Wow, This Takes Guts

The Greatest Generation? Ponzi artists, congressman suggests

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., offered a less reverential footnote today, attributing the origins of today’s fiscal crisis to entitlement programs fostered by some of those same people.

“The Greatest Generation created many of what the private sector would call Ponzi schemes,” Issa said at an Association of Government Accountants conference here.  “They created Social Security, they created Medicare on their watch, [they] created Medicaid.” All of that, Issa continued, ”without resources or funding."

http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2012/07/30/that-greatest-generation-ponzi-artists-congressman-suggests

 In his zeal to go after Eric Holder for Fast and Furious, or any other Dem that crosses his path actually, he forgot a few things that happened under the last administration: a couple of unfunded wars, a Medicare Part D Drug Plan, a really big Not Paid For tax cut.

Also, politicians have been using the Social Security fund (paid for by taxing the people who will be using it in later years) as a "slush fund", as John Boehner said in his attempt to steal from the ACA to pay for student loan payment decreases....

http://smartvstupid.com/2011/05/31/the-economys-lingering-bush-hangover

Then there is the other matter of basically calling the Greatest Generation "crooks," and creators of Ponzi schemes. Pot...meet ...Kettle.

http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/01/11/report-media-ignore-rep-issas-alleged-criminal/174997

Mr. Issa has a few criminal matters and suspicions of his own that linger in the background, though they always seem to be swept away. Minor things such as car theft, larceny, arson, insurance fraud, weapons charges...

But, hey, I understand. It's only politics....people expect a few little stretches of truth now and then......right? People don't matter...the end result is what counts.

 “A Conservative Government is an organized hypocrisy."

This quote by Benjamin Disreali seems to capture the whole Republican Party in a nutshell. Or at least the current GOP candidate running for the highest office in our land, Mitt Romney.

As you know Mitt is staying true to the Party line...or at least crossing both sides of it as the occasion occurs. That Romenycare Massachusetts is a toughie for him, though, as the current Right Wing mantra is Repeal and Replace the latest ACA bill at all costs. 

Now this: Romney praises Israel's health system:Romney’s point about Israel’s success in controlling health care costs is spot on: Its health care system has seen health care costs grow much slower than other industrialized nations.

Israel spends less on health care because of a universal health system that requires everyone to have insurance. Every Israeli citizen has the obligation to purchase health care services through one of the country’s four HMOs since government officials approved the National Health Insurance Law in 1995. People pay for 40 percent of their HMO’s costs through income-related contributions collected through the tax system, and the state pays the remaining 60 percent. 

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/07/30/604111/romney-individual-mandate-israel/

Well, isn't that special? Maybe he SHOULD have kept those meetings private. Then the rest of the US wouldn't see what a phony

he is, in case they haven't seen it already.

Of course, there is the Olympics Opening Ceremony in London:
http://www.examiner.com/article/british-celebrate-their-health-care-system-london-olympics-opening-ceremony

The rest of the world makes head way...and we are still banging our heads against the wall.

Hypocrisy On Sunday
or, How the Right Wing Extremists Interpret The News.

I usually avoid all Sunday morning political talk shows. It's not good for the digestive system. But I did happen to catch CBS this morning, and while I don't care one way or the other for Tavis Smiley...meaning sometimes I agree but other times I feel he's off course...I was impressed with what he had to say. The topic was poverty in our country, something the Repubs just gloss over, or blame on the poor themselves. Mr. Smiley did a straight forward, factual, emotional piece: NO MENTION of Repubs or Dems, left or right, white or black or hispanics, male or female, this president or that one. Just a solid piece.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57476855/tavis-smiley-poverty-is-the-new-slavery/?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.13


I was TOTALLY taken back by the comments on the article, as you can see for yourself:

"Slavery, really? You make me sick. Slavery is code for it's the white guy's fault. The problem with the economy is in the White House. Smiley, I put you in the same category as Wright, Sharpton, & Jackson. You, like them, are race baiters and serve only to enflame hate. You are as big a racist as the Klan."


What is WRONG with this country? Is the divide, hate, ignorance and refusal to adhere to facts  too deep? Has the Right Wing Extreme Machine done THAT great a job? Do we have ourselves to blame, libs? 


We can say that the Right lives in an alternate reality...but it's here on the same ground as the rest of us. I don't want to believe that regular people think that way. I'm ashamed for them and scared at the same time. What does the future hold if this sort of thinking and behavior wins out..........?

The President's Apology Tour

This isn't going to end well....

