“‘We plan to unveil a formal health care plan in the coming weeks,’ Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart wrote in an email.”

It will be our luck Marcus will write it...

He can after all, pray away the gay!

Why couldn't he cure cancer?

The (Bach)Mann healthcare plan:

"Whatever is in the Affodable Care Act, add the word "NOT" to the end of it."

Then you pray away the pain and it costs the government nothing.

This plan will also cut entitlements because no one will live to be 67.

Kill all birds with one stone. Happy Birthday Elvis (whoops, I didn't mean that, It's because I give too many speeches and get lost in thought).

Morning Feisty -

I live in San Diego and know La Jolla very well. Had my Company there. Know Romney's house in La Jolla, it's huge, but I guess not big enough for his ego. Have a great day.

As we approach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks masterminded by KSM, and are nearly three years into the Barry admin, we find that there is no movement on bringing him and his terrorist pals to justice. At what point will his lawyers and the ACLU be claiming he and his terrorist pals have been denied their right to a speedy trial and should be released? THAT would make for an interesting election year conundrum for the Barry 2012 campaign!!!

Here’s the most recent thing I could find from Google:

Obama administration learns lesson on terrorism trials

April 06, 2011|By William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn, Special to CNN

Making for an odd news day Monday, President Barack Obama announced his re-election bid while his attorney general announced the administration's decision that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow 9/11 conspirators would now be tried before military commissions in Guantanamo -- just as they were going to be tried before his administration took over.

Where is Khaddafy? Looks like the rebels have taken back their country but they have not found Khaddafy yet. He is still yelling from some roof top somewhere that he will fight to the end. Until he is found and brought to justice this is not over and the rebuilding of Libya will be on hold.

Perry is now running away from his own book claiming it was a Historical work and NOT a “factual statement” and not his roadmap for a run on the White House. What a liar and Hypocrite. He has found himself in the same spot Ryan did with his Bill – the American People hate it and now that new emphasis that has been placed on the book I think more people want to read it and will see that it claims everything from Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security to Medical Research and Civil Rights is unconstitutional in his opinion and he will do away with them all. But he does not stop there; he also wants to repeal the 16^th Amendment. I thought the Republicans were supporters of the US Constitution NOT “Anti Constitutionalist” See below article for details.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/08/23/301938/rick-perry-vs-seniors/

“Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is taking a lot of well-deserved criticism for his absurd claims that Medicare and Social Security violate the Constitution. But these are hardly the only part of Perry’s constitutional agenda, which seem designed to inflict unnecessary cruelty on America’s seniors. Perry also wants to repeal the federal government’s 16th Amendment authority to enact income taxes and replace it with a tax system that would slash millions of Americans life savings”:

“Perry declares that the 16th Amendment represents “the great milestone on the road to serfdom” because it represented “the birth of wealth redistribution in the United States.”

“There are countless problems with Perry’s national sales tax proposal (“Fair Tax” is just a more Orwellian term for the national sales tax), but one of the biggest problems is its impact on seniors or anyone else with significant life savings. Perry’s plan would require millions of Americans to be taxed twice on much of the money they have saved for retirement”.

“Imagine that you earn $10,000, and are required to pay 25 percent income tax on those earnings. That means that you are left with $7,500 that you are free to spend or save however you choose. If Perry gets his way, however, Congress will suddenly enact a massive new sales tax after you have already paid income taxes on your earnings. The result is that every single one of your $7,500 will be taxed again when you make a purchase — causing nearly one in three dollars in your savings to be eaten up by sales taxes. Thanks to Rick Perry, you are left with only about $5,000 of your original $10,000 in income”.

I find it repugnant that the TP/GOP Party keeps harping on no NEW tax increases when they really mean more tax cuts for the top 2% and Tax increases for everybody else.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/22/300832/republicans-to-oppose-tax-cut-for-working-people/

“Tax cuts have become the panacea of conservative economic thinking, but curiously, the AP reports Republicans are now lining up to raise taxes on nearly half of all Americans. In his radio address this weekend, President Obama called for an extension to the payroll tax holiday he signed into law last year, which benefits every working American, lowering the 6.2 percent tax that funds Social Security to 4.2 percent. The tax cut will expire in January, and many of the same Republican lawmakers who fought tooth and nail to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are now coming out against an extension of the payroll tax holiday”.

More from the Web Pages yesterday about Perry’s “Pay to Play” culture in Texas. If he does this in Texas what is to stop him from doing this in the White House – Hello Halliburton?? And you want to know why so many jobs in Texas are minimum wage, education proficiency is 47^th out of 50 States and more people have no Health Insurance in Texas than any other State. And he wants to bring that management style to the White House?? With all the crap and lies that the TP/GOP has been touting as truth and the American way Ms. Waters said it best.

"I'm not afraid of anybody, This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to hell."

“A comprehensive New York Times investigation of Rick Perry’s (R-TX) tenure as governor has revealed that for over a decade, he shamelessly used government jobs, contracts, grants, and tax breaks as rewards for his top campaign contributors. Perry, who has “raised more money than any politician in Texas history,” used his position as a “potent fundraising tool” to give government money and jobs to hundreds of donors and their businesses. Perry received at least $17 million from more than 900 appointees or their spouses, roughly one dollar out of every five he raised as governor. Lax campaign finance laws allowed the new GOP presidential contender to get away with entrenching this “pay to play” culture in Texas. The Times finds that “because he has been in office more than a decade, he has had greater opportunity than any of his predecessors to stock the government with loyalists — he has appointed roughly 4,000 people to state posts — while enacting policies that have benefited allies and contributors.”

The true American Way – PAY OFFS to those that paid for your election and the hell with everybody else – I think NOT. People, Rick Perry is a fraud and liar – period. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/10/241830/top-10-thing-texas-gov-rick-perry/

The Nation has a great article titled: Rewrite, Sugarcoat, Ignore: 8 Ways Conservatives Misremember American History—for Partisan Gain Zachary Newkirk - August 22, 2011

http://www.thenation.com/article/162875/rewrite-sugarcoat-ignore-8-ways-conservatives-misremember-american-history

It is not a long article and exposes several of the most common revisions to American History by the Tea Baggers for their own political gain.

President Obama 2012

The first four posts -- then skip to the sixth -- have no value whatsoever especially when one quotes a lying rag like stink progress. It's a pity but it still is amusing. Makes me laugh. Any progressive willing to describe what a jobs bill is and what you expect to see in obama's much-awaited bill???? Any one have the guts to go on record in detail???

No original thoughts.

Sorry for the double post.

I live in San Diego and know La Jolla very well

You're a lucky man - beautiful area you inhabit! ;o)

I try to get out to your neck of the woods at least once a year...

PS: LOVE George's on the Cove! Best hanger steak I've EVER had!

Another excellent job of cut and paste Navy. Superb!

President Obama 2012

And someone else in 2013.

I'd say the 7th post by Ben numbers has no value; as for the 5th, ancient history and it ignores WHY that happened; the right never includes all the facts.

California Tom, I lived in San Diego for 21+ years. Every winter I ask myself why I left. La Jolla was a favorite place to visit, shop and dine but the homes were out of my price range.

It's obvious JAS1 that they are just parrots.

@Jody --C'mon Jody. What's going to be in the obama jobs bill in detail??? What would you need to see in it and not in it? Afraid to put it in print???

He is still yelling from some roof top somewhere that he will fight to the end.

Somewhere in Uganda.

you left off the words "out in". They go between Obama and 2012.

Feisty,

Anywhere is more beautiful than Il and safer too!

Navy, absolutely great posts! Because you framed the argument so well, Idecided to reprint here a long article originally written to rebut the Ryan budget plan - and also lay bare the pernicious objectives of the Tea Party. It's long, but covers the bases:

PAUL RYAN'S "BUDGET" USES THE POPULIST VENEER OF "DEBT AND DEFICIT REDUCTION" TO COVER OVER A MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT POLICY OBJECTIVE: CREATE A JAPAN-STYLED CARTEL POLITICAL ECONOMY

Ryan’s budget is the mechanism for obdurate anti-government factions to eliminate a major portion of American public institutions long despised by the ultra-right, targeted by the old John Birch Society - now reincarnated as the Tea Party - and set in place an entirely new foundation of philosophy of government.

The Tea Party objective is to entirely revise the existing American “social contract” with one based on Jacksonian democracy, giving virtual “laissez faire” scope of individual or collective business behavior unhindered by law or regulation, guided by self-interest alone – and its accompanying caution, “caveat emptor,” or, let the buyer beware, and vesting power in the hands of those who have the will or resources to take and use it.

This new “social contract” has little need or use for government at any level, and absolutely no justification for social programs of any kind provided by public finance or activity.

This battle does not go back to the 2010, 2008, or 2006 elections. It has been ongoing since 1933 - and perhaps, a bit before. Some would say it began with Pope Leo XIII and his 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which demanded workers be paid “a living wage,” given benefits, and described other rights of workers as well as obligations of employers.

The American “Social Contract” Since 1933

Each major evolution of national government since the nation’s founding has operated on a basic assumption about the powers of government, rights of the people, and an overall concept of why the nation exists as well as what the nation wishes to accomplish – this is what “social contract” means.

The “social contract” still largely in place now, but under attack, developed as the country battled through the Great Depression, World War II and into the Reagan Administration – when the first significant changes in at least policy actions undermined the way the “social contract” was addressed. Many features of this general understanding of national purpose and interest had been coming into being during the reformist periods under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. A few contributions took place during the 1920’s, but the trends only coalesced into a coherent basis for government and public expectations during the Roosevelt Administration.

It did not, initially, include large public debt, deficit spending, or many of the issues today under debate. It was more of a social policy driven by desperate need across the country, the visible failure of traditional leadership cadres in business and public office, internal attacks on the basic system of government by fascist and socialist promoters such as Huey Long and Dr. Francis Townsend, and the earlier scattered programs driven mainly by the Progressive Republicans in congress.

Herbert Hoover, after the Crash of '29, actually wanted to run up a very large deficit in his proposals to address the Great Depression, but was blocked by Republicans in Congress. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was indeed a far more conservative President at the outset who distrusted deficit spending. (For details, see Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: 1932-1940 by William Edward Leuchtenburg , Feb 24, 2009.)

Re-shaped Government Emerges Under Roosevelt
and Successive Administrations

Over his pre-war terms in office, President Roosevelt essentially re-created the Federal establishment and put in place many of the departments as institutions of a new American system of government. That system of government’s philosophy embraced the entire population, and included:

• aid for the helpless,

• food for the starving,

• reward to the elderly for their years of work building the nation and its economy,

• encouragement to the jobless,

• protection for investors small and large from the schemes and frauds of the wily,

• recognition of the arts as a vital and uplifting aspect of national culture,

• assurance that farmers might survive drought, flood, other natural disasters, and despite world fluctuations in demand during a Depression, a minimum fair price for their products,

• fairness for workers engaged in negotiations with employers,

• defense against workplace exploitation of children and a minimum wage across the land,

• support for small business growth and stability,

• work, when none else was to be had, building and maintaining infrastructure of cities, counties, states, and the nation,

• reform of the nation’s currency and financing structure, including an end to a “hard money” gold standard.

As historians relate, from the very beginning, the New Deal achievements were under vicious attack from the Republican right, as well as a Populist segment of the Democratic Party. Some attacks ultimately were successful in the immediate post-war years, but not many.

The most virulent opposition was to Social Security, claimed to be the leading edge of “socialism” and an unearned, undeserved prop for reckless, improvident people. That was (and remains) a claim that ignored the actual character of Social Security, which was not socialism but a public monopoly, a national pension insurance pool funded entirely by workers’ and employers’ contributions and kept completely separate from the national Treasury.

