@hawkeye10,
You mean something all Presidents have done per the Constitution? Something Obanma has done less than any almost any other President? What about it? How about a majority Congress that failed over fifty times to kill ACA? Why aren't you more concerned about that?
@coldjoint,
The civil rights campaign began in 1965? Boy you are dumb or uneducated. Probably dumb because you're uneducatable.
Cotton wanted to "automatically" punish family members of people who violate U.S. sanctions
While he was a Congressman he introduced this...and he calls himself a constitutional lawyer.
Tom Cotton 'Corruption Of Blood' Bill Would Convict Family Members Of Iran Sanctions Violators
Posted: 05/22/2013 6:36 pm EDT Updated: 05/23/2013 2:52 pm EDT
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday offered legislative language that would "automatically" punish family members of people who violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, levying sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
The provision was introduced as an amendment to the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013, which lays out strong penalties for people who violate human rights, engage in censorship, or commit other abuses associated with the Iranian government.
Cotton also seeks to punish any family member of those people, "to include a spouse and any relative to the third degree," including, "parents, children, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, grandparents, great grandparents, grandkids, great grandkids," Cotton said.
"There would be no investigation," Cotton said during Wednesday's markup hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "If the prime malefactor of the family is identified as on the list for sanctions, then everyone within their family would automatically come within the sanctions regime as well. It'd be very hard to demonstrate and investigate to conclusive proof."
more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/tom-cotton-corruption-of-blood_n_3322251.html
10 Horrifying Facts About GOP Senator Tom Cotton
One of the worst bullies in the Senate?
By Medea Benjamin, Nalini Ramachandran / AlterNet
March 12, 2015
Hailing from Arkansas, 37-year-old Senator Cotton boasts the title of being the youngest member of the Senate, but he spouts the old warmongering rhetoric of 78-year-old Senator John McCain. From Guantanamo to Iran, food stamps to women’s rights, here are ten reasons why Tom Cotton is a dangerous dude.
1. He penned an underhanded letter to the leaders of Iran that sparked the trending hashtag #47Traitors. On March 9th, Cotton and 46 of his Republican colleagues went behind President Obama’s back by signing an “informative” letter to Iran, saying that a nuclear deal would not last because the next president could reverse it. Secretary John Kerry, one of the lead negotiators in the talks, called the letter “utterly disgusting” and “irresponsible.” Two dozen editorial boards slammed the letter and over 200,000 people signed a petition asking the senators to be charged for violating the Logan Act, a law which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.
2. Senator Cotton said the only problem he has with Guantanamo Bay prison is that “there are too many empty beds.” Ignoring waterboarding, indefinite detention, forced feeding and other torturous acts, Tom Cotton insists that the US should be "proud" of how it treats the "savages" detained in Gitmo. As far as Cotton is concerned, "[the prisoners] can rot in hell. But as long as they don’t do that, then they can rot in Guantanamo Bay." This is counter to the position of many other Senators and President Obama, who has promised time and time again to close the prison. There are still dozens of men held at Gitmo who have been cleared for release, but that doesn’t seem to bother Senator They-Can-Rot-in-Hell.
3. He has compared the negotiations of the UN Security Council (P5+1) with Iran to the “appeasement of Nazi Germany.”This accusation is ridiculous. Rouhani’s Iran is not Hitler’s Germany. Despite Cotton’s claims that “there are nothing but hardliners in Tehran,” Rouhani is a reformist, someone we need to work with to defeat ISIL. And the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran are a far better ––and safer–– approach than pushing Iran to the brink of war with the US (and Israel). For once, there is actually hope for a peaceful solution, something that certainly was not an option with Nazi Germany.
4. He thinks the use of killer drones should be expanded. Killer drones have resulted in thousands of civilian deaths in countries we’re not even at war with, like Pakistan and Yemen, and have led to an expansion of extremist groups. Senator Cotton makes the argument of many other pro-droners: that drone pilots are safer than air pilots, and casualties are reduced. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Drone pilots still suffer the psychological trauma associated with attacks, and the “collateral damage” of drone strikes means that families and children lose their lives along with the targeted terrorists. (Note: only 2% of all people killed by drone strikes have been confirmed “high-value” targets.) The last thing we need is the expansion of drone warfare, Tom.
