The top 10 most ridiculous GOP moments of 2011

The top 10 most ridiculous GOP moments of 2011.

Some may be fresh in your memory, like Mitt's now infamous $10k bet at a debate, while others, like when Ron Paul claimed that the government wrongly infringes on liberty by making heroin illegal, may have slipped your mind.

The REAL Crazy Ron Paul

• Paul’s Iowa chair wants to execute gays. 
• He talked to John Birchers about one-world religion and U.N. dictatorship. 
• He fears gay toilets. 
• He’s down with the North American Union conspiracists. 
• He speaks truth about the drug war. 

Victim Of Romney's Job Creating Speak Out!

Rudy Johnson, a labor organizer who was laid off in 1992 by Ampad, a company run by Bain Capital under Mitt Romney, took to the press this week to condemn Romney’s business record. In an interview with ABC News, Johnson recounted the horror of downsizing at his Marion, Indiana factory.

“It was really one of the worst things I think I’ve had to deal with, because people … were at my desk crying, ‘What do I do? I don’t have a good college education… I just wanted to get to retirement,’” Johnson said. “Families were devastated. In some cases, the husband and the wife both worked there. They lost all their income. It doesn’t get much worse than that.”

Johnson also told his story during Romney’s 1994 Senate campaign against Ted Kennedy, which Romney ended up losing. Expect to see plenty of tales like his come general election season.

Newt Gingrich Schtupped His High School Teacher And Then Married Her When He Was 19

June 14, 1962: Gingrich married Jackie Battley, when he was 19 and she was 26. She was also his then-former high school geometry teacher. Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne Ginther Gingrich,told Esquire last year that, despite what Battley and Gingrich told their families at the time, the two had been involved while Gingrich was still in high school. They had two children, and several former aides, friends and neighbors told Vanity Fair in the 1990s that Gingrich was profligately unfaithful throughout the 1970s.

Who are these Job-Creators?

Been wondering, just who are these mighty "job-creators" that Republicans keep referencing in their never-ending quest to fatten the incomes of millionaires? Rick Newman has a pretty good primer on the term -- and its abuse, "What 'Job Creators' Really Want" at U.S. News Politics. Read on...

Obama Soaring In The Polls

Gallup’s tracking poll released Monday shows something not seen since July of this year: President Barack Obama’s approval rating in positive territory. The national survey that interviews 500 American adults per night showed 47 percent of those polled approve of the President’s job performance, versus 45 percent who disapprove. The Gallup poll uses a three day average of their nightly interviews, for a total of 1,500 responses over that time.

The last positive score Obama received in Gallup’s numbers was a 46 – 45 split over surveys done from July seventh to the ninth. The TPM Poll Average of the metric still shows a little over a four point difference, but the numbers are evening since this summer’s debt ceiling fight.

Pleas also, keep in mind Gallup is a right wing biased polling company, which probably means Obama's numbers are more like 53 percent.

O Lucky Mitt

In an interview with New York magazine, a senior Romney strategist expressed supreme confidence that Mitt would be the nominee: “The dynamics couldn’t be better for us,” the strategist said. “I don’t see any scenario where we’re not the nominee.”


Read The Article
O Lucky Mitt

Wall Street’s Big Lie

The Occupy protests have made us aware of a sinister process by which wealth has systematically been funneled into fewer and fewer hands. In Newsweek, Michael Thomas says public anger will finally force the big banks to pay up in 2012.

Read it at Newsweek

Happy Holidays from the Obama Family

Happy Holidays from the Obama Family

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama recorded a special video to wish the American people a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Check it out:

The holidays are the perfect time to give thanks to our men and women in uniform and the families who support them. You can join the President and First Lady in thanking our troops, military families and veterans for their service and sacrifice by visiting JoiningForces.gov.

Happy Holidays!

Is Ron Paul Still A Racist Homophobic Bigot?

Time for Ron Paul to Answer the Charges

The 2012 contender—who recently surged ahead in the polls—has disavowed racist statements made in his newsletter two decades ago, but the issue won’t die—and it’s only gotten worse since Paul walked out of a CNN interview. He can lay the matter to rest by saying who wrote the comments and giving a speech outlining his actual racial views, writes The Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky.

Read it at The Daily Beast

Republicans should fold in payroll tax cut standoff

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove said he agreed with the Wall Street Journal’s blistering assessment on the failure of House Republican leadership in the payroll-tax debate, and conceded that Republicans have “lost the optics” and should fold on the issue.

“I think the Wall Street Journal editorial hit it right on the nail, the question now is how do Republicans get out of it,” Rove told Fox News on Wednesday.

