The WAWG Blog

In Rick Perry’s Texas, Teachers Are Having to Take Second And Third Jobs To Support Their Families – A new survey by researchers at Sam Houston State University shows that the percentage of teachers who held second jobs this past school year was the highest in the three decades that the study has been conducted. Four in 10 teachers – a record number –moonlighted this year. The new figures represented a jump of nearly 50 percent from two years ago.

The survey also pointed to a potential toll in the classroom as two-thirds of those who moonlight said the quality of their teaching would be better if they didn’t have to work another job. But most say they can’t afford to quit.

Bad Deeds – A Long Republican Tradition – During the 1972 presidential campaign, the Nixon campaign committee maintained a “dirty tricks” unit focused on discrediting Nixon’s strongest challengers. According to Woodward and Bernstein, Nixon aide Dwight Chapin hired fellow USC alumnus Donald Segretti to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which Segretti dubbed “ratf–king”) against the Democrats in 1972.

The purpose of the operation was to create as much bitterness and disunity within the Democrat primary as possible. One notable example of Segretti’s wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie’s letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old. Many other dirty tricks were used such as putting out false press releases or “leaked documents” in the name of political opponents, spying on rival campaigns, jamming phone lines, hiring “rioters” and “activists,” conducting deceptive or offensive get out the vote phone canvasses, push polls, and similar activities.

Segretti recruited Karl Rove, who at that time was the executive director of the College Republicans, to work in this dirty tricks campaign. In the fall of 1970, Rove had used a false identity to enter the campaign office of Democrat Alan J. Dixon, who was running for Treasurer of Illinois. He stole 1,000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead, printed fake campaign rally fliers promising “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing”, and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon’s rally.

Rove later became president of the College Republicans by faking credentials for convention delegates that resulted in two elections, further resulting in two presidents. Republican National Committee Chairman George H. W. Bush had to settle the dispute as to who was the actual president. In the meantime, a Rove operative sent out information to make it look like Rove’s competitor had leaked the dispute to the press. Based on this misinformation, Bush named Rove as president of the College Republicans.

Rove then introduced Harvey Leroy “Lee” Atwater to George H.W. Bush who was then the RNC Chairman. Atwater invented or improved upon many of the dirty tricks techniques, including creating and spreading reputation-destroying rumors. Atwater’s most notorious campaign was the 1988 presidential election, in which Atwater approved the infamous Willie Horton ad. This ad was so powerful and devastating that even though only a few people ever saw the ads when originally ran, they saw it or read about it in the news because of the stir they caused. This of course, is the ultimate in politics – free advertising (like the more-recent “swiftboat” ads).

During the election, a number of false rumors were reported in the media about Dukakis, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Dukakis’s wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, as well as the claim that Dukakis himself had been treated for a mental illness.

During that election, George W. Bush, the then vice president’s son, took an office across the hall from Atwater’s office, where his job was to serve as “the eyes and ears for my dad,” monitoring the activities of Atwater and other campaign staff. In her memoir, Barbara Bush said that George W. and Atwater became “great friends.”

After the election, Atwater was named chairman of the Republican National Committee.

As a member of the Reagan administration in 1981, Atwater gave an anonymous interview to Political Scientist Alexander P. Lamis. Part of this interview was printed in Lamis’ book The Two-Party South, then reprinted in Southern Politics in the 1990s with Atwater’s name revealed:

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Atwater: “You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.’

By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’ – that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff.

You’re getting so abstract now that you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is that blacks get hurt worse than whites.

And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other.
You follow me – because obviously sitting around saying, ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘Nigger, nigger.'”

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What Atwater was describing is commonly called “dog whistling,” a term for a type of political campaigning or speechmaking which employs coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different or more specific meaning for a targeted subgroup of the audience [RWAs of the South].

For example, the phrase “states’ rights“, although literally referring to powers of individual state governments in the United States, has been described as a code word for institutionalized segregation and racism. In the same vein, Reagan’s use of phrases linked to insidious racial stereotypes—his talk of Cadillac-driving welfare queens, or “young bucks” buying T-bone steaks with food stamps—pandered to bigots while making sure not to alienate voters whom starker language would have scared away. And just tonight I heard a Republican candidate on TV saying they may need to use “second amendment remedies” if the election doesn’t go their way. That sounds like legal action to most people, but the Tea Party herd and NRA supporters know it means get out your guns and start shooting.

Now we have Republican operatives using fake video to get an organization that helps poor people defunded and disbanded, and a good person that helps poor farmers fired.

The bigger problem that needs to be addressed is what do we do to push back against the Breitbarts of the world and against Fox’s propaganda machine? Because they will do this again as long as they believe their tactics are going to work. Will other media outlets quit bringing him or others like him on the air to repeat their lies? Only if you tell them to stop doing it. Will people learn to recognize when something smells bad? Only with your active help. Know the facts; speak the truth. And demand it of everyone else.

Regards,

Jim

The Shirley Sherrod story started on Monday with the release of a heavily edited video about a life experience which occurred decades ago. This story was released by a right-wing authoritarian (RWA) web site known for its lies. By Wednesday morning the lies had gone viral, everyone was reporting on it, and Ms. Sherrod was fired. By Wednesday afternoon, the lies had been exposed. Now it’s Thursday and the media is still all over it and it will probably continue to dominate the news cycle into tomorrow as
Ms. Sherrod considers a new job offer from the Administration.

With all the RWA noise and lies occupying all sides of cable and network news, one has to wonder why all this fuss happened this week? The RWA blog that posted it had been holding onto the video for some time. They were waiting for just the right time to release it. But why now? Do you think the RWAs were responding to last weeks NAACP complaints about Tea Party bigotry, or were they trying to overshadow other big news?

Do you know what new legislation was signed into law this morning? Do you know whether this new law was about Wall Street or Main street reform? Do you know if this new law was about consumer protection or bank protection? Do you wonder why you may not have heard much about the Obama signing ceremony earlier today? (See the links at the end of this posting for details.)

If the RWAs are out to win the mid-term elections and win back The White House in 2012 by making sure the Obama administration fails, then it makes sense that any Obama successes must be obliterated from the public’s memory. That’s why all the fuss.

Months from now, what story will most of us remember? The one about the signing of the Todd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act or the one about Ms. Sherrod, an innocent victim of the RWA message machine?

