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Politics Racism racist Tea Party

It’s Not about Race? They Sang “Bye Bye Black Sheep” to Protest President Obama

People protest against presidents all the time, but never in the history of this country has anyone felt the need to sing “bye bye black sheep” at a protest… until now, for this particular president.

But rest assured that these same barnyard vocalists would insist that the color of the president’s skin had nothing to do with their musical selection.

A raucous crowd of supporters and protesters from both ends of the political spectrum showed up outside President Barack Obama’s appearance in Phoenix, Ariz. on Tuesday, with some of his detractors turning to racially charged attacks to express their opposition.

From the Arizona Republic:

Obama foes at one point sang, “Bye Bye Black Sheep,” a derogatory reference to the president’s skin color, while protesters like Deanne Bartram raised a sign saying, “Impeach the Half-White Muslim!”

The Republic reported that hundreds of people gathered outside Desert Vista High School as Obama unveiled a plan to overhaul the nation’s mortgage finance system. Some protesters came from Obama’s left, urging him to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline and take other actions on climate change. But a prevailing theme among many in the protest appeared to be issues of race. Some even suggested that Obama himself was to blame for racial tensions.

“We have gone back so many years,” Judy Burris told the Republic, arguing Obama had taken the nation back to pre-Civil Rights era levels of racism. “He’s divided all the races. I hate him for that.”

The irony.

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Politics

ACORN – Why Republicans Still Voting to Defund Nonexistent Organization

ACORN doesn’t exist,  but House Republicans are consumed with the idea of defending it to the point where they have held numerous, pointless votes (12 and counting) to do just that.

For a party that claims to be all about fiscal responsibility and reducing the debt, why are we paying them to be seat warmers, for holding meaningless votes  to defund nonexistent organizations or repealing laws that will not pass the Senate or see the president’s desk?

The Huffingtonpost asked this very question.

ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, does not exist. And it did not exist at any time when the House GOP has held a vote on ACORN’s access to government monies — the group disbanded in the spring of 2010.

Just why, exactly, the House GOP keeps voting to ban funding for an organization that was extinguished more than three years ago remains something of a mystery, and the subject of Democratic ridicule.

“Word is the majority will also prohibit foreign aid to the Ottoman Empire this year,” a Democratic congressional aide snarked to HuffPost. (Like ACORN, the Ottoman Empire does not exist.) “Thirteen votes to defund a program that no longer exists. Forty votes to repeal a health care law that is transforming millions of lives,” said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), comparing the anti-ACORN legislation to the House GOP’s routine votes to repeal Obamacare. “If their agenda is to do nothing on a timeline of never, they’re setting record pace.”

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) declined to comment on the ACORN legislation and directed questions to Jennifer Hing, spokeswoman for the GOP majority on the House Appropriations Committee. Hing has repeatedly told HuffPost that the defunding of ACORN is a “standard provision” that goes into most appropriations bills.

Unlike most anti-poverty groups, ACORN was actually staffed by low-income people. The organization was never popular among conservative political groups. Republican politicians and right-wing activists had targeted the organization for decades, accusing ACORN of broad voter fraud conspiracies without ever turning up anything other than a few isolated, usually accidental, violations.

All of that changed in the fall of 2009, when conservative provocateur James O’Keefe released selectively edited videos that appeared to show ACORN employees offering advice on tax avoidance related to prostitution and child smuggling. Independent investigations by the California attorney general, the Massachusetts attorney general and the Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney would later clear ACORN of criminal wrongdoing, and an investigation by the Government Accountability Office would clear the group of charges that it mishandled federal funds.

Before these investigations were completed, however, Congress cut off federal funding for ACORN using broad language that applied to any organization that had been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws or campaign finance laws or with filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. The funding ban also extended to any employees, contractors or others affiliated with any group so charged.

The funding ban passed in the fall of 2009, and in early 2010, an empty-coffered ACORN disbanded. The House GOP has continued to bar the group from receiving federal cash ever since

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Immigration Immigration Reform Politics

John McCain: Without Immigration Reform, “the Republican Party cannot win a national election”

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain is finding his Mavericky ways again. He has begun to buck his party’s wish to go against everything President Obama wants with the goal or hope that the president fails, and McCain is actually working with other Senate Democrats to get things done. So it’s no surprise hearing this Mavericky Senator warns his fellow Republicans, telling them that doing nothing on Immigration will seal the party’s fate as a loser in future national elections.

