Bill Maher is sometimes crude, usually irreverent, and almost always funny. In his latest he had at everybody’s least favorite circus, the Republican Party. Video.
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Although Mitt Romney used the word "conservative" 19 times in a short speech at the February 10, 2012, Conservative Political Action Conference, the audience he used this word to appeal to was not conservative by any traditional definition. It was right wing. Despite the common American practice of using "conservative" and "right wing" interchangeably, right wing is not a synonym for conservative and not even a true variant of conservatism - although the right wing will opportunistically borrow conservative themes as required
Bill Maher panned New Jersey governor Chris Christie for vetoing the state's gay marriage bill on Friday.
"It's my home state so I take these things a a little personally," he said. "When somebody from New Jersey does something that I consider sort of backwards, and I consider this backwards on the part of the governor, it bothers me."
I wonder how many South Carolinians will take this farce to be fact? After all, we're the home of Alvin Greene, Ben Frasier, and other mysterious "Democratic" candidates who, in some precinct cases in that party's 2010 primary, wound up getting more votes than the total number of registered of voters in those precincts -- but still wound up the declared winners of those primary races, as if those elections were valid.
If Republicans seem spooked to you these days, here’s why.
President Obama’s political comeback over the past several months aligns neatly with when he began more aggressively attacking the GOP and politicking for economic growth and equality back in September.
Republicans haven’t quite thrown away what they see as a winnable presidential election, at least not yet. But they’re trying their best.
In GOP circles, there is more than a whiff of panic in the air. Unemployment is still painfully high, Americans remain dissatisfied with the country’s direction, even the most favorable polls show President Obama’s approval at barely 50 percent — and yet there is a sense that the Republicans’ odds of winning back the White House grow longer day by day.
Before someone accuses me of saying that all Republicans are intellectually substandard, I do not think that is true at all. Nevertheless, we have an ongoing stream of psychological studies that link decreased mental capacity with Republican practices and policies. Personally, I think that the leadership, the Republican politicians and pundits, are quite bright, with a few obvious exceptions. The problem is that they are devious enough to take advantage of their base by promulgating policies, designed to pander to their mental dysfunction.
Back in the Totalitarian Corporate Plutocracy of Fitzwalkerstan, formerly Wisconsin, things look pretty bleak for Fartfuhrer Walker, as he is at bay, desperately seeking escape from both the law and the people. It appears so unlikely that the Fartfuhrer can hang on, that the heroes of Wisconsin have a great opportunity to restore their state from the clutches of Republican tyranny. Videos.
Every year, the State Department issues reports on individual rights in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries have been condemned for the use of secret evidence and torture.
Loving others is a principal tenant of Christianity, but far to many people many people fail to realize that authentic Christianity and Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christianity are completely unrelated. Here is an example of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christianity in action.
The Montana Supreme Court just sent a chill down Corporate America’s spine. The state’s high court restored the century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees.
This stunning rebuke of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 that deemed corporations as people, which gave them constitutional rights to spend money on political campaigns is a win for democracy.
A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers.
I see by the calendar that Congress is due back in session Tuesday, whatever that means. They’ve actually been in session — sorta, kinda, why not? — a parliamentary trick to prevent President Obama from naming people to keep the government running. But even that is in dispute.
Thus far, the Worst Congress Ever has done nothing but show that the United States can be a nonfunctioning democracy when it wants to, like Italy but with all-you-can-eat buffets. In a single demi-term, it nearly shut down the government, fouled a fledgling economic recovery with a pointless fight over the debt ceiling, and then threatened to withhold spending money for 160 million working Americans by raising the payroll tax. Brinkmanship is its only game.
While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They “fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.
In the war of rhetoric that has developed in Washington as both sides blame each other for our economic mess, one argument has been repeated so often that many people now regard it as fact:
Rich people create the jobs.
Specifically, entrepreneurs and investors, when incented by low taxes, build companies and create millions of jobs.
Next week the Los Angeles City Council will vote on a resolution that calls on Congress to amend the Constitution to clearly establish that only living persons -- not corporations -- are endowed with constitutional rights and that money is not the same as free speech. If this resolution is passed, Los Angeles will be the first major city in the U.S. to call for an end to all corporate constitutional rights.
