Religious welfare queen John Hagee has finally commented on
the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling and, of course, it’s a
meltdown of biblical proportions.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Sunday, July 5, 2015
The Daily Drift
The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.
Republicans are so out of touch, this is what a bikini is to them ... !
Today is - Bikini Day
Don't forget to visit our sister blog Carolina Naturally
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico - United States
Europe
Bosnia/Herzegovina
- Bulgaria - Czech Republic - England - Germany - Finland - France -
Ireland - Italy Netherlands - Northern Ireland - Poland - Portugal -
Russia - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia Spain - Turkey -
Ukraine - Wales
Asia
India - Indonesia - Iran - Israel - Korea - Malaysia - Oman - Pakistan - Sri Lanka - Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Africa
Zambia
The Pacific
Australia - Philippines
President Obama Makes History With A Deal To Reopen The U.S. Embassy in Cuba
President Obama added another piece of history to
his already historic week by announcing a deal to reopen the U.S.
embassy in Cuba.
The President said:
More than 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the United States closed its embassy in Havana. Today, I can announce that the United States has agreed to formally re-establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba, and re-open embassies in our respective countries. This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people, and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas.
More than 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the United States closed its embassy in Havana. Today, I can announce that the United States has agreed to formally re-establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba, and re-open embassies in our respective countries. This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people, and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas.
When the United States shuttered our embassy in
1961, I don’t think anyone expected that it would be more than half a
century before it re-opened. After all, our nations are separated by
only 90 miles, and there are deep bonds of family and friendship between
our people. But there have been very real, profound differences
between our governments, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped
by a certain way of doing things.
For the United States, that meant clinging to a
policy that was not working. Instead of supporting democracy and
opportunity for the Cuban people, our efforts to isolate Cuba despite
good intentions increasingly had the opposite effect — cementing the
status quo and isolating the United States from our neighbors in this
hemisphere. The progress that we mark today is yet another
demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. When
something isn’t working, we can — and will — change.
Last December, I announced that the United
States and Cuba had decided to take steps to normalize our relationship.
As part of that effort, President Raul Castro and I directed our teams
to negotiate the re-establishment of embassies. Since then, our State
Department has worked hard with their Cuban counterparts to achieve that
goal. And later this summer, Secretary Kerry will travel to Havana
formally to proudly raise the American flag over our embassy once more.
This is not merely symbolic. With
this change, we will be able to substantially increase our contacts with
the Cuban people. We’ll have more personnel at our embassy. And our
diplomats will have the ability to engage more broadly across the
island. That will include the Cuban government, civil society, and
ordinary Cubans who are reaching for a better life.
The President could have been talking about the
positions of the Republican cabal on almost every issue. Republicans are
outraged by Obama’s step to relegate another Cold War policy relic to
the history books, but the facts are on his side. The Republican policy
of isolating the regimes in North Korea and Cuba resulted in a
strengthening of governments that impoverish and oppress their own
people.
President
Obama has had a historic week, and he has made history again by moving
U.S./Cuba relations into the 21st Century, and he is sending the message
that Democratic Party is nation’s only forward thinking party of
progress.
Americans Approve Of Obama’s Handling Of Race Relations And The Economy
A majority of Americans approve of the president's handling of race relations and his handling of the economy.…
A CNN/ORC poll released on June 30, 2015 shows that
Barack Obama’s popularity has surged to its highest level in over two
years. The poll, drawn
from a random sample of 1,017 Americans, found that 50 percent of
Americans approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, with 47
percent disapproving of the president’s performance. Those are his
highest marks since May of 2013.
More importantly, the survey found that most
Americans approve of Barack Obama’s handling of race relations and of
his handling of the economy. While conservative media has relentlessly
attacked the president as a “race baiter”, the American people disagree
with that characterization of Obama. 55 percent of Americans approve of President Obama’s handling of race relations, compared to only 42 percent who disapprove.
