Idiot Abroad by Randi Rhodes,posted Jul 31 2012 6:12PM
Mitt Romney is in Poland. There’s a joke there somewhere... and the joke is Mitt Romney. Mitt visited Poland’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Reporters were shouting questions at Mitt, and complaining because they’ve had virtually no access to ask Romney questions for the entire trip. That’s right—Mitt made this many gaffes without even being asked questions! Mitt’s press aide Rick Gorka literally told reporters “Kiss my ass. This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.” Classic! “Now can we please have a moment of silence while Governor Romney does the crap you gotta do at a stupid tomb?” I’m relieved things went as well as they did at the Western Wall. I’m glad Rick Gorka didn’t shout “Shaddup you losers! Mitt’s trying to pose by the damned Jew Wall!”
While in Israel, Mitt heaped praise on Israel’s healthcare system. It’s completely state-regulated, universal, and includes an individual mandate. No wonder Mitt Romney loves Israel’s healthcare system—it sounds just like Romneycare. Wait! Romney HATES Romneycare! Mitt pointed out that Israel’s healthcare cost is 8 percent of their GDP, while ours is 18 percent. Hey, maybe that’s because they’re culturally superior to us, just like they are to the Palestinians. Mitt said “We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs.” Mitt, I think you’ve already found ways to manage our healthcare costs—what you did in Massachusetts. The problem is that you have to deny that you ever did it. These statements of Mitt’s about Israel’s healthcare system run completely contrary to everything else Mitt Romney has been saying. How can you tell? For one thing, they’re true.
Mitt, if you get tired of being asked questions about your overseas gaffes, just come home. We’re still waiting here with a bunch of questions about your tax returns. In the only year of tax returns that he deigned to let us see, Mitt paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent. When asked if there were years he paid less than that, Mitt said “I haven’t calculated that.” I guess Mitt didn’t calculate specific percentages. He just looked at his taxes and knew that they were really, really low. Mitt wants you to think he doesn’t know what tax rate he was paying. There is only one reason Mitt Romney says that he doesn’t know something—and that’s if he really doesn’t want you to know it.
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President Obama will likely become the first ever incumbent President to be outraised by his opponent in his re-election bid. And in a desperate attempt to even the playing field just slightly before November – the President has been forced to hold endless fundraisers. As the Center for American Progress reveals, President Obama has already held nearly 200 fundraisers during his first term in office. To put that in perspective, George. W Bush held slightly more than 80, and President Clinton held roughly 70.
But in the post-Citizens-United era, when billionaires can dump their fortunes in to changing our elections, then politicians are forced to endlessly raise money. And it’s not just President Obama: Members of Congress are stuck in this trap, too. If the average House Member spent 40 hours a week fundraising, he or she would need to raise, on average, $367 an hour. For a Senator, $819 an hour.
This is one the biggest problem facing our democracy. We elect our representatives to go to Washington and represent our interests. But in reality what they are forced to do by our Supreme Court is fundraise, fundraise, fundraise – giving those with deep pockets more influence than average voters. To fix this – we need to get money out of politics. Go to MoveToAmend.org.
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Have you come down from the Olympics opening ceremony yet? And I do mean come down—I’m glad I never did acid, because I’m pretty sure I would have thought I was having a flashback. That was weird! The only thing missing would have been if they sped up the parade of athletes to fast-motion pace and started playing Benny Hill music. I like that they did a salute to their nationalized health care system, which they love. It’s hard to imagine an American Olympics ceremony doing a salute to our health insurance companies. One thing though, guys—sick kids don’t suddenly get up and start dancing, no matter how good your healthcare system is.
Mitt Romney’s visit to London was a gaffe-filled disaster as he accidentally insulted his hosts. Not even a flip-flopper like Mitt can spend all his time appealing to the Tea Party, and then turn around and appeal to the British. Mitt insinuated that the British weren’t ready for the Olympics... and pretty much proved that he wasn’t ready for the presidency of the United States.
Next, Mitt went to Jerusalem, where he took some time to speak to the chosen people—and Mitt’s chosen people are a room full of all of his biggest donors - including Sheldon Adelson. Just like he did in London, Mitt Romney took time in his trip to Jerusalem to raise campaign money. Other American leaders travel the world, extending the hand of friendship. Mitt just extends his hand for donations.
While the British are calling Mitt a twit, here at home Newsweek is asking if Mitt is a wimp. I guess we’re just not as good at rhyming as the British are. The cover of Newsweek is a picture of Mitt and a headline about “The Wimp Factor.” It’s not fair to call Mitt a wimp. It totally ignores how much of a twit, wuss, and milquetoast he is. We really shouldn’t be calling Mitt Romney a wimp. Mitt might feel forced to prove his manhood by cutting off a gay kid’s hair... or starting a war.
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According to an investigation by Democratic Congressman Elijah Cumming – the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform – for-profit colleges are paying executives massive salaries – not based on student achievement – but instead based solely on profitability. Looking at 13 different for-profit schools – the investigation found, “the single most significant measure for determining executive compensation at these schools is corporate profitability…rather than student achievement.”
For-profit colleges rely heavily on government funding, with many schools receiving as much as 90% of their revenue from federal student loan assistance programs. Yet, they’re not producing good results. A quarter of all students who attend for-profit schools default after three years, while the default rate at public institutions is a mere 10%. Yet the for-profit school executives still get fat paychecks – like Strayer CEO Robert Silberman who made $41 million in 2009 alone.
Educating the future American workforce used to be a part of the commons, because the economic security of the nation depends on well-educated workers. But now, the money-changers are in control – leaving students in debt, unprepared, and jobless.
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After it was the first bank to be hit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for defrauding consumers and ordered to pay $165 million to customers in refunds, Capital One was just hit with another fine. This time – the Department of Justice has ordered the bank to pay out $12 million to members of the military for denying them their legal right under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to avoid foreclosures and high interest rates.
According to the DOJ – as many as 4,000 troops were illegally foreclosed on by the bank. Back in the old day, when corporations operated against the best interests of the nation – and preyed on our military members – there was a simple solution: the death penalty. The corporate death penalty – essentially revoking the corporation’s charter – has a long history in America. It’s time to bring it back.
