Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann’s failure to address a disturbing trend of teen suicides within her own congressional district does not reflect well on her White House ambitions, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi told The Advocate Thursday.
Over the past two years, nine teens have committed suicide in Minnesota’s largest school district, resulting in federal investigations, lawsuits from advocacy groups, and the morbid designation of a “suicide contagion area” by state public health officials. At least four suicide victims, as Mother Jones noted in a feature published Monday, had been reported victims of bullying because they were LGBT or perceived to be LGBT.
There are several things wrong with this:
Getting attacked by Nancy Pelosi is good for Republicans.
To say “X got bullied” and “X committed suicide” shows correlation, not causation.
What about all of the gay people who didn’t commit suicide?
But this is just more “Republicans are homophobes” propaganda.
By the way, in a conversation last week, a friend pointed out that “anti-bullying” has become the latest fashionable liberal crusade precisely because “anti-bullying” is code for “Let’s teach pro-gay ‘tolerance’ in the schools!” And my friend pointed that out in relation to this video:
“Pet the dog! Pet the dog!” My friend’s theory is that the Hutchison-Stodden marriage is just a scam to promote a reality-TV show.
Are people really that cynical in Hollywood? I dunno. And it’s probably an unfair stereotype to suggest that men who like tiny dogs are gay.
The Senate on Friday evening rejected House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) plan to raise the debt limit, upping the ante in the game of chicken between House and Senate.
The 59-41 vote, on a motion to table the resolution passed by the House less than two hours before, ran mostly along party lines, easily reaching the simple majority required to sink legislation in the upper chamber.
Six Republicans joined Democrats to table the Boehner resolution: Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), and David Vitter (La.).
Boehner’s office said the Senate’s refusal to take up the House plan puts the blame on Democrats if the U.S. defaults.
“For the second time, the House has passed a reasonable, common-sense plan to raise the debt limit and cut spending and, for the second time, Sen. [Harry] Reid [D-Nev.] has tabled it,” spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement. “The responsibility to end this crisis is now entirely in the hands of Sen. Reid and President Obama.”
The House of Representatives on Friday approved a plan for a short-term increase in the debt ceiling and cuts in spending, ending a week of intense fighting among Republicans and shifting the end game of the debate to the Senate.
The vote was 218-210, leaving House Speaker John A. Boehner with 20 Republicans who were unwilling to support his efforts to get a bill approved.
Urging passage for the bill, an emotional Mr. Boehner angrily accused President Obama and his Democratic allies of negotiating in bad faith for weeks and called the bill the only way to “end this crisis now.”
“All they would do was criticize what I put out there,” Mr. Boehner said, his voice rising during a rare appearance on the floor. “I stuck my neck out a mile to get an agreement with the president of the United States. I stuck my neck out a mile. I put revenues on the table.”
He added: “A lot of people in this town can never say yes.”
UPDATE III: Need a good laugh? While accusing Republicans of hostage-taking, White House press secretary Jay Carney expresses concern that “the economy has suffered”:
Where was Jay Carney’s concern for the economy while his boss, Obama, was wrecking the economy?
Justin Amash (Mich.)
Michele Bachmann (Minn.)
Chip Cravaack (Minn.)
Scott Desjarlais (Tenn.)
Tom Graves (Ga.)
Tim Huelskamp (Kans.)
Steve King (Iowa)
Tim Johnson (Ill.)
Tom McClintock (Calif.)
Mick Mulvaney (S.C.)
Ron Paul (Texas)
Tom Price (Ga.)
Connie Mack (Fla.)
Jim Jordan (Ohio)
Tim Scott (S.C.)
Paul Broun (Ga.)
Tom Latham (Iowa)
Jeff Duncan (S.C.)
Trey Gowdy (S.C.)
Steve Southerland (Fla.)
Joe Walsh (Ill.)
Joe Wilson (S.C.)
UPDATE V: Statement from freshman GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack, explaining his “no” vote on the Boehner bill:
Last week, I voted in favor of the only solution to our nation’s spending spiral to achieve long-term fiscal sustainability – the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. We must be responsible now. This includes savings to projected budget levels, enforceable spending controls, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution to avert a debt crisis, national default, and credit rating downgrade.
This evening, I could not in good conscience support the Budget Control Act considered by the House because the numbers simply don’t add up. The legislation would enable our nation to continue borrowing on an unsustainable course without the savings it desperately needs, the spending controls to prevent a U.S. credit downgrade, or the guarantee of a Balanced Budget Amendment to ensure prosperity for future Americans.
Last November, I told my constituents in the 8th District that I’m a numbers guy. I gave them my promise and my word that “if the numbers don’t add up, I’m not voting for it.” My constituents know me as a man of principle, and the bill considered by the House tonight is a bad bill that does little to thwart our abysmal economic trajectory.
I applaud the bill’s defense of American working families and job creators and look forward to working with my House colleagues in the coming days to determine a path forward. I urge the House and the Senate to act judiciously in our national interest.
UPDATE VI: Statement from Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) explaining his “no” vote:
I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that puts the future of my grandchildren and of generations to come in jeopardy. While I respect my Republican colleagues’ efforts to come up with a compromise, the people in the 10th Congressional District of Georgia did not send me to Washington to follow the herd. They sent me here to protect their liberty and to fundamentally change the way our federal government spends their money. I do support a Balanced Budget Amendment, but I do not support raising the debt ceiling and allowing President Obama to put more debt on the backs of the American people. Congress needs to first acknowledge that we have lost all control of our fiscal house, and then we need to focus on finding a real solution for paying down the national debt.
