Month: June 2011
Pawlenty to Rely On His True Personality in Campaign
In different contexts, we tried out some different speeches, but we’ve come back to me being who I am, calling it like I see it, and letting the election rise or fall on that.
— Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, in an interview with the New York Times.
Cause and Effect? Dow Drops 280 Points 24 Hours after House GOP Votes Against Raising Debt Ceiling
Imagine the firestorm that would be raging on Republican propaganda outlets right now if the stock market had dropped 2.2 percent within 24 hours after Democrats had voted unanimously not to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
The entire right-wing noise machine — from Fox & Friends to Limbaugh, from Hannity to O’Reilly — would be singing the same refrain: The stock market has sent a clear message of disapproval over the Democrats’ irresponsible vote. Whether that assertion was true would not matter. They would make it true simply by unanimously agreeing that it was.
But because it was Republicans who voted irresponsibly, right-wing media sees no relationship between the vote and market drop.
And, of course, neither does the “liberal” lamestream corporate inside-the-Beltway media.
Assisted Suicide Is Americans’ Top Moral Issue
45% vs. 48%
How Americans are divided over doctor-assisted suicide’s moral acceptability — the most controversial of 17 cultural issues Gallup tested this year. Many also disagree about whether abortion and out-of-wedlock births are morally right or wrong. More than 9 in 10 say extramarital affairs are wrong.
DeGraaf: Women Should ‘Plan Ahead’ for Rape
I have a spare tire on my car … I also have life insurance. I have a lot of things that I plan ahead for.
— Kansas state Rep. Pete DeGraaf (R), when asked how women are supposed to plan ahead for issues over which they have no control following comments he made about a bill prohibiting general health insurance plans from covering abortions, including for victims of rape and incest, the Witchita Eagle reports. DeGraaf suggested that women “plan ahead” by buying a separate policy that covers abortion.
Bachmann: God Wants Me to Run
Well, every decision that I make I pray about as does my husband and I can tell you, yes, I’ve had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do and because it’s such a momentous decision, not only for myself, my husband and our 28 children, it is a momentous decision what ideas will I bring to bear? What are the resources that I have to marshal in terms of people, assets, the message and also the finances, the amount of time this will take, what this will mean for the nation? Am I the right person for the job?
— Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), telling Iowa Public Television she has received the necessary green light for a presidential bid.
Gates Says He Has Too Much Experience to Stay
I think one of the reasons it’s probably time for me to leave is that sometimes too much experience can get in the way, and you can get too cautious. It may… be making me more cautious that I ought to be.
— Defense Secretary Robert Gates, quoted by Politico, saying that his experience running two wars and serving eight presidents had become a burden.
Carb-Loaded Candidates
The Republicans wish he would run,
For Chris Christie is their chosen one.
He says, “If I ran I’d prevail,
‘Cause I’m too big to fail —
Hell, I’m bigger’n Newt by a ton!”
GOP’s Ryan Budget Would Add Up to $6 Trillion to Debt – And Yet GOP Won’t Raise Debt Limit?
In what Democrats called a political stunt, House Republicans voted in lockstep to oppose raising the U.S. debt ceiling last night.
“Let’s just increase the debt limit by the amount of debt it would take to accommodate Paul Ryan’s budget in the next decade. We can fight about the details later. No spooking the markets over this insanity.”
– What Pres. Obama should suggest to the GOP, according Matt Miller
– What Pres. Obama should suggest to the GOP, according Matt Miller
Republican have done a masterful spin job on the debt-ceiling issue. Polls show that a majority of Americans say they oppose raising it, but it appears they have reached this conclusion based on misperception of the facts.
For one thing, raising the debt limit has nothing to do with future spending. It covers the indebtedness incurred in the current budget, the same budget that Congress — including the Republicans in the House — voted for.
That’s right. Republicans voted to raise the national debt a few months ago, now these same Republicans are demanding that the U.S. Treasury welch on the debt they charged to the national credit card.
Worse, not only have Republicans snookered the public into believe that raising the debt ceiling is tied to future spending, the GOP’s own budget for future spending — the budget bill that includes the the Ryan “Kill Medicare” proposal, the budget that Republicans in the House and Senate vote for — would raise the national debt by as much as $6 trillion.
