AZ Congressional Delegation

GOP caucus pulls 20 week abortion ban bill.

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Trent-Franks-AP-copy

Wednesday evening brought the surprise announcement that Republicans were withdrawing their bill for a federal 20 week abortion ban scheduled for a vote on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v Wade:

A vote had been scheduled for Thursday to coincide with the annual March for Life, a gathering that brings hundreds of thousands of anti-abortion activists to Washington to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

But Republican leaders dropped those plans after failing to win over a bloc of lawmakers, led by Reps. Rene Ellmers (R-N.C.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who had raised concerns.

The House will vote instead Thursday on a bill prohibiting federal funding for abortions — a more innocuous anti-abortion measure that the Republican-controlled chamber has passed before.

Gosh, that oughtta make things awkward at Thursday’s march!

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House Deportation Tea-Publicans vote to defund DACA Program

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The Tea-Publicans in the TanMan’s House today voted to defund the DACA Program — the Citizenship and Immigration Services is not funded through congressional appropriations, but rather through user fees; this bill attempts to declare these fees cannot be used — including an amendment aimed at deporting innocent DREAMers as well, because Tea-Publicans just cannot contain their visceral hatred for people breathing while brown. The modern day GOP is the new anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party.

The Hill reports, House passes bill to defund Obama’s immigration orders:

ImmigrantsThe House voted Wednesday to block funding for President Obama’s immigration orders, firing the first shot in a high-stakes battle over deferred deportations for the millions of people who are in the country illegally.

The measure passed in a 236-191 vote, with 10 Republicans voting against it and two Democrats voting in favor.

Democrats rallied against the bill, which would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September, after Republicans adopted a series of contentious amendments that take aim at facets of Obama’s immigration policy.

One of the amendments would choke off funding for Obama’s executive action announced in November, which would allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the country and obtain work permits.

A second amendment would halt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), which lifts deportation for some illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children.

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Mr. Anti-Choice goes to Washington

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HuckabeeHello, ladies…

Anti-choicers – who ought never be thought of as less-than-assiduous in their quest to rid America of the scourge of ladies refusing pregnancy – are really going to town these days!

Per the inimitable Sally Kohn:

“Serious adults are in charge here,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) added for good measure, “and we intend to make progress.”

And then they introduced no fewer than five restrictions on abortion on the first day of the new Republican-controlled Congress. Because, you know, priorities.

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GOP bill to delay Dodd-Frank fails on procedural vote

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Wall.StreetThe TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, must have been feeling his oats after being reelected Speaker. He was cocky and used a procedural rule for the GOP’s attempt to delay the “Volcker Rule” under Dodd-Frank regulations on financial services, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass. Oops! It blew up in his face.

From Bloomberg, Republicans Lose House Vote on Bill Easing Dodd-Frank:

On the second day of Congress’s new session, U.S. House Republicans lost a bid to quickly pass legislation to relax some requirements under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law.

The measure would delay until July 2019 a provision of the law’s Volcker Rule intended to limit risky investments by banks, and make other changes.

The package was defeated because Republican leaders used a voting procedure usually reserved for non-controversial measures, requiring two-thirds support for passage.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urged Democrats not to support the measure, which failed on a 276-146 vote with 282 needed. She called the legislation “an 11-bill Wall Street wish list” in an e-mailed statement. After the vote, she said in a statement that she “was proud Democrats had stood together to protect critical Wall Street reforms.” [35 Democrats did not.]

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Kyrsten Sinema votes with the GOP to gut the employer mandate under ‘ObamaCare’

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ObamacareOn Thursday, Congress voted to gut the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act aka “ObamaCare” with a bill to define full-time work at 40 hours a week (from the current 30 hour standard).

The bill passed largely along party lines on a 252-172 vote, with Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema voting with the Arizona GOP delegation (Congressman Ruben Gallego was not present for the vote, as he was with President Obama touring his district in Phoenix on Thursday).

Teresa Tritch at the New York Times explains, The New ‘Obamacare’ Bill Would Hurt Workers and Increase the Deficit:

House Republicans are expected to bring to the floor an anti-“Obamacare” bill that is, from start to finish, an exercise in dishonesty.

The health reform law requires employers with at least 50 full time-equivalent employees to offer health insurance to those who work at least 30 hours a week, or pay a penalty. The bill seeks to limit the employer requirement to employees who work at least 40 hours a week. Its supporters, mostly Republicans and a handful of Democrats, are counting on winning over the public with the argument that a 30 hour threshold will cause employers to cut back work hours and that a 40-hour threshold  will foster more full time work. But that’s wrong.

First, there is little evidence that the law, as is, is causing employers to cut hours. Worse, a higher threshold would actually increase the number of employees at risk of having their hours cut.

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