Boehner warns of possible War Powers Resolution violation over Libya

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/06/14/boehner.war.powers/index.html
Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration could be in violation of the War Powers Resolution if it fails to get congressional authorization by Sunday for U.S. participation in the Libya military mission, House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday.
In a letter to President Barack Obama that his aides made public, Boehner, R-Ohio, complained that the administration has failed to address questions about the mission that were in a House resolution passed June 3. That resolution set a two-week deadline for a response.
Boehner's letter reiterated the Friday deadline and took the additional step of warning that a failure to respond could violate the War Powers Resolution.
According to Boehner, a 90-day deadline for congressional authorization of the Libya mission expires Sunday.
"It would appear that, in five days, the administration will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution unless it asks for and receives authorization from Congress or withdraws all U.S. troops and resources from the mission," Boehner's letter said.
The White House has previously said it was complying with the War Powers Resolution through frequent briefings on the Libya mission.
Boehner's letter contested that assertion.

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"Since the mission began, the administration has provided tactical operational briefings to the House of Representatives, but the White House has systematically avoided requesting a formal authorization for its action," Boehner's letter said.

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US government hits debt ceiling, lighting 11-week fuse - Politics Wires - MiamiHerald.com

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/16/2219825/us-government-hits-debt-ceiling.html
WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner informed Congress on Monday that the United States has reached its legal debt limit, setting off a ticking time bomb that could explode in less than three months if lawmakers can't bridge differences and allow more government borrowing.
In hitting the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling - the limit on how much the government can borrow - the Obama administration on Monday began temporarily halting payments to the retirement and federal pension accounts of federal workers and started borrowing from those funds, to be restored later.
Geithner sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warning that the government can move money around for about 11 weeks but if a new debt ceiling isn't agreed to by Aug. 2, the U.S. government could effectively default on its obligations to its creditors. He warned of "catastrophic economic consequences for citizens" unless Congress raises the debt ceiling.
An increase of about $2 trillion is expected, enough to get the issue past the 2012 elections before Congress would have to lift it again.
Republicans who control the House of Representatives vow to link raising the debt ceiling to cuts in government spending of at least equal measure. In a combative statement Monday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, upped the ante.
"As I have said numerous times, there will be no debt limit increase without serious budget reforms and significant spending cuts, cuts that are greater than any increase in the debt limit." Boehner has called previously for $2 trillion in spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the debt ceiling.

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, repeated the linkage in a speech Monday in Obama's adopted hometown.
"For every dollar the president wants to raise the debt ceiling, we can show him plenty of ways to cut far more than a dollar of spending," Ryan told the Economic Club of Chicago. "Given the magnitude of our debt burden, the size of the spending cuts should exceed the size of the president's debt limit increase."

Republicans rule out tax increases and any significant cuts in defense spending. The United States continues to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan paid for with borrowing, the only time in U.S. history that wars weren't offset at least partially with some sort of tax.
Democrats insist that Social Security is off the table, as is an end to Medicare, but they are open to changes in Medicare funding.
If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, it would force the Obama administration to choose between paying creditors or paying for military operations, Social Security and Medicare payments, and other commitments.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/16/2219825/us-government-hits-debt-ceiling.html#ixzz1MYukcz7v

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Exclusive - Speaker Boehner on Budget Negotiations: 'No Daylight Between Tea Party and Me' - George Stephanopoulos' Bottom Line

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2011/04/speaker-john-boehner-on-budget-negotiations-no-daylight-between-tea-party-and-me.html
Speaker of the House John Boehner said he is in lockstep with the Tea Party on budget negotiations despite claims from Democrats that there could be a deal if only he could buck the Tea Party.
“Listen, there’s no daylight between the Tea Party and me,” Boehner told me today during our exclusive interview.
“None?” I asked
“None. What they want is they want us to cut spending. They want us to deal with this crushing debt that’s going to crush the future for our kids and grandkids. There’s no daylight there,” he said.
Democrats have accused Boehner of being pulled further back by the Tea Party and “moving the goal post” during negotiations by increasing his demand from $33 billion in cuts to $40 billion.
I asked Boehner if he was willing to go as far as prominent Tea Party member Rep. Mike Pence who said “shut it down” if Democrats don’t agree to additional cuts.
The Speaker said he has Pence’s full support.
“Well, Mike Pence stood up at our conference today and said, 'Mr. Speaker, I’m with you.'"
But in a statement released after my interview with the Speaker, Congressman Pence made it clear that his support is qualified - just for the one-week CR, not a broader compromise:
“While I am frustrated that liberals in the Senate continue to resist our efforts to include even modest cuts in this year's budget, I will support a one-week Continuing Resolution because the troops come first. H.R. 1363 will fully fund the Department of Defense for the rest of this fiscal year and will reduce spending by $12 billion,” Pence wrote in the statement.
“We cannot put fiscal battles ahead of support for those who are fighting America’s real battles.

