All I Want for Christmas Is You is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. It was released as the lead single from the album on November 1, 1994 by Columbia Records. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the latter co-arranging and producing the song as well. As an up-tempo love song, it also incorporates pop music and traditional beats. The song’s lyrics describe an event in which the protagonist declares that she does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be with her lover.
Fri Dec 07, 2012 at 01:40 PM PST.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York’s new white independent Senate caucus
by Armando
New York Times:
[A]ll of [New York’s] statewide elected officials are white politicians. And in Albany, Republicans and a group of dissident Democrats have taken control of the State Senate by forming a coalition that would consist almost entirely of white lawmakers. The coalition would prevent the Senate Democratic caucus, which includes 14 blacks and Hispanics and is the only legislative caucus in Albany led by a nonwhite person, from taking power. Democrats have 31 of the 63 seats in the Senate, and are expected to win seats in two districts where votes are still being counted; Republicans have 30 seats.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo lent his tacit support to this shut out of non-white legislators from the Senate leadership. And, unfortunately, Gov. Cuomo and his father, Mario Cuomo, have not always been, shall we say, especially well attuned to the yearnings of non-white folk. (See, e.g., Mario Cuomo’s placement of the Staten Island secession referendum on the ballot of the 1993 NYC mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo’s failed bid against Carl McCall, etc.)
And this could be a political problem for Gov. Andrew Cuomo if he has national ambitions:
We are in a dramatic and graphic retreat on black and Latino inclusion in state government,” Mr. [Al] Sharpton said, adding of Mr. Cuomo, “If any of the statements about him having ambition for national politics is true, how does he go to the country having presided over the retreat of inclusion in his own Legislature? How does he do that?”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/07/1168059/-Gov-Andrew-Cuomo-and-New-York-s-new-white-independent-Senate-caucus
I saw it a mile away. Not surprsied at all. Welcome to the Party, Charlie Crist!
Charlie Crist signs papers to become Democrat — at the White House
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/charlie-crist-signs-papers-become-democrat-white-house
It was just a matter of time.
Charlie Crist, Florida’s former Republican governor who relished the tough-on-crime nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” and used to describe himself variously as a “Ronald Reagan Republican” and “Jeb Bush Republican,” on Friday signed papers to become a registered Democrat.
He did so Friday evening during a Christmas reception at the White House, where President Barack Obama greeted the news with a fist bump for the man who had a higher profile campaigning for Obama’s re-election this year than any Florida Democrat.
Remember this one?
Friday, December 07, 2012
Hanukkah: Kashering The White House Kitchen
http://youtu.be/eGRlnvidYH0
Hanukkah begins at sundown on Saturday night, and President Obama and First Lady Obama have annually hosted a reception to mark the Jewish holiday. In 2011, the White House released this behind-the-scenes video that shows how the kitchen is “kosherized” ahead of the party. Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Rabbi Levi Shemtov explain the process. The menu for the Presidential Hanukkah reception is different than the buffet menu served at other holiday parties, which this year spotlight recipes featured in the First Lady’s Grammy-nominated book, American Grown.
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2012/12/hanukkah-koshering-white-house-kitchen.html
Charles Pierce: ….. Morning Joe Scarborough has a piece about how the president’s abilities at artificial pleasantries, manufactured politesse, and general intramural Potomac ass-kissing leave something to be desired….
…. In what universe is this president “personally isolated”? This one drives me straight up the wall. He just won his second national election, this one against longer odds even than the first one. He is immensely popular in the country at large, which is supposed to be the only place where popularity is supposed to matter. The country doesn’t seem to find him aloof….
…. And, in case it’s escaped the squint, the only people capable of making the next four years different from the last four years are the people who spent the previous four years refusing to accept the results of the 2008 election. Let John Boehner get all the bats in the House belfry flying in formation. That’s his job. The president’s is to lead the country for the rest of us…..
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/politico-morning-joe-scarborough-120612
Supreme Court to hear same-sex marriage issue
The Supreme Court announced Friday it will for the first time hear arguments about same-sex marriage, with a decision on one of America’s most politically divisive social issues likely this summer.
