Deal reached on massive $1.1 trillion spending bill

The bill will fund most of the government through next September. If it funds Obamacare, Obama's amnesty program and EPA's unreasonable coal plant and water regulations and doesn't punish the IRS for targeting the Tea Party, it's a major failure for Republicans. They would be giving democrats what they want in exchange for nothing.

Via Washington Post:

Congressional leaders have reached agreement on a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that will keep most of the federal government funded through next September.
Months of protracted negotiations between Democratic and Republican leaders concluded on Tuesday night, with passage expected in the coming days, according to top aides. Final details of the legislation were still being sorted out and leaders were still mulling whether to approve a stopgap bill to give lawmakers a few more days to pass the final bill and avoid a government shutdown.
Extending current funding for just a few days has happened before, but doing so this year would result in an embarrassing finale to one of the most fruitless congressional sessions in history.
With just two days to go before government funding expires, “There’s no reason the government should shut down,” Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday. “And we’re ready to pass a year-long spending bill to take care of this.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) assured reporters that the bill would pass “before we leave here this week.”
Keep on reading…

Republicans release #Obamacare repeal and replace bill (Your move Demos)

This bill is only 13 pages long? Even Democrats will be able to read it before the vote!

Via TPM:

Budget Committee vice chair Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) pushed out a release about his bill that would start with repealing the Affordable Care Act.
It would then seek to extend health coverage and lower health care costs through provisions more palatable to conservatives: Refundable tax credits for low-income individuals, high-risk pools for sick people, tort reform, etc. The bill would also require states to give Medicaid beneficiaries the opportunity to enroll in private employer-sponsored coverage.

   Tom Price Health Care Bill Summary

Meet the guy who sponsored the 2008 illegal alien loophole bill demos blame on Bush

It's Joe Biden!

Nancy Pelosi channels Hillary Clinton when asked about pork in debt ceiling bill..

"What difference does it make" is the new democratic mantra...

(CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked why reporters were making an issue out of the additional spending that was added to the continuing resolution that re-opened the federal government and increased the debt limit.
“What difference does it make? Why are we talking about this? We’re talking about a bill that as I said last night, I’m not asking anybody to vote for this bill on the merits,” Pelosi said.
The bill included funds to fix flooded roads in Colorado, $3 million for a civil liberties oversight board, a death benefit payment to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-N.J.) widow, as well as an increase in authorization for spending on construction on the lower Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky, the Hill reported.

Boehner finds a pair?

House Republicans to put one year Obamacare individual mandate delay in next funding bill...

Via Politico:

House Republicans will vote to pass a one-year delay of Obamacare in exchange for funding the government, a plan that drastically increases the chances of a government shutdown this Tuesday.

The decision was announced by the GOP leadership in a closed meeting Saturday afternoon,
according to sources present. Republicans will also pass a bill to fund U.S. troops if the government shuts down, according to GOP lawmakers. The House’s funding measure will keep the government open until mid December.

This puts Senate Democrats and the White House at loggerheads with House Republicans, a standoff that could lead to the first government shutdown since 1995.

Read more here...

Are you a boy feeling like a girl? Now, you can play on the girls team in California...

Proving again California is the land of nuts...

Via Fox News:

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a controversial bill into law Monday afternoon allowing the state’s transgender public school students to choose which bathrooms they use and whether they participate in boy or girl sports.
The law would cover the state’s 6.2 million elementary and high school kids in public schools.
Supporters say the law will help cut down on bullying against transgender students, The families of transgender students have been waging local battles with school districts around the country over what restrooms and locker rooms their children can use.
“Now, every transgender student in California will be able to get up in the morning knowing that when they go to school as their authentic self they will have the same fair chance at success as their classmates,” Masen Davis, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center said.
While California is the first state to pass a law of this magnitude, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington and Colorado have all adopted policies designed to protect transgendered pupils.
Keep on reading…

Amash amendment to limit NSA spying fails

My Rep., Andy Barr, voted against the bill. He will be hearing from me today. I had great hopes for Barr when he was elected, but he has been a big disappointment. He ran as a Tea Party type, but mostly votes with the establishment Republicans.

Via Hot Air:

Speaking against the bill on the floor, Reps. Michelle Bachmann and hawkish freshman and Iraq vet Rep. Tom Cotton, among others. The roll call is here, if you’d like to see how your Congressman voted. The totals: 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats in favor, and 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats against.

