2014 - Page 54 of 98

The Overbearing Underachievers

July 22, 2014July 22, 2014 Buck Banks

No one said that being a U.S. senator was all games and fun,
There are important political battles to be fought and won.
But the Senate’s leadership
Fell prey to partisanship,
And now we can’t recall the last time senators got anything done.

Perry Sends Troops to Texas Border

July 22, 2014 Buck Banks

1,000

Number of National Guard troops Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is deploying over the next month to the Texas-Mexico border to combat criminals that Republican state leaders say are exploiting a surge of children and families entering the U.S. illegally,” the Austin American Statesman reports. Perry “rejected suggestions that Texas was militarizing local communities by putting National Guard troops on the ground or that crime data along the border doesn’t justify additional resources.”

Obama Bewildered Clinton, Biden Would Consider a Prez Run

July 22, 2014 Buck Banks

I think that, for both Joe and for Hillary, they’ve already accomplished an awful lot in their lives. The question is, do they, at this phase in their lives, want to go through the pretty undignifying process of running all over again.

— President Obama, quoted by the New Yorker, expressing “bewilderment that his friends would want to subject themselves” to another presidential campaign.

Some Americans Still Think Obama Is Not a U.S. Citizen

July 22, 2014 Buck Banks

23%

Of Americans still believe that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, with another 17% who aren’t sure, a new Rasmussen survey finds. However, 60% reject that theory as false.

Biden to Putin: ‘You Have No Soul’

July 21, 2014 Buck Banks

Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul.

— Vice President Joe Biden to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin in 2011, quoted in a Biden profile in the New Yorker.

Paul: Use Your ‘Big Head’ to Fix Government

July 21, 2014 Buck Banks

Don’t be depressed with how bad government is. Use your ingenuity, use your big head to think of solutions the marketplace can figure out, that the idiots and trolls in Washington will never come up with.

— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Hart: Clinton Too Cautious on Issues

July 21, 2014 Buck Banks

She’s always trying to find the mythical center on controversial issues — and if you do that, someone else is going to take the bouquet for courage.

— Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), quoted by the Washington Post, on Hillary Clinton being too cautious.

Americans Say Businesspeople Best Suited to Govern

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 Buck Banks

81%

Of Americans say the country would be governed better if more people with business and management experience were elected, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, 63% say the country would be better governed with more female political leaders.

Unfortunately, We Just Happen to Have Such a Party

July 20, 2014 Trish

Only a complete moron, or a political party filled with complete morons, would allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.

— “Margie,” commenting on a story about United Healthcare’s decision to abandon its previously slow entrance into state health insurance exchanges and go from participating in only four states this year to nearly half next. Kaiser Health News estimates that if UHC been in more states in the first year of implementation of the Affordable Care Act, its premiums would be five percent lower.

Let’s Do Math! Republicans, Please Grab a Pencil

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 Trish

bushbike — Former Pres. George W. Bush on one of his many breaks, which often involved falling off a mountain bike, falling off a Segway, strumming a guitar while New Orleans drowned, and choking on pretzels.

The Obama family is on vacation. That means it’s time for Republicans and tea partiers to take a break from obstructing legislation, nomination approvals, and any other work in Congress (including suing the president for taking appropriate executive action to counter their inaction) to express ginned-up outrage that the people’s business won’t be done if the president takes a few days off.

It’s also time for the rest of us to do some math, based on figures researched by Politifact’s Truthometer:

Number of vacation days, in whole or part, enjoyed by Pres. Obama at this point in his term, which on July 20, 2014 happened to be exactly six years and seven months: 92
Number of vacation days, in whole or part, enjoyed by Pres. George W. Bush at the same point in his term: 367

Let’s put these numbers in context.

[…]

1,000

I think that, for both Joe and for Hillary, they’ve already accomplished an awful lot in their lives. The question is, do they, at this phase in their lives, want to go through the pretty undignifying process of running all over again.

— President Obama, quoted by the New Yorker, expressing “bewilderment that his friends would want to subject themselves” to another presidential campaign.

23%

Of Americans still believe that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, with another 17% who aren’t sure, a new Rasmussen survey finds. However, 60% reject that theory as false.

Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul.

— Vice President Joe Biden to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin in 2011, quoted in a Biden profile in the New Yorker.

Don’t be depressed with how bad government is. Use your ingenuity, use your big head to think of solutions the marketplace can figure out, that the idiots and trolls in Washington will never come up with.

— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

She’s always trying to find the mythical center on controversial issues — and if you do that, someone else is going to take the bouquet for courage.

— Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), quoted by the Washington Post, on Hillary Clinton being too cautious.

81%

Of Americans say the country would be governed better if more people with business and management experience were elected, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, 63% say the country would be better governed with more female political leaders.

Only a complete moron, or a political party filled with complete morons, would allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“This is not going to be a win. And it’s not going to be a wave. It’s going to be a wipeout.”

— Democratic strategist Paul Begala, quoted by the New York Post.

“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.

Numerati

13%

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.