Thread: GOP: now & in the future

By the way, did everyone know that the Republicans haven't won an election without a Bush or a Nixon on the ticket since 1928?

No wonder the young lad put his name forward recently.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Inside the GOP bubble with a new segment (beside the GOP’s War on Women), The New GOP Outreach Program.

But first the GOP’s continued War on Women.

Republican Congressional Representative from Tennessee Scott DesJarlais who is sitting in the US Congress making reproductive decisions for women, shouldn’t be: Shakesville: Another Star in the Republican Party

A decade before calling himself "a consistent supporter of pro-life values," Tennessee physician and Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais supported his ex-wife's decision to get two abortions before their marriage, according to the congressman's sworn testimony during his divorce trial.

Snip

The 679-page transcript reveals new details about DesJarlais' interactions with a 24-year-old-patient, who claimed she became pregnant with DesJarlais' child during a short fling in 2000 and that the doctor later pressed her to have an abortion.

Snip

In further proceedings, DesJarlais acknowledged that the woman was not the only patient he had a sexual relationship with that year.

That year? Really? Only That Year?

With the GOP’s miserable outcome in the 2012 presidential election, some in the GOP have decided it might be best to try to attract certain segments of the voting population they were unable to attract during the last election and thennnn there are some that aren’t so eager to welcome them,……………. The New GOP Outreach Program.

Romney didn’t promise them any gifts (except for the 1%ers),…………..

Mitt Romney told his top donors Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was a disappointing result that neither he or his top aides had expected, but said he believed his team ran a “superb” campaign with “no drama,” and attributed his rival’s victory to “the gifts” the administration had given to blacks, Hispanics and young voters during Obama’s first term.

Romney is a low-life subhuman douche: Romney blames election loss on ‘gifts’ Obama gave to women and minorities

Fuck ‘em, they ain’t gonna vote for us anyway,………….

Worse, the immigration debate itself has frequently been miscast as a referendum on the acceptance of Hispanics in American society — one that has forced most Republicans to appear to be on the wrong side of that question in order to be on the right side of some woefully misguided legislation.

But caving on bad legislation — or writing watered-down Republican alternatives — to address this unfortunate misconception is the easy way out.

Snip

But there’s no reason, besides wishful thinking, to believe an amnesty flip-flop is the solution. : Amnesty won't magically make Hispanics more Republican

Why are black people here? Voting?

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is once again alleging possible voting irregularities, this time claiming that groups of unknown black people showed up in some rural towns to vote on Election Day.

Webster made the claim in a wide-ranging, post-election interview this week with Don Carrigan of WCSH-TV.

"In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day," he said. "Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in (these) towns knows anyone who's black. How did that happen? I don't know. We're going to find out.": Maine Republican chairman questions black voters | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Something about another group in America (Asian-Americans),…………

A poll conducted for community groups found that 72 percent of Asian-Americans voted for Obama on Tuesday, a gain from the two-thirds support he won in 2008 and part of a major shift toward the Democrats over the past 20 years.

While small in total, Asian-Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and made up 3.4 percent of the electorate on Tuesday, up from 2.7 percent four years ago.

The GOP has their work cut out for them (Dear Mr. Right-winger, your Asian girlfriend doesn't like you): Obama got solid support from Asian-Americans | Inquirer Global Nation

A reintroduction of the Latino voter from Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Nov 15 2012

The GOP has their work cut out for them

Other GOP news.

Rubio, another Republican science guy (suckin’ up to the far right idiots),……

“Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”: Rubio: Maybe Earth was created in 7 days because ‘I’m not a scientist, man’

That stupid gene must run deep in that Bush family tree,………….

Jeb Bush Jr., the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), on Tuesday defended Sen. Marco Rubio as “pro-science” after the Florida Republican said he was not sure if the Earth was created in seven actual days because “it’s one of the great mysteries.” : Jeb Bush Jr. claims Rubio is ‘pro-science’ after ‘Earth was created in 7 days’ remark

Sore loser,………….

Florida based restaurant boss John Metz, who runs approximately 40 Denny's and owns the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise has decided to offset that by adding a five percent surcharge to customers' bills and will reduce his employees' hours.

With Obamacare due to be fully implemented in January 2014, Metz has justified his move by claiming it is 'the only alternative. I've got to pass on the cost to the customer.': Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge' and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation


Mind control (they are crazy!) ,……………

President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as "Delphi" to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities. That's according to a four-hour briefing delivered to Republican state senators at the Georgia state Capitol last month.

On October 11, at a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus convened by the body's majority leader, Chip Rogers, a tea party activist told Republican lawmakers that Obama was mounting this most diabolical conspiracy. The event—captured on tape by a member of the Athens-based watchdog Better Georgia (who was removed from the room after 52 minutes)—had been billed as an information session on Agenda 21, a nonbinding UN agreement that commits member nations to promote sustainable development. In the eyes of conservative activists, Agenda 21 is a nefarious plot that includes forcibly relocating non-urban-dwellers and prescribing mandatory contraception as a means of curbing population growth. The invitation to the Georgia state Senate event noted the presentation would explain: "How pleasant sounding names are fostering a Socialist plan to change the way we live, eat, learn, and communicate to 'save the earth.': Top Georgia GOP Lawmakers Host Briefing on Secret Obama Mind-Control Plot | Mother Jones

Matthews had a piece on Rubio. Basically, he said either he is an idiot or that he is pandering to the hard right. Of course he followed that by clearly indicating that he thought he was not an idiot but rather that he was pandering.

Here's a story of a GOP member. Seems these days no one really cares about right and wrong whether they are a republican or democrat. The party who gets rid of these liars will become more empowered.


Rep. DesJarlais, who had affairs with his med patients, says he won’t resign

Speaking publicly for the first time since a judge unsealed records from his divorce proceedings, Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who has admitted to numerous affairs and who allegedly pressured a mistress to get an abortion, said he has no plans to resign from office.
In an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, DesJarlais said he regretted his actions during his first marriage, and that he had exhibited, “very poor judgment.” Yet the congressman, who was just reelected this year as the allegations began to unfold, said he intended to still serve the voters who had propelled him back into office.
From the News Sentinel:

“I am human,” [DesJarlais] said during an hour-long interview with the News Sentinel. “I don’t think I ever put myself out there to be somebody that was perfect. I put myself out there as somebody who wanted to serve the public.”

Shortly before the November elections, reports surfaced that DesJarlais had engaged in multiple affairs while married to his first wife with patients at the Grandview Medical Center in Tennessee where he served as chief of staff. One woman alleged that she’d slept with and smoked pot with the congressman.
The story exploded in mid-October when The Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a call between Desjarlais—who presents himself as a family values, firmly anti-abortion politician—and one mistress in which Desjarlais allegedly pressured the woman to get an abortion. Desjarlais did not deny the allegations when presented with them, but he brushed them aside as politically motivated.
With Desjarlais reeling, the Tennessee Democratic Party successfully petitioned a judge to release the congressman’s decade-old divorce records, which confirmed many of the previously alleged details and also revealed that, in addition to the affairs with patients, Desjarlais had also cheated with co-workers and drug company representatives around the same time. Newly unsealed records from the 2001 divorce proceedings also revealed that the congressman had supported his then-wife’s decision to have two abortions despite his publicly stated opposition to abortion.
Desjarlais was elected to Congress in 2010 amid the Tea Party-backed wave that swung the House in favor of Republicans. In that election cycle, Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis sought to use the rumors of Desjarlais’ messy divorce against him, though there was far less evidence at that time.

Rep. DesJarlais, who had affairs with his med patients, says he won’t resign | The Raw Story

It's not going to be fun to watch the Rethugs self-emolate; they can cause a lot of problems on the way down.

It is satisfying, though.

What deluded idiots.

Interesting article from Bruce Bartlett-

Revenge of the Reality-Based Community

My life on the Republican right—and how I saw it all go wrong.

I’m not going to beat around the bush and pretend I don’t have a vested interest here. Frankly, I think I’m at ground zero in the saga of Republicans closing their eyes to any facts or evidence that conflict with their dogma. Rather than listen to me, they threw me under a bus. To this day, I don’t think they understand that my motives were to help them avoid the permanent decline that now seems inevitable.

So here we are, post-election 2012. All the stupidity and closed-mindedness that right-wingers have displayed over the last 10 years has come back to haunt them.... They were genuinely shocked at Romney’s loss because they ignored every poll not produced by a right-wing pollster such as Rasmussen or approved by right-wing pundits such as the perpetually wrong Dick Morris.
Revenge of the Reality-Based Community | The American Conservative

Bruce Bartlett worked for the republicans & right wing think tanks for around 30 years. The first thing that happened when he started publicly criticising a republican policy (the Bush Medicare porkbarrel for seniors) was to be declared persona non grata on Fox and, as it turned out, all Murdoch outlets. Prior, he had been a regular 'guest commentator'. An interesting read, but at it's root it is ideological closed mindedness, of which overt hostility to criticism and 'factchecking' is just a syndrome, that is mortally damaging the GOP.

Another week has past and the GOP hasn’t changed,…..

Their continued War on Women,…………..

Leaving them out of the picture, is the way they really feel about women.

