It took me an hour to read this thread & that's the short of it only cuz I forgo video links; (they don't load very well on hotel servers).
3 issues going on (at least)
1) war on women -- or not.
2) republicans in demise.
3) Brown & Katrina, Hagel, Ron Paul & Rand, Rubio.
Someone said way back in this thread something about all this insanity has got to stop & I'd say this is one thing we can all agree on.
So this thread typifies for me why insanity stays the course & why our governance keeps stalling out. To me, this single thread depicts the basic mindset of what 'free & educated" (industrialized nations) masses look like nowadays; that it's not just an American exclusive condition -- not just our ruling cadre's either.
For me, the resultant insanity-stall clearly stems from such a bombardment of data; such a mountain slide deluge of information overload. And within seconds, any of us can google-clip & u-tube another mountainous heap. We now have state-of-the-art fodder in which to power-punch bait & switch tactics, to deflect from key issues that need premier focus.
It's as though we seem more predisposed to present opposing views rather than consensus building.
We seem predisposed to complain about how our ruling duo succumbs to this but it doesn't appear as though we see our own reflection in that.
How then, can we expect effective change on the governing scale when we provide a perfect example of how to shirk that responsibility?
Someones quote; something about a peoples governing is only as good as the people require.
...
A major contribution to the divide is that the Republican (lunatic fringe) base believes that 'Compromise' is a four letter word. Literally, they think the word 'compromise' only has 4 letters.
Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
Hail, Hail!!!
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Friday to extend a pay freeze for federal workers, already in effect for more than two years, for another nine months.
Republicans, who largely backed the measure, said it would save $11 billion in the long run and that economically secure public servants could go a little longer without a raise.
Most Democrats, and the White House, criticized the bill as an example of anti-government bias and said Republicans, instead of debating a bill that has little chance of advancing in the Democratic-controlled Senate, should be concentrating on avoiding the pending automatic cuts to federal programs that could have a painful effect on the economy.
The House measure, approved on a 261-154 vote, blocks an executive order issued by President Barack Obama last December that would give the nation's 2 million civilian federal workers a 0.5 percent cost-of-living raise from March 27, when the current federal spending agreement expires, through the end of the year.
The White House has indicated it will also include a 1 percent federal pay increase in its 2014 budget proposal.
The White House, in a statement, opposed the House bill, saying federal workers have already done more than their part in bringing down the deficit and that the legislation was added burden on those who " assure the safety of this country's food and airways, defend the homeland, provide health care to the nation's veterans, search for cures to devastating diseases and provide vital support to our troops at home and abroad."
Obama in 2010 initiated a two-year freeze on federal COLAs as part of an effort to reduce the deficit. Federal worker unions and others opposing the bill say that, with the freeze and higher pension contributions required of new workers, federal employees are already helping save $103 billion over a 10-year period.
But the bill's sponsor, freshman Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said his "modest" bill "simply recognizes our current fiscal reality and the fact that government salaries must bear some relationship to the private sector salaries that support them." His bill, estimated at saving $11 billion over 10 years, would also extend the freeze on congressional member pay, now running through September, until the end of the year.
The freeze only applies to cost-of-living adjustments, and not merit and longevity raises. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cited figures showing that, with merit-based raises and other "step" increases, the median pay for a federal employee in September last year was $72,714, up more than $3,000 from two years earlier. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the pay freeze would cost each employee $274 for the year.
Those supporting the freeze say the average federal worker compensation, including benefits, is nearly double the median U.S. household income. They point to a 2012 Congressional Budget Office study showing that, while wages are similar for federal workers and comparable private sector workers, federal workers on the whole had more generous benefit packages. Overall, it said, total compensation is 16 percent higher in the public sector.
But federal worker unions rely on Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys showing that in most localities federal employees trail behind private sector counterparts in wages. This is most evident for more highly educated employees who give up lucrative opportunities in the private sector to serve the public.
National Treasury Employees Union president Colleen M. Kelley said the House bill was "a particularly galling step in light of the fact that federal workers have contributed far more than any other group to economic recovery and deficit reduction."
Opponents warned that government workers will also be the first to be hit if Congress fails to find a way to avert $85 billion in automatic spending cuts to occur at the end of this month or come up with a new spending plan when the current law covering federal spending expires at the end of March. "The salary freeze, along with the threat of furloughs, layoffs and another complete government shutdown, are a punishment in search of a crime," said American Federal of Government Employees national president J. David Cox.
One of the harshest critics of the bill was Republican Frank Wolf, whose northern Virginia district includes many federal workers. "This bill is nothing more than a political stunt that targets the hardworking, dedicated men and women of the civil service," he said in a letter to his GOP colleagues, reminding them that people who haven't seen a raise in more than two years include CIA and FBI agents, border and customs agents, nurses and doctors at VA facilities, food inspectors, firefighters at national forests and NASA astronauts and engineers.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, there were about 2.1 million civilian workers in 2011. The number has been consistently around the 2 million mark for the past 50 years.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Striking a blow at President Barack Obama, Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary in a mostly party-line procedural vote. Obama led a Democratic chorus denouncing the move as an unheard-of partisan play on national security.
In an online chat organized by Google, Obama scolded Republicans for their “unprecedented” move and said “there’s nothing in the Constitution” that says a Cabinet nominee requires 60 Senate votes to be confirmed.
