GOP on Warpath to Gut EPA – Again???

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2086421,00.html?xid=huffpo

What about the spouses?

We all know about the GOP 2012 presidential hopefuls – but what about their spouses?  This is an interesting little video showing pictures and a brief bio of each couple.  Who knows what the future holds? 

http://bltwy.msnbc.msn.com/politics/the-could-be-first-spouses-of-gop-presidential-candidates-9898.gallery?GT1=43001#!wallState=0__%2Fpolitics%2Fthe-could-be-first-spouses-of-gop-presidential-candidates-9898.gallery%3FphotoId%3D10000001

Religion + Money = Godliness?

Interesting little article about some polling results.   White Evangelical Tea Party Republicans (Religious Right) seems to be group that believes unregulated businesses will act ethically.  This is also the group that prefers their preachers to speak out against abortion and homosexuality rather than economic  issues.  This also seems to be the group that beleives the free market is guided by the hand of God.

I also believe this is the group that will ultimately bring down the Grand Old Party.   This group has already hijacked trure Christianity so the GOP is their next victim – IMHO

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/poll-americans-see-clash-_n_851712.html

Middle East Oil -continue to buy or tell them to shove it?

This is an interesting video of T. Boone Pickens and his ideas about our country’s dependence on foreign oil.   I’ve heard alot of criticism against Picken’s push to use natural gas because he has set himself up as the one to profit the most from that idea.  But if you think about it, would I rather pay the Middle East OPEC guys or would I rather pay Pickens for my energy that is coming from our own country.

Pay close attention to Pickens’ assessement of the current field of Republican presidential candidates – but then again, Pickens is right that we’ve heard alot about promises of getting off foreign oil but as of the last few decades – nobody has ever even come up with a plan to do so.

Just why do we continue to buy oil from our enemies who obviously play both sides of the fence?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/42672288#42672288

A Billion Dollar Presidential Campaign?

It’s been said that Obama will have the first billion dollar campaign for 2012.    What do you think about this staggering amount of money? 

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/04/am-obama-announces-reelection-campaign/

What Are They Thinking…..

Is this really the strategy the New and Improved Republicans  want to go with?   I wonder, just how do these businesses and corporations think their companies have been built without the working class?

I think the Republicans are showing their arrogance and ignorance in a big way and the end result is not going to be pretty.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/23/maine-paul-lepage-unions-labor-mural_n_839520.html

Krazee – you talking to me?

Newt Gingrich seems to be working on getting God’s blessing for his upcoming presidential run.  

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/newt-gingrich-john-hagee

Teachers are Targets again……

Another battle in the GOP war against teachers?

indypendent

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/austin-texas-protest-cuts_n_835503.html

That Tide – She is a Turning….

The New and Improved Republicans, led by their Evangelical Tea Party Darlings, may have won this battle in Wisconsin but have they fired the shot heard throughout Middle Class America? 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/wisconsin-poll-republican_n_834252.html

Jeb Bush: The GOP’s Man in 2012?

Yep!  Read it here.  If you’ve gotten this far and still could stomach more, see ten reasons why someone thinks this should happen here.  🙂

Guess they really, really should have read that study

The Republican National Committee really wanted to stick it to Democratic legislators for that time they totally punted on holding a vote on the future of the Bush-era tax cuts. And so, they armed themselves with a shiny new study from the Tax Foundation that they thought really aided their criticism. “What excuse will the Democrats use now?”

As it happens, the study compared the actual Dem plan with the GOP one. And it found that for a family of four with an income of $40,000, the Dem plan — continuing the low end tax cuts, plus the stimulus measures — would cause a 7.8 percent jump in after-tax income. That jump would only be 6.8 percent under the GOP plan to continue all the Bush tax cuts.



A New Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a land between the seas called ‘Merika, the evil multi-headed monster known as ‘Publican crawled from beneath the rocks where he had been hiding for two years and announced that he had a new plan, one that he called a “Pledge to ‘Merika!” ‘Publican was sure that the people of ‘Merika had forgotten his last plan, one that had led the people of ‘Merika to the brink of destruction.

During the last reign of ‘Puplican, the people were led into financial ruin unlike any that had been seen in nearly eighties years, since ‘Publican’s grandfather had stood silently as the country plunged into the Great Depression. Now, ‘Publican has a new plan to sell to the fine people of ‘Merika. Unfortunately, most of the people have short memories and have chosen to believe that everything was just wonderful during the last reign.

The final chapter of this new fairy tale has yet to be written, but the ending is easily predicted. the tale is the same old tale – tax cuts accompanied by promises of cuts in spending that never seem to come.

So far, the multi-headed monster has come up with spending cuts of $100 billion per year, for a total of $1 trillion over the next decade. To go with that, they have tax cuts totaling $4 trillion for a net addition of $3 trillion to the national debt.

Does that sound like the same old fairy tale?

No one is quite dumb enough to believe all of the promises made by politicians during a campaign. Well, most of us are not that dumb, but this new fairy tale goes far beyond the usual campaign rhetoric. For one, it is based on falsehoods. Note:

“It declares that “the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.” Not true. So far this year government employment has declined slightly, while private sector employment has increased by 763,000 jobs.”

(http://www.factcheck.org/2010/09/factchecking-the-pledge/)

Well, people of ‘Merika we have a new fairy tale – a new/old tale sold to you by the same monster, ‘Publican, that brought you the heartache of past.

