Month: September 2010

CA Gov: State Agency Says Whitman Ad Claiming Brown Raised Taxes Is False – Whitman Refuses to Take Ad Down

Jon Ponder

Los Angeles Times:

A claim in a Meg Whitman television ad that state taxes went up when Democratic rival Jerry Brown was governor from 1975 to 1983 is false, according to the state Department of Finance.

“Taxes went down, by this yardstick, yes,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the department, who added that the figures are the result of an impartial, nonpartisan analysis of the data. “The data you have in front of you does not have an R suffix or a D suffix after them. The Department of Finance calculated these numbers in a consistent manner over Republican and Democratic administrations.”

…Brown took office in January 1975, midway through the 1974-75 fiscal year. The first budget under his command covered the 1975-76 fiscal year. The CNN report appeared to use the 1973-74 year at its baseline.

According to Department of Finance data available in 1992, total state taxes when Brown took office were $7.03 per every $100 in income. He left office in January 1983, so his last budget covered the 1982-83 fiscal year. Taxes then were $6.83 per every $100 in income.

The Whitman campaign rebuffed Brown campaign demands that they stop running the false ad. “That’s ridiculous,” said Whitman spokesman Darrel Ng.

The Real ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Was on the 17th Floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower

Jon Ponder

photo-wtc-real-mosqueThe New York Times has a story up about what it calls a Muslim “prayer center” in the World Trade Center. Muslims who worked in the Twin Towers met there for their daily prayers — there was even a wash room nearby set up for the pre-prayer ritual cleansing.

By any measure, the “prayer center” in the trade center is much closer to the definition of a mosque than Park 51, the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” — a 12-story non-sectarian community center with a culinary school and sports facilities.

The fact that there was a mosque in the south tower — compounded by the fact that it is as likely as not there were Muslims praying in the mosque on the 17th floor when terrorists jet-bombed the building — should make it harder for Republicans to argue that construction of Park 51 somehow defiles the memory of those who died in the 9/11 attacks.

It should, but it won’t. This controversy is not about Park 51 or even about Ground Zero. It’s about Republican leaders fanning the flames of fear and hatred among their tea bagger base.

[…]

Verbatim

Buck Banks

I talk about campaign sex and campaign goggles, which I wasn’t having, but a lot of the staff and the journalists were. You know there’s not a lot to do in the meantime and you hear all the gossip … Campaign goggles are like beer goggles, the more you’re around the person the more attractive they become.

— Meghan McCain, in an interview with Joy Behar, promoting her new book, Dirty Sexy Politics, and wistfully wondering why nobody got campaign goggles over her.

Majority Opposes Boehner’s Billionaire Bailout – Wants Bush’s Tax Cuts for the Rich to Expire

Jon Ponder

A new Gallup poll finds that 44 percent of Americans oppose the “billionaire bailout” — meaning they want George Bush’s temporary tax cuts for everyone who makes under $250,000 to be extended, while returning the tax rate on the wealthy to the Clinton-era rate.

Thirty-seven percent favor House Republican Leader John Boehner’s demand that all Bush tax cuts be extended, including the breaks for the super-rich.

Just 15 percent want all the tax cuts to expire, regardless of income level.

[…]

Verbatim

Buck Banks

Obama — partially because of his belief in his own oratorical abilities — is the most radical President in American history.

— Newt Gingrich (NCJ, No Current Job), quoted by the Des Moines Register, sounding not a little bit jealous of the prez’s oratorical skills. Oh, and he forgot to mention, though he hints (i.e., “radical”) that Obama is a Muslim.