Saturday, November 21, 2015

Republicans Demand America’s 1920s Government Be Put Back In Place

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/16/republicans-demand-americas-1920s-government-place.html
"Apparently they want a government like that of the 1920s when the rich were given free rein to economically rape the people and send the world into another, more intense economic crash. A crash, by the way, that increased the wealth of the very richest industrialists beyond their wildest dream; not unlike today when the wealthiest Americans have taken the lion’s share of wealth in the current recovery. The Republican base wants a dictatorial president willing to challenge the Constitution and pledge that the system of government created by the Founders, the system with legislative checks and balances and regulations, is abolished and replaced with a theocratic libertarian “no government"."

The GOP Has Become the Party of Adults Who Act Like Children

The GOP Has Become the Party of Adults Who Act Like Children

"It’s a joke how simplistic and immature the GOP has become. From the days of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Eisenhower leading the party, to Donald Trump and Ben Carson being the overwhelming frontrunners for their presidential nomination. Things have gotten so bad for Republicans that apparently some within the party have recently been begging Mitt Romney to run – that’s how desperate some of these folks have become. No matter how hard I try, I still can’t understand how tens of millions of people actually take these fools seriously. The bottom line is, when Americans go to the polls next year it really has become a choice between wanting adults to run this country properly, or wanting spoiled immature children to run it into the ground."

Why Do The Kochs Get Welfare?

We Kicked the Koch Brothers' A**: How Denver Parents Beat Back Big Money, Charter Schools and Right-Wing Lies @alternet

We Kicked the Koch Brothers' A**: How Denver Parents Beat Back Big Money, Charter Schools and Right-Wing Lies @alternet

"Both news stories told of a national program bearing down on the school district, with “money pouring in from Americans for Prosperity, the national organization founded by the Koch brothers,” in an effort to impose an agenda from outside the community that included a new history curriculum, new restrictions on teachers’ job security, and more privately-operated charter schools. Students, teachers and parents were openly revolting against the school board, staging school walkouts, holding boisterous protest rallies and waging a petition campaign to demand an election to recall the school board majority. The national outlets consistently got the story of the election wrong, adopting a talking point from a libertarian think tank that the contest was a “proxy war” between the Koch Brothers and “teachers’ unions,” when, in fact, the recall effort was mostly led by parents."

This is why Ben Carson lies: The dark, disturbing reality of race, religion and today’s right-wing

This is why Ben Carson lies: The dark, disturbing reality of race, religion and today’s right-wing

"Which is the purpose of anecdotes such as his story about a professor giving him $10 when he was flat broke for being “the most honest student in the class” of 150 students—a story that now appears was based on a humor magazine’s hoax. If such stories sound wildly implausible, well, they are—and that’s a feature, not a bug"

Obama:Give Veterans A Chance

Five Ways Marco Rubio Is 'Not Much Different' From Ted Cruz

Five Ways Marco Rubio Is 'Not Much Different' From Ted Cruz

"Ted Cruz and the mainstream media are on the same mission. They want you to believe that Marco Rubio is moderate. In reality, he just puts a pretty face on the worst the GOP has to offer."

Now More Than Ever, Republicans Have Become The Party Of Hatred And Fear

Now More Than Ever, Republicans Have Become The Party Of Hatred And Fear

"Our younger, more progressive generation has realized that gay rights is not a threat to heterosexuals and that the separation of church and state isn’t a threat to religious freedom. We’ve rejected the idea that trickle-down economics works, or that immigrants are a mortal danger to the American Dream."

Why Is The Media Silent About The Corporate Takeover Of The Judiciary?

Bush and Cheney were warned. Bush and Cheney yawned. And then 9/11 happened

Bush and Cheney were warned. Bush and Cheney yawned. And then 9/11 happened

"Bombshell new interviews with CIA officials make clear what we've always suspected: Their negligence is horrifying"

Jeb’s big Bush administration lie just got exploded (again) — but here’s why it won’t matter

Jeb’s big Bush administration lie just got exploded (again) — but here’s why it won’t matter

"The lie that George W. Bush “kept us safe” is no more or less egregious than the belief, still popular among Republicans, that Iraq was a war of necessity; that we “fought them over there so we wouldn’t have to fight them over here"."

