CANTOR: MANY SENATORS 'REGRET' VOTING FOR AMNESTY

In a House floor debate on Friday where he squared off against House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that “many” U.S. Senators who voted for the Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill now “regret” having done so.

“Certainly there are differences on how to go about doing that, but we remain committed, as does the chairman, in trying to move in a step-by-step manner, to address the various issues involved with immigration reform, but not to do it the way the Senate did, because as we've seen, many of those who actually voted for the senate bill in the other body have now said they regret that vote or they perhaps would do something differently,” Cantor said on the House floor.

Cantor did not specify who specifically he meant. Fourteen Senate Republicans—including each of the four Republican members of the Gang of Eight—joined all Senate Democrats in supporting the over one thousand-page bill. 

That number of Republicans who Cantor is likely referring to at least includes Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the lead GOP sponsor of the Senate bill who effectively unendorsed it in an exclusive Breitbart News story by publicly opposing conference committee between the House and any Senate bills. All of House GOP leadership except for House Budget Committee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) joined Rubio’s disavowing of the Senate bill and any efforts to save it in a conference this week. Ryan is on record as supportive of efforts to save the Senate bill via conference and has not walked them back.

None of the other 14 Republicans who voted for the amnesty bill—Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), John Hoeven (R-ND), Bob Corker (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), or Susan Collins (R-ME), or now former Sen. Jeff Chiesa (R-NJ), who since been replaced by now Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) after the state’s special election—have publicly expressed regret over voting for the bill.

Via: Breitbart

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Steny Hoyer: Obama Telling Americans They Could Keep Their Plans Was Not A Lie, People Interpreted What He Said “Expansively”…

President Barack Obama issued a rare presidential apology when he expressed remorse for promising to Americans that they could keep their insurance plans if they liked their current coverage.

Don’t expect the same “I’m sorry” from House Democratic leaders.

In a news conference Thursday after a meeting with White House officials, the top four Democrats said they won’t apologize for that promise, instead defending the language of the Affordable Care Act — their prized legislative achievement.

(Also on POLITICO: Obama: 'It's on me')

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who shepherded Obamacare through the House as speaker, said Obama was “very gracious” in making that apology but that the president’s words – in the context of the law – were “absolutely” precise.

“There’s nothing in the Affordable Care Act that says that your insurance company should cancel you,” she told reporters. “That’s not what the Affordable Care Act is about. It simply didn’t happen.”

She continued that she did not make a similar statement to her constituents, noting that she “would have if I ever met anybody that liked his or her plan, but that was not my experience.”

Via: Politico

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Top Dem Admits: ‘We Knew’

THEY LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND STILL ARE NOT ACCOUNTABLE

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer conceded to reporters today that Democrats knew people would not be able to keep their current health care plans under Obamacare and expressed qualified contrition for President Obama’s repeated vows to the contrary.

“We knew that there would be some policies that would not qualify and therefore people would be required to get more extensive coverage,” Hoyer said in response to a question from National Review.

Asked by another reporter how repeated statements by Obama to the contrary weren’t “misleading,” Hoyer said “I don’t think the message was wrong. I think the message was accurate. It was not precise enough…[it] should have been caveated with – ‘assuming you have a policy that in fact does do what the bill is designed to do.’”

Hoyer noted that people losing access to their current plans are mostly in the individual market, which is a small segment of the overall market. He also argued requiring those plans to follow new mandates and regulations was important for ensuring those plans included “adequate coverage so the public would not have to be on the hook for serious illnesses or other illnesses.”

Via: NRO

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Hoyer's Plan for Fixing Obamacare Website: 'Give Them a Little Money'

(CNSNews.com) -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the way for Congress to help fix the problem-plagued Obamacare website is to give the administration "a little money."

At a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday, a reporter said “the website is not working,” and then asked Hoyer, “Are you confident, though, the White House is taking the steps necessary? Is there anything you in Congress can do to help the White House take the steps?”

