Saturday, May 23, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Republican-dominated Senate doing what Republicans do best...
The Senate shot down another piece of President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill Thursday, as a stalemated Congress goes through the motions of attempting legislation to spur economic growth largely as a mechanism to allow each party to blame the other for the failure to act.
The chamber failed to advance a measure to spend $50 billion on highway, rail, transit and airport improvements and another $10 billion as seed money for an infrastructure bank designed to spark private investment in construction. The vote was 51 to 49 in favor, but the measure needed 60 votes to proceed to a full debate.
The chamber failed to advance a measure to spend $50 billion on highway, rail, transit and airport improvements and another $10 billion as seed money for an infrastructure bank designed to spark private investment in construction. The vote was 51 to 49 in favor, but the measure needed 60 votes to proceed to a full debate.
Bush/Cheney weren't misled by faulty intel, they used faulty intel to drag us into a stupid war
Jeb Bush Says His Brother Was Misled Into War By Faulty Intelligence. That's Not What Happened.
He and other Republican presidential contenders have a new and bogus spin on how the Iraq war began.
Last week, Jeb Bush stepped in it. It took the all-but-announced Republican presidential candidate several attempts to answer the most obvious question: knowing what we know now, would you have launched the Iraq war? Yes, I would have, he initially declared, noting he would not dump on his brother for initiating the unpopular war. "So would almost everyone that was confronted with the intelligence they got," Bush said. In a subsequent and quickly-offered back-pedaling remark—on his way to saying he would have made "different decisions"—Bush emphasized that a main problem with the Bush-Cheney invasion was "mistakes as it related to faulty intelligence in the lead-up to the war." And as his Republican rivals jumped on Bush, they, too, blamed bad intelligence for causing the war. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), insisting that he would not have favored the war (if he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction), commented, "President Bush has said that he regrets that the intelligence was faulty." And former CEO Carly Fiorina noted, "The intelligence was clearly wrong. And so had we known that the intelligence was wrong, no, I would not have gone in."
But here's the truth Jeb Bush and the others are hiding or eliding: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Co. were not misled by lousy intelligence; they used lousy intelligence to mislead the public.
He and other Republican presidential contenders have a new and bogus spin on how the Iraq war began.
Last week, Jeb Bush stepped in it. It took the all-but-announced Republican presidential candidate several attempts to answer the most obvious question: knowing what we know now, would you have launched the Iraq war? Yes, I would have, he initially declared, noting he would not dump on his brother for initiating the unpopular war. "So would almost everyone that was confronted with the intelligence they got," Bush said. In a subsequent and quickly-offered back-pedaling remark—on his way to saying he would have made "different decisions"—Bush emphasized that a main problem with the Bush-Cheney invasion was "mistakes as it related to faulty intelligence in the lead-up to the war." And as his Republican rivals jumped on Bush, they, too, blamed bad intelligence for causing the war. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), insisting that he would not have favored the war (if he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction), commented, "President Bush has said that he regrets that the intelligence was faulty." And former CEO Carly Fiorina noted, "The intelligence was clearly wrong. And so had we known that the intelligence was wrong, no, I would not have gone in."
But here's the truth Jeb Bush and the others are hiding or eliding: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Co. were not misled by lousy intelligence; they used lousy intelligence to mislead the public.
More here.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
The ludicrous myth of Republican fiscal responsibility: A history lesson for the modern GOP
Over the past three decades, the Republican party has followed a familiar strategy — get elected to executive office by preaching fiscal responsibility, make a complete mess of things fiscally, and then, when a Democrat comes in to clean up the mess, blame them endlessly for not fixing it fast enough. We see this currently, with the insipid Republican candidates blaming President Obama for our current debt level, despite the fact that Republican policies, like cutting taxes for the wealthy and putting two wars on the credit card made it all possible.
It is a kind of reasoning that Mitch McConnell presented when Obama first entered office, saying, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Not to help revamp the middle class or get the economy back on track or end disastrous wars, but to make Obama a one-term president. Here lies the reasoning of the Republican party. Their sole goal is to attack and defeat the Democratic president, and to do this, they complain about issues like inequality or the deficit, and then hijack any proposals that the president advances to address them.
Since the first day Obama stepped into the Oval Office, the federal debt has not only become a catastrophic issue for Republicans, but also one entirely attributed to Obama and the Democrats. This is a major change in heart from a decade earlier, when Republican Vice President Dick Cheney said to Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” Indeed, Ted Cruz’s hero Ronald Reagan was the original deficit master.
