Congress, in a political payoff to unions, have again introduced legislation to effectively make gig economy jobs like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. illegal. The difference this time is that since they now control the House, Senate, and the Presidency it could very well pass. The legislation is modeled after the gig killing bill that was passed in California and that was later overturned via initiative by the people. Unfortunately, at the national level there is no initiative process to overturn Congress.
Despite the job-killing nature of the bill the Democrat’s press release sings its praises:
“Top Democrats Introduce Bill to Protect Workers’ Right to Organize and Make our Economy Work for Everyone. Legislation addresses growing income inequality by protecting workers’ right to join a union and negotiate for higher wages and better benefits.”
The House bill was introduced by House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02).
The Senate bill was introduced by Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The bill mimics the California bill which Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said would effectively end Uber as we know it in California. The company is already losing money and it would be impossible for it to pay a minimum wage of $15 an hour plus benefits to all of its 1 million drivers. It also begs the question, does the Democrat party not realize that the very people who love Uber and who are independent contractors for Uber probably are also majority Democrat voters? After all, the gig economy was popularized by liberal San Francisco based Uber itself.
Without an initiative process at the national level, the only way to keep the millions of gig jobs alive and to keep rideshare and food delivery readily available would be for their voters to vote the majority party out of office. There really is no middle ground here. In the meantime, if this bill passes Congress and is signed by Biden the gig economy will become illegal.
Rick Santorum almost didn’t make it to America to run for President. In fact, were it not for a technicality, his family would’ve been turned away at the shore as unwanted immigrants.
In 1921, a law was passed in the United States that limited the number of persons allowed to immigrate into the U.S. from southern and eastern Europe. The idea was that these people were “hyphenates”, such as “Polish-Americans,” “Greek-Americans,” and “Italian-Americans.”
People of Western European descent, who made up the bulk of the U.S. population at the time, felt that those from further east could not assimilate into America properly and would be a divisive influence with loyalties to their home countries. So the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was passed to severely limit their access.
But when Rick Santorum’s grandfather, Pietro Santorum, came to the U.S. from Italy in 1923, he had an edge.
“The ’21 immigration act was an act clearly designed to stop southern Europeans and Jews — that’s who was targeted,” Santorum said in an interview when asked about his grandfather. “The reason he got in, is when he was born in Riva del Garda in the 1880s, that was a part of Austria.”
.@ricksantorum pretends to run for president again, and @Wolfblitzer puts him back on TV to comment on things he knows nothing about.
Hillary Clinton celebrated the release of her new book, Hard Choices, at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan Tuesday morning. The memoir seeks to expose the thought processes behind some of the tougher decisions Clinton had to make during her term as Secretary of State under Barack Obama during his first term as president. While the book contains subjects one would expect, such as Benghazi, Arab Spring, and controversies with Russia, it contains another detail many may find surprising.
Yesterday, Sarah Palin came to national prominence once again through the use of social media. Apparently, Palin was lucky enough to get her hands on an advance copy of Clinton’s memoir. Suffice it to say, Palin was more than happy to see an opportunity to attack the Democrats and Barack Obama once again.
Look who fired the 1st shot in the real "war on women". Hint: it wasn't the GOP. See this excerpt from Hillary's book pic.twitter.com/kKBShf9vHj
They immediately issued a dismissive statement and reached out to me in hopes I would follow suit. But I wouldn’t. I was not going to attack Palin just for being a woman appealing for support from other women. I didn’t think that made political sense and it didn’t feel right. So I said no, telling them there’d be plenty of time for criticism. A few hours later the Obama campaign reversed itself and congratulated Governor Palin.
Tuesday morning, Clinton was able to clarify that segment of her book during an interview with Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0iIMhEYgPM
That very first day, the Obama campaign said, well, we want you to go out and criticize her, I said, ‘For what? For being a woman? No let’s wait until we know where she stands. I don’t know anything about her, do you know anything about her?’ And nobody of course did. I think it’s fair to say that I made it clear I’m not going to go attack somebody for being a woman or a man. I’m going to try and look at the issues, where they stand, what their experience is, what they intend to do and then that’s fair game.
The Obama administration chose to not speak on the account mentioned in Clinton’s book, but did reveal that the decision to attack Palin was made by Obama’s campaign without his input or involvement.
While Clinton’s book has experienced much success in its first day (competing with John Green’s A Fault in Our Stars for top-spot on best-seller lists), it has only stirred Republican antagonism toward Clinton and the Democrats, culminating in a direct response from the Republicans in the form of an ebook entitled Failed Choices, in which the GOP attacks Clinton for the decisions she did make as Secretary of State.
In a Monday interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Clinton revealed her feelings toward the Republican antagonism: “It’s more of a reason to run, because I do not believe our great country should be playing minor-league ball. We ought to be in the majors. I view this as really apart from, even a diversion from, the hard work that the Congress should be doing about the problems facing our country and the world.”
