WebProNews

Tag: Republicans

  • Mitt Romney Crushes New Hampshire Poll; 2016 Bid?

    If someone was to grab you on the street and ask you who you thought the leading candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for President would be, a plethora of names could tumble from your mouth – Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, etc. etc. The last name many would expect to hear on that list would be two-time failure Mitt Romney. However, in a recent poll released by the University of New Hampshire, Romney would win the presidential nomination by a landslide if the vote was held today.

    The poll, conducted by WMUR, showed that despite 20 percent of the people in New Hampshire not even knowing which party they would vote for in the 2016 election, 39 percent of them would vote for Mitt Romney. Romney’s next closest challengers, Rand Paul and Chris Christie, finished at seven percent, while Jeb Bush pulled in six percent of the vote.

    The poll comes on the heels of another poll from Quinnipiac University in which 45 percent of voters believed that the United States would be better off today if Romney would have been elected in 2012 instead of Barack Obama.

    There is one bit of information most sources are leaving out of the New Hampshire poll, however. The study was conducted by calling 669 New Hampshire adults and asking them who they supported. 669! A number that barely scratches the surface of eligible voters in the state, and a number that is not near big enough to extrapolate national trends.

    Unfortunately, though, there is more than one source which suggests Romney would have a successful 2016 bid if he chose to do so. Much like the New Hampshire and Quinnipiac polls, a website in the state of Alabama conducted a poll which resulted in Romney accruing 63.67 percent of the vote when people were asked, “Who should be the presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2016?”

    There is also a petition online right now with the purpose of “drafting” Romney to become the next Republican presidential nominee. Surprisingly, the poll has 54,382 supporters at the current moment.

    While many would not consider Romney a front-runner for the nomination by any means, the proof is in the pudding. And who knows? Perhaps the third time’s the charm for good ol’ Mittens. Only time will tell.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sarah Palin Spared by Hillary Clinton in ’08 Campaign

    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.

    Palin’s tweet highlighted one of the more controversial parts of Clinton’s memoir, that being her recollection of the Obama campaigns initial reaction to the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running-mate:

    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.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sarah Palin Uses Dr. Suess to Knock Obama

    Sarah Palin Uses Dr. Suess to Knock Obama

    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.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Chris Christie Supporters “Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop”

    Chris Christie’s involvement–or lack of–in what is being called “Bridgegate” has yet to be determined, but the public scandal and investigation by federal authorities is reportedly causing panic with his Republican supporters.

    After documents were released earlier this month that showed that the shutdown of several lanes of traffic between the George Washington Bridge and the town of Fort Lee was caused deliberately by one of Christie’s staffers–Bridget Anne Kelly, who was fired just after the news broke–Christie addressed the public outrage by saying he had no prior knowledge of the shutdown. The lane closings caused not just traffic headaches for commuters, but contributed to delays in emergency medical providers and may have been a factor in the death of a 91-year old woman who didn’t get help in time.

    Governor Christie is also being investigated for a possible misuse of funds after he was accused of taking a portion of the money earmarked to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy for creating and distributing ads meant to boost tourism in New Jersey. After all the headlines, some say that the Republican party is scrambling to find a suitable presidential candidate to run in 2016 under the threat that Hillary Clinton poses.

    “My sense is they’re hoping against hope there aren’t more shoes to drop,” said Keith Appell, a Republican strategist. “They really want to support him… but they can’t control anything if another shoe drops.”

    Rumors that many of Christie’s supporters are jumping ship are tempered by arguments from some Republicans who say that just because there is a “wait and see” attitude among many, that doesn’t mean he’s been abandoned. Christie took a fundraising-tour through Florida over the weekend, and, according to Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist from Miami, there hasn’t been a drop in numbers as far as donors go.

