The Daily Drift

Welcome to the Wednesday Edition of The Truth Be Told.
Our latest comment:
Give'em Hell.
~ Ben Berger

Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  

 

The Truth Be Told is read in 205 countries around the world.

Republicans - Stupid questions are all they ask if they ask any in the first place ... !

Today is - Ask A Stupid Question Day
 

Don't forget to visit our sister blog Carolina Naturally

Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Argentina - Brazil - Canada - Ecuador - Guatemala - Mexico - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico 

United States

Europe

Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - England - France - Georgia - Germany  Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Moldova - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania  Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Serbia - Spain - Sweden - Ukraine - Wales

Asia

China - India - Indonesia - Iran - Korea - Mauritius - Singapore - Saudi Arabia - Sri Lanka 

United Arab Emirates

Africa

Morocco - South Africa

The Pacific

Australia - Philippines

True Patriot Bernie Sanders Stands Up For Kids and The Troops As Republican Cabal Pushes Government Shutdown

Senator Bernie Sanders is showing Republicans what a true patriot acts like by standing up for those who be hurt the most if the republican cabal shuts down the government.

In a statement, Senator Sanders (I-VT):

Republicans are once again taking us to the edge of a government shutdown, demanding we take away health care from the American people. Defunding Planned Parenthood would deny hundreds of thousands of Americans access to services such as birth control, cancer screenings and STI tests.

We know shutting the government down will disrupt the economy and cost us jobs – it did in 2013 and it will if Republicans do it again. I hope my colleagues in both the House and the Senate come to their senses. Kids in Head Start, federal employees, the men and women of our military and law enforcement agencies and so many others should not pay the price for such a radical agenda.

Government shutdowns are no longer uncharted territory.

A non-partisan OMB report after the 2013 shutdown found that the Republican behavior cost taxpayers billions of dollars and denied millions Americans needed services. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisors cost the country 120,000 jobs.

Sen. Sanders was correct. All public employees, including those who serve in the military and work in law enforcement, are harmed by a government shutdown. Millions of people from kids who are enrolled in Head Start to seniors are denied access to needed services.

The country has been down this road before, and it is up to true public servants like Bernie Sanders to remind Republicans that shutting down the government is not a victimless crime.

Real people will hurt by the Republican decision to place ideological politics ahead of the needs of a nation. A real patriot would not be trying to figure out how to keep the government open while saving their own skin as John Boehner is doing.

A real patriot will fight for what is right, and sacrifice for the good of all. Republicans mock Bernie Sanders for his liberal political beliefs, but it looks like Sen. Sanders loves his country more than the self-styled Republican patriots.

The Summer Of Trump And The Fall Of The Republican Cabal

by John DeProspo

During the final death throes of his hapless candidacy to become the Republican pretender nominee, Perry took what many likened to, “a hail Mary pass.” He systematically and viciously attacked the Republican front-runner, Trump. He slammed the reality TV star’s pretender bid as dangerous and claimed, if left unchecked, it could bring about the demise of the Republican cabal.
“He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican cabal to perdition if pursued,” warned Perry during an address at the Willard Hotel in downtown Washington. “Let no one be mistaken: Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on wingnuttery, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.”
The attacks on Trump, however, didn’t work. On what could not have been a more somber day, September 11^th, the Texas idiot was forced to suspend his latest bid for the pretender.
Of course, Perry was spot on.
A Trump nomination as Republican pretender standard-bearer could be the end of the Republican cabal. But even if Trump does not become the nominee or this is all a hoax by the man, the damage he has inflicted on the Republican brand may be irreparable. By being forced to play Trump’s game of hate and division, Republicans have alienated everyone; gays, blacks, women, Hispanics, Asians, the poor, immigrants, and anyone who believes in science, education, justice, fairness and equality.
Anyway you slice it, the numbers do not work for the Republicans. While they may do well in state elections by sticking to their well-honed playbook, they have very little, to no, chance in a national election, regardless of whom the Democrats pick as their nominee.
No matter what happens, the damage has been done … but Trump will be a winner. For a great analysis of this point, read, Trump Has Already Won by William H. Harwood, instructor of Philosophy, The University of Texas-Pan American.

Seven Times Wingnuts Have Admitted They Don't Want People To Vote

Republican cabal pretender candidate Huckabee said that he didn’t want “stupid” people — i.e. people who won’t vote for him — to vote at all. Then a wingnut state representative in Florida was caught suggesting that the cabal steal Rep. Corrine... MORE

There's Nothing Paradoxical About The Hate Spewing From The 'Diverse' Presidential Field

There's no "paradox" here.

