Pushing Back is Important

A response by tssent to an article in Huff-Post (Romney's Ground Game) about Romney's increased level of desperation pretty much said it all:

Well, Mr. Datchok, perhaps you can wipe your tears away long
enough to consider all the wrong directions Obama is sending
this country:

U.S. Exports:  Double-digit gains;
Stock Market:  More than doubled;
All 4.4 million jobs Bush lost, recovered by Obama;
30 Straight months of growth;
4-year low in foreclosures;
4-year high in new construction;
By Executive Order, Amnesty to Immigrants since a

Republican-controlled Congress has refused to
act on the matter for nearly 4 years;
Cut taxes for 160m Americans;
Wall street reform passed;
Imports from other countries, down;
18 new tax cuts for small businesses;
Taxes of average American are down by $3600;
Unfair credit card fees eliminated;
2.5 million new manufacturing jobs created;
$1 T in spending cuts;
Reproduction Rights protected;
Stem Cell Research funded;
Efficiency Standards Doubled;
U.S. Oil Production, 8-year high;
Natural Gas Production, all-time high;
Renewable energy production up 27%;
Seniors' 401Ks have DOUBLED or even better;
First Latina supreme court justice appointed;
Torture banned;
$100 billion invested in science and research;
Iraq War Ended;
Afghanistan War ends 2014 and all troops return home;
Libya Liberated;
Osama Bin Laden Dead;
Incentive to Hire Unemployed Veterans;
Don't Ask Don't Tell Ended;
Unemployment Benefits Extended;
Equal Pay for Women Protected;
Health Care Reform Passed;
Seniors' Drug Costs Lowered;
College Pell Grants Doubled;
Guaranteed Coverage for Contraception;
Medicare and Soc Sec Protected, and finally,
Auto Industry Saved

Let me know if you run out of kleenex, you ingrate.


OBAMA 2012
ROMNEY // RYAN 1040s

That's exactly what the Obama campaign is pointing out to everyone.

Saying What You Actually Mean IS Important

Mitt has been nailed in so many statements for reversing his stance.  He wants YOU to believe he is sincere in what he says but you have to look at what he has done in the past.  Beyond looking at his taxes, which he hasn't let you do past one and a half year's worth, he doesn't want to show what his record in Massachusetts has been.  Here's a case in point:




Just in case this doesn't load properly:

Romney as Governor, it speaks for itself.

I can agree with the sentiment...

A Co-Story

This set of links is about Election Fraud just in case you are interested.  Oh, and they are in no particular order.

Series of Videos (1)

Series of Videos (2)

Series of Videos (3)

Series of Videos (4)

Series of Videos (5)

The Brad Blog

With the Romney/Ryan ticket in free fall I have observed their confidence is in contrast to reality.  Is it possible that they are confident because they know that the "fix" is in??  Is there a hacker that has been hired to change the actual vote??  There are people rich enough and unscrupulous enough to pay for this... so, why would they not have done it??

A Different Theory

Something I just learned; in states where voter suppression is being supported (by corrupt politicians) the legal structure of what does and does not count for identification has a surprise built in.  Veterans cannot use their ID cards because it does not have their address on it.  Students cannot use their ID cards for the same reason.  Others have similar problems simply because they do not drive and do not need a drivers license.  Here's the surprise: a gun owner can use a concealed weapon permit for ID to vote.  I don't think the legislators really thought this through but I may feel so very safe when 21 million people figure this out and go get a concealed weapons permit.

Do NOT Watch without headphones (crass language)

Here's the thing... there is no excuse for this Voter Fraud protection law.  The problem is that there is a nearly zero incidence of voter fraud taking place.  For example, in Florida, after much hoopla the state found a grand total of one case of voter fraud.  A Canadian had voted in the last election.  Wow, a single case of voter fraud after spending lots of money looking for the tons of cases. 

The case can be made that there has been election fraud, however.  When we look at the Bush election (when the state was going to recount the full state vote) the Supreme Court stepped in and limited the recount to Broward county it turns out that was a form of ELECTION fraud fomented by the court.  Later several news organizations got together and reviewed the count.  What they found was that if the entire state had been recounted Gore would have won but that by limiting the recount to a single county Bush won.

Useful Definitions

Note that one of the forms of election fraud is the spreading of misinformation.  " The Democratic Party of Wisconsin alleged that Americans for Prosperity engaged in this when a flier printed in August 2011 gave an incorrect return date for absentee ballots - Americans for Prosperity alleged it was a misprint."

