Category: Politics

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Domestic Policies News Politics

The Worst Political Era Ever. Except For All The Others

After two weeks of not writing, a function of both intellectual blockage and a terrifically busy work schedule, I find myself confronted with the same news and political reality as existed 14 days ago, only more so. Stories about how dysfunctional our political system is litter the websites, newspapers and social media outlets we visit.

Is it true that we live in the worst of all possible worlds? That our system has become so mired in petty squabbles that it qualifies as the most terrible atmosphere in United States history? Depends on your definition.

Ask Thomas Jefferson, who was accused of hating religion so much that the opposition, John Adams of all people, spread rumors that Jefferson was going to outlaw it. How about “King” Andrew Jackson, who was supposed to be all-powerful and who ignored a Supreme Court decision prohibiting him from moving Native American tribes from Georgia, where there was gold on their land, to Oklahoma, where the land tended to dry up and blow away. Or Andrew Johnson, who was impeached and almost convicted in 1868 for violating a law that was probably unconstitutional to begin with, and had numerous vetoes overridden by a Congress that treated him as an afterthought. Or Harry Truman, who was thought to be harboring Communists in his government, Johnson and Nixon, who were hated for the Vietnam War, violations of civil liberties and the Watergate scandal, and Bill Clinton, ignored, impeached and politically impotent in the face of a concerted Republican majority. Each of these presidents were the targets of opposition slings and arrows who squawked that the end of the republic was at hand.

The genius, and the curse, of our political system is that it’s based on three competing political branches, each of whom is forever concerned about maintaining its power. Cooperation is rare and mostly occurs when one party has a significant majority in both houses.

FDR was able to get major New Deal legislation through Congress with large Democratic majorities, and LBJ did the same with the Great Society programs. Both Nixon and Reagan were able to work with Democratic majorities and that’s why their successes were less ideological than they otherwise would be. GW Bush had Republican majorities in the middle of his term, but Social Security reform was anathema to the left, and immigration reform died because of right wing opposition. As I recall, these were all pitched battles with ruin promised by both sides if their legislation wasn’t passed.

Thus it is today. President Obama had great success in his first two years with Democratic majorities and an important 60 votes in the Senate. After the 2010 elections? Not so much. Yes, the right has an irrational opposition to him and successfully fought back on guns. We’ll get an immigration bill this year because the political stakes for the Republicans are too high for failure. We might even get tax reform. But it would take Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to finish the work that Obama was elected to accomplish, including energy, environmental and bank reform.

So let’s all calm down a bit and understand that while our era is contentious, it’s not the end of the political world. The events of the past four years will reach an endpoint with one party breaking out and leading a new push in their direction. My hunch, and hope, is that it will be the Democrats, but it will probably take a couple of election cycles to achieve.

Until then, the media machine will crank out apocalyptic pronouncements about how bad things are. Don’t you believe it.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Politics

Conservatives Want to Impeach Obama for “Wrecking the Stock Market”

Although the stock market just closed at the highest it has ever been, the craziness coming from the conservative movement just cannot take a day off.

Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 15,056, an all-time record. For one conservative group, this can only mean one thing: it’s time to impeach President Obama.

That was the message Capitol Hill Daily, a conservative publication based out of Baltimore, sent to Citizen United’s listserv today. They accused President Obama of “wreck[ing] the stock market” and asked readers to take a poll about whether he should be impeached as a result.

From the email:

Dear Concerned Reader,
Fearing the very worst, the nation’s super-rich are unloading their stocks at an alarming rate.

Even more troubling, the wealthiest 1% of Americans, who typically know the most, are the ones most anxious to sell.

You see, Obama just allowed 13 new tax increases to further slow the economy, wreck the stock market and make it even harder on the 12 million Americans already looking for work.

The bigger question is this…
Is Obama’s Latest Tax Screw Up Grounds For Impeachment?

Again, the stock market is in record high territory. But these people are circulating materials asking for the impeachment of the president for wrecking the stock market?

Republicans should be outraged that their leaders think so little of them. Why would you accept information that is known to be a lie? Why are you Republicans so easily fooled?

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Politics

Vendor Sold Bleeding Obama Target at NRA Convention

HOUSTON, Texas — The National Rifle Association has asked a vendor at its convention to remove a target that resembles Obama from its booth, a worker told BuzzFeed.

The company, Zombie Industries, sells a range of three-dimensional “life sized” targets that “bleed when you shoot them.” The Obama likeness has been on display for two days, but was notably absent on Sunday.

“Someone from the NRA came by and asked us to remove it” a Zombie Industries booth worker told BuzzFeed in hushed tones. “They thought it looked too much like President Obama.”

When asked if the Obama likeness was intentional the worker said, “Let’s just say I gave my Republican father one for Christmas.”

“They are just scared some liberal reporter will come by and start bitching” another booth worker said to men gathered around the booth. “But ya know, he does look very familiar.”

