For those of you who might be wondering who you write like, there’s… this.
Apparently I write like Chuck Palahniuk here, and William Gibson at FDL. I swear it’s not intentional…
Add comment July 21st, 2010 at 11:20am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Books, CoolnessMichele Bachmann, head of the House’s new Tea Party Caucus, explains why tax cuts don’t require any budget offsets:
I think we need to be paying for all the spending that’s going on. But when people can keep more of their own money that shouldn’t be considered a cost.
Ohhh, I see. But the thing is, it actually is a cost. Anything that increases the deficit – which Bachmann’s own party insists is The Most Scary Important Thing In The World – is a cost. She’s basically arguing that ice cream has no calories because it’s so damn tasty.
Add comment July 21st, 2010 at 07:17am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Economy, Republicans, TaxesI agree with him completely that Tim Geithner has displayed an uncanny knack for not only surviving, but failing upward, but I just don’t see sabotaging Elizabeth Warren as his Waterloo. Sure, failing to appoint her to the CFPA would be a huge mistake and disappoint the progressive base terribly, but that’s been Obama’s M.O. for his entire presidency, and I certainly don’t see how Geithner would pay a price for that. Hell, Obama loves kicking the hippies, he thinks it gives him some kind of centrist street cred, like that’s a good thing.
Add comment July 20th, 2010 at 06:34pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Economy, Obama, Politics, WankersPeter Daou tackles the question of whether passing a lot of crappy watered-down bills that only pretend to be positive reform makes Obama a success or a failure, and ultimately comes up underwhelmed:
What’s far more interesting is that there is one thing Obama can do that transcends the ebb and flow of events, the endless swirl of opinion, the daily wins and losses, the progress and setbacks that constitute governing. It is the one thing with lasting appeal and enduring value and a prerequisite for unqualified success in any endeavor: standing for something worthwhile, for a set of well-articulated principles, and fighting for those principles tooth and nail.
The real Obama paradox is why that hasn’t happened when it’s good policy and good politics.
That is pretty much The Question about Obama and the Democrats. I can understand pushing for good policy that’s unpopular because it’s the right thing to do, and I can understand (though not particularly approve) pushing bad policy because it’s popular and the politically easy thing to do, but I just cannot for the life of me understand pushing bad policy that’s not popular either. It’s a double whammy: You take one hit for passing it, and a second hit when voters start feeling its negative effects – or lack of positive ones.
Either Obama and the Democrats are staggeringly obtuse about both politics and policy, or they’re so in thrall to corporate and wealthy donors that they’re willing to sacrifice their seats on their behalf. Or they think that wads of campaign cash will be enough to convince voters that their policies were actually wildly successful, or that the Republicans are the sole reason that they weren’t. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work out real well.
Add comment July 20th, 2010 at 11:24am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Obama, PoliticsIs our Hispanic Caucus learning?
A group of Democratic lawmakers wants to use the immigration reform debate to fix one of the most hotly contested aspects of the health care law — provisions that bar immigrants from using new government programs to get coverage.
The move by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus would add a contentious new element to an already monumental task — passing a bill that puts 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.
But the lawmakers say they’re merely following through on a pledge they made when the health care overhaul passed in March, and they expect the White House and Democratic leadership to do the same.
Some members of the caucus almost withheld their votes for health reform over what they saw as punitive, anti-immigrant measures in the bill, which bans illegal immigrants from using newly created exchanges to buy insurance, even with their own money, and maintains a five-year waiting period for legal residents to enroll in Medicaid.
They signed on only after receiving assurances that their concerns would be rectified as part of the immigration reform battle, according to lawmakers, advocates and Hill aides.
“The expectation was that everybody knew it was unfair and that a new immigration bill would correct that,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) told POLITICO.
Asked at what level he received such signals, Grijalva said: “High enough to feel secure about it.”
And you believed them??? Have you been paying any attention at all? Obama promised labor EFCA if they went along with his terrible healthcare bill, and look how that worked out for them. You really think Obama’s going to go out on a limb for you when he’s never gone out on a limb for anything progressive in his life? Yeah, good luck with that.
Add comment July 20th, 2010 at 07:16am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Democrats, Healthcare, Immigration, Obama, Politics, WankersTeabaggers are really really scary, especially Glenn Beck teabaggers:
She’s like a cross between Tammy Faye Bakker and Coupon Suzy, with a dash of Carol Channing thrown in for extra creepy.
Add comment July 19th, 2010 at 11:15am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Monday Media BloggingWow, I can’t believe it – Obama is actually calling the Republicans on their most glaring contradiction:
President Barack Obama will escalate his attacks on Republicans Monday, planning to blast them for opposing an extension of benefits for the out-of-work while pushing tax cuts for the wealthy.
Obama plans a mid-morning statement in the White House Rose Garden in which he’ll again urge Congress to extend the jobless benefits and rip Republicans for refusing to go along.
(…)
He’ll also draw the sharp contrast between Republican opposition to benefits for the unemployed with their support for tax cuts for wealthier Americans, a White House aide said.
(…)
Obama on Saturday drew the comparison in the kind of language that could easily show up in Democratic ads during this fall’s campaigns for control of Congress.
“So after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, including a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, they’ve finally decided to make their stand on the backs of the unemployed,” he said.
“They’ve got no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them; but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help. And every day this goes on, another 50,000 Americans lose that badly needed lifeline.”
I can’t wait to hear how they justify this. And I don’t think claiming that tax cuts will stimulate the economy and raise revenue is going to be good enough, although decades of conservative brainwashing about the magical powers of tax cuts may prove me wrong.
Anyway, it’s nice to see Obama and the Democrats finally listening to me…
Add comment July 19th, 2010 at 07:12am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Democrats, Economy, Obama, Politics, TaxesThis week’s quote is from Zhang Yimou’s Shanghai Triad, which I, apparently, saw:
Serious, shy, it’s all an act – your eyes have already been all over me.
And, of course, there’ll be other people’s ibexes…
I find myself rooting for the ibex.
1 comment July 16th, 2010 at 09:19pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Friday Quote & Cat BloggingTell me again about what an overreaching, business-hating liberal Obama is:
A leading big-business group, responding to a request from top White House aides, last month submitted to President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget a 54-page hit list that takes aim at regulations protecting the environment, workers, consumers and investors.
Having asked the Business Roundtable for its advice, the White House was then faced with the question of what to do with it.
Discussions between the two parties are ongoing, the White House says. And their conclusion may depend on who wins the ongoing power struggle between the president’s top political gurus and his policy apparatus.
The push to placate business leaders is being led by Obama’s political team — in this case, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
But just like the advice the White House politicos are giving Obama about pressing forward with deficit reduction in the midst of a jobs crisis, the idea of loosening the reins on big business — at a time when the cost of deregulation has been so viscerally on display in the Gulf of Mexico — strikes some observers as spectacularly tone-deaf. Not just bad policy, but bad politics.
“What we’re in the middle of is a string of regulatory failures that the Obama administration seems very insensitive to,” said Rena Steinzor, a law professor at the University of Maryland and president of the pro-regulation Center for Progressive Reform. She cited the financial crisis, the Massey Energy mine disaster, and of course the BP oil spill.
“Tone-deaf” is exactly right, especially if you read the whole depressing story. The Obama administration is apparently seeking more corporate campaign contributions for Democratic candidates, but catering to big business is really the last thing they need to be doing to impress the voters. As always, I assume the calculation is that with enough campaign cash they can convince the American people that Obama is a “fierce advocate” for Main Street over Wall Street.
Add comment July 16th, 2010 at 11:27am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Economy, Obama, Politics, WankersFirst Argentina legalizes gay marriage, now this:
Net neutrality: you want it, we want it, ISPs pretty much hate it. Chilean politicians? Those guys love the stuff! The Board of the Chamber of Deputies voted almost unanimously to pass Bulletin 4915 which, among other things, forces an ISP to:
…ensure access to all types of content, services or applications available on the network and offer a service that does not distinguish content, applications or services, based on the source of it or their property.
Hey, remember when the U.S. was supposedly a thriving, cutting-edge beacon of democracy and Latin America was an economically prostrate backwater of corrupt banana republics? How come we seem to be at least 5-10 years behind them now?
Add comment July 16th, 2010 at 07:26am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Politics, TechnologyFor those of you who were worried that healthcare reform might eventually get watered down:
Remember Liz Fowler? The former WellPoint VP whom William Ockham noted was the literal author of the health care reform bill?
I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to learn that WellPoint’s former VP will be in charge of consumer issues and oversight as our country implements the WellPoint/Liz Fowler health insurance bill. (h/t Glenn Greenwald)
Liz Fowler, a key staffer for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus who helped draft the federal health reform bill enacted in March, is joining the Obama administration to help implement the new law. Fowler, chief health counsel for the Senate Finance Committee, which Baucus chairs, will become deputy director of the Office of Consumer Information and Oversight at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
I for one am relieved to see that WellPoint’s Ms. Fowler’s bold vision will not be compromised when the reform plan is finally implemented.
Add comment July 15th, 2010 at 06:25pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Healthcare, Obama, WankersSpurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.
“Our very way of life is under siege,” said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. “It’s time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are.”
(…)
Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance “since the Ten Commandments.”
(…)
“The freedoms our Founding Fathers spilled their blood for are vanishing before our eyes,” Mortensen said. “In under a year, a fascist, socialist regime has turned a proud democracy into a totalitarian state that will soon control every facet of American life.”
Along with the “Don’t tread on me” flags and the George Washington impersonators, the Constitution is ubiquitous at Tea Party events, whether it’s reproductions of the original parchment or pocket-sized copies.
Karen Cole says she carries a copy in her purse. “The Democrats are eviscerating our Constitution,” she says. Her friend Betty Anne Olsen agrees. “This current administration is trashing our Constitution; they couldn’t care less about the values. They’re breaking the laws.”
And how does she know that?
“I do not study the Constitution, no, but I’m well aware of my history,” Olsen says. “I’m well aware of how this country was founded, and I’m well aware of what has happened to it in current years.”
Tea Party members are often vague about exactly how their constitutional rights are being denied. But they all believe the federal government has expanded far beyond what the Constitution intended.
Parody is dead.
Add comment July 15th, 2010 at 11:47am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Constitution, RepublicansFrom a Philly Inquirer story about Republican PA-GOV candidate Tom Corbett trying to walk back his comments about how the jobless would rather collect unemployment than work:
The Quinnipiac University poll gave Corbett an edge of 44 to 37 percent over Onorato, with many voters still undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
The previous Quinnipiac poll, released shortly before the May 18 primary, gave Corbett a virtually identical 43-37 advantage in a head-to-head race with Onorato.
“That’s a formula for a victory for Republicans in Pennsylvania if those numbers hold up,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said Tuesday.
That’s right, the party with the most votes usually wins. That’s some mighty good analyzin’ there, I tell you what.
Add comment July 15th, 2010 at 11:12am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Pittsburgh/PA, Polls, QuotesNo one could have anticipated…
Almost four out of five Americans surveyed in a Bloomberg National Poll this month say they have just a little or no confidence that the measure being championed by congressional Democrats will prevent or significantly soften a future crisis. More than three-quarters say they don’t have much or any confidence the proposal will make their savings and financial assets more secure.
A plurality — 47 percent — says the bill will do more to protect the financial industry than consumers; 38 percent say consumers would benefit more.
A majority or plurality disapproves of Obama’s management of the economy, health care, the budget deficit, the overhaul of financial market regulations and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted July 9- 12. In addition, almost 6 in 10 respondents say the war in Afghanistan is a lost cause. The Senate is scheduled to begin voting on the financial regulation bill today.
Almost two-thirds say they feel the nation is headed in the wrong direction, an even more sour assessment than in March when 58 percent felt that way. Two-thirds of independent voters are pessimistic, while just 56 percent of Democrats offer a vote of confidence.
Great going, guys. You alienated your own base without doing squat to entice conservatives. That’s really going to work out well for you in November.
Add comment July 15th, 2010 at 07:12am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Obama, Politics, Polls, WankersIt’s inspiring to see Bat Boy finally taking on a leadership role:
Washington, D.C. The White House announced this morning that they will be putting Bat Boy in charge of the newly created “Perfect Citizen” cyber program.
The program was created to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants. The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government’s chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack. “Who better deal with unusual activity than Bat Boy?” a White House spokesperson said.
Even though Rod Blagojevich was lobbying to get the job, in exchange for his “silence” on Valerie Jarrett (and everything else under the sun), a NSA spokesman said that Bat Boy was the only one seriously considered for the job. “Bat Boy has a long history of protecting America. Just eight years ago, he defused a terrorist bomb on a United Airlines flight from Amsterdam by urinating on it.” The government feels that a half-bat, half-human being has an advantage in protecting Americans from cyber assaults. Bat Boy’s enlarged ears are good sound gathering devices, much like a satellite dishes. Bat Boy also has the ability to send out sounds, which will bounce against an object, then return to him for interpretation.