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/07/supreme-court-to-hear-same-sex-marriage-cases/
And some Official White House Photos: hat tip-The Obama Diary:
I love this one because of the way he’s standing there, waiting for her. This was their last rally together at his last campaign. What they both must have been thinking looking at one another. I have to believe that part of them was like – ” I really couldn’t have believed this would be the end, when it all began.” That they were back in Iowa, the place where it all began for them…I think this is a very poignant pic.
Des Moines International Airport, Nov. 5 (Pete Souza)
…. hugging his campaign manager, Jim Messina, during an unannounced stop at campaign headquarters in Chicago, Nov. 7 (Pete Souza)
….. greeting Annie Glenn, wife of former Senator John Glenn, following an event at The Ohio State University, Oct. 9 (Pete Souza)
I think this photo just became my favorite with PBO & FLOTUS. Just look how they CONNECT with each other.
Love her smiling at him. Beautiful love.
http://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/277105971766112256/photo/1
http://twitter.com/JeffersonObama/status/277080216164245505/photo/1
Now slap a head piece on, and you’re good to go, Ax.
http://youtu.be/zo6ds7Gfo_8
http://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/277073633296404480/photo/1
i will not laugh, i will not laugh, i will not laugh, i will not laugh….
The GOP are cold mofos!
Ohio Senator Nina Turner Suggests Men Seeking Viagra Undergo Psychological Testing
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/12/06/ohio-state-senator-nina-turner-looks-out-mens-health-so-they-dont-have-to
The Ohio GOP has been hell-bent on looking after the “health and welfare” of the state’s women by cutting off their access to providers, abortion services, even basic health care.
For their safety, of course.
Both the proposed Heartbeat Ban and decision to defund Planned Parenthood has stalled for this session, but just because the 2012 legislature won’t vote on them doesn’t mean they won’t be back in 2013.
Republican State Senator Nina Turner has her own concerns. With all of this focus on women’s health (for their own good, of course), what about the men of Ohio? After all, they have health issues to care for, too. Are they really prepared or informed enough to do what is in their own best interests? Are they being taken advantage of by their health care providers. Really… really can we just “trust” men with their own health care decisions, without governmental oversight?
Nope.
“The men in our lives, including members of the General Assembly, generously devote time to fundamental female reproductive issues—the least we can do is return the favor,” Senator Turner said via press release. “It is crucial that we take the appropriate steps to shelter vulnerable men from the potential side effects of these drugs.”
Sen. Turner is proposing a new bill to provide informed consent for men seeking dangerous drugs to treat their erectile dysfunction. Prior to obtaining the drugs, men would need to undergo a psychological evaluation from a professional not associated with the prescribing doctor to ensure the condition isn’t caused by emotional conditions, as well as address any potential family concerns. Turner says that her recommendations follow those provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for those who are experiencing erectile dysfunction and are considering using drugs that could have concerning side effects such as priapism, hearing loss, vision loss, and heart complications.
——————-
Go Nina Turner! Rock it!
In Boehner We Trust?
by BooMan
Fri Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:09:21 AM EST
The last time around, the president negotiated with John Boehner, too. And John Boehner couldn’t sell their solution to his own caucus. So, why would we go through that again.
At House Speaker John A. Boehner’s request, Senate leaders and Representative Nancy Pelosi have been excluded from talks to avert a fiscal crisis, leaving it to Mr. Boehner and President Obama alone to find a deal, Congressional aides say.
All sides, even the parties excluded, say clearing the negotiating room improves the chance of success.
It’s not that I doubt that it is easier for Obama and Boehner to agree to something if there are no other opinions vying for influence. For example, imagine that were trying to pick something to watch on pay-per-view.
The problem is that just because Obama and Boehner agree to watch Kung Fu Panda doesn’t mean that anyone will vote for that once they find out what has been decided.
It just makes Boehner look weak, and he can’t spread the blame around.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/12/7/11921/6294#8
found this in the comments as a reply:
Yep. Further proof that President Obama is most dangerous when his opponent thinks Obama is losing.
Example #1: Petraeus and company at the Pentagon presenting Obama with options of war, more war, and endless war during the Afghanistan War “strategic review” in 2009.
