Weekend Open Thread

Filed in National by on September 18, 2010

Welcome to your weekend open thread. We’re in the first weekend of the O’pocalypse. How are you enjoying the “new” Delaware? It’s certainly keeping Delaware Liberal busy! So, is there someone you want to talk about other than Christine O’Donnell?

The New York Times shows the wingnut talking point that letting Bush’s tax cuts for the rich expire would hurt small business to be a lie. Only 3% of small businesses would even qualify.

“It’s a body blow to the small-business community,” said Grover Norquist, president of the conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform.

Despite that emotional appeal, Internal Revenue Service statistics indicate that only 3 percent of small businesses would be subject to the higher tax, and many studies of previous tax increases suggest that it would have minimal impact on hiring.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 97 percent of all businesses owners do not earn enough to be subject to the higher rates, which would be levied on income of over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.

Even among the 750,000 businesses that would be subjected to the higher rates in 2011, many are sole proprietors — a classification so amorphous it can include everyone from corporate executives who earn income on rental property to entertainers, hedge fund managers and investment bankers. Because 80 percent of America’s 32 million businesses are sole proprietorships, 90 percent of the tax cut would be derived from businesses without employees.

Gee, a Republican talking point is false! What are the odds?

This is a bit of head-scratcher. Lisa Murkowski is running a write-in campaign for U.S. Senate in Alaska.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) announced Friday night she is launching a write-in campaign for re-election — a last-ditch effort to keep the seat she’s held since being appointed by her father, former Gov. Frank Murkowski (R), in 2002.

The announcement sets up a three-way race between Murkowski, Democrat Scott McAdams and Republican Joe Miller, who defeated Murkowski in the Aug. 24 primary by 2,006 votes and has the full support of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and party leaders.

“Alaskans deserve a fighter in the United States Senate who will always stand up for Alaska, who understands our great potential, and has the experience, the respect and the seniority to accomplish that,” Murkowski said. “I am that Senator.”

Murkowski also took a shot at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, saying she is “one Republican woman who won’t quit on Alaska.”

Meow! I love that shot at Palin. Apparently the only person to win a U.S. Senate seat as a write-in candidate was Strom Thurmond in 1954.

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Comments (33)

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  1. anon says:

    You know who is happiest about all that money Christine is raising?

    Evan’s and Christine’s landlords.

  2. Michelle says:

    So, is there any chance Murkowski’s write-in campaign will split the Republican vote in Alaska?

    I don’t even know anything about the Democratic nominee.

  3. Aoine says:

    Good – then maybe Evan can pay his judgement debts against him:

    look here:

    http://courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/public/ck_public_qry_main.cp_main_idx

    look him up – surprise…surprise

  4. anon says:

    Well, OK, but the joke is that you aren’t supposed to pay rent with that money…

  5. Aoine says:

    yup – thats why the FCC is now investigating….

    so no money – no rent-get evicted – get wages garnished

    – have money now still can’t pay outstanding judgements

    that sucks…..

    lets see when Evan actually settles his judgement….THAT out to be interesting……

  6. Michelle says:

    Nate Silver thinks Murkowski could actually win. She’s polling pretty well, it looks like. I was hoping that she might split the Republican vote and give the seat to the Democrat, but Silver thinks that’s unlikely. Sigh.

  7. Auntie Dem says:

    I hope Evan enjoyed his 15 minutes because it’s so over.

  8. JG says:

    Murkowski may well end up handing the seat to McAdams. This election may turn out far better then the Democrats could have hoped for.

    It seems O’Donnell writes off anything negative about her with “It was just misunderstanding”. When you here that phrase, she’s lying. I’ve heard that very phrase come up a number times. Her mortgage, her tax lien, and a staffer from her 2008 run quoted her with that very phrase as O’Donnell’s excuse when she spent money on ridiculous things and didn’t pay the staff.

  9. JG says:

    And while I’m accusing O’Donnell of lying. She seems to be particularly bad at. Claiming things that court document show to be not true. And making statement that contradict earlier statements she’s made that have been recorded. And not just once or twice, but quite regularly.

  10. heragain says:

    But Shannyn Moore thinks Nate is wrong.

    ” @shannynmoore
    Nate Silver is wrong about Alaska. Again. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re a little bit different up here.”

  11. MJ says:

    The DSCC is already up with an anti-O’Whackamole ad on WBOC.

  12. Ishmael says:

    O’Donnell finally convinced Howard Fineman that the voters really are coming with torches and pitch forlks for the powers that be — AKA Democrats.

