Category: Politics

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Politics United States

Limbaugh Misleads His Sheeple On Effects Of Not Raising The Debt Limit

The brainiac that is Rush Limbaugh has figured out the whole raising the debt ceiling thing, and according to Mr. Limbaugh, not raising the debt ceiling means nothing, except that “we wont be able to borrow any more.” Here’s The Brain at work, while talking to a caller to his radio show;

LIMBAUGH: Here’s the point, it’s a scare tactic. It really isn’t possible, there is always money coming in. The government can count on tax revenue from any number of sources and activities, there will always be money coming in. They can always print money. This default business is a straw dog, it’s a straw man they’re throwing out there to you. You want to know what the actual manifestations of an official default would be —

CALLER: Yeah, absolutely. Because, I mean, just looking in recent history, we were listening to the media and they’re talking about how bad a government shutdown would be —

LIMBAUGH: It just — all it means is we won’t be able to borrow anymore. That’s all it means. All it means is we have to live within our means.

CALLER: Well I don’t think that would be too bad then.

LIMBAUGH: No, it’s not. You know, the whole business — I shocked a lot of people yesterday when I said not raising the debt limit is an option.

Of course, that’s just Limbaugh’s view, shared by his immediate audience. But what are the facts of not raising the debt ceiling?

The United States has always carried a federal debt and there are two basic types of debtors. Debt held by the public and those held by other governments. Raising the debt ceiling allows the United States to pay its bills to these two entities, thus, maintaining its triple-A ratings worldwide. Just like not paying your credit card directly affects your abilities to get further credit and eventually lowering your credit ratings, causing potentially adverse effects in the future, the same is true for the United States.

While Limbaugh is partly right–that the Federal government would always have money coming in through tax revenue–this revenue would not be able to sustain the obligations of the government, especially since the we presently have a deficit, hell-o!

According to the Congressional Research Service, “the federal government would need to rely solely on incoming revenues to finance obligations. If this occurred during a period when the federal government was running a deficit, the dollar amount of newly incurred federal obligations would continually exceed the dollar amount of newly incoming revenues.”

So this is not the time to rely solely on tax revenues to pay the federal debt. It is frankly, unrealistic to be expected to pay your bills with money you don’t have. Treasury however, have some other tricks up their sleeves to avoid reaching the debt limit, and have successfully employed these tricks in previous years, 1985, 1995-1996, 2002 and 2003. Some of those tricks included;

To delay issuing new short-term government securities to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust Fund, the Social Security Trust Funds, and several smaller trust funds. In particular, new Treasury obligations could not be issued to the trust funds because doing so would have exceeded the debt limit. Treasury took the additional step of “disinvesting” the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Trust Fund, the Social Security Trust Funds, and several smaller trust funds by redeeming some trust fund securities earlier than usual.

Again, our economic situation now does not allow for the Treasury to take these steps, so raising the debt ceiling is the only other option.

But if we were to follow Rush’s misinformed blabbering, and the debt ceiling is not raised, the United States could not pay its bills.

Potential Economic and Financial Effects

In addition to the potential impact on federal programs and activities if the debt limit is not increased, there may also be economic and financial consequences. A 1979 GAO report described the consequences of failing to increase the debt ceiling. GAO said the government had never defaulted on any of its securities, because cash has been available to pay interest and redeem them upon maturity or demand. Further, GAO said a default on the securities could have adverse effects on the economy, the public welfare, and the government’s ability to market future securities.

It is difficult to perceive all the adverse effects that a government default for even a short time would have on the economy and the public welfare. It is generally recognized that a default would preclude the government from honoring all of its obligations to pay for such things as employees’ salaries and wages; social security benefits, civil service retirement, and other benefits from trust funds; contractual services and supplies, and maturing securities…. At a minimum, however, the government could be subject to additional claim.

