2015 American Politics Thread: The 114th Congress Is in the House!

Kevin Drum's list of Obama's lame duck accomplishments. Impressive for progressivism with the glaring, awful exception of TPP.

1. Normalized relations with Cuba.

2. Signed a climate deal with China.

3. Issued new EPA ozone rules.

4. Successfully argued in favor of same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court.

5. Put in place economic sanctions on Russia that have Vladimir Putin reeling.

6. Pressured the FCC to approve net neutrality rules.

7. Issued new EPA coal regulations.

8. Issued an executive order on immigration.

9. Got fast track authority for TPP and seems poised to pass it.

10. Signed a nuclear deal with Iran and appears on track to get it passed.

11. Won yet another Supreme Court case keeping Obamacare intact.

12. Issued new rules that increase the number of “managers” who qualify for overtime pay.

13. Presided over the birth of twin giant panda babies at Washington, D.C.’s, National Zoo.

don't forget all those lovely sunsets

and Arctic drilling!

With little fanfare, the Obama administration has been pursuing an aggressive campaign to restore protections for workers that have been eroded by business activism, conservative governance and the evolution of the economy in recent decades.

In the last two months alone, the administration has introduced a series of regulatory changes. Among them: a rule that would make millions more Americans eligible for extra overtime pay, and a guidance suggesting that many employers are misclassifying workers as contractors and therefore depriving them of basic workplace protections. That is an issue central to the growth of so-called gig economy companies like Uber.

A little more than a week ago, a federal appeals panel affirmed an earlier regulation granting nearly 2 million previously exempted home care workers minimum wage and overtime protections. And on Thursday, President Obama’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board issued an important ruling that makes it easier for employees of contractors and franchises to bargain collectively with the corporations that have sway over their operations.

“These moves constitute the most impressive and, in my view, laudable attempt to update labor and employment law in many decades,” said Benjamin I. Sachs, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former assistant general counsel for the Service Employees International Union. The goal, he said, is to “keep pace with changes in the structure of the labor market and the way work is organized. That’s a theme that runs through all of this.”

In one sense, Mr. Obama foreshadowed these efforts as a candidate in 2008, when he famously suggested that, if elected, he would aim to be a Democratic version of Ronald Reagan. “Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not,” he told a newspaper editorial board in Nevada. “He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/business/economy/as-his-term-wanes-obama-restores-workers-rights.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

giving Mt McKinley its old native name oughta be really popular with the loudest people

"Sounds like a Kenyan name to me..."

Yep, no surprise its getting lots of attention. I did not realize that Alaska Republicans want to call it Denali though.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mt-mckinley-becomes-the-newest-conservative-molehill/2015/08/31/057ae37e-5014-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html

Laura Ingraham's Website: 'McKinley Assassinated Again' By Obama Decision about an hour ago

i read that as Laura Ingalls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb1fWW17bnY

hilarious that all these OH politicians (OH is birthplace of mckinley) are talking about denali rename being a "insulting to all ohioans"........it's in fucking alaska dudes, nobody in ohio gives a shit, that mountain is thousands of miles away from ohio

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/denali-obama-mckinley-ohio

the Brietbart.com take on Denali was particularly foul

When the issue is entirely symbolic, they must ratchet up the rhetoric to the boiling point, because no one cares about lukewarm symbolism.

"Sounds like a Kenyan name to me..."

Not sure if you thought of that yourself, but this meme hit my facebook today:

https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HR.148689519967&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

living in denali

lol at this flap

The Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975, which is how it is called locally.[6][26] However, a request in 1975 from the Alaska state legislature to the United States Board on Geographic Names to do the same at the federal level was blocked by Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district included McKinley's hometown of Canton.[27]

BLACK POWER

and, inevitably (though fast):

Donald Trump, apparently assuming he will secure the White House, tweeted on Monday evening that he would reverse the decision announced by President Obama to change the name of Alaska's Mount McKinley back to the traditional name Denali, saying it is an affront to the Buckeye State.

"President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!" read the tweet, issued from the account of the real estate mogul.

tbh you'd think Ohio would be glad to start to shed associations with at least one of the half-dozen or so terrible presidents they've bequeathed to the union. if there's anything still named after harding, grant, and either of the harrisons, i hope obama jumps on those too.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3263/3151733223_b4dfb62716_z.jpg

also it's high time somebody took bold action on butter mount rushmore

apparently turd blossom karl rove is writing a book about mckinley, whose career he wanted gwb to emulate so fucking hard

i don't know if he cared about dubya being mckinley as long as he got to be mark hanna

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/09/03/the-daily-202-contract-with-the-nrcc-the-deal-gopers-make-to-get-reelected/

