Conservative VS Liberal

[BJean 16]

Don't worry, if she did she'd be able to justify it.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

REPUBLICANS OPPOSE TRANSPARENCY!!

With all their yapping about "transparency" (read: they mean they want Obama to be transparent not them) - the republicans yet again reared their hypocritical heads today by voting against a disclosure act to even be discussed.

What is this disclosure act you might ask? Well, you might remember the right wing activist supreme court ruled in Citizens United that corporations are people and could spend unliminted amounts of money in attempts to buy elections. This includes foreign companies. Imagine that! Foreign companies deciding our elections and I thought just the supreme court did that.

The disclosure act would simply force these ads to disclose who paid for them - by having the CEO come on (just like candidates do and say I'm so and so and I approved this message) or having the name of the organization and their funding displayed.

But NO, the party of No won't even let it come up for discussion. Why? Because they can't wait for their corporate friends to help them buy November's elections. Without revealing who they are. The republicans don't want you to know who their friends are.

80% of Americans OPPOSE the Citizens United ruling and only 18% support it, including our resident right-winger.

But somehow the republicans will turn this around to their advantage, which fortunately for them doesn't require much turning since their base readily drinks the kool aid.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Cleo's Mom

[pattygreen 5]

You may as well ask for food stamps!

You must be dense.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Republican Tea Party Contract for America:

For the better part of the past year, Republicans have tried to come up with a new agenda for the American people with mixed results. However, with the Tea Party now the most potent force in Republican politics, and with the recent launch of the Tea Party Caucus on Capitol Hill garnering the support of Republican leaders like National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Pete Sessions and Republican Caucus Chair Mike Pence, the Republican Party agenda has become clear. Republican leaders and Tea Party-supported Republican candidates can now rally around the "Republican Tea Party Contract on America" as the blueprint for how they would govern.

1. Repeal the Affordable Care Act (Health Insurance Reform)

Put insurance companies back in charge, repeal tax credits for small businesses, allow insurance companies to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions and to drop coverage when a person gets too sick and make prescription drugs for seniors less affordable.

2. Privatize Social Security or phase it out altogether

Turn the guaranteed retirement benefits of America's seniors over to Wall Street CEOs by putting Social Security at risk in the stock market or, as some Republicans have called for, phase out Social Security altogether and end a program millions of American seniors rely on for their survival.

3. End Medicare as it presently exists

Phase out and end Medicare as it presently exists for future generations of seniors -- ending Medicare's guaranteed healthcare benefits for more than 40 million American seniors -- and replace it with a voucher system which will result in higher premiums and fewer services for seniors.

4. Extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy and big oil

At a cost of nearly $700 billion, extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and big oil, which are set to expire and which have and will continue to explode the federal budget deficit.

5. Repeal Wall Street Reform

Roll back the toughest consumer protections ever enacted, allow banks to continue to grow too big to fail, and ensure that predatory lenders continue to utilize their most abusive practices.

6. Protect those responsible for the oil spill and future environmental catastrophes

Cap liabilities for those responsible for environmental disasters like the Gulf oil spill and let companies like BP decide which victims deserve compensation for the disaster and what the timeline for relief should be.

7. Abolish the Department of Education

Put the big banks back in charge of student loans and put an end to federal assistance for public schools.

8. Abolish the Department of Energy

End America's investments in a clean-energy future and disband the organization responsible for oversight of nuclear materials.

9. Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency

Gut the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act -- which together protect our kids from air pollution and keep drinking water safe -- and disband the watchdog that holds polluters accountable.

10. Repeal the 17th Amendment

Take away your right to pick your U.S. Senator.

[loserbob 11]

You must be dense.

If I wasnt dense I wouldnt have gotten the LAP-BAND®!

But, Im not nearly as dense as I used to be.

Edited July 29, 2010 by loserbob

[BJean 16]

If I wasnt dense I wouldnt have gotten the LAP-BAND®®!

But, Im not nearly as dense as I used to be.

