From Surplus to Debt, Republi-CON Style

UPDATE II: "Contrary to many [Republi-con] assertions, tax rates in the United States are low, both historically and in comparison with other developed nations." Read The New York Times, Are Taxes in the U.S. High or Low?, which notes that:

The many adjustments to income permitted by the tax code, plus alternative tax rates on the largest sources of income of the wealthy, explain why the average federal income tax rate on the 400 richest people in America was 18.11 percent in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service, down from 26.38 percent when these data were first calculated in 1992. . .

The truth of the matter is that federal taxes in the United States are very low. There is no reason to believe that reducing them further will do anything to raise growth or reduce unemployment."

UPDATE: Another graphic reality check regarding Republi-con fiscal irresponsibility, from Pew Trusts, Fiscal Facts: The Great Debt Shift:



The report concludes that "new legislation enacted since January 2001 has been responsible for two-thirds of the debt growth. In the new legislation, roughly three dollars of new spending has been enacted for every two dollars in tax cuts between 2001 and 2011. No single policy or piece of legislation, however, is overwhelmingly responsible for the $12.7 trillion shift in CBO’s debt projections for 2011 that occurred between January 2001 and March 2011."

"The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis." Read the Washington Post, Running in the red: How the U.S., on the road to surplus, detoured to massive debt, which includes the following graph and this note: "In 2000, the United States had $3.4 trillion in debt held by the public. Based on policies in place at the time, the Congressional Budget Office projected in 2001 that the country could pay off its debt by the year 2008 and by 2011 have a $2.3 trillion surplus."

The Republi-CON's Next Celebrity Candidate

UPDATE IV: Will it be Palin/Trump in 2012? Read NY1.com, Palin, Trump Have NYC Rendezvous.

Would it be a dream or nightmare ticket?


UPDATE III: "Having Donald Trump in the presidential race gave it the feel of a carnival . . . [and] showed us how truly scary our political system has become." Read the Washington Post, Donald Trump and the House of Horrors.

Save Us, Sarah, Save Us! (She has the unbending, hard-charging character to do it. Read The Atlantic, The Tragedy of Sarah Palin.)


UPDATE II: After milking it for all the publicity he could, he's quit. Read the Washington Post, Trump the clown exits stage right.


UPDATE: More on America's celebrity obsession. Read The Atlantic, In 2012, Celebrity Trumps Substance.

In politics, doesn't form always Trump substance. (Pun intended.)

Republi-con qualifications for president -- charisma, significant personal wealth and near-universal name identification. But is it enough? Read the Washington Post, The Donald, debunked.

She's Back

UPDATE II: Just announced, "the formation of: 'Comedians for Sarah Palin.' [Their] slogan is: 'Comedians putting aside their differences and the good of America for comedic material.'" Read CNN, Support Palin! Put a comedian to work!


UPDATE: In the latest Gallup poll, "Mitt Romney (17%) and Sarah Palin (15%) now lead a smaller field of potential Republican presidential candidates in rank-and-file Republicans' preferences for the party's 2012 nominee. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain essentially tie for third, with Cain registering 8% support in his initial inclusion in Gallup "trial heat" polling. Notably, 22% of Republicans do not have a preference at this point." Read Gallup, Romney, Palin Lead Reduced GOP Field for 2012.

In addition, Palin is "fortifying her small staff of advisers, buying a house in Arizona — where associates have said she could base a national campaign — and reviving her schedule of public appearances. The moves are the most concrete signals yet that Ms. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, is seriously weighing a Republican presidential bid." Read The New York Times, Signs Grow That Palin May Run.

[A told ya so:

You may remember, that in July 2009 I predicted that Palin would "build her network for 2012 by campaigning and fund raising for other candidates" and "cash in with a book and some speeches, maybe a little paid commentary on not-the-FoxNews."

I reaffirm my predictiojn that she loses the 2012 Republi-con primary.]

And just in time, a "new film commissioned by Palin, the former governor of Alaska, will present her as a Joan of Arc-like figure beset at every turn by vicious leftwing enemies seeking to thwart her ambition of reviving the conservative legacy of Ronald Reagan." Read The Guardian, Sarah Palin likened to Joan of Arc in two-hour documentary film.

Typical Republi-con, trying to advance their political careers on the the Reagan myth.