It’s all about information control and the RWAs have been fine tuning their communication skills for decades while the Democrats and liberal news media are always there to help by repeating the RWA talking points.

The Myth of Republicans’ Economic Stewardship – Just days after the Washington Post documented that George W. Bush presided over the worst eight-year economic performance in the modern American presidency, the New York Times in January featured an analysis comparing presidential performance going back to Eisenhower. As the Times showed, George W. Bush, the first MBA president, was a historic failure when it came to expanding GDP, producing jobs and fueling stock market growth. And across almost every indicator, Democrats outperformed their Republican counterparts:

As it turns out, as the New York Times also showed in October, the Democratic Party “has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole.” To make its case, the New York Times asked readers to imagine having put their money where its mouth is. Contrary to Republican mythology, Americans fare better – much, much better – under Democratic administrations.

Glenn Beck Smears President Obama’s Dead Mother – On Fox News yesterday, Glenn Beck said, “This administration is into character assassination without due process.” Then only a few moments later, Beck himself indulged in yet another of his serial “character assassinations without due process” by again smearing Obama’s dead mother:

Beck: You know, it’s weird that no member of the media found it noteworthy that Obama’s mom wasn’t just a regular girl from Kansas. She was actually a little red girl — a communist who left her son to go study Marxism.

This is just an outrageous, utterly false smear. Obama’s mother was never a communist. The “little red church” she attended was simply a liberal Unitarian Church that was regularly accused of harboring communists by the then-rampant McCarthyite Red hunters who lived nearby. And never, ever, did she “leave her son” or abandon him for any reason — and certainly never to “go study Marxism”!

Of course, the real irony is this: Fox News operates on the core principle of “character assassination without due process.” Without that, it wouldn’t be Fox News.

Right-Wing Media Critic Offers Cash For Assault On Democratic U.S. Representative – Prominent conservative media critic Dan Gainor has offered $100 to the first member of Congress who punches “smary [sic] idiot” Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) in the nose. Gainor is the vice president of the Media Research Center, a $6 million-a-year organization that has been praised by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Newt Gingrich, and he is often cited, interviewed and otherwise taken very seriously by Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander. The outburst was prompted by comments that Grayson made on the House floor last night regarding unemployment: namely, that Republican lawmakers are “taking food out of the mouths of children” and “trying to revive the America of desperate straits and cheap labor” by blocking the passage of legislation that would extend unemployment benefits.

Conservatives Rehash Debunked Myths and Caricatures for Kagan Hearings – Republicans and their conservative media counterparts are pushing tired falsehoods and myths about Elena Kagan. Fox News, The Washington Times, the New York Post, and The Weekly Standard, Laura Ingraham, Jeff Kuhner, CNN’s Erick Erickson (last seen touting his wife’s shotgun and calling Justice David Souter a “goat f#%king child molester), Michelle Malkin, Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Fox’s Megyn Kelly have all been promoting falsehoods for votes, money, and viewers. How many liars does the right-wing need?

AT&T, Comcast and Verizon Are Spreading Misinformation About Internet Regulation – The FCC is considering is whether to “reclassify” Internet access services under a category – Title II – that would allow it to protect Net Neutrality and foster universal access to broadband. Both of these goals are priorities of President Obama’s economic recovery plan.
The FCC wants to restore open Internet protections. Under the Bush administration, the FCC deregulated high-speed Internet providers by relinquishing its Title II authority. At the time, the agency claimed this shift would foster competition and drive down broadband prices for consumers. Instead, it unleashed a torrent of industry consolidation that raised prices, slowed broadband services and otherwise left the United States far behind in every international measure of Internet success.

This radical move undermined the long-held assumption that nondiscriminatory communications networks were essential to free speech, democratic participation and economic opportunity.
A phone and cable-funded “think tank” with the misleading name “Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)” says the an open Internet will kill jobs. They are calling for a two-year moratorium on all FCC efforts to restore the agency’s role in safeguarding our Internet rights and spreading broadband adoption.

The study is part of a desperate strategy to spread fear and obscure the facts about Internet regulation, and pave the way for carrier control over online content.

What the study doesn’t say is that PPI has received funding from AT&T, as well as from the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation funds a right-wing cabal of anti-Neutrality groups, including the American Enterprise Institute, The Heartland Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“Policymakers should recognize this ‘study’ for what it is — part of a transparent attempt by the biggest phone and cable companies to raise unfounded fears about job losses in an election season,” says Free Press Research Director Derek Turner.

The Problem is Not One Bad Oil Well; It May be Many (Thousands) – The federal government’s oil spill chief says seepage detected two miles from BP’s oil cap is coming from another well.

There are two wells within two miles of BP’s blowout, one that has been abandoned and another that is not in production.

There around 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf, and an Associated Press investigation showed this month that they’re not checked for leaks. And then there’s all the underwater oil pipelines from the wells that may be leaking.

Republican Party Lies About It’s Debt – The Republican Party’s national organizing body failed to report more than $7 million in debt to federal election officials this year, making it appear to be in better shape than it was as mid-term elections approach in November.

Republicans Torture Unemployed Americans for Another 30 Hours for No Reason – Under inexplicable Senate rules, after a filibuster is broken, the minority trying to block passage can delay a final, up-or-down vote for 30 hours. Democrats hoped Republicans would agree to waive this pointless delay, and allow the Senate to vote on jobless aid. Republicans, who know the bill is going to pass anyway, refused without explanation.

I hope the American people understand how callous this is. People are desperate, can’t make house payments, car payments, can’t pay for kids’ food. And they are having us wait for 30 hours after cloture’s been invoked. We only need a simple majority to pass this bill now, but they’re making us wait. I just can’t articulate in strong enough feelings how unfair this is to 2.5 million people…. Every hour that is delayed is more misery for 2.5 million people.

Do You Think This Might be a Cause of the Deficit? – The United States has spent $1.15 trillion on wars since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to a recently released Congressional report.

Typical Right-Wing Solution for When You Disagree With Someone: Shoot Them, Start a War – Police say a California man arrested after a freeway shootout with authorities was planning to attack people at the American Civil Liberties Union and another nonprofit group. Oakland police Officer Jeff Thomason says Byron Williams was upset with the ACLU and Tides Foundation for their political views.

