Then There's This:

 Starting in 2014, Members of Congress will be getting their health care insurance through Exchanges, and you will be able buy your insurance through Exchanges too.

Wow, do you think this fact just might be chaffing their posteriors just a bit too??

Things that make Repubs go "argh..............."


Of course, RomneyCare makes them go totally nuts. Especially when you know it contains this little gem:
Outpatient care in doctor's offices, clinics, hospitals, etc., including:

• office visits
  preventive care
  family planning
  abortion services
• What's a card-carrying conservative supposed to do these days? It's all getting too confusing.

And Enough Said

#114261

BY JOE HELLER, GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE  -  6/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Hi-Quality print for your home or office, only $3.50!
©Copyright 2012 Joe Heller

Have a nice day!

Why Texas Can't Have Nice Things

Or, one of the many reasons why intelligent people would NEVER live there:

This is from the Texas Republican National Convention 2012 Platform

"Additionally, the document states the party opposes mandatory pre-school and kindergarten, saying parents are "best suited to train their children in their early development."

The position causing the most controversy, however, is the statement that they oppose the teaching of "higher order thinking skills" -- a curriculum which strives to encourage critical thinking -- arguing that it might challenge "student's fixed beliefs" and undermine "parental authority."

The party also notes its encouragement of legislation that prevents "non-citizens unlawfully present in the United States" from enrolling in public schools, a stance that federal officials have previously deemed against the law."

And throw in repealing the Civil Rights Act just for flavor. You do not want those highly educated, critical-thinking nonwhites and non conservatives making any intelligent decisions to help move YOUR state into the 21st century. 

It's Just One Of Those Days

Sometimes it's the little things that make you want to pull your hair out. Usually it's the GOP, but other topics can do it too.

For example, here's the headline of a story I came across from my old "hometown" paper:

Buck Creek State Park drowning victim dies

Does anyone else see the idiocy here? Don't they have copy writers at this paper? This is the Dayton Daily News for Pete's sake. 

Then there is the matter of dealing with AT&T. (Yes, I'm going to go there....) I simply wanted to change my billing date as my direct deposits  aren't in my account until the second Wednesday of the month. Don't ask me who thought THAT up. AT&T's late date is the 3rd of the month. At this particular point in time, things are a little tight for us, and every dollar is accounted for in a timely manner. I simply wanted to make things a little easier to get payments there on time.

Did you know that AT&T does not have to be competitive..the girl on the phone said something to that effect. The billing date is based upon your phone number...???? To change that date you MUST GET A NEW NUMBER. You heard it here, folks. AND there is a $35.00 dollar charge to do so. Unbelievable.......

And the Right is trying to have us all believe that FREE MARKET and not the government is the ONLY way to get things done efficiently. And I'm sure they've already compromised English classes....

How Far Down The Rabbit Hole

do you think we can go....and still be able to make it out the other side......to sanity, that is?

I just came across this: VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has brought in the Fox News correspondent in Rome to help improve its communications strategy as it tries to cope with years of communications blunders and one of its most serious scandals in decades, The Associated Press learned Saturday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47933125/ /world_news-europe/#.T-Y-Do7FJ5h

And since the media can lie, thanks to FOX (http://www.relfe.com/media_can_legally_lie.html) this should prove QUITE interesting. Throw that "good book" right out the window, folks.


The government is owned  and run by Big Corporations and Big Money. Thank you Citizens United and Supreme Court. Now the Vatican is getting propaganda, er, I meant public relations advice from the likes of Rupert Murdoch and friends.
You just can't make this stuff up.


Update: someone else is as dumbfounded as I am:
http://www.newshounds.us/20120624_cue_the_laugh_track_vatican_hires_fox_news_reporter_to_improve_its_image

Oh, That Crazy Ohio !

Things seem to be moving right along in that republican state of Kasichstan, where the governor and his buddies, the Brothers Koch, have surreptitiously inserted their Right Wing agenda into the workings of government. The governor got a pushback on his union busting but things are still a bit rough in the "public worker" section. Take firefighters, for instance: nobody wants to be one because the majority are "volunteers."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/volunteer-firefighters-difficult-to-attract-1392603.html

“We try to find ways to first bring them in and then keep them,” Smith said of the volunteers, who he said are hard to recruit because some “people don’t won’t to work for pennies on the dollar.”

