GOP Stunt on Debt Ceiling Is Total Surrender to White House

GOP Stunt on Debt Ceiling Is Total Surrender to White House
"But it’s important to note this moment in federal budget history: The House GOP plan is nothing less than total capitulation to the Obama administration and Senate Democrats."

Another Walker Aide Sentenced to Prison in Secret "John Doe" Investigation

Another Walker Aide Sentenced to Prison in Secret "John Doe" Investigation
"Another top official to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive has been sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling funds intended for families of veterans."

Support For Tea Party Budget Amendment Craters In The Senate

Support For Tea Party Budget Amendment Craters In The Senate: At the opening of the last Congress, House and Senate Republicans lined up behind a Tea Party “balanced budget amendment” that would have made it functionally impossible to raise taxes while simultaneously forcing spending cuts so severe that they would “throw about 15 million more people out of work, double the unemployment rate from 9 [...]/p

President Obama Has Issued Fewer Executive Orders Than Any President in Over 100 Years

President Obama Has Issued Fewer Executive Orders Than Any President in Over 100 Years
"Obama has issued fewer executive orders per day in office than conservative heroes like George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Calvin Coolidge. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Grover Cleveland in the nineteenth century to find a president who has issued executive orders at a lower rate than Obama."

Colin Powell Calls Out GOP On Systemic Voter Suppression

Colin Powell Calls Out GOP On Systemic Voter Suppression
"What kind of future does a party have when the only way they win is to lie, trick and steal their way into power?"

A Second Inaugural - A Second Conspiracy...

Their agenda was straightforward. Sabotage the American economy, blame it on the young President, and then retake the White House in four years.

Virginia Senate Passes Redistricting Plan To Oust Democratic Senator During Inaugural

Virginia Senate Passes Redistricting Plan To Oust Democratic Senator During Inaugural
"As mentioned earlier, seizing on the absence of a Democratic senator who happens to be a veteran of the civil rights movement and was in Washington, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, for the second inauguration of the country’s first black president, Republicans in the evenly split Virginia state Senatepushed through a surprise mid-decade redistricting plan to try to gain decisive control of the body in the next election.

We’re not done yet.

At the end of this wild day, the “Senate adjourned in memory or (sic) General Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson,” according to the minutes of the session. Jan. 21 is the Confederate general’s birthday."

Our Dumb Democracy: Why the Untied States of Stupid Still Reins Supreme | Common Dreams

Our Dumb Democracy: Why the Untied States of Stupid Still Reins Supreme | Common Dreams
"These are the same loonies who deny global warming; the same ones who set up a museum showing prehistoric humans walking with dinosaurs; the same ones who think the answer to gun violence is more guns; the same ones who voted against relief for victims of Sandy … the same ones who want to shove ultrasound instruments into women’s vaginas and tell people who they can and cannot marry while simultaneously shouting to the rooftops about freedom and values. 

Yeah. Their freedoms, their beliefs and their values, please.  All others step to the back of the bus, or consult Leviticus.  You know, that font of ancient wisdom that tells us when and how to stone our neighbor’s daughter.

Want to know how our political discourse got so mind-numbingly stupid? 

Well, we can start with this little fact:  The press is so enamored with “balance” that they’ll treat even the most ignorant, shallow, fatuous movement – a movement composed of the selfish, the self-obsessed, the angry, the bigoted, and the blissfully ignorant – as if it were a serious movement."

Under Obama, Government Spending Has Grown More Slowly Than Under Any President Since Eisenhower

Under Obama, Government Spending Has Grown More Slowly Than Under Any President Since Eisenhower: "Federal outlays over the past three years grew at their slowest pace since 1953-56, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. Expenditures as a share of the economy sank last year to 22.8 percent, their lowest level since 2008, according to Congressional Budget Office data. That’s down from 24.1 percent in 2011 and a 64-year high of 25.2 percent in 2009, when Obama pushed through an $831 billion stimulus package. [...]
Spending grew just 0.6 percent from 2009 to 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from government reports." And for all the tea partiers that love to deny math, republicans admit this true and actually want to take credit for it. So before you go denying numbers (like Romney's poll numbers) just remember republicans want credit for this.

12 Ways Obama Smacked Down the Tea Party and the Right in Inauguration Speech | Alternet

12 Ways Obama Smacked Down the Tea Party and the Right in Inauguration Speech | Alternet
"Driving the message home were the hands of the Fates, who conspired to see the second inauguration of the nation’s first African American president fall on Martin Luther King Day, the national holiday whose very creation was opposed by so many who still today comprise the Republican Party’s right wing."

