WHISTLEBLOWER ANDY COBB EXPOSES INSURERS CO. LIES
SICK FOR PROFIT
DeFOX AMERICA!
FOX ATTACKS!
♫ It's beginning to look a lot like last time. ♫
A Diageo/Hotline Poll released this week shows that 49% of voters approve of the job Democrats are doing in Congress, with only 38% disapproving. According to that same poll, only 26% of voters approve of the GOP's performance. When respondents were asked which party they'd be more likely to support in 2010, Democrats won out by 24 points, 46%-22%.
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From WhiteHouse.gov:
In his weekly address, President Barack Obama announced that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is preparing a new strategy for reviving our financial system, and urged the swift passage of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
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This was incredible. From HuffPo:
Sen. Claire McCaskill has delivered a sharp threat to the wallets of corporate executives who took large compensation packages even as their companies accepted government bailout funds. Things, she warned, are going to change.
...McCaskill took to the Senate floor on Friday to put an end to the surrealism. In a bill that came to the surprise of reporters, her colleagues, and the White House alike -- there was no coordination with the Obama administration, she said -- the Missouri Democrat called for compensation for employees of bailout recipients to be capped at $400,000 a year."They don't get it," McCaskill said on the floor. "These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out $18-billion in bonuses... What planet are these people on?"
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Interesting interview.
Russ Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv, talks about the print media crisis, his editorial philosophy, and why his libertarian publication won't be going easy on Obama.
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Are we there yet? Can we please repeal the Bush tax cut now?
The average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million, new IRS data show.
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This is what I've been saying! This is an interesting piece by Max. And it seems he's not alone -- within the beltway -- in his thinking.
From Max:
Do you think this week's back-and-forth between the Obama administration and Rush Limbaugh is an accident? Or did the Democrats welcome an opportunity to make the conservative talk radio host the symbol of opposition to Obama's stimulus proposal? A look at what little polling data exists on Limbaugh says that accident or not, Democratic strategists are probably happy to see Limbaugh's profile rise...
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Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, please let this happen!
From jwilkes at EyesonObama:
Reports are beginning to tricke in indicating that the Obama Administration has offered the Commerce Secretary position to Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. When asked whether he had been approached regarding the job initially offered to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (who ultimately withdrew from contention amid allegations that he’d steered state contracts to top campaign donors), Gregg replied, “I;m not at liberty to discuss that.“ His comment has sent reporters scrambling, and fueling speculation that his non-answer was actually an answer in disguise.If Gregg is indeed asked to take the job (and assuming he ultimately accepts, the departure from the Senate would drop the GOP numbers in that body to forty. Democratic Governor of New Hampshire John Lynch would likely fill Gregg's seat with a fellow Democrat. If, as is expected, Democrat Al Franken is seated following the web of lawsuits arising from his narrow victory over Republican Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race, that would push Democrats to a 60-40 supermajority. That would effectively bar any GOP attempts to block Democratic legislation via filibuster.
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Please, Sir. Mya I have some more? This isn't 1994. It's going to be a shock when this buffoon realizes it.
From HuffPo:
...lest you think there are limitations on Limbaugh's ability to influence conservative opinion -- and conservative votes -- you'd better take another moment and check out this video from Media Matters for America, which ably documents the Limbaugh effect. Media Matters' Karl Frisch points out that "Limbaugh's latest comments prove that he is out of step with the American people and their hopes for overcoming this economic crisis." So he asks, "How much longer will conservatives allow Limbaugh to be their voice?"
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This is the new/old face of the GOP.
From Media Matters:
Keep talking, fat boy. Keep highlighting all the reasons Democrats are in control of both houses of congress, most governorships the White House.Radio host Rush Limbaugh accused the Democratic Party of being "soulless" and then charged that liberals are soulless "by definition," stating: "You know, souls come from God."
From the June 3 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
read more | digg storyLIMBAUGH: I mean, if there is a party that's soulless, it's the Democratic Party. If there are people by definition who are soulless, it is liberals -- by definition. You know, souls come from God. You know? No. No. You can't go there.
Fitting. This news should go over well in this economic climate.
From WaPo:
Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, even as its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33 percent from a year ago.The previous record for annual profit was $40.6 billion, which the world's largest publicly traded oil company set in 2007.
The extraordinary full-year profit wasn't a surprise given crude's triple-digit price for much of 2008, peaking near an unheard of $150 a barrel in July. Since then, however, prices have fallen roughly 70 percent amid a deepening global economic crisis.
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President Barack Obama today praised the U.S. Senate for voting to more than double U.S. spending for a children’s medical insurance program.“As the worsening economy causes families to lose their jobs and health insurance, it is vital that we redouble our efforts to ensure that every child in America has access to affordable health care,” Obama today said in a statement released by the White House.
“I am pleased that the Senate has joined the House in passing bipartisan legislation to provide health insurance to children whose families have been hurt most by this downturn,” he said.
The vote was 66-32 late yesterday to add $31.5 billion over 4 1/2 years to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or Schip, expanding coverage to more than 11 million children from 7.4 million last year. The House passed a similar measure on Jan. 14, and the two versions must be reconciled before the legislation is sent to Obama.
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Obama is playing chess. House & Senate rethugs are playing checkers while the cable news media is playing hopscotch. They don't actually understand what he's doing becuase they stuck within their forest looking at the rings on a tree stump. They're in for a shock.Just look at the headline on the WSJ post. Narratives are being set and it's not the GOP who is setting them (no matter how many operative they scurry out to the cable news shows with the propaganda talking points).
Shortly after the House on Wednesday passed President Barack Obama's $825 billion "stimulus" package, ABC and CBS commiserated with Obama over his unsuccessful efforts to woo Republican votes. "Not one Republican voted for it," ABC anchor Charles Gibson announced on World News with "Rescue Plan" as the on-screen heading, "turning a cold shoulder to the President's appeal for bipartisan support." Reporter Jonathan Karl fretted: "So much for the President's charm offensive. Today it was all partisan rancor and name-calling."
