Tag Archives: senate-majority

Bolitics: Should President Barack Obama Choose A SCOTUS Successor Following Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death?

President Obama To Choose Successor Following Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death Conservative Court Justice Antonin Scalia , who voted against Obamacare, same-sex gay marriage and said affirmative action sends black students to schools “too advanced” for them, has peacefully passed away at age 79 while in Texas. Now, Republicans are trying to stall President Obama right to pick a new successor as soon as possible according to CNN reports: Within two hours of Scalia’s death being reported, presidential candidates along with Republican and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill were feuding over whether Obama should appoint a replacement for the eloquent and outspoken Scalia or wait for the next administration to make a decision. The battle lines underscored the huge political stakes in the 2016 election, which could cement the ideological balance of the court for years to come. Obama said Saturday he would nominate a successor “in due time,” but Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted the next administration should make the appointment. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” the Kentucky Republican said. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.” But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid issued a scathing statement, previewing the heated fight ahead. “The President can and should send the Senate a nominee right away,” Reid said. “With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible. It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate’s most essential Constitutional responsibilities.” News of Scalia’s death broke hours before the latest Republican presidential debate and added another explosive element to a heated GOP primary campaign. Even before Saturday, the fate of the Supreme Court was already a key election issue, given the possibility that the next President could get the chance to nominate at least two or three Justices due to the age of those on the bench and the possible shift of the ideological balance of the court. Justice Scalia Dead Following 30-Year Battle With Social Progress https://t.co/XNhzhtATmR pic.twitter.com/9X1v2jW78A — The Onion (@TheOnion) February 14, 2016 Fun Fact: Republican presidents Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan filled Supreme Court vacancies during election years. Continue reading

‘Lincoln’ Heads To U.S. Senate; ‘Tron’ 3 On The Way: Biz Break

Steven Spielberg will screen his Oscar contender in the U.S. Senate. Also in Thursday’s round-up of news, Casey Affleck is eyeing a crime thriller; Tron is making another return; records were released surrounding TDKR Colorado shooter James Holmes; and Glenn Beck & Vince Vaughn are developing a documentary filmmaker competition. Lincoln Invited to Screen U.S. Senate Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has invited Steven Spielberg to screen Lincoln in the Senate chamber later this month. The film screened by invitation of President Obama at the White House on November 15th, Deadline reports . Casey Affleck Eyes Boston Strangler Pic Affleck hopes to star in the thriller about the desperate search to find the mass murderer who gripped Boston in fear in the early ’60s. Warner Bros. picked up the thriller, Deadline reports . New Tron Back in Development A Tron 3 sequel to 2010 reboot Tron: Legacy is back on track. Plot details are being kept secret, but Joseph Kosiniski, who directed Legacy is attached to direct the new pic, THR reports . TDKR Shooter’s Records Released as Theater Is Set to Re-open The documents reveal a romantic relationship accused killer James Holmes had and one of his professors feared for her students’ safety. The theater where the shooting occurred is set to reopen January 17th during a ceremony that will be attended by Colorado’s governor, THR reports . Glenn Beck and Vince Vaughn Teaming for Documentary Filmmaker Competition Show The conservative personality is working to start a reality show called Pursuit of the Truth with Vince Vaughn in which 20 documentarians will compete for financing and distribution of their films and is accepting “filmmakers of all walks of life,” Indiewire reports .

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‘Lincoln’ Heads To U.S. Senate; ‘Tron’ 3 On The Way: Biz Break

Cry Me A River: Republicans Holler “Class Warfare” Over Obama’s Plans To Raise Taxes On The Super-Rich

