madness of the GOP is the central issue of our time [Archive] - Page 4

boutons_deux

03-12-2015, 03:52 PM

Meet Alveda King, The Fox News Contributor Who Blames Natural Disasters On Gay Marriage

Fox News has hired Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to "provide social and cultural commentary" for the network as a contributor. King is an extreme anti-LGBT activist who has compared same-sex marriage to genocide and claims homosexuality is a "knockoff" sexuality created by the devil.

King's Anti-LGBT Extremism

King's anti-LGBT extremism is rooted in her radical opposition to reproductive freedom. She sees "homosexuality" as one of the heads on a "three-headed monster (http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/naacp-forced-out-of-comfort-zone-by-black-leaders)" representing "a triple threat in the form of black genocide" (the other two heads of this monster are racism and abortion rights). While King asserts (http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/christians-arise) that she does not "hate homosexual people" and maintains (http://www.newsmax.com/DrAlvedaCKing/Same-Sex-Marriage-Racism-MLK/2013/08/08/id/519517/) she adopts the "hate the sin and love the sinner" practice, she has a long history of preaching anti-LGBT rhetoric and lobbying for anti-gay groups.
http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/uploader/image/2015/03/11/3-headed-monster.png

Photo credit: Alveda King's blog (http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/all-monsters-are-not-in-the-movies)
King is perhaps best known by LGBT activists for a speech she gave at a 2010 rally for the anti-LGBT (http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201312190001) National Organization for Marriage, during which she linked (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6iXtiQcPr4) same-sex marriage to genocide:

KING: It is statistically proven that the strongest institution that guarantees procreation and continuity of the generations is marriage between one man and one woman. I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to be extinct and none of us wants to be. So we don't want genocide, we don't want to destroy the sacred institution of marriage.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/03/11/meet-alveda-king-the-fox-news-contributor-who-b/202857

And the old white senile Fox viewers suck this crazy bitch down like cornpone.

boutons_deux

03-13-2015, 10:56 AM

not this bitch again

Carly Fiorina Shapes Herself as the Republican Foil to Hillary Clinton

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/14/us/14carly-web01/14carly-web01-articleLarge.jpg

“Like Hillary Clinton, I too, have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe, but unlike her, I have actually accomplished something,” she told conservatives in Iowa in January. “Mrs. Clinton: Flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/14/us/politics/carly-fiorina-shapes-herself-as-the-republican-foil-to-hillary-clinton.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

:lol What has CF accomplished? HP? :lol

boutons_deux

03-13-2015, 02:16 PM

the macaca of The Party of Stupid

Bobby Jindal: Champion Of 'The Stupid Party'

has quickly embraced the Republicans’ increasingly frantic talking points about the imminent end of liberty and freedom in America. Capturing the mood of Tea Party activists this year, Jindal touted his support for a “rebellion” and a “hostile takeover” of the government to stop the “radically, extremely liberal, ideological president.” - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

Jindal also jumped on the controversy surrounding Phil Robertson, star of the Louisiana-based A&E reality TV show “Duck Dynasty,” to position himself as a defender of conservative Christian values against a tyrannical government and secular media. Jindal, along with other conservative figures, turned Robertson into a cause célèbre when his show was temporarily put on hiatus after he made statements attacking gays and lesbians and defending Jim Crow. Jindal alleged that A&E violated Robertson’s First Amendment rights when it put the star on leave, and has since cited the “Duck Dynasty” fracas to warn that the rights of same-sex marriage opponents are under “assault.” The Obama administration, gay rights advocates and the courts, Jindal told graduates of the conservative bastion Liberty University this year, are all waging a “war on religious liberty — on your freedom to exercise your religion, on your freedom to associate on your freedom of expression.” - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

“The same liberal extremists that want to come take our guns are the same forces that want to take away our religious liberty,” he told a National Rifle Association gathering the month before. He added: “Our freedom is under attack. Our opponents don’t believe in individual freedom…They believe the individual is subordinate to the state, subjects of the elite…We cannot let them change who America is.” - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

alleged that freedom is under attack across countries like the United Kingdom due to Sharia law no-go zones, or areas governed by Islamic law that he believes are coming to (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-teach-our-judeo-christian-heritage-combat-non-existent-no-go-zones)America (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-wont-rest-until-non-existent-no-go-zones-are-no-more). When asked by a reporter where in the U.K. such no-go zones exist, Jindal was unable to name a single location (http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/01/20/3613054/cnn-correspondent-confronts-bobby-jindal-over-false-comments-about-muslims/). - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

An opponent of abortion rights “with no exceptions,” Jindal signed legislation that would have shut down all of his state’s abortion clinics - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

Jindal has led an aggressive push in his home state for the privatization of public education (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-education-vouchers-idUSL1E8H10AG20120601) and the taxpayer funding of religious schools (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/07/bobby_jindal_possible_vice_presidential_pick_but_h as_a_creationism_problem_.single.html), even directing taxpayer dollars to schools espousing Creationism (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_public_schools_mapped_where_tax_mon ey_supports_alternatives.html), which he said would let kids “be exposed to the best facts (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/15/louisiana-governor-ive-got-no-problem-with-creationism-in-public-schools/?rss=1).” Unsurprisingly, these policies have failed (http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/11/no_performance_score_for_80_pe.html)to (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/vouchers-dont-do-much-for-students-97909.html)improve (http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2013/05/louisiana_voucher_students_sco.html) education outcomes in the state. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

Jindal was at one time a strong supporter of the Common Core education standards: He once called Common Core’s adoption a key part of his education policy (http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=3197&printer=1)and was featured in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce advertisement promoting the standards (http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/04/us_chamber_releases_video_tout.html). But Jindal has since done an about-face to get behind the growing Tea Party and Religious Right hostility to Common Core. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

Louisiana’s state board of education has ignored Jindal’s reversal and is implementing the Common Core standards anyway. - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party#sthash.f3delzqc.dpuf

Jindal has repeatedly suggested that Obama neither understands American values nor loves America.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bobby-jindal-champion-stupid-party

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 09:45 AM

Conservatives blast Michelle Obama’s nod to Persian new year, a tradition started by Bush I

Conservatives are outraged that First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a celebration of Nowruz, the Persian new year, at the White House — despite the fact that it was the George H.W. Bush White House that introduced (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=20729&st=Nowruz&st1=) the tradition of presidential Nowruz greetings in 1992.

“I think it’s so fitting that we are holding this celebration here today because, one of my favorite things about the White House is how it is truly the people’s house. A house that reflects the diversity of culture and traditions that make us who we are as a country,” the First Lady said. “And Nowruz is one of those traditions.”

Conservatives disagreed, claiming that there were more sinister motivations behind this year’s Nowruz celebration.

“Obama is trying to salvage his failed presidency by cutting whatever deal he can make with Iran,” Breitbart’s editor-at-large John Nolte wrote (http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/13/michelle-obama-celebrates-iranian-holiday-at-white-house/). “For that reason we get to watch the First Lady pretend she cares about any of this. The Iranians most certainly know it was all for show. But that’s what they appreciate — that fact that Obama is desperate enough to put on this show.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/conservatives-blast-michelle-obamas-nod-to-persian-new-year-a-tradition-started-by-bush-i/

Repug governance and critical issues facing the country! :lol

Breitbart! :lol

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 10:35 AM

Ted Cruz Visits N.H., Vows To Abolish IRS And Education Department

He is promising to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and scrap the Education Department. He vows to curtail federal regulators, likening to locusts that deserve to be killed. And his standard campaign-style speech includes a zinger about the Second Amendment.

"I'm pretty sure, here in New Hampshire, y'all define gun control like we do down in Texas: gun control is when you hit what you aim at,

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ted-cruz-new-hampshire-government?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Thanks, all y'all redneck TX Repugs

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 01:29 PM

this crazy bitch makes Kelly look like a leftist

Fox News host Andrea Tantaros: Snow days are a liberal plot to strip schools of religious holidays

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/fox-news-host-andrea-tantaros-snow-days-are-a-liberal-plot-to-strip-schools-of-religious-holidays/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 03:18 PM

GOP lawmaker: Texas anti-gay sodomy law needed for ‘public health’ and to stop ‘bestiality’http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/white1.fw-2-800x430.jpg

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/gop-lawmaker-texas-anti-gay-sodomy-law-needed-for-public-health-and-to-stop-bestiality/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

DarrinS

03-16-2015, 03:40 PM

damn, botox, you need to get a life

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 04:36 PM

Kris Kobach: Criticism Of Me Is Like The 'Cultural Revolution In China'

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/kris-kobach-criticism-me-cultural-revolution-china

boutons_deux

03-16-2015, 10:09 PM

House Republican Budget Overhauls Medicare and Repeals the Health Law

House Republicans on Tuesday will unveil a proposed budget for 2016 that

partly privatizes Medicare (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier), :lol

turns Medicaid (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicaid/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) into block grants to the states, :lol

repeals the Affordable Care Act :lol

and reaches balance in 10 years, :lol

challenging Republicans in Congress to make good on their promises to deeply cut federal spending.

Congressional budgets do not have the force of law and are largely advisory documents, but they represent the broadest statement of

governing philosophy :lol

each year and set overall spending levels for the coming fiscal year. And in coming months, this one may contain language easing passage of taxation and entitlement legislation.

Under congressional rules, a budget cannot be filibustered in the Senate, so Republicans would bear most of the responsibility if they failed to pass one.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/us/politics/house-republican-budget-overhauls-medicare-and-repeals-the-health-law.html

Repugs wanna fuck America up real good.

DarrinS

03-17-2015, 07:42 AM

Copy, paste, rinse, repeat

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 08:12 AM

Copy, paste, rinse, repeat

Darrin, nothing to say, not even copy/paste

DarrinS

03-17-2015, 09:48 AM

Darrin, nothing to say, not even copy/paste

I've been trying to give you subtle hints to get out of your basement. You're becoming what the Japanese refer to as the Hikikomori.

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 10:21 AM

Florida Senate Panel Approves Campus Guns Bill

Despite vehement opposition from university presidents, campus police chiefs and student government associations, the Florida Senate Higher Education Committee on Monday approved a proposal that would allow guns on college campuses.

The Republican members of the panel characterized the bill as a Second Amendment issue.

“It goes back to the individual’s right to protect themselves,” said GOP state Senator John Legg. “I have a hard time telling a person that they don’t have the right to protect themselves.”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/florida-senate-panel-approves-campus-guns-bill/

Legg has a much harder time telling the gun lobby he will vote against dead students.

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 10:24 AM

West Virginia Passes Bill Rolling Back Regulations On Chemical Storage Tanks (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/17/3634033/west-virginia-storage-tank-bill-passage/)

The West Virginia legislature has passed a bill that scales back regulations meant to protect state waterways from storage tank spills, a piece of legislation that some worry could leave the state’s water more vulnerable to the kind of spill that contaminated the water of 300,000 state residents last year.

The bill (http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?INPUT=423&year=2015&sessiontype=RS), which was passed by the state Senate early Saturday morning, rolls back portions of a law passed last year in response to January’s spill (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/11/3458882/six-months-west-virginia-chemical-spill/), which occurred due to a leak in a chemical storage tank along the banks of the Elk River. Under the law, known as the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, nearly 50,000 aboveground storage tanks in the state were subject to registration and regulation.

Now, under the new bill, the number of regulated tanks will fall to about 12,000 (http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150310/GZ01/150319970). Those 12,000 are tanks that are located in “zones of critical concern,” which means they’re situated along a waterway and about five hours away from a drinking water intake. They also include tanks that hold more than 50,000 gallons, tanks that hold hazardous substances and tanks that are in the “zone of peripheral concern,” which are those located 10 hours away from a drinking water intake.

That number could drop even further, said Evan Hansen, president of West Virginia think tank Downstream Strategies. Under the new bill, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D), owners of those 12,000 tanks have the ability to opt out of the regulations if they’re already being regulated by a different permit.

And, if the tank owners do opt out, that means they may not be subject to regulations as stringent as those in the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.

“So the big question regarding the bill is what additional protections — if any — are going to be provided on those 12,000 tanks that remain,”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/17/3634033/west-virginia-storage-tank-bill-passage/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Cli mate+Progress%29

Repugs! red states! :lol

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 01:12 PM

Arizona Lawmakers Debate Whether Gun Rights Were Given To Them By God

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arizona-lawmakers-god-debate-guns?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

:lol fucking Repug sickos

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 04:10 PM

Bill Would Throttle Local Government’s Ability to Sue Polluters

In another fight over local control this session, state Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth), one of the more powerful lawmakers in the House, is pushing a bill that would erode the ability of cities and counties to collect civil penalties from polluters.

This morning, Geren described the latest version of his House Bill 1794 (http://www.texasobserver.org/?p=38931) to the House Environmental Regulation Committee as a wayto curb “lawsuit abuse” by capping the maximum penalties that can be assessed on environmental violators at $4.3 million and imposing a five-year statute of limitations on the filing of lawsuits. :lol

The legislation appears to be a response to high-profile litigation between Harris County and three companies considered liable for the San Jacinto River waste pits (http://www.texasobserver.org/san-jacinto-river-waste-pits/), an EPA Superfund site that has been leaking dioxins into the San Jacinto River and Galveston Bay for decades.

While Geren jettisoned some of the most far-reaching parts of the original version of HB 1794—a requirement for local governments to prove that a company “knowingly or intentionally” violated the law, for example—local authorities and environmentalists said they were still opposed.

Tom “Smitty” Smith, the veteran head of Public Citizen’s Texas office, said cities and counties need the ability to force polluters to pay civil penalties because state enforcement of environmental laws is so weak.

“We think the [Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] is a toothless tiger,” he said. The agency doesn’t have the resources or “the guts to go after biggest polluters.”

First dug next to the river in 1965, the pits were only determined in 2005 to be the primary source of dioxins in upper Galveston Bay, which has been under a fish consumption advisory for two decades.

http://www.texasobserver.org/bill-would-throttle-local-governments-ability-to-sue-polluters/

TeyshaBlue

03-17-2015, 07:43 PM

*Copy/Paste*
Copy, paste, rinse, repeat

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 09:56 PM

*Copy/Paste*
Copy, paste, rinse, repeat

so original, did you just think that up, stalker?

boutons_deux

03-17-2015, 10:45 PM

Jeb Bush Calls For The Elimination Of The Federal Minimum Wage (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/17/3634877/jeb-bush-minimum-wage/)

At an event in South Carolina on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush was asked whether he thinks the country should raise the minimum wage or whether the wage should be left up to private companies.

“We need to leave it to the private sector,” he responded. “I think state minimum wages are fine. The federal government shouldn’t be doing this.” He went on, “The federal government doing this will make it harder and harder for the first rung of the ladder to be reached, particularly for young people, particularly for people that have less education.”

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/17/3634877/jeb-bush-minimum-wage/

:lol just presentin' his sociopathic, hate-federal-govt street cred. Let the (red) states and cities screw employees.

TeyshaBlue

03-18-2015, 03:16 AM

Spam

TeyshaBlue

03-18-2015, 03:17 AM

Stop flattering yourself, coward.

Winehole23

03-18-2015, 03:36 AM

I'm ok with the rag bag thread, keeps him ever so slightly from shitting up other threads nonsensically.

boutons_deux

03-18-2015, 03:44 PM

Texas Lawmaker Wants To Make It Illegal To Film Cops From Less Than 25 Feet Away

from the because-yelling,-shoving,-intimidation-and-confiscation-just-aren't-enough dept

Now that it's pretty much settled (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120517/03103218948/doj-argues-forcefully-your-right-to-photograph-videotape-law-enforcement.shtml) that the public has the right to record the police*, legislators are now moving to peel back this begrudgingly "granted" First Amendment protection (http://www.kens5.com/story/news/2015/03/13/texas-lawmaker-wants-filming-police-to-be-illegal/70317008/).

*Exceptions (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140717/10432627918/lawsuit-filed-to-force-nypd-to-respect-citizens-first-amendment-right-to-record-police-officers.shtml), of course. Far, far too many (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20141212/13042129420/nothing-changes-cops-still-threatening-citizens-breaking-laws-to-shut-down-recordings.shtml) of them.

Filed by Dallas State Representative Jason Villalba (R), the bill prohibits anyone in public within 25 feet of police to record them. The buffer is even greater at 100 feet, for anyone recording video who is also carrying a gun. Only accredited news organizations, like KENS5, would be allowed to record without the buffer zone.

Guess who gets to decide whether any unaccredited videographers are "too close" to the action? That's right. It'll be the person deploying handcuffs or demanding the camera be shut off/relinquished. It will all be in the eye of the uniformed beholder who's just going to eyeball the distance between him and the unaffiliated bodies of public accountability, and if it's close, just go ahead and call it a crime. A crime with some rather hefty penalties (http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/billtext/pdf/HB02918I.pdf#navpanes=0), considering it involves recording public figures in public areas.

Anyone caught filming within the 25-foot radius could be prosecuted for a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. For gun-carriers who step within 100 feet, it would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Blogger Ex-Cop Law Student calls it the "Kory Watkins Law," (https://excoplawstudent.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/texas-rep-jason-villalba-dist-114-r-introduces-the-kory-watkins-bill/) after the open-carry activist, who has filmed many of his interactions (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaRL0k3Wd-etzQpCQ_Ze01w) with local law enforcement.

This is basically a reaction to the confrontational style of Kory, who has a tendency to get very close to the officers while being loud and armed with either a rifle or a black powder revolver. So Villalba decided that a new law was needed, despite the fact that there is already a perfectly valid law on the book that deals with the issue.

Of course, the "valid" law is one that's already frequently abused: "interfering with public duties." This catch-all has snagged many citizens (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130808/12410424112/lapd-detains-photographer-interfering-with-police-investigation-90-feet-away.shtml) and their cellphones. Villalba's proposal just gives police officers another way to legally violate the First Amendment rights of others.

Villalba's hardly a neutral party. According to the Dallas Observer (http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/03/dallas_state_rep_jason_villalba_wants_to_restrict_ where_citizens_can_photograph_cops.php), his best man was a police officer. So are many of his family members and friends. This string of tweets (https://twitter.com/JasonVillalba) issued as the criticism began to roll in shows pretty clearly which side Villalba is legislating for.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150316/09371330326/texas-lawmaker-wants-to-make-it-illegal-to-film-cops-less-than-25-feet-away.shtml

hitmanyr2k

03-19-2015, 06:06 PM

Rick Santorum does a great job keeping a straight face while listening to the rants of this delusional lady who's clearly been brainwashed by listening to right wing radio 24/7 :lol When her voice rises and cracks I would have lost it on the stage and just burst out laughing. It's unreal there are people like this in America.

TdAYYGUP-pA

boutons_deux

03-20-2015, 06:28 AM

the charismatic, handsome, golden-tongued LEADER of the Repugs!

McConnell Urges States to Help Thwart Obama’s ‘War on Coal’

Senator Mitch McConnell (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/mitch_mcconnell/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Kentucky has begun an aggressive campaign to block President Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per)’s climate change (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) agenda in statehouses and courtrooms across the country, arenas far beyond Mr. McConnell’s official reach and authority.

The campaign of Mr. McConnell, the Senate majority leader, is aimed at stopping a set of Environmental Protection Agency (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/environmental_protection_agency/index.html?inline=nyt-org) regulations requiring states to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Once enacted, the rules could shutter hundreds of coal-fired plants in what Mr. Obama has promoted as a transformation of the nation’s energy economy away from fossil fuels and toward sources like wind and solar power (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/solar-energy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier). Mr. McConnell, whose home state is one of the nation’s largest coal producers, has vowed to fight the rules.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/us/politics/mitch-mcconnell-urges-states-to-help-thwart-obamas-war-on-coal.html?_r=0

Has any Repug moved the country forward, instead backward, in 40 years? :lol

boutons_deux

03-20-2015, 09:28 AM

National Review's Rich Lowry (http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDYzMGFiNjQ0MWRjNmI0ZTlkYjgwZTExMjA3MWNiZTk=):

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well,

it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America :lol

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/03/619230/-There-s-something-wrong-with-these-people

Of course, he's pretending it's about being high-minded on immigration and the constitution and such.

As an African-American woman, Lynch represents a gloriously double-barreled opportunity to accuse Republicans of sub-rosa hatreds.The political benefit of what feminists call intersectionality—membership in two or more historically oppressed groups—is not having to choose which accusation of bias to make.
One day, it can be racism; the next it can be sexism. Or, different people can make different charges of an -ism on the same day. The possibilities to mix and match are endless. […]

This is demonstrably false. As all the Republicans opposing her nomination make plain, the issue is her belief that President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty is lawful.

So there you go, McConnell, you got one guy on your side who says it's not a problem at all politically to not only delay this vote as long as possible, but to oppose this nomination. Not that it was ever in question that the editor of the National Review would be on your side.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/19/1371938/-Rich-Starbursts-Lowry-says-don-t-confirm-Loretta-nbsp-Lynch?detail=email

Lowry loves Palin, and doesn't understand why Repugs blocked (but dicklessly chickened out) DHS funding! :lol

boutons_deux

03-20-2015, 10:06 AM

Tennessee Republican would sacrifice a whole lot of jobs to keep unions away (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/19/1371922/-Tennessee-Republican-would-sacrifice-a-whole-lot-of-jobs-to-keep-unions-away)

Tennessee Republican state Sen. Bo Watson really does not like unions. He dislikes unions so much (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/tenn-goper-slams-volkswagen-creating-200000-jobs-is-intentionally-a-magnet-for-unionized-labor/#.VQrE8s0_c0M.twitter) that he would sacrifice giant numbers of jobs in his state if the jobs brought with them the threat of unions. Speaking about a proposed $165.8 million in tax incentives for Volkswagen to produce an SUV in Tennessee, Watson was emphatic.

“The incentive, no doubt, will create about 200,000 jobs directly, and countless more indirectly,” he admitted. “It will give southeast Tennessee a big foothold in the automotive industry, particularly in research and development. And it will allow the development of a new line of Volkswagen vehicles, particularly the SUV.”But Watson asserted that the threat of organized labor unions might not be worth the benefits that Volkswagen would bring to the state.

“VW is a magnet for organized labor, intentionally,” he opined. “I believe this committee should know and understand what Volkswagen’s position is on this issue, both here and in Germany.”

First off, I'm ... quite sure the number is not 200,000 jobs. If $165.8 million in tax incentives could create 200,000 jobs, the United States would long since have been at full employment. In fact, it's probably more like 2,000 jobs (http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/detroit-auto-show/2015/01/11/volkswagen-global-sales-gm-toyota/21605435/)

In 2014, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haleytook a similar position (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/20/1279044/-Nikki-Haley-doesn-t-want-any-dirty-union-car-companies-in-South-Carolina), saying that "We discourage any companies that have unions from wanting to come to South Carolina because we don’t want to take the water."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/19/1371922/-Tennessee-Republican-would-sacrifice-a-whole-lot-of-jobs-to-keep-unions-away?detail=email

so, no jobs is better than unionized jobs. Repugs are truly fucking nutjobs.

boutons_deux

03-22-2015, 10:27 AM

Conseravative Radio Host: If You Oppose Netanyahu, You Oppose God

http://mx1.politicususa.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fightinjesus.jpg

In “Obama Bypasses God and Netanyahu,” CPAC darling Dr. Laurie Roth (having that title sure doesn’t make them smarter does it?) argues that if you oppose Benjamin Netanyahu, you oppose God. Oh sweet little baby Jesus, no!The “Annie Oakley of the Airwaves” writes at Matt Barber’s BarbWire (http://barbwire.com/2015/03/20/0900-obama-bypasses-god-and-netanyahu/) that,

Anyone or anything connected with the God of the Holy Bible will be attacked and bypassed by Obama and his progressive robots. As we all know by now Obama had no congratulations or words of any kind for Benjamin Netanyahu though BiBi won huge. Funny how all the other ‘big boy’ leaders called to congratulate him but not Obama. John Kerry saying something pathetic from afar and too late doesn’t cut the cheese folks. Obama is most certainly against Netanyahu because he represents the Jews and Israel and won’t be intimidated into giving away more land or kissing up to the Islamic agenda….which is simply — destroy Israel

That’s quite a leap (of faith, shall we say?). Not a word here about how her pal “Bibi” came to the United States and tried to wrest control of America’s foreign policy away from the man in whom that control is vested by the United States Constitution: the President of the United States.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/22/conseravative-radio-host-oppose-netanyahu-oppose-god.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

03-22-2015, 01:03 PM

McCain defends Netanyahu’s racial campaign ploy: Politicians can’t be ‘held to everything’ they say
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/mccain-defends-netanyahus-racial-campaign-ploy-politicians-cant-be-held-to-everything-they-say/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

He also insulted his n!gg@ boy by telling him to get over his temper tantrum over Bibi. Hilarious from a senile old fart who is emotionally unstable.

boutons_deux

03-23-2015, 02:31 PM

Gov. Jindal’s Implosion

What happened to Bobby Jindal?

He was the next wave of Republican. He was young and smart — a Rhodes scholar. He was the son of immigrants and the first Indian-American governor in this country’s history.

He had even bounced back from his disastrous rebuttal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmNM0oj79t8) to President Obama’s first State of the Union address. (Personally, I thought that his claim of having participated in an exorcism (http://blow.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/bobby-jindal-the-exorcist-pro-or-con/) performed on his friend in college would have been more of an issue than it was, but that was just me.)

Jindal had all the right rhetoric.

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/23/opinion/23blowchart/23blowchart-articleInline.gif
(http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/charles-blow-gov-jindals-implosion.html#modal-lightbox)
(http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/charles-blow-gov-jindals-implosion.html#modal-lightbox)He told the syndicated columnist Cal Thomas: “As Republicans we don’t need to obsess about our opponents, we don’t need to define ourselves in opposition to our opponents. Let [Democrats] look backward; we need to look forward.”

In 2013, he demanded that the G.O.P. “stop being the stupid party.”

Jindal was the brainy Moses coming to deliver his people from the bondage of inanity. But that was then.

Now, Jindal has gone from being one of the most popular governors in the country to one of the least popular (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/07/louisiana-miscellany.html).

In the latest CNN/ORC poll (http://www.pollingreport.com/wh16rep.htm) of Republicans and independents who lean Republican, only 1 percent said that he was the candidate they would most likely support for the Republican nomination. Even “none/no one” got 6 percent.

And in a desperate attempt at relevancy — and press — he has lately been sliding further into Islamic hysteria.

In January, he doubled down on a controversial claim that parts of Europe were “no-go” zones because of Muslim extremists. Jindal said (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/07/louisiana-miscellany.html) that there were cities “where non-Muslims simply don’t go in,” like Birmingham in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron had already said in response to a Fox News analyst who made the assertion: “When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fools’ Day. This guy is clearly a complete idiot.”

That hasn’t stopped Jindal. Last week on Fox News, he set about defending his statement that America “shouldn’t tolerate those who want to come and try to impose some variant, or some version, of Shariah law.” But he went so far as to say of prospective immigrants:

“In America we want people who want to be Americans. We want people who want to come here. We don’t say, ‘You have to adopt our creed, or any particular creed,’ but we do say, ‘If you come here, you need to believe in American exceptionalism.’ ” :lol

What? Where is that written? I can’t find this “need to believe in American exceptionalism” anywhere in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Isn’t American exceptionalism itself a creed?

The smart-on-paper Jindal increasingly comes across as nuttier than a piece of praline. :lol good one!

On Friday, Robert Mann, a columnist at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, called for Jindal’s resignation, citing all of the problems in the state that the governor isn’t focusing on as he tries to gin up a greater national profile:

“We have some of the nation’s highest poverty and worst health outcomes and you’ve done little to address them.

Baton Rouge, your hometown, has the nation’ssecond-highest H.I.V. rate (New Orleans is fourth), but you’ve done nothing to address that crisis.

What you have done is hollow out higher education and inject needless confusion and rancor into the state’s elementary and secondary education system.

Meanwhile, the state’s health care system is a fractured, dysfunctional mess under your privatization schemes.

Now, you’ve outsourced the state’s tax policy to Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.”

Louisiana’s fiscal picture is dire. As Politico reported in February:

“Jindal is preparing a budget to close a $1.6 billion shortfall in Louisiana, a particularly daunting task after the $400 million in additional money he had to scare up to fill a budget gap for the current year. The president of Louisiana State University said earlier this month that the state’s flagship school is preparing for a 40 percent cut in its operating budget next year.”

In fact, The Times-Picayune reported in January that “Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration said Louisiana’s colleges and universities should be prepared to sustain anywhere from $200 million to $300 million in cuts during the 2015-16 school year.”

But in February, Jindal strained credulity, claiming, “The total higher education budget, including means of total finance — is actually a little bit, just slightly, higher than when I took office.” The Washington Post’s Fact Checker blog quicklysmacked that down, awarding Jindal three Pinocchios.

Jindal has made a mess of Louisiana and wrecked his reputation in the process. His odds of becoming president of the United States have shrunk to nil.
Sometimes what looks good on paper is a disaster in practice.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/charles-blow-gov-jindals-implosion.html

Repug governance! :lol

Jindal didn't act alone to screw Confederate LA. He had the support of the Repug legislature all the way.

Repug governance! :lol

boutons_deux

03-24-2015, 03:03 PM

Don't know if he's a Repug, but from Bircher County SoCal and a LGBT hater, so whadya think?

California Lawyer Initiates 'Shoot the Gays' Measure

A southern California lawyer recently submitted an extremely violent and homophobic measure for state review that would legalize state-sanctioned murder of any person who engages in sexual pleasure with someone of the same gender, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2015/03/19/shoot-the-gays-initiative-apparently-headed-for-circulation/).

Matt McLaughlin paid the $200 fee late February to submit the “Sodomite Suppression Act” to California voters.

The measure would make it a crime to advocate gay rights to audiences that include minors.

Those convicted would face up to 10 years in prison.

What is the constitutionality of this ridiculous measure?

Well, under McLaughlin’s logic, that could only be determined by a state Supreme Court that is free of LGBT judges or their advocates.

And if the state fails to take action on any conviction within a year, the act permits private citizens to step in as executioners.

Another insane provision of the act requires that it be posted at every public school in the state.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/california-lawyer-initiates-shoot-gays-measure?akid=12925.187590.bdg7zG&rd=1&src=newsletter1033738&t=10

boutons_deux

03-24-2015, 04:53 PM

Andrea Tantaros: ‘I’m going to speak slowly’ so feminists learn rape reports are a ‘war on boys’
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/andrea-tantaros-im-going-to-speak-slowly-so-feminists-learn-rape-reports-are-a-war-on-boys/

Fox/Ailes sure know how to find the talent

boutons_deux

03-24-2015, 04:55 PM

‘Thank Thor for this’: Texas GOP congressman brutally mocked for his ‘so help me God’ bill

“Let me be clear: Americans have the freedom of religion – but not freedom from religion.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/thank-thor-for-this-texas-gop-congressman-brutally-mocked-for-his-so-help-me-god-bill/

Texas, full assholes who elect assholes! :lol

boutons_deux

03-25-2015, 04:58 AM

one of the nastiest of the red states

Indiana Governor 'Looking Forward' to Signing Bill That Ensures Sweeping Discrimination

he Indiana House of Representatives passed a religious "freedom" bill Monday 63-31 that will allow private businesses, individuals and organizations to discriminate anywhere at any time against any person they so choose based on religious grounds.

A similar bill already cleared the state Senate. Once the two bills are reconciled, it will head to the desk of Gov. Mike Pence, who can't wait to sign it (http://fox59.com/2015/03/23/indiana-house-passes-religious-freedom-bill/) into law.

The Human Rights Campaign (http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/t/0/0/alternet/~www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-to-indiana-house-and-governor-pence-stop-the-anti-lgbt-anti-business-bi):

If signed into law, this bill could empower police officers to refuse to patrol the areas around synagogues or mosques, allow doctors to withhold medically-necessary information from their patients, or expose the LGBT community to a wave of new forms of discrimination.

Jenny Pizer, senior attorney at the LGBT legal advocacy group Lambda Legal (http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/in_20150323_in-house-passes-religious-discrimination-bill-sb101):

"Once the governor signs this bill into law, women, racial minorities, religious minorities, people living with HIV and many others will be much more vulnerable to the whims of any individual or business owner who refuses services to particular groups of people based on religious objections to who those people are."

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/indiana-governor-looking-forward-signing-bill-ensures-sweeping-discrimination

aka, Christian Taliban.

boutons_deux

03-25-2015, 02:40 PM

More Christian Taliban news

Colorado Republican says brutal attack on pregnant woman could be God’s punishment for legal abortion

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/colorado-republican-says-brutal-attack-on-pregnant-woman-could-be-gods-punishment-for-legal-abortion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

03-25-2015, 04:22 PM

Repug Bible Humping Redneck Hero going all Christian Taliban

‘Duck Dynasty’ star fantasizes about atheist family’s brutal rape and murder to make point about God’s law

Fuckk Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson conjured up a lurid fantasy about the rape and murder of an atheist family to illustrate a point about following God’s law.

The reality TV star made the comments Friday at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vero-Beach-Prayer-Breakfast/290023378763?sk=timeline), and Christian conservative radio host Rick Wiles aired them later that day on his “Trunews” (http://www.trunews.com/friday-march-20-2015-phil-robertson/)program, reported Right Wing Watch (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phil-robertson-hypothesizes-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-and-killed).

“I’ll make a bet with you,” Robertson told the religious gathering. “Two guys break into an atheist’s home. He has a little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters. Two guys break into his home and tie him up in a chair and gag him.”

“Then they take his two daughters in front of him and rape both of them and then shoot them, and they take his wife and then decapitate her head off in front of him,” Robertson continued, “and then they can look at him and say, ‘Isn’t it great that I don’t have to worry about being judged? Isn’t it great that there’s nothing wrong with this?

There’s no right or wrong, now, is it dude?’”

He then imagined the assailants cutting off the atheist’s penis.

“Then you take a sharp knife and take his manhood and hold it in front of him and say, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if [there] was something wrong with this?’” Robertson said.

“’But you’re the one who says there is no God, there’s no right, there’s no wrong, so we’re just having fun. We’re sick in the head, have a nice day.’”

“If it happened to them, they probably would say, ‘Something about this just ain’t right,’” Robertson added.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-about-atheist-familys-brutal-rape-and-murder-to-make-point-about-gods-law/

all y'all right-wingers got not only a bunch of wackos as leaders but also pure sickos. Thanks, religion!

boutons_deux

03-28-2015, 01:44 PM

Indiana Defines Stupidity as Religion

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Borowitz-Indiana-Defines-Stupidity-as-Religion1-690.jpg (http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Borowitz-Indiana-Defines-Stupidity-as-Religion1-1200.jpg)

INDIANAPOLIS —In a history-making decision, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana has signed into law a bill that officially recognizes stupidity as a religion.

Pence said that he hoped the law would protect millions of state residents “who, like me, have been practicing this religion passionately for years.”

The bill would grant politicians like Pence the right to observe their faith freely, even if their practice of stupidity costs the state billions of dollars.

While Pence’s action drew the praise of stupid people across America, former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was not among them. “Even I wasn’t dumb enough to sign a bill like that,” she said.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/indiana-defines-stupidity-as-religion

Aztecfan03

03-28-2015, 11:20 PM

just happen to unblock boutons latest post and what do you know, it is a fake news article. Why am i not surprised?

boutons_deux

03-29-2015, 06:42 AM

just happen to unblock boutons latest post and what do you know, it is a fake news article. Why am i not surprised?

but you can't unblock your hilarious stupidity. It's a comedian's satire

boutons_deux

03-30-2015, 06:29 AM

Republicans see Obama as more imminent threat than Putin

A third of Republicans believe President Barack Obama poses an imminent threat to the United States,

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/republicans-see-obama-as-more-imminent-threat-than-putin-reutersipsos-poll/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29 (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/republicans-see-obama-as-more-imminent-threat-than-putin-reutersipsos-poll/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29)

:lol goddam, you people, certainly you old, fat, white people who watch Fox and red-staters, are fucking stupid! :lol

boutons_deux

03-30-2015, 03:49 PM

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/large/public/submergedstate600.png

boutons_deux

03-30-2015, 09:40 PM

Arizona Gov. Ducey signs bill requiring doctors to tell patients about abortion ‘reversal’

Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey signed a law on Monday that requires doctors to tell women that drug-induced abortions can be reversed and that blocks the purchase of insurance on the Obamacare health exchange that includes abortion coverage.

