Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
PAC puts up Rick Perry campaign ad for president
I think if Perry were to get into this thing, it changes the game in a big way.
He becomes an immediate front-runner that adds another important voice to the debate. It would make the rest of the field step up their game.
And that’s a good thing.
The Blaze
A new super-PAC supporting Texas Governor Rick Perry’s hopeful presidential bid is releasing a statewide ad campaign in Iowa hailing Perry as the “better option” for president. The group Jobs for Iowa reportedly told Politico that it has spent just under $40,000 for two week’s of air time on Fox News Channel in the state.
According to reports, the group is speculated to have the financial backing of affluent Texas Republicans who might like to expand their pro-Perry ad campaign to other states moving forward.
More here
The Blaze
A new super-PAC supporting Texas Governor Rick Perry’s hopeful presidential bid is releasing a statewide ad campaign in Iowa hailing Perry as the “better option” for president. The group Jobs for Iowa reportedly told Politico that it has spent just under $40,000 for two week’s of air time on Fox News Channel in the state.
According to reports, the group is speculated to have the financial backing of affluent Texas Republicans who might like to expand their pro-Perry ad campaign to other states moving forward.
More here
Monday, August 1, 2011
Video: Gabrielle Giffords Votes on Debt Limit Bill - 8/1/2011-Nice Moment
Amidst the craziness and gut wrenching negotiations over the debt ceiling, this was a nice moment where politicians of both parties enjoyed a special moment.
Now back to the fight.
Video: House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy on Fox News Sunday : You can't be leader and just tweet
McCarthy lays some hay makers at Obama.
GOP on verge of huge, unprecedented political victory
Two can play this game!
I find the premises of this report a little ironic. It states the GOP used the threat of default to wrangle more concessions from Democrats. Well, didn’t President Obama do the same thing when he warned the country would go into Depression if we didn’t pass his stimulus bill?
The Washington Post
By all accounts, it looks like a deal is about to be announced in which the debt ceiling is hiked in exchange for the promise of major spending cuts, including to entitlements, totalling at least $2.4 trillion.
Anything can happen, but it apppears the GOP is on the verge of pulling off a political victory that may be unprecedented in American history. Republicans may succeed in using the threat of a potential outcome that they themselves acknowledged would lead to national catastrophe as leverage to extract enormous concessions from Democrats, without giving up anything of any significance in return.
Not only that, but Republicans — in perhaps the most remarkable example of political up-is-downism in recent memory — cast their willingness to dangle the threat of national crisis as a brave and heroic effort they’d undertaken on behalf of the national interest. Only the threat of national crisis could force the immediate spending cuts supposedly necessary to prevent a far more epic crisis later.
Under the emerging deal, President Obama can hike the debt limit in two stages — the first in exchange for equivalent cuts; the second after a Congressional committee comes up with second round of yet more cuts, including to entitlements. The talks appear close to resolving the spending cut“trigger” that would force the committee to act — without giving the GOP an incentive to deliberately sabotage its work. The remaining question is how to get it through the House. But a deal seems immiment.
Again and again, Dems drew lines in the sand that they promptly erased as the threat of default grew.
A clean debt ceiling hike? Dropped. Cuts to Medicare benefits? They’ll likely be in that committee’s crosshairs. The insistence on revenue hikes? Withdrawn.
What make this all the more remarkable is that throughout this process, Republicans themselves conceded not just that a debt ceiling hike would be disastrous for America, but also that it was inevitable. Yet they were still able use the threat of default as leverage. How?
More here
The GOP were the only adults in the room that cared about the country’s financial situation. Democrats don’t give a hoot about that. They only wanna grow more government at any costs. That’s why their called Liberals! Oh, er…Progressives!
Memeorandum
I find the premises of this report a little ironic. It states the GOP used the threat of default to wrangle more concessions from Democrats. Well, didn’t President Obama do the same thing when he warned the country would go into Depression if we didn’t pass his stimulus bill?
The Washington Post
By all accounts, it looks like a deal is about to be announced in which the debt ceiling is hiked in exchange for the promise of major spending cuts, including to entitlements, totalling at least $2.4 trillion.
