“Two Girls, One Cup” was, of course, an abominable video that was exploitative, repulsive, and degrading to participants and viewers alike. It inspired many “reaction” videos of people watching the horrors therein for the first time. I always thought of it as an elaborate metaphor for the Reagan administration. So in that spirit, I humbly suggest the sequel.
Continue reading …
Enough Democrats and Republicans reluctantly joined forces to see the proposed legislation through by 269 to 161 The weeks-long confrontation over the US debt has finally ended after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal to prevent the economic catastrophe of America defaulting for the first time in its history. The vote came only hours before the Treasury deadline that potentially would have seen the US run out of cash and no longer able to pay its bills. Enough Democrats and Republicans reluctantly joined forces to see the proposed legislation through, 269 votes to 161. But there were significant revolts by both Democrats and Republicans. If the House had failed to vote in favour, markets would likely have gone into freefall. With so much at stake, the Democrats and Republicans called in all members. In an emotional moment, even the Democrat Gabrielle Giffords returned to vote for the first time since being shot in the head in Tucson, Arizona, in January. She received a standing ovation from both sides of the House. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill at noon but that is largely a formality, because the Democrats have a majority and the Republican leadership has promised support. The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said there were enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill. The House of Representatives, with a large number of Republicans aligned to the Tea Party movement, had been the main obstacle. The deal looks mainly like a victory for the Republicans, with the Democrats emerging with little to show for all the weeks of strife. Barack Obama, who negotiated the deal with Republican and Democratic leaders at the weekend, hopes to sign the bill into law after the Senate vote and before midnight on Tuesday. Many Democrats expressed unhappiness with the legislation, rushed through at the last minute without the normal scrutiny in order to meet the deadline, because it contains more than $2tn in spending cuts over the next decade. They fear the poor will be the main casualties and feel that Obama caved in to the Tea Party Republicans. Just before the vote, the Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, though she herself had serious misgivings about the bill, urged her colleagues to vote in favour. “Please think of what could happen if we defaulted,” she said. “Please, please, please come down in favour of preventing the collateral damage.” The Democrats divided evenly in the vote, with 95 voting in favour and 95 against. It is a sizeable Democratic vote on a compromise that Obama had been desperately seeking and who had, on Sunday night, hailed it in a television statement. There was also a revolt by Republicans aligned to the Tea Party movement who argued the cuts are not deep enough. About 66 Republicans voted no. The bill will raise the US debt ceiling by $900bn over the next few months and by another $1.5tn early next year. Without the rise, Obama would have had to divert money from other federal spending to pay the interest on American loans and, as a consequence, he had warned that 80 million people in receipt of federal cheques, mainly benefits, might have ended up as the casualties. Obama sent vice-president Joe Biden to Congress to try to sway disgruntled Democrats. In a closed meeting, Biden heard concern from his party colleagues that too much ground had been conceded to the Republicans in order to prevent the default. In a sign of the polarisation of politics in Washington, Biden agreed with a Democratic colleague who objected to what he felt were extortion tactics by Tea Party Republicans. Biden, in words that will enrage many in the Tea Party, described hardline conservatives as having “acted like terrorists”. In comments typical of the Democratic mood, Congressman Eliot Engel told the Politico website: “If you had told me that this was the package a month ago, I would’ve asked you what you had been smoking.” The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan body, reported that the deal would cut federal spending by $2.1tn over 10 years. The Republicans had demanded the cuts in return for raising the debt ceiling. The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, called the deal “a victory for the American people”, and denied Obama and the Democrats had got nothing from it. The Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, after a meeting of the Democratic caucus in the Senate attended by Biden, acknowledged the unhappiness of at least some of his Democratic colleagues. He said: “There was some enthusiasm for the legislation. Some others had no such enthusiasm,” Reid said. Although some people were unhappy, he said it was a typical piece of compromise legislation. Left-leaning Democrats fear that the spending cuts, to be looked at in detail by a bipartisan committee that will report in November, will hit the most vulnerable in society. Others questioned the value of spending cuts at a time when the economy is struggling to get out of recession. In the House, the Republican Speaker, John Boehner, received a standing ovation at a gathering of House Republicans, before the vote. US politics Obama administration US economic growth and recession United States Barack Obama US economy Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …This Year We’ve Broken Or Tied 2,676 Heat Records – So Far. Think We Could Talk About Climate Change Yet?
