3 Chics hopes you enjoyed Chaka Khan week. And to end the week… Through the Fire…
Happy FRY-day Everyone!
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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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2012 Presidential Election: Volunteer for BarackObama’s Campaign – “It Belongs to You”
Since Election Day 2008, we’ve:
• Saved over one million jobs in the U.S. auto industry
• 20 consecutive months of job creation
• Took the fight to Al-Qaeda
• Reduced and secured nuclear weapons
• Passed health reform, lowering costs and insuring 32 million
• Ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:
• Nominated first Latina to Supreme Court
• Doubled college grants, now for 9 million students
• New Protections against credit card companies
• New 54.5 MPG fuel standards, saving $8,200 per family
ALL.OFTHIS.AND.MORE. WTF has the GOP done? ******
Hey 3 Chics, check out this video. Too cool!
Father, Daughter Wedding Dance With Ashley Richmond, David Sparks Grabs National Attention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0u1FZhMA88g
We’ve seen our share of memorable wedding dances, but kudos to this father-daughter duo for shaking things up.
Texas bride Ashley Richmond shocked guests when she and her dad, David Sparks, performed a choreographed dance at her August wedding. The video fast became a web sensation, and Richmond and her dad have even reenacted their routine on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
OMG this was a pure delight to watch. Loved it! Mr. Sparks holds a lot of promise for Mrs. Sparks in the coming years. Dude can move.
The Father/Daughter on Good Morning America
[wpvideo bac11763]
Romney Robocalls Turn Heads In Iowa
Josh Petri November 4, 2011, 2:08 PM
Robo invitations to tele-townhalls never get the attention they deserve. We’re going to rectify that slight today.
A robocall invitation aimed at assembling an audience for an evening telephone campaign event featuring Mitt Romney and Arizona border-county Sheriff Paul Babeu is being taken by some as a direct attack on Gov. Rick Perry’s immigration policies.
“Rick Perry is part of the illegal immigration problem,” Babeu says in the message.
“A lot of the candidates agree we need a border fence. And almost all of them agree in-state tuition for illegal immigrants is wrong,” says Babeu, a prominent national spokesman against illegal immigration with rumored Congressional aspirations himself. “However, Rick Perry disagrees. Rick Perry not only opposes a border fence, but he signed the bill to make Texas the first state in the nation to grant in-state tuition discounts to illegal immigrants.”
The immigration issue is perceived to be a major liability for Gov. Perry, and the timing of the attack points to Romney’s intention to seriously contend at the rapidly approaching Iowa caucus.
Team Romney, however, is seeking to downplay the calls. A campaign spokesperson told TPM that these were not robocalls but messages left for people as an invitation to tele-townhalls. The campaign has done numerous tele-townhalls in Iowa so far, and the spokesperson said the messages did not reflect a change in strategy in the state.
Romney has only visited Iowa three times this year, but he has recently added staff and is planning to visit the state again on Monday.
“I will be here again and again,” Romney promised during his last visit just over two weeks ago. “I’d love to win Iowa. Any of us would.”
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/romney-robocalls-turn-heads-in-iowa.php
Political AnimalBlog
November 04, 2011 4:05 PM
It’s come to this: ‘War on wealth’
By Steve Benen
Over the last three decades, wealth has become increasingly concentrated at the top. The middle class is struggling with stagnant wages and a growing class gap; poverty rates are soaring; the jobs crisis seems never-ending; and a growing number of Americans are suggesting it’s time for a larger conversation about economic inequalities and tax fairness.
Some of the responses to these developments are more ridiculous than others.
In a promo for the upcoming “Your Money, Your Vote” Republican debate on CNBC that aired on today’s edition of Squawk On The Street, a voiceover asks, “How will candidates end the war on wealth?” During the voiceover the ad shows images of the Occupy Wall Street protests.
Yes, this is what it’s come to: “How will candidates end the war on wealth?”
This wasn’t Fox News, mind you; it was CNBC.
This was also part of a promotional effort for an upcoming debate for Republican presidential candidates, each of whom will be eager to talk about their desire to cut taxes for the wealthy even more, as if the rewards for wealth that are already in place, ensuring that the rich keep getting richer, aren’t quite sufficient.
The New Gilded Age must be solidified … because the alternative is a “war on wealth.”
What a twisted worldview.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/its_come_to_this_war_on_wealth033295.php
BREAKING: From CNN WH team. White House rejects Congressional subpoena on Solyndra docs. Calls it “significant intrusion”.
I’d call it more stall, deflect, obstruct tactics by the DO NOTHING GOP HOUSE.
President Obama hands the GOP as much rope as they can carry
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Posted by Eclectablog at 8:01 PM
Senate Republicans today blocked a vote on yet another one of the components of President Obama’s jobs plan today. This one would have invested $60 billon in building and repairing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and was fully paid for by a 0.7% (!!!) surcharge on income over $1 million. A bridge too far for Republicans, apparently.
Republicans in the Senate Thursday dealt President Barack Obama the third in a string of defeats on his stimulus-style jobs agenda, blocking a $60 billion measure for building and repairing infrastructure like roads and rail lines.
Supporters of the failed measure said it would have created tens of thousands of construction jobs and lifted the still-struggling economy. But Republicans unanimously opposed it for its tax surcharge on the wealthy and spending totals they said were too high.
The 51-49 vote fell well short of the 60 votes required under Senate procedures to start work on the bill. Every Republican opposed the president, as did Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska and former Democrat Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who still aligns with the party.
These votes are the first in a string of votes that President Obama is lining up like bowling pins for the Republicans to knock down. His timing is exquisite. By the time they pick a candidate, the Republicans will have firmly established themselves as the not just the party of “HELL NO, YOU CAN’T!!!, they will be on the record for vote after vote after vote on bills to help struggling Americans and get our economy going again.
Here’s the President’s official comments on today’s vote:
For the third time in recent weeks, every single Republican in the United States Senate has chosen to obstruct a jobs bill that independent economists said would boost our economy and put Americans back to work. At a time when more than a million construction workers are looking for a job, they voted “no” to putting them back to work doing the work America needs done – rebuilding our roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. That makes no sense.
It makes no sense when you consider that this bill was made up of the same kinds of common-sense proposals that many of these Senators have fought for in the past. It was fully paid for. And even though it was supported by more than 70 percent of the American people – Republicans, Democrats, and independents – 100 percent of Senate Republicans said no. It’s more clear than ever that Republicans in Washington are out of touch with Americans from all ends of the political spectrum.
The American people deserve to know why their Republican representatives in Washington refuse to put some of the workers hit hardest by the economic downturn back on the job rebuilding America. They deserve an explanation as to why Republicans refuse to step up to the plate and do what’s necessary to create jobs and grow the economy right now. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to put country ahead of party and listen to the people they were elected to serve. It’s time for them to do their job and focus on Americans’ jobs. And until they do, I will continue to do everything in my power to move this country forward.
These press releases from the White House are starting to write themselves, aren’t they?
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/11/president-obama-hands-gop-as-much-rope.html
Herman Cain: ‘I Am The Koch Bros. Brother From Another Mother’
Evan McMorris-Santoro November 4, 2011, 2:29 PM
There’s embracing the Koch brothers, and then there’s Herman Cain.
“I am the Koch brothers’ brother from another mother,” Cain told a crowd at a Koch-funded Americans For Prosperity gathering in Washington Friday.
On stage at AFP’s “Defending the American Dream Summit,” Cain didn’t address the story everyone in DC is talking about — last Sunday’s Politico report on the sexual harassment charges that came Cain’s way while he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the late ’90s.
