Mitch McConnell must be dealt with

When a member of Congress stands in the way of a President's programs because he opposes the substance of those programs, that is politics. When he does it simply because he hates the President due to the fact he is...Barack Obama, this Congressional person needs a thorough psychiatric examination. I am, of course, talking about Senate leader Mitch McConnell, a confirmed racist in a position of authority he should be removed from at any cost.

Once again McConnell has said no to a lame duck Supreme Court nomination, referring to the President's naming of Judge Merrick Garland for Justice who, by the way, is a disappointment to many Progressives. NBCNews|SurveyMonkey Supreme Court Nomination Poll, conducted online from March 17-18, 2016 among a national sample of 1,838 adults aged 18 and over found 61% think Congress should vote now, 36% say wait for next President.

There are also precedents for naming Supreme Court Justices in the final year of a Presidency reported by Amy Howe, a lawyer and editor of SCOTUS Blog you can read here. These precedents aren't conclusive but they point to a more conducive Congress and certainly none of these Presidents had to deal with a mentally deranged Senate head like Mitch McConnell. McConnell's favorability ratings have taken a nose dive even with his own Republican base.

I realize the American public does not have all the facts when considering Garland. But, then, neither does Mitch McConnell who opposes him not because of his stand on the issues but rather just because he is an appointee of Barack Obama. President Obama will go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents but Mitch McConnell's legacy will be one of holding a country hostage for eight years, placing the nation's progress behind his vengefulness.

YES-NO - Gun manufacturers responsible for gun violence?

Most of you know me and are well aware that I am an avid, passionate supporter of responsible gun control. I go to the extent that I would take all the cowboy vigilantes off the street and make them keep their guns at home. Don't worry guys, your girlfriend or spouse will still think you are a man...probably. But I don't agree with the parents of the Sandy Hook victim that exclaims Bernie Sanders is wrong about gun manufacturer responsibility for gun deaths.

What these folks are implying is that the morons in Congress have done the right thing by not addressing the real problem of gun violence...too many guns on the street in the wrong hands. The gun manufacturer, in fact, is not wrong selling an AR-15 rifle because it is legal and that is because Congressional idiots let the assault weapons ban expire in 2004. Sure, gun manufacturers are guilty of having absolutely no common sense at times selling them, knowing how dangerous they are.

It's not legally wrong. It is logically wrong. Mark and Jackie Barden should go after the bottom-feeders in Washington that take millions from the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) every year and then vote the way they are told on gun issues. It's sickening to see the way gun violence has taken over this country and the American public doesn't appear to give a shit. I want you to take a look at a report from the Gun Violence Archive 2016.

Total number of incidents              10,590
Number of deaths                             2,677
Number of injuries                           5,424
Number of children (0-11)
  killed/injured                                     613
Mass shootings                                      51
Accidental shooting                             534

And folks, this is only since January 1, 2016. But have you heard one member of Congress lamenting over the fact that these individuals died, especially the children? If so, it was not within earshot of the NRA. If you want to lay blame, put it squarely where it belongs, on Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. Add to that those gun dealers who recklessly want to sell guns with little concern over who they are selling them to. One such case is straw purchase sales.

I totally agree with the end result the Bardens are fighting for and have great sympathy for their cause. It is just misdirected and infers that our dysfunctional Congress is not to blame for gun violence in America. The people of this country must stand up now and tell Washington that we want responsible gun control

As usual Mitch McConnell lies through his teeth

The meaning of "lied though his teeth" is to tell someone something that you know is completely false. And that is precisely what Senate leader Mitch McConnell did when he used the "Biden Rule" as the reason he would not consider President Obama's nomination to fill Justice Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court. I watched him speak on the Senate floor and observed a U.S. Senator intentionally lying to make his point.

Because he hates Barack Obama.

How does this kind of bottom feeder make it into the U.S. Senate? How does this kind of bottom feeder stay in the U.S. Senate?