The model, named “Rocky” is still available for purchase at the booth but is hidden from sight, leaving a gap among the targets on display which range from Osama bin Laden to a Nazi soldier.

h/t Buzzfeed

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Politics

The Cost of Guantanamo: $903,000 a Year per Prisoner

If Republicans want to reduce the budget, then closing Guantanamo would be the perfect place to start. But they’re still fighting President Obama’s efforts to close the prison.

The Pentagon estimates it spends about $150 million each year to operate the prison and military court system at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, which was set up 11 years ago to house foreign terrorism suspects. With 166 inmates currently in custody, that amounts to an annual cost of $903,614 per prisoner.

By comparison, super-maximum security prisons in the United States spend about $60,000 to $70,000 at most to house their inmates, analysts say. And the average cost across all federal prisons is about $30,000, they say.

The high cost was just one reason Obama cited when he returned this week to an unfulfilled promise to close the prison and said he would try again. Obama also said that the prison, set up under his Republican predecessor George W. Bush and long the target of criticism by rights groups and foreign governments, is a stain on the reputation of the United States.

Programs like Head Start and Meals on Wheels are being slashed because Republicans refused to end the self imposed Sequester, while we are flushing money down the drain in Guantanamo.

It would seem that closing the prison would be the smart and ideal thing to do, but doing so would fulfill one of Obama’s campaign promises, and that is simply not acceptable to the “deficit Hawks” in the Republican party.

So we continue. Wasting millions in Cuba, while precious services that protect children and poor people here in America, get slashed.

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ObamaCare Politics Repeal

Here’s Something New: Republicans Will Try To Repeal ObamaCare #NoJoke

This one cannot be filed under the Breaking News category: House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor is promising his House Republicans that they would soon get a chance to vote to repeal ObamaCare.

“While we have not locked in the timing, I expect that the House will vote on full repeal of ObamaCare in the near future,” he told members.

Many Republicans have been eager to vote against the 2010 healthcare law, as they did last year. But so far, GOP leaders have refrained from calling up a repeal bill and instead tried to pass a tweak that failed to win enough GOP votes in April.

No, you did not stumble upon an old news article, this one was filed today, May 3rd, 2013. This new effort by Eric Cantor and his Republican party to take away health insurance from Americans would be their 40-something attempt at repeal.

Just another example of taxpayers dollars, paying these 435 House members to waste more time doing nothing.

 

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Barack Obama Politics

Obama Administration To Fight Plan B Decision

The Obama administration will appeal a court decision that required the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make the controversial contraceptive known as Plan B available to women of all ages.

The Justice Department (DOJ) filed its appeal with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday — just 24 hours after the FDA relaxed its restrictions on Plan B.

A federal judge ruled last month that the FDA had no scientific basis for a policy that said Plan B could only be sold without a prescription to women 17 and older.

The agency lowered the age to 15 on Tuesday — a move that women’s health groups called constructive, but said still lacked a solid scientific foundation.

The agency said its decision was not a response to the court’s ruling striking down age limits. And the Justice Department will defend the agency’s authority to impose age limits as it appeals the ruling.

Justice also asked the appeals court to block the lower court’s ruling from taking effect until the appeal is decided.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit challenging the FDA’s age restrictions, slammed the appeal.

“We are deeply disappointed that just days after President Obama proclaimed his commitment to women’s reproductive rights, his administration has decided once again to deprive women of their right to obtain emergency contraception without unjustified and burdensome restrictions,” the group said in a statement

Read more: Here

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Politics

Whatever You Do, Don’t Drink the Water

I was shocked when I saw this, but not surprised. The character on the bottle loves himself enough to do this:

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Politics trayvon martin

George Zimmerman Will Not Use “Stand Your Ground” Defense… For Now

George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, waived his right Tuesday to seek immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law before his June trial.

His lawyers have said they may seek immunity later.

Zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty, is a former neighborhood watch volunteer of white and Hispanic descent who has maintained he shot Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in self-defense after Martin attacked him.

The “stand your ground” law says people do not have to retreat if they believe they are in imminent danger of being killed or badly injured.

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Politics

Chris Christie: “The President Has Kept Every Promise He’s Made”

Chris Christie is once again, saying good things about the president.

Apparently Christie did not learn his lesson after he spoke good things about Mr. Obama during the 2012 election and was forced to bear the wrath of his  Republican friends for Romney’s loss.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program on the 6-month anniversary of the deadly storm, the Republican governor said presidential politics were the last thing on his mind as he toured storm-devastated areas with Obama last fall.

“The president has kept every promise he’s made,” said Christie, widely considered a potential candidate for the republican presidential nomination in 2016. “I think he’s done a good job. He kept his word.”

Christie’s warm embrace of Obama after the storm angered some Republicans, who said it helped tip a close presidential election to the Democrat and away from Mitt Romney, who Christie endorsed and for whom he campaigned last fall.

Christie says he and Obama have fundamentally different views on governing. But he said the two men did what needed to be done for a devastated region.

h/t New York Post

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Carmelo Anthony new york knicks Politics

Boston Refused To Be Swept – Forces Game 5 On Wednesday

I had some other things to do. So I was only able to see the last 5 minutes of today’s regulation game. But based on those last 5 minutes, I can definitely tell that the entire game would go down as a must see classic.

