GOP Rep: My Family is Struggling On My $174,000 Salary

This is a dandy.

Former MTV's Real World house mate turned Republican representative, Sean Duffy, tells a constituent at a town hall meeting that his family is struggling to get by just like everybody else.  Congressman Duffy makes a base salary of $174,000. Duffy also has a completely tax-payer funded health care plan that he and his family get to enjoy.

If you can't make it on $174K and government-run health care, just imagine how the millions of families making $40,000 a year with no health insurance are doing.

Being a Member of Congress is many things.  Struggling to pay your bills isn't one of them.

Easy Breezy

The Center for American Progress has a new interactive tool that allows you to try and cut $100 billion from the federal budget. From someone who has actually worked on government budgets, it's actually not that easy to cut a program once it gets enacted and proves effective and popular with the public. I know, I know, Republicans-- now that they are the minority-- make it sound like it's so easy to slash $100 billion. In reality, it's not as easy as the deficit frauds are making it sound.

As the Center makes note, you can't touch mandatory or defense spending. So you have to make your cuts in non-defense discretionary related areas. Why? Well, because Republicans claim that's how they'll do it.  Non-defense discretionary spending makes up about 15% of the total budget, about $530 billion.  So your goal is to cut 19% from non-defense discretionary spending.

What is non-defense discretionary spending?  Oh it's just little things like education, veteran's benefits, transportation, law enforcement.  You know, nothing major.

As you'll discover, that's a lot of cutting.  It's so difficult and so problematic Republicans have already decided they can't do it.  They've instead decided on $60 billion in cuts.  You'll find out too $60 billion is a lot.

What I did was 10% across the board cuts on everything except for Natural Resources.  There I completely defunded the EPA.  That's a Republican pipe dream along with phasing out Social Security.  Since we can't touch Social Security this term, maybe I'll get to during the next Permanent Majority.  In all, my deficit slashing skills resulted in $65 billion in cuts!

It was tons of fun too slashing budgets without a care at all that my $65 billion in cuts would most likely result in millions of people losing their jobs.  Now if they could just build a tool that would give you a million extra unemployed on top of our 10% that already are, and let you figure out ways to pay them unemployment benefits, pay their medical, retrain them and/or help pay to send them back to school and still be able to keep your $65 billion in cuts it would be even funner!!

Republican "Time Stands Still" Argument is Still Fiction

Kristen Billy, again, brings Republican talking points to a whole new level of meaningless dribble.

Once again you ignore the middle and only look at the endpoint. We had a bad recession in 2002/2003 which was exacerbated by 9/11. We had an economic meltdown that was driven by the credit and housing bubbles. Hard to say it was the "worst 8 years". Sure you ignore all the jobs created during the middle of the period and just focus on one point in time at the end of the period. But I didn't expect much else from you since all you do is make partisan hack comments like blasting McCain for criticizing Obama's foreign policy. And making silly comments about Walker somehow being nice to the police because they supported him when actually the largest unions voted against him.

It would take a whole lot of effort to even pretend to be this misinformed.

This is a common tactic from Fox News viewers.  At the very mention or inclination that you might bring up George W. Bush they insist time stood still in 2007.  They insist that is where the Bush presidency should be measured.  Unless you're talking about Iraq, then they want it measured up to today but that's a different post.  Today we'll focus on Kristen's comments.

We all remember Kent at Right From Left when he tried to argue the very same thing.  Kent demanded that Bush not be held accountable for any economic losses because in 2007 the Dow reached an all time high.  From that day on, time stood still for Republicans.

Kristen is doing the same thing.  He's saying I'm only focusing on the end point (the bad times) and not the one year or two years where everything was moderately good.  Nothing could be further from the truth or from basic human understanding of what "8 years" means.

Just like with Kent's Fantasy World argument, Kristen is simply making stuff up. Nowhere do I only use the end point of Bush's two-terms.  It's the whole thing combined, the good and the bad.  Let's look at Bush's "8 years" and see what we get.

• From day 1 until his last day in office, the Dow lost 2,638.50 points.  That is the worst loss in any presidential tenure.  And he becomes only the second president to ever have the Dow lose points during his presidency.  Herbert Hoover is the other.

• During those 8 years, GDP also grew at it's slowest pace since the Great Depression.  Bush's total rate of GDP growth is 1.9%.  Again, the worst ever for a two-term president.

• The national debt went from $5 trillion to $11.9 trillion.  That is the largest monetary increase in the national debt in history.  In terms of percent, Reagan was the only other president to increase it more.

• Job growth, too, was disastrous.  In Bush's 8 years, the nation experienced a net job creation of 0%.  Again, the worst on record.

None of that is the end point.  I don't focus on "one point in time."  All of it is the totality of Bush's two terms.  We can't stop time in 2007 when GDP was in positive territory and job growth was moderate.  But that's exactly what Kristen wants us to do.  He wants to be able to say by counting all of Bush's 8 years in office that we are somehow leaving out years 5 and 6.  Not only is that an incredibly stupid argument to make, I feel stupid for even writing it.

If during your watch the Dow can lose more money than it ever has; GDP growth can be the worst for any two-term president; and you can add more than $6 trillion to the national debt; and have a net job creation of 0% and it not be the worst 8 years since the Great Depression, then Fantasy World doesn't even begin to describe your surroundings.

*Update:

There couldn't be any better summation of just how ridiculous and evasive Republicans get when you confront their make-believe world with actual facts than this or this.

Tea Bagger Support Going Limp

The latest CNN Research Poll measuring political party popularity is a mixed sack for Republicans.

When measuring favorable ratings of the GOP, ratings grow 2 points from Dec. 2010, from 42 to 44.

Since November 2008 here's how the spread looks for both parties.

CNN/Opinion Research Poll

As you can see Democrats are still viewed more favorably by voters, and have been for quite some time.  The only hiccup occurred in the Fall of 2010. 

Since January 2010, CNN has been keeping track of Tea Bagger favorables.  I think something like this is pointless because essentially it's picking a subset of the GOP and asking how the public views them.  The equivalent would be slicing out people who support banning guns in the Democratic Party and tracking them like they are separate from Democrats.

