GOP

Government Shut Down Kabuki Theatre

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The crisis loams, the doors close shut, people dependent on government paychecks whirl like dervishes in panic wondering how they will pay for food and shelter. An hour before the clock strikes twelve, when all turn into pumpkins, a deal is struck to not shut down the government.

A deal has been reached between U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders on a budget plan for the rest of this fiscal year that would avert a government shutdown, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Friday.

What was thrown to the lobbyists to make it at the last hour? It appears part of the agenda to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, now known as the Consumer Financial Bureau, was added as a rider to the 2011 budget.

Trust a financial sector lobbyist to bring both sides together. We all know the banks don't want any agency whatsoever trying to enact consumer protections.

Just today Elizabeth Warren said the Republican agenda against the Consumer Financial Bureau was all about benefiting the banks:

Republican lawmakers are doing Wall Street’s bidding by trying to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding and leadership, Obama administration adviser Elizabeth Warren said today.

Wisconsin Does the Nasty Against Labor

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The Wisconsin GOP did an end game against Democrats and passed a bill which destroys union rights to collective bargain. Milwaukee Biz Times:

Republicans in a hastily called state legislative conference committee approved a resolution Wednesday night to revoke the collective bargaining rights for thousands of public employees in Wisconsin, leaving Democrats and thousands of screaming protesters outside the Capitol to cry foul.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and his brother, Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) led the committee, which met for less than five minutes and then approved the resolution.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) protested that he had not had a chance to even see what was in the resolution before the vote was taken.
“I need to know what was removed. I need to know that,” Barca said.
The public, the media and the Democrats were not allowed to see the resolution before the Republicans voted on it.
“This is clearly a violation of the open meetings law,” Barca yelled, as Scott Fitzgerald called for the vote and struck the gavel to adjourn the meeting.
Barca said state law requires at least 24 hours notice before a conference committee hearing can be convened.
Some Democrats speculated that the committee hearing was a Republican trick to convince at least one of the 14 Democratic Senators into showing up at the Capjtol to protest the conference committee resolution. If one Senator had shown up, the Senate could attain the quorum it would need to approve Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, and the committee vote would not even be needed.

Warren Buffett Denied by the Senate, GOP Stopped Current Bill

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Update: The GOP managed to stop the current bill by a vote of 57. Back to "negotiations" it goes. "Democratic" Ben Nelson voted with the GOP.

Did you know Warren Derivatives are Weapons of Mass Destruction Buffett was lobbying Congress to exempt existing derivatives contracts from collateral requirements? Did you know that Brookshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, has a $63 billion derivatives portfolio?

Well, this is a first. Warren Buffett's lobbyists were denied a derivatives provision in the Senate bill, according to The Wall Street Journal.

GOP VP - Palin on Economics & Trade

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Boy o boy. Oh howdy. Is it tough to find accurate information on Governor Sarah Palin, the GOP VP nominee.

Frankly when all one can find about the candidate for Vice President of the United States are thousands and thousands of posts about babies and daughters and daughters with babies and babies with daughters of babies....millions of nasty bits...gathering to bytes, cloggin' up those Internet tubes......well, the world is clearly sexist as hell.

I'm sorry that's the bottom line. You've got a candidate for the 2nd highest public office in the United States and the blogs read like Jerry Springer.

For all you other people out there, all 2 of you, interested in finding out actual policy positions I managed to dig out a few references:

First, Project Vote Smart I'd say is the most credible.

To the left but has a few economic positions: