Local Government TV

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

After Three Days, Fed'l Gov't Back in Business

Last week, Congressional candidate John Morganelli made clear that, while he supported a stand-alone DACA law, he was opposed to closing down the government over the issue at this time. He's an adult. He understands that Authoritarian Donald Trump's boot of the dreamers only takes effect on March 5.There's still time to negotiate. But as Charlie Dent will tell Morganelli, the number of grown-ups in Congress is dropping every day. So as the clock struck midnight on Saturday, the government shutdown.

Though Trump breaks his word on just about everything and was totally irresponsible, all that was sought was a brief extension. No dreamers would be deported. So this is on the Democrats. True, the GOP controls the government, but not completely. Sixty votes are needed to end debate in the senate, and that's how a minority was able to stop the government from working.

After bringing the government to a halt over the failure to do something for young immigrants in danger of being deported, Democrats folded after three days.

Their actions were premature and childish.

In the past, I've been highly critical of the tea-party segment of the Republican party for being too willing to pick up heir marbles and go home unless they get their way. To my knowledge, this is the first time that Democrats have threatened to hold their breath until they die.

Of course, Donald Trump is taking credit. I personally think that Democrats realized that, right now, they look like asses.

A shutdown might be necessary if Congress fails to enact protections by March 5.

After the Senate voted to open for business today, the House followed suit quickly, and Congressman Charlie Dent was one of them.

In addition to funding government operations through February 8th, the legislation includes a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through fiscal year 2023, and relief from three taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act:
- Medical Device Tax (2 years);
- Health Insurance Tax (1 year);
- Excise tax on high-cost employer coverage (“Cadillac” tax) (2 years).

Federal employees — both military and civilian — who were furloughed during the three-day government shutdown will be retroactively paid.

"I am pleased that this bill provides critical funding for CHIP, which is good news for Pennsylvania’s children and parents, as well as its health providers," said Dent. "Additionally, this bill included a two-year delay in the implementation of the medical device tax, which would adversely impact companies in the 15th Congressional district. The medical device tax kills jobs, stifles innovation, and raises prices for patients. Although this two-year delay is important, I will continue to fight for a full repeal of this destructive tax.”

Dent warned that a continuing resolution is only a "temporary solution."

"As a body, Congress will not get off this treadmill of continuing resolutions until a bipartisan, bicameral budget agreement is reached, and that agreement will not be reached until there is an agreement on DACA and border security. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as House and Senate leadership, to find a legislative solution for these issues."

61 comments:

  1. Related to Morganelli, wonder what the district will look like now that the PA Sup Court has ruled. Perhaps the Lehigh Valley will be reunited? My understanding is that since it was based on state law, unlikely the US Sup Court would accept any GOP appeal. Of course, now the short term battle between GOP G.A. and Wolf. Court could end up drawing based on input from the two parties.

    Re the shut down.... hopefully not back here again in a few weeks. Sad how they seem unable in this era of polarization the past several years to follow regular order and agree to year long appropriations.

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  2. Bipartisan cooperation has amassed $20 trillion in debt. Things don’t work when the two sides are getting along. There will be reckoning. Luckily for us, our grandkids will get stuck with our bill. Youth vote - hahahaha.

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  3. If CHIP has now been funded, it's a win for American children. Doesn't matter to me if Dems or the GOP claims to be the winner.

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  4. The lesson of the #SchumerShutdown is that Illegal Aliens are not going to help the Democrats with the American People.

    American people don't like unlimited immigration. We don't like illegal aliens; we don't like Muslim extremism. We don't like the stagnant The Democrats are not going to win on immigration.

    #BuildTheWall
    #ReleaseTheMemo

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  5. Republican doublespeak. Infusing money to shovel ready projects as stimulus to create jobs and prevent a depression is bad but defunding the government as tax cuts for stock buybacks and CEO bonuses w
    O guare ntee of retur is a good thing? Obama Saved the American Auto industry. Trump save teh Koch brothers.

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  6. Good point Ovem. All of the proposals floating around to replace the existing map reunite Lehigh and Norco. Some add Monroe and others Carbon or Schuylkill. This would be a big plus for a Norco candidate. The current lines heavily favor someone from Lehigh.

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  7. The Schummer surrender! DACA is not yet ripe for drawing a red line. He realized it, retrenched and surrendered before he sucked the rest of his party in. 800,000 illegal immigrants versus 9 million children citizens, it was stupid from the beginning. It is time for the rest of the D's to sit down, save your precious illegal DACA immigrants by accepting the end to chain migration, the immigrant lottery, build the wall and toughen up immigration policies that this country needs.