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President Obama has addressed the issue of gun control. I’m sure he did it because it was the right thing to do, but I’m also sure it occurred to him that it’s something Mitt Romney can’t possibly do. Obama said “a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals.” A lot of gun owners don’t want to be associated with criminals—or with the NRA. Obama wants to stop a tragedy like this from happening again. Mitt Romney just wants people to stop asking him questions about it. Or about his taxes. Or about anything except how dreamy he thinks America is.
Meanwhile, Mitt actually said “Changing gun laws won’t make all bad things go away.” Well, then, I guess there’s no point in trying. Mitt, if by “all bad things,” you mean the gun lobby and your own cowardice when it comes to them, we’re quite aware that changing gun laws won’t make those things go away. Romney also said that the many of the weapons the Colorado shooter had were purchased illegally. That’s not true, but then you already knew that because Mitt Romney said it. In fact, all of the guns and ammunition used in the killings were purchased legally. And if any of the gun purchases had happened to be against any law, I’m sure the NRA would have that law changed. And Mitt Romney would support them in that.
As Mitt Romney is visiting London, an aide has been quoted as saying that President Obama doesn’t understand the “Anglo Saxon heritage” that Britain and the United States share. So Mitt really gets our Anglo Saxon heritage. Thank you, “Beowulf” Romney. If you’re president we know that you will keep us safe from the monster Grendel, along with any dragons, giants, or trolls that are terrorizing villagers. Heck, with an Anglo Saxon like Mitt in charge, we’ll be safe from anything... except William the Conqueror and those pesky Normans.
According to Romney’s camp, “We are part of an Anglo Saxon heritage.” Actually, President Obama is part Irish. So he knows all about Anglo Saxons—they stole the bloody British Isles from his Celtic ancestors! The Anglo Saxons came in around 500 A.D. and took over the British Isles... kind of like what Bain Capital does, except the Ang
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And one thing’s clear – it’s still an extremely dangerous situation. A Japanese newspaper is reporting that plant operators still face a number of hurdles before they can decommission the plant and officially close the book on the crisis – and it could take decades. Those hurdles include trying to determine why 8 million becquerels of radioactive cesium still continues to pour out of reactor number 2 every single hour.
Also, half of all the critical thermometers on site are malfunctioning because they've been damaged by high temperatures and high humidity within the plant. There are numerous cooling water leaks. Plus, water contaminated with radiation is accumulating in the basements of the reactor building.
And, plant operators still have no clue how they’re going to remove massive pools of highly radioactive spent fuel from the roofs of the reactors. As the newspaper reports, “Not only will that work be unprecedented, but the work will also have to be done in an environment of high radiation levels.”
Oh, and then there’s the situation with reactor 4, which could collapse at any moment, triggering a worldwide nuclear disaster worse than Chernobyl. Let’s hope nuclear regulators in America are paying attention.
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It took until the middle of the week after the Aurora massacre, but the issue of gun violence finally got some play from the two candidates for president. President Obama, speaking to the National Urban League at least made some sense. He's right when he says AK47s and AR15s are weapons for soldiers, not for people on the street. When he says our gun laws ought to at least keep criminals and those with mental issues from buying weapons, he's talking common sense.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, talks nonsense. When asked by NBC's Brian Williams about the law he signed banning assault weapons in Massachusetts, he barely acknowledged its existence. After meandering for about 30 seconds, he said there's no need for new federal legislation restricting guns in any form or fashion. One assumes that means a federal assault weapons ban (like we used to have) is out of the question, even though that's just what he had in Massachusetts. As he did with the Affordable Care Act, Mitt Romney runs against his own record.
In the meantime, America bleeds.
Two incidents in the aftermath of Aurora speak volumes about the nature of gun ownership and procurement in this country. First, people in Colorado started buying many more guns after the killings. As if being strapped in a darkened movie theater would have allowed them to pick out the gunman and blow him to Kingdom Come. The second is this. A NY Daily News reporter went out to Colorado, and bought an assault rifle from the same store the accused gunman used, and only had to wait 45 minutes before he walked out of the store with it. One can surmise he could still but plenty of ammo right off the Internet, as James Holmes did.
And here in New York, the shots just keep on coming. It's been less than a week since little Lloyd Morgan, age 4, was killed in a shootout at a charity basketball game in the Bronx. The game was organized to remember a young lady who was stabbed to death. And now, the fabled Rucker Playground has been stained by a shootout as well. Five people went to the hospital, but thankfully no one was killed.
Folks who travel outside the US, particularly to Europe, find people who are astonished at our love affair with the gun. I've had more than a half dozen people in London alone ask me to explain it. It's as if some unexplained malady has made us believe that guns are part of American Exceptionalism, that we aren't real Americans unless we lock and load.
I for one won't buy it. But I also think it won't change in my lifetime.
Yesterday at a speech to the VFW, Mitt Romney outlined his foreign policy. And by “outline” I mean he went around the edges without ever really getting into it. Mitt has no foreign policy. The closest he comes to a foreign policy is saying that the President is foreign. In foreign policy, Mitt would treat other countries like he treated companies while he was at Bain Capital—as things to be taken over and drained of all their resources. Come to think of it, that was exactly Bush/Cheney’s foreign policy too. Mitt called for what he called a new “American century.” I think the century Mitt has in mind is the 19th century. I hate to break this to you, Mitt, but that one’s not new.
The Justice Department is investigating Pennsylvania’s new vote ID law to see if it discriminates against minorities. I can tell them right now—the answer is “Yes—if it does what it’s designed to do.” The Pennsylvania ID law affects over 750,000 voters, which is bigger than President Obama’s margin of victory in 2008. This is the Republican approach to closing the gap. Hey, it’s easier than convincing people to vote for Mitt Romney.
President Obama is out with a 30-second ad responding to Mitt Romney’s lies about what Obama said. I wonder how many lies Mitt can make by reediting those 30 seconds of Obama speaking. The President starts out saying “those ads taking my words about small business out of context, they’re flat out wrong.” Actually, they’re flat out lies, but let’s not split hairs, right? Why did Mitt Romney lie so blatantly? Well for one thing, now we’re all talking about how blatantly Mitt lied… instead of talking about how Mitt won’t release his tax returns. That’s the Romney campaign strategy—when someone points out something negative about Mitt, Mitt distracts people’s attention by doing something even more negative.
Mitt Romney says that they did Obama a favor by taking his words out of context. I have a feeling that the Romney campaign is going to be doing Obama similar favors throughout the summer and fall. Romney says taking the quote of context helps Obama because the context is even worse. That’s absurd. If there was anything worse, you know Romney would be using it!
