White house

White House: Progressives Should Support Debt Bill Because of Items It Doesn’t Repeal, Avoiding Default

May 29, 2023 by www.breitbart.com Leave a Comment

On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt reacted to concerns about the debt ceiling agreement from the Progressive Caucus by stating that they should support the bill because it prevents default and doesn’t repeal programs that the Biden administration has gotten passed and members of the Progressive Caucus have supported.

LaBolt said, “Well, there [are] a few pieces to it: The first I talked about, preventing default is absolutely essential for hard-working Americans. The second is, for members of the Progressive Caucus, who’ve voted for all of the signature legislation of this administration over the past couple of years that has led to the creation of 12.7 million jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, things like the CHIPS and Science Act, that will allow us to build a semiconductor industry in this country, the infrastructure law, the largest investment in clean energy ever in the Inflation Reduction Act, those are protected and funded in this agreement. And so, if you voted for those items, you should vote for this as well, in addition to how essential it is to prevent default that would have a catastrophic impact on the American people.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Mets’ Murphy Discusses Fatherhood at White House Meeting

June 10, 2014 by www.nytimes.com Leave a Comment

Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy, who earlier this year was criticized on New York sports talk radio for going on paternity leave, spoke about being a father at the White House on Monday as part of the Working Families Summit.

Murphy missed the first two games of the season to be with his wife for the birth of their firstborn son, Noah. In his remarks, Murphy said the Mets’ ownership, his teammates and his manager, Terry Collins, supported his decision.

“When Noah asks me one day, ‘What happened, what was it like when I was born?’ I could have answered, ‘Well, Stephen Strasburg hung me a breaking ball that day, son, and I slammed it into the right-field corner,’ ” Murphy said at the event.

He added: “But I think it’s going to go so much further in that I’m the one who cut his umbilical cord. And long after they tell me that I’m not good enough to play professional baseball anymore, I’ll be a father. And I’ll be a husband. So that was a reason, on the front end, that I wanted to be there for my wife and for my son.”

House Passes Bill to Help With 9/11 Health Care

September 30, 2010 by www.nytimes.com Leave a Comment

The House approved legislation on Wednesday that would provide billions of dollars for medical treatment to rescue workers and residents of New York City who suffered illnesses from breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke from ground zero.

The vote was 268 to 160 , with 17 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill. Opposing the measure were 157 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Republicans raised concerns about the $7.4 billion cost of the program.

But the bill’s fate in the Senate is unclear. Republicans have enough votes to filibuster the measure, and Senate Democrats have not shown great interest in bringing it to the floor.

The bill aroused impassioned debate on the House floor as 9/11 responders and their relatives watched from the gallery.

The vote occurred as Congress moved to finish its legislative business quickly and adjourn this week to allow lawmakers to head home to campaign before the elections on Nov. 2.

The bill calls for providing $3.2 billion over the next eight years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris at ground zero. New York City would pay 10 percent of those health costs. The bill would also set aside $4.2 billion to reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund to provide compensation for job and economic losses.

In addition, the bill includes a provision that would allow money from the Victim Compensation Fund to be paid to any eligible claimant who receives a payment under the pending settlement of lawsuits that 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers filed against the city. Now, those who receive a settlement from the city are limited in how much compensation they can receive from the fund, according to the bill’s sponsors.

There are nearly 60,000 people enrolled in health monitoring and treatment programs related to the 9/11 attacks, according to the sponsors of the bill. The federal government provides the bulk of the money for those programs.

Congress has previously appropriated money on an annual basis to monitor the health of people injured at ground zero and to provide them with medical treatment.

The bill’s supporters have demanded that the government put in place a longer-term health program for 9/11 responders, fearful that annual appropriations are subject to the whims of Congress and the White House.

But such a program has been opposed by many Republicans, who raised concerns about creating a new federal entitlement to provide health benefits when the federal government is running a huge deficit.

On the House floor, Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, who opposed the bill, argued that it was unnecessary given that Congress had created programs like the Victim Compensation Fund.

After noting that the compensation fund had made billions of dollars in payouts, Mr. Barton said that although “we want to help the victims,” the bill would burden taxpayers with a new entitlement program.

The bill’s supporters argued that the nation had a moral obligation to help workers who risked their lives to respond to the crisis at ground zero.

“The 9/11 responders have received a lot of awards and praise, but they tell me that what they really need is health care,” said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and one of the bill’s chief sponsors.

Known as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act , the bill bears the name of a New York Police Department detective who participated in the efforts at ground zero for about three weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

He died in January 2006 after he developed symptoms common to first responders, including difficulty breathing and flulike conditions. But the cause of his death became the source of debate after the city’s medical examiner concluded that it was not directly related to the 9/11 attacks.

Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, who described the bill as an “irresponsible overreach,” seized on the controversy surrounding Mr. Zadroga’s death, saying, “This bill is deceptive, starting with its title.”

