Category: Politics

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Politics

Excuse Me, Do You Know What Time Is It?

Another day, another Time of arguing, bickering, finger-pointing and disagreements. No, not your kids, Grown Ups in Washington. I don’t know about you, but I feel as though It’s Time for “Grown Ups” to start acting like “Grown Ups”.

Speaker Boehner is blaming President Obama for the upcoming disaster called the Sequester, President Obama is firing back stating the Congress needs to act before We, The People, fall into yet another catastrophic economic meltdown. GOP members Ted Cruz, a freshman, has joined the fray with the “blame game” stating the President isn’t doing enough on Immigration Reform. Adults, acting like children. Or, is it just children dressed up in Adult clothing?

Senator’s McCain, Graham, Rubio, Ryan and the lot are making a mockery of the office in which they represent by, instead of bringing solid solutions of important issues, they take it to the media for “soundbite” and talking-points. As a grown up, do you, average American, go to the Source of your disagreement or do you cower and discuss with everyone other than the one you have the disagreement with? Hmmm, I tend to believe it’s not the latter for most of us.

What Time Is It? Well, It’s Time To Get This House in Order

Every American, even if you don’t follow politics, has seen the News Tickers counting down to the Sequester. Or you’ve heard about the Immigration issue. You’ve seen and heard about the confirmation hearings with Chuck Hagel, a Republican, trying to fight his way through intense questioning about his “true” allegiances.  Ironically, it’s the Republicans that are holding up the process. Or how about the Gun Control Fight, or gay marriage issue or Obamacare? No matter where you stand on these issues, This House, The United States of America, is completely “Out of Order”.

We’re a Great Country that prides itself on multi-tasking, coming together to get big jobs accomplished, but as of late, oh, I’ll say since President Obama took office in 2009, members of the GOP have forgotten how to govern, how to work across the aisle, how to be grown ups. Newt Gingrich has boasted about how when he was Speaker of the House, he worked with President Clinton to pass important legislation. Speaker of the House Tipp O’Neil and President Reagan came together, contentiously,  to move this nation forward with “Reaganomics”.

Well,  That’s What Time It Is. Working TOGETHER. Or have we forgotten how to do that?

What Time Is It? It’s Time To Move Forward

Look, I know there’s tremendous animosities in Washington. The GOP and it’s surrogates don’t like President Obama but guess what? He’s the President so get over it. You were elected to work FOR THE PEOPLE of the United States of America. ALL of us, not just for your party. You took an oath before GOD and man to Serve the People. Well, do Your Job and Serve.

No more finger pointing. No more taking the arguments and/or disagreements to the media. Sit down, like grown ups, discuss, map out, dissect, compromise where it makes sense and Move Forward. Most jobs (if not all of them) have deadlines to meet. I don’t know of any successful job that waits for the last day or even goes past the deadline. Washington, Congress, Senators, House of Representatives, you’re not exempt.

Get it together…let’s Move Forward…that’s What Time It Is!

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Politics

Poll: Americans Stand With Obama On Most Issues – Also, Only 22% Consider Themselves Republicans

President Obama starts his second term with a clear upper hand over GOP leaders on issues from guns to immigration that are likely to dominate the year, a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds. On the legislation rated most urgent — cutting the budget deficit — even a majority of Republican voters endorse Obama’s approach of seeking tax hikes as well as spending cuts.

The survey underscores the quandary for the GOP as it debates the party’s message in the wake of disappointing losses last November for the White House and in the Senate.

Now just 22% of Americans, nearly a record low, consider themselves Republicans.

And those automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester, that are poised to take effect next week?

If no deal is reached to avert them, half of Americans say congressional Republicans will be more to blame. Less than a third would blame Obama first.

“On many of the issues, President Obama has staked out positions that seem to be closer to the public’s thinking than the positions Republicans have staked out,” says Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The poll is the first in a new partnership between Pew and USA TODAY. “The challenge for him is in building the public’s sense of immediacy on some of these issues, particularly on climate change and guns.”

Republicans have the opposite challenge. “Their focus on the deficit is in tune with the public’s priorities right now,” he says. “Yet their positions are not quite in step with the kind of compromises that the public tells us they want to see.”

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney Is Still Around – Will Speak At CPAC

Some people just don’t know when to bow out and move on to something else. That is the feeling now, since two-time Presidential loser Mitt Romney is again signaling that politics is still in his blood. It seems the man is trying to keep his name politically relevant.

