Showing posts with label Bipartisan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bipartisan. Show all posts

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Trump's prison reform turn: Unlikely allies confer on prison reform at the White House





























at Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, July 16, 2016

GOP, Dems Unite to Demand Increased Iranian Sanctions One Year After Nuclear Deal

at Labels: , , ,

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Democrats veer left then blast everyone else for being "right wing"



...as the parade veers left, the Democrats must always race out to be in front of it. This week’s Gallup poll says that a record high 47% of Democratic voters identify as both socially liberal and economically liberal or moderate. That’s up 8 points since the 2008 election of President Obama and 17 points since 2001.

Just as yesterday’s luxuries become today’s necessities, Democrats are continuously redefining what it means to be Democrats....

The media often remind us that Democrats and Republicans used to forge bipartisan policy solutions, scolding Republicans for supposedly moving right.

But if the center is becoming a lonely place in American politics, Democrats are walking away from it much more rapidly than Republicans are.



at Labels: , , ,

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Capitol Hill has seen a burst of bipartisan deal-making and legislating in recent days as newly empowered Republicans try to show voters they can govern responsibly when they’re in charge.



After a bumpy start, GOP leaders seem to have found their footing — passing a historic $200 billion Medicare reform package, striking big, bipartisan deals on Iran, education and trade, and preparing to pass a GOP budget for the first time in a decade.
Now comes the hard part: keeping the momentum.

Deadlines to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank’s charter, raise the federal borrowing limit, renew the Patriot Act and replenish the highway fund are fast-approaching, and none of the issues will be simple to sort out.

For now, GOP leaders are in a hopeful mood.
at Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Corn, Scorn and Policy Porn





at Labels: , , ,

Saturday, January 31, 2015

One of the most tiresome things about the first six years of President Obama’s tenure was his fake bipartisanship.

◼ Obama Drops the Pretense of Bipartisanship - Daily Signal

He often offered to work with the opposition, provided it was reasonable. But since to him only his own ideas are reasonable, the offer was meaningless.

His pretense was popular because it appealed to our love of bipartisanship: Americans like the idea that reasonable people can agree on the solutions to the contentious moral issues at the heart of politics. We’re a nation of problem solvers, and for the most part it’s served us well....

What the president did last week was to offer a clear choice, without the rhetoric of phony bipartisanship. His party has suffered unprecedented losses. He came out punching with proposals designed not to pass, but to control the agenda and trip up conservatives.

That’s a good thing. For while the American people say they want bipartisanship, standing by your principles isn’t the sign of a broken system. It’s the sign of a genuinely competitive system that works — for all Americans.
at Labels: , , ,

Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Senate has passed a bill to clear construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The vote was 62-36. Nine Democrats joined with Republicans to support the bill despite President Barack Obama's promise to veto it..

◼ Senate approves Keystone pipeline bill, in face of White House veto threat - FOX

And asked Thursday about the vote, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated that Obama would veto.

It remains unclear whether majority Republicans could round up additional support to override. Since they took over the Senate in January, Republicans have made approving the Keystone pipeline their top priority on the heels of big wins in the November elections.

The Senate vote capped weeks of debate that was often messy and on one occasion had the Senate in session into the early morning. Dozens of additions to the bill were considered, but only a handful, such as getting the Senate on the record that climate change is not a hoax, made it into the measure.

"The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. But the Keystone jobs debate has been important for the Senate and for our country," McConnell said. "The Keystone infrastructure project has been studied endlessly, from almost every possible angle, and the same general conclusion keeps becoming clear: Build it."

The bill authorizes construction of the 1,179-mile pipeline, which would carry oil primarily from Canada's tar sands to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries.
at Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Bipartisanship

at Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Unanimous Bipartisan Senate Tells Sudan: Immediately Release Meriam and Her Children


◼ In an act of unmitigated bipartisanship, all Republicans and all Democrats in the U.S. Senate joined together on Tuesday evening to unanimously approve a resolution demanding the “immediate and unconditional release” of Meriam Ibrahim and her two children from the Sudanese prison where they are being held because Meriam refuses to renounce her Christian faith. - CNS

Ibrahim, the wife of U.S. citizen Daniel Wani, has been incarcerated at the Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison along with the couple’s 20-month-old son, Martin, and 1-week old daughter, Maya. She currently faces a death sentence....

“Imprisoning a woman for simply refusing to recant her faith is a deplorable act that speaks to the kind of religious intolerance that, while blatantly and ignorantly continues to exist today, has no place in the world,” Rubio said.

“While the Senate made strides in its commitment to religious freedom, Ms. Ibrahim is still in the fight of her life,” Rubio said. “The world is watching as we await the decision of the Sudanese court, and today’s passage is a testament to our obligation to Ms. Ibrahim and her young family.”