The closely-held document offers a window into how much autonomy lawmakers often must forfeit to unelected Washington insiders. For instance, in exchange for reelection support, lawmakers must promise to exclusively use vendors sanctioned by establishment-aligned party chieftains, attend training sessions and raise six figures for the NRCC. They must also commit to holding a certain amount of cash-on-hand at the end of each fundraising quarter and limit their spending. These goals are tailored to the individual member, so someone who sits on a prominent committee (say Financial Services) would be expected to bring in a bigger haul. And let’s face it, some of the goals are simply smart ways for members to prepare early in the era of the permanent campaign.

ex-gawkerer Adam Weinstein comments:

https://twitter.com/AdamWeinstein/status/639475602563706884

lewis "memo" powell v3.0

http://gawker.com/leaked-files-show-how-the-heritage-foundation-navigates-1727706821

Heritage F. donors views---

At lunch, Bob was characteristically passionate, but this time so no much against the Muslims, but against liberals and socialists. He said that everytime he meets a liberal/leftist person, he says “well, I guess you’re a mass murderer in training, because that’s where your ideology leads.”

otm

So, what rationale do republicans invoke when denying 9/11 first responders medical benefits?

Some dodge the question, but it is amazing how many voted no the first time around and now don't want to renew it

Republican Lamar Alexander from Tenn

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has assured us that funds remain available through the first part of next year to keep the program operating while Congress works to complete bipartisan legislation to extend this crucial program while making important reforms and improvements,” Alexander said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jon-stewart-911-responders_55fad254e4b08820d9178ea4

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/254181-house-votes-to-freeze-funding-for-planned-parenthood

omg did the GOP-controlled House just pass a symbolic bill that has no chance of passage?!? stop the presses

They're gonna keep passing these symbolic ones, and probably shut down the government rather than work on a budget that can get signed

and we will all keep getting OMG THE GOP JUST DESTROYED THE UNIVERSE fundraising emails from the DNC

Vicki Vale. Vick...Vicki Vale

I mean I'm angry...not cos it means anything, but just cos of the offensive rhetoric.

I'm getting the DNC emails, I'm getting support Bernie emails from others, and as a fed in the DC area I'm getting the shutdown coming media coverage...politics sometimes seems like the Groundhog Day movie but with some slight variations

"Have you bought your Pay per view coverage of the shutdown? "

You Won't Believe What the House Just Did

And of course the Washington Post with their equivalencies

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/are-democrats-and-republicans-talking-about-the-same-country/2015/09/18/7e6de048-5e32-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html

To the Democratic candidates, the 2016 presidential campaign is about shrinking the gap between rich and poor; combating climate change; and expanding voting rights, gay rights and workplace equality for women.

To listen to the Republican candidates is to hear an entirely different campaign — one that centers on defeating Islamic State terrorists, deterring a nuclear Iran, restricting abortion, and debating whether to deport illegal immigrants and construct a wall to keep them out.

At a political moment of pitched voter anxiety, candidates in both parties talk in dark, sometimes apocalyptic tones — but about different issues, as if they’re addressing two different countries.

Spending US money mostly on foreign issues: the new face of trickle down economics.

Or I guess trickle up, since America is the top country.

Everyone please stop citing the Washington Post as if it were a newspaper at all, let alone the great newspaper that created that brand.

The writer leaves out that Jeb, Trump and the others do largely want to continue with trickle down economics and cut taxes for the rich (but now with a few bait and switch efforts to imply they are helping the middle class as well)

Please don't let nuance and truth get in the way of a good narrative

^^^ what I tell students

John Boehner retiring from Congress at the end of October. Can't wait to see what crawls up out of the earth to run for his seat.

ugh sets the stage for shutdown over PP

speaker gohmert imo

worst speaker ever

He wanted the job at the moment when it became the equivalent of Louis XVI inheriting the crown. In another age he might’ve been a dependable hack, useful after a round of negotiations in conference rooms with billowing Marlboro Red smoke. Instead he became a doleful nobody and respected by no one.

You could sort of say the same for both Reid and McConnell. The Senate is more manageable than the House, but the age of mandatory 60-vote majorities has made it pretty hard to actually get anything done.

Reid and McConnell both in much better control of their caucuses than Boehner ever was

chances of shutdown just rose from 75% to around 190% or so

oh wait...i'm totally wrong

The shocking move, first reported by The New York Times, means there’s unlikely to be a government shutdown next week. Following Boehner’s announcement, House Republicans said there was agreement to pass a clean spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Several members of the Freedom Caucus, the conservative group which led the revolt against Boehner’s leadership, said they will now support the spending bill without demands to defund Planned Parenthood attached to it.

“The commitment has been made that there will be no shutdown,” said Rep. John Fleming (R-La.).

ooook