As of now, Clinton has yet to decide if she will run for President in 2016. If she does, though, she will likely have competition from the GOP and another woman, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
On Monday, President Obama signed an executive order which would extend the ability to cap one’s student loan repayment amount at 10 percent of one’s income, finally allowing those who borrowed money before 2007 to take advantage of an opportunity many have already capitalized on. Following his own executive order, Obama continued to push student-loan legislation, however, as he endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren’s new bill which seeks to lessen the burden on student loan borrowers across the country.
The bill, titled Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, is co-sponsored by two other Democratic Senators – Al Franken of Minnesota and Dick Durbin of Illinois. Simply put, the bill’s mission is to help student loan borrowers reduce the interest rates on their student loan repayments. Currently, federal student loan interest rates are at 3.86 following the passage of a law which tied undergraduate student loan interest rates to the rates on Treasury bonds.
If passed, Senator Warren’s bill would allow those who are currently paying the old federal student loan interest rate of 6.8 percent to refinance their loans to include the lower rate of 3.86 percent. The American Federation of Teachers estimates that this shift in interest rates would save students a total of $14 billion.
Senator Warren’s bill comes on the heels of the release of her new book, A Fighting Chance, in which Warren discusses her poor upbringings and how the United States can help the middle classes and lower to achieve the American Dream once again: “I’m here … to give each one of our kids a fighting chance to build a future full of promise and discovery,” Warren states in her book.
While the bill will have much popular support from the millions of people suffering from student loan debt in the United States (the second largest debt next to mortgages), it is going to face much opposition from the Republicans in Washington, many of whom see the bill as a disingenuous political push: “This bill doesn’t make college more affordable, reduce the amount of money students will have to borrow, or do anything about the lack of jobs grads face in the Obama economy,” complained Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
House Speaker John Boehner echoed the sentiments of McConnell, stating, “Today’s much-hyped loophole closure does nothing to reduce the cost of pursuing a higher education or improve access to federal student loans — nor will it help millions of recent graduates struggling to find jobs in the Obama economy.”
With 55 Democrats in the Senate and 60 votes needed to pass the bill, Senator Warren will have to be rhetorically savvy in the next two days in order to help push her bill through during the vote on Wednesday.
The federally-mandated Minimum Wage has been at $7.25 an hour since 2009. If Senate Democrats, and President Obama, had had their way, that amount would have gone up to $10.10. But that effort has been brought to a grinding halt by the Republicans in the Senate.
Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa (Dem) introduced the bill for a vote in the Senate. According to ABC News, the bill was evidently intended to be a midterm election ploy. The idea was to bring a measure to the floor that gave working Americans a raise, and dare the Republicans to vote it down.
Senator Harkin nearly taunted the GOP prior to the vote. “Who’s going to vote to give these people a fair shot at the American dream? And who’s going to vote against it?”
But vote against it they did. Of course, that’s not exactly how things work in the Senate. The vote was actually about whether to continue debate on the bill or to allow it to come to the floor for a vote. For the bill to be brought to the floor would have required 60 votes, but the motion to bring it to the floor went 54-42, along party lines.
In an interesting procedural move, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voted with the Republicans, which would allow him to call for another vote on the measure. This is because Democrats want to continue to keep this issue before Americans as the midterm elections draw nearer.
Most Americans support the notion of raising the Minimum Wage, but those that oppose it fall almost exclusively into two camps: Tea Party Republicans and business leaders.
The Guardian reports that President Obama made election year hay with this vote, saying, “By preventing even a vote on this bill, they prevented a raise for nearly 28 million hardworking Americans.” The president then tied the GOP’s stance to election activities, calling for Americans to voice their own will.
“If there is any good news here it is that Republicans in Congress don’t get the last word on this issue or any issue. You do, the American people, the voters.”
President Obama had previously thrown down the gauntlet on the Minimum Wage issue by signing an executive order to raise the minimum wage for all federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. So some people are already going to get that raise.
But the GOP counters that such a raise is irresponsible.
“You think you can pay somebody $10.10 an hour in a McDonald’s and it won’t have an impact on the cost of your Big Mac?” John Cornyn, the Republican Senate minority whip, said. “Well, you’re living in a fantasy world.”
Sarah Palin knocked President Obama and his healthcare plan during her appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. She channeled the children’s author, taking a heft dose of literary liberty with his famous rhyming words.
“I do not like this Uncle Sam. I do not like his healthcare scam,” Palin said. “I do not like these dirty crooks or how they lie and cook the books. I do not like when Congress stills. I do not like their crony deals. I do not like the spying man. I do not like ‘Oh yes we can.’ I do not like this spending spree. We’re smart we know there’s nothing free. I do not like reporters’ smug replies when I complain about their lies. I do not like this kind of hope. And we won’t take it, nope, nope, nope. Hat tip the Internet.”
