Tag: Republicans

Check This List Before Addressing the Florida Legislature

Trish

censorhship

We could not possibly let this one go by. When Florida Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) was scolded by Republicans for using the word “uterus” on the House floor, the push-back was inevitable. In Randolph’s words:

I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated… maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating. It’s not like I used slang.

Randolph’s wife contributed the analogy, to illustrate how to get Republicans to stop trying to restrict access to abortion. Randolph said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word.

The Democratic Underground has come up with a list of acceptable euphemisms to use around state legislative pages. We quote:

Women’s Body Parts

Uterus – Baby Bed
Vagina – Hoohoo or Cooter
Clitoris – Little Man in Boat
Crotch – Swimsuit Area
Buttocks – Cushions
Breasts – Gazongas
Ovaries – Egg Crates
Nipples – Pacifiers

Men’s Body Parts

Penis – Whopper or Peewee (as the case may be)
Testicles – Family Jewels
Scrotum – Jewelry Bag
Foreskin – Turtleneck
Crotch – Swimsuit Area
Buttocks – Rear End

Remember, if you’re a Republican, outlawing abortion is the decent thing to do. Discussing it like grownups is just bad taste.

Scott Wildly Unpopular in Florida

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57%

Portion of Florida Republicans who approve of Gov. Rick Scott’s job after less than two months, according to Public Policy Polling (PPP). Only 11% of Democrats approve. Scott’s race to the bottom is especially impressive compared to other Republican Tea Party governors: Wisconsin’s Scott Walker stands at 86% with Republicans, Ohio’s John Kasich is at 71%, and Michigan’s Rick Snyder has a 68% approval with GOP voters.

Verbatim

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“I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated… maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating. It’s not like I used slang.”

— Florida State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando), who was “scolded” by Republican leadership for use of the u-word on the floor. Randolph’s wife contributed the analogy, to illustrate how to get Republicans to stop trying to restrict access to abortion. Randolph said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word.

Bush Signed Light Bulb Rules

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Republican Tea Partiers in Congress, like Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), insist that energy rules setting higher standards for, among other things, light bulb efficiency are proof of a “nanny state,” evinced by First Lady Michelle Obama speaking against childhood obesity.

Pres. Obama is blamed for “dictating” that Americans must use compact fluorescent light bulbs but a) Obama is not to blame, and b) no one is dictating any such thing.

  • The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was signed into law by Pres. George W. Bush
  • Nothing in the act bans the use of incandescent bulbs or requires they be replaced with compact fluorescents. The act does increase efficiency standards on all bulbs
  • The U.S. Energy Department projects higher standards will save money for both families and businesses
  • Independent observers have seen no evidence of constituents lobbying members of Congress to “save incandescent bulbs”

Rumblings: The Tea Party’s Over My Friend

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538Poll

Dumb gets old quick, according to a recent CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll. The better we know the Tea Party, the less we like it. Here’s how those surveyed rated the movement that gave us Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, former Alaska partial-term Gov. Sarah Palin, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, among others:

    Favorable: 32%
    Unfavorable: 47%
    Never Heard Of: 7%
    No Opinion: 14%

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight took these results and combined them with earlier polls to show a trend tea baggers can’t deny. With each passing day, their approval numbers go down, down, down.

Silver concludes that Republicans, who scored 44% favorable and 48% unfavorable in the same CNN poll, have the most to lose if the tea baggers get dunked.

I’ve long been of the view that the Tea Party, despite nominating poor candidates in a couple of key races, was a significant net positive for the G.O.P. in 2010, both because it contributed to the “enthusiasm gap” and because it helped an unpopular Republican Party to re-brand itself in never-out-of-style conservative draping. But if the Tea Party ain’t over yet, the point in time at which it was an electoral asset for Republicans soon may be.

