Your Weekly News over Coffee from Coffee Party USA
The Coffee Party USA, which has 335,892 supporters on Facebook, not only produces original content and calls for action, it also highlights news stories about issues important to the movement on its Facebook page.
Join me over the fold for a digest of articles on issues including the successes of the lame duck session, filibuster and earmark reform, California and Arizona suing Bank of America, and economy inequality, among other topics Coffee Party USA thought noteworthy this past week.
Lame Duck Session
CNN: President Obama hails progress made by lame-duck Congress
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 23, 2010 -- Updated 1022 GMT (1822 HKT)
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed major legislation passed by Congress in the lame-duck session and said the progress showed "we're not doomed to endless gridlock."
At a year-end news conference before leaving town for his delayed holiday, Obama emphasized the achievements of his administration and the Democratic-led Congress while also acknowledging that tough issues still face the nation in the coming year.
Obama later departed for Hawaii to join the first family for the holidays, and both the Senate and House adjourned for the year. A new Congress with Republicans controlling the House and holding a stronger minority in the Senate convenes on January 5, 2011.
USA Today: Congress hits stride at end of 'lame duck' session
By John Fritze, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - Despite partisan rancor and a recent election that shifted power to the Republicans, lawmakers left Capitol Hill on Wednesday for Christmas after giving President Obama almost everything on his wish list.
In a final flurry of legislative dealmaking that capped one of the busiest sessions of Congress in years, the Senate passed a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, and both chambers cleared a bill to help survivors of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"This has been the most productive post-election period we've had in decades," Obama said at a news conference held during the waning hours of the "lame duck" session. "If there's any lesson to draw from these past few weeks, it's that we are not doomed to endless gridlock."
C-SPAN: President Signs Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Washington, DC
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
In a ceremony in Washington, President Obama signed into law a repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on gays and lesbians in the military. Pentagon officials have stated that the timeline to implement their plan to counter the 17-year-old policy is expected to take at least several months.
Auto-playing video of ceremony at the link.
Huffington Post: Rachel Maddow Hails Shep Smith Over 9/11 First Responders Bill (VIDEO)
First Posted: 12-22-10 12:27 AM | Updated: 12-22-10 01:11 PM
You read this correctly -- on Tuesday night's episode of her show, Rachel Maddow reached across the aisle to praise Fox News host Shepard Smith. Smith has recently been criticizing Republican senators' efforts to block a health care bill for 9/11 first responders.
"All hail Shep Smith at Fox News...and I'm not kidding," Maddow said. "Because Fox News can get callbacks from Republican senators, Shep Smith making a hullabaloo on his show about the Republicans who are not supporting health care for 9/11 first responders means that those Republicans might feel compelled to explain publicly why they don't support health care for 9/11 first responders."
Video at the link.
Upcoming Legislation
Rootswire: Senator Tom Udall, Jeff Merkley Leading Push to Change Senate Rules on January 5
December 16, 2010 by Democracy for New Mexico
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) was on the Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday night to discuss his proposal to adopt new Senate rules at the start of next year's session (see above video and transcript here). As you may have heard by now, he calls this proposal the "Constitutional Option." As Udall has explained, the Senate rules have included language since 1959 mandating that they continue from one Congress to the next, unless modified in accordance with the rules.
However, Senate Rule XXII requires the approval of "two-thirds of the senators present and voting" in order to limit debate on a change to the rules. This provision, which effectively prevents a majority of the Senate from ever amending its rules, directly conflicts with the Constitution's guarantee that "each House may determine the Rules of its proceedings."
Udall's proposal would change that and mimic the House, where the members adopt new rules every two years. He and others would then focus on getting the Senate to adopt new rules that would include one or more provisions designed to minimize use of the filibuster to stop or water down legislation proposed by the majority party.
The report quotes Chris Bowers of Daily Kos.
Federal Budget
NPR: To Defenders, Some Earmarks Are Sound Politics
by Greg Allen
December 22, 2010
As GOP leaders in Congress consider whether to ban earmarks, there are some willing to speak up for the practice. In Florida, they include environmentalists concerned about finding money for Everglades restoration and local officials with big projects to fund, such as the dredging of Miami’s port.
There are few places in Miami more important to the region's economy. It's one of the busiest cruise ship ports in the nation. But Bill Johnson, director of Miami's port, has really just one thing he wants to talk about now: a planned dredging project to accommodate massive cargo ships that will soon use an expanded Panama Canal.
