Senator Reid knows the value of hard work, independence, and opportunity. Today he holds the highest position, second only to the Vice President, in the Senate, that of the Majority Leader.

From small town to Washington, Reid’s story is quite the ride. Parade Magazine, a well known, often read insert in Sunday newspapers across the country, stated Reid was “one of a handful of leaders in Washington with ‘integrity and guts’”.

Well respected, on both sides of the aisle, Reid has a solid reputation of consensus building and is a skillful legislator. Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is quoted as saying, “We all respect Senator Reid. He is one of the moderate voices around here who tries to get things to work.” High praise from “the other side of the aisle”.

Former GOP Leader Trent Lott acknowledged that Senator Reid is “out there finding a solution”. Lott continued, “I enjoy working with him very much.”

Praised for his ability to both speak pointedly and eloquently, Reid also is famous for his talent to listen, a skill not often seen on the Senate floor.

Under current economic conditions, Senator Reid understands deeply the needs of Nevada. Keeping people in their homes in a state with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country is a battle Reid takes personally. He isn’t afraid to stand up for what weakens Nevada’s economy. Reducing health care costs, and working to create thousands of good-paying jobs with an emphasize on renewable energy have been but two aspects to his agenda to better Nevada.

On a personal note, Senator Reid is an “avid sportsman” and thus champions Nevada’s great outdoors. Reid created Great Basin National Park, Nevada’s only national park. In addition, he “created the Lake Tahoe Summit, which brings leaders of all political stripes together to preserve Lake Tahoe’s clarity.” Additionally, Reid can add working hard “to preserve Nevada’s outdoors by developing Nevada’s solar, wind, and geothermal energy industries” to his impressive resume.

Unlike his current counterpart, 2010 mid-term election GOP Sharron Angle, who is staking her bid to claim the seat in the Senate in November, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing all he can from a senatorial position to help Nevada. In contrast, his opponent Sharron Angle, is famously known for her statement that Nevadans are lazy, implying that unemployment extensions, in a state with more than 14% officially on the books as unemployed, enjoy living in poverty wondering where they will get the rent money and food for their children.

Angle would have everyone believes there are jobs galore in Nevada, but no one wants to work, that they actually enjoy living on the dole.

Reid, thankfully, knows how to work. He works tirelessly often arriving first at the Capitol and is well known as being the last to leave.

The “proud grandfather of 16 grandchildren” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid understands the current conditions of the country and the need to put it on the fastest road to recovery. With 16 grandchildren, one can rest assured that yes indeed Senator Reid is well aware of “down the road” and “future generations”. He also is highly aware that without immediate attention to today, tomorrow may never come.

T. Cahill – Editor/Journalist WorldNewsVine

The Obama Administrations decision to invest in the nation’s auto industry has paid off in a big way. Bucking opponents to his plan, Obama forged forward with the investment in American car companies pulling both GM and Chrysler Motors Corporation out of bankruptcy and turning a profit.

The auto industry has added 55,000 jobs, the strongest growth in over 10 years, and for the first time since 2004 all three major automakers are turning a profit.

Turning to the nations Small Business sector, the President remarked, “That isn’t right. And I’m calling on the Republican leaders in the Senate to stop holding America’s small businesses hostage to politics, and allow an up-or-down vote on this small business jobs bill.”

In an attempt to provide a leg-up to small businesses in the nation, Senate Republicans continue to block attempts by the Democratic Leadership to provide, “[sic] additional tax breaks and badly-needed lending assistance to America’s small business owners so they can grow and hire.”

The heart of the nations economy is small business, with efforts being stymied regarding assistance, small business are not able to provide the growth, and funding for new hires in order to stimulate the economy.

The Small Business Jobs Act is a bill that has support of groups such as, the Chamber of Commerce, and the National Federation of Independent Business. Both Democrats and Repbulicans authored the provisions in the bill; however, Republican Leaders in the Senate continue to use parliamentary procedures to block any forward movement on the bill.

Regarding the Republican Leadership’s refusal to provide aid to Main Street, and maintain their focus on Wall Street, the President had this to say, “At a time when America is just starting to move forward again, we can’t afford the do-nothing policies and partisan maneuvering that will only take us backward.”

In his closing statement, the President had the highest praise for American workers in the auto industry that played a major role in the resurrection, of both a failing industry, and an icon of American Industrialism.

