AFL-CIO To Democrats: We'll Work To End Your Career If You Cut Social Security Or Medicare

WASHINGTON -- With fresh Capitol Hill budget battles on the horizon, the head of the leading labor federation planned to issue a blistering warning to unions' Democratic allies on Monday, saying the AFL-CIO would "never stop working" to end the political careers of Democrats who cut entitlement programs.

"No politician … I don’t care the political party … will get away with cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. Don’t try it," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, according to prepared remarks for a speech in Las Vegas, Nev.

According to the draft, which was supplied to HuffPost by the AFL-CIO, Trumka stressed his point for Democrats who may be wobbly on the issue.

"This warning goes double for Democrats," he said. "We will never forget. We will never forgive. And we will never stop working to end your career."

The AFL-CIO has long opposed any cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, and the labor federation has suggested in the past that it would consider pulling support from Democrats who help make those cuts happen. But Trumka's remarks on the issue Monday amounted to a far more aggressive threat: That the AFL-CIO would actively use its war chest to unseat Democrats on the other side of the issue.

An AFL-CIO spokesperson clarified for HuffPost that the federation still considers so-called "chained CPI" to be part of the off-limits cuts to which Trumka was referring. A chained CPI inflation index would alter the way cost-of-living adjustments are made for Social Security recipients, slowing increases and reducing the benefits for seniors and the disabled. Many Democrats have shown an openness toward chained CPI, and the measure was included in President Barack Obama's 2014 budget, where it was paired with extra money for the elderly and poor.

Via: Huffington Post

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EXCLUSIVE–DOCUMENTS: CONGRESS CHARGES SECRET FEE TO LAND TOP COMMITTEE SPOTS

Members of Congress must pay secret fees known as “party dues” to the Democratic and Republican parties to secure and maintain top committee chairmanships and assignments, newly uncovered internal documents reveal.

The never-before-published lists are reprinted inside the new book Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets, written by Government Accountability Institute President and Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Peter Schweizer.

Senior congressional staffers say the committee price lists have long been rumored to exist but that few people on Capitol Hill have seen them, giving them an almost "mythical" quality.

The book contains copies of the Democratic and Republican price lists detailing how much money lawmakers must raise to obtain and keep their seats on congressional committees. The so-called “party dues” lawmakers must contribute for committee assignments are separate and apart from the fundraising they conduct for their own campaigns. If lawmakers fail to make their tribute payment to their party, they can lose their place on a powerful committee.  

“These party dues are not voluntary,” writes Schweizer. “Members are not asked to pay—they are required to pay.”

In the 2013-2014 election cycle, the going rate for a Democratic assignment as the ranking member on a top committee like the House Ways and Means or Financial Services Committees is $500,000. Schweizer reports that Democrats also use a “members points system” that rewards its members for attending party fundraisers.

Via: Breitbart

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Private Charities Stepped Up While Government Was Shut Down

Over the past two weeks, much media coverage has been devoted to the politicians in Washington, while far less time was spent discussing the ramifications the shutdown had on the lives of furloughed federal workers. The people who work for non-essential segments of the federal government are working to put food on the table and take care of their kids like any other individuals working in the private sector. So while it’s easy to chuckle and point out that life went mostly unchanged in the partial shutdown, there were people immediately affected by it.

In an ideal situation, there would be enough private sector jobs to absorb the number of people employed in the unnecessary parts of federal government. It’s tempting to look at an index of government positions and cross out all of the extraneous agencies and departments. However, while the economy isn’t all bad, it’s pretty plain that there are simply not enough available jobs for this to be feasible.

Furloughed federal workers will receive retroactive pay, but not until the government reopened of course. Until then, there was no paycheck coming in.

This had some Capitol Hill workers fretting over making various payments if the shutdown kept dragging on. It’s likely that many federal workers would have “[fou]nd themselves in a serious financial bind if they miss[ed] two paychecks.” There are those who had retroactive pay coming, but still could not afford to put food on the table, as they were already living paycheck to paycheck.

Via: Pocket Full of Liberty

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Senate Debt Deal Weakens Congress on Debt Ceiling

Capitol Hill talk regarding the Senate deal apparently includes a provision that would take away the Congress’ power to increase the debt ceiling. According to Politico, it looks like the buzz appears to be true.:

The plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt ceiling would be raised.