After a day of meetings closed to the public, the House Republican Steering Committee announced an all-male slate of committee chairs, including 12 returning lawmakers who will head up some of the most important panels in Washington.: House committee chairs all men

But guilt or maybe public opinion changed their simple minds for the time being.

After enduring negative headlines that all of the House Republican committee chairmanships will be filled by men in the next Congress, Republicans have found their woman.

NBC News has learned that Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) will be named chair of the House Administration Committee. Miller did not serve on the committee during the 112th Congress.: After criticism, GOP adds woman to chair House committee

Choice. You no longer have one in Mississippi.

Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the only abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi — has been fighting to remain open after Republican legislators, aiming to force the clinic to close, passed a restrictive regulation requiring its doctors to secure hospital admitting privileges.: Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic Could Be Forced To Close In January

The New GOP Outreach Program,……………..

They must be so proud he’s sticking to the program.

Echoing Mitt Romney’s now-infamous complaint that Obama won by handing out “gifts” to women and minorities, King told radio host Janet Mefferd yesterday that Republicans should not fixate on winning back the Hispanic vote because Democrats can always counter offer with “a great big check.”: Steve King: Democrats Will Win Over Hispanics By Giving Them 'A Great Big Check'

The Rethugs helping hand.

The suit, filed in a federal district court in Arizona, accuses Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and officials at the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) of singling out Latino immigrants who received two-year visas as part of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which he signed into effect over the summer.

But under an executive order signed by Brewer in August, said Karen Tumlin, managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of the National Immigration Law Center, DACA participants are specifically barred from being eligible for drivers licenses, even though the program provides Social Security numbers and work permits, which are normally accepted by ADOT, even for non-residents.: ACLU sues to force Arizona to offer licenses to deferred-deportation immigrants

Other GOP news,……………….

Norquist is still a putz.

Every day, more Republicans in Congress are backing away from Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquit’s anti-tax pledge. For more than 20 years, the pledge, which stipulates that those who sign will never — under any circumstance — vote to raise taxes while in Congress, has virtually been a requirement for Congressional Republicans. According to ATR, just 16 of the 234 House Republicans and 6 of the 45 Senate Republicans that comprise the 113th Congress did not sign the pledge.: Forty-Four Congressional Republicans (And Counting) Have Distanced Themselves From Norquist's Pledge


Crazier than the week before.

Appearing on Frank Gaffney’s anti-Muslim radio show, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) launched into a lengthy tirade criticizing the Obama administration’s decision to provide air support in the international campaign against Qaddafi last year. Rather than acknowledging that Obama launched the mission to stave off a looming massacre in Misrata, the Texas Republican saw a hidden, pernicious reason for the intervention. “This administration sent planes and bombs and support to oust Qaddafi so that al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood could take over Libya,” said Gohmert.: GOP Rep. Floats New Conspiracy Theory: Obama Ousted Qaddafi

Arizona helping their citizens.

Arizona is just the latest in a long line of states to officially decide to leave the management of their exchanges up to the federal government. Frankly, I consider this a positive development. Would anyone really want to use an exchange created and run by Brewer, an unwavering opponent to the Affordable Care Act? At least the federal exchange will be run by people who have a vested interest in trying to make them work.: Arizona Won’t Build Its Own Health Care Exchange

What is with these people?

Perhaps you don’t remember Mel Reynolds? Allow us to fill you in. During the 1990s, when everyone wore awful pants and angst rose rapidly alongside the economy, Reynolds defeated Rep. Gus Savage for Chicago’s 2nd Congressional seat, the same spot he hopes to fill in Jackson Jr’s wake. He had lost two previous elections against Savage, but by 1992 allegations had arisen that Savage had done that thing politicians can’t help but do — he engaged in sexual misconduct, forcing himself on a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. Two years after this election, Reynolds was himself accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16 year old campaign intern.: Chicago’s Favorite Underage-Sexytime Congressman Wants Jesse Jackson Jr.’s Job Please

Florida’s vote suppression.

Film star Christian Slater live-tweeted his nightmarish voting process in Florida on Election Day. Even as a celebrity, Slater had to endure the same hours-long lines as other Florida voters. Once he finally made it to the front of the line, Slater was told his DMV registration was out of date and he had to cast a provisional ballot. Today he received a letter informing him that, after all that trouble, his vote was discarded.: Florida Rejects Christian Slater's Ballot

Leave it alone!

Conservationists and wilderness enthusiasts across America are mobilizing to defeat a bill passed by the House of Representatives in April that would eviscerate the 1964 Wilderness Act.

Deceptively entitled the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, the bill (H.R. 4089) purports to protect hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. The bill is being pushed by powerful groups like the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International and supported by some of the most anti-wilderness Republicans in Congress.: GOP-backed bill is most serious attack on America’s Wilderness Act in history

Thank goodness they didn’t win.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) reiterated his call for restructuring entitlement programs like Medicare, highlighting the “very painful cuts” he has proposed as part of a package to avert the fiscal cliff. Corker 242-page plan calls for a Paul Ryan-like proposal to transform the guaranteed Medicare benefit into a voucher plan for beneficiaries.: Republican Senator Demands 'Very Painful Cuts To Medicare'


Related to the article above: After Promising To Preserve Medicare For Current Retirees, GOP Demands Immediate Cuts In Fiscal Cliff Talks

They don’t care.

“The Republicans are in real risk now of looking like they’re defending keeping the current tax rates for the wealthy — the Bush tax rates for the wealthy — and right now the official Republican position is let the payroll tax rate go back up by 2 points. That is a 2 percentage point increase on every American, but it’s a — Republicans care about marginal rates — it’s a marginal increase on everyone making less than $100,000 a year.”

“At the end of the day, President Obama is selling a very simple message, ‘I want to keep taxes low for middle-class Americans,’ and Republicans look like — I’m worried are in the position of looking as if they don’t care about the middle class and just want to keep tax rates low for wealthy Americans.”: Bill Kristol: Republicans look like they ‘don’t care about the middle class’

Rick (not every child needs a college degree) Santorum has found his calling.

Rick Santorum has joined WorldNetDaily, a conspiracy theory blog best known for its indefatigable work advancing the birther movement, as an exclusive columnist.: Santorum To Write Column For Right-Wing Conspiracy Website

Can we give them (in exchange for their property) ½ of Alaska (East side, without any mineral rights) and be done with them?

Twenty five percent of registered Republicans want their state to secede from the United States, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling.: One Quarter Of Republicans Want To Secede

Birther Lawyer Orly Taitz Does Not Seem To Be Very Good At ‘Law’

Mr. Kerry is quick.

At a press conference urging the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) jokingly referred to his colleague Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as “Mr. Secretary.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary,” McCain said following Kerry’s remarks on the treaty.

But Kerry was armed with a comeback. After McCain gave his speech, Kerry took to the podium and said, “Thank you, Mr. President.”: McCain calls Kerry ‘Mr. Secretary,’ Kerry responds ‘Thank you, Mr. President’

An interesting and quite wide-reaching opinion piece which will no doubt add weight to what many already think: that Republicans / Right-wingers are a pack of psychopaths:

Schizophrenics, Psychopaths Holding America Hostage
Wednesday, 05 December 2012 00:00
By Dr Brian Moench, Truthout | Op-Ed


"The greatest threat to the United States will never be al Qaeda, Russia, China or Iran. It will be our failure to wrest control of public policy from the inmates of our own insane asylum," says Brian Moench.

My father, a psychiatrist whose practice focused on the severely mentally ill, used to say, "Well, schizophrenia is better than no phrenia," and, "In poker, a paranoid always beats one of a noid." He also pioneered the subspecialty of forensic psychiatry, before it had a name, in that he was often asked as an expert witness to evaluate psychopaths and the competency of criminals to stand trial. Not all criminals are psychopaths, and certainly not all psychopaths have violated the law. Serious mental illnesses are family tragedies not to be trivialized. But in ruminating about a post-election America, I've been struck by how large portions of the country are mired in schizophrenic distortions of reality and how prominent business leaders and politicians overtly display personality traits common to psychopaths. Vestiges of widespread mental illness abound.

Although hurricane Sandy has likely been the trigger for a sharp rise in the percentage of the population who believes the climate crisis is serious and must be addressed in public policy, still, about 30 percent of American adults don't believe it, and there is no indication that the leaders of the Republican Party have joined the "Reality" Party. Let's briefly outline how disconnected this position is.

Eighty international scientific societies have endorsed the concept of a primarily human-caused climate crisis that is already starting to threaten the health and well-being of millions, and soon to be billions, of people in the next few decades. The total number of scientific organizations that dispute this is zero. If you were watching a basketball game where the score was 80 to 0, with one minute left in the fourth quarter, and you decided to bet your entire nest egg on that losing team, no one would argue that you were not severely delusional.

Almost weekly, more studies are published strongly suggesting that the chaos and destruction built into the greenhouse gas phenomenon has been underestimated and that climate-related extreme outcomes are happening even faster than worse case predictions of even a few years ago. Our own Pentagon, the insurance industry, the World Bank, the United Nations, the American Meteorological Society and virtually every other country in the world accepts the science. The American Republican Party and the Fox News/right wing entertainment complex are the only organizations in the world that deny the validity and reality of the science. And because the Republicans control the US House of Representatives, there is no hope any legislation will be passed to address the climate crisis. Inability to discern reality is the hallmark of schizophrenia.

