Starting back in early August, and every week since then, I've concluded each Op/Ed with a list of examples of why Republicans should not be allowed to regain control of Congress this mid-term election. Beside just being generally nuts, they have made it clear what they intend to do should that happen: go back to all the Bush-era policies that nearly brought this country to its knees less than two short years ago, launch endless, pointless investigations like they did against Bill Clinton to ensure nothing gets done, shut down the government (see list for numerous links), give enormous, budget-busting tax breaks to the richest 2% of Americans already awash in cash in some inexplicable belief that giving them still MORE money will convince them to create jobs for which there is no demand, and, of course, privatize Medicare & Social Security (also, see list for multiple links). Are you tired of the Wild West, free-wheeling and reckless financial practices of Wall Street? The Republican Party isn't. And they're hoping you won't remember that's how we got here. They want to privatize everything, then deregulate it till there's no government oversight.
(A brief comment: Please notice that I back EVERY accusation up with a confirming link. My inbox receives a steady stream of junkmail chain letters from Right-wingers recanting political horror stories of "FEMA Death camps" or how "Democrats are out to destroy America"... all with one thing in common: NO LINKS to back them up. Easiest way to tell if that political chain-letter is crap or not is whether or not it contains any links to back up their accusations.)
The Tea Party, a fundamentalist wing of the Republican Party, differs from the GOP only in their level of fanatical extremism. The Tea Party is in lockstep with the GOP on every economic issue. Where they differ is on social issues... you know... questioning whether President Obama was even born in the United States or whether or not the minimum wage is Cons utional. One of the most amazing things about this extensive list of "Top 101 Reasons" is it only goes back six weeks to last August, and without padding from dozens of Wingnutty "Sharron Angle" and "Christine O'Donnell" quotes. The list doesn't even go back as recently as Rep. Joe Barton's (R-TX) apology to BP three months ago, upset that BP... and not the U.S. taxpayer... must pay to cleanup the oil spill in the Gulf. This week, Barton echoed Party leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner that the GOP has been "short or specifics" on just how exactly they'll fix all these problems they're attacking Democrats for not fixing. They don't have any answers (that you'd like). They're just hoping you won't ask them any questions before election day.
In past weeks, we've met "The God Warriors", Joe "Everything is uncons utional" Miller (R-AK), and Rob "privatize everything" Portman (R-OH). Sharron "black is the color of evil" Angle and Christine "dabbled in witchcraft" O'Donnell require entire websites to track their history of nutty comments.
There's former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina, who was fired from HP for nearly bankrupting the company, and now running for the Senate in California, who defended her record of "outsourcing" thousands of jobs. How much of her $21 million dollar golden parachute will go to buy your vote?
In Connecticut, Linda McMahon, the multi-millionaire wife of pro-wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, stuck a blow for feminism defending scenes like this from their WWE programming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMh3UQKSyf8
We've got Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY), the ophthalmologist son of Texas Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), who... like his Libertarian father... wants to cut government spending across the board... except when it comes to Medicare payments to doctors like him. Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi put it best:
This candidate, a man ostensibly so against government power in all its forms that he wants to gut the Americans With Disabilities Act and abolish the departments of Education and Energy, was unwilling to reduce his own government compensation, for a very logical reason. "Physicians," he said, "should be allowed to make a comfortable living."
You might remember Rand best for calling the Civil Right Act of 1964 an abridgment of "freedom of speech". Or maybe for suggesting we should do away with the "Americans With Disabilities Act"? Those free-loading cripples have had it too cushy for far too long.
The one thing Republicans, Conservatives and Teabaggers all agree upon: Extending the budget-busting Bush Tax Cuts to the "Top 2%" in the absurd belief that it will create jobs. As I've pointed out repeatedly, THE "TOP 2%" HAS BEEN RECEIVING THE BUSH TAX CUT SINCE 2002. So where are all the jobs? Not only did it not create jobs, they doubled the National Debt and created the worst job creation record since Herbert Hoover. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result each time. These people ARE insane.
