Tag: Republicans
Rep. Joseph Crowley Nails It on the House Floor
GREAT video. Must watch.
Really Republicans, That’s All You’ve Got?
The Ryan budget is a dramatic picture of where the government would go under Republicans…but it doesn’t begin to address real problems. The only problem it addresses is the debt. It creates ten problems for every problem it solves…The fact that for Republicans, taxes are an absolute no-go issue — it’s as if Democrats were to say, “Spending is a no-go issue, we will not cut spending anywhere.” What would be the impression of the robustness and vitality of Democratic party thinking if that was the position of the party? But that is the position of the Republican party.
George Packer, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Interesting Times: Writings from a Turbulent Decade
Their Team Winning is More Important to Florida Republicans Than Their Constituents Are
19 of 19
Number of Republican members of the House of Representatives from Florida who voted for the Ryan budget plan, which would expand tax cuts for rich people while canceling the current Medicare program. The vote seems odd in a state known for its high number of retirees, who were apparently not on the minds of their elected representatives.
Seriously MoveOn? You Want Us to Do What?
I like MoveOn.org, I really do. I agree with them in almost every area. But their idea for protesting corporate tax deadbeats, aka large employers, in local communities has to be one of the worst ideas they’ve ever had.
In one fell swoop, we come out against employers and in favor of taxes. What kind of awful news soundbites and images will this produce?
Mind you, there are plenty of reasons to hate, say, FedEx, not the least of which is that their poor drivers are “contract workers” who own their own trucks so the company can avoid maintenance costs, unions, and health care and retirement benefits. But going to the local FedEx office to protest the source of your neighbor’s livelihood seems like a photo op dreamed up by James O’Keefe himself.
Others on the target list are GE, Boeing, BP, Google, Citigroup, Amazon, Chase, Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, WellsFargo, and Bank of America.
Here’s the email I got from MoveOn, explaining the concept.
Dear MoveOn member,
Nobody knows the details of Friday night’s budget agreement to keep the government from shutting down.
But here’s one thing we can be pretty sure of: the pain will fall mainly on poor and middle-class Americans, while billions in tax breaks, loopholes, and handouts for corporations will remain untouched.
Those same billions could keep food in the mouths of hungry women and children, fund critical medical research, and do the actual work of reducing our deficit.
Because Your Uterus Is Your Business
We’ve been telling you how the Florida legislature, which is currently pushing through 18 different bills to restrict abortion, is making women’s uteruses their business. And how State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) pointed out that if his wife’s uterus were incorporated, the big-business fat cats in the legislature would leave it alone (and, I might add, give it tax breaks). Republicans were so upset at Randolph’s casual use of the correct name for his wife’s lady parts that they formally scolded him, citing the delicate ears of legislative pages.
Randolph recently appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show, and she was particularly taken with the new web site, www.incorporatemyuterus.com, which seeks to establish exactly whose business a woman’s uterus is. The site even offers articles of incorporation. Before you visit, be thinking of the official name for your incorporated uterus, as you will need to supply it on the form.
Exceptionally Self-Righteous
It’s hard not to surrender to sarcasm
When accessing the merits of Republicanism.
You can waste all your time,
And run yourself blind,
Searching there for American exceptionalism.
Do Tax Cuts Work? Former Sen. Bob Graham Shows That in Florida They Didn’t
“We’re broke” is the meme Republicans and tea baggers cite when they claim tight budgets force us to reshape social policies, such as collective bargaining agreements, or to siphon public funds and redirect resources to corporations only too happy to pocket the largesse.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott, with full support of the Republican legislature, is using “we’re broke” to justify everything from deregulating nail salons to defunding services that save taxpayers money, like group homes for the developmentally disabled.
To Rick Scott and the Republicans, government is a weapon best used to punish enemies and intimidate friends. The only goal is to protect and shore up their interests.
Former Democratic Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham knows whether the emperor has clothes. He shows that tax cuts, rather than improving the business climate, are moving Florida away from its goals.
Before you read further, please note that Florida has no state income tax for its residents, and that Jeb Bush was governor from 1999 to 2007, followed by Republican Charlie Crist, and now Republican/Tea Bagger Rick Scott. Republicans have held a majority of both chambers of the Florida legislature since 1994.
…Since 1999 there has been a stream of tax reductions to make the state more attractive for investment. Absent these cuts, state revenue in 2011 would be $4 billion greater. This would have avoided the need for the deep cuts now being considered by the Legislature.
The stunning truth is that on virtually all fronts — the Legislature, the executive budget office, academics — there has been a failure to subject these cuts to the basic question: Did they work?
Boos for Bozo: Rick Scott Strikes Out with Ceremonial Pitch
A movement was spawned last month, after boos erupted for Florida Gov. Rick Scott at a Florida spring training camp game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. Floridians who still haven’t totally given up on the idea of a recall election found a shorter-term strategy: boo at the governor every chance we get.
And so a Facebook page was born. “Boo Rick Scott on Opening Day (even if you’re not going to the game)” had 1,211 likes before Scott took the field to throw the opening pitch at the first regular season game for the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.
Scott was throwing the ball a day after announcing devastating cuts to services to the developmentally disabled that will force many out of group homes and into much more expensive — and depressing — nursing homes. It also came the same week that consumer advocates and industry experts called for an investigation into Scott’s dismissal of nursing home ombudsman Brian Lee, widely seen as a payback to the nursing home industry for its deep pockets in support of his campaign.