Black Americans are especially supportive of the
president’s handling of race relations, with 84 percent approving, to
just 14 percent disapproving of his approach to dealing with racial
issues. However, even a plurality of white Americans approve of Obama’s
handling of race relations. 48 percent say he is doing well on racial
issues, compared to 47 percent who have an unfavorable opinion of the
president’s handling of race relations.
Americans also broadly support President Obama’s handling of the economy. 52 percent of Americans approve of the president’s job performance on dealing with the economy, compared to 47 percent who disapprove. Its hard to argue with 63 consecutive months of job growth and
a 5.5 percent unemployment rate, especially considering the economic
mess President Obama inherited from his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Despite his party taking a shellacking in the 2014
midterm elections, President Obama appears determined to continue to
lead the nation with forward thinking actions. His efforts are paying
off.
After a week where the Supreme Court expanded
marriage equality to all 50 states and upheld federal subsidies for
Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation –the Affordable Care Act
(ACA) — Americans have reason to support their president’s visionary
leadership. Not surprisingly, the latest poll shows they do.
Bernie Sanders Rips Presidential Candidates For Disgraceful Citizens United Money Grubbing
On the deadline day for quarterly presidential
fundraising, Bernie Sanders ripped presidential candidates in both
parties while calling for the overturning of Citizens United.
In a statement, Sanders said:
It is a national disgrace that billionaires and other extremely wealthy people are able to heavily influence the political process by making huge contributions. The Koch brothers alone will spend more than the Democratic and Republican parties to influence the outcome of next year’s elections. That’s not democracy, that’s oligarchy’
Elections should be determined by who has the best ideas, not who can hustle the most money from the rich and powerful. Unless we end this disastrous campaign finance system, our government will continue to represent the interests of the few at the expense of the many.
Bernie Sanders has raised more money from individuals than all of the Republican pretender candidates,
but the truth is that the $8.3 million he has raised will be dwarfed by
what the super PACs pull in. The odds are that few people reading this
article will have donated to a super PAC, which is the entire problem
with Citizens United.
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision created
a funding mechanism that has allowed billionaires and special interests
to hijack the electoral process. Democrats are opposed to Citizens
United, but they have to play along on this landscape or they will have
no hope of ever being able to overturn the law.
Sanders is correct. What is happening to our
electoral system is a national disgrace. The dysfunction in Congress was
largely created by the fact that incumbents represent the interests of
their big donors instead of their constituents. Parties have little
control over their members because incumbents don’t need the party to
win. All a candidate needs is a billionaire who is willing to write the
checks.
The
campaign finance system is a national embarrassment, and Bernie Sanders
is fighting a David versus Goliath battle to wake voters up to the
peril that their country is facing.
Elizabeth Warren Is Becoming A Bernie Sanders Fan
Warren stumping for Sanders would make perfect sense.
Read more
Read more
Neil deGrasse Tyson Defends Pope And Destroys Religious Climate Denial In One Tweet
It’s really just this simple…
Read more
Read more
The Coming Of The GOPocalypse
The End Of Republicans
The Republican cabal is imploding in on itself over same-sex
marriage, confederate flags, Obamacare and more. The GOPocalypse is
happening, and not a moment too soon.Business Leaders Turn On Republicans And Blast Them For Having No Idea What They’re Doing
A business leader enraged by House Republicans letting the Ex-Im bank
charter expire for the first time in 81 years said, "They really don't
have a clue what…
Democrats are not impressed with John
Boehner’s “leadership” as once again the Republican-misled House failed to
do even the most basic work, letting the 81-year-old institution of the
Export-Import Bank charter expire Tuesday evening. But even more telling
is the rage of the business community at Republicans, who charge that
they do not know what they are doing.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office said in a
statement, “The job-creating Export-Import Bank’s charter expired at
midnight under Boehner’s watch for the first time since it was
created in 1934 during the Great Depression.”