One of my professional friends - smart, well-educated, and seemingly otherwise sane - has been relentlessly trying to sell everyone I work with on the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama's real father was an African-American communist activist, Frank Marshall Davis, and that Obama's secret agenda is mind control and the collapse of the American way of life through diabolical UN-mandated sustainable land use planning - a pillar of Glenn Beck's circus tent of amazing conspiracy theories. People who believe others are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them are usually medicated to make them safe to live among us. But institutions that promote the same paranoid delusions are rewarded with handsome profitability.

For the first time since the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of American citizens have petitioned the federal government to allow their states to secede from the union. This is more than just a new expression of undying racism. It is also a sharp detachment from reality. The efficacy of tax cuts for the rich as an economic stimulus, has no empirical substantiation - in other words no basis in reality, just like global warming denial.

Much has been written about the Karl Rove/Republican/right wing/Fox News bubble and their group delusion in truly believing that their polling heralding a Romney victory was superior to everyone else's reality. Rove is also widely thought to be the source of the famous quote from a George W. Bush insider, offered to Ron Suskind for an article in the New York Times Magazine in 2004, "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." That's how schizophrenics talk and think.

Psychopaths often appear normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack conscience and empathy, making them manipulative, volatile and often (but by no means always) criminal. The psychologist Kevin Dutton in his book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths, notes society, and especially Wall Street, admires and rewards many of the qualities of psychopaths - fearlessness, emotional sterility, supreme confidence, ruthlessness, lack of remorse, refusal to take responsibility, narcissism and delusions of grandeur. Who could argue that those characteristics virtually defined the Wall Street crowd responsible for blowing up the world's economy in 2008? In fact, a recent study showed psychopaths were four times more common among business leaders than among the general population. [1]

A 2005 British study compared the psychological profiles of 39 senior business executives at leading British companies with those of mental patients in the UK's Broadmoor Special Hospital. The business leaders scored a clear "victory" in the three traits normally used to identify the emotional dysfunction of psychopaths: histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and compulsive personality disorder.

Other studies suggest that financial elites, like psychopaths, are more likely to feel like rules and societal constraints don't apply to them. Mitt Romney's entire business and political career, especially his approach to paying taxes, is the freshest, most conspicuous example of this personality trait.

Dr. Dale Archer, a psychiatrist and frequent guest on "FoxNews.com Live" of all places writes, "Physically, studies have shown that the brain chemistry is different in powerful politicians, leading to sensation seeking and risky behavior. They have lower levels of the brain chemical monoamine oxidase-A, which means they have higher highs when they engage in risky behavior and that they get bored much more easily than the norm."

Enter the 71 corporate CEOs behind the current Campaign To Fix The Debt. These are CEOs making the media rounds and spending $30 million dollars pounding the table on achieving federal deficit reduction exclusively by dismantling the social safety nets - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - while they sit on their own massive retirement funds averaging $9.1 million. These are the same CEOs who have contributed mightily to and benefited personally from the deficit they now want closed. Their companies have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills - companies like Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, AT &T and Boeing. And no, they are not offering to reduce their feeding at the public trough, instead they want us to turn away the poor, disabled and the vulnerable, calling government support for them "low priority spending." Meanwhile, CEOs of the major fossil fuel companies have enough scientific expertise to know that their business model of extracting all the carbon they can get their hands on threatens the very survival of all of mankind, yet they are undaunted in doing exactly that. Who cares about the collapse of civilization when there are quarterly profits to be made? How are these captains of the fossil fuel industry not psychopaths?

Psychopaths are notoriously refractory to treatment or behavioral modification, another trait they share with business and political elites. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me...They think, deep down, that they are better than we are.” Our nation's responses to the climate crisis, the federal deficit, our economic stagnation and many of our other serious challenges are still being held hostage by people who manifest a detachment from reality as profound as that of schizophrenics. We are still allowing a powerful elite, who behave like psychopaths, to steer our government towards protecting their interests at the expense of everyone else. The greatest threat to the United States will never be Al Qaeda, Russia, China or Iran. It will be our failure to wrest control of public policy from the inmates of our own insane asylum.


1. Babiak P, Neumann CS, Hare RD. Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. Behav Sci Law. 2010 Mar-Apr;28(2):174-93.

Schizophrenics, Psychopaths Holding America Hostage

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

Originally Posted by TLansford

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

It is and some Dems are trying to correct the problem.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner (D) and Gwen Margolis (D) have pre-filed two bills, SB 80 and SB 82, that would re-institute 14 days of early voting in Florida, beginning on the 15th day before an election and continuing through the Sunday prior to Election Day.
The News Service of Florida has more:

More voting hours also could be available under the bills. Current law requires at least six hours of voting per day, while the bills would require 12 hours per weekday and 12 hours total on the weekend.

In another change proposed by Joyner and Margolis, local supervisors of elections could expand the types of places where early voting is allowed. Currently, supervisors must offer early voting in the supervisor’s offices, and can allow voting in libraries and city halls. The bills would allow supervisors, if they want, to also offer early voting in other government facilities such as a courthouse, as well as colleges, churches, or community centers. The bills would also prevent counties from reducing the number of early voting sites from what they used in 2008.: Defying Rick Scott, Florida Legislators Introduce Bill To Restore Early Voting Days

But I don’t think it has any chance with Rick (I am a dick) Scott in office. If the rethugs keep it up, they will again find out what it means to most of us and trying to take our (voting) rights away from us and we’ll show up in droves again at the voting booth.

Though Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, both incoming Senate President Don Gaetz (R) and incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) have “promised that lawmakers will try to figure out what went wrong on Election Day that led to the long lines, and do something about it.”

Republican promise

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Originally Posted by TLansford

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

It is and some Dems are trying to correct the problem.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner (D) and Gwen Margolis (D) have pre-filed two bills, SB 80 and SB 82, that would re-institute 14 days of early voting in Florida, beginning on the 15th day before an election and continuing through the Sunday prior to Election Day.
The News Service of Florida has more:

More voting hours also could be available under the bills. Current law requires at least six hours of voting per day, while the bills would require 12 hours per weekday and 12 hours total on the weekend.

In another change proposed by Joyner and Margolis, local supervisors of elections could expand the types of places where early voting is allowed. Currently, supervisors must offer early voting in the supervisor’s offices, and can allow voting in libraries and city halls. The bills would allow supervisors, if they want, to also offer early voting in other government facilities such as a courthouse, as well as colleges, churches, or community centers. The bills would also prevent counties from reducing the number of early voting sites from what they used in 2008.: Defying Rick Scott, Florida Legislators Introduce Bill To Restore Early Voting Days

But I don’t think it has any chance with Rick (I am a dick) Scott in office. If the rethugs keep it up, they will again find out what it means to most of us and trying to take our (voting) rights away from us and we’ll show up in droves again at the voting booth.

Though Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, both incoming Senate President Don Gaetz (R) and incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) have “promised that lawmakers will try to figure out what went wrong on Election Day that led to the long lines, and do something about it.”

Republican promise

you would think that since the republicans have a monopoly on patriotism, love of the constitution, and democracy, that they would want everyone to vote.

It's sinking in now. The Republicans are already taking about the next election and their chances of winning. (0%)

Gingrich on Meet the Press yesterday:

“I mean, if their competitor in ’16 ia going to be Hillary Clinton, supported by Bill Clinton, and presumably a still relatively popular President Barack Obama, trying to win that will be truly the Superbowl. And the Republican party today is incapable of competing at that level.”

Gingrich: GOP “is incapable of competing” if Hillary runs in 2016 - Salon.com

Another week and another Rethug update.

Their continued War on Women,…………..

Lesson for you women today, from a right wing bat shit crazy.

Bush White House Press Secretary-turned-Fox News host Dana Perino asserted Wednesday night that women who are victims of violence should “make better decisions” to avoid being hurt. : Bush's White House Press Secretary Tells Female Victims Of Violence: 'Make Better Decisions'

Women’s choices are being attacked in Michigan.

Some politicians in Michigan are at it again – they are pushing a revised version of the sweeping anti-abortion bill that could threaten to close women’s health care centers. We beat back this bill before and now it is urgent these state lawmakers hear from us once more.

It’s unbelievable that extremists would keep trying to pass HB 5711. People in Michigan, tired of politicians interfering with a woman’s ability to make personal health decisions have been sending their message to Michigan legislators loud and clear. But it seems some politicians in Michigan have been working overtime to ignore their voices.: Michigan Capitol LOCKDOWN! In the Last Days of Legislative Session, Michigan Politicians Take Extreme Measures to Attack Women

It’s not a hard decision.

With only three weeks left for Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), one man is standing in its way: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). The House passed a version of VAWA last May by a narrow 222-205 vote, which stripped protections for LGBT, immigrant and Native American women included in an earlier Senate version of the bill. The Senate version passed by a now-rare 68 vote super majority, including every female Senator.

So, what’s the hold up? Protections for Native American women.: Republican Leadership Split On Whether To Protect Native American Women

The New GOP Outreach Program,……………..

Ann Coulter should STFU.

