CBS Host Bob Schieffer Asks ‘Are Republicans Against Equal Pay For Women?’

(News Busters) – CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer seems to have fallen for the liberal lie that women get paid 77 percent of what their male counterparts earn as was evident during an interview with Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

Blackburn appeared with Schieffer on Sunday April 13 and was accused of being against equal pay: “Are Republicans against equal pay for women and is that going to be a good political issue in these coming midterm elections?”

http://www.mrctv.org/embed/126518

For her part, Blackburn shot back and mocked Schieffer’s condescending question:

I find this war on women rhetoric just almost silly. It is Republicans that have led the fight for women’s equality. Go back through history and look at who was the first woman to ever vote, elected to office, go to Congress.

The CBS host seemed shocked that Senate Republicans blocked a bill that did nothing to prevent pay discrimination, which is already illegal, and asked Blackburn “Why did the Senate Republicans then block blocked this?”

Unfortunately, Schieffer did not challenge his Democratic guest on the issue of equal pay the way he did with Ms. Blackburn. The CBS host asked Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) “Marsha Blackburn says Republicans are actually for equal pay for women. But yet, it was blocked in the Senate by Republicans…What is going on here?”

If Schieffer were an objective host, he would have challenged Cummings when he falsely claimed that “White women are making 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, African-American women and Hispanic women, 64 cents .54 respectfully. There is something absolutely wrong with that picture.” Instead of being an actual journalist, Schieffer eagerly accepted to liberal

See relevant transcript below.

CBS Face the Nation

April 13, 2014

BOB SCHEIFFER: Let me ask you about this debate over equal pay for women.

MARSHA BLACKBURN: Sure.

SCHIEFFER: There was a lot of debate on that last week, finally Republicans blocked it in the Senate. Are Republicans against equal pay for women and is that going to be a good political issue in these coming midterm elections?

BLACKBURN: You know, I find this war on women rhetoric just almost silly. It is Republicans that have led the fight for women’s equality. Go back through history and look at who was the first woman to ever vote, elected to office, go to Congress.

SCHIEFFER: But why did the Senate Republicans then block blocked this?

BLACKBURN: Well, because the legislation was something that was going to be helpful for trial lawyers and what we would like to see happen is equal opportunity and clearing up some of the problems that exist that are not fair to women. We are all for equal pay. I would love for women to be focused on maximum wage and I have fought to be recognized with equality for a long time. A lot of us get tired of guys being condescending to us. But you know I got to tell you, one of the things that we need to do is look at access to capital. Small business owners that are female, that is their number one problem, is access to capital. We need to also look at regulations. How that is affecting them, ObamaCare has been very unfair to women. We hear a good bit about this. Women are the primary healthcare consumers in the country. 80 percent of all healthcare decisions are made by women. Whether they are for their family or elderly relatives they are caring for, so I think — and by the way, the White House paying women 88 cents for every dollar that a guy earns in comparable positions and, you know, they need to go clean up their own act first.

SCHIEFFER: Alright we have to stop there. There’s so much news this morning congresswoman. We’ll get the other side of this from the Democrats, but thank you.

BLACKBURN: Thank you.

SCHIEFFER: And joining us now Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings who has come down from his district in Baltimore this morning. Congressman thank you for being here.

ELIJAH CUMMINGS: Good to be with you, Bob.SCHIEFFER: What about this, Marsha Blackburn says Republicans are actually for equal pay for women. But yet, it was blocked in the Senate by Republicans.

CUMMINGS: Yes.

SCHIEFFER: What is going on here?

CUMMINGS: I respectfully disagree with my colleague. Keep in mind, Bob, that white women are making 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, African-American women and Hispanic women, 64 cents .54 respectfully. There is something absolutely wrong with that picture. I have not seen them leading, as a matter of fact they seem to be very much against it. And I for the life of me I can’t understand why

SCHIEFFER: Let me go back to Kathleen Sebelius and her resignation. You heard Marsha Blackburn say and she was at this conference of this group of Republicans many of whom are thinking about running for president. She says it is not going to change anything. Do you think — what was the impact of her resignation?