National Journal reported last week:

Whether it's four weeks from now or in one year, there'd be even less reason to put faith in a last-minute deal next time the U.S. is up against the debt limit.

There's only one foolproof way to avoid a future crisis: Fundamentally change the way the debt ceiling works.

This approach isn't all that radical. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., proposed a reform in January that would change the debt-ceiling mechanism so that Congress would vote to disapprove of an increase, as opposed to approving one. Such a change would limit debt-ceiling negotiations to a veto-proof majority, while still leaving Congress with some power.

The most interesting part of this proposal? It was originally floated in 2011 by Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell. The potential for a bipartisan deal here that fixes the debt-limit problem is real. Sen. Boxer continues to advocate for the change. Right now though, Harry Reid's office says the senator is not considering any disapproval mechanism. But that could change as this process moves on.

Via: Breitbart

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The GOP divide: A battle of Corleones

In trying to understand the Republican Party’s internal battles, it helps to think of Michael and Sonny.

On one side we have Sonny, the hotheaded, impulsive, shoot-now-take-names-later son of Don Corleone. On Capitol Hill, he personifies the tea party followers who would rather die on principle than live to win a later day.

On the other side, we have Michael, the cooler-headed son and intellectual strategist. On the Hill, Michael represents the so-called establishment legislators who understand the way forward but thus far have been reluctant to pull the trigger.

That’s a metaphor, for all those literalists out there who may feel compelled to issue fresh gun-control imperatives. It means to take necessary, if unpleasant, action. Before action, however, there should be a plan, which has been demonstrably missing in recent weeks. Had there been a strategic, long-view plan, rather than a series of tactical blunders, Republicans might now be basking in the realization of a dream: Obamacare is a hot mess.

Remember the “train wreck” that Republicans kept promising? Well, guess what. It’s happening. The train is wrecking. And yet, rather than popping open the champagne as the Obamacare Web site crashes in a glut of glitches, Michael and Sonny are having a staring contest.

Via: Washington Post

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Cruz wins religious conservatives' 2016 straw poll

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz decidedly won the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voters summit, solidifying his status among religious conservatives.

Cruz, a first-term senator and Tea Party favorite, has emerged as one of the Republican Party and conservative movement’s most dynamic leaders –  highlighted by his effort to defund ObamaCare.

Cruz, who appears to have presidential aspirations, took 42 percent of the vote, with Dr. Ben Carson and former Pennsylvania Sen. and GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum each getting 13 percent.

Though the 2016 race is years off, the annual summit in Washington is considered an early indication of how conservative voters are leaning.

“I just spoke with Senator Cruz and he wanted me to convey to you his deep appreciation for your enthusiastic and … that he was very grateful to know that there are Americans across the country who are standing with him as he stands for your values here in Washington, D.C.,” said Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council,  which is hosting the three-day event, according to The Washington Times.

Among the other Capitol Hill conservatives to speak at the event were GOP Sens. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida, also thought to have 2016 White House aspirations.

Paul finished in fourth place in the straw poll with 6 percent of the vote and Mr. Rubio finished fifth with 5 percent.

Cruz, whose speech was interrupted several times by immigration reform advocates, said Friday the health care law and Obama's spending priorities had put the nation on the wrong track. "We have a couple of years to turn this country around, or we go off the cliff into oblivion," he said.

Via Fox News Politics

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SOURCES: RYAN COMPROMISE WILL KEEP OBAMACARE 'FOREVER'

Breitbart News reported that House Republicans have offered a new deal to the White House to end the fiscal stalemate. The GOP plan, authored primarily by House Budget Chair Rep. Paul Ryan according to Hill sources, would meet Obama's demands in exchange for negotiations on a longer-term budget agreement.

At least two high-ranking Capitol Hill sources have told Breitbart News that Ryan’s plan would also help protect Obamacare as it is currently implemented.

Ryan's office deny the claims. “What your sources are attempting to attribute to Congressman Ryan is not accurate,” Kevin Seifert, Ryan’s spokesman, said in an email.

