2012 Election Decision Tree

Courtesy of the good people at MoveOn.org.

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Santorum to Women: Don't You Worry Your Pretty Little Heads about Birth Control

Rick Santorum is a wanker. A Tool. An Asshat. A very, very dangerous person living in a time warp. A sanctimonious right-wing nut job who gives Republicans a bad name, and Democrats a win in November. GO RICK!



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An Appropriate Response to GOP's All-Male Hearing on Women's Contraception

Last week, Rep. Darrel Issa held a Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing on the contraception controversy. The good chairman, however, did not see the need to invite any WOMEN to talk about health care and birth control. The Democrats had a young woman witness selected, a student at Georgetown University who uses the Pill for health reasons additional to contraception. Chairman Issa would not allow her to testify. Instead he accepted a panel of men, all opposed to the Obama Administration's new rule, and those men testified against women's access to contraception. Talk about tone deaf. And insulting. And downright stupid. The GOP's concentration on taking away women's contraception is already galvanizing women voters, and will continue to do so through Election Day.








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Insuring The Elderly, Insuring The Poor

Insuring The Elderly, Insuring The Poor | The New Republic



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Lawmakers Won't Miss a Paycheck in Government Shutdown

Under United States law, elected Representatives and Senators are exempt from government furloughs. Thus, if the bickering children on Capitol Hill cannot come to some budget agreement, and the government shuts down, members of Congress and their $174,000 a year pay checks would keep flowing.

Yes, you read that right. While thousands of government employees would be furloughed, federal agencies and parks would close, and the paychecks of Hill staff (who will probably work anyway) would stop, elected reps and senators, as well as the president, would still get paid.

Meanwhile, a confidential new report from Goldman Sachs has found that the GOP House spending cuts, passed last week, would cut economic growth by about 2 percent of GDP. This at a time when we are just starting to see a glimmer of recovery. Way to go boys.

Congress, especially the Republicans, have lost their ever-lovin' minds. Just sayin'.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/50050.html#ixzz1EuGyzSAr


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House GOP: Mother F#@ckers

Brilliant piece from Jon Stewart and The Daily Show about how the House GOP's slash and burn continuing resolution to complete the budget for FY11 lands squarely on the backs of women.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Daily Show: Mother F#@kers Stork BucksKristen Schaal wants to cut funding for any organization that has anything to do with abortions, including firefighters, the FAA and NASA.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mother F#@kers - Stork Bucks
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

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Great Rant about the Asshattery in Wisconsin

Friends, I'm sure you have also been watching the events as they unfold in Wisconsin. It's democracy at work, and much is at stake. I am so frustrated, because the unions have agreed to the benefit cuts so long as they can keep their collective bargaining rights. However, the new asshat of a governor has said he will not negotiate. How crazy. That's not democracy, and he's not a dictator. Other rallies are happening across the country. You can also sign this petition for fair pay and workers rights, that will go to all 50 state legislators. Please do. This fight will affect us all, and it's headed to your state next.



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Chart Of The Day: $900 Billion Tax Deal Graphically Illustrated

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America, Meet Your New Freshman Class!

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Dr. King vs Glenn Beck: An Info-Graphic

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Forecast Says GOP House Takeover More Likely

The Cook Political Report raised its House forecast "from a Republican net gain of between 32 and 42 seats to a gain of between 35 and 45 seats, with the odds of an outcome larger than that range greater than the odds of a lesser outcome." House Republicans would need a net turnover of 39 seats to take control of the chamber.

"At this point, only 214 House seats are Solid, Likely or Lean Democratic, while 181 seats are Solid, Likely or Lean Republican, and 40 seats are in the Toss Up column. While this would imply an advantage for Democrats, given the continuous erosion we have seen in dozens of contests so far this cycle, races shifting from Solid and Likely Democrat to Lean Democratic and Toss Up, we would be surprised if there was not more movement over the 78 days from now until Election Day."

Ugh. We need to turn out the vote, people. Just remember where the last "Republican Revolution" got us. Besides that, if poor Rep. Boehner becomes speaker, he won't be able to devote so much time to his beloved golf game.

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Fab Ohio Billboard Hits Boehner Where it Hurts

Special thanks to @watergatesummer on Twitter, picture via twitpic.

