GOP To Stick With Numberless Budget

One of the funniest episodes that I can remember ever happening in national politics has to be last week's GOP submission of an alternative budget without a single number in it. This is what it has come down to. The minority opposition party in America wants everyone to believe that they are the true fiscal saviors for this country and their proof to the world is a 19-page dossier that contains not one single spending projection, not one single deficit/surplus projection, not one single numerical item.

None of us should be surprised by this. This is exactly how the GOP ran the country for 8 solid years. We are not allowed to question their spending-- their Rule-- we are only allowed to agree to it. If not, we are evil islamofascistterroristliberals.

Shock is for the GOP. They are shocked when asked questions about why their budget alternative doesn't contain any specifics. They are shocked that they are not being trusted. Explain themselves? Never. When asked why their budget contained, well no budget, and what their goal was Minority Leader John Boehner answered, "to do better." And they still can't for the life of them figure out why their Permanent Majority thing didn't work out so well.

After all the ridicule, after all the punchlines, one would think the GOP would at least submit a real budget. Even the Maverick said that his Party would indeed submit a plan containing numbers. As it turns out, that's a little bit more than what the GOP is willing to commit to. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, from my wonderful neighboring state of Kentucky, says that the GOP will not issue another proposal. Of course not. Their current one is brilliant!

French Issue Threat-- Be Scared, Be Very Scared

London Times:

President Sarkozy yesterday threatened to wreck the London summit if France’s demands for tougher financial regulation are not met.

France will not accept a G20 that produces a “false success with language that sounds good but contains no commitments”, his advisers said.

Asked if this meant a possible walk-out, Xavier Musca, Mr Sarkozy’s deputy chief of staff for economic affairs, said: “A basic rule with nuclear deterrence is that you do not say at what point you will use the weapon.”

Maybe they'll build another imaginary line and everyone will just walk around it to get in.

My Only Beef

My only beef with the government deciding to withhold future tax dollars to the bankrupt auto industry is the fact that government couldn't bend over quick enough for Wall Street. We bailed out the Fat Cats, and still are, but are willing to let the Work Horses go under. That doesn't sound right to me. I understand the financial industry (Fat Cats) is too big to fail, or whatever. But if the government is going to bailout the white collar it should have no qualms about the blue collar. I honestly have no problems with Obama telling the auto industry enough is enough, I really don't. Or at least I wouldn't had we not already given 10 times the amount of money to Wall St.

What will be interesting is listening to the right wing argue against Obama on this one. They're for bailouts socialism when it's Bush but against it when it's Obama.

GM CEO to Step Down

A person with knowledge of General Motors' plans says Rick Wagoner will step down immediately as chairman and chief executive of the struggling Detroit automaker.

The person asked not to be identified because Wagoner's plans have not been formally announced.

The move comes on the eve of President Obama unveiling his plan to reinvigorate the U.S. auto industry. Obama and other administration officials have said they would demand deeper restructuring from General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC before they would get any more government loans.

GM and Chrysler wanted another $22 billion in government bailout money to survive. There's about $130 billion left in TARP. Instead of granting another bailout that would only keep the company afloat for about 3 months, news sources say President Obama rejected such calls and sought Wagoner's release.

Also from McClatchy

"The government will grant Chrysler 30 days operating funds, but said it must merge with another carmaker in order to remain viable. Talks with Italian carmaker Fiat are underway."

DNC Responds To GOP's Numberless Budget

The best response yet to Republican's zero-number budget proposal via DNC spokesperson Hari Sevugan:

“I’m all for changing the way we do business in Washington, but proposing a ‘budget’ that doesn’t use numbers may be too much for me. After 27 days, the best House Republicans could come up with is a 19-page pamphlet that does not include a single real budget proposal or estimate. There are more numbers in my last sentence than there are in the entire House GOP ‘budget.’”

That is just hilarious!

Updated Wish List

This morning I took a stroll through some old posts of mine and noticed I hadn't updated my Obama Wish List in a while. Well, not a while. He's only been in office for 68 days-- there's only so much that can be done in such a short amount of time. But not since his first week in office at least.

I made the list public so people could see some of the important reasons why I voted for Barack Obama. I said back in January that he if could accomplish half of my list in his first term I'd be happy. I'm getting close.

• Safe, careful and timely withdrawal from Iraq
• Stimulus bill that is real and on par with the New Deal. One that will create millions of new jobs; that will repair and enhance our crumbling infrastructure and will provide new money and initiative for green technology and high-speed commuter rails
• Broadband access universally.
• Obama’s health care plan passed in full.
• Close down Gitmo.

Here's the reasoning for the crossed off items.

On Iraq-- yes we're still there but the president has announced broad changes from the previous administration, changes that I fully support.

Based on the recommendations of his military commanders and national security team, the President has chosen a timeline that will remove all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq over the next 18 months. By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end and Iraqi Security Forces will have full responsibility for major combat missions.