The vote on Wednesday was the second time this year the House had taken up the 9/11 health bill.

In July, Democratic leaders brought the bill to the floor under special rules requiring a two-thirds majority to pass it. A majority of the lawmakers in the chamber supported the bill, but the vote in July fell short of the two-thirds needed.

Transcript: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on “Face the Nation,” May 28, 2023

May 28, 2023 by www.cbsnews.com Leave a Comment

The following is a transcript of an interview with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that aired on “Face the Nation” on May 28, 2023.

MARGARET BRENNAN: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins us now from his district in Brooklyn. Good morning to you. Let’s get straight to it, can you deliver a majority of Democrats?

DEMOCRATIC LEADER REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, good morning Margaret. I do look forward to the White House briefing that’s going to take place later on this afternoon with the House Democratic Caucus. We’ll be able to have a robust discussion, but let me say this, President Biden has delivered a result that avoids a catastrophic default, that prevents us from- our economy crashing and stops the extreme MAGA Republicans from triggering a job killing recession, which as we’ve seen over the last week or two increasingly seemed to have been a position that they were taking for political reasons.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, well, we’ll only avoid a default if you can get the votes to get it through. Speaker McCarthy predicted this morning he can get a majority of Republicans he says some Democrats he thinks will vote for it. But he also quoted something he says You told him. Listen.

SPEAKER REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY/ FOX NEWS/ SOUND ON TAPE:

I think there’s gonna be a lot of Democrats who vote for it too. Right now, the Democrats are very upset. But one thing Hakeem told me, there’s nothing in the bill for them. There’s not one thing in the bill for Democrats.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Did you say that? And how do you convince Democrats?

REP. JEFFRIES: I have no idea what he’s talking about, particularly because I have not been able to review the actual legislative text, all that we’ve reached is an agreement in principle. Now what I’ve consistently said both privately and –

MARGARET BRENNAN: Did you even talk to him?

REP. JEFFRIES: I talked to him yesterday afternoon, but I haven’t talked to him since that point in time. What I’ve consistently said, however, privately and publicly was that the extreme MAGA Republican negotiating position, and that the extreme bill that they passed on April 26th, the Default on America Act contained nothing that was consistent with Democratic values or American values. And it was unreasonable to think that that negotiating position was going to be able to result in a resolution that would make sense for the American people when he understood and everyone understood that a bipartisan resolution was the only way forward to avoid a catastrophic default.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, and that’s a bill that is going nowhere. In terms of the one that was or is being written as we speak. The head of the Progressive Caucus Pramila Jayapal said on CNN this morning, you need to worry about the left flank of the party. She has 102 members in that caucus. How many Democratic defections do you expect?

REP. JEFFRIES:

Well, I’ve had several conversations with Pramila Jayapal over the last several days and will continue to do so. I expect that she’ll be part of the caucus briefing that takes place later on today. Here’s what I can say, is that the agreement that was reached in principle by President Biden does several important things. In addition to avoiding a devastating default that would hurt everyday Americans. It protects Social Security. It protects Medicare, it protects Medicaid. It protects veterans. It protects the American people.

[CROSSTALK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: She’s concerned about environmental – environmental policy changes and food stamps.

REP: JEFFRIES: Hold on, I’ll get to that. It protects the American people from the types of devastating spending cuts that were proposed by Republicans in their Default on America Act. Those are incredibly significant steps forward. Now in terms of the permitting issue, I haven’t had the opportunity, nor have any of us had the opportunity to review what the proposed language may ultimately be, in terms of the permitting situation. In terms of SNAP as I understand it, and again, we’ll have the opportunity to review that language in a few hours when it is released, but as I understand it, it will actually result in an expansion of eligibility for people like veterans and the homeless because of changes made to exemptions as a result of what will be in this agreement, in terms of the original 1996 law that was passed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, according to the White House it is going to relax work requirements for veterans and homeless people, but it still pushes up the age to 54 from 49. Are you implying, do you mean to say here that the White House hasn’t kept you fully briefed on the details?

REP. JEFFRIES: The White House has, of course, kept all of us fully briefed every step of the way. However, I do think that as the White House has indicated, this is only an agreement in principle.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

REP. JEFFRIES: There will not be a final agreement until we all are able to review the actual legislative text.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. The White House is still calling this a budget deal and a separate debt limit increase, but McCarthy says it’s a 150-page bill and not a clean debt ceiling increase. Is just one vote, one bill?

REP. JEFFRIES: Well, that remains to be seen, and ultimately, that’s a decision that House Republicans have as their prerogative to make. I do hope and expect to see a significant number of House Republicans voting for this agreement. It’s my understanding that they are committed to producing at least 150 votes, if not more. They were the ones who negotiated this agreement with the White House. And I expect that they will provide a significant number of votes to get it over the finish line.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so 150 Republicans, you need something in the range of 70 Democrats? Do you think you’d have that?

