Year: 2011

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Politics

Dennis Kucinich Providing Talking Points For Republicans

Gadaffi

Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic Congressman from Ohio is unhappy with President Obama, and he has been unhappy for some time now. Mr. Kucinich has accused President Obama of bypassing Congress, and engaging in what he calls, a war on Libya. Mr. Kucinich is so mad at the President, he’s even floated the idea of impeachment.

But once Kucinich had a chance to see the process play out in Libya, and the potential overthrow of a dictator who has murdered countless innocent people living in his country including some Americans, one would think Kucinich would have a change of heart and realize that getting rid of Gaddafi is for the best. But one would be wrong to think that.

Dennis Kucinich is still upset about the actions in Libya and he is now calling for the NATO generals to be held accountable for ending Qadhafi’s reign of terror.

Kucinich wrote;

NATO’s top commanders may have acted under color of international law but they are not exempt from international law. If members of the Gaddafi Regime are to be held accountable, NATO’s top commanders must also be held accountable through the International Criminal Court for all civilian deaths resulting from bombing. Otherwise we will have witnessed the triumph of a new international gangsterism.

A little history about Gadaffi

Through the 1970s and 1980s Gaddafi supported terrorism against the United States and Western nations. In 1987 he was caught red-handed ordering terror attacks that killed American servicemen in Germany; he also supported the IRA in its murder campaign in Great Britain. Finally, the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 innocents from 21 nations was carried out by a Libyan agent.

In the 1988 aircraft bombing 189 Americans lost their lives. A further 43 UK citizens were murdered. There are more than 200 reasons for getting Gaddafi out of power and, if he survives, to put him on trial for his many outrages.

The people of Libya requested NATO’s intervention. They are on a mission to save their own lives from a madman who proved time and again that killing is a major part of his resume. Dennis Kucinich needs to set his brand of politics aside and realize the magnitude of what’s happening in Libya and the lives being saved. And he also needs to stop giving Republicans their next dumb talking points.

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MSNBC Politics

Al Sharpton Gets New Job On Television

 

After months of hosting the 6pm slot on MSNBC, Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and minister, got the nod from MSNBC ‘s management to be the host of a new show, premiering August 29th at 6PM. The show will be called PoliticsNation.

The announcement was made by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC.

PoliticsNation will debut on August 29. In his new role, Sharpton will lead a lively and informed discussion of the top headlines, bringing viewers his take on events in his signature style. “I’ve known Rev. Sharpton for over a decade and have tremendous respect for him. He has always been one of our most thoughtful and entertaining guests,” said Griffin. “I’m thrilled that he’s now reached a point in his career where he’s able to devote himself to hosting a nightly show. ‘PoliticsNation’ is going to be an incredibly strong kick-off to our evening schedule.”

In addition to being a frequent guest on MSNBC throughout the network’s history, Rev. Sharpton has also served as an occasional guest host on several programs, most recently on “MSNBC Live at 6PM” and “The Ed Show.” He joins the network at a time where MSNBC has experienced tremendous ratings growth, consistently topping CNN in primetime programming.

“I am very happy and honored to join the MSNBC team as we collectively try to get America to ’Lean Forward’ Sharpton said. It’s is a natural extension of my life work and growth. We all learn from our pain and stand up from our stumbling and one must either learn to lean forward or fall backwards. I’m glad they have given me the opportunity to continue my forward lean.”

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Featured United States

Teaparty Congressman Collects Disability From His Union Job

U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, R Minn. concedes the race to Rick Nolan at his headquarters in Hinckley, Minn., Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Andy King)

Rep. Chip Cravaack won the midterm election for Minnesota in 2010, thanks in part to his extreme Teaparty platform. The newly elected congressman even voted for the Paul Ryan Teaparty backed budget, that will end medicare and replace it with a voucher program which seniors would be expected to use to satisfy their health needs.

But a little overlooked fact about Chip Cravaack is that he worked as a pilot for the Northwest Airlines as recently as 2007 and being a pilot means that you are a member of a Union, thus receiving the benefits of union negotiated salaries, vacations and ultimately, disability payments.

