Bachmann Strikes Again

Speaking of Right Wing Crazies, Michelle Bachmann is back in the news, handing over more ammo to people like me, people who think that she has a little (OK, a lot) of trouble keeping the facts straight. Three weeks ago, she said the HPV vaccine, used to prevent cervical cancer, can cause mental retardation. This time.she seems to be having trouble keeping info about our ECONOMY straight. I'm going to repeat that, it might be vaugely important. The woman who wants to be in charge of the ECONOMY can't even get facts about it in the states right. She was in Sioux City, Iowa, it was like any other town hall. Talk about why she should be elected, make Obama one termer, take questions. She was asked about the Keystone Pipeline, a proposal that would create an oil pipeline between Alberta, Canada and Texas. She spoke in support of it and then made her mistake. She "heard" that North Dakota "is the only nation running a surplus, because they were using their resources." The first part makes me a little nervous, if only because that makes it seem like she doesn't even have a clue about the makeup of the country. But North Dakota was one of FOUR STATES to make a surplus. Her spokeswoman said that the point was that Ms. Bachmann views energy in terms of economics, while the President views it as environmental. My question is, why can't it be both? I believe green energy could create just as many jobs and oil does. Eventually, in fact, green jobs may outnumber oil. The problem with her latest statement is, she's repeating all these things that seem pretty easy to verify. So why doesn't she? Is she forgetful? Or is she, perhaps, in the same line as every other politician: the line of misinformation, of spinning? One can only wonder if she is the right choice for America.

Herman Cain

How many would have guessed that a former pizza business CEO with no political experience would be picking up steam in the primaries? But those are the strange times we live in, where everyone is so frustrated with the elected officials who don't do anything, they'll take anything. Including, judging from his past statements, a right winger with a couple of conspiracy theories. Starting with an interview he gave to the Wall Street Journal, in which he said the protests against Wall Street were organized to distract from Obama's failing's as a president. But then he took it a step farther and said that if you are poor, and you have no job, you have only yourself to blame. Not Wall Street, and not the big banks, because God knows that they were angels, with their subprime mortgages and extensive loaning to anyone with a pulse. Nope, it is all your fault. As a person with no job, I think I have the right to say: this guy is an idiot. First of all, it flies in the face of the truth: that because of the banks and Wall Street selling these risky loans and what not, we had a financial catastrophe. Said catastrophe caused millions of people to get laid off/fired. It also had to have increased the number of poor people out there. But Cain seems to think the catastrophe of the past is over. this jackass doesn't seem to realize that even though it happened three years ago, we are still feeling the effects now.

Meantime, his tax plan isn't that great either. Cain has been touting a nine percent flat income tax, nine percent national sales tax, and scrapping the rest of the code. Michael Linden of the  Center for American Progress ran the numbers. As it turns out, not only does the "9-9-9" tax hurt poor people more, it doesn't come anywhere near raising the same amount of revenues that the current tax code does. It would only raise 1.3 trillion dollars. Sounds like a lot, right? Turns out, that is only 9.2% of our Gross Domestic Product. We collected twice of that in 2007. So Herman Cain cut revenues in half. And even if we somehow cut spending to the "historic average", we would have deficits that are 11 percent of GDP, which is bigger than any since WW2. Hell, that's more than the past three years! The poor, who currently pay 2 percent in tax would see a jump to 18 percent (Nine percent on income, 9 percent on spending). Middle classers, what's left of them, can expect an increase from 14 to 18 percent. And the rich? Theirs would go from 28 to 11 percent. This is just one more example of the lack of reality on the Republican side. And, as Meg Ryan might say, "Instead of a brain, you have a cash register. Instead of a heart, a bottom line."

New Jobs plan

As everyone knows, the President is supposed to be coming up with a jobs plan. The White House, of course, says there are some new ideas at the table. The plan is expected to cost anywhere from 300 to 400 billion dollars, which would be paid for by closing tax loopholes and raising the wealthiest people's tax rate. I see a problem already: the Republican Party, as it stands right now, is far too much to the right. They will view any loophole closing as a tax increase. Therefore, this plan has a limited chance of passing. Among the things being considered is an extension of the payroll tax cut, which cuts 2 percent off the amount employees pay into social security. that's not much, but it will add up. Also included is money to extend unemployment benefits, as well as 150 billion on infrastructure. Among the new ideas getting tossed around are tax cuts for companies that hire Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, tax cuts for hiring those who have been unemployed for a long time. Now, the question is whether or not it will work. Many economists believe that it isn't big enough. And therein lies another problem: if he takes a stand for anything bigger, he'll get shut down. So, don't expect to any growth, or jobs, for a long time.