And that kind of dense is much better than being lame-brained and thick-headed! Too bad there's no LapBand for the thick-headed. :cursing:

[BJean 16]

Saw all of that Cleo's and it's the truth. But I believe it might be a too sophisticated approach for the masses. They tend to respond to scare tactics blown up in sound bytes.

Needing to actually understand things seems to be troublesome for many Americans. They'd rather not have to think too much or read or understand the laws. They're content to take what the media says at face value. Explains a whole lot about those constantly scared to death right wingers.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Saw all of that Cleo's and it's the truth. But I believe it might be a too sophisticated approach for the masses. They tend to respond to scare tactics blown up in sound bytes.

Needing to actually understand things seems to be troublesome for many Americans. They'd rather not have to think too much or read or understand the laws. They're content to take what the media says at face value. Explains a whole lot about those constantly scared to death right wingers.

Which is exactly the reason I posted what I did about being "smarter" than most posters on the political issues. They don't want to take the time to research the facts. They come from an emotional place, often hate filled, and go from there. Like death panels. Or Obama raising their taxes. Or Obama is a socialist, Nazi, Muslim, not an American citizen. It's very frustrating.

[pattygreen 5]

Which is exactly the reason I posted what I did about being "smarter" than most posters on the political issues. They don't want to take the time to research the facts. They come from an emotional place, often hate filled, and go from there. Like death panels. Or Obama raising their taxes. Or Obama is a socialist, Nazi, Muslim, not an American citizen. It's very frustrating.

What is the difference if your taxes are raised, or you have to pay more for everything because of his policies? Money out of our pockets is money, whether you call it a literal "tax" or not. Obama's policies are causeing inflation on everything from gasoline prices to food to electricity costs and every other expense we have. His taxing of the rich only causes them to pass the expense onto the consumer. So, the 'facts' may say there has been no tax increase, but the people feel it in their pocketbooks anyway.

Just like the death panels thing before the HC bill was passed. There was nothing that 'said' anything about death panels in the bill, but the general idea was that the government would be making the decisions for end of life care for people. That could not be denied.

Just like Obama will not 'say' or admit that he is a socialist at heart, but his wheeling and dealing and his associations surely do point in that direction.

Liberals have to have some reason for why us conservatives feel the way we do about him, and because you all know that we are justified in our perception of him, you come up with all kinds of wild accusations like we are racist or we are haters. Whatever! If that's your conclusion, all I can say is that you are very, very wrong. I am a lover of all mankind. Every race, every nationality, every human being. I may hate what they do sometiimes, and that is perfectly acceptable to God. He hates sin as well. I know in my heart that I am not a racist. I have beautiful, loving black children that I would do anything for, and the color of ones skin does not get seen by me when I make a decision concerning their actions. It is simply a ploy by the left to discredit their right apponents. It's worn out now, so they have turned to calling us haters. when that gets worn out, what will it be?

[Cleo's Mom 257]

What is the difference if your taxes are raised, or you have to pay more for everything because of his policies? Money out of our pockets is money, whether you call it a literal "tax" or not. Obama's policies are causeing inflation on everything from gasoline prices to food to electricity costs and every other expense we have. His taxing of the rich only causes them to pass the expense onto the consumer. So, the 'facts' may say there has been no tax increase, but the people feel it in their pocketbooks anyway.

Just like the death panels thing before the HC bill was passed. There was nothing that 'said' anything about death panels in the bill, but the general idea was that the government would be making the decisions for end of life care for people. That could not be denied.

Just like Obama will not 'say' or admit that he is a socialist at heart, but his wheeling and dealing and his associations surely do point in that direction.

