Embedded Files
We've been going through one of the most hyper-partisan eras in the history of American politics. From the moment Barack Obama was elected, Republicans have made it their goal to prevent him carrying out the job he was elected to do. The midterm elections of 2010 led to the creation of The Left Bank Cafe blog. Since then we've seen more and more nonsense from the right-wing echo chamber and its assorted wingnuts. The Democratic Party has moved further to the center and right in spite of the support for progressive policies among their base.
The role of government in providing for the common good has been under attack for more than three decades. The result is that wealth and income inequality in our country is at levels that haven't been seen since before the Great Depression.
In a December 2002 article in Harper's, former Senator and Presidential candidate George McGovern wrote: "Virtually every step forward in our history has been a liberal initiative taken over conservative opposition: civil rights, Social Security, Medicare, rural electrification, the establishment of a minimum wage, collective bargaining, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and federal aid to education, including the land-grant colleges, to name just a few." McGovern wonders why so many contemporary liberals hide their liberalism, defined by Webster's as "a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of man, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties."
Some of the earliest posts on this blog were a discussion of Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land, a vibrant defense of what he calls "social democracy". Judt had four objectives for his book:
- Creating a new moral narrative that appeals to our best, rather than our worst, instincts
- Addressing the fears and insecurities caused by a rapidly changing world
- Striking at the myths about the success of unregulated markets
- Demonstrating the role government can successfully play in the world that will be our future
I hope that in some way the blog has been able to live up to the ideals expressed by Senator McGovern and Professor Judt.
(See the Political Science & Economics page of this website for Judt's articles.)
Issues and Policies
Progressive Vision and Assorted Heroes
Challenges - Apr. 12, 2011
Long-term, there are five key challenges for progressives. We have been remarkably inept recently in framing the political debate. Unless we get better at it, future generations will suffer badly. The major challenges...
Obama's Short(falls) List - Oct. 24, 2011
Obama appears to have been bullied by everyone from freshman Congressmen to the medical industry to the military to Benjamin Netanyahu and the so-called "Israel lobby". Maybe he is naive or maybe he really has been a centrist all along....
Profiles in Courage - Nov. 27, 2011
In 1955, future President John F. Kennedy's memorable biographical work Profiles in Courage was published....Here are three persons today who give us hope that courage to stand up for one's principles is still alive in the world...
MLK Day 2012 - Jan. 16, 2012
Because of Dr. King's work and those of thousands of lesser known civil rights activists, Barack Obama was able to be elected President of the United States in 2008, something totally inconceivable at the time Martin Luther King began his efforts for social justice and peace more than 50 years ago...
Freedom - Jan. 31, 2012
...progressives do not get the real appeal of conservative rhetoric. We sit and wonder how anyone not well off could vote Republican when doing so is clearly against their best economic interests. A good part of the answer is in how conservatives have coopted the issue of freedom...
The Other America - Mar. 7, 2012
Michael Harrington's ground-breaking book The Other America was published fifty years ago. His analysis of poverty in America led John Kennedy to initiate the Federal poverty program and later inspired Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs. Much of the social safety net in the United States owes its origin to Harrington's influential book...
Remembering George McGovern - Oct. 23, 2012
I met George McGovern when he gave a talk at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. I cannot recall now whether it was during his 1972 run for the Presidency or, more likely, after it. I went up to him after his talk and we spoke briefly. He was one of the heroes of my idealistic youth, a thoroughly decent man with a populist, compassionate approach to his politics. With his passing this Sunday October 21 at the age of 90, the country lost one of its strongest advocates for peace and social justice...
State of Dis-Union - Feb. 13, 2013
The State of the Union speech Obama should have given...
Remembering JFK - Nov. 22, 2013
Politics
Note: Gun violence and gun laws are covered on the Peace & Justice page.
Sunday Roundup Nov 9, 2014 (Midterm Elections)
An analysis of the midterms and the causes of the Democrats' defeat...
