Category Archives: ~ my 2cents …

Monday March madness countinues … and CSPAN.org


With two more weeks of  Winter in March, the countdown to NCAA championships continues and the crazy climate(change) of madness in Washington and on the floor of the Senate  begins.  President Obama will be in Philadelphia to talk about what HCR will do for everyone now, though if you read or listen to the Media, we are on the verge of falling off the edge of reality. Cable news and or right wing media continues to pit the President against the Polls; since when does a President govern using political polls, not to mention they are not always neutral.  The misinformation regarding the President continues; that this is his last ditch effort to push, jam, ram and or dupe Senators to get HCR through; contrary to what Republicans and or the Media says; there are more people who want a Public Option than is being reported on any given day. Can i just say that in a time when we need to pass various Bills, i have yet to understand the House or Senate adjourning early or being out of Session; hopefully it is to provide info to fellow Democrats … the vote for HCR is March 18, 2010 act like it.

The fact is gossip, promotion of falsehoods and outright lies about the President’s beliefs and or if he is an American don’t belong on the airwaves in any form; especially in the news. Most people expect truthful news maybe some spin but these days the spin is laced with some truth or maybe it’s the Republican truth accepted by cable;like Wolf Blitzer and his reiteration of comments by conservative and other right-wing stations.

check  out the facts –> our new state-by-state polls show that’s exactly what voters want.

Speaking of March Madness, Republican Senator Paul Broun, from Georgia; stated that all you had to do was read it for yourself; he knows for sure he is a Socialist.  The reporter asked if he thought President Obama was born in the US; obviously a birther, maybe a tea party member, Broun stated he didn’t know; and quite frankly as someone in public office; he should have said yes.  It’s  amazing to me to know that people holding public office; we pay them to do the business of the People and this is what we get. If Barack Obama was white there would be absolutely no question as to who, why or what about his beliefs, race and or religion. It’s offensive that a Public Servant would behave in such a way; but then the list of  Senators behaving like Broun are many in the Republican Party, which should make people outraged       … these are people who only care about a select few, a certain group and not the whole of Americans and should not be in office.

Last, the day had a lot of Senators on both sides of the aisle acting well, different; it is or could be their defining moment as HCR will get passed and as a democrat it is with a light heart that i propose we put progressives in the place of every Stupak, Massa and Kucinich , Politicians who are willing and able bodied members of the Democratic party.  If you didn’t know any better,  Kucinich seemed to be giving a campaign speech for 2012, yet, sam klein said he is the only one out there willing to vote no based on his opinion that the bill has no base and yes the President knows this … well, now your constituents know that you are willing to put your own truth before the people you represent and let’s see how that plays out for you Senator Kucinich.

other News …


CNN’s Wolf Blitzer has apologized for using chyron text that seemed to question the loyalties of the Department of Justice.  On Thursday, CNN broadcast text that read “HAPPENING NOW, DEPARTMENT OF JIHAD?” and “Are Justice Department Lawyers Disloyal?” as part of its coverage of an ad by Liz Cheney that suggests that because the DOJ hired lawyers who have represented accused terrorists, the department is sympathetic to terrorists.  On Friday, Blitzer apologized for the graphic and called DOJ lawyers “patriotic.”

Tea Party Challenger To Harry Reid Owes More Than $200,000 in Back Taxes

The President is expected to announce his choice, retired Gen. Robert Harding, on Monday, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement is not yet public.

watch Sec. Napolitano TSA Announcement

Washington State news of temporary increase in sales taxes on services and bottled water including a 1dollar per pack tax on cigarettes

Abusive Payday Lenders
The mob offers better rates and easier terms than payday lenders. Through short-term loans with interest rates up to 900 percent, these lenders strip billions of dollars from poor and minority communities every year. Poverty in America blogger Carl Chancellor writes that in 29 states, there are more payday loan storefronts than McDonald’s restaurants. It’s time to tell lawmakers to put a stop to the financial kneecapping of our most vulnerable citizens via these lenders. (Read more)

Apple Acknowledges Child Labor
This week, Apple admitted that it had identified at least 11 children working in overseas factories that produce iPods, iPhones, and its computers. In addition to the child labor, illegal and exploitative working conditions for adults were also documented. Surprisingly, Apple made these findings public themselves. But End Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer asks, is the company doing enough to prevent the exploitation of children and workers in their factories from happening again? (Read More)

Huffington Post: Tom Delay: People Are Unemployed Because They Want To Be

on cspan today  …

The House is not in session today but resumes at 12:30pmET Tuesday and will begin work on 14 Bills and Resolutions from Wednesday-Friday they will work on Aid for Haiti and Chile as well as Judicial Impeachment, any votes will happen later in the day.