In an open letter posted to their website over the weekend, the Cafe Con Leche Republicans criticized Coulter for her column "America Nears El Tipping Pointo," which she published on Wednesday. In the column, Coulter mocks the current move by the GOP to appeal to Latinos, saying that Hispanic immigrants are not conservative. She claims that Hispanic immigrants are less likely to be married or go to church regularly, and are more likely to support gay marriage.

Coulter then mocked the idea that Latino immigrants are moral people. "(Michael) Barone has been assuring us for years that most of these Third World immigrants pouring into the country would go the way of Italian immigrants and become Republicans. They're hardworking! They have family values! Maybe at first, but not after coming here, having illegitimate children and going on welfare.": Latino Republicans demand apology from Ann Coulter - National Republican


Other GOP news,……………….

Rethugs are angry they didn’t win and are attempting to rig the vote for the next election.

Last year, Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R) was one of the leading proponents of a plan to rig the Electoral College for Mitt Romney by allocating the state’s electoral votes by congressional district rather than awarding them to the overall winner of the state. Had Pileggi’s election-rigging proposal been in effect last month, Romney would have likely received 13 of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, despite losing the state by more than 5 percentage points. The election rigging plan eventually died, however, due to concerns from House Republicans that it might cause the Obama campaign to shift resources to their districts and cost them their seats.

Pileggi is not giving up, however, and he’s now backing a slightly modified scheme to rig the 2016 election for Republicans: Top Pennsylvania GOP Lawmaker Proposes New Election Rigging Scheme

Virginia wants in on the vote rigging also.

Virginia State Senator Charles “Bill” Carrico Sr. (R) has become the latest swing state-Republican to propose a scheme to rig presidential elections for future Republican candidates. Blue Virginia reports his proposed SB 723 would award the state’s electors based on which candidate gets the majority of votes in each gerrymandered Congressional district — rather than based on who gets the most votes statewide.: Virginia State Senator Proposes Election Rigging Scheme To Help Elect A Republican President

Texas will be blue.

It is a growing scandal that could forever change Texas politics. As national political players look toward turning red Texas blue, something that would put the electoral college out of Republicans’ reach for years, many see the scandal as the beginning of the end of GOP dominance in Texas.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his cronies in and out of public office have diverted funds intended for cutting-edge cancer research into the campaign pockets of Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. You read that right. Proceeds from millions in taxpayer-backed bonds awarded by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) have fallen victim to corruption and cronyism. Cronies get the state money; the cronies give some of the money back to Perry and others.: Of Cancer and Crony Capitalism in Texas

It’s not their out of touch candidates fault.

49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. We found that 52% of Republicans thought that ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama, so this is a modest decline, but perhaps smaller than might have been expected given that ACORN doesn't exist anymore.: Republicans not handling election results well

Jim (taking the think out of think tank) DeMitt is leaving and thank goodness.

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R-R’lyeh) announced that he will resign his U.S. Senate seat in January to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Sen. DeMint, just two years into his second term, will be trading “public service” (i.e., shaping policy to funnel government resources to contributors) for a “position in the private sector” (i.e., lobbying to get policy shaped to funnel government resources to contributors). : Jim DeMint Has Had Enough Of Your Stupid Senate

More are leaving.

Crist — Florida’s former Republican governor who relished the tough-on-crime nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” and used to describe himself variously as a “Ronald Reagan Republican” and a “Jeb Bush Republican” — on Friday evening signed papers changing his party from independent to Democrat.: Charlie Crist signs papers to become a Democrat

Charlie Crist and his wife , Carole, are shown at a White House Christmas reception on December 7

They don’t care about the working man.

After insisting all last year that an anti-labor “right-to-work” law was not on his agenda, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has changed his mind. This morning, he called on the state legislature to introduce and pass so-called “right-to-work” legislation and promised to sign it should it reach his desk.: Michigan Gov. Calls For Passage Of Anti-Union 'Right-To-Work' Law He Claimed Wasn't On His Agenda

Oh no, what will they say?

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) certified the state’s election results Wednesday afternoon, and this morning at 12:01, same-sex couples began legally obtaining marriage licenses. Washington does have a three-day waiting period, however, so the first weddings cannot take place until Sunday. Many couples were on-hand at the King County (Seattle) and Thurston County (Olympia) auditors’ offices at the stroke of midnight to be among the first to get their licenses. : Same-Sex Couples In Washington State Begin Obtaining Marriage Licenses

And the answer to the question above:

Republican political strategist Mary Matalin must have finally gotten the message that a growing number of Americans support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. On ABC’s This Week, as the show discussed the Supreme Court’s decision to weigh in on the matter, Matalin softened her opposition and said that the pattern of children born out of wedlock was “more problematic” for society than two men or two women getting married.

Snip

Washington Post columnist George Will, who appeared alongside Matalin, also dismissed the potency of the issue for Republicans. “There is something like an emerging consensus,” he said. “Quite literally, the opposition to gay marriage is dying. It’s old people.”: Conservative Pundit: Accepting Same-Sex Marriage Is Common Sense

Chris Christie does not want to help some of the people of New Jersey.

Christie’s decision comes in ahead of the Health and Human Services already postponed deadline of Dec. 14. It also comes on the same day Christie is meeting with President Obama about aid for Hurricane Sandy recovery. Would that be the opposite of a hug? The governor today vetoed state-exchange legislation from his state assembly— a revised version of bill he vetoed in May— and says it comes down to insufficient information from the federal government on what building an exchange will entail.: Christie: Nope, we won’t be building a state exchange in New Jersey

I don’t think he was a science major.

Rubio then seemed to suggest that even though we know the earth is 4.5 billion years old, people should have the right to teach their kids that the earth is only 6,000 years old, and apparently that right extends to stopping schools from teaching kids the truth about science.: Rubio: Earth is 4.5bn years old, but schools have right to teach 6k

Retiring Republicans, you might be shit out of luck.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is encouraging Democrats to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits because the programs are “things we don’t absolutely need.”: Coburn: Medicare and Social Security ‘are things we don’t absolutely need’

Everyone still loves me.

In an exit befitting his outspoken, controversial two years in Congress, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) said that he only lost his re-election because his opponent cheated.: Sore Loser Allen West: My Opponent Only Won Because He Cheated

Originally Posted by misskit

It's sinking in now. The Republicans are already taking about the next election and their chances of winning. (0%)

Gingrich on Meet the Press yesterday:

“I mean, if their competitor in ’16 ia going to be Hillary Clinton, supported by Bill Clinton, and presumably a still relatively popular President Barack Obama, trying to win that will be truly the Superbowl. And the Republican party today is incapable of competing at that level.”

Gingrich: GOP “is incapable of competing” if Hillary runs in 2016 - Salon.com

as long as Citizens United stands, the Republicans have a chance no matter how bad the outlook is.

Citizens United : really an abuse of democracy and equality

Another Republican clown car update.

GOP’s continued war on women,……

A gift from “we the people”,………Your sorry ass lost and not because of the media.

“After a bitter, hard-fought campaign, many Republicans all over the country were forced to accept defeat rather than celebrate victory. In our case, we found our campaign caught in the liberal media crosshairs. Never has Indiana seen a more obvious example of media bias by reporters more interested in defeating conservatives than reporting the news,” Mourdock Finance Director Ashlee Walls writes in a fundraising plea to supporters.

“We fought back and invested heavily in a last-minute push to combat the slew of false accusations Democrats and the liberal media churned up to distract voters.”

Mourdock’s rape comments were made at a debate — he was in no way trapped by the media when he chose to call a baby born of rape a “gift from God.” : Senate Candidate Who Made Controversial Rape Comments Blames Liberal Media For Loss

Rick (so fuckin’ stupid) Perry’s goal.

To be clear, my goal, and the goal of many of those joining me here today, is to make abortion, at any stage, a thing of the past. While Roe v. Wade prevents us from taking that step, it does allow states to do some things to protect life if they can show there is a compelling state interest. I don’t think there is any issue that better fits the definition of ‘compelling state interest’ than preventing the suffering of our state’s unborn. [...]

Again, the ideal world is a world without abortion. Until then, however, we will continue to pass laws to ensure abortions are as rare as possible under existing law.: Rick Perry: Outlawing All Access To Abortion Is 'My Goal'

GOP’s new outreach program,……..

Keep it up and we’ll continue to come out in droves, again and again and again

Republican campaign consultant Scott Tranter appeared on a panel Monday hosted by the Pew Center on the States to discuss the long lines and voter ID controversies that plagued the 2012 election. In his comments, Tranter seemed to imply that he believed these issues were helpful to Republicans and should be pursued for that reason. : Scott Tranter, Republican Consultant: Voter ID And Long Lines Help Our Side

The Republican Party is a dying party of bitter old white men.

Resurgent Republic surveyed Latino voters in four states — New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida — and concluded that the GOP brand was on life support. Respondents said Republicans did not respect their community’s values and concerns by a 51-44 margin in Florida, 54-40 in New Mexico, 59-35 in Nevada, and 63-30 in Colorado. By contrast Democrats were seen as respectful by a dominant 67-28 spread in Florida, 72- 23 percent in both New Mexico and Nevada, and 76-20 in Colorado. : GOP Pollster: Republicans Have ‘Run Out Of’ White Voters

The things college kids will do.

State Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-FL) and GOP chair of Alachua County, Stafford Jones, cooked up one of Florida’s many new laws specifically to keep college students from voting in the 2012 election. The vote-suppressing measures were inspired by the 2010 victory of Gainesville’s first openly gay mayor, Craig Lowe, which Republicans claim was stolen by Florida college students.

Baxley’s law prevented people from voting if they did not change their address a month before Election Day. Many of the people affected were college students or young people who were moving for a new job. Jones explained this vote suppression was intentional and accused liberals of bringing in students to swing the election:

“The liberals do a good job of bringing in college kids to vote on local issues,” Jones said. “The kids vote on raising our taxes, but don’t have to live here to pay the consequences.”

Jones said he has no proof to support his claim, only recollections of liberal blog posts that people were moving to vote. : Florida Sought To Disenfranchise College Students In 2012 Election, Lawmaker Admits

Other GOP news,……….

You don’t fuck the help.

The Minnesota Senate faces an ever-growing legal bill thanks to a scandal involving a former Republican leader and her senior aide.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the legal costs associated with a lawsuit filed by senior staffer Michael Brodkorb had nearly doubled to approximately $200,000.

Minnesota Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch resigned from her leadership position in December 2011 after facing accusations that she had an “inappropriate relationship” with Brodkorb. One day later, Brodkorb was fired from his position. : Minnesota Senate faces mushrooming legal costs due to GOP sex scandal

Looking out for their own.

A Republican state representative in Michigan proposed an amendment to exempt her husband’s job from the so-called “right to work” law which limits the ability of unions to collect dues.

State Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R) on Monday offered an amendment that would have added corrections officers like her husband, Brad, to the list of types of jobs not covered by the anti-union law. Police and firefighters had already been exempted from the legislation.

“When we talk about the brave women in police and fire we need to remember people in corrections,” Lyon explained earlier this week, according to MLive.com. “These guys work in conditions that we can’t even begin to imagine.” : Republican lawmaker’s proposal exempted husband from Michigan ‘right to work’ law

Paranoid?

A recent fundraising email from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign suggested that President Barack Obama ordered the firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) to “manufacture” a survey that said the Kentucky Republican was the “most unpopular Senator in the country.”

A poll released by the left-leaning firm on Tuesday indicated that only 37 percent of Kentucky voters approved of McConnell. : McConnell suggests Obama ‘manufactured’ poll to make him ‘most unpopular’ senator

Good thinkin’, dip shits.

On Thursday, one day before the tragedy in Connecticut where at least 29 people were killed at an elementary school, the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature passed a bill that would allow people to bring guns into schools. : Day Before Connecticut Shooting Massacre, Michigan Legislature Passed Bill Allowing Guns In Classrooms

But just news today.

Gov. Rick Snyder plans to veto legislation allowing concealed weapons in public schools, according to bill sponsor Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville. : BREAKING: Michigan Gov. Snyder To Veto Bill Allowing Guns In Schools

But wait, just today another republican Governor/asshole did step up to the plate.

McDONNELL (R): I know there has been a knee-jerk reaction against that, I think there should at least be a discussion of that. If people were armed, not just a police officer, but other school officials who were trained and chose to have a weapon, certainly there would be an opportunity to stop aggressors trying to come into the school, so I think that’s a reasonable discussion that ought to be had. : Virginia Governor McDonnell Wants More Guns In Schools

Another dip shit.

RALSTON: What measures would you take as an elected official to prevent this from ever happening again?

FIORE (R): My campus carry bill goes in the higher education, it doesn’t go K-12, so looking at this tragedy that happened with K-12, we might have to have an armed employee at the schools, that’s a measure, that’s a measure. : Nevada Lawmaker Proposes Arming School Officials To Prevent Mass Shootings

Dip shits fill this Republican party.

Appearing on a special Fox News Sunday dedicated to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said that an armed teacher or principal could have taken the killer’s “head off before he can kill those precious kids”:

GOHMERT: Having been a judge and reviewed photographs of these horrific scenes and knowing that children have these defensive wounds, gun shots through their arms and hands as they try to protect themselves, and, hearing the heroic stories of the principal, lunging, trying to protect, Chris, I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids. [...] : GOP Rep Suggests Teachers Should Be Armed With Assault Rifles

They leave, but their stain remains.

Yes, New Jersey's pension problems have their roots in 1997, when Gov. Christine Todd Whitman first began to play games with state pension money to fund (you guessed it) tax cuts. She floated a pension bond that haunts New Jersey to this day, and all NJ can afford to pay is its interest. : With Gov. Chris Christie, It's Corrupt Business As Usual | Crooks and Liars

One Bat shit crazy [Nikki Haley (R)] fills position left by another bat shit crazy [Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)] with another bat shit crazy, Tim Scott (r).

Meet Sen. Tim Scott: The Tea Party Lawmaker Who Wanted To Impeach President Obama And Kick Kids Off Food Stamps

Here’s a quick look at Scott’s record:

Floated impeaching Obama over the debt ceiling.
Proposed a bill to cut off food stamps for entire families if one member went on strike.
Wanted to spend an unlimited amount of money to display Ten Commandments outside county building.
Defended fairness of giving billions in subsidies to Big Oil.
Helped slash South Carolina’s HIV/AIDS budget.

Slow holiday week for the Republican obstructionists, but they still managed to wreak some havoc on the American public.

The GOP’s continued War on Women,…..

They’ll tell you they love you.

A GOP lawmaker is looking to make Texas the latest state to restrict the use of abortion medications in a way that some experts warn could increase the drugs’ side effects while making them more expensive.

Anti-abortion activists and legislators can’t enact an outright ban on abortion-inducing drugs like mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486). Instead, they have sought to force doctors to strictly adhere to U.S Food and Drug Administration guidelines that appear to be significantly out of step with the current scientific understanding of how the medications should be used. : GOP Texas lawmaker’s efforts to ban abortion medication could increase risk of side effects

The GOP’s New outreach program,……….

GOP trying to win their vote.

Unnamed sources told the Washington Blade that House Republicans were seeking to including a so-called “conscience protection” clause in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013. Unnamed sources also told Mother Jones that Republicans were “pushing pretty hard” for the controversial provision, which was proposed by Missouri Rep. Todd Akin (R) and included in the House version of the bill.

The provision would require the U.S. military to “accommodate the conscience and sincerely held moral principles and religious beliefs of the members of the Armed Forces concerning the appropriate and inappropriate expression of human sexuality.” The provision would protect military chaplains and other service members who do not wish to work with LGBT individuals.: House Republicans push for anti-gay provision in defense spending bill

It’s not going to work Newt, not with this bunch of Rethugs.

11. The challenge of Latino, Asian American, Native American and African American supportI must be met or the GOP will become a permanent minority party. We must think through inclusion and not outreach. Out reach occurs when five white guys have a meeting and call minority activists. Inclusion is when the activists are in the meeting. As a start, the RNC should bring together minority elected Republicans and those white Republicans who do best in minority communities. New strategies and systems have to be built starting with listening to the people we want to recruit and attract. This challenge is so big, so hard, and so central to our success that it should be one of the top three items at every meeting and have one of the larger budgets at the RNC. Anything less will simply fail as it has for the last 50 years. The same model of inclusion has to be applied to expanding Republican strength among women and especially among younger single women. We should establish specific goals for increases in support within each group for 2014 and 2016. : Newt Gingrich: The challenge confronting the Republican Party - Conservative News

The GOP is not what “we the people” want.

And a CNN/ORC International poll also indicates that a slight majority of Americans sees the Republican party's policies and views as too extreme, a first for the GOP, and fewer than a third say they trust congressional Republicans more than President Barack Obama to deal with the major issues facing the nation. : CNN Poll: Are GOP policies too extreme?

Other GOP news,………..

The GOP has some great ideas, for wasting everyone’s time.

A Republican lawmaker in South Carolina has introduced legislation that would send state and federal officials to jail for implementing the Affordable Care Act.: New South Carolina bill pushes jail sentences for state workers implementing ‘Obamacare’

About the hypocrite Senator-Designate Tim Scott (r-SC)

Like most of the Tea Party Republican House Class of 2010, Senator-Designate Tim Scott (R-SC) ran for Congress vowing to eliminate “earmarks” — the system Congressional lawmakers once used to direct federal spending to their districts. But a ThinkProgress examination of public records reveals that in his two years in Congress, he instead used an even less transparent method known as “lettermarking” to attempt to secure funding for his district. : Documents Show 'Anti-Earmark' Senator Tim Scott Sought Federal Funds

Dip shits thinking.

They attack teachers and their unions and their collective bargaining rights, and then turn around and expect them to do double duty as law enforcement. Here's what's becoming an all too common idea from the wingnuts out there who think more guns is the solution to everything: Oklahoma Republican’s bill would arm teachers and train them like law enforcement: Oklahoma GOP Rep Wants to Arm and Train Teachers Like Law Enforcement

Dip shits working for you.

Georgia Republican state legislator Rep. Charles Gregory (R-Kennesaw), has introduced four new bills for the 2012 legislative year, all of which loosen current restrictions on guns. The measures, according to the blog Georgia Progress, which come less than a week after the national tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, would put more guns into circulation and lower barriers currently blocking firearms sales. : Activist: Georgia

Soon to be out the door without a government job.

