A second poll, this one by CNN, indicates that the last election was not an indication of approval for the Republican platform.
Asked whether the election provided a mandate for Republicans or was a rejection of Democrats, 70 percent said the midterms were a negative reaction to the governing party. Only 17 percent said the election provided the GOP with a mandate.
Politico has a great article on how Healthcare Exchanges are working in the few states that already have them and what to expect. By law, the states are required to roll out their Healthcare Exchanges in 2013.
To steal the headline, Congressional Freshmen vow not to party like it’s 1994.
Politifact gives a huge Pants On Fire (their lowest rating) to George Allen’s statement: “The new Congress must repeal and cutoff any additional money borrowed and set aside for Obama, Reid and Pelosi's $1.2 trillion stimulus spending bill.”
Allen is not only exaggerating the spending total by President Obama and the Democratic leaders of Congress, he is doing it by including billions of dollars passed under a Republican president. That’s just not false, it’s ridiculous. So we have to set the meter ablaze. Pants on Fire.
Politifact says it is True that: “If you look at our spending, it's the highest it's been as a share of our economy in 60 years, revenue is the lowest it's been as a share of our economy in 60 years, so we're going to have to work both sides of the equation.”
In 2009, tax receipts accounted for 14.8 percent of GDP. According to the table, tax receipts as a share of GDP were always higher all the way back through 1950, when they accounted for 14.4 percent of GDP. That would be 59 years -- not quite 60, but very, very close.
The recession factors into the tax revenue statistic as well. Both the 2008 stimulus package under President George W. Bush and the 2009 stimulus under President Barack Obama included tax breaks as a major component.
Because the statistics show a number so close to 60 years -- and because Conrad was speaking during a television interview rather than a prepared speech or written statement -- we'll give him some leeway and rate the statement True.
Politifact finally give a True rating to the following statement: “We now consume at the federal level 25 percent of the gross domestic product. Historically we were at 20 percent. So we've taken 5 percent away from the private sector.”
In fact, the only other years since 1950 in which federal spending exceeded 23 percent of GDP came in 1982 and 1983, with 23.1 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively. That was during and immediately after the last recession that rivaled the current one in severity, the 1981-82 recession. Economic downturns tend to affect this statistic because they slow GDP and increase the demand for government services. Even without special stimulus measures, spending goes up for mandatory items such as food stamps.
So in 1983, under a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, the government spent just 1.2 percentage points less than the current level, which suggests that the recession shouldn't be ignored as a major reason why spending is so high.
Still, Paul's larger point is valid. Federal spending is now approximately 25 percent of GDP, and that level is roughly 5 percentage points higher than the historical pattern. So we rate his statement True.
President Obama and some top Democrats are pushing for the passage of the Dream Act during the lame duck session of Congress.
The legislation would grant undocumented students who were brought into the United States as minors by their parents a path to citizenship through higher education or military service.
For the first time since Vietnam, a living soldier has been awarded the Metal of Honor.
"You may believe that you don't deserve this honor, but it was your fellow soldiers who recommended you for it," Obama told Giunta at the White House Tuesday. "For your service, we're all in your debt, and I'm proud to be your commander in chief."
Charlie Rangle is guilty of ethics violations and will be given censure and a letter of reprimand.
The Merchant of Death if finally on US soil.
John McCain is calling for the military to trim $100 billion from their budget.
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