NBC Hosts Fret Obama Had to ‘Give In’ to GOP With ‘Not Balanced’ Debt Deal
August 1, 2011 No Comment
In an interview with White House advisor David Plouffe on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer worried about liberals being unhappy with the proposal deal on the debt ceiling: “So did the President compromise here, David, or did he give in simply so that he wouldn't be labeled as the president who was on duty as the nation defaulted on its financial obligations?” Plouffe defended the plan: “Now, listen, you're obviously seeing some criticism from my party, you're seeing some criticism from the Republican Party. But what this does is first of all we get significant deficit reduction…” Lauer continued to hit from the Left: “The President clearly wanted more revenues, he wanted to raise taxes on wealthiest Americans, he wanted to get rid of some tax cuts for corporations. Those are not in there. Is the fight over taxes over and did the President lose it?” Lauer lamenting the lack of tax hikes in the initial debt deal mimicked Meet the Press host David Gregory, who interviewed Plouffe on Sunday and declared: “But it's not going to be balanced. There's no tax increases in this….You – the President said it had to have tax increases, it must – had to be balanced….That's not what's in this deal.” Plouffe explained to Gregory: “Well, listen, this committee's going to be charged with coming up with additional deficit reduction. There's no way to do it without smart entitlement reform and tax reform.” Gregory replied: “So you only get to do potential tax increases as part of a second stage of spending cuts that a committee has to agree to?” Here is a full transcript of Lauer's August 1 interview with Plouffe: 7:05AM ET MATT LAUER: David Plouffe is senior White House adviser to President Obama. David, good to see you, good morning. DAVID PLOUFFE: Good morning, Matt. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Compromise or Compromised? Debt Debate Reached With Key Decisions Delayed] LAUER: Hearing a lot of people this morning talking about a done deal, and yet it is really not a done deal until Congress votes on this. There are some unpredictable caucuses in the House, for example. What's your level of confidence? PLOUFFE: Well obviously, that's going to be up to each member of Congress, to decide how they're going to vote on this. I think the Congressional leaders in both parties ended up moving forward here based on both comfort with the substance of this, which was a compromise obviously, where both parties did not get everything they wanted, but also with some sense that it's going to be passed. But obviously, each member's going to have to evaluate this. But we think at the end of the day this is an agreement that will pass the Senate and the House, and the President will sign into law. LAUER: You're hearing a lot about compromise. I think everybody wants to be able to stand up and say, 'Hey, we got some of what we wanted and we compromised for the good of the nation.' But I want to play you something that Emanuel Cleaver, the Democratic Congressman from Missouri, had to say about the nuts and bolts of this. Listen to this. EMANUEL CLEAVER: If I were a Republican, I would be dancing in the streets. I don't have any idea what the Republicans wanted that they didn't get. LAUER: So did the President compromise here, David, or did he give in simply so that he wouldn't be labeled as the president who was on duty as the nation defaulted on its financial obligations? PLOUFFE: Now, listen, you're obviously seeing some criticism from my party, you're seeing some criticism from the Republican Party. But what this does is first of all we get significant deficit reduction, about $1 trillion on the front end. As the President said last night, those spending cuts are phased in carefully over time to not affect the economy too adversely. Secondly, we have an opportunity this fall, Congress does, to do a next stage of deficit reduction. And in that stage, things like entitlement reform, tax reform are going to be looked at. And as has been reported, there's a enforcement mechanism, so that if Congress doesn't act, there's additional spending reductions, but those are done carefully. 50% of those savings would come from defense and programs like Medicaid, college loans, children's health care would be protected. LAUER: One of the things you left off that laundry list though is taxes. And the President clearly wanted more revenues, he wanted to raise taxes on wealthiest Americans, he wanted to get rid of some tax cuts for corporations. Those are not in there. Is the fight over taxes over and did the President lose it? PLOUFFE: Absolutely not. This congressional committee is going to look at tax reform, entitlement form. So this first stage of deficit reduction is deficit cuts, largely identified through a process the President and the Vice President led. And our point was things like Social Security, cuts to Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid, we did not think those should be part of the deficit
