Inspire Political Discourse

Dodd Excoriates GOP for Obstructionism on Financial Reform Bill

Via Think Progress

Despite months of bipartisan negotiation and promises of cooperation, Republicans recently threatened to filibuster the bill. A visibly angry Dodd took to the Senate floor today to condemn the GOP’s obstructionism, calling out their “very false talking points” and warning them that they will have to explain to Americans, “I’m sorry but we’re not on your side:”

DODD: A letter from the Minority Leader said we’ve got 41 votes here to stop you from even debating this bill. Well, you explain that to the American taxpayer, to the small business, to the American family, and to others out there who are paying an awful price because the the mess that the very institutions who are today leading the charge against us getting a bill. Explain to them why the status quo is in their interest and their benefit. Mr. President, those who vote to block this bill will be sending a clear message to American families, businesses, community bankers and tax payers and that message will be, I’m sorry but we are not on your side. We are choosing another side of this equation.

Last month, my good friend the Minority Leader and the Republican senator responsible for campaign fundraising participated in meeting in New York with Wall Street executives. … Comes back right afterwards and we get all of a sudden, we get this rhetoric about too big to fail and we can’t possibly go to this bill. Don’t tell me that miraculously, these things happen and all of sudden we find ourselves with 41 senators [opposed to this bill].

President Obama Calls Out Mitch McConnell

In his weekly remarks, President Obama accused Mitch McConnell of lying. You GO, Mr. President! 

Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington.  This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill.  Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed.  In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite.  Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities.  And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it.  That’s the truth.  Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.

Read the entirety of his remarks, or view the video. For more on this still developing situation , I filed my posts under the categories Mitch McConnell and Financial Reform.

Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party Stands in Defense of Wall Street and Against Financial Reform

Last week McConnell attended a private meeting with 25 Wall Street executives, many of them hedge fund managers.

What McConnell did not mention was that, last week, he traveled alongside National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. John Cornyn (TX) to New York City for a private meeting with elite hedge fund managers and other Wall Street executives. The purpose of the meeting between the top Republicans and the financial executives was to enlist “Wall Street’s help” in funding Republican campaigns in the fall and killing any tough financial reform:[......]

This week McConnell has thrown down the gauntlet, refusing to deal on Dodd's financial  
reform bill. His excuse making harkens back to the much publicized GOP strategy memo written by pollster Frank Luntz. In point of fact, his arguments against reform are close to exactly as Luntz urged the GOP to make.

In order to prevent future taxpayer bailouts of the big banks, to prevent our economy from spinning out of control again, to protect our country from financial insolvency, we must legislate financial reform. Period. The removal of controls on the financial services industry is what got us in to this mess to begin with. If we listen to the Republicans we are asking for more of the same.

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Health Care Reform Progress

The Senate bill which is the base for health care reform passed the house on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Today, the reconciliation bill passed the Senate, The Senate Parliamentarian claims that the Byrd rule was violated, and the bill now returns to the House for another vote.

UPDATE:
Last night, March 25, the House passed the reconciliation bill, and the long effort to enact health care reform is over. That is, excepting the improvements we intend to make over the next few years before the mandates kick in.

Will the Republicans Attempt to Impeach President Obama? Yes.

From Bob Cesca, on the Huffington Post:

If the Republicans ever manage to retake Congress, they will absolutely try to impeach President Obama. And it'll be based upon a supremely ridiculous charge such as, say, the president refusing to nourish our crops with a sports drink instead of water.

Okay, so maybe the Idiocracy example is over-the-top, but if we follow the current trajectory of far-right attacks to their logical yet insane conclusion, it makes sense in a very eerie way. Have you seen the television commercials solemnly defending our right to poison our kids with "juice drinks and soda?" There you go.

I've been following the Republican descent into the realms of the bizarre for some time now, and it wasn't until the "czars" thing broke that I became convinced that if they retook Congress the Republicans might try to impeach the president. The grounds for both the impeachment and the language used to sell it will likely be fabricated by either Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh.

