Tea Party Sen. Jim DeMint Wants JPMorgan CEO to 'Guide' Congress on Banking Regulation

Tea Party Sen. Jim DeMint Wants JPMorgan CEO to 'Guide' Congress on Banking Regulation
"Tea party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) on Wednesday asked JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who recently announced that his company had lost at least $2 billion in the derivative market, to "guide" Congress in creating friendly banking regulations."

Architect of Anti-Health Care Lawsuit Admits To His Broader Agenda — No National Child Labor Laws, No Minimum Wage

Architect of Anti-Health Care Lawsuit Admits To His Broader Agenda — No National Child Labor Laws, No Minimum Wage: The framers of our Constitution met in 1787 because the weak national governance adopted by the Articles of Confederation utterly failed. Their goal, in their own words, was to ensure that the federal government had the power to “legislate in all cases for the general interests of the Union, and also in those to which [...]/p

New York to Repeat Chicago’s Parking Privatization Catastrophe | Common Dreams

New York to Repeat Chicago’s Parking Privatization Catastrophe | Common Dreams
"Readers of my last book, Griftopia, might recall a chapter about the city of Chicago leasing 75 years of its parking meter revenue to a coterie of private investors, some of them from the Middle East. The end result was and is a political obscenity: Native Chicagoans are now completely at the mercy of private interests when it comes to parking rates, collections, even holidays. When elected officials in Illinois can’t shut off the parking meters on Abe Lincoln’s birthday because a bunch of sheiks in Dubai don’t want the revenue stream turned off even for a day, you know something has gone seriously sideways in the national body politic."

Venture capitalist, Nick Hanauer, on the negative impacts of income inequality on the economy

How Wall Street Hustles America's Cities and States Out of Billions | Economy | AlterNet

How Wall Street Hustles America's Cities and States Out of Billions | Economy | AlterNet
"We all know that America’s cities and towns are in the throes of a deep financial crisis. And are told, over and over, what’s supposedly behind it: unreasonable demands by grasping state and municipal workers for pay and pensions. The diagnosis is a grotesque cartoon. Many of the biggest budget busters are on Wall Street, not Main Street."

The 10 Worst GOP Governors: What Horrors Did They Unleash in 2012? | | AlterNet

The 10 Worst GOP Governors: What Horrors Did They Unleash in 2012? | | AlterNet
"Across the country, Republican governors, many of them elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, have undermined women's health, crushed workers' right to negotiate collectively, made it tougher to vote and imposed ideologically informed slash-and-burn policies on their populations, often with little attention from the mainstream media. Last summer, we reported on 10 of the worst GOP governors and what they were up to. Where are they now? Culling voter rolls, beating up on unions, trying to sneakily ban abortion—but also, in some cases, having their power checked by a determined opposition and being forced to concede some defeats. And in a couple of cases, they're under investigation. Here's our 2012 list of the worst GOP governors."

The Main Problem With Jobs Growth Is Lack Of Demand, Not Taxes

The Main Problem With Jobs Growth Is Lack Of Demand, Not Taxes
"In fact, economic experts say that a lack of demand for goods and services is the main factor dragging down jobs growth, and several recent surveys of small business owners show that lack of demand is their main concern."

You Can't Make Nice With The Tea Party

Florida’s Tea Party Government Picks Voter Purge Fight With Justice Department | | AlterNet

Florida’s Tea Party Government Picks Voter Purge Fight With Justice Department | | AlterNet
"The Tea Party Republican-run state of Florida is picking a nasty political fight with the U.S. Department of Justice over what it claims are federal obstructions to removing what it alleges may be up to 180,000 non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls."

Will Brewing Corruption Scandals in Ohio Have an Impact on November's Election? | | AlterNet

Will Brewing Corruption Scandals in Ohio Have an Impact on November's Election? | | AlterNet
"Investigations by the FBI into campaign donations and strong-arm tactics in Ohio's Republican Party implicate big-name politicians, like anti-union Governor John Kasich."

Shameless: Florida's Tea Party Governor Trying to Strip Voting Rights from Thousands | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Shameless: Florida's Tea Party Governor Trying to Strip Voting Rights from Thousands | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"even county election supervisors from Scott’s own party are saying the businessman-turned-governor’s latest gambit—claiming there are as many as 182,000 non-citizens among the state’s 11.2 million registered voters and having his appointed Secretary of State send out an initial list of 2,600 names to be purged—has crossed a line in the Florida sand, topping previous voter suppression efforts, and may violate two federal voting right laws."

