Friday, November 20, 2015
Ben Stein: Maybe Obama has a ‘strong hatred of America’ because ‘he’s part black’
Ben Stein just came out and said what many wingnuts have only hinted at for years.
Republicans are obsessed with private morality
From Robert Reich
Republican candidates have morality upside down. They're obsessed by private morality -- what happens in bedrooms between consenting adults, gay marriage, access to contraceptives, and when and how women can choose to terminate a pregnancy.
Republican candidates have morality upside down. They're obsessed by private morality -- what happens in bedrooms between consenting adults, gay marriage, access to contraceptives, and when and how women can choose to terminate a pregnancy.
But they don't give a fig about public morality -- the corruption of our
democracy by big money, suppression of the votes of minorities, soaring
CEO pay while average workers get pay cuts, insider trading on Wall
Street, misclassification of employees as "independent contractors," and corporate criminal behavior that never results in jail terms for executives.
Yet it is the deplorable condition of public morality -- the growing
abuses of political and economic power -- that pose the gravest threat
to the future of our society. We must demand a higher standard of
behavior from corporate executives, Wall Street bankers, and the
politicians who collude with them -- and leave private morality alone.
Wingnut Lawmaker Calls Breitbart Hack Untruthful
From the "Pot calling the Kettle Black" Department:
Cruz Gets Burned As CNN Reminds Him That His Own Father Was A Refugee
This on-air hypocrisy will haunt Cruz for the rest of his pathetic campaign, and hopefully for the rest of his life.
Carson Advisor Defends His Client's Inability To Understand Foreign Policy
Armstrong Williams tried to defend Carson against his own advisor's frustrations about Carson's inability
to comprehend foreign policy.
The Wheels Fall Off Of Ben Carson’s Crazy Bus As Advisers Admit He’s Dumb On Foreign Policy
The New York Times reported:
Faced with increasing scrutiny about whether Mr. Carson — who leads in some Republican pretender polls — was capable of leading American foreign policy, two of his top advisers said in interviews with The New York Times that he had struggled to master the intricacies of the Middle East and national security and that intense tutoring was having little effect.
“Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East,” Duane R. Clarridge, a top adviser to Mr. Carson on terrorism and national security, said in an interview. He also said Mr. Carson needed weekly conference calls briefing him on foreign policy so “we can make him smart.”
If his advisers want the chance to make him smart, that means that he is not smart on foreign policy at this time. Carson may have been a brain surgeon, but being president requires different knowledge than practicing medicine. The problem with Carson is that every time that he has been asked a foreign policy question, he has sounded like a crazy person.
When Carson was asked about how to deal with ISIL, his mind took him to the United States getting into a shooting war with Russia. It is obvious that Carson, just like Trump, knows nothing about policy. It is so bad that even his own advisers are telling him that he needs to be educated.
Carson is such a risk to the security of the country that even the candidate’s own advisers are criticizing him. Carson’s run at the top of the Republican polls may soon be coming to an end.
14 Groups Getting Koch Brothers Dark Money To Turn America Into A Wingnut Playground
These 14 organizations are getting millions in dark money from the
right wing Koch Brothers in order to remake America in their image.Kochs Secretly Fund the NRA, Chamber of Commerce, Religio-Wingnuts and Club For Growth
Every wingnut at every level of government spouts the same lie, the same twisted logic, to harm American workers…
To achieve their goal, the Koch’s secretive network distributes hundreds-of-millions in funds to rabid wingnut cabals that do their bidding as activists, lobbyists, propagandists and staunch Republican advocates. One of its primary “networks” affectionately known as the “Koch brothers’ secret bank,” Freedom Partners, does not have to expose their donors’ names because they register as 501(c)6 tax-exempt non-profit and chamber of commerce; but they do have to file tax documents. The group is made up of all those wealthy donors who shell out a minimum $100,000 membership dues annually just to attend the Kochs’ bi-annual secretive summits to plot the governments’ demise.
Now, according to a tax filing by “Freedom Partners chamber of commerce,” Americans can see which anti-government advocacy groups are getting the lion’s share of Koch and friends “secretive” millions. Of course they distributed significant amounts to the usual suspects like anti-regulation fossil fuel lobbies, Americans for Prosperity, Concerned Veterans for America, some nasty group targeting Latinos, and a group funding evangelicals; besides the millions to the other religious war on women crusaders.
What apparently surprised some was that the tax filing showed the Koch cabal handing out millions in “grants” to other anti-government groups already affiliated with and funded by the Kochs through ALEC, but not really included as part of “the network.” Cabals such as the corporate advocacy group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the anti-union lobby Club for Growth, and the fear-mongering gun manufacturing lobby the National Rifle Association.
To get an idea of the scope of the two billionaires’ influence over Republicans and control over American politics nationally and the state level, consider the Club for Growth; a lunatic fringe-wingnut anti-government political group established in 1999. It was once unknown where the cabal got its funding, but now it is apparent it is from “the Kochs’ and extremely wealthy wingnuts intent on severely stripping the nation’s budget” to bankrupt government. In fact, the Club for Growth was “a key player in Scott Walker’s move to eradicate the state’s organized workers,” and has been working diligently on “a national strategy to get newly elected Republican governors to destroy labor and unions;” likely a step toward the Republican cabal’s intent to return to 1920s America. Club for Growth works in concert with ALEC and the State Policy Network, both Koch-funded cabals, at the state level to undermine worker rights, steal public pensions, and eliminate unions.