Anyway, when you measure the three separately you quickly see Republican tea baggers are going limp.

CNN/Opinion Research Poll w/ Tea Baggers

They do make a pill that helps with the dysfunction.  We'll see if they use it to regain their firmness since we are approaching summer and that seems to be tea baggers most favorite time.

The interesting thing of the whole poll is if you place the Tea Baggers back into the GOP and quit treating them like they are a separate group, GOP support amongst the public really hasn't changed at all since November 2008.  Take a look.

CNN/Opinion Research Poll w/ GOP and Tea Bagger Combined

The previous noted hiccup in the Fall of 2010 disappears.  It's fair to state GOP popularity rose with the Tea Bagger movement.  Naturally it's because tea baggers are Republicans.  They run on the GOP ticket, they caucus with the GOP once in office and when they win elections it's the GOP that picks up the seat.  Allowing them to separate from the GOP when it's convenient for them, like when talking about how the GOP has absolutely no track record of ever shrinking government or cutting spending, grants the Republican Party a free pass that no one else in America gets to enjoy.

The Cronon Test

A friend I went to grad school with and myself will frequently talk ideology. My friend, who considers himself right of center, thinks President Obama, with his dependence on governmental services, tends to be more fascist than socialist. Actually my friend considers himself Libertarian but just happens to vote Republican. Therefore, the entire direction of the country, according to him, is moving quickly in the direction of fascism.

I've always acknowledged an element of governmental control, especially in the realm of support of the nation for the good of everyone as a whole. Like our teachers should be teaching our children how great and ordained the USA is and how our forefathers couldn't tell lies and whatnot. Or that our industry should produce the best products on earth to prove to the world how great we are. Another way of saying this is we have private ownership but public debt. TARP and Bush's other bailouts are a perfect example of this. For the good of the nation as a whole, we all (tax payers) had to chip in and bailout the financial industry. We had to do this for the survival of the country. Private ownership with public debt.

I think that's a strong argument to make in terms of what is or isn't fascist because it produces a strong sense of nationalism, which we most certainly have. I've always argued, too, in order for fascism to exist there had to be an element of hate mostly comprised of Party chauvinism. Or the belief that your political party is not only the best but the only platform from which to lead the nation.

Such a strong sense of Party i.d. is nothing but a hatred for all other political parties. It can lead to wanting to defeat your opponents, whom you believe to be enemies, not just politically through elections but by any means necessary. It may lead to having people arrested that show up at your rallies wearing t-shirts of which you don't approve. Or it may lead to you giving political tests to government employees to make sure they walk the Party line, a line from which there can be no straying. Or it could make you try to undermine your opponents by demanding access to their emails just so you can read their thoughts and their conversations because they might be saying things you don't approve of and you can use it against them to paint them as being against your Party, which is the same as being against America.

Mr. President, I Disagree

After the president's speech last night where he tried to explain his rationale for ordering attacks on Libya, I find myself disagreeing even more with the president's policy than previously.

The whole thing stinks of double standards and inconsistencies.  Why not intervene in Syria?  Surely a civil war there would also destabilize the entire region, lead to mass bloodshed and be a huge setback for the glimmering of democracy that appears to be spreading through the Arab world.  Why not intervene in Qatar?  I understand the whole oil and money thing and that simply makes the president's decision even more inconsistent.  Iran has plenty of oil and we didn't intervene when their people tried to reform their government.

I'm not saying I don't believe in the humanitarian aspect of military action.  I'm just saying it's really past time America quits trying to spread hope with air raids.  Why don't we send them all an iPad and broadcast a wireless signal directly into their country and let their hope come from the empowerment of information rather than bombs.  If we really wanted to come to the aid of those yearning for freedom, the first thing we would do is encourage the free flow of information so that people become informed enough to know they can make a difference.  Then, of course, no government really likes it when people realize their leaders suck.

Obama was elected because Americans were tired of war.  We were tired of being led to war with all these feel good, life-saving, freedom-loving reasons.  We were tired of policing the world and exporting democracy with guns.  We were tired of calls to patriotism via who could cheer the loudest for war.  We were so damn tired of $4 gasoline and spending billions of dollars waging war in foreign lands while millions of our very own people have no jobs, no money, no insurance and absolutely no hope for it to get better anytime soon.  And look where we are right now....

Worthless Fear Mongering

I'm glad that a black man is talking about how Muslims have no place in the American government and that we should be terrified about the spread of Sharia Law so that we can finally start calling this kind of stuff what it really is.

Biden Apologizes for Holding Reporter in Closet

While covering a fund raising event at the home of Alan Ginsburg for Vice President Biden, Orlando Sentinel reporter Scott Powers was kept in a closet until the Veep arrived. And then sent back to the closet after Biden left.

Ferraro

I'm way too young to remember Geraldine Ferraro's political career. My memories will always be of her punditry, which I'm not sure I agreed with much she had to say. The passing of the first female vice presidential candidate of a major party is something to note, however.  This story in the Atlantic about her only debate against George H. W. Bush is also something worth passing along.  I didn't know Bush had whispered some obscenities into an open mic after the debate was over.  Worth a read.

VCU Proves All of Us Wrong

Many were critical of the NCAA selection committee's pick of Virgina Commonwealth University into the tournament. After all, they had 6 conference losses in a very weak CAA. VCU has proven if you just let the smaller fan-based schools play with the big boys they are just as good if not better.

Now as far as my bracket goes, it's been demolished. By schools like VCU and Arizona, to name a few. Hopefully I'll be cheering for VCU hopefully next weekend too.

Pew Poll: Tea Baggers Support Individual Mandate Candidate

Another poll is out chronicling the tea bagger's love affair with Big Government and health care mandates just so long as it's not coming from Barack Obama.

Of the 538 Republicans surveyed, 249 said they agreed with the tea bagger movement. Twenty-four percent of them said they want to see Big Love Mitt Romney nominated as the Republican candidate in 2012, more than any other possible candidate.  One of the things Big Love is widely known for is while governor he instituted an individual mandate for health care.