“My expectation and hope is that Chuck Hagel, who richly deserves to get a vote on the floor of the Senate, will be confirmed as our defense secretary,” Obama said. “It’s just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I am still presiding over a war in Afghanistan.”
Senators voted 58-40 to end debate on the former senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran’s nomination, falling short of the 60 needed to proceed to a final up-or-down vote. But even Republicans who oppose Hagel's nomination predicted he would win confirmation after a 10-day recess, insisting that lawmakers just needed more time to assess Obama's choice to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.
"This is not any attempt to kill this nomination," John Cornyn of Texas, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, said after the vote.
Cornyn, a fierce Hagel critic, said the vote was "premature" and the result of the White House rejecting "reasonable requests" for information, notably about the nominee's finances and past speeches. (The White House had moved a few hours earlier to defuse complaints tied to information about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.)
Just four Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Johanns from Hagel’s home state of Nebraska—joined the chamber’s Democrats and their two independent allies in supporting Hagel. Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch voted present.
"I regret that Republican senators, except for the valiant four, chose to filibuster the nomination," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scolded. Reid set up a fresh vote for Feb. 26.
Several GOP lawmakers who are all but certain to oppose Hagel’s confirmation, notably John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they will support ending debate after the recess that begins Friday.
“Sen. Hagel is going to be confirmed, if not tomorrow then when the Senate returns from recess,” an Obama administration official said in an email to reporters. "The drama has left the building," a Republican leadership aide told Yahoo News.
“We need a secretary of defense on the job,” Reid said after the vote, listing national security challenges from the war in Afghanistan to Iran’s nuclear program. “I hope nothing goes wrong, because we’ll rue the day.” The Nevada lawmaker said he would telephone Hagel to tell him “I’m sorry this has happened” and promise “we’re not going to give up on you.”
Cornyn countered that “we do have a secretary of defense,” Panetta, who has indicated he will stay on until his successor is confirmed.
Reid accused Republicans of filibustering a key national security nominee for the “first time in the history of our country.”
While it was the first successful filibuster of a Cabinet-level national security nominee, Democrats in 2005 filibustered the nomination of John Bolton to be Ambassador to the United Nations. Then-President George W. Bush installed him with a recess appointment. When Democrats opposed Bolton’s nomination again in late 2006, the controversial diplomat announced he would step down rather than face another fight.
Republicans including McCain and Graham had pushed to delay the vote over concerns about Hagel's record on relations with Israel and policy towards Iran. Others piled up requests for details of Hagel’s consulting work and speaking fees as well as ongoing questions unrelated to Hagel about the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Hagel himself did nothing to help advance his nomination with a wobbly performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Grilled by his former colleagues, the nominee frequently stumbled over predictable questions over past controversial statements—like his complaint that the "Jewish lobby" intimidated American lawmakers, a comment for which he has apologized—or controversial positions on how best to pressure Iran.
The bitterly divided committee voted on Tuesday to send Hagel's nomination to the full Senate for consideration. The vote was 14-11, with all Republicans voting no.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
5 th post. Frankly I was looking to have the question answered. How can a THING be considered alive ON ITS OWN if there arent developed lungs to breathe the breath of LIFE. Without a means to process oxygen I dont consider a THING to be alive. Fetus in the womb is like a parasite without the woman it dies ON ITS OWN.
Wow, all this distraction to avoid answering my simple questions. How can you feel so strongly about something yet not be able to back up simple challenges? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just aren't reading the posts... I mean you don't seem to realize that where you were responding to someone else when your "question began". But thanks for reminding me how long you have been dodging my simple challenges to your "theory". Here it is again for you to address:
My buddy's dad can't breathe on his own or even without help. He's hooked up to a machine. I guess that means he doesn't resemble a person/human?
At what point does life begin? Is it at birth... if so is it not alive 2 minutes before birth? Is it at some random point in the 0-9 month range? The only logical point is at conception. There are single celled organisms on this planet, are they not considered alive?
5 th post. Frankly I was looking to have the question answered. How can a THING be considered alive ON ITS OWN if there arent developed lungs to breathe the breath of LIFE. Without a means to process oxygen I dont consider a THING to be alive. Fetus in the womb is like a parasite without the woman it dies ON ITS OWN.
Wow, all this distraction to avoid answering my simple questions. How can you feel so strongly about something yet not be able to back up simple challenges? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just aren't reading the posts... I mean you don't seem to realize that where you were responding to someone else when your "question began". But thanks for reminding me how long you have been dodging my simple challenges to your "theory". Here it is again for you to address:
My buddy's dad can't breathe on his own or even without help. He's hooked up to a machine. I guess that means he doesn't resemble a person/human?
At what point does life begin? Is it at birth... if so is it not alive 2 minutes before birth? Is it at some random point in the 0-9 month range? The only logical point is at conception. There are single celled organisms on this planet, are they not considered alive?
I'll be waiting, man up and answer...
chill out man.
you have not posted anything on topic in this thread. it is not an abortion thread. if you want to have a discussion on abortion, feel free to start a thread on that or bump one of the thousand that are already in existance.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"The freeze only applies to cost-of-living adjustments, and not merit and longevity raises. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cited figures showing that, with merit-based raises and other "step" increases, the median pay for a federal employee in September last year was $72,714, up more than $3,000 from two years earlier. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the pay freeze would cost each employee $274 for the year."
So not really a freeze at all, just a partial freeze?
is it fantasy to think that anyone in office can do something because its the right thing to do and not strictly decided for re-election?
