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POPSCrazed Oklahoma Republican lies to constituents, later admits lying "conceded that President Obama requested more military spending" Arguably the greatest embarrassment to U.S. politics - Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe. Cry baby. Pet project removed from increased defense budget under President Obama. Resorts to lying for payback. Another typical rebubbacan
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POPSHeartless GOP: Michael Steele meet Amanda Duzak The room woke up and other than those glaring from the front, the applause was wall to wall. But it's Steele's response that makes this moment both newsworthy and a terrible comment on his character. After saying that he believed in a mature, honest discussion and not in shouting, Steele said, "People are coming to these town meetings and they're like ." He then looked and gestured right at Ms. Duzak and said, "It makes for great TV. You'll probably make it tonight, enjoy it." He then turned his back to her, as the crowd clapped. Think about what Steele did. He didn't only turn his back and rudely dismiss a young woman whose mother just died of cancer. He used the shameful recent behavior of the right wing town hall screamers -- his own party's base -- to try and turn the crowd against Ms. Duzak. As Smith said to me afterward, "I couldn't believe he acted that way toward her... toward all of us. He was just mean.
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POPSUS is slipping toward Plutocracy: Money rules
Latest example is healthcare reform. In the second quarter of 2009, the health industry spent $133 million on lobbyists, reckons the Center for Responsive Politics. That doesn’t count lobbying by associations. The US Chamber of Commerce alone spent $26 million on lobbying in the first half of this year, “a good chunk” on the health issue, says Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the center. Polls show the public wants healthcare reform and a public-insurance option. So the health-insurance industry is pretending to be in favor of reform while trying to kill it through campaign contributions, ads, and lobbying, says Wendell Potter, who until recently led corporate communications at CIGNA, a major health-insurance company. Moreover trade unions provide some balance of power to the might of business and wealth. In Sweden, 85 percent of the labor force is organized; in other major nations 35-40 percent. Compare with 7.4 percent of workers in the private sector in the US.
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POPSTerror Alerts used in 2004 to help Bush win reelection More: Dave Weigel, writing for the Washington Independent, notes that in the past, Ridge has denied manipulating security information for political reasons. In 2004, for example, he said, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security." The Bush administration was forced to admit in the days after the 2004 alert that it was based on intelligence three or four years old. Officials then claimed there was a previously unmentioned "separate stream of intelligence" that justified the warning -- but offered little tangible information to support their new story.. Ridge's book, "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again," comes out September 1. Ridge reveals that he considered resigning because he was urged to issue a politically-motivated security alert on the eve of Bush’s re-election:
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POPSRepublicans see themselves in the backseat for YEARS to come. More: Recently named counselor to the Senate Republican leader, Martinez has been a factor in GOP leadership meetings. As the lone Hispanic among Senate Republicans and, briefly, as chair of the Republican National Committee, he tried to move his party toward adopting a policy of comprehensive immigration reform, without success. On Thursday, he was one of only nine Republicans to vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.
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POPSRepublican Rep. Pete Hoekstra mercilessly heckled by Twitter users. Hoekstra compared the mass uprising of Iranians – utilizing Twitter as an organizing tool -- to the GOP's attempt to express dissatisfaction over Nancy Pelosi's decision to adjourn Congress before an energy vote last August. More Twitter responses: Rode a packed metro into work this morning. Now know what it's like to be in a concentration camp. I burned my finger this morning on a hot plate, now I know how Joan of Arc felt. I spilled some lukewarm coffee on myself just now, which is somewhat analogous to being boiled in oil. I splashed my face with cold water this morning after shaving, which is similar to having been waterboarded. I got a splinter in my hand today. Felt just like Jesus getting nailed to the cross. Someone walked in on me while I was in the bathroom. Reminded me of Pearl Harbor. Had to move all my stuff to a new office w/o a corner view. Now I know what the Trail of Tears was like. Ate leftover for lunch today. Just like the Donner par
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POPSWhy it pays to be a Moderate Republican. Collins fights oil speculators. Collins was also one of only three Republicans voting in favor of Obama's economic stimulus bill, and that only after getting a promise of spending cuts and more school construction. Obama may need a handful of Republicans to revamp of financial regulation, including the oil markets. Will Collins demand something again from the president in exchange for crossing party lines? Offering a coy smile, Collins answered, "I do think the president has been receptive when I make suggestions."
