Category: Teaparty

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Let’s Fake A Deal

In the end, we got a terrible economic deal, but a nice political gift. Congress essentially kicked the problem down the road and ensured that early January would mark the beginning of other round of hostage-taking on the part of the right, more attacks on the health care law, and an intransigence on raising revenue in a fiscal deal that will raise hypocrisy to a new level, after they lambasted the president for not negotiating on the debt. Which he did. Anyway.

Even worse is listening to chastened Republicans talk about the importance of bipartisanship and how they hope that Democrats learn the lesson that they shouldn’t do this when they’re in the GOP’s position. Remember: Only the right can shut down the government and scare the world into thinking we’d default on our loans.

The good news is that this deal was worse for the Republicans than even I thought it would be. It was clear that this gambit was not going to help them, and Ted Cruz made it even better for the left because he was convinced that everyone outside of the major cities agreed that the ACA was from the devil and needed to be exorcised. The president stood his ground and public opinion shifted severely away from the GOP. It will take quite a bit of work on their part just to maintain their ranks in the Congress next year. They can kiss the Senate goodbye and might even lose the House, gerrymandered or not.

That this all occurred at the same time that the ACA rollout produced disastrous results makes the episode even sweeter, and is the political equivalent of rubbing salt in right wing eyes. If they had played it straight, they could have earned two years of political capital and would have had the Democrats on the run. But the right made sure that the computer problems will be mostly fixed by the time they’re ready to renew their attacks, and most people won’t pay attention anyway.

The only positive redemption I can see is if the GOP makes the debt and deficit an issue that only they can solve. The public is on their side on that argument, but that would also include cuts to Medicare and Social Security that will not go down well. The shutdown showed that Americans were upset because national parks were closed. Does the GOP think we’d also like to privatize entitlements? I think not.

Let’s hope that Barack Obama keeps his spine straight and forces the right to accept a deficit deal mostly on his terms and without significant consequences for the health care bill. He can also push the immigration bill while the right is down and hope that enough of them see fit to change their minds. Probably not, but it’s fun to dream.

In any case, enjoy the next six weeks. Then it all starts again.

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Domestic Policies News Politics Teaparty

Meltdown

I’ve used the tsunami wave metaphor in other posts about the decline of the Republican Party and  its associated havoc-wreaking on the country over the past two years.

Today we talk about the complete meltdown of the party. The debacle over the debt ceiling and the as-we-speak collapse of any kind of deal shows us the final truth about the right: This is not an entity that can be a partner in governing.

Here we are on the brink of a default that many conservatives believe will not be “that bad,” despite the warnings from banks, foreign governments and ratings agencies, most of whom could not remotely be labeled liberal, and they are still trying to knock off the Affordable Care Act. Yes, I understand how important it is to settle the issue of whether congressional aides can qualify for subsidies on the health insurance exchanges, but is is worth embarrassing the United States and inviting the wrath of the financial markets?

Clearly, it is. And that’s the problem with the GOP as is exists today. The extremism knows no bounds and the disdain of the president is ugly. They accuse Obama of not negotiating when that has been their strategy since he was elected. They want to stall, delay, overturn and defund anything he’s signed. They want no revenue increases in any fiscal bill. They want the Consumer Protection Board gone and they want the EPA to stop telling factories they can’t pollute. These are non-negotiable items, yet it’s Obama’s willingness to stand his ground that has them so incensed (I would be worse, though. Open the government and increase the debt ceiling for a whole year, says I).

It’s a sad state of affairs that only the party muckymucks can address. John Boehner doesn’t know which way to go, because all paths lead to The Tenth Circle of Hell (the one that Donald Trump bought and developed). He either has to continue giving in to the Tea Party or he has to sacrifice his speakership and get Democrats and moderates to get us out of this mess.

Some people who know more than I say that the American voters will probably forget all this by next November. I don’t think so. The next wave will be a Democratic takeover of the House.