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  8. and the end result will be a deal on the dreamers who i am sure will resent the way the republicans treated them thru the process,
    so the republicans will most likely regret their handling of the dreamers.
    the dreamers get to hear the hatred spewed at them and will remember.

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  9. 8.16
    the Democrats do not have to pay to build a wall because Comrade trump has stated numerous times that Mexico will pay for it.
    unless he is lying again.

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  10. This little dust up 'shutdown' over the weekend wasn't even round one in what is likely to be the epic battle over immigration, both legal and illegal. People are starting to wake up to the invasion of the US by third worlders and the attendant demographic and cultural debasement.

    The debate over immigration policies will be a defining clash determining the future character of the nation. We are starting to find out who are the patriots and who are the traitors. This is precisely why President Trump was elected.

    #BuildTheWall
    #ReleaseTheMemo

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  11. and in three weeks the shutdown will come into play again with CHIP no longer a weapon the republicans can use.
    yep the republicans would withhold medical care for children to support their views.
    the more the republicans demonize the dreamers the worse it will turn out for the republicans.
    not only now but for the next forty years.


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  12. Also when the Irish dreamers are faced with deportation or going to ground and hiding among the population ?
    ICE will have a very hard time trying to find them.
    guess white folks better carry proof of citizenship at all times otherwise off to jail they will go.

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  13. I remember reading news articles about the effects of shutdowns of hospitals in California. Seems when the hospitals were closed to non emergency admissions the death rates went down. Maybe temporary shutdowns of the government in Washington might benefit us all.

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  14. The American people don't think the government should be shut down...over DACA or Obamacare. A family friend has three young children and is an engineeer for the FAA. He was furloughed and would not be paid for that furlough time. No one wins putting him out of work.

    With regards to DACA, I suggest that for every "DACA kid" be deported, let's let one of the applicants who have been waiting patiently and complying with all of our immigration laws into our nation to replace every illegal deported. Fair is fair.

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  15. 9.46
    "Seems when the hospitals were closed to non emergency admissions the death rates went down."

    try
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4214135/

    "we identified all ED closures in California during the period 1999–2010 and examined their association with inpatient mortality rates at nearby hospitals. We found that 24.9 percent of hospital admissions in this period occurred near an ED closure, and that these admissions had 5 percent higher odds of inpatient mortality than admissions not occurring near a closure"

    so the hospitals had a higher death rate when emergency departments closed.

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  16. and what happens to the dreamers who are in the armed services?
    an early example.
    http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,438626,00.html

    "There was a reward he hoped to claim by joining the armed services: citizenship. And once he was an American, hed be able to bring his sister over. He became a Marine less than a year before he died, joining the infantry as a rifleman in the First Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton, California."

    "In honor of his military service and death in combat, federal authorities have made him eligible for posthumous citizenship. All that needs to be done is for his next of kin to take his death certificate and $80 to an immigration office and Guti�rrez will become an American. Had Guti�rrez lived, his dream for his sister could have come true. She would have qualified to immigrate to the U.S. had he been naturalized. But that dream died with Jos� Guti�rrez in Iraq."

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  17. 10:28 Discharge then deport them.

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  18. 10:38,
    And what type of discharge would you suggest for individuals voluntarily putting themselves in harms way to earn citizenship, and defending a country run by a draft dodger?
    Don't be an ass.

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  19. 10:38: Honorable. They never should have been allowed to enlist in the first place due to their criminal act of breaking our immigration laws.

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  20. William Bennett made an excellent point on a Sunday morning program. The Democrats tell us that we cannot deport illegals back to their God forsaken ( s-hole) countries, while at the same time denying that these countries are God forsaken (s-holes).

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  21. "and in three weeks the shutdown will come into play again with CHIP no longer a weapon the republicans can use."

    I am unwilling to seen the government shut down simply to get what I want. But on March 5, it will be more than that. Trump willbe able to round up and deport dreamers at that point. So if there is no deal in place by late February, then it will be necessary to shut down the government to protect these innocent people. I see no other option

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  22. JamieKelton, you have noclue what the American people want. The American people do not want Trump.

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  23. 12:38 " But on March 5, it will be more than that. Trump willbe able to round up and deport dreamers at that point. So if there is no deal in place by late February, then it will be necessary to shut down the government to protect these innocent people. I see no other option "

    The other option, of course, it to put the needs of American Citizens before those of illegal aliens and deport them back to where they belong.

