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Subscribe to RSSUnemployment rate falls to 8.8% and economy adds 216,000 jobs in March… Obama speaks on the economy at 12:15 pm ET… How the jobs numbers could impact the spending fight… Don’t believe the hype -- yet -- that we’re closer to a government shutdown… What we learned this week from the 2012 race: that Trump will be an amazing distraction… Demography is destiny, and the minority vote will be key in 2012… T-Paw’s in Iowa and Santorum’s in South Carolina… It appears Heinrich and LeMieux will soon announce their Senate bids… And “Meet” has Dick Durbin and Mike Rogers.
From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Jobs recovery gaining steam? As the political world jumps from one big story to the next -- the Tucson shootings, Egypt, the battle over collective-bargaining rights, the spending fight, and now Libya -- it’s easy to lose sight of the issue that remains tops with the American public: the U.S. economy. And today, that story returns to the political spotlight (at least for the next few hours). Here’s the AP on the March job numbers: The unemployment rate fell to 8.8%, and the economy added 216,000 jobs in March. President Obama speaks on the economy at 12:15 pm ET from a UPS facility in Hyattsville, MD. (By the way, we've lost count of the number of Maryland industrial towns where the president has delivered jobs speeches.)
*** How the jobs numbers could impact the spending fight: Just as a disappointing November jobs report last year strengthened Republican hands in the fight over extending the Bush tax cuts (“We need to keep the tax cuts to grow the economy!”), today’s job numbers could give Boehner and Cantor pause. With the economy adding nearly 500,000 jobs for the first three months of the year, does anyone want to risk a government shutdown that could jeopardize the economic recovery? The same could be said for the upcoming battle over raising the debt ceiling. And for similar reasons, the White House realizes the economic stakes from a government shutdown and -- more importantly -- the debt-ceiling vote. The recovery is happening, but it's clearly fragile.
*** Don’t believe the hype: By the way, reading today’s news seems to suggest we’re closer to a government shutdown. Here’s this headline on the front page of the Washington Post: “For federal workers, anxiety over a possible shutdown.” But don’t believe the hype -- at least yet. Behind the scenes, Democrats and Republicans are closer to a deal than they appear. When Boehner said yesterday that “there’s no agreement on numbers,” he had to say that with the few hundred Tea Party Patriots rallying outside the Capitol. Strikingly, yesterday was the first time in a while when Democrats won the message fight, because they got Boehner to say no (when they are actually very close).
*** What we learned this week from the 2012 race: Donald Trump is going to be an amazing distraction. (And full disclosure: One of us, on “Daily Rundown” yesterday, fully participated in that distraction with Trump.) On the one hand, if you’re Mitt Romney, you probably like this. Trump -- at least from now until June -- takes oxygen away from Tim Pawlenty and Haley Barbour. On the other hand, Trump and his “birtherism” obsession diminish the field and the party. We’ve said this before, and we’ll say it again: No other Democratic presidential candidate (or NON-candidate) ever overshadowed Obama or Clinton in 2008. But the theme so far to the 2012 race has been that a lot of Republicans -- whether it’s Trump, Michele Bachmann, or even Buddy Roemer (at one forum) -- have already overshadowed the top-tier candidates.
*** Demography is destiny: In the latest issue of National Journal, Ron Brownstein conducts an interesting exercise with the new Census numbers showing a greater minority population in the states. If Obama wins the same share of minority voters in 2012 that he did in 2008, he has larger margin for error among white voters. “Obama, for instance, won Florida last time with 42% of the white vote; under this scenario, if he maintains his minority support he could win the Sunshine State with just under 40% of the white vote. With equal minority support in Nevada, the president could win with only 35% of the white vote, down from the 45% he garnered in 2008.”
*** And the minority vote will be key in ’12: Brownstein then runs a second model -- this one assuming that Obama’s performance among minorities in 2012 is 10% off his performance in 2008. Under that scenario, he’d need to win 38% of the white vote in North Carolina (when he got 35% in that state in ’08); he’d need to win 43% of the white vote in Florida (when he got 42% in ’08); he’d need to win 38% of the white vote in Virginia (when he got 39% in ’08); and he’d need 47% of the white vote in Colorado (when he won 50% there in ’08). In other words, Obama/GOP performance among minorities in 2012 could be the decisive factor in whether or not Obama gets to 270 electoral votes next year. By the way, this doesn't even take into account the fact that the increased minority populations in places like Arizona, Georgia, and Texas shift them from Republican locks to states the party has to at least keep a watchful eye on.
*** On the trail: In Iowa tonight, Pawlenty speaks at the Iowa Federation of College GOP Annual Convention, and Rick Santorum is in South Carolina.
*** Senate race news: The Albuquerque Journal is reporting that Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) could make an announcement as soon as this weekend about whether he’ll run for the open New Mexico Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D). And the St. Pete Times says that former replacement Sen. George LeMieux “is set to enter the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, a possibly contentious contest in which the winner will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.” Republican operatives in Florida who are close to LeMieux tell First Read he’s toured the state and has received encouragement to run -- and is expected to make it official next week.
*** Meet’s Sunday lineup: “Meet the Press” will feature Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, and a roundtable of Marc Morial, Mike Murphy, E.J. Dionne, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Daniel Yergin.
Countdown to continuing resolution’s expiration: 7 days
Countdown to NY-26 special election: 53 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 133 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 221 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 311 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up
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Polarizing. That is the term needed for the media as they continue to push the message of "hate or strongly disagree with your neighbor to the point you want to strangle them, but keep giving us your money." That is very bad for this country. As critics continue to galvanize any vestiges of serenity left in society, there are some people that want something good, that are attempting to silence those critics as their message does nothing to help anything. Those that realize the message being peddled by the Talking Heads is destructive, make an attempt to add order to the chaos by explaining what is between the lines of the messages of doom and gloom, death and despair.
Critical and logical thinking is a practiced discipline that requires more than seeing the obvious. I could go into some deep level of focusing on scientific or political thought, but that would defeat the purpose of the thought. So instead, I will focus on Love.
Love, today appears to be a dead term to most based on the fact that many people spend too much time attempting to assassinate individuals with malicious intent. However I grew up in a generation of loving your neighbor, loving your family, loving yourself. When I was growing up, singers such as Barry White, Luther Vandross, Al Green, The Isley Brothers, Lenny Williams; all considered baby making music. Not the kind of immature music that is espoused by the children that have the mic on MTV, but the music that made a man and woman feel complete, as one. That was the generation that embraced a togetherness.
But now there is so much strife that is rattled off daily that turns the life of someone into a struggle such as this political atmosphere, that it has literally poisoned the purpose of Love. People believe that they must talk down to someone in order to make themselves feel better. We've lost the message, media and public alike.
I'm a lover, not a fighter; and a damn good one at that. :^/)
Make love, not war.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
A second decent jobs number for March. Not great, but, decent. I see where Pelosi lap-dog Stenny Hoyer came out yesterday whining about how the Republican’s have been in control of the house for 13 weeks and “…. they have yet to even consider a single job-creating bill.” Typical lefty liberal BS. There is no such thing as a Federal Govt Jobs Bill Fairy. The only jobs created by federal govt jobs bills are do-nothing federal govt bureaucrat jobs. Real jobs are created in the private sector by businesses, especially small businesses.
I want to wish all the FR lefty liberals a very Happy Birthday today!!!!
I trace the birth of American lefty liberalism back to April 1, 1933, about four weeks after FDR was inaugurated. FDR was the one who changed the federal govt from the purposes established in the Constitution into the “mommy govt”. Instead of the sense of independence and self-reliance that made America what it used to be, lefty liberals believe govts role is that, if you fall down and get a boo boo, the mommy govt needs let you cry on their shoulder and kiss the boo boo to make it all better. That's why America is destined to quickly descend into the socialist mediocrity of former world powers like Spain, France and England.
April Fools
Once the GOP/T-baggers eliminated…
Unions
The various programs that constitute the social safety net
Social Security
Medicare
Abortion
Birth control
Worker protections
Environmental regulations
Child labor laws
Public education
College for all but the rich
ALL corporate taxes
The oligarchs will truly look like the exploiters they are!!!
For the middle and poor working class it will be a Fool’s Paradise if we let them take those rights away
Judging from yesterday’s poor performance of tea baggers of < than 500 participates WE liberals are sending a message to the ganstas, Robber Barons, and tea party members—Break The Koch Addiction!!!
So now the fool Gov. Walker will honor judge's order halting law on union curbs
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/gov-walker-to-honor-judges-order-halting-law-on-union-curbs/1
Gov. Scott Walker would comply with Sumi's order and halt preparations to begin deducting money from most public workers' paychecks but that the governor's administration believes the law took effect after a state office published online.
It can be spoken now--the GOP/ T-Baggers Don't Deserve to be Taken Seriously; The Budget Battle; The Libya CIA Agent Story is Ridiculous
Remember that Quinni-Panic poll which had low approval ratings for the President!!!!!!!!!!..
Well, it turns out there are other polls who give the President high approval ratings.
Harvard University’s Institute of Politics (IOP) found 55 percent of so-called Millennials approve of Obama’s presidency — a six-point increase over a similar IOP survey in October. His approval rating is even higher among those attending a four-year college, where 60 percent back Obama. That was a nine-point increase from the last survey.
In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of:
16. Barack Obama as President
Total: 4-Year
18-29 College
Approve.......................................................... 55% 60%
Disapprove ..................................................... 43% 38%
Decline to answer........................................... 3% 2%
http://www.iop.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/spring_poll_11_topline.pdf
The poll you probably didn’t hear about today: Obama’s approval at 53% **UPDATED
http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com/pdf/AP-GfK%20Poll%20March%20Topline%2003291_POLITICS.pdf
Don't forget to support the unions on MLK Day
Good news on the jobs front. Lets hope it continues.
Happy Birthday Feisty and Bev.
Nice spin, Joe.
This same job report in October of last year would have been met with cries of how horrible it was but now it's "decent"?
Gee, I wonder what kind of reaction I'd get from some of my friends who are teachers, police officers and corrections officers if I told them they don't have "real jobs".
Thanks Bob - same to you... Who would of guessed we ALL share the same B-Day? lol
*popcorn?*
'fraid not, Judge Joe ... and your misinformed bias is exactly why you're not qualified to be judge.
Happy birthday to all my compassionate and caring liberal friends. Many happy returns.
This same job report in October of last year would have been met with cries of how horrible it was but now it's "decent"?
______________________________________
Sorry to disappoint you when you are celebrating this birthday. I would call any jobs report that aeceeds the 150,000 new jobs needed to keep up with population growth "decent", no matter when it happened. It's interesting that you chose last October as your reference point. Maybe it's slowly sinking in that last November's election results had the effect of making businesses more confident in making new investments in plant, equipment and hiring??
Yeah..."Vote Republican Or We Won't Give You Any Jobs" must be a very effective campaign slogan.
But that's exactly the opposite of the "evidence" you showed me yesterday, Joe, which was that banks aren't lending any money to businesses because there's no demand for it.
Remember? Or do I need to go back and dredge it up for you?
And that's exactly why I told you then that your evidence proved MY point, and not yours.
Good morning LouisJ
But now there is so much strife that is rattled off daily that turns the life of someone into a struggle such as this political atmosphere, that it has literally poisoned the purpose of Love. People believe that they must talk down to someone in order to make themselves feel better. We've lost the message, media and public alike.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
Great post LouisJ what America needs is the love and understanding we grew up with.
We need to make America stronger so that we can lean forward.
United We Stand, Divided We Collapse.
Sometimes that includes posts. :)) It shouldn't be like that either!!
"Yeah..."Vote Republican Or We Won't Give You Any Jobs" must be a very effective campaign slogan."
________________________________________
2010 was a "throw the bums out" election just like 2006 and 2008. The only difference was the party label on the "bums".
If you can stand one more update on Maine's mural removal kerfluffle - the latest news is that it was removed when our Republican Governor got a fax from a "secret admirer," (I'm not kidding, that's how they signed it) comparing the mural to communist propaganda produced by North Korea. Now that the lobby walls are bare, the artist who made the mural suggests they hang the Bronze Star her father was awarded for his heroism during the Korean War in it's place. Do ironies ever cease? Turns out she had incorporated her father's likeness in the mural as well. PS. LePage's approval rating is at 43%, three months after his inauguration.