When Reagan took office, he advocated fiscal responsibility, as his disciples do today. But his presidency was anything but responsible when it came to fiscal policies. The size of America’s debt when he entered office was $1 trillion, and by the end of his two terms, it had grown by 190 percent, to $2.9 trillion, nearly tripling under his leadership. By the the end of twelve years of Reagan-Bush administration, the debt had quadrupled to $4 trillion. Reagan’s policies were ideological in the beginning, and pragmatic towards the end. In his first year in office, he signed major tax cuts into law that were supposed to reduce revenue by $749 billion over five years. This was the “starve the beast” tactic, which the Reagan administration quickly realized was impractical, and the following year signed into law the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which was the largest tax increase in American history. For the remaining of his presidency, Reagan backtracked from that initial tax cut, increasing income taxes as well as gasoline and social security taxes, which he would use to fund his runaway spending.
While Reagan’s criticism of Jimmy Carters’ deficit spending helped land him in the office, by the end of his run, spending had only increased in share of national income. Indeed, both Ford and Carter were better at cutting government spending — their presidential terms combined for a 1.4 percent increase of national income, while Reagan’s spending grew 3 percent.
It is a kind of reasoning that Mitch McConnell presented when Obama first entered office, saying, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Not to help revamp the middle class or get the economy back on track or end disastrous wars, but to make Obama a one-term president. Here lies the reasoning of the Republican party. Their sole goal is to attack and defeat the Democratic president, and to do this, they complain about issues like inequality or the deficit, and then hijack any proposals that the president advances to address them.
Since the first day Obama stepped into the Oval Office, the federal debt has not only become a catastrophic issue for Republicans, but also one entirely attributed to Obama and the Democrats. This is a major change in heart from a decade earlier, when Republican Vice President Dick Cheney said to Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” Indeed, Ted Cruz’s hero Ronald Reagan was the original deficit master.
When Reagan took office, he advocated fiscal responsibility, as his disciples do today. But his presidency was anything but responsible when it came to fiscal policies. The size of America’s debt when he entered office was $1 trillion, and by the end of his two terms, it had grown by 190 percent, to $2.9 trillion, nearly tripling under his leadership. By the the end of twelve years of Reagan-Bush administration, the debt had quadrupled to $4 trillion. Reagan’s policies were ideological in the beginning, and pragmatic towards the end. In his first year in office, he signed major tax cuts into law that were supposed to reduce revenue by $749 billion over five years. This was the “starve the beast” tactic, which the Reagan administration quickly realized was impractical, and the following year signed into law the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which was the largest tax increase in American history. For the remaining of his presidency, Reagan backtracked from that initial tax cut, increasing income taxes as well as gasoline and social security taxes, which he would use to fund his runaway spending.
While Reagan’s criticism of Jimmy Carters’ deficit spending helped land him in the office, by the end of his run, spending had only increased in share of national income. Indeed, both Ford and Carter were better at cutting government spending — their presidential terms combined for a 1.4 percent increase of national income, while Reagan’s spending grew 3 percent.
House Republicans passed a bill last week to permanently abolish inheritance taxes, which as you may know, already exempt the first $5.43 million per person from any tax. The United States long ago decided that we didn't want to create a landed aristocracy like in old Europe, so we created an inheritance tax. It's worked fine for ninety years. But now, at a time when the top tier of banking and investor class has accumulated a staggering amount of wealth and property, there are those who want to ensure that their wealth is preserved in perpetuity.
The meme is just a meme. But there's more truth in it than I'd like to admit. ~
Jake Burkhalter
The meme is just a meme. But there's more truth in it than I'd like to admit. ~
Jake Burkhalter
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Study finds that US has the most gun deaths of any developed country
Anyone surprised? It's The Price Of FreeDUMB™...
America is a scary, violent place. Yes, we host the Grammys and produce Pixar movies, but we live in one of the most violent nations, historically and currently, in the entire world. Culture and sports, which are admittedly great here, serve as a distraction from the reality that we live in the Wild Wild West.
Two days ago, this man killed his ex-wife, several of their beautiful children, by-standers, and then himself—five people in all—but it was hardly relevant nationally. Why? Because it’s just the norm. It happens all of the time here. Tuesday morning three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill were shot to death by a man who just seemed to hate them because they were Muslims.
Thirty-two people a day, over 12,000 per year, are shot and killed in America. On a daily basis, it’s never a matter of if anyone is going to be shot and killed, but who and where—and eventually it will hit close to home. A recent study determined that the United States has more guns and more gun deaths than any other developed country in the world. With most nations it’s not even close.
Little kids are accidentally shooting their mother’s face off in America. What happens to that child when he grows up? The police just shot and killed this man for throwing rocks. The police just shot and killed her for showing a knife. The police just shot and killed her for stealing a car. It’s ridiculous. We have a problem that we are unwilling to face as a nation.
Hundreds of kids have been shot and killed in America since Sandy Hook. More mass shootings, in fact, have happened in the United States, over a longer span of time, than any other developed nation in the world. Our problems aren’t new either.