I mean, 100 Republican members of Congress have signed onto Rep. Jack Kingston's cartoonish czar bill. 100 House Republicans out of 177 have attached their names to a bill that was essentially invented as a television bit by Glenn Beck without any regard for the fact that "czar" is a nickname invented by the press, and that every president -- all of them! -- has employed policy and political advisers within their administrations. But it functions as an effective Beck attack because he knows his audience isn't bright enough to distinguish "czars" from "communists." By the way, not to be out-crazied by his House colleagues, Senator Ensign introduced an amendment to the Finance Committee health care reform bill called "Transparency in Czars." This might as well be "Transparency in Hobbits" because it's just that ludicrous.

Nevertheless, there's a growing conventional wisdom in the press alleging that both sides of the political spectrum are equally guilty of wackaloon attacks and conspiracy theories.

Granted there might be one or two very fringe exceptions but this is otherwise a false equivalency written by the establishment media as part of their self-conscious effort to seem balanced. The distinction is that any "fringe" attacks from the left during the Bush years weren't mainstreamed and legitimized the way the wingnut attacks are today, even though the fringe attacks from the left turned out to be mostly accurate.

Continue reading http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-impeachment-of-presid_b_297330.html

Sarah Palin: the Utterly Predictable LIAR

The woman never ceases to amaze. Her complete audacity, her attempts to manipulate the public with outright lies, is enough to make one want to gag. Or better still, send her to a gulag (only partly joking).

Horrid, unintelligent woman that she is, she is inciting public fear yet again, via her publication of the following statement on her Facebook account:

“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.”

A complete fabrication by Palin, it is a quite horrific lie, it's intention being to fear monger in the short term, and defeat Obama in the long term, which to Palin, is 2012.

Rated "Pants on Fire" by Politifact.com, they had this to say:

“We agree with Palin that such a system would be evil. But it's definitely not what President Barack Obama or any other Democrat has proposed.

We have read all 1,000-plus pages of the Democratic bill and examined versions in various committees. There is no panel in any version of the health care bills in Congress that judges a person's "level of productivity in society" to determine whether they are "worthy" of health care.

Palin's claim sounds a little like another statement making the rounds, which says that health care reform would mandate counseling for seniors on how to end their lives sooner. We rated this claim Pants on Fire! The truth is that the health bill allows Medicare, for the first time, to pay for doctors' appointments for patients to discuss living wills and other end-of-life issues with their physicians. These types of appointments are completely optional, and AARP supports the measure.”

Sarah Palin is a fear-mongering, self-centered politician, and we really would benefit immensely if we could ban her lying derriere from the national political debate. For the truth about the healthcare related distortions currently making the rounds, check out Politifact's Guide.

IPD Political News Summary, Wednesday, April 22, 2009

| At a United Nations conference on racism in Geneva on Monday, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,  launched in to a tirade against Israel. Delegates from a number of European countries walked out in protest.
The U.S., Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Israel all boycotted the conference as they had expected Ahmadinejad to use the conference as a forum to “focus on maligning Israel rather than on the global problems of discrimination, replaying the disputes that marked the first United Nations conference on combating racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.”
The countries that walked out: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic (has left the conference for good), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, , Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, St. Kitts and Nevis
Image courtesy of The NYT.

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| The release of the Bush torture memos last week caused many on the left to become more vocal, urging the current administration to hold accountable those who directed others to violate U.S. and international law. On Tuesday, President Obama stated publicly for the first time, that he is open to prosecution of the people responsible for directing others to commit acts of torture. Bolding is mine.From The New York Times:

But in response to questions from reporters in the Oval Office, he said, “if and when there needs to be a further accounting,” he hoped that Congress would examine ways to obtain one “in a bipartisan fashion,” from people who are independent and therefore can build credibility with the public.

Image of the scales of justice on top of the Old Bailey in London, by Andrew Parsons, courtesy of the BBC.