“I think this fall is very important,” McCain said at a forum hosted by AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute. “It’s very important because we get into 2014 — the next election cycle. I think the issue really has ripened to the point that enough Americans are aware of it, we are either going to act or not act.”

On PBS Monday, McCain said that if immigration reform is not passed, the Republican Party will never again win a national election.

“Let’s say we enact it, comprehensive immigration reform — I don’t think it gains a single Hispanic voter, but what it does, it puts us on a playing field where we can compete for the Hispanic voter,” McCain told PBS’ Gwen Ifill. “If we don’t do that, frankly, I don’t see — I see further polarization of the Hispanic voter and the demographics are clear that the Republican Party cannot win a national election. That’s just a fact.”

McCain compared the current system to “de facto amnesty because they are not leaving” and said that in his experience and from polls he’s seen, most Americans support the pathway to citizenship as long as the undocumented pay a fine, learn English and get on the back of the line.

“It (immigration) has a broader spectrum of support than any I have ever seen in my political career,” he said. He said that the broad range of groups and communities that support immigration reform “can galvanize” in the coming months to make passage a reality.

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Politics

President Obama to Republicans – Where’s Your Jobs Plan?

After leading Republicans swiftly rejected President Barack Obama’s new “grand bargain” proposal, which would lower corporate tax rates in exchange for more spending on infrastructure, the president responded Tuesday by calling for a substantive counter-offer.

“I am laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot in a 21st-century economy,” Obama said in a speech on the economy in Chattenooga, Tennessee. “Now it’s time for Republicans to lay out theirs.

“Putting all your eggs in the basket of an oil pipeline that may only create about 50 permanent jobs, and wasting the country’s time by taking something like 40 meaningless votes to repeal Obamacare isn’t a jobs plan,” he added.

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ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Republicans Threaten Government Shutdown to stop Obamacare

The Supreme Court called it constitutional, republicans have failed to repeal it on 39 different occasions. But this time, Republicans are prepared to shut down the government to stop people from getting health care.

ObamaCare is at the center of a rapidly escalating fight that threatens to shut the government down this fall.

Senate Republicans, including two members of the leadership, are coalescing around a proposal to block any government funding resolution that includes money for the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

But such a move is a nonstarter for President Obama and congressional Democrats. Republicans have tried this maneuver in Obama’s first term, only to back off later to the chagrin of Tea Party leaders.

This time, GOP lawmakers are emboldened by problems plaguing the administration’s ObamaCare implementation. But that zeal could put Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a tough spot. Both leaders have downplayed previous talk of shuttering the government.
In the House, 64 Republicans have signed onto a letter pressing Boehner not to bring any legislation funding ObamaCare to the floor.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the leader of the Senate effort, predicts the vast majority of the Senate Republican Conference will back his plan, giving him enough votes to sustain a filibuster of a stopgap spending measure.

“This is the last stop before ObamaCare fully kicks in on Jan. 1 of next year for us to refuse to fund it,” Lee said Monday on “Fox and Friends.” 

“If Republicans in both houses simply refuse to vote for any continuing resolution that contains further funding for further enforcement of ObamaCare, we can stop it. We can stop the individual mandate from going into effect,” he said.

“We have 64 of my colleagues on this letter and we’re asking the leadership not to bring anything to the floor that has funding for ObamaCare in it,” said Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who is spearheading the House effort. 

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Abortions Domestic Policies women's rights

THIS JUST IN: Republicans Have Run Amok

HEADLINE: BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN: Use whichever ‘Stopper’ you prefer but the News is Official – The Republicans have Run Amok! All across this great nation, Republicans are doing the dastardly deeds of taking into Their hands, a Woman’s Right to Choose, Voter’s Rights at the Polls, gerrymandering, gay rights and more.

From Texas to Ohio to North Carolina to California, the Republicans are in a dog fight and the American Citizens are being held hostage. Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, whose 12-hour Filibuster speech on the abortion issue made even Rand Paul proud. She is locked in against one of the greatest orators of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry (Sorry, I had to do that ). Gov. Perry is undoubtedly attempting to strike down any opposition when it comes to abortions in his state. But he’s relentless in capital punishment. Last week, Texas performed execution #251, the most under any sitting Governor.