GOP must stand for GREED OPERATED POLITICS because the shady Republicans are already crying foul over Obama’s plans to increase taxes on the super-rich . Leading Republicans on Sunday spurned as “class warfare” an administration proposal dubbed “the Buffett rule” that would ensure millionaires are taxed at the same rate as the middle class. President Barack Obama was expected to make the proposal on Monday, picking up on a repeated complaint by billionaire investor Warren Buffett that he pays taxes at a lower rate than his secretary, White House officials said. “If he’s feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told NBC’s “Meet the Press” of Buffett. “But we don’t want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, dismissed the Buffett rule as “just a political move by the president.” Increasing taxes on millionaires would add “a de minimis amount of money to the Treasury to pay off the debt,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union” talkshow. “The tax code should be reformed for one purpose — generate jobs. When you say we’ll tax one percent of the economy, that’s class warfare,” said Graham, who called for reforms that would eliminate deductions and flatten income tax rates overall. Echoing Graham, Representative Paul Ryan said the administration’s proposal was “going in the wrong direction.” “Class warfare… may make for really good politics but it makes a rotten economics,” the Wisconsin Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We don’t need a system that seeks to divide people. We don’t need a system that seeks to prey on people’s fear, envy and anxiety.” Some millionaires get a big break because investment gains — such as capital gains, dividends and “carried interest” compensation paid to investment managers and hedge fund partners — are taxed at a lower rate than wages. They also only pay the Social Security payroll tax on the first $106,800 of their income, the cut-off point for the tax. Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, has questioned the fairness of the system and suggested that the rich should be willing to pay more. Obama will unveil the tax hike as part of a broader announcement at the White House on a long-term deficit reduction proposal. He will not indicate a specific rate or provide other details such as how much revenue the plan would raise, according to The New York Times, which first reported the story. A special joint congressional committee is working on a bipartisan budget deal due by late November amid a new row between Obama and Republican lawmakers over the president’s jobs bill, after Obama said he would finance the plan by ending tax breaks for oil and gas firms and individuals earning over $200,000. Republicans have rejected the blueprint. The millionaires’ rate would affect just 0.3 percent of taxpayers, or fewer than 450,000 of the some 144 million returns filed for 2010, according to the Times. Don’t believe the hype! If Warren Buffett can admit he’s not paying enough taxes these haters need to step the fizzuck off. Hoes Sit Down… and Quit Yer B*tchin’!!! The rest of us are bleeding over here while y’all feed your pomeranians caviar from golden plates at the damn dinner table. Source

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Cry Me A River: Republicans Holler “Class Warfare” Over Obama’s Plans To Raise Taxes On The Super-Rich

Cry Me A River: Republicans Holler “Class Warfare” Over Obama’s Plans To Raise Taxes On The Super-Rich

GOP must stand for GREED OPERATED POLITICS because the shady Republicans are already crying foul over Obama’s plans to increase taxes on the super-rich . Leading Republicans on Sunday spurned as “class warfare” an administration proposal dubbed “the Buffett rule” that would ensure millionaires are taxed at the same rate as the middle class. President Barack Obama was expected to make the proposal on Monday, picking up on a repeated complaint by billionaire investor Warren Buffett that he pays taxes at a lower rate than his secretary, White House officials said. “If he’s feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told NBC’s “Meet the Press” of Buffett. “But we don’t want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, dismissed the Buffett rule as “just a political move by the president.” Increasing taxes on millionaires would add “a de minimis amount of money to the Treasury to pay off the debt,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union” talkshow. “The tax code should be reformed for one purpose — generate jobs. When you say we’ll tax one percent of the economy, that’s class warfare,” said Graham, who called for reforms that would eliminate deductions and flatten income tax rates overall. Echoing Graham, Representative Paul Ryan said the administration’s proposal was “going in the wrong direction.” “Class warfare… may make for really good politics but it makes a rotten economics,” the Wisconsin Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We don’t need a system that seeks to divide people. We don’t need a system that seeks to prey on people’s fear, envy and anxiety.” Some millionaires get a big break because investment gains — such as capital gains, dividends and “carried interest” compensation paid to investment managers and hedge fund partners — are taxed at a lower rate than wages. They also only pay the Social Security payroll tax on the first $106,800 of their income, the cut-off point for the tax. Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, has questioned the fairness of the system and suggested that the rich should be willing to pay more. Obama will unveil the tax hike as part of a broader announcement at the White House on a long-term deficit reduction proposal. He will not indicate a specific rate or provide other details such as how much revenue the plan would raise, according to The New York Times, which first reported the story. A special joint congressional committee is working on a bipartisan budget deal due by late November amid a new row between Obama and Republican lawmakers over the president’s jobs bill, after Obama said he would finance the plan by ending tax breaks for oil and gas firms and individuals earning over $200,000. Republicans have rejected the blueprint. The millionaires’ rate would affect just 0.3 percent of taxpayers, or fewer than 450,000 of the some 144 million returns filed for 2010, according to the Times. Don’t believe the hype! If Warren Buffett can admit he’s not paying enough taxes these haters need to step the fizzuck off. Hoes Sit Down… and Quit Yer B*tchin’!!! The rest of us are bleeding over here while y’all feed your pomeranians caviar from golden plates at the damn dinner table. Source