Recent financial records released by Cravaack showed that he received  $92,273 in 2010 from disability payments he received from Northwest. At this very same time Cravaack was receiving his checks, he was campaigning in Minnesota promising to end “big government,” and often using the usual Republican talking points of bashing unions.

Oh, and by the way, Chip Cravaack is also a veteran, which means that in addition to his government provided health care in Congress, he also gets benefits from the VA, allowing him to go to any government-owned Veteran’s Administration facility in the nation and receive what he and Teaparty calls, “socialized medicine.”

Only in America. You just gotta love this!

Categories
Ezra Klein michael steel Politics

John Boehner Says No To Job Creation Plan

The nation is suffering. People are in desperate need of work. With an unemployment figures now standing at 9.2%, every concerned party is trying to come up with a plan to put Americans back to work. President Obama has said he will present his plan when Congress returns to work in September, and other Democrats are trying to come up with solutions as well.

One plan being floated around by John Larson, a Democratic Representative from Connecticut, would include jobs creation as part of the duties of the newly formed Super Committee. Larson’s plan would demand the Super Committee, in addition to their main task of coming up with $1.5 trillion in savings, come with a plan to create jobs and lower the unemployment to 5.5% by 2014.

Seems like a great plan. Instead of passing bills through the regular congress and having those bills die in the Republican controlled House of Representatives, Larson’s plan will leave job creation up to the Super Congress, knowing that if this body fails, then the same “triggers” will be activated – cutting from both the military and entitlement programs, as well as revenue increases. This trigger will hurt both Democrats and Republicans, thus a true effort to compromise will be made.

But John Boehner is already pulling the breaks on this plan. Ezra Klein posed the question to Boehner’s office on Friday and filed this report;

 I ran Larson’s proposal by House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) office on Friday afternoon, and it was immediately shot down. The response: Deficit reduction will spur job creation and, therefore, the super committee does not need to take on an additional mission.

“As every economist and every rating agency has made clear, getting our deficit under control is the first step to help get our economy growing again and to create jobs,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for Boehner. “Without knowing the specifics of this proposal, my concern would be this is some sort of new window-dressing for the same tired old, discredited Washington stimulus spending proposals.”

But this reaction is obvious – If Americans work, Republicans lose. So Republican’s job now is to make sure America stays unemployed. That way, they hope to win in the next election.

Categories
Politics Republican

Ben Stein Schools Rick Perry on Basic Economics

Recently, Rick Perry made a statement accusing the Federal Reserve of treason if the chairman Ben Bernanke “prints” more money before the next election. In Perry’s own words,  “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.”

Well, Perry has come under tremendous scrutiny, since he is one of the leading contenders for the Republican nomination. The obvious criticism is not his use of the word “dunno,” and the unpleasant George Bush flashbacks that word conjures up, but the accusation of treason and his apparent lack of knowledge on how economics really works.

So, Ben Stein, another conservative Republican who is known for his economic commentary, felt the need to explain a few things to Rick Perry. Ben wrote;

This economy is stuck in a cruelly slow recovery from a recession that started on Bush 43’s watch. Mr. Obama, a likeable man, is trying to get the economy going again. Mr. Bernanke, who has made many mistakes at the Fed, is also trying desperate measures to get the economy moving again.

One of the measures the Fed is using is to increase the money supply or what Gov. Perry would call “printing money.”

Typically this is a helpful move, although not lately. It’s not a radical move. It’s not anywhere near a “treasonous” move.

It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation.

The idea is to make money cheaper so businesses will borrow and then invest.

That’s simple enough. Make money cheaper, that way business will borrow more to invest, which leads to more hiring, and more purchases made by workers collecting a paycheck, thus, the economy gets moving again.

Or maybe Rick Perry already knew that having the Feds print more money could be beneficial to the economy, and his intention is not to get the economy moving again before the next election, in which case, quite frankly, would be treasonous move on his part.

Categories
Mitt Romney Politics

Unemployed Mitt Romney Breaks Down His $12 Million Home

Mitt Romney is running for President of the United States, and the Republican candidate recently met with a group of unemployed voters in Tamper Florida back in June, and told them of his hardships, claiming that he too was unemployed.

