It's a strange populism that denounces Wall Street in one breath and, in the next, shouts down tax changes that would treat the financiers' incomes like those of everyday folks.
But that pro-billionaire version of populism seems to have won big in the midterm elections. And it probably means the demise of a congressional effort to strike down one of the most outrageous provisions of our messed-up tax code, which is the special treatment of "carried-interest" compensation that's paid to many investment fund managers.
This loophole is so unfair that it gets criticized even by some of the tycoons who have benefited from it, such as former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin and other prominent investors I've queried. Basically, it taxes the money paid to managers of private-equity funds and similar partnerships at 15 percent, as if it were risk capital, rather than at ordinary income rates of 35 percent. (I'm assuming that the neopopulist Congress will balk at letting that rate rise to its old, pre-Bush level of 38 percent.)
As is so often the case with policies that benefit big business, the carried-interest break survives by invoking small business. It's argued that if congressional reformers have their way, they will gut compensation for all the little mom-and-pop partnerships that depend on carried interest. (Not to mention the hard-pressed little guys who own oil partnerships.)
A similar illogic leads many people to believe you are attacking Main Street if you suggest withdrawing the Bush-era tax cuts to people making more than $250,000. Perhaps it's part of the American ethos that we all think we're rich. Otherwise, it's hard to explain this popular defense of privilege - and the fact that the politically enfeebled Obama administration has caved to extending the tax cuts.
Democrats tried to stand up to pressure from the billionaires' lobby on the carried-interest loophole. Barack Obama campaigned against the provision in 2008, and he included the repeal in his first two budgets. The House passed a version of the reform on May 28, denying capital-gains rates for what the House report rightly said was "investment management services income."[...]
That political legerdemain is making America more unequal every year, and the polls show people are mad as hell at Wall Street and Washington, both. And yet the popular chorus continues: Save the tax breaks for the rich.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tax codes
David Ignatius wonders why Congress is "protecting a tax code that benefits the rich." Without a doubt, it's a very good question. One that I would like to hear a good answer coming from Republicans. Sadly, they never offer a good answer just some crap about having an adult conversation. By protecting the rich, you ignore the country's real needs. Here's some excerpts:
Texans mess with Texas
This is insane. It shows further proof that the tea party activists are crazy. If you are going to campaign against someone, can you try and veer it towards policy proposals rather than the politician's religion. First, the Texas state board of education decides to revise history. Least we forget they sent Rand Paul to Kentucky. Now this mess? Crazy.
State Rep. Joe Straus (R-TX) appears to have the votes to win, but a coalition of Tea Party and right-wing Republican groups — including the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the Austin Tea Party Patriots, the Texas Pastor Council, and Texas Eagle Forum — are staging an effort to elect a more radical right Speaker. This morning, the Dallas Morning News reported that several of the Tea Party activists in the aforementioned coalition have been circulating e-mails with anti-Semitic messages against Strauss, who is Jewish.[...]They say not to mess with Texas. I'm sorry Texas, but it's time we have an intervention. Enough is enough.
These Tea Party groups work within the larger mainstream conservative movement. Myers, Morrison, and others have signed letters and worked in conjunction with major right-wing and Republican groups, like Americans for Prosperity. Americans for Prosperity, funded and financed by billionaires David and Charles Koch, is one of the most prominent conservative organizations in the country. Its leader, Tim Phillips, ran a similarly anti-Semitic campaign before being asked by David Koch to manage Americans for Prosperity.[...]
Tea Party groups want a more conservative Speaker than Straus to push Texas to the far right. State Rep. Leo Berman (R-TX), who ThinkProgress’ Scott Keyes wrote about earlier today, said he wanted a more conservative Speaker than Straus to push through anti-immigrant bills, an anti-Obama birther bill, and an effort to privatize public schools.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Friedman commends Cooper
Thomas Friedman commended Anderson Cooper on his reporting earlier this month, debunking conservative lies about President Barack Obama's trip to Asia.
On Nov. 4, Anderson Cooper did the country a favor. He expertly deconstructed on his CNN show the bogus rumor that President Obama’s trip to Asia would cost $200 million a day. This was an important “story.” It underscored just how far ahead of his time Mark Twain was when he said a century before the Internet, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” But it also showed that there is an antidote to malicious journalism — and that’s good journalism.
In case you missed it, a story circulated around the Web on the eve of President Obama’s trip that it would cost U.S. taxpayers $200 million a day — about $2 billion for the entire trip. Cooper said he felt impelled to check it out because the evening before he had had Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a Republican and Tea Party favorite, on his show and had asked her where exactly Republicans will cut the budget.
Instead of giving specifics, Bachmann used her airtime to inject a phony story into the mainstream. She answered: “I think we know that just within a day or so the president of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. He’s taking 2,000 people with him. He’ll be renting over 870 rooms in India, and these are five-star hotel rooms at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. This is the kind of over-the-top spending.”
The next night, Cooper explained that he felt compelled to trace that story back to its source, since someone had used his show to circulate it. His research, he said, found that it had originated from a quote by “an alleged Indian provincial official,” from the Indian state of Maharashtra, “reported by India’s Press Trust, their equivalent of our A.P. or Reuters. I say ‘alleged,’ provincial official,” Cooper added, “because we have no idea who this person is, no name was given.”[...]
“It was an anonymous quote,” said Cooper. “Some reporter in India wrote this article with this figure in it. No proof was given; no follow-up reporting was done. Now you’d think if a member of Congress was going to use this figure as a fact, she would want to be pretty darn sure it was accurate, right? But there hasn’t been any follow-up reporting on this Indian story. The Indian article was picked up by The Drudge Report and other sites online, and it quickly made its way into conservative talk radio.”
Cooper then showed the following snippets: Rush Limbaugh talking about Obama’s trip: “In two days from now, he’ll be in India at $200 million a day.” Then Glenn Beck, on his radio show, saying: “Have you ever seen the president, ever seen the president go over for a vacation where you needed 34 warships, $2 billion — $2 billion, 34 warships. We are sending — he’s traveling with 3,000 people.” In Beck’s rendition, the president’s official state visit to India became “a vacation” accompanied by one-tenth of the U.S. Navy. Ditto the conservative radio talk-show host Michael Savage. He said, “$200 million? $200 million each day on security and other aspects of this incredible royalist visit; 3,000 people, including Secret Service agents.”
Cooper then added: “Again, no one really seemed to care to check the facts. For security reasons, the White House doesn’t comment on logistics of presidential trips, but they have made an exception this time. He then quoted Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, as saying, “I am not going to go into how much it costs to protect the president, [but this trip] is comparable to when President Clinton and when President Bush traveled abroad. This trip doesn’t cost $200 million a day.” Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said: “I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd, this notion that somehow we were deploying 10 percent of the Navy and some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier in support of the president’s trip to Asia. That’s just comical. Nothing close to that is being done.”
Warren Buffet pens open letter
In the New York Times and cross-posted on CNBC's website, Warren Buffett has penned an open letter. It's more of a thank you note to the government.
Oh, the hypocracy
You gotta love this--especially after the one incoming Republican congressman complained that he won't have health care benefits kick in until a month after his term begins. The irony of it all is that the tea party candidates campaigned on overthrowing the recent health care legislation.
group of House Democrats has released a letter to Republican congressional leaders calling on them to announce which of their members will be forgoing their congressional benefit health insurance (which is subsidized by the government) in light of their party's opposition to health care reform overhaul legislation.
"If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk," four Democrats write in the letter, which is addressed to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican leader John Boehner. "You cannot enroll in the very kind of coverage that you want for yourselves, and then turn around and deny it to Americans who don't happen to be Members of Congress."
According to the letter, the federal government pays more than $10,000 of the premiums of each member of Congress who has a family policy under the most selected plan.
The signatories on the letter are four liberal lawmakers: Joseph Crowley of New York, Linda T. Sanchez of California, Donna Edwards of Maryland and Tim Ryan of Ohio. They sent a separate letter to other Democratic colleagues asking them to sign onto the effort.
The Democrats say they were spurred to press Republicans to announce their position by news that Andy Harris, a conservative incoming Republican House freshman, had complained that he would not receive his government-subsidized health care coverage until Feb. 1, a month after he is sworn into office.
Harris campaigned against the health care bill, which is projected to provide coverage to more than 30 million previously uninsured Americans, and his party is vowing to "repeal and replace" it.
In their letter, the Democrats write they were "surprised" to see Harris complain that "there is a delay before benefits take effect. Ironically, this is the same predicament millions of Americans currently find themselves in."
John Yarmuth talks taxes
John Yarmuth took to the House floor to talk about the growing wealth disparities amid the debate as to whether the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans should continue.
Sarah Palin believes she's an idiot
Despite a poll saying TWO THIRDS OF AMERICANS believe Sarah Palin to be unqualified for the presidency, she somehow believes she can beat President Barack Obama in 2012. I'm sorry but I would vote for George W. Bush before I ever voted for Sarah Palin.
Asked Barbara Walters: "If you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?"
"I believe so," Palin said.
Bloomberg/Scarborough
Howard Fineman brings up the idea of a very interesting presidential ticket.
There's no campaign yet, and there may never be, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and MSNBC's morning talk-show host Joe Scarborough have begun trying to figure out whether they could be an independent presidential ticket in 2012 -- and who would be better to be on top if it happens.We'll keep a close on on this development.
They're the Odd Couple of Guys Outside the System.
The two are friends and, in both public and private, mutual admirers. They spent the day before the midterm elections complimenting each other at a Harvard symposium -- Vanity Fair was there to document it all for a spring issue -- bemoaning the same political rift they may try to exploit to win the White House.
Well-placed sources tell The Huffington Post that the mayor and the host have talked about running together, with Bloomberg in the top spot. In an interview, Scarborough, a former GOP congressman from Florida, issued a firm yet carefully-worded denial. "We haven't discussed it directly," he said, adding, "Have people discussed it in his sphere and in my sphere? I think so."[...]
