Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!
Joining us today, we have: Mike Barnicle, David Wood, Tom Sanderson, Eugene Robinson, Sen. Tom Carper, Kelly O’Donnell, Jim Miklaszewski, Sen. Ron Johnson, Mike Allen, Jamie Weinstein, Joe Conason, Ann Curry, Andrea Mitchell, Retta, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Brian Sullivan, Bianna Golodryga, Chris Jansing, Maggie Murphy, Jacque Reid, Jason Tanz and more
VA Secretary Robert McDonald admits lying about Special Forces
service. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has admitted that he
lied about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a
homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year. McDonald made the
claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to
locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told
McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces. “Special forces?
What years?" McDonald responded. "I was in special forces." The exchange was
broadcast on "The CBS Evening News" Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first
reported by The Huffington Post. McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point in 1975 and completed Army Ranger training before being
assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his retirement in 1980. According
to the Huffington Post, while McDonald was formally recognized as a graduate of
Ranger School, he never actually served in a Ranger battalion or other special
operations unit. "I have no excuse," the website quoted McDonald as saying in
its report. "I was not in special forces." In a statement released Monday by the
VA, McDonald said: "While I was in Los Angeles, engaging a homeless individual
to determine his veteran status, I asked the man where he had served in the
military. He responded that he had served in special forces. I incorrectly
stated that I had been in special forces. That was inaccurate and I apologize to
anyone that was offended by my misstatement." McDonald told the Huffington Post
that he had "reacted spontaneously and ... wrongly" in response to the homeless
man's claim. "As I thought about it later, I knew that this was wrong," McDonald
said of his false statement. The White House released a statement Monday evening
saying that it had accepted McDonald's explanation. "Secretary McDonald has
apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent
his military service," the statement said. "We take him at his word and expect
that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health
and well-being of our nation’s veterans." After leaving the Army, McDonald went
on to a successful corporate career, eventually becoming Chairman, President,
and CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He became VA secretary this past July, as the
agency was dealing with the fallout from the scandal of long patient wait times
at VA hospitals. Click for more from The
Huffington Post.
On the Nettenyahu front, What I said to do about him
a few weeks ago is starting to come full circle which is to have closed doors
meetings with him rather than allowing him to speak. The democrats are evidently
going to be punished politically if they do not show up for that speech. Diane
Feinstein and one other politician called for that closed door meeting which I
think is fine. This entire issue is way out of control. Plus, the U.S. and Iran
reported progress Monday on a deal that would clamp down on Tehran's nuclear
activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions on programs
that could be used to make atomic arms. Officials said there were still
obstacles to overcome before a March 31 deadline, and any deal will face harsh
opposition in both countries. It also would be sure to further strain
already-tense U.S. relations with Israel, whose leaders oppose any agreement
that doesn't end Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is expected to strongly criticize the deal in an address before
Congress next week. Still, a comprehensive pact could ease 35 years of
U.S-Iranian enmity — and seems within reach for the first time in more than a
decade of negotiations.
"We made progress," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
said as he bade farewell to members of the American delegation at the table with
Iran. More discussions between Iran and the six nations engaging it were set for
next Monday, a senior U.S. official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif said the sides found "a better understanding" at the negotiating
table. Western officials familiar with the talks cited movement but also
described the discussions as a moving target, meaning changes in any one area
would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation. The core idea would
be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement,
gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment and slowly easing
economic sanctions. Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment
only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the U.S. fears Tehran
could re-engineer the program to produce the fissile core of a nuclear
weapon.
The U.S. initially sought restrictions lasting up to 20
years; Iran has pushed for less than a decade. The prospective deal appears to
be somewhere in the middle. One variation being discussed would place at least a
10-year regime of strict controls on Iran's uranium enrichment. If Iran
complied, the restrictions would be gradually lifted over the final five years.