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Lawyer says clients drop bid as successful challenge against government unlikely and to avoid ‘further unnecessary distress’ Survivors and relatives of those who died in the 7 July bombings have abandoned their legal attempt to force the government to hold a public inquiry into the attacks, acknowledging that proceedings would be likely to be unsuccessful and would cause “further unnecessary distress”. Fifty-two people were killed and more than 700 injured by four suicide bombers on the London transport network in 2005. An inquest into the murders, presided over by the high court judge Lady Justice Hallett, found in May that the attacks could not be blamed on failures by MI5 and that it was unlikely that any of those who died would have survived had the emergency service response been swifter. After the verdicts a number of bereaved relatives said important questions remained unanswered. They called for an independent public inquiry to examine, in particular, the question of whether the attacks could have been prevented. But the solicitor for 25 survivors and bereaved family members who were challenging the government’s decision not to hold a public inquiry has confirmed that they will drop their legal proceedings – signalling, in effect, that all formal inquiries into the bombings are now at an end. Clifford Tibber, of Anthony Gold solicitors, said the coroner had investigated “many important aspects” of the roles played by MI5 and the emergency services, and that the agencies involved were addressing the failures she identified. “Against that background our clients recognise that any inquiry into those matters into which the coroner has inquired would cause further unnecessary distress to the bereaved families, those [who] survived and the individual members of the emergency services who attended the scenes,” Tibber said. He added that his clients had also acknowledged that their legal challenge stood a limited chance of success, and so had concluded that they had little option but to withdraw the action. “We waited over five years before this inquest began – a long time to wait,” said Ros Morley, whose husband, Colin, was killed in the Edgware Road bombing. “Over the past year the process itself has been mentally and emotionally tiring and at times, such as when I was in court for three weeks for the Edgware Road atrocity, utterly exhausting. “Some positive changes have been achieved through the recommendations for improvements in systems. It is to be hoped that this includes great improvements to the security services.” Ben Thwaites, who survived the same attack, said: “It would appear that official lines have now, after much resistance, been closed to us. I feel that there are lessons that could have been learned, actions that could have been taken to protect others and truths that could have been shared that have been brushed aside. I can only hope that this does not lead to unnecessary loss of life in the future.” The families and survivors launched proceedings in 2007 to seek a judicial review of a decision by the-then home secretary, John Reid, not to hold a
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Click here to view this media The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was expected Monday to announce new guidelines that would require health insurance companies to cover women’s health care services, including birth control and and breast exams, without a co-pays or deductibles. The new rules, made possible by President Obama’s Affordable Care act, would begin Aug. 1, 2012. “We know that half of women, according to studies, forego or delay preventive care because they can’t afford it and under the affordable care act that all changes,” White House advisor Stephanie Cutter told ABC News. Services covered will include well-woman exams, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screenings, and all FDA-approved birth control methods — including emergency contraception like the morning-after pill. In July, an Institute of Medicine report recommended making contraceptives free to all women. That report came under immediate fire from conservatives like Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, and they’re not going to use birth control anyway,” O’Reilly said last month .