The president took the “more war” (i.e., troop “surge”) option, accelerated the timeline and got the generals to state publicly with him that they could accomplish their goals within 18 months. He then put them in charge of their own plan and stuck to the timeline they had publicly vouched for.
Example #2: The 2011 debt ceiling deal in which Obama took a short-term loss to set up the situation we have today:
*Bush tax cuts expiring 1/1/13;
*Sequester of military and “non-defense discretionary) spending starting 1/1/13;
*Obama tax cuts (e.g., payroll taxes) expiring 1/1/13;
*Debt ceiling being reached by 3/13.
For all of the above, Republicans now face the options of a) pissing off their base, b) pissing off the rest of the country, or c) both.
As a political counterpuncher, Obama’s up there with Muhammad Ali (10/30/74 edition). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rumble_in_the_Jungle
by massappeal on Fri Dec 7th, 2012 at 11:26:50 AM EST
LOL If PBO thinks you’re trying to take advantage of him… What did he say?
I WILL CRUSH YOU.
Comeuppance for Loudmouth CEO’s
by BooMan
Thu Dec 6th, 2012 at 08:19:35 PM EST
It turns out that people hate rich assholes who threaten to cut back employees’ hours so they can avoid taking responsibility for their health insurance. Who could have guessed that publicly ripping on ObamaCare would cause Olive Garden and Red Lobster to downgrade their quarterly profits outlook or cause Papa John’s to beg for mercy and plead misunderstanding? It sounds like one large loud-mouthed franchisee crippled Applebee’s whole brand.
I avoid corporate food because it’s bland and unimaginative. It looks like other people are avoiding it because they don’t like their politics. Whatever works. Buy local
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/12/6/201935/327
WUH?! These Mofos are begging for federal funds.
McConnell, Paul Urge Governor To Seek Disaster Declaration Because Of Low River Flow
Source: Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Kentucky — U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul are urging Gov. Steve Beshear to seek a federal disaster declaration because of the potential economic consequences of a drought that has led to low water levels on the Mississippi River.
Beshear said Friday he appreciates their concern and that he’s closely monitoring the situation.
McConnell and Paul said in a letter to Beshear on Thursday that commercial traffic on the river could “come to a complete halt in coming days” unless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers takes action to increase the water flow.
“We are informed that shipment of over $7 billion in goods on the Mississippi River could be blocked over the coming months due to this entirely avoidable event,” they wrote.
Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e67caeb26ea14374b0a235e7969ea789/KY–Kentucky-River-Shipping
AND THIS:
Slave-catching, shuckin & buckin, jivin & conivin’ hanky-headed, lawn jockey, COON!
JC WATTS =
Jindal re-embraces ‘dumbed-down conservatism’
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 12:35 PM EST.1
The week after President Obama was re-elected, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) insisted Republicans need to “stop being the stupid party.” He added that he and his party have “had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.”
The Louisianan added that his party should “stop reducing everything to mindless slogans, tag lines, 30-second ads that all begin to sound the same.”
It all sounded quite nice, actually. Even if Jindal made a poor messenger, the message had the potential to serve as a wake-up call for a party that badly needs one.
This week, we were reminded of just shallow Jindal’s rhetoric really is, and why he’s not the Republican to lead the GOP away from “dumbed-down conservatism”; he’s the Republican who can’t let go of “dumbed-down conservatism.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15752727-jindal-re-embraces-dumbed-down-conservatism?lite
The lessons Rove is reluctant to learn
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 11:40 AM EST.4
A couple of weeks ago, an ABC News/Washington Post offered Republicans some bad news during the ongoing debt-reduction talks: the clear majority of Americans back President Obama and oppose the GOP’s ideas. Yesterday, a Quinnipiac poll showed similar results: the public trusts Democrats when it comes to the fiscal fight, and by a wide margin, want to see higher taxes on income over $250,000.
But Karl Rove, who still has a column in the Wall Street Journal, insists Republicans are on the right track anyway.
While Americans favor raising taxes on the wealthy, a Winston Group poll two weeks ago (conducted for the GOP House leadership) found just 26% of respondents agreeing that “given the state of the deficit, those making over $250,000 a year should have to pay 40% of their income in federal taxes.” Some 68% disagreed.