Anything can happen, but it apppears the GOP is on the verge of pulling off a political victory that may be unprecedented in American history. Republicans may succeed in using the threat of a potential outcome that they themselves acknowledged would lead to national catastrophe as leverage to extract enormous concessions from Democrats, without giving up anything of any significance in return.
Not only that, but Republicans — in perhaps the most remarkable example of political up-is-downism in recent memory — cast their willingness to dangle the threat of national crisis as a brave and heroic effort they’d undertaken on behalf of the national interest. Only the threat of national crisis could force the immediate spending cuts supposedly necessary to prevent a far more epic crisis later.
Under the emerging deal, President Obama can hike the debt limit in two stages — the first in exchange for equivalent cuts; the second after a Congressional committee comes up with second round of yet more cuts, including to entitlements. The talks appear close to resolving the spending cut“trigger” that would force the committee to act — without giving the GOP an incentive to deliberately sabotage its work. The remaining question is how to get it through the House. But a deal seems immiment.
Again and again, Dems drew lines in the sand that they promptly erased as the threat of default grew.
A clean debt ceiling hike? Dropped. Cuts to Medicare benefits? They’ll likely be in that committee’s crosshairs. The insistence on revenue hikes? Withdrawn.
What make this all the more remarkable is that throughout this process, Republicans themselves conceded not just that a debt ceiling hike would be disastrous for America, but also that it was inevitable. Yet they were still able use the threat of default as leverage. How?
More here
The GOP were the only adults in the room that cared about the country’s financial situation. Democrats don’t give a hoot about that. They only wanna grow more government at any costs. That’s why their called Liberals! Oh, er…Progressives!
Memeorandum
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Debt Ceiling Deal Reached To Avert Default-Tea Party can declare victory!
Even though Tea Party members may not like the final deal, they can surely declare victory for getting congress to deal with fixing the country’s outrageous debt situation. They set the terms of the debate where neither establishment GOPers nor Democrats wanted to go.It’s not a perfect fix, far from it. But, it’s a small step in the right direction.
The big loser is President Obama who stayed on the sidelines and showed just how incompetent he is as president. Next on the agenda is voting him out of office.
The Huffington Post
President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders reached historic agreement Sunday night on a compromise to permit vital U.S. borrowing by the Treasury in exchange for more than $2 trillion in long-term spending cuts.
Officials said Republican Speaker John Boehner telephoned Obama at mid-evening to say the agreement had been struck.
Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said that both his party and opposition Republicans gave more ground than they wanted to. He said it'll take members of both political parties to pass the measure.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the pact "will ensure significant cuts in Washington spending" and he assured the markets that a first-ever default on U.S. obligations won't occur.
Both the leaders said they will brief their colleagues tomorrow on the details of the agreement.
More here
Memeorandum
TPM
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has signed off on a deal to raise the debt limit pending the approval of his caucus -- and of course if can win the backing of Senate GOP leaders and then a majority of the House.
His spokesman confirms that Reid will present the deal to his caucus shortly, with the hope of holding a vote on it Sunday night, giving House leaders some running room to pass the plan before the nation's borrowing authority expires late Tuesday.
The deal works like this:
It guarantees the debt limit will be hiked by $2.4 trillion. Immediately upon enactment of the plan, the Treasury will be granted $400 billion of new borrowing authority, after which President Obama will be allowed to extend the debt limit by $500 billion, subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress.
That initial $900 billion will be paired with $900 billion of discretionary spending cuts, first identified in a weeks-old bipartisan working group led by Vice President Joe Biden, which will be spread out over 10 years.
Obama will later be able to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, again subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress.
That will be paired with the formation of a Congressional committee tasked with reducing deficits by a minimum of $1.2 trillion. That reduction can come from spending cuts, tax increases or a mixture thereof
More here
Memeorandum
CNN Anchor Clashes With Sen. Rand Paul Over Debt Ceiling
Mediate:After proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Reid bill and having it struck down, Sen. Rand Paul sat down with Don Lemon to explain what was happening on the floor and what compromises he was up for making.