When he signed his health reform containing an individual mandate not only did Romney defend it, he said he would love to see it replicated all over the nation. "I actually ran with (health care reform) as something that I wanted to do. If there are national implications and applicability, that would be wonderful," stated Big Love in 2006.

It would be rather stupid for people who claim not to support an individual health care mandate to wish for a candidate that has a track record of doing exactly that. However, their support for Romney along with vast arrays of blatant hypocrisy fits well into the tea bagger movement.

Though they claim to be small government conservatives with an aversion toward fiscal irresponsibility, in truth they are anything but.  Every poll has shown that in addition to being the base of the Republican Party, they are not against spending, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, tax payer funded employment, or even against politicians who have legislated individual mandates.  They're simply against Democrats.

Repubs Now Expect All Wars to be Clear and Concise

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent President Obama a letter on Wednesday asking him to clearly define the mission and set benchmarks for success.

This is just hilarious. Now that George Bush isn't leading our Glorious War, Republicans want clarity from the White House. There has never been a war so unnecessary or sorely lacking objectives with a nonexistent exit strategy as Bush's blunder into Iraq.  All that is to be forgotten, however.  It's all ancient history.

The president should write back and tell him whatever military action he is referring to is but a figment of his imagination.  And then close by asking him how he likes that tanning bed tax.

iPad or iPhone Logo

iPad, iPhone, or even iPod Touch users can grab The Fold Blog icon on the sidebar. The icon can be placed on the home screen, similar to an app icon. Use it to access The Fold directly without all the hassle of browsers. All you gotta do is while on The Fold Blog hit the plus or right arrow at the top in safari, like you're going to bookmark it. Then hit add to home screen. Safari will then add the button to your Apple device.

One Year Later ACA is Popular and Agile

It's been one year since the president signed the Affordable Care Act into law. The Summer of Hate is over and insurance companies can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. What a ride it's been.  Not to mention, the ACA is the largest deficit reducing bill in history. CBO estimates the Act will reduce the deficit more than $130 billion in the first ten years alone.  And more than a trillion in the second decade.

CNN has a new poll out today measuring public reaction thus far.  It found 50% of those polled like the new law or actually want it to do more.  Fifty-percent either like it or want it to be more progressive!  Like I said a few months ago.  I really like this GOP obstructionism stuff.

Reasons Libya is Not Iraq

Juan Cole has a list of ten reasons why Libya 2011 is not Iraq 2003. I probably agree with everything except number 10.

10. Iraq in 2002-3 no longer posed a credible threat to its neighbors. A resurgent Qaddafi in Libya with petroleum billions at his disposal would likely attempt to undermine the democratic experiments in Tunisia and Egypt, blighting the lives of millions.

Okay I don't necessarily disagree with it either. I'll just add Iraq didn't pose a credible threat to anyone except itself because of the very effective no-fly zone and the UN sanctions that had been in place for over 10 years. The result was a humanitarian catastrophe inside of Iraq. It left Iraq divided into three parts all largely non-self-sufficient for basic needs. The Kurdish north, which enjoyed a great deal of autonomy. The Saddam stronghold in the center. And a Shia south.

I say this because the UN authorization currently in place against Libya does about the same thing. The no-fly zone protects the north. While the rebels hold out mostly in the west. Where I assume if the whole country doesn't collapse, they will enjoy a great deal of autonomy much like the Kurds in Iraq. It's a perfect mess. And 10 years from now we'll have to repeat Libya just like we did Iraq.

More On Presidential Power

I hadn't realized this though I knew the number was high.  According to the Office of the President in 2001, throughout history the president has acted at least 125 times without prior authorization from Congress.

That was written in 2001.  Since then I'm sure the number is way higher.  The president has ordered military action in Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Kenya and the Republic of Georgia without any approval at all from Congress.  And now we have Libya.  Those are just the ones I know about and can recall off the top of my head.  I'm sure there are more.

At the end of the day, there isn't much Congress can do to stop a president from using military force.  And every president we've ever had has always maintained he doesn't have to get permission from Congress to do anything when it comes to military operations.  More recently, we've seen Congress is nearly powerless to halt ongoing wars as well.  We are still in Afghanistan almost ten years after invading.  Their only option is to stop paying for a war, which has never happened.

I don't agree with the president's decision to use force against Libya but I do agree he has the authority.

Fox News Invents Vacation Story to Smear President

Repeatedly throughout the day yesterday Fox News told its millions of viewers that President Obama was vacationing while he ordered our military to attack Libya.

“He’s going on vacation; he’s going to Rio!” an incredulous Steve Doocy commented. “He’s on vacation in Rio,” Fox contributor Ralph Peters said, echoing the network’s attack. Referencing Rio, Washington Times columnist Charles Hurt opined, “President Obama has absolutely abdicated his role as leader of the free world.”

Not surprising in the least, Fox News and its America-hating hosts are lying. President Obama is not on vacation. He is on an official trip as head of state of the United States to South America to meet with other heads of state. The only relaxing event planned for the week-long trip was "to the city’s iconic Christ the Redeemer hilltop statue, and even that had to be postponed from morning until evening to give him time for early briefings on the Libyan situation.”

If Bush was still president, Fox would call its own reporting anti-American, especially during a time of war.

It's worth mentioning President Bush was the most vacationing president in the history of the presidency.  He would take month-long furloughs to a fake ranch in Texas while he ordered invasions of two countries, one just for the smell of it.  And never one time did Fox ever tell its viewers that George Bush had abdicated his duties as president.  It did the opposite actually.  Fox portrayed Bush as a great, fighting leader up to the last day in office.

How Fox News portrayed the most vacationing president in history

Here's the exit story they ran on President Bush during his last days. At the time of printing his approval was about 24%, but you would never know it by watching Fox News.

In all Bush vacationed spent 879 days in Crawford.  And 499 officially on vacation.  He thumped the previous record holder and two-term Republican president, Ronald Reagan, by almost a hundred days.

*Update:

In what has already been a pathetic display of any sort of journalistic standards, CNN's Nic Robertson blasts Fox News for what can only be called outright deceit and lies in its reporting of the crisis in Libya.

