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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 12:08:27 PM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575421

Your a peach cj. Lets take a 1/6th of the US economy and change it. How are we changing it you ask ? Dont worry about it... After we pass it then you can see whats in it. Thats not a dirty trick.... dont worry about it. You just don't quit do you? The contents of the bill have been known since passage in the senate months ago. If anyone has not read it, at least in summary form, then that's their fault. What has not been full known is the content of the reconciliation amendment...but even that's a misnomer. The recon amendment was on the web for 72 hours, as promised by the Dems, before it even came up in the senate for debate...and then the reps started trying to "amend" it once more, not really in any effort to make substantive changes (ex: the viagra to sex offenders amendment) but really to force it back to the house, in their constant delay and obstruct tactic. It's really hard to have a substantive debate with folks who need to exaggerate and distort as part of the routine. All the special deals are still in the bill and I placed everything right in front of your empty lobes and you still cant admit they are there. That's not true. Sec. 1201. Federal funding for States. Strikes the provision for a permanent 100% federal matching rate for Nebraska for the Medicaid costs of newly eligible individuals. Provides federal Medicaid matching payments for the costs of services to newly eligible individuals at the following rates in all states except expansion states: 100% in 2014, 2015, and 2016; 95% in 2017; 94% in 2018; 93% in 2019; and 90% thereafter. In the case of expansion states, reduces the state share of the costs of covering nonpregnant childless adults by 50% in 2014, 60% in 2015, 70% in 2016, 80% in 2017, 90% in 2018. In 2019 and thereafter, expansion states would bear the same state share of the costs of covering nonpregnant childless adults as non-expansion states (e.g., 7% in 2019, 10% thereafter). politico.com Al

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 12:11:00 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1575421

A RECESS APPOINTMENT CASE STUDY.... Listening to the Sunday shows, it seems Senate Republicans are pretty angry that President Obama announced 15 recess appointments over the weekend. I tend to think their complaints are, at best, disingenuous, but I'd nevertheless like to hear GOP leaders defend the way Alan Bersin's nomination was handled. Bersin was appointed to serve as the new commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, after the Senate failed to act on his nomination. James Fallows took a closer look at Bersin's background: Bersin was an all-Ivy star football player at Harvard. Then he went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. Then he went to Yale Law School. Then he was a U.S. Attorney in California. Then he was head of a Justice Department unit overseeing US-Mexico border affairs. Then the head of the San Diego school system. Then the Secretary of Education for California, under Arnold Schwarzenegger. Recently he has been an Assistant Secretary at DHS. Last month the past three commissioners of CBP, including two from the GW Bush administration, wrote to Republican Senators asking them, please, to get Bersin into the job rather than leaving this very important agency leaderless. Instead the Republicans placed various holds on Bersin and the others and would not bring him to a vote. Thus, good for Obama in saying, Enough. Bersin was nominated for the post seven months ago. In the midst of Senate delays, three former Customs and Border Protection commissioners said the failure to confirm a new agency chief is a "national security concern." And yet, an up-or-down vote on Bersin's nomination was nowhere in sight. It's hardly surprising that the president got tired of waiting. Matt Yglesias noted that this example "is a sign of an opposition political party gone mad."<?b. Agreed. But I'm nevertheless curious to hear some of the same GOP voices whining about how "outrageous" the recess appointments are explain why the president shouldn't have installed Bersin to the job. We're talking about an overwhelmingly qualified nominee, who enjoyed bipartisan support, and whose nomination had been pending for more than seven months. What would Republicans have Obama do? If GOP obstructionism has undermined the Senate's ability to function, why should the country's interests suffer when a legal, frequently-used alternative is available to the president?

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 12:13:15 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575421

Your a peach cj. Lets take a 1/6th of the US economy and change it. How are we changing it you ask ? Dont worry about it... After we pass it then you can see whats in it. You are a bald faced liar. You belong here: Subject 57572

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 12:21:56 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1575421