In addition to her rhymes, Sarah Palin criticized the president not only on Obamacare but on his response to the attack in Benghazi and the IRS scandal. She even accused Democrats of “demeaning women.” But Democrats weren’t the only ones in Palin’s crosshairs. She also slammed a few lawmakers in the Republican party, too.
“I do believe that the eyes of America are open. Unfortunately though, some would want you to hit the snooze button and roll back over. Like ‘Hush America, go back to sleep little lambs,’” Palin said. “Some of these folks are in the GOP establishment.”
She had good things to say about Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, however.
“Thank you, Texas because liberty needs a Congress on Cruz control,” Palin said. “The awakening began, and Sen. Ted Cruz helped keep them awake. His filibuster, it worked in waking people up to the folly of a government takeover.
“He told his colleagues it was time, time to stand up, time to use the tools of the Constitution, the power of the purse and to fulfill their campaign promises and to stop Obamacare,” she said. “But our army balked. We hoped that they were just reloading, but instead they retreated, and worse, worse, they joined the lapdogs in the lamestream to trash the foot soldiers who had fought for America.”
It was no doubt Cruz who gave Sarah Palin the Dr. Seuss idea. He read Green Eggs and Ham during his filibuster.
Should Sarah Palin perhaps leave politics and consider writing in the children’s genre? Should she run for president again? A few people in the crowd Sunday urged her to do so, shouting, “Run, Sarah, run!” during her speech.
Did they mean for president–or maybe out the door?
She made another funny at their urging, however, perhaps even topping her improvised Dr. Seuss rhyme.
“I should, I didn’t get to run this morning. I was so busy. Did some hot yoga and didn’t get to run.”
President Barack Obama would be the first to admit that he is not America’s favorite person. The current president has faced his fair share of criticism during his 6 years as president, most of which has stemmed from the right side of the political spectrum. However, Obama has now found a new opponent on his own side of the court: former Montana Governor and current mining executive Brian Schweitzer.
Schweitzer first rose to national prominence after giving a speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, in which his key focus was renewable energy. At the time, Schweitzer seemed to be on board with his fellow Democrats, enlisting his services as a charismatic, down-to-earth speaker to help Barack Obama secure the bid as next president of the United States.
Schweitzer’s time in the Democratic party’s lime-light did not last long, though, following conflicts between he and President Obama concerning the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Addressing a Montana crowd before President Obama took the stage in August of 2009, Schweitzer stated, “Did you know that, just 300 miles north of here, did you know they offered universal health care 62 years ago?”
While this comment may have seemed fairly innocuous, it ruffled the feathers of President Obama, who, when he took the stage following Schweitzer, replied, “I’m not in favor of a Canadian system, I’m not in favor of a British system, I’m not in favor of a French system. What we’ve said is let’s find a uniquely American system.” Obama added that “For us to completely change that [the healthcare system], it would be too disruptive. Max (Baucus) and I agree, that’s not the right way to go.”
Following this brief exchange of contradictory opinions, Obama and Schweitzer apparently held a closed door meeting in which Obama told Schweitzer that his stance on the healthcare issues was not helping the passage of the ACA and asked him to step down. The White House administration has not corroborated this report.
Schweitzer may have stepped down after their initial meeting, but his opposition to Obama’s healthcare policies (which Schweitzer has stated “will collapse on its own weight”), along with his staunch disapproval of the NSA (whose actions Schweitzer labeled as “un-effing-believable”), have led Schweitzer to consider running for the 2016 presidency as the “anti-Obama.” : “I didn’t say I was going to run for president in 2016, did I? I didn’t say I wouldn’t, but I didn’t say I was. But it’s something I’m interested in.”
As to why he may decide to run for president in 2016, Schweitzer had a simple answer: “We can’t afford any more hard right. We had eight years of George Bush. Now we’ve had five years of Obama, [who], I would argue, in many cases has been a corporatist.”
When asked whether he had any positive opinions of President Obama, Schweitzer responded, “My mother, God rest her soul, told me ‘Brian, if you can’t think of something nice to say about something, change the subject.’”
Obama is not Schweitzer’s only Democratic enemy, however. Schweitzer has also dished-out his fair bit of criticism toward Hillary Clinton, who is the leading Democratic presidential nominee for 2016: “There’s a whole lot of America that looks at each other and says, ‘Well, there’s 340 million people living in America. Isn’t there somebody other than a Bush or a Clinton who can be president in these modern times? Isn’t there hope for somebody who’s running a business or who has served overseas or comes from a different occupation to become president? Are we now in the era of royalty again?’ So I think there’s some level of frustration about that.”
So what makes Schweitzer so different? If you ask the man himself, he believes that his monetary policies are what make him a unique and promising Democratic nominee: “As governor, I spent eight years — every single year I was governor we had the largest budget surplus in the history of Montana. I cut more taxes than any governor in the history of Montana, invested more new money in education. If a Democrat is good with money, you can’t beat ‘em. When you’ve got a Democrat like me who is good with money and Republicans have to admit it, they say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to run against him again.”