I'm sure you remember this from a couple years ago:

The President's Apology Tour

By KARL ROVE

President Barack Obama has finished the second leg of his international confession tour. In less than 100 days, he has apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124044156269345357.html

Well, we've come a long way, baby. The Republican presumed-candidate for President of the United States is making his European grand tour...and from the impression he's making, he should be apologizing ALREADY:

Diplomacy Romney style: casts doubt on Britain's Olympic preparations; says last thing he wants is for US to be like Europe. Way to go Mitt!
— @jameschappers

Another Romney triumph as he forgets Ed Miliband's name: 'Like you, Mr Leader, I look forward to our conversation here this morning'.
— @jameschappers

Romney blunders again by revealing he's had (supposedly) top secret briefing by John Sawers, MI6 boss. Do we have a new Dubya on our hands?
— @jameschappers

Serious dismay in Whitehall at Romney debut. 'Worse than Sarah Palin.' 'Total car crash'. Two of the kinder verdicts #romneyshambles
— @jameschappers

Can this get any worse for Romney? Boris is now mocking him in front of 60,000 people in Hyde Park #romneyshambles
— @jameschappers

Another verdict from one Romney meeting: 'Apparently devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity' #romneyshambles  #mitthitsthefan
— @jameschappers

James Chapman is a conservative and the editor of the Daily Mail

This isn't "news" to us. We've seen Romney insult NASCAR fans about wearing their ponchos (but he has friends that OWN NASCAR teams....) and make fun of cookies presented to him from a local bakery. We have seen him express profound rage and bewilderment over the President's comments in speeches..and proceed to use the same ones himself within the next week. We've heard him blast the President over supposedly saying "people don't build these companies by themselves" and to back up his speech...use supporters whose main sources of investment & business were government entities. 
http://tinyurl.com/dxcojhs
We've seen and heard from his wife.......

UPDATE:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lnhVWtT0YQ&feature=youtu.be

But I really do feel sorry for the rest of the world having to endure this.
So on behalf of the saner citizens United States: I apologize!


P.S. Britain: If you think THIS is bad......you should have seen the OTHER candidates.....

I Just Can't Put This Into Words...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/fox-and-friends-lemonade-stand_n_1697665.html

Just when you think that FOX can't go any lower......it does.

It must be horrible to live with the fact that you HATE a person...especially our first black President.....sooooooo much, that you will stoop to anything to distort his words, denigrate, and mock him.

To me, this borders on CHILD ABUSE...........

" Forced To Use Universal Healthcare & Survived"

The story you are about to read is a harrowing one, according to all the pundits and politicians on the Right. A diehard believer was exposed, against her will, to the dreaded socialist form of MANDATED healthcare (known in this country as the menace of OBAMACARE, not to be confused with that excellent system they have in Massachusetts known as ROMNEYCARE....)


I'm sure you have all heard about the system: "free healthcare" for people who don't pay their own way, death panels, bankruptcy-causing forced premiums, coverage for non-citizens, no choice of doctors or hospitals, rationing of needed care, doctors fleeing their careers at every corner, hospitals and clinics shutting their doors, and Hitler at the reception desk with Nurse Ratchet assisting.


Let's not waste any time on this beleaguered tale:

"When I moved to Canada in 2008, I was a die-hard conservative Republican. So when I found out that we were going to be covered by Canada’s Universal Health Care, I was somewhat disgusted. "

http://ayoungmomsmusings.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/how-i-lost-my-fear-of-universal-health.html

Imagine this poor women's relief when at last she was asked to put forth her opinion on this statement: "When they asked me to clarify and I explained that many people in the States are not insured and they try to put off medical care unless absolutely needed, they literally could not comprehend such a thing."


She was also surprised that no pregnant women were automatically forced to have abortions. Contraception also was not given out at every exam. There were also doctors of all religious leanings, not practicing at gun point.......and they actually smiled.
"Since all of these benefits are available to everyone, I never heard Canadians talking about capping their incomes to remain lower income and not lose their government provided health coverage. Older people in Canada don’t have to clean out their assets to qualify for some Medicare or Social Security programs,."


Now......how can we get FOX NEWS to spread the word......?
(OK, I got carried away for the moment.)

This is Getting Really Old..

"Does anybody really think more debt or taxes to pay for more income re-distribution programs is really going to help anything?...

How can a tax system be called "fair" when 47% of households are getting a free ride on the backs of the 53% who are paying income tax and carrying their own weight in society? Do we really want a society where half the people have to be carried by the other half?.. 

All the corporations combined have never received this much of the taxpayer's money....

 I am tired of paying other people's bills while tens of millions have been trained to keep crying "woe is me". And I see their "benefits" just keep growing..

It is going to take individual responsibility and millions of decent paying private sector jobs to get us out of this mess, NOT more government intervention. No, I don't have the answer as to where those jobs will come from. I just know it will not and should not be from the government."

by *****July 20, 2012 / Comments on an article re: George McGovern on CBS

Trying to debate with someone on this fact-twisting tirade is near impossible. Poor lazy people sitting around with their big screen TVs eating steak, instead of vying with college grads and seniors for those jobs at McDonalds, are the cause of ALL the problems in this country........MY REAR END.

