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Subscribe to RSS“Democratic and Republican Senate leaders made a dramatic bid last night to salvage President Obama’s tax package by adding an array of tax breaks, including ones for alternative energy projects, that could clear the way for passage next week,” the Boston Globe reports. “These changes, which had been included in previous congressional tax proposals, include such disparate items as extending tax credits for railroad maintenance, motor raceway improvements, economic development in American Samoa, and increasing the limit of rum excise tax revenue to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. All told, the package would cost about $855 billion, according to preliminary projections by the Joint Committee on Taxation. The dozens of extensions on business tax breaks, including those for alternative energy, would cost about $55 billion.”
A cloture vote on the tax bill is set for 3:00 pm ET Monday in the Senate, Roll Call reports.
Anger bubbled over in the Democrats’ caucus meeting, where they voted – though it’s non-binding -- against the tax compromise framework. When Rep. Shelly Berkley was defending the proposal, a member muttered, “F--- the president,” Roll Call reports.
“The House Democratic leadership is pushing back against complaints from several departing Members that a Caucus vote rejecting President Barack Obama’s tax cut deal occurred without their input,” Roll Call writes.
Sharpton vs. Weiner: The New York Daily News: “The Democrats' family feud went local Thursday when Rev. Al Sharpton accused Rep. Anthony Weiner of ignoring the needs of working people.” Sharpton said, "I'm against tax cuts for the rich too...but this is absolutely over the top to blame this on President Obama. The goal is to take care of working class people, not to attack the President." More: “Sharpton will use his nationally-syndicated radio show Thursday afternoon to urge Weiner to temper his razor-tongued rhetoric.” He invited Weiner to debate him on his show. "There will be pushback," Sharpton said.
Changing the Ways? Speaker-to-be John Boehner hired a lobbyist to be his policy director.
“Senate Republicans blocked a repeal of the ban on openly gay service members yesterday, potentially dooming any chance for overturning the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy this year,” the Boston Globe writes.
The New York Daily News takes a similar angle with its headline: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal blocked by Senate Republicans.”
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is calling for a block of the continuing resolution that would fund the government, deriding it as a “Trojan horse” to fund the health care overhaul, The Hill writes. He said that “is hardly the mandate from the November elections.”
“Three years after promoting a landmark immigration reform bill, [Sen. Lindsay] Graham is now joining hardliners in opposing a measure that would grant the same protections to children of illegal aliens” that he provided to a single child of an immigrant mother in 2007, creating a rare “private bill” on her behalf, McClatchy writes.
Roll Call on earmarks, or whatever you want to call them: “Operating under very tight budget constraints, Congress will keep federal spending flat next year — except for the wild horses of the West, who get an extra $12 million. … While that is technically true [that the bill doesn’t have earmarks in it], the bill does include money specifically aimed at addressing Members’ pet projects, from uranium mining to protecting presidential candidates to rounding up wild horses.”
Fed fight: Guess who’s in charge of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee… Ron Paul.
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"F--- the president"...
With friends like this, who needs enemies?
FellowTravelers:
There's about three-million of us out there, that's one in every 100 Americans. We're Viet Nam veterans, and I wonder why there aren't more of us praising WikiLeaks. Yes, Assange is a bit creepy and full of himself, but have we forgotten OR did we simply not learn the lessons of Viet Nam?
It was long after we left Viet Nam that we learned that the Gulf of Tonkin incident - the excuse for the incursion - was a total fabrication. Senator William Proxmire questioned whether we weren't using cluster bombs - a particularly nasty weapon. Oh no, of course not Senator. A lie. Elect Richard Nixon as President, he has a secret plan to end the war. Well, it's still secret today, or that was a lie. Hey, we're winning the war. The kill ratio is stacked ridiculously in our favor. Fifty-eight-thousand dead Americans and we most assuredly did not win the war. Another lie. Just give me more troops, said commanding General William Westmoreland and we'll win. So, we gave him more troops and we did not win. Another lie.
Some years later, Westmoreland retired. I went on to become a reporter, and darned if we didn't wind up in the same place - South Carolina. The reason for the interview escapes me now, but I was sent to handle the job. Wow, the enlisted swine gets to ask questions of the Big Cheese. Well, that didn't go over all that well. The General, in the imperious fashion so common to general officers, allowed as how he really didn't think he should answer those questions.