So you see, despite all their hypocrisy, idiocy and easily disprovable statements of "fact", the Teanuts are... in Matt's words... "full of ". They slept through the Bush Administration, when he doubled the National Debt and failed to prevent the worst terrorist attack in American history, then yawned as that same Administration violated eight of the first ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights, launched a war based on lies, and outed an undercover CIA agent because her husband dared expose their lies in the New York Times, all while presiding over the worst economy and ensuing economic meltdown since The Great Depression. But put a black man in the White House and suddenly we have "a lying, Socialist Marxist Muslim that pals around with terrorists" for president.
Of course, voters need more than just reasons to NOT vote for "the other guy", they need a reason to get their butt off the couch and give Democrats more than just two years to fix what took Republicans eight years to destroy. A good place to start might be this list of 244 Accomplishments of President Obama, which is already slightly out of date.
Now, anyone that knows me or reads this blog regularly can tell you I'm not exactly "thrilled" with the Obama Administration... mostly for all its kowtowing to the Republican minority and allowing them to set the agenda for economic reform... stressing tax cuts over government investment in infrastructure, and a lack of urgency with regards to Climate Change and a Green Jobs Program. But I also know all these things fair a FAR better chance with a Democratic Congress than if Republicans regain control.
Since President Obama entered office, despite unprecedented obstructionism by the Republican minority, he passed the "2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act" that gave a payroll tax CUT to 98% of all working Americans; he is keeping his promise to end the war in Iraq (remember McCain was prepared to keep troops in Iraq "for 100 years"); forced health insurance companies to offer coverage to EVERYONE by eliminating the "preexisting conditions" loophole (yes, Republicans vow to do away with that too); eliminated the infamous "prescription drug 'donut hole'" of the Republican Prescription Drug Program that stuck hundreds of thousands of seniors paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for their medications; signed the "Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act" for women that Bush said he'd veto if Democrats passed it; appointed two women to the Supreme Court (including the first Hispanic); and most recently, is creating the first "Financial Products Protection Agency" that will crackdown on deceptive contracts (like the kind that led to the mortgage crisis) and outrageous credit card fees & interest rates (a law restricting changes in credit card interest rates was already passed by Obama in 2009.) None of these things would have passed under a Republican Congress, who are now promising to repeal ALL of these reforms if you put them back in charge.
So without further ado, our "(In)Complete List of Examples Showing Why Republicans/Conservatives/Teabaggers should not be allowed to regain control of Congress (Six weeks. These are all in just the past six weeks):
1. Gingrich Suggests Taking Out The Remaining ‘Axis Of Evil’ Members: ‘We’re One Out Of Three’. Are you tired of these budget-breaking, costly & bloody wars? The GOP isn't.
2. Department of Defense can’t account for 96 percent of money administered in Iraq reconstruction fund (between 2003-2007, $9.1 Billion just vanished).
3. Deficit fraud Shadegg (R-WI) can’t name a single program he'd cut to reduce the deficit.
4. The GOP has become the "Let Them Eat Want Ads" Caucus: A look at all the Conservatives claiming people on unemployment are "lazy" and are simply "putting off looking for work".
5. Speaking of which: TN Congressman running for governor, Zach Wamp (R-TN) Suggests Unemployed Are ‘Just Sitting Back Waiting’.
6. Sharon Angle - The Tea Party's pick to replace Nevada Senator Harry Reid is too BSC even for Fox News with all her talk of "armed insurrection" and "Second Amendment remedies" if voters don't return Conservatives to power in Congress.
7. House minority whip Eric Cantor Admits Extending Bush Tax Cuts Would ‘Dig The Hole Deeper’ on the Deficit and can't name a single program he'd cut to pay for it (continue reading the list and you'll find he's not the only Deficit Hawk that can't name a single thing he'd cut.)
8. But that's not the first time a Republican admits the truth about the effect of tax cuts on the Deficit: GOP Lawmaker Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) Slips Up, Admits Tax Cuts Will ‘Increase The Debt’.