“I applaud my Senate colleagues for coming together to call for the unconditional release of Ms. Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman currently imprisoned for peacefully practicing her faith,” said Inhofe. “I hope this resolution will continue to put pressure on the government of Sudan to recognize the importance of religious freedom and incorporate this foundational value into the country's new constitution.”
at Labels: , , ,

Monday, May 5, 2014

Obama has shown zero interest in bipartisan reform

◼ Obama blows off deals with GOP, creating era of bad feelings - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner @michaelbarone

Second-term presidencies are an opportunity for bipartisan compromise. The institutional stars are in alignment to address long-range problems not amenable in other circumstances....

Like Reagan, Clinton and Bush, Barack Obama has at times acknowledged the long-term unsustainability of current programs. The tax code has again become encrusted with preferences once again, Social Security is still facing stress and Medicare threatens to gobble up larger and larger shares of the nation's economy.

Entitlements threaten to squeeze out domestic spending that Democrats favor. And, as former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta argued in the Wall Street Journal, the sequester cuts are hobbling the military as foreign threats increase.

But in his second term Obama has shown zero interest in bipartisan reform. He campaigns on mini-issues like the minimum wage and patches up Obamacare with executive orders that put him on the cusp of ignoring his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws.

◼ Examiner Editorial: Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are America's great dividers - Washington Examiner EDITORIAL

Harry Reid's hometown newspaper - the Las Vegas Review-Journal - recently offered an important observation: “As majority leader of the U.S. Senate, Harry Reid is supposed to lead. The Nevada Democrat should be focused on the concerns of Americans and on shaping debate on important matters of national interest. Sen. Reid is doing neither. In fact, he's working so hard to ignore the taxpaying public's priorities that he has become a parody of his position.”

...Then there is Nancy Pelosi. This statement appears on the House Minority Leader’s web site: “Democrats are building an economic approach that lifts every American, not just the privileged few. The average American CEO earns more before lunchtime in one day than a minimum wage worker earns all year. This is not the kind of America we want our children to grow up in. Today's economic challenges result from years of Republican inaction and failed policies that have left more and more Americans behind.” In Pelosi’s world, Democrats are for “every American,” while Republicans favor only “the privileged few.”
at Labels: , ,

Friday, February 7, 2014

So, the next time you hear a Democrat complain about too much partisanship in Washington, tell them to look in the mirror.

◼ Senate Democrats Exposed on Iran - Daniel Horowitz/Red State

The media is constantly bemoaning the lack of bipartisanship in Congress, with the lion’s share of their scorn directed at conservatives for being too “intransigent.” Well, almost the entire Senate GOP Conference – both moderate and conservative members – actually united behind a Democrat-sponsored bill to implement sanctions on Iran. Yet, the Democrats and their allies are spoiling this superlative opportunity to work together on a goal that is supposedly shared by both parties.

Last November, President Obama forged a deal with Iran that should be called the “if you like your nukes you can keep them” deal. As part of the Geneva agreement, Iran is not required to destroy a single centrifuge it has already produced, but is required to end any future development of nuclear operations. Even with the future promises to curtail their nuclear program, the Iranians probably have enough material already to create a bomb....

In return for their trustworthy promises to reduce their nuclear program, Obama agreed to suspend sanctions against them for six months. But fear not, if they don’t uphold their side of the deal, Russia and China, which have permanent veto power over any sanctions, have agreed to re-impose the international sanctions on a rogue Iran.

In response to this outrage, a group of senators from both parties introduced a bill to re-impose sanctions on Iran (S.1881). The bill was sponsored by Democrat Senator Robert Menendez. Almost every Republican along with 16 Democrats co-sponsored the bill. What a great opportunity to bring a bipartisan bill to the floor, no?

As we all know, the Democrats had no intention of ever holding a vote on the bill. They just wanted to show their constituents that they are just as strong on national security as Republicans, but never wanted to bring the bill to the floor, lest they embarrass the messiah and leader of their party.
at Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Obama turns authoritarian, rather than work with Congress

◼ ...words matter even when those uttering them do so to mislead. The words provide insights as to the true feelings of the speaker. Thus, it was with Mr. Obama’s State of the Union speech last night. - David Keene/Washington Times

It was the speech of a clearly frustrated leader who has always been uncomfortable with the need to work with others to accomplish his ends.

He continues to talk as if he has tried his best to work with Congress only to be constantly rebuffed by Republicans, who just don’t share his heartfelt desire to solve the nation’s problems.

Even those who complain about the partisanship of Republican leaders know this isn’t even a half-truth. This is a president who doesn’t even work well with members of his own party, let alone those of the opposition party....

