Political Jackass

Because I lack the time for proper updates and full posts, I’ve decided to start two sister sites that grab news from around the web in the form of quotes, short posts, links, images, and videos.  The first site is all about those lovable tea bagging morons. The second site is a site dedicated to showing how the Republican Party is no longer the Grand Old Party and cannot be taken seriously. They have really become the Grand Old Parody. Check them out and subscribe to their feeds for more regular updates.

Michele Bachmann is trying to organize people to scare lawmakers in order to derail health care reform.  The Republicans have no shame whatsoever.  The majority of Americans want health care reform with a public option.  But it doesn’t matter what the people want. The only thing that matters is furthering your own agenda. I wonder what the founding fathers would think of the type of behavior that is going on now. Whatever happened to a government of the people, by the people, for the people. If your constituents want health care reform, it is your job as an elected official to support it.

In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called on protesters to “scare” members of Congress into killing the proposed health care reform bill.

If the protesters succeed in scaring lawmakers, Bachmann said that it could cripple efforts to restructure health care for a decade.

“Nothing scares members of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans,” Bachmann said.

Political Animal can’t help but notice that the date chosen for her “rally” is November 5th.  What’s important about that date?

And when has Bachmann scheduled her Capitol Hill soiree? This afternoon — November 5 — a date widely known as Guy Fawkes Night. (You know, “Remember, remember, the fifth of November.”) In other words, Bachmann wants to rally right-wing activists, label them an “insurgency,” and encourage them to roam the halls of Congress deliberately “scaring” members of Congress, on the infamous date that marks an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

From a security perspective, if Capitol Police aren’t operating at a heightened state today, they’re making a mistake.

From a political perspective, I wonder if Republican Party leaders are glad to see a right-wing, deranged lawmaker lead an angry far-right mob through the Capitol. Nothing says “American mainstream” like Bachmann and a confused horde shipped to D.C. by corporate lobbyists.

In case you needed more proof of what a joke Sarah Palin is, take a look at some new figures released regarding how much her resignation cost Alaska.  If you remember, she resigned because she didn’t want to be a lame duck governor and just collect a pay check.  No, she’d rather rack up more debt for the state.  Did she forget that they would STILL have to pay her successor?  I find the $3,328 for moving out of the Governor’s mansion in Juneau quite interesting.  If I’m not mistaken, didn’t she live in Wasilla and collect a per diem to live there instead of the Governor’s mansion?  How exactly was that $3,328 used?  There couldn’t have been that much in the mansion to move, especially if she didn’t live there.

Early estimates put the cost of Sarah Palin’s midterm resignation as Alaska governor at a minimum of $40,000, not including a special legislative session partly linked to her departure.The preliminary figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request show it cost the state almost $14,100 for the July 26 swearing-in ceremony of new Gov. Sean Parnell.

The price tag for moving Palin – the former GOP vice presidential candidate – and her family from the governor’s mansion in Juneau amounted to roughly $3,328.

Palin’s spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, says suggesting the resignation cost the state is “incredibly misleading.” She says the resignation ceremony was added to a previously scheduled governor’s picnic and was organized by the lieutenant governor’s office.

The tally doesn’t include the estimated $100,000 it cost for a one-day special session last month in which lawmakers approved Palin’s pick to replace Parnell as lieutenant governor and overrode her veto of federal stimulus funds intended for energy efficiency projects.

I’m so sick of the right wing getting a free pass by the media.  They need to be called out on their blatant lies and attacks.  I had to post this because it is very true.  The right are a bunch of hypocrites and it is astounding that this so-called “liberal” media hasn’t called them out on their hypocrisies. This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow nails it right on the head.

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Far-right blogger Michelle Malkin made a statement about the assassination of George Tiller this morning:

Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down at his church in Kansas Sunday morning in a thoroughly evil, cold-blooded act of domestic terrorism. Yes, terrorism. Not “extremism.”

As Steve Benen writes:

We’re dealing with an act of politically-motivated violence, against a law-abiding American on American soil, intended to scare, intimidate, and change U.S. policy.

One can support or oppose abortion rights; one can defend or reject the legal medical services Tiller provided for his desperate patients. But whether yesterday’s murder constitutes domestic terrorism isn’t an especially tough call.

In other news regarding the assassination, the right wingers were showing their true colors on twitter.

When reading things like those tweets and seeing heinous acts of violence performed in the name of the Christian God, I have to think of the great Gandhi quote:

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.

At what point do we realize that these far-right Christian fundamentalists are no different than fundamentalists of other religions and ideologies?

The Republican Road to Recovery must be some kind of sick joke. It includes a huge tax cut for the wealthy, reducing their taxes another 10% from what it is now, which had already been reduced 5% by Bush. Do these people not realize the tax cuts didn’t work during the past 8 years. What makes them think they will work this time? Especially such a drastic cut.

House Republican leaders called a press conference Thursday to unveil their “alternative budget.” While it was thin on specifics, it does include one major policy proposal: a huge tax cut for the wealthy.

Under the Republican plan, the top marginal tax rate would be slashed from 35 to 25 percent, facilitating a dramatic transfer of wealth up the economic scale. Anyone making more than a $100,000 would pay the top rate; those under would pay 10 percent. Source

How will the country run without all this tax revenue? Do the Republicans really want to see America crumble? It appears so.

Gov. Sarah Palin is refusing to accept more than 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services.

The news Thursday drew anger from those who accused Palin of putting her national political aspirations ahead of the state’s interests, and admiration from others who say she has courage to turn down money that would expand government. The state Legislature will have an opportunity to override her decision.

Palin is not taking about $288 million of the $930.7 million that Alaska is due in the federal stimulus. Palin said she is accepting the federal stimulus money that would go for construction projects, but not funding directed at government operations.

The Anchorage Daily news is even reporting that the biggest single chunk of stimulus money that Palin is turning down is $160 million for education. There’s also $17 million in Department of Labor funds (vocational rehabilitation services, unemployment services, etc.), about $9 million for Health and Social Services and about $7 million for Public Safety.

Doesn’t she realize she’s not relevant anymore? Even the Republican Party can’t be stupid enough to see her as their future. Someone needs to tell her. Really, how dumb is this woman? I guess she thinks that if she turns down the education money her constituents will be as dumb as her and keep electing her and supporting her. What a joke.