Senate to Vote on House Budget this Week

The Senate will vote this week on the House GOP budget that ends Medicare, slashes Medicaid, and makes radical cuts to many other needed services. This is the budget that Newt Gingrich called "right-wing social engineering" and is the clearest example yet of the goals and policies of the Republican Party. It's been, not to put too fine a point on it, a colossal failure. Not only is it terrible - TERRIBLE! - policy, but it's turning into a political blunder of historic proportions.

Here's Nate Silver in the New York Times:

Voting for Mr. Ryan’s bill probably did not help many of the 60 or so Republican representatives whose districts were carried by Barack Obama in 2008. Still, if the public regarded the vote as more or less the usual partisan posturing on the budget — Democrats vote one way, Republicans the other — the down side of backing the Ryan plan might have been limited.

Once some Republicans start to defect, though, the public may come to view the bill in a different way. Instead of seeing it as a division between Republicans and Democrats — neither of whom are trusted much on budget issues — voters may instead start to see it as a division between moderate Republicans and extremely conservative ones. Voters who are not steeped in the bill’s particulars may well take that as a signal that it is too extreme, and that the “reasonable” majoritarian position is to oppose the plan.

The bigger problem for the Republicans, though, is a snowball effect: each Republican lawmaker who comes out against the bill makes it a bit less popular — and that in turn increases the incentive for other Republicans to break ranks too. Some Republican House members might be willing to stomach voting for a bill that has the support of 45 percent of the voters in their districts, but if popular support is just 40 percent, or 35 percent, they may throw in the towel. So a feedback loop develops, and one defection begets another.

And that's where we are now. Senators are fleeing the sinking ship, and POLITICO is running stories about "who's to blame" in the Republican Party.

But, in the end, this is just the Republican Party showing their true colors, and the American people not liking what they see.

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John Kerry and John McCain Argue for Privacy Rights

We give up an enormous amount of our private information just to take part in the modern economy, and communicate with modern technology. Credit card companies track all of our purchases, online email providers mine our emails for contextual clues to what we're interested in, social networking sites gather detailed pictures of what we're interested in and who are friends are.

And, up to now, there are remarkably few rules on what they can do with it. John Kerry and John McCain recently introduced the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights to try to set the rules of the road. Today, they wrote in The Hill explaining what it's all about:

Last year, Internet users sent 107 trillion emails, Facebook hosted 600 million users, Twitter hosted 155 million tweets per day, and Americans across the country shared personal data when checking into hotels, shopping for groceries and refilling their cars. In many ways, all this information sharing is good for consumers. When companies collect data and use it with high ethical standards and the full knowledge and participation of their customers, they can generate immense economic activity, innovate and tailor the services they deliver to the clients they serve. 

But today the data collectors are setting the rules. Companies can harvest our personal information and keep it for as long as they like. They can use it and sell it without asking permission. You shouldn’t have to be a computer genius to figure out how to opt out of a company’s information sharing policy. In short, these companies, from mobile phone operators to hotels to websites, can do almost whatever they want with our personal information, and we have no legal right to stop them. 

That’s why we introduced the The Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights to keep our private data safe by laying down fair information practices for anyone collecting it. Our legislation will ensure that businesses collecting personal information secure that information, tell people why their data is being collected and allow people to have a say in whether they want their information used. If these companies turn around and transfer this information, any agreements they have made to secure the privacy of their consumers’ information would travel along with it. And if someone requests a company to stop using personal information, they finally have the legal power to make that demand.

 

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John Kerry Outlines Infrastructure Plans in Taunton

Our country is falling ever-further behind most of the developed world when it comes to infrastructure spending. We currently spend about 2% of our GDP on infrastructure, while Europe spends around  5% and China a whopping 9%!

John Kerry has introduced, with bipartisan support, the BUILD Act to revolutionize the way we build and maintain our national infrastructure. Today, he was in Taunton, describing the situation:

Greater innovation combined with new investments in infrastructure and energy is vital to the nation’s future, Sen. John Kerry told a group of local business and education leaders Friday during a stop in Taunton.

“This is an important time for all of us to think about your country and where it’s going,” said Kerry, D-Mass., who was speaking at the Taunton Inn to state Sen. Marc Pacheco’s Business and Economic Advisory Council. Pacheco created the informal group several years ago to discuss economic issues facing the region.

Kerry touted his BUILD Act legislation and criticized the Republican Sen. Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which he called “reckless” and “dangerous.”

America’s infrastructure and transit system is dated and has fallen behind that of many other industrialized nations, the 2004 presidential nominee said. The BUILD Act legislation, if enacted, would create an infrastructure bank to fund large-scale infrastructure improvements projects. The fund, which would not use grants, would only fund projects that will generate revenue and will be able to repay the loan.

“We need to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world,” Kerry said.

The 21st century economy we need depends on a modern infrastructure. Right now, we need to do better to be competitive in this new economy.