CBS reporter Chip Reid related how "the White House says this is a victory for the President, but certainly there is also some disappointment that he worked so hard to get bipartisan support and couldn't get a single Republican vote." Reid soon chafed over how "Republicans relentlessly attacked the bill despite the President's extraordinary efforts to get bipartisan support." Katie Couric noted how "the President went up to the Hill to personally appeal to Republicans already," so, she pleaded, "what more can he do?"
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One of Rethugs biggest complaints about giving women equal pay for equal work are "the flood of lawsuit" business will face.
Well here what I say: They should tell their corp masters that if they're so worried about lawsuits, then they shouldn't break the law. Then there won't be lawsuits.
From Huff Post:
Congratulations Lilly! You've made history. I'm sorry you can't get back pay, but know this: You've enhanced women's rights forever.read more | digg storyPresident Obama is signing the Lilly Ledbetter Act. It is the first bill he is signing as president. Lilly Ledbetter, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and First Lady Michelle Obama are all present.
The bill is a response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the bill, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.The plaintiff in the case, Lilly Ledbetter, argued that she did not become aware of the pay discrepancy until near the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala.
The Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress, but Obama strongly supports it and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month.
Ledbetter traveled with Obama on his pre-inauguration train ride from Philadelphia to Washington.
"I never won so much having lost so much, so to speak," Ledbetter said from the train. "Losing that case has opened so many doors."
Because while this bill bears her name, Lilly knows this story isn’t just about her. It’s the story of women across this country still earning just 78 cents for every dollar men earn – women of color even less – which means that today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime.
But equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue – it’s a family issue. It’s about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition or child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where, when one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves, that’s the difference between affording the mortgage – or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor’s bills – or not. And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month’s paycheck to simple discrimination.
So in signing this bill today, I intend to send a clear message: That making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone. That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it’s not just unfair and illegal – but bad for business – to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability. And that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory, or footnote in a casebook – it’s about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives: their ability to make a living and care for their families and achieve their goals.
Good. It's just a start. Blackwater should be allowed to exists at all. They are a threat to the survival of this country. This christian-extremist militia needs to be de-funded completely by the U.S. as well, with the money returned to pay for services that should always be provided by our military. The only reason they exists is because they pay 10 times as much for the services that were once provided by our military and the best of our military ran out to take those jobs. All of which tax payers pay for anyway (only we're getting ripped off). Outsourcing has devastated our military, not to mention our veteran's medical care. Enough with the outsourcing and private armies.
From the AP:
Iraq said Thursday it will bar Blackwater Worldwide from providing security protection for U.S. diplomats because its contractors used excessive force, sanctioning a company whose image was irrevocably tarnished by the 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians.The move will deprive American diplomats of their main protection force in Iraq.
The decision not to issue Blackwater an operating license was due to "improper conduct and excessive use of force," said Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf.
[snip]
When President Barack Obama was campaigning in 2007, he announced a plan to force Iraq war contractors to follow federal law.
"We cannot win a fight for hearts and minds when we outsource critical missions to unaccountable contractors," he said at the time.
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Congressman who called out Rush a day ago has now wimped out and apologized to Rush...on the air! Blithering, fucking coward.
From Think Progress:
Yesterday, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, complained to Politico about how Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talkers are able to “stand back and throw bricks” instead of offering “real leadership” in the middle of high-profile public policy battles. Gingrey’s brave remarks got him in hot water.
This morning — because of what he called “high volume of phone calls and correspondence” in response to his comments — Gingrey issued a retraction, declaring his loyalty to hate radio. “I see eye-to-eye with Rush Limbaugh,” he said, later adding that he, Sean Hannity, and Newt Gingrich were “the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience.”
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What's shocking is that most of the on air 'media' doesn't actually focus on the serious state our infrastructure is on becuase it isn't sexy...that is until a bridge collapses and then they want to know why more wasn't done.
Ignoring it. Not paying for maintenance is why..Cutting the funds from budget for the past 30 years by rethugs...that's why.
From MSNBC:
Four years after their last report card on roads, water and other public works, the nation's civil engineers on Wednesday gave efforts to repair infrastructure a "D," saying that little had improved while repair costs had grown by more than $500 billion.What has changed since 2005 is that the nation's economy has taken a nosedive, and President Barack Obama and many lawmakers want to use infrastructure projects to create jobs. It's a plan the nation's engineers could influence, and benefit from.
The House was expected to pass an $825 billion economic stimulus bill on Wednesday. Of that money, $150 billion would go to fixing infrastructure.
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Continuing along the lines of piling on the pill-popper-in-chief, Rush Limpdick, downwithtyranny had this little nugget from Congressman Alan Grayson:
Yesterday even fellow GOP propagandist, Bill Bennett rebuked Limbaugh for his psychosis. "The locution 'I want him to fail' is not what you say the first week the man's been inaugurated," expounded Bennett. The members of Congress I was able to coax into commenting didn't just talk about Limbaugh locution.
Alan Grayson, the outspoken member from Orlando, as usual, wasn't mincing words: "Rush Limbaugh is a has-been hypocrite loser, who craves attention. His right-wing lunacy sounds like Mikhail Gorbachev, extolling the virtues of communism. Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict. If America ever did 1% of what he wanted us to do, then we'd all need pain killers."
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Thom Hartmann decodes rethugs' fraud against America and how the very same people who got us into this mess are now the ones demanding that their ideas (more tax cuts!) -- which of course are the only ideas that will solve this mess according to them (or get their support) -- and they expect no one to notice? LOL:
In Hoover's world (and virtually all the Republicans since reconstruction with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt), market fundamentalism was a virtual religion. Economists from Ludwig von Mises to Friedrich Hayek to Milton Friedman had preached that government could only make a mess of things economic, and the world of finance should be left to the Big Boys – the Masters of the Universe, as they sometimes called themselves – who ruled Wall Street and international finance.