Plutocrats Still Reign

Plutocrats Still Reign: Why Walker’s Withdrawal Is No Defeat for Super PACs and the Kochs

Trump is much more like Reagan than the Republican cabal establishment would like to admit

by Jonathan Allen

Trump is a lot more like Reagan than most Republicans think.
Many in the Republican cabal establishment are upset that Trump compares himself to fellow Democrat-turned-Republican Reagan, and they often try to discredit him by arguing that Reagan was a happy warrior who spoke only of a "shining city on a hill" and "morning in America" but never ominously about the country he loved.
"As political presences, Trump and Reagan are light years apart," Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, wrote recently. "Reagan was an optimist. Trump is a scowling nativist."
There's a problem with this line of thinking, which is espoused by no small number of prominent Republicans and even members of Reagan's political operation. It ignores what Trump has captured about the essence of Reaganism: It's about nostalgia — a future that feels a lot like an imagined utopian past. Listening to tapes of Reagan or a live broadcast of Trump, you can almost hear Archie and Edith Bunker singing, "Those were the days," at the opening of All in the Family: "Didn't need no welfare state; everybody pulled his weight."
Like Reagan, Trump is arguing that the US must be rescued from a rapid descent brought on by a Democratic president and promising to "make America great again." That hazy retro Polaroid photo looks good to a certain segment of the Republican cabal, which explains Trump's rise. The difference between Reagan and Trump is this: When Reagan appealed to working-class white voters in 1980, he was enlarging the Republican cabal; when Trump does it, he's threatening to shrink the republican cabal.
That is what's truly infuriating to the Republican candidates who are getting smoked by Trump right now. They're certain it's a catastrophic formula for the future of the party. Jeb, who is trying to broaden the cabal's base by appealing to Latino voters, has a campaign slogan of "Right to Rise." Rubio declared at his campaign launch that "yesterday's over." Neither one of them is thinking about nostalgia or how to make the Republican cabal more like it was in 1980. But Trump is.
So Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination can shout all they want about how his policies don't match up with Reagan's principles, but they're missing the bigger point: Trump is like Reagan because he's charismatic in communicating the case that he's the one who will fight for voters and "make America great again." Trump is simply running a more Reagan-like campaign than any of his competitors are.
Reagan evolved toward optimism over the course of his career
One of the lasting memories of Reagan's optimism was a TV spot he ran called "Morning in America." But it's often forgotten that this slogan was part of his 1984 reelection campaign, when he needed to convince voters that the country was on the right track. For much of his earlier career in politics, which was dominated by Democrats at the presidential and congressional levels, Reagan was dependent on making the opposite case.
In 1964, he catapulted into the national Republican consciousness with a televised 30-minute ad for Barry Goldwater's pretender campaign called "A Time for Choosing." As professor Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College points out, Reagan was a different politician at that time.
"Not only was the content pretty bracing, but his demeanor was serious, almost angry," Pitney wrote in an email to Vox. "His presentation softened over the years: the indignant outsider morphed into the smiling grandfather that we remember."

More

Trump: Foreign Policy, Foreign Schmology! I'm A Job Creator!

Who needs knowledge? I'm a deal maker!

Trump: If I Do Something Wrong, 'I Don't Mind Being Criticized'

"I don't mind being criticized, and I don't mind it at all," Mr. Trump said on CNN's "New Day."

Rubio: No Path To Citizenship While I'm Pretender

The cameras showed him tearing up while the Pope spoke to Congress about immigrants. But when it comes to citizenship, not so much.

Fiorina Betrays The Central Unifying Principle Of Republican Constitutional Theory

Fiorina Betrays The Central Unifying Principle Of Republican Constitutional Theory

Fiorina Urged To Visit Planned Parenthood Clinic

When are these morons going to stop with the government funded abortion lie?

Fiorina: 'I Have Seen Proof That The Moon Landing Was A Hoax

Just like the Planned Parenthood fetal body parts video, she too thinks this is the real McCoy.

Obama Drops The Veto Hammer On The Republican Bill To Defund Planned Parenthood

President Obama has preemptively struck at the Republican bill to defund Planned Parenthood, by promising to veto the bill if it passes the Senate.

In a Statement Of Administration Policy, the White House put an end to the Senate’s Planned Parenthood
The Administration strongly opposes Senate passage of the Senate amendment to H.J.Res. 61, making continuing appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2016, and for other purposes, which contains highly objectionable provisions that advance a narrow ideological agenda. Specifically, the Amendment includes a provision that would defund Planned Parenthood. By eliminating Federal funding for a major provider of health care, the Senate amendment to H.J.Res. 61 would limit access to health care for women, men, and families across the Nation, and disproportionately impact low-income individuals.

The Administration urges the Congress to pass full-year appropriations legislation for FY 2016 that excludes ideological provisions that are intended to advance a narrow political agenda, reverses sequestration for defense and non-defense priorities, and makes critical investments needed to support national security and sustain economic growth.

If the President were presented with H.J.Res. 61, as amended by this Amendment, he would veto the bill.

H.J. Res. 61 is the Republican cabals way of trying to satisfy Cruz and the House Freedom Caucus. There is no way that this bill is going to get through the Senate., but even if it would by some miracle advance, President Obama is going to veto it.