#ExIm4Jobs charter expired @ midnight thanks to @HouseGOP's shutdown politics. Dysfunction hurts US jobs & small biz!
Pelosi’s office included quotes from various papers, some of which are stunning:
The Seattle Times stated: “Jobs will be lost. Companies will go out of business.
Boeing, Caterpillar and General Electric will lose
an important tool to level the international playing field (for every
major nation has its version of the Ex-Im Bank), but they will survive.
The same can’t be said for many of the 200 or so smaller companies
helped by the agency. Many will be entirely shut out of the export
markets vital to their survival.”
So much for being the party of jobs or business.
In an article titled “Export-Import Bank set for midnight expiration, wingnuts cheer demise”, Fox News
reported, “wingnuts cheered the demise of the federal
Export-Import Bank Tuesday and vowed to beat back efforts to revive it,
even as business leaders issued dire warnings that letting the agency
expire at midnight would hurt U.S. competitiveness globally.”
Under pressure from teabagger-backed wingnuts, Republican congressional leaders and presidential candidates have lined up against the bank, defying their traditional allies in the business community who support it.
They continued with a quote from Don Nelson, the
President of California-based ProGauge Technologies, on Republican House
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, “Truth be told, he has zero experience
or knowledge on the topic and yet he and other misguided congressmen
portray they’re experts on this topic and say the private sector can
take over.”
And the death shot, “They really don’t have a clue
what they’re doing or the damage they’re going to inflict on small
businesses in America by closing the Ex-Im bank.”
So much for the idea that the Republicans are the Cabal of small business.
Lest you think this was an accidental failure, nope.
It’s more of that teabagger dysfunction that Boehner let’s drive the
House. You see, wingnuts wanted this charter to expire because they see it as a “free market distortion”.
“This is a small step toward renewing a competitive free-market economy and arresting the rise of the progressive welfare state and the cronyism connected to it,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who had led the effort to end the bank. “Now the challenge for supporters of a competitive free-market economy is to make sure Ex-Im stays expired.”
The House and Senate are on break for the July 4th
holiday, so there will be no last minute cliff-hanger as Democrats find a
way to save the country from the awe-inspiring, shameless dysfunction
and destruction of the Republican cabal. Republican Mitch McConnell is trying to drum up ways to sneak it past the teabagger extremists who run his cabal, but with Heritage and others
pushing House Republicans over the cliff of reason, this path seems
dubious.
We
knew Republicans didn’t care about jobs for the 98%, so that’s not
news. Republicans have ceded being the cabal of fiscal responsibility
and the cabal of national security to Democrats, who have done better on
both fronts in modern times. Now it seems they are hell bent on ceding
“the cabal of business” to Democrats as well.
Donald Trump has some enthusiastic new admirers: White supremacists
Donald Trump In Free Fall As Macy’s Dumps All Trump Merchandise
Macy’s has reacted to Donald Trump’s racist comments
about Mexicans and Latinos by dropping all Trump merchandise from their
stores.
Macy’s explained their decision in a statement,
“Macy’s is a company that stands for diversity and inclusion,” the
retailer said in a statement Wednesday. “We have no tolerance for
discrimination in any form. We welcome all customers, and respect for
the dignity of all people is a cornerstone of our culture. We are
disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from
Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an
accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who
have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation.
In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with
Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship
with Mr. Trump and will phase-out the Trump men’s wear collection,
which has been sold at Macy’s since 2004.”
Donald Trump has been dumped by NBC and
has seen NBC and Univision cancel their contracts to televise the Trump
owned beauty pageants. Trump is in second place in the Republican
presidential polls, but the latest CNN/ORC poll shows Jeb Bush opening
up a seven-point lead on the blowhard billionaire.
Trump is threatening to sue everyone in sight
because he is losing big money, but it looks like his racism is finally
catching up to him. It would be difficult for NBC and Macy’s ever to go
back into business with Trump without creating an epic public firestorm.