There are reasons to be concerned about other forms of this type of fraud.  there have been several studies showing that pervasive Diebold voting machines are vulnerable to tampering.  Just one link to a story... look up others, it will surprise you.

A more recent case: Scott Walker recall. 

Long story short, there is reason to distrust the Diebold voting machines AND the election committees in some states.  There are too many concerns to just gloss over these concerns.

This is Really, Really Simple

So, there are those who say what we think ahead of when we get there.

Just in case the above doesn't load properly:

Jon Stewart on Bullshit Mountain

This is a climb of reasonable proportions.  The Romney campaign tried to counter the release of the idiotic tape with a 1998 tape of Obama saying that he does believe in some redistribution of wealth.  Hmmm, let's see, the redistribution has, for thirty years, been a redistribution to the top of the economic scale.  That's what Romney believes in... the theft of the money that WAS stored in the middle class.  Steal the pensions, take the jobs and send them elsewhere, foment the fall of the whole economy so that it can be bought back for pennies on the dollar so they (the richest among us) can own more of the economy and value of the country.  Greed is horrible rebuttal to the shared responsibility we should have for each other.  This Ayn Randian view that we are independent of each other is just plain idiotic.

Ask the human beings of every age when things were best for our species?  Try to imagine the response.  A tribe of folks trying live in harsh conditions were concerned for the safety of everyone in the tribe.  The periods of moving backwards, away from protections for each other, are the worst in our shared history.  Ponder that.  Squish that around in the gray matter for awhile.  It may just come to you that evil of sin, greed, has become imbedded in the Republican party.  I, for one, cannot worship that greed.  It is not anti-capitalist to say this.  You can have a capitalist society AND protect the least among us.  It is not a position of black or white.

The Rats Leave the Ship

This is straight from Upworthy:

1.

"The overall impression of Romney at this event is of someone who overheard some conservative cocktail chatter and maybe read a conservative blog or two, and is thoughtlessly repeating back what he heard and read." — Rich Lowry, National Review (conservative magazine)

2.

"Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare? ... The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees. " — David Brooks (conservative columnist), New York Times

3.

"It remains important for the country that Romney wins in November (unless he chooses to step down and we get the Ryan-Rubio ticket we deserve!). But that shouldn't blind us to the fact that Romney's comments ... are stupid and arrogant." — Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard (conservative magazine)

4.

"I found the presser not horrible, which is about as much praise as I can muster right now." — Daniel Foster, National Review

5.

“I disagree with Gov. Romney’s insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care. ... I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be.” — Linda McMahon, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut

6.

"He said he has a terrific campaign. Actually he doesn't. He says that the campaign workers are working well together, well, actually, no, they're not working well together, and that his campaign's going in the right direction. No, it's not. And this is not being said by liberals ... these are conservatives. ... Savannah, I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon." — Joe Scarborough, conservative pundit and former Republican congressman

It all kind of makes you think there may be a soul in the GOP somewhere if they are willing to see the forest for the trees like this.  Next time around (2016) there will be a generational struggle for the White House and it will be very different than this tired old Romney ticket.  Paul Ryan may well emerge from the heap with a shade more credibility than a Sara Palin but he won't be spouting the same old party line.  It will be no mare palitable to me than the current nonsense but at least it will be a change from tired ideas that lack truth even at their center.

It's Not Just Mitt or Paul

A perfect storm has brewed to take away all power from the Republican party and they just don't "get it" any more.  A clear, concise article that lays out the case.

It's the end for Mitt & Paul... Why?

While I have felt that the Republican arguments have been specious for the last few years they are now working hard to prove it.  They have become bankrupt of real ideas.  In fact, there is no real thought put into what positions are real world or aren't, laced with how not to pay for anything that government necessarily does much less the unspecified changes that they want to make.  That is part of the problem too... the unspecified nature of the changes.  If you are so embarrassed by what you propose that you can't articulate it there is a problem.  If the ways you choose to articulate your plan are based on lying you are out of touch.  Twisting the facts to fit your model is the way they have gotten to these bizarre positions and that comes out clearly when you try to follow the logic used.  Maybe that explains the dissing of the scientific method by the neo-conservatives.

Obstruction is key to the reason that Congress has such a low rating with the public.  That much is clear as well.  If your whole tactic to carry out your agenda is to bring government to a halt why should anyone think you are earning your pay?  What positive thing(s) have you accomplished with that tactic?  The answer is: you have done nothing on behalf of the people you are supposed to serve.  You have earned none of the compensation you are paid for your time.  The definition of serving has been warped to equal serving being that of an inmate.