This 24/7 barrage of right wing propaganda is driving weak-minded folks over the edge. The Limbaughs, Hannitys and the O’Reillys should be held accountable. They spew paranoia through their microphones suggesting the ACLU and others are enemies.

While We Sit Around, China Moves on Clean Energy – China may spend about $738 billion in the next decade developing cleaner sources of energy to reduce emissions from burning oil and coal. China erected more wind turbines in 2009 than any other country and may install a record 18 gigawatts of wind-power capacity in 2010. The world’s fastest-growing major economy will get more than 11 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuels by 2015.

Republican Smoke-Filled Rooms Still Going Strong – Lobbyists for major banks, insurers, pharmaceutical firms, energy companies and at least one foreign government have been helping organize lavish gatherings of staffers and members of Congress since early 2009, funneling K Street money through an officially chartered staff organization called the Congressional Cigar Association, founded by Republican staffers and sponsored by Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.)

BP Sends Out Fake Photo of Their Command Center – The latest curio in the ongoing exhibition of BP obfuscation comes via John Aravosis at AmericaBlog, who examined an image from BP’s website and determined it to be a fake. The image depicts BP’s “Command Center” in Houston, where ever-vigilant BP employees sit in a dark room, monitoring screens. BP’s website has been running a photo in which three men appear to be watching a ten-screen display of oil-spill footage. Here’s the thing: it’s a Photoshop job.

Well (no pun intended), if BP can Photoshop their command center, so can others. Here’s a sample:

The Myth of Republicans’ Family Values – Conservatives love to preach about morality, but they don’t follow their own advice:

• John McCain, Senator (R- Ariz.) who began dating his present wife, Cindy, while still married to his first wife, Carol.
• Newt Gingrich cheated on his second wife with a woman 23 years his younger (who would later become his third wife). And then there’s the matter of his first wife, with whom Gingrich initiated a divorce while she was recovering from cancer surgery.
• Mark Sanford, Gov of SC, disappears during Father’s Day weekend, returning to confess an extramarital affair in Argentina.
• Vito Fossella admitted to police to having a child out-of-wedlock when stopped for drunk driving.
• David Vitter, junior Senator from Louisiana, became one of the few high-profile politicians to be implicated as a client of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
• Dan Burton, Republican Congressman who, while married, fathered a child by another woman.
• Robert Livingston, Congressman (R-Louisiana) resigned after only three (3) days as House Speaker ( he replaced Newt Gingrich) after admitting that he was an adulterer.
• Bob Packwood, Senator (R-Ore.), resigned in 1995 under a threat of public senate hearings related to 10 female ex-staffers accusing him of sexual harassment.
• J.C. Watts, Representative (R-Oklahoma), loud champion of “moral values.” Has out-of-wedlock children.
• Bob Barr, Republican Congressman from Georgia. Sponsored the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, saying “The flames of hedonism, the flames of narcissism, the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundation of our society, the family unit.” Was married three times. Paid for his second wife’s abortion (she also suspected he was cheating on her). Failed to pay child support to the children of his first two wives and while married to his third and present wife was photographed licking whipped cream off of strippers at his inaugural party.
• Neil Bush, brother or G. W. Bush, in a March 2003 divorce deposition, admitted repeatedly having sex with strange women who just showed up at his room while on an Asian business trip.
• Jim Bunn Congressman of Oregon: With his success due in great part to support from the Christian Coalition, Bunn won his congressional seat, then immediately ditched his wife (and mother of his five children), married a staffer, and put his new wife on the state payroll for the unheard-of salary of $97,500.
• Richard Gardner, a Nevada State Representative (R), admitted to molesting his two daughters. 34% of those who voted in Assembly District 34 preferred Gardner to the Democratic candidate.
• Jeffrey Ray Nielsen, Christian conservative activist and lawyer with close ties to Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Scott Baugh, head of the Orange County Republican Party, was arrested for having sex with a 14-year old boy.
• Steve Aiken, campaign manager for a Republican candidate for Congress in Arizona, former Quakertown, PA, police officer and self-proclaimed reverend, was convicted of having sex with two underage girls.

Regards,

Jim

Conservative Liar Edits Video to Get Good Person Fired – Shirley Sherrod was an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); specifically, the USDA Georgia director of rural development. In a speech to the Georgia chapter of the NAACP, she tells a story about her work 24 years ago for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund. In her story, Sherrod had met her very first white farmer, and at first didn’t know how to handle the situation. She ultimately befriended that white farmer she talked about, and helped that family save their farm.

Now, enter Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger who thrives on waving his malodorous lies around on Fox News and the Internet. Breitbart edited the video of Sherrod’s story to make it appear that she is racist who wouldn’t help the farmer. The video is all over the Internet and all over Fox News. Just like the ACORN edited video, which got ACORN defunded by the government, this edited video got Shirley Sherrod fired from her USDA job. The white farmer and his family have now come to Ms. Sherrod’s defense, praising her for her help.

So every time a conservative tells lies, people fall over themselves to believe the liar and convict the innocent. Especially if the innocent are trying to help the poor. This stinks! Getting active for this election is the only cure. Speak out with the truth!

Rick Perry’s Campaign is Spreading Lies About Bill White’s Financial Management of Houston – The facts: Bill White managed Houston with fiscally disciplined budgets and surpluses, cutting tax rates 5 straight years. The City of Houston will end Fiscal Year 2010 with $170 million in reserves and passed a balanced budget for 2011 projecting $126 million in reserves at the end of the year, with no layoffs or furloughs, unlike many other cities in the country.

Mayor Annise Parker recently highlighted Bill White’s record of fiscal discipline in her State of the City address:

“I am very proud to announce that the state of the city is strong. I would rather be mayor of Houston than any other city in America…we are still the strongest city, financially, than any other city in America.”

“Let me thank again, former Mayor Bill White for his strong, effective leadership over his six years of service in this city. His vision and hard work made Houston a better, finer, and more prosperous city. We thank him for his service.”

Right after he first took office, Bill White tackled the city’s pension system, cutting a $1.7 billion liability nearly in half and securing a sound future for both retirees and city taxpayers. Harvard professor and former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican, described Bill White’s pension reform as a national model, saying it proved a “return to fiscal soundness can be accomplished.”