Koch Brothers Teaching College Students How To Further Ruin The American Economy

Marco Rubio’s American hellscape: The insane science denial that puts the planet in jeopardy

Marco Rubio’s American hellscape: The insane science denial that puts the planet in jeopardy

"In 2006, the Stern Review firmly developed the evidence that global warming will cost the world’s economy far more than the cost of taking mitigative actions, but almost a decade later, the entire GOP presidential field remains deep in denial."

We’re repeating Bush’s failure: An Iraq veteran despairs over our deepening climate-change denial

We’re repeating Bush’s failure: An Iraq veteran despairs over our deepening climate-change denial

"The situations are different, of course, but also similar. At the heart of both, there’s oil. At the heart of both, there’s a denial of reality. At the heart of both, there are conflicting motives, miscommunication, greed, stupidity, and inertia. At the heart of both, there’s a refusal to face our failure."

Bernie Won Saturday's Debate By Defending Veterans

Friday, November 13, 2015

The secret history of GOP mythmaking: How the Republican Party abandoned facts in favor of propaganda

The secret history of GOP mythmaking: How the Republican Party abandoned facts in favor of propaganda

"Directed at the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, Carly Fiorina, Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo asked the following: “In seven years under President Obama, the U.S. has added an average of 107,000 jobs a month. Under President Clinton, the economy added about 240,000 jobs a month. Under George W. Bush, it was only 13,000 a month. If you win the nomination, you’ll probably be facing a Democrat named Clinton. How are you going to respond to the claim that Democratic presidents are better at creating jobs than Republicans?” Since the Reagan years, the notion that Republicans are somehow more fiscally responsible and better at creating jobs and economic growth than Democrats has proven to be as stubborn a myth as the idea that the founding fathers were Christian zealots like Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. (They certainly were not.) The economy is an extremely complicated subject, and there are countless variables that go into how it performs, but since the Second World War, the data is quite clear: The economy performs significantly better when a Democrat is president."

PERRspectives: The 800 Pound Donkey in the GOP Debates

PERRspectives: The 800 Pound Donkey in the GOP Debates

"To their credit, the Fox Business moderators tried to recognize the 800-pound donkey in the room. As Gerard Baker of the Wall Street Journal asked Carly Fiorina: Now, in seven years under President Obama, the U.S. has added an average of 107,000 jobs a month. Under President Clinton, the economy added about 240,000 jobs a month. Under George W. Bush, it was only 13,000 a month. If you win the nomination, you'll probably be facing a Democrat named Clinton. How are you going to respond to the claim that Democratic presidents are better at creating jobs than Republicans? Fiorina didn't answer the question, because she couldn't. No matter how many unicorns the Republicans try to deploy, there's no escaping the demonstrably superior economic performance of Democratic presidents."

Republicans & the politics of economic growth

Art Laffer Praises The Supply-Side Fantasy Of The 2016 GOP Field

Art Laffer Praises The Supply-Side Fantasy Of The 2016 GOP Field

"Unfortunately for Arthur Laffer, we have ample economic data that shows the complete opposite effect of what these right-wing tax-haters want to impose on the MAJORITY of Americans. Tell the poor that they have the chance to be rich by lowering taxes on the rich, because some day, the money will trickle down right into their bank accounts. Except, it won't."

Elizabeth Warren fights back against her “commie dictator” portrayal in new GOP debate attack ad

Elizabeth Warren fights back against her “commie dictator” portrayal in new GOP debate attack ad

"Of course, no mention was made of the more than $10 billion dollars recuperated by the CFPB and returned to 17 million Americans because who needs context in ads, right?"

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under attack by lobbyists

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/11/1448637/-The-student-loan-company-lobbyists-behind-that-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau-attack-ad
"What the CFPB has actually done in its five years of existence is recover more than $10 billion for consumers who have been cheated by financial services companies. You know, Consumer Protection, just like it says in the title."

5 Reasons Barack Obama Isn’t George W. Bush

http://www.nationalmemo.com/5-reasons-barack-obama-isnt-george-w-bush/
"1. Job Growth under Obama has come entirely from the private sector. Job growth under W. came entirely from the public sector."

