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….
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…
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?
Well…have been reading about this little doozy for a couple of weeks now and it has taken this long for me to get the whole thing straight in my head…not really, it’s a pretty black and white issue for me since I really have a pretty thick streak of libertarianism in me and I do believe that we can’t go wrong if we follow the constitution. But, what we have again is the right wing elites selectively trying to ignore the constitution when it suits their political goals. Oh, I guess I’ve buried the lead again…let’s go back..this is about the proposed building of an Islamic community center (something like an Islamic YMCA) within a couple of blocks of where the World Trade Center stood. As you could predict, Newt, Palin, Limbaugh, and the rest of the repub elites have gone crazy on the issue, butting themselves into a community issue where the plan for the center was approved 29-1 by the local council. They have gone so far as to lobby both the city and state of New York to make sure this doesn’t happen. But, I guess they’ve never read the first amendment which prohibits the governments interference in religion or, more probably, they have never cared for the constitution other than to us it as a prop or to incite their followers.
I say to them: you can’t pick and choose what part of the constitution you will follow; look how well that worked out with ole GW….hypocrites all…geez…
Well…I’ve talked about this before to my friends, but not since I’ve had this post….How can the republicans be for freedom and liberty when they have no problem with using the government to control personal behavior? They want to de-regulate corporations and business; to give them the freedom that they want to take away or to keep away from individuals. Doesn’t anyone see anything hypocritical about this? Oh, but that’s right, they are the party of the hypocrite..the party that spews family values out of one side of their mouth all the while visiting prostitutes (David Vitter, that means you) or vilifying gay people in the name of religion (Ted Haggard, I’m sure you’ll recognize yourself here) while he was visiting male prostitutes. And let’s not forget ole Newt…on his third or fourth marriage with at least two of them ending because of his affairs. But that kind of behavior is not really what this is about…it’s about the right wing elites who use your and my freedom as a political prop…who don’t care about your freedom to be let alone; who want to control what women can do to their bodies, to control what everyone can put into theirs, and to control who you can marry.
So, the next time you hear them talk about the Obama administration “taking away our freedoms”, remember it’s the repubs who want to use the government to control you and your life, not the Democrats. Geez….
Well…I hope you’ve heard of this new scheme by corporations and led by the US Chamber of Commerce that is going to “push back” against any new corporate regulations by the use of lawsuits against government agencies such as the EPA or the MSHA as Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has vowed. Do you remember who Don is? He is the CEO that presides over the most egregious violator of mine safety rules….violations that resulted in the deaths of 29 miners in one of his mines. He thinks that the government should let business self-police themselves and cloaks his opposition to any regulation as being necessary to his “pursuit of happiness” that is guaranteed in the constitution.
I am dumfounded by his and other CEO’s, like Tony Hayward of BP’s, attitude toward the damage that they do to the country; then play the role of the aggrieved, like the big bad government is not playing fair. The Chamber of Commerce went so far as to put out a press release saying the government should have paid for the Gulf oil spill, not BP, while talking out of the other side of their mouths and bitching about government spending and the deficits. Oh, I guess it’s okay for the government to bail out BP but not to approve the extension of unemployment benefits; it’s okay for the Chamber to lobby against the extension through their repub cronies? Out of the third side of their mouths they lobbied for the passage of the 800 billion dollar bailout. Why? Because the benefits went to the members of the Chamber. Corporate leaders have shown that they have no sense of responsibility to anyone but themselves…we’ve allowed them to self police for the last 8 years…how did that work out for you?..Come on people, we need to push back against these corporate crooks…e-mail your congresspeople and tell them that you want a level playing field…and without corporate regulation it will never be level…
c’mon tea partiers….you should want to take back your country from the corporations…not Obama…geez….
