Archive for December, 2012
You can’t bargain with malevolent idiots
The President, Senator Coons, Rep. Carney – these men keep talking about the need for a “bipartisan” solution to the debt crisis. I get why they think it is important to say that they want a bipartisan solution, but I hope that they don’t think real bipartisanship is possible.
These modern Republicans are people who seriously believe that the government is bloated and what we need is another round of tax cuts to spur the economy and deliver a double dose of character building poverty to the ungrateful poor. They think any public dollar not handed to defense contractors is a dollar wasted on a hopeless parasites. They hate the President with such a white hot passion that they view ANY deal that he would agree to (regardless of how much is sells out Democratic principles) as unacceptable.
Looking at these malevolent idiots in action, I’ve become convinced that the next mid-term election is absolutely essential to returning the county to rationality and normalcy. The GOP needs to be swept from the field. When the GOP is utterly decimated, Democrats can finally stop talking about the importance of “bipartisanship.”
In Defense of the Good White People…
This I could write myself, as it applies to me almost entirely….
To whom it may concern regarding the United States federal elections of 2014, 2016 and beyond:
Allow me to introduce myself to you, the existing (or aspiring!) strategist for the Republican Party. My name is Eric Arnold Garland and I am a White Man. Boy, am I ever – you need sunglasses just to look at my photo!
If I read the news correctly, I fit a profile that is of extreme importance to the GOP, as I embody the archetype that fits your narrative of Real Americans. […]
[I am] the BREAD AND BUTTER OF THE GRAND OLD PARTY, a Mayflower-descended small business owner, burdened by taxation, looking out for his beautiful White family in the suburbs of a city (St Louis) surrounded by racial tension and urban blight!
How can I put this gently? My wife and I are not sensitive to your messaging, nor did we vote for the candidates you proposed for us this past [election]. […]
May I explain why not…..
The Next Fight, the first battle of which was fought yesterday, resulting in McConnell shooting himself in the foot.
The Fiscal Cliff fight is won. And we won it. Either the Republicans will pass the new Obama Middle Class Tax Cuts before January 1 or after. If they do it before, they will not be politically destroyed. If they do it after, they will be politically destroyed once again, just before the Next Fight begins in earnest.
So what happened yesterday?
Well, the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, ended any doubt at all that there will be filibuster reform this January, at the start of the next Congress. What did he do now, you ask? He did something pretty remarkable.
He filibustered himself.
Yes.
He filibustered his own bill.
Here’s the background. As Jason has written about, the next big fight between the Dems and the Rethugs is the coming vote to raise the debt ceiling……
Delaware Day Open Thread [12.7.12]
To quote Sarah McBride, “225 years ago, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. met on land just five miles from what was then the Motiva Plant in New Castle, Delaware and sacrificed their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors. There they wrote and approved the Constitution of the United States, which was at that time the states of New Castle, Kent, and Sus**x (spelling out Sussex was too risqué). Since then, 49 other “states” have envied God’s chosen land so much that they decided to emulate Delaware. May God continue to bless this glorious and perfect state. This I pray, in the name of Dupont, corporate law, and Joe Biden. Amen.”
Happy Delaware Day.
Final Call: 2012 MVP Nominations Due By Sunday
Please post your nominations for those who were Most Valuable to the Progressive Cause in Delaware this year by this Sunday night, December 9, at 11:59 p.m.
I start culling through the names and a year’s worth of news from both DL and elsewhere on Monday morning. Some of you have already provided outstanding suggestions, but I know that there may well be some great ones that I have not yet come across.
A Spectacular Jobs Report
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November, nearly double the projections. What’s more, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, its lowest point in four years.
Conservatives Are “Gonna Get Medieval On Your Ass”
Attention, True Patriots! Are you tired of living among liberals? Do you believe the collapse of the USA will happen any day and you’ll be trapped in your cul de sac, unable to maneuver you SUV around all the “hungry, diseased souls” who will try to steal your liberty? Can you prove you can shoot a gun, and would like to live in a castle where everyone 13 and older is armed? Do you not only long for the good old days, but the really awesome Medieval days? If so, there’s a place for you!
![Friday Daily Delawhere [12.7.12]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8243463396_a46291626c_z.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [12.7.12]")
450 Economists Predicted Bush Tax Cut Debacle back in 2003
>”Passing these tax cuts will worsen the long-term budget outlook, adding to the nation’s projected chronic deficits. This fiscal deterioration will reduce the capacity of the government to finance Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as investments in schools, health, infrastructure, and basic research. Moreover, the proposed tax cuts will generate further inequalities in after-tax income.”
Somewhat conflicting messages from the White House re: debt ceiling
The teabag congress must be loving this:
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday the Obama administration does not believe the 14th Amendment gives the President the ability to ignore the debt ceiling, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile President Obama…
…says he won’t negotiate under any circumstances. And his top advisors say he’s adamant on the point — not just because of the current impasse but to take hostage taking over the national debt off the table for good.
My Close Encounter With A December 21, 2012 Believer
It was supposed to be a relaxing evening catching up with what’s been going on in our lives over wine and my awesome cucumber, basil and peanut Thai salad, but that isn’t the way it turned out.
For a solid two hours I listened to my friend go on about the upcoming “Enlightenment” that would occur on 12/21/12. I’m sorry to admit that the word “crazy” left my mouth far too often last night, and that feelings might have been hurt, but… there simply isn’t another word for this stuff. It’s crazy.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of what I was told last night. This is going to be a bit of a mess since the conversation jumped all over the place. But here are the key points…..
Thursday Open Thread [12.6.12]
Meanwhile, in a great moment of Congressional Humility and Interaction with the Plebs, we have this:
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) chewed out a House staffer after catching her riding on a “members only” elevator, according to an ITK tipster who was on the scene. […] Our spy hit the “members” button on the elevator after waiting (and waiting) for a lift on Tuesday. Elevators were slow that day because furniture was being moved around the Longworth House Office Building. When the members-only elevator arrived, our tipster and a female House staffer stepped in. The elevator went up a single floor before the doors opened and Foxx walked in with an aide. […]
Foxx said to the staffer, “This is a ‘members-only’ elevator; can you read?” She then demanded the staffer’s name before the elevator stopped after going just one more floor up. “Get out here,” Foxx supposedly commanded. Before our insider and the berated staffer exited, the politician exclaimed, “What does this sign say? It says, ‘Members of Congress only.’ ”
But that wasn’t it. The innocent staffer attempted to point out that the sign next to it stated, “during votes,” which is when, our tipster says, Foxx started yelling, “Members only!” as she pointed to signs. “I’m just making sure we are hiring people who know how to read,” the lawmaker said.
What a bitch. Sorry, Pandora, Cassandra, the term applies here.
Previewing my panel meeting remarks for the Saturday “Fiscal Cliff” town hall
I’m basically using this space to get my thoughts together. Since I’m representing small business on the panel, my first priority is putting to the lie to Republican claims that increasing the taxes on the top two percent of Americans will “kill jobs” or “hurt small business.” If you have anything to add, or catchy turns of phrases – I’m all ears.
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