Well…didn’t go out to the coffee shop this morning but have been reading the news online and a few things fell into place that have been marinating in my head for a while. I know you’ve heard over the past few months how the repubs have been holding up any spending bills to help the unemployed and states that are in financial peril since they have an impact on the federal deficit. But what they aren’t telling you and I is that red states (those that are controlled by and vote for these same repubs) are the ones that most egregiously feed at the federal trough; taking back well more in federal taxes than they send to Washington. One of the worst of these states is the one who gave us the small government idiot Sarah Palin and gets $1.84 for every dollar in taxes they send but on top of that, Alaska got almost 3 times more in stimulus money than the average state; almost $3,200 for each and every resident. Now, I have a great idea for the repubs, make a pledge that, to help eliminate the deficit in the next year, your state will not take more in federal funding than you put in and I challenge the tea partiers to do the same..oh, but I get it, it’s okay to take from the feds when it benefits you but not if it benefits the country as a whole. More hypocrisy to pile on the heaps they have already shoveled…geez…
Category Archives: Politics
Bait and switch…again…
Well…a couple of things are on my mind this morning…the first is the realization that the repubs are manufacturing a bunch of news to deflect coverage from the fact that they have no solutions to any of our problems…except the same old tired mantra of tax cuts for the rich and less regulation for business. Have you once in the last 6 months heard a real policy plan from them? What are they going to do about unemployment? What would they do to end the war in Afghanistan? What would they do to make healthcare more affordable and available if they repeal what was done by Obama? I know I haven’t heard a thing and they are using Fox news to create fake stories like the mosque controversy so that the major news organizations think they have to cover it like it is real. There have been a string of those types of fake stories like the “anchor babies” and the death panels that take our eye off the ball and allow the repubs to control the news cycle. And, we’re to blame for it…so let’s start paying attention.
The second thing is what we are seeing with the supreme courts decision that corporations can donate to political campaigns…just yesterday, we saw Fox news donate a million bucks to get Republican governors elected…doesn’t anyone else see anything wrong with this? Come on Congress…kill this loophole before the US becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of big business….geez…
Gonna keep saying it…
Well…when are we, as Americans, going to stop listening to the “right wing hooey” to quote Donaldl Fagen? First, let’s deal with the shameless use of the Constitution as a wedge issue that has been in the spotlight for a few months now. You know how the right has been screaming about following the constitution, that it is very clear what it means and you don’t need the judicial branch of the government to interpret it? In the next breath they are trying to push to change it as in their created controversy over the 14th amendment or they are saying, in so many words, that the first amendment protections only apply to Christians; and any Muslims should bow to the majority and stop building the mosque near the WTC site. Well, folks, and I am aiming this squarely at the righties: you can’t have it both ways…you can’t have an absolutist view of the 2nd amendment and then want the views of the majority to override the protections of the first amendment in regards to the mosque. Polls have shown that a majority of Americans want some form of gun control…so are you then willing to abide by the majority’s will? No, of course not. Should we have followed the majority’s will when segregation was ended and the majority still wanted it? Sometimes the majority is wrong or is manipulated by politicians that have an interest in stirring up hate and forment and that is especially the case with the unscrupulous and cynical leaders on the right.
I am so worn down by the blatant, outright lies that come from Gingrich, Palin, and the other spokespeople from the right and I fear for this country…I call this behavior un-American, these scorched earth win at all costs tactics that are gradually destroying what is good about America….but what can we do about it? Stop listening to these liars, these people that scream “death panels”, that invoke the images of Nazi’s to tar their opponents, and who poison the political discourse every time they open their mouths. I wish there were good things to write about, that someone had said enough and we could all see that we’re in this together….I would love my posts to be positive and I’m willing to try but it seems that no one listens to a reasonable person anymore; and this country is much worse off for it.
They’re fighting the wrong enemy..
Well…lots of uproar over the past few days about Robert Gibb’s castigation of the far left for being disappointed in the Obama administrations acceptance of half measures in their attempt to forge bi-partisanship in their legislative agenda. What Obama and Gibbs do not understand is that they will never have bi-partisanship with the right since they have an all or nothing mentality and their facade of wanting to work with the administration is just that; a stalling tactic that they use until they have a better position of strength…they are just biding their time like the Vietcong; waiting for the time that their lies become truth in the minds of the public and the fatigue of the economic downturn (caused by repub economic policies) cause people to grasp any straw that the repubs throw them.
So, to the Obama administration: grow a thicker skin but also keep your promises; the price you pay will be no higher going it alone and getting what the American people really need, not the bastardized healthcare that you accepted in service of bi-partisanship….the attacks of the right got even worse after you compromised since they smell blood in the water…if you are in a no-win situation, give your base what they voted you in for; a more equal society that is not run for the corporations and the top 2%
of the country. A society where even a president and vice-president can be held accountable for breaking the law. Geez…
One last thing that I will fault the left for and that is it’s assertion that Obama is no different than Bush; something I think is especially unfair…I think Obama really does care about the American people even with his misguided forays into compromise with the right…Bush and his team never cared at all about the people other than his donors and the rich.
You’ve noticed some repitition…
Well…If you’ve read this for a while, you’ve noticed some repetitions in what I’ve had to say but there is a method to that madness on my part; the repubs have succeeded so well in repeating their lies until they become not truth but accepted “wisdom” so I think we need to keep repeating the truth until the truth overwhelms the lies of the right. So, I’m going to keep repeating the numerous outrages that have been foist upon America by the repubs until people can recognize truth again…until people start to think critically again and say to them “prove it”. Prove that the Bush tax cuts increased federal revenue (the non-partisan CBO says it didn’t), prove that deferring to business is the way to “lift all boats” as Reagan was heard to say, prove that the constitution is being ignored by Obama…just because they say it doesn’t make it true…geez…
Do you need any more evidence?