But Cain did mention another article about him creating some chatter today — the New York Times piece that’s the latest to delve into Cain’s longstanding relationship with AFP and the Kochs.
Cain said the story didn’t faze him.
“The article tried to make a case of close the Koch brothers and I are,” Cain said. “I’m proud to know the Koch brothers — I’m very proud to know the Koch brothers.”
Then he dropped the “another mother” line, which came after warning that “this may be breaking news.” The crowd went nuts, just as they had throughout his speech.
VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWxBPaGF9GQ&feature=player_embedded
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-i-am-the-koch-bros-brother-from-another-mother.php
Herman Cain, circa 1863
(sitting on the porch)
Master: I think I’m coming down with something. I’m not feeling well.
Herman: WE’ZE sick, Massa?
Just keep on skinnin & grinnin, spoonin & coonin for da white man, Hermie.
November 04, 2011 12:30 PM
‘As consistent as human beings can be’
By Steve Benen
Several weeks ago, in one of the more amusing political claims of the year, Mitt Romney boasted, “I stand by my positions. I’m proud of them.” Given Romney’s record of abandoning every policy position he’s ever taken, it was hard not to marvel at his shamelessness.
Soon after, Romney reversed course, acknowledging he has changed his positions, but insisting that this is a good thing. “In the private sector,” he said, “if you don’t change your view when the facts change, well you’ll get fired for being stubborn and stupid.”
Now, Romney has reversed course again.
Mitt Romney, under fire from all sides on the strength of his political convictions, said Thursday he has been as consistent as a person can be during his political career.
“I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be,” the presidential candidate said in a meeting with the editorial board of New Hampshire’s Seacoast Media Group.
Just so we’re clear, Mitt Romney is now flip-flopping on flip-flopping. How very meta of him.
As for the substance, if Romney believes he’s been “as consistent as human beings can be,” he’s (a) lying to himself; (b) lacking any sense of self-awareness; or (c) believes human beings are completely incapable of consistency.
For what it’s worth, there are a couple of good sites devoted to tracking Romney’s flip-flops — Multiple Choice Mitt and Which Mitt both have accurate and worthwhile content — and I don’t envy their tasks. Given the frequency of Romney’s reversals, I would imagine these sites have trouble keeping up.
Indeed, Timothy Noah recently did some research to find if Romney had any — literally, any — core and unshakable beliefs that he’s maintained throughout his career. The only one? The fact that Romney wants to be president. Everything else, including every position on every issue, was optional.
The result is a shameless, craven politician who’s flip-flopped — including, apparently, on whether or not he flip-flops — like no other American politician in a generation.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/as_consistent_as_human_beings033288.php
one of the best comments EVER about the GOP Field over at Balloon Juice:
5.Hunter Gathers – November 4, 2011 | 1:47 pm · Link
I keep hearing that conservatives will accept Mittens as the nominee, but I’m not seeing it. Voting starts in 2 months. And Willard can’t break 25% against a grifter (Cain), a moron (Perry), an asshole (Gingrich), a couple of strange Bible thumpers (La Bachmann and the Frothy Mix) a bat-shit crazy libertarian (Paul) and a nobody (Huntsman).
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
LMBAO
LOL Putting this comment in the Mitt thread! anyone but…..
November 04, 2011 2:15 PM
About those Solyndra subpoenas…
By Steve Benen
As you’ve probably heard, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have subpoenaed the White House, seeking communications related to the Solyndra loan. The White House now has until Nov. 10 to provide the committee with a timeline for producing the documents.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and the Republicans’ point-man on the manufactured pseudo-controversy, said it’s “unfortunate” that the subpoenas has to be sent.
To believe Stearns, one would have to ignore reality altogether. Dave Roberts’ take on this today was spot-on.
For two months, Republicans have been searching for some evidence that political favoritism played a role in the Obama administration’s loan guarantee to Solyndra. They have failed. After a half-dozen hearings, testimony from virtually everyone involved, and the release of thousands of pages of emails and documents, there has been no evidence of wrongdoing. None.
In the course of this fruitless investigation, the White House has turned over 80,000 pages of documents related to the Solyndra loans. It turned over 15,000 more just on Wednesday. But Republicans on the Energy Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee have issued impossibly sweeping demands, requesting three years’ worth of private communications among the president’s top advisers, even the president’s own BlackBerry messages. (Rep. Jan Schakowsky [D-Ill.] compared Republicans obsessed with Solyndra to birthers, which seems more and more apt.)
The White House has been in talks with subcommittee Republicans, trying to at least narrow the request down to material relevant to the subject (hazy as it is) of the investigation. But the GOP is determined to force a public showdown, so they’ve voted to issue a subpoena that “asks for just about damn near anything,” as Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) puts it.
The point of the GOP’s tactics, of course, is to make increasingly ridiculous demands, in the hopes that the White House will invoke executive privilege. At that point, the right will collectively scream, “See! They’re hiding things! We knew it!” and the media will be expected to play along.
I can only imagine what the political conditions would be like if congressional Republicans put this much effort into job creation.
For what it’s worth, recent history seems relevant, at least as far as precedent is concerned. As Roberts explained in his piece, in June 2008, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee sent the Bush White House one narrow, targeted subpoena — and Bushies immediately shut down the inquiry by invoking executive privilege.
At the time, GOP lawmakers were fine with that. One assumes they’d have a different reaction now.
If news organizations covering this make it seem as if the House GOP is launching a legitimate inquiry, seeking pertinent questions and resisting the urge to go on a pointless fishing expedition, they’re misleading the public in a fairly dramatic way.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/about_those_solyndra_subpoenas033291.php
Romney’s General Election “Strength”
Gallup’s latest numbers somewhat minimize one of his strongest arguments. In two-way match-ups, Romney’s lead over Obama is well within the margin of error, and Obama’s lead over Cain is the same. Even with Perry, Obama’s lead is only 5 points, just outside the margin. If Cain can show he has as much general election appeal as Romney, then one of Mitt’s key primary arguments evaporates.
The other factor the poll brings to the fore is the enthusiasm gap. Republican hostility to Obama currently outpaces Democratic excitement in the election. Which is why, I suspect, some truly nasty, populist negative ads will be unleashed to damage Mitt if he gets the nod. And not from the Obama campaign directly.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/romneys-general-election-strength.html
Obamacare Is Working
In one respect at least: the ACA is fast getting the under-26’s – the least insured, most healthy segment of the population – into the system:
The provision of the law that permits young adults under 26, long the largest uninsured demographic in the country, to remain on their parents’ health insurance program resulted in at least 600,000 newly insured Americans during the first quarter of 2011. Wellpoint, the nation’s largest publicly traded health insurer with some 34 million customers, reports adding 280,000 new members in the first three months of 2011. Add in the results of some of the other large health insurers including Aetna, who added just short of 100,000 newly insured to their customer base, Kaiser Permanente’s additional 90,000, and Highmark’s 72,000 new customers, and we begin to sense our health insurance pools are filling up with some badly needed young blood.
The health insurance companies also had a bumper first quarter this year. Then this
According to a Kaiser survey, there has been a 46% uptick in businesses with less than 10 employees offering health benefits as compared to last year.
I remain of the view that health insurance under the ACA is a plus for Obama next year. It truly baffles me why he and so many others in his useless excuse of a party seem incapable of defending their signature achievement.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/obamacare-is-working.html
November 04, 2011 1:30 PM
The ‘real drivers of our debt’
By Steve Benen
At a certain level, I should find the more buffoonish congressional Republicans more annoying — than the more “serious” GOP officials on Capitol Hill. After all, clowns like Louie Gohmert and Michele Bachmann are far more likely to say something offensive, come up with some wild conspiracy theory, introduce a ridiculous piece of legislation, etc.
