My Twitter with @JakeTapper

The cool thing about Twitter, for those who don't participate in it, is that if you treat people with respect, people that you would probably have virtually no chance of communicating with in "real life," they will most likely respond to you.

That was the case with ABC White House Correspondent Jake Tapper today after I read his story on President Obama being caught by a live microphone at a fundraiser in Chicago. Actually, I read his initial tweet first.



Well, I had to respond to that... didn't I?



And here was Tapper's response.



Fair enough. I thought maybe I should have read the link Tapper was referring to in his post before judging his tweet. Did I make a fool of myself? Maybe I misunderstood the intention of the Tapper tweet.

Speaking before the House GOP retreat in January 2010, the president suggested Ryan was a "pretty sincere guy" who "has looked at the budget and has made a serious proposal."

...Right. The link leads to a White House webpage of the transcript of said retreat in which the President indeed admitted that Ryan made a serious proposal... in 2010. Tapper certainly wasn't referring to the ridiculousness of Ryan's 2012 proposal. Was this what he thought was deserving of praise? Was he equating what Ryan said in 2010 compared to the mountain of crazy proposed in his 2012 budget? And should the President think likewise? Maybe so, in order to make a mountain out of a molehill. Obviously, I couldn't let it go at this point, so here's the rest of the tweet to and fro.



That was it. "Indeed, indeed." So I take it Tapper agrees with my assessment, yet this was a big story according to the MSM and Tapper. Oh, well.

I do give kudos to Jake Tapper for taking the time to respond to the possibly hundreds of tweets he must receive on a daily basis. Having access to someone who sits daily in the White House Press Room is something that probably wasn't feasible just even a few years ago, and I'm grateful for him taking the time to respond to me. If you go to his post, you'll be able to read a more detailed transcript of President Obama's "private" remarks that I've yet to see on MSM television. It's a fun read.

And if you're a tweeter, follow @jaketapper. Follow me too! (@broadwaycarl)

Joe Crowley: Speechless

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) used to be my Congressman before I moved to New Jersey last year.
This is some pretty good stuff.

Colbert: Easter Under Attack

Hysterical!

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Easter Under Attack - Egg Edition
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President Obama Caught on Open Mic

So... what's all the hubbub, bub?

President Obama was at a campaign fundraiser in Chicago last night and an open microphone caught a private conversation with a donor. What did he say? That his budget address was a sham and he's secretly going to kill Medicare himself? That Paul Ryan's got the right idea? That John Boehner is a great leader? That he really was born in Kenya?

None of the above. President Obama spoke candidly on the issues, just as I hoped he would speak if I had the opportunity to ask the same questions when no one was "listening."

On the Ryan plan: "When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant ... This is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level."

On Boehner meetings: "I said, 'You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we're stupid?'"

On defunding Planned Parenthood: "Put it in a separate bill. We'll call it up. And if you think you can overturn my veto, try it. But don't try to sneak this through."

Is this newsworthy? Maybe to show the fact that Obama isn't two-faced or "just like Bush." At least we didn't catch him calling a reporter a "major league asshole."

President Obama's Budget Address

The Country We Believe In

Shared Sacrifice, Huh?

This caught my eye on the way to work and I had to share it.

Fukushima Level 7

NY Times: Japan has raised its assessment of the accident at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the worst rating on an international scale, putting the disaster on par with the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, in an acknowledgement that the human and environmental consequences of the nuclear crisis could be dire and long-lasting.

...“The radiation leak has not stopped completely, and our concern is that it could eventually exceed Chernobyl,” said Junichi Matsumoto, a nuclear executive for the company.

...“This is an admission by the Japanese government that the amount of radiation released into the environment has reached a new order of magnitude,” said Tetsuo Iguchi, a professor in the department of quantum engineering at Nagoya University. “The fact that we have now confirmed the world’s second-ever Level 7 accident will have huge consequences for the global nuclear industry. It shows that current safety standards are woefully inadequate.”

Is This Really Necessary?

Look, I get that we're all giving up out liberties to be "safer" in the skies because we are a fearful nation led by fear mongers. We can't let the terrorists win. Thank Jebus we all get scanned and groped in endless TSA lines so we can be assured that there are no jihadists on our flights while sections of fuselage get ripped off airplanes at 37,000 feet and planes collide on the tarmac.

But is it really necessary for the TSA to pull a 6-year old girl aside for their enhanced pat downs?



To the TSA officer's credit, she sounded very friendly and explained exactly what she was doing to the girl so as to not alarm her. But why do it in the first place? What supervisor told her to pull the child aside for the pat down? Is she trying to smuggle a Tickle Me Elmo doll on the fight? Was their something amiss with her juice box? This is the kind of incident that shows the ineptitude and utter waste of time the current TSA practices are as they stand.

I have no problem walking through metal detectors or having trained officers keeping an eye out for what they may deem legitimate threats - terrorist, drug smuggler, or otherwise. But a 6-year old kid? Really?

