Tag: Republicans

U.S. Representative Tweets About ‘Islamic Terror’ in Norway

Trish

DennisRossTweet

The world is finding out about the man suspected of the worst terror attacks in Norway’s history, in which first a bomb killed at least 30 in Oslo, and then an additional 67 people were gunned down at a nearby youth camp. The suspect is 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik and it appears he is a rightwing Christian, anti-Muslim extremist who hates Marxists.

He is the very opposite of — as Florida Teapublican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross tweeted when news broke of the bombing and mass shooting — forces aligned with “Islamic terror.”

It appears Ross wanted to phone in (or in this case, drop a 140-character line) a quick condemnation of the horror and get on with his weekend. His knee-jerk assumption that any act of terror must be perpetuated by Muslim extremists is embarrassing for both his party and his state.

Comments on Facebook, where Progress Florida posted the image of the tweet shown, are not kind to Ross:

  • When Rep. Ross departs the mortal coil, the average IQ of Floridians will skyrocket. How does someone with a Fallwell-Robertson understanding of the world get elected?
  • Dennis is MY Congessman and I cannot tell you how unhappy I am with him. He used to be a smart moderate until he embraced the tea party.
  • Sadly, this kind of crap resonates with a LOT of voters. Never underestimate the combination of stupid + xenophobia x fake patriotism.
  • Maybe he can re-tweet: “We stand with you against right-wing ultra-conservative Christians.”

No word on that last idea but we won’t hold our breath waiting for anyone to step up and condemn Christian violence.

Borrow and Spend Policies of Bush, GOP Caused Employment’s Downward Slide

Jon Ponder
Click to see original
Click to see original

As we noted here last week, a new Quinnipiac poll found that voters blame George Bush over Pres. Obama for the economic crisis by 54 to 27 percent. Another 8 percent said they blamed neither president, 7 percent said they blamed both and 3 percent said they did not know or had no answer.

On a political level, what the chart above shows is the result of the Republicans’ strategy of “starving the beast” — or, as their cult leader du jour Grover Norquist put it, shrinking the government until it is small enough to drown in a bathtub.

It should not be surprising that only about half of Americans can remember who was responsible for the economic downturn, which happened way back in history, you know, three or four years ago. We are living in what Gore Vidal has called the “United States of Amnesia,” after all.

Sadly, what is surprising is that the percentage of Americans who remember Bush’s mishandling of the economy remains so high.

Since Bush left office in January 2009, two factors have been scrubbing away in tandem at the record of failure that was the Bush presidency, glossing it over and spiffing it up.

[…]

Poll: Voters Blame Bush over Obama for Bad Economy Two to One

Jon Ponder

54% to 27%

Ratio by which voters blame George Bush and Pres. Obama for the bad economy, according to a new Quinnipiac Poll. Voters also said they will blame Republicans (48%) over Obama (34%) if the debt ceiling is not raised, and 67% want the deficit closed with a mix of tax hikes and program cuts, while just 25% believe tax cuts alone can solve the crisis. All of this would be bad news for Republicans if it weren’t for the fact that the “liberal” media had not co-opted their cuts-only, no-tax-hikes-ever dogma.

The More Like Reagan Republicans Try to Be, the Less Like Reagan They Are

Trish

The question is, if Ronald Reagan could compromise, why wouldn’t folks who idolize Ronald Reagan be willing to engage in those same kinds of compromises?

— Pres. Barack Obama, trying to understand why today’s Republicans allow themselves to be bullied by Ronald Reagan protege Grover Norquist, putting their pledge to him above Ronald Reagan himself.

Romney Didn’t Create Jobs

Trish

50th

Where Massachusetts ranked nationwide in job creation while Mitt Romney was governor. Romney claims to have lowered unemployment by almost 1% but a study by Northeastern University attributes this to 220,000 workers leaving the state. On the campaign trail, Romney says, “The governor before me lost jobs; the governor after me has lost jobs; we actually created jobs.” The first part is technically true (although, as stated, Massachusetts lagged the rest of the country), but the last part is incorrect.

Bachmann’s Campaign Wardrobe Malfunction

Trish

BachmanChest

O.K., seriously? Michele Bachmann is starting to remind me more of Katherine Harris with each passing day. Could someone please get with her about appropriate attire for campaigning for the office of President of the United States? And before everyone slams me for being sexist…Seriously Michele Bachmann?

The Fundamental Flaw in Republican Economic Cliches

Trish
Cozumel
Belt-tightening, Republican-style

When Republicans aren’t telling us how they want to run government like a business, they bluster on about handling government finances like Americans do around their kitchen table. If they can’t afford something, they don’t buy it. If their credit card is at its limit, they quit charging on it. Blah-blah.

Except this isn’t how either businesses or family finances work. At least, not in my world.

I happen to have a business. And while I do all I can to cut costs, I recognize that if I am to stay in business I simply must spend money. There are minimum levels of expenses that I have to meet: computers and software must be maintained, bills for internet access and domain names have to be paid, and on and on. And when I come up short for these costs, I do what I can to increase revenue.

Any successful business owner knows there is a point beyond which cost-cutting alone solves problems

Any successful business owner knows there is a point beyond which cost-cutting alone solves problems. In fact, to cut beyond those levels can put you out of business. If you cut your staffing or hours or locations so customers are dissatisfied, they will leave you. If you slash spending to the point you’re offering inferior products or services, they will leave you over that. And if you stop paying your staff or overhead, you might as well put out the “Closed” sign and walk away.

The same is true of the fabled kitchen table financials. Sure, you can get by without cable TV and you can cut your auto insurance coverage and you can even start shopping at the Scratch and Dent Food Store. But if all this fails to help you meet your remaining monthly bills, you will probably look at cleaning out the garage onto eBay or Craig’s List, getting a second job, cashing in a low performing retirement account, and whatever else you can think of to bring in more money.

Why do Republicans not know this? Why do they think we can lower the deficit (the urgency of which is in dispute) by cutting spending alone?

I can’t help but summon a picture of Chad telling Chloe they’re going to have to tighten their belts by spending a month this year in Cozumel instead of Capri. Cash flow problem solved!

But here in reality world, we know that if you’re going to stay on track, with your business or your life, when you fall short you find ways to increase the money coming in. Cash flow problem really solved.

Come on Republicans, start solving the problem.