Source: The Congressional Research Service

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Paul Ryan Planned Parenthood Politics Republican United States Wisconsin

The So-Called Media Only Covers Right Wing Issues

We’ve been saying it forever. Despite what the Conservatives and Republicans want you to believe, there is no such thing as  “left winged media.”

The truth is, there is a right winged media, and just about all it covers is everything the Right does. Remember the town hall meetings of 2009? Remember the Teaparty rallies and marches on Washington? And remember the handful of individuals – 5 people to be exact – who gathered in front of Harry Reid’s office to protest Planned Parenthood and to call for a government shutdown? Yes, even those 5 people got massive media coverage.

Now, remember the hundreds of thousands that showed up in Wisconsin – on a daily basis? No? You can’t recall because the media totally drowned out those marches and protests. How about the time when constituents began questioning the Republican’s votes on the Paul Ryan’s budget plan? Right, you can’t recall those town halls because the main stream media is not covering it.

Rachel Maddow has more in the video below;

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Politics United States

Obama: Don’t Subsidize Yesterday’s Energy, Invest In Tomorrow’s

Instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy sources, we need to invest in tomorrow’s. We need to invest in clean, renewable energy. In the long-term, that’s the answer. That’s the key to helping families at the pump and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

That was the message from President Obama, as he delivered his weekly message. The President acknowledged the politics that’s involved in higher energy costs, saying;

Whenever gas prices shoot up, like clock work we see politicians racing to the camera waving three-point plans for $2.00 gas. You see people trying to grab headlines to score a few points. The truth is, there are no silver bullets that can bring down gas prices right away, but there are a few things we could do. This includes safe and responsible production of oil at home, which we are pursuing.

And the President mentioned his request to the Attorney General to launch a task force whose job will be “rooting out cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, including any illegal activities by traders or speculators.” The President called again for an end the $4 billion dollars in subsidies the oil companies presently get.

He then continued his call for a sensible approach to reducing the deficit.

Both Democrats and Republicans believe we need to reduce the deficit. That’s where we agree. The question we’re debating is how we do it. I’ve proposed a balanced approach that cuts spending while still investing in things like education and clean energy that are so critical to creating jobs and opportunities for the middle class. It’s a simple idea: we need to live within our means while at the same time investing in our future.

That’s why I disagree so strongly with a proposal in Congress that cuts our investments in clean energy by 70 percent. Yes, we have to get rid of wasteful spending—and make no mistake, we’re going through every line of the budget scouring for savings. But we can do that without sacrificing our future. We can do that while still investing in the technologies that will create jobs and allow the United States to lead the world in new industries. That’s how we’ll not only reduce the deficit, but also lower our dependence on foreign oil, grow the economy, and leave for our children a safer planet. And that’s what our mission has to be.

A sensible approach to a very complicated problem.

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Politics right winged United States United States Environmental Protection Agency

On Earth Day, More “Christians” Attack Environmentalists

Let’s look at the meaning of the word Environmentalist. According to the dictionary, an environmentalist is any person who advocates or works to protect the air,water, animals, plants, and other natural resources from  pollution or its effects.

Now, let’s see what the Bible says about Environmentalists and the protecting of our environment. There are many other scripture verses that remind us that God not only created the Earth, but also calls on us to protect it.

Psalms 104: 25-30 – There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

This verse clearly asks us to be good stewards of the environment. It tells us that all living things, both large and small depend on us for protection, for with that protection, we “renew the face of the earth.”

Now, enter the far right winged “Christian” conservative. For some strange reason, these people believe any attempt to protect the environment from pollution is non-Christian.

See their video below.

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Politics Republican

After Robbing The Middle Class, Republicans Want Us To Donate Cash

The short-sighted freshmen Republican congressmen were so blinded by the euphoria of robbing the middle class and giving to the rich, they forgot that they would need these same middle class Americans to donate more money for their re-election campaigns. Now, the reality is becoming very apparent – you can’t squeeze blood from a rock.