Republican Gov., John Kasich, signed stringent abortion restrictions into law on Sunday night citing it was part of his “budgetary” planning. His bill requires women to take an unnecessary ultra-sound before having an abortion, requires physicians to read a Speech written by politicians to women seeking abortions, restricts workers at rape crisis centers from sharing with rape victims their legal rights.

In North Carolina, the General Assembly was lined with protesters as the State Senate voted on and passed sweeping legislation on an abortion bill, requiring physicians to be present during the procedure. The Republican Majority, under the hush of night, slipped this provision in under a bill that would prohibit the use of foreign law – Sharia Law – in the courts of North Carolina. Even the newly elected Governor, Pat McCrory (R), seemed taken aback by Tuesday nights events leading to Wednesday mornings outcome.

“When the Democrats were in power, this is how they did business. It was not right then and it is not right now. Regardless of what party is in charge or what important issue is being discussed, the process must be appropriate and thorough”, Gov. McCrory said. Interesting, coming from a man who reduced Unemployment Benefits length from 26-weeks to 13 and the Benefits amount from a maximum $535-week to $325 a week, without, mind you, support from the Democratic minority. Oh, and by the way, HE is why the #MoralMondays Movement has begun in North Carolina. His unpopular and targeted legislation has struck a cord, even in some Republicans that voted him in. If the House approves this measure, the bill becomes law without the Governor’s signature.

In California, gay marriage is placed on hold temporarily. A conservatives based lawyers group called, Alliance Defending Freedom out of Arizona, claimed in a petition that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals acted too early in letting same-sex marriages resume. Opponents are feverishly attempting to dissuade momentum of this historic ruling by the Supreme Court last week. Kansas Republican, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, has introduced a federal constitutional amendment banning All same sex marriages nation-wide. He has compared this fight to the Roe v. Wade fight legalizing abortions.

And to finish off the Republican agenda, they are beginning to gerrymander or redistrict voting locations for their benefit. A few states, Texas and North Carolina to name a couple, have begun changing the maps in key voting districts and also have added stricter voting laws requiring All registered voters show a pictured I.D.

Yep, the Republican base is showing its hand. They are standing united in every corner of the country. From Congress, to Senate, to House, to local government, they stand united with the same message – “People be damned, it’s Our Agenda, No Compromise, No Backing Down”. But remember America, they didn’t walk into office…some of you voted them in.

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Politics shooting

Here’s Your Daily Kids Killing Kids Report

Complements of the NRA and your loving Republican party.

Police said a 6-year-old girl was fatally shot by her 4-year-old brother in Hopkinsville, Ky., WSMV reported.

The children’s grandfather told WSMV that he was cleaning his pistol out and thought it was unloaded. His 4-year-old grandson then picked it up and pointed it at his older sister, he said.

The shooting appeared to be an accident, according to the grandfather.

Categories
Abortions Featured Politics

Republican Representative Said Fetuses Masturbate, So Abortions Should End

I bet you didn’t know that masturbation began before birth. It’s okay, like you, I didn’t know this either. But thanks to the wonderful information provided by our friendly Republicans – you know, the same folks who taught us about legitimate rape and the ability of the woman’s body to “shut that whole thing down” if pregnancy occurs from illegitimate rape – we now know that fetuses, as early as 15 weeks old, pleasure themselves by masturbating.

This piece of info is brought to us compliments of Texas Republican Congressman Michael Burgess, who used the masturbation theory as a reason to push a bill outlawing abortions before 20 weeks. According to Mr. Burgess, if a 15 weeks fetus could feel pleasure from… pleasuring himself, then he could also feel the pain of an abortion.

The congressman explains;

“There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks,” said the former OB/GYN during the House Rules Committee debate on the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”

He has no doubt in his mind that this is so, so women must now give up their right to choose what’s best for their own health. Go Republicans!

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democrats Politics

All Eyes on the Midterm

One very long and drawn-out election season’s already been fitfully left behind, but that hasn’t stopped pundits from casting their gaze on another upcoming ballot battle: next year’s midterm elections.

Though not as popular nationally as presidential elections, midterm votes are seen as powerful referendums on the sitting president’s agenda, as well as a means to decide how power is brokered in the often divided and ideologically warring houses of Congress.

Every retirement, every scandal, and yes, even every death, is seen as a potential Congressional opening by two parties interested in taking full control of the government. And as the tea leaves seem to show, neither party can claim to have an advantageous lead… so far.

