The Most Ironic Thing Ever

Jerry Sandusky's autobiography title.

House GOP Priorities

Is it jobs? Is it the economy? Is it foreign policy?

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are fighting an effort by the Obama administration to make federally-subsidized school lunches more healthy.

A January proposal by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) aimed to limit — but not eliminate — fries and pizza on the lunch menu.

...Under pressure from lobbyists and some food companies that sell frozen pizza, salt and potatoes, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee rejected the new rules, painting them as “burdensome and costly regulations.”

Pizza is a vegetable. See? It's all about the important things.

UPDATE (8:10pm): Also this.You know, because it's important.

The House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that would make a permit to carry a concealed firearm from one state valid in any state that allows citizens to carry concealed weapons. The vote was 272 to 154.

Study Something!

I'm trying to digest Herman Cain's latest, and probably biggest, misstep on the campaign trail.



I don't know about you, but I know I was riveted to the goings on in Libya and even I could probably answer some questions on the subject, the U.S. response and our country's air and intelligence support in the NATO operation. But it seems that Herman Cain didn't have the intellectual curiosity to understand what was happening in Libya, the role of the Obama administraion and the NATO operation that took place. All he had to do was read the newspaper to give a coherent answer to the questions he was asked. And he didn't even do that. And he's running for President of the United States.

Can we say we're done with him now?

NEXT!

Pro-Life

POSTED BY JHW22

I just read this article on the effects of a down economy on infant mortality. I feel sick and angry. Angry at the GOP for effectively defining what it means to be "pro" LIFE. Why the hell don't we, as liberal, progressive, bleeding-hearts take that word, LIFE, back. WE are the party that fights for the survival of the weakest among us.

Being Pro-Life should mean not turning your back on the struggling class in America. Being Pro-Life should mean dumping the B.S. of "personal responsibility" as a way to deny people survival and instead reclaiming the real Christian support of Pro-Life -- helping the poor rather than rhetorically and politically spitting on them.

I am Pro-Life: I support policies and funding of any program that will give a woman a healthy body, that will give a child a healthy and real chance at a full life. Pro-Life isn't about the abortion issue. It's about how you support the life of the person you think is lazy, worthless and looking for a handout. If you don't value their lives, don't call yourself Pro-Life just because you like to tell women what they can and can't do with their own bodies. Pro-Life means you will fight as hard for those outside the womb as those inside. I am Pro-Life and I am Pro-Choice because I value a woman enough to give her all the resources she needs to live the best life she can. And I want a child to have the chance to be the best he or she can be.

Dumbass Quote of the Day

“[Secretary of Defense] could be the one that I could be excited about to help the generals and commanders on the ground to get what they need, to do what they do best, and that is kick the you-know-what out of everybody in the world.”

~Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain responding to the question of what Cabinet position would interest him should he not win the GOP nomination.

Hmmm... Herman Cain may have degrees in mathematics and political science, he may have worked for the military as a ballistics analyst, but with a statement like that it just proves that you can have book smarts and still be one dumb motherfucker. That single sentence should disqualify him from consideration to such a post and any would-be President actually contemplating the ridiculous notion of a "Secretary of Defense Herman Cain" should be disqualified as well.

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President Obama's Weekly Address - November 12, 2011

Honoring Our Veterans for Their Service and Sacrifice

CLASSIC!

Enjoy.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

How Did This Man Become A Governor?

Oh. My. God.

The American People Have Spoken

How many times have we heard House Speaker John Boehner say, "The American people want..." or "The American people sent us here to..."? How often do you think he'll use that phrase after yesterday's election results?

Well, I'll use it. If yesterday's election results have shown us anything, it's that the American people don't like hypocrites. They American people have spoken in their rejection of Ohio's collective bargaining/anti-union law. The American people have spoken in their rejection of an attempt by Mississippi Republicans to redefine "personhood" as the point of which an egg becomes fertilized. The American people have spoken in their re-election of Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with 56% of the vote. The American people have spoken in their recall of Republican Arizona Senate President Russell Pierce, the author of the harsh immigration law that had been adopted in Grand Canyon state. The American people have spoken in their addition of a New Jersey Democratic Assembly member as they've cooled off of a Chris Christie love affair. The American people have spoken against voter suppression by repealing Maine's two day voting registration law and restoring same day registration.

The American people have spoken. And if the Congressional members of the Republican party refuse to listen and continue on the path of "Just Say No" to President Obama's every attempt to get the country's employment situation and GDP jump started, they're in for a rude awakening in November of 2012.

Wee Wee'd Up

POSTED BY JHW22

Remember when then-candidate Obama said something at a fundraiser about some people clinging to guns and religion? And remember how everyone from the left and right faked outrage over the remark, despite knowing he had a point?

Well apparently, the Republican party doesn't like their fundraiser event speeches being taken out of context. Oh, you know what speech I'm talking about.

Some are shocked that people are misconstruing Perry's performance as drunken or bizarre. Some are defending him as having been very well received by the crowd. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram went so far as to write a piece with supporters practically whining about how really, really good the speech was. My favorite part of the editorial was the reference to Perry seeming almost Paul Lynde-like.

But it's just one more example of the GOP hypocrisy. They take a comment from a very poignant, focused speech and rip it out of context and avoid the truth to it, just to mock the speaker. But when several clips, out of context or not, are shown to make their candidate look completely mockable, then hell's bells, that's unfair!