With thirty-seven Senate seats up for grabs, this November election will be one of the most important elections in modern times. While the Democratic Leadership mourned the passing of Senator Kennedy (D-MA), and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), the Senate also lost their mandate allowing the GOP to obstruct forward progress with backwards thinking.

WorldNewsVine will be closely following the campaign trail of both, the Democratic and Republican Parties.  The balance of power has shifted, equally over the last 50 years in the Senate with this year’s elections being crucial to maintaining economic stability, and growth.

One of the key races this election will be Connecticut. With the retirement of Senator Chris Dodd, the Senate seat is up for grabs. Election reports have the Democratic candidate, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal tossing his hat into the ring, with a double-digit lead.

Blumenthal is a very popular candidate that has been fighting hard for the people of his state for over twenty-five years.

On the Republican Side, Linda McMahon, Peter Schiff, and Rob Simmons are in a tight primary race. Simmons, a pro-Bush non-conformist, is a strong supporter of Bush era economic policies, setting up his state, and the nation for more confrontation regarding the nation’s recovery.

Schiff, along with former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment Linda McMahon are pouring millions of their own monies into their campaigns. Nearly $50 million dollars is available to the McMahon campaign to which, they have already dumped millions into television advertisements.

Schiff, an executive with connections to conservative, Ron Paul has kept up his end of the campaign moving forward on monies spent out of his own pocket.

Meanwhile, a majority of the Republican candidates are running on a repeal of the new Health Care bill, passed this March and signed into law by President Obama. It would appear that the Senate Republican committee cannot come up with any new strategies aimed at moving the nation’s economy forward, simply pointing fingers and playing scare tactics with hopes of winning the support of the uninformed.

In other Senate news, the GOP successfully filibustered attempts to give the elections back to the majority and out of the hands of special interest groups whose interests, are not with the majority. Senate Republicans blocked cloture on the Disclosure Act, designed to prevent secret groups of wealthy corporate executives, and foreign entities from funneling unchecked campaign funds into national elections aimed at smearing all candidates that are not acting in the Republican Party’s best interest.

A bill such as the Disclosure Act would certainly impede the Republican Party’s ability to strengthen their grip on America’s working class. The bill would also, block the Republican Party from providing further free meal tickets to the nation’s top three percent earners in the form of tax cuts, bailouts, and along with ending further mandates to strengthen the Foreign Tax Credit that sent millions of American jobs overseas over the past 10 years.

Follow these stories, and more on WorldNewsVine as the nation heads towards an election year, which could permanently fix or break this nation’s economy.

Washington, D.C. (Jul 30) – With Congress set to begin work in their home states during Summer Recess, it seems very unlikely Senate Republicans will allow any further assistance in the form of legislation to move off the Senate floor. The likelihood of further assistance to the nation’s long-term unemployed be considered or passed in terms of unemployment extensions prior to the break appears impossible.

The House is currently working on several bills including the Closing Tax Loopholes Act that will end the flood of American jobs from being sent offshore, and plants moved overseas. The bill would eliminate provisions such as the, Foreign Tax Credit that was designed to prevent double taxation of income earned aboard however, corporate America discovered it’s wide advantages, essentially schemes that shifted the burden of taxation back onto the taxpayer.

The abuse allowed companies to offshore jobs therefore; operate with little to no tax liabilities. In essence, it became such an abused system; large corporations found they could save billions in tax dollars by simply closing plants on U.S. soil and move operations to foreign entities. In order to put an end of these abuses, the Obama Administration plans on cracking down on corporations that split tax credits from the income from foreign tax, allowing them to take advantage of the foreign tax credit to reduce their U.S. taxes even though the foreign income remains overseas.

Republicans have been fighting hard to keep these Bush era tax incentives in place in fact, are seeking to expand these types of loopholes therefore encouraging large corporations to shut down operations here in the United States and shift manufacturing facilities, call centers, and other American jobs overseas.

Closing this type of Tax Loophole would offset the budget by at least $11.6 billion dollars of taxpayer’s monies, and hopefully create millions of jobs lost to this type of abuse over the last ten years.

Another important provision of the bill, yet another provision the Republican Party strongly objects to is, curtailing The Gift Rule Loophole. This provisions is designed to limit the type of tax that allows rich families to pass on wealth while cutting their estate and gift taxes. Closing this loophole would save at least $5.3 billion dollars otherwise passed on to America’s lower and middle classes in the form of tax increases.

