Democrats

Blog

Republicans
  • Republicans on the sequester: Then and now

    Republicans in Congress know full well how the drastic, automatic cuts known as the sequester would hurt the middle class and take our economy to the brink. Just last year, many of them were calling for action to stop it. Today, they're singing a different tune―and they're threatening to take our economy hostage.

    Republicans in Congress know full well how the drastic, automatic cuts known as the sequester would hurt the middle class and take our economy to the brink. Just last year, many of them were calling for action to stop it. Today, they're singing a different tune―and they're threatening to take our economy hostage.

    If you had any doubt that Republicans are willing to gamble our economy to protect their political interests, watch—and share—this video.

  • The GOP motto: If you can't beat 'em, rig the game

    In 2012, the Republican Party led a coordinated campaign to disenfranchise millions of voters through burdensome voter ID laws and shortened early voting periods—with the express purpose of sending Mitt Romney to the White House.

    They failed. Republicans lost their battle to suppress the vote in our nation's courts, and they lost on the issues at the ballot box, as African Americans, Latinos, and young voters turned out in record numbers. But instead of learning the lessons of 2012 and working to appeal to our growing electorate, Republicans are fixated on finding new ways to undermine the majority of voters and keep another Democrat from winning in 2016.

    Their philosophy is simple: "If you can't beat 'em, rig the game."

    Tomorrow in Virginia—where President Obama won decisively in 2012—a state Senate committee will vote on a bill that would rig the 2016 election in favor of Republican candidates by changing how the Electoral College appropriates votes.

    Currently in Virginia, Electoral College votes are allocated on a winner-take-all basis. But Republicans want them allocated by congressional district—ensuring their heavily gerrymandered Republican districts will deliver for the Republican candidate in the next presidential election.

    If this scheme had been in place in 2012, President Obama would have won only four out of 13 electoral votes in Virginia—even though he received 140,000 more votes from Virginia voters than Romney did.

    It's too extreme even for Virginia's Bob McDonnell, one of the most far-right governors in the country. A spokesman for McDonnell said last week, "The governor does not support this legislation. He believes Virginia's existing system works just fine as it is."

    But another Tea Party governor, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, thinks election rigging is an "interesting" idea—something "worth looking at."

    This is only the beginning. Virginia and Wisconsin are just the first of several states President Obama won in 2012 whose Republican governors and legislatures are considering rigging their Electoral College votes in favor of the GOP. And the head of the party, Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus, has endorsed the plan, saying, "I think it's something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue that are fully controlled red ought to be looking at."

    But if we learned anything in 2012, it's that the American people will not stand by and watch Republican politicians manipulate our electoral process and trample on our hard-won voting rights. We'll fight to make our voices heard and our ballots counted—and oppose any and all attempts to rig our electoral process.

    For more information on the Republican-sponsored efforts to rig the next presidential election, sign up for updates from the Democratic Party.

  • “Not a bargaining chip”

    ''Republicans in Congress have two choices here: They can act responsibly and pay America's bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put America through another economic crisis. But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy. The financial well-being of the American people is not leverage to be used. The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip.''

    "Republicans in Congress have two choices here: They can act responsibly and pay America's bills, or they can act irresponsibly and put America through another economic crisis. But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy. The financial well-being of the American people is not leverage to be used. The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip."

    –President Obama on raising the debt ceiling

  • Six things you should know about the GOP's Plan B

    With the fiscal cliff deadline looming, the American people have made their voices heard: They want a balanced approach that protects middle-class families, seniors, students, and the most vulnerable Americans—while asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.

    The so-called Plan B put forward by Speaker John Boehner and the Republican Party accomplishes none of that.

    Instead, here's what the Republicans are proposing:

    1. Cut taxes for millionaires by an average of $50,000 and raise taxes on the middle class.

    2. Eliminate tax cuts for 25 million students, families, and businesses who are struggling to make ends meet.

    3. Cut off 2 million Americans from unemployment assistance, a vital lifeline for Americans fighting to find work.

    4. Subject doctors to deep cuts in Medicare payments.

    5. Offer minimal deficit reduction that doesn't address our long-term fiscal challenges—and zero spending cuts.

    6. Protect the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans instead of stepping up and working to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion.

    The bottom line is that the Republicans' so-called Plan B burdens the middle class and fails to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share.

    President Obama is fighting for a significant, balanced deal that will provide security for middle class families, the economy and our nation’s future—and asks the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. It's time for the GOP to put politics aside and come to the table. Every day they waste, the possibility that taxes go up on every single American increases.

  • Help the President by picking up the phone

    Who will decide if your taxes increase in just 22 days? A few dozen members of the House of Representatives, that's who.

    Cutting taxes for the middle class shouldn't be difficult, especially when Republicans claim they agree with the President on the issue. But some Republicans are still holding middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they want to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires.