Two days ago, this man killed his ex-wife, several of their beautiful children, by-standers, and then himself—five people in all—but it was hardly relevant nationally. Why? Because it’s just the norm. It happens all of the time here. Tuesday morning three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill were shot to death by a man who just seemed to hate them because they were Muslims.
Thirty-two people a day, over 12,000 per year, are shot and killed in America. On a daily basis, it’s never a matter of if anyone is going to be shot and killed, but who and where—and eventually it will hit close to home. A recent study determined that the United States has more guns and more gun deaths than any other developed country in the world. With most nations it’s not even close.
Little kids are accidentally shooting their mother’s face off in America. What happens to that child when he grows up? The police just shot and killed this man for throwing rocks. The police just shot and killed her for showing a knife. The police just shot and killed her for stealing a car. It’s ridiculous. We have a problem that we are unwilling to face as a nation.
Hundreds of kids have been shot and killed in America since Sandy Hook. More mass shootings, in fact, have happened in the United States, over a longer span of time, than any other developed nation in the world. Our problems aren’t new either.
U.S. is 33rd best place to be a mother in the world. Yes, 33rd. Behind Portugal, Belarus, Croatia.
Are we ashamed yet?
The United States is the 33rd best place in the world to be a mother, according to the 2015 State of the World's Mothers report prepared by Save the Children. And, adding insult to injury, 33rd is actually two spots lower than last year's ranking. We are literally standing by as mothers die. This is not benign neglect -- it is malignant neglect.
The United States is the 33rd best place in the world to be a mother, according to the 2015 State of the World's Mothers report prepared by Save the Children. And, adding insult to injury, 33rd is actually two spots lower than last year's ranking. We are literally standing by as mothers die. This is not benign neglect -- it is malignant neglect.
More here.
Republican Officials Are Scared, And They Are Doing Everything They Can To Hold Onto Power
Register Voters In Georgia, You Might Go To Jail
In the weeks leading up to the 2012 election, Helen Ho, an attorney who has worked to register newly naturalized immigrants to vote in the Southeast, made an alarming discovery. Some new citizens that her group, then known as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, had tried to register in Georgia were still not on the rolls. Early voting had begun and polling places were challenging and even turning away new citizens seeking to vote for the first time.
After more than a week of seeking answers from the office of Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, which oversees elections, AALAC issued a sharply worded open letter on October 31 demanding that Georgia take immediate action to ensure the new citizens could vote.
Two days later Ho received her response. In a letter, Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, offered few specific assurances about the new voters in question and informed Ho that his office was launching an investigation into how AALAC registered these would-be voters. Kemp’s office asked that AALAC turn over certain records of its registration efforts, citing "potential legal concerns surrounding AALAC's photocopying and public disclosure of voter registration applications."
Ho was aghast. “Our genuine desire was to help the secretary of state clear these people through to vote, so it was interesting that their response was to investigate us,” she told me. “I’m not going to lie: I was shocked, I was scared.”
The investigation targeted her group not for any voter fraud, per se, but for more technical issues, such as whether canvassers had people's explicit, written consent to photocopy their registration forms before mailing the originals to the elections office. Kemp’s investigation into AALAC lasted nearly two-and-a-half years. This past March 12th, it ended with no finding of violations.
Read about the shamefulness here.
Muhammad Cartoon Contest In Garland, Texas Had Nothing To Do With Free Speech
First things first: Freedom of speech is a cherished liberty among all Americans and most citizens of the rest of the world. It is the bedrock upon which all other freedoms rest. Preserving it is critical for civilized societies to exist. And it must be honored for all speech, especially that which is regarded as unpopular or offensive.
That said, in the practice of defending free speech we must be able to distinguish between actual expressions of genuine thoughts and beliefs, as opposed to cynical exploitation aimed at inflaming emotions and inciting violence. Just as shouting “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire is not protected speech, staging events meant to cause harm is not an excusable act under the First Amendment.
Hypocrites who pervert the notion of free expression need to be called out. They are often easy to spot. They complain bitterly when they are not allowed to malign and insult others with impunity. And while they insist that any derogatory speech directed at their heroes be condemned and suppressed, they outright lust for words and pictures that offend those whom they don’t particularly like. That’s how they can justify support for blatantly repulsive speech against Muslims or other enemies of right-wingers, but the slightest perceived slur aimed at Christians or other conservatives is an abomination. [Just ask the Dixie Chicks and the casualties in the War on Christmas]
That said, in the practice of defending free speech we must be able to distinguish between actual expressions of genuine thoughts and beliefs, as opposed to cynical exploitation aimed at inflaming emotions and inciting violence. Just as shouting “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire is not protected speech, staging events meant to cause harm is not an excusable act under the First Amendment.