One issue critics are certain to focus on: Once the deal expired, Iran could
theoretically ramp up enrichment to whatever level it wanted. Experts say Iran
already could produce the equivalent of one weapon's worth of enriched uranium
with its present operating 10,000 centrifuges. Several officials spoke of 6,500
centrifuges as a potential point of compromise, with the U.S. trying to restrict
them to Iran's mainstay IR-1 model instead of more advanced machines. However,
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last year that his country
needed to increase its output equivalent to at least 190,000 of its present-day
centrifuges. Under a possible agreement, Iran also would be forced to ship out
most of the enriched uranium it produced or change it to a form that would be
difficult to convert for weapons use. It takes about one ton of low-enriched
uranium to process into a nuclear weapon, and officials said that Tehran could
be restricted to an enriched stockpile of no more than about 700 pounds. The
officials represent different countries among the six world powers negotiating
with Iran — the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. They
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk
publicly about the negotiations.
Formal relations between the U.S. and Iran, severed during
the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis in 1979, have progressively improved
since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013. Further
reconciliation would help the West in a region where Iran holds considerable
sway and the U.S. is increasingly involved in the struggle against Islamic
extremists. But even if the two sides agree to a preliminary deal in March and a
follow-up pact in June, such a two-phase arrangement will face fierce criticism
from Congress and Israel, both of which will argue it fails to significantly
curb Tehran's nuclear weapons potential. Israel was already weighing in. Defense
Minister Moshe Yaalon warned that such a deal would represent "a great danger"
to the Western world and said it "will allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold
state." In Washington, President Barack Obama has been trying to keep Congress
from passing new sanctions against Iran that he says could scuttle further
diplomacy and rekindle the threat of a new Mideast war. Iranian hardliners
fearing a sellout of their country's nuclear program may also pressure Rouhani,
although he appears secure as long as a deal is supported by
Khamenei.
The U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency would have
responsibility for monitoring, and any deal would depend on technical safeguards
rather than Iranian guarantees. The IAEA already is monitoring Iranian
compliance with an interim agreement that came into force a year ago and has
given Tehran good marks. Separately, it also oversees Tehran's nuclear programs
to ensure they remain peaceful. Its attempts to follow up on suspicions that
Iran once worked on nuclear arms are deadlocked however, with Iran saying such
allegations are based on phony evidence from the U.S. and Israel. That stalled
probe and other issues that the U.S. says must be part of any final deal could
remain unresolved by June, opening any agreement to further criticism. For the
United States, the goal is to extend to at least a year the period that Iran
would need to surreptitiously "break out" toward nuclear weapons development.
Daryl Kimball of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said that with
the IAEA's additional monitoring, the deal taking shape leaves "more than enough
time to detect and disrupt any effort to pursue nuclear weapons in the future."
In exchange, Iran wants relief from sanctions crippling its economy and the U.S.
is talking about phasing in such measures.
Remember when Nettenyahu had that graphic of the bomb that
reminded us of that cartoon that Wiley Coyote would use? That was when he did
that speech about not allowing Iran to be a week away from having that bomb.
Rgeradless, the Iranians are not as close as he (Nettenyahu) said they were
during that last speech to the U.N. (United Nations).
Weather is a big issue today. It is cold here and it is
cold everywhere. There is snow being forecast down south and its negative 9
degrees in Western PA.
Eugene (Robinson) writes an article entitled A deranged
GOP. he is on now to discuss what went down last week with Scott Walker after
Rudy Guiliani’s comments in that speech and then you have his (Rudy Guliani)
apologies too which made things progressively worse.
The Hill reports that McConnell moves to prevent DHS
shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took steps Monday to prevent a
shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by splitting off legislation
attacking President Obama’s immigration actions from the funding fight. The
Kentucky Republican is seeking to fast-track legislation to eliminate two new
immigration programs launched by Obama late last year, while allowing a 2012
initiative targeting younger immigrants to continue as designed. McConnell’s
move sets the stage for separate votes on a measure to fund the Homeland
Security Department (DHS) past Friday and to dismantle Obama’s unilateral
efforts to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
A House-passed proposal combining those two efforts had
hit a wall in the Senate, where Democrats on Monday united for a fourth time
this month to block the measure over their opposition to the provisions undoing
Obama’s executive actions. The DHS will suffer a partial shutdown if Congress
doesn’t act before Saturday. McConnell said he wanted to take away Democrats’
excuse for not voting against Obama’s 2014 actions, which several centrist
Democrats had previously criticized. “Some Democrats give the impression they
want Congress to address the overreach. But when they vote, they always seem to
have an excuse for supporting actions they once criticized,” he said on the
floor. “So I’m going to begin proceedings on targeted legislation that would
only address the most recent overreach from November. “It isn’t tied to DHS
funding. It removes their excuse,” he added.