Ayn Rand Is for Children | Alternet

Ayn Rand Is for Children | Alternet
" the era defined by the politics of  “makers versus takers.” After all, these folks purport to adore the free-market triumphalism of “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” haughtily imagine themselves as rugged up-from-the-bootstraps individualists like Howard Roark and John Galt, tell themselves that their greed is patriotic, and thus demonize government and taxation. Yet, most of these same people tend to live their lives in ways that belie their personal mythology.

Typically, they are more than happy to (among other things) drive on taxpayer funded roads; to have their assets defended by government agents (aka police and firefighters); to have their property rights protected by a law enforcement collective known as the judiciary; and to  pocket their share of handouts. Some alleged Randian individualists are even willing to decry the social safety net for others  but not for themselves, and still others are  happy to to vote in Congress for the epitome of what Randianism stands against."

In Historic Inauguration Address, Obama Takes the Fight to the Right | Alternet

In Historic Inauguration Address, Obama Takes the Fight to the Right | Alternet
"From climate-change deniers to Confederacy buffs to Ayn Rand accolytes, Obama had a smack-down for every right-winger."

Notable (and Hilarious) Examples of the Christian Right's Failed Prophecies | Alternet

Notable (and Hilarious) Examples of the Christian Right's Failed Prophecies | Alternet
"The Christian right in America, like all organized religions, claims to have a correct and exclusive understanding of God's will. To hear them tell it, the almighty creator of the universe has strong opinions about corporate tax rates, firearm ownership and what consenting adults do with their genitals, and he's delegated them to speak on his behalf.

But if they want us to believe they have this authority, it seems only fair to consider their track record. After all, the Bible itself tells how to identify false prophets, saying that if they're not really speaking for God, their predictions won't come true -- a very sensible test!"

A Time for ‘Sublime Madness’ | Common Dreams

A Time for ‘Sublime Madness’ | Common Dreams
"The planet we have assaulted will convulse with fury. The senseless greed of limitless capitalist expansion will implode the global economy. The decimation of civil liberties, carried out in the name of fighting terror, will shackle us to an interconnected security and surveillance state that stretches from Moscow to Istanbul to New York. To endure what lies ahead we will have to harness the human imagination."

Fox Pretends Romney’s Jeeps-In-China ‘Lie Of The Year’ Was True

Fox Pretends Romney’s Jeeps-In-China ‘Lie Of The Year’ Was True
"By the way, there’s reason to suspect Fox knows this was a bunch of baloney. Despite banners saying “PANTS ON FIRE” and “WHOOPS” (about PolitiFact) during the segment, FoxNews.com casts doubt on that by making the title of its video of the segment a question: PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' actually true?

Fox News: The network where lying liars lie about true lies."

Law Enforcement Preps For Second Presidential Inauguration

Law Enforcement Preps For Second Presidential Inauguration: The decrease in overall noise tracks with what independent observers are seeing as well. What worries J.M. Berger more is the severity of what he’s seeing from the far right. Berger tracks terrorism in the form of both jihadi extremists and white supremacists through their Internet presence on his website Intelwire. According to Berger, “There are certain phrases that you see, that are always in the mix, but are more prominent now.” He described these phrases as calls to action, such as “The time is now,” that ebb and flow in their usage, but have peaked in the last few days.

The congressional GOP has smothered a more rapid economic recovery | Economic Policy Institute

The congressional GOP has smothered a more rapid economic recovery | Economic Policy Institute
"PBS’ Frontline has an interesting piece on the GOP response to President Obama’s election in 2008, reporting that, “After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything.” Part of this “everything” was the efforts of the new administration to end the Great Recession and restore the economy back to full health. From the start, the GOP sought to block measures that a wide swath of economists agreed would provide help to boost the economy and bring down unemployment. This obstructionism has been a constant theme throughout the past four years, and it continues today."

