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Actions speak louder than words. Today, Vice President Mike Pence is visiting Louisiana, where he will speak to the people of Baton Rouge. They are hardworking people, many of whom are still struggling to put their lives back together after historic flooding. Some may wonder what hes going to say, but not me. I wont be able to hear the words of his speech because the presidents budget speaks volumes and will render the vice presidents words hollow.

The president and vice president ran on standing up for the people of Louisiana, but they released a budget that goes out of its way to knock Louisianans down. To start with, the budget would cut expected revenue from offshore oil drilling happening off our coast. This is revenue that our state is rightfully owed, and that has already been pledged to coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects. So, this administration is choosing tax cuts for the rich over the physical security of the people of Louisiana. No words Pence could speak would be louder than that.

This disastrous budget gets much worse for our state. It cuts $800 billion from Medicaid, even though President Donald Trump promised several times throughout his campaign that he would protect it, and despite the fact that hospitals across this state rely on Medicaid payments to keep their doors open. It cuts the Childrens Health Insurance Program by almost 20 percent. It makes student loans more expensive for students trying to better themselves through education and makes it impossible for public servants like nurses, police officers, and teachers to have their student loans forgiven. It attacks farmers by eliminating commodity payments and making it impossible for many farmers to get crop insurance. It attacks families and workers struggling to put food on their tables by cutting food stamps by more than 25 percent. It cuts funding to programs that people who are disabled and cant work rely on to survive, and funding for programs that help first-generation college students obtain the education they need to support themselves and their families.

President Donald Trump's proposed budget would slash offshore oil and gas royalties to Louis

This budget also attacks the programs local governments rely on to make life better for their citizens. It eliminates programs that cities and parishes have used to pay for infrastructure like better sidewalks and streets. It eliminates programs that our ports have relied on to increase their security and improve their operations. And it doesnt only go after big programs. In fact, this administrations budget hunts out even the small programs that make a huge difference in peoples lives and targets them as well. It eliminates federal funding for programs that everyone agrees actually do good things like Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, and after-school programs.

The bottom line is simple: this budget will make life harder for the people of Louisiana. It will make important things in life, like health care and education, cost even more while hardworking Louisianans receive even less.

It hurts the young and the old, the poor and the middle class. The only people it doesnt hurt are those who are already doing well. They get even more tax cuts. The message from this administration is clear: if youre struggling, keep struggling.

I have said many times before that a budget is not merely numbers on a page; it is a moral document that reflects our values. The Trump administrations values are on full display in this document, and they are far different from the hollow promises the president made to Louisiana several times throughout the campaign.

The people of Baton Rouge are still working to recover from one of the worst natural disasters in our nations history. Instead of delivering the support from the federal government that was promised, the president has the audacity to bring us a budget that guts our state and puts us further in the red. This budget is a slap in the face to people everywhere in Louisiana. Pence can say what he wants on this trip, but the actions of this administration have already spoken for him.

Cedric Richmond of New Orleans represents Louisiana's 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He chairs the House Black Caucus.

More here:
Cedric Richmond: Mike Pence's words won't matter; damaging policies speak volumes - The Advocate

Hollywood hysteria over the election of President Donald Trump has not abated. The things that artists have done and said in the name of civil disobedience and then excused themselves for have been shocking, to say the least.

A Saturday Night Live writer cyberbullied one ofTrumps children, only to find celebs like Chelsea Handler around to defend her. And Handler herself mocked Melania Trump by saying the first lady would not be able to speak English well enough to talk to her.(In reality, Mrs. Trump speaks five languages.)

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Avengers director Joss Whedon has proven himself time and time again to be a thorough misogynist, untouched by the at-the-ready social-justice warriors of the world.

More recently, late-night host Stephen Colbert made a vulgar comment about the president that no conservatives career would be able to survive had he said something similar about a president like Barack Obama.

Now enter comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg, a co-host of The View. Sure, most people dont tune into The View for level-headed or intelligent discussion but Goldberg somehow managed to create a new low for the program by comparing Vice President Mike Pence to the Ku Klux Klan.

First she praised Notre Dame students who walked out of their own commencement ceremony when Pence began giving the address last weekend. She said they were patriotic and demonstrated prime examples of civil disobedience. Then her tone and language got much harsher.

"If there's a guy if there's a man because sometimes if you know what somebody has to say, you don't want to hear it. I don't you know, I think most of these folks made a very specific decision because what he was about affects them in such ways that they don't want to hear it, because really if you know, I shouldn't have to listen to a guy who's wearing a you know, wearing a hood, who I know wants to string me up," said Goldberg.

"I shouldn't have to listen to a guy who's wearing a you know, wearing a hood, who I know wants to string me up."

Whether an individual likes or agrees with the vice president or his politics or not is beside the point. Comparing him to a hate organization with a history of targeting minority groups is absolute fear-mongering. It's a statement that is not even close to reality it's ignorant of the freedoms this country possesses and of the current state of the world.

