US House News

The Grand Crap Sandwich

7:36 am EST August 1st, 2011 | Democrats, Economy, Liberals | 101 Comments

Obama The Republican Party was able to enact more conservative cuts on the government with a Democratic President and Democratic Senate than they were with a Republican President, House, and Senate. That’s how much of a massive failure the debt ceiling “deal” is.

It is a massive failure, not only of progressive politics, but of American politics. The legislation will hobble the economic recovery while hurting the poor and middle class. Anybody who believes in progress for America should loudly vote against this monstrosity.

Everybody should share the blame here.

The Republican Party, for its dogged dedication to policies that enrich the already rich at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Congressional Democrats, for being listless and directionless and spineless at practically every opportunity. Given the reigns of power by the American people, they dithered and dithered and watered legislation down. While in the majority, they allowed the GOP to wield far too much influence, while also making the party’s own conservative wing overly influential. Those choices helped lead to a loss of power in 2010, and even weaker leadership in 2011.

President Obama, who has now shown himself to be a terrible negotiator of epic proportions. With just the House, he gave the Republicans the least terrible of their demands. The right demanded no revenue and all-cuts, and Obama gave them just what they wanted. Sure, they would have rather had even deeper cuts — but Obama played the entire game on GOP territory.

I wish someone would show the President a thesaurus and explain that “capitulation” is not a synonym of “compromise.”

In 2010, Democrats ran on a platform of “the Republicans are worse” and as a result suffered at the midterm elections. You cannot run a strong campaign on that kind of message. People need a reason to vote for you, not just against the other guy.

Democrats have now compounded their 2010 problem. If the bill passes, a Democratic president, along with a Democratic senate, will be enshrining conservative policy as law. While overall it’s still better to have Democrats in power — the Democrats themselves have undercut progressive policy. That’s a crappy way to motivate your progressive base.

And again, besides the politics and the optics, the deal is just bad for America. It is wrong for our country. It hurts an already bleeding nation. And the Democrats helped.

In the past progressives like myself said we needed “more and better” Democrats, please. Now we truly realize that its far better to get better Democrats because a majority with a Democratic president simply unwilling to push forward and do the right thing clearly isn’t getting the job done.

This is a massive failure.

Topic: President Obama, U.S. Senate, US House

The Republican Party Is Melting Down

1:11 pm EST July 27th, 2011 | Conservative, Republicans | 51 Comments

Welcome to the tea party. Now, unfortunately they are taking America down at the same time. But the implosion here is pretty insane.

GOPers chant ‘fire him’ at Paul Teller

House Republicans on Wednesday morning were calling for the firing of the Republican Study Committee top staffer after he was caught sending e-mails to conservative groups urging them to pressure GOP lawmakers to vote against a debt proposal from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Infuriated by the e-mails from Paul Teller, the executive director of the RSC, members started chanting “Fire him, fire him!” while Teller stood silently at a closed-door meetings of House Republicans.

NYT

Members of the House Republican caucus said after a morning meeting that Mr. Boehner opened by urging the rank and file to “get your ass in line,” but then listened as many of them voiced lingering concerns.

Insisting to members that their bill, rather than the one offered by Senate Democrats, was the path to an agreement, Mr. Boehner added: “This is the bill. I can’t do this job unless you’re behind me,” recalled people who attended the meeting.

Topic: Tea Party, US House

If US Government Defaults, Eric Cantor Stands To Profit

1:32 pm EST June 29th, 2011 | Economy, Republicans | 37 Comments

I wish I weren’t so cynical that I would actually believe that the majority leader of the US House Of Representatives would actually push us to financial chaos in order to personally profit. But I am that cynical because I’ve watched these people for years now.

Last year the Wall Street Journal reported that Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, had between $1,000 and $15,000 invested in ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury EFT. The fund aggressively “shorts” long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, meaning that it performs well when U.S. debt is undesirable. (A short is when the trader hopes to profit from the decline in the value of an asset.)

According to his latest financial disclosure statement, which covers the year 2010 and has been publicly available since this spring, Cantor still has up to $15,000 in the same fund. Contacted by Salon this week, Cantor’s office gave no indication that the Virginia Republican, who has played a leading role in the debt ceiling negotiations, has divested himself of these holdings since his last filing. Unless an agreement can be reached, the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt payments on Aug. 2. If that happens and Cantor is still invested in the fund, the value of his holdings would skyrocket.

Topic: Eric Cantor, US House

House GOP Proposals Would Kill 6.7 Million Jobs

10:40 am EST June 28th, 2011 | Economy, Republicans | 3 Comments

This is an active campaign to undermine the basics of America.

House Republicans have voted to eliminate between 4 and 5 million jobs, with some economists calling their estimates “conservative.” Including proposed legislation that has not yet passed, House Republicans have attempted to eliminate up to 6.7 million jobs.

Topic: US House

Darrell Issa Faking Outrage Over “Fast & Furious”, Already Knew About It

1:58 am EST June 22nd, 2011 | News, Republicans | 10 Comments

The sad thing is, its not that we didn’t expect this story to come out, but that it was only a matter of time.

A chief Republican critic of a controversial U.S. anti-gun-trafficking operation was briefed on ATF’s “Fast and Furious” program last year and did not express any opposition, sources familiar with the classified briefing said Tuesday.

Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), who has repeatedly called for top Justice Department officials to be held accountable for the now-defunct operation, was given highly specific information about it at an April 2010 briefing, the sources said. Members of his staff also attended the session, which Issa and two other Republican congressmen had requested.

Fake outrage is what they do. That’s why they have a fake news channel.

Topic: ATF, Darrell Issa, US House

How Will The Republican Plan To Kill Medicare Affect Your District?