With Mitt, Mike, Donald, and Newt flopping or quitting, "a whiny drama queen" gets a second chance. Read FITSNews, Sarah Palin Is Back.

Call the Republi-CON Bluff

UPDATE II: It is your choice, "Government can keep its current promises, undertake the complicated and often frustrating work of bringing health costs under control, and work for the day when everyone has health insurance. Or it can ask individuals to carry an ever-heavier load, expect invisible hands to perform miracles and leave Americans to take their chances with the insurance companies." Read the Washington Post, Why Paul Ryan is losing the Medicare argument.


UPDATE: For more on the public reaction to the Republi-con 'every man for himself' governing philosophy, read the Washington Post, Republicans continue to be their own worst enemy.

As I stated before, the Naive-ocrats have been too stupid to call the bluff -- give the public what it claims it wants until they don't want it anymore.

Because they really don't want what the Republi-cons propose.

Just ask Jane Corwin.

Read the Washington Post, Democrat Hochul wins N.Y. special House election and The New York Times, G.O.P. on the Defensive as Voters Resist Medicare Plan, which noted: "voters like the idea of budget cuts, but that they often recoil when those cuts threaten the programs that touch their lives."

A Blues Error

UPDATE: "The commanding officer of the Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron was relieved of command by chief of naval air training May 27. " Read the press release.

"The Blue Angels [canceled] a practice and show this week at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., days after announcing a safety standown after four of the six jets flew below a specified altitude at" an airshow in Lynchburg, VA.

Watch the four plane diamond formation loop filmed on Saturday, and compare it to Sunday's performance:

The Y Generation

From and email:

You don't know how true this is:

- People born before 1946 were called The Silent generation.
- People born between 1946 and 1964 are called The Baby Boomers.
- People born between 1965 and 1979 are called Generation X.
- And people born between 1980 and 2010 are called Generation Y.

Why do we call the last group Generation Y?

Y should I get a job?
Y should I leave home and find my own place?
Y should I get a car when I can borrow yours?
Y should I clean my room?
Y should I wash and iron my own clothes?
Y should I buy any food?

But a cartoonist explained it very eloquently below...

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business Shout-Out: Polka-dots Retro Toys & Gifts, with stores in Milton (5227 Willing Street) and Panama City Beach (Pier Park), FL, classic toys of the 60s and earlier... cap guns, tiddlywinks, troll dolls, jacks, die cast metal cars, wooden tops, Chinese jump ropes and so much more, they have my Five Star recommendation!


Follow-up to fact-free fantasies: don't be duped by the Birthers, HEK 293 and rumor-mongering by Steve, ask him if he has renounced all 'commonplace scientific experiments in universities, hospitals, and commercial labs', Friday sycophants and their fear of debating (he who can not be mentioned listens and complains all the time);


Local and regional: Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer vacation season, but where's the rain, BP filed a motion to dismiss many spill claims saying that "they are pre-empted by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990", and what yahoo picked Blue Wahoos?;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and now they are juggling the books,

call the Republi-CON bluff,

and then there were ??, and she's back, the party of Richard Nixon,

is the Hedgehog News investment worthless?,

and speaking of narcissistic politicians (opportunists playing to outrage while taking care of themselves. . . [with] nothing to offer but honeyed words, the syrup for suckers), there is the 'Love Child Father' who could have been President,

who needs sympathetic human emotion. . . reason is everything, religion is a fraud, selfishness is a virtue, altruism is a crime against human excellence, self-sacrifice is weakness, weakness is contemptible?, or does survival depend as much on cooperation as it does on a competition between self-interests?,

MEN, you can't live with them, and you can't kill them,

whoops, math error, not it's 148 days til the end of the world, again,

great wealth and unhappiness,

Republi-cons continue the big lie theory regarding the usefulness of torture, McCain says don't believe it,

part of the Republi-CON "Not Intended to be a Factual Statement" and "Misinformation" Propaganda Industry,

the Middle East mess and the hope for democracy, and Christians and Muslims clashing in Egypt, Syria attempting to crush its democracy rebellion and Palestinians climbing over fences into Israel — the best we can do now is manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable, time for a serious peace policy combined with a serious energy policy, and why are Republi-CONs undermining U.S. military and foreign policy objectives, after year of incessant moral blackmail regarding Iraq, when the U.S. has the power to do something constructive, and Gaddafi is good reason to try it, he reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators,