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  24. Bernie, will you be attending/writing on the Pawlowski trial? Your observations are of interest.

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  25. 12:39 "The American people do not want Trump"

    Perhaps in one of your better wet dreams Mr. O'Hare.

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  26. 1:10 "The America I know is a land of compassion and opportunity"

    Which is why over a million legal immigrants who obey the law and use our immigration system are welcomed here each year.

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  27. Canary, I expected to attend and write about it. But I recently suffered a bout of walking pneumonia, which threw me behind in my obligations to paying customers. I must honor those obligations first. I really want to cover as much as I can.

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  28. 1:12, Also why the vast majority of Americans welcome the dreamers, who came here through no fault of their own. Your world is a dark and dreary shithole. Make America a shithole.

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  29. 1:19 You say the vast majority of Americans welcome Illegal Aliens. Where is your proof of that besides Democratic Talking Points ?

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  30. 1:12 PM Trumpster said... Which is why over a million legal immigrants who obey the law and use our immigration system are welcomed here each year."

    FACTCHECK:
    116,000 in 2017 (The highest number since 1999). Trump wants to limit them to 50,000 from only the countries and those individuals he deems worthy.

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  31. Is daca a fake word for amnesty?

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  32. @1:37, isn't 50,000 enough ?

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  33. 1:30 PM Trumpster said..."Where is your proof of that besides Democratic Talking Points ?

    Links to two of the most recent...

    Pew Research Center- 74%
    NewYork Post- 73% (49% Republicans)

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  34. @1:50 "DACA" stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It's an Obama policy that allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained in the country illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for work permits. This policy expires in early March, 2018.

    The policy was not passed by Congress, and was a Presidential Executive Order. The debate is whether or not these illegal aliens should be allowed to remain in the United States after the policy expires.

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  35. LVCI @1:52. More Democratic talking points,

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  36. So during the shut-down, were the workers allowed to use the popcorn machine?

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  37. 1:58 PM Anonymous said..."LVCI @1:52. More Democratic talking points,"

    Oh please!
    Where's your links?
    Hannity, Trump's or Alex Jones twitter accounts don't count.

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  38. @1:57PM

    So these are people seeking Amnesty?

    Can a "Presidential Executive Order" come in the form of a tweet? My understanding of how a law is made, is that the two have the same constitutional equivalence.

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  39. 2:12 Yes, and this is why the #SchumerShutdown occurred. An Executive Order has to be signed by the President, and as a tweet is an electronic private communication, the answer is no. A law is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. There is no equivalence any any manner.

    An Executive Order is simply the will of the President which carries force only within the offices of the Executive Branch of the federal government. It is not law and has no standing outside of the Executive Branch other than a policy for the various departments to carry out. For example, a citizen can be prosecuted in court for breaking a law. A citizen cannot be prosecuted for not following an executive order.

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  40. “What type of discharge......” right ,should be no involuntary discharge of a foreign national joining armed service . They don’t come here and get in military that way. That’s not how it works . Good folks that believe in what America stands for are overwhelmingly welcomed and are a great fit for certain MOS slots . The renegade has been an isolated incident issue, as they are vetted , not drafted. Most military members only ever have a rifle in their hands once or twice a year. Exception is Infantry and combat arms MOS s . Only about 10 percent of the Army and Marine Corps are Infantry . Hell , you might only get one or two high school grads from your local graduating class each year that go to this MOS and some do wash out of it . Anon 11:27 does not understand issue.

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  41. 2:19

    Interesting...So like a tweet an executive order can't be enforced on any citizen. It refers to the executive branches attitude toward establish immigration laws set by congress.

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  42. 2:29 Good folks don't break our immigration laws. Does America stand for lawbreakers or citizens who follow our laws ?

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  43. @2:48pm
    Good folks break bad laws, that's what makes them good folks.

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  44. 2:54. Lawbreazkers break laws. That's why we have jails and other forms of punishment, such as deport ion.

    If the law is bad then have the courts strike it down as unconstitutional.

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  45. 2:57
    In America "jails and other forms of punishment" are just part of commerce with profit being it's only consideration. Crime is just a fortunate happenstance for what is largely a private industry that adds to our overall GDP. Most civilized people of the world would call it a crime against humanity.

    You just don't like immigrants.

