The country is about to be embroiled in a debate over net neutrality, just as a soon as most of the country Googles "net neutrality." Ted Cruz nonsensically called net neutrality "Obamacare for the internet," though he could have just as easily lambasted it as "Common Core with a bookmarks bar." And a new poll finds voters have given this congress an overwhelming mandate...to name some post offices. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, November 10th, 2014:
OBAMA URGES NET NEUTRALITY PROTECTIONS - Not included is an internet super highway patrolman parked on the side of the road with his feet up on the dashboard and a speedometer pointed at the data traffic. Dana Liebelson: "On Monday, President Barack Obama came out in favor of the 'strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,' endorsing a popular proposal that would empower the Federal Communications Commission to require Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally and not charge content providers for better access. 'We cannot allow Internet service providers to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas,' Obama said in a statement. The FCC is currently weighing whether ISPs, such as Verizon and Comcast, can choose to block or prioritize delivering traffic to certain websites. The consideration comes in the wake of a federal appeals court ruling in January that struck down the rules that barred companies from doing so. " [HuffPost]
Ready for Warren is staffing up, according to its latest release: "Ready for Warren campaign manager Erica Sagrans announced today that the organization will be ramping up its efforts to draft Elizabeth Warren for president by hiring Kate Albright-Hanna as deputy campaign manager...Most recently, she served as communications director for the Zephyr Teachout/Tim Wu New York gubernatorial campaign, and led the online video team for the 2008 Obama campaign."
SENATE COMMITTEES ABOUT TO GET REAL TENSE - Politico: "As the party takes control of the Senate, establishment Republicans like Thad Cochran, Orrin Hatch, Chuck Grassley and John McCain are about to pick up the chairman’s gavel, setting up a classic conflict between governing and campaigning with the party’s White House-aspiring young guns like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. On everything from foreign aid and military funding to how to undermine Obamacare, Republicans are just as likely to clash with each other as with President Barack Obama...Paul, for example, is trying to steer the Republican Party to become more skeptical of military action and foreign aid. He’ll have McCain on his tail — because the new Armed Services chairman is sure to keep warning that Paul’s ideas would weaken America’s position of leadership in the world." [Politico]
Click: "Young George W. Bush once had a blind date with the daughter of President Richard Nixon. It didn't go so well. Bush recalls the incident in an anecdote-filled book being released this week about his father, former President George H. W. Bush, called '41 - A Portrait of My Father.'" [AP]
TED CRUZ: NET NEUTRALITY 'OBAMACARE FOR THE INTERNET' - A quip about the president not wanting Healthcare.gov to load even slower might have been more effective. Ashley Alman: "Never missing an opportunity to remind America how much he resents Obamacare, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took to Twitter Monday to lash out against President Barack Obama's net neutrality endorsement by comparing it to the health care law...Cruz, who has openly opposed the FCC's role in modernizing telecommunications laws, responded to the president's statement on Twitter:
We're off tomorrow for Veterans Day, when we remind ourselves that people who write sardonic political tip sheets with a smattering of cat videos aren't the real heroes...yet.
