The Daily Drift

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The Truth Be Told is read in 203 countries around the world.

 
Republicans hate Audubon because he worked to educate and preserve 
- two things that they just cannot abide ... !

Today is - There is no special celebration today
 

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Obama Strikes Back By Giving Senate Republicans No Credit For Confirming Loretta Lynch

President Obama took a shot a Senate Republicans in his statement about Loretta Lynch’s confirmation by completely ignoring Mitch McConnell and the Republicans who finally voted for her to be the next Attorney General.

The President said:

Today, the Senate finally confirmed Loretta Lynch to be America’s next Attorney General – and America will be better off for it. Loretta has spent her life fighting for the fair and equal justice that is the foundation of our democracy. As head of the Justice Department, she will oversee a vast portfolio of cases, including counterterrorism and voting rights; public corruption and white-collar crime; judicial recommendations and policy reviews – all of which matter to the lives of every American, and shape the story of our country. She will bring to bear her experience as a tough, independent, and well-respected prosecutor on key, bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform. And she will build on our progress in combatting newer threats like cybercrime. Loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every American experiences justice under the law.

There is no mention of Republicans in the President’s statement. Just a pointed “finally”.

Loretta Lynch made history Thursday as the first female African American Attorney General when she was finally confirmed with a Senate vote of 56-43. Just ten Republicans sided with all of the Senate Democrats in the vote. Just ten, over someone pretty much everyone agrees is a solid choice for Attorney General.

But holding the most basic processes and departments hostage is how Republicans govern in their Age of Opposition, like petulant two-year-olds acting out against parental authority.

Republicans earned this contempt the hard way — playing politics over the basics, once again.

The President’s statement was in line with his belief that Republicans don’t deserve credit for doing their jobs. Mitch McConnell deserves no special mention or praise for doing what he should have done months ago. Sen. McConnell and his political games were the only reason the President had to wait so long for his nominee to be confirmed.

Obama wasn’t going to pretend that the Lynch vote was some bipartisan breakthrough or evidence that the Senate is now “working.” The reality is that the long delay that Republicans caused is proof that the Senate is as broken as it ever was.

The only difference in the Senate is that Democrats have not chosen to obstruct every single bill. The Senate is “working” because Mitch McConnell is no longer using his minority power to block everything.

Republicans don’t get a pat on the head for finally doing the right thing. Obama gave Senate Republicans exactly what they earned. Nothing at all.

Liberals Bernie Sanders and Al Franken Win As Comcast Drops Time Warner Bid

The liberal senators who stood up in opposition to the Comcast-Time Warner merger scored a major victory as Comcast has pulled out of the planned deal.

Sen. Sanders (I-VT) reacted to the news by saying, “The report that Comcast is backing away from its bid to take over Time Warner Cable is good news for American consumers. The level of media consolidation in America already is unacceptable and it would have been extremely dangerous for one company to control 57 percent of the broadband Internet market, 30 percent of the cable market and dominate 19 of the 20 largest U.S metropolitan areas.”

Sen. Franken (D-MN) said, “I’ve been opposed to this deal since it was first announced, and I’m glad that over the last 15 months, more and more people have come to see it the way I do. This transaction would create a telecom behemoth that would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service. We need more competition in this space, not less. If reports of the collapse of the deal are true, it would be a huge victory for American consumers.”

Sen. Franken was correct. Getting Comcast to drop their monopolistic Time Warner deal is a great win for consumers, but it was the pressure generated by Senate liberals that turned up the heat on the deal. The power of the liberal movement in this country was flexed in the outrage generated by the potential creation of the largest cable company in the country. Outside of the extreme concentration of wealth at the top, and the staggering disparity in income inequality, the death of the free market is a one of the biggest problems facing the U.S. economy.

The objections of the FCC and the Department of Justice caused Comcast to pull the plug, but it was liberal outrage that started and fueled the fire. Liberals killed a huge deal for two of the biggest corporations in the country.

This is a good day for the left, and a moment that cements that it is the liberal movement in this country who are the real defenders of consumers and free market competition.