Mitt Gets Scarier By the Minute

China says what it thinks of Mitt.

My own comment after reading this article was:  " Mitt, himself, is becoming America's number one enemy!!  Not only does he tick off our allies but also he deeply irritates those less than friendly.  Do we next expect him to start a war single-handedly BEFORE the election?  Don't laugh, with this guy it could happen.  He is scary with his,"Trust me to do the right stuff when elected."  There is no way he should be trusted with the reins of government."

When he loses the Republican party may be down for the count.  With his liar, liar, pants on fire talking points he has continued down the road of destroying the party he says he represents.  It is not a discussion point to say, "Well, all politicians lie repeatedly."  Romney has taken this to a new low and has zero credibility while President Obama has rarely shown up in that category on the PolitiFact web site.  The President is smarter and more knowledgeable than Mitt on all fronts but especially on the economy.

Speaking to Us By Way of Fairy Dust

Mitt Romney has decided we don't need to know about his taxes and continues to "double down" on his misleading slight of hand to get us to forget about asking for more disclosure.  The real effect, of course, is to make it most suspicious that he hasn't released more than one year (even though he originally said he would release two years).

tnemegduJ rooP swohS ttiM

After the attack on the U. S. Libyan embassy Romney tried to score political points by criticizing the Obama administration.  He was positing the idea that the administration was somehow apologizing for the conduct of a U. S. citizen for making an insulting movie about Muhammad.  The idea was based on a release from our Egyptian embassy that said nothing apologetic.  The statement from the President actually said:

"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

On a personal note, Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya’s transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss.
The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward."

Hmm, did you see an apology in that?  Thought so, neither did I.

From Chase Wilson:

“We are at War. Somebody is Going to Pay.” – Bush, 9/11/01.

Eleven years later, we are still at war. Bullets, mortars and drones are still extracting payment. Thousands, tens of thousands, millions have paid in full. Children and even those yet to be born will continue to pay for decades to come.

On a single day in Iraq last week there were 29 bombing attacks in 19 cities, killing 111 civilians

and wounding another 235. On Sept 9th, reports indicate 88 people were killed and another 270 injured in 30 attacks all across the country. Iraq continues in a seemingly endless death spiral into chaos. In his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, Obama claimed he ended the war in Iraq, well… not quite.

The city of Fallujah remains under siege. Not from U.S. troops, but from a deluge of birth defects that have plagued families since the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus by U.S. forces in 2004. No government studies have provided a direct link to the use of these weapons because no government studies have been undertaken, and none are contemplated.

Dr. Samira Alani, a pediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, told Al Jazeera,

“We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine. There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we’ve never seen them until now.” The photographs are available on line if you can bear to look at what we have wrought. George W. Bush will loudly proclaim his “Pro-life” bona fides, and he’ll tell you he believes “that every child, born and unborn, ought to be protected in law and welcomed into life.” Apparently, “every child” doesn’t apply to the children of Fallujah, and the “law” doesn’t apply to George W. Bush.

Our soldiers, some physically damaged by IED’s, some mentally destroyed by PTSD, will pay for these wars for the rest of their days. Drug and alcohol abuse is out of control. Suicide among the troops is an epidemic. 2,916 Americans were lost in the towers on that fateful day, many, many more have perished in the intervening years.

Today we will be asked to honor the men and woman of our armed forces, but what does honoring the veterans entail? In its most recent report, The Veterans Administration estimates about 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Mental illness plagues 45% of homeless vets and 70% suffer from some kind of substance abuse. So how do you honor our veterans? Are “Support Our Troops” ribbons still in vogue? How does our government honor our veterans other than use them as political pawns in stump speeches and cannon fodder for their wars?

84,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan. While the occupation is rarely mentioned in the U.S. mainstream media, that doesn’t mean the killing has stopped. On average, one U.S. soldier dies everyday. Not an enormous sum, unless it is your mother, father, son or daughter that has perished. Few Americans notice. Afghan loses are not reported. They have loved ones who grieve as well.

The American public has turned their attention to feeding their families, keeping their homes, and finding employment. But what of the $2 billion dollars per week we are spending on war in Afghanistan? What would $2 billion per week look like in our devastated communities, in our schools, in creating jobs or in caring for our elders? Politicians in both parties claim our first priority is to reduce the debt. If they were really serious, if they were honest, they would end this occupation and stop calling for cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Social Security.