Congressman Receives Threats From Gun Advocates Warning Him To ‘Watch His Back’

Congressman Receives Threats From Gun Advocates Warning Him To ‘Watch His Back’: Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN), gun safety advocate who represents “real gun country,” told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Saturday that his office is receiving anonymous threats, warning the Congressman to watch his back. “I have never, ever in all my life feared for my security, and I’m not fearful of it now,” Nolan began. “But I’m [...]/p

America's Big Political Fight: Will We Grapple with Reality or Fully Detach and Live in Fantasyland? | Alternet

America's Big Political Fight: Will We Grapple with Reality or Fully Detach and Live in Fantasyland? | Alternet
"The real struggle confronting the United States is not between the Right and the Left in any traditional sense, but between those who believe in reality and those who are entranced by unreality. It is a battle that is testing whether fact-based people have the same determination to fight for their real-world view as those who operate in a fact-free space do in defending their illusions."

New York Rep: GOP Made Us ‘Go Around Like Third World Beggars’ For Sandy Aid

New York Rep: GOP Made Us ‘Go Around Like Third World Beggars’ For Sandy Aid: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) did not hesitate to attack his fellow House Republicans after they refused to hold a vote on providing disaster relief funds to states affected by Hurricane Sandy. After public shaming, the House finally passed a bare-bones aid package on January 4. But King has not forgotten his colleagues who tried to [...]/p

No, Actually, This Is What a Fascist Looks Like

No, Actually, This Is What a Fascist Looks Like
"But, whether Mackey meant to or not, it’s about time someone injected the word fascism back into our political debate. Especially now that corporations wield more power today than they have in America since the Robber Baron Era."

New West Point Study Highlights Threat Posed by Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S. | Alternet

New West Point Study Highlights Threat Posed by Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S. | Alternet
"A new study from a think tank connected to the West Point Military Academy highlights the threat of violent far-right movements in the United States, leading to the conclusion that, while diverse in in their causes, they are similar in their use of violence to achieve their aims."

New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S.

New Study Highlights Threat From Far Right-Wing Groups In U.S.: A new study from a think tank connected to the West Point Military Academy highlights the threat of violent far-right movements in the United States, leading to the conclusion that, while diverse in in their causes, they are similar in their use of violence to achieve their aims. West Point’s Combatting Terrorism Center was founded [...]/p

Twilight of the Pale Patriarchs | Alternet

Twilight of the Pale Patriarchs | Alternet
"Being the party of white men no longer adds up to victory for the GOP."

Which President Raised the Debt Ceiling the Most? (Hint: he "proved deficits don't matter")

Right Wing Responds To Gun Proposals

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64 Percent Of Republicans Are Birthers, Poll Finds

64 Percent Of Republicans Are Birthers, Poll Finds: For the last five years, a small pocket of professional conspiracy theorists have carved out a corner of the internet for the express purpose of advancing the theory that President Obama was not born in the United States, his birth certificate is a forgery, and that therefore he is not eligible to serve as president [...]/p

A Wave of Negative Impressions, Which Are Accurate, But Still | Common Dreams

A Wave of Negative Impressions, Which Are Accurate, But Still | Common Dreams
"With Obama's re-election, Allen West's defeat, anti-tax rhetoric fading fast and new polls showing nobody much likes or wants to join the Tea Party - just 8% of voters identify as members, and half view it unfavorably - Tea Partiers scrambling to stay alive have decided to rebrand themselves in South Florida, though the famously quarrelsome factions are arguing about how. Some have renamed themselves the grand-sounding National Liberty Federation."

The GOP's Boldest Election-Rigging Move Yet

The GOP's Boldest Election-Rigging Move Yet
"But most shocking of all, the latest endorser of this election-rigging scheme is none other than the top Republican Party official himself, RNC Chair Reince Preibus. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Priebus said, “I think it’s something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue that are fully controlled red out to be looking at.” 

What all this adds up to is this: Republicans are really going to try to do this. Over the next few years, they really are going to try to rig the next election."

Lost, Lonely Little 'Tea Party' Undergoes Name Change

Lost, Lonely Little 'Tea Party' Undergoes Name Change
"The real reason for the name change couldn't possibly be the results of this poll from last week:

"Views of the Tea Party movement are at their lowest point ever, with voters for the first time evenly divided when asked to match the views of the average Tea Party member against those of the average member of Congress. Only eight percent (8%) now say they are members of the Tea Party, down from a high of 24% in April 2010 just after passage of the national health care law."

The organization formerly known as the "Tea Party" can change its name to whatever it wants, when the same old hate-filled, racist zealots show up...that "party" will be over, too."

