Tag: Harry Reid

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Donald Trump Racism

Harry Reid on Trump – Trump has “Emboldened the forces of hate and Bigotry”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., talks to reporters as Congress returns from a two week recess, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 29, 2014. A long-shot Senate Democratic effort to raise the federal minimum wage seems doomed without needed votes to overcome a procedural blockade by most Republican senators, who say the measure would be too costly for employers. (AP Photo)

Finally, a Democrat who speaks it like it is. Nevada Senator and Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, shared some of his feelings on the election of Donald Trump. In a statement on his website, Reid credited Trump for giving a voice to “the forces of hate and bigotry in America.”

“I have personally been on the ballot in Nevada for 26 elections and I have never seen anything like the reaction to the election completed last Tuesday. The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America.

“White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America.

“I have heard more stories in the past 48 hours of Americans living in fear of their own government and their fellow Americans than I can remember hearing in five decades in politics. Hispanic Americans who fear their families will be torn apart, African Americans being heckled on the street, Muslim Americans afraid to wear a headscarf, gay and lesbian couples having slurs hurled at them and feeling afraid to walk down the street holding hands. American children waking up in the middle of the night crying, terrified that Trump will take their parents away. Young girls unable to understand why a man who brags about sexually assaulting women has been elected president.

“I have a large family. I have one daughter and twelve granddaughters. The texts, emails and phone calls I have received from them have been filled with fear – fear for themselves, fear for their Hispanic and African American friends, for their Muslim and Jewish friends, for their LBGT friends, for their Asian friends. I’ve felt their tears and I’ve felt their fear.

“We as a nation must find a way to move forward without consigning those who Trump has threatened to the shadows. Their fear is entirely rational, because Donald Trump has talked openly about doing terrible things to them. Every news piece that breathlessly obsesses over inauguration preparations compounds their fear by normalizing a man who has threatened to tear families apart, who has bragged about sexually assaulting women and who has directed crowds of thousands to intimidate reporters and assault African Americans. Their fear is legitimate and we must refuse to let it fall through the cracks between the fluff pieces.

“If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate. Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try.

“If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately.”

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Donald Trump Politics

Senator Harry Reid – Donald Trump “Raped and Pillaged Atlantic City”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has never been one to mince his words. In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Reid let loose on the Republican’s choice to run the country, telling reporters that Trump “raped and pillaged Atlantic City.”

“Nothing is embarrassing to him,” Reid said on the call as quoted by Business Insider. He went on to double down on his criticism of Trump’s mispronunciation of “Nevada” at a rally in Reno. “If Trump doesn’t know how to pronounce the name of our state, how would Nevadans expect him to look out for our state?”

Reid also called Trump a “fraud” who “thinks he’s above the requirement of being candid with the American people” for refusing to release his tax returns.

“He raped and pillaged Atlantic City,” Reid said, referring to Trump’s bankruptcy filings for his casino holdings in New Jersey. “Who knows what his tax returns would show?”

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exercise Politics

Harry Reid on Running in 2016 – “I fully intend to run”

Soft spoken Harry Reid, the Democratic Senator from Nevada who lost his position as Senate Majority Leader to Mitch McConnell, dispelled all rumors that he will not be running for re election in 2016. According to Mr.Reid, “I fully intend to run.”

Senator Reid suffered severe injury to his right eye and several broken ribs while exercising at his home on New Years Day. He is scheduled to undergo surgery next week to move some broken facial bones, but told reporters the he and his doctors expect that he will make a full recovery.

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democrats Domestic Policies Mitch McConnell News Politics

Senate Sense

I have gone on record as saying that the Democrats will somehow come out of the midterm elections still controlling the Senate, if only because Vice president Joe Biden will be the deciding vote in a 50-50 chamber.

That was last week. And a new spate of polls has the left in a bit of a tizzy, since they seem to show the GOP potentially picking up 7 seats, which would give them clear control. Let’s take a look.

RealClearPolitics shows nine tossup races on their election map, but new polls last week also show Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and Georgia moving to the right. One notable poll, from Qinnipiac, is clearly and outlier, but especially in Colorado, the trend is towards the Republican. Electoral-vote also shows the same trends, although a mouse-over some of the more contested states shows razor-thin majorities in Colorado, Arkansas and Iowa. And over at the Princeton Election Consortium, the Meta-margin is currently at R+0.9 using a polls-only model.