Bill White also built cash balances that can be used in tough times. Under his watch, between the end of fiscal years 2003 and 2009, the general fund balance grew from $136 million to $236 million. The current administration projects that it will have $170 million on hand at the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

Because of the cash balances Bill White built for Houston, the balanced budget adopted by City Council in June 2009 did not require the kinds of cuts made in many other cities, like cuts in public safety and employee layoffs and furloughs. The budget projects a significant positive general fund balance even after 2011.

Bill White’s fiscally disciplined leadership left Houston on strong financial footing, in better shape than cities all over the country.

Regards,

Jim

Fearmongering and Noble Lies are primary tools for the right-wing authoritarians (RWA).

Just think back to last year and all the RWA fearmongering and lies about health care and how it barely became law. It wasn’t so much about the lies themselves, it was about getting a consensus that health care for all was a ‘bad thing.’

We also remember what happened after the attack on 9/11/2001. The RWAs made 935 documented false statements leading up to the Iraq invasion. They achieved a consensus based on these lies and, too easily, led us into an unfunded war and a growing deficit. Their lies weren’t about WMDs, they were about getting a consensus to invade.

Now, how many fear mongering lies will we hear about the deficit, which the RWAs created, and to what purpose?

Christopher Hayes of The Nation has written an article and warns us that the RWAs are putting their favorite tools to work once again. According to Mr. Hayes, the RWA “hysteria” is about ‘the deficit,’ but the real goal is to kill needed stimulus and maintain the Nixon, Reagan and Bush tax breaks. Tax breaks which favored the wealthy by a 3 to 1 margin and added to the deficit.

And yet: the drumbeat of deficit hysterics thumping in self-righteous panic grows louder by the day. Judging by its schedule and online video, this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival was an open-air orgy of anti-deficit moaning. The festival is a good window into elite preoccupations, and that its opening forum featured ominous warnings of future bankruptcy from Niall Ferguson, Mort Zuckerman and David Gergen does not bode well. Nor does the fact that there was a panel called “America’s Looming Fiscal Emergency: How to Balance the Books.” This attitude isn’t confined to pundits. The heads of Obama’s fiscal commission have called projected deficits a “cancer.”

The hysteria has reached such a pitch that Republican senators (joined by Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson) have filibustered an extension of unemployment benefits because it was not offset by spending cuts. Keep in mind, the cost of the extension for people unlucky enough to be caught in the jaws of the worst recession in thirty years is $35 billion. The bill would increase the debt by less than 0.3 percent.

This all seems eerily familiar. The conversation—if it can be called that—about deficits recalls the national conversation about war in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. From one day to the next, what was once accepted by the establishment as tolerable—Saddam Hussein—became intolerable, a crisis of such pressing urgency that “serious people” were required to present their ideas about how to deal with it. Once the burden of proof shifted from those who favored war to those who opposed it, the argument was lost.

We are poised on the same tipping point with regard to the debt. Amid official unemployment of 9.5 percent and a global contraction, we shouldn’t even be talking about deficits in the short run. Yet these days, entrance into the club of the “serious” requires not a plan for reducing unemployment but a plan to do battle with the invisible and as yet unmaterialized international bond traders preparing an attack on the dollar.

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the selling of the Iraq War was its false pretext. It never really was about weapons of mass destruction, as Paul Wolfowitz admitted. WMDs were just “what everyone could agree on.” So it is with deficits. Conservatives and their neoliberal allies don’t really care about deficits; they care about austerity—about gutting the welfare state and redistributing wealth upward. That’s the objective. Deficits are just what they can all agree on, the WMDs of this manufactured crisis. Senator John Kyl of Arizona, speaking on Fox, has come out and admitted as much. All new spending increases must be offset, he said, but “you should never have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.” So there you have it.

Here’s one more example of RWA lies that led to a consensus and, unfortunately, completion of a major RWA goal:

So, all the deficit hysteria from the RWAs combined with the fearful shifting to the right by Democrats, a consensus, is aimed at further reductions in our social safety net and letting the mega rich keep their Republican tax breaks.

This hysteria has nothing to do with balancing the budget or protecting our grandchildren. For RWAs, deficits are for wars and making the mega rich richer and more powerful.

(Do you think the RWAs actually planned the deficits just to maintain the Republican tax breaks for the mega rich?)

Rick Perry is Lying About Bill White’s Support of Men and Women in Uniform and Their Right to Vote – Bill White has always unequivocally supported the right of men and women in uniform to vote in all elections.

Bill White grew up the son of a disabled WWII veteran who went to college on the GI Bill. Bill’s father taught him the importance of service, and Bill White has a deep respect for those who serve our country. He has been an advocate for building the military and keeping more military forces in Texas to ensure national security.

As Houston’s mayor, Bill was honored by the Houston Military Affairs Council for his work in spearheading a regional Returning Veterans Initiative designed to give returning veterans the welcome they deserve with coordinated social services, reductions in red tape and employment opportunities. The Department of the Army recognized this initiative as one of the finest in the country, and Houston was named one of the most military friendly cities in which to live and work.

Bill White has always been a strong supporter of voting rights and as a high school student went door to door to register voters.

The same attack was discredited during the Houston mayor’s race in 2003. Rick Perry is hoping that you won’t remember.

Republican John Cornyn Unable to Name One Republican Fiscal Policy Change Since Bush Era – Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) couldn’t find a straight answer to give Sunday when he was asked how Republican fiscal policies today differ from their policies during the Bush era.
“What does distinguish the Republican Party of today from the Republican Party under President Bush’s rule with regards to spending, which is where it got out of control — under Republican rule,” asked host David Gregory on NBC’s Meet The Press.

At this point, Cornyn dabbled in talking points, not answering the question.

But Gregory persisted in his original question. “So my question is still: What is the distinction of the Republican Party of today versus the Bush record that you’re defending?”

More blabber from Cornyn without answering the question.

“In other words,” comments the AlterPolitics blog, which posted the Cornyn interview online, “they intend to resume Bush’s policies of increasing the national debt to pay for deeper tax cuts for the rich, to bail out Wall Street fat cats, and to wage more endless and unnecessary wars.”

