2015 American Politics Thread: The 114th Congress Is in the House!

"Mr. Johnson said the government should continue to augment airline security by placing more agents in overseas departure airports and further toughen standards for the visa waiver program that allows visitors from certain friendly nations easy entry into the country."

thanks Obama, I'm sure more US federal agents in Dubai International will stop attacks like this one. & yes making it harder for French citizens to visit the USA will also help a lot. & this is under president Obama!

“It’ll gradually dawn on people...that we’ll be living for a long time with the possibility of low-level attacks that can never be predicted and can rarely be prevented.”

isn't that already true for Americans? why is this shooting worthy of this kind of attention? I don't have any sense of why this is so important. is it just that it's election season?

lol at "whup her"

Jeh's not the sharpest tool in the shed, no. He needs to shut his mouth about this shooting and get to fixing the Secret Service.
Obama's record as a selector / evaluator of top people for Cabinet positions has been an ever-growing footnote for Twilight Of The Elites.

the audience reaction in that "whup her" bit was doctored, it's not quite as awkward in the real context.

putting fake derisive crowd noises in political speeches would be a brilliant way to manipulate voters, though. surprised it hasn't become a trend.

how about fart noises and seinfeld bass slaps

putting fake derisive crowd noises in political speeches would be a brilliant way to manipulate voters, though. surprised it hasn't become a trend.

Reminds me of William S. Burroughs' idea of starting riots by playing the sound of riots through hidden tape decks while walking around in crowds.

It's been done: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Democratic_National_Convention

One biographer wrote that Barkley's message "can scarcely be said to have conveyed the whole or literal truth".[3] When it ended, the convention sat in shocked silence for a moment. The silence was then broken by a voice thundering over the stadium loudspeakers: "We want Roosevelt! We want Roosevelt!" The voice was Thomas D. Garry, Superintendent of Chicago's Department of Sanitation (the sewers department), a trusted henchman of Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly. Garry was stationed in a basement room with a microphone, waiting for that moment. Kelly had posted hundreds of Chicago city workers and precinct captains around the hall; other Democratic bosses had brought followers from their home territories. All of them joined Garry's chant. Within a few seconds, hundreds of delegates joined in. Many poured into the aisles, carrying state delegation standards for impromptu demonstrations. Whenever the chant began to die down, state chairmen, who also had microphones connected to the speakers, added their own endorsements: "New Jersey wants Roosevelt! Arizona wants Roosevelt! Iowa wants Roosevelt!"[4]

The effect of the "voice from the sewers" was overwhelming. The next day Roosevelt was nominated by an 86% majority.

tallulah bankhead's father came in second for the veep nod, he died a couple of months later. sam rayburn replaced him as speaker of the house.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/us/politics/paul-ryan-brings-sharply-different-leadership-style-to-house.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/12/07/us/07ryan-web/07ryan-web-master675.jpg

beard story

lol @ that tie

Civil war story:

“I used to spend ninety per cent of my constituent response time on people who call, e-mail, or send a letter, such as, ‘I really like this bill, H.R. 123,’ and they really believe in it because they heard about it through one of the groups that they belong to, but their view was based on actual legislation,” Nunes said. “Ten per cent were about ‘Chemtrails from airplanes are poisoning me’ to every other conspiracy theory that’s out there. And that has essentially flipped on its head.” The overwhelming majority of his constituent mail is now about the far-out ideas, and only a small portion is “based on something that is mostly true.” He added, “It’s dramatically changed politics and politicians, and what they’re doing.”

Nunes first heard about the shutdown strategy in 2013 from a caller on a talk-radio show back home in the late summer. “I said, ‘I don’t know where you’re hearing this from, but it doesn’t work,’ ” he told me. Then the idea went viral. “By the time we got back here in September, you had over half the members of our caucus who really believed we could shut the government down and ultimately Obama would repeal Obamacare.”

Suck it, pal.

putting fake derisive crowd noises in political speeches would be a brilliant way to manipulate voters, though. surprised it hasn't become a trend.

Howard Dean's post-caucus speech where the widely-circulated version was direct from his mic, rather than from the room, made him seem a lot more unhinged than reality would indicate

feels a little weird that I came away from that Paul Ryan story thinking that maybe he's doing a better job than Boehner and maybe he'll be more successful at curbing the more extremist tendencies of house republicans

he's one of them!

We've reached the point when Paul Ryan is Adlai Stevenson.

well he is one of the younger generation's foremost intellects it's true

not u.s. politics but oddly familiar...

National Front Gets a Boost in French Regional Elections

Although President François Hollande has earned widespread approval for his handling of the terrorist attacks here, and Nicolas Sarkozy, his predecessor, is still pursuing a comeback plan to propel him and his center-right party back into power, the most significant political figure in France — some would argue the most powerful — is Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right.

Ms. Le Pen led her far-right National Front to a first-place finish in the initial round of regional elections on Sunday, a huge step forward in her plan to transform a fringe movement into a credible party of government.

