Obama & Bill Nye Diss Republican Science Deniers

President Barack Obama and Bill Nye recently visited the Everglades in Florida. Obama and Nye discussed the Republican Party's denying climate change. Despite the scientific evidence saying mankind is contributing to climate change.

When I see members of Congress being part of the climate-denier clubs and basically stiff-arming what we know are facts — and not rebutting them with other facts but rebutting them with anecdote or just being dismissive,” Obama said before Nye interjected.

“‘Oh, I’m not a scientist,'” Nye said, sarcastically repeating a common conservative argument against the phenomenon.

“I’m not a scientist, either, but I know a lot of scientists,” Obama replied. “I have the capacity to understand science. The capacity to look at facts and base my conclusions on evidence. Part of shifting our political culture I think, is we’ve gotta model for our kids that facts matter.”

If these Republicans say they aren't scientists then they shouldn't go around making false claims about science.

Quote of the Day

"We’re going to disagree on some things, but there are going to be areas of agreement, and we have got to be able to make that happen. And that’s going to involve compromise every once in a while, and we saw during this lame-duck period that perhaps that spirit of compromise may be coming to the fore."

President Barack Obama, on Congressional Republicans.

He never learns. No President in my lifetime has had a worse learning curve. There are times that make me think he is trying to make George W. Bush look smart.

Obama on Stephen Colbert

President Barack Obama made this gaffe. Listen.

Obama Supports Net Neutrality

President Barack Obama has officially come out in favor of net neutrality. Obama has asked the FCC to have the internet comply with Title 2 of the Telecommunications Act. Currently, "commercial mobile radio service providers" are given a great deal of leeway under the law. 20147 U.S. Code § 201 is where the FCC can say that telecommunication companies must compile with with regulations that serve the greater good of the public.

It shall be the duty of every common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio to furnish such communication service upon reasonable request therefor; and, in accordance with the orders of the Commission, in cases where the Commission, after opportunity for hearing, finds such action necessary or desirable in the public interest, to establish physical connections with other carriers, to establish through routes and charges applicable thereto and the divisions of such charges, and to establish and provide facilities and regulations for operating such through routes.

Buzzfeed has highlighted the main points of Obama's proposal.

-No blocking. If a consumer requests access to a website or service, and the content is legal, your ISP should not be permitted to block it. That way, every player — not just those commercially affiliated with an ISP — gets a fair shot at your business.

-No throttling. Nor should ISPs be able to intentionally slow down some content or speed up others — through a process often called “throttling” — based on the type of service or your ISP’s preferences. -Increased transparency. The connection between consumers and ISPs — the so-called “last mile” — is not the only place some sites might get special treatment. So, I am also asking the FCC to make full use of the transparency authorities the court recently upheld, and if necessary to apply net neutrality rules to points of interconnection between the ISP and the rest of the Internet.

-No paid prioritization. Simply put: No service should be stuck in a “slow lane” because it does not pay a fee. That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet’s growth. So, as I have before, I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization and any other restriction that has a similar effect.

The FCC could rule against Obama. So the fight for net neutrality is not over.

The Chess Master is Really the Pawn

Obama's 3D chess strategy. When in doubt take the GOP position on immigration and piss off the Hispanic and labor base of the Democratic Party. Obama is the Bobby Fischer of midterm election strategy. Obama did so well during the 2010 midterms that RNC chair Michael Steele won.

Glenn Reynolds Is An Idiot

I literally laughed my ass off when I read this post by Glenn Reynolds.

I generally favor a nip-it-in-the-bud strategy — just think how much better off we’d be if Bill Clinton had seized any of his several opportunities to kill or seize Osama bin Laden — but I have to say my confidence in Obama’s ability to carry out anything much bigger than pinpricks is severely limited.

The amount of direct attacks ordered by President George W. Bush is zero. President Bill Clinton ordered the missile strike of the al-Qaeda training site in Zhawar Kili, Afghanistan. One of the goals of the strike was to kill bin Laden. President Barack Obama ordered the Seal Team mission that resulted in the successful killing of bin Laden in Pakistan.