I LOVE IT! LMAO!
Joe in Albany,
“Typical lefty liberal BS. There is no such thing as a Federal Govt Jobs Bill Fairy. The only jobs created by federal govt jobs bills are do-nothing federal govt bureaucrat jobs. Real jobs are created in the private sector by businesses, especially small businesses.”
So Joe finally admits that Government regulations and taxes have nothing to do with creating jobs in the private sector – about time Joe.
Jobs bill ? ... We don’t need no stinkin jobs bill.
Joe In Albany, ragging on FDR is a popular pursuit of the Right. What can't seem to be refuted were some words of John Maynard Keynes. In a discussion of the New Deal with a conservative economist, the conservative argued that, in the long run, the markets would right themselves. Keynes' response was, in the long run, WE'RE ALL DEAD!! Was FDR supposed to sit around waiting for THAT to happen?!! The mommy government and boo-boo comments indicate that you have the depth of an evaporating puddle!
@lj,
Now that's a good April Fool statement Louis. And you do make me laugh with your posts. This one though made me feel like a young kid back from the war, taking advantage of the hippie chicks with their love/peace thoughts. Yep, those of us Baby-Killers did use those hippie chicks to our advantage.
@Bev,
Just another great post Bev. Not much to introduce, but humorous.
bob-1805084
Happy Birthday Feisty and Bev.
Thanks booby trap, Feisty said exactly what I'd say...
Thanks Bob - same to you... Who would of guessed we ALL share the same B-Day? lol
One more thing, I'm glad you are learning not to act like a Fool; at least today!!!
So I'm dedicating this song to you in hopes that we can LEAN FORWARD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFUWmthWoDU&feature=related
Lets Hope that when The Main Terrorist "Gadaffi" is gone from power(which will be sooner, not later), that American's & the whats left of America's MSM, give proper credit to President Obama for finally getting the JOB done.
This man has Terrorized the World for 30 years & is soon to be gone from Power.
Thank You President Barrack Hussein Obama, for going where None have gone before you!
You Betcha!
Who would've have ever thought that Capitalism has been Reduced to "Vote Republican or we'll take All the Jobs Overseas".
Sounds more like Communism!
216,000 New Jobs, Ty again President Obama for bringing America back from the Destruction of the previous yahoo's!
Guess those evil Obama tax cuts are working, who would have thought so?
Anyone looking to the stock market as 1) an good economic indicator and/or 2) rational, should read "The Myth of the Rational Market" (sorry, don't have the author's name at my fingertips).
But that's exactly the opposite of the "evidence" you showed me yesterday, Joe, which was that banks aren't lending any money to businesses because there's no demand for it.
Remember? Or do I need to go back and dredge it up for you?
_____________________________________
AM: Let me do it for you. here's what I wrote yesterday:
Todays WSJ has an article saying only 7% of the banks eligible to borrow money at 1%-5% from Barry's much touted $30 billion SBA Jobs Act passed last September have done so. Reasons cited by the banks include little demand for loans by small business, difficulty finding credit-worthy applicants due to more stringent govt lending regulations and the bureaucratic paperwork nighmare borrowing from the feds causes.
"Little demand" does not mean "no demand " for loans. That's why the jobs report is decent, not great.
I thought laywers were trained in the precise use of words??
Maybe not.
Keynes' response was, in the long run, WE'RE ALL DEAD!!
________________________________
Keynes would have been more prescient if he had said "In the long run, America will be bankrupt."
swampyjackpot
@Bev,
Just another great post Bev. Not much to introduce, but humorous.
O-kay!!!
Then on the serious side how about this...
Economy poised for 2nd month of strong job gains.
Economy added 216,000 jobs, unemployment down
Economists expect the nation added 185,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate stayed at 8.9 percent. That would follow February's strong gains of 192,000 jobs -- the most in almost a year.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/04/01/economy_poised_for_2nd_month_of_strong_job_gains/
It's slow but it's getting there. That's good.
One more positive thing:
President Obama threatened Veto if House bill cuts FAA too much
President Barack Obama would veto sweeping aviation legislation if Republicans in Congress succeed in gutting a rule favorable to airline and railroad union organizing, the White House said on Wednesday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110331/pl_nm/us_obama_faa
Did you see Captain Sully[miracle on the Hudson] on the Ed Show last night?
Judges, neither. Nice backpeddle, your honor. ;-)
Yawh. Something with content Bev......find something from moveon.org to make my Friday a laugh.
How about something about that Obama war?
LouisJ
Sorry, didn't realize birthdays were in order today.
*clearing my throat* In my best Lou Rawls
HaPpY BiRtHdAy To YoU, HaPpY BiRtHdAy To YoU BeAuTiFuL LaDiEsSsSsS!!!
This song is for you ladies...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0I6mhZ5wMw&feature=related
United We Stand, Divided We Collapse - HAAAAAAH!!! Ya know right
Giggidy
:^p
*****************************************************************************
Why thank you these are for you from back in the day:
(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouQ3HeluFV4
Dr. Feelgood ( Love Is A Serious Business )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWQo8EddzeE&feature=related
Happy Friday, and All Fools Day, to all the posters here. Reading the various comments at least gave me a few chuckles. Been dealing with some family matters.
Why was the birthday wishes from Bob-1805084 collapsed ?, oh, never mind, I just realized its 4/1... Ha!
"Nice backpeddle"
__________________________________
AM: Where do to see a "backpeddle"?
Are you now arguing that "little demand" (what I said) DOES mean "no demand " (what you said) for loans??
Even a lawyer isn't that good at lying.
AM: Jack Nicholson said it best in A Few Good Men:
"The truth?? You can't handle the truth."
Ooohh Sweet Shuga!!! Aretha always brightens my day... Gracias Señora Dulce!
Feisty
Congratulations Girl friend
Wow you did it Girl friend
United You Stood
Zealously you worked
Despite the Collapses (ROFWL)
I'm SO PROUD
Would you believe I'd have to put my head in my lap to keep from screaming inappropriately every time our handsome, articulate, smart, young, hardworking President opened his mouth?
You deserve that honor Feisty
Keep up the good work and give 'em hell Feisty!!!
Looks like LouisJ is the target of choice by the righties today. First to have been collapsed, first to have been deleted. What's wrong righties, afraid of someone disagreeing with you?
You people are pathetic.
So true, Matthew. Opposing voices MUST be silenced by the authoritarian Conservatives.
Ms. Feisty,
As we used to say, hot diggity dog!!!! You are one lucky lady. The President and First Lady and the little ones. Damn, I am jealous :)
As a supporter and fan of President Obama, I applaud your good work on his behalf. Tell him there are more people who support him than the media gives him credit for; keep doing what he's doing the way he's doing it.
Enjoy the moment!!!!!
Thanks FR lefty liberals for collapsing my post #1.1. That tells me I hit the nail right on the head with my point.
Paraphrasing the lefty liberal hypocrites (yeah, yeah, I KNOW that's redundant) Matt and John B:
What's wrong lefty liberals, afraid of someone disagreeing with you?
You people are pathetic.
And,
Opposing voices MUST be silenced by the authoritarian lefty liberals.
You FR lefty liberals are FUNNY: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm one of those "lefty liberals" (are there any righty liberals????) that voted to collapse some of your posts. I didn't do that because you're a conservative. Actually I've voted FOR some conservative posts -- those that respectfully and intelligently discuss the issue. No... I voted to collapse some of your posts because you seem to like making hateful personal attacks.
"I voted to collapse some of your posts because you seem to like making hateful personal attacks."
________________________________________________
Thank you for your input. If you believe "hateful personal attacks" need your vote for collapse, then you will soon wear out your mouse on the Nasty Redhead's posts, especiaaly when she reposts them ten times (LMAO!!!!). I do have a snarky way of expressing myself, but, i don't believe it's "hateful". This is America and you are entitled to your opinion. I wish that all American's felt "entitled to" was our opinions and not "mommy-govt" consoling and fixing every percieved slight to us with a bigger govt and higher taxes to pay for 43 cents of every $1.00 it costs. And borrowing the rest on the Chinese credit card.
@Louis J and TA: I have never truly understood the collapse police here, either.
Bob was collapsed for that most evil type of personal attack, wishing "happy birthday." I hope the collapse was just a 4/1 joke.
I'm not sure why Louis J's 1.1 was collapsed, there was not a particularly nasty attack. Some of his points, while I don't agree with them, were actually well thought out and articulate.
While some people post the same (exact) statements again and again, on the same or multiple vines, collapsing thoughts or deleting them, unless the writers get into name calling and other useless things, does not help further communication.
It's too bad the republican population of the US is so delusional that good news wont make a difference. The Repubs could come out and admit to being Nazis and would only end up being the next 'cool' thing. They've come out and said: "cut all social programs and leave the tax break for the rich" and now all the crazy conservatives still spew that like its a smart thing to do.. I don't understand Americans.. but I'm just a stupid liberal.
Looks like the tea party congressmen and republicans elected in November have been successful in keeping up with the promise to increase employment.....unlike that guy that sits in the White House and promised the same thing if we handed him a trillion dollars to pass out.
Oh, and how much taxpayer money did we have to pay to increase the private sector jobs? Did we have to dole out another trillion dollar stimulus package?
But hey liberals, keep patting Obama on the back and saying "it just took a little longer for his wonderful policies to take effect". Those that know anything about how a business works realize these new hirings and optimism in the private sector is a result of November's elections.
Wow, it didn't get collapsed. But I'm curious as to why 1.12 got deleted. Please advise MSNBC. I have my thoughts on the matter, but would like to see your reasoning. I would also like to know why comments are not restored.
I notice that Sally goes through on the other boards and quotes CoH addressing the inappropriate content and it appears that someone obviously comes here to delete comments that are no different than other posted comments.
It seems you guys are taking exception to certain posters. I know I criticize you guys but that gives you no reason to delete my comments. Gee whiz, I thought you guys were bigger than that. Don't let little ol me push ya buttons like that. Own up.
:^/
Murals in Maine – Apparently it is terrible that workers are depicted instead of business in a building having to do with labor. Unfortunately a minority, now known as the Mural Majority, has once again prevailed. Such petty tokenism is so typical of the right-wing (think “Freedom Fries”).
Opposing Views – Everyone has equal right to their opinion, but that does not mean everyone’s opinion is equal. Progressives don’t want to suppress opposing views; they just want conservatives to use the Rule of Reason. The anti-intellectualism movement among conservatives has created a monster that Republicans can’t even control. Indeed, the Teabaggers have turned on its own Party, and want a government shut down even though it would add to our debt, damage the economy, and hurt the American people. But don’t you know, it about principles? Party first, yeah we get that, that’s been going on for a long time.
Keynes – The 2008 economic meltdown that culminated in the Great Recession, and the TARP “blank check” Bush/Republicans gave to banks without any strings attached, proved free market theory (invisible hand that corrects itself) to be wrong. Keynes also more or less said “In the end supply side voodoo economics will be dead!” The problem is conservatives either don’t realize this or just won’t admit it. Nothing can penetrate their cone of silence.
Government Workers – The ratio conservatives *think* supports their case that government is too big, just shows how poor employment is in the private sector. Furthermore, just because government employees in public education, public safety, postal service, etc. are significant it doesn’t mean these same number of jobs wouldn’t exist if privatized. It proves nothing except to say let’s privatize education and break up the postal service among UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Still services like passports and of course police must be government administered, and it can’t be reduced.
“Starve the Beast” is fallacious argumentation. If was true that government always spends what it takes in, there would never be times of surplus (e.g., at the end of Clinton’s administration). This is just more of the “If we fight them over there, we won’t have to fight them here” and “If you don’t support the war, you don’t support the troops” continuation of lack of logic.
The Man Behind the Curtain – Is Wall Street/The Fed, where profits are privatized and debt is socialized. There’s even a publication about this (not just my opinion).