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Cry Me A River: Republicans Holler “Class Warfare” Over Obama’s Plans To Raise Taxes On The Super-Rich

CBS Befuddled by How Tea Party Candidates Have Survived Despite Their ‘Unusual Assertions’

ABC, CBS and NBC all ran full stories Monday night on how an old video clip showed Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell talking about how, as a high-schooler, she had “dabbled into witchcraft.” CBS, however, used O’Donnell to pivot to marveling at how other Tea Party-affiliated Senate candidates remain viable despite what CBS considers exotic views.   “Christine O’Donnell’s witchcraft comments may have spooked some Republican leaders,” Nancy Cordes related on the CBS Evening News, “but her fellow Tea Party Senate candidates are living prove that unusual assertions are not necessarily campaign killers.” Cordes elaborated with some contestable summaries of positions expressed: Take Kentucky’s Rand Paul who questioned the historic civil rights act, but is still tied with the Democrat in a recent poll. Nevada’s Sharron Angle is neck and neck with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, even after she advocated an armed insurrection against the government. And Utah attorney Mike Lee is crushing his Democratic rival even though Lee favors dismantling Social Security and eliminating unemployment benefits. Priorities he shares with Alaska’s Joe Miller. Katie Couric set up the story: “Republicans were counting on picking up a Democratic Senate seat in Delaware. That is until Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell won the GOP nomination. Will her past statements about, among other things, witchcraft, come back to haunt her?” On ABC’s World News, Jonathan Karl finally delivered a broadcast network mention of reasoning that should be “haunting” O’Donnell’s Democratic opponent: And O’Donnell isn’t the only one haunted by past statements. Politico obtained this article, “The Making of a Bearded Marxist,” where the Democratic candidate, Chris Coons, wrote in his college paper that “my own favorite beliefs in the miracles of free enterprise and the boundless opportunities to be had in America might be largely untrue.” Not surprisingly, Coons says he won’t make an issue out of old comments. Unsaid: Politico “obtained this article,” from the Amherst College student newspaper, back in May. Politico’s May 3 headline: “ Coons took ‘bearded Marxist’ turn .” It took four months for someone at a network to care. (An oddity: Every network — cable and broadcast — but CBS managed to obtain a good quality version of the 1999 Politically Incorrect clip played by Bill Maher on his HBO show on Friday night, even if just from a recording of the HBO program which has been re-run several times by the pay-cable channel. CBS, in contrast, played a low quality clip, with awful audio, lifted from a Web video on the left-wing Think Progress site.) Friday night : “CBS Dishonestly Touts ‘Non-Partisan Watchdog’ Group’s Quest for a ‘Criminal Investigation’ of Christine O’Donnell” The piece on the Monday, September 20 CBS Evening News: KATIE COURIC: Republicans were counting on picking up a Democratic Senate seat in Delaware. That is until Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell won the GOP nomination. Will her past statements about, among other things, witchcraft, come back to haunt her? Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes reads the tea leaves. CHRISTINE O’DONNELL, ON POLITICALLY INCORRECT IN 1999: Because I dabbled into witchcraft, I hung around people who were doing these things. NANCY CORDES: Christine O’Donnell’s witchcraft comments may have spooked some Republican leaders. KARL ROVE: She’s got to deal with it and explain it. CORDES: But her fellow Tea Party Senate candidates are living prove that unusual assertions are not necessarily campaign killers. RAND PAUL: Watch out, here we come. CORDES: Take Kentucky’s Rand Paul who questioned the historic civil rights act, but is still tied with the Democrat in a recent poll. Nevada’s Sharron Angle is neck and neck with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, even after she advocated an armed insurrection against the government. LAURA MYERS, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Senator Reid still is not very popular in Nevada because a lot of people blame the bad economy on him. CORDES: And Utah attorney Mike Lee is crushing his Democratic rival even though Lee favors dismantling Social Security and eliminating unemployment benefits. Priorities he shares with Alaska’s Joe Miller. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Here’s the difference: Delaware is a Democratic state and those other Tea Party states are either competitive purple or Republican red. CORDES: Back in Delaware, supporters of Christine O’Donnell- O’DONNELL ON POLITICALLY INCORRECT: One of my favorite first dates was with a witch on a satanic altar and I didn’t know it. CORDES: -say they’re not fazed by the latest skeleton in her closet. MAN: I’m going to vote for people on what they’re running on, not what they did 20 years ago because I’d never get elected myself if that happened. CORDES: O’Donnell was a frequent guest on comedian Bill Maher’s program back in the 1990s and he plans to release more colorful clips like that one. For now, she’s laughing off the threat saying, “Hey, Bill wanted ratings, I gave them to him.” Katie?

