Political Quotes of the Day

[Dardedar]

"The question is, and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer -- is that human life [fetus/zygote] a person under the constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that human life is not a person then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say 'now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people."
--Racist Bastard Rick Santorum suggesting that the fact that Obama is black has something to do with his ability to have an opinion on the fetus/personhood question.

[Dardedar]

"If Glenn Beck were here today I would say to him: "Glenn Beck, you are a bigot. You bring shame to your country, not because you lack balance, but because you are an unthinking buffoon. Rupert Murdoch tolerates you because you are his useful idiot. He uses you to get a foothold in the doors of the powerful. Like his phone-hacking journalists and his pugnacious leader-writers in Australia, you are expendable. Let us hope he disposes of your nasty brand of intolerance sooner rather than later."
It is Rupert and James Murdoch who should answer for bigots such as Glenn Beck and phone hackers such as Clive Goodman and Glen Mulcaire. They employ them. They promote them. They are responsible for them. It is time for thinking citizens in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia to unite against the Murdochs' vicious brand of politics that masquerades as publishing."

--British member of Parliament -- Tom Watson, LINK

[Dardedar]

"Your car is Japanese. Your Vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers - Arabic, your letters - Latin. And you complain that your neighbor is an immigrant? Pull yourself together!" --anon

[Dardedar]

Texas Governor Rails Against 'Bailouts,' But Uses Stimulus To Prop Up Budget

"Texas filled nearly 97 percent of its shortfall last year with Federal stimulus dollars, even as its governor has been sharply critical of "bailout" policies, CNN Money reports, citing the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the wake of the recession, Texas is one of many states that, contending with diminished revenue, have benefited from Federal support.

After facing a $6.6 billion budget hole, Texas used $6.4 billion of Federal money to help patch it, allowing the state to keep its $9.1 billion emergency fund intact, CNN reports.

But on the same day he asked for the bailout money, governor Rick Perry started a petition called "No Government Bailouts." Indeed, Perry is a consistent critic of government spending, frequently pointing to his own state as proof that budget austerity -- spending cuts coupled with low taxes -- works.

But now, with the stimulus money running out, and with the economy still sluggish, Texas is projected to run a nearly $27 billion deficit over the next two years, according to the state's own estimate....

As Texas must contend with an economy limping out of recession, economist Paul Krugman has notes:

"Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting -- the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending -- has been implemented most completely. If the theory can't make it there, it can't make it anywhere." --Huff Po

[Dardedar]

[Dardedar]

Okay, that does it, I'm rooting for the Egyptian people.

"Let me share a story with you decent progressiv­­e people of HP
I’m an Egyptian American, who waited for this all my life. I wanted to give you a glimpse of tactics the Gov used to “train” it’s citizens to fear and obey. An incident that took place when I was 10 years old, My first time to a soccer game, an experience that many boys here cherish when they are escorted to ballparks. My fun experience was suddenly interrupte­­d by watching men in plain clothing who the crowd called “mok-ber” literally means secret spy. They scanned the crowd, went up the stand, and picked one man at random, pulled him to filed level, then proceeded to beat him up in full view of the crowd, thousands in the stand watched in silence, stadiums are always surrounded by thousands of police and paramilita­­ry forces.
That scene was repeated throughout the game with countless unfortunat­­e souls being dragged one or two at a time at random. I will never forget the frozen solemn look on the anxious people around me not knowing if they will next in line. They were robbing the people of their dignity, thousands at a time.
This is but tiny twist in the science of terror that the Gov perfected to keep fear in the heart of the people, that’s why today, I salute these brave protesters­­. Even if this revolt fails, they can say to their children that this time they did not stand still." --http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/mi ... 90611.html

[Dardedar]

"By coincidence, there are about the same number of elderly on Medicare as there are uninsured. Egyptians understand the power of an aroused populace. Do the uninsured? In Red States and Blue States in 2012, there will be Congressional districts and senatorial races up for grabs and a contest for the presidency featuring a man who made a historic effort on their behalf. Will Republicans whose party has never put forth a serious proposal to provide access to care for all suffer any consequences at the ballot box from turning to the sick, the scared and the suffering with a curt, “Government is not the answer.”

Forbes

"It appears that Harry Reid is willing to allow the vote to go forward, in order to "get it out of their systems quickly... the vote's more likely to come Wednesday."