For now, let’s put aside the fact that Rove is mischaracterizing how marginal income tax rates work. Instead, let’s consider the question about polling.
In this case, we have public polls, conducted by independent organizations, which show the public siding with Democrats and strongly supporting higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans, returning them to the rates they paid during the Clinton era. On the other hand, Rove has a Republican poll, conducted for Republican lawmakers, that says most of the public agrees with the conservative position.
Refresh my memory: how did it work out for the GOP the last time Karl Rove urged his party to overlook independent polls and focus more on partisan polls that told Republicans what they wanted to hear?
.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15752385-the-lessons-rove-is-reluctant-to-learn?lite
What Scott Walker considers ‘ridiculous’
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 10:35 AM EST.3
Last month, shortly after Election Day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) threw his support behind a new voter-suppression effort: it’s time, he said, to end the state’s same-day voter registration law. The law has worked beautifully for decades — Wisconsin has a terrific voter-participation rate — but the Republican governor publicly endorsed scrapping the law before the 2014 cycle.
That is, until yesterday, when Walker seemed to denounce his own preferred policy.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is backing away from his support for eliminating same-day voter registration, saying it is a distraction while he is trying to focus on job creation.
“This is a ridiculous issue. My priority is about jobs, creating jobs,” he told reporters on Wednesday after a ceremony to promote a Wisconsin National Guard officer.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15751588-what-scott-walker-considers-ridiculous?lite
GOP eyes Violence Against Women Act changes
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 10:00 AM EST.
Among Congress’ many other looming deadlines, the Violence Against Women Act is still waiting for reauthorization. It easily passed the Senate with bipartisan support in April, but House Republicans insist the current version is too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans.
Is there any chance policymakers can work something out? One of the original VAWA authors from 1994 is now the nation’s vice president, and he’s working behind the scenes to work out a deal.
…………………..
In this case, Cantor is willing to bend on LGBT and immigrant provisions, but he wants Democrats to scrap protections for Native American women. According to the Huffington Post, the Democratic provision gives tribal courts limited jurisdiction to oversee domestic violence offenses committed against Native American women by non-Native American men on tribal lands, and the House Republican leader wants this expansion curtailed.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15751333-gop-eyes-violence-against-women-act-changes?lite
Native American women would likely be the most preyed upon.
PURE, UNADULTERATED, EVIL MUTHA&*CKAS!
Job numbers far exceed expectations, unemployment drops
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 8:44 AM EST.
Just last night, Ezra explained on the show that the new monthly job figures would be released this morning, and a lot of folks would be shocked by how bad the numbers would be. Why? Because of Hurricane Sandy. Most expected to see only 80,000 jobs created.
This morning, everyone’s shocked for a very different reason. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November, nearly double the projections. What’s more, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, its lowest point in four years.
On a more discouraging note, job totals from September and October were revised down a bit.
To be sure, 146,000 jobs isn’t evidence of a robust economic recovery, but given Sandy-generated expectations, the figures come as a pleasant surprise.
Above you’ll find the chart I run on the first Friday of every month, showing monthly job losses since the start of the Great Recession. The image makes a distinction — red columns point to monthly job totals under the Bush administration, while blue columns point to job totals under the Obama administration.
Update: Here’s another chart, this one showing monthly job losses/gains in just the private sector since the start of the Great Recession.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15751977-job-numbers-far-exceed-expectations-unemployment-drops?lite
PBO got their minds in a twist! How did he do dat with all that obstruction?
Obama inauguration details announced
, Published: December 6
President Obama’s second inauguration will feature two swearings-in and the traditional parade and official balls. All the pomp will follow a national day of service to honor the country’s shared values and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the newly launched Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Thursday.
Eva Longoria, who was a big fundraiser and prominent surrogate for Obama’s campaign, will serve as a committee co-chair, all four living former presidents will serve as honorary co-chairs, and several top campaign officials will organize the weekend’s festivitie
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-inauguration-details-announced/2012/12/06/9b15c30c-3ff7-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html
Can’t wait to join in the festivities and another HISTORY-making day!
