Thursday, May 31, 2012

White Supremacist With Ties To Neo-Nazi Groups Elected To Pennsylvania County GOP Committee

White Supremacist With Ties To Neo-Nazi Groups Elected To Pennsylvania County GOP Committee: Republicans in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania have elected Steve Smith, a lifelong white supremacist with close ties to neo-Nazi groups and groups like Aryan Nations, to the county’s GOP Committee. The elections, which took place in late April, were certified by the committee two weeks ago, and Smith notified supporters of his victory last week by [...]/p

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Get out your tin foil hat for the new GOP platform

New Jersey Governor Is Latest To Divert Foreclosure Settlement Aid Away From Needy Homeowners

New Jersey Governor Is Latest To Divert Foreclosure Settlement Aid Away From Needy Homeowners: Several states across the country, from Vermont to Wisconsin to California, have been taking some of the money they received from the foreclosure fraud settlement signed with the nation’s biggest banks and diverting it away from its intended purpose of providing relief to desperate homeowners. According to ProPublica, the total amount of money taken from [...]/p

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Birther Party

Documents Show That Scott Walker Lied to Congress

Documents Show That Scott Walker Lied to Congress
"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker testified before Congress that he started drafting the notorious Act 10 that stripped collective bargaining rights from most state employees in December, after Democrats in the state legislature attempted to pass pro-union contracts in a lame duck session after he won the election. But documents obtained by WTDY News in Wisconsin show that the Act was actually being worked on in November, just weeks after Walker was elected. Walker tried to tell Congress that he was just reacting to aggressive moves by Democrats, when, in reality, he planned to go after the rights of working families, it seems, from the very beginning."

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

After Slashing Funds For Health And Education, Ohio Prepares To Cut Taxes For Banks

After Slashing Funds For Health And Education, Ohio Prepares To Cut Taxes For Banks: During the Great Recession, Ohio has cut its budget to ribbons, reducing funds for health services, higher education, and K-12 education. The budget cuts are so severe that some towns might officially cease to exist (due to disincorporation). However, it seems that Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) and the Republican legislature feel that the state has [...]/p

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Admits Using Taxpayer Funds To Pursue Birther Conspiracy Probe: ‘So What?’

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Admits Using Taxpayer Funds To Pursue Birther Conspiracy Probe: ‘So What?’: In the year since President Obama released his long-form birth certificate, tax payers are partly-funding Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s investigation into whether or not the president was truly born in the United States. The Arizona Republic and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser report that two men identifying themselves as Michael Zullo and Brian Mackiewcz arrived at the [...]/p

Monday, May 21, 2012

Conservatives Are Hitting Rock Bottom | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Conservatives Are Hitting Rock Bottom | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"Today, American conservatism has degenerated into an intellectually and morally bankrupt ideology. It offers nothing more than bumper-sticker slogans that pander to the prejudices and ignorance of the lowest common denominator in order to enrich and empower an oligarchic elite. Angry, cruel and sneering, it is exemplified by the carnival barkers on talk radio and Fox News. High in volume, but devoid of substance, it has no long-term future because it lacks credible solutions to the range of very real problems American society is facing."

FBI to Investigate Ohio Gov. John Kasich for Alleged Bribery.

FBI to Investigate Ohio Gov. John Kasich for Alleged Bribery.
"Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegations that he accepted bribes and used political appointments to reward or punish those that helped or hurt his allies. Kasich has never been thought of as particularly ethical, but these allegations are beyond what we've seen in the past:"

HOW BANKS BOUGHT THE TEA PARTY: Cash Transforms Populist Insurgents To Reliable Vote For Financial Industry

HOW BANKS BOUGHT THE TEA PARTY: Cash Transforms Populist Insurgents To Reliable Vote For Financial Industry: The 15 freshmen Republican representatives in the House Tea Party Caucus each ran in 2010 on a populist anti-Wall Street message, highlighting their opposition to bank bailouts like the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and criticizing Washington for enabling the banking sector as it became “Too Big to Fail.” After winning, all fifteen received [...]/p

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Private-sector jobs grew far more under Democratic than Republican presidents, 1961-2012

Private-sector jobs grew far more under Democratic than Republican presidents, 1961-2012
"chart showing that between 1961 and 2012, the United States added 42 million private-sector jobs under Democratic presidents and 23.9 million private-sector jobs under Republican presidents, despite Republicans holding the presidency for 28 years during that period compared with 23 years for Democrats"

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Surprise Senate Candidate Deb Fischer: Destroy The Constitution Or I’ll Destroy The Economy

Surprise Senate Candidate Deb Fischer: Destroy The Constitution Or I’ll Destroy The Economy: Yesterday, Nebraska GOP primary voters nominated dark horse candidate and state Sen. Deb Fischer as their candidate for an open U.S. Senate race this November. In choosing Fischer the Nebraska GOP aligns itself with a candidate who recently called for a very high stakes game of chicken — flirting with economic catastrophe in order to [...]/p