I’m on the Amash side of this issue. Evidence that the NSA’s domestic spying has actually prevented terrorist attacks has been rather sparse and unconvincing, and while I respect that we occasionally have to make some sacrifices to protect ourselves, coughing up the metadata for every phone call we make doesn’t seem like the right balance to me. Supporters of such programs downplay the idea of metadata, as Cotton did today—“an excel spreadsheet with five columns”—but it only takes a couple of points of metadata to give you a lot of information about a person. Given that we are American citizens not under investigation, I don’t want them having, not to mention storing that information about us. And, I’m with PATRIOT Act author Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner in questioning whether the law even authorizes it.

Fizzle: Obama Slams Ryan For Not Passing Farm Bill That He Passed 2 Weeks Ago

Harry Reid should have explained senate Democrats are holding up the Farm Bill, not the House. They passed on two weeks ago.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer urges colleagues to pass trillion dollar spending bill no one has read

Passing bills no one has read is a democratic tradition.

(The Hill) — House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Friday afternoon called on his colleagues to support the $1 trillion omnibus spending bill, even though no one — or almost no one — has read it.

“I rise in strong support of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation,” he said. “None of them have read it.”

He quickly acknowledged that House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) read the bill, and that ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) probably read it as well. But he said that despite his support for the bill, he is not a fan of the process that Republicans used to bring the bill forward so quickly, and at the last minute, for passage.

“Had I as majority leader brought that bill that sits on that floor, 1,207 pages, within the last 24 hours to the floor, I think the response from that side of the aisle would have been harsh, accusatory and not helpful,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said the process should be a “lesson in humility” for all members. The House is expected to approve the bill later this afternoon and send it to the Senate.

White House Threatens to Veto Boehner's Bill

Are they trying to drum up Republican votes for the bill or do they really want a default? The new Tea Party sponsored Republicans in the House will not fold.


Via WhiteHouse.Gov (PDF)

Texas House Passes Anti-Groping Bill

Bis Sis hardest hit...

AUSTIN (AP) - The Texas House passed a bill that would make it a criminal offense for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs.

Approved late Thursday night, the measure makes it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person” including through clothing.

It also prohibits searches “that would be offensive to a reasonable person.”

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Vetoes "Birther" Bill

Wikimedia Commons

Monday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed the so-called "birther" bill that would have forced candidates to show documented proof they were constitutionally eligible for the job.

PHOENIX -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday vetoed a bill that would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names could appear on the state's ballot.

Here is her reason.

Brewer said in her veto letter that she was troubled that the bill empowered Arizona's secretary of state to judge the qualifications of all candidates when they file to run for office.

"I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," said Brewer, who was secretary of state until she became governor in 2009.

The bill passed both houses with overwhelming Republican support. If supporters stick together, they have the votes to override Brewer's veto.

"Birthers" Win One in Arizona

The bill (text here) goes back to the House for a final vote. Then, it is off to Jan Brewer's desk. It looks very likely to be passed into law. The bill requires a long form girth certificate or two other forms of proof from a list that includes a hospital birth record, a postpartum hospital record for the mother, an early baptismal or circumcision certificate or an early census record. President Obama hasn't released any of these documents at this date.The computer generate short form birth certificate, pictured above, won't suffice. Look for another federal lawsuit by Team Obama against Arizona.

PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has approved a revised bill requiring presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens eligible to run for the office.

The bill approved Wednesday gives candidates additional ways to prove they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.

It was prompted by the ongoing claim by some that there is no proof President Barack Obama was born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president.

Democrats are prepared to top paying the troops and shut down government over tax-payer funding of abortion in D.C.

The democrats position is so ridiculous, I would say they will lose the battle of public opinion on this one. Of course, they do have the mainstream media to help deceive the public.

Instead, Reid said that “the two main issues that are holding this matter are up the choice of women, reproductive rights, and clean air. These matters have no place on a budget bill.” By clean air, he means the amendment to keep the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide emissions. That rider is not included in House Republicans’ bill.

The only other rider in the one week C.R./year-long troop funding bill regards taxpayer-funding of abortion in the District of Columbia.