On "Morning Joe," Scarborough has repeatedly praised the mayor and talked up the likelihood -- and the necessity -- of an independent presidential bid by someone, even if it isn't going to be Bloomberg leading it.
It can get effusive. "I don't know anybody who has seen what Bloomberg's done for this city," the host said on his morning program in October, "who would not say that he is one of the best administrators we have had in American politics in quite some time."[...]
While no one in Manhattan doubts that Bloomberg wants to be president, the consensus among his friends and confidants is that several things have to happen between now and next fall to move him to declare.
The already-bitter partisan divide in Congress has to widen; the Republican Party has to become a subsidiary of the tea party; the Democrats must become a rump parliament of liberals; the tone of politics must get even nastier, Jon Stewart notwithstanding; and the economy has to remain enfeebled.
Two states?!?
Two states control the majority of the Democratic House Caucus.
Percentage of Democratic U.S. House Seats from California and New York soars to a record high of 28.1 percent after the 2010 elections
Despite losing six U.S. House seats in New York on November 2nd (with defeats in NY-01 and NY-25 still tentative), the Democratic Party nonetheless continues to be ever more a party of two coasts - with a particular emphasis on the Empire and Golden States.
Party leadership still the same
Despite the political pundits saying that Americans voted for change, the party leadership is still the same in each chamber. Nothing has changed.
Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided she'll stay on come January as leader of the minority. Maryland's Steny Hoyer will have the No. 2 job and Pelosi has crafted an ill-defined compromise to make South Carolina's James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, something called assistant leader. Anything to keep the same old trio atop the smaller pile.
Leadership affairs on the Republican side of Capitol Hill are already settled with Ohio's ex-Speaker John Boehner to become the new speaker, Virginia's Eric Cantor as his No. 2 and Kentucky's Mitch McConnell still GOP minority leader in the Senate with Arizona's Jon Kyl as his No. 2. Harry Reid will still lead the diminished Democratic majority.
The chairman of the Democratic National Committee is the same, President's Obama's favorite bilingual, Harvard-educated ex-governor, Tim Kaine.
NSFW
I'm sure that President Barack Obama's children don't talk like this. It's not safe for work and apparently, one of Sarah Palin's daughters uses homophobic slurs.
David Camp wants to raise your taxes
Congressman David Camp, the incoming chairman of the Ways and Means committee, wants to raise your taxes if you make under $250,000.
The Republicans' top tax guy in the House threatened in the clearest possible terms today that he and the rest of the GOP would vote to block any tax cut for the middle class during the lame duck session unless tax cuts for the wealthy are extended for the same period of time.It's a shame when the permanent tax cuts for the middle class are being held hostage by the Republicans. I wonder how many of the middle class identify as Republican and voted for Republicans, not knowing that their caucus would be in favor of raising their taxes.
In a policy speech at the business-friendly Tax Council today, incoming Ways and Means Committee chairman David Camp called the Democratic plan for tax cuts -- a permanent tax cut extension for all income up to $200,000, and a temporary extension for income above that level -- "a terrible idea and a total nonstarter."
"We would be foolish to fall for it," Camp said.
PBS censors Tina Fey
I've read Tina Fey's comments and there is nothing that would have been censored by the networks, unless PBS still wants a little funding from the government although they mainly survive on donations.
Fey, this year's recipient of the prize, caused a few ripples during her acceptance speech at the ceremony on Tuesday when she mock-praised "conservative women" like Sarah Palin, whom Fey has so memorably impersonated on "Saturday Night Live."If you click here, the key comments are found in the second video, starting at the 12:30 mark. Transcript can be found here.
"And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women - except, of course --those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape 'kit 'n' stuff," Fey said. "But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years - whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know - actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster."
But that's not what viewers heard when PBS and WETA (channel 26) broadcast an edited version of Fey's speech on Sunday.
The part about rape kits and evolution was gone, leaving only Fey's more harmonious -- and blander -- comments about Palin and politics: "I would be a liar and an idiot if I didn't thank Sarah Palin for helping get me here tonight. My partial resemblance and her crazy voice are the two luckiest things that ever happened to me. All kidding aside, I'm so proud to represent American humor, I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to make my home in the 'not real' America. And I am most proud that during trying times, like an orange [terror] alert, a bad economy or a contentious election that we as a nation retain our sense of humor."
Was PBS shielding its viewers from Fey's more pointed remarks?
"It was not a political decision," responded Peter Kaminsky, one of the broadcast's executive producers. "We had zero problems with anything she said."
But with the 90-minute show running about 19 minutes long after the taping Tuesday night, a few things had to give, Kaminsky said. "We took a lot out," he said. "We snipped from everyone."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Dancing with the Stars is rigged
I don't watch Dancing with the Stars. I'm an aspiring actor-comedian-screenwriter. These shows take jobs away from people that are working their asses off to get into the television and film industry. I don't watch this series at well.
In what way is Bristol Palin considered a star? To put it simply, she isn't. She's the daughter of ex-Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, a failed vice presidential candidate in her own right. Palin, if you recall, chose the slow Fourth of July weekend in 2009 to resign her governorship. You know what that means? She doesn't want to lead. The hell with Sarah Palin being talked about a presidential candidate...
No, a cameo in The Secret Life of the American Teenager does not count. That was a cameo of a show that does relate to teenage mothers. However, Bristol Palin had maybe one or two lines. She was not a recurring character.
She has never released a record album, played profressional sports, or acted in the movies. That is what a star, for the sake of the show's name, would have done to earn a spot on the show.
It's one thing of Sarah Palin had been a sports broadcaster and her daughter was breaking into the business. Or if Sarah Palin was an actress and her daughter was breaking in. But Sarah Palin isn't any of these. She's a politician. A politician that also was hired by FOX News shortly after resigning her governorship in Alaska because she wanted to continue to build a base and raise money for Republican candidates.
But Bristol Palin is not a star. Last I checked, she was the daughter of Sarah Palin and somehow managed to have premarital sex and got pregnant as a result. The worst part of this is that the Republican Party says they are the party that believes in family values. When has unprotected sex for an unmarried couple (and not even an engaged one at that) ever been a family value?
Let's get the facts straight. Brandy and her dancing partner scored a 57. Of the remaining four, Bristol Palin and her dancing partner scored the lowest of the four with a 53. Yet, in some ridiculous way, Brandy is eliminated and Bristol Palin survives another week.
What in the hell is wrong with America? This is not golf, where the lowest score wins.
UPDATE: Since posting this, USA Today ran a piece saying Bristol's run fuels conspiracy theories but goes on to spice up the fact that Sarah Palin's supporters are voting for the non-star on a star-studded show.
In what way is Bristol Palin considered a star? To put it simply, she isn't. She's the daughter of ex-Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, a failed vice presidential candidate in her own right. Palin, if you recall, chose the slow Fourth of July weekend in 2009 to resign her governorship. You know what that means? She doesn't want to lead. The hell with Sarah Palin being talked about a presidential candidate...
No, a cameo in The Secret Life of the American Teenager does not count. That was a cameo of a show that does relate to teenage mothers. However, Bristol Palin had maybe one or two lines. She was not a recurring character.
She has never released a record album, played profressional sports, or acted in the movies. That is what a star, for the sake of the show's name, would have done to earn a spot on the show.
It's one thing of Sarah Palin had been a sports broadcaster and her daughter was breaking into the business. Or if Sarah Palin was an actress and her daughter was breaking in. But Sarah Palin isn't any of these. She's a politician. A politician that also was hired by FOX News shortly after resigning her governorship in Alaska because she wanted to continue to build a base and raise money for Republican candidates.
But Bristol Palin is not a star. Last I checked, she was the daughter of Sarah Palin and somehow managed to have premarital sex and got pregnant as a result. The worst part of this is that the Republican Party says they are the party that believes in family values. When has unprotected sex for an unmarried couple (and not even an engaged one at that) ever been a family value?
Let's get the facts straight. Brandy and her dancing partner scored a 57. Of the remaining four, Bristol Palin and her dancing partner scored the lowest of the four with a 53. Yet, in some ridiculous way, Brandy is eliminated and Bristol Palin survives another week.
What in the hell is wrong with America? This is not golf, where the lowest score wins.
UPDATE: Since posting this, USA Today ran a piece saying Bristol's run fuels conspiracy theories but goes on to spice up the fact that Sarah Palin's supporters are voting for the non-star on a star-studded show.
Green notes that DWTS, which has one of TV's oldest viewing demographics, may feel maternal toward young contestants such as Palin, who had no background as an entertainer or dancer, unlike most of the celebrities who've appeared over 11 seasons. "People love the story of the ordinary person. Bristol embodies that."FORTY EMAIL ADDRESSES. I'm sorry but how is that not rigging the vote in Palin's favor. What the hell happened to alowing IP addresses to vote so many times.
Clearly, Bristol's ties to Sarah — who has appeared in the DWTS audience twice — as well as websites such as conservatives4palin.com and Hillbuzz.org, which have shown readers how and where to vote, have helped. Hillbuzz editor Kevin DuJan has been promoting her DWTS run since the season's debut. He has personally voted for Bristol "hundreds of times" via 40 e-mail addresses. "Each address is allowed to vote 10 times. You can also telephone. You can easily vote hundreds of times if you want to take the time to do it," says DuJan.
He suggests Bristol's support isn't political. "I think it's moms, sisters, grandmoms, dads — people who are voting with their hearts, not with a political agenda."
The grassroots support isn't unprecedented. Past DWTS competitors, such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, may have not demonstrated keen prowess on the dance floor. But they've used social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and fan websites to drum up support for extended DWTS appearances.
