US Politics

Nice choice of words, Senator. [/sarcasm] - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Oh. Em. Gee. Senator Butt ars is NSFW - Richard ¿digame? Walker

That's an oldie but goodie - "A former insider breaks down the Christo-fascist zombie brigade for Rachel" - Richard ¿digame? Walker

Oops my bad ... I thought this was the Aug. appearance. http://www.youtube.com/watch... ... he's a great window into some scary stuff. - Richard ¿digame? Walker

"I appeared on Fox News yesterday to discuss both the Blagojevich flap and the imminent economic recovery package from the Obama administration. You can watch the clip here. As you'll see, on that latter issue, Fox News is starting its campaign to stop Obama's big spending plan by stating - as assumed fact - that "historians pretty much agree" that Franklin Roosevelt prolonged the Great Depression, and that therefore, Obama shouldn't try another New Deal. When I say Fox News' assertion about historians is patently false, they literally laugh at me as if I've said something so clearly untrue, something Americans supposedly assume is so obviously stupid, that it's worthy of ridicule. The Depression issue was brought up by conservative pundit Monica Crowley - not surprising since this is the conservative talking point du jour ever since the "center-right nation" meme started looking idiotic and ever since fringe-right-wing bloviator Amity Shlaes published her since-discredited book... more... - daviza from Bookmarklet

Next stop, Hooverville. - Todd Hoff

"Corporate front groups and large business trade associations are funneling their resources into defeating health reform. Even though health reform will lower costs for small businesses and boost worker productivity economy-wide, it appears that corporate entities influenced by major polluters are hoping that the defeat of health care legislation will slow President Obama’s agenda and derail their true enemy: clean energy reform." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"This week, both the websites of CafePress.com and Zazzle.com decided to stop selling merchandise that featured the latest right-wing craze: the slogan “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8.” However, Cafe Press then changed its mind and told ThinkProgress that it was reinstating the merchandise, which fell within “fair political commentary.”" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"The Psalm 109:8 gag is one in what's becoming a long line of cheekily coded Obama death threats: There was the classified ad someone placed in a Pennsylvania paper hoping that he follows in "the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy," all of whom were assassinated. And there was the gun-toting New Hampshire teabagger with a sign saying it is time to "water the tree of liberty"—a reference to Thomas Jefferson's reminder that the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the "blood of tyrants and patriots." Why not a T-shirt that says, "Will Somebody Please Kill That Guy Already?" The word games are getting tedious. If you want Barack Obama to die and for curses to "come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones," and for his name to be blotted out in one generation, just say so!" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Oh good grief. - Jason Huebel

There's that good old christian charity, always ready to help someone. - Rene Wirtz

"Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity have linked a task force's recommendation that fewer women younger than 50 receive regular mammograms to the widely debunked smear that Democratic health reform bills include "death panels." Right-wing media figures have repeatedly raised the specter of these purported panels in their discussions of health care; in this case, their fearmongering is undermined by the fact that the recommendations are not legally binding on health care providers or insurers." - Russellreno from Bookmarklet

"As detailed in Too Big to Fail: How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves, Morgan Stanley received a $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ in the fall of 2008 that kept the firm from collapsing. The payment was supposed to be wired electronically, but because it needed to be made on an emergency basis on a holiday, Mitsubishi cut a physical check, perhaps the largest ever written. Below is a copy of the $9,000,000,000.00 check." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

Wow. - Maxamad

interesting. but of course the problem with credit cards and loans is that you have to pay them back :) - B.L. Ochman from email

It isn't that Fannie and Freddie "can’t sell to an end buyer", it is that the GSEs will be selling for a lower price (higher yield) when the Fed completes the MBS purchase program. At that time mortgage rates will probably rise by about 35 bps to 50 bps (relative to the Ten Year) in order to attract other buyers. Alone that isn't all that "scary". - Steve from Bookmarklet