so you don't believe in global warming, then explain what happens to 35 gigatons of CO2 each year,

the health care industry bottom-line, the reason Republi-con want to repeal the new health care law, the nation’s bloated annual health-care tab would swell by more than $4 billion" after a company raised the price of a medicine from $20 to $1,500 per dose, and bad news for health care law opponents,

the benefits of a modern secular legal system, don't read your spouse's email, or record her conversations, you can kill a rat, but not a hamster, is it a crime to have a false persona,

you're so wonderful, not,

and 'The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


Fun stuff: Husband Day Care, cute little cats in 'It Could Be Worse', Mission Impossible, Squirrel Edition, and Escapa, and posting tomorrow, The Y Generation, don't miss it;

and

Donate to a good cause: help the friends of a former instructor at the Naval EOD school at Eglin Air Force Base, Gunnery Sgt. John Hayes, who was detachment company gunnery sergeant from June 2007 to June 2010 and taught several courses and was recently wounded in Afghanistan.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

Great Wealth and Unhappiness

For much of her life, she lived in "a world of unlimited wealth [and isolation] . . . a recluse for more than 75 years, rarely seen even by the people who worked for her.' Read the Washington Post, Huguette Clark, copper heiress and recluse, dies at 104.

Husband Day Care

From and email:

Is the Hedgehog News Investment Worthless?

As noted before, Hedgehog News owns the Republi-con party.

But, while "[t]he circus Roger Ailes created at [Hedgehog News] made his network $900 million last year . . . it may have lost him something more important: the next election." Read New York Magazine, The Elephant in the Green Room, which notes:

"[W]ith an actual presidential election on the horizon, the Fox candidates’ poll numbers remain dismally low (Sarah Palin is polling 12 percent; Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, 10 percent and 2 percent, respectively). Ailes’s candidates-in-waiting were coming up small. And, for all his programming genius, he was more interested in a real narrative than a television narrative—he wanted to elect a president. All he had to do was watch Fox’s May 5 debate in South Carolina to see what a mess the field was—a mess partly created by the loudmouths he’d given airtime to and a tea party he’d nurtured."

It Could Be Worse

From an email, as told by cats:

Your day could be worse . . .

First you could have had trouble getting out of bed:




Or, you could have had a stiff neck:




Your new diet really might not be working out:




You could have pulled a muscle when you tried to exercise:




Your new hat could have looked better on you at the store:




You could keep losing things:




You could have got caught in the rain at lunchtime:




Then the lunch you had, might not have agreed with you:




You could feel trapped:




You could have uninvited guests at dinnertime:



(Yes, those are skunks!)


On top of that, you could be coming down with the flu:




And finally, you could be alone in the house at night when you think you hear a noise in the basement:




Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business Shout-Out: H & H Power Sports & Lawn Equipment, 7 W Nine One Half Mile Rd, Pensacola, FL, (850) 479-2872, they have my Five Star recommendation!


Follow-up to fact-free fantasies: don't be duped by the Birthers;


Local and regional: Evers just helpin kin folk, and is a local top employer is taking the 525 jobs overseas, after years of government subsidies;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and now they are juggling the books

3 days til the end of the world, again,

MEN, you can't live with them, and you can't kill them,

and then there were ??, and she's back, the party of Richard Nixon,

who needs sympathetic human emotion. . . reason is everything, religion is a fraud, selfishness is a virtue, altruism is a crime against human excellence, self-sacrifice is weakness, weakness is contemptible?, or does survival depend as much on cooperation as it does on a competition between self-interests?

Republi-cons continue the big lie theory regarding the usefulness of torture, McCain says don't believe it,

part of the Republi-CON "Not Intended to be a Factual Statement" and "Misinformation" Propaganda Industry,

the Middle East mess and the hope for democracy, and Christians and Muslims clashing in Egypt, Syria attempting to crush its democracy rebellion and Palestinians climbing over fences into Israel — the best we can do now is manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable, time for a serious peace policy combined with a serious energy policy, and why are Republi-CONs undermining U.S. military and foreign policy objectives, after year of incessant moral blackmail regarding Iraq, when the U.S. has the power to do something constructive, and Gaddafi is good reason to try it, he reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators,

