Tag: Tea Party

Another Tea Party Birther Republican Exposed as Racist

Trish

racistemail

It’s deju vu all over again during the Obama years, as yet another Republican party official has been caught sending blatantly racist emails about the president. Marilyn Davenport, a tea party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County, Calif. Republican Party, sent the image shown with the caption, “Now you know why no birth certificate.”

Davenport defended the email, as have all her predecessors that we know of, by saying it’s not really racist, it wasn’t meant to be seen by you, and it’s the fault of the press for blowing up a minor matter into something bigger.

I actually kind of agree with Davenport on that last point. The only reason these stories continue to be publicized is because so many members of the media deny that the tea party Republican movement is racist at its core. If we could all just acknowledge that and move on, there would be no need to keep proving it by showing direct evidence.

Really Republicans, That’s All You’ve Got?

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The Ryan budget is a dramatic picture of where the government would go under Republicans…but it doesn’t begin to address real problems. The only problem it addresses is the debt. It creates ten problems for every problem it solves…The fact that for Republicans, taxes are an absolute no-go issue — it’s as if Democrats were to say, “Spending is a no-go issue, we will not cut spending anywhere.” What would be the impression of the robustness and vitality of Democratic party thinking if that was the position of the party? But that is the position of the Republican party.

George Packer, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade

Their Team Winning is More Important to Florida Republicans Than Their Constituents Are

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19 of 19

Number of Republican members of the House of Representatives from Florida who voted for the Ryan budget plan, which would expand tax cuts for rich people while canceling the current Medicare program. The vote seems odd in a state known for its high number of retirees, who were apparently not on the minds of their elected representatives.

Seriously MoveOn? You Want Us to Do What?

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TaxDay

I like MoveOn.org, I really do. I agree with them in almost every area. But their idea for protesting corporate tax deadbeats, aka large employers, in local communities has to be one of the worst ideas they’ve ever had.

In one fell swoop, we come out against employers and in favor of taxes. What kind of awful news soundbites and images will this produce?

Mind you, there are plenty of reasons to hate, say, FedEx, not the least of which is that their poor drivers are “contract workers” who own their own trucks so the company can avoid maintenance costs, unions, and health care and retirement benefits. But going to the local FedEx office to protest the source of your neighbor’s livelihood seems like a photo op dreamed up by James O’Keefe himself.

Others on the target list are GE, Boeing, BP, Google, Citigroup, Amazon, Chase, Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, WellsFargo, and Bank of America.

Here’s the email I got from MoveOn, explaining the concept.

Dear MoveOn member,

Nobody knows the details of Friday night’s budget agreement to keep the government from shutting down.

But here’s one thing we can be pretty sure of: the pain will fall mainly on poor and middle-class Americans, while billions in tax breaks, loopholes, and handouts for corporations will remain untouched.

Those same billions could keep food in the mouths of hungry women and children, fund critical medical research, and do the actual work of reducing our deficit.

[…]

Rep. Pence Accidentally Tells Truth, Says Shutdown Is Victory for ‘Republican People’

Jon Ponder

Well, I don’t know if we’re checkmating. But we’re trying — we’re trying to score a victory for the Republican people, for — for the American — for the Republican people — trying to score a victory for the American people, not for the Republican Party. That victory is going to come in stages here.

– Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), inadvertently telling the truth on Fox News about the true purpose of the tea party faction’s objective in shutting down the government.

Who to Blame for Government Shutdown? Nobody Has Chanted ‘Cut It or Shut It’ and ‘Shut It Down’ But the Tea Party

Jon Ponder
Signs calling for government shut-down at tea party rally on April 6, 2011
Signs calling for government shut-down at tea party rally on April 6, 2011

We’re on another countdown to a government shutdown, and, as usual, the question is who will the public blame for the late checks, closed parks and many other inconveniences.

At this point, polls show the public is divided on whom to blame. A Pew poll released April 4 found 39 percent blaming Republicans versus 36 percent who blame the White House, with 16 percent blaming both sides and 9 percent undecided. The NBC News/Wall St.Journal poll on April 6 found that 37 percent blamed Republicans, while 20 percent blamed the White House and 20 percent blamed Democrats in Congress.

If the shutdown happens, however, things will start to look differently, especially if it causes major disruptions or, as some experts suggest, triggers a double-dip recession. At that point, nuances of the back and forth going on now will be reduced to video clips and soundbites that will be replayed on a continuous loop as the controversy sorts itself out.

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The Glenn Beck Show Is No More

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images

First that dog gets rescued in Japan and now this? What a world!

Glenn Beck’s talk show is being dropped by the Fox News Channel after sinking in the ratings and suffering financially due to an advertiser boycott…

Beck was a quick burn on Fox News Channel. Almost immediately after joining the network in January 2009, he doubled the ratings at his afternoon time slot. Fans found his conservative populism entertaining, while Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert described Beck’s “crank up the crazy and rip off the knob” moments…

Ailes: ‘Half of the headlines say he’s been canceled. The other half say he quit. We’re pretty happy with both of them.’

Beck said that he went to Roger Ailes, Fox News chairman and CEO, in January to discuss ways they could continue to work together without the daily show.

“Half of the headlines say he’s been canceled,” Ailes said. “The other half say he quit. We’re pretty happy with both of them.”

Beck said he noted on his show Tuesday that “how many times can I tell the (George) Soros story,” referring to the liberal donor that Beck has made a target of attacks.

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Charlie Cook: Swing Voters’ Shift Back to Center Worries Republicans

Jon Ponder

Charlie Cook
Charlie Cook
In late February, Charlie Cook, the respected pollster and political analyst, downplayed the possibility that Dems could win back the House in 2012:

I would be surprised if either party picked up or lost more than 10 seats, something like that. Democrats need a 25 seat net gain to get their majority back in the House. And I think that’s awfully hard. They may pick up five or 10; they may lose five or 10. I don’t see a lot of change in the House of Representatives right now.

Based on current trends and past performance — the record of the parties’ gains and losses in the House in past presidential elections — chances that Democrats will take back the House next year remain statistically unlikely.

But statistics have their limits as predictors. Events — natural disasters, wars, economic downturns and the like — can change the political landscape seemingly overnight, as can human folly and hubris.

Now, in a column published in the National Journal this week, Cook says recent developments, particularly in the tea party-controlled U.S. House, are starting to worry top Republicans:

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Because Your Uterus Is Your Business

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uterusbizWe’ve been telling you how the Florida legislature, which is currently pushing through 18 different bills to restrict abortion, is making women’s uteruses their business. And how State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) pointed out that if his wife’s uterus were incorporated, the big-business fat cats in the legislature would leave it alone (and, I might add, give it tax breaks). Republicans were so upset at Randolph’s casual use of the correct name for his wife’s lady parts that they formally scolded him, citing the delicate ears of legislative pages.

Randolph recently appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show, and she was particularly taken with the new web site, www.incorporatemyuterus.com, which seeks to establish exactly whose business a woman’s uterus is. The site even offers articles of incorporation. Before you visit, be thinking of the official name for your incorporated uterus, as you will need to supply it on the form.