While Schweitzer does support many liberal policies, such as a single-payer healthcare system, civil rights for homosexuals, and anti-war measures, he also supports his fair share of conservative policies; Schweitzer has a tendency to side with conservatives on gun issues, and has also expressed his support of the Keystone Pipeline.
Most political pundits would go out on a very sturdy limb and say that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for 2016. However, one must keep Schweitzer in consideration as a dark-horse candidate, especially considering the recent success of such libertarian, political line-blurring candidates such as Ron and Rand Paul.
Mayor of Newark Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to become the new junior Senator from the reliably blue state of New Jersey.
The Senator elect is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, and has been touted as a future Presidential contender. The Senate seat will allow Booker to expand his national profile with powerful media backing.
Booker defeated his Republican opponent Steve Lonegan, the former Mayor of Bogota, who ran on a conservative platform. Lonegan relentlessly closed the gap in the polls through skillful debate and campaign performances, but was outspent 1-to-8 in the well-financed opinion molding media blitz by the Democrat.
With almost 100% precincts reporting, Booker registered 55 percent voting lead to Lonegan’s 44 percent. The twitter addict exulted triumphantly with thousands of people re-tweeting his first reaction:
In a speech to his supporters, Booker added, “That’s why I’m going to Washington — to take back that sense of pride. Not to play shallow politics that’s used to attack and divide but to engage in the kind of hard, humble service that reaches out to others.”
Booker grew up in New Jersey as the child of IBM executives, and studied at Stanford and Yale, before being selected as a Rhodes Scholar. According to Booker, his father who died at age 76 last week, instilled the values of love and hard work in him at an early age. He intends to carry these values to the Senate.
The Senator elect has a twitter following of 1.4 million – five times the population of Newark – although half of those accounts appear to be fake or inactive.
Booker will complete the remaining 15 months of Frank Lautenberg’s term, who was 89 when he died in June. He will then have to be on ballot again in November 2014, for a full 6-year term.
The Republican contender Lonegan, after two runs in gubernatorial primaries, took on the challenge to win the Senate seat for his party which has been almost totally annihilated in North-East. Lonegan had previously campaigned as an anti-tax, pro-growth crusader, and even tried to make English as the official language of Bogota city.
Throughout the campaign, Lonegan hammered Booker on his record, including appalling level of homicide rates in Newark, criticizing Booker’s excessive soliciting of celebrities in California and New York, declaring that “New Jersey needs a leader, not a tweeter.”
Lonegan also brought up Booker’s twitter flirting with a Portland, Oregon stripper with stage name Lynsie Lee, revealing a not so palatable side of the popular Democrat.
With seven out of eight leading TV channels including CNN, NBC, CBS and PBS solidly cheer leading for Democrats, and FOX news aggressively backing neo-Conservatives, conservatives are helpless without a powerful megaphone to air their side of the story to a national audience. And this may be the principal reason why Lonegan was defeated.
The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, have come up with the Reid McConnel deal, which was passed earlier Wednesday by both the House and Senate, ultimately ending the government shutdown and avoiding default.The plan will fund the government through January 15th, and then raise the debt ceiling through February 7th of next year.
The Reid McConnel deal passed the Democratic-led Senate at a staggering 81-18 through a bi-partisan vote. The bill was then sent to the US House of Representatives and passed by 285 votes to 144, making up just a smidge over the two thirds to pass it, with support of the bill coming from a minority of Republicans, and a majority of Democrats. Obama signed the bill into law at about 11:30 AM CST.
The White House budget office announced that federal workers are planned to return to work on Thursday. “Non-essential” parts of government will be up and running again, with reopened parks, thorough inspections by the USDA, and funding for NASA.
The bill does not make any noticeable changes regarding the Affordable Care Act, to which House Republican leaders originally sought to fight and derail.
Reid and McConnel came together earlier this week to come up with a plan, since discussion of a potential compromise between President Obama and House Republicans was stonewalled.
After the announcement about the agreement with McConnell, Reid urged Congress to consider finally burying the axe of the divide created by the partisanship.
“This is not a time for pointing fingers and blame. This is a time of reconciliation,” Reid said “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of this great Capitol to pass this remarkable agreement that will protect the long term health of our economy and avert a default on our nation’s debt, and allow us to set a foundation for economic expansion.”
“What we’ve done is sent a message to Americans from every one of our 50 states, but in addition to that, to the citizens of every country in the world, that the United States lives up to its obligations.”
Who saw this coming? The House and Senate have reached a deal at the 11th hour and the government shutdown is over. Lawmakers in D.C. squabbled back and forth for weeks about the budget, causing around 1 million government workers to be furloughed for 16 days. Just before we reached the October 17 deadline–the date the U.S. would go into default if the debt-ceiling wasn’t increased–a deal was finally struck.
