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A better tomorrow means less Tea in Congress

07/11/2013 Nativegrl77

In March of 2010, a Gallup Poll report stated that if a vote from We the People for Congress were taken right now it would result in 47% voting for Democrats and 44% Republicans. My response, if this is true, organizers definitely need to get prepared for November 2010. That the numbers were this close because the Democrats have not gone big bold and progressive as most of us want. Well, we all know what happened and granted the process of changing policy and or making better laws are not easy or pleasant but it should not be the reason for changing your attitude or your vote solely for hating the process. The bills that are being considered or waiting in the Senate, could improve the lives of the many rather than a select few and we need to get beyond the status quo Republicans seem to have claimed as the best way to gain back Congress. I don’t know about you but what I hear and see just makes it clear that Republicans like Speaker Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell do not represent America… period. We need Senator Reid to find the will not only be tough but remember this is not just a historic moment for everyone it is the opportunity to move America into the 21st Century. The people spoke in 2008 and again in 2012 with 53% voting for Barack Obama for a 2nd term. Now, it’s time for Congress to stop acting out earn their pay and do the right thing.

The fact is while Congress ignores passing legislation the Sequester is moving into the living rooms of families all over the country … invisible to those on tv from commentary reporters or journos offering entertainment judgments advice as well as conservative politicians who we call public servants seemingly acting extreme … are bad actors

The Media continues to speculate or re-enforce the negative and mocking President Obama’s so-called improbable agenda of climate change, immigration overhaul as well as stating that Democrats are wavering on a vote that could quite possibly bring all that is Democratic down. It is at this moment that the Democratic Party should be willing to create change that has been needed for quite some time and like the President has stated…

My question for you voters is … if not now when, because we may never get this chance for a long time if ever.

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A Whiter Shade of Fail

07/11/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

The House GOP’s Epic Miscalculation

“A whiter shade of fail,” is how Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman described the latest efforts to deny the numerical and political reality that the GOP is in “a demographic death spiral,” as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) put it, unless the party gets behind comprehensive immigration reform in order to help get right by Asian and Latino voters.

It’s clear that some House Republicans are looking for an excuse, any excuse really, to get out of passing immigration reform with a pathway to earned citizenship. Some say they don’t have many Latinos in their gerrymandered conservative districts, so there’s no personal political benefit to them but there is potential political risk in the form of a primary from the right. Others, however, have seized on a recent analysis that purported to show that the GOP doesn’t actually need to improve its standing among minority voters if it simply manages to magically find and turn out “missing white voters.” And voila, there’s an excuse for the GOP to continue the status quo of alienating nearly every demographic segment outside of its increasingly old, increasingly white base.

Unfortunately for the GOP, this analysis was all wrong. In a post entitled, “No, Republicans, ‘Missing’ White Voters Won’t Save You,” Alan Abramowitz and Ruy Teixeira run through the numbers explaining just how wrong this “missing white voter” theory is. You should read the whole thing, but here’s their conclusion:

So: GOP phone home! Your missing white voters have been found, and it turns out they weren’t really missing. They were simply sitting out a relatively low turnout election along with a large number of their minority counterparts. They may be back next time if it’s a higher turnout election — but then again so will a lot of minority voters. Bottom line: your demographic dilemma remains the same. The mix of voters is changing fast to your disadvantage and there is no cavalry of white voters waiting in the wings to rescue you.

The New Republic’s Nate Cohn offers additional analysis underscoring that there is no easy way out of the GOP’s demographic dilemma. Indeed, he writes that since the GOP’s gains among white voters have been concentrated in the South and Appalachia, not battleground states, current trends among white voters actually “would cement the Democratic edge in the Electoral College.” Cohn concludes, “the GOP has a tough road ahead.”

Finally, a new round of polls out today shows that voters want immigration to be addressed this year and that several House Republicans in swing districts could face a serious voter backlash if immigration reform fails.

BOTTOM LINE: There’s no easy way out for the GOP. If House Republicans decide to kill immigration reform with a pathway to earned citizenship, their chances of staying a national party with the possibility of winning the White House are likely to die along with it.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

No governing, only sabotage.

The GOP’s number on obstruction is about to be up.

Georgia is set to ignore the Constitution and execute an intellectually disabled man anyway.

State troopers forcibly remove Texas woman during epic testimony on anti-abortion bill.

Over 60 abortion rights activists arrested yesterday during North Carolina’s Moral Monday protest.

Company advertises bleeding shoot-a-gun-control-lobbyist target with photo of an actual gun massacre victim.

GOP governor: Pregnant women and breast cancer patients are free health care moochers.

Hedge funder writes op-ed accusing homeless shelter volunteers of being the real cause of homelessness.

The sequester is still hurting families and children across the country.

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Refer a Friend – Win 2 Tickets to Fiji

07/10/2013 Nativegrl77

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Unknown Location

07/10/2013 Nativegrl77

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Going Nuclear

07/10/2013 Nativegrl77

CAP Action War Room

Standing Up to Unprecedented GOP Obstructionism

Republican leaders from the House and Senate got together and plotted on the very night President Obama was first inaugurated and agreed that there would be no cooperation, no compromise, no nothing but unceasing obstruction. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen ever since, whether it’s on legislation, judicial nominations, or other executive branch nominations.

After more than four years of unprecedented obstruction, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said enough is enough. He’s previously made two agreements with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to try and get the Senate moving without formally changing the rules, but both times Sen. McConnell failed to keep up his end of the bargain and the Senate remained gridlocked. Some nominees have literally been stalled for years at a time.

Today, Sen. Reid filed cloture on seven Obama nominees, many of whom are to serve in positions that protect workers, consumers, and our clean air and water. If the Republicans still insist on blocking these nominations come Tuesday, Democrats are poised to use the so-called “nuclear option” to eliminate the filibuster on executive branch nominations.

Filibusters would still be allowed on legislation and judicial nominations, but Senate Republicans would no longer be able to paralyze the government by denying the president the ability to fill key vacancies.

This is an important first step toward making the Senate function as our Founding Fathers envisioned it when they specified in the Constitution that only simple majorities were needed to approve both legislation and nominations.

The practical consequences of this decision are huge. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cannot issue rules in certain areas and do many key tasks unless it has a director. It will be difficult for the president to advance his agenda to combat climate change unless Gina McCarthy is confirmed to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Unless new members are confirmed to the National Labor Relations Board, it will literally cease to function soon — something that will hurt both workers and employers alike.

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans have engaged in years of unprecedented obstructionism and they have only themselves to blame if Democrats are forced to use the “nuclear option” to simply make the Senate function more like the Constitution says it should. Interestingly, many of the Republican Senators decrying this potential rules reform today argued vehemently in favor of it just eight short years ago.