    “Donors are calling around trying to get details and invitations,” she said. “I think people are in a wait-and-see mode and in general like the way he has dealt with the issue in the last week.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Fewer Republicans Now Accept Evolution Than Did in 2009

    The U.S. has always had an interesting relationship with the science of evolution. As a foundational part of modern biology, the fact that species change over time is rarely debated in scientific circles (though exactly how change occurs is the subject of a lively, ongoing debate). The religious culture in the U.S., however, has traditionally seen evolution and other sciences as an enemy to certain religious beliefs. This stance has resulted in an American populace of which one-third completely reject the idea of evolution.

    Pew Research today released a new survey looking at the beliefs of Americans with regards to evolution in 2013. The firm found that a full 33% of U.S. adults agree with the statement that “humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.” That leaves a slim majority of Americans (60%) agreeing that “humans and other living things have evolved over time.” Demonstrating just how religiously-colored Americans’ beliefs on evolution are, nearly half of those who accept evolution still believe that “a supreme being guided the evolution of living things for the purpose of creating humans and other life in the form it exists today.”

    Though these overall numbers have not changed significantly in the past few years of Pew’s polling on the subject, it is now clear that members of the Republican party are rejecting evolution at an increasing rate. Pew’s poll found that 48% of Republicans polled this year reject evolution, while only 39% said the same thing back in 2009.

    This represents one of the largest demographic shifts seen in Pew’s 2013 poll. Given that the overall numbers are similar from 2009 to 2013, this could mean that the Republican party is becoming less trustful of science, more religious, or both.

    White mainline protestants, which make up a large portion of the Republican party’s base, are the most likely religious group in the U.S. to reject evolution (64%). Black protestants come next in the list with 33% rejecting evolution, and around 20% of those unaffiliated with any religion still believe humans exited in their present form since the beginning of time – more than even white mainline protestants (15%).

    Democrats have shifted their views on evolution as well, though only slightly. 27% of Democrats now reject evolution, down 3% from the 30% who said the same in 2009. The Republican shift has widened the gap between the two main U.S. political parties’ acceptance of evolution, which widened from 10% in 2009 to 24% this year.

  • Ted Cruz is Subject of No.1 Coloring Book

    Ted Cruz is Subject of No.1 Coloring Book

    As soon as Barack Obama was reelected in 2012, Republicans (and most likely other political groups) began implementing their strategies to elect the next president of their own ilk. Over those two years, many names have come from the Republican camp as their front-runner for president in 2016. Perhaps the fastest climber in those talks has been Senator Ted Cruz from Texas. Cruz took office earlier this year and has wasted no time in cementing his legacy – whether it be good or bad – as a firebrand Senator who holds no bars when it comes to speaking his mind (as well all know following his 21-hour filibuster against the Affordable Care Act). However, Cruz may have allowed his political stardom to reach too far too soon.

    On December 6, Really Big Coloring Books, Inc. publisher Wayne Bell released the Ted Cruz to the Future™ – Comic Coloring Activity Book for sale. And in a shocking turn of events, the 10,000 copy run sold out the very next day. The odd success of the coloring book prompted Bell to hire more employees and start another run, which sold out just as fast as the first. The coloring book is currently on its third production and Bell expects this one to be a sell-out as well: “It’s wild. It’s almost mind-boggling what is happening with this book,” stated Bell.

    The description of the coloring book states, “The Cruz to the Future™ book is a non-partisan, fact-driven view of how Texas Sen. Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz became a U.S. senator and details, through his quotes and public information his ideas for what he believes will help America grow. Cruz has openly identifies with the Tea Party and garners support from the Republican Liberty Caucus and many independents including democrats.”

    Wayne Bell adds his own commentary to the description of the coloring book, stating “The Cruz to the Future™ coloring book is suitable for any student desk in America, as millions of people across the country admire, respect and portray Mr. Cruz as a positive role model for children. Parents have told our company they enjoy modern day heroes and positive role models in children’s literature and Mr. Cruz as a sitting U.S. Senator certainly meets the criteria.”

