Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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44 Senate Republicans write Harry Reid on FTAs with Colombia & Panama

Senate GOP Letter To Majority Leader Reid On Trade Agreements With Colombia And Panama

As a result of the administration’s failure to act on these agreements, American companies and their workers are losing market share and are being denied valuable business opportunities. At the same time, Colombia and Panama are continuing to expand their trading partnerships elsewhere, signing bilateral free trade agreements with the European Union, Canada, and other countries which are eager to move into these large markets at the expense of U.S. workers.

Any further delay of these agreements is unnecessary and inexcusable. So important are these deals to our economy and our relations with these key allies in Latin America that, until the President submits both agreements to Congress for approval and commits to signing implementing legislation into law, we will use all the tools at our disposal to force action, including withholding support for any nominee for Commerce Secretary and any trade-related nominees.

It’s not only the Republicans. As I stated last week, Democrats and Republicans are urging Obama to pass the FTAs, including,

19 former government officials, Democrat and Republican, sent Mr. Obama and Congressional leaders a letter urging swift passage of the Colombia and Panama deals. The 19 served under no fewer than six U.S. Presidents, from Gerald Ford through George W. Bush.

The signatories include two former special envoys to the Americas; six former U.S. Trade Representatives, including Democrats Mickey Kantor and Charlene Barshefsky; and 11 former Assistant Secretaries of State for the Western Hemisphere, including Bernard Aronson and several other Democrats.

What is Obama waiting for?

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I’m sure Juan Williams’s lawyers will find this NPR video interesting,

NPR executives caught on tape bashing conservatives and Tea Party, touting liberals

At the Café Milano lunch, Schiller said he’s “very proud of” how NPR fired Juan Williams. “What NPR stood for is non-racist, non-bigoted, straightforward telling of the news and our feeling is that if a person expresses his or her opinion, which anyone is entitled to do in a free society, they are compromised as a journalist,” he said. “They can no longer fairly report.”

With that, Schiller once again directly contradicted NPR’s public statements. At her Monday press conference, Vivian Schiller apologized for the way it handled the Williams matter. “We handled the situation badly,” she said. “We acted too hastily and we made some mistakes. I made some mistakes.”

The rest of the conversation highlights Ron Schiller’s opinions on “Middle America”, the Tea Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

But hey, Schiller thinks NPR would be better without federal funding. That’s one thing we can agree on.

Harry Reid’s upset, though,

The quotable Harry Reid swings into action once again:

“The mean-spirited bill, H.R. 1, eliminates National Public Broadcasting,” said Reid in a floor speech. “It eliminates the National Endowment of the Humanities, National Endowment of the Arts. These programs create jobs. The National Endowment of the Humanities is the reason we have in northern Nevada every January a cowboy poetry festival. Had that program not been around, the tens of thousands of people who come there every year would not exist.”

As Guy Benson jokes, “Poof!  The way Reid tells it, tens of thousands of John Wayne/Walt Whitman enthusiasts would simply fall off the face of the earth if Republicans’ mean-spirited demonstrably modest cuts are adopted.”

Here’s Harry, saying that if it weren’t for a cowboy poetry festival “tens of thousands of people…would not exist.”

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Harry Reid: “Obama’s like a Chilean miner”

Yes, the POTUS is in way in over his head,
Obama is like a Chilean miner, Harry Reid says
President found himself in ‘a hole’ when elected to White House, but ‘rolled up his sleeves’

In a speech to supporters in Las Vegas on Sunday night, Reid said that when Obama replaced George W. Bush in the White House he found himself in a “hole so deep that he couldn’t see the outside world.

“It was like the Chilean miners, but he, being the man he is, rolled up his sleeves and said ‘I am going to get us out of this hole,’” Reid said at an “Early Vote GOTV” event.

As Michelle Malkin put it,

Sure, Obama is like a Chilean miner — stuck in a deep hole and dependent on competent, can-do Americans to get him out.

Jammie:

He’s in over his head, he’s leading a party that’s about to be buried by an avalanche in two weeks and he’s completely in the dark.