Continue reading …George Stephanopoulos Parrots Lefty Paul Krugman to Hit Obama From the Left on Debt Deal
August 1, 2011 No CommentGood Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Monday hit senior White House advisor David Plouffe from the left, highlighting liberal columnist Paul Krugman's complaints about the debt ceiling deal. The morning show also played up a Democratic congressman's attack that the bill is a “Satan sandwich.” Quoting from the New York Times' Krugman, Stephanopoulos fretted, ” Paul Krugman in the New York Times this morning saying that the President 'had an abject surrender. He says that Obama surrendered last December extending all the Bush tax cuts.' ” Reading the lengthy quote, the former Democratic operative turned journalist continued, “'He surrendered in the spring when they threatened to shut down the government and he has now surrendered on a grand scale to raw extortion over the debt ceiling.' Abject surrender?” Clearly Stephanopoulos is a fan of the left-wing author. On November 15, 2010 , pushed his former Clinton White House colleague from the left with another Krugman quote. He chided, “[Paul Krugman] says taking away the deduction for the home mortgage deduction, the deduction for employer provided health care will end up creating a mixture of tax cuts and tax increases that is tax cuts for the wealthy and tax increases for the middle class.” On Monday, citing the colorful language of the liberal Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, Stephanopoulos showcased Democratic unhappiness: “And as you know, a lot of Democrats are upset about that possibility. You saw Congressman Cleaver calling this is a “Satan sandwich.” In an earlier segment, Stephanopoulos highlighted the $1 trillion in spending cuts and worried, “But, this is still a big number. So, it's going have a real impact on just about everyone isn't it?” A transcript of August 1 segment, which aired at 7:05am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now, let's go to the White House and our senior White House adviser David Plouffe for his bottom line on all this. Thanks for joining us, David. And let's start out with the big question: Do you have the votes to pass this? DAVID PLOUFFE: Well, obviously, George, every member is going to have make their determination. We're confident that this deal will and should pass. It's, one, removed the cloud uncertainty over the economy. We're not going to have to repeat this episode in five or six months, significant debt reduction on the front end. And we're going to have a great debate in the fall here in Washington and around the country over the next stage of debt reduction and the only way to reduce the deficit in a significant way, smartly, is to make sure there is to make sure there is smart entitlement reform and closing of loopholes and tax reform. STEPHANOPOULOS: But, David, as you know, the Speaker of House is selling this to his members that any tax increase is impossible in the next deal, what makes you believe that the House Republicans who have been adamant against any tax revenues, are going to be more likely to support them in December than they are now are today? PLOUFFE: Well, first of all, as you know, in our negotiations with the Speaker, we never
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Bodies of 25 men found in hold of 50-foot vessel as thousands continue to flee conflict and famine in Libya and Somalia The bodies of 25 African migrants trying to reach Italy from Libya have been found in the hold of a boat so packed with people it was difficult for them to breathe. Hundreds of migrants fleeing unrest and conflict in Libya and the Middle East and famine in the Horn of Africa are believed to have died since the beginning of the year in desperate journeys across the Mediterranean. The Italian coastguard said the 50-foot boat was carrying 296 people, including women and children. Some were stowed in the hold, which also served as an engine room, according to the ANSA news agency. As the air became unbreathable from exhaust fumes some tried to escape but the boat was too packed for those standing above to move aside. “From what they told us upon arrival there was no air to breathe, apparently they were so crammed there was nowhere to go,” said Laura Boldrini, a spokeswoman in Italy for the UN High Commission for Refugees. At least some of the migrants may have died from asphyxiation, she said. Boldrini added that the desperate conditions apparently led to tension and scuffles on board as people struggled to survive. An investigation is under way. Officials found the bodies – all young men – after boarding the boat a few miles off Lampedusa, the small island closer to north Africa than to the Italian mainland. One photograph in Italian newspapers showed the lifeless body of a man being pulled out of the boat by rescuers. Survivors were taken ashore and moved to an immigrant shelter on the island. All those who died are believed to be of sub-Saharan origin. “The survivors are shocked,” Boldrini said. Unscrupulous smugglers pack too many people on unsafe boats, she