    The title of the coloring book perhaps says it all and more, though. It displays Senator Cruz standing next to a tree (perhaps a tree of democracy?), which starts with grass and roots (paying homage to Cruz’s Tea Party leanings) and develops into a two branches labeled “U.S. Constitution” and “Ten Commandments” (because we all know those two documents are the foundations of our democracy….) The tree then sprouts leaves showcasing classic American charismatic terms, such as opportunity, freedom, and gun rights.

    Rumors have stated that Ted Cruz will definitely run for president in 2016. While it is true that Republicans have struggled in pulling in younger voters, one can assume that they were not talking about children ages 3-8. However, if Cruz runs for President in 2028, one can properly bet that this indoctrination may pay dividends.

    [Image via ColoringBook.com]

  • Megyn Kelly Claims Santa Claus and Jesus are White

    On Tuesday, Slate columnist Aisha Harris published an article discussing the race of Santa Claus. From Harris’s perspective, there is an issue these days with Santa being portrayed as white, namely the fact that the United States is a multicultural society in which the caucasian race is declining proportionally. For a solution, Harris proposed that we potentially switch the image of Santa Claus from an image of a jolly, fat, white man to a penguin – something removed from the race issue and appealing to kids of all ages.

    Apparently, however, a penguin is not appealing to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. Last night on Kelly’s show, “The Kelly File,” she took time out of her program to discuss the issue of de-racing Santa Claus as proposed by Harris. Kelly started the segment by saying, “When I saw this headline I kinda laughed and I said, ‘Oh, this is ridiculous. Yet another person claiming it’s racist to have a white Santa. And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white”

    This line by Kelly brings a plethora of questions and issues, but two points are most important: 1) What kids would be watching Fox News?; and 2) Why is it that Santa is white?

    Of course, one could make the argument that Santa is based on Saint Nicholas, a Catholic saint who was known for his generous gift-giving and penchant for miracles. Unfortunately for Kelly and others, though, even this interpretation does not lend for a white Santa. Perhaps due to the fact that we have a tendency to allude Saints with Europe and western history, saints are generally portrayed as white. Many people do not know, however, that Saint Nicholas was actually born a Greek in a province in modern-day Turkey, making his appearance become one of a Mediterranean / Middle Eastern complexion and giving us an image of a “brown” Santa Claus.

    Kelly was not content at letting the “whiteness” issue of Christmas go at just Santa Claus, though. In her comments during the segment, Kelly went on to state, “Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure; that’s a verifiable fact—as is Santa, I want you kids watching to know that—but my point is: how do you revise it, in the middle of the legacy of the story, and change Santa from white to black?”

    If Kelly understands that Jesus was a historical figure, then perhaps she should also understand that Jesus resided in the Middle East, specifically in the area of Judea along the Red Sea. Due to the environmental conditions and climate present in this area, Jesus would have most likely displayed a darker complexion, making him a “brown” man just like good ol’ St. Nick.

    Many political and media analysts have recognized why Fox News hired Kelly to fill a primetime spot – She is the conservative answer as to how they plan to attract younger supporters. And thus far, Kelly has been immensely successful, being second to only Bill O’Reilly in viewers.

    While Kelly may appeal to younger audiences due to the fact that she is not a curmudgeonly, old man, she is still losing on the race issue. Republicans have admitted for years that one of their main concerns in winning elections is pulling the minority vote, something which has escaped their hands for decades. By allowing the number one conservative news station in the world to continue to espouse racist opinions, conservatives are assuring themselves of continuing to lose election after election in a US that is continually becoming more and more ethnically and racially diverse.

    [Image via Facebook]

  • Scott Walker Fires Aide for Posting Racist Tweets

    Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has caught a lot of flak lately. First, an email sent out by his campaign team last week encouraged people to donate their Christmas funds to his campaign. Second, one of his aides made a post on Twitter that was demeaning to Hispanics. Considering that Walker is trying to get his Republican counterparts to do a better job of reaching out to Hispanics, this certainly does not help matters.

