Tag Archives: GOP

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Government Shutdown Pain Spreads

10/11/2013 Nativegrl77

7 Ways the GOP Shutdown is Hurting Americans

House Republican leaders are at the White House right now presenting their plan to give the nation a six-week reprieve from certain economic doom by agreeing that Congress will pay the nation’s bills through November 22.

We’re glad the Republicans recognize that we absolutely cannot risk an economic shutdown by defaulting on our obligations. As President Obama and Democrats have made clear and continue to make clear, it is non-negotiable for Congress to pay the bills Congress itself has already racked up.

Nevertheless, House Republicans are still insisting on prolonging another crisis – the government shutdown – for absolutely no reason. Republicans started this government shutdown in a failed attempt to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans but it should not go on a minute longer, whether it’s over Obamacare, hurt feelings, or any other reason.

Here are seven stories of the pain that is rippling across America thanks to the GOP shutdown:

Shutdown Leaves Maine’s Poor Without Heating Assistance As Winter Approaches: Maine has no home heating aid money left from last season as the shutdown wears on the temperatures fall.

Child Care Subsidies Jeopardized By The Shutdown: While many states should be able to cover the costs during the shutdown, some may not have much money to fall back on.

Jobless Claims Spike As Government Shutdown Cripples Thousands Of Contractor Jobs: About 15,000 of last week’s unemployment benefit applications came from laid-off government contractors.

Some Of The Neediest Schools Running Out Of Money As Shutdown Continues: The shutdown is delaying payments that some schools near Native American reservations and military bases need to keep operating.

The Ongoing Government Shutdown Is Preventing The National Institutes of Health (NIH) From Admitting New Patients To Clinical Trials: NIH clinical trials are typically the last resort for people whose illnesses haven’t responded to other types of treatment. Since the shutdown began last week, just a handful of desperately ill patients have managed to get a spot in an experimental trial at the so-called “House of Hope.”

Five Ways The Government Shutdown Is Threatening Our Health And Safety: The government shutdown is compromising everything from workplace safety to food security to public health research.

Republicans Downplay The EPA’s Closure During The Shutdown — Except When It Hurts Their Districts: Some think it’s better when EPA’s not allowed to protect clean air and water. But Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said on Wednesday that he didn’t see why EPA couldn’t just continue writing a biofuels standard he supports.

BOTTOM LINE: Enough is enough. The longer the GOP keeps the government closed, the more Americans and our economy will suffer. It’s time for Speaker Boehner to allow a vote on a clean funding bill to end this shutdown crisis and re-open the entire government.

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by John Whitehouse

10/11/2013 Nativegrl77

“[J]ournalists have been suckered into embracing ‘balance’ and ‘neutrality’ at all costs, and the consequences of their choice in an era of political extremism will only get worse and worse.” – Dan Froomkin on coverage of the government shutdown.

John Whitehouse
Twitter: @existentialfish

The False Equivalency Reporting

Tired of the false equivalency reporting about the government shutdown and looming sovereign debt crisis? So are we. Here are just some of the worst examples of this type of reporting: http://mm4a.org/1bI9RTO
Related: Time‘s entertainment writer James Poniewozik explains succinctly why false equivalence matters during this crisis: http://ti.me/16z3v50 While her colleagues honestly report on the severe consequences of default, CNN’s Erin Burnett pushes the GOP line: http://mm4a.org/1a9ePCi

Even 60 Minutes Fell For This

It was disappointing when NPR fell for a right-wing attack on the Social Security disability program. Now, even the venerable 60 Minutes has fallen for it — causing disability rights groups to condemn the report. Hannah Groch-Begley explains: http://mm4a.org/199FcLi
Related: As expected, Fox News pounced on this immediately, without noting the falling number of such claims: http://mm4a.org/GLMQAF

Fox Changes Its Tune

Fox News pushed Republicans to shut down the government, with Sean Hannity even telling them to “hold the line.” But now that the shutdown is unpopular, Hannity is trying to shift blame to President Obama: http://mm4a.org/19jlE5u
Related: “I want to punish these people.” That’s how Fox’s Stuart Varney talks about federal employees currently furloughed. http://mm4a.org/175tiOM Laura Ingraham joined in, saying that she is “just beginning to enjoy” the shutdown because of how it is punishing federal employees: http://bit.ly/16z73nX

FEATURED VIDEO

Yes, Fox News actually pushed a satirical story that Barack Obama was personally funding a Muslim museum during the government shutdown: http://mm4a.org/1fQXFBP

WEEKLY WTF

Fox News had Zeeda Andrews on to promote her truck rally in DC. Fox didn’t mention that she believes Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden are the same person: http://mm4a.org/1amKLV1

INSIDE THE GUN LOBBY

Alex Zaitchik attended Alan Gottlieb’s Gun Rights Policy Conference. He found what the gun lobby is secretly afraid of, and what they’re planning next: http://mm4a.org/15k1RTO

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

5 Things To Know About The Next Citizens United

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The act and meaning of com * pro * mise

10/10/2013 Nativegrl77

It’s definitely a morning and a day to reach to the sky breathe in deeply through the nose release your breath slowly as you lower your arms and upper body ~~ release your breath through your mouth and repeat; probably more and more as the news and day wears on.

just another rant …

My word for the day is Compromise.

