Gridlock the Ally as Catfood Commission Reaches Home Stretch

'105 Democratic Lawmakers Reject Any Social Security Reform'
. . . at least unless “reform” consists entirely of Tax Increases . Says Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio): “We strongly believe that cuts to Social Security benefits must not be part of any recommendations or policymaking. We believe that Social Security should never be privatized and that the Retirement Age should never be raised.” Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist, Vermont) offers the familiar argument against means-testing: “It makes a good sound bite to say that,...

At least they're gone
Democrats have lefttown without passing a Budget or any appropriations bills, nor have they answered the questionAmericansin every Tax bracket are asking: What will my taxrate be comeJanuary 2011? The focus for Democrats now is not on legislating, nor on touting their unpopular accomplishments, but rather on Attack Ads calling into question the personal records of their Republican opponents taxes, business dealings, Divorce proceedings. It isn't likely to be so effective,...

Obama hails departing Rahm Emanuel, the #$&@)* tough guy who chokes up anyway (SFW)
Rahm Emanuel, the savyy, rough-talking top aide to President Obama , left his White House job today to return to what every Windy City pol regards as the Big Leagues, the nation's No. 3 city where he'll seek to become head of the long-dominant Democratic machine that he once served as a go-fer. He must register his candidacy by Nov. 22. Obama gave his longtime political friend a send-off full of bounteous praise (see full text and video below), and what sounded like a mayoral...

Business Interests Quietly Push for Tax Change
By John D. McKinnon Business interests once again are quietly talking up the idea of temporarily lowering the U.S. Tax barrier that keeps multinationals overseas profits parked offshore. The proposal would temporarily lower the Tax on overseas earnings brought back to the U.S. The idea is to encourage multinationals to bring home or repatriate hundreds of Billions of dollars that they now choose to leave parked overseas, often in offshore Tax havens. Under an earlier version of the idea,...

Emanuel out as WHouse chief of staff
AP President Barack Obama has freed his hard-charging Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to run for mayor of Chicago, replacing the White House gatekeeper with Pete Rouse, as quiet and low-key as his predecessor was boisterous. The ceremonial changing of the guard marked a clear loss for Obama, who relied heavily on Emanuel's intensity, discipline and congressional relationships to keep the White House focused and aggressive. "We could not have accomplished what we've accomplished without Rahm's...

Every Representative who voted YES on adjournment refused to stop tax hikes
Every Representative who voted YES on adjournment refused to stop Tax hikes The reckless decision of the U. S. House of Representatives to adjourn without acting to prevent the biggest Tax hike in American history passed by a single vote, 210 to 209 ( https://bit.ly/aTy1oI ). Every member of Congress who voted for adjournment is responsible for American Taxpayers being months away from a huge Tax hike. This is an unprecedented level of fiscal irresponsibility. On the Senate side, 53 Democrats...

Towey's Hypocritical Hooey: Bush 'Faith Czar' Complains About Politicization Of White House Faith-Based Office
Under James Towey, the White House faith-based office was used to promote Republican Candidates in tight House and Senate races. James Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush, had an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal recently carping because President Barack Obama has used his administrations faith-based offices to let Americans know about the New Health-care law. Towey says if he had politicized his...

An Open Letter to Sen. Sherrod Brown
Pleading for restrictions on American Consumers’ abilities to spend their money as they judge best, you proclaimed yesterday in the Senate that you “would love to go anywhere in the United States and have a public debate to show the public and show the American People how much this [international trade] has undermined our Sovereignty, our wealth, our Manufacturing base.” I’ll be happy to debate you. You name the time and place. You talk about our Sovereignty. Your...

A strategy to reduce trade deficit (Sen. Sherrod Brown & Sen. Byron Dorgan)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced Legislation in Washington, D.C. to establish a Trade Deficit Commission that will be assigned the task of developing a Trade Policy plan to eliminate the Trade Deficit. The Senators say establishing this commission would be an important first step in making a serious commitment to stopping the flood of American jobs moving to foreign countries: From 2002 to 2008, the U.S. Trade Deficit nearly doubled from $468 Billion to...

Could Simpson, Boehner et al Pass the Social Security Test?
AFSCME President Gerald McEnteehas a great idea for a reality television show. He suggested it as part of a conference call today where participantsoutlinedefforts to strengthen Social Security and combat attempts by the federal Budget Deficit commission and others to raise the Retirement Age, cut benefits or even privatize Social Security. The show wouldstar three people: Deficit Commission co-chair Alan Simpson, who has called seniors “greedy geezers”; House Minority...

DISCLOSE act obituaries are premature
Reports of the DISCLOSE Acts death are greatly exaggerated. Certainly, the current version is unlikely to recover from again falling one vote short of the 60 needed to obtain Cloture. But the upcoming Election is bound to breathe new life into the legislative effort to provide the American People with information about the flood of money -- much of it completely anonymous -- that is pouring into key races. The flood comes courtesy of the Supreme Courts shocking decision...

Twelve Senators, 104 House members vow to vote against Social Security cuts
On a Press call this morning, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), and Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) announced their united opposition to any Social Security cuts the Deficit commission might recommend. Senator Sanders, along with eleven colleagues, introduced a resolution [pdf] in the Senate "Expressing the sense of the Senate in opposition to privatizing Social Security, raising the Retirement Age, or other similar cuts to...