UPDATE VII: Freshman Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) explains her “yes” vote on the Boehner bill:
This evening, the House made history by successfully passing the Balanced Budget Act of 2011. This bill, which I am proud to support, is a fiscally sound solution to put an end to this spending-driven debt crisis and will save the people who sent us here and their families from a bankrupt future. We have now sent not one, but two bills to the Senate that promote both common sense and real spending cuts. If the President and leaders in the Senate are serious about balancing our budget and ending this debt crisis, they will allow this legislation to come to the Senate floor for a vote and be signed into law.
Freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) explains his “yes” vote on the Boehner bill:
The Budget Control Act is far from perfect but the hard reality is that fiscal conservatives control only one-half of one-third of our government. This bill will make sure the President does not receive a blank check to continue his spending binge and the old ways of Washington, DC – blindly increasing the debt limit without spending cuts- are over. This vote is historic- it’s the first time we are raising the debt ceiling with cuts greater than the increase.
I learned when I was a solider at Fort Irwin National Training Center that when Officers waste too much time trying to come up with the perfect plan, they fall short because they are too inflexible or divided to see the path to victory. However, if you can come up with a 70-75 percent plan and execute it well, then you can win- and that’s what we have in the Budget Control Act.
The Budget Control Act is not perfect, but it is the 70 percent plan that my colleagues and I can execute to 100 percent.
It is now time for the focus to be on the United States Senate to produce a plan to take this country forward.
My fellow Americans, I ask you: If I had voted “No” on the Budget Control Act, who would I have been voting for?
Denise Richards hasn’t always been happy with her body. In the new issue of Us Weekly (out now), the 40-year-old actress opens up about her series of botched boob jobs — and why she decided to show them off in Playboy.
“When I was 19, a doctor put in bigger implants than what I asked for. I was in such a hurry to get them that I didn’t research my doctor,” Richards says. . . .
So why did the Real Girl Next Door author decide to doff her top for Playboy in 2004? “A couple reasons: I wanted to encourage women that it’s OK to embrace your sexuality even though you’re a mom,” Richards explains. “At the same time, I was having some problems in my marriage [to Charlie Sheen] and I didn’t feel sexy and felt I had to prove something.”
Some advice, ladies:
Sexy is not something you can buy from a plastic surgeon.
If you’re going to get naked in a magazine, OK. But don’t try to tell us it’s about altruism, a selfless effort to “encourage women that it’s OK to embrace your sexuality even though you’re a mom.” You’re not Gandhi. And Playboy magazine isn’t about feminist consciousness-raising.
Don’t ever get involved with Charlie Sheen.
And now for news a different kind of fake boob: Hollywood is using CGI to fake nude scenes, so if you think you’re going to see Olivia Wilde’s nipples in a movie, you’re wrong.
It’s obvious to me that George Soros manipulated the market today just to screw me out of that $10. Some may call it “paranoia” to blame Soros — why should an evil billionaire care about a small wager between two minor right-wing bloggers? — but the evidence is clear enough.
Never mind that now. The Dow has fallen in each of the past six sessions, losing more than 580 points since closing at 12,724.41 July 21 — Wall Street’s worst week in a year.
A stalemate in Washington over lifting the debt ceiling, combined with gloomy economic data, sent the blue chips tumbling more than 4% for the week. . . .
Amid the volatility, traders once again flocked to gold, which has continually hit record highs. The precious metal gained $15.00, or 0.93%, to $1,631 a troy ounce. Silver climbed 31 cents, or 0.78%, to $40.11 a troy ounce.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, settled at a record $1,631.20 a troy ounce, up $15.00, or 0.9% on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract touched an intraday record of $1,637.50.
August-delivery gold rose $14.90, or 0.9%, to settle at a record $1,628.30 a troy ounce. It earlier touched an intraday record of $1,634.90.
Gold surged on weaker-than-expected U.S. growth data, which fortified investor concerns about the economy and pressured the dollar. The nation’s gross domestic product grew at 1.3% in the second quarter this year, well short of the 1.8% growth forecast by economists. The government’s first-quarter growth reading was slashed to a paltry 0.4%.
Everybody keeps saying it’s a “bubble,” but gold just keeps going up, up, up.
That was the first time Etheridge’s Tea Party-backed GOP challenger was mentioned on the blog. We frequently mentioned Ellmers during the course of the campaign — I’m sure many of y’all contributed to her — and I interviewed her at the Capitol the day she was sworn into office.
This year, Ellmers caught people’s attention in late June when she confronted U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on whether a tax increase on 3 percent of small-business owners should be coupled with spending cuts to reduce the national debt and national deficit. Geithner said there is no other alternative. “You are wrong,” Ellmers told him. A tax increase would stifle job creation, Ellmers said.
A few days later, the House leadership had Ellmers deliver the Republican Party’s official response to Democratic President Obama’s weekly national address. She talked about Republican ideas on how to create jobs.
Since then, Ellmers has appeared on national television at least eight times. Several of those appearances focused on the debt ceiling. . . .
Before President Obama’s speech, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 90 points. Now — as of 10:45 a.m. ET — it’s down 110 points.
Why? Because he used his speech for a partisan hit on the GOP as offering a bill that “does not solve the problem” and can’t pass Harry Reid’s Democrat-controlled Senate.
Obama says “The House is still trying to pass a bill that the Senate won’t vote for. It does not solve the problem and it has no chance of becoming law. Any bill to avoid default must be bipartisan. It will have to have support of the House and the Senate.” . . . This is a nothing speech, actually.
Exactly — a mere repetition of his earlier talking points.
Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake just said that changes in the Boehner bill make it something he can vote for. And the DJIA just broke into positive territory, so my $10 bet is looking shaky.