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President Obama's Weekly Address - November 5, 2011

We Have to Increase the Pace

Brought to you by Vice President Joe Biden

Quote of the Day

“Just a quick note about Grover Norquist. If Grover Norquist is now the most powerful man in America, he should run for president. There’s no question about his power. And let me tell you, he has people in thrall. That’s a terrible phrase. Lincoln used it. It means your mind has been captured. You’re in bondage with a soul.

So here he is. I asked him. He said, ‘My hero is Ronald Reagan.’ I said, ‘Well, he raised taxes 11 times in his eight years.’ And he said, ‘I know. I didn’t like that at all.’ I said, ‘Well, he did it. Why do you suppose?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. Very disappointing.’ I said, ‘He probably did it to make the country run, another sick idea.’”

~Retired Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) lambasting Supercommittee Republicans for the deadlock they are causing by refusing to consider serious tax revenue increases with only three weeks remaining until they hit their deadline.

Bank of America Pulls Back On Its Fees

Remember that Bank of America announcement which stated they'd begin to charge their customers $5 per month just to use their money in the form of a debit card to try and end run financial reform and screw the little guy to the tune of $3 billion profit a year and other banks were following suit? Yeah... not so much.

Despite an outpouring of complaints online and at branch offices, the bank had remained steadfast in its plans until last Friday, according to a person briefed on the situation, planning to ease just some of the conditions for avoiding the fee. But over the weekend, after two major competitors — Wells Fargo and the nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase — said they were backing away from their plans to levy similar charges, two high-ranking Bank of America officers recommended to Brian Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, that the bank simply drop the fee.

...[Change.Org founder Ben] Rattray and other consumer advocates said the outcry was about much more than fees. “Bank of America’s new debit card fee was the last straw for many consumers who are tired of banks that got bailed out that are now turning around and hiking fees,” said Norma Garcia, manager of Consumer Union’s financial services program. “There was this phenomenon with banks and others confusing passivity with loyalty. And consumers are saying, ‘You can’t take us for granted anymore.’ ”

And don't tell me the Occupy Wall Street had no influence.

The Political Bubble's 1%

I just realized that I'm part of the one percent. No, not the 1% that Occupy Wall Street is protesting against. I don't have old money or new money. I make a good living but I'm not wealthy. I don't work on Wall Street and I'm not a bank CEO. I'm talking about the 1% of Americans that are in tune with the country's politics on a day to day basis. The one percent in the political bubble.

I write on this blog as often as I can, some weeks more than others. But over the past few weeks my output has been lower than usual (lower than I'd like) because I've had to take on extra work to save some money for a new roof on my house. So some days I'm off to work and out of the house by 6:30am and don't get home until midnight, which means my usual blogging/reading/cable TV watching time is greatly diminished if not completely absent. And I have to tell you, I feel much less anxious and angry. It's kind of nice to not need to have an opinion or a reaction to Mitt Romney's latest flip flop or Herman Cain's idiotic arrogance or Rick Perry on medical marijuana. But still I knew about it. I tried to keep informed even though I wasn't laser focused on it for hours a day. I was an outlier, but I still considered myself one of the very few that knew what was going on

But I fear the problem we have as a nation, and I used to be part of the problem, is that 99% of us really don't care enough. 99% of the population won't see Rick Perry's strange performance. 99% of Americans don't know who Herman Cain is. 99% of Americans can guess on any of Mitt Romney's policy positions and get it right because he's held all of them. 99% didn't watch the last Republican debate, but on that one, really, can you blame them?

Of course, my 99% to 1% ratio is an exaggeration but you get the larger point. In a representative democracy, when 59% of registered voters didn't bother to make their voices heard in the 2010 midterm elections, it's not representational. The result was the Tea Party takeover in the House of Representatives. 41% voter turnout in 2010 means that 96 million people made decisions for 307 million of us. That needs to change.

Unfortunately, too many are blissfully ignorant when it comes to all things politics and wait until there are two candidates left to choose from before they'll flip a lever or mark an 'x' every four years. Then they go back home and wait until the next presidential election. Meanwhile, they don't hear about voter suppression, gerrymandering, the political scandal du jour, or any of the myriad of stories that happen with their own representatives in their own districts. They don't understand that in today's global economy, what happens in Greece affects us financially as a country. The 2008 presidential election had a bigger turnout than any in history, and still it was only 65% of registered voters. 146 million people - less than half the population.

Until we as a whole become more informed, and I'm talking about real information, basic stuff like Ronald Reagan really did raise taxes or President Obama really is an American born citizen, or even that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and did not have weapons of mass destruction, we are only destined for more of the same.

And on that note, I'll try to make a better attempt to keep up with events as they happen. But it's not a promise - daddy needs a new roof.

Is Rick Perry Drunk?

...or is he smelling toast right about now?



Via Political Wire

Bachmann's "Flat Tax" Would Have "Several Rates"

From the annals of What The Fuckdom comes the latest from Michele Bachmann and her tax plan. A flat tax... with multiple rates.

“I would flatten the rates and simplify them, I would not have just one rate, but I’ll have several rates,” she said. “A flattened, simple, much fairer system, and one that would be equitable and raise revenues for the federal government as well.”

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

But you have to almost feel sorry for Bachmann. She keeps amping up the crazy but is continually outdone by Herman "Jesus was the perfect conservative" Cain.

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President Obama's Weekly Address - October 29, 2011

We Can’t Wait to Create Jobs