Over succeeding Administrations, other Presidents (from Truman through Eisenhower and Nixon) expanded the services and operations of the new public institutions, and added a few more – the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Cabinet-level U.S. Department of Education. New related programs included Head Start for lower-income children of pre-kindergarten age, and Medicare, established after a hard-fought political battle that ended in 1965. Later, health care for the poor was offered in the Medicaid program, and the extremely effective State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Ultimately, the civil rights campaigns, followed by efforts to expand full protections of the law to women, the disabled, and immigrants or refugees, also followed. Special attention to compensate for historical, economic, and social disadvantages suffered by a large majority of African-Americans led to preferential treatment for employment, public assistance, contracting with public agencies, college tuition subsidies and admissions, and other activities. Some of these same preferences later were extended to women and disabled persons.

Each and every addition was relentlessly attacked as expansion of government power, intrusion into private business, handouts for undeserving parasites, and in certain cases, political payoffs to gain votes of groups such as unions, the urban poor, individual minority groups, and even “liberal” Hollywood celebrities. The special preferences intended to “equalize” opportunities inherently conflicted with concepts of dispassionate equality and aroused deep resentment among a fraction of the country.

Operating Assumptions of the Post-1933 “Social Contract”

All of these institutions and programs proceeded from the broad philosophy of government that emerged during the Roosevelt Administration.

Overall, the “social contract” embraced the nation as a whole, under a Federalist principle rather than decentralized dispersion of all authority through the states, gave equal importance to all social classes of people, all racial and ethnic groups, and ultimately all persons regardless of gender, age, ability, origin, education, employment or many other distinguishing features.

The overall import of this was that government existed to serve, protect, and enable as broadly as possible the diverse needs and interests of the entire population and the private institutions of that population.

From that philosophy, several working principles had arisen:

• “the economy” did not exist apart from the nation and national interests, but rather was an integrated element of private and public life and thus an appropriate area for government interaction, including support for growth as well as regulation of practices,

• all participants in “the economy” had a stake in it and deserved to partake of its fruits - not merely bankers, investors, entrepreneurs, and stockholders, but also workers at every level, retirees and pensioners, small landholders or bank account depositors, insurance policy purchasers, and their many different dependents,

• everyone in America had a fundamental right to live safely in the society, free from hunger, sheltered, able to access medical care, offered opportunity for education and self-advancement, secure in safe and responsible workplaces, not in the sense of a socialist state, but rather with compassion and minimum support for the helpless and needy, as well as unobstructed pathways for the diligent, ambitious, thrifty, provident, gifted, and fortunate,

• diversity in all its aspects benefits the nation, but more importantly requires special public attention, because established attitudes about race, ethnic origins, native language and other features fly in the very face of “equality,” prevent access to the multiple opportunities and benefits of the greater society, limit the contributions of women, the disabled, and native-born minorities as well as of refugees and immigrants in the country and the community, and potentially create a burden on the greater society if people are targets of discrimination that represses their economic advancement,

• national stewardship vested in all levels of government included not merely protection of natural resources – air, land, water, plants and animals – but restoration as needed and possible of despoiled resources, and restraint on public and private interests where their actions continued or threatened future degradation,

• national investment ultimately repays itself in long-term, cost-effective results, whether by public or private entities, in education, workplace safety and in environmental systems, health and welfare of the disabled, disadvantaged and older people as well as mothers and children, promotion of arts and culture, natural resources restoration and protection, necessary public infrastructure and its maintenance, general public health, advanced science and technology, effective and adequate public safety organs (police, fire, courts and legal services), and as necessary in the public employment of workers, technicians, specialists, and highly-trained professionals to carry out the functions required to implement the investments.

Reality vs Principle: Successes and Failures of Public Institutions

Despite the breadth of the post-1933 “social contract” and the resulting operating assumptions that arose over time to guide public institutions, the reality of actually carrying out actions was far more difficult. Not only ideological opposition to the philosophy at times was fierce, but shifting political alliances at times turned proponents and opponents at one point into opposite positions at another. And, of course, for a long period racism and ethnic discrimination was a bold feature of opposition.

Consider the issue of public education. A great many Americans now believe that public education is a costly failure that did not live up to the assumption that everyone would have access to quality education, or that investment in public education pays dividends in the long run. To test this presumption of failure, the review needs to begin nearly a half-century ago and see what actually took place – and whether educators “failed” or not.

In the mid-1960’s, by and large American public education was successfully fulfilling the terms of the “social contract” and its operating assumptions. With the aid of Federal government initiatives, students were achieving greater heights in physical education, science, mathematics and language arts, graduating high school at higher rates, and attending either college or vocational education programs after completing high school.

The Civil Rights movement’s steady success in eliminating segregated schools and compensating for long-segregated neighborhoods spread access to quality education. Equal opportunity requirements in the workplace as well as affirmative action requirements for public employment, private contractors seeking public business, and admissions standards at most colleges and universities expanded access for African Americans and women.

“White flight” – to church schools

None of this was accomplished without protracted conflict and smoldering resentment. Across the nation, one of the first refuges for offended or resentful people – some motivated by racism or social stereotypes, others by the idea that a special group was promoted ahead of others in apparent violation of a principle of dispassionate equality – was the private church school.

Catholics for many years had agitated for either tax subsidies, tax exemptions or deductions for tuition costs, or other means of compensating for the burden parents took on when choosing to enroll their children in the private religious schools. This same goal soon arose among congregations of other denominations whose members had elected to leave the public education system.

Concurrently, a movement to eliminate public school use of religious rites and forms was steadily succeeding, from displays of crosses or the Biblical Ten Commandments to daily prayers and, ultimately, school-sponsored pre-graduation gatherings at local churches for a religious service. For devoutly religious families, secularizing public schools was more than an affront – it was perceived as an “attack” on their religious beliefs.

Schools as answers to social issues

Nor were various social justice measures and secularization of public education the only challenges confronting schools. As understanding of how poverty and hunger affect children, and of how many children attended school hungry each day, initiatives tried to mitigate those effects. Free school breakfasts and lunches became available for great numbers of students – but not for every student. Special tutoring and counseling programs became available for “disadvantaged” students – but not always for every student.

By the 1980’s, educators understood that a wealth of social ills affecting student performance, mental health, physical well-being, graduations rates, and potential criminal behavior all came to class every day, with each individual child. Special classroom requirements were created to attend to some of these factors, while administrators and other school officials were charged with attempting to ease some problems or intervene in specific ways.

The character of teaching changed with these requirements, while bureaucratic duties imposed by legislators hostile to public education diminished the actual classroom time and preparation time available to teachers.

And, of course, society was changing as well. The spread of drug use, criminal gangs, persistent poverty, continuous waves of immigrants needing to make difficult cultural and language adaptations, major changes in the nation’s economic structure, developments in technology, and more meant the schoolyard was increasingly dangerous and divided. After all, society is reflected in classroom populations.

“We won’t pay” for social programs in schools

In the midst of such challenges, rising resentment toward public schools, staff and students from disgruntled religious or politically-conservative families showed up at the school board elections and meetings, in state legislatures, and in Congress. Many school budgets were cut – or public funds for education were diverted to private schools through “voucher” programs justified because reputedly the public schools were not meeting expectations.

Teachers were pilloried, regardless of their skills or failures. Administrators were targeted as wastrels in a perceived “bloated” public education system – even though, as in Los Angeles, the inner-city schools often had leaky roofs, desks and chairs breaking apart when students sat, too few textbooks per class, and often even those in poor condition, and so few standard school supplies that private donors were asked to help.

In such an atmosphere of distrust and confrontation, opponents of public education decided that it was “failing,” although one certain means to make public education “fail” is to starve it of the funds and support essential to success.

Public education not even a job of government

Ideological enemies of public education now deny that government should even have such a role – and in the sheep’s skin of “helping turn our schools around,” the wolves would eliminate this element of the existing “social contract” through cynical restrictions of funding and unrealistic, unworkable, self-defeating requirements that distort the education process. At present in Florida, the new ultra-conservative Governor Rick Scott essentially proposes “privatizing” public education.

But there have certainly been great success under the post-1933 “social contract,” too. Both Social Security and Medicare stand out, as do Head Start, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Women, Infants and Children food subsidy program, and a myriad more. These exemplify not only fulfillment of some basic principles but also the premise that investment does, in the long run, pays off.

Breakdown: Repudiation of the Post-1933 “Social Contract”

Beginning with election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980, three successive Republican Administrations persistently eliminated important mechanisms in government that had implemented the implicit post-1933 “social contract” and several of its operating principles. Some of these measures had catastrophic consequences, both functionally and in terms of American confidence in its government and social system.

Central among these were measures that ultimately excluded most Americans from a full participation in “the economy,” denied or diminished their participation in the fruits of economic activity, protected stakeholders from predatory abuse, and attacked the basic premise of equality regardless of class, race, ethnic origins, or social status.

Primary among the measures were “de-regulation” of key sectors of the national economy – banking, insurance, capital investment, transportation, energy production and delivery, and telecommunications.

In each instance, on the premise of a so-called “free market” governed purely by economic forces that were presumed more efficient than any industry affected by government intervention, “de-regulation” led to massive scandals, failures, frauds, criminal activities, and ultimately to concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a few who are motivated by pure self-interest.

Consequences: Failure of Republican Administrations to observe the “social contract”

Participation in “the economy” by millions of employees and one-time stakeholders of all sorts in those industries, as well as other sectors of economic activity, either diminished or vanished. Average incomes and standards of living dropped. Frustration, fear, anger and resentment festered, accentuating social divisions and leaving the society unsure of most people’s place in it – and doubly furious if any persons, especially those served by the so-called social “safety net,” seemed to be benefiting at the expense of others.

When the unwise policies of the George W. Bush Administration ultimately led to a worldwide economic collapse in 2008, the calamity put even more pressure on the terms of the post-1933 “social contract.” Remarkably, then President-elect Barack Obama accepted the practical reins of power ahead of his inauguration and proceeded to restore government commitment to the implied compact as well as its operating principles.

And in keeping faith with the American’s public’s concept of the relationships between people and government, President Obama has managed to lead the nation out of a looming abyss. But the damage wrought by the economic collapse shook most Americans profoundly, while the embittered and fearful citizens who had incessantly opposed all developments since 1933, along with some still resentful of the advances of African-Americans and others, raised their voices in a shrill and uncompromising chorus of opposition.

Ye know not what ye do: The Tea Party victories of 2010

Although a victorious President, supported by a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, restored the commitments of the “social contract” in the midst of desperate economic conditions, the most committed ideological opponents of that “social contract” bellowed a rallying cry of “we want our country back!” Spurred in part by a small segment of racists deeply offended by a half-Black President, carrying the decades of resentment toward social changes regardless of race or ethnicity, and disappointed in the ultimate failure of Republican policies of 30 years’ effort, the opposition to the post-1933 “social contract” crafted an ad-hoc coalition cleverly named the “Tea Party.”

Sporting a crust of patriotism and alleged devotion to national Constitutional fundamentals – most of which were misunderstood or even completely mistaken – the Tea Party followers succumbed to a populist, oversimplified definition of national issues. Most participants did not know that the central core of their loose organization was dedicated to overthrow of the implicit “social contract” and its accompanying operating principles – but they did “know” that economic dislocation, community disruptions caused by fiscal distress, and simple terror at forces too great to be understood were clearly the fault of a massive government that lay as helpless, apparently, as the individual before the force of events.

Thus the election results of 2010, when frustrated voters sought new representatives to tackle the dogged economic issues, elected a wave of new officeholders intended to bring a more temperate and conciliatory approach to the long-divided partisan coteries in Washington, D.C., and fresh ideas about how to promote more rapid growth of employment. The Tea Party’s extreme ideological posture in opposition to the existing “social contract” only drew 22 per cent of voter endorsement in 2010, while 56 per cent of voters said the Tea Party was irrelevant.

