tagged w/ Demint
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Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after both the Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) released new debt limit increase plans.
“The plans released by both parties today fail to take our debt crisis seriously and will invite a downgrade in America’s credit rating,” said Senator DeMint. “Moody’s and S&P say we must have credible, long-term reforms to lower our debt or we will likely lose our AAA rating. But instead of serious reforms, both punt the hard decisions and create another useless deficit commission that won’t offer real solutions and would likely result in tax increase recommendations that destroy jobs. We’ve had at least 17 commissions over 3 decades and we’ve got $13 trillion in new debt to show for it. We don’t need another commission, we need to stop the reckless spending and balance the budget.”
“As I’ve said before, if you aim for principled reform, you win elections in the bargain; if you just aim for elections, you get neither. By competing with Democrats to create a better political debt deal, instead of a debt solution, Republicans are playing a lose-lose game. This is bad policy and bad politics. It seems our leaders have learned nothing from the Continuing Resolution disaster that promised big spending cuts but was just smoke & mirrors.”
“Neither plan stops the spending binge in Washington. Both plans assume we will run enormous deficits and rack up trillions of dollars in new debt with no end in sight. It could not be clearer that unless we pass a balanced budget amendment to force Washington not to spend more than it takes in, we will bankrupt our nation.”
“I will work to oppose both of these downgrade deals and continue to fight for Cut, Cap & Balance. The bipartisan House-passed Cut, Cap & Balance is the only plan on the table that will ensure we keep our AAA rating and the only plan that will ever allow us to pay down our debt instead of perpetually increasing it.”
Print ThisToday, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after... more
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There is only one word to describe this lunacy... SCREAM!
'The Bigger Government Gets, The Smaller God Gets'
It is nothing new for conservatives to dress their political ideology in religious language. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) justified his opposition to controlling greenhouse gases because "you can't regulate God." Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) of "disrespecting" Christians by considering keeping Congress in session in order to overcome GOP obstructionism. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) even went so far as to compare Democrats to Pontius Pilate, the ancient Roman official who sentenced Jesus to be crucified.
Last week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) added his voice to the chorus while being interviewed on the Family Research Council's weekly radio show. DeMint told host Tony Perkins that the size of government and the size of God exist in an inverse relationship -- "the bigger government gets, the smaller God gets": DeMINT: Some are trying to separate the social, cultural issues from fiscal issues, but you really can't do that. America works, freedom works, when people have that internal gyroscope that comes from a belief in God and Biblical faith. Once we push that out, you no longer have the capacity to live as a free person without the external controls of an authoritarian government. I've said it often and I believe it -- the bigger government gets, the smaller God gets. As people become more dependent on government, less dependent on God.
For someone supposedly espousing Christian ideals, DeMint's notion that God's power can be limited by the federal government is a surprising argument. Indeed, one of the main tenets of Christian belief is that God is all-powerful -- Matthew 19:26 is just one Biblical reference to God's omnipotence. DeMint is vastly exaggerating the nominal increase in the size of government over the past two years.
DeMint then went on in the interview to make another outlandish statement: "We've found we can't set up free societies around the world because they don't have the moral underpinnings that come from Biblical faith": DeMINT: You cannot have a free society that way. We've found we can't set up free societies around the world because they don't have the moral underpinnings that come from Biblical faith. I don't think Christians should cower from this debate, should be told that their views and their values should be separate from government policies, because America doesn't work without the faith that created it.
In fact, the world's largest democracy is India. The third most-populous democracy is Indonesia. Japan and Turkey are also high on the list. Despite not having the "moral underpinnings that come from Biblical faith" -- Christians make up less than three percent of citizens in all these countries -- these countries are clearly capable of maintaining free societies.
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Mother Jones' Nick Baumann brings us this shocker:
IRS Would Audit Abortions Under GOP Anti-Choice Bill
Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives, the Internal Revenue Service would be forced to police how Americans have paid for their abortions. To ensure that taxpayers complied with the law, IRS agents would have to investigate whether certain terminated pregnancies were the result of rape or incest. And one tax expert says that the measure could even lead to questions on tax forms: Have you had an abortion? Did you keep your receipt?
In testimony to a House taxation subcommittee on Wednesday, Thomas Barthold, the chief of staff of the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee, confirmed that one consequence of the Republicans' "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" would be to turn IRS agents into abortion cops—that is, during an audit, they'd have to determine, from evidence provided by the taxpayer, whether any tax benefit had been inappropriately used to pay for an abortion.
I was feeling pretty sure that we had found everything there was to hate about the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (aka HR3). But apparently not! As RH Reality Check's Robin Marty notes astutely, Republicans finally found something they want the IRS to spend taxpayer dollars on: uterine audits. MORE HERE
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/533091/irs_would_audit_abortions_under_gop_anti-choice_bill/#paragraph4
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Those who slap the label Republican on their sleeves... just can't stand the idea that there are people who exist that possess their own will and mind. They squeak and clamor SMALLER GOVERNMENT... Yeah smaller when it comes to helping the downtrodden or creating an equal playing field so that all of us can have a fair chance. But when it comes to their delusional, religious intolerant notions about how other people should behave... They are out in the streets bellowing GOVERNMENT SHOULD STEP IN AND STOP OR DO AWAY WITH THE RIGHT OF A WOMAN TO CHOOSE WHAT'S BEST FOR HER BODY, FOR HER LIFE OR THE RIGHT TO MARRY ONE’S LIFE PARTNER NO MATTER THEIR SEXUAL ORIANTATION AS LONG AS THEY ARE OF LEGAL AGE OR THE RIGHT TO LIVE UNDER A SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE...!
It's big, big, big government they covet so they can control all those who don't believe as they do (because maybe, just maybe…WE… well… uh… kind of…GREW UP!).