Hoyer said, “Give them a little money. We've been pretty much focused in the House of Representatives on undermining the implementation and the Affordable Care Act in every which way they [Republicans]  possibly could. Now, I don’t think that’s the reason, however. I don’t know that. If  it is, it is. But I don’t know that to be the case.”

The reporter, in reference to the website, then asked, “You don’t blame lack of money for this?”  Hoyer said, “I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t blame, it’s – if I know that, I’ll blame it. I don’t know it at this point in time, Dave, so I’m not going to attribute it to that.”

Via: CNS News

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Hoyer on CR Defunding Obamacare: ‘Blatant Act of Hostage-Taking’

(CNSNews.com) – Speaking on the House floor on Friday, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called the bill to defund Obamacare and fund all of the federal government “a blatant act of hostage-taking.”

“Today we are considering a measure to fund government only if the Democratic Senate and Democratic president will agree to dismantle the health care reform law that will help millions of Americans access quality affordable care. That isn’t going to happen, and it is a blatant act of hostage-taking,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer’s remarks were made before the House voted 230-189 to approve the CR at current sequester levels of $986.3 billion from Sept. 30 – the last day of the federal fiscal year - through Dec. 15.

Congress must enact a new law to allow the administration to spend money after that date. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution says: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." For a bill authorizing spending from the Treasury to become law, it must be approved by the House of Representatives, and the Senate, and signed by the president.

Via: CNS News

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Steny Hoyer: Navy Yard Shooting Will Renew Gun Control Debate

WASHINGTON -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that he expects the tragic shooting at the Navy Yard will renew the debate around gun control, although he was pessimistic about prospects for passing new restrictions.

"I'm sure that it will renew the discussions about access to weapons that can be used to kill a lot of people quickly," he said at a breakfast discussion hosted by Politico's Morning Money.

On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) -- one of Congress' strongest gun control advocates -- put out a statement calling for just that.

"When will enough be enough? Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country," she said. "We must do more to stop this endless loss of life."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, however, said it was "inappropriate" to talk about the issue at this point.

"In almost every one of these instances [of mass shootings], we've seen the perpetrators be people who individuals thought were unstable," said Hoyer on Tuesday. "In this case, apparently this guy was prone to violence. He had apparently shot the tires out of a neighbor's vehicle. He'd shot through the ceiling of another neighbor. He was given a general discharge from the Navy. So there was no doubt that this was somebody who had a record of instability and certainly should have been, I think, subject to closer scrutiny, particularly in access to the facilities at the Navy Yard."

Additionally, the AP reported that Alexis had been suffering from various mental illnesses and "had been hearing voices in his head."

Via: Huffington Post

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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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Dem Rep Moves to Block Obama's Congressional Pay Increase

A Democratic member of Congress is moving to block President Barack Obama's congressional pay increase. The move, led by John Barrow of Georgia, is to prevent the pay increase that Obama issued through an executive order from going into effect.

"At a time when American families face real hardship, it would be irresponsible to allow Congressional pay to increase," says Barrow in a statement. "Too many families face uncertainty in the New Year for Congress to get a bonus. Folks expect us to be looking out for them, not ourselves, and we should be working to lower taxes, cut spending, and get our nation's debt under control. Congress should get to work, and I urge the House leadership to do anything and everything possible to stop this pay increase for Members of Congress right away."

Barrow's office explains: "The Executive Order called for a pay increase for Members of Congress and other elected officials of 0.5 percent after March 27, 2013. During tonight's votes, Congressman Barrow will urge his colleagues to sign his letter to House Leadership urging them to bring legislation to the floor to block the pay increase."

Here's the letter Barrow is circulating to send to House leadership:

Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, Leader Pelosi, Whip Hoyer,

We oppose the pay increase for Members of Congress granted by Executive Order on December 27, 2012. The Executive Order would raise our salaries by $900 per year, beginning March 27, 2013.

We believe that it is inappropriate for Members of Congress to receive a pay increase of any size while American families and taxpayers continue to face tough economic times.

We urge you to bring legislation to the floor to stop this pay adjustment as soon as possible.

Via: Weekly Standard

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