Republicans in the house put foreign governments above American People, Employers over Workers. Do Away with overtime.

ROLL CALL: This section of the paper never gets much attention, but should. It reflects the heart and soul of our political parties.

The most stunning display of misplaced priorities took place in the House, where our Republican representatives ditched their constituents…hung em out to dry. Wisconsin State Journal:

U.S. DEBT PRIORITIES: Voting for the bill, House bill (HR 807) gave payment priority to bondholders, such as domestic pension funds and foreign governments, if the Treasury were unable to meet all of its debt obligations. Social Security trust funds would be next in line … Republicans said this advance statement of debt-payment priorities would instill confidence in investors essential to the health of the U.S. economy.  

Investors were more essential than Americans, especially seniors. Here’s what the Democrats wanted. Compare their priorities:

DEMOCRATS’ DEBT PRIORITIES: Voting 200 for and 207 against, the House defeated a bid by Democrats to ensure that obligations to federal deposit insurance, Social Security and Medicare trust funds, veterans’ benefits and recovery from natural disasters be paid ahead of debt service to foreign bondholders such as China and Iran under the terms of HR 807 (above).

Who’s looking out for our interests? The Republicans who put paying off China and Iran first, or securing out social safety nets and veterans benefits? It’s breathtaking really.

A yes vote backed the Republican bill. Voting yes: Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, Reid Ribble. Voting no: Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore.

That was the first slap in the face. Here’s the second where Republican take the side of business owners and not working Americans. Essentially, Republicans support doing away with overtime pay:

‘COMP TIME’ FOR OVERTIME: Voting 223 for and 204 against, the House sent bill (HR 1406) authorizing employers in the private sector to offer “compensatory time off” in place of extra cash for working overtime. Under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay “time and a half” for each hour worked over 40 hours per week. Under this bill, they could instead provide one and a half hours off for each hour over 40 if that is agreeable to the employee. Employers have discretion to schedule the time off under the bill, and state agencies, not the U.S. Department of Labor, would enforce comp-time agreements.

A yes vote was to pass the bill. Voting yes: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, Ribble. Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore.

The Democrats should have opposed any changes outright, blasting the Republicans, but as usual they “compromised” by softening this bizarre attack on overtime pay:

EMPLOYEE CONTROL OF ‘COMP TIME’: Voting 200 for and 207 against, the House defeated a Democratic bid to give employees the right to schedule their time off under certain circumstances. This motion shifted control to workers if they need to schedule medical appointments, care for a family member or, if they are veterans, schedule appointments related to combat injuries.

A yes vote backed the Democratic motion.Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore. Voting no: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, Ribble

Rand Paul on our new Corporate Lords: "We all either work for rich people or we sell stuff to rich people."

The election has come and gone. Republicans are now on the hook to show the American voters what they plan change. But change is not coming to the "burdened" wealthy and corporate elite, it's coming in the form of "shared" sacrifice" by the spoiled working class.

Since we've given them personhood, corporations now have free speech rights. We've offered up plans to lower their taxes to almost nothing, and put them first in the pecking order to spur on an economic recovery. They're special because they're rich and provide jobs. But the new business model includes fewer employees, lower wages and major cuts in benefits. It's an economic class of royalty protected by small government conservative Republicans. Like Rand Paul:

PAUL: There are no rich. There are no middle class. There are no poor. We all are interconnected in the economy ... We all either work for rich people or we sell stuff to rich people. So just punishing rich people is as bad for the economy as punishing anyone. Let’s not punish anyone. Let’s keep taxes low and let’s cut spending

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• Rand Paul On Bush Tax Cut Debate: 'You Can't Punish Rich People' (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Why Are Rich People So Angry Today? (nytimes.com)