The New York Times reports;

Figures released by the Federal Election Commission last week showed that Mr. West raised more than $433,000 in the first quarter of the year, ranking third among all freshman Republicans. And he has already spent much of that, mostly on direct-mail fund-raising and other expenses. During the same reporting period in the 2010 campaign, Mr. West raised just over $839,000.

Two Democrats challenging Mr. West for the 2012 election, Patrick Murphy, a businessman, and Lois J. Frankel, a former mayor of West Palm Beach, did fairly well in the first quarter of 2011, raising $352,000 and $250,000 respectively.

Mr. West is one of more than two dozen Republican freshmen facing tough re-election battles in Congressional districts that lean Democratic or were won by President Obama in 2008. Others include Michael G. Grimm and Nan Hayworth of New York, Robert Hurt of Virginia, Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania, David Schweikert of Arizona and Steve Stivers of Ohio.

Mr. Grimm, Ms. Hayworth and Mr. Meehan all raised less in this reporting period than they did a year ago.

But have no fear freshmen, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court has made it possible for corporations to donate an unlimited amount of money to you. Who needs the darn, pesky middle-class when a corporation can buy your election?

No wonder you’re so concerned about giving back to these corporations. So the vicious cycle continues…

 

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Democratic Wisconsin Wisconsin Union Bashing

Total Recall – Another Wisconsin Republican To Be Recalled

Earlier in the week, we reported that petitions were already filed to repeal four Republican senators in Wisconsin. Tomorrow, Democrats will file another petition, gathering thousands of signatures more than what is required to file.

Dems will file a massive amount of signatures tomorrow to trigger a recall election against a fifth Wisconsin GOP state senator, I’m told.

Graeme Zielinski, the spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, confirms to me that Democrats will submit approximately 30,000 signatures for the recall of Alberta Darling — nearly 150 percent of the 20,343 required.

This is the fifth time Dems have collected far more signatures than necessary for a recall — all but ensuring that all five recall elections will actually happen.

I’m only guessing that the last three petitions for recalls will be as successful.

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Politics

President Obama’s Facebook Townhall Meeting – Video

President Obama appeared today at an event sponsored by Facebook.

In case you missed it, below is a portion of the President’s meeting.

Categories
Wisconsin Wisconsin Union Bashing

More Wisconsin Republicans Added to Recall List

The count is now up to four. That’s how many petitions have been filed to recall the Republican senators who supported Governor Walker’s decision to strip Wisconsin workers of their union rights. Democrats got the required 15,000 signatures needed to add the latest senators Luther Olsen and Sheila Harsdorf to the recall list.

Meanwhile, progressives still plan to file recall petitions against four other GOP state senators, and have until May 2 to do so. They plan to do the same against Walker once he is eligible for recall. And as FDL’s Dave Dyden notes, “While conservative activists have hinted that they have achieved enough signatures to recall Democratic members of the Senate, they have yet to file any petitions with the GAB.”

Governor Walker will be eligible for recall in January 2012.

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Barack Obama Medicare Paul Ryan Politics Republican The Budget United States weekly address

President Obama Slams Ryan’s Budget… Again!

After President Obama presented his speech on reducing the federal debt, Republicans went on a crying spree, accusing the President of not playing fair, and “making a partisan speech.” All of a sudden, the very same Republicans who have stood in the way of every single piece of legislation the Obama administration has put forth, are now questioning why, as they see it, President Obama is not working with them and agreeing on the Paul Ryan budget.

So to make sure Republicans heard him the first time around, President Obama used his weekly address to put emphasis on his original points – that all, including the rich, must contribute their share to America’s future, and that Paul Ryan’s plan is not worth the paper it is written on.

The President:

Now, one plan put forward by some Republicans in the House of Representatives aims to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years. But while I think their goal is worthy, I believe their vision is wrong for America. It’s a vision that says, at a time when other nations are hustling to out-compete us for the jobs and businesses of tomorrow, we have to make drastic cuts in education, infrastructure, and clean energy – the very investments we need to win that competition and get those jobs.