The message is obvious. Defunding Planned Parenthood is a non-starter. Republicans are not going to be able to any bill to fund the government that contains a provision that defunds Planned Parenthood. It simply is not going to happen.

Republicans are wasting their time if they believe that they can pressure Senate Democrats and the President into accepting any bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. Obama is not going to let that happen. Democrats are not going to allow access to a vital healthcare resource to be taken away from millions of Americans because Republicans are trying to pander for votes from an extremist minority of social wingnuts.

The American people agree with President Obama and the Democrats. Defunding Planned Parenthood is not a priority. If Republicans shut down the government over Planned Parenthood, they will be setting themselves up for a colossal defeat, as President Obama will stand his ground, and triumph over the extremists.

Republicans Want To Spend $130 Million Of Your Money To Defund Planned Parenthood

The Republican scheme to defund Planned Parenthood is going to cost taxpayers $130 million over ten years.…

Senate Republicans are set to vote to defund Planned Parenthood Thursday afternoon, which is going to increase government spending by $130 million.

Even after Republicans tried to make the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) scoring process partisan to favor their inaccurate claims, that body has determined that yet another Big Republican Idea is going to cost $130 million over ten years. Yes, that is the cost of permanently defunding Planned Parenthood for something they didn’t do.

Here’s the tricky part. The CBO determined that defunding Planned Parenthood would reduce spending by $520 million in ten years. Wow, right? So fiscally conservative! This is the number you will probably be hearing a lot from Republicans.

But wait.

Defunding Planned Parenthood would also increase spending by $650 million over ten years.

Now, if you are doing Republican math, that might look good but it is actually a $130 million increase in government spending.

“Netting those costs against the savings estimated above, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would increase direct spending by $130 million over the 2016-2025 period,” they wrote in their letter to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

Defunding Planned Parenthood is the new Benghazi for Republicans. They created a false flag using edited videos that don’t actually, even with the edits, provide evidence of their accusations. But facts are not friends when you’re trying to whip up votes from the people you are stealing from, so it is incumbent upon Republicans to stir emotion, hence their attacks on Planned Parenthood, which they somehow lump in under a fake moral high ground of being against abortion.

But of course, Planned Parenthood reduces abortions more than any Republican idea yet, because access to affordable birth control and family planning is what in fact reduces the need for abortions. Even if we didn’t have statistics to prove this, it should be self-evident through logic.

So Republicans are planning to increase government spending in order to drive home a lie built on fabricated non-evidence, and in what can only be a two-punch to their stated agenda, their actions will also result in more abortions.

The CBO points out that the Republican plan would cause more unplanned births, and Medicaid would have to pay for some of those births. Then some of the children born would be on government programs, and so on.

All of this over an entirely fictional claim. This is a good time to remind everyone, because Republicans like to move the goal posts so much that it’s easy to forget, the government doesn’t fund abortions. We do not give federal funds to Planned Parenthood to give abortions because there is a law prohibiting federal funding for abortions. We give money to Planned Parenthood to do things like cancer screenings and birth control.

The CBO made this clear in their letter:

In 2013, Planned Parenthood received approximately $60 million under Title X. Services funded by Title X include contraceptive education and counseling; pregnancy diagnosis and counseling; cervical and breast cancer screening; and education, testing, and referral services associated with sexually transmitted diseases. CBO estimates that the bill would not affect spending subject to appropriations because any discretionary grants, such as those made under Title X, that might otherwise have gone to Planned Parenthood would be awarded to other health clinics or medical practitioners.

Republicans: Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to drive up the abortion rate. That’s a tag line for an election if ever I heard one.

Defunding Planned Parenthood Officially Stupidest Republican Cabal Idea Since Last Stupidest Idea

Remember that time the Republican cabal said it was going to re-re-rebrand itself as the Party of IdeasTM, and we all rolled our eyes and laughed and rolled our eyes some more? Yeah, well, that’s going as well as we all knew it would: failtastically. A recent poll showed Americans think the Republican cabal sucks crusted dingleberries, so we expect another announcement of re-re-extra-re-with-a-side-of-super-sized-re-branding any second now. You know who doesn’t suck, according to everyone ...

MORE

Huckabee Doubles Down on His Religious Bigotry Toward Gay People and Obama

Huckabee Doubles Down on His Religious Bigotry Toward Gay People and Obama

Scalia: Supreme Court Could End Death Penalty

According to Pignolet’s report, Scalia said that “he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if his court ruled it unconstitutional.

Police Fatalities Are Down, But There Is Still A Political 'War On Police'

Some pundits have declared that there is a "War On Police" and have tried to blame police accountability groups

Wingnut Maine mayor wants to shame the poor by giving public access to welfare recipients’ addresses

Wingnut Maine mayor wants to shame the poor by giving public access to welfare recipients’ addresses

Mayor Robert Macdonald of Lewiston, Maine this week called on the state General Assembly to pass a bill that would create a public registry with the personal information of any person who receives welfare benefits.