Republicans sometimes act somewhat reasonable on an individual basis (I think?) but in GROUPS they turn into marauding gangs, using anything they can (like tissue or cell masses in a jar) to try and force everyone to turn into witless zombies like themselves.
(((The 221 members of Congress who signed their names to this egregious bill must explain to their constituents why they want to give the IRS authority to audit rape survivors. READ ARTICLE - Mother Jones' Nick Baumann brings us this shocker:
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/533091/irs_would_audit_abortions_under_gop_anti-choice_bill/#paragraph4 )))
Yeah it’s all about jobs for Republicans, isn't it? MY BIG FOOT! thinkingblueThere is only one word to describe this lunacy... SCREAM!
'The Bigger... more
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Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) attempted to convince pastors that economic issues are moral issues at the Greater Freedom Rally at a church in Spartanburg, South Carolina yesterday, imploring them to help conservatives retake Congress in November.
In addition to reiterating anti-choice talking points on abortion and backing "traditional marriage," according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, the senator went further and "said if someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn't be teaching in the classroom and he holds the same position on an unmarried woman who's sleeping with her boyfriend -- she shouldn't be in the classroom."
Controversy over DeMint's position on this issue first arose in 2004 during a Senate debate, when he was asked whether he agreed with the state party's platform that said openly gay teachers should be barred from teaching public school. DeMint said he agreed with that position because government shouldn't be endorsing certain behaviors.
After significant criticism from LGBT groups, including the Log Cabin Republicans, DeMint apologized for saying "something as a dad that I just shouldn't have said."
"(When I said those things,) no one came to my defense," DeMint said on Friday in Spartanburg. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."
Wesley M. Denton, communications director for DeMint, told The Huffington Post that the senator was "making a point about how the media attacks people for holding a moral opinion." "Senator DeMint believes that hiring decisions at local schools are a local school board issue, not a federal issue," he added.
In October 2004, DeMint went on NBC's "Meet the Press" and also said that teacher hiring should be left to local authorities, although he refused to disavow his "personal beliefs":
MR. RUSSERT: You also, when asked about your comments about gay teachers, said this: "I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman, who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend, should be hired to teach my third-grade children." Do you also still believe that, that a single mom should not be a teacher in South Carolina schools?
REP. DeMINT: I believe that's a local school board issue. And, Tim, I was answering as a dad who's put lots of children in the hands of teachers and I answered with my heart. And I should just say, again, I apologize that distracted from the real debate.
MR. RUSSERT: But you apologize for distracting but are you apologizing to gay teachers or to single mom teachers?
REP. DeMINT: No. I'm apologizing for talking about a local school board issue when the voters want us to talk about how we're going to make them safer, win the war on terror, how we're going to create jobs, how we're going to fix our health-care system. And these are things I've worked on in the Congress and that's what I plan to do in the Senate. [...]
MR. RUSSERT: But you're making judgments about gay people or about single moms and, in effect, disqualifying them. Are you certain that you never had a gay teacher?
REP. DeMINT: Listen, I have my personal beliefs, Tim, but I honestly believe that the teachers should be hired by local school districts. They should be making the decisions on who should be in the classroom.
MR. RUSSERT: But don't the voters have a right to know about whether or not you still stand by comments you made in the campaign? Do you stand by your comments?
REP. DeMINT: I apologized for answering a local school board question.
MR. RUSSERT: No, you're apologizing for the distraction, but it's a simple question. Do you believe that gays should be able to teach in South Carolina schools?
REP. DeMINT: Well, Tim...
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that single moms should be able to teach?
REP. DeMINT: It's a very simple answer. I think the local school board should make that issue, not Senate can--I mean, make that decision.
MR. RUSSERT: But you didn't think that a month ago when you answered the question.
REP. DeMINT: And I apologize for that, Tim.
MR. RUSSERT: For answering the question?
REP. DeMINT: Yeah, for distracting from the real thing.
MR. RUSSERT: But not for the substance of your comments.
REP. DeMINT: Tim, who hires teachers should be decided by local school boards.
Last year, DeMint again made headlines on LGBT issues when he told Bloomberg's Al Hunt that he would find having an openly gay president "bothersome" because he considers homosexuality "immoral."Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) attempted to convince pastors that economic issues are moral... more
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A U.S. senator and three congressmen plan to meet Friday with Honduras' interim leader in defiance of official Washington policy barring contact with the architects of the military coup that ousted the nation's president.
South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint intends to meet with interim President Roberto Micheletti as well as members of the Central American nation's Supreme Court, election officials and business and civic leaders during the fact-finding trip, said Wesley Denton, a spokesman for the senator.
The visit comes as President Barack Obama's administration seeks to isolate the interim government and use other forms of pressure – including suspending aid and canceling the visas of some members of the country's wealthy elite – in hopes of returning ousted President Manuel Zelaya to serve the remaining months of his term.
DeMint, one of a number of U.S. conservatives who have defended Zelaya's ouster on June 28 in Central America's first coup in more than a decade, supports the interim government plan to hold elections Nov. 29.
"The best solution to the crisis in Honduras is free and fair democratic elections that allow the Honduran people to decide their own future," DeMint said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
The international community has made it clear that the vote will not be recognized unless Zelaya is reinstated.
Zelaya was ousted after he ignored Supreme Court orders to halt efforts to revamp the constitution. His opponents argue that he intended to extend his time in power – a charge that Zelaya denies. He has been holed-up in the Brazilian Embassy with dozens of supporters since sneaking back into the country on Sept. 21.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/02/demint-honduras-trip-plan_n_307632.htmlTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A U.S. senator and three congressmen plan to meet Friday... more
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