After he lost the presidential election, Romney decamped to his beachfront home in La Jolla, Calif. But friends say he has become somewhat restless, and he’s eager to contribute to the national debate. Sources say he’ll likely focus on economic and fiscal issues, and that his message will be optimistic.

“This is really an opportunity for Governor Romney to thank all his supporters and friends,” says a senior Romney aide.

Romney last spoke to a CPAC audience in October, when he made a surprise visit to CPAC Colorado, one of the American Conservative Union’s regional conferences. He has also been a headlining speaker at previous national CPAC gatherings, and he has won the event’s presidential straw poll on four occasions.

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Politics

Can’t We All Just Get Along (Thank you Rodney King)

In a time in which this nation should be coming together as, “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice For ALL”, we are far from it. Just look at the dysfunctional Congress and Washington itself. The rhetoric and bickering back and forth.

From the fiscal cliff, to sequestering. From gun control to more gun violence. From members in Congress and the House fighting against President Obama on Debt Reduction when not so many years ago, the GOP agreed with adding to the Debt by waging of, not one, but two wars against Iraq and Afghanistan under then President Bush.

Yes, we, who are following suit with the dysfunctional people in Washington, are just as dysfunctional. Just last week, a story surfaced about a Neo-Nazi that didn’t want a black nurse to tend to his new born child. Really? As if she were to look after the other 49-new born, but a white nurse should be the only one tending to the Neo New Born.

Amazing, right?

But there is Hope. That Hope is in every single American in this Great Nation. We, the People, have to believe in that awesome Pledge of  “One Nation, Under God (we are),  Indivisible (we can be), With Liberty and Justice For ALL” (It Has To Be). We look to our leaders in Washington, in the pulpit and on the job, but what we receive is that one great equation; division.

Come on America! Don’t wait for another catastrophe to bring us together. Let’s already be United, let’s already be on One Accord, let’s already be for the 100% and not a bunch of “Takers”. It takes All of US to make this nation Great for “Together, We Stand, Divided, We Fall”.

We are The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Let’s start acting like it…Let’s start “getting along”…the world IS watching.

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Iraq Politics rachel maddow

HUBRIS: Selling The Iraq War

Rachel Maddow Special “Hubris: Selling The Iraq War” based on the book ‘HUBRIS’ by Michael Isikoff & David Corn.

h/t Real Clear Politics

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Politics

President Obama: “I Actually Don’t Think We Should Ban Handguns”

President Obama used his recent Google hangout appearance to calm the nerves of some in the NRA who have been fooled into thinking that the government is “coming to take away their guns.” It’s a lie told by NRA’s CEO and chief lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre. A lie that is then regurgitated by Congressional Republicans in their effort to keep assault weapons on the streets.

Asked why he favored a ban on the assault weapons which only accounts for a small percentage of gun deaths, as opposed to handguns, which are responsible for the majority, the President replied;

“I actually don’t think we should ban handguns. But keep in mind what we’re trying to do is come up with a package that protects Second Amendment rights but also contributes to reduce violence.”

Obama said assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are “generally not used for hunting,” and that while banning them won’t “solve every problem,” it “can play a meaningful part” in reducing gun violence.

“When it comes to assault weapons … my concern is, for example, in Aurora, when a young person can go into a theater and shoot off a hundred rounds in less than a minute,” Obama said. “These are weapons of war … so for us to restrict some of those high-capacity magazines … that probably can save some lives.”

Meanwhile, Wayne LaPierre is continuing his fear game, telling Americans that the President is coming after their guns, so they need to go out and buy more guns in order to arm themselves against this “tyrannical government!”

If there is one thing I can say about Mr. Wayne LaPierre it will be this: He definitely knows how to keep his followers in check and to keep the checks pouring into his bank account!

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marco rubio Politics Water

Saturday Night Live’s Take On The Marco Rubio / Poland Springs Debacle

Marco Polo Rubio, the next Republican presidential nominee for 2016, couldn’t wait to get on television and dispute everything President Obama did not say in his State Of The Union address. Mr. Rubio was so eager to get all his Republican talking-points out that he forgot to bring his Poland Springs water bottle closer to where he stood, resulting in an awkward reach for a drink of water when the lies he told dried up his mouth.

Yes, we all saw his thirsty reach, but did you see Saturday Night Live‘s version of the Rubio/Poland Springs moment? No? Well here you go…!

