Cantor Wants to End Overtime, Limbaugh Claims Palin’s ‘Never Wrong,’ and More

Posted on Feb 25, 2013

Safety Risk: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a stern warning about the impending sequester cuts, telling reporters Monday that they could make the U.S. more vulnerable to a terrorist attack. In addition to spending cuts to the Pentagon and the Justice Department, Napolitano said the $85 billion sequester would reduce Coast Guard patrols, increase wait times at ports and decrease the number of beds available for immigration detentions. “I don’t think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester compared to without sequester,” she said. The cuts are set to kick in Friday. (Read more)

Lew to Get Through: It looks like Jack Lew, President Obama’s pick to replace Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, won’t face the same confirmation fight in the Senate as Chuck Hagel. Lew, the current White House chief of staff is expected to sail through the Senate Finance Committee’s vote Tuesday, despite Republican concerns about his role in budget negotiations and criticism he faced over a 2007 investment. So far, only two senators have publicly opposed Lew’s nomination: Vermont independent Bernie Sanders, whose concern is that Lew is too closely tied to Wall Street, and Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama. (Read more)

A Matter of Time: If it were up to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, overtime for hourly workers wouldn’t exist. Cantor, who said during a speech this month that he would like to convert overtime pay from time-and-a-half into time off, is reportedly gearing up to propose legislation in order to enact his vision of an overtime-free America. This isn’t the first time Republicans have tried to do away with overtime. In 2003, the party made such a proposal in the politely titled House bill “Family Time Flexibility Act,” which was really just a nice way of saying it wanted corporations to have the right to work you to the bone without paying extra. (Read more)

Fewer Spoils to the Victor: In an effort to rig elections bolster their party’s candidates in national elections, Michigan Republicans are supporting a measure that would have the state’s electoral votes proportioned by congressional district. The votes are currently allocated in a winner-take-all system. If the process that state GOP lawmakers want had been in place in the 2012 election, Mitt Romney would have gotten 10 electoral votes in the Wolverine State. And he still would have lost to President Obama. (Read more)

Audio of the Day: Frequently wrong radio commentator Rush Limbaugh now claims that fellow frequently wrong onetime vice presidential candidate/former Fox News analyst Sarah Palin is never wrong about anything, ever. Two things are clear here: 1) Limbaugh is once again wrong and 2) it’s now quite obvious he has neither read nor seen “Game Change.”

 

 

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

More Below the Ad

New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.