Donald Trump has been throwing racists bombs from
the sidelines for years, but he made the mistake of running for
president. When Trump became a presidential candidate the media started
to take his racist ramblings seriously.
It was one thing for Trump the racist to demand Obama’s birth
certificate while drumming up attention for his reality TV show, but the
stakes went up exponentially when Donald Trump announced that he was a
candidate for president.
His racist rhetoric is the same, but now there is a price to be paid for his behavior.
The TV billionaire is toxic, and what we are witnessing is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.
Donald Trump Is Suing Univision And Blaming The Whole Thing On Hillary Clinton
Trump has never been more delirious.
Read more
Read more
These Horrible Things Have Happened Since Marriage Equality Went Nationwide
Wingnuts warned us bad things would happen…
Read more
Read more
Mike Huckabee Opposes Hate Crime Laws Unless You’re 'christian'
The Hater thinks hate crime laws are actual hate crimes against 'christians'!Wisconsin religio-wingnut Claims Civil War Was Fought to Further a 'christian' Lifestyle
Lincoln said "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong" while the bible says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling"…
The Republican reliance on fake history was never more apparent when Wisconsin moron Glenn Grothman got together with Vicki McKenna of News/Talk 1130 WISN radio in Milwaukee. According to Grothman, the Supreme Court’s ruling was an insult to those who died in the Civil War because that war was “a strong religious war to further a 'christian' lifestyle by getting rid of slavery.”
Never mind that christianity’s new testament
actually supports slavery rather than condemning it, and that the bible
was used to justify and to excuse the very black slavery the Union
armies fought to end. Facts are never an impediment to Republican shrieking points, however:
“Our president during the Civil War was, of course,
Abraham Lincoln, who was known as the most biblical of presidents,
somebody who quoted the bible a lot,” he said.
Not so fast, Mr. Grothman. Actually, Lincoln’s
non-membership in a cult was a big deal and made such Peter
Cartwright, a methodist clergyman, in 1846, when Lincoln ran against him
for Congress. When Lincoln did finally join a church, he attended only
occasionally.
According to William Herndon, who was Lincoln’s law partner,
Inasmuch as he was so often a candidate for public office Mr. Lincoln said as little about his religious code as possible, especially if he failed to coincide with the orthodox world. In illustration of his religious code I once heard him say that it was like that of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a cult meeting, and who said: “When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion” (Herndon’s Lincoln, 1890)
No more than Thomas Jefferson, was Lincoln an evangelical christian.
When Lincoln began to speak about slavery after the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, he did so in terms relating to the Founding
Fathers and their wishes for the future of this country, not in biblical terms, that is was the intention of the Founding Fathers that
slavery become extinct. He could hardly have made a biblically based
argument without pretending the bible opposed slavery, and Lincoln was
far more honest apparently, than Grothman.
For Lincoln, slavery was a “monstrous injustice” and
it allowed the world to call us hypocrites. Lincoln did not say “let us
re-adopt the bible” but rather, “Let us re-adopt the Declaration of
Independence, and with it, the practices, and policy, which harmonize
with it” (Speech at Peoria, October 16, 1854) Lincoln’s theme was the
Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal,” not
non-existent biblical assertions that slavery is evil.
Lincoln said, “I want every man to have the chance –
and I believe a black man is entitled to it – in which he can better
his position.” He said that, “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong”
(letter to Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864).
Contrast this with Paul writing in his letter to the
Ephesians, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling…”
(Ephesians 6:5-9). No, if Lincoln was arguing, as he was, that “all men
every where could be free,” (letter to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862) he could hardly mount a biblical argument against slavery.
Grothman said,
“In the Civil War, some 600,000 people died in a country that was much less populated than that today. And it was a much more religious country and I think a lot of people who died fighting in that war felt they died fighting for a religious cause, you know, ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and all that.I think it would shock those people who died in that war to find out the constitutional amendment which was ratified kind of as a culmination of their great efforts and their great deaths would be 150 years later, a little less than 150 years later, used by these five robed, arrogant, robed people to take this constitutional amendment and say that that constitutional amendment that was drafted after the Civil War was in fact an amendment designed to say that same-sex marriage had to be legal.
