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27 Jul 2011 10:41

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Politics: Fed Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke stays out of debt ceiling debate

  • If you’re the Fed chairman, you’ve got to be above politics.
  • Sen. Jon Kyl • Offering a bit of unsolicited advice to our boy Ben Bernanke in the whole debt ceiling mess: Stay out of it, be above it, let the children fight over it. Which, let’s face it, is pretty much his only good option at this point. For what it’s worth, he’s done a good job of this so far: While he’s warned that the debt ceiling needs to go up, he’s stopped short of favoring any one way to do it, a response Barney Frank calls “appropriate.” Not that he’s above actions that raise the ire of the GOP — the Fed’s recent spate of bond purchases, $600 billion in all, have ticked off Republicans. But he hasn’t pissed ’em off too much lately. source

23 Jun 2011 17:13

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U.S.: Eric Cantor, Jon Kyl leave negotiations on debt limit vote

  • Each side came into these talks with certain orders, and as it stands the Democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases. … Given this impasse, I will not be participating in today’s meeting and I believe it is time for the President to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue.
  • Rep. Eric Cantor • Speaking on negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on raising the U.S. debt limit. Cantor, as well as Senator Jon Kyl, have abandoned the negotiations over tax raises the Democrats insist on pairing with the spending cuts the GOP is thirsting for. Speaker Boehner says that talks could continue if tax raises are off the table, which is obvious — if the Democrats abandon what they want out of this deal, it could get done, but that’s more caving than compromise. Cantor says they did find areas of compromise, though: “I believe that we have identified trillions in spending cuts, and to date, we have established a blueprint that could institute the fiscal reforms needed to start getting our fiscal house in order,” he notes. source

10 Feb 2011 11:07

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U.S.: Report: Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl announcing retirement

This will probably get lost in the Mubarak resignation shuffle, but the Senate Minority Whip will likely announce he’s not running in 2012. Whew! Lots of news today! source

04 Apr 2010 12:14

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Politics: Another top Republican takes RNC to task for strip club saga

  • This kind of thing has got to stop or they won’t get any contributions. The people that contribute to the committees, both Democrat and Republican, want to know that their money is well spent for the cause, and it needs to be that way.
  • Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl • Speaking on Fox News Sunday about the current scandal facing the Republican National Committee, where they spent much of the money designed to win elections on fairly unnecessary things – private planes and strip clubs, anyone? He’s the second top conservative to say anything about the scandal: Family Research Council head Tony Perkins trashed on the RNC the other day, saying donors should spend their money elsewhere. source

28 Feb 2010 10:32

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Politics: Jim Bunning getting empathy, not support, for unemployment move

  • All Senator Bunning was saying is that it should be paid for. It will pass, though, because it’s a temporary extension.
  • Sen. Jon Kyl • Discussing Jim Bunning’s infamous blocking of an unemployment benefits extension. Both Bunning and Kyl claim that the bill didn’t pass because it wasn’t agreed upon as part of the PAYGO extension – in other words, the government didn’t have a way to pay for it. Bunning, who this Fox News article calls an “outcast,” for his part blames Harry Reid for blowing up the bipartisan bill. “All of the programs that you have talked about could have been extended and for much longer periods if Senator Reid, your leader, had not blown up the bipartisan job bill,” he noted. Still doesn’t not make you a jerk, dude. source