Promises, promises...

It's easy to scam you if you let them frighten you...

When INCOME directs OUTCOME, Democracy fails.

DeMint Says No Lifting Debt Ceiling Without Cuts

I almost feel sorry for the idiots who voted for DeMint and his partners in crime. I doubt these politicians even kissed them or bought them dinner before they screwed them, just a bunch of flowery promises. Wham! Bam! Thank You, Ma'am. Don't look on the nightstand, and don't hold your breath.

I said I almost feel sorry for them. We tried to warn them that they were only being courted for their votes... not our fault they fell on their backs so quickly and easily.

DeMint Says No Lifting Debt Ceiling Without Cuts Then Can't Name Any Specifics Besides Earmarks | Video Cafe

What I wish the extremist radical conservatives would discuss...

...instead of calling names, changing subjects, or just ignoring the question altogether...

If raising taxes and eliminating regulations created jobs, then how come Bush, once taking account how long he’d been in office, showed the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records. ESPECIALLY compared to Clinton.

And how come President Obama is kicking Bush's ASS in job creation with all of his "taxing" and "regulations"?

Business Insider: Jobs Lost in Bush and Obama Administrations

News Junkie: It's Official: More Private Sector Jobs Created in 2010 Than During Entire Bush Years

Payroll Expansion by President

More visuals...

 

Sometimes a picture can say more than an essay...

Republican Sex and Marriage Advice: Different Political Parties

"...since you are obviously not Republican..."

While some are patting themselves on the backs...

...do not fool yourselves into thinking that this was about the Republicans and that Americans have spoken.

This was not about how your plan was better (what f***ing plan??  It was a joke!).

This was not about President Obama ruining our country (even though many Americans with anal-cranial obstruction syndrome seem to slurp up the vomit you've been regurgitating for them).

This was not about a sincere desire to return to the glory days of Bush.

This is a testament to how successful the Republicans, the Mad Hatters--excuse me, TEA PARTIERS, Faux Noise, and all of those blathering idiots are at stirring up fear, hatred, and anger in the least informed of our citizens.  You want to keep them stupid and you succeeded.

So, if THAT is something to be proud of, then be proud.  Because that is what your victory is all about.  Ignorance, fear, and misplaced anger.   I hope your God is impressed because mine is not.

"An Open Letter to the White Right"

For all y’all rich folks, enjoy that champagne, or whatever fancy ass Scotch you drink.

And for y’all a bit lower on the economic scale, enjoy your Pabst Blue Ribbon, or whatever shitty ass beer you favor.

Whatever the case, and whatever your economic station, know this…

You need to drink up.

And quickly.

And heavily.

Because your time is limited.

Real damned limited.

So party while you can, but mind the increasingly loud clock ticking away in the corners of your consciousness.

The clock that reminds you how little time you and yours have left.

Not much more now.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick.

Tock.

I know, you think you’ve taken “your country back” with this election – and of course you have always thought it was yours for the taking, cuz that’s what we white folks are bred to believe, that it’s ours, and how dare anyone else say otherwise – but you are wrong.

You have won a small battle in a larger war the meaning of which you do not remotely understand.

‘Cuz there is nothing even slightly original about you.

There have always been those who wanted to take the country back.

There were those who, in past years, wanted to take the country back to a time of enslavement and indentured servitude.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when children could be made to work in mines and factories, when workers had no legal rights to speak of, when the skies in every major city were heavy with industrial soot that would gather on sidewalks and windowsills like volcanic ash.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when women could not vote, or attend any but a few colleges, or get loans in their own names, or start their own businesses.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when blacks “had no rights that the white man was bound to respect,” – this being the official opinion of the Supreme Court before those awful days of judicial activism, now decried by the likes of you – and when people of color could legally be kept from voting solely because of race, or holding certain jobs, or living in certain neighborhoods, or run out of other towns altogether when the sun would go down, or be strung up from trees.

But they lost.

And you will lose.

So make a note of it.

Tweet it to yourself.

Put it on your Facebook wall and leave it there so you’ll remember that I told you so.

