Tag Archives: GOP

December 1, 2011 · 9:55 am

Newt Gingrich: The Return of the Megalomaniacal Opportunist

Very good perspective on Newt Gingrich and his lack of  character from Maureen Dowd in today’s New York Times.

It will be interesting to see if Newt does pull off his comeback against Romney for the GOP nomination.

Either one should be an easy target for President Obama, but Newt is especially easy to take on and hopefully take down.

The man is, as Maureen says, a megalomaniac, a liar, and a hypocrite.  The more you get to know Newt, the more you grow to hate him.  And to feel slimy for just reading about him…

My only concern is that, if by some fluke he does win the Presidency, he could be by far the biggest danger to both the country and the world.

Again, this guy is a megalomaniac.  And probably a sociopath….

Romney is a mundane opportunist who reverses himself on core issues. Gingrich is a megalomaniacal opportunist who brazenly indulges in the same sins that he rails about to tear down political rivals.

Republicans have a far greater talent for hypocrisy than easily cowed Democrats do — and no doubt appreciate that in a leader.

Gingrich led the putsch against Democratic Speaker Jim Wright in 1988, bludgeoning him for an ethically sketchy book deal. The following year, as he moved into the House Republican leadership, he himself got in trouble for an ethically sketchy book deal.

Gingrich was part of the House Republican mob trying to impeach Bill Clinton for hiding his affair with a young government staffer, even as Newt himself was hiding his affair with a young government staffer.

Gingrich has excoriated Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for dragging the country into a financial spiral and now demands that Freddie Mac be broken up. But it turns out that he was on contract with Freddie for six years and paid $1.6 million to $1.8 million (yacht trips and Tiffany’s bling for everyone!) to help the company strategize about how to soften up critical conservatives and stay alive.

At a Republican debate in New Hampshire last month before this lucrative deal became public, Gingrich suggested that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd should be put in jail. “All I’m saying is, everybody in the media who wants to go after the business community ought to start by going after the politicians who were at the heart of the sickness that is weakening this country,” he said.

Another transcendent moment in Gingrich hypocrisy. He risibly rationalized his deal, saying he was giving the mortgage company advice as a prestigious historian rather than a hired gun.

Gingrich boasts that he’s full of fresh ideas, but it always seems to essentially be the same old one: Let’s turn the clock back to the ’50s. Just as Newt, who dodged service in Vietnam, once cast the Clintons as hippie “McGovernicks,” now he limns the Occupy Wall Street protesters as hippies who need to take a bath and get a job.

Maybe the ideal man to fix Washington’s dysfunction is the one who made it dysfunctional. He broke it so he should own it. And Newt has the best reason to long for the presidency: He’d never be banished to the back of Air Force One again.

via My Man Newt – NYTimes.com.

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November 30, 2011 · 7:04 pm

The Future of the Obama Coalition

Future demographic trends strongly support a Democratic majority- if the Dems start acting like Dems.

There is also the great Education Divide.

There is also a big disconnect among White people based on education.  I see it more and more with people I know.  Educated people tend to break for the Democrats.  This makes sense.  If you can apply critical thinking skills, you just can’t buy the GOP agenda.  Lesser educated Whites continue to vote GOP- for reasons I can’t fathom.  These folks are seriously voting against their own interests, but you just can’t reason with them.

The GOP has built their focus on the Southern Strategy since Nixon.  This is to appeal to uneducated, prejudiced White people.  It worked for years, but there are fewer and fewer folks in this demographic profile.  And it’s going to continue to die out….

I just hope the trends have moved far enough for this to work in 2012….

From the NY Times:

For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.

All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment — professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists — and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.

It is instructive to trace the evolution of a political strategy based on securing this coalition in the writings and comments, over time, of such Democratic analysts as Stanley Greenberg and Ruy Teixeira. Both men were initially determined to win back the white working-class majority, but both currently advocate a revised Democratic alliance in which whites without college degrees are effectively replaced by well-educated socially liberal whites in alliance with the growing ranks of less affluent minority voters, especially Hispanics.

via The Future of the Obama Coalition – NYTimes.com.

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November 22, 2011 · 7:57 am

Fox News Makes You Know Less

If we really had truth in advertising laws, they wouldn’t even be able to call it Fox “News”.

It should really be called something like Fox Propaganda or Fox Positive Reinforcement for Republican Paranoiacs or, at the very least, Fox Fantasy.

God knows they don’t report facts….

I’m convinced watching Fox “News” more than 5 minutes a day is a leading cause of Alzheimer’s Disease…..

It has to kill more brain cells more than heavy drinking…..

From Political Wire:

 

A new Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind Poll finds that the Sunday morning political shows on television “do the most to help people learn about current events, while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who they don’t watch any news at all.”

