Tag Archives: GOP

August 18, 2011 · 10:30 pm

*Government* Jobs Led To Perry’s Texas Economic Boom

Governor Goodhair is not going to like this little bit of information from TalkingPointsMemo.com:

On the campaign trail, governor Rick Perry will claim credit for the so-called Texas miracle. His state weathered the housing and jobs crises better than many others, and he’ll happily tell voters it was the result of his small government conservative approach to running things.

But his state’s relative success has a lot to do with things out of his control — population growth resulting from an influx of immigrants from Mexico and of workers and retirees from other U.S. states, and high oil company profits, to name just a couple. Oh, and also federal stimulus.

What’s that you say?!

Despite being one of the loudest critics of President Obama’s stimulus, Perry used billions of dollars of federal money to patch Texas’ budget shortfalls, and was thus able to create and maintain lots and lots of public sector jobs. In fact, if you look at net job creation between 2007 and 2010, it’s clear the only thing keeping Texas buoyant was government jobs.

via CHART OF THE DAY: *Government* Jobs Led To Perry’s Economic Boom | TPMDC.

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August 18, 2011 · 7:20 pm

American Idiots: How Washington is Destroying the Economy

Interesting article in “Fortune” magazine written by a soon-to-be ex-Republican.

Even the Business community and Wall Street are getting fed up with the Tea Party Republicans running the show in Washington and acting like spoiled children.

And these guys live in fear of the party nominating one of the extremist like Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry.  They don’t recognize the existence of Sarah Palin or little Ricky Santorum.

These are the guys who supported George W Bush and the other Republicans in the past because they served their financial interests.  They don’t give a damn about social issues.

Now, the GOP is dependent on the Tea Party followers, who are economically ignorant, racist and irresponsible and the Religious Right, who these guys despise.

They are wondering where all their friends, the Country Club Republicans, went….

I have an answer:  They are now Democrats.

From Fortune.com:

 

The root of our current problem is that there are no grownups in positions of serious power in Washington. I’ve never felt this way before — and I’ve written business stories for more than 40 years, and about national finances for more than 20. Look, I certainly don’t worship Washington institutions. I called former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan the “Wizard of Oz” when he was known as the “Maestro.” I’ve said for more than a decade that the Social Security trust fund had no economic value and would be useless when the system’s cash flow turned negative — which I also predicted. But despite being an irreverent professional skeptic, I never felt there was a total absence of adult supervision in our nation’s capital. Now I do.

via American Idiots: How Washington is destroying the economy – The Term Sheet: Fortune’s deals blog Term Sheet.

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August 17, 2011 · 6:09 pm

Hightower: There’s a ‘very ugly side’ to Rick Perry

Interesting comments from Texas populist/progressive Jim Hightower….

It’s really kind of scary that he considers Perry to be like George Bush “without the intelligence or the ethics”.

As I said earlier, I expect Rick Perry to fizzle- if not explode.

And the Establishment GOP seems to be living in fear that he won’t.

Remember one thing:  Karl Rove and the Bushies do not like Rick Perry.  Rick Perry does not want people to know this….Rove has already hit him once over his comments this weekend about Ben Bernanke.  Keep an eye on this dynamic.

Instead of Texas seceding, as Governor Goodhair suggested a while back, the Texas GOP may be on the verge of it’s own Civil War.

 

Although the presence of Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican presidential primary may be looked upon warmly in the press these days, don’t expect that to last. Speaking with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Tuesday, populist author and Texas Observer contributor Jim Hightower cautioned that there’s a “very ugly side” to Perry that won’t be relatively unknown for long.

“They say the higher the monkey climbs, the more you see its ugly side,” Hightower said. “Well, Perry’s got a very ugly side. He’s going to get the kind of media scrutiny that he’s not had.”

“Republicans get a two’fer with him. One, they get one of the furthest-out of the far-out tea party right-wingers, sort of a Michele Bachmann with better hair. And also though, they get the real Perry, which is the exuberant, corporate Republican who never met a corporate lobbyist he wouldn’t hug as long as that lobbyist had a campaign check and a wish list.

“He really is kind of a George Bush plutocrat without the intelligence or the ethics. That’s the real Perry, is really going to be the corporate Perry. That’s the kind of governorship he has run.”

via Hightower: There’s a ‘very ugly side’ to Rick Perry | Raw Replay.

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August 17, 2011 · 5:04 pm

Tea Party Less Popular than Muslims and Atheists

Someone needs to tell this to the GOP….

But then, I suspect they know, but can’t do anything about it since they sold their soul to the Tea Party.

The Tea Party is now the Republican base.

But then, it always was….we’ve just seen behind the curtain now.

From today’s New York Times.  Emphasis mine:

Polls show that disapproval of the Tea Party is climbing. In April 2010, a New York Times/CBS News survey found that 18 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of it, 21 percent had a favorable opinion and 46 percent had not heard enough. Now, 14 months later, Tea Party supporters have slipped to 20 percent, while their opponents have more than doubled, to 40 percent.

Of course, politicians of all stripes are not faring well among the public these days. But in data we have recently collected, the Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like “atheists” and “Muslims.” Interestingly, one group that approaches it in unpopularity is the Christian Right.

MORE:   Crashing the Tea Party – NYTimes.com.

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August 16, 2011 · 6:26 pm

Perry Dismisses Bush Comparisons

Yep, another example of Governor Goodhair’s striking wit and intelligence….

From Taegen Goddard’s Political Wire:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said it was unfair to make comparisons between himself and former president George W. Bush, CNN reports, noting that “I am Rick Perry and he is George Bush. And our records are quite different.”

Asked what the biggest difference is, Perry responded: “I went to Texas A&M. He went to Yale.”