Hoover enthusiastically followed the advice of his Treasury Secretary, multimillionaire Andrew Mellon, who said in 1931: "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate. Purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down... enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people."
Thus, the Republican mantra was: "Lower taxes, reduce the size of government, and balance the budget."
[snip]
Reagan, Greenspan, Winniski, and Laffer took the federal budget deficit from under a trillion dollars in 1980 to almost three trillion by 1988, and back then a dollar could buy far more than it buys today. They and George HW Bush ran up more debt in eight years than every president in history, from George Washington to Jimmy Carter, combined. Surely this would both starve the beast and force the Democrats to make the politically suicidal move of becoming deficit hawks.
[snip]
In reality, his [George W. Bush] tax cuts did what they have always done over the past 100 years – they initiated a bubble economy that would let the very rich skim the cream off the top just before the ceiling crashed in on working people.
[snip]
Hopefully, though, reality will continue to sink in with the American people and the massive fraud perpetrated by Wanniski, Reagan, Laffer, Graham, Bush(s), and all their "conservative" enablers will be seen for what it was and is. And the Obama administration can get about the business of repairing the damage and recovering the stolen assets of these cheap hustlers.
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George Bragues takes on U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who has obviously walked away from this century's great depression unscathed in the blame department:
No one seemed to notice that the more the U.S. Fed chairman did, the worse things got.
The strangest thing about the ongoing financial crisis is that U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has so far come out of it relatively unscathed. Except for the narrowing of some credit spreads over the last few months, economic indicators have not sustainably improved since Bernanke initially moved to address the crisis. In fact, matters have grown significantly worse.
Most observers have seen little or no connection here. But there is one. By setting interest rates too low right from the outset, Bernanke aggravated the crisis. He did so by putting a destructive chain of events in motion, starting in the foreign exchange market, then moving into the oil trading pits, the latter eventually making itself felt in the economy, and all of this culminating in the financial conflagration experienced this past fall.
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As a liberal Dem from NY I ask this: Where can I donate? Getting rid of Reid would be worth losing the seat to rethugs. Reid is a f-ing wimp. A blithering, mealy-mouthed coward who shouldn't be in the Senate (let alone as Senate Majority Leader). Dems should dump him ASAP.
From HuffPo's Jason Linkins:
Argh. These election seasons just do not ever end, not even for a second. Just when you thought it was safe to watch television again -- at least in Reno, Nevada -- the National Republican Senatorial Committee has gone and gotten an ad up for the 2010 election. Hellfire and damnation upon them! What's new is that the NRSC has borrowed the "Obama font" for most of this advertisement -- for about three-quarters of it, anyway. What's old and tired is that the ad attacks Harry Reid, of all people! Sheesh! Republican Senate minorities never had such a good friend!
[snip]
The NRSC told Politico, "Releasing a television ad this early in the cycle demonstrates the NRSC's commitment to holding Senate Democrats accountable and electing Republican candidates in 2010."
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Very cool. It's a shame this country hasn't gotten the message that when it comes to green energy, well, that's the future.
From GreenTech Media buy way of treehugger.com:
Analysts expected Spain's installed solar power base to grow by about 1 gigawatt in 2008. That missed the mark by quite a bit as "Spain's National Energy Commission (CNE) this week estimated that about 3.1 gigawatts of solar power were connected to the grid from January through November 2008".
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First Rove is terrified that he can't skirt testifying before congress anymore and without a pardon from his bestest friend, he's got no cover. And now this. Bush's greatest fears are about to come true.
From McClatchy:
Dozens of secret documents justifying the Bush administration's spying and interrogation programs could see the light of day because of a new presidential directive. The ACLU asked the Obama administration on Wednesday to release Justice Department memos that provided the legal underpinning for torture, eavesdropping and secret prisons.
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Poor George. First he was Christ to the GOP. Now he's their Judas. They deserve whatever continued loses they feel in 2010. and they will lose even more.they way they're going. The GOP has now become Dixicans.
From WaPo:
As they begin meeting in Washington today, many members of the Republican National Committee are focusing their ire against what they considered George W. Bush's anti-conservative policies and trying to dump the man he tapped to run the GOP.
With six candidates competing for the party's helm at the winter meetings this week, some committee members are determined to remove the current RNC chairman, Mike Duncan, who is seen as a candidate of the status quo at a time when they want to sever all ties to the former president. Duncan has held the office since 2007, when he ran unopposed after Bush chose him for the post.
[snip]In a further sign that the group wants to signal its displeasure with Bush policies, members are expected to adopt an unprecedented resolution attacking "the bloated bank bailout bill" that Bush championed and demanding that the committee "take all steps necessary to oppose bailouts of industries, individuals or governments."
The resolution also calls for strong opposition to the stimulus plan before Congress, which it labels "President-elect Obama's public-works program."
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The New Yorker asks the big three if they still plan on suing the gov't to stop it from imposing stricter new fuel efficiency standards? And the answer they got it, "Why, yes. Yes we do."
From The New Yorker:
Late last year, when Congress was debating whether to bail out the American automakers, one question that came up was: should the car companies be able to use money they got from the taxpayers to turn around and fight the taxpayers? By that point, the auto industry had already spent several years in court battling California and other states to prevent them from imposing stricter new fuel efficiency standards. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, of New York, asked the chief executives of the big three: “Why in the world should my constituents or taxpayers in New York state or any state provide… loans for your companies if you will continue to attempt to undo laws that we have adopted in our states? Wouldn’t that be the equivalent to giving your money to sue us?” The heads of the Big Three evaded the question—they politely said they’d prefer one national standard—and Congressional leaders let the matter drop.The question arose once again today, or at least it should have, when President Obama instructed the EPA to reconsider the case of the California standards. (The state needs a federal waiver to impose the standards; it has often been granted similar waivers in the past, but the Bush administration refused to grant this one.)
[snip]
I’ve put in a call to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents all the major automakers, and will let readers know when I hear back.