Most Americans know the NRA and its very close connection with the Kochs through their legislative arm ALEC, but their influence on Republican policy goes beyond arming every man, woman, and child in America; they are also influencing at least one Texas Republicans’ crusade to prevent even one Syrian refugee from entering his country. Dale is an NRA-backed Republican and noted guns-everywhere advocate who actually said on television that refugees cannot come to America, at least not Texas, because it is too easy to buy guns in his state. Dale even sent an urgent appeal to Texas’ Cornyn and Cruz, and Texas’ congressmen McCaul and Carter to block Syrian refugees’ entrance to America. Dale letters said;
“While the Paris attackers used suicide vests and grenades, it is clear that firearms also killed a large number of innocent victims. Can you imagine a scenario were (sic) a refugees (sic) is admitted to the United States, purchases a weapon and executes an attack? Do whatever you can to stop the Syrian refugee program.”
It is unclear where the Kochs publicly stand on Syrian refugees, but they are funding compassionless gun-nuts through ALEC and the NRA. They are also influencing the religious rights’ attack on women, secular government, equal rights, and the LGBT community through very substantial funding both directly and through their now not-so-secret network.
The Kochs claim their only interest is in promoting free markets and smaller government, but like the Republicans, Chamber of Commerce, ALEC, the NRA, and fanatical evangelical extremists they are dirty liars. The Freedom Partners’ tax filing proves they have invested tens-of-millions of dollars to influence every facet of American society and have adversely affected every American citizen, and the nation. At least now Americans may understand that contrary to what Republican man-turned-god Reagan said, the government is not the source of all of Americans’ woes; it is the Koch brothers, Republicans, and their dirty un-American anti-government “network” and now there are official tax documents to prove it.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
The Daily Drift
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Republicans - Childish and Full of It ... !
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Sierra Club Warns Vulnerable Senators Against Opposing President Obama On Clean Power
The group polled voters in half a dozen states about the Clean Power Plan, a rule designed to cut carbon pollution from power plants, and found generally positive reviews among registered voters.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found majority support for the plan in Maine, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and Iowa. It said voters in those states generally prefer the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to write environmental rules rather than members of Congress.
Four Republicans from those states are seeking reelection in 2016: Blunt (Mo.), Kirk (Ill.), Portman (Ohio) and Grassley (Iowa), with Kirk and Portman seen as vulnerable.
Senator Kirk has voiced support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that was introduced last month by McConnell (R-Ky.) and Capito (R-W.Va) that would overturn the Clean Power Plan. The CRA resolution of disapproval is a controversial legislative tactic that would allow Congress to nullify a final administrative ruling.
Handicappers consider Kirk to be especially vulnerable next year, and environmentalists have looked to challenge him on environmental issues. Portman is also considered a potential Democratic target in 2016. Iowa is an early-voting state in the presidential contest.
Earlier in the year Sierra Club launched a statewide TV ad campaign in Iowa calling out Portman for his votes against public health and clean air in Congress, including by leading the charge in attacks against the Clean Power Plan.
“ Portman voted repeatedly against the health of Ohio families by attacking the Clean Power Plan, the first ever steps to limit carbon pollution from dirty, coal-fired power plants” said Samantha Allen, an Ohio-based organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “The Clean Power Plan’s efforts to curb carbon pollution will help prevent up to 6,600 deaths and up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children every year. Portman needs to stand with his Ohio constituents, not with the polluters that are hurting their health.”
The Senate is set to vote soon on the Congressional Review Act resolutions blocking the Clean Power Plan and other EPA power plant rules. The regulations are unpopular among Republicans, though at least one senator facing a tough reelection — Ayotte (R-N.H.) — has come out in favor of the plan, making her the first Republican Senator to support the landmark policy, which is promoted as a way to curb carbon pollution from power plants, protect vulnerable communities, and galvanize America’s transition to a clean energy economy.
In response, Melinda Pierce, Sierra Club Legislative Director, released the following statement:
“Ayotte’s decision to support the Clean Power Plan should inspire her fellow Republicans in the Senate to stop ignoring the climate crisis and proactively work with the Obama Administration to protect their constituents from the very real dangers of carbon pollution.”
“The Clean Power Plan will help our country move toward a new era of clean, affordable energy that protects the health of our communities, grows our economy, and signals to the rest of the world that the U.S. is serious about combating the climate crisis ahead of the Paris Conference.
“Doctors, scientists, faith leaders, and the majority of the American people have all called for strong, bipartisan action to tackle the challenge of climate disruption. Now it’s time for Senate Republicans to follow Ayotte’s lead and answer that call.”
In a statement, the Sierra Club urged other lawmakers to do so, too.
“Voters from these states have made it crystal clear that they want their senators to support the Clean Power Plan, not coal interests on Capitol Hill,” said Mary Anne Hitt, the director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
“Senators in these states have a choice: listen to their constituents back home and support the Clean Power Plan, along with all the public health and clean energy benefits it provides, or side with deep-pocketed polluters in Washington who are attacking it,” the statement continued.
A broad coalition of environmental groups say the Clean Power Plan is critical for reducing carbon emissions and confronting climate change, a major goal of the Obama administration. Its opponents have warned it could raise electricity prices and lead to job losses in the energy industry.
The President’s Clean Power Plan is the centerpiece of the United States carbon reduction proposal to be presented at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) which convenes the end of this month.
Sierra Club is wielding its considerable grassroots clout to prevent Republican senators from sidetracking President Obama’s climate leadership position as he heads for Paris in three weeks.
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