Intentions of Factual/Non-Factual Statements and Pap Smears at Walgreens

The assault on Planned Parenthood during the government shutdown threat was pretty appalling. Senator Jon Kyl spoke on the Senate floor extolling the virtues of defunding Planned Parenthood as over 90% of their services are abortions. They are not, of course. The number is 3%. But what does an 87% difference matter when you're trying to make a point? What difference does it make that the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funding to be used for abortions when you're trying to demonize yet another institution that provides sorely needed services for the poor and lower income among us?

When asked about his statement, the Kyl office offered this response:

CNN, to its credit, sought an explanation from the senator about the glaring error. CNN anchor TJ Holmes told viewers:

"We did call [Kyl's] office trying to ask what he was talking about there. And I just want to give it you verbatim here. It says, 'his remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, a organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions.'"

Oh, well in that case, say whatever you want on the floor of the Senate from now on, Mr. Kyl. We'll just assume that any noise coming from your cake hole from now on is a blatant lie.

Here's Stephen Colbert having fun at the expense of Kyl as well as Fox & Friends who think, why should you get health care screenings at Planned Parenthood when you can get pap smears and breast examinations at you local Walgreens? No. You can't make this shit up.

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Pap Smears at Walgreens
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UPDATE (7:30pm): Jon Stewart's take:

The Daily Show - Countdown to the Next Countdown - Jon Kyl's Planned Parenthood Statistics
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Quote of the Day

People like me don’t say that the Ryan plan is too radical; we say that it’s a fraud. The spending cuts are largely fake, either because they’re just magic asterisks or because they wouldn’t survive politically; the revenue estimates are fake, because they combine huge tax cuts with vague assurances that extra revenue will be found by closing loopholes. There’s no there there — except for big tax cuts for the rich and pain for the poor.

All I can think here is that reporters are so deep into the Beltway conventional wisdom that this is a Bold, Serious Plan that they just tune out the people saying that no, it’s not.

~Paul Krugman on non-serious reporting on the Paul Ryan budget plan

This Guy Wants To Be President

For the last couple of weeks I've been watching the mainstream media give more and more time to the preposterous idea that Donald Trump is a legitimate contender for the Republican nomination for President. I couldn't turn on a cable news channel or broadcast news channel for that matter without seeing Trump's face demanding he be taken seriously while spouting debunked birther conspiracy theories whenever he opened his mouth. I would look at him and my first thought wasn't, "This guy would make a great president" so much as "I wonder what his hair looks like when he gets out of the shower." I don't think "Trump would be an awesome president." I think "A Trump presidency would be a national embarrassment."

And now we get to see how thin-skinned The Donald actually is courtesy of New York Times columnist Gail Collins. Last week, Collins decided to turn in a column deriding Trump for his headline grabbing ways, out-crazying the wingnut contenders by stealing the keys and taking a joyride in the Birther bandwagon. He insists on making his case with three year old debunked theories on the Kenyan-born, possibly Muslim, birth certificateless, Manchurian candidate President.  He's made his main talking point that this fake controversy is "the greatest scam in history." It doesn't matter that all these theories have been proven false. He's got people investigating and "they cannot believe what they’re finding." No details, of course, they just can't believe it. Maybe they can't believe their good fortune in being paid handsomely by Trump to investigate something that has been thoroughly exhausted; something that the Clinton campaign machine and the McCain campaign Edsel couldn't find. Something that can easily be Googled. Or maybe Orly Taitz is giving him legal advice while cleaning his teeth.

But the Collins opinion was just too much for Trump to bear, so he wrote a letter to the editor. A letter, that while insulting Collins for her "storytelling ability," sounds like it was written by a marginal high school student trying to sound smarter than he is. He then goes on to restate the whole birther nonsense, sticking to his guns, refusing to believe anyone or anything that proves the opposite.

Collins of course had to respond with a rebuttal today including other crazy shit Trump has said these last few weeks, like it was Bill Ayers who actually wrote "Dreams From My Father" or that people who went to school with Obama never saw him. She goes on to once again disprove the ridiculous statements, but no matter. At this point, Trump is all in and nothing anyone says can make him think any different. ...Maybe that's how he bankrupted his casinos.

But here's the thing: if a New York Times opinion columnist gets him so easily riled that he feels the need to write a letter, how is he going to react to the constant ridicule from primary challengers and media personnel during the campaign? You can see how upset he gets when someone disagrees with him, how emotional he becomes when he feels he's being interrupted (see the Meredith Vieira interview). How is he going to survive a year long campaign with that short hair trigger when Howard Dean was drummed out of the Democratic race in '04 for displaying his excitement after the Iowa primary results?

But I suppose Trump doesn't have to worry about that, because there's no way he'll run. There's no way he'll want to be viewed under a microscope with such scrutiny. This whole thing is a ratings ploy for his reality show, nothing more. And the fact that Republicans rate Trump second in a favorability poll combined with the antics of the fractured House majority being run by Tea Party freshmen reveals the sad state of the Republican party.

Must Reads

Matt Yglesias: Paul Ryan’s Tax Plan Based On Discredited Heritage Foundation Analysis That Forecast Bush Boom

Mark Karlin: The Multi-Billion Dollar Brainwash of America's Middle Class

Suzy Khimm: Is GOP Medicare Ploy a Gift, or a Trap?