Members of The Senate gave speeches on various issues like HR4213, abortion, reconciliation, space, the Iraqi war and more; votes are scheduled to limit debate on amendments on Tuesday at 2:30pmET, this includes several amendments that are pending that includes programs that would be extended through December 31.  Tax, Unemployment and Highway …  tune in Tuesday for more fire works … on both sides of the aisle.

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President Obama Stumps for Health Care in Philadelphia

With the White House asking Congress to pass health care legislation soon, President Obama is taking his message to Philadelphia. Last week he called on the House and Senate to schedule votes in the next few weeks. Saturday during his Weekly Address he said, “I know it has been a long and hard road to this point, and we are not finished with our journey just yet.”

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Pres. Obama's Weekly Address In his weekly address, President Obama says Congress must act now to enact legislation and urges lawmakers to schedule a vote on the Democratic plan.

watch Pres. Obama’s Weekly Address

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EPA Administrator Discusses 2010 Priorities

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will speak at a luncheon on strides made in 2009 and the agency’s priorities for 2010. She is expected to discuss action on climate change, America’s waters and EPA’s efforts to expand the conversation on environmentalism.
Former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman is a guest on C‑SPAN’s Washington Journal at 8:30am ET    watch WJ: Christine Todd Whitman at 8:30am ET
read WP: Lawmakers move to restrain EPA

watch NPC: From Earlier

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY focus of economic conference

The Nat’l Assoc. For Business Economics (NABE) meets today to hold its annual economic policy conference. First, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair participates in a panel session on financial regulatory reform. Also, Election prognosticator Charlie Cook will join a panel analyzing the 2010 mid-term elections and later Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf will speak on how to tackle the deficit.

Humpday wrap-up …


Today has been a long irritating, tedious and frustrating day or evening for the House and Senate members; the House is still in session the Senate just adjourned;on a motion to table extenders vote 54yeas 45nays … the debate on the 40 or more provisions continues Thursdays session

a $149Bil continues certain tax breaks and programs through December 31st

… stay tuned HR4691 includes some, all or part of the following: reauthorizes Federal Satellite Tv into law through 2014, tax extenders.  Though Republican George Lemieux of Florida tried to insert a procedural maneuver to force the bill to be paid for entirely by subsequent legislation, it was defeated 60yeas 37nays as well as a one time payment of $250.00 was defeated by the Senate in a vote of 50-47 for Seniors. More provisions for Vets/disabled using stimulus funds, Cobra, flood ins and increases Medicare payments for Doctors for 6months will be dealt with on Thursday. Apparently, the Burr amendment has yet to be voted on as well

Learn more about Health Care

Bon Jovi Takes United We Serve on Tour

Posted by Jesse Lee on March 3, 2010 at 6:03 PM EST

President Obama’s United We Serve initiative is about to go on tour alongside Bon Jovi on the band’s “The Circle World Tour.” In collaboration with the Corporation for National and Community Service, rocker Jon Bon Jovi will be the first person to engage mass audiences in the President’s call to service at concert venues. The United We Serve initiative encourages Americans to get involved in community service to help the nation move forward.


Rachel Maddow displayed this absolutely splendid chart on her show.

The first bar is the impact on the unified budget balance of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001. The second is the impact on the budget balance of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) of 2003. The third bar is the CBO estimated impact on the deficit of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act proposed in the Senate on November 19, for 2010-2019.

Hump day news and what’s on live-stream cspan.org …


watch Senate Floor: NOW on C-SPAN2 We the People need to stay informed with cspan.  Wednesday started off with a lot of Media spin on how bad things are for Democrats; if you listen to the news we should all go home and give up on just about everything Democratic, well that just is not going to happen, to be sure this is a difficult time, then again, think of where we would all be if the mccain/palin ticket had won; i know it’s not anything you want to visit for too long.   We all must watch, listen and read the news but don’t give all the spin that much credibility until the information  bears fruit.  Democrat Charlie Rangel has stated he has asked for a leave of absence; he is not stepping down as reported in the news this morning and The President is not only going to unveil how health care will move forward but reveal four additional parts to his health care plan that originated from the  Republicans party.   This is a moment in history and the media uses their huge platform by covering  only what they want us to hear, whatever part of a story has the most controversy, honestly, where have all the true journalist gone to.

other news …

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) “will announce an ambitious set of reforms” today

to “change many of the rules under which” the Senate works, “including an effort to restrict earmarks and limit the filibuster.” Bennet “will propose eliminating anonymous holds, banning private-sector earmarks, freezing pay and budgets for members of Congress, and barring lawmakers from lobbying for life.”