The Bush tax cut debate
You know it's sad when Republicans refuse to even acknowledge that President George W. Bush and the Republicans holding both chambers of Congress are the reason we have the big deficit that we do. It's because under REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP, tax cuts were given to the wealthiest Americans. This was before Afghanistan. Before Iraq. What happened in 2003? They were extended until the end of 2010. About that? The Iraq war got very expensive and the Republicans that supported it? Either they lost their seat by retiring or being defeated in the 2006 or 2008 elections. The war against the Taliban in Afghanistan was completely justified and no one disputes that. The war in Iraq? Not justifiable one bit and now the Republicans say it should not be funded because they don't wish to revert tax rates for the wealthy to the rates under the Clinton years. If I recall, this country prospered under those years.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka commented on the whole debate about the tax cuts.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka commented on the whole debate about the tax cuts.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said on Tuesday that his group has been "working diligently with lawmakers and the White House" about its legislative preference for the expiring tax rates. Though he wouldn't elaborate on the substance of those discussions, Turmka explained that "to date, no one that I'm aware of said that's not a good strategy, that's not good policy, and that's not good for the country."
In recent days, the union federation has led the charge to hold a solitary vote during the lame duck session of Congress, one that would extend the current tax rates for those making less than $250,000-a-year while allowing the others to revert to pre-Bush levels.
The logic has been simple. Democrats still control both chambers of Congress as well as the White House. It's in their hands to determine what bill is considered. But the strategy is not without risk. After December 31, all the current rates will revert to pre-Bush levels and Republicans have shown a willingness to allow that to happen if extensions (whether permanent or temporary) aren't passed for the wealthy as well. Asked on Tuesday's call whether he too would be willing to hold the entire tax cut debate hostage in order to insist that only the middle-class cuts be extended, Trumka didn't rule it out.
"I'm always willing to fight for good policy, remember the health care fight, we were out front fighting for what we thought was good policy. So the answer is, I believe that is the best solution and the best policy, so we will fight for it," he said. "Am I'm willing to take all the consequences that are attached to fighting for good policy."
"It is still TARP two," Trumka said of extending the rates for the wealthy. "As I said early, it is absolutely insane in these tough economic times that some people want to continue the George Bush tax giveaway to millionaires. Working people are losing their jobs, their benefits and their homes and they are the ones who need help. We ought to be focusing on job creation by giving tax breaks to the middle-class families that are going to take the money and actually spend it, not to millionaires who don't need it and won't spend it... Millionaires on Wall Street already had their party. That tanked our economy and it left Main Street stuck with paying the bill... this is not the time to be giving more welfare to millionaires."
For one long and winding road, let it be...
John Grisham was one of the latest holdouts when it comes to digital reading--I'm not a fan of reading that way. Just get me a book off the shelf. When you are Shomer Shabbas, there's no point in having a digital reader during the summer when you can either read or take a nice, lengthy nap.
Anyway, it was announced yesterday that the Beatles and Apple have reached a deal that places the band's historic catalog on iTunes.
Anyway, it was announced yesterday that the Beatles and Apple have reached a deal that places the band's historic catalog on iTunes.
Apple Inc. is preparing to disclose that its iTunes Store will soon start carrying music by the Beatles, according to people familiar with the situation, a move that would fill a glaring gap in the collection of the world's largest music retailer.
The deal resulted from talks that were taking place as recently as last week among executives of Apple, representatives of the Beatles and their record label, EMI Group Ltd., according to these people. These people cautioned that Apple could change plans at the last minute.[...]
Even as recorded-music sales have plummeted, the Beatles have remained one of the most reliable franchises in the business. In 2009, 39 years after breaking up, they sold the third-highest number of albums of any act in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, with 3.3 million copies sold.
The Beatles aren't the only big iTunes holdout. AC/DC, Bob Seger and Kid Rock all have withheld their music from the online store. Other longtime digital wallflowers such as Metallica and Led Zeppelin have relented in recent years.
The Beatles' deal with iTunes was delayed in part by ongoing trademark litigation, the most recent round of which was resolved in 2007.
The Fab Four's arrival in the digital age comes very late compared to most other major acts'. The group also was a latecomer to the CD era, waiting until 1987 to issue their main body of work on a medium that the industry had embraced in the early to mid part of the decade.
People who have done business with the group and its corporate entity, Apple Corps Ltd., describe a very slow-moving process in which the two surviving members, and the heirs of the other two, can take a long time to reach consensus.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Mitch McConnell says NO to what he loves doing...
For the first time in 24 years, give or take, Senator Mitch McConnell has decided he no longer wants to bring money back to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. McConnell decides that he loves Rand Paul and thinks the world of Rand Paul to the point that what Rand Paul says goes. Mitch, please grow some balls. You used to have them but then you morphed into a tea party senator. What happened to the senator that said he looked up to the late Henry Clay, one of the greatest politicians this state has ever sent to Washington, DC.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell capitulated to the Tea Party movement on Monday and endorsed a Republican-led moratorium on “earmarks,” the thousands of local projects stuffed into legislation that add up to billions of federal dollars.In a related announcement, Mitch McConnell's campaign donors will pay for the tolls on the bridges. Well, he doesn't want to bring money to the state now, it seems...
“Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people,” McConnell said Monday in a surprise announcement from the Senate floor. “When it comes to earmarks, I won’t be guilty of the same thing.”
The reversal by McConnell, who based his 2008 re-election campaign on his ability to deliver projects to Kentucky, suggests a political win for Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. DeMint was poised to force an internal vote among incoming GOP senators Tuesday on freezing all requests for earmarks, which legislators seek to pay for pet projects in their home states.
Centerville takes a step to the right...
E.J. Dionne, in an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post last week, talks about how Democrats need to hold their ground. Listen up, moderates. This post is for you.
With the tea party movement, the Republicans have dragged the center further to the right. As Democrats, we need to hold our ground right where we are. Without getting into the specifics of policy issues, I identify as center-left on the political spectrum. Mainly, it’s because Howard Dean was able to tap into the anger of the far left during his presidential campaign in 2004. It’s mainly how there’s this segment of Democrats that are anti-Israel. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t really visit Daily Kos all that much. However, when I took one of those political quizzes, I scored a classification of “Liberal” on it. It does not surprise me at all given the Republican agenda.
I was talking with some cousins the other day. They are registered Republicans and one of their kids would be classified as “very conservative.” Of the entire family, they are the only ones in the branch that are Republican. Maybe, they have that one gene, or lack thereof, that has been talked about in the media as of late. This was the first time I had seen them since the election and my cousin mentioned that he would consider himself to be either a conservative Democrat or a liberal Republican.
I’m standing there thinking—have they looked at what happened with Arlen Specter, who fits the very category that they do. He was too liberal for the Republican Party. While it is true that he was beaten during the Democratic primary this year, he would have easily been defeated by the tea party movement during the Republican primary.
It’s sadder when conservatives ask Democrats to compromise on important policy issues when it is very clear that the GOP is not going to try and find common ground. It’s their ground or nothing. That’s they sorry state of the GOP at the moment. If they want compromise, they have to be willing to work things out. They have to be willing to concede on issues.
Some excerpts from EJ's op-ed:
With the tea party movement, the Republicans have dragged the center further to the right. As Democrats, we need to hold our ground right where we are. Without getting into the specifics of policy issues, I identify as center-left on the political spectrum. Mainly, it’s because Howard Dean was able to tap into the anger of the far left during his presidential campaign in 2004. It’s mainly how there’s this segment of Democrats that are anti-Israel. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t really visit Daily Kos all that much. However, when I took one of those political quizzes, I scored a classification of “Liberal” on it. It does not surprise me at all given the Republican agenda.
I was talking with some cousins the other day. They are registered Republicans and one of their kids would be classified as “very conservative.” Of the entire family, they are the only ones in the branch that are Republican. Maybe, they have that one gene, or lack thereof, that has been talked about in the media as of late. This was the first time I had seen them since the election and my cousin mentioned that he would consider himself to be either a conservative Democrat or a liberal Republican.
I’m standing there thinking—have they looked at what happened with Arlen Specter, who fits the very category that they do. He was too liberal for the Republican Party. While it is true that he was beaten during the Democratic primary this year, he would have easily been defeated by the tea party movement during the Republican primary.
It’s sadder when conservatives ask Democrats to compromise on important policy issues when it is very clear that the GOP is not going to try and find common ground. It’s their ground or nothing. That’s they sorry state of the GOP at the moment. If they want compromise, they have to be willing to work things out. They have to be willing to concede on issues.
Some excerpts from EJ's op-ed:
Democrats who stand up to say they were right to reform health care and stimulate a staggering economy are told they "don't get it" and are "in denial." Liberals who refuse to let one election loss alter their commitments are dismissed as "doubling down" on a bad bet.Good points, EJ. Good points.
President Obama made the word "audacity" popular, but conservative Republicans practice it.
Mainstream commentary typically bends to the more audacious side. As a result, there was far less middle-of-the-road advice in 2008 urging Republicans to move to the center than there were warnings to Obama not to read too much into his victory. The United States, we were told, was still a "center-right" country. The actual election result didn't seem to matter back then.
Funny that when progressives win, they are told to moderate their hopes, but when conservatives win, progressives are told to retreat.
Worse, Democrats tend to internalize the views of their opponents. Already, some moderate Democrats are claiming that all would have been well if Obama had not tried to reform health care or "overreached" in other ways. Never mind that Obama's biggest single mistake (beyond the administration's projection that unemployment would peak around 8 percent) was giving in to Senate moderates and not demanding the much bigger stimulus plan a weak economy plainly needed.
In fact, moderate Democrats would do better calling attention to how extreme and out of touch the conservative program actually is. Moderates should be more offended than anyone that the GOP's ideological obsessions (health-care repeal, tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation) have little connection to solving the country's problems, particularly the economic difficulties in the electorally pivotal Midwest.
The best news for Democrats is that the Republicans' fixation on repealing the health-care law will give its supporters a 10th inning - an unexpected second chance to win the struggle for public opinion.
