Day: July 22, 2011
Tori Spelling – Hoarder of Gays
That’s Sally Kirkland as the counselor. Best local humor throw-away line: “We’ll always have the Abbey.”
American Families Cite Lack of Money as Their Biggest Problem
17%
Of Americans say the most important financial problem their family faces today is a lack of money, well above the 12% who say it is healthcare costs and the 9% who say it is unemployment. But specific financial problems vary across demographic groups, according to Gallup.
The Stealth Campaign
He’s known for his intellect and cunning,
Though his flubs at the start have been stunning.
But despite how it appears,
‘Neath the laughter and jeers,
It’s a fact — Newt Gingrich is still running!
Why Simpson Wouldn’t Run Again
Oh, hell, no. Now it’s just sharp elbows, and instead of having a caucus where you sit down and say, What are you going to do for your country? you sit figuring out how to screw the other side.
— Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), quoted by Time, on whether he would run for political office again.
Taxes Not Worth Fighting to the Death Over
TIM RUSSERT: Is the energy tax a fight until death, or are you willing to compromise a little bit with Senator Boren, modify it a bit?
SEN. MOYNIHAN: Fight until death over taxes? Oh no. Women, country, God, things like that. Taxes? No.
— From a 1993 appearance on Meet the Press by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) during the debate over a congressional budget deal.
From a Guy Named Buddy, It’s a Harsh Assessment of Congress
It’s a circus. These people are clowns. They are wearing make-up.
— Buddy Roemer, in an interview on Fox News, on lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Obama Said to Be Caving in Fake Debt Ceiling Crisis Negotiations – Hostage Takers’ Latest Demand: Kill ‘Obamacare’ Mandate
In the wake of a spate of polling and punditry suggesting Pres. Obama had gained the upper hand over Speaker Boehner and his tea bagger caucus in negotiations over the debt ceiling crisis, now comes word that the president intends to cede to a deal that favors Republicans.
In an editorial for USA Today published yesterday, the president said he agreed with a majority of voters, including a majority of Republicans, who want deficit reduction deal that includes tax increases as well as program cuts:
PRES. OBAMA: A balanced deficit deal that includes some new revenues isn’t just a Democratic position. It’s a position that has been taken by everyone from Warren Buffett to Bill O’Reilly. It’s a position that was taken this week by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, who worked together on a promising plan of their own. And it’s been the position of every Democratic and Republican leader who has worked to reduce the deficit in their time, from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton.
What he did not say was that the only new revenue in the deal will come from allowing the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy to expire in December 2012, as they are set to do anyway. No loopholes for billionaires will be closed or corporate welfare reduced. Instead, the president will give in to Republican demands that the federal budget must be balanced on the backs of the middle class and the poor, including the gutting of Social Security and Medicare and trillions in cuts to federal programs.
All the tea baggers have to do is promise they won’t fight to extend the Bush tax cuts in December 2012. Of course, they won’t have to keep that promise if Mitt Romney or Rick Perry is elected president seven weeks earlier — an unhappy prospect that becomes much more likely if seniors, liberals and independents stay home on Election Day 2012 because Obama presided over the shredding of the nation’s safety net.