“We fought the good fight, we just didn’t win,” House Speaker John Boehner said today, in his admission of defeat.
Both parties made a mess of DC. We should haul all their rear ends up to NJ to see how bipartisanship works. http://t.co/Q5ChthSAti#DearDC
The Senate announced a deal earlier today that would lift the debt-ceiling limit so that the United States doesn’t go into default. Boehner, who has been fighting tooth and nail to get Obamacare defunded in order to pass the new budget, said that House republicans wouldn’t try to block the effort–and many didn’t, as the deal was passed 285-144. After Boehner said that the House wouldn’t go against the deal, it was smooth sailing from there, as President Barack Obama was eager to get his hands on a bill that would end the mess.
“Once this agreement arrives on my desk, I will sign it immediately,” Obama said. “Hopefully next time it won’t be in the eleventh hour. We’ve got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis.” Quite pleased with the bipartisan effort, Obama also said, “I’m eager to work with anybody, Democrat or Republican. I’ve never believed Democrats have a monopoly on good ideas.”
Just because the government shutdown is over, don’t expect the squabbling to stop. Democrats and Republicans are still pointing fingers at each other.
Let’s be honest: this was pain inflicted on our nation for no good reason, and we cannot make the same mistake again.
Since Congress was unable to agree on the fiscal near-future, it’s looking likely that the government will grind to a screeching halt.
As complex as the process is, and as unpredictable as it may be (Congress may reach a last-minute agreement unbeknownst to the public), government programs have begun to identify areas that need to remain in operation. Any workers not responsible for life or property will keep working, but will not be paid until the shutdown is resolved.
CNN Money reported a large series of updates today about the potential effects of the government shutdown:
•Military service members will see a paycheck delay, although all active-duty military and reserve personnel will remain working.
•Temporary duty travel will be canceled unless its related to the war in Afghanistan or connected to the safety of life, protection of property, or maintaining foreign relations.
•Families of service members who died in the line of duty will not receive benefits until the shutdown is resolved.
•Essential civilian defense personnel will keep working, but non-essential personnel will be furloughed without pay unless their salary isn’t funded by appropriations.
•Museums and zoos run by the federal government will be closed, and tourists will be turned away.
•The housing department will be furloughed; thus, FHA loans may be delayed.
•The Department of Housing and Urban Development will furlough 96 percent of its workforce.
•Employees whose jobs are not funded by federal appropriations will keep working, alongside presidential appointees.
•The Federal Courts will remain open for approximately 10 business days; all proceedings and deadlines will remain unaffected unless otherwise indicated.
•The Department of Justice will furlough 15 percent of its workforce.
•The Department of Health and Human Services will furlough 52 percent of its workforce; hardest hit will be the Administration for Children and Families, the Administration for Community Living and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
•The Center for Disease Control will maintain a minimal amount of staff required to oversee outbreak investigations, protect lab samples and staff the 24/7 emergency operations center.
•The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will continue to implement the Affordable Healthcare Act (popularly known as Obamacare) and that Medicare will largely remain uninterrupted.
•Chemical spill investigations will be halted, as the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will furlough 37 of 40 staff members.
•NASA will keep enough employees on to verify the safety of crews on the International Space Station and continue in-progress satellite missions. All other NASA activity will virtually cease.
The Republicans have decided to play hardball. The party voted 231-192 in favor of a spending plan that would stall Obamacare for a year. They also voted 248-174 to repeal Obamacare’s tax on medical devices. The devices tax is especially harmful because it taxes medical innovation.
Time, however, is running out for congress. If no deal is reached by the start of Tuesday, the government will be forced to shut down. House Republicans and Democrat are yet again finding it difficult to reach a compromise.
The Republicans are opposed to the President’s medical device tax because they believe it will send jobs overseas. This is a viewpoint shared by a number of House Democrats as well. Despite this, Democrats intend to stand firm so as to to push Obamacare through. President Obama is also prepared to veto an opposition if necessary.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the Republicans’ defiant game plan “pointless”. It turns out that even if the shutdown were to happen it would not stop Obamacare from continuing. This is because the funding needed for Obamacare comes mainly from new taxes and cost cuts to government programs like Medicare. In other words, even if Republicans succeeded at forcing a government shutdown the Democrats could still vote Obamacare into law. A government shutdown does stop the law from taking effect. This was pointed out to Republican Senator of Oklahoma, Tom Coburn, by the Congressional Research Service.
A shutdown of the government would cause major disruption to Americans. Thankfully, the U.S. Postal Service, Social Security and Medicare would still continue to function but and estimated 800 000 government workers would not get paid. The overwhelming majority of Americans don’t want this to happen.
Republicans are vehemently opposed to many of the provisions of Obamacare, including forcing health insurance companies to provide coverage for anyone who wants it as well as making it mandatory for Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine. Even so, if Obamacare becomes law, all Americans would have to abide by it and a government shutdown would only cause the public unnecessary pain. Republicans are concerned that they may be blamed for the shutdown. This would almost certainly undermine their plans for dealing with the federal debt ceiling – an issue that needs to be resolved only a week later.