As for collapsed posts about things like birthdays, most forums are able to have a separate section for humor and personal banter. This is a news board only, and if there are too many “fluff” posts to scroll through, it is deterrence from the serious debate. Just sayin’…
Right on all counts, TP. There was a time when the people in control of the Republican Party were responsible adults. Ronald Reagan recognized that Social Security needed periodic adjustments and tax rates weren't set in stone. Heck, he even INCREASED Capital Gains taxes to match earned income because of the way unequal treatment distorts the economy in harmful ways.
Today's Republican Conservatives? Not so much. The anti-intellectual aspect of the Conservative Movement is particular disturbing because those folks are quite valuable and productive in society. It's also disturbing because persecution of intellectuals is a common thread in places where authoritarians come to power.
I think the Teapublicans are beginning to learn that the "starve the beast" theory, also known as take from everyone else and give to the wealthy/rich, is not working. The problem you have when you try to take too much from any "beast" too quickly is that you often end up getting bitten.
So the Republican Tea Party still wants to push for Bush's Tax Cuts for the wealthy?
The following comments were posted up by a centrist and a couple of liberals, I and think they deserve a repost:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homer S.
Two greatest economic myths of the Republican platform:
1. The recession will be solved by cutting spending... WRONG - every recession has been reversed by increased spending on things that have lasting value NOT by cutting every program they can get their hands on.
2. Tax cuts to the wealthy stimulate the economy... WRONG - they stimulate the luxury economy and leave the remainder in shambles. (survey released today said that 1/3 of small business owners are considering getting out of their chosen business - see how great those tax cuts are trickling down ?)
9
Vote for this comment.
!
#5.2 - Thu Mar 31, 2011 10:26 AM HST
------------------------------------
John A.-400474
Further word that the kind of budget proposed by GOP ideologues does not solve the country's needs but makes things worse:
The entire article is now seeded on the 'Vine, find it by [doing a search and] clicking on my screen name:
" John A.-400474 "
NEW YORK (CNN Money) -- Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz issued a harsh indictment of the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction proposal Monday, arguing the plan would slow economic growth and lead to a weaker America.
If enacted, the plan would be "counterproductive" and "constitute a near-suicide pact," Stiglitz wrote in an op-ed published in POLITICO.
He concludes by observing,
"We need to think about what kind of economy, and what kind of society, we want to create; and how tax and expenditure programs can help achieve those goals," he said.
The battle over the budget, ladies and gentlemen, is not over spending and tax policy - it is an attempt by rigid ideologues to achieve the goals of the right wing and old John Birch Society - goals that began piling up in 1933, and have grown ever since.
The United States is not "broke" - that's a fiction used by Republicans to justify their mindless pursuit aiming at long-despised public agencies and programs.
The country is not "owned" by China - they hold but 5.9% of U.S. debt.
Social Security and Medicare are not in crisis, or costing the taxpayers a dime right now - those programs are paid for by trust funds financed by the recipients themselves.
U.S. government debt owed to Social Security and Medicare trust funds, however, is significant. And instead of cutting the benefits, or raising the taxes on both beneficiaries and those who will soon be eligible for benefits - a way of "blaming the victim" - the American taxpayer is liable generally for this debt. The economist's comments include some discussion of the issue of enhanced revenues that can aid in addressing that.
Instead of hysterical, ideological posturing by the Tea Party officeholders, consider some more rational and appropriate actions. See the entire article for yourself - there are ways other than bullying and posturing to address our national budget.
14
Vote for this comment.
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#1.19 - Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:26 AM HST
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Extending Bush Tax Cuts [or tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy] WON'T Create Jobs, Says Leading Economist
Excerpts:
"Not all budgetary dollars are created equal," said Alan Blinder, professor and co-director of Princeton University's Center for Economic Policy Studies, in a conference Wednesday morning. "Some have a lot of bang for the buck, and some have very little. The GDP increase per dollar of budgetary cost is in the range of 1.6, 1.7 for things like food stamps and unemployment benefits, and in the range of .35 for extending the Bush tax cuts. We could get some substantial job creation by simply reprogramming the $75 billion that would be saved over the next two years by not extending the upper-bracket Bush tax cuts and spending it instead on unemployment benefits, food stamps, and the like."
Letting the tax cuts lapse is projected to trim approximately $675 billion from the deficit over 10 years, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
The GOP, by contrast, is aiming to extend the Bush tax cuts across the board, and has tried to block the billions in deficit spending to extend benefits to the long-term unemployed.
Blinder said that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would only exacerbate an ever-increasing income gap.
"One of the objections a lot of us raised back in 2001 when the Bush cuts were originally enacted was that they were...adding further post-tax income inequality to an economy that was already producing a lot of pre-tax inequality," he said. "I still feel that way. On the other hand, unemployment benefits and food stamps tend to go to people with much much lower incomes [who] need it a lot more, and you get substantially more GDP boost and job creation than if the same amount of money were spent extending tax cuts at the top."
Good news in my little corner of Appalachia, (where as I always say, times are hard even when times are good), the local automotive plant is recalling 700 workers to deal with increased orders, and a new food packaging products factory is opening in an old closed factory that will hire 55 now and 100 more by the summer. Here that's a jobs boom! All of these deals have been in the works for 6 months or more. Hooray!
Joe, if I had my way your every comment would be collapse because you talk like a Glenn Beck whom I believe to be a complete moron. No need to thank me for pointing that out, it was my pleasure.
Now on a side note, even though Joe insist the government does not create jobs, it's strange how the Republican talking points are now taking credit for the increase of jobs which Joe says the government does not have anything to do with. Irony at it's best. LMA
HELLO to my CENTRIST and LEFT-LEANING peers on MSNBC/Newsvine!
I acknowledge the good works and thought-provoking comments as submitted by:
Beverly in Chicago
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL
Anna Molly
MGinRochester
B-1768547
TruePatriot-445959
John B, Des Moines, IA
dirp101
Nashville_fan
Clara KCMO
Matthew, Houston TX
John A.-400474
Jody, Iowa
Pat, Boston MA
Gingerbread Mamma
Batman85
Seattle Sue
Amy B. Portland ME
gofinsgo
jollyoldsoul1
wordfrominside
mike430
Greg in Detroit
AffinityGW
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
(Sorry if I missed acknowledging a few more names, they'll come to me when I happen to be online and perusing these news articles). And know that I'll make an effort to support you -- I'll watch your back, so to speak -- if the issue is hot, you're getting attacked, I'm online reading MSNBC Politics, and the right-wing "trolls" are posting like there's no tomorrow!
We need to beat back this tide of extremist, selfish, ultra-conservative, anti-progressive views that threaten to dismantle our nation's infrastructure and representative democracy. Their blind obedience and compliance to the right-wing propaganda echo chambers, would invariably subject our lives into a theocratic, corporate oligopoly bereft of our hard-fought civil rights, our labor rights, our right to choose for ourselves!
If we haven't met before, my apologies. You can if you like, click on my name "rradiko" on the underlined header name for my message on the top left corner, and you'll see where I stand on a variety of political issues.
BTW, my name is Radko Oliver Radiko, and I work as a not-so-highly-paid engineer in the consumer electronics industry. I used to live in Columbus OH, but now I live and work in different parts of SoCal due to the nature of the job contracts I work under that keeps me more mobile in my job than I want to be. And yes, love me or hate me, I'm a liberal-leaning, social democrat, a progressive ...and according to my average annual income I'm a member of the lower-middle class. I've seen my friends from Washington State to Maine, from Arizona to NYC, lose their homes and their livelihoods, starting around the time when G.W. Bush got into the White House in 2000. I've traveled between the U.S., parts of Asia for my job, and within the EU (of which my ancestors hail from Scotland, and it's the home of my grandparents).
When I'm off-duty, I'm politically active and join in with planned public demonstrations and organized protests. I stick up for the common man, the elderly, the handicapped, the children, the laborers that make up the backbone of every major business, i stick up for those that are vulnerable and are being preyed upon by the empowered, the wealthy or the anointed, that are overstepping their boundaries. I've served for a while in the USN as a contract civilian, working in their communications offices, out east. I've even publicly protested our nation's involvement in President GWB and VP Cheney's Invasion of Iraq, and joined in with labor protests against Gov. Walker in Wisconsin (thanks goes out to my friends in Eau Claire that sponsored me).
But enough about me.
Again I thank each and every one of you for making a difference by your contributing your opinions, facts and corrections, for the sake of our nationwide and worldwide viewers and readers on MSNBC, that serve to BEAT BACK the Barbarians at the Gates!
R. Radiko
P.S.
I freely give credit where credit is due ...and unlike many commenters on the far-right, I add references for proof of my claims, and if the format allows me, I'll list my sources and URL's from a variety of financial and academic experts, as well as include in hard-hitting repostings of commenters (such as whatever intelligent and to-the-point comments YOU have wisely contributed) with notable observations to share with all of us.
In talking about Obama's re-election prospects from the 'new demographics', it seems to be a case of "If..., and If..., and If.... and If....., then he can win. Of course you also have to totally ignore the message from the 2010 elections.
Hope springs eternal among the desperate.
Good Morning Radiko!
It's nice to make your acquaintance!
Thanks for the shout out & introduction, nothing gets my weekend off to a better start than knowing there are good people like you out there who REFUSE to give up the fight!
I will not allow myself to be 'rolled' by right wing trolls no MATTER what dirty trick they come up with!
Know that I'll always have your back!
Have a Great Day!
Hi Radiko, thanks for the shout out and we're pleased to make your acquaintance!
xx
OMG, Feisty - I just heard the news! I cannot believe you scored this one. Goes to show what a thousand volunteer hours can get you. If you need me to show up in my French Maid uniform and pass some hors d'oeuvres, just let me know!
I am sick jealous! Give the First Family my BEST!
I can't seem to get the link to post:
“FEISTY” PROGRESSIVE BLOG JOUSTER TO GET FIRST FAMILY’S PERSONAL THANKS AT PRIVATE WHITE HOUSE RECEPTION TODAY
WASHINGTON, D.C., Thurs, April 1, 2011 (Illusory News Service) – A spice-tongued liberal news blogger known for her barbed Internet defense of President Barack Obama has been told to expect a First Family visit to deliver the President’s appreciation.
Known only by her screen name on MSNBC’s “Newsvine” discussion blog, Chicago-area “Feisty Redhead – Roselle, Il” will host a private family drop-by at her home during a Presidential trip soon to the Chicago area. Sources say it will be coffee, cakes and conversation with the President, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their two daughters.
White House sources said that the private meeting allows the blogger, who had also volunteered more than 1,000 hours during the 2008 presidential campaign, to keep her identity a secret. “No press, no cameras, just as simple and low-key as any Presidential meeting is possible to be,” it was reported. Time of the “personal visit to express the First Family’s gratitude for spirited defense against malicious right-wing attacks” will not be made public.
“For too long, Americans who admire and respect this President have kept quiet as prominent right-wing propagandists such as Rep. Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump spit out a steady stream of lies, misinformation, and outright libels against the leader of our country and his family,” posted “Feisty” in a message.
“And there are so many trolls in the blogosphere who take their leads and talking points from such spokespersons, as well as from the vituperations claiming to be ‘news and commentary’ aired on Fox News and the programs of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity,” she continued. “It is up to us to speak out and expose the empty rhetoric and warped treatment of American issues repeated by both paid right-wing blog trolls as well as simple rabid ideological fanatics.”
According to sources, the brief meeting with “Feisty” will include a personal message from the President that she will later post on the Newsvine “First Read” daily political memorandum.
XXX
Hey Red if I can get the ex-ST to give me the afternoon off can I ride Downtown and be your Date? Chauffeur. Hold your coat. Make sure that the W.H sends a Limo out to Reagan to pick you up.
Hey, Feisty, say hello to the President for me and tell him that not everyone in Texas is crazy.
Feisty: Congratulations!
I knew you spent considerable time in Northwest Indiana to help GOTV. All that hard work really did pay off. Obama won, and you get to see him!
Geesus, All of us on the center to right will chip in for a bevy of wheel barrows for Fiesty to roll her swollen body parts around. The lead barrel will have a brace so her huge head can actually see forward.
jollyoldsoul1 if ignorance is bliss you have to be the Jolliest Old Soul in these here United States.
Feisty, I see the right wing crap-swillers are bloated with jealousy today. congratulations, we knew our messages here got through!
For a jolly old soul, one of the crapulous posters sure seems sour!