    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/15/o-donell-win-shows-voters-are-in-a-mood-to-wreak-vengeance.print.html

    Democrats are busy trying to convince themselves that the GOP is hopelessly divided. I didn’t see that in Newark, Dela. Many of the O’Donnell voters were women, interestingly, and cared about party unity. I didn’t find a single Castle voter who said he or she would vote for Democrat Chris Coons if O’Donnell won.

    This theme is probably wishful thinking on the part of the Dems. The GOP will be united around a few simple ideas: tax cuts, budget cuts, spending cuts, and rolling back Obama’s health-care and environmental agenda. That message seems likely to power the GOP to big gains, maybe even to control of Congress.

  13. Geezer says:

    “In Newark…I didn’t find a single Castle voter who said he or she would vote for Democrat Chris Coons if O’Donnell won.”

    But in Greenville yesterday I found dozens who did. We don’t need all the Republicans, just the half of them who told PPP they would support Coons if Castle lost. The Clinton plan is nearly complete — the Democrats will hold the center while the Limbaugh Republicans will gain the party purity they have so long sought. Even if this doesn’t happen this cycle, it is proceeding exactly according to DLC plan.

    Ishmael, you alone will be left to tell the tale.

  14. The Straight Scoop says:

    Tom Ross is on “This Week…” right now….

    “Nothing could be further from the truth” — Delaware’s GOP is the old establishment.

    Interestingly, after playing the Maher witch clip, Ross simply said, “I wish she hadn’t said that, I’m sure Christine wishes she hadn’t said that… if she stays on message, she’ll be fine.”

    You can almost see the pained look on his face as he defends her and says that she can ride the “voters are mad as hell” wave and stay on (presumably a very narrow) message and win in November.

    Anyone else watching this?

  15. anon says:

    The phrase “overweening arrogance” comes to mind:

    AP: GOP divided on how to replace health overhaul law

  16. anon says:

    Mike Castle must be thinking about Bill Maher: “Oh, so NOW you find the clips.”

  17. Any word that Christine of the Cauldron has shown at the Sussex picnic? I’m sure there is no altar covered in blood but they are her base down there.

  18. Good question, CR. Do any of our Sussex County friends know if O’Donnell showed up today?

  19. It looks like she did show up:

    Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is making light of comments she made more than a decade ago about having dabbled in witchcraft.

    During an appearance Sunday at a GOP picnic in southern Delaware, O’Donnell said she was in high school when she dabbled in witchcraft. She asked the audience: “How many of you didn’t hang out with questionable folks in high school?”

  20. pandora says:

    Looks like she went:

    Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is making light of comments she made more than a decade ago about having dabbled in witchcraft.

    During an appearance Sunday at a GOP picnic in southern Delaware, O’Donnell said she was in high school when she dabbled in witchcraft. She asked the audience: “How many of you didn’t hang out with questionable folks in high school?”

    Republicans love youthful indiscretions… but only when it comes to them.

    BTW, anyone here ever hang out at a satanic altar with blood splatters?

  21. Anvil says:

    You’ll all be sorry when you’re turned into newts.

  22. pandora says:

    Jinx, UI! You owe me a soda!

  23. I call that majix betwixt Pandora and UI

  24. pandora says:

    Oh my. Looks like Team O’Donnell can’t get their stories straight – Again.

    Wallace noted with suspicion the fact that her campaign gave the show conflicting answers for canceling:

    WALLACE: This is not the program we were planning to bring you. Christine O’Donnell, the surprise winner of the Republican Senate primary in Delaware, agreed to come here live in Washington today to take our questions. However, late Friday night ,her campaign canceled, saying O’Donnell was “exhausted” and had to return to Delaware. Saturday morning, O’Donnell called me and said this: “I got-triple booked. I had been invited to go to church and then a picnic. I have to keep my priorities to Delaware voters.”

    Does she even know what the truth is anymore?

  25. anon says:

    Has she at least done her laundry yet? Phew…

  26. Sometimes its difficult to keep things str8. Was it an eye of Newt and tongue of Rove or the other way around?

  27. Seriously, who hasn’t had a midnight picnic on a blood-spattered satanic altar as a high school student? It’s a rite of passage!

  28. Added without comment:

    A demonstration by white supremacists on the boardwalk at Bethany Beach drew a diverse crowd of protesters, sympathizers and curious bystanders.

    About eight members of the Aryan Nations Church of Jesus Christ Christians gathered on the boardwalk Saturday.

  29. jason330 says:

    eight members ? They’ve doubled their membership.

  30. Jason330 says:

    Looking at wingnut blog to figure out what the Fox News line of attack will be and so far they have two things. 1) Coons once used the word Marxist 2). Allan Mueller hates Coons’ guts.

  31. That’s funny Jason, since we’re not supposed to talk about what O’Donnell said 10 years ago but we are supposed to talk about what Coons said 30 years ago.