Indiana GOP Lets Glenn Beck Set Legislative Agenda: Introduces Bill To Fight U.N. Conspiracy Theory

Indiana GOP Lets Glenn Beck Set Legislative Agenda: Introduces Bill To Fight U.N. Conspiracy Theory: You’d be forgiven for having not heard of Agenda 21. Developed at a summit in Brazil in 1992 with support from President George H.W. Bush, Agenda 21 is a series of non-binding UN recommendations for ensuring that economic growth does not undermine the environment. The agreement aims to encourage “international cooperation to accelerate sustainable development [...]/p

Bold New Conservative Idea: Screw the Poor | Alternet

Bold New Conservative Idea: Screw the Poor | Alternet
"This is the fresh new plan from a guy regularly touted as the future of the party: A massive tax cut for rich people, in an already  low-service state, paid for with a tax hike on poor people. Remember this the next time you read a story about how a major conservative figure — like Jindal or Marco Rubio or Paul Ryan — has announced that his party has to get serious about  helping the poor or at least not actively hurting them: The movement these guys are products of is incapable of generating “new ideas” to help poor people, and is still dedicated to a policy agenda developed mostly before Reagan was president."

North Carolina Mulls Taxing The Poor To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich

North Carolina Mulls Taxing The Poor To Pay For Tax Cuts For The Rich: Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) last week tentatively endorsed a plan that would eliminate his state’s income and corporate taxes, replacing them with an increased sales tax. Such a move would disproportionately impact the poor, in a state where the tax code is already tilted against those with lower incomes. But Jindal is not alone in [...]/p

FreedomWorks Putting Its War Chest to Work for ALEC’s Anti-Union Agenda in the States

FreedomWorks Putting Its War Chest to Work for ALEC’s Anti-Union Agenda in the States
"The Tea Party-affiliated group FreedomWorks -- the right-wing organization that helps connect “Tea Party” groups with talking points, rallies, and more -- is gearing up to direct its sizeable war chest towards advancing anti-union initiatives in the states, supporting an agenda set by groups like David Koch's Americans for Prosperity and the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This strongly suggests that the battle for the future of private and public sector unions in America is beginning a new phase of combat."

FBI Informant Who Blew the Cover on a Murderous Right-Wing Domestic Terror Group Speaks Out | Alternet

FBI Informant Who Blew the Cover on a Murderous Right-Wing Domestic Terror Group Speaks Out | Alternet
"Cox’s sentence came down earlier this week, as part of the trial of Alaska Peacemaker Militia members, a right-wing group that was plotting to stockpile illegal weapons and take violent action against the government."

Conservative Think Tank Ranks Countries With Government-Run Health Care As The Freest In World

Conservative Think Tank Ranks Countries With Government-Run Health Care As The Freest In World: Former Senator Jim DeMint, the new president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, has decried Obamacare as “a cancer” that is “is fundamentally inconsistent with liberty.” During the Senate Obamacare fight, DeMint famously declared “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” But a new report from [...]/p

After Raising Taxes, California Expects Budget Surplus In 2014

After Raising Taxes, California Expects Budget Surplus In 2014: Since the Great Recession, California has epitomized the fiscal problems facing states. Its economy was ravaged by the housing crisis, and its budget gaps swelled into the tens of billions of dollars. Even before the recession, the state often struggled to balance its budget, hamstrung by legislative rules that made it nearly impossible to increase [...]/p

DeMint’s Bold Plan for Heritage: How to Lie More Effectively | Right Wing Watch

DeMint’s Bold Plan for Heritage: How to Lie More Effectively | Right Wing Watch
"DeMint, a former ad man, promises to launch a “conservative revival” by figuring out how to do a better job selling conservative policies to the American public. That’s not exactly a big shift for the folks at Heritage, which is and always has been a giant marketing operation for right-wing “ideas.” The most revealing thing in DeMint’s column is his use of a thoroughly debunked lie that Republicans tried to use against President Obama in last year’s campaign.  Says DeMint of President Obama, “He disabled welfare reform last year, when he took away the work requirements that were at the heart of that law’s success.”That false claim earned politicians like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum “Pants on Fire” ratings from Politifact and similar ratings from other fact checkers.

Fox "News" Claims that Algebra Classes Are a Conspiracy of Liberal Indoctrination | Alternet

Fox "News" Claims that Algebra Classes Are a Conspiracy of Liberal Indoctrination | Alternet
"Wait. These clowns don’t understand the distributive property in elementary arithmetic, and they confuse it with some kind of Communist plot? I think we’re done here. Where’s the hook? Can someone just yank these idjits off the stage?"