That's very cool! Any day is a good day for news like that, but particularly today!
Kudos to Feisty for a well-deserved honor! The President's people are smart---they know you will work even harder in 2012!!! I am so jealous.
Thanks Everyone! *blushes*
Clara... GF - Hurry up and get on over here will you? You don't want to keep the President waiting now do you? lol
And YES IR - I would be honored if you would be my chauffer! lol
I'm going to make sure to get personalized autographs for all my friends at the Dew Drop Inn!
PS: Who else thinks jolly should change his moniker to SOUR OLD SOUL? He sure is full of bile this morning!
Liberals Cant even Lie Well.
I guess my invitation got lost in the mail, huh? :-(
April Fools Day :}
Nasty Redhead: Make sure you tell Barry I said "Happy Birthday" to him and all his lefty liberal minions.
Thank Goodness it is April FOOLS Day:)
Dont worry guys. in a Week they will be Repeating this Farce as Truth, they will even have convinced themsevles that they Attended.. and it was Glorious
Even the libs here couldn't be THAT stupid.
____________________________
Um..... yeah. they could be:
Feisty, I see the right wing crap-swillers are bloated with jealousy today. congratulations, we knew our messages here got through!
I hear the right wing trolls are trying to claim the great job report was an April Fools joke. Right Joe??
Jobs! I work in construction and been out of work for more than I would like. I could probably get a job for minimum wage at a fast food place or at a department store, but that would only be a joke do to the bills and mortgage I have to pay. If we continue to let the GOP dictate and take away the rights to earn a fair wage, we will all have to work three jobs without any vacation just to make ends meet. As for me, I guess I do not have any other choice than to think about how to start schooling to head into another type of field. This is going to be tough not only because I am 46 years old, but also because the GOP are so spontaneous in who they will cut next, that I do not know what direction to take that would be the safest. Until we get a chance to vote out or fire the GOP I guess we are all in it for the long hall.
Couldn't have said it better cuban-nel. Not only are you right on target, but Conservatives intend to increase their attack on the middle class;
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/03/monetary_policy_7
The collapse cowards apparently don't like April Fool's jokes. All righty then.
I can hardly wait until next year!
Pre-post Collapsed Post
Polarizing. That is the term needed for the media as they continue to push the message of "hate or strongly disagree with your neighbor to the point you want to strangle them, but keep giving us your money." That is very bad for this country. As critics continue to galvanize any vestiges of serenity left in society, there are some people that want something good, that are attempting to silence those critics as their message does nothing to help anything. Those that realize the message being peddled by the Talking Heads is destructive, make an attempt to add order to the chaos by explaining what is between the lines of the messages of doom and gloom, death and despair.
Critical and logical thinking is a practiced discipline that requires more than seeing the obvious. I could go into some deep level of focusing on scientific or political thought, but that would defeat the purpose of the thought. So instead, I will focus on Love.
Love, today appears to be a dead term to most based on the fact that many people spend too much time attempting to assassinate individuals with malicious intent. However I grew up in a generation of loving your neighbor, loving your family, loving yourself. When I was growing up, singers such as Barry White, Luther Vandross, Al Green, The Isley Brothers, Lenny Williams; all considered baby making music. Not the kind of immature music that is espoused by the children that have the mic on MTV, but the music that made a man and woman feel complete, as one. That was the generation that embraced a togetherness.
But now there is so much strife that is rattled off daily that turns the life of someone into a struggle such as this political atmosphere, that it has literally poisoned the purpose of Love. People believe that they must talk down to someone in order to make themselves feel better. We've lost the message, media and public alike.
I'm a lover, not a fighter; and a damn good one at that. :^/)
Make love, not war.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
If I were you, I would stake out some more prime real estate - the right wing collapse cowards have been on a roll.. lol
I'm not gonna 'touch' that one! ;o)
Too funny, Louis. Love is indeed the answer. I'll be interested to see whether that message gets collapsed.
I'll bet you are. You have all the right stuff. ;-)
Feisty, perhaps your problem is not touching enough of them!
When I see "True American" and his minions show up, that's when I know it will collapse. There's something about that moniker that is so reassuring of priveleges and rights being respected that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Giggidy
:^)
Good Job, Mr. President. Thank You for all of your hard work.
FIRST READ TIMES-PICAYUNE
Secretary of State Clinton leads Cabinet Walkout
4/01/11 RNP. Early this morning President Obama’s Cabinet lead by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tendered their resignations effective immediately. The only exception seems to be Secretary of Defense Gates. While the immediate causes of this action within the administration were not available the dispute seems to be about seating arrangements and the quality of refreshments in the Cabinet Room.
Citing the need for continuity at this critical juncture in negations being carried out all over the World and especially in the Middle East by the State Dept. President Obama immediately named former Senatorial Candidate Christine O’Donnell as Ms. Clinton’s interim replacement until she can confirmed by the Congress.
The Administrations Statement:
“Since former Secretary of State Clinton’s hard work in reorganizing the State Dept. and transforming our Foreign Policy into something coherent to the World seems to not meet the approval of certain segments of our government we have decided to change our direction somewhat. We have decided to change to the best combination of witch craft, obstricafication and off the wall Twitter feeds we could find. If you can’t Dazzle them with Brilliance maybe we can Baffle them with Bullsh! t”
Secretary of Defense Gates released this statement:
“ President Bush agreed to my demand of driving a tank out on the range once a month and President Obama has allowed me to continue and has even allowed me to live fire the weapons systems so I’m a happy camper. Why should I resign because Hillary doesn’t like the cream filling in her donut?”
Inside sources are reporting that since the Administrations “Team of Rivals” approach to Cabinet appointments seems to have not borne fruit it is changing to the ”Ship of Fools” in hopes of achieving more success in getting Congressional approval and support. Some of the names that are being floated for future appointments seem to point to the veracity of this information.
The list includes:
Dept. of the Interior: Former head of B.P. Tony Hayward
Newly combined Dept. of Education and Health and Human Services: Michelle Bachmann
Homeland Security: Rudy Giuliani
Newly combined Dept of Labor, Dept of Transportation and Dept. of Energy: The Koch Brothers with Ken Lay’s ghost as a long shot contender.
Dept of the Treasury: The Donald
Why isn’t Sarah Palin under consideration for any of these high level posts? Trust me folks even old Gaddafi isn’t that Batcr@p crazy.
On another somewhat more serious note Happy Birthday to the Hi-tech Generation of the Hill Folk. You have and will always be your Dear old Redneck Daddy’s Pride and Joy.
Happy Birthday Hi-Tech Redneck - you got one hell of a daddy!
I will now proceed to collapse myself... lol
Good one, IR. Wonder how long before Glenn Beck reports this breaking news.
Thank you Red on behalf of Hi-Tech. I will now proceed to spread your collapse all up and down this thread.
You had me going for a moment, IR. I've been fooled two or three time already this morning, and yet I never seem to see it coming.
Happy Liberal Birthday to you.
Good MOrning All
IR, wish that progeny of yours a very Happy Birthday along with all good wishes for a great coming year.
I second what Feisty says, he's a lucky lad to have you for a daddy.
Good morning and Thank you to all for forgiving me a moment of levity this morning.
IR, I found this on world.illusorynews.net "HOT OFF THE WIRES" -
NEW YORK, NY, April 1, 2001 (Foch-Petain Information Agency) - Republican insiders reveal that Ronald Reagan II, son of the late President, is considering entering the GOP presidential primary contests "to give a divided and confused party a better choice, in the great legacy of my father."
Reports claim the younger Reagan is talking about an advance committe, with noted conservative values advocate and one-time beauty queen Anita Bryant, former Florida Rep. Mark Foley, outspoken right-wing columnist Anne Coulter, and others dissatisfied with the existing crop of potential Republican nominees. "I already have plenty of friends on different parts of the political spectrum who might help, but these people bring a solid array of other perspectives from the Republican right," Reagan supposedly told a confidante.
The confidential source said that Reagan, now a widely-known television news and politics commentator, had spoken with some key Republican campaign consultants about why he would seek the office: "I have my father's name and legacy to consider, I have to prove that being a dancer in the Joffrey Ballet did not mean I am gay, and besides, my wife really wants to redecorate the Oval Office.
"I am the ideal 2011 GOP candidate, even though I am more progressive than Barney Frank."
— END _
Actually, my sources say that your wrong - Bev will be the Secratary of State.
And when you think about it, it makes sense.
Hillary recently made a statement that Bashar al-Assad of Syria is a reformer. Who in the world can top that insanity, but Bev?
Several weeks ago, Bev said used Gadhafi as an endorsement of Obama, previously held China as the model for American human rights .......
Everyone knows she is the world's foremost Koch authority. Who understands the biggest threat to mankind, Faux News, better than Bev. Military understanding? Again, who in modern history has fired more snot rockets in the defense of poor innocent union thugs than Bev.
Of course that will mean Ron will now be Ron Washington DC - best back patter in the biz.
Besides, Feisty can handle the right rift raff with one paw in the pop corn behind her back.
Actually, John, Ron Reagan Jr. is the ideal DEMOCRATIC candidate. Whenever the republican candidate tried to associate himself with Reagan, Ron Jr. would not hesitate to turn a skeptical eye on him and say, "oh, yeah?" I have a lot of respect for him. I wish he would run for something.
Or at least get his own show on MSNBC.
Anna Molly, on a serious note, I knew Ron Reagan Jr. when he worked at ABC in LA with my mother. She had her own feature segment three nights a week before syndicating the show nationally. He is a very nice, interesting, and insightful man.
And actually, wouldn't it be just the bee's knees if he WERE the GOP candidate?
To quote you from elsewhee, that would certainly send a-twitter all the conservative moonbats.
A very happy birthday to Hi-Tech from all of us on the prairie, IR. I know he makes you proud, and with his parents, makes all of us proud.
Here is something I am curious about: Chuck Todd replaced Matthews this week, and honestly that show was kind of boring. Chuck chose to give time to two "teabaggers", a group so irrelevant, that they gave a party and no one came. Why would Hardball so demean itself to include these two individuals, who short of generating copious laughter, had nothing whatsoever to say? And why was there no balance? I realize that the "teabaggers" are inarticulate, and would be unable to withstand a differing view, but if you are going to put those, well, morons is the only word that comes to mind, but I don't think I am allowed to use it, on that show, don't you have an obligation to present a more educated opinion? Or was it a giant April Fool's joke on the country?
My favorite April fools day was when my CO told me that NVA5 and NVA6 were preforming a flanking manuver and we could expect contact with in an hour. Check the perimeter and send out 3 patrols. Wait that wasnt a Aprils fools day joke......my bad!
RVZ555 - Jeez, man, you must get paid very well to post nothing but hate. Your every post is exactly the kind of putrid vitriol that Feisty was cited above for rebuking.
Check the story again, and then have someone take a picture of your reddened, flattened forehead after you smack it a few times. "Oh! Doh!"
Ron Reagan is an outstanding man of character, talent, and insight. I know this personally about him. You, on the other hand, are every possible opposite of those virtues. And no more answers from me to your garbage, I won't contribute any more to your ill-earned paycheck.
if he did that he wouldn't be a liberal anymore since that's one main characteristic of a liberal.
RVZ555, for your information, these are the main characteristics of a liberal. These are the people who support President Obama.
These are people who have good jobs, their children are getting good educations. These people go to football games, baseball games, museums, the movies, to musicals, to concerts; they exercise and run in marathons. They are coaches on their kids' baseball teams; they are well read; they keep in contact with their local reps on a whole host of issues - from health care to education. They are charitable. They host fundraisers.
These are people who care about our Nation and don't want to see anyone left behind - especially when it comes to a good education for all, when it comes to serious health issues, when it comes to gay issues. They believe in a strong union, in a strong labor force. They support those who are out there demonstrating to keep unions alive, even though they themselves do not belong in a union. What they don't do is rally in DC to demand that rights be taken away. Like the teapartiers are doing.
They volunteer in any number of ways, quietly and with no desire for recognition.
They get their news from a whole variety of places, not just here in the USA. They know the difference between real journalism and the sell out corporate media who are only in it for the money. They know instinctively who is full of crap on our air waves. They have an ability to think for themselves. They believe in a diverse nation. They are doers. They don't always succeed. But they will never stop trying.