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

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

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."

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tea Partiers Who Opposed Bank Bailout Take Campaign Donations From Bailed-Out Banks

Tea Partiers Who Opposed Bank Bailout Take Campaign Donations From Bailed-Out Banks: Tea Party-backed candidates swept into Washington in 2010 on a wave of opposition to bank bailouts. Now that they’re in Washington, however, their campaigns are drowning in campaign cash provided by the very banks that benefited from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The 10 freshmen Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee who have Tea [...]/p

AZ Lawmakers Lash Out At Imaginary United Nations Conspiracy With Assault On All Poverty & Environmental Laws

AZ Lawmakers Lash Out At Imaginary United Nations Conspiracy With Assault On All Poverty & Environmental Laws: Earlier this year, Texas U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz touted a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that George Soros secretly partnered with the United Nations to eliminate the game of golf. Seriously, we aren’t making this up. Unfortunately, this fantasy isn’t limited to just one unusually radical candidate for elected office. Rather, the Arizona House is [...]/p

PERRspectives: Romney's "Vision" Blind to Economic History

PERRspectives: Romney's "Vision" Blind to Economic History
"Romney would deliver a massive tax cut windfall for the rich, paying for it by gutting the social safety net each pretends to protect. He would end Medicare as we know it with a premium support gambit that would dramatically shift health care costs to America's seniors. While increasing defense spending, the GOP White House hopeful would repeal the Affordable Care and leave at least 30 million people without insurance. And despite his pledge to end many tax loopholes and deductions to fund their gilded-class giveaway, Mitt Romney doesn't have the courage to say which ones. As a result, Mitt "Cut, Cap and Balance" Romneywould actually add trillions more in red ink to the national debt."

Why Is Mitt Romney So Incredibly Weird? | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

Why Is Mitt Romney So Incredibly Weird? | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"He seems incapable of natural conversation and frequently uncomfortable in his own skin."

Using ALEC Playbook, Bobby Jindal Radically Reshapes Public Education | | AlterNet

Using ALEC Playbook, Bobby Jindal Radically Reshapes Public Education | | AlterNet
"Jindal’s agenda and the strategy to move it come right from the playbook of conservative advocacy group ALEC, in an effort to revive Jindal’s national political profile."

Utah Tea Party Adds A Fifth Tenther Extremist To The 2012 U.S. Senate Election

Utah Tea Party Adds A Fifth Tenther Extremist To The 2012 U.S. Senate Election: Most Republicans are smart enough not to openly admit that they think America’s social safety net is unconstitutional, even if they do misunderstand our founding document to prohibit Medicare or Medicaid or Social Security. Instead, the Republican leadership normally placates the most radical parts of their base with vague rhetoric about respecting the Tenth Amendment, [...]/p

CHART: 17 Years After Oklahoma City Bombing, Right-Wing Extremism Is Significant Domestic Terror Threat

CHART: 17 Years After Oklahoma City Bombing, Right-Wing Extremism Is Significant Domestic Terror Threat: By Ken Sofer and CAP National Security team intern Molly Bernstein Seventeen years ago today, Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols detonated 4,800 pounds of homemade explosives under the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building’s daycare center in downtown Oklahoma City. The explosion resulted in 168 dead, 680 injured and over $652 million in damage. The [...]/p

Freedom from a Dead-End Life: True Liberty Means Defeating the Right-Wing's Nightmare Vision for America | Economy | AlterNet

Freedom from a Dead-End Life: True Liberty Means Defeating the Right-Wing's Nightmare Vision for America | Economy | AlterNet
"It’s the freedom for companies to screw their workers, pollute, and otherwise operate free of any meaningful regulations to protect the public interest."

A Tax Day without The Tea Party | Common Dreams

A Tax Day without The Tea Party | Common Dreams
"Over the past several years, few annual occasions have been more symbolic of the direction of political discussion in our country than Tax Day. This year, the IRS due date bears witness to the impact of the Occupy movement in American politics."

When Libertarians Stand for Medieval Control Instead of Freedom | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

When Libertarians Stand for Medieval Control Instead of Freedom | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"Debates on birth control in the US show how modern conservatism is just a neoliberal gloss on medieval domination."