    Here's what's going on right now: President Obama is asking Congress to move forward on a plan that would prevent 98 percent of American families from paying higher taxes next year. The Senate has passed that bill, and the President is ready to sign it—but the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives won't even bring the bill to the floor for a vote. House Democrats have filed a petition that would force a vote if it attracts 218 signatures.

    If a bill has enough votes to pass, Congress should vote on it and pass it. It's a pretty simple proposition. And every member of Congress who hasn't signed on to keep taxes low for the middle class needs to hear from you.

    Call your representative today at 202-224-3121 and ask them to sign the petition in support of a vote. Not sure who your representative is? Click here to find out.

    Here's a suggestion on what to say—feel free to improvise and let your representative's office know why you're personally supporting the President's plan:

    "Hi, I'm calling to make sure my voice is heard. As a voter from your district, I support the President's plan to extend tax cuts for 98 percent of American families—$2,000 a year means a lot to me and to middle-class families here in our state. I urge my representative to sign the petition forcing the House to vote on the Senate-passed bill, and to vote "yes" if it reaches the floor."

    Once you've called your representative's office, please report back and let us know how it went.

    Let's get one thing straight: If your taxes go up, Republicans will have made a conscious choice to let that happen. They'll have missed the opportunity to prevent it, just to cut taxes for the wealthy.

    Republicans need to stop using the middle class as a bargaining chip. If they fail to act, a typical middle-class family of four will see a $2,200 tax hike starting in a few short weeks. Middle-class families could face some tough financial decisions simply because Republicans didn't want to ask the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay their fair share.

    That's not what President Obama and you campaigned on, and that's not what millions of Americans voted for just one month ago.

    We know we can affect change in Washington when we raise our voices together. So pick up the phone and make a call—your representative needs to hear from you.

    CALL CONGRESS

  • The stakes are high

    If Congress fails to act, income taxes will go up for millions of middle-class families when the new year begins.

    The National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers estimates consumer spending would fall by $200 billion nationwide next year. Retailers from big chains to mom-and-pop small businesses would be affected—which is why even the CEOs of Walmart and Costco have called for a balanced approach that protects the middle class.

    Asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share is an essential component of the President's plan for balanced deficit reduction. The Senate already passed this bill, and the President is ready to sign it as soon as the House takes action.

    Find out what's at stake in your state:

    The Stakes for Middle-Class Families

    If the GOP-controlled House fails to extend the middle-class tax cuts:

    • 114 million middle-class families will see their federal income taxes go up.
    • A typical median-income family of four (earning $75,000) could see its income taxes rise by $2,200.
    • Families will receive a smaller Child Tax Credit, and 35 million low-and moderate-income working families with children will lose access to the Child Tax Credit altogether, costing them an average $1,000 a year.
    • 11,000,000 middle-class families will no longer get help paying for college from the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Small businesses will be able to claim immediate tax deductions for only $25,000, rather than $250,000 of new investments.
    The President's Plan

    Under the President's plan, the 98 percent of families with incomes of less than $250,000 per year would continue to benefit in full from the income tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2012:

    • Lower tax rates on up to $250,000 of income ($200,000 for single filers).
    • The doubling of the Child Tax Credit to $1,000 per child and extension of the credit to working families that previously could not benefit from it.
    • The American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides as much as $10,000 of help over four years—the equivalent of a 30 percent discount on tuition at a typical state university—and thousands of dollars more help with college expenses than many families could have previously received.
    • The 10 percent tax bracket, which will provide middle-class couples with a tax cut of up to $890 next year.
    • Expansions to the Earned Income Tax Credit, which give millions of working families the break they need.
    • Marriage penalty relief, which reduces or eliminates marriage penalties for nearly 38 million couples nationwide.

    Under the President's plan, the income tax rates for high-income households would return to what they were under President Clinton, when the economy created nearly 23 million new jobs—including 633,900 new private-sector jobs —and we went from deficit to surplus, and businesses and investors did very well.

    Tell Congress what these tax hikes would mean to you, and tell them to pass the President's plan.

  • Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama

    Colin Powell, the former secretary of state under President George W. Bush, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and four-star general, made his 2012 endorsement this morning. He's supporting Barack Obama once again.

    Colin Powell, the former secretary of state under President George W. Bush, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and four-star general, made his 2012 endorsement this morning. He's supporting Barack Obama once again.

    "I signed on for a long patrol with President Obama, and I don't think this is the time to make such a sudden change," he told CBS This Morning earlier today. "Not only am I not comfortable with what Governor Romney is proposing for his economic plan, I have concerns about his views on foreign policy. The governor, who was speaking Monday night at the debate, was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier. So I'm not quite sure which Gov. Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy. … It's a moving target."

    If you also stand with our commander in chief, commit to vote.

    Commit to vote

  • LOAD MORE
Democrats
Join Democrats.org
Donate to help continue the work we’ve started 30 days Ways Obama is Fighting for Us
GOP
GOP Sequester: Track the Impact
Elected Dems
State Parties
{/if}