2010 – Page 72 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 7/29/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:30 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 292010

Yesterday was my volunteer day with the therapy group. I feel inspired when I see men committed to making progress toward a better understanding of how their own choices led them into criminal activity, and how to make pro-social choices early enough to prevent another descent. When I returned home I felt too exhausted to reply to comments and return visits. The worst of the heat wave is over. For the first time a week, I can post without wanting to seal my eyelids open with tape. In the next couple days, I will reply to the comments and return the visits.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:29. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here. It’s desperation time. Unless we have three more players before Monday, I’ll need to cancel the league.

Short Takes:

From Alternet: Japan’s government said Wednesday it had no plan to delay transferring some 8,000 US marines based on the southern island of Okinawa to the US Pacific territory of Guam by 2014.

In Washington on Tuesday, Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, an assistant US secretary of the Navy, told Congress that the lack of infrastructure in Guam could cause delays.

But Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told a news conference: "I have not confirmed that debate. We think we want to go ahead firmly as promised."

What’s the controversy? We certainly have the infrastructure to base those troops in the US. After 65 years, I think we can reasonably end the occupation of Japan.

From Washington Post: A team of federal investigators known as the "BP squad" is assembling in New Orleans to conduct a wide-ranging criminal probe that will focus on at least three companies and examine whether their cozy relations with federal regulators contributed to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to law enforcement and other sources.

The squad at the FBI offices includes investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies, the sources said. In addition to BP, the firms at the center of the inquiry are Transocean, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, and engineering giant Halliburton, which had finished cementing the well only 20 hours before the rig exploded April 20, sources said.

It’s about stinking time!

From MSNBC:

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

These Republicans are becoming more Teabuggered every day!

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

29keefe

Are we sick of tea yet? Bring on the coffee!

Constitutional Amendments: Article XVI

Posted by TomCat at 2:32 am Editorial, Politics

Jul 282010

constitution

We have been covering the US Constitution line by line. When Republicans wave their paper props and parrot their vile machinations, we will be prepared to expose the lies. We have finished the main body of the Constitution. Now we continue with the Amendments. You can find the last article on the main body of the Constitution here. It has links to all the others. The text comes from The US Constitution. Previous articles in the Amendment series:

Article I

Articles II and III

Article IV

Article V

Article VI

Article VII

Article VIII

Articles IX and X

Articles XI and XII

Article XIII

Article XIV

Article XVI

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

The Sixteenth Amendment allows the collection of income tax. It allows a single day of true bipartisanship each year. On April 15, both Republican and Democratic voters feel the same pain between the nether cheeks.

There are some areas of controversy. Republicans want to roll back the biggest middle class tax cut in history, passed in the stimulus, despite the fact that it was paid for in the budget, They also want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich, at a ten year cost of $768 billion, despite the fact that it was never paid for in the budget.

Another area of some controversy is that some believe that the Sixteenth was never properly ratified. I have researched this, and the evidence points to proper ratification, but I found no conclusive proof for that. Nevertheless, the matter has been litigated more times than a DINO’s GOP flea count, and no tax protester has ever won on these grounds. So only those so stupid that they give credence to the absurd, like Obama was born in Kenya, have an excuse for believing they are going to get out of paying taxes this way.

Republicans prefer a flat tax, because it favors the rich. They argue that the current code is bloated. On that, they are correct. I’m 62 years old, and I read at a pretty good clip. Had I started reading the tax code at age 18, and read sixteen hours daily without breaks, I would not live long enough to finish. However, because an income tax can be progressive, that is the best solution. The bloat comes from loopholes for the rich and corporate welfare. We can eliminate them to simplify the code.

I shall try to put up a new article in this series almost every day. It will take some time to cover it all, but when we’re done, we shall be immune to the lies with which Republicans seek to undermine our freedoms.