THE RNC: RISQUE NATIONAL COMMITTEE.... Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, has been questioned more than once about his judgment and priorities when it comes to spending his party's money. We learned a month ago, for example, about the RNC chief spending excessively on private planes, limousines, catering, and flowers. It didn't help when the party, hoping to have every penny it can get its hands on for the midterms, also hired Wolfgang Puck's D.C. crew to cater the RNC's Christmas party at a trendy hotspot, and moved its winter meeting from Washington to Hawaii. But this new report from The Daily Caller has to be the most humiliating yet. According to two knowledgeable sources, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele once raised the possibility of using party money to buy a private jet for his travel. [...] While Steele has not purchased a plane, he continues to charter them. According to federal disclosure records, the RNC spent $17,514 on private aircraft in the month of February alone (as well as $12,691 on limousines during the same period). There are no readily identifiable private plane expenses for Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine in the DNC's last three months of filings. [...] Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex. [emphasis added] Wait, what? Yes, it appears that Michael Steele spent RNC money at "a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex." The party of "family values," indeed. I wonder what the reaction would be -- from the media, from the political establishment, from the RNC -- if Tim Kaine had spent nearly $2,000 in donor money at "a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex." There have already been reports in recent months about Republican donors moving away from the RNC, and towards campaign committees and preferred candidates, in part because they don't trust the party's strange chairman. This was made worse when we learned that Steele has been using his position to line his own pockets, most notably through his outside paid speeches and a book written in secret. But these latest revelations will weaken Steele even further. Indeed, if Republicans fall short of their own sky-high expectations in the midterm elections, expect Michael Steele to receive the bulk of the blame. Update: The RNC now claims that a "non-committee staffer," not Steele, spent the money at Voyeur West Hollywood. The RNC chairman, the party insists, was "never at the location in question." The party has not yet disputed the other expenditures.

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 12:24:40 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1575421

High flyer: RNC Chairman Steele suggested buying private jet with GOP funds By Jonathan Strong - The Daily Caller 03/29/10 at 3:40 AM According to two knowledgeable sources, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele once raised the possibility of using party money to buy a private jet for his travel. “I know that … regular ongoing use of planes was something that was looked at,” says one person with direct knowledge. “I can’t speak to how serious those inquiries were.” Both sources say Steele considered purchasing a plane outright, or buying fractional ownership in one, through a company such as NetJets. Steele’s spokesman, Doug Heye, did not deny that such discussions took place, responding that the RNC never had a “plan” to buy a plane. “I don’t know what somebody might have discussed or might not have discussed.” While Steele has not purchased a plane, he continues to charter them. According to federal disclosure records, the RNC spent $17,514 on private aircraft in the month of February alone (as well as $12,691 on limousines during the same period). There are no readily identifiable private plane expenses for Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine in the DNC’s last three months of filings. The RNC explains that Steele charters jets only when commercial service is unavailable, or when his tight schedule requires it. “Anytime the chairman has taken any private travel has been a either to a route that doesn’t exist or because of connections and multiple travel to where he just wasn’t able to do so,” Heye said. Yet Steele’s office repeatedly refused to explain in specific terms the circumstances of the February charter flights. Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex. RNC trips to other cities produced bills from a long list of chic and costly hotels such as the Venetian and the M Resort in Las Vegas, and the W (for a total of $19,443) in Washington. A midwinter trip to Hawaii cost the RNC $43,828, not including airfare. Steele himself declined numerous interview requests, though his defenders point out that luxurious accommodations are sometimes necessary to attract big-time donors, especially since Republicans remain in the minority in Washington. Still, the nature and size of Steele’s expenses are likely to reignite persistent complaints from high-end donors and key party figures that the RNC is bleeding cash in the months before a pivotal midterm election. Several months into Steele’s term as chairman, his spending spurred Republican committeemen to pass a resolution requiring checks to be signed by at least two RNC officers, and contracts over $100,000 to go out to competitive bidding. Complaints, almost always expressed off the record, have been bitter. “This is not somebody who is out recruiting candidates,” said an aide who worked closely with Steele. “He is not meeting with donors. He’s not asking for money. The guy is writing his book or doing his speaking gigs, or whatever the hell else he fills his days with. Those are his priorities.” Read more: dailycaller.com

To: Sdgla who wrote (557359)	3/29/2010 1:04:30 PM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575421

"Lets take a 1/6th of the US economy and change it." No such thing has been proposed, much less enacted. "All the special deals are still in the bill and I placed everything right in front of your empty lobes and you still cant admit they are there." Umm, you do realize that those deals were stripped out in the reconciliation? Talk about empty lobes. Even if they weren't stripped out, they aren't dirty tricks. Dirty tricks are things like lying about the contents, like you just did and the Republicans did. If you are going to fear-monger, at least get your basic facts straight.