Steven D: GOP Wants to Kill Me (and You)

Alex Pareene: The Right Just Doesn't Get Journalism

David Frum: A Budget That Can't Budge

Jon Ward: Bill Kristol Attempt To Promote Paul Ryan 2012 Candidacy Falls Flat, But Coming Fight Over Spending Holds Wild Cards

Mark Follman: Juan Williams, Fox News Admit to Flagrant Error About Racial Prejudice

Angry Black Lady: 67% of Americans Support Obama’s GITMO Decision; Other 23% Cry Into their Wine Purses

Michael B. Keegan: The Terrible Twos: The Tea Party Throws a Tantrum

Joan Walsh: Mike Pence Backs More Abortions

Matt Taibbi: Tax Cuts for the Rich on the Backs of the Middle Class; or, Paul Ryan Has Balls

JHW22 recommends...

Mike and Anne Wilber: What is Becoming of Our New Hampshire?

President Obama's Weekly Address - April 9, 2011

President Obama on the Budget Compromise to Avoid a Government Shutdown

Let's Abort this Shit, Shall We?

POSTED BY JHW22

My cousin sent me a message asking for debunking back up. The crap she wanted to challenge was essentially about Planned Parenthood and the "Planned Parenthood profit" myth. Considering the amount of profit reported in the many intertube rumors shifts between $400 million and $100 million dollars, one is compelled to ask: if there is a massive discrepancy in the amount supposedly profited, don't ya think maybe the fact that there is a profit is questionable?

So anywho, I sent her a 990 form that shows exactly what Planned Parenthood brought in and what it sent out. That seemed like a reasonable thing to do. But you know what they say about reasoning... Anyway, there is no profit in a non-profit. And if anyone wants to read through this gazillion page 990, you can see that they spent a boat load of cash on preventative and health care programs. And if they had any money left over at the end of the year, it was properly re-absorbed in ways that can limit how much they get from the Feds the next year.

And of course I addressed the whole Hyde Amendment thingy-ma-bob. Which, if you are reading this, you SHOULD know what that is.

So then I addressed the millions of birth control services PP provides a year and disclaimed that with, you know, the reality that the more birth control there is the fewer abortions there are. Considering I was sending this message through my cousin to the idiot who posted the freakout, I hope my "you big dumbass" tone made it through. I also pointed out the thousands of lives saved through cancer screenings but I'm not sure why I pointed that out. The only life that is sacred is that of an unborn fetus and not a woman's who discovers she has cervical cancer after a Planned Parenthood medical professional swipes her cervix with a damn bristle brush.

And then I decided to bring up the one thing my cousin's friend left out of her original crap rant, a point I've heard raised again and again: Cecile Richards' salary. I consider this move a preemptive strike. You see, a lot of anti-Planned Parenthood (which is ironically named since APPARENTLY they only PREVENT parenthood according to some idiots) folks seems outraged over how much PP pays Ms. Richards, their president. She makes about $300k a year. That's a nice chunk of cash. Wow. I wish I made that much. And wow, she'd be the perfect candidate for that Bush tax cut... but I digress. Anyway, they don't like that she makes so much money considering PP gets federal money -- funny, the same people didn't seem bothered that heads of bailed-out banks made MILLIONS and that was all funded by the government. Well, they were mad about the bail-outs but didn't want the government to set salaries or decided how that tax-funded income should be taxed. Again, I digress...

So back to my preemptive strike of Cecile Richards' salary and how, gosh darn it, how can we use government money to subsidize an organization that pays a woman a lot of money to Plan Parenthood!?!

Enter, The Candies Foundation and ... ta da... Bristol Palin. Yep, a formerly knocked-up teen made almost as much money as the president of a national organization that serves MILLIONS of women each year to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Yep, Bristol, the poor suffering teenage single mom made almost as much as a college-educated executive.

And guess what? The Candies Foundation is a Public Charity -- meaning they collect federal dollars. And guess what? They spent only about $40k in funding to actual programs to prevent pregnancies. Obviously you can't compare the incoming and outgoing moolah between the two organizations. But when you compare apples to apples, Candies spent BUCKETS on Bristol and pits on programs. Whereas, Planned Parenthood spent a bucket on staffing and shitload of buckets on programs.

Just a little funny. Just a little ironic.

And I should probably disclose that I am still a great fan of Cecile Richards' late mother and tend to get bristly when Cecile is attacked by dumb-asses.

Don't F*ck With The Democratic Women of the Senate

I love me some Kirsten Gillibrand.



And I must say, Barbara Mikulski got me a little hot too.

My Prediction

On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Plunge right through that line!...

Yesterday I wrote about the undeniable trend that when Democrats win elections it's by some conspiratorial voter fraud but when Republicans win, it's a MANDATE... even if the margin of victory happens to be a couple of hundred votes. I gave an example of the accusation of voter fraud from the Wall Street Journal's John Fund. And this guy does me the favor of listing all the voter fraud criers because he actually agrees with them.