“For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all (after controlling for other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors). Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news.”

These results mirror a University of Maryland study published last year.

via Some News Makes You Know Less.

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November 21, 2011 · 7:16 pm

Rush Limbaugh: Michelle Obama Guilty Of ‘Uppity-ism’

You can tell it’s the beginning of the Holiday Season….

All the GOP idiots are trying to get all their meanness and pettiness out now so they can either go on vacation or get busy with their next agenda items:  stealing Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa like the pathetic little grinch men they are….

Since they are a thankless crew, they are skipping Thanksgiving….

I, mean, Newt wants to put children back in sweatshops and now Rush Limbaugh is going back to the sixties to channel his new role model George Wallace….

Personally, I think both Newt and Rush are uppity and ought to be forced to work in sweatshops for less than the minimum wage they loath.  Maybe they will in their next lives- they surely will have a lot to atone for….

What a nasty little group…..and I mean not only these jerks,  but also the ones who follow them.

I wonder if they thought Laura Bush or Pat Nixon were uppity?

From the Huffington Post:

Rush Limbaugh accused Michelle Obama of “uppity-ism” during his Monday show.

Limbaugh was speaking about the First Lady’s recent reception at a NASCAR event, where both she and Jill Biden were booed by the crowd. He said it was not surprising that she was booed, because the crowd at NASCAR resented her healthy eating initiatives and her husband’s policies.

“What the hell is there to cheer for?” Limbaugh asked. He said that people also didn’t like “paying millions of dollars” for Obama’s vacations. “They understand it’s a little bit of a waste,” he said. “They understand it’s a little bit of uppity-ism.”

via Rush Limbaugh: Michelle Obama Guilty Of ‘Uppity-ism’ (AUDIO).

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November 21, 2011 · 5:13 pm

Newt Gingrich: Child Labor Laws Are ‘Stupid’

No,  Newt Gingrich is stupid.

And an absolutely self-absorbed, hypocritical, entitled, heartless, pandering, pompous ass.  Just like he was when we last saw him 20 years ago….

I hope he is the GOP Nominee.  He’ll be even easier to beat than Romney.

Romney is merely an entitled, pandering, corporate whore who is clueless about the real world.

Newt is a cocky prick who actually believes some of the crap he says.  He genuinely thinks he is too smart for the room.  Good news is his pontifications either disgust or scare the hell out of most other people….

From Huffington Post:

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called child labor laws “stupid” Friday in an appearance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

“It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in, first of all, child laws, which are truly stupid,” said the former House speaker, according to CNN. “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

“You’re going to see from me extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America,” he added.

Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act allows minors over 14 to work in most jobs, with several exceptions for minors under that age. Hours are limited for minors under the age of 16. Some states have higher age standards.

He also said Saturday Occupy Wall Street protesters should “take a bath” and “get a job.”

Gingrich has risen in the polls to a virtual tie with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

He still faces questions over his role as a consultant for Freddie Mac, for which he was paid at least $1.5 million for strategic advice from 1999 to 2007. Gingrich has denied ever lobbying for the company and had criticized then-candidate Barack Obama for accepting campaign contributions from the firm. In an interview with USA Today published Monday, he said, “You start with people with a socialist bias that you shouldn’t earn money. If you do, “you’re automatically suspicious of having done something bad,” he added.

Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner disputed Gingrich’s claim that he was never a lobbyist. The columnist reported that the former House speaker tried to convince Capitol Hill Republicans to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare while being paid for by drug companies. Gingrich denied the report Monday, saying he publicly advocated the benefit and was doing well financially at the time.

Gingrich unveiled a plan Monday to allow younger workers to invest their Social Security in private retirement accounts, similar to an unsuccessful plan proposed by former President George W. Bush.

In an interview over the weekend with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich was asked how he is a better candidate than in the past. He said, “I do fewer dumb things.”

via Newt Gingrich: Child Labor Laws Are ‘Stupid’.

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November 20, 2011 · 6:04 pm

Lobbying Firm’s Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street

It seems the Ruling Class is more afraid of Occupy Wall Street than they want to let on in public….

This lobby firm memo outlines their plans to fight back- and they wouldn’t  be wasting time and effort to fight them if they weren’t afraid of Occupy Wall Street….

The 1% have a lot of money and media resources, but I’m hoping Occupy Wall Street has grown big enough to withstand their plans.

Things are  just too far out of sync in the country right now for me to believe they can beat all this back with a PR campaign…

Mayor Bloomberg couldn’t do it with the NYPD…..

Great scoop from Chris Hayes at MSNBC….

A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”

The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.

CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead.

According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”

AND:

The CLGC memo raises another issue that it says should be of concern to the financial industry — that OWS might find common cause with the Tea Party. “Well-known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism,” the memo says. “…This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.”