TPTB:

I agree with Harry Ried that Obama is like a trapped miner — both are in dangerously over their heads and begging for cigarettes

and TPTB’s commenter,

“I guess that would be an apt comparison if the Chilean miners had all grabbed their shovels and started digging downward to get out of the hole.”

Harry couldn’t compare Obama to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, after all, Piñera understands what leadership is all about.

UPDATE:
Rush Limbaugh: “Obama’s still in it [the mine].”

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The trouble with Harry

Reid breaks with Obama, opposes mosque near Ground Zero

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is breaking ranks with President Obama over the issue of the proposed construction of a controversial Islamic center and mosque just blocks away from Ground Zero.

“The First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” spokesman Jim Manley said in a statement. “Sen. Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else.

Harry couldn’t help himself and had to blame, who else, the Republicans, even when it is his own lack of leadership that can not gather enough Democrat votes in his Democrat-controlled Senate

If the Republicans are being sincere, they would help us pass this long overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been devastated because of their bravery on 911, rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation.”

But I digress.

Allahpundit comments,

I know national polls show voters (including a majority of Democrats) overwhelmingly against the mosque but I’m still surprised that he went this route. He’ll be absolutely obliterated by the left for it. They’ll turn out for him anyway, I assume, in the interest of electing Anyone But Angle, but he’s going to take an unholy beating in the meantime. Consider this a parting gift to him from Obama, whose agenda has already placed Reid on the brink of electoral destruction: Had Barry O simply stayed away from this subject and continued with the lame but smart talking point about not interfering in local issues, Reid probably could have ducked it. Instead he spoke up and nationalized it, and now Democrats everywhere will have to decide whether to walk the plank or save themselves. Good work, champ.

Over at Haaretz, they were saying that

Insiders say Muslim spiritual leaders behind the controversial initiative are considering giving up on the former World Trade Center location, in a gesture of appeasement.

but the Park51 spokesman tweeted,

There is no truth to the Haaretz story. It is wholly incorrect. We will be publishing a press release regarding this shortly.

Another one of their tweets was even more direct,

On a side note, if Haaretz likes publishing fables, perhaps they could go back to the Yiddish ones with parables

The road to moderation and tolerance runs directly through Jew-baiting.

In the meantime, does anyone know where in the world is Imam Feisal? Did he start his tour yet? I want to know where my tax dollars are going.

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Harry Reid doesn’t know how any Hispanic voter could be a Republican VIDEO

Yes sirree, the guy who killed the Comprehensive Immigration Bill in 2007 now says,
Reid: I don’t know how any Hispanic voter could be a Republican

Speaking to a group of Hispanic voters at a campaign event Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blamed Republicans for holding up immigration reform in Congress and openly wondered how any Hispanic voter could identify as Republican given the party’s record.

“I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK,” Reid said, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. “Do I need to say more?”

Actually, he did say more and pulled a race card:

“Immigration is nothing new,” Reid added, speaking to more than 50 mostly activist Hispanics who applauded his anti-GOP remarks. “We are a nation of immigrants. So because the wave of immigrants we have now — their skin’s a tone darker than ours — doesn’t make it any different.”

That’s exactly how the Dems see “Hispanics”:
a block of nameless faces separated from mainstream America by race who will want to remain dependent on Democrat entitlement programs after having arrived here in the USA by breaking the law.

GM Roper, however, explains it to Harry,

Well Harry, lets count a few of the ways.

1. Hispanic-Americans are Patriotic and Love this country.

2. Hispanic-Americans are dedicated to an extended family and often support their elderly with love, compassion and care.

3. Hispanic-Americans largely oppose abortion on demand, a centerpiece of the Democrat Party.

4. Hispanic-Americans are growingly concerned with uncontrolled borders and increasing illegal immigrants in this country.

5. Hispanic-Americans are running for elected office on the Republican ticket across this great country.

6. Hispanic-Americans have overwhelmingly supported Republican candidates in some areas, and increasingly support them in others.

