The Truth Be Told

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Daily Drift

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We're dis-investing in infrastructure, and it's going to hurt us big-time

From Robert Reich
Today I talked to a friend who just moved into a rental unit that's eating 40 percent of his paycheck. He says he has no choice. It's the smallest apartment he could find within ten miles of where he works.
My friend isn't alone. Since 2001, the median monthly rental price in the US has climbed much faster than inflation, while the typical renter’s pretax income has fallen 11 percent. Result: The typical renter is now paying way more than 30 percent of his or her income for rent, and that percentage is rising. In some cities – San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York – it’s 40 to 50 percent. What’s the solution? Part of it is better public transportation – so people can live further away from where they work, in affordable housing. But rather than invest more in public transportation, America is disinvesting. We're spending a smaller percentage of our GDP on public transit now than at any time since World War II. Why? Ask Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures.

More

Republicans Hold Debate On Colorado Campus, Shut Out Students

The debate was missing some obvious attendees.

Bernie Marches With Verizon Workers As Its Execs And Lobbyists Give Big To Hillary

Bernie Marches With Verizon Workers As Its Execs And Lobbyists Give Big To Hillary

Hell Experiences Cold Day As Teabagger Endorses Obama’s Climate Change Plan

A member of the cabal of ‘No’ is saying yes to President Obama’s Clean Energy Plan, making Hell cold as the rest of the world deals with rising temperatures.

Read more

After Lois Lerner Cleared, Republicans Move To Impeach IRS Commissioner

Never mind that he wasn't even in office when the so-called "scandal" broke.

President Obama Blasts Fox News For Lying About His Position On Guns

President Obama pulled no punches when he called out Fox News and other conservative media outlets for spreading the lie that he is out to take away guns.
The President said:
So, look, I understand we won’t all agree on this issue. But it’s time to be honest — fewer gun safety laws don’t mean more freedom, they mean more danger. Certainly more danger to police, more fallen officers, more grieving families, more Americans terrified that they or their loved ones could be next. So I’m going to keep calling on the folks in Congress to change the way that they think about gun safety. And if they don’t, I’m going to keep on calling on Americans to change the folks in Congress until they get it right

And please do not — some of you watching certain television stations or listening to certain radio programs, please do not believe this notion that somehow I’m out to take everybody’s guns away. Every time a mass shooting happens, one of the saddest ironies is that suddenly the purchase of firearms and ammunition jumps up because folks are scared into thinking that Obama is going to use this as an excuse to take away our Second Amendment rights. Nobody is doing that. We’re talking about common-sense measures to make sure criminals don’t get them; to make sure background checks work; to make sure that to make sure that we’re protecting ourselves.
So supporting law enforcement and having a budget that backs it up, not just — because talk is cheap, but actually following through to make sure you’ve got the resources you need. Reforming our criminal justice system so it is smarter and we can reduce crime while still reducing the incarceration rate. Restoring trust between communities. Refusing to give up on gun safety. We can take those steps. That’s within our reach.
When Obama referred to certain television stations, he was talking about Fox News.
Obama is right. The gun industry’s favorite propaganda tool is to warn that the President is coming for their guns, but when pressed they can’t name a single gun that Obama has confiscated.
The myth that Democrats are out to take away guns has been around for decades. Fox News has spread this lie all through the Obama presidency. It is great to see Obama pushing back, and highlighting the hypocrisy of Republicans who claim to be pro-law enforcement, but oppose common sense steps that could make it safer for cops to do their jobs.
The issue is about gun safety, not gun confiscation, and the President realizes to gain support to change the law, he must first debunk the Fox News lies.

Strong In Victory, Obama Warns Republicans Not To Play Games With Budget Deal

President Obama has a message for Republicans in Congress. The President warned the Republican cabal not to play ideological games with the budget deal.
The President spoke about the budget agreement while addressing the 122nd Annual IACP Conference and Exposition in Chicago.
President Obama said:
I am pretty happy about that because it reflects our values, growing the economy and the middle-class by investing in things like education and job training that are needed and it keeps us safe by investing in our national security. It’s paid for responsibly in part with a measure to make sure hedge funds and private equity firms pay what they owe in taxes. It’s the right thing to do.
…..

I hope both parties come together to pass this agreement without delay. They’ve got a few days to do it. And I hope Congress gets right to work on spending bills to advance America’s priorities, and they don’t get sidetracked by ideological provisions that have no place in America’s budget process.

Republicans who oppose the deal will no doubt try to attach attacks on Planned Parenthood to the spending bills, but they have been warned. The country may have a budget deal, but if Republicans start playing games this president will veto their spending bills.
The President was cutting Republicans off at the pass. He isn’t about to let the dysfunction in the House sink a two-year deal that will finally end the chaos of crisis governing. The majority of Republicans in Congress hate the deal, but they have few options.
President Obama is at the height of his presidential powers, and there is little that the extremist elements in the Republican Congressional majority can do in the face of his latest overwhelming victory.

Liberal Support For The Budget Deal Signals A Big Democratic Victory

An indicator of the size of the Democratic victory on the budget deal is the speed with which liberal members of Congress are coming out in support of the deal.
Republican members of Congress were outraged as soon as the deal was announced, but the reaction on the Democratic side has been much more supportive.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who has endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, and serves as co-Chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said, “My biggest concern was how it was going to treat Social Security disability, and the questions I got answered so far have allayed some of my concerns. So I’m going to keep studying it, but at this point I don’t have any fire alarms going off.”
House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) said that Democrats avoided the worst case scenario on the disability program, “We avoided the worst proposal on disability to eliminate the availability of UI to those who are on disability” Levin pointed out that the changes to the disability program that Republicans are trying to sell as reform are nothing more than the closing of a loophole.
Republicans appear to have only gotten some symbolic face-saving gestures out of the deal. There is nothing in the major points of the agreement that is at the top of the Congressional Republican wishlist.

In the past, when these sorts of agreements were in the discussion stage, liberal Democrats were quick to voice their opposition to any cuts to programs or entitlements. The fact that Congressional Democrats are so quick to support the deal indicates that the agreement is a sweeping victory for Democrats.
The agreement is going to pass Congress with a coalition of Democratic voters and votes from the Republican leadership. The Republican extremists in the House and Senate who specialize in making sure that government doesn’t work have been comprehensively defeated by an agreement that is good for the country.
No matter what perspective this agreement is viewed from, it is clear that Democrats have won big.