Hypocrites who pervert the notion of free expression need to be called out. They are often easy to spot. They complain bitterly when they are not allowed to malign and insult others with impunity. And while they insist that any derogatory speech directed at their heroes be condemned and suppressed, they outright lust for words and pictures that offend those whom they don’t particularly like. That’s how they can justify support for blatantly repulsive speech against Muslims or other enemies of right-wingers, but the slightest perceived slur aimed at Christians or other conservatives is an abomination. [Just ask the Dixie Chicks and the casualties in the War on Christmas]
Read more here.
Monday, May 4, 2015
The Christian Right And Radical Islam Have More In Common With Each Other Than With Us
There are some chilling parallels between Christian and Islamic fundamentalists. Both divide the world between believers and unbelievers, and by deciding for themselves who is saved and who is damned, they think that they can play God with our lives. Both have also declared war on the secular culture of liberal democracy, the most peaceful and prosperous means of social organization ever devised by humankind. They both reject the separation of church and state and would set up governments based on their own views of divine laws.
Of greatest concern, however, is the fundamentalist view of the violent end of the world. A common scenario is a great war in the Middle East in which the armies of God destroy the armies of Satan. Radical Muslims of course identify Israel and the US as the forces of evil, but Christian fundamentalists see Islam as the ultimate enemy. The horrifying implication is that the Jews, Muslims, and Christians of the Middle East will be the primary victims of this holocaust.
The whole saga of the Texas Prophet Muhammed cartoon competition shootings has shined a spotlight on a big problem for America: Religious extremists in the Christian and Islamic faiths are seemingly at war, but actually have more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us.
The religious right in Texas set a trap for Islamic fundamentalists last weekend by holding a Prophet Muhammed cartoon competition. Two men turned up with guns and began shooting in the parking lot, injuring a local police officer. The two suspects were then reportedly killed by the police officers outside the venue. At time of writing, the identity and motivation of the gunmen is still unknown.
The scenes took place in Garland, Texas on Sunday. The aptly-named American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) had organized the event at the Curtis Culwell Center in what it branded as an exercise in freedom of expression. Organizer and leading anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller put up a prize fund of $10,000 for the most offensive cartoon of the Muslim prophet.
I find it strange when Christian Conservatives post anti-Islamic stuff on their timelines and pages because they follow pretty much the same religion. Christianity and Islam are historically linked to each other. Rather, most of the Sharia Law is derived from Christian scriptures itself. Both are ‘people of the book’ with a slight difference.
Similarities:
Both of them suggest women must be submissive to their husbands
Both of them justify marital rape
Both of them call pre-marital sex a sin
Both of them believe that a woman’s primary duty is to bear children
Both of them condemn abortion
Both of them think natural disasters are a result of not believing in god
More here.
Of greatest concern, however, is the fundamentalist view of the violent end of the world. A common scenario is a great war in the Middle East in which the armies of God destroy the armies of Satan. Radical Muslims of course identify Israel and the US as the forces of evil, but Christian fundamentalists see Islam as the ultimate enemy. The horrifying implication is that the Jews, Muslims, and Christians of the Middle East will be the primary victims of this holocaust.
More here.
The whole saga of the Texas Prophet Muhammed cartoon competition shootings has shined a spotlight on a big problem for America: Religious extremists in the Christian and Islamic faiths are seemingly at war, but actually have more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us.
The religious right in Texas set a trap for Islamic fundamentalists last weekend by holding a Prophet Muhammed cartoon competition. Two men turned up with guns and began shooting in the parking lot, injuring a local police officer. The two suspects were then reportedly killed by the police officers outside the venue. At time of writing, the identity and motivation of the gunmen is still unknown.
The scenes took place in Garland, Texas on Sunday. The aptly-named American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) had organized the event at the Curtis Culwell Center in what it branded as an exercise in freedom of expression. Organizer and leading anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller put up a prize fund of $10,000 for the most offensive cartoon of the Muslim prophet.
More here.
I find it strange when Christian Conservatives post anti-Islamic stuff on their timelines and pages because they follow pretty much the same religion. Christianity and Islam are historically linked to each other. Rather, most of the Sharia Law is derived from Christian scriptures itself. Both are ‘people of the book’ with a slight difference.
Similarities:
Both of them suggest women must be submissive to their husbands
Both of them justify marital rape
Both of them call pre-marital sex a sin
Both of them believe that a woman’s primary duty is to bear children
Both of them condemn abortion
Both of them think natural disasters are a result of not believing in god
More here.
Both religious extremist groups hate gays. Let's also remember that Muslim extremists and fundamental Christians long for the end times. That seems to explain why both sides want so strongly to go to war with each other, to hasten the end times. God protect us from this stupidity!
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