Jul 29, 2011: Countdown to the GOP Default
Where We Are And Where We’re Going We are now just FOUR days away from an unprecedented GOP-induced default on our nation’s obligations. Here’s a snapshot of where we are now and where the situation is headed over the next few days. WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT:Speaker Boehner (R-OH) was dealt a highly embarrassing setback when [...]
Jul 28, 2011: Big Oil Hits A Gusher
No ‘Shared Sacrifice’ for Big Oil While the government’s coffers are nearly empty (not unlike the wallets of millions of Americans), Big Oil is still flush with cash — including some of the $4 BILLION in taxpayer-funded handouts they’ll get from Uncle Sam this year. This week, the government-subsidized oil giants once again reported tens [...]
Jul 27, 2011: House GOP To America: ‘We’re Going To Hurt Some People’
Violent Film Motivates House GOP As They Push Us Toward Default As we reported yesterday, Speaker Boehner is having some trouble rounding up the votes for his disastrous default bill. So much trouble that he had to postpone today’s planned vote until at least tomorrow. (Good thing we’re not in a rush or anything.) In [...]
Jul 26, 2011: Boehner’s Bogus Plan
The GOP’s New-Old Plan to Default, Destroy Entitlements After refusing last Friday to even return the president’s phone calls and then eventually walking out on negotiations to avoid default — now just one week away — Speaker Boehner has rolled out yet another Tea Party-oriented debt plan. This new plan is no better than any [...]
Jul 25, 2011: The Tipping Point On LGBT Equality?
Though the debt ceiling is dominating most political dialogue, the past week has included several important milestones for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Congress held its first hearing on repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), an effort President Obama endorses. Same-sex marriage became legal in New York, meaning the [...]
Jul 22, 2011: Conservatives Urge GOP to Raise Debt Ceiling
Default Denialists Called Out By Conservatives We are now 11 days away from a default on our obligations, and House Republicans appear no closer to agreeing to increase the debt ceiling than they were weeks ago. The business community and other conservatives appear to be reacting to this default denialism with increasing alarm. Here’s a rundown [...]
Jul 21, 2011: The News Corp Scandal By The Numbers
The Latest on the News Corp Scandal Last week, we discussed the state of play in the News Corp phone hacking scandal and why the U.S. government needs to launch an investigation. Since then, a lot — far too much to cover in this space — has happened. Here’s a rundown of some key details, [...]
Jul 20, 2011: Let the DOMA-Dumping Begin!
Senate Starts Effort to Dump Discrimination Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a historic hearing to kick off the process of undoing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that says states don’t have to recognize legal same-sex unions performed in other states and says the federal government can only define and [...]
Jul 19, 2011: The GOP’s New-Old Plan to Destroy Medicare & Social Security
A Sneak Attack on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Everything Else We are now frighteningly close to a default on our obligations with just two short weeks to go until Aug. 2. So what is the GOP doing? Offering up more pointless political stunts and wasting precious time by putting forward radical bills that have [...]
Jul 18, 2011: The Republican Light Bulb Joke
By a voice vote on Friday, the House passed a “light bulb ban” amendment to the 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Act (HR 2354). The amendment, offered by climate denier Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), prohibits spending to enforce the incandescent lighting efficiency standards in the 2007 energy law signed by President George W. Bush. These [...]