August 1, 2011 No CommentWouldn’t it be inspiring if the politicians took all the energy they put into fighting over how much of our programs they can cut and put it to something more useful — like climate change? Yes, I know, it’s just not going to happen. After all, the latest GOP talking point is that environmental regulations are the reason we don’t have jobs. (And won’t it be fun when we give away the store on that one!) Not to mention, the old pillhead Limbaugh insists it’s not really that hot, it’s just a government plot to make people think it’s that hot. Uh huh. Anyway, it’s not your imagination . In addition to the unprecedented nine major weather-related disasters this year, this summer is breaking heat records all over the place, and it’s not over yet. It’s official: July was a scorcher. High temperatures in communities across the USA broke or tied records 2,676 times, almost double the number (1,444) of a year ago , the National Weather Service reports. Temperatures in Newark, N.J., set an all-time record of 108. Highs in Atlantic City, N.J., topped 105 for two straight days. Washington endured its hottest July since 1871. In Oklahoma City, temps topped 100 for 27 of the last 30 days of July. Dallas/Fort Worth is enduring its second longest stretch of consecutive 100-plus days at 30, closing in on the record of 42 in 1980, says Chris Vaccaro of the National Weather Service. August is unlikely to offer much relief, forecasters say. The heat wave anchored over the Central and Southern Plains states, including drought-stricken Texas, is capped by a colossal vault of high pressure that has locked out cooler air currents from Canada. Vaccaro says the heat wave “has affected, at some point, nearly all of the eastern two-thirds of the United States. It has been relentless, with triple-digit heat for weeks, hitting areas that are not accustomed to high heat. Portland, Maine, hit 102 degrees a couple of weeks ago. We had temperatures in the hundreds in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas.” At its worst, July’s heat wave extended through 32 states . Eighteen states have heat advisories, from North Dakota to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. “We’re looking at another heat wave in the week ahead,” Vaccaro says. “We’ll see heat creep into the upper Midwest, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa.” This week, Northern states may get a reprieve but not Georgia and the Carolinas, where temps may top 100, says Mark Ressler, meteorologist at the Weather Channel. High humidity and lofty nighttime temperatures have made matters worse, Ressler says. “We not only have record highs, but also record high overnight lows, with temperatures staying way up in the 80s overnight,” he says. “That has added to how oppressive this air mass has been, especially where people don’t have access to air conditioning. There’s no relief.”
Continue reading …
Click here to view this media So it looks like the debt ceiling kabuki is over. The only good news I see is that Gabby Giffords returned to Congress today and voted. The House of Representatives on Monday passed the landmark compromise to raise the debt ceiling and sharply cut spending, drawing a solid majority of the Republicans, along with a about half of the Democrats, to push through a package that was ultimately described by many as an unpalatable necessity. Passage came after weeks of brinksmanship and backroom dealing that left few satisfied in the more liberal or conservative wings of the House, but drew just enough from each party to put a compromise over the top in time, assuming the Senate goes along, to avert what might have become a calamitous default on the nation’s debt. The tally, which had mounted excruciatingly slowly until the final seconds, was 269-161. Then, to growing applause, Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat of Arizona, who was recovering from an attack several months ago, cast her vote, and as if a dam had burst the votes poured in… read on
Continue reading …
Anti-cuts campaign False Economy obtained data from 265 freedom-of-information responses from local councils More than 2,000 charities are being forced to close services and sack staff as local authorities slash their funding, or in some cases completely withdraw it, according to research published on Tuesday. The study – based on 265 freedom-of-information responses from local councils across England and obtained by the union-backed anti-cuts campaign False Economy – reveals the scale of the impact that cuts are having on the charitable sector. Birmingham city council has cut funding to the largest number of charities, with more than 190 organisations losing out, followed by the cross-council organisation London Councils, which has cut funding to 174 groups. Many charities will see their funding cut by half while others will lose entire budgets. The hardest hit include children’s and young-people charities, with more than 380 organisations hit. Another 150 disability, 142 elderly and more than 110 adult care charities are also affected. The research immediately raised questions about the role of charities as a cornerstone of the government’s ‘big society’. Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the TUC which sponsors False Economy, said: “The big society is looking more and more like a big con … These deep cuts to voluntary groups across the UK show that government claims that charities can replace direct services currently provided by central or local government are false.” False Economy says its survey shows more than £110m this year will disappear from charities’ bottom line although this analysis, the first attempt to map the extent of the cuts in England, does not include major cities such as Leeds and Manchester as well as some large shire counties such as Hampshire or Tory flagship boroughs like Westminster. These councils refused to hand over data on the grounds it would take too long to extract the information. The final figure is also likely to be far higher given that some large authorities have not yet finalised where the cuts will hit, and