Wow! So exciting!
From teh comments in this article, folks are already saying we don’t need a second inauguration for a re-elected POTUS. Really, and why is that?
…Only when it’s a black President
Where’s that 2TERMZ graphic? LOL
Do you remember this candy at Christmas?
mmmm…
Loved getting this candy in my stocking every Christams.
What we learned from McConnell’s failed gambit
By Steve Benen – Fri Dec 7, 2012 8:00 AM EST.
As Laura noted yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), usually a master of floor procedure and strategy, looked pretty ridiculous when he was forced to filibuster his own proposal. And while that was no doubt unpleasant for him, as the day progressed, it became clear that we’d learned something important from McConnell’s failure.
To briefly recap for those who missed it, President Obama has proposed shifting the responsibility for raising the debt ceiling from Congress to the White House, making it impossible for either party to use default and/or the threat of a global economic catastrophe as a hostage. Under Obama’s plan, the debt limit would still exist, and Congress would still be able to block a presidential increase, if lawmakers wanted to force default on purpose.
——————————————————————————–
McConnell assumed that Senate Democrats — at least a big chunk of the caucus, anyway — would balk at Obama’s proposal, so he introduced the plan himself. The point was to have Dems object to McConnell’s effort, so the Minority Leader could get a new talking point: the president’s offer is so offensive that even his own party isn’t willing to support it.
Except, McConnell’s little stunt backfired — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his caucus immediately endorsed the idea, leaving the Kentucky Republican to have to filibuster his own bill before it could pass. As Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) put it, the gambit was “a little too clever by half.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) suggested there’s no recent precedent for a senator filibustering his or her own proposal.
But the larger point isn’t to just point and laugh at McConnell’s misfortune and mistaken assumptions. Rather, the point is we learned something important in the midst of this failed stunt: Democrats are entirely united on debt-ceiling strategy and want this looming threat to the country and its economy taken off the table, permanently.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/07/15751006-what-we-learned-from-mcconnells-failed-gambit?lite
Rik, Huck shot Fitz?!!! This is unfreaking real.
I STILL can’t believe it…and it’s Friday Afternoon…been thinking about it all day
Aint that some shyt? Olivia asked Huck what up, and dude said it’s what i do, kill. SMGDH
As an architect, he soared
By Eugene Robinson, Published: December 6
Just this once, I wish I could write with pictures instead of words. That would make it easier to explain why the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who died Wednesday at 104, was one of my heroes.
Not for his politics, of course — he was, to the end, an avowed communist — but for his glorious buildings, which are freedom itself, sketched in concrete and glass. It is ironic that a man committed to an atheistic ideology designed one of the great religious structures of the world, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Aparecida, in Brazil’s futuristic capital, Brasilia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-oscar-niemeyer-soared-as-an-architect/2012/12/06/8ade2858-3fd9-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk along the Colonnade of the White House, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Obama to GOP: No More Debt Ceiling Blackmail
—By David Corn | Thu Dec. 6, 2012 3:13 AM PS
Forget all the talk about taxes—the ultimate game of chicken is happening with the nation’s debt limit and credit rating.
n the ongoing bout between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner—call it, the fiscal bluff—the main focus, as far as the media coverage goes, has been the Bush II-era tax cuts for the wealthy. (As Bloomberg reported, Obama “will make no deal on the country’s fiscal future unless congressional leaders first accept tax-rate increases on top earners.”) Obama has indeed insisted marginal tax rates for the rich go up to boost deficit-busting revenue, and he advocates a return to the levels of the booming Clinton years, with the tax cuts for the lower 98 percent extended. Boehner has countered with a vague offer to raise revenues but only by closing loopholes (which he will not identify) while lowering tax rates for the wealthy and nonwealthy. If the president stands fast on this position, as his aides assert he will, there will be no agreement unless Boehner yields. But there is another red line for Obama: the fiscal debt ceiling
Read on
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/debt-ceiling-obama-boehner-fiscal-cliff
Darrell Issa Burglarized: $100,000 In Jewelry Stolen From California Home
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/darrell-issa-burglarized_n_2256838.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Burglars broke into Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) suburban San Diego home late last month, stealing more than 50 pieces of jewelry worth an estimated $100,000, the North County Times reported on Thursday.