I've been saying for years that the only way to effectively stop Fox News is for other networks to start reporting just how untrustworthy and unethical Fox really is.  Jon Stewart does a heck of a job at it but he's laughed at.  It won't be until a real media network does half of what a comedy show does will Fox finally be stopped.

A Wise Man Once Said, Fool Me- You Can't Get Fooled Again

My inbox is overflowing with questions from readers about my support for our Glorious spreading of democracy to Libya. Because I don't have time to answer everyone I'll write my views and something of what you can call a reasoning here.

Right off the bat, I'll just say it. I don't support military involvement in Libya. There are any number of scenarios that could come from American intervention into what is currently a Libyan civil war. The worst of which would be something that resembles our Glorious triumphs in Iraq. The best, to me, that we can hope for is Gaddafi quits and decides to send his billions in oil money he has stashed away to us to help pay college expenses for every kid in America.  Anything in-between could plausibly happen too.

I was reading earlier that Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich wants President Obama impeached for ordering military action. I also read, too, that some Republicans are questioning the president's authority. I find all that as hogwash. The president, as granted by the War Powers Act, has every authority to order the military into action. Some say the War Powers Act itself is unconstitutional, and it probably is, but it's never been ruled that way by the Supreme Court. Until it is struck down, it's valid.

My disagreement with military action in Libya has nothing to do with liberals or conservatives, or any talking head telling me what to say or think. I oppose it because after 2003 when I cheered war with Iraq and I turned out to be dead wrong, I told myself that I would never blindly follow this country into war again. So here I am with a president I personally know leading us into war with a new Muslim Arab country. I could pretend my Bush-era opposition to military involvement into a country with a leader we don't like never happened just because I like our current president. Nah, I don't think so.

Instead I'm going to stick with a rule I set for myself some years ago.  Supporting war from my comfy armchair really isn't patriotic at all.  I'm sitting this one out y'all.

Repubs to Reaffirm God

Because, in the words of Republican Rep Steven King of Iowa, the "people who revert to the hard-core left" this nation has turned its back on God.  To make God happy again, Republicans want to reaffirm the national motto In God We Trust.

We all know who Republicans believe the hardcore left to be. Rep. Steven King thinks President Obama reverts to the hardcore left. He thinks Nancy Pelosi does as well; and really anyone who is a Democrat.  King also doesn't believe President Obama has a birth certificate, which would mean he thinks the one in Hawaii is a fake.

King said he believes the forming of America was delivered by the hand of God. "I believe the Founding Fathers were moved around like men on a chessboard put in place at that time so the world could have America."  Men on a chessboard of course.  No women, just white men exactly like Steve King.

King didn't mention that these men being moved around a chessboard by God's hand were either slave owners, very wealthy elitists, not even born in America or all of the above.  That the guy who actually wrote the Bill of Rights argued against ratification of the Constitution.  Or that the Constitution itself was so imperfect that it's had to be corrected 27 times because it left out obvious things like women's rights, blacks not being slaves, term limits for presidents and so on.

Thankfully we have the GOP to rewrite American history and remind us how ignorant we are.

Makes Perfect Sense

The rebels in Libya we are now waging war to help, were also flooding into Iraq in 2006-2007 to fight against us.

Yeah I can't think of any reason why we shouldn't arm these guys and drop our Freedom Bombs to protect them.

McCain Hammers War President

Remember when it was anti-American to question the authority of a wartime president? Republicans don't.

What Does the Tea Party Want? Republicans Back in Charge

Next to my own in-depth and expert analytical coverage of the tea bagger movement, I think Jon Chait at The New Republic is doing a bang up job as well.

Chait sums up the movement in one sentence.  A sentence I wish was mine, and one I plan on stealing in the future to appear as mine.

"It's a revolt against the composition of government much more than the level."

What does this mean you ask.  It means Chait agrees with what I've been saying all along.  Tea baggers are no more against Big Government than they are against voting Republican.  Quite the opposite really.  They love government.  They love their highways, their power lines, their unemployment checks, their Medicare, their Social Security, and their tax payer funded employment.  They love it all.

What they don't like is someone else-- who doesn't vote Republican-- also getting services from the government.  And that my friends is the essence of the tea bagger movement.

As you'll recall, unless you're a Fox News fan, George Bush doubled the national debt and created a $1.4 trillion deficit.  He also grew the size of government more than any president since FDR.  And no where to be found during all this massive growth and deficit orgy were the tea baggers.  They claim, the tea baggers do I mean.  That they finally had enough after 8 years of Bush and complete fiscal irresponsibility and that the TARP vote finally sent them over the edge.

Well that may be true and I don't doubt it.  But TARP is actually making money for tax payers so for people who claim superiority with fiscal conservatives, they've really chosen the wrong rallying point.  I don't doubt TARP sent their blood a boiling because Fox News portrayed it as socialism and routinely pawns it off onto Obama. But what really formed the movement was when a Democratic black man named Barack Hussein Obama became their president.

Sure they hated TARP and President Obama's health care reform.  But both of those programs are paid for or deficit neutral (i.e., fiscally sane) and can't possibly be a rendezvous for people who claim to care about finances.  Even more than hating government services that are actually paid for which is just insane when you think about it, they hate Democrats.

TARP Still Successful

You would never know it but the highly scorned Bush TARP program has been widely successful. Despite Republican efforts to assign TARP spending onto President Obama, and trust me I really wish Obama could take credit for this but it is entirely a Bush-era program (actually the only successful Bush-era policy).

As WSJ reports:

Six banks repaid nearly half a billion dollars in funds they received from the government bailout of Wall Street, the Treasury Department said, bringing the total bank repayment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program to 99%.

Banks have repaid 99% of what was lent to them.  That's way more than I ever thought would be recovered.  And as Think Progress notes, "TARP program is ultimately expected to “provide a lifetime profit of nearly $20 billion to taxpayers.”  Far and away, the most successful Bush policy.  Republicans should embrace it and do a little bragging.

*Update:

Seems like yesterday that perma-tan John Boehner was crying on the House Floor begging his colleagues to vote for TARP.


