Tag Archives: Republicans

That’s What She Said (Part II)

One of the best places for hard-hitting political news is on “The View”. So it should be of no surprise to South Caroline Governor Nikki Haley that she got grilled by some of the best in the business: Barbara Walters, Joyce Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Mediaite writes:

She wanted to know about Haley’s stance on women’s rights, which are often assumed to be the purview of Democrats rather than Republicans.

“Women don’t care about contraception,” Haley said, “they care about jobs and their families…” She was cut off by Joy Behar, who bristled along with the rest of the panel and noted that women should care about contraception.

To watch this new bright light of the Republican Party fade on a softball question from Hasselbeck is just a joy to watch.

Republicans Should Have Learned The Komen Lesson

Let’s take a look at Rush’s “apology” first:

For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week.  In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

That. Is. Not. An. Apology.

What that is the classic: Sorry, if you can’t take a joke.  I was just being humorous, but you’re too sensitive to have a sense of humor. I was simply making a very important, bigger point, that you’re too stupid to understand.

An apology isn’t an apology if you can fit in the word “but.”  Go ahead and add that word after Rush’s first sentence.  It fits beautifully.

And the backlash that’s building around this situation has much in common with the Komen fiasco.  Attack women, or an institution women love, and face the consequences.  2012 is shaping up to be the year of the woman.

Komen cuts its funding to Planned Parenthood and when there’s a public outcry they simply double down – citing a reason that they don’t apply to any other of their beneficiaries.  They held this position as the voices opposing their decision grew louder.  They decided they could weather the storm.  How did that work out for them?  In under a week their brand was destroyed and advertisers fled.  And once they started losing their advertisers, and only then, did Komen rethink their position.  Too little, too late.  I will never give Komen another dime.

And now Rush is using the Komen playbook.  And I get why he’s shocked by the reaction to his words.  After all, Rush Limbaugh’s show is full of misogynistic rants.

Here’s one of them:

“She comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her — guess what — she’s off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She’s smart enough to know she can’t feed herself. She’s actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn’t have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat’s taught me more about women, than anything my whole life.” –Rush Limbaugh, on his cat.

So why shouldn’t he expect to get away with calling a young woman a slut when he’s already gotten away with comments like these in the past?

Because, like Komen learned through its attack on Planned Parenthood, contraception is a given in women’s lives.  It was settled.  If anyone told me a year ago that Republicans would be making contraception part of their platform I would have laughed and said no one would be that stupid.  I was wrong.

And now Republicans and Rush are whining about contraception being part of our political discourse.  Which takes a lot of nerve since they were the ones who pushed this issue into the national debate.  Rick Santorum led the way and Republicans followed.  And they’re still following.  And every time they open their mouths to mansplain Rush’s comments the hole they’re digging gets deeper.

And now Rush is sorry?  Not a chance.  The only thing he’s sorry about is losing advertisers – just like Komen.  That, and only that, is what triggered his non-apology.  Too little, too late.

On the bright side, both Komen and Rush (along with all those nifty transvaginal ultrasound bills) have accomplished what the very important, inside the beltway talking heads drone on and on about – Bipartisanship.  Women across party lines are united.  See you in November, boys.

Rush Limbaugh Will Agree To Contraception Coverage If Georgetown Student Posts Sex Tapes Online

Eeeeewwww.

LIMBAUGH: So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex. We want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch.

Parents, don’t let this pervert near your daughters.  In what situation is it okay for a 60+ year old man to tell a young woman such a thing? He then went on to say…

“I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much Aspirin to put between their knees as they want” — a reference to Rick Santorum-backer Foster Friess’ home-spun idea of birth control.

Has any Republican denounced this pervert’s comments yet? Know what, Republicans?  Keep going down this path.  See you in November.

If You Aren’t Reading Charles Pierce You’re Missing Out

Here are some highlights, but you need to read the whole article.

First, Mitt…

On Friday, Mitt Romney, the Republican frontrunner and a man who could be mugged for his wallet through the mail, and a man of such iron will that he wrote a book called No Apologies in which he changed positions on several issues between the hardcover and paperback editions, went before the Koch Brothers hobby-horse Americans for Prosperity banquet and bravely promised to do everything he could not to do anything he bravely promised to do when he was running in any of the several other political campaigns that have kept him from ever being “a professional politician.

Moving on to Gingrich…

“Think about going to McDonald’s,” Gingrich said. “We have no national hearings on fraud at McDonald’s. You show up and say, ‘I’d like a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.’ You give them money. They are happy. You are happy. If you open up your bag and there’s no Quarter Pounder with Cheese, you are unhappy.”

