Portside

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

SUNDAY

Quote of the Day
October 27, 2013

'Today millions of immigrants received needed
reassurance from the President that despite chaos
in Washington, immigration reform can get done.
We commend President Obama for renewing his
commitment to passing immigration reform this year
and urging Republicans in the House to act quickly.
As pointed out by the President our current system,
which allows businesses that exploit workers
through wage theft, lack of benefits and
intimidation, is unfair to all workers and unfair to
responsible businesses that play by the rules.
Republicans who support business should be able
to get behind this.

'The legislation passed by the Senate while imperfect
aims to solve many of the problems with our current
system.  And the recent bill introduced by House
Democrats is also a step in the right direction.  We
stand firm in calling for a permanent solution that
puts 11 million aspiring Americans on the path to
citizenship.  But absent from the President's speech
was the mention of our current deportation crisis.
Every day more than 1,000 aspiring Americans are
deported, mothers and fathers separated from
children.  While we work toward a long term
solution, we urge the President to put an end to
deportations of people who will soon be eligible for
the roadmap to citizenship.  Ending deportations is
the right thing to do as a country that honors
families and the quest for the American dream.'

Statement by AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka on President
Obama's Immigration Remarks

AFL-CIO
October 24, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

Hurdles

Tom Toles
Washington Post
 

MONDAY

Quote of the Day

'The way the program to provide the poor with the
bare minimum of daily nutrition has been handled
is a metaphor for how the far right in the House is
systematically trying to take down the federal
government. The Tea Party radicals and those who
either fear or cultivate them are now subjecting the
food-stamp program to the same kind of assault
they have unleashed on other settled policies and
understandings that have been in place for decades.
Breaking all manner of precedents on a series of
highly partisan votes, with the Republicans barely
prevailing, the House in September slashed the
food-stamp program by a whopping $39 billion and
imposed harsh new requirements for getting on, or
staying on, the program. The point was to deny the
benefit to millions.'

Elizabeth Drew
Rolling Stone
October 14,2013
 

Toon of the Day

Do Something!
Tom Toles
Washington Post
 

TUESDAY

Quote of the Day

'It is just a teensy bit worrying that the White House
has to step up and explain virtually every day now
that just because it sounds like White House
officials and the president are putting entitlements
on the chopping block doesn't mean they really are
doing it.

'... Needless to say, even if the president were to
replace the sequester with "even more deficit
reduction through a mix of revenues, targeted
spending cuts and `savings' in entitlement
programs" which he continuously says he wants, it
would be a massive sellout that would destroy any
progressive legacy he might be thinking he's going to
have. As would any deal to cut benefits to vital
social insurance programs that are already
inadequate. Just saying.'

Digby
Campaign for America's
Future

October 28, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

Sequestration
Mike Wuerker
Politico
 

WEDNESDAY

'In the last couple of years, any sense of urgency
around getting the economy on track has almost
disappeared within Congress. In last year's fiscal
cliff debate, for example, there was no strong push
from either party to extend a payroll tax holiday or
find another mechanism to help out low- and
middle-income workers. The debate over the latest
fiscal bargaining is all about how to reduce the
deficit, with little discussion of interim measures to
try to boost growth.

'Members of Congress tend to be relatively wealthy
themselves, and tend to associate with big donors
and other prominent folks who would also fit in the
researchers' survey definition. And to those people,
the economy is pretty much back. This helps
explain why Congress has seemed less interested in
finding ways to propel stronger growth than the
overall surveys and economic data would suggest.'

Columnist Neil Irwin
Washington Post
October 30, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

Trick or Treat
Tony Auth
 

THURSDAY

Quote of the Day

'There are worse things than being a second-term
president. You could, for instance, be a person who
lost to one. Look at poor John Kerry, wandering
around the globe having meetings with heads of
state we wiretapped. Mitt Romney doesn't seem to
have anything to do but construct new vacation
homes. The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that
Romney is building one in Utah that has a bookcase
that swivels out and leads to a secret room. This is
not to be confused with the one in California that
has a car elevator. I believe that makes five Romney
homes, and a person with five houses is a person
with too much time on his hands.'

Columnist Gail Collins
New York Times
October 31, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

All Hollows Eve
R.J. Matson
 

FRIDAY

Quote of the Day

'Starting Friday, millions of Americans receiving
food stamps will be required to get by with less
government assistance every month, a move that
not only will cost them money they use to feed their
families but is expected to slightly dampen
economic growth as well.'

New York Times
November 1, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

Today's Bright Idea
Tony Auth
 

SATURDAY

Quote of the Day

'...it's difficult to untangle the political discomfort
with U.S. spying from disappointment in Europe
about Obama's inability to strike a better balance
between security and civil liberties. For example,
many Europeans believe that drone strikes in
Pakistan are not just immoral but illegal. And as a
consequence, they feel that Obama hasn't delivered
his pledge to clean up some of the excesses left
behind by the George W. Bush administration.
Another example would be on detainees, where the
Europeans were looking forward to Obama's
willingness to close Guantanamo. That hasn't
happened yet. And even though Obama has stopped
certain practices-renditions and other forms of
what some people would call excessive interrogation
techniques-there is disappointment in Europe that
Obama hasn't gone far enough. The NSA scandal
just adds fuel to the flames.'

Charles A. Kupchan,
Whitney Shepardson senior fellow,
professor of international affairs at
Georgetown University

Council on Foreign Relations
October 29, 2013
 

Toon of the Day

It's That Time
Jeff Danziger