"It would finish before the Panama Canal [expansion] opens in late 2014," Johnson says.
Finish, that is, if the project receives $75 million in federal money.
Enforcement and Regulation
ProPublica: States Sue Bank of America: Bank Employees Dish, and Other Highlights
by Karen Weise
ProPublica, Dec. 20, 2010, 1:31 p.m.
On Friday, Arizona and Nevada both filed suit against Bank of America, saying it deceived homeowners trying to avoid foreclosures. The suits allege that Bank of America knowingly misled homeowners in the loan modification process, regularly promising quick help when the process instead dragged out [1] over months if not years, foreclosing on homeowners during the modification process [2] despite promises that homeowners would be safe and making “false” promises to homeowners that their trial modifications would become permanent, among other complaints [3].
A Bank of America executive told the Arizona Republic that he was “disappointed [4]” in the suits and said the bank is already working to improve its processes and programs. “We and other major servicers are currently engaged in multistate discussions to address foreclosure-related issues more comprehensively,” he said.
The Arizona case also says the bank repeatedly violated the terms of a multi-state, $8.68 billion settlement with Countrywide (now a subsidiary of Bank of America) to provide loan modifications for homeowners with troubled loans. A recent investigation by the Nation magazine tore into the settlement, calling it a “fiasco [5]” that failed to help homeowners as promised.
Economy
CNN: The rich are much richer than you and me
By Chris Isidore, senior writer
December 23, 2010: 3:39 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The gap between the rich and the middle class is larger than it has ever been due to the bursting of the housing bubble.
The richest 1% of U.S. households had a net worth 225 times greater than that of the average American household in 2009, according to analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. That's up from the previous record of 190 times greater, which was set in 2004.
Foreign Policy
CNN: Russian president lauds U.S. passage of nuclear arms treaty
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 24, 2010 -- Updated 1120 GMT (1920 HKT)
Washington (CNN) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday congratulated President Barack Obama on the Senate's approval of a new nuclear arms control treaty between the countries, the White House said.
According to a White House statement, the two presidents spoke by phone on the first day of Obama's Hawaiian holiday after Congress adjourned Wednesday in a flurry of legislative action, including the Senate vote to pass the treaty -- a major foreign policy objective of the Obama administration.
"President Obama and President Medvedev spoke by phone this morning to discuss the new START Treaty and their continued close cooperation on a range of critical issues," the White House statement said. "President Medvedev congratulated President Obama on the Senate's approval of the new START Treaty, and the two leaders agreed that this was an historic event for both countries and for U.S.-Russia relations."
Foreign Policy: Clinton unveils State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review
Posted By P.J. Aroon
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 9:25 PM
Today Secretary Clinton released the State Department's first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), which as my colleague Josh Rogin over at The Cable notes, is "meant to chart a way forward for the diplomatic corps to play a greater role in U.S. foreign policy in a world of shrinking budgets and resources."
Link to Josh Rogin's report and a video of Clinton's speech at the link.
Military
CNN: Obama visits with Marines in Hawaii
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 26, 2010 -- Updated 1311 GMT (2111 HKT)
President Barack Obama shook hands with Marines, took pictures, and heard Christmas tales from eager children during a visit to Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Obama, who is on a family vacation in Kailua Bay, Hawaii, made an unannounced visit to the base on Saturday afternoon. The visit was hardly a surprise -- he stopped by the base during his Christmas vacations in 2008 and 2009.
The first family is renting a vacation home in Hawaii, the president's home state.
At the base, Obama and the first lady posed for group photos and shook hands with diners.
Welcome Home Blog
Regardless of political stance, no one can deny the joy felt upon seeing loved-ones return home safely -- WelcomeHomeBlog.com is a site celebrating that amazing feeling. Visit daily for heartwarming stories, videos and pictures of members of our courageous armed forces returning home to their families and friends...
Society and Democracy
The Herald-Mail: Group urges people to choose civility
By DAVE McMILLION
davem@herald-mail.com
11:11 p.m. EST, December 14, 2010
HAGERSTOWN - Need a little help on spreading some civility? Want to show your civil spirit?
The Choose Civility Washington County Advisory Board Tuesday unveiled some help in the form of a “tool kit.”
The board was formed to promote consideration, empathy and tolerance in the face of growing incivility nationwide. The effort, which grew out of discussions for an anti-bullying effort in public schools, strives to enhance the quality of life locally through polite behavior.
Posted to Daily Kos.