Florida welfare requirements

Florida has just passed a law that is, in my estimate, common sense and should be the law of the land: welfare recipients in the state of Florida must pass a drug test. However, the ACLU says this is a violation of their constitutional rights, namely, the right preventing unreasonable search and seizures. However, the ACLU fails to realize that welfare is, in itself, a warrant to find if they are addicted to drugs. Because if they are, we don't know that welfare will not go for drugs. The tests are around 35 dollars, but the person will be reimbursed if they come back negative.

Michelle on the Environment

While we are talking about Michelle Bachmann, it is importent to talk about the fact that she has admitted to considering drilling in the Everglades if it meant getting us off the dependance on oil. She also claims to want to do it without harming the environment. I can already point out some hypocrisy: she has admitted to wanting to shut down the EPA, because it "kills jobs." Instead, she wants to rely on a panel of experts in order to figure out if it's safe to drill somewhere. Question: what good are jobs if you die from health problems, which could have been prevented by environmental protection? So why should a person care? I had to look for the facts on this one, and here they are: The Everglades are a watershed. For those of you who didn't major in science, watersheds are basically a system of water flowing to and from a basin. So why should people care if something happens to the everglades? First of all, as a watershed, it prevents flooding. Secondly, it supplies water. Which means, if you drill there, and something goes wrong, the water becomes toxic, which means no drinking and no bathing. People would have to relocate. So what could go wrong? A leak, a spill, an explosion, all these things. I point at the Deepwater Horizon and say "That's what could happen." This is very irresponsible of her, and I hope she reconsiders.

More immigration bills are passed...

But, as Alabama will tell you, that doesn't necessarily mean they will go into effect anytime soon. U.S. Judge Sharon Blackburn was lobbied by church leaders, the Justice Department, and the ACLU. In a two page order, Ms. Blackburn has said that she is stopping it because there was no time to go over the legality and constitutionality of the bill. The bill does the basics, such as checking on those who are suspected of being immigrants, but it also goes further. Under this law, the status of school students will also be questioned. I think we need to ask for clarification here. Are the students in question children of illegals? Were these children born in the U.S.? If so, then they cannot be deported due to the 14th Amendment. State officials have been saying that undocumented immigrants would still have access to education in public schools. But I highly doubt the schools are as good in the country they get deported back to.

Hurricane Jokes

Leave it to a Republican to make "jokes" about Hurricane Irene. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the person who made the joke is Michelle Bachmann, who is currently running for the Presidency. Bachmann suggested that the disasters were happening because Washington was not listening to voters, and continuing spending. If it is a joke, I am less than amused. I believe this is a horrible lack of empathy for the people that she hopes to lead. This had no business being thought, let alone said. The Tea Party wishes to elect someone who obviously doesn't care. It is for this, amongst other reasons, that I label Mrs. Bachmann a "fail." She should not be nominated, and if she is, Democrats will, in my opinon, hold the White House. As they so obviously should.

The GOP has a gay candidate?

Yep, and I can guarantee you have never heard of him. His name is Fred Karger, the first openly gay person to run on any party. So how come we haven't heard of this man? Well, the media isn't helping matters. He was excluded at the Iowa GOP debate, and there is a good chance he will be at the next debate on September 7th, at the Reagan Library. So what is he running on? He wants to eliminate the Defense of Marriage Act, increase finding cures and vaccines for HIV/AIDS, get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, lower the voting age, and legalize Marijuana, as well as tax it. These are just a few of his platform pieces, and I do support some of his goals. However, whether I would support his candidacy is something else. I will put in an update when I have decided. In the meantime, to get an idea of some of his other positions, I would recommend going to fredkarger.com and click on issues.

Are you happy with the debt deal?

