Tag: GOP

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GOP-led House of Representatives votes to sue President Obama

So, instead of getting something done on behalf of the American people before heading off to a month-long vacay, the Republicans in the House took time to vote on suing the President for actually getting something done.

Just so we all know who is being sued over what – from the LA Times:

The House approved the resolution in a near party-line vote, 225 to 201.

It authorizes House Speaker John A. Boehner to file suit in federal court on behalf of the full body “to seek appropriate relief” for Obama’s failure to enforce a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would penalize businesses that do not offer basic health insurance to their employees.

That provision’s effective date has been delayed by the administration twice and now won’t fully take effect until 2016.

The GOP-led House has voted to repeal the law, even as it seeks to sue Obama for failing to enforce it.

So, the Republicans are suing the President because he didn’t enforce a law that they don’t even want.

Got it?

SRSLY.

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CNN Poll: No clear GOP front-runner; Hillary leads on Dem side by 57 points

A new CNN/ORC International poll shows no clear front-runner for the GOP nomination for President in 2016.

According to the poll, this is the stacking order at present:

13% Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey
12% Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
12% Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
11% Gov. Rick Perry of Texas
11% Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
8% Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
8% Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
6% Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida
5% Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin
3% Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania

 So – no clear front-runner at all.

On the Democrats side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still holds an enormous lead over other possible candidates:

67% Hillary Clinton
10% Sen. Elizabeth Warren
8% Vice-President Biden

The poll also asked the question “Suppose that for some reason a presidential election were being held today and you had to choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Who would you be more likely to vote for?” The answer? Given a do-over, 53% would choose Mitt Romney and 44% would choose Obama.

However, kind of a false question as a LOT of presidents might see their histories rewritten given the same rhetorical question: Carter, Nixon, George W…. None of those guys would have been elected if the electorate was given the chance to look back than forward.

Plus, Romney has not had to prove anything from the Oval Office. So, it’s a lot easier for folks to “imagine” a different result but it does’t make it true.

Last point of interest in the poll – if Hillary and Romney were to run against the other, Hillary would win in a landslide 55%-42%.

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The Republican Party’s biggest problem in one photo

Gee, what’s missing from this photo? Let me think…

Could it be the absolute lack of minority faces?

This was posted by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) after speaking to the National Teen Age Republicans, or “#futuregop.”

If that’s the “future of the GOP,” Republicans could seriously be in big trouble as the diversity of the US continues to grow.

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GOP silent on executive order banning workplace discrimination for federal LGBT employees

Huffington Post makes note of the fact that while LGBT advocates and Democratic officials hailed President Obama’s signing an executive order banning workplace discrimination for federal employees and federal contractors, and the anti-gay folks sent out their blasts decrying the policy, elected Republicans have been very quiet about the move:

Perhaps nobody better illustrated this point than House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). HuffPost asked him Thursday if he had any reaction to Obama’s LGBT executive order.

“Nope,” Boehner said at his weekly briefing. “The president signs a lot of executive orders.”

Asked if he supports the principle of workplace protections being extended to LGBT employees, he punted again. “Listen, the president is going to make his decisions. He can,” Boehner said.

On the other side, Human Rights Campaign spokesman Fred Sainz said he considers Republicans’ silence golden. “While I would far prefer they speak on behalf of the equality their constituents support, it’s definitely evidence of our progress when some say nothing,” Sainz said.

One factor may be that Republicans simply aren’t keeping up with the flurry of LGBT rights advancements. Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), one of the eight House GOP co-sponsors of ENDA, said Thursday that he didn’t know about Obama’s executive order. But he emphasized that if it has the same goal as ENDA — which it does, except that ENDA has far broader implications — he supports it.

The only elected Republican HuffPost could find who issued a statement on the executive order was Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who has stated he supports the policy behind the executive order because “employees shouldn’t face unjust discrimination in the workplace simply because of their sexual orientation.”

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Florida Rep. David Jolly is the 8th GOP member of Congress to support marriage equality

Freshman GOP Congressman David Jolly of Florida steps up to become the eighth sitting GOP member of Congress to endorse marriage equality.

From the Washington Post:

When asked by The Washington Post whether he supports gay marriage, in light of a Florida judge’s decision last week to overturn the state’s ban, Jolly said that his personal views on marriage are that it should be limited to one man and one woman.

But, he added, states should not be defining the “sanctity” of marriage.

“As a matter of my Christian faith, I believe in traditional marriage,” said Jolly in a statement to The Post. “But as a matter of Constitutional principle I believe in a form of limited government that protects personal liberty. To me, that means that the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state.

“Accordingly, I believe it is fully appropriate for a state to recognize both traditional marriage as well as same-sex marriage, and therefore I support the recent decision by a Monroe County Circuit Judge.”

While his support for marriage equality is clearly welcomed, it’s worth noting that he holds traditionally GOP positions on Obamacare, abortion rights, military support for Israel, and gun control.

Also expressing support for same-sex marriage in Washington are GOP Senators Rob Portman, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Kirk and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Charlie Dent, and Richard Hanna.

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President Obama to House Republicans: “You’re going to sue me for doing my job?”

Last night in Austin, Texas, President Obama laid into Washington Republicans who have announced their intention to sue him over his use of executive orders.

As many have noted, President Bush issued more than 100 more executive orders during his administration than Obama has. And Obama has done so in light of the overwhelming inactivity of Congress.

Read this excerpt from his remarks last night:

“Now, here’s where it gets interesting. There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions. They actually plan to sue me. Now, I don’t know which things they find most offensive — me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they’re getting paid the same as men for doing the same job. I don’t know which of these actions really bug them.

The truth is, even with all the actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years. So it’s not clear how it is that Republicans didn’t seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did. Maybe it’s just me they don’t like. I don’t know. Maybe there’s some principle out there that I haven’t discerned, that I haven’t figure out. You hear some of them — ‘sue him,’ ‘impeach him.’ Really? Really? For what? You’re going to sue me for doing my job? Okay.

I mean, think about that. You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job — while you don’t do your job.

There’s a great movie called ‘The Departed’ — a little violent for kids. But there’s a scene in the movie where Mark Wahlberg — they’re on a stakeout and somehow the guy loses the guy that they’re tracking. And Wahlberg is all upset and yelling at the guy. And the guy looks up and he says, ‘Well, who are you?’ And Wahlberg says, ‘I’m the guy doing my job. You must be the other guy.’ Sometimes, I feel like saying to these guys, ‘I’m the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy.’

So rather than wage another political stunt that wastes time, wastes taxpayers’ money, I’ve got a better idea: Do something. If you’re mad at me for helping people on my own, let’s team up. Let’s pass some bills. Let’s help America together.”

Watch the clip below.

(via Daily Kos)

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Poll: No real front runner for GOP; Hillary way ahead for Dems

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul barely leads the way among national Republican voters with 11% of the vote in a potential 2016 GOP primary.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush all tied for second with 10% of the vote.

However, the Democrats know who they want for 2016. Hillary Clinton leads with 58% of those polled. Coming in a distant second is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren with 11%. Vice-president Joe Biden comes in third with 9%.

In head to head match ups, Hillary leads all of the GOP folks by a margin of 7-9 points.

Read more at Politico.