Top 10 Koch Facts | AlterNet

Top 10 Koch Facts | AlterNet
"Everyone seems to be investigating Charles and David Koch lately, with exposés of their corrupt political behavior popping up in places like the New Yorker,AlterNet, ThinkProgress, and Brave New Foundation’s film Koch Brothers Exposed."

Paul Ryan Cites Catholic Social Teaching To Defend Budget That Ignores It

Paul Ryan Cites Catholic Social Teaching To Defend Budget That Ignores It: When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his latest “Path to Prosperity” budget last month, it was immediately admonished as an “immoral disaster” that “robs the poor” by Catholic religious leaders. That echoed the backlash Ryan received last year, but it hasn’t stopped him from attempting to use Catholic social teaching to support [...]/p

The Liars Club

The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers are the Most Misinformed | Media | AlterNet

The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers are the Most Misinformed | Media | AlterNet
"The surveys also find that those who watch Fox are more likely to be misinformed, their views of reality skewed in a right-wing direction. In some cases, the studies even show that watching more Fox makes the misinformation problem worse."

How Conservatives Think

Top 50 Things Accomplished by President Barack Obama | News & Politics | AlterNet

Top 50 Things Accomplished by President Barack Obama | News & Politics | AlterNet
"A look back at Obama's first term."

What Obama's Willingness to Deal with the Tea Party Right Means for Progressive Politics | News & Politics | AlterNet

What Obama's Willingness to Deal with the Tea Party Right Means for Progressive Politics | News & Politics | AlterNet
"Obama was willing to make substantial cuts to the crown jewels of liberalism--Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid--in order to get a deficit-reduction deal with Republicans."

Deciphering Right-Wing Code: What Conservatives Are Really Saying When They Seem to Spew Nonsense | Visions | AlterNet

Deciphering Right-Wing Code: What Conservatives Are Really Saying When They Seem to Spew Nonsense | Visions | AlterNet
"Whether the proposals will be to revoke their charters, close campuses, or sell off their facilities to for-profit colleges, you can bet that ALEC already has the bills in the can, and will be introducing them in state legislatures presently."

Tea Party Introduces ‘Wacky’ And ‘Ludicrous’ Conspiracy Bill To Shut Down Arizona Energy Efficiency Programs

Tea Party Introduces ‘Wacky’ And ‘Ludicrous’ Conspiracy Bill To Shut Down Arizona Energy Efficiency Programs: Citing conspiracy theories about “a one-world order,” the Arizona Tea Party is attempting to slip a bill through the legislature that could strip programs designed to help residents in the state become more energy efficient. The bill’s sponsor, Arizona State Senator Judy Burges, says her goal is to wipe out any environmental program administered or [...]/p

Proposed Arizona Law Defies Constitution, Outlaws Being ‘Lewd’ And Annoying On The Internet

Proposed Arizona Law Defies Constitution, Outlaws Being ‘Lewd’ And Annoying On The Internet: A bill passed by the Arizona legislature and now sitting on the desk of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) would make it illegal to be annoying on the internet — at least in ways that are deemed “lewd” or “profane.” H.B 2549 has solicited outrage from free speech groups and Arizona bloggers alike, who rightly [...]/p

Five Preposterous, Persistent Conservative Myths | Common Dreams

Five Preposterous, Persistent Conservative Myths | Common Dreams
"With the mainstream media in the hands of the mostly conservative wealthy, it's difficult for average Americans to learn the truth about critical issues. The following five conservative claims are examples of mythical beliefs that fall apart in the presence of inconvenient facts:"

The Death Of The Middle Class

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers

Republicans' Medicare plan finding few takers
"The Republican Medicare plan, which does indeed end Medicare as we know it (just a little bit slower than the Paul Ryan budget they adopted last year) isn't finding much support outside the party"

Senate Republicans Stand with Big Oil, Filibuster for Corporate America | AlterNet

Senate Republicans Stand with Big Oil, Filibuster for Corporate America | AlterNet
"The American taxpayer is subsidizing those billions Big Oil is raking in, while we pay more and more at the pump every week. At least we know now, definitively, which side the Republicans are on."

3 Shady Things the Koch Brothers Have Been Up To That the Media Ignore | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet

3 Shady Things the Koch Brothers Have Been Up To That the Media Ignore | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet
"To the corporate media, the machinations of the 1 percent's most infamous poster boys might look like old news. But for regular Americans, it's a fight for their lives."
The wealthy funders of the Tea Party.

