Category Archives: Politics

Cantor Opposes Deal, Boehner Speachless

cliff

Eisenhower coined the term “military industrial complex” and warned against it. The states that benefit most from military spending are GOP states (southern states). The largest portion of the federal budget is military spending. Let’s not forget that it was Republicans that got the United States into two wars during the Bush years. The country has been at war for the past ten years as a result. So, don’t tell me that so-called “entitlement” programs are the real spending problem. I think not.

As it stands right now, Cantor is opposing the Senate’s fiscal cliff deal. Not surpising. If we go over the cliff, and the economy takes another nose dive, we can thank our GOP friends. The GOP are a bunch of fools!

Read the latest WAPO blog about the machinations of the fiscal cliff at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/01/01/cantor-opposes-senate-deal/

Racial Views: Poll Shows Majority Harbor Prejudice Against Blacks

Race Relations

Post-racial America…I think not! This article was written just prior to the 2012 Presidential election, but the results of the poll regarding racial attitudes in America were not at all surprising to me. The excerpt below from the article is revealing:

“As much as we’d hope the impact of race would decline over time … it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago,” said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who worked with AP to develop the survey.

 

Read the full article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/27/racial-views-new-polls-sh_n_2029423.html

By SONYA ROSS and JENNIFER AGIESTA  10/27/12

‘Fiscal cliff’ setback shaves 200 points off Dow – Business on NBCNews.com

Wall Street can thank John Boehner’s failed attempt at leadership for this latest dip in the markets. In fact, Republicans have proven to be a triple threat when it comes to losers: Romney, McConnell and Boehner. The GOP has only itself to blame for how Wall Street is being negatively affected. For a Party that loves Wall Street, special interest and big business, they have a funny way of showing it. Read full article at: http://m.nbcnews.com/business/fiscal-cliff-setback-shaves-200-points-dow-1C7660245

‘Plan B’ Debacle and the Fiscal Cliff

BoehnerWhen I heard reports earlier this week that the White House’ latest negotiating offer to avert the fiscal cliff (curb) was to extend the Bush tax cuts to a higher income threshold (incomes up to $400,000) and to also propose spending cuts to Social Security by changing how benefits are calculated (using the chained CPI), I was disappointed, to say the least. Some Democrats, and I’m one of them, had to break with President Obama’s latest fiscal cliff proposal. Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit.

Then I began to think, this was probably a negotiating gesture by the White House that they figured Republicans would not accept anyway. Turns out, that’s the case. No one can ever say, credibly, that President Obama was not willing to make concessions during these negotiations. Then here comes Boehner, bam!, with bogus Plan B. Well, the President promised to veto Plan B, which is no viable plan at all, if it came to that. Boehner’s Plan B proposal extended the Bush Tax cuts on incomes up to $1 million.

Of course, Boehner’s Republicans did not accept the White House proposal (even with the Social Security spending cuts), but now Boehner’s inability to alternatively get his Republican caucus’ support for Plan B is solid evidence that he cannot responsibly negotiate the fiscal cliff. Boehner is a feckless leader, and probably the worst Speaker in the history of the United States. He appears to be a leader without any followers.

Republican House members were sent home this evening for the Christmas holiday after Boehner could not muster the votes to pass Plan B. What a well-deserved embarrassment for John Boehner. He had to call off the vote because, after all of Boehner’s rhetoric and posturing, he could not get the votes to pass it. As of this writing, Plan B is dead, so I guess the Social Security concession from Obama is no longer at issue either, I hope. It’s all for naught, and it looks like we may be going over the cliff after all. In fact, that may be the better deal for the American taxpayer, but it certainly will not help the economy, at least in the near term.

L. Jackson/12.20.2012

Obama’s Tapper Test

Obama to Tapper

Jake Tapper’s, ABC News, set-up question to President Obama wreaks of right-wing chicanery. As soon as I heard his question, I wondered how many bills did Jake receive in order to ask it during this White House Press briefing? I imagined that the proposal  to Tapper went something like, “Ask Obama a question that makes it appear that he is both negligent and responsible for gun violence in America instead of the NRA”. Of course, Mr. Obama, as usual, deftly replied to Tapper. The Tapper question was just another example of the “Washington Spin Press”.