Why is Trump hailing 'Operation Wetback?'

Senator Named ‘Most Corrupt’ Now Campaigning On Ethics Reform

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/09/3720646/david-vitter-ethics-reform/
"Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter is promising to “root out corruption and cronyism.” But his own record does not align with his current rhetoric."

10 Conspiracy Theories from the Right-Wing Fringe That Have Invaded American Political Life @alternet

10 Conspiracy Theories from the Right-Wing Fringe That Have Invaded American Political Life @alternet

"But what may be even more important in the highly polarized political environment of the United States in recent years has been the willingness of large numbers of politicians — either because they really believe or because they are willing to pander shamelessly to the extremists in their bases — to legitimize the fairy tales. Whether or not Texas Gov. Greg Abbott truly believes that a military exercise this summer was a prelude to martial law, he acted as if he might. These kinds of words have consequences. When Sarah Palin accused the president of organizing “death panels” as part of his health care plan, the debate veered from the serious to the ridiculous. When hundreds of thousands of Americans swallowed the claim that Mexican, U.S. and Canadian elites were secretly planning to merge the three countries, it helped to derail any hope for enacting comprehensive immigration reform. When politicians allege a global conspiracy behind a United Nations sustainability plan, preserving the planet becomes even harder. Conspiracy theories, in other words, are destructive to democracy; they substitute ignorance and suspicion for knowledge and reason, and make it that much harder to deal with the many problems before us. As Francis Bacon suggested almost four centuries ago, conspiracy theories are a way for weak minds to deal with a complex world — and to wreck any chance for finding real solutions."

Hypocrite Ben Carson Caught Lying About Receiving Award For “Honesty”

http://www.occupydemocrats.com/hypocrite-ben-carson-caught-lying-about-receiving-award-for-honesty/
"The Yale Library confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that no such class was taught, and no record of the photo for the Yale Daily News exists."

As Jobs Flee WI, Legislators Lock-Down Their Own With Unlimited Dark Money

As Jobs Flee WI, Legislators Lock-Down Their Own With Unlimited Dark Money

"The state senate is calling an extraordinary session, not to address jobs or the economy, but instead to vote on two bills that make it easier for politicians to secretly raise money from out-of-state billionaires."

Politicians' 'Secret information' a factual red flag

Ben Carson Is Lying Again, This Time About Our Founding Fathers

Ben Carson Is Lying Again, This Time About Our Founding Fathers

"Though this isn’t the first time Carson displayed complete ignorance about our Founding Fathers. A few weeks ago he gave a speech where he tried to “prove” that this nation was founded on Christianity – by citing a whole lot of stuff that our Founding Fathers had nothing to do with. And let’s not forget about his ridiculous “theory” about the Egyptian pyramids. The bottom line is, this man has no business being our next president. The fact he’s become one of the two GOP frontrunners is an absolute joke and a statement on how absurd Republicans have become."

Ben Carson inventions a disservice to real US war

Ted Cruz will never “Let It Go”: The right-wing’s insane new fear of “Frozen”

Ted Cruz will never “Let It Go”: The right-wing’s insane new fear of “Frozen”

"Two separate news items are a reminder of how little conservatives trust women and how much they think women have to be held under firm, preferably male control—and how much this attitude influences the politics of the Republican candidates for President. Over the weekend, candidates Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee attended the National Religious Liberties Conference, held by a group of hardline fundamentalists. Prior to the conference, I highlighted how the main organizer and many of the speakers have spoken approvingly of the death penalty for gay people, but the event itself was a reminder that they don’t like women, particularly independent women, any better. This was epitomized by a session at the conference run by Geoff Botkin of the Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences, about the perennial right-wing belief that civilization is on the verge of collapse. Botkin relied heavily on the Disney movie Frozen as evidence that modern America is in the thrall of Satan."

“Repent that Dumbledore emerged as a homosexual mentor for Harry Potter”: Inside the bizarre anti-gay conference featuring Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee & Bobby Jindal

“Repent that Dumbledore emerged as a homosexual mentor for Harry Potter”: Inside the bizarre anti-gay conference featuring Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee & Bobby Jindal

"attendees were not only treated to speeches from three GOP presidential candidates, but with pamphlets that called for the “death penalty for gays” and a rant about Harry Potter turning America’s youth gay."