A Red Tide Swamps the American Political Landscape
Nov 5, 2014
The polls had it right. Last night, Republicans swept to control in the Senate, picked up governor seats in blue states, and increased their control of the House of Representatives. The Democrats' get-out-the-vote effort failed to overcome the dark money, the voter suppression laws, and their own inadequate and defensive explanations of their policies....
Sunday Roundup Nov. 2, 2014 (Links/In Brief- The US Midterm Elections)
The World Series, Halloween and the Election - Oct. 30. 2014
The US midterm elections will be held in five days. The Senate is up for grabs and there is a strong possibility that, come January, Republicans will be the majority in both houses of Congress. The over-riding question for the election is: Will the vast sums of money being spent by the Chamber of Commerce. the Koch brothers and other conservative groups along with voter suppression laws and tactics in Republican controlled states beat back the get-out-the-vote effort being mounted by Democrats and progressive organizations?...
The Republican War on Science Oct 22, 2014
THE question for the 2014 midterms: How can Democrats hold the Senate? Oct 6, 2014
It's one month until the 2014 midterm elections...The House districts gerrymandered by state governments controlled by Republicans after the 2010 census and elections make it a foregone conclusion that Republicans will control the House of Representatives for the foreseeable future... As for the state governor races, the Democrats may pick up a handful of seats held by Republicans but perhaps not enough to put them in the majority. The only remaining question on the November election results is: "How can the Democrats retain control of the Senate?"...
Sunday Roundup Sep 14, 2014 (Lone Star Politics)
Over the past year or so, there have been various surges of optimism over the possibility of Democrats picking up a governorship or a US Senate seat now held by a Republican in a red state. The latest bit of unfounded optimism is the Kansas Senate race....One of the early examples of this unfounded optimism was in the Texas governor's race....
The New "Politics As Usual" Aug 27, 2014
As the Republican lawsuit against President Obama proceeds, I'm reminded of the last time the GOP couldn't prevent a two-term Democratic presidency and resorted to political maneuvering to attempt to thwart the will of the people.
The Polls - The Midterms and What's at Stake Aug 5, 2014
The midterms have historically led to losses for the President's political party. In the twenty-six midterm elections held since 1910, the President's party has lost, on average, 32 House seats and 4 Senate seats. Money and turnout determine elections. Money favors Republicans and turnout favors Democrats.
Sunday Roundup Jun 15, 2014 (Virginia Doings)
Referring to what appears to have been the bribery of a Democratic state senator by Virginia Republicans, Zoe Carpenter writing in The Nation wonders "What won't the GOP do to keep the poor uninsured?" Phillip Puckett, who served as a Democratic state senator for one of Virginia's poorest districts, resigned suddenly...
Sunday Roundup Jun 1, 2014 (New Populism Conference)
Whether or when the movement will be successful is a matter of debate. It's certainly not going to happen any time soon. Almost no coverage was given to May 22's New Populism Conference in the press or media. I guess it's easier to get attention when you're spouting divisive, fear-mongering rhetoric than when you're proposing measures to promote justice and fairness...
Sunday Roundup May 11, 2014 (Economic Myths)
Sean McElwee in an April 28 article in Rolling Stone enumerates the extensive studies that show just about everything the Republicans believe about the economy to be wrong....
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly - April 2014
Obstructing the Judiciary Mar. 24, 2014
With just 7 months remaining before the 2014 midterm elections, there are 86 vacancies in the Federal courts - roughly 10% of the total Federal judgeships. Nearly all vacancies have resulted from Republicans blocking Obama nominees in an attempt to deny the Democratic President his choices and ensure continued Republican control of the judicial branch. The obstructionism on presidential nominees to Federal judgeships is unprecedented in recent history...
Food Stamps, Obamacare, the Ukraine Mar 6, 2014
Democratic governors in New York and Connecticut and the Republican governor of Pennsylvania have taken measures to thwart the Congressional cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program...