Words, as Mr. Carney has warned us, are just words and don’t really matter.

Actions do, though, and if Mr. Obama follows through on his threat to govern by phone and pen, to ignore Congress and to implicitly emulate the style of authoritarian governments whose leaders don’t have to worry about legislatures, checks and balances, and the separation of powers that have limited the ability of U.S. presidents to “get things done,” we are in for a rough couple of years.

He may have been delivering his speech last night to Congress, but it would have been better suited for an “Occupy” rally of class warriors.
at Labels: , , ,

Monday, July 15, 2013

Ted Cruz Introduces Legislation To Completely Defund Obamacare

◼ On Thursday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced legislation in the Senate that would completely defund the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. He wasn’t alone in proposing the legislation either. The bill has 19 co-sponsors, all Republicans...

Amazingly simple, the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013 is only 2 pages.

...Cruz said in a statement that the introduction of the legislation is consistent with his long-standing position that no continuing resolution or other appropriations measure should fund Obamacare.

“The Administration’s recent announcement to delay the onerous and unpopular employer mandate until after the 2014 election, coupled with its announcement to delay income and health status eligibility requirements in favor of an honor system for the most expensive entitlement for our generation, confirms what has been obvious from the start—this law is a colossal mistake,” said Cruz.
All 45 Republican Senators called for a permanent delay of Obamacare earlier this week in a letter to Barack Obama.

Cruz added, “The Administration’s selective enforcement of Obamacare’s implementation is no indication that the law is going away. To the contrary, it demonstrates the President’s unyielding determination to force the unworkable law on the American people.”

“Delaying only one aspect of this tangled mess leaves Americans holding the tab for an irreparably broken law they do not support,” said Cruz. “Moreover, it leaves in motion many of the most egregious parts of the law, ensuring they will take root in just a few short months. This is untenable.”

The Texas senator agreed with the lead Senate Democrat author of Obamacare Max Baucus that Obamacare is a “huge train wreck.”

“President Obama wants to delay the employer mandate – giving large businesses a temporary reprieve from part of Obamacare’s job-killing impact – but he is unwilling to give hardworking American families the same consideration,” Cruz continued. “But everyone, not just large corporations, deserves to be spared being forced to participate in the Obamacare ‘train wreck.’”

(T)here are 19 co-sponsors. Here’s the list.
Sens. Lamar Alexander, (R-TN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Dean Heller (R-NV), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jim Risch (R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Pat Toomey (R-PA), David Vitter (R-LA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS)

If your senator isn’t on it, then contact them and ask them why not. ◼ You can contact your senator by clicking here.
at Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, June 10, 2013

Glenn Beck, Michael Moore call NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden a hero

◼ Conservative radio commentator Glenn Beck and liberal Hollywood movie-maker Michael Moore have found common ground on the National Security Agency whistleblower, Edward Snowden: He’s a hero. - Cheryl K. Chumley/Washington Times









◼ Ron Paul: We should be thankful for people like Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald - HotAir
at Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The House approved the #KeystoneXL pipeline in a bipartisan 241-175-1 vote!

at Labels: , ,

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Rand Paul found that sliver of principle on which right and left agree

◼ Rand Paul’s filibuster of John Brennan yesterday, which went on for over 12 hours, was a phenomenon. He was joined at various times by Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden, and late in the night, Tim Scott, Ron Johnson and others. - William A. Jacobson/Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Progressives bemoaned the fact that other than Ron Wyden, their heroes like Elizabeth Warren were nowhere to be found on the most basic of civil liberties principles, the right of an American citizen in America not to be deprived of life without due process of law.

Paul’s filibuster on the specific and narrow issue of using a drone to kill an American on American soil who was not engaged in an imminent and substantial threat of violence was the perfect issue on which to mount this historic filibuster. It is an issue which, as narrow as it were, was so basic that even the normally Obama-worshipping media could not crazy Paul over it.

This is another example of what I said in the aftermath of the suicide of Aaron Swartz. Groups which do not normally agree on so many political and economic issues can find common ground on limited government.

◼ HOW DID THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVER RAND PAUL’S HISTORIC FILIBUSTER? - Mike Opelka/The Blaze

Late Wednesday night, as Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster entered its 12th hour, there was significant reaction from people all across America.
◼ C-Span experienced viewership levels rarely seen
◼ The hashtag #IstandwithRand topped the Twitter charts.
◼ Even Liberals like Van Jones, actor John Cusack the far Left group Code Pink were supporting the filibuster.
The New York Times had the story buried well into the middle column of the front page with the headline, “Rand Paul Does Not Go Quietly Into The Night”

Over at NBC News, a banner was placed across the top of its website, but the big stories appear to be focused on gun control and allegations race-based different standards being applied in schools...