Guess what Johnny Boy? You were right. You saved America.

Big Government Has Nothing to do With God

Moral crusader, war cheerleader, Christian jihadist and Republican Senator from South Carolina, Jim DeMint, thinks the bigger government gets the less people rely on God.

"I’ve said it often and I believe it – the bigger government gets, the smaller God gets. As people become more dependent on government, less dependent on God."

This is truly interesting.  No one president in the last 75 years has increased the size of government more than George W. Bush.

As president, Bush instituted at least 8 tax payer funded government bailouts of private industry totaling over $1 trillion-- the largest government interference of the private sector in American history.  He created the largest bureaucracy in the world with the Dept. of Homeland Security.  And then turned around and created the second largest with No Child Left Behind.  He placed FEMA in charge of every disaster, flood, snowfall and street shoveling job in America.  He single handily issued over 1,200 signing statements directly exempting himself from federal laws.  He also enacted the largest expansion of Medicare since its inception.  A huge government expansion of health care that is completely unfunded and adds nearly a trillion dollars to the deficit.

It's actually very hard to overstate just how much government grew under George Bush and the Republicans.

In terms of fiscal policy, his two terms were a disaster for this country.  Upon entering office the federal budget was running the largest surpluses in history. Within his first 6 months in office, Bush turned it into a deficit.  By the time he left, the deficit was $1.4 trillion-- the largest in American history.  Not one single policy, initiative or war was ever funded or paid for.  In addition, the Dow lost half its value. His two terms witnessed a net of zero job creation in 8 years-- the worst on record. And GDP grew at its slowest pace since the Great Depression.

By the time he finally left office, government was larger and running a trillion dollar deficit.  Unemployment had doubled, GDP was shrinking, and we were still fighting two endless wars that were as unpopular as he was.  It was the worst two terms in American history.

Yet during all that, Senator Jim DeMint never said one word.  He never complained Bush was replacing religion with Government.  He never said a word.  He supported all of it. But now that Bush is gone and Republicans are no longer in power, God's servant is worried.  Sounds fake doesn't it?  That's because he is.  Wouldn't you think someone who is so concerned about government replacing God would have spoken up during that time?  Not when it's Republicans doing it.  According to DeMint and his fraudulent ideology, all of it was okay, if not ordained by God since it was the GOP.

Typical response from a Republican, yes.  But it's more than that.  They do it every time.  It's not that someone DeMint didn't vote for is in office.  It's that someone who hates God and loves Government is destroying our country.  This is always the case even though the Republican record of governance is of nothing but growing government and creating huge deficits.  This has nothing to do with God except for Republicans use it to scare the American people.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Highs in the 70s, sunshine and plenty of Guinness.

A Police State Near You

If you really want to see how scary Republicans can become forget about Wisconsin and check out their Fascist Financial Takeover law just passed by a totally Republican-controlled government in Michigan.

Latest Polling Shows Public Supports Tax Increases and Spending Cuts

The latest WaPo/ABC News poll shows 64% of the voting public support a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the budget deficit.

That doesn't anything like what the Republicans in Congress are telling us now does it?

Emperor Addresses Nation

Historians among us will note when the Emperor of Japan emerges a time of national tragedy has unfolded.

The first time the people of Japan ever heard their Emperor's voice was August 15th, 1945. The Dynasty has been in place since 660 B.C., so that's saying a lot.

Today marked the first time the Emperor addressed the nation via television following a national crisis. I probably can't stress enough how rare this is and how catastrophic the earthquake has been.

Breaking Unions and Breaking Families

One of the leading Wisconsin Republicans who pushed the union-busting bill through the General Assembly and onto Gov. Walker's desk is living with his 26 year old mistress outside of his senate district.

45 year old state senator Randy Hopper left his wife for a much younger 26 year old former senate staffer and current Republican lobbyist over a year ago.  His senate office says a divorce is in the works for Hopper and his current wife.  Hopper is also facing a recall effort in which he trails against generic Dem candidates.

Quickies

• In the battle to determine who is the dumbest Republican in the history of America, Michelle Bachmann took a slight lead over Sarah Palin when she told her tea bagger crowd in New Hampshire they were the home of Plymouth Rock, and the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord.  All historical episodes took place in Massachusetts not New Hampshire.  I guess reality really does have a liberal bias.

• Not to be outdone, Palin sought advice from Fox News boss Roger Ailes as what to do after the Arizona shooting.  Ailes told her to do nothing, lie low and definitely not to give a prerecorded video of a teleprompter speech.  Palin chose not to listen.

• Realizing Palin was catching up, Bachmann hurriedly released a Facebook statement blaming her ignorance of American history on President Obama's teleprompter.  Take that liberals.

• More people turned out in Madison, WI Saturday to protest Republican efforts at busting up unions than the largest tea bagger protest of President Obama's health care reform.  Take a guess who got more media coverage, and who was portrayed as being Patriotic Americans defending their freedom and liberty???????????

Somewhere There Has to be a Contradiction (*Updated)

Image via Wikipedia

When Republican Senator David Vitter isn't busy humping prostitutes, he poses as a very Serious deficit slashing Republican for some extra spending money.

The problem is, in addition to how fiscally irresponsible it is to pay a prostitute for sex when you have a wife that would do it for free, Vitter also has a long track record of being anything but a deficit slashing Republican.

He gleefully voted, twice, for Bush's tax cuts-- the largest contributor to the deficit. He voted yes for Bush's completely unfunded trillion dollar expansion to Medicare, which, as you might have guessed, adds to the deficit.  Vitter also saw absolutely nothing wrong with waging two wars without paying for them.  But now that Republicans are not in charge, we all are supposed to pretend that Vitter has always been an upstanding Christian that cares deeply about fiscal stewardship.

What's amazing, though.  In this era of 24/7 news coverage, where there are millions of cameras, cell phones, the Internet, YouTube, and a plethora of images reminding us of how fiscally irresponsible David Vitter and his Republican cohorts were just a very short time ago, the media never bothers to take two seconds to realize everything the GOP is saying now is the complete opposite of how they govern.