Here We Go Again - the Debt Ceiling Follies Feb 6, 2014
The Republicans are gearing up for another go at the social safety net as a bargaining chip in raising the debt ceiling. Of all the phony crises generated by this gang, this one appears to have the broadest appeal outside the wing nut faction....
The Off-Year Elections and What They Mean - Nov 6, 2013
Tea Party nemesis Republican Chris Christie won a second term as New Jersey governor by a wide margin...over the Democratic challenger. Across the river in New York, progressive Bill de Blasio won in a landslide, 73-24, over his Republican opponent...In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe won the governorship by 2.5% over Tea Party favorite Ken Cuccinelli. So what is the significance of these off-year election results and what do they mean for 2014 and 2016?...
Why Republicans Aren't Worried - Oct. 17, 2013
The attempted destruction of Obamacare has been halted. The government shutdown and the phony debt ceiling crisis are over for now and Democrats are feeling pretty good about themselves....
Waiting for Default - Oct. 16, 2013
One Week to Default - Oct. 10, 2013
As the government shutdown enters its 10th day, we are more than halfway to the US defaulting on its debt for the first time in history. Default is expected to happen on October 17 unless Republicans reverse their intransigence on raising the debt ceiling....
The IRS Scandal and Other Darrell Issa BS - July 23, 2013
So it turns out that the IRS showed no particular preference in going after right-wing groups claiming tax-exempt status. Progressive groups engaging in political activity were also investigated with equal fervor....
Tornadoes, Hunger and Getting Angry - June 5, 2013
The personal tragedies wrought by tornadoes over the past few weeks in Oklahoma are just the latest reminders of the difficulties faced by ordinary people in the course of everyday life in this country. Untimely deaths from disease and accidents, impoverished and malnourished children, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, urban violence, hate crimes, student massacres ... the list is seemingly endless. That is why I can't understand the positions taken by today's Republican Party. If you have the opportunity to do something to relieve or prevent the suffering of the vulnerable in our society, why on Earth would you choose not to?....
The Fiscal Cliff and (Other) Follies - Jan. 3, 2013
The markets reacted positively yesterday (Dow up 300 points) when the so-called fiscal cliff was finally averted. The dreaded fiscal cliff was and continues to be a self-imposed crisis. It's closely related to last year's Republican-manufactured “debt ceiling crisis” that briefly threw the markets into a downward spin..
Looking for 26 Republicans with Balls - Dec. 4, 2012
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi intends to force a tax cut vote for people earning less than $250k/year by filing a discharge petition...
Forward? One Day After the Election - Nov. 7, 2012
In the end, Team Obama pulled out a victory. The victory is a tribute to the best organized presidential campaign in history, to a massive get out the vote effort, to organized labor support, and to the campaign's messages of economic fairness and inclusivenss....In an election held in the midst of a struggling economy with high unemployment, the Republicans should have easily won a majority in the Senate and likewise defeated the incumbent President. They did not...
Hurricane Thoughts: One Week Before the Election - Oct. 29, 2012
Hunkering down in the hours before Hurricane Sandy makes landfall, I've been making calls to Florida as part of MoveOn's get out the vote effort for President Obama. The wind is really picking up. the lights have been flickering off occasionally and I've lost my internet connection three times in the past couple of hours...
It's the Economy, Stupid(s) - Oct. 18, 2012
As we lurch to our Citizens United-fueled 2012 election, President Obama has lost his lead among registered voters and trails Romney handily among likely voters by 6 points, according to the latest Gallup Poll. Obama dug himself into a huge hole in the first debate and apparently is not climbing out of it. Amazingly, even after this Tuesday's debate, Romney is considered to be the person most capable of handling the economy....
Romney, the Neocons, and Iran - Sep. 14, 2012
Remember how “W”, advised by the Neocon cabal, took us to war and invaded a nation that had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, absolutely no Al-Qaeda presence, and absolutely no weapons of mass destruction? Well, watch out if the Mittster is elected. Many of these same Neocons are whispering in Romney's ear about Iran. His rhetoric over the past couple of weeks has made it clear that the nation would have to be crazy to elect this man to lead the country....
