July 2012 – Politics Plus

Open Thread–7/31/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:50 am Monthly Report, Open Thread, Politics

Jul 312012

This will be today’s only article, because I have a long appointment with an urologist over my kidney stone. I’m current with replies. I should be able to do more tomorrow, but I do have to collect the data for Thursday’s Monthly Report.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 4:28). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Is There Anything More Beautiful Than This?

And she is the only one we have. This is a MUST SEE video.

From NY Times: Mitt Romney offended Palestinian leaders on Monday by suggesting that cultural differences explain why the Israelis are so much more economically successful than Palestinians, thrusting himself again into a volatile issue while on his high-profile overseas trip.

His remarks drew a pointed rebuke from the Palestinian leadership, which angrily noted that Mr. Romney had failed to mention the years of trade restrictions imposed by Israel.

The comments came after he questioned London’s preparations for the Olympic Games while in that city, drawing criticism from the British prime minister and others.

Willard has made similar comments about cultural differences with minorities in this country. It’s not surprising, because racism is very common, albeit very well hidden, among members of the .001%.

From MSNBC: Welcome back Rachel!

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

Her vacation has been too long, since she is so great at skinning Willard, who has already demonstrated that he is a foreign policy pariah. Even ChickenHawk Cheney is going fishing to avoid the GOP convention.

Cartoon:

31Cartoon

Would Willard cancel it?

New Republican Assault on Planned Parenthood

Posted by TomCat at 10:37 am Politics

Jul 302012

To set the record straight, in advance, I am not pro abortion. I consider every abortion that takes place a tragedy. Nevertheless, my right to my own beliefs ends at the tip of your nose. I also recognize that sometimes the mistakes we make limit our choices, so that we are left with finding the least harmful choice of the options available . I have no right to direct which choices individual women make with their doctors, so I support the right of women to make their own choices, but that’s not the only reason I support Planned Parenthood.

Even with a persistent gender gap in a presidential election year, House Republicans have not given up on their campaign to narrow access to birth control, abortion care and lifesaving cancer screenings. Far from it.

A new Republican spending proposal revives some of the more extreme attacks on women’s health and freedom that were blocked by the Senate earlier in this Congress. The resurrection is part of an alarming national crusade that goes beyond abortion rights and strikes broadly at women’s health in general.

These setbacks are recycled from the Congressional trash bin in the fiscal 2013 spending bill for federal health, labor and education programs approved by a House appropriations subcommittee on July 18 over loud objections from Democratic members to these and other provisions.

The measure would bar Planned Parenthood’s network of clinics, which serve millions of women across the country, from receiving any federal money unless the health group agreed to no longer offer abortion services for which it uses no federal dollars — a patently unconstitutional provision. It would also eliminate financing for Title X, the effective federal family-planning program for low-income women that provides birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and testing for sexually-transmitted diseases. Without this program, some women would die, and unintended pregnancies would rise, resulting in some 400,000 more abortions a year and increases in Medicaid-related costs, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a leading authority on reproductive health…

Inserted from <NY Times>

Photo credit: Emily’s list

I also support Planned Parenthood, because of the many services they offer, so that the vast majority of what they do is completely unrelated with providing abortions. However, those services do prevent thousands of abortions every year. As someone who does not like abortion, I also support Planned Parenthood, because they are primarily an abortion prevention resource.

On the other hand, I do not support the Republican war on women that would goose-step women’s rights back to the 19th century.

An Injustice of Olympic Proportions

Posted by TomCat at 10:36 am Plus

Jul 302012

You may remember that I am a huge fan of Olympics sports and have been ever since I was a child, so when I’m not blogging or attending to other immediate needs, I’m watching the games. I became aware of an injustice that transcends party lines. Simply put, an athlete who deserves to compete is being excluded.

…And on a day when near-perfection was demanded, reigning world all-around champion Jordyn Wieber was merely better than most. As a result, she missed the cut for the London Olympics all-around final, finishing third behind teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas.

"She has trained her entire life for this day, and to have it turn out anything less than she deserves is going to be devastating," Wieber’s coach, John Geddert, said in a statement issued by the team.

Wieber offered only tears, walking past reporters with her head bowed, still weeping long after the scoreboard showed that Raisman’s bold and well-executed floor routine, the final event in Sunday’s qualifications at North Greenwich Arena, had vaulted her ahead of Wieber and Douglas in the final standings.