Lemon was in a curt mood, it seems, as weeks have gone by and the debt deadline looms with little to no visible progress occurring. The two had a contentious exchange as Sen. Paul tried to explain he did have the will to compromise when Lemon questioned what it would take.
Republicans and Democrats reach tentative deal on debt ceiling talks that kicks the can down the road, again!
As I expected this Kabuki dance between the Dems and the GOP was coming down to the last wire. Basically, this deal that both sides are not going to like does nothing to stop the rate of spending.
Instead of going over the cliff at 100 mph, we’re slowing down to 92.
It’s kicking the can down the road, as usual.
ABC News
Democratic and Republican Congressional sources involved in the negotiations tell ABC News that a tentative agreement has been reached on the framework of a deal that would give the President a debt ceiling increase of up to $2.4 trillion and guarantee an equal amount of deficit reduction over the next 10 years.
The details are still being worked out, and a senior White House aide tells ABC News, "talks continue but there is no deal to report."
Congressional leaders plan to brief their members on the framework tomorrow. The reaction from both parties' rank-and-file will determine whether this tentative deal becomes a final deal.
Here, according to Democratic and Republican sources, are the key elements:
*A debt ceiling increase of up to $2.1 to $2.4 trillion (depending on the size of the spending cuts agreed to in the final deal).
*They have now agreed to spending cuts of roughly $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
* The formation of a special Congressional committee to recommend further deficit reduction of up to $1.6 trillion (whatever it takes to add up to the total of the debt ceiling increase). This deficit reduction could take the form of spending cuts, tax increases or both.
*The special committee must make recommendations by late November (before Congress' Thanksgiving recess).
* If Congress does not approve those cuts by December 23, automatic across-the-board cuts go into effect, including cuts to Defense and Medicare. This "trigger" is designed to force action on the deficit reduction committee's recommendations by making the alternative painful to both Democrats and Republicans.
* A vote, in both the House and Senate, on a balanced budget amendment.
More here
Memeorandum
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Computer performs wedding ceremon
Maybe computer can be the norm to perform same sex weddings?
Daily Mail
When Miguel Hanson and Diana Wesley get married today, they won't stand before a gray haired minister holding a Bible. Instead, they'll be looking at a 30-inch monitor.
Mr Hanson, a Houston, Texas web developer and IT consultant, created a minister software program when the couple couldn't get a friend to serve as the minister at their wedding. On one half of the screen, they'll see a virtual minister with an animated, square face with blue eyes and thin, oval glasses.
Daily Mail
When Miguel Hanson and Diana Wesley get married today, they won't stand before a gray haired minister holding a Bible. Instead, they'll be looking at a 30-inch monitor.
Mr Hanson, a Houston, Texas web developer and IT consultant, created a minister software program when the couple couldn't get a friend to serve as the minister at their wedding. On one half of the screen, they'll see a virtual minister with an animated, square face with blue eyes and thin, oval glasses.
His voice will be heard over a sound system while the text of what he's saying will show up on the other half of the screen.
'I was like, you know I'm going to write my own minister,' Mr Hanson said.
More here
The trigger that could lead to a debt deal
I was saying to a good friend of mine who’s really concerned about the country might go into default, not to worry.
This whole song and dance going on in Washington is exactly that, a show to scare the Be-jesus out of people, so when a deal finally gets cut, most people won’t pay attention to the details of a crappy deal that solves absolutely nothing.
The Washington Post
Look closely at the Reid and Boehner bills. The first round of cuts are pretty much the same. The joint congressional committee charged with recommending further deficit reduction is pretty much the same. The difference is that Boehner’s bill forces them to act. He ties a future increase in the debt-ceiling to the successful passage of their proposal. Reid’s bill has no such trigger. And many of the participants in this process say that is the space where a deal will be made -- or not made.
Democrats dismiss Boehner’s current offer completely.