Toss-Ups

When citizens cast their midterm votes on November 4, 2014, most eyes will be on the very contentious Senate races. That branch of Congress is currently made up of 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and two independents. And though Democrats control the senate by a clear majority, several announced retirements have made the prospects of them maintaining their hold after the elections a little more unclear. So far, six Democratic senators have announced they will not be seeking reelection, compared to just two retiring senators on the Republican side (though one of the expected-to-retire Democrats, New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg, passed away June 3. New Jersey’s Republican governor, Chris Christie, has scheduled a special election in October to fill the seat).

The early departure of heavily funded incumbents has created unexpected toss-ups in states that were once considered safe. Should Republicans pick up all the seats being vacated by the Democrats while losing as few of theirs as possible, the chances of them taking over the Senate are very high. This would lead to a completely Republican-dominated Congress, as the GOP already has a strong majority in the House: 233 against the Democrats’ 200 seats. Of course, control of the House could shift should Democrats make some unexpected gains. One of the more surprising retirement announcements from that chamber came in May, when Tea Party darling  Congresswoman Michele Bachmann stated she would not be seeking reelection. Strategists thought the Minnesota representative’s exit would clear the way for businessman Jim Graves, her former opponent. However, Graves himself said he would not be running for Bachmann’s post shortly after her announcement. This air of uncertainty has created one of the most visible toss-ups in what was once considered a safe Republican stronghold.

Presidential Stakes

Though the president’s name won’t be on the ballot next year, it’s safe to say many of the issues he has fought for most certainly will. That’s because midterm votes are usually seen as critiques of the job the commander-in-chief has been doing since his election. The midterms of 2006 saw Democrats taking over Congress, which pundits analyzed as voter disapproval of George W. Bush’s war policies. A similar lesson was gleaned from the GOP’s takeover of the House in the 2010 midterms, when young, ultra-conservative congressmen swept that chamber through voter insecurity over Obama’s health-care legislation. As the president wades more deeply into controversial policies, the public’s votes will be seen as a gauge of their approval on issues such as same-sex marriage, immigration reform, overhauls of the education system, foreign policy, and even the specter of “Obamacare,” which remains as polarizing as it was back in 2010.

The chief executive’s daunting task will be to hold on to the Senate while trying to win back the House, all while preserving his legacy and defending his legislative record from Republican attack. To do this, political analysts have suggested Obama and Democrats seek a way to revive the strong coalition of young and minority voters that helped sweep him into power in both past presidential elections. This can prove a major challenge, as midterm elections have always been beset by historically low turnout, especially in those two demographics, according to the Center for Voting and Democracy. The only way to rouse these groups would be through strategies already employed in previous bigger elections, mainly the use of internet tech and social media to build grassroots activist movements. The administration could also tout some of the positive aspects of Obamacare, such as the expanded role it will have for mental health and substance use disorder benefits, a cornerstone of the president’s new policy on the fight against drug and alcohol abuse. By stressing his legislation’s role in tackling the root of alcohol abuse in Minnesota or other states known for their high numbers of alcohol dependence, the president will be able to showcase the practical aspects of his more controversial laws.

Decisions

Despite the lower appeal midterm elections have for most voters, these are the campaign wars that decide which course the government will take for the next few years: whether it be a united Washington under the control of one specific party, or a fractured government beset by constant infighting. Political careers can be made or destroyed at this time, and coalitions formed or disbanded. But no matter the outcome of these bitterly fought seats, at least there will be one clear winner: pundits with more tea leaves to pore over.

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Politics

Republicans At Work: Two Votes To Defund ACORN Scheduled This Week

Here, America. Here are your elected Republican House of Representatives at work. This week, Republicans have scheduled two, count’em, two votes to… defund ACORN.

Sidenote: ACORN no longer exists, but the pointless act of defunding this non-existent organization that once helped to register poorer Americans to vote, plays good in the Republican public. Afterall, election season is almost here again, and the “defunding ACORN” act is a good way to get the Fox News educated Republican to the polls.

House Republicans are scheduled to vote on two separate budget bills this week, each of which would reject funding for the poverty activism group ACORN, despite the fact that ACORN disbanded three years ago.

ACORN, also known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, came under heavy fire in the fall of 2009 after conservative videographer James O’Keefe released a set of selectively edited videos that appeared to show its employees offering advice on tax avoidance related to prostitution and child smuggling. Independent investigations by the California attorney general, the Massachusetts attorney general and the Brooklyn, N.Y., district attorney would later clear ACORN of criminal wrongdoing, and an investigation by the Government Accountability Office would clear ACORN of charges that it mishandled federal funds.

