Sep 292010
 

I’ll be replacing the poll tomorrow night, and I’d like more suggestions, please.

So far we have:

Boxer

Brown

Durbin

Feingold

Franken

Leahy

Wyden

Any more ideas?

Bernie Sanders is not eligible.

This is also today’s Open Thread, as I am feeling like something that should be buried in the deepest corner of my cat box and could not finish my research.  I need to go back to bed.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:31.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Take:

From Me: Republicans filibustered the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act and goose-stepped in lock step against American workers.  Four scum-sucking DINOs goose-stepped with the Republicans: Baucus (MT), Nelson (NE), Tester (MT) and Warner (VA)

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

29keefe

Happy hump day.

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Pledge or Plague?

 Posted by at 2:23 am  Politics
Sep 282010
 

As the Republican Party keeps trying to find something new… anything at all… in their propaganda proclamation, running the numbers reveals that the implementing the Republicans’ proposals well cause economic damage and job losses that are both immediate and severe.

republican-lies House Republicans’ gimmicky new “Pledge to America” repeatedly refers to itself — including on its cover page — as a “new governing agenda ” [GOP delinked] to “set a different course” for the country. Nonetheless, it has come under withering criticism from right, left, and center for being little more than regurgitated rhetoric and repackaged failed GOP ideas.

While Republican leaders have tried to sell the originality of the proposal, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — the number three House Republican — couldn’t seem to decide whether his party’s Pledge was new or old yesterday during an appearance on Meet the Press. At first, he insisted that the Pledge does indeed have “new ideas.” But just moments later, after being pushed by host David Gregory, Pence admitted, “What we have in this proposal is not necessarily new“…

…Watch it:

 

As for new ideas, Pence’s citation of “ending bailouts and cutting spending” is pretty pathetic…

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Even with my very limited training in economics, I knew it would do harm, because tax cuts for the rich yield only fifty cents of economic activity for every dollar cut.  But I has no idea just how bad, until I sat this Keith Olbermann interview with Heather McGhee.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That’s right implementing this will result in a first year GDP loss of $171 billion and 1.1 million jobs.

Of course the rich will get richer.

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Sep 282010
 

tea-partier1 The video you are about to see, which I found at TPM, is filled with pseudo-Christian bigotry and intolerance.  Nevertheless, it is instructive, because it demonstrates the way Republicans propagandize Teabaggers.  Note how the speaker tells the Teabaggers over and over again that these are their own ideas.  The next time Teabaggers lie that nobody has told them what to say and think, remember this.

 

I won’t list the many calls for genocide and reasons for the death penalty listed in the Old Testament that Teabaggers so clearly worship.

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Sep 282010
 

Yesterday Portland has a one day mini heat wave with outside temperatures hitting 84°.  The sun hit the breezeway early, and the inside temperature shot up to 97° and is still 89°.  That set off my COPD and I’ve had almost zero sleep.  To make matters worse, I’m fasting, because I have to visit the vampire this morning.  I did manage to keep up with comments, but do not expect to do so today.  I’ll catch up when I can.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:30.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Lefty Bloggers Plus Report – Week 3:

Scores

Week 3

Score

 

Jay’s Team

Recovering Republic…

102.9

128.8

Final

Lionel Hutz + The H…

Seahawks Rock

90.0

113.5

Final

Teabuggery Trashers

hugos misfits

79.2

77.1

Final

Rob’s Roosters

Playin w/out a helm…

51.1

87.6

Final

Greensburg Wombats

elliot’s Team

130.6

81.9

Final

Standings:

Team

W-L-T

Pct.

GB

Recovering Republicans

3-0-0

1.000

0.0

Seahawks Rock

3-0-0

1.000

0.0

Greensburg Wombats

2-1-0

0.667

1.0

Rob’s Roosters

2-1-0

0.667

1.0

Lionel Hutz + The Hail Marys

1-2-0

0.333

2.0

elliot’s Team

1-2-0

0.333

2.0

hugos misfits

1-2-0

0.333

2.0

Teabuggery Trashers

1-2-0

0.333

2.0

Playin w/out a helmet

1-2-0

0.333

2.0

Jay’s Team

0-3-0

0.000

3.0

I finally won one!  Sunday the weeks with byes start, so check your rosters early to be sure you have adequate personnel.

