2014 - Page 38 of 98

Jindal Consulting God on Prez Run

September 17, 2014 Buck Banks

It is true. There’s no reason to be coy. I am thinking, I am praying about whether I’ll run in 2016. I said I won’t make that decision until after November.

— Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) told TPM that he’s considering a White House bid and, apparently, awaiting a sign from God.

A Foolish Consistency

September 16, 2014 Buck Banks

On the issue of gay marriage Pam Bondi sometimes varies.
O’er Floridian thresholds gay brides can’t be carried.
But if wed somewhere else
And you want a divorce,
Not in Florida, where you must stay unhappily gay married.

Gillibrand Was Not Always Able to Defend Herself Against Sexist Dolts

September 16, 2014 Buck Banks

If I could have just melted in tears, I would have. But I had to just sit there and talk to him and I switched the subject and I didn’t hear another word he said, but I wasn’t in a place where I could tell him to go fuck himself.

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), in an interview on HuffPost Live, on a labor leader who told her she was too fat to win a statewide election.

Lindsey Graham is the New Chicken Little

September 16, 2014 Buck Banks

This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed back here at home.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Huffington Post, on the threat posed by ISIS.

It’s Expensive to be Poor

September 16, 2014 Trish

3

Times more annually that it costs a community to leave a homeless person on the streets than it would cost to provide housing.

Impressions of Government Regulation Remain Consistent

September 16, 2014 Buck Banks

22%

Of Americans say there is too little government regulation of business and industry, while about half (49%) say there is too much, according to Gallup. These attitudes have been consistent over the past five years.

Chart: Obama Has Still Issued Fewer Executive Orders Than Most Presidents

September 15, 2014September 15, 2014 Jon Ponder

chart-exec-orders-by-presidents

Ballot Measure to Break California Into Six States Fails

September 15, 2014 Buck Banks

6

Number of states a proposed ballot measure would have carved California into except it failed to qualify for the November 2016 ballot Friday after election officials determined that backers did not collect enough valid signatures, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Clinton: GOP Doesn’t Want Voters to Think

September 15, 2014 Buck Banks

They’re trying to get you to check your brain at the door, start foaming at the mouth. The last thing they want you to do is think.

— Bill Clinton, quoted by The Hill, on the Republican party.

In Praise of Bill Clinton

September 15, 2014 Buck Banks

In the art of politics he’s Michelangelo, and in the science of politics he is Einstein. He follows political results like a baseball junkie follows box scores. Because he has campaigned in so many places, he has absorbed and integrated millions of data points, yet can assemble them into a narrative that folks can follow.

It is true. There’s no reason to be coy. I am thinking, I am praying about whether I’ll run in 2016. I said I won’t make that decision until after November.

— Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) told TPM that he’s considering a White House bid and, apparently, awaiting a sign from God.

If I could have just melted in tears, I would have. But I had to just sit there and talk to him and I switched the subject and I didn’t hear another word he said, but I wasn’t in a place where I could tell him to go fuck himself.

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), in an interview on HuffPost Live, on a labor leader who told her she was too fat to win a statewide election.

This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed back here at home.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Huffington Post, on the threat posed by ISIS.

3

Times more annually that it costs a community to leave a homeless person on the streets than it would cost to provide housing.

22%

Of Americans say there is too little government regulation of business and industry, while about half (49%) say there is too much, according to Gallup. These attitudes have been consistent over the past five years.

6

Number of states a proposed ballot measure would have carved California into except it failed to qualify for the November 2016 ballot Friday after election officials determined that backers did not collect enough valid signatures, the Sacramento Bee reports.

They’re trying to get you to check your brain at the door, start foaming at the mouth. The last thing they want you to do is think.

— Bill Clinton, quoted by The Hill, on the Republican party.

— Paul Begala, quoted by Businessweek, on Bill Clinton.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.