We now find Snyder (R, Michigan Governor) as one of the most unpopular Governors in the country. Only 38% of voters approve of him to 56% who disapprove. There are only 2 other sitting Governors we've polled on who have a worse net approval rating than Snyder's -18. He's dropped a net 28 points from our last poll on him, the weekend before the election, when he was at a +10 spread (47/37).: Snyder's popularity plummets - Public Policy Polling

Tea Partiers want you ready.

From the patriotic Americans who brought you the hit family event MACHINE GUN SOCIAL comes THE GREAT GUN GIVEAWAY. For just a $20 or $10 donation respectively, you can be entered to win the DPMS Panther Oracle AR-15 or the Keltee PMR-30 .22 Magnum pistol. Want the details? Sure you do!

The DPMS Panther Oracle AR-15 provides its owner with SO MUCH PROTECTION because you can fire a lot of rounds very quickly – and look! It comes with two 30-round magazines, so you’ll be ready for some serious protecting the instant your prize changes hands.: PSA: Get Your Own Patriotic Protection Apparatus, Courtesy of the Asheville Tea Party

Nothing better to do with their time.

A Texas state representative pre-filed legislation that would allow public school officials to use “traditional winter greetings” such as “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah” on school grounds.

The “Merry Christmas Bill” would grant “the right to celebrate on school property with displays associated with those holidays, including Menorahs, Christmas trees and Nativity scenes.” : Texas Lawmaker Files Bill To Help Schools Win The 'War On Christmas'

Republicans/FOX news watchers are not big thinkers.

Randolph Linn, 52, accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to all charges in connection to setting a fire in the prayer room at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on Sept. 30. Under the deal, Linn is expected to serve 20 years in prison instead of 40.

Linn explained to the court that he had gotten “riled up” after watching Fox News.

“And I was more sad when Judge [Jack] Zouhary asked him that, ‘Do you know any Muslims or do you know what Islam is?’” one mosque member who attended the hearing recalled to WNWO. “And he said, ‘No, I only know what I hear on Fox News and what I hear on radio.’” : Mosque arsonist tells court: ‘I only know what I hear on Fox News’

Another GOP hypocrite.

A conservative U.S. senator from Idaho who has said he doesn't drink because of his Mormon faith has been charged with drunken driving.

Sen. Michael Crapo, a three-term Republican with a reputation as a social and fiscal conservative, registered a blood alcohol content of .11 percent after police pulled his car over in this suburb south of Washington, D.C., authorities said.: ALEXANDRIA, Va.: DUI charge: Jan. 4 court date for Idaho Sen. Crapo - Nation - MiamiHerald.com

Must be nice.

Gov. Tom Corbett (R) and his wife accepted a Rhode Island vacation last year from a businessman even as regulators from the state Department of Environmental Conservation were looking into his firm's operation of a natural-gas waste transfer station without a permit.

The StateImpact Pennsylvania project is reporting that the governor just last month amended his original 2011 ethics filing to add that John Moran Jr. of Moran Industries had paid $1,422 to fly Corbett and his wife to a hotel in Rhode Island and put them up in a hotel for a long weekend in July of that year.

Moran -- also identified as a major Corbett donor who has given at least $75,000 to his campaigns and was named by the governor to his privatization panel -- is a trucking executive who launched an oil-and-gas subsidiary. He told a reporter at last year's opening of his "natural gas park" in Williamsport that the rise of the gas industry here is "a gift from God." : Natural-gas exec paid for Corbett 2011 vacation

I have always said character matters and Romney doesn’t have what it takes to be president (never will).

More than being reticent, Romney was at first far from sold on a second presidential run. Haunted by his 2008 loss, he initially told his family he would not do it. While candidates often try to portray themselves as reluctant, Tagg insisted his father’s stance was genuine.

“He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life. He had no desire to . . . run,” said Tagg, who worked with his mother, Ann, to persuade his father to seek the presidency. : This should go over well with donors: Mitt Romney ‘had no desire’ to be President

Romney took the GOP for a ride, he didn’t want to be on.

I was going to update this thread with the intentions of adding only one story, since it’s the holidays and I thought the Retugs couldn’t/wouldn’t do too much damage to the American public this past week. I was wrong! These people can fuck up a wet dream, even during the holidays. They wake up every damn day with so much hate.

I am doing everything I can to limit the amount of filth and hate they push this week. But here are just a few stories,………..

Their War on Women continues. Happy Fuckin’ New Year.

For most of 2012, Texas officials have been working hard to strip funding from the Planned Parenthood clinics in their state. Those officials advanced their anti-choice agenda on Monday, when a visiting judge ruled that Texas may deny funding from Planned Parenthood affiliates in the new year simply because the organization advocates for abortion rights.: Texas Will End Funding For Planned Parenthood Clinics Tomorrow

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed into law new regulations for abortion clinics, reported Reuters, which Planned Parenthood claims threatens access to the procedure in the state.

Clinics that provide more than 120 abortions annually will now have to be licensed freestanding surgical outpatient facilities.: Mich. governor approves new regulations for abortion clinics

The GOP's outreach program,………..

Rasmussen offered some friendly advice about approaching minorities. “You show them that you really care (repeating it time and time again will not make it true as the republicans would want you/minorities to believe, because the majority of republicans have no compassion for others outside their own), you talk to them as grown-ups on a range of issues, you get them involved,” he suggested, “and you accept the fact that it’s a long-term investment. And you accept that you can learn as much from them as you can teach them.”

This was harsh medicine to reluctant patients, and afterward some of them made their discomfort known. “That depressed me!” one woman said. To my right, a man snapped, “That’s bullshit!”: Sail Away With Me

Other GOP news and the only story I had planned to post today, but,……

Chart says it all. Republicans days are numbered.: The GOP’s demographic problem — in 1 chart

It's difficult to see being the "winner" in a manufactured crisis as much of an accomplishment, especially since Obama doesn't seem capable of negotiating well enough to avoid a segue in the next manufactured crisis.

This week, a dark vein update (the republican party will not see a republican president in the white house for eons)

GOP’s continued War on Women

There’s a history of people who have run as a republican vice-presidential candidate and lost. Afterwards they are (pretty much) never heard of again. I think Mr. Ryan is on that path,…..

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), erstwhile vice presidential candidate in the failed presidential run of former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), has signed on as cosponsor in a draconian new bill aimed at curtailing women’s reproductive freedoms. According to Huffington Post, in spite of the defeat of so-called “fetal personhood” laws in 2012, Ryan and his colleagues are forging ahead with a new measure that classifies all embryonic tissue as a human life from the moment of fertilization. : Paul Ryan signs on as cosponsor of new ‘fetal personhood’ bill

I wonder if the females in her family vote for this idiot.

Tuesday on Mike Huckabee’s radio program, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said she hoped to start the year off right by cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

“It is the right fight to have on so many different levels,” she said (MP3). “We know that Planned Parenthood is basically big abortion business.”: Rep. Blackburn: Now is the time to defund Planned Parenthood

Mississippi,………

Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant says that there is one abortion clinic in the state and “of course” his goal is to “shut it down.” : Miss. gov. targets last abortion clinic: ‘My goal of course is to shut it down’

Treading cautiously?,………

State lawmakers across the country are gearing up for their new legislative sessions — and, just two weeks into the new year, Republicans are already planning their next attacks on women’s reproductive rights. Since voters largely rejected extreme anti-abortion ideology in the November elections, some Republican lawmakers are now treading somewhat cautiously to avoid risking more public outrage over their positions on women’s health.

But at least one anti-choice lawmaker in Wyoming isn’t as worried about disguising his radical agenda. Despite the fact that a similar measure was unable to gain traction in Ohio because the state’s Republicans admitted it was too controversial even among abortion opponents, Wyoming Rep. Kendall Kroeker (R) has introduced an extreme “fetal heartbeat” bill to redefine the medical concept of viability for the women in his state: Wyoming Lawmaker Introduces Radical 'Fetal Heartbeat' Bill To Ban Abortions After Six Weeks

These people and their problem with science,……

In an address to the Cobb County, GA Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) told the assembled group that Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO)’s remarks on rape were “partly right” and unfairly maligned by the U.S. media. According to the Marietta Daily Journal, the congressman believes that adrenaline can prevent pregnancies, and that women who are frightened during sex will not ovulate. : Rep. Phil Gingrey: Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock are right about rape

The GOP’s new outreach program

Telling it like it is,…….

POWELL: There’s also a dark — a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party. What do I mean by that? I mean by that that they still sort of look down on minorities. How can I evidence that?

When I see a former governor say that the President is “shuckin’ and jivin’,” that’s racial era slave term. When I see another former governor after the president’s first debate where he didn’t do very well, says that the president was lazy. He didn’t say he was slow. He was tired. He didn’t do well. He said he was lazy. Now, it may not mean anything to most Americans, but to those of us who are African Americans, the second word is shiftless and then there’s a third word that goes along with that (black men). The birther, the whole birther movement. Why do senior Republican leaders tolerate this kind of discussion within the party? : Colin Powell Calls Out The GOP's Racism Problem: There Is 'A Dark Vein Of Intolerance'

Reaching out for that female military vote,…

To have women serving in infantry, though, could impair the mission-essential tasks of those units. And that’s been proven in study after study, it’s nature,upper body strength, and physical movements, and speed, and endurance, and so forth.