It's pretty bad this day and age that someone like David Vitter still gets portrayed in the media as well as in his Republican circles as a moral values, Christian conservative fiscal hawk.  It's fraudulence to say the least.

*Update:

Reader JS writes in to challenge my paying a hooker is fiscally irresponsible claim.

"I vehemently disagree with you suggesting Vitter is acting fiscally irresponsible for paying a prostitute for sex when he has a wife.  You obviously haven't followed the Vitter scandal at all.

He paid a prostitute to dress him up in a diaper and treat him like a baby.  I'm sure that's not something his wife would do.  Therefore, since his wife wouldn't bottle feed him while wearing an adult diaper, he had to pay someone else to do it.  Don't know what world you live in but that's not fiscally irresponsible.  Maybe a bad choice in fetishes but not when it comes to monetary policy since he wasn't getting that service at home for free like your post alluded."

I stand corrected.

Earthquake Strikes Off Japan, Tsunami Hits Coast

Tokyo (CNN) -- The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in at least 100 years unleashed walls of water Friday that swept across rice fields, engulfed towns, dragged houses onto highways and tossed cars and boats like toys, apparently killing hundreds and forcing the evacuations of tens of thousands.

*Update:

U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was the strongest to hit Japan in 1,200 years.

The Basis Behind Wisconsin

It looks as if things are about to explode in Wisconsin.

To keep it in perspective before the courts get involved, the basis of why Republicans are so adamant about breaking up unions is simply to disrupt Democratic voters.  Wisconsin senate majority leader even says so.

FITZGERALD: Well if they flip the state senate, which is obviously their goal with eight recalls going on right now, they can take control of the labor unions. If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.

It's that simple.

That's why Walker didn't target unions that endorsed him for governor. The whole thing is about destroying the Democratic base. It's politics at its worst.  They view Obama as an illegitimate president and the Democratic Party as an enemy.  When they say they are waging a battle for the future of America, they're very serious about it.

Gingrich Was So Busy Working For Our Nation

A lot of people are characterizing Newt Gingrich's admission to Christian fundamentalist preacher and host of the right wing 700 Club, Pat Robertson, that during his multiple affairs he was busy working for the country as a way of blaming his affairs on his patriotism.

I don't think Gingrich said any such thing.  To be certain, here's his quote:

There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them.

I just don't see he where blames his patriotism.  What I do see is Gingrich blaming his busy schedule on his poor decision-making in his private life.  I absolutely believe he was busy working for America.  He was Speaker of the House of Representatives during one of his affairs.  There's no doubt the dude was swamped with work, putting in 14 hour days forcing him to neglect family time.  As a result, he screwed up.

None of this is a big deal or uncommon.  At least it wouldn't be if it weren't for the fact that at the same time Gingrich was "passionately" working for this country (the very excuse he gives for his multiple affairs) he was also presiding over the impeachment of President Clinton-- who as President of the United States was working way harder and much longer days than Gingrich.  Yet Gingrich and the radical Republicans didn't afford him the same benefit of excuses.

This isn't about patriotism.  It's about a double standard, and Gingrich is sailing right along.

Quinn Abolishes Death Penalty in Illinois

Illinois Governor Patt Quinn (D-IL) signed legislation this morning abolishing the death penalty. He also commuted the death sentence of 15 inmates to life in prison.

"For me, this was a difficult decision, quite literally the choice between life and death," Quinn wrote in his signing statement. "This was not a decision to be made lightly, or a decision that I came to without deep personal reflection."

"Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it," Quinn wrote. "With our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in every case."

More than a decade ago, prisoners on Illinois' death row were being exonerated for their crimes mostly by DNA evidence.  In all, 13 men on death row were wrongly convicted.  In other words, they were sentenced to die by the State and were not guilty of the crimes charged.  That's a huge number when we're talking about the State having the power to kill.

However, even with the inexplicable errors, false convictions, rampant corruption and probably innocent people being executed, I still think the death penalty is necessary in some instances.  The death penalty is not a deterrent. But it is punishment.  And some crimes are so abhorrent there is no other alternative.  My opinion only.  I was really hoping Quinn wouldn't sign this bill.

It's All Yours Now B.O.

After two years of review, the Obama administration has decided to largely stick with former President Bush's indefinite detention policy of suspected terrorists and to only try them in military tribunals.

This is great news for Bush supporters.  The president's actions demonstrate-- very clearly-- that President Bush was doing what he thought was right and not what he thought he could do just because he wanted to.  Indefinite detention of people Obama deems as enemies of the country is now state-sanctioned policy.

In contrast, the Obama administration will allow prisoners the right to counsel.  I guess it's the least he could do after locking them up in concentration camps.

Five Things You Have to Say to Win the Republican Nomination

There is certain criteria you must meet in order to win a Republican primary. These things might sound fringe, extreme, or even delusional to an ordinary non-Fox News watching person. But to Republicans and their tea bagger base, their omission will be costly.

1. First and foremost, you have to give your unequivocal support to war without end. But it has to be in the manly tone of "we could bomb them before they ever knew what hit them" talk.  We all remember when John McCain sang songs about bombing Iran.  He received cheers and laughter from his voters even though he only mentioned waging war in one country at a time.  However, he didn't stress how quickly and effortlessly we could kill other people.  That was just one of his many mistakes.  Disgraced former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, shows us how it's done.  On Fox News of course.

VAN SUSTEREN: What would you do about Libya?

GINGRICH: Exercise a no-fly zone this evening. … It’s also an ideological problem. The United States doesn’t need anybody’s permission. We don’t need to have NATO, who frankly, won’t bring much to the fight. We don’t need to have the United Nations. All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening. And we don’t have to send troops. All we have to do is suppress his air force, which we could do in minutes.

Say what you want about Fruity Newty, but the man knows how to give a room full of Republicans erections to the ceiling.

2. Next you have to routinely talk about how great Reagan was. This is an important one.  You can't just casually mention this one like you can the war talk.  This is one that has to be repeated daily.  And if you're Sarah Palin, you put it in every other sentence.  I can't stress enough how important this one is.