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Politics

The GOP Eats Its Own

Once Chuck Hagel is finally confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he should think twice about accepting any lunch invitations from his former GOP colleagues. My fear is that he will become the meal. Yes, friends, the imploding tsunamic A-bomb that is the Republican Party is trying to claim another trophy for its sagging walls, but all they’ve done is drawn out a fight they’ve already given up on to a president they never get tired of losing to.

You would think that a decorated Vietnam veteran who served as a Senator would be a lock to be confirmed even in the polarized political world we live in. Apparently though, his maverick denunciations of Bush era foreign policy including a spot-on critique of why, exactly, we were in Iraq has led the true maverick, John McCain, to sputter and croak about service and events like Benghazi that have nothing to do with Hagel.

Then you have the reincarnation of Senator Joe McCarthy, Ted Cruz of Texas, who decided that disagreeing with Hagel was not enough and that he had to smear him by alleging that Hagel not only took money from Iran, but might have a problem with Israel’s foreign and domestic policies.

I don’t have to justify my support of Israel from a religious, cultural or moral perspective, but I have a real problem with the Netanyahu government’s policies on settlements and their hypocritical support of the ultra-religious parties he needs to keep his coalition. Religious governments of any stripe are dangerous, discriminatory and extreme, and the Orthodox who want to impose strict Jewish law on Israel are no exception. For the conservative Christian right in this country to blindly support Israel because they would protect Christian historical shrines is self-serving, and brooking absolutely no dissent is dangerous in any group.

Chuck Hagel’s questioning of Israel’s policies is what any good Defense Secretary would do. It’s what Hillary Clinton did as Secretary of State. Friends are always friends, but there are times when they can go too far. That’s when true friends tell them the truth. It doesn’t seem as if Netanyahu or the radical Republicans understand that message, and recent elections in Israel saw a backlash against Netanyahu. Israel must survive and I know that the United States government will do everything it can to ensure that. GOP questioning of Obama’s and Hagel’s motives is a red herring (in cream sauce).

Cruz’s accusations against Hagel’s patriotism relating to Iran was beyond the pale and rightly earned Cruz a back room scolding by both Republicans and Democrats. He defended himself by saying that he was elected to shake things up. That he did, but not in a way that will help him in the long run with his fellow Senators. I’m sure the Democrats will highlight this Tea Party behavior in 2014. John McCain’s one-man Bengahzi crusade might satisfy his supporters, but it’s only postponed the inevitable confirmation.

The next issue will be the sequester and the massive cuts that are on the way on March 1. Again, the GOP is ready to sink the economy in a misguided attempt to end programs that most Americans want and voted for in 2012. My hope is that President Obama will make an attempt at a pragmatic bargain to forestall the cuts, but if not, we know where the blame lies.

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

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divorce Nikki Haley Politics

Gov. Nikki Haley Named ‘The Other Woman’ In South Carolina Divorce Proceedings

She is considered an up and rising star in the Republican party. The suggestion was even floated that Nikki Haley should have ran for the Republican nomination for presidency in 2012. So imagine the shock when this news broke that Nikki Haley – one of the Republicans’ chosen one – was listed as one of three “other women” in a divorce proceeding.

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is one of three “other women” named in a divorce lawsuit filed in Richland County, S.C. earlier this month.

According to court documents obtained exclusively by FITS, Jennifer Marchant – wife of prominent S.C. State House lobbyist Larry Marchant – is suing her husband for divorce on the grounds of infidelity.

One of the three women Marchant accuses her husband of cheating on her with? You guessed it … Haley.

“On or about June 2, 2010, (Larry Marchant) publicly admitted to having an affair with a woman well-known to the parties and the citizens of the State of South Carolina,” the lawsuit reads. “(Jennifer Marchant) was humiliated and embarrassed by (her husband’s) public admission and was unable to appear in public for some time. Eventually, (Jennifer) conditionally forgave (Larry)’s adulterous behavior.”

Damn …

The lawsuit was filed in Richland County family court on February 6 . A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on February 20.

Marchant submitted an affidavit in October 2010 – swearing that he and Haley had a one night stand in Salt Lake City, Utah in June 2008.

(For details about that alleged encounter, click here).

Haley categorically denied Marchant’s claim. In fact she said Marchant was unable to prove the two of them were ever alone together on the Salt Lake City trip.

“We’ve had representatives go on the record that said we were in a group setting all the time,” Haley told former Columbia, S.C. radio host Keven Cohen at the time.

Other sources who went on the Salt Lake City trip have disputed Haley’s claim, however.