McConnell’s decision could mark a step forward from the
stalemate over the funding debate, which had left GOP leaders of both chambers
struggling for a way to prevent an agency shutdown while appeasing conservatives
insisting the immigration riders be a part of the package. It remains unclear
how the strategy will be received by House conservatives, but the office of
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was quick to indicate its support. “This vote will
highlight the irresponsible hypocrisy of any Senate Democrat who claims to
oppose President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration, but refuses to vote
to stop it,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement. “If we are
going to work together on the American peoples priorities, Washington Democrats
must be honest with the people they represent.” Democrats quickly criticized
McConnell's decision, saying it won't help prevent a shutdown of DHS. “It’s
becoming clear Senator McConnell realizes he must separate himself from the far
right, but the bottom line is this proposal doesn’t bring us any closer to
actually funding DHS, and Republicans still have no real plan to achieve that
goal," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
He added that any immigration debate should happen after
lawmakers pass a bill to fund Homeland Security. McConnell’s move sets up what
is sure to be an animated meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday morning,
where Boehner and other GOP leaders are certain to get an earful from
conservatives insisting the immigration provisions remain attached to the
Homeland Security bill and centrists leaning toward a cleaner bill for the sake
of keeping the agency up and running. Boehner had been adamant that the ball
remain in the Senate’s court after the House last month passed a $40 billion
funding proposal that included several amendments undoing Obama’s unilateral
efforts to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. McConnell,
meanwhile, had said he was “stuck” in the face of Democrats insisting on a clean
bill absent the immigration amendments. Monday’s 47-46 vote was designed to
drive home that point.
The debate has put GOP leaders in a bind, caught between a
desire to undo Obama’s executive actions and a fear that their party will suffer
the public blame if the DHS is shuttered during a period of heightened terrorist
threats, including one over the weekend on Minnesota’s sprawling Mall of
America. A number of Democrats pounced on that episode just ahead of Monday’s
vote, accusing Republicans of playing Russian roulette, in the words of Minority
Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), with the nation’s security. “Rather than acting to
protect my state from the threat, there are people who are actively
contemplating a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,” said Minnesota
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D). A wild card in the debate has been last week’s ruling by
a Texas-based federal judge against Obama’s deportation relief programs. That
decision has caused some Republicans to double down on their argument that the
programs are illegal and Congress should terminate them as part of the DHS
package. Others, however, contend the ruling is indication that the courts will
handle Obama’s executive actions and Congress should focus on keeping the
Homeland Security agency running.
Fueling the conservatives’ argument, the Justice
Department on Monday requested an emergency court order allowing the
administration to launch the programs despite the Texas ruling. If the stay is
granted, thousands of illegal immigrants could begin submitting their
applications. Obama on Wednesday is scheduled to hold an immigration town hall
in Miami, an event that seems designed to raise the pressure further on GOP
leaders.
Honestly, I cannot even believe we are less than a few
days a way from that happening to us here. That is incredible to me. Joe is
saying that Democrats have filabustered the bill times but then Sen. Tom Carper is saying that certain parts and certain languages
are not good and he called it foolish but honestly, he seems like he is a bit
lost for words trying to answer it. He says that we should fund Homeland
security and we should deal with Immigration reform but Joe is saying to deal
and then debate it on the floor rather than getting something done. That was
hard to get through because it’s another case where one side blames the GOP and
one side blames the Dems which is why we are going back and forth running round
in circles in a typical what came first the chicken or the egg situation.
Also, Chris Christy had some pension
claim overturned by the Judges in new Jersey. Politico reports that a A
New Jersey judge ordered Gov. Chris Christie to reverse a $1.57 billion cut he
made to New Jersey’s public pension system, sending the presidential contender
scrambling to find new sources of revenue. The Monday afternoon ruling from
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson comes one day before Christie
is set to unveil the state’s 2016 budget. It’s a stunning rebuke to the
governor’s fiscal agenda, which for years has relied primarily on spending cuts
rather than tax increases to shore up the state’s bleak finances. It’s also a
victory for the labor unions who sued the administration to halt the
cuts.