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Civil unrest in America spread to Anaheim last night – where, for the fourth straight day, citizens took to the streets to protest police brutality and the killing the of an unarmed man by police over the weekend. As journalist Tim Pool reported, cops fired hundreds of less lethal rounds of rubber bullets and pepper balls into the crowds – wounding several demonstrators.
Just like Oakland last year, the streets of Anaheim resembled a war zone - with a constant barrage of less lethal projectiles coming from police lines, fires in the streets, and smashed out storefront windows. Reports put the number of people in the streets last night at more than 600 – and 24 were arrested.
Police officials acknowledge there have been eight shootings by police officers in the city so far this year. We’ve now seen civil unrest touch several major cities across America – from New York to Oakland to now Anaheim – all signs that our system of vulture capitalism, free-trade Reaganomics, and Republican Austerity are pushing our nation to the brink. Dangerous times may be ahead.
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Mitt Romney has spent the past week lying that President Obama said small businessmen didn’t really build their own businesses. The Romney campaign’s main selling point about their candidate is a lie about Obama. What does that say about their product? It would be like if the only ad that Coke could come up with was that Pepsi causes blindness.
Now they’ve found a video of Mitt Romney in 2002, telling a group of Olympic athletes “You Olympians, however, know you didn’t get here solely on your own power.” Obama never has to respond to Romney. He can always just let Romney respond to Romney. Is there anything that Mitt Romney says that doesn’t come with a video clip of him earlier saying the exact opposite thing? It’s like Mitt Romney is some kind of subatomic matter that generates its own anti-matter. The video is very damaging to Mitt Romney. On top of what he says, he’s wearing an outfit that makes him look like an extra in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Hey Mitt, Devo called. They want their clothes back.
A Mitt Romney supporter has come out with a music video for Mitt (see below). It’s the creepiest, most unnatural thing I’ve ever seen. What I’m saying is—it’s perfect for Mitt Romney. The song manages to work in Jesus, World War III, and a vicious slam at Obama, all in less than two minutes. And that includes a 40-second keyboard intro that would make Iron Butterfly wince. In one span of just a few seconds, the guy manages to rhyme “crock” with “got,” “elected” with “record,” and “crime” with “resign.” This video answers the question, whatever happened to Dr. Seuss’s crazy younger brother?
Senator Jon Kyl accused President Obama of talking “incessantly” about the middle class. You know, of all the charges hurled at Obama, that’s one I think he might want to admit to. On the floor of the Senate, Kyl said “we have a president who talks incessantly about class, particularly the middle class. Maybe you’ve noticed that.” Yeah, Jon. There’s an election going on. Maybe you’ve noticed that. Your guy Mitt Romney talks about the middle class incessantly too. The difference is that Obama means what he’s saying.
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In an interview with Current TV on Monday, former NSA senior official Thomas Drake revealed that the NSA is not just monitoring international phone calls and emails as its been given the authority to do, but also domestic calls and emails. As Drake said, “a key decision [was] made shortly after 9/11, which began to rapidly turn the United States of America into the equivalent of a foreign nation for dragnet blanket electronic surveillance.”
Drake admitted that data is being collected on virtually “the entire country” and then being inserted into a computer algorithm to pick out suspicious chatter. It’s been long speculated – and even known – that the government was abusing its powers and spying on innocent Americans during the Bush administration. Unfortunately, since the whole nation has been whipped into a fear of terrorism, not many seem to have the courage to speak truth to power.
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Gun Nation by Randi Rhodes,posted Jul 23 2012 3:22PM
If you think the tragedy in Colorado will spark the debate over gun control, you forget—there is no debate over gun control. The NRA has shut it down—lock, stock, and smoking barrel. Some people are saying that we can’t avoid a serious discussion of gun control now. Unfortunately, a serious discussion of gun control is a lot easier to dodge than a hail of bullets is.
The gunman evidently bought a 6,000-round arsenal legally over the internet. This guy was buying thousands of rounds of ammunition online, and the only checks he was going through were on his credit-worthiness.
On the morning of the shooting a Twitter account for the NRA sent out a message that read “Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?” “Weekend plans for the NRA?” Yes—they have to spend another weekend denying that guns had anything to do with a gun massacre. The NRA later pulled the tweet and explained that the person who posted it was unaware that there had been a shooting. How could that person be totally unaware of what was going on? They must have been a Fox News viewer.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) insists that an assault rifle with a 100-round magazine is a “basic freedom.” Johnson says “this is really not an issue of guns. This is about sick people doing things you simply can’t prevent.” Simply. Can’t. Prevent. There’s your gun-nut answer to gun violence—just get used to it. That really seems to be the gun nut answer to mass killings—look, these kinds of things are just going to happen. Having nuts carrying guns is just the price we pay to have a society where nuts can carry guns.
Senator Johnson is one of those people who think that these shooting incidents could be avoided if more people carried guns. I’m not going to count on people who carry guns to save me in any situation. Can we take one thing away from the Batman movie besides sorrow? Batman himself never uses a gun. And your odds of being saved by a guy with a gun are about the same as your odds of being saved by a guy with a Bat-utility belt.
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The shooter in the Aurora theater massacre, James Holmes, purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition in the weeks leading up to the shooting, spending roughly $3,000 on his arsenal. He also purchased a bullet-proof vest and other tactical gear to mimic a SWAT team member, and high-capacity magazines that would have been illegal under the Assault Weapons Ban or any number of pieces of gun control legislation that have stalled out in Congress. Holmes built up his unusually large collection of deadly weapons just before the shooting without once raising a red flag with authorities. Also, not once, was he required to submit a background check or register his name to the purchases.
Tragically, 12 people are dead now as a result of his rampage. And despite the obvious lessons here, which are the same lessons we learned from the last year’s Tucson massacre, that mentally unstable people can get a hold of extremely deadly weapons of war way too easy in this nation, don’t hold your breath for sensible gun control legislation. Already, President Obama abandoned a call for gun control, arguing that we need to prevent gun crimes by relying on “existing law.” And Democratic Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, refused to endorse tougher gun control laws.
Even Conservative Commentator Bill Kristol argued that it was “foolish” for Democrats to not push for gun control. As Democratic Congresswoman, and strong supporter of gun control, Carolyn McCarthy bluntly said in an interview Sunday about her colleagues in Congress, “They don’t have the spine anymore. They pander to who’s giving them money.”