However, Paul Ryan and his Tea Party colleagues in a new House Republican majority interpreted the results to their own interest. And they dug in their heels – no compromise on their principles, no change in their government targets – win the war in the trenches, essentially, or die “fighting the good fight.”

Nothing less than a revolutionary change in the American “social contract,” accompanied by radical changes in government and governance, would be acceptable.

So now the battle for the basic idea of the “American way” is in progress.

The Paul Ryan budget proposal describes a new relationship between the governed and the government. It is one in which pure self-reliance and self-interest are exalted, while communal obligations to neighbors and fellow-citizens are eliminated. It is one in which the state and national organs of government devoted to balancing individual interests in contrast with those of wealth and private power are eliminated. It is one in which the concept of a public stewardship is refuted.

It is one in which the role of the state to provide minimal basic protection and support for the needy, the helpless, and the infirm is eliminated, while the public obligation to referee the behavior of business is minimized. It is one in which the role of culture is stricken from a public engagement, where public health and safety are diminished, and in which the government’s provision of many basic services from safe roads and bridges to public education are challenged.

The Paul Ryan 2011-2012 budget proposal is nothing less than a revolutionary change in the basic philosophy of American government. It is not driven by supposed economic necessity or the stresses of fiscal difficulties, but rather by a raw desire to at last fulfill the long-festering resentments of ultra-right ideologues. It is not a proposal that most Americans would support when seen as a whole piece of public policy and fundamental revision of accepted national ideals.

as for the 5th, ancient history

_______________________________________

About what I would have expected from a FR lefty liberal when the subject is Barry's failure: dismiss it as irrelevant and sweep it under the rug.

@Jody --C'mon Jody. What's going to be in the obama jobs bill in detail??? What would you need to see in it and not in it? Afraid to put it in print??

The "cool kids" (ex-LibsRus's) don't answer questions Ben. It's a little strategy they employ so they don't embarrass themselves in public. Usually the only response you get out of them is when they say "Great post!" to their little friends. It's needed for them, they have very fragile egos.

@Ben,

What will be in Romney's jobs plan? If he criticizes Obama for waiting til September 6th, why does he get a free pass to wait til September 6th? Do you not see the hypocrisy??? How about YOU answer some questions big guy.

How about YOU answer some questions big guy.

Good Morning Bryan!

I think that anyone who reads FR regularly - knows who ASKS all the questions & REFUSES to answer any...

Hint: It's NOT the liberals... ;o)

@Bryan -- Actually, I expect to see lower corporate taxes; legislation to reduce regulations and oversight; repeal of the job killing obamacare; repeal of dodd-frank; stepped up approval for all oil and natural gas drilling and new refinery construction.

US Navy Disabled Veteran - Retired

"Where is Khaddafy?...."

He followed us home, you big silly. And it was all because Obama didn't get us stuck over there in a war-without-end on a non-existent budget for it!

Ben-636050

@Bryan -- Actually, I expect to see lower corporate taxes; legislation to reduce regulations and oversight; repeal of the job killing obamacare; repeal of dodd-frank; stepped up approval for all oil and natural gas drilling and new refinery construction.

Yes, we must lower corporate taxes and raise taxes on the poor, and get rid of regulations on air quality, workplace safety, food inspection, etc. American workers will not be competitive with workers in Bangladesh until they're living and working conditions are the same.

Ben do you ever read anything you post? Most of the time you make no sense at all. The rest of the time it's just garbage. A school yard comment "well I ask first" grow up.

Oh I see, when you posted LMAO you finally read one of your posts. Good job.

as for the 5th, ancient history and it ignores WHY that happened; the right never includes all the facts.

_________________________________

Gee, Jody, would you be referring to the fact that the loud objections to trying KSM in NYC came from the Dem NYC House members and NY's two Dem Senators, or is it the fact that Holder blamed it on a provision in a bill passed in December 2010 when the Dems still controlled Congress??

I'm looking forward to your response.

April 04, 2011

In Moving KSM Trial, DOJ Blames Congress

Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said today he has little choice but to abandon the civilian criminal case against alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others, after a congressional ban on the use of federal funds to transfer them from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Holder said at a televised news conference — and DOJ officials made official in court filings — that he reluctantly has decided to transfer the case to the U.S. Department of Defense, allowing for military commission trials to proceed at the Guantánamo prison. That is a reversal from a position Holder announced in November 2009, when he planned to prosecute the five men in federal court in Manhattan.

The reasons for the reversal are practical, Holder said. He cited the provision in a defense-related spending bill that became law in December, over his objections, and he said justice requires that the case move forward in some venue.

Well Ben -- First, I would like to see a bold plan for Tax Reform. 3 tiers based on the average effective rate most pay anyhow. Clean with no credits, write-offs, etc. Next, do the same for business. Raise the capital gains tax by a small percentage say 5%. After that negotiate with the Corporations that have money overseas so they can bring it home and invest it here. I would like to enact clean initiatives targeted to help the unemployed/employers, not in the form of tax credits, with a two year end date. Continued effort at streamlining the whole regulation quagmire. Have no problem with an infrastructure initiative. Have a real problem with any more initiatives aimed at housing....let it level off. (Especially funny article this morning by an investor wanting a 10 year tax credit for rental investments....almost choked on that one!) Would like a task force for weeding out waste and fraud in defense contracts, medicaid and medicare. That's a start.

@Houston -- I was given a challenge and an accusation but there is crickets from both. I never said raise taxes on the poor. Besides Obama already did that. How you ask??? Well, the unemployed paid more in income taxes this year than last because this administration did not extend the exemption of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits from taxes that the unemployed had in 2009. Explain that one.

American has to become competitive if it expects to sell goods and services. It's the bottom line.

@Mo -- You are the one that needs to improve his/her reading comprehension skills. See next:

@don't carry it all -- Now that is a good start. That is the type of thinking that starts good debates. One doesn't have to agree with everything but to attack like Mo or be the ones that "agree from behind" add no value to any conversation -- but they are amusing.

Im going to try that and see if it gives me that Librium mellow liberal feeling. Here I go...... Great post Ben Kudos JAS1 ........fantastic C&P Kudos.... Absolutely great post! Nope doesnt work........ Think just giving my opinion works better. Please remember "YOU ARE the M I N O R I T Y!

Number 1 Reason President Obama’s Jobs Outline Will Fail!

Jeffrey Immelt

The Presidents man in charge of job creation and competitiveness has taken his medical x-ray division and sent it to China where he made $1.1 billion last year. Wisconsin must really love this guy since G.E.’s headquarters is in Milwaukee. G.E is also partnering with China to build airplanes. This will give China the opportunity to obtain advanced avionics technology since proprietary rights must be given up to the
Chinese, yet Boeing cannot open a new plant in South Carolina. I was under the impression that he was supposed to be working on creating jobs in the United States not China.

Now the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Democrat Frederica Wilson and Maxine Waters are insinuating that the Tea Party is the new KKK. Can these people be anymore stupid, and you liberals call Palin, Bachman and Perry stupid. And before you go off the deep end there are plenty of Black Americans in the Tea Party as
well as hispanics and asians so they couldn’t be the KKK now could they.

Does VP Biden agree with the chinese on their one child policy? If so wonder which of the Presidents kids has to go, maybe we should ask Joe. No, really it was just Joe being Joe. This is one person who should read from a script, sooner or later and the President must realize this, he will say something that will damage the President’s chances for reelection.

I have been watching the ed show and this guy makes Beck seem mild, Bachman seem normal and listening to him I was thinking wow this guy reminds me of someone. Just couldn’t figure out who until I realized that he is the male version of Feisty. Lol. Have a nice day.

How badly does President Obama want a second term, bad enough to listen and make a slate of changes to regulations, even the republicans and business say that plan contains some smart ideas.

For all you liberals you do know that President Obama and Glen Beck are in agreement on something that the President spoke about.

It seems in an interview that the President said on the economy the first year we would see some improvement, the 2nd year there would still be pain and if there isn't significant improvement by the end of the 3rd year, I will be a 1 term President, Beck agrees.

Ben-636050

I was given a challenge and an accusation but there is crickets from both. I never said raise taxes on the poor. Besides Obama already did that.

Glad to hear you're not following the Republican party line, which is, in fact, to raise the payroll taxes on the working poor and middle class to help pay for those corporate tax cuts.

Well, the unemployed paid more in income taxes this year than last because this administration did not extend the exemption of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits from taxes that the unemployed had in 2009. Explain that one.

You apparently are unaware that the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November of last year. The president has been forced to agree to many of their nasty anti-worker positions. If the Republicans decide to raise taxes on the poor and middle class as they say they will, Obama will have to do that, too. This was part of the compromise reached with the Republicans in December 2010 before they took control, along with extending the tax cuts for the wealthy.

American has to become competitive if it expects to sell goods and services. It's the bottom line.

If American workers have to live and work in miserable conditions like people in the Third World in order for the wealthy to "compete" with the wealthy dictators that rule those countries, then they might say "to hell with competition."

Excellent response Don't carry it all. Certainly creating a business environment that makes corporations want to invest in the US is necessary before they make that investment. Housing? I agree with you, no more initiatives from the government and let the market settle out. We have to "eat our peas" on housing and let the market dictate the lower pricing. Incentives just delay that process.

BTW: I think that Obama should have refused to compromise and let all the Bush tax cuts expire, then introduce a separate bill that would restore the tax cuts for the middle class and poor only and then dared the Republicans vote against it. But now that the GOP is going to impose a payroll tax increase on the poor and middle class, they probably would have been quite happy to have voted for a middle class tax hike in 2010 after the election was over as they are now. Unlike a modest marginal tax increase on the wealthy, a middle class tax increase could have thrown the economy back into a recession, which the Republicans would then blame on Obama.

Houston!: BTW: I think that Obama should have refused to compromise and let all the Bush tax cuts expire, then introduce a separate bill that would restore the tax cuts for the middle class and poor only and then dared the Republicans vote against it.

Minority leader Boehner offered the same exact deal last September.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20016520-503544.html

JoAnna -- The average American took the hit in housing. Banks are at their max in write-offs currently and have decided to hold on to that gravy train by slowing dumping their garbage a little each month. Next year you will see the pace explode again until or unless they reach the max again....this cycle will continue until they have entirely socialized their loss. Too bad we, the average joe, did not get that break!

Yes, in a global market, being competitive in taxes would be wise. I am of the mindset give no one an excuse. Create an environment in which all can thrive, leave no one behind.

anyone else notice how joe albany just 'revised' history?

KSM is now the 'mastermind' of 9/11? seems to me OBL is the one who got all the press and recognition for the deed, eh?

Yeah, these repubs don't know much about nothing at all,...

Ignorance is bliss and they are living in utopia.

PS. With all this talk of "up and down" i'm waiting for the new jersey poll dancer to school us on the numbers. just as soon as she puts down her hate or aid.

Houston -- My thoughts on that would be to leave the $0 tax policy in place for working poor. Begin the tax tiers at a level to encourage employers to pay a wage that puts everyone paying taxes. It would be a win for everyone.

Minimun wage has its place....for the high school/college kids and possibly seniors looking for a little pocket money. It should not be used as a standard for a fair living wage.

JoAnnaSmith1

Minority leader Boehner offered the same exact deal last September.

You seem to forget that Boehner thaen did a 180-degree double reverse flip-flop worthy of an Olympic Gold Medal after his Republican colleagues reminded him that letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire would violate the sacred Oath of Allegiance he took to the Republican Lord and Savior, Grover Norquist.

John A:

WOW - One of your best, sorry I could only give one vote. Just a very good post - Thank you for putting it up. I am sure the right wing radicals will go crazy.