My question to Tapper, is where were your questions regarding gun violence two massacres ago…three, and why didn’t you direct them toward the NRA?  I read through some of the online commentary regarding this portion of the Q&A, and the comments were virulently hateful of Obama. I feel sorry for these people who make all these ugly comments online. These online commenters are symptomatic of a debased culture that’s contributing to people who think they should shoot and kill innocent people. Bottom line, the NRA is the organization with blood on its hands.

Politico reports that Rush Limbaugh gave Tapper kudos for his so-called “zinger” question. Now you know if Limbaugh liked it, then something is very foul. The Politico article characterizes Obama’s response to Tapper as testy. Read my blog post entitled, “Governing While Black” to understand why I think this noteworthy. All I can say regarding Obama’s carriage in response to Tapper, “you’re daggone skippy”. Translation: Obama’s response was appropriate.

See the video clip at the following link: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/jake-tapper-questions-president-obama-gun-control-18016735

L. Jackson / 12.19.2012

Ambassador Susan Rice Withdraws

Rice WithdrawalIn my time, I’ve seen most women, especially minority women Democrats rejected, verbally attacked and the content of their character assailed by these right wing Republican “Dixiecrats”. Senators like Lindsay Graham defends that slave-owning rag they call the Confederate Flag. It took the nomination of Barack Obama for President before John McCain claimed he was wrong for 25 years in voting against the Martin Luther King national holiday resolution passed through the Senate. They attacked Anita Hill and assailed the content of her character just to place an unqualified “Uncle Thomas” on the US Supreme Court. They went after a very qualified Lani Guinier for Attorney General because she is a Civil Rights Activist. They verbally attacked Hillary Clinton as First Lady because she championed causes and spoke out and dared not to act like a Republican Stepford Wife.

Both Lindsay Graham, John McCain and others put Sonia Sotomayor through the mill for saying “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”. What did Justice Sotomayor say that wasn’t true, especially considering they are the very same white males of which she speaks? Condoleezza Rice was nothing less than inept as secretary of state, yet the very same “Dixiecrats” dare attack a scholar like Ambassador Susan Rice. And now, that Ambassador Rice has withdrawn, we get both John McCain and Lindsay Graham hypocritically wishing her well and respecting her decision – those dirty bottom dwelling bastards. I’m not going to stand on eloquence to express how loathsome these bigoted bastards really are. I’m going to call them for what they are, dirty women hating (expletive deleted).

This post contributed by Victorio Loubriel 12.13.2012

Read about the Republican response at http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15889339-republicans-give-measured-response-to-rice-withdrawal?lite

 

Harold Meyerson: Unions still matter, in Michigan just as in China – The Washington Post

Right%20To%20Work%20Michigan_JPEG-02f97Just in case you think that what’s happening in Michigan has no bearing upon your life, read Harold Meyerson’s opinion piece in the Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-unions-still-matter-in-michigan-just-as-in-china/2012/12/11/d77d9948-43c9-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinins

If you work for a living, which, by the way, is just as honorable as being a business owner, the opinion piece in the Post will put the propaganda term, “Right to Work” in perspective. This move by the Michigan governor is not only a threat to workers in Michigan, but also a threat to workers all across the United States. If the GOP has it’s way, American workers will be subjected to the same dire conditions of the Chinese worker. I have written before that plutocrcrat Republicans are on a mission to ensure that only a select few Americans prosper and realize the so-called American dream. Michigan further supports this assertion.

Steve Greene's avatarFully Myelinated

David Brooks had a column today that was so transparently wishful thinking that it was laughable.  A few pandering comments and he seems to believe the party is going to recast itself in his desired image of it.  This part struck me:

Finally, there has even been some shifting of economic values, or at least in how the party presents those values [emphasis mine]. The other speaker at the Kemp dinner was Representative Paul Ryan, who spoke about how to alleviate poverty. He didn’t abandon any of his fundamental beliefs, but he framed those beliefs in a more welcoming way and opened up room for growth and new thinking.

Ummm, talking nicely about poor people instead of calling them “takers” without actually changing any policy does not a new Republican party make.  Chait, naturally, had a much smarter take on Rubio and Ryan’s re-branding.  As for Ryan’s newfound concern about…

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Governing While Black

Obama BMH

“Black people do not lead as white people do. The styles are uniquely different, as they should be based upon cultural characteristics and societal influences. Black leaders face unique challenges.”

See my recent post entitled Governing While Black under Salient Points.