Cornyn’s lack of detail will give ammunition to critics of Republican policies who argue the party is determined to roll ahead with the same policies that some economists now blame for the economic meltdown — things such as the Bush tax cuts, which some argue contributed to the federal government’s debt burden and resulted in a greater share of wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Turns To Bush Agenda When Asked How Republicans Would Cut Deficit – Pressed repeatedly by host David Gregory on “Meet The Press” this Sunday to explain exactly what the GOP would do to cut the deficit, the National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Pete Sessions’ (R-Tex.) stammered and offered platitudes. Sessions was, as Gregory noted, dabbling in talking points; or, to distill it even further, just repeating the question in the form of an answer. (How are you going to balance the budget? We are going to balance the budget.)

“Tell me how you do it,” a frustrated Gregory interjected. “Name a painful choice that Republicans are prepared to say we have to make?”

Sessions had none, save to hint that the policies he wanted to pursue were the ones tried by the previous administration. “We need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminishing it,” he said.

And hence, the Democratic glee.

Republicans Being Advised to Stay Away From Discussing Issues – Behind the scenes, many Republicans are being urged to avoid issues at all costs. Some of the party’s most influential political consultants are quietly counseling their clients to stay on the offensive for the November midterm elections and steer clear of taking stands on substance that might give Democratic opponents material for a counterattack.

“The smart political approach would be to make the election about the Democrats,” said Neil Newhouse of the powerhouse Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, which is advising more than 50 House and Senate candidates. “In terms of our individual campaigns, I don’t think it does a great deal of good” to engage in a debate over the Republicans’ own agenda. (Because there isn’t one, other than do what Bush already failed at. – See the two articles above. – JLV)

John McCain Says Paying Teachers is Pork, but Buying “Wonderful Missiles” is Good – Arizona’s first debate for the Republican primary race had a few memorable moments but none summed up the Republican Party’s view on what is “pork” and what they consider their priorities on spending than this bit by John McCain. Mc Cain said that hiring new teachers is pork, but we need to keep make sure that the companies “making those wonderful missiles” get a tax cut.

Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal Lies About the Financial Reform Bill – The Senate has voted to approve the financial reform bill, which includes authority to audit the Fed. Now we will find out which zombie banks on Wall Street got a new lease on life with Fed money, as the Fed’s balance sheet grew by over one trillion dollars. But if you happened to read Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal on May 7, 2010, you would have heard a different story. “Plan for Congressional Audits of Fed Dies in Senate,” was the headline. Exactly what Wall Street wanted you to think.

Whoops! It looks like the Wall Street Journal has gone the way of Rupert Murdoch’s flagship holding, Fox News.

Right-Wing Angry Guy Shoots at Police – A 45-year-old parolee, described by his mother as angry at left-wing politicians, opened fire on California Highway Patrol officers on an Oakland freeway early Sunday and was hit by return fire while wearing body armor, authorities said.

Williams’ mother, Janice Williams of Groveland, said her son had been living next door and taking care of her father’s house and land. She said he had been released from prison about 2 1/2 years ago after a felony conviction, which she declined to describe, and had almost completed his parole. “He hasn’t been able to get a job because he’s an ex-felon and nobody will hire him,” she said. She said her son, who had been a carpenter and a cabinetmaker before his imprisonment, was angry about his unemployment and about “what’s happening to our country.”

Williams watched the news on television and was upset by “the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items,” his mother said. She said she had planned to cook salsa with her son on Sunday and was making preparations when she got a call from a television reporter, looked out the window and saw that her pickup was gone. She said she then checked the locked safe where she kept her guns, all legally purchased and owned, and found that they were also missing. Janice Williams said she kept the guns because “eventually, I think we’re going to be caught up in a revolution.” But she said she had told her son many times that “he didn’t have to be on the front lines.”

She said she had no explanation for his actions.

(That’s right; like so many right-wing fearful people, she hasn’t got a clue. – JLV)

Sean Hannity is Either Blind or Lying: Says He Can’t Find Any Racist Tea Party Signs – Fox News’ Sean Hannity is having trouble finding racist signs at Tea Party events but maybe that’s because he’s just not looking very hard.

Radio host Steven A. Smith joined Hannity Thursday night to discuss a resolution passed by the NAACP condemning racism in the Tea Party. “Is there any example [of] any Tea Party members said anything racist, held any racist signs? Because we can’t find any,” Hannity asked Smith.
But racially tinged signs from Tea Party events are widespread on the Internet. A sign from a Madison, Wisconsin Tea Party reads “Obama’s Plan — White Slavery.”

A sign from another event says “Obama — What you talkin about Willis! Spend my money?”
“Obamanomics — Monkey see, Monkey spend!” reads a sign from a Denver Tea Party.

Regards,

Jim

Top House Republican Wants Ban on All New Federal Regulations – House GOP Leader John Boehner said he supports a ban on all new federal regulations, after meeting Friday with business lobbyists. Boehner and Illinois Republicans Peter Roskam and Aaron Schock convened a group of nearly 20 Washington-based business leaders who represent various sectors – such as home builders, retailers and manufacturers – as part of their “America Speaking Out” initiative to gather ideas for the GOP legislative agenda. Republicans did not allow media coverage of their meeting.

This is a Republican agenda written for lobbyists by lobbyists. It’s basically a return to Bush policies under a GOP-controlled Congress. Only if you think the financial crisis is an ‘ant,’ would you think it a good thing for the country, as House Republicans do, to put forward the George Bush agenda on steroids, where Wall Street reform would be repealed, jobs would be outsourced overseas, and the Bush tax cuts would be extended for the super rich without being paid for.

(Translation: Republicans want business to be free to use lead in toys, put rotting Chinese drywall in houses, and gush as much oil into the oceans as they please. – JLV)

Boehner Wants Wall Street to Run Wild Again – Boehner’s call to stop new government regulations comes a day after he called for the repeal of the financial reform bill just hours before it was approved by the Senate. First Boehner wants to take away working families health care benefits. Now he also wants to return Wall Street and the big banks back to the power they had when they destroyed our economy. It could be no clearer for working families in 2010 that there is a clear choice between continuing to move forward to make the economy work for everyone again or go backwards to the Bush years where corporations and Wall Street ran wild.”

