Hard to Take McCain Seriously on Benghazi — He Swallowed Bush’s Lies on Iraq With No Regrets

Where was all of this squawking after the invasion of Iraq?

Did he care about the THOUSANDS of dead Americans?

Did he care there was no WMD?

Did he care about the 60 Americans that died at embassies during Bush’s tenure?

— A commenter using the name “WiddleBabyWepublican,” on a post showing Sen. John McCain accusing David Gregory, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, of not caring that four Americans died in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012. Gregory had asked McCain what he and Republicans thought they would find “covered up” if they continue to ignore the answers they receive to questions on what happened during the attack.

Effect of GOP’s European Style Austerity on Public Sector Employment in a Single Graph

chart-govt-employment-past-4-recessions

Ezra Klein at Washington Post’s Wonkblog:

In the graph atop this post, I ran the numbers on total government employment after the 1981, 1990, 2001 and 2008 recessions. I made government employment on the eve of the recession equal to “1,” so what you’re seeing is total change in the ensuing 54 months, which is how much time has elapsed since the start of this recession.

As you can see, government employment tends to rise during recessions, helping to cushion their impact. But with the exception of a spike when we hired temporary workers for the decennial census, it’s fallen sharply during this recession.

Note that a Republican was president after the 1981, 1990 and 2000 recessions. Public-sector austerity looks a lot better to conservatives when they’re out of power than when they’re in it.

Mitt Said in January That Staying Home with Kids Wasn’t “Work”

It was only January — four short months ago– that former Gov. Mitt Romney applauded the idea of women abandoning their two-year-olds so they could experience “the dignity of work.” That’s work as compared to…what? Possibly, “never working a day in their lives?”

Mitt better warm up his Etch A Sketch for this one. The Mormon maladroit was caught on tape in New Hampshire, with Sen. John McCain looking doubtful, as Mitt upped his own bad bet by boasting that even if it cost the state more money to provide childcare, it was worth it to him to force women receiving assistance while he was governor of Massachusetts to get out of the house and…what was that word again? Oh yeah, WORK. You know, some number of days in their lives.

Obviously Mitt was pandering in this speech, which sets it apart not at all from every other speech he’s made. It’s always popular among the folks looking for support from Republicans and tea partiers to beat up on welfare recipients, dreaming up new and different ways to humiliate them (like drug testing) or run their lives for them, as Mitt was attempting to do here with his tough love paternalism. What they say doesn’t even have to make economic sense. Neither drug testing nor forcing needy mothers to put their children in daycare would save money. The point is to extract a pound of flesh along with that EBT card.

It’s speeches — and attitudes — like this that account for the gender gap in poll numbers that leave Republican candidates in the dust with women.

Perry’s Texas, Hunstman’s Family Company Taking Taxpayer Millions

hypocriteIf there’s anything Republicans enjoy, it’s deriding the Affordable Health Care Act, or as they sneer, “Obamacare.” So who do you think was first in line to scarf AHCA funds that help early retirees?

That would be Gov. Rick Perry’s own Texans, followed by employees of Huntsman International, owned by the family of Jon Huntsman. Both men, of course, are running for president against Obama.

If you’ve ever wondered how wealth travels upward from the 99% to the top, here’s a vivid illustration.

“Some people have described this program as ‘Cash for Clunkers,’ in the sense that if you want it, you have to get in line first,” said Paul Fronstin, an economist with [nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute]. “There was a lot of advice given to be first in line.”

…Texas, it seems, heeded the advice. So did Huntsman International.

[…]

Impeachment Advocates Call for Investigation into White House Visit by Beyonce, Jay-Z

Beyonce, in yellow, Jay-Z to her left at head of table, during White House visit in March 2010
Beyonce, in yellow, Jay-Z to her left at head of table, during White House visit in March 2010

In “The Case for Impeachment: Why Barack Hussein Obama Should Be Impeached to Save America,” the Republicans’ roadmap for investigating the president next year, author Steven Baldwin lists as one of Obama’s potential high crimes and misdemeanors an incident that occurred during a visit to the White House last spring by two world-famous entertainers:

[…]

Must See Video! Florida’s New Lt. Gov. Candidate Trashes Running Mate Rick Scott

The cameras rolled this week when Tea Party billionaire and fired CEO Rick Scott chose Florida Rep. Jennifer Carroll (R-Orange Park) as his running mate in his quest for governor. Fortunately, they also rolled a couple of weeks ago, when Carroll addressed her county RPOF chapter and stated all the reasons you should not support Rick Scott. Watch until the end, when Carroll really drives it home.