The most politically potent attack on the health-care effort was not on the plan itself. It was the argument that Democrats should have spent less time on this bill and more on job creation. Every moment the Republicans devote to destroying this year's reform opens them up to exactly the same criticism.
Moreover, reopening the health-care debate will allow the law's supporters to defend its particulars. What, exactly, do the Republicans want to repeal? Tax breaks helping businesses cover their employees? Individual tax credits? (Yes, repealing the health bill would be a big tax increase.) Protections for people with pre-existing conditions or for adult children under age 26?
Republicans are also showing who and what they really care about by their other big priority: making sure the Bush tax cuts are extended for the wealthy in the coming lame-duck congressional session that Democrats will still control.[...]
Yes, the moderate, middle-of-the-road position is the one held by the president. Why sell it out? Raising the $250,000 ceiling a bit might be called a compromise. Any wholesale extension would be a shameful and abject capitulation that would just prove how easy it is to bully Democrats.
Give Republicans credit for this: They don't chase the center, they try to move it. Democrats can play a loser's game of scrambling after a center being pushed ever rightward. Or they can stand their ground and show how far their opponents are from moderate, problem-solving governance. Why should Democrats take Republican advice that Republicans themselves would never be foolish enough to follow?
I didn't see this coming
The headline says it all: Obama to Seek Compromise with GOP on Birthplace Claims.
President Barack Obama:
Just kidding, I knew it was satire from the start...
President Barack Obama:
It's time to stop playing the old Washington games. We need to work together to do what's best for the American people. Disagreements are so... well... disagreeable. Everyone's point of view must be respected and given its due. To that end, I am appointing a bipartisan commission to investigate and adjudicate the merits of the arguments my conservative brothers and sisters have made about my Kenyan origins.According to the press release:
The commission will be co-chaired by Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson and Karl Rove, former advisor to President George W. Bush. In a joint statement issued after the President's remarks, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Rove said, "We are committed to putting partisan differences aside, and objectively determining exactly which Muslim nation the President was born in."Has it really come to this?!?
Just kidding, I knew it was satire from the start...
Will Leitch has important news
Will Leitch has some important news. If you don't know who Will Leitch is, please step outside of your cave right now. Will has given me tons of traffic over the years. Anyway, here is his big news:
As anyone who has ever read anything I’ve ever produced knows, my career writing about sports was a total accident. I went into writing because I wanted to be a film critic, because I wanted to be Roger Ebert. I stumbled into the sports thing, and Deadspin, because I like sports and sports are endlessly fun to write about. But it wasn’t the initial plan. If you’ve seen my lengthy, wordy and pretentious movie reviews on this site, you know writing about movies has always been my true love.Best of luck, Will!
So, now that word is starting to leak out, I should fess up: I’m going to be writing about movies full-time, daily. Yahoo — I never know whether or not to include the exclamation point; someday I hope to found a company with interjectory punctuation — has hired me to run a movie blog for them. What Yahoo has been doing with their sports blogs and their news blog The Upshot has been exciting for me, as a reader, to watch happen. I’ll be working with Jamie Mottram — his career and my career have been circling each other for years — the estimable (and fellow June 5 bride) Courtney Reimer and the great Mark Lisanti, who honestly might be my favorite blogger of all time. To be able to be a part of that, writing about my favorite topic, was a no-brainer.
Particularly because the blog is going to have a very Mattoon feel: My co-editor on the site is going to be Tim Grierson, the vice president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and my closest friend since we were in the eighth grade. This has been a lifelong dream for the both of us. Plus, he’s light years better than I am at writing about movies, so I’m just going to try to keep up with him.
I am not leaving New York magazine, by the way: I’ll be doing this while still covering sports for them. (It is, after all, my favorite magazine.) I look forward to New York having better film coverage than Yahoo and Yahoo having better sports coverage than New York. It’s not every day you get to take down two media organizations at once.
NBC shakes up lineup
NBC, struggling for viewers, has shaken up their lineup for the midseason schedule starting in January.
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “THE CAPE” will premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, January 9 (9-11 p.m.). New episodes start in its regular time period on January 17 (9-10 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. – “HARRY’S LAW’ (beginning January 17)
9-10 p.m. – “The Event” (returns on February 28, 9-11 p.m.; resumes in its regular time slot March 7)
10-11 p.m. -- “Parenthood” (debuts in this slot March 7 with all originals)
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. -- “The Biggest Loser: Couples” (beginning January 4)
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (beginning January 4 for four episodes)
10-11 p.m. -- “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (beginning February
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. -- “Minute to Win It” (beginning January 5)
9-10 p.m. –“Chase” (beginning January 12)
10-11 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (originals beginning January 5 with two-hour episode, 9-11 p.m. ET)
9-10 p.m. – “AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT” (beginning March 16)
THURSDAYS (all beginning January 20)
8-8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. – “PERFECT COUPLES”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”
10-10:30 p.m. – “30 Rock”
10:30-11 p.m. – “Outsourced”
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. -- “Who Do You Think You Are?” (beginning January 21)
9-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC” (beginning January 7)
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC
8-9 p.m. – “The Marriage Ref” (beginning March 6)
9-11 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice” (beginning March 6)
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “THE CAPE” will premiere with a two-hour episode on Sunday, January 9 (9-11 p.m.). New episodes start in its regular time period on January 17 (9-10 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. – “HARRY’S LAW’ (beginning January 17)
9-10 p.m. – “The Event” (returns on February 28, 9-11 p.m.; resumes in its regular time slot March 7)
10-11 p.m. -- “Parenthood” (debuts in this slot March 7 with all originals)
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. -- “The Biggest Loser: Couples” (beginning January 4)
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (beginning January 4 for four episodes)
10-11 p.m. -- “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (beginning February
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. -- “Minute to Win It” (beginning January 5)
9-10 p.m. –“Chase” (beginning January 12)
10-11 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (originals beginning January 5 with two-hour episode, 9-11 p.m. ET)
9-10 p.m. – “AMERICA’S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT” (beginning March 16)
THURSDAYS (all beginning January 20)
8-8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. – “PERFECT COUPLES”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”
10-10:30 p.m. – “30 Rock”
10:30-11 p.m. – “Outsourced”
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. -- “Who Do You Think You Are?” (beginning January 21)
9-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC” (beginning January 7)
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC
8-9 p.m. – “The Marriage Ref” (beginning March 6)
9-11 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice” (beginning March 6)
Jon Stewart on Rachel Maddow
Have a lot of free time on your hand? Mainly 50ish minutes. Watch Rachel Maddow interview Jon Stewart...completely uncut.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
ESPN's Colin Cowherd gets CBS sitcom deal
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ESPN commentator Colin Cowherd is getting a sitcom development deal with CBS. It's interesting because the last time that an ESPN commentator did something like this, it was for the sportscaster that Cowherd replaced. Remember Tony Kornheiser? He had sitcom deal with CBS as well, if I recall correctly. How did that work out? Jason Alexander played the lead in Listen Up!. The show was soon canceled.
This is going to be interesting. One would have thought Cowherd would sell the show to ABC since Disney owns ESPN.
Whether or not the show goes to pilot and gets picked up next season, we'll see. All the new CBS comedies were picked up for a full season. I really don't see room on the network schedule unless they add another half hour block of comedies or shorten an order for another show on the network. What show would have that shortened order? Certainly not How I Met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory. I don't know how much longer Two and a Half Men will air with Charlie Sheen's personal problems.
A popular sports radio talk show host has sold his life story to CBS for a sitcom deal.Listen Up! aired for 22 episodes during the 2004-2005 season. The show was canceled in May 2005.
A project based on ESPN talk show host Colin Cowherd was picked up by the network.
His radio show, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, is a syndicated program is known for Cowherd's obnoxious commentary that sometimes results in headline-making arguments with players and fans.[...]
The Cowherd script sold as a multi-camera comedy to CBS, with writers Bill Martin and Mike Schiff attached (Hank, Grounded For Life), as well as executive producers Eric and Kim Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men).
Cowherd himself has a producer credit on the untitled project, which is at CBS TV Studios.
This is going to be interesting. One would have thought Cowherd would sell the show to ABC since Disney owns ESPN.
Whether or not the show goes to pilot and gets picked up next season, we'll see. All the new CBS comedies were picked up for a full season. I really don't see room on the network schedule unless they add another half hour block of comedies or shorten an order for another show on the network. What show would have that shortened order? Certainly not How I Met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory. I don't know how much longer Two and a Half Men will air with Charlie Sheen's personal problems.
President Bill Clinton cameos in Hangover sequel
Former President Bill Clinton will cameo in the sequel to The Hangover.
TMZ reports that the former president shot a cameo for 'The Hangover 2' in Thailand on Saturday.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Todd Lally: A Sore Loser
If you saw yesterday's Courier Journal forum page, then you saw that Todd Lally was a sore loser. Here it is:
Just because someone has served their country does not mean they deserve a free ride to Congress. It is because of the ideas and vision that they offer.
Oh, the hypocrisy of this Forum and newspaper! On Veterans Days, you dole out the usual platitudes toward our “brave, courageous” military personnel. For one day, you acknowledge us as a cut above the rest and how we deserve this nation's respect and admiration.Todd Lally must have forgotten that retired Lt. Col. Andrew Horne ran against John Yarmuth in the initial 2006 Democratic Primary. Horne, in his defeat that year, showed class and character. Andrew Horne is a friend of mine. Lally, you sir, are no Andrew Horne.
However, when a veteran runs for Congress against your beloved John Yarmuth, this paper labels him an extremist and “wrong for Louisville.” I have served in three wars and answered every single time my country has called for over two decades.
I have on my desk a rushed J.C. Penny photo taken with my youngest daughter right before I deployed to Iraq. The sole purpose of this picture was to make sure we had at least one professional photo of us together in case I didn't return. Maybe, that is extreme! Perhaps, wrong for Louisville! That is the kind of sacrifice that military members make 365 days a year.