But the Capitol Hill conservative sources are adamant Ryan offered at least two things that they say would mitigate some of Obamacare's hardest-hitting effects on certain communities that are needed for the GOP to take the law down in the end.

The high-ranking conservative source said that this deal will ensure America has "Obamacare forever" and that Ryan's "pro union votes are really coming to light now."

At a meeting on Friday morning, the sources said Ryan’s plan was presented to a group of members. Ryan's plan would grant President Barack Obama a no-strings-attached “clean” debt ceiling increase for six weeks and acquiesce to Obama’s latest demand that Republicans also pass a Continuing Resolution to end the partial government shutdown. 

The plan was pitched to a room full of members of the House GOP caucus. Not only would Ryan’s plan amount to a GOP capitulation on the debt ceiling and budget, it would mitigate certain effects of Obamacare to help labor unions and members of the business community.

The grand bargain Ryan is attempting to negotiate would include a repeal of the medical device sales tax, a part of Obamacare even liberal Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) supports removing.

Via: Breitbart

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Reality check: The United States has added two times more debt than wealth in the past two years

It’s mighty tempting to look at the current shutdown/debt-ceiling fight as some kind of perverse abstraction, and to dismiss all of the hijinks on Capitol Hill and in the White House as exhibitions happening merely for their own political sakes — i.e., to completely divorce it all from the real reason we’re actually here right now. We are a stone’s throw away from$17 trillion in national debt, with absolutely zero plans to even just stop aggressively addingto that number, let alone come anywhere close to simply breaking even. So many liberals are so blithely convinced that ‘we face no impending debt crisis’ and that the simple legislative act of once again raising the debt ceiling has no substantive reason to devolve into such a circus — but here’s a handy little chart to consider, first posted by the Weekly Standard from the Senate Budget Committee:

…When the Treasury department started using so-called extraordinary measures to avoid a breach of the debt ceiling in May, 2011, the debt limit stood at $14,294 billion.

“Today it stands at $16,699 billion, which was reached when Treasury started using extraordinary measures in May of this year.  That’s a $2,405 billion increase in 2 years.

“Meanwhile, the economy, as measured by GDP only increased by $1,199 billion between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of this year.

Read: The amount of debt we incurred over the past two years was double the amount of wealth we added to our GDP; or, the rate at which our debt is growing is two times the rate at which our economy is growing — and Democrats’ only proffered solutions to this entirely unsustainable scenario are 1) increasing government spending and 2) raising taxes. Awesome.

Via: Hot AIr

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NBC's Todd: House Republicans 'Have Not Dropped' Benghazi

Talking to NBC's chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd on Sunday's Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory noted "Benghazi back as a political focus this week" following the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack, prompting Todd to observe: "It is. The House Republicans have not dropped this as an issue." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Todd continued: "They didn't talk about it last week during the one-year anniversary of the Benghazi attack. But this week, on Thursday alone, three different hearings are going to be taking place on the same day on Capitol Hill. House Republicans, they don't want to drop this."

As a recent Media Research Center study detailed, NBC – along with the rest of the media – has been happy to "drop" the Benghazi story.

Despite all the unanswered questions that remain about the attack and the fact that no suspects have been apprehended, on Wednesday's September 11 anniversary, NBC only devoted 21 seconds of airtime to the story. Between Today and Nightly News, a total of three sentences were given to mark 12 months since the attack.

In a 24-hour period on Tuesday and Wednesday, NBC spent more time – a total of 36 seconds – on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton being awarded the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal.

Via; Newsbusters

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Hoyer: GOP Will Shoot Its 'Own Child' if Dems Don't 'Pay Ransom' on Debt Ceiling

Using a bizarre analogy, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) accused Republicans of being willing to "take their own child hostage" and “shoot [their] own child" if Democrats do not agree to federal spending cuts in exchange for GOP support in raising the debt ceiling.

The federal government is slated to reach its $16.69 trillion borrowing limit by early September.

"In effect, what they're doing is they're taking their own child hostage, their child in this case being the United States of America's credit, taking their own child hostage, and  telling us (Democrats), ‘If you don't pay ransom, we're gonna shoot our own child'," Hoyer told reporters at a press briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

"Republicans talk about what they want to get from us in order to vote for the debt limit extension. The problem with that, of course, is that almost all the Republican leaders have said that defaulting on the debt is an unacceptable alternative," Hoyer added.

Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House, also criticized a Republican proposal by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to defund Obamacare by not including money for the controversial health care law in any continuing resolution to keep the government running.

Via: CNS News

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3 DAYS TO WIN BATTLEGROUNDS Candidates Bank on Voter Turn Out

Mitt Romney and President Obama blazed across the country Saturday, hitting key battleground states where both candidates vowed partisan compromise if elected and urged supporters to help them win over the remaining undecided voters.

The promises for compromise in Washington were an attempt to appeal to Independent voters who could swing the tight race now in its final three days.

“I need you to reach across the lawn to the neighbor with the other (campaign) sign,” Romney said at a rally in Colorado, his third of four Saturday. “I’ve got to reach across the aisle. Walk with me. We can do this.”

 Romney began the day with an outdoor rally in New Hampshire, then made a stop in Iowa before attending the rally in Colorado Spring. His finally rally of the day will be in Englewood, Colo.

President Obama made similar arguments during his stops -- Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, then Virginia in the evening.

The president told the crowd in Ohio: "I'll work with any party to make this country move forward. If you want to break the gridlock of Congress, vote for me."

He also took a jab at what he sees as the Romney plan for White House-Capitol Hill compromises -- agreements to cut  funding to Planned Parenthood, health care and student financial aid.

"I’m not going to have that," the president said inside a school gymnasium in Mentor, Ohio. "That's not bipartisanship. … Knock on some doors with me, make some calls for me."

In Wisconsin, the president delivered similar remarks but added some star power -- singer Katy Perry, who wore a shiny blue mini dress with the word “Forward” across the top and sang into a microphone that looked like the Statue of Liberty torch.

In Iowa, the president referred to the fatal, devastating superstorm Sandy to make his point about working together.

“We are in this together,” he said in Dubuque, Iowa. “We will rise and fall as one nation.”

The president began the day with an early-morning meeting at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters to discuss relief efforts for the Sandy victims.

Via: Fox News

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Bob Woodward on Obama's Sequestration Comments: 'What The President Said Is Not Correct'

Bob Woodward says President Barack Obama got some of his facts wrong on sequester at Monday night’s debate.

Woodward’s book, “The Price of Politics,” has been the go-to fact check source for the president’s answer, in which he claimed the idea of using deep, automatic, across-the-board domestic and defense spending cuts to force Congress to address the nation’s burgeoning federal deficit originated from Congress, not from the White House.

(Also on POLITICO: D.C. caught off guard by Obama sequester vow)

“What the president said is not correct,” Woodward told POLITICO Tuesday. “He’s mistaken. And it’s refuted by the people who work for him.”

Woodward, a Washington Post journalist who was a key reporter on the initial coverage of the Watergate scandal, said he stands behind his reporting in the book, which drew upon sources involved in last year’s deficit talks and detailed notes taken in the meetings.

(Also on POLITICO: Woodward's book: 5 telling moments)

Woodward reports in his book that White House Office of Management Director Jack Lew and Legislative Affairs Director Rob Nabors took the proposal for sequestration to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and then it was presented to congressional Republicans.

During the debate, however, Obama said the idea originated on Capitol Hill.

“First of all, the sequester is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed,” Obama said, adding his strongest pronouncement to date on its future: “It will not happen.”

Woodward said there’s a possibility the president was unaware of how the idea came about.

“It’s a complicated process — and in fairness to the president — maybe he didn’t know that they were doing this because it’s kind of technical budget jargon,” Woodward said.

Via: Politico

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Was Obama Rattled By Looming Donor Scandal?…

President Obama's reelection campaign, rattled by his Wednesday night debate performance, could be in for even worse news. According to knowledgeable sources, a national magazine and a national web site are preparing a blockbuster donor scandal story.

Sources told Secrets that the Obama campaign has been trying to block the story. But a key source said it plans to publish the story Friday or, more likely, Monday.

According to the sources, a taxpayer watchdog group conducted a nine-month investigation into presidential and congressional fundraising and has uncovered thousands of cases of credit card solicitations and donations to Obama and Capitol Hill, allegedly from unsecure accounts, and many from overseas. That might be a violation of federal election laws.