After August 31, 2010, the mission of United States forces in Iraq will fundamentally change. Our forces will have three tasks: train, equip, and advise the Iraqi Security Forces; conduct targeted counterterrorism operations; and provide force protection for military and civilian personnel.

The President intends to keep our commitment under the Status of Forces Agreement to remove all of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

The Stimulus Bill passed. That was an easy one.

Close down Gitmo again is similar to Iraq because obviously it's still open. The president, however, ordered it closed with an executive order and banned torture. I fully support both.

So my Obama Wish List is in pretty good shape for 68 days in office. I only have two items left, universal broadband and health care reform. Broadband access was contained in the Stimulus Bill that passed in February, but it did not create universal broadband so I'm keeping it on the list for now. And Obama's health care plan is included in his budget that he proposed last month. Should it pass I'll gladly cross it off my list as well.

Fox News Emasculates Obama's Foreign Policy

The super tough guys at Fox News, you know like Bill O'Reilly who never served in the military despite being of prime war fighting age during Vietnam, and Sean Hannity who never once served in the military, Glenn Beck who has hemorrhoids and never once served in the military, you know all the tough macho men that make up the caliber of masculinity that we know as Fox News, has decided to label Obama's foreign policy style as "Stuart Smalley"-- the self-help character played by Senator Al Franken on Saturday Night Live.

George Bush gets to be John Wayne because he launched invasions into countries just for the fun of it. Wars that we are still fighting today some 6 years later. Wars that have bankrupt our economy, stretched our military as thin as possible, and resulted in the largest combat deaths since Vietnam. This sort of knee-jerk incompetence is considered manly, even brutish among the right wing and its media center we call Fox News.

Coincidentally, all this comes as President Obama announced this morning that he is doubling down efforts in Afghanistan, the country actually responsible for 9/11. The country George Bush turned his attention away from to go after Iraq, a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11 and bin Laden.

When you actually focus on the threat that killed 3,000 innocent Americans, you're a girl that just wants people to like you. When you incompetently invade a country just for the smell of it and kill hundreds of thousands of people, you're an American hero. People who watch this news channel have to lack a chromosome.

BEST BUDGET EVER!!

Oh this is funny stuff! After two solid weeks of complaining and whining about President Obama's budget and not offering one single alternative, the Republican Party today unveiled its alternative budget plan for the country-- WITH NOT ONE SINGLE NUMBER IN THE PLAN!

You can read the entire budget plan here.

Republicans are calling the budgetless plan the Republican Road to Recovery.



How is it humanely possible to submit a budget without numbers? I've worked in government and budgets for 7 years now. I've written budget proposals for the State of Illinois and never did we ever write one without actual numbers. Budgets contain spending proposals and deficit or surplus projections. The new GOP plan for our country contains not one single spending proposal or one single deficit projection. It's merely a wish list that says they will cut spending, shrink government, cut taxes and return America to prosperity, we just have to take them on their word cause they ain't showing us anything else. We've all heard before Republican promises of spending cuts and shrinking government and what we got was 8 years of George Bush.

It gets even better.

• When Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was asked what his goal for deficit reduction would be -- President Obama aims to halve the nation's spending imbalance within five years -- Boehner responded simply: "To do better [than Obama]."
• The plan commits Republicans "to ensur[ing] that the federal budget cannot grow faster than families' ability to pay the bill" ... though it doesn't explain what metric the party would use to measure the "average" family's debt burden.

This from the Politico:

“In his egocentric rush to get on camera, Mike Pence threw the rest of the Conference under the bus, specifically Paul Ryan, whose staff has been working night and day for weeks to develop a substantive budget plan," said a GOP aide heavily involved in budget strategy.

"I hope his camera time was gratifying enough to justify erasing the weeks of hard work by dozens of Republicans to put forth serious ideas," the person added.

"It's categorically untrue," said Pence spokesman Matt Lloyd. "Cantor as well as Ryan and the rest of the leadership have been part of this process for weeks. They not only signed off on it, but their staffs helped edit it."

I'm sure I'll have more. A budget without numbers, just hilarious.

Conspiracy Theories and Technology

Not surprisingly the right wing is belligerent about President Obama's use of a teleprompter. This isn't a new complaint, we heard it all throughout the campaign that Obama relied way too much on a teleprompter when giving speeches. But Tuesday night's press conference really sent Republicans over the edge. The teleprompter use further acknowledges right wing wacko's conspiracy theory that President Obama is a mind-controlled robot or a Manchurian candidate.

Today's lesson in right wing Fantasy World conspiracy theories is Jaz. He believes the "most honest way to use prepared remarks is to have a sheet of paper in front of you. Most accomplished public speakers don't need a line by line prompting like a robot, rather they can glance down at the podium and see a series of bullet points."

How sad this has really become. The President of the United States uses technology instead of pencil and paper and he's a "robot" and "dishonest." Teleprompter use is very common in the 21st century. When cavemen ruled the world notes jotted down on your hand sufficed. But now that we have a thing called technology that allows a speaker to grasp the full understanding of his/her speech without any obstruction to the audience, it's much easier and painless and commonly accepted.