    The person who made the demeaning tweets, Taylor Palmisano, was Walker’s campaign deputy finance director. The tweets were made back in 2011, but apparently they were only recently dug up and brought to Walker’s attention. Walker fired Palmisano on Tuesday. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Walker has had to fire someone for making distasteful comments about Hispanics on social media. Walker fired transportation official Steve Krieser back in August after comparing illegal immigrants to Satan on Facebook.

    Check out Palmisano’s offensive tweets below.

    (image)

    This really drives home the point, yet again, how important it is to be careful about what we post online, especially when posting something offensive. Such tweets might not matter so much now if you’re in high school or college, but they can certainly come back to bite you later. Do you think the tweets were bad enough to get fired over? Add your comments below.

    Some people are questioning the integrity of the governor for being associated with people who make such comments. It’s rumored that Scott Walker wants to make a run for the White House in 2016, but between the racist aide and the letter that asked people to make campaign donations instead of using the money on Black Friday, he might have a ways to go to gain popularity with the public.

    [Images via Twitter and Journal Sentinel]

  • The GOP’s Rosa Parks Racism Tweet Draws Criticism

    On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama for a white person. As most people know, this refusal led to Parks being arrested, and she later became known as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” Many people celebrated Parks’ contributions yesterday, and one group has received a lot of criticism for their wording in a commemoration made on Twitter.

    The Republican National Committee (RNC) made a tweet yesterday thanking Parks for her role in the civil rights movement and for ending racism. The GOP already gets a lot of flak for policies that some believe to be racist, such as their stance on illegal immigration. As such, not many people were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and just assume the tweet was incorrectly worded.

    Twitter users were very quick to point out that racism hasn’t ended, so the GOP amended their statement a few hours later. Check out the original tweet below.

    A spokesperson for the GOP said that the tweet was referring to RNC chair Reince Priebus’s statement regarding Rosa Parks and just accidentally left off part of the quote. Priebus’s statement said “We remember and honor Rosa Parks today for the role she played in fighting racism and ending segregation.”

    Here are some of the responses to the tweet:

    After receiving hundreds of angry comments about the tweet, the RNC posted a follow-up:

    Once some of the angry tweets were out of the way, a lot of Twitter users began having a little fun with the GOP’s Rosa Parks tweet. Using the hashtag #RacismEndedWhen, Twitter users came up with a bunch of funny comments that poked fun at the GOP.

    [Image via Twitter]

  • Racism Is Over According To GOP Tweet

    Is Racism Over? Republicans thinks so. On Sunday, The Republican National Committee (RNC) seemed to suggest that racism was ended with Rosa Parks’ arrest when it tweeted through its official @GOP Twitter account that, “Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism.” The tweet was made in remembrance of the 58th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ fight against racism. Rosa was arrested 58 years ago after she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on an Alabama bus.

    (image)

    Many Americans are not bothered about celebrating the woman’s courageous fight against racism; rather, they are perturbed by the suggestion that racism is over. This news could make things worse for the Republicans especially now that the party has been struggling to gain support outside the white community.

     

     

     

    This suggestion is a sharp contrast to a 2008 poll from Gallup that showed more than half of Americans believe that racism against blacks is still widespread in America. Another recent survey from Pew Research showed that the majority of Americans believe that there is still some elements of racism against Black Americans. This is not the first time the Republican Party has come under fire for its misguided stance on racial issues. Republican members were in the forefront to reduce Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program(SNAP), a move which mostly affected minorities. A senior GOP official was forced to resign after he slated “Lazy Black People” while on The Daily Show. After the GOP tweeted, some users countered it with anti-racism hashtags.

    In fairness, the GOP later recanted their previous tweet and replaced it with a more aptly worded one.

  • “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” Game is Canceled for Texas Students

    It didn’t take long for the University of Texas to put a stop to the “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” event planned for their campus after the event made national headlines. The “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” event, which was planned by the Young Conservatives of Texas at the University of Texas at Austin, was canceled after UT officials said it violated their honor code.