Well luck must have smiled on Mr. Romney since that encounter with the people of Florida, because reports have surfaced saying that the same “unemployed” Romney is breaking down his $12 million California home, which is a 3009 sq foot beach front home in  La Jolla, and is replacing it with an 11,062 sq foot mansion.

It is absolutely amazing what a little luck can do. Apparently, since Romney’s “unemployed” admittance, the poor slob dabbled into some real estate.

In addition to the California house and a townhouse outside of Boston, which is their official primary residence, the Romneys own a $10 million vacation home on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, N.H.

In 2009, they sold the 6,400-square-foot colonial in Belmont, Mass. where they raised their five sons for $3.5 million and their 9,500-square-foot Deer Valley, Utah ski lodge for close to $5.25 million.

Maybe he won the lotto or something…

Categories
Politics Republican

Jon Huntsman Does Not Trust His Fellow Republican Opponents

Jon Huntsman, the only semi sane member of the group of misfits vying for the Republican presidential nomination, recorded an interview on ABC This Week Sunday, in which he tried to separate himself from the GOP heard.

Huntsman was asked a series of questions about the political positions some of his fellow Republican presidential contenders have taken recently. Among some of the questions ABC’s host Jake Tapper asked, was one about Rick Perry and his views on evolution, to which Huntsman cautioned that the Republican party must be careful of the far right views they have adopted. He claims, ” I think there’s a serious problem.  The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem.  We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012.”

But it was the question about Michele Bachmann and her position on the economy, especially her recent stance on not wanting to raise the debt ceiling that got Huntsman putting his distrust of his fellow Republicans on the record.

Question from ABC’s Jake Tapper;

You were one of the only, if not the only Republican candidate, to support the deal to raise the debt ceiling.  You called Congresswoman Bachmann’s position a, quote, “crash and burn” approach. Would you trust a President Bachmann to do the right thing with the economy?

Jon Huntsman, the Presidential contender for the Republican nomination answered;

Well, I wouldn’t necessarily trust any of my opponents right now, who were on a recent debate stage with me, when every single one of them would have allowed this country to default. You can imagine, even given the uncertainty of the marketplace the last several days and even the last couple of weeks, if we had defaulted the first time in the history of the greatest country that ever was, being 25 percent of the world’s GDP and having the largest financial services sector in this world by a long shot, if we had defaulted, Jake, this marketplace would be in absolute turmoil. And people who are already losing enough as it is on their 401(k)s and retirement programs and home valuations, it would have been catastrophic.

Read the rest of ABC’s report here.

Categories
CNN Featured Piers Morgan

Conservatives Slam Christine O Donnell. Call Her A “Buffoon”

So Christine O’Donnell wrote a book. Allow that to digest for a second. Okay, so now that you’re able to contain your laughter, let’s continue.

Christine O’Donnell wrote a book, and in her effort to do some promotion, Miss O’Donnell, the 2010 loosing Republican/Teaparty candidate who became famous for saying, “I am not a witch,” went on CNN’s Piers Morgan Show and later walked off the show in the middle of an interview because Mr. Morgan asked her questions about some statements she once made.

It was natural for Liberals and Progressives to get on Christine for her immature actions, but when Conservatives began getting on her case, then it became obvious that Christine’s antics had opened up a free-fall that we had to get in on.

L. Brent Bozell is the president of  Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog organization. This is what he had to say about O’Donnell’s behavior;

In short, O’Donnell’s behavior was beyond indefensible. It was downright bizarre.

The questions Piers Morgan put forward may have been trite, even seemingly silly, but given to whom they were being posed, they were not inappropriate. He asked if in her heart O’Donnell has committed lust.

He asked her views on gay marriage. He asked her views on witchcraft and on masturbation. Titillating questions? Sure, but O’Donnell has staked out public opinions on all these fronts and it is those public statements she’s made that invite questions like his. She had to know she’d be asked these things when she accepted the interview invitation. If she didn’t then she’s living in a parallel universe. Moreover, Morgan was neither Chris Matthews rude nor Keith Olbermann offensive. He simply asked the questions.

O’Donnell had no right to reject the questions. Even worse, in declaring them inappropriate she made an ass of herself.