(…)
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million. A Raytheon spokesperson said Bat Boy is a perfect fit for the program because he “can stay up all night, and he likes to eat insects and bugs, which we have in abundance around here.”
(…)
Vice President Joe Biden stepped to the podium to discuss the program at this morning’s press briefing dressed as Batman’s sidekick Robin. Biden said, “I love Bat Boy and I love Batman. Bang! Pow! Kazam!” When Robert Gibbs informed the Vice President that he had the wrong Bat family, a saddened Biden remarked, “can I still wear my costume to meet the Prime Minister of Israel?” Gibbs responded tersely, “No, Joe. You can’t.”
Bat Boy is already working as the Perfect Citizen. He is monitoring your computer as you read this post. Please wave at your monitor.
This probably was the best possible choice.
*waves at monitor*
Add comment July 14th, 2010 at 08:20pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Weekly World NewsCEPR calculates the costs and benefits of cutting Social Security:
And how do these massive cuts impact the national debt? Using CEPR’s Deficit Calculator, it looks it would cut the national debt by $861 billion (about 3.5%) over the next ten years, which if I recall correctly is considerably less the cost of Dubya’s massive tax cuts for the rich. (Note: Simply raising the cap on the Social Security taxable wages to $180,000 would cut the debt by $877 billion all by itself)
So even ignoring the immorality of defaulting on the bonds Social Security has purchased to fund itself, it looks like Obama’s handpicked, Pete Peterson-funded commission of Social Security-hating deficit hawks is probably going to recommend some very painful – and unpopular – cuts that do very little to solve the supposedly urgent budget problem at hand.
Add comment July 14th, 2010 at 11:22am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Obama, Politics, Social Security, WankersSteny Hoyer explains that the Democratic strategy this year will be to run against the disastrous Bush policies that the Democrats completely failed to oppose. Combine that with a message about how the Democrats can’t get anything done because of Republican opposition, and that should be a winning message for sure.
Add comment July 14th, 2010 at 07:22am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Bush, Democrats, Elections, PoliticsFrom the insane racist conservatives who insist that Obama is the one who’s stirring up race hatred. Against white people, that is.
I have a lot of problems with Obama – I think he’s been a huge disappointment with outright disdain for the progressive movement, but here’s a news flash: Not being enthusiastically on board with white racism does not actually make someone an anti-white racist.
Add comment July 13th, 2010 at 11:28am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Obama, Politics, Racism, Republicans, WankersThat’s what Republican congressional candidate Ed Martin says, anyway. He doesn’t explain how exactly, but why would he lie?
One thing I like to say is: America is great, not because of our genetics. We’re great because we created a place and space where people can be free. And they can choose Christ, they can choose to be faithful. They can worship, and they find their way to the Lord. And — or some of them don’t. We sure want them all to, but some of them don’t.
And part of that freedom — when you take a government and you impose, and take away all your choices. One of the choices you take away is to find the Lord. And find your savior.
And that’s one of the things that’s most destructive about the growth of government. It’s this taking away that freedom. The freedom — the ultimate freedom, to find your salvation, to get your salvation. And to find Christ, for me and you.
And I think that’s one of the things that we have to be very, very aware of that the Obama Administration and Congressman Carnahan are doing to us.
Scary! Obama’s anti-religious policies must be stopped! Uh, whatever they are.
Add comment July 13th, 2010 at 07:17am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Politics, Religion, Republicans, WankersAgain, for the five of you who haven’t seen this already…
I like how the song and video so clearly reflect the candidate’s own personality.
Add comment July 12th, 2010 at 11:21am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Monday Media BloggingWhy else would he show so little interest in restoring the economy?
David Axelrod appeared on This Week and acknowledged that the Administration has little chance of getting anything beyond an extension of unemployment benefits through Congress between now and the election. That extension would appear to have 60 votes whenever Robert Byrd’s replacement gets into the Senate. But that jobs bill that had all the tax extensions and infrastructure funding and summer job money? Forget it. Aid to state Medicaid programs? Isn’t going to happen. Extending the COBRA subsidy to keep the jobless covered? Nope.
But it’s not all doom and gloom:
“There’s not a great appetite for it, but I do think we can get additional tax relief for small businesses – that’s what we want to do – additional lending for small businesses,” the President’s senior advisor said.