Reynolds is using bin Laden to make the argument that Clinton and Obama were weak on national security. That is hysterical. Perhaps Reynolds needs to be reminded of this quote by George W Bush.

Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not. We haven’t heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission. Terror is bigger than one person. He’s just a person who’s been marginalized. … I don’t know where he is. I really just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you.

No one should take Reynolds seriously.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

"If men were having babies, we'd have different policies."

President Barack Obama, during his speech in Orlando for " Improving Economic Opportunity for Women and Working Families."

Live Tweeting the State of the Union

I will be live tweeting the State of the Union @pushingrope. I will be posting updates here.

USA Today has State of the Union bingo.

It's almost time to play #SOTU Bingo! (Printable here: http://t.co/As8H4TD9j0) pic.twitter.com/vvMy3Iy3cT

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) January 29, 2014

9:05 There is nothing more electrifying than than Chuck Hagel walking into a room. I'm shocked he wasn't mobbed by groupies.

Roper Litbrit fired off this tweet.

Guantánamo Still Open #SOTUin3words

— Deborah N. Tornello (@litbrit) January 29, 2014

Charles Johnson fired off this SOTU drinking game tip.

Note: I'll only drink if John Boehner weeps openly.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) January 29, 2014

The House Republicans are going to fact-check the State of the Union. Seriously?

Note: I'll only drink if John Boehner weeps openly.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) January 29, 2014

9:11 Here comes Obama.

Ginger Lee on the Man from Orange.

Boehner bangs that gavel so angrily. http://t.co/4UGpUOT8Nj

— Ginger (@gingerlee) January 29, 2014

9:16 Obama looks confident. We aren't getting rather be someplace else Obama.

9:16 Obama praises autoworkers.

"An autoworker fine-tuned some of the best, most fuel-efficient cars in the world"

9:18 Obama is praising Congress. Well, everybody just loves Congress.

9:20 Now Obama lectures Congress on the debt ceiling. Good.

9:20 "As President I am committed to making Washington work better." -- Obama.

9:21 Obama: "Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want"

9:22 I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Biden is drawing a picture of a penis. #SOTU

Obama says he will use executive power to deal with economic inequality.

9:24 Obama said "inequality." Drink. #SOTU

9:25 Obama got a smile and a thumbs up from John Boehner. Damn!

9:26 Tax reform is dead on arrival. #SOTU

People across America are saying I rather listen to an infrastructure speech than watch Justified #SOTU

9:32 Not really. Obama; "America is closer to energy independence than we've been in decades."

Great picture of Biden being Biden.

Yep. RT @ethanklapper Biden! pic.twitter.com/ALDMAfsD6I

— Andres Almeida (@andresdavid) January 29, 2014

@BarackObama: "Climate change is a fact."

@BarackObama says fix immigration. Time for @marcorubio to take a drink of water.

9:39 Obama: "But first, this Congress needs to restore the unemployment insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million people." #SOTU

9:42 Memo to Obama: Race to the Top sucks. Big time.

Transcript of the SOTU.

9:45 Obama: "Women deserve equal pay for equal work."

9:50 Obama: "Today, the federal minimum wage is worth about twenty percent less than it was when Ronald Reagan first stood here."

9:51 @marcorubio will cringe that Obama gave him a shout out. I wish Obama would go and hug Rubio now. Rubio would see his political life flash before him.

9:53 Is Obama going to do something about toxic mortgage-backed sucurities? Not likely. #SOTU

I wonder if Karl Rove has any remorse about the Iraq war. I haven't heard him say he's sorry.

No remorse. No apology to millions who lost coverage because of ObamaCare or have higher premiums, larger deductibles.

— Karl Rove (@KarlRove) January 29, 2014

10:00 Zero chance Gov. Rick Scott will institute Obama's voting reforms. Scott wants long lines.