This is the “philosopher-politician” demonstrating his “mastery of policy matters.” I’m sorry, would you like to super-size your colonoscopy? Some day, volumes will be written about how Gingrich managed to get everyone in the Washington smart set to believe he is a public intellectual with actual ideas, and not just the guy at the club whose life gets changed for him every time he reads a new book.

The Beltway Press…

My god, Caligula died centuries too soon. Today, if he’d brought his horse into the Senate, some careerist Beltway journo would find that the horse had whinnied some “interesting new approaches” to our “entitlement crisis.” The horse would be on Meet the Press the following Sunday with David Gregory, who would ignore the fact that there is a fking horse sitting across the table from him and concentrate instead on something the horse had whinnied five years ago that seems to have been contradicted by something the horse whinnied the day before. And then Tom Brokaw would come on to mumble something about how horses were more politically savvy back in his day.

The man is simply brilliant… and clever.

There’s more.  Now… go read.  Consider it my gift to you!

How Do We Deal With This?

Via TPM:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate failed in a last-minute bid on Tuesday to end a partial shutdown of federal aviation programs that has halted airport construction projects and thrown tens of thousands of people out of work.

Senators scrambled to find common ground with the House of Representatives on a bill to temporarily fund the Federal Aviation Administration but neither side would budge before adjourning until September.

What’s the solution?  I’m serious.  Dems held their ground and “tens of thousands” of people are out of work.  Republicans don’t care.  Yet again they’ve not only taken a hostage they’re willing to shoot, they’ve taken one they want to shoot.

So… How do we deal with this?

Teabag Congressman and Black Americans

Seems that Congressman Doug Lamborn (Teabag – CO) has a new pet name for President Obama. I wonder why he just didn’t use the N-word or call him boy.

From the Denver Post:

A short clip of the Colorado Springs Republican speaking about the debt ceiling debate during a talk radio program on Friday went viral.

“Even if some people say, ‘Well, the Republicans should’ve done this, or they should’ve done that,’ they will hold the president responsible,” Lamborn said. “Now I don’t want to even have to be associated with him. It’s like touching a, a tar baby and you, you get it, you know you’re stuck and you’re part of the problem now and you can’t get away. I don’t want that to happen to us, but if it does, or not, he’ll still get properly sowed the blame, because his policies for four years will have failed the American people.”

But of course, he didn’t mean any disrespect.

Schmuck.

Does Boehner Have The Votes?

Think Progress tallies the numbers and it appears (at this moment) that Boehner is one R vote short.

So… will he manage to twist some Tea Party arms and avoid public humiliation, or will the one vote grow into more nays?  Not sure, but if he doesn’t have the votes heading into this why would other Tea Partiers/Conservatives want to go on record for a plan that won’t pass – even if they stick out their political neck and vote for it?

We Hit The Debt Ceiling Today

In case anyone cares.

In the meantime, the hostage strategy will continue to play out — Republicans are threatening to create a recession, on purpose, unless Democrats give them a whole lot of unspecified spending cuts. If Dems fail to comply with the demands, the GOP will refuse to act and on August 2, we’ll reach the next phase.

And then what happens? Paul Krugman explains that Americans can expect “seriously bad consequences.”

For if we hit the debt ceiling, the government will be forced to stop paying roughly a third of its bills, because that’s the share of spending currently financed by borrowing. So will it stop sending out Social Security checks? Will it stop paying doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare patients? Will it stop paying the contractors supplying fuel and munitions to our military? Or will it stop paying interest on the debt?

Don’t say “none of the above.” As I’ve written before, the federal government is basically an insurance company with an army, so I’ve just described all the major components of federal spending. At least one, and probably several, of these components will face payment stoppages if federal borrowing is cut off.

And what would such payment stops do to the economy? Nothing good. Consumer spending would probably crash, as nervous seniors started wondering how to pay for rent and food. Businesses that depend on government purchases would slash payrolls and cancel investments.

Furthermore, markets might well panic, especially if interest payments are missed. And the consequences of undermining faith in U.S. debt might be especially severe because that debt plays a crucial role in many financial transactions.

I get that selling a complicated procedure with the word “debt” in it was going to be difficult when it came to the Republican base of Einsteins, but… but… but…  I got nothing.

Majority Favor Formation Of A 3rd Party

Intriguing result from a new Gallup poll:

Fifty-two percent of Republicans, and an even stronger number of Tea Party supporters, support the creation of a major, third political party, underscoring the occasional tensions between grassroots conservatives and the GOP establishment.

An overall majority of Americans, 52 percent, said that a third political party was needed; the most profound shift has come among Republicans.

…

Supporters of the Tea Party are even more likely to back a third party, the poll found. Sixty percent of Tea Party supporters back a third party, while 32 percent say the existing two parties are adequate. By contrast, 47 percent of Tea Party opponents said the bipartisan system is adequate, and 44 percent favored a third party.