Republicans Are Toast In 2016 If Supreme Court Rules Against Obamacare Subsidies

Congressional Republicans are starting to see the writing on the wall. If the Supreme Court rules against ACA subsidies, they could face a massive voter backlash in 2016.

The Hill reported:

Congressional Republicans are locked in a debate about whether to temporarily keep in place the ObamaCare subsidies that are at risk of being struck down at the Supreme Court.

….

The stakes are high, as a ruling against the healthcare law could strip federal aid from an estimated 7.5 million people ahead of the 2016 elections, with red states hit particularly hard.

….

A new proposal put forward this week by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is up for reelection in 2016, would allow people to keep their ObamaCare plans and subsidies until 2017, when the party hopes a Republican president will able to enact more sweeping changes from the White House.

In other words, there is a segment within the Republican Party who realized that getting rid of the ACA subsidies could mean a big backlash from millions of red state voters who depend on the subsidies for affordable health insurance.

Faced with the prospect of facing a likely Democratic nominee with more red state appeal that President Obama, Republicans should be worried.

Senate Republicans from states that vote Democratic in presidential elections, but have Republican governors who did not set up their own exchanges, should be terrified.

Ironically, the same Republican effort at the state level to resist participating in Obamacare could come back to haunt Republicans in 2016.

With satisfaction with Obamacare skyrocketing, the Supreme Court could put Democrats on a path to victory in 2016 if they give Republicans what they have long claimed to want.

The same hatred of the ACA that has fueled their campaigns for years is also sowing the seeds for Republican defeat and destruction.

Republican Nightmares Come True As Customer Satisfaction With Obamacare Skyrockets

Republican nightmares have become reality as a new survey revealed that customer satisfaction with Obamacare has skyrocketed to the where it is now more popular than all other insurance options.

According to a new J.D Power survey, customer satisfaction has jumped 55 points in the last year:

Satisfaction with the Health Insurance Marketplace exchange enrollment process among new enrollees has significantly increased from 2014, and health plans obtained through the Marketplace exchange generate levels of member satisfaction equal to or higher than plans not obtained through the Marketplace exchange, according to the J.D. Power 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace Exchange Shopper and Re-Enrollment (HIX) StudySM released today.

….

According to the study, enrollment satisfaction among new enrollees has increased by a significant 55 points to 670 (on a 1,000-point scale) from 615 in 2014, when all enrollees were new to the Marketplace. Satisfaction with enrollment among new enrollees is driven by the variety of information available. Among members who re-enrolled, satisfaction with the enrollment processis 731, higher than new enrollees. Satisfaction with the re-enrollment process is higher among those who auto re-enrolled (744) than among those who did not (724).

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“Marketplace shoppers are very cost-sensitive,” said Rick Johnson, senior director of the healthcare practice at J.D. Power. “Unlike many traditional health plan members, who are often tied to a single employer benefit offering, Marketplace members have an option to switch plans annually, allowing them to shop for either the most affordable or the most valuable plan. Plan providers need to demonstrate the value of their plan by clearly communicating coverage and benefits. Additionally, auto re-enrollment is a great way to both ease the re-enrollment process and increase member retention.”

The results of this survey shatter the Republican myth that the people who have Obamacare plans hate them. The survey also devastated the Republican idea that Obamacare has made health care more expensive. Most importantly, this survey increased the pressure on Republicans to come with an Obamacare replacement plan that will be as cheap or cheaper for consumers than the plans that are offered on the health insurance exchanges.

Instead of wanted rid of Obamacare, people who have purchased plans are very satisfied. The high level of customer satisfaction means that Republicans will be facing 27 million outraged voters of they every get rid of the health insurance exchanges. These results could also impact the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of Obamacare subsidies. The swing votes on the court might be reluctant to take away subsidies from a system that has demonstrated its popularity with consumers.

The reason Republicans worked so hard to kill the ACA before it was implemented was their fear that once consumers got a taste of Obamacare, they would never want to let it go. The worst Republican nightmare has always been that Obamacare becomes popular, and the American people would demand more health care.