TODD LALLY
Just because someone has served their country does not mean they deserve a free ride to Congress. It is because of the ideas and vision that they offer.
George W. Bush: LAZY
It was reported that ex-President George W. Bush lifted word-for-word verbatim DIRECTLY from those books that were published by his advisors. It's one thing to have a ghostwriter when writing a memoir like this but this is frankly something that is uncalled for. If you are going to pull the words of your advisors and put them in blockquotes, that's fine. But to take them as if they were your own, it is completely wrong.
When Crown Publishing inked a deal with George W. Bush for his memoirs, the publisher knew it wasn't getting Faulkner. But the book, at least, promises "gripping, never-before-heard detail" about the former president's key decisions, offering to bring readers "aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America's most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq," and other undisclosed and weighty locations.Frankly, this is just way too funny.
Crown also got a mash-up of worn-out anecdotes from previously published memoirs written by his subordinates, from which Bush lifts quotes word for word, passing them off as his own recollections. He took equal license in lifting from nonfiction books about his presidency or newspaper or magazine articles from the time. Far from shedding light on how the president approached the crucial "decision points" of his presidency, the clip jobs illuminate something shallower and less surprising about Bush's character: He's too lazy to write his own memoir.
Bush, on his book tour, makes much of the fact that he largely wrote the book himself, guffawing that critics who suspected he didn't know how to read are now getting a comeuppance. Not only does Bush know how to read, it turns out, he knows how to Google, too. Or his assistant does. Bush notes in his acknowledgments that "[m]uch of the research for this book was conducted by the brilliant and tireless Peter Rough. Peter spent the past 18 months digging through archives, searching the internet[s], and sifting through reams of paper." Bush also collaborated on the book with his former speechwriter, Christopher Michel.
Many of Bush's literary misdemeanors exemplify pedestrian sloth, but others are higher crimes against the craft of memoir. In one prime instance, Bush relates a poignant meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a Tajik warlord on Karzai's Inauguration Day. It's the kind of scene that offers a glimpse of a hopeful future for the beleaguered nation. Witnessing such an exchange could color a president's outlook, could explain perhaps Bush's more optimistic outlook and give insight into his future decisions. Except Bush didn't witness it. Because, as he himself writes later in the book, he wasn't at Karzai's inauguration.[...]
In most instances of Bush's literary swiping, he was at least present for the scene. But the point of a memoir is that it is the author's version of events. Bush's book is a collection of other people's versions of events. But that's not what Bush promises readers. "Decision Points is based primarily on my recollections. With help from researchers, I have confirmed my account with government documents, personal interviews, news reports, and other sources, some of which remain classified," he offers. Bush, in his memoir, confesses to authorizing waterboarding, which is a war crime, so the lifting of a few passages might seem like a minor infraction. But Bush's laziness undermines the historical value of the memoir. Bush "recollects" - in a more literal sense of the term - quotes by pulling his and others verbatim from other books, calling into question what he genuinely remembers from the time and casting doubt on any conclusions he draws about what his mindset was at the time.
In a final irony, Bush appears to draw heavily from several of Bob Woodward's books and also from Robert Draper's "Dead Certain". The Bush White House called the books' accuracy into question when they were initially published.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach doesn't get it. I met Rabbi Boteach back when I lived in Chicago.
Taken aback, I responded that to my knowledge the tea party is focused simply on more limited government and the reduction of government spending. I didn't know racism was part of the platform, I said. But he was adamant that the tea party's small-government rhetoric was an attack on low-income minorities.Sorry but trying to tell us that critics of the tea party movement doesn't understand is beyond the means to even describe.
Lost in the debate about the morality of the tea party is any discussion about its underpinnings in human nature.
The principle purpose of government is to provide the optimal conditions through which human beings can acquire their most important necessities -- the highest of which is dignity.
While governments provide many essentials for their citizens, from law and order to social services, from good roads to education, the one human essential that government cannot provide is human dignity.[...]
My progressive friends speak to me about how a compassionate society takes care of its citizens. That is true. But it must also take care to ensure that it never robs its citizens of the nobility of spirit that is the birthright of every human being.
The tea party is far from perfect. But in emphasizing self-reliance, it taps into a hidden human desire to live a life crowned with self-esteem.
Oh, Natalie...
You think you've seen it all and then you read about Natalie Portman writing a raunchy comedy:
Portman also stars in Hesher, a movie that was screened earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival but as yet to see a release date.
Next year, she will be seen in No Strings Attached (opening January 21, 2011), Your Highness (April 8, 2011), and Thor (May 6, 2011). That's four films due out in a six month period. Five if Hesher sees a release date in the same time period. Yes, Natalie Portman will be everywhere.
For the past few weeks, Portman and college friend Laura Moses have been shopping to Hollywood studios a ribald comedy that they have written, said two studio executives who've read the script.Natalie Portman next stars in Fox Searchlight's Black Swan, opening on December 3, 2010.
The project, called "BYO" (for Bring Your Own), concerns two very different twentysomething women who, after finding themselves unlucky in love, decide to throw a party to which each female attendee brings an eligible bachelor. The executives who've read the script describe it as a female-themed "Superbad."
Portman would star as one of the female leads and produce the movie, and the studio executives said they'd been told Anne Hathaway has expressed interest in the second lead role.
The project, which has been passed on by several Hollywood studios, could still get made via either a studio or, more likely, via independent financing. Representatives for Hathaway and Portman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Portman also stars in Hesher, a movie that was screened earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival but as yet to see a release date.
Next year, she will be seen in No Strings Attached (opening January 21, 2011), Your Highness (April 8, 2011), and Thor (May 6, 2011). That's four films due out in a six month period. Five if Hesher sees a release date in the same time period. Yes, Natalie Portman will be everywhere.
Jimmy Carter backtracks on his public apology
Former President Jimmy Carter gets no love around here and rightfully so. Reasons like this are why Jimmy Carter only served for one term.
Former President Jimmy Carter continues to make biased remarks about Israel, despite a public apology via JTA late last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In an Op-Ed distributed Monday, ADL National Director Abe Foxman charged that "Rather than focusing on Israel as the only democracy in the region, the one that protects individual rights, including for women and gays, through the rule of law and that has been under siege from the Arab world since its birth, Mr. Carter views the Jewish state through the prism of Western guilt for centuries of racism, colonialism and supremacist ideas."
Carter in a public apology published last December by JTA rued his comments "stigmatizing Israel" and implied that he would refrain from such remarks in the future.
"In sum, by any objective measurement, Mr. Carter has gone back on his public word to the Jewish community not to stigmatize the Jewish state," Foxman wrote.
Foxman pointed to Carter's recent visit to the Middle East with a delegation of The Elders in which "The majority and intensity of his criticisms ... were directed at Israel."
"I want to take Mr. Carter at his word when he made his statement. He may well have intended to apologize for the hurt he may have caused, and he may really have believed that he would in the future act differently," Foxman wrote in conclusion.
"The fact that he hasn't doesn't have to signal disingenuousness as much as how really difficult true atonement is. It takes not only a statement of commitment but, critically, a change in one's thinking. Unfortunately, Mr. Carter's worldview works against Israel and leads to the bias we have seen time and again."
Glenn Beck slammed by ADL
Glenn Beck had it coming. The obnoxious right-wing commentator, the one which makes Bill O'Reilly look sane, aired a full episode devoted to attacking George Soros.
On his radio show, Beck described Soros as someone that "used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off. And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening. Here's a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps."
Something tells me, Glenn Beck never took a class related to the Shoah. When Glenn Beck worked on the radio in Louisville, he never met Ernie Marx or the others that suffered through the pain of the Shoah. Glenn Beck did not learn from them what it was like to lose a family in front of your own eyes.
Abraham Foxman of the ADL released a statement:
In Michelle Goldberg's article, previously linked in that final paragraph, she quotes J.J. Goldberg:
On his radio show, Beck described Soros as someone that "used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off. And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening. Here's a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps."
Something tells me, Glenn Beck never took a class related to the Shoah. When Glenn Beck worked on the radio in Louisville, he never met Ernie Marx or the others that suffered through the pain of the Shoah. Glenn Beck did not learn from them what it was like to lose a family in front of your own eyes.
Abraham Foxman of the ADL released a statement:
Glenn Beck's description of George Soros' actions during the Holocaust is completely inappropriate, offensive and over the top. For a political commentator or entertainer to have the audacity to say – inaccurately – that there's a Jewish boy sending Jews to death camps, as part of a broader assault on Mr. Soros, that's horrific.The New York Times has an article published, containing excerpts from the ADL statement along with that of FOX News officials:
While I, too, may disagree with many of Soros' views and analysis on the issues, to bring in this kind of innuendo about his past is unacceptable. To hold a young boy responsible for what was going on around him during the Holocaust as part of a larger effort to denigrate the man is repugnant.
The Holocaust was a horrific time, and many people had to make excruciating choices to ensure their survival. George Soros has been forthright about his childhood experiences and his family's history, and there the matter should rest.
The Fox News host Glenn Beck was criticized Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish advocacy organization, in response to a televised segment about the financier George Soros and the Holocaust.Soros is not an anti-Semite. He may be a self-hating Jew but he is certainly not an anti-Semite.
Throughout three programs this week, Mr. Beck has portrayed Mr. Soros, a billionaire investor and philanthropist, as a “puppet master” who is “notorious for collapsing economies and regimes all around the world” and whose “next target” is the United States. Citing Mr. Soros’s statements about the decline of the dollar, Mr. Beck said, “Not only does he want to bring America to her knees, financially, he wants to reap obscene profits off us as well.”[...]
