Biden Speaks On Unemployment Benefits, Bush Tax Cuts
This weekend’s presidential YouTube address was delivered by Vice President Biden, who called upon Congress to extend unemployment benefits, and not to extend the Bush tax cuts as they apply to the top two percent of income-earners.
“And, cutting unemployment insurance is not only not smart, it’s not right either. It would mean telling millions of our neighbors who are out of work today through no fault of their own, that they’re on their own,” said Biden. “That’s no message to send in the season of hope. We all know someone who’s hit a rough patch. When that happens in America, we help him get back up on his feet. That’s who we are. That’s the American way. So I just don’t agree with the folks who’ve said we can’t afford a lifeline for Americans who lost their jobs during the worst recession in generations, but we can afford to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. That’s bad economic policy, and it’s also just simply wrong.”
Kirk: Dem Leaders Should Not Move Forward With Plans After Election Losses
In this weekend’s Republican address, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) attacked Democratic policies on taxes and spending, saying they had just been rejected by the American people at the midterm elections.
“Unfortunately, too many in Washington want to continue the reckless tax and spend policies of the past,” said Kirk. “They ignore the warning signs of more debt, taxes and inflation. They embrace wasteful government spending and pork-barrel earmarks. And they think a new massive tax hike on the U.S. economy is exactly what the American people need. The current leaders of Congress should not move forward with plans that were just rejected by the American people. These leaders should not raise taxes and risk another recession. Instead, Congress should reduce spending and prevent another tax hike on American taxpayers.”
Clinton Tour Showed Limits Of WikiLeaks Damage
The Associated Press reports: “Two things about the WikiLeaks effect on U.S. foreign relations were apparent on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s first overseas trip since the publication of a trove of secret State Department messages. First: The disclosures aren’t crippling her brand of diplomacy. Second: The releases almost certainly will dog her for months and complicate her job, particularly with only a fraction of the quarter-million diplomatic messages made public so far.”
Pelosi Allies’ Votes To Censure Rangel Raise Ire
Roll Call reports: “The censure of Rep. Charlie Rangel this week opened up raw wounds within the Democratic Caucus, with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and others angry that fellow Democrats, including several key lieutenants to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), blocked an effort to give him a lesser punishment.”
72 Super PACs Spent $83.7 Million On Election
The Washington Post reports: “The newly created independent political groups known as super PACs, which raised and spent millions of dollars on last month’s elections, drew much of their funding from private-equity partners and others in the financial industry, according to new financial disclosure reports. The 72 super PACs, all formed this year, together spent $83.7 million on the election. The figures provide the best indication yet of the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions that opened the door for wealthy individuals and corporations to give unlimited contributions.”
Obama Signs Bill Averting Government Shutdown
The Associated Press reports: “The bill that Obama signed Saturday gives the lame-duck Congress two more weeks to try to pass a legislation funding the government for the rest of the budget year — through September. If that fails, lawmakers will have to pass another temporary measure to fund agencies into next year, when Republicans will control the House.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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