after the devastation in Japan, you should support better, not just less, government,

so you don't believe in global warming, then explain what happens to 35 gigatons of CO2 each year,

the health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-con want to repeal the new health care law, the nation’s bloated annual health-care tab would swell by more than $4 billion" after a company raised the price of a medicine from $20 to $1,500 per dose, and bad news for health care law opponents,

and who pushing a health care policy his family stands to profit from immensely, and did you know, the Republi-CONs secretly support Obamacare,

the benefits of a modern secular legal system, don't read your spouse's email, or record her conversations, you can kill a rat, but not a hamster, is it a crime to have a false persona,

you're so wonderful, not,

and 'The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


Fun stuff: why men are just happier people, read the witticisms!, Mission Impossible, Squirrel Edition, and Escapa;

and

Donate to a good cause: help the friends of a former instructor at the Naval EOD school at Eglin Air Force Base, Gunnery Sgt. John Hayes, who was detachment company gunnery sergeant from June 2007 to June 2010 and taught several courses and was recently wounded in Afghanistan.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

The Party of Richard Nixon

"There is more than a little Richard Nixon in Gingrich — the same lack of place, the same keen intellect, the same petty fights and imaginary enemies, the same hallucinatory grievances, the same willingness to lie, exaggerate and smear. On a given day, Newt Gingrich could be a brilliant president. On any night, he could be a monster." Read the Washington Post, Newt Gingrich, the Pinocchio candidate.

Just in Time for Easter, a Movie About the Gospel of Rand

UPDATE: Au contraire you heartless Republi-cons. "Developments in the study of evolution suggest that the survival of the fittest depends as much on cooperation as it does on a competition between self-interests." Read The New York Times, Nice Guys Finish First.

Who needs "sympathetic human emotion. . . Reason is everything. Religion is a fraud. Selfishness is a virtue. Altruism is a crime against human excellence. Self-sacrifice is weakness. Weakness is contemptible." Read the Washington Post, Ayn Rand’s adult-onset adolescence.

Juggling the Books

Happy debt-ceiling day! Read the Wall Street Journal, As Debt Limit Reached, Agreement Still Far Off, which includes this graph:

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Follow-up to fact-free fantasies: TBD;


Local and regional: what counts as progress in podunk town, new parking system in downtown, which merits front page coverage from the mullet wrapper, and a local top employer is taking the525 jobs overseas, after years of government subsidies;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits,

the Middle East mess and the hope for democracy, and a Facebook revolution?, why Libya, and what next, and Obama -- damned when he didn't, and damned when he did -- and why are Republi-CONs undermining U.S. military and foreign policy objectives, after year of incessant moral blackmail regarding Iraq, when the U.S. has the power to do something constructive, and Gaddafi is good reason to try it, he reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators,

after the devastation in Japan, you should support better, not just less, government,

11 days til the end of the world, again,

thank God we saved the Banksters, but why?,

budget gamesmanship and tough decisions,

the Republi-CON Double Dip Recession, not a new ice cream, but it'll make you scream,

after Palin fatigue?, the Republi-con's latest celebrity candidate, he's a birther, it is clear that he hasn't even read the Congressional Research Service that would agree that Obama is a "natural born citizen," (the Congressional Research Service is a part of the Library of Congress, providing professional, objective and non-partisan public policy research to members of Congress and their staffers. The writer of the memorandum is a qualified constitutional attorney who has summarized the historical and legal material with references, showing, by contrast, how shoddy the birther arguments are) (this memorandum explains why even Republi-CON Congressmen/women refuse to join the Birthers), and he hasn't talked to Barbara Nelson, who "specifically remembers his birth" because she spoke with the obstetrician who delivered him shortly after his birth,

so you don't believe in global warming, then explain what happens to 35 gigatons of CO2 each year,

the health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-con want to repeal the new health care law, the nation’s bloated annual health-care tab would swell by more than $4 billion" after a company raised the price of a medicine from $20 to $1,500 per dose,

and who pushing a health care policy his family stands to profit from immensely, and did you know, the Republi-CONs secretly support Obamacare,