Fox stood by Mr. Beck. Joel Cheatwood, a senior vice president at Fox News, said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the “information regarding Mr. Soros’s experiences growing up were taken directly from his writings and from interviews given by him to the media, and no negative opinion was offered as to his actions as a child.”[...]
Writing on The Daily Beast, the author Michelle Goldberg said Mr. Beck’s Tuesday and Wednesday programs were a “symphony of anti-Semitic dog whistles.”
In Michelle Goldberg's article, previously linked in that final paragraph, she quotes J.J. Goldberg:
“There’s a difference between first-degree murder and vehicular homicide, which is intentionality,” says J.J. Goldberg, a columnist and former editor in chief of The Forward, America’s leading Jewish newspaper. Goldberg wasn’t convinced that Beck meant to attack Jews. Nevertheless, he described the show as “as close as I’ve heard on mainstream television to fascism.”
The new class...
We all know what happened with the cast and writers of both Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Judd Apatow was one of the driving forces behind both shows, may they rest in peace. He's back at it with a new class of hopeful stars.
We'll see what happens.
Quietly, in the last few years, amid directing his own passion project and producing more hit movies for his underlings, Judd has pulled together a whole new roster of protégés to teach, nurture, and hook up with studios and networks. That includes Lena Dunham, the director/star of Tiny Furniture, a SXSW smash making its theatrical debut this week: She's now writing an HBO pilot that Apatow is producing. While this second generation is not exactly analogous to the first batch (Apatow's now churning out major motion pictures, not casting unknowns for under-the-radar TV shows), the M.O. is the same: He's looking to take a bunch of very talented people who don't exactly fit the Hollywood mold and figure out how to make them really, really popular. It worked once. Can he pull it off again?It's a slide show but it includes Bo Burnham (Jason Segel), Lena Dunham (Jason Franco), Kristen Wiig (no comparison, but let the record state that she's the same age that Will Ferrell was when his movie career broke out), Bill Hader (Jay Baruchel), Pee-wee Herman (Loudon Wainwright), and Aziz Ansari (Seth Rogen).
We'll see what happens.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Conservative talk show host inspires school threat
We previously reported on Congressman-elect Allen West naming Joyce Kauffman as his Chief of Staff. It turns out that there is more to that story.
The Hill reported the other day:
The Hill reported the other day:
"It is with deep regret that this congressional office and the people of CD 22 will not have Joyce Kaufman as my chief of staff," West said in a statement. "Joyce is a good friend, and will remain loyal to South Floridians and to me. I will always seek Joyce's counsel for being a good representative of this congressional district."Anyway, her show was the inspiration for the events that led to a lockdown in Broward County.
The local Fox affiliate since reported that the threat-maker had said he was inspired by none other than Joyce Kaufman, who had received publicity in the last few days for her previous calls for violent action against the government in order to protect citizens from the tyranny of the Obama administration.
David Williams declares himself to be insane
State Senate President David Williams, in an effort to make himself look insane, has decided to do what he does best: preach insanity. David Williams doesn't want to be governor. He wants to be a United States Senator from Kentucky. However, he doesn't want to be elected by the citizens. He wants to be appointed by the senate.
David Williams is reframing himself from being dictator of the State Senate (he stops Kentucky from progressing) to being BATSHIT INSANE!
Bluegrass Politics reports on Williams comments at a meeting of the University of Kentucky Law School Federalist Society:
Governor Beshear, any response?
David Williams is reframing himself from being dictator of the State Senate (he stops Kentucky from progressing) to being BATSHIT INSANE!
Bluegrass Politics reports on Williams comments at a meeting of the University of Kentucky Law School Federalist Society:
Kentucky Senate President David Williams declared himself “a Tea Partier” Wednesday and called for repeal of a constitutional amendment that took the power to appoint U.S. senators away from state legislatures and gave it to voters.[...]Settle down. Settle down. Williams said he won't spend much time talking about it on the campaign?!? He just opened up a fricking can of worms...Please continue.
Republican Phil Moffett’s campaign manager, David Adams, said Williams was lifting Moffett’s idea, while McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer and retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning defended electing U.S. senators by popular vote.
“Taking that sacred right away from the American people and giving it to politicians would be a huge step backward for our democracy,” Steurer said.
Bunning said in a statement, “The way it is now is the proper way to do it.”
Williams, a Burkesville attorney, told about 50 UK law students that most of the problems with the federal government stem from the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted in 1913.
He contended that it prevents state legislatures across the country from having input into the ever-growing role of the federal government with its various mandates, such as this year’s health insurance overhaul package.[...]
In my statement, I am a Tea Partier,” Williams said, adding that most Tea Partiers are “angry at the federal government at the level of taxation, at the level of expenditures and at its encroachment.”
Asked after his presentation why he is raising the issue of the Seventeenth Amendment at this time, Williams said he was asked to come to the law school to discuss “the problems that are inherent as to the level of checks and balances between the various branches of government.”
He called it “an intellectual discussion with law students that is being replicated all over the United States of America as people are afraid of the centralization of power in the United States Congress.”
Williams acknowledged that there is an “almost nil” chance that Congress initiate repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment.
He also said he will not spend much of his time on the gubernatorial campaign trail talking about the Seventeenth Amendment.
“But I will talk about it when asked and will tell the people that I don’t think it has served the country very well,” he said.What the hell was Richie Farmer thinking?!?
Governor Beshear, any response?
Matt Osborne, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s re-election campaign, said the governor is focused on job creation.It's gonna be entertaining.
“We’re not going to get into these issues between Williams and Moffett in the GOP primary,” he said.
Vice President Joe Biden did what?!?
Comic gold, Jerry. Comic gold.
Headlines:
Biden Invokes Freedom Of Information Act To Find Out When Woman Gets Off Work (August 5, 2009 | ISSUE 45•32)
Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway (May 5, 2009 | ISSUE 45•19)
Bounced Joe Biden Check Still Taped Up In Delaware Liquor Store (October 19, 2010 | ISSUE 46•42)
Biden Criticized For Appearing In Hennessy Ads (Video)
Biden Pardons Single Yam In Vice Presidential Thanksgiving Ritual (November 25, 2009 | ISSUE 45•48)
Biden Receives Lifetime Ban From Dave & Buster's (April 20, 2010 | ISSUE 46•16)
White House Infested With Bedbugs After Biden Brings In Recliner Off The Curb (February 3, 2010 | ISSUE 46•05)
Headlines:
Biden Invokes Freedom Of Information Act To Find Out When Woman Gets Off Work (August 5, 2009 | ISSUE 45•32)
Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway (May 5, 2009 | ISSUE 45•19)
Bounced Joe Biden Check Still Taped Up In Delaware Liquor Store (October 19, 2010 | ISSUE 46•42)
Biden Criticized For Appearing In Hennessy Ads (Video)
Biden Pardons Single Yam In Vice Presidential Thanksgiving Ritual (November 25, 2009 | ISSUE 45•48)
Biden Receives Lifetime Ban From Dave & Buster's (April 20, 2010 | ISSUE 46•16)
White House Infested With Bedbugs After Biden Brings In Recliner Off The Curb (February 3, 2010 | ISSUE 46•05)
Over in South Dakota
Too funny:
Rural South Dakotan Walks Away From First Encounter With Jewish Man, Shaken But Unharmed
SELBY, SD—According to local resident Hank Tyson's firsthand account, the 51-year-old service-shop owner was left rattled but unharmed Wednesday after engaging in small talk with a man who turned out to be Jewish. "It seemed like any other conversation at first, but once I realized he was Jewish, I could feel my blood pressure go up and everything started moving in slow motion," said Tyson, claiming the sequence of events that followed "felt like some kind of awful dream," from the man's subtle gesturing to his repeated questions about how to get to I-94. "You never think anything like this will happen to you until it does." Following the encounter, Tyson drove home, kissed his wife, and told his children he loved them.
Bowles and Simpson's proposal
The NY Times published an editorial on the recent comission co-chaired by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson regarding their proposal for fiscal responsibility and reform. Bowles served as the chief of staff to President Bill Clinton while Simpson served as a Senator for Wyoming.
It frankly acknowledges what most politicians are too cowardly to admit — that deficit reduction will require shared sacrifice.I hope something gets accomplished sooner rather than later.
It lays out sensible principles, prominent among them that deficit reduction should start gradually, beginning in 2012, to avoid disrupting the fragile economic recovery. It also affirms the need to protect the most vulnerable Americans and to invest in education, infrastructure and research and development.
Then it does what any successful deficit reduction plan must do: It puts everything on the table, including tax reform to raise revenue and cuts in spending on health care and defense. It even dares to mention the need to find significant savings in Social Security, Medicare and other mandatory programs.
In a misguided provision, it assumes that spending and revenues should not exceed 21 percent of gross domestic product — a numeric limit that could make it impossible to meet future national needs. In all, however, the proposal is both broad and deep.
It is not clear what the commission’s final report will say. It is even doubtful that this plan would garner the 14 votes from the 18-member commission that are required to send the package to Congress for a vote in December.
At a time when good ideas are depressingly scarce in the political and economic debate, and bipartisan agreement even scarcer, this is a commendable start.
Mr. President, that isn't compromise
Mr. President, that is not what I call compromise or finding middle ground where Democrats and Republicans agree. That is what is called caving into Republican pressure. How in the hell are we going to fund the federal government by extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Granted some of these millionaires and billionaires a big money donors but if they are Democratic donors, I'm sure that they wouldn't mind paying a bigger slice of the pie if it means restoring the economy.
When America needs to be working again, there cannot be talk of a federal hiring freeze. It does nothing to get Americans working.
This isn't compromise. It's the complete opposite. What are the Republicans giving up in this effort? If they aren't giving up something that is rather important, it doesn't make sense. Some days, reading The Huffington Post just makes me want to scream.
UPDATE: David Axelrod denies the story in an email to The Washington Post.