And what's great is they are getting their kids involved in politics. They tell their children not to believe everything they hear. They teach their children about our Nation's history with prejudice and bigotry. They are teaching them about our National Parks and Lewis & Clark. And LBJ and what he did to ensure that ALL Americans had the same rights. One of the most important, if not THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT in our history btw. They are teaching their children not to judge others. That we are all just human, trying to struggle after being raped by corporate America and rich politicians.
They are teaching their children about the value of hard work and to not expect to have it all. To not be greedy. That it doesn't matter any longer. To have it all means simply to do everything in your power to make a positive difference in your short time here on this planet.
For people like you, who believe that President Obama's supporters are black only is BS. Some of his biggest supporters are white, educated, open minded, hard workers, diligent and caring.
btw, a majority of his black supporters, despite what is pushed here by someone as narrow minded as you and your crowd, are educated, open minded, hard workers, diligent and caring.
Snap out of it and join the 21st Century.
That's remarkable, Pat.
Judging from your description, most of President Obama's supporters are apparently very much like most of us who, on balance, oppose his policies and his political philosophy generally...somehow, you managed to draw all of the wrong conclusions from that.
As I said...remarkable..
Well said
Ron Reagan would be a competitive republican candidate, he's smart, he's got the name and he's no clown like too many on the right today.
Millions of people may still revere President Reagan but he has been sold to Americans via the biggest public relations campaign in modern times--his trusted friends and admirerers set out to revamp the real Reagan into something much more positive and it does not remotely resemble the real man or the president he was. When Reagan left office millions of republicans were glad to see him gone, now they enshrine him in some misty fog. Reagan gave us voo doo economics, tax cuts benefiting mostly the rich, outsourcing of jobs, union busting, he demonized Government invoking small government while actually increasing the size and scope of it, the shift to anti-women legislation and embracing of social issues as economic issues, he gave us Iran Contra, Grenada, Libya, Afghanistan and Al Qaeda to name a few messes. Reagan cuts taxes so low even he had to raise them numerous times only the people's whose taxes increased were the middle class, he made sure his wealthy friends got the big breaks. Reagan was a good president, he did some good things and some not but the myth of the man touted today is just that, a myth.
RVZ, it's April and still it snowed here last night and this morning. You would think it was winter still.
But the good weather is just around the corner. Please call your rep and ask him/her to support The DREAM Act.
Jody,
We know Reagan was a Great President, you dont have to tell us, If i remember Correctly just a few short weeks ago it was the Lamestream Media that was trying to convince us that Obama was Reaganesque........... at that time you libbies were all praising Obama for being just like Reagan When you found out that didnt fly with the American Public. that Obama didnt even come close to being HALF as good a President as Ronald Reagan You stopped using that Analogy.
Clearly the "MYTH" of Ronald Reagan is not so much a Myth when you Libbies are still talking about him today...
I have never and will never, ever say Reagan was a great President. He was the President that fully implemented supply side economics, deregulation, union busting and 'starve the beast' policies that have created the mess we are now in. The man did more to bring down this country than any other President since Calvin Coolidge. Those policies, as continued under the two Bush administrations have created more people living under the poverty level and a larger wealth gap than has ever been recorded in world history, ever.
A pox on the memory of President Reagan.
They get their news from a whole variety of places, not just here in the USA. They know the difference between real journalism and the sell out corporate media who are only in it for the money. They know instinctively who is full of crap on our air waves. They have an ability to think for themselves.
Pat, I agree with you on this point however you do realize that FOX news is the number 1 rated cable tv show. Last I heard FOX news#7 rated show (Glen Beck) still had 1 million more viewers than any commentator on MSNBC Maddow, Schultz, O'Donnell, even Olberman when he was on combined. Per your statement (They know instinctively who is full of crap on our air waves. They have an ability to think for themselves.) Excellent.
Richard: when it was on, "Bozo's Circus" would draw more viewers than all of the network news shows, combined. For that matter, I believe that "Spongebob Squarepants" draws more viewers than the news shows on CNN, ABC, NBC, or CBS.
Childrens entertainment shows, like Glenn Beck, always draw a bigger audience. People enjoy laughing at a clown.
richard-1957365
Pat, I agree with you on this point however you do realize that FOX news is the number 1 rated cable tv show. Last I heard FOX news#7 rated show (Glen Beck) still had 1 million more viewers than any commentator on MSNBC Maddow, Schultz, O'Donnell, even Olberman when he was on combined. Per your statement (They know instinctively who is full of crap on our air waves. They have an ability to think for themselves.) Excellent.
This NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE.
Fox News Viewership Plunges 21% While MSNBC Grows
Fox News is still dominating the cable news ratings. The network has the top 11 programs in cable news, but there are ominous signs that the empire is starting to crack. Compared to the third quarter of 2009, Fox has lost 21% of their total viewers, and 26% of their younger viewers. The biggest loser on the network was Bill O'Reilly who saw his program The O'Reilly Factor lose 12% of its total viewers and 21% of its young viewers. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bret Baier, and Greta Van Susteren rounded out the top five cable news shows, and they each posted double digit declines
The Ed Show is up 24% over last year in total viewers and 8% in the demo.
Rachel Maddow gained 6% in total views, but lost 1% with the demo.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/fox-msnbc-ratings
Glenn Beck Has Lost 500,000 Viewers a Night In 2011
http://www.politicususa.com/en/glenn-beck-500000-viewers
Unemployment down, jobs in the economy up, Glen Beck viewership, down... is there a connection ? You have to wonder if the people who had been watching Beck were all the out-of-work highly depressed people looking for something to laugh at.
I don't think there's any question Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly et. al. work to feed people's frustration and anger. More people who are frustrated and angry with their situation make for more viewers/listeners. It resonates with them because "someone feels the way I do."
An employee once told me Michael Savage was just about the only radio personality that made any sense. Let's just say there was a lot of frustration and anger in that guy.
To those moonbats who crowed,
"Speaker Boehner, where are the jobs? "
Here are some, at least. The House GOP takeover has started to restore sanity to an out of control socialist Government.
President Obama is running to a microphone to take credit, after blaming others for the economy for 2 years..how transparent.
Dear Bob:
Please name one thing spearheaded by the GOP that has led to job creation. Thank you.
P.S. You cannot credit extending the tax cuts, because we had those same tax cuts through President George W. Bush's first and second term, and not too many jobs were created.
...and last year we would have been told how bad the report was because Nancy Pelosi was speaker. Nope, no hypocrisy here.
Comments like this are the reason WHY you & your ilk are perceived as hyena's...
The hunter does all the work and then the hyena's sneak out of the brush to steal the carcass!
Thankfully - the American people are already fed up with the tea baggers antics and will give proper credit to the person who is deserving of it.
Hint: It's NOT Weeper Boehner& his merry band of baggers!
LoLoL -- Got to be line of the day. It's snowing in New England this morning. Guess they fixed global warming, too.
@Nash
Hey you didn't answer my question yesterday. How many jobs were SAVED by the Bush tax cuts?
Also, just like the 8% unemployment figure that you rail against, I showed you figures from the DOL that showed that GWB "created" more jobs than Obama. So why do you continue with the mantra that Obama has created more jobs?
BTW In actual fact neither are responsible for job creation.
Exactly how many jobs did defunding NPR and Planned Parenthood provide? All I've seen these tools do is pursue their decades-old enemies list!
Bob188---Surely you jest! You can't possibly be in your right mind if you think Boehner had anything to do with these jobs. Do you really think extending the tax breaks for the wealthy created these jobs? If so please explain as we have had these tax breaks for close to a decade and if they worked we would not have high unemployment as we do. Remember it was Boehner that said recently that if we lost jobs, So Be It. Wonderful speaker you have there.
See? ... they're creating new jobs for Daryl Issa's committee staffers.
Happy Friday Alan . . . I didn't answer you question because I have no idea . . . if you find out, let us know!
Considering the fact that we were losing over 500,000 jobs a month when he left office, I'm thinking that any jobs he "created" were shed then.
I agree with you that giving credit to Presidents for losing/saving jobs is not a complete picture of how things work, but I have decided that if grown folk who know better can go on TV and blame President Obama for the pile of $#@ they left on the front lawn of the White House, then I will use their same ridiculous standard and give President Obama ALL of the credit when things get better.
Fair is fair! :o)
P.S. You have to admit Alan, President Obama is doing a damn good job for an undocmented worker. Seriously.
Every economist I have ever read, has said that a big part of economic recovery is instilling consumer confidence, which leads to increased spending and investment. As far as I can see, the Republicans have been working against the President's efforts to generate confidence since his inauguration. It's almost like they want the economy to fail, as they believe it's their road back to power. They love to denigrate President Obama's oratory and charisma, the very Presidential talents that are needed to inspire Americans to invest, to spend, to expand the economy.
How about asking how many jobs they'll create because we won't be paying interest on the money we borrowed to fund them. I don't get it. What part of 40% of every dollar spent by the federal government is borrowed? Nobody is killing NPR or PP. If you want to fund them you can make personal donations to keep them in business. Why is it the responsibility of the federal government to fund them?
Make your case instead throwing out meaningless comments.
I await with bated breath his appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.
BTW Hawaii isn't part of America. They're too laid back (and normal).
Now Alan, we both know this is not about NPR and Planned Parenthood. That whole government borrowing problem came about when a certain "fiscal conservative" decided to fight two wars AND give a tax cut to his friends AND give no bid defense contracts to his other friends AND turn a blind eye to all the subprime lenders taking COMPLETE ADVANTAGE of folks who THEY KNEW would not be able to repay the RIDICULOUS LOANS they were making BIG PROFITS on.
You talk about I never "answered" your question from yesterday, but do you have a comment about the Bush Administration trying to outsource every damn thing right down to port security and military planes? How is it "more secure" to have folks motivated by profit from ANOTHER COUNTRY responsible for that?
Come on Alan . . . this after the fact whining about "credit card debt" from "consevatives" is equivalent to the same folks who ran up the card on stuff that THEY profited from now turning around and telling the rest of us "the party is over" . . . newsflash . . . we never had a party . . . ya'll did!
Bob, you are full of $hit.
@Nash
Not disagreeing on who's responsible for running up the debt but we knew entitlements had to be reformed since the 80's because of the change in demographics. Everybody kicked this can down the road, and it probably can be kicked down the road for another 3 or 4 years, but we'll soon see what "leaders" have the testicular fortitude to deal with non-partisan issue.
On the port and plane issue. I had an issue with the port outsourcing but the plane issue involved jobs over here as well and that was a competitive bid that even the air force favored. (Although the way these bids are decided who the hell knows what was going on).
Alan, the silence about federal debt was deafening when Bush "charged" $12 billion a month in Iraq! Rahm Emmanuel was pilloried for his comments about not letting a crisis go to waste. Seems the Republicans are pursuing enemies in the guise of budget controls.
Your comment about "how many jobs they'll create" is future tense! You mean those damn jobs aren't here YET?!!
@Auntie
I'm trying my best to make this a non-partisan issue. If all you want to do is blame Bush be my guest, but thats not going to solve anything - and are you silent of what Obama is spending in Afghanistan? I had issues with the stimulus but that money is also spent so I'll be wasting my time. Nobody in the political class is blameless. If all you want to argue about is how we got here then I'm sure you'll fit right in in Washington.
The issue, and its an American issue, is what we are going to do now?
You know Alan, I could almost agree with you about the "leave the past in the past" approach except for one tiny problem: "conservatives" keep suggesting that we pursue the same failed policies that already didn't work.
So its not about laying blame for what has already happened, its about trying to keep it from happening again. And again. And again.
And each and everytime, "conservatives" pocket the money until the ponsy-scheme-of-the-decade blows up, then they blame the rest of us, and plant a distraction for us to discuss so they can do it all again.
@Nash
I wouldn't leave it in the past. I still shiver at the way the propaganda used to get the country behind the Iraq war reminded me of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". I couldn't believe people were believing it up to the claim that Lt. Cmdr. Michael S. Speicher was still alive. To me that was at the same level as Czechs were raping and beating ethnic Germans.