Hand the Taxpayer a Receipt
The left half of the blogosphere is getting pretty excited by this idea of the Third Way's to provide an itemized receipt for what your Tax Dollars are spent on: There seems to be an unspoken assumption that opposition to Spending rests on misperception of what the money is spent on; Americans tell pollsters they want to Cut Spending, but it turns out that what they really want Cut is the imaginary fortune they think we spend on foreign aid. But of course, it seems to me that this could just as...

Paul Ryan hits Democrats over social security
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) slammed Democrats Thursday for campaigning against Republicans on Social Security. At an event for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Thursday morning, he took on Democrats who have gone after Republican Candidates for supporting Ryan’s Roadmap for America’s Future. The plan includes partial privatization of accounts for those under 55. Continue Reading Text Size Politico 44 “We’ve got to get beyond weaponizing these issues for...

Tax debate should bypass old German theory
The expiry of Bush-era Tax Cuts at year end, as originally legislated, could knock back the already anemic U.S. recovery. Deficit hawks reckon that’s an acceptable risk, saying America just can’t afford to extend them. But that viewpoint assumes some belief in Wagner’s Law, which posits ever-higher public Spending — a bit of dogma in need of debunking. If Congress can’t agree to extend the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts on labor and investment income, real GDP growth in...

With Hillary, Obama avoided an LBJ mistake
Scoff all you like at Gallup's new Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton head-to-head Poll, in which the president leads his Secretary of State among Democrats, 52 to 37 percent. Big Deal. The numbers aren't bad for Hillary, but her political army is completely demobilized, if not folded into the Obama corps. Of course, it's easy to think this now. But imagine if she had stayed in the Senate? One doesn't have to wonder too hard: there's a close enough comparison in Lyndon Johnson and Robert...

Choked-up Emanuel leaves White House
An emotional Rahm Emanuel said goodbye Friday to the White House in what President Obama described as the least suspenseful announcement in history. Emanuels departure was rumored from the moment Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced his Retirement, and the news of a White House announcement that he would leave immediately to run for Daleys old job leaked out early this week. But that didnt prevent the White House from giving Emanuel a grand send-off from the East Room, where most of...

Democrats hope organizing will counter voters' apathy
Reporting from Las Vegas and San Francisco — On a recent Saturday, Ken Adams and Ronald Ramsey went door-to-door in Las Vegas, canvassing for Harry Reid . They carried a map of Democratic households and a set of poll-tested talking points, including the senator's achievements ("$540 million for a brand new VA Hospital") and jabs at Republican rival Sharron Angle, who spoke of privatizing the Department of Veterans Affairs (on Public Radio in May, if anyone asked). A woman in pajamas...

Sen. Thune sees third party if GOP strays
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said a Third Party similar to the Tea Party could emerge as early as 2012. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said a Third Party could emerge as early as 2012 if Republicans stray from their principles. Thune, a potential Presidential Candidate in 2012, predicted that if Republicans win majorities in Congress but don't follow through on their promises, it could cause a Third Party built in the shape of the Tea Party movement to take off. "I will say this: If we do not govern...

Boehner pledges overhaul of House spending rules
34 Days until Socialism dies in the United States I want a CAP on spending PERIOD. Federal spending should be capped at 90% of the PREVIOUS years Tax Revenues. Taxes need to be limited to 30% PEAK with EVERYBODY PAYING SOMETHING. Even if the lower Tax brackets pay only 5%, they should be paying SOMETHING if they live in this country. NO MORE FREE RIDES! September 30, 2010 03:29 pm at 3:29 pm |

DeMint targets Senate colleagues
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is planning to wage a Television campaign against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and other Democratic colleagues. The Senate Conservatives Fund, a Political action Committee that DeMint helms, has produced an anti-Reid Television ad and will raise money to launch it in Nevada. The Senate Conservatives Funds first target, however, is Sen. Michael Bennet, the freshman Democrat from Colorado who is running against Ken Buck, a favorite of Tea Party...

Linda McMahon, laughing in the face of history
You may have heard that Linda McMahon, the wrestling executive and Republican Candidate for Senate who takes home $46 million annually, admitted on Thursday that she doesn't know what the current Minimum Wage rate is. McMahon, who has nearly pulled even with Democrat Richard Blumenthal in recent polls, made the admission after a news Conference in which she seemed to suggest she'd be open to lowering the Minimum Wage. Luckily for her, it was only after the cameras were turned off and...

Requiem For a Soul
Ken Silverstein says so long and thanks for all the fish: The current GOP is truly a scary party, but if not for that it would be impossible to care about the Midterm Elections. When you’re reduced to rooting for soulless hacks like the current Senate Majority Leader—and he’s typical of today’s Democrats—you’ve lost something fundamental at the core of your humanity. So as you can tell from all this, I just no longer have the energy to cover Washington....

Attack on Whitman has nothing to do with immigration
The October Surprise fired at Meg Whitman this week has nothing to do with Immigration policy; it has everything to do with Feminism. The accusation that the GOP Gubernatorial Candidate in California knowingly employed an illegal housekeeper even after receiving a no-match letter from the Social Security Administration falls flat. As of now, there doesnt appear to be any evidence of illegal behavior Whitman filed an I-9 form, fired her housekeeper promptly after she admitted...

Polito holds out, but indicates she may relent
R ep. Karyn Polito’s hold on a $400 million Budget bill continued into a fifth hour on Friday afternoon but she indicated to the News Service that House leaders may end up having their way and advancing the bill to the Senate. Polito, who is running for state treasurer, told the News Service in a phone interview that she had "scheduling needs" that she planned to meet and said House leaders were likely to win a parliamentary fight. "It could be," she said. "You know the rules stand on...