I have long argued that the impact of the Affordable Care Act is not nearly as big of a deal as opponents would have you believe. At the end of the day, the law is – in the main – little more than a successful effort to put an end to some of the more egregious health insurer abuses while creating an environment that should bring more Americans into programs that will give them at least some of the health care coverage they need.
There is, however, one notable exception – and it’s one that should have a long lasting and powerful impact on the future of health care in our country.
Don’t get me wrong. I still remained firmly committed to Universal, single payer health care for all Americans, administered like Medicare, but organized around pay for result, not pay for service. That said, not everything about the PPACA (usually noted as the ACA) is bad. One of the law’s best features takes effect on the first of next month. When the bill passed, the naysayers accused that the final regulations on this item would be tailored to fit the needs of Big Insurance. The naysayers were wrong.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday said the largest U.S. banks and financial companies should hold extra cash on their balance sheets to cushion themselves against financial crises.
The proposal by the chief U.S. banking regulator will affect banks with over $50 billion in assets. There are even stricter rules for companies with over $500 billion in assets such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.
American citizens are celebrating in the streets as their government snatched final victory in the War on Terror on 1 Dec. 2011 -- through a maneuver that used legislative brilliance rather than bullets.
The moment of victory came when 61 senators passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2012 that allows the indefinite military detention on American soil of American citizens who are merely suspected of having connections to terrorism.
Republicans were so anxious to avoid extending the payroll tax cut for Main Street Americans, that they bent over backwards to block it. They insisted on making the poor, not the rich, pay for it. They loaded it down with poison pills. And even when Senate Republicans finally did compromise, the House Republican leadership refuse to allow a vote on it, because it would have passed. Boehner even turned off C-SPANs cameras, so America could not see Democratic objections. However, the public outcry was so great that the Republicans caved in yesterday. This is how it happened. Videos.
Some Democrats are mourning the retirement of Ben Nelson [DINO-NE], aka Benedict Arnold Nelson, because it may make it more difficult for Democrats to retain the Senate. I disagree. Nelson even took Grover Norquist’s pledge! Much like Blanch Lincoln, formerly [DINO-AR], I doubt that he could have won reelection, because Republicans are no longer content to be represented by an unofficial goose stepper, and Democrats don’t want him. According to Jamelle Bouie, he strove to embody the worst of the Senate. Many of the leftists now opposing Obama claim that he had a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. It was never filibuster proof because of Nelson and Lieberman [ASSHOLE-CT]. For example, Nelson wielded the vote that blocked the public option.
It turns out that Republicans might be right about health reform costing some jobs. The jobs of health insurance company lobbyists. Aww. From the second to third quarter of this year, the health insurance industry is cutting lobbying budgets.
It is a rare thing, when we actually get to see the minds of the one percent and analyze their own perspective on their plots to prevent control od their rapacious greed. None of this should be overly surprising, except to those who still believe that there is no difference between the two political parties. If you do, that is exactly what the Banksters want you top believe, as the following unequivocally demonstrates. Video.
Like most bullies, the banks are cowards. They talk a big game, but if confronted with their crimes, they run for cover and go whining to "mommy".
Today, I walked up and down a sidewalk, in front of a branch of Chase and a branch of BofA. I handed out about 250 flyers during lunch hour.
They panicked and called their private security people, then more private security and finally the cops. That's when they found out that they didn't have a leg to stand on
Follow me after the break for the delightful story...
“(I)f anyone will not work, neither should he eat,” Bachmann said.
What this Republican presidential candidate is apparently overlooking, however, is that the number of job openings in the country is far, far less than the number of unemployed.
Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts introduced today a constitutional amendment bill to overturn the US Supreme Court’s January 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC and to make clear that corporations are not people with rights under the US Constitution. The introduction of the bill – the “People’s Rights Amendment” -- marks a major breakthrough in the growing movement across the country to end corporate personhood and restore democracy to the people.
“Corporations are not people,” said Congressman McGovern. “They do not breathe. They do not have children. They do not die in war. They are artificial entities which we the people create and, as such, we govern them, not the other way around.”
