The Daily Drift

Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  

 

The Truth Be Told is read in 201 countries around the world.

 
OK, so that's not all that awkward - it's normal for wingnuts ... !

Today is - Awkward Moments Day
 

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Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill To Strengthen And Expand Social Security

Boxes and boxes of petitions, signed by more than two million US citizens, were hauled into the nation’s capital on March 12. The petitions were in support of the Social Security Expansion Act, introduced by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

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Democratic Congressman Plans To Introduce Bill That Will End ‘Policing For Profit’

“The time has come to end the practice of using law enforcement as a cash register, a practice that has impacted too many Americans and has disproportionately affected minority and low-income communities.”

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Republican Hate List

Republican Tom Cotton Warns America: Iran Now Controls Tehran … the Capital Of Iran

Tom Cotton has been a United States Senator for just two months and he already went from conservative shooting star with sights set on the White House...

Another Geographically Impaired Republican

*** 

It goes without saying they are politically impaired, bu they prove time and time again they are just simply impaired, period.

The Horrible Truth About Today’s Republicans In One Perfect Hashtag: #GOPWantsWar

After 40 long years, the truth about the GOP is finally out of the bag, thanks to the 47 traitors and Twitter’s trending #GOPWantsWar hashtag.

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Wall Street Bonuses Were How Much?!

Times are really hard, right?
People across America are struggling.
Struggling to pay the bills, put food on the table, clothe themselves and their children, pay for an…

Bonuses

How do you hide money from a Republican?

Obama Jokes About Republicans’ ‘Poorly-Written Letter To Iran’ – Hateful Wingnuts Go Nuts

Wingnuts unleashed a torrent of racism after the President told a few jokes.

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President Obama Guts Republican Scandal With One Hillary Clinton Email Joke

President Obama made a joke at the Gridiron Dinner that gutted the Republican dreams of a Hillary Clinton email scandal.

The Gridiron dinner is closed to the press. There are no TV cameras allowed, and only a few pool reporters are allowed inside to cover a portion of the dinner, but a joke that President Obama made spoke volumes about the Clinton email “scandal.”

The president joked that he was once the young tech savvy candidate, but, “Hillary has a server in her house! I didn’t even know you could have one of those. I am so far behind.”

If the Clinton email scandal were thought to be a serious matter, President Obama would not have been joking about it. The Republicans are going to be working overtime in an attempt to turn Hillary Clinton’s emails into something that they can use in 2016, but the reality is that the White House knows that the Republican hysteria is a waste of time. Most of the media, even if they refuse to admit it publicly, are aware that the Clinton emails are a space filler until they have a presidential campaign to write about.

No one, except for the Republican Party, is taking this story very seriously. Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were not in attendance at the dinner, but on a night that was full of Washington insider jokes, the truth that the Hillary Clinton emails are a scandal about nothing managed to sneak into the closed door party.

President Obama gutted the latest Republican attempt to generate a Hillary Clinton scandal that will stick with voters as a joke, as it looks like Democrats will be getting the last laugh in 2016 if Republicans continue to chase the political equivalent of fool’s gold in 2016.

Secretary of State John Kerry Slams Republicans For Violating The Constitution With Iran Letter

Secretary of State John Kerry ripped Senate Republicans for spreading false information via their unconstitutional letter to Iran.

Video:

Video Link

On Face The Nation, Sec. Kerry said:

What I do know is that this letter was absolutely calculated to interfere directly with these negotiations. It specifically inserts itself directly to the leader of another country saying don’t negotiate with these guys because we’re going to change this. Which by the way, is not only contrary to the Constitution with respect to the Executive’s right to negotiate, but it is incorrect. Because they can not change an executive agreement. So it’s false information, and directly calculated to interfere, and basically saying don’t negotiate with them. You’ve got to negotiate with five hundred and thirty-five members of Congress. That’s unprecedented. Unprecedented.

Kerry was asked if he was going to apologize for the letter. He answered, “Not on your life. I’m not going to apologize for an unconstitutional and unthought out action from somebody who has been in the Senate for sixty some days.”

Kerry was correct. Senate Republicans are ignoring the Constitution and making up their own rules as far as rewriting any agreement with Iran is concerned. Any agreement that is reached will have been reached with multiple governments. The Senate simply does not have the constitutional authority to approve and/or rewrite agreements.

The main Republican argument against Kerry is that he went to Nicaragua as a new U.S. Senator in the 1980s and met with the communist dictator Daniel Ortega. The problem with the Republican telling of the tale is that they are leaving out some key facts.

