John Boehner was on Meet the Press yesterday. He attempted to defend extending the Bush tax credits for the wealthy. MTP ran a clip of Alan Greenspan explaining that although he generally likes tax credits, the Republicans, by not paying for the tax credits would further damage the economy by extending them for taxpayers making over $200,000.
I’d attempt to explain Boehner’s arguments in favor of the tax credits, but I can’t. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
I have a degree in finance and a law degree. What he’s saying makes absolutely no sense. It consists of poorly delivered talking points and bouts of anxiousness.
Is anyone else scared to death of the prospects of this person as the Speaker of the House? Spread the word and remind people of how we got here in the first place; poor fiscal skills by a party that is only looking out for the wealthiest of the wealthy.
Last night at the primary watch party, Congressman Cleaver reminded everyone that while primaries can leave people within the party bruised, bloodied, and irritated that we needed to “de-irritate” and focus on the tough but important races we have November.
It was worth repeating.
In the next couple of weeks, we will outline the competitive general races in Jackson County and how you can get involved.
Fired Up Missouri and OpenSecrets discussed the Washington impact of BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last week.
It turns out that Missouri’s own Washington insider, Roy Blunt, has received thousands in campaign cash from BP and is one of BP’s favorite insiders.
If BP faces heavy federal scrutiny, it’s well-positioned to fight back: The London-based company has consistently spent top dollar to influence legislative and regulatory activity in Washington, D.C., the Center for Responsive Politics finds…
In 2009, individuals and political action committees associated with BP donated $16,000 to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In addition, five of the all-time top 10 recipients of BP money in the House of Representatives sit on the House Energy Committee: John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) Joe Barton(R-Tex.), Ralph M. Hall (R-Tex.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Fred Upton, (R-Mich.).
Tim Wise is an anti-racist writer and activist who recently wrote about how America and the media would be acting very differently toward the Tea Party if the majority of its members were not white. I’ve quoted a couple of sections from his piece, but it is definitely worth reading the entire work.
“Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.”
“Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.”
“Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.”
Good Ol’ JPS has been a great liberal justice. Better than Democrats hoped for considering he was appointed by a Republican. He is 89 years old, but still pretty sharp. And that’s from personal experience. I attended oral arguments at the Court in October of 2009. Stevens was still on his game.
In the last decade especially, Stevens has been a beacon for liberals. He wrote the dissent in Bush v. Gore. Stevens also wrote the dissent in the recent Citizens United case, where he argued against unlimited corporate ad buys (independent expenditures) in elections. He also wrote the majority opinion in Atkins v. Virginia, the case that banned the death penalty against the mentally retarded.
Here is a recent article, with excerpts from his clerks, detailing their experiences working for Stevens.
Hopefully President Obama appoints (and the Senate confirms) someone as liberal as John Paul Stevens. The Court is as center-right as its ever been right now.
Many thought President Obama would savor his healthcare reform victory and wait before completing other important tasks.
Not so. Since healthcare reform passed, President Obama visited Afghanistan, reached a new deep cuts agreement with Russia to reduce both country’s nuclear arsenals, and expanded off-shore oil drilling.
Hopefully he can keep this pace up into the mid-terms. There is plenty to discuss on a lot of these policy issues, but one thing is clear; while Bush was the President of vacations–Obama is the President of GTD.
David Frum, the man who coined term “Axis of Evil” while working in the Bush administration, wrote a scathing blog post about the Republican’s strategy (or lack thereof) on healthcare reform. He described the passage of healthcare reform as Republicans “most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.” It’s hard to argue with him.
The Republican strategy was to obfuscate and deny–repeatedly. Conservatives seem to think they are going to win big this fall on a repeal platform, but even Frum isn’t so convinced.
Yesterday, I attended President Obama’s healthcare reform speech in Iowa City. It’s looking more like Democrats are going to spend the next six months extolling the virtues of the healthcare bill and challenging Republicans on their lack of strategy. As Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh get louder and more vitriolic, some conservatives are sick of the radical right in the media controlling their message.
Naturally, someone in the Republican party has to be listening to this man, right? NOPE. He was fired yesterday. Turns out the Republican strategy behind closed doors is the same as their legislative strategy. Lie and deny.
Big banks received a punch in the mouth on Sunday night as well. While healthcare reform received most of the attention, another key Democratic goal was achieved last night. A student loan reform bill, tucked into the reconciliation bill, is now heading to the Senate. This measure will eliminate corporate subsidies on student loans. It puts billions into higher education instead of Wall Street’s pockets.
For many years, the federal government has guaranteed higher-education loans to students. The government has controlled nearly every aspect of lending. It runs the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), conducts the entrance and exit counseling for federal loans, subsidizes interest rates, and guarantees federal loans that go into default. The only thing the banks did was provide funds. If a student defaulted on her student loans, the government would cover the default. Banks had a free lunch. They earned the interest, while having no risk in the loans.
This waste will hopefully end soon. Assuming the Senate passes the student loan reform bill via reconciliation, the corporate subsidies will be used to expand Pell Grants and offset the budget deficit. This reform bill makes sense. It cuts out corporate waste and uses the money earned on student-loan interest to help underfunded students attend college. This bill is the largest education reform bill since No Child Left Behind. It frees up $61 billion dollars for Pell Grants and budget reduction without costing the American people a dime.
Big banks received a punch in the mouth on Sunday night as well. While healthcare reform received most of the attention, another key Democratic goal was achieved last night. A student loan reform bill, tucked into the reconciliation bill, is now heading to the Senate. This measure will eliminate corporate subsidies on student loans. It puts billions into higher education instead of Wall Street’s pockets.
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