UPDATE: Yes, they will continue to sue.
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Rethugs believe the country doesn't realize who is mostly to blame. It's as if they think that just because their corp. media backers don't report if that the country isn't paying attention. They made that mistake when it came to slimming Obama during the election and they're making again now. Oh, well. The country knows the truth.
From Dkos' buhdydharma:
read more | digg storyThere are different theories on parenting. Especially when it comes to little children throwing tantrums. Especially when it comes to little children throwing tantrums....in the middle of a burning house.
That they lit on fire.
And then threw gasoline on.
And now are standing over the blaze with more buckets of (drill baby drill) gasoline.
A quiet little reminder for our esteemed Republican colleagues in the House and Senate....
YOU LIT THIS FIRE.
And here is a hint, REAL PEOPLE are suffering....because of you...
Politifact.com points out exactly what is wrong with the GOP. They can't get their way so they lie. And they're pathological about it:
In an interview with Fox News on Jan. 23, 2009, Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, said that in a meeting with President Obama, Cantor asked if he "could use his influence on this process to try and get the pork barrel spending out of the bill. I mean, there's $300,000 for a sculpture garden in Miami."
But do a word search on "sculpture" in the 647-page stimulus bill now before the House and you'll come up blank. That's because it's not in there.
[snip]
The bottom line here is that Cantor specifically identified the sculpture garden as part of the stimulus package when it just isn't -- which his staff acknowledges. And he has made that false claim repeatedly. He was quoted saying something similar in a Richmond newspaper.
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Other people now see that Rush is being played...
Here what media critic Michael Wolff thinks:
Ouch.Right now Rush is being played. The Obama dinner with conservative columnists, shortly before his inauguration, was as much about excluding Rush as coddling the columnists. Not only did the conservatives fawn, but Rush fumed. It got under his skin. Indeed, the rumor that he might in fact be there (likely coming from the Obama camp), and then his evident lack of an invitation, highlighted the slight. He’s tried to make it out to be a political point ever since, but mostly he sounds like a guy who’s hurt he didn’t get invited to the hot party.
Then, there was the president’s throw-away line suggesting that Republican lawmakers, in the midst of the greatest modern financial crisis, were glued to their radios listening to Rush rather than hard at work. It was deft suggestion, not so much about ideology but about seriousness. Rush isn’t.
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There's a special place in hell for this fuckers. This might just turn out to be one huge corruption story in the next few days.
Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.
Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.
[snip]
...Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to Republican senatorial campaigns were needed, they argued..."If a retailer has not gotten involved in this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [former Sen.] Norm Coleman and all these other guys, they should be shot. They should be thrown out their goddamn jobs," Marcus declared.
Like I was discussing in a post from earlier today, it's about divide and conquer: "Again, Obama hopes to taint the entire GOP caucus (whatever's left of them) with the stench of Rush Limpdick. This isn't 1994. "
Obama & Press Sec. Gibbs know exactly what they're doing. Divide and conquer. It's already happening and it isn't even 72 hours.
From Politico:
Rush Limbaugh may command a large following, but his caustic comments Monday about the GOP’s congressional leadership have at least one Republican House member defending his colleagues and offering an unusually candid critique of the talk radio powerhouse and his fellow commentators.
Responding to President Obama’s recommendation to Republican congressional leaders last week that they not follow Limbaugh’s lead, the conservative talkmeister said on his show that Obama is “obviously more frightened of me than he is Mitch McConnell. He's more frightened of me, than he is of, say, John Boehner, which doesn't say much about our party."
Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., did not take kindly to this assessment in an interview with Politico Tuesday.“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” Gingrey said. “I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party. You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell."
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He's a sad joke. Has been for years. It's a shame becuase rethugs could use more moderates if they plan on surviving, but butt heads like Specter makes it just embarrassing to have faith in any of them.
From TPM:
Uh-huh.It may be time to coin the phrase "pulling a Specter," because Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, just did it again. After making a huge fuss questioning the independence of Eric Holder, Specter just caved and said he'll support the attorney general nominee.
"I can say with some confidence that there won't be a successful filibuster," Specter told reporters at a press conference gathered to share his thoughts on Holder in advance of tomorrow's Judiciary panel vote on the nominee.
Specter added that the strong recommendations Holder received from former FBI director Louis Freeh and former DoJ No. 2 James Comey were influential in swaying his vote.
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Obama had a strategy to minimize Rush long before winning the election. He doesn't plan on making the same mistakes that Clinton made.
I don't think Chris gets that.
From the Chris Cillizza:
While Chris tells the story about what's been happening, and how Obama/Gibbs are having loads of deliberate fun, he really doesn't get to why that is. What are their motive? What does Obama hope to achieve?Limbaugh drew huge coverage in the days leading up to Obama's inauguration when he declared that he hoped the new president would fail -- part of a broader condemnation of liberalism in the country.
Obama upped the ante late last week when in a private meeting with Republicans he referenced Limbaugh's brand of politics as a big reason why major legislation hadn't been passed in years.
Then on Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs offered another sly provocation of Limbaugh; asked to expand on Obama's comments about the talk show host, Gibbs demurred and then added: "Tell [Rush] I said hi."
[snip]
Whether Limbaugh continues to play as prominent a role as the GOP attack dog against Obama remains to be seen. If history is any guide, he will. Limbaugh -- along with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) -- is credited with leading the Republican revolt that brought about the 1994 wave election and his near-constant agitation against former President Bill Clinton is well-known.
Put simply: Limbaugh isn't going anywhere any time soon. And his voice -- and influence -- may well get stronger with the GOP out of power. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for Republicans? Time will tell.
This is very cool. Watching the GOP try their leveled best to tear him down is almost comical when you get to read something like this.
From fivethirtyeight.com:
Missed this 14-state poll from SurveyUSA, which shows Obama with at least 60 percent approval in such traditionally nonfertile territory as Alabama, Kansas and Kentucky.