Kudos - going going gone - HOME RUN!!!!

Something of an aside here. This story is now seeded to the 'Vine for anyone who wishes to read the entire thing. CNN's host of "Global Public Square" repeats in better detail what some of us wrote about the ridiculous posturing of the GOP candidates and John McCain about President Obama's Libyan policy.

For days, the flip-flopping GOP/TP right wing has been criticizing the President's handling of Libya. The critics are literally full of manure.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria writes:

Back in March, many neoconservatives in Washington were extremely dismissive of the way President Obama was handling the intervention in Libya. They argued that he was doing too little and acting too late – that his approach was too multilateral and lacked cohesiveness. They continuously criticized President Obama for, in the words of an anonymous White House advisor, "leading from behind."

But now that these critics are confronted with the success of the Libya operation, they are changing their tune and claiming paternity of the operation. They are further arguing that if their advice had been heeded, the intervention in Libya would have been swifter and even more successful. But the Libya intervention is so significant precisely because it did not follow the traditional pattern of U.S.-led interventions. Indeed, it launched a new era in U.S. foreign policy.

Navy Boy: John A: . . . . Kudos - going going gone - HOME RUN!!!!

Navy does love his cut and pastes.

Houston: You seem to forget that Boehner thaen did a 180-degree double reverse flip-flop

So why didn't Pelosi challenge Boehner and put it to a vote?

Gee, Navy, thanks! Coming from you, it's a grand compliment.

There are other articles around the 'Vine that describe the Tea Party as "the enemy." And some righties have posted counter-articles calling such terminology "hate speech." But in fact, the Tea Party and its extremist ideology is a a true "enemy of the state," seeking nothing less than an overthrow of America to enrich a few.

JAS1 - you are such a dunderhead.

I wrote in the introduction to that post that it is a copy of an article I authored and posted on the 'Vine some time back.

Your dismissive comment reveals how absolutely shallow and worthless you are. If you have any meaningful critcism, observation, or discussion to provide regarding the content of the post, you would surprise us all.

Either put up or shut up.

JoAnnaSmith1

So why didn't Pelosi challenge Boehner and put it to a vote?

Because, as has already been noted a few posts back, the Democrats caved in to the GOP hostage takers to preserve the middle class tax cuts. Gee, you're good at arguing in circles to get back to where you started: Nowhere.

Joanna: Minority leader Boehner offered the same exact deal last September.

Joanna, nice cite. But do you READ what you quote?! Boehner offered this, but he almost immediately doubled down on extension of the cuts for everyone. Especially after Cantor protested.

So, nice try, Joanna, but another fail on your part.

anyone else notice how joe albany just 'revised' history?

KSM is now the 'mastermind' of 9/11?

_________________________________________

Clara Bell, I realize the pony express may take a while in delivering the news to KCMO, but, "mastermind" was the term used to describe KSM in the bipartisan 9/11 Commission report issued in 2004. And it is the same term used repeatedly to describe KSM in all the lefty liberal bibles like the NYT and Wash Po.

Lefty liberals: Ignorance is bliss and they are living in utopia.

Of course, I doubt anyone, left or right, would ever confuse KCMO with utopia.

Moron.

Houston said: Yes, we must lower corporate taxes and raise taxes on the poor, and get rid of regulations on air quality, workplace safety, food inspection, etc. American workers will not be competitive with workers in Bangladesh until they're living and working conditions are the same.

Why do liberals always use these talking points in their response to any conservative idea? Do you realize how rediculous you actually sound? I guess not because the same old one liners are always regurgitated. Who ever said conservatives want to raise taxes on the poor? Where is that written, said or implied anywhere in the real world? You exaggerate on regulations for air quality, workplace safety and food inspections. Here's what the real story is...

Unless you demonize conservative ideas, you lose. You will never admit that the government is WAY too overregulated... Apparantly you do not have to face such regulations nor have to deal with the requirements the government sets as their standards... many of them are completely rediculous.

Do you honestly feel the conservatives want to reduce necessary regulations? This is exactly what you are implying in an over the top, completely exaggerated way. Is this the only way you can convey your immature and idiotic form of ideology? Grow up, would you?

John A -- Flip flopping on Libya. Indeed they (politicians) are scrambling. A brilliant strategy was employed. Will Libya stabilize? Not for us to decide it is their responsibility now. No excuses. Fareed Zakaria; a voice of reason. : )

GENIUS! SHEER GENIUS! I can't wait to see Bachman's health care plan! Why didn't I think of this myself?

We replace modern health care with prayer! GENIUS! No need for all those expensive doctors or drugs, FOX NEWS could run a daily hour of medicinal prayer hosted by Marcus Bachman and his lovely wife (and President) Michelle.

"Place your hands upon the screen of your television, profess you love of God, and ask God to cure your illness." Of course, only the truly faithful (of the correct and federally endorsed belief system) will be cured and non-believers will be known for their sinful ways because they will only get sicker and die!

GENIUS! SHEER GENIUS!

In one swipe we eliminate the need for the new affordable healthcare law, reduce medical expenditures and life expectancy will drop dramatically to pre-1900 levels eliminating the financial insolvency of Social Security. Medicare? Who's going to need it?

Pray away decay and have a nice day!

Of course, it's going to put a lot of doctors and pharmaceutical companies out of business. But the uptick in business at your local funeral home will more than make up for it.

And, when President Bachman eliminates the minimum wage and suddenly 98% of Americans are reduced to the status of serfs, nutrition will suffer and the life expectancy will drop even further.

NO MORE POOR! They'll all be dead!

NO MORE WELFARE! (see above)

NO MORE DISEASE! The faithful will be cured and non-believers will DIE!

I can hardly wait for this brave new Bachman world. Yippee!

Obamacare, Romneycare, phhhhttt! Who needs them? We'll have BACHMANCARE, AND IT'S TOTALLY FREE!

Does anybody know what Church Michelle attends? I want to get right with God before my cancer gets any worse. Cancel the Chemo honey, I'm going with BACHMANCARE!

America Held Hostage, Day 236

Houston1: Because, as has already been noted a few posts back, the Democrats caved in to the GOP hostage takers to preserve the middle class tax cuts.

That was in December Houston. This was September, before the election, and well before unemployment benefits (Obama's big excuse for signing the later legislation) were to expire. Now answer the question. Why didn't Pelosi take the Republicans and Boehners to task and make them have an up or down vote on the tax cut extensions?

And we know the answer, correct Houston? Pelosi/Reid/Obama didn't want to be on record before the election of extending those tax cuts. They thought it would infuriate their base voters and they would have lost even more elections in November. So the cowards Reid and Pelosi didn't bother to bring the issue to a vote.

whatever, joe

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/obituary_osama_bin_laden_maste.html

http://news.discovery.com/history/bin-laden-911-05012011.html

http://abcnews.go.com/International/video/osama-bin-laden-mastermind-911-attacks-terrorist-leader-takes-credit-americas-most-tragic-days-international-13505793

PS. The Commission Report says KSM was "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks",...but do carry on with your name calling, jackhole.

John A - Very informative and well written post. Thank you for sharing. Agree on all counts especially the unfortunate situation of how some people and politicians refuse to completely fund public schools. My post can not eloquently respond to every one of your points. I only wanted to talk a bit about the lack of the priority that education funding has received here in Texas. Even before people had heard of Rick Perry on the national stage, in the past I had tried to post updates as to the sorry state of school funding for Texas and its budget shortfall.

From a town in my neck of the woods per CBS affiliate in Keller ISD - North of Fort Worth, Texas.

The district saved $2 million when it decided over the summer to eliminate regular bus service to the 7,000 children — or nearly 20 percent — of the district’s students who had relied on buses in this sprawling suburban district north of Fort Worth.

Facing a $22 million deficit and a failed election to raise taxes, trustees decided to charge parents $370 a year per student to ride the bus.

_______

This week my child went back to school and we did our annual shopping for the mandated school supplies. Far from what I remembered as a child taking two pencils and a note book to school the supply list was 3 pages long. As the proverbial "school supply cabinet" is nowhere to be seen now in todays classroom, all the flash drives, note books, markers etc. set us back in the low triple figures.

At this point instead of paying for your public education via your property taxes they also want you to pay for your own supplies and pay for the opportunity to bus your kids to school. I blame the school district but this primarily goes back to a lack of funding from the state level. I wonder how people are supposed to get their kids to school on time and not be late to work.

@Houston -- Actually the unemployment benefit tax exemption was signed into law when obama signed the ARRA. When he did not extend it -- for what ever reason -- he broke a major campaign promise. In fact it was written into the law for 2009 only when dems controlled everything.

Wow Apparently Navybouy is sharing his one testicle with John A! Way to man up there John....make sure you clean it before you give it back!

Clara Bell, you can follow the link below to the actual 9/11 Commission report to see where they call KSM:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the 9/11 plot, at the time of his capture in 2003

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm

Right back at ya: ....but do carry on with your name calling, jackhole.

Clara Bell, if you want to play dueling hotlinks on KSM as the “mastermind” of 9/11, here are some trusted lefty liberal ones (LLMOA!!!!):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/15/ksm-was-questioned-about_n_203898.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/us/14terror.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/opinion/15thu1.html

JoAnnaSmith1

And we know the answer, correct Houston? Pelosi/Reid/Obama didn't want to be on record before the election of extending those tax cuts. They thought it would infuriate their base voters and they would have lost even more elections in November. So the cowards Reid and Pelosi didn't bother to bring the issue to a vote.

That's YOUR answer that you made up all by yourself. If they knew that it would cost them votes to do something before the election that they could do after the election, then why on Earth should they have done it? Just to make you happy that more Democrats would have lost?

As for cowardice, nothing matches the cowardice of that spineless jellyfish John Boehner, whose shameful flip-flop on tax cuts for the wealthy you're ducking, dodging, weaving, and wriggling to avoid admitting.

jollyoldsoul1 -

There have been a number of extremely crude things posted here, but you have really sunk to a new low. I don't care if people choose to disagree or take opposite positions, but your filth is simply not appropriate for a public discussion. Like JAS1, you bring nothing to the table. Until your garbage finally gets you banned, "ignore" is the best way to keep focused on the topics at hand. Good bye, you revolting barnyard manure.

Amazing that now that President Obama's method of utilizing US military force in Libya appears to be working all you hear from TeaPublican critics is..... nothing, not one blessed thing. They can't say, "it would have been done sooner if he had followed our advise" because they did not give any advise. There was criticism, complaining, whining about not asking for a declaration of war (I guess we don't need that now, LOL.)

I am truly convinced that the current version of the Republican Party are without a doubt, the worst group of lying, cheating, corporate bought shills in the history of the World.

Romney wants to rub it in our faces while the rest of the country is struggling. Today, the smart people are building smaller, greener, conscious of energy saving etc. Romney is an energy hog and it's people like him who refuse to acknowledge the fact that the President of the U.S. needs to be an example of where this country needs to go. What a sad, sad leader this man would make.

dirp101,

Hunstman let the Republican Party/Tea Partiers have it the other day and I watched Jeb Bush give it to them this morning. It's getting embarrassing for them, they are desperate and the country see's them for what they are. Who needs to trash them when they do such a good job of it themselves? :)

Yellowdog -

Thanks for your comments and contributions. I taught in Mexico in 1969, where the teachers have to buy the books for their students and somehow struggle to perform admirably with great dedication in the face of a state system that seems more and more like the model for the Tea Party. At that time, the government of Mexico was making so-called "free market" reforms and privatizing state industries and services, finally almost totally destroying that country's once-vibrant middle class and impoverishing a vast majority of Mexicans. I was there as this process was underway.