These 3 GOP Candidates Can Never Be President

These 3 GOP Candidates Can Never Be President

"Republicans are so far off the reservation they're heading toward the edge of the world. But these three Republicans in particular should be excluded from national politics forever. Ted Cruz in particular probably has a place holding tent revivals with poisonous snakes."

Right-Wing Summit: God To Punish Fans Of Frozen's 'Let It Go' As It's 'Satan's Rebellion Anthem' | Right Wing Watch

Right-Wing Summit: God To Punish Fans Of Frozen's 'Let It Go' As It's 'Satan's Rebellion Anthem' | Right Wing Watch

"Given that the chief organizer of last week’s “Freedom 2015: National Religious Liberties Conference” — which was attended by three Republican presidential candidates — has said that the movie “Frozen” turns young girls into lesbians, it was not much of a surprise to learn that Queen Elsa would be a focal point of the summit."

Three Republican candidates speak at anti-gay pastor's rally

Vets For Bernie: Why the Most Anti-War Candidate Has Many Military Supporters @alternet

Vets For Bernie: Why the Most Anti-War Candidate Has Many Military Supporters @alternet

"The VFW award joins numerous other awards Sanders has received for his work for veterans, including the 2014 American Legion Patriot Award and the Military Officers Association of America Colonel Arthur T. Marix Congressional Leadership Award, given to Sanders in April 2014."

Republicans In Congress Still Dishonor America’s Veterans

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/11/republicans-congress-dishonoring-americas-veterans.html
"It is difficult to conclude anything other than Republicans dishonor Veterans as a matter of course. First by happily sending them off to war and then doing every and anything to cut their benefits after they served."

7 Examples Of Republican Presidential Candidates Screwing Over Veterans

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/11/11/7-examples-of-republican-presidential-candidates-screwing-over-veterans/
"These are the candidates the Republican Party has put forth to run for President of the United States of America. These candidates want to be the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces that would send men and women to fight and die for their country. The fact that they have little interest in repaying them with an allegiance to their health, well-being and opportunity to prosper is appalling. They should be ashamed."

GOP on wrong side of veterans with VA privatization plan

Proof Positive That Ben Carson Did Say He Received Full Scholarship To West Point

Proof Positive That Ben Carson Did Say He Received Full Scholarship To West Point

"We won't haggle over the fact that West Point doesn't offer scholarships because his words are good as gold. Nobody cares if he says he never applied to the military school since he never bothered to make that distinction when he was trying to prop up his life story. And no matter how the Conservative media tries to salvage Ben Carson's lying words, only his most ardent supports will stick by him when the primaries get tighter. And that's not counting the new allegations that he ever met Gen. Westmoreland either"

Dear Republicans: Your Constant Whining About the Media Makes Me Sick

Dear Republicans: Your Constant Whining About the Media Makes Me Sick

"What Republicans mean when they complain about “liberal bias” or “gotcha” questions is that they’re very upset that their lies are being called out publicly. That’s why these GOP presidential candidates threw such a fit during the third debate. It wasn’t because the questions were bad (only a couple were), it was because they weren’t being allowed to stand there on live television and blatantly lie. Someone like Ben Carson, much like fellow fool Sarah Palin, has become a huge critic of the media and “gotcha questions.” Ben Carson seems to think that any question or comment that exposes his idiocy, or mentions something crazy he’s said in the past, is a “gotcha” moment. In fact, to listen to Carson talk, every time the media confronts him about one of his ridiculous quotes they’re always taking it out of context – even when they quote him verbatim. Ted Cruz has probably been the biggest cry baby about the media. Cruz is nothing more than an opportunist, constantly pandering to the ignorance of the far-right voter. I’m not joking, he actually said that he believes GOP debates should be hosted by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and other members of the conservative media. It’s clear he doesn’t want a debate, he wants a 2-3 hour GOP propaganda event. But this is how conspiracy theorists work. If you’re trying to sell some sort of propaganda, the most effective way to get people to never doubt you is by insisting that anyone who exposes your nonsense is all a part of the conspiracy (aka the liberal media)."