But the opposite turns out to be true. I’m far more bothered by a guy like House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) than his clownish colleagues because so much of the political establishment actually believes Ryan is credible. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he’s perceived as some kind of “wonk,” whose opinions should be taken seriously.
The problem, of course, is that Ryan has no idea what he’s talking about. He fabricates claims, presents plans with numbers that don’t add up, and makes laughable policy arguments, and yet, Ryan’s reputation is impenetrable. Peggy Noonan’s nauseating love letter to the right-wing lawmaker last week — she praises Ryan as a “thinker” who “reads” — still linger as outrageous a week later.
It’d be problematic enough to evaluate Ryan on ideology alone — the extremism of this Ayn Rand acolyte is generally under-appreciated. But the problem goes much deeper, as he says things nearly every day that just aren’t true. Take Ryan’s latest salvo, for example.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the U.S is getting close to “a European-like situation,” and that not much can be done to change that course before the 2012 election.
Speaking Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Ryan said the most that could be hoped for in the next year was “a down-payment on the debt and deficits” to “calm down the credit markets.”
“We have no action on the real drivers of our debt, and meanwhile we’re getting closer to a debt crisis — to a European-like situation, and we’re not doing anything about it, and that’s what’s frustrating me,” Ryan said.
This is pure gibberish. No one who has even a passing familiarity with the basics could possibly believe the U.S. debt is “close” to the European debt crisis. It just doesn’t make any sense. Has he seen our interest rates? Does he realize how eager the rest of the world is to loan us money?
As for “the real drivers of our debt,” Ryan, as the Budget Committee chairman, should probably be aware of the fact that the biggest drivers of our debt are Republican policies. There’s even a handy chart available:
Of course, if Ryan were seriously concerned with the debt and avoiding a European-style crisis, he’d support additional tax revenue, but he doesn’t. Why? Because for him, arithmetic and fiscal responsibility aren’t terribly important. He has “an economic doctrine thing.”
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/the_real_drivers_of_our_debt033290.php
Everything You Need To Know About Iowa Republican Caucus Voters
by Zandar
The “but Republicans will never tax me, just those other people” scam is arguably the most successful example of wishful thinking and voting against your own self-interest that I’ve ever seen. From the Des Moines Register:
Two-thirds of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers earning less than $50,000 a year believe they personally would be better off or in the same situation under Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll shows.
Research-group reviews of the plan have found that most families making $100,000 or less would pay thousands of dollars more each year.
“The larger point is that people don’t really understand what the 9-9-9 plan actually is, and they’re assuming incorrectly that they may not pay one or any of these taxes,” said Joe Rosenberg, a research associate for the Tax Policy Center, a group based in Washington, D.C., that bills itself as a nonpartisan economic research institute.
That “incorrect assumption” is of course the entire point of the plan. These are folks that expect the GOP to stick it to the “47% that pay no income tax” which of course would never, ever include any Real Americans voting in GOP primaries. The cloud of ignorance that makes it so easy to lead the nation off a cliff is largely self-inflicted, and that’s just how the GOP and their corporate masters like it.
More importantly, Iowa Republicans are honestly expecting the GOP’s flotilla of flat tax nonsense to punish the Others, (you know, “welfare queens”, “young bucks on the street corner”, and “those people in the day labor parking lot”) not any of them. That’s what the dog whistle semaphore is spelling out for them day after day on FOX and El Rushbo. They truly believe that the notion that a consumption tax would ever be levied against working-class Republican voters in the Heartland is nothing more than a cruel liberal media trick.
The rest of the flat tax supporters know full well they’re being asked to pay higher taxes along with the Others but also think that the super rich will reward them for their suffering, like the Midwest is full of roaming packs of Job Creation Angels who will zoom out of the sky and tag the deserving like Oprah used to give away prizes to her audience. (“You get a job and YOU get a job and YOU get a job and YOU ALL GET JOBS!” Cue giant box of jobs.) These celestial hiring managers of course only visit the worthy, so you’d better be able to take your suffering like a Real American. They’re counting on getting a little something from the guys up at the top the trickle pile and calling it rain.
The devil convincing the world he never existed, and all that.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/11/04/everything-you-need-to-know-about-iowa-republican-caucus-voters/#comment-2858354
George W. Bush: ‘People Didn’t Think I Could Read’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/george-w-bush-memoir_n_1076253.html#comments
Former President George W. Bush joked about his literary abilities in a speech at the Chamber of Commerce in Wichita, Kans. on Thursday.
He said at the event that his memoir, Decision Points, came as a “palpable shock” to people on the East Coast, according to the Wichita Eagle. “People didn’t think I could read, let alone write,” he quipped.
The joke isn’t new for Bush. In an appearance prior to the publication of his memoir in Chicago, he said, “This will come as quite a shock to some. They didn’t think I could read, much less write.”
The Huffington Post’s Dan Froomkin reviewed Decision Points, focusing on the two biggest lies in the memoir — the reasons for invading Iraq and for torturing detainees. Bush asserts that he tried to avoid the Iraq War and that torture was legal and effective, neither of which is true.
He also said in his speech that his wife, Laura Bush, scolded him for saying he wanted Osama Bin Laden “dead or alive.” He blamed the expression on the “Texas in me.” After President Barack Obama called him, interrupting his souffle dinner to tell him that Bin Laden had been killed in a raid, Bush said, “good call.”
Despite leaving office with a 22 percent approval rating and remaining unpopular long after his presidency, Bush received a warm reception in Wichita. The Eagle reported that Bush received “standing ovations” when he arrived and after his remarks.
And I still don’t believe he can read (My Pet Goat) Wasn’t that a picture book?
Friday, November 4, 2011
The Federal Election (Out Of) Commission
Posted by Zandar
If you’re wondering why all the Obama administration’s efforts to combat Republican voter ID disenfranchisement laws are going through Eric Holder and the DoJ, it’s because the Federal Election Commission has all but been eliminated by the GOP.
Public Citizen noted that partisan deadlock since 2008 had prevented the six member agency from enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and performing other essential duties.
“The FEC is broken,” said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen. “The Republican bloc of commissioners – selected for the FEC by Sen. Mitch McConnell to stymie enforcement of our campaign finance laws – have done precisely that. Partisan deadlock is paralyzing the agency. President Obama needs to step in and appoint new commissioners who will take their charge of enforcing the law seriously and responsibly.”
From 2003 to 2007, there were a total of 39 split votes on enforcement actions, according to a report (PDF) by the group.
But from 2008 to 2010, the number of split votes jumped up to 70, even though the total number of votes was drastically less. The deadlocked votes led to dismissed complaints.
Historically, the agency deadlocked on fewer than 2 percent of its enforcement actions.
The FEC is also pursuing far fewer audits of the financial activity of candidates and committees than it had done so previously. The number of audits dropped from 242 between 2004 to 2007 to just 84 between 2008 to 2010.
Five of the commissioners terms have expired, but they continue to serve on the commission.
And they will never be replaced because any efforts to do so will be filibustered by the GOP. The most effective weapon the GOP has remains the ability to assure that the federal government is completely dysfunctional, and the Village’s assurance that both sides will be blamed for the government’s failure to operate at even a basic level.
Feature, not a bug. Forever and ever, amen. Just give into the GOP’s demands and expunge Democrats from our political system and all the pain will magically go away…
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2011/11/federal-election-out-of-commission.html
November 04, 2011 10:05 AM
The disjointed debate
By Steve Benen
Here’s what’s going to happen today: Republicans and many in the media will look at the weak job numbers and argue that it’s evidence that President Obama’s economic policies aren’t working. Here’s what’s not going to happen today: a public discussion about the extent to which President Obama’s economic policies aren’t even being tried.