Curiously, CBS News had no mention of the filibuster on their front page....

ABC News gave the top positions to other stories, but did find a place for Senator Paul on the second tier...

CNN’s U.S. edition missed the story completely...

◼ WILL THE LEFT FINALLY GET THE TEA PARTY NOW? - Joel Pollak/Breitbart

Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster against the confirmation of CIA Director and "drone czar" John Brennan offers a "teachable moment" to the media and the left about the Tea Party. As they seethe in outrage and confusion that it took a Republican to question the constitutionality of drone attacks, it is important to remind our friends on the other side that it wasn't just any Republican, but a--gasp!--Tea Party Republican who spoke "truth to power."

Not only that, but the Senators who were first to offer their assistance were also Tea Party Republicans--the so-called McCarthyist Ted Cruz of Texas, and Marco "Water Break" Rubio of Florida. All three of these Senators won their primary elections against candidates favored by the Republican establishment. All three have been attacked by the left and smeared as racist and extremist for belonging to the Tea Party. Yet without them, no one from either party would have questioned a policy that the left once saw as a dangerous abuse of executive power.

Only one Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, supported Paul.
at Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Obama gives Republicans a meeting -- for 7 minutes?

◼ Never let it be said that President Obama has failed to spend time with Republican leaders in seeking an alternative to automatic budget cuts that are due to hit most federal departments Friday. On Wednesday, for example, the president gave GOP lawmakers as much as seven minutes, a rare face-to-face encounter that the White House described as a “meeting.” - Dave Boyer/Washington Times
at Labels: , , ,

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Obama’s ‘Pay Hike’ Executive Order Overturned With Passage of House Bill 273

◼ One of the U.S. Congress’ rising young Republican stars, Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis, has just seen his first piece of legislation pass in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 261-154 bipartisan vote.

DeSantis’ H.R. 273 bill was supported by 43 of the President’s supposed Democrat ‘friends’ in the House of Representatives

The take away here is that the bill overturns President Obama’s executive order that implemented “an across-the-board pay hike for non-military federal employees, including Members of Congress, members of the President’s cabinet and the Vice President, Joe Biden.’ This is significant because it sends a message to President Obama that he needs to tread lightly and not continue the egregious overstepping of his powers as President.

According to DeSantis, his bill will save the American taxpayer $11 billion in new spending over the next decade.
at Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

DR. BEN CARSON SLAMS STATE OF THE UNION



◼ This morning on "Fox and Friends," Dr. Ben Carson critiqued President Obama's State of the Union address... - Breitbart

"You've got to realize that you're the president of everybody."
at Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 28, 2013

Upstaged: Rubio, 'Gang of Eight' Unveil Bipartisan Immigration Reform Day Before Obama Speech

◼ A day before President Barack Obama is due to reveal his own immigration proposals in a speech in Las Vegas, NV, a bipartisan group of eight senators has announced a deal on the “outlines” of an immigration reform deal, according to Politico.

The “Gang of Eight,” which includes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has led the push from the Republican side, had been at work for weeks and unveiled its compromise on Capitol Hill today.

The deal includes several measures to improve border security, a core Republican demand, while also providing a “path to citizenship” for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country, a core Democrat demand, with priority given to “Dreamers”--children who were brought to the country through no action of their own. The Senate proposal will also streamline the nation’s complex and contradictory immigration laws.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who led similar bipartisan efforts from 2005 through 2007, has described the emerging deal as similar to those he forged with Democrats then. Two things have changed. One is that Republicans are more eager to compromise, after a poor showing among Hispanic voters in the 2012 election. The other is that President Obama now sees more political advantage in passing a bill than blocking one.

As Breitbart News has previously reported, Obama spent eight years preventing any attempt at sensible immigration reform. As a Senator in 2005-6, he sat in on meetings about the legislation only to demand changes on behalf of the unions. Later, he helped kill a second attempt in 2007, sponsoring amendments designed to damage the bill’s prospects and cast a decisive vote against a guest worker program that sunk the effort.

Not once in his first term--not even with full control of Capitol Hill, and a brief filibuster-proof majority in the Senate--did President Obama propose immigration legislation, a violation of an explicit campaign promise....

◼ Senator Marco Rubio, Kevin McCullough; Update: Rubio says “I will not be part of a bill” that doesn’t guarantee enforcement - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

◼ Quotes of the day - Allahpundit/HotAir

◼ While GOP leaders push amnesty, Dems rope more immigrants into welfare state - Michelle Malkin

◼ Why Obama could be the biggest obstacle to an immigration deal - Matthew Cooper/National Journal

◼ Obama to offer more details, no bill - Politico
at Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)