And that right there, folks, is what’s wrong with our nation. With money in control, common sense policies – like keeping assault weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill – are off the table. And instead, the crazies – those who think the massacre was a condemnation from God or staged by the Obama Administration to restrict gun rights – win the debate, simple because they also gladly accept money from the gun lobby that profits off more death and destruction in America. The Second Amendment is not a license to let mass murders continue without action.
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Twelve people are dead and nearly 40 wounded after a gunman opened fire in a crowded movie theatre in Colorado late Thursday night. Moviegoers were attending the premiere of the new Batman movie, when 24-year-old James Holmes walked in with tear gas, a rifle, a shotgun, and two hand guns, and opened fire. Holmes is in police custody.
This is the largest mass shooting since 32 people were killed during the Virginia Tech massacre. According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence – there have been hundreds of mass shootings in the U.S. since 2005 – averaging roughly 20 every year. And yet, there’s absolutely no talk of gun control in America.
The irony of all ironies – Republicans are making it harder for Americans to vote with new voter ID laws to fight voter fraud, which happens less often than lightning striking people. Yet, Republicans won’t budge on making it just a little harder for Americans to buy guns, despite dozens of mass shootings every year.
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No Regrets by Randi Rhodes,posted Jul 19 2012 5:21PM
Justice Antonin Scalia was interviewed on CNN, where he forcefully defended the Citizens United ruling. Justices don’t usually defend their rulings on TV, but then justices don’t usually make rulings as blatantly wrong as Citizens United. According to Scalia, political donations are a form of free speech. Yeah, a form of free speech that is able to drown out everyone else’s free speech. Scalia said “I think Thomas Jefferson would have said, ‘the more speech the better.’ Yes, but nobody would have heard him, because Sheldon Adelson would have funded a super-PAC to drown out his message. According to Scalia, “That’s what the First Amendment is all about, so long as the people know where the speech is coming from.” We DON’T know where the speech is coming from, Antonin! Well, we know in general—it’s coming from the people with all the money! And do you know why we can’t find out where the speech is coming from, Justice Scalia? Because the people who are now free to give unlimited amounts of money are buying politicians to make sure there is no law requiring that.
Antonin also addressed the ruling in Bush v Gore that handed the presidency to George Bush. Scalia said “Get over it.” It? You mean the needless war and the Great Recession that the guy you appointed president caused? We’re trying! We elected the mirror opposite of George Bush, and he’s spent four years fighting for us to try and get over it. Get over it! That’s like telling New Orleans to “get over” Hurricane Katrina... which they would have been able to do a lot better if it weren’t for George Bush.
Scalia couldn’t appear on Fox News because they were too busy talking to George Zimmerman, who gave an interview to Sean Hannity. When asked if he had any regrets about following Trayvon Martin or having a gun that night, Zimmerman said “I feel that it was all God’s plan and not for me to second-guess it or judge it.” Odd that he had no compunction about judging Trayvon Martin… judging, sentencing, and executing him, in fact. At the end he said “I hate to think that because of this incident, because of my actions, it’s polarized and divided America.” Don’t give yourself too much credit, George. What has polarized and divided America is the guy you’re talking to and the news channel you’re appearing on.
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America likes to think of itself as the richest nation on the planet, and looking strictly at total combined wealth, it is. But that’s only because there are a heck of a lot of billionaires living here. But looking at median wealth, or how much Americans in the middle are making, the United States doesn’t even crack the top ten in the world.
According to a new report by Credit Suisse, 15 OECD nations have a higher median wealth than the United States. That includes nations like Australia, Japan, and Israel. It also includes European nations that are in crisis like the Spain, Italy, and Ireland. That’s because over the thirty years since we embraced Reaganomics – the middle class in America has been devastated. We’re not the wealthiest nation on the planet anymore – we just have the most Romney-rich.
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If the current rash of Republican nonsense lasts until November, we're all in the a most entertaining ride indeed. To recap the latest, Mitt Romney's top advisor John Sununu, who by the way was born in Cuba, says of Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, "I wish this president would learn how to be an American". Of course, he had to back off that one quickly. After all, anyone who can click on his Wikipedia page would know he was born in Havana, and is therefore a naturalized US citizen.
No matter. Sununu can apologize, but the GOP has the crazed Maricopa, Arizona sheriff Joe Arapaio to pick up where he left off. Arapaio and some Insane Clown Posse he put together now profess to have proof that Barack Obama isn't a citizen at all. Something about codes, and a 95 year old guy they dredged up to buttress their wackiness. Never mind Sheriff Joe has some legal problems of his own, specifically a rash of lawsuits that say he eviscerated the rights of Latinos in his county the way most folks gut a a fish.
Then there's the Round Mound of Air Sound, Rush Limbaugh. He's living proof that when the right gets caught in a lie, more often than not they'll double down. After ranting about the villain in the new Batman movie, called Bane, and how that was done to impugn the integrity of Mitt Romney (Bain Capital, get it?), it was brought to his attention that the Bane character was created in 1993. So what does His Rushness do the next day? Make it all about him, and how many calls and e-mails he got on the subject.
But the worst is for last, and this one something even the Republicans couldn't stomach. Rep. Michele Bachmann and a small group of her GOP House colleagues sent a letter to five federal agencies demanding investigations of a supposed plot to influence US foreign policy to favor the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups. The letter singled out Huma Abedin, former close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and wife of former Congressman Anthony Weiner. This lunacy led Sen. John McCain top get on the floor of the Senate to condemn this McCarthy like witch hunt in the strongest terms. To date, Bachmann and her cronies have produced no evidence to support their charges, save some study by a conservative group that even McCain felt it necessary to call "scurrilous".
Taken separately, the above mentioned incidents might seem like isolated blips of individual delusion. Taken together, you've got to wonder if something else is going on here. Could it be a multifaceted attempt to divert attention from Mitt Romney's Bain and tax issues?
More Republicans are calling for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. Mitt’s tax return situation is like a guy having a serious gas problem in a crowded elevator. Holding it in is very painful for him to do, but letting it go might be even worse for him.