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RNC Changes Presidential Primaries, Process to Avoid Winner-Take-All

The Republican National Committee "has approved a resolution making dramatic changes to the way the GOP picks a presidential nominee, moving primaries to later dates and requiring states to allocate their delegates on a proportional basis," The Hotline reports.

"The proposal will move the earliest nominating contests -- in IA, NH, SC and NV -- back from early Jan. to Feb. It will also require states that hold nominating contests in March to award delegates based on the proportion of votes candidates win, eliminating the prospect of an early winner-take-all state that would effectively end the nominating process."

Meanwhile, the St. Petersburg Times reports the 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa. I won't mind going there.

On June 30, 2010, the Democratic National Committee announced that four cities had been chosen as finalists to hold the convention: Charlotte, Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Louis. I hope its in Cleveland!! Meanwhile, the DNC has also decided to retain its ridiculous superdelegate process, the one that made the 2008 primary so unnecessarily prolonged. Bad move, guys. You're supposed to learn from your mistakes.

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Turning the Tide: from the Great Recession to Job Creation

Here's some fab propaganda from the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-MD) office. It also has the added benefit of being true. Enjoy, and share with friends...the more folks who see it, the better.



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The Arsonist and the Fireman

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Timeline of GOP Opposition to Extending Unemployment Insurance in 2010 Alone

3/9/2010 Cloture vote to end GOP Filibuster and Move to Up or Down Vote
80% GOP No Votes

3/10/2010 Temporary Extension of UI
85% GOP No Votes

4/12/2010 Cloture vote to end GOP Filibuster and Move to Up or Down Vote
93% GOP No Votes

4/15/2010 Temporary Extension of UI
93% GOP No Votes

6/17/2010 Cloture vote to end GOP Filibuster and Move to Up or Down Vote
93% GOP No Votes

6/24/2010 Cloture vote to end GOP Filibuster and Move to Up or Down Vote
98% GOP No Votes

6/30/2010 Cloture vote to end GOP Filibuster and Move to Up or Down Vote
88% GOP No Votes

7/20/2010 Temporary Extension of UI
?

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Cloture Votes, Filibusters, Obstruction -- Oh My!

From the wonderful folks at People for the American Way. Visit their site and see nifty charts illustrating the alarming trend below.

If it has seemed that Republican Senators have been expending tremendous amounts of energy for the sole purpose of slowing down the work of the Senate and the President’s reform agenda, that’s because they have.

A review of cloture attempts in past sessions of Congress reveals that Republican senators have gone to record lengths to use Senate rules with the goal of slowing down the work of Congress, often when they have no expectation of stopping legislation or even winning concessions.

So far, GOP foot dragging has forced the Senate leadership to file 67 cloture petitions and forced cloture votes on 38 occasions[1]. Those numbers, while high, aren’t yet on pace to break the record set by the GOP in the last Congress of 139 motions filed and 112 forced votes. But what is remarkable is that, of those 38 votes forced this year, cloture was invoked 34 times.

That means a full 89% of the time, the cloture vote did nothing but delay the inevitable—a huge increase from the previous high of 56%.

Moreover many of these votes didn’t just fail: they failed by such significant margins that no one, especially not an experienced vote counter like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, could possibly have expected they could actually pass. In fact, in a majority of cases, 65 or more Senators voted to cut off debate. In several cases the number reached into the seventies and eighties, and in one case 97 Senators voted in favor of cloture, but not before the maneuver chewed up valuable time.

Far from being a meaningless exercise, this effort to force unnecessary cloture votes has wasted an enormous amount of time. After cloture is filed it takes up to two days before Senate rules allow a vote on the petition. Then, Senate rules permit the Republicans to insist on an additional 30 hours of post-cloture debate. That means even when only a small minority of Senators actually oppose cloture, they have the ability to chew up days of the Senate’s time.

In 2010, the Senate will likely consider legislation addressing health care, global warming, the economy, immigration, and workers’ rights in addition to its obligation to confirm Supreme Court Justices, members of the federal bench and crucial administration officials. There’s plenty of work to be done, and time is already tight without needless intentional delay.

The Republican Senators should stop trying to grind the Senate to a halt and start working on the issues that Americans elected them to address.