said, which leads to horrendous conditions for those on board. “You risk it all,” she said. “It’s ferocious.” According to survivors the boat set sail from Libya two days ago. Up to 50 Somalis fleeing famine were believed to be on board. Around 20,000 people have arrived in Italy by boat in recent months following the unrest in Libya and Tunisia. Many of those making the journey are sub-Saharan Africans who were working in Libya and then fled as the conflict there intensified. In April a boat believed to be carrying 300 migrants from Libya capsized, leaving 250 people presumed dead. Separately, scuffles broke out in the southern city of Bari between immigrants held at a local centre and police, leaving scores injured. Footage from state broadcaster RAI showed immigrants occupying railway stations and hurling objects at police vans. ANSA said the immigrants had been at the centre for months and were protesting at a lack of progress in processing their asylum claims. Italy Europe Libya Middle East Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Dick Durbin: Democrats Never Passed a Budget Due to Republican Obstruction
August 1, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As unhappy as I am about how this whole debt ceiling hostage taking is going and wondering what we’re in for after we get more details on what’s being agreed to right now, I was glad to see someone finally push back at this Republican talking point I hear them repeat day after day, week after week — Democrats never passed a budget and so that makes the horrid Ryan budget passed by the House somehow “responsible.” Sen. Dick Durbin finally shot that one down on Fox News Sunday this morning and explained why they never got anything passed — 60 votes — or in other words, Republican filibusters and obstruction. BAIER: Senator Kyl, when you hear the president say this no way to run the government, you know, that we’ll likely also face another standoff at the end of September when the continuing resolution runs out and government funding — you know, we’re up against another government shutdown. You know, former White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once famously said, “Never waste a crisis.” Do Republicans now risk become the — becoming the party that’s always pushing up to the cliff, always using that cliff to try to extract concessions? I mean, do you fear the American people will have crisis fatigue, if they don’t already, and that it will hurt your party? KYL: You mentioned the possibility of a continuing resolution. Why would Congress have to pass a continuing resolution? Because the Senate Democrats now, for the third year in a row, will not have passed a budget. That’s their job. The House Republicans have passed a budget. Senate Democrats said no to that budget. So I think it’s very unfair to suggest that Republicans are responsible. We don’t have the votes in the U.S. Senate. But where they do have the votes, in the House of Representatives, they’ve done their job. BAIER: Senator Durbin, why haven’t the Senate Democrats passed a budget? DURBIN: It’s called 60 votes. And what it boils down to is this: we have 53 Democratic senators. (CROSSTALK) DURBIN: Well, but I can tell you, when we get through all the procedural tangles that we face in getting through this budget resolution, it is not just a matter of finding some agreement, but getting it executed on the floor. The point I want to make is this: this, as I understand it, the negotiation that we’re talking about, will include some budget targets for at least the next fiscal year. So we won’t revisit this kind of crisis politics when it comes to our spending bills for next year. BAIER: But do you think this kind of deficit reduction that is happening this week, whatever this deal ends up being, would have happened without linking it to the debt ceiling increase? DURBIN: Well, I understand the brinkmanship that’s necessary to sometimes bring this matter forward. But let me say, the president did create a deficit commission. I sat on it, a bipartisan commission, and voted for it. And I had at least two, maybe three Republican senators who joined me in that vote. BAIER: But it didn’t make the needed vote to bring it to the — DURBIN: That’s exactly right. We tried to follow up, the Gang of Six. Again, a bipartisan effort. There has been a commitment from the president, as well as many in the Senate — I just speak for the Senate — to move forward in a responsible bipartisan way to deal with the deficit. BAIER: But actually doing it, Senator, actually seeing the cuts, there are many people who believe that if it wasn’t linked to this debt ceiling vote, that it really wouldn’t be happening. DURBIN: Well, I can tell you that if we have to risk our economy, a very weak economy, with so many people unemployed and businesses facing higher interest rates, which is bound to happen now because of this brinkmanship that we’re engaged in here, that is not a good way to run this nation or the economy. And if that is the strategy coming from the House Republicans, it is not good for our long-term economic growth.