And what is the price extracted from the Afghan people? Security is still a dream, even in Kabul. As I write this, 6 people have perished in a suicide bombing outside NATO headquarters, in the heart of Kabul. Several of them were impoverished street kids, peddling packs of gum to the westerners who frequent the area.

Hilary Clinton, Madeline Albright, Jan Schakowsky, and other prominent American women claim American forces are necessary in Afghanistan to protect the gains made in woman’s rights. On Sept 6th, Emma Graham-Harrison reported in the Guardian that 3 women in Kabul were attacked by a group of men because of their work as television actresses. One of the women was murdered. After seeking treatment at the hospital, the two survivors were taken to prison, where they face intrusive virginity tests and possible charges of prostitution or collusion in the attack. They face long prison sentences. This is not the Taliban; this is woman’s rights in Afghanistan today, rights that Hilary Clinton fears will be rolled back!

On the streets of Kabul it is not unusual to see burka clad women clutching starving children begging for spare change. Poverty and hunger is even worse in Kandahar and Helmand, areas that have seen some of the most intense fighting of the war. In southern Afghanistan 29.5% of the children are suffering from severe malnutrition. This compares to famine stricken areas of Africa, yet, officially, there is no famine in Afghanistan and hundreds of millions of dollars of humanitarian aid has flowed into the country.

In America, 35 million people are hungry or do not know where their next meal is coming from and 13 million of them are children. Who benefits from the “War on Terror”?

On Sept 2nd, Hamid Karzai announced his choice for the new intelligence chief, Asadullah Khalid. Khalid is currently the country’s minister of tribal and border affairs who oversees its southern security forces. In 2009 Richard Colvin, Canada’s former deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, testified before Canada’s parliament that his team had uncovered “very credible” evidence of torture, which allegedly included Khalid’s direct involvement. “He was known to have had a dungeon in Ghazni, his previous province, where he used to detain people for money, and some of them disappeared,” Colvin said in his testimony. “He was known to be running a narcotics operation. He had a criminal gang. He had people killed who got in his way.” Khalid and Karzai dismiss the allegations as unfounded.

In Kabul, children freeze to death in the winter, and they starve to death all year round. Meanwhile on the edge of Kabul a “New City” is being built. Hamid Karzai’s brother, Qayum Karzai, the owner of a construction company, benefits as his company “wins” government contracts without the hassles of competitive bidding. Karzai’s relatives are also benefiting from lucrative contracts in the oil and mineral sectors. In late 2011, Watan Oil and Gas, a company controlled by President Karzai’s cousins Rateb and Rashid Popal gained a contract with China’s National Petroleum Corporation. In 1989 Rateb was convicted for smuggling drugs in the U.S. and spent more than eight years in prison. The Popal family’s company, Watan Risk Management, also worked as a contractor for the US forces. In 2010, they were accused of paying off Taliban insurgents with a cut from NATO contracts. According to the NY Times, another brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai was involved in the heroin trade and was also on the CIA’s payroll for several years before his assassination in 2011. The Karzai family now brings in billions of dollars a year. 42% of Afghans live on less than a dollar a day. So we are bent on ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban while the government is full of warlords, gangsters, and drug dealers.

Since America’s intervention in Afghanistan, the heroin trade has exploded, doubling opium production. Afghanistan is now the source of 90% of the world’s heroin. This dovetail’s nicely with America’s “War on Drugs.”

The growth in the heroin trade coupled with the despair of daily living has contributed to an eruption of drug addiction. Addicts can be found huddled under bridges throughout Kabul. As these men succumb to addiction, their families are left to fend for themselves. Heroin floods the streets of Europe and Russia. Which banks benefit from the enormous cash flows generated by the heroin trade? Who in the Afghan government benefits?

The corruption is mind-boggling. We support terrorist elements, most recently in Syria and Libya, but before that in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, and then find ourselves fighting them down the road. In a reversal of our usual modus operandi, it has come to light that during the Bush years the CIA tortured numerous members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an armed Islamist Group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years, before transferring them to Gaddafi’s regime for further torture. Some of these same fighters rendered and tortured by America and Libya now hold key leadership posts in the “liberated” Libya.

Private interests in Saudi Arabia continue to fund Sunni extremists around the world. Wikileaks released a Dec. 2009 cable from the State Department that complained that Saudi donors remain the primary financiers of militant groups like Al-Qaeda. In May 2010, the Sunday Times of London revealed that the Afghan Financial Intelligence Unit, FinTRACA, reported that since 2006 at least 1.5 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia was funneled to the Taliban in Afghanistan, with Al-Qaeda withholding a cut for their delivery services. Why is there no outcry from the U.S.?