When America needs to be working again, there cannot be talk of a federal hiring freeze. It does nothing to get Americans working.
This isn't compromise. It's the complete opposite. What are the Republicans giving up in this effort? If they aren't giving up something that is rather important, it doesn't make sense. Some days, reading The Huffington Post just makes me want to scream.
President Barack Obama's top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board, temporary continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.On the positive side, the president will veto any repeal of the recent healthcare reform.
That appears to be the only way, said David Axelrod, that middle-class taxpayers can keep their tax cuts, given the legislative and political realities facing Obama in the aftermath of last week's electoral defeat.
"We have to deal with the world as we find it," Axelrod said during an unusually candid and reflective 90-minute interview in his office, steps away from the Oval Office. "The world of what it takes to get this done."
"There are concerns," he added, that Congress will continue to kick the can down the road in the future by passing temporary extensions for the wealthy time and time again. "But I don't want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point."
Axelrod said that his boss would veto repeal of his cherished health care law, though he would "work with people" who "have constructive ideas about how to strengthen" it. The veto threat was not unexpected, but it was the first time that a top administration figure had issued such a threat on the record. And in doing so, Axelrod predicted that Republicans would be making a major misstep by challenging the White House's commitment on this front.Let's turn back to taxes, shall we...
"I'm not going to prejudge what they are going to do," Axelrod said of Republican opposition to the legislation. "But I will tell you this -- we are firm in our commitment, we are willing to work with people to improve this plan we are not going to stand for those who want to undermine it and destroy it."
"The notion of spending the next two years fighting over this, I think, is a complete misreading of what the American people want," he added. "They want us to focus on the economy. They don't want us to fight the battles of the last two years. But we are not going to stand by and go back to allowing people with preexisting conditions to be discriminated against, go back to the situation where people can be thrown off their insurance simply because they become seriously ill or you can't get on your parents' insurance after the age of 20. There are so many things that are just central."
For one, time is not on the administration's side. All of the tax cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003, will expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts. The Republicans in effect "built in tax increases," Axelrod said. And separating out different categories of tax cuts now -- extending some without extending others -- is politically unrealistic and procedurally difficult, he added.I'm in the middle class and I'll tell you this right now--I start paying my student loans next year and keep in mind, I don't see enough revenue fromm the blog to where I can quit my job to become a professional blogger. Those with high incomes can live with the Bush tax cuts expiring because frankly, they have the money to do so, even if it's tucked away in a non-taxable offshore account that the government doesn't know about it. You read about those in legal thrillers all the time.
"We don't want that tax increase to go forward for the middle class," he said, which means the administration will have to accept them all for some unspecified period of time. "But plainly, what we can't do is permanently extend these high income taxes."
In other words, the White House won't risk being blamed for raising taxes on the middle class even though, arguably, it is the GOP's refusal to separate the categories that has put Obama in this bind. The only condition, at least initially, seems to be that the tax cuts for the wealthy not be extended "permanently."
UPDATE: David Axelrod denies the story in an email to The Washington Post.
There is not one bit of news here. I simply re-stated what POTUS and Robert have been saying. Our two strong principles are that we need to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, but we can't afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy.Dan Pfeiffer chimed in, too, adding:
The story is overwritten. Nothing has changed from what the President said last week. We believe we need to extend the middle class tax cuts, we cannot afford to borrow 700 billion to pay for extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and we are open to compromise and are looking forward to talking to the Congressional leadership next week to discuss how to move forward. Full Stop, period, end of sentence.
Happy Veterans' Day
Please take some time today to remember all those military veterans who have served their country at one point or another.
If you see a veteran today, hug them.
If you see a veteran today, hug them.
Polls look great for Beshear/Abramson
Right now, the polls look very good for the Beshear/Abramson ticket.
PPP:
PPP:
Steve Beshear has unusually strong approval numbers for an incumbent Governor and looks favored to win reelection next year at this very early stage. He's up 44-35 on David Williams and 45-26 on Phil Moffett in PPP's newest look at the race.
48% of voters in Kentucky approve of the job Beshear's doing to 34% who disapprove. Beshear's on positive ground with independents at 47/31, unusually good numbers for a Democrat at a time when those folks are tending to lean strongly toward the GOP. Beshear also has a 27% approval rating with Republicans. That may not sound like much but it's an unusual level of crossover support these days when most Democratic politicians are in single digits with Republican voters.
In his match up with Williams Beshear has a 13 point lead with independents, and is picking up 15% of the Republican vote while losing only 16% of the Democratic vote. Kentucky has some of the most conservative Democrats in the country and a lot of them tend to vote Republican, including as recently as last week for Rand Paul. So if Beshear can continue to not bleed any more Democrats than he gains Republicans he's going to be in a very solid position.
2011 Kentucky Wildcats Football Schedule
The schedule has finally been revealed:
Thu. 09/01/11 - WESTERN KENTUCKY (Nashville, TN)
Sat. 09/10/11 - CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Sat. 09/17/11 - LOUISVILLE
Sat. 09/24/11 - FLORIDA
Sat. 10/01/11 - @ LSU
Sat. 10/08/11 - @ SOUTH CAROLINA
Sat. 10/15/11 - Open
Sat. 10/22/11 - JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sat. 10/29/11 - MISSISSIPPI STATE
Sat. 11/05/11 - OLE MISS
Sat. 11/12/11 - @ VANDERBILT
Sat. 11/19/11 - @ GEORGIA
Sat. 11/26/11 - TENNESSEE
Sat. 12/03/11 - SEC Championship (Atlanta, GA)
Thu. 09/01/11 - WESTERN KENTUCKY (Nashville, TN)
Sat. 09/10/11 - CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Sat. 09/17/11 - LOUISVILLE
Sat. 09/24/11 - FLORIDA
Sat. 10/01/11 - @ LSU
Sat. 10/08/11 - @ SOUTH CAROLINA
Sat. 10/15/11 - Open
Sat. 10/22/11 - JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sat. 10/29/11 - MISSISSIPPI STATE
Sat. 11/05/11 - OLE MISS
Sat. 11/12/11 - @ VANDERBILT
Sat. 11/19/11 - @ GEORGIA
Sat. 11/26/11 - TENNESSEE
Sat. 12/03/11 - SEC Championship (Atlanta, GA)
George Bush endorsed John McCain but really liked Barack Obama
The biggest news by far today is that George W. Bush only endorsed Senator John McCain because he had to, not because he wanted to.
"The venue was the Oval Office. A group of British dignitaries, including Gordon Brown, were paying a visit. It was at the height of the 2008 presidential election campaign, not long after Bush publicly endorsed John McCain as his successor... Trying to be even-handed and polite, the Brits said something diplomatic about McCain's campaign, expecting Bush to express some warm words of support for the Republican candidate... 'I probably won't even vote for the guy,' Bush told the group, according to two people present. 'I had to endorse him. But I'd have endorsed Obama if they'd asked me.'"Like many Democrats across the nation, I have no words.
Bush book reveals McConnnell has double standard
The new book from the former president, George W. Bush, has revealed that Kentucky's senior senator, Mitch McConnell has a double standard.
See here:
See here:
But Salon reports, "in the same month -- September 2006 -- that McConnell made his private request, he publicly blasted Democrats for calling for a reduction of troops in Iraq, saying that their position endangered Americans."McConnell had requested in a private meeting that the president start to pull out troops.
Repeal DADT
With the 111th session of Congress now in a lame duck session, there is hope that DADT will be repealed by the end of the year. It's hard to say at the moment though. The following excerpt is from a press release sent out by Sen. Joe Lieberman's office, which had been issued by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Mark Udall (D-CO), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY):
“The Senate should act immediately to debate and pass a defense authorization bill and repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ during the lame duck session. The Senate has passed a defense bill for forty-eight consecutive years. We should not fail to meet that responsibility now, especially while our nation is at war. We must also act to put an end to the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that not only discriminates against but also dishonors the service of gay and lesbian service members.
“The National Defense Authorization Act is essential to the safety and well-being of our service members and their families, as well as for the success of military operations around the world. The bill will increase the pay of all service members, authorize needed benefits for our veterans and wounded warriors, and launch military construction projects at bases throughout the country.
“The process established by the defense bill would also allow ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to be repealed in an orderly manner, and only after the President, Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have certified to Congress that repeal is ‘consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces.’ If Congress does not act to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in an orderly manner that leaves control with our nation’s military leaders, a federal judge may do so unilaterally in a way that is disruptive to our troops and ongoing military efforts. It is important that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ be dealt with this year, and it appears that the only way that can happen is if it is on the defense bill.
“We are pleased that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has also called on Congress to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ We must act upon our responsibility to our troops and their family members and to the thousands of gay and lesbian service members who serve their nation bravely and honorably by passing the National Defense Authorization Act before the end of the year.”
RIP: Dave Niehaus
Just days after losing managerial great Sparky Anderson, the baseball world took another loss. Dave Niehaus passed away today. My condolences to the Seattle Mariners and their fans.
Dave Niehaus, the legendary and beloved voice of the Mariners from their inception in 1977 through the final game of the 2010 season, died Wednesday at his home in Bellevue, the team confirmed.Ken Griffey, Jr. had some nice words to say about Niehaus:
Niehaus suffered a heart attack, according to his family.
Niehaus, who received the Ford Frick Award at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2008, was 75. He leaves behind his wife Marilyn, children Andy, Matt and Greta, and six grandchildren.
"This is truly devastating news," Howard Lincoln, the Mariners CEO, and Chuck Armstrong, Mariners president, said in a release from the team. "Speaking for ourselves, our ownership and the entire Mariners family, our thoughts and prayers are with (wife) Marilyn, their children — Andy, Matt and Greta — and the grandchildren.