The Horrors of an Ayn Rand World: Why We Must Fight for America's Soul | News & Politics | AlterNet

The Horrors of an Ayn Rand World: Why We Must Fight for America's Soul | News & Politics | AlterNet
"An Objectivist America would be a dark age of unhindered free enterprise, far more primitive and Darwinian than anything seen before."

Republican Party Is Rotted and Collapsing from Within -- And We Can Thank Super PACs for Exposing It | | AlterNet

Republican Party Is Rotted and Collapsing from Within -- And We Can Thank Super PACs for Exposing It | | AlterNet
"Super PACs are an affront to the democratic process, but they are hastening the Republican Party's fall."

Koch Brothers Behind Efforts to Overturn Health Reform | AlterNet

Koch Brothers Behind Efforts to Overturn Health Reform | AlterNet
"Do all roads lead to Koch?"

The Paul Ryan Rorschach Test

The Paul Ryan Rorschach Test
"House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan did a great public service when he released his budget last week. By throwing a piece of total garbage on the table and pretending it was a real budget plan, he allowed us to see who in Washington is serious about the budget and who just says things that will push their agenda."

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate Favors Privatizing Social Security, Ending Disability Payments

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate Favors Privatizing Social Security, Ending Disability Payments: HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sam Rohrer (R), an 18-year veteran of the state legislature, has already made a name for himself during this campaign as one of the GOP’s most radical candidates. He thinks federal highways are unconstitutional, doesn’t understand the budget process, and has compared driver’s license requirements to slavery. Rohrer also [...]/p

Mitt Romney Is A Serial Liar, Lies More Than Most Politicians

Ohio Governor’s Budget Could Force Local Town To Privatize Fire And EMS Services

Ohio Governor’s Budget Could Force Local Town To Privatize Fire And EMS Services: pBudget cuts proposed last year by Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) forced cities and towns across Ohio to layoff public safety officials and close fire stations. This year, cuts in Kasich’s budget are again causing ripple effects in the area of public safety — this time by forcing one town near Cincinnati to choose between [...]/p

Sarah Palin's legacy is Mitt Romney's problem

Sarah Palin's legacy is Mitt Romney's problem
"When Samuel J. Wurzlebacher, AKA "Joe the Plumber," won a Republican nomination for Congress, Sarah Palin's transformation of the Republican electoral base was complete. What has happened to the GOP, much to the consternation of the elite party establishment, is that it has become a party of paranoid conspiracy freaks, religious kooks, bigots, the marginally insane, and amateur grifters like Joe the Plumber."

San Diego Tea Party Activist Charged In Brutal Sexual Assault

San Diego Tea Party Activist Charged In Brutal Sexual Assault
"The Tea Party says he took a leave in January, although his website still identifies him as the organization's PR rep:"

San Diego Tea Party Activist Charged In Brutal Sexual Assault

San Diego Tea Party Activist Charged In Brutal Sexual Assault
"The Tea Party says he took a leave in January, although his website still identifies him as the organization's PR rep:"

How Ayn Rand's Bizarre Philosophy Made the New Right so Toxic | | AlterNet

How Ayn Rand's Bizarre Philosophy Made the New Right so Toxic | | AlterNet
"Rand's psychopathic ideas made billionaires feel like victims and turned millions of followers into their doormats."
"Ignoring Rand's evangelical atheism, the Tea Party movement has taken her to its heart. No rally of theirs is complete without placards reading "Who is John Galt?" and "Rand was right". Rand, Weiss argues, provides the unifying ideology which has "distilled vague anger and unhappiness into a sense of purpose". She is energetically promoted by the broadcasters Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santelli. She is the guiding spirit of the Republicans in Congress."

Barely Literate? How Christian Fundamentalist Homeschooling Hurts Kids | Education | AlterNet

Barely Literate? How Christian Fundamentalist Homeschooling Hurts Kids | Education | AlterNet
"The Religious Right touts homeschooling as the "responsible" educational choice. But what about the kids whose parents opt-out of the system -- and out of educating them, as well?"

Gallup survey: Republicans have the Mitt Romney blues

Gallup survey: Republicans have the Mitt Romney blues
"It's not like Republicans were terribly enthusiastic for John McCain, so these numbers are really not good for Mitt Romney."