Well there's been a little development since yesterday's election results in the State Supreme Court race between Republican incumbent David Prosser and Democratic challenger JoAnne Kloppenberg.

...Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced at a 5:45 p.m. news conference that she had left out the 14,315 votes cast in the city of Brookfield in the totals she released Tuesday night. Prosser won 10,859 votes there to Kloppenburg's 3,456. Coupled with small increases elsewhere in the county, Prosser gained a total of 7,582 votes on his challenger, giving him a 0.5% margin — enough to avoid a state-financed recount.

Enough votes to avoid a recount.

And you may ask, who is County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus? Does she have any skin in the game?

...Rep. Peter Barca, the Assembly minority leader, in a statement noted that Nickolaus had worked for Republicans in the Legislature when Prosser was a leader there. "Her approach raises questions about the integrity of the election to the highest court in our state."

Hmmm...

So to all the voter fraud conspiracy theorists out there who cried foul when you thought Prosser lost, is your theory due to trying to find out the truth and making sure that every vote is counted? Or are you now satisfied with the new outcome and don't think that these magically found ballots over 24 hours after the polls closed which give Prosser the win with just enough votes to avoid a recount sounds the least bit suspicious to you? Don't you think it at least warrants an investigation?

Just sayin'.

For more information on Nickolaus, click here.

Orly Trump

He's betting big on the grandmother story.

Trump promises an audio tape from Obama's paternal grandmother that will prove he's been lying all along:

His grandmother in Kenya said, 'Oh, no, he was born in Kenya and I was there and I witnessed the birth.' She's on tape. I think that tape's going to be produced fairly soon. Somebody is coming out with a book in two weeks, it will be very interesting.

Is it that translation phone call that has been debunked since it came out over two years ago? And yet, Trump is to be taken seriously.

Bill Cosby to Trump: Put Up or Shut Up

This. Is. Awesome.

Bill Cosby was on The Today Show this morning promoting a school program in Connecticut and was asked about Donald Trump's foray into the presidential election. Trump was interviewed by Meredith Viera which was broadcasted earlier in the show.

Cosby said Trump was "full of it" and should either announce his run, or shut up.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch the full clip here to learn about Cosby's school program.

When Republicans Win, The Voters Have Spoken. When Democrats Win, It's Voter Fraud

Did anyone doubt that this was going to come up?

...John Fund, Wall Street Journal columnist and long time voter fraud fearmongerer, is already crying foul in the election that's become a proxy fight over Gov. Scott Walker's (R) assault on collective bargaining rights -- and increasingly looks like a win for progressives.

On a WSJ webcast this afternoon, Fund speculated that investigators in Dane County -- home to Madison and a big part of the state's left-leaning electorate -- or even the state attorney general will be called in to examine what Fund said were thousands of strange ballots which suggest something amiss in the election.

Of course, Fund makes absolutely no association with the hundreds of thousands of people that have been protesting for weeks in the streets surrounding the Madison Capitol building after Gov. Scott Walker's union busting measures, and the backlash it may have caused in the judicial race especially after it was made known that the Republican incumbent David Prosser supports Walker's agenda.

As for Scott Walker, it appears he's only the Governor of half the people of Wisconsin.

Gov. Scott Walker said this afternoon that the spring election results show there are "two very different worlds in this state."

"You've got a world driven by Madison, and a world driven by everybody else out across the majority of the rest of the state of Wisconsin," Walker said at a press conference in the Capitol.

You hear that, Madison? Eh, you really don't count. Let's see how different those two worlds are once the recalls begin.

Now look, I know this thing is far from over. As of this writing, JoAnne Kloppenberg only has a 204 vote lead out of over 1.5 million votes cast, and a recount is most likely a foregone conclusion. But doesn't it feel good to be on the long side of things for a change?

GO WISCONSIN!

Tweet of the Day

For those who haven't heard, Glenn Beck is done on Fox. I can't wait for the bowling pin scene!

Sorry Scott Walker, Get Off The Government Teat

We all have to tighten our belt. We can't just keep doling out money we don't have. Unions are evil. Teachers and firefighters are to blame for all the deficits.

So to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who turned down $810 million in federal money to build a high speed rail system from Madison to Milwaukee, but now is asking for $150 million to add trains to the existing Millwaukee-Chicago line, I say "fuck you."

Fuck you, you don't deserve a dime of federal money after demonizing the government's reckless spending and wasting of the taxpayers' money. Fuck you, you don't get a redistribution of the wealth from other states. No welfare for you, Scott Walker. Fuck off.

Maybe you could have gotten, oh I don't know, $33 million if you asked nicely.  $33 million is a nice number, kind of rolls off the tongue. And you know where you could have gotten the rest of the money? From the $117 million in corporate tax cuts you signed into law just a couple of weeks into office. Tell your corporate pals you'll have to rescind that tax cut, you jackass. Or maybe take a call from David Koch and ask him to float you. $117 million is pocket change to the Koch brothers.