Original news accounts at the time state, “Within weeks of taking office in 1985, he was off to Nicaragua, accompanied by reporters on a 36-hour, self-appointed fact-finding mission with another freshman, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Congressional Democrats had accused the White House of exaggerating the communist threat posed by the Sandinista regime. So the two senators were publicly castigated when — just days after meeting with Daniel Ortega and other leaders of the regime — the Sandinistas climbed aboard a plane to Moscow to cement their Soviet ties.”

In 1985, John Kerry went to Nicaragua as an individual senator. He wasn’t speaking for the Senate. Kerry was on a fact-finding mission related to allegations about the Reagan administration’s behavior in Nicaragua. There is a difference between what Kerry did in the 1980s, and a group of Republican senators approaching a foreign government for the express purpose of undermining the President Of The United States.

Editorial boards across the country agree with Kerry that Republicans got the Constitution wrong in their letter to Iran.

Sec. Kerry will have to go back to the negotiating table and explain to the Iranians and our allies who are taking part in the negotiations that the Senate Republicans are idiots who don’t understand their own Constitution.

The Sec. of State made it clear that he will not tolerate Republican attacks of sabotage that are designed to destroy American foreign policy.

McConnell Acts Like A Criminal By Offering Lie Filled Alibi For Iran Letter On CNN

Mitch McConnell offered up a lie filled defense of the act of sabotage that he committed against President Obama, but no amount of lies can quell the growing rage of millions of Americans.
Video:

Video Link

McConnell said:

I think this is a good case of selective outrage. I remember reading about Sen. Robert Byrd when he was the Senate Majority Leader flying to Moscow during the negotiations over the Salt II treaty explaining to the Russians the Senate’s role in treaty ratification, and John Kerry when he was a senator flew to Managua there and met with a communist dictator, Daniel Ortega, and accused the Reagan administration of engaging in terrorism. So look, members of Congress expressing themselves about important matters, not only at home, but around the world is not unprecedented. So the main point here that I think everybody needs to understand is the president is about to make a very bad deal. He clearly doesn’t want Congress involved in it at all, and we’re worried about it. We don’t think he ought to make a bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world.”

Later, the Senate Majority Leader defended signing the letter, “I signed the letter. I don’t think it was a mistake. It was no more unusual than Robert Byrd going to Moscow or John Kerry going to Managua. I thought it was entirely appropriate. It explained that the process is going to include Congress at some point.”

Media reports from the 1980s don’t back up McConnell’s historical claims.

Here is how the Chicago Tribune described Byrd’s Moscow trip, ” Eight U.S. senators arrived in Moscow on Saturday to “lay any groundwork“ for improved superpower relations, relations that one of their Soviet greeters called “very bad.“ Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.), the Senate Democratic leader, said the delegation he heads is here “to promote the cause of peace and contribute to a better understanding“ between Moscow and Washington….But he said the Senate wants to work with President Reagan “and we want to try to be helpful in reaching arms-control agreements that will. . . promote peace between these two great countries.“ He said he will deliver a letter from Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Tuesday. The senators, he said, want to help the Reagan-Gorbachev summit meeting, set for November in Geneva, “in every way we can.`”

The congressional delegation that went to Moscow was bipartisan. Senate Republicans also went on the trip. The trip to Moscow wasn’t designed to sabotage a president. The Senators delivered a letter from President Reagan to Soviet leaders.

The Senators were trying to help the White House, not sabotage a president.

On the Kerry example, the Boston Globe reported, Within weeks of taking office in 1985, he was off to Nicaragua, accompanied by reporters on a 36-hour, self-appointed fact-finding mission with another freshman, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Congressional Democrats had accused the White House of exaggerating the communist threat posed by the Sandinista regime. So the two senators were publicly castigated when — just days after meeting with Daniel Ortega and other leaders of the regime — the Sandinistas climbed aboard a plane to Moscow to cement their Soviet ties.”

The Kerry trip was more controversial, but it different from what the 47 Republicans did because Kerry was engaged in a self-appointed fact-finding mission. He wasn’t speaking for the Senate or threatening to undermine the president.

What is different about the Iran letter is that it was a blatant attempt to undermine the foreign policy of the United States government. The letter states that any agreement that does not have Senate approval will only be considered an executive agreement, and, “the next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”

Mitch McConnell is obviously proud of his act of sabotage, but his historical claims of precedence, don’t match the objective media accounts of the time.