The incident occurred between 6:40 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. on Nov. 29, according to a police report. Though detectives are currently exploring leads, no arrests have yet been made in the case, Jan Caldwell, spokeswoman for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, told the Times.
Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said that the stolen items were “irreplaceable family heirlooms” that the congressman and his family had inherited, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
___________________
Did Issa burglarized himself? He cannot be trusted. He’s a con artist.
And we should care because? these mofos become the news, instead of doing what they’ve been elected to DO.
After Romney Loss, GOP Resurrects Plan to Rig Electoral College
Barack Obama won a whomping Electoral College victory on November 6. Now Republicans want to change how electoral votes are awarded.
In September, top Pennsylvania Republicans shocked the nation by proposing a change to the state’s election rules that would have rigged the Electoral College in favor of Mitt Romney. Facing a nationwide backlash, the state’s GOP backed down—but not before Wisconsin Republicans considered a similar plan. With the old rules still in place, President Barack Obama won a 332-206 electoral college victory over Romney.
But now that Romney has been defeated, prominent GOPers are once again mulling rule changes that could make it harder for Democrats to win the White House—and easier for Republicans to claim Electoral College votes in states where they lose the popular vote.
Remember, the presidential election isn’t a nationwide contest, it’s a state-by-state fight, with each state worth a certain number of electoral votes (the District of Columbia gets 3, too). There are 538 electoral votes total; if you win 270 or more, you’re headed to the White House—even, as George W. Bush can assure you, if you don’t win the popular vote. The Constitution allows each state to allocate electoral votes however it wants, but in every state except for Nebraska and Maine, the contest is winner-take-all. If you get the most votes in Pennsylvania, you get all of its electoral votes.
Republicans want to change that. On December 3, Dominic Pileggi, the powerful Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania state Senate, announced that he plans to introduce legislation that would change how the state allocates its electoral votes. This shouldn’t be a surprise: Pileggi was one of the Pennsylvania politicians behind the pre-election plan to change Electoral College rules.
Before the election, Pileggi’s plan (backed by a mysterious dark-money group called All Votes Matter) was to allocate electoral votes by congressional district, with the winner of each district receiving one electoral vote and the statewide winner getting a two-electoral-vote bonus. That might not seem like a big deal. But Pennsylvania, like other blue states in the upper Midwest, was subjected to a very effective Republican gerrymander after the 2010 midterm elections. Republicans won 13 of its 18 districts in 2012, so if Pileggi’s pre-election plan had been in effect, Obama could have been awarded as few as 7 of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, despite winning the state.
Pileggi’s post-election scheme has a new twist. Instead of awarding electoral votes by congressional district, it would award them in relation to the statewide popular vote, with a two-electoral-vote bonus for the winner. That would prevent blatantly undemocratic effects like a candidate losing a state’s popular vote but still winning its electoral votes. But it would still have a similar effect to Pileggi’s earlier idea—it would ensure that at least some of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, which have gone to Democrats in every election since 1992, would go to Republicans. In a close election, that could change the outcome.
Pileggi has said his new plan “much more accurately reflects the will of the voters in our state.” (He did not respond to a request for comment.) Dems say that misses the point. “The Republican legislature has been brutally honest about wanting to move Pennsylvania into the Republican column,” says Daniel Roth, a spokesman for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Dems to state legislatures. “They wouldn’t be doing this if Pennsylvania had gone Republican in the past six elections. This is clearly an attempt to move electoral votes to the Republican column because they know they cannot win the state.”
Roth has a point: The states where Republicans have proposed changing Electoral College rules—Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where legislation has been introduced, and Michigan and Ohio, where activists have pushed the idea (see below)—went for Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012. There are no such GOP proposals, for example, in deep-red Texas.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/after-romney-loss-gop-plan-recovery-change-rules
David Axelrod Shaves His Mustache On Live Television
Obama’s top advisor made good on a promise to remove his 40 year-old mustache on the set of MSNBC’s Morning Joe after a bet with host Joe Scarborough and a donation from Donald Trump helped raise over $1,000,000 to cure epilepsy.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/dorsey/david-axelrod-shaves-his-mustache-on-live-televisi
Axelrod looks younger! A worthy cause
Beautiful!