In a scathing editorial on Wednesday, the conservative newspaper said House GOP leadership had “thoroughly botched” the payroll tax cut fight, and in doing so put President Obama in a “stronger reelection position” that opens the door to Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate.

Read the story here.

Ron Paul Gets A Closer Look

With High Polling Numbers Comes Great Scrutiny For Paul
Now that Ron Paul leads the pack in Iowa, according to the latest polls, he is taking more heat from his fellow candidates. Rick Perry has hit his rival for earmarks, saying “Dr. Paul is still birthing earmarks as we speak.” As in last week’s debate, Michele Bachmann continues to hammer Paul for his isolationist foreign policy.


Read More....

House approves rules setting up payroll tax votes

The House on Tuesday morning approved a rule that sets up three hours of debate and votes on three measures, including a controversial motion to disagree with the Senate's two-month payroll tax extension and seek a conference with the Senate.

The rule was approved in a 231-187 vote. All but one Republican voted for the rule, and every Democrat voted against it.

The vote came after more bitter partisan debate over the way House Republicans have set up votes on the Senate bill.

Read the story here.

House GOP cancels plan to vote on Senate tax bill

House GOP leaders have decided to delay a vote on the Senate payroll tax bill until midday Tuesday, abandoning tentative plans to hold votes as late as 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) told reporters that the delay was caused by a GOP conference meeting running two hours into overtime Monday evening. He said the House would convene at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Read the story here.

Barney Frank Makes the Argument for Tax Increases

Barney Frank Makes the Argument for Tax Increases (And Bigger Government)

This is just the intro:

AMANPOUR: Congressman Ryan, thank you very much. And Congressman Barney Frank, your opening minute and a half.

FRANK: Yes, we have too much government, and yes, we have too little government. There is this mistaken view that says, you know, we have a fight between the people's money and the government's money. It's all the people's money. The question is, as people, intelligently, we have two sets of needs. We have needs that we best pursue individually, with money for ourselves and our families. And we can make personal choices. But then there are things that we have to do together.    Read more 

Supreme Court schedules 3 days of arguments over healthcare law

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on President Obama's healthcare law over a three-day span in late March.

The schedule further confirms the universal expectation that the court will issue a ruling on the healthcare law next June, at the height of the 2012 campaign.

Read the story here.

Paul Ryan's Bipartisan Sham

 polling showing Paul Ryan is in the danger zone could not have come at a better time. 

Paul Ryan just announced he is taking a second swing at Medicare! His "new" plan is devastating to Medicare as we know it, but the big difference is that he found one Democrat to help him!

Here is what has been happening- Paul Ryan has introduced a new plan to start the privatization of Medicare. He convinced a "Democrat," Ron Wyden, to join in this effort. Ron Wyden, like Paul Ryan, has raked in an alarming amount of lobbyist money from the health insurance industry. 

Make no mistake- this is no bipartisan effort! Almost all Democrats, including President Obama, are strongly opposed to this plan.

Here is what the White House Communications Director had to say: [this scheme could] "cause the traditional Medicare program to "wither on the vine" because it would raise premiums, forcing many seniors to leave traditional Medicare and join private plans. It would shift costs from the government to seniors. At the end of the day, this plan would end Medicare as we know if for millions of seniors." You can read the rest here.

It is clear what this plan is designed to do. Both Paul Ryan and Wyden admit that it will likely not save anyone any money! The only upside is a big giveaway to private insurance companies at the expense of our seniors. This is sham bipartisanship and we are not fooled!

The OCCUPIED Amendment

The OCCUPIED Amendment

The petition in support of Rep. Ted Deutch's OCCUPIED Amendment
www.theoccupiedamendment.org
This amendment bans corporate money in our elections, ends corporate personhood, and returns our democracy to the people. Join the movement at theoccupiedamendment.org.

THE FOX NEWS PRIMARY

The ethical nightmare surrounding Fox's coverage of the 2012 election goes far beyond Bill Sammon. When the year began, Fox was actually employing five potential Republican candidates, providing them not only with salaries but also with millions of dollars' worth of free airtime.

And Fox's journalists have their own financial relationships with the candidates. Jim Pinkerton, for example, has used his position as a regular contributor to Fox's media ethics show to discuss Michele Bachmann, the other Republican contenders, and President Obama. But what he chose not to disclose -- until Politico reported it -- was the fact that he had been paid to "partner" with Bachmann on her recently released book. Pinkerton told Media Matters that he kept the financial relationship secret at the request of "the publisher, the candidate, the campaign." Amazingly, though, Pinkerton said that he didinform his supervisors at Fox, and they approved of the arrangement.