Yesterday, Romney surrogate John Sununu was saying exactly what Rush Limbaugh had told the Romney people to start saying. We still don’t know who is giving Mitt all his money, but we do know who is giving him orders. John Sununu, who was born in Cuba, said “I wish this president would learn how to be an American.” Wow. That kind of stuff is actually even more disgusting when it comes from someone besides Rush Limbaugh. Mitt Romney himself is calling President Obama “foreign.” Foreign? Mitt is the guy who spent his draft-eligible years hiding in France, and then spent his adulthood hiding his money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.
Now Rush himself is pushing the idea that the new Batman movie is part of a conspiracy to get President Obama reelected. It turns out that the bad guy in this Batman is named “Bane.” That’s obviously not a dig at Romney, or the villain would have to be named “Bane Capital.” Rush asks “Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed villain in this movie is named Bane?” Uh, yes I do, Rush. Coincidences occur everywhere... except in the minds of the paranoid. The fact that Mitt Romney is associated with a company that has the same name as a Batman villain is pure coincidence. It’s just lucky for him that he didn’t name his company “The Penguin.”
Besides, who is the idiot who named their company using a word that literally means “a person or thing that ruins or spoils”? This may shock Rush, but the word “bane” is actually older than the company Bain Capital that Mitt Romney started OR the Bain & Company that he spun it off from. The word “bane” is related to an old Viking term meaning death or murderer. The Vikings liked to descend on innocent villagers, destroying the towns and carrying off everything of value. Gee, maybe the term “bane” and the company “Bain” ARE related.
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More Republicans are calling for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. Mitt’s tax return situation is like a guy having a serious gas problem in a crowded elevator. Holding it in is very painful for him to do, but letting it go might be even worse for him.
Yesterday, Romney surrogate John Sununu was saying exactly what Rush Limbaugh had told the Romney people to start saying. We still don’t know who is giving Mitt all his money, but we do know who is giving him orders. John Sununu, who was born in Cuba, said “I wish this president would learn how to be an American.” Wow. That kind of stuff is actually even more disgusting when it comes from someone besides Rush Limbaugh. Mitt Romney himself is calling President Obama “foreign.” Foreign? Mitt is the guy who spent his draft-eligible years hiding in France, and then spent his adulthood hiding his money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.
Now Rush himself is pushing the idea that the new Batman movie is part of a conspiracy to get President Obama reelected. It turns out that the bad guy in this Batman is named “Bane.” That’s obviously not a dig at Romney, or the villain would have to be named “Bane Capital.” Rush asks “Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed villain in this movie is named Bane?” Uh, yes I do, Rush. Coincidences occur everywhere... except in the minds of the paranoid. The fact that Mitt Romney is associated with a company that has the same name as a Batman villain is pure coincidence. It’s just lucky for him that he didn’t name his company “The Penguin.”
Besides, who is the idiot who named their company using a word that literally means “a person or thing that ruins or spoils”? This may shock Rush, but the word “bane” is actually older than the company Bain Capital that Mitt Romney started OR the Bain & Company that he spun it off from. The word “bane” is related to an old Viking term meaning death or murderer. The Vikings liked to descend on innocent villagers, destroying the towns and carrying off everything of value. Gee, maybe the term “bane” and the company “Bain” ARE related.
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The heirs of the Wal Mart fortune – the Walton family – have gotten a lot wealthier since the Bush recession began in 2007, while the rest of us have gotten a lot poorer. According to data from the Federal Reserve, median family wealth in America dropped by nearly 40% between 2007 and 2010. But, during that same, the wealth of the Walton family increased 22% to nearly $90 billion.
So now, the six Walton heirs have more wealth than 48 million American families – or more than 41% of all American families – COMBINED. And yet, despite the incredible wealth disparity – Republicans in Congress are pushing for even more tax breaks for the Wal Mart heirs – and other millionaires and billionaires who fund Republican candidates.
This is a make-or-break moment for the American middle class, as Democrats try to extend tax cuts for working Americans, while cutting them off for the Walton heirs. We’ll see if Republicans go along with this common sense solution, or if they hold the middle class hostage so that their billionaire buddies can hoard even more wealth. Stay tuned.
Listen to me LIVE Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
Buying America by Randi Rhodes,posted Jul 17 2012 5:19PM
A pro-Romney super-PAC raised a record $20 million in June. Did I say “pro-Romney super-PAC”? Let’s call it the “anti-Obama super-PAC.” Mitt Romney is just a convenient point for them to cluster around. Half of that $20 million was from one guy, Sheldon Adelson. If Mitt Romney is elected, the country will really be run by a guy who looks like he’s playing the bad guy in an Austin Powers movie.
Yesterday Senate Republicans filibustered the DISCLOSE Act, which would require reporting of political contributions of over $10,000. I don’t think Republican donors deal in increments under $10,000. Harry Reid says that “angry old white men” are trying to buy the country with secret political donations. The saddest part is that even if they succeed, they’ll still be angry. Reid said “If this flood of outside money continues, the day after the election, 17 angry old white men will wake up and realize they’ve just bought the country.” Not exactly correct, Harry. They’ll know before they go to bed the night before.
President Obama is pointing out that Mitt Romney’s economic plan would create jobs... overseas. Give Romney credit—that’s the closest he comes to having a foreign policy. A study says that Romney’s economic plans “would increase employment in low-tax countries by about 800,000 jobs.” Want a job? Move to the Cayman Islands and get a job looking after Mitt Romney’s money.
The Obama campaign has released a devastating ad about Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns. The ad says “It makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all.” Hey, if Mitt is as crazy about avoiding taxes as he is about avoiding releasing his taxes, I’m sure there were years he paid nothing.
Finally, the Lieutenant Governor of Florida, Jennifer Carroll, is accused of firing an aide who walked in on lesbian sexual encounter the Lt. Governor was having. Wait, I’ve seen this video. Is there a pizza delivery involved? Lt. Governor Carroll is denying any tryst took place on the grounds that she doesn’t look like a lesbian. Really. Don’t feel bad, Lt. Governor—we can’t all look like Stephanie Miller.
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Transparency!? We don’t need no stinkin’ transparency! On Monday, Republicans in the Senate joined together to filibuster and kill the latest attempt by Democrats to inject transparency in our elections. Despite receiving a majority of votes in the Senate, the DISCLOSE Act, which would have forced any political organization spending more than $10,000 in our election to disclose their donors, didn’t get the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster.
