Let's Try This Again

Between the insanely cold weather, and the unusually long holiday break, we know we're not the only ones struggling to get back to the normal grind today. We'd be willing to bet more than a few members of Congress don't make it back to Capitol Hill today - though we'd also bet that's not just because of the weather.

As 2014 begins, Congress is also returning to a mountain of work they never finished in 2013. From the 'Farm and Food' bill they never passed, to the immigration reform legislation still languishing in the Republican-controlled House, to the new Fed Chairwoman, the list of priorities waiting to be taken care of by Congress would barely fit on a thousand-sheet roll of toilet paper. In short, the legislative blockage caused by Republican extremists in Congress is still causing a massive mess.

Thankfully, President Obama seems ready to re-launch his second term, with a full 2014 agenda - even if he is still facing the mess Republicans in Congress created, but won't touch.

One of the first items President Obama wants to focus on this year - and really for the remainder of his second term - is one he tackled in one of his last addresses in 2013: economic inequality. Thankfully, Democrats in Congress, like Majority Leader Harry Reid, seem to be in step with the President on this issue.

Senator Reid has already stated that extending long-term unemployment insurance for more than a million Americans is the first item on the Senate's agenda today, their first day back to work this year. As Greg Sargent noted on Friday, if it were up to Reid, he'd even expand the unemployment insurance program.

Democrats also appear to be ready to support President Obama's push to increase the minimum wage this year. Since legitimate economists across the board seem to agree that raising the minimum wage reduces poverty, logic and reason would point in the direction of success on that effort.

Of course, extremist Republicans are rarely impressed by either logic or reason.

The perfect example of that kind of bull-headed ignorance seems to be Wisconsin Republican state Senator Glenn Grothman. Grothman, in a state now held political hostage by extremist Republicans, is attempting to roll back a progressive state law that protects workers, by requiring their employer to give them one day off in each seven-day calendar week - a variation on the '40-hour work week' won by labor groups and workers' rights groups, and enshrined in the New Deal nearly 80 years ago.

Even though more than a century of research has confirmed that overly long hours actually hurt businesses, workers, and productivity, Republicans like Grothman are pushing the idea that workers should have the "freedom" to work seven days a week if they so choose - ignoring the fact that today, because of America's massive income inequality, many Americans already work seven days a week at multiple jobs because they have no other choice.

Meanwhile, there are still three Americans for every one available job. For those long-term unemployed Americans who still can't find work after searching for months, thanks to Republicans in Congress, this new year is already starting off bitterly cold - economically speaking - regardless of what the weather is like outside.

Unlike five years ago, when President Obama began his first term, he hasn't been handed an economy in ruins this January. In fact, the economy is beginning to grow more strongly and U.S. factories are even hitting a growth stride. Jobless claims continue to fall and, even though many Republicans refuse to believe the deficit has been cut in half under President Obama, the facts simply don't lie.

Add to all of that the growing success of the Affordable Care Act, and the obvious growing desperation of Republicans in the House (who will be voting against Obamacare today - yet again), and 2014 really could be the year President Obama gets to clean things up in DC a bit more.

Hopefully, Americans who want to see their country thrive will turn out at the polls this fall, and help him clean up the mess.

New Year, Same Old GOP

As 2014 begins, our staff is still not quite ready for the new year. With a new baby due, staff members still on vacation, and a brutal winter storm blowing in, we have to admit we're more than a bit cold, and that's not just the temperature. Thankfully, it looks like the Republican Party may be willing to help us warm up to 2014, though the right-wing's method of "help" appears to be setting themselves on fire with the same old ideas they've been burned by multiple times before.

That much was obvious by tracking the non-controversies - or nontroversies - that rolled out over the long holiday break.

First there was the "white Santa" nontroversy from Fox that we covered just before we went on holiday break. The 'Duck Dynasty' nontroversy continued during the end of December too, though that event now appears to have been far more a PR stunt than an actual controversy. There was also the faux outrage over something said on Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC TV show. On a more constructive note, The New York Times did some in-depth, solid journalism, and released a story this week proving - once again - that there was no scandal surrounding the disaster in Benghazi.

Overall though, not much changed politically over the holiday break, as evidenced by the way the two major political parties are already planning on acting in these first few days of 2014.

The Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be voting on Monday to restore long-term unemployment insurance to more than a million Americans. Republicans in the GOP-majority House have decided they'll kick off 2014's legislative work with yet another pointless vote against Obamacare.