Then there is Dick Morris, who has received money this year from the campaigns of at least threeRepublican presidential contenders -- a fact he chose not to reveal (until he was questioned about it by the AP) while speaking positively of each of them on Fox and attacking their critics.

So why does Rupert Murdoch put up with these conflicts of interest?

Probably because it would be hypocritical not to. In April, Fox Business Network spent three days promoting a controversial oil shale venture being undertaken in Israel by a company called Genie Energy. Then in July, Fox News broadcast two reportsdiscussing a Genie oil shale project in Colorado. In none of the reports did Fox bother to mention that Murdoch serves on Genie's "strategic advisory board" and holds an equity stake in the projects.

It's that corrupt approach to journalism that has earned Murdoch and News Corp. the 2011 Misinformer of the Year award.

source: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201112150002?frontpage

Talking Points Memo

Impact of the American Jobs Act on Education

 

First, the Department of Education released two interactive maps that display the American Jobs Act’s estimated impact on every state and school district in the nation. These maps and the downloadable dataset behind them can be found at http://data.ed.gov/american-jobs-act.

 

To view the full report, which includes a state-by-state appendix that integrates state- and school district-level data detailing the education investments of the American Jobs Act, please visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/aja_ed_state_by_state_report_final.pdf.

 

In addition, the Vice President paid a visit to Jacksonville this week to discuss the importance of making college affordable: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/09/vice-president-talks-college-affordability-florida

 

The End of the War in Iraq

 

This week, the US ended the war in Iraq and the President traveled to Fort Bragg to welcome the troops home.  His speech is well worth your time.  You can check it out here:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/14/president-obama-fort-bragg-welcome-home

 

Health Care Reform

 

Also this week, a study shows that the Affordable Care Act has led to 2.5 million young adults now receiving health care.  Check it out here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/12/14/new-data-thanks-health-reform-25-million-more-young-adults-have-health-insurance

 

Payroll Tax Cut

 

The President continues to push Congress to extend and expand his payroll tax cut, which will save the average American family some $1,500 in 2012.  You can find a ton of information about the payroll tax cut as well as a calculator to see how much you can save here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/jobs/we-cant-wait

 

Monkey Butt

In one of the more vivid illustrations of the political landscape in some time David Axelrod had this to say about Newt Gingrich today. "Just remember, the higher a monkey climbs on a pole, the more you can see his butt," Axelrod said, citing a piece of political wisdom he said he learned from a Chicago alderman. "So, the speaker is very high on the pole right now and we'll see how people like the view."
READ MORE.....

Tell Sen. Harry Reid to Grow A Pair

Tell Sen Harry Reid to Grow A Pair and Recess the Senate this break, even if it is just one 


day, so Obama can make recess appointments. 

Washington DC


522 Hart Senate Office Bldg


Washington, DC 20510


Phone: 202-224-3542

Fax: 202-224-7327

Phone: 775-882-REID (7343)

email: http://1.usa.gov/ufF0Ma

Deutch Amendment to Ban Corporate Spending in Elections Introduced in U.S. Senate

Deutch Amendment to Ban Corporate
Spending in Elections Introduced in U.S. Senate
by Senator Bernie Sanders 

Saving American Democracy Amendment Filed in Senate as Companion to OCCUPIED Amendment in House

 Congressman Ted Deutch’s (D-FL) constitutional amendment to ban all corporate spending in elections and make clear that corporations are not people with constitutionally protected rights will be introduced in the United States Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT). TheSaving American Democracy Amendment is companion legislation to Congressman Deutch’s H.J. Res 90, the Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Amendment.

Though several amendments aimed at overturning Citizens United have been introduced in recent weeks, the Sanders-Deutch amendment is the only proposal that:

• Makes clear that free speech and other constitutionally protected rights are those of natural persons and not corporations or entities formed to promote their business interests.
• Reaffirms that corporations are formed in accordance with laws written by the people and are thus subject to laws enacted to protect the environment, ensure public health, and other safeguards for the people.
• Overturns Citizens United by ending corporations’ ability to spend unlimited amounts of their general treasury funds in elections.
• Empowers Congress and the States to crack down on spending by third party front groups using anonymous cash from corporations and their CEOs and authorizes the setting of caps, limits, and disclosure requirements on all forms of political expenditures and contributions.

To read a fact sheet on the amendment, click here.