Pat Robertson Outrage: "Hard-Nosed," "Awful Looking" Women Are Ruining Marriages! | Alternet

Pat Robertson Outrage: "Hard-Nosed," "Awful Looking" Women Are Ruining Marriages! | Alternet
"Radical Christian televangelist Pat Robertson with one of his most offensive statements of all time."

Rick Scott Used Fake Medicaid Numbers To Veto ACA Expansion - Updated

Rick Scott Used Fake Medicaid Numbers To Veto ACA Expansion - Updated
"This is the state governed by the man who bilked so much from Medicare that his company was forced to agree to a $1.7 billion fine, which represented only a fraction of what he actually stole. Yet, voters elected him, and now they're stuck with Governor Gollum, who thinks it's just too expensive to cover poor people in his state and would rather leave them in a gutter to die."

Parroting Conspiracy Theorist, Drudge Compares Obama To Hitler And Stalin

Parroting Conspiracy Theorist, Drudge Compares Obama To Hitler And Stalin: While Alex Jones is generally dismissed as a conspiracy theorist who cannot be taken seriously, the Drudge Report is a favorite website of political pundits and conservative politicians. However, Drudge regularly posts links to Jones’ fringe theories, from the soundly debunked claim that Obama was not born in the US, to the less well known theory that the president once secretly worked for the CIA in Pakistan.

Billionaires vs "We the People"

When Ronald Reagan came into office, America was one of the most socially- and economically- mobile nations in the developed world. Today it is among the least. Democracy is being replaced by plutocracy. Modern oligarchs are richer than the kings of old.

Virginia KKK Uses Obama’s Presidency As A Recruiting Tool

Virginia KKK Uses Obama’s Presidency As A Recruiting Tool: The Ku Klux Klan of Virginia is trying to find new members, and it is using President Obama’s second term as a recruitment tool. According to local Richmond television station WTVR, residents in the area have received two KKK fliers in their driveways in the course of as many months. The fliers read, “WAKE UP [...]/p

Tea Party Brand Now Toxic: Only 8% of Americans Identify As Members

Tea Party Brand Now Toxic: Only 8% of Americans Identify As Members
"Over the past four years, political pundits (especially on the right) have been hailing the Teabaggers as some great new force in American politics. But it was obvious to most of us from the very beginning that the Tea Party wasn't a new movement at all -- it was just a convenient rebrand of the GOP rump in the wake of the catastrophic failures of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Either way, the Tea Party is toast."

Fool Us Again: 30 Years of Bait and Switch Budget Politics | Common Dreams

Fool Us Again: 30 Years of Bait and Switch Budget Politics | Common Dreams
"Republicans are trying to accomplish through the back door that which they could never accomplish directly: gutting social security; Medicare; Medicaid; Pell grants; unemployment insurance; and regulatory programs covering the environment, labor, worker safety, food and drug safety, the financial sector and anything else which might get in the way of giant giveaways to oligarchs, plutocrats and fat cats."

Fox News Airs Serious, Thoughtful Interview with Crazy Texas Secessionist

Fox News Airs Serious, Thoughtful Interview with Crazy Texas Secessionist
"For those who don't know him, Cary Wise and his fringe, nutball organization are promoted on right-wing hate sites like Stormfront (not going to link, Google it). Yet he's treated with the utmost respect on Fox, as some kind of credible figure."

How the Conservative Movement Cons Its Naive Followers Out of Their Cash | Alternet

How the Conservative Movement Cons Its Naive Followers Out of Their Cash | Alternet
"The most prominent conservative organizations in the nation are primarily dedicated to separating conservatives from their money."

America’s Craziest Sheriff Sends Armed Posses to Arizona Schools | Alternet

America’s Craziest Sheriff Sends Armed Posses to Arizona Schools | Alternet
"Arpaio made a name for himself by abusing the civil rights of undocumented immigrants — and for detaining a six year old undocumented child. Now he’s heeding the  NRA’s advice that every school needs a “guy with a gun” and is sending out volunteers “ with questionable pasts” to guard students:"

GOP Congressman Suggests Iraq May Have Been Involved In 9/11 Attacks

GOP Congressman Suggests Iraq May Have Been Involved In 9/11 Attacks: A decade later, Cotton is perpetuating a soundly discredited myth that even former president George W. Bush no longer believes.