"In America today, the biggest recipients of handouts are not poor people. They're corporations."    Townhall March 23, 2011

I'll even steal a quote from (sorry) John Stossel: 

Or to put it another way: the government spent 50% more on corporate welfare than it did on food stamps and housing assistance in 2006. I wouldn't hazard a guess where it stands today.  But oh, those lazy non-tax paying people getting a free ride on the back of taxpayers.....

And by the way: those on the lower end of the totem pole, usually seniors, unemployed, college students, one-parent families or people working a couple of part-time jobs...DON'T MAKE ENOUGH, with available deductions, to pay additional federal taxes. BUT it's OK for those with millions or billions to USE EVERY LOOPHOLE to lower their rate.

Something else think about:

 The US now ranks 73rd in global income equality, just below Turkmenistan and just above Senegal. The per capita annual incomes of those two countries, respectively, are $1,706 and $1,080.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/329022#ixzz21CFE3ub

So, all you NON-CORPORATE BEINGS out there, get going. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Ask your parents for money...unless you're a senior whose parents are long gone, or a college student whose folks just got "downsized." Ignore the fact that you've worked 20 years with a Masters degree. Buy enough stuff with your EBT cards (except tattoos, prostitutes, fake fingernails, liquor, cigarettes, potato chips or lottery tickets) so that all these corporations sitting on billions of profits (what's left after CEO bonuses and political donations) will create those jobs. In turn YOU can get those minimum wage openings, and spend those wages at Walmart who in turn will make a profit, and........you get the picture. Or better yet...the author of the post at the beginning of this article will FINALLY come up with something that doesn't involve the big bad government.

UPDATE: from a HuffPo article just this morning explaining how the poverty level today will pass that of the 60's...Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, believes the social safety net has worked and it's now time to cut back. He worries that advocates may use a rising poverty rate to justify additional spending on the poor, when in fact, he says, many live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.

How totally stupidly ignorant can you be?????


UPATE DEUX: [James Henry says] "This offshore economy is large enough to have a major impact on estimates of inequality of wealth and income; on estimates of national income and debt ratios; and – most importantly – to have very significant negative impacts on the domestic tax bases of 'source' countries" [...]

"These estimates reveal a staggering failure," says John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network. "Inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer people.

The GOP's Big Tent in Tennessee

You know how the Democrats are elitist snobs, always looking down their noses at ordinary folks, not really in tune with the middle class. Well, except for the poor, unemployed, Blacks, Hispanics (Americans, in my book), seniors, single parents, post-fetus beings (children, by another name), LGBT, sick, and those of varying religions or none at all.

“.........because Republicans have been looking for that big tent, and I’m very happy that that big tent is on the conservative side, and that’s really where lots of Americans are going right now,” said DeMint, one of the leaders of the tea party movement on Capitol Hill.
(Newsmax.com: Sen. DeMint: GOP Really Is 'Big Tent' Party)

Well, looks like the tent is starting to come apart at the seams here in Tennessee:

NASHVILLE — Stewart County Republican Party Chairman Kyle Mallory says Gov. Bill Haslam's greatest failing is that "he hasn't cleaned house" by ridding state government of Democrats and homosexuals in key positions and by hiring a Muslim.

The hiring of Ali, who is being described as "an expert in Shariah Compliant Finance, which is one of the many ways Islamic terrorism is funded" and as "a one-time Obama appointee" from a family with "a long history of supporting the Democratic Party." ECD officials say Ali, who served in a White House fellowship program, has nothing to do with Shariah law or finance

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/17/gop-groups-blast-haslam-for-retaining-democrats/?partner=popular

UPDATE: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/tennessee_tea_party_bill_haslam.php?ref=fpb

This is not the whole TN GOP, of course, but enough of them to make a stink. Inclusion, compassion and compromise are NOT in the Republican conversation these days....anywhere. Yet they want to blame President Obama for not getting us out of this downhill spiral SOONER.

"If Haslam is sanctioned by the Republicans and not welcome in their party," House Dem Party Leader Fitzhugh said, "he would be welcomed by Democrats."

You Won't See This On FOX

Not as long as they push GOP talking points and pander to the I-will-take-your-word-'cause-Obama-is-a-Socialist-Kenyan-who's-running-this-country-off-a-cliff-and-taking-away-all-our-freedoms crowd.
FOX has become their Way, their Truth, and their Light.