Where is the Big Billy Goat Gruff when you need him?

William Stephenson Clark

It’s All Okay Now!



Well, at long last, the Republican Party of No! has delivered their master plan to fix all that ails America. The newly minted “Pledge to America” (not to be confused with the Contract on America) promises that all will be okay if we just elect a majority from the GOP.

The Republicans, after exhaustive research, have determined that our problems are all the fault of the Democrats. Taxes are too high (despite being the lowest that they have been in over fifty years) and spending is too high, also. The solutions are simple – make the Bush tax cuts permanent and freeze spending at 2008 levels.

Now, Republicans and Tea Baggers have been telling us for two years now that debt and deficits are the reasons for the Great Recession, so you would expect that their plan takes a huge bite out of spending and deficits.

If you did, you would be wrong. The grand plan from the Republicans would save an astounding $100 billion per year, before the tax cuts kicked in. Taking the tax program into consideration continues annual deficits for the foreseeable future and adds nearly $4 trillion to the debt over the next decade.

The Republicans should be congratulated – in two years they have taken a scalpel to the budget  and come up with areas to be cut totaling $100 billion. Of course, they can’t tell us where they are going to cut, but we should trust them, right? After all, they did a bang up job the last time around.

The GOP has assured us that they will not be cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense or veterans benefits. They are going to freeze Congressional expenses. Great!

The GOP also plans to save America by repealing HCR and replace it with something that they have yet to develop. Whatever it is, you can be assured that it is going to be as good as all their other great plans they have come up with over the years.

So, breathe easy, it’s all okay now, the Republicans will soon be in charge once again. So far, they haven’t announced any plans to start a war with anyone that isn’t a threat to the US, but they have plenty of time to drum up a case for going to war with Iran.

Don’t you feel better now?

William Stephenson Clark

Governor Sam Brownback?

Unless Sam Brownback gets caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy, he will Kansas’ next Governor, and all of us may come to regret it. Sam makes no bones about his “faith” and he has every intention of imposing that philosophy on the rest of Kansas.

Sam doesn’t believe in abortion – under any circumstances. That’s right. No abortions, no exceptions. That means no abortions even in cases of rape, incest, the viability of the fetus, the health or even the life of the mother. Let that sink in for a moment – even if a fourteen year old gets raped and is impregnated, Sam doesn’t want her to have the option of having an abortion. Even if the prospective mother is likely to die if she carries the fetus to term, Sam doesn’t want her to have the option of having an abortion. The same goes for cases where there is no signs of life from the fetus or if it is severely deformed or even brain-dead.

Sam also believes in the so-called “Fair Tax.” I used the term “so-called” because it is anything but fair. Under the “Fair Tax” program, lower-income people would see an immediate increase in tax rates of a monumental proportion.  One of the numbers I have seen tossed about is 22%, that is, everyone would pay that tax rate with no deductions. Pretty good deal, right? Then, of course, the higher income tax payers would see a reduction in  rates as much as 13% points, from about 35% to the previously mentioned 22%.

Sam has a lot of great ideas for Kansas – eliminating corporate taxes and drastically reducing regulations, especially those that affect the environment. “Protecting families” is another of Sam’s pet projects. Presumably that means taking what few rights they have away from gays and lesbians. Sam also says that he is going to create jobs for Kansans. Why he hasn’t done that yet is a mystery, never to be solved.

So, just when you think that Kansas could not be any worse off, along comes Sam.

Thank God for I-70.

William Stephenson Clark

Remember, never to forget.

 

One would think that Americans would remember the mess that Barack Obama inherited from the Republicans, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Given the average American’s attention span, perhaps that should not be surprising, but traumatic events usually remain in the forefront for more than just two years. Apparently, GOP-driven bad news has the life expectancy of tsetse fly.

Just two years ago, the global economy teetered on the brink of depression, led by a historic collapse of the American financial marketplace. During the Bush years, the National Debt doubled and job growth was stagnant. We were involved in two wars, neither of which was truly winnable and America’s future was ominously bleak.

Two long years down the road, the same band of characters claim that they have all the answers to solve all of America’s problems – it’s all very simple – more tax cuts and, ah, reduce spending.

In a GOP-tinted world, the answer to most any question is “cut taxes.” Times are good – cut taxes. Times are bad – cut taxes. Behind in the fourth quarter – cut taxes.

Cutting  spending is a bit more of a difficult task. It all sounds very good, but the bloom wears off the rose very quickly when it comes down to actually making spending reductions. Military spending – too many bad guys out there. Earmarks – just cut your’s, not mine. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – not a chance. 

Life can be rather frustrating, but nothing is more frustrating than trying to get a rational, straight answer out of a Republican candidate. Create jobs – sure, how are you going to do it now when you didn’t for years? Secure the borders – why didn’t you do that ten years ago? Defeat terror (sic) – what did Iraq have to do with terrorists? Protect families – huh? Is that code for banning abortion?

So, we stand at the crossroads once again, on the verge of handing power back to the very folks that led us down this road just a few short years ago. The struggles of the Bush years are now a distant, foggy memory. America seems to have chosen to forget the lessons of the past and is ready to give it another try.

When will we ever learn?

 

(Thread photo by the author – appropriate apologies have been delivered to the elephats of Sedgwick County Zoo.)

 

William Stephenson Clark