Well…reading and watching the news yesterday solidified in my mind what you will get if the repubs are voted back into power in the mid-term elections. Their latest bit of craziness manifested itself with the vote yesterday on the 26 billion dollar house bill that would provide aid to cities and states and allow them to keep 150,000 teachers along with as many police and firefighters on the job until the economy recovers. To pay for the bill (which the repubs have said is a requirement for any new spending) the bill closes tax loopholes that rewarded companies for sending jobs overseas which you would think is a good thing, right? Nope, not to the repubs..only three repubs voted for the bill (it passed anyway) with the house repub leadership coming out in criticism of the bill as an unneeded tax increase that would slow down the economy. This really shows who they are trying to protect…not the 300K people that will still have jobs..but their corporate donors who have purchased their votes and who have benefited from laws that were dictated by business and passed by their lap-dog repub buddies. If we vote these guys back in, we only have ourselves to blame. Geez…
I’m not usually into conspiracy theories…
Well..this thought popped into my head this morning when I was reading an article about how disappointed business is with Obama and the regulations that have been imposed on certain parts of the economy. I think the article was in the Detroit News and it went on to say that the US Chamber of Commerce is working closely with Repubs on legislation and this dawned on me; I think that one of the reasons that companies are retaining so much profit and not converting that into hiring is that they are working in concert with the repubs to make sure the economy doesn’t recover before the fall elections. They know that with the repubs back in control of the House, they can get their money’s worth again from the repub legislators they have purchased.
The sick thing about this is that they care nothing about the people that purchase or make their products and who make those profits that they are hoarding. Why haven’t these behaviors been seized upon by the Dems as un-American, as a cynical attempt to return to the robberbaron times of the early 20th century? When are we, as a people, going to find out what companies are essential to this plot and make sure they pay in the only place they understand: their profits? You want to take this country back? Then let’s take it back from these plotters, these people who only care about themselves and how much power they can amass. Geez…
Charles Krauthammer is an idiot or just a republican shill…
Well…I think I’ve used that title before but ole Chuck’s column today just reinforces that he will say anything to support the Repub agenda. His latest outrage at the executive branch during the Obama administration is a memo that purported to say that this administration is circumventing immigration law by allowing some illegals to remain here and this is another example of “executive overreach” that is rife with the Obama folks and that immigration is the purview of the legislative branch. Oh, really, Chuck? Where the hell were you when Bush used more signing statements to reserve the right to ignore the legislative branch than any president in history? Oh, that’s right, you thought it was just fine for a repub president to do that. Where the hell were you when the Bushies were gutting the fourth amendment with their warrantless wiretaps? Oh, that’s right, writing columns that the most important thing was to protect Americans and it was okay for the Busies to do that. Where the hell were you when Bush and Cheney were putting forth the idea of an executive branch that was above the law? Oh, that’s right, you were cheerleading, agreeing that the Bush executive branch WAS above the law and they could torture, and lie without consequences.
Chuck, don’t you feel bad with your daily displays of intellectual dishonesty? Oh, but that’s right, Republicans have no conscience, or heart, or brains. Geez….
Thank you Michael Bloomberg…
Well..don’t know if you saw the press conference that Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, put on yesterday and the stirring speech that he delivered defending religious freedom as regards to the proposed mosque that is going to be built a few blocks from the WTC site. The gist of it was that if we allow the extremists to prevent the mosque from being built and limit one groups religious freedom, then they are aiding the terrorists by repudiating our constitution and our values. and, I have to add that most of the resistance to this mosque is coming from the far right who scream at their rallies that the dems are doing all kinds of unconstitutional things, but who then turn around and want the first amendment shredded from their Islamophobia. I guess it’s part of their beliefs that the constitution only applies to white, Christian republicans, and anyone that doesn’t fit can be discriminated against at will. That is what will happen if you vote those idiots back into office…I will warn you of that now and forever until the election in November.
But, let’s get back to the courage that was shown by Mayor Bloomberg….thank you for being an adult and truly believing in Constitutional rights for all Americans…not just the ones that support the repubs….geez…
Promise me Ving and Rick….
Well…short lunch, huh? Hasn’t it been nice to not hear political commercials since the primary is over? But, as you and I both know, it’s just the lull before the storm and we will be inudated before long. That is why I want to make this proposal to both candidates…let’s stop the attack ads and replace them with policy ones that will tell us what you are going to do to get our state moving again, to get more good paying jobs, and to get both sides of the political spectrum talking to one another again instead of shouting at each other. I think it was a good sign when Rick Snyder (a Republican) said he would personally reach across the aisle to the Dems to solve the problems of the state…but Rick, if you start talking tax cuts as your foundation for your economic policy, I will urge everyone to stop listening to you since the Bush tax cuts did not help spur growth, they were actually a drag on the economy and don’t work resulting in 40% of the structural deficit that we now face. And, Ving, I see your attack ads have already started and I am disappointed that you haven’t tried to build on the economic successes of the Dems over the last two years…you have the thriving auto companies, the reform in health care, and re regulation of the financial companies to talk about…let’s hear how you are going to fix our economy; not that Rick sent jobs overseas. Let’s commit ourselves to reasonableness and show the country what adults can do when they act like adults. One last comment…the tea party lost out to the moderates here…is there hope at last?