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| Congress is back in Washington this week, after a break for Easter recess. At the top of their agenda is the budget, healthcare, and credit cards.
The president has said that he expects Republicans to come back with a more “constructive attitude toward health care, energy and other administration initiatives.” David Axelrod via Huffpost:

"No one expects the Republican Party to fully embrace what we're doing," Axelrod said. "What they would like is for us to ratify the policies that we've had for the last eight years that have gotten us into the mess we're in. We have two parties for a reason, but there are areas of common interest, and we ought to pursue them."

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| On Monday, President Obama directed his cabinet to cut spending by $100 million, acknowledging that it’s a drop in the proverbial bucket.
The cabinet was directed to go through the expenses in each of their areas, and eliminate a total of $100 million from the budget.

Obama said the $100 million would come from "efficiencies" in agency operations, and would be in addition to future cuts in programs that aren't working.

Yet the red ink in the annual budget is currently in the hundreds of billions. He was asked if the efficiency saving isn't just "a drop in the bucket".

"It is," he replied. "None of these things alone are going to make a difference. But cumulatively, they make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone ... $100 million there, $100 million here _ pretty soon, even here in Washington, it adds up to real money."

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| In signing legislation that will triple the size of the Americorps program, President Obama called on students to volunteer to improve their communities. .
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| MEDIA MATTERS log, April 20 - April 26, 2009

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IPD Political News Summary: Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Political News Summary Covering Monday, March 30 – Tuesday, March 31, 2009

| The results of a new poll show that Americans are not drinking the GOP koolaide when it comes to blaming Obama for the recession.

| On Thursday, the US House passed a bill, in a 247-171 vote, that would give the Treasury broad powers to prohibit "unreasonable and excessive" compensation and bonuses that are not based on performance standards.The bill would affect all employees at financial institutions that receive bailout funds.

| Last night, on MSNBC’s Countdown, Keith Olbermann named O’Reilly “Worst Person” for using his harassment machine to stalk a liberal blogger.

| On Wednesday, the GOP, in a typical move, authored an article containing a phony graph in the Wall Street Journal. Their intent, was of course to discredit Obama’s budget plan.

Cartoon courtesy of McClatchy
Image courtesy of HuffPost.
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ZERO Cred, and ZERO Numbers in the GOP “Budget” Plan

In response to President Obama’s call to produce their own budget, the GOP did just that, invoking the criticism of media conservatives, as well as hilarity from the Democrats, when it was noted that the GOP budget had not one number in it! That’s right, ZERO NUMBERS in a budget!

You may see this ad put out by the DNC as a little silly……on the other hand, the GOP’s idea of a budget is one hell of a lot sillier. Still laughing here.

Sen. Reid: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Lied

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts lied.

Progressives to Challenge Incumbent Democrats in Primaries

:: A new organization, Accountability Now PAC, will hold Democrats accountable by targeting those viewed as not acting in the best interests of their constituents. From HUFFPOST:

Accountability Now PAC will officially be based in Washington D.C., though its influence is designed to be felt in congressional districts across the country. The group will adopt an aggressive approach to pushing the Democratic Party in a progressive direction; it will actively target, raise funds, poll and campaign for primary challengers to members who are either ethically or politically out-of-touch with their voters. The goal, officials with the organization say, is to start with 25 potential races and dwindle it down to eight or 10; ultimately spending hundreds of thousands on elections that usually wouldn't be touched.

"Most of the time, regardless of your record in Washington, an incumbent does not have to worry about being challenged in a primary," explained Jeff Hauser, an online Democratic operative who will serve as the group's executive director. "This only increases the power of the Washington echo chamber and the influence of lobbyists. We are trying to change that... We think there are potentially talented challengers out there who think the process of mounting a primary challenge is simply too daunting. When you bring to bear the resources of national organizations and the influence of the netroots, you can help these potential candidates."