Most Republicans aren't. Some have gone so far as to air this displeasure, including Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana. Mr. Jindal apparently believes that compromise is to be avoided, saying that the "press roots for it..." Damn straight we do. Compromise is a sign of willing to work for the greater good. But that doesn't fit in with the extremists in the Party. He has even gone so far as to say the idea of default was overblown. Was it really? Without a debt limit increase, we wouldn't be able to pay bills. Debt would pile up, our credit rating would go down, we'd end up paying even more on our outstanding bills.  So, to me, it was, and still is, a very real possibility. He also went so far as to say the Wall Street traders, who still vote Republican, for some reason, would call for raising the debt limit. That's because they would lose money otherwise. And now, a couple of questions for Mr. Jindal. First off, why not compromise? It'd would make you look like you aren't being held hostage by the base. You would bring in the moderates, which would help your political prospects. So why not compromise? The second question is for all Republicans who think there was no chance of defaulting: What if you are wrong? Would you be willing to stake money, the lower classes jobs, YOUR jobs, and who knows what else on something like that? I don't think you would. Just one more sign that the Republican Party is not looking out for us.

Rush Limbaugh is a Metorologist!?

And if you want to see the further disconnect between conservatism and sanity, there is no need to look and further than everyone's favorite, Rush Limbaugh. This man, Rush, has said, albeit last month, that there is no extreme heat. No extreme heat, it's all because of that heat index, which is how hot it feels when you add in the humidity. I hate to say this....no that's no true. I'll enjoy saying this. I don't know any weather group that has been saying the heat index is the real temperature. You go to weather.com, and pull up current temperatures. As of 6:15 p.m., much of the South has been having temperatures over 100 degrees, for over a month in a row. At 6 P.M., and this is the man who claims there is no heat wave. Of course there's no heat wave, Rush, you get to sit in an air conditioned building! Jeremiah Morris just dropped dead while running in Kansas City, Missouri's "Warrior Dash." So what if his temperature got as high as 111 degrees and he had organ damage. His 29th birthday will be his memorial service, but of course there's no heat wave! 12 other people had to go to the hospital, but it wasn't because of the heat! There's probably going to be blackouts from all the people running there air conditions, but they are just doing it for the hell of it, because there's no heat wave! It was 114 degrees in Arkansas, but that's normal for the time of year! DonTeria Searcy and Forrest Jones passed out at football practice in Atlanta and and Florida, but there's no heat wave! Wade McLain, a 55 year old from Texas passed out during football practice, and the medical examiners decided it was from heat. What the hell do they know, they're just professionals. There's no heat wave! Rush, thank you. I'm so glad you could set us all straight on this.

Republicans on the Slur

Just when I thought the Republican Party couldn't go any further out of its mind, I found just how wrong I was. Doug Lamborn, of Colorado, was on a radio show, giving an interview, when he said, "Even if some...say 'Well, the Republicans should have done this...or that,' they will still hold the president responsible. I don't even want to be associated with him. It's like touching a tar baby....you're stuck and you're a part of the problem now..." How many get the tar baby reference? For those who don't, it has two connotations. The first one, the one I have heard of, is a reference to the Uncle Remus stories of B'rer Fox building a tar baby to catch B'rer Rabbit. The other, which I had never before heard, is a derogatory reference to an African American. While he is not the First Republican to use the phrase (Mitt Romney and John McCain did as well), he is the first one that I know of to refer to the President of the United States in this way. He did end up issuing an apology that, to me, isn't a real one at all. He said that he was sorry and that he shouldn't have used a term that "some may find insensitive." Let's ignore the fact he's a politician for a second. To me, it's not genuine because he did not say he found it offensive, but that some may. He then went on to say that he was criticizing the policies. The context, however, doesn't seem to fit that idea. The President has not commented.

Bachmann for President?