The requirement that patients be told that the effects of abortion pills may be undone by using high doses of a hormone was the most hotly contested provision during legislative debate.

Supporters said there was ample evidence the reversal was possible if acted upon quickly, although they provided no peer-reviewed studies in support of their position.

Critics called the argument “junk science.”

The bill cleared the Republican-controlled Legislature last week, largely along party lines.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/arizona-gov-ducey-signs-bill-requiring-doctors-to-tell-patients-about-abortion-reversal/

LIES AND HATE about gun/guns/gays/abortion/immigration is all the Repugs got.

boutons_deux

03-31-2015, 03:21 PM

State Attorneys Tell Supreme Court That Gay People Are Too Powerful To Have Equal Rights (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/03/30/3640355/state-attorneys-tell-supreme-court-gay-people-powerful-equal-rights/)

Gay Americans simply have too much political power to be afforded equal rights under the Constitution (http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/14-556bs.pdf), according to a brief filed by the state of Ohio asking the Supreme Court to permit that state to continue to practice marriage discrimination. Ohio’s claim comes as part of a greater effort to convince the justices that laws which discriminate again gay men, lesbians and bisexuals should not be treated with skepticism by courts applying the Constitution’s guarantee that everyone shall be afforded “the equal protection of the laws (https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv).”

Ohio argues that such protection is unwarranted because, in recent years, gay people have started to win battles in the political arena:
At the federal level, the executive branch filed an amicus brief, as did some 167 Representatives and 44 Senators. Not only that, with respect to DOMA, the executive branch’s strong support led it to the “unusual position” of failing “to defend the constitutionality of an Act of Congress based on a constitutional theory not yet established in judicial decisions” and that was rejected by four Justices. At the state level, 19 States filed four amicus briefs in these cases challenging the laws of their sister sovereigns. Further, several state officers have, like the federal government, “refused to defend” their own laws. At the local level, some 226 Mayors and many of the largest cities expressed support.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/03/30/3640355/state-attorneys-tell-supreme-court-gay-people-powerful-equal-rights/

fucking lawyers, can twist anything. We should be be able to keep discrimating against LGBT because now they have policital power, so don't need legal protections from us haters.

boutons_deux

03-31-2015, 03:24 PM

Arkansas Could Soon Become The Most Anti-LGBT State In The Nation (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/03/31/3641057/arkansas-rfra-hutchinson/)

Arkansas is a penstroke away (http://www.gayly.com/fight-over-religious-objection-proposals-shifts-arkansas) from having a “license to discriminate” law nearly identical to Indiana’s. HB 1228 (ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2015/Public/HB1228.pdf), the Arkansas “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA), already passed both the House and the Senate, though it is awaiting a final consensus vote in the House before advancing to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s (R) desk for his signature. Unlike the scramble now happening in Indiana, lawmakers do not plan to include any clarification or carve-outs for nondiscrimination protections and activists are already pressuring Hutchinson to veto (http://vetohb1228.com/).

The Arkansas RFRA shares all of the characteristics of the Indiana bill that distinguishes both (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/03/30/3640374/big-lie-media-tells-indianas-new-religious-freedom-law/) from other laws across the country with the same name. While other RFRAs only apply to complaints against the government, a person could cite the Arkansas RFRA as a defense against another citizen, claiming a burden on their religious belief. And like in the Indiana law, those religious beliefs are similarly broad, allowing for religious beliefs a person might hold “whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious beliefs.”

If Hutchinson signs this RFRA into law, it will make Arkansas the state that most enables discrimination against LGBT people. There are no state-wide protections for LGBT people in employment, housing, or public accommodations, and just last month, the stateapproved a different bill (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/02/24/3626203/lgbt-protections-ban-arkansas-texas/) that prohibits cities and counties from establishing LGBT protections, seemingly invalidating those protections that some municipalities already have. In a sense, HB 1228 might not change the status quo in the state, given that protecting LGBT people from discrimination is already forbidden.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/03/31/3641057/arkansas-rfra-hutchinson/

Christian Taliban Haters! :lol Just like Christ wanted!

boutons_deux

03-31-2015, 03:25 PM

boutons_deux

03-31-2015, 03:59 PM

Rush Limbaugh pulls the bestiality card to defend Indiana: ‘What happens if you love your dog?’

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/rush-limbaugh-pulls-the-bestiality-card-to-defend-indiana-what-happens-if-you-love-your-dog/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

From the hater no Repug politician would dare cross.

FromWayDowntown

03-31-2015, 04:15 PM

The True Intent Of Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill, According To The People Who Helped Write It (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/03/31/3640801/conservatives-indiana-discrimination/)

At the forefront of the conservative reaction is Micah Clark, who serves as executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana and who stood right behind Pence (http://www.glaad.org/blog/one-simple-graphic-shows-anti-lgbt-animus-behind-indianas-new-law)as he signed the bill. Speaking Monday to Tim Wildmon, head of the national American Family Association, Clark explained that conservatives should oppose any effort to clarify that the law does not legalize discrimination. “That could totally destroy this bill,” he explained (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/indiana-activist-dont-clarify-religious-freedom-law-wont-allow-discrimination).

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/03/31/3640801/conservatives-indiana-discrimination/

The intent to protect discrimination is fairly apparent at even a cursory reading. Governor Pence had clearly studied up on his talking points before meeting the press this morning, but those talking points don't have much to do with the actual language of the bill that he signed, which clearly goes further than the federal RFRA. He either hasn't read the law (which is likely) or, in claiming that the existing bill does not protect discrimination, he's insisting upon a reading of the law that he has to know is defiant of its actual language. His tantrum this morning about mis-reporting of the bill's intent and impact was startling and seemingly below the dignity of a state governor, particularly because his claims are patently untrue; his willingness to insist that the law be changed even though he simultaneously thinks there isn't anything wrong with it is intellectually dishonest.

boutons_deux

04-01-2015, 05:43 AM

"his claims are patently untrue"

... we knew that before he opened his mouth.

boutons_deux

04-01-2015, 02:17 PM

Corporate Lobby Spends $600,000 to Demote Chief Justice as Criminal Probe of Walker Campaign Looms

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), Wisconsin's premier lobby for corporate tax breaks and low wage jobs, has unleashed a $600,000 ad blitz to strip Wisconsin's independent Chief Justice of her title just as the court prepares to take up the "John Doe" criminal probe of Scott Walker and the special interest groups that defended him against recall in 2012.

WMC's spending in the recall campaigns is one of key issues in the case. The case will be be considered in secret without oral arguments by Wisconsin's Supreme Court whose conservative majority was elected by WMC.

You can’t make this stuff up.

"Vote Yes for Democracy" Campaign Designed to Mislead

The last minute ad campaign is spearheaded by a referendum committee called "Vote Yes for Democracy (http://www.voteyesfordemocracy.com/)," whose frontman is long-time Republican operative and lobbyist Brandon Sholtz. Campaign filings (http://cfis.wi.gov/ReportsOutputFiles/070011312650cec330201515722PMGAB2Report.pdf) show zero grassroots support, but major contributions by the state's largest business lobby WMC.

The committee was formed to back a constitutional amendment (http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2015/related/proposals/ajr1) on the April 7 spring ballot that would change the way the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is chosen. For 126 years under the Wisconsin's Constitution, the title has been given to the longest serving member of the court. Now WMC and the state's GOP leadership, with ties to the right-wing majority of the court, are anxious to change the process to a majority vote.

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/04/01/corporate-lobby-spends-600000-demote-chief-justice-criminal-probe-walker-campaign

No Law Is Above The Man (and his $Ms)

boutons_deux

04-01-2015, 02:18 PM

Nevada lawmaker who believes cancer is a fungus calls for “straight-up castration” of pimps

http://media.salon.com/2015/04/AP882095011505-620x412.jpg

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/01/nevada_lawmaker_who_believes_cancer_is_a_fungus_ca lls_for_straight_up_castration_of_pimps/

boutons_deux

04-01-2015, 02:22 PM

Idaho Governor Caught Stealing Wolves From Yellowstone

http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/images/blast_images/2015/Otter_Wolves_Ford_300.jpg

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter was arrested Tuesday with a pack of Yellowstone wolves in the back of his pickup truck. He told authorities there simply aren't enough wolves in Idaho to satisfy his state's wolf-killing needs, so he had to restock by removing the wolves from Yellowstone National Park and importing them into the Gem State.

"You guys don't know the pressure I'm under," Otter confessed to police. "First we killed a few dozen a year, then a few hundred, and now we've got a taste for it. I gotta keep the supply chain moving."

Otter admitted that he spent many weekends trolling Yellowstone in his Ford F-250 with T-bones draped off the bumper. Sometimes he captured an entire pack; other times he came home empty-handed and had to face the music. "I learned a long time ago not to come back without wolves, or at least a coyote or two that we could shoot," Otter said. "How do you think my thumbs got broken?"

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

:lol

boutons_deux

04-03-2015, 05:44 AM

Texas Bill Would Name Judges Who Give Minors Permission to Have Abortionshttp://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/texas-bill-would-name-judges-who-give-minors-permission-have-abortions

but police who shoot innocent citizens have their names protected

Repugs: god/guns/gays/abortion/immigration/war-mongering. Governance? GFY

boutons_deux

04-03-2015, 10:59 AM

New Kansas Law Allows Concealed Guns Without Training Or Permits (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/04/03/3642643/new-kansas-law-allows-concealed-guns-without-training-permits/)

http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AP928188269163-638x425.jpg

“Responsible gun ownership – for protection and sport – is a right inherent in our Constitution." :lol Same old bullshit and lies.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/04/03/3642643/new-kansas-law-allows-concealed-guns-without-training-permits/

boutons_deux

04-03-2015, 01:17 PM

Kansas School Districts Shut Down Weeks Early Thanks To Gov. Brownback’s Tax-Slashing Zeal (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/04/03/3642787/kansas-schools-close-early-due-to-money-drought/)http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/04/03/3642787/kansas-schools-close-early-due-to-money-drought/

As if unschooled Kansas could become any dumber. :lol

boutons_deux

04-06-2015, 02:22 PM

A Missouri Republican wants to stop people from buying steak or seafood with food stamps

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/6/8344433/food-stamps-steak

Wild Cobra

04-06-2015, 02:33 PM

Wild Cobra

04-06-2015, 02:35 PM

A Missouri Republican wants to stop people from buying steak or seafood with food stamps

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/6/8344433/food-stamps-steak
I agree that food stamps should be more regulated in what they can buy.

No soda

No prepared foods

No candy

No premium items

etc. etc. etc.

Why should SNAP users eat better than those who have incomes just above the line?

boutons_deux

04-06-2015, 06:36 PM

Fox host tells rape victims to man up: ‘It’s sexist to assume women can’t handle their liquor’http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/fox-host-tells-rape-victims-to-man-up-its-sexist-to-assume-women-cant-handle-their-liquor/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Tantaros is wonderful spokesbitch for the misogynist Repug rape caucus.

boutons_deux

04-07-2015, 08:32 AM

Hero Tennessee Legislator Explains How Guns Are Like Bicycles, Only Safer

The Constitution-loving Tennessee House of Representatives expanded freedom a little bit last week, voting 65-21 in favor of a bill that would prevent local governments from restricting guns in public parks. (http://wonkette.com/581595/tennessee-wants-only-real-guns-near-schools-toy-ones-could-put-an-eye-out)

They were in a hurry to pass it in time for the NRA’s Annual Meeting, (http://www.nraam.org/) to be held in Nashville April 10-12.

And while some nervous nellies (and communist agitators) might have some qualms about letting people carry guns around in public parks, hero state Rep. Glen Casada explained in a press conference (https://www.nashvillepost.com/blogs/postpolitics/2015/4/2/house_gop_press_conference_heated_over_guns_in_par ks)that guns are no more dangerous than bicycles, (http://aattp.org/tennessee-state-rep-proclaims-child-shootings-an-act-of-god-like-bicycle-accidents/) because sure, people sometimes get shot accidentally, but then, people die on bikes alla time too.

http://wonkette.com/581921/hero-tennessee-legislator-explains-how-guns-are-like-bicycles-only-safer

Confederacy! :lol

red states! :lol

gun fellator logic! :lol

boutons_deux

04-08-2015, 04:39 PM

Famous GOP A-hole charged with criminal domestic violence (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/07/1376162/-Famous-GOP-A-hole-charged-with-criminal-domestic-violence)

http://images.dailykos.com/images/25351/large/Kincannon.png?1364319995

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/07/1376162/-Famous-GOP-A-hole-charged-with-criminal-domestic-violence?detail=email#

you Repugs have some real classy dudes on your side :lol

SC! :lol

Confederacy! :lol

Repug! :lol

boutons_deux

04-09-2015, 11:22 AM

Texas rebels secede from reality with claim that American flag more racist than Confederate

A group of Texans attempting to build a memorial to the Confederate war dead in Orange claim that the controversy around their plan (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/confederate-group-will-fly-32-battle-flags-over-mlk-drive-at-civil-war-memorial-in-texas-town/) to fly 32 Confederate battle flags — eight prominent ones, and another 24 to represent the Texas regiments that fought in the war — is “overblown,” The Washington Post‘s Peter Holley reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/08/these-texas-rebels-say-the-american-flag-is-more-racist-than-the-confederate-flag/?tid=sm_fb).

According to the spokesman for the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans, Marshall Davis, “all we want to do is honor our war dead. We want to honor our heroes. We don’t want to impede anyone from honoring their heroes, their veterans and their war dead. We would like the same tolerance and courtesy.”

The purpose of the eight large flags isn’t to antagonize drivers on nearby Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, but to increase the memorial’s visibility from neighboring Interstate 10. According to a flyer seeking donations (https://www.bricksrus.com/order/texasdivscv/), “your support will enable passengers in over 55,000 cars per day see Confederate Flags flying proudly in the Texas breeze.”

David Moore, Lieutenant Division Commander of the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans, told the Post that

the flag shouldn’t be seen as a symbol of slavery, because the Civil War was actually fought over state’s rights, :lol

and the South only joined in the fight after it was “invaded by Northern troops.” (uh, Confederate traitors fired on Sumter FIRST, asshole)

“We’re not a hate group or anything like that,” he added. “My great-grandfather joined the Confederate army and he didn’t own any slaves, so why did he fight? It was to preserve his family, his children and his state’s rights.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/texas-rebels-secede-from-reality-with-claim-that-american-flag-more-racist-than-confederate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

And the Southern Baptist Convention was right there to justify states' rights to slavery.

boutons_deux

04-09-2015, 04:22 PM

Hate on display in Texas legislative hearing (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/09/1376637/-Hate-on-display-in-Texas-legislative-hearing)

The Texas legislature is considering a bill (http://www.texasobserver.org/anti-gay-witnesses-rail-against-same-sex-mirage/#.VSaKU3kbGZd.twitter) that would block state or local funds from being used "for an activity that includes the licensing or support of same-sex marriage." After all, there's a limited amount of time left before the Supreme Court decides on marriage equality, and there are a lot of temper tantrums to throw before then, at least for a certain type of person. A person like this:

“It’s not marriage—it’s a mirage, it’s a counterfeit, it’s a lie,” said Dr. Steve Hotze, president of the Conservative Republicans of Texas. “It will never be a marriage no matter what they say, because it violates God’s standards, and he sets the standards.” [...]“

If you passed a law that we’re going to go and round up people of an ethnic group and put them into jail and exterminate them, would you abide by that law?” Hotze responded. “What did they do in Nazi Germany? It was legal to round up Jews and put them in the chambers and kill them. And the defense they said is, that was the law.”

In case he hadn't gone quite far enough with his charm offensive, Hotze also compared LGBT people to alcoholics and murderers. But I think the Nazi one says it all.

To Hotze, treating people's relationships equally is like genocide.

Not discriminating against same-sex marriages is like sending Jewish people to gas chambers.

You or I might look at this and say "hey, the Nazis were all about treating people worse because of who they were ... and that included gay people."

But that is not how the head of the Conservative Republicans of Texas thinks—or speaks before a committee of his state's legislature.

Hotze, by the way, was just one of 15 people testifying in favor of the bill.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/09/1376637/-Hate-on-display-in-Texas-legislative-hearing?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

you and your TX Repugs are pure hatin, prejudiced assholes, who think you know the "mind of God" and what He wants.

boutons_deux

04-13-2015, 01:54 PM

East TX piney woods hick speaking

Gohmert: 'Christians Are The Only Group In America That It Is Politically Correct To Abuse And Misuse'

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/gohmert-christians-are-only-group-america-it-politically-correct-abuse-and-misuse

Thanks, TX rednecks and Bible humpers!

boutons_deux

04-13-2015, 03:35 PM

This is what white supremacy looks like: A party at the Bundy Ranch, a funeral in North Charleston

This weekend, the Bundy ranch in Nevada will host a reunion (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bundy-ranch-anniversary-liberty-celebration) to celebrate owner Cliven Bundy’s continued lawlessness. Bundy became a hero of the far-right a year ago when his refusal to pay 20 years’ worth of federal grazing fees for his cattle—totalling $1.1 million (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/02/cliven-bundy-criminal-complaint_n_5254850.html?)—brought federal agents to collect, which Bundy and several hundred armed right-wing militia members repelled with a show of force. Fox News and other right-wing news outlets raced to the ranch to report on what Bundy supporters called the “Second American Revolution” and the “American Spring,” the moment when the rhetoric of “tyranny” and “totalitarianism” under President Obama would materialize into actual armed conflict against the loathsome federal government.

For anyone confused about whether a political movement which celebrates the Second Amendment and rallies around an iconography of war and rebellion is interested in actual combat against the “liberal” federal government, the Bundy affair answered any remaining questions:

Yes, the prospect excites many far right-wing conservatives like nothing else.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity was giddy in his initial introduction of Bundy as someone threatening a “range war (http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2014/04/10/nevada-rancher-threatens-range-war-against-federal-government/)” against the federal government.

Fox News covered the ranch saga daily, with Bundy presented as a hero (http://www.salon.com/2014/04/25/fox_news_new_laughing_stock_cliven_bundy_and_steph en_colbert_will_destroy_sean_hannity/), and Hannity alone would feature Bundy on his show numerous times over the several weeks of the standoff, at times giving the rebel rancher a primetime microphone multiple times a week to rally right wingers to his cause.

Two extremists, Jerad and Amanda Miller, who traveled to Bundy’s ranch, only to be turned out, would go on to execute two Nevada police officers (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/jerad-miller-protested-cliven-bundy-ranch-booted-radical-views-article-1.1822995) in June, draping the familiar Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag over the corpses and pinning a note to their government victims saying, “This is the start of the revolution.” Jerad and Amanda heard the call for a “range war” and took it upon themselves to be the vanguard of the Bundy rebellion.

In the end, the two officers were the only casualties and Bundy’s boys went home with not so much as a band-aid, as federal agents were backed down by a veritable army of militiamen. The government blinked (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/blm-pulls-out-of-bundy-ranch), and Bundy was allowed to continue to flout a law he’d decided didn’t apply to him.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is white power.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/10/this_is_what_white_supremacy_looks_like_a_party_at _the_bundy_ranch_a_funeral_in_north_charleston/

iow, how many blacks would have been allowed to point their weapons the law enforcement and walk away? Whites can, blacks can't.

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 08:44 AM

TX Repugs, fucking up per usual, fucking up is the Repug strategy, dominant skill.

Texas Senate passes bill to end state renewable program

State support for Texas’ booming wind power industry moved closer to an end Tuesday when the state Senate voted to shut down the state’s renewable energy program.
Related

The program, established in 1999, had called for 10,000 megawatts of wind and solar power by 2025. But buoyed by improved turbine technology and an $7 billion transmission line project connecting West Texas to urban centers to the east, Texas passed that goal five years ago. It now counts 12,800 megawatts of wind energy capacity — at times enough to generate a quarter of the electricity on the grid.

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/texas-senate-passes-bill-to-end-state-renewable-program.html/

why stop now? why not keep going? TX spends about $20B/year subsidizing business, why discriminate against wind, solar? (we all know why)

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 08:47 AM

Lines Blur as Texas Gives Industries a Bonanza

Under Mr. Perry, Texas gives out more of the incentives (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/01/us/government-incentives.html#TX) than any other state, around $19 billion a year, an examination by The New York Times has found. Texas justifies its largess by pointing out that it is home to half of all the private sector jobs created over the last decade nationwide. As the invitation to the fund-raiser boasted: “Texas leads the nation in job creation.”

Yet the raw numbers mask a more complicated reality behind the flood of incentives, the examination shows, and raise questions about who benefits more, the businesses or the people of Texas.

Along with the huge job growth, the state has the third-highest proportion of hourly jobs paying at or below minimum wage. And despite its low level of unemployment, Texas has the 11th-highest poverty rate among states.

“While economic development is the mantra of most officials, there’s a question of when does economic development end and corporate welfare begin,”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/us/winners-and-losers-in-texas.html?_r=0

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 10:52 AM

Proposed Congressional Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Would Cost Jobs

This week, the House will vote on a measure (http://thehill.com/policy/finance/236108-ways-and-means-to-vote-on-estate-tax-repeal) to repeal the estate tax, which would shower the wealthiest 0.2 percent of estates (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=5293)in the country with an average tax cut of $2.5 million.

Meanwhile, the House has already passed a budget (http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fy16budget.pdf%20) proposal that would convert the nation’s bedrock nutrition assistance program—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP—into block grants to the states. If implemented, this conversion would result in $125 billion in cuts (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=5287) to struggling families between 2021 and 2025.
This draconian proposal would kick up to 12 million (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=5287) people off of food assistance or cut nutrition benefits that primarily serve children, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families by an average of almost $55 per person per month.

In doing so, this proposal would also cost the economy hundreds of thousands of jobs. In fact, assuming the cuts are evenly distributed across the five years between 2021 and 2025, an updated analysis of a 2012 Center for American Progress study (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/report/2012/03/19/11314/the-economic-consequences-of-cutting-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program/) estimates that the House’s proposed cuts to nutrition aid would cost the economy 286,000 jobs in the first year alone.*

As families have less to spend on food, that reduced purchasing power ripples through the economy, translating into job losses not just in grocery and retail stores, but also in trucking, warehousing, food manufacturing, farming, and other industries. These cuts will hit younger workers harder because they account for a disproportionate share of workers in food-related industries.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2015/04/13/110861/proposed-congressional-cuts-to-nutrition-assistance-would-cost-jobs/

we know Repugs love federal block grants with no strings attached so they can give that money to BigCorp, the 1%.

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 01:54 PM

Politics threatening Texas wind energy, advocates say (http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/15/politics-threatening-texas-wind-energy-advocates-say/)

“When you talk to Texans they like wind power, they like oil and gas, they like a diverse energy portfolio,” said Jeff Clark, executive director of The Wind Coalition, an Austin-based trade association. “This is not the philosophical bent of the average Texan, but this bill is going to send a message to the world about what Texas believes about its energy supply. It’s a foolish attempt to make politics out of a really good policy.”

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, has said the programs are “irrelevant” and no longer needed since Texas long ago surpassed its goal of 10,000 megawatts of renewable power by 2025.

But wind advocates say those policies helped Texas become the epicenter for the industry’s rebirth,

“(Fraser) is declaring victory and saying, ‘Mission accomplished,’ but we’re still on the battlefield,” Clark said in a meeting with the Houston Chronicle editorial board on Tuesday. “There’s no reason to do it, other than a political statement.”

Without the federal subsidy, the wind business deflated as developers scuttled projects and laid off nearly 30,000 workers.

After Congress re-upped the program for 2014, wind farms revved back up as developers added four times more capacity than they did in the prior year, with most of that new construction occurring in Texas, according to the new wind association analysis.

Providers pass along the costs of the credits in consumer electric bills, and the credit market has helped fund the development of wind farms across the state.
Clark said Fraser’s measure penalizes wind investors who expected the credit program to continue.

That $7 billion investment spurred a record-high level of new wind projects in the Lone Star State, which is home to more than half of the 12,700 megawatts under construction, according to the new report. Much of that infrastructure was finished late last year, but further power line expansions are needed to fully tap into the wind potential in the Panhandle, Clark said.

“If the transmission is not there, we can’t get to market,”

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/15/politics-threatening-texas-wind-energy-advocates-say/

Thanks, Repugs! Protect BigElectric and DYING BigCoal, while killing jobs and the environment.

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 02:27 PM

Repugs screwing their low-wage, low-info trailer park/rural base, throwing them to the Sage of Omaha

U.S. House rolls back safeguards for mobile-home buyers

The U.S. House voted Tuesday to roll back safeguards aimed at protecting mobile-home buyers from predatory sales tactics and high-interest loans.

The bill passed with strong support from Republicans, helped by a handful of Democrats. Other House Democrats objected vigorously, with several citing the findings of a recent investigation (https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/04/03/17024/warren-buffetts-mobile-home-empire-preys-poor)by The Center for Public Integrity andThe Seattle Times (http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/the-mobile-home-trap-how-a-warren-buffett-empire-preys-on-the-poor/).

The investigation, “The Mobile-Home Trap,” found high interest rates, excessive fees and predatory sales practices (https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/04/03/17024/warren-buffetts-mobile-home-empire-preys-poor) by industry leader Clayton Homes, part of Berkshire Hathaway, an investment conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett.

The bill “would allow an incredibly profitable industry to make even more money by charging exorbitant fees to borrowers,” said Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. If it’s enacted, she said, fewer people who take out costly loans would be protected against predatory lending.

The bill would reverse rules put in place as part of a sweeping financial overhaul in 2010 known as the Dodd-Frank Act (https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/07/21/15124/four-years-after-passage-house-keeps-trying-kill-dodd-frank). It would raise the interest rates permitted on some mobile-home loans before they trigger extra protections for borrowers such as pre-loan counseling. The bill also would let mobile-home salespeople work closely with buyers to arrange financing.

Every voting Republican but one supported it.

Clayton Homes, by far the biggest player in the mobile-home industry, earned $558 million before taxes in 2014, a 34 percent increase over the previous year.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/04/15/17158/us-house-rolls-back-safeguards-mobile-home-buyers?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+publici_rss+%28The+Center+for +Public+Integrity+Latest+Stories%29

Repugs fucking over their own base

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 02:42 PM

Have a wacky opinion on the internet? In Texas, you could make the nightly news

Scene: An Emmy-winning local TV news reporter in North Texas is on the hunt for his next story. He sees a woman from Dallas has posted something on Facebook that is, shall we say,controversial.

“A female shouldn’t be President,” the woman has written, and she explains that if that event should come to pass, well, she will be moving to Canada. “Let the haters begin,” the woman continues, “but with the hormones we have there is no way we should be able to start a war.” :lol

The comment might seem just a random speck in the torrent of sexist remarks chucked into the wilds of the Web on any given day. But this one will be different. The local reporter recognizes this woman. He knows her as the CEO of a local marketing company, a successful businesswoman who is raising a family. Her Facebook post, he realizes, has “sparked debate (https://twitter.com/STEVEPICK11/status/588060334138732544).”

News—news of a sort that would not just make the local evening news but would soon rack up more than 25,000 interactions on Facebook (http://muckrack.com/whoshared/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdfw.cbslocal.com%2F2015%2F04%2F1 3%2Fdallas-woman-posts-on-facebook-a-female-shouldnt-be-president%2F), and spark a round of Twitter mockery (http://topsy.com/trackback?url=http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/04/13/dallas-woman-posts-on-facebook-a-female-shouldnt-be-president/) for both the reporter and the woman.

The TV reporter is Steve Pickett; the woman is Cheryl Rios. Pickett pitches Rios’ views as a news item to his bosses at DFW/CBS 11 in Dallas.

http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/hillary_clinton_local_news_angle.php

TX! :lol

TX conservative wimmens! :lol

Repug War on Women! :lol

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 02:59 PM

Ted Nugent Talks About Shooting Harry Reid At NRA Meeting

Rocker Ted Nugent talked about hypothetically shooting Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Friday while speaking at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting.

Nugent, who is on the NRA's board of directors, made the comment while responding to an audience member who asked why the NRA "endorsed Harry Reid to serve as the front man of Osama Obama."

In video flagged by Media Matters (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/04/14/video-at-nra-annual-meeting-ted-nugent-talked-a/203274), the conservative darling called Reid a "lying prick" after doing a bizarre impression of the senator. He then posed a hypothetical situation in which the audience member would need Reid's help.

"If your child is dying and there's only one way to get to the doctor, would you get on Harry Reid's boat to get there?" Nugent said. After a pause, he continued: "Then your child's dead. I'd get on the boat, I'd get there and then I'd shoot him."

Nugent later asked audience members to give the NRA the "benefit of the doubt" and continue to donate if the organization did something that didn't sit well with them.

"If you see them endorse someone like Harry Reid it's because this deceptive bastard actually stood up for our Second Amendment rights contrary to the alternative candidate,"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-nugent-harry-reid-nra?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Anybody think the FBI will move against this white, right-wing, Repug terrorist advocating political assassination? :lol

boutons_deux

04-15-2015, 04:03 PM

On Bundy Anniversary, Oath Keepers Set Stage For Another Anti-Government Standoff

This week, as far-right groups are celebrating the first anniversary (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/alex-jones-marks-bundy-ranch-anniversary-false-flag-attack-conspiracy-theory)of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management over his refusal to pay years’ worth of grazing fees, the anti-government group Oath Keepers is getting involved in another dispute with the BLM, this time in Oregon (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/militia-groups-flock-to-oregon-for-bundy-style-standoff-with-government-jackboots-over-gold-mining-claim/).

The Mail Tribune in Medford, Oregon, reports (http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150414/NEWS/150419735/101154/NEWS) that members of the Oath Keepers are gathering in southwest Oregon to prevent the BLM from temporarily shutting down operations of a mine that is violating federal regulations (http://www.kdrv.com/news/Mining_Operation_Standoff_Begins.html), claiming that the BLM’s actions are “unconstitutional.”

A group of armed volunteers has descended on rural Josephine County in defense of a mining claim that's become the subject of regulatory action by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The federal agency says the Sugar Pine Mine, near Merlin, has been operating outside current mining laws and regulations, and the BLM recently ordered the claim's owners to cease operations until they file a plan of operations.

In response, the local chapter of the Oath Keepers, a group of former and current military and law enforcement personnel who've pledged to disobey any "unconstitutional" orders, says it was asked to defend the property from any encroachment by federal authorities.

Mary Emerick, a spokeswoman for the local Oath Keepers chapter, told the paper that she doesn’t want what’s going on in Merlin referred to as a “standoff” and that it has nothing to do with the Bundy anniversary:

The private mining consortium (http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/showdown-with-feds-over-right-to-gold-in-ground/) that includes the disputed mine is also promising to “do battle” with the BLM, posting a manifesto on its website (http://galicemining.x10.mx/donate.html) that the non-standoff “presents what is probably a once-in-a-generation prime opportunity to strike at the heart of the very surface management authority of the DOI and USDA.”

Where is this all headed?

This case is headed in a direction that presents what is probably a once-in-a-generation prime opportunity to strike at the heart of the very surface management authority of the DOI and USDA and to restore the "as patent" rights of every mining claim owner in the United States by striking down the actual source of that intrusive authority.

Regardless, we intend to take BLM fully to task and will not feel sorry for any civil or criminal consequences that may be leveled upon any BLM employees who are found to be negligent of wrong doing. We are actively pursuing these individuals through a wide range of tactics with the intent to reign in these wrong doers. :lol

Meanwhile, the BLM says (http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/showdown-with-feds-over-right-to-gold-in-ground/) it’s just asking for the Sugar Pine Mine to submit a “plan of operations” for the mine or appeal the decision. The local sheriff — viewed by many in the militia movement as the ultimate law enforcement authority in the country — says he’s trying to mediate the conflict (http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150414/NEWS/150419735/101154/NEWS).

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bundy-anniversary-oath-keepers-set-stage-another-anti-government-standoff

http://oathkeepers.org/

boutons_deux

04-16-2015, 10:27 AM

8 Nightmare Scenarios That Would Come to Pass If GOP Presidential Speeches Became Reality

From shredding social safety nets to imposing evangelical Christianity, the America described in Republican speeches is a terrifying place.

1. United States of Christian America.

Every one of the candidates is not only anti-abortion (http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/v) and anti-LGBT (http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/03/31/religious-freedom-pence-gop-candidates/), but would seek to impose their religious beliefs on America. Nevermind that’s what the Constitution says must stay in the private sphere, as New York University legal scholar Burt Neuborne (https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/profile.cfm?section=bio&personID=20165)eloquently details in newest book (http://www.amazon.com/Madisons-Music-Reading-First-Amendment/dp/1620970414). Cruz wants to enshrine bigotry by adopting new religious liberty laws, which would protect discrimination in public settings. “Today, roughly half of born-again Christians aren’t voting,” he said in hisannouncement (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-ted-cruzs-speech-at-liberty-university/2015/03/23/41c4011a-d168-11e4-a62f-ee745911a4ff_story.html). “Imagine instead millions of people of faith all across America coming out to the polls and voting our values.” In his speech, Rubio said (http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-13/transcript-marco-rubio-announces-run-for-president) that he is guided by “faith in their God,” referring to his parents. “Their God,” not respect for other faiths.

2. Give Me Liberty And Nothing Else.

That’s the cry—freedom and liberty forever—especially by Cruz. But what does that really mean? They all talk about reviving America’s promise and prominence, but almost never acknowledge the real barriers to prosperity have more to do with the power and clout of corporate monopolies than with the reach of government. Paul, for example, railed (http://time.com/3773964/rand-paul-presidential-campaign-launch-speech-transcript/) in his announcement against “special interests that are more concerned with their personal welfare than the general welfare,” yet he says the answer is “a government restrained by the Constitution.” That is freeing big business to be even more rapacious—me the capitalist versus (http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-prepared-remarks-20150307-story.html#page=1) we the people.

3. Cut Taxes And Demonize Needs.

If you start to dismantle federal programs (except the Pentagon), you don’t need revenues, right? That’s what they are saying—that taxes for most other purposes are too high. Nevermind that much of the federal tax code was written by and for (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/companies-lobbying-corporate-tax-loopholes-study_n_3461044.html?) corporate lobbyists. Cruz wants a flat income tax, which penalizes poorer people as what they end up paying hits them harder than richer people. Christie moans that Social Security—which is the most solvent federal program, but still must be expanded by 2033 to handle the Baby Boom generation’s surge—would mean “backbreaking tax increases on our middle class.” That’s ridiculous. People only pay Social Security taxes on the first (http://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsecurity/who-pays) $118,000 of their income. If that cap were lifted, that would generate (http://www.ncpssm.org/EntitledtoKnow/entryid/1907/Rather-Than-Slashing-Social-Security-How-About-Lifting-the-Cap) many billions. Also, experts say that if people paid $1 a week more in payroll tax would greatly expand (http://americablog.com/2013/02/poll-on-social-security-americans-overwhelmingly-prefer-raising-payroll-taxes-increasing-benefits.html) reserves. That’s “backbreaking?”