Republicans Are Killing Jobs To Save Their Own – To advance their political prospects, Republicans are pushing a job-killing agenda that America can’t afford: protecting tax breaks for CEOs who ship jobs overseas, while blocking tax cuts for small businesses and middle-class families. Democrats have run into nothing but a solid wall of Republican opposition at every turn,” Manley said, “even for common-sense measures like providing a safety net for Americans while they look for work, cutting taxes for small businesses and closing loopholes for CEOs that ship jobs overseas.

Economist Mark Zandi, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), has said failing to reauthorize unemployment benefits would in fact endanger the economic recovery, and that Congress should not offset the cost of the benefits because doing so would diminish their stimulative effect. “The odds that the economy will slip back into the recession are still well below even,” Zandi said. “But if Congress is unable to provide this help, those odds will rise and become uncomfortably high.”

If they can stop the recovery from occurring, if they can create as much pain as possible, the cynical view is people will be angry and either drop out and not vote at all or vote against those in the majority. Don’t let it happen.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Spreads Misinformation About Tax Cuts – Among the U.S. Chamber of Commerce proposals to stimulate job growth was a call for the Bush-era tax cuts, set to expire at the end of this year, to be extended. But many economic theorists say that, far from stimulating sustained economic growth, the Bush tax cuts widened the gap between rich and poor and created the strain on consumers that ended in the real estate market collapse of recent years.

The Congressional Budget Office has released reports showing that the tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003, have contributed significantly to the US’s budget deficit. In at least one year since the cuts were enacted, the federal government would have run a surplus had the tax cuts not existed.
Extending the tax cuts for all earners would cost the federal government an estimated $2.2 trillion over 10 years; extending only the portion on people earning more than $250,000 would cost an estimated $678 billion over the same time period.

The NRA Protects A Potential Serial Killer – What does the leadership of the National Rifle Association have to do to finally convince anyone paying attention that they are extremist, self-interested, and devoid of all principle? Here’s an idea: they could blatantly lie about the law in an attempt to block authorities in Daytona Beach, Florida from accessing information that would help law enforcement catch a potential serial killer.

Oh wait, they’ve already done that.

Regards,

Jim

Butt-Biting Rick Perry Operative Working Dirty Tricks in Texas – Charles Hurth III has a long history of setting up under-the-radar groups to help Republican operatives game elections. But the most sordid thing about Hurth’s past is not his political scheming. He’s also what you might call a serial butt-biter, with a well-publicized track record of sinking his teeth into the rumps of college coeds. He recently struck again in Texas—not by biting derrieres, but by spearheading an apparent GOP dirty trick to derail Democrat Bill White’s gubernatorial bid.

Last month, Hurth and two other GOP operatives—one a former top aide to Texas Gov. Rick Perry—were implicated in a scheme to bankroll a petition drive to put the Green Party on the ballot. It is an apparent ploy to siphon votes away from Perry’s Democratic challenger, former Houston Mayor Bill White. He’s an appealing target: Tied with Perry in the latest poll, White’s the strongest gubernatorial contender that Texas Democrats have seen in years.

But Hurth’s first claim to fame was being sued in 1987 for approaching a fellow law student in a bar and biting her on the buttocks so hard that she required medical attention. During the trial, Hurth admitted that he’d used the same toothy overture to approach two other women at fraternity parties—and he said that his latest victim should have taken the gesture as a compliment. The jurors didn’t buy it, and Hurth was successfully sued for $27,500. Since then, he has dedicated himself to being a persistent pain in the butt for Democrats, setting up shop in a tiny Missouri town to create a clearinghouse for Republican electoral schemes.

Republicans Want to Keep Their Political Contributions Secret – According to The Center for Public Integrity, the pro-Republican American Crossroads 527 group is reaching out to powerful politicos such as ex-Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas and aggressively using a new money-collecting entity that can give donors more privacy (secrecy). Lackluster fundraising in April and May pulled in only a total of roughly $1.25 million, prompting American Crossroads to recently set up a 501(c)(4) nonprofit arm that is also allowed to get involved in political campaigns, but is less transparent in reporting requirements. (It seems that the only way some people will donate to the crazy Republican party is to do it secretly. Or to put it another way, The Center for Public Integrity says Republicans lack integrity. – JLV)

The Corporatists vs. The American People – The authoritarian followers among our society need the world laid out in black and white terms to even begin to understand what is going on around them — now is the time to accommodate them. It’s quite simple(as they like it); are they for the American people or are they on the side of the corporatists?

Ask them to their faces. Every time you hear a self proclaimed conservative even hint sympathy in the direction of big oil, big banks, big insurance etc., point at them and yell “CORPORATIST!!!” Question your family and friends, strangers and acquaintances. The time for bashfulness is over.

We can no longer let the debate be muddled in a confusing sloth of bullshit if we are to win this battle. A line in the sand has to be drawn. We need a clear enemy on the other side. When I look across that line I see corporatists, who do you see?

The corporatists want us divided…let’s get divided…

Republicans Are Lying to You About the Stimulus and Jobs – House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) has been one of the Recovery Act’s most vocal critics, ignoring evidence that that the stimulus is helping to turn around the economy.

Despite his withering attacks on the stimulus, Cantor hosted two job fairs filled with employers hiring directly because of stimulus grants and programs. Cantor is again hosting a job fair stimulated by jobs made possible through the Recovery Act: According to a review of contracts from the Recovery.gov website, employers at the Cantor job fair tomorrow have received approximately $52,716,129 from the stimulus.

While Cantor has tried to score political points slamming the stimulus, he has relied on it as a crutch to bring both private and public sector jobs to his district. Cantor’s Republican colleagues — who helped him try to kill the stimulus — have similarly gone back to their district to claim credit for stimulus programs. A ThinkProgress report released on the one year anniversary of the stimulus highlights over half the Republican caucus, 114 lawmakers (of which, 113 are Republicans), who voted to kill the stimulus then took credit for its success.

More Truth About the Recovery Act – This month, the Department of Energy is awarding conditional commitments from the Recovery Act, which is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009.

One of the projects is to build one of the largest solar plants in the world in Arizona, that will create about 1,600 construction jobs. Another project is to build two new plants that will create more than 2,000 construction jobs, and over 1,500 permanent jobs.