I've been hearing quite a bit from GOP that smacks of this very thing. Immigration is only now been seriously considered because they lost so handily in this segment of voters.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Agreed, I guess it is a bit of an epidemic around here. People post something they think they believe, you pose simple question(s) to challenge them. They realize they can't answer and then they either insult you, change the subject, or just run away. It's quite comical.
you have not posted anything on topic in this thread. it is not an abortion thread. if you want to have a discussion on abortion, feel free to start a thread on that or bump one of the thousand that are already in existance.
I guess that depends on your definition of "on topic". Sorry, from now on I'll only post extreme liberal propaganda, and I will make sure to underline stuff. But it is your thread, and I'm tired of having my question(s) dodged...
you have not posted anything on topic in this thread. it is not an abortion thread. if you want to have a discussion on abortion, feel free to start a thread on that or bump one of the thousand that are already in existance.
I guess that depends on your definition of "on topic". Sorry, from now on I'll only post extreme liberal propaganda, and I will make sure to underline stuff. But it is your thread, and I'm tired of having my question(s) dodged...
extreme liberal propaganda??
where have i posted extreme liberal propaganda?
i guess yahoo is liberal propaganda?
i guess reality has a liberal bias....
my bad...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
you have not posted anything on topic in this thread. it is not an abortion thread. if you want to have a discussion on abortion, feel free to start a thread on that or bump one of the thousand that are already in existance.
I guess that depends on your definition of "on topic". Sorry, from now on I'll only post extreme liberal propaganda, and I will make sure to underline stuff. But it is your thread, and I'm tired of having my question(s) dodged...
extreme liberal propaganda??
where have i posted extreme liberal propaganda?
i guess yahoo is liberal propaganda?
i guess reality has a liberal bias....
my bad...
Jeez... Yahoo- that good old bastion of Marxist Leftist thinking!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
... My point was how can fetuses be considered human if they would be unable to breathe even with help? How would such an entity be kept alive without some lung function? Seriously. How?
human foetuses ARE human. how could they be anything but? the ability to breathe has nothing to do with that.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
North Carolina state representatives have introduced a bill that would "clarify" state law to specifically prohibit the baring of women's breasts. Women worried about showing too much of their "private area" should use pasties, or perhaps duct tape.
The proposed legislation, House Bill 34, would make it a Class H felony to expose "external organs of sex and of excretion, including the nipple, or any portion of the areola, of the human female breast."
Rep. Rayne Brown (R), who co-sponsored the bill, said that while it may seem frivolous and even funny, "there are communities across this state, there’s local governments across this state, and also local law enforcement for whom this issue is really not a laughing matter," according to WRAL in Raleigh, N.C.
Brown said that she was prompted, in part, by Asheville's second annual topless protest and women's rally this past August. Asheville is around 130 miles from Brown's district, the Associated Press writes.
According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, the event last year drew around a dozen women, who took off their shirts to "promote women's equality."
The AP reports that, depending on the intent of the exposure, women could face up to six months in prison for an errant areola, with "more mundane" exposure resulting in a 30-day sentence. There is an exemption for breastfeeding.
The AP goes on to write that HB 34 would give law enforcement authority to make arrests and would clear up confusion stemming from a 1970 state Court of Appeals ruling, which said the term "private parts," as then specified in state law, did not include breasts.
WRAL writes that Rep. Sarah Stevens (R), who chairs the North Carolina House Judiciary Subcommittee C, downplayed the impact the bill might have, but that committee member Rep. Annie Mobley (D) worried it might penalize women for wearing “questionable fashions."
Rep. Tim Moore, (R), on the other hand, said to WRAL, “You know what they say –- duct tape fixes everything."
...
OH LORD!! 12 women exposed their breasts at a protest, now we must make laws criminalizing such an abomination!!!!!!!!
Post edited by gimmesometruth27 on
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
5 th post. Frankly I was looking to have the question answered. How can a THING be considered alive ON ITS OWN if there arent developed lungs to breathe the breath of LIFE. Without a means to process oxygen I dont consider a THING to be alive. Fetus in the womb is like a parasite without the woman it dies ON ITS OWN.
Wow, all this distraction to avoid answering my simple questions. How can you feel so strongly about something yet not be able to back up simple challenges? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just aren't reading the posts... I mean you don't seem to realize that where you were responding to someone else when your "question began". But thanks for reminding me how long you have been dodging my simple challenges to your "theory". Here it is again for you to address:
My buddy's dad can't breathe on his own or even without help. He's hooked up to a machine. I guess that means he doesn't resemble a person/human?
At what point does life begin? Is it at birth... if so is it not alive 2 minutes before birth? Is it at some random point in the 0-9 month range? The only logical point is at conception. There are single celled organisms on this planet, are they not considered alive?
I'll be waiting, man up and answer...
I'll make an assumption that you are familiar with this....
In Genesis 2 God forms "Adam" (this time meaning a single male human) out of "the dust of the ground" and then "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life", causing him to "become a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, giving him the commandment that "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
perhaps if the republicans would stop embarrassing themselves people would stop demonizing the "mainstream media". the international media is laughing at them. i am pissed because these idiots in congress make all us citizens look like idiots. they represent US, right?
how is this for hypocracy....
the republicans in the senate are calling for hagel, a republican's, tax returns for multiple years. where were these assholes when the majority of the american people asked to see more than 2 years of romneys??
oh that is right...
crickets....