4. Repeal Government Regulations.

You’ve heard this before, especially over pollution laws and many health and safety standards. Rubio, the son of poor immigrants, lionized (http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-13/transcript-marco-rubio-announces-run-for-president) America “at the turn of the 19th century, [when] a generation of Americans harnessed the power of the Industrial Age and transformed this country into the leading economy of the world.” You would think he might know that was when business as usual meant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era) child labor, no minimim wage, filthy slaugherhouses, sweatshops filled with new immigrants, government-led military assaults on labor protests, and zero environmental regulations, and more. He continued, “Now, the time has come for our generation to lead the way toward a new American Century.”

5. Drill Baby, Drill.

And forget about climate change. Every one of them—especially the Texans Cruz and Rick Perry—want to let the oil and gas industry drill anywhere they can find petroleum, especially on federal lands and the continental shelves. Climate change is not even mentioned in their speeches, nor are public investments in renewable sources or federal science and research to create next-generation energy options.

6. Shred Safety Nets.

Christie thinks he’s being bold by giving a big speech (http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2015/04/14/n-j-gov-chris-christies-speech-on-proposed-changes-to-social-security/)on the safety nets for the elderly and poor. “Democrats believe entitlements are a sacred cow that cannot be honestly discussed, perpetuating a dangerous fantasy to the American people,” he said. As noted above, Christie’s solutions are not honest as they would push millions into poverty. Like the others, he doesn’t touch fair tax increases to fortify social insurance programs or greed in the health care system. And that takes him to attacking Obamacare. “There is no question that America would be better off with a market-oriented, more flexible, more pro-consumer-choice health care system than the one that was jammed down our throats by this President,” he said. All of the GOP 2016 wannabees not only want to repeal it, on top of cutting safety net spending because of their obsession with the federal debt. None are asking what people need.

7. Widen Culture Wars.

This isn’t just about imposing evangelical Christian morality on public policy, such as opposing abortion, reproductive options, and LGBT rights. The candidates oppose gun controls, even though studies show that states with more gun controls have fewer domestic violence deaths. As Cruzsaid, “Imagine a federal government that protects the tight to keep and bear arms.” They want to privatize public education, even as Jeb Bush touts his record as Florida governor—omitting that some of his model charter schools have since closed. As Cruz said, “Imagine repealing every word of Common Core,” the newest federal public school standards. Or Scott Walker comparing teachers union to Islamic terrorists, as he bragged about gutting collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin. Or piling on undocumented immigrants andopposing immigration reform even if your parents—like Cruz and Rubio—got special treatment because they were Cuban refugees decades ago.

8. Expand U.S. Empire Abroad.

This isn’t just putting more money into the military while cutting domestic spending, as Christie said toward the end of his New Hampshire speech—“our national defense has been hollowed out by years of underinvestment.” Rubio pledged “no longer being passive in the face of Chinese and Russian aggression” and slammed the Obama White House for “near total disregard for the erosion of democracy and human rights around the world.” All of them, including the formerly non-interventionist Paul, want to America back as the top cop on a global beat. “The enemy is radical Islam and not only will I name the enemy, I will do whatever it takes to defend America from these haters of mankind,” Paul said. They would rather throw billions at the Pentagon, posture and threaten on the world stage, never question Israeli policies or negotiate with Iran over nuclear weapons. They believe, as Cruz said, in “American exceptionalism” and that the U.S. is the “indispensible nation.”

The GOP’s Emerging Platform

Taken together, these and extremist stances on other issues show where the GOP is heading as a party and would take the nation as the 2016 campaign gets underway. What is most striking about this collective vision is how it would make life more difficult for middle- and working-class Americans at home, and make the world even more volatile abroad. This crew of candidates would not try to make America’s safety nets stronger; they would cut them back. Nor would they ask the richest people and businesses to spread their wealth, they would let them keep it accumulating it with less government oversight and public responsibilities.

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/8-nightmare-scenarios-would-come-pass-if-gop-presidential-speeches-became?akid=13012.187590.E4a9wW&rd=1&src=newsletter1034908&t=1

Nails the Repug platform, strategy pretty good. Anybody want to contradict?

boutons_deux

04-17-2015, 06:04 AM

Republican Senators Just Voted To Sell Off Your National Forests (http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/republican-senators-just-voted-to-sell-off-your-nationa-1696862450)

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/republican-senators-just-voted-to-sell-off-your-nationa-1696862450

The Quiet Plan To Sell Off America’s National Forests (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/16/3633814/gop-budget-public-lands/)

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, proposed that America’s public lands be transferred to state control. He then requested $50 million of taxpayer money to be spent to enable transfers to “start immediately.” The memo states that public lands “create a burden for the surrounding states and communities,” and “the solution is to convey land without strings to state, local, and tribal governments.”

Bishop’s plan and similar proposals to give away America’s public lands are controversial. A majority of voters in those regions believe the proposals would likely result in states having to raise taxes (https://www.americanprogress.org/press/release/2014/09/25/97816/release-bipartisan-poll-finds-western-voters-oppose-transfer-of-americas-forests-and-public-lands-to-state-ownership/), open prized recreation areas to drilling and mining, or sell lands to private interests to cover the substantial costs of management (http://westernpriorities.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/The-Wildfire-Burden1.pdf).

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/16/3633814/gop-budget-public-lands/

"There They Go Again", Repugs fucking up everything as they are paid to do by the VRWC, 1%, BigCorp.

boutons_deux

04-17-2015, 08:47 AM

Repugs fucking up the future for decades, dumbing down, impovershing America, which is exactly where the VRWC wants America to be.

Students Arrested While Protesting Congress’ Plan To Slash Billions From Higher Education Spending (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/19/3636235/students-protest-pell/)

Congressional Republicans’ new plan to cut $150 billion from higher education spending, including $90 billion from the federal Pell Grant program.

House Republicans want to hold the grants (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/18/house-republicans-want-to-cut-back-grants-for-poor-college-students/) at $5,775 per year for the next ten years. Senate Republicans also proposed ending the guarantee of funding for Pell Grants, which would allow Congress to decide if they want to fund it each year.

Republicans have repeatedly targeted the Pell program, including as recently as last December when Congress cut $303 million in spending as part of its massive cromnibus budget deal (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/12/10/3601742/cromnibus-lowlights/).

The cuts were intended to make up a shortfall in what Congress budgeted to pay the companies that collect student loan debts on the government’s behalf.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) 2012 budget proposed even steeper cuts (http://thinkprogress.org/education/2012/03/28/454043/housegot-budget-one-million-pell-grants/) that would have kicked 1 million students off Pell Grants. And in 2011, after Republicans had been pushing (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/11/16/369854/house-republicans-pell-cuts-budget-gimmick/) for months (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/31/357575/cantor-support-pell-grant-cuts/) to slash (http://thinkprogress.org/education/2011/10/20/349627/paul-ryan-three-jobs-pell-grants/) the program, the deal to avert the government shutdown included aprovision which made (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/16/390751/spending-deal-cuts-pell-grants/) as many as 100,000 of its 9 million recipients ineligible for Pell Grants.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/03/19/3636235/students-protest-pell/

Slutter McGee

04-17-2015, 01:44 PM

boutons_deux

04-17-2015, 02:52 PM

Bouton's you really should start using a different font to differentiate your own thoughts from the articles. I am having trouble separating your stupidity from the inherent stupidity of most everything you copy/paste.

Slutter McGee

slut butt is so butthurt, so profusely bitch slapped, she can't even refute even ONE MADNESS of the Repugs.

Slutter McGee

04-17-2015, 03:59 PM

slut butt is so butthurt, so profusely bitch slapped, she can't even refute even ONE MADNESS of the Repugs.

:lmao boutons, I have posted differing opinion, often based on actual academic research in plenty of other places, and as soon as I start bringing up facts, research, and analysis you run like a little bitch or ignore me. This is your stupid little thread. I'm gonna let you have it. If I tried to to respond to every retarded thing you have said I would end up wasting away my life just like you.

Slutter McGee

boutons_deux

04-17-2015, 04:37 PM

:lmao boutons, I have posted differing opinion, often based on actual academic research in plenty of other places, and as soon as I start bringing up facts, research, and analysis you run like a little bitch or ignore me. This is your stupid little thread. I'm gonna let you have it. If I tried to to respond to every retarded thing you have said I would end up wasting away my life just like you.

Slutter McGee

ya shootin' blanks, lady

boutons_deux

04-17-2015, 04:46 PM

Arizona government to recently insured Arizonans: F**k you. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/17/1378417/-Arizona-government-to-recently-insured-Arizonans-F-k-you)

There's a new law in Arizona designed to tell the world just how much the state's lawmakershate Obamacare (http://www.vox.com/2015/4/16/8432613/arizona-obamacare-king-subsidies). Any hate to individual Arizonans who will be hurt by this law is merely implied.

Arizona has passed a bizarre new law in which the state effectively promises that if the Supreme Court destroys its health exchange, it won't build a new one, no matter how badly Arizonans are hurting. […]So if the Supreme Court rules against Obamacare this year, Arizona will arguably have no legal recourse or backup option to build a new marketplace.

On some level, this all a bit of a charade meant to symbolize how opposed the governor and legislature are to Obamacare. To build a state exchange, Arizona would have to pass a law doing so—and that law could simply include the language necessary to repeal this one. Even so, the message here is clear: Arizona's elected officials want to make it as hard as possible for the state to ever do anything to cooperate with Obamacare.

With a legislature willing to pass this law, how likely would it be that they'd reverse themselves, embrace Obamacare, and maintain insurance for the roughly 155,000 people (http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2015/MarketPlaceEnrollment/Mar2015/ib_2015mar_enrollment.pdf)who have enrolled with subsidies? Not very.

But hey, Arizona legislature, the people of Kansas (http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-brownback-signs-spectacularly-punitive-kansas-welfare-bill-20150416-column.html) and Idaho (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/apr/16/idaho-child-support-system-at-risk/) thank you for making our legislatures look a tiny bit less stupid and cruel.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/17/1378417/-Arizona-government-to-recently-insured-Arizonans-F-k-you

and the 150K AZoners? fuck 'em

boutons_deux

04-18-2015, 09:17 AM

(Conservative) Australia Pledges Millions To Help Climate Contrarian Set Up Center To Argue Against Climate Action (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/17/3648284/australian-climate-consensus-center-contrarian/)

https://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/shutterstock_238620391-638x425.jpg

The Australian government has pledged $4 million to help Danish climate contrarian Bjørn Lomborg establish a “climate consensus center” at the University of Western Australia.

Mark Butler, an environmental spokesperson for the opposition Labor party criticized the plan to set up the consensus center, arguing that Abbott was taking funds from an already cash-strapped government to further his own anti-climate agendas.

“Tony Abbott has found millions of taxpayers’ dollars to fund his attack on renewable energy while at the same time gutting Australia’s science and university funding,” Butlertold local Australian newspaper the Mercury (http://www.themercury.com.au/abbott-govt-funded-lomborg-consensus-centre/story-fnj3twbb-1227307679337). “…[he] has deputized one of the world’s most well-known renewable energy skeptics to continue his climate change denial and attacks on renewable energy.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/17/3648284/australian-climate-consensus-center-contrarian/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Cli mate+Progress%29

Conservatives EVERYWHERE fuck stuff up.

boutons_deux

04-19-2015, 09:35 AM

Kockenstein monster monstering on commands from VRWC

Scott Walker’s new budget is so brutal even Republicans are afraid of it

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s new budget has such major slashes that even the GOP is getting nervous about it. Of course it does sport a number of characteristics one would expect Republicans to champion, like cuts toenvironmental programs (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walkers-budget-cuts-57-million-from-pollution-control-efforts-b99474740z1-298625491.html) and schools (http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/scott-walkers-budget-forcing-school-districts-to-trim-further-b99461926z1-296494961.html), but with the first votes looming on Walker’s two-year plan, it seems that local Republicans think he’s finally pushed too far when it comes to the disabled and the elderly.

The budget hacks away at some of Wisconsin’s most important programs for seniors. Walker is looking to cut $15 million from SeniorCare, a prescription drug assistance program for residents who are 65 and older. The program assists over 85,000 Wisconsin residents at low cost, but Walker wants to shift pharmaceutical costs to Medicare Part D, which would be more costly for those enrolled in the program.

Walker is also taking aim at a Wisconsin program called IRIS, which is an option for Wisconsin residents with long-term needs that allows the disabled to select their own caregivers and provides them with a budget for support services. Walker wants to cut $19 million from the program, which according to a story (http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wisconsin/wisconsin-republicans-running-scared-over-walkers-budget.html) in the Wisconsin Gazette, adds up to about one million fewer hours of personal care. IRIS provides a safety net for many of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable citizens.

local conservatives are working to scale back the extent (http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wisconsin/with-first-votes-looming-republican-opposition-to-walkers-budget-has-hardened.html) of the cuts.

However, Republicans who criticize Walker too harshly could inadvertently put themselves outside the governor’s Koch-backed circle and face political repercussions when election season rolls around.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/scott-walkers-new-budget-is-so-brutal-even-republicans-are-afraid-of-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

VRWC strategy: fuck the poor, schools, disabled, old, young, and protect/enrich BigCorp and 1%.

boutons_deux

04-20-2015, 08:17 AM

5 Right-Wing Lunacies This Week: Bill O'Reilly Hits Peak Paranoia

1. Bill O’Reilly rails absurdly about how it’s open season on White Christian males. Even John Stossel can’t sway him with facts.

Bill O’Reilly sees no pattern in the numerous incidents of police killing and brutalizing of black men in this country. No pattern at all. But he does see a pattern of people picking on white Christian males. They are “under siege.”
“The fact that I am white and in a powerful position makes me the enemy,” he whined on his show this week, adding that anyone who denies American values are being threatened, “is a dishonest idiot.”

2. Sarah Palin’s reaction to Hillary Clinton’s campaign start: Hey, what about me?

Sarah Palin just wants everyone to know she still exists and that she can be equally incoherent in Facebook posts as she is in speeches. Also she, like Hillary Clinton, once rode around the country in a bus and had reporters frantically chasing her and wondering where she would show up next.

3. Michele Bachmann says Obama will bring about the second coming of Christ. Wait, isn’t that a good thing?

Michele Bachmann, no big fan of President Obama, told the always rational folks who listen to “End Times Radio” that indeed, the End Times are near. Aren’t they always?

Who and what is ushering in this Armageddon, this End of Days, or whatever your personal favorite name is for the Great Cataclysm? Why the Anti-Christ himself, President Obama, by negotiating with Iran, and as Bachmann says, “turning his back on Israel.” While End Times sound really really scary and bad, the irony is that those End Times are precisely what need to happen for the second coming of Jesus Christ. So, that’s a good thing, right? It is when you are a fundamentalist Christian. So maybe she should be thanking Obama. Hallelujah time is nigh!

Bachmann prattled on nonsensically about fatwas and supreme leaders of Iran. She is, funnily enough, an expert on Islamic scripture as well as Christian scripture. Who knew?

4. Chris Christie: Poor me. Wah wah.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat are not wealthy, according to them and them only. Never mind that their $700,000 income last year puts them easily in the top one percent of earners. That’s not how Christie defines wealth. “Wealth is defined a whole bunch of ways,” Christie said in an interview with the editorial board of the Manchester Union-Leader. Wealth is a feeling, and he just does not have that feeling.

5. Men’s rights blogger: Women with short hair should be monitored by the authorities.

Men’s rights nutjob Roosh V, who blogs under the moniker “Pick Up Artist,” always has extremely helpful suggestions for women. He thinks women would take more responsibility for themselves if rape on private property was decriminalized, for starters. Thanks, Roosh! Or should we call you Mr. V? How exactly decriminalizing rape would help women is kind of murky.

This week, the Rooshter made an even more bizarre suggestion for how law enforcement should occupy their time, now that they’ve been freed up from all that pesky rape stuff. The authorities should be alerted when women cut their hair short. This, he says, is an act of self harm. Worse still, it hurts men (the group Roosh actually purports to care about). When women cut their hair short, they are trying to appear less fertile and therefore less attractive to men, he reasons.

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/5-right-wing-lunacies-week-bill-oreilly-hits-peak-paranoia

you right-wingers, Bible humpers are REALLY fucking stupid. The above pure shit is pandering to You People.

boutons_deux

04-20-2015, 02:26 PM

from the "dement-ed" VRWC stink tank Heritage

Heritage Foundation: Gay Marriage Will Make All The Gross Spinsters Kill Their Babies. It’s Math!

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/math-is-hard-barbie.png

According to the Heritage Foundation’s (LOL) “digital-first, multimedia news platform,” (http://dailysignal.com/daily-signal/) The Daily Signal, if the Supreme Court crams gay-marriage down our throats, as it is totally gonna do in June, that will make even more women do abortions.

FACT. Gene Schaerr, a lawyer and former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, has all the numbers and charts, and also the Netherlands, (http://dailysignal.com/2015/04/17/forcing-states-to-recognize-gay-marriage-could-increase-number-of-abortions/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social) to prove it:

In a nutshell: A reduction in the opposite-sex marriage rate means an increase in the percentage of women who are unmarried and who, according to all available data, have much higher abortion rates than married women. And based on past experience, institutionalizing same-sex marriage poses an enormous risk of reduced opposite-sex marriage rates.

http://wonkette.com/583300/heritage-foundation-gay-marriage-will-make-all-the-gross-spinsters-kill-their-babies-its-math#xVcw0b7gcitmH81E.99

:lol

boutons_deux

04-20-2015, 03:23 PM

Texas Gov. Gives Rick Scott Lawsuit Against Obama Admin A Big Thumbs Up

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said his state would support Florida Gov. Rick Scott's (R) moves against the Obama administration over expanding Medicaid in Florida.

On Thursday, Scott said (http://www.nationaljournal.com/health0care/rick-scott-florida-will-sue-obama-administration-medicaid-20150416) he planned to sue the Obama administration for, per Scott, threatening to keep over a billion dollars from hospitals in the state if Florida didn't expand Medicaid through Obamacare.

On Monday, Abbott said that Scott made the right call.

"I commend Governor Rick Scott’s decision to take legal action to protect these important constitutional principles," Abbott said in a statement. "Texas will support Florida in its litigation against the federal government. Medicaid expansion is wrong for Texas. Florida’s approach should be determined by Floridians, not coerced by federal bureaucrats."

Florida for weeks had been sparring with the Obama administration over Florida refusing to expand Medicaid. Florida, according to Politico (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/florida-lawsuit-sue-obamacare-medicaid-rick-scott-117051.html), has continued to argue that the Obama administration should keep giving $1.3 billion to the Low-Income Pool safety net hospital program. That program is slated to run out of funding on June 30.

"It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal health care dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare," Scott said when he announced his pending lawsuit.

But federal healthcare officials have said multiple times that the Low-Income Pool program wouldn't receive more funding as it exists after the June 30 deadline.

"It's difficult to explain how somebody would think that their political situation and their political interest is somehow more important than the livelihoods of 800,000 people," White house press secretary Josh Earnest said.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/greg-abbott-rick-scott-obamacare-medicaid?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

"difficult to explain how somebody" :lol It's easy when the "somebody" is Repugs. All Politics, All The Time (and fuck Repug state citizens)

boutons_deux

04-20-2015, 04:18 PM

Bernie Sanders Busts The GOP Plan To Take Health Insurance Away From 27 Million Americans

Both the Senate and the House budget resolutions would make the rich richer and cause devastating pain to tens of millions of working families throughout the country.

Instead of making health care more affordable, both Republican budgets would eliminate health insurance for at least 27 million Americans. At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, both Republican budgets would provide huge tax breaks for the top one-tenth of 1 percent, while paving the way for a tax hike on 13 million working families.Both of these budgets represent a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest people in this country.

The Republican philosophy of cutting Medicare, cutting Medicaid, and cutting nutrition programs for hungry kids, while providing huge tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, would move this country in exactly the wrong direction.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/20/bernie-sanders-busts-gop-plan-health-insurance-27-million-americans.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

Progress for the 99%, it's what the Repug hate, and they viciously hage progress for the Bishop Gecko's 47%.

boutons_deux

04-20-2015, 08:33 PM

Repugs gonna give taxpayers' $100Ms to for-profit, Bible humping Christian indoctrination schools, violating separation of church and state. blatantly state-financed religious schools.

School Vouchers Survive Texas Senate (http://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-make-progress-in-texas-senate/)

“This is not a voucher bill,” Taylor said during the debate. :lol Fucking sociopathic LIARS, every damn one of them.

http://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-make-progress-in-texas-senate/

boutons_deux

04-21-2015, 05:43 AM

another tidbit from the Confederacy

‘Despicable bigot': Louisiana Republicans clash over ‘religious freedom’ bill criticized by IBM

A Republican official in Baton Rouge, Louisiana lashed out at a fellow GOP member in the state legislature over a “religious freedom” bill that has drawn criticism from tech giant IBM, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. (http://www.nola.com/news/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/04/louisiana_religious_freedom_ib.html)City council member John Delgado (pictured above) called state Rep. Mike Johnson a “despicable bigot of the highest order” for introducing House Bill 707. (http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=937123)

“Bigotry is bad for business, and it’s only common sense that they would recognize that and call this bill what it is,” Delgado said.

“That Governor [Bobby] Jindal thinks we’re too stupid to recognize it is also not surprising.”

The “Marriage and Conscience Act,” as Johnson’s bill is called, would prevent businesses from losing tax deductions or their licenses for acting “in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction about the institution of marriage.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/despicable-bigot-louisiana-republicans-clash-over-religious-freedom-bill-criticized-by-ibm/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

04-21-2015, 03:33 PM

Repugs fucking shit up, as always

Negotiated at The Hague, a Child Support Treaty Falters in Boise

POST FALLS, Idaho — It took five years for negotiators to work out the details of a multinational treaty on child support that would make it easier to track delinquent parents around the world. It took only a couple of minutes for a committee of the Idaho Legislature to endanger America’s participation.

In a 9-to-8 vote in the closing hours of the legislative session, the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee killed a bill that state and federal officials had said was crucial to the finely crafted choreography of the child support treaty (http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=131)reached at The Hague. All 50 states must approve the mechanics of the treaty for American ratification to proceed, and 19 have signed off thus far.

A major factor seems to be Idaho’s ornery streak, the part of the state’s identity that does not like the federal government — or, worse still, foreign governments — telling it what to do.

In Boise, the state capital, members of the committee — which is dominated by Republicans, as is the Legislature as a whole — raised concerns about foreign tribunals, perhaps ones based on Shariah (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sharia_islamic_law/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier), the Islamic legal code, potentially making decisions under the treaty that Idaho might not like. At least 32 countries, along with the European Union, have ratified the agreement.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/negotiated-at-the-hague-a-child-support-treaty-falters-in-boise.html?_r=0

shariah gonna kill us all! :lol

fucking ignorant, xenophobic, nativist, jingoistic, inbred backwoods potato chuckers.

boutons_deux

04-22-2015, 02:31 PM

News from deep red Repug dystopia

Tax cuts for the rich made Kansas broke — so now Republicans move to raise taxes on the poor

Let’s say you’re the Governor of Kansas. The tax cuts for the rich you pushed through a couple years ago mean you’re in a world of budgetary hurt (http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article19078119.html#storylink=cpy), and you’re not sure how you’re going to pay for basic expenses like roads and schools this year. What do you do? Repeal tax cuts? Absolutely not. You’re Sam Brownback. You balance your books on the backs of the poor, and cite fiscal prudence as a moral justification.The Washington Post reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/21/vwelfap/) that Republican officials in Kansas are pursuing increases in sales and excise taxes – which have the ultimate effect of making it more expensive to be poor. People who have less money can’t afford to invest money like rich people; poor people have to spend their paychecks just to make it through the week. Consequently, sales taxes – as a matter of policy – proportionally punish people at the lower end of income spectrum.

And in Kansas, unlike many states, there are taxes on food. If Republican tax plans make it through the statehouse in Topeka, paying for groceries will become a bigger burden for cash-strapped families than it already is.

In its 2015 edition of “Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States (http://www.itep.org/whopays/),” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy counts Kansas among the 10 states with the “most regressive state and local tax systems.” (http://www.itep.org/whopays/full_report.php#The%2010 Most Regressive State & Local Tax Systems) Taxes eat up 11.1 percent of income for the poorest 20 percent of Kansas residents. Meanwhile, Kansas’ top one percent of earners forfeit a comparatively paltry 3.6 percent of their income.

Not on Kansas’ Republican policy agenda? Repealing those expensive 2012 tax cut laws that caused Kansas’ current budget disaster in first place.

Meg Wiehe of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy tells the Washington Postthat (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/21/vwelfap/), “Kansas has really shifted the responsibility for paying for taxes from those at the top with the most income, where income is growing, to those at the very bottom of the income spectrum, where incomes are stagnant or even declining.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/tax-cuts-for-the-rich-made-kansas-broke-so-republicans-move-to-raise-taxes-on-the-poor/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

04-22-2015, 02:40 PM

More red state dystopia

Louisiana teachers brag about pushing creationism on kids — but the bill to stop them is doomed

Louisiana Democrats are again trying to take the state’s anti-evolution science law off the books – while also taking a shot at Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s presidential aspirations.

The Louisiana Science Education Act was passed in 2008 as a method to promote classroom discussion on evolution, but critics have complained the law allows creationism to be taught in public schools, reported The Advocate (http://theadvocate.com/news/12169054-123/bid-to-repeal-science-education).

That appears to be the case, according to a science education activist who graduated from a Baton Rouge high school after the law’s passage.

“I have obtained emails from creationist teachers and school administrators, as well as a letter signed by more than 20 current and former Louisiana science teachers in Ouachita Parish in which they say they challenge evolution in the classroom without legal ‘tension or fear’ because of pro-creationism policies,” claimed Zack Kopplin in an article for Slate (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/04/creationism_in_louisiana_public_school_science_cla sses_school_boards_and.single.html).

State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) filed her fifth attempt to repeal the law, which this time is called the “Intelligent Outcomes Wanted Act,” or IOWA – which Jindal has frequently visited as he considers a possible GOP presidential run.

Peterson’s bill is scheduled for a Senate Education hearing Wednesday morning, but similar attempts have attracted just five votes in four years.

College students, professors, and high school teachers were joined last year by 78 Nobel laureates who denounced the law.

The law allows teachers to use outside materials to “promote critical thinking skills” and “objective discussion of scientific theories,” but Kopplin found the measure offered a “back door” to teaching Bible-based philosophies of the Earth’s origins.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/louisiana-teachers-brag-about-pushing-creationism-on-kids-but-the-bill-to-stop-them-is-doomed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

"promote classroom discussion on evolution" :lol read as: to promote denigrating evolution in favor of Biblical bullshit.

boutons_deux

04-22-2015, 03:37 PM

Boehner Goes Bonkers With Claim That Obama Is Covering Up The Facts On BENGHAZI!!!!

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/22/boehner-bonkers-claim-obama-covering-facts-benghazi.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

04-22-2015, 04:24 PM

more from dsytopia red state KS

Sam Brownback's HMO Tax Hikes Hit A Major Speed Bump: A Furious HMO

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) proposed $136 million in taxes on health maintenance organizations as a way of closing the state's budget hole. Now, that proposal is in danger thanks to an angry managed health care company —Aetna, Inc.

According to The Wichita Eagle (http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article19202121.html), leaders at Aetna are warning lawmakers that if Brownback's proposal goes into effect the healthcare company would be hit with $12 million in additional taxes and add $206 to an average HMO insurance policy holder's bill. Brownback's proposal is currently awaiting approval in a House-Senate conference committee.

The warning from Aetna is particularly significant given that it is the biggest of eight insurers that would be hit by Brownback's HMO tax.

Specifically, Brownback is looking to raise a "privilege fee" on annual HMO premiums which is currently at 1 percent. Brownback wants to raise it to 5.5 percent in order to bring in $136 million in new revenues. The $136 million would then be used to replace $80 million in state funds currently going to Medicaid, according to the Eagle. Kansas officials argue that the tax has to go to all HMO companies that offer Medicaid through Kansas's KanCare program.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sam-brownback-health-tax-hike-aetna?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Repug "governance" :lol

boutons_deux

04-22-2015, 04:28 PM

Cool, Kansas Is Ripping Kids Away From Medical Marijuana Advocates Now

Suppose you are a medical marijuana advocate, having successfully used cannabis oil to treat your own Crohn’s Disease. And suppose you lived for a time in Colorado, where medical marijuana is legal, but then, because fate apparently hates you, you were sentenced to move to the ugly state next door, Kansas, where marijuana in all its forms is illegal. And suppose you have an 11-year-old son who was forced to endure a fact-free anti-drug session at school, where he decided to point out that, hey, some of reefer madness talking points are not true. Would you think the state would take your child from you that day? Because that’s what happened (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-mom-loses-custody-of-son-11-after-he-gives-marijuana-speech/) to Shona Banda of Wichita:

A medical marijuana advocate has lost custody of her 11-year-old son at least temporarily and could face possible charges following comments the boy made during a drug education program at school.

The case of Shona Banda, 37, was forwarded Monday to the district attorney’s office for a decision about charges, Police Capt. Randy Ralston said. Possible charges include possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment, the department said in a news release.
No arrests have been made.

Of course, they’re treating her like a drug-addicted untouchable, even though Banda is a well-known activist, and author of the book Live Free or Die: Reclaim Your Life… Reclaim Your Country!, (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KXMVZG/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008KXMVZG&linkCode=as2&tag=wonkette0f-20&linkId=TIX4LBK3K2LIPTMM) which tells the story of her own experiences with the medicinal healing properties of the drug.

Read more at http://wonkette.com/583548/cool-kansas-is-ripping-kids-away-from-medical-marijuana-advocates-now#bRPK9eolMjFQEK2v.99

Repug POLICE STATE! Freedom!

boutons_deux

04-24-2015, 02:41 PM

Texas House Proposal Would Force People to Carry to Term Non-Viable Fetuses

A Texas Democrat on Thursday called this year’s state legislature the most misogynistic she’s seen in her 21 years as a state representative, following a house vote that would have ended legal abortion care for pregnant Texans whose fetuses have medical anomalies that aren’t survivable outside the womb.

“Women are leaders of their families, whether some men in this room do not recognize that,” said state Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) in a pointed speech criticizing her male Republican colleagues for not supporting a bill that would expand access to breastfeeding and instead focusing on limiting access to legal abortion care.

Farrar took to the microphone after a debate about how best to retool the state’s social safety net turned to abortion, with a freshman Tea Party lawmaker attempting to insert an abortion ban into a bill concerning the bureaucratic operations (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=HB2510) of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) put forward an amendment (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/amendments/prefiled/pdf/HB02510H2_840928.PDF) that would make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 20 weeks, even if a fetus “has a severe and irreversible abnormality,” effectively forcing families with wanted, but unsustainable pregnancies to carry to term at the behest of the state and against the advice of their doctors or their own wishes.

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/04/24/texas-house-proposal-force-people-carry-term-non-viable-fetuses/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhrealitycheck+%28RH+Reality+ Check%29

dammit, you TX redneck inbreds elect some really nasty, self-righteous "Christians".

boutons_deux

04-25-2015, 08:30 AM

Kansas bans welfare recipients from seeing movies, going swimming on government’s dime

The measure — called the HOPE Act by supporters — “provides an opportunity for success,” Brownback said in a statement after signing the bill. “It’s about the dignity of work and helping families move from reliance on a government pittance to becoming self-sufficient by developing the skills to find a well-paying job and build a career.” :lol

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/06/kansas-wants-to-ban-welfare-recipients-from-seeing-movies-going-swimming-on-governments-dime/?postshare=1131429269961669

Fucking puritannical Bible humping hypocrites punish the poor for being poor because God doesn't love them.

And in Kansas, there are plenty of WHITE RURAL poor, not only the racist Repugs targeted blacks and browns.

boutons_deux

04-25-2015, 12:20 PM

Gov. Paul LePage Will Protect Maine From Threat Of Decent Wages

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/lepage-pucker.jpg

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is working really hard to earn the title of Most Loathsome Governor in America, which is a difficult task in a nation containing Rick Scott, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Sam Brownback, and so many other worthy candidates.

We’re thinking his latest dick move, pushing a bill that would prevent Maine cities (http://bangordailynews.com/2015/04/20/politics/state-house/lepage-seeks-to-quash-portland-bangor-efforts-for-increased-minimum-wage/)from setting a minimum wage higher than the state’s minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, just might be the thing to make him stand out from the rest of the crowd of assholes, making him the dickhead of all dickheads, or cazzo di tutti cazzi.

The bill, with the beautifully Orwellian title “An Act to Promote Minimum Wage Consistency,” (http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0494&item=1&snum=127) is yet another of those brilliant rightwing efforts to promote States’ Rights — particularly the right of states to keep troublesome municipalities from having any of that “local control” stuff that is good when Republicans run a city, and terrible when Democrats do.

It seems that Mayor Michael Brennan, of the People’s Republic of Portland, wants to raise the local minimum wage to $9.50,

and in the Revolutionary Democratic Collective of Bangor, Councilor Joseph Baldacci is pushing for a minimum wage of $9.75, to be phased in over several years.

This is obviously just too much democracy for LePage, who knows that if you give local control to the wrong people, they’ll do all kinds of crazy cockamamie stuff like insisting that good virtuous job creators pay something more than starvation wages to the undeserving wretches who work in minimum wage jobs.

It’s bad enough that Maine is already — according to LePage — just crawling with lazy unemployed human garbage, (http://wonkette.com/532286/maine-governor-paul-lepage-sure-wishes-entire-state-wasnt-filled-with-lazy-unemployed-human-garbage) but now municipalities want to pay semi-decent wages to the lazy jerks who do work?

How will the poors ever get off the couch (http://wonkette.com/471982/maine-gov-paul-lepage-to-unemployed-shiftless-slobs-get-off-the-couch) and learn that work is a noble, honorable means of self-improvement if we don’t keep them from actually benefitting from work?
Where’s the incentive in that?

http://wonkette.com/583511/gov-paul-lepage-will-protect-maine-from-threat-of-decent-wages#gAKP40sOdeElPxBm.99

boutons_deux

04-27-2015, 01:26 PM

mad man socialist Sanders bitch slaps the Repug as the UN-maker of jobs

Bernie Sanders Torpedos Republicans By Revealing GOP Budget Kills 2.3 Million Jobs

Sanders sent letters to the governors of all 50 states (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/index.cfm/blog?ID=185fffc4-fc88-4e16-9ae7-633e03cf4a40)that broke down the cuts and job losses that each state would face if the Republican budget is enacted. The lowlight of the letters is that the Republican cuts to transportation, education, and other programs would kill more than 2.3 million jobs across the country.In a statement, Sen. Sanders said:

The Republican budget moves this country in exactly the wrong direction. At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, it gives huge tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires while making devastating cuts to education, Medicare, affordable housing and prescription drug coverage.

Instead of creating jobs, it will lead to the elimination of more than 2 million jobs.

Instead of making college more affordable, it will increase the cost of college for millions of Americans. Instead of eliminating hunger in America, it will add to the financial problems of low-income families with children and will create more hunger.

This budget is the Robin Hood principle in reverse. It takes from the poor to give to the rich.

Some of the hardest hit states would be those that have Republican governors.

Texas (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/5c2352e6-3060-4d11-9273-e12f8fddcf4d/texas.pdf) would lose 193,000 jobs.

Florida (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/5ae30321-8c68-4bb9-b208-9a6f3ae6e2d6/florida.pdf) would lose 141,000 jobs.

Ohio (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/91de3694-339b-4d91-b798-073fb6db2e55/ohio.pdf)would lose 84,000 jobs.

Georgia (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/105b3679-994c-4961-929c-2c8bcd187b0e/georgia.pdf) would lose 70,000 jobs.