Certainly Sullivan Ballou, whose letter to his wife Sarah
was made famous by Ken Burns’ Civil War series on PBS, was not fighting
for a religious cause: he was, he told her, fighting for “love of
country,” for “American civilization,” and to “maintain this
government,” the latter a very un-Republican thing today:
July the 14th, 1861
Washington DCMy very dear Sarah:The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days – perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure – and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine 0 God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing – perfectly willing – to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows – when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children – is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?[…]Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
An ancestor of mine, fresh from Sweden, fought as a
volunteer in a Minnesota regiment. He was not fighting to make America a christian nation. We have his letters. We know this. He was fighting
for his adopted country, and like Sullivan Ballou, to preserve the
Union.
Without
lies, Republicans would have no platform. That is a simple and
incontrovertible truth, and as assured today as death and taxes. Glenn
Grothman is a liar. We can’t know how Lincoln would have felt about
Marriage Equality. He is not here to ask. But we do know that if Lincoln
was religious, he was religious in his own way, and he was in no way
orthodox in his views, and that Grothman’s own Bible, should he bother
to peek inside, has some very bad things to say about bearing false
witness.
Kansas Issues $840 Million Debt Certificate To Cover Brownback’s Trickle Down Catastrophe
After a record-setting tax hike on the poor and middle class and
truly Draconian social service cuts, the state is so broke that
Brownback and Republicans had to…
It is more than likely that there are very few Americans who still
believe that the Republicans’ only economic policy, trickle down, is
anything but a raging failure. Obviously, Kansas residents suffering a
continued financial catastrophe still believe their governor, Sam
“trickle down” Brownback, when he promises that the god-sent trickle
down scheme to enrich the wealthy at the expense of the state’s budget,
the poor and middle class, education, and social services will make the
state the envy of the entire nation. Now, after a record-setting tax
hike on the poor and middle class and truly Draconian social service
cuts, the state is so broke that Brownback and Republicans had to resort
to issuing a certificate of indebtedness to prevent the state from
complete financial demise. It is the second year in a row that
Brownback’s disastrous trickle down experiment resulted in going in debt
to keep the state solvent while the rest of the nation not under
Republican control is experiencing economic growth.
A certificate of indebtedness
is a form of monetary obligation that is sometimes issued by a public
entity or private corporations that are, for all intents and purposes,
like a bond; except they are not secured. A certificate of indebtedness
is, then, effectively what a normal American would consider an I.O.U.,
and depending on the person or entity issuing it, likely worthless as
far as having any legitimacy for making purchases or paying debts.
One thing is certain; in the real world Republicans
perpetually cite, no American family would even consider walking into a
grocery store, or schedule their car to be serviced, and expect them to
provide a product or service in return for an IOU. In fact, it is highly
likely that no American would consider trying to make a purchase or
schedule a service without having access to the available funds.
Instead, they would seek a means, likely by taking a second job, to
bring in enough revenue to pay their bills and buy their groceries.
This week, after yet another year of crushing debt
due to severe revenue shortfalls borne of “fiscally-responsible” trickle
down tax cuts for the rich and corporations, Kansas Republicans and
Governor Sam “fetus” Brownback signed off on the state’s largest tax
increase on the poor and middle class and issued a record $840 million
certificate of indebtedness for the upcoming fiscal year.
The desperation move came as Kansas’ budget director
verified what Sam Brownback, Republicans in the legislature, and most
of America have known for three years running; due to Brownback’s failed
repeat of shrub-Republicans’ 8-year failed trickle down experiment he
said his god overwhelmingly approved, the state government would have
insufficient resources to meet its obligated expenditures in the fiscal
year starting tomorrow, July 1, 2015.