Republicans Promote The Same Failed Policies – Why Do People Vote For These Idiots?

Egyptians and Twitter Mock Ben Carson for Dumb Pyramids Theory @alternet

Egyptians and Twitter Mock Ben Carson for Dumb Pyramids Theory @alternet

"There were the stories of him being a rageaholic, homicidal neighborhood menace that, oddly, none of his neighbors remember; there was the Incredible Disappearing West Point Full Scholarship. And there was – stop me if you’ve heard this one before – the one about the pyramids being gigantic grain storage silos for the Old Testament’s Joseph. Never mind that the pyramids are solid, the story of Joseph took place 500 years before the pyramids were built, and the fact that the Egyptians wrote down the reasons they built the pyramids. Ben Carson still believes his cockamamie theory because crazy is impressively stubborn."

Ben Carson’s hilarious, ridiculous, completely broken history: A rare window into the extreme right’s fact-challenged worldview

Ben Carson’s hilarious, ridiculous, completely broken history: A rare window into the extreme right’s fact-challenged worldview

"Carson is revealing himself to be a bit dense when it comes to American history, as the Wall Street Journal (which is hardly a “secular progressive” publication) pointed out last week after Carson wrote on Facebook: “Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience…What they had was a deep belief that freedom is a gift from God.” This is, of course, completely false."

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The strangeness of Ben Carson's campaign

Donald Trump wants the U.S. to 'compete with other countries' on minimum wage. But which countries?

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/12/1449083/-Donald-Trump-wants-the-U-S-to-compete-with-other-countries-on-minimum-wage-But-which-countries
"Exactly which other countries does Trump think we need to compete with by keeping the minimum wage low? Because if you’re looking at other advanced countries, the United States lags behind Australia, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Austria. But I doubt Trump is even talking about Israel, Slovenia, Spain, and Greece, which are just behind the U.S. when it comes to minimum wage."

Million Dollar Baby Donald Trump Once Again Says Wages Are Too High

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/11/million-dollar-baby-donald-trump-wages-high.html
"Trump’s message is that in order to make America great again, the working class will have to take another hit. This doesn’t fit well with his populist tone or the need of the Republican Party to pretend they care about working Americans."

The BING BING Theory: GOP Debate IV

http://quietmike.org/2015/11/11/the-bing-bing-theory-gop-debate-iv/
"None of them said anything new, only re-wording ways to implement a failed Trickle Down Theory of economics, as Republicans always do."

Republicans must hate the middle class: The most startling revelation of the GOP debate

Republicans must hate the middle class: The most startling revelation of the GOP debate

"this was a rehash of the trickle-down theory of economic prosperity that was popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, when his tax cuts greatly expanded the federal debt — a historical fact not mentioned on the GOP debate stage Tuesday night."

Republicans Put Minimum Wage Workers In Their Place

The Daily Show Fact-Checks The GOP Fox Business Debate

The Daily Show Fact-Checks The GOP Fox Business Debate

"Sadly there was no desire whatsoever to do the same with the candidates the night of the actual "debate" (and I use that term lightly) by the three right wing corporate suck-ups they had for moderators."

GOP’s Obamacare lie-fest: “Post-truth” politics dominated the Republican debate

GOP’s Obamacare lie-fest: “Post-truth” politics dominated the Republican debate

"The lying even extended down into the undercard debate."

We Must Put an End to the Biggest Republican Lie About Taxes

We Must Put an End to the Biggest Republican Lie About Taxes

"you’re nuts if you trust a group of rich people who tell you that the path to economic prosperity is based upon giving the rich more massive tax cuts."

The GOP is living in a fantasy world: Every single Republican’s economic plan is made of wishes and fairy dust

The GOP is living in a fantasy world: Every single Republican’s economic plan is made of wishes and fairy dust

"The reality is that every single candidate on stage has a tax plan meant to screw over the entire country so that the already wealthy can buy bigger yachts, just as it was under Bush and every Republican before him."

Pathological: Most Of Ben Carson’s Life Is A Lie