Not to the GOP, though. There was nothing wrong with the way cavemen did things. The use of technology makes the audience feel as if "a scam is being perpetrated on you." Using such technology is "a calculated deception, attempting to trick the audience into believing that the speaker is reciting his words from memory, or out of some profound conviction." It's not enough for Jaz and the GOP that Obama writes a majority of his speeches. To him "conviction" only comes from a complete recitation from memory or use of note cards or the speaker's being dishonest and scamming people. I wonder if Jaz even really understands how blatantly stupid his new found concern for presidential speaking abilities sounds. I'm guessing he doesn't.

It is true Obama used a teleprompter for his press conference. But he didn't use the teleprompter to answer questions. Once questioning began the mind-controlling teleprompter was turned off. I suppose to the right wing it's only acceptable to use a teleprompter when it's used as a phonetic pronunciation guide.

Oh wait, that reminds me. Jaz demands that I not use Bush to defend Obama. It's breaking the Regretted History Law and doing so only demonstrates my anger of George W. Bush. What Fantasy World Cavemen fail to understand is that there is a difference between defending and pointing out complete casuistry.

Handling the Truth

Commerce Department readjusts 2008 4Q GDP to -6.3

The readjustment means the American economy grew at an average of 0.8% for Bush's last two years in office. The recession has been going on much longer than the GOP is and was willing to admit.

Compare this to 3.9% average growth for President Clinton's last two years in office. In other words, Bush inherited an economy growing at a two year average of 3.9% and turned over an economy at an anemic 0.8%.

Palin Blames Media For Her Being Stupid

In a little-noticed speech to a GOP dinner in Alaska last week, Palin riffed for nearly an hour on a variety of topics — including her relationship with former McCain staffers, the Bush administration's anti-terror efforts, and actress Ashley Judd.

But the Alaska governor returned multiple times to the "unprecedented level of media slant" that she witnessed during her two-months on the Republican ticket with John McCain.

Her speech, delivered last Friday to the Anchorage Lincoln Day Dinner, was recorded by the Alaska Republican Party and posted online Tuesday.

Yes it was media bias that lost the GOP the election. It had nothing to do with 8 years of failed government. People really aren't that dumb, Republicans.

Then the Next Step is to Deny

"Chris, you have again devolved into negative, personal attacks, completely ignoring reality and the current headlines.

I've never 'made stuff up' on this blog. Only an ignorant, partisan Democrat would accuse me of doing such a thing."

Telling Kent that he's making stuff up because he can't back up his claim that polls show Obama with widespread disapproval and that Democrats and liberals are jumping ship, results in Kent calling me ignorant. He also goes on to call me a coward. This from the guy who twice voted for Bush and thinks the economy was in great shape until Jan. 20th.

I could really care less what Kent and other right wing wackos call me. I actually find comfort in being called ignorant by someone who thinks George Bush was popular. The point, however, is not that Kent just makes stuff up. He really doesn't know that he's doing it. Like so many on the right that merely repeat whatever it is they hear while listening to Rush Limbaugh or watching Fox News, Kent's reality is whatever Fox News paints it to be. If I believed everything Fat Limbaugh said, I too would be thinking that a Tea Baggers protest of 4,000 people equaled "widespread disapproval" like Kent does.

Reality doesn't work that way. Poll after poll completely refute Kent's made up notion that Democrats and liberals have jumped ship on Obama. But arguing such reality with right wingers is pointless. Theirs is a world where 22% is the greatest approval ever and actual mass demonstrations such as Bush received never occurred. It truly is a made up Fantasy World. Any one who doesn't go along with it is ignorant and a coward. Just ask Kent, he'll tell ya.

*Update:

Just a nice little graph to show that Kent is really making stuff up. This is what "tanking" poll numbers look like to Republicans.

Delusion is the First Sign of Desperation

Ultra-patriot Kent at Right From Left writes about his frustration that I didn't address his highlighting of the Republican Tea Baggers event that attracted about 4,000 people.

You failed to address the tea party issue. When 4,000 people show up for an internet organized event, something is going on. And these events are drawing huge masses of people nationwide. There is wide and sweeping disapproval for Obama and the Democrats.

To Kent and his right wing wacko friends and leaders, 4,000 people demonstrating their hatred for President Obama is tantamount to "widespread disapproval for Obama and the Democrats."

Over 2 million showed up at Obama's inaugural. That's about 500 times as many people who attended the Republican Tea Baggers event. Widespread disapproval in the Republican Fantasy World is 4,000 people who didn't vote for the president in the first place.

While we're on the subject of "widespread disapproval" let's take a look at some of the great approval parades George Bush received.