"A budget point of order lies against it. It breaks the budget by a trillion dollars, they don't show any way of making up that trillion dollars." said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters. "I for one was hoping that Senator McConnell would not do this on this bill... but he did, its his right."

To waive the point of order, Republicans will need 60 votes. They won't come close."

LINK

[Dardedar]

Teabagger isolationism and nativism becomes so blatant even GW Bush can see it. And boy the Teabaggers are pissed that he did.

George Bush says Tea Party suffers from "Nativism"

"What's interesting about our country, if you study history, is that there are some 'isms' that occasionally pop up -- pop up. One is isolationism and its evil twin protectionism and its evil triplet nativism. So if you study the '20s, for example, there was -- there was an American first policy that said who cares what happens in Europe?...And there was an immigration policy that I think during this period argued we had too many Jews and too many Italians; therefore we should have no immigrants. And my point is that we've been through this kind of period of isolationism, protectionism and Nativism. I'm a little concerned that we may be going through the same period."
--GW Bush, January 24, at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. LINK

[Dardedar]

"Facts are stupid things." -Reagan, at the 1988 Republican National Convention, attempting to quote John Adams, who said, "Facts are stubborn things" LINK

Reagan tax cut myths, via Crooksandliars:

***
In 2001, Michael Kinsley marked Reagan's 90th birthday by noting, among other things, that when it came to small government, "this legendary Reagan revolution barely happened."

Federal government spending was a quarter higher in real terms when Reagan left office than when he entered. As a share of GDP, the federal government shrank from 22.2 percent to 21.2 percent--a whopping one percentage point. The federal civilian work force increased from 2.8 million to 3 million. (Yes, it increased even if you exclude Defense Department civilians. And, no, assuming a year or two of lag time for a president's policies to take effect doesn't materially change any of these results.)

As USA Today explained five years ago, measured as a percentage of gross domestic product, average annual federal spending dropped far more under Bill Clinton (-1.8%) than Ronald Reagan (-0.3%). As Kinsley put it:

Under eight years of Big Government Bill Clinton, to choose another president at random, the federal civilian work force went down from 2.9 million to 2.68 million. Federal spending grew by 11 percent in real terms--less than half as much as under Reagan. As a share of GDP, federal spending shrank from 21.5 percent to 18.3 percent--more than double Reagan's reduction, ending up with a federal government share of the economy about a tenth smaller than Reagan left behind.

Nevertheless, as Paul Krugman explained last July, Republican orthodoxy has remained unchanged since the time of Reagan. The GOP remains committed to "redo that voodoo":

"It's not true, of course. Ronald Reagan said that his tax cuts would reduce deficits, then presided over a near-tripling of federal debt. When Bill Clinton raised taxes on top incomes, conservatives predicted economic disaster; what actually followed was an economic boom and a remarkable swing from budget deficit to surplus. Then the Bush tax cuts came along, helping turn that surplus into a persistent deficit, even before the crash.

But we're talking about voodoo economics here, so perhaps it's not surprising that belief in the magical powers of tax cuts is a zombie doctrine: no matter how many times you kill it with facts, it just keeps coming back. And despite repeated failure in practice, it is, more than ever, the official view of the G.O.P." --Paul Krugman, LINK

Perrspectives (excellent article)

[Dardedar]

"The numbers tell the story: Of the 308 million-plus citizens in the United States, 30% have passports.
That's just too low for such an affluent country, said Bruce Bommarito, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the U.S. Travel Association.
"Americans are comfortable in their own environment," Bommarito said...
Despite the climbing number of American passports in circulation, 30% is still low compared to Canada's 60% and the United Kingdom's 75%."

CNN

[Betsy]

only a few years ago, less than 20% of Americans had passports, but then they changed the rules and said you had to have a passport to go to Mexico, so there was a significant jump in passport applications. Also, I heard/read once that GWB had never had a passport until he was elected president.

[Dardedar]

...they changed the rules and said you had to have a passport to go to Mexico, so there was a significant jump in passport applications.

Not just from Mexico, as of a few years ago, an American returning from any country needs a passport.

[Doug]

Also, I heard/read once that GWB had never had a passport until he was elected president.

DOUG
Bush had been abroad a couple of times, in addition to having traveled to Mexico, so he had a valid passport prior to becoming president. However, it had expired by the time he became president.

[Betsy]

my point was that, until just a few years ago, you did not need a passport to go to Mexico, a popular, relatively low-cost vacation destination. Once they required a passport, there was a big jump in applications. Prior to that, less than 20% of Americans had a passport.

