Tag Archives: GOP

June 22, 2011 · 11:11 pm

Big Worries About GOP Taking Control

Seems like people may finally be starting to wise up…..

From Political Wire:

A new Bloomberg Poll finds 49% of respondents said they’re worried about Republicans gaining control of the White House and Congress and following through on pledges to slash funding for Medicare and Medicaid, outnumbering the 40% who said they are concerned about another term for Obama and a continuation of current spending policies.

Among independents, 47% said they are worried about a Republican takeover compared with 37% who are concerned about maintaining the status quo.

via Worries About GOP Taking Control.

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June 22, 2011 · 8:17 pm

Rick Perry Gay Rumors: Governor’s Aides Prepared To Tackle Allegations

This was quite the buzz a few years ago in Texas and on the internet…

I truly hope it’s not true.  I don’t want him in my Club….

From The Huffington Post:

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s camp is prepared to tackle unfounded rumors dating back to as early as 2004 about the Lone Star State Republican’s personal life should he run for president and the allegations resurface, according to Politico.

Roughly seven years ago, Perry himself addressed the unsubstantiated buzz that he and his wife planned to divorce and that he was gay. He denied the rumors and told the Austin American-Statesman at the time that he was the victim of a “smear campaign” being conducted by his political enemies. The AP reported in March of 2004:

Perry said the rumors “are not correct in any shape, form or fashion. These are irresponsible. They’re salacious. They’re hurtful to my family.”

…

“I don’t think a rumor can just get to critical mass by itself,” Perry said. “I think you have to have a well thought-out, organized effort to disseminate that kind of information and keep it going day after day after day after day.”

According to Politico:

The crusted-over rumors were in the ether among some attendees at a dinner hosted last week by the Manhattan County GOP, where Perry gave the keynote speech.

…

But Team Perry, asked about how it’s prepared to handle them when they emerge if he runs, said it remains “false and misleading.”

It remains to be seen whether Perry will jump into the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. After previously denying he had any intention of entering the primary election contest, the Texas Governor recently signaled interest in pursuing a campaign for the White House.

via Rick Perry Gay Rumors: Governor’s Aides Prepared To Tackle Allegations Should They Resurface: Report.

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June 22, 2011 · 7:12 pm

Sarah Palin Baffles and Frustrates Fans By Quitting Bus Tour

Two Points:

1.  She never finishes anything she starts.  She reminds me of my Mother….

2.  She has no interest in doing anything unless someone is paying attention to her and will do anything to get people to pay attention to her.    Also, just like my Mother…

Oh…My….God….

It’s all coming together now….

From Salon.com:

Sarah Palin quit her cross-country bus tour (or PAC-funded family vacation) about one region into the country. Everyone is so used to her quitting things that no one really noticed. Life went on. Jon Huntsman ran for president. Rick Perry preemptively denied gay rumors.

But Scott Conroy at RealClearPolitics wondered what happened to the tour that was supposed to be heading through the Midwest and Southwest at some point in this rapidly ending month. It seems like Sarah Palin just went home to Alaska, to eat salmon or something.

“As Palin enjoys her sojourn to the 49th state, she has not reconnected with key early-state figures like Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and she may have jeopardized whatever political momentum she gained from her recent reemergence in the 2012 discussion. Her political action committee’s website still greets visitors with a stale banner, announcing the nationwide bus tour beginning “[t]his Sunday, May 29th.”

Just give it another month, and she’ll come up with some other scheme to briefly convince everyone that she’s running for president again. She feeds on the attention! (And the PAC donations.) That documentary about how she used to not be so awful before she got famous is going to show in Iowa soon. That’ll definitely mean something.

Palin is probably just putting off the decision to run for president until it’s too late for her to run for president, because, like so many of us, she is undisciplined and lazy. There’s no grand plan, here: just indecision and procrastination

via Sarah Palin baffles and frustrates fans by quitting bus tour – War Room – Salon.com.

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June 15, 2011 · 10:18 pm

Michele Bachmann’s Irrational Fears: Lesbians, Her Constituents, Former Nuns and, Perhaps, Her Sister…

I really hope people realize this woman is a nut case….

But I don’t take anything for granted anymore.

I seriously have to question her mental stability if she behaves like this with her constituents…

Can you imagine if, horror of horrors, she actually was President and had to deal with difficult or complex matters on the World Stage?

In comparison, she almost makes Sarah Palin look sane.

Almost….

Sarah Palin may be a tacky, money-mad, egomaniacal opportunist, but she’s merely ignorant and power crazy, not certifiably crazy…

What is the world coming to when I have to consider the faint possibility that either of these two might be the nominee of a major political party for the job of President of the United States?

Or,  god forbid, President…

I’m glad I started drinking again….

From Michelle Goldberg at TheDailyBeast.com:

In April 2005, Pamela Arnold wanted to talk to her state senator, Michele Bachmann, who was then running for Congress. A 46-year-old who worked at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Arnold lived with her partner, the famed Arctic explorer Ann Bancroft, on a farm in Scandia, Minnesota. Bachmann was then leading the fight against gay marriage in the state. She’d recently been in the news for hiding in the bushes to observe a gay-rights rally at the Capitol. So when members of the Scandia gay community decided to attend one of Bachmann’s constituent forums, Arnold, wanting to make herself visible to her representative, joined them.

A few dozen people showed up at the town hall for the April 9 event, and Bachmann greeted them warmly. But when, during the question and answer session, the topic turned to same-sex marriage, Bachmann ended the meeting 20 minutes early and rushed to the bathroom. Hoping to speak to her, Arnold and another middle-aged woman, a former nun, followed her. As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. “Help!” she screamed. “Help! I’m being held against my will!”

Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was “absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her.” The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, “It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann.”

Lots of politicians talk about a sinister homosexual agenda. Bachmann, who has made opposition to gay rights a cornerstone of her career, seems genuinely to believe in one. Her conviction trumps even her once close relationship with her lesbian stepsister. “What an amazing imagination,” marvels Arnold. “Her ideology is so powerful that she can construct a reality just on a moment’s notice.”

via Michele Bachmann’s Unrivaled Extremism: Gay Rights to Religion – The Daily Beast.

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June 15, 2011 · 10:43 am

The G.O.P. Presidential Debate

Every time I look at the current field of Republican Presidential Candidates, all I can think about is the old Cher song “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.”

No one is really paying much attention right now, but this really is a pathetic group of candidates.

But then, the GOP has become a pretty sorry excuse for a Political Party with its focus on bigotry, ignorance and lies….

From the New York Times Editorial Page:

 

Monday’s Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire — full of historical error, economic obfuscation, avoidance of hard truths and even outright bigotry — was a feast for connoisseurs of political dysfunction. Desperate to avoid being outflanked on the right, the seven candidates tried so hard to outdo each other in finding fault with President Obama that they seemed to forget that they are competing for the same party nomination. By evening’s end, they had melted into an indistinguishable mass of privatizing, tax-cutting opponents of Shariah law.

For the moment, the candidates are appealing to a Republican Party whose core is so contorted in fury at Mr. Obama that it barely resembles the one that nominated George W. Bush in 2000. Mr. Bush may have prosecuted the war on terror to excess, but he always reminded the country that it was not at war with Islam. This batch of Republicans has dispensed with such niceties. Herman Cain repeated his earlier statement that he would not be comfortable with a Muslim in his cabinet. Some, he explained, “are trying to kill us.”

None of the other candidates took him to task for this. Mitt Romney, a Mormon who has himself been the subject of religious slurs, at least mentioned the nation’s founding principle of religious tolerance and respect but missed an opportunity to include Muslims. Newt Gingrich tumbled over the historical cliff with the idea, announcing some kind of loyalty oath to serve in his administration, similar to that used in dealing with Nazis and Communists. At least no one brandished a list of known Muslims serving in Mr. Obama’s State Department.

via The G.O.P. Presidential Debate – NYTimes.com.

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June 14, 2011 · 1:02 pm

House Republicans Cut Food Assistance For Low-Income Families While Protecting Azaleas

I mean, I love azaleas, but really…..

From HuffingtonPost.com:

If you’re an azalea at the National Arboretum, you’re in luck — a Republican on the House Appropriations Committee is looking out for you. If you’re a woman, infant or child, however, you’re on your own.

Slipped into the FY 2012 agriculture appropriations bill that the House is expected to take up today is an unusual provision on page 13 requiring the National Arboretum to maintain a very specific portion of its azalea collection.

“The Committee directs the National Arboretum to maintain its National Boxwood Collection and the Glenn Dale Hillside portion of the Azalea Collection,” reads the bill. “The Committee encourages the National Arboretum to work collaboratively with supporters of the National Arboretum to raise additional funds to ensure the long-term viability of these and other important collections.”

While azaleas are being carefully tended to, the bill would cut $832 million from a program that provides food assistance to low-income mothers and children. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the reduction could result in as many as 475,000 people being turned away from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) if food prices continue to rise.

“Everyday people across the country leave their homes in search of work, only to return at the end of the day with more worries and less hope,” said Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), the agriculture subcommittee’s ranking member. “At a time that people continue to struggle to make ends meet, Republicans want to cut funding to food programs that are helping put food on the tables of those most in need.”

“Governing is about choices. It is clear where the House majority’s priorities lie — and it is not with those of the American people,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), a strong WIC advocate, in a statement. “These cuts are unconscionable and will not only hurt families trying to survive, but also hurt our economy.”

“We understand that we have an obligation to get our fiscal house in order,” added Farr. “And Democrats are ready to work with our friends across the isle to make that happen, but not by discriminately targeting those most in need.”

Azalea upkeep isn’t the only unusual measure in the bill:

via House Republicans Cut Food Assistance For Low-Income Families While Protecting Azaleas.

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June 11, 2011 · 5:00 pm

How to Sabotage a Recovery – The Great Recession – Salon.com

I think History will identify this as the key mistake of the Obama Presidency:  Letting the GOP set the debate on cost cutting during a time we needed the government to invest to grow jobs and the economy.  It’s the same mistake FDR initially made…not to mention Herbert Hoover.  But FDR recovered and I’m still hopeful Obama will, too.

I’ve also finally decided the Republicans are nothing short of evil and are certainly unpatriotic.  They are almost reaching the point of treason in their quest to destroy the Middle Class.

Their goal really is to sabotage the Economic Recovery in order to gain Political Power- then to use that power only to serve the Rich and the Corporate Elite.  The GOP certainly isn’t focused on what is good for the Country as a whole…

And I don’t know what President Obama is thinking to let them get away with this…

I think he should start by listening less to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and more to Nobel-Prize-Winning Economist Paul Krugman….

Or maybe do something novel, for Washington, like listen to the people.

Polls show the people want jobs, safe Social Security and Medicare and most don’t really give a damn about the deficits right now…

Only the GOP and the Tea Party are talking deficits…

From Salon.com:

Regarding the economy, Obama has let his opponents set the terms of debate, resulting in widespread public confusion. Consider, for example, the following two paragraphs from a recent Newsweek/Daily Beast article called “America the Angry”:

“By almost 4-to-1, Americans say our economy is not delivering the jobs we need, 81 percent to 12 percent.

“And Obama isn’t helping. Fifty percent of respondents think the president has no real plan to balance the budget; 40 percent say he does.”

Balance the budget during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? Should Obama repeat Franklin D. Roosevelt’s bad mistake of 1937, when “budget hawks” prevailed, very nearly stifling the New Deal?

That’s certainly what the GOP wants. Whether leading Republicans actually believe that returning to the economic practices of the 1920s would be good for the nation is hard to say. Some may be pretending.