• 2001-- Over 20,000 protest at George W. Bush's inaugural. The largest inaugural protest since Richard Nixon.
• 2003-- 30 million demonstrated world wide to protest George Bush. The largest political protest in world history.
• 2004-- Over 500,000 protest George Bush in NYC. The largest political protest in NYC since Vietnam.
• 2004-- 400,000 protest George W. Bush in Boston. The largest political protest in Boston history.
• 2005-- 50,000 protest the 2nd inaugural of George W. Bush. The largest inaugural protest since Bush's first inaugural.
• 2005-- Roughly 500,000 protest George W. Bush in Detroit. The largest political protest in Detroit since Vietnam.
• 2007-- 20,000 march on DC in political protest of George W. Bush.

Yawn, I'm tired of even typing this stuff. A GOP Tea Bag event that draws a whopping 4,000 people who didn't vote for Barack Obama is delusion. Only in the Republican Fantasy World can 4,000 equal mass disapproval and millions equal greatest president ever. Something is "going on" Kent. It's called your world is crumbling.

GOP to Cheney: Go Back Into Hiding

Displeased with the former vice-president's recent media appearances, Republican lawmakers say he's hurting GOP efforts to reinvent itself after back-to-back electoral drubbings.

The veep, who showed a penchant for secrecy during eight years in the White House,has popped up in media interviews to defend the Bush-Cheney record while suggesting that the country is not as safe under President Obama.

This is smoke and mirrors. There's no way the modern Republican Party can survive without Big Dick Cheney. A chickenhawk with 5 deferments from combat is the pure epitome of what is the GOP. He lurches around the country drooling about small government, fiscal conservatism and how great war without end is and then slithers back into his hole much like bin Laden. There isn't a single Republican who watched his interview that didn't pop serious wood and heed his every word.

The Right as God

One of the most fundamental beliefs of rightward thinking in this country is the belief that they are the Party of God. That they truly embark God's Word into policy that will bring His blessings to our Blessed Nation is equivalent to their belief that they are small government fiscal conservatives. It is a belief so grounded into the Republican Party that they believe themselves able to discern God's Will as to where our president may or may not be allowed to speak.

Saint Kathryn Jean Lopez, a fundamental leading "thinker" of conservatism, writes about her aversion to Notre Dame having President Obama as its commencement speaker.

That's shameful. Last week the president of the United States perpetrated an assault on human dignity. No statements or press releases will undo what Notre Dame's position in the eyes of the world is in response: "Doesn't matter." We've got THE ONE. So much for the One to whom the school's namesake gave birth.

[...]

At Notre Dame, the administration there just made a choice. They took a giant step away from their identity as "Catholic." They would rather be of this world than the one they supposedly exist to bring people toward.

As disgusting as Lopez's comment is, it in no way even begins to define just how holy Republicans believe themselves to be. Not only is Barack Obama not allowed to speak at a Catholic university but any institution that allows Obama to speak is forgoing its identity as Christian. Sickening if you ask me.

But the right wing and so-called conservatives cheer and celebrate when someone like George Bush delivers the commencement at Notre Dame or attends its football games. Because after all, there is no one more in line with God's Will than George W. Bush. The very man who declared God to be on our side in fighting evildoers and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis is to Lopez and her "very important" following God's Will for America. The very man responsible for the most immoral budgets in our nation's history is the savior Lopez wishes upon this country.

It's almost comical to think that a Catholic would be concerned with abortion and "life" when it is the Catholic Church that is more responsible for genocide than any church in the world. It's like listening to Jeffrey Dahmer saying he loved his victims. These are the same people who believe the last 8 years of endless war and huge budget deficits have been tremendous for our country. They are the same people who believe George Bush actually did something to change the abortion laws even though so Holy as he did nothing of the sort.

If only we all were as Holy as Republicans we could then have four more years of God's Anointing. And then they all said Amen.

You're Welcome

From the AP:

American flags were set on fire Friday to chants of "no, no for occupation" as followers of an anti-U.S. Shiite cleric marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war.

In five other Iraqi cities, supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also either marched or stood in protest after prayers to demand the release of their allies detained at Iraqi and U.S.-run prisons.

The protests came as a suicide bomber in Fallujah killed an Iraqi police officer and five other people, including civilians, in an attempted attack on the home of the local leader of Sunni security volunteers who turned against al-Qaida.

When will these people ever be thankful for us blowing up their country? I don't know anyone who wouldn't be thankful for 6 years of occupation. They are obviously "ungrateful ingrates."

I Think Your'e Wrong

In the grand scheme of things $165 million really isn't all that much when compared to the $170 billion of tax payer money AIG received. But that's not the point. The point is why should private citizens be rewarded with multimillion dollar bonuses completely paid by tax payers for running their company into the ground. They shouldn't. If AIG wants to dole out bonuses they should have a bake sale or not give bonuses at all.

So I do believe David Axelrod to be entirely wrong when he says people aren't thinking about the AIG bonuses. They are thinking about them. In addition to thinking about their own jobs, people are thinking about how big of a scam it is to award millions of dollars in bonuses to people who did a terribly lousy job of running a very unsuccessful business. People can do and think more than one thing at once, David. This is really not the direction the Obama administration wants to take this debate.