Well folks, that's the state of our government today. Little has changed. It's for our own good they can't share the truth with us. Our government doesn't have to answer to us. We should trust them Yes, absolutely! We should trust the same guys who were in charge when the banking system almost brought down the world, the same guys who never saw a military incursion they didn't like, the same guys who can't balance a budget, and the same guys, who as WikiLeaks shows us, just can't seem to tell the truth.
And yet, there are those who still believe it is US - yes, American citizens - who can't be trusted.
Keep those WikiLeaks coming.
Mixed Bag
"F--- the president"...
With friends like this, who needs enemies?
What's your beef you're gung ho for the republicans who have stabbed you in the back since Reagan?
I don't care much for incivility, Bev.
But then...you're one of the last people I'd expect to be able to relate to that view.
I very much understand the Dems' frustration, but this comment was over the top. Not the vote, just the comment. Get a grip, folks, or you'll blow any chance of accomplishing anything in the remainder of this congress. Yes, the GOP is acting like a bunch of thugs (among other things), but you are the only ones who can move things forward.
Dear Santa,
As you are completing your "NAUGHTY" list this year, please save some coal for the following senators:
Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Kit Bond (R-MO), Scott Brown (R-MA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), James Inhofe (R-OK), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), George LeMieux (R-FL), Dick Lugar (R-IN), John McCain (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Harry Reid (D-NV), James Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Thune (R-SD), David Vitter (R-LA), George Voinovich (R-OH) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
By a 57-42 vote, the senators listed successfully fillibustered the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 which would provide care to 9/11 first responders and recovery workers with illnesses directly linked to the incident.
Yes, holding true to their pledge to block all legislation until the Bush Tax Shift is extended for the to 2%, these senators have decided that the CEO of Megatech is much more important than a NYC firefighter.
Merry Freakin' Christmas!!!
I'm guessing that the legislation for 9/11 first responders relief will pass promptly when President Obama's proposal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts passes.
It's going to happen...so, stop the kabuki and get to work.
You have got ot be kidding. The Democorats added these becasue "they caer about the middle class". Give me a break! Their credibility wasn't much before... Now it is gone!
The two year extension of tax cuts for million and billionaires just proves that the Republicans want to add to the deficit. They know it won't add jobs and those top earners really don't need even more money. However, when it really comes time to cut the deficit in earnest I wonder where the painful cuts are going to be. Probably to those programs that they don't use or need. What a sinister plan.
President Obama is not a dumb man. In the end the democrats will have the better end of this situation. Obama knows what he's doing, we are all too stupidly involved to see what the big picture is. The democrats actually got the better end of the bargain if you actually look at what all the dems got in this deal. It would have been nice if he'd added something in the deal for the "working poor".
Democrats got the better end of the stick and the evidence will show itself in the near future. Democrats quit complaining and join our President with this decision. It's to our benefit and we can't see the forest for the trees. Just remember repubs in two years the tax cuts will expire and don't act dumb when that time comes...it will be here before we all know it.
Republicans: We Did Not Rehire you to continue business as usual
By Sher Zieve Thursday, December 9, 2010
The US Republican Party’s first order of business since the 2010 midterm elections was to compromise with the Dictator-in-Chief Barack Hussein Obama. Acting as if they hadn’t won a resounding victory in the House of Representatives, Republican leaders met with the usurper and agreed that if he would ‘allow’ them to continue with the Bush tax cuts, they would give him even MORE money to fritter away at taxpayers‘ expense…beginning with another 13 months of unemployment insurance.Note: It is now clear that the Washington D.C. Ivory Tower gang of dwellers view unemployment insurance as “ensuring the unemployed will remain that way.”
To those who cannot seem to learn lessons easily, in November We-the-People sent you the following unmistakable and highly comprehensible messages. Please immediately refresh your memories with the following:
1. We do NOT want the passage of the DREAM Act, ANY OTHER form of Amnesty for illegals or “path to Amnesty” for illegals. We have told you this over and over again but, still you persist with the pretense of not understanding us
2. We do NOT want ObamaCare in any way, shape or form. We do not want it tweaked, we want it REPEALED. What about that do you not understand?