The result left both Mr. Hollande’s Socialists and Mr. Sarkozy’s Republicans groping on Monday for ways to thwart Ms. Le Pen’s ascendance and increasingly worried that she is emerging as the candidate to beat in the presidential elections in 18 months. It also highlighted the appeal of baldly nationalist messages on both sides of the Atlantic at a time when traditional parties are struggling to address the insecurities of voters facing economic dislocation and a sense of vulnerability to terrorism.

one difference is that the Front Nationale nowadays is committed to keeping the welfare state. their one big issue is immigration. not to say that doesn't make them fascist (I am an immigrant here after all) but "at least" you don't get the warmongering like you with today's GOP

oh and eliminating the American welfare state such as it is

i've also heard (not looked into it too deeply myself) that this Le Pen is trying to push an anti-abortion message, which has always been a seriously marginal concern in france.

she's a nominal Catholic (divorced iirc) but the contraception/abortion stuff is a marginal issue if at all

I fear the effect of an Islamist attack on a church here though (the authorities stopped one such plot in Villejuif already). the Catholic block (not just inside my head) is leftist here but it could be destabilized. reckon it's the same in the USA

I guess I didn't think much about the fact that B-52s are still the main US bombers... 'cept they haven't built any since 1962! And don't plan to repolace them until 2040! Some of the technical slapstick in this article is jawdropping.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/us/b-52s-us-air-force-bombers.html

B1 & B2 successor bomber ideas both failed...Wow.

Meanwhile on Capitol hill there may be need for a temporary budget extension, because despite some deals ---

Republicans are confident they'll be able to lift a ban on exporting crude oil, though the GOP is wary of acceding to Democratic demands on environmental policy in return for allowing such sales. Democrats are relieved Republicans aren't fighting to strip funds from Planned Parenthood.

One major open question is how Congress will handle the Syrian refugee crisis, and whether the issue gets caught up in the year-end spending fight. The House will vote Tuesday to tighten restrictions on visa-free travel by visitors to the U.S. GOP leaders privately hope that the vote will take pressure off them to include additional certifications for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to the U.S. in the must-pass spending bill. President Barack Obama and Democrat have strongly opposed inclusion of any refugee language in the omnibus bill.

Yet there are still big disputes between the two parties over environmental policy provisions, including global warming and clean water programs. The disagreements have Democrats vowing to oppose the omnibus package in its current form. Furthermore, Republicans are planning to go it alone on a massive, two-year package of popular tax breaks, known as extenders, after talks all but broke down with Democrats.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/budget-congress-deadline-overtime-216507#ixzz3tlQOzSwG

The non-Politico take:

"Right now it is a nonstarter because of the riders that are in it," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after leaving a closed-door meeting of her caucus in the Capitol. "But we're hopeful, we're hopeful that we can find a path on it."

....

Lowey suggested a deal on the omnibus — which aides have been negotiating around the clock — was nearly at hand, until Ryan sought to link it to another measure that would renew a slate of expired tax breaks.

"In Appropriations, we were ready to move ahead. In fact, the expectation was that we were going to vote for it on Wednesday," Lowey said of the omnibus. "And then they decided to mix up the tax extenders with the omnibus, and we'll see where the Speaker wants to go.

"Why is it in his hands?” she asked. "Because he runs this place. The Democrats don't run it. And until the Speaker and Sen. [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] are ready to put this together, we cannot move forward."

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/262433-pelosi-gop-see-spending-talks-stall-as-deadline-looms

xp the Russians still use a bomber of a similar vintage, with a similar retirement date:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95

notably the Russian bomber isn't even a jet aircraft -- it's a turboprop o_O

Pelosi has stepped up her efforts in recent days on both the spending bill and legislation addressing a slew of lapsed and expiring tax breaks known as ‘extenders.’ On the spending bill, she has sought to block all GOP policy measures, or ‘riders,’ that Democrats don’t like.”

Will see if she "compromises" though...

she never compromises unless she gets something in return

and now we all know the definition of the word "compromise"

yr welcome

the DC definition is the Democrats surrendering 10x consecutively

in other news Congress actually ... did a good thing?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/senate-overwhelmingly-passes-new-national-education-legislation/2015/12/09/be1b1f94-9d2a-11e5-a3c5-c77f2cc5a43c_story.html

Depends on what state you live in...

From that article--

Others are concerned that the legislation returns the country to a time when some states and districts ignored the needs of struggling students.

“The reason we evolved to a more centralized system is because local school districts failed to act effectively on their own,” said Thomas Toch, an education policy expert at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. “Many students were left behind in the era of local control, and now we’re going back to that era. It puts school districts in charge of fixing failing schools, the same school districts that are running the failing schools now.”

No Child Left Behind is clearly a total failure so idk. Is it wrong to suggest that it's kinda up to the local district residents to improve their districts? that's how public schools work.

when people complain to me about public schools my response is usually "what are you doing to make them better"

(fwiw both my parents were public school employees, my wife is on the PTA of our kids' school, this sort of thing is bred into me)

pretty much agree w/ that

That's amazing news. I ultimately pulled the plug on several years of schooling as an education major because I wanted to work in public schools but was also all-too-aware that dealing with the injustices of NCLB on a daily basis was going to drive me insane.

the DC definition is the Democrats surrendering 10x consecutively

One of those senators should filibuster or threaten to shut the government down.