But trying to blame who caused the problem to make a point about what we should do going forward is just futile. Particularly when we are all being stuck with the bill. For example, you can justify Obama extending the tax rates because of the unemployed, but at the end of the day it caused a bigger problem IMO.
Its time for the adults in Washington to take charge and make us swallow the medicine...and its going to hurt.
Alan, the president will stay the course and the economy will continue to add jobs. Barring a government shutdown, which the CBO says will SUBTRACT jobs! What are the Republican posers proposing?
I agree Alan, except the problem is there are very few adults in Washington who are not on the take, and the folks who are paying to re-elect these jokers always seem to make me swallow my medicine and theirs too.
Good news on the job numbers.
Both sides will claim credit for the improvement. The GOP will point to the house win in November and the Democrats will point to Obama's policies. Others will point to the mutual agreement on the tax cut extensions.
Perhaps it is a mixture of more than one issue. Finally, business is dipping their little toe in the water to employ. Historically, job creation has always been the last thing to improve despite other good economic indicators, such as the stock market and quarterly GDP reports.
We can all have opinions for why it has happened, others more economiclly informed can explain it to me. Whatever the case I'm glad.
The article quotes the fragile nature of the economy, therefore to use the reasoning of proponents of the tax cut extensions, wouldn't it be inconceivable to cut tens of thousands of government and state jobs at this critical point in the recovery?
As far as moving forward, any discussions (non partisian) on how it can be done? We need to revive our industries/manufacturing. Infrastucture improvement could be a way. Investing in new technologies and renewable energy perhaps.
They are proposing to cut 61B of the current budget and 1T off of Medicade over 10 years and vouchers for Medicare. Now you may not like the proposals but they are out there and can be debated, or demagogued.
What is Harry Reid, the leader of the Senate, and President Obama proposing? The Status Quo? Maybe backing the proposals in his own Debt Commission may help because if he's waiting on Harry to take the lead then he's in for a long wait.
Alan,
From what I heard the GOP is asking for 61B in cuts for this fiscal year and the Dems are countering with 33 Billion. I know we disagree philosophically about job creation, but will these cuts improve our economy. Yes both will shave about 4% or 2% off of the yearly deficit but at what cost?
Won't the people who lose those jobs due to government downsizing reduncancy whatever term you use, become a drag on unemployment? Are we merely to switch unemployment numbers and be happy that 200,000 private sector people are working while 200,000 government positions will be cut?
I'm trying to understand.
Excpet the Republican/TP Inc. does not want debate. They are not willing to compromise or even change what gets cut nor are they willing to look at raising revenue. On top of that, their 'cuts' will do absolutely nothing to create jobs and have been shown to actually increase the debt over the next 10 years.
Vouchers for Medicare? Why? Medicare is not even part of the deficit, it is a self funding trust fund, just like SS. And the rich, who once again made gains in income while the lower 80% lost income, will cry to high heaven if the caps that limit the income for those programs were ever lifted. You see, not being in the top 20%, I pay 6% payroll taxes on 100% of my income while anyone making over the cap pays less as a percentage of their income.
Goodness, you people on the right really don't understand real economics, do you. Sources for my information? There are plenty of them out there and you can look for yourself. Try the government economic websites, CBPP and EPI for starters.
If government becomes more productive through the loss of these 200K jobs then no. We will now receive the same services at less cost. If services suffer then the decision can be made in the future as whether we can do without, or are willing to increase taxes to pay for these services. As to the 200K, if they are as well educated as we are led to believe they should have no problem making it in the private sector. Are you really trying to make the argument that we should create government jobs to reduce unemployment? You want to borrow 40% of the cost of these jobs (wages and benefits) simply to move them off of unemployment? Do you think that is a good use of resources? BTW Where do you get the figure of 200K. Is that for 61B or 33B in cuts?
Please point me to the source that claims that federal budget cuts will increase the debt.
Nice conflation of two different issues. First, there is no cap on medicare taxes. Second, I would agree with you that lifting the cap on the SS tax would be a way of increasing the trust funds solvency. However, as every administration has spent the trust fund in the past what process to you propose to ensure that the revenues from your proposed tax increase are not simply spent as current revenue? Third, yes Medicare is a self-funding trust fund some parts of which are in deficit and are paid for from general revenues. However, as with SS, Medicare counts prior year surpluses to claim that it is still solvent when in fact that money too has been spent. Added to this is the demographics of the Baby-Boomers, the continuing demand for healthcare and the increase in healthcare because of new technology puts the liabilities of Medicare into the trillions. The problem is, as with public sector pensions, that the money put aside to pay for these programs have been spent and now when it is needed cannot be raised simply through taxation. The fact is we are going to have to expect less.
Alan - My links never appear to work, but the washington post noted that the GOP budget may not cost 700,000 jobs that the administration had predicted. Google "a job loss statistic producted out of thin air".
Since there was some discrepancy about the actual numbers that would be lost if the GOP budget was implemented, I rounded down to 200,000, another number produced out of thin air by me, to match the approximate amount of private sector jobs created in March.
As to the difficulty finding a job whatever your experience and talent is, I can't imagine how hard it is.
I guess no one noticed that governments ARE cutting jobs. This has been happening for almost a year. It has been this way in every monthly employment report since at least last October (a situation that is unlikely to change in the year ahead).
Where have you been? Can't please some people.
Matthew, Houston, TX
Only 6% of individual earners earn enough to escape any payroll tax. That cap is over $106K these days. So only the creme-de-la-creme in American society don't pay into the system although they benefit immensely living here: their income has increased far more since Reagan reset the tax rates and laws in 1984. This is the reason why the system is paying out more than is coming in: the fastest growing chunk of national income is not paying into the system while the stagnant part continues to pay in despite the increased number of Boomers retiring.
It's all a matter of simple math.
Good news on the economy; 8.8% unemployment, 216,000 new private sector jobs--now let us hope the GOP does not do more harm with their draconian cuts at the federal and state levels.
"And that's the way it is"......this week. March1, the Senate passed S.RES.85 by unanimous consent--not one objection, not one request for Roll Call Vote (only takes one)--calling for a No Fly Zone in Libya among other things. This week, the GOP/TP senators remain busy spinning and hoping no one remembers what their vote because President Obama with a UN coalition did exactly what they supported, and they just cannot be seen agreeing with him. Why do TV hosts and the press not ask about their vote as they rant against what the supported?
Bill O'Reilly said President Obama did the right thing in Libya. He criticized Sarah Palin as unwilling to engage in discussion; just wants to give a prepared speech. He also challenged Donald Trump regarding his birther-ism by saying he thinks Donald doesn't really believe that. Three times in one week, truth slips into FOX "on little cat feet."
Wisconsin Governor Walker thought he could just ignore the court order halting implementation of his union-busting law and proceeded to implement it and to have it published by somebody, anybody--in his mind, that makes it law. Walker backed off when the Judge reiterated the order and added that charges would be filed against any public official who attempts to defy the court order. This guy would rather win than be right but he's not quite ready for jail time.
Donald Trump jumped right down the Birther rabbit hole again and came face to face with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. His latest rant about President Obama's birth certificate included a bit of "secret Muslim" thrown in for good measure. The Donald proved himself to be self-serving, ignorant, arrogant. Meanness is unbecoming, gutter politics is trash, the republican party deserves better--the Emperor has no clothes.
The Indiana 37 returned triumphant to their state capitol after five weeks. Many claim they were doing nothing but they'd be wrong. Those 37 democrats negotiated, bargained and scared the bejeebers out of the GOP and Governor Daniel who conceded and agreed to the 37 democrat's demands. The angry citizens probably helped the GOP see the light or at least see their jobs in jeopardy.
House GOP Representative Cliff Stearns, FL, introduced legislation that would allocate Government dollars to the Crisis Pregnancy Centers, an anti-abortion group. 20 of the 23 centers were found guilty of providing false information to patients about abortion. If the GOP refuses to fund Planned Parenthood, the Crisis Pregnancy Centers should not be funded either. I don't want my tax dollars spent telling pregnant women lies in an effort to convince them of anything.
Presidential hopeful Herman Cain appeared at Steve King's Iowa values rally. When asked, Cain said he would not appoint a Muslim to his administration because, based on their religion, they might use their position to ease Sharia law into our judicial system. Apparently Cain will screen federal employees breaking the laws that establish certain questions as private and unrelated to employment. Alberto Gonzales comes to mind.
Karl Rove claims President Obama and his administration have been all over the place on Libya. Rove's a little confused these days--it is the GOP/TP folks who have been all over the place on Libya; for it before they were against it--flip flop, flip flop.
The Koch brothers are quite upset this week--they don't like all the negative press and exposure they're getting. They prefer to work in secret where they can have Supreme Court Justices attend their planning sessions and no one is the wiser.
Tim Pawlenty declared that President Obama was born in the USA. Cheers for the first GOP presidential hopeful to speak the truth. He may have doomed his chances since 72% of the GOP/TP believes otherwise or aren't sure. Therein lies the dangers of the GOP/TP feeding red meat to the Whacky Monster--now they must keep feeding it or risk being eaten by it. How simple it would have been in 2009, to call a lie, a lie.
Nicolas Kristof, NY Times op ed columnist praised President Obama's speech, the way he has dealt with Libya, the rapid forming of a coalition, etc. Kristof said we don't need a "doctrine" and it is nice we have a president who looks at each situation separately. A voice of reason among the cacophony of cable media talking heads.
Florida's Rick Scott has a plan to require quarterly drug testing for all state government employees. Despite budget woes, Florida will pay the millions it will cost. Scott probably hasn't considered the added budget costs of the law suits his state will face over privacy issues. So much for claiming to believe in "small government"--this is big, intrusive government ala the GOP/TP.
A Wisconsin professor, William Cronon (not a liberal) wrote a critical piece about the GOP and Governor Walker questioning who or what was behind their union-busting agenda. Free speech must have been banned along with collective bargaining because the GOP has issued a supoena for his e-mails.
Senator Rand Paul supported everything President Obama did in Libya UNTIL the President did it. Rand apparently forgot his March 1 YES vote on S.RES.85 which supported everything the President did. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
House GOP Representative Tom Marino, PA, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed concern about US/UN intervention in Libya--he said he's worried that unrest could spread to Africa as a result of our involvement. Please, someone give this guy a map--shouldn't legislators be given a test to see if they're remotely qualified to serve on committees?
Eric Cantor announced that he has crafted a bill, Prevention of Government Shutdown Act, that says if the Senate doesn't pass their budget, HR1 will become law. Obviously Cantor has no clue how a bill becomes law so how can we expect him to govern. Oddly, not one reporter asked him a follow-up question--either they were too stunned, are numb to the silly nonsense spoken by these legislators, or just weren't listening. No wonder this country is in trouble, even the press has been dumbed down.
Michelle Bachmann keeps mentioning the "Obama Doctrine" every chance she gets. She must have missed the part where President Obama clearly stated there is NO Obama Doctrine, that each situation requires a different solution and a different approach. Intelligent, pragmatic thinking eludes her and those like her.
NBC and Politico were forced to postpone the May GOP Presidential Debate scheduled at the Reagan Library--turns out there were too few participants.
The Tea Party held its first ever TP Budget rally Thursday. They expected a huge crowd. Estimates show somewhere between 100 and 200 came and nearly half were members of the press. Why does the press give so much television coverage to the TP and barely mentions the hundreds of thousands protesting nearly every day and every weekend in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, New Jersey for the past six weeks?
[Good news on the economy; 8.8% unemployment, 216,000 new private sector jobs...]
And it was reported that the United States Government made...MADE...$6 BILLION on the bank bailouts.
http://imarketnews.com/?q=node/28603
Jody: Well written! I'm now looking forward to you end of the week summary. Spot-on.
Yes, this is interesting. I am related to someone who knows Cronon personally and knows he's not liberal-biased. Or at least, wasn't.
This is yet another prime example of Republicans turning on each other whenever one of them tries to break away from the mainstream agenda or doesn't like what he sees when he turns over the rock.
Their cannabalism ranks right up there with their hypocrisy.
Jody: I second Ron's motion! ;o)
GREAT POST as always. Thanks
Good Morning Jody, thank you for the recap. this week it is especially welcome as I have been preoccupied with other goings on.