In 2011 overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market. Russia was second, with $4.8 billion in deals. Who benefits from the War on Terror and who benefits when America threatens war?

Over half of the sales, or $33.4 billion, consisted of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. These sales included F-15 fighter jets, dozens of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, as well as an array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as accessories such as night-vision goggles and radar warning systems. These sales offset the flow of US dollars to pay for Saudi oil, and this explains why there is no outrage directed toward the Saudi regime.

The War on Terror exploits the tragedy of September 11 for the benefit of a very few. Poor people continue to pay an enormous price, while the elites, including our own government and the corporations it answers to, ignore everything but the influx of cash into their coffers. The war business is profitable if you refuse to count the cost of human lives.

In his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, Obama said, “Our destinies are bound together. A freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity, is unworthy of our founding ideals.” In closing, he said, “We travel together. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up.” Why is it our Presidents fail to include those they bomb in their lofty sentiments? The simple truth is our destinies are bound together with those who lie beyond the borders of our country as well.

A young, educated Afghan man, an advisor to Parliament, sees the corruption of his government and despairs. He asks me, “What is my share in this world?” He continues, “Absolutely nothing. And for my child, the same.” His voice trails off. We sit drinking tea as night comes on.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/10/we-are-at-war/

Political Prisoner

You may never have heard of this case... read up and dig in your heels.  There is a petition to sign.

Change.org|How to Start a Petition

No country should have political prisoners much less the United States.

Resonant Story Lines

There are no particular pictures for this idea.  We, as a country, have far too much debt... that is, the National Debt has increased to more than we can handle or very soon will be at that point.

You won't get much argument from either side, left or right, on this being a fact and a problem.  What you do get is a lot of finger pointing about why this is the case and a lot more finger pointing about what to do about it.

Essentially the Republicans say we can cut spending and pull ourselves out of the debt through austerity.  Much the same approach being used in Europe right now.  It is the what has led to people in countries like Spain to pull their money from the economy and send it to safe havens all over the world.  The Democrats say that we can combine ideas and do some trimming but that we also need tax increases in certain sectors to raise revenues.  The Dem's also say that some additional stimulus will awaken the economy and that will add to the income side of the equation while shoring up the economy with a bit more deficit in the short run.

That is a huge difference based on the agreement that we have a common problem.  The Neo-Republican idea is fairly narrow in scope.  It says simply that we can cut, cut and cut.  Okay, what shall we cut?  They say that it should be across the board, starting with social programs.  Why do they say this?  They posit the idea that ALL federal spending is equal.  That is, a dollar is a dollar no matter where it comes from.  A very infectious theory.  They further say that we need a one to one approach... for every dollar we spend we need to cut a dollar thereby "saving" a dollar to then "spend" on bringing down the deficit.  Our interest expense is eating into our national budget and just like a household whose spending is out of control we should focus on this until we can "afford" to spend again.  Hidden here is the fact that it will shrink the economy in the process.

This view is not complete without saying that the Republicans are targeting Social Security and Medicare spending even though these two programs do not contribute to the debt.  In fact, Social Security is one of the largest purchasers of government debt!  These are self funding programs that are viable well into the future and can be made even better by thinking about better ways to fund the insurance plans.  Along the same lines defense spending is, for the most part, off the table for discussion even though it IS much of the cause of and for the deficit.  Hmmm... well, in any case, the ability to walk away from negotiations and say things like, "My way or the highway," is to say there is a diminution of useful discussion.  Thus here we have a position that carves out support by giving a seemingly simple set of ideas and then does not bend.  One would say this is a then a radical solution or at least based on a radical take-no-prisoners approach.  Yes, a very political, one sided way to attempt to accomplish laudable goals.  Thus the charges and counter-charges of lies and deception take hold rather than real debate.

By contrast the Democrats propose a multitude of ways to bring down the deficit by the dual approach of cuts and enhanced income.  As my brother once relayed to me the advice of a CPA we once knew... the key is to make more money while you get your budget in order, spend less.  This too is a pretty basic and simple idea.  Fairly straightforward.  The first thing on the negotiating table should be the thing causing us the most initial pain.  The recently undertaken unfunded wars were at the heart of the matter.  The Pentagon has funded more hardware even as they cut direct spending on the people of war, our volunteer army and the veterans.  The Pentagon tends to support the Republican ideas and is loath to adopt the Democrat's ideas.  Additionally, the placement of where the increase in income will come from has taken center stage.  The Republicans oppose any tax increases outwardly saying that it is based on a pledge most of them have signed to someone other than their constituents.  At this point no group of them have stood up to Grover Norquist and his organization and walked away from this pledge en-mass. 