"Dave has truly been the heart and soul of this franchise since its inception in 1977. Since calling Diego Segui's first-pitch strike on Opening Night in the Kingdome some 34 years ago, Dave's voice has been the constant with the franchise. He truly was the fans' connection to every game; to wins and losses; to great plays and heartbreaking defeats; to Hall of Famers and journeymen. With the exception of his love for his wife, Marilyn, his children and grandchildren, there was nothing Dave liked more than the game of baseball and to be at the ballpark. He was the voice of spring and summer in the Northwest."
Former Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. told 710 ESPN that Niehaus "meant everything" to the Mariners.
"Everybody talks about the players who went there and the players who left, but he made the Mariners who they are," Griffey said. "Without him, the guys out there are nothing. Day in and day out he brought the excitement and drove thousands and millions of people to the ballpark to come watch us.
"It's tough because he's like that grandfather to all of us especially Jay, me, Edgar and Dan and so many other Mariners, he was like our grandfather. He would give you a little bit of advice, and he was tough on you when he needed to be. This is a day that I was hoping would never come. It's just a sad day for all of us, not just his family, but for everybody in the great Northwest.
"When I got drafted he came up to me and just looked at me and said: "You're going to be a good one" and he said "go out and have fun." When I got to Seattle I struggled for like the first couple weeks and he said "Where's that smile?" He said something and I started smiling and he said "That's what I want to see, that's why people come to the ballpark, to see you smile." Those are the things that I'll never forget because he was caring and loving. You didn't know if you were the number one guy on the team or the number 25 guy on the team, he treated everybody the same."
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Well. Rand, what will it be?
I don't know which Rand Paul is going to Washington. He seems he wants to flip-flop on his flip-flop, which was the one where he set his campaign on. Apparently, according to Ryan, he was on Wolf Blitzer's program last night.
Responding directly to that excerpt, Paul told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday evening, “I never said that” and that he has asked for a correction.See, Rand Paul has a problem with spending but has no problem with corporate executives having to pay a WHOLE LOT LESS in taxes.
“I will not use the earmark,” he said.
The distinction Paul makes is that he would advocate for federal funding for Kentucky programs or projects during committee hearings and budget discussions but not use earmarks, which he said are often “stuck on in the dead of the night.”
It’s the process — not the outcome that to which Paul objects.[...]
Later in his interview with Blitzer, Paul said he still favors extending the tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 even if it takes money away from the treasury. Spending must be cut, he said.
Paul, however, stepped gingerly around the question of whether he would vote to extend the debt ceiling from $14 trillion.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
GOP struggle for earmarks...
There is going to be a major struggle in the GOP when it comes to federal earmarks. Hell, there already is right now.
I've met both Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning when they presented checks at Northern Kentucky University. Don't worry...I dressed down for Jim Bunning, who wasn't even able to really answer a question about the Hall of Fame.
Fresh off the tea party's show of election might, GOP Sen. Jim DeMint said Tuesday he'll force a showdown next week with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other old-guard Republicans over “earmarked” pet projects that DeMint and other victors last week made a symbol of out-of-control deficit spending.The earmarks help with jobs. They also help provide money for much-needed projects like bridges.
The South Carolina Republican is optimistic he'll win a change in internal GOP rules to effectively bar any Republican from seeking earmarks.
“Americans want Congress to shut down the earmark favor factory, and next week I believe House and Senate Republicans will unite to stop pork barrel spending,” DeMint said.
DeMint won backing from 25 Senate Republicans, including McConnell, earlier this year to impose an earmark ban on Republicans and Democrats alike. But the proposal was easily defeated by Democrats and 14 pro-earmark Republicans. Thirty-three of 41 Senate Republicans then sought earmarks in this year's unfinished roster of spending bills.
McConnell, however, isn't enthusiastic about the idea of a ban now. And he finds himself caught in the middle of a battle dividing his party and opening it to criticism from tea party activists who helped Republicans take back the House and elect several anti-earmark senators.
House Republicans already have such a rule in place and are about to renew it, but both House and Senate Democrats are strongly opposed.
Earmarks include road and bridge projects, grants to local police departments and community development projects, among many, many others.[...]
But the newcomers are running into a phalanx of old school Republicans who defend the practice. They argue that they know the needs of their states better than Washington bureaucrats and that earmarks totaled only about one-half of 1 percent of the $3.5 trillion 2010 federal budget, about $16 billion.
I've met both Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning when they presented checks at Northern Kentucky University. Don't worry...I dressed down for Jim Bunning, who wasn't even able to really answer a question about the Hall of Fame.
Quote of the Day
"Well, I don't know anything about your parenting skills."
--Harrison Ford, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, November 9, 2010
--Harrison Ford, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, November 9, 2010
How the hell did this person get a job?!?
Okay, seriously. How in the hell does a person like this get a job?!? From The Huffington Post, we learn that Allen West named an immigrant-hating radio host to be his chief of staff. I'm sorry but this is very disturbing.
Okay, enough about Rand Paul. This person, a commentator, is being hired as a CHIEF OF STAFF to a CONGRESSMAN-ELECT. Where is the shame? There better be outcry by the Republicans that voted for West. Kaufman's rhetoric is unbecoming for a chief of staff.
Representative-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) decided this week to follow up a controversial and highly successful congressional campaign with a staff announcement in the same vein.It doesn't get better. The Florida Independent has a rundown of some of Kaufman's rhetoric.
Conservative radio show host Joyce Kaufman will serve as chief of staff to West, a Tea Party-backed political insurgent from Florida's southern coast.
Kaufman is a local staple on Sunshine State airwaves, talking politics from 12pm-3pm on WFTL as part of a lineup that includes heavyweights such as Lou Dobbs and Michael Savage. According to the WFTL website, she'll be retaining a correspondent position while she carries out her Capitol Hill duties for the West camp, a setup that a House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct believes could be "potentially problematic," according to ThinkProgress.
Perhaps more problematic than her employment future, however, is her rhetorical history. As if a blend of her two commentator colleagues, Kaufman is herself known for lobbing partisan firebombs that often focus on issues such as illegal immigration and, more broadly, Democratic leadership.
In August 2007, when discussing illegal immigrants, she said on her show, "If you commit a crime while you're here, we should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it."Is it a non-violent crime? Rand Paul would disagree with you on the punishment. He doesn't think non-vioent crimes should be considered a crime...
Okay, enough about Rand Paul. This person, a commentator, is being hired as a CHIEF OF STAFF to a CONGRESSMAN-ELECT. Where is the shame? There better be outcry by the Republicans that voted for West. Kaufman's rhetoric is unbecoming for a chief of staff.
Tina Fey to be presented Mark Twain Prize
At the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC tonight, actress-comedian-writer Tina Fey will be presented with the Mark Twain Prize for humor.
Gov. Beshear's Statement on Passport Audit
Governor Steve Beshear released a statement on the disturbing findings of the auditor's report of the Passport Health Plan.
“I was surprised and disappointed by the auditor’s report regarding the Passport Health Plan. As providers of health care to some of the Commonwealth's most vulnerable families, children, and senior citizens, it is disheartening to learn of Passport’s excessive spending of taxpayer dollars. Passport has historically provided quality health care, but these business practices are unacceptable, especially for a business that receives millions of taxpayer dollars every year.State Audior Crit Luallen's press release and two PDFs containing the findings of the audit can be found at the Kentucky State Auditor's website. Excerpts of the press release follow:
Today, I am calling for a complete financial audit of the Passport system. I also call on the Passport board to immediately review their management as a result of these findings, and to freeze any spending that is not absolutely necessary for the direct benefit of Medicaid eligible recipients. The Passport Board should also adopt the financial reporting standards for public and nonprofit boards developed by the Auditor of Public Accounts to ensure the board’s continued adherence to fiscal responsibility.
As a result of these findings, I have directed the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Department of Insurance to meet with the Passport Board to develop an immediate plan to correct these practices. I fully expect Passport to make quick and permanent changes in their business practices in order to continue fulfilling their mission of providing quality health care to the most vulnerable Kentuckians.”
State Auditor Crit Luallen today released an examination of Louisville-based Medicaid managed-care provider Passport Health Plan, calling for more accountability and transparency in the management and oversight of the state’s largest contract.
The exam recommends Passport’s policies regarding expenditures and cash distributions should be consistent with the original goal of controlling growth in Medicaid costs.
Auditors found that as Passport’s excessive revenues grew, it increased spending on lobbying, public relations, travel and salaries, and provided financial benefits that favored its original investors over other area providers.
The exam notes weak ethical policies and numerous conflicts of interest and calls into question Passport’s board structure and oversight.
The exam makes recommendations to the Kentucky Department of Medicaid Services (DMS) to strengthen contract negotiations with Passport.
University Health Care (UHC), which does business as Passport, is a non-profit corporation created for the purpose of offering Medicaid services to beneficiaries in 16 counties. Passport derives all of its funding from state and federal sources and is the state’s largest contract, receiving $793 million in fiscal year 2010 to serve 164,000 Kentuckians.
The program was ranked the 13th best Medicaid plan in the nation in 2008-2009 based on access to care, overall member satisfaction, prevention services and treatment. The exam by the Auditor’s Office did not address the quality or delivery of medical services.
Auditors found that Passport’s success has allowed it to accumulate substantial reserves. Questions have been raised regarding the distribution of excess revenues and the program’s savings. The exam calls for a detailed analysis to quantify any savings Passport is achieving for the Commonwealth.
In response to allegations received during the exam, auditors found that UHC staff traveled frequently, stayed in luxury resorts, used limousine services, ate expensive meals and purchased numerous gifts – all with funding received from Medicaid and many without a clear business purpose.
“Passport plays such a vital role in the lives of many Kentuckians, it is imperative that it use state and federal Medicaid funds in an equitable and transparent manner,” Luallen said. “Any cost savings generated by the program should take the form of lower costs to the state or additional services.”
The exam makes 20 findings and offers numerous recommendations to Passport and the state to provide consistent “good stewardship” over Medicaid funds.
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