Just like in 2010, corporate organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and the NRA were able to either intimidate or bribe enough Senators to vote “no” and preserve their ability to raise and spend unlimited funds from who or whatever they’d like – including Saudi princes, Chinese business tycoons, and, heck, even dictators like Mahmoud Ahmedenijad. Even previously staunch supporters of campaign finance reform like Republican Senators John McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Scott Brown voted against the DISCLOSE Act, now that they realize all the outside secret cash is benefiting many more Republicans than Democrats this election cycle.
We already know shady, foreign money is being funneled into this election. According to an investigation by the PBS and ProPublica, Mitt Romney’s biggest donor Sheldon Adleson, who made his fortune running casinos in Chinese Macau and did business with known Chinese gang members, yet Mitt Romney is gladly accepting Adelson’s help to defeat President Obama. Meanwhile, two of Paul Ryan's biggest donors are Swiss Banks! Welcome to American democracy in the 21st century – up for sale to the highest anonymous bidder.
Mitt's Secrets by Randi Rhodes,posted Jul 16 2012 3:05PM
Mitt Romney’s supporters were all over the Sunday shows trying to contain the damage done to his campaign. At issue is if Mitt left Bain Capital in 1999 or in 2002. Mitt insists that he left in 1999, which would strongly suggest that he left in 2002. From their performances on the Sunday shows, it appears that Romney’s surrogates cannot dance nearly as well as his dressage horse. Senior Romney campaign advisor Ed Gillespie said that, for the years in question, Mitt “retired retroactively” from Bain. I assume that Ed Gillespie wishes he could retroactively not have said that. Hmm... maybe Mitt can get out of this fiasco by saying that he wasn’t really in charge of his campaign during the time all of this is coming out.
Even Republicans are calling on Mitt to release more tax returns. If nothing else, Republicans know they could probably pick up some pretty effective tax avoidance schemes by examining Romney’s tax returns. Romney’s people say that the Obama campaign is talking about Mitt’s taxes because they want to distract attention away from the unemployment numbers. Well, the unemployment numbers are out there... unlike the numbers on Mitt’s tax returns.
Mitt gave John McCain’s campaign 23 years of tax returns in 2008 when he was trying to get the VP slot... and McCain picked Sarah Palin. McCain was a major risk taker, but there was something in Mitt’s tax returns that was too risky for even John McCain. The problem with Palin is that she wasn’t properly vetted. It appears that the problem with Romney is that he was properly vetted. And now he’s trying to make sure that never happens again.
George W. Bush is presenting a book of ideas about how to rebuild the economy. Perfect. Having George Bush present a book about the economy is like having Chris Christie present a book about diet and exercise. I’m surprised this happened. You would think that Mitt Romney would be fighting as hard to keep George Bush out of sight as he was to keep Dick Cheney out of sight at his own fundraiser. Heck, you would think Romney would be trying to hide George Bush as hard as he is trying to hide his tax returns.
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The New York Times reported on Saturday that the Department of Justice is building several criminal cases against major Wall Street banks related to the ongoing LIBOR rate-rigging scandal. Charges are expected to be brought against at least one bank and its employees by the end of this year. It’s alleged that hundreds of billions – if not trillions – of dollars were manipulated in the global economy by a handful of banks colluding together to boost their own profits while screwing over working people, small businesses, and entire cities.
Meanwhile, across the pond in London, British financial regulators who turned a blind eye to the crimes are testifying in front of Parliament to determine their role in the scandal. That comes on the heels of news that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner caught wind of the rate-rigging scandal as far back as 2008 and notified the Bank of England recommending changes to how the LIBOR rate should be fixed…yet nothing was done either by the Fed or by British regulators.
But just as this investigation into high crimes on Wall Street ramps up, time is running out for other investigations into Wall Street’s fraud. According to federal law, there is a five-year statute of limitations within which the Securities and Exchange Commission can file charges against the banks for their crimes leading up to the 2007 and 2008 financial crisis. That leaves officials at the SEC scrambling to file lawsuits before their time window runs out.
This is a critical moment in history – will “we the people” finally hold Wall Street accountable? Or will the Citizen's United-fueled corruption of our government and legal system give the banksters another free pass?
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Yo, Marine! by Mark Riley,posted Jul 14 2012 2:23PM
I was going to do a blog entry this week about the battle over stop and frisk vs. gun violence, but fate intervened. I realize that every now and then, things happen in my own life which are worth sharing. I tell this story in the belief that, if only one person is affected by it, telling the tale is worth my while.
It was a Saturday morning like most. I was on my way to the gym, but beforehand I had to stop at the bank. The small city in which I live is racially diverse, and considered one of the most progressive in the state where it's located. That's a big reason why I enjoy living here. As I was leaving the bank, I happened to see a young member of our armed forces walking down the street in the full uniform of a US Marine. With him was either a friend or a sibling. As they walked past me, I heard the Marine say to someone on the street, "You're welcome, sir." I realized someone had thanked him.
As I got in may car and started to drive to the gym, the strangest thing happened. I suddenly realized I needed to thank this kid, just as the person walking past him had. It's not like I hadn't done it before. Several years ago, I was in the Norfolk, Va. airport, one which has a fair number of service people passing through it. I spent some time sitting on a bench with some uniformed people, and took the time to thank them for their service. I'll never forget the surprised smiles on their faces as they said, "Thank you, sir."
I knew the Marine this Saturday morning was heading in a particular direction, and if I went around the block I would pass him, even though it wasn't on my way to the gym. And so I drove around the block, and sure enough, there he was with his friend/relative, and another person who was talking to him. I couldn't make out what was said, but the guy shook his hand, then walked off in a different direction. I knew what I had to do. I slowed down, rolled down my window and said, "Yo Marine! Thank you!"
At first he looked just a little surprised. Then he broke out in a huge smile, and replied, "Thank YOU sir!" I kept on driving and the memory of Norfolk Airport came right back to me. The moral of this story? The place where I live isn't one of those that wears its Americanism on its sleeve. I consider myself a person of peace, and I'm opposed to war in virtually all circumstances. Yet there's something that feels right about a US Marine, walking down the street in full uniform, gratefully acknowledging the thanks from just plain folks who respect his service to our country.
A small gesture on a summer day. One worth repeating, isn't it?