“The court cannot allow the state to simply turn its back
on its obligations to New Jersey’s public employees,” Jacobson’s opinion said,
“especially in light of the fact that the state’s failure to make its full
payment constitutes a substantial blow to the solvency of the pension funds in
violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.” Christie approved the pension
cuts last year to compensate for unexpectedly low tax revenues. A group of state
and national unions, including the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees and the Communications Workers of America, promptly sued,
saying Christie was in violation of a 2011 law that funded New Jersey’s pensions
fully as part of a bipartisan overhaul of the state pension system. Read the
full story here (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/judge-overturns-nj-gov-christie-pension-cut-115435.html#ixzz3SfFCxVFa).
BTW, there has been lots of bickering
between Mika and Joe this week and at times last week. They are now going at
each other about whether they want to do a trip with Mike Huckabee. Joe almost
said ass when he referred to himself not talking out of a few sides of his
mouth. That’s funny. But they are now bickering about the Nettenyahu speech and
how that manifested with (John) Boehner, Israel and neither of them alerting the
POTUS’ admin.
But about the DHS funding issue. I feel we
should fund Homeland Security issue and then they should do a bill about the
Immigration deal. They should be separate issues even though they play into each
other. Even (Mitch) McConnell seems to be leading towards splitting them up. It
makes no sense to me. It makes no sense to the panel and then Sen. Ron Johnson
is playing games saying that the POTUS starting this fight. What are we in 4th
grade? This divide is because Obama did something about immigration? Come on
now. Its such a lame way to point fingers at anyone else but themselves. This
way they get to say that it’s the fault of the POTUS and they (GOP) can also
blame the Dem’s for blocking the bill. When they put a clean bill on the floor,
talk to me but even again, he just blamed the liberal media now that is against
the GOP. Its unbelievable hearing these people in that GOP. The reason they
blame them is because everyone can see through it. This games are done. Just get
it done because (Mike) Barnicle is correct in that the immigration is going to
take months to deal with whereas we have the DHS losing funding on Friday. Its
ridiculous and like Joe says, they all know that so whatever.
Sen. Liz (Elizabeth) Warren is on today.
You know something else? When that election
starts up next year and in ‘16, this type of round about what came first the
chicken or the egg and the blame game is going to be that game plan. :Last
election was bout Nothing and then next one will be about blame. This
conversation with that Ron Johnson guy is going to be the way we debate or watch
the debate during that general election. Its going to be very annoying quite
frankly. That guy left the panel baffled basically with Barnicles mouth hanging
while everyone yelled to just get it done and what does one thing have to do
with another? (Mike) Barnicle used the analogy that it would be like us checking
out at the market and the cash register person asking for money for the energy
bill. I think the GOP’s playback is still dated and antiquated. They use the
same deceptive tactics used back in the 80s. And, they are just blaming everyone
from the media to the Dem’s to the POTUS with hope it will stick. And, it does
not because people today are way more engaged and its because of the lack of
trust. No one trusts these people to do the right thing for us. They can’t even
answer basic questions like we have seen with Scott Walker and Chris Christy in
the last month. When whomever is NOT real, it shows and people hate it. I know
that I hate it. Its very annoying to listen to every day. This not funding of
the DHS leading up to this 11th hour so to speak is keeping us (us meaning them)
from doing real work.
