Tuesday November 30th
So…..the Senate Republicans finally joined with the Democratic Senators and actually passed the bipartisan “food safety bill” that the House passed over a year ago.
Did you know that when the public gets sick (think: e-coli) from eating tainted eggs or green onions or peanuts or some other food, before this bill the FDA didn’t have the power to order a recall from the food manufacturer? It could only ask the distributor/processor/manufacturer to please recall whatever shit you sold that’s making people sick and killing them. Isn’t that unbelievable!?!? Can you imagine any civilized nation having a democratically elected government who lacked the power to save its citizens from being poisoned?
Next time someone on the right tells you they want government out of their lives ask them if they like feeding their kids tainted eggs/chicken/peanuts? Because up until today their friends on the dark side held up the FDA from stopping these dangerous products.
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I Can See Korea From My House!
Well…not exactly although I did see the aircraft carrier Vinson leave San Diego this morning. I was on my balcony as the huge ship cruised through San Diego Bay on its way to “the Pacific Ocean in South East Asia”. It’s the lead ship in a carrier fleet that includes battleships & cruisers. Where do you suppose it’s going? I’m just askin’…..
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So the long-awaited study into the extraordinary harm that would be inflicted on world peace by having gays serve in the US Military has finally been released. And… surprise, surprise,…. 70% of tens of thousands of military personnel and family members surveyed predicted there would be “positive, mixed or no effect” from allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly. Now, I will tell you that the worlds-greatest-pollster John Zogby once told me that if he gets 70% of those surveyed in agreement on anything, he considers that a consensus. So…we now have a broad consensus that it’s time to end this ridiculous and