**Washington State …reports of at least 12thou jobs were added to the payrolls in Washington State

**Bill White wins the Democratic primary in Texas by 76%

**DC- same sex marriages are now legal

**The Bunning fiasco created a bipartisan vote for the extension of ui benefits last night

California Assembly swears in its first gay speaker

By Jack Dolan and Patrick McGreevy

John A. Pérez takes the oath in an untraditional ceremony. His priorities include restoring simple majority rule on budget issues and barring lobbyists from texting legislators during floor debate


what’s on CSPAN today …  or The House and Senate

**a DADT panel will be held today to discuss how to move forward at 2:30ET cspan

The House …

has 10bills to work on today, including physical restraint on students HR4247 preventing harmful restraint and seclusion in School Act 262yeas 153nays

The Senate …

Read HR4213 Tax extensions on cspan.org

**The Burr amendment vote

$149Bil continues certain tax breaks and programs through December 31st

HR4691 reauthorizes Federal Satellite TV into law through 2014; a one time payment of $250.00 for 55Million Seniors/Vets/disabled for emergency relief /Social Security Recipients/Cobra,flood ins/increase Medicare payments for 6months for Doctors;  over 40Provisions using Stimulus funds, there are several amendments pending and votes could happen today; Tax, unemployment, Highway bills. Read entire Bill cspan.org HR4691

House  Democratic Caucus Press Conference House Democrats spoke with reporters at the Capitol after a caucus meeting on health care and other issues. Appearing after the meeting were Rep. John Larson (D-CT), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Xavier Becerra (D-CA).watch House Democrats


Congress begins to tackle “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy

In another step to end the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, defense & military officials appear before a House Armed Services Subcmte. to outline the effects of a proposed repeal plan. Yesterday, DoD Sec. Robert Gates released a review on the effects of gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. Armed Forces.

visit Witness List
watch Senate Armed Services Cmte. (2/2)
visit Gates Issues Terms for Review visit Politico: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Guidelines Released

Congressional Democrats Press Conference on GOP Obstructionism House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) held a press conference to discuss Republican obstructionist tactics. watch Democrats on GOP Obstructionism

Washington, DC : 25 min.

Rep. Rangel Steps Down temporarily from Chairmans seat

House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) announced that he will step down as Chairman of the committee until the ethics committee completes its investigation on his alleged acceptance of corporate-funded travel.

President unveils revised health care plan

Today, Pres. Obama will introduce his revised health care plan to the public and Congress. He will detail the legislation that includes some Republican proposals proposed at the health care summit last week. Yesterday, the White House sent a letter to Congressional leaders outlining his revised health care policy priorities.

USAID Budget Priorities & Nat’l Security

USAID Budget Priorities & Nat’l Security

Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for Int’l Development, is outlining plans for the agency’s 2011 budget before a House Foreign Affairs Cmte. hearing. This fiscal year’s budget request is focused on securing frontline states in the Middle East, meeting urgent global challenges and enhancing aid effectiveness.

News this Tuesday .. and what’s on CSPAN


GM has announced a recall of over 1.3 million compact cars, including the new colt and just about every version of the Pontiac stating they have steering problems when driven at 15mph.  DWTS has picked the new cast and talk about politics and pop culture colliding … one of our infamous astronauts Buzz Aldrin has succumbed to the attraction of fringe and sequence, the news and reviews of Leno’s return will be hot and heavy, especially since one of his guest will be ex-gov of Alaska and Tea party member Sarah Palin; some will mark the anniversary of 2landing on Iwo jima.  The weather outside is still frightful in parts of the NE of our country, the Politics is getting uglier and people on the Hill are down right rude; Republican rude that is. Speaking of Republicans… who are you for Kay Bailey Hutchinson or Rick Perry the Secessionist; the Texas primary is today and if i had to pick one it would be Kay Bailey because she seems just a little more human than the other candidate; and as a person of colour Perry and his Tea Party ways scare me and the future of Texans of colour.

It is a day that people who are unemployed, on furlough, doctors who are missing that 21%, Medicare patients out of luck and other Federal employees laid off, are hopefully pissed at the Political Party of NO; and will not only vote accordingly come 2010 and 2012 they will be calling Senator Bunning, Kyl, and McConnell to tell them enough .  The Senate is on the floor right now battling out the pros and cons of doing what’s right on the Jobs bill that Bunning says is a jobless bill that needs to be paid for… status quo is that most emergencies are voted yes on and dealt with later…Bunning has decided to flip it …  eventually,  a vote will take place with the hope of getting everything back together because humpty sure fell off the wall, even people in the Bunning party of no are hoping to get the vote over and done with a whole lot of yeas… this in itself should bring out more outraged and be just one more piece of evidence on how the Party feels about Americans… Republican Senator Heller was among the rude and nasty aspect of his party.    After a full day of strange behavior and Republican filibustering  a vote on a the Bunning amendment, failed —–  HR4691 passes 78yeas  19nays