3. This one coincides with #2.  You have to talk endlessly about shrinking government, reining in the deficit and cutting the budget-- you know, all the things Reagan didn't do but Republicans think he did.  It's impossible to mention shrinking government without mentioning Reagan, and vice versa.  You don't have to give any specifics on this.  You merely have to lip sync that you will, if elected, shrink government, cut spending and balance the budget.  Don't waste a lot of time on this one.  Much thought is not required.  Just say it and move on.  [To point 4 if you're smart]

4. You have to give a shout out to the tea baggers.  This is mandatory, no questions asked nor is there any room for hesitation.  Tea baggers are the only motivated faction of the GOP.  They have to be catered and it helps to mention points 1, 2, and 3 when conversing with them about such thing like the right to bear arms being granted to us by God.

5. This last one can get tricky.  You have to be able to talk about Restoring America. The restoration can be about restoring America to the society the Founders envisioned, or it can be about the shining city upon a hill Reagan (extra points for knocking out two items in one shot) mentioned.  Or it can simply be about returning America back to the 19th century-- when minorities were largely disenfranchised and women were second-class citizens.  If you're smart, you'll summarize this one into a short paragraph about repealing constitutional amendments that helped progress America.  Just don't forget to add that those amendments progressed us into an immoral liberal bastion full of activist judges without penises.

There you have it.  If you can master these five items you are almost guaranteed a shot at the Republican ticket.  The elite ruling class of Republicans can squeeze all five into one short 30-second sound bite.  Or n 2 a twtter post.  The best thing to do, though, is to go on Fox News where you will be given free access to unlimited and uninterrupted airtime to get the word out to your voters.  Just remember, if you dare mention reality while there you probably won't be invited back.

Unions Are Not Breaking State Budgets

McClatchy Newspapers hits hard against the misinformed Republican voter that thinks unions are the cause of state fiscal woes:

WASHINGTON — From state legislatures to Congress to tea party rallies, a vocal backlash is rising against what are perceived as too-generous retirement benefits for state and local government workers. However, that widespread perception doesn't match reality.

A close look at state and local pension plans across the nation, and a comparison of them to those in the private sector, reveals a more complicated story. However, the short answer is that there's simply no evidence that state pensions are the current burden to public finances that their critics claim.

I'm not sure I've seen a newspaper tackle an issue so figuratively. But it needed to be said. The whole thing should be repeated on every nightly newscast all over America.

The Property Tax Scam: It's to Keep the Elites Elite

Personally I oppose property taxes. I think they should be illegal and probably are if we really read our laws. But if we are going to have them, there's no reason millionaires should only have to pay $400/year for hundreds of acres when my tax bill last year alone was over $3,000 for one quarter of an acre.

imagine there's no insurgency...it's easy if you try

In reviewing the revisionist history of Donald Rumsfeld's memoir, Republican right wing extremist and National Review Online contributor, Victor Davis Hanson captures the epitome of the Republican Fantasy World:

He is as candid and unapologetic in retirement as he was in government and corporate service. “Take away the insurgency in Iraq,” an acquaintance once told me, “and Donald Rumsfeld would have been a sort of icon of postwar America.” That might now seem obvious, but we don’t yet have the full history — or know the ultimate consequences — of the Iraq War.

Ahhhh yes, if we could just close our eyes and pretend it never happened then Rumsfeld is the greatest Defense Secretary to ever live. If we would just stop focusing on the fact that we are still occupying Iraq, that we still have troops dying there and have already spent a trillion dollars then we would finally realize just how Great and Patriotic the whole thing has been.

Let's focus on reality, just for a brief second.  Obviously what Davis' anonymous aide meant to say was if we could "take away the insurgency, the missing WMD and the fabled tales of ties to 9/11 then Donald Rumsfeld would have been a sort of icon of postwar America."  It wasn't just the insurgency they didn't believe would happen, it was everything they told us in the lead up to war that turned out as a lie too.

NH GOP Tries to Limit the College Vote

As part of a larger plan to invalidate anyone that doesn't vote Republican, GOPers all over the country are coming up with creative ways to disenfranchise opposition voters. In New Hampshire, Republicans are trying to keep college students from the booth.

Now why would you have to keep college students from voting? Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Bill O'Brien (R-NH), says it's because the kids "go into these general elections, they'll have 900 same day registrations, which are the kids coming out of the schools and basically doing what I did when I was a kid, which is [vote liberal]."

Barack Obama won the college graduate vote 53%-45%. Any questions?

Keeping people stupid as possible is their goal.  Next to keeping themselves in power that is.

Reader Email Bag

It's time to dip into the reader email bag again. What's in store for us this time?

From reader DDL

Long time reader first time writer. I'm writing first to tell that your blog isn't yet a daily read for me but a bidaily read. When you trash your commenters is some of the funniest stuff ever. I would like to see more of that but that would require more people commenting. Or maybe more people reading. Good luck with all that you do.

From reader KBP

Why does every post sound the same. Can't you write about anything new?

From reader straightguy@comcast.net

Maybe you've never considered reading something called a newspaper. There were no job losses until after America realized NObama would be the next president. Yes it happeened before he took the oathe. Still it was when America realized he would win. Since the Republicans led by the tea party has won back control jobs are coming back. Those are facts no matter what you call your blog. One Big A** Mistake America!

From reader TM:

It must be really hard repeating stuff you hear on other blogs and reprinting it on your diary. I might start me a blog and consider myself an expert by repeating all the stuff I hear daily and then turn it around on the other side. Would it be too much to ask for originality? Do you have to rehash everything your hear your liberal heroes repeat? If god had wanted you to be important he would have made you important. He didn't. So quit trying.

We Were There Too You Know

As the start of the invasion of Iraq quickly approaches, I'm going to repost an entry I wrote last year that has garnered more email support than any other I have ever written.

Essentially, just own up.

We Were Wrong Once, And Young

I've written quite a bit about Iraq over the last three or so years of blogging. At one point, it was probably my number one topic. And as longtime readers will recall, I supported the invasion in 2003.