The woman at the head of the Tea Party Caucus has been touring nonstop, it seems. And at all her stops, from Iowa to South Carolina, she has been easily gathering the conservative support that will be of the utmost necessity, should she choose to run. And, like Obama before her, she is going grassroots. the only real difference is that Obama didn't court those who were silent during the Bush spending, but decided to start whining once he took over. Hypocrisy, nice to meet you. She may be able to draw crowds, but she can also do something else: make gaffes that makes Sarah Palin look like a genius in comparison. (There's something I never thought that I would be would be saying.) Let's start with the most recent example: while in New Hampshire, she said that the American Revolution started in Lexington and Concord, New Hampshire. All right, geography students, where's Lexington and Concord? I hope to god you said Massachusetts, because that's correct. Bachmann walked it back, but the fact that she made that mistake makes one wonder why she feels so qualified. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. In 2003, she wrote a Christmas letter, in which she talked about...how her children would make good spouses. Instead of, say, Jesus, or family events. Nope, Christmas is apparently about pimping out your kids. In July of 2007, she, among other Representatives, went to Iraq. And while most came back, with doubts, (i.e., the smart ones, or sane ones) she came back more convinced than ever that they were doing right. Also, she compared the Mall of America to Saddam Hussein's palace, size wise. Yes, a dictator leaves in the Mall of America and uses chemical weapons on the citizens. Last month, she accused Keith Ellison, a fellow Representative, of consorting with terrorists. Did I mention that he's a Muslim? Yep, apparently being a Muslim automatically makes you a terrorist. Plus she has a gay stepsister she failed to mention. So, she has no idea on geography, no honesty, and no sense of what not to say. And you conservatives want to hand control of the country to her?  Please, have mercy on us.

Conservatives Lay Out $2 Trillion Dollar Spending Cuts

And it tackles 55 different programs and agencies, such as Amtrak, Public Housing, and International Aid, amongst other things. But not on the list were: defense and entitlements, known as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. It has not been endorsed, but it is the most specific that the Republicans have come up with. Another idea involved is to, when unemployment is down, freeze welfare spending at the same amount it was in 2007. Honestly, I don't expect the Republican Party to honestly look at cutting defense. They've never done it before, so why start now? They'll probably hit up the entitlements and welfare. If the republicans were seriously interested in cutting spending and deficits, they would stop giving away tax cuts, and Democrats would stand up when they actually tried. But that's like saying North Korea will disarm. Not going to happen. On this plan, many financial experts say it can't be done, because it would cut the government by at least half within the next nine years. Here's the deal: we can no longer afford the Sacred Cows. We must reform Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and cut defense. If someone has some ideas, I'd like to hear them.

State bankruptcy?

Many supporters of the idea that many states have so much debt, that the only way for them to get out of it would be to allow states the ability to go bankrupt. The problems are not just short term funding, or lack there of, but things like pension funds that can't pay, which takes money from health care and education. As of right now, there is no bill bieng tossed, but even if there were, there would be many problems getting it passed, due to the constitution, or somehow making the states problems worse.

UPDATE: A bill to allow bankruptcy could be introduced in Congress within a month, according to Newt Gingrich. And while there was no comment on who would introduce it, he did say there was bipartisan support in the house and the Senate, and that they had been looking at it for three or four months. No states have currently shown interest in this, and it is no surprise. Who wants to pilot a huge, complex bureaucracy through a courtroom? It would take large amounts of time that few may actually have.

Goodbye Virtual Fence

The Virtual Fence: A "fence" made of sensors and cameras that are cover the gaps between the actual wall between Mexico and the United States, and are monitored by border patrolmen. The project is officially canceled after 1 billion dollars was spent on it. Instead, the federal government has decided to take a "region by region approach," relying on the physical geography, among other things, to decide how to protect the border. It has been well known for overrunning costs and being delayed constantly. Originally planned at seven billion to cover the entire border, 2,000 miles, in a test program, it cost 1 billion to cover the 53 miles that make up the Arizona border. In the meantime, there are reports saying that the size of the Border Patrol has increased to
20,500. Also, the number of illegals who are detained has dropped to 463,000 as of last year.

You're Outta Here!

Michael Steele, who spent the last two years going from gaffe to gaffe, has been replaced. On Friday, he was replaced by Reince Priebus, the head of the Wisconsin Republican Party. He was once an attourney, but advised Ron Johnson, who beat Russ Feingold, and Paul Ryan, but also has ties to Mr. Steele. You see, Mr. Priebus had been the head of Steele's 2009 campaign, and was general council to Mr. Steele. The vote to elect him was not straightforward: it took seven rounds worth of votes, over four hours, to get the majority of votes. Steele dropped at halfway when he realized he couldn't get the votes he needed.