Yesterday’s elections included three measures that received national attention do to Republican attempts to cram their agenda down voters throats. They hoodwinked their way into office by promising jobs, and far too many Americans believed their lies. In Ohio, Republicans tried to destroy the power of unions. In Maine, Republicans tried to limit voter registration. In Mississippi, Republicans tried to give a fertilized egg all the rights of a person, making it murder for a doctor to end a pregnancy to save the life of a woman. Thankfully, it was a bad day for Republican Tyranny. Video
Do you remember the Dean scream? When I saw it in context, there was nothing wrong with it. But later, the broadcast media took it out of context and used it as propaganda against Dean, who I believe would have won by a wide enough margin in 2004 that Republicans could not steal the election. Friday, Rick Perry gave several minutes of politically fatal video that leaves the Dean scream in the dust. Video.
Governor John Kasich has fully followed the Republican meme of attacking labor at the state level. But Ohioans fought back and put the Republicans’ draconian anti-union measure on the ballot as Issue 2, scheduled for a vote Tuesday. Saturday, Sunday and today were the to be the last three days of early voting. Union members and other working people traditionally use early voting to avoid conflicts between voting and their work schedule. To block the labor vote Republicans have seized on an obscure provision of a just-passed bill to cancel the last three days of early voting, probably illegally. John Nichols brought this to light.
Yesterday, authorities charged Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez with attempting to assassinate President Obama after he allegedly fired an assault riffle at the White House. Never missing an opportunity to politicize such an event, Fox News baselessly tried to tie Ortega-Hernandez to the 99 Percent Movement, running a chyron that dubbed the man the “‘Occupy’ shooter.”
The Republican tactic of distraction through social issues is very effective, because they threaten real right of real people. Republicans are now adopting a concept they call “personhood”, which translates into an attempt to undo a women’s reproductive rights, not only outlawing abortion, but also many forms of birth control as well. On November 8, Mississippi voters will decide a personhood amendment. Video.
It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.
Mason County, Texas, is notable mostly for being the only place in the United States to have a piece of public art inspired by the book Old Yeller. It's also home to Keller's Riverside Store, a general store owned by one Crockett Keller, who recently cut a radio ad announcing that his store would refuse to offer training lessons to Muslims and Obama supporters.
Fines and grants of criminal immunity you are currently pushing for Wall St. are not enough to stop them from harming us again, and send a message that America has two kinds of justice: one for the rich and one for the rest.
Killing bin Laden and other terrorists shows you are willing to protect us from external threats; we need you to protect us from the internal threat of these economic terrorists by prosecuting them for their crimes.
The latest edition of Real Time featured one of Bill Maher’s patented balance things out with three Republicans and a Democrat panels, but the Democrat was Alan Grayson. While P.J. fellow panelist P.J. O’Rourke broke out his bathing and hippie jokes, former Rep. Grayson schooled him on Occupy Wall Street.
Got a flurry of emails yesterday after the inimitable Rush Limbaugh lumped me and Dylan Ratigan in with the behind-the-scenes power structure. Apparently Rush got hold of Breitbart’s story about the email list and decided to run with it:
Rep. Michele Bachmann says President Barack Obama's approval ratings are historically low -- and sinking even lower.
During the Sept. 22, 2011, Fox News/Google debate in Orlando, Bachmann said, "President Obama has the lowest public approval ratings of any president in modern times. He hasn't gone to the basement yet. It'll be a lot lower than what it is now."
Officials in Rick Perry's home state of Texas have set off a scientists' revolt after purging mentions of climate change and sea-level rise from what was supposed to be a landmark environmental report. The scientists said they were disowning the report on the state of Galveston Bay because of political interference and censorship from Perry appointees at the state's environmental agency.
Former U.S. Sen. and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has a well-known Google problem.
For the uninitiated, if you Google Santorum's name, the first result you'll probably get is not his personal website but a fake definition of "santorum," a sexual byproduct that's a bit too graphic to talk about in detail here. (Of course, you can Google him and easily find out.)
Few reporters attended Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) response to the economic speech given by President Barack Obama at the U.S. Captiol September 8, 2011 in Washington, DC.Bachmann gave an unofficial rebuttal to the president's speech after Republicans decided to forego a formal one.
Elizabeth Warren is already making waves in her pursuit of a Massachusetts Senate seat. As of Thursday morning, Warren -- a Harvard Law School professor and staunch defender of consumer protections -- is the most searched person on Google.
In a move without precedent in the modern era, Republican congressional leaders including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) have penned a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urging him not to take any steps to help the economy.
