BET Wire: GOP-Led House Knocks Down Obamacare Again
Republicans leave President Obama scratching his head.
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In Case You Missed It - Republicans leave President Obama scratching his head; Ben Carson kind of blames the spread of measles on immigrants; one lawmaker thinks it's OK if your food service worker doesn't wash his hands after a bathroom break — and more. — Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)
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Never Going to Give it Up - The Republican-led House on Feb. 2 passed yet another bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act by a vote of 239-186. “I’ve asked this question before. Why is it that this would be at the top of their agenda? It was maybe plausible to be against the Affordable Care Act before it was implemented. But now it has been implemented and it is working,” said a puzzled Obama. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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The I Word - Does Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pennsylvania) know something that his colleagues don't? According to Marino, the president is going to be impeached. “People say, ‘should the president be impeached?’ I say, we’re getting close to that,” Marino said in a video posted on YouTube Wednesday by the local newspaper The Wellsboro Gazette, Buzzfeed reports. The congressman believes that Attorney General Eric Holder also is "approaching impeachment." (Photo: Douglas Graham/Roll Call via Getty Images)
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He Said, He Said - Mitt Romney's former body man Garrett Jackson is crying foul against David Axelrod's claims about the failed 2012 GOP nominee's concession call to Obama. According to Axelrod, who was a senior campaign adviser to the president, Romney suggested during the call Obama's win was down to Black support. “[H]e didn’t do it in a malicious way — there was nothing about voter turnout," Jackson told Politico, adding that Axelrod "concocted" this tale. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Fuzzy Math - In his 2015 budget, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has presidential aspirations, calls for drug testing for people on public assistance, which has been ruled unconstitutional in other states. He also cut $300 million from the state's university system and proposes spending $220 million to build a new NBA stadium. According to ThinkProgress, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle think the budget is "nonsensical. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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On This Day in Black History - Carl Heastie on Feb. 3 became the first African-American to serve as speaker of the New York State Assembly. He succeeds Sheldon Silver, the longtime leader who resigned after being charged with taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks. (Photo: Mike Groll/AP Photo)
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Blame It on the Immigrants - Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has stepped into the vaccination debate and in the process also stepped "in it" after suggesting that immigrants to the U.S. exacerbate the risk of measles and other epidemics. He defended his position in a CNN interview. "It’s not to prejudice anybody, but we have to deal with reality, and if you have people coming into your country who have not been properly screened, who have not had the same kind of care as people in this country, I don’t think you have to be a genius to figure out that that could introduce some communicable problems," Carson said. (Photo: CNN)
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No Logic - Tying funding for the Department of Homeland Security to eliminating Obama's executive order on immigration is another tactic the president says he doesn't understand and he says there is "no logic" to threatening a DHS shutdown. "Particularly for Republicans who claim that they are interested in strong border security, why would you cut off your nose to spite your face by defunding the very operations that are involved in making sure that we’ve got strong border security, particularly at a time when we’ve got real concerns about countering terrorism?" Obama asked. (Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar-Pool/Getty Images)
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Ban "Redskins"? - Rep. Michael Honda (D-California) has introduced a bill that would ban existing and future federal trademarks for sports teams using the word Redskins. “It is unbelievable to me that, in the 21st century, a prominent NFL franchise is calling itself by a racial slur,” Honda said. “Team names should not be offensive to anyone. Allowing trademark protection of this word is akin to the government approving its use. Removing that trademark will send a clear message that this name is not acceptable.”(Photo: Washington Redskins/NFL)
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Scott Speaks at Morehouse - South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott kicked off Black History Month on Feb. 2 with a speech at Morehouse College. In his remarks, the Associated Press reports, Scott "emphasized conservative policies on education, spending and taxes, saying that his party's approach, not the president's, will help the nation and the GOP expand its reach into minority communities." (Photo: Morehouse via Twitter)
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Downtown House - Rep. Aaron Schock, whose abs have appeared on the cover of Men's Health, is in hot water after it was revealed that his Capitol Hill office's Downton Abbey-inspired décor, complete with peacock feathers, was provided by a decorator for free, which violates House rules. Adding to the oddity, he claims to have never even seen an episode of the PBS period drama. He has pledged to pay the decorator but noted that he does things differently because he's not an "old, crusty white guy." And he added, citing pop star Taylor Swift, "haters are gonna hate." (Photo: Ben Terris/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Post With Caution - Benjamin Cole, now former spokesman for Schock, has been forced to resign after racially charged Facebook posts came to light on Feb. 5. In the posts, of which ThinkProgress obtained screenshots, Cole mocked Black people walking down his street and compared them to zoo animals. "I am extremely disappointed by the inexcusable and offensive online comments made by a member of my staff. I would expect better from any member of my team. Upon learning about them, I met with Mr. Cole and he offered his resignation which I have accepted," the congressman said. (Photo: Benjamin Cole via Facebook)
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Seriously, Eww - North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis thinks that businesses should be able to decide whether their food service employees should be required to wash their hands after using the restroom. Businesses should be able to opt out of the requirement and forcing employees to wash their hands is in his view unnecessary regulation. “I don’t have any problem with Starbucks [for example] if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says we don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. The market will take care of that," he said. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)