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Agreed, I guess it is a bit of an epidemic around here. People post something they think they believe, you pose simple question(s) to challenge them. They realize they can't answer and then they either insult you, change the subject, or just run away. It's quite comical.
Since you are playing this card would you rather be the pot or the kettle? Just a heads up, the kettle does get called black. I know from past experience with you in a birther thread (a thread in which you were insulting, did try to change the subject, and eventually ran away from) you have a problem with black. So maybe the pot suits you better.
seriously, these people are destroying the republican party. boehner and rand paul. one of their goals in this congress is the end abortion in america. i hope they keep campaigning on things like this because america is going to end up rejecting this party once and for all if they do not come back from the far right.
let's use this thread to post articles demonstrating out of touch republican legislators and their crackpot and antiquated ideas. i'll start...
John Boehner: Ending Abortion Is 'One Of Our Most Fundamental Goals This Year'
As hundreds of thousands of people braved sub-freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C., on Friday to join the anti-abortion protest March for Life, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to banning abortion in America for good.
Addressing the crowd at the National Mall via video broadcast, Boehner said it's time for anti-abortion activisits to "commit ourselves to doing everything we can to protect the sanctity of life." Step one, he said, is making permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest.
"For the new Congress, that means bringing together a bipartisan pro-life majority and getting to work," Boehner said. "In accordance with the will of the people, we will again work to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, formally codifying the Hyde Amendment."
Boehner said he will make it a national priority to "help make abortion a relic of the past."
"Let that be one of our most fundamental goals this year," he said.
The March for Life attracted a diverse crowd of young and old protesters from across the country. Hundreds of parents had bundled up their infants and toddlers and strapped protest signs to their strollers. Michael Kennedy, 33, and his wife Bethany, who is pregnant, drove their four children down from Westerly, Rhode Island to stand in 20-degree weather on the Mall.
"They're troopers," Bethany told HuffPost. "We felt like we have a responsibility just to be a witness to everyone else, to see that this is life, our children. We needed to be here."
Several lawmakers made it out to the protest to address the crowd in person. Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) touted a bill she recently introduced that would strip Title X family planning funds from Planned Parenthood, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered a sermon that called for a "spiritual cleansing."
"Our nation is adrift, adrift in a wilderness where right and wrong have become subservient to a hedonism of the moment," Paul said. "I believe our country is in need of a spiritual cleansing."
He added, "We much preach a gospel so full of compassion, a gospel so full of justice that it cannot be resisted. Then and only then will the law again protect the innocent.
This sounds like an abortion thread because as the op you posted an article about abortion.
I just noticed now you added the red bolded line. That might be the confusion for some.
My mistake as well.
Just have to add though cause I am in shock here...
Now a fetus is being called a parasite :shock: a fetus is life, just that, a growing life ...
now I'll hunt for some dirt on some Republicans who are not up with the times.
Some people think the times and some people of these times need a good dose of morality.
We can't expect everyone to agree.
seriously, these people are destroying the republican party. boehner and rand paul. one of their goals in this congress is the end abortion in america. i hope they keep campaigning on things like this because america is going to end up rejecting this party once and for all if they do not come back from the far right.
let's use this thread to post articles demonstrating out of touch republican legislators and their crackpot and antiquated ideas. i'll start...
John Boehner: Ending Abortion Is 'One Of Our Most Fundamental Goals This Year'
As hundreds of thousands of people braved sub-freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C., on Friday to join the anti-abortion protest March for Life, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to banning abortion in America for good.
Addressing the crowd at the National Mall via video broadcast, Boehner said it's time for anti-abortion activisits to "commit ourselves to doing everything we can to protect the sanctity of life." Step one, he said, is making permanent the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest.
"For the new Congress, that means bringing together a bipartisan pro-life majority and getting to work," Boehner said. "In accordance with the will of the people, we will again work to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, formally codifying the Hyde Amendment."
Boehner said he will make it a national priority to "help make abortion a relic of the past."
"Let that be one of our most fundamental goals this year," he said.
The March for Life attracted a diverse crowd of young and old protesters from across the country. Hundreds of parents had bundled up their infants and toddlers and strapped protest signs to their strollers. Michael Kennedy, 33, and his wife Bethany, who is pregnant, drove their four children down from Westerly, Rhode Island to stand in 20-degree weather on the Mall.
"They're troopers," Bethany told HuffPost. "We felt like we have a responsibility just to be a witness to everyone else, to see that this is life, our children. We needed to be here."
Several lawmakers made it out to the protest to address the crowd in person. Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) touted a bill she recently introduced that would strip Title X family planning funds from Planned Parenthood, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered a sermon that called for a "spiritual cleansing."
"Our nation is adrift, adrift in a wilderness where right and wrong have become subservient to a hedonism of the moment," Paul said. "I believe our country is in need of a spiritual cleansing."
He added, "We much preach a gospel so full of compassion, a gospel so full of justice that it cannot be resisted. Then and only then will the law again protect the innocent.
This sounds like an abortion thread because as the op you posted an article about abortion.
I just noticed now you added the red bolded line. That might be the confusion for some.
My mistake as well.
Just have to add though cause I am in shock here...
Now a fetus is being called a parasite :shock: a fetus is life, just that, a growing life ...
now I'll hunt for some dirt on some Republicans who are not up with the times.