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  46. Really, life goes on without the government being open, if no one told us it was shut down it might take us weeks to find out. Shut it down long enough and no back pay, except the military and we could balance the budget.

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  47. Anon 10:03. Please stop using a sock puppet name and picture. You have no more credibility than any other anonymous poster. Probably an overweight 30 yr. old dude in his mothers basement.

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  48. 3:11 "ails and other forms of punishment" are just part of commerce"

    Then how come prisons don't make profits ?

    Immigrants are good for America. We don't need to import criminals, we have our own already.

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  49. Absolutely amazing, videos of Bill Clinton, Hillary, Obama, Schumer and Pelosi talking about ILLEGAL immigration but Trump is an asshole when he makes the same statements. Hypocrisy at its finest. Anyone remember when Clinton and Reno sent armed soldiers in to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba? Democrats cheered.

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  50. Anon 2:54 Good folks.... well you don’t understand how immigrants EARN their way in here. 4 times a year our Legion Post does the opening ceremony in our court house . This is a tribute to those that did it leagally. I do not personally think DACA and some others should stay here . This was an Oboma maneuver and he used tax payer dollar s to do this Fly them in here and I think he should be stripped of a pension and himself jailed .But —- the folks that come here for better life and equity Arabs and others are needed in lots of ways ,are vetted unlike some of you at the court house and are a valuable asset to national security..So , your comment is empty. I have ,and been there with both Muslim and Hebrew. What is important is a gravity of any relationship of common goal. Everything is about relationships.

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  51. @4:49 Do you know what shinola is?

    https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/jun/3/private-prison-firms-reap-large-profits-immigration-detention/

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  52. Some authoritarian imperialist seem to think immigrants can stay only if they can serve our government in a way that helps us exploit and conquer their homeland.

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  53. y:23, what ever that gibberish is trying to say you make no sense. Trump is a multiple draft dodger, a true coward. I though you hated guys like that? No more hate on people you don't like. The fact that you advocate jail for Pres. Obama shows how whacky you are.

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  54. Anon 12:16 no name ,no commitment, probably no service time . 3:56 I’m a whack ha.- Obama colluded with Russians or Iran nuclear deal- he provided weapons to Hamaas in order to sweeten Iran deal. He ran an anti Semitic administration that funded Muslim groups . The justic department colluded with the Obama administration to let Hillary off the hook. Sign your name and tell me I’m uninformed, off the wall == well stay tuned!

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  55. See ,you got nothing . , or you would have responded by now .Probably , you have no idea about world events .well good for you . That means to me your probably getting by in your development house and have the work a second job like I did for 27 years .

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  56. well the list of complaints against President Obama is merely the result of the right wing echo chamber in which facts are optional.
    you claim " he provided weapons to Hamaas" so show your proof.
    what executive order sent those weapons?
    let us see the invoice.
    who shipped those weapons?
    where is the source talking about pallets of weapons being shipped and from where?
    remember you had a right wing attack group on President Obama that took him to task for using the wrong type paperclip yet they failed to prove he was "providing weapons"?
    sorry that dog don't hunt.
    but feel free to provide the info on those weapons so everyone can see it.
    otherwise your claims are just fake news.



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  57. 4:31PM "Anon 12:16 no name ,no commitment, probably no service time "

    What's your beef with the idea that American should only take people useful to our cause of conquest.

    I agree that 3:56 made disparaging comments about you personally, that is wrong to do. Your comment towards the former Commander-in-Chief speaks for itself.

    I watched the last 9 presidents commit treason so I'm not opposed to your partisan solution being applied across the board.

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  58. Anon 11:51 thank you . Now done winding no name posters up for a few days. But stay tuned though , When “Fast and Furious “ gun running operations were being conducted by the last administration, that was “undocumented “ too at the time .Evan Charlie Dent called me back ! Wait. Where are the Harry S Truman s’ ?. OH — Speaks for itself” ..... . Never while he was Commander -in -Chief , I have too much respect for the office /position ,Evan when O was sitting . Why can’t we seem to get men or women elected without baggage? Good day .

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  59. Bernie thanks for your reply and thanks for all you do as a volunteer. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and/or continued good health if you are fully recovered. The Call's coverage is decent but I'm interested in your take which I believe will have a richer perspective thanks to your legal experience.

    The revelation that the Pawlowski administration considered developing part of Trexler Park to curry favor with fundraisers is particularly galling.

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  60. I have been impressed n=by The Morning Call's coverage.

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