Because countries can enter just two gymnasts in the all-around final, the fact that Wieber finished third among U.S. gymnasts (0.233 of a point behind Douglas) and fourth overall, offered no solace.

As a team, the United States ruled the day, finishing with 181.863 points to Russia’s 180.429. Defending Olympic champion China was third (176.637)… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Seattle Times>

Other than her two teammates, only one other gymnast had a higher qualifying score than Jordyn, so she was fourth overall, but the new rule limiting each nation to two qualifiers in the all around means that twenty one gymnasts with lower scores than hers will get to compete, but she will not.

In my opinion, the rule is unjust. The twenty four qualifiers to compete for the all around event should be the gymnasts with the top scores, regardless of where they come from. For the gymnast with the fourth highest score to be excluded is an injustice of Olympic proportions. The rule should be changed.

Open Thread–7/30/2012

Posted by TomCat at 10:36 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 302012

I’m still a bit woozy from medications and am still in some pain, but nothing major. I’m current with replies. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Urologist, so what I can get done blogging remains uncertain.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:02). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Ann Romney: ‘We’ve Given All You People Need To Know’

When I posted a cartoon about this, Republicans claimed that she really did not say YOU PEOPLE, the 1% term referring to inferiors. Any questions now?

From NY Times: Wrapping up a two-year investigation of for-profit colleges, Senator Tom Harkin will issue a final report on Monday — a voluminous, hard-hitting indictment of almost every aspect of the industry, filled with troubling statistics and anecdotes drawn from internal documents of the 30 companies investigated.

According to the report, which was posted online in advance, taxpayers spent $32 billion in the most recent year on companies that operate for-profit colleges, but the majority of students they enroll leave without a degree, half of those within four months.

We’re not talking about legitimate universities here. These are the ones you see on late night TV with spiels like ‘Become a Brain Surgeon or Rocket Scientist, even if you’re so stupid you watch Faux Noise.’ I suppose you can guess which party opposes regulating their predation.

From Business Week: President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will shrink rather than increase the nation’s huge federal deficits over the next decade, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeepers said Tuesday, supporting Obama’s contention in a major election-year dispute with Republicans.

About 3 million fewer uninsured people will gain health coverage because of last month’s Supreme Court ruling granting states more leeway, and that will cut the federal costs by $84 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said in the biggest changes from earlier estimates.

Republicans have insisted that "Obamacare" will actually raise deficits — by "trillions," according to presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But that’s not so, the budget office said.

Republicans have been lying about Obamacare from the start, and I still say it’s a good step in the right direction toward a single payer system.

Cartoon:

30Cartoon

Republicans Still Want to Raise YOUR Taxes

Posted by TomCat at 9:04 am Politics

Jul 292012

Republicans invariably claim that Democrats want to raise your taxes, but Republicans want to give you a tax cut. Both claims are lies. In fact Obama and the Democrats have cut taxes for the 99% more than Bush ever did. The truth here is that Obama and the Democrats want to cut your taxes and raise taxes only on millionaires and billionaires. Conversely Republicans want to raise your taxes and cut them for millionaires and billionaires. The dirt is in the details.

House Republicans next week intend to vote on a plan that would both extend all of the Bush tax cuts — including those on income in excess of $250,000 — and fast-track “tax reform.” If the House GOP bill were adopted, tax reform legislation would “have special protections in the U.S. Senate [Murdoch delinked], limiting the opportunities for lawmakers to use blocking tactics.”

But the GOP bill only calls for a certain kind of tax reform — specifically that which would benefit the rich and corporations. Under the GOP’s fast-track approach, a tax reform bill would have to consist of:

(1) a consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more than 25 percent;

(2) a reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater than 25 percent;

(3) a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax;

(4) a broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy; and

(5) a change from a ‘‘worldwide’’ to a ‘‘territorial’’ system of taxation.

As Citizens for Tax Justice noted, these changes would massively benefit the wealthy and corporations, shifting the tax burden down the income scale. In fact, consolidation of the tax code in the way the GOP envisions would give millionaires a $187,000 annual tax cut, while likely increasing taxes on the middle-class and working families, due to the elimination of deductions upon which they depend… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Picture credit: Think Progress

I’ve said it before, and I know I’ll say it again. Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals.They do NOT represent YOU!