CUMMINGS: Well, I think first of all, I am glad that Secretary Sebelius was able to accomplish all the things that she set out to do. Keep in mind she was with the president from the very beginning of doing what no president has been able to do in over 50 years. That is bring healthcare to people who do not have it. She’s accomplished what she needed to accomplish. She set a goal of 7 million people signing up for healthcare. She got 7.5 million, 3 million others, expanded Medicaid. She’s accomplished a lot with regards to disparities, healthcare disparities, women’s health and she brought us, Bob, closer to an HIV/AIDS free generation than anyone. She has accomplished a lot. And now she sends the baton off to a wonderful public servant, Sylvia Burwell of OMB.

SCHIEFFER: Do do you think that ObamaCare is going to be an anchor, a rock around the neck of Democrats running this fall? It is by every poll still very unpopular.

CUMMINGS: Yeah, I think that we have to go out there and argue the moral issues, Bob, and I have said that. I’ve never ran away from ObamaCare, because I see in my district and I have a very diverse district of people who have been helped by it. And the idea that we now have gotten rid of preexisting conditions, which was affecting millions upon millions of Americans stopping them from getting insurance I think that is very significant. We have got to look at the good things, and we have got to go out there and make it clear it is something good for America.

SCHIEFFER: Is your sense of it that the problems with this system, not disastrous rollout, I mean that is over. But the problems with the system itself is it your sense that those have more or less been smoothed out or will there be more problems ahead?

CUMMINGS: I think that they have been smoothed the out. When it comes to the web site, the web site was a significant problem and that goes back to Sebelius. She was able to even with all of that and with opposition from the Republicans, she was still able to achieve the 7.5 million goal. And again, Bob, I think that it is going to be fine, and I think a as far as the web site situation it will be a footnote in history.

[H/T NewsBusters: Jeffrey Meyer]

George Will On Liberals Playing The Race Card: ‘Liberalism Has A Kind Of Tourette’s Syndrome These Days’

(News Busters) – Conservative columnist George Will had some harsh words for liberals who play the race card as a way to demonize conservatives who oppose President Obama’s liberal agenda.

Appearing as a guest on Fox News Sunday on April 13, Will observed that “Liberalism has a kind of Tourette’s syndrome these days. It’s just constantly saying the word racism and racist.”

http://www.mrctv.org/embed/126517

Will’s comments came in response to a question from viewer Michael Daigeaun who asked the panel “Why is it that if you oppose their position and you’re white, you’re branded a racist? Both Attorney General Holder and POTUS race bait.”

Will continued to condemn liberals’ use of the race card:

If you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. If you have neither, pound the table. This is pounding the table. There’s a kind of intellectual poverty now. Liberalism hasn’t had a new idea since the 1960s except ObamaCare and the country doesn’t like it… So what do you do? You say anyone criticizes us is a racist.

It’s become a joke among young people. You go to a campus where this kind of political correctness reigns and some young person will say looks like it’s going to rain. The person looks and says, you’re a racist. I mean it’s so inappropriate. The constant implication of this is that I think it is becoming a national mirth.

Kudos to George Will for calling out liberals for using cynical tactics like injecting race anytime someone criticizes President Obama. Unfortunately, no one on the big three networks will come forward and condemn liberals for playing the race card every chance they get.

See relevant transcript below.

Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace

April 13, 2014

CHRIS WALLACE: We asked you for questions from the panel, for the panel, rather. And we got this on Twitter from Michael Daigeaun. Why is it that if you oppose their position and you’re white, you’re branded a racist? Both Attorney General Holder and POTUS race bait. George is that what’s going on here?

