Republicans working for all Americans? For the working class? For middle- and lower-income Americans?

Here’s a list of just some of the bills that Republicans have blocked or attempted to block, since President Obama became President:

- Tax on Companies that ship jobs overseas- would have eliminated a tax break that companies get when they ship jobs overseas. (Unless you're owned by a corporation, how do you vote against that?)

- Political Ad disclosure bill- Would have required all donors to political campaigns to reveal themselves. Republicans blocked this, not once but twice.

- Subpoena Power for the Committee investigating the BP Oil Spill – Give subpoena power to the independent committee responsible for investigating BP’s roll in the oil spill. 

- The Small Business Jobs Act -would give local, community banks access to billions of dollars to loan to small businesses. Republicans blocked this twice, then failed to block it a third time.

- The DREAM Act- Gives immigrant youth who were brought here as children a path to citizenship by earning a college degree or serving the military for 2 years. Republicans blocked this.

- Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” - The filibuster against the DREAM Act and repeal of DADT also blocked other blocked provisions:
- No permanent military bases in Afghanistan.
- Protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed Forces 
- Improvements to Department of Defense domestic violence programs.
- Enhancements to the Troops-to-Teachers Program.
- Fiscal year 2011 increase in military basic pay.
- Comprehensive policy on neurocognitive assessment by the military health care system.
- Funds to modify or construct facilities to house detainees transferred from GITMO
Anti-Rape Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill 

- Benefits for Homeless Veterans- and homeless veterans with children. Republicans blocked this.

- Affordable Health Care For America Act- Prevents insurance companies from discriminating against you on the basis of “pre-existing conditions”. Requires that insurance companies spend 85 cents of every dollar that you pay on your actual health care. Limits health insurance companies profit margins. Republicans blocked this for months before it finally passed and have vowed to repeal it if they are elected.

- Health Care for the 9/11 First Responders who got sick from being at Ground Zero- Would provide billions of dollars in health care to help the 9/11 First Responders who were at Ground Zero on 9/11 and are now sick because of it. Republicans blocked this.

- The Jobs Bill- Offsets the payroll tax for 1 year for companies that hire new employees, or people receiving unemployment insurance. Also gives other tax incentives to companies hiring new employees. Republicans attempted to block this.

- Wall Street Reform- Puts stricter regulations on the banks, preventing them from becoming “too big to fail”. Curbs reckless spending practices that caused the banking crisis. Republicans attempted to block this.

- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act- Pumped billions of dollars into state and local Governments to prevent us from sinking into a second Great Depression. Republicans opposed this but now want to take credit for the parts of it that we know are successful.

- Oil Spill Liability- Raises the liability on what companies can be made to pay to clean up after an oil spill. Republicans blocked this.

- Immigration Reform- Republican suggested comprehensive immigration reform until Obama supported it. Now they’re rabidly opposed to it and even voted against their own legislation. 

- Unemployment extension bill HR-4213- Would provide additional aid to the millions of Americans still on unemployment who are just trying to support themselves and their families. Republicans blocked this bill for 8 weeks before it finally passed. Republicans blocked this for 8 weeks before it finally passed.

- Fair Pay Act of 2009- Also called the Lily Ledbetter bill. Requires that women receive equal compensation to men for doing the same work. Republicans attempted to block this.

Finally, they never once created, proposed or tried to pass a jobs/infrastructure bill since 2008 in spite of the fact that the nation and people have been suffering through the worst economic downturn and market in 80 years, since the Great Depression.

So, anyone think these people, the Republican Party, is for the people and not for corporate America and the wealthy of the country?

House Republicans: Wrong on so many issues

President Obama is meeting today with House Republicans, in an effort to set a tone for the next Congressional session, in hopes we can get good things done for the country.

As I so frequently say, here's hoping.

We know "The Party of No" wants to block this president on issue after issue so, as Mitch McConnell said, they can do their best to "assure that he's a one-term president," country be damned.

What's striking is how so very clearly wrong these House Republicans are on issue after issue.

Three quick examples:

First is the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  Naturally, the Republicans want to at least slow down ridding ourselves of this mistake, if not just keep the policy, however wrong it is.

The military's own internal survey came out, also today, and shows the conclusion that "overturning the law known as 'don't ask, don't tell' might cause some disruption at first but would not create any widespread or long-lasting problems."