So what does this mean?

That the races are still too close to call and that we need many more polls to make some sense of where we stand. No candidate in any of the contentious states has 50% in any poll or poll average, making it difficult to gauge anything other than movement towards one candidate or the other. In the end, the Senate race will be one of bragging rights since President Obama will veto anything he doesn’t like. The big repercussions will have to do with judicial and other nominees, where the Senate will most likely advise, but not consent. And in 2016 the GOP will be at the disadvantage, having to defend 23 seats.

The best news for the left, though, is the news that the GOP is still moving farther to the right, as evidenced by this past weeks Values Voter Summit.  As long as Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Perry are the faces of the Republicans, they will continue to lose national races.

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

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Politics unemployment rate

Unemployment Vote Could Happen Next Week

Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said Wednesday that he will need to “pull out all the stops” to get enough GOP support for a 6-month extension to unemployment benefits that could come up for a vote next week.

“I have to pull out all the stops to try to pick up another Republican vote, it’s not Democrats I have to worry about,” he said. “It’s getting the Republicans to allow these millions of people who are desperate long-term unemployed a shot in the arm.”

Mr. Reid said the weather, which cancelled two days of votes in the Senate this week, has made it difficult to fit everything on to the schedule, but that he plans to make a decision on when to bring up the unemployment insurance vote soon.

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Politics

Harry Reid Hospitalized

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was not feeling well and has gone to the hospital.

His office said in a statement, “Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better.

“Doctors have asked that he remain in the hospital for observation so he will not be working today.”

Reid turned 74 earlier this month.

The Senate was expected to adjourn Friday for the holiday season.

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Politics

Living with a Nuclear Option – Reid Pushes the Button

Kaboom! Republicans dared Harry Reid to do it, and he just did, finally. The Senate has voted to change the filibuster rules, 52-48. Democrats Carl Levin, Joe Manchin, Mark Pryor voted against changing the rule.
The new rule that will allow just a simple majority vote for all nominees except for the Supreme Court. For the remainder of this Congress, President Obama’s nominees will only need 51 votes to be appointed. What that means immediately is that, while the Republicans continue to play games to delay action on the Defense Authorization, the nominations of Patricia Millett, Nina Pillard, and Roberts Wilkins to the D.C. Circuit can move forward. So can the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt to the federal housing agency. In other words, the Senate can start functioning again. At least on nominations.

This will likely just further enrage Republicans, making them even more obnoxious and obstructionist. So next stop, ending the filibuster on legislation. That will probably happen at the beginning of the next Congress, January, 2015.

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Politics

Democrats Set to Go “Nuclear” Today

It’s about time!

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, is poised to move forward on Thursday with a vote on what is known on Capitol Hill as the “nuclear option,” several Democrats said. Mr. Reid and the senators who have been the most vocal on stopping the Republican blockade of White House nominees are now confident they have the votes to make the change.

“We’re not bluffing,” said one senior aide who has spoken with Mr. Reid directly and expects a vote on Thursday, barring any unforeseen breakthrough on blocked judges.

The threat that Democrats could significantly limit how the filibuster can be used against nominees has rattled Republicans. Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who has brokered last-minute deals that have averted a change to filibuster rules in the past, visited Mr. Reid in his office on Thursday but failed to strike a compromise.

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa took to the Senate floor and denounced Democrats, saying that if they changed the rules, Republicans would consider them applicable to all judicial nominees, including those for the Supreme Court. Mr. Reid has said he supports keeping intact the minority party’s ability to filibuster controversial Supreme Court nominees.

“Apparently the other side wants to change the rules while still preserving the ability to block a Republican president’s ability to replace a liberal Supreme Court Justice with an originalist,” Mr. Grassley said.

Senate Democrats appear ready to take a step that members of each party have threatened for the better part of a decade, but have not taken, in part because of the political disruption it would create. But senators know this year’s majority could be tomorrow’s minority, yearning for the filibuster as a weapon.

The problem, as Democrats see it, is that Republicans have effectively rewritten Senate rules to create a supermajority requirement for confirming presidential nominees. Filibustering cabinet-level officials, once extremely rare, is now routine.

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Politics

GOP’s Tom Coburn Somewhat Apologizes for Calling Reid an A$$hole

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn admitted it was inappropriate to call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an “a–hole” but said the slam is a mere symptom of his deep-rooted frustration.

