At Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann R-MN proposed the elimination of all taxes, but then added that the government did need some money to run.“You earned every dollar, you should get to keep every dollar that you earned,” the candidate said. “That’s your money, that’s not the government’s money.” via Bachmann proposes…
Author: TRP
Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay Soldier Stephen Hill After DADT Repeal Question VIDEO
Of course, the big news of the exchange will once again be about an audience reaction. After Fox cut back from the clip of Hill, several members of the audience were heard, in a shocking demonstration of disrespect for one of our soldiers, lustily booing him. Very sad. via Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay…
Republicans Decrying ‘Job Killing’ Green Energy Agenda Have Sought Green Jobs For Their Own Districts
In dozens of letters obtained by The Huffington Post, the lawmakers, led by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), argue convincingly about Department of Energy funding going to their favored projects, often touting the job-creating potential of numerous endeavors. The issue erupted earlier this month when reports broke that the bankrupt solar manufacturer Solyndra, which…
Poverty an invisible issue in GOP race
When the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that a record number of people were living in poverty, Republicans were quick to attach the figures to President Barack Obama, desperately trying to lay them at his feet. But anyone with common sense knows that someone doesn’t just fall into poverty overnight. The deplorable…
Infrastructure Funds Benefit More Than The Economy[audio]
A number of U.S. mayors have been in Washington this week for meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Their message: We need help. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett was in the group from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And he was the sole Republican. Cornett talks to David Greene about the needs…
The insurance industry gets bullish on health-care reform
As the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, individual policies make up only 1 to 2 percent of CIGNA’s current revenue; most profits come from employer-based insurance. But the health reform law makes the individual market newly lucrative: The CBO projects that, by 2019, the number of Americans buying their own insurance will double. So Tuesday,…
Contrary To GOP Claims, Research Shows Environmental Regulation Actually Spurs Economic Growth
Environmental regulations and the agency that enforces them, the EPA, have been singled out for particularly rough treatment. Republicans have scheduled a series of votes starting this week aimed at repealing or halting them. But two reports highlighted today by Politico — one by the Economic Policy Institute, the other by Public Citizen…
New Study Finds That There Is Actually Less Crime Near Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
A new study from the Rand Corporation finds that there is actually less crime near medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles as opposed to other areas of the city, where the researchers conducted a rigorous examination of crime trends. via New Study Finds That There Is Actually Less Crime Near Medical Marijuana Dispensaries |…
Wonkbook: Can the new Obama get anything done?
The smart money is still on nothing big getting done this year or next. In Washington, the smart money is almost always on nothing big getting done this year or next. But it’s not at all clear that the chances of something big getting done are lower under the White House’s confrontational strategy…
GOP mayors like Obama’s jobs plan. GOP governors don’t.
Republicans in Washington have little love for President Obama’s jobs plan and his proposal to pay for it. But the president may find a warmer reception from Republicans governing on the local level. The U.S. Conference of Mayors–a bipartisan national group for mayors of major cities–has openly embraced the American Jobs Act, with key Republican…
Obama jobs bill still waits for action in the Senate
Senate Democratic leaders have said for days they could not take up the president’s proposal until they resolved ongoing legislative battles with Republicans over funding for highway construction, the FAA, FEMA and a bill to keep the government operating into the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. However, they also admitted they…
EIA: China and India rule our energy world
On Monday, the Energy Information Administration released its International Energy Outlook 2011 report. The chart on the right shows the projections for global energy consumption from 1990 to 2035. Notice that energy use in the OECD countries — North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia — stays nearly flat during that period. It’s the…
EMU joins other Michigan universities in banning medical pot on campus
Eastern Michigan University became the latest university to formally ban medical marijuana on its campus. Despite state laws allowing those with medical marijuana cards to smoke the drug, federal law still lists it as illegal. That makes it necessary for universities to ban it as well, university officials said, because EMU and other higher education…
What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?
Levin had also spent many years trying to figure out how to provide lessons in character to his students, who were almost all black or Latino and from low-income families. At the first KIPP school, in Houston, he and his co-founder, Michael Feinberg, filled the walls with slogans like “Work Hard” and “Be Nice” and…
Obama White House: ‘Compromise By Necessity’ Phase Is Behind Us
And so, as the administration enters the next stage of deficit reduction talks, it’s doing so with its chest notably puffed out. “It is fair to say we’ve entered a new phase,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told The New York Times on Monday. “The popular narrative is that we sought compromise…
Border/Enforcement Spending and Deportation Levels Continue to Skyrocket Under Obama
Republican charges that the Obama administration is giving border security and immigration enforcement short shrift are false. In conjunction with the fact that border security spending and personnel have also increased in recent years, the deportation numbers show that an aggressive “enforcement-only” immigration policy built during the Bush Administration is still the status quo of…
Obama set to outpace Bush on deportations
President Barack Obama says he backs immigration reform, announcing last month an initiative to ease deportation policies, but he has sent home more than 1 million illegal immigrants in 2 1/2 years — on pace to deport more in one term than George W. Bush did in two. The Obama administration had deported…
‘Anonymous’ Wall Street Protesters Arrested Under Antique ‘Anti-Mask’ Law
And as for the police response to the protests, well, that too has proved to be creative and unpredictable. Seven individuals had been arrested as of Monday, according to Bloomberg. But up to five people have been issued a citation for violating an 1845 “antimask law” that prohibits masked gatherings of two or…
Yahoo Appears To Be Censoring Email Messages About Wall Street Protests
Over the weekend, thousands gathered for a “Tahrir Square”-style protest of Wall Street’s domination of American politics. The protesters, organized online and by organizations like Adbusters, have called their effort “Occupy Wall Street” and have set up the website: www.OccupyWallSt.org. However, several YouTube users posted videos of themselves trying to email a message…
Union reps lawsuit seeks to remove Detroit schools emergency manager
Union employee Robert Davis filed a lawsuit Monday in an effort to remove Roy Roberts, the emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, because he did not take the oath of office before he started working in the position.While the lawsuit is asking the removal of the leader of the state’s largest school district…