The political dynamic has changed quite a bit since the early spring, when Republican leaders were eager to take credit for the positive numbers they had nothing to do with. Needless to say, GOP officials are no longer claiming responsibility, and are in fact now eager to point fingers everywhere else. It’s a nice little scam Republicans have put together: when more jobs are being created, it’s proof they’re right; when fewer jobs are being created, it’s proof Obama’s wrong. Heads they win; tails Dems lose.
In case anyone’s forgotten, the GOP whining is misguided — whether they want to admit it or not, the economy is advancing as they want it to. The private sector is being left to its own devices; the public sector is shedding jobs quickly; and lawmakers are focused on debt-reduction.
This is the script the GOP wrote. When it’s followed to the letter, Republican complaints are absurd.
I understand the politics. Obama’s the president, so if the economy stinks, Republicans want voters to think it’s his fault. But in order for this to make sense, the administration would have to be getting its way when it comes to economic policy.
But that’s simply not the case. I’m reminded of this Greg Sargent post from a couple of months ago.
No hiring surge is going to happen until Obama and Dems actually agree to do it their way in policy terms.
No hiring surge will happen until that job killing stimulus spending winds down; until Dems allow Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts on the rich; until Dems agree to deep cuts to Federal programs; until municipal governments are forced to cut back and fend for themselves; until Dems embrace the notion that government must tighten its belt to restore business confidence; and until Dems begin seriously basing their policy response to unemployment on the conservative idea that if we only reduce the deficit, a thousand economic flowers will bloom. Only then we’ll see the surge in employment we’re all waiting for.
Oh, wait…
The message Republicans will be emphasizing — today and over the next year — is that we should try things their way. But we already are, and no one’s satisfied with the results.
Indeed, arguably one of the most dramatic Democratic dilemmas of 2011 and 2012 is overcoming the realization that Republicans are getting their way on economic policy and then denying any responsibility for the results. Indeed, it’s a rather extraordinary con: GOP officials see much of their agenda implemented, then see it fail, and then blame Obama when their policies don’t work.
It’s not too late. We can boost public investments. Republicans can stop killing meaningful jobs bills. We can stop pretending spending cuts will create jobs. We can prevent public-sector layoffs (nearly a quarter million public-sector jobs have been lost, on purpose, thanks entirely to spending cuts, this calendar year).
Under ideal circumstances, the president would come up with an economic plan and execute it. If the agenda succeeded, he’d get the credit. If it faltered, Republicans would call him on it. Voters could evaluate the results and decide whether to keep the president around or go back to GOP economic policies.
But those circumstances are nowhere to be found. Rather, we’re stuck looking in this funhouse-mirror in which Republicans block Democratic economic policies, and then condemn the policies for failing.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/the_disjointed_debate033280.php
Republican Family Values
by John Cole
This video of Arsansas Republican Judge William Adamas, a family court Judge in Texas, viciously beating his daughter with a belt, has gone viral:
Judge William Adams beats daughter for using the internet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9y3SIPt7o&feature=player_embedded
Again, like I said, and requoted earlier regarding the Cain situation- “Half of them have convinced themselves that this is just a liberal media hit job, and the rest of them think women are property, so I really don’t expect him to lose any support over this.” As he savagely beats his daughter, he screams about “beating her into submission” and the mother tells her to “take it like a woman.”
Apparently the statute of limitations has passed, so he will not be charged, but it does look like the video, released by his daughter, may end his career as a judge dealing with child abuse cases. This is just the extreme edge of an extremely anti-woman mentality and sentiment running rampant through the GOP. The list of abusive legislation the GOP has pushed is extensive, and just a couple weeks ago, Jim Demint suggested making it a crime for women to talk over the internet with a doctor. This isn’t just one person acting in a subhuman manner, it’s all a part of the same anti-woman agenda, just to differing extremes.
Bonus fact- the 16 year old daughter has cerebral palsy. And to think, people got upset when Markos called these scumbags the American Taliban.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/11/04/republican-family-values-2/#comment-2858334
November 04, 2011 11:20 AM
Kasich annoys Browns fans everywhere
By Steve Benen
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is still going all out to defeat a referendum next week that would repeal his union-busting bill, curtailing collective-bargaining rights in the state.
He may, however, have just lost some support from football fans.
As part of his campaign in support of Issue 2, Kasich realizes he has a lot of ground to make up, since polls show voters leaning against the anti-worker law. To make this point this week, he decided to turn to a sports analogy.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) fumbled the facts of Cleveland football history this week, when he tried — and failed — to make a sports analogy about heroic comebacks.
Kasich, in the midst of a fervent statewide tour in support of Ohio’s Issue 2, a ballot measure to affirm the state’s anti-collective bargaining legislation signed by the governor earlier this year, ran into trouble when asked if he thought his outmanned effort could stand up to well-organized pro-union forces.
As the governor put it, “We never thought [former Cleveland Browns quarterback] Bernie Kosar would bring the Browns back and win that big championship game.” In this little analogy, if Kosar could lead a comeback to win the championship, then maybe Kasich can lead a comeback to defend union-busting.
The problem is that Kosar never brought the Browns back to win that big championship game. Cleveland is one of just four NFL teams to never appear in a Super Bowl, and the Browns have gone 0 for 3 in conference title games.
I suspect there are a few fans in Cleveland who are aware of this little detail.
On a more serious note, though, Kasich may not know local sports history very well, but he knows how to recruit right-wing financiers to help his anti-worker campaign.
In case you needed further proof of how enormous the stakes are in the Ohio labor fight for national conservatives, consider this: Right wing groups are pouring over $2 million into TV ad campaigns in the final few days of the fight, I’m told.
National conservative groups view the showdown over Issue 2 — a referendum on Governor John Kasich’s law rolling back bargaining rights — as the central front in their drive to break labor’s back in the middle of the industrial heartland. Polls show that labor is poised to win this fight, though union operatives aren’t all sanguine.
The election is Tuesday.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/kasich_annoys_browns_fans_ever033282.php
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Running The Numbers Wrong
Posted by Zandar
I’m not sure if Nate Silver is incorporating way too much beltway conventional wisdom into his analysis or if he’s just decided to move into Firebagger Country, but his latest 35,000 feet analysis of President Obama’s re-election is that he loses unless the economy improves and his chances are 50-50 overall.
The problem is with the input parameters on Nate’s model:
Obama does indeed have a “Jewish problem.” Polls find that his standing among Jews has deteriorated: only about 54 percent of them approved of his performance in the most recent Gallup survey. But this is to be expected when a president has a 40-something approval rating. He also has a Hispanic problem and a problem among the white working class. He has a problem in Ohio and a problem in Florida and a problem in New Hampshire. He even has, to a mild extent, an African-American problem: Obama’s approval ratings among black voters are still high, but down to about 80 percent from 90 percent.
All of these, however, are symptoms of Obama’s larger problems, a set of three fundamental misgivings shared by much of the American electorate.
• First, many of us understand that Barack Obama inherited a terrible predicament. We have a degree of sympathy for the man. But we have concerns, which have been growing over time, about whether he’s up to the job.
• Second, most of us are gravely concerned about the economy. We’re not certain what should be done about it, but we’re frustrated.
• Third, enough of us are prepared to vote against Obama that he could easily lose. It doesn’t mean we will, but we might if the Republican represents a credible alternative and fits within the broad political mainstream.