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CBS Befuddled by How Tea Party Candidates Have Survived Despite Their ‘Unusual Assertions’

Lady Gaga Posts Anti-‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Video

‘I am here to be a voice for my generation,’ Gaga says before attempting to call her senators. By James Montgomery Lady Gaga Photo: Ian Gavan/ Getty Images In the days since Lady Gaga appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards with four members of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network — an organization opposed to the U.S. Armed Forces’ “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — she has been on a mission: to speak out against what she sees as a “wrong … sick and … immoral” injustice, and to urge the U.S. Senate to vote on a measure that would repeal it. She’s traded messages with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , castigated Arizona Senator John McCain over his attempted filibuster to block the measure and instructed her more than 6 million Twitter followers to contact their senators in support of the vote, which is scheduled to take place next week. And on Friday morning (September 17) she called her own senator during a seven-and-a-half minute video posted on her website . In the clip, Gaga addresses several senators by name — including Republicans McCain, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell and Oklahoma’s James Inhofe — and asks them to vote in favor of the Defense Authorization Bill, which includes language that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” ” ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ is a law that was created in 1993 that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. Since then 14,000 Americans have been discharged from the armed forces, refused the right to serve their country and sent home, regardless of honorable service or how valuable they were to their units,” Gaga says in the message. “[The] SLDN’s advocacy proves that these soldiers are being searched; superiors are going through their e-mails and private belongings, calling family members and operating based on assumptions. Ultimately, the law is being enforced using gay profiling. … In short, not only is the law unconstitutional, but it’s not even being properly enforced by the government. “I am here to be a voice for my generation, not the generation of the senators who are voting, but for the youth of this country, the generation that is affected by this law and whose children will be affected,” she continued. “We are not asking you to agree with or approve the moral implications of homosexuality; we’re asking you to do your job, to protect the constitution.” Gaga then provides her fans with information on how they can contact their senators about the Defense Authorization Bill and calls the offices of her senators, New York Democrats Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Unfortunately, no one picks up in Schumer’s office and Gillibrand’s voicemail is full, but Gaga will not be discouraged. And she hopes her fans won’t be, either. “I have called both of the senators that operate in my district,” she says at the end of the video. “I will not stop calling until I reach them and I can leave them this message: ‘I am a constituent of the senator, my name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga. I’m calling to ask the senator to vote with Senators Reid and Levin to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and oppose John McCain’s shameless filibuster. We need to do this for our gay and lesbian soldiers, and finally repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ ” Related Photos VMA 2010: Lady Gaga Lookbook Related Artists Lady Gaga

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Lady Gaga Posts Anti-‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Video

Obama Press Secretary Gibbs Uses Twitter to Push NYT Hit Piece About Boehner

The midterm election campaign is now in full swing, and with Democrats looking at historic losses in Congress, the folks at the New York Times did their job by publishing a front page hit piece on House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.) Sunday: He maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS. They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, provided him with rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his Boehner for Speaker campaign, which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each, the maximum allowed. The woman he hopes to replace, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, derided him on Friday as having met “countless times with special-interest lobbyists in an effort to stop tough legislation” that would regulate corporations and protect consumers. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, through a spokeswoman, charged that he “epitomizes the smoked-filled, backroom, special-interest deal making that turns off voters about Washington.” So marvelous a hit job was done by Eric Lipton that Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs sent four consecutive messages on Sunday to his 93,000 followers on Twitter: Politico’s Mike Allen decided to “retweet” one of Gibb’s messages to his 36,000 followers : Allen followed this with a tweet of his own concerning Boehner: Gibbs must have liked that and retweeted it himself:    So, you can see how this campaign is going to work now:  The White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and/or Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will send their talking points to “news” outlets like the Times “News” outlets like the Times will dutifully echo such talking points The White House, Pelosi, and/Reid will broadcast the “news” to all that are interested “News” outlets like the Times will dutifully echo such broadcasts.    This is the state of “journalism” in America today. Any questions?