Gun Control

Carolyn McCarthy is known as one of the fiercest gun control advocates ever. and next week, she will be releasing a bill that outlaws high capacity magazines, which, is gun clips which hold high levels of bullets. It would also outlaw selling or giving away clips that have more than ten rounds, like the expired Brady Bill, but this new one would also cover the ones before that, which Brady did not. It carries ten years in prison if guilty. This is a personal thing for her, as her husband was killed, and her son injured by someone who was shooting with a high capacity magazine in 1993. However, guns rights advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say gun control legislation has no real chance of passing, even given the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords, a Representative of Arizona. We need to do something. If not this, then we should consider Rep. Pter King's bill, which would ban guns ONLY when 1,000 feet or less from a Congressperson.

Tax reforms

Next Thursday may be the beginning of a new wave of tax reforms that haven't been seen since Reagan, in the Ways and Means Committee. Dave Camp, of Michigan, has said that with nine out of ten families using help of some kind to prepare taxes, the tax code is "too complex." A problem with this plan is that Mr. Camp has shown an unwillingness to raise taxes. Among the reforms that should be considered is the corporate tax reform. Timothy Geithner has decided to meet with business execs to discuss reformations. The main goal, according to business and tax experts, would be to cut the top rate to thirty percent. Seems fairly easy, right? Wrong. To accomplish this will require cutting certain breaks, or lowering how much a person could get, which I have no doubt Mr. Camp would consider tax increases. Among the top things needing reform, according to experts? First things first, oil refineries get a forty five cent credit for blending ethanol with gasoline.  Who's idea was this? I don't think that's even possible. And if it is, who verifies that its been done? Just by breaking this, we can see a 32 billion dollar revenue increase over five years. Next is Section 199, in which certain things made in the U.S. would be taxed at a lower rate. The "manufacturing" part, however, is so unspecific that it could cover such things as hamburger making for fast food chains, for instance. By fixing this, the U.S. could pick up 62 billion dollars. It's a start, anyway.

Friday At The GOP

Today is a big day for the Republican Party. Today, they will decide on whether or not Michael Steele should keep his job as the head of the Republican National Committee. Before he was elected head of the RNC, he was Lt. Gov. of the state of Maryland. He became the head of the RNC in 2009, and preceded to commit major gaffes, such as certain members ending up in a bondage themed strip club, or 20 million dollars worth of debt. Today's vote will be done by secret ballot, no one knowing who voted how. in order to win the seat, a candidate will need to earn 85 votes. There are currently no predictions on who will win, as there are expected to be several rounds worth of voting. Other concerns to the winner will include what may be the start of a Republican Civil War, where conservatives and tea party members are nominating ever increasing right-wingers. Which means the destruction of moderates and establishment people, such as Mike Castle or Bob Bennett, as well as re-attracting the donors who left Mr. Steele. and while things could change, the current favorite appears to be Republican Party Chairman for Wisconson, as well as former Steele booster, Reince Priebus.

When You Thought You'd Heard It All

The surprise is not the fact that most conservatives support spending cuts. The surprise is that, for the first time that I know of, a majority of Republicans support Spending Cuts across the board, including the military, instead of everything except military. Other responses were to pass a balanced budget amendment (good luck with that), tax cuts (which ADD to the deficit. 3 percent of people are sniffing markers.), and fixing Social Security and Medicare (where to start?). And, perhaps not so surprisingly, more people have confidence that the incoming Republicans will cut spending, instead of the returning Republicans.