    During the game, students who participated would have been given a $25 gift card for apprehending any students wearing an “illegal immigrant” name tag. This event was supposedly created to increase awareness of illegal immigration. The Young Conservatives group found themselves under fire for the event on Facebook and Twitter, but the group says their illegal immigrant hunt was needed because no one would come to debates.

    “If we held a forum or a public debate no one would show up,” said Lorenzo Garcia, YCT chairman of the UT chapter. “But if we have an event like this it gets people talking about and if it gets people talking about it then we’ve succeeded. We’re not afraid to be politically incorrect. We don’t espouse to the belief that politics is immune to offending someone.”

    Here is the Young Conservative group’s original tweet regarding the event:

    According to KVUE, Texas received more than 500 complaints of discrimination related to the event. This is reportedly the most complaints UT’s Campus Climate Response Team has ever received.

    Dr. Gregory Vincent, the University of Texas Vice President of Diversity and Community Engagement, released a statement regarding the matter:

    “If the members of YCT carry out their plan for “Catch an Illegal Immigrant,” they are willfully ignoring the honor code and contributing to the degradation of our campus culture. And once again, they will have resorted to exercising one of the university’s core values to the detriment of others. Such actions are counterproductive to true dialogue on our campus, and it is unrepresentative of the ideals toward which our community strives.”

    Now that the event has been canceled, some people are saying that the university is denying its students the right to free speech. Do you think the university was right to cancel the illegal immigrant game? Respond below.

    [Image via Twitter]

  • Cory Booker Survives Lonegan’s Attacks to Win Solidly Blue New Jersey Senate Seat

    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:


    Three hours later in another tweet, the Senator elect sounded philosophical:

    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.

    Lynsie had this to say about sexual hypocrisy after Cory’s election victory:

    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.

    [image from youtube]

  • The Government Shutdown Is Over, Debt Ceiling Raised

    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.

    (image) (image)

    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.”

    (Pictures via WikiCommons (1), (2) (3))

     

  • Ann Coulter: “Hucksters” and “Shysters” Harm Party

    There’s no question that, when it comes to governing our nation, there have been rampant mistakes made on both sides of the “aisle”. These have become especially apparent in the last few weeks with the Congress debacle. But the Republican party seems to be having a particularly hard time of it, as of late. Who can say why? Oh, right. Ann Coulter can.

    The controversial columnist did an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, in which she was promoting her new book, Never Trust a Liberal Over Three — Especially a Republican , and giving her two cents on the state of the party.

    “The problem is we have hucksters, shysters, people ripping off the Republican Party for their own self-aggrandizement, for their own egos, to make money,” she said. “I would put Todd Akin, Newt Gingrich, Liz Cheney, Mark Sanford all in the same boat, and the consultants who persuaded Linda McMahon and John Raese to run.”

    Wow. Liz Cheney? Really?

    “I love Liz Cheney,” Coulter said, “But why should we be having a rancorous primary against a good Republican senator other than for Liz Cheney’s ego?”

    When Hannity challenged her comment by saying that Cheney was simply “more conservative,” Coulter disagreed.“No, she isn’t. But that’s the point. There are a lot problems, we are not concentrating on winning, we are allowing shysters to take advantage of the Republican Party.”

    Well, she’s not famous for mincing words. Coulter specifically said some GOP consultants are not looking out for the future of the party.“We’ve lost a lot of Senate elections,” she said. “This is not a party that seems overly concerned with winning elections.”

    Hannity defends those attacked, explaining that they are only doing what their constituents wanted them to do, and that is to take down Obamacare.

    So, what is the real deal with the Republican party these days? Will they be able to pull it together and unite their followers into one solid party? And will they be able to do that in time? I guess we shall see…

    Image via youtube

  • Ann Coulter Discusses Newly Released Book

    Last night, Ann Coulter joined Sean Hannity on Fox News to discuss her new book, Never Trust a Liberal Over Three — Especially a Republican. In Coulter’s newest collection of political essays, she targets the Tea Party, establishment Republicans, news media, and liberals, of course.