Short Takes:

From ABC: Although no final decision has been made because of family considerations, ABC News has learned that White House officials are preparing for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to announce on Friday – as Congress adjourns for recess — that he is leaving his post at the White House to explore a run for mayor of Chicago.

Have your party hats ready on Friday!

From Right Wing Watch: Dr. William Harrison was an ardent supporter of a woman’s right to reproductive choice which, in turn, made him a frequent target of right-wing anti-choice activists.

On Friday, he died after a four-month battle with leukemia … and Operation Rescue is rejoicing, seeing it as proof that "God always gets the last word".

That’s not the God to whom I pray.

From Daily Kos: GOP Catfood Commission members pushing for tax cuts for the wealthy.

They are totally #$%&*%# nuts!

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

28bagley

5 weeks to go!

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Sep 272010
 

John Boehner tore himself away from his mistress, the tanning parlors, the golf course, and the bars long enough to talk about the new Republican contract on America.  If you are not as insulted by what he had to say as I am, may I respectfully suggest that you visit your local poison control center for an insaniTEA screening.

Since its release last week, House Republicans have been touting their “Pledge To America” as a bold policy vision to solve the nation’s problems, which they would enact if they gain a majority after the November elections. However, revealing the pledge to be nothing more than regurgitated rhetoric that ignores critical issues, even conservative critics have [wing-nuts delinked] slammed it as “meaningless stuff” that fails on “advocacy of long term sound public policy.”

Today on Fox News Sunday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) seemed to concede this point. When host Chris Wallace noted that the Pledge does not even address entitlement spending such as Social Security and Medicare, Boehner countered by saying that its purpose is only to “lay out the size of the problem,” rather than “to get to potential solutions.” This, of course, flies in the face of GOP branding of the proposal, but Boehner explained that he doesn’t think the American people can handle his ideas right now, saying, “Once Americans understand how big the problem is, then we can begin to talk about potential solutions”…

…Watch it:

 

Indeed, Boehner was more than a little off message in saying “let’s not get to the potential solutions.” As his own Pledge states, surveying the proposals laid out in its pages, “We recognize that these solutions are ambitious [GOP delinked].” It concludes by affirming that Republicans will fight to “promote and advance solutions.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

People, what Agent Orange is telling us is that we all need to be good little sheeple and trust Big Brother Boner to take care of us, because we’re not smart enough to handle the solutions.  Well I know plenty about Republican solutions.  I went through eight years of Republican solutions and I’m still trying to find O rings on sale to repair the damage that Republicans’ tender mercies did to my nether orifice.

What this lying son of a bitch is really saying is that he lacks the courage to tell us what Republican plans are.  He does not want to talk about tax cuts for the rich, deregulation for criminal corporations, dismantling the safety net for which we have all paid with our taxes and social security contributions, and cutting back services, except for the rich.  America opposes his real plan and rightly so.  With all their faults, most Democrats try to represent everyone.  Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest 1%.  Your vote matters!

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Sep 272010
 

We all want people to think and speak well of us.  More than most, I’m a believer in giving folks a second chance when they accept responsibility for the damage they have caused to others and try to make amends.  But when the subject turns to criminal Banksters, who persist in the same behavior that caused this mess, they have nothing coming.  That’s why the following resonates so strongly with me.

27banksters Wall Street is upset. Sure, they were handed a trillion dollars. Sure, their industry was pulled from the toilet, propped up, dried off, and allowed to return to its never-ending party. Sure, they’re looking forward to what may be the biggest bonus year ever while the rest of us are dealing with a little thing called a recession. But hey, they are upset that people have been talking mean about them. They don’t like that. They don’t like that so much that they’re pouring record levels of money into Republican campaigns, just to make sure that Democrats get the point.