Traveling Doesn’t Boost Palin

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12%

Portion of likely Republican primary voters who support Sarah Palin, as of March. In January, 19% said they would vote for Palin. Meanwhile, 5% support Michele Bachmann and 1% wrote in Donald Trump as their preferred candidate. The poll indicates that Palin’s Israel trip, wherein she claimed to fly the Israeli flag in both her home and her office, failed to make her look more presidential.

Republicans Continue to Justify Cuts in Programs They Hate — By Lying

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To justify ending Florida’s Prepaid College program — the largest in the country — Republican state Sen. Evelyn Lynn claimed the popular plan is, “a huge liability — far larger than pension, far larger than most anything we have.”

Nationwide, Republicans and tea party members echo the cry that because tax revenues are down, programs they have long targeted must be cut. Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R/Tea) is using the message to cut education funding and gut environmental and consumer protection laws.

But in this case, and so many others, Republicans are simply making stuff up to bolster their flimsy logic.

  • The Florida Prepaid Tuition program has $10 billion in assets and $9.5 billion in liabilities
  • For those able to do math, this means the program is running with a $500 million surplus
  • Two years ago, Sen. Lynn herself floated the idea of raiding the Florida Prepaid plan to fund other initiatives

Gov. Brown Offers To Send His Dog to Debate Grover Norquist on Proposed Statewide Vote on Tax Hike Extension

Jon Ponder

Sutter, with Jerry and Anne Brown
Sutter, with Gov. Brown and his wife Anne
Should a set of tax hikes in California be allowed to expire, or should they be extended in order to help pay down state’s Texas-size deficit?

In his campaign for governor last year, Gov. Jerry Brown promised to put that question on a ballot measure so that California voters could make the decision. Brown won in November with a 13 point margin.

Voters like the idea. A Field Poll released last week found that 61 percent of registered voters favor putting the measure on the ballot.

And, really, who would oppose such a small-d democratic move?

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The Right’s Target List

Trish

This list was started on Twitter, by Peter Daou:

As I’ve said, the right’s target list speaks volumes: unions, scientists, academics, public broadcasters, health providers, women.

We can think of a few more.

  • Gay people, especially those in long-term, loving relationships who want to marry and/or adopt children
  • Veterans, once they’ve been injured, maimed, or traumatized in defense of our country
  • Children, when they are out of the womb and require food, health care, or education
  • People who adhere strictly to religious faiths, unless it’s Christianity
  • Anyone who wasn’t born an American citizen but yearns to become one
  • Doctors who want to protect children from accidental shootings
  • Mass transit, renewable energy, and anything else that does not involve paving more land for more cars and SUVs

We’ll stop now but please keep this list going. What else do Republicans, tea partiers, and the right want to get rid of?

Worst Ex-President Ever Still Clueless

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bushtapsbrainSpeaking in Republican-dominated Jacksonville, Florida had to be better than former Pres. George W. Bush’s last attempt to address crowds. That appearance, planned recently in Switzerland, was canceled after human rights advocates threatened to arrest Bush when his plane touched down.

By contrast, Jacksonvillians gave standing ovations to the former chief executive, whose rein included two invasions, economic collapse, the worst handling of the worst natural disaster in our country’s history, and other low points too numerous and painful to recall. But Bush showed in the speech, in which reporter Karen Brune Mathis noted he “referred frequently to his recently published autobiography, ‘Decision Points,'” that he still doesn’t get it.

Bush, who was known as the most incurious person to ever hold the office now says, “I’m a content guy”

Bush said that his core principles include the belief that freedom should be universal and is the “gift of almighty God.”

“Freedom will lead to the peace that we want,” he said. “Freedom was the cornerstone of my policy agenda.”

Reality check: Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, presided over passage of the Patriot Act, an omnibus piece of legislation that allowed formerly illegal searches and seizures, secret wiretapping of American citizens, and – showing no intrusion was too minor – called for libraries to turn over records of people reading about Islam.

Bush showed his puffed up ego has grown since leaving office.

[…]