Your observations about your daughter's school needs and the old supply closet really did make me think of how lucky I was to be educated in the 1950's and 60's (well, aside from grad school). Perhaps you'll not mind if I just slip into nostalgic story-telling mode for a few lines.

I started school in kindergarten in 1951, in a small wood-framed building in a central Midwestern city. We used slates and chalk; the desks were the old wooden models with tops and seats fixed to cast-iron runners bolted on the floor, with an inkwell hole on the upper right corner and a groove to hold pen and nib across the center top; the heater was a coal-burning tubby little iron stove. Until I ended up in a California high school in 1962 all the desks at school had those features, by the way. And as my family moved many times around the country, I went to a lot of different schools.

One of the wonders of the classroom was the supply closet. It had a special smell. And the watercolors, tempura paints, easels and big drawing/painting pads were in them.

What an utter shame now that politicians have turned their backs on our kids and our future. And cyncially entirely discarded the desperate needs of disadvantaged children.

Following daily accusations of 'cut and paste" towards comments of more than two lines:

JAS1 has become his/her own "cut and paste".

dirp101,

I am complaining about Libya still. Never shoulda been there in the first place. Doesn't matter if we won, or if no one died. We had a 0 gain from our involvement other than wasting money.

I complained about Bush doing it, and I complain about Obama doing it.

End the foreign wars, end the foreign aid, quit launching missiles at people, and let europe buy it's own refueling tankers for their colonial battles.

For shame, ye Democrats. We are the party of innovation and solutions for the current problems that face our nation, not the part of Lock-step marching like some imperial army. We are the ones who FIX the PROBLEMS.

We can distance ourselves, as individuals, from party decisions that we dislike. It doesn't make us bad democrats, it makes us true to our political ideology.

nwnative do you have a link or something where I can see Huntsman attacking the TeaParty ?

If what you are saying is true, there may yet be hope for Huntsman. With no one else available, the non-TeaParty part of the GOP (aka "the establishment") might just begin to back him. Other than his religion, he is a good candidate. The religion is only an issue for the fundamentalist right.

Huntsman doesn't really have any of the craziness most of the candidates have and can't be blamed for the ACA like Romney can.

teknishan I agree, it is long past time for the US to stop spreading its imperial might. Perhaps Libya is the first step. A push toward Democracy without US occupation.

Gee, the monologue I heard on the car radio early this morning was correct; the libs are in a panic at how quickly Perry has shown that he can (and will) defeat Obama; they are virtually tied in the latest polls. It should be fun reading the left wing vitriol for the next 14 months as Obama's miserable performance continues to plummet.

Oh, by the way, Perry's statement that corporations are people is fact; the only one's "offended" by it are some politicians and academics and their followers, who are not capable of succeeding in the corporate world.

You know reading over some of these posts put up by Dems/Libs, they all have a certain sameness to them, full of cynicism and twisted lies. There is never a solution or even a helpful suggestion as to how we can help the country, never a thoughtful observation or a well written post, nothing that would show they ever do any critical thinking.

Are there any on the left who might look at the glass half full, must the posts be filled with ridicule, taunting? No positive thoughts on life, your families? Do you take the same miserable perspectives to other aspects of your lives, do you even have other lives? How sad, if not.

All those on the left who post here extolling the virtues of no tax increases for the super wealthy and have no compassion for those less fortunate, are you not happy with your lives, are you all so wealthy that you just push the no tax agenda? If you are that fortunate to be so wealthy why aren't you happy? Why wont you help your country? What drives you to be so nasty and inconsiderate?

John A. - I grew up in the 70's and have noticed a big change as well. When I was entering high school the big issue was busing and the complaints of some on which "neighborhoods" were bused where. Now the powers that be will bus your kids and then charge you to do it.

I have a number of college friends who are teachers and they go out of their way to buy school supplies for the benefit of their kids. It definately isn't like it used to be.

Again thanks for laying out your original post's historical timeline and sharing some of your own history.

dirp101,

He comments are posted several places. He was interviewed on ABC's This Week. He also tweeted everything he said on TV. If you google John Huntsman attacking the republican party it brings up everything from Politico to you name it. It's all over the place and he has made other comments along the same line since then.

This comes from Liberaland.com

The Jon Huntsman Strategy: Running Against The Republican Party
Posted in Liberaland by Alan • August 23, 2011, 11:11 AMET • 20 Comments »

His strategist, John Weaver, used the same technique in 2000 when he managed John McCain.

…he's now attacking fellow Republicans for, among other things, not embracing the science of global warming. "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy," Mr. Huntsman said on Twitter, a criticism of recent remarks by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Mr. Huntsman followed that up on Sunday on ABC, telling Jake Tapper that the GOP has a "serious problem" when it becomes "anti-science."

The broadside was part of a larger strategy of attacking all of his GOP opponents for something or other. He ripped Mitt Romney for flip-flopping on taxes, assailed Michele Bachmann for saying she'd get gas prices below $2 a gallon and called Mr. Perry "unelectable."

Jeb Bush Warns 2012 Repubs Not to Ride The Crazy Train
Posted in Liberaland by Alan • August 23, 2011, 9:44 PMET • 24 Comments »

Former Florida governor and First Brother to Bush 43 Jeb Bush was asked by FNC's Neil Cavuto if he thinks Republicans have gone too far in their criticism of President Obama.

"I do. I think when you start ascribing bad motives to the guy, that's wrong. It turns off people who want solutions.

"It's fine to criticize him, that's politics…but just to stop there isn't enough. You have to win with ideas, you have to win with policies. … He's made a situation that was bad worse. He's deserving of criticism for that. He's not deserving of criticism for the common cold on up."

"If you're a conservative, you have to persuade. You can't just be against the president," he added.

New Health Care plan.

BACHMAN(don't)CARE!

Prosperity is just around the corner. A chicken in every pot. You'll eat pie in the sky when you die.

Turn back the clock to those good old days of the 19th century. Who needs health care, life expectancy is only 50. Who needs medicare? Life expectancy is only 50. Who needs Social Security? Life expectancy is only 50. Eliminate the minimum wage and enjoy the prosperity of 1895 when the average American worker made $20 a week.

Ah...those were the good old days.

No federal regulations to interfere with business. So what if your canned meat product has a little rat hair in it? Big deal. It's organic. Who needs clean water? You can buy it in the store (if you have the money).

It's a new, NEW DEAL for America. Happy Days are here again!

Thanks to Michelle and Marcus Bachman, the First Family of the EXCEPTIONAL new America.

America Held Hostage, day 236.

nwnative thanks. I like the references to statements from Jeb Bush. Wasn't he considered the smarter brother, kind of like Michael Corleon to George W. Bush's Fredo ?

Brianb-999431

Do you realize how rediculous you actually sound?

If you are going to call someone "rediculous", it would help to spell it correctly.

Who ever said conservatives want to raise taxes on the poor? Where is that written, said or implied anywhere in the real world?

On Fox News, multiple times. In fact, Stewart put together a long montage of multiple Fox News clips complaining about the 47% of poor and unemployed people who do not pay taxes. Then various Fox News correspondents claimed that they need to "put some skin in the game" and "pay taxes themselves before raising them on the rich." Fox then explained that this poor population (which represents people who make under $22k per year) actually have "luxuries", like a refrigerator and microwave . . . can you believe that? They have the "luxury" of both cooling and warming food. That is an outrage.

So to answer your question, Fox News (the voice of conservatives), on multiple occasions, has stated that we need to raise taxes on the poor. Because they are obviously living the high-life by being unemployed or only making $22k.

Do you honestly feel the conservatives want to reduce necessary regulations?

Yes, again the conservative population has stated that we need to completely defund the EPA. Even though air quality standards have increased dramatically over the past 40 years, that is apparently not important. Would you like to see the images of GOP/TP members holding signs that call to completely cut the EPA?

Perhaps you think it is unnecessary regulation because corporations will do "the right thing." Personal story: I have extended family in Colorado, from a tiny town located below a major manufacturer. Over 40 years ago, this company dumped their waste in the local river. Ever single family member who lived in that town got cancer, most died. It was not until the EPA stepped in that this company stopped. So when I see conservatives holding signs that say to "shut it down", I have a problem with that.

Thanks Dennis -- Looks like that paper route money is paying off after all! lol

Nice work Dennis, thanks for the info.

Sucking those Union coffers dry. Thank God for mandatory union dues.

Looks like the big tea people GOP donors are fed up with or just don't like that they are trying to destroy our country.

Sucking those corporation government subsidies (aka corporate welfare) dry. Thank God for low wages and no benefits.

Dennise,

Yea, that's something to be proud of, who can waste the most money on elections. All that money could help thousands of people in need, but it doesn't. It goes to politicians who then promptly pays it back, using the tax payers money. Once again the middle class get screwed.

Yea, something to be proud of.

You know reading over some of these posts put up by GOP/Tprs, they all have a certain sameness to them, full of cynicism and twisted lies. There is never a solution or even a helpful suggestion as to how we can help the country, never a thoughtful observation or a well written post, nothing that would show they ever do any critical thinking.

Are there any on the right who might look at the glass half full, must the posts be filled with ridicule, taunting? No positive thoughts on life, your families? Do you take the same miserable perspectives to other aspects of your lives, do you even have other lives? How sad, if not.

All those on the right who post here extolling the virtues of no tax increases for the super wealthy and have no compassion for those less fortunate, are you not happy with your lives, are you all so wealthy that you just push the no tax agenda? If you are that fortunate to be so wealthy why aren't you happy? Why wont you help your country? What drives you to be so nasty and inconsiderate?

Under Mr. Priebus there appears to have been a spike in maximum $30,800 contributions
from wealthy donors. And still the Republicans trail … by a lot !!

Dennis,

AWESOME! and yet, thanks to the Supremes, an UNTOLD amount of monies spent INDIRECTLY and not tracked, right?

Thank Koch suckers!

Dennis:

Great post thanks.

The reason all the TP/GOP rhetoric sounds the same is because they have no New Ideas and the ones they have suck and are what got us into this mess.

They (TP/GOP) complain on our President taking a vacation while the Congress is gone for 5 weeks and getting paid to boot. They complain about our President waiting to after labor day to announce his job bill while they are doing the same thing.

They complain about tax increases and even renounce their oath to this country in favor of the Norquist dogma - except the middle class and lower income families are excluded - they and only they can have their taxes increased and they put out a plan that is a regressive "Sales Tax" that hits the middle class and lower income people disproportionately. They also plan to block the "Payroll Tax" holiday increasing taxes on the working people making less than $106,800.

If you go to the new Webster Dictionary and look up " Hypocrisy" you see the GOP Elephant taking a dump.

Yes I thank god that I get to pay union dues, I make a decent wage, have excellent health coverage, and a nice retirement fund (stock market makes me a little nervous). I make a lot more than my non union counterparts in my industry, and their employers still charge the same prices my employer does, however the smart, honest, decent businessmen I work for understand that good pay and benefits increases productivity and professionalism, they pay the best so they get and deserve the best, that is how the free market works. I do not burden society with my healthcare costs, I don't need my income supplemented with foodstamps, if SS dries up I will still retire with dignity. If I make some republicans dream come true and drop dead today my wife will be in good financial shape. Actually she will have enough to get a young boyfriend and they can talk about what a great guy I was while they spend my money.

Forrest Grump, I hope your retirement is okay but if the repubs get in there and put us in a Depression you might lose it. That is what their agenda is. The dollar will be worthless. Their religious doomsday prophesies will be fulfilled.

The rich repubs are coming for everyone now, even their own. And why not? The poor repubs handed it to them on a silver platter and said "Come get it". They still are. They haven't learned a thing. Even well off people are going to lose their a**es if the repubs get in there.