5. He claims that “bombing makes us safer.” While in some masochistic, twisted logic that might make sense in the short term, historically speaking US military intervention has led to more extremism–– as with the formation of ISIS after the invasion of Iraq ––and turned local populations against the United States. Ultimately, bombing other countries just fosters more hate and anti-American sentiment. Bombing might not make us safer, but it certainly makes Tom Cotton’s friends in the defense industry a whole lot richer. Just 24 hours after his notorious letter to Iran became public, Cotton was the guest of honor at an event hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying and professional group for defense contractors.
6. He uses fear-mongering to call for a crackdown on immigrants and a clampdown on the Mexican border. Senator Cotton says drug cartels in Mexico are ready to expand into human trafficking and even terrorism, and could infiltrate our southern border and “attack it right here in places like Arkansas.” He’s made the wild accusation that Hezbollah is collaborating with locals in Mexico to “cross our borders and attack us here.” Ignoring the fences, drones, cameras and patrols that constantly survey the border, he maintains that the border is wide open. “As long as our border is open and it's defenseless, then it's not just an immigration issue, it's a national security issue.” Be afraid, says Cotton, very afraid--so I can keep feeding the national security state!
7. He received $700,000 for his senate campaign from the Emergency Committee for Israel.That’s correct -- $700,000! Such an exorbitant amount of money ensures that Cotton is one of the most pro-Israel senators in Congress. During the 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza, when over 500 Palestinian were killed, Cotton called the Israeli defense force “the most moral, humanitarian fighting force in the world.” In December he said Congressshould consider supplying Israel with B-52s and so-called “bunker-buster” bombs for a possible strike against Iran.
8. As an Army Lieutenant in 2006, Cotton called for the prosecution of two New York Times journalists for espionage.From his early days, Cotton has not been a fan of expository journalism. When the New York Times published an article about how the government was tracking terrorist financing, Cotton called for the journalists to be imprisoned. This news story got a lot of heat from various conservative outlets, but before he was even running for office, Cotton took it upon himself to publicize his grievances in a sarcastic letter to journalists Eric Lichtblau and James Risen. It seems that Cotton’s letter to Iran a few days ago was not the first of its kind.
9. He thinks food-stamp recipients are “addicts.”Senator Cotton hates food stamps. In his own words, he thinks the system is “riddled with fraud and abuse” and “has resulted in long-term dependency.” This is coming from the senator of Arkansas, which ranked number one in the number of residents who suffer from food insecurity. If Cotton had his way, there would be much harsher restrictions on food stamps, and the overall budget for welfare would be cut severely. Considering the high level of poverty in Arkansas, Cotton is actually voting against the interests of the people he is supposed to represent. If he’s concerned that the system is “riddled with fraud and abuse,” an audit of the Pentagon should be at the top of his to-do list.
10. He has opposed legislation to expand women’s rights.Senator Cotton voted against equal pay legislation and the Violence Against Women Act. While Senator Cotton’s website will say that the vote was taken out of context, and that the Senator supports harsh punishment for sexual assault, a vote is a vote. If that’s the case, then why would he vote against an act that would give women more resources in the case of abuse or assault? And why would he vote against legislation that would push for equivalent pay? No matter what defense Cotton’s team comes up with, there’s really no logic or excuse to vote against women’s rights.
****
Rep. Alan Grayson says Sen. Cotton is “already on his way to marking himself as the premiere warmonger of the 114th Congress.” Heather Digby Parton from Salon called him“Ted Cruz with a war record, Sarah Palin with a Harvard degree, Chris Christie with a Southern accent.” Whatever your characterization, this much is clear: this freshman senator is an arrogant bully and needs a time out.
Medea Benjamin is cofounder of Global Exchange and CodePink: Women for Peace.
Nalini Ramachandran is a student at Northeastern University studying International Affairs and Middle East Studies. She’s currently working in the CODEPINK Washington, DC office.
GOP Sen. Tom Cotton Told Uninsured Constituent Not to Use Obamacare Because “Russian Mobsters” Would Steal Her Identity
Yes, the same Tom Cotton leading the charge against Obama's Iran negotiations.
By Zaid Jilani / AlterNet
March 10, 2015
Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton has been in the news for spearheading a coalition of 47 Senators who are trying to kill any deal with Iran by warning its leadership that Obama is only in office for another 21 months.