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POPSSenator to-be Franken picks up 87 votes. Republicans still obstructing Democracy. Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar, meanwhile, has been one of the most vocal critics of Coleman's legal strategy, saying this past week that the former Senator and national GOP "is playing not just with fire, but with dynamite ... this thing is going to blow up in their face." Former Republican Sen. Dave Durenberger has said that the party leadership in Washington does not have "Coleman's best interests in mind." "If Norm had to finance this recount on his own, he never could have gone through it," he said. "Norm couldn't afford to put a nickel into this thing, but John Cornyn could." GOP = Grand Obstructionists Party
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POPSSarah Palin: More Earmark Hypocrisy The earmarks that Palin apparently will accept could also be ridiculed in a McCain-ish fashion. They include $475,000 to construct a "heritage center" in the Chilkat Indian Village; $150,000 to support private industry participation in two international fishery groups; $200,000 for investigating and prosecuting bootlegging; $200,000 for researching the king crab; and $855,000 for building fairgrounds. The Alaska earmarks also include $1.2 million for construction work on an airport on Akutan, a tiny island that relies on seaplane for contact with the Alaskan mainland. (The Coast Guard handles medical emergencies.) The island has roughly 800 residents. Could this be dubbed the Airport to Nowhere?
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POPSThe Joy of Rebubbacan Hysteria From source: Scenario B -- the far more likely one, in my opinion -- is that dark Republican prayers to the economic gods will go unanswered and the economy indeed will have lifted by late 2010. In this scenario, at the rate they're going and given the spectacled manner in which they're doing it, Republicans will have effectively extinguished themselves as a national party of serious opposition.
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POPS McCain To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own It must be nice to have staffers writing that stuff for you. Too bad he spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster response so thoroughly. Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt. 1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina." But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot down the funding on a 41-56 vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding. the Republicans wanted no part of it and despite his post-Katrina pledge to "do all that is necessary to fund essential relief and recovery efforts and help those in need," John McCain was right there to shoot down every initiative that would have
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POPSJohn Edwards = John McCain Edwards was a typical "guy" in his cheating ways: "But going out and getting stupidly laid and then coming home and reconciling with the wife is not the same as going out, getting stupidly laid, then divorcing the crippled wife and marrying the pretty young thing (and taking out your marriage license before the divorce is final). One is stupid. The other is cruel. Brutal. Heinous. And well within the moral capacities of our Republican presidential candidate." Cenk Uygur, in his regular blog at AOL News, observes, "Now that Edwards has admitted to an extramarital affair, everyone will now condemn him and say he has no political career left. I want to ask all of those people, how is Edwards' affair any different John McCain's? If Edwards is disqualified from running for office because of this, isn't McCain as well?"
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POPSThe VP Choice that Lost the Presidency for McCain It's also a slap in the face of Democratic women voters. They don't get Hillary but they get Sarah as the first potential woman President? In fact, I can just hear Biden saying, "Sarah Palin, you are NO Hillary Clinton!"
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POPSCan't Afford Gas? Google Tour Elitist McCain's 8-11 Homes John McCain owns 8-11 different homes purchased for over $10 million dollars. The McCains were in tax default on one of them (how many of you normal average Joe's get away with that?). And remember, Obama is suppose to be the elitist. When republicans aren't laughing all the way to the bank, at their dim witted supporters expense, they are screwing America when nobody's looking or listening.
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POPSHow to Honor the U.S. Flag Since republicans have made flag politics a cornerstone of their campaigns (instead of trying to solve problems that face average Americans everyday), you would think the leader of the conservatives and republicans wouldn't keep disrespecting the flag as he does here and on opening night of the olympics. However, I do think this symbolizes something very profound. America has gone backward under Bush and the republican presidency. Sheesh, what a moron. Can we be done with the republicans already?
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POPSParty of McBush getting crushed in polls, key races More: In the polls, they are setting records (and not the good kind). The most recent Gallup Poll has 67 percent of voters disapproving of President Bush; those numbers are worse than Richard Nixon’s on the eve of his resignation. A CBS News poll taken at the end of April found only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP — the lowest since CBS started asking the question more than two decades ago. By comparison, 52 percent of the public has a favorable view of the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee polling, according to a memo it provided, has two-thirds of swing voters expecting McCain to pursue policies very similar to Bush’s. The voters’ top three concerns about McCain: his age, his support for the war and his similarities to Bush.