If Pence, a man who forcefully and sincerely argues for the right to life for the unborn, were a hood-wearing KKK member, we'd know about it. His speech had no hateful words in it at all. Goldberg's idea of the vice president is just that an idea, a concoction of her own imagination that has been fed by whatever liberal and elitist echo chamber she inhabits.

The notion of college students walking out of a speech by a person with whom they disagree speaks to a larger issue right now. Groups of people seem unwilling to coexist with each other. They're unwilling to listen to people who challenge their views, and they're unwilling to exist in an environment in which they're not always at the forefront or controlling the message. They don't want to accept a reality that is defined by anything other than their own beliefs and myopic viewpoints. College campus protests against conservative speakers and protests against free speech have proven this.

It was somethingthat "The View" co-host Jedediah Bila brought up during the Tuesday program, when she said: "It bothers me. They have a right to do it, but it bothers me because it seems like the younger generations have a hard time listening to stuff they disagree with and just listening. There's a lot of times I go into a room and someone is speaking I don't like their policies, I don't necessarily like what they advocate for, I don't necessarily agree with them. But I sit and listen, and sometimes I leave that room more passionate about how I feel and saying, 'Wow, I really don't like that guy,' and sometimes I learn something and say, 'There's another side or I hadn't thought about that.'"

When Bila challenged Goldberg's comparison of Pence to the KKK, Goldberg doubled down and sounded even zanier.

"Listen to me. 'Ism,' whether it's racism or you don't like gay people, when you say to somebody, I don't believe that you actually feel that way because I believe that God has told me forget what God has said to you. God told me that you shouldn't be who you are. When you're sitting with someone who is saying that to you, you don't want to sit and watch and you don't want to disrupt it. You don't want to scream, but you want to get up and say, 'I'm not going to take it.'"

Read more from the original source:
Whoopi's Out of Line: Compares Pro-Life Vice President Mike Pence to the KKK - LifeZette

New York Times

Amid Trump Turmoil, Some Begin Eyeing Mike Pence New York Times It's time to talk about Mike Pence, Emily Aden, the rapid response director of American Bridge, a liberal political group, said in a memo circulated on Thursday. Pence is just as complicit in this scandal as every other Republican in Washington, and ... Mike Pence's disappearing actCNN Mike Pence wants us to believe he's innocent. Don't buy it.Washington Post (blog) VP Mike Pence Was Never Informed About Flynn: SourceNBCNews.com HuffPost -USA TODAY -Politico -Bloomberg all 232 news articles »

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Amid Trump Turmoil, Some Begin Eyeing Mike Pence - New York Times

KLFY

Vice President Mike Pence discussing healthcare and jobs in Louisiana today KLFY While in the bayou state, he will discuss healthcare and jobs with local business leaders. The Vice President plans to make his remarks at Cajun Industries, L.L.C. in Port Allen later this afternoon. Pence will be joined by Centers for Medicare and ...

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Vice President Mike Pence discussing healthcare and jobs in Louisiana today - KLFY

Pence was delivering the commencement speech after receiving an honorary degree from the Catholic university, located in his home state of Indiana.

Videos showed some students standing as Pence took the podium, then walking out of the ceremony and gathering outside Notre Dame Stadium, where they held a short alternative "graduation ceremony."

Introducing Pence, University President Rev. John I. Jenkins said "political leaders are necessary for society, and we must strive with them to serve the common good."

Referring to "a fractured nation, with deep divisions and raw political feelings," Jenkins said injustice must be challenged; "But we must also listen to those who disagree, care for the bonds that join us together and find ways to build a society where all can flourish -- even the people who don't look like us, think like us, or vote with us."

Pence told the assembled graduates that Notre Dame was a "vanguard of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas."

"While this institution has maintained an atmosphere of civility and open debate, far too many campuses across America have become characterized by speech codes, safe spaces, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness -- all of which amounts to the suppression of free speech," Pence said. "These practices are destructive of learning and the pursuit of knowledge."

He tweeted that he had been honored to speak at the ceremony.

Speaking on Sunday ahead of his graduation, Bryan Ricketts told CNN he would be walking out after learning solidarity during his time at Notre Dame.

Fellow protester Jenn Cha said it there needed to be space for dialogue between people of different beliefs. "However, it is an egregious insult to invite Pence to speak at the celebration of the accomplishments of university graduates, many of whom are LGBTQ, first-generation, low-income, and people of color he has actively supported legislation against," she said.

Liz Hynes said that Pence represented the kind of intolerance Notre Dame had sought to eliminate. "His anti-LGBT, anti-refugee, and anti-health care policies have harmed people in ways for which no religious justification can be made."

Pence is the first vice president to deliver a commencement speech at Notre Dame, according to the university.

Six presidents from both sides of the aisle have given commencement speeches at Notre Dame, including Barack Obama in 2009 and George W. Bush in 2001.

Pence received his bachelor's degree from Indiana's Hanover College and attended Indiana University School of Law.

Read more from the original source:
Some Notre Dame graduates walk out over VP Mike Pence speech - CNN