Great post, Forrest---and I hope your union offers the same opportunity my husband and I have through his union----we make VOLUNTARY donations to a political action fund to help the union support candidates who agree us on issues of importance to our union and our country. This is NOT dues but a voluntary way to participate in elections.

It has to be voluntary, that is the law, and has been for at least the last 35 years. I have had wonderful opprotunites thanks to my unions collective bargaining agreement and the great American businessmen that employ us. I am now a small businessman as well (real small just me) but none of what I accomplished over many years would have been possible for me if my family did not have the safety and security of know what my pay and benefits would basically be from year to year as long as I worked with my tools. It takes money to go back to school, and file for patents, and start a business, how do you do that if you are making 11 dollars an hour and no benefits and you are not even guaranteed 40 hours of work a week. How do you send a kid to college? How do you give a daughter a nice wedding? The American dream costs more than 10 or 12 bucks an hour. If anybody thinks union workers are paid to much I will tell you this, when I work as a consultant I charge 3 times my union scale, I basically do what I have always done except that I do not touch a tool, they don't bat an eye at the price, I think I went a liitle low on my consulting fees. Decent, honest, smart American businessmen can afford to pay pretty well, that is why I have time to blog, if I worked for 10 bucks an hour and no benefits all my life my old ass would be out trying to work with my tools or cutting lawns right now.

You know reading over some of these posts put up by Dems/Libs, they all have a certain sameness to them, full of cynicism and twisted lies. There is never a solution or even a helpful suggestion as to how we can help the country, never a thoughtful observation or a well written post, nothing that would show they ever do any critical thinking.

Are there any on the left who might look at the glass half full, must the posts be filled with ridicule, taunting? No positive thoughts on life, your families? Do you take the same miserable perspectives to other aspects of your lives, do you even have other lives? How sad, if not.

All those on the left who post here extolling the virtues of no tax increases for the super wealthy and have no compassion for those less fortunate, are you not happy with your lives, are you all so wealthy that you just push the no tax agenda? If you are that fortunate to be so wealthy why aren't you happy? Why wont you help your country? What drives you to be so nasty and inconsiderate?

Right at the end there I think you got your shoes on the wrong feet but I think I generally agree with you.

We need one more term from Obama like California needs more illegal immigrants and taxes to speed up the flight of businesses out of state.

We need Republicans back in office like Warren Buffett needs another tax break.

We need Dan to start making some sense.

I just wonder how many tax increases, social welfare programs and state regulations on business will it take before California looks like Michigan?

Tony,

as long as they have that coastline, they will NEVER look like Michigan,...just sayin'.

Even Romney thinks it's worth a $12 MILLION dollar investment. Wonder if he's planning to carpet bag THERE next when this presidency thing doesn't work out for him?

At least in a geographic kind of way you are right. Maybe Greece?

Given the states unemployment, I am sure the work is welcomed.

Maybe so. California can certainly use the tax dollars when the house is completed.

Romney's new house construction in La Jolla is his jobs program.

593 steps backward and 322 steps forward.

Yep, that sounds like Barry's plan working perfectly.

so Obama gets to take credit for it, right?

Sure. Obama should do that. Give another press conference to tell everyone "Hey, look at me everyone! The Dow went up and I'm responsible for that happening!"

Maybe he should claim to have saved a million jobs this past week too. Make the whole presser thing a giant party for himself.

It never fails, the right is so predictable proved by their comments here.

Pretty obvious to me what’s going on with all the GOP candidates coming out of the woodwork lately. Keep in mind, too, that none of them really offer anything other than “Obama sucks, because….” Rather than “I’m the best choice, because….”.

It gets them on TV and other public forums, so they can have so much more coverage of their never-ending, never-deviating talking points about Obama and Democrats. Think about it: A No Jo or a JAS1 or a Spankie or any other malcontent can easily post their negative comments on blogs like this one, but that’s about it. They have no access to Fox, CNN, MSNBC, your local TV station, your local state fair, Hannity, Limbaugh, Medved, Boortz, etc. etc. etc. Even if they could, the posters couldn’t afford all the road trips and public appearances it would take to get it done. These ‘candidates’ can, however, via donations to their ‘campaigns’. To witt: One Sarah Palin. Not even declared, yet on the road constantly, getting all that coverage of her saying “Obama sucks, because…..” Instead of “I’m your gal, because……”.

How do you combat it? Not sure- but a vigilant, constant, well-reasoned challenging of the daily nonsense as you hear it and read it seems at least like the minimum we can all do.

Now- somebody change the subject to ‘Buzz is an idiot’ or ‘Obama took some vacation days’ or something……

dbo: How do you combat it? Not sure- but a vigilant, constant, well-reasoned challenging of the daily nonsense as you hear it and read it seems at least like the minimum we can all do.

Great idea Buzz. "Well-reasoned"? So, just when are you lefties planning on starting? And do massive cut and pastes from left wing propaganda sites count?

Oh, and Buzz. Great post!!

"Oh, and Buzz. Great post!!"

Thanks, sugar plumb- wait until you see tomorrow's....

JoAnnaSmith1

Great idea Buzz. "Well-reasoned"? So, just when are you lefties planning on starting? And do massive cut and pastes from left wing propaganda sites count?

You're always whining about how people quote facts from other sources. But you have to realize that we can't all be as creative as you are at making up your own facts.

SP then you admit you let other people make them up for you! Hmmmmm guess that gives you plausible deniability!

The dow closed at 7,949.09 on January 20, 2009 and it closed yesterday at 11,176.76

so by the same 'logic' the righties seem to use when their tin foil hat slips,...

WAY TO GO, MR. PRESIDENT!

suck it, repubs, your talking points don't line up with reality. but I am certain some tea leaf reader will come along and tell you you're right and make it ALL better.

Clara, if the Fed keeps printing money and the economy doesn't recover as has been the case for the last 2 1/2 years, then what?

jollyoldsoul1

SP then you admit you let other people make them up for you! Hmmmmm guess that gives you plausible deniability!

What claims have been posted that have been misrepresented as fact? Put up or shut up. Not that your constant failure to back up anything you say could really get you to shut up.

Tony, no doubt it's a tough row to hoe; but Repubs need to start running FOR something and not just AGAINST this President.

People are tired of the stale mate and the grid lock. And absent any evidence to the contrary that President Obama is TRYING and the Repubs are NOT,...I say he gets the re-election.

Pretty sure the House is going to swing back, although I will concede that the Senate will be tougher to keep. Time and economy on November 1st next year will determine much more than the silly immature posturing the Perrys, Bachmanns and Romneys are pandering with now.

Some of this lack of cooperation falls at the President's feet. For two years Obama made it clear he won and that elections has consequences. Obama allienated and agitated the situation and took part in the ridicule of any Republican idea. Then after the mid-term elections, the new talking point was "compromise." Do you think maybe, the only reason for the change was the loss of the House? Do you think, telling Republicans that they can come along for the ride as he fixes things, but they have to ride in the back seat, is appropriate for a Prersident to say? By the way, it appears he didn't fix things. I heard this morning on MSNBC, one of the panel members say that the Republican pimary candidates need to be careful with their words as their words carry a lot of weight and meaning. Isn't that good advise for Obama as well?

The machine and engine of recovery is in the private sector. If Obama does not change his tone and he continues to criticize and hamper business, the economy will be no different next August. Throwing more printed and borrowed money at government programs plays well to some folks. But it will not solve the the problem in the long run. GE and Jeff Imelt are going to be a partner with China to build airplanes and compete with Boing. Do you think the business environment in the USA is in trouble? Do you think more government can solve that problem? Real great, share technology and create jobs in China. This is Obama's advisor? But, you are right. They need to spell their plan. Sound familiar?

Tony, I am very aware of the propaganda used against this president. And quite frankly, if someone sat at my table and told me how they intended to run the show, I would have told them TOUGH, I WON, too. We weren't at that table; but I have no doubts that what transpired and what was publicized share very little in common with the truth in it's entire context.

The healthcare plan that passed was a Republican plan, established by Bob Dole and watered down by Olympia Snowe to make it more palatable to Republican votes. and you know what? Not one Republican voted for it. Fine, but you can only yank the football out from under someone so many times before we recognize the rhetoric and the actions for what they are...political posturing!

What I know to be true is that Corporations are motivated by PROFIT. So if they can manage to get government to De-regulate and stop watching them closely, they can just generate profit. But the only ones who profit from that business model, are the haves, the owners - the very greedy who will never have ENOUGH until America is a monarchy and all of the serfs are in their place. And if you think that isn't where we are headed with this current environment and rhetoric, you are being insanely naive.

Yes, if a child holds their breath until they turn blue, there is some risk of suffocation. But what is more likely is that someone will come along and give a sharp slap between the shoulder blades that will shock the child into an auto breath. Personally, I think the American People should smack Congress between the shoulder blades.

Those comments by the President are on tape. How did we get to the healthcare topic? That comment is on tape too. Obama told McCain the election was over. Of course corporations are motivated by profit. Come on that is quite a stretch to consider free enterprise a prelude or leap toward a monarchy. Zero connection. When you take incentive away you get Cuba. When you have too many people dependent on a socialist government you get Greece. What do you believe is responsible for all the inventions that have come from America? It is the freedom to succeed and the reward for doing so.

Don't go off a cliff on me.....

You are correct. We have too many career politicans in both parties in Congress. Congress should not be a career. When I hear any of them say that they went to Washington to serve the people it is like finger nails on a blackboard.

Danoid......this may turn out to be the post of the day, even tho its early yet. My coffee went flying on that one! Peace

...bloody Baptists!

Just in. John Hagee states the damage to the National Cathedral as God's wrath on allowing Gays to serve in their Ministry...

DaNoid, two gold stars for that one! Almost spilled my coffee.

Devie, you get honorable mention!

Da Noid

Yesterday's earthquake in Virginia was all fun and games...until I found out that there was damage to Washington National Cathedral! As an Episcopalian, this will not be tolerated and the guilty parties must be brought to justice!

I'm waiting for Pat Robertson to tell us that God did it because He, She, or It doesn't want a secret Muslim socialist who hates America in the White House.

I waiting to see what the tea people on here have to say about why it happened. We'll have to wait awhile, they haven't got their talking points from Limbaugh and Fox (aka tea people GOP propaganda machine) yet.

Anybody that listens to Limbaugh is a racist.

I'm waiting for the tea people GOP on here to tell us why they think it happened. We'll have to wait though, they haven't got their talking points from Limbaugh and Fox (aka tea people GOP propaganda machine) yet.

Mor:

I'm waiting for the tea people GOP on here to tell us why they think it happened.

According to Greg Sargent at the Washington Post, one popular right wing blogger has already attacked the president for not interrupting his vacation. Apparently, Obama should have rushed back to Washington and inspect the damage caused by the earthquake like that overturned lawn chair someone posted on the Internets. Oh, the humanity!!!

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201108230021

Someone mistakenly told you guys..... you could make a funny! Id stick to your day jobs......thats if you have one! Let me try this one more time....Kudos......Great post.......Amazing wordsmithing! Nope doesnt work. Back to my opinion!

I think 'the second childhood' has settle in on many posters here. Their world narrow down to just what is happening to them, they take on child like behaviors, they appear selfish like little children, not able to think of anyone else. Its the only way you can explain some of the comments here.

The circle of life.

jollyoldsoul1

Back to my opinion!

You know what they say opinions are like. Yours more than most.

Jolly, Please stick to torching the abandon homes in you neighborhood. Houston is right your opinionis extra smelly, all of the time.

I wish I had more money to contribute.

You and your friends should tap into your 401Ks and take out second mortgages Ames. You're only supposed to do those things in an emergency, but with Obama's record, this would be considered an emergency.

I don't see any downside to doing this.