Liberals have to have some reason for why us conservatives feel the way we do about him, and because you all know that we are justified in our perception of him, you come up with all kinds of wild accusations like we are racist or we are haters. Whatever! If that's your conclusion, all I can say is that you are very, very wrong. I am a lover of all mankind. Every race, every nationality, every human being. I may hate what they do sometiimes, and that is perfectly acceptable to God. He hates sin as well. I know in my heart that I am not a racist. I have beautiful, loving black children that I would do anything for, and the color of ones skin does not get seen by me when I make a decision concerning their actions. It is simply a ploy by the left to discredit their right apponents. It's worn out now, so they have turned to calling us haters. when that gets worn out, what will it be?

The social security yearly cost of living increase is tied directly to the cost of living index. This year (2010) there was NO cost of living increase for SS recipients because the cost of living did not go up. Now this is fact. So, where is all this paying more for everything? Housing prices have fallen. Gas is down from $4/gal under bush. I know colleges have raised tuition. But other than that I haven't seen large price increases. It's a buyers market. Those who have money can get deals on cars, houses, real estate, just about everything.

And as far as haters, well I have posted enough pictures and posts from this forum to prove my point. You can say you're not a racist but I think the fact that all this president hating/bashing didn't start until we had a black president shows otherwise.

[loserbob 11]

Which is exactly the reason I posted what I did about being "smarter" than most posters on the political issues. They don't want to take the time to research the facts. They come from an emotional place, often hate filled, and go from there. Like death panels. Or Obama raising their taxes. Or Obama is a socialist, Nazi, Muslim, not an American citizen. It's very frustrating.

The 7-11 guy showed me the cover of Globe Magazine which had Obamas Ugandan birth certificate and he actually believes its true

This is also the guy who tells me theres no new "monkey news" when I walk in to get coffee every day!

[loserbob 11]

What is the difference if your taxes are raised, or you have to pay more for everything because of his policies? Money out of our pockets is money, whether you call it a literal "tax" or not. Obama's policies are causeing inflation on everything from gasoline prices to food to electricity costs and every other expense we have. His taxing of the rich only causes them to pass the expense onto the consumer. So, the 'facts' may say there has been no tax increase, but the people feel it in their pocketbooks anyway.

Just like the death panels thing before the HC bill was passed. There was nothing that 'said' anything about death panels in the bill, but the general idea was that the government would be making the decisions for end of life care for people. That could not be denied.

Just like Obama will not 'say' or admit that he is a socialist at heart, but his wheeling and dealing and his associations surely do point in that direction.

Liberals have to have some reason for why us conservatives feel the way we do about him, and because you all know that we are justified in our perception of him, you come up with all kinds of wild accusations like we are racist or we are haters. Whatever! If that's your conclusion, all I can say is that you are very, very wrong. I am a lover of all mankind. Every race, every nationality, every human being. I may hate what they do sometiimes, and that is perfectly acceptable to God. He hates sin as well. I know in my heart that I am not a racist. I have beautiful, loving black children that I would do anything for, and the color of ones skin does not get seen by me when I make a decision concerning their actions. It is simply a ploy by the left to discredit their right apponents. It's worn out now, so they have turned to calling us haters. when that gets worn out, what will it be?

Stupid Sara Palin actually thought it was written in the bill!

[Cleo's Mom 257]

What is the difference if your taxes are raised, or you have to pay more for everything because of his policies? Money out of our pockets is money, whether you call it a literal "tax" or not. Obama's policies are causeing inflation on everything from gasoline prices to food to electricity costs and every other expense we have. His taxing of the rich only causes them to pass the expense onto the consumer. So, the 'facts' may say there has been no tax increase, but the people feel it in their pocketbooks anyway.

Just like the death panels thing before the HC bill was passed. There was nothing that 'said' anything about death panels in the bill, but the general idea was that the government would be making the decisions for end of life care for people. That could not be denied. I'm denying it. The only thing that was going to be put in the bill (by a republican) was that doctors could NOW be paid if they offered end of life counseling. So, show me in the bill where it says the government will be making end of life decisions for people or QUIT SAYING IT.