Not only is Obama popular in every state, in fact, but in every region of every state in SurveyUSA's crosstabs. The poorest numbers I can find are in central Virginia, where SurveyUSA pegs Obama's approval score at 55 percent (but against just 23 percent disapproving).
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I got this diatribe from someone trying to leave a comment one of my many Rush Limpdick posts, "Limbaugh & Hannity, the true faces of conservatism: Impotent, Irrelevant." His name is Ted. He's actually been trying to post pro Rush/anti-Obama comments for a few weeks now.
Of course, I rejected his paranoid delusions (that's the beauty of having your own blog, I guess) and refused to approve his comment for posting, but I thought it would fun for others to see how crazy some of those Dittoheads/WorldNetDaily loons really are:
Rush Limbaugh was born in 1951 to an American mom “Millie” and an American dad lawyer & WWII Fighter Pilot in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Since ‘President’ Obama now wants to silence El Rushbo even before BHO has a chance to try to re-establish the “fairness doctrine” to silence all conservative talk radio, I’ve got three questions (but answers to only two of them):Now don't you feel sane?
FIRST QUESTION: Who IS the actual and lawful 44th President of the USA?
ANSWER: Joe Biden
Biden was initially the Acting President for at least 5 minutes under either the Constitution’s Article 2 or the Constitution’s 20th Amendment, from 12:00 Noon 1/20/09, having already taken his Oath of Office and before Obama completed his ‘oath’ at approximately 12:05 PM, 1/20/09. Under the 20th Amendment if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, or alternatively under Article 2 if the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term, being 12:00 Noon 1/20/09, which ability and/or qualification includes that he take the Article 2 oath “before he enter on the execution of his office,” then either the Presidency shall devolve on the Vice President under Article 2 or the Vice President shall act as President under the 20th Amendment. (The importance of the oath in ‘commencing’ an ‘Obama Presidency’ — rather than merely the 1/20/09 Noon time — is confirmed by the re-take of the ‘oath’ by Obama at the White House on 1/21/09 after the first ‘oath’ was NOT administered by Justice Roberts NOR recited by Obama in the words as required under Article 2.)
This is significant because at such time that the Supreme Court finally rules on the merits on Obama’s disqualification as not being an Article 2 “natural born citizen” (clearly he is NOT under either and/or both of two theories — (1) BHO refuses to show Birth Certificate to deny Kenyan birth/res ipsa loquitur “action speaks for itself” or (2) BHO admits dad was Kenyan/British, not American, citizen at Jr’s birth), Biden’s automatic status (without needing to take a separate Presidential Oath) of being President would be predicated upon four different bases: First, having been Vice President under Article 2; second, having been Vice President-elect under the 20th Amendment; third, having been actual President in the hiatus before Obama took the ‘oath(s)’; and fourth, retroactively deemed President during the full period of the Obama usurpation so that the acts of the Federal Government under the usurpation can be deemed authorized and/or ratified by Biden’s legitimacy.
SECOND QUESTION: Who will be the 45th President?
ANSWER: Hillary Clinton
One must assume that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been aware of all of the above. Biden’s wife recently “let the cat out of the bag” on the Oprah Show that both Biden and Hillary had considered alternatively Veep or Secretary of State, in either case, setting up Hillary to be President on a vote of the Democratic Congress if need be.
THIRD QUESTION: Is Obama an unwitting victim of this troika or a knowing participant?
ANSWER: Yet undetermined.
"WTF, at least El Rushbo is constitutionally qualified to be President!"Anyhow, I thought I'd share this guy's latest as it seems he's accelerating his activities like a kid who began killing his & his neighbor's pets who grows up to be a serial killer, I guess!
The media just regurgitates the GOP's talking points? Get out!
From Think Progress:
In a new analysis, ThinkProgress has found that since the AP’s report last Tuesday, the CBO report has been cited at least 81 times on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, the Sunday shows and the network newscasts in order raise questions about Obama’s recovery plan. Here are a few examples:
[snip]
As the Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim and the American Prospect’s Tim Fernholz reported last Friday, the CBO report being touted by conservatives and the media isn’t an actual report. “We did not issue any report, any analysis or any study,” a CBO aide told the Huffington Post.
Instead, the CBO “ran a small portion of an earlier version of the stimulus plan through a computer program that uses a standard formula” to determine how quickly money will be spent.
[snip]
UPDATE: The full CBO report is now available here. It finds that roughly two-thirds of the plan's recovery investments will come in the first 18 months after it is enacted.
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Nate Silver (fivethirtyeight.com) shows just how much capital Obama has (compared to previous incoming presidents). The media might want to consider that while they continue to report the issues facing this country as though rethugs are still in control of both houses of congress and the white house. Obviously some haven't gotten the message:
Although Barack Obama defied our prediction of starting his term with a higher initial approval rating than John F. Kennedy, his 68 percent approval score (versus 12 percent disapproval) is nevertheless noteworthy in comparison with his recent predecessors:
[snip]
In comparison with Ronald Reagan, however, Obama's approval is quite a bit more impressive. Indeed, it is hard to mount a credible argument that Reagan began his term with more political capital than Obama:
Reagan won considerably more electoral votes in 1980 than Obama did in 2008. As measured in percentage terms, his margin of victory over Jimmy Carter was larger than that of Obama over John McCain. On the other hand, Obama won a lot more popular votes than Reagan did. He also won a higher percentage of the popular vote, and his margin of victory was larger than Reagan's in absolute (rather than percentage) terms.
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When you have no ideas, it shows. And, when the ideas you keep spewing are the same that helped cause the financial mess we're in, helped remove the cushion that could have softened the financial blow to the treasury (by depleting it so much so that China is now our credit card and we're in default)...well, then you're called a Rethuglican.
From Bob Herbert:
What’s up with the Republicans? Have they no sense that their policies have sent the country hurtling down the road to ruin? Are they so divorced from reality that in their delusionary state they honestly believe we need more of their tax cuts for the rich and their other forms of plutocratic irresponsibility, the very things that got us to this deplorable state?