9. Not convinced yet? Contradicting His Earlier Denial, Marco Rubio (R-FL) Admits ‘Tax Cuts Don’t Pay For Themselves’.
10. Don't ask these guys how they'll pay for extending the Bush Tax Cuts. Either they don't know or won't say before the election because they know you won't like it (can you say "Social Security & Medicare" after they spent all of last Summer vowing to protect it?)
11. The man in charge of rewriting history on the Bush Administration, Rove Invents Fantasy World In Which The Bush Tax Cuts Led To The Most Government Revenue Ever. (So how did they double the National Debt in six years with "all that revenue" coming in?)
12. Tea Party Senate candidate Rand Paul (R-TN) claims mine safety regulations are unnecessary because ‘no one will apply’ for jobs at dangerous mines. - So, mines will simply go out of business after 100% of them deregulate and workers choose to starve rather than work for them? (They can just live off their Trust Funds until a better job comes along, right Rand?)
13. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) Can’t Think Of Any GOP Ideas That Are Different From Bush. Says Simply: We Are ‘Pro-Growth’. (whatever that means.)
14. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Filibusters DISCLOSE Act After Decades Of Demanding Campaign Finance Reform - As recently as 2007, McConnell was still defending his 23 year effort to require candidates to disclose who was donating to their campaigns. Now, suddenly, he's filibustering something he has fought for for years. Why? Because Democrats want it too. It's all part of "the Party of Record Obstructionism simply to deny Democrats of any achievements prior to the election. Will you reward them for it in November?)
15. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow takes note of McConnell's flip-flop, producing video proof of numerous Republicans now vehemently opposed to programs & policies THEY themselves invented. (Can you say "Cap & Trade" McCain, Palin, Fiorina?)
16. And WHY would Republicans now obstruct their own programs? Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) says the answer is obvious: Republicans ‘Don’t Want People To Get Jobs Before The Election’ . I think he's right.
17. People that think like this have no business being in charge of ANYTHING: Carnival offers shoot-the-president game.
18. On Sunday's Meet the Press, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called for more deregulation to jumpstart the economy, then IN THE SAME BREATH, blamed a lack of regulation for the crisis on Wall Street and the oil disaster in the Gulf:
19. GOP Repeats Balanced Budget Amendment Farce - Why is this bad? Because they are still insisting on extending the $700B budget-busting Bush Tax cut for the wealthiest 2% while (almost comically) steadfastly refusing to explain how they'll pay for it. (Can you say "Draconian spending cuts on the Poor & Middle Class"?)
20. Back in college, Tennessee Senatorial candidate Rand Paul reportedly kidnapped a female student and forced her to worship the 'AQUA BUDDHA' (a bong) as part of a secret society. (Update: Paul denies the kidnapping, but not the 'bong worship' part.)
21. Serial adulterer and potential 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who spends an inordinate amount of time preaching "Family Values", dismissed his hypocrisy in a discussion with ex-wife #2 with a 'Do as I say, not as I do' defense.
22. McCain Promises He Won’t Work With Democrats On Immigration If He Is Re-Elected. - Do you get it yet? They don't WANT to fix their made-up "problems" (ie: "campaign fundraising issues"). That's why they never challenged Roe v Wade the six years they controlled all three branches of government. There's gold in them thar race-baiting issues!
23. "Terror Babies!" - Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert went on Fox Business Channel to make the wild claim that pregnant Middle Eastern women are traveling to the U.S. to have babies who will automatically become U.S. citizens upon birth and later return when they are older to "blow us up." - The FBI debunked him, but he continues to insist it's true. These people are delusional paranoids, and they are hoping you'll put them back in charge.
24. Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio thinks the way to balance the budget is simply to ban earmarks (which make up 1% of the budget) and putting every government expenditure OTHER than Defense) up for reapproval by Congress every ten years (are you ready to risk a Republican Congress reapproving Medicare and Social Security every ten years?) Oh, BTW: Every dollar of discretionary spending already has to be reappropriated every year.
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I'm sure the trip was cool.