Boehner Set To Waste Of Millions Of Taxpayer Dollars Investigating Clinton Emails

John Boehner will announce this week that he is going to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on a House investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

ABC’s Jon (Benghazi Emails) Karl reported, “Top House Republicans tell ABC News they expect Speaker John Boehner to announce a new House investigation next week into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail practices as Secretary of State, including her admitted destruction of some 30,000 e-mails that she determined to be purely personal.”

Here is what House Republicans never tell the taxpayers. These investigations aren’t cheap. From January 2013-January 2014, the House spent $5,657,142. The House budgeted the cost of the Benghazi Select Committee at $3.3 million in 2014. House Republicans were proud of themselves for only spending $1.5 million by December 2014 on a committee that didn’t do much of anything publicly during the year.

The IRS estimated that they had to spend $14 million to cover costs associated with document requests from House Republicans. House Republicans have wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars investigating the IRS, Obamacare, and Benghazi.

Republicans won’t tell the taxpayers exactly how much they are spending on each of these investigations, but if the Benghazi and IRS investigations are a measuring stick, the Clinton email investigation will cost millions of dollars.

House Republicans are set to throw this money down the drain in a completely partisan attempt to get some dirt that they can use on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Speaker Boehner is also looking for anything that will serve as a distraction from his record of failure. The Republicans are off to chase another conspiracy theory.

When the estimated costs of the Benghazi, Clinton, and the lawsuit against President Obama are put together, it is clear that Republicans are wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on partisan witch hunts.

Speaker Boehner refuses to tell the American people how much of their money that he plans to waste, so it is up to voters to demand to know what Boehner is doing with their money.

It isn’t enough for John Boehner to be wasting time; now he is wasting your hard earned money.

McConnell Says He'll Delay Loretta Lynch Confirmation Until Senate Votes On Bill With Anti-Abortion Language

by Sam Levine

Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that the Senate would delay the confirmation of Loretta Lynch to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder until it resolved a bill that Democrats object to because it contains anti-abortion language.
Before the Senate considers Lynch's nomination, McConnell wants the Senate to pass the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. The bill, which would establish a fund for victims of human trafficking, had bipartisan support until Democrats learned it contained language that restricted federal funds for abortion. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said the bill will not pass as long as it contains the language.
"I had hoped to turn to her next week, but if we can't finish the trafficking bill, she will be put off again," McConnell said, referring to Lynch, on CNN's "State of the Union."
McConnell had previously said Lynch's nomination would come to the floor this week.
McConnell claims Democrats supported the trafficking legislation when they voted to pass it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Democrats say they did not know the bill contained anti-abortion language. McConnell is refusing to pull the language.
"A majority of the Senate does not want to take the language out, and all of the Democrats voted for the very same language three months ago," McConnell said. "Now if they want to have time to turn to the attorney general next week, we need to finish up this human trafficking bill. It's extremely important to the country."
Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said on Twitter that there was no reason the Senate couldn't consider the trafficking bill and Lynch's nomination at the same time.
Lynch appears to have enough support to earn confirmation in the Senate, and Democrats have been pushing Republicans to bring up her nomination.

Scott Walker's Wisconsin Falls To 49th In Economic Outlook

Scott Walker (R-WI) is a conservative hero with a record of taking progressives and unions in a state that went for Obama and beating them twice. He's cut government, taken away worker protections, supported government-mandated ultrasounds and empowered the private sector, making him the Republican insiders' favorite for the 2016 GOP nomination.His only problem is, his economic policies continue to fail - miserably.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has ranked the Badger State 49th in its 50-state Leading Index report for April. With an index rank of -0.74 percent, Wisconsin was one of only five states to show contraction.
Experts do not read much into one month's data. This index - which factors in average manufacturing hours, unemployment, wage trends and building permits - often shows a wide margin of error. The state has been especially rocked by the national decline in manufacturing.
However, Walker doesn't really have any positive economic data to point to. Since he took office, his state has fallen from 11th to 44th in job creation. Wisconsin's wages are also declining at twice the national level..
Walker's new budget - which reads more like a campaign document than a plan to create jobs - offers a tax cut that mostly benefits the rich and sucks public funds into private ventures, in the form of school vouchers.
The governor is also rejecting Medicaid expansion and using the Affordable Care Act exchanges to kick 87,000 Wisconsinites off his state's Badgercare program.
Meanwhile, his promise of creating 250,000 jobs looks less and less likely to happen.
Austerity seems to work about as well in America as it does in Greece. Maybe losing the recall was the best thing that could have happened for Wisconsin's progressive movement. Walker's job creation record is speaking volumes about attacking the institutions that helped create America's middle class.

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