Skip to next paragraph
The G.O.P.’s latest campaign is aimed at undermining President Obama’s effort to cope with the national economic emergency by attacking the spending in his stimulus package and repeating ad nauseam the Republican mantra for ever more tax cuts.
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Bob Herbert's column asks the question that everyone I know is asking: After all the damage the GOP has done to our nation, why is anyone listening to the Republicans?And here's Josh Marshall:
[snip]
Why?
We keep seeing efforts by the Obama administration to assuage the Republicans. The President is heading to Capitol Hill today to meet with House and Senate GOPers. To what end? Dealing with the Republicans is like playing the arcade game "Whack-a-mole." As soon as one concern is addressed, a new one pops up. It's never going to be enough. Even better, Atrios calls it "rule by Republican hissy fit."
Whatever it is, it has to stop. Soon. The GOP has destroyed America's economy. Obama has to fix it. And, the Republicans who destroyed the economy are going to be his biggest obstacle.
The McConnell/Boehner plan is to fix the Bush mess by pushing through more of the former president's policies. Again. Totally clear. I don't think they'd even deny it. Why is this off-limits to say out loud?
From Truthout:
The anti-stimulus crowd is getting desperate. The possibility that a young charismatic new president will push through an ambitious package that begins to set the economy right is truly terrifying to this crew. After all, if the economy begins to turn around and has largely recovered in three or four years, the Republican leadership can look forward to spending most of their careers in the political wilderness.
[snip]
This explains the need that many Republicans feel to block the stimulus package. This desperation led them to fabricate a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which purportedly showed that most of the stimulus would not be spent in 2009, or even in 2010. Based on this report, they argued that President Obama's stimulus would do little to boost the economy out of recession. The Republicans managed to get a story to this effect in The Washington Post, in addition to extensive coverage in other major news outlets.
The only problem is that there was no CBO report. The CBO had done some very preliminary analysis of a package that was loosely modeled on a portion of President Obama's program. This preliminary analysis was done at the request of members of Congress to give them what was available at the time. It was not a full analysis that had gone through the CBO's normal review process, and was not posted on its web site where it could be assessed by budget analysts and the general public.
I meant to blog this earlier, but forgot. It's truly amazing that rethugs have the audacity to claim this in today's climate. And they wonder why we all laugh at them when they cry for more tax cuts...it's just more of the same.
From Eyes on Obama:
If you need further evidence of how delusional the GOP really is, take a look at this screen shot from the NRCC website. The first line is all you need to see: "Thanks to Republican economic policies, the U.S. economy is robust, and job creation is strong." Well, they got one thing right: all of this is "thanks to Republican economic policies." read more | digg story
If al Qaeda thinks they have a P.R. problem now with Obama.... LOL! This was a brilliant move. And if it pisses our networks off a bit, all the better. Knocking them down a few pegs is certainly an added bonus.
Via Huff Post:
Barack Obama will do his first formal interview as president with an Arabic cable TV network. The interview is set to air at 11pm EST, it reports... Al Arabiya is a 24-hour Arabic news channel based in Dubai that broadcasts across five continents, according to its website... A 2003 BBC report said it was one of the top-rated pan-Arab network.
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Personally, I think Conyers should have waited until Holder was confirmed... Rethugs are going to hold this up as another thing they want Holder to commit to NOT doing (enforcing the subpoena).
From HuffPo:
On Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) issued a subpoena to Karl Rove, requiring him to testify regarding his role in the Bush Administration's politicization of the Department of Justice, including the US Attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. The subpoena calls for Rove to appear at deposition on Monday, February 2, 2009.
Rove has previously refused to appear in response to a Judiciary Committee subpoena, claiming that even former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. That "absolute immunity" position was supported by then-President Bush, but it has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates. President Obama has previously dismissed the claim as "completely misguided."
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Twit.
George Will argues that the rising consumption of cheap fast food during the Bush Recession shows the market works, saying the boost in quarterly profits at McDonald’s is a perfect example of “the market sorting this out.”Join the conversation at DKos.
One wonders how Will thinks the market plans on ‘sorting out’ the increased health care costs sure to come in the wake of this expansion of our fast food diet.
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Paul Krugamn takes on the bullshitters in the GOP's and their misleading claims about the stimulus:
From Paul:
As the debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan’s opponents aren’t arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don’t want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don’t want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending.The good news is:
Some of these arguments are obvious cheap shots. John Boehner, the House minority leader, has already made headlines with one such shot: looking at an $825 billion plan to rebuild infrastructure, sustain essential services and more, he derided a minor provision that would expand Medicaid family-planning services — and called it a plan to “spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives.”
The obvious cheap shots don’t pose as much danger to the Obama administration’s efforts to get a plan through as arguments and assertions that are equally fraudulent but can seem superficially plausible to those who don’t know their way around economic concepts and numbers. So as a public service, let me try to debunk some of the major antistimulus arguments that have already surfaced. Any time you hear someone reciting one of these arguments, write him or her off as a dishonest flack.
But here’s the thing: Most Americans aren’t listening. The most encouraging thing I’ve heard lately is Mr. Obama’s reported response to Republican objections to a spending-oriented economic plan: “I won.” Indeed he did — and he should disregard the huffing and puffing of those who lost.
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This is really cool. I hadn't even heard of a 'gigapan' until I saw this. After clicking over to the actual site, give it time to fully load. Then, start zooming in... moving around the zoomed in pic with your mouse clicked down to drag it.
This huge gigapan image is made of 220 images stitched seamlessly together. Not only can you clearly see the faces of thousands of people, you can practically read the sheet music used by the band!
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This is GREAT news. People should not only digg this, they should call their Senators and ask that they support this if not co-sponsor it.