Republi-con education merit pay hypocrisy, it is a fraud,

the benefits of a modern secular legal system, don't read your spouse's email, or record her conversations, you can kill a rat, but not a hamster, is it a crime to have a false persona,

you're so wonderful, not,

and 'The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


Fun stuff: why men are just happier people, read the witticisms!, Mission Impossible, Squirrel Edition, and Escapa;

and

Donate to a good cause: help the friends of a former instructor at the Naval EOD school at Eglin Air Force Base, Gunnery Sgt. John Hayes, who was detachment company gunnery sergeant from June 2007 to June 2010 and taught several courses and was recently wounded in Afghanistan.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a party hack pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

It's Been 13 Years Since Their Last 'Famous Two-Month, Above-Ground Mating Frenzy'

"After a 13-year nap, cicadas are waking up in the South, and with them comes an ear-splitting mating call that will soon fill the air across the southern U.S." Read Mother Nature Network, 13-year cicadas wake up, prepare to swarm.

Republi-CONs and Their Fake Policy Arguments

UPDATE: "Republicans haven’t just abandoned their pre-2009 positions on cap-and-trade and health-care reform and the admissibility of tax increases in deficit reduction. They’ve also abandoned their position on campaign-finance disclosure." Read the Washington Post, The reverse-Obamaization of the Republican Party.

Did you know that "mainstream Democratic politicians hold many of the same policy positions as mainstream Republican politicians" held until 2009? Those Republi-cons are just moving the goalposts because their political opponents now have the ball. Read the Washington Post, When Jim DeMint hated your freedom.

Why Your Stitches Cost $1,500

"The United States has fallen behind other nations, failing to provide affordable health care to its citizens. Americans spend $477 billion a year MORE on health care than other advanced countries. So why do we pay so much compared to other wealthy nations? This infographic is part one in a two part series which dissects the state of our health care system and presents some alarming numbers." See these interesting Medical Billing and Coding Infographics:

Special Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Follow-up to fact-free fantasies: TBD;


Local and regional: TBD,


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits,

the Middle East mess and the hope for democracy, and a Facebook revolution?, why Libya, and what next, and Obama -- damned when he didn't, and damned when he did -- and why are Republi-CONs undermining U.S. military and foreign policy objectives, after year of incessant moral blackmail regarding Iraq, when the U.S. has the power to do something constructive, and Gaddafi is good reason to try it, he reaffirms my support for an openly debated and conducted assassination policy for rogue dictators,

after the devastation in Japan, you should support better, not just less, government,

11 days til the end of the world, again,

thank God we saved the Banksters, but why?,

budget gamesmanship and tough decisions,

the Republi-CON Double Dip Recession, not a new ice cream, but it'll make you scream,

after Palin fatigue?, the Republi-con's latest celebrity candidate, he's a birther, it is clear that he hasn't even read the Congressional Research Service that would agree that Obama is a "natural born citizen," (the Congressional Research Service is a part of the Library of Congress, providing professional, objective and non-partisan public policy research to members of Congress and their staffers. The writer of the memorandum is a qualified constitutional attorney who has summarized the historical and legal material with references, showing, by contrast, how shoddy the birther arguments are) (this memorandum explains why even Republi-CON Congressmen/women refuse to join the Birthers), and he hasn't talked to Barbara Nelson, who "specifically remembers his birth" because she spoke with the obstetrician who delivered him shortly after his birth,

so you don't believe in global warming, then explain what happens to 35 gigatons of CO2 each year,

the health care industry bottomline, the reason Republi-con want to repeal the new health care law, the nation’s bloated annual health-care tab would swell by more than $4 billion" after a company raised the price of a medicine from $20 to $1,500 per dose,

and who pushing a health care policy his family stands to profit from immensely, and did you know, the Republi-CONs secretly support Obamacare,

Republi-con education merit pay hypocrisy, it is a fraud,

the benefits of a modern secular legal system, don't read your spouse's email, or record her conversations, you can kill a rat, but not a hamster, is it a crime to have a false persona,

you're so wonderful, not,

and 'The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system;


Fun stuff: why men are just happier people, read the witticisms!, Mission Impossible, Squirrel Edition, and Escapa;

and

Donate to a good cause: help the friends of a former instructor at the Naval EOD school at Eglin Air Force Base, Gunnery Sgt. John Hayes, who was detachment company gunnery sergeant from June 2007 to June 2010 and taught several courses and was recently wounded in Afghanistan.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a party hack pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.