Look at Bo; just living the life. And the snow against his black fur is a thing of beauty. It’s snowing here right now.
White House releases photo showing President Obama on the phone with Mitt Romney on Election Night
After Romney Loss, GOP Resurrects Plan to Rig Electoral College
Barack Obama won a whomping Electoral College victory on November 6. Now Republicans want to change how electoral votes are awarded.
—By Nick Baumann | Fri Dec. 7, 2012 3:03 AM PST
In September, top Pennsylvania Republicans shocked the nation by proposing a change to the state’s election rules that would have rigged the Electoral College in favor of Mitt Romney. Facing a nationwide backlash, the state’s GOP backed down—but not before Wisconsin Republicans considered a similar plan. With the old rules still in place, President Barack Obama won a 332-206 electoral college victory over Romney.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/after-romney-loss-gop-plan-recovery-change-rules
US economy adds 146K jobs, rate falls to 7.7 pct.
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
The Labor Department’s report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.
Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.
And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren’t counted as unemployed.
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20121207&id=15877520
Camille wrote this last night after watching Larry O:
Camille
Tonight on the Lawrence O’Donell show presented yet another one of those now ubiquitous opportunities to once again peek into the mindset of the entitled, all-knowing, self-proclaimed “progressive” white woman crowd as embodied by Anne Marie Cox – yes she of the “liberals” who love John McCain and who for so long shilled endlessly on McCain’s behalf as his unofficial spokesperson on MSNBC -even as she demeaned and dismissed the actual liberal nominee and eventual President Barack Obama.
Tonight Lawrence O’Donell discusses a poll showing Michelle Obama winning the Senate by double digits over the incumbent in her home state of Illinois – a showing so much more impressive than her predecessor Hillary Clinton ever polled at the same point in her husband’s tenure-
Cue an obviously irritated and condescending Anne Marie Cox who quickly dismisses Mrs Obama offhand – rambling on about how annoying it is that most women in Congress get there riding their husbands coattails – many directly inheriting their dead husband’s congressional seat etc. etc. Michelle would be just another one of those woman who gets into the Senate that way – and Anne Marie Cox strongly disapproves.
Not said out loud is if Ms. Cox’s “disapproval” is limited only to the idea of “women” sneaking into Congress courtesy of their husband’s coattails –or just that Ms. Cox disapproves of Michelle Obama specifically – as a candidate and/or as a woman/person.
But we can safely assume the answer to that as Anne Marie Cox’s facial expressions and choice of words betrays much, as she with impossible to miss and palpable disdain, discusses Mrs Obama.
Pretty much says it all.
It is important to note that Anne Marie Cox never once acknowledged Mrs Obama by name— it was a dismissive “she”.
But even more noteworthy, in Anne Marie Cox’s entire clinical dissertation, nary a compliment, or even the slightest acknowledgement of Michelle Obama as a capable human being in her own right, little less a formidable and central figure in her husband’s unlikely ascent to the highest office of the land – TWICE!
Or an influential and popular First Lady and international figure and role model in her own right.
No, according to Anne Marier Cox, Michelle Obama is just another one of those many bored undeserving housewives “riding her husband’s coattails” to office.
But then Ms. Cox’s eyes light up and she immediately comes to life as the conversation shifts to a similar poll showing Hillary Clinton polling decently for a presidential run.
Cue an excited and animated Anne Marie Cox who effusively waxes on positively and breathlessly about Hillary – their “golden girl” and their “gold standard” – as she asserts she and her friends call her.
Hillary is A+ insists Anne Marie Cox and can and will run in her own right “just as Hillary”.
This chick like so many in her crowd, completely lacks any self-awareness. LOL.
Her small bitter, hateful, petty, spiteful, short-sighted entitled, racist mind has been so engulfed, her own hypocrisy and double standards are entirely lost on her.
Even though I strongly suspect it still wouldn’t matter if she were confronted with it — Anne Marie Cox is after all in her own mind, a part of that select, superior group — the chosen ones who also get to decide, pick and choose who rates and who doesn’t —– the white girls club — the “gold standard” – the “A+” folks.