There's a Violent World War Going on Right Now, with Millions of Casualties -- Oligarchs vs. Everyone Else | Alternet

There's a Violent World War Going on Right Now, with Millions of Casualties -- Oligarchs vs. Everyone Else | Alternet
"Democracy is being replaced by plutocracy.  Modern oligarchs are richer than the kings of old.  And, still not content, they’re amping up the war with a coming July 4th attempt to amend the US Constitution so the wealthy need never again fear tax increases.  It’s being led by the Goldwater Institute with its “Compact For America.” 

Look out.  We’re moving from trench warfare to aerial bombardment.  And when they’re done, Western Democracies will look far more like Italy in the 1930s…"

37 Congressional Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief After Supporting Disaster Aid For Home States

37 Congressional Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief After Supporting Disaster Aid For Home States: While the first vote provided just $9 billion in funds — compared to the $60 billion total requested — 67 Republicans still voted against even this bare-bones package. The majority of those Representatives had, however, supported emergency aid efforts following disasters in their own states.

Huckabee Paints Rep. Duffy and Obstructionist House Members as Acting Responsibly

Huckabee Paints Rep. Duffy and Obstructionist House Members as Acting Responsibly
"We've got some of the most irresponsible hostage takers running one of the three branches of our government right now and this clown is going to paint them as though they've got one iota of concern about our economy, the welfare of our citizens other than the wealthiest among us or the real work of actually governing this country and negotiating with someone in good faith. They're ready to burn the place down if they don't get their way and the two of them are pretending like the only thing that would happen if they refuse to let the government pay its bills is a government shut down, when everyone knows the consequences would actually be much more dire."

Senate Republicans Stack Judiciary Committee With Two More Constitutional Extremists

Senate Republicans Stack Judiciary Committee With Two More Constitutional Extremists: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is no stranger to conspiracy theories; he published an article last year claiming that the United Nations and George Soros are at the head of a global conspiracy to eliminate the game of golf. (Seriously. We aren’t making this up.)

Tea Party Senator: ‘I Don’t Think What Washington Needs Is More Compromise’

Tea Party Senator: ‘I Don’t Think What Washington Needs Is More Compromise’: [/caption]For the last two years, Republicans in Congress have achieved new levels of obstructionism never before seen in Washington, passing fewer bills than any other session of Congress since such information began being recorded in the 1940s. But if voters sent a message to the GOP in November by reelecting President Obama and voting out [...]/p

Debt Limit Debacle: The Sequel

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112th Congress: Worst Congress Ever

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Tea Party Republicans Flaunted Their Nihilist Extremism During Fiscal Cliff Negotiations | Alternet

Tea Party Republicans Flaunted Their Nihilist Extremism During Fiscal Cliff Negotiations | Alternet
"It is irresponsible to help create a mess and then to walk away and expect someone else to clean it up. That’s true whether the mess is a spill in the kitchen or something comparably sticky, smelly or hazardous in deliberations in Congress.

Multiple press reports observe that this is what the political tantrum known as the Tea Party has been doing. We haven’t heard much from the Tea Partiers recently because they opted out of participation in the fiscal cliff drama as the rest of the country counted down the time remaining until the New Year’s, and budgetary, ball drops. In this latest phase in the tantrum, Tea Partiers unhappy that the political game has not gone entirely their way (with the outcome of the presidential election being, of course, their principal setback) have decided to take their own ball and bat and go home."

10 Pundits You Should Ignore In 2013 | Alternet

10 Pundits You Should Ignore In 2013 | Alternet
"1. Dick Morris.Regrettably, the Big Dog’s coattails are impossibly long (see Penn, Mark). If Morris couldn’t put “former Clinton adviser” in front of his name, he would be just another toe-sucking mercenary with a gift for impossibly goofy predictions. What’s remarkable -- indeed, an achievement -- is Morris’ ability to continually find suckers willing to compensate him. This includes The Hill, that respected Washington rag, where he still collects a check. The staffers are suitably embarrassed by Morris’ weekly dross. But I do not include Morris for his predictive failures. Stupidity is forgivable, but his sin, operating in bad faith, is not. Morris confessed to Father Sean Hannity a week after Mitt Romney lost the election that he, Dick Morris, projected a Romney victory because “the Romney campaign was falling apart, people were not optimistic” and “nobody thought there was a chance of victory.” There is no value in a man willing to tell you what you want to hear."

Department Of Corrections: Dick Morris Edition

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PERRspectives: "Both Sides Do It" Must Die!