He did not answer when pressed to name a policy difference.

via Perry Dismisses Bush Comparisons.

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August 16, 2011 · 5:28 pm

Bachmann Wishes Elvis Happy Birthday on Death Date

Jesus Christ….

But I shouldn’t say that or she’ll wish him a Happy Birthday on Easter….

Michelle Bachmann has no clue when it comes to any cultural references.  She can’t get anything right- including hiring a competent staff to research these things for her and protect her from herself….

From Jim Davenport at The Associated Press:

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann got her Elvis Presley dates all shook up during a campaign stop in South Carolina.

The congresswoman from Minnesota played the Elvis tune “Promised Land” on Tuesday at a restaurant in Spartanburg, and told the crowd of 300 that she wanted to say happy birthday to the King of Rock and Roll.

But Aug. 16 is the anniversary of Elvis’ death, in 1977, and someone in the crowd shouted back, “He died today!”

Bachmann didn’t respond and launched into her speech.

Bachmann has stumbled over cultural references before. In June, she kicked off her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, calling it the home of American actor John Wayne. The town was actually home for a time to serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

via The Associated Press: Bachmann wishes Elvis happy birthday on death date.

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August 16, 2011 · 8:08 am

Rick Perry: This Picture Should Kill Those Rumors…..

I can’t help myself…

Saw this at DailyKos and have to post it myself….

Rick Perry at the Iowa State Fair…

No further comment coming from me….

Talk amongst yourselves!

MORE:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/15/1007248/-GOP-candidates-gone-wild!-(Or,-TMI-inAmes)?via=blog_1

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August 16, 2011 · 7:53 am

21 Reasons Rick Perry’s Texas Is a Complete Disaster | | AlterNet

Rick Perry, aka Governor GoodHair, is the gift that keeps on giving….

There’s almost as much to write about him as there is for Sarah Palin…

From Joshua Holland at Alternet.com:

Rick Perry’s road to the White House will be paved with spin and blatant lies of omission. He’s basing his entire campaign on a single data-point: Texas, with 10 percent of the country’s population, has produced 37 percent of net new jobs in the U.S. since the recovery.

That kernel of truth, as I noted recently, is mostly a result of a massive increase in the state’s population – much of it due to Hispanic immigration. Texas’ unemployment rate has actually risen even as those jobs were being created. Texas also leads the nation in creating crappy minimum wage jobs without benefits – the number of minimum wage workers increased by 150 percent between 2007 and 2010.

He also lucked into a boom in energy prices in his oil and gas-rich state – another factor having nothing to do with his governance.

Under Perry, endless tax breaks for politically connected Texas corporations helped create a massive budget deficit that Perry first addressed with federal stimulus funds – money from a program he decried as a “misguided” desire “to spend our children’s inheritance” — and then by cutting spending on education and the state’s already threadbare social services to the bone. With the exception of a few economic basket-cases like Mississippi, Texas is way ahead of the pack in the race to the bottom.

MORE:  http://www.alternet.org/story/152037/21_reasons_rick_perry%27s_texas_is_a_complete_disaster?akid=7406.275643.WRtvhl&rd=1&t=12

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August 15, 2011 · 10:45 pm

Is Rick Perry Gay? Googlers Want to Know

Seems like lots of people are asking this on Google….

The rumors have been around for years, but no proof….

If you want to read the unsubstantiated rumors, you can Google them yourselves…

Seems like everyone else is….

You can bet the media will be digging into this again…

Especially since he is so publicly, vehemently anti-gay….

Time will tell….

From Tech President (interesting chart if you click the link):

The top search phrase for the query “Is Rick Perry…” is “Is Rick Perry Gay,” Google Suggest tells us.

via Is Rick Perry Gay? Googlers Want to Know | techPresident.

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August 15, 2011 · 10:12 pm

Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House: CNN

Scary, Scary article from James Moore at CNN.com….

Governor Goodhair is by far the most frightening of the possible GOP nominees.  He’s ruthless, campaigns very well, is telegenic and from the State that  gave us George W. Bush.  I also suspect he is the pick of the Corporations and the Rich who don’t think Romney or any of the other lunatics can beat President Obama.  They also want to use his religious zealotry to use the Religious Right again.

I can see how they are thinking:  Supporter of Corporations and the Rich.  Check.  Christian Conservative- at least on face value- check.  Looks good on TV and print media.  Check.  And so on….

I think Mr Moore has some valid points, but there is a lot about Rick Perry that has not yet been exposed to the national media….

However, if he is the nominee, it will be the nastiest, most brutal Presidential campaign we have ever seen….

My gut tells me he will fizzle out as time goes by, but I could be wrong as well…

Editor’s note: James Moore is a Texas-based Emmy award-winning former national TV news correspondent and co-author of the best-seller, “Bush’s Brain.”

Austin, Texas (CNN) — As a resident of Texas for 36 years, I keep wondering why the rest of the nation pays any attention to our political and cultural absurdities and yet still chooses Texans as presidents. Our most revered historical moment, the Alamo, was arguably a mass suicide. The slaughter in San Antonio was followed by a massacre at Goliad, the fall of the Confederacy to Union forces, and later by the Houston Astros. Texas has a legacy of losing.

None of this apparently matters, though, because America is beginning the process of electing another Texan to be president. Gigantic tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, a trumped up war and a ruined economy from the last Texan seem incapable of dissuading supporters of Rick Perry.

His Saturday speech in South Carolina will make clear that he is entering the race for the White House and will spawn the ugliest and most expensive presidential race in U.S. history, and he will win. A C and D student, who hates to govern, loves to campaign, and barely has a sixth grader’s understanding of economics, will lead our nation into oblivion.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

via Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House – CNN.com.

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