From fiverthirtyeight:
On account of the trouble that certain Democratic governors had with making their senatorial appointments this year, however, a new amendment to be introduced by Wisconsin's Russ Feingold may prove to be an exception:Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, issued the following statement today on plans to introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end appointments to the Senate by state governors and require special elections in the event of a Senate seat vacancy.read more | digg story
The meal-mouthed, beltway blowhard has written his last column for the New York Times. Let the joyous news be spread...
"This is William Kristol’s last column." Those are the most beautiful words I have ever heard. They appear at the bottom of his piece (of shit), but it's there!
From HuffPo's Jason Linkins:
UPDATE:
Kristol phoned in columns about his magical life: where he'd ponder books sold in airport duty-free shops and spin wild contrafactual fantasies. He was against Obama's inexperience until Sarah Palin forced him to be FOR inexperience. He likes the Wars, and so, attempted to Put A Ring On It, like a Single Lady. He seemed to be wrong about EVERYTHING, all the time, where the election was concerned. He was the last man to believe McCain had a chance at the presidency. At one point, he said on teevee that if the Red Sox could come back in the playoffs, McCain could win the election. But McCain COULDN'T win the election, not ever. All Kristol managed to do was doom the Red Sox.
[snip]
Kristol's first column featured an error. I think his next one did, too. Anyway, many of them did, because no one cared enough about what Kristol was writing to check and ensure some measure of quality. 23/6 offered its readers a feature by which you could write your own terrible Bill Kristol column, like the one I write today:
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But it appears that Kristol’s tirades against all things progressive have found a new home. Politico’s “Playbook” reports this morning that “he’s now beginning a monthly column in The Washington Post.” Aside from the monotony of Kristol’s opinion pieces, it might be worth reminding the Post’s editors and readers what they’re in for: factual errors. Some examples:
UPDATE II:– Trying to defend criticism of John McCain, Kristol inaccurately wrote that there was “no basis” for the claim that McCain was not in a “cone of silence” when pastor Rick Warren interviewed Barack Obama at a Sattleback Church forum last year. In fact, the Times itself reported the opposite.
– Kristol once wrote that “he could not find a recent primary in which the candidate who would go on to win the nomination lost by as big a margin as Barack Obama lost by (41 points) in West Virginia.” Yet Mitt Romney won Utah with 90 percent of the vote.
The Guardian has compiled a list of who's to blame for this new Depression (and yes, it's a Depression). Among those they blame (and rightfully so).
Alan Greenspan, chairman of US Federal Reserve 1987- 2006, former US president Bill Clinton, prime minister Gordon Brown, former US president George W Bush, former Rethug Senator Phil Gramm (a chief architect and the guy who convinced Clinton to make the changes he did, along with Citibank), Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman, Senate banking committee (the Guardian put "Democrat" in parenthesis for Dodd unlike former Sen. Phil Gramm for which they made no mention that he was a Rethug or that he was one of the actual architects of this calamity), and then they list a whole slew of Wall Street bankers.
They also give shout out to a few who saw it coming, including Warren Buffet & Professor Nouriel Roubini.
From The Guardian:
The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part. In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump, Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis.
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From Crooks & Liars:
Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are clearly among the breed of Republicans who refuse to believe that Conservatism failed -- rather, that the GOP failed Conservatism. And so their solution for party renewal is to just go back to embracing the policies and ideas that brought the nation to the brink of economic and diplomatic ruin.
They don't seem to realize yet that the country has turned the page and moved on. And so they rage, rage against the fall of right-wing night. Last night's second part of Hannity's interview with Limbaugh really was more a pathetic display of hapless and unhappy impotence.
It has all the usual Limbaugh flourishes...
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It never ends with her, does it? She is just the gift that keep on giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving...
Just as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is pushing an energy plan that fronts her as presidential material for 2012, two of her top aides-- Communications Director and Press Secretary, Bill McAllister, and Palin's Anchorage office director, Kris Perry--are being hit with new ethics charges, to be filed with the state Attorney General on Monday.
Well-known Alaskan political watchdog Andree McLeod--a registered Republican who was once a close political associate of Palin's and who has worked at a variety of jobs in Alaskan government--said that she is filing the complaint because "employees working for Palin conducted partisan political activities while on the clock and on the public's dime."
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Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote an open letter to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michelle Malkin, about the lies they are spreading about his statements regarding the stimulus package.
It's worth hoping over to read it in full.
In a time like this, when tempers are riding high and many Americans are close to panic about their jobs and finances, you have a special responsibility to consider the accuracy of what you say and the consequences of inflammatory and erroneous statements....
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From Dkos' by clammyc (again):
read the rest of his great piece | digg storyNote to republican whiners and "very serious" concern trolls who are just now taking issue with spending, the economy, detainees that we haven’t been able to get enough evidence in seven years to charge with a crime or whatever other whiny bullshit that was in large part caused by the very same republican policies that you cheered for, pushed for or voted for:
Your way failed. Big time. Like "F-" failed. Of epic proportions. The tax cuts failed. The neverending sinkhole of money for Iraq failed. Torture failed. Indefinite detention of "enemy combatants" failed – even shot down by a Supreme Court where 7 of the 9 Justices were republican appointees. Big money handouts to the oil companies failed. Big money handouts to the financial institutions failed. Deregulation failed. Ignoring the infrastructure failed (bridge in Minnesota or Hurricane Katrina, anyone).
And because of it, you lost. Badly. Twice in a row.
I think the term is "elections have consequence". You remember that phrase, right?
Talk about hating America. Even early on, especially just after 9/11, this Gore supporter stood firmly behind the Idiot in Chief, until we invaded Iraq on lies and fear-mongering. And even after that I never hoped we failed, contrary to the ranting of this putz. (I might have wished a couple of other things -- on him personally -- but never about failure that would affect the country.
Yet on day 3, the pill-popping, fat, glutenous fuck had no qualms about wishing failure on Obama. Think about that and ask yourself what being anti-American really is and who it really looks like.