REP. JEFFRIES: Well, I do expect that there will be Democratic support once we have the ability to actually be fully briefed by the White House, but I’m not gonna predict what those numbers may ultimately look like. We have to go through a process consistent with respecting every single member of the House of Representatives and their ability to fully understand the resolution that has been reached.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. Well, Jim Himes of Connecticut, not a progressive, said this morning, if this vote fails, I think we’re going to see the kind of market reaction that none of us want to see. Can you deliver a vote? Can you deliver someone like him? Can you deliver a vote that wins on the first try? He’s talking about a market crash.

REP. JEFFRIES: Well, we have to of course, avoid a market crash. We have to avoid tanking the economy. We have to avoid a default. The reason why we’re in this situation from the very beginning is that extreme MAGA Republicans made the determination that they were going to use the possibility of default to hold the economy and everyday Americans hostage. Period, full stop.

[CROSSTALK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood but that’s- that’s where we are right now. And that negotiation happened.

[CROSSTALK]

REP. JEFFRIES: That’s right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You negotiated with them. So here we are.

REP. JEFFRIES: And that’s why I’m thankful that President Biden has reached a resolution. And that’s also why I’m thankful that notwithstanding the fact that they were trying to jam 10 year spending caps down the throats of the American people, we were able to apparently match up a freeze in spending consistent with 2023 levels- 2023 levels, not the 2022 levels, that’s what they were trying to extract, and thankful that we avoided a catastrophic default.

[CROSSTALK]

MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s some disagreement on those but we don’t have the text. So we will just have to wait on that. But I want to ask about the backup plan. 213 Democrats voted for this discharge petition, this idea of being able to vote to lift the debt ceiling, even if Republicans- if the Republican leader doesn’t do it. You’d need five Republicans. Can you do that? Can you guarantee people that we will not see a default?

REP. JEFFRIES: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. Hakeem Jeffries, glad to have you with us. Hopefully we see you here in person next time.

Jane Fonda Blames White Men For ‘Climate Crisis,’ Demands Their Imprisonment | The Daily Wire

May 29, 2023 by www.dailywire.com Leave a Comment

Actress Jane Fonda, whose leftist views have engendered harsh criticism over the decades, added to her radical resume over the weekend, holding white men responsible for the “climate crisis” and demanding their imprisonment.

Fonda made her remarks at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.

“This is serious,” Fonda charged, according to Outkick. “We’ve got about seven, eight years to cut ourselves in half of what we use of fossil fuels. … Unfortunately, the people that have the least responsibility for it are hit the hardest — Global South, people on islands, poor people of color. It is a tragedy that we have to absolutely stop. We have to arrest and jail those men — they’re all men [behind this].”

“It’s good for us all to realize there would be no climate crisis if there was no racism,” she continued. “There would be no climate crisis if there was no patriarchy. A mindset that sees things in a hierarchical way. White men are the things that matter and then everything else [is] at the bottom.”

“You can take anything, racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, whatever, the war; if you really get into it and study it, and learn about it and the history of it, everything’s connected. There’d be no climate crisis if it wasn’t for racism,” she posited.

Fonda’s long history of leftist activism has included slamming some returning Vietnam War POWs as “hypocrites and liars.” As The Patriot Post reported of her actions during the Vietnam War, Fonda stated, “These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed. … Pilots were saying it was the policy of the Vietnamese and that it was systematic. I believe that’s a lie.”

In 2019, Fonda, who infamously posed with the North Vietnamese Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, said “climate criminals” should be treated like Nazi war criminals who were given a Nuremberg-style trial.

As Karen Townsend of Hot Air reported, in an interview with Michael Moynihan on Viceland’s “The Impeachment Show,” Fonda asserted that oil executives and enabling politicians “should all be tried for crimes against humanity and nature,” prompting Moynihan to ask, “So, you want to see sort of a Nuremberg trial for climate criminals?” Fonda replied, “Yeah, I would.”

Moynihan asked, “You said Congress is bought off by the fossil fuel industry. If that is true, and that is true of the man in the White House is the same, what do we do? Where do we go from here?”

“Well, we get rid of them,” Fonda responded.

“How do we do that?” Moynihan queried.

“It’s too late now for moderation,” Fonda answered. “Because of the fossil fuel industry, we have to elect people who are very brave because what they have to do, what we have to do, what we have to make them do is unprecedented. … I think that democracy is teetering on the edge of collapse … that’s why we need to go into the streets. Our government is being ruled by fossil fuel. That’s a fact that can be proven. The war are being fought for oil. Our men and women are being killed and maimed, wounded psychologically and physically because of oil. I mean, they should all be tried for crimes against humanity and nature.”

“Who, in particular?” Moynihan asked.

“The people who run the fossil fuel industry,” Fonda answered. “And I might add, the politicians that they bought off who haven’t got the gumption to stand up to it.”

“So you want to see a sort of Nuremberg trial for climate criminals,” Moynihan suggested.

“Yeah, I would,” Fonda concluded.