North Carolina (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/aa6cef06-cc76-4cca-8f83-8d80d93300a6/north-carolina.pdf) would lose 68,000 jobs, and

Wisconsin (http://www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/public/_cache/files/3dd8ae51-06ff-49a9-9312-66d200542b5d/wisconsin.pdf) would lose 46,000 jobs.

It is important that the American people understand exactly what the Republican budget does. Not only does the Republican budget lower taxes for the wealthiest people while raising them for everyone else, it also kills millions of jobs.

Republicans in Congress don’t want to talk about many services will be cut, and jobs lost because of their budget.

Republicans especially don’t want to discuss the number of jobs that will be lost in red states due to their budget.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/27/bernie-sanders-torpedos-republicans-revealing-gop-budget-kills-2-3-million-jobs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29 (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/27/bernie-sanders-torpedos-republicans-revealing-gop-budget-kills-2-3-million-jobs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29)

boutons_deux

04-27-2015, 02:25 PM

Paranoid Texans grill Army spokesman on Jade Helm 15 exercise that’s sparking fears of military takeover

Concerned citizens confronted county and military officials (http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/jade-helm-15-to-make-appearance-before-bastrop-cou/nkz4w/) Monday in Texas over the planned Jade Helm 15 training exercise that has ignited fears of a military takeover. :lol

Elite forces from all four branches of the military will take part in the July 15-Sept. 15 operation in seven states across the southwest, where role players will stand in for hostile and less-hostile forces.

Residents packed the Bastrop County Commission, where a U.S. Army spokesman answered questions (http://www.ustream.tv/AlexJonesLive) while an overflow crowd :lol watched from downstairs on closed-circuit television.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/paranoid-texans-grill-army-spokesman-on-jade-helm-15-exercise-thats-sparking-fears-of-military-takeover/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

04-28-2015, 09:12 AM

TX Repug Christian Supremacist Taliban news

Texas GOPers ripping each other to shreds over education reform: A “socialist” plot to create a “Godless environment”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is coming under fire from the advisers of incoming Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) who insist that a bipartisan effort to improve the state’s preschool and kindergarten programs represents a “socialist” attempt to expose children to a “Godless environment,” MSNBC’s Steve Benen reports (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/texas-republicans-denounce-pre-k-godless-environment).

During his campaign, Gov. Abbott promised to push hard for state-funded preschool programs (http://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/Legislature-expected-to-focus-on-pre-K-6006688.php), claiming that years of cuts had led to Texas students being behind their peers in other states from the get-go. Democrats like state Representative Justin Rodriguez agreed, telling the San Antonio Express-News’ Maria Luisa Cesar that “I think we’re getting past the point where we have to convince folks of the importance of pre-K.”

The only issue, Rep. Rodriguez said, would be who exactly would pay for the program. Advisers for newly elected Lt. Gov. Patrick — who represented themselves as a “grassroots advisory” committee — clearly indicated that they do not believe it should be the tax payers. :lol

“We are experimenting,” they wrote, “at great cost to taxpayers with a program that removes our young children from homes and half-day religious preschools and mothers’ day out programs to a Godless environment with only evidence showing absolutely NO LONG-TERM BENEFITS beyond the 1st grade.”

Any attempt to institute a program, be it initiated by Democrats in the state legislature or Republicans from the governor’s office, would be considered “interference by the state” — a “trampling” of parental rights. “The early removal of children from parents’ care is historically promoted in socialistic countries, not free societies which respect parental rights.”

Lt. Gov. Patrick did not respond directly, but his spokesman, Alejandro Garcia, told the Associated Press (http://www.mrt.com/news/education/article_729036b0-e914-11e4-b28f-eb66e32e18a0.html) that “the letter in question was unsolicited and expresses the individual viewpoints of Texas citizens” — even if those citizens do work as advisers to Lt. Gov. Patrick.

As for the governor, his spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said that Gov. Abbott’s plan is “a conservative antidote to ineffective pre-K programs” and not, as the “grassroots” letter suggested, an attempt to indoctrinate impressionable children into a secular, socialist ideology.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/27/texas_gopers_ripping_each_other_to_shreds_over_edu cation_reform_a_socialist_plot_to_create_a_godless _environment/

So the Christian Taliban "advisors" are calling taxpayer funded pre-K a godless, anti-parental-rights, SOCIALIST scheme? :lol

who's running the fucking state? elected politicians, or "advisors"

if taxpayers don't pay for universally available pre-K (and TX admits it's way down in the pre-K, which matches it being about the worst state for school spending), who does?

let me guess where this is going: pre-K run buy for-profit, unaccountable corporations, or worse, by Christian "God-ful" indoctrinators.

You want pre-K for yout kids, poor lady, so you can obtain, and maintain, shitty work? You gotta pay for pre-K through the nose, just like hyper-expensive day care.

boutons_deux

04-30-2015, 06:30 AM

Kansas Gov. Brownback stages weird ‘re-enactments’ of himself signing anti-abortion bill

Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback promoted a bill banning a rare abortion procedure by holding four different re-enactment ceremonies of himself signing it around the state, Think Progress reported. (http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/04/28/3652255/brownback-re-signing-abortion-ban/)

Brownback held the ceremonies at three different Catholic high schools, as well as a Catholic church education building, touting his approval of Senate Bill 95.

The measure prevents women from undergoing a second-trimester procedure known as dilation and evacuation, which is used in about 8 percent of abortions in the state.

Opponents have described the procedure as “dismemberment abortions.”

“I am profoundly disappointed that Governor Brownback has chosen to hold a publicity tour for this reprehensible law,” South Wind Womens’ Center head Julie Burkhart said in a statement. “Reenacting this bill signing in front of children is not only a publicity stunt, but also spreads hate and disrespect.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/kansas-gov-brownback-stages-weird-re-enactments-of-himself-signing-anti-abortion-bill/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Kansas! :lol

boutons_deux

04-30-2015, 12:22 PM

:lol

Republicans Prove They Can’t Govern As Military Funding Bill Collapses Into Chaos
http://i0.wp.com/www.politicususa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/boehner-face-485-wide.jpg?resize=485%2C346

The ghost of chaos past haunted the House Wednesday night, as Republicans tried desperately to navigate around their ownsequestration level spending caps (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/29/fallout-republican-sequestration-continues-homeland-security-pleads-relief.html)in order to appease the war hawks in their party.Republicans slipped a nifty $532 million deficit-funded credit card to the DoD to get around the Republicans’ own spending caps – only to be busted by both a Republican war and budget hawk and a Democrat who wants to return to the way budgets are supposed to be done, pre-sequester days.It was a clustermuck of epic proportions, immediately recognizable as the House that Speaker Boehner (R-OH) runs. Naturally, the vote was “stalled”.

Emma Dumain reported how the cluster went down for Roll Call (http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/house-gop-postpones-votes-va-spending-bill/?dcz=), noting that Republicans have been bragging about their early start to appropriations season, “but consideration of the very first spending bill — considered the least controversial of all 12 annual measures — hit a snag Wednesday night.” Republicans tried to float innocuous reasons for giving up, but Roll Call got the real scoop.

But several senior House aides, including those who work in leadership offices, confirmed to CQ Roll Call that part of the reason for stalling MilCon-VA votes had to do with GOP leaders’ anxiety that members on both sides of the aisle were prepared to adopt an amendment that would strip from the underlying bill the ability to spend money from the Overseas Contingency Operations account

This was all put an end to by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), who used amendments to kill the secret money:

House Republican leaders included that $532 million account to make the spending bill, which is limited due to sequester-level spending caps, more attractive to defense hawks who insist the Pentagon needs more cash to fight terror. But Budget ranking member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., teamed up on three related amendments to eliminate the ability to use the money

Mulvaney (the Republican) was not impressed, objecting that the money wouldn’t be used on war-related matters, noting that there was not enough money under the (Republican) spending caps imposed by sequestration:

“It spends $532 million in the OCO budget for matters that the Department of Defense admits are not war-related,” said Mulvaney, a two-term budget hawk who said last month he’d rather raise taxes than add to the deficit.

“These are matters that the Department of Defense included in its original base defense budget request, but which there isn’t enough money under the … caps,” he said during House floor debate earlier Wednesday. “The appropriators have taken those requests, which are admittedly not war-related, and buried it in this appropriations bill using the OCO money.”

Van Hollen (the Democrat) said in a statement reported by Roll Call that there was clearly bipartisan objection “to using the Overseas Contingency Operations budget as a slush fund for non-war related projects.” He called for a return to the debate process.Last night’s cluster is awkward since Republicans have beenbragging (http://www.majorityleader.gov/2015/04/24/next-week-house-start-appropriations-earliest-since-1974/)that they are starting the appropriations process super early. Woo hoo! They were going to get to work finally and do something. Republicans announced that they were starting early to avoid “another Washington-made cliff.”

Apparently “Washington-made” is way of saying “Republican-made”.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Military Construction Projects appropriations bill was meant to kick off Republicans showing America “YES THEY CAN GOVERN!”

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/30/republicans-prove-govern-military-funding-bill-collapses-chaos.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29 (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/30/republicans-prove-govern-military-funding-bill-collapses-chaos.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29)

boutons_deux

04-30-2015, 01:39 PM

Colorado GOPers claim IUDs cause abortions, scrap program that reduced teen birthrate by 40 percent

Republicans on a Colorado state Senate committee this week voted to end a contraception program that proponents said had helped to reduce the teen birthrate by 40 percent in recent years.

“Senate Republicans on the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee defeated legislation to continue the Long Acting Reversible Contraception or ‘LARC’ program, a bipartisan bill to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions,”

the teen birthrate had dropped dramatically during the five-year period that the program was privately funded, but the funding had run out.

“The program was effective, helping the teen birth rate in Colorado drop 40 percent from 2009 through 2013,” according to the statement. “The abortion rate also dropped 42 percent in that same time period.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/colorado-gopers-claim-iuds-cause-abortions-scrap-program-that-reduced-teen-birthrate-by-40-percent/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

04-30-2015, 02:09 PM

House GOP Moving To Block DC's Anti-Discrimination Abortion Law

House Republicans are moving to block a local District of Columbia law that's aimed at preventing discrimination against workers who have abortions.

A House bill that would revoke the city's law is largely symbolic. The local law takes effect on Saturday, unless Congress approves the measure by then and President Barack Obama signs it. Neither is likely.

GOP lawmakers say the city's law would force employers to violate their own religious beliefs and provide contraceptive coverage to their workers.

Supporters of the D.C. law say it would not do that. They say the measure would forbid companies from discriminating against employees who seek abortion or contraceptives or make other reproductive health decisions.

Congress can block measures approved by the District of Columbia government. But it hasn't done that since 1992.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-republicans-dc-abortion-anti-discimination-law?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

boutons_deux

05-02-2015, 03:41 PM

Repugs continuing their scorched-earth destruction of govt

The GOP's New Budget Proposal is a Big Middle Finger to Earth Science (http://gizmodo.com/the-gops-new-budget-proposal-is-a-big-middle-finger-to-1701627480)

The GOP is trying to eviscerate NASA’s Earth science program. At best, the House Science Committee’s new budget proposal (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/04/30/proposed-massive-cuts-to-nasa-earth-science-budget-draw-protest/) would slash NASA’s Earth science funding by $300 million. At worst, the Earth sciences stand to lose over half a billion federal dollars.

Reminding us, yet again, that the anti-science, climate change-denying Congressional Republicans responsible for doling out US science dollars don’t give a shit about our planet.

The budget, which covers the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the Orion spacecraft (http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html)’s and Space Launch System (https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html) rocket’s bank accounts. It also allots an extra $150 million to NASA’s planetary science research. But the GOP apparently doesn’t think planet Earth is worth much of our attention at all, because where does the additional spending for these select programs come from? From gutting NASA’s Earth science budget.

The actual amount cut will depend on whether caps enacted in 2011 are lifted. If they are, Earth science would get 1.45 billion, if not, 1.2 billion. The 2015 fiscal year budget is 1.77 billion, so either way, its a big middle finger to some of NASA’s most important and productive areas of scientific research.

Oh, and lest we forget, this comes a week after the very same committee reauthorized theAmerica Competes Act (http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/240564-the-america-competes-reauthorization-act-does-not-compute), slashing geoscience funding to the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

In the committee’s press release (http://science.house.gov/press-release/committee-s-nasa-bill-draws-space-community-support) on the budget, Congressman Steven Palazzo pats himself and his fellow Earth-haters on the back for loving space so much. “We all want NASA to be successful so that America can continue to lead the world in space,” he says. “American leadership in space is a matter of both national pride and national security. We will continue to support NASA with the resources and the guidance it needs to lead the way into the future.”

How noble. Thing is, NASA itself is calling Congress’s bullshit. Here’s what administrator Charles Bolden had to say about the new budget, in a statement (http://www.wset.com/story/28947047/nasa-administrator-statement-on-house-authorization-bill) released Thursday:

“The NASA authorization bill making its way through the House of Representatives guts our Earth science program and threatens to set back generations worth of progress in better understanding our changing climate and our ability to prepare for and respond to earthquakes, droughts, and storm events.”

The Planetary Society, which makes out quite well under Congress’s plan, was specifically singled out by the science committee as staunchly supporting the new bill. But Planetary Society leaders give us a more accurate depiction of their views on their website (http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2015/0429-good-planetary-support-in-a-flawed-nasa-bill.html):

Obviously, the cuts to Earth Science make this a hard bill to support, therefore The Planetary Society cannot support the full bill as written at this early stage.

And in case you were wondering if the bill has the across-the-aisle support its proponents are claiming, it doesn’t. Rep. Eddie Johnson (Dem., Texas), the House committee’s ranking member, writes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/04/30/proposed-massive-cuts-to-nasa-earth-science-budget-draw-protest/) that GOP members of the committee introduced the bill without any bipartisan negotiation whatsoever. Johnson, who has promised to fight the budget, points out that it’s is not only a direct attack on NASA’s climate science research, it tragically fails to appreciate other aspects of NASA’s Earth science program.

They’re too busy throwing snowballs (http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/02/26/inhofe_throws_a_snowball_on_senate_floor_to_dispro ve_global_warming_video.html) to realize it, but Earth science actually encompasses many critical areas of non-climate related research, like earthquake monitoring and wildfire tracking. Johnson writes:

In addition to other problems in the bill, it cuts earth science funding by more than $320 million. Earth science, of course, includes climate science. Despite the fact that in January NASA announced 2014 was likely the warmest year since 1880, it should come as no surprise that the majority wants to cut funding for climate science. Embarrassingly, just last week, every single Republican member of this committee present voted against the notion that climate change might be caused by people.

Of course, NASA’s earth science program is much, much more than just climate science. The research is used by the Department of Defense to help keep our troops safe. It is used to improve electric and gas utility load forecasts and to document the variability of water available for agricultural use. It helps us understand the implications of thinning ice cover in the Arctic. It helps us predict floods, droughts and hurricanes. And it helps us track wildfires and volcanic ash. Basically, NASA’s earth science program provides critical measurements and research on planet Earth as a system and how it is changing over time.

It’s hard to believe that in order to serve an ideological agenda, the majority is willing to slash the science that helps us have a better understanding of our home planet.

http://gizmodo.com/the-gops-new-budget-proposal-is-a-big-middle-finger-to-1701627480?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29

Repugs executing the VRWC/BigCarbon strategy to perfection.

boutons_deux

05-03-2015, 11:37 AM

Louie Gohmert: It would be a ‘real shame’ to end the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders

When it came to non-violent drug offenders, Gohmert argued that it was a “real shame” that Democrats would not want them to be incarcerated.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/louie-gohmert-it-would-be-a-real-shame-to-end-the-mass-incarceration-non-violent-drug-offenders/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

05-04-2015, 02:11 PM

Lawmakers Try To Block Funding For A Crucial Solution To Mass Homelessness (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/04/3654419/national-housing-trust-fund-republicans/)

Last week, the House Subcommittee for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development approved a bill (http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399001) that cuts funding for affordable housing for the lowest income households. The move by House Republicans imperils a crucial resource that canhelp address homelessness (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/01/22/3614296/national-housing-trust-fund-homelessness/).

The National Housing Trust Fund is the only resource dedicated solely to funding affordable housing for people most at risk of becoming homeless. In December, money started flowing into the fund for the first time from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the House bill directs money reserved for the fund to cover a congressionally created deficit in funding for another affordable housing program, the HOME program.

Widespread, mass homelessness can be traced to a sharp increase in affordable housing: today there is a 5.5 million shortfall in affordable housing units compared to the need, but there was actually a 300,000 surplus as recently as 1970. If that need were met, however, homelessness would be effectively ended (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/10/09/3577980/end-homelessness/).

While both the National Housing Trust Fund (https://www.hudexchange.info/htf) and the HOME program (http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/programs/home/) seek to foster affordable housing, the National Housing Trust Fund focuses on the most vulnerable and low-income populations, making it a key resource toward that goal. Most Trust Fund money must go to support housing for extremely low-income families, those whose incomes are not greater than 30 percent of area median income. Through their latest bill, House Republicans would effectively eliminate the Housing Trust Fund.

Meanwhile, the HOME program, which targets people who make 60 or 50 percent (http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/programs/home/) of median family income, has also been cut by over 50 percent (http://www.naco.org/legislation/policies/Documents/Community%20and%20Economic%20Development/2015_Spring_HUD-HOME_Fact-Sheet.pdf) since 2010.

The House bill isn’t the first attempt to end the Housing Trust Fund. House Republicans strongly opposed (http://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398566) Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt’s decision to allow money to start flowing into the Trust Fund in December.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/04/3654419/national-housing-trust-fund-republicans/

Repug/VRWC/1% strategy: screw the 99%, esp screw the Bishop Gecko 47%, and protect/enrich the 1%

boutons_deux

05-04-2015, 02:30 PM

Paul Ryan Knows Real Problem With Welfare Is How Rich Those Poor People Get Off It

I would consolidate many of our federal poverty programs into flexible programs that go to our states to customize a welfare benefit for a person’s particular need, because what you do when you stack up all these poverty programs on top of each other — we have this thing called the poverty trap, where we’re actually disincentivizing a person from getting on with their life and going to work. It actually pays not to take that risk to take a job to help go improve your life because of the benefits you lose.

allow Americans living in poverty to continue receiving benefits, even if they manage to get a job, because there are lots of crap jobs out there that pay crap wages that don’t cover things like rent and food and healthcare. So maybe, just maybe, we should provide aid to any American who needs it? Nah. Better to just take away all that aid, so they’re more “incentivized” to get one of those high-paying jobs. Like, say, being a member of Congress. It pays six figures, includes some really terrific perks, and you only have to work part-time.

But if the useless federal government would just write out checks to the states and let them decide how best to motivate impoverished citizens to stop being poor, we’d definitely see better results.

Why, in Ryan’s own state of Wisconsin, plenty of innovative Republican leaders have some really creative ideas to tackle the underlying issues of poverty. Newly elected Rep. Glenn Grothman thinks folks in Oshkosh (http://wonkette.com/577424/congressloon-spy-on-your-neighbors-shopping-carts-for-your-country) should spy on each other at the grocery store and report suspicious-looking shoppers who boast of receiving disability benefits because, as he’s been saying for years, letting people eat “discourages work” and “encourages cheating.”

Then there’s state Rep. Jesse Kremer, who thinks we should be carding (http://wonkette.com/583395/wisconsin-rep-will-card-poors-for-food-at-their-separate-and-unequal-welfare-groceries) the poors to make sure their photo IDs say “Yeah, this person is poor for reals,” and also, while we’re at it, why not make them shop at specialty Just For Poors grocery stores, so they don’t get their poor cooties all over decent hardworking not-poor Americans who would like to buy their Cheez Whiz and frozen scrambled eggs without having to dirty their beautiful minds with the sight of, ugh, poor people?

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker thinks it would be a swell idea (http://wonkette.com/560515/scott-walker-will-fight-uncle-sam-for-wisconsins-impoverished-pee) to drug test recipients of food stamps or unemployment benefits because that will help poor people not do drugs, like they are always doing all the time, and then they will get jobs and be able to afford food all by themselves. This has yet to work (http://wonkette.com/578371/welfare-drug-tests-dont-work-so-now-republicans-want-them-everywhere) in any other state that has drug tested welfare recipients, and also it is unconstitutional too, but maybe we just haven’t given it enough time to work yet. Like with magic tax cuts for the rich, if you just wait and wait and wait … and wait some more, eventually it’ll work. We’re waiting to see it work in Kansas, another fine state that knows the best way to tackle poverty is to ensure that poor people can’t use their moocher government benefits on cruises and strip clubs. (http://wonkette.com/581939/kansas-will-make-sure-welfare-queens-cant-get-their-palms-read-on-caribbean-cruises)

Read more at http://wonkette.com/584587/paul-ryan-knows-real-problem-with-welfare-is-how-rich-those-poor-people-get-off-it#GV53Zh6erwod9rqI.99

Repugs love transferring Federal taxpayer money, the kind of socialism they cum about, to the RED states in no-strings-attached/no-accountability block grants for the states to misuse, abuse, steal as they see fit.

boutons_deux

05-06-2015, 08:19 AM

Lawmakers Pitched 32 New Abortion Bills in Texas This Year, and a Few Might
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/01/losing-lege-lawmakers-pitched-32-new-abortion-bills-texas-year-might-pass/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhrealitycheck+%28RH+Reality+ Check%29

(TX) Repug governance! :lol

Thanks, you Repug asshole voters!

boutons_deux

05-06-2015, 10:31 AM

Kansas Schools Close Early As Brownback Tax Cuts Squeeze Revenue

http://www.nationalmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/16688956782_e8429f8378_z-668x501.jpg

Income tax cuts in Kansas championed by Gov. Sam Brownback have led to credit downgrades, political turmoil, and deepening budget deficits. This week, they’ll start forcing schools to close early.

As lawmakers work to erase a projected $800 million budget gap for the fiscal year starting July 1, at least eight school districts that saw their funding cut this year because of a greater-than-projected slide in state tax collections will begin shutting down before the scheduled end of classes.

Dozens of others have eliminated or cut programs.

“We felt we didn’t have a choice,” said Janet Neufeld, superintendent of Twin Valley schools, which will end the academic year on Friday, 12 days early.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/kansas-schools-close-early-as-brownback-tax-cuts-squeeze-revenue/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=MM_frequency_six&utm_campaign=Morning%20Memo%20-%202015-05-06&utm_content=D

:lol Repug mis-"governance" :lol

boutons_deux

05-06-2015, 02:56 PM

:lol Repug governance! :lol
GOP Rep: Congress Will Launch Investigation Based On 'Clinton Cash' BookOn “The Sam Malone Show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJckCM-IWI)” this week,:lol Rep. Ted Poe, R-Tex., :lol said that Congress will launch an investigation into Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation based on the findings of the book “Clinton Cash,” in which right-wing activist Peter Schweizer suggests that the former secretary of state used her role in the State Department to benefit foundation donors.
The book has faced a bevy of criticism for its sloppy (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/04/21/3649392/clinton-cash/) reporting (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/foxs-chris-wallace-confronts-clinton-cash-author-you-dont-have-a-single-piece-of-evidence/) and false (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/05/clinton-cash-author-peter-schweizer-admits-hes/203528) allegations (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/05/06/politifact-calls-out-false-attack-from-clinton/203558), but Poe told (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8HbTWcuveY&feature=youtu.be) Malone that “Congress will investigate yet one more scandal. We need to hire a whole department just to investigate the Clintons and the Clinton scandals. There is going to be some investigation about it.”
Poe accused the Justice Department of unfairly investigating Tea Party groups such as True the Vote, time he said would have been better spent investigating the Clinton family. :lol
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/gop-rep-congress-will-launch-investigation-based-clinton-cash-book

boutons_deux

05-07-2015, 04:57 AM

Scott Walker Wrecks Wisconsin And Proves That Tax Cuts For The Rich Don’t Work

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) promised Wisconsinites that he could jump start the economy with tax cuts for big business, even though this Republican economic model was partially responsible for the recession from which the state — and indeed the nation — was suffering.

Just days ago, the Republican Governor trolled President Obama, (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/29/wisconsin-gutter-failed-gov-scott-walker-trolls-obama-economy.html)claiming the country needed Walker’s “pro-growth economic policies”.

Enter crazy Republican math, stage right. Things are not adding up for Walker’s budget.When the first troubling revenue numbers came out, Walker and Wisconsin Republicans, who make up the legislative majority, said oh, they will be revised.

Well, that time has come and guess what, no new revenue is coming from the Reagan trickle down skies to save them.

A new memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) broke down the crazy math and wishful but dashed hopes of Wisconsin Republicans that the revenue to cover their tax cuts for big business would just magically appear (a charge made by Wisconsin Democrats, but with which logic concurs).

Bob Lang, Director of the nonpartisan LFB, revealed in a memo (http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/publications/Revenue-Estimates/Documents/2015_05_06%20Darling%20Nygren.pdf)issued May 6th that Wisconsin will see no additional revenue growth in the next two years and indeed, any additional revenue in the current fiscal year will likely be offset by reduced growth in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Any adjustments would be offset by the fact that “recent forecasts of the U.S. economy have been downgraded from the January forecast.”

In other words, the national economy isn’t going to save Walker from his bad math and the fact that within the region (and actually nationally), his state is performing poorly.

In fact, the state’s GDP growth and personal income growth have trailed the national rate. (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/29/wisconsin-gutter-failed-gov-scott-walker-trolls-obama-economy.html)

Republicans have tried to blame Democrats for the economic failure of their policies by saying they were in charge “for many years”, but PolitiFact threw water on that false notion. (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/29/wisconsin-gutter-failed-gov-scott-walker-trolls-obama-economy.html)

Lang killed the trickle down dream with, “On balance, we believe that the current estimates for the three year period are still reasonable and should not be adjusted.”

This means that Gov. Walker’s budget is officially a real mess.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/06/scott-walkers-crazy-republican-math-home-roost-wi-gop-wrestle-revenue.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29 (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/06/scott-walkers-crazy-republican-math-home-roost-wi-gop-wrestle-revenue.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29)

Brownback! :lol

Jindal :lol

Walker :lol

Repug mis-governance! :lol

trickle down works for the 99%! :lol

right-to-work for less while free-loading on union members! :lol

boutons_deux

05-07-2015, 05:12 AM

A full plate of hate: Texas lawmakers literally can’t clear all the anti-woman, anti-LGBT measures off their desks

The regular session of the 84th Texas legislature ends in less than 30 days, which means state lawmakers officially have more hateful bills to consider than they have time to do the considering.

HB 1648, the “Coerced Abortion Prevention” Measure

Antiabortion activist Molly White became antiabortion lawmaker Molly White last year, and used her freshman term at the statehouse to craft an abortion restriction so overreaching (http://www.salon.com/2015/05/01/texas_lawmaker_introduces_coerced_abortion_bill_so _extreme_that_even_her_gop_allies_are_running_for_ the_hills/) that several religious groups — as well as her colleagues in the Texas GOP — wouldn’t touch it. The bill would initiate an automatic 72-hour waiting period and criminal investigation if women indicate that they have been coerced or forced to have an abortion, which White claimed was in the interest of assisting victims of assault.

“Pregnant women are most frequently victims of domestic violence,” White explained during a House State Affairs Committee hearing. “Their partners often threaten violence and abuse if the woman continues her pregnancy.”

But, as representatives from two antiabortion groups highlighted in their challenges to the measure, increasing Texas’ existing abortion waiting period for DV victims could put them at even greater risk.

SB 575, the “Hell No We’re Not Providing Insurance Coverage For Abortion” Measure

On Tuesday, the Texas Senate approved State Sen. Larry Taylor’s measure to prohibit health insurance coverage (http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/texas_gop_lawmaker_pushes_to_ban_insurance_coverag e_for_all_elective_abortions/) — be it private or purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace — for all abortions that are not considered medical emergencies. The bill requires women who seek coverage for abortions — including victims of rape or incest, or women carrying non-viable pregnancies due to fetal anomalies — to purchase supplemental insurance, effectively making abortion inaccessible to those who cannot afford additional insurance (or any insurance at all).

When asked to explain why the bill did not contain exceptions for victims of rape or incest, Taylor acknowledged that the measure “just doesn’t address it,” and also dismissed very realistic, detrimental outcomes of his law as “extreme.”

SB 2, the “We Are Going To Try Again To Defund Planned Parenthood” Measure

It seems the only sport that might be as popular as football in Texas is trying to defund Planned Parenthood — so, naturally, the state legislature tried to shut down funding for the organization once again this session. In its 2015 budget, the Texas Senate proposed a reallocation of state funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings (http://www.salon.com/2015/01/30/don%E2%80%99t_perform_abortions_and_you_get_the_mo ney_texas_attempts_to_defund_planned_parenthood_ag ain/), which would effectively eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood’s program— and, of course, to the thousands of Texans who rely on the program to, you know, determine if they have cancer.

State Sen. Jane Nelson, who crafted the reallocation measure, was transparent about her goals: “There are many members that feel very strongly that the facilities that receive that funding should not be facilities that are performing abortions, so the answer is: Don’t perform abortions and you get the money.”

HB 2510, the “This Bill Is Actually About The Health Code, But We’re Going To Try To Make Women Carry Non-Viable Pregnancies To Term Because The World Is Full Of Sin” Measure

Republican Rep. Matt Schaefer sneakily attempted to add one of the session’s most abhorrent, misogynistic measures (http://www.salon.com/2015/05/04/when_even_misogyny_is_bigger_in_texas_this_republi cans_cruel_law_would_force_women_to_carry_non_viab le_pregnancies_to_term/) to a bill about the bureaucratic operations of the state health department, which would prohibit health centers from performing abortions “on the basis that the fetus has a severe and irreversible abnormality.” Essentially, the bill would have required pregnant women to carry non-viable fetuses to term, likely under the most heartbreaking of circumstances.

Schaefer’s reason? Because the fetuses “are going to suffer, they’re going to feel pain,” and “that’s part of the human condition, when sin entered the world, and it grieves us all.”

SB 2065, the “It’s A Hate Crime Not To Allow People To Say They Won’t Marry Same-Sex Couples” Measure

Earlier this week Texas’ Senate State Affairs Committee refused to amend a measure (http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/04/committee-debates-religious-freedom-bill/) that has been likened to Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act (don’t worry, it’s not the only bill to be compared to the Indiana law this session). The bill, which was filed long past the filing deadline but allowed after a suspension of the rules, would allow clergy to refuse to marry same-sex couples, but does not apply specifically to marriage ceremonies.

The law could therefore open the door for officials to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in secular contexts on the basis of religious liberty, and could also allow for other forms of marriage discrimination (such as denying an interracial couple a marriage license). Supporters of the measure claim it’s an important protection for religious groups who oppose marriage equality, the enforcement of which they believe would be a “hate crime” and its own form of “bigotry.”

HB 1942, the “Let’s Prevent Judicial Bypasses For Abortion By Publicizing Approving Judges’ Personal Information” Measure and HB 3994, the “Let’s Prevent Judicial Bypasses For Abortion By Making It Virtually Impossible For A Minor To Meet The Burden Of Proof” Measure

Texas currently offers pregnant minors the ability to seek judicial bypass for parental consent laws in order to access abortion care, but Republican lawmakers introduced two bills this session that would sharply reduce its effectiveness.

One measure would make Texas the first state to publicly release personal information about judges who approve judicial bypasses for abortion, which would likely instigate a chilling effect (http://www.salon.com/2015/04/03/they_want_the_judges%E2%80%99_heads_on_a_plate_tex as_gop_wants_to_shame_courts_helping_teen_victims_ of_abuse_access_abortion/)that prevents minors from terminating pregnancies.

The other bill would update the burden of proof on minors (http://rhrealitycheck.org/audio/2013/05/03/texas-lawmakers-seek-to-close-loopholes-in-minors-access-to-abortion/) seeking judicial bypass, requiring they be “mature and sufficiently well informed” about their decision to terminate, that notification of a parent would not serve the teen’s best interest, or that notifying a parent “may lead to physical, sexual or emotional abuse” to access an abortion.

Phil King, who introduced the changes, said he would change the requirements so that the current burden of proof — that minors prove just one tenet — could stay in place. But then he…didn’t.

SJR 10, the “We Don’t Have Enough Religious Liberty Protections As It Is So Let’s Give Businesses License To Discriminate” Measure

Remember how I mentioned that there was more than one Texas bill that had been compared to Indiana’s anti-LGBT religious freedom law? Yeah, well: State Sen. Donna Campbell introduced a constitutional amendment (http://www.salon.com/2014/11/12/tea_party_legislator_pushes_to_add_a_license_to_di scriminate_to_texas_constitution/) — for a second time — that would effectively grant business owners a “license to discriminate” against LGBT people (but, really, anyone).

The amendment would be in addition to the state’s existing Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and would have a number of unintended consequences — some of which don’t sound so bad. In addition to opening an opportunity for, say, the Westboro Baptist Church to picket military funerals, Campbell’s amendment could also allow pregnant women to circumvent Texas’ antiabortion laws on the basis of their religious beliefs.

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/06/a_full_plate_of_hate_texas_lawmakers_literally_can t_clear_all_the_anti_woman_anti_lgbt_measures_off_ their_desks/

Texas! :lol

Repug governance! :lol

boutons_deux

05-07-2015, 05:20 AM

Just like a Federal level, TX Repug lawmakers are more extreme nutcases, ignore the majority of Repug popular sentiment

Poll: Majority of Texans Favor Legal Protections for Their LGBT Neighbors

A new survey of likely Texas voters (http://www.txwins.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TX_Polling_Data_Memo_05.6.2015.pdf) shows that a majority believe that discrimination against LGBT Texans is either a “major” or a “minor” problem and that they would support a state law protecting LGBT Texans from employment discrimination.

These poll results come in a year that has seen Texas lawmakers propose nearly two dozen laws that single out lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Texans for discrimination—in some cases even creating criminal penalties (http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/04/03/losing-lege-transgender-visibility-lobby-day-sparks-surprising-response-capitol-staffers/) if transgender people use certain public or school restrooms.

Texas Wins (http://www.txwins.org/newpoll/), a statewide coalition “committed to demonstrating true Texas values and protecting all Texans from discrimination,” on Wednesday released the results of the poll, which surveyed 800 Texans who identify across the political spectrum.

Close to 80 percent of respondents said that religious freedom “does not give any of us the right to harm others.”

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/06/poll-majority-texans-favor-legal-protections-lgbt-neighbors/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhrealitycheck+%28RH+Reality+ Check%29

boutons_deux

05-07-2015, 03:06 PM

Virginia GOP congressman claims ISIS has invaded Texas: ‘You can’t make up what a terrible problem this is’

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Screen-Shot-2015-05-07-at-2.03.15-PM-800x430.png

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/virginia-gop-congressman-claims-isis-has-invaded-texas-you-cant-make-up-what-a-terrible-problem-this-is/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

05-07-2015, 03:08 PM

Texas Republican: Rape victims shouldn’t receive abortion coverage because their claims aren’t “measurable”

http://media.salon.com/2015/05/AP130712070891-620x412.jpg

Sen. Donna Campbell moved to require women to report incest and rape to police to receive insurance coverage

Texas Republican State Sen. Donna Campbell fought an amendment on Wednesday that would allow exceptions for rape and incest victims from a measure that otherwise prohibits all insurance coverage for abortion (http://www.salon.com/2015/05/05/texas_gop_lawmaker_pushes_to_ban_insurance_coverag e_for_all_elective_abortions/). Instead, the GOP lawmaker (http://www.salon.com/2014/11/12/tea_party_legislator_pushes_to_add_a_license_to_di scriminate_to_texas_constitution/)countered the proposal with her own, which would require victims to report their assaults to police in order to receive exemptions, because otherwise the state might be “enabling” perpetrators.

“I’m concerned that we may be unintentionally providing cover for perpetrators of crimes,” Campbell said. She was then challenged by Democrat Kirk Watson, who pressed her to consider the real-life implications of the law and her amendment.