I’m trying to figure out where somebody so dependent on actual facts, objective figures, and numerical analysis gets such a flawed model to start with. I’ll give Nate the second point there, most of us really are frustrated over the economy are there are serious differences about what should be done about it (although I’ve been yelling about what to do for a couple of years now.) But his assumptions that “we” think President Obama isn’t “up to the job” is just Village idiocy if anyone was capable of measuring President Obama’s accomplishments in an objective manner…which if anyone is supposed to be able to up in Villageland, it’s Nate Silver.
The third point is hokum as well. Has Silver been paying actual attention to the debates, the laughable policy gimmicks, the absurdity of the sound bites coming from the GOP in the last few months, or the current head-shaking controversies? Who is an actual credible alternative that would survive the primaries and still end up in the “broad political mainstream” in the general election next fall? Surely Nate understands this.
Finally he goes on to basically say that unless the economy improves, the President will basically lose the election. In both of his scenarios where the economy is stagnant, the President has long odds against Rick Perry and nearly impossible odds against Mitt Romney. No mention, of course, that if he’s right the Republicans have every reason to continue to obstruct and sabotage the economy, and so far it’s been pretty effective in blocking every attempt by the Democrats to improve the economy.
And finally, FINALLY, Nate basically says that the polls this early that show President Obama winning against every specific Republican in the race are simply too far away from November 2012 to be of any use, but he does throw in this caveat:
Obama has gone from a modest favorite to win re-election to, probably, a slight underdog. Let’s not oversell this. A couple of months of solid jobs reports, or the selection of a poor Republican opponent, would suffice to make him the favorite again.
I’m going to say the selection of any single Republican makes him the favorite again.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2011/11/running-numbers-wrong.html
Posted at 10:42 AM ET, 11/04/2011 Mitch McConnell: Obama secretly wants supercommittee to fail
By Greg Sargent
Mitch McConnell has a theory as to why Dems keep demanding that the supercommittee hike taxes on the rich as part of its solution to the deficit:
“I’m now convinced that the president actually believes he would be benefited by the committee not succeeding” because success “would step on his story line that we can’t do anything on a bipartisan basis.”
That is a pretty crazy story line! Where would Obama have gotten the whacked out and delusional idea that Senate Republicans won’t let him do anything on a bipartisan basis? Maybe from … Mitch McConnell:
“We worked very hard to keep our fingerprints off of these proposals,” McConnell says. “Because we thought — correctly, I think — that the only way the American people would know that a great debate was going on was if the measures were not bipartisan. When you hang the ‘bipartisan’ tag on something, the perception is that differences have been worked out, and there’s a broad agreement that that’s the way forward.”
Read on
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line
OUT OF TOUCH
November 04, 2011 10:35 AM
Senate GOP short of unanimity on taxes
By Steve Benen
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/senate_gop_short_of_unanimity033281.php
On Wednesday, 100 U.S. House members — 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans — signed a letter to the super-committee, calling for more ambitious debt reduction. It was notable for key reason: GOP signatories broke with party dogma and endorsed new revenue, which could, at least in theory, include some tax increases.
“All options,” they said, “must be on the table.” Since that didn’t come with a “except tax increases” asterisk, it was evidence of modest progress.
That was Wednesday. Yesterday, the super-committee received a very different kind of letter.
A group of 33 Republican senators sent a letter to members of the panel insisting on “no net tax increase.”
The letter, circulated by Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said that any deficit-reduction deal should also “balance our budget within 10 years, place entitlements on a path to fiscal solvency” and include “comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates and promotes economic growth.” […]
Democrats said the letter was a serious setback for efforts to strike a bipartisan deal to achieve the goal of reducing deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Democrats say any deal must include spending cuts and increases in tax revenues, as recommended by fiscal experts who testified this week at a hearing of the panel, known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
That would involve some kind of compromise, with both sides making concessions. Democrats are willing to do this; Republicans aren’t. It’s that simple.
What’s more, remember when Sens. Tom Coburn, Saxby Chambliss, and Mike Crapo were part of that Gang of Six project that opened the door to tax increases? Well, forget it — all three signed yesterday’s letter, demanding that the super-committee not raise any tax on anyone by any amount.
The end result was a letter endorsed by 33 Senate Republicans who, in effect, believe a debt-reduction deal should give the GOP everything it wants, without any compromise at all.
And some still wonder who’s to blame for the breakdown of the legislative process.
Groupon shares jump in online deal pioneer’s public market debut
By Associated Press, Published: November 3 | Updated: Friday, November 4, 10:40 AM
NEW YORK — Groupon, the company that pioneered online group discounts, saw its stock climb by nearly a third in its public debut Friday, showing strong demand for an Internet company whose business model is considered unsustainable by some analysts.
Groupon’s stock jumped $6.40, or 32 percent, to $26.40 in late morning Friday after trading began at about 10:45 a.m. Earlier, the stock was trading as high as $31.14. Big fluctuations are common for companies that have just gone public as investors gauge what to do with the stock.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/daily-deals-pioneer-groupon-raises-700m-with-ipo-priced-20-per-share-trading-starts-friday/2011/11/04/gIQAs28WkM_story.html?wpisrc=nl_tech
Perfect! Can you post on the Grover thread too? thanks!
Talking Points Memo:
Rep. Walsh gets pro-family award despite back child support allegations http://tpm.ly/u3UhJv
A disgrace!
Now streaming…
President Obama and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France Honor the Alliance between the United States and France
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
THESE MOFOS @ FOX HAVE NO SHAME
Herman Cain’s Abuse Of Power Scandal
Tod Kelly makes a distinction:
The media treats sexual harassment cases similarly to the way they treat stories about secret mistresses. After all, it’s the sex that sells the story, right? … But sexual harassment isn’t the same as infidelity. Sexual harassment, at the end of the day, is about the abuse of power. What’s more, it’s about a particularly denigrating and malicious abuse of power. I would go so far as to say that if someone has a pattern of perpetrating sexual harassment, he is the last person you want in power over others – and you should vote accordingly.
My view entirely. We have contemporaneous eye-witnesses to one alleged victim’s distress:
The sources describe how the woman recounted her allegations against Cain to two members of the restaurant association’s board – sources who include an acquaintance of the woman’s and a person who attended the restaurant association meeting at which the woman lodged her complaint. The sources say the woman told them Cain invited her to his hotel room at the event, and that both the context and the way Cain phrased the invitation made her feel extremely uncomfortable, even incensed.
Either he invited an employee to his hotel room at a social event, or he didn’t. If he did, and she felt she had to leave her job subsequently because of how her complaint altered the workplace environment, then it matters. We need to lift the woman’s gag-order, and get to the bottom of this.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/herman-cains-abuse-of-power-scandal.html
this cheap jersey Shore-looking SLUT, right chere:
She is a cheap trick. She was cheated at birth in terms of her brain, and she has terrible taste.
Good grief! Enough already! Go the hell away, Sarah Palin!
IF TRUE,
then…
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH AHH A
to Willard
they REALLY hate his azz.
…………………………………………
Well, I Called That
by John Cole
Me, on Wednesday:
I may be in the minority, but I don’t think Cain’s history of sexual harassment is going to hurt him at all with the GOP, and the insanity of the Republican party will really work to his favor in the short run, at least. Half of them have convinced themselves that this is just a liberal media hit job, and the rest of them think women are property, so I really don’t expect him to lose any support over this. If anything, in the short term, I expect him to gain ground. Wingnuts love crazy shit. It doesn’t matter if Cain has made any number of differing and contradictory statements about what happened, the fact that Cain is not handling this conventionally is all they need. They love a good show, and to them, Cain is fighting back! He’s not taking it! Plus, did you see him show them at the Press Club what he is made of when he broke into song?