Mitt Romney has been saying that he quit Bain Capital in 1999 and that he had nothing to do with any bankruptcies or layoffs that happened after then. But Bain’s official filings with the SEC show that he still worked at Bain from 1999 to 2002. Specifically, they say Mitt was the “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.” That makes it hard for Mitt to say he didn’t work there. But then in Mitt Romney’s mind, there’s nothing that he can’t say.
Did Republicans forget to vet Mitt Romney? To be fair, it’s hard to vet a guy whose tax returns are hundreds of pages long... especially when they refuse to release those tax returns. Here’s an idea if you have a guy with 400-page long tax returns that won’t release more than one of them—don’t nominate that guy!
Harry Reid said that Mitt Romney “couldn’t be confirmed as dogcatcher” by the Senate. I would hope not! Given his record with dogs, Mitt would catch them, and tie them to the top of the dogcatcher van. To be fair, nobody that President Obama nominates could be confirmed by the Senate as dogcatcher either. You know that some Republican would put a hold on the dog catcher nomination.
Dick Cheney has given Mitt Romney an enthusiastic endorsement... like Mitt doesn’t have enough problems right now. The problem is that Dick Cheney has an approval rating that’s actually lower than Mitt Romney’s tax rate. Yet, this endorsement represents the passing of the torch from the Bush administration to Romney. If it’s like everything else the Bush administration did, they dropped the torch.
Finally, an investigator’s report on George Zimmerman says he’s probably not racist per se, but rather a “soft guy” with a “little hero complex.” In other words, he’s the kind of guy who would rather be called a racist than to be called any of those things.
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An analysis by Morgan Stanley finds that Wall Street stands to be hit with at least $22 billion in penalties over its involvement in rigging key interest rates that underlie trillions of dollars of investments around the world. But that’s a low number – as hundreds of thousands of litigants – from individuals, to cities, to businesses – might have cases against the banks as this investigation continues – and it’s learned just how much money the banks stole from everyone else over the last few decades.
If the claims against the banks get too high, then Wall Street may need another bailout just to cover for their crimes. This will be a make-or-break moment for our nation – an opportunity for “we the people” to once and for all end Wall Street’s domination of our economy – and turn banking back into a safe, useful, and boring industry once again. Keep an eye on this because, as this scandal grows, so does our opportunity to clamp down on Wall Street.
Mitt Romney spoke at the NAACP convention yesterday. That’s nice—usually the only African-Americans who hear Mitt Romney give a speech are the waiters at $25,000 a seat banquets. I would give Mitt Romney credit for speaking to the NAACP, but when you look at the video, you realize that he wasn’t really talking to them at all. He was talking right over them, directly to the Fox News viewers who would see the clips. Mitt ignited a round of booing when he referred to the Affordable Care Act as “Obamacare.” Obamacare, Mitt? Really? Why not just tell the NAACP attendees that African-Americans should not be tied to the “Democrat Party.” And yes, even people in the Obama camp have taken to calling the health care act “Obamacare.” But that doesn’t mean that other people can use that term. In that sense, the term “Obamacare” is like the “N-word.” And that’s exactly what the people who came up with meant it to be.
As soon as Mitt left the podium at the NAACP, he scampered over to a Fox News camera and gave an interview. Mitt wanted to tell the Fox News viewers “Look how I gave it to them! Obamacare! In your face NAACP!” Mitt Romney wanted to get booed. I hope for his sake that he continues to want to get booed, because it’s going to continue to happen.
It turns out that Mitt planted some of his own supporters in the NAACP audience. Of course, they had to be African-American supporters of Mitt Romney, so there couldn’t have been a lot of them. Really, how many black Republicans are there? You’d think the NAACP people would be suspicious if Alan Keyes, Michael Steele, and Clarence Thomas all showed up.
“The Republican-led House of Representatives has voted to repeal Obamacare.” The nice thing about that headline is that I don’t have to type it. I can just cut and paste it... for the 32nd time. Yes, the House has voted to repeal Obamacare for the 33rd total time. I think they’re hoping that we’re going to lose count. Let me just say one thing—THIS IS NOT WORKING! And by “this,” I mean this repeal tactic AND the House of Representatives.
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Our public transportation system is failing low-income workers. According to a new study by the Brookings Institute – only a quarter of Americans can get to their job within 90 minutes using public transportation. For a lot of Americans who can’t afford a car – or the gas to commute the average 13 miles it takes for the typical American to get to work – then public transportation is their only option. But that means long, exhausting commutes.
The study goes on to recommend that it’s, “critical then for the nation to focus on smart transit investments.” That means spending federal money on infrastructure – something that Republicans in Congress have absolutely refused to do, despite the fact that America currently has a $2 trillion infrastructure deficit – meaning we need at least $2 trillion worth of repairs just to get everything up-to-date.
Considering there’s roughly 15 million American unemployed or underemployed – it’s good policy to put them back to work rebuilding our roads, bridges, and rails. That is unless Republicans REALLY believe that a deteriorating 20th century infrastructure will keep America competitive in the 21st century global marketplace.
Join Mark Riley in calling out the necessary repairs around New York City. Send pics of crumbling infrastructure in your neighborhood or your commute to roadwork@wwrl1600.com. Be sure to include your first name, your neighborhood, and where the pictures were taken.
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While small businesses have certainly taken a hit following the Bush Great Recession, the evidence shows that American entrepreneurs have been getting pummeled for more than thirty years. According to a new study released today by the New American Foundation, the number of entrepreneurs per capita has dropped by 53% since 1977. And since 1991, the number of Americans who are self-employed has dropped by more than 20%. In other words, Americans who used to be able to start their own businesses are increasingly being forced to join the ranks of the working poor.
That’s because our nation has forgotten how to foster an entrepreneurial class over the last thirty years. With massive tax cuts for the wealthy and for transnational corporations – the rich are getting richer and the big corporations are getting bigger. It doesn’t help that we no longer enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and have jumped head-first into so-called Free Trade either, which has given way to giant transnational corporations that small business upstarts simply can’t compete with. Not only that, we’ve destroyed the social safety net in the country, which used to give Americans a chance to take risks and try new jobs because they had a net of security to fall in if they failed.
Today if they fail, they’re condemned to indefinite poverty – so no one can afford to take risks to start small businesses. This is the consequence of thirty years of Reaganomics – and it’s what Republicans today are doubling-down on.