In a brazen attempt to raise the already exploding US public debt, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Congress on Wednesday that the government will spend all its borrowed cash by October 17th, and demanded trillions in new money to keep financing Washington DC’s insatiable appetite for debt.
“The debt limit impasse that took place in 2011 caused significant harm to the economy…If Congress were to repeat that brinkmanship in 2013, it would inflict even greater harm on the economy. And if the government should ultimately become unable to pay all of its bills, the results could be catastrophic,” threatened Lew, in a letter addressed to Speaker of the House, John Boehner.
Boehner quickly signaled complete capitulation and surrender by assuring Lew that the debt limit in fact will be raised. “…we need to surrenderwork together soon on a bill that raises the debt limit and deals with causes of the debt by cutting Washington spending and increasing economic growth,” said Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel.
Jack Lew has been notorious in his total disregard for the American people and has been criticized for deception and evasiveness by both Democrats and Republicans in the past. Here is Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) questioning Lew, the then White House Budget Director, during the February 2011 budget hearings.
After Lew’s anointment as Treasury Secretary he squared off with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) on the systemic nature of US financial crisis in May this year:
Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly quarreled over raising of the debt ceiling, with each side blaming the other for the catastrophe that would unleash if the deadline passes without satisfying Washington DC’s demands.
While the conservative wing of the Republican Party has made some faint noises of rebellion in opposition to raising the limit, every time the deadline approaches, the far-left GOP House leadership led by John Boehner, Eric Cantor and former Vice-Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, invariably yields without a fight over spending cuts.
The latest debt limit bill could be introduced as early as Friday in the House, where GOP holds the majority, but there are indications that enough Republicans will join the overwhelming majority of Democrats to offer trillions in new money to finance Federal government’s programs.
A few Republicans including Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have waged a quixotic crusade to use debt ceiling as a leverage to delay the implementation of Obamacare, but with scant support from within their own party, all their efforts have been null and void from the start.
At the same time President Barack Obama has made it clear that he will not bargain with GOP on tearing an even bigger hole in America’s finances, and Democratic leadership led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are clamoring for a debt limit increase without any stipulations or spending cuts.
From 1995 to 2011, the debt ceiling was raised 12 times to finance the enormous growth in US government spending.
During this period, Federal Reserve, which has an unlimited capacity to create “money”, pumped trillions of Dollars in the financial sector leading to massive real-estate and bond bubbles coupled with runaway inflation in medical-care, education and housing.
In order to placate the gullible GOP electorate, the Republican led House has already passed a stop-gap spending bill that prioritizes payments to bondholders, Social Security retirement checks and provisions for nation-building abroad.
With their eyes on 2016 GOP presidential nomination, Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul are staking out carefully crafted positions on the looming government shutdown in an effort to defund Obamacare.
From the outset it appears that Rand Paul is more strategic and better prepared in his approach towards the much reviled healthcare law within the Tea Party and Republican electorate.
While acknowledging that overturning Obama’s career defining achievement is next to impossible, so long as Democrats control the Senate and the White House, Senator Paul appeared optimistic today that the law will be revised to remove some of the “bad” parts, including the individual mandate and the IRS tax penalties for refusing to obey government edicts.
On the other side, Paul’s tea-party colleagues Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have made common cause with GOP establishment pick, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, to shut down the federal government in an effort to defund Obamacare.
Although Rubio ratcheted down the rhetoric a few notches by issuing a press release this past weekend in favor of continued government funding, he comes across as confused and vacillating, lacking in leadership qualities that demand firmness and vision.
Whichever way the political wind is blowing, there Rubio seems to tip-toe. One day Rubio is cheer-leading Obama’s efforts to bomb Syria. The next, he is condemning him when he sees the firestorm of public outcry in opposition to another Trillion dollar war.
Even the far-left, which harbors an atavistic hatred for Paul, has begun to notice who is winning the battle for leadership within the Republican Party. And it definitely isn’t Rubio.
Paul’s “speak softly” rhetoric, but “big stick” voting, bi-partisan lobbying, and filibuster record, is winning more fans on social media networks than ever.
Even the establishment henchman and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has taken notice. McConnell is making sure he gets plenty of face time rubbing shoulders with Paul every week to soothe the anxieties of Tea-Party.
“I think it’s a dumb idea to shut down the government…I am in favor of the House, which Republicans control, using their leverage and every possible means to make the bill less bad,” said Paul, in response to CNN’s John King’s question on federal government shutdown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EbDlNUTHAo
In sharp contrast, by using harsh, belligerent rhetoric against President Obama, Senator Rubio is increasingly painting himself as a mean-spirited person, who is obsessed with juvenile “he said, she said” back and forth, but accomplishes little in the realm of fruitful action towards safeguarding GOP voters’ interests.