Maybe you can raid the firefighters' and police officers' pensions since you failed to do it the first time thinking it would suit you politically. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, work it out and stop being so goddamned hypocritical.

Who Wants To Shut The Government Down?!

Over the last few days, I've posted a couple of examples of Republicans on record threatening to shut down the government if all their budget cut demands aren't met. The GOP, or rather the Tea Party faction of the GOP, wanted $100 billion in cuts to the budget already in place. The Democrats countered with $10 billion. Both bills were rejected in lieu of a more serious discussion. The GOP originally wanted about $32 billion in cuts, and the Tea Party insisted on at least $61 billion. The Democrats met Speaker John Boehner to agree on $33 billion, $1 billion more than the original GOP proposal. Boehner was immediately spanked by the Tea Party and rejected what he had initially agreed to, countering this time with $40 billion in cuts. If the Democrats agree to $40 billion, Boehner and the Tea Party Republicans would reject it and demand yet another number.

Why is this? Why does the GOP, who's collective nutsack is in a Tea Party vise, keep moving the goal posts? Why does Boehner agree to a number, then come back with his tail between his legs and renege on the agreement? It's because they really don't want to negotiate. They don't want a compromise, they want a shutdown because they think it's in their political best interests. It also shows Boehner is no leader.

Here's Rachel Maddow and Melissa Harris-Perry on the shutdown and Rep. Paul Ryan's $1 trillion Medicare cut idea.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Who Wants To Shut The Government Down?!

House Republicans huddled late Monday and, according to a GOP aide, gave the speaker an ovation when he informed them that he was advising the House Administration Committee to begin preparing for a possible shutdown. That process includes alerting lawmakers and senior staff about which employees would not report to work if no agreement is reached.

Quote of the Day

"...we’ll have endless obfuscation, both-sides-have-a-point reporting that misses the key point, which is that the putative savings come entirely from benefit cuts somewhere in the distant future that would, in all likelihood, never actually materialize. (What do you think will happen when retirees in 2025 discover that their Medicare vouchers aren’t enough to buy insurance?)'

~Paul Krugman on the Paul Ryan budget plan

About Obama and Gitmo

For the last two years, I've constantly heard far left and far right ideologues blame President Obama for not closing the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

And now the issue comes up yet again today when the Obama administration had to reverse course on having civilian trials for those detained at Gitmo and announce the intention of military tribunals starting with Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Remember when Obama wanted this trial in New York and was supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg? Remember what happened next? He flip-flopped after local politicians and misinformed New Yorkers lost their collective shit at the thought of trusting their judicial system.

Let's get one fucking thing straight: The failure to close Gitmo cannot, CANNOT, be laid at the feet of Barack Obama. On the first day of elected office, President Obama signed an executive order to close Gitmo. His. First. Day. Anyone taking a step back and being honest will agree that the reason Gitmo remains open to this day, over two years later, is because there are cowards on both sides of the aisle in the Senate.

What happened after that order was signed? There was a collective gasp in the halls of Congress as politicians of all stripes got the vapors at the thought of having those evil, crazed jihadists in their back yard... in prisons... maximum security prisons that currently house the worst criminals incarcerated in the U.S. penal system. But apparently, alleged terrorists have magical powers which serial killers, sociopaths and rapists don't, that allow them to escape through steel, concrete and armed guards.

Then Congress passed a defense spending measure with an amendment prohibiting prosecution of Gitmo detainees in federal court. End of story.

Yet the "professional left" who are smart enough to know better always use this as a fallback whenever they're in the middle of a debate about how Obama is just like Bush. Google Glenn Greenwald or Jeremy Scahill on this issue and you'll inevitably find them saying the same. Obama ran on closing Gitmo and it's still open. In fact, Scahill just used it the other day on The Ed Show with no correction from Ed. And another listener called into Ed Schultz's radio show today spewing the same and how he was staying home on Election Day. Just now Rachel Maddow called going forward with the military tribunals "a kick in the teeth to the Democratic base." Even Senators Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold, stalwarts of liberalism and one of them a self-defined Democrat Socialist, voted against the Gitmo move! Was their vote a kick in the teeth as well? Where was that coverage?

Look there are a myriad of things about which progressives and liberals can be legitimately upset at Obama, but this ain't one of them. I'm tired of spineless Democrats in Congress hiding behind Obama's leg when it comes to these types of matters. And I'm not going to let this one slide anymore.

TARP Made a Profit

Believe it or not, we're in the black on TARP. It wouldn't have if the the Obama Administration hadn't reformed the program after taking office and also demanded it be paid back.

From Andrew Sullivan:

...I sure didn't expect the government to make a profit from TARP. And I sure didn't expect the auto bailouts to become such huge successes. What's surprising to me is how pallid is the Obama administration's spin has been on this. I never hear them bragging about how they managed to pull us out of the economic nose-dive we were facing. I know why: the recession isn't over, even if TARP was a success, no one wants to hear about it, etc. But it's one of the strongest and least valued part of Obama's record - along with the cost control innovations in health insurance reform.

At some point, you have to stand up and defend your record. No doubt Obama is biding his time on this. But count me as surprised as I am impressed.

