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FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2012

Congress Passes Bill That Extends Low Student Interest Rates

For weeks, Obama urged Congress to act so that student loan interest rates wouldn't double on July 1. Well, alas, just in the nick of time, after much wrangling and the usual problems with the republican members of Congress, lawmakers passed a transportation bill that included the extension of student loan rates. From the Dept. of Education: 

"In his January State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to work together to keep student loan interest rates from doubling. Today, I applaud leaders in Congress for answering the President’s call to action and striking a deal that will help make college more affordable for millions of students. 

"But most importantly, I want to thank the nation's young people for making their voices heard on an important economic issue directly affecting them. You spoke, the nation heard you, and Congress acted. Democracy worked because of your tireless efforts. 

"Both the President and I believe education is a public good. College should not be reserved only for those who can afford it. All of us share responsibility for making college affordable and keeping the middle-class dream alive. 

"Investing in education is the best investment America can make to bolster our competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global economy. If we don’t invest today, we will lose tomorrow.”
My articles | Views: 367 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.30.2012 | Comments (0)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/150743/Obama-Romney.aspx

Here's Gallup's pretty graph.

And here's a nice picture of the Obamas dancing:



My articles | Views: 350 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.30.2012 | Comments (1)

Obamacare Upheld by Supreme Court June 28

Obama and Nancy Pelosi on the day Obamacare was passed, March 20, 2010. Obama signed the bill March 23, 2010. The law was upheld by SCOTUS June 28, 2012. 


Obamacare Upheld. That's the headline according to NPR and I'm going with it.

What we know: Chief Justice John Roberts' vote on the Affordable Care Act. Surprise!

SCOTUSBlog -- just about the only media that got it right -- is covering it live.

                                 I'll be updating this all day as news trickles in.

Kennedy, the liberal judge, voted against the entire Affordable Healthcare Act. Surprise!
The only thing the court limited was the expansion of Medicaid.

Five justices voted to uphold the mandate and the ACA. 

People with preexisting conditions are big winners with this ruling. 

"Pelosi is wearing her lucky purple pumps today. Pelosi wore these shoes the day health care passed (March 21, 2010)." via Luke Russert's tweet. 

The media was WRONG on just about all of its coverage of SCOTUS. I'm really pissed. Maybe the media will do its job now and inform people of the law. When people know, they will be pleased. 

Fox News and CNN bungle the news. Not a Surprise! 

Obama says this isn't about politics. This is a win for the American people. He took the moment to explain some of the benefits of Obamacare:
My articles | Views: 371 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.28.2012 | Comments (0)

One of the primary owners of the GOP, the National Rifle Association, is forcing republicans to vote Eric Holder in contempt on "fast and furious. It's part of the GOP focus on jobs (sarcasm). Here are the few democrats that plan to stand with the republicans. Running underneath the to-and-fro allegations over Operation Fast and Furious – which began in 2009 when federal agents allowed guns to "walk” into Mexico in order to trace where they ended up and that came to a head when guns from the scheme were linked to the death of an American border agent – is an entirely different discussion: American gun rights. The NRA and Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California, chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, both believe the government has tried to use the Fast and Furious scandal to support arguments for more gun control. CSMA story today from Fortune magazine's investigation of fast and furious. In summary, it's all politics: Quite simply, there's a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.Indeed, a six-month Fortune investigation reveals that the public case alleging that Voth and his colleagues walked guns is replete with distortions, errors, partial truths, and even some outright lies. Fortune reviewed more than 2,000 pages of confidential ATF documents and interviewed 39 people, including seven law-enforcement agents with direct knowledge of the case. Several, including Voth, are speaking out for the first time. How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)
My articles | Views: 295 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.27.2012 | Comments (1)

I am pleased that the Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of Arizona's immigration law. What this decision makes unmistakably clear is that Congress must act on comprehensive immigration reform. A patchwork of state laws is not a solution to our broken immigration system – it’s part of the problem. At the same time, I remain concerned about the practical impact of the remaining provision of the Arizona law that requires local law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of anyone they even suspect to be here illegally. I agree with the Court that individuals cannot be detained solely to verify their immigration status. No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like. Going forward, we must ensure that Arizona law enforcement officials do not enforce this law in a manner that undermines the civil rights of Americans, as the Court’s decision recognizes. Furthermore, we will continue to enforce our immigration laws by focusing on our most important priorities like border security and criminals who endanger our communities, and not, for example, students who earn their education – which is why the Department of Homeland Security announced earlier this month that it will lift the shadow of deportation from young people who were brought to the United States as children through no fault of their own. I will work with anyone in Congress who’s willing to make progress on comprehensive immigration reform that addresses our economic needs and security needs, and upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And in the meantime, we will continue to use every federal resource to protect the safety and civil rights of all Americans, and treat all our people with dignity and respect. We can solve these challenges not in spite of our most cherished values – but because of them. What makes us American is not a question of what we look like or what our names are. What makes us American is our shared belief in the enduring promise of this country – and our shared responsibility to leave it more generous and more hopeful than we found it.
My articles | Views: 288 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.26.2012 | Comments (0)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/06/24/president-obama-reflects-on-the-impact-of-title-ix.html