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POPSDemocrat tied to Obama wins special election in Mississippi More: The special election was held to fill the seat of former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Sen. Trent Lott’s term last December. Wicker had never faced a competitive race since first elected in 1994, and the district gave President Bush 62 percent of the vote in 2004. The results amount to a rebuke of the Republican strategy of trying nationalize the race by tying Childers to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama held low approval ratings in the district, but the nearly $2 million that GOP groups poured into northern Mississippi failed to make the race a referendum on the national political landscape. A GOP House leadership aide told Politico last week that “if we don’t win in Mississippi, I think you are going to see a lot of people running around here looking for windows to jump out of.”
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POPSGOP Leaders Warn of Election Disaster More: And in a closed-door session at the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to “save them” in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves. Although a top House Republican brushed aside Gingrich’s broadside as “hype from a has-been who desperately wants to be a player but can’t anymore,” the harsh words from Cole were harder to ignore. National republican Campaign Committee run by an Oklahoman? No wonder they are getting they are getting their b***s kicked. I can think of only one or two states more out of touch with the rest of the country.
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POPSOklahoma Republican wants to replace U.S. made military rifle with German made gun. More: More than $300 million has been spent on 221,000 of the carbines over the past two years alone. And the Defense Department is asking Congress to provide another $230 million for 136,000 more. Lord, if republicans are going to deliver us BS wars couldn't they at least spend our taxpayer dollars on U.S. pork. Here's somemore brilliance from Oklahoma, Tom Coburn's senatorial twin Jim Inhofe, For example my area of expertise is the English language. -- Sen. James Mountain Inhofe (R - OK)
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POPSHillary slipping amongst white women in Pennsylvania The most familiar echo among many Pennsylvania women when they discuss Clinton is disappointment. Ask them when they became disillusioned and they can cite the exact moment. For Clare Howard, from Southhampton, it was the night when Bill Clinton suggested that Obama did well in the South Carolina primary because of his race. That went too far, said Howard. "It was like they would do anything to win," Joan Schmidt, in Levittown, grew tired of hearing Clinton exaggerate her experience. Jane Dovel, 68, turned away from Clinton after the New York senator's reaction to Obama's comments that Reagan had been a "transformative political figure." Clinton fired that Republicans hadn't had better ideas. "I don't think it's a better idea to privatize Social Security," she said. "I don't think it's a better idea to eliminate the minimum wage." That's not what Obama had said, recalled Dovel. "What Clinton said was a blatant lie," "From that moment on she was not to be trusted."
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POPSJohn McCain On Housing More: After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. McCain Voted Against Over $1 Billion In Homeless Assistance. McCain voted against an amendment to restore homeless assistance funding to the 1995 level of $1.12 billion, an increase of $360 million from the bill, and offset the costs by reducing funds for the renewal of expiring subsidized private housing contracts On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain?
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POPSJohn McCain's Money Troubles Continue More: Virtually every campaign observer agrees that the Arizona senator, who alluded to his lackluster and unenthusiastic fundraising efforts last spring, is going to have to at least double his $11 million monthly take to hopefully stay competitive. Me: Looks like tepid support in the republican base for McCain. A devout republican cousin of mine called my Dad to discuss Obama as my cousin thinks he is going to vote for Obama. Cousin says he doesn't believe another 100 years of war in Iraq is in our country's best interest. So people are answering poll questions but they aren't reaching into their pockets to pony up the cash.
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POPSRepublicans See Storm Clouds Gathering More: "It's no mystery," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.). "You have a very unhappy electorate, which is no surprise, with oil at $108 a barrel, stocks down a few thousand points, a war in Iraq with no end in sight and a president who is still very, very unpopular. He's just killed the Republican brand." Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain (Ariz.) helped Oberweis raise money, and the NRCC pumped more than $1.2 million into the district -- using more than 20 percent of its cash on hand -- to no avail. "Even if it was mostly about Jim Oberweis, it's a terrible sign," Rothenberg said. "It adds to Democratic energy and further depresses the Republicans. And you can't dismiss the idea that there is an atmospheric advantage for the Democrats." Barack Obama campaigned on behalf of Bill Foster, who took over Dennis Hastert's vacated seat.
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