But combined with the growing problems at the FHA, the distortions in the housing market caused by the first-time home buyer tax credit, rising delinquencies, the uncertainty of the modification programs, and likely further house price declines in many bubble states - there are serious problems ahead for the housing market. - Steve

"Meanwhile, Boyd and the Billionaires for Bush come marching down the sidewalk from another direction costumed in tuxedos, top hats, fake furs and pearls (one of them even had a monocle). They were also holding protest signs, except that theirs read, "Rove is Innocent." Everyone was nervous as they approached closer to the police who were guarding the red carpet entrance to the hotel. One of the officers reached down to his walkie talkie and reported in. "We've got two protest groups here," he stated. "One against . . ." Then the cop looked over the assembled mob of fake bankers and socialites. ". . . and one for." Code Pink and the other protesters were herded into a designated "protest zone" across the street and out of view of the cameras. The Billionaires for Bush, however, were placed right next to the red carpet. Boyd started laughing as he told me that multiple reporters, taking them at face value, interviewed them and asked, "You say Karl Rove is innocent. What is he accused of?" Message achieved." - Richard ¿digame? Walker from Bookmarklet

ROFL at the pure genius that is B4B. - Eric Logan

"The idea that canceling the stimulus would create more jobs implies that passing the stimulus has actually killed more jobs than it's created, which is bonkers. Let's say you don't want to consider infrastructure spending or green technology spending or a single job that might have been created in the private sector. If nothing else, the tens of billions we've sent to state budgets have, without question, saved hundreds of thousands of jobs, like teachers, that are supported by state taxes. It's just a very basic fact. So this is a crazy statistic, but I think it's important to ask why Americans think the stimulus is actually hurting job-creation. It's a dumb thing to think, but it must be coming from somewhere." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Angry crowd shouts at Sarah Palin at her book signing in Noblesville, Indiana on November 19, 2009 after Palin quits and refuses to sign books for around 300 families that spent about 3+ hours getting wristband and another 3+ hours waiting in line to get the Palin book signed. At Borders bookstore it was announced that 1,000 individuals would be given wristbands and could get two books signed each. By the time Sarah Palin quit, there were still about 300 individuals and there families who did not get even one book signed." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"More interesting is what is not contained in the emails. There is no evidence of any worldwide conspiracy, no mention of George Soros nefariously funding climate research, no grand plan to ‘get rid of the MWP’, no admission that global warming is a hoax, no evidence of the falsifying of data, and no ‘marching orders’ from our socialist/communist/vegetarian overlords. The truly paranoid will put this down to the hackers also being in on the plot though." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

It's telling that most of the climate change denial is built upon exceptions to the rule. You'd think 13 years of emails involving a real conspiracy would turn up more than just a few quotes. - Rob H.

"Since some opponents of reform seem too obsessed with the length of the Senate health insurance reform bill to even bother looking at what's in it for American families, we thought we'd make it a little easier for them to find some key of provisions they're working so hard to kill:" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"# And folks looking to scare our senior citizens about what reform means for them might be interested to check out page 923 and learn that it provides a 50% discount on drugs for seniors in the so-called donut hole." - Steven Perez

"Rush Limbaugh -- who had previously condemned the "thugs" who hacked then-Gov. Sarah Palin's email account -- joined right-wing bloggers in touting a series of emails that were apparently stolen from the UK's Climate Research Unit [CRU]. Limbaugh proceeded to distort at least one of the emails in order to falsely suggest that it is evidence that global warming is "made up" and that leading climate scientists have been engaged in "substantial fraud."" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Imagine that. Captain Oxycontin took something out of context and twisted it to fit in his tiny, tiny brain. - Steven Perez