Now the Real Work Begins - Sep. 7, 2012
The conventions are over and now the critical work of re-electing the President begins. There is much at stake for individual Americans and for the country as a whole. Every vote will be needed...
Not Even Close - June 6, 2012
In the end, the money prevailed. With the aid of huge amounts of third party "Citizens United" cash and with strong national Republican Party support and cash, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker survived Tuesday's recall election...
Alternate Reality Show - Mar. 1, 2012
Super Tuesday in this election cycle is a lot less super than in previous years.
The Horse Race - Feb. 6, 2012
SOTU 2012 - Jan. 25, 2012
President Obama's 2012 blandly populist but business friendly (lowering the corporate tax rate) State of the Union speech broke little new ground. As noted by many commentators, one of the chief drivers for the speech was to sharpen the contrast between his vision for America and that of the Republicans in preparation for the 2012 election cycle...
The Year Nothing Got Done - Dec. 31, 2011
The first full year of the 112th Congress was epically dysfunctional, thanks to the ideological intransigence of the Republicans in both houses. This poor performance has scholars going back to pre Civil War times to find such incompetence and gridlock...
More Dastardly Doings - Dec. 13, 2011
As the year ends, Congressional Republicans are once more demonstrating why they do not deserve to govern in a democracy.
Channelling TR - Dec. 6, 2011
President Obama traveled to the small Kansas town of Osawatomie today and channelled Teddy Roosevelt who, a hundred years ago gave a stirring speech in the same community for a "square deal" for the American people.
OWS Politics - Nov. 30, 2011
Unless OWS gets seriously involved in dislodging the Republicans from office in 2012, none of OWS' complaints or issues will be addressed for the foreseeable future.
Republicans Turn Back the Clock - Sep. 30, 2011
The front-runner merry-go-round for the Republican nomination continues...
Jobs, Executions, Gaza's Children - Sep. 12, 2011
The Tea Party Recession - Aug. 8, 2011
Two Competing Memes - Aug. 6, 2011
"If we believe in a dog-eat-dog world where only the fittest survive, we're likely to propagate very different memes from those that arise from a fundamental understanding of the interconnectedness of things..." (Tim Flannery)
Back from Hawaii - Apr. 5, 2011
Back from our Hawaiian vacation Saturday night. What a relief not to have had to listen to the babblings of the House Republicans and their threats to shutdown the government (and then blame it on the Democrats)
The Good, the Bad and the Tragedy Mar. 18, 2011
Going the Wrong Way - Feb. 11, 2011
While the news cycle has been covering the turmoil in Egypt (Mubarak apparently has just left Cairo), there have been some domestic developments and non-developments that warrant mention. Congress has not done anything to address the unemployment rate and increase jobs....
Our Centrist President - January 26, 2011
The 2011 State of the Union speech was well received and it struck a good note of unity, which we sorely need. On the whole, it was a bipartisan, centrist speech with a slight nod to progressive convictions...
111th Congress' Accomplishments - Jan. 3, 2011
With a flurry of activity in its closing days, the Democratically-controlled 111th Congress closed its session with a record of accomplishment unmatched since the 1960’s.
Plus and Minus - Dec. 15, 2010
There are some +'s and -'s to the tax cut compromise working its way through Congress. And there are a number of ways it can be improved.
Plus: Unemployment benefits extended for 13 months, Middle class tax cuts extended for 2 years...
Boehner, McConnell, and Chicken Crap - Dec. 5, 2010
It was hilarious to listen to John Boehner call Thursday's House vote to extend middle class tax cuts “chicken crap”. No Mr. Boehner, what is chicken crap is the Republican obstruction of any meaningful legislation whether it is national defense (START), help for the unemployed (expiring unemployment benefits), or stimulus for jobs creation.
