As much time as the Republican heir apparent spends in tanning parlors, on the golf course and doing the night club circuit, far too many Ohioans don’t know him. Those who do don’t like him. Agent Orange was a bust in the latest poll.
It’s looking more and more likely that John Boehner will become Speaker of the House but he’s pretty unknown in Ohio and the folks who do have an opinion about him lean negative.
42% of Ohio voters say they don’t know enough about Boehner to rate him one way or the other. Among those who do 27% see him positively and 31% have an unfavorable view. Democrats (53%) dislike him more than Republicans (51%) like him and independents go against him by a 22/27 margin as well.
Only 28% of voters in the state want Boehner to become Speaker of the House if Republicans get the majority this fall while 44% explicitly say they want someone else and 28% are unsure. Republicans do by a 54/15 margin want Boehner to ascend to the top spot but Democrats (73/6) and independents (41/22) are not swayed by home state pride and think the GOP should pick someone else if they get in control… [emphasis added]
Democratic challenger Rob Miller is hammering down on Joe “you lie” Wilson, the Republican extremist from SC.
You can expect to see a lot more ads like this one from Democrats for the next two months. Rob Miller, running against Joe Wilson (R) of "You lie!" fame in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional district, today is going on television with this ad spotlighting voters worried about losing their jobs thanks to companies outsourcing to other countries.
TPM exclusively obtained an early copy of the ad, which is Miller’s second of the cycle. Miller, who attracted national attention from eager Democrats after Wilson shouted at President Obama during his address to Congress in fall 2009, isn’t hitting that controversy with this spot.
Instead, Miller slams Wilson for supporting the Central American Free Trade Agreement, saying that his rival voted for "an unfair trade deal that sent thousands of South Carolina jobs overseas." Workers from the 2nd district (where unemployment is 11.2 percent) each chime in, telling Wilson: "You lost touch with people here. Congressman Wilson: You ought to be ashamed of yourself."… [emphasis added]
I think it’s brilliant. Democratic candidates need to stress the difference between our agenda and the Republicans’ and point out how vovers are better off with us than with a return to No Millionaire Left Behind.
Once upon a time, honest Republican politicians could be found from time to time. I personally voted for Sen. Packwood here in Oregon years ago and was happy with him. Sadly, he put the GOP grope on too many ladies and became Sen. Pokewood. How things have changed! Today’s Republicans lie when it doesn’t even matter. They have forgotten the meaning of truth. So when a Republican politician actually tells the truth about something, it’s cause for celebration.
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the chairman of the Atlantic Council, recently sat down for an interview with the Washington Diplomat. In the interview, the former senator touched on a variety of topics, including what he feels is the need for the United States to “unwind” from the war in Afghanistan. Towards the end of the interview, Hagel says that while he has “no plans to renounce his membership in the party,” he finds that the Republican Party of which he is a part is not “presenting any new alternatives, any new options, or any new thinking“:
“I don’t see them presenting any alternatives, any new options or any new thinking,” Hagel said. “If the Republicans get back in power, what are they going to do? There is no articulation. It’s just a ‘no no no, I’m against Obama because he’s a socialist and he’s taking America in the wrong direction.’ That’s certainly an opinion, but what about you, Mr. Republican? What would you do?”
Yesterday I spent the day working with a friend to try to prevent Banksters from foreclosing on her. She has personally been the target of many of the dirty Bankster tricks I write about here in protest. I can’t say that she will be successful, but there’s a chance. Before I left, I did catch up with comments and made two modifications. First was the Nameless fix. Since he regularly posts replies with two links, that go to moderation because of it, I raised the number of links required to trigger moderation from the default two to three. Second I installed the Lisa Memorial Toolbar. You’ll see it when you comment. I’m running on zero sleep, because of the heat. It built up because the apartment was closed up all day. The heat wave is over now. Today I have a September’s grocery order being delivered. Putting everything away will wear me out, but I’ll try to start returning visits first.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 4:38. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Politico: Christopher J. Ward, the former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to embezzling more $844,000 from the NRCC and other committees he worked for, ending one of the largest campaign embezzlement schemes in Washington history.
Now the party of crooks is stealing their own money.
From TPM: Sharron Angle is continuing to rail against unemployment benefits — going so far as to say that extending the payments "really doesn’t benefit anyone."
And she reflects the Republican stance on the issue.
From McClatchy DC: Jewish settlers across the West Bank have vowed to begin construction in more than 60 locations, posing a direct challenge to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he returned home from Thursday’s first round of direct peace talks in Washington.
I have opined that Netanyahu does not want peace. Hefre is his chance to prove me wrong.
Two of Arizona’s most prominent bigots did not fare well yesterday. DOJ sued Joe Arpaio over civil rights abuses and Jan Brewer made a complete fool of herself.
Once, thirty years ago, I spent a weekend in the Maricopa County Jail. I was picked up on a Friday night on a random stop and released on Monday morning when I went to court and proved that I really had paid the speeding ticket they said was delinquent. While I was there I witnesses extreme racism against Latinos. Guards called them every derogatory name I have ever heard and beat one man brutally for throwing up. I hear things are even worse since Crazy Joe took over.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County for not cooperating with an investigation into whether his department was systematically violating the rights of Hispanics.
Obama administration officials called the suit the first time in 30 years that the federal government had to sue to compel a law enforcement agency to cooperate with an investigation concerning Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“The actions of the sheriff’s office are unprecedented,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the department’s civil rights division, said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities.”… [emphasis added]
It will go down as one of the most painful openings to a political debate in recent memory.
Gov. Jan Brewer stumbled and stammered through her opening statement during a televised debate Wednesday night, suffering through an embarrassing, cringe-eliciting pause that lasted more than 10 seconds.
