US politics as usual

[DrLeftover]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned. The Homeland Security Department instructed federal agents not to arrest him until after Election Day, a U.S. official involved in the case told the AP.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-12-14-18-16

 

[DrLeftover]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday he plans to send his chamber home for Christmas and then reconvene on Dec. 27 to try to work through the fiscal cliff — even as House Republicans said they'll keep their troops in town to try to strike a deal.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/dec/20/congress-goes-home-christmas/

 

[DrLeftover]

President Barack Obama used the funeral for Hawaii senator Daniel Inouye to talk about himself. In the short 1,600 word speech, Obama used the word my 21 times, me 12 times, and I 30 times.

with video



http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-uses-funeral-service-talk-about-himself_690960.html

 

[DrLeftover]

Mr. Obama's idea of deep spending cuts.

Spending will increase 55 percent over the next decade, if President Barack Obama's budget plan goes into effect. The finding comes from the Republican-side of the Senate Budget Committee, which notes that Obama's Proposal Would Spend $880 Billion Over Already Projected Increases.

Here's a chart, detailing how Obama's plan would bring spending from $3.62 trillion in 2013 to $5.63 trillion in 2022:

http://www.weeklysta...lan_691133.html





REMEMBER: Figures don't lie, but liars (read: POLITICIANS) figure.

 

[Evil Eye]

Figures can lie. Does the graph account for projected inflation?

Although that amount of inflation would be insane...

 

[DrLeftover]

In other news....



Fiscal Cliff? What Fiscal Cliff?

President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Nebulous Biden.

According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.

Members of Congress, from the House and Senate, also will receive a little bump, as their annual salary will go from $174,000 to 174,900. Leadership in Congress, including the speaker of the House, will likewise get an increase.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs...-members-congress-federal-workers_692223.html

 

[DrLeftover]

The fiscal cliff legislation passed this week included $76 billion in special-interest tax credits for the likes of General Electric, Hollywood and even Captain Morgan. But these subsidies weren't the fruit of eleventh-hour lobbying conducted on the cliff's edge -- they were crafted back in August in a Senate committee, and they sat dormant until the White House reportedly insisted on them this week.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/tim-c...n-the-cliff-deal/article/2517397#.UOTPwUbDVSJ

 

[DrLeftover]

No filibuster reform

“I’m not personally, at this stage, ready to get rid of the 60-vote threshold,” Reid (D-Nev.) told me this morning, referring to the number of votes needed to halt a filibuster. “With the history of the Senate, we have to understand the Senate isn’t and shouldn’t be like the House.”

What will be reformed is how the Senate moves to consider new legislation, the process by which all nominees — except Cabinet-level appointments and Supreme Court nominations — are considered, and the number of times the filibuster can be used against a conference report. You can read the full text of the compromise, which was sent out to Senate offices this morning, here (pdf).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...eid-explains-why-he-killed-filibuster-reform/

 

[Evil Eye]

No filibuster reform

Do they get paid by the hour or something?

 

[DrLeftover]

Long before FBI raid, Sen. Menendez tried to help donor’s Dominican Republic business







As the FBI examines Sen. Bob Menendez’s links to a longtime friend and donor, a mammoth port-security contract in the Dominican Republic draws attention.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/31/3211364/sen-menendez-pushed-us-to-help.html#storylink=cpy

 

[DrLeftover]

Another day, another crooked politician....

Federal officials filed charges Friday against Jesse Jackson Jr. after the former congressman reportedly signed a plea deal for allegedly improperly spending hundreds of thousands in campaign funds.



Among the items that Jackson is accused of purchasing with campaign funds:



$10,000 worth of Bruce Lee Memorabilia. More than $20,000 in Michael Jackson memborabilia. Thousands on Martin Luther King Memorabilia. Fur coats and capes and more.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Charges-Plea-Deal-Jesse-Jackson-Jr-191395471.html?dr





Full Indictment

http://media.nbcchicago.com/documents/JJJindictment.pdf

 

[Geoffrey]

Fail. He should know better than to get caught. XD