Reality over GOP

You know that old saying, "The next leader will be the one who's the bigger liar?" Well, in the case of the GOP, this fits in with them. They have promised to usher in an era of spending cuts. But, like all politicians, what they say may not necessarily be the case. For example, they have said they would cut $100 billion in spending (No, I did not make a typo) within the first year. OK, our deficit is at least $1.3 trillion. (Again, no typo) $100 billion is less than a percent. It simply isn't enough. Second of all, Congress has had trouble getting $100 billion dollar cuts within ten years, never mind a single year. So, they are violating mathematics as well as history. And what are they cutting? No one has any clue, because they would exempt defense, emergency funds, and the entitlement programs. Because the best plan is one that either doesn't exist, or is unclear. Next is the pledge to return spending to 2008 levels. You know, right as the economy was going to hell. Their main concern is non-discretionary spending, which is--what? No, really, they have yet to define what that means. The only good thing for this is that they are following the recommendations of the president's deficit reduction committee. Only they said to start in 2013. And on top of that, they have made it harder to reconcile bills, by no longer requiring that increases in spending or tax cuts must be made up for with tax raises or spending cuts elsewhere.

It's official: Rush Limbaugh's a moron.

Rush Limbaugh continued to push back against Democrats’ criticism of violent rhetoric in connection with the Tucson shootings, suggesting that the suspected shooter, Jared Loughner, was smirking in his latest photo for a reason.
"What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that...the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he's just a victim. He's the latest in a never-ending parade of victims brought about by the unfairness of America...That smiling mug shot -- this guy clearly understands he's getting all the attention and he understands he's got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything that they can to make sure he's not convicted of murder - but something lesser."

Obtained from politico.com

Dennis Kucinich

America's favorite liberal (ok, bit of a stretch, I know, but stick with me) is in danger of losing his seat, thanks to the redistricting that takes place every ten years. Having lost his second presidential bid, he has won his eighth term representing the Cleveland, Ohio area. There is speculation that his seat will be outright eliminated by the Republicans, which means one of two things: he can retire, or he can run in one of the neighboring districts. And so, he has ramped up his appearances, sent out emails, and done all of the things that you would expect a soon to be eliminated politician to do. He could run against Marcia Fudge, which many say would be easier for him, or he could run against Sutton, who's district is, perhaps, more conservative. But, no matter which person he runs against, if it comes down to that, will be a guarentee that he will win. In Ms. Fudge's district, he would probably lose the African American vote, as she is black. If he runs in Ms. Sutton's district, the problem will be convincing EMILY'S List, which has a history of supporting female candidates, to endorse him. All right, so here's the deal: don't expect this guy to stick around. He has gone so far as to say that if he would have to have a primary battle, it would not focus on his opponent. That, alone, will probably end things for him.

Removing the Death from Death Penalty

Welcome to the great state of Illinois, where, if you kill someone, you might get off with thirty to life, and consider yourself lucky for that. After ten years worth of debating, the state legislature voted to end the Death Penalty. The move is especially noteworthy, as the bill passed just hours before the new lawmakers were to be sworn in. It is now up to the governor, Patrick Quinn, to decide whether or not to sign the bill. If he does, Illinois would become the sixteenth state to outlaw the Death Penalty. It passed the Senate 32 to 25, and the House passed it 60 to 54. No executions have been done since Republican governor, George Ryan, ended up commuting the sentences of those on Death Row in 2000.

Republican Heresy

And they are never called on it, for some reason. The top contenders for the GOP nod for President: Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee have all made calls for the limiting of greenhouse gases. If you're a liberal, read: environmentalists. A few have even comitted what may be seen as political suicide, by embracing cap and trade. A cap and trade is where the government puts a limit on how much pollution a company may create. If they want, or need, more, they can buy from the government or each other. Probably, in my mind, not the best system ever invented. Anyway, if you dig, you'll find things, such as Tim Pawlenty's guess that Congress, in 2008, would pass a system in a year, year and a half. He even went so far as to say he "supported a reasonable cap and trade system." Even Sarah Palin has said she "believes some activities contribute to ...climate change," as well as saying "we have to do something about it." She has since flipflopped, saying that it is a "snake oil science." Really, Sarah? Here's an idea: before you call on anyone for flipflopping, make sure to youtube yourself on global warming. But it doesn't end with just the Presidential nominees. John Boehner, now Speaker of The House, and Represenitive of the Cheeto-State, has said "Humans clearly contribute to this...It depends what kind of safety valves there are." Watch as conservatives start to say that global warming is either: A.) not real, B.) not man made, or C.) does not require cap and trade, which is simply inefficient and awkward, but instead requires nuclear, wind, or solar energies, as well as clean coal, which just doesn't exist.