“Would you agree with me that there are instances where a woman could be raped, and because she fears for her life otherwise, would not want to report that to law enforcement officials?” Watson asked. “Can you conceive of that situation?”

Campbell agreed, but continued by identifying the measure as as strictly “an insurance bill.” “Instead of encouraging that hypothetical situation from moving into protection for her by law enforcement, we’re saying, let’s cover that violation with an insurance payment,” she said.

“When she gets the abortion…are we empowering the perpetrator, because now out of a coercion…she gets an abortion, and it’s paid for by an insurance company — and then it may happen to her again?”

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/texas_republican_rape_victims_shouldnt_receive_abo rtion_coverage_because_their_claims_arent_measurab le/

boutons_deux

05-08-2015, 05:16 AM

Wisconsin’s F*ck-The-Poor Food Stamps Bill Will Cost Millions, Totally Worth It

Gosh, absolutely no one could have seen this coming: Wisconsin’s exciting new bill to shame the poor (http://wonkette.com/584739/wisconsin-takes-lead-in-fck-the-poors-sweepstakes-now-you-cant-buy-beans-and-rice)– by sharply restricting what items can be bought with food stamps — would actually cost the state millions of dollars to implement, (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/limits-on-food-stamp-choices-would-cost-state-millions-of-dollars-b99495676z1-302814621.html) even as the state learned that it won’t be raking in any new revenues due to tax cuts.

Turns out that if you actually want

to make sure EBT cards can’t be used to pay for wild, high-living luxury items like sharp cheddar cheese or white rice, you also have to develop and install new software for all the cash registers and scanners, so that the prohibited items can be excluded. That would come at a cost that the state’s budget office estimated (http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2015/related/fe/ab177/ab177_DHS.pdf) only as “several million dollars” — and possibly more.

Who knew?! Plus there’s the costs of drawing up the guidelines, managing the program, managing and updating the database of what foods the filthy takers would be allowed to buy, and so on. Food Police don’t work for free, after all (unless maybe the Masonic Police (http://wonkette.com/584876/secret-masonic-police-force-doing-secret-sht-from-hot-ca-attorney-generals-office-maybe) offer to help out).

Not a big deal, said one of the bill’s supporters, state Rep. Mark Born, a Republican who chairs the Public Benefit Reform Committee (and also represents a place called “Beaver Dam,”

http://wonkette.com/584932/wisconsins-fck-the-poor-food-stamps-bill-will-cost-millions-totally-worth-it

boutons_deux

05-09-2015, 11:35 AM

Alabama Rep. Saves Schoolkids From Learning They Are Disgusting Monkeys

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mack-butler.jpg

Alabama state Rep. Mack “Not a Porn Name” Butler has introduced a bill that will encourage students to “think critically” about science (http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/anti-evolution_legislation_int.html)by allowing teachers greater latitude to add stuff to science classes that isn’t so much science as not science, so everyone can learn more better! As Butler explains on his highly amusing Facebook page, (https://www.facebook.com/mack.butler.12) it’s all about freedom and openness, (https://www.facebook.com/mack.butler.12/posts/10204381000268005) and learning that we didn’t come from monkeys!

House Bill 592, (http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2015RS/PrintFiles/HB592-int.pdf) which is not at all a means of sneaking creationism into the science classroom — NOT AT ALL, why would you think that? — is simply asking students and teachers at all grade levels to:

explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific subjects; and to allow teachers to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of all existing scientific theories covered in a science course.

See? It uses “science” and “scientific” so much that it obviously is about teaching the best possible science ever, whether it’s the “theory of gravity” or the “theory of intelligent falling (http://www.theonion.com/article/evangelical-scientists-refute-gravity-with-new-int-1778).”

http://wonkette.com/585090/alabama-rep-saves-schoolkids-from-learning-they-are-disgusting-monkeys

Christian Bible humping theocrats! :lol

Alabama! :lol

Confederacy! :lol

boutons_deux

05-13-2015, 09:49 AM

tyranny of the extreme, destructive, nihilistic Repug fringe

Iowa Dem reveals cabal of homeschooling lawmakers are sabotaging public education funding

Democratic Iowa state Sen. Tom Courtney has alleged that a group of lawmakers who homeschool their own children have been working to sabotage public schools in the state.

After days of working to hammer out an agreement on public school funding, reportsindicated this week (http://www.ourquadcities.com/story/d/story/iowa-lawmakers-making-progress-on-education-fundin/42720/cPQlt4c25Ee4gX8sECiDoQ) that Republicans and Democrats were close to a deal.

According to the Democratic state senator, a group of homeschooling Republicans in the House and the Senate shouldered much of the blame for blocking public school funding.

“We’ve got about 20 percent of this Legislature are home schoolers,” he pointed out. The Daily Democrat confirmed that “16 members of the House and four or five members of the Senate” home schooled their children instead of sending them to public schools.

And Courtney said that those members were not interested in tax dollars funding public education.

“They don’t have any desire to keep public schools funded if they vote in a block that’s enough,”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/iowa-dem-reveals-cabal-of-homeschooling-lawmakers-are-sabotaging-public-education-funding/

boutons_deux

05-13-2015, 10:04 AM

Ohio Republicans Want To Enact A Literal Poll Tax Before The 2016 Election (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/13/3657958/ohio-republicans-want-enact-literal-poll-tax-2016-election/)

Twenty-four members of the Ohio House of Representatives — all Republicans — cosponsored a bill introduced last week that would require many Ohio residents to pay an actual poll tax in order to vote (https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-documents?id=GA131-HB-189).

Poll taxes are forbidden by the Constitution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution ).

Under this legislation, many voters would have to pay a fee in order to obtain an ID card that they need to vote (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ohio-republicans-push-new-voter-id-bill), thus effectively imposing a tax on the right to vote.

The poll tax is tucked into a voter ID bill, another common form of legislation that prevents many Americans from casting a ballot.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/13/3657958/ohio-republicans-want-enact-literal-poll-tax-2016-election/

boutons_deux

05-13-2015, 11:21 AM

Texas attorney general tells CNN: Gays can ‘feel how they want’ but marriage is for straight people

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested on Wednesday that a bill (http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20150511-texas-legislators-prepare-obstacles-for-gay-marriage.ece) that would prevent county clerks from issuing or recognizing same-sex marriage licenses was reaffirming the will of the voters of the state.

“We passed a constitutional amendment [banning same-sex marriage] in 2005, it was overwhelmingly approved by the voters,” Paxton told CNN host Alisyn Camerota.

“That’s our background here.”

Camerota noted that as recently as two years ago, polls showed that support for marriage equality in Texas was evenly split.

“If Texas follows national trend lines, we’ve seen support tick up for same-sex marriage,” she pointed out. “So, why pass a law that would apply to everyone?”

Paxton, however, argued that the “real poll” happened on election day.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/texas-attorney-general-tells-cnn-gays-can-feel-how-they-want-but-marriage-is-for-straight-people/

boutons_deux

05-14-2015, 04:16 PM

Key House Republican (from fucking TX of course) says 70% of NSF’s research dollars should go to “core” science -- not geo or social research

http://news.sciencemag.org/funding/2015/05/key-house-republican-says-70-nsf-s-research-dollars-should-go-core-science-not-geo

iow, defund climate science

boutons_deux

05-14-2015, 04:36 PM

Anti-Government Resistance Now The Beating Heart Of GOP

“Twenty years ago,” I wrote (http://www.nationalmemo.com/right-wing-extremism-not-just-for-radicals-anymore/), “the idea of anti-government resistance seemed confined to a lunatic fringe operating in the shadows beyond the mainstream. Twenty years later, it is the mainstream, the beating heart of the Republican Party. And while certainly no responsible figure on the right advocates or condones what he did, it is just as certain that McVeigh’s violent antipathy toward Washington, his conviction that America’s government is America’s enemy, has bound itself to the very DNA of modern conservatism.”
That’s the argument conservatives found “hateful” “sickening,” and “dishonest.”

So it is, depending upon your religious outlook, a fortuitous coincidence or superfluous evidence of God’s puckish sense of humor that a few days later comes news of conservatives accusing the federal government of trying to take over the state of Texas (http://www.nationalmemo.com/this-week-in-crazy-texas-is-nuttier-than-we-thought/4/). It seems the four branches of the U.S. military are gearing up for Operation Jade Helm 15, an eight-week training exercise across seven states. Right-wing conspiracy theorists online and on radio are claiming the exercise is actually a pretext for a federal takeover of the Lone Star State, with — get this — abandoned Walmarts to be used for the processing of prisoners!

Nor is this being laughed off by conservatives (http://www.nationalmemo.com/why-did-texas-politicians-cave-in-to-delusional-paranoia/) in positions of authority. To the contrary, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered (http://www.scribd.com/doc/263428299/Abbott-Jade-Helm-15-Letter)the state guard to monitor the exercise to safeguard Texan’s “civil liberties.” Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert has asked the military to change the exercise. Senator and presidential wannabe Ted Cruz said he checked with the Pentagon (http://www.nationalmemo.com/this-week-in-crazy-never-forget-sodom-and-gomorrah/) and while he accepts that it has no plans to conquer Texas — how magnanimous of him — “I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty” because the Obama administration “has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy.”

Forgive me if I don’t spend a lot of space pointing out that this is stupid, though I can’t resist asking: If the Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force were, indeed, planning to take over Texas, just what does Gov. Abbott think the state guard would be able to do about it?

http://www.nationalmemo.com/anti-government-resistance-now-the-beating-heart-of-gop/

boutons_deux

05-14-2015, 04:49 PM

Wyoming Makes Reporting Environmental Disasters Illegal

Techdirt has written several times about so-called "ag-gag (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140305/04333026436/green-scare-how-animal-rights-activists-are-being-branded-agro-terrorists39.shtml)" laws, which have the strange effect of making it illegal for members of the public to expose animal abuse on farms. Slate has a fascinating report about how Wyoming is bringing in its own kind of ag-gag law that is so wide in its reach that it could make taking photos in Yellowstone illegal (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/05/wyoming_law_against_data_collection_protecting_ran chers_by_ignoring_the.html):

photos are a type of data, and the new law makes it a crime to gather data about the condition of the environment across most of the state if you plan to share that data with the state or federal government.

The specificity of that restriction sounds absurd. Why on earth would anyone want to prevent environmental data being gathered? Here's why:

The state wants to conceal the fact that many of its streams are contaminated by E. coli bacteria, strains of which can cause serious health problems, even death.

The reason the state is trying to do that is because the E. coli in question comes from cows, and cows have clout in Wyoming:

Acknowledging that fact could result in rules requiring ranchers who graze their cows on public lands to better manage their herds. The ranching community in Wyoming wields considerable political power and has no interest in such obligations, so the state is trying to stop the flow of information rather than forthrightly address the problem.

The law is framed broadly: it makes it a crime to "preserve information in any form" about "open land" if there is any intention to submit it to a federal or state agency. That means that if you discovered a major environmental disaster in Wyoming, no matter how life-threatening, you had better keep information about it to yourself. As the Slate post points out:

By enacting this law, the Wyoming legislature has expressed its disdain for the freedoms protected by the First Amendment and the environmental protections enshrined in federal statutes. Today, environmentally conscious citizens face a stark choice: They can abandon efforts to protect the lands they love or face potential criminal charges.
Now that's what I call an ag-gag law.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150513/09500330986/wyoming-makes-reporting-environmental-disasters-illegal.shtml

boutons_deux

05-14-2015, 04:54 PM

House Passes Bill To Block EPA Proposal That Would Protect Millions Of Miles Of Streams (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/14/3658290/house-bill-blocks-waters-of-us-rule/)

http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AP881130964244-638x341.jpg

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a bill this week that would block a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clarify what streams, tributaries and wetlands can be protected under the Clean Water Act.

The proposed Waters of the United States rule (http://www2.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule/documents-related-proposed-definition-waters-united-states-under-clean-water-act) would help protect the one third of Americans who get their drinking water from sources that are currently without oversight, said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. Opponents said the proposed rule is regulatory overreach, and farm organizations voiced concern that the EPA would start checking up on agricultural ditches and seasonal puddles — bodies of water that are currently not regulated by the Clean Water Act.

“In no way do we intend to reduce the exclusions or exemptions that are currently in the Clean Water Act,” McCarthy said at a hearing in February (http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=8867b1d2-22e6-483e-ae77-5293aace2c0f). “Our goal in this rule is very straightforward. It is to respond to requests from stakeholders across the country to make the process of identifying waters protected under the Clean Water Act easier to understand, to make it more predictable and more consistent with the law and peer-reviewed science.”

The proposed Waters of the U.S. rule would offer protection to two million miles of streams and 20 million acres of wetlands (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/23/3570433/epa-science-advisory-board-clean-water/). Right now, those areas are not clearly designated under the Clean Water Act.

A report (http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebBOARD/8190D6B9903C3D7C85257D5600673535/$File/EPA-SAB-14-00x-WOUS_09.17.14.pdf) by the Science Advisory Board last year found that regulating these bodies of water is critical to protecting America’s water system. “The available science supports the conclusion that the types of water bodies identified as waters of the United States in the proposed rule exert strong influence on the physical, biological, and chemical integrity of downstream waters,” the report states.

The House bill, which was introduced by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), would force the EPA and the Secretary of the Army to halt (http://www.12newsnow.com/story/29038435/house-votes-to-block-epa-regulation-of-streams-wetlands) the proposed rule and develop a new one after additional discussions with state and local officials.

According to environmentalists, the bill is just another attack on the EPA’s oversight on polluters.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/14/3658290/house-bill-blocks-waters-of-us-rule/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Cli mate+Progress%29

boutons_deux

05-15-2015, 11:21 AM

Tennessee Republican who pressured mistress to have abortion votes to restrict them for other women

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Screen-Shot-2015-05-15-at-10.37.33-AM-800x430.png

On Wednesday, 242 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to outlaw abortions taking place after 20 weeks gestation. Among them, Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who has defended his ex-wife having two abortions, and who pressured one of his mistresses to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/tennessee-republican-who-pressured-mistress-to-have-abortion-votes-to-restrict-them-for-other-women/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

05-17-2015, 01:18 PM

Scott Walker: Visiting six countries makes me ‘the most’ qualified to be president on foreign policy

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/scott-walker-visiting-six-countries-makes-me-the-most-qualified-to-be-president-on-foreign-policy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

05-18-2015, 10:35 AM

The Old Lesbian talks tough

Lindsey Graham Running For President, Will Kill You For Your Thoughts If Elected

http://wonkette.com/585882/lindsey-graham-running-for-president-will-kill-you-for-your-thoughts-if-elected

South Carolina! :lol

Confederacy! :lol

Racist SOUTHERN Baptists! :lol

... The Old Lesbian says he's having a lot of "fun" running without a chance of being nominated. "Serious" Repugs run for the fun of it. Same story from Noot Gingrinch a few years ago, burned through several $10Ms, having fun.

36+ month Pres campaigns are nothing but business, certainly useless, inimical to democracy.

boutons_deux

05-18-2015, 01:04 PM

Orwell Alert!

Jeb Bush says 'a tolerant country' should support the right to discriminate (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/18/1385586/-Jeb-Bush-says-a-tolerant-country-should-support-the-right-to-discriminate)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/18/1385586/-Jeb-Bush-says-a-tolerant-country-should-support-the-right-to-discriminate#

The Boyz from FLA, dumb-and-shrubber too, then Rubio, are two stupid fucking cretins.

boutons_deux

05-19-2015, 08:44 AM

Shariah Law Panic In Idaho!!!

Jeopardizes US Role In Child-Support Treaty

jeopardizes U.S. participation in an international treaty that aims to make it easier for parents worldwide to collect child-support payments.

Critics have given passionate, emotional testimony, reiterating fears that killed the bill last month. They've called the legislation an unconstitutional overreach by the federal government that could allow Islamic law to influence U.S. courts.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/shariah-law-idaho-child-support-treaty?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Magic Negro Messiah OVERREACH!

ISIS and SHARIA gonna kill us all!

boutons_deux

05-20-2015, 04:17 PM

Louie Gohmert: Bush would never have invaded Iraq if he knew Obama would come along and bungle it

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/louie-gohmert-bush-would-never-have-invaded-iraq-if-he-knew-obama-would-come-along-and-bungle-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Fucking Texas! :lol

Fucking EAST Texas :lol

boutons_deux

05-21-2015, 01:57 PM

Kansas Poised To Grant Top Voter Suppression Architect The Power To Criminally Prosecute People (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/05/21/3661651/kobach-prosecute-voter-fraud/)

A bill that could head to the Kansas governor’s desk this week would give Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) the authority to prosecute cases of voter fraud. If signed, the legislation would grant him even more power to make voting a political issue and to intimidate and suppress voters (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/kris-kobach-twist-the-war-voting) from participating in elections.

The state House on Wednesday narrowly gave initial approval to the legislation, which would allow Kobach and future secretaries of state to bypass the attorney general to prosecute election crimes, a responsibility not typically given to the person delegated with running elections. The bill would also upgrade a number of election crimes to felonies from misdemeanors.

Kobach, who has notoriously attempted to purge the state’s voter rolls (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/01/26/3615391/kris-kobach-kansas-voter-list-error-riddled/) and pushed for the enactment (http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704816604576333650886790480) of a voter ID law, told the Topeka Captial-Journal (http://cjonline.com/news/2015-05-20/bill-give-kobach-prosecutorial-power-receives-early-house-approval-close-vote) that “the vote on the bill comes not a moment too soon.”

Kobach claims he has identified 100 cases of potential voting in the 2014 election — a tiny percentage of the total number of votes cast.

But even if he were to bring cases against the people who allegedly voted twice, similar investigations (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/03/13/3633472/husted-noncitizen-voters/) by other state attorneys general have found that most instances of alleged voter fraud are the result ofvoter confusion or mistakes (http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/01/potential_voter_fraud_cases_fr.html) made by election officials and not deliberate attempts to commit fraud.

When federal investigators looked into (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/kobach-voter-fraud-allegations-exposed-fraudulent) Kobach’s claims of voter fraud in the past, they determined the cases were not actually fraud.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/05/21/3661651/kobach-prosecute-voter-fraud/

KS, just another fucking Repug/VRWC/Kock Bros dystopia.

boutons_deux

05-21-2015, 02:06 PM

Everyone, Even Republican Voters, Think GOP Leaders In Congress Are Doing A Lousy Job

A Pew Research Poll released on May 21, 2015 (http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/21/negative-views-of-new-congress-cross-party-lines/), finds that Americans are unhappy with the Republican leadership in Congress.

72 percent of Americans disapprove (http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/21/negative-views-of-new-congress-cross-party-lines/) of the job the current GOP leadership in Congress is doing, to just 22 percent who approve of their job performance.Democrats and Independents are not the only ones discontent with the current Republican leadership in Congress.

Even a majority of Republicans are unhappy with Boehner, McConnell and the other Republican leaders in the House and Senate.

55 percent of Republicans disapprove (http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/21/negative-views-of-new-congress-cross-party-lines/) of their party’s Congressional leaders, to just 41 percent who view them favorably.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/21/everyone-republican-voters-gop-leaders-congress-lousy-job.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

What's wrong, Repug voters?

Not enough laws and regs from Repugs about god/guns/gays/xenophobia/racism/abortion/vaginas/rape?

boutons_deux

05-22-2015, 03:36 PM

Alabama’s chief justice: The ‘pursuit of happiness’ means following the Bible

The “pursuit of happiness” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence refers to following biblical teachings,

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/alabamas-chief-justice-the-pursuit-of-happiness-means-following-the-bible/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Alabama! :lol

Christian Taliban! :lol

Confederacy! :lol

boutons_deux

05-22-2015, 04:01 PM

Woman who ran over her husband with an SUV because he didn't vote against Obama is headed to prison (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/21/1386696/-Woman-who-ran-over-her-husband-with-an-SUV-because-he-didn-t-vote-against-Obama-is-headed-to-prison)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/21/1386696/-Woman-who-ran-over-her-husband-with-an-SUV-because-he-didn-t-vote-against-Obama-is-headed-to-prison?detail=email

boutons_deux

05-22-2015, 04:04 PM

Maryland governor says no to $11.6 mil for education and yes to $30 mil for children's prison (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/18/1385712/-Baltimore-governor-says-no-to-11-6-mil-for-education-and-yes-to-30-mil-for-children-s-prison)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/18/1385712/-Baltimore-governor-says-no-to-11-6-mil-for-education-and-yes-to-30-mil-for-children-s-prison?detail=email#

boutons_deux

05-25-2015, 10:21 AM

Texas governor signs bill to speed up permits for industrial projects by limiting public scrutiny

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Texas-Governor-Greg-Abbott-800x430.jpg
Abbot showing his has the 99% and the environment by the BALLS

Gov. Greg Abbott (http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/) has signed legislation aiming to quicken regulators’ pace (http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/30/texas-lawmakers-move-limit-environmental-protests/) of cranking out permits for major industrial projects by limiting public scrutiny — another victory for a wide range of industries and a blow to consumer and environmental advocates.

Senate Bill 709 (http://txlege.texastribune.org/84/bills/SB709/), which will now become law Sept. 1, is intended to scale back contested-case hearings, a process that allows the public to challenge industrial applications for permits at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), such as those allowing wastewater discharges or air pollution emissions.

Led by state Sen. Troy Fraser (http://www.texastribune.org/directory/troy-fraser/), R-Horseshoe Bay, and state Rep. Geanie Morrison (http://www.texastribune.org/directory/geanie-morrison/), R-Victoria, supporters argued that Texas’ current slow-moving bureaucracy was driving would-be employers into Louisiana and other neighboring states, and that the legislation – signed on Saturday – would give them more certainty here.

“We’re losing a lot of jobs to surrounding states,” Fraser said in April. “This is clearly for economic development.” ( Here's the ETERNAL REPUG LYING )

But critics are worried that limiting the process would stifle what little voice everyday Texans have when manufacturers, chemical plants, landfills and other high-polluting businesses set up shop in their communities.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/texas-governor-signs-bill-to-speed-up-permits-for-industrial-projects-by-limiting-public-scrutiny/

Enrich/protect/enable BigCorp and the 1%, screw the 99% and the environment.

boutons_deux

05-25-2015, 11:01 AM

Koch-Republicans Remember Soldiers’ Sacrifice With A Veterans Healthcare Coupon Scam

Since Barack Obama has been in office, Republicans have predictably blocked each and every Democratic attempt to increase funding for Veteran’s services whether it is better access to healthcare or providing assistance to find living-wage jobs.

In the 2012 general election, Republican presidential candidate Willard Romney floated an idea favored by the Koch brothers of giving America’s Veterans a limited dollar amount coupon to get healthcare privately they received for free through the Veterans Administration. Now, another Republican,

Jeb Bush, is the first GOP presidential candidate thus far to propose that the best way to show appreciation to America’s Veterans is the Koch brothers’ plan to privatize the VA (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/04/08/jeb-bush-calls-for-privatizing-veterans-health-care/) and issue a set dollar-amount coupon to be redeemed at private hospitals, private doctors’ offices, or health insurance carriers.

The Koch group began seriously pushing (http://m.thenation.com/blog/181707-how-koch-network-exploited-veterans-affairs-crisis) its Republican lackeys to create a “premium-support private insurance option” for Veterans healthcare services when drastically underfunded VA hospital could not provide timely services to Veterans. The privatization scam amounts to a yearly-issued, and set amount, coupon to purchase healthcare services at a private hospital or doctor’s office, or use as a discount card to purchase a private insurance policy.

While Republicans envision punishing over 8 million veterans enrolled to receive a wide range of services through the VA with a coupon and higher out-of-pocket expenses, the Kochs see potential profits from privateers.

Privatization means corporations will profit from the annual “89.7 million outpatient visits” and over “236,000 health care appointments per day” of Veterans at no charge because they served their country and survived.  The Koch goal, like all GOP privatization scams is leaving over 8 million veterans, tens-of-thousands with combat-related injuries, without coverage or services; it is the how the GOP supports the troops after they send them to fight unnecessary wars of aggression.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/25/koch-republicans-remember-soldiers-sacrifice-veterans-healthcare-coupon-scam.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

And TB :lol claims health care is not a Red vs Blue question! :lol

boutons_deux

05-25-2015, 12:29 PM

SENATOR INHOFE: PATRIOT ACT CRITICS FORGET THAT NORTH KOREA, IRAQ ON PATH TO “KILL EVERYONE”

Inhofe dismissed his constituents, claiming that privacy advocates don’t understand that “we’re in the most threatened position in the history of this country.”

The senator argued “countries like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, all of them are on the path to getting bombs and delivery systems that would reach the United States of America and could have the effect of killing everyone who is listening now.”

Inhofe went on to say that “everyone in the leadership except the president of the United States” recognizes the threat he was describing, adding, “when you stop and think and make a choice between having a complete city bombed out and privacy, my choice is easy.”

he is focused on working to “stop the EPA over-regulation that’s killing our farmers and a lot of our businesspeople.” :lol

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/22/sen-jim-inhofe-says-patriot-act-opponents-dont-understand-north-korea-path-kill-everyone/ (https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/22/sen-jim-inhofe-says-patriot-act-opponents-dont-understand-north-korea-path-kill-everyone/)

$1T per year on MIC and Corporate empire defense, and still USA is scared shitless about ISIS, Ebola, North Korea, black thugs.

Oklahoma! :lol

red states! :lol

Repugs! :lol

boutons_deux

05-25-2015, 03:57 PM

Creationist: If evolution is true, then it wasn’t wrong for Josh Duggar to molest his sisters

Eric Hovind — son of imprisoned creationist theme park operator Kent Hovind (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/01/the-next-right-wing-folk-hero-a-tax-dodging-creationist-who-thinks-demons-pilot-ufos/)

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Eric-Hovind-Facebook-800x430.png

“If evolution is true, then there is no absolute right and wrong,” Hovind said.

“If evolution is true Josh should not have admitted his faults over a decade ago because what one evolved bag of molecules does to another bag of molecules just doesn’t really matter.

If evolution is true there is no ultimate Judge on the bench who will hold every man, woman, and child responsible for their actions.

And if evolution is true you will not give an account for every idle word you speak.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/creationist-pastor-if-evolution-is-true-then-it-wasnt-wrong-for-josh-duggar-to-molest-his-sisters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Repug base! :lol

boutons_deux

05-27-2015, 11:08 AM

UNC "system" to be transformed into vocational school by Repugs/VRWC/Kock Bros/BigCorp

46 Degree Programs Eliminated Across UNC College System (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/26/1387816/-46-Degree-Programs-Eliminated-Across-UNC-College-System)

I guess the North Carolina Board of Governors educational planning committee for the University educational system didn't think these programs were important to our education of our young adults, or warranted due to "market forces"...

“We’re capitalists, and we have to look at what the demand is, and we have to respond to the demand.” - Board member Steven Long.

So now our college educational system, of which North Carolin's had been the example and envy of most of the state systems in this country, is under the scrutiny of "market forces". Want to see which one they eliminated from the main univesity campus of UNC in Chapel Hill?

Thursday morning, the Board of Governors educational planning committee voted to discontinue 46 degree programs across the UNC-System, including one at UNC-Chapel Hill: human biology

"Human Biology"????W.T.F.?

Follow me below to view the degree programs to be eliminated, and from which campuses....

From the desk of: "We Don't Need No Stink'n Education" department, discontinued degree programs:

Appalachian State University: Family and Consumer Sciences, Secondary Education; Technology Education; Mathematics, EducationElizabeth City State University: Special Education, General Curriculum; Middle Grades Education; English, Secondary Education; Political Science
East Carolina University: French K-12; German K-12; Hispanic Studies Education; German; French; Public History; Special Education, Intellectual Disabilities; Vocational Education
Fayetteville State University: Art Education; Music Education; Biotechnology
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University: Comprehensive Science Education; Physical Education
North Carolina Central University: Theatre; Jazz
North Carolina State University: Africana Studies; Women’s and Gender Studies; Business and Marketing Education; Physiology
UNC-Charlotte: Child and Family Development; Special Education, Adapted Curriculum; English Education; Mathematics Education
UNC-Chapel Hill: Human Biology
UNC-Greensboro: Mathematics, Secondary Education (BA); Mathematics, Secondary Education (BS); Economics, Secondary Education; Biology, Secondary Education (BA); Biology, Secondary Education (BS); Composition; Latin Education; Biochemistry
UNC School of the Arts: Film Music Composition
UNC-Wilmington: Physical Education and Health; Music Performance
Western Carolina University: Health Information Administration
Winston-Salem State University: Biotechnology; Elementary Education; Teaching English as a Second Language and Linguistics

Yes sir, this is your state government on A.L.E.C./Koch brothers/Art Pope control. This is what the "Free Market" world looks like, and it isn't just limited to how many different types of toothpaste, or canned beans you have available at your local grocery store.Read it and weep as this could be the future of your state's educational system at a university branch near you.

Pathetic. Read all about it.....

(http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2015/05/board-of-governors-eliminates-46-degree-programs-across-unc-system)http://www.dailytarheel.com/...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/26/1387816/-46-Degree-Programs-Eliminated-Across-UNC-College-System?detail=emailtest#

boutons_deux

05-27-2015, 04:56 PM

Pope Francis’ climate change beliefs compared to Aztec human sacrifices at Koch-funded event

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/watch-pope-francis-climate-change-beliefs-compared-to-aztec-human-sacrifices-at-koch-funded-event/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Kock Bros and BigCarbon are a bigger threat to USA than ISIS.

boutons_deux

05-28-2015, 11:08 AM

‘Breathtaking in its stupidity': Wisconsin GOP bill would allow high school dropouts to teach high school

Republicans lawmakers in Wisconsin have proposed a rule change that would allow high school dropouts to be licensed to teach in public schools, which critics have slammed as “breathtaking in its stupidity.”

DPI would be required to “issue a teaching permit for individuals who have not earned a bachelor’s degree, or potentially a high school diploma, to teach in any subject area, excluding the core subjects of mathematics, English, science, and social studies.”

DPI also pointed out that the state would be banned from placing any additional requirements on school staff, including background checks and fingerprinting.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/breathtaking-in-its-stupidity-wisconsin-gop-bill-would-allow-high-school-dropouts-to-teach-high-school/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

05-28-2015, 01:34 PM

Texas County Shuts Down Militia's Hope Of Becoming its Official 'Military Force'

A southeast Texas county on Tuesday put the kibosh on a resolution that would've made it the first in the Lone Star State to designate a county militia.

David W. Smith, the leader of a group called the Golden Triangle Militia, has been working toward getting Orange County to recognize his group for about a year and a half.

He told TPM in an interview last week (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/david-w-smith-golden-triangle-militia) that Texas law already enshrines his group's right to exist as part of the state's military forces, :lol

but he wanted the Orange County Commissioner's Court to follow the law and formally recognize the Golden Triangle Militia so that its members could lend a hand as needed.

County Judge Brint Carlton said in the meeting that "the county, by way of this resolution, had no intention and still has no intention of creating a militia,"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/orange-county-texas-drops-militia-resolution?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

boutons_deux

05-28-2015, 04:44 PM

Gun activist calls on Texans to arrest and hang state lawmakers after open carry bill is delayed

“I’m calling for the arrest of every elected official in Texas that voted against open carry,” Watkins said. “They should be arrested, charged with treason and should face a punishment that could result in being hung from the tree of liberty.”

“And let me remind you – going against the Constitution is treason, and, my friend, that is punishable by death. That’s how serious this is.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/gun-activist-calls-on-texans-to-arrest-and-hang-state-lawmakers-after-open-carry-bill-is-delayed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

guns and religion, fucking up America for self-aggrandizement and profit

... and if he were black, fomenting violence against state employees?

DarrinS

05-28-2015, 06:18 PM

This thread is to boutons posts...

as this beach is to...

http://youtu.be/Lqg8I4w0ItM

boutons_deux

05-29-2015, 11:08 AM

Louisiana Breaks Off Trade Relations with Ireland

http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Borowitz-Jindal-Louisiana-Ireland-690.jpg

BATON ROUGE – In the aftermath of Irish voters legalizing gay marriage, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has used his emergency powers to ban all Irish products from the state.

The sweeping trade sanctions will prevent popular Irish products, such as Jameson whiskey and Guinness Extra Stout, from being sold in Louisiana.

Jindal explained that breaking off trade with Ireland was necessary to protect the sanctity of marriage in Louisiana.

“Every time someone takes a sip of Guinness, a part of straight marriage dies,” he said.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/louisiana-breaks-off-trade-relations-with-ireland

boutons_deux

05-29-2015, 01:19 PM

How the hell can Ted Cruz support Texas flood relief after telling Hurricane Sandy victims to rot? (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/28/1388510/-How-the-hell-can-Ted-Cruz-support-Texas-flood-relief-after-telling-Hurricane-Sandy-victims-to-rot)

"Today, Texans are hurting. They're hurting here in San Marcos. They're hurting in Wimberley. They're hurting in Houston. They're hurting across the state."Democrats and Republicans in the congressional delegation will stand as one in support of the federal government meeting its statutory obligations to provide the relief to help the Texans who are hurting."

When Hurricane Sandy wreaked even greater damage across the Northeast in 2012, Cruz told his suffering fellow citizens to get bent (http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/01/ted-cruz-says-he-voted-against-storm-aid-because-cynical-politicians-larded-bill-with-spending-utterly-unrelated-to-sandy/):

"This bill is symptomatic of a larger problem in Washington—an addiction to spending money we do not have. The United States Senate should not be in the business of exploiting victims of natural disasters to fund pork projects that further expand our debt."

Cruz voted against Sandy aid, of course, but now that it's his own backyard that's under water—and not some wretched blue states half a country away—he's all for federal disaster assistance.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/28/1388510/-How-the-hell-can-Ted-Cruz-support-Texas-flood-relief-after-telling-Hurricane-Sandy-victims-to-rot?detail=emailtest

If Barry visits TX like he visited NJ, will Krazy Kruz and Greg Abbutt hug Obama for his $Bs in aid?

:lol

DarrinS

05-29-2015, 01:29 PM

Stay in your litter box, byatch!

boutons_deux

05-30-2015, 09:17 AM

Stay in your litter box, byatch!

excellent response to The Great Boutons bitch-slapping your ilk

boutons_deux

05-30-2015, 09:19 AM

Bobby Jindal’s Lawsuit Against Common Core Law He Signed Moves Forward (http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/29/3664139/bobby-jindal-continues-legal-crusade-common-core-law-signed/)

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has continued his legal battle against Common Core standards,

despite the fact that he enthusiastically supported the standards in 2012.

Jindal pushed for the implementation of standards, even as the state’s education department officials were concerned that a bill easing implementation of the standards wasn’t worth the political dust-up (http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/07/bobby_jindal_administration_pu.html).

Three years has made a quite a difference in Jindal’s outlook on the issue.

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/29/3664139/bobby-jindal-continues-legal-crusade-common-core-law-signed/

Repugs, tea baggers! :lol

boutons_deux

05-30-2015, 09:28 AM

Fat Bastard Turns On Common Core Standards After Calling Opposition A ‘Knee-Jerk Reaction’ (http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/29/3663977/chris-christie-turns-common-core-standards-calling-opposition-knee-jerk-reaction/)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came out against Common Core standards Thursday, after supporting them a couple years ago.