Obama Announces Run

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

Read more here.

GOP: $4 Trillion in Cuts

It's so simple to step on the necks of the downtrodden, isn't it?

Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program for the elderly, a move that will dramatically reshape the budget debate in Washington.

...The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills. Mr. Ryan and other conservatives say this is necessary because of the program's soaring costs.

Okay, can we now talk about something realistic because this is an obvious ploy, a joke. And yet, the Republican Party continues to be taken seriously somehow. I'll be waiting for the Tea Party to take the streets in droves chanting, "Keep your government hands of my Medicare!" Let's see them protest even the idea of considering Paul Ryan's "fuck you" to the poor and elderly.

And by the way, this is just a number that they put out there. There is nothing in the plan on how to get to this number without literally killing hundreds of thousands of people by denying them financial assistance with their day to day lives in terms of medical care. Remember "Repeal and Replace"? Whatever happened to that?

ADDING... Of course, they can't just say they're going to cut spending. They're going to cut taxes too!

Conservative activists who are familiar with the Ryan plan said they expect it to call for a fundamental overhaul of the tax system, with a 25% top rate for both individuals and corporations, compared to the current 35% top rate. It is expected to raise about the same amount of money as the current system, however. Lawmakers already are considering ways to accomplish that by reducing or eliminating some deductions and other tax breaks.

Cutting the top tax rate by 10% but bringing in the same amount as the current system? So you know what that last line actually means. Those of us "individuals" who actually pay 35% currently but are able to itemize some deductions and get a refund can kiss that goodbye. But corporations that currently pay LITTLE TO NO TAXES because of loopholes at a 35% rate, can continue to rape the US economy at the 25% rate. And those who are in lower tax brackets will probably wind up paying the same or maybe even a bit more. But that doesn't matter to the GOP - they know that the working class poor don't have a real voice in Washington, so who's going to know?

43 Years Ago Today

Must Reads

Paul Krugman: American Thought Police

AsianGrrlMN: Michele Bachman Announces that She Plans to Formally Announce Forming a Committee for her Presidency Run Just as Soon as She Gets her Nails Done; A Nation Snickers

Steve Benen: The NBPP 'Story' -- Coda....

Glenn Kessler: Rand Paul’s Historical Misfire in the Debate Over Libya

Joseph E. Stiglitz: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

The Rude Pundit: If You Are a Birther, You Are a Racist; Therefore, Donald Trump Is a Racist and Birtherism and Your Lying Media (Part 2) and Birtherism and the Death of One Kind of Conservatism (Part 3)

Andrew Sullivan: Left, Right And Time

Michael Winship: Labor Pains and the GOP

President Obama's Weekly Address - April 2, 2011

Gas Prices & Energy Security

April Fool! House HR 1255 Passes

For those of you who have been living under a political rock for the last few days, mark today's date on your calendar. For today is the day that 221 Republican members of the House of Representatives went on the record to show the country that they have no idea how the United States government works. Today is the day that the Republican members of the House who so highly regard the Constitution decided to wipe their asses with said document. Today is the day the GOP admitted it doesn't really give a shit about checks and balances, or the proper procedure of how a bill actually becomes a law. A little hint for House Republicans: this isn't it.

Led by Republican House leader Eric Cantor, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act passed by a vote of 221-202. The bill states that if the Senate doesn't act on the bill by a specific date, another bill automatically becomes law. This bill is so fucking ridiculous, even Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Freakazoidland), the guy who believes in private army conspiracy theories, voted against it. Gohmert! How does that make Cantor feel? How does Eric Cantor feel that calls to Speaker Boehner regarding this issue were blocked and referred to Cantor's office? What does Cantor's view from underneath the bus look like?

And just as a reminder for those with short attention spans or bad short term memory, this vote took place and was passed by the same party that insisted to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor during the first day of session (and they screwed that up in the process). This is the same 112th GOP led Congress (the House anyway) that passed a rule stating that each bill introduced should cite Constitutional authority.

I'm still waiting for Cantor to jump out of the House chamber cloak room shouting, "April Fool!"

Who Wants To Shut The Government Down?!

Is that Tea Party twat, Mike Pence? Is that the teabagger who doesn't want a government shutdown while daring the opposition to shut down the government?

Does that make any sense?

Rep. Tom Marino, Just Resign

... it would be a lot easier than trying to explain yourself.

"The bottom line is I wish the president would have told us, talked to Congress about what is the plan. Is there a plan? Is the mission to take Gadhafi out?" Mr. Marino asked.... "Where does it stop?" he said. "Do we go into Africa next? I don't want to sound callous or cold, but this could go on indefinitely around the world."

For those of you who read this blog or happen upon it by circumstance, here's a little geography lesson: Libya is a country...in the CONTINENT OF AFRICA.

I just wanted to clarify it for anyone who may be confused.

Of course, it's time for the spokesman du jour to polish the turd.

Marino’s spokeswoman Renita Fennick said Thursday the congressman was quoted correctly, but readers, including those at the Inquirer, apparently misunderstood his comment.

