Round 2

kaeli-oh: Alright here is a belated account of my road trip, since i finally have a second to breath. Day One On our first day we drove eight hours or so from Longmont to good ol’ Omaha, NE. It smelled like poop. We saw lots of cows or “Big Toody’s” as we call them but Nebraska cows are sad because they live in big groups in crappy muddy small fenced areas, not like the free-roaming cows of Colorado. In Omaha we stayed at a Comfort Inn and discovered the choice priveledges program of which we became members so that we could get stuff, minor unimportant hotel detail. Anywho, we stayed at the comfort inn at the zoo, which apparently was right next to the zoo. We didn;t go but we could see this awesome shiny dome structure protruding from the area and we might go if we have time on the way back (I’m pretty sure we won’t there is never enough time) The front desk lady saidd it was the top 3 Zoo on country and people come all the way from Kansas City to go (not that far away) but the Hotel was nice andd we got upgraded to a big room which gave us plenty of space to do our 20 min yoga video in the morning. We had a continental breakfast and then set out for Chicago…

kaeli-oh:

Alright here is a belated account of my road trip, since i finally have a second to breath.

Day One

On our first day we drove eight hours or so from Longmont to good ol’ Omaha, NE. It smelled like poop. We saw lots of cows or “Big Toody’s” as we call them but Nebraska cows are sad because they live in big groups in crappy muddy small fenced areas, not like the free-roaming cows of Colorado. In Omaha we stayed at a Comfort Inn and discovered the choice priveledges program of which we became members so that we could get stuff, minor unimportant hotel detail. Anywho, we stayed at the comfort inn at the zoo, which apparently was right next to the zoo. We didn;t go but we could see this awesome shiny dome structure protruding from the area and we might go if we have time on the way back (I’m pretty sure we won’t there is never enough time) The front desk lady saidd it was the top 3 Zoo on country and people come all the way from Kansas City to go (not that far away) but the Hotel was nice andd we got upgraded to a big room which gave us plenty of space to do our 20 min yoga video in the morning. We had a continental breakfast and then set out for Chicago…

tpmmedia: TPM’s Sahil Kapur looks at the gap between what Senate Republican’s say about student loan rates and what they do: Budget measures by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) went down 41-58 and 42-57, respectively. Both let Stafford loan rates double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent, which President Obama and Democrats have been pushing to prevent. Mitt Romney and GOP leaders say they want to extend the existing rate but differ on how to pay for it. The budget votes were largely a Republican effort to embarrass President Obama and Democrats for failing to coalesce around a long-term fiscal vision. But it also presented an opportunity for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) to needle the GOP on a contradiction. “Does this budget permit the interest rates on student loans to double on July 1?” Harkin asked of the Ryan budget, which has already passed the House. “It does,” Conrad replied. “Thank you, senator,” Harkin said. Harkin and Conrad repeated the exchange prior to the vote on the Toomey budget. “I hope that every senator who votes for this knows … they’re voting to double student interest rates on July 1,” Harkin said. The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t lost on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who voted for the Ryan plan. In a readout of a Wednesday lunch between Obama and congressional leaders, his office sent reporters notice that he affirmed his support for continuing the lower rates. “We all agreed that rates shouldn’t go up this year and that we need to resolve the differences and pass legislation together,” said McConnell.

tpmmedia:

TPM’s Sahil Kapur looks at the gap between what Senate Republican’s say about student loan rates and what they do:

Budget measures by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) went down 41-58 and 42-57, respectively. Both let Stafford loan rates double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent, which President Obama and Democrats have been pushing to prevent. Mitt Romney and GOP leaders say they want to extend the existing rate but differ on how to pay for it.

The budget votes were largely a Republican effort to embarrass President Obama and Democrats for failing to coalesce around a long-term fiscal vision. But it also presented an opportunity for Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) to needle the GOP on a contradiction.

“Does this budget permit the interest rates on student loans to double on July 1?” Harkin asked of the Ryan budget, which has already passed the House.

“It does,” Conrad replied.

“Thank you, senator,” Harkin said.

Harkin and Conrad repeated the exchange prior to the vote on the Toomey budget.

“I hope that every senator who votes for this knows … they’re voting to double student interest rates on July 1,” Harkin said.

The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t lost on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who voted for the Ryan plan. In a readout of a Wednesday lunch between Obama and congressional leaders, his office sent reporters notice that he affirmed his support for continuing the lower rates.

“We all agreed that rates shouldn’t go up this year and that we need to resolve the differences and pass legislation together,” said McConnell.

(via politicaldirtylaundry)