Today the Public Option is looking even more alive;  there are reports that 9 more Democrats are considering a yes vote, which, could mean 39more Democrats have the courage  to get the Peoples Work done.  Congress needs to listen … 53% of us voted for change we can believe in … we aren’t dumb we heard exactly what that would entail, Democrats in both the House and Senate need to support the President at this moment; and yes it is a defining moment for them all.

other news …

The President introduced Home Star today, getting energy rebates buying energy efficient batteries, appliances, window, insulation and more by getting an instant rebate, supposedly helps the small business and the home improvement buyer does not have to wait for 3 to 6 months for the check, Obama also has included 4Republican points for health care

And what is on CSPAN today … stay informed;live-stream

**The US House will be in session around 12:30ET and the Senate is on the floor battling out the pros and cons of doing what’s right on the Jobs bill that Bunning says is a jobless bill that needs to be paid for… status quo is that most emergencies are voted yes on and dealt with later…Bunning has decided to flip it

Senate Continues “jobs agenda” legislative week

The Senate continues work on a package of legislation including extending jobless benefits and health care which ran out on Sunday. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) continues to object to the legislation. Because the legislation, which included funding for highway projects, was not extended, two thousand federal transportation workers are being furloughed without pay this week. watch Senate Floor: C-SPAN2 at 10am ET    read AP: Federal Workers Now Out of work read The Hill: Must-Pass Bills Falter

Subcmte. Examines International Internet Censorship

Following Google’s announcement that they would no longer abide by the Chinese govern-
ment’s censorship laws, the Senate Judiciary Subcmte. will question business practices in China and discuss the issue of global Internet freedom. Google representatives will testify on the rights of their business partners and censorship of Google’s online products.

watch Sen. Jud. Hearing: C-SPAN3 at 10am ETvisit Hearing Witness List read NYT: New Scrutiny on Censorship Issues

Toyota Recall Continues To Be Scrutinized on Capitol Hill

Hearings into Toyota’s vehicle recall continue today as Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, Toyota executives and a top transportation official explain the handling of the vehicle acceleration problems. In a recent letter to DoT, Commerce Cmte. Chair Rockefeller (D-WV) requested further investigation into NHTSA’s oversight of the company.

March madness countdown … and what’s on CSPAN


It’s Monday, and the Cape Wind meeting with Sec Salazar, Tribes and Energy Management happens today, the Senate is back in session battling it out on Ui benefits and more around 2pmET watch it live-stream; the House is not in session today.

The impact of just one Senator, Bunning, has put a complete stop to all types of construction projects, including Medicare programs that will need to be put on hold and leaving people who need a doctor without; putting not just construction workers out of work temporarily, but doctors will be losing 21%payments and they won’t be taking new patients.

The President along with Colin Powell/wife and Sec of Ed Arne Duncan will be announcing the 900million dollars in grants for the education program called Helping a America become a Grad Nation in association with Americas Promise Alliance.

PATTY MURRAY (D-WA):

“I’ve been consistently supportive of a public option so that Washington’s families and businesses have choices in their health care options and so insurance companies are finally forced to compete for the business of the American people. Nothing has changed that support. I don’t know whether the votes exist in the Senate right now, but if the public option came up for a vote as we move ahead with reform, including under reconciliation, I would vote yes.”

Thank you Patty Murray

on CSPAN today …

Partisan Divide Affects Unemployment Benefits

Sen. Maj. Ldr. Reid (D-NV) plans to introduce a bill in the Senate to extend federal unemployment and other benefits. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) blocked passage of the House-approved package of provisions on Friday. The benefits began to phase out yesterday, potentially leaving some people without unemployment and health benefits until a final Senate vote.

visit CNN Politics: Lone Senator Blocks Unemployment

watch Congressional Agenda: Now on C-SPAN

Rep. Hoyer on Fiscal Responsibility and PAYGO legislation

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will talk about fiscal responsibility in a speech at the Brookings Institution. He’s expected to discuss the new bipartisan fiscal commission charged with recommending solutions for reducing the federal deficit, and also the “PAYGO” legislation recently enacted into law that requires federal spending or tax cuts to be offset by savings or revenue increases.        watch Brookings Institute: C-SPAN at 1pm ET

read Additional Event Information

Commission Evaluates Teamwork Among Contractors

The Commission on Wartime Contracting will hold a hearing on how to improve cooperation among contract agencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. This hearing builds on previous testimony that exposed problems with planning and organizing contract projects. Government witnesses are set to testify on their actions to promote interagency coordination.

Cato  Institute Discussion on States and the Right to Bear Arms The Cato Institute hosted a panel of legal scholars to preview the Supreme Court case McDonald v. Chicago and its implications for gun rights and other constitutional liberties.

Washington, DC                    watch Cato Institute Panel