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04 Apr 2011 23:12

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Politics: Chuck Schumer okay with Tea Party-pandering as long as budget passes

  • We take it for granted that because of the intense political pressure being applied by the Tea Party, [John Boehner] needs to play an outside game as well as an inside game. As long as he continues to negotiate, it’s OK by us if he needs to strike a different pose publicly. Since last week, the two sides have made steady progress on a package of $33 billion in cuts.
  • Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer • Calling out John Boehner, who’s insisting that no deal has been reached with the Democrats, and that $33 billion in cuts just isn’t enough. Who’s fibbing? We’ll find out by Friday, when either a budget will pass, or the government will shut down. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Mar 2011 11:10

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Politics: Biden: Republicans and Democrats nearing deal in budget talks

  • $33 billion in cuts in the latest, tentative budget proposal source
  • » Still not a sure thing: Joe Biden, who has been negotiating a budget with the Republicans, says that he and Republicans are now “working off the same number” in their talks. However, John Boehner’s spokesman made it clear that “there is no deal until everything is settled.” If this budget passes, the cuts will fall drastically short of the $100 billion Republicans pledged to cut during last November’s elections. If it doesn’t, a government shutdown will become a near-certainty.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Mar 2011 15:32

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Politics: Tea Party leader blasts Boehner

  • Charlie Sheen still makes more sense than John Boehner, because at least Charlie Sheen is winning.
  • Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips • Expressing dissatisfaction with the Speaker of the House. A topical comparison, sure, but is it really accurate to say that Charlie Sheen is “winning?” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 11:04

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Politics: Michele Bachmann says she’ll decide on presidential run soonish

  • I think there’s a natural timeframe, and I think probably by about early summer a decision should be made.
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann • On the possibility that she’ll run for president. The key Tea Party figure has made overtures for months. Also worth noting: Bachmann has made a stink recently about $105 billion of extra funding for Obamacare which she says snuck into the bill. However, MinnPost’s Derek Wallbank points out that none of this stuff was hidden, and that her team had three months to look at the final bill. Her claim? They didn’t really focus on the Senate bill in the House – until the last second, that is. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Mar 2011 10:22

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Politics: Rick Scott pissing off everyone – in both parties – in the legislature

  • The governor doesn’t understand there is a State Constitution and that we have three branches of government. They are talking about the attitude that he is still the CEO of his former health care corporation, and that is not going to work in this state, in Tallahassee, in my district. The people believe in three branches of government.
  • Republican Florida State Senator Mike Fasano • Criticizing Tea Party-backed Gov. Rick Scott for pretty much acting LIKE A BOSS instead of a guy who has to answer to the legislative branch. He’s been making some pretty bold decisions – like, for example, selling state-owned jets because he had one of his own – without getting Congressional approval. “It’s necessary at this time, I think — because our governor’s new — to let him know this is not a monarchy,” said Democratic State Senator Arthenia L. Joyner. “He’s not a king. This is a democracy.” Joyner brought a lawsuit against Scott because he killed a plan for high-speed rail. Scott, who recently unveiled his budget plan hundreds of miles away from Tallahassee, shouldn’t get too cocky – the GOP has a supermajority in both houses and can override his veto easily. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2011 10:43

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Politics: In partial defense of the Wisconsin State Journal’s bad photo editing

  • We’ve noticed a couple of our followers mentioning this pretty stellar Awl article about the situation in Wisconsin. This isn’t really about that, except indirectly. It mentioned this photo gallery using this phrase: “The Wisconsin State Journal, ran an entire photo journal titled ‘Saturday protests at the Capitol’—which contained photos only of the Walker supporters.” Now, we don’t like being critical of a publication we like (The Awl is cool), but this simply isn’t true. What we’re witnessing, conversely, is a bad case of photo editing which seems to emphasize the Tea Partiers above all else. There are a lot of photos of the Tea Party in this slideshow, either way, seemingly more than of the much larger crowd around them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Feb 2011 21:23

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U.S.: Are the Tea Partiers in Madison really that big a deal, anyway?

  • So how many Tea Partiers went to Madison today? While these crowds look reasonably large in size, they don’t appear to hold a candle to the 40,000+ union protesters going around Madison today. These arial shots seem to suggest much smaller crowds of Tea Partiers than pro-union folks. But guess which ones CNN decided to cover today? Take a guess. (photo from Americans for Prosperity’s Flickr stream) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

14 Feb 2011 20:13

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U.S.: PATRIOT Act renewal passes House – with simple majority in tow

  • last week It appeared a far-right uprising had sidelined the PATRIOT Act’s renewal in the House, with the bill falling short of the two-thirds total it needed to succeed.
  • this week By passing the bill with rules that only required a simple majority, the extension will go over to the Senate. The vote totals were nearly the same as last week. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2011 21:07

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Politics: PATRIOT Act renewal not sure thing … thanks to the Tea Party

  • renewal The House is going to vote on whether or not to permanently extend the PATRIOT Act, that uber-controversial privacy-exploiting leftover from the Bush era.
  • denial Unfortunately for the GOPers pushing the bill’s renewal, this isn’t the same Congress that passed the bill, and the party’s Tea Party backers may not support it. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Jan 2011 12:52

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Politics: Speaker Boehner pushes back on anti-debt ceiling talk

  • That would be a financial disaster not only for our country, but for the worldwide economy.
  • Speaker Of The House John Boehner • Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the Speaker waded into the debt ceiling issue, seeming to suggest that to his mind, failure to raise the limit would be unthinkable. The nature of Boehner’s unabashed candor is very surprising, considering the Republican voices who have recently toyed with the idea of voting against raising the ceiling. This may be an early example of the internal struggle between establishment Republicanism and their new Tea Party cohorts. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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