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Obama Elects Himself to Supreme Court - politics - Zimbio

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.zimbio.com/politics/articles/Et4DjkBdbAz/Obama+Elects+Himself+Supreme+Court
If you think Obama cares about the rights of gays, guess again. He could care less. This is a test case to see how far he can go in ignoring the rule of law and getting away with it. And maybe snap up a few votes before 2012 at the same time.
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by Bill Clintion in 1996 basically affirms that the institution of marriage is between one man and one woman. Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the law, specifically section 3, where it states that the federal government will not recognize gay marriage in any matter of law. It is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend federal law in court. Barack Obama has ordered the Justice Department not to defend this particular law, because he has unilaterally decided that it is unconstitutional.
That is correct. Obama has installed himself as a the Supreme Court Justice and ordered Eric Holder not to defend the law in court. This essentially leaves the law defensless in a court room. What would be your chances of winning a case without any defense at all? Eric Holder scrawled a letter to John Boehner, and made it clear that it is they that will define the law now.

“[T]he President and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation warrant heightened scrutiny and that, as applied to same-sex couples legally married under state law, Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional,”

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Tea Party, GOP Seize Control of ;America;s Heartland

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/marco-rubio-rand-paul/2010/11/03/id/375813?s=al&promo_code=B0B5-1

Turbocharged by the tea party, Republicans scored a stunning landslide Tuesday, knocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi off her political throne in a midterm election upheaval that ultimately may add up to the biggest GOP wave in modern electoral history.

Early predictions from analysts such as the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato indicate that a net GOP gain of more than 60 seats in the House was not out of the question.

"It's going to be destruction for Democrats from Pennsylvania all the way through Wisconsin and Michigan," Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips tells Newsmax. "It's going to be a wipeout."

In another embarrassing setback, President Barack Obama saw the Illinois U.S. Senate seat he used to occupy fall into Republican hands, as Fox News projected GOP challenger Mark Kirk the victor over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, expected to become the speaker of the House in the incoming Congress, gave a rousing speech to a joyful Republican crowd late Tuesday night as the Republican wins continued to stack up, declaring: "The American people are demanding a new way forward in Washington."

"The people's priorities will be our priorities," Boehner promised, "and the people's agenda will be our agenda. This is our pledge to America, and this is our pledge to you."

Reflecting the grass-roots spirit that fueled the Republican victory, Boehner offered some words of advice to President Obama.

"The American people have sent an unmistakable message to you tonight," Boehner said. "And that message is: Change course."

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The industry noise machine has kicked into high gear to stop the FCC from protecting Net Neutrality.

Help Free Press Spread the Truth: Donate Today   It's happening. The industry noise machine has kicked into high gear to stop the FCC from protecting Net Neutrality. On Monday, the AT&T-funded front group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) announced a $1.4 million advertising blitz to convince the public that the FCC is plotting to "take over the Internet." This is complete fiction. We urgently need your financial support to expose the phone and cable lobby's scare tactics and get out the truth. We're not asking for $1.4 million, but your donation of $14 would make a huge difference. Please Donate $14 to Push Back Against Industry Lies We have to act fast. AFP's lies are now spreading to Capitol Hill, and House minority leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor are spouting the same bogus talking points. And so are FOX News anchors and Glenn Beck. Of course, this is business as usual for AFP, which was created to spread fear and confusion on important policy issues, and to smear public interest groups like Free Press on behalf of its corporate donors. This is the same group of extremists that spread lies about President Obama's "death panels," and tried to kill climate legislation. The Internet is next on their list. These false claims of a "government takeover" are downright scary. By spending millions to spread these lies, AT&T and other companies hope that if they repeat "government takeover" often and loudly enough, people will eventually believe it. After all, from the "death tax" to "death panels," it's a tactic that's worked before. Donate $14 to Help Save the Internet Thanks to your calls and letters last week, we stopped the FCC from abandoning its promise to protect the open Internet and close the digital divide. That fight was intense, but it was nothing compared to what's ahead. We have to drown out these industry lies with the voices of millions of Net Neutrality supporters, and to keep the pressure on the FCC to do the right thing. AT&T and others are spending $1.4 million because they're worried the public might actually succeed in the fight for free speech online and universal access to the Internet. Let's show them they have reason to be worried. Please donate today. We don't take a dime from any companies, industry groups or political parties. That's why we need your support now more than ever. Thank you, Timothy Karr Campaign Director Free Press Action Fund SavetheInternet.com P.S.: Death panels, Wall Street bailouts, oil spills. Failed government oversight of industry shenanigans is hurting all of us. Don't let the Internet be next. Please donate today.

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