Thank you.  We knew that.  Let's move on.


The second item the Republicans are absolutely wrong and off base on is keeping the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy.  Quoting Robert Reich,  political economist, professor, author, and political commentator:  "The top don't need the cuts, don't deserve them, and won't spend the windfall (and thereby stimulate the economy).  Besides which, extending the tax cuts for the wealthy--those making $250,000.00 or more per year, adds to the debt to the tune of 700 billion dollars.  That's all.  (Note that that's 3/4 of one trillion dollars, folks.  Not "chump change.")

Finally, the one issue where the Repubs are clearly so out of step with the country, even the world, and progess is the nuclear treaty proposed for us and Russia that's pending right now.

This has been worked on for years.  And it's been worked on by Republicans, Republican presidents and Republican administrations.  They're all on record as saying it's good for the US, it's good for the Russians and it's good, in fact, for the world.

But no go, say the Republicans.  They just can't have this president be successful, no matter what.  They came to that conclusion long, long ago and they're sticking with it.

Again, country be damned.

These guys need to come up with things that are good for this country and get working on them.  You'd think they'd agree.

Here's a thought:  how about working on a jobs program?

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_congress
http://www.truth-out.org/robert-reich-national-fiscal-hypocrisy-week65508
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_gays_in_military
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111003708.html

The military on DADT today

With the release today of the government's survey of the military on the anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, a great deal of attention has already been given to the whole subject lately and more yet will be given now, of course.

Completely ignoring the fact that it should be unconstitutional since it doesn't assume equal rights, let's look at this closer.

Unfortunately, first, the survey and its results were leaked early.  That shouldn't have happened.  I think it has the tendency to put everyone against the elimination of this policy on guard and ready to pounce, almost whatever the results.

Second, it looks, clearly, as though the survey was heavily biased against gays and against the repeal.  An example:

Flawed aspects of the survey include the unnecessary use of terms that are known to be inflammatory and bias-inducing in social science research, such as the clinical term 'homosexual'; an overwhelming focus on the potential negative aspects of repeal and little or no inclusion of the potential positive aspects of  repeal of the negative aspects of the current policy; the repeated and unusual suggestion that a co-worker or leader might need to 'discuss' the appropriate behavior and conduct with gay and lesbian troops," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and a former Army interrogator.

Third, it seems the big headlines I read about the leaked survey were that the Marines were against repealing it even though, when you dig through the actual statistics, that conclusion for a headline was only arrived at because the Marines were most against the repeal of the current policy by a 40% margin.

WTH?

Against it with a 40% margin?

Do the math, folks.  That means 60% of Marines are for repealing this ignorant "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  Sixty percent for.  That's pretty solidly positive in anyone's book.

So, sure, it can be put in a headline that "Marines are most resistant to openly gay troops" but the headline would be far more accurate to say that most Marines are not resistant to openly gay troops.

Here's another flip side to the Marines story--Tammy Schultz, the Director of National Security and Joint Warfare at the US Marine Corps War College says that "resistance to ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is embedded in Marine culture...But she says Corps culture also makes Marines more likely to accept any eventual change in the policy."

In an effort to drive one more nail in the coffin of DADT, "The head of the US Marine Corps will fully cooperate with a repeal of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy...Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said... In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Mullen said there was 'no question' that Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, an opponent of repealing the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy at this time, would implement all necessary changes to allow openly gay Marines to serve if Congress passes a repeal measure.

Finally, as if that all weren't enough, it was back on February 2 of this year, just after the President's State of the Union speech, that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the Pentagon had already taken the first steps toward repealing this discriminatory policy.

So Senator John McCain can go all right wingy he wants on this and all his other issues but the fact is, the men and women of the US military are already behind this policy and statistically, the younger they are, the more they think it isn't an issue and that the DADT policy should go away.

Apparently the old, small-minded people who don't want change need to go away on this issue, at least.

To quote that old, right-wing Republican, Barry Goldwater, "You don't need to be straight to fight and die for your country.  You just need to shoot straight."

It will be nice when this is no longer an issue.


Links: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/07/military_dont_ask_survey_070910w/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/SnapShots/dont-ask-dont-tell-marine_n_788709_68824090.html
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/22/131516365/op-ed-marines-can-handle-dadt-repeal
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-21/politics/mullen.marines.dadt_1_repeal-comprehensive-review-working-group-staff-chairman-adm?_s=PM:POLITICS

What part of "all men are created equal" do you not get?