On Rick Scott, our 'wonderful' Governor, in addition to having the mandatory drug testing for state employees, he has directed that they be done at an Urgent Care chain, Solantic, that is in his wife's name, and he doesn't think there is a conflict of interest or anything unethical about it.
As I have said before, he is a scumbag Teabagger.
Jody, speaking about the GOP debates, here is my imaginary line up.
Michele Bachman while looking at the wrong camera, will lecture us on American history especially about the shot heard round the world.
Newt Gingrich will explain why three marriages and two adulterous affairs is because he was so busy being Speaker of the House.
Tim Paulenty is boring, he will fall asleep while answering the moderator's question.
Mitt Romney will tell us that Romney Care is nothing like President Obama's healthcare law.
Donald Trump will try to explain what that is on his head is it hair or is it cotton candy, looks like spun sugar to me.
There you have it folks, vote for your favorite loonie.
Jody - I absolutely LOVE your recap of the week. Maybe First Read should hire you because this post was fantastic!
Jody -
I love your posts. Always so informative, accurate and with a great sense of humor thrown in. Keep them coming, I look forward to them.
GBM: are Florida voters waking up to the fact that Scott is a big old grifter yet?
There is nothing greater than the simple fact that the Right Wing has the devil in their midst and have no clue how to smoke him out simply because he enjoys the smoke. You have eloquently proven that through your post Jody. The Right attack based on the fact that they have no other way of digesting information. Provide them with facts and they respond with grunting and knuckle dragging through deflection.
NDD - pardon me for answering the query you put to GBM. I'm in Tampa, and you can bet the voters here have taken a massive dose of emetic to rid themselves of the "gut feeling" they followed when voting for Rick Scott. The budget proposals and reorganizations he presented have the whole state turning against him. Earlier this week, a poll showed his approval rating at 18% and falling. Even the Republican legislature is resisting.
It takes too much right now to give in detail the awful steps this Governor has taken or proposed, but across the board, he wants to dismantle almost all of the state operations, as many county and municipal operations as he can influence, and replace those to be kept in motion with private contractors.
This Governor is an ex-criminal who headed one of the most massive Medicare frauds in history. Unfortunately, Florida doesn't have a recall provision in the law, or he'd be out on his skinny butt before Labor Day.
Thanks, John A. I was curious how Floridians are responding to this. I just read that this grifter is going after services to the developmentally disabled...and they showed up at a photo op for Special Olympics. No end to the hypocrisy, John.
Rescheduling the GOP 'debate' on the sacred grounds of Reagan Turf is my favorite story this week.
I like this story because it reminds me of that saying:
What if the GNOP held a party (sic, debate) and NOBODY came?
All Republican Strategists are probably saying today, "Darn that good economic news. Must posture and take credit for it! Well, this is all part of the Socialists plan! Why, oh Why don't we have a candidate that ISN'T batsh!t crazy?"
or something along that vein. Thanks, Jody! you are awesome!
Thank you for the nice words of appreciation. Lost FR for awhile this morning so I'm just catching up. There was so much good material this week, it could have filled up a huge chunk of the Thoughts first page.
"The Indiana 37 returned triumphant to their state capitol after five weeks. "
"A Wisconsin professor, William Cronon (not a liberal)"
Loser fleebaggers whipped by Gov Daniels return "Triumphant"?
Moonbat Professor not a liberal?
Thanks for the April Fool's jokes..surely, you cant be serious?
Moonbat response: Yes, I am serious, and dont call me Shirley
I would like to thank First Read for at least making the improved job numbers the top story . . . even though I cannot understand why you framed it as a question . . . I mean . . . when the numbers showed unemployment going up, I didn't see no question marks . . . but whatever.
P.S. Like I said, President Obama has already overseen the creation of more jobs than President Bush did in two terms. The stimulus worked. Saving GM worked. Thanks again President Obama for ignoring the political games and getting stuff done. Much obliged.
Nashville - Good to see FR highlighting real stories about America and what matters to people. Jobs and the economy. I hope the Congress is ready to make a fair deal on the budget. CR ending in 1 week.
I agree Yellowdog . . . nothing would make me happier than to see less games and more results. . . there are too many real folks out here suffering for the level of just plain foolishness that passes for "politics" these days.
Again:
Projected FY 2011 Spending: $3.82 trillion. Deficit spending for FY 2011: $1.65 trillion; or 43 cents of every dollar spent this year.
Republican spending cut proposal: $61 billion. That's about 1.6% of total FY 2011 spending; and just 3.7% of the deficit for 2011.
Democrats' spending cut proposal: $33 billion. That's less than 1% (.86%) of total FY 2011 spending; and just 2% of the deficit for 2011.
Last night on his prime-time MSNBC show, Ed Schultz excoriated the Democrats' proposal for spending cuts. Ed doesn't want to cut the Republicans 3.7% of the deficit for 2011, or the Democrats' 2%...
Ed Schultz says spending should be cut by 0%
That's right...0%
Madness.
Tick-tock, Mr. President.
There you go again Mixed, hitting them with those pesky facts again. Now there going to have to go and disprove them all. And they were having soooo much fun smoozing in areas reserved for canines and felines. Lj's first post reminded me of a bad Courvoisier commercial with a moth eaten smoking jacket. .
jollyoldsoul1-
Funny...now I have to try and get that image out of my head.
lol
Truthfully, though...any LouisJ musing that doesn't accuse people like me of being racists is a good one.
Louis does seem to look at the world through different colored glasses!
Sorry fellas, don't smoke nor drink...
@LouisJ: Maybe you should start, seems like JOS, Mixed, Bev, fiesty, et. al., have had a few before posting here :0
Where's the facts about HOW the debt became so large? It seems conservatives are very good at ignoring 8 years of deficit, budget busting, unfunded spending but are very quick to point out the deficit today. Sorry, it isn't going to work. Your numbers may be accurate but they ignore where it began and who started it: Bush and the GOP.
If republicans were serious, they'd be cutting that annual $4 billion in subsidies to big oil--who, by the way, makes a tidy profit without it from the gas WE buy. They could also eliminate a lot of other loopholes, cut defense spending, increase taxes on the 2% richest and then the conservatives would have something to brag about. What do they cut? NPR, Planned Parenthood, PBS, heating assistance to the poor, food stamps for children, medicaid for the disabled and the poor, and that's just the tip of their cuts. See any cuts to their corporate masters, any cuts to actually help the 98% rest of us? I don't. I see cuts in the name of cuts without any consideration for the consequences of those cuts--that's what the Tea Party has brought to the GOP table, selfish and idiotic cuts. There's cuts that could be made without harming the economy or 98% of the people but they aren't interested in working hard enough to find them--just cut, any cut will do so we can say "we cut spending".
Very true Jody. In fact before Reagan we were on target to close out our National Debt in a few short years. Then the Conservative supply-siders destroyed any chance of that. http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Jody, Iowa
The Plan put forth by the President's own debt commission recommends across-the-board spending cuts (including defense, Jody) along with sweeping changes in the tax code.
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators is working to craft legislation based on the debt commission's Plan.
Sixty-four U.S. Senators (32 Democrats...32 Republicans, a supermajority of the Senate) have urged President Obama to be involved in a broad discussion that includes entitlement reform and tax policy in an effort to seriously address the debt crisis.
It's past time to act.
Moreover, it's not going to get done without President Obama's active involvement and leadership.
Let me be sure I have this right.
Statisticians are liars. Jobs aren't returning. This is a sham. (Please ignore the fact that we used these same data sources to bitch for 20 months. or that we gave Republicans a pass for losing most of these jobs.)
Science is a fraud. Dinosaurs and men lived together, and only a few thousand years back.
Giving people affordable health care kills off business activity.
The climate is near perfection. Humans are having no influence. Dead and dying wild life is a Hollywood special effect created by them damn liberals.
Corporations will protect us. No need for any regulation. The gulf spill was a mere dribble, human waste in the veggies are of no consequence, and fumes from the neighborhood paint factory add fragrance to the air.
Palin, Limbaugh, Beck and their crowd care about 'we the people'.
Where do I sign up to become a right wing wacko? I'm tired of . . . well . . you know . . . . thinking.
Let me know what color the sky is when you get there, Bill. I'm not quite ready to sign, but maybe if it's pretty...
Bill: You mentioned it, so you got me started on healthcare. Just had a family member admitted to the hospital. Then I had to talk to the insurance company.. Grrrrrr. Current hospital is OK, but had to call the doctor to verify that he gave the referral (its an HMO), if no referral, then not covered. Also have to make sure that any specialists are properly referred. And if we need to change hospitals, then the hospital is properly given a referral, that its in network, not out of network. This started on Wednesday, so, that is in a month with an R, so its covered, for now.
<sarcasm on:>Got to be happy this country's health care system is run by the insurance companies instead of a single provider system. Heaven knows that the millions & millions of people covered under Medicare and Medicaid have all been treated so poorly for the last 45 years. My goodness, its so bad that the longevity of the average American has been regularly increasing. <sarc. off>
And then all you have to do is show your medical card and pay a small co-pay. A single payer also has the ability to reign in expenses and reduce premium increases. When there is no motive to keep premiums down, they just go up, and up, and up, and up, and up. Is there any other item used by more than 80% of the country that more than doubles in cost every 4 years, like health insurance has?
Been there, done that dirp. Insurance companies aren't in the business of reimbursing valid claims, they're in the business of AVOIDING payment.
It was a huge miscalculation on the part of the Democrats to not refer to Affordable Care as "Health Insurance Reform" from the beginning. That's what it is, and that's what was needed.
Unemployment going down. YEAH
8.8% That's going in the right direction! Good news.
On the Daily Rundown this morning, it seemed like Chuck and Savannah kept digging for bad news from the jobs report from the guy they were interviewing. I understand that they want the full trend, but jeez, can't we just celebrate good news every once in awhile?
If the jobs report had really been bad...i.e. it had gone up to 9.2%, it would have been all over the news.
I think this climate of emphasizing the bad news in a way that is out of proportion to the good news is not healthy for our country. It puts us in the perpetual 'sky is falling' mentality that eventually just wears us all out. "Bad news fatigue."
I think there is a market out here for a news media outlet that gives us the good news that is out there.
Amen.
Well said, Colorado Crenshaw. Beyond the ratings game, makes you wonder why the media works so hard at finding the negative and creating controversy when there is none. I'm with you, there is a market for a "fact" reporting outlet, one that tells it like it is without the right/left talking heads providing their version and confusing everyone.
Colorado Crenshaw, I too feel like Chuck and Savannah lean a little to the right. Morning Joe leans so far right that they have difficulty standing up. I stopped watching Morning Joe in September of 2008, I just couldn't stomach them anymore. It was sort of like watching the Fox News Channel.
I completely agree about Morning Joe-ke Seattle Sue, although sometimes I still catch snippets of it if that was the last channel I watched the night before . . . hard to watch that level of foolishness daily when there is an off button.
I also agree about Morning Joe. It is really hard to watch that is why I no longer tune in to the show.
Moron Joe's show is AWFUL! It is simply a showcase for Joe's HUGE ego. I quit watching it years ago, I can only take so much stupidity in one day. If MSNBC wants a conservative to have a show, there must be one out there that is far more knowledgeable and interesting than Joe is. Wait...maybe that's the problem.
Excellent comment Colorado Crenshaw, I believe you're spot on. Much of the media prefers a controversy over an accurate portrayal of events.
Amen. Sometimes I stop looking at the news because it's the sky is falling, we're all going to die syndrome. In these trying times, any and all good news should be showcased.
None was more happy then I when Scarborough Country was yanked. Good old Joe, from prime time to background noise at 6AM.
It was reported that the United States Government made...MADE...$6 BILLION on the bank bailouts.
http://imarketnews.com/?q=node/28603
Currently looking out my NYC office window at snow falling on this first day of April..and that's no April fools folks! Just like it's no joke that the improving jobs numbers are all thanks to the policies of President Obama, and the last Democratic controlled Congress, despite the obstructionist part of No.