    Coulter’s main focus in last night’s discussion with Hannity was the topic of Republican elections. In Coulter’s opinion, Republicans have focused too much on being “ideologically pure” and not enough on actually winning elections: “We’ve lost a lot of Senate elections. This is not a party that seems overly concerned with winning elections.”

    So what does Coulter blame for this lack of election-winning? Tea Party members, establishment Republicans, and Republican consultants: “My argument is that, in chapter one here, is the problem is we have hucksters, shysters, people running off the Republican Party for their own self-aggrandizement, for their own egos, to make money. I would put Todd Akin, Newt Gingrich, Liz Cheney, Mark Sanford all in the same boat. Oh, and the consultants who persuaded Linda McMahon and John Raese to run …”

    Coulter had an exceptional vendetta against Liz Cheney, stating, “Why should we be having — and I love Liz Cheney— but why should we be having a rancorous primary against a good Republican senator other than for Liz Cheney’s ego?” Sean Hannity took exception to this statement, stating that Liz Cheney had to run because she was more conservative, another point to which Coulter disagreed.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsBRoTg74QM

    In a book review on HumanEvents.com, a site that frequently hosts Coulter’s articles, the authors states that Coulter urges Republicans to stop focusing on the “ideological purity” of its candidates, and simply focus on winning elections instead. This viewpoint is also reflected in her interview with Newbusters, in which Coulter blasts Mark Sanford for running for Representative when he had a tarnished reputation and could have potentially cost the Republicans a seat.

    The book review also stated that Coulter is essentially asking Republicans to adopt Democratic tactics, such as the creation of strong narratives instead of talking points, without adopting their ideologies. Coulter’s call for winning more seats also stems from the experience with a Democratic super-majority at the beginning of Obama’s first presidency.

    In the interview with Hannity, Coulter lambastes Obama and the Democrats for pushing through the vote for the ACA when they had 60 members in the Senate. Coulter believed that the move went against the majority of American beliefs. However, Coulter’s move to win more elections to be able to control the government represents the same ideology she is criticizing.

    Moves like this demonstrate the fact that Coulter simply seeks to take advantage of any opportunities which come her way. Another prime example of Coulter’s shameless opportunity-grabbing deals with her stance on affirmative action. On her website, Coulter states, “Merely to be eligible for millions of dollars in grants from the federal government under Obamacare, education and training programs are required to meet racial, ethnic, gender, linguistic and sexual orientation quotas. That’s going to make health care MUCH better!”

    Yet, in the before-mentioned interview with Newsbusters, Coulter praises Nixon for instituting quotas to hire blacks in the 1960’s: “Reading about the building trades back them, once you get to the part of Nixon saying, “That’s it. I’ve had it. We’re imposing quotas, timelines, on the building trades or they’re not going to get federal contracts,” I’m suddenly totally on his side.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Republican Party Attempts to Talk Money Instead of Obamacare

    The government shutdown has been in the headlines ever since its start, and the ridiculousness that is the Republican party has wasted no time in making even more of a scene out of the whole ordeal. The Republican representatives have made no small show of their outrage over the Affordable Care Act, or, as they have so infamously dubbed it, “Obamacare.” Most of the raging temper tantrum the party has thrown has been blamed on the act, bringing vast amounts of misinformation, misplaced anger, and confusion on to the public as parks, public resources, and thousands of jobs were shut down because Republicans didn’t take kindly to the idea of readily available health care.

    It seems, however, like the Republican party is trying to change up its game plan mid-game. Perhaps in light of the 8 million American citizens who submitted their applications for the Affordable Care Act, they have decided that criticizing an act that a majority of people seem to like and wish to take part of might not be the best course of action. What, then, is left for the Republican party to turn to? why, the tied and true, of course! Time to focus on the economy!