On the 40th anniversary of the law that ended gender discrimination in schools, President Barack Obama reflects on how Title IX shaped a generation of strong women.

My articles | Views: 319 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.24.2012 | Comments (0)

Until now, I haven't posted anything on Fast and Furious for the following reasons:1) Republicans have it out for Eric Holder for many of the same reasons they dislike Obama. Holder also believes that voting should be fair and republicans are against that. Elegantly said by LOLGOP on Twitter: "The GOP. Keeping millions of Americans out of work to take away two black guys' jobs."2) Only the republicans are hollering.3) Fast and Furious was started under Bush.4) Darrell Issa is a nitwit, putting it nicely. He's incredibly partisan.I think most people see through this republican charade.Here's Holder's statement:Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee VoteAttorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today:"In recent months, the Justice Department has made unprecedented accommodations to respond to information requests by Chairman Issa about misguided law enforcement tactics that began in the previous administration and allowed illegal guns to be taken into Mexico.  Department professionals have spent countless hours compiling and providing thousands of documents -- nearly 8,000 -- to Chairman Issa and his committee.   My staff has had numerous meetings with congressional staff to try and accommodate these requests and yesterday, I met with Chairman Issa to offer additional internal Department documents and information that would satisfy what he identified as the Committee’s single outstanding question."Unfortunately, Chairman Issa has rejected all of these efforts to reach a reasonable accommodation.  Instead, he has chosen to use his authority to take an extraordinary, unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action, intended to provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch.  This divisive action does not help us fix the problems that led to this operation or previous ones and it does nothing to make any of our law enforcement agents safer.  It's an election-year tactic intended to distract attention -- and, as a result -- has deflected critical resources from fulfilling what remains my top priority at the Department of Justice:  Protecting the American people."Simply put, any claims that the Justice Department has been unresponsive to requests for information are untrue.  From the beginning, Chairman Issa and certain members of the Committee have made unsubstantiated allegations first, then scrambled for facts to try to justify them later. That might make for good political theater, but it does little to uncover the truth or address the problems associated with this operation and prior ones dating back to the previous Administration."I have spent most of my career in law enforcement and worked closely with brave agents who put their lives on the line every day.  I know the sacrifices they make, so as soon as allegations of gunwalking came to my attention – and well before Chairman Issa expressed any interest in this issue -- I ordered the practice stopped.  I made necessary personnel changes in the Department's leadership and instituted policy changes to ensure better oversight of significant investigations.  And, I directed the Department's Inspector General to open a comprehensive investigation.  That investigation is ongoing, and the American people and Congress can count on it to produce a tough, independent review of the facts."When Chairman Issa later began his own investigation, I made it clear that the Department would cooperate with all appropriate oversight requests, while still adhering to our legal obligations to protect information involving ongoing law enforcement investigations, legally-protected grand jury material and other sensitive information whose disclosure would endanger the American people or our agents investigating open cases. "The American people deserve better.  That is why, I will remain focused on, and committed to, the Justice Department’s mission to protect the rights, safety, and best interests of my fellow citizens and to stand by my brave colleagues in law enforcement.”
My articles | Views: 203 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.21.2012 | Comments (0)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-21/romney-campaign-said-to-ask-scott-to-downplay-job-gains.htmlRomney doesn't care much for the American people. One thing I know for sure is Obama cares. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign asked Florida Governor Rick Scott to tone down his statements heralding improvements in the state’s economy because they clash with the presumptive Republican nominee’s message that the nation is suffering under President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the matter. Scott, a Republican, was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could improve faster under a Romney presidency, according to the people, who asked not to be named. What’s unfolding in Florida highlights a dilemma for the Romney campaign: how to allow Republican governors to take credit for economic improvements in their states while faulting Obama’s stewardship of the national economy. Republican governors in Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin also have highlighted improving economies. Bloomberg
My articles | Views: 325 | Added by: dgarr | Date: 06.21.2012 | Comments (0)

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