On another note, I've met Axelrod many times. Both of us share the great honor of working for Sen. Paul Simon. David's usually just about spot on with his analysis. He's usually rather soft spoken and genuinely cares about issues affecting people's lives. But you're wrong on this one. Sen. Simon would not approve.

*Update:

Josh Marshall nails it on the head.

What is so damaging about this isn't the money -- which is almost trivially small compared to the many hundreds of billions we've already committed. The problem is what appears to be the president's mortifying impotence in the face of bankers and financiers who created the problem. The president speaks and acts for the federal government, which is to say, the American people, who have mobilized more than a trillion dollars and all powers of the state to repair the damage emerging out of the financial sector. And with all that, he's jacked up on a employment agreement between a company the government now owns and derivatives traders who sank the world economy and may quite likely be looking at criminal charges for their activities in the not too distant future?

I totally agree. We own AIG and it's not as if contractual agreements about bonuses is too large for the President of the United States to undo. If it is, then we are in a sad, sad situation.

Dodd Admits Change to His Amendment

Sen. Chris Dodd admits that he changed his original amendment to the stimulus bill that did indeed allow AIG bonuses to happen. Says he was pressured by the White House. In our discussion of whether or not Dodd's amendment allowed the bonuses to take place, Lisa was right and I was wrong.

Newest GOP Talking Points (wheeeeee)

The people who gave us 8 years of George Bush and Dick Cheney just can't seem to understand they were widely rejected in the last election. It's not only that they were widely rejected, they were booted in historical proportions and remain the most unpopular people in America. But check out their newest talking points provided by a fringe group headed by Rep. Tom Price:

1. “The budget is a radical proposal that will change the character of our nation, trampling on freedom and liberty.”

2. “The only approach that has not been tried is the conservative approach – limited bureaucracy, lower taxes, and responsible regulatory structures.”

3. “The administration is disingenuous, unfocused, and reckless.”

No. 1, radical? Health care is a radical notion? Leaving Iraq is radical? Actually going after the people responsible for 9/11 is radical? Obama ran his campaign on the promise of changing the character of our health care system. He won overwhelmingly. People want a different approach to health care.

No. 2, you people are deaf, dumb and stupid. We just had 8 years of the "conservative approach." It failed, miserably. Plus, President Obama just passed through Congress the deepest tax cuts in history. And it was George Bush, a conservative, who instituted TARP, not Obama. I really hope this is the GOP's call to action for 2010. The Dems are in for about a 30 seat pickup if it is.

No. 3, huh? It's not even been two months! It will take more than two months to fix 8 years of George Bush. We just got rid of the most unpopular, incompetent presidency in history all provided to us by the wonderful GOP and the people who vote to support it. I'm not even sure Republican Fantasy World describes this. These people are just insane.

Deep Thought

Why can't Republicans be truthful about policy? Why do all their complaints about their opponents have to be centered around the horrible notion that their opponent is not really an American?

It's constant, this total regard to paint anyone who opposes them as non-American. All throughout Bush's reign anyone who disagreed with Bush was labeled as not a "good, decent, patriotic American." It's not that President Obama's policies are wrong, it's that they are socialist (i.e., not American). And even Obama himself, Republicans really believe that he was not born in this country and has a fake birth certificate (i.e., not a real American). If they disagree with something it's always that the other person is out to destroy America. It's never the fact that their opponents are simply wrong, it's always they are wrong because they are not American. Y'all really need to grow up.

All Talk No Action

If anyone wants to recall, I was against the original George Bush socialist bailout that started this whole mess with AIG. It makes no sense to buy up billions of dollars of worthless debt just so a failed company can have a cash flow. Obviously it didn't work. The first quarter after the massive bailout, AIG posted the largest loss in corporate history. And now we see them giving themselves multimillion dollar bonuses for doing such a good job.

If anyone is surprised by the audacity of private industry executives using tax payer money to give themselves huge bonuses after destroying the world markets, you're a damned fool. Of course they're going to give themselves bonuses. Anyone who can almost singly handily bring capitalism to its knees and have the nerve to go to tax payers for help will do just about anything. They are a narcissistic people.

From the beginning, stretching back to our Grand Leader George Bush, this whole thing was screwed. But now we have President Obama talking big about blocking the bonuses but caving when it's time to step up to the plate. If you ain't gonna do it right then at least have the decency to tell us so.

Instant Classic

When asked about Big Dick Cheney's performance over the weekend on CNN, Gibbs responded, "Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy," Gibbs said, prompting of the reporters to laugh out loud. "So they trotted out their next-most popular member of the Republican cabal."

Taking economic advice from Dick Cheney?-- "I think not taking economic advice from Dick Cheney would be maybe the best possible outcome of yesterday's interview."

National security advice from draft-dodging Dick Cheney?-- "For seven-plus years, the very perpetrators that the Vice President said he's concerned about weren't brought to justice."