It is coming, and soon.

This isn’t hubris. It isn’t ideology. It is not wishful thinking.

It is math.

Not even advanced math. Just simple, basic, like 3rd grade math.

The kind of math that proves how your kind – mostly older white folks beholden to an absurd, inaccurate, nostalgic fantasy of what America used to be like – are dying.

You’re like the bad guy in every horror movie ever made, who gets shot five times, or stabbed ten, or blown up twice, and who will eventually pass – even if it takes four sequels to make it happen – but who in the meantime keeps coming back around, grabbing at our ankles as we walk by, convinced that you’re really dead this time.

Fair enough, and have at it. But remember, please, how this movie ends.

Our ankles survive.

You do not.

Michael Meyers, Freddie Kreuger, Jason, and that asshole husband in that movie with Julia Roberts who tracks her down after she runs away and changes her identity – they are all done. Even that crazy fucker in Saw is about to be finished off for good. Granted, he’s gonna be popping out in some 3-D shit to scare the kiddies, so he isn’t going quietly. But he’s going nonetheless, as all bad guys eventually do.

And in the pantheon of American history, old white people have always been the bad guys, the keepers of the hegemonic and reactionary flame, the folks unwilling to share the category of American with others on equal terms.

Fine, so screw you then.

Because you’re a dying breed.

On the endangered list.

And unlike say, the bald eagle or some exotic species of muskrat, you are not worth saving.

In forty years or so, maybe fewer, there won’t be any more white people around who actually remember that Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Opie-Taylor-Down-at-the-Fishing Hole cornpone bullshit that you hold so near and dear to your heart.

There won’t be any more white folks around who think the 1950s were the good old days, because there won’t be any more white folks around who actually remember them, and so therefore, we’ll be able to teach about them accurately and honestly, without hurting your precious feelings, or those of the so-called “greatest generation” — a bunch of miscreants who saved the world from fascism only to return home and oppose the ending of it here, by doing nothing to lift a finger on behalf of the civil rights struggle.

So frankly, to hell with you and all who revere you.

By then, half the country will be black or brown. And there is nothing you can do about it.

Nothing, Senõr Tancredo.

Nothing, Senõra Angle, or Senõra Brewer, or Senõr Beck.

Loy tiene muy mal, hijo de Puta.

And by then you will have gone all in as a white nationalist movement – hell you’ve all but done that now – thus guaranteeing that the folks of color, and even a decent size minority of us white folks will be able to crush you, election after election, from the Presidency on down to the 8th grade student council.

Like I said, this shit is math, baby. And numbers don’t lie.

Bottom line, this too shall pass.

So enjoy your tax cuts a while longer.

Go buy whatever you people buy when your taxes get cut – a new car or two, a bigger house, an island – whatever.

Go back to trading your derivatives, engaging in rampant financial speculation that produces nothing of value, that turns the whole world into your personal casino. Whatever.

Play your hand, and for the love of God play it big. Real big. As in, shoot for the moon big. As in, try to privatize Social Security, and health care, and everything else. Whatever.

At least that way everyone else will be able to see what you’re really about.

We’ve been trying to tell them, but nothing beats seeing it with your own eyes, so “Go big or go home,”Bubba.

“Git ‘er Done.”

“Cowboy up,” or whatever other stupid-ass catch phrase strikes your fancy.

Just promise you’ll do more than talk this time.

Please, or as one of your celluloid heroes might put it, “make my day.”

Do whatever you gotta do, but remember that those who are the victims of your greed and indifference take the long view.

They know, but you do not, that justice is not for the sprinters, but rather for the long distance runners who will be hitting their second wind, right about the time that you collapse from exhaustion.

They are like the tortoise to your hare.

They are like the San Francisco Giants, to your New York Yankees: a bunch that loses year after year after year, until they finally win.

You have had this confidence before, remember?

You thought you had secured your position permanently after the overthrow of reconstruction in the wake of the civil war, after the elimination of the New Deal, after the Reagan revolution, after the Republican electoral victory of 1994. And yet, they who refuse to die are still here.