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Brief thoughts on the State of the Union Address ('scuse me while I stick this in yer eye)

Lest anyone think I'm a sycophant for this, my Democratic President:

1) The President proposed last night we should take away tax credits that took manufacturing "off shore" and give them, instead, to companies that create more manufacturing jobs here in the US.

Well, duh.

Questions that seem obvious to me: a) Why is this a big revelation? b) Why did no one propose this before? (This occured to be YEARS ago) c) How could anyone be against this? (unless they're Republican and they just don't want this guy to succeed, for fear of creating another FDR and his legacy of Democratic rule for, oh, what? another 40 years?);

2) When the President compared us-a couple of times-to France and Germany and India and China, I got the feeling that, all of a sudden, the US is not only realizing its "catch up" status, but we're acknowledging it. It's a not too subtle shift, I think, from the last 200 years, when we virtually always assumed we were the best, the "top of the heap", so to speak;

3) The President called for more nuclear power plants and "clean coal". Wow. What a disappointment. What a letdown. What a sellout. Way to give in to the Right and the corporations:

4) He proposed doubling American exports.

Really? To where? What country is ready to buy more from us? Oh, and shall we crush some other, Third World country's production, just so we can sell more? Explain this, Mr. President, please;

5) I swear, at one point, I thought he was pushing for international trade wars so we could push our products more;

6) The President called--again, as he should and had to--for health care reform. AND THE REPUBLICANS SAT ON THEIR HANDS;

7) There was one cool, new shot of the chamber, from what I assume was the peak of the celing. Very cool. And another down the aisle he had originally come down. It was very cool, too. Nice to see the camera person was being creative;

8) Here's another easy one he threw out there--doing away with "earmarks". Could we not have that, like, yesterday, please?;

9) This took guts but it'll never happen--the President proposed killing the tax cuts for oil companies (and people making $250,000.00/year). Leave aside the 2nd part--this is a terrific idea. The oil companies are making billions in profits. We shouldn't need to give them tax cuts.

And it has about as much chance of happening as me growing wings;

10) The President's idea of forming a bipartisan commission to balance our budget is a good one. You could also look at it as a way for him to get to share the blame for the budget with the Republicans but hey, you have to start somewhere. We aren't going to solve these problems with only one political party's input;

11) Bringing back the "pay-go" provision should be a no-brainer, too. The Repubs did away with it (thank you very much, you chowderheads) while they were in office. Now that they're out, I'm hoping they'd like to shackly the Dems w/ it;

12) Okay, there's no getting out of pointing out that the President REALLY stuck his thumb squarely in the Republican's eye, in a matter of speaking, with this speech and that's the biggest "takeaway" I have on it afterward. To begin, he blamed Bush and his party for the last 8 years, which is fair, since we're in such a big mess, but do you want them to work with you or not? (Note to Republicans: both demi-god Reagan and Bush did this same thing, in their SOTU speeches, at times). Then he mocked them, on this huge, public forum, for not supporting the American people and for giving tax cuts to the rich, instead. Then he pointed out that that was what got us in the mess we're in today, to paraphrase.

The President didn't make any friends this night, except warming to his own, stalwart base. The Repubs are going to come out swinging today, this week and here on. Just wait until Rush and Glenn and Bill and Sean speak out on this one;

13) Question: Were Joe Biden's shoes bothering him or something?;

14) Twittering is now, officially, clearly ingrained in our culture. You can tell it when you see so much of an audience with their heads down during this speech, punching away furiously at their little machines. It was both funny and sick, at the same time. We can't do one thing any more--we have to make 140 character (or less) notes on it, too;

15) I wish the cameras would have shown the Republican side of the chamber when the President called for the repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. I feel sure they were sitting on their hands again but they would not/did not show it to us. That really frustrated me;

16) Joe Lieberman looks like he is perpetually reacting sarcastically, even when he's not talking. Since I don't like him and his traitorous, self-serving ways, I'm good with that;

17) The side view shot of VP Biden and Ms. Pelosi, while original, was not attractive. Note to cameraman: don't do it again;

18) Side/final note: looking at the Capital, on the outside, at the end of the speech, can you imagine how strict and tight the security is in Washington when this speech is given, annually? Can you imagine how busy Andrews Air Force Base is this night? Yikes.