Socialists: Obama Not One of Us

This op-ed by Billy Wharton in the WaPo today reminded me of conversations I’ve been having with many so-called conservatives about socialism via Bush and Obama. Needless to say Wharton is an official socialist:

The funny thing is, of course, that socialists know that Barack Obama is not one of us. Not only is he not a socialist, he may in fact not even be a liberal. Socialists understand him more as a hedge-fund Democrat -- one of a generation of neoliberal politicians firmly committed to free-market policies.

The first clear indication that Obama is not, in fact, a socialist, is the way his administration is avoiding structural changes to the financial system. Nationalization is simply not in the playbook of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his team. They favor costly, temporary measures that can easily be dismantled should the economy stabilize. Socialists support nationalization and see it as a means of creating a banking system that acts like a highly regulated public utility. The banks would then cease to be sinkholes for public funds or financial versions of casinos and would become essential to reenergizing productive sectors of the economy.

The same holds true for health care. A national health insurance system as embodied in the single-payer health plan reintroduced in legislation this year by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), makes perfect sense to us. That bill would provide comprehensive coverage, offer a full range of choice of doctors and services and eliminate the primary cause of personal bankruptcy -- health-care bills. Obama's plan would do the opposite. By mandating that every person be insured, ObamaCare would give private health insurance companies license to systematically underinsure policyholders while cashing in on the moral currency of universal coverage. If Obama is a socialist, then on health care, he's doing a fairly good job of concealing it.

How can this be? Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, the GOP, all good, decent and patriotic Americans have been saying that Obama is a socialist but here we have an actual socialist telling us he’s not? I bet the Obama people put Wharton up to this so that people would quit calling him a socialist.

NCAA Time

Any tournament that leaves out Creighton really isn't a tournament. And I H8 Cr8on. Not sure how much of this I'm going to watch.I also hate Digger Phelps.

Palin's Daughter's Baby's Father Breakup!!

***BREAKING NEWS***

Unwed teen mother Bristol Palin breaks it off with Levi. Will America be the same?

International Laws of War

The Obama administration reversed yet again another Bush era dictatorial power:

The Obama administration is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant. In court filings Friday, the Justice Department said it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Obama still asserts the military's authority to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. But he says that authority comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power.

Bush had argued that the president as commander in chief could unilaterally hold prisoners without charge.

Thank you President Obama.

One Neanderthal at a Time

If you listen carefully you can hear the sudden thud of journalism crashing down.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Cavemen Want to Fix America

They're Cavemen, all of them:

Per Republican House Minority Leader, John Boehner, (R-OH): "US President Barack Obama should veto a 410-billion-dollar spending bill and work to freeze government outlays for the rest of the year."

It´s interesting that this was also President Herbert Hoover's failed solution to the Great Depression in 1930. He actually did it and it failed because it took a major source of spending out of the economy which tanked it even further.

The Republicans keep saying that the private small businesses should be doing the spending, but they fail to state where these organizations should get the financing needed to support that spending and to get the economy "jump-started".

In fact, the initial focus of the proposed government spending is for generating private industry jobs by spending on infrastructure projects that small businesses can perform.

Minority Leader Boehner also said that last month´s announced US unemployment rate surge to 8.1 percent, with 651,000 jobs lost in February, "Demanded austerity from Washington at a time when Americans are tightening their belts."

Deep Thought

ATTN GOP: It's not as if Barack Obama wanted to take on an economy in crisis, two wars, a non-existent domestic agenda, the largest deficit in history and a foreign policy whose main goal was regime change, all at the same time. He didn't have a choice. He inherited all of it from the Republicans. I'm sure if Obama had his choice in the matter he would have much preferred the country that Bush inherited rather than the one Bush gave to him. So all this Republican bull crap about President Obama taking on too much at once is ridiculous. He doesn't have a choice. You guys screwed things up so bad that he has to do more than one thing at a time. I know the GOP is used to a president that can only handle one matter throughout two terms but Obama just doesn't have that luxury, or such a small mental capacity that he can only do one thing at at time. In other words, shut up!

Bad, Very Bad

You know things are bad for Republicans when they are supporting further socialization of the banking industry. But Jaz and Kent do just that. And as if it couldn't get much worse Kent now decides that he is not a fiscal conservative. The real determiner, though, of how bad things really are in the Republican Fantasy World is when they use right wing nut job Stanley Kurtz to explain to them the perils of our economic crisis. Yep you guessed it, amazingly it's the Democrats fault without a single mention of the last 8 years. But an actual economist's account of how the crisis happened? That's "hair splitting sophistry." I'm so glad Republicans are not part of the national conversation anymore.

*Update:

I couldn't make this stuff up. What happens when you argue using as a source some Republican Fantasy World pundit? Well, Jaz, just comes right back with a full citation to none other than a National Review editorial! That's right, despite the fact that none of the editors at the right wing National Review are experts in economics or really even economists (Rich Lowry majored in English studies), the best way to combat wacko National Review writer Stan Kurtz is to instead just use National Review editorials. Brilliant. Actually the Kurtz article would be a better source. I wonder if my link to Huffington Post will suffice for Jaz?