Continue reading …Dick Durbin: Democrats Never Passed a Budget Due to Republican Obstruction
August 1, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As unhappy as I am about how this whole debt ceiling hostage taking is going and wondering what we’re in for after we get more details on what’s being agreed to right now, I was glad to see someone finally push back at this Republican talking point I hear them repeat day after day, week after week — Democrats never passed a budget and so that makes the horrid Ryan budget passed by the House somehow “responsible.” Sen. Dick Durbin finally shot that one down on Fox News Sunday this morning and explained why they never got anything passed — 60 votes — or in other words, Republican filibusters and obstruction. BAIER: Senator Kyl, when you hear the president say this no way to run the government, you know, that we’ll likely also face another standoff at the end of September when the continuing resolution runs out and government funding — you know, we’re up against another government shutdown. You know, former White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once famously said, “Never waste a crisis.” Do Republicans now risk become the — becoming the party that’s always pushing up to the cliff, always using that cliff to try to extract concessions? I mean, do you fear the American people will have crisis fatigue, if they don’t already, and that it will hurt your party? KYL: You mentioned the possibility of a continuing resolution. Why would Congress have to pass a continuing resolution? Because the Senate Democrats now, for the third year in a row, will not have passed a budget. That’s their job. The House Republicans have passed a budget. Senate Democrats said no to that budget. So I think it’s very unfair to suggest that Republicans are responsible. We don’t have the votes in the U.S. Senate. But where they do have the votes, in the House of Representatives, they’ve done their job. BAIER: Senator Durbin, why haven’t the Senate Democrats passed a budget? DURBIN: It’s called 60 votes. And what it boils down to is this: we have 53 Democratic senators. (CROSSTALK) DURBIN: Well, but I can tell you, when we get through all the procedural tangles that we face in getting through this budget resolution, it is not just a matter of finding some agreement, but getting it executed on the floor. The point I want to make is this: this, as I understand it, the negotiation that we’re talking about, will include some budget targets for at least the next fiscal year. So we won’t revisit this kind of crisis politics when it comes to our spending bills for next year. BAIER: But do you think this kind of deficit reduction that is happening this week, whatever this deal ends up being, would have happened without linking it to the debt ceiling increase? DURBIN: Well, I understand the brinkmanship that’s necessary to sometimes bring this matter forward. But let me say, the president did create a deficit commission. I sat on it, a bipartisan commission, and voted for it. And I had at least two, maybe three Republican senators who joined me in that vote. BAIER: But it didn’t make the needed vote to bring it to the — DURBIN: That’s exactly right. We tried to follow up, the Gang of Six. Again, a bipartisan effort. There has been a commitment from the president, as well as many in the Senate — I just speak for the Senate — to move forward in a responsible bipartisan way to deal with the deficit. BAIER: But actually doing it, Senator, actually seeing the cuts, there are many people who believe that if it wasn’t linked to this debt ceiling vote, that it really wouldn’t be happening. DURBIN: Well, I can tell you that if we have to risk our economy, a very weak economy, with so many people unemployed and businesses facing higher interest rates, which is bound to happen now because of this brinkmanship that we’re engaged in here, that is not a good way to run this nation or the economy. And if that is the strategy coming from the House Republicans, it is not good for our long-term economic growth.
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Look out MSNBC. The market for “vicious, inaccurate, and inexcusable” cable news just got more crowded in New York. The New York Times reported August 1 that Al Jazeera English will begin appearing in New York for the first time, “subletting air space from a channel owner.” This marks a victory in AJE’s campaign to gain widespread access to the U.S. cable market. It’s also a victory for the network’s liberal media supporters, including several at the New York Times. “Al Jazeera English was lauded by the United States government and even by a few competitors for its broadcasts from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries earlier this year,” the Times noted. Yes, and it was called “balanced and thorough.” But as the Culture and Media Institute has reported , the praise was overblown and stemmed more from a decidedly non-journalistic admiration for the network’s activism than the quality of AJE’s reporting. In fact, AJE willfully ignored the horrible sexual attack on CBS’ Lara Logan in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Feb. 11. Nor did it report on the murder of a Jewish family (including toddler and infant) in an Israeli settlement the next month. AJE did report on related events that occurred later, portraying Palestinians as victims of the Israeli thirst for vengeance. But it’s par for the course for a network that threw a birthday party for a child-murdering terrorist, whose Iraq War coverage was called “vicious, inaccurate, and inexcusable” by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and who’s website after the killing of Osama bin Laden ran a long list of editorials suggesting the moral equivalence of the terrorist and his killers. Al Jazeera English is little better than an anti-Western propaganda outlet. It says a lot about the debasement of our own “journalists” that they can call it “balanced and thorough.”
