Bad Deeds for 9-24-2010

 

Rick Perry Doesn’t Take Questions – Letter to Rick Perry from the President of the National Conference of Editorial Writers:

September 23, 2010
Dear Gov. Perry:
The National Conference of Editorial Writers was stunned and disappointed today when you spoke at our luncheon and did not take questions.

Had it been due to a tight schedule, we would have understood. But, clearly, you had ample time to work the room by shaking hands both before and after your talk. You also gave an extended interview before TV cameras in the hallway, in full view of NCEW members for whom you indicated you had no more time.

This is an affront to any notion of civil discourse, such as the kind you have called for on other occasions.

We believe you and your staff have been disingenuous in the characterization of your schedule. If you had hoped to make a positive impression on this national press group, I must tell you that you utterly failed.

Sincerely,
Tom Waseleski
NCEW President

(A room full of informed questioners is Rick Perry’s worst nightmare.)

 

Rick Perry Can’t Even Get the Support of the Republican-Leaning Farm Bureau – The Texas Farm Bureau’s political committee has backed the Republican nominee for governor since it began making endorsements in 1990. But not this year. The Farm Bureau can’t bring itself to support Rick Perry again.

 

The Republican Party’s New Strategy: Bring Back Hoover! – The Republican “Pledge to America” has been issued, so we now finally know what the party of “no” will do if it regains control of Congress. And for those who recall the history of the Great Depression, we know we will revisit the days of President Herbert Hoover. And if you don’t remember Hoover, just think back to the great prosperity that President Bush bequeathed to President Obama. Don’t you remember the glorious year of 2008?

To read this “pledge” is to fall into Wonderland, to enter a fantasy world where logic means nothing, straight lines do not exist, the imagination can run wild unencumbered by fact, and all is a mirage of desire and fancy.

Beyond the incantation of the mantra of lower taxes and curbing any government action other than defense spending, not a single meaningful proposal about economic revival can be found in the document. It is no more than a bromide against all that has been done in the past 21 months to reverse the Bush economic cataclysm.

 

The Republican Spending Addiction – Even if the Republican Party believed in its Pledge to America, it wouldn’t touch the biggest parts of the federal budget. If you really think that the problem with the economy and/or the federal budget is as simple as too much government spending (which it is not), then you have to point your finger squarely at the national Republican Party. Of the six recent Congresses essentially controlled by the GOP, from 1995 to 2006, not one ever reduced federal outlays. (The last year in which federal outlays were lower than the year before was 1965, when Democrats ran both the White House and Congress.)

 

Republican Pledge Steers Clear of Specifics on Important Issues – The Republican plan steers clear of specifics on important issues, such as how it will “put government on a path to a balanced budget.” It omits altogether the question of how to address looming shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found nearly three-quarters disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, with 68 percent disapproving of Republicans compared with 60 percent disapproving of Democrats.

 

Republicans Already Broke Tax Cut ‘Pledge’ – It didn’t take long for Republicans to break a promise in their new “Pledge to America” to “give small business tax deductions,” Democrats charged this afternoon.

Four hours after the Republicans rolled out its new campaign manifesto, a bill containing $12 billion in tax cuts for small business passed on a 237-187 vote in the House. Only one Republican voted for the measure.

“By breaking one of their top pledges within hours of making it, Republicans proved that you can put as much stock into their promises as you can a promise made at a Lindsay Lohan probation hearing,” snapped Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan.

 

Republicans’ Bizarre and Cynical “Pledge to America” – One can only marvel at the extreme cynicism evident in the Republican Party’s bizarre 21-page “Pledge to America.” The “pledge” was pulled together by a staffer who has served as a lobbyist for some of the nation’s most powerful oil, pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Across the country, politicians who stand for policies that would transfer wealth and power back to the Wall Street barons are on the November 2nd ballot.

Their reckless incompetence and greed cost many millions of Americans their jobs, their homes and their hopes for the future. We need to understand that the very people who drove the economy into the ditch are now planning to take back the keys, restart the engine and take the whole country along on their reckless joyride along the road to the bottom. That’s their real pledge.

It’s time to call your friends and relatives. It’s time to make sure your coworkers and neighbors know the facts. Tell them to ignore the GOP’s pledge and remind them of their record. Tell them the truth about the disaster waiting around the corner unless they get out and vote.

 

Conservative Group Running Misleading Ads on Medicare – The 60 Plus Association, a group that bills itself as “a conservative alternative to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), is running an ad that gives a highly misleading impression about funding for Medicare.

The fact is that the law does not take $500 billion out of the current Medicare budget. Rather, the bill attempts to slow the program’s future growth, curtailing just over $500 billion in future spending over the next 10 years.

“Some (changes) increase Medicare spending to improve benefits and coverage,” said Tricia Neuman, director of the Medicare Policy Project at the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. “Other provisions reduce the growth in Medicare spending to help the program operate more efficiently and help fund coverage expansions to the uninsured in the underlying health reform legislation. Other provisions are designed to improve the delivery of care and quality of care.” More significantly, there’s also $136 billion in projected savings that would come from changes to the Medicare Advantage program. Finally, the ad doesn’t mention any of the benefits to seniors, such as improved prescription drug coverage.

Neuman walked through the changes in an easily digestible tutorial on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website, a good non-ideological explanation for people interested in changes to Medicare under health care reform.

Regards,

Jim