Thom Hartmann Teaches Econ 101 To Fox News

Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal and Koch-Fueled Cato Agree: “It’s Not Obama’s Fault That Crude Oil Prices Have Increased”

Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal and Koch-Fueled Cato Agree: “It’s Not Obama’s Fault That Crude Oil Prices Have Increased”: pWall Street Journal: “U.S. gasoline prices, like prices throughout the advanced economies, are determined by global market forces. It is hard to see how Mr. Obama’s policies can be blamed.” Cato Institute: “Is President Obama responsible for spiraling price of gasoline? Republicans say yes, but the facts say no.” How obvious is it that oil [...]/p

The Self-Destruction Of Limbaugh, Murdoch and Beck

The Self-Destruction Of Limbaugh, Murdoch and Beck
"This week's sudden unraveling of Rush Limbaugh's radio standing as the untouchable king of conservative media strangely mirrors deep difficulties recently faced by Rupert Murdoch and Glenn Beck, two other far-right press titans."

Mark Potok discusses the causes for the growth of hate groups in America

Rightwing Hate Groups in US on the Rise: Report | Common Dreams

Rightwing Hate Groups in US on the Rise: Report | Common Dreams
"Fueled by superheated fears generated by economic dislocation, a proliferation of demonizing conspiracy theories, and the reality of an African-American president in Barack Obama, radical hates groups and antigovernment groups grew explosively in 2011, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center."

Tea Party Paranoia Shouldn’t Be Ignored | Common Dreams

Tea Party Paranoia Shouldn’t Be Ignored | Common Dreams
"These tea party activists have been mobilizing around the country to fight everything from expanding public transportation to preserving open space, insisting that it’s all a part of a United Nations-led conspiracy to deny property rights and herd citizens toward our cities."

How a Racist Email Reveals the Grand Old Party Has Become a Petty Affair | Common Dreams

How a Racist Email Reveals the Grand Old Party Has Become a Petty Affair | Common Dreams
" His response illuminates the tragic story of today’s Republican Party: It stands for nothing. The formerly Grand Old Party has devolved into a small, petty affair defined by a thoughtless defense of greed, the cynical deployment of xenophobia and a blind hatred of Barack Obama."

Right-Wing Racism: Past, Present—and Future | The Nation

Right-Wing Racism: Past, Present—and Future | The Nation
"t has become a depressing ritual of American politics that when one is confronted with evidence of one’s racism, the proper response is to insist that while old-fashioned Bull Connor–style racism has disappeared, liberals and journalists—and rarely is any distinction made here—remain obsessed with this now-imaginary phenomenon as a means of persecuting conservatives for telling it like it is."

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red State Are the Parasites | Visions | AlterNet

Ayn Rand Worshippers Should Face Facts: Blue States Are the Providers, Red State Are the Parasites | Visions | AlterNet
"There's only one way to demonstrate who America's producers and parasites really are. It's time to go Galt."

Ayn Rand: the Tea Party’s Miscast Matriarch » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Ayn Rand: the Tea Party’s Miscast Matriarch » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"Rand, and her supporters, including Alan Greenspan, viewed altruism as evil: altruism is evil, selfishness is good. And tens of millions of dollars of corporate money is backing that philosophy today in America, no doubt to give obscenely paid CEOs a sip of Rand’s guilt-free narcissism while stoking the fires for more deregulation of a country just crawling back from the crippling effects of deregulation. This is the mindless irrationality of Rand’s brand of rationality."

How Koch Became An Oil Speculation Powerhouse

How Koch Became An Oil Speculation Powerhouse: pIn April, ThinkProgress caused a stir when we uncovered a series of Koch Industries corporate documents revealing the company’s role as an oil speculator. Like many oil companies, Koch uses legitimate hedging products to create price stability. However, the documents reveal that Koch is also participating in the unregulated derivatives markets as a financial player, [...]/p
"Koch’s Tea Party front groups and lobbyists fight financial reforms designed to reign in the unregulated energy market. While Americans for Prosperity, as well as other Koch fronts, decry the Wall Street reform bill debated in Congress, Koch lobbied to water-down provisions of the bill related to derivatives."

Thom Hartmann: The True Story Of The Tea Party

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors
"Except for his plan to mess with Social Security and Medicare. He got much more concrete, and as has been in vogue among Republicans, wants to take away benefits. He's going Ryan-lite on Medicare (the Ryan-Wyden plan), with the addition of raising the eligibility age, and both raising the retirement age for Social Security and means testing it."