a federal contractor, a Social Security check to a senior, or interest on the debt to a bond investor.
Since 1980, the debt ceiling has been raised 39 times:
17 times under Ronald Reagan,
4 times under Bill Clinton
7 times under George W. Bush.
Congress was controlled by Democrats for most of those increases. However, Republicans never faltered when they were in control.
The debt ceiling is not a spending ceiling. Administrations can issue all the checks it wants because the Fed simply creates money from thin air to make the deposits allowing your checks to clear.
President Obama used his weekly address to talk about the bipartisan agreement between Democrats and Republicans that averted the “fiscal cliff.” He thanked both sides for working together and putting the American people first.
The President also warned that not working together on future problems – like the upcoming debt ceiling – could lead to catastrophic outcome not only for the United States economy, but for the worldwide economy as well.
And as I said earlier this week, one thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they’ve already racked up. If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic. The last time Congress threatened this course of action, our entire economy suffered for it. Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe,Newt Gingrich had something to say about congressional Republicans’ new threat to damage this nation’s recovering economy – fighting President Obama tooth and nail on the debt ceiling fight coming in a couple of months. Congressional Republicans have indicated that they are willing to shut down the government if necessary, to force President Obama and the Democrats to see things their way. And to this idea, Gingrich said;
“But he also knows — they’ve got to find, in the house, a totally new strategy,” Gingrich began. “Confronting — for example, everybody’s now talking about, okay, now comes the debt ceiling. I think that’s, frankly, a dead loser.”
Gingrich explained that “in the end… the whole national financial system is going to come into Washington by television and say ‘Oh, my god, this will be a gigantic heart attack. The entire economy of the world will collapse. You guys can’t be responsible,’ and they’ll cave.”
The last time Republicans threatened to force a U.S. government default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, which allows the government to pay out money that congress has already spent, the result was the first credit rating downgrade in U.S. history. Another such debacle would be disastrous, but Republicans see this threat as fair game to extract political concessions.
I’m pretty sure that will be the first and only time we use Newt Gingrich and “words of wisdom” in the same sentence.
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