Where the Hell is Obama? - Page 15

I wonder whatever happened to that person who was trying to buddy up to me for the longest time, I guess he must have not gotten whatever it was he was looking for. To bad so sad. LMAO.

Excuse me, but it was one poster George the Retard who first approached ME.

Your memory has failed you grasshopper.

Really? I think you have bumped your head or had one to many drinks.

I think your ilks party has failed. LMFAO.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/02/chris-christie-republicans-sandy-relief

The plain-speaking governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, embarked on an extended tirade against his own party members in Congress on Wednesday, raging against what he described as the "toxic internal politics" of House Republicans. 

Christie, a high-profile Republican who is among the potential candidates for a run at the presidency in 2016, used invective against his own party usually only heard in attacks from Democrats.

Although he was specifically angry over the House's failure to vote on a compensation package for victims of hurricane Sandy, he expanded his rant to criticise House Republicans in general and the House Republican Speaker John Boehner in particular.

In the face of heavy criticism from Christie and other Republicans, Boehner scheduled a vote on the aid package for Friday.

Christie, speaking at a 40-minute long press conference before that announcement, reflected widespread criticism, mainly on the left but also among independents and many Republicans, that the Tea Party-backed Republicans in the House are a disruptive influence, creating chaos in Washington.

"Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress, which places one-upmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to Washington DC in the first place," Christie said.

He added: "America deserves better than yet another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why." Referring specifically to the failure to act on the hurricane Sandy package, he said: "Shame on you. Shame on Congress."

Christie said that, historically, lawmakers in Washington did not play politics with disaster relief, but in the present atmosphere, everything was the subject of gamesmanship. "They are so consumed with their internal politics, they've forgotten they have a job to do," Christie said. "Everything is the subject of one-upmanship. It is why the American people hate Congress."

His anger over hurricane Sandy was echoed by other governors and members of Congress from the north-east.

Even before Christie's remarks, the showdown over the fiscal cliff fully exposed the extent of the divisions within the Republican party. Republicans in the Senate, dominated by moderate members who have held their seats for a long time, voted as a largely cohesive unit on Tuesday in favour of the fiscal cliff deal. 

There were only five rebels, two of them senators who are Tea Party favourites: Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. 

In contrast with the Senate, the House, whose membership is backed to a greater extent by the Tea Party, was deeply divided. Only 85 Republicans voted for the fiscal cliff deal, with 151 against. 

The divide was geographical as well as ideological, with a large bloc of those voting in favour predominantly from the more liberal north-east and those against from the more conservative south.

At the press conference, Christie said Republicans had failed in their duty by not passing the hurricane Sandy package. Republicans, conscious of keeping down federal spending, have questioned measures in the package that they regard as wasteful. 

"Last night, the House of Representatives failed that most basic test of public service and they did so with callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state," he said.

"There is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their Speaker John Boehner," he added. He described Boehner's decision to cancel the vote on the aid package as disappointing and "disgusting".

Christie is a popular figure and his reputation grew over his handling of hurricane Sandy, in particular his bipartisan posture and his willingness to put aside politics to work with president Barack Obama, even though the White House election was looming. 

He could struggle to win support among fellow Republicans in mid-west states such as Iowa, where the first of the caucuses are held, because his views on abortion, gun control and immigration are regarded as too liberal.

Rubio, who voted against the fiscal cliff deal, is among the present favourites.



Oh and lets not forget this little display of sticking together.


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/02/boehner-could-face-rocky-vote-for-speakership-amid-republican-angst

 

John Boehner could be in for a fight Thursday when the newly seated House votes for the next speaker, with conservatives grumbling about his leadership and a report surfacing about a supposed plan to challenge him. 

The 11-term congressman, who's endured his share of political turbulence, presumably enters the election with the upper hand. So far, a single viable Republican challenger has not emerged and the rules of the vote tend to work in Boehner's favor. 

But Boehner's potential troubles were compounded by a late-night flare up with outraged northeast lawmakers over a decision by the speaker to postpone a vote on an aid package for Superstorm Sandy victims. 

For the near term, the speaker appears to have weathered those complaints, assuring members in a closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon they will vote by Jan. 15. Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., who initially described the postponement as a "betrayal" and threatened to abstain from voting for Boehner, said after the meeting he would back Boehner. 

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who earlier lashed out at the GOP leadership in a string of interviews and remarks, said the same. 