Well…I guess the new rage among the repub liars is to look back on the Bush years with fondness…ignoring the statistical fact that the entire 8 years was a bust for everyone but the rich. They have even begun to blame the recession on Obama…since it started when it looked like he was going to be elected. Yep, I’m not kidding you…I think it was Boehner who started this new line of craziness but then, as always happens, the right-wing smear machine picks it up and runs with it. To those who continue to vote for these idiots I have one question “were you better off at the start of GW’s terms or the end?” A simple question that has a simple answer…if you’re not in the top 5%, you were worse off…..
I know we have selective memory here in the US so that is why I have to keep repeating all the time what a bust those 8 years were…and now people want to go back there? Why? To be spied on? To have more trumped up wars that the repubs vowed Iraqi oil would pay for? To allow business to steal what is left of the country from you and me? I think the tea partiers have the wrong target when they want to “take back our country”…it should be from the alliance of the repubs and business. Geez….
Well…I’m sure you know and I continue to point out how the repubs are so gung-ho for business to be unregulated; especially the financial industry…going so far as to call for the new regulations signed into law this week to be repealed before they even take effect. I don’t think the new regs go far enough…as evidenced by the revelations that all of the banks and insurance companies that were bailed out by you and me had continued to pay immoral bonuses to their employees…as a reward for what this time? Doing such a good job of trashing the economy? One of the firms is on track this year to pay out a record 30 BILLION dollars in those bonuses all the while saying it is too risky to lend to small business so they continue to do nothing but take, take, take and further concentrating money and power in the hands of the few. How can the repubs think this is a good idea? And, how can people that are being hurt by these shenanigans continue to support these guys and vote for them?
I know it sounds like I’m repeating myself but someone has to keep saying the emperor has no clothes….I think a tax rate of 80% on these bonuses is in order or make them non tax deductible….lets make it harder for these guys to steal, not easier….geez…
Well…when I was working out this morning, a political ad came on criticizing Bill Hardiman (a repub candidate for U.S. congress) for his support of raising some taxes to make sure Michigan could balance their budget as they are required to do by law. Now the people behind this smear is the Club For Growth; the same guys that gave us the Bush tax cuts and have never met a tax that they like…their motto being “starve the beast” since they do not believe that the federal government should have any power to regulate anything. Mr. Hardiman was being an adult when he looked at the hard realities in Michigan and went against the voodoo economics that are pushed by the repubs these days that tax and spending cuts will magically heal the economy. If you look at the economic analysis of the Bush years with the huge tax cut versus the Clinton years where taxes were actually raised to help end the budget deficit…growth was higher in the Clinton years as the deficits were lower…but you expect that from a fact-based administration; not the wishful thinking and repeating lies that pass for truth on the right. Keep at it Bill…you did a nice job as Mayor of Kentwood…I still can’t vote for you but you need to continue to hold out against the know-nothings of the party. Geez….
Well….have to go off on this idiot Manny Lopez from the Detroit News again….he’s back with more of the crap that he has been spouting that if we criticize the repubs for opposing the extension of unemployment benefits it’s just Democratic politics…there is no substance to it. He continues to make light of Keynesian economics and pushes the voodoo economics that growth can come only through tax cuts and cutting spending. I understand he wants to repeat the Repub talking points but to ridicule J.M. Keynes; one of the greatest minds in economics, to make silly political points would be the same as if I would go to Miguel Cabrera and tell him that he is hitting all wrong. Manny, reading and talking about economics is not the same as being an economist…and, while I support your right to spout off and be wrong, I am going to call you and your repub cronies on your hatred for the middle class. You rail on about paying for the 30 billion for unemployment benefits, where the hell were you when the top 1% of the country was getting a TRILLION dollars in tax cuts. Let me get this straight, you have a problem with 2.5 million middle class getting unemployment benefits so they can eat, but you just love the idea of 3 million of the wealthy getting 30 times more? Why didn’t you call for these tax cuts, or the war in Iraq, or the subsidies for big business be paid for? It’s just another instance of cloaking your hatred for the middle class; the working class, in pretend values….geez….