only charities or voluntary groups receiving a funding cut of at least 5% are listed in the research. The calculation includes cuts to charity’s grants and where they occur some increases to budgets. Acevo, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, which represents 2,000 charity leaders in Britain, has warned previously that the sector could lose £750m this year alone if “central and local government passed on cuts proportionately”. Another £250m would be lost because of VAT increases and reductions in tax breaks. Peter Kyle, deputy director of Acevo, said that if ministers’ pledges of extra funding, outlined in last month’s public services white paper, were to materialise then there would be another £2bn for charities – enough to fill the gap left by the estimated £1bn shaved from their local government grants. “But charities are instead going to the wall because of the cuts and you cannot magic them back into existence again. It’s short-sighted and mindless.” Experts also questioned whether the charitable sector could cover for the sharp drop in funding for local government. Tony Travers of the London School of Economics pointed out that local authorities last year had to bear more than £4bn in cuts – amounting to an 8% drop in real terms: “Ministers have created a much bigger challenge in hoping to expand the voluntary and NGO sector in the name of the big society with the size of such cuts.” The government blamed councils for “being short sighted in their approach [and] failing to recognise the importance of the sector”. A spokesperson for the Department for Communities & Local Government said: “In their approach to budget setting, the best councils are showing that they understand that a strong, thriving voluntary sector is more important now than ever and could be the key to providing high quality, good value services to their residents. But this is not the case everywhere.” Sir Merrick Cockell, chairman of the Local Government Association, defended its decisions to cut budgets in a time of austerity. “The severity of cuts to council budgets means savings are having to be made across the board, and unfortunately funding to charities, voluntary organisations and community groups is not exempt.” Decisions to reduce financial support to the voluntary sector will never be taken lightly and local authorities have rightly carried out full and frank consultations before reducing funding to groups.”ENDS Charities Voluntary sector Volunteering Local government Economic policy TUC Trade unions Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I post this to show you how disgusting and dishonest right wing media is. We’ve had plenty of posts on the debt ceiling debate spelling out our frustrations, but at least we’re honest about what is being said and how we feel. I’ve covered Hannity since 2004 because I always thought it is important for us to monitor what bile is being spewed onto our airwaves. Remember, it was never covered as extensively before C&L came along with Media Matters so there was never any push back on all the lies. We’ve had an definitive impact, but I have to admit I just can’t watch Hannity anymore. There’s a limit to my RWNM stamina. Lo and behold I dared to step back into that cauldron of lies and I tell you, I’ll leave him to others on our site. Hannity is so vile that around the 3:42 mark of this video, Juan Williams calls him “myopic” and a “‘liar.” Even Juan Williams couldn’t contain himself any longer and he’s getting paid by Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes. Williams: “You Are So Myopic. … You Are Not Honest”
Continue reading …
FL Gov. Rick Scott Simply Refuses To Take Money For The Affordable Care Act
August 1, 2011 No Comment
We don’t care about helping sick people – we’re Republicans! I wonder if Gov. Rick’s antipathy toward these programs has anything to do with the potential loss of money to his family’s nursing homes or his contributors in the insurance and health care industries? Of course, since he’s a wingnut, there’s always a strong possibility that he’s simply crazy: In recent months, either Gov. Rick Scott’s administration or the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature has rejected grants aimed at moving long-term care patients into their homes, curbing child abuse through in-home counseling and strengthening state regulation of health premiums. They have shunned money to help sign up eligible recipients for Medicare, educate teenagers on preventing pregnancy and plan for the health insurance exchanges that the law requires by 2014. While 36 states shared $27 million to counsel health insurance consumers, Florida did not apply for the grants. And in drafting this year’s budget, the Legislature failed to authorize an $8.3 million federal grant won by a county health department to expand community health centers. In distancing itself from the law, Florida declined to participate in a Medicaid pilot program that would have authorized up to $2 million in reimbursement to providers using a new hospice model for severely ill children. The state insurance commissioner applied to the Obama administration for a waiver from this year’s requirement that health insurers spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on medical care. Only at the last minute did the State Health Department agree to provide required letters of support for community groups applying for federal wellness and prevention grants. Critics say the state’s Republican leadership has carried its opposition to the health care law too far. The grants being shunned by the state, they point out, have little connection to the provisions that Florida is challenging in cour t, namely the insurance mandate and the expansion of Medicaid eligibility. “It’s simply unconscionable that they’re turning back federal tax dollars that our citizens and businesses pay and sending those tax dollars to other states,” said Representative Kathy Castor, a Democrat who represents the Tampa Bay area. “Florida’s economy has been hit very hard, and we need every dollar and every job in our state.”
Continue reading …