With her hands clasped in front of her, she looked at the camera, then down, possibly at notes, and back up at the camera. She smiled, let out a loud exhale, then resumed her statement with a pronouncement of her record as governor.
"We have, uh, did what was right for Arizona," Brewer said, using a grammatical misconstruction she uttered twice during the debate.
Then, she bolted from a post-debate question-and-answer session with reporters after refusing to respond to queries about a past statement about bodies supposedly found beheaded in the Arizona desert… [emphasis added]
Brewer was right about one thing. The did demonstrate the difference between her and her Democratic opponent. Terry Goddard is not a bigoted idiot.
When I was a teenager, a group of us would spend Halloween night partying in the Sleepy Hollow graveyard at Tarry Town. We feigned fear anticipating the appearance of the headless horseman. Now we face the genuine fear headless bodies sneaking across the border from Mexico. Why fear that? Well, if they have no heads, you know they’ll be voting Republican!
The Progressive Congressional Caucus is leading an effort to tell President Obama that Social Security is off the table. I ask you to help by adding your voice. This is not part of an organized petition campaign. It’s an grass-roots effort for each of us.
Democrats led by Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Raul Grijalva are drawing a line in the sand before the White House’s fiscal commission: If your report recommends cuts or other changes to Social Security, they will say, you’ll lose our support.
In a letter to be sent to President Obama, obtained by TPM, House Democrats will pledge to vote against any legislation based on the commission’s report unless Social Security is taken off the table…
We write today to express our strong support for Social Security and our view that it should be strengthened. We oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age. We also oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part.
You have charged the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with proposing recommendations that improve the long-term fiscal outlook and address the growth of entitlement spending. It is our view that Social Security–which is prohibited by law from adding to the national budget deficit–does not belong as part of those recommendations.
By 2023, Social Security will have built up a $4.3 trillion surplus, and, without any action, can pay at least 75 percent of all benefits thereafter. Because Social Security is funded separately from the general treasury and has no borrowing authority, it has not contributed to the federal deficit. Despite these facts, some Commission members have repeatedly alleged the need to cut Social Security for budgetary reasons.
For 75 years, Social Security has been a promise to the American people that if they work hard and pay their fair share, they will have a financially secure retirement. In communities across this country, Social Security benefits are often the only source of income helping families maintain a decent standard of living. Social Security’s benefits are modest, averaging less than $13,000 a year, but they are vital to the vast majority of Americans who receive them.
Cutting Social Security benefits further than they are already being cut by raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 would create needless hardship for millions of vulnerable Americans. This is especially true in the face of an economic downturn that has wiped out trillions of dollars that Americans were relying on for their retirement security and the increased dismantlement of the private and public pension systems.
If any of the Commission’s recommendations cut or diminish Social Security in any way, we will stand firmly against them. We urge you to join us in protecting and strengthening Social Security rather than letting it fall victim to a misguided attempt to reduce budget deficits on the backs of working families.
Sincerely,
Please call your Representative and ask him or her to sign the letter. For contact information click here. Enter your zip code at the top left. Thank you.
It goes without saying that Republicans oppose immigration reform. One of the main reasons is that undocumented workers can’t complain when the Republican’s corporate cronies exploit them for their labor. But in a hard economy sometimes mere exploitation is not profitable enough for them. Why just exploit, when they can enslave?
The US Justice Department on Thursday announced indictments against six people for luring 400 Thais to the United States and conspiring to force them into working as farm laborers.
A grand jury in Honolulu indicted the six for their alleged scheme "to coerce the labor and services of approximately 400 Thai nationals brought by the defendants to the United States from Thailand from May 2004 through September 2005 to work on farms across the country."
Officials said Israeli Mordechai Orian, Pranee Tubchumpol, Shane Germann and Sam Wongsesanit of the Los Angeles-based company Global Horizons Manpower conspired with Thai labor recruiters Ratawan Chunharutai and Podjanee Sinchai to carry out the crimes that began with false promises of lucrative jobs.
The Thais, upon arrival in the United States, had their passports taken away and forced to pay thousands of dollars in recruitment fees, which were "financed by debts secured with the workers’ family property and homes."… [emphasis added]
Now the article does not contain a single word about the Republican Party, so you may wonder just how I’m making the connection. It turns out that the chief perpetrator has been investing in getting away with it, and the investment paid off… until now. Mordechai Orian was a frequent and generous donor to the Republican Party.
Yesterday I caught up with comments. I took a break to resolve a health insurance issue, and, when I returned, the site was down. A server failure at my HSP caused the problem, but we were offline most of the day. As a result, I returned no visits. Now I will fall behind again, because I’ll be tied up all day. I’m meeting with the friend I mentioned in my article on MERS to help her prevent a foreclosure on a loan she was trying to renegotiate. The only reason she fell behind on her payments is that the bankster told her to do so to qualify for the federal program. I hope to catch up tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it tool me 3:44. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I anticipated this, and I suspect that the reason the Obama administration is allowing BP to continue operations in the Gulf is to keep them paying.
From Common Dreams: A shallow-water production rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded this morning [yesterday], causing the thirteen crew members aboard to abandon the structure.
Coast Guard rescuers are en route to the scene of the fire, 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay, Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough said. Twelve of the workers are in immersion suits, designed to protect them from hypothermia. One is reported injured.
I hope the workers are safe anp pray this is not the next gusher.
It’s looking more and more likely that John Boehner will become Speaker of the House but he’s pretty unknown in Ohio and the folks who do have an opinion about him lean negative.
It will go down as one of the most painful openings to a political debate in recent memory.