PERRspectives: "Both Sides Do It" Must Die!
"Both sides do it," that ubiquitous verbal crutch of the lazy American journalist, should be forever struck from our political lexicon. After all, only one party--the Republican Party--doubled the previous record for use of the filibuster, routinely withheld almost all of its votes on major legislation, blocked President Obama's judicial nominees at unheard of rates and is once again threatening to destroy the U.S. economy if its debt ceiling demands are not met.

Tea Party Senator Admits Obamacare Repeal Bills Will Fail, Plans To Introduce One Anyway

Tea Party Senator Admits Obamacare Repeal Bills Will Fail, Plans To Introduce One Anyway: Newly sworn-in Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) vowed to fulfill his campaign promise to introduce a “day one” bill repealing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, even as he admitted a repeal will never pass. During his campaign, Cruz proclaimed, “We must and will repeal every syllable of every word of ObamaCare.” But in a press call [...]/p

The Final Failure of a Failed Congress

The Final Failure of a Failed Congress
"The sun will rise on Thursday morning to shine down upon the end of the 112th Congress, the single most useless do-nothing  assembly of fools and failures in modern American political history. Boehner and his crew of cretins in the House majority are almost singlehandedly responsible for the anemic economic recovery to date, entirely because they decided to sit on their hands rather than do anything - anything! - that might come within a country mile of helping President Obama win re-election.

They sat on a variety of jobs bills. They killed a minimum wage increase. They killed the Buffett Rule, which would have set an infinitesimal tax on millionaires, a bill supported by a huge majority of Americans. Along the way, they killed a bill to provide more transparency in campaign financing. They killed a bill to protect the rights of the disabled because, somehow, they decided it would lead to a takeover of America by the United Nations...and, in one last vile act, they failed to vote on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that was approved in the Senate by a 2-1 margin back in April."

PERRspectives: GOP Extortionists Admit Not Raising Debt Ceiling Means "Financial Collapse and Calamity"

PERRspectives: GOP Extortionists Admit Not Raising Debt Ceiling Means "Financial Collapse and Calamity"
Former Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has a term for those of his Republican colleagues willing to shoot the hostage, that is, the U.S. economy. As he worried in April 2011:

"The people who are threatening not to pass the debt ceiling are our version of al Qaeda terrorists. Really. They're really putting our whole society at risk by threatening to round up 50 percent of the members of the Congress, who are loony, who would put our credit at risk."

Chris Christie, Spare Us Your Anti-GOP Theatrics -- You're Still a Republican | Alternet

Chris Christie, Spare Us Your Anti-GOP Theatrics -- You're Still a Republican | Alternet
"Spare me, Chris Christie. The New Jersey governor  delighted political reporters with his theatrical excoriation of the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives after Speaker John Boehner refused to allow a bill funding aid for people affected by Hurricane Sandy to come to the floor for a vote this week.

This would be the same Christie who, in September 2012, headlined  a fundraiser for Iowa congressman Steve King, who is not just one of the craziest members of the GOP crazy wing, but who also  announced a month later that he probably wouldn’t vote for relief money for Sandy victims for the same reason he refused to vote for federal aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina: Because he was pretty sure people spent the relief money on “Gucci bags and massage parlors.” This is a man Christie wanted to win reelection, in order to help Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, so that they could continue ignoring the priorities and desperate needs of liberal, urban coastal states like New Jersey."

Erik Rush Suggests Founders Would Hang 'Evil' Obama for Seeking to 'Enslave Us' | Right Wing Watch

Erik Rush Suggests Founders Would Hang 'Evil' Obama for Seeking to 'Enslave Us' | Right Wing Watch
"Conservative writer and frequent Fox News guest Erik Rush is so completely off thedeep end that we really aren’t all that surprised by his latest column where he suggests that the Founders would have hanged President Obama and that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “deserves” to be dragged behind a truck."

12 Biggest Right-Wing Lies About America | Alternet

12 Biggest Right-Wing Lies About America | Alternet
"Our nation was gripped by so many fallacies and delusions in 2012 that the whole Mayan calendar end-of-the-world thing didn’t even make the list.

Even those apocalyptic prophecies were more plausible than the idea that cutting Social Security will help the deficit, that government spending cuts will jump-start the economy, there were no crimes on Wall Street, or that we live in a “divided nation” whose “center” wants more business as usual in Washington. Here then, without further ado, are our Top 12 Political Fallacies for 2012."