Regardless of how this week’s events transpire, the high stakes game between Rand Paul and Marco Rubio will continue deep into the 2016 GOP Presidential primaries. However, at least for now, its advantage Paul.
Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi today named Nadeam Elshami as her new chief of staff. Her former chief of staff, John Lawrence, has stepped down after eight years in the position.
“On behalf of my colleagues, I want to thank John Lawrence for his 38 years of service to the House of Representatives,” said Pelosi. “Few staff members have ever had the impact that John has had on so many laws that have been enacted in his years in my office as speaker and as democratic leader, and with Chairman George Miller. I wish John and Deborah well and will always value their friendship.”
Elshami currently serves as communications director for Pelosi. In the past he has served as a deputy communications director for Senator Dick Durbin and deputy chief of staff and communications for congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. He was also once the deputy press secretary for Senator Barbara Boxer, after beginning his career in congress in the Senate mailroom.
“For the past six years, Nadeam has been a key communications strategist, spokesperson and senior advisor,” said Leader Pelosi. “I know my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus will benefit from his leadership as he transitions to Chief of Staff.”
Drew Hammill, currently deputy communications director and press secretary for Pelosi, will be taking over Elshami’s role as communications director. In addition, Pelosi announced that Diane Dewhirst, a senior advisor to the Democratic leader, has been promoted to the role of deputy chief of staff.
Betty White is one of the most beloved actors people of our generation; she’s funny, she’s brash, she’s graced our televisions since before most of us were born, and, at 90-years old, she’s a part of our history, yet she manages to never take anything too seriously. Also, she has friends in high places.
White hasn’t made it a secret that she favors President Obama, and now Change.org is hosting an online petition to get her to introduce him at the Democratic National Convention. After Clint Eastwood’s speech at the RNC–which didn’t go over so well–the Dems are looking for someone unassuming yet whip-smart, funny yet kind, with a good reputation in the celebrity world. Betty White fits that bill perfectly.
The petition states:
Clint Eastwood, the Republican’s “mystery guest” at the RNC, gave a bad name to older Americans everywhere with his absurd and awkward-to-watch introduction of Governor Romney.
You know what?
Governor Romney can have Clint Eastwood and his improvisational skills because President Obama has the one and only Betty White!
Take action today if you want to see a real [old] Hollywood icon get a political introduction right!
With almost 6,000 signatures, the site just needs about 1,500 more. And as some of you may remember, White was drafted to host “Saturday Night Live” in 2010 because of a petition very similar to this one. The power of the web.
Morgan Freeman, an actor who probably needs no introduction at this point, recently made a donation of $1 million to Priorities USA Action, a so-called “super” political action committee devoted to backing President Obama. Freeman’s contribution to the group will be reported in their federal disclosures on Friday. If everything goes according to plan, both sides will spend over $1 billion on campaign advertisements in various markets.
Thus far, Priorities USA Action has raised $20.4 million, which is eclipsed by the Romney-friendly Restore Our Future, which has raked in over $81.5 million from Republican donators. Just last month, Priorities managed to snag $6.1 million in contributions, whereas Restore enjoyed $20 million in donations. Of course, Obama’s official campaign has raised more cash than Romney’s, so everything will probably balance out when all is said and done.
Freeman, of course, is of the belief that Obama has done a fantastic job during his four years as president. He added, “In return, he is the target of hundreds of millions of dollars from right-wing sources. I am proud to lend my voice – and support – to those who defend him.”
The “Dark Knight Rises” actor is sure to ruffle some Republican feathers with his contribution. As you can tell from the Twitter reactions embedded below, some are downright irritated by his actions. You can sample some of their responses to this story by venturing below.
Last week the Republican party launched a Social Victory app to try to get a foothold onto what has been a one sided battle: The fight for social media dominance. This fight was utterly dominated by Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election, and some strategists pointed to this as a huge reason why he won so handily.
The 2012 campaign has seen basically the same thing. Mostly due to the fantastic job the Democratic party did last time to build up their good social media karma, they are still riding high. As you can see from the infographic below, even with all of the Republican Presidential hopefuls put together, they don’t even make a dent into what is an enormous social media advantage for Obama.
This kind of forward thinking has allowed the Obama reelection people to focus on promoting their ideals and beliefs, and not spending time to build a social media presence. This is where the ‘Life of Julia‘ slideshow comes in. In something that resembles a Google product release video, ‘Life of Julia’ follows a fictional woman who, throughout different stages of her life, is benefitting from the entitlements given to her by President Barack Obama.
“Julia starts her own web business. She qualifies for a Small Business Administration loan, giving her the money she needs to invest in her business. President Obama’s tax cuts for small businesses like Julia’s help her to get started. She’s able to hire employees, creating new jobs in her town and helping to grow the local economy.” This kind of political showcase is how and where the Democrats have a chance at getting Obama reelected. The Republicans will have a huge unknown factor unless they can do something to show that they know how to run a social media campaign that is effective.