Boston refused to be swept.

With 5 minutes left in regulation, the Knicks were down by 2 points with Boston leading. That regulation quickly evaporated with both teams tied at 84 to start the overtime. With 5 minutes added to the game clock, Paul Pierce of Boston began the scoring, followed by Felton of the Knicks to tie it up again at 86. A basket by Boston’s Kevin Garnett brought the score to 88 Boston 86 New York, only to be tied again when Carmelo Anthony made two free throws.

And then Jason Terry came into the game for Boston and right off the bench, hit a three pointer to bring the score to 91 Boston, 88 New York. A quick basket by New York tied up the score again, but Jason Terry wasn’t having it. He scored another jumper and in the next Boston possession, Terry got fouled, went to the basket and made both free throws.

Score at that point was 95 Boston, 90 New York.

With seconds remaining on the overtime clock, Garnet rebounded under the Knicks basket and passed out to Terry again, who then made an easy lay-up to officially seal the win for Boston.

Overtime clock runs out with Boston winning the game 97-90.

After the game, Terry said that God told him to “keep fighting. You guys ain’t dead yet.” He also warned the Knicks that the series is nowhere near ending, saying “these are the moments I live for. And it’s a long series.”

For Boston, Paul Pierce led the way with 27 points in 43 minutes of play, followed by J. Green with 26. Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry both had 9 points.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 32 points in 38 minutes. Felton was next with 23 followed by Shumpert with 12. Knicks now lead the series 3 games to 1. The series now heads back to New York for game 5 on Wednesday, May 1st.

Categories
Politics

Republican Bryan Fischer – It’s Okay to Discriminate Against Gays

He was talking about a gay teacher who was fired by her Catholic employer
after her sexual orientation was revealed. Pastor Fischer, head if the AFA – The American Family Association – said that “we should reclaim the word discrimination.”

“The school discriminated against this teacher, yes they absolutely did and they should have. They were absolutely right to do it…. It is right to discriminate against people who engage in aberrant sexual behavior, we should discriminate against people like that.”

Fischer went on to suggest that someone’s sexual preference should be equated to shoplifters, and stated that we discriminate against shoplifters, so its okay to discriminate against gays.

Categories
News Politics

Kindergartner Becomes Mensa Member

By Gillian Mohney

5-year-old Gus Dorman has already memorized the periodic table of elements. (Photo courtesy of Robert Dorman)

Most parents believe their child is the smartest kid in the class, but when Robert Dorman says this, he’s likely right.

His son, 5-year-old Gus Dorman, with an IQ of 147, became one of the youngest members admitted to Mensa, the exclusive high IQ society.

Now in kindergarten, Gus is already reading such books as “Charlotte’s Web,” while his classmates work on mastering the ABCs.

For fun, Gus memorizes the periodic table and a world map. And sometimes he corrects his father on geography.

“He got into an argument with me because I told him that the capital of Alaska is Anchorage,” said  Dorman. “But it’s not, it’s Juneau.”

Dorman first noticed  Gus’ advanced intelligence when he started to potty train his son at 18-months. Gus started to bring  a newspaper to read on the toilet, and was also reading his father’s copies of “Wired” magazine.

Since Gus was their first child, Dorman and his wife, Kotomi, simply thought this was how all children acted.

“We didn’t realize he was gifted,” said Dorman. “We just thought he was like all kids.”

On  a camping trip with another family, Gus read the slogan off  a fellow camper’s clothing. The family friend was stunned that at age 4  Gus could read, even though her 5-year-old daughter was still learning the alphabet.

“She said, ‘He can read?’ He shouldn’t be able to read,” recalled Dorman of the family friend’s reaction. “I said, ‘He reads all the time. We brought books [on the trip.]‘”

Dorman decided it was time to take  his son to get an IQ test, hoping that he might qualify for an out-of-state gifted program.

Gus scored within the 99th percentile in nearly all categories of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, which qualified him for  Mensa, whose members  must have an IQ of at least 135; Gus’ IQ was 12  points higher than that.

Despite Gus’ high IQ, his father said his son had problems when he  started school. Gus would get restless when it came to learning  addition or the alphabet. According to Dorman, Gus was already on multiplication and long division.

“He goes to kindergarten, and he likes going to school [but] he gets in trouble,” said Dorman. “He really has a hard time sitting there and listening to low-concept stories, because he’s used to being able to ask questions and do research.”

Dorman has lobbied his school district  to provide special advanced education for his son. But Dorman said it’s unlikely Gus would receive special treatment.

“I know there’s no money for gifted programs in Illinois,” he said.

Dorman hopes that Gus will at least qualify for a school for the gifted that provides supplemental online courses through the eighth grade.

“As parents we’re lost,” said Dorman of Gus’ school options. “I don’t think homeschooling is the way to go. He needs the camaraderie in the social portion of school. The books are one thing, but you have to have the social part too.”

For now Dorman said he’s happy to teach his son what he can about Gus’ newest interests, black holes and astrophysics.

 

h/t – ABC

 

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