Because those who have lived on the margins, who have been abused, maligned, targeted by austerity measures and budget cuts, subjected to racism, classism, sexism, straight supremacy and every other form of oppression always know more about their abusers than the abusers know about their victims.

They have to study you, to pay careful attention, to adjust their body armor accordingly, and to memorize your sleep patterns.

You, on the other hand, need know nothing whatever about them. And this, will surely prove fatal to you in the end. For it means you will not know their resolve. Will not fear it, as you should.

It means you will take their greatest strength – perseverance – and make of it a weakness, called losing.

But what you forget, or more to the point never knew, is that those who lose know how to lose, which is to say they know how to lose with dignity.

And those who suffer know how to suffer, which is to say they know how to survive: a skill that is in short supply amid the likes of you.

You, who could not survive the thought of minimal health care reform, or financial regulation, or a marginal tax rate equal to that which you paid just 10 years earlier, perhaps are under the illusion that everyone is as weak as you, as soft as you, as akin to petulant children as you are, as unable to cope with the smallest setback, the slightest challenge to the way you think your country should look and feel, and operate.

But, surprise…they are not.

And they know how to regroup, and plot, and plan, and they are planning even now – we are – your destruction.

And I do not mean by that your physical destruction. We don’t play those games. We’re not into the whole “Second Amendment remedies, militia, armed resistance” bullshit that your side fetishizes, cuz, see, we don’t have to be.

We just have to be patient.

And wait for your hearts to stop beating.

And stop they will.

And for some of you, real damned soon truth be told.

Do you hear it?

The sound of your empire dying? Your nation, as you knew it, ending, permanently?

Because I do, and the sound of your demise is beautiful.

So know this.

If you thought this election was payback for 2008, remember…

Payback, thy name is…

Temporary.

--Tim Wise

Republicans, thanks for having your priorities straight...

They are very proud of their "We will fight anything Obama/Democrats try to do"..  They don't care who suffers.  They don't care if it was THEIR idea first.  All they care about is sabotaging America for their own ego and desire to be in power.

Anal blockage.  And lots of it.

What Republicans have blocked...

Not that it matters to them...

I only have one Republican friend who admits to actually reading the research I provide... the rest flat out state that they REFUSE to look at anything that could possibly inform them of anything that doesn't fit in their box of crayons.  They are PROUD of being ignorant.  PROUD of their hatred.  PROUD of their stubbornness.

I know they won't look at this either but it does seem to be written JUST FOR THEM...

WHAT THE FUCK HAS OBAMA DONE SO FAR???

Simple explanation for our national debt... what they forget to tell us...

n 1981, the country had just elected Reagan to cure the "all-time-high, Trillion-Dollar debt." But compared with the size of the American economy, the debt was at its lowest point in fifty years. Reagan was duped by the "supply siders" and his greatest "disappointment" was adding $1.6 trillion to the $1T debt he said was catastrophic.


Now, here's the new slide show that explains what happened step by step. In case you have questions, it's documented here.  

So, NOW you are mad? This is why I don't take you seriously...

After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get  Mad?      

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.    

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate Energy policy and push us to invade Iraq .   

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.      

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.   You didn't get mad when we spent over 800 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.      

You didn't get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.        

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared in Iraq .        

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.         

You didn't get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.         

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when Bush rang up 10 trillion dollars in combined budget and current account deficits.        

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.      

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans drown.       

You didn't get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend, the filthy rich, over a trillion dollars in taxbreaks. You didn't get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several decades.       

You didn't get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.      

You didn't get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US Citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement, and home values.       

No.....You finally got mad

When a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.

Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick...Oh, Hell No!!

~~Author Unknown

So desperate, they don't even read their own reports

"For a single parent with two kids and an income of $20,000, that difference is even more pronounced. The jump is 8 percent (in after-tax income) under the Dem plan, and only 4.4 percent under the GOP one."

RNC Accidentally Highlights Study That Proves Dems' Tax Cut Plan Is More Generous

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08...