“They left the W lounge together,” one of these sources confirmed to FITS, referring to a dance club located three blocks away from the Marriott hotel where the South Carolina delegation was staying.

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Politics

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Today marks the 15oth Anniversary of the signing of  The Emancipation Proclamation, that in theory declared 4 million slaves living in most of the South to be “forever free.” One hundred and fifty years later, and there’s still a lot of “free” to be had.  There’s nothing harder than transforming an enslaved, helpless, fearful, dehumanized mind and soul into a strong, healthy, self-determining spirit. And Black folks need to credit themselves more for doing this. And least we forget, Blacks were taking freedom seriously long before Abe and his fellow legislators put their  John Hancock on that sheet of paper. Running away, armed slave revolts, covert destruction of slave owner properties and slave owner themselves and willfully disobeying their captors and the laws that protected and encouraged them, literally at the risk of life and limb. The biggest thing we take away from that experience, and we carry it around with us like a gift today, is that you can eventually enslave a strong body, but you can’t ever enslave a strong mind and soul. Never. ♦

In an interesting and slightly suspicious turn-of-events, The Vatican says it may be stepping up the election of the next Pope sooner than usual. The original date of the conclave, March 15 of this year, was set under the current rules that require a 15 to 20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant allowing time for cardinals living outside Rome to fly in, so to speak.Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that “this is a question that people are discussing.”  Which means they’ve already decided on it.

This sort of takes that fairness element out of  the equation doesn’t it? Whats’s the hurry? If Pope Benedict were to die today, the rules still require a waiting period before the election of a new Pope. Am I the only one who finds this suspicious!!?? ♦

With his reign soon coming to an end, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave his last last State of the State Address this past Thursday, bragging more than Muhammad Ali at the start of a match. The central theme of his 7,000-word speech, was that because he was so gosh darn wealthy he wasn’t beholden to any of those nasty lobbyists, unions and campaign donors that so often corrupt the  lesser politician, thus leaving him free to run the city in a more humanistic, businessman type manor working solely on behalf of all the little people of this great city. How big of you Mayor. But he did have a point. 

Well Mr. Bloomberg, thanks for everything. And in your final 320 days as king please try to concentrate less on your desire to  ban plastic-foam products, ease the consequences of  marijuana possession, install curbside charging stations for electric cars and creating European-style youth hostels across the city, and more on repairing our inner city school buildings, creating facilities and programs to get the still too many homeless people off the street, and revitalize the building of more affordable housing in the city. You know, for the sake of us little people. ♦

And here’s a little something for you sports fans:

NBA player Kris Humphries, Kim Kardashian‘s soon-to-be-ex, has already made up his mind — if his divorce trial falls on the same day as the 2013 Playoffs, dude said he’s going to divorce court. Not willing  to give poor Kardashian the quiet, uncontested divorce she seeks, the Brooklyn Nets baller says he’ll ditch the games if it means he’ll have his long awaited opportunity to get in front of a judge and explain why he’d like to sue Kim for an annulment on grounds she allegedly defrauded him.
The crazy part is that Humphries is willing to risk his 2-year, $24 million contract for nothing. There was a prenup and the marriage lasted all of 72 days, so you ain’t getting squat my man. ♦
Is he even a good ballplayer?
.
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Note: No Lean Cuisine last night. Had a dinner out so I had to fall off. But back on the saddle tonite, promise!  
;
Later pilgrims…

 

Categories
Politics taxes

Facebook Taxes – Made Over $1billion, Paid No Taxes, Received Millions In Refund

Here is another example of what the Republicans would prefer – allow a certain group to make as much money as possible, while making all provisions for those people to game the system and get even more. Such is the story of Facebook and their 2012 taxes.

According to Citizens For Tax Justice, Facebook made $1 billion in profits in 2012, paid zero in taxes and received a $429 million tax refund.

Republicans must be happy!

 Facebook is reporting a $429 million net tax refund from the federal and state treasuries. And it’s not because they weren’t profitable. Indeed, Mark Zuckerburg’s little company earned nearly $1.1 billion in profits.

Want to make Republicans even more happy? Take grandma’s social security and send it to Mark Zuckerburg. They wouldn’t be able to contain themselves!

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address: Reigniting The Engine of Economic Growth – The Middle Class

The President’s weekly address can be summed up in this statement: No one in America should work full-time and raise their children in poverty. The statement is part of the address as President Obama called on Congress to do what is necessary to bring jobs back to America to “help grow and strengthen the middle class.”

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