AZ Congressional Delegation

Craven Cowardice: GOP filibusters bipartisan Manchin-Toomey background checks bill

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sandy Hook2In a supreme act of craven cowardice, Republican senators led a filibuster to prevent even advancing to debate of the Manchin-Toomey background checks amendment, and a simple up or down vote on the merits. The final vote was 54 to 46.

Sen. Harry Reid changed his vote from yes to no to preserve his right to bring a motion for reconsideration.

Sen. John McCain voted to end the filibuster. Sen. Jeff Flake demonstrated his craven cowardice by voting for the filibuster to deny his friend Gabby Giffords a simple up or down vote on the merits.

This is a 55 54-vote majority of senators in favor of this amendment, all that should ever be required to pass legislation in a democracy. The recent GOP abuse of the Senate filibuster rules to obstruct any and all legislation required a 60 vote super-majority to break the GOP filibuster and to move to debate of the amendment.

Mark Kelly: Americans for Responsible Solutions will replace Sen. Jeff Flake

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Mark Kelly, husband of former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, says the gun-control organization the couple has founded will work to defeat Sen. Jeff Flake (R) in the next election if the Arizona senator votes against expanding background checks to include more gun buyers. The Christian Science Monitor reports, Mark Kelly on gun control bill: 'We do have a problem' with many senators:

Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, said Senator Flake is “a good friend” of Ms. Giffords. But he gave this warning Tuesday at a Monitor-hosted breakfast with reporters: “If there was the right candidate out there and he [Flake] didn’t support this legislation,… you know friendship is one thing … saving people’s lives, especially first-graders', is another.” 

On Monday, Flake posted on Facebook a statement that he will oppose the bipartisan legislation on background checks drafted by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The measure “simply goes too far,” Flake said.

Kelly criticized Flake's action.

“Senator Flake’s timing for his posting to his Facebook was not ideal in my opinion,” he said. On Tuesday afternoon, Flake [was] slated to join Giffords and Kelly, along with Vice President Joseph Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, to dedicate a room in the House in honor of Gabriel Zimmerman. He was a member of Giffords's staff and was killed in the attack that gravely wounded her in January 2011.

The warning to Flake from the cofounder of Americans for Responsible Solutions comes amid reports that prospects are dimming for new gun-control legislation. Republican opposition to expanded background checks is growing in the Senate, “enough to put the proposal’s fate in jeopardy.”

Arizona Dems Split on ‘Back to Work’ Budget Vote

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by Pamela Powers Hannley On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, the US House of Representatives voted on a series of amendments to the Republican Majority Budget, penned by Rep. Paul Ryan.  The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) amendment, dubbed the Back to Work Budget, was one of yesterday's votes. It lost 84 to 327, with no Republicans … Read more

Budget Battle: Can the Rich Afford to Pay Higher Taxes?

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Toprates_prog2by Pamela Powers Hannley

Since the Tea Party took over the House of Representatives after the disastrous 2010 election, you'd think the most pressing job facing the Congress was to lower taxes on the richest Americans. (Feather-bedding the 1% is right up there with squashing our civil liberties, suppressing voter turnout, grandstanding about cutting "entitlements" (AKA earned benefits), supporting Wall Street banksters, and protecting Citizens United and the obscene campaign finance system we have.

Just look how many marches, blog posts, letters to the editor, calls to representatives, and Occupations it took to overturn the Bush Era Tax Cuts on people who make more than $400,000 a few months ago. (And it still probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for three percentages that changed public opinion– 99%, 1%, and 47%.) More on taxes and budgets after the jump.

Progressive Caucus Releases ‘Back to Work’ Budget

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CPC-sidebysideby Pamela Powers Hannley

On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) released its "Back to Work" Budget. Think of it as the polar opposite of the Republicans' "Stab Americans in the Back" budget penned by Congressman Paul Ryan and released earlier in the week. Special thanks to Congressman Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the CPC. Each year, the CPC releases a common sense budget plan. When will Washington DC listen, when will the Lame Stream Media cover it? Go to this link to tell your Congressional representative to vote for the Back to Work Budget.

Here is the summary from the CPC…

7 million new jobs in one year

$4.4 trillion in deficit reduction

We’re in a jobs crisis that isn’t going away.  Millions of hard-working American families are falling behind, and the richest 1 percent is taking home a bigger chunk of our nation’s gains every year. Americans face a choice: we can either cut Medicare benefits to pay for more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or we can close these tax loopholes to invest in jobs.  We choose investment.  The Back to Work Budget invests in America’s future because the best way to reduce our long-term deficit is to put America back to work.  In the first year alone, we create nearly 7 million American jobs and increase GDP by 5.7%. [Details and graphics after the jump.]