Protect the Rich, Screw the Unemployed - Nov. 30, 2010
Republicans and a few Democrats have prevented passage of an extension of unemployment benefits. The bill did not come to the floor for a vote today and 2,000,000 will lose their benefits in December. Merry Christmas.
The Republican Threat to National Security - Nov. 22. 2010
The Republicans have taken their obsessive obstructionism to a new low. On what has historically been a non-controversial bipartisan process, the Republicans have taken their desire to damage our country’s President and Commander in Chief to an almost unconscionable level. The START treaty with the Russians providing for nuclear arms inspection and dismantlement could be on indefinite hold thanks to this unrelenting placing politics before the good of the nation.
Caving In on Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich? - Nov. 15, 2010
The White House and some Democrats have made disturbing noises in the days since the elections about being open to a compromise on the Bush tax cuts for the rich (individuals with annual incomes above $200k or $250k for families). This would continue the three-decade trend of taking care of the richest while taking services from the rest of us.
Too much government? - Nov. 5, 2010
...We live in an age of insecurity and insecurity breeds fear. Some will stroke these fears to divide us and to gain political power. We needn’t let them. It is time for progressives to retake the high ground in this debate. It will be a difficult and long-term effort. But, after we are done licking our wounds from the mid-term elections, we should stop cowering in the shadows, reframe the debate and articulate a truer vision of what America can be....
Anger and Lies in the Midterms - Nov. 3, 2010
As expected, Republicans have taken over the House of Representatives and greatly reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate. It was a bloodbath.
Some good sources for domestic politics and issues:
There are numerous progressive activist organizations in the US. The one I've most worked with is MoveOn.org. "MoveOn is a community of more than 8 million Americans from all walks of life who use innovative technology to lead, participate in, and win campaigns for progressive change. For over 14 years, the MoveOn family of organizations have used online tools to lower the barriers to participation in our democracy..."
Fifty years ago today, President John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, Texas. I was in high school when we all heard the news. By the time I got on the subway to go home that afternoon, the world knew that the shot had been fatal....
A Progressive State of the Union Jan.27, 2014
President Obama is giving his sixth state of the union Tuesday. Things haven't quite worked out as hoped for our President. Partly his fault, partly that of a resurgent and extremist right-wing. We are where we are so there's no sense thinking of what might have been. Nevertheless, here is the State of the Union you won't be hearing tomorrow night.
Deficit/Budget
Budget Follies - Feb. 19, 2011
The House Republican 2011 budget is even worse than that proposed last week. The Continuing Resolution on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget also seeks to block EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and to de-fund the White House energy and climate office. That’s in addition to proposing a massive $100 billion cut in President Obama’s discretionary budget request for Fiscal Year 2011.
Cost of War - Mar. 7, 2011
Besides the lives lost, there is an enormous financial cost to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of today, the total cost of the wars since 2001 in Afghanistan and Iraq to the United States stands at about $1.1 trillion...
NY Times Deficit Reduction Puzzle - Apr. 20, 2011
Outrageous - Jul. 8, 2011
With the Republicans threatening to induce a major global economic disaster by not raising the debt ceiling unless their extremist and unfair demands are met, Obama is showing signs of weakening in his defense of the social safety programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid...
They Just Don't Get It - Aug. 1, 2011
The bargain struck by Obama and the Republicans averted a financial market disaster but at a price to the nation's well-being. Once again the compromiser-in-chief was outmaneuvered by the right wing...
Worst of Both Worlds - Aug. 3, 2011
Well, the global stock markets have responded to the "debt deal" with a quick downward slide. The Dow is continuing its plunge - now down 850 points over the past 8 days....
Deficit Solution - Nov. 8, 2011
Today, it's hard to remember that in 2000 the Congressional Budget Office was estimating a surplus of $1.9 trillion for the coming decade. That was before Bush was "elected" by the US Supreme Court - which is to say before the Bush tax cuts and the ill-advised neocon wars added trillions to the deficit and before the karma from the conservative deregulation frenzy initiated in the 1980's caught up with us in 2007 and we experienced the greatest financial crisis since the Depression.