Open Thread–7/29/2012

Posted by TomCat at 9:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 292012

Yesterday I caught up on replies to comments, which took quite a while. I also went out to the drug store for meds. Tamsulosin has me feeling a bit woozy. I watched the Olympics and rested. Tomorrow, I expect to blog, depending on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Fire People We’ve Heard Of In A Long . . . Wait. No. Ever.

That is not the behavior of someone who has the slightest shred of human decency.

From NY Times: Mitt Romney’s high-dollar breakfast with donors at the King David Hotel here [Jerusalem] on Monday morning will be closed to the news media, his campaign decided Saturday, a change from the norm for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

He must be confident that the Republicans on the FEC will block any action against this criminal activity, because foreigners may not contribute to any candidate or party in any Federal, state, or local election in the United States. Well, no wonder he doesn’t want press there.

From Crooks and Liars: "ALEC Rock" turns Schoolhouse Rock on its head in this instructional film illustrating how Washington really works.

Needless to say, ALEC is in complete partnership with the Republican Party.

Cartoon:

29Cartoon

Open Thread–7/28/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 282012

Yesterday, I fell asleep right after posting my personal update and almost slept around the clock. I did wake up just in time fore the opening ceremony, but I did not watch in protest of the USOC decision to provide US athletes expensive uniforms, sewn in Chinese sweat shops, when they could have purchased US made uniforms for far less. I ate a light meal and went back to sleep. I woke up a few minutes ago, hours after my normal rising time. I am still in some pain, but nothing like before. I have to go out to get meds, and this will be today’s only article. I’m current with replies only to comments on yesterday’s personal update. If I feel better, I’ll try to do more. Tomorrow will depend on how I feel.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday’s took me 3:13 (average 4:45). To do it, click here. Today’s took me 4:37 (average 5:29). To do it, click here. Hoe did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: See, Here’s The Truly Frightening Thing About What They Are Doing To Pennsylvania Voters.

28PAVoters

I don’t have to tell you who ‘THEY’ are!

From Washington Post: Stubbornly close and deeply divisive, the presidential race throttles into its last 100 days as an enormous clash over economic vision, with the outcome likely to come down to fall debates, final unemployment numbers and fierce efforts to mobilize voters. It may seem like an election for the whole nation, but only about eight states will decide who wins the White House.

Polling shows the contest between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney remains remarkably static across the country and in those pivotal states even as both men and their allies pour money into largely negative television advertising to sway opinions.

The two candidates will intensify their time before voters in the weeks ahead, knowing much of the public will not truly start paying attention until after Labor Day.

Because so many voters are paying absolutely no attention to anything less superficial that the purchase of STUFF, Willard uses lies to pick off these voters and those intellectually euthanized by Faux Noise. They are just too willfully ignorant to know any better. Shame! What we informed voters do in the next 100 days is, in my opinion, critical to the survival of the this nation as a place where elections matter.

From Christian Science Monitor: A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction that allows the Catholic owners of a private company in Colorado to avoid providing their female employees with contraceptives as required under President Obama’s health-care reform law.

The owners of the company, Hercules Industries, objected to the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying it violated their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Company officials say they are striving to build their business around a corporate culture based on principles of the Roman Catholic Church. As such, their existing self-insured health plan does not include coverage for contraception or sterilization.

That crappy excuse for a judge arrived at a decision possible only by choosing to ignore the Constitution in favor of Theocon dogma.

Cartoon:

28Cartoon

Personal Update–7/27/2012

Posted by TomCat at 4:35 am Personal

Jul 272012

Yesterday my plans blew up and my day was as pleasant as a Teabagger committing Teabuggery. After posting my articles, I felt ill. I thought it was severe constipation, so I used a Fleet, took some Dulcoclax, and cancelled my trip to the prison. By bedtime I was doubled over in pain, so I went to the emergency room. I was right about the constipation, but found out that I am also passing a kidney stone (first ever, and one too many). The stone is now mostly passed, and I’m still in pain, but nothing like before. I’m exhausted, but still have a lot to do getting meds and scheduling doctors, so I will have nothing to post today. Hopefully, I’ll be back tomorrow.

Older Entries