Cotton (R-AR) appears to assume that allowing women to serve in the infantry would necessitate a double standard in physical testing for male and female soldiers, but that’s not so. : GOP Congressman: Women In Infantry Roles Could 'Impair' Missions Because Of Their 'Nature'

Trying to rig the next election,……

A little over a year ago, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) proposed rigging the presidential election for Mitt Romney by allocating electoral votes based upon which candidate carried each individual congressional district, rather than upon who wins the state as a whole. Thanks in large part to Republican gerrymandering, if Corbett’s election-rigging plan had been in effect last November in the Republican-controlled states of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, Romney would have won the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote by nearly four points. : RNC Chair: Rig The Next Presidential Election For Republicans

Other GOP news

Who the GOP associates with,…

An Alaska militiaman and former Ron Paul campaign worker was sentenced on Tuesday to 26 years in prison for a plot to kidnap and murder state and federal officials.
Schaeffer Cox, 28, was arrested in March 2011 after authorities learned he planned to dodge a court hearing and go underground, protected by several fellow militia members who’d stockpiled weapons. The group allegedly hatched a plan to kidnap and kill police, judges and other officials they believed were a threat to the republic. : Alaska militiaman and former Ron Paul campaign worker sentenced to 26 years for murder plot

More association,………..

Darlene Wink made a tearful apology to Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday during her sentencing for doing fundraising work for the governor while at her taxpayer-paid county job in 2009.

Wink, 62, was sentenced by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Daniel Konkol to a year's probation, 50 hours of community service and $1,000 in fines. He also prohibited the longtime Republican political activist from taking part in any political activity, other than voting, for a year. : Ex-aide apologizes to governor during sentencing for county crimes

They OK the spending but don’t want to pay the bill,……..

The new head of the Republican Study Committee — a caucus of ultra-conservative House Republicans — said yesterday that he might favor the United States defaulting on its obligations, rather than raise the debt ceiling. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) posited that, as long as the United States continues to pay interest on its debt,all would be well: Head Of House Republican Group Is Okay With U.S. Default

Another republican (that doesn’t want to pay her bills), with a bright idea,…

Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (TN) insisted that shutting down the government should be “on the table” as Congress and the Obama administration deal with passing a continuing resolution, raising the debt ceiling, and addressing the sequestration cuts. : GOP Rep Promotes Shutting Down The Government: It's A 'Good Thing'

Idiot,……

A Republican lawmaker in the state of Georgia is pushing for a bill that would allow students to carry concealed firearms on college campuses, despite the reservations of Georgia law enforcement and school security.

Kicking off the newly-elected state assembly, state Rep. Charles Gregory (R) introduced four piece of legislation that would weaken gun laws in the state. Among them is a provision that would allow any student with a permit to carry a concealed weapon on campus. : Georgia Lawmaker Pushes For Concealed Carry On Campus, Despite Objections From Security And Law Enforcement

Another idiot that just doesn’t get it (thank goodness Florida gave this asshole the finger),……..

Former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said gun control comes down to the finger you pull the trigger with, calling the larger discussion on gun violence part of a "political agenda." : Allen West: Gun Control Is 'Your Index Finger'

Eating their own,…..

A conservative advocacy group has targeted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, running ads in his home state of Kentucky highlighting his key role in negotiating a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Brent Bozell, the president of For America, the group pushing the ads, called them a “statement to make it emphatically clear that what the minority leader did was 100 percent unacceptable. Conservatives are going to hold him responsible for this.” McConnell negotiated with Democrats to create a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, although many Republicans felt betrayed by the ultimate deal, which allowed for tax increases. : Conservative Group Targets McConnell

Ever wonder why this idiot lost (besides being the father of the year),……

After Republicans spent the past three years unsuccessfully opposing health care reform en masse — introducing dozens of failed repeal bills, losing a Supreme Court case, and being defeated in a presidential election — former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) is promoting a last-ditch effort to undermine Obamacare: simply “break the law.” : One Republican's Last Ditch Effort To Undermine Obamacare: 'Break The Law And Engage In Civil Disobedience'


Bat shit crazy Bachmann,……

Over a year after she dropped out, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has refused to pay five staffers from her failed presidential bid, according to a former top campaign official. Peter Waldron, her controversial former national field coordinator, told Salon the dispute started when former Iowa straw poll staffers refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would bar them from discussing any “unethical, immoral, or criminal activity” they witnessed on the campaign with police or reporters. : Bachmann still hasn’t paid presidential campaign staffers

He’s back after taking a couple geography classes to tell you that the Appalachian Mountain chain is not in Argentina,………..

Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina, will run for the House of Representatives, sources close to Sanford confirm. He will try to win election to the seat formerly held by Tim Scott.

Sanford, a Republican who held the House seat himself from 1995 to 2001, will announce his intention to run early next week, ahead of the January 18 filing deadline. The special election to succeed Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Governor Nikki Haley last month, will take place on May 7, with a GOP primary being held on March 19. : Report: Disgraced Former Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) Will Run For Congress

Another bright idea from a republican,….

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), who just began his second stint in the U.S. Congress, is already threatening to impeach President Obama should the administration use executive power to implement gun violence prevention efforts. : Republican Congressman Threatens To Impeach President Obama Gun Safety

Bobby loves the people of Louisiana,……

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) recently rolled out a plan to replace his state’s personal income and corporate taxes with an increased sales tax. Such a move would shift taxes from the rich to the poor, who aredisproportionately hit by the sales tax.

According to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Jindal’s plan will raise taxes on the bottom 80 percent of Louisianians, while cutting them for the richest 1 percent: Louisiana Governor's New Plan Would Raise Taxes On Bottom 80 Percent Of Residents

You can dress it up, put perfume on it, but in the end, it’s still trash,…….

"Jolted by the re-election of President Barack Obama, the defeat of congressional tea party icon Allen West and the cracking of Republican anti-tax orthodoxy during the recent federal budget showdown, the tea party movement is trying to rebrand and repackage itself in South Florida."

"The South Florida Tea Party — the group that helped Marco Rubio launch his Senate bid and that hosted Donald Trump during his last flirtation with a presidential run — is shedding the words “tea party” as it undergoes a name change."

'“We felt for branding reasons that we wanted to differentiate ourselves from certain organizations that have the name ‘tea party’ and we can’t control,” said Everett Wilkinson, leader of the organization that will now be called the National Liberty Federation."

The real reason for the name change couldn't possibly be the results of this poll from last week.

"Views of the Tea Party movement are at their lowest point ever, with voters for the first time evenly divided when asked to match the views of the average Tea Party member against those of the average member of Congress. Only eight percent (8%) now say they are members of the Tea Party, down from a high of 24% in April 2010 just after passage of the national health care law." : Lost, Lonely Little 'Tea Party' Undergoes Name Change

Originally Posted by robuzo

It's difficult to see being the "winner" in a manufactured crisis as much of an accomplishment, especially since Obama doesn't seem capable of negotiating well enough to avoid a segue in the next manufactured crisis.

I don’t know why he does it. He folds when he holds all the cards. You would think in his second term he’ll learn to say “Shove it” and stop trying to appease the handful of loony far right nuts (just to say he worked with them to get something accomplished).

This week, a mean streak update. The GOP wakes up everyday full of hate.

GOP’s continued War on Women

Lawmakers in Montana are set to again consider giving human rights to fetuses, taking up a controversial “fetal homicide” bill in the forthcoming session.

House Bill 104, sponsored by state Rep. Keith Regier (R), adds “unborn child” to statutes covering deliberate homicide, giving fetuses rights that are currently reserved only for living, breathing humans.: Montana reconsiders bill to place fetuses at legal odds with women


The GOP’s new outreach program

Rubio’s Ream Act.

Marco Rubio’s latest DREAM Act version – call it, the Ream Act II — has ballooned in its extremism, following the president’s huge win among Latinos. The plan is split into phases, including one featuring mass deportations and a literal round-up of remaining immigrants to be fingerprinted, fined, and forced to pay back-taxes.

To say the least, fiscal-conservative Marco Rubio makes no mention of how the deportations of perhaps thousands or hundreds of thousands of immigrants will be paid for. Conservatives are so worried that “socialized medicine” will result in three-month long waits for a doctor’s visit — well, just wait until you call the cops because someone’s breaking into your house and they’re all too busy fingerprinting Marco Rubio’s 11 million undocumented immigrants.

The second phase of Marco Rubio’s plan involves extending possible permanent residency to immigrants, but makes no mention of citizenship or the wait-time to achieve citizenship.: Marco Rubio's immigration plan continues to push anti-Latino myths

More from Powell.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is calling on fellow Republicans to and speak against “idiot presentations” by people like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the so-called birthers who insist that President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen.

As Monday’s inaugural ceremonies got underway, Powell told ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos that Republicans needed to “look in the mirror” instead of attacking him after he recently called out Palin and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu for using “slave terms” like “shucking and jiving” to describe President Barack Obama.: Powell: Republican leaders should stop ‘idiot presentations’ from Palin and birthers

He should think before he opens his trap.