Failure - Nov. 21, 2011
As probably could have been predicted, the bipartisan deficit reduction committee failed to meet its target....
Values - Apr. 16, 2012
Remarkably, Ryan justified his budget based on his Catholic faith's concern for the poor and the benefit of local control... Wisconsin Democrat Party chair's response to Ryan's justification of his extremist budget: “For Paul Ryan to justify his radical budget using Catholic social teaching as an underpinning either arrives from designed error or unintended ignorance..."
Before I Forget - Apr. 27, 2012
Republican Budget and Paul Ryan's Theology
Workers' Rights/ Unemployment/Jobs/Economic Recovery
Union Busting - Feb. 23, 2011
In Wisconsin first and now spreading to Indiana and Ohio, the right wing assault against public employees' unions is escalating. Divide and conquer appears to be the strategy - pit private against public workers and some public sectors (police, firemen) against others (teachers, services)...
GOP vs. The People and Losing 700,000 jobs - Feb. 28, 2011
Protests against Wisconsin's anti-labor measures spread across the country this weekend. About 50,000 people demonstrated at other State capitals to join the 100,000 demonstrators in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday. The LA Times referred to the Madison rally as the largest demonstration there since the Vietnam War...
Economic Recovery - April 27, 2011
Some comments about the slow economic recovery...
The Republican "Jobs" Plan - June 2, 2011
How stupid does the Republican leadership believe Americans are? If their recently announced jobs plan is any indication, plenty stupid. The plan is nothing more than a rehash of the supply-side economics theory that for the better part of 30 years has failed to provide jobs and wage growth for the average citizen....
Jobs, Foreclosures, Speculation: Leadership Needed - June 8, 2011
Hopefully the depressing May job numbers (net of 54,000 jobs created: +83,000 private sector - 29,000 public sector) will wake up the Obama administration. The blame is being attributed to speculation-driven high energy prices and the continuing problems with Japan's economy following the earthquake and tsunami. The public sector job loss results from the ongoing cuts to public services...
Rewarding the Perpetrators - July 20, 2011
Thomas Frank in "The Age of Enron" traces the 2008 financial meltdown and ensuing recession back to the attitudes toward open markets and against deregulation that led to Enron's disgraceful collapse...
1.9 Million Jobs Gone - Oct. 14, 2011
The American Jobs Act is dead. Nearly two million Americans will not have the jobs that this act would have created...
Raise the Minimum Wage Now - Feb. 19, 2014
...In fact, the effect of minimum wage changes on employment is one of the most studied in all of economics. In 2013, the Center for Economic and Policy Research reviewed these studies and concluded: "The weight of that evidence points to little or no employment response to modest increases in the minimum wage."...
Sunday Roundup May 4, 2014 (Rise of the Oligarchs)
State Department whistle-blower Peter van Buren takes a look at life on the other side of the tracks in 21st century America in a May 1 TomDispatch.com post. As part of his journey through the country, he visits Atlantic City, New Jersey, Weirton, West Virginia, and Spanish Harlem in New York City. What he sees and reports is not pretty - a damning reflection on the living conditions of the working class in the richest nation on earth....
298,000 jobs were added in June and another 209,000 in July as the US economy continues its long, slow recovery from the Great Recession. A few months after Obama's election, I was in an auto collision repair shop and spied a cartoon with Obama dressed like Steve Urkel, complete with the goofy eyeglass frames. Obama/Urkel was looking at a downward sloping line and quipping "Did I do that?" Conservatives and the more ill-informed loved to blame the recession on Obama, regardless of the facts....
Health Care/Medicare/Medicaid/Affordable Care Act
Obamacare: On the Ropes? Dec. 10, 2014
The second open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act began on November 15, but it seems like Obamacare has been under attack forever. Republican lawsuits make their way through the courts, Democratic candidates run from President Obama's signature achievement, and Democratic Senators openly question it. Here are 10 things to know about the current state of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the threats facing it...