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Orange Alert

Here’s a surprise: the shutdown was planned months ago. So the pleadings and forthright looks we’ve been getting from Ted Cruz and the orange-tinged scoldings from John Boehner and the laments of the lack of compromise by Republicans everywhere have been fakes. Falsehoods. Frauds. Wait for it…Lies.

What the Republican Cadre, because it’s no longer a viable political party, has done is reprehensible. From the beginning, and I mean 2009, they have tried to obstruct President Obama’s agenda and wait out the electoral clock for four, and now eight years while they plot their way back to power. Thank heavens that they don’t, in fact, know how to do that effectively on the national stage. They will continue to win House seats, though a new poll suggests otherwise, but they’ve fallen farther behind when it comes to women and Hispanics, and we know how viable you are when that happens. In the meantime, all they have is obstruction.

Any talk of compromise or negotiation is not to be trusted. They don’t want to delay the health care bill, they want it gone. They also want Dodd-Frank repealed and for the XL pipeline to be built and they want no new taxes in any economic or tax bill they’d support. And who won the 2012 elections?

But, oddly, they seem to love Medicare and are falling over themselves to fund some parts of the federal government if they believe it will help them. Wait long enough, and they’ll CR themselves into opening the whole thing in a week or so.

Just to make things worse, Boehner is now disavowing his comments from last week that suggested some compromise. He and the far right will now take us to default if the president won’t do as he says. The  crash is coming, it won’t be pretty and the GOP will take the fall.

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Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics Teaparty

Cruz Missal

It’s not enough for Ted Cruz to be wrong, because he is. It’s not enough that he’s offensive, because he is. And it’s not enough that he’s a hypocrite, because he is. The worst part is that he has the whole package, and he’s terribly difficult to listen to. But Ted Cruz represents much more in our era of divided, extremist, conservative government: It’s the end of the line. When people like Ted Cruz make speeches that reference Nazi Germany and compare the present administration to it, you know that the GOP has gone gonzo overboard. This is not a governing party anymore–it’s a collection of conspiracy theorists who happened to win votes in gerrymandered districts and in states where the majority of uninsured people in the United States live, but who have convinced themselves that getting health insurance amounts to treason.

The conservative movement has reached its apogee and is now in its slow, painful, destructive decline. It will bring a good part of the country down with it, but the good news is that at its worst, it only controls the House of Representatives. If it shuts down the government next week, it will lose that in 2014 and if it runs an ultra-conservative in 2016, it will lose that election too.

I’ve heard many pundits and political science professors say that we live in a center-right leaning country, and at this time I’m inclined to believe it. The problem for the Republicans is that they are not center-right: They are far right and represent a minority of the country. Most people don’t want radical change of the sort that the far right is promoting. Many people oppose the health care law for good reason, but to say that it will drag down the economy and that it’s the death knell of our way of life is irresponsible and hyperbolic.

But I guess Ted Cruz had to happen. Even members of his own party are abandoning him. If the shutdown is to be avoided, Democrats in the House will need a bill to support. This is not good for John Boehner or any of the farther rightists.

But it’s the best thing to happen to the country in a while. Perhaps things are finally looking up.

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Racists Teaparty

Teaparty “Jokes” About President Obama Being Beaten

I came across this today on ThinkProgress. It is an email being circulated to members of a Teaparty group in Pennsylvania called Northeast Pennsylvania Spirit of 1776. They call it a “joke” as usual, and this email follows the pattern of other so-called “jokes” by other Republicans and Teaparty members.

The writers of the email called “Our Forefathers Express Their Outrage” wonders what it would be like when President Obama dies and meet the Forefathers in the afterlife.

It is obvious that these people have no respect for the President, but what happened to respect for the office of the President? Apparently all that went out the window when this particular man became president.

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Racism Teaparty

More Teaparty/Republican Racism – African Americans and Welfare

They call themselves members of the Teaparty. The group believes that they are paying too much taxes and that government spending is out of control.  The group stayed quiet when George Bush took a surplus and turned it into a deficit. Their silence showed that the Teaparty is not really a trustworthy bunch, but more of a political group – easily identifying themselves with the Republican ideology.