But long before Cotton had fame and his seat in the Senate, he was a little-known member of the House of Representatives. On November 23rd, 2013, he held a town hall meeting in his district in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Clarion Lake Resort. The meeting was organized primarily to discuss the Affordable Care Act, most specifically the mishaps with the websites governing the health insurance exchanges.
At one point, a constituent submitted a question mentioning that her insurance plan had been cancelled and she refuses to utilize the exchanges that Obama, who she calls a liar, set up.
Rather than telling her that she has an obligation for her own health to seek insurance, Cotton goaded her on, telling her that he himself wouldn't use the exchange website because “Russian mobsters” may steal his identity.
QUESTION: I want to know why my state insurance Blue Cross and Blue Shield pre-existing high-risk pool was canceled and if it is going to be one of the hopefully reinstated plans that the President of the United States promised. He's lied about so much but I really need my health insurance but I refuse to apply through Obamacare and leave myself and my personal information up for hackers.
COTTON: I have to say I share Tammy's concerns about her personal information. I have to buy any kind of insurance plan that I might buy through the exchange. And I am certainly not going on the exchange to shop right now. I did in early October just because I knew that it would crash and I would prove a point. But I certainly wouldn't put my Social Security number or my tax information in there right now until I'm 100% confident that it's not going to be stolen by Russian mobsters and I'd have my identity stolen and sold on the black market internationally
Watch the question-and-answer below (it starts at 45:23)
:
Cotton here went beyond the typical Republican exhorting of the evils of Obamacare and calls for repeal – here he is literally endorsing uninsured people just not using the system. For a man who has railed on a supposed threat from the dangers of Iran, he is awfully comfortable subjecting his own constituents to the dangers of no health coverage.
Zaid Jilani is an AlterNet contributing writer. Follow @zaidjilani on Twitter.
Dealing with coldjoint mislogic and innuendo and nonfact is light lifting. Thankyou for doing it anyway.
@coldjoint,
Mr coldjoint would never, ever put anybody on ignore.
@coldjoint,
http://liberallogic101.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/liberal-logic-101-1554-500x416.jpg
Shouldent Nantenyhoo's picture have been here? After all he owns over 290 republican house members and almost 53 republican senators.
GOP’s “screw the poor” budget: Republicans plan some serious pain for low-income Americans
Quote:The new GOP budget seeks to slash Medicaid spending and coverage, and in return will provide nothing
The House Republicans came out with their big FY2016 budget proposal yesterday, and, as my colleague Jim Newell points out, while Paul Ryan is no longer the official numbers wonk for House Republicans, his influence is readily apparent in their new budget plan. The Republican proposal privatizes everything it can privatize, cuts every non-defense program it gets its grubby mitts on, nukes Obamacare from orbit, and dynamically scores itself into something resembling balance.
It really can’t be overstated just how terrible this budget proposal is for America’s poor. There’s a lot to pick over, but I want to focus specifically on Medicaid. The program would be in for some especially deep cuts under the Republicans’ vision, and the inevitable impact of those cuts would be millions of low-income Americans losing access to health coverage.
The GOP plan envisions two big changes to the existing Medicaid system: it would do away with the Medicaid expansion made possible by the Affordable Care Act, and it would transform Medicaid into a block-granted program, wherein states would receive a chunk of money and be left to their own devices when deciding how to spend it.
Let’s start with the Medicaid expansion. The GOP proposal arrived the day after the White House released data showing that the uninsured rate nationwide had plummeted 35 percent since the Affordable Care Act was implemented. A huge chunk of this reduction is due to expanded Medicaid, which, as of this writing, 29 states have signed on to. The expansion is a great deal for the states – the federal government picks up full cost of the expansion initially, and 90 percent of the cost going forward – and data show that states that expanded Medicaid saw much sharper reductions in their uninsurance rates compared to non-expansion states. Obamacare works largely because of the Medicaid expansion. The Republicans in the House want to eliminate this and replace it with nothing.
More at the above source.
@edgarblythe,
Wow Edgar, what a bunch of bullshit. Tens of millions of people who vote against their best interests? I have asked several times on this site and no one has even come close to telling me why voting for the GOP is against MY best interest. I left the GOP due to the social issues they had going on, but once again the social issues do not effect me personally.
What does voting for the Dems do for me and me only?