Ha Ha. An april fools joke pretending not to be an april fool's joke. Good one Pat
Wow, another good jobs report, unemployment FINALLY below 9%, and the only thing the GOPTP has done is come up with a plan to increase unemployment in order to drive down wages. http://www.speaker.gov/UploadedFiles/JEC_Jobs_Study.pdf
Considering that the current House of Reps. hasn't gotten a single piece of their own legislation signed into law since taking over in January, no one in their right mind can say Boehner and his rag tag merry men of teabaggers had anything to do with the improved job numbers and unemployment rate. This has all to do with the work of the prior Democratic Controlled Congress and our Democratic President.
John B, Des Moines, IA
Republicans won the Maine state legislature and governor's office in 2010.
Since then, they have debated setting a "teen" wage, lower than the minimum wage, for working children.
They have forced teachers to take pay and benefit cuts, while reducing the amount the state puts into the pension fund and passing these "savings" on to the wealthiest in tax cuts. Thanks to the Republicans, retired teachers living on $19,000 a year will not get cost of living raises, however, folks making $350,000 a year will get $2,700 more from the gummit.
The sign saying "Open for Business!" our Republican Governor just put up on the Maine turnpike, was manufactured in Texas. His new website for encouraging business expansion is operated from Utah.
All a part of the right's efforts to make Maine more "pro-business." For the first time in my life, I have to say, I hope "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" is NOT true.
Actually, Pat, bob-<numbers> already has, above . . . oh, that's right, you said, ". . . nobody in their right mind . . .". My bad. Nevermind.
It's absolutely unfathomable to me how consistently Conservatives whine about people who make $40,000/yr being overpaid while defending the pay of those making $40,000/HOUR.
It's really a shame that there are American people that want to see our president fail when all he is trying to do is build up jobs here in the states and keep them here. I would say any amount over 250,000 jobs is a real good number. And it should continue that way.
Are we all not neighbors of each other when we are talking to the guy or girl next door? Then why are we getting on here and cutting them down the next minute because they don't share your views in politics. What we all ought to be sharing is a plan to straighten up our government and make them realize for once that they work for us the voters that give them the votes to put them in office.
We should start a grading card on each and every one of them when entering office and if they fail on their grades while in office then the are expelled from that office and replaced with someone that can keep their grades up and realize that their teachers are us and not these big corporation or the lobbyist. In all right a lobbyist is nothing more than a bully that their only purpose in life is to bully them into doing what their gang members want them to do.
If they can't make the grade then they don't have any business being passed on to the next grade level. And as for benefits and pay. Well that should be left up to us to decide that for them. We don't have jobs out here that we can do that in so they are no different than we are. And we need to be letting them know this real soon. And not later like they would want us to do. Also one other thing. Campaign funds to a person running for an office need to come to a halt. If there is any funding then it should be determined by us how and when it is to be spent and they not be allowed what so ever to except one dime for themselves. Money has a way of getting them off course and blinding them from the job at hand they are being hired by us to do.
So from now till the next election we need to come up with a plan to put this together and inform them that the rules are changing. They are not their own boss and they will be listening to the people that elect them and put them in that office to do a job for us and not these big corporations that want to toss this money all around like they do. Plus the taxes on the rich are to be started back up to the same rate that we pay and no money be put in any off shore account. And give a special team of investigators the power to track this off shore money down and collect it up after a certain time limit that we designate to get it back here in the states if they want to hang onto it. If it's not here in that time well they lose it and it all goes to the U.S. Treasury to be used on the federal debt.
McDonalds and Wendy's must be hiring.
Don't leave out Walmart. ;-)
IR--Happy Birthday to Hi Tech----as my husband says, that bark didn't fall far from the tree (and he's from Queens).
I heard the rumor that Hillary had resigned because they expected her to bake the refreshments herself--being female and all.
Found this little tidbit that should make the right winger's heads spin and explode:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/politics/01bachmann.html?_r=1&ref=politics
STILLWATER, MN, Thurs, April 1, 2011 (Dense News Service) – In a press release from the office of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, it has been reported that the congresswoman is saying that God has come to her in a dream and told her that her current political stance supporting the TEA Party is mistaken. According to the congresswoman, God has told her to return to her Democratic roots when she supported and helped elect President Jimmy Carter.
Further, according to sources in the congresswoman’s office, God has told Ms. Bachmann that her support for supply side economics and evangelicalism is misguided and she will therefore return to college and study Keynesian economics and change her church affiliation to the Universal Unitarian Church.
Congresswoman Bachmann will release a full statement and hold a press conference at 5pm EST today to provide further details.
Bwwahahaha...page not found, sunshine! Must have happened in your wet dream last night...
Vote Dem Out!! --
Do you know what day it is?
Matthew - yet another confirmation that M ichele Bachmann speaks to God. But your find is a bit unusual because ...
Usually Bachmann tells God what to do.
Hey, John. Did you notice that VDO actually tried to follow the link? LMAO!
Wowie, yet another response from TEA Drinkers that swallowed the sewer by mistake... wait a minute, it was intentional just like you believing the story... well done VDO. Pitifully, you'll come back for more.
VDO and others here responding to some of these posts actually prove a serious point: They are so motivated by unreasoned opposition to the President and the Democrats, and so poisoned by the far-right propagandists, that they will not only believe anything - but then leap to raise their strident voices in bitter opposition.
What this board constitutes today is really a public spanking and humiliating exposure of their mindless behavior.
LMAO! A fool on April Fools. perfect!
Looks like the Republicans taking back the House is working out very well! Jobs a plenty, baby! The tax rate hike that O-Bomba and the Dems wanted to pass last year backfired and the tax rate continuation is working just like the Republicans said it would.
Oh, but wait...those nasty Dems are trying to shut down gub-ment because the Republicans won't give them their way so they can raise taxes and continue to spend our money on their useless special interest projects.
Keep up the good work, Republicans and Tea Party!!
Or, wait. I guess you DO know what day it is.
Very funny.
la la land a usual vdo
Remember, people, this is the guy that tried to follow the Michele Bachmann story link above. As Pat in Huntington, NY pointed out "no one in their right mind can say Boehner and his rag tag merry men of teabaggers had anything to do with the improved job numbers and unemployment rate."
Vote Dem Out just proves some will believe anything they're told to believe, and those same folks will check out fake links because they fell for an April Fool's post.
Yea, I stopped playing that childish game when I was 10. But go ahead and knock yourselves out - conservatives are smart enough not to believe what YOU post.
...YOU still look like the FOOLS we know you to be - every day, not just April 1st.
Have fun playing your games...when you get a chance, take notice of the 6 troops that died in Afghanistan yesterday.
They're fighting and dying for your freedom.
BTW...stick to the topic, and get back to your gub-ment job...you're stealing from ME.
Boy, you libs sure made someone angry... wait a minute, she's always angry. Never mind.
Giggidy
:^/
What makes you think I'm angry? I laugh at these guys every day.
Today is just a day that brings out the fools in everyone - it brought you here, didn't it?
Giggidy
[BTW...stick to the topic, and get back to your gub-ment job...you're stealing from ME.]
They're stealing from you?!!?
You post all day long from your work computer, your productivity must be in the tank...maybe you just saved three lives today instead of four...ROTFLMFAO
Does your boss know you're ripping him off? I'm sure he'd be real pleased...
Yes, there are more minimum wage jobs being filled. But do they really help the economy? I have had to take 2 pay cuts just to keep my job. Yes, I have a job, but I cannot spend anything above the bare minimum. I am sure that is not helping the local economy.
Its not only minimum wage jobs guy. Do we have to turn positives into negatives all the time? Hopefully, your situation will improve soon too.
Actually many of the jobs added were in above average paying jobs causing the average pay to appear to increase while the average number of hours worked remained flat at 34.
"The job recovery is gaining steam"
No thanks to ANYTHING the Republicans have done. All they have done is try to re-do every battle they have already lost, even when knowing it will still not be overturned by the Senate (in other words wasted time and money).
Anna,
VDO gets paid by the post...all you hear when he posts is Cha Ching!
His self esteem leaves a lot to be desired as well...as you can see, he likes to vote for his own posts. The signs of a desperate individual.
He also likes to post form his employers computer, which is stealing. The loss of productivity must be enormous...
...but he'll tell you it's all OK...after all, he is "saving lives"...
Alternate Headline: More people ineligible for unemployment.
Where are all the o'blemmings going to do when this is adjusted way dowin in April?
I'll tell ya'. They'll be haveing a stort term memory loss.
“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
if you don't like the news on first read, please go back to dum Fux News where you feel more comfortable.
My goodness...how erudite (look it up) and defensive. "Methinks thou dost protest too much."
You fit right into my favorite Buckley quote: A liberal doesn't mind if you have an opinion as long as it is the same as theirs.
BTY: who the he!! are you to judge. And what is "dum?"
Typical lib response...attack...attack...attack.
Bravo.
Worst part about it, Reality Check, sometimes I get the impression that (unemployment going up) is exactly what some of you guys want.
No need to wonder JBelmont, now there's proof. Take a look at this official Republican plan to "fix the economy" by creating a lot of new unemployed to drive down wages for EVERYONE. http://www.speaker.gov/UploadedFiles/JEC_Jobs_Study.pdf
Hey Reality Check. Just curious, did you have to look up the word "erudite"?
Of course RC had to look up the word.
And RC, honey, it's down not dowin. And exactly what is "stort term memory loss"?
And FYI, the correct quote is "Methinks thou doth protest too much". And if you want to be completely correct it's "The lady doth protest too much, methinks". Anyway, what the heck is dost?
Dust is what collects on your brain if you are TeaPublican and you forgot to put it back in your head after leaving it on the shelf in 1980.
The two years of a steady rise in the stock market and one year of job growth since Obama took office are finally being reflected in strong job numbers. So of course, the Republicans will attribute it all to Paul Krugman's "Confidence Fairy," who the Republicans will say has suddenly blessed us with these good numbers as if by magic merely because the Republicans in Congress are busy trying to defund Planned Parenthood and the Food and Drug Administration. Unfortunately, this right wing Tinkerbell is still dead, and it won't come back to life no matter how hard they clap their hands.
If anyone had a chance to listen to the Hannity show yesterday it was hilarious. This Liberal woman for Cali called all ramped up to just go at Sean. He side tracker her and it was off to the races.....she want love and peace for every one, well except right wing teabag types. Sean tagged her off by asking her if she believed in torture...she said no I believe in love! He then proceeded to put her in a hypothetical situation where her daughters had been kidnapped and she had to do something or they would die. She did a 180 and said she would hit them with a baseball bat of shoot them dead. It was absolutely priceless!
Darn...missed it!
Wow...
Channeling an entertainer that entertains the audience with kidnapping, torture and children all in the same post from yesterday with the excitement of a ten year old. That doom and gloom message sounds like an enjoying experience for you. Really?
Coming from an old soul channeling your inner child... hey I give it Hannity to make you feel so good.
Giggidy
:^p
Anyone not believe that President Obama, Nancy Pelosi or any politician republican or democrat would not resort to torture to save a family member.
Louisj C'mon anyone who says they don't believe in torture is a liar. Under normal circumstances yes but given the same circumstances wouldn't you do the same. All Hannity did was prove that she torture under the right situation.
What would you do if you had a terrorist with information of a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon attack on U.S. soil and it would happen in 24 hours. Would you torture to save hundreds of thousands or try the law enforcement way. And if you didn't resort to torture and the weapon went off, how could you spin that to the American people. That is a game changer. Not saying it will happen but you do have to be prepared for all eventualities.
You know that is a paid caller. He never allows real liberals to go on the air.
The 216,000 is about half the month's unemployment number of 396,0009 a moving 4 week average which is up this week from the past week. you notice they don't mention this in the article.
Bill,
Even in good times of low unemployment the weekly number is over 300,000. Last year it was regularly over 400,000.
What a lovely straw man, richard. I suppose you have plenty of REAL WORLD examples of people who are known to be terrorists, known to have information about an impending WMD or nuclear attack, we know when it's going to happen, and only the suspect can give us the information needed to solve the case in time?
John B Hypothetical I asked What would you do? I did not say it happened. Is torture acceptable in that instance. Well John what would you do?
The movie was called unthinkable with SL Jackson.
Your question isn't worthy of an answer because it's so totally fallacious. It's an appeal to fear wrapped in a meaningless question. You might as well ask what I'll do if the Moon crashes into the Earth.
Hiring instead of firing means we're gaining steam.