I think No Child Left Behind had some decent goals and went about them in the completely wrong way and is an unmitigated disaster

This is partial mitigation, but it's mostly a rollback. All the teacher friends of mine are going to be able to concentrate more on what they should be doing instead of rolling through waves of counterproductive testing, but the states that have never cared about public schools can continue underfunding and hedging with the charter school pyramid scheme bullshit

yup

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CV4FZUPWcAIrQuK.png

oic

hire foreigners to fight isis with the promise of future citizenship and we can complete the transition to the roman empire right now

we already hire foreigners to fight ISIS and we didn't even need to promise them citizenship

^^^

otm

Current standoff on tax issues where Republicans say that indexing the child tax credit so it increases in value with inflation is too expensive, but they want to maintain various corporate ones, and will only agree to phase them out if Dems drop the indexing request:

The tax package would phase out over five years a bonus depreciation tax break for corporations, which was intended as a short-term stimulus measure, and two provisions that benefit foreign corporations and American multinational corporations. Republicans wanted to make the corporate breaks permanent, but Democrats and the administration objected, especially given the recent controversy involving Pfizer and other corporations that have acquired foreign companies to relocate in countries with lower corporate taxes.

A tentative trade-off would have Republicans agreeing to the five-year phaseout of the corporate tax breaks they favor in return for Democrats dropping their insistence on indexing the child tax credit so it increases in value with inflation. But House Democrats, led by Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, have been insisting on indexing the child credit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/us/politics/lawmakers-near-deal-on-billions-in-tax-cuts.html

the pro-child, pro-family party

@ggreenwald
Democratic Governor dismisses due process concerns about watchlists as "before attacks in Paris, and...California"

Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy believes his plan to use an executive order to prevent people on federal terror watchlists from buying guns could spread to other states with the help of a supportive White House, he said in an interview with BuzzFeed News.
And the Connecticut governor defended the use of the no-fly list and terror watchlist as a standard, as many Democrats, including President Obama, have in recent weeks — something that has disrupted frequent liberal skepticism toward those lists over the years.
“This has got to be subject to appeal or review, but I prefer that review take place before we sell a gun to someone on the list as opposed to after. It’s kind of common sense isn’t it?” Malloy told said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the governor publicly announced his plan to add federal watchlists to the existing criteria state regulators use to deny a request for a gun permit, which is required for firearm purchase in Connecticut. The proposal, which he said is still in the formative stages and requires a federal sign-off, once again puts Malloy at the center of the gun control debate, though in a different way than when he helped guide some of the nation’s strictest gun regulations through the state legislature after Newtown.
That effort pit Malloy against the National Rifle Association. This time, he’s facing opposition from the NRA and other gun rights supporters from the right — but also on concerns about the watchlists themselves, concerns initially voiced during the Bush administration by liberals and libertarians alike....
“I’m a liberal, and I’m saying this,” Malloy said when pressed on left-leaning concerns about the lists. “So what you mean to say is, ‘some liberals say that.’”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/connecticut-governor-rejects-liberal-concerns-over-using-ter#.ceWEDPq17j

[n a case that could help demystify how the FBI deems somebody a terrorist threat, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in federal court Wednesday that the government has failed to comply with an earlier court order to tell people how they wound up on the "no-fly" list.

The case revolves around several Muslim Americans who say they were included on the list unfairly and denied a constitutional right to find out why. The government argues that explaining the process in open court would endanger national security

Bowen argued that the government had no obligation to tell people why they were placed on the list.

"Government is not required in name of due process to put its national security at risk," he said. "The plaintiffs' interest must necessarily give way."....The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which operates the list, won't reveal the evidence against those on the list, allow them to question witnesses or challenge the findings in court.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-ff-1210-no-fly-list-20151210-story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/10/denying-guns-to-terror-suspects-could-violate-fundamental-rights-a-top-democrat-pushes-back/

Here's another one of the "compromises" they are trying to work out on Capital Hill, where Dems always give more than they get

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/tell-congress-today-keep-crude-oil.html

Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, shrugged off environmentalist fears about trading conservation and renewables' benefits for oil exports. There is "division" among green groups over whether to cut a deal, she said in a brief interview. "I've heard environmentalists say this is a great opportunity; others say it's not," she said.

Any deal would also likely include some type of aid for refineries in the Northeast that have benefited from cheap domestic crude that cannot be exported currently. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said he said he is in discussions for an approach "to make whole American refineries that in many cases would simply go out of business" should exports be permitted.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters that oil exports were not objectionable enough to sink a possible deal on their own.

Ending the 1970s-era ban on exports, the year's top priority for the American Petroleum Institute, is "not where we want to go," Hoyer said. "But on the other hand, if there were substantial agreements by the Republicans on some things that we thought were very important, that might be something" to consider during the budget talks.
Among the perps are some of the solar companies, who would get a small benefit for themselves from a Democratic "compromise."