Just like Obama will not 'say' or admit that he is a socialist at heart, but his wheeling and dealing and his associations surely do point in that direction. Anytime our government makes investments to help people you call it socialism. I have asked you before to show what this wheeling and dealing is and who these associates are. The bank bailout was bush. The stimulus was Obama and even some conservatives (including John McCain's economic advisor) says things would be way worse without it. The auto industry bailout is a success story. They are now running a profit and have hired thousands of workers (those private sector jobs) and are or have paid back the loans.

So what are the big socialistic spending programs that arose from wheeling and dealing with "associates".

Liberals have to have some reason for why us conservatives feel the way we do about him, and because you all know that we are justified in our perception of him,You are not the least bit justified in your perception of him.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

The GOP Plot to Screw the Economy and the Middle Class

We're only three months away from the midterm election when a shockingly large number of American voters will inexplicably vote for Republican candidates. I have no idea if this will mean a Republican takeover of the House or Senate or both, but there will definitely be enough voter support for Republicans to significantly reduce the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

Why? Because too many voters tend to be low-information, knee-jerk Springfield-from-The-Simpsons types, and the Republicans have lashed their crazy trains to this new wave of inchoate roid-rage to help sweep them into more congressional seats.

Here are a few of the ongoing economic conditions facing a vast majority of Americans, many of whom are all revved up to vote Republican in November. According to Michael Snyder of the Business Insider:

• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.

• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1 percent of all Americans.

• Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.

• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation's wealth.

• In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.

• More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.

• Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.

All of this (above) was brought to you by the failed economic policies of bush and the republicans

Oh, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that wages for the highest 20 percent of earners rose by nearly 300 percent since 1979, while wages for the bottom and middle 20 percent increased only by 41 percent -- combined.The rich get richer and the poor and middle class get poorer. That is the republican economic plan. Plotted on a graph, middle and working class wages have flatlined for 30 years. Roll all of these tragic figures into a slow growth recovery and here we are. Most of us in the middle class are screwed.

And thanks to an alliance between the Republicans (which includes the tea party), the increasingly dominant far-right media, a traditional "old media" that panders to the far-right, and right-of-center "conservadems" who pander to the Republicans, too many voters have decided that the Republican Party might be better suited to turn all of this around.

The big lie here is that if Congress stops spending, cuts the deficit and makes permanent the Bush tax cuts, especially the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, our problems will be solved -- even though these concepts are in direct conflict with each other. Not surprising given the ever-lengthening Republican syllabus of contradictions.

Here's how this new batch of contradictions plays out.

According to Republicans and their conservadem enablers, we have to cut the deficit and pay for every program Congress passes or else we're all doomed. We're stealing from our children, they say. This has manifested itself in Republican filibusters of both unemployment benefits ($34 billion) and a new jobs bill ($33 billion over ten years). A Republican filibuster killed the jobs bill, and, after many failed cloture votes, the filibuster of the unemployment benefits was finally defeated and the Senate Democrats passed the extensions. Throughout the past year and a half, it's been the same story. Any effort made by the Democrats to stimulate the economy has been filibustered by the Republicans. They say it's because of the deficit and debt.

And yet they want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, which would add $678 billion dollars to the deficit -- and that's just the cost of the tax cuts going to the top two percent of earners. In other words, the Republicans want to spend $678 billion in further giveaways for the wealthiest two percent, and they don't care whether it increases the deficit. Why would anyone on these boards support this? Is anyone on these boards in the top 2% of wage earners? Why would you vote for this?

By the way, the Republicans also recently voted against and defeated an amendment to strip Big Oil of its $35 billion in subsidies. Just thought I'd pass that along. Put another way, $678 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy? No problem. Deficit-shmeficit! But $34 billion in unemployment benefits for an out-of-work middle class at a time when companies aren't hiring (say nothing of the aforementioned bullet-points)? Evil! This is the hypocrisy to which I am always referring. Instead, the Republicans want to give $35 billion to Big Oil in the form of corporate welfare during the worst oil spill in American history while telling unemployed middle class families to piss off.

Do we have a clear picture in terms of who and what the Republicans care about?