The group magically emerged in the Obama presidency – a presidency that has reduced taxes and spending to lower levels than recent Republican administrations. Bankrolled by right-winged businessmen and political figures, the Teaparty saw many of their members voted into Congress in the 2010 elections.

During the 2012 elections when the Teaparty took center stage in American politics, we all remember their many signs calling President Obama a Socialist, Communist American president who was also born in Kenya. And with these outlandish claims and a media led by the Fair and Balanced Fox News spending the entire election year covering various Teaparty Townhall uprising, the Teaparty’s message found favor with many voting Americans.

But the Teaparty is also plagued with blatant racists, some of which we have detailed here, here and here.  And now this:

The Baxter Bulletin in north-central Arkansas reported that Inge Marler made the comments at the annual rally of the Ozark Tea Party. The remarks, which suggested that African-Americans are on welfare, were condemned by Tea Party leaders in the state. The Bulletin reported that the condemnation came after they contacted the Tea Party for comment.

The Bulletin reports that Marler, who told the newspaper she would stop using the joke, said the following as an ice-breaker in her speech:

“A black kid asks his mom, ‘Mama, what’s a democracy?’“‘Well, son, that be when white folks work every day so us po’ folks can get all our benefits.’

“‘But mama, don’t the white folk get mad about that?’

“‘They sho do, son. They sho do. And that’s called racism.’”

Video:

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Racism Teaparty

Teaparty Racism – Depicting President Obama As A Skunk

We’ve shown you previous examples where the Teaparty and some Republicans have stepped out of their secretive shell and have decided that bringing their racism out into the spotlight, will rally others to their call.

Today’s example? A Teaparty organization in Hutchinson Kansas called Patriot Freedom Alliance. This group of “patriots” decided that comparing the President of the United States to a skunk is the patriotic thing to do. They posted the comparison on their website, then after the expected backlash that apparently surprised the group, the depiction was removed from their website.

Here is the wisdom of these “Patriots” –

“The skunk has replaced the eagle as the new symbol for the President. It is half black, half white and everything it does, stinks.”

But the group is still defending the skunk anology. One Teaparty member,  Chuck Sankey,  said that Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, had been the target of worse insults than what’s on their website.

Well – thanks for your contribution “Patriots,” we are now a better nation because of your uplifting message.

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Republican Teaparty

Colin Powell – The Teaparty’s Position Is Not Helping America

Colin Powell, the Secretary of State during the Bush administration and one of the only sane Republicans remaining in America, has some advise for his fellow Americans -do not vote for anyone representing the Teaparty!

“The Tea Party point of view of ‘no compromise whatsoever’ is not a point of view that will eventually produce a presidential candidate who will win,” he said on ABC’s “This Week With Christiane Amanpour.”

Powell said taking the no-compromise position isn’t helping get things done in Washington, and called on members of Congress to “come back to the center to compromise” in order to see progress.

“Compromise is how this country was founded,” he said, offering as an example the issue of slavery. “Can you imagine more difficult compromises today?” he asked. “We have a Congress now that can’t even pass an appropriations bill.”

Powell slammed the tone on Capitol Hill, which he called “very tense.”

“Republicans and Democrats are focusing more and more on their extreme left and extreme right,” he said. “Unless two people in disagreement with each other don’t find a way to reach out to one another and make compromises, you don’t get a consensus that allows you to move forward.”

Powell appeared on the show in part to promote America’s Promise Alliance, the service coalition he founded, and to talk about veterans’ employment initiatives. He did not discuss the most recent example of partisan congressional gridlock, the failed deficit-reduction Super Committee.

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Teaparty

Teaparty Advise To Businesses – Hurt Obama, Don’t Hire Anyone

And they call themselves “Patriots” HA!

In a message to the business community, the group known as The Teaparty Nation sent out word, advising them to stop hiring new employees.