A new survey of Obama voters by Survey USA found that by a margin of 82%-18% they are more likely to support him again in 2012 if he raises taxes on the rich.
The good news for Obama is that 66% of those who voted for him in 2008 approve of his handling of the economy compared to 27% who disapprove. Sixty three percent of those who disapprove are doing so because they believe that Obama has been too willing to compromise with Republicans. The president’s voters made it very clear what they want. Eighty one percent of those who voted for Obama said that they want to see the president lay out a broad jobs plan next week. Only 16% wanted him to focus on smaller measures.
I should have figured that it would be impossible to keep the lid on Obama’s jobs plan until Thursday. It appears that Obama will be proposing a $300 billion package, bigger than I had expected, but not as big as I had hoped. Here’s what we know. Video.
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been stripped of legal immunity for acts of torture against US citizens authorized while he was in office. The 7th Circuit made the ruling in the case of two American contractors who were tortured by the US military in Iraq after uncovering a smuggling ring within an Iraqi security company. The company was under contract to the Department of Defense. The company was assisting Iraqi insurgent groups in the "mass acquisition" of American weapons. The ruling comes as Rumsfeld begins his book tour with a visit to Boston on Wednesday, and as new, uncensored photos of Abu Ghraib spark fresh outrage across Internet. Awareness is growing that Bush-era crimes went far beyond mere waterboarding.
America’s economy has suffered setbacks in the past, but during those perilous times, the leaders in Washington have come together out of concern for the stability and survival of the economy and the nation. The country now finds itself in another tenuous situation and instead of coming together to make important decisions to save the nation’s economic standing, Republicans are working to keep the economy on the precipice to portray the Obama Administration as ineffective. What the nation, and indeed the world, sees is that Republicans obstructed difficult economic decisions that prompted one of three credit rating agencies to downgrade America’s credit rating. It is difficult to know exactly how the downgrade will affect the economic picture, but suffice it to say, it does not bode well for the nation.
Remember when Al Franken took apart the testimony of the lying Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family at a DOMA hearing? Minnery claimed that a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report showed that “children living with their own married biological or adoptive mothers and fathers were generally healthier and happier.” Al Franken (D-MN) set him straight in front of “God and everybody”:
There is a battle going on in the Republican class war for millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals. While the focus for Democrats is on jobs, that for Republicans is for austerity. After all, every penny spent on people who are in need, deserving, or both is a penny Republicans can’t spend on socialism for the rich. The economic evidence is so obvious to all but the most highly-priced “play for pay” economists that even Republican economist’s oppose austerity. Sadly, they are not getting the attention they deserve.
In an interview with Countdown host Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, former vice president and Current TV founder Al Gore said the United States needed an “American spring” like the Arab spring in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
“We need to have an American spring,” he said. “Non-violent change, where people from the grassroots get involved again. Not in the tea party style. There are people who are genuinely upset in the tea party, I understand that, but that movement was funded with seed money from right-win billionaires, the Koch brothers, and promoted on Fox News and turned into a stalking horse for this right-wing agenda that a lot of people have been trying to push on this country for a long time.”
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and, as you consider the career and future presidential prospects of an incredible American phenomenon named Michele Bachmann, do one more thing. Don't laugh.
Wall Street had a terrible day. Stocks were off over six percent, giving the S&P 500 the worst day since December 2008, and pushing the price of gold over $1,700 per ounce. Republicans are blaming Obama, for the mess they caused. Treasuries are not weak. The market fled to them as a safe haven. What crashed the market is that the S&P downgrade brought it to international notice that the Republican Party is tanking our economy for political gain. Let’s go ever what happened and how in more detail. Videos
California Gov. Jerry Brown is calling for President Barack Obama to respond to Republicans in what he calls "a very powerful way" during the upcoming presidential election.
Brown says the Republicans are gearing up to destroy Obama during the campaign, and he says that, in response, Obama has to be "authentic" and "powerful."
After arriving 30 minutes late to speak at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann spoke only three minutes then fled the event after being heckled by a gay-rights advocate, the Huffington Post reported.
Gabe Aderhold, a 17-year-old from Edina, Minn., yelled, “Shame on you,” several times at Bachmann. Aderhold had confronted other Republican candidates earlier in the day about their opposition to LGBT equality.
A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling is in the works. If it goes through, many commentators will declare that disaster was avoided. But they will be wrong.