“We are not in Africa. There were missile strikes, but many of those missiles were launched from Missouri,” Fennick said. “The congressman’s position is that we don’t want to go into Africa, (but) a few days of missile strikes does not put us on a continent.”

Fennick said Marino’s office was “baffled” about how the quote could have been misunderstood.

Very simple, Renita Fennick. All Rep. Marino had to say was "Libya" instead of "Africa." That's how he was misunderstood. If that "baffles" you, perhaps you should resign as well.

Just say "oops" and get out.

Fox & Friends Doubles It's Collective IQ on Mondays

[Fox] revealed Thursday plans to launch a "Monday Mornings with Trump" segment on its morning show, "Fox & Friends."

"Bold, brash and never bashful, The Donald now makes his voice loud and clear every Monday on Fox," a network promo says.

Dumbass Quote of the Day

...when you find out we're being sent to Libya to use our treasure and American lives there, maybe there's intention to so deplete the military that we're going to need that presidential reserve officer commissioned corps and non-commissioned corps that the president can call up on a moment's notice involuntarily, according to the Obamacare bill.

~Louie Gohmert (R-Wingnutville) on the House floor March 30th, 2011

Yes, you read that correctly. It's not an April Fool's joke. Gohmert thinks that the Affordable Care Act creates a private army for the President to call up at any time. Maybe if Gohmmert could read, and actually looked through the "2,800 page bill" as he incessantly reminds us, he'd know that what that provision in the bill does is create a corp of public health workers to react to disasters. But why bother reading a bill you have no intention of voting in favor of anyway?

As TPM notes...

Some on the far-right believe the health care law creates a private army for President Obama to call up and train on U.S. citizens. What it really does is make good on a plan first envisioned by Bush HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson in the wake of the September 11 attack to create a Ready Reserve Corps of several thousand public health professionals -- nurses, doctors -- that can be called up to treat people in the wake of an epidemic or a disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

Gohmert gave credence to the theory on the House floor, with an addendum. The administration's Libya operation is actually a false flag, to draw down the country's military reserves, and give Obama the excuse he needs to call up his private army.

This is 9/11 truther-type stuff, on the House floor.

And I thought Michele Bachmann was the stupidest member of Congress. I stand corrected.

Anthony Weiner at the Congressional Correspondents' Dinner

Very, very funny! It's too bad Weiner wasn't asked to participate in the Donald Trump Roast.

Among the favorites: "Is Michele Bachmann here? She's probably not -- she's campaigning in Iowa and organizing in that important caucus state because she's running for president. ...That's really all I have for that joke."

The Most Bizarre Interview Ever - UPDATED

I just watched Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie try to interview Donald Trump via telephone on MSNBC. I say it's a bizarre interview because the first question posed was, of course, why The Donald was fixated on the Birther conspiracy that President Obama should show us his birth certificate (he has) and that there's a good chance he wasn't born in the United States (he was).

Trump took offense that he wasn't being asked serious questions about China or the economy. Yeah, Trump blamed the media for bringing up an issue that he has been shouting from the rooftops for the last few weeks, since CPAC in fact, as unserious journalism.

Something akin to this:

Me: I'm running for president and Trump is not qualified because he fucks goats! Did you know that? Trump is a goat fucker. He hasn't proven he doesn't fuck goats. I find no records of Trump not being arrested for bestiality but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Why doesn't Trump just come out and tell us he doesn't fuck goats? Maybe it's because he's a goat fucker. He must be! Trump's a goat fucker. Trump's a goat fucker. Trump's a goat fucker.  

Trump.  

Goatfucker.  

Goatfuckergoatfuckergoatfuckergoatfuckergoatfucker.  

You: Why do you insist Trump is a goat fucker? 

Me: Hey, I'm running for president! Why don't you ask me serious questions? Why must you ask me about this goat fucking business, which by the way, I believe is true. Why is the media fixated on the goat fucking? ...Speaking of which, did you know Trump's a goat fucker? But don't ask me about that. Take me seriously!!!

I hope the video becomes available to post soon, because it was even more bizarre than that. Add to it the fact that Trump barely breathed during the phone interview, leaving Todd and Guthrie unable to counter, speechless and giggling in astonishment, and you have comedy gold.

UPDATE (1pm): Here's the video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Eric Cantor is a Douchebag

It has only taken a matter of three months as the majority in the House of Representatives for House Majority "Leader" Eric Cantor to render himself completely irrelevant. His imitation of an adolescent power hungry school hall monitor was on full display today when he stated without hesitation that if the Senate does not act on the HR1 after the House passes the... wait for it... "Prevention of a Government Shutdown Act," the spending cuts in HR1 will become the law of the land.

I actually feel sorry for Cantor, being deprived by his parents as a child the pleasure of the lessons learned from Schoolhouse Rock on how a bill becomes a law. Add to that the fact that he's gotten this far in American politics without the apparent knowledge of how the American system of checks and balances works, and you see before you the de-facto running mate for Michele Bachmann's presidential aspirations. After all, you don't want to look smarter than your top of the ticket running mate (see McCain/Palin '08).

