Thursday, July 5, 2012
Republican Senators blocked further work on the "Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012
Senate Republicans on Tuesday June 26th blocked a bill aimed at extending low interest rates for student loans, signaling the possibility of a protracted congressional battle over a measure lawmakers in both parties agree should ultimately be passed.
In a 52-45 vote, Republican Senators blocked further work on the "Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012," a Democrat-sponsored bill that would extend low interest rates on federally subsidized student loans for another year. Barring an extension, the rate on new loans for undergraduates would increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent this July. Sixty votes were needed to advance to debate.
The White House called the bill's failure "extremely disappointing" in a statement following the vote.
"It is extremely disappointing that Republicans in the Senate today voted to ask millions of students to pay an average of $1,000 each in order to protect a loophole that allows millionaires to dodge payroll taxes," the statement said.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are advocating for an extension of low student loan rates, which they say would protect more than 7 million students from seeing their rates double.
Senate Republicans, however, object to the way the Democratic bill proposes to pay for the extension. That bill, put forth by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and backed by the White House, would require some privately owned companies to pay higher payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.
"Over the last two weeks, Senate Republicans have repeatedly claimed they support efforts to keep interest rates low for student loans," Reid said Tuesday in remarks on the Senate floor. "In fact, the Republican presidential nominee has said the same. Democrats have proposed legislation to freeze student loan interest rates for a year without adding a single penny to the deficit. Our plan creates no new taxes... It would simply stop wealthy Americans from avoiding the taxes they already owe."
A GOP filibuster, Reid argued prior to the vote, sends the message to Americans that Republicans would "rather protect wealthy tax dodgers" than struggling students.
Senate Republicans argue Reid's proposal diverts billions of dollars from Medicare and seeks to raise taxes on "the very businesses we're counting on to hire these young people," as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., contended on the Senate floor on Tuesday. They have put forth their own proposal, which would pay for the extension of the low student loan rates by getting rid of a preventative health fund created under President Obama's health care overhaul.
"This is a perfectly reasonable solution to a problem both parties want to address," McConnell said Tuesday. "It passed the House with bipartisan support. If Democrats want to solve this problem, they should embrace it too -- or at the very least offer a bipartisan solution of their own. The White House has done neither."
Democrats strongly object to such a proposal, which Reid argued would enact drastic cuts to preventative care programs that would "put Americans' health at risk."
"Republicans will try to explain away their 'no' votes by claiming they oppose the way the legislation is paid for," Reid said Tuesday. "They propose radical cuts to preventive health funds instead, a proposal they know that we oppose... we have already cut that plan to the bare bones. We've used this on other programs to cut and we've done it in the right way. Any fluff that was in that program is gone."
Republicans are pushing for a vote on the GOP-sponsored bill, put forth by Sen. Lamar Alexander, which is similar to one passed in the House of Representatives. Such a bill would almost certainly fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate, however, leaving the two parties at a standstill over the matter.
As the Senate faces the possibility of protracted battle over compromise legislation that is politically palatable to both parties, President Obama continues to hammer the GOP on the issue, blasting opponents of the Democratic bill by arguing it would make it harder for the middle-class to send their kids to college and suggesting Republicans are more interested in protecting the wealthy than American students.
In trips to colleges across the country, the president has urged students to call on their Congress members to keep the student loan rates down. On Monday, he held a conference call with elected officials and student government leaders to discuss the same thing.
Meanwhile, the president's re-election campaign is going after presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for claiming to support affordable higher education despite what it casts as a record that proves otherwise.
"Romney won't talk about his record of making it tougher for middle-class families tougher to send their kids to college," said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer in a press call to reporters Tuesday. Romney is expected to deliver remarks in Michigan today at a community college - a move Brewer described as "tone deaf" in light of his record as Massachusetts governor.
Romney, Brewer said, isn't talking about how "on his watch, student fees at state colleges and universities went up 63 percent because of the steep cuts he made to higher education."
"Instead of investing in Michigan students...what Romney will instead do is fight for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans," Brewer continued.
"This is a candidate who will literally say anything," added Ben LaBolt, Obama for America national press secretary, on the call. "Mitt Romney's message to middle-class students is clear: You will pay more for college."
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
For all Fans of Epic Battles
Historic Milestone For Science, 'God Particle' May have Been Found
Today may be the day that an era of Science is finally over. European researchers at CERN have announced that they have discovered evidence of the Higgs Boson Particle, The particle in Science known as the god particle. to break down its significance, the Higgs boson particle is the particle in nature which gives everything mass. Its existence means that the Standard model in science is now complete. For more in this check out the video below.
Dr. Guevara
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Watermelon Margarita Ice Pops #SummerSlammed
yield:
Makes 8 ice pops
active time:
15 min
total time:
1 day
- Ingredients:
5 cups chopped seedless watermelon (1 1/4 pounds)- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup silver tequila
- Equipment:
- 8 (1/3-cup) ice pop molds and 8 wooden sticks
- Preparation:
- Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, pressing on and then discarding solids. Skim off any foam, then pour into molds. Freeze 30 minutes. Insert sticks, then freeze until firm, about 24 hours.
- Steve TheBartender
Pink Panty Droppers #SummerSlammed
Summer is my favourite time of year. Warm weather cold drinks, fresh bud and women in very little clothing. Now if you need something to make those women lose what little clothing they have I recommend this dangerously tasty cocktail that will like the name says, make those panties (if they are wearing any) drop.
This recipe makes a great fizzy pink lemonade. It's definitely one of my must have summer staples. If it's hot, you're low on cash, and want to have a lot of fun, this is the answer! It makes just shy of 5 gallons, so it can serve a TON of people. Each drink packs a heavy whallop to your head, so you really don't need much per person. Enjoy!
Servings: 5 Gallons
Ingredients
24 Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer
1/2 Gallon Premium Vodka
4 Cans Pink Lemonade Concentrate
Ice
Preparation
You want to start with a CLEAN 5 gallon bucket. You can use a punchbowl or something like that as well, just make sure it's big enough.
You basically just mix all the ingredients together, but the best way to do this is by mixing the frozen pink lemonade concentrate with the vodka first. That way you won't kill all of the carbonation in the beer.
Note: If you want the lemonade to be extra sweet, add a fifth can of concentrate to the mix.
Then pour in all the beer. You will get a LOT of head from all that beer. It's rather unavoidable, but it will go down after a while. Also, don't be concerned about the beer going flat as the day goes on. You won't even be able to notice it.
The main point in using Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) is not because it's cheap, (although that is always a good thing in my book!) but because it's a very watery beer. You don't want to use an expensive beer that has flavor. That would make the lemonade taste bad. You could use other cheap watery beers as well, like Natural Ice for example, and it would still come out great.
Toss some ice in a glass and drink responsibly!
A smaller version of this recipe is:
One standard bottle of Vodka
12 pk of Pabst Blue Ribbon
2 Pink Lemonade Frozen Juice Concentrate
- Steve TheBartender
Monday, July 2, 2012
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