"There's some acceptance that statements such as Sarah Palin's prediction that Jews will soon be "flocking to Israel" may indicate Palin holds apocalyptic beliefs. What's not understood is that she's closely associated with a religious tendency whose leaders promote anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, including one most commonly used by the Third Reich, in the 1930's and 1940's, to whip up anti-Semitic hatreds: the claim that a worldwide cabal of Jewish bankers manipulates the world economy and preys on working classes." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Andew Breitbart appears to be threatening to release more ACORN smear videos to avoid a serious DOJ investigation." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage frequently employ rape metaphors when discussing progressives or progressive policies. For example, Beck said that New Yorkers are "being raped by [their] government," while Limbaugh, during a discussion of health care, told his listeners: "Get ready to get gang-raped again." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Not sure, but I'm sure Freud could put together a few theories. - Rahsheen ™, Coach of FF

"That billboard was recently raised by the owners of Wolf Automotive in Wheatridge, Colorado, according to a local progressive talk radio host. The sign was photographed and posted to the Web on Friday afternoon by Jay Marvin, a host with Colorado's AM 760. "Remember these folks also had the Where is the Birth Certificate Billboard as well," he noted." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Gosh, fairweather fans? Very cultish. "Went to the book signing in Noblesville, IN. Waited three hours in the cold to get a wristband to reserve my spot at the book signing tonight. We were told she would sign book for the first 1000 people. Not so. The event ended promptly at 9:00pm, though there were still at least 150 people left. Wasted my day, wasted money on a babysitter, and wasted my money on this book." - Christopher Chung from Bookmarklet

And THIS is why Caribou Barbie has a limited shelf life. Wait did she mention it wasn't her fault? LMFAO Palienated.... - WarLord

"“We’ve been living with the illusion that manufacturing — making things — is so 20th century,” said Mr. Shaiken, “and that we could succeed by concentrating, for example, on complex financial instruments while abandoning the industrial base that sustained so many American families.” The idea that the fallout from the wrongheaded economic concepts of the past 30 or 40 years could be contained, with the damage limited to the increasingly troubled urban areas while sparing prosperous suburbia, has now proved as phony as Bernie Madoff’s fortune." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"...We need a revitalized industrial policy, including the creation of whole new industries, if American families are to prosper in the coming decades. If there is any sense of urgency about this in the hearts and minds of our corporate and government leaders, I’ve missed it." If our Blue Dog of a President wants a second term putting people to work is the way he's going to ensure it.... more... - WarLord

"I don’t know how I missed it, but Lou Dobbs has called for immediate withdrawal of US troops. From Afghanistan? YES! From Iraq? YES! From Germany, Japan, South Korea, and everywhere else around the world? YES! He even has a petition on his Website!" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, having unveiled the Senate health care bill now needs 60 votes to stave off a Republican filibuster and begin formal floor debate. That means getting all 58 Senate Democrats and the two independents on board for a vote set for Saturday evening. But even among the Democrats, Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have been cagey about whether they will support the bill." - John (a.k.a. dendroica) from Bookmarklet

Posted mainly for the great pictures of LBJ in action. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

"What we have is a comparison of Barack Obama's approval ratings on the economy to his approval ratings overall. It includes all polls in the Pollster.com database that asked about both approval of Obama on the economy and his overall job performance -- a total of 109 polls dating back to the start of his term. I've then drawn in some LOESS curves to illustrate the trend." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

"Rick Perry is out of control. Even as the controversy over his execution of an innocent man goes unresolved, last night the Texas Governor rejected a rare clemency recommendation from the state Board of Pardons and Paroles for a man facing execution for a murder he did not commit." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Texas makes Florida look sane. - rowlikeagirl

Res ipsa loquitur. - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Res ipsa loquitur, sed quid in infernis dicit? - Stephen Mack

Call or email these four Senators and tell them to vote NO on Reid's Health Care Bill - pitlord from Bookmarklet

"Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage frequently employ rape metaphors when discussing progressives or progressive policies. For example, Beck said that New Yorkers are "being raped by [their] government," while Limbaugh, during a discussion of health care, told his listeners: "Get ready to get gang-raped again." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

It's their fantasy. I'm sure Freud would've had a field day with them... - ProsePetals (aka Denise)