Over 70 per cent of the components and products used in construction will be manufactured in the USA, boosting jobs and communities in states up and down the supply chain. A Colorado plant is already underway, and an Indiana plant will be built in what’s now an empty Chrysler factory. Once completed, this plant will be the first large-scale solar plant in the US to actually store the energy it generates for later use – even at night. It will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power 70,000 homes.

Republicans Are Lying to You About Shredding the Constitution – Have you heard Republicans complaining about “shredding the Constitution” lately? Well, they should know a lot about that. Here’s an interview segment with former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano where he is asked about George W. Bush throwing thousands of Americans in jail without charges:

Napolitano: Well that is so obviously a violation of the natural law, the natural right to be brought before a neutral arbiter within moments of the government taking your freedom away from you. And the Constitution itself, as the Supreme Court in the Boumediene case pretty much said, wherever the government goes, the Constitution goes with it and wherever the Constitution goes are the rights of the Constitution as a guarantee and habeas corpus cannot be suspended by the president ever. It can only be suspended by the Congress in times of rebellion which in read Milligan says meaning rebellion of such magnitude that judges can’t get into their court houses. That has not happened in American history.

So what President Bush did with the suspension of habeas corpus, with the whole concept of Guantanamo Bay, with the whole idea that he could avoid and evade federal laws, treaties, federal judges and the Constitution was blatantly unconstitutional and is some cases criminal.

…

They should have been indicted. They absolutely should have been indicted for torturing, for spying, for arresting without warrants. I’d like to say they should be indicted for lying but believe it or not, unless you’re under oath, lying is not a crime. At least not an indictable crime. It’s a moral crime.

Republican House Leader Ignores Evidence – Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this afternoon after the weekly GOP press conference, “That there’s no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue.” However, the Congressional Budget Office said “The new CBO data show that changes in law [tax cuts] enacted since January 2001 increased the deficit by $539 billion in 2005. In the absence of such [tax cut] legislation, the nation would have a surplus this year. Tax cuts account for almost half — 48 percent — of this $539 billion in increased costs.” The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s budget calculator shows that the tax cuts cost $3.28 trillion between 2011 and 2018. And if you can’t handle words and math, how about this picture that shows the deficit with and without the Bush tax cuts:

Notice in the graph above that the part of the deficit due to the Bush tax cuts is the only part that keeps getting bigger.

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Took Large Amounts of Money for Plagiarized Essays – Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis was revealed to be a plagiarist, and the state’s largest newspaper is calling for him to drop out of the race. As the Denver Post explains:

If you put your name on something and take money for it — a lot of money in this case — it is your responsibility to make rock-solid sure it is bona fide, original work that will stand up to scrutiny.
The state’s chief executive must be someone Coloradans can believe in as the state suffers a stretch of tight budgets and a struggling economy.

If Scott McInnis cannot be trusted to turn in what amounts to an overpaid term paper — without plagiarizing someone else’s work — there is no way he can be relied upon to guide Colorado through these complicated times.

Update: More cases of this have surfaced. It wasn’t a one-time deal.

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Seaside Silliness – Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s theatrical deployment of trappings of leadership in the wake of the BP Oil Spill has been largely rewarded by favorable press coverage. But new revelations and a close inspection of the facts suggest that Jindal’s noise and fury is little more than political grandstanding for the Fox News set, and it serves to obscure Jindal’s own serious failings in the spill response effort. While Jindal has been relentless in attacking the federal government for dragging its feet, he has delayed the deployment of National Guard troops, led a crusade to build artificial sand berms that most experts say won’t work, and confused the planning of the spill response. Moreover, experts said his “antagonism could actually slow down that response.” “When that stuff happens, you actually take away the ability of the unified command to get their job done,” said former Coast Guard official Doug Lentsch.

Jindal has repeatedly blasted the federal government for being hesitant to approve his expensive sand berm plan, an offensive which Fox News has dutifully supported. As Mother Jones noted, “griping about the berms has…become Jindal’s plan to keep the spotlight on him and his criticism of the federal government, long-term damage to the state’s ecosystem be damned.”

There’s nothing fun at all about watching such an obvious waste of money and effort go down the drain, but it is captivating to see right-wing talking points literally disintegrate before your very eyes. I guess that these burms are what they call a “Conservative Common-Sense Solution.”

Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the contract to build Bobby’s berms was awarded by Jindal to a large contributor to his congressional campaign.

Republican/Libertarian Rand Paul Hates Improvement – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul says the poor in America are “enormously better off than the rest of the world,” citing an old Cold War film that showed even impoverished homes had color televisions. “They filmed a building in the poorer section of New York with some broken windows and they said, `Oh, this is how the poor in America lives,'” Paul said at last week’s forum. “But it backfired on them because the Soviet citizens looked at that video closely and they saw flickering color television sets in all those windows.”

So by Rand Paul’s logic:

1. We shouldn’t fix potholes because there aren’t even roads in many parts of the world.
2. We shouldn’t hold BP accountable for its oil spill because there have been worse spills in other countries.
3. We shouldn’t worry about our economy, because unemployment is worse in Africa.
4. After 9/11, New Yorkers should have been grateful because more civilians died in Great Britain during WWII.

Right-Wing Website Attacks Michelle Obama for … – The headline on Drudge Report was sinister:

Increase intensity? Oh no! Michelle Obama is telling African Americans to band together to fight white people! Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck were right! She’s coming to get us! They are coming to get us! And I’m scared!

I was so freaked out that I actually followed Drudge’s link. And it sent me to an ABC News story mentioning nothing about the First Lady telling blacks to “increase intensity.”

Huh? What was going on here?

It turns out that the comment to “increase intensity” was from a speech about childhood obesity. But why should that prevent the right-wing from misrepresenting it to try to scare you?

Crazy Republican Nonsense to Distract you From Real Issues – I don’t like repeating these stupid, free-from-fact Republican noises, but you need to know that these are being used to rile up the right-wing and distract people from real issues. The question is: Are you riled up enough to get the truth out? The only way to make the lying stop is to send the liars packing. Here are a few examples from just the past few days: Vitter Nonsense

While Louisiana families are suffering from the biggest man-made disaster in history, Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter is trying to score political points by perpetuating a completely debunked conspiracy theory. Even though Hawaii officials have repeatedly confirmed the president’s citizenship, and his Hawaiian birth certificate has been made public, along with newspaper birth notices published when he was born in 1961, Vitter said at a town hall-style event that he supports conservative organizations challenging President Barack Obama’s citizenship in court. Vitter could not explain how such a ridiculous lawsuit could have any standing in court.