How Fox News Screwed the GOP | Alternet

How Fox News Screwed the GOP | Alternet
"From the farcical, underwhelming GOP primary that Fox News sponsored, through the general election campaign, it seemed that at every juncture where Romney suffered a major misstep, Fox misinformation hovered nearby. Again and again, Romney damaged his presidential hopes when he embraced the Fox News rhetoric; when he ran as the  Fox News candidate."

GOP Senate Leader Pushes Republicans To ‘Seize’ Debt Ceiling Hostage

GOP Senate Leader Pushes Republicans To ‘Seize’ Debt Ceiling Hostage: Several Republican senators have recently said that they intend to take the federal debt limit — and thus the creditworthiness of the nation — hostage in order to force Democrats and President Obama to accept cuts to critical federal programs, including Social Security and Medicare. “Before we vote again to address the debt ceiling — [...]/p

Sean Hannity lost half his TV audience after the election

Sean Hannity lost half his TV audience after the election
"Conservative mouthpiece Sean Hannity lost about half of his TV audience in the weeks after the election while his colleague Bill O’Reilly’s viewership only dropped by about a third"

4 Painful Political Lessons from the Fiscal Cliff Debates | Alternet

4 Painful Political Lessons from the Fiscal Cliff Debates | Alternet
"Republicans don’t care about deficit reduction.  They care about protecting the wealthy (I told you this is stuff we knew) which worsens the deficit.  Their talking points suggest they want to cut spending, reduce entitlement s and shrink government, but for the most part—there are notable exceptions*—they don’t have actual proposals to do so."

Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’

Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) — a rising star within the GOP — tore into the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for failing to vote on a Hurricane Sandy aid package before the end of the 113th Congress on Tuesday night. “Our people were played last night as a pawn,” Christie said, adding that residents [...]/p

The GOP Clown Car Crashes, Again | Alternet

The GOP Clown Car Crashes, Again | Alternet
"Observing the Congressional Republicans repeatedly stumble in and out of their caucus clown car, blowing loud kazoos and muttering angry threats, should be painful, embarrassing and highly instructive to any American voter with the patience to watch. When their latest performance concluded late Tuesday night with a 257 to 187 vote passing the stopgap fiscal deal negotiated by the Senate and the White House, an unavoidable question lingered: What is wrong with those people?"

The Republican Party Is the Problem

The Republican Party Is the Problem
"The fight over the fiscal cliff was a reminder that the GOP remains the main impediment to economic recovery."

FreedomWorks' Civil War Reveals That in Washington, Cash Trumps Ideology Every Time | Alternet

FreedomWorks' Civil War Reveals That in Washington, Cash Trumps Ideology Every Time | Alternet
"The hubbub at FreedomWorks, an instrumental force within the Tea Party, shows just how bankrupt conservative ideology really is."

House Adjourns Without Passing Hurricane Sandy Relief

House Adjourns Without Passing Hurricane Sandy Relief
"This could possibly be the most despicable non-act of Congress ever."

Ryan Dobson Defends his Father's Comments About Sandy Hook, Calling Him 'a Man who is Making a Stand for Righteousness' | Right Wing Watch

Ryan Dobson Defends his Father's Comments About Sandy Hook, Calling Him 'a Man who is Making a Stand for Righteousness' | Right Wing Watch
"Shortly after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, James Dobson weighed in to declare that the shooting was evidence that God has "allowed judgment to fall upon us" because the nation has turned its back on him by accepting things like abortion and gay marriage."

12 Unbelievably Awful Things Fox News Did This Year | Alternet

12 Unbelievably Awful Things Fox News Did This Year | Alternet
"2012 was a dismal year for Fox News. The PR arm of the GOP failed to fulfill its prime directive: advancing the interests of Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. It spent much of the year constructing an alternative reality that left millions of its flock in shock when President Obama won an overwhelming reelection. It refused to accept the facts on the ground and denigrated polls (even its own) when the results conflicted with the fictional narrative it was peddling. And perhaps most painful of all, Fox surrendered its ratings lead to MSNBC. Two-thirds of its primetime lineup (Hannity and Van Susteren) dropped to second place behind the competition on MSNBC (Maddow and O’Donnell). However, Fox’s travails did not occur for lack of effort. It was clearly operating at the top of its capacity to distort and deceive. In the process it unleashed some of the most feverishly biased reporting, even for Fox News. "