The new Kansas record for an IOU in lieu of paying
its debts eclipsed the previous record that was set during the 2009
fiscal year after shrub-Republicans’ Great Recession crashed the state’s
revenue and after deep cuts failed to stem the budget crisis. At the
time, the Kansas State Finance Council issued three certificates of
indebtedness to borrow a total of $775 million that foreshadowed a
1-cent, three-year increase in the statewide sales tax in 2010 to put
the onus on the poor and middle class, again, to make up for another
Republican (shrub’s) trickle down failure that contributed to the Great
Recession. Just about one year ago the Finance Council approved another
indebtedness certificate to the tune of $675 million for the
currently-ending fiscal year that trickle down Sam had promised was the
last time because he swore that Kansas’ fiscal fortunes would
miraculously improve because tax cuts for the rich and corporations, and
therefore less tax revenue, was certain to bear trickle down fruit and
bring in much more tax revenue.
That is, after all, what Sam Brownback
promised throughout his re-election campaign while he held up the fetus
card, but when the Republican-led legislature returned for work in
January they were confronted with exactly what any sane human being
should expect when tax cuts for the rich and corporations produce less
tax revenue; another crushing revenue shortfall that required a series
of mid-year budget cuts to education, government, and social services.
Recently, when even drastic budget cuts failed, as expected, to bring in
more tax revenue, Brownback and Republicans passed a record tax
increase affecting the poor, middle class, and typical of Republicans,
managed care facilities for the elderly and disabled. Still, like any
American knows, slashing a budget or cutting expenses does not, and
cannot, bring in more revenue.
Instead of even considering rolling back unfunded
tax cuts for the rich and corporations, Republicans and their hero
Brownback approved $400 million in tax hikes in an attempt to close the
certain 2016 fiscal year budget deficit. Those tax hikes affecting the
poor and middle class were general sales taxes on necessities like
groceries, eliminating middle class citizens’ itemized deductions, and
imposing a tax increase on managed care facilities. The tax hikes on the
poor and harsh budget cuts were no solution for the Kansas revenue
shortfalls and going deeper in debt was Brownback and Republicans
solution of choice.
According to Brownback and Republican legislation,
instead of ending tax cuts for the rich, the governor had to come up
with $50 million in budget cuts and he naturally cut education,
healthcare, and social service funding. It never entered Brownback’s
mind to rescind even part of the tax cuts for the rich and corporations
because he has promised for three years that cutting revenue by giving
the wealthy and corporations tax cuts increases state revenue and allows
wealth to ‘trickle down’ to the poor and middle class.
On Friday last when Democratic lawmakers gathered at
the state capitol for ceremonial final day of the annual legislative
session, they expressed exactly the same exasperation they have over the
past two years with expansion of the state’s debt that must be repaid
by June 30, 2016. Obviously their exasperation is due to increasing the
state’s debt obligation after Brownback squandered the budget surplus he
was left by his predecessor, but also because they are well aware there
is no possible way the state’s revenue is going to increase as long as
Brownback’s tax cuts for the rich and corporations stay in place and cut
revenue.
The Kansas House Democratic Leader, Tom Burroughs,
uttered the obvious and said this record-setting escalation in borrowing
“illustrated the precarious financial condition of state government.”
Burroughs also noted that the only reason the state budget is in
freefall is because of the trickle down decisions in 2012 by Brownback
and the Republican-misled legislature that foolishly exempted 330,000
businesses from paying income taxes and slashed individual income tax
rates primarily affecting the very rich. Burroughs’ said “This is a
direct result of Brownback’s failed fiscal experiment. Until
members of the legislature take steps to implement a responsible and
sustainable budget, the state will continue to be forced to borrow money
to cover expenditures.” The Kansas Senate Minority Leader, Anthony
Hensley, was more blunt and said that the state’s budget woes are
entirely due to Brownback and Republican legislature’s “incompetence and mismanagement” of the budget. Hensley said that “Governor
Brownback and the Republican Legislature are responsible for the
largest tax increase in history and, now, the largest certificate of
indebtedness in history.”