One of the promises made in the GOP's "Pledge to America" is that the party will make all legislation available for three days so that legislators can read it for clarity. One can hardly blame them for seeking to confront their own shortcomings! Perhaps they can take that promise further, and actually promise to read the studies that they circulate to the media, especially the ones that actually undermine their professed policies. This is just an idea I had!

See, yesterday morning, the Republican National Committee really wanted to stick it to Democratic legislators for that time they totally punted on holding a vote on the future of the Bush-era tax cuts. And so, they armed themselves with a shiny new study from the Tax Foundation that they thought really aided their criticism. "What excuse will the Democrats use now?"

Hey, who knows the answer to that question, right? Nevertheless, as Greg Sargent pointed out, the RNC really miscalculated:

As it happens, the study compared the actual Dem plan with the GOP one. And it found that for a family of four with an income of $40,000, the Dem plan -- continuing the low end tax cuts, plus the stimulus measures -- would cause a 7.8 percent jump in after-tax income. That jump would only be 6.8 percent under the GOP plan to continue all the Bush tax cuts.

For a single parent with two kids and an income of $20,000, that difference is even more pronounced. The jump is 8 percent under the Dem plan, and only 4.4 percent under the GOP one.

In fairness to the RNC, the study is good for the GOP in one sense. It confirms that the Bush tax cuts were helpful to the poor, despite popular belief that they only helped the rich. But the author of the study, Nick Kasprak, confirms that this finding isn't directly relevant to what Dems have proposed.

"Our study shows that the Bush tax cuts helped the poor a lot more than the popular perception, so the RNC is right to send it around for that reason," Kasprak tells me. "But the study also shows that the Congressional Democrats' plan is more generous to the poor, because it extends certain stimulus provisions into 2011, which the Republican plan does not. That isn't what the RNC wants to show."

Guess they really, really should have read that study, all the way to the end. But now you know whose tax cut plans are more generous to ordinary Americans.

"I'm a Democrat because I am Mormon"

This came up during another discussion... I remembered reading this article (or one very similar to it) long ago and was actually able to find it (or, again, something very much like it). I sincerely value my friendships with people of different faiths, but often worry that my political views will cause division with those who lean GOP. I hope that after reading this, my friends will see how we have much in common after all...

I'm a Democrat because I am Mormon

To many, it sounds like a contradiction in terms: a Mormon Democrat. People regularly ask me how I reconcile my religious beliefs with my political opinions, shocked that a good Mormon girl would throw her support behind such a scandalous party. Believe it or not, being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints doesn't automatically make one an ardent member of the GOP, even in Utah. In fact, it's my religious beliefs about compassion and generosity that have made me liberal.

The LDS Church's official position has long been one of political neutrality, endorsing neither major political party. When the church takes one of its rare official political stances, it is always on a particular issue and should not be misconstrued as support of one party or one political ideology. Mormon leaders constantly encourage all followers, regardless of party, to become involved in politics, vote and run for office when possible. Yet many believe that to be LDS, you have to be Republican. It's just not true-if anything, the Democratic Party more closely adheres to basic Christian values.

Obviously, individual Mormons hold different views about the same beliefs, just as members of the Democratic Party take a wide variety of positions. But many elements of liberal politics are principles central to the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: social welfare, the environment, the role of government, the balance between business and the community. I'm not a Democrat in spite of my religion-I'm a Democrat because of my religion.

A core principle of most religions is a basic sense of compassion for the poor. In fact, most religions view poverty as a symbol of humility and strength, while wealth is seen as a moral failing vice that brings pride and unrighteousness. Yet many on the far right treat the poor as lazy, regarding wealth as a sign of character. Mormons are counseled to work toward a society in which "there are no poor among us." Democrats make social assistance a priority in a way that other parties do not. In many ways, liberals see the government as a useful tool that, when used correctly, can improve life for everyone.

