Tag: Tea Party
The Most Expensive Governor’s Race Produces the Worst Ad
What kind of TV ad does America’s most expensive governor’s race get for nearly $49 million (and counting)? Spots like this, which beg for new and stronger adjectives than the ones being used to describe it: “outrageous,” “demeaning,” “sexist,” and even, “laughable.”
The ad was produced, not by the Scott campaign, but by the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) on behalf of Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The increased “offshoring” of expenditures to outside groups like CRNC could explain why Scott is able to spend less this time around than when he bought his office in 2010 for $75 million of his own money. We can thank Citizens United for the ocean of cash and negative ads in every election since that 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Look at the numbers in the Florida governor’s race this year, and you’ll see how much even a well-known Democratic candidate like former Gov. Charlie Crist is being outspent.
Jon Stewart to FOX on the Coffee Salute: ‘You’re Just Trying to Score Points in a Game No Else is Playing’
First, I am not opposed to the United States and other countries trying to wipe out ISIL. Whether they are an immediate threat to us is not the only concern. That Americans, including and especially journalists, can move around the world freely is a huge concern.
Second, I can’t agree more about the disgusting hypocrisy, hostility, and pettiness shown the president of the country these people claim to love. He was elected by more than half of us, and those are the rules under which your “beloved” country operates so please suck it up, like we did when the moron was in power and we were under threat from abroad. Put your country, not your hatreds, first.
What Australia Can Teach America About Gun Safety, After a Few Years of Detox
Watch the funniest — and most sensible — arguments for gun control yet.
It will be interesting to see what kind of refutations appear in the comments.
Colbert’s Right: Palin Does Know of What She Speaks
You can trust Sarah Palin on impeachment because she is an expert on leaving office in the middle of a term.
— Stephen Colbert, satirically agreeing with Palin’s calls to impeach Pres. Obama.
Let’s Do Math! Republicans, Please Grab a Pencil
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.
Captured on Video: Why Rich Tea Partiers Make Such Bad Elected Officials
If this video — from a FOX affiliate! — doesn’t explain why Florida Democrats and independents are willing to embrace the previous flip-floppin’ governor (Charlie Crist) to get rid of the current one, nothing will.
Warning: Rick Scott’s countenance will haunt your sleep.
He Was Probably Hoping You’d Leave That Out
Before inheriting his family’s fortune, Scaife attended Yale University, but was expelled in his freshmen year when he rolled a beer keg down a flight of stairs and broke a classmate’s legs, according to a 1999 Washington Post article.
—CNN, in what is perhaps not the way you’d want your obituary notice to end, even if you weren’t conservative think tank money source billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife.
Participation, Not Raw Numbers, Give Tea Party Power
21%
Of Americans now say they support the Tea Party movement, but public support isn’t what gives the Tea Party its influence, says Allison Kopicki. “Interest in the 2014 election runs high among Tea Party supporters … 81% of voters who support the Tea Party say they will definitely vote in the 2014 election, compared with 67% of voters who don’t support the Tea Party.”
Contrary to GOP/Tea Party Spin, Pres. Obama Has Issued Fewer Than 200 Executive Orders – Bush, Who Had a ‘Rubberstamp Congress,’ Issued 291
In a gambit to lay the groundwork for impeachment, the GOP leadership has announced plans to sue Pres. Obama on grounds that he has abused his authority by issuing executive orders to implement policies.
In their single terms in office, Republican presidents Theodore Roosevelt issued 1,081 EOs, Calvin Coolidge issued 1,203 orders and Herbert Hoover issued 968. Richard Nixon issued 346 EOs in his five years in office, and tea-party patron saint Ronald Reagan issued 381 executive orders during his two terms.
In support of the lawsuit, the usual suspects on the right have been making outrageous claims about the number of executive orders the president has issued — the most extravagant of which asserts that he’s issued more than 900 so-called EOs. The actual number is much lower, fewer than 200, so far. By contrast, George W. Bush signed 291 EOs.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. president who issued the most executive orders was Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat who served four terms. Republican presidents have issued more than their share of EOs, too, of course. In their single terms, Republicans Theodore Roosevelt issued 1,081 EOs, Calvin Coolidge issued 1,203 orders and Herbert Hoover issued 968. Richard Nixon issued 346 EOs in his five years in office, and tea-party patron saint Ronald Reagan issued 381 executive orders during his two terms.
The chart below shows the exact numbers for all presidents going back to 1901. To see a complete list going back to Pres. Washington, visit the American Presidency Project.