And Mrs Obama can be as whipsmart, effective, accomplished as only few can be–
But she’ll never belong to or ever rate with Anne Marie Cox and her “superior” all-knowing, all-deciding club who’ve appointed themselves the gatekeepers and the final word on all things women and “gold standard”.
I would challenge Anne Marie Cox to try to put her own categorical assertions and theory to test by backing any woman for national office while publicly assailing, demeaning or attempting to marginalize Mrs Obama–
She’ll quickly discover who the true gold standard really is.
My Response to Camille:
Camille,
I was feeling you comment from last night.
There was so much wrong with that heifer last night, I don’t know where to begin.
1. IF Michelle Obama were to run for anything in the State of Illinois, at least she would be doing it from a state where she has an actual connection and roots.
Hillary Clinton was nothing but a carpetbagger when she ran for Senator from New York. And, what were her qualifications, except for she was former First Lady.
Michelle would be running from a State where she was born, raised, and decided to plant roots of her own.
2. Barack and Michelle Obama’s relationship was more a modern marriage of two equals. Michelle didn’t follow Barack to Illinois the way that Hillary followed Bill to Arkansas.
Fact: until Barack Obama began to sell books in 2006 after his Democratic Convention Speech from 2004, MICHELLE Obama was the primary breadwinner for the Obama family. Michelle Obama held down the financial fort so that Barack Obama could lay the foundation and do what he had to do for his political career.
3. One of the biggest reasons why I was never sold on Hillary Clinton in 2008 was because I saw her as unelectable. When every poll done on you – and that was before the GOP Anti-Clinton Machine began – said that Hillary had nearly HALF the country would never vote for her….why would Democrats go into an election like that. Sure, I didn’t know if the country would vote for a Black man, but I knew that Hillary wasn’t so ‘ electable’. It’s never written about, but Barack Obama’s defeat of Hillary Clinton was but another reason why they hate him. They already had and had prepped their Clinton Playbook, and Barack Obama came along and snatched it away from them…and they had NOTHING to put in its place against him.
Yes, Cox is a bitter ass Hillary lover who hasn’t gotten over 2008. Hillary FAILED with Healthcare. Barack Obama passed it. Michelle Obama is so at ease with herself and so comfortable in her own skin that it irks so many on the PL. And, yes, they hate with the heat of 10,000 suns that ‘ no drama Obama’, has had no scandals….They twisted themselves into knots to defend Bill Clinton against shyt that no sensible politician should ever do. They cannot STAND to see President Obama display such love and devotion to this beautiful Black woman – yeah, I said it.
So, yes, ICAM with all you wrote.
Thanks Camille & Rik for the recap. You spared me the agony of watching and listening to one more BECKY seething with ENVY over our beloved FLOTUS. Spot on about the love PBO showers on Michelle. SHORT: Why can’t it be us?.
These Beckies think they are the winning prize, and HOW DARE the Black Prez actually be married to a BLACK, SMART, ACCOMPLISHED women in her OWN RIGHT!
Good post, Rikyrah!
Anne Marie Cox = bitter bish—-bitter bish!
We need a graphic here.
bwa ha ha ha ha
In the modern Christmas Era Song…
there is no song I love more than this.
AND you got my favorite video of this song.
thank you, SG2!!!
My pleasure! I love this song too. It makes my spirit come alive.
Good Morning Chics,
It’s a wonderful; overcast day here by he shores of the Chesapeake. It’s 7am and I am just waking up but I had to stop in to say good morning to my favorite Chics before I start my ranting in earnest.
I know many of my friends live West of here and get started earlier than I. It makes for an interesting morning at times because I get comments and replies from 3 or 4 hours earlier waiting for me to work with.
Anyway; this is the Angryman’s morning mumbling. Have a great day and Keep the Faith.
Peace
Morning, AMS!
SG2′ been missing you. In the words of Professor Leatherman…it’s nice to see your fonts. :)
Good Morning, Everyone at 3CHICS!!
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good morning, 3Chics!
LOL Love the graphics, SG2! I’ll never tell…
LOL