Sunday Roundup Dec 7, 2014 (Senator Harkin)
The coauthor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act regrets that the filibuster-proof Senate of 2009 did not pass a single payer healthcare system instead.
Updates and Briefs - Jul 23, 2014
The first open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act is complete and the numbers are in. Total enrollments came to at least 17.8 million, once you add together numbers from Medicaid [expansion], marketplace enrollments and the lowest estimates of how many people bought new ACA-compliant policies outside the exchanges. [NPR Shots blog, May 2]
Food Stamps, Obamacare, the Ukraine Mar. 6, 2014
As the well-funded Republican right continues to pour millions into negative ad's against swing state Democratic Senators supportive of the Affordable Care Act and as the do-nothing House of Representatives vote yet again to defund or subvert the program, "Obamacare" enrollments are quietly growing. As of February 1, enrollments in the Obamacare market place were nearly 3.3 million...
State of Obamacare - Jan 16, 2014
..some thoughts on the Affordable Care Act at the start of its first fully operational year...
Sabotaging Obamacare - Aug. 7, 2013
For the thirty-ninth (or was it the fortieth?) time since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) became the law of the land, House Republicans voted to repeal it....Writing in the National Journal, Ornstein calls the House and Senate Republicans' "monomaniacal focus on sabotaging the implementation of Obamacare" unprecedented and contemptible....
A Good Day - Jun. 28, 2012
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Health Care Reform Act, specifically the individual mandate upon which the program rests, by a vote of 5 to 4...So what made Chief Justice Roberts side with the four moderate and liberal justices on the court?...
Train Wreck? - Mar. 28, 2012
A legal reporter from one of the cable news stations...described yesterday's hearings on the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act as a "train wreck" for the Obama Administration. Intense questioning from the five conservative members (actually four since Clarence Thomas appartently never asks any questions) made it clear that the law was in danger of being struck down.
The Elephant in the Room - May 25, 2011
Democrat Kathy Hochul was victorious (47% to 43%) in a special election in NY-26, one of the most conservative and Republican districts in all of the state...The Republicans fate was sealed when their candidate Jane Corwin stated that she would have voted for the Ryan budget plan which would replace Medicare with a voucher program while retaining tax breaks for the wealthiest...
Immigration
Columbus Day - Oct. 10, 2011
Today's Mixed Bag (Arizona's anti-immigrant law) - June 25, 2012
In a 5-4 vote, with Kennedy joining the moderate and liberal justices, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality, at least temporarily and on a technicality, of the "papers please" provision of Arizona's anti-immigrant law S.B. 1070. SCOTUS did strike down other parts of the law...
A compromise bipartisan immigration bill passed the US Senate this past Thursday by a vote of 68-32. It combines a path to citizenship with $40 billion in "border security" measures thrown in to try to bring in more Republican votes.
The Immigration Debate: The Emergency at the Border
Jul 29, 2014
...The most pressing immigration issue right now is the large number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the United States. Conditions in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Salvador are driving this. The flow of children seeking refuge has overwhelmed the ability of border officials to deal with it....
Ten Things to Know About Obama's Immigration Actions
Nov. 26, 2014
On June 27, 2013, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform bill by a vote of 68-32. In the 17 months since then, the Tea Party-controlled House of Representatives neither acted on the Senate bill nor provided one of their own. Last Thursday night, President Obama announced that he would be taking executive action on immigration. The President formally signed these actions on Friday. Here are 10 things to know about Obama's immigration plan....
Sunday Roundup Dec 7, 2014 (US Deportations)
The American Civil Liberties Union released a report on Dec. 4 that underscores a troublesome pattern that has received far less attention [than Obama's immigration plan]: Of the 438,421 people deported in 2013, 83 percent received a summary removal, meaning that they were sent to their country of origin by US officials without a hearing...
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