Rove: Trump Falling into President’s Birther ‘Trap’

You know, the troubling thing in the interview tonight was he said as time has gone on here, over the last couple of weeks, he has become more interested and more believing in the issue. You know, when he first brought it up, he said ‘of course I accept that he’s a citizen. He ought to just release the, release his birth certificate.’ Different tone tonight. This is a mistake. It will marginalize him and he’s falling into Barack Obama’s trap. Barack Obama wants Republicans to fall into this trap because he knows it discredits us with the vast majority of the American people when they do.

— Karl Rove, speaking to Bill O’Reilly on Fox about Donald Trump’s newfound belief in birtherism

Pew Has a New Current Affairs Quiz

Dunce_flag
It’s that time again, time to test your knowledge of news, politics and current events with the Pew News IQ Quiz. Test your savvy and see how you measure up against everyone else who took it. You can find the 11-question quiz here.

Full disclosure, I missed one question, which makes me part of the smart 7 percent who got 10 correct answers instead of part of the brilliant 2 percenters who got a perfect score. I changed my correct answer on the obesity question, dang it!

Leave a comment if you’re surprised by how much or how little you know.

Verbatim

“I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated… maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating. It’s not like I used slang.”

— Florida State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando), who was “scolded” by Republican leadership for use of the u-word on the floor. Randolph’s wife contributed the analogy, to illustrate how to get Republicans to stop trying to restrict access to abortion. Randolph said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word.

Rick Scott is Least Popular Governor in America

56 – 37

Sink and Scott, respectively. Results if the Florida election pitting Tea Partier Rick Scott against Democrat Alex Sink for governor were held today. When it counted in November, 48.9% of Floridians voted for Scott, 47.7% for Sink, setting a record for close elections. But like the Tea Party as a whole, Scott’s popularity might have peaked in the fall of 2010. Only 32% approve of his job performance, the same percentage of Americans who continue to approve of the Tea Party.

Bush Signed Light Bulb Rules

Republican Tea Partiers in Congress, like Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), insist that energy rules setting higher standards for, among other things, light bulb efficiency are proof of a “nanny state,” evinced by First Lady Michelle Obama speaking against childhood obesity.

Pres. Obama is blamed for “dictating” that Americans must use compact fluorescent light bulbs but a) Obama is not to blame, and b) no one is dictating any such thing.

  • The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush
  • Nothing in the act bans the use of incandescent bulbs or requires they be replaced with compact fluorescents. The act does increase efficiency standards on all bulbs
  • The U.S. Energy Department projects higher standards will save money for both families and businesses
  • Independent observers have seen no evidence of constituents lobbying members of Congress to “save incandescent bulbs”

Cantor Fuzzy on Legislative Process

What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that’s what the American people are expecting. The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 [the House-passed bill] will be the law of the land.

— House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), quoted by the Washington Post, forgetting that bills — even symbolic ones — cannot become law without also passing the Senate and receiving the President’s signature.