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Hidden in the Stimulus, is a Law That Recognizes Internet Neutrality

:: The stimulus contains a law which recognizes and guarantees internet neutrality, an unexpected and not well known bonus. This is a huge win for all of us who use the internet and are not large companies. From HUFFPOST:

Buried in the massive stimulus law are some important new protections for the Internet. That's the good news. On the other hand, the possibility exists that a key part of the new law could be co-opted by the big telecom and cable companies. If they succeed, then the future of broadband deployment in the country, and particularly to rural areas, could be in jeopardy.
First, the good news, on what is in the law and what isn't. For the first time, Congress passed a law that recognizes the essential neutral nature of the Internet - that it is an open platform that shouldn't be controlled by companies that provide the on-ramps. It took a nifty bit of legislative drafting, particularly from the dedicated Senate staffers to get it done, but some times that's how things have to happen.

TAGS: political, news, tech, web, internet, stimulus, bill, neutrality, net, law,
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The House Republicans Celebrate Their Failure

For the Feb. 17 update on this story, click here.

:: Well, well, well........the house republicans are dissatisfied with the reaction of middle America to the clear win of the Democrats on the stimulus. A party that did not cast one vote for the stimulus bill that a majority of Americans wanted, including their very own constituents.A party that lied, repeatedly about pretty much every aspect of the stimulus. That same party, ignoring their own idiocy, indeed, celebrating it, posts a video on the site of house whip, Eric Cantor, head idiot. Read the story at HUFFPOST, watch Cantor's idiocy, set to "Aeorsmith", below.

Quote from unknown commenter: "This reminds me of the slackers in high school who would brag about flunking a test like it was something that made them cool."  SO true.

Image courtesy of Huffington Post.
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RECENT  POSTS:

» How the Republican Party Has Defined Itself, and What We Must Do About It

FULL VIDEO: President Obama's First Press Conference - February 9, 2009

To read the complete transcript, click here.

IPD Random Politics Weekly - February 1, 2009

Cartoon by Dan Wasserman

 

Where's the loyalty? Phil Gingrey, in his short-lived blast @ Rush Limbaugh, thoroughly emasculated in front of the world. The two GOP tools he was defending, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, watched without lifting the proverbial finger. Gingrey is forced to apologize to Limbaugh. McConnell and Boehner are completely pathetic asses. [H/T Jason Linkins]

Johnny and Rush -  John McCain, who has long loved to call himself bipartisan, and sure as hell shoved it down our throats falsely when campaigning, stands up for NO. 1 GOP partisan, Rush Limbaugh in his assholishness towards President Obama.
McCain.YOU.SUCK. Limbaugh.YOU.SUCK.MORE.

The Dems and the business tax cuts -  Give it up. The partisan Repugs are not holding out a vote, they are holding out forked, sharp sticks. Take the damn business tax cuts back out, and tell 'em to screw themselves. We have a freaking majority. Use that power. Repugs = IRRELEVANT.

President Obama, and the 111th Congress -  Wall Street needs to understand that they can not take taxpayer money and then proceed to do business as freaking usual. Make them take back those bonuses and put someone in place to monitor their every idiotic move. You owe it to us. The American taxpayers. Really. DO. IT. 2012 is approaching.

That's it for this week, unless you have something to add via a comment.

The Partisan Credo of the GOP, and What Obama Should Do About it

As American citizens, most of us realize that once a thing gets to Washington, it is always politicized. For bad or worse, this is acceptable in American politics, but only to a degree. There is a fine line which you cross at your peril, and this week, in their egregious politicization of the stimulus plan, the G.O.P. crossed it, and then crossed it again, and again, and, well, they aren't done yet.

PARTISANSHIP IS IN THE G.O.P. CREDO, FOR THE LOVE OF PURE RANCOR - PRESIDENT OBAMA MUST LIVE IN THE MIDDLE GROUND.

“We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals -- and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship. Bipartisanship is another name for date rape.”

Prominent Republican, Grover Norquist¹, expressed his feelings about partisanship in an interview with the Denver Post in 2003. In his comparison of bipartisanship to date rape, he succinctly laid out the GOP take on bipartisanship. Yes, seriously, date rape. When the interview was published, the conservative tome, The Nation, publicly squealed in delight.
From Cliff Schecter, on finding the middle ground, as the Republicans hug partisanship close:

there is a middle ground between George Bush-style, temper-tantrum-laden Deciderism and reaching out to every atavistic crank and rightwing extremist with a colourful flag lapel pin and contempt for all objective discovery post-Copernicus. It is in this middle ground where the Obama administration must live.