Mark and Nancy Gilbert are powerful sources of funding for the Democratic party. They have raised more than $500,000 for the Obama campaign and the president considers them friends. But their daughter got into a bit of trouble after she posted a photo of herself on Facebook. She is the one holding money in the pic; she called her friends and herself “Jewbags.”
Dani Gilbert entered the post back in 2006, after she was appointed as a Jewish outreach liaison for the Democratic party and a staffer for DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
(image)
Gilbert apologized for her attempt at humor yesterday on Twitter:
“Danni has excelled in her role handling Jewish issues for the Chair in her Congressional office and was brought on here part time to do outreach to the Jewish Community.”
“Like many in the age of social media, she had things posted on her Facebook page that she now regrets and which she has apologized for. Her employment both in the Chair’s Congressional office and at the DNC is a testament to her knowledge and professionalism and nothing more – and no smear driven by the right wing noise machine is going to impact her status as a trusted member of this team.”
The Democratic party is not pleased when their associates provide material that can be distorted and exploited by people. The fiasco led some people to call Democrats the party of the KKK on Facebook.
(image)
Do you think that people should be judged for what they put on Facebook over six years ago? After all, she was just a kid at the time trying to have a little fun with her friends.
Shouldn’t we be happy that she promoted the love of money and availability of condoms? Isn’t that what capitalism is all about?
Online piracy is a global problem in regards to both consumers and industry groups. Expensive media, low incomes and cheap digital technology are said to be the primary reasons for rampant media piracy.
In 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office announced that previously estimated figures “could not be substantiated,” and the folks at Backgroundcheck.org have put together some figures:
Some key figures – In 2008, pirated content accounted for 41% of all installed PC software, which translated to a loss of $51 billion. Movie piracy costs movie studios roughly $25 billion a year.
Interestingly, men and women are equally prone to piracy, and the study shows that Democrats tend to steal more digital music than Republicans, at 35% and 24% respectively. Likewise, it has been reported that voters are more concerned with online censorship than piracy regardless.
The U.S. presidential election cycle used to be like a regulated yet exhilarating amusement park ride that you could count on starting and stopping at certain times. Think of the Scrambler: dizzying in experience yet timed to end at a reliable time. Now, with the ubiquity of the 24-hour news cycle and the hordes of blogs and other commentators, the teeth have been stripped off the gears that regulate the speed of the news cycle to the point that not only can you never get off this ride but it just keeps going faster and faster. Barf bags not included.
Due to the breakneck recycle speed of the political news cycle, trying to stay informed on what’s happening in the world of politics can be nauseating. You’re probably always going to be me missing something somewhere. However aggregating your own collection of news sources doesn’t have to be so stupefying since Google has made it a little easier for voters and otherwise interested parties to attempt to stay abreast of the latest news concerning topics, candidates, and election results. Google Politics & Elections, a new wing of the Google News service, collects articles covering breaking stories related to politics in the United States. With the service, readers can isolate topics to certain candidates (right now it’s a bunch of Republican primary candidates and the current POTUS, Barack Obama) as well as issues related to categories like the economy, social issues, and healthcare. From the post on Google’s official blog:
The site enables voters, journalists and campaigns to quickly sort through election info by popularity, race or issues. People can also check out the Trends Dashboard to take the web’s real-time political pulse by comparing candidates’ YouTube video views, search traffic and Google News mentions. Campaign staffers, advocates and everyday citizens can utilize our tools and features to reach, engage and inspire voters.
What might be most interesting for anyone who makes a hobby out of political speculation there is a function on the Politics & Elections homepage where you can track trends related to each specific candidate. For instance, given the latest surge of Rick Santorum out of the bowels of obscurity and into a legitimate third place (the fact that third place is now a consummation devoutly to be wished is kind of absurd, really), readers can actually see the rise in Google News Mentions of Santorum in the past week. It’s a fun tool as an observer, but given how tumultuous this primary cycle has been for all Republican candidates I wouldn’t recommend placing any bets on the reliability of any search trends as proof of sustainable electability.
The Google Politics & Elections also employs the Hangouts tools for journalists who are personally covering the election, perhaps as an effort to promote sodality and collaboration but I anticipate it will most likely be used as an online watering hole where everybody commiserates and decompresses. You can add the Politics & Elections tool to your Google+ account, as well, if you’re interested in participating or watching any of the activity in the Hangouts. Additionally, you can follow news stories as they develop by adding this group to your Circles. The news service will also cover international politics as well as the home-grown brews but given that we are officially in the election year, expect most of the news to be dominated by the election of the next POTUS.
Since today kicks off the election of the Republican primaries with the Iowa caucus, following these services might be a good idea if any of you are hoping to stay informed as the results start to come in about which candidate will claim victory in Iowa this evening.