It surely isn't fiscal discipline or the deficit. And it surely isn't the middle class. The Bush tax cuts, if extended, would add $2 trillion to debt, so it's not that either. Throw in another policy started by the Republicans -- the war spending (more of which was passed yesterday without any worries about CBO scoring or making sure it's deficit neutral) -- and there's the vast majority of your deficit and debt for the next ten years. Not the stimulus or the bailouts. Read this previous passage if nothing else!! The long term budget impact of the wars and the Bush tax cuts literally dwarf the stimulus. Here's the CBPP evidence in colorful graph form:

That big blue chunk represents the Bush tax cut portion of the deficit. The yellow represents the wars. The light blue is the tax revenue lost to the recession. And those really narrow tan and red strata are TARP and the stimulus. Clearly we need to elect more Republicans so they can make permanent the big thick deficit hogs and kill that thin section for the stimulus.

Now, if you're a Republican, you might be clinging to the idea that extending the Bush tax cuts would have a stimulative effect on the economy (somehow) even though this hasn't been the case for the last ten years other than for the wealthiest Americans who have once again disproved the trickle-down theories at the heart of Reaganomics by pocketing their share of the trickle instead of reinvesting in jobs and wages for the middle class.

The Bush tax cuts will not stimulate the economy.

According to Moody's Analytics (hardly a left-wing apparatchik), for every dollar of government money spent on extending the Bush tax cuts, there's only a 32-cent return on investment in terms of economic stimulus. Not a solid investment. How about cutting the corporate tax rate? Also a 32-cent return in economic stimulus. Capital gains tax cuts? 37-cents. And, lumped together, there's your Republican plan for growing the economy. Dumb investments. Goldman Sachs would short these policies. I'm not sure they haven't, actually.

But what about the Democratic spending? For every dollar spent on unemployment benefits, there's a $1.61 return in economic stimulus. Good investment! How about infrastructure spending? $1.57 return. Aid to the states? $1.41. Temporary increase in food stamps? $1.74. Even the Obama tax credits for the middle class, $288 billion of the Recovery Act, account for up to $1.30.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is working with a deficit commission which will focus on trimming the deficit after (we hope) the economy and jobs are back on track. The Republicans, of course, voted against forming a deficit commission.

Given the choice between deficit spending that significantly stimulates economic growth or deficit spending that barely makes a dent, which choice are the Republicans trying to sell? The really stupid deficit spending for the wealthy that barely makes a dent in the recovery. That's the Republican plan.

Also, contrary to popular far-right myths, it's worth noting that the Democrats and the White House have no intention of allowing the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 to expire. Those tax cuts will be renewed this year. As for the top tax brackets, you find me a multi-millionaire who pays the actual marginal rate every April and I'll show you a very rich moron. Most of these guys, after deductions and loopholes, pay an effective tax rate that's much lower than the middle class tax brackets. So don't tell me that millionaire Glenn Beck and millionaire Paris Hilton will be financially burdened by a 2.6 percent bump in their margin tax rate next year. Sorry, no. They won't be. And why do middle class Republican voters give a rip about Paris Hilton's tax rate? Because they believe they'll be as wealthy as Paris some day. But read those bullet-points again. It's not happening.

Unless there's some sort of mass epiphany, or unless the Democrats actually speak up and take the discourse by the horns and fight, middle class American voters in November will augment the number of Republicans (and conservadems) in Congress mostly because they've been suckered into endorsing these insane Republican economic policies. Subsequently, the Republicans will balloon the deficit and undermine the economic recovery in order to give more handouts to the super rich. And the middle class will continue to be an accomplice in its own slow-roasted homicide.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Cleo's Mom

[BJean 16]

I saw the Globe, loserbob. It's typical of those rags. And of course the folks who buy that type of "newspaper" are just dumb enough to believe the sensationalistic tripe they print.

And you can put the tea bagging dumb bells at the top of that list. The ones who carry the signs at the tea bagging rallies that boast being "birthers."