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IMMIGRATION MIGHT HINDER LYNCH'S CONFIRMATION - Roll Call: "Top Republicans want Loretta Lynch’s nomination to be attorney general delayed until they are in charge of the Senate -- and they are insisting she divulge whether she supports the president’s plan to act without Congress on a major immigration amnesty. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued a Friday statement saying her nomination should be considered “in the new Congress,” and on Saturday, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah also pushed for a delay. ... It’s also unclear yet how many Republicans would actually vote to block Lynch over the issue. A number of Republicans face potentially difficult re-election bids in 2016 in blue states. And the party would be blocking the first female black attorney general over immigration when party leaders have professed a desire to do more to appeal to African-Americans, women and Hispanics." [Roll Call]
IMMIGRATION ALSO MIGHT HINDER GOP'S FUTURE - Foley: "In the wake of huge wins for the Republican Party in the 2014 elections, conservatives in favor of immigration reform are warning their GOP counterparts they can't spend the next two years ranting against an executive order on immigration rather than proposing their own bills. ... One GOP political operative, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the strategy, warned that the party is falling into a trap on immigration. He described a hypothetical disaster scenario for the party in which the president takes executive action on deferring deportations; then, Republicans try to defund the new program and potentially try to shut down the government. In this case, the 2016 Republican presidential primaries would become a litmus test on whether the candidate would end the policy -- forcing candidates to take the position that millions of people should be stripped of protections put in place by President Barack Obama. 'That is a terrible place to be politically and that's where we're going to be,' the operative said. 'This is like a slow-moving car wreck where we can see exactly where it's heading. And if anybody thinks that's not going to be a problem in Colorado, in Florida, in Arizona and Nevada and all of these places, they just live in fantasy land.'" [HuffPost]
PUBLIC NOT EXACTLY KEEN ON ACTIVIST CONGRESS - Looks like Americans voted in a group of legislators to arrange Capitol tours and applications to West Point. Ariel Edwards-Levy: "Republicans' overwhelming midterm victory last Tuesday is seen less as a mandate for their policies than as a rejection of Democrats' tenure in office, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, which also finds both parties are now viewed as about equally extreme...Just 15 percent of Americans say last week's midterms were more of a mandate for Republican policies, while 56 percent say they were more of a rejection of Democratic policies. The remaining 29 percent were unsure. Even Republicans were 70 points more likely to see the election as a repudiation of Democrats than as a mandate for their own party's policies." [HuffPost]
Progressives are really angling for a "fingers in the air, no f*cks given" lame duck presidency: "Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Monday that unilateral action by the president on economic issues is more necessary than ever. 'The president is in a pivotal position to go assertively with executive orders to create a political balance and an economic balance,' Grijalva told reporters on a conference call. 'I'm one member that urges them to use that as a balancing tool and a leadership tool in these next two years.'" [HuffPost's Dave Jamieson]
GROUP REALLY UPSET THAT ROB PORTMAN LOVES HIS SON - From the sister group of Americans United For Dianne Feinstein Not Attending Her Granddaughter's Vollyball Match: "[T]he National Organization for Marriage is already vowing to defeat Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in 2016 over his support for same-sex marriage...Whatever Portman's plans for the next election cycle, NOM president Brian Brown says the group will be trying to sink him. 'Rob Portman can forget about getting elected President of the United States,' Brown said in a statement. 'If he runs we will make sure that GOP primary voters are aware of his desire to redefine marriage and his willingness to see federal judges set aside the votes of 50 million Americans who enacted marriage amendments across the country because his son is gay.'" [HuffPost's Jen Bendery]
JOE LIEBERMAN FULFILLS DESTINY - At some point in his life, Joe Lieberman was confronted by his spirit animal -- which is probably a claims adjuster named John -- and was told that he would one day assume this position. Jason Linkins: "Joe Lieberman, a former senator from Connecticut, has agreed to serve as the co-chairman for No Labels, a loosely codified set of vaguely defined sentiments organized to convince affluent donors to part with money. Lieberman takes over from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who up until last week was the man doing this thing, until he decided not to do it anymore." [HuffPost]
Rand Paul is the patron saint of Media Matters: "Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote the foreword for a new book from Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano. Napolitano has promoted 9-11 conspiracy theories, attacked President Abraham Lincoln, and defended a former Paul aide with 'neo-Confederate' and 'pro-secessionist' views." [Media Matters ]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here is an owl trying to smile.
COMFORT FOOD
- This budge does a remarkable R2D2 impression.
- This 1980s workout video syncs up surprisingly well with Taylor Swift's "Shake It off."
- Argus the Dog squares off against a tater tot.
- The Right Stuff, Hipster Edition: Watch a man go 207 MPH on a bicycle.
TWITTERAMA (c'mon, Bobby Jindal, you can do better)
@BobbyJindal: It’s closing time for Mary Landrieu… she doesn’t have to come home, but she can’t stay in the Senate anymore.
@EvanMcSan: GOP to White House: “more like Nyet Neutrality.”
@Randazzoj: 1 earbud out for acquaintances2 earbuds out for friendsPause it for a head of state
@KateNocera: My phone autocorrects "crust" to "Crist" so elections man
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