GOP Torpedoes Michelle Obama Nutrition Bill

Apparently, background checks for childcare workers is a poison pill for democrats.

The Hill reported:

House Republicans on Wednesday scuttled a Democratic bid to pass a child nutrition bill that’s at the center of first lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity agenda.

The $4.5 billion legislation, which has already been approved unanimously by the Senate, expands eligibility and funding for school lunch programs. Democrats had expected it to pass on Wednesday and be sent to President Obama for his signature, but Republicans used their last chance to amend the bill to offer a motion that would require criminal background checks for childcare workers and would have removed the federal mandate for paid meals in schools.

When Democrats saw that the poison-pill amendment was headed for passage, they pulled the bill off the floor, a Democratic aide said.

Update. It passed.

Ron Paul on TSA: “The American People Are Being Treated Like Cattle” (Video)

Rep. Ron Paul is introducing a bill to remove immunity from TSA gropers and porno scanner operators.

Ron Paul on the TSA: "Enough Is Enough!"


Here are some of Rep. Paul's comments.

It’s very simple, it’s one paragraph long. It removes the immunity from anybody in the federal government that does anything that you or I can’t do. If you can’t grope another person and if you can’t x-ray people and endanger them with possible x-rays, you can’t take nude photographs of individuals, why do we allow the government to do it? We would go to jail. He’d be immediately arrested if an individual citizen went out and did these things, and yet we just sit there calmly and say, “Oh, they’re making us safe”.

Flashback to 1993: Harry Reid Tried to Stop Anchor Babies By 14th Amendment Reinterpretation

Some Republicans are supporting modifying the 14th Amendment to prevent illegal immigrant anchor babies. The 14th Amendment was passed in the aftermath of the Civil War. In order to prevent states from denying citizenship to newly freed slaves, the Amendment made anyone born on American soil an American citizen. Now, 1 in 12 babies born in the U.S. are children if illegal immigrants. These anchor babies are U.S. citizens and put their parents on a path to citizenship. Democrats have severely criticized Republicans for suggesting this change. Republicans have been accused of everything from racism to being anti-baby. Here is what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said about Republicans proposing a change to the 14th Amendment:

"They've either taken leave of their senses or their principles."

Now we learn, Harry Reid introduced a short lived bill in 1993 to accomplish the same goal.

For all the brouhaha over Republicans wanting to review the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the citizenship/birthright Clause, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, once supported revising the current interpretation of the birthright citizenship clause in 1993.

Mr. Reid introduced a bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee as the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993.

The smell of hypocrisy is in the air.

Democrats are in such a hurry to spend billions, they not only stop reading bills, they stop naming them

Senate democrats were in such a hurry to spend $26 billion of our tax dollars bailing out public teachers unions and state governments, they failed to bother naming the bill. Senate Democrats passed H.R. 1586 with the name of the “______Act of____.” Of course, it is only a $26 billion bill. This isn't even real money to big spending Democrats. It would be safe to assume none of them read it either.

CATO reported:

As reported on the WashingtonWatch.com blog and cnet news, this highly unconventional name may be what goes into law. With the Senate out of town until September, there is no chance to pass a correcting amendment in both houses. The constitution requires both to pass identical bills, so the House must take up the “______Act of____” and pass it as such.

If it does, the “law with no name” will stand as a lasting tribute to the inattention Congress gives its work. Spending billions of taxpayer dollars is a hurried and casual affair for our lawmakers.

Rasmussen: 55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Bill

If Democrats think this will be a winning issue for them this November, they aren't fooling anyone bit themselves. Fifty-five percent of likely voters favor repeal. Forty-six percent very strongly favor repeal.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.

Democrats to Drop Demon "Deemed" Rule?

The Washington Post has reported Democrats will drop the "Slaughter Solution" and vote on the Senate Bill.

Democrats edged closer to finding 216 lawmakers to back a landmark health-care bill Saturday, as party leaders and White House officials were working on an executive order that they hope will win over a substantial number of antiabortion Democrats.

The House Rules Committee continued its session on the third floor of the Capitol, where the panel is tasked with setting the terms of Sunday's floor debate. House leaders have decided to take a separate vote on the Senate version of the health care bill, rejecting an earlier, much-criticized strategy that would have permitted them to "deem" the measure passed without an explicit vote.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said the House will take three votes on Sunday...