Another important tax loophole rescinded would be the, Crude Tall Oil credit that allowed paper mills to claim a biodiesel tax credit for burning a byproduct known as, “crude tall oil,” essentially a waste by-product of paper manufacturing. The bill would limit the tax credit to those fuels that are not highly corrosive, or those fuels that can burned in cars, or home heating applications.

This bill is 100 percent paid for thusly, satisfying the Republican Party’s claims that all bills must be paid for under the PayGo rule re-enacted early this year. The PayGo act was originally a measure introduced by President Clinton to keep the Republican majority in Congress in check. Eliminating Republicans from pouring on pork projects and tax breaks for their wealthy campaign donors and friends. PayGo was quickly rescinded during the Bush administration sending the nation into a downward, almost irreversible economic spiral.

Robert Grone – WorldNewsVine

Angle indicated early on in her campaigning, and continues to attest to the fact that, she would not have voted in favor of extending unemployment extension benefits. In a state with an unemployment rate of over 14 percent, such a position against unemployment extensions indicates Angle is a woman out of touch with reality. Or, even worse, unmindful and uncaring as to the suffering of Nevada’s unemployed constituents.

The GOP, Angle’s party, also appears to have difficulties accepting several of Angle’s unorthodox positions as well. In addition, Angle’s opponent, current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agrees that Angle is “too extreme for Nevada”.

Apparently, Angle believes only “tough love” will bring Nevada and the country back in line. This sentiment may be popular with the Tea Party crowd and certain libertarians, however, one should be careful of what wishes for since many who identify with Angle’s views either are or could easily find themselves on the unemployment line.

Conditions in Nevada are not improving and projections are bleak. Forecasts for turning the state around have been based on a revitalization of the country as a whole. Until that happens, Nevada, a state that depends heavily on tourism, will remain at the bottom of the heap.

John L. Smith stated in his vastly popular column in the Review Journal on July 28, 2010, “As it stands, tough love from Angle would mean tough luck for thousands of Nevadans who don’t have the luxury of theorizing about their survival in the real world”.

Albany, NY (July 29) – As reported last week by WENY-TV News, Senator Schumer stated there is legislation in the works for those that have exhausted all their unemployment benefits, the ‘99ers’.

President Obama last Thursday evening signed into law, the H.R. 4213 Emergency Unemployment Extension Act however; this provided no relief for those that have exhausted all their benefits. With 15 million Americans seeking employment and only an estimated 3 million jobs available, it is clear legislation should be enacted with the attempts, to bring assistance to millions of unemployed Americans suffering through this depression.

Senator Schumer’s statement during the interview sounded a promise of hope, “[sic] there are a number of people who have maxed out, they’ve been looking and looking for work but haven’t found it, and there is a separate act that would extend those benefits to them. Extending this was really important. There are some people who go beyond the 99 weeks and we’re gonna try to do that next.”

However, to date this piece of legislation has not come to fruition and has become very elusive. With attempts to contact the Senator’s Press Secretary have producing no results; millions are simply being left out in the cold.

In May, Issa Decker’s 99er’s petition was delivered to Senator Reid’s office for purposes of validating the document as well as, the hopes of persuading members of Congress to concern the bill.

The results of the petition, and attempts at contacting Issa Decker as a follow-up have also been elusive.

It would seem very unlikely that any legislation would be enacted considering the Republican Party’s continued commitment to their wealthy campaign donors, and inability to connect with America’s workforce.

Inquiries to various press contacts in the Senate have and at this time, no one seems to have a solid answer. Sources have stated that at this time, the issue has not been really addressed; WorldNewsVine is still awaiting a committed response from Senator Schumer’s office.

A major breakthrough for millions of unemployed Americans if, the bill makes it through the Senate, will close the Bush era tax loopholes that sent millions of American jobs overseas, and as many American workers scrambling for unemployment and unemployment extension benefits.

This could be an important step for those that have been unemployed more than the allotted 99 weeks, the ‘99ers’ if the bill is successful, and if the Labor Department makes a determination to rehire or give first choice to those American workers that lost their jobs during the overseas transition.

The question is, will those that have benefitted from the many GOP tax breaks that endowed the wealthy and strangled the rest of the nation, capitulate and reopen factories here in the U.S. or simply pass the additional costs back to the American consumer.