GEORGE WILL: Sure. Look, liberalism has a kind of Tourette’s Syndrome these days. It’s just constantly saying the word racism and racist. It’s an old saying in the law; if you have the law on your side, argue the law. If you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. If you have neither, pound the table. This is pounding the table. There’s a kind of intellectual poverty now. Liberalism hasn’t had a new idea since the 1960s except ObamaCare and the country doesn’t like it. Foreign policy is a shambles from Russia to Iran to Syria to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And the recovery is unprecedentedly bad. So what do you do? You say anyone criticizes us is a racist. It’s become a joke among young people. You go to a campus where this kind of political correctness reigns and some young person will say looks like it’s going to rain. The person looks and says, you’re a racist. I mean it’s so inappropriate. The constant implication of this is that I think it is becoming a national mirth.

[H/T NewsBusters: Jeffrey Meyer]

Can the government seize your tax refund to pay a relative’s debt?

(CBS News) – Two months ago, Mary Grice, a career employee at the Food and Drug Administration, was notified the U.S. Treasury had confiscated her state and federal tax refunds totaling $4,500.

The government had taken the money before she knew there was a problem.

“To be honest, I was ticked off,” Grice said. “I’m like ‘how can they intercept or take my funds without my first being notified about it?'”

The claim against her came from the Social Security Administration which said it overpaid death benefits to Mary’s family after her father Scott Grice died in 1960. Mary was five years old. In other words, without notice and for a debt that was not hers, the government had her refund seized anyway.Her attorney Robert Vogel has sued, demanding the government stop these collections.

http://www.cbsnews.com/common/video/cbsnews_player.swf

“The government should not be in the business of trying to collect 30-year-old debts from people,” Vogel said. “There is no way that people have any reason to keep their records for that long.”

This tracking of old debt stems from an obscure change in the 2008 farm bill that allows the government for the first time to seize debt more than 10 years old.

Social Security released a statement saying it found 400,000 taxpayers with long-term debt that could total $714 million, claiming that “Social Security attempts multiple times to notify debtors” before collection. But Mary Grice, as a government employee, should have been easy to find.

What does Grice think about the fact the government never notified her?

“To be honest I think it’s a ploy,” she said. “We’ll get your money first.”

Mary Grice’s story, which was first reported in the Washington Post, led to a very quick reaction from Congress. Two senators — Barbara Boxer and Barbara Mikulski — have asked that Social Security stop going after decades-old debt when the taxpayer involved was a child.

[H/T CBSNews: Wyatt Andrews]

Trump: ‘I Would Build a Border Fence Like You Have Never Seen Before’

(Breitbart) – Donald Trump, speaking to a gathering of conservative Americans at the New Hampshire Freedom Summit, said that “not only is Obamacare a disaster, it is the single greatest lie that I have ever witnessed, and I have been watching politics for a long time.”

Trump’s speech was upbeat and direct, and he didn’t miss an opportunity to criticize the President or his Cabinet. Trump thought that Kathleen Sebelius’s admitting that, “I am missing a sheet of paper” in her “stepping-down speech” as the Chief Obamacare Official on Friday will go down as one of the most memorable lines in the history of politics. The mishap is “emblematic of Obamacare,” he told the guests at the inaugural event sponsored by Citizens United and Americans for Prosperiety, and highlighted by speeches from Trump, as well as Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee.

Trump perceptively used the botched speech as an example of media bias as well. He explained that if a Republican had delivered that speech after the series of gross errors and blatant incompetence that characterized Obamacare, they would have been ridiculed and made a fool. But for Sebelius to do it, the media just looks on it as a “cute” incident.

On the topic of the military, Trump said that Obama has stripped the armed forces to levels that we haven’t seen in many, many decades. According to Trump, Obama doesn’t understand that the more you decimate your military and make it weak, the more apt you are to have to use it. On the other hand, the stronger you can make your military, the more likely you will be feared and, therefore, countries will be less likely to violate your rules.

The real estate mogul contends that America should be the “energy capital of the world.” Trump exclaimed, “I’m all for the Keystone pipeline, I love it, it should happen. But, we don’t even need it. We don’t need Canada’s oil.” Trump says we have it all here and we don’t have to go anywhere for it or import it.