The memo outlines a 60-day plan to conduct surveys and research on OWS and its supporters so that Wall Street companies will be prepared to conduct a media campaign in response to OWS. Wall Street companies “likely will not be the best spokespeople for their own cause,” according to the memo.  “A big challenge is to demonstrate that these companies still have political strength and that making them a political target will carry a severe political cost.”

Part of the plan CLGC proposes is to do “statewide surveys in at least eight states that are shaping up to be the most important of the 2012 cycle.”

Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina.

via Up with Chris Hayes – Exclusive: Lobbying Firm’s Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO).

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November 15, 2011 · 10:36 pm

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Mayor Bloomberg and Occupy Wall Street

Priceless….

He says just what I was thinking:  Michael Bloomberg is now in the same league as George Wallace, Senator Joseph McCarthy and others of that ilk….

I’ll let Keith say it as only Keith can:

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November 15, 2011 · 10:11 pm

House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable

Who wrote this law?  Herman Cain?

I think after this, we can safely classify the House GOP Caucus as a vegetable.

I’ve seen some idiotic bills come out of the GOP Caucus.  I’ve seen some blatant bills where it’s obvious payback to campaign contributors and lobbyists.

This is an excellent example of both.

From ThinkProgress.org:

Earlier this year, the USDA made an attempt to bolster the nutrition guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Under the new guidelines, for instance, school lunches would be limited to one cup of starchy vegetables a week and the ability of schools to count tomato sauce on pizza towards their fruit and vegetables requirement would be scaled back. But House Republicans, in a new spending plan unveiled yesterday, have done away with those changes:

The spending bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The department’s proposed guidelines would have attempted to prevent that.

The changes had been requested by food companies that produce frozen pizzas, the salt industry and potato growers. Some conservatives in Congress have called the push for healthier foods an overreach, saying the government shouldn’t be telling children what to eat.

According to a bill summary released by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, these provisions are meant to “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations.” What they will actually do is ensure that a steady flow of dollars continues toward certain favored food manufacturers, at the expense of children’s health.

“We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program,” said Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness, a group advocating for healthier school lunches. “It doesn’t take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”

via House GOP Classifies Pizza As A Vegetable To ‘Prevent Overly Burdensome’ School Lunch Regulations | ThinkProgress.

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November 15, 2011 · 8:57 pm

Colin Powell: Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations Are ‘As American As Apple Pie’

Seems he’s in the minority on this- at least among the GOP.

Mayor Bloomberg certainly doesn’t seem to agree with this opinion…

 

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are “as American as apple pie,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a recent interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. According to Powell, there is plenty of justification for the movement’s outrage, but also some reason for concern over its direction.

Powell began by recalling his upbringing in Harlem and the Bronx at a time when his parents didn’t make much, but were at least able to find stable employment.

“I don’t think either of them ever made more than 50 or 60 dollars a week,” Powell said. “Both my parents worked for as long as I can remember, they always worked, they always had work.”

But this sort of job stability is no longer present, the retired four-star Army general said, a fact that is now serving as a catalyzing force for the Occupy movement.

“People are concerned now that there is not that source of an income, there isn’t that work source that I remember,” Powell continued. “What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.”

via Colin Powell: Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations Are ‘As American As Apple Pie’.

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November 10, 2011 · 8:29 pm

Robert Reich: The Corporate Pledge of Allegiance

Another brilliant article from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich….

Click the link at the bottom to see his actual proposed “pledge” for the Corporations:

Words of Wisdom from RobertReich.org:

Despite what the Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say, corporations aren’t people. (I’ll believe they are when Georgia and Texas start executing them.)

The Court thinks corporations have First Amendment rights to spend as much as they want on politics, and Romney (and most of his fellow Regressives) think they need lower taxes and fewer regulations in order to be competitive.

These positions are absurd on their face. By flooding our democracy with their shareholders’ money, big corporations are violating their shareholders’ First Amendment rights because shareholders aren’t consulted. They’re simultaneously suppressing the First Amendment rights of the rest of us because, given how much money they’re throwing around, we don’t have enough money to be heard.

And they’re indirectly giving non-Americans (that is, all their foreign owners, investors, and executives) a say in how Americans are governed. Pardon me for being old-fashioned but I didn’t think foreign money was supposed to be funneled into American elections.

Romney’s belief big corporations need more money and lower costs in order to create jobs is equally baffling. Big corporations are now sitting on $2 trillion of cash and enjoying near-record profits. The ratio of profits to wages is higher than it’s been since before the Great Depression. And a larger and larger portion of those profits are going to top executives. (CEO pay was 40 times the typical worker in the 1980s; it’s now upwards of 300 times.)

MORE:   Robert Reich (The Corporate Pledge of Allegiance).

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