Insanely Crazy

And here we go! The newest Republican talking point as to why George Bush (who just left office two months ago) isn't responsible for today's economy, and as matter of fact why he isn't a socialist but Barack Obama is, is because Karl Rove says George Bush didn't make the decision to nationalize the lending industry. It was three people and three people only says Rove: Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and Hank Paulson.

We are expected to believe-- and if we don't our patriotism will be called into question-- the President of the United States had no say in the greatest departure from American society and culture in its history. If that is true, if what Rove says is actually true, then George Bush was even more of a failure than the American people already believe him to be. How can the president not sign off on, or in the very least not know about, the decision of his administration to forgo our capitalistic structure and implement a socialist-style government intervention system into our lending industry? It's remarkable the depths of stupidity Karl Rove and the Republican Party believe people to be. It's disgusting beyond all measures.

Ali Frick says it best: "Ironically, during the same interview, Rove declared that the Obama administration has got to start accepting responsibility for the outcome of their decisions — seconds before suggesting that Bush didn’t even play a role in one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency."

So Easy Cavemen Can't Even Do It

Republicans make it so easy sometimes that it's not even fun. The so-called fiscally conservative Republicans (yes the same people who gave this country a $1.3 trillion debt) claim to be against the $410 billion omnibus spending bill because it contains earmarks pork. Yet 6 of the top 10 porkers are Republicans. And here we have pretty eyes Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina saying that the president should veto the bill and that earmarks are fine as long as they are for federal purposes and transparent. But Graham seems to double talk when asked about his very own $950,000 pork request for a convention center in Myrtle Beach, a request that has nothing to do with federal purposes. The very fiscally conservative Graham insists the convention center is necessary to stimulate the local economy. In other words his pork request is fine because it's for his state. Republicans are no more against pork than they are against big government.

That brings us to the GOP's next Big Idea when it comes to solving our current financial crisis. Their plan is to freeze all federal spending. Way to think like it's 1929. If you'll recall John McCain actually ran his campaign on the promise of freezing all federal spending once in office. It was a philosophy the American people widely rejected and here we have House Minority Leader John Boehner calling for a complete freeze on government spending. It's all they know. They are cavemen rubbing two sticks together hoping to invent the wheel. The worst thing the government could do right now is to freeze spending. That's Hoovernomics, but it's the philosophy of the Republican Party. And they're proud of it. They flaunt publicly their ideas of spending freezes while lobbying for money for a convention center. Next thing you know they're going to be telling us that we should amend the Constitution to fit the Bible.

Then and Now

Want to see something scary?


These are job losses not seen since the Great Depression. And no body wants to get this scary again:
It seems to me we can pour money all day long into economic development but the best way and maybe the only way to get out of the mess we are in is to spur private business. Not until private business is able to flourish, or at least start-up, will we see improvements in our unemployment situation and also in our economy. Sure we need national programs to get infrastructure going again but we have to have a private industry that is able to operate alongside and independently of federal programs.

This shouldn't contradict stimulus spending in the least bit. I can't think of a time in the last 100 years when tax dollars didn't go toward private industry. That doesn't make it socialist, though Fox News and the GOP has suddenly changed their stance on the use of federal money since George Bush left office. But, really, get over the childish 'I'm a better American than you' b.s. and start contributing to your country. This goes for everyone and not just political parties. There's nothing wrong with a federal stimulus program that tackles both public and private industry's current woes and neither has to call for the total eradication of the other.

Trend Line Updates

It's been a while since I've mentioned poll numbers so I spent the better part of tonight going through polling samples. As you can see in the graph below President Obama seems to be holding steady through his first month and a half in office, with slight decline noticeable as expected.



An astonishing change of events, though, appears to be coming in the public's attitude toward the direction of the country.



For quite some time and all throughout Bush's second term, an overwhelming response of people believed the country to be heading in the wrong direction. From the graphic above you can see some polls reported as high as 90% of the population believed America was heading down a scary path. But starting around the beginning of November 2008, people began to regain a sense of direction for the country that was good. A long way to go but a vast improvement thus far.

Time Doesn't Stand Still (*Update)

Just like Fox News and the leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, Kent is still trying to rewrite history when it comes to the Dow's performance under George Bush. As you’ll recall, Kent believes there is no way George Bush can be blamed for the Dow losing a net sum of 43% during his tenure. Kent believes that Bush cannot be “logically or reasonably” blamed for losses since the Dow hit an all time high on one full day during Bush’s second-term. In fact, to Kent, time miraculously stands still. The 43% crash that occurred right after the Dow hit an all time high never happened in Kent’s world. Then, amazingly, time suddenly starts again on Nov. 4, 2008.

That’s all fine and dandy if that’s what really happened. But, of course, in reality the earth didn’t stand still and the Dow, after closing at an all time high, began to tank, and tank and has kept tanking since Oct. 2007—long before Barack Obama became president. Kent, however, says “[B]ush's economic policies never tanked the market the way Obama's economic policies are currently tanking the market.” That’s completely untrue. If we freeze time and look at one month in 2007, then yes the market looks very good under Bush. But if we look at his entire presidency and quit with the childish “logically and reasonably” Fantasy World talk, we see the Dow lost more under George Bush than any president history.