An Idaho lawmaker on Thursday compared abortion to prostitution, arguing that both are “a choice” that women make, and asking members of the Idaho American Civil Liberties to defend prostitution, since they were willing to protect women’s access to abortion services.

Presenting abortion and prostitution as cavaler choices women make and ignoring the real danger of sex slavery, State Rep. Ron Mendive (R) elicited “audible gasps” on Wednesday during a meeting with representatives from the group, which later condemned his comparison: Idaho Lawmaker Compares Abortion To Prostitution

Gerrymandering. The only reason the GOP controls the house today.

This week, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus endorsed a Republican Party plan to rig future presidential elections by changing the way electoral votes are assigned. Under the Republican plan, GOP lawmakers in several states that supported the Democratic candidate for president in recent elections would stop awarding all of their electoral votes to the winner of the state as a whole, and instead award most of them one-by-one to the winners of individual congressional districts. In part because of widespread Republican gerrymandering, if Republicans had implemented this election rigging plan in six key states where they currently control the state government — Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin — Mitt Romney would have won the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote by nearly four points.: Michigan GOP Considering Republican Plan To Rig The Presidential Election

More on Gerrymandering.

MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough admitted on Sunday that Republicans only kept their majority in the House of Representatives as a result of gerrymandering, noting that the GOP received less votes than Democrats in the 2012 election. Scarborough argued that Republicans must prevent radical ultra-conservative voices from dominating the party’s message and pointed out that the GOP is already losing electoral ground among voters who view it as too extreme and out of touch with middle class Americans: Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering

Even more on Gerrymandering.

Although a small number of ballots remain to be counted, as of this writing, votes for a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives outweigh votes for Republican candidates. Based on ThinkProgress’ review of all ballots counted so far, 53,952,240 votes were cast for a Democratic candidate for the House and only 53,402,643 were cast for a Republican — meaning that Democratic votes exceed Republican votes by more than half a million.: Why Americans Actually Voted For A Democratic House

And one last piece (this week) on the GOP’s gerrymandering.

While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state’s senate seats.

The vote, 20-19, would have been a tie had Democratic Senator Henry Marsh been present. Marsh, a civil rights leader, was in Washington, D.C., attending the inauguration.

Had Marsh been present, however, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling, would likely have broken the tie. The bill was reportedly pushed through in a matter of hours.

According to Virginia politics blogger Ben Tribbett, the move could potentially eliminate at least one Democratic seat, the 25th district, which currently belongs to former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Creigh Deeds (D).: Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration

Other GOP news

When no one is looking.

So the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, set up a lawyers’ group to defend DOMA, with a half-million dollar budget. Lawyers being lawyers, they blew through that budget while losing their cases at every appellate level. Now they have to put together their case before SCOTUS.:

House Republicans secretly agreed to raise the cost for defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court to $3 million in the first week that the 113th Congress was sworn into office, according to a copy of the contract obtained by the Washington Blade on Tuesday.

The contract, signed by new House Committee on Administration Chair Candace Miller (R-Mich.), allows for expenses to pay for outside counsel to defend DOMA in court to reach $3 million — a full $1 million more than the previous cost cap agreed to in September. In a statement this week, House Democrats said the agreement was reached in secret and they weren’t aware of it until late Monday.: Congress Secretly Raises Lawyers' Budget for DOMA Defense to $3M

Rick Perry, still as thick as a brick.

There is evil prowling in the world – it shows up in our movies, video games and online fascinations, and finds its way into vulnerable hearts and minds. As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.: Rick Perry's Solution To Gun Violence: 'Pray For Our Children'

Not all children need to go to college.

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says that colleges are “indoctrinating” students in a “sea of antagonism toward Christianity” and marriage equality, abortion and pornography are all symptoms of the problem.: Santorum: LGBT rights, abortion, porn are ‘symptoms’ of college indoctrination

Rubio a physical conservative

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s leadership PAC, the Reclaim America PAC, boldly lists its motto as “electing conservatives to the United States Senate.” But despite raising more than $1.6 million in the 2012 cycle, less than five percent of that money went to other political candidates.: Marco Rubio's PAC Spends Five Times More On Overhead Than Political Contributions

What would Jesus do?

A Republican lawmaker in California who disagrees with President Barack Obama’s effort to prevent mass shootings says that guns are an “absolutely essential” part of God’s plan.

“Guns are used an average of 3 million times a year according to the Clinton Justice Department,” Assemblyman Tim Donnelly told the Christian talk radio show The Bottom Line on Wednesday. “That’s like 6,900 times a day. That’s the high end of the statistics, other people say it’s only 200 times a day.”

“Whatever that number is, they are used to defend human life,” he explained. “They are used to defend our property and our families and our faith and our freedom, and they are absolutely essential to living the way God intended for us to live.”: California lawmaker: Guns are ‘essential to living the way God intended’

Another slow republican

Coming off of the hottest year in U.S. history and 333 months of higher-than-average global temperatures, Rep. Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) first move as the new chair of the House Science and Technology Committee includes a hearing on climate science, according to Dallas News.

For Smith, who criticized “the idea of human-made global warming,” the hearing will be an opportunity to give a platform to the committee’s climate zombies:

I believe climate change is due to a combination of factors, including natural cycles, sun spots, and human activity. But scientists still don’t know for certain how much each of these factors contributes to the overall climate change that the Earth is experiencing. It is the role of the Science Committee to create a forum for discussion so Congress and the American people can hear from experts and draw reasoned conclusions. During this process, we should focus on the facts rather than on a partisan agenda.: House Science Chair's First Action Is To Hold A Climate Change Denier Hearing

Unhinged.

A report published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point Military Academy on Jan. 15 discusses the potential dangers of “violent far-right” organizations, which has angered some conservatives that believe the military should focus on international threats.

The executive summary of the paper, “Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right,” claims that “since 2007, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of attacks and violent plots originating from individuals and groups who self- identify with the far-right of American politics.”: West Point study on ‘violent far right’ shows ‘dramatic rise’ in attacks

Santorum is an idiot.

World Net Daily columnist and former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Sunday insisted that Americans were entitled to armor-piercing bullets because they are “a right in our country.”: Santorum: Armor-piercing bullets are ‘a right in our country’

Not the best or the brightest.

A freshman Republican congressman is arguing that the 2nd Amendment could be interpreted broadly enough to allow ordinary citizens access to the same equipment that the military uses.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), who unseated longtime Rep. Cliff Stearns last year thanks in large part to Tea Party support, sat down with Florida political blog The Shark Tank over the weekend to discuss gun violence. The freshman GOPer said he’d spoken with a number of constituents recently and approvingly relayed their sentiment: “when you read the Second Amendment,” Yoho said, “the militia had the same equipment as the military to protect them against the tyrannical government.” Preserving those protections, he argued, is “more important today than ever”: Tea Party Congressman: Citizens Should Have Same Weapons As The Military

GOP’s mean streak.

Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott loathes Obamacare so much that he turned down $40 million in federal health care funds that would keep hundreds of disabled kids at home with their parents, rather than warehoused in nursing homes. So says the Department of Justice, whose civil rights division recently investigated the situation in Florida.

ABC News reported this weekend that, in a letter to Florida's attorney general, the Justice Department cited the case of a "5-year-old child, a quadriplegic after a car accident, who had been living in a state facility for three years. The mother wants to bring the child home but has been told the waiting list for community and home-based services was five to ten years.: Rick Scott Rejects Health Care Funds That Would Keep Disabled Kids Out of Nursing Homes

Continued Rick (I am a dick) Scott’s mean streak (he’ll give our money away to help gun co’s but will not help our children).

‘Sweetheart Deal’

In Florida, Republican Governor Rick Scott hailed an incentive for the West Hartford, Connecticut-based Colt Manufacturing Co. in 2011 saying it showed the state was “a defender of our right to bear arms.” The deal, for 63 jobs, was worth about $1.66 million in state and local incentives, according to Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development arm.: Gunmaker Tax Breaks to Lure Jobs Face Renewed Scrutiny

Florida with Rick (I am a dick) Scott at the helm.

Nationally, Florida ranks 49th in mental health funding, and first in gun ownership. The state has been a trailblazer in providing lucrative tax incentives to a smorgasbord of companies in return for promises to create jobs.

In 2012, a tough budget year when the Legislature cut funding for school safety by $1.8 million and Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $5.7 million for mental health programs, lawmakers were able to find more than $10 million for economic incentives that went to violent film productions, bloody video games and gun manufacturers.: TALLAHASSEE: Gun makers feast on Florida tax breaks - MiamiHerald.com

What's your opinion of Bobby Jindal the current Governor of Louisiana?

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What's your opinion of Bobby Jindal the current Governor of Louisiana?

Governor.

Extreme practicer of a Catholic version

policy wonk

Smart

Young

Maybe a token VP.

Never will be Presidential.

He's talked about because of his background and race, because it' vogue. That's why he gave the response to the State of the Union in 2009.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What's your opinion of Bobby Jindal the current Governor of Louisiana?

My opinion is this:

His name is not Bobby it is Piyush

He attended an exorcism when younger

He's a pathetic speaker, he somehow manages to make W look like a great orator

God mocks him

He's a creationist (even though his conversion to catholicism should prevent that)

Oh, and he hates libraries too, even though he was Rhodes scholar

When he takes charge of the response to an oil spill this is the result: