Tag Archives: Tea Party

March 14, 2011 · 9:19 pm

Daily Kos: How the Democrats Brought Back the GOP

I’ve said many times lately, the biggest threat to the Democratic Party is the Democratic Party.

They don’t seem to know how to fight, how to get out a message or how to stand on principle.

So they look like they don’t have any fight, any message or any principles.

And they just don’t seem to get it….

Here is a great article from Mark Sumner at DailyKos on how, after being destroyed in the 2008 elections, the GOP came back to take control of the House in 2010.

And it may only get worse…

What happened in 2010? Poll after poll showed that Americans still held Republicans more to blame for the failure of the economy, still liked them less than the Democrats. The public agreed with Democratic ideas, favored progressive positions on issues across the board. Only that same public voted for Republicans.

Why? Because at least the Republicans seemed to know what they stood for. They weren’t afraid to put out their message and not treat it like a poor relative they were embarrassed to know. They didn’t volunteer to compromise their convictions before negotiations even started.

Compromise is not evil. America is built on the idea of compromise. But compromise is not a principle, it’s just a tactic. One that can be used wisely, or poorly. Democrats seemed willing to compromise on everything, which made it hard to believe that Democrats really believed in anything. Politically, that’s about as attractive as a possum that’s been run over by a semi.

More:   Daily Kos: And have not love.

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March 14, 2011 · 7:34 pm

Top 10 most shocking spending cuts Republicans voted for | The Raw Story

People really need to be paying attention…

Instead of taxing Millionaires and Corporations at an appropriate level, the GOP wants to decimate important Government programs.

Here is another list- on top of some of the other cuts I’ve already listed…

From Rawstory.com:

House Republicans recently passed over $60 billion in spending cuts from current levels for fiscal 2011, pitched as necessary to reduce the massive budget deficit.

From disaster relief funding to aid fr abused women, the GOP went after the government’s 2011 budget with a zeal it normally reserves for tax cuts. Though the Democratic-led Senate rejected the proposal, here are some of the most shocking programs Republicans voted to slash.

1) The National Weather Service

The bill stripped $126 million from the Natural Weather Service, the agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tasked with preparing us for natural disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, blizzards, floods and fires.

It’s the same agency that issued a tsunami warning Friday for people on the West Coast after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake devastated Japan. The measure cut a total of $454.3 million from NOAA operations, research and facilities.

2) Emergency Oil Reserves

The GOP budget plan slashed $120.2 million from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a critical source of emergency oil supplies in case flow is interrupted.

 

In the wake of the earthquake in Japan, President Barack Obama said the US is “prepared to tap” into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “should the situation demand it.”

3) Assistance For Firefighters

$510 million was axed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s grants for firefighters, part of a broader $1.5 billion cut to various FEMA programs.

4) Communication Among Emergency Responders

The Law Enforcement Wireless Communications office took a $70 million cut — it’s responsible for facilitating “secure, reliable and interoperable” communications to help with “counterterrorism, counterintelligence, law enforcement and emergency response.”

According to the New York Times, an improved capacity for public safety officers across different jurisdictions to effectively communicate with each other would have dramatically helped first responders on 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

5) Oversight Of Financial Markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, tasked with overseeing derivative swaps and financial instruments, saw a $56.8 billion cut in the GOP plan. The financial crisis of 2008-09 is believed to have been caused by a lack of effective oversight. (President Obama wants to increase CFTC’s funding.)

6) Prosecution Of Financial Crimes

In the wake of Bernie Madoff, and after big banks apparently got away with suckering people into predatory loans, Republicans voted to cut $2.1 million from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

7) Helping Women Escape Domestic Abuse

MORE:   Top 10 most shocking spending cuts Republicans voted for | The Raw Story.

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March 14, 2011 · 7:19 pm

The Primary Process Might Help Sarah Palin – TheHill.com

Run, Sarah, Run!

It would be a dream come true for Sarah Palin to be the GOP nominee.

By any poll numbers out there, she is not electable.

This would be the best thing that could happen for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

From former New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg in “The Hill”:

Because the nominating process has become so dominated by primary elections, with the vast majority of the delegates chosen by direct vote, it is entirely possible that with no presumptive winner or even favorites, a candidate who runs second or third in a great many primaries could go into the convention with a sizable block of delegates.

Who would this favor? Does Sarah Palin come to mind? Although she is not viewed by most as strong enough to win, she is viewed by many as a person worth voting for to make a statement. And primaries tend to be populated by people who go to the polls with the purpose of making a statement.

Finishing second and third isn’t really a big deal — until you get enough delegates to be the nominee. And picking a nominee who it seems would be easily defeated by President Obama might not be the best statement.

via GREGG: Sadly, the primary process might help Sarah Palin – TheHill.com.

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March 13, 2011 · 8:54 pm

Daily Kos: Assault on student voting: Just the latest GOP overreach

I do hope people are paying attention to all this…

This is a great summary of the GOP over reach from DailyKos:

Just like the all-out conservative assault on women and on public employee unions, this new assault on the voting rights of our youth is an example of the type of overreach that will once again doom the GOP to minority status in the years to come. Voters were frustrated with Democrats in 2010 that not enough progress had been made on jobs. They did not vote for the GOP because they truly wanted to see the elimination of the labor movement, access to birth control, and voting rights for college students. The biggest mistake made by conservative politicians is a fundamental belief that their skill in messaging and winning elections truly translates into real support for their actual policy ideas. If they keep going down this road, they will soon find out the truth—the hard way.

via Daily Kos: Assault on student voting: Just the latest GOP overreach.

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March 11, 2011 · 5:43 pm

Dem Senator: Republicans brewing ‘toxic tea’ that will ‘bring shame to our country’ | Raw Replay

All I can say is “Amen”…..

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on Thursday excoriated Republicans for taking their cues from the tea party movement, which he deemed to be pushing “dangerous” spending cuts that will “create pain for our children” and “shame” America.

“Here in Congress, tea party activists have seized control of the Republican side of the aisle—and it is far from a tea party for lots of jobless people and those qualified to study in college but unable to pay the freight,” Lautenberg said.

“Now that they are in power, we see they’re brewing Toxic Tea—a dangerous concoction that will create pain for our children and bring shame to our country.  We know that cutting critical programs now brings sky-high prices later—in more illnesses and a less-educated society. So we look at the future and we say we must invest in our children, our environment and medical research. But every time, they say: ‘No.’”

The New Jersey Democrat tore into the slew of Republican spending cuts, which include deep cuts to education, medical research, and women’s health services.

via Dem Senator: Republicans brewing ‘toxic tea’ that will ‘bring shame to our country’ | Raw Replay.

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March 11, 2011 · 5:37 pm

Trend or Fluke-Independents Want the Government to Do More, Not Less

It will be interesting to see if this trend holds…

A clear majority want more government intervention, not less…

This will make the Tea Party Crowd crazy since it is coming from the Murdoch owned, Republican leaning Wall Street Journal’s poll.

All the publicity about the good programs the GOP is trying to cut may be making people realize how much good the government actually does…

I hope the trend holds…

From the Cook Report and the National Journal:

However, in the latest NBC/WSJ poll of 1,000 adults (including 200 by cellphone; overall margin of error plus or minus 3.1 points), conducted from February 24-28, 51 percent of respondents said the government-should do more and 46 percent said the government was doing too much. One could conclude that the antigovernment bandwagon certainly isn’t picking up speed.

More important—and I have to give NBC Political Director Chuck Todd credit for pointing this out to me—independents shifted significantly. In the February survey, 47 percent of independents said the government was doing too much, compared with 60 percent who said so last October. Independents who said the government should do more jumped 13 points, from 38 percent to 51 percent.

via NationalJournal.com – The Cook Report: Trend or Fluke? – Friday, March 11, 2011.

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March 9, 2011 · 10:48 pm

ThinkProgress » Schumer’s Deficit Reduction Steps: Millionaires Tax, Prevent Corporate Tax Dodging, Cut Wasteful Subsidies

Of course this will fail…

It makes too much sense for Congress to pass it….

 

First, Schumer revived his proposal from last year to institute a surtax on millionaires and billionaires. “I must say I noted with interest that in last week’s Wall Street Journal-NBC poll, the most popular proposal to reduce the deficit — out of 23 options surveyed — was a surtax on millionaires and billionaires,” he said.

Schumer also promoted closing the tax gap by cracking down on tax dodging and income sheltering by big corporations. “There is much we can do in the tax code to crack down on cheaters and vastly improve compliance,” he said. “Any credible deficit plan should tackle the so-called ‘tax gap’ — the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid — which has gotten as high as over $300 billion a year this past decade.”

He also advocated cutting the wasteful subsidies that are handed out every year to industries, including the oil and gas industries, that don’t need them. Schumer expanded on these ideas in an interview today with ThinkProgress:

“All these kinds of subsidies should be on the table, but the one that sticks out like a sore thumb is oil and gas because the entire rationale for it is gone. It was passed, I think, when the price of oil was $17 a barrel, we had low production, and now of course, the price of oil is $100 a barrel. The subsidy, in economic terms, doesn’t mean anything other than to make some people wealthy who are already wealthy.”

via ThinkProgress » Schumer’s Deficit Reduction Steps: Millionaires Tax, Prevent Corporate Tax Dodging, Cut Wasteful Subsidies.

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March 8, 2011 · 9:14 pm

Fox and Glenn Beck Stare Into a Dark Future – NYTimes.com

I knew Dusty Rhodes would wear thin eventually….

Mr. Beck, a conservative Jeremiah and talk-radio phenomenon, burst into television prominence in 2009 by taking the forsaken 5 p.m. slot on Fox News and turning it into a juggernaut. A conjurer of conspiracies who spotted sedition everywhere he looked, Mr. Beck struck a big chord and ended up on the cover of Time magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and held rallies all over the country that were mobbed with acolytes. He achieved unheard-of ratings, swamped the competition and at times seemed to threaten the dominion of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity at Fox.

But a funny thing happened on the way from the revolution. Since last August, when he summoned more than 100,000 followers to the Washington mall for the “Restoring Honor” rally, Mr. Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox — a greater percentage drop than other hosts at Fox. True, he fell from the great heights of the health care debate in January 2010, but there has been worrisome erosion — more than one million viewers — especially in the younger demographic.

via Fox and Glenn Beck Stare Into a Dark Future – NYTimes.com.

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March 8, 2011 · 8:51 pm

Has Walker’s Giant Overreach Screwed Republicans? 3 Major Mistakes That Might Sink the GOP in November | | AlterNet

One can only hope…

I keep thinking the GOP will get over confident and go too far…

It’s happened so many times bef0re…

Unfortunately, the Electorate doesn’t have a long memory or attention span….

It will be interesting to see how this plays out next year…

The combination of Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to strip middle class union members of their rights to have a seat at the table in determining their wages and working conditions — and the draconian cuts in services to average Americans promoted by Republicans in Congress — have caused a fundamental shift in American public opinion and political momentum.

Three major Republican political mistakes have contributed mightily to their sinking political fortunes, and they could spell disaster for their candidates next November.

via Has Walker’s Giant Overreach Screwed Republicans? 3 Major Mistakes That Might Sink the GOP in November | | AlterNet.

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March 8, 2011 · 8:46 pm

Exclusive: Limbaugh’s parent company still using actors to fake radio call-ins, exec tells Raw | The Raw Story

Talk about your media manipulation…

While I’m normally all for any opportunity for actors to earn a living, this is a bit much…

This is all cheap theatrics, not news….

Sad thing is their viewers/listeners don’t know this…’

The company responsible for syndicating big conservative radio names like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity has been using paid actors to call in to their radio shows.According to a recent report in Tablet Magazine, Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, hired actors to call in as guests.

via Exclusive: Limbaugh’s parent company still using actors to fake radio call-ins, exec tells Raw | The Raw Story.

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