WASHINGTON — President Obama took aim yesterday at Republican senators standing in the way of a nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia, saying they were abandoning Ronald Reagan’s lesson of nuclear diplomacy: “Trust but verify.’’
Related:
Russia's Cheat and Retreat
Obama raises Reagan(?) for a scrap of paper that don't mean s***!!
Meanwhile, the Senate’s GOP leader accused his Democratic counterparts of wasting Congress’ lame-duck session on issues from gays in the military to environment regulations. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, didn’t mention Obama’s push to ratify the new START weapons treaty with Russia, but said extending Bush-era tax cuts needed to be the top priority....
Serving the rich, starting wars, and serving banks: it is what Congress does best.
The president went to great length listing the prominent Republicans from previous administrations who back the deal, including former secretaries of state Colin Powell, George Shultz, Jim Baker, and Henry Kissinger....
Related: The Boston Globe's Stupid Ideas: Nuclear Disarmament
Yeah, I really trust those guys.
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Related: Reid will bring up ‘don’t ask’ for vote
Now I'm just feeling limp.
"Reid urged to work with GOP on ‘don’t ask’
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats pressured Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday to strike a deal with Republicans to aid passage of a bill that would allow gays to serve openly in the military.
A dozen Democrats and Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said Reid should allow an extended debate on a wide-ranging defense policy bill, which includes a provision that would repeal the 1993 law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.’’
The Senate’s desire to adjourn before the holidays was no reason to curtail debate and give Republicans an excuse to block the bill, Lieberman said.
“If that’s all that separates our military from getting all that they deserve in the defense authorization bill, including the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ shame on us,’’ he said. “I’m confident we can and will’’ pass the legislation.
In September, GOP senators united in sinking the measure after Reid declined to give them some two weeks to debate it.
Related: Obama Defends the Fed
GOP throwing a wrench into the war machine and the banking system?
No wonder the banker's mouthpiece media hated and misrepresented Tea Party.
Republicans said they needed time to debate a policy measure that addresses everything from troop pay to how many cargo planes the military can buy.
Democrats expect to have the votes needed to advance the bill if an extended debate with GOP amendments is allowed. Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid, said yesterday no decision had been made on how much time would be allotted for debate.
President Obama has promised gay rights groups that he would push to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ by the end of the year. But as Senate Democrats met yesterday to set their agenda for the lame-duck session, Obama focused his efforts on pushing for ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia....
Back to that again.
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"White House intensifies push for Senate OK of arms treaty; Nuclear upgrades considered key to GOP backing" by Nicole Gaouette and Flavia Krause-Jackson, Bloomberg News / November 18, 2010
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday the administration is nearing a consensus with congressional leaders on funding for improvements to the US nuclear arsenal, a sticking point in efforts to win Senate ratification this year for an arms control treaty with Russia.
So how much more bribe money did they come up with?
"Republicans have already pressured the administration to pledge $80 billion over the next decade for improvements to the remaining US nuclear arsenal, along with $180 billion more for missiles and other delivery systems that carry warheads. In recent days, the administration has thrown in a sweetener: a promise of $4 billion more if the GOP ratifies the treaty in the lame-duck session"
That's YOUR TAX LOOT, taxpayers!!
Is that where you REALLY WANT the BILLIONS GOING?
Yup, the administration has BILLIONS of YOUR TAX DOLLARS for POLITICAL BRIBES to BUY VOTES!
“We’ve had very encouraging discussions [with] a number of Republican senators who share our commitment to ensuring a robust nuclear modernization program,’’ Clinton said, after meeting with lawmakers on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty....
Oh, so we can modernize and build to the tune of billions while telling others they can't have even one?
Senator Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, said that failure to ratify the treaty would be inexcusable and that the nuclear stockpiles of nations such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea pose “an existential problem for our country.’’
And how are they supposed to feel looking at us and our bloated empire and war budgets?
*****************
Treaty opponents include John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. Bolton says the treaty confers more benefits on Russia than the United States.
Because budget constraints will force reductions in Russia’s nuclear arsenal regardless of whether the treaty takes effect, Bolton and other opponents say ratification of the accord will unnecessarily preserve nuclear parity between the two powers....
“Some Republican senators just want to deny the president a victory, while some are trying to get the best possible deal,’’ said Robert Kagan, a national security specialist at the Brookings Institution and a former adviser to Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. “Still, blocking the treaty is a mistake.’’
Yeah, the best people to advise us are the neo-con crappers who started this whole mess.
Support from Kyl is “gettable’’ if Clinton and the administration are willing to amend the treaty and more clearly lay out modernization components, said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.
Kyl told reporters yesterday, “We’re talking in good faith.’’
In politics? Ha!
Russia’s State Duma is prepared to ratify the treaty, said Andrei Klimov, a deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the lower house of Parliament.
“We’ve made our decision, but haven’t formalized it,’’ Klimov said by telephone. “The ball’s in the Americans’ court, so let them knock it back and forth a bit.’’