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Obama Press Secretary Gibbs Uses Twitter to Push NYT Hit Piece About Boehner

Sharron’s Angle: No Gay Rights

Sharron Angle of Nevada would be detrimental to gay people across the country if she wins the November election against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, gay and lesbian political leaders said in several different ways during a conference call on Thursday. Callers stressed Angle's voting record as a member of the Independent American Party, which took out ads in 1994 warning that HIV/AIDS could be spread through “contaminated water” and another 16-page advertising insert that promoted constitutionally legalizing discrimination against gay people. The ad ran in several Nevada newspapers. added by: TimALoftis

Ed Schultz Meltdown: Harry Reid ‘Ball-less’ – Won’t Shove GOP Bastards Into Ditch

The desperation on the Left — as they realize November is going to be very bad for Democrats likely ending that “Hopey Changey Thingy” — is beginning to come to a boil. On Wednesday, liberal talker Ed Schultz had a full on meltdown during his radio program as he screamed, “To hell with the Republicans! They’re anti-American!” But that was just the start, for moments later, he called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) “ball-less” once again shouting, “You won’t do the nuke option for the American people and shove the Republicans into the ditch! Shove those bastards right into the dirthole!” Apparently still speaking to Reid, Schultz said, “And if I’m too excited or too passionate for you, I’m giving you the finger right now! Because I don’t give a damn” (audio follows with transcript and commentary, h/t Twitter’s @secularstupiddd):  ED SCHULTZ: Do you think here in late July of 2010, after the 2008 election, almost two years, do you think the Democrats can finally get their freaking heads screwed on right and realize that the lefties put you in office to do something? To hell with the Republicans! They’re anti-American! They’re psycho talkers! They don’t care! How much focus has there been in the mainstream media about jobs being shipped overseas? Well, it’s happening on The Ed Show. I don’t know about anybody else’s on any other network or anywhere else. That’s the story! That’s where Americans are right now! Look, Democrats, I’m your best friend. I’ve been across the country. I take thousands of emails. Our team works 16 hours a day. We do a TV and we do a radio show. I’m trying to tell you what the hell’s going on! But you sit back, and Harry, you are ball-less! You won’t do the nuke option for the American people and shove the Republicans into the ditch! Shove those bastards right into the dirthole! This is about power! It’s about winning! It’s about saving American lives! That’s what this is about! And if I’m too excited or too passionate for you, I’m giving you the finger right now! Because I don’t give a damn! And oh by the way, the stimulus package isn’t working. That’s what O’Reilly and Ingraham, those two Nazis, are saying over on Fox News. Clearly, the panic on the Left is beginning to build. With less than four months to go before Election Day, and polls showing America’s anger at Obama and the Democrats growing by the hour, folks like Schultz know that their dream of a socialist United States is starting to crash and burn. As Brian Maloney wrote Thursday: All week, the big question has been whether Democrats are truly imploding, or simply projecting that image to reduce electoral expectations and create complacent Republicans. As on-air rants become more desperately hysterical than ever, liberal talkers are clearly building a case for the former. These guys are truly losing it. Indeed. Question is how bad will this get? As we near November, and the dream really starts turning into a nightmare, how much more unhinged will these libtalkers get? Stay tuned. 

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Ed Schultz Meltdown: Harry Reid ‘Ball-less’ – Won’t Shove GOP Bastards Into Ditch

Your Handy 11-State Primary Guide

The fate of Senate Majority Leader—and favorite punching bag of tea party types—Harry Reid may hang in the balance during this year’s election cycle, and Tuesday’s vote in his home state of Nevada is just one of 11 primaries happening on the same day. Thankfully, The New York Times has cobbled together a useful guide to primaries around the nation.