From Think Progress:
On Friday, when President Obama met with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss his economic recovery and reinvestment program, he told GOP leaders, “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” Asked for a response by National Review yesterday, Limbaugh said that Obama’s “plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters.” He added that passage of the stimulus bill would hurt Republicans electorally:
read more | digg storyObama’s plan would buy votes for the Democrat Party, in the same way FDR’s New Deal established majority power for 50 years of Democrat rule, and it would also simultaneously seriously damage any hope of future tax cuts. It would allow a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves going forward. It would burden the private sector and put the public sector in permanent and firm control of the economy. Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing “eternal” power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy.
Another step in the right direction for our government. Thank you, Mr, President.
While it isn't functional yet, it sounds like a great tool to help the public keep an eye on what our government does:
"An oversight board will routinely update this site as part of an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending in out government."
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John Aravosis doesn't seem to like the Vatican's meddling!
The Prada-wearers are lecturing Obama about arrogance.Gotta love John!A senior Vatican official on Saturday attacked US President Barack Obama for "arrogance" for overturning a ban on state funding for family-planning groups that carry out or facilitate abortions overseas.Apparently it's finally sinking it at the Vatican that Him-bo has left the building. Then there's this:
It is "the arrogance of someone who believes they are right, in signing a decree which will open the door to abortion and thus to the destruction of human life," Archbishop Rino Fisichella was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily...."I do not believe that those who voted for him took into consideration ethical themes, which were astutely left aside during the election debate. The majority of the American population does not take the same position as the president and his team," he added.[snip]
The Vatican had no problem embracing George Bush, and overlooked his innumerable sins, all because Bush was pro-life and anti-gay. The Vatican had no problem with Bush's warmongering, his torture, or his lack of interesting in the plight of the disadvantaged. Funny that none of that ever bothered the oh-so-ethical Vatican.
One final point the Vatican keeps overlooking. We're not a Catholic country, and nobody cares what they think. So go away.
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Expect hate crimes to multiply by large numbers now that Obama is President.
A man accused of a horrific rape and killing spree told investigators that he was "fighting extinction" of the white race and had stockpiled 200 rounds of ammunition to "kill 'nonwhite people' such as African Americans, Hispanics and Jewish people"...
[snip]
Keith Luke, a 22-year-old Brockton man who authorities said devised an "evil plan'' fueled by racism to kill as many "nonwhites'' and Jews as he could before taking his own life.
[snip]
"Yesterday this defendant methodically began an evil plan of mass murder and rape in the City of Brockton targeting victims he identified as nonwhite,'' said Middleton. Luke wanted to "kill as many Jews, blacks, and Hispanics as humanly possible ... before killing himself,'' he said.
[snip]
After he shot as many "nonwhites'' as he could, he reportedly told the police his plan was to head to a synagogue near his mother's Pleasant Street home and kill as many Jews as he could as they left a bingo game. He would then kill himself.
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This is almost as important than the stimulus package.
From the NY Times:
The Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten the nation’s financial regulatory system.Officials say they will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies and mortgage brokers, and greater oversight of the complex financial instruments that contributed to the economic crisis.
Broad new outlines of the administration’s agenda have begun to emerge in recent interviews with officials, in confirmation proceedings of senior appointees and in a recent report by an international committee led by Paul A. Volcker, a senior member of President Obama’s economic team.
A theme of that report, that many major companies and financial instruments now mostly unsupervised must be swept back under a larger regulatory umbrella, has been embraced as a guiding principle by the administration, officials said.
Some of these actions will require legislation, while others should be achievable through regulations adopted by several federal agencies...
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Why is it every time I read something about this vapid thing I feel like I need to take a shower? And Neil Cavuto is still in television? Who knew?
Michelle Malkin and Neil Cavuto seem to have trouble understanding that Robert Reich's stated (and eminently reasonable) desire to ensure that the jobs stimulus doesn't just primarily affect white males is not the same thing as suggesting that "white male construction workers need not apply". It simply means that more nonwhite/nonmale workers should be included.
It's a typical Malkin gambit, twisting sound progressive arguments into neat little reverse-racist strawmen. But Malkin, as we've come to expect, ultimately goes careering over a cliff by the end of the segment, echoing Rush Limbaugh's defiant call to obstructionism:
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Ata boy!
From Politico:
President Barack Obama is staffing his Justice Department with some of his predecessor's fiercest critics, and lawyers who have spent years defining the limits of executive power will now be helping to wield it.
The change may be most dramatic at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — which defended some of Bush’s most controversial policies — where a small cadre of lawyers who had an outsized influence on legal criticism of Bush are taking the top three jobs.
Those three — Dawn Johnsen, Martin Lederman, and David Barron — and others made the case that Bush’s interrogation policy was justified by flawed legal reasoning. Their arguments precipitated one of Obama’s most dramatic early acts: flatly repudiating all government legal advice on interrogation issued between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009.
“I think they will be an irritant for Obama in the best possible way — they’re very honest lawyers,” said Rosa Brooks, a professor at Georgetown University Law School, where Lederman also taught. “When Dawn and Marty and David think that he is asking if he can do something that in their view pushes the envelope and goes beyond the bounds of what is legal, they’re going to say, ‘Sorry Mr. Obama, we think that would be illegal.’”
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I wouldn't hold your breath but hey, any time someone publicly reminds the country what a low-life scumbag this guy is is alright by me.
From HuffPo:
Connecticut Dems want Joe Lieberman to apologize to President Obama and VP Biden for comments he made during the campaign criticizing both men and questioning their ability to govern. "We hope and expect that you will work constructively with the new Democratic president & Congress, and will give your full & active support to the Democratic agenda.
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StopBeck is having their first big fundraiser! If you believe in the work Angelo does day in and say out on behalf of accountability in the media, please give whatever you can. If you're a progressive blogger that holds regular fundraisers of your own, there's NO excuse for you not to give. This guy is doing the real dirty work. Work I know I couldn't do. Please step of to the plate on this one.