There’s always room for tax cuts!
But it’s not just that Obama’s given up on the economy – he’s also given up on making the Republicans pay any price for it:
[A]s Duncan Black says, there’s more than one way to make that shift [from stimulus to deficit reduction], especially if the economic team understands the importance of more stimulus to support the economy.
So let’s say Obama’s people have correctly deduced that there’s no chance in hell of getting anything through Congress. They have two basic options. First, they could get on the teevee every day and say, “This is my plan to help. Republicans in Congress won’t pass it.” They could hold rallies in Maine. Allies could run ads. At least people would know who is for and who is against…and just what it was that people are for or against.
Option two is back off proposals you’ve previously made and have Axelrod get on the teevee and say, “there is some argument for additional spending in the short-run to continue to generate economic activity.”
Surely the lead political strategist in the White House recognizes the political importance of assigning blame?
Or, maybe not.
This is not exactly surprising, coming from a president so eager to create a Pete Peterson-backed commission whose express purpose appears to be to gut Social Security in the name of deficit reduction. So how many votes is Obama going to get in 2012 if the economy is still in the toilet and he’s given his blessing to Social Security cuts? Yeah, good luck with that.
Add comment July 12th, 2010 at 07:19am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Economy, Obama, Politics, Social Security, WankersThe New Republic hires a right-wing liar as their new fact-checker, apparently out of fear that their stories may contain too many facts.
You guys do know that no matter how much you try to distance yourselves from reality, conservatives will still accuse you of liberal bias, right?
Add comment July 10th, 2010 at 06:09pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Environment, Media, Politics, Republicans, WankersYes, this sounds like just the kind of guy we need running CentCom…
General James Mattis, the current head of the US Joint Forces Command and who previously led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, had widely been tipped as the next head of Central Command. President Barack Obama must formalise the nomination, which then goes to Congress for approval.
“You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”
Centcom, as it is known, oversees operations in a volatile swathe of the world that covers 20 countries and stretches from Egypt across the Middle East and into south and central Asia.
Robert Gates, the defence secretary, praised the four-star general as “one of the military’s most innovative and iconoclastic thinkers.”
Mr Gates also dismissed concerns about his 2005 comments, saying Mattis had learned his lesson.
Gen Mattis was reprimanded at the time by the Marine Corps for telling a conference in San Diego, California: “It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up front with you, I like brawling.”
During a discussion panel he said: “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil.
Fantastic. So out gays can’t serve in the military at all, but out sociopaths can become four-star generals and be put in charge of two simultaneous wars.
Add comment July 9th, 2010 at 11:25am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Afghanistan, Iraq, Wankers, WarAh, Republicans. (Not that the Democrats are much better.)
It was barely a month ago that House Republicans announced the launch of a new website, America Speaking Out, that was designed to “craft a new agenda” based on input from real Americans.
Said a spokesman:
“There’s going to be a months-long period of engaging with the American people, asking for their ideas and [gauging] what their priorities are, and that’s going to take time,” Buck said. “Most people come up with an agenda in a back room in Washington, put it forward and say here’s what it is, take it.”
And today House Republicans are opting to be most people:
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) have invited senior Republican lobbyists and top officials from several large trade groups to the Capitol next week to provide their suggestions for a new GOP agenda.
The meeting is part of the House leaders’ initiative called America Speaking Out, which is intended to draw broad input to create a new policy agenda for the party to launch in the fall.
An e-mail invitation sent to more than 20 trade representatives and obtained by Roll Call summoned guests to Boehner’s second-floor office on July 16 “to discuss House Republican efforts to produce a new policy agenda with a small group of trade association leaders.”
Actually, given the kind of bizarre pronouncements Republicans usually make about what “the American people” want, or what’s good for “the American people”, it’s really not surprising at all to find that they’re thinking of the corporate lobbying community.
Add comment July 9th, 2010 at 07:00am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Politics, Republicans, WankersWow. And this guy’s a “marine scientist”…
But not everyone is convinced that all of this cleanup business is necessary. For instance take George Crozier, a marine scientist from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who thinks everyone should just suck it up and learn to live with it:
“Buried is buried. It will get carved up by a hurricane at some point, but I see no particular advantage to digging it up,” he said. “It’s a human environmental hazard only because people don’t want to go to the beach if it’s got tar balls on it.”