Some people think the times and some people of these times need a good dose of morality.
We can't expect everyone to agree.
I think the confusion is understandable. Also, when a good debate breaks out it often takes on a life of its own.
..WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's pick to be defense secretary is unsuited to head the Pentagon, but Republican senators should stop stalling the nomination and allow a vote on Chuck Hagel, a leading opponent said Sunday.
"No, I don't believe he's qualified," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further, because I think it's (been) a reasonable amount to time to have questions answered."
Republicans have angered Obama by delaying the formation of his second-term national security team, which includes Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, and John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser who's awaiting confirmation as CIA director.
Critics contend that Hagel, who snubbed McCain by staying neutral in 2008 presidential race when McCain ran against Obama, isn't supportive enough of Israel and is unreasonably sympathetic to Iran. The nomination also became entangled in Republican lawmakers' questioning of how the White House handled the Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
GOP senators also have challenged his past statements and votes on nuclear weapons, and his criticism of the President George W. Bush's administration lingers.
Republicans last week held up a confirmation vote but have indicated that they eventually would relent and permit a vote when they return from their break on Feb. 25.
Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said Hagel, a Vietnam combat veteran, said was the right person to lead the Pentagon, and "has one thing in mind: How do we protect the country?"
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's led the opposition with McCain to Hagel's nomination, said critics were "doing our job to scrutinize ... one of the most unqualified, radical choices for secretary of defense in a very long time."
"But at the end of the day," said Graham, R-S.C., "this is the president's decision. I give him great discretion. I can't believe one Democratic colleague is not upset by this choice enough to speak out."
Graham referred to a letter he received from Hagel in response to questions about past statements on Israel, and the senator said, "I'll just take him at his word, unless something new comes along."
McDonough was on ABC's "This Week," while McCain spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Graham was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday."
...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
..WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator says he sees some in his party favoring a 2016 presidential candidate with an immigration policy that would "round people up ... and send them back to Mexico."
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Sunday said he would be a presidential candidate if he thought he could win. The tea party favorite says he sees an opening for a "libertarian Republican narrative" to help the GOP win on the West Coast and New England.
Paul says people want a party that's "less aggressive on foreign policy" and drug laws. Paul says he sees voters wanting, quote, "somebody who wants to round people up, put in camps and send them back to Mexico."
A Paul spokeswoman, Moira Bagley, didn't offer further explanation.
Paul spoke on "Fox News Sunday."
...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
..WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's pick to be defense secretary is unsuited to head the Pentagon, but Republican senators should stop stalling the nomination and allow a vote on Chuck Hagel, a leading opponent said Sunday.
"No, I don't believe he's qualified," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further, because I think it's (been) a reasonable amount to time to have questions answered."
Republicans have angered Obama by delaying the formation of his second-term national security team, which includes Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, and John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser who's awaiting confirmation as CIA director.
Critics contend that Hagel, who snubbed McCain by staying neutral in 2008 presidential race when McCain ran against Obama, isn't supportive enough of Israel and is unreasonably sympathetic to Iran. The nomination also became entangled in Republican lawmakers' questioning of how the White House handled the Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
GOP senators also have challenged his past statements and votes on nuclear weapons, and his criticism of the President George W. Bush's administration lingers.
Republicans last week held up a confirmation vote but have indicated that they eventually would relent and permit a vote when they return from their break on Feb. 25.
Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said Hagel, a Vietnam combat veteran, said was the right person to lead the Pentagon, and "has one thing in mind: How do we protect the country?"
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's led the opposition with McCain to Hagel's nomination, said critics were "doing our job to scrutinize ... one of the most unqualified, radical choices for secretary of defense in a very long time."
"But at the end of the day," said Graham, R-S.C., "this is the president's decision. I give him great discretion. I can't believe one Democratic colleague is not upset by this choice enough to speak out."
Graham referred to a letter he received from Hagel in response to questions about past statements on Israel, and the senator said, "I'll just take him at his word, unless something new comes along."
McDonough was on ABC's "This Week," while McCain spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Graham was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday."
...
I'll admit, I'm not very well informed, but doesnt any cabinet head to cues from the pres on what is to be doen and how?
I fail to see the merit in this argument about his personal views on a given topic. Further, differing opinion serves us, the people, better in the long run.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
lindsey graham wants to avoid sequestration by repealing obamacare.
i'm sorry man, but the american people are warming to the affordable care act, and it is legal via supreme court decision. come up with another way senator. and nice way to deflect potential blame by the way. your party is unwilling to listen to common sense solutions and will do anything to keep tax cuts in place for the rich, so you are gonna get the blame for this.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: Sacrifice Obamacare To Avoid Sequester
To avoid a March 1 sequester, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested on Fox News Sunday that Congress save money by cutting the Affordable Care Act instead.
"Here's my belief: Let's take Obamacare and put it on the table," he said. "People are leaving the private sector because their companies can't afford to offer Obamacare. If you want to look at ways to find $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade, let's look at Obamacare. Let's don't destroy the military and just cut blindly across the board."
The White House recently released a fact sheet detailing the devastating effect a sequester could have on the economy if Congress fails to pass spending cuts by March 1, including a reduction in loan guarantees to small businesses by $900 million. The blame, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pointed out on Sunday, would likely fall on Republicans, who are digging in their heels to protect tax cuts.
Graham said the blame should fall on President Obama, who "came up with the idea of sequestration."