10:03 Obama: Together with allies, we will complete mission [in Afghanistan] by the end of this year & America’s longest war will finally be over.

10:06 That is an expensive martini glass holder Speaker John Boehner has in front of him. #SOTU

10:08 Short answer: talks between Israel and Palistine isn't going anywhere.

Obama on Iran: ""It is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran’s nuclear program."

If Reagan and JFK could negotiate with USSR, then surely US can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today.

10:12 Shorter Obama: Our alliance with Europe is strong even though the Euro scares the shit out of the Treasury Department.

This is the first State of the Union that didn't make me want to pull my hair out. I don't miss neoliberal Obama.

Obama Urges Extension of Jobless Benefits

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama urged Congress to extend jobless insurance.

So when Congress comes back to work this week, their first order of business should be making this right. Right now, a bipartisan group in Congress is working on a three-month extension of unemployment insurance – and if they pass it, I will sign it. For decades, Republicans and Democrats put partisanship and ideology aside to offer some security for job-seekers, even when the unemployment rate was lower than it is today. Instead of punishing families who can least afford it, Republicans should make it their New Year’s resolution to do the right thing, and restore this vital economic security for their constituents right now.

You can email your member of Congress and urge for the extension of jobless benefits.

Court Vacancies Prove Orrin Hatch Is Full of Shit

MSNBC notes that President Barack Obama has had more judicial nominees blocked than President Bill Clinton or President George W. Bush. Adam Serwer correctly points out Republicans are intentionally not filling the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

That’s because Republicans have decided that no more Obama administration nominees should be placed on the DC Circuit. Three of the eleven seats on the court are vacant, and placing Democratic nominees on the bench would end conservative dominance of the DC Circuit which handles key regulatory and national security cases. Republicans’ specific ideological objections to the nominees don’t matter as much as their conviction that any Democratic appointees would skew the court to the left, which they want to prevent. Obama has had fewer federal judges confirmed than either of his predecessors. Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley wants to eliminate three seats on the court so as to keep Obama from appointing judges to fill them.

Republican during the Bush years, senators like Orrin Hatch cried for an "up and down vote"?

"...I think we should bind both Democrats and Republicans that presidential nominees for the judiciary deserve an up-and-down vote once they reach the floor..." (Orrin Hatch discusses debate in Senate..., NPR, 5/19/05)

Hatch sang a different tune in the op-ed pages of USA Today. Hatch wrote that the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit didn't have much of a case load. Hatch falsely claimed that Democrats were making a scandal out of nothing. What Hatch fails to mention is that there are 3 seats that need to be filled.

Democrats also want to use a manufactured confirmation confrontation as an excuse to eliminate judicial filibusters. Never mind that Democrats blocked four times as many confirmation votes by filibusters under President Bush than have occurred under President Obama. Never mind that Senate Democratic leaders voted more than two dozen times for judicial filibusters, including against a D.C. Circuit nominee. Even then-Sen. Obama voted for several judicial filibusters, including a Supreme Court nominee.

So much for Sen. Orrin Hatch being for an up and down vote.

Quote of the Day

"We just both came to the conclusion that the time had ended to be taken in by these crazy people."

Sen. Harry Reid

Reid and President Barack Obama realized that it was impossible to be reasonable with Congressional Republicans. They came to this conclusion during a July White House meeting. This meeting informed their strategy during the federal government shutdown.

Obama to the Rescue

President Barack Obama caught a light-headed woman in the Rose Garden. Obama was giving a speech on the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. The woman has been identified as Karmel Allison.

Allison is diabetic and can now get health insurance through the ACA. Allison was prevented from getting health insurance because she has a preexisting condition.

President Obama on Allison.

According to the White House, Allison has remained on the same insurance since her diagnosis “despite constantly rising costs, for fear she would not be able to find a plan that would cover her due to her pre-existing condition.”

“Allison recently began researching her options on CoveredCA and has publicly described her experience as finally feeling equal to others, including her young and healthy husband, when it comes to access to coverage,” the White House explained.