Hi Amy,

Great thoughts and ideas, you can also contact the Campaign website, I am having difficulty posting the link for you, Obama 2012, there you'll find lots of info and a link to volunteer, they will have many opportunities to help out. they are a great bunch of people

Amy:

You are already helping Democrats in he great state of Maine. You have a Senator who is up for electon and the representatives are all up for reelection. In a very important way, those seats need to turn blue. Also you are providing a great service posting on FT. You have your own fan club and a lot of people read what you have to say.

Hi Amy! I belong to the OFA-Organizing For America in Indiana. You should visit this website for how you can help in the re-election. And like Ron said,you are providing a great service with your posts, too!Friend request sent ;-) http://www.barackobama.com/get-involved

The sad thing is, she stayed up all night composing that.

Do, please, tell everyone you meet that you are voting for Obama, and why. It's the surest way I know to convince anyone not already rueing the day they voted for him to do so, now- and to support the other guy, whoever it is.

Amy, it's important to do exactly what you've said; and definitely, yes, the DNC also if you can.

"Do, please, tell everyone you meet that you are voting for Obama, and why"

I'm voting for the guy, because he stopped the screaming free-fall of the economy when he took office. I figure giving him 4 more years should get it turned back in an upward direction nicely. (oh, and he kept that psycho Palin the hell away from the controlls....)

Now- who YOU voting for, and why?

Thanks, everybody for the good suggestions. I knew I was opening myself up to the snarky comments from the Republicans who read this blog, but I need to do something to help instead of just going home angry every night after reading about the political situation in our country.

I am, for sure, going to work like a dog to unseat Olympia Snowe.

Money Amy.

Send the President every last dime you can. Miss meals, skip haircuts, don't pay bills, forget about charity.

Send the president all you have and I am sure your heart will be filled with joy.

Getting President Obama re-elected will be the very most important thing you ever do in your life. Something to tell your Grandchildren about.

So get some skin in the game. Go "All In"!

By all means please tell everyone you meet that you are voting again for President Obama, the doorman, the bus driver, the drive-thru guy, the guy at 7-11, the bathroom attendant, your boss, his boss......golly, just scream it from the roof tops!

Well, at the moment, I'm leaning Perry- here's why

http://www.politicalmathblog.com/?p=1590

You believe that having a number of Americans unemployed for more than a year that is unprecedented since World War II is some sign of success?

You believe that having GDP numbers revised by more than two percentage points every quarter, when the historic MAR and MR numbers are two tenths of a percentage point is purely accidental, because the people at Commerce suddenly forgot how to calculate the numbers properly?

You believe that stretching out the foreclosure crisis, dragging out more than two years, helped the real estate market turn around- when home sales are dropping every month?

You believe that having a civilian labor force at 1983 levels, which is the only thing keeping unemployment under double digits, is anything more than monkeying around with the statistics?

I have a bridge to sell you, cheap, in Brooklyn.

There is only one reason I can think of to vote for Obama- you are so delusional you read success into all of his failure. Now, nothing is going to change the minds of the 22% of you who will stubbornly, despite the facts, cling to the notion that he is somehow not responsible for his failures. I'm not even trying to do that- I might as well have the discussion with the nearest wall.

There are, however, a lot of people out there who voted for hope for change- the change turned out to be a train wreck, so they're hoping for another change- this time to someone who knows what he is doing.

People like you and Amy make it a lot easier. Your "it could have been worse" and her "he's so dreamy" will work wonders to convince anyone with a functioning brain who might be on the fence to jump off- to the right. So, thanks for the help.

Obama shelved in 2012.

"You believe that having a number of Americans unemployed for more than a year that is unprecedented since World War II is some sign of success?"

I believe NOT adding 700,000 of 'em a MONTH to those unemployment rolls is, indeed, at least one hell of a step in the right direction. YOU think adding that many more a month would be... what??

Amy -

Just keep doing what you're doing here. I've seen some of your posts get well over 100 votes over the last few months, and you're reaching even more people out there who just read here and have yet to vote or post themselves.

And Cynthia's Point is right about the website - in 2008 they had all kinds of ways people could help besides sending money. And hey, if you're going to donate money, do it there and get a couple of t-shirts and bumper stickers while you're at it and show your pride - they're also great conversation starters with strangers in parking lots.

Above all, stay positive - every time you prompt a NJ or JAS1 or Spanky to write another of their oh-so-crushing, mean-spirited replies like the ones above, another good person out there has second thoughts about voting for any candidate that all-negative all-the-time people like them would support.

You're a good person, Amy - you're honest, intelligent, hard-working, compassionate, and have a great sense of humor. Just keep doing what you're doing and the right people will pay attention.

So.....in that huge state.....how many cities are democratic. Remember I lived there for 10 years so I Know.

That's what you tea people GOP nuts do JAS1 and White Collar Auto, You go in debt to make Sara Palin and the rest of the republican field rich, that's all their after is your money, once they have it they will laugh all the way to the bank saying what idiots we have supporting us. There are only two GOP candidates actually running to be president, that's Romney no chance and Huntsman a slim chance. Both Mormons and not well liked by the tea people GOP.

So get some skin in the game. Go "All In"!

Go big, or go home. The unions are tapped out, what with their losing efforts in Wisconsin. Someone will have to make up that difference.

And besides, when you end up broke, with all of the Obama social programs, you'll be just fine.

Amy, you're on the right track.

NoJo, Joanna, et al, you may not recognize what's going on here. It is government by the people, not corporations. It is government by small donations not huge piles of money. It is government by people who care what happens both to them and to each other, not blind allegiance to the money.

fielden: not blind allegiance to the money.

And yet, the conversation started about the liberals talking about, . . . . , wait for it:

Ames: I wish I had more money to contribute.

And of course there is an entire thread about the Democrats and how much money they have collected (see thread #2).

You Libs, you care about the money, just as long as it's someone else's.

Joanna just making up her own facts again.

When you have 9 recall elections and win 5 of them, isn't the one who won a majority usually considered the winner everywhere except in republican tea land. Hint for those listening to censored news: Democrats won 5 out of 9.

Then you make up stories about social programs so you can hate on the poor.

Good job Joanna showing the world just how much you hate your fellow American.

@No Jo - I'm leaning Perry...

___________

"You may have noticed that I don't mention Rick Perry very much here. That is because Rick Perry is, in my opinion, ancillary to this entire discussion. He was governor while these these numbers happened, so good for him. Maybe that means these jobs they are his "fault". Maybe the job situation is the result of his policies. Or maybe Texas is simply the least bad option in a search for a favorable economic climate."

____________________

Some portions in the article are pretty fair minded and had some good data so I will not reject it outright. Funny that the excerpt I highlighted is something that a republican would say about Bill Clinton's handling of the economy. As in all things, it is just the authors opinion. His main premise is that Texas has created jobs but still has an 8.2% unemployment only because so many people are coming to Texas.

Well those people who are entering Texas whether they are coming from the West coast or Midwest or fleeing Arizona may like the jobs offered here but they will not like the school services the state provides.

@nojo

You say you are leaning Perry but then say nothing about why, you just rattle off what you think is bad about Obama. Why is that? Why are you leaning Perry? You like his weather service---everyone pray for rain? You like the fact that he has said his own book (that came out just 9 months ago) was not meant to be factual or how you actually feels? What is it that is making you lean his way?

Andie: I agree. I don't see any reason TO vote for any of the Republican candidates, yet. There are several I would not vote for, based on their comments (Bachman, Santorum and Ron Paul come to mind.) I would never vote for Rick Perry, aside from not having a supportable position, he makes the dolphins a Sea World look like slugs with his flip-flops. Second in the flip-flop and crazy category would be Romney. That only leaves Huntsman, who I have not yet decided if I could support, maybe, if he can garner enough support to get past SC could end up with the nomination and even be President.

Jody, I agree. Romney got the support from Vin Weber a moderate, policy, money guy from MN yesterday. It will be interesting when MN has their caucuses. I predict that the Repub will in the end support Romney over Bachmann in delegate count statewide.

Bachmann could never win a state wide election in MN let alone a nation wide run for Republican nominee.

Good Analysis NorthstarDFL: It is folks like yourself who know what is happening on a state and local level. I suspect the conservatives are waiting to ambush Romney in state after state.

Northstar. I agree, Bachmann cannot win statewide in MN. I seriously doubt she will win the Iowa Caucus either.

My thoughts exactly, Fancy That.

I had the same thought, Fancy That. I guess it is OK to go to an enclave of the rich if you own one of the places there---just not OK to vacation there for 10 days.

but dare not ask the wealthy

I believe we ought to ask the wealthy to help plug the hole. I believe every Republican/Conservative would ask that -- just not mandate it. Maybe the billion dollar war chest ought to be donated to lower the deficit. Jody -- will this administration assure that if the wealthy pay more taxes that it goes strictly to reducing the deficit and promise no new spending??? If not, it won't fly so don't launch that clay pigeon 'cause it will get shot to pieces.

Ben, what part of spending to improve the economy don't you understand? ECON 101 teaches that deficit spending by Government is crucial to economic recovery and that cutting spending during a slow economy actually increases the deficit and the debt. We are witnessing that today. The GOPTP demands for spending cuts resulted in thousands of lost jobs which in turn decreased local, state and federal revenues meaning more lost jobs.

Government can and should invest in needed and neglected infrastructure jobs. Nearly every economist, right and left, says Government should borrow money at the low interest rates and invest it in targeted spending to create local and state jobs. For every job created by government investment, six supporting jobs are created.

Nearly every economist, right and left, indicates that the quickest way to end the recession and reduce the deficit and the debt is by deficit spending to decrease unemployment. Warren Buffett believes the GOPTP should stop coddling the rich. I have absolutely nothing against wealthy people; they earned it but it isn't about time that they sacrifice a bit more to help the country where they were able to become wealthy?

Where was the anger and frustration of conservatives as Bush 43 and the GOP majority in Congress spent this country into oblivion by using the credit card rather than asking for sacrifice. Where was the Tea Party? Why didn't we hear complaints about the GOP's unfunded spending spree? This country and the 98% who are not rich are paying a high price for GOP irresponsibility and yet today, the right keeps defending what failed and blaming the President who inherited the Bush 43 disaster for our problems.

Wrong. Incorrect. Factually lacking.

Even Econ 101 shows the fallacy of the Keynes model. And, by the way, what cuts are you talking about? None of them were actual cuts- from, say, five dollars to three, but D.C. Cuts, from an increase of ten dollars to an increase to eight- up from today's five.

No wonder 22% of yup will stick with Obama through any failure. Not only do you not understand economics, you don't understand simple arithmetic.

Correct Ben, Im totally against giving them anymore money until 1 they have a grasp on the current spending situation and 2 We know exactly how the new revenue will decrease the debt!

No wonder 22% of yup will stick with Obama through any failure. Not only do you not understand economics, you don't understand simple arithmetic.

No joe you don't understand simple writing. Did you read your post? It makes absolutely no sense.

Ben, no joe, JOS, gather around. Have a seat.

It's time someone explained to you how job creation actually works.

You see, when people in the middle and lower classes have more money to spend on things, that increases the demand for the things they spend it on! This provides an actual incentive for employers to hire more people to produce more of those things. As opposed to, say, letting the business owners have more money and hoping that they'll just use it to hire more unnecessary employees out of the goodness of their hearts.

Then, those new employees also have money to spend on things, further increasing demand, and the cycle continues. When unemployment reaches a low enough point, employees are in high enough demand that their wages actually begin to rise! More money in their hands causes the cycle to continue further. This is what is known as an economic recovery!

The "let the employers have more money and hope they hire people just for grins" plan is known as supply-side economics, and defies all logic and human nature.

Thank you for listening. You can go play now.