The WaPo, today
Businessman Herman Cain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are running nearly even atop the field of 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows, with most Republicans dismissing the harassment allegations that over the past week have roiled Cain’s campaign.
Seven in 10 Republicans say reports that Cain made unwanted advances toward two employees when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s — allegations which have been stiffly rebutted by Cain’s campaign — do not matter when it comes to picking a candidate.
But the potential threat to his burgeoning campaign is evident as well, with Cain slipping to third place among those who see the charges as serious, and Republican women significantly more likely than men to say the scandal makes them less apt to support Cain.
The poll was conducted Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, starting the evening after Politico first reported the harassment allegations. Support for Cain was basically steady over the four nights of interviewing, even as new charges against him surfaced.
Nearly a quarter of all Republicans and GOP-leaning independents now back Cain as the party’s nominee, his best showing in Post-ABC polls this year, and up significantly from early October. At 23 percent nationally, Cain is neck-and-neck with Romney (24 percent) atop the GOP field.
“I think [the charges against Cain are] mostly garbage that they throw at people who want to be president,” James Kindsch, from Middleton, Wis., said in a follow-up interview.
“I don’t believe it,” said Paul Bradley from Fishersville, Va., adding: “The further in the past they happened, the less accurate they are.”
In the poll, a majority of Republicans — 55 percent — see reports of Cain’s alleged misconduct as “not a serious matter,” and 70 percent say the situation makes no difference in their vote.
If the NY Times were to do a piece showing that Cain had murdered a dozen people in the 70’s, the response of most Republicans would be “Why is the liberal media waiting until now to bring this up? Clearly a hit job.” We’re dealing with crazy people.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/11/04/well-i-called-that/
told ya, they want anyone BUT, Mittens.
November 03, 2011
Cain: an insurmountable perplexity
Today on Fox News, Herman Cain’s mismanager, Mark Block, “said he wants to get over the ‘silliness’ and get on with the campaign.”
Granted, that’s too easy for sophisticated humor. So I’ll pile on anyway and restate the observation that every reader undoubtedly had: Isn’t silliness the campaign?
Which still leaves us with an insurmountable perplexity — how a lubricious huckster of inexpressibly moronic simplicities ever climbed to the top of Republican polls, even nominally. Sure, there’s the multiple-personality Romney thing; and the capricious political media, far more interested in playtime than policy; and of course the GOP base’s advancing cerebral morbidity. But, Herman Cain?
I mean, come on. Compared to Cain, Calvin Coolidge was a loquacious activist, Dick Nixon an esteemed professor of ethics, and George W. Bush a fluent speaker of “Mexican” — rock-ribbed Republican presidential material all. But Cain? Macroeconomists are still wiping their tears of laughter over his Nein-Nein-Nein Plan, as I imagine Chinese officials (that would be Red Chinese officials) are doing over Cain’s utterly ignorant jitters about a potentially nuclear People’s Republic.
The man’s popularity is, quite simply, in its totality, an inexplicable phenomenon. You bet, his adherents are looney tunes and the media are sensationalistic and his competitors range from the equally looney-tuned to the spooky shape-shifting. Still, Herman Cain as the Party of Lincoln’s nominal frontrunner is one too many jokes beyond funny, or comprehension.
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2011/11/cain-an-insurmountable-perplexity.html
November 04, 2011
Our ailing political zeitgeist
The most exasperating dissonance within America’s 21st-century political zeitgeist is that between what “everyone knows” and what nearly everyone, it often seems, then does. This morning the NY Times’ Timothy Egan sets the epistemological stage:
The public already knows the real scandal: our broken politics…. The [GOP] clowns have finally taken over the circus…. The party that got itself into a fever over Barack Obama’s imaginary Kenyan birth … is now overwhelmed by its own nonsense.
Overwhelmed, indeed. And though there’s general agreement that everyone knows that — in fact, many of those who peddle the nonsense know their fraudulent product as keenly as anyone — it’s the “now” part that’s objectionable. Rather than delving into the unprofitably endless intellectual game of chronologically pinpointing our original secular sin, let’s instead think back just a bit, and see what we find.
The Republican Party today is essentially the Republican Party of late last century; the party which, you’ll recall, paralyzed the nation for month after month because an intern’s blowjob offered the party what it believed was a route to unseating the opposition’s legitimately, democratically elected president. Alhough it failed, their attempt was, in effect, a slow-motion coup, which, further, came on the heels of nearly eight years of peace and prosperity.
So how did the betrayed American electorate react when it had a payback opportunity in 2000? Why, by reinstalling twin GOP majorities in Congress, of course. The Bush-Gore debacle? That becomes rather immaterial when one recalls that after George W. Bush had, for four calamitous years, demonstrated his reckless incompetence beyond any reasonable doubt, America promptly handed him the keys to the White House again. “Everyone knew” the GOP was a malevolent pack of political gangsters; but there they sat, in total power, democratically granted.
Fast-forward, to the nation’s utter collapse. Within a mere 18 months of its aftermath it became increasingly clear that the American electorate would re-grant effective control of the country to those who had blown it up: yep, the certified gangsters — essentially the same ignoramuses and peddlers and grandstanders who had lacerated the body politic in the 1990s and tortured it repeatedly throughout the 2000s.
“The [GOP] clowns have finally taken over the circus”? The Timothy Egans, the E.J. Dionnes, even the conservative Andrew Sullivans have desperately marketed that observation for years. And read the polls, or just ask around: Do you find many folks who dispute it?
So, by now, one would think the next national election would pose a universally thorough expulsion of the gangsters. The latter’s political hooliganism is indisputable, and pretty much everyone knows it. Rebelling against the situation’s logic, however, are 2000, 2004, and 2010 — astounding manifestations of what voting majorities actually do.
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/p_m_carpenters_commentary/2011/11/our-ailing-political-zeitgeist.html
Obama discusses G-20, live http://usat.ly/vbVlFP
Thanks for that fact. Did you see that photo of PBO with his arm around Merkel at G-20? She looks like a prude. Oh, a black man his arm around me.
LOL!
Political AnimalBlog
November 04, 2011 10:35 AM
Senate GOP short of unanimity on taxes
By Steve Benen
On Wednesday, 100 U.S. House members — 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans — signed a letter to the super-committee, calling ambitious debt reduction. What was notable about the letter was that GOP signatories broke with party dogma and endorsed new revenue, which could, at least in theory, include some tax increases.
“All options,” they said, “must be on the table.” Since that didn’t come with a “except tax increases” asterisk, it was evidence of modest progress.
That was Wednesday. Yesterday, the super-committee received a very different kind of letter.
A group of 33 Republican senators sent a letter to members of the panel insisting on “no net tax increase.”
The letter, circulated by Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said that any deficit-reduction deal should also “balance our budget within 10 years, place entitlements on a path to fiscal solvency” and include “comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates and promotes economic growth.” […]
Democrats said the letter was a serious setback for efforts to strike a bipartisan deal to achieve the goal of reducing deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Democrats say any deal must include spending cuts and increases in tax revenues, as recommended by fiscal experts who testified this week at a hearing of the panel, known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
That would involve some kind of compromise, with both sides making concessions. Democrats are willing to do this; Republicans aren’t. It’s that simple.
What’s more, remember when Sens. Tom Coburn, Saxby Chambliss, and Mike Crapo were part of that Gang of Six project that opened the door to tax increases? Well, forget it — all three signed yesterday’s letter, demanding that the super-committee not raise any tax on anyone by any amount.