Obamacare is more dangerous than a government program. The ACA has introduced the idea that every American should have access to affordable health care. Republicans could be setting themselves up for a serious thumping at the ballot box if they continue to insist on repealing Obamacare.

Today’s Phony Hillary ‘Scandal': Clinton Foundation Misfiled Tax Returns, Outrage To Follow

This is the biggest made up Hillary scandal since yesterday! Look for a brand new made up scandal tomorrow!

Read more 

Fox News Sabotages Its Own Propaganda With Poll Showing Democrats Happy With Hillary Clinton

Fox News has been undone by facts again as a new Fox News poll debunked the network’s myth that Democrats are unhappy with Hillary Clinton.

Fox News broke down the data that destroyed their hopes for Democratic disunity:

In the quest for the Democratic nomination, former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton remains on top with 62 percent support among self-identified Democratic primary voters. She’s the only declared candidate on the Democratic side. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12 percent) and Vice President Joe Biden (9 percent) lag far behind.

Despite far fewer options, Democratic primary voters (71 percent) are a tad bit more likely than their GOP counterparts (67 percent) to say they are satisfied with their 2016 choices.

The Bush dynasty is seen as a negative while the Clinton dynasty is a positive. By a 58-34 percent margin, voters say being related to previous presidents is a disadvantage for Jeb Bush, yet by a 52-39 percent margin they think it’s an advantage for Hillary Clinton.

The Republican Party and their main media outlet (Fox News) have been pushing the fantasy that Democrats are dissatisfied with Hillary Clinton as their main option. The right has been desperately trying to turn their twenty plus Republican presidential candidates into lemonade by touting their “deep bench,” and “options.” The reality is that Democratic Party has a major advantage because they are unified around their candidate while Republicans are getting set to engage in a geographic turf war in the hope that one candidate will emerge that can effectively challenge former Sec. Clinton.

Fox News has been featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lately in a transparently blatant attempt to create division within the Democratic primary. The plan has failed as Sen. Sanders has turned the tables on Fox by discussing his agenda while dominating their attempts to get him to attack Clinton.

The conservative cable news network has managed to shoot itself in the foot with a poll that disproves the myth that they are trying to convince their viewers is true. Facts have proven once again that they are the biggest enemy of Fox News.

It’s Getting Hard to Tell Where Sovereign Citizens End and Republicans Begin

Both Republicans and so-called sovereign citizens are citizens and subject to federal authority. If not, we should rethink deportation laws…

It is probably safe to say at this point that no enemy, foreign or domestic, hates the United States Constitution as passionately as the Republican Party. If they are not pretending it is somehow biblically based – despite zero mentions of God, the Bible, or the Ten Commandments – they are violating the First Amendment or the No Religious Test Clause (Article 6, paragraph 3), or half-a-dozen or more amendments.

Just as the Bible has apparently become one long anti-gay diatribe, the Constitution, to their eyes, has become the sum of the Second and the Tenth Amendments, and nothing much beyond that. And it scarce needs be mentioned that they have turned government of the people, by the people, and for the people, into government of, by, and for the corporations.

So it should come as no surprise that they regularly argue (and even try to back it up with legislation) that federal laws are meaningless (remember that Montana bill a couple of years ago that would have allowed FBI agents to be arrested for making arrests? Or Missouri Republicans who wanted to nullify federal gun laws and arrest federal agents?).

This is a strange species of patriotism being advanced by the GOP, you have to admit.

As the federal government has become demonized, Neo-Confederate secessionists have found the Republican Party amenable to their own goals, and now Larry Pratt of the Gun Owners of America has essentially crawled into bed with the sovereign citizen movement the other day – the people who reject ALL U.S. laws under the fiction that they themselves are not citizens.

Pratt appeared on VCY America’s Crosstalk Tuesday and fielded a call from a Wisconsin sovereign citizen who said, “I just wondered if somebody of your stature would stand up and scream from the rooftops that these 60 million codes and regulations don’t apply to us, only to U.S. citizens.”