You wouldn't be happy in Martha's Vineyard, Marty. Full of rich people, many of whom made their wealth through connections in the Government. That is where your President feels most at home, among the snotty liberal elite, who look down on the rest of us.

Bob, where does YOUR president vacation?

I hate rich people. Until I become one, then I'll hate poor people. It's the American way. That's a line from a movie - can't remember the movie, but the line stuck with me.

The rich people have nice areas. If those areas weren't nice, they could afford to go to places that were. Just a fact of life. And they have the money to keep those areas nice.

President Obama is now rich. He can afford to go to nice areas. Most of us would do the same. Temptation is a tough thing to pass on. That's why politicians have so many sex scandals. When you are powerful, there is no shortage of people who want, if only for 15 minutes, to share that power. So with prospective sex partners pretty much throwing themselves at you, it takes more than average discipline to look the other way.

Marty at least your honest - insane, but honest

And Marty.....I bet you want what they have bad......so bad you can taste it everyday. It ruins your life and makes you crazy doesnt it. Well I have the solution for you! Its called find a career and retrain for it. Ive done it 3 times since my discharge from 10 years of military service. And now at 58 I have two paid for homes and a great nest egg waiting for me in a few short years. It works much better than whining and wishing you could have someone elses money! P.S. I grew up in a very poor family of 5 all of us are doing well! Mom taught us well!

Jolly, how nice that the military, a government program, could have provided for you so well.

How sad that you can only denigrate those who have not been so fortunate.

Fielden ....... It amazes me that you are so and I dont usually call people names (I detest it for the most part) but your an ass. I have 3 combat tours and a service disability (although I dont advertise it) The only thing my military service afforded me was a sense of responsibility to myself, my family and my country! The rest is on me and my abilities. It wasn't a matter of fortune or luck as you would want to believe! Your words are those of a true coward, I have had a member of my family in the US military since Bunker hill, My grandfather is a highly decorated veteran of Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal! My father marched across the Chosin Resv. in Korea. My daughter has more balls than you do. My family has given more to this country than yours I am confident of that. And I say thank you to my past relatives each and every day!

The next election will be about who can best shepherd the country through a rough, global economic crisis. The first thing the Republican candidates will need to do is decide if economics is a science (like cliimate change) with predictive models and calls for action, or if it is a social science (like sociology), where it is understood that behavior is the driving force and observations and studies are done to understand the motivation for that behavior. Who will Gov. Romney listen to and read when it comes to the economy? Who will Gov. Perry listen to and appoint to positions? The American people will want to know who they can trust to tell them the truth, to watch out for them, to weigh and consider possible options for government action. The election will be about that.

kate, thanks for a meaningful response and discussion. I agree in part wih your thoughs. This country has a 14 trillion dollar debt and projected deficit spending over the next 10 years that will add at least 8 trillion dollars to that number. The debt is unsustainable. So yes, we need a President who has the ability to shepherd this nation through a rough global crisis. It will be important for the President to bring people together in this nation and not partake in "talking points" that allienate and or divide Americans. I do question Obama's ability to be such a leader based on my observations of his style during his first 2 years in office. Free enterprise is the machine that can turn this economy around. We need tax reform and entitlement reform. Different people differ on how to accomplish that goal. The President should be bringing these parties together to find common ground and not agitate the situation before hand and then expect a reasonable outcome. Trust will be an important part of a person's decision. Jobs and the economy will also be a factor.

So Dan Romney can go on vacation to his multi-million dollar home, but President Obama can't go on vacation at all. Do you know the meaning of hypocrite? Look it up because you're one.

Dan no mention of the millions of jobs Romney has sent over seas. Why not?

Dan no mention of the 11% approval ratings of the tea people GOP. Why Not?

Are you ashamed of the tea peoples record?

Perry looks as if he's pulling a bad Marlon Brando imitation. It's a cigarette, dufus, big difference not that you care.

I must admit at least Wolf Blizer is one of they ever decreasing number of Americans on CNN. What's up with CNN hiring all these British and Australian newscasters? Don't tell me there aren't any Americans looking for a job.

Did he say that the tea people GOP were at 11% approval Dan?

It depends on what you call an American Dan. All Americans don't have to look and act like you to be Americans, think goodness for that we couldn't stand any more like you.

If you want to believe that, you must have also believed in hope and change in 2008. Now who is delusional. Oh, and I was referring us US citizens; it seems CNN likes to pass them up.

Let me get this straight Dan. If we don't look and think like you we're not US citizens? You need to stop digging, your hole is already to deep to get out of.

I can tell you with out a doubt! Pres. Reagan gave us military people a feeling of competence far far more than Mr Carter did!

Actually the Title will go the Bush and the 112th Congress. Bush will be the worse President and the 112th Congress the worst Congress in US History. But then the people in Texas writing the History books will probably edit it out anyway.

Bush gave us the worse recession since the great depression, 2 wars and about $7 Trillion Dollars added to our debt and the 112th Congress has done nothing, nothing at all.

You really need to stop posting false information. Bush added 6 trillion in deficit spending in 8 years. Obama has added 4 trillion in less tha 3 years. Obama is on track to out spend Bush. You also don't mention Pelosi and Reid and their role, who didn't even bother to pass a budget. If the Congress would have approved his only budget proposal back in April, the deficits would be higher. Even the Democrats, all of them, wouldn't vot for that one.

You should stick to cut and paste from all the liberal progressive sources you reprint for every day. You can post plenty of misleading informaion that way and blame them when you are wrong.

So tell us Tony. Just what has the 112th congress done on jobs, the economy helping the American people in 8 months? What meaningful legislation have they passed?

And who blocked the 111th congress from passing a budget? Oh that was the tea people GOP in the senate right, you know the filibuster. Come on Tony, you're beginning to sound ignorant.

Lets say the House passed a Republican supported jobs bill with their concept to create jobs. You really think it has a prayer in the Senate? Do you really think the President would sign it?

This "talking point" about not being able to pass a budget in the senate due to Republicans is just that a talking point. There is zero basis of fact. Can you say Harry Reid? The Democrats controlled Congress and the White House. They didn't want to have a budget out there in full view because they felt it would hurt their chances of keeping control of Congress if people saw all the spending they were proposing.

Americans have a right to stand up for what they believe. Even if they call themselves a Tea Party. With the debt this nation has and the projected deficit spending there needs to be some voice of reason. Why is it OK for liberals to have their causes, but not people who disagree with them? This country cannot keep racking up debt without consequences. Do we have to learn that the hard way? Social programs will really be cut, not reformed when that happens.

This "talking point" about not being able to pass a budget in the senate due to Republicans is just that a talking point. There is zero basis of fact.

Oh Tony, Tony, Tony. Just got to the congressional web site and see the hundreds of pieces of legislation the congress passed and sent to the senate from 2006 to 2010 and the tea people GOP filibustered. Facts Tony Facts not your BS. Facts aren't you strong suit are they Tony.

Too bad you have to become nasty an not just stick to the discussion. You know very well bills get changed and that both parties use the same tactics. You have me confused anyway as I don't understand what you mean by the Congress passed and sent a bill to the senate.......My point stands, before the mid-tem election, the Democrats had total control, The House, the Senate and the White House.

And what was that guys name running for Senator in Pennsylvania - the one looking for a guaranteed job?

Dan G -

That would be Joe Sestak, probably the hardest-working Congressional representative my district has ever had. A guy who would've worked just as hard as a Senator. A guy who wasn't afraid to hold town halls and give ample time and respect to people who showed up that didn't agree with him. A guy who's very much missed by many of his constituents who think he could easily win his old seat back if he ran again next year. Is that the guy you meant?

Oh, and that "guaranteed job" non-troversy was de-bunked years ago.

Not that I know what any of this has to do with Mitt Romney's campaign.....

That made my day, thanks!

O'bama purchased land for his house from a convicted felon for pennies on the dollar and we're talking about Romney's house.....classic

I'm NOT talking about Romney's house! Geez, can't ya read???!!! I AM, however, talking about his uncanny ability to talk outta both sides of his mouth and his a$$ at the same time. Near Olympian agility!

Obama purchased a strip of land from Tony Reczko, not the house! Facts are obviously not your strong suit! If you have any evidence of wrongdoing, bring it on! Meantime, put your dunce cap on and go sit in the corner!

And that's the way he'd run the country if elected President Auntie Fascist. Change orders out the wazoo, costing us tax payers billions of borrowed dollars for nothing. That's the way the tea people GOP operates, cut taxes on the rich and borrow money on the credit card to pay for the revenue short fall. It started with Regan continued with Bush I and Bush II, Clinton cleaned up the three republicans mess and left with a surplus, now President Obama is trying to do the same, but the tea people GOP are getting in his way.

guru, apply some honesty and acknowledge that Romney's "floundering campaign" is currently polling ahead vs President Food Stamps with the American people....... Obviously anything can happen but if Romney is floundering what is the status of your media-created rock star turned Jimmy Carter the 2nd in less than 3 years?

Today yes Romney might win against Obama but by Nov 2012 Romney will be gone.

Gregor, the tea people GOP don't even like Romney. The reason he's polling ahead of President Obama is because when ask who they'd vote for Democrats are answering Romney because they want him to be the tea people GOP candidate. Do pay attention and try to keep up.

Gregor, pushing the fact that President Obama does not want the people to starve by wanting to give food stamps is not a bad thing.

The republicans want people to starve, no food for the poor, because we have to protect the rich from paying fair taxes.

Good post, way to point out that republicans hate the American people but love their rich contributors.

Union jobs are no longer viable in 21st century. All of us want cheaper and cheaper products. China is making products with cheap labor, American CEOs send all manufacturing jobs overseas. This is how Romney has operated and become a 250 million dollar man.

What we need next is cheaper and/or fewer politicians, state and federal and state employees.

Speaking of China, where is all of the right wing "Right to Life" banner wavers when it comes to China's policies on abortion? Oh never mind you might have to pay a living wage and Wal-Mart might have to raise their prices. Sorry, forgot.

Gurudev, allow me to respectfully disagree with you.

The issue of union jobs isn't, in fact, "cheaper and cheaper" goods. It's an attempt by ideologists from the very right-wing Milton Friedman Chicago School of Economics to break the American worker to a wage level BELOW that of the lowest-paid Chinese, Singapore, Phillipines or Pakistani worker.

It's an effort by ideologues to turn the American economy into a Japanese-style cartel political economy - and unions stand in the way of that. It's an effort by right-wing ideologues to make a massive transfer of public assets and funds to the private sector, essentially theft from the taxpayers, through "privatization" that produces less quality and gives some buddy-buddy pals (Cheney and halliburton come to mind) immense profits. Unions stand in the way of that, too.

And, as Thomas Frank chronicles brutally in The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruined Government, Enriched Themselves, and Beggared America, the most vital thing in attacking unions is to de-fund contributors to moderate and progressive candidates. Unions stand in the way of that.

The Tea Party and its corporate masters are enemies of this nation. The ultra-right is actually a revolutionary movement seeking a coup d'etat. And most Americans won't stand for it.

Northstar, excellent post, Thanks for your compliment, too. Yes, these treacherous creatures are attempting to use "shock tactics" that we all know now have failed miserably in country after country where it has been applied, not producing "freedom" and a "self-regulating market," but instead massive explosions of poverty, unemployment, skyrocketing prices - paying attention, gurudev? - and at times death in huge numbers when repression was needed to force people to bow down under the "reforms." What the Tea Party advocates caused the global economic crisis already - and now they want to drag this country deeper into the policies that are KNOWN failures, every time applied since the late 1960's.

You call your fellow Americans names for having a different set of opinions and values..."treacherous creatures"? What a sad person you are. They might just want whats best for their families, and both parties are fully to blame for this state of affairs, you know this, dont you?

Never mind...