Republican Hallucination – A Republican candidate in Missouri warned Monday that President Barack Obama and Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan were keeping people from finding the Lord. The Republican gave no explanation as to how this could be happening.

If It’s What I Want, It’s God’s Plan – Over the weekend, Republican Senate candidate Sharon Angle told the founder of the Christian Coalition that her campaign was part of God’s plan. Just two weeks ago, Angle proclaimed “God has a plan” for pregnant victims of rape and incest. Angle couldn’t explain the voices in her head, or why she’s said so many things that she now says she didn’t say, like wanting to privatize Social Security or eliminate Medicare.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann Totes That Barge – Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann spoke in Colorado at the Western Conservative Conference over the weekend, and said, We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves.” Bachmann couldn’t explain how anyone had become a slave, but she did admit to listening to old recordings of “Ol’ Man River” over and over the previous night.

Regards,

Jim

Bad Deeds: Rules for Republicans

• Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
• War is good for business.
• Sell the sizzle, not the steak.
• When in doubt, lie.
• If you believe it, they believe it.
• The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.
• A deal is a deal. (until a better one comes along).
• Only give money to people you know you can steal from.
• What’s in it for me? (Special rule for Rick Perry)
• Profit is its own reward.
• When the going gets tough, the tough change the rules.
• A friend in need means three times the profit.
• Enough… is never enough.
• Dignity and an empty sack are worth the sack.
• There’s no such thing as an unfair advantage.
• There’s nothing wrong with charity…as long as it winds up in your pocket.
• If you’re going to have to endure, make yourself comfortable.
• Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success… don’t hesitate to step on them.
• There’s a sucker born every minute; be sure you’re the first to find each one.
• More is good… all is better.
• A wife is a luxury… a smart accountant, a necessity.
• Life’s not fair. How else would you turn a profit?
• A lie is a way to tell the truth to someone who doesn’t know.
• Whenever you exploit someone, it never hurts to thank them. That way, it’s easier to exploit them the next time.

The above was adapted from THE RULES OF ACQUISITION:

Regards,

Jim

Bad Deeds Special Edition: Republicans Want to Take From You and Give to the Rich – The Republican noise machine telling lots of stories to get average Americans to work against themselves in order to benefit the rich. On TV, in print, on the radio, all I hear is Republicans saying how tough it is to be rich. I’ve even heard in conversation with co-workers and friends. Republicans want you to help spread their lies. They want to enlist you to support the idea that you should give up what little money and benefits you have so that the rich can have more. Who knows, maybe we can get Rick Perry into a bigger mansion.

Here are just a few examples:

Republican Lies About How Much Tax the Rich Pay – In a July 7, 2010, appearance on MSNBC’s The Dylan Ratigan Show, U.S. Republican Rep. Trent Franks (Ariz.), said, “When you’re always talking about raising taxes on the rich, I think the top — the rich now, the top 1 percent, pay over half of the entire revenue for this country.”

However, the Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution found that in 2009, the top 1 percent shouldered the burden for roughly 23 percent of all federal taxes. Also, Tax revenues aren’t the only form of revenues that fund the government. The federal government also collects fees paid to various agencies. That would put the share of federal revenue paid by the top 1 percent at less than 21%. And remember that number is only that big because some of those people have incomes that rival the gross domestic product of some countries. The Poor, Poor, Mega Rich – They Are Just So Over Taxed

Republican Lies About How Much Oil Companies Pay in Royalties – In a May 4, 2010, interview with MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, (Calif.), said that oil royalties are “the second-largest revenue source to the federal government after the IRS.” However, For the most recent year — 2009 — MMS says it received $7.6 billion in combined royalties for oil, natural gas and coal, plus roughly $2.3 billion more in other revenues, for a total of $9.9 billion. But, earnings from other agencies are greater, such as the Federal Reserve System, alcohol and tobacco taxes, Customs, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance premiums, Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund, and energy sales by the Tennessee Valley Authority. This would rank MMS no higher than eighth among entities generating revenue for the government.

Republicans Lie About Tax Rates in the U.S. – U.S. taxes are actually low relative to those in other developed countries. In 2006 U.S. taxes at all levels of government claimed 28 percent of GDP, compared with an average of 36 percent of GDP for the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Of these 30 countries, only Mexico, Turkey, Korea, and Japan have lower taxes than the United States.

Republicans Lie About How Much Taxes Corporations Pay – Corporations in the U.S. pay a much smaller share of taxes than they used to. Revenue from the corporate income tax fell from around 5.5 percent of GDP in the early 1950s to 2.1 percent of GDP in 2008.

Republicans Lie About Group That Advocates for Low and Moderate-Income Families – Last September, a conservative Web site posted seemingly incriminating undercover videos taken at ACORN offices around the country. Two young conservative activists appeared to be dressed up as a pimp and prostitute in ACORN Offices, pretending to seek legal advice.

The heavily and selectively edited videos were aired around the clock ad nauseam on Fox News and caused a giant anti-ACORN freak-out to defund ACORN.

Republicans demanded an investigation. The Government Accountability Office found that the nonprofit group did not misuse government funds. In April, California Attorney General Jerry Brown released a report on the case. His office found no illegal activity on the part of ACORN or any of its California employees. But, by that time, screaming Fox News pundits and Congressional Republicans had forced ACORN to shut down, never mind no actual wrongdoing was ever proved.

Now, an unedited video, made available from the investigation, shows ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera pressing for as much information as he could possibly get from the two visitors in his office. So why was he asking for stuff like phone numbers, dates of arrival, specific location?

Quoting from the attorney general‘s report, “Immediately after the couple left, Mr. Vera telephoned his cousin, Detective Alejandro Hernandez, at the National City Police Department and said that a self-admitted prostitute had been to the office and was discussing human smuggling. Detective Hernandez contacted detective Mark Haas at the San Diego Police Department. Detective Haas works with cases involving human smuggling.”

So Fox News and Republicans make a crime-stopping hero into a villain and gets an organization that helps low and moderate-income families defunded and disbanded.

Are you outraged yet?

Regards,

Jim