At the New Republic, Jonathan Chait piquantly compared it to “a kidnapper who offers to give you back your child in return for $100,000 and your other child.” A senior Democratic aide in the Senate is even blunter. “That’s the one line in the sand we’ve drawn this whole time. We can’t be revisiting this in another six months.”
Most think the likely compromise is a trigger that would impose automatic, across-the-board cuts in spending if the committee fails in its mission. But Senate Democratic leadership isn’t so sure. They worry that a spending-cuts only trigger is heads, Republicans win; tails, Democrats lose. “The idea of triggers with just cuts is a non-starter. Republicans would just deadlock the committee and get the cuts they want,” continues the aide. “If there is a trigger it would have to be balanced.”
The White House proposed a balanced trigger in April: It would have automatically raised taxes and cut spending if America wasn’t on a path to balanced budgets by 2014. In his remarks on Friday morning, Obama reiterated that support. “if we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, I’ll support that too if it’s done in a smart and balanced way.”
More here
Memeorandum
This whole song and dance going on in Washington is exactly that, a show to scare the Be-jesus out of people, so when a deal finally gets cut, most people won’t pay attention to the details of a crappy deal that solves absolutely nothing.
The Washington Post
Look closely at the Reid and Boehner bills. The first round of cuts are pretty much the same. The joint congressional committee charged with recommending further deficit reduction is pretty much the same. The difference is that Boehner’s bill forces them to act. He ties a future increase in the debt-ceiling to the successful passage of their proposal. Reid’s bill has no such trigger. And many of the participants in this process say that is the space where a deal will be made -- or not made.
Democrats dismiss Boehner’s current offer completely.
At the New Republic, Jonathan Chait piquantly compared it to “a kidnapper who offers to give you back your child in return for $100,000 and your other child.” A senior Democratic aide in the Senate is even blunter. “That’s the one line in the sand we’ve drawn this whole time. We can’t be revisiting this in another six months.”
Most think the likely compromise is a trigger that would impose automatic, across-the-board cuts in spending if the committee fails in its mission. But Senate Democratic leadership isn’t so sure. They worry that a spending-cuts only trigger is heads, Republicans win; tails, Democrats lose. “The idea of triggers with just cuts is a non-starter. Republicans would just deadlock the committee and get the cuts they want,” continues the aide. “If there is a trigger it would have to be balanced.”
The White House proposed a balanced trigger in April: It would have automatically raised taxes and cut spending if America wasn’t on a path to balanced budgets by 2014. In his remarks on Friday morning, Obama reiterated that support. “if we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, I’ll support that too if it’s done in a smart and balanced way.”
More here
Memeorandum
BREAKING: Obama Approval Drops to New Low of 40%
Barack Obama is desperately trying to work the debt ceiling crisis as a means of trying to get his approval rating up by putting the blame on the Republicans.I don’t see how that’s gonna work exactly considering his record of out-of-control spending.
Gallup
President Obama's job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking. His prior low rating of 41% occurred several times, the last of which was in April. As recently as June 7, Obama had 50% job approval.
Obama's approval rating averaged 46% in June and was near that level for most of July; however, it has stumbled in the past few days, coinciding with intensification of the debt ceiling/budget battle in Washington.
Obama's 40% overall approval rating nearly matches the recent 41% approval Americans gave him for handling the debt ceiling negotiations. Though Americans rate Obama poorly for his handling of the situation, they are less approving of how House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are handling it. Gallup does not include ratings of Congress or congressional leaders in its Daily tracking, and thus, there is no overall job approval rating of Boehner, Reid, or Congress directly comparable to Obama's current 40% overall job approval rating.
More here
Memeorandum
REP. PAUL RYAN DESTROYS REID BILL IN BLISTERING SPEECH; ‘LET’S COVER THE MOON WITH YOGURT!’
Paul Ryan makes an excellent point about how the Democrats use baseline budgeting to come with phony numbers to fool the public.
Breitbart TV
Memeorandum
Breitbart TV
Memeorandum
Boehner: 'I stuck my neck out a mile' for debt-ceiling deal with White House
Despite what the Obama-suck media is screwing over the airwaves, the only people coming up with plans to address the financial situation of the United States are the Republicans.