In other words, there is no problem sitting down with the likes of George Will and John Boehner to try and charm the opposition - although I might recommend a full-body condom and inoculations just for safety's sake. But publicly expressing your wish for 80 votes in the Senate in favour of your economic stimulus bill (which means getting the votes of slightly more than half the Republican caucus) and agreeing to more and more tax cuts that only serve as a stimulus for those who have forgotten to take their erectile dysfunction pills in corporate boardrooms and conservative conference halls is too large a price to pay with an economy on the precipice.

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FOOTNOTES: 

¹Grover Norquist - Norquist, along with Bill Kristol, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Clint Bolick, and David McIntosh, is one of the so-called "Gang of Five" identified in Nina Easton's 2000 book by that name, which gives a history of leaders of the modern (post-Goldwater) conservative movement.Norquist was one of the co-authors of the 1994 Contract with America.
Norquist is also a close friend of Karl Rove, and of Jack Abramoff. Indeed, Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, sold their clout to Abramoff, and were tied to the Abramoff scandal. Jack Abramoff is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Cumberland, Maryland.

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Political News Summary: Wednesday, January 28, 2009

:: More on HuffPost re Republican behavior (besides, I had to share this great graphic from HP). The headline over the elephant pic reads "Toeing the Party Line". Gotta admit, we Dems have a much keener sense of humor than the Repubs. Oh, and by the time you click on this link, the headline and the image may be different because it's on the HuffPost home page. From HUFFPOST:

:: On Republican behavior. From Bob Cesca (I love this guy):

Take it to the People

Never mind the damn Republican obstructers, and the Blue Dog Democrats. Screw 'em. They wish to play politics when this country is in deeply serious trouble, tell 'em to take their balls and go home, because they aren't working for the people who not only voted them in to office, but pay their freaking salaries!.Take it to the people, Obama!

That really is all you need to do.

UPDATE - Jan. 26 - One of the "eggers-on" of the obstructionists, Bill Kristol, seemingly lost his position as a columnist at the NYT. For further info, read Jason Linkins on the HuffPost, and to view Kristol's last, pathetic lying column, click here. So long, Billy, we will not miss ya. In my collage below, Kristol is Old Neocon No.3.

UPDATE - Jan. 26 - Nobel prize winning economist, Paul Krugman weighs in. Bolding is mine. From the Int. Herald Tribune (NYT global):

As the debate over President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: Many of the plan's opponents aren't arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don't want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don't want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending.

 

Weekend Political News Summary: January 24-25, 2009

:: SURPRISE....No comprehensive case files on many Guantanamo detainees. From the Washington Post:

President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials -- barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees -- discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.

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:: Palin aides being charged with new ethics violations. From HUFFPOST:

In her current complaint against McAllister, McLeod sites a series of activities that she contends violate Alaska's "Executive Branch Code of Ethics," which prohibits public officials from using or authorizing "the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another government asset or resource for partisan political purposes."

"These campaign activities have absolutely nothing to do with the public's business, and everything to do with promoting Palin's personal endeavors and political aspirations," McLeod declared in an exclusive interview. "This must not go unchallenged."

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:: According to the complete dick, Rush Limbaugh, Republicans should be against the stimulus plan because it could hurt their electoral chances. Politics as usual. From Think Progress:

Political News Summary: Wednesday, January 21, 2009

:: Executive order would close down Guantanamo within one year. Trials were halted as of today.
The order was drafted today, is undated, and has yet to be signed. However, I would expect that it will be done as soon as possible. From HUFFPOST:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration intends to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year and halt military trials of terror suspects held there, according to a draft order obtained Wednesday.

The executive order was one of three expected imminently on how to interrogate and prosecute al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to threaten the United States.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons
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