"The president promised this wouldn't happen," Graham said. "He's the commander in chief, and on his watch we're going to begin to unravel the finest military in the history of the world at the time we need it most."
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Comments
A major contribution to the divide is that the Republican (lunatic fringe) base believes that 'Compromise' is a four letter word. Literally, they think the word 'compromise' only has 4 letters.
Hail, Hail!!!
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
House votes to extend pay freeze for fed workers
http://news.yahoo.com/house-votes-exten ... itics.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Friday to extend a pay freeze for federal workers, already in effect for more than two years, for another nine months.
Republicans, who largely backed the measure, said it would save $11 billion in the long run and that economically secure public servants could go a little longer without a raise.
Most Democrats, and the White House, criticized the bill as an example of anti-government bias and said Republicans, instead of debating a bill that has little chance of advancing in the Democratic-controlled Senate, should be concentrating on avoiding the pending automatic cuts to federal programs that could have a painful effect on the economy.
The House measure, approved on a 261-154 vote, blocks an executive order issued by President Barack Obama last December that would give the nation's 2 million civilian federal workers a 0.5 percent cost-of-living raise from March 27, when the current federal spending agreement expires, through the end of the year.
The White House has indicated it will also include a 1 percent federal pay increase in its 2014 budget proposal.
The White House, in a statement, opposed the House bill, saying federal workers have already done more than their part in bringing down the deficit and that the legislation was added burden on those who " assure the safety of this country's food and airways, defend the homeland, provide health care to the nation's veterans, search for cures to devastating diseases and provide vital support to our troops at home and abroad."
Obama in 2010 initiated a two-year freeze on federal COLAs as part of an effort to reduce the deficit. Federal worker unions and others opposing the bill say that, with the freeze and higher pension contributions required of new workers, federal employees are already helping save $103 billion over a 10-year period.
But the bill's sponsor, freshman Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., said his "modest" bill "simply recognizes our current fiscal reality and the fact that government salaries must bear some relationship to the private sector salaries that support them." His bill, estimated at saving $11 billion over 10 years, would also extend the freeze on congressional member pay, now running through September, until the end of the year.
The freeze only applies to cost-of-living adjustments, and not merit and longevity raises. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cited figures showing that, with merit-based raises and other "step" increases, the median pay for a federal employee in September last year was $72,714, up more than $3,000 from two years earlier. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the pay freeze would cost each employee $274 for the year.
Those supporting the freeze say the average federal worker compensation, including benefits, is nearly double the median U.S. household income. They point to a 2012 Congressional Budget Office study showing that, while wages are similar for federal workers and comparable private sector workers, federal workers on the whole had more generous benefit packages. Overall, it said, total compensation is 16 percent higher in the public sector.
But federal worker unions rely on Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys showing that in most localities federal employees trail behind private sector counterparts in wages. This is most evident for more highly educated employees who give up lucrative opportunities in the private sector to serve the public.
National Treasury Employees Union president Colleen M. Kelley said the House bill was "a particularly galling step in light of the fact that federal workers have contributed far more than any other group to economic recovery and deficit reduction."
Opponents warned that government workers will also be the first to be hit if Congress fails to find a way to avert $85 billion in automatic spending cuts to occur at the end of this month or come up with a new spending plan when the current law covering federal spending expires at the end of March. "The salary freeze, along with the threat of furloughs, layoffs and another complete government shutdown, are a punishment in search of a crime," said American Federal of Government Employees national president J. David Cox.
One of the harshest critics of the bill was Republican Frank Wolf, whose northern Virginia district includes many federal workers. "This bill is nothing more than a political stunt that targets the hardworking, dedicated men and women of the civil service," he said in a letter to his GOP colleagues, reminding them that people who haven't seen a raise in more than two years include CIA and FBI agents, border and customs agents, nurses and doctors at VA facilities, food inspectors, firefighters at national forests and NASA astronauts and engineers.
According to the Office of Personnel Management, there were about 2.1 million civilian workers in 2011. The number has been consistently around the 2 million mark for the past 50 years.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/reid ... itics.html
Striking a blow at President Barack Obama, Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary in a mostly party-line procedural vote. Obama led a Democratic chorus denouncing the move as an unheard-of partisan play on national security.
In an online chat organized by Google, Obama scolded Republicans for their “unprecedented” move and said “there’s nothing in the Constitution” that says a Cabinet nominee requires 60 Senate votes to be confirmed.
“My expectation and hope is that Chuck Hagel, who richly deserves to get a vote on the floor of the Senate, will be confirmed as our defense secretary,” Obama said. “It’s just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I am still presiding over a war in Afghanistan.”
Senators voted 58-40 to end debate on the former senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran’s nomination, falling short of the 60 needed to proceed to a final up-or-down vote. But even Republicans who oppose Hagel's nomination predicted he would win confirmation after a 10-day recess, insisting that lawmakers just needed more time to assess Obama's choice to succeed Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.
"This is not any attempt to kill this nomination," John Cornyn of Texas, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, said after the vote.
Cornyn, a fierce Hagel critic, said the vote was "premature" and the result of the White House rejecting "reasonable requests" for information, notably about the nominee's finances and past speeches. (The White House had moved a few hours earlier to defuse complaints tied to information about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.)
Just four Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Johanns from Hagel’s home state of Nebraska—joined the chamber’s Democrats and their two independent allies in supporting Hagel. Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch voted present.