Fantastic. As long as it’s under the sand, there’s nothing to worry about. Sure, a hurricane might spread it all over the Southeast, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Add comment July 8th, 2010 at 07:32pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Environment, WankersThis is just too hilarious…
In recent weeks, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has circulated information to local reporters about Republican candidates in close races. Among the claims:
– That Jim Renacci of Ohio once owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes.
– That David Harmer of California received $160,000 in bonus and severance pay from a firm that got a federal bailout.
– That Jon Runyan of New Jersey got a legal break in property taxes for his 25-acre homestead by qualifying for a farmland assessment thanks to his four donkeys.
(…)
“When the issues are cutting against you, it is typical for a party in trouble to resort to other means,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “With the unemployment rate unacceptably high and President Obama’s approval rating falling, they have nothing left to run on other than character assassination.”
Yes, that’s right: The party of Karl Rove, Lee Atwater, Andrew Breitbart, James O’Keefe, Dan Burton, Ken Starr, and the Swift Boat Vets is complaining about Democrats resorting to character assassination to compensate for unpopular policies. I dunno, maybe the Republicans would be more understanding if the Democrats just made shit up like they do.
Also, it’s a shame the story focuses entirely on House races and doesn’t mention that the Republican’s serial liar nominee for the Illinois Senate makes the right-wing caricature of Al Gore look like George Washington.
Add comment July 8th, 2010 at 08:14am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Corruption/Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Republicans, WankersIn an interview with London’s Daily Mirror, the notoriously provocative rock star, 52, dismissed using the Web to release his upcoming record, “20Ten.”
“The Internet’s completely over,” Prince told the Mirror. “[It's] like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.”
The ”Purple Rain” rocker is putting his money where his mouth is. Rather than use contemporary outlets like iTunes to release his new material, Prince is going an unconventional route: “20Ten” will be released abroad as a free giveaway in certain newspapers around Europe.
(…)
The singer has also blasted the intellectual value of the ‘Net.
“All these computers and digital gadgets are no good,” said the singer, who also shut down his official website. “They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”
That’s right, the internet is sooo 2009 – newspapers are the hip new hotness. Also, all the ones and zeroes inside your iPod can leak into your brain and contaminate it with math (says the man who titled his latest album “20Ten”).
I know who I’m not going to be asking for stock tips…
Add comment July 7th, 2010 at 11:32am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Media, Music, TechnologyElle MacPherson reveals that the secret to looking good is… preying on an endangered species:
Elle Macpherson, aka “The Body,” is being blasted by animal-rights advocates for a technique she uses to keep her body looking good.
The 47-year-old supermodel and host of “Britain’s Next Top Model” told the Times of London that she eats powdered rhinoceros horn as a beauty treatment.
“Put it this way, it works for me,” Macpherson tweeted to the Times Online.
(…)
The International Fund for Animal Welfare is so outraged by Macpherson’s confession that it has prepared an informational brochure to send to the superstar about the plight of the rhino and the use of alternative treatments.
“There is no excuse for using any endangered animal products,” spokeswoman Erica Martin told SkyNews.
“First and foremost, selling rhino products is illegal and in breach of CITES,” she said. “And secondly, four out of five species of rhino are literally on the brink of extinction. Elle has been a successful businesswoman with a high public profile for decades, and people do listen to what she says.”
That’s great, thanks a lot, Elle. The rhino population will be lucky to last a week now. Here’s the best part, though:
Macpherson’s admission comes just one year after the supermodel publicly boycotted a London restaurant for serving endangered bluefin tuna.
Oh yeah, she’s soooo concerned about the endangered species. What a colossal narcissistic phony.
2 comments July 7th, 2010 at 07:10am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Environment, WankersShorter Bobo Brooks: Stimulus bad, austerity good. Demand-side economists smart, but stupid.
I will give him credit for advocating for extending unemployment insurance and giving the states help, but overall he sounds a lot like a global warming denier the day after a blizzard.
Dean Baker takes him apart here.
Add comment July 6th, 2010 at 11:34am Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Economy, Media, Republicans, WankersFor the five of you who haven’t already seen “Grandpa Gaga” totally ruling the dance floor…
Man, I hope I’m that awesome when I grow up.
Add comment July 5th, 2010 at 06:03pm Posted by Eli Permalink
Entry Filed under: Monday Media Blogging