As far as immigration is concerned, Trump boasted that he is a builder and that he likes to build things. He said that, if he was in charge of America, “I would build a border fence like you have never seen before.”

[H/T Breitbart: Robert Wilde]

Hank Aaron needs to review history regarding the KKK

(Allen B. West) – I grew up in Atlanta a serious Braves baseball fan. After church we would catch the Number 6 Georgia Ave bus over to Fulton County Stadium to take in a Sunday afternoon game. I still recall the names: Felipe Alou, Rico Carty, Mike Lum, Clete Boyer, Joe Torre, Felix Milan, Bob Horner, Dale Matthews, David Justice, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, Dusty Baker, Terry Pendleton, Sid Bream — but of course the venerable name all Braves fans adore: Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, the true American baseball home run king.

As I grew up I sold Cokes at Fulton County Stadium. Our church, Fort Street United Methodist had a concession booth. You can imagine my disappointment when I couldn’t be there — since it was a school night — when Hank Aaron crushed a pitch by the LA Dodgers’ Al Downing for 715 — as called on that day almost exactly 40 years ago today.

I actually got to meet Hank Aaron when I attended Marist School for my 8th and 9th grade years. Both his sons, stellar athletes, Hank Jr. and Larry, attended Marist. To say that I idolized Hank Aaron would be an understatement. He was a man among men and his courage was simply awe-inspiring. His calm gentle demeanor and warm smile were just, well, special. I can still close my eyes and see Dad and him chatting during Marist football games.

Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I saw this story from the CBS Atlanta, that baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron compared Republicans that oppose President Barack Obama to the Ku Klux Klan.

Speaking to USA Today on the 40th anniversary of his then record-breaking 715th home run, the 80-year-old Aaron said that Republicans are hindering Obama’s job performance. “Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated,” Aaron told USA Today Sports. “The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”

Perhaps Mr. Aaron should remember that back then the folks in the hoods were Democrats. Perhaps Mr. Aaron should assess Barack Hussein Obama based upon his character and not his skin. Perhaps Mr. Aaron should realize that it was the former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo) who stated that deference was given to Obama by blacks and that if anyone else were in the White House they would be marching. Perhaps Mr. Aaron should see that the national unemployment rate for blacks is 12.4 percent and there are no excuses. Perhaps Mr. Aaron needs to be reminded that Obama canceled the DC school voucher program for deserving minority (i.e. black) children in one of the nation’s worst school systems.

I am black, from Atlanta, raised by awesome parents, and based upon principle I challenge the policies of President Obama. Does that associate me with the KKK?

This is the type of incendiary speech America does not need. Were blacks who opposed President George W. Bush also racists?

Aaron says he’s kept the racist letters he received as he was chasing Babe Ruth’s home run record. “To remind myself that we are not that far removed from when I was chasing the record,” Aaron explained to USA Today Sports. “If you think that, you are fooling yourself. A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There’s not a whole lot that has changed.”

Sir, a lot has indeed changed, America basically voted for someone to be president, twice, not because of any qualifications, but BECAUSE of his skin color. Some would consider that a major accomplishment. I don’t.

Do I still idolize Hank Aaron for his astute achievements? Absolutely, he is one of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball. Do I still admire him? Yes. But sir, you are wrong in your assertion about Republicans who challenge President Obama.

Let me give you a final comparison. Back in the day it was Democrats who stood outside the doors of higher education obstructing black children from attaining a better education and opportunity. Today, those same Democrats stand inside the doors of failing schools, trapping black children and obstructing them from seeking better education and opportunity. Same party, just reverse positions, and I wish I could spend one hour speaking with Mr. Aaron to enlighten him on these points.

Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs in his magnificent career. He did it with his own skill and ability. He IS the standard by which all other home run hitters in baseball measure themselves — he is in the 1 percent and there was no fair share or shared home runs. He achieved it because of equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes.

[H/T AllenBWest]