But a spate of other flare-ups over the past several days and weeks among House Republicans has stoked threats about resistance -- or at least some drama -- Thursday. Conservatives were already miffed that Boehner, early on in talks over the fiscal crisis, had agreed to new revenue. Boehner suffered another blow two weeks ago when his "Plan B" fiscal bill failed to garner enough Republican backers. But the final fiscal-crisis bill, which arrived from the Senate early Tuesday morning, ultimately garnered thin support from the GOP ranks. While Boehner and 84 other Republicans voted for it, 151 Republicans opposed it -- more Democrats than Republicans voted for the bill. 

Amid the angst, a draft plan was supposedly circulating on Capitol Hill laying out a possible path for challenging Boehner. Ron Meyer, press secretary for the anti-Boehner group American Majority Action, told FoxNews.com that the document is legitimate, though he wasn't sure who started circulating it. 

"I've talked to members who've seen it," he said. 

A copy of the supposed plan posted by Breitbart.com lays out a two-stage process for challenging Boehner. First, it calls for somebody coming forward to urge a vote by secret ballot -- which would allow members to vote without fear of retaliation. Then, the document suggests, challengers could emerge. 

The process for the vote is a bit complicated. For the time being, the only candidates for nomination would be Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. 

The only way for someone to win the speakership is to win a majority (more than 50 percent) of all votes cast. If everybody votes, that means the winner must ultimately attract 218 votes. There are 234 Republicans in the new Congress, but if Boehner loses 17 of them, it's enough to kick the vote to a second ballot -- something that hasn't happened since 1923. 

Pelosi could conceivably win the speakership, but only if Republicans cross over to vote for her or if enough Republicans actually abstain from voting. More likely, if there are enough defections, is that the vote would move into multiple rounds of ballots, with anti-Boehner conservative members basically trying to drum up a viable Republican challenger to Boehner on the spot. 

Some on Capitol Hill, in both parties, were stoking the idea Wednesday that there was a rift emerging in the GOP leadership. 

King claimed that Boehner and House Republican Leader Eric Cantor, who opposed the fiscal package Tuesday, were not on speaking terms. He said Cantor, who apparently had been pushing for a vote on the Sandy aid bill, did not find out about Boehner's decision to scratch it until Boehner's staff informed Republican lawmakers, who then told Cantor.  

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also repeatedly referenced "palace intrigue" among the House GOP leadership, during a press conference Wednesday blasting Boehner over the Sandy bill delay. 

Cantor's office voiced support for Boehner in a statement to Fox News. 

"They remain in contact and have meetings together today. The Majority Leader supports the Speaker," Cantor's office said in a statement.


Or this little gem.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/01/02/168485640/democratic-leader-pelosi-to-gop-colleagues-take-back-your-party
 

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says she has urged Republican colleagues in Congress to "take back your party" from "anti-government ideologues" in their ranks.

"As I view the Republicans in Congress, I don't see them as a real reflection of many Republicans in our country," Pelosi said in an interview Wednesday with NPR's Steve Inskeep on Capitol Hill. "The Republican Party is the Grand Old Party. It's made enormous contributions to the success of our country. And it is a party that has embraced its leadership role when it has had the majority or the White House. ... While we may argue about the size of government, the Republican Party has not been a party that says, 'I want to destroy government.'"

In an interview for a story on Thursday's Morning Edition, Pelosi continued:

"There are many members in the Republican caucus who do not believe in government. And bless their hearts, they act upon their beliefs. So day to day, we vote here on issues that eliminate government initiatives for clean air, clean water, food safety, public safety, public education, public transportation, public housing, public health, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.

"They don't believe in a public role. And if you don't believe in a public role, then, why do you even have to have taxes to pay for it? ... They're anti-government ideologues, and that's what the speaker has to deal with."

Pelosi, a California Democrat and former speaker, refused to comment directly on the job being done by Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. But she said the legislation passed Tuesday in the House to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" — supported by Pelosi, most Democrats, Boehner, and just a minority of other House Republicans — "decoupled the ... hostage-taking on the part of the Republicans of unless you give tax cuts to the rich, we're not giving tax cuts to the middle class. That's over now."

Pelosi continued:

"It's really sad. Because that's not who the Republican Party is. I tell them, 'Take back your party.' This is a great party. The country needs more than one-party dominance, as much as I believe the Democratic Party is the party for the middle class. ... We need to have a marketplace of ideas."