As I've also written numerous times, I was wrong to have supported the invasion. I was a chickenhawk going around supporting war without willing to sacrifice anything. By the summer of 2003, once I realized we had no plans for a post-Saddam Iraq or put no consideration into the probability of an insurgency, I began to change my mind and thought the war was a huge miscalculation. I knew then that my original grandiose for war was wrong. I don't know how else to say it other than to say I was wrong. I was wrong about all of it.

So reading Matt Yglesias today go through 4 different reasons why he mistakenly supported war in 2003 catches me a little off guard. There's no need to give lists of reasons why you supported invading a country just because your government says it's a good thing to do while you gleefully cheered on others doing the fighting. I'm sure Matt has done this before, but just say you were wrong. No one forced your hand at support. There were plenty of people protesting the war. Huge demonstrations were being held daily. Whether or not some proper speaking Scotsman conned you into chest thumping war is merely an excuse to let yourself off the hook. You were wrong. I was wrong. It was a huge mistake delivered with vast lies and conspiracy theories. There's no other way to come to terms with it. We were wrong.

I'm not trying to pick on Matt here. I just don't see any reason to lay out various reasons for why you did what you did when you did what you did. The reasoning doesn't change the fact that you were wrong. And to me that's all that needs to be said. Because, honestly, not only were we wrong we were enablers and nothing we say now will ever change that. So don't even try. Admit you were wrong and learn to never blindly follow something as consequential again.

This Week in Fox News...

Last week was a busy week at Fox News. Busy as in plenty of stories to pretend had nothing to do with the GOP.

• Numerous times they referred to the Religious Right church in Arkansas, Westboro Baptist, as being part of the far-let.

• Accidentally I'm sure, they forgot to list the political affiliation of Arizona's State Senate Majority Leader when reporting about the arrest of his girlfriend for domestic violence.  In case you're wondering the Majority Leader of the Arizona State Senate is a Republican.

• Everyone knows Fox News is the headquarters for voter fraud stories, they even setup a hotline to get scoops.  As TPM points out, that is unless the person getting arrested for voter fraud is Republican.

The Same Ol' Moral Values Crap

Reminiscent of Moral Values Crusader and former Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 who tried to pick a fight with imaginary sitcom character Murphy Brown for being unwed and pregnant, Mike Huckabee highlights Natalie Portman as an example of degrading American values for being unwed and pregnant.

It's worth mentioning Huckabee doesn't say a word about his potential running mate Sarah Palin's teenage daughter's unwed pregnancy and her subsequent dropping out of high school.  But Palin is a Republican and led by God so we really can't blame him for the oversight.

Stewart Makes it as Simple as Possible to Understand

This is just excellent. Stewart really deserves a Pulitzer for this one.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Here is the gist of it.

Fox defended CEO bonuses whose companies were rescued with tax payer money because millionaire CEO's overwhelmingly vote Republican. Fox defended the extension of Bush tax cuts to people making over $250,000 a year because, as Stewart sums up, Fox portrayed such people as barely scraping by. Oh and they also just so happen to vote Republican.  And don't forget every single anchor or pundit at Fox News makes over $250K/year, so the Bush tax cuts greatly benefited them, who they portrayed as regular, everyday people rubbing nickels together.

But school teachers??  They are union members who tend to vote Democratic so their right to exist is equivalent to destroying America.  They are greedy for defending their right to collective bargaining.  And they are thugs for protesting a Republican's decision to deny their existence.

Fox's portrayal would not be a big deal if it were not the most watched news channel in America.  Since it is, their coverage is tantamount to a political contribution to the GOP.

1800th post!!

It's Easy to Organize Your Base When the Opposition Helps

Jon Bernstein, I think, is spending way too much time on the details in trying to figure out what's different with today's tea baggers and yesterday's anti-Clinton crowd.

Bernstein appears to want to agree that both groups are Republican-based (which no doubt they are) but that they differ in their organized nature, thus making today's tea baggers a little different fundamentally.  I totally disagree with that.

It's true they might be better organized now than in the 90s but what's important to remember is that calling them tea baggers allows them to shed the Republican label, which is an extremely unpopular political party in America.  You'll recall in 2006 many Republican incumbents refused to have the word Republican anywhere on their websites, campaign literature or media buys.  They tried to runaway from the label.  The same was true but to an even greater extent in 2008.

By 2010 Republicans came up with a new label, Tea Party.  This allowed them to legally run as Republicans but hide behind this fresh new freedom fighting label.  This has been my argument all along about referring to them as something other than Republican.  It allows Republicans to not claim the label but still the mantle.  When a tea bagger wins a House seat the GOP picks up the seat, not the Tea Party.  It also, and probably most importantly, allows the GOP to disown its crazies.

We are letting the GOP rebrand itself, which Democrats shouldn't be in the business of doing.  The only thing that has changed since the 90s is Republicans have come up with a new catchphrase, which has contributed greatly to their organizing.  If you don't believe me, ask yourself this.  In 2010, would the GOP been as successful if the term tea bagger or Tea Party wasn't around and they were forced to run as Republicans?

Quickies

I might be able to get a couple more posts up tonight but it's looking increasingly unlikely. The move, however, has went as best as can be expected when you move from a home you have lived in for 7 years and have 15 month old twins running around.

Until I can get back in the groove, a quickie will have to to do...

• One of the top 2012 Republican presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee, wrongly claims President Obama grew up in Kenya and then tries to correct it, only after progressive blogs hounded him, by saying he grew up in Hawaii but that he still has anti-American attributes, and that we should buy his latest book if we want to know more.  Sigh.

• Props to President Obama for signaling support for the Wyden-Brown plan that would allow states to opt out of Affordable Care Act much sooner.  Though his support might cause the plan not to pass the house, it puts Republicans in a terrible position of having to actually come up with a plan on their own.

• The Fox News reporter who claimed he was punched by a union thug in Wisconsin?  Uhhh yeah, video shows it never happened.  

• The iPad 2 is out!

• And finally, Glenn Beck knows absolutely nothing about American history.  He lies and lies and then lies again while Fox News spreads his lies to millions of people.

Almost Back

Almost back up. Spent the weekend moving furniture. Should return to society by the end of the week.