Even if we freeze time and let Kent’s Fantasy World take over, the record day that Kent keeps talking about means the market gained a whopping 3,342.42 points under Bush, which Kent calls the greatest ever. Using Kent’s very “reasonable logic” the Dow gained 7,493.98 under Bill Clinton, which is far better than Kent’s make-believe earth stopping number.

This is not to say the loss the Dow is currently experiencing isn’t of great concern to all of America and President Obama, because certainly this is Obama’s mess to fix. But let’s not pretend that Obama inherited a stable market in the least bit. It was a market that had lost over 43% in value in one year’s time. Hardly the same scenario Bill Clinton left for this country.

*Update:

Looks like Kent has schooled me once again. I wonder if they charge admission to tour the Republican Fantasy World. I wouldn't mind a peak.

It's So Good. Once It Hits Your Lips It's Just So Good

Despite all their talk about hatred for pork spending and earmarks, and their hypocritical and new found disdain for fiscal irresponsibility, 6 of the top 10 legislators leading the way in pork spending are Republicans, according to a report by Tax Payers for Common Sense.

Seeing how 60% of the senate is Democratic, one would think the tax and spend liberal socialist Party would comprise 6 of the 10 names. But not so. One would also think that the deep dark blue "communist country" parts of the nation would receive the most socialist tax dollars from the government. Not true either. The very red and extremely patriotic states or better known as "real America" receive more Freedom Dollars than any other.

One would never know this from watching Fox News or attending the CPAC conference last week. In their world, the GOP stands up to pork spending and absolutely will not stand for deficit spending. No matter how you sort the attached data, there is not one ounce of evidence to suggest Republicans are against pork spending. In fact, there's not one ounce of evidence to suggest Republicans even care about pork spending. All they want to do is go on the airwaves and talk about how fiscally conservative they are and how Democrats are socialist. Like I said the other day: They are a mad people, completely void of any understanding of reality. They have not an ounce of sense in the whole group. They're a sick lot, every last one of them.

Make It Stop

Here's the deal. As I write this the Dow is down about 23% for the year. Sixty percent or so since Oct. 2007. Pumping tax dollars into failed banks and insurance firms will not solve this crisis. Investors know the difference between buying bad, worthless debt and actual investment into a company. What these bailouts are doing is they are purchasing huge sums of bad debt hoping to quench investment fears. It's not working. AIG is beyond "failed." Unless they sell parts of their firm and restructure the chances of them recovering is zilch.

Then there are people like me who have mutual funds managed by AIG. I don't view billion dollar bailouts into AIG as a way of protecting my meager funds. I view it as a way of propping up very rich people who have done a terrible job of managing other people's money. If the government really wanted to spur investment, Obama would use the $40 billion to give every American a mutual fund account with AIG. That's what true investment is. Instead the president is using our money to give to very rich people so they can continue to piss away our retirements. It's that simple. Maybe they didn't teach Economics 101 in Obama's Harvard law class.

der Führer Speaks

Fresh out of rehab and jail, the leader of the Republican Party rallied the base and directed his marching orders to a frenzied crowd at the CPAC event. Energizing a base that celebrates the nuclear destruction of the nation's third largest city, Rush Limbaugh used his coveted catch phrases about freedom, patriotism and capitalism to direct scorn in the way of President Obama.

It was not us asking whether Barack Obama was authentic. What we were asking is: Is he wrong? We concluded, yes. We still think so. But we didn't ask if he was authentically black. We didn't say, as some Southern Christian Leadership Conference leaders said: Barack is not authentic, he's not got any slave blood. He's really not down for the struggle, but his wife is. So don't expect the race industry to go away. Southern Christian Leadership Conference -- you may not know this, because it wasn't reported in the Drive-By Media -- the racism, the sexism, the bigotry that we're all charged with, just so you across the United States of America know, and you'll see demonstrated here as the afternoon goes on, doesn't exist on our side. We want everybody to succeed.

Rush Limbaugh is the Republican Party. He is their mind, their sole and their voice. Throughout the destruction of the GOP, Limbaugh is but a lone survivor and the Party is his to form and mold however he sees fit. The members cheer and clap for a man they see as the only one able to deliver them back to glory. And exaggerating I am not.

Limbaugh's impassioned keynote speech, punctuated by chest-thumping, fist-pumping and chants of "USA" from the crowd, capped off three days of talk at CPAC focusing on rebuilding the Republican Party.

That's from a major news source, not from me. They yell and cheer and thump their chests like cavemen and believe Limbaugh is truly the embodiment of the USA. Every word he speaks is the truth in their eyes and ears and only Limbaugh can place the USA back on the true conservative course our Founding Fathers intended. I just wonder if Limbaugh passed out his pills of Viagra to the audience to get the circle jerk moving.