[Dardedar]

"FOX spins the event every which way, even contradict­ing themselves­, but nobody at FOX or their fanbase notices, because its not facts or truth that matters, its obedience to the party machine. Egypt exercised Democracy like Bush wanted, or-- Egypt is being taken over by liberal commies who are being mean to Cheney's buddy, Mubarak, either way, its Obama's fault.

FOX views people taking their own freedom as a threat, but if its their Tribal Chief who has the US forcefeed "freedom" by homosexual torture, murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, its perfectly acceptable­. FOX News reported that Obama "snuffed out black youths", referring to the Somali Pirates holding a US captain for ransom at gunpoint being taken out by Navy SEALS. In order to spread hatred, FOX glorified the pirates.

We must realize that Conservati­sm is not an ideology, its a tribe of bigoted, useful idiots with no regard for truth, honesty, justice and especially no regard for freedom and equality. Conservati­ves in America could just as soon be KGB communists demanding state ownership of everything yet still claim they are for small government­, and still claim its Obama who is the commie.

Thank Stewart for having the courage and honesty to out the neocons for what they are, tribalist supremacis­ts who hate anyone not in their tribe, an ideology based on monumental hypocrisy, willing to tell even contradict­ory lies in order to foment hatred and divisivene­ss. "FOX News, we tell you who to hate, You obey!"

Huff Po comment

[Dardedar]

GOP Lawmaker Mike Beard Claims God Will Provide Unlimited Natural Resources

"Mike Beard, a Republican state representative from Minnesota, recently argued that coal mining should resume in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, in part because he believes God has created an earth that will provide unlimited natural resources.

"God is not capricious. He's given us a creation that is dynamically stable," Beard told MinnPost. "We are not going to run out of anything."

Beard is currently in the midst of drafting legislation that would overturn Minnesota's moratorium on coal-fired power plants, an effort that he backs due to his religious belief that God will provide limitless resources while ensuring that humans don't destroy the planet trying to get them.

This observation appears to be indicative of Beard's larger religious belief that God acts as the tireless custodian of the planet.

"It is the height of hubris to think we could [destroy the earth]," Beard told MinnPost, before saying that even devastating nuclear events shouldn't cast doubt on his theory that the earth can always be repaired."

Huff Po

[Dardedar]

Robert Reich, kicking butt:

***
"Last year, America's top thirteen hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion each. One of them took home $5 billion. Much of their income is taxed as capital gains -- at 15 percent -- due to a tax loophole that Republican members of Congress have steadfastly guarded.

If the earnings of those thirteen hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of 300,000 teachers. Who is more valuable to our society -- thirteen hedge-fund managers or 300,000 teachers? Let's make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?"

See also his:

Why We Should Raise Taxes on the Super-Rich and Lower Them on the Middle Class

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011

"My proposal to raise the marginal tax to 70 percent on incomes over $15 million, to 60 percent on incomes between $5 million and $15 million, and to 50 percent on incomes between $500,000 and $5 million, has generated considerable debate...."

[Dardedar]

"So how does a group of billionaire businessmen and corporations get a bunch of broke Middle American white people to lobby for lower taxes for the rich and deregulation of Wall Street? That turns out to be easy. Beneath the surface, the Tea Party is little more than a weird and disorderly mob, a federation of distinct and often competing strains of conservatism that have been unable to coalesce around a leader of their own choosing. Its rallies include not only hardcore libertarians left over from the original Ron Paul "Tea Parties," but gun-rights advocates, fundamentalist Christians, pseudomilitia types like the Oath Keepers (a group of law- enforcement and military professionals who have vowed to disobey "unconstitutional" orders) and mainstream Republicans who have simply lost faith in their party. It's a mistake to cast the Tea Party as anything like a unified, cohesive movement — which makes them easy prey for the very people they should be aiming their pitchforks at. A loose definition of the Tea Party might be millions of pissed-off white people sent chasing after Mexicans on Medicaid by the handful of banks and investment firms who advertise on Fox and CNBC."

The Truth About the Tea Party

[Savonarola]

Old news, but I'm just now seeing it:

The 55 Funniest Signs from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

[Doug]

The Canadian-born Bieber never plans on becoming an American citizen. “You guys are evil,” he says with a laugh. “Canada’s the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don’t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you’re broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard’s baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby’s premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home.”
See here.

DOUG writes:
Well, he just made a Belieber out of me...