Com-pro-mise, considered a noun and a verb, is by definition : a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.(noun) or to expose or make vulnerable to danger, suspicion, scandal, etc.; jeopardize: a military oversight that compromised the nation’s defenses. (Verb) It is definitely clear that Republicans have made a choice to define compromise as a verb while the Democratic Party and the President have gone toward the light of transparency and genuine willingness to compromise.

Yet, as The President has another win under his belt, a 2nd term some feel the efforts to reform any and all parts of our government just have not gone far enough and have waged a hostage taking. If Republicans could put the 47% in a bathtub, they would be smiling a whole lot more than they are currently. Imagine, folks who ran for a position with the government only to wage nasty acts on the government and now our economy… uh, don’t Republicans love to talk about our forefathers our constitution …blah blah blah , yet they think we could use a lot less government … oh, unless of course it’s their salaries… right/

We all know it will take the act of com ~pro – mise to get America back on track though we heard Speaker Boehner say … he rejects the word!

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/12/13/134669/boehner-reject-compromise/

The fact is most civilians know and live the act of compromise, hey, it is a part of our lives, but apparently, not all of us practice it. In most cases, members of Congress hope feel or say everything will balance itself out and then realize the dirty little secret is that money still talks and ultimately controls the votes. I want to know… who has the will, courage and power, which, the Democratic Party has but seems to fear. The Democratic Party of Yes We Can had only a short time to wield the power needed to make Health-Care, Wall Street/Bank/Aig, Climate Change, and Immigration Reform Bills stronger. While Republicans need to understand that after four plus years of voters watching them filibuster the economy our rights and our democracy is in more trouble than ever before.

We the People need to demand the GOP stop holding Americans hostage and work for the greater good of their fellow Americans

written 6/1/13

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Don’t Be Fooled

09/11/2013 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

**Republicans Try to Force Even More Budget Cuts**

The government will shut down in 20 days – just nine congressional work days — unless Congress passes a bill to keep funding it. And while most of the media focus has been on the GOP’s unceasing effort to defund, delay, and undermine Obamacare, Speaker Boehner (R-OH) is plotting another, more hidden plan to lock in damaging and unnecessary austerity for the rest of the year and possibly into 2014.

Boehner has promised that to avoid a government shutdown, he will ask the House to pass a “clean” short-term budget resolution, simply extending current spending levels while a longer-term deal is worked out. That may sound reasonable, but hidden behind Boehner’s deceptive claims are some pretty dirty truths.

First of all, current spending levels are already painfully and unnecessarily low, but Boehner’s plan would go even further and lock in another round of deep cuts to domestic spending.

But it doesn’t stop there. Boehner’s plan actually increases defense spending by $20 BILLION compared to the sequester, while leaving spending on non-defense discretionary programs at unacceptably low levels.

You don’t have to take our word for it. Here’s Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) crowing about the cuts they are trying to force on Democrats and the president:

“In signing a CR at sequester levels,” Cantor wrote, “the president would be endorsing a level of spending that wipes away all the increases he and congressional Democrats made while they were in charge and returns us to a pre-2008 level of discretionary spending.”

Wait, there’s more! On top of all of this, House Republican leaders have devised a convoluted scheme to try and trick rank-and-file Republicans into not shutting down the government over Obamacare while still being able to somehow claim they defunded the law. This “smoke and mirrors” plan is already being derided by the Tea Party and recent polling found that just 6 percent of voters think delaying and defunding Obamacare is the right path forward.

(This final scheme comes on top of a separate GOP demand issued today that Democrats either agree to delay Obamacare for a year or Republicans will refuse to increase the debt ceiling, thus creating a world economic calamity.)

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans have scheduled just 9 days of work in September and aren’t even planning on being here the week before funding for the government runs out. Passing a partisan spending plan with only GOP votes is just another waste of time that makes it more likely that the government will shut down because of GOP intransigence, demands for damaging austerity, or both.

For a detailed brief from the Center for American Progress on how all of this adds up — or doesn’t — click HERE.

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52 Clinics Closed

08/27/2013 Nativegrl77

Going Backwards on Women’s Equality Day

Today is Women’s Equality Day, which marks the anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. It’s now been 93 years and while much progress has been made, everyone’s right to vote is under attack and women are still far from equal.

Unfortunately, we also got fresh evidence today that the GOP’s war on women is taking a discernible toll on women’s reproductive rights. An analysis by the Huffington Post found that 52 clinics have closed since the recent record-breaking assault on abortion rights accelerated in 2010.

Check out their graphic to get a sense of the coast-to-coast assault on access to abortion:

2013_08_AbortionClosures-555x1019