The "Biden Rule" is an "...observation to the effect that if an outgoing president nominates someone before the summer of his last term in office, that person typically receives the Senate’s approval, but that if he or she is nominated during the summer, that person does not — meaning that McConnell even gets what could be called the “Biden Observation” wrong.), as reported by Salon. This was in 1992 when Joe Biden was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

In another Salon comment, "The Senate Majority Leader said that the august body 'will continue to honor the Biden rule,' which doesn't exist." Continued proof that Mitch McConnell will go to any length to block anything that Barack Obama proposes. Just because it comes from Barack Obama. There are many reasons to get Republicans out of Congress but Mitch McConnell is the epitome of those efforts.

If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination it will be one of the biggest losses ever for this country #sanders

I'll say it again, 'If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination it will be one of the biggest losses ever for this country.' Why? Because the U.S. needs a Bernie Sanders revolution to get our business back in order. Look at where we are today with a dysfunctional Congress and the leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, saying he won't even look at an Obama nomination to fill Scalia's place on the Supreme Court. Simply because this moron hates the President.

We're talking Republicans, the reason for all of the problems of the last thirteen years. It all started with Ronald Reagan; yes the man revered by the GOP and some Democrats. He handed the mantle to George H.W. Bush who did nothing terrible because he did nothing at all. And then came the clincher, his son, George W. Bush who almost brought this country to its knees. And in the recent primaries his brother, Jeb, finally found out America is sick of the Bushes.

Come on, folks, the U.S. has been shifting toward progressive politics with grassroots movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. And along with this Vice points out there is "...a new crop of unapologetically liberal politicians like Elizabeth Warren, Bill De Blasio and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. The time is here and we mustn't pass it up. Bernie Sanders has shown amazing staying power with upset after upset so we mustn't let him down now.

Bernie Sanders Sayings #sanders

As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, I will not support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared sacrifice.

Bernie Sanders roars into March 15 Primaries #sanders

Here are the latest Democratic Primary polls by state from late Monday afternoon:

Quinnipiac - Ohio

     Sanders-46%
     Clinton-51%

Quinnipiac - Florida

     Sanders-34%
     Clinton-60%

CBS -Illinois

     Sanders-48%
     Clinton-46%

Public Policy Polling - Missouri

     Sanders-47%
     Clinton-46%

Huff Post - No. Carolina

     Sanders 34.6%
     Clinton-54.8%

Bernie Sanders leads in Illinois (Clinton's home state-does that tell you something?) and Missouri, not a big one but a lead is a lead. He is close in Ohio (5 points) but still has work to do in Florida and No. Carolina. From here we are on to Arizona, Idaho and Utah for March 22. More on that later.

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Bernie Sanders Sayings #sanders

There must be a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages.

David Axelrod chides Hillary Clinton on misleading comment in Flint, Michigan debate #sanders

David Axelrod was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama when Bernie Sanders supposedly voted against the "auto bailout bill," according to Hillary Clinton. Not so says Axelrod. To begin with it wasn't an auto bailout bill, rather an extremely unpopular Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) -- the emergency funding requested by the Bush administration to help stabilize reeling banks and financial institutions.

Bernie was against this as he has said repeatedly during his candidacy.

Axelrod continued, "It was true that the TARP funding financed small bridge loans to help Chrysler and General Motors survive temporarily and give the new administration a few months to decide if and how the iconic companies could be saved." Clinton purposely turned this into a Sanders "vote against the auto industry bailout." She later qualified her statement, sorta, but continued to confuse the two programs with no real clarification.

Obama's former adviser says he understands why Clinton would be reluctant to identify the bill she supported and Sanders was against because TARP was and is one of the most rejected bills to ever come out of the Congress. Apparently Axelrod pissed off some Clinton supporters doing this because in actuality TARP did eventually provide the much needed funds to save the auto industry.

It's just the way she went about the whole thing in the implication that made Bernie Sanders look like the bad guy and Hillary Clinton the good girl. But apparently it didn't work. The Bern came from a 20-point deficit to win the Michigan primary. He plans to do the same thing in Ohio and Illinois.