Oh, those old laws don’t matter anyway, Pratt said:

Well, I think you can make the same point with another argument, that the body of, the corpus of law and regulations you’re pointing to, almost none of it comes under the Constitution. It gives powers to the federal government that were not given to the federal government in the Constitution. They should be stricken.

An interesting assertion coming from a representative of the party most often violating the Constitution with its legislation. But the striking thing is that while this man self-identified as a sovereign citizen, he could easily be mistaken for a Republican.

Pratt even said the federal movement and the court should not be involving themselves in the marriage equality question (funny how Republicans think differently when the government and courts agree with them), saying, it’s “not something for the federal government or the federal judiciary to be sticking their nose into.”

The United States Constitution says differently.

I realize Republicans hate history – our own history in particular – but there is defending the status quo, and then there is thinking you can go back in time to a status quo that hasn’t been a status quo for a couple hundred years. The terms “clown-car” and “crazy bus,” like the Constitution itself, exist for a reason.

It is funny that while closing his eyes to the underpinnings of our shared reality, Larry Pratt should claim that liberals do not live in a fact-based world. After all, Larry Pratt is the guy who said people should use their guns to keep Obama from being a tyrant, and that Obama should be impeached because of “Pagan” gun safety laws.

Pratt, who accuses other people of not living in a fact-based world, is perfectly described by the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Larry Pratt stands at the intersection of guns and Jesus, lobbying for absolutely unrestricted distribution of firearms while advocating a theocratic society based upon Old Testament civil and religious laws. A pivotal figure in the rise of right-wing militia, or “Patriot,” groups, he spoke at the notorious 1992 “Gathering of Christian Men” in Estes Park, Colo., where 160 neo-Nazis, Klan members, anti-Semitic Christian Identity adherents and others arguably laid the groundwork for the militia movement that would explode in 1994. He believes that white Christians must arm themselves for self-protection in the inevitable social implosions and riots that are soon to come.

David Corn wrote at Mother Jones the other day that guns are “an issue of primal importance to the Republican voting base.” It’s a shame they don’t feel the same way about facts.

And here’s the thing: laws are laws. If you don’t like them, you don’t get to ignore them. You work to change them. That’s what the courts are for (unless you are the Kochs, and then you just buy Congress), and the Supreme Court spends its time, as the Constitution says it should, puzzling these arcane matters out – and obviously, not always getting it right (Citizens United, anyone?).

What all this brouhaha amounts to for people like Pratt is that any law he doesn’t approve of is unlawful. He can claim the Supreme Court should not be “sticking its nose into” marriage equality, but as this is a First Amendment issue, the Fourteenth Amendment says otherwise.

If the Civil War had not taken place, we might not have the Fourteenth Amendment. But it did, and we do. Laws that once might have applied only to the federal government now apply to the states as well.

By the same token, if the Articles of Confederation had worked, we would not have the Constitution. But they didn’t, and we do. We cannot go back and undo the Civil War, and we can’t go back to the Articles of Confederation. Time only flows one direction.

The good news is, they say time heals all wounds. Even open sores like Larry Pratt. Take heart from that.

Meanwhile, of course, both Republicans and these so-called sovereign citizens are citizens and therefore subject to federal authority. If they are not, maybe we should rethink deportation laws. Obviously, we have plenty of people willing to abide by the laws in order to become citizens of this great country.

They’re literally lining up at the door – and unlike sovereign citizens, paying taxes – for a chance to be the citizen Pratt and his sovereign citizen friend, refuses to be.