"I regret that Republican senators, except for the valiant four, chose to filibuster the nomination," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scolded. Reid set up a fresh vote for Feb. 26.
Several GOP lawmakers who are all but certain to oppose Hagel’s confirmation, notably John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they will support ending debate after the recess that begins Friday.
“Sen. Hagel is going to be confirmed, if not tomorrow then when the Senate returns from recess,” an Obama administration official said in an email to reporters. "The drama has left the building," a Republican leadership aide told Yahoo News.
“We need a secretary of defense on the job,” Reid said after the vote, listing national security challenges from the war in Afghanistan to Iran’s nuclear program. “I hope nothing goes wrong, because we’ll rue the day.” The Nevada lawmaker said he would telephone Hagel to tell him “I’m sorry this has happened” and promise “we’re not going to give up on you.”
Cornyn countered that “we do have a secretary of defense,” Panetta, who has indicated he will stay on until his successor is confirmed.
Reid accused Republicans of filibustering a key national security nominee for the “first time in the history of our country.”
While it was the first successful filibuster of a Cabinet-level national security nominee, Democrats in 2005 filibustered the nomination of John Bolton to be Ambassador to the United Nations. Then-President George W. Bush installed him with a recess appointment. When Democrats opposed Bolton’s nomination again in late 2006, the controversial diplomat announced he would step down rather than face another fight.
Republicans including McCain and Graham had pushed to delay the vote over concerns about Hagel's record on relations with Israel and policy towards Iran. Others piled up requests for details of Hagel’s consulting work and speaking fees as well as ongoing questions unrelated to Hagel about the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Hagel himself did nothing to help advance his nomination with a wobbly performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Grilled by his former colleagues, the nominee frequently stumbled over predictable questions over past controversial statements—like his complaint that the "Jewish lobby" intimidated American lawmakers, a comment for which he has apologized—or controversial positions on how best to pressure Iran.
The bitterly divided committee voted on Tuesday to send Hagel's nomination to the full Senate for consideration. The vote was 14-11, with all Republicans voting no.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Wow, all this distraction to avoid answering my simple questions. How can you feel so strongly about something yet not be able to back up simple challenges? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just aren't reading the posts... I mean you don't seem to realize that where you were responding to someone else when your "question began". But thanks for reminding me how long you have been dodging my simple challenges to your "theory". Here it is again for you to address:
I'll be waiting, man up and answer...
you have not posted anything on topic in this thread. it is not an abortion thread. if you want to have a discussion on abortion, feel free to start a thread on that or bump one of the thousand that are already in existance.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Same shit in every thread.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
It did get a little derailed.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
So not really a freeze at all, just a partial freeze?
That median pay is pretty good too.
I've been hearing quite a bit from GOP that smacks of this very thing. Immigration is only now been seriously considered because they lost so handily in this segment of voters.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Agreed, I guess it is a bit of an epidemic around here. People post something they think they believe, you pose simple question(s) to challenge them. They realize they can't answer and then they either insult you, change the subject, or just run away. It's quite comical.
I guess that depends on your definition of "on topic". Sorry, from now on I'll only post extreme liberal propaganda, and I will make sure to underline stuff. But it is your thread, and I'm tired of having my question(s) dodged...
where have i posted extreme liberal propaganda?
i guess yahoo is liberal propaganda?
i guess reality has a liberal bias....
my bad...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Jeez... Yahoo- that good old bastion of Marxist Leftist thinking!
at least i am not known for posting extremist blogs like some people.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
human foetuses ARE human. how could they be anything but? the ability to breathe has nothing to do with that.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
:fp:
this is what you voted for....garbage in, garbage out...
Rep. Rayne Brown, North Carolina State Republican, Introduces Bill Criminalizing Nipple Exposure
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/1 ... 95720.html
North Carolina state representatives have introduced a bill that would "clarify" state law to specifically prohibit the baring of women's breasts. Women worried about showing too much of their "private area" should use pasties, or perhaps duct tape.
The proposed legislation, House Bill 34, would make it a Class H felony to expose "external organs of sex and of excretion, including the nipple, or any portion of the areola, of the human female breast."
Rep. Rayne Brown (R), who co-sponsored the bill, said that while it may seem frivolous and even funny, "there are communities across this state, there’s local governments across this state, and also local law enforcement for whom this issue is really not a laughing matter," according to WRAL in Raleigh, N.C.
Brown said that she was prompted, in part, by Asheville's second annual topless protest and women's rally this past August. Asheville is around 130 miles from Brown's district, the Associated Press writes.
According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, the event last year drew around a dozen women, who took off their shirts to "promote women's equality."
The AP reports that, depending on the intent of the exposure, women could face up to six months in prison for an errant areola, with "more mundane" exposure resulting in a 30-day sentence. There is an exemption for breastfeeding.
The AP goes on to write that HB 34 would give law enforcement authority to make arrests and would clear up confusion stemming from a 1970 state Court of Appeals ruling, which said the term "private parts," as then specified in state law, did not include breasts.
WRAL writes that Rep. Sarah Stevens (R), who chairs the North Carolina House Judiciary Subcommittee C, downplayed the impact the bill might have, but that committee member Rep. Annie Mobley (D) worried it might penalize women for wearing “questionable fashions."
Rep. Tim Moore, (R), on the other hand, said to WRAL, “You know what they say –- duct tape fixes everything."
...