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Paul Krugman on Paul Ryan’s budget

It's clear that the numbers don't add up in Paul Ryan's budget. It's billed as a response to a deficit crisis, and yet it increases the deficit. It talks about adding jobs, but it continues the tax-cut/strip-mine the government policies that got us to the worst recession of the post-war era.

Paul Krugman has a great piece detailing that budget today:

Many commentators swooned earlier this week after House Republicans, led by the Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan, unveiled their budget proposals. They lavished praise on Mr. Ryan, asserting that his plan set a new standard of fiscal seriousness.

Well, they should have waited until people who know how to read budget numbers had a chance to study the proposal. For the G.O.P. plan turns out not to be serious at all. Instead, it’s simultaneously ridiculous and heartless. [...]

In particular, the original voodoo proposition — the claim that lower taxes mean higher revenue — is still very much there. The Heritage Foundation projection has large tax cuts actually increasing revenue by almost $600 billion over the next 10 years.

A more sober assessment from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office tells a different story. It finds that a large part of the supposed savings from spending cuts would go, not to reduce the deficit, but to pay for tax cuts. In fact, the budget office finds that over the next decade the plan would lead to bigger deficits and more debt than current law.

It's not a serious budget. It's just more ideology divorced from reality.

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John Kerry Helps Democrats Hold Senate

John Kerry spends an enormous amount of time and puts forth a huge effort to try to help Democrats across the country. During the 2006 cycle, he raised a lot of money, giving key early boosts to eventual Senators like Jim Webb. And then again in 2008, John Kerry campaigned tirelessly to expand the Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress and elect Barack Obama President.

Now, in a much tougher political climate in 2010, John Kerry again stepped up, helping in races across the country, playing a key role in the Democratic retention of the Senate. Here's a good article by the Boston Globe:

In the 2010 campaign, Kerry has appeared at fund-raisers and events for Senate colleagues in tough races, including Barbara Boxer of California and Harry Reid of Nevada.

Boxer’s campaign staff said Kerry sent out two fund-raising e-mails for the campaign, spoke passionately to campaign volunteers in California, addressed the local media on Boxer’s behalf, stumped for Boxer with veterans, and attended two fund-raisers.

Boxer is in a tight race with Republican Carly Fiorina, the former CEO ofHewlett-Packard.

For Reid, the Democratic majority leader fighting to hold his seat against a ferocious challenge from Republican Sharron Angle, Kerry raised more than $120,000 at a Boston fund-raiser, his staff said. He has also donated $14,000 to Reid’s campaign and raised another $70,000 through e-mail solicitations. Kerry has also raised money and provided contributions totaling $75,000 for the Nevada Democratic Party.

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John Kerry urges voters to get out and vote

As part of a large email campaign to rally Democrats to get to the polls and vote to keep the Senate in Democratic hands, John Kerry emailed out a number of emails to supporters across the country, urging them to vote. Here's one example, pushing people to vote for Majority Leader Harry Reid.

 

I love Harry Reid, and we all need Harry Reid as Majority Leader -- and make no mistake: he needs your help. It all comes down to this -- time is running out! DON'T FORGET TO GO VOTE!

Early voting ends today. Make your voice heard NOW! Click here to find your early voting polling location. You can also call 1-888-525-VOTE (8683).

Every vote counts -- no one can afford to stay home. So click here now for hours, directions and information on where you can vote early.

This election is too important, don't wait -- cast your vote TODAY! Click here to find your early voting polling location, or call 1-888-525-VOTE (8683).

 

 

Thanks,

John Kerry

 

 

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Senate Republican Leader Makes It Clear

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader in the Senate, laid out his party's top priority should they gain the majority. Jobs? Deficit reduction? Foreign Policy? Nope.

They want the majority to go after Obama. That's it. Here's McConnell in his own words:

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

That's it. Laid bare for all to see. This is not a party with real ideas on how to meet the challenges we face, no program to bring good jobs to Americans, or reform our energy use to deal with the crisis of climate change and create clean energy jobs, or ideas on how to straighten out the foreclosure mess in our country. Nope, the only ideas they have are political, and the only people who will benefit from their ideas are themselves.

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Deutsche Bank Examines Climate Science, Finds “Skeptics” Just Adding Noise

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Obama Opposed to Extension of Bush Tax Cuts for Wealthy

From the New York Times:

 

President Barack Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.


Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension.

 

The choice is pretty clear. Republicans are braying loudly, but they just want to drag us back to the policies that got us in this mess in the first place. Let's keep move forward away from the mess of the past, not back into it.

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Gallup Polls Show Volatility in Election

The Hill reports:

Say goodbye to the 10-point lead Republicans enjoyed in last week's Gallup poll of generic congressional preferences. 

Gallup's weekly tracking poll of the generic ballot, a key predictor of voters' actions in elections, showed Democrats and Republicans tied at 46 percent -- down from the 10-point lead the GOP held just a week ago.

What this really means is not that the parties are tied, but that the election is very volatile. There's a lot of economic pain out there, but people are disgusted by the GOP. It will take a lot of work, but we can win this race in the fall.

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