"I am thrilled that Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Saving American Democracy Amendment, a companion bill to H.J. Res 90, my legislation in the House,” said Congressman Deutch. “The dominance of corporations in Washington has imperiled the economic security of the American people and left our citizens profoundly disenchanted with our democracy. I look forward to working with Senator Sanders to save American democracy by banning all corporate spending in our elections and cracking down on secret front groups using anonymous corporate cash to undermine the public interest."

“There comes a time when an issue is so important that the only way to address it is by a constitutional amendment,” Sanders said of the effort to override the court decision that he labeled “a complete undermining of democracy.”  TheSaving American Democracy Amendment is the first constitutional amendment ever proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders during his two decades in office.

To read the Senate version, click here.

To read the House version, click here.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler Respond to Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler Respond to Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum

Washington, DC— This afternoon on a conference call, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Former Congressman Robert Wexler responded to the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum in Washington, DC.

To listen to audio of the call, please click on the following link: http://my.democrats.org/page/-/audio/calls/DWSWexler430ConfCall120711.mp3

On the call, Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said:

The Jewish community has always stood strong to care for the elderly and the sick, to fiercely defend equality and civil rights, and invest in education to give our children the brightest possible future. When we look at what President Obama is doing on these domestic policy issues, there is no question where he stands on the values that matter most to the Jewish community. And there is nothing, I mean nothing in the Republicans’ right wing social agenda that speaks to our community’s values, especially when it comes to protecting a woman’s right to choose, the separation of church and state, and investing in our children’s future.

The President’s unwavering commitment speaks for itself: Because of his leadership, we have raised U.S. military assistance to unprecedented levels, sending Israel the largest-ever security assistance funding in 2010, and raising that to $3 billion for 2011. Contrast that with what Mitt Romney and other leading Presidential candidates said less than a month ago when they advocated starting Israel’s foreign aid budget at zero.

On the call, Robert Wexler said:

What has occurred at the RJC is nothing less than the theater of the absurd. Absurd because Mr. Romney and others use allegations such as timid and weak in the context of President Obama and in the context of our relationship with Israel and the world, and nothing could be further from the truth. President Obama of course made an extraordinarily bold and courageous decision in terms of our ultimate elimination of Osama bin Laden.

The objective fact is that the security, cooperation, and security relationship between the United States and Israel has never been better. This President, President Barack Obama has ushered in an era of extraordinary strategic and military cooperation.

"I Can Hardly Remember a Better Period of American Support and Cooperation..." --Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak

"Ehud Barak Interview.” FoxNews, (Axelrod, David, Campaign 2012, as cited in “Democratic Voter,” IV, October 20, 2011, 1). 

 

 Barak on Barack - Asked on Fox News whether he thought Israelis were "disenchanted" with President Obama, Barak said: 

 

 "No. Our countries are good friends. And I'm the minister of defense. I can tell you that I can hardly remember...a better period of support, American support and cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us than what we have right now.
  

 "The President didn't say that Israel should go back to the borders of '67. He made it very clear that he thinks that Palestinians deserve a state of their own. We also believe in two states...[a] secure Israel side by side with a emilitarized Palestinian state that will basically have the same area that the West Bank and Gaza Strip had before '67 with certain swaps, with understanding of the transformation on the ground." 

 [Over the next 15 months, Republicans will do their best to distort the President's record -- particularly on Israel. We've already seen them mischaracterizing the vision he's laid out for a new era of peace in the Middle East. It's up to supporters like us to set the record straight.

 

Health Care Consumers Won One Today

That would be the provision of the new health law, called the medical loss ratio, that requires health insurance companies to spend 80% of the consumers’ premium dollars they collect—85% for large group insurers—on actual medical care rather than overhead, marketing expenses and profit. Failure on the part of insurers to meet this requirement will result in the insurers having to send their customers a rebate check representing the amount in which they underspend on actual medical care.

This is the true ‘Consumer Advantage ’ contained in Obamacare and the one item that will have more impact on the future of how medical care is paid for in this country than anything we’ve seen in quite some time.  This law will end the "For Profit on Death and Dying" that has plagued the consumers in this country for over 100 years. 


Today, that bomb goes off.

PROTECT THE VOTE - DNC LAUNCHES MICROSITE

 The Democratic National Committee will announce a new effort today to push back on restrictive voter ID laws, building it around a site called protectingthevote.org. They're putting out a report called "A Reversal in Progress: Restricting Voting Rights for Electoral Gain". DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will hold a press conference call with reporters at 10:30 a.m. to discuss it. "Democrats will not sit idly by while the Republican Party attempts to infringe on the rights of American voters," DNC Counsel and Director of Voter Protection Will Crossley writes in an op-ed:http://politi.co/uSw2Lv . The new web site: http://bit.ly/txHCQK.