Tag Archives: Republican

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Another Self-Inflicted Wound to the Economy?


By ThinkProgress War Room

GOP to Blame for Latest Manufactured Crisis

The country is bearing down on March 1, the day that deep, damaging across-the-board spending cuts — known as the “the sequester” in Beltway parlance — start to kick in.

If Republicans hadn’t taken the entire economy — the full faith and credit of the United States — hostage in 2011, there would not be a sequester. Period. End of story. What’s more, an overwhelming majority of Republicans in the House and the Senate voted in favor of the cuts. At the time, Speaker Boehner said he’d gotten 98 percent of what he wanted in the deal that wrote the cuts into law.

In the year and a half since Republicans demanded — and received — the cuts, they have rebuffed every effort to substitute something else smarter, more balanced and less damaging to the economy in their place . The president repeatedly offered significant spending cuts and changes to social insurance programs, including Medicare and Social Security, as part of balanced plan that also included new revenues, but Republicans always said no in order to protect millionaires and special interests from having to pay their fair share in taxes.

Just months ago, Mitt Romney and Speaker Boehner actively advocated for closing tax loopholes and eliminating giveaways in the tax code. But now Republicans are saying no in order to protect the wealthy and special interests like Big Oil and Wall Street. They say they now prefer spending cuts that stand to kill several hundred thousand jobs and could potentially drag the economy back into recession to raising even a penny more in new revenue. Just months ago, leading Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan said these cuts would “devastate” the country, but now they appear to be fine with them.

Here’s a few examples of what the choices we face actually mean — and which side Republicans are coming down on:

  • Republicans will let the wealthiest Americans keep special tax breaks instead of funding our military.
  • Republicans will kick 70,000 kids off Head Start and fire 10,000 teachers instead of ending giveaways to Big Oil.
  • Republicans want to cut 1,000 FBI agents and aid to thousands of schools instead of ending loopholes that allow people like Mitt Romney to pay a lower tax rate than middle class workers.
  • Republicans will cut thousands of food safety inspectors, which could shut down the entire meat industry, instead of eliminating giveaways for corporate jets and special tax breaks for horse breeders in Kentucky (the home state of Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell).
  • Republicans want to cut unemployment benefits and loans to small businesses rather than end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

We need to reduce our deficit, but we should do it in a balanced, targeted way instead of with blunt, across-the-board cuts that will harm the economy. Instead of governing, the GOP is only interested in gimmicks and games. As the President said again last week, we have got to stop governing by crisis. Our economy cannot afford to play the GOP’s games any longer.

BOTTOM LINE: Once again we find ourselves facing yet another crisis manufactured by the GOP. It’s time for the GOP to choose sides: the middle class and the military or millionaires and special interests.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

¿GOP en Español? Not no fast.

The latest frontier in the GOP’s war on abortion rights.

Anti-Hagel Republicans in disarray.

GOP Congressman invites Ted Nugent, who threatened the president’s life to be his guest at the State of the Union.

Pentagon to offer expanded benefits to same-sex partners.

NRA lobbyist dismisses the “Connecticut Effect.”

A few things you might not know about outgoing Pope Benedict XVI.

Why the GOP is and will continue to be the party of white people.

Karl Rove’s latest scheme could backfire for the GOP.

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Truth


We The PeopleSo you know we’re not here to blow sunshine up your nether regions. We’re not out to preach. Our only goal is to make sure everyone gets the unfiltered, unadulterated facts about tobacco. So every smoker and non-smoker can agree on one thing: they know what’s up.

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is talk cheap or Republicans


merycorp&valentineWe hear pundits, hosts and journalists ask if the talk is cheap, but it turns out republican talkers are and until you actually listen or read between the wall of words do you find out what exactly are Republicans at the local, state and federal level doing, saying or pushing… and it’s all about austerity, the privatization of ALL Social Services, controlling women’s choices and even more cheap talk. While March 1st looms, the American media asks who is to blame for the Sequester , are more gun safety laws practical, why did Republicans reject VAWA while seemingly pushing us into questioning drones when 90% of us prefer drones to boots on the ground. I am all for following the rules regulations … our constitution, but there is a fine line that the professional left is crossing when the focus should be on the clock that republicans still seem to be trying to turn back .  As March Madness gets closer and closer we see republican members of Congress say Election2013 taught them there is a need to be more practical … but all you have to do is tune into republican debates and the votes being recorded on the floor of Congress to find out just how cheap the talk truly is.

The fact is even after stating they know they need to open up their party to more diversity,  republicans continue to support rep.Paul Ryan and his pathway to prosperity, yet, it still seems to favor only the wealthy.  In 2012, Mr. Ryan seemed to have promised to save Medicare, close loop holes and of course cut spending by trillions.  The problem is, it will still be off the backs of those in need and with the hit our economy took it amazes me that the Republican Party of No thinks Americans don’t see that Mr.1%  and his crew are still in full effect though it’s 2013, but then again cheap words can mask the most blatant of realities. It only takes a republican secret filibuster blow for the Middle and Lower classes to suffer on the way toward that republican mission to cut slash and burn public service jobs while handing out thousands in tax breaks to millionaire and billionaire … friends

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Irreplacea​ble Pacific Northwest orcas: Alex Vanderweele


Below is an email from Alex Vanderweele from the organization EarthJustice, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

 
Sign the petition

Dear Washington MoveOn member,

The critically endangered population of Pacific Northwest orcas has been reduced to only 84 whales. Now, they face a new threat from anti-environmental groups seeking to strip away their Endangered Species Act protections.

Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service that this unique population deserves full protection under the law.

These unique marine mammals have been decimated by the decline of salmon—their primary prey—and by toxic pollution and habitat degradation from shipping, sonar, and other human activities. They need more, not less, protection.

Please voice your support for continuing vital protections for the Pacific Northwest’s irreplaceable killer whales by signing the petition I created on SignOn.org to the Protected Resources Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which says:

I support continued protections for southern resident killer whales under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Removing ESA protections that the orcas vitally need not only threatens the survival of this fragile population, it would also needlessly disrupt and undermine recovery efforts that demand more—not less—attention.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Alex Vanderweele

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. EarthJustice didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

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March 5-7: Join Us in D.C. for the 2013 Annual Conference


 

CARE Defending dignity. Fighting poverty.
 

Be a powerful advocate for women and girls: register for our 2013 conference!

You’ve been an amazing ally in CARE’s work advocating for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. That’s why I’m inviting you to gather with a group of passionate, like-minded CARE supporters and make a meaningful impact in the lives of poor girls and women, their families, and communities around the world.

We’ll train and educate you about critical issues, and help you deliver your poverty-fighting, women-empowering, compassion-promoting message on Capitol Hill.

March 5-7, 2013
Washington Hilton
Washington, D.C.

2013: Make YOUR Impact

  • March 5: We’ll kick off the conference with a celebration of International Women’s Day at an elegant diplomatic reception hosted at Maison Française, the cultural center of the Embassy of France.
  • March 6: On the first day of the conference, we’ll learn more about critical issues that poor people grapple with each day and how CARE’s making a difference.
  • March 7: Equipped with knowledge and stories from the field, spend the last day of the conference delivering our valuable message on Capitol Hill.

Respond to this email if you have any other questions, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. I hope you’ll be able to join us in March!

Sincerely,

Christine Santos
Christina Santos
Director, National Events