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Court hears that Richard Kwakye flagged down a bus en route to King’s College hospital while bleeding from a head wound A man shot in the head flagged down a bus which took him to hospital, the Old Bailey heard on Monday. The driver, whose route took him past King’s College hospital, south London, stopped to let him off outside the accident and emergency department. “He was bleeding from a wound to his head and was evidently in considerable pain,” said Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting. “To the shock and amazement of the triage nurses, this man explained that he had just been shot in the head and had caught a bus to the hospital. He was rushed into theatre where the surgeons who operated upon him duly removed a bullet from his brain.” Richard Kwakye survived but the incident had made him “mortal enemies” with Rilwan Bankole, the man accused of shooting him. Bankole, 31, of Thornton Heath, south London, denies attempting to murder Kwakye in October 2003. Glasgow said Kwakye, who was 20 at the time, had refused to tell police who shot him until six years later. He said he had been driven to Goose Green park in East Dulwich where he alleged Bankole pointed the gun at his head and shot him as they sat in a car as fireworks were set off. Glasgow added: “When he came to, no one was there. Whilst he knew that he was hurt he had no idea how seriously he had been wounded. He managed to get to his feet and staggered into the road where he flagged down a passing bus. The driver, who fortuitously was en route to King’s College hospital, dropped Richard Kwakye at A&E.” Doctors then removed the .22 air pellet, fired from a modified blank firing gun. Kwakye would not have survived if the bullet had been larger, the court heard. Bankole, who was said to have suspected his former friend of stealing his property, later told police Kwakye had lied about who shot him because the two were involved in a custody battle over a child. But the “seven years of hatred” had led to more serious matters, said Glasgow. Kwakye was convicted last week of the murder of Bankole’s 19-month-old daughter Siariah Letang in an arson attack at the home of her mother in September last year. Glasgow told the jurors they would find it hard to warm to Kwakye, now a convicted murderer who, like Bankole, had previous convictions for robbery and drugs. The trial continues. Crime Gun crime London guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Court hears that Richard Kwakye flagged down a bus en route to King’s College hospital while bleeding from a head wound A man shot in the head flagged down a bus which took him to hospital, the Old Bailey heard on Monday. The driver, whose route took him past King’s College hospital, south London, stopped to let him off outside the accident and emergency department. “He was bleeding from a wound to his head and was evidently in considerable pain,” said Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting. “To the shock and amazement of the triage nurses, this man explained that he had just been shot in the head and had caught a bus to the hospital. He was rushed into theatre where the surgeons who operated upon him duly removed a bullet from his brain.” Richard Kwakye survived but the incident had made him “mortal enemies” with Rilwan Bankole, the man accused of shooting him. Bankole, 31, of Thornton Heath, south London, denies attempting to murder Kwakye in October 2003. Glasgow said Kwakye, who was 20 at the time, had refused to tell police who shot him until six years later. He said he had been driven to Goose Green park in East Dulwich where he alleged Bankole pointed the gun at his head and shot him as they sat in a car as fireworks were set off. Glasgow added: “When he came to, no one was there. Whilst he knew that he was hurt he had no idea how seriously he had been wounded. He managed to get to his feet and staggered into the road where he flagged down a passing bus. The driver, who fortuitously was en route to King’s College hospital, dropped Richard Kwakye at A&E.” Doctors then removed the .22 air pellet, fired from a modified blank firing gun. Kwakye would not have survived if the bullet had been larger, the court heard. Bankole, who was said to have suspected his former friend of stealing his property, later told police Kwakye had lied about who shot him because the two were involved in a custody battle over a child. But the “seven years of hatred” had led to more serious matters, said Glasgow. Kwakye was convicted last week of the murder of Bankole’s 19-month-old daughter Siariah Letang in an arson attack at the home of her mother in September last year. Glasgow told the jurors they would find it hard to warm to Kwakye, now a convicted murderer who, like Bankole, had previous convictions for robbery and drugs. The trial continues. Crime Gun crime London guardian.co.uk
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