3. We do NOT want censorship of OUR Internet. This is not a government entity—it belongs to the people. But, Obama & Co is now bent upon taking it over, in order to censor those opinions it doesn’t like
4. We do NOT want any government entity telling us what we can and cannot eat and barring us from growing our own food unless the government supervises. We dodged a bullet with SB 510 but, suspect that Congress and the usurper are already working to “re-add” the previously removed Orwellian regulations
5. WE DEMAND OUR BORDERS BE SECURED. Every day, more violence occurs from drug cartel members who are setting up shop in the USA. Every day more and more illegals are crossing into OUR country and sucking its resources dry. We worked for our lives, in order to provide for ourselves and our loved ones. We did NOT work for anyone and everyone who wants to cross our borders illegally and steal what we have
6. We do not want anymore faux ‘stimulus packages’ as it’s obvious the only ones “stimulated” are the crony groups and their friends in Washington D.C. STOP THE STEALING
7. Stop the sexual groping (yes…it is) and forced submission of the TSA searches. These agents are NOT searching Muslims and particularly anyone dressed in either a burka or a hijab. Have you forgotten that Muslims caused the terrorist attacks, in the first place? Or, is your memory selective so that we will all soon become as sheep to their slaughter?
I have only presented you with seven items, as I want you to be able to fully absorb these before moving onto the next ones. By the way, if you have forgotten what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, allow me to refresh your memory: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
I wish to particularly draw your attention to “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” We-the-People still believe that. As long as our US Constitution is followed, we can work within the current government framework. But, you and your colleagues have not followed the Constitution for, at least, decades. It is time for you to renew your pledge and constitutional duties. If you further refuse to listen to us, We-the-People’s patience will have finally been totally and irrevocably exhausted. Can you not already hear the rumblings of a real rebellion?
i knew all the outrage was just faux. an excuse to tack on all kinds of goodies. what a bunch of ignorant pigs.
God bless the soldiers coming in January, keep them focused, keep them strong. start cleaning up this cesspool of common streewalkers.
and in two years, we are sending in a second wave!
suggest we send this "congress" to gitmo, and start over completely.
I like that mitch j...............I'd vote yes to that one!
Democrats didn't get the message did they............they are adding pork to the bill..........that's what they are so fricken upset about.........they want to get in more spending ????? Are you kidding ?????
STOP THE SPENDING................what don't they understand ???????
Angry-
The Democrats do understand about the spending, but the Republicans doesn't understand about the spending either since they want to add the to the debt with the tax cuts for the rich.
After the mid-terms the Republicans keep saying the American people have spoken. I find that hard to believe since most of the Democrats - 80%, Independents - 60% and 51% - Republicans want the tax cuts for the rich to expire.
So it goes to show that all the Republicans are only out for the rich and not for the middle class and the poor!
The Republicans will never listen to the people.
TRR Barboursville, WV................they are not "tax cuts" ! It is keeping the tax rates the same as they have been. Stop listening to the democrats! They are NOT tax cuts.
Everyone has the right to keep the tax rate the way it is currently. This is about the government spending that has to stop!
The more money you give government........the more government spends
This country does not have a revenue problem...............it is a spending and "hand out mentality" problem !
David Walker,
Having spent 20 months in that garden spot of the far East myself, I would like to say this. Most of the articles I have seen concerning the Wikileaks seem to reveal things that the politicans have classified, mostly for their protection, or, so they can feel big when they reveal things. If Wikileaks make politicans think a bit before they commit troops, or do something that is likely to accomplish very little, if it makes our so called allies think about what they are actually saying, that cannot be a bad thing.
Truth always comes out, sometimes at the most inopportune moment. Truth is not the property of either political party, nor of any country. Had the truth came out before the invasion of Iraq concerning WMD's, it is entirely possible that we would not have gotten into that morass
Our government continues to espouse the benefits of transparency in government, yet it does not want to have the transparency that it so espouses. It seems rather strange that the very same government that has, and is, spying on its own citizens, has a problem with being spied on itself.