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/05/29/3663977/chris-christie-turns-common-core-standards-calling-opposition-knee-jerk-reaction/

Looks like trashing CC is going to be a Repug talking point.

boutons_deux

05-30-2015, 09:41 AM

Alabama Minister Fined And Sentenced To Probation After She Tries To Marry A Same-Sex Couple (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/28/3663548/alabama-minister-fined-sentenced-probation-tries-marry-sex-couple/)http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/28/3663548/alabama-minister-fined-sentenced-probation-tries-marry-sex-couple/

boutons_deux

05-30-2015, 09:06 PM

Fox Hits A Deplorable Low By Giving The Duggars A Platform To Explain Away Child Molestation

Fox News has hit a new low by announcing that they are giving Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar airtime in order to allow them to explain away how they covered up the child molestation crimes committed by their son Josh.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announced via a post on their blog that they would be going on Fox News next week, “Next week we will sit down with Megyn Kelly on Fox News to share our hearts with you about the pain that we walked through as a family twelve years ago, the tears we all shed and the forgiveness that was given. We appreciate the outpouring of love and prayers for our family at this time.”

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/30/fox-hits-deplorable-giving-duggars-platform-explain-child-molestation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

Fuck you, freaky Duggars, you covered up a crime, you're an accomplice to that crime.

Slutter McGee

05-31-2015, 12:15 AM

Th'Pusher

05-31-2015, 12:43 AM

Democrats must be incapable of understanding the difference between the state and federal levels of government.

Slutter McGee

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ron-Burgundy-That-Doesnt-Make-Any-Sense.gif

boutons_deux

06-01-2015, 02:18 PM

nasty, deep red Indiana's austerity is gonna cost $100Ms

Inside an HIV Epidemic

How Indiana’s healthcare infrastructure has been deteriorating over the past 20 years. Many HIV/STD clinics have shut down due to lack of funding – forcing residents to travel hours to be properly tested.
The staggering cost of HIV treatment. Over a patient's lifetime, healthcare and public assistance costs can come in just under $1 million. Experts say, over the long term, the epidemic could cost Scott County nearly a quarter of a billion dollars -- crucial funds which could have been used earlier for prevention and resources.
How even though disease numbers must be reported to the state, there's no requirement to notify local counties. This loophole created the "perfect storm," Segall says, where Scott County officials were the last to know they had an epidemic brewing in their own backyard.

http://www.propublica.org/podcast/item/muckreads-podcast-inside-an-epidemic/?utm_source=et&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter&utm_content=&utm_name=

Repug governance, Repugs fucking up everything they touch.

DarrinS

06-01-2015, 03:22 PM

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/idUWom5QbP4/hqdefault.jpg

Slutter McGee

06-02-2015, 12:37 AM

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Ron-Burgundy-That-Doesnt-Make-Any-Sense.gif

You can oppose standards at the Federal level and still support them at the state level. Of course it fucking makes sense.

Slutter McGee

boutons_deux

06-02-2015, 08:42 AM

Texas is "Business friendly"? how about "business operated"

Electric Industry Created Their Own Air Pollution Permits, Held Private Meetings With Texas Regulator

Emails obtained and released by the Environmental Integrity Project show that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) worked behind closed doors with the state's electric power trade association and utility companies to weaken standards for air pollution control permits.

The emails (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2089018-emails-between-industry-and-tceq-with-notes-from.html) and documents (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2089017-foia-document-1-permit-template-from-industry-to.html) reveal that Association of Electric Companies of Texas (http://www.aect.net/about-aect/member-companies/) (AECT) and utility employees held private meetings with state regulators to discuss revisions to the permits and provided language that was incorporated verbatim by the regulations into the final text of the revised permits. The language ended up nullifying the federal Clean Air Act hourly limits on particulate pollution during the startup, shutdown, and maintenance periods (SSM) at the coal plants.

These changes to the permits allowed electric utility companies in Texas to emit more particulate pollution than allowed by federal standards. In one case, for example, the coal plants are allowed to emit 30 times more pollution than the previous limit. Particulate pollution is the fly ash emitted from power plants, which can cause serious health effects such as lung cancer and heart disease.

It is possible that the reason AECT and its members sought to revise the permits was to avoid changing the emission limits in the EPA approved State Implementation Plan (SIP), because doing so would have required public notices and re-approval from the EPA.
In fact, the EPA stated in 2010 (http://environmentalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/Petition-to-EPA-over-Texas-coal-plants.pdf):

"If the State wishes to issue a NSR [new source review] SIP permit that does not meet the applicable requirements of the Texas SIP, then any such alternative limits would need to be submitted to EPA for approval as a source-specific revision to the SIP, before they would modify the federally applicable emission limits in the approved SIP."

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31062-electric-industry-created-their-own-air-pollution-permits-held-private-meetings-with-texas-regulators

iow, a case where Nutter Slutter's state "standards" violate Federal standards, but that's OK:

Texas Among Nation's Worst Water Polluters

( for laughs, see the TCEQ bureaucrat's comments )

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/19/texas-among-nations-worst-water-polluters/

and no doubt the AECT and its Repug whores in govt are also behind super sunny TX lagging way behind in rooftop solar.

boutons_deux

06-02-2015, 02:35 PM

The Bible v. the Constitution

Politicians, school boards, principals, and teachers are pushing creationism on kids.

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/06/150602_SCI_Creationism.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg

When a student in Louisiana opens her textbook in biology class, she might not have the standard Miller and Levine Biology (http://www.millerandlevine.com/ots-scholarship.html)with a dragonfly on the cover, and she might not ever learn about evolution.

For some Louisiana public school students, their science textbook is the Bible, and in biology class they read the Book of Genesis to learn the “creation point of view (http://www.repealcreationism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Creation-Point-of-View.pdf).”

Through a public records request, I obtained dozens of emails from the Bossier Parish school district that specifically discuss teaching creationism. Shawna Creamer, a science teacher at Airline High School, sent an email to the principal, Jason Rowland, informing him of which class periods she would use to teach creationism. “We will read in Genesis and them [sic] some supplemental material debunking various aspects of evolution from which the students will present,” Creamer wrote (http://www.repealcreationism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Creation-Point-of-View.pdf).

In another email exchange with Rowland, a parent had complained that a different teacher, Cindy Tolliver, actually taught that evolution was a “fact.” This parent complained that Tolliver was “pushing her twisted religious beliefs onto the class. :lol

”Principal Rowland responded (http://www.repealcreationism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Rowland-Wont-Happen-Again.pdf), “I can assure you this will not happen again.”

Another email was sent by Bossier High School assistant principal Doug Scott to Michael Stacy, a biology teacher at that school. “I enjoyed the visit to your class today as you discussed evolution and creationism in a full spectrum of thought,” :lol Scott wrote (http://www.repealcreationism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Rich-Content-.pdf). “Thank you for the rich content as you bring various sources to bear in your curriculum.”

The Louisiana Science Education Act, passed by the state legislature in 2008, permits science teachers to use supplemental materials to “critique” evolution, opening a backdoor that these teachers are using, as intended, to teach creationism. Such lessons are allowed under this Louisiana law, but they are illegal under federal law (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/education/judge-rejects-teaching-intelligent-design.html?_r=0).

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/06/louisiana_science_education_school_boards_principa ls_and_teachers_endorse.html

"full spectrum of thought" must be a cajun idiom.

Repugs and Christian Taliban, keeping kids dumb as fuck.

Th'Pusher

06-02-2015, 06:40 PM

You can oppose standards at the Federal level and still support them at the state level. Of course it fucking makes sense.

Slutter McGee
You misunderstand. Are common core standards created, administered and enforced at the state or the federal level? Maybe that'll help you out.

boutons_deux

06-03-2015, 01:49 PM

News from Kockistan's Kockenstein
(http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/06/03/3664754/scott-walkers-war-bikes/)
Scott Walker’s Baffling War On Bikes (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/06/03/3664754/scott-walkers-war-bikes/)

If the state legislature approves Governor Scott Walker’s budget, which slashes funding for bike infrastructure (http://wuwm.com/post/joint-finance-expected-consider-proposed-bicycle-infrastructure-funding-cuts), boosts spending on freeways (http://streetsblog.net/2015/05/26/federal-court-wisconsin-uses-bogus-traffic-data-to-justify-highways/) and imposes a new tax on bicycle sales, the ranking could plummet further.

touting his record of slashing taxes (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/05/07/3655893/scott-walkers-corporate-tax-breaks-come-back-haunt/) on corporations and the wealthy

Yet Governor Walker and his allies in the Madison statehouse have found one corporate sector where they’re willing to raise taxes: bicycles (http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_2a4763fa-a2e5-567d-bc25-02ba4758e778.html). Though they have been hesitant to hesitant (http://lacrossetribune.com/news/state-and-regional/state-budget-deliberations-stall-over-transportation-funding/article_7ca1ac36-9c93-52dc-a683-5a29221a5159.html) to consider boosting taxes on gasoline or vehicle registration fees, state lawmakers have been pushing a $25 tax on the sale of all new bicycles in the state, on top of the existing sales tax.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/06/03/3664754/scott-walkers-war-bikes/

boutons_deux

06-03-2015, 01:52 PM

Scott Walker’s deranged new low: Force women to carry their rapists’ pregnancies and let men sue over abortion

Trent Franks’ version, is designed around the medically discredited claim that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks.

, the measure also allows men to sue for emotional damages. More from the bill (emphasis mine):

The bill allows the woman on whom the abortion was performed or attempted,and the father of the unborn child, unless the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest, to bring a claim for damages against a person who violates these limitations and requirements. A prosecuting attorney may also bring an action for injunctive relief for intentional or reckless violations of the limitations and requirements.

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/03/scott_walkers_deranged_new_low_force_women_to_carr y_their_rapists_pregnancies_and_let_men_sue_over_a bortion/

boutons_deux

06-03-2015, 03:34 PM

Santorum's Clueless Pope Bashing Is Not Even Accurate

Santorum says the Pope should leave science to the scientists. The Pope has an advanced chemistry degree.

http://www.alternet.org/belief/santorum-says-pope-francis-who-has-masters-chemistry-should-leave-science-scientists

you repugs, rednecks, rightwingnuts are stupid, ignoarnt as your political leaders.

boutons_deux

06-05-2015, 11:46 AM

Suphur Springs, rural east TX, these cretinous teachers probably vote Repug, and elect Gohmert! :lol

TX teachers mock special ed students with ‘ghetto awards’ – insist they didn’t mean to degrade anyone

A Texas school district has launched an investigation into two middle school teachers’ years-long practice of distributing “Ghetto Awards” to children receiving special education services,

A 14-year-old Sulphur Springs Middle School student came home from school this week with a certificate that read “8th Annual Ghetto Classroom Awards” on top. The document stated the boy had specifically earned a “huh?” award this year for expressing so much confusion in class. Teachers had handed the certificates out to a classroom of students receiving supportive services for learning disabilities (http://www.fox4news.com/story/29244373/school-district-apologizes-for-offensive-student-certificate).

her son’s teachers don’t appear to understand that their annual “Ghetto Awards” were offensive.

Wilkins describes the teachers’ arguments as (http://www.fox4news.com/story/29244373/school-district-apologizes-for-offensive-student-certificate), “Ghetto was not supposed to be a malicious intent to degrade,” her son. According to Wilkins, teachers told her the certificate they gave her child “was supposed to be all in fun.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/tx-teachers-mock-special-ed-students-with-ghetto-awards-insist-they-didnt-mean-to-degrade-anyone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

You Stay Classy, Texas (and fucking ignorant, with shitty, low class teachers paid shit, no education)

DarrinS

06-05-2015, 12:29 PM

http://33.media.tumblr.com/be1ebd1d34e3dc5a8e4f01d1b9906067/tumblr_inline_myxrr8uTMl1rbua3x.jpg

boutons_deux

06-05-2015, 12:31 PM

http://33.media.tumblr.com/be1ebd1d34e3dc5a8e4f01d1b9906067/tumblr_inline_myxrr8uTMl1rbua3x.jpg

shovelin' Darrin's brain

Slutter McGee

06-05-2015, 06:40 PM

You misunderstand. Are common core standards created, administered and enforced at the state or the federal level? Maybe that'll help you out.

Since you insist on being obtuse. Common Core is a program being forced on the states in much the same way that .08 BAC laws were forced. With funding incentives. Of course states can opt out, and lose tons of money. It's a national program.

Slutter McGee

Th'Pusher

06-05-2015, 06:47 PM

Since you insist on being obtuse. Common Core is a program being forced on the states in much the same way that .08 BAC laws were forced. With funding incentives. Of course states can opt out, and lose tons of money. It's a national program.

Slutter McGee
Which states have lost funding for opting out of common core?

TeyshaBlue

06-05-2015, 07:00 PM

All of them if they had any sense. Common core, thus far, is a poor strat/curriculum.

Th'Pusher

06-05-2015, 07:13 PM

All of them if they had any sense. Common core, thus far, is a poor strat/curriculum.
I'm not arguing the merits of common core. But studdard seems to think states have been coerced into adopting the standard by the Feds by threatening their funding. That's a bullshit lie. Studdard watches too much Fox News.

TeyshaBlue

06-05-2015, 08:10 PM

True.. There is the potential to lose control of Title 1 funds...but thats not losing funding.

boutons_deux

06-07-2015, 07:43 PM

NRA darling Ted Cruz requires background check for supporters who want to shoot with himhttp://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/nra-darling-ted-cruz-requires-background-check-for-supporters-who-want-to-shoot-with-him/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

fed aid for Sandy's blue states? hell no

fed aid for TX red rurals? hell yes

b/g checks for everybody? hell no

b/g checks for shootin with me? hell yes

:lol

boutons_deux

06-07-2015, 07:59 PM

Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is leader of 2016 election pack in Iowa

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/republican-walker-is-leader-of-2016-election-pack-in-iowa/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

Iowa! :lol

Grassley + Ernst! :lol

relevance of less than 1% of the country! :lol

boutons_deux

06-08-2015, 08:12 PM

Jeb Bush’s Favorite Author Rejects Democracy, Says The Hyper-Rich Should Seize Power

http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/murray.jpg

he is free to rail against democracy to his heart’s content. And that is exactly what he does in his new book,By The People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission (http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/226903/by-the-people-by-charles-murray/).

Pay no attention to the title. Government “by the people” is the last thing Murray cares to see. Murray admits that the kind of government he seeks, a libertarian fantasy where much of our nation’s regulatory and welfare state has been dismantled, is “beyond the reach of the electoral process and the legislative process.” He also thinks it beyond the branch of government that is appointed by elected officials. The Supreme Court, Murray claims, “destroyed” constitutional “limits on the federal government’s spending authority” when it upheld Social Security in 1937. Since then, the federal government has violated a “tacit compact” establishing that it would not “unilaterally impose a position on the moral disputes that divided America” (Murray traces the voiding of this compact to 1964, the year that Congress banned whites-only lunch counters).

King George’s Revenge

Murray is probably best known for co-authoring 1994’s The Bell Curve (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/01/1262431/top-conservative-author-endorses-benevolent-sexism/), a quasi-eugenic tract which argued that black people are genetically disposed to be less intelligent that white people. Yet, while The Bell Curve “practically spawned an entire field of scholarship devoted to debunking it (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/01/1262431/top-conservative-author-endorses-benevolent-sexism/),” Murray remains one of the most influential conservative thinkers in America today.

The government Murray seeks is “not going to happen by winning presidential elections and getting the right people appointed to the Supreme Court.” Rather, By The People, is a call for people sympathetic to Murray’s goals — and most importantly, for fantastically rich people sympathetic to those goals — to subvert the legitimate constitutional process entirely.

“The emergence of many billion-dollar-plus private fortunes over the last three decades,” Murray writes, “has enabled the private sector to take on ambitious national or even international tasks that formerly could be done only by nation-states.”

Murray’s most ambitious proposal is a legal defense fund, which “could get started if just one wealthy American cared enough to contribute, say, a few hundred million dollars,” that would essentially give that wealthy American veto power over much of U.S. law.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/05/26/3662560/jeb-bushs-favorite-author-publishes-318-page-rant-democracy/

any of you rightwingnuts got anybody on the left as scary as this subversive asshole?

boutons_deux

06-10-2015, 08:19 AM

FatBastard wants war, because REPUGS love war and killing

Christie: It's Time For A 'Military Approach' To Show China Who's Boss

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-christie-new-hampshire-china?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

FatBastard, and all you gun-fellatin, war-loving rightwingnuts:

China can and will do whatever the fuck it wants to do, just like the USA, which compromised itself by outsourcing its industry to China.

boutons_deux

06-11-2015, 03:08 PM

VRWC/Repug War On Employees, with Christ's help

Montana Republican: Noah was 600 years old when he built the Ark, so why do Americans need retirement?

Greg Gianforte, aspiring Republican governor of Montana, urges college students to reject policy that favors savings plans and retirement options because, like Noah, Christians have “an obligation to work” until they are hundreds of years old, the Huffington Post reports (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/greg-gianforte-montana_n_7536568.html).

Speaking at the Montana Bible College in February, Gianforte told students, “There’s nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it’s been an accepted concept in our culture today. Nowhere does it say, ‘Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.’ It doesn’t say that anywhere

“The example I think of is Noah,” Gianforte continued. “How old was Noah when he built the Ark? 600. He wasn’t like, cashing Social Security checks. He wasn’t hanging out; he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/montana-republican-noah-was-600-years-old-when-he-build-the-ark-so-why-do-americans-need-retirement/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

you rightwingnuts elect and support some really fucked-ass crazy-ass politicians.

boutons_deux

06-11-2015, 03:48 PM

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill.

This bill prevents science-based agencies like the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from working on any substantive issues regarding climate change.

This means NOAA will no longer be able to publish its reports on global temperature trends, and NASA's online resources about climate change will go dark.

This bill contains the “Bird Killer Amendment,"offered by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), which guts the enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, our country’s premiere law for bird conservation.

The amendment prevents the Department of Justice from spending any funds to prosecute violators of the Act, even if those violations are egregious, intentional and kill millions of birds.

http://www.audubonaction.org/site/News2?abbr=aa_&page=NewsArticle&id=6323&pgwrap=n&autologin=true&utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2015-06-11-advisory#skip_interests

gun fellators everywhere loadin and lockin to kill Ms of migratory birds.

DarrinS

06-11-2015, 05:42 PM

http://i.imgur.com/6QQ9U.gif

boutons_deux

06-12-2015, 11:28 AM

Koch-Republicans In Senate Vote To Nullify the Clean Water Act

the real Republican objection to the EPA following its mandate, and Supreme Court directive, is that the oil, coal, and chemical industry will be required to adhere to the Clean Water Act regulations prohibiting the mass dumping of toxic chemicals, coal waste, petroleum products, and carcinogens in America’s water supply. On Wednesday, Republicans did what the Koch brothers have demanded and voted to pass a bill that effectively nullifies the EPA’s recently announced regulations to stop the oil, coal, and chemical industry from poisoning Americans’ water.

The vote in the Senate Environment and Public Works committee was, naturally, along party lines (11-9) with only Republicans supporting the nullification vote. The bill was sponsored by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and simply put nullifies the Waters of the United States Rule released barely two weeks ago. The Koch bill also sets very specific guidelines that the Kochs claim it will allow the EPA to enact when it re-writes the rule to permit the oil, coal, and chemical industry unrestricted rights to dump waste products, toxic chemicals, and carcinogens into Americans’ water supplies.

The new Republican requirements include a very long list of the bodies of water the Kochs forbid the EPA to regulate, and it requires that the EPA must consult (http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/244525-senators-vote-to-overturn-obamas-water-rule) Republican legislatures and private corporations before the Kochs will allow the agency to even begin rewriting the new rules. The Senate Republican bill eliminates any involvement by President Obama, or the Executive Branch the EPA is part of, from the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation or enforcement of any provision of the 43-year old Clean Water Act.

As it stands now, the newly-released Clean Water Rule does precisely what the Supreme Court advised the EPA to do in several recent cases; clarify exactly which bodies of water can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. The 1972 Clean Water Act (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Water_Act)already prohibits the EPA from addressing or regulating groundwater contaminated by the oil, coal, and chemical industries.

In its current form, the Waters of the United States Rule, also known as the Clean Water Rule (CWR), restores protections for what any half-wit understands are “navigable waterways and their tributaries, or bodies of water that feed rivers and lakes.” Those “navigable waterways” represent the sources that over a third of the population gets its drinking, cooking, and bathing water from.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/12/koch-republicans-senate-voted-nullify-clean-water-act.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

06-12-2015, 11:35 AM

Scott Walker & The Haunting Terror of Knowledge

http://a4.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/ywo4gdtmhxgezrpeyucd.jpg

We got a huge amount of reader response to my post yesterday about the impending demise (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/goodbye-madison) of the University of Wisconsin. That's not terribly surprising. One of the things we've learned over the years from audience research is that about half our readers have advanced degrees and a disproportionately large number of them are in education, from K through college. As I said in that post (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/goodbye-madison), I'm more interested in the practical effect of what Walker is trying to do than a discussion of tenure in the abstract. Because what Walker is doing is basically like lighting your own house on fire. States can get into financial jams and need to cut spending, either because of budgetary mismanagement or rough economic times.

But if you look closely at what Walker is doing there's no real budgetary imperative behind it. It's just a desire to destroy a great public institution for the sake of doing it, driven in part by right-wing ideology and in part by the palpable animus Walker himself holds to people who managed to get an education.

A big part of what is happening here is that, to people like Walker, Madison is an anchor of Wisconsin liberalism. But not just liberalism in the partisan political sense, also scarier things like empirical thinking and new ideas. And it's not just the humanities. What really comes out in this article (http://theconversation.com/what-else-will-we-lose-when-wisconsin-faculty-loses-tenure-42929) is how much of the scythe is aimed at the sciences.

At the end of the day, the people of Wisconsin aren't victims here. They elected Walker and his no less aggressive GOP legislatures. Indeed, they've reelected them, albeit in low turnout off year elections. But the University of Wisconsin is a great public institution. Indeed, it is one of the first models of the American research university, a model for research and higher education with roots in Germany but which took on a unique and ambitious form in the United States, particularly in its state university incarnation. Ivies get a lot of the glory. But even though the Harvards and Princetons and Yales predate these schools by more than a century in most cases, these glitz universities were themselves remade in the image of these flagship state research universities starting a bit over a hundred years ago.

The country will get along okay without a great University of Wisconsin. But these great universities are public trusts. This really is pretty much like just lighting it on fire. Still, as I said, a great opportunity for pro-science states that want to swoop in and take advantage.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/walker-and-the-fear-of?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

VRWC, Repugs fucking up EVERYTHING they can.

boutons_deux

06-12-2015, 11:41 AM

Nevada GOP congressman: My kids ‘will not be a drain on society’ like disabled children

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/hardy11-800x430.jpg

Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-NV) said recently at a Libertarian Party event that he hoped his children would never be a “drain on society” like people who were disabled.

“I have three children,” Hardy explains. “One of them is summa cum laude and two were magna cum laude. The other one, he didn’t need an education. He works for Raytheon, smarter than all the rest. He works hard, he builds things that are genius. Some people have that ability.”

“But they all work hard. They are raising their own families,” he continued. “They will not be a drain on society, the best they can. Hopefully they will never have some disability that causes them to have to utilize that.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/nevada-gop-congressman-my-kids-will-not-be-a-drain-on-society-like-disabled-children/

Goddam, you rightwingnuts and your Repug politicians are fucking sociopathic, hateful assholes.

boutons_deux

06-12-2015, 01:32 PM

Bill would devastate Big Bend National Park

Our newly minted U.S. Representative, Will Hurd, has co-sponsored a bill in the US House of Representatives titled: Secure Our Borders First Act of 2015, (HR399).

This is the same snake oil that was peddled by our former Tea Party Representative, Canseco, during his one term representing the 23rd Congressional District.

The man behind the curtain pushing this bill is the same man who pushed identical legislation in 2010, Utah Tea Party Congressman Bob Bishop, who is heavily funded by the oil and gas industries. Their goal is to open our national lands to exploitation by the mineral extraction industries.

I was willing to grant Congressman Hurd the benefit of the doubt, attributing his support of this pernicious legislation to naiveté and inexperience in this new job.
However, after reading his comments in an OpEd wherein he claimed to be an authority on US-Mexico border issues by virtue of his having served with the CIA in the Middle East, his ignorance of said issues is willful and unforgivable.

Let me explain what this bill will do and why it is so repugnant. First off, Homeland Security does not support this legislation and said so back in 2010.

That agency feels this bill is heavy-handed, unnecessary and would harm the good rapport they have built over the years with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

This bill specifically applies to National Parks located within 100 miles of the U.S. borders, and paints a bulls-eye on Big Bend National Park.

The bill would mandate that the Border Patrol build 192 miles of additional roads in the Big Bend Sector, as well as build/deploy high-tech surveillance balloons, drones and towers. It denies the National Park Service, or any other executive agency, any say in where or how this new infrastructure will be installed.

http://www.alpineavalanche.com/opinion/article_3a680610-b7d6-11e4-98a6-bfbb0654e697.html

Repugs fucking up EVERYTHING they can to pander to their xenophobic, jingoist, racist base, iow Spurs Talkers.

boutons_deux

06-13-2015, 07:49 AM

GOP Sends Out Mailer With Phone Number Of Dem's 91-Year-Old Mom

http://a1.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/mv64iei3919p1iq8dfjq.jpg

A Democratic candidate for the Michigan House said Thursday that the state GOP sent out campaign mailers this week that urged voters to call him to complain about Obamacare.

The hitch: candidate John Fisher said the phone number printed on the mailer connected voters to his 91-year-old mother, who is receiving hospice care.

"To direct people to call a suffering woman who deserves peace and comfort is beyond the pale," Fisher said in a statement (http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/10/portage_democrat_john_fisher_d.html), as quoted by MLive.com.

"Their lack of ethics and contempt for personal privacy is just another reason for people to question what – or better, who – the Republican Party stands for, so that they can make a wise decision at the ballot box on Nov. 4."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-fisher-michigan-gop-obamacare?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

you rightwingers and your politicians are scumbags

boutons_deux

06-14-2015, 05:51 AM

Repugs War On Employees (retire NEVER)
Montana Republican: Noah Was 600 Years Old When He Built the Ark, So Why Do Americans Need Retirement?

Greg Gianforte, aspiring Republican governor of Montana, urges college students to reject policy that favors savings plans and retirement options because, like Noah, Christians have “an obligation to work” until they are hundreds of years old, the Huffington Post reports (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/greg-gianforte-montana_n_7536568.html).

Speaking at the Montana Bible College in February, Gianforte told students, “There’s nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it’s been an accepted concept in our culture today. Nowhere does it say, ‘Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.’ It doesn’t say that anywhere.”

“The example I think of is Noah,” Gianforte continued. “How old was Noah when he built the Ark? 600. He wasn’t like, cashing Social Security checks. He wasn’t hanging out; he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical.”

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/montana-republican-noah-was-600-years-old-when-he-built-ark-so-why-do-americans

Bible Humping makes you MORE stupid, irrevocably ignorant, iow, the Repug base.

boutons_deux

06-14-2015, 09:57 AM

FatBastard speaks 1% Garbage

Chris Christie Claims Free College Tuition For All Will Destroy America

Chris Christie broke out the old Republican myth that giving people anything will destroy America by suggesting that the country doesn’t need tuition free college and that people have to “earn” their education.

CHRISTIE: Listen, it is available for all Americans :lol , George. We have grant programs that are very broadly used. We have loan programs that are very broadly used.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/14/chris-christie-claims-free-college-tuition-destroy-america.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

Christie's father went to college when it was within reach of most people. Now, college is totally out of reach for most people, without $10Ks or more of 7% loan debt.

Repugs budgets cut "grant programs", govt loans, Pell, etc.

For Repugs, "earn" means only money.

"earning" the right to free college by working, earning good grades in HS, keeping good grades in college isn't "money".

Fabbs

06-14-2015, 11:47 AM

^^ Is Fat Bastard actually going to survive his toll road closure bullshit?

boutons_deux

06-14-2015, 12:13 PM

^^ Is Fat Bastard actually going to survive his toll road closure bullshit?

It looks like his staff, trying to save themselves, is going to bring him down. slow process

there's also this:

Report: Christie accused of breaking grand jury law
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/chris-christie-accused-breaking-grand-jury-law-nyt-118728.html#ixzz3d3cITDmR

but NRO, natch, defends FatBastard as not subject to the "govt attorney" secrecy law, since FatBastard wasn't a govt attorney at that point. FatBastard unethical shit, but not strictly illegal.

Like 90% of the Repug wannabe's, FatBastard doesn't have a chance.

boutons_deux

06-14-2015, 12:31 PM

Paul Ryan Falls Apart On Fox News And Admits Republicans Have No Obamacare Alternative

Chris Wallace asked if Republicans would come up with a way to keep the ACA subsidies going? Ryan answered, “We will have an answer. We will have a solution. We don’t want people to fall victim because of this bad law, and we want to give people freedom from Obamacare.”

Ryan listed a series of Obamacare lies, and Chris Wallace come back at him by asking if he was guaranteeing that people will be able to keep their subsidies. Ryan tried to dodge the question, “Well, we will have a solution that address this law that gives people a bridge from Obamacare.”

Wallace asked, will you demand an end to the mandates, the employer mandates, the individual mandates, and Ryan refused to answer again, “Well, I’m not going to get into all that, because we want to see what the ruling is. We want to give people freedom from Obamacare. We want to actually let them buy what they want to buy.”

Paul Ryan refused to answer the simple question of whether House Republicans are going to screw millions of people out of their health insurance. Ryan’s answers were an admission that the Republican Party has no backup plan because Republicans can’t agree on what to do if the Supreme Court strikes down the subsidies.

Most of the states where people will lose their subsidies are Republican controlled red states.

Instead of honestly answering the question, Paul Ryan ducked and dodged while doing his usual deer in headlights schtick. Reality is knocking on Paul Ryan’s door, and the Wisconsin Republican is about to discover that life isn’t an Ayn Rand fantasy novel.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/14/paul-ryan-falls-fox-news-admits-republicans-obamacare-alternative.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

If the SCOTUS5 political hacks kill Obamacare, the Repugs will "get what they've wished for" but be so screwed.

boutons_deux

06-15-2015, 09:30 AM

"There are 59 vacancies in the federal courts, including 27 judicial emergencies."

So 1000s of people have to wait years, often in detention, for a court trial, instead of a "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy . . . trial . . . ."

Repugs would rather stuff the courts with their VRWC/pro-business/anti-citizen/Bible humping/theocrat extremist judges, like Priscilla Owen, Scalia, Thomas, rather than respect the Constitution they originalist-ly "adore".

boutons_deux

06-15-2015, 01:18 PM

McConnell: 'Highly likely' Senate won’t appoint new circuit, SCOTUS judges

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/244107-mcconnell-highly-likely-senate-wont-appoint-new-judges-for

boutons_deux

06-16-2015, 01:41 PM

GOP lawmaker offers what may be the dumbest argument for voter suppression yet

http://media.salon.com/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-16-at-1.49.34-PM-e1434477017777-620x412.png

The GOP Minority leader of the California State Assembly has a brilliant idea to increase voter participation in the state — make it harder for residents to vote.

Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) suggested to a Fresno-area conservative talk radio show that “maybe we do need to make it harder” to vote in order to increase voter participation,

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/gop_lawmaker_offers_what_may_be_the_dumbest_argume nt_for_voter_suppression_yet/

you rightwingnuts, bubbas, gun fellators REALLY elect politicians dumber than a bag of hammers

boutons_deux

06-16-2015, 08:33 PM

John McCain Says American Workers Shouldn’t Be Protected If We Can Get Cheap Goods

In an June 12th interview with Chris Merrill on the Phoenix based KFYI talk radio station (http://www.kfyi.com/media/play/sen-mccain-on-tpp-bill-26123786/), Arizona Senator John McCain (R) defended his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), by arguing that cheap goods and services are more important than protecting American workers or businesses. During the interview, McCain took a hard line free trade over fair trade stance. He defended past trade deals like NAFTA saying only “hardcore union spokespersons” are still against that deal.

"There [are] some people who and businesses that can’t be protected, but frankly they shouldn’t be protected really, when you get down to it, if it means a lower cost to the consumer of some goods and services that then more Americans can afford them."

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/16/john-mccain-american-workers-protected-cheap-goods.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

06-17-2015, 02:08 PM

Florida Tax Break For Fancy Yacht People Will Create All The Jobs, You Betcha

The Florida Legislature is doing its part to prove that tax cuts always equal jobs — like this brand new tax cut package that limits the amount of sales tax on yacht repairs (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/florida-lawmakers-pass-tax-cut-for-rich-people-who-spend-more-than-1-million-on-yacht-repairs/comments/#disqus) over $1 million.

No, that’s not on boats that cost more than a million, that’s boat repairs that cost more than a million bucks. It’s the Florida Legislature, doing what it does best: (http://wonkette.com/584508/florida-is-completely-fcked-the-legislative-edition-your-florida-roundup) favors.

Hidden away among a whole bunch of other tax cuts was this nifty little gift to owners of megayachts, and/or to whatever Florida businesses do repairs on the things — we’ll go out on a limb and predict that the luxury-yacht repair facility industry is not a major segment in Florida’s economy, but there is a Florida legislator who knows a guy who golfs with a guy who owns Obscene MegaBoat Repairs R Us, and that’s how that little provision made it into the bill: for boat repairs over a million dollars, the maximum tax is capped at $60,000.

Thompson noted that as things stand, “the lower income person pays a higher proportion of their earnings already in taxes” than do rich people, but as we all know, that is really an excellent incentive (http://wonkette.com/583396/bill-oreilly-knows-who-has-it-rough-in-this-country-and-it-is-the-rich) for people with lower incomes to become rich. This Geraldine Thompson sounds like some kind of class warfare advocate!

http://wonkette.com/588647/tax-break-for-fancy-florida-yacht-people-will-create-all-the-jobs-you-betcha

boutons_deux

06-17-2015, 02:13 PM

How Scott Walker Dismantled Wisconsin's Environmental Legacy

Walker is widely expected to announce a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. And his environmental legacy—which so far has gone largely unexamined in the national press—has reached much farther than anything the board of a tiny public lands agency could accomplish.

Since taking office in 2011 Walker has moved to reduce the role of science in environmental policymaking and to silence discussion of controversial subjects, including climate change, by state employees. And he has presided over a series of controversial rollbacks in environmental protection, including relaxing laws governing iron mining and building on wetlands, in both cases to help specific companies avoid regulatory roadblocks. Among other policy changes, he has also loosened restrictions on phosphorus pollution in state waterways, tried to restrict wind energy development and proposed ending funding for a major renewable energy research program housed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Most recently Walker has targeted the science and educational corps at the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which has responsibility for protecting and managing forests and wildlife, along with air and water quality. In his 2015–17 budget, released in February, he proposed eliminating a third of the DNR’s 58 scientist positions and 60 percent of its 18 environmental educator positions. (The cuts were approved by the state legislature’s budget committee in May, and the budget is currently making its way through the legislature.) Walker also attempted to convert the citizen board that sets policy for the DNR to a purely advisory body and proposed a 13-year freeze on the state’s popular land conservation fund—both changes that lawmakers rejected in the face of intense public objections.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-scott-walker-dismantled-wisconsin-s-environmental-legacy/

boutons_deux

06-18-2015, 06:32 AM

A Judicial Election Threatened North Carolina Republicans' Agenda. So They Canceled the Election

If you can't win the game, change the rules.

Until recently, North Carolina Republicans had a problem. Some of their biggest legislative achievements of the past few years, including a restrictive voter ID law and weakened environmental regulations, were heading for review before the state Supreme Court. Right now, conservative justices hold a tenuous 4-3 majority on that court.

But one of the conservative justices was up for re-election in 2016—before several of these matters would reach the court—and he was not guaranteed to win. This meant the Republicans' policy agenda was at risk.

So the Republican-controlled state legislature decided to change the rules of the game. On a party-line vote, the state Senate and House this month passed a bill that does away with that justice's upcoming election and effectively ensures that conservative justices will retain their majority on the state's highest court for years to come. Last week, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the measure into law.