"The GOP has no moderate faction anymore. It’s a rump amalgamation of plutocrats and the people who service their air conditioning.
http://tinyurl.com/czfm6uq


The aforementioned people cannot, or will not, see the way the Republican party is going these days: blessings upon the wealthy and powerful ("job creators'' in politispeak) and austerity (in the name of budget cutting) for the rest of them. Oh, they'll gladly go along with it because to them it's these "others" that will have to pay the price...not them, the compassionate RW true-blue hard working Americans who figure they have done everything right since birth. All this sacrifice will bring them Right Wing Political Nirvana....... 


They have not yet grasped that the GOP does NOT care about them: Joe SixPacK, Bill & Betty Baptist, Tom Truck Driver, Sally Single Parent, Carrie College Student, Sam & Sarah Senior, Ora & Olivia Ordinary, and of course, Hernando Hispanic. The upper hierarchy of the Republican Party......along with the Koch Brothers, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Roger Ailes, the Catholic Church, and the NRA to name a few.....simply find them useful pawns in their continued attempts to separate the "got mine" from the "sorry about your luck." The Repubs can hit all the hot buttons, seemingly empathizing with  their believers...sort of like the old time revival preachers. "All the better to get you to vote against your best interests, my dear."


"The lot of them look like a bunch of grim Pharisees, and it’s all too obvious that all they really care about is cutting rich people’s taxes."
My thoughts exactly. 


Just in case you still have the impression that the GOP is working FOR YOU: http://republicanjobcreation.com/


Then there is their all-encompassing love of their fellow Americans:
“Just wanted to let you know - today I received my 2012 Social Security Stimulus Package. It contained two tomato seeds, cornbread mix, a prayer rug, a machine to blow smoke up my butt, 2 discount coupons to KFC, an "Obama Hope & Change" bumper sticker, and a "Blame it on Bush" poster for the front yard. The directions were in Spanish. Watch for yours soon.”
From the Rutland County (VT.) GOP Facebook page, now deleted/ MSNBC

Give Us Lawyers, Guns and Money

NASHVILLE — The National Rifle Association is spending $75,000 to unseat House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart while asking all state legislators whether they will side next year with the organization, even if it means breaking with GOP leadership.

"As a legislator, would you follow the demands of party leadership even if they run contrary to the NRA's legislative agenda?" one survey item asks. ihttp://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/10/nra-spending-75k-to-unseat-house-gop-chair/

I see that Grover Norquist is alive and well as a clone in the NRA. This group is appealing to the basest of Southern instincts: gun control and the right to "pack" at any given time, at given place.

The NRA and the Tennessee Firearms Association have targeted Maggart for defeat because of her role in blocking a vote on a bill that would allow Tennesseans to keep guns in their locked cars in parking lots, even if the lots are owned by a company or government entity that prohibits firearms on its premises.

I don't believe that the colonists were this obsessed with "being armed" at the time the Constitution was being written. Why, if EVERYBODY was allowed to carry some type of gun anywhere, to "protect himself" from criminals, or opposing viewpoints and religions....we would have NO NEED for any type of police force, private or otherwise. Hmmmmm..........Of course, this is PURELY speculation on my part, and a coincidence that certain shadowy elements are involved:

Koch Industries has vigorously defended ALEC, and has assailed reporting that noted that the company, led by billionaire brothers Charles and David, is a long-time funder and leader of ALEC and that ALEC has long advanced the NRA agenda through "model" gun bills, including Florida's controversial SYG law that was ratified by ALEC in 2005.http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-06/politics/politics_nra-alec_1_nra-officials-alec-gun-rights?_s=PM:POLITICS

Not all of the Koch money is going to large political pushes the country can see (but won't acknowledge)........a good portion is working it's way insidiously into our local legislation and everyday lives.

Do They Have Class or Are They Just Rich ?


Yes, we have heard about President Obama's war on the rich. The Right never stops shouting about how "this is the most divisive president the entire universe has ever seen." They never give a rest to their "class warfare" meme.



And then the Only-Class-That-Matters had a little shindig for their presidential candidate (not the one of their choice, I'm sure.): 

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. – A woman in a blue chiffon dress poked her head out of a black Range Rover here on Sunday afternoon and yelled to an aide to Mitt Romney, “Is there a V.I.P. entrance. We are V.I.P
“We’ve got the message,” she added. “But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies — everybody who’s got the right to vote — they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income — one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”


Yes..the rich ARE different than you and me. But "class"....that's another story:

Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head-on and handle whatever comes along. Those who have class have wrestled with their own personal “angel” and won a victory that marks them thereafter.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes. Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices. Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. The most affluent blue blood can be totally without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.

Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse. Class can “walk with kings and keep it’s virtue, and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.” Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class- because he is comfortable with himself.

If you have class, you don’t need much of anything else. If you don’t have it, no matter what else you have – it doesn’t make much difference.

-Howard E. Ferguson, Author of The Edge