So-called Emergency Financial Managers in Michigan are selling off public schools to private charter school corporations – and laying off hundreds of public school teachers in the process. The “mini-dictators” who – appointed by Republican Governors – have unprecedented power to fire local elected officials, break union contracts, and sell off our commons to corporate interests have decided to eat alive the public school system in West Michigan and around the Detroit area. Study after study has shown that private, charter schools don't produce any better education results, but they do pay teachers less, have higher teacher turnovers, and - making Republicans happy - are union-free.
Meanwhile, across the pond in Greece, the rich are devouring the commons at a record rate. Greece's new coalition government is trying to speed up the sale of state-owned assets including utility companies, airports and railways, and 28 other state properties. Far left SYRIZA Party leader – Alexis Tsipras – who was left out of the coalition government, blasted the privatization plans, arguing that the move was like putting a giant “for sale sign” on his country and that the, “government will have to account for its actions, the looting of public goods.” It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, the Libertarian one-world ideology of billionaires running nations into the ground while impoverishing the working class is on the move.
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Poor Mitt Romney. He's taking heat from all sides. All sides, that is, in his own party! It seems like every day, Mittens is writing attack ads for the opposition. Now, even some of his friends are starting to notice. It all started with none other than Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who, not long after he survived a bruising recall battle, went public with the notion that Romney can't beat President Barack Obama by going negative alone. He had to have his own vision, opined Walker.
When a leading conservative union buster says you've got no game, you've got a problem. Yet this was only the beginning. Not long after the president announced his order allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to stay in the country for two years, Romney embarrassed himself by not answering Bob Schieffer's questions on Face the Nation. Schieffer asked if if he . Romney, would repeal the president's order. Instead of answering directly, Mittens headed for the border, and when that didn't work, pilloried Obama. Few who saw it could argue it was in the same ballpark with the term direct answer.
And we haven't even touched Romney's attempt to weasel out of charges his old firm Bain Capital wrote the book on outsourcing. His spokesman tried to parse outsourcing and offshoring, as if the average person cares. The real gyrations started when the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act last week. Romney, of course, couldn't be seen as favoring an act that was strikingly similar to the one he signed into law as Massachusetts Governor (don't worry, he parses that too). Yet in a rare moment of independent thought, he broke with his Republican homies and had a spokesman say the individual mandate component of the Act wasn't a tax but a penalty.
The conservative wing of the party broke out in hives. After all, this was their primary line of attack. "The biggest tax increase in US history!", or so the reasoning went. And here's Mittens, straying off message. But not for long! 24 hours later, he was back, and back on message. "It's a tax", he thundered. The nation, caught up in the Fourth of July, yawned. By now, however, some of Romney's presumed allies were starting to notice his complete lack of political skill. No less a personage than Rupert Murdoch dogged him out on Twitter. If Romney didn't get that memo, Murdoch's Wall. St. Journal followed up with a scathing assessment of Romney and his "Boston Boys".
Even though I started out this post with Poor Mitt Romney, I was only fooling. Just goes to show money can't buy competence or vision.
Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power around the nation’s capital – and left to deal with a record breaking heat wave alone. Fueled by all-time temperature highs on Friday, a massive freak storm ripped across the Mid-Atlantic Friday night – killing at least 15 people and knocking out power to more than three million. West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, and Washington, DC have all declared states of emergency.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the nation – a wildfire continues to scorch Colorado – where tens of thousands of people have been evacuated out of harm’s way and more than 350 homes destroyed. On the heels of this freak weather is a new report from climate scientists around the world warning that when it comes to rising sea levels, the tipping point has already been passed.
Scientists with U.S. research group Climate Central warned that even with drastic cuts in CO2 emissions, rising sea levels cannot be stopped over the next few hundred years – threatening roughly a tenth of the world’s population that lives in low-lying areas. So here we have massive wildfires, catastrophic storms, and rising oceans – welcome to the new normal – brought to us by transnational oil barons and the politicians they own.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced a so-called comprehensive immigration plan. And, as usual, Democrats conceded to Republican demands in the name of compromise. Over the last five days, the Judiciary Committee members considered over...
I must admit, I've never been to Oklahoma. I have family friends from there, but it's one part of the Great Plains I've managed to avoid in my life. Yet that didn't stop me from feeling quite a bit of empathy with those folks in...
For over a week, Republicans have refused to focus on anything but so-called scandal. And, it turns out, that's exactly the way they want it. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, sent a letter to...
A new CNN poll shows Obama's favorability rating at 53 percent. That's up from 51 percent in April, and up from the 51.1 percent from the poll that really counted last November. Like before the scandals, 45 percent of people disapprove of the...
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made their point – they hate Obamacare. And, just in case anyone didn't get the message the first 36 times they made that point, they're about to waste even more taxpayer...
It turns out the IRS was investigating conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status. Duh! And the TSA has been looking at people seeking to get on airplanes. None of the conservative organizations that the IRS was "targeting" were...
The Associated Press has accused the Justice Department of "massive and unprecedented intrusion." That's according to one of the AP's top executives, after learning that the government secretly acquired two months of the news...
It seems that the Republicans won't stop until their attacks over Benghazi are as vicious as the attack in Benghazi. The Republicans would have you believe that the Obama administration altered the talking points on Benghazi out of political...
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, Monsanto has the right to control our food supply. In a unanimous ruling released this morning, the nine Justices sided with the agricultural giant, and held that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto's...
Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives postponed all floor votes so they could hold their ninth hearing about Benghazi. Instead of working on any number of pressing issues effecting Americans, Republicans spent nine...
So-called Emergency Financial Managers in Michigan are selling off public schools to private charter school corporations – and laying off hundreds of public school teachers in the process. The “mini-dictators” who – appointed by Republican Governors – have unprecedented power to fire local elected officials, break union contracts, and sell off our commons to corporate interests have decided to eat alive the public school system in West Michigan and around the Detroit area. 
Poor Mitt Romney. He's taking heat from all sides. All sides, that is, in his own party! It seems like every day, Mittens is writing attack ads for the opposition. Now, even some of his friends are starting to notice. It all started with none other than Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who, not long after he survived a bruising recall battle, went public with the notion that Romney can't beat President Barack Obama by going negative alone. He had to have his own vision, opined Walker.
Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power around the nation’s capital – and left to deal with a record breaking heat wave alone. Fueled by all-time temperature highs on Friday, a massive freak storm ripped across the Mid-Atlantic Friday night – killing at least 15 people and knocking out power to more than three million. West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, and Washington, DC have all declared states of emergency.