Justices in North Carolina face re-election every eight years.

Under the new law, after winning his or her first election, a state Supreme Court justice can now opt for an up-or-down retention vote without facing a challenger.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/north-carolina-republicans-judicial-election

Democracy! Freedom! Justice! The Confederacy! :lol

Elected judges! :lol ignoring the law, pandering to money and politics

boutons_deux

06-18-2015, 12:30 PM

Cruz Aide Briefs Fringe Doctors Group on Response to Obamacare Case

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the latest Republican presidential candidate to tie himself to a fringe doctors group that embraces outlandish medical theories like links between abortions and breast cancer and between vaccines and autism. On Wednesday evening, a legislative assistant from Cruz's Senate office was the guest of honor on a conference call hosted by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), an Arizona-based group that opposes not only Obamacare but all government health-care programs.

(The group's statement of principles (http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php/principles_of_medical_ethics/) holds that Medicare and Medicaid are "evil" and a doctor's participation in these programs is "immoral".)

In February, presidential contender Rand Paul came under fire for being a longtime member of AAPS. The group's website continues to feature a Fox News appearance from 2010 in which Paul lauded the group's anti-Obamacare efforts. According to the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/us/politics/rand-paul-linked-to-association-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons.html), Paul's membership lapsed around the time he was elected to the Senate in 2010.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/cruz-aide-briefs-fringe-doctors-group-response-king-v-burwell

boutons_deux

06-18-2015, 03:01 PM

News from Kockenstan and the Kockenstein monster.

Scott Walker Expands All-Out War Against Teachers' Unions To University of Wisconsin

Gov. Scott Walker and his allies are advancing one of the most radical assaults on public education in recent history, by bombarding Wisconsin’s highly-regarded schools—from kindergarten through the state university system—with draconian spending cuts, anti-union and corporate-style governance and ending faculty tenure.

As was the case several years ago when Walker and a Republican-majority Legislature took away collective bargaining rights for most state workers—public safety unions were exempted—the 2016 presidential candidate and his Republican crew are ignoring overwhelming public protest to impose their right-wing, anti-union, anti-academic freedom agenda.

Seventy-eight percent (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walkers-wisconsin-approval-rating-drops-in-latest-poll-b99482677z1-300128921.html) of Wisconsin residents oppose Walker’s $127 million in proposed cuts for K-12 schools—the first part of Walker’s plan, which jibes with a wave of parent-led protests across the state. The reduced public school spending comes in the wake of Walker and Wisconsin’s GOP cutting corporate taxes by an estimated $1.6 billion between 2011 and 2020, which eliminates funds for education and a range of social services.

But the biggest attack is aimed at the University of Wisconsin. To start, Walker is proposing to slash $250 million from its annual budget, which is opposed by70% (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/16/poll-finds-widespread-opposition-to-walker-budget-/) of the public (he originally proposed $300 million in cuts). Its budget has been cut in five of the past six years. One result has been a lowering of student financial aid, which has increased UW student debt.

However, Walker doesn’t stop there. Assisted by his appointees to the UW’s Board of Regents, he is seeking authority to fire tenured faculty under the guise of meeting state budget goals. This is widely seen as a thinly veiled attack on union-negotiated job security and academic freedom, both of which have been long target of right-wingers, such those leading Milwaukee’s influential and well-funded Bradley Foundation, who believe that UW is too liberal (http://www.jsonline.com/business/wisconsin-ranks-35th-in-us-for-job-creation-over-walkers-first-term-b99520739z1-307884841.html).

http://www.alternet.org/labor/scott-walker-expands-all-out-war-against-teachers-unions-university-wisconsin?akid=13223.187590.3KQE32&rd=1&src=newsletter1038032&t=9

Will Walker be re-elected?

red-states are nasty fucking places

boutons_deux

06-18-2015, 03:03 PM

Rep. Jody Hice: Christians Were Tricked Into ‘False Belief’ That Church And State Are Separate

Congressman Jody Hice railed against the separation of church and state in a video statement screened at a San Diego Christian conference, Right Wing Watch reported. (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rep-jody-hice-church-state-separation-encourages-corruption)

“Somehow we have bought into that false belief that our Constitution forbids us from being involved because of the so-called separation of church and state,” the Georgia Republican said in a video prepared for the Future Conference (http://www.skylinechurch.org/futureconference2015/) in San Diego. “I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that that’s not in our constitution. But it’s been said so many times that many Christians believe that we ought not be involved.

While the exact phrase “separation of church and state” is not used in the Constitution, Hice did not mention that Thomas Jefferson used it to explain the First Amendment’s stance guaranteeing freedom of religion.

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their ‘legislature’ should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State,” Jefferson wrote in his 1802 letter (http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html) to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut. “Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.”

Instead, Hice argued that secular government discouraged Christians from becoming involved because it was corrupt. The congressman also delivered what he called a “historically accurate” rant concerning the dangers of secularism, arguing that a “secular town” required a bigger government because it would produce societal ills.

“You’re going to have things like a higher divorce rate, you’re gonna have higher crime, you’re gonna have gang violence, you will have teen pregnancies, you will have drug and alcohol abuse — all these types of things increase in secular society,” he said. “That’s historically accurate.”

However, Right Wing Watch also noted (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rep-jody-hice-secular-government-leads-gang-violence) that rates of both violent crime (http://www.businessinsider.com/south-has-more-violent-crime-fbi-statistics-show-2013-9) and divorce (http://www.christianpost.com/news/divorce-rates-high-in-southern-bible-belt-states-54539/) are higher in Southern states where Christian conservatives are the majority.

http://www.alternet.org/rep-jody-hice-christians-were-tricked-false-belief-church-and-state-are-separate?akid=13223.187590.3KQE32&rd=1&src=newsletter1038032&t=15

boutons_deux

06-19-2015, 02:36 PM

Kansas Democrat in big trouble with Republicans for calling racist bill racist (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/19/1394611/-Kansas-Democrat-in-big-trouble-with-Republicans-for-calling-racist-bill-racist)

Kansas Republicans are all butthurt over an African-American Democratic legislator describing one of their racist bills as racist. Republicans are so upset that state Rep. Valdenia Winn described a bill repealing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants as racist and supported by "racist bigots" that they are bringing Winn before a special investigative committee (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/valdenia-winn-kansas-racist-sanction-hearing) next week:

Irigonegaray, Winn’s lawyer, said that the committee chair, Rep. Erin Davis (R), told him Wednesday that he would not be able to offer her counsel during the hearing. Democrats have also taken issue with the fact that two of the three Republicans on the committee are lawyers while no lawyers are represented among the Democrats, as selected by the House Speaker Ray Merrick (R). [...][Minority Leader Tom] Burrough's spokeswoman, Abbie Hodgson, said this was only the fourth time in state history a committee of this nature had been called.

The committee could recommend the censure, reprimand or expulsion of Winn -- which would then be advanced to a House vote where a two-thirds majority is required to act -- or do nothing. If the committee is deadlocked on party lines, the speaker could still bring the matter to the House floor, according to those involved in the process.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/19/1394611/-Kansas-Democrat-in-big-trouble-with-Republicans-for-calling-racist-bill-racist?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

boutons_deux

06-19-2015, 04:55 PM

Louie Gohmert tells the Supreme Court: Jesus’ law more important than constitutional law

http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Rep.-Louie-Gohmert-Flickr-800x430.png

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/louie-gohmert-tells-the-supreme-court-jesus-law-more-important-than-constitutional-law/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

djohn2oo8

06-20-2015, 11:18 AM

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/rick-perry-charleston-shooting-accident-due-drug-use-manipulated-obama-ban-guns

boutons_deux

06-21-2015, 06:55 AM

Religious House Republicans Plan To Deny Contraception Access to 4.6 Million Women

Over the past five years, the evangelical Republican war to abolish the now 45 year old family planning program was successfully thwarted by a Democratic-controlled Senate. However, now with a Koch Senate repaying evangelicals for getting out to vote in 2014, it looks like Republican theocrats will finally do right by the Vatican, eradicate (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49830.html) Title X, and deprive at least 4.6 million women from having access to reproductive care including safe, dependable contraceptives, cancer and STD screenings, and assistance in planning when to start their families.

It would be the ultimate wet dream for evangelical Republicans and Vatican loyalists to see several million, mostly poor women, denied family planning services and access to contraception; it is just what good evangelical and Catholic Republicans have panted to accomplish for the past five years.Before 2010, support for Title X had broad bipartisan support and most legislators agreed with then-president Richard Nixon who said on Title X’s inception that, “It is my view that no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition.” Of course that was long before Republicans became Vatican puppets and women, although still thought of as second class citizens in 1970, were not yet relegated to the role of being perpetual birth machines by evangelical Republicans.

The proposal (http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394272) from the House Appropriations Committee also reveals the Republican intent to eliminate most of the Affordable Care Act, eliminate (http://www.salon.com/2015/06/16/hobby_lobby_on_steroids_gop_guts_family_planning_i n_latest_crusade_against_reproductive_health/) as much federal funding from comprehensive sex education and teen pregnancy prevention programs that will increase the number of abortions, and give religious employers much greater power and authority to refuse health insurance coverage that includes reproductive services, including contraception, on evangelical Christian and Vatican loyalty grounds; likely in anticipation of the new and friendlier Pope’s upcoming visit with Congress. The Republican-led committee held a religious hearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBF-9vfUKao) on the proposal to end family planning services to 4.6 women on Wednesday; sans Papal attendance.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/20/religious-house-republicans-plan-deny-contraception-access-4-6-women.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

So the misogynist Christian supremacists' War on (poor) Women wants to deny women ways to avoid pregnancy, to deny peri-natal care, and ways to terminate pregnancy, and once the kids are born, "ladies, you're on your own, we're cutting the safety net, school lunch funding, etc, etc, etc"

It all adds up to the misogynist Christian supremacists' War on (poor) Women giving USA the highest infant mortality rate in industrial nations, and even higher than many non-industrial nations. iow, the misogynist Christian supremacists' War on (poor) Women is actually killing babies.

Alex's foreskin

06-21-2015, 03:44 PM

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/huckabee-confederate-flag-waving-south-carolina-cant-be-racist-because-it-has-an-indian-governor/

:lmao

boutons_deux

06-21-2015, 04:02 PM

Rick Perry: Texans without health insurance don’t matter because ‘that’s not how we keep score’

“If how you keep score is how many people you force to buy insurance, well, then I would say that’s how you keep score,” Perry opined. “We make access to health care the real issue, we passed the most sweeping tort reform in the nation.”

“That’s not how we keep score,” Perry insisted. “I think it’s a fallacy to say access to health care is all about insurance. What we happen to say in the state of Texas is we’re going to try to make accessible as we can good quality health care.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/rick-perry-texans-without-health-insurance-dont-matter-because-thats-not-how-we-keep-score/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

gobblely-gook double-talk from the JimmyRicky's tiny brain.

boutons_deux

06-21-2015, 04:03 PM

Tucker Carlson: Obama’s Secret Service detail should lose guns first if he wants gun control

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/tucker-carlson-obamas-secret-service-detail-should-lose-guns-first-if-he-wants-gun-control/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

06-21-2015, 04:04 PM

Texas volunteer firefighter fired after posting Dylann Roof ‘needs to be praised for the good deed he has done’

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-volunteer-firefighter-fired-after-posting-dylann-roof-needs-to-be-praised-for-the-good-deed-he-has-done/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

06-22-2015, 07:34 AM

The Cockroaches Scatter: Ted Cruz Can’t Give Back Conservative Group’s Money Fast Enough

“I honestly pray to God that some n*gger f*cks, kills and eats you and everyone you claim to love!”

– Earl Holt III, President of the Council of Conservative Citizens, in a 2004 email (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2004/spring/the-rating-game/belligerent-broadcast)

In the wake of The Guardian’s report yesterday (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/21/dylann-roof-manifesto-charlston-shootings-republicans) that a conservative group, Council of Conservative Citizens – labeled a white nationalist organization by the SPLC (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/council-of-conservative-citizens) – was linked not only to alleged killer Dylann Roof but to numerous Republican politicians, presidential candidate Ted Cruz told the paper that he would ‘be making a full refund.’

According to Fox News this morning, Cruz has made good (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/22/sen-ted-cruz-returns-donations-from-head-group-linked-to-charleston-gunman/) on his promise, “in a statement obtained by Fox News that it was returning money donated by Earl Holt III, the head of the Council of Conservative Citizens – some $8,500 since 2012 – “according to The Guardian and The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/22/us/campaign-donations-linked-to-white-supremacist.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news).”Cruz’s statement assures us that “Senator Cruz believes that there is no place for racism in society. Upon learning about Mr. Holt’s background and his contributions to the campaign, he immediately instructed that all of those donations be returned.”Cruz had good reason to act quickly. According to the SPLC,

Founded in 1985 by Gordon Baum (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/profiles/gordon-baum), a worker’s compensation attorney and longtime racist activist, the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) rose from the ashes of the Citizens Councils of America (CCA), commonly called “White Citizens Councils,” a coalition of white-supremacist groups and individuals formed throughout the South to defend school segregation after the Supreme Court outlawed the policy in 1954 in Brown vs. Board of Education.

According to The Guardian,

Earl Holt has given $65,000 to Republican campaign funds in recent years while inflammatory remarks – including that black people were “the laziest, stupidest and most criminally-inclined race in the history of the world” (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/08/23/rep-frederica-wilson-the-real-enemy-is-the-tea-party/#comment-1734494) – were posted online in his name

It almost doesn’t require saying, but Ann Coulter is a past defender of and apologist (http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2009/02/13/columnist-ann-coulter-defends-white-supremacist-group/) for the CofCC, arguing in her 2009 book “Guilty” that,

There is no evidence on its Web page that the modern incarnation of the CCC supports segregation. Apart from some aggressive reporting on black-on-white crimes — the very crimes that are aggressively hidden by the establishment media — there is little on the CCC website suggesting” [that the group is racist. Indeed, its main failing is] containing members who had belonged to a segregationist group thirty years earlier.

Holt, characterized (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2004/spring/the-rating-game/belligerent-broadcast)as a “St. Louis hate group leader” by the SPLC, and a frequent racist commenter on The Blaze, said in astatement (http://conservative-headlines.com/2015/06/media-interviews-with-the-cofcc/)that “The C of CC unequivocally condemns Roof’s murderous actions,” and that while he acknowledged the “legitimacy of some of the positions he has expressed,” it is “hardly responsible for the actions of this deranged individual merely because he gleaned accurate information from our website.”Republicans think they can embrace their racist base with utter impunity. And usually they can. It takes a monstrous act of violence like the Charleston church shooting, to shed light enough to cause the cockroaches to scramble. The mainstream media studiously ignores the GOP’s racist ties, and will continue to do so.

As the TV show X-Files put it, “The truth is somewhere out there.” It’s just that the mainstream media does not want to find it. And when it is pointed out to them, studiously avoids looking at it.Speaking of which, Rand Paul ($1,750) and former Sen. Rick Santorum ($1,500) were also recipients of Holt’s money, as was Mitt Romney in 2012 ($2,000).Paul, of course, has well-known neo-Confederate sympathies.CofCC is proud of its activities, bragging (http://conservative-headlines.com/introduction/)in their “Why you should join” section that,

The Council of Conservative Citizens, the no longer silent majority, — is a genuinely active national organization — effectively organizing and winning!

The C of CC was organized by conservative leaders from throughout the nation, who met in Atlanta, Georgia to build an updated organization in which the “silent majority” could participate at the local, state, and national levels.

We’re organizing conservative activists, developing unity, and successfully building a network of chapters and supporters at the grass-roots level nationwide to serve as a responsible, effective voice and active advocate for the no-longer silent conservative majority. This is a unification movement that is desperately needed and long overdue.

They might brag that conservatives leaders love them, but for now, at least, conservative leaders are distancing themselves from such outward displays of racism, if only because they are watching the last few percentage points of the black demographic slip away from them just in time for Election Day 2016.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/22/cockroaches-scatter-ted-cruz-cant-give-conservative-groups-money-fast.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

St Louis AGAIN!

Missouri's Rape Caucus!

Missouri sounds like a really shitty state, but it's deep red, so that's normal

boutons_deux

06-24-2015, 11:29 AM

Republicans keep making up quotes from Founding Fathers (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/23/1395838/-Republicans-keep-making-up-quotes-from-Founding-Fathers)

"Take my guns and I'll totally throw a wicked fit, dude."
—George Washington or someone else, who knows? Pretty sure it was WashingtonSteve Benen over at MSNBC has a little breakdown of some of the Republican/Tea Party'sconvenient Founding Fathers misquotes. (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/fake-quotes-run-rampant-among-gop-candidates?cid=sm_fb_maddow)

The first hint of trouble came about a month ago, when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) told supporters that “Thomas Jefferson said it best” when the Founding Father said, “That government is best which governs least.”Thomas Jefferson never said this. Walker fell for a fake quote.

Soon after, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told an audience, “Patrick Henry said this, Patrick Henry said the Constitution is about ‘restraining the government not the people.’” In reality, Patrick Henry said no such thing.

It's pointed out that the Tea Party fancies itself the intellectual heirs to our country's "Founding Fathers" and so quoting them is top of the list of things to do. However, whereas Steve Benen is diplomatic:

My suspicion is that these are honest mistakes. I rather doubt that any of these GOP presidential candidates are knowingly pushing bogus quotes and/or had anything to do with the original fabrication. It’s far more likely the candidates and their aides stumbled upon false information online and didn’t realize their mistake.

I am not. I do not believe the word "honest" should be used in this context. There is nothing "honest" about saying you have any intellectual leanings and then not doing even the tiniest bit of research into the big thought quotes you are using—especially in your incredibly original books. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/31/1252069/-Sen-Rand-Paul-dismisses-plagiarism-charges-possibly-because-he-does-not-know-what-it-is)The fact that these candidates want to believe the Founding Fathers said these things doesn't make them honest mistakes at all.

This makes them intellectually dishonest mistakes.

Attributing quotes to people incorrectly happens. It happens quite a bit. But, when you're sorta (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/06/1253583/-Sen-Rand-Paul-on-plagiarism-Do-I-have-to-be-in-detention-the-rest-of-my-career) writing books, and then pointing to those books as the moral and intellectual foundation of your potential leadership credentials, you need to show a little more diligence.

Video of more "honest mistakes" by right-wingers below the fold.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/23/1395838/-Republicans-keep-making-up-quotes-from-Founding-Fathers?detail=email

boutons_deux

06-25-2015, 03:47 PM

this Repug greasebag asshole, again

Maine GOP Guv. Accused Of Using Blackmail To Get Dem House Speaker Fired

The Democratic speaker of the state House of Representatives accused Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday of blackmailing a charter school by threatening to withhold state funding from it to get him fired from a job there.

Rep. Mark Eves said LePage told school operator Good Will-Hinckley it had to remove Eves as president or lose $500,000 in state funds, resulting in a loss of an additional $2 million in private funds.

A lawyer for Eves said he's considering taking legal action against the governor.

"The governor's actions represent the worst kind of vendetta politics Maine has ever seen," Eves said in a statement. "If it goes unchecked, no legislator will feel safe in voting his conscience for fear that the governor will go after the legislator's family and livelihood."

Eves was expected on July 1 to assume the post of president of Good Will-Hinckley, which operates the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, the state's first charter school.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/paul-lepage-maine-accused-blackmail-house-speaker?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

boutons_deux

06-27-2015, 10:42 AM

Texas Board of Education to be headed by a homeschooler (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/27/1396578/-Texas-Board-of-Education-to-be-headed-by-a-homeschooler)

The Texas Board of Education (http://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/Leadership/State_Board_of_Education/SBOE_-_State_Board_of_Education/) creates "policies and standards for Texas public schools." Gov. Greg Abbott's choice to head this body setting policies and standards for Texas public schools is a woman whose own children never attended those public schools (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-gov-greg-abbott-picks-homeschooler-to-chair-state-board-of-education/)—they were homeschooled and then sent to a private high school.

But hey, she's a former aide to the state's Republican lieutenant governor.The problem here seems obvious.

Even Republican State Board member Thomas Ratliff called the move a mistake (http://tpr.org/post/gov-abbott-appoints-home-school-mom-chair-state-board-education).“Public school isn’t for everybody, but when 94 percent of our students in Texas attend public schools I think it ought to be a baseline requirement that the chair of the State Board of Education have at least some experience in that realm, as a parent, teacher, something,” Ratliff argued.

Bahorich's relevant experience, as listed on her LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnabahorich), includes "founder/director/board member" of Home Ed Plus, which "provides the opportunity for homeschool families and Christian teachers to come together in support of a high quality academic education for homeschooled students." Naturally she's also a huge supporter of charter schools. Basically any way of getting students out of public schools ... the public schools for which she'll play a major role in setting policy.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/27/1396578/-Texas-Board-of-Education-to-be-headed-by-a-homeschooler?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

So some lady who has never trusted TX public schools with her own kids is heading the SBOE? :lol Kafkaesque!

Fucking TX Repugs and Bible humpers!

boutons_deux

07-03-2015, 09:03 AM

Koch-Backed Group Calls For No More National Parks?

Just in time for the Fourth of July — when millions of people across the country will visit America’s national parks and other public lands — the Koch brothers are rolling out their latest campaign against these treasured places: pushing for no more national parks.

In an op-ed (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/opinion/lets-fix-our-national-parks-not-add-more.html?ref=opinion&_r=0) published in Tuesday’s New York Times, Reed Watson, the executive director at theKoch-backed (http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/property-and-environment-resea/) Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), along with a research associate at the Center, call for no more national parks, citing the backlog in maintenance for existing parks.

“True conservation is taking care of the land and water you already have, not insatiably acquiring more and hoping it manages itself,” the op-ed reads. “Let’s maintain what we’ve already got, so we can protect it properly,” it concludes.

While the authors seem to push for “true conservation” from the federal government, in reality, PERC has a long history of advocating for the privatization (http://www.perc.org/articles/how-and-why-privatize-public-lands) of America’s national parks and other public lands, and has significant ties (http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/04/13/newsweek-cloaks-koch-funded-professors-dirty-en/203264) to the Koch brothers and fossil fuel (http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=62) industries.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/03/3676816/happy-fourth-no-more-national-parks/

VRWC strategy: underfund/misgovern, cause a "disaster", self-fulfilling that "govt can't do anything", then scream for privatization into "capitalist" control of the VRWC-screwed-up property.

aka, "disaster capitalism".

boutons_deux

07-04-2015, 08:14 AM

As World Champion Human Rights Violator and county buster, USA receives a recommendation from Christian supremacist supporting rapture-site Israel's genocide.

Ted Cruz calls for US to withdraw from UN Human Rights Council

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/ted-cruz-calls-for-us-to-withdraw-from-un-human-rights-council/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

07-04-2015, 10:19 AM

Anti-democratic shit from Kockenstan WI

Wisconsin Republicans propose limiting public access to records

Nearly all records created by state and local government officials, including bill drafts and communications with staff, would not be subject to the Wisconsin open records law under a sweeping surprise change Republicans introduced in committee Thursday as an amendment to the state budget.

The changes were part of a 24-page final motion to the budget that makes 67 alterations to the two-year, $70 billion spending plan that the Legislature was expected to vote on next week. The panel was to vote on adding it to the budget Thursday night. The full Legislature, along with Gov. Scott Walker, would have to sign off before they would become law.

Numerous new protections would be extended to the 132 members of the Legislature, their staff, support agencies, and all other state and local government officials, including members of school boards.

"It's astonishing," said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. "It is a full-frontal assault on the open records law as it pertains to the state Legislature and other agencies of government."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wisconsin-public-records-20150702-story.html

boutons_deux

07-04-2015, 10:21 AM

WI Repug rousing the white/Christian supremacist rabble

Wisconsin Lawmaker Claims Civil War Was Fought to Further a Christian Lifestyle

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/01/wisconsin-lawmaker-claims-civil-war-fought-christian-lifestyle.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

07-04-2015, 01:44 PM

View from the left—the GOP gets Trumped (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/04/1398607/-View-from-the-left-the-GOP-gets-Trumped)

The immigration group America's Voice started a countdown clock (http://americasvoice.org/blog/12-days-and-no-republican-contender-for-president-has-denounced-trumps-racist-remarks/) this week measuring how long it would take the GOP candidates to denounce Donald Trump's abhorrent comments (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/16/1393776/-Trump-what-the-village-idiot-says-about-the-village)about Mexican immigrants (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/17/1394019/-Trump-calls-Mexican-immigrants-drug-dealers-and-rapists-crickets-from-the-GOP-field) being "rapists" and "drug dealers" and "murders." Last I checked, it was still running.Even though the entire Republican field has been desperately trying to ignore him, Trump's riding pretty high in the polls. He's #2 nationally (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/politics/donald-trump-poll-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush/), he's #2 in Iowa (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/01/1398360/-Iowa-poll-Walker-losing-steam-Trump-vying-for-second-place), he's #2 in Michigan (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/30/1398078/-Donald-Trump-is-just-a-hair-behind-Scott-Walker-in-new-Michigan-poll), and he's #2 in New Hampshire (http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/06/23/new-hampshire-poll-has-jeb-bush-first-and-donald-trump-second/).

Barring some catastrophic event, Trump's a sure thing for the GOP debate stage on August 6. Journalist Howard Fineman summed up the state of affairs nicely on MSNBC.

"We now are in a situation where Donald Trump is setting the tone and the tenor for at least the next month of the campaign heading into that debate in August. Nobody could have predicted that a couple weeks ago."

In the meantime, the Republican candidates are either sucking up to him or running scared from him.

The immigration group America's Voice started a countdown clock (http://americasvoice.org/blog/12-days-and-no-republican-contender-for-president-has-denounced-trumps-racist-remarks/) this week measuring how long it would take the GOP candidates to denounce Donald Trump's abhorrent comments (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/16/1393776/-Trump-what-the-village-idiot-says-about-the-village)about Mexican immigrants (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/17/1394019/-Trump-calls-Mexican-immigrants-drug-dealers-and-rapists-crickets-from-the-GOP-field) being "rapists" and "drug dealers" and "murders." Last I checked, it was still running.

Even though the entire Republican field has been desperately trying to ignore him, Trump's riding pretty high in the polls.

He's #2 nationally (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/politics/donald-trump-poll-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush/), :lol

he's #2 in Iowa (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/01/1398360/-Iowa-poll-Walker-losing-steam-Trump-vying-for-second-place), :lol

he's #2 in Michigan (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/30/1398078/-Donald-Trump-is-just-a-hair-behind-Scott-Walker-in-new-Michigan-poll), :lol

he's #2 in New Hampshire (http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/06/23/new-hampshire-poll-has-jeb-bush-first-and-donald-trump-second/). :lol

Barring some catastrophic event, Trump's a sure thing for the GOP debate stage on August 6. Journalist Howard Fineman summed up the state of affairs nicely on MSNBC.

"We now are in a situation where Donald Trump is setting the tone and the tenor for at least the next month of the campaign heading into that debate in August. Nobody could have predicted that a couple weeks ago."

In the meantime, the Republican candidates are either sucking up to him or running scared from him.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/04/1398607/-View-from-the-left-the-GOP-gets-Trumped?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29#

Repug politicians! :lol

Repug voters! :lol

boutons_deux

07-06-2015, 06:55 AM

5 Reasons Donald Trump Is The Republican Party

“Based on estimates of the composition of the 2016 electorate, if the next GOP nominee wins the same share of the white vote as Mitt Romney won in 2012 (59 percent), he or she would need to win 30 percent of the nonwhite vote. Set against recent history, that is a daunting obstacle. Romney won only 17 percent of nonwhite voters in 2012. John McCain won 19 percent in 2008. George W. Bush won 26 percent in 2004.”

Donald Trump — after years of race baiting his way into the conservative movement — is now exploding like a big racist supernova in the GOP primary. His chances of winning the party’s nomination are slim (https://twitter.com/BrendanNyhan/status/617691357155598336) but the fact that his anti-immigrant rhetoric has catapulted him to the top of the polls (http://www.eclectablog.com/2015/07/this-is-what-happens-to-your-poll-numbers-in-the-gop-primary-when-you-insult-immigrants.html) is a concern for the Republicans who actually take their party seriously.

And Republicans should be concerned. Trump, as many have said, is the “id” of the Republican Party. He lays bare the subtext of a movement whose ideas and governance have been revealed as disasters again and again (except in places like Texas, where a combination of federal dollars and a global addiction to fossil fuels allowed the economy to steam along despite the financial crisis).

Here are five reasons Donald Trump needs to be destroyed by the Republican Party before he exposes what the party really stands for.

1. Race baiting as the foundation of populism.

How do you deal with an economy where 99 percent of the gains of the recovery go to the richest?

Republicans would like to cut top earners’ taxes and make sure their kids inherit millions of dollars without paying the same taxes that all Americans pay on income or Social Security—which Republicans would also like to cut, rather than asking the richest among us to pay payroll taxes on all their income, the way middle-class workers do.

Conservative economics are “Winner-Take-All (http://amzn.to/1dFQCfD)“ economics that have kept wages stagnant for decades while wealth at the top has skyrocketed. So how have Republicans thrived during that time? America’s abundance of white voters who felt unsettled by the advances of civil rights and feminism formed the core of the GOP base. Call it the “Southern Strategy” — or just a huge coincidence that Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1980 general election campaign in a county known for the deaths of civil rights workers ranting about “states’ rights” and “welfare queens.”

The right’s “Dog Whistle (http://amzn.to/1Rdxwjj)” racism activates fears that what little stability is left for workers will be taken away by “them.” It’s an artful con that requires subtlety. Even Mitt Romney’s false attacks on President Obama for gutting welfare reform weresniffed out as race baiting in 2012 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/ron-fournier-romney-is-playing-a-racial-game/2012/08/29/6273f244-f213-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_blog.html).

Republicans told themselves that they need to do better this time. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are trying to build campaigns to reach out to minorities and leave the coded language for issues like religion (http://www.eclectablog.com/2015/06/the-confederate-flag-needs-to-go-for-the-gops-new-southern-strategy.html).

But Trump’s anti-immigrant slurs and the way they’re welcomed by a large segment of the GOP base may well reawaken the anger that many minorities feel after decades of ill treatment as the party’s scapegoats. If that happens in Nevada, Colorado and Texas as it has in California — where Latino voters have never forgotten Pete Wilson’s anti-immigrant attacks of 1994 (http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2013/10/17/prop187effect/) — Republicans could be locked out of the White House forever.

2. He doesn’t have any actual beliefs — except making Trump richer.

The amazing thing about Donald Trump’s rise in the GOP is that after so many years of pretending to run for president, a political party is taking him seriously. His vast experience with race-baiting (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/donald-trumps-arch-race-b_b_5519937.html) found him perfectly suited to be the nation’s Chief Executive Birther in 2012. Now, as the GOP failed to pass immigration reform in the House after several Republicans voted for it in the Senate, Trump is uniquely positioned to divide the party with lies about immigrant criminality — though border crossings and crime are at generational lows.

Trump seems to have a genuine fear of minorities, but how anti-immigrant could he actually be? Two of his three wives have been immigrants. (No doubt several of his future wives will be immigrants.) His game is publicity, not policy. Like big business,he donates to both parties (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-donation-history-shows-democratic-favoritism/2011/04/25/AFDUddtE_story.html) and in his fake 2000 run (http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/make-america-great-again#.fv0Qx6xKb), he backed single-payer health care and gun control.

In this way, he’s very Republican: Sheldon Adelson and David Koch both claim to be pro-choice, for example; they just use the GOP for their own personal agendas — like war with Iran and unfettered carbon pollution.

The one thing all Republicans (and fake Republicans like Trump) agree on, though, is that Donald Trump should be richer — no matter how much that hurts our economy (http://www.eclectablog.com/2015/06/5-reasons-billionaires-should-hate-runaway-wealth-inequality.html).

3. No difference between entertainment and statesmanship.

The natural conclusion of a movement that has turned politics into pro wrestling is that Donald Trump is taken seriously.

Why not? He was taken seriously at Wrestlemania.

4. He’s disrupting the GOP’s plan to make its primary boring.

Republicans thought they learned from 2012. They’d cut back on the debates and speed up the delegate collection so the nominee wouldn’t be fighting a clown like Rick Santorum late into spring.

By shrinking the significance of the primary, they hoped to downplay GOP differences over things like immigration reform and cruise into the general election without a candidate smeared with the fecal matter of his opponents.

Trump piñatas are selling in Mexico (http://time.com/money/3941620/donald-trump-pinatas/). But Republicans are now preparing for debates where Trump makes piñatas out of his opponents over immigration, and a base fostered on decades of race baiting goes wild.

5. Big business is recognizing that it has created a monster.

Being offensive is nothing new to Donald Trump. Suffering any consequences for it is. He’s lost deals with Univision, NBC, and Serta. Macy’s has discontinued its business relationship with him (http://www.nationalmemo.com/macys-fires-donald-trump-so-he-says-he-fired-them/), and the City of New York is considering doing the same (http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/07/02/macys-dumps-trump-new-york-city-reviewing-contracts). And now Panama doesn’t want to host his Miss Universe pageant anymore.

Why is Trump suddenly being punished for things he’s said for years (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/07/01/here-are-12-other-times-donald-trump-vilified-illegal-immigrants-in-no-uncertain-terms/), things that other Republicans say all the time (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/republican-latinos-fight-anti-immigrant-rhetoric-texas-n17996)? Because his rise in the polls makes big business realize that he’s doing real damage to its biggest investment — the Republican Party.

Conservatives had been preparing to run against Hillary Clinton for being too old and too rich. But now they’ve found someone older and richer who is titillating the craven instincts their philosophy has nurtured for years.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/5-reasons-donald-trump-is-the-republican-party/

boutons_deux

07-06-2015, 09:31 AM

We’re gonna need a bigger mattress: Texas lawmakers want to hide their gold from Obama but don’t know where

Texas lawmakers who voted in June to create a state-run gold depository beyond the reach of the federal government (http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-creates-state-run-gold-depository-beyond-the-reach-of-federal-confiscation-is-secession-next/) left the state comptroller’s office with a small problem: where do they store the gold and how do they pay to have the facility built and secured.

According to the Associated Press (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/62c7bc73d0654c8a9243f8e944c689ba/texas-wants-its-gold-back-inside-states-borders), lawmakers in Texas rushed through a bill to repatriate the state’s $1 billion in gold bullion held by the Federal Reserve in New York but failed to make plans for what to do with it when it returned to the Lone Star state.

As written,

the law doesn’t specify where the depository would be located or how it should be built and secured. Additionally no funding was allocated for building the high security facility or leasing temporary storage space for the precious metal until the new facility becomes operational. :lol

“We are honestly at the phase where the questions we are answering are creating more questions that we have to answer,” said Chris Bryan, a comptroller’s office spokesman

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/were-gonna-need-a-bigger-mattress-texas-lawmakers-want-to-hide-their-gold-from-obama-but-dont-know-where/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

TX Repugs, seditionists, secessionists, and all-around flaming assholes, just like their voters.

boutons_deux

07-07-2015, 02:50 PM

elected(corrupt) Repug SCOTX news

Texas Could Become an Even More Dangerous Place

Threading eyebrows can be a dangerous business. Without proper sanitation, threading (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threading_(epilation))—a form of hair removal that uses thin strings to shape eyebrows—can spread highly contagious bacterial and viral infections, including flat warts, pink eye, ringworm, and staph (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/staph-infections/basics/definition/con-20031418). For that reason, Texas required threaders to undergo 750 hours of training in order to practice their craft professionally, the same amount of training that other cosmetology specialists must receive.

But threaders didn’t like all that training—so they asked the Texas Supreme Court to simply strike the regulation down. In late June, the court obliged (http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1008501/120657.pdf). It granted itself the power to strike down any health and safety laws it deems “oppressive.”