The reason given in the message is, of course, the Obama Administration. According to the author, President Obama is a “dictator” with a “globalist socialist agenda of redistribution of wealth.” With a reference to the “Occupy” movement, the message tells businesses that there is a class warfare going on against the rich, and offered up the advise that not hiring will end the President’s “ultimate goal of collapsing the U.S economy.”

Resolved that: The Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Senate, in alliance with a global Progressive socialist movement, have participated in what appears to be a globalist socialist agenda of redistribution of wealth, and the waging of class warfare against our constitutional republic’s heritage of individual rights, free market capitalism, and indeed our Constitution itself, with the ultimate goal of collapsing the U.S. economy and globalizing us into socialism.

Resolved that: President Obama has seized what amount to dictatorial powers to bypass our Congress, and that because the Congress is controlled by a Progressive socialist Senate that will not impeach one of their kind, they have allowed this and yielded what are rightfully congressional powers to this new dictator.

Resolved that: By their agenda and actions, those in our government who swore oaths to protect and defend our Constitution have committed treason against the United States.

Resolved that: The current administration and Democrat majority in the Senate, in conjunction with Progressive socialists from all around the country, especially those from Hollywood and the left leaning news media (Indeed, most of the news media.) have worked in unison to advance an anti-business, an anti-free market, and an anti-capitalist (anti-individual rights and property ownership) agenda.

…

Resolved that: Our President, the Democrats-Socialists, most of the media, and most of those from Hollywood, have now encouraged and supported “Occupy” demonstrations in our streets, which are now being perpetrated across the globe, and which are being populated by various marxists, socialists and even communists, and are protesting against business, private property ownership and capitalism, something I thought I’d never see in my country, in my lifetime.

I, an American small business owner, part of the class that produces the vast majority of real, wealth producing jobs in this country, hereby resolve that I will not hire a single person until this war against business and my country is stopped.

To summarize: The Teaparty claims that President Obama’s efforts to get 14 million unemployed Americans back to work is his way of  “collapsing the U.S.  economy.”  So to stop him from winning, don’t hire anyone!

Wouldn’t that advice result in speeding up the collapse of the economy?

To quote @JustinSnyderFL on Twitter – The Republican Party: Keeping Millions Out Of Work To Put One Man Out Of A Job.

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Democratic Republican Teaparty

For The Teaparty, Happy Days Are Here Again!

Although the Republicans took over control of the House of Representatives in November and demanded an almost $1 trillion increase to the deficit to provide a tax cut to the rich, a recent poll suggests that the-government-is-spending-too-much-we-must-reduce-the-deficit Teaparty is now happier than ever before.

The poll, conducted by Pew Research Center finds that fewer people are angry at the government. Pew reports;

Overall, the percentage saying they are angry with the federal government has fallen from 23% last September to 14% today, with much of the decline coming among Republicans and Tea Party supporters.

Not surprisingly, the poll breaks down along party lines, with Republicans showing a more favorable outlook at the government. Back in September 2010, 33% claimed to be angry, as compared to 16% now. The excitement among the Teapartiers saw a 19 point increase, with their anger at government in September 2010 at 47%, but falling to 28% now. Democrats on the other hand showed a September 2010 anger level of 11%, and falling to 10% now.

Besides a $900 billion increase in the deficit, what else have the Republicans done to generate such happiness amongst Republicans and the Teaparty electorate?

Well, they really haven’t done much of anything else. What they have done is made a lot of promises! Apparently, these promises are enough for the Teaparty and their fellow Republicans. Among the promises;

  1. Repealing Health care, which will add another $230 billion more to the deficit according to CBO
  2. A promise to cut $61 billion from the budget, that would reduce services to pregnant women and, according to economist Paul Krugman, would “literally be stealing food from the mouths of babes.”
  3. John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives has promised to slash jobs by as much as 200,000, and another 700,000 this year’s end.

These are just some of the promises the Republican electorate are elated about. Adding trillions to the deficit, increasing unemployment and causing what many economists call a slowdown in our economic recovery. These actions just tickles the Teaparty.

Just imagine their joy if we plunge into another great depression.

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