After all, being "too big to fail" means never having to say you’re sorry.  Heck, it means never having to face up to the fact that you failed at all. It certainly means that guys wearing Alexander Amosu suits don’t have to say thank you to the people digging ditches, flipping burgers, or sweating out a stint of unemployment. You know, the people who chipped in so that the Wall Streeters could keep their jobs. Being too big to fail means being able to go on pretending that you’re a tough, take care of yourself, fiscal conservative and that this little bump never happened. It certainly means that you don’t have to be the least bit contrite, or demonstrate any sense of either guilt or gratitude.

And I absolutely agree. They don’t. There’s only one thing I want from these guys — I want to tax the holy crap out of them.

I’m not suggesting this because it would be satisfying (though it would), but because it would be a good thing to do. The right thing to do. Not just to start repairing the hole these guys drove through the federal budget, but good for the whole economy. Even good for Wall Street.

Over the last four decades, we’ve become a nation where the Laffer Curve is hardwired in our brains. A nation that believes in always carrots, never sticks. Republicans have pushed the idea that reducing taxes is an universally effective way of growing the economy. No matter what the problem, there’s bound to be a tax cut to solve it…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

I fully agree with this author.  Let’s start with a 125% tax on all bankster bonuses.

While financial reform was weakened by Republicans and DINOs, but Democrats gave us more of it than we have seen in a long time.  On the other hand, Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest 1%.  Your vote matters.

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Oppose This Pipeline

 Posted by at 2:10 am  Politics
Sep 272010
 

Eight days ago, I posted an article about The Alberta Tar Sands and how Republicans seemed to love the devastation of nature that project engenders.  At the time, I wondered why they were interested.  Now I know what they, with help from a particularly slimy DINO, are up to.

27pipeline …you would think plans to expand pipelines carrying this toxic crude [from the Alberta Tar Sands] into the United States would come under a little more scrutiny from U.S. leaders –- especially the ones living in states where pipelines threaten drinking water supplies.

That’s why it was so surprising to hear Montana Senator Max Baucus pushing for hasty approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which would carry this toxic oil right into his state, traversing major sources of fresh water like the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, posing a constant threat of ruptures, spills, and contamination. In addition to Montana, the pipeline would run through South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, crossing dangerously close to drinking water supplies and agricultural aquifers.

We know the oil industry’s influence on our representatives in Washington is out of hand. And when companies like BP spend nearly as much money on public relations after a major environmental disaster like the oil spill in the Gulf as they do on clean up, it’s clear that we’ve got our work cut out for us.

But here’s what we’ve got on our side: the truth.

We know the Keystone XL pipeline would put American health at risk. In addition to threatening drinking water, processing tar sands oil releases pollutants directly linked to asthma, emphysema and birth defects. Refining tar sands crude from the pipeline would create far more air pollution in American communities that are already burdened with cancer and poor air quality as a result of the oil industry.

We also know the pipeline would cross the most important source of agricultural water in the United States, the Ogallala aquifer.

And we know pipeline disasters happen… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Anytime BARF Baucus teams up with Republicans, you know it’s bad for America.  Don’t we already have enough oil company pollution of our own without importing more?  Say No!  Contact your Representative and Senators here.

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Sep 272010
 

Yesterday I spent the day in religious NFL meditation and enjoyed the games I saw. I should have trouble catching up with comments and visits today, although I will be tired from doing laundry as I research and write.

Religious Agony:

DenWeek3

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:08.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Washington Post: A 10-month moratorium on new housing construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank expired at midnight Sunday, adding strain to already fragile Middle East peace talks. But with U.S. diplomats working intensively to keep the peace process going, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not immediately follow through on an earlier threat to quit the negotiations.

They are already pouring the concrete. 🙁

From Common Dreams: A boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail on Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel’s naval blockade there.

Richard Kuper, an organizer with the British group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.

Good.  We need to be reminded that opposition to Israel soes not include opposing Judaism.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

27wolverton

OGIM!

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