Campaign Strategy 2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:31 am Politics

Jul 282010

Democrats enter the midterms in a precarious position. Inheriting an economy in crisis, they prevented the complete collapse and have done much to improve it, but it’s likely be another year or more before those accomplishments reflect as real improvements on Main Street. In the meantime, Republicans are obstructing progress toward cleaning up the mess they caused at every opportunity. Sadly, blaming Bush and the only successful Republican program, No Millionaire Left Behind, however accurate, will not resonate with voters two years later. But Bush is still very much a factor in these elections, because the only policies that Republicans are offering are the same disastrous policies Bush implemented. We all know what happened. Who wants to return to that?

When money talks, the Republican Party listens.

Senate Republicans made sure this fall’s elections will be drenched in corporate money. By threatening a filibuster, the minority party blocked a Democratic plan to require disclosures of business and labor contributions in campaigns.

The measure was a direct response to a disastrous Supreme Court decision in January that ended a century-old ban on companies dipping into the treasuries to make campaign contributions. Get ready for a high-spending mud fight this fall as business groups exploit the ruling and take advantage of low polling numbers for Democrats.

The proposed law, known as the Disclose Act, passed the House narrowly last month. In the more conservative Senate, it was always an uphill fight, because every major bill needs a 60-vote margin to cut off endless filibuster debate. On this issue, Democrats needed at least one extra vote from the GOP side, which couldn’t be found.

The upshot is a political landscape with few restraints on lobbyists and special interests, the very groups Republicans claim to repudiate in insider Washington. The proposal would have obliged major contributors to appear in disclaimers in ads, much the way candidates do in criticizing opponents… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <San Francisco Chronicle>

Every single Republican voted against allowing debate on this bill, except Ensign. Every single Democrat votes for opening debate on it.

Republicans have thus declared that they support giant corporations’ ability flood our elections with advertising. Republicans have thus supported allowing giant corporations, like Halliburton, to threaten lawmakers with a flood of negative advertising unless they appropriate funds for the corporations’ government contracts. Republicans have thus supported extending these benefits to foreign corporations. When candidates advertise, they have to declare who they are, but Republicans have this supported allowing giant corporations to do all this in secret.

Lawrence O’donnell and Eugene Robinson discusses how Republicans have not changed a thing since Bush.

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

Robinson did say that nobody would be running for anything. That’s not true. Democrats have lots of achievements, plus they have several jobs bills they passed in the House, but the GOP filibustered in the Senate.

Chris Hayes also discussed how GOP policies are 100% Wall Street, 0% Main Street.

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

Republicans have no plans except to return to failed Bush policies.

However, if we present this in terms of what they will so, how might the public respond?

As congressional Republicans double down on President Bush’s failed economic policies, a new National Journal/Pew Research poll finds that Americans believe President Obama’s “policies offer a better chance at improving the economy over the policies of his predecessor.” Interestingly, more Democrats favor Obama’s policies than Republicans favor Bush’s, while independents overwhelming side with Obama. Overall, despite continued tough economic times, 46 percent of Americans say Obama’s policies will do more to improve the economy, compared to just 29 percent who say the same of Bush’s…

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Of course Republicans will do everything to distract us with lies and pseudo-issues, but we must heep hammering hope the point:

A vote for any Republican is a vote for GW Bush!

Open Thread – 7/28/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:30 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 282010

Yesterday I my Podiatrist died his quarterly cutting on my foot. A plugged gland secretes something that hardens like stone. Every three months it grows to the size of a pea and makes walking almost unbearable, so it needs to be cut out. It’s a lot less painful than it used to be the years I had to do it myself. By the time I returned home, the temperature in the apartment was over 90° again, Ind I was too useless to reply to comments or return visits. Today will be the same, because of my volunteer work as a co-facilitator for a therapy group of former prisoners. Because of the heat, I’m still behind non sleep, but I expect to start catching up tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 3:11. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here. It’s looking doubtful that we will get to play. 🙁

Short Takes:

From Alternet: Almost two dozen Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers cosponsored a new resolution late last week that expresses their support for Israel “to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the use of military force.”