Anyway, Mike Allen is now talking about the wooing of Liz
Warren by the POTUS. we know about that meeting with her (Liz Warren) and Hilary
and now we find out the POTUS and that admin is calling on here for things. She
got a great reception at the AARP yesterday. Jamie Weinstein
and Joe Conason are now on talking about Liz (Warren). Or, maybe they are
talking about Hilary now. The point they make is how Hilary has not had such a
great track record. I say she is most known for the Benghazi issue but they make
a point how she talked about the Libya incident which has since opened up that
area to be able to house terrorists safely. The counter point is now being
discussed and I agree that once challenged next year, will really tell the
story. She had an awful summer last year with that tester (aka that book
tour) and low and behold, Willie is bringing that up now. I think the Dem’s want
a female POTUS which is what drives her popularity now. Oh and also, she ran a
bad race vs. Obama but she did also have a tough race in NY. Which I forget or
take for granted but the Fox news people were against her. The NY Post writers
lashed out at her daily. That was not such an easy race. She was not from NY
which did not help. Regardless, the book tour showed her flaws. I am not sure
what is so hard for this guy to articulate but yeah, you have that GOP and its
20 million candidates and then it seems like we have one on the Dem side. That’s
how I see it at least. And, good point about it / her being a concept which
feeds into my point about her being a female and that’s the most excitement
about her candidacy. Plus, it also seems like we do like the idea of her running
but once she does run, we do not like her then.
Ann Curry and Andrea Mitchell are talking
about the Iran talks and those breakthroughs we have had lately. But a ten year
Nuclear freeze is a lot even though we (USA) wanted a 20 year freeze.
On a pop culture note. It is the end of an
era. P&R (Parks and Recreation) is coming to end with the last episode being
aired tonight I guess. Great show and Retta is on the show today. They are all
great sports n that show and they should all get a ton of work now because of
it. Nick Offerman is taking off which is cool. Everyone is doing well because of
that show and its writing, acting and production. Again, that’s one of my
favorite shows on TV. It is certainly my favorite sitcom. But nothing on TV
quite compares to Vanderpump Rules. Now, that is some amazing TV. Beautiful
people just acting nutty over each other which again, makes it the best show on
TV. That season ends next week.
And, so I handed it to Liz (Warren).
An exclusive interview with the Senator today. Elijah Cummings is on too. They
are introducing some bill related to the bail out in 2008. It is called the
Middle Class Prosperity Project. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep.
Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are launching a series of events focusing on Democratic
solutions to the woes of the middle class. The "Middle Class Prosperity Project"
starts Tuesday with a forum featuring prominent economists. On Monday, Warren
and Cummings co-authored a USAToday op-ed describing a decline in middle-class
prosperity since 1980. "Beginning in the late 1970s, corporate executives and
stockholders began taking greater shares of the gains. Productivity kept going
up, but workers were left behind as wages stagnated," Warren and Cummings write.
"Families might have survived as their incomes flattened, except for one hard
fact: the costs of basic needs like housing, education and child care exploded,"
the op-ed continues. "Millions took on mountains of debt and young people began
struggling to cling to the same economic rung as their parents." The Middle
Class Prosperity Project, billed as an opportunity "to give a voice in
Washington to those who need it most," will first hear from a panel of
economists including Jared Bernstein, Beth Ann Bovino, Joseph Stiglitz and
Gerald Jaynes. The event is not a formal hearing of a congressional committee.
President Barack Obama, for his part, has been pushing a middle-class-themed
agenda that includes higher taxes for the wealthy, a higher minimum wage and
free community college. On Monday, the White House announced it would push a new
rule to require investment brokers to act in the best interests of their
clients. The main issues is the student loan crises while the Government profits
off those loans. They discuss Child Care and how most households today are based
on two incomes. Liz basically says that the main push by that GOP is for the
Keystone Pipeline and for the big oil lobby / companies. Its true. That’s all
they did the first week back at work this January.
I will tell you though. She would make a sick candidate.
She speaks so well. Great tone. Great level. Slow but not ridiculously slow and
she spells things out so perfectly for us simple minds and dumb asses. And, she
does it without boring the hell out of us. She is very real too which is why she
resonates so well and so naturally. Even her answer about why she is not going
to run for POTUS is so amazing. And, she comes off like she not BS’ing any of
us.
Great interview. And, wow. She (Liz Warren) will be the
keynote speaker at Mika’s Know Your Value event in Philadelphia this
April.
Chris Jansing is on live soon to discuss the games being played over the DHS funding.
I will tell you that it is going to be a long day today. Maryland plays the Number One team in the nation tonight. I have boring meetings set up for the entire day. I wish I could be able to do my real meat and potatoes work.