The key points off the bill, H.R. 5893 Investing in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act are, to create or save American jobs by, rebuilding infrastructure here in the U.S., schools, hospitals, transit projects to name a few. Along with creating jobs, the bill will “[sic] extend the Emergency Fund for Job Creation Assistance that is already on the track to put more than 240,000 Americans back to work this year, including teenagers.”

In able to fully fund these projects, and comply with ‘PayGo’, a system the Republican Senate so admittedly touts, the bill “[sic] closes tax loopholes to prevent corporations from shipping jobs overseas & sticking American taxpayers with the bill.”

These provisions had already as state, passed the House within H.R. 4213 American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act but worked against Republican Party campaign contributors interest hence, removed from the bill in attempts to appease the Party of NO.

With the strength and commitment of the Democratic Leadership, the unemployment extensions finally arrived at the President’s desk for signature, and restoration of emergency unemployment extension benefits, which expired the first week of June, leaving millions of Americans helpless, became law of the land.

H.R. 5893 Investing in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act will eliminate tax provisions that encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas, beginning in January 2011. “[sic]The foreign tax credit is designed to prevent double taxation (i.e., full taxation by both a foreign country and by the United States) of income earned abroad. However, companies have devised schemes essentially shifting the burden of their foreign income tax onto the U.S. Federal government. These transactions enable companies to operate offshore with essentially little or no tax liability to either the U.S. or the foreign government.”

The abuse of the system of foreign tax credits encouraged companies to move jobs offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Foreign Tax Credits is one of the IRS’s top compliance concerns for large corporate taxpayers.

In 2004 alone, a mere 2 percent of over $700 billion dollars were taxed under the current system, a system that mandates abuse, greed with an end game of causing financial pain and suffering for millions of American workers. The abuse does not end there, for those that are still employed, paid an average of 9 times that amount on earnings of less than or equal to, $50,000 annually.

 The bill will also eliminate unlimited tax incentives for U.S. companies to move assets overseas; securing foreign tax credits that shelter income for the long arm of the IRS.

In the word of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, “Republicans have fought to keep, and even expand, these kinds of loopholes for years.”

If this bill makes it the President’s desk for signature, it will be a major victory for the nations unemployed.

Governor Jim Gibbons, the only sitting Governor to ever not be re-nominated to run by his own party, has chosen to target Senate Major Leader Harry Reid as the reason why the state was eliminated for educational federal funding consideration. Gibbons, tiresome even to his own GOP party, refuses to acknowledge that it was his responsibility, along with the State legislation, to ensure the proper requirements were met to be considered in the funding distribution.

Senator Harry Reid, however, has Gibbon’s number. The 18 states chosen for assistance were picked because the governors and government within said states aggressively went after funding to bolster up their educational systems.

Blame falls squarely on the special session of State legislators held in February 2010. The legislation removed 15 words from a statute that allowed student test scores to be banned when evaluating teacher performance. The removal of these mere 15 words, and an apathetic approach and concern for the long-forgotten quality of education in Nevada are clear indicators as to why Nevada was not chosen in the Race to the Top.

It appears, once again, that 51st place is “good enough” for Nevada. May god have mercy on its citizens.

Prior to the vote Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader claimed the resolution violated the rights of those campaign contributors that have been secretly steering national elections over the years by forcing disclosure of personal information. In an attempt to draw the less conservative crowd, Senate Republicans attempted to invoke Michael Moore as one to which would be caught up in the restrictions, or the openness the Disclosure Act.

In an additional feeble attempt to win support by Senate Republicans, supporters of former Democratic Presidential candidate, now Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton were thrown into the mix. Uncertain as to how an unsuccessful bid at an election could possibly be affected by this bill, is still unknown.

Once again, the Senate Republican stood up for their fellow wealthy campaign donors, ignoring the majority of the populous as it would be essentially detrimental to the support of the Republican Party. The bill designed to protect candidates whose interest may be directed towards forging ahead for working class America from anonymous campaign donors running smear campaigns with only one goal, to protect and maintain a grip on the purse strings of America’s taxpayers.

McConnell furthers his demands that the bill would violate freedom of speech stating, the reason this bill has come to fruition is simply because the Democratic Leadership won support of both the, ACLU and Chamber of Commerce, how both of those organizations fall under the ‘anti-American’ label is another question that needs an answer from the Minority Leader.