We're sadly not kidding. House Majority Eric Cantor has signaled that even though there are stacks of work left over from before the holiday break, House Republicans are going to attempt another desperate ploy to target Obamacare for their first act when they return next Monday.

Frankly, we tend to agree with Ed Kilgore of Washington Monthly and Kevin Drum of Mother Jones, that Republicans in Congress may eventually get through 'The Three Stages of Obamacare Acceptance' that Greg Sargent talked about on Thursday - but that's not happening anytime soon.

What is happening is that Democrats aren't simply dousing themselves in the same old ideas for 2014 like Republicans - a fact that was obvious on Day One of this new year. That's when New York City's newest Mayor, unabashed progressive Bill deBlasio, was sworn into office - the city's first Democratic mayor in twenty years.

Unlike those on the right, those on the left are making other changes in 2014 too. The first all-female ticket looks to be running for Governor and Lieutenant Governor in Texas this year. Democrats are also openly discussing the reform of elements in our government, like our corrupted campaign finance system.

Democrats may have even pushed Speaker John Boehner into quietly signaling that he may support real immigration reform this year.

Sadly, even as Democrats make changes and progress, those on the right continue to light themselves up with the same old hatred & ignorance. The firing of now-former NFL player Chris Kluwe has already proven that.

Still, that insistence by those on the right to keep on doing the same old stupid things is really helping out our staff as we struggle to get back up to speed. That Republicans are helping us at all is a welcome change - though frankly, we won't be surprised if it's the only one we'll see from those on the right this year.

The Last Laugh Of The Year

As we've been saying over the past few days, our annual winter holiday break is finally here, and this is our last full edition for 2013. As usual, there will be brand new Paul Fell Cartoons published over the next week and a half, including the annual Paul Fell Holiday Card, a New Year's cartoon, and the Paul Fell Prediction cartoon before the Gator Bowl.

As the year draws to a close, the end of 2013 looks oddly much like the beginning. Republicans in Congress are still screwing the unemployed, and according to George Zornick, who's filling in over at Greg Sargent's Plum Line, Republicans also look like they're going to cave on the debt ceiling in early 2014, much as they did last February.

Just like at the beginning of the 2013, extremist Republicans are still pointing and laughing at Democrats, saying that Obamacare is falling apart and won't hold up because it goes too far. Not surprisingly though, as Jamelle Bouie pointed out in a CNN poll yesterday, the majority of Americans actually think the Affordable Care Act doesn't go far enough - so the facts also continue to trump the lies from the right.

Over the last thirty years, economic inequality has become one of the biggest problems facing Americans. This year, finally, the American media took serious note of this fact, even as both the Dow and S&P hit record highs. Those record highs from Monday, by the way, are thanks in large part to the fact that Apple will soon be able to sell iPhones to 763 million new customers in China.

While President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry finally began to officially re-open communication between America and Iran this year, a group of corporatist Democrats, beholden to the military industry, now seem insistent on pushing for more sanctions which could blow up the entire peace agreement.

For the 113th Congress, that self-inflicted wound somehow seems fitting, since this Congress has done less than any previous Congress in history - thanks largely to the far-right extremists in the teabag wing of the Republican Party. Even so, the world has continued to move at a blistering pace.

Our annual countdown of important numbers includes nearly 17,000 news, opinion, and commentary stories that our staff members read this year, not including the stack of great books we plowed through. As of today's edition, we've also published 240 issues this year of The Daily Felltoon, and Paul has drawn over 300 new cartoons this year, just for this publication. That doesn't even include the nearly 100 previous editions of Paul's cartoons that were republished or updated.

Moreso than last year, we're looking at 2014 with a positive and even hopeful attitude. After all, Congress did pass a two-year budget - albeit one that sucks, but at least it's a weapon Republicans in Congress can't use to hold the nation hostage next year. After Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went "nuclear" on Republicans, there really isn't a whole lot more low-hanging damage the obstructionists in Congress can do in 2014. What's more, both House and Senate members have to go home and campaign for their jobs next year - and thanks to those same extremist tea-type Republicans, House members have next to nothing to show their constituents.

On a personal note, there look to be some new professional opportunities both for our work here, and for our staff members individually in 2014. We're also expecting a brand new member to join our staff early next year, a new baby for our editor Amy and her family.

In short, our staff members have a positive outlook, and the year ahead looks to be filled with progress and opportunity for all of us. We can't help but look ahead and laugh, and hope.

May 2014 look equally hopeful for you.
Happy holidays from all of us at The Daily Felltoon.

We'll return to our regular publication schedule January 3, 2014.