Convincing everybody that the last part of the statement is a GOOD thing now seems to be a sticking point for the Repubs.
Then I noticed there may be small problem with that "separation of church and state" thing. Reminds me of the government funds being used for Liberty University....your tax payer money spreading the conservative view of higher education to college students whether you 
wanted it or not. 
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/xenia-receives-grant-to-renovate-legacy-center-1392581.htm

The City of Xenia recently was awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to further revamp what is now the sprawling 253-acre Legacy Center campus.

Partly as a result, a $6 million nursing facility and a Christian radio network will be added to the campus, developers said.

“This property belongs to God,” said Claude “Bud” E. Schindler Jr., president emeritus of Dayton Christian School System. “He is doing his work.”

Excuse me...but why is the state of Ohio paying for "God's work?" I've no qualms with such endeavors...but I'm sure there are LOTS of other Ohio revitalizations that need to me done (have you been to West Dayton, Youngstown, or Akron???)...and this is the best they can come up with? What about the old GOP bromide about the sick, the poor, or the unemployed "going to the church or charities for help. That's what they're there for." The church-sponsored entities apparently have the OK to go to the government.
Oh, there's this, too:

“We strongly believe in Clean Ohio and total revitalization (efforts),” said Kvamme, who serves as JobsOhio’s president and chief investment officer.
&
Kasich already has named Mark Kvamme, a wealthy Silicon Valley venture capitalist working on a $1 salary, as his director of development who will help shape JobsOhio. (2010)


Update: //freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/19/what-religious-tax-exemptions-cost-us/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Wonders Never Cease..

I never expected to see sanity on Morning Joe, but I was surprised:  
You can be sure NO Fox watchers saw this discussion.

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

How The GOP Is Working For You

Maybe I've been a little too hard on the Republicans, since John Boehner and his buddies insist they are working for YOU, the American People. So I thought I'd do a little rechecking to see if things had changed over the last 2 years: What I found is :

IMMIGRATION
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/house-republicans-immigration-defund-obama_n_1581052.html

CLIMATE CHANGE
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/gop-efforts-defund-ipcc-0492.html

WOMEN'S HEALTH
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/04/ohio_house_republicans_move_to.html    

http://thinkprogress.org
/health/2012/04/27/472888/prevention-fund-women/  


HEALTHCARE BILL
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/politics/house-votes-to-kill-portion-of-health-care-law-1388030.html

EDUCATION
http://www.leftinalabama.com/diary/9368/republican-truth-attack-stop-funding-public-education

CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/02/14/14climatewire-house-republicans-open-a-major-budget-battle-61602.html?pagewanted=all    


FOOD SAFETY
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_06/bad_news_for_americans_who_eat029939.php     


INFRASTRUCTURE
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/103393/public-infrastructure-investment-congress-spending-projects    


UNEMPLOYMENT & WELFARE
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/welfare-drug-testing-michigan_n_1580973.html


DISEASE CONTROL, CDC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/gop-budget-cut-proposal-w_n_838557.html


PRISON SYSTEM
http://www.westernprogressive.com/2012/02/gops-privatization-attempt-of-prisons-failed-but-ideological-fight-continues.html


ECOLOGY VS JOBS & BIG OIL
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/210465-republicans-revive-keystone-pipeline-push-on-highway-bill


HIGHWAY SYSTEMS
http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2011/10/25/Gov-Kasich-talks-about-Ohio-Turnpike-plans.html

If all these folks on the Right want to do is make our life in this country worse, make it harder for students to get an education, denigrate the poor and unemployed, push women back into a second-class-citizen role, ruin the environment to gain a profit (through a false narrative being spread), mix politics and a conservative branch of religion into our government legislation...........I'll have to stick to my original opinions.


To quote a New York Times article today: So far, the House Republicans have done little but show that they have no real interest in governing.

No Words Necessary