Don’t these fools realize that we will get sucked into a war between Israel and Iran faster than a Republican leader will steal a baby’s ice cream?

From Right Wing Watch: And so Tea Party activists are planning to protest outside of the Islamic Center’s existing facility and urging participants to bring dogs in order to intimidate worshipers because "Muslims hate dogs".

Don’t these fools realize that the only time Muslims hate dogs is when Republicans use dogs as instruments of torture?

From Political Ticker: As if the repeated trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina weren’t clues enough, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania met privately last week with several of his former Capitol Hill staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential bid in 2012.

According to GOP sources familiar with the meeting, which took place last Tuesday in Washington, Santorum conveyed his seriousness about a possible campaign and solicited his former aides for advice.

Bring him on!! Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum has an established record of hate against which to run.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

28matson

Happy Hump Day

Constitutional Amendments: Article XV

Posted by TomCat at 2:21 am Editorial, Politics

Jul 272010

constitution

Article I

Articles II and III

Article IV

Article V

Article VI

Article VII

Article VIII

Articles IX and X

Articles XI and XII

Article XIII

Article XIV

Article XV

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Fifteenth Amendment extends voting rights to African American, including former slaves. Prior to 1964, Democrats used various means, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and sometimes force to disenfranchise non-white citizens. In 1964, LBJ passed the Voting Rights Act. The Republicans welcomed the Dixiecrats and adopted their racist policies to get control of the south. They now form the GOP base and continue to disenfranchise minorities at every opportunity.

Nuke the Filibastards?

Posted by TomCat at 2:19 am Politics

Jul 272010

Never before has one party so tied up the business of government. Up until 2006, the Senate operated on the principle that, because both parties placed the national well being over political advantage, they reserved using the filibuster for the most egregious situations only. In 2006, that changed, as the Republican party threw the American people under the bus to score political points. That despicable behavior continues to this day. Something must be done, but what?

Back in February, I favored this:

nuclear_blast

But Harry “Leg Hound” Reid was too busy humping GOP legs to act on the nuclear option. Now, we’re so deeply into election season that little more will happen this year, so I’m changing my position. At this point, we’re better off with the Constitutional Option, as Ezra Klein explains.

“I do detect some momentum gathering behind Tom Udall’s constitutional option for curbing the filibuster in January of 2011,” writes Matthew Yglesias, who spent the weekend at Netroots Nation. I didn’t go to Las Vegas, but I’m getting the same thing: There’s an effort underway to convince people that a large and growing number of Senate Democrats are seriously considering changing the institution’s rules before the start of the next Congress.

I’d be lying if I said this seemed likely. Democrats are going to lose a lot of seats in the next election. A “win” would be losing only quite a few seats. A loss would be losing one — or two — houses of Congress. Either way, voters are not likely to dramatically reaffirm their desire to be governed by Democrats.

But because the Senate isn’t very democratic, only a third of its members are up for reelection, and that blunts the damage that any single election can do. So Democrats are likely to start the next Congress with a majority, even if they lose the election quite badly. With sufficient unity, they could change the rules before work begins again. But it’ll be a pretty raw move: Neutering the opposition after the voters favored them at the polls is a bit hard to defend on principle, and it’s even harder when the principle in question is that the Senate should be governed democratically.

We are, however, getting closer and closer to the day when someone does change the rules. Republicans tried to protect judges from the filibuster under Sen. Bill Frist. Democrats are talking about changing the rules at the start of the 112th Congress. And now that they’re talking about it, are they really confident that if Republicans take the Senate back in 2012 or 2014, that they won’t do what the Democrats couldn’t and change the rules in their favor?… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

I disagree on one point. Ending the filibuster is not neutering the opposition. It is stopping the minority from neutering the majority, which they have done for 1 1/2 years.