    The party has turned to expressing interest in reigning in debt deficits, straying carefully away from such harsh focus on the evils of “Obamacare.” According to Yahoo, Paul Ryan, a prominent House Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee, “proposed that Republicans and Democrats work out a plan to curb costly entitlement programs and overhaul the tax code as part of negotiations to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the country’s borrowing limit.” There has also been talk of raising the debt ceiling, which president Obama has stated he would be willing to consider.

    Perhaps this shift of focus towards financial topics, rather than temper tantrums over “Obamacare,” indicates that the shutdown’s end is close in sight. Only time will tell if a focus on financials means anything more when it comes to putting an end to this shutdown; let’s all just hope that it doesn’t last too much longer.

    [Video courtesy of News Distribution Network.]

  • Republican Party’s Approval At All-Time Low; Will the Debt Ceiling Be Raised?

    This probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since Republicans are getting the bulk of the blame for the government shutdown, but the approval rating of the Republican Party is now at an all-time low.

    According to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday, the Republican Party is now viewed favorably by only 28 percent of people, which is down 10 percentage points from September.

    While the Republican Party has certainly seen the biggest drop-off in approval ratings over the past month, they aren’t the only ones with trouble–Americans aren’t viewing the Democratic Party and Barack Obama quite as favorably, either.

    Obama’s approval rating dipped to 37 percent and the Democrats are down four percentage points to 43 percent approval.

    After refusing to pass a new budget unless Obamacare is defunded, House Republicans are hoping to negotiate a short-term debt ceiling increase–if they’re successful, this might help with their approval ratings. If something doesn’t give before October 17, the U.S. government won’t be able to borrow any more money to pay its bills. Obama says that not raising the debt ceiling will sink the economy into a “very deep recession.”

    The president is reportedly willing to accept a temporary debt-ceiling increase, but only if there aren’t any strings attached. House Speaker John Boehner is adamant that Obama will compromise. “There’s going to be a negotiation here,” Boehner said. “We can’t raise the debt ceiling without doing something about what’s driving it to borrow more money and live beyond our means.”

    While both sides are in agreement that the debt ceiling needs to be increased, it still doesn’t sound like either side is willing to compromise, which is par for the course.

    Images via YouTube and Gallup

  • Government Shutdown Could Hurt Republicans, Shows Poll

    Americans may be divided on the Affordable Care Act (ACA, colloquially known as “ObamaCare”), but it seems they aren’t on board with shutting down the U.S. government to prevent its implementation.

    A new Quinnipiac poll out today shows that 72% of American voters oppose shutting down the government as a tactic to block the ACA. 64% also oppose using debt ceiling legislation to block implementation of the new healthcare initiative, and a majority (58%) even oppose cutting funding for the ACA as a way to prevent it. This is despite the fact that 47% of those same Americans polled are opposed to the ACA, with only 45% in favor of it.

    Not even a majority of Republicans support the move, with only 49% of those Republicans polled in favor of the shutdown. What could be worse for the GOP is that a full 74% of independents are opposed to the government shutdown. The Quinnipiac poll found that disapproval for Republicans in Congress is now at 74%, with disapproval for Congressional Democrats now sitting at 60%.

    “Americans are certainly not in love with Obamacare, but they reject decisively the claim by Congressional Republicans that it is so bad that it’s worth closing down the government to stop it,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

    The U.S. government is currently in the process of shutting down non-essential services following congress’ failure to pass a continuing resolution to provide funding until a budget can be ironed out. The legislation is crucial to the U.S. government’s functionality, and House Republicans this week took the bill hostage, refusing to vote on a version of the bill that doesn’t contain amendments delaying the ACA. The ACA is not directly related to the funding bill, and will be implemented despite the government shutdown.

    Though the Senate-approved version of the bill would likely pass the house, Republican House leadership has prevented such a vote, instead opting to send the Senate its own versions of the continuing resolution with an amendment to delay the ACA attached. The Democrat-controlled Senate has consistently rejected these versions of the bill.

  • Government Shutdown: What to Expect

    Government Shutdown: What to Expect

    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.

    In addition, USA Today has a fantastic Q-and-A session regarding the shutdown, which you can check out here.