The Democrats offer no plans and just criticize the GOP to score cheap political points with voters. Is this how a responsible political party should act?
I don’t think so.
The Hill
A defiant House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) late Friday defended his debt-ceiling plan by saying it is the only viable plan on paper so far.
The Speaker said he'd risked political capital and stuck his neck out to try to get a deal, while saying an agreement with Democrats was impossible due to their intransigence.
"I've offered ideas, I've negotiated," Boehner said in closing debate on his bill. "Not one time, not one time did the administration ever put any plan on the table. All they would do is criticize what I put out there.
"I stuck my neck out a mile to try to get an agreement with the president of the United States," Boehner continued to grumbling among Democrats. "Hey, I put revenues on the table in order to try to come to an agreement in order to avert us being where we are. But a lot of people in this town can never say yes."
Boehner closed his remarks by thundering: "This House has acted. And it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle… put something on the table! Tell us where you are!"
Boehner defended an addition to his bill that would require both houses to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, saying the country is ready for this change.
"It's time for this to happen," he said. "It enjoys support from both houses of this Congress, and it enjoys bipartisan and widespread support across our country."
More here
The Democrats offer no plans and just criticize the GOP to score cheap political points with voters. Is this how a responsible political party should act?
I don’t think so.
The Hill
A defiant House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) late Friday defended his debt-ceiling plan by saying it is the only viable plan on paper so far.
The Speaker said he'd risked political capital and stuck his neck out to try to get a deal, while saying an agreement with Democrats was impossible due to their intransigence.
"I've offered ideas, I've negotiated," Boehner said in closing debate on his bill. "Not one time, not one time did the administration ever put any plan on the table. All they would do is criticize what I put out there.
"I stuck my neck out a mile to try to get an agreement with the president of the United States," Boehner continued to grumbling among Democrats. "Hey, I put revenues on the table in order to try to come to an agreement in order to avert us being where we are. But a lot of people in this town can never say yes."
Boehner closed his remarks by thundering: "This House has acted. And it is time for the administration and time for our colleagues across the aisle… put something on the table! Tell us where you are!"
Boehner defended an addition to his bill that would require both houses to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, saying the country is ready for this change.
"It's time for this to happen," he said. "It enjoys support from both houses of this Congress, and it enjoys bipartisan and widespread support across our country."
More here
Senate Tables Boehner 3.0 Bill. Where’s the compromise by Democrats?
The House last week passed Cap, Cut, and Balance with bi-partisan support. The Democrat controlled Senate tabled the bill without even the decency of having a debate.Last night the House passed another bill that wasn’t as good as the first as far as truly addressing the financial woes of the country. And again the Senate tabled it without a debate.
Yet still the Democrats like Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and Dick Durbin have the gall to accuse the GOP of not wanting to compromise.
What is the GOP controlled House supposed to do when they’re the only branch of government offering plan after plan while the Democrats are the ones refusing to deal seriously with our nations spending? It’s the Democrats with Presidents Obamam’s failed policy of super spending that has put us in this situation in the first place.
Could it be that the Democrats are actively forcing a financial collapse of the United States so they can offer up even more big government to fix it?
Sure looks lie it to me?
The Caucus, New York Times
The United States Senate quickly dispatched the debt ceiling bill passed by the House Friday evening, tabling the Republican bill indefinitely and moving quickly to start consideration of a Democratic plan that would avoid default on Tuesday.
Less than two hours after House Speaker John A. Boehner pushed his bill through the House over the strenuous objections of nearly two dozen of his own Republican members, the Democratic leadership in the Senate followed through on their promise to kill his legislation.
But the move now sets up an uncertain 72 hours as the Congress moves ever closer to the Tuesday deadline when the Treasury Department says the country will default on its financial obligations without an increase in the debt ceiling.
Mr. Reid said he intends to start the legislative clock ticking on Friday on a new plan to raise the debt ceiling. But Mr. Reid could wait until later in the evening on Friday to allow more time for negotiation throughout the evening.
Memeorandum
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