Audit Reveals Millions Of Dollars Wasted To Deport Immigrants

by Esther Yu-Hsi Lee

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency spent $41.1 million more than it needed to deport immigrants from the United States, a new audit by the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office found. The findings were based on 5,699 domestic and international missions between October 2010 and March 2014, where the majority of charter planes weren't filled with the maximum number of passengers.
The report found that 5,699 of the 7,445 ICE Air missions operated under capacity, with ICE spending $116 million on planes filled with less than 80 percent of the aircraft's passenger capacity. Domestic missions, like transporting detainees from one ICE facility to another, accounted for 52 percent of all charter flights. Those missions cost more than $231 million.
Flying deportees to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, accounted for nearly half of all international missions. The cost to deport immigrants to just those three countries cost $96 million. Including charter and commercial flights and payroll and benefits, the total ICE Air operation cost came in at $598,232,543. The total cost "may include travel expenses for employees as well as detainees," the report noted.
The report also found that ICE missed opportunities to improve efficiency, such as not documenting the reason that a detainee would miss the flight, or making redundant multiple transfers for some detainees. ICE Air moved six detainees multiple times between the same cities: One detainee was flown twice between El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, before eventually getting deported to Honduras. Another detainee was put on five different domestic flights before being flown to his ultimate destination in El Salvador.

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The richest 0.01 percent of Americans gave 42 percent of political donations in 2012

by Stephen WolfForget the top one percent, the top 0.01 percent of Americans gave nearly 42 percent of all political donation dollars in the 2012 election cycle. Just over 30,000 individuals contributed nearly half of all money. It is no coincidence that this proportion has increased steadily as economic inequality has increased. In 1990 when I was born, the figure was just under 13 percent. If we expanded the scope to the full one percent, you can be damn sure they gave the overwhelming majority of dollars in recent years.
Candidates devote 80 percent of their time to begging rich people for money. Any extremist Republican can get a billionaire sugar daddy. The world's eighth richest man can summon the entire Republican primary field to kiss his ring. Millionaires are now complaining about being ignored in favor of billionaires. The average member of Congress is a millionaire.
It should come as no surprise that policymakers look after the ultra-wealthy instead of the rest of us. This trend of increasing economic and political inequality shows no sign of abating. Inequality is incompatible with democracy and it has created a plutocracy. Republicans like Marco Rubio are even proposing abolishing capital gains taxes in an all-out assault on those who actually earn their income.
Government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich, brought to you by the Supreme Court.

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Editor's Note: When we were born the percentage was even lower than the 13% cited by the article's author. Of course our kids were born in the late 60s so that makes a difference.

Republican Wannabes Go To Vegas To Audition For Single Largest Campaign Donor In U.S. History

Moron Sheldon Adelson and his wife spent nearly $150 million on the 2012 election.

Walker Goes To Minnesota, Gets Burned, Blames Democrats

Scott Walker and reality really aren't on speaking terms

Walker Gets Burned

Jindal Will Destroy Louisiana's Economy While Pandering To Religio-Wingnuts

Bobby Jindal desperately wants relevance in the 2016 beauty contest.

Jindal Will Destroy Louisiana

How The Regressives Keeps You Stupid

Bobby Jindal’s Budget Slashes College Funding By 82 Percent

At least 20 universities, including LSU, took one look at the budget and started drawing up plans for bankruptcy.

Read more

Oklahoma Republicans Vote To Outlaw Fracking Bans As Earthquakes In The State Spike

Oklahoma Republicans Are Morons

NC Republican Compares Women To Real Estate As House Votes To Triple Wait For Abortions

North Carolina Republican Jacqueline Schaffer successfully urged her colleagues to pass the nation's longest waiting period for abortion last Thursday, arguing that woman should have a cooling off period just like real estate transactions.

 NC Republican Is An Idiot

Rand Paul Will Not Comment On Son's Second Alcohol Incident

William Hilton Paul, 22, son of Rand, has another drunken incident. Somehow, this event was kept quiet for 3 days.

Rand Paul Mum On Son's Alcohol Abuse

Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence Presents Republicans With ‘NRA Lapdog’ Awards

The Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence epically trolled numerous Republican lawmakers (and one Democrat) by presenting them with the very prestigious NRA...

‘NRA Lapdog’ Awards

Arpaio spying on the wife of the Judge that his hearing his case

Joe Arpaio reveals: Attorney hired a detective to snoop on a federal judge's wife

Police Beat Up Defendant — And A Lawyer — Outside Of A Courtroom

Police Beat Up Defendant — And A Lawyer — Outside Of A Courtroom