AZ Congressional Delegation

Tea-Publicans vote to take away Americans health care and to defund Planned Parenthood; government shutdown looms

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kabukiWith the wall-to-wall media coverage of shootings in America this past week, you may have missed that the Senate used the budget reconciliation process to pass a partial “ObamaCare” repeal and to defund Planned Parenthood. This is part of the Kabuki theater that GOP Congressional leaders must engage in to appease the radical extremists who want to shut down the federal government to take the country hostage and to extort ransom from the Democrats and President Obama — “give us everything we want or we will kill the hostage.”

A government shutdown remains not only possible but likely this Friday, December 11, if the GOP Congressional leadership loses control of their Kabuki theater strategy.

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Rep. Martha McSally demonstrates that she is just another partisan hack

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McSallyIt received little notice in the local Tucson media last week, but Rep. Martha McSally (R-Tucson) delivered the Republican response to President Obama’s regular radio address on Saturday. The topic was fighting ISIS.

Currently there are 80 Members in the U.S. House of Representatives who are Veterans. Veterans in Congress (114th). Somehow, Rep. McSally deems herself a “national security expert” based upon her service as an A-10 pilot in the Air Force. If previous military service is all it takes to be deemed a “national security expert,” then the other 79 members of Congress who are veterans, and millions of veterans who are not members of Congress, are equally “national security experts.” This notion is absurd.

Let’s break down what Rep. McSally had to say. Rep. Martha McSally Urges Obama Administration to ‘Step Up’ in Fight Against ISIS in Weekly Republican Address:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Paris as they recover from last week’s horrific terrorist attacks. While we mourn this tragedy, let us be reminded those attacks could have happened here. This is not to instill fear, but to remind us to be vigilant. That’s why we’re calling on the administration to step up, provide global leadership, and put together a coherent and aggressive strategy to defeat ISIS.

“I need no reminders about the threats we face. Before being elected to Congress, I served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a full colonel. I was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter squadron in combat in U.S. history. In my career, I flew 2,600 flight hours, including over 325 combat hours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I deployed to the Middle East and Afghanistan six times, serving in leadership positions for the initial air campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and counter-terrorism ops in Africa.

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GOP House Freedom Caucus preparing a ‘Contract on America’

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Cartoon_19When we last heard from the farther far-right GOP House Freedom Caucus, they were engaged in a mutiny that forced their captain the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, to walk the plank, and his first mate, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, into house arrest confined to his quarters.

Now these radical extremists are back with another list of demands – a “Contract on America” —  meet our terms or we will kill the hostages, beginning with the GOP leadership. Bloomberg Business reports, House Republican Hard-Liners Drafting ‘Contract With America II’:

U.S. House Republican hard-liners who helped force out former Speaker John Boehner are readying their next act: a multi-point manifesto demanding quick action on long-time conservative priorities.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus are preparing a “Contract With America II” that would call for House votes in the first 100 days of 2016 on replacing Obamacare, overhauling entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and repealing the estate tax.

An early draft of the plan obtained by Bloomberg News also calls for legislation to slash government regulations by 20 percent, cut corporate tax rates and expand offshore oil drilling. Efforts are still under way to finalize contents of the “contract,” which lawmakers say they hope will become the basis of House Republicans’ 2016 agenda.

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US House Says ‘Yes’ to Wall Street #Welfare in Highway Bill

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moneyIn one of his first acts as Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan oversaw doling out $17 million in corporate welfare to Wall Street banks. How did he manage this? The usual sneaky way– by tacking this onto an unrelated piece of “must pass” legislation. (You’ll remember that’s how Republican lawmakers weakened Wall Street regulation last year.)

Yesterday, 354 members of the House of Representatives– all but two Republicans and 70 Democrats– voted to continue the ongoing bank welfare and which was attached a multi-million-dollar highway bill. (They also reauthorized the charter for the “controversial” Export Import Bank in the highway bill.) The primary holdouts were members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, co-chaired by Southern Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva.

Ironically, the GOP didn’t want to add a long-term funding mechanism to pay for highway construction and repair. (I guess funding provisions are “must-haves” only when legislation focuses on food stamps, school lunches, college loans, unemployment, healthcare, public education, and Social Security.) Historically highways have been funded by the users through gas taxes…

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Fiscal disaster averted – for now

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aquabuddhaThe Aqua Buddha grifter running for president, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), promised everyone that he would filibuster the bipartisan budget deal hammered out by GOP leadership and the White House.

More importantly, Aqua Buddha used his filibuster promise to fund raise off the conservative rubes for his presidential campaign.

The conservative rubes should be entitled to a refund because this right-wing grifter did not even last 20 minutes.

Shortest. Filibuster. Ever. Rand Paul’s Budget Deal ‘Filibuster’ Lasts Less Than 20 Minutes.

With the village idiot’s fake filibuster out of the way, the Senate approves two-year budget deal in 3 a.m. vote:

The Senate passed a two-year budget deal early Friday morning that raises the debt ceiling, sending the agreement to President Obama’s desk.

The deal was approved after 3 a.m. in a 64-35 vote after a late speech by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who criticized the legislation as a blank check for President Obama to add to the nation’s debt.

[Sen McCain voted yes; Sen. Flake voted no.]

“Both sides of the aisle have what I would call sacred cows. On the right, they have the sacred cow of military contracts. … The left wants more welfare,” he said, adding, “Should we give Congress more money? Hell no.”

And they all laughed, and laughed at the village idiot.

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