But in the fall of 2009, Congress banned federal funding for ACORN using broad language that applied to “any organization” that had been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws or campaign finance laws or with filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. The funding ban also extended to any employees, contractors or others affiliated with any group so charged.

Struggling with the bad publicity and loss of federal funds, ACORN dissolved in early 2010. Just to be sure, however, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) included this language in a government funding bill introduced on May 28 of this year: “None of the funds made available in this Act may be distributed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its subsidiaries or successors.”

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Politics

Republican Bob Dole Blame Republicans for Washington Gridlock

Former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole doesn’t think much of his party these days.

Dole, who ran against President Bill Clinton in 1996 and was the leader of Senate Republicans for much of the 1980s and 90s, slammed the GOP for excessive obstructionism and for failing to convey a forward-looking agenda during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Never one to mince words, Dole did not absolve President Obama of the blame for the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., but he directed the lion’s share of his criticism at his own party.

“I think they ought to put a sign on the [Republican] national committee doors that says ‘closed for repairs’ until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas,” Dole said.

Asked whether Republicans of years past, many of whom had a more diplomatic approach to compromise and governance than today’s Republicans, would be able to make it in the modern GOP, Dole said, “I doubt it.”
“Reagan wouldn’t have made it. Certainly Nixon couldn’t have made it, because he had ideas,” he explained.

“We might have made it, but I doubt it.”
And much of the blame for the gridlock, Dole said, rests with a fractious Congress that seems more interested in partisan drama than doing its job.

“It seems to be almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” Dole said, comparing today’s Congress unfavorably with the institution in which he served for decades. “We weren’t perfect by a long shot, but at least we got our work done.”

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

The Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks

There’s something telling about Mitch McConnell saying that the health care act will be the major issue in the 2014 midterm elections. It means that he realizes that the GOP will smoke its triple scandal orgasm cigarette and move on before the year is out. It also means that he operates in the same blindered echo-chamber the far right has occupied since March of 2010. Yes, the IRS does have a role to play in the ACA’s rollout and implementation, but it’s not going to be responsible for the death of the Republican Party. The party faithful are doing a good enough job of that.

After a week of terrible news, two major polls–CNN/ORC and Gallup–are showing that President Obama’s approval ratings are holding steady in the low 50s, but that many Americans are not satisfied with many of the answers the members of his administration, and he, are giving. That’s understandable. These are undeniably poor governmental practices, and if anybody has broken the law, then they should be punished. But that will be difficult.

What happened at the IRS office in Cincinnati sounds suspicioulsy like the office of any other overworked, understaffed institution in the United States. People made choices on their own, seemingly without a lot of oversight, and they tried to be efficient in the face of technology inefficiencies and a dash of confusion. There’s no conspiracy here, despite the right wing’s continuing bleating, because there were some left wing groups that got caught up in the excess scrutiny. Plus, at the time, most of the new groups asking for tax-exempts status were Tea Party affiliated because that’s when they rose to power, so that was the bulk of the applications to begin with. And there’s no evidence (yet) that a majority or even a large cohort of these groups was denied their tax-exempt status because of their affiliation. This is not a scandal: It’s incompetence, and that’s not criminal.

The ongoing drama in Benghazi is likewise a government muddle, but it looks like it’s mostly a CIA-State Department fight that resulted in terrible editing and a tragic miscalculation of what was happening on the ground. Again, is there  evidence of illegal activity? Probably not, but the GOP will spend more time than it needs to trying to unearth something that isn’t there.

The Justice Department’s rummaging through the Associated Press’ phone records is the most chilling of the three issues because it combines the worst of the War on Terror with a violation of the trust that journalists have with their sources. Its’ also the most disappointing aspect of the Obama Administration’s continuation of policies put in place during George W. Bush’s tenure in the White House. Perhaps this will result in a national shield law, something that, until now, the Obama administration has been against.

The right wing has been waiting for the opportunity to investigate the president for over four years, and they’ve finally received their opportunity. They will probably be disappointed, but not until they’ve extracted some political coinage for their trouble. This will boomerang on them if it means that immigration and tax reform are sacrificed in the name of non-existent conspiracies.

And really, if you want to compare Obama to Nixon, then you probably weren’t alive during the 1970s, and if you were, you learned the wrong lessons.

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