    [Image via an 11-second HD YouTube video of the Capitol Building]

  • Obamacare Hindered by Republicans

    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.

    (source via CNN.com)

     

     

     

  • Government Shutdown Imminent, For Once

    Government Shutdown Imminent, For Once

    Since Obama’s presidency began, there have been threats about a government shutdown. Fighting a two-front war and continuing to pay for ever-increasing Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs have been the main culprits. Over the years, however, Democrats and Republicans have been able to resolve their differences in just enough time to avoid the shutdown.

    Things don’t look so great this time, though. By September 30, the government will hit its debt limit of $16.7 trillion dollars, meaning that it will have no more money to both pay its operations costs and its debts to other countries. While the term “shutdown” sounds big and scary, the event isn’t unprecedented. A government shutdown happened every year of Carter’s presidency, 6 times under Reagan, and the biggest shutdown occurred under Clinton in 1995-96.

    So, what exactly does it mean when experts say that the government will “shutdown”? Essentially, it means that the government will have to stop federal funding of certain programs, and will have to either lay-off or furlough its workers. But don’t worry – the federal government only eliminates those programs and workers that it deems “non-essential” for the operation or security of the nation – the military will still be paid, Congress will continue to operate, mail will still be delivered, police officers will still patrol the streets, courts will continue to operate, and Social Security benefits will still be paid. However, thousands of government workers will have to go on furlough (leave without pay – this is traditionally repaid whenever the government starts to operate once again), meaning that governmental operations will become less efficient. If you apply for Social Security, your claim could be delayed? Applying for a passport or VISA to travel to a foreign country? Expect that trip to come at a later date due to a delay in processing.

    There is a bigger implication, however. “If the federal government actually were to default on its debt obligations, the full faith and credit of the U.S. government is in question and it can have devastating effects on Treasury’s ability to borrow and on the stability of financial markets in general,” stated Keith Hennessey, former director of the National Economic Council. This means that the value of the American dollar would plummet internationally, leading to hyperinflation and the cost of goods drastically increasing in a very short period of time.

    Why can’t the Republicans and Democrats come to terms this time – the Affordable Care Act, more pejoratively known as Obamacare. The Republicans have taken a hard-nosed stance and have essentially said that if the Affordable Care Act is not repealed, then they will not agree to raise the debt ceiling and a government shutdown will result. On the other-hand, Obama’s press security has said that the government is not willing to accept a delay or repeal in the ACA in order to avoid a government shutdown.

    Republicans in Congress seem to believe that if the government shuts down, the American people will blame President Obama for his willingness to cooperate on the ACA issue. However, history shows that the Republicans will come out looking the fool. In the 1995-96 government shutdown, the Newt Gingrich-led Republicans pulled the same tactic Republicans are pulling today – they believed that if they held onto their morals and values staunchly enough, no matter the outcome, that the American people would flock to their side and catapult Republicans to office across the nation. That’s almost the exact opposite of what occurred.

    Instead of championing the stubbornness of the Republicans, the American people decided to re-elect Bill Clinton in a landslide vote. Voters decided that the actions of the GOP proved that they were not competent enough to run the government, and continued to place their faith behind Clinton (this was ultimately the end of Newt Gingrich). When the government was able to resume operations, Clinton was essentially able to get anything he wanted; all of the support was in his corner.

    So, how worried should the American people be? Chris Krueger, an analyst for Guggenheim Partners, a global financial services firm, believes that “Government Shutdown Odds Increase to 40% … We are raising our odds of a government shutdown in 14 days to 40% from a 1 in 3 probability. We are basing the 60% odds that there will not be a government shutdown on blind faith because there is little to no evidence to suggest that the House, Senate, and White House can agree to a stopgap measure in time.”

    But please, whatever you do, don’t decide that this is a good time to reenact the Panic of 1837. Unemployment is already bad enough, and America definitely isn’t ready for another Andrew Jackson.

    Image via Facebook