Friday, May 11, 2012

Insurers Will Pay $1.3 Billion In Rebates To 16 Million Consumers Because Of Obamacare

Insurers Will Pay $1.3 Billion In Rebates To 16 Million Consumers Because Of Obamacare: Thanks to a provision of the Affordable Care Act, 16 million consumers and businesses are expected to receive about $1.3 billion in rebates from health insurance companies, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The medical loss ratio rule requires insurers to spend at least 80 to 85 percent of premiums on patient care; if not, [...]/p

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Health Insurers Owe Millions In Rebates To Floridians Thanks To Obamacare Regulations

Health Insurers Owe Millions In Rebates To Floridians Thanks To Obamacare Regulations: Health insurance companies owe tens of millions to Florida policy holders after they failed to meet an Affordable Care Act provision that limits the amount of premium dollars that insurers can spend on overhead. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, Floridians could receive up to $149 million in rebates this summer, even though political [...]/p

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Sen. Claire McCaskill Getting Beefed Up Security After Tea Party Activist Declares ‘We Have To Kill The Claire Bear’

Sen. Claire McCaskill Getting Beefed Up Security After Tea Party Activist Declares ‘We Have To Kill The Claire Bear’: Police are assigning extra security to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) after a Tea Party activist declared at a rally last week, “We have to kill the Claire Bear ladies and gentlemen.” The rally was hosted by the group Tea Party Express, which is endorsing McCaskill challenger Sarah Steelman (R), who was in attendance at the [...]/p

Monday, May 7, 2012

Paul Ryan Challenged By Town Hall Constituents Over Previous Praise Of Ayn Rand

Paul Ryan Challenged By Town Hall Constituents Over Previous Praise Of Ayn Rand: JANESVILLE, Wisconsin — Last month, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) disavowed his one-time political muse, Ayn Rand, because of her “atheist philosophy.” Some of his constituents, however, aren’t buying it. Ryan praised Rand’s ideas at length during a 2005 gathering in her honor and declared that “the reason I got involved in public service, by and [...]/p

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Bush SCOTUS Runner-Up Warns Conservative Lawyers Away From The ‘Tea Party Constitution’

Bush SCOTUS Runner-Up Warns Conservative Lawyers Away From The ‘Tea Party Constitution’: Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, one of President George W. Bush’s five finalists for the Supreme Court seat that eventually went to Chief Justice Roberts, has emerged as one of the most outspoken conservative opponents of efforts to toss out the nearly 200 years of precedent establishing that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. [...]/p

Friday, May 4, 2012

AZ House Candidate Jesse Kelly Etch A Sketches Earlier Plans To Privatize, Phase Out Entitlements

AZ House Candidate Jesse Kelly Etch A Sketches Earlier Plans To Privatize, Phase Out Entitlements: With the June 12 special election to fill the Arizona House seat left open by the resignation of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D) fast approaching, the Republican nominee Jesse Kelly has just launched a new attack ad against his Democratic opponent Ron Barber. In the ad and a newly revised section of his campaign website, Kelly [...]/p

CHART: Under Obama, Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost During Bush Recession

CHART: Under Obama, Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost During Bush Recession: Our guest blogger is Michael Linden, the Director of Tax and Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. As of April, there are now more private sector jobs in the United States than there were in January 2009, when President Obama took office. You read that right. We have now replaced all [...]/p

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Why Is the Conservative Brain More Fearful? The Alternate Reality Right-Wingers Inhabit Is Terrifying | Media | AlterNet

Why Is the Conservative Brain More Fearful? The Alternate Reality Right-Wingers Inhabit Is Terrifying | Media | AlterNet
"Research suggests that conservatives are, on average, more susceptible to fear than those who identify themselves as liberals."

House GOP Would Slash Billions in Benefits for Low-Income Disabled Kids

House GOP Would Slash Billions in Benefits for Low-Income Disabled Kids: Our guest blogger is Rebecca Vallas from the SSI Coalition for Children and Families. House Republicans recently proposed billions of dollars in cuts to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a critical income support for kids with severe disabilities who live in households with very low-income and assets. While the proposed cuts amount to just one 1/100th [...]/p

Why Republicans Love Citizens United, In One Chart

Why Republicans Love Citizens United, In One Chart: The following chart from the Center for Responsive Politics represents outside spending by non-candidate and party groups seeking to influence elections in every election cycle going back to 1990. As it demonstrates, such spending was on the rise even before the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate influence on elections in the Citizens [...]/p

Why Republicans Love Citizens United, In One Chart

Why Republicans Love Citizens United, In One Chart: The following chart from the Center for Responsive Politics represents outside spending by non-candidate and party groups seeking to influence elections in every election cycle going back to 1990. As it demonstrates, such spending was on the rise even before the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate influence on elections in the Citizens [...]/p