What neither Hensley nor Burroughs would say out
loud is that unless Brownback and the Republican legislature rescind, or at
least drastically roll back, tax elimination for corporations and tax
cuts for the rich, next year at this time Kansas Financial Council will
be forced to issue yet another, record setting, certificate of
indebtedness while Brownback and Republicans make more drastic budget
cuts, pass another tax hike on the poor and middle class, and then
promise yet again that tax cuts for corporations and the rich will
create a revenue bonanza the entire nation will marvel at; it is the
same promise Brownback has made for the past three years and the results
have been, and will continue to be, the same.
It
was a mystery why Kansas voters re-elected Sam Brownback and a
Republican-misled legislature when everyone of the state’s residents
were aware that the state’s financial catastrophe was due to Brownback’s
failed trickle down ‘experiment.’ Still, Brownback knew that all he had
to do to guarantee he would get four more years to completely decimate
the state’s economy was drag out that tired old fetus to bring out the
religious right vote. Maybe it will take resident’s seeing their state
in bankruptcy, their roads crumbling before their eyes, and schools,
hospitals, and law enforcement agencies closing down before they come to
their questionable senses.
Republicans Crushed In Oklahoma As Supreme Court Rules 10 Commandments Monument Must Come Down
In a decisive 7-2 ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court
has ruled that the ten commandments monument erected at the State
Capitol must be removed. The monument was a gift from Republican Mike Ritze. However, plaintiffs argued that the
monument’s placement at the Capitol involved the use of public property
for the benefit of a specific religion. They argued, and the court
agreed, that the Oklahoma Constitution clearly prohibits such a display
promoting one religion over others.No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.
Brady Henderson, the legal director for the ACLU of Oklahoma praised the ruling, stating:
I think that at the end of the day it is the right decision simply because it acknowledges limits on the government’s power to effectively decide what religious edicts are right and wrong.
Republican Mary Fallin, was predictably upset by the ruling, and she vowed to work with the state’s Attorney General to “evaluate the state’s legal options moving forward”.
While
many evangelical 'christians' are sure to express their displeasure with
the court’s decision, it is clear that the state’s constitution
prohibits such blatant displays privileging a specific religion over all
others. Many 'christian' wingnutss believe that they follow the “one
true religion” and that all others should be subjected to their belief
system. However, in a society that values the separation of cult and
state, imposing one’s own religion upon others is against the law. The
state’s Supreme Court has made it clear that the law applies even in
Oklahoma.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
The Daily Drift
The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.
Republicans Hate America so no celebration you them ... !
Today is - Independence Day
Don't forget to visit our sister blog Carolina Naturally
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Argentina - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Mexico - Puerto Rico - United States - Venezuela
Europe
Belarus - Bosnia/Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Czech Republic - England - Finland - France - Germany
Ireland
- Italy - Greece - Macedonia - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal -
Romania - Russia - Scotland Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Switzerland -
Turkey - Ukraine - Wales
Asia
China - India - Indonesia - Iran - Korea - Malaysia - Oman - Pakistan - Sri Lanka - Thailand
United Arab Emirates - Vietnam
Africa
Senegal - Zambia
The Pacific
Australia - Philippines
Legacy Sealed: Obama’s Approval Ratings Soar After Historical Wins For Progress
All signs point toward a highly favorable legacy.
US and Cuba set to announce deal to reopen embassies
***
Editor's Note: The announcement has been made.
The Republican Death Star Is Crumbling As CNN Beats Fox News For 4 Straight Days
The long-term problems at Fox News were exposed as
CNN beat Fox News among the key age 25-54 demo for four straight days
last week.