One reason many people assume Mormons must be conservative may be so-called moral issues, like abortion or same-sex marriage. But Joseph Smith taught that matters of conscience should not be regulated but instead, taught through principle by example, letting others choose whether to follow. To me, such issues become peripheral when I examine basic ideological differences about the role of government-to create opportunity and help everyone succeed.

The LDS religion teaches of a basic human responsibility to help and lift others in righteousness and knowledge. It, therefore, makes sense to support a political party that makes social programs a priority. A government that fails to provide for its weakest members is not only destined for failure-it's morally depraved.

Conservatives often maintain that anyone willing to work hard should be able to earn a decent living. But economically, the playing field has never been level. In fact, Mormon scripture emphasizes that worldly goods are gifts from God because of his generosity, not our entitlement. Consequently, my religious views teach me that I have an inherent duty to give to people around me-everything I have is not mine at all, but a gift given to share.

The United States can have a healthy economy without deserting the less fortunate, such as the sick, the poor, the elderly and the homeless. Perpetual handouts are not the answer, but there are countless underprivileged Americans who need help with everything from job training to child care to adequate health-care coverage.

Many conservatives claim social programs are inefficient, and they are right to want to curb waste. Waste can be reduced without deserting social responsibility. It's important to remember the point: we're here to help each other. One of Christ's most basic messages was about giving without thought of reward. It follows that many Christians would feel a sense of social responsibility to give for the collective good.

The most basic of religious principles is that individuals have a responsibility to take care of themselves and a responsibility to help others. Many conservatives have bizarrely distorted self reliance into selfishness, maintaining that you are only responsible for yourself. As a Mormon, it's frightening to see selfishness treated as a virtue-I believe we can take care of ourselves without abandoning those around us.

Republicans are often anti government and pro-business, which makes sense in moderation. Obviously, excessive government power must be curbed and reasonable economic growth should be encouraged. But the LDS Church has a long tradition of strength in community-Mormons know the power that comes when a committed group of people works together to lift the less fortunate. To view money or economic development as the ultimate aim of every political undertaking is grossly misguided-the mission of life and of government is much larger than that. Religion involves a basic sense of decency and social liberals adhering to the belief that it's more important to lend a helping hand than to be rich.

Another basic LDS belief is that as humans, we are stewards over the earth with a responsibility to guard and tend. From a religious perspective, it follows that we should do what we can to preserve the earth instead of exploit it. Typically, Republicans are against environmental regulations because they worry laws could hinder industry. But if I believe the earth is a sacred creation that I'm responsible to look after, it makes sense that preserving its glory would be a higher priority than shortsighted economic development.

Economically, liberals have a more balanced plan for the country than the conservative free-market-fixes-all approach. In his book, Approaching Zion, Hugh Nibley discusses how many Republicans view an ideal economy as purely capitalist, a survival of the fittest in which anything goes. In such a system, the weak, the frail, the sick and the poor will rightfully die off because they will not have the strength to flourish-a remarkable contrast to the parable of Christ seeking after one lost sheep.

Obviously, all views of Mormonism don't match up with all views of the Democratic Party. In fact, I commend the LDS Church's neutral stance that individuals should study the issues, make their own political decisions and act accordingly. Neither party will complement any church on every issue. Yet I see many liberal views directly in line with LDS principles.

I'm a Democrat because I'm a Mormon and I believe in loving our neighbors and in helping the less fortunate. I believe in a wise, balanced stewardship of the earth and that I have a responsibility to share what I have with others. I believe government can be a powerful tool for good and we can be self reliant without being selfish. To be liberal and Mormon is not only possible,it's practical, it's compassionate and it's principled.

Published: Wednesday, April 14, 2004


{I found one reference that claims this is written by Kathleen Gurr, but I don't have it confirmed.}

If Jesus was Republican...

Who is the man behind the curtain? Good luck finding out...

Pay very close as to who is behind those influential campaign ads.  They know how to scare you and they have the money to do it.   They think you are stupid enough to blindly follow their lead.   Show them you are smarter than that.  Please.

Do they even realize they being manipulated? Never mind, don't answer that.

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I feel his pain...

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