OH LORD!! 12 women exposed their breasts at a protest, now we must make laws criminalizing such an abomination!!!!!!!!
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
In Genesis 2 God forms "Adam" (this time meaning a single male human) out of "the dust of the ground" and then "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life", causing him to "become a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, giving him the commandment that "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
like the elected republicans this thread is about, any resemblence between their reality and mine is purely coincidence.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
how is this for hypocracy....
the republicans in the senate are calling for hagel, a republican's, tax returns for multiple years. where were these assholes when the majority of the american people asked to see more than 2 years of romneys??
oh that is right...
crickets....
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Since you are playing this card would you rather be the pot or the kettle? Just a heads up, the kettle does get called black. I know from past experience with you in a birther thread (a thread in which you were insulting, did try to change the subject, and eventually ran away from) you have a problem with black. So maybe the pot suits you better.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
I just noticed now you added the red bolded line. That might be the confusion for some.
My mistake as well.
Just have to add though cause I am in shock here...
Now a fetus is being called a parasite :shock: a fetus is life, just that, a growing life ...
now I'll hunt for some dirt on some Republicans who are not up with the times.
Some people think the times and some people of these times need a good dose of morality.
We can't expect everyone to agree.
I think the confusion is understandable. Also, when a good debate breaks out it often takes on a life of its own.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
now lindsey graham, completely opposed to hagel, NOW says the he trusts the presiden'ts judgement...
do these people stand for anything at all anymore?
:crazy: :crazy:
GOP foe of Hagel's nomination says let vote go on
http://news.yahoo.com/gop-foe-hagels-no ... itics.html
..WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's pick to be defense secretary is unsuited to head the Pentagon, but Republican senators should stop stalling the nomination and allow a vote on Chuck Hagel, a leading opponent said Sunday.
"No, I don't believe he's qualified," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further, because I think it's (been) a reasonable amount to time to have questions answered."
Republicans have angered Obama by delaying the formation of his second-term national security team, which includes Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, and John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser who's awaiting confirmation as CIA director.
Critics contend that Hagel, who snubbed McCain by staying neutral in 2008 presidential race when McCain ran against Obama, isn't supportive enough of Israel and is unreasonably sympathetic to Iran. The nomination also became entangled in Republican lawmakers' questioning of how the White House handled the Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
GOP senators also have challenged his past statements and votes on nuclear weapons, and his criticism of the President George W. Bush's administration lingers.
Republicans last week held up a confirmation vote but have indicated that they eventually would relent and permit a vote when they return from their break on Feb. 25.
Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said Hagel, a Vietnam combat veteran, said was the right person to lead the Pentagon, and "has one thing in mind: How do we protect the country?"
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's led the opposition with McCain to Hagel's nomination, said critics were "doing our job to scrutinize ... one of the most unqualified, radical choices for secretary of defense in a very long time."
"But at the end of the day," said Graham, R-S.C., "this is the president's decision. I give him great discretion. I can't believe one Democratic colleague is not upset by this choice enough to speak out."
Graham referred to a letter he received from Hagel in response to questions about past statements on Israel, and the senator said, "I'll just take him at his word, unless something new comes along."
McDonough was on ABC's "This Week," while McCain spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Graham was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday."
...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
this man is delusional
Sen. Paul: Voters want to round up immigrants
http://news.yahoo.com/sen-paul-voters-w ... itics.html
..WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator says he sees some in his party favoring a 2016 presidential candidate with an immigration policy that would "round people up ... and send them back to Mexico."
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Sunday said he would be a presidential candidate if he thought he could win. The tea party favorite says he sees an opening for a "libertarian Republican narrative" to help the GOP win on the West Coast and New England.
Paul says people want a party that's "less aggressive on foreign policy" and drug laws. Paul says he sees voters wanting, quote, "somebody who wants to round people up, put in camps and send them back to Mexico."
A Paul spokeswoman, Moira Bagley, didn't offer further explanation.
Paul spoke on "Fox News Sunday."
...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I fail to see the merit in this argument about his personal views on a given topic. Further, differing opinion serves us, the people, better in the long run.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
lindsey graham wants to avoid sequestration by repealing obamacare.
i'm sorry man, but the american people are warming to the affordable care act, and it is legal via supreme court decision. come up with another way senator. and nice way to deflect potential blame by the way. your party is unwilling to listen to common sense solutions and will do anything to keep tax cuts in place for the rich, so you are gonna get the blame for this.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: Sacrifice Obamacare To Avoid Sequester
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/1 ... 06404.html
To avoid a March 1 sequester, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested on Fox News Sunday that Congress save money by cutting the Affordable Care Act instead.
"Here's my belief: Let's take Obamacare and put it on the table," he said. "People are leaving the private sector because their companies can't afford to offer Obamacare. If you want to look at ways to find $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade, let's look at Obamacare. Let's don't destroy the military and just cut blindly across the board."
The White House recently released a fact sheet detailing the devastating effect a sequester could have on the economy if Congress fails to pass spending cuts by March 1, including a reduction in loan guarantees to small businesses by $900 million. The blame, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pointed out on Sunday, would likely fall on Republicans, who are digging in their heels to protect tax cuts.
Graham said the blame should fall on President Obama, who "came up with the idea of sequestration."
"The president promised this wouldn't happen," Graham said. "He's the commander in chief, and on his watch we're going to begin to unravel the finest military in the history of the world at the time we need it most."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."