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And nothing is lamer than a sorry-ass s*** for a president:
"Obama-GOP showdown over nuclear pact with Russia" by Ben Feller, AP White House Correspondent / November 18, 2010
WASHINGTON—Insisting the nation's security could be in peril, President Barack Obama rallied former diplomatic and military chiefs from both parties Thursday to pressure reluctant Republican senators to ratify a nuclear weapons deal with Russia. He predicted he would gain the votes this year, though foes gave him little chance of success.
Translation: Obama IS the FRONT-MAN for the globalist/Zionist ESTABLISHMENT!
The ratification fight is testing both the power of the president and relations between the world's two nuclear giants. Obama set the stakes ominously high, warning of an unchecked Russian nuclear arsenal, undermined credibility of the United States and unraveling global unity about how to contain a rogue Iran.
I REALLY THOUGHT we where DONE with the FEAR FRAUD when you took over, sir!
THANKS for NOTHING!!!
Yup, BILLIONS MORE NEED to be plowed into the NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX but Russia stll won't be checked and.... sigh.
Aren't you just SICK of THEM ALL?
As for the credibility of the U.S., you can start trying to get it back with this 'cause it's in the al-Qaeda.
"It is a national security imperative," Obama declared from the White House. He surrounded himself in the Roosevelt Room with respected diplomats and military leaders of the modern era, including those from Republican administrations, in an attempt to portray statesmanship rising above politics.
That's what we call globalist mass-murderers: statesmen.
Yet key Senate Republicans held their ground, underscoring Obama's difficulty in rescuing one of his foreign policy priorities. It was an early challenge to his political strength, just two weeks after the Republicans handily won the midterm elections.
Translation: We want more money.
It was unclear how Obama could muster the 67 votes he needs in the 100-person Senate to win ratification before Congress ends its current wrap-up session. Discussions took place by the hour Thursday, by phone and in private corners....
I've got a pretty good idea of how he could rai$e tho$e vote$.
The pact would reduce the limits on strategic warheads held by the United States and Russia and would set up a system so each could inspect and verify the other's arsenal. Those points alone are of huge significance to both governments as a matter of mutual security and leadership to a watching world.
The broader issue is the strength of the vital U.S.-Russia relationship....
If the Senate balks, the White House believes Russia's cooperation on other difficult issues could erode. In fact, the two presidents have already discussed the likelihood of that.
Russia's support is vital to the United States in providing supply help for the war in Afghanistan, strengthening international pressure on Iran over its nuclear intentions and securing nuclear materials around the globe.
Unless Israel wants to move something. Then it's ignored.
On Capitol Hill, Republican opposition is rooted in varying arguments: doubts about the strength of verification procedures, concerns about whether the treaty would limit U.S. missile defense options, skepticism about whether the Senate can squeeze a vote into a packed, final legislative session.
Looming over all that is the prospect that Republicans, still basking in election victories, could deny the president a major foreign policy victory....
Yeah, this is ALL POLITICAL THEATER! Enjoy the SHOW, Americans!
Along with summoning some of his own top brass, the president brought in what he called "some of the most able statesmen from both parties." They included former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, James Baker III and Henry Kissinger, former defense secretaries William Perry and William Cohen and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft....
Just the "change" I wanted to see!!
As for the public, two-thirds of Americans believe the Senate should ratify the nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted earlier this month.
Translation: The AMERICAN PEOPLE are BY NATURE a PEACEFUL LOT!
That is why we NEED LYING GOVERNMENT and its MOUTHPIECE MEDIA to get us ALL GINNED UP for WARS!!
Besides a strong majority of Democrats, supporters include more than six in 10 Republicans.
Notice how YOUR CONCERNS came in LAST, public?
Yup, WHAT YOU WANT is ALWAYS LAST on the LIST!
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Special: Obama has much at stake in push for OK on treaty (By Peter Baker, New York Times)
I no longer read WaPo or NYT updates on the Boston Globe site. Sorry.
And what has the Senate gotten done so far?
"Senate bans sale of animal-torture videos" by Associated Press / November 20, 2010
WASHINGTON — Videos appealing to a sexual fetish by showing women killing small animals will be banned under a bill that cleared the Senate yesterday and is heading to President Obama for his signature.
I'm not for any of that sick s***; however, the same s***ters have voted for and funded wars based on lies to the tune of trillions.
The voice vote in the Senate followed a vote in the House Monday to ban what has been called crush videos, which depict the abuse and killing of animals.
Congress banned such videos in 1999, but the Supreme Court struck down the law this year, saying it was too broadly written and violated First Amendment protections.
The more narrowly crafted bill makes it a crime to sell or distribute videos that violate bans on animal cruelty by showing animals being burned, drowned, suffocated, or impaled.
Crush videos typically show women, often barefoot or wearing high heels, stomping small animals to death.
I really don't know what to say in the face of such sick and twisted evil.
It is not something I can ever imagine doing under any circumstance.
Every state bans animal cruelty, but it has been difficult to apply those laws to crush videos because they often do not show faces, dates, or locations. The legislation makes interstate sale of such videos a crime.
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