According to Nielsen data, CNN beat Fox News for first place in the demo most coveted by advertisers from Thursday (6/25) through Sunday (6/28). Fox News remained first among total viewers.During Friday’s huge news day-the Supreme Court gay marriage ruling, the escaped prisoners in New York, terror attacks in Europe-CNN won the demo for total day with an average audience of 243,000 (compared to Fox News Channel’s 193,000).In prime, CNN won in the demo each hour from 4 p.m. ET through 11 p.m., with Anderson Cooper taking a narrow win over FNC’s O’Reilly Factor while Bill O’Reilly was off for the night, and Wolf Blitzer beating FNC’s The Five by a big margin, 405,000 to 277,000.
Younger viewers avoid Fox News like the plague. The
whole purpose of moving Megyn Kelly to 9 PM was to attract younger
viewers. The Five was also intended to attract younger viewers. Instead,
Wolf Blitzer and his beard of doom is attracting more younger eyeballs
than Fox News.
Fox News is a big fish in an evaporating cable news
pond. Jeff Zucker appears to be well on his way to righting the ship at
CNN. Zucker has found that mix of hard news, original series, and
documentaries appeals to a broad spectrum of viewers.
As
long as Fox News has the conservative market cornered, they will
continue to lead in terms of overall viewers, but when one examines the
long-term future, Fox News has some real problems. The United States is moving back to the left as a country, and the big bad Republican media Death Star that is Fox News is beginning to show signs of crumbling.
Donald Trump accuses Univision of trying to ‘suppress’ his campaign in $500 million lawsuit
![GOP presiential candidate Donald Trump on 'The Late Show' during an October 2013 appearance. [CBS]](http://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Donald-Trump2-478x257.jpg)
A More Meaningful Gesture Than Taking Down The Confederate Flag: Expand Medicaid
A More Meaningful Gesture Than Taking Down The Confederate Flag: Expand Medicaid
Pulling down the flag is the least they can do.
Colorado Court: Use Of Public Funds For Private Schools Is UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Scalia's Dissent in Obergefell (Same-Sex Marriage) Case Would Criminalize Justice Thomas's Marriage
by Paul AbramsMissed in Scalia's childish histrionics was his so-called 'originalist' approach for interpreting the Constitution (when it suits him, that is -- those who voted on the Second Amendment could not possibly have been thinking about semi-automatic assault weapons or 25 bullet magazines, but Scalia holds that those are protected).
In Obergefell, Scalia asserts that he knows that the people who voted to approve the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 were not thinking about same-sex marriage when they voted, and, therefore, the original intent of that Amendment prevents Scalia from finding a right to same-sex marriage in its guarantee of equal protection under the laws.
That same approach, however, would make Justice Clarence Thomas's interracial marriage illegal, and subject to criminal prosecution in Virginia, the Thomas's state of residence. As assuredly as voters in 1868 were not thinking about gay marriage when they voted for the Amendment, they certainly were not approving it to enable interracial marriages.
Interracial marriage, "miscegenation," was not only impermissible in Virginia, it was a criminal offense subject to time in jail. Citing the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court overturned the Virginia and other state statutes in the poetically-named case, Loving v. Virginia, in 1967.
According to Justice Scalia's reasoning, the people voting on the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 did not contemplate interracial marriage as what they were protecting by passing it. Hence, Scalia would have to say that Loving was wrongly decided.
That would make Scalia's wingnut buddy, Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginny, subject to imprisonment in Virginia.
Here’s How Bigots Are Responding To ‘Rainbowed’ Profile Pics On Facebook
Those “rainbowed” profile pics supporting gay marriage really bother
the bigots. They’ve adopted their own “overlay” to show support for
hate, and it makes no sense at all.
Idaho county clerk threatens to marry her dog after Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage
***
Go ahead ... marry the
dog. As far as we can determine there is no law in Idaho prohibiting her
from marrying her dog. Now having the marriage consummated may be a
different story, we haven't looked into Idaho's laws concerning sex with
animals because quite frankly we don't care.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)