The House’s freshman contingent appears sincerely misguided. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asks sarcastically if what Tea Partyers want is a low-tax, limited government haven of conservative religious values like … Pakistan.

Not really. What most have in mind is something more like the Deep South of the 1950s — an imagined paradise with comfortable “aristocrats,” a timid middle class, and beaten-down peasants at each other’s throats.

Many of them probably saw “The Andy Griffith Show” as a documentary.

via How to sabotage a recovery – Great Recession | Economic Recession, Economic Crisis – Salon.com.

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June 11, 2011 · 3:00 pm

The GOP’s CIA Playbook: Destabilize Country to Sweep Back Into Power

For a Party that talks incessantly about Patriotism, this is a pretty sick political philosophy.  But, most of us know by now, “Hypocrisy, they name is Republicans.”

I can’t agree with AlterNet.com more on this article:

Modern Republicans have a simple approach to politics when they are not in the White House: Make America as ungovernable as possible by using almost any means available, from challenging the legitimacy of opponents to spreading lies and disinformation to sabotaging the economy.

Over the past four decades or so, the Republicans have simply not played by the old give-and-take rules of politics. Indeed, if one were to step back and assess this Republican approach, what you would see is something akin to how the CIA has destabilized target countries, especially those that seek to organize themselves in defiance of capitalist orthodoxy.

via .AlterNet.com

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June 9, 2011 · 10:37 pm

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Fights Regulations On Penis-Deforming Chemicals

Today’s Penis Post…

Seems to be the Theme of the Week.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce really has come out of the closet.  They used to be a respected organization, but they are really destroying that image quickly as they aggressively and openly push their far right agenda.

Their moto seems to be Corporations First, People Last….

At least it’s getting easier to call attention to their blatant disregard for average people.  Or people period.  Unless they are Rich.  Or a Corporation.

Remember:  Thanks to the Roberts Supreme Court, Corporations are people, too, now…

Very Important People.  They’ve pretty much bought the government with the Chamber of Commerce in the vanguard.

From ThinkProgress.org:

As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — one of the largest and most influential big business lobbying groups in the world — fired a letter off to Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, telling him to block the regulation of extremely toxic chemicals in consumer plastics. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the dangers of such chemicals, the chamber letter declares that that EPA “lacks the sound regulatory science needed to meet the statutory threshold for a restriction or ban of the targeted chemicals.”

A wide body of scientific research has linked these chemicals, including phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA), to declining birth rates, stillbirths, and an increasing number of birth defects. Many of the chemicals under review for increased regulation have already been banned in Europe and Canada.

In fact, studies have shown that these plastic chemicals are directly linked to an alarming rate of male genital birth defects such as hypospadias, a condition in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside, rather than at the end, of the penis. A report by the Center for American Progress’ Reese Rushing details many other risks associated with the chemicals slated for regulation.

The Chamber letter to Sunstein is signed by chief lobbyist Bill Kovacs. Why is Kovacs fighting so aggressively to continue to allow birth defect and miscarriage-causing chemicals to be used in household items and food containers? Perhaps it is because the Chamber is heavily funded by some of the largest plastics manufacturers in America. According to investigations by the New York Times and ThinkProgress, Dow Chemical and Proctor & Gamble have contributed millions to the Chamber’s war chest in recent years.

via U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Fights Regulations On Penis-Deforming Chemicals | ThinkProgress.

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June 9, 2011 · 6:26 pm

Democratic Party Affiliation Grows

See what happens when the GOP declares War on Medicare?

If the Dems will only hold fast in defending Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while the Republicans continue to try to destroy them, they will become the majority Party for the foreseeable future…..

As long as the economy doesn’t crash…

From Taegen Goddard’s Political Wire:

A new Gallup poll finds 45% of Americans identified as Democrats last month as compared to 39% who identified as Republicans.

The six-point Democratic edge is the largest measured since October 2009, when the gap was seven points.

via Democratic Party Affiliation Grows.

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