In short, without the distractions, the two sides are vying for hearts and minds by displaying this contrast.  The Republicans are pouring lots of money into shouting down the opposition while the Democrats are relying more on the ground game to flush out support.  Either way we are buried in a national bumper sticker, sound bite ride for votes.  There IS a crisis looming in the near future but I doubt either side knows what it really will be.  The Fourth Turning is upon us.

Huffington Post User

This from a Huffington Post user (Outlandish):

 "What do a handful of billionaires want from the wholesale purchase of American Democracy? 

Does having your kid’s education sold from under them and all schools being privatized for profit, teacher’s wages cut for profit and class sizes much larger for profit make you want to vote for their cause, because all you want is a far more expensive yet inferior education for your kids? How about giving them tax cuts even though about 100 billionaires make more money annually than 100 million of you working stiffs and most pay little or no taxes, is that what your hoping for and how will you benefit apart from admiring them for their greed? 

Maybe you want to drive on toll roads and pay retail to have your roads and bridges repaired so a bridge you cross doesn’t collapse when you and your family are on it, for surely they will own the companies that will set your bridges to right and you’ll pay the going rate. Be sure that they will skim a lot of profit by cutting costs and under paying the workers but will charge you a premium without a guarantee of a job well done. 

Maybe you want to pay an annual levy that is half profit in case you are burgled or your house catches fire and you might just want it put out, you might be in need of first responders so be prepared to pay those billionaires a higher rate than you do in taxes for the same service and therefore depriving those good for nothing first responders a living wage. Because the services are privatized, an extra layer will be added for profit. Of course you have to believe the media has a left leaning bias but rest assured, the same billionaires own that media and have programmed you into thinking that a left wing media exists in America by allowing a token. 

They are banking on the fact that a lot of you will be gullible enough to kiss democracy goodbye because far too many of you already have and are on board the billionaires propaganda express. When everything that your precedents worked 2 centuries to own and develop for you is in the hands of a small number of billionaires, will you feel that losing the America you knew, your ancestors fought and died to create was worth losing will you sleep comfortably in your beds, knowing you did nothing to stop the future from being stolen away from you, my brave little Republican corporate soldiers? If all you hold sacrosanct vanishes and you’re living on sub minimum wages, will you be proud of your gullibility and be relieved because you’ve been had? Seriously! What’s wrong with you?"

Good on ya, lad!!

Time After Time...

The constant yammering from the Right says that they want to "fix" Medicare/ObamaCare.  Nothing could be further from the truth.



This time around we can "fix" the Republican party.  The Tea Partiers have broken it so severely that is unrecognizable.

ObamaCare v. VoucherCare

What no one spouting the Republican nonsense seems to get is that Paul Ryan is the author of voucherizing Medicare.  The math of that is pretty simple.  By ineffectively running a voucher system to replace Medicare, one the most efficient programs anywhere, it will make it easier to "drown government in a bathtub," to quote Grover Norquist.

Spin

In commenting on a Huffington Post story about the string of lies told at the Republican Convention this past week I collected a very negative return comment about how the Democratic Party is always lying:

"There has never been in American history a bigger group of downright liars than we have seen from team Obama and the Democratic Party every day. I hate to see a person try to do what he is unable to do. Obama is completely out of his league, he is incompetent and incapable of being President. The evidence is everywhere."

My response was:

"I am pretty sure that you misspelled Democratic it is spelled R-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n. The mounting lies from the Right are stunning in their size and volume. Use a bit of fact checking and you will be forced to admit you are full of the Right-side Koolaid. Only the low information voter can believe the Righties any more. They have become the Party of Treason."

What has struck me more than ever that those on the Right are suddenly, blatantly saying things that border on or have crossed the line on what is treasonous language.  It has happened subtly and at first I didn't even notice.  They are charging ahead now however and saying they want to dismantle all of government.  It is not enough to dismantle parts of government a brick at a time they are closer to a take over and burn mentality now.  These are very scary times.

There may well be riots in the streets from the 99%-er's at some overtly oppressive moment but the gun toters are mostly Right-wingers not Lefties.  The hate speech is Right-wing driven for the most part and the stack of lies being doubled down on is thickly from the Right.  Fact checking has become a defense of sorts but the volume and vitriol of the lying is astounding.