The startling decision revives a dangerous, widely discredited doctrine that gives judges authority to strike down economic regulations that interfere with the free market. By resuscitating it, the Texas Supreme Court has effectively declared that laissez-faire capitalism is the only true form of American liberty.

The notion that American courts should impose a free market ideology on the laws they interpret has a long, mottled history. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States Supreme Court did just that, invalidating regulations like maximum hour and minimum wage laws (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1901-1939/1922/1922_795). The notorious period is named the Lochner era after one infamous case, Lochner v. New York (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/198/45/case.html), in which the court considered a New York law that regulated bakeries.

At the time, many bakers were brutally overworked in unsanitary conditions, and they frequently fell victim to lung inflammation and rheumatism. To prevent bakery owners from straining their workers, New York barred bakers from working more than 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week.

In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the law as a violation of “liberty of contract.” Bakery workers, the majority wrote, have a constitutional right to work out individualized contracts with their bosses free of undue legislative meddling. If an employee wants to work more than 10 hours a day, he has a constitutional right to do so.

And where, exactly, did this right come from? The Due Process Clause (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/due_process) of the Fifth and 14th amendments declare that no person may be deprived of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”

This “liberty,” the court wrote, includes the liberty of contract. And if a state wanted to interfere with that liberty, it had to prove its regulation to be “reasonable and appropriate” and not “unnecessary and arbitrary.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/07/texas_supreme_court_strikes_down_eyebrow_threading _regulations_return_to.html

boutons_deux

07-08-2015, 01:47 PM

Governor Tells High School Students He'd Like To Shoot A Student's Dad; Arrest/Investigation Fail To Ensue

Anyone who's spent any time in comment sections would have seen these comments as nothing more than the internet being the internet -- a place where hyperbole and stupidity very often outweighs thought and nuance. The comments are being treated as serious threats by the US government, seeing as they were posted below an article about a federal judge. Here are two of the more "violent" comments (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150608/16395931276/justice-department-issues-subpoenas-to-reason-to-identify-angry-anonymous-commenters.shtml):

AgammamonI5.31.15 @ lO:47AMltt
Its judges like these that should be taken out back and shot.

AlanI5.31.15 @ 12:09PMltt
It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot.
FTFY.

croakerI6.1.15 @ 11:06AMltt
Why waste ammunition? Wood chippers get the message across clearly. Especially if you
feed them in feet first.

Cloudbusterl6.l.15 @ 2:40PMIIt
Why do it out back? Shoot them out front, on the steps of the courthouse.

And yet, when a prominent political figure says roughly the same thing -- TWICE! (possibly) -- it's not followed up by the issuing of subpoenas or government-led investigations (http://www.wgme.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/governor-lepage-jokes-hed-like-shoot-political-cartoonist-27992.shtml#.VZL2j3qUzGd).

Maine Gov. Paul LePage's joke about shooting a political cartoonist is falling flat.

The son of Bangor Daily News cartoonist George Danby said LePage made the remark after he asked what the governor thought of his father's cartoons Wednesday during an event at Dirigo Boys State, a youth leadership program.

The governor told a crowd of high school students he would like to "shoot" this cartoonist. This was said directly to the cartoonist's son during a Q&A session with the governor. (Video -- albeit silent -- of the incident located here (http://www.wgme.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/governor-lepage-jokes-hed-like-shoot-political-cartoonist-27992.shtml#.VZL2j3qUzGd).) The Bangor Daily News noted the audience of teens laughed (http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/25/politics/after-saying-he-wants-to-shoot-cartoonist-lepage-accused-of-threat-to-lawmakers/) and took it as a joke. And it was, albeit a horrifically tasteless one considering cartoonists have very recently been shot (https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=charlie+hebdo) for expressing their views. (That the governor's joke about shooting someone, delivered at a school event, wasn't immediately greeted with a swarm of police officers (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130911/17580024493/another-teens-facebook-threat-results-criminal-charges-being-filed.shtml) and strongly-worded condemnations by school officials is yet another bit of hypocrisy…)

Cartoonist George Danby -- the one the governor would like to shoot -- doesn't find the joke particularly funny. But as offended as he is, he's only asking for an apology, not an investigation. (And he still hasn't received one.)

But this isn't an isolated experience. It appears Governor LePage would like to kill many, many people (http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/25/politics/after-saying-he-wants-to-shoot-cartoonist-lepage-accused-of-threat-to-lawmakers/).

A day after Gov. Paul LePage told a group of high school students that he would “like to shoot” a Bangor Daily News cartoonist, a top advocate for expanding passenger rail to Lewiston-Auburn said that LePage earlier this month said state lawmakers from Lewiston should be “rounded up and executed in the public square.”

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150630/14014831505/governor-tells-high-school-students-hed-like-to-shoot-students-dad-arrestinvestigation-fail-to-ensue.shtml

boutons_deux

07-08-2015, 02:17 PM

News from Kockenstein monster and his Repug Egors running Kockenstan.

What Else Was Buried In That Wisc. Bill That Almost Gutted Gov't Transparency

A provision in a Wisconsin budget package that would have gutted the state’s open records laws were scrapped (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/walker-public-record-law)after the Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the GOP legislative leadership came under intense scrutiny. However, a number of other consequential policy initiatives tucked into the larger budget bill remain intact. Some provisions appear to double down on Walker’s longstanding war on labor. Others roll back efforts to hold law enforcement accountable through transparency measures.

The governor’s office did not return TPM’s request for comment as to whether Walker, who will make his run for the White House official next week (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/walker-announcement-presidendency), intended to support or veto the measures. However, in the fallout over the open records law changes, legislators of both parties signaled (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/walker-involvement-in-records-law-changes) his office was aware -- if not approving -- of all the provisions in the budget package, known as Motion 999, that passed the Joint Finance Committee on Thursday.
Here is what else is the package:

Changes the state’s pension board:

One provision would alter the composition of the state board tasked with assessing any potential changes to Wisconsin’s retirement system for public employees. Currently, the board, known as the Joint Survey in Retirement Systems Committee, is made up of a mix of lawmakers of both parties, representatives from relevant state agencies and a citizen who is not participating in the state retirement program. If Motion 999 becomes law, it will instead consist of only legislators, with the number chosen by the majority party proportional to the ruling party's majority on other legislative committees, in effect politicizing the board.
The change comes as Walker has struggled to push through measures that would alter the state’s current pension plan. Though Wisconsin’s retirement program is one the most financially sound (http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/the-widening-gap-update) in the nation, Walker has signaled he would be willing (http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/walker-open-to-making-changes-to-state-pension-system/article_aa8d8f14-bf0e-11e1-a914-0019bb2963f4.html) to overhaul the system, only to receive pushback. Officials at the agencies represented on the board have previously said (http://host.madison.com/news/local/officials-don-t-change-wisconsin-retirement-system/article_8dbd824a-03a1-11e2-a5dc-0019bb2963f4.html)changes to the state’s retirement plan weren’t necessary (http://www.news.wisc.edu/20842), however a board made up of entirely partisan legislators might be more likely to greenlight such a plan. Both houses of the Wisconsin legislature and the governorship are currently controlled by Republicans.

Redefinition of Wisconsin’s “living wage:”

A 1913 law stipulating that Wisconsin’s minimum wage “shall not be less than a living wage” has prompted a legal challenge to Wisconsin’s current $7.25 minimum wage, which was brought by low wage workers last fall (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/27/us-wisconsin-minimumwage-lawsuit-idUSKBN0IG23A20141027)against Walker after the state refused to consider their complaint that $7.25 did not qualify as a living wage.

A provision in Motion 999 undermines that and future legal challenges, as well as the larger discussion they provoke, by wiping mention of “living wage” from Wisconsin’s books and replacing with it “minimum wage,” at the currently established levels.

Attacks on limits on the seven-day work week:

Under Motion 999, factory or mercantile workers will be allowed to opt-out of regulations requiring that employees receive 24 hours off within every seven consecutive work days.

Doubling down on Walker's war on public sector unions:

A provision in Motion 999 requires that government workers seeking to unionize win the support of 51 percent of all the workers in the affected pool, rather than just a majority of those voting. In doing so, it further streamlines Walker's controversial anti-public-sector-union legislation passed in 2011 as part of Act 10.

Elections to initiate new public sector unions were left out of Act 10's new standards for unions to maintain their negotiating abilities. The 2011 law established that public sector unions would need to vote to recertify annually -- as opposed to the special circumstances that previously prompted a recertification -- and also increased the level of support required, as workers who do not vote in union elections essentially count as a vote against recertifying.

Under Motion 999, that standard of support would also apply to efforts to start a union, which currently operate on the old, majority of voters standard.

Restricts what is disclosed in public reports of police involved-civilian deaths:

Even before police misconduct became a national issue, it was a hot topic in Wisconsin, with legislators passing a law in 2014 requiring outside investigations of civilian deaths at police hands.

One of Thursday’s provisions puts new limits on what investigators are allowed to disclosure in reports released to the public, requiring investigators weigh the public’s right to know the details of incident against the potential harm a disclosure could have on those involved.

Revoking previous oversight efforts of law enforcement’s use of military grade weapons:

Motion 999 rolls back a previous provision approved by the Joint Finance Committee to monitor the use of military equipment given to local and state law enforcement by the federal government. Those measures included developing policies regarding agencies' use of such equipment, requiring reporting of when military equipment is used by local and state law enforcement, and mandating that law enforcement makes public any request for military equipment. Motion 999 eliminates those provisions.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/provisions-motion-999-wisconsin-walker?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Kock Bros monster wants to be President

boutons_deux

07-09-2015, 03:27 PM

retrumplicans gonna be pissed, but...

U.S. FAA to change navigation codes named after Trump

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/09/us-usa-election-trump-faa-idUSKCN0PJ2G020150709?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

boutons_deux

07-10-2015, 05:38 AM

Colorado had sex education program that reduced teen pregnancies and abortions by many 10s of %. Repugs and Christian Taliban, obsessed with sex and vaginas, killed it.

“11-year-olds shouldn’t get IUDs!”: Fox News creates mythical preteen IUD seeker, ignoring the success of school-based reproductive healthcare clinics

Fewer pregnant teens, fewer abortions, fewer unwed mothers, fewer single-parent families on welfare, more balanced state budgets. Sounds like a set of goals that should be common ground for anyone who cares about America’s future, right?

Apparently not. Fox News, Breitbart (http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/07/06/conservative-media-complain-that-seattle-teens/204269) and other (http://www.donotlink.com/fs8b) right-leaning news outlets showed their non-patriotic non-loyalty to the Red, White and Blue this week by assaulting a Washington state program (http://sph.washington.edu/news/article.asp?content_ID=5202) that helps to make these broadly American objectives a reality.

Public-private partnership leads by building on global model, U.S. research.

In King County, home of Seattle, an innovative public-private partnership brings adolescent health services to youth where they are — in schools. Since the top reason girls drop out of high school is pregnancy, on-site clinics in Seattle high schools have long included family planning services, and Washington voters have long defended teen access to care, whether or not young people have supportive parental adults they can turn to for help.

Since 2010, a model program (http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(11)00713-0/abstract) developed by Neighborcare Health and adopted by other primary care providers has applied “medical best practices” shown in Missouri (http://valerietarico.com/2012/11/08/dramatic-drop-in-teen-pregnancy-really-a-technology-tipping-point/) and Colorado (http://crooksandliars.com/2015/07/colorado-had-bright-idea-about-how-prevent) to dramatically decrease teen pregnancy. This includes on-site provision of top-tier IUDs and implants that are endorsed (https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/AAP-Updates-Recommendations-on-Teen-Pregnancy-Prevention.aspx) by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC as the first line of contraception for sexually active teens.

School-based clinics that provide reproductive healthcare have been around for a quarter of a century and span the globe (http://www.systematicreviewsjournal.com/content/1/1/49) from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to Cape Town, South Africa. The Washington program has backing from public health authorities and educators and state law (http://depts.washington.edu/hcsats/PDF/guidelines/Minors%20Health%20Care%20Rights%20Washington%20Sta te.pdf). But that hasn’t prevented a chorus of inane formulaic screeching about mythical 11-year-old sixth-graders sneaking behind the backs of their otherwise doting parents to get “dangerous” IUDs, “gynecological procedures” and “invasive contraceptives” from unqualified government bureaucrats.

Religious right fabricates 11-year-old mascot

By design, media hype generated by Fox and similar outlets requires little basis in reality. (If only the story had broken in June, the Fox lineup could have included Bristol Palin touting the virtues of abstinence, which works — don’t you know — 100 percent of the time.)
Conservative commentators appear not to care that their mascot, the 11-year-old IUD seeker, hasn’t shown up once during the past five years of service. Nor do they care that real teens who do exist have received the best family planning care available, stacking the odds in favor of their education, their dreams and their future families.

Rather, commentators, including Penny Nance from the fundamentalist Christian group Concerned Women for America, used misleading shock headlines as an opening to rant against government overreach and parent rights.

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/10/11_year_olds_shouldnt_get_iuds_fox_news_creates_my thical_preteen_iud_seeker_ignoring_the_success_of_ school_based_reproductive_healthcare_clinics/

Christian supremacist Taliban and the Repugs/VRWC that exploits them really retarding, fucking up America.

40%+ of Americans deny evolution!

Thanks, Repugs!

Infinite_limit

07-10-2015, 05:53 AM

So this is where Bouton takes his daily dump

boutons_deux

07-10-2015, 03:58 PM

Donald Trump is not helping the Republican 'demographic death spiral' (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/10/1401075/-Donald-Trump-is-not-helping-the-Republican-demographic-death-spiral)

It's delicious watching Republicans fuss and flail and try to figure out what to do about their Donald Trump problem—a problem that's a symptom of the party's deeper long-term problems (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party-debate.html?ref=politics&_r=2&referrer=).

It turns out, interviews show, that the mathematical delicacy of a Republican victory in 2016 — and its dependence on aging, anxious white voters — make it exceedingly perilous for the Republican Party to treat Mr. Trump as the pariah many of its leaders now wish he would become.

Republicans can't afford to piss off Trump's many supporters (http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-gop-primary), but the party's leaders really would have preferred to keep those voters happy with messages sent through dog whistles, not foghorns.

Because everyone hears a foghorn—swing voters, Democrats who only turn out to vote if they're angry, and definitely the populations being called rapists at top volume.

“As a presidential candidate, he’s taking a problem we already have as a party and making it worse,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, another White House aspirant. “If we continue this we’re going to accelerate the demographic death spiral we’re in.”

Graham is a realist on this if not on his own chances at the presidency. Republicans are overwhelmingly a party of white people, which isn't sustainable as the U.S. population shifts.

But since the white people they rely on to win elections now aren't going to accept messages or policies that do anything but alienate black and brown people, Republicans have to walk a delicate line between giving up votes now and giving up votes in the future. And many prominent Republicans—Donald Trump high among them—are not so good at delicate.

http://www.dailykos.com/?detail=action

boutons_deux

07-11-2015, 07:53 AM

GOP Lawmakers Vote To Increase Unplanned Pregnancy Rate

In early July, Colorado’s success with free long-acting contraceptives was trumpeted by news media. The New York Times called the results “startling” and “stunning.” “Colorado’s free birth control experiment could change the world,” ravedSFGate, a news website.
But the news was not so surprising.

After health authorities provided free contraceptives such as intrauterine devices to low-income girls and women over six years, from 2009 to 2013, the out-of-wedlock birth rate among teenagers dropped by 40 percent. The abortion rate among that group declined by 42 percent, said the Times, using figures from Colorado officials. And they reported similar declines among unmarried women younger than 25 and without high-school diplomas — a group likely to be mired in poverty if they started motherhood too soon.

Aren’t those results exactly what you’d expect when young women are given easy access to a reliable and simple-to-use method of birth control? Isn’t that what advocates of women’s reproductive health have been preaching for decades?

Here’s the surprise: The Colorado state legislature has refused to provide $5 million to renew the program, despite its dramatic results. Apparently, its members were cowed by opposition from the usual coalition of right-wing religious groups, such as Colorado Family Action. (The initial funding was provided by an anonymous donor.)

“We believe that offering contraceptives to teens, especially long-acting reversible contraceptives, while it may prevent pregnancy, does not help them understand the risks that come with sexual activities. We should not remove parents from the equation,” Colorado Family Action said in a statement.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/gop-lawmakers-vote-to-increase-unplanned-pregnancy-rate/

Just like in TX where Repugs INCREASED the abortion rate by killing contraception to poor women, the Colorado Repugs are INCREASING the CO abortion rate. #FETUSLIVESDONTMATTER

boutons_deux

07-12-2015, 07:47 AM

As usual, Repugs fucking up by protecting their paymasters rather than serving We The People.

Enviros, Tea Partiers, and the Christian Coalition all agree: Florida needs more rooftop solar

There’s an increasingly energetic fight brewing in Florida — one that has odd battle lines, bringing Tea Party activists and environmentalists together against monopoly utilities and big-money right-wing groups like Americans for Prosperity, and turning city governments against neighboring city governments.

The issue at stake? Whether state law should be amended to allow organizations other than utilities to sell electricity, which would clear the way for more rooftop solar power.

Florida is one of only five states in the country that actively bars third parties from selling electricity. (Another 20-plus states don’t explicitly bar it, but don’t allow it either — what this means for solar companies is unclear, one group that tracks the issue told PolitiFact (http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/politifact-is-florida-1-of-5-states-that-bans-electricity-sales-by-solar/2214172).) So Floridian homeowners aren’t allowed to buy energy from companies that install solar panels on their roofs.

The state’s utilities, at the moment, only draw 1 percent (http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/politifact-is-florida-1-of-5-states-that-bans-electricity-sales-by-solar/2214172) of their electricity from solar, despite the fact that the state ranks third in the country in terms of potential to generate solar energy, and despite the fact that solar energy has become cost competitive with fossil fuels (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/business/energy-environment/solar-and-wind-energy-start-to-win-on-price-vs-conventional-fuels.html) and is often a safer investment (http://grist.org/climate-energy/wind-and-solar-are-much-less-financially-risky-than-other-power-projects/) for utilities.

A growing coalition — including environmentalists, the League of Women Voters, the Christian Coalition, and Tea Party activists who see the ban as meddling in the free market — is pushing to get rid of the third-party electricity ban. They’ve been gathering signatures to put an initiative on the 2016 ballot, called the Solar Choice amendment, that would allow businesses and individuals to sell up to two megawatts of solar power.

The utility companies have asked the Florida Supreme Court to throw out the ballot amendment, even before signature gathering is done.

http://grist.org/news/enviros-tea-partiers-and-the-christian-coalition-all-agree-florida-needs-more-rooftop-solar/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed

Will the ELECTED :lol SCOFL kill the amendment to please the utilities cartel?

boutons_deux

07-12-2015, 10:18 AM

Right-wing Christian ‘expert’ on feminism insists that submitting to marital rape makes Jesus happy

In his July 11, 2015, post titled, “Is My Husband Raping Me? (http://www.donotlink.com/fvwn),” Mr. Biblical Gender Roles responds to an extremely distraught female reader whose husband frequently demands sex against her wishes, even when intercourse is painful for the wife.

Here’s the appalling “biblical response” to the question of whether it is wrong for a husband to have sex with his wife when she is in pain, according to Mr. Biblical Gender Roles:

“It depends. Had he just had sex with her in the last few days? Then perhaps he should have put her need to not experience more pain and discomfort ahead of his need for sex. But if she had been in pain for weeks or a month and he finally came to her and said ‘Babe I need this, I promise I will make it quick’ – then she should have put his need for sex above her need to not experience additional discomfort.”

"A woman who has sex with her husband, even when she does not feel like it, even when her husband is not doing everything he should, is doing EXACTLY what God wants her to do. She is living according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/right-wing-christian-expert-on-feminism-insists-that-submitting-to-marital-rape-makes-jesus-happy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

"Christians!" :lol The Repug BASE! :lol

boutons_deux

07-12-2015, 04:40 PM

Watch Fox host deliver unhinged anti-LGBT sermon: Chick-fil-A ‘is the official chicken of Jesus’

Speaking to Abilene Baptist Church in Augusta on Sunday, Starnes began by saying it was good to be back in the South where it was easy to find Waffle House and Chick-fil-A restaurants, which he argued was “the official chicken of Jesus.”

“I believe that the reason that God blessed America is because we know how to smoke a pork butt,” Starnes said, turning to the recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage.

“There is a war on religious liberty!” he bellowed. “And this war is not targeting people of the Muslim faith or the Jewish faith or the Hindu faith. This war on religious liberty is targeting people of the Christian faith.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/watch-fox-host-deliver-unhinged-anti-lgbt-sermon-chick-fil-a-is-the-official-chicken-of-jesus/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

rightwingnuts, all y'all got some real nice spokespeople. :lol

boutons_deux

07-12-2015, 04:47 PM

Ted Cruz’s Caught In A Lie As He Has No Proof That He Did Not Buy His Own Books

After being accused of printing a false story by the Ted Cruz presidential campaign, PoliticusUSA asked Cruz to provide proof that he or one of his super PACs did not buy his own books. The result has been complete silence from the Cruz campaign.

The New York Times refused to place Ted Cruz on their bestseller list because they found evidence that Cruz or someone supporting him tried to rig the game by buying his books (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/10/ted-cruz-busted-buying-books-ny-times-refuses-put-bestseller-list.html) in bulk.

Cruz responded by calling The New York Times a bunch of liberal liars who are trying to blackball his book. (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/10/ted-cruz-throws-tantrum-claims-ny-times-lying-buying-books.html)

I explained how Cruz, or most likely a group of three super PACs who are supporting him followed what has become a standard Republican candidate practice of buying books in bulk in order to land on the bestseller list. (http://archives.politicususa.com/2010/12/02/palin-bestseller-fraud.html)

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/11/ted-cruzs-caught-lie-proof-buy-books.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

07-13-2015, 10:41 AM

VRWC/Repug War on Public Education and public school teachers

More Kansas teachers leaving state, retiring

Classroom spending cuts, uncertain school financing, low pay and eroding tenure protections all play into a hostile climate in Kansas that teachers and school administrators say is spurring a surge of teacher departures and retirements.

At least 3,720 Kansas teachers have left the state, retired or taken jobs outside of education after this past school year, a huge jump from the 2,150 who did so just a couple of years ago, according to a newly released data by Kansas State Department of Education.

The teacher exodus comes as a panel of district judges declared last month that key parts of a new state law for funding public schools violate the state constitution. The panel ordered an immediate increase in funds, but the Kansas Supreme Court later stayed that order pending its review.

But it is not just the financing problems fueling a perception education in Kansas is under attack. The GOP-dominated Legislature also tried to limit teachers' bargaining power and sought unsuccessfully to pass a law that would allow teachers to be criminally prosecuted for presenting material deemed harmful to minors.

"Instead of funding our schools, (lawmakers) are vilifying our teachers,"

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/jul/12/more-kansas-teachers-leaving-state-retiring/

boutons_deux

07-13-2015, 10:43 AM

Senate leader says Congress will block some Obama moves on CubaThe top Senate Republican said on Sunday that Congress is likely to block any nominee that President Barack Obama names as ambassador to Cuba and retain broad economic sanctions, even as Obama moves to establish diplomatic and economic ties with the Communist-run island.

https://news.yahoo.com/senate-leader-says-congress-block-obama-moves-cuba-183828420.html

the objective? block the uppity n!gg@.

boutons_deux

07-13-2015, 11:47 AM

Conservatives in AU fuck up distributed energy sources, as conservatives do everywhere

Australia Moves To Ban Wind And Rooftop Solar From Its Clean Energy Investments

In another blow from Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s administration to clean power, Australia’s renewable energy investment agency has been told not to invest in wind farms or small-scale solar projects.
Opposition leaders and solar energy supporters say the government directive prohibiting the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from investing in rooftop solar will cripple the industry and further diminish Australia’s chances of transitioning to a clean energy economy.

“To say this is about lowering the costs of power is cynical in the extreme,” Grimes told Guardian Australia (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/12/abbott-government-extends-ban-on-renewable-energy-to-solar-panels). “What they’re doing with this is the precise opposite.”
The directive followed failed attempts (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/14/dismantling-australian-climate-policy-a-case-study-in-disagreement) to completely dismantle the CEFC, despite broad public support for clean energy in Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been as clear in his desire to do away with the CEFC, as he has been strident in his support (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/04/coal-is-the-future-insists-tony-abbott-as-un-calls-for-action-on-climate-change) for the country’s coal industry.

“It is our policy to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation because we think that if the projects stack up economically, there’s no reason why they can’t be supported in the usual way,” Abbott told reporters in Darwin (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/12/abbott-government-extends-ban-on-renewable-energy-to-solar-panels).

According to official documents (http://www.cleanenergyfinancecorp.com.au/media/107304/cefc_chairs_response_to_treasurer_and_minister_for _finance_re_2015_cefc_investment_mandate.pdf), the CEFC currently expects an average lifetime investment portfolio yield of approximately 6.5 percent. That means its investments are expected to return the taxpayers’ money — with a profit

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/13/3679656/australia-stops-solar-investment/

but AU conservatives have approved dumping dredging tailings for deep water coal ships onto the endangered Great Barrier Reef.

Confederate red states have almost zero incentives for alternative energy.

boutons_deux

07-14-2015, 02:21 PM

Oklahoma Republican Party Compares Americans on Food Stamps to Animals You Shouldn't Feed

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/large/public/screen_shot_2015-07-14_at_9.18.01_am.png

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/oklahoma-republican-party-compares-americans-food-stamps-animals-you-shouldnt?akid=13300.187590.FZ4532&rd=1&src=newsletter1039320&t=7

boutons_deux

07-14-2015, 02:25 PM

Food Disaster: Republicans Stomp on GMO Labeling

With no debate and only a voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture today (July 14, 2015) passed out of committee H.R. 1599, a bill (https://www.organicconsumers.org/campaigns/millions-against-monsanto/act-now-states%E2%80%99-rights-label-gmos-danger) to preempt states’ rights to label GMOs.

Within hours, it was announced that the bill will go straight to the House floor, as early as next week, with no vote in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

If we don’t stop it in the House next week, the fight to stop this this “Mother of All Monsanto Protection Acts” will take place next in the U.S. Senate, before summer’s end.

http://www.alternet.org/food/republicans-stomp-gmo-labeling?akid=13300.187590.FZ4532&rd=1&src=newsletter1039320&t=5

A large majority of Americans poll in favor of GMO labelling. The Repugs, in their uncompetitive, red, gerrymandered states and districts, NEVER respect the 99%.

boutons_deux

07-15-2015, 09:03 AM

Christian Taliban supremacist

N.C. Republican Reveals His ‘Primary Mission’ as Congressman: ‘We’re Here as Emissaries For Christ’

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/nc-republican-reveals-his-primary-mission-congressman-were-here-emissaries-christ?akid=13301.187590.h3g7K5&rd=1&src=newsletter1039345&t=19

boutons_deux

07-15-2015, 04:42 PM

Christian Grifter news

Florida church sends $1,000 collection notice to single mother because she didn’t tithe

A Florida church sent a delinquency notice to a new member reminding her that worshipers were expected to pay $1,000 in required fees or face possible removal.

Candace Petterson said she started attending the Greater Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church about six months ago after moving to a new home in the Tampa area, but she received a troubling letter last week from the church, reported WFTS-TV (http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/hillsborough-regional-news/church-members-complain-about-collection-notices).

The single mother said she received what amounted to a delinquency notice from her new church asking her to contribute $50 a month, along with other assorted fees, to remain a member in good standing and vote on church matters.

The predominantly black church, which has operated for more than a century, asked her to pay a yearly $250 anniversary fee and another $150 for Mount Moriah Day – amounting to $1,000, some of which would be set aside to pay off church debt.

“What church charges you to help pay off what they’re going through?” Petterson said. “I’m not there for that.”

The letter, from assistant administrator Ladreda Spencer and Pastor B.R. Fulton Jr., also reminded Petterson that children – including her 11-year-old daughter – were expected to pay $5 a month to the church in addition to two annual $15 fees.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/florida-church-sends-1000-collection-notice-to-single-mother-because-she-didnt-tithe/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

boutons_deux

07-16-2015, 09:55 AM

...

boutons_deux

07-16-2015, 01:44 PM

Mayor in Washington makes disgusting racist remarks about the Obamas, refuses to resign (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402582/-Mayor-in-Washington-makes-disgusting-racial-remarks-about-the-Obamas-refuses-to-resign)

"Gorilla face Michelle, can't disagree with that. The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402582/-Mayor-in-Washington-makes-disgusting-racial-remarks-about-the-Obamas-refuses-to-resign?detail=email

boutons_deux

07-16-2015, 01:48 PM

iow, "GTFO, n!gg@"

They Are Greeting President Obama with Confederate Flags in Durant, OK (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402487/-They-Are-Greeting-Obama-with-Confederate-Flags-in-Durant-OK)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/454/19721598095_b8172f8d9a.jpg

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402487/-They-Are-Greeting-Obama-with-Confederate-Flags-in-Durant-OK?detail=email

boutons_deux

07-16-2015, 01:51 PM

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott unveils crack Jade Helm monitoring team (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402519/-Texas-Gov-Greg-Abbott-unveils-crack-Jade-Helm-monitoring-team)

Abbott's office said Tuesday that four to five members of the State Guard are expected to coordinate with a military liaison at Austin's Camp Mabry, according to The San Antonio Express-News (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/State-Guard-to-monitor-Jade-Helm-from-Austin-6384207.php). The State Guard is expected to brief the governor's office once a day, offering a review of the past 24 hours' activity as well as a rundown of what's scheduled to happen in the next 72 hours.The State Guard is not expected to monitor "Jade Helm 15" in the field, however, according to the newspaper.

Note that this is independent of the larger(?) volunteer force that will be driving around Texas looking for Jade Helm so they can call in their sightings (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/13/1401827/-Jade-Helm-15-the-military-exercise-that-begat-a-thousand-conspiracy-theories-begins).

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/15/1402519/-Texas-Gov-Greg-Abbott-unveils-crack-Jade-Helm-monitoring-team?detail=email#

boutons_deux

07-16-2015, 02:16 PM

Senate Republicans Block A Bill That Would Create 1 Million New Jobs For Young People

Senate Republicans voted down a bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would have provided funds to state and local governments to create 1 million new jobs for nation’s struggling young workforce.

The Senate voted down the legislation that was an amendment to the education bill by a 43-55 margin.

The legislation would have provided $5.5 billion to state and local governments for jobs and training programs.

Republicans objected to the bill because it would have been paid for by closing a tax loophole for billionaires.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/16/senate-republicans-block-bill-create-1-million-jobs-young-people.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

boutons_deux

07-20-2015, 04:11 AM

The Violent, Vile Facebook Rants Of The ‘Counter Jade Helm’ Leader

http://a2.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/dbknn4ylfxrsuezyjpd8.jpg

Pete Lanteri, the former Marine who's organized a citizen surveillance group (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/counter-jade-helm-citizen-surveillance) to monitor a military training exercise taking place this summer across seven southern states, is a self-described "hothead" prone to Facebook rants about rounding up "commies" and how blacks are a "failed race."

Lanteri, a 44-year-old former Marine who is originally from New York, where he once directed that state's branch of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/23liminu.html?pagewanted=all), and currently resides in Arizona, sat down last week with Fox News Radio's Alan Colmes to talk about how his group plans to monitor the military operation dubbed "Jade Helm 15."

In the Thursday interview (http://radio.foxnews.com/2015/07/16/lanteri-anything-can-happen-during-jade-helm/), Lanteri complained about being labelled a "Jade Helm 15" conspiracy theorist while simultaneously being dismissed by the tin foil hat set as too sympathetic to the feds. (Lanteri did not respond last week to a request for comment sent to an email account associated with his group).

Colmes asked Lanteri about a Facebook post labeling "libs" and "conspiracy nuts" as "useless fucking Americans":

Lanteri responded to Colmes by describing himself as a "Sicilian hothead from the Bronx."

“I tend to write something before I think, and a lot of people do that," he added. "Of course I don’t think that."

Colmes further pressed Lanteri to explain an inflammatory comment he wrote on the same post, in which he replied “I can’t to wait to kill thousands of these fucks" to another man who was advocating a "revolution":
http://a5.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/w_652/i9dmj4tonvbpsmmvoymf.jpg

“I admit I wrote it and I admit it was stupid. And guess what? I get hotheaded at times,” Lanteri said, adding that he had been upset about having to cremate his dog that day.

In light of those posts and Lanteri's self-identification as a "hothead," Colmes asked how people could trust the former Marine with leading the surveillance group.

“Well, those are rare examples,” Lanteri responded. “But I personally felt like [Counter Jade Helm] was needed. Others agreed with me. And we’re gonna do it.”

A quick pass through Lanteri's public Facebook page revealed that those posts were not rare examples, though. The "Counter Jade Helm" leader over the past several months has spouted off about everything from a "war on whites" to a fantasy about Fox News pundit Geraldo Rivera getting killed in last month's massacre at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

And for someone who has vowed to screen "Jade Helm 15" conspiracy theorists out of his group, Lanteri himself did dabble in one of the debunked (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wal-mart-jade-helm-15), wilder rumors about the military taking over shuttered Wal-Mart stores (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/jade-helm-wild-conspiracy-theories):

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/pete-lanteri-jade-helm-facebook?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Abbott "running" with these paranoid, angry assholes!

Jade Helm taking over TX! :lol

boutons_deux

07-20-2015, 10:19 AM

Senate Committee Votes Down Several Auto Safety Reforms

Since automakers began recalling vehicles in force last year – punctuated by the millions of models covered by General Motors’ massive ignition switch defect (http://consumerist.com/tag/gm/) and Takata’s explosive airbags (http://consumerist.com/2015/05/19/34-million-takata-airbags-declared-defective-more-recalls-to-come/) – lawmakers have been trying to push through reforms that would make it more difficult to keep potentially deadly automobiles on the roadways. But proposed laws such as those that would impose fines on owners of vehicles who don’t follow-through with recall repairs (http://consumerist.com/2015/03/03/recall-act-would-require-consumers-fix-vehicle-safety-issues-before-registration-renewal/) or barring used car dealers from selling vehicles with unrepaired recalls likely won’t see the light of day after being voted down by a Senate committee last week.

The New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/business/senate-committees-no-vote-incenses-lawmakers-seeking-auto-safety-reforms.html)that a number of auto safety reforms – including one that would impose criminal penalties on auto executives who fail to disclose deadly defects – failed to make it to the latest version of the transportation bill, expected to be seen by the entire Senate floor later this month.

While a majority of the reforms introduced as attachments to the larger bill went nowhere, some managed to make it through, including those that increase the maximum civil penalty imposed on automakers from $35 million to $70 million and one that would increase funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – so long as the agency implements recommendations recently set forth by the Transportation Department’s Inspector General. (http://consumerist.com/2015/06/22/another-report-finds-nhtsa-failed-to-hold-automakers-responsible-for-defects-other-issues/)

Additionally, lawmakers were successful in adding a measure that would ban rental companies from handing out cars with unrepaired safety recalls to customers. That amendment is a stark contrast to a proposal introduced just two weeks ago that would have allowed companies to rent the potentially dangerous vehicles as long as they simply notified the renter that the repairs hadn’t been made (http://consumerist.com/2015/07/10/legislation-would-allow-some-rental-car-companies-to-rent-vehicles-under-recall-if-they-give-notice/).

Senator and committee chairman John Thune, of South Dakota, said a similar bill that would have banned used car dealers from selling recall vehicles failed because it would have had “unintended consequences” for the industry, the NYT reports.

http://consumerist.com/2015/07/20/senate-committee-votes-down-several-auto-safety-reforms/

Good ol' Repugs, always "promoting the general welfare" over BigCorp profits.