9:39 pm EST June 3rd, 2011 | Politics | Comments Off

The Dems on the House Energy & Commerce committee have done us a service by detailing the effects of the GOP plan to kill Medicare on a district by district level.

In my district, for instance, Maryland’s 4th congressional – currently represented by Donna Edwards – this is what we would have to look forward to from the GOP budget:

• Reduce coverage for 7,500 dual eligible seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicaid to supplement their Medicare coverage or pay their Medicare cost sharing.

• Jeopardize nursing home care for 700 whose expenses are paid by Medicaid.

• Impair the health care of 71,000 children, including 4,100 newborns each year, who receive coverage under Medicaid.

• Cut payments to hospitals for 32,000 emergency room visits paid for by Medicaid each year.

• Cut payments to hospitals for 10,100 inpatient visits paid for by Medicaid each year.

• Reduce jobs and hurt economic growth by eliminating $1.4 billion in Medicaid spending.

All a part of the GOP’s brave new world!

Topic: Health Care, Medicare, US House

Republicans Waste Your Money. Again.

1:23 pm EST April 19th, 2011 | Republicans | 7 Comments

Now the Keystone Kongress is paying a lawyer $500+ dollars an hour in order to stop gay people from being married or something. This is surely a good use of taxpayer funds.

Topic: Gay Marriage, US House

GOP Begs Democrats To Take Back The House

2:51 am EST April 16th, 2011 | Politics | 80 Comments

Were Republican votes in last year’s election really a vote to dismantle Medicare? I don’t think so, yet that’s what nearly every Republican member of the House voted to do on Friday.

I don’t think it’s exaggeration to say this will turn out to have been a major mistake by the GOP (even better was the Democrats almost tricking them into passing an even worse budget than the Ryan monster). A larger, younger electorate in 2012 motivated by Presidential politics already puts the GOP on far less favorable ground than they faced in 2010′s perfect storm, but I don’t see how voting against the interests of one of the right’s core constituencies – the elderly – makes any kind of political sense.

The Democrats at least seem to be clear on this, and will wield it like Thor’s hammer this coming year.

Topic: 2012 Election, US House

Avoiding The Shutdown Of The Government Was Good… For John McCain!

4:00 am EST April 9th, 2011 | Politics | 66 Comments

Obama President Obama has brokered a deal between the Democratic-run Senate and the Republican-run House that avoids a shutdown of the federal government, while also stripping the bill of issues such as Planned Parenthood funding and decisions about the EPA’s authority.

Yet somehow, I’m seeing from some – particularly Ezra Klein, who should honestly know better – that this was a bad deal for the President.

On policy, of course these budget cuts targeted at programs that assist the poor and middle class suck. But they were always going to suck. The minute the House of Representatives flipped from Democratic to Republican, anyone without giant stores of money had a target at their back. The Republicans negotiated their way to a $39 billion cut.

But let us remember that these are the same Republicans who campaigned on cutting $100 billion from the budget. Just a couple months ago, conservative blogs were despairing that the cuts had been sliced down to $78 billion.

And John Boehner, wily trickster that he is, has made an agreement – which probably does not have the support of his caucus, possibly needing Democratic help – that cuts that ransom demand in half. I can only imagine that being described as a victory for Boehner at a Beltway party and nowhere else outside of the 495 loop.

What did the polls show that Democrats and Independents wanted out of these negotiations? A compromise that kept the doors open on our government. And that’s what we got. Faced with a fundamentally flawed budget process thanks to the outcome of the November elections, President Obama presided over a bipartisan result that avoided the attempt to scuttle women’s health issues and environmental concerns. From a political perspective, he will have signed into law a cut in spending the year before his re-election as the unemployment rate decreases.

It was enough to prompt Tea Party Nation to claim they will primary Boehner, while base conservatives on the depraved Free Republic gnashed their teeth and made the following statements: “GOP sells out all GOP sucker voters!,” “Cowards, more interested in keeping their jobs then doing what’s right for the country.,” and “The GOP are the modern day Whigs.”

This sentiment goes on for quite a few pages.

This was a negotiating process in which voices of the far right such as Allan West and Michele Bachmann advised retreat for the GOP.

Obama and Reid were operating in an environment infected by the Tea Party House, and secured a deal that averted shutdown and showed the President to be the adult here. Yet a few people seem to think this is the kind of thing that is good news for the right.

As a failed vice-presidential candidate once asked: In what respect, Charlie?

Topic: John Boehner, President Obama, U.S. Senate, US House

Republican Shutdown Of The Government Would Affect Military Pay

9:51 am EST April 6th, 2011 | Economy | 50 Comments

You don’t say.

In the event of a shutdown, all uniformed military personnel would continue to work but would stop receiving paychecks, an official familiar with the government’s planning told The Cable. As April 8 falls in the middle of the Defense Department’s two-week pay period, military personnel would actually receive a paycheck totaling half the normal amount. A large number of Pentagon civilians would be furloughed without pay for the duration of the shutdown. Support structures for military families, such as military schools, would remain open. When the shutdown ends, the soldiers would get their back pay but the civilians might not.

Most personnel at U.S. foreign missions would be retained, the official said, although about two-thirds of the State Department and USAID staff in Washington would be furloughed. Non-emergency passport services for Americans would also likely be suspended. Up to three-quarters of the staff at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would be sent home without pay.

U.S. diplomats and military officials would still be able to travel for important meetings, but “it will be a much, much, much tougher standard,” the official said, explaining that travel would be approved only “if it is integral to the foreign relations and safety and security of the country.”

The shutdown would also impact government organizations that help American companies do business abroad. For example, the Export-Import Bank would stop approving new loan guarantees or insurance policies, the official said, which could cost American exporters $2 billion to $4 billion each month in income and jeopardize deals already in progress.

Topic: Military, US House