7. Hispanic-Americans resent the hell out of you trying to tell them what they do or do not think.

8. Care to have this conversation with people like Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, Brian Sandoval in Nevada (you do know who Mr. Sandoval is Harry, he is very likely to beat your son in the Governor’s race and is currently leading by 50-31), Susana Martinez and John Sanchez running for Governor and Lt. Governor in New Mexico, former 10-term GOP New Mexico Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr., and while you’re at it Harry Reid, check out the number of Republican Hispanic-Americans of Cuban extraction in Florida.

As GM puts it, “I don’t know how any THINKING Hispanic could be a Democrat!”

h/t Patterico, who points out,

Update: Harry’s son, Rory, is running for Governor.  He’s currently getting crushed in the polls by Republican Brian Sandoval — the first Hispanic candidate elected to statewide office in Nevada. (h/t Melissa Clouthier)

UPDATE: Things are bad enough for Harry that Ed Morrissey reminds us that Rory has stopped using his dad’s name in his campaign advertising.

I’ll be talking about this in this morning’s podcast at 11AM Eastern.

Post re-edited to include omitted sentence.

UPDATE 2
Sister Toldjah wants to know, Is the race card the only one in their deck? and posts Marco Rubio’s reaction,



Since when is Reid an authority on Hispanic identity?

That there is what we spicks call a chancletazo, Senator Reid

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Mark Steyn on responsibility

Mark Steyn on When Responsibility Doesn’t Pay

Think of Greece as California: Every year an irresponsible and corrupt bureaucracy awards itself higher pay and better benefits paid for by an ever-shrinking wealth-generating class. And think of Germany as one of the less profligate, still-just-about-functioning corners of America such as my own state of New Hampshire: Responsibility doesn’t pay. You’ll wind up bailing out anyway. The problem is there are never enough of “the rich” to fund the entitlement state, because in the end it disincentivizes everything from wealth creation to self-reliance to the basic survival instinct, as represented by the fertility rate. In Greece, they’ve run out Greeks, so they’ll stick it to the Germans, like French farmers do. In Germany, the Germans have only been able to afford to subsidize French farming because they stick their defense tab to the Americans. And in America, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are saying we need to paddle faster to catch up with the Greeks and Germans. What could go wrong?

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The “It’s my health, it’s my choice” roundup

Obama’s healthcare infomercial’s coming up, so here are a few links,

Mark Steyn on a rallying cry: “It’s my health, it’s my choice.”

Don Surber: Canada’s health plan: The USA

WSJ Editorial: ObamaCare at Ramming Speed
The White House shows it has no interest in compromise.

Roger Kimball: “The President’s Plan”: All you need to know

Peter Wehner: ObamaCare and Political Theater

Michael Barone: Obama’s nanny care insults the American spirit

Gerard Vanderleun: Obamacare Now! Because What We’ve Got Isn’t Bad Enough

Senate Republicans on YouTube,

Editorial at Get Liberty: Televised Circus at 1600 Penn

Doug Ross’ roundup, Larwyn’s Linx: Dems not fond of deceptive Obamacare plan, and Dan Riehl’s post of the same title, Dems Not Fond Of Deceptive ObamaCare Plan

Chicago Boyz: A rapacious and greedy Technocracy

Satire: Harry Reid Launches New “Vote For Me Or The Wife Gets It” Campaign and A Portrait of Harry Reid, Post-Senate Career

Michael Ramirez, via Power Line (click to enlarge),

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Bipartisanship raspberry: Reid kills Baucus-Grassley jobs bill

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Harry Reid gives Max Baucus the raspberry:
Reid kills Baucus-Grassley jobs bill

Members of the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a long-awaited bipartisan jobs bill Thursday morning — only to have it scrapped within hours by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid killed the bill after hearing complaints from members of his own caucus who argued that Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had gone too far beyond the core goal of job creation in order to win Republican support.

It was a major rebuke for Baucus, who’d spent weeks working with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on his committee, trying to come up with a bill that Republicans would support.

It doesn’t matter whether the jobs bill would be effective. Harry didn’t want Max to “go too far”.

Harry extends a hand with a middle finger to his own Finance Committee Chairman.

How’s that for bipartisanship?

UPDATE:
Ace:

This guy isn’t even pretending to talk about jobs — he’s just telling the press flat-out the political message he wants to get out by spending a $100 billion. And they don’t even seem to notice.

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