The end result was a letter endorsed by 33 Senate Republicans who, in effect, believe a debt-reduction deal should give the GOP everything it wants, without any compromise at all.
And some still wonder who’s to blame for the breakdown of the legislative process.
There was, however, a pleasant surprise: there are 47 Senate Republicans and 33 of them signed the hard-line letter. That means, of course, that 14 Senate Republicans were unwilling to go this far, at least at this point.
At this point, I’ll take silver linings where I can find them.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/senate_gop_short_of_unanimity033281.php
November 4, 2011 8:33 AM PrintText U.S. unemployment rate falls to 9%
(CBS/AP) Last Updated 8:37 a.m. ET
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57318401/u.s-unemployment-rate-falls-to-9/?tag=nl.e875
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 9 percent for October, from 9.1 percent last month, but hiring slowed as employers faced more uncertainty over future economic growth.
The Labor Department said the economy added 80,000 jobs last month, the fewest in four months and below September’s revised total of 158,000.
Businesses added 104,000 jobs, below September’s total. Government shed 24,000 jobs.
The report included some positive signs: The government revised August and September’s figures upward by 102,000. Average hourly earnings rose. And the unemployment rate fell for the first time since July, because a separate survey of households showed more people found work.
Healthier consumer spending was the key reason the economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the best quarterly growth in a year. Growth in consumer spending tripled from the spring, despite renewed recession fears and wide fluctuations in the stock market.
But economists worry that the summer spending gains can’t be sustained. For one thing, Americans spent more in the third quarter even though they earned less. And they used their savings to make up the difference.
Without more jobs and higher wages, consumers are likely to pare spending in the months ahead. Consumer spending is important because it accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.
The economy generated an average of 96,000 jobs per month in the third quarter, the same as in the preceding three months. That’s down from 166,000 in the first three months of this year.
A raft of data Thursday offered a mixed picture for the economy and hiring.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped below 400,000 for only the third time this year, the government said. Still, applications would need to fall below 375,000 to signal sustained job gains. They haven’t been at that level since February.
found this at The Obama Diary:
Job situation since the recession began in December 2007:
2008:
Jan_______+13,000 _____(First full month of recession)
Feb_______ -83,000
Mar_______ -72,000
Apr_______-185,000
May______-233,000
Jun______ -178,000
Jul_______-231,000
Aug______-267,000
Sep______ -434,000
Oct.______-509,000
Nov_______-802,000
Dec_______-619,000
2009
Jan________-820,000 ____(Obama enters office Jan 20)
Feb._______-726,000
Mar_______ -796,000
Apr________-660,000 ____(Stimulus spending begins)
May_______-386,000
Jun________-502,000
Jul________ -300,000
Aug_______ -231,000
Sep________-236,000
Oct________-221,000
Nov_________-55,000
Dec_______ -130,000
2010
Jan__________-39,000
Feb__________-35,000
Mar_________+192,000 (gained)
Apr_________ +277,000 (gained)
May________ +458,000 (gained)
Jun_________ -192,000
July__________-49,000
Aug__________-59,000
Sep_________ -29,000
October______ +171,000 (gained)
November______+93,000 (gained)
December_____+152,000 (gained)
2011
January________+68,000 (gained)
February______+235,000 (gained)
March.________+194,000 (gained)
April__________+217,000 (gained)
May.___________+53,000 (gained)
June.__________ +20,000 (gained)
July___________+127,000 (gained)
August________ +104,000 (gained)
September._____+158,000 (gained)
October_________+80,000 (gained)
http://theobamadiary.com/2011/11/04/rise-and-shine-14/
Friday, November 4, 2011
Holding Your Own Folks Hostage
Posted by Zandar
In other news, Republicans will continue to assure that the economy will never improve until America capitulates and gives them unlimited political power for all eternity.
Senate Republicans Thursday blocked debate on yet another portion of President Obama’s jobs bill — one that would have provided $60 billion for funding transportation projects, and seeded a new infrastructure bank.
The vote was 51 – 49 with only 2 members of the Dem caucus — Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) — joining the GOP.
Naah, infrastructure might be used to justify the government existing. We can’t have that. Not like we have a serious problem with infrastructure in this country or anything. With tax cuts we can build bridges and roads out of Laffer Curves. But Republicans do stand for something, you know.
Republicans countered with a bill that would provide highway funding, but cut $40 billion in discretionary funds for federal programs, and that included legislation called the REINS act, which would give Congress an effective veto over executive branch regulations like worker and environmental protections.
“Sure thing Mr. Obama, you can have your bridges as soon as you sign away all your executive power to Congress.” Seems like a great plan, sponsored of course by my own Senator Rand Paul and in the House by my own Representative, Geoff Davis. Gosh, I do love Kentucky Republicans holding bridges in their own state hostage just as long as the President abdicates the power to do anything so that Republicans can filibuster it until the end of time.
Your hopelessly shattered federal government, destroyed by Republican fanatics, is a feature, not a bug.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2011/11/holding-your-own-folks-hostage.html
I’m Glad There Is You
by mistermix
Elizabeth Warren has the pitch-perfect response to a Tea Party heckler who called her a “socialist whore”:
“I actually felt sorry for the guy. I really genuinely did,” Warren later told the Huffington Post. “He’s been out of work now for a year and a half. And bless his heart, I mean, he thought somehow it would help to come here and yell names.”
She also added: “I’m not angry with him, but he didn’t come up with the idea that his biggest problem was Occupy Wall Street. There’s someone else pre-packaging that poison — and that’s who makes me angry.”
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a first-time candidate who is as talented a natural politician as Warren.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/11/03/im-glad-there-is-you/
Warren’s a CLASS act. There’s power in being “CLASSY.”
The guy is teabagging trash! He has no respect for women.
We Have Two Battles
by BooMan
Thu Nov 3rd, 2011 at 11:58:31 PM EST
At 3 o’clock this afternoon the Senate rejected an effort on a motion to proceed to a vote on the Rebuild America Jobs Act, which would have provided money to rebuild America’s infrastructure. Don’t get me wrong. A majority of the Senate voted in favor of proceeding to a vote on the bill. But that’s not good enough in our constitutional system. We needed 60 senators out of 100 to agree. We got a mere fifty-one. Here’s what the president had to say in response to the Senate’s intransigence
For the third time in recent weeks, every single Republican in the United States Senate has chosen to obstruct a jobs bill that independent economists said would boost our economy and put Americans back to work. At a time when more than a million construction workers are looking for a job, they voted “no” to putting them back to work doing the work America needs done – rebuilding our roads, bridges, airports and transit systems. That makes no sense.
It makes no sense when you consider that this bill was made up of the same kinds of common-sense proposals that many of these Senators have fought for in the past. It was fully paid for. And even though it was supported by more than 70 percent of the American people – Republicans, Democrats, and independents – 100 percent of Senate Republicans said no. It’s more clear than ever that Republicans in Washington are out of touch with Americans from all ends of the political spectrum.
The American people deserve to know why their Republican representatives in Washington refuse to put some of the workers hit hardest by the economic downturn back on the job rebuilding America. They deserve an explanation as to why Republicans refuse to step up to the plate and do what’s necessary to create jobs and grow the economy right now. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to put country ahead of party and listen to the people they were elected to serve. It’s time for them to do their job and focus on Americans’ jobs. And until they do, I will continue to do everything in my power to move this country forward.
