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Since 2011
Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief
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wakeuptopolitics.com @WakeUp2Politics
Capitol Hill News
Bohener Unveils Shutdown/Immigration Plan In a closed-door meeting
Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) unveiled his plan to keep the
government open and respond to President Obamas immigration
executive order to the House Republican Conference. And the rank-andfile didnt like it very much.
The plan is an appeal to the tea party members who have caused Boehner so
much trouble for the past three years. For the conservatives, included in the
plan is a vote this week on a bill by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) preventing the
executive branch of the Government to exempt, by Executive order,
regulation, or any other means, categories of persons unlawfully present in
the United States from removal under the immigration laws.
In exchange, House GOP leaders hope their conservative members will vote
next week on the so-called Crominbus bill, which will fund the
government and avert a December 11 shutdown. The Cromnibus is a
combination of CR, or continuing resolution (a short-term spending
proposal), and omnibus (the Hill lingo for a full, long-term spending
package). This spending proposal, authored by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA),
combines both in that it fully finances 11 of the 12 annual appropriation bills
for the fiscal year a full omnibus. Almost.
The 12th appropriation bill funds the Department of Homeland Security, and
under Boehners plan, will only be funded through March the CR part of
the package, since this a much shorter term than an omnibus proposal.
Funding the DHS for less time is a punitive act, again the House GOPs
response to President Barack Obama for issuing an executive order on
immigration. The idea is that since DHS implements most of the executive
order, isolating the agencys funding in such a way would signal that House
Republicans are serious about continuing to fight, in a piece of must-pass
legislation, the presidents executive orders, according to Roll Call.
On Capitol Hill for a House Homeland Security Committee hearing
Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson called the short-term
funding of DHS a very bad idea, citing programs from Secret Service to
border security that would be adversely affected.
The question is whether Democrats will go for it. The lack of full funding
for DHS wont be popular among congressional Democrats, of course, but if
it is the only way to avoid a government shutdown, they may go for it.
Democrats may even gain some power in the process, if Republicans are
forced to turn to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her
caucus, if theirs does not produce enough votes for the plan. In such a
scenario, Pelosi may be able to give DHS full funding.
The reality is: both sides dont want a government shutdown. But they really
dont want to stay in session past next week. And leaders from both parties
will do whatever they can to pass a bill, and then get home for the holidays.
White House Watch
Smithsonian Creates a 3D Presidential Portrait File this under, items
that should have gotten WAY more attention.
The White House released a video yesterday that got no attention in the
mainstream media, despite the fact that it is awesome. The video showed the
first 3D-printed bust of a U.S. President being created.
Back in June, Autodesk and 3D Systems, a team of 3D-digital-imaging
specialists, led by the Smithsonian and in collaboration with the University
of Southern Californias Institute for Creative Technologies, came to the
White House to visit President Obama. They had Obama sit in a chair for
one full second, with 50 LED lights, 8 sports photography cameras, and six
wide-angle cameras surrounding him, and then walked around the President
with structured 3-D light scanners, capturing 3D images of all angles of
the Presidents face.
The video, seen here, released by the White House on Tuesday, shows the
process of capturing the images and then the just-days-long process of
creating the bust.
This bust, on view at the Commons Gallery of the Smithsonian Castle
starting Tuesday, is not an artists likeness of Barack Obama it very much
is Barack Obama. Or an objective 3D likeness of him, created from millions
of measurements gathered and made into an easily-printed bust of President
Obama, the first such bust made for any U.S. President or any head of state.
Get it: head of state!
There is something odd about this process, in that it totally replaces artists of
the past, with accurate art of the future leaving no room for the abstract, or
artistic vision, just presenting a completely-exact portrait of the President in
the third dimension. Just something to think about.
But, you must admit: this is pretty amazing. #geekingout
The Presidents Schedule At 11:15 AM, President Barack Obama will
speak to members of the Business Roundtable, an association of top
corporate CEO, and answer their questions.
At 12:30 PM, President Obama will sit down for lunch with Vice President
Joe Biden.
At 2:40 PM, the President will meet with incoming Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), just the third one-on-one meeting the two have
ever had. As McConnell prepares to take control of the Senate next month,
the agenda for the meeting will probably include tax breaks, which expire
December 30, and the new spending bill, replacing the old one that expires
December 11.
At 4 PM, Obama will speak at the 6th annual White House Tribal Nations
Conference, a tradition he started in 2009, and has continued every year of
his presidency. The conference provide[s] leaders from the 566 federally
recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and
members of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. Each
federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the
conference, according to the White House.
The President will close this busy day with his traditional meeting (5:35 PM)
and dinner (7:30 PM) with Combatant Commanders and Military
Leadership.