“My words weren’t appropriate, but my frustrations are real,” Coburn said during a “Fox and Friends” interview Wednesday.

Coburn made the comment in Manhattan at the The New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala Monday at the Yale Club as he addressed the the congressional showdown that led to a government shutdown in October.

“There’s no comity with Harry Reid. I think he’s an absolute a–hole,” Coburn told the group, reported the Daily News, when he was asked by an attendee about bipartisanship in the Beltway.

His informal remarks were said to have been well-received by the conservative circle.

Coburns “guard was down — it was very off-the-cuff,” someone familiar with the event said.

But the outburst became highly publicized given the post-shutdown political posturing.

He toned down his criticism on the cable morning show Wednesday but still blamed the Democratic leader.

“The Senate’s not doing what it’s supposed to do, and the leadership of the Senate has set it so that they can actually force consensus,” he told Fox’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

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Politics

Senator Harry Reid to Republicans – “Get a Life!”

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had a blunt message for House Republicans on Friday.

The Reid-led Senate passed a bill that would institute a short-term measure to keep the government funded, while stripping the House’s provision to defund Obamacare. With a 54-44 party-line vote in hand, Reid said the House needed to “accept what we just passed,” while adding some choice words on Obamacare being untouchable.

“Here’s a president, who less than a year ago, won the election by five million votes, five million votes,” Reid said. “Obamacare has been the law for four years. Why don’t they get a life and talk about something else? People deserve better.”

Hours after Reid spoke, President Barack Obama echoed his sentiments, accusing Republicans of “political grandstanding.” He also vowed that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act is “not gonna happen.”

“Any Republican in Congress who’s currently watching, I’d encourage you to think about who you’re hurting,” Obama said.

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gun control Politics

Already? Harry Reid Shuts Down Gun Control Question – “We Don’t Have The Votes.”

The shooting happened yesterday but already, Harry Reid is shutting down Senate action on gun control.

“We don’t have the votes. I hope to get them, but we don’t have them now,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday when asked if the Senate would revisit a bill to tighten background checks after Monday’s shootings. The Senate rejected a similar measure in April.

That measure failed by five votes — Reid switched his “yes” vote to “no” in a procedural move that permits him to bring the proposal up again. On Tuesday, Reid said that he might consider revisiting a separate, limited bill that would exclusively address mental health issues.

“Anything we can do to focus attention on the senseless killings that take place,” Reid said. “That’s something we will look at.”

On Monday, the tone of frustration with Congress’ inaction on gun legislation came from the very top, as President Barack Obama deplored that “we are confronting yet another mass shooting.”

“We’re going to be investigating thoroughly what happened, as we do so many of these shootings, sadly, that have happened, and do everything that we can to try to prevent them,” he added.

Obama made no mention of another push in Congress — and White House press secretary Jay Carney added to the impression of congressional stalemate at his briefing not long afterward.

“We will continue to work to take action to reduce gun violence in this country through executive action, and hopefully Congress will take action to reduce gun violence as well,” Carney told reporters.

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Politics

For What It’s Worth, Harry Reid Is Promising “To Act” on The Voting Act

If Harry Reid is our only hope, we probably have no more hope left. Remember, Harry Reid was the same guy who promised to do something about the Republican abused Filibuster, just to sit on his hands when the time came for him to act.

Now, after the Supreme Court voted down Section 5 of the Voting Act, Harry Reid is once again promising to act.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Tuesday that the “Senate will act” to address the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

First, Reid said he will task Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to hold “wide-ranging hearings” on the subject beginning next month after Senate Democrats huddled on the issue during their lunch caucuses on Tuesday.

“There’s general displeasure — and that’s an understatement — in my caucus about what the Supreme Court did. Especially in light of what happened this last election cycle, with Republicans doing everything they could to suppress voting,” Reid told reporters after the lunches. “This is a dark day for the Supreme Court. But it’s been pretty cloudy over there for some time now.

(Full text: Supreme Court Voting Rights Act ruling)

Some Democrats added that the threat posed to minority voting rights — especially through hotly-contested voter ID laws — was just as present as it was when the VRA went into effect. But Republicans argue that the voting situation is much improved since the the act first passed.

“It’s an important bill that passed back in the ’60s at a time when we had a very different America than we have today,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky, who declined to elaborate beyond that statement: “At this point I think I’m just going to have to read it first.”

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