I met an old friend and a committed progressive activist in Philly tonight to catch up and talk about a few things. She’s more in the thick of things than I am, especially with the progressive groups who work hard each day to move this country in a better direction. There is a kind of culture within the progressive left, particularly among the college-educated urban white community, that is profoundly disappointed in the Obama administration. But it isn’t completely unself-aware. It’s kind of like a feeling that progressives were a little naive. They should have known better than to think that progressive outcomes could be produced in a system so awash in corporate money and influence. And then there is this strange tension between a basic sympathy for the Occupy Movement on the one hand, and a feeling that it is rudderless on the other. For people who are committed to progressive politics and actually dedicate their lives to it, there’s a disconnect with a movement that kind of rejects the whole concept of the legislative process. It’s like “okay, this venting is understandable under the circumstances and it might even be doing some good, but when can we get back to discussing something concrete?”
It was an encouraging conversation for me because it kind of showed me that even some of the organizations that have been a little too critical for my tastes are beginning to reevaluate their own assumptions about what is possible and to make more accurate assignations of blame for where we are as a country. And, at the same time, there’s an appropriate concern that the Occupy Movement could splinter the left and leave it weakened in an election season.
We’re actually in a bind. As the president’s comments make clear, we just can’t get anything done in Congress and the American people deserve an explanation for why we’ve reached this point. But the answer is that the system is broken, and fixing it is a bit more complicated than just electing a bunch of Democrats. People who are still trying to work within the system are hard-put to explain how they can be successful, which is why increasingly we are seeing people embrace the Occupy Movement.
Yet, to the degree that the Occupy Movement rejects the legislative process, it makes matters even more difficult. How do we motivate people to go to the polls if they’re rejecting the system as a whole?
And, what we have to keep ever-present in our minds is that this kind of Hobson’s Choice is part of the design of Mitch McConnell’s strategy of total obstruction. If he can break government and make us give up on it, he can divide the left and make it feed on itself.
Forget about the depressing spectacle of progressive groups trying to figure out how to benefit from or co-opt the Occupy Movement. What people are trying to do is ward off catastrophe. Are we self-aware enough to realize how we’re being manipulated? Are we mere puppets on Mitch McConnell’s string, or are we smart enough to understand that we have two simultaneous fights on our hands? We have to reelect a Democratic president and we have to fight the systemic problems in our system that make progressive outcomes impossible.
Tonight I am more optimistic that progressives actually do get this. But I still think it’s a gargantuan challenge that too many do not understand.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2011/11/3/235831/663
November 03, 2011 7:00 AM
Occupying the Voting Booth
By Harold Pollack
I just passed by some OWS protesters. Many progressives—me, for instance—worry that OWS will promote destructive alienation from the hard and sustained work of conventional politics. If a sizeable chunk of progressive youth are passive in 2012, that is the functional equivalent of a Nader candidacy.
The best way to prevent this is to find an aspect of conventional politics that can genuinely excite and move these protesters into positive action that serves their own values and long-term goals. OFA emails won’t accomplish that. Perhaps earnest substantive emails about health reform should do that—given the Affordable Care Act’s impact on millions of low-income people. I don’t think this is so promising, either.
Ari Berman’s fantastic reporting describes Republican efforts across the country to establish subtle (or not-so-subtle) roadblocks to hinder voting among minorities, poor people, ex-felons, and the young. The GOP’s flimsy justifications are based on mythical accounts of voter fraud. Fortunately for the purposes of analytic clarity, no one outside the Wall Street Journal editorial page really takes that argument seriously. This is an obvious effort to turn the 2012 electorate into an older and whiter group that resembles the 2010 electorate rather than the 2008 electorate that brought Barack Obama to the White House.
Democrats need to hammer a simple message: It’s un-American for partisans to hinder political opponents’ efforts to vote. Yet this issue might not resonate with many independent voters. The typical suburban independent voter might think: Who doesn’t have a photo-id, anyway? Democrats and those affected will be angered, but Republicans will still benefit in close battleground states.
Occupy Wall Street organizers: I believe you should resonate with this issue. GOP officials are trying to disenfranchise people like you: college students with university IDs not gun permits, young people and minority urban residents who don’t drive, and so on.
Wherever you live, learn the voter registration and ID rules, and get to work registering people and ensuring that they have the proper ID cards and whatever to actually vote. Bring the drum sets. You may need a hard surface to fill out the proper forms.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2011/11/occupying_the_voting_booth033260.php
Rev. Al’s ratings are pretty good:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/the-scoreboard-wednesday-november-2_b96296#more-96296
Politics→ Elections, Obama, Politics, Top Stories
Who’s Paying for the GOP’s Plan to Hijack the 2012 Election?
Wed Nov. 2, 2011 7:20 AM PDT
James-Morrison/Flickr
Over the past six months, someone—or a group of someones—has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund an effort to change the rules of the 2012 presidential election to make it very difficult for President Barack Obama to win reelection. But the shadowy lobbying group mounting this campaign hasn’t disclosed its donors—and under current law, it doesn’t have to.
In two states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, GOP legislators have introduced bills that would change how electoral votes—a candidate needs 270 of the 538 to win the presidency—are awarded in a presidential election. Under the current system, the winner of the statewide popular vote receives all of the electoral votes from that state.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/pennsylvania-electoral-college-all-votes-matter
Is Romney really the GOP’s choice?
By Eugene Robinson, Published: November 3
The Republican Party’s inevitable decision to nominate Mitt Romney for president is starting to look evitable after all.
That’s certainly not a consensus view among the Washington cognoscenti, who tend to see the yet-to-come primaries and caucuses as mere formalities. Romney, they say, is the GOP’s obvious choice — a poised and experienced candidate with presidential bearing, world-class hair and the ability to speak in complete sentences, even about the economy. Sooner or later, the party will come to its senses and see that he has the best chance of beating President Obama.
The White House certainly seems to buy into this scenario. For months now, virtually every conversation I’ve had with one of those increasingly chatty “senior administration officials,” on any subject, has included at least a swipe or two at Romney. It’s clear that he’s the opponent the Obama machine is gearing up to face.
But I’m less and less convinced. It’s hard for me to see how any of the other candidates can win the nomination — but it’s hard for me to see how Romney wins it, either.
Polls have told a consistent story: Between 20 percent and 30 percent of Republican voters support Romney, and the rest support somebody else. Actually, not somebody, anybody.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-romney-really-the-gops-choice/2011/11/03/gIQA18fpjM_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions
Editorial
Putting Millionaires Before JobsPublished: November 3, 2011
There’s nothing partisan about a road or a bridge or an airport; Democrats and Republicans have voted to spend billions on them for decades and long supported rebuilding plans in their own states. On Thursday, though, when President Obama’s plan to spend $60 billion on infrastructure repairs came up for a vote in the Senate, not a single Republican agreed to break the party’s filibuster.
That’s because the bill would pay for itself with a 0.7 percent surtax on people making more than $1 million. That would affect about 345,000 taxpayers, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, adding an average of $13,457 to their annual tax bills. Protecting that elite group — and hewing to their rigid antitax vows — was more important to Senate Republicans than the thousands of construction jobs the bill would have helped create, or the millions of people who would have used the rebuilt roads, bridges and airports.
Senate Republicans filibustered the president’s full jobs act last month for the same reasons. And they have vowed to block the individual pieces of that bill that Democrats are now bringing to the floor. Senate Democrats have also accused them of opposing any good idea that might put people back to work and rev the economy a bit before next year’s presidential election.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/opinion/the-senate-puts-millionaires-before-jobs.html?_r=2
Good Morning, Everyone! Happy FRY-day! :-)
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Hola, rikyraha!
Good Morning, Chicas!
Happy FRY-day
Hola, SG2! :-)
Coffee; drink up: http://ak2.ostkcdn.com/img/mxc/090812_coffee_pot.jpg
Thank you! Just what I need to warm me up. It’s cold here.