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[1] - In 29 instances, cloture motions were withdrawn or otherwise not voted on. Even in these cases, cloture filings represent intransigence on the part of GOP leaders who could otherwise consent to end debate at a mutually agreed upon time.

Preliminary Target List to Stop Stupak Amendment in Senate

It's my understanding that Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Bob Casey (D-PA) are considering proposing an amendment to the Senate's healthcare reform bill that would resemble the disastrous anti-choice Stupak-Pitts Amendment that passed in the House bill. The strategy to defeat this middle class abortion ban must have several prongs.

First, we must convince Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), an anti-choice member in the re-election race of his life, to NOT put any Stupak-like provision into the Senate bill. He is currently working to combine the HELP committee bill and the Finance committee bill, neither of which has a Stupak-like provision. If Reid is truly just the "mixer" as he says, then adding Stupak should not even be a question -- he can only combine the bills, not add new elements. In fact, the Finance bill has already addressed this question by including the House's Capps abortion-neutral language, so if Reid were to add Stupak-like language it would be a radical change to the combined bill. You can call the Majority Leader's office at 202-224-5556, and ask that he not add a Stupak-like language to the combined Senate bill.

Second, at this point it looks like there are roughly 31 senators who would likely agree to a Stupak-like amendment. That means, for an amendment strategy (assuming Reid does not add Stupak to the underlying reform bill), the anti-choicers would need to find at least 29 more votes to clear the Senate's 60 vote cloture hurdle. So, calls need to be made to senators to firm up their support against the addition of any Stupak-like provision in the Senate healthcare reform bill. Given the confusion many of the House members have expressed post-Stupak vote, its critical senators understand that Stupak IS NOT HYDE codified. It is a monumental overreach, and results in not only a middle class abortion ban but leaves poor women out in the cold as well. Further, the Stupak amendment would make abortion the only legal medical procedure expressly forbidden in the healthcare reform bill, leaving women worse off before reform when it comes to reproductive health than they are now.

See the list below:

Senate Target List
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Mark Begich (D-AK)
Bob Casey (D-PA)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
Jim Webb (D-VA)

Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask for your senator's office. Tell them you opposed the anti-choice Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House, and are calling to urge the senator to NOT support the inclusion of any such provision in the Senate healthcare reform bill.

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The Newest Progressive Superstar in Congress: Rep. Alan Grayson Tells it Like It Is on Healthcare

Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) made waves a week or so ago by characterizing the Republicans health care plan as the "hope you die quickly" plan. House Republicans demanded that he apologize, and not only did he not cave in, Rep. Grayson has picked up the gauntlet and smacked the Republicans upside the head. Just Thursday, Rep. Grayson, now also an Internet sensation, made another floor statement and put forward some hard truths to both Democrats and Republicans. Bravo to the distinguished gentleman from Florida. Take a look.



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Senate Republicans Block Extension of Unemployment Benefits

On Thursday, on the Senate floor, Republicans blocked millions of Americans from continuing to receive unemployment benefits. With states experiencing record unemployment numbers, slowing down unemployment benefits when Americans need it most is inexcusable.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), on behalf of Republicans, objected to Extending Unemployment Benefits. Kyl said, “I have no doubt that at the appropriate time we’ll be able to work out some kind of agreement. But our side is going to need some time to look at it. We’ll need some republican ideas or amendments as well and need a CBO score. So at this time I’ll have to – on behalf of members on our side – impose an objection.” [Senate Floor, 10/8/09]

Bill Extends Unemployment Assistance Up to 14 Weeks. By the end of this year, nearly 2 million Americans will see their unemployment benefits expire. The comprehensive legislation to extend unemployment insurance would give those jobless Americans up to fourteen more weeks of unemployment benefits. [Senate Finance Committee, 10/8/09]

Unemployment Extension is “Fully Paid For.” The proposal is fully paid for by extending the Federal Unemployment Tax through June 30, 2011. [Senate Finance Committee, 10/8/09]

Unemployment is at Record Highs. Currently, US unemployment is at a “26-year high of 9.8 percent.” [AFP, 10/8/09]

In the Past Two Years, Number of Unemployed Americans Has Nearly Doubled. “Since the start of the recession nearly two years ago, the number of unemployed has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million.” [AFP, 10/8/09]


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