Write A Caption: Obama the Chess Master

Another fine example White House supporters can use that President Barack Obama is a 3D chess master.

Obama's Not So Secret Plan to Close Gitmo

The Obama administration has faced criticism that they have no plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. President Barack Obama campaigned on closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Obama has been blocked by both parties in Congress from closing Gitmo.

Candidate Obama was asked on 60 Minutes if he would use the power of executive order to close Gitmo. Obama said yes. Obama has never been the wisest tactician. The Senate voted to block funding for transfers of Gitmo prisoners. The vote was held on May 20, 2009. Obama should have just moved the prisoners when he came into office.

The Obama administration's secret plan really isn't that secret. A two page memo really isn't much of a plan. It does cast a lot of blame on Congress. Much of that blame is deserved.

Prosecution and Detention. The U.S. Government will prosecute detainees in federal courts or military commission proceedings to the extent feasible and in the national security interest. The President has directed the Department of Defense to identify a site in the United States for military commission proceedings. But current law bars the transfer of detainees to the United States for any reason. As a result, the Government is prohibited from prosecuting any detainees in a military commission in the United States or in a federal court, even if it represents the best – or only – option for bringing a detainee to justice. This is true even though the Government has successfully prosecuted more than 490 terrorism-related cases in federal courts since 9/11. For those not prosecuted, the Administration will use the PRB process to regularly and carefully review the threat posed by detainees and, where appropriate, they will be designated for transfer.

The leaked secret plan. It really isn't a secret plan if the memo lists prisoner policies the Obama administration has been pushing for and that this secret plan was handed to the media by White House staffers.

White House Plan to Close Guantanamo

Obama's Speech For March On Washington’s 50th Anniversary

On foreign policy and economic issues, President Barack Obama has given some terrible speeches. On civil rights Obama shines and reminds us of the candidate he was in 2008.

Obama Heckled By Manning Supporter

Code Pink heckled President Barack Obama with a plea to free "Free Bradley Manning." Manning now goes by the female first name of Chelsea . Unsurprisingly, the media has given little coverage of the Code Pink protest.

I'm glad the Young Turks are covering the Code Pink protest and Manning story. The problem is they do their usual uninformed job. What evidence does Michael Shure have that President Barack Obama secretly sympathizes but can't pardon him because he is president. Nice theory but no evidence. If anything, Obama's aggressiveness pursuing legal charges against former CIA operative John Kiriakou and Edward Snowden proof otherwise.

President Obama Economic Speech At JAXPORT Tomorrow

Mark Knoller of CBS News tweets that President Barack Obama will deliver an economic speech tomorrow at the Jacksonville Port Authority.

Actually, Pres Obama delivers his next economy speech tomorrow afternoon at the Jacksonville Port (JAXPORT), FL.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) July 24, 2013

Obama will propose raising the more infrastructure spending to create jobs and raising the minimum. These are policies I supported. It appears that Obama has finally given up on the fantasy of a grand bargain and is taking his message to the people.

“Over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse,” said Obama. "I am laying out my ideas to give the middle class a better shot. Now it’s time for you to lay out yours.”

I'm glad that Obama is using the bully pulpit.

Oh Snap!

Arianna Huffington takes President Barack Obama to task for the hypocrisy of his anti-drug policies.

Obama: Trayvon "could have been me." True, and so could many still behind bars for drug possession.

It is no secret that Obama experimented with drugs during his college days. Obama has even admitted this.That is why people were so angry for Obama allowing the Justice Department to go after medical marijuana facilities.

An analysisfrom pro-medical marijuana group Americans For Safe Access found that President Barack Obama's administration has spent nearly $300 million on combatting medical marijuana instates that have legalized the drug.

Your tax dollars at work.

Quote of the Day

"For those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these stand your ground laws, I just ask people to consider if trayvon martin was of able and armed could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened. And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws."

President Barack Obama, in the White House briefing room.