But as a refresher, here's a cartoon made that even 9-year olds supposedly understood.



But it seems Eric Cantor thinks that this is how to treat a bill.



Now you may think me naive to believe that this is not a political ploy by Cantor to try and deflect any blame from the GOP when the government shutdown happens. And it will happen. But I'm going to take Cantor at his word and believe that he is as moronic as he sounds if he thinks that non-action by the Senate of a bill passed by the House by a certain deadline will tacitly make both that bill and the bill it is referencing, passed by only one half of one branch of government and neither signed by the President, the law of the land.

Here's Cantor in his own words, pissing all over the Constitution.



Is it me, or does it seem that the majority of Republican party is going batshit crazy simultaneously? You really can't make this shit up. If you were to write this scenario as a screenplay, you'd be laughed out of Hollywood for being completely unrealistic... and that's the same industry that produced and released Showgirls.

Cartoon of the Day

Romneycare Architect Blasts Romney

From the "No Shit, Sherlock" annals of GOP politics, M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber called Mitt Romney's loud noises about repealing the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act "largely political."

For the federal law, "Massachusetts absolutely was the model," Gruber said. "It would have been much harder if we didn't have a working example to show that it worked."
 ..."Romney likes to brag he did it without raising taxes, but he doesn't mention that the feds paid for half of it," Gruber said, referring to $400 million in unused Medicaid funds that Massachusetts had to spend or else return to Washington.

It also didn't hurt that in 2006, Massachusetts already had the lowest proportion of residents without health insurance of any state, 7.7 percent compared to 14.8 percent nationwide.
"It was cheaper because we had fewer people to cover," said Gruber, who is on the board of the state's health insurance purchasing exchange.
The exchange, along with the individual mandate and subsidies to low-income people who can't afford health insurance, are at the heart of both the Massachusetts and national plans -- another key similarity, Gruber said.
"The basic framework is identical," he said. "The details differ."

Mitt, just say "oops" and get out.

Wisconsin GOP Needs To Step Off

A Wisconsin judge for the second time directed the state to put on hold an explosive law that strips most public workers of nearly all their union bargaining rights, ordering officials on Tuesday to follow her original instructions to stand down.

"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined," said a visibly annoyed Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi. "That is what I now want to make crystal clear."

Shorter Judge Sumi: You're not above the law, motherfuckers.

They disregarded the state's 24-hour notice Open Meetings Law, and now they disregard a judge's hold on their illegal push-through of said legislation. So much for upholding the Constitution, eh Teabaggers?

Dumbass Quote of the Day

"I have two grandchildren - Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."

~Newt Gingrich, addressing Rev. John Hagee's congregagtion

Newt Gingrich - serious Republican presidential candidate.

By the way, remember Rev. Hagee? He's the guy whose endorsement of John McCain was rejected by the Maverick after it was revealed that Hagee is a Hitler fan because, you know, he was only doing God's work.

..."God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. ... Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them.' That would be the Jews. ... Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter," Hagee said, according to a transcript of his sermon.

Now that's someone Newt wants to be associated with, huh? I wonder what he'll do if he gets Hagee's endorsement.

President Obama's Speech on Libya

Where's The Donald's Birth Certificate?

For the last couple of weeks, Donald Trump has been jumping on the Birther bandwagon to try and gain publicity and momentum for a possible run at the GOP presidential nomination. I suppose he couldn't go the fiscal responsibility route since he has declared bankruptcy multiple times. We already know how he'd treat the one country that keeps buying our debt, so his foreign policy seems lacking. Where else for Trump to attack Obama but in the secret Kenyan Manchurian candidate arena?

So imagine my surprise (or lack of) when Trump himself is having trouble producing his own birth certificate!

Donald Trump made headlines earlier today when he provided what he said was a copy of his birth certificate -- but a quick check reveals it's actually not an official document.

...after several New York City-based readers contacted POLITICO's Maggie Haberman, her call to city officials revealed that an actual birth certificate, which is issued by the Department of Health, would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has. Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."

By his own standard, until Donald Trump can produce his actual birth certificate, he is not eligible to hold the office of President of the United States. And if he does come up with it, I'll claim it's a forgery. How can he prove me wrong if I refuse to believe it?

Hey Donald, you're fired!

Must Reads

Forgive the late edition of Must Reads, usually a Saturday staple. I was away for the weekend.



BooMan: Civics for Suckers

John Branch: Film Shows Babe Ruth, at Leisure and Up Close

Melanie Mason and Maeve Reston: Records Contradict Mississippi Governor on Lobbying Work for Mexico

Eugene Robinson: Newt Gingrich on Libya Policy: Firing in Every Direction

Bret Baier on The Daily Show

Charles Krauthammer is brilliant. Roger Ailes is a genius. These are just a couple of gems uttered by Fox News journalist Bret Baier on The Daily Show. To Stewart's credit, he does acknowledge that there are some serious journalists that work for Fox News, but doesn't understand how Baier cannot see the conservative slant that permeates the news shows when they are surrounded by wingnut opinion. My guess is that Baier knows it's there, but chooses not to see it.