The Obama campaign has received hundreds of millions in small dollar donations, many via credit card donations through their website. On Thursday, the campaign announced a record September donor haul of $150 million.

At the end of the 2008 presidential campaign, the Obama-Biden effort was hit with a similar scandal. At the time, the Washington Post reported that the Obama campaign let donors use "largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity."

Via: The Examiner

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Allen West: ‘We Are Not Even Allowing Our Children And Grandchildren To Be Born’

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) introduced a coalition of black pro-life advocates on Capitol Hill on Friday by saying that abortion threatens the future of the black Americans.

“Today, we’re talking about the future,” West said. “It’s not just the $16 trillion in debt that we’re about to put on our children and grandchildren. It’s the fact that we’re not even allowing our children and grandchildren to be born.”

Catherine Davis, president of The Restoration Project, said the Centers for Disease Control statistics show that while blacks represent about 13 percent of the U.S. population, 35 percent of abortions are performed on black women.

“There is one organization whose mission is one of population control that greatly influences this disproportionate rate – that’s Planned Parenthood,” said Davis who, along with the other panelists, called for Congress to stop funding the organization. “They are the largest abortion provider, performing more than 329,000 abortions a year.”

Other speakers included Ryan Bomberger, founder of the Radiance Foundation. Bomberger’s mother was raped but carried the pregnancy to term and gave him up for adoption.

Bomberger’s biography states that, “His life defies the myth of the ‘unwanted’ child as he was adopted, loved and has flourished.”

Via: CNS News

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Rangel umbrage at Cantor: Higher taxes are 'paying your fair share!'

Censured Tax Cheat Charlie Rangel

New York Rep. Charles Rangel, censured by the House for ethics violations over squirrely financial dealings like failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets and failing to pay income taxes, today called President Obama's goal of killing some Bush tax cuts "paying your fair share!"

The 82-year-old's umbrage came in a tweet while he was in the Cannon Rotunda interview area. According to a picture he also tweeted, he was near House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who was in a discussion over the Bush tax cuts.

"My ears perking up to hear RepCantor saying taxes will go up under Pres Obama. It's called 'paying your fair share!'" Rangel tweeted just after noon.

His picture shows Rangel waiting to be interviewed with Cantor off to the right, TV light shining off his face as he is being interviewed.

It's the second time this week Rangel has ranted on proper ethics and tax paying. Earlier this week he rapped Mitt Romney for accurately saying that some 47 percent of Americans don't pay taxes. Rangel said in a statement that was just federal taxes, and that the 47 percent actually do pay some taxes, presumably local taxes.

When the tweet made its way around Capitol Hill today, many Rangel critics choked, mocking his long list of ethical challenges. His reputation and career were damaged when he was charged with ethical violations, forced to step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and eventually censured.

Via: Washington Times

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Rep. Ryan built 'clear-minded' reputation as policy point-person, despite 'extreme' label

From underpaid Capitol Hill staffer to vice presidential nominee in two decades. 

By Washington standards, that ain't bad. 

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's rise had been turning heads long before he was announced Saturday as Mitt Romney's running mate. His biography and evolution as a conservative standard-bearer now enter Republican Party history. 

Far from the "extreme" ideologue that Democrats try to portray him as, though, the 42-year-old lawmaker has charted a career marked by an approach members of both parties described, in less partisan times, as "serious." Though not afraid to fight on the stump, Ryan's studious and reserved brand of policymaking is one that almost seems anachronistic in an era marked by pin-drop fights over everything but issues. 

"The beauty about the guy is he really is who he's advertised as," Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who was Ryan's boss in the 1990s during his Senate days, told Fox News. 

Ryan's story started in Janesville, Wis., and never really left. He was born in the southern Wisconsin city in 1970 and has lived there ever since. 

Romney cited those roots in introducing his choice Saturday morning in Norfolk, Va. "Paul is a man of tremendous character shaped in large part by his early life," Romney said. 

The congressman's father died of a heart attack when the young Paul was still in high school. Paul once recalled in an interview with The New Yorker how he found his father dead in his bed. 

Via: Fox News

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