Bozell continued;

 She declared she was there to “talk about the issues I chose to talk about in the book,” and when asked by Morgan, “Do you answer that question in the book?” she answered, “I talk about my religious beliefs, yes. I absolutely do.” But she wouldn’t answer his question about gay marriage, and instead accused him of being rude to her.

Nonsensical is too kind. She is a buffoon.

O’Donnell had no right to walk off the set. But in a sense I’m glad she did — if it means she’ll never come back. Conservatives do themselves no favors by defending this woman and she is doing conservatives no favors by going on national television programs to talk about — God only knows what she’ll talk about, or not talk about, next. Please, Christine O’Donnell, call it a day.

Read the rest of Bozell’s article here.

Categories
George Bush Politics Texas United States

Texas Apologizes To America For Bush And Perry

Well it’s about time.

We have been waiting for this apology since Bush first announced his intentions to run for President. And here we are, 10 years later, with an economy in the ditch because Bush took us into two unpaid wars, instituted trillions in tax cuts for the rich, an exploded deficit and spent hundreds of billions in the dumb medicare part D program. And now, another Texan has decided to follow in Bush’s footsteps.

I guess this apology is better late than never!

Categories
Climate change Politics republican candidate

Why Chris Christie Cannot Be President If He Runs

Simple answer: Chris Christie, the Republican darling governor of New Jersey,  believes in global warming. And what’s even more unheard of in today’s Republican party is this; Christie believes that humans play a major role in the warming of the planet! This from NJ.com:

In case anyone had any doubts on where Gov. Chris Christie stands on climate change, he made his position crystal clear this afternoon: It’s real and it’s a problem.

In vetoing a bill (S2946) that would have required New Jersey to stay in a regional program intended to curb greenhouse gases — a program Christie plans to leave by the end of the year — the governor said “climate change is real.”

He added that “human activity plays a role in these changes” and that climate change is “impacting our state.”

This position by Christie seems a reasonable one, and is supported by a majority of scientists worldwide. But Republicans in this country will go to the grave holding onto their naive, irresponsible stance that global warming does not exist. So Christie’s coming out and agreeing with science and the thermometer, is in itself, enough to disqualify him from any presidential consideration for 2012.

After Christie made his statement, Doug Powers wrote on the conservative website that this is probably Christie’s way of telling Republicans that he’s tired of them asking him to run, so admitting to global warming is his way of saying move on to someone else. Doug wrote;

Ann Coulter says Christie is the only Republican who can defeat President Obama next November, but if he’s going to keep talking like this, I beg to differ (I beg to differ anyway, but especially now).

Of course, there’s always a chance that Christie’s just tired of Republicans wondering if he’s going to run for president and this is his way of getting them to stop asking.

Move on folks, there’s nothing more to see here.

Categories
Barack Obama Politics United States washington weekly address

President Obama – Washington Must Put Country Before Party

President Obama took his weekly presidential address on the road this week with a simple message, we must put country’s needs ahead of politics. Speaking about the experiences he’s had and the people he has met on his road trip, Mr. Obama said;

It reminds me of why I got into public service in the first place. Getting out of Washington and spending time with the people of this country. Seeing how hard you’re working, how creative you are, how resourceful you are, how determined you are. That only makes me more determine to serve you as best I can as president. And it only makes me more confident in our future.

That’s why it’s so important that folks in Washington put country before party.

Categories
Barack Obama Donald Trump Politics Sarah Palin

The Facts About Vacations. Barack Obama vs George Bush

The big controversy now is that Republicans are trying to hammer the President on is his vacations. President Obama and his family decided to take a 10-day vacation in Martha’s Vinyard, but Fox News, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican presidential field have read their talking-points and are zeroing in on the President’s family time as “inappropriate.”

Here are some of the lies from Donald Trump;

The fact is, he takes more vacations than any other human being I’ve ever seen. They used to complain about George Bush, but I understand he’s already exceed George Bush and we’re not even through the year, so he likes vacations.

But take a look at the video below. It shows the difference between the vacation time of the last few presidents and the hypocritical nature of this Republican argument.

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