The Minority leader also claims, this bill was drafted to rig this fall’s elections, that is quite a statement coming from a party that has won two prior elections in the courts of law over, the will of the people. The Republican party for years, has reveled around conservative groups that pour unrestricted monies into campaign advertisements not as much to televise their candidates talking points although, most lack any but, to smear the opposition party. Now, that is election rigging.

So, here we go again, the Senate Republicans are in an all out war against unemployed Americans seeking unemployment extensions, forcing reform on Wall Street while fighting against Main Street, and now an all the stops have been pulled to make rest assured, this fall GOP candidates can make huge party promises to have foreign entities, and billionaires pour millions of unchecked dollars into their campaigns.

The Republican Party is obviously worried not about what is fair for Americans only what partisan support is needed to maintain their jobs. These elected officials have caused enough grave harm to America’s economy already and without having deep pockets behind them, they are nothing more than skeletons in the closet.

As the Senate will now once again be wrapped up in a filibuster, chances for legislation to provide assistance for the long-term unemployed seems to be dwindling. The 99er’s have been through the wringer thanks to poor GOP economic policies, objection to assistance, referring to unemployed Americans as simply ‘lazy’ that do not deserve the same assistance wealthy campaign donors receive and now the GOP will make certain all powers are available to them to remain seated come election time in November.

Americans have to stand up against this ruthlessness; Americans need a leadership that will invoke prosperity amongst the masses, not simply embellish the wealthy with ill-gotten gains via tax-cuts, and loopholes. This November, when it is time to make the correct decision, all of America will be counting on those at the polls to remove these obstructions, the Party of NO from their elected seats and place this nation back on the road of recovery.

The Disclose Act is designed to prevent foreign entities, and large corporations from influencing elections by infusing large sums of cash to both, support candidates and purchase smear campaigns against those they do not support. Corporations have secretly been spending millions of dollars to essentially steer elections, the Disclose Act was created to halt these actions.

If this bill fails, Americans will once again be held hostage when it comes to electing officials that are generally pro-workforce candidates as, they lack the financial resources to fight back against smear campaigns. A prime example of independent action was the Swift Boat Action committee since, they were not an official sponsor of the Republican Party, they were allowed to spend freely to keep theur chosen conservative candidate, the incumbent George W. Bush, in office.

Democratic Senators are urging voters to, “[sic] pick-up the phone and let your Senators know that you’re one of the over 25,000 citizens who have signed the DISCLOSEact.com petition. And make sure they’re aware that 80% of Americans oppose the Citizens United decision, which unleashed unbridled corporate spending in elections.”

The Disclose Act legislation will address seven major action points. The top three are, Enhance disclaimers making CEOs and other leaders to take responsibility for their ads, allow the money chain to be followed, and preventing foreign influence in the form of cash influx to stop, “[sic] determining the outcome of our elections.”

Included in the legislation, Shareholders and Members will now be allowed to see where the money CEOs and other corporate leaders are funneling into campaigns, preventing government contractors from spending taxpayers money on political advertisements, and provide the lowest unit rate for candidates and parties so that Special Interest Groups should not drown out of the voices of the people.

Finally, the legislation will tighten coordination rules whereas, corporations should not be allowed to ‘sponsor’ a candidate.

Once again, the nation is witnessing the Republican Party defending their position with the wealthy elitists in the nation, and insuring a tighter grip over the workforce. The Republican Party’s filibuster is designed in the same manner as they took-up against unemployed Americans regarding unemployment extensions.

As Congressional leaders are being forced by the minority to leave millions of unemployed American workers out to fend for themselves, the Republican Party is once again out to protect their wealthy foreign and domestic campaign contributors to make certain, they have a job instead of focusing their efforts on the long-term unemployed as well as, the nations economy.

Certainly, the 99ers would have a say in this matter as once again, the Republican Party plans to tie-up the Senate preventing any possible further action by way of legislation, to provide for those that have suffered the most at the hands of these devious politicians within the Republican Party.

It is that time America, to stand-up and be heard, make certain the government is returned to a position of “For the People, By the People.” Not the Republican Party’s stance of turning their backs on Americans in need, and supporting those that can afford to provide their fair share, economically speaking, to bring this nation out of this recession, and back on the road to a full recovery.

The number to the Capital Switchboard is (202) 224-3121 and demand support of the Disclosure Act from your Senators that should be representing you, not the some foreign government.