If a third party became a reality, would it be an overall good thing for progressive politics? Let’s think of some pros and cons.

Pros

    • The country would benefit from having a less insane conservative party. It would probably stop thins like holding the debt ceiling hostage and government shutdowns. It would probably ease up the logjam of presidential appointments.
    • It would split the right, which would likely marginalize the hard right.
    • Depending on how the parties split it might diminish the power of the culture wars.
    • It’s possible the liberal/progressive voice could be stronger with less coalition-building needed in the caucus. How much smarter would the debt/deficit reduction talk be with the progressive plan getting more attention?

    • Cons

    • The most likely split is into a hard right social conservative party, a center right corporatist party and a center left party. I don’t see this as giving progressives a bigger voice. The balance of power would be with the center right.
    • A center right party is likely to pick up some current Blue Dogs. We can argue whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

    • What do you think? Will an actual 3-party split occur? I think we saw signs in 2010 with Castle, Crist and Murkowski. If a split occurs, will it benefit the country and the progressive movement?

    The Idea Of Seniors Shopping For Health Insurance Is Insane

    If you have ever had to purchase individual health insurance you know exactly how insane Paul Ryan’s senior health insurance vouchers are.  If you haven’t then you might want to read a post I wrote in November 2008.

    Fact:  Individual health insurance is only cost competitive if you’re young and healthy, because health insurance has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with risk assessment.

    So… which insurance companies are going to insure our older citizens?  Perhaps they’ll simply take them – and their vouchers – for a year, then raise their rates and watch as seniors drop out. Frankly, I’m having trouble seeing them take them at all.  Seriously, why would a business based solely on assessing risk take on the riskiest demographic in this country?  It’s bad business, and one of the driving forces as to why Medicare came into existence.

    Which brings us back to Paul Ryan’s plan for future seniors and what it really means to everyone.  Via Gooznews in a post entitled “Attention Future Seniors: Republican Plan A 100% Estate Tax”

    So here’s the real argument young and middle-aged people need to hear, and the real reason why the “more skin in the game” argument can never work for seniors or other vulnerable populations, including them when they reach that age. Seniors and the poor account for over half of health care spending. Within those groups, 5 percent of the population accounts for 50 percent of health care costs; and 20 percent of the population accounts for about 80 percent. These costs come for the most part at times when economic incentives have no influence at all on medical decision-making: in medical crises; in treating chronic conditions; and, for most Medicare patients, in the last six months of life.

    That’s why a voucher program for Medicare, which will shift an increasing share of those inevitable costs onto the elderly themselves, can fairly be categorized as a 100 percent estate tax or death tax. People under 55 need to know that if the plan crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan were passed, most of them will never have a cent to leave to their children. It will all go to the health care industry to support the American way of dying.

    In the end, the Republican plan is a death/estate tax.  It is a plan that will bankrupt the majority of Americans and lays waste to the GOP cries over their freedom loving right to be able to leave their hard earned dollars to their children.  In many cases, children will be trying to help their parents make up the difference between the voucher and the actual cost of care, which, in turn, will leave them less prepared for their own golden years.  In many other cases, no one will be able to help the senior, which has led me to start calling the Republican plan the Bring Out Your Dead! plan.  (h/t Monty Python)

    Those Fickle Independent Voters

    The honeymoon with Congressional Republicans is definitely over:

    43% of voters think that House Republicans are doing a worse job now than the Democrats did, compared to only 36% who think the GOP has brought an improvement. 19% think things are about the same. 62% of voters thinking that the Republicans have either made things worse or brought no improvement to an already unpopular Congress does not bode particularly well for the party.

    46% of voters say that if there was an election for Congress today they would vote Democratic, compared to only 41% who would vote Republican. That five point advantage for Democrats is only a hair below the margin Republicans won by in the national popular vote last year. A victory of that magnitude for the Democrats next year would at the very least result in the party taking back a large number of the seats it lost last year, and it could be enough to take back the outright majority- hard to say at this point without knowing how good a number the GOP can do in redistricting.

    The key to this strong movement back toward the Democrats right now is the same as the key to the strong movement away from the Democrats last year- fickle independents quickly growing unhappy with the party in power. Exit polls showed independents supporting the GOP by a 19 point margin last year at 56-37. Now only 30% of those voters think that the Republican controlled House is moving things in the right direction, compared to 44% who think things were better with the Democrats. Given those numbers it’s not much of a surprise that independents now say they’d vote Democratic for the House by a 42-33 margin if these was an election today, representing a 28 point reversal in a span of just five months.

    What do you think is responsible for the huge swing? The social conservative agenda of Republicans? The hostage-taking? Something else? November 2012 is still a long way away but it’s obvious that Republicans are not connecting with voters right now. Will they listen? (Haha I crack myself up.)