Ezra discussed the issue with Lawrence O’donnell.

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

I understand the concern that, ending the filibuster will make it hard to block Republican abuses, should they regain power. However, you may rest assured that if they do, they will be the ones to end it. The best way to keep them from regaining power is to allow ourselves the opportunity pass legistion this nation needs to help undo some of the damage Republicans left behind.

Obama: A Line in the Sand?

Posted by TomCat at 2:18 am Politics

Jul 272010

We have been calling on Barack Obama to take the gloves off, disappointed more often than not. Could Campaign Finance Reform be the point of change?

President Barack Obama warned Republicans Monday not to block a campaign finance bill he said would stop foreign interests and big business from deluging US elections with piles of cash.

Obama spoke out in support of a bill that responds to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that critics fear will open the floodgates for millions of dollars in special interest money to taint looming congressional elections.

"Big corporations — even foreign-controlled ones — are now allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money on American elections," Obama said.

"They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads — and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who’s actually paying for the ads."

The Senate was expected to debate the bill, already passed by the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, with Republicans, who may benefit most from the status quo, expected to oppose it.

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in January held that corporations could dip freely into their general funds to finance campaign ads either in support or against a particular political candidate.

The ruling is expected to result in an even more intense barrage of campaign ads than usual in the run-up to mid-term congressional elections later this year, and in Obama’s 2012 reelection race.

"Imagine the power this will give special interests over politicians," Obama said in his remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

"Corporate lobbyists will be able to tell members of Congress if they don’t vote the right way, they will face an onslaught of negative ads in their next campaign."

The bill, known as the Disclose Act, would require any political organization to make their donors public and ban foreign controlled corporations and government contractors from making political donations.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, however said the bill could infringe constitutional guarantees of free speech and was a distraction from efforts to revive the US economy… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

I certainly hope he means it this time. We may not win this fight, because Mitch “One Bought Bitch” McConnell and the Republicans will likely goose-step in unison to support their corporate masters. But this is a fight worth losing. If the Republicans block it, we must make them block it again, and again, and again, and again, screaming bloody murder each time they do to expose the Republican party as the corporate shills they are.

Open Thread – 7/27/2010

Posted by TomCat at 2:17 am Open Thread, Personal

Jul 272010

Yesterday I managed to catch up on comments, but by the time I finished, the temperature in my apartment was over 90°, where it remains at midnight. I wilted. I don’t know how I will do today, because I have a medical appointment, the heat wave continues, and I have had almost no sleep because of it.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:29. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football:

To join our fantasy football league, click here. We may not get to play. We still need three.

Short Takes:

From Alternet: Bombshell intelligence leaks on the Afghan war will likely deepen public pessimism over US hopes of victory and heighten President Barack Obama’s political exposure over the bleak conflict, analysts say.

The tens of thousands of leaked files have already added heat to slow boiling skepticism of Obama’s war strategy in Congress, including among Democrats, and will cement suspicion of imperfect ally Pakistan.

I’m holding off on this until I see more in depth analysis. It appears to confirm the flaws we already knew were there. The Obama administration meme that the files are outdated is true. But with so many officials saying the exact same thing, it appears to me that they are covering-up the reality that the same conditions still exist.

From Denver Post: Former Congressman Tom Tancredo is in the race for Colorado governor, he said this morning.

“I will officially announce at noon that I will seek the nomination of the constitution party,” Tancredo told The Denver Post.

Third parties are wonderful as long as they split the Republican vote, not ours.

From TPM: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has a party fundraising event coming up in August that is scheduled to feature a very special guest: Conservative media activist Andrew Breitbart, according to a copy of the invitation exclusively obtained by TPM.

What gall! After what he has just done, decent people would shun him, until he makes amends. But the Republicans honor him. The Republican leadership are NOT decent people.

Cartoon: from Cagle.com

27darkow

What’s up?

Older Entries Newer Entries