It’s a vision that says that in order to reduce the deficit, we have to end Medicare as we know it, and make cuts to Medicaid that would leave millions of seniors, poor children, and Americans with disabilities without the care they need.

But even as this plan proposes these drastic cuts, it would also give $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest 2% of Americans–an extra $200,000 for every millionaire and billionaire in the country.

I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think it’s right to ask seniors to pay thousands more for health care, or ask students to postpone college, just so we don’t have to ask those who have prospered so much in this land of opportunity to give back a little more.

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Barack Obama Featured Politics Racism Republican White House

Racist Republican Email Depicts Obama As An Ape

You will have to check a calendar to believe the year is 2011, because if you simply rely on the stink that’s emitting from the Republican party today, you will swear that we’ve traveled back in time to the 1800’s.

Orange County in California is slowly becoming the epicenter of the racist element of the Republican party. Back in 2009, when the rest of America and the world for that matter, celebrated the inauguration of the first black president, Orange County was busy preparing an email showing the lawn of the White House covered in watermelons.

And now Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the Central Committee of the Orange County Republican Party, has decided it was time to show her true nature, or rather, the nature she associates with the President. She forwarded an email depicting President Obama as the son of an apparent ape family, with the title of the email saying, “Now you know why theres no birth certificate.”

Equally despicable, is Ms. Davenport’s refusal to see any harm in her racist attempt at humor as witnessed by her unapologetic response to the incident. And oh yea, the “I have friends who are black” statement was included in her response. That alone, made everything all right! Ms. Davenport goes on to say;

“Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people–mostly people I didn’t think would be upset by it.”

Calling the person who reported the email to The Weekly a “coward”,  Davenport is also blaming the media for making a “big deal” out of the incident.

I just checked. It is 2011, but evidently some people wish for the “good ole days…!”

More on this story here.

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Barack Obama Politics Republican Ronald Reagan White House

Republican Presidents Add More To The Debt Than Democratic Presidents Do

Something we already knew, but now the record proves it. Republican presidents run up debts, while Democratic presidents try to reduce it.

This is in stark contrast to the ideology constantly being drilled into our heads by the media and the Republican party, that conservatives are for fiscal discipline. If this is true, the conservatives who become president must leave their ‘discipline’ at the door of the White House.

According to the report,

Economist Mike Kimel notes that the last five Democratic Presidents (Clinton, Carter, LBJ, JFK, and Truman) all reduced public debt as a share of GDP, while the last four Republican Presidents (GW Bush, GHW Bush, Reagan, and Ford) all oversaw an increase in the country’s indebtedness.

Similarly, Republican David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, as op-ed contributor to the New York Times blamed the “ideological tax-cutters” of the Reagan administration for the increase of national debt during the 1980s.

Looking back, this trend was not always the case. Yesteryear’s Republican Presidents once had focused on bringing down the national debt,  but something changed right around the time Reagan got into office. See the chart below;

So next time these conservatives talk about “deficit reduction” and “cutting the budget,” maybe they should consider whose policies increased the national debt to where it is today. They should also consider educating their next presidential candidate, and beg that candidate to maintain their so-called “conservatism” if they manage to cross the threshold of the White House.

Categories
Abortion Planned Parenthood Politics Senate United States

Jon Kyl Deletes His Lie From Congressional Record

It’s as if it never happened. The outrageous claim by Republican Senator Jon Kyl last Friday, that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is providing abortions, has magically disappeared from the Congressional records. Apparently, senators can review their statements on the floor of the senate after making them, and make changes for the record.

Last Friday, in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood, the Arizona Republican senator stood on the floor of the United States Senate and lied, claiming, “if you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that’s well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does.” Of course, the truth of the matter is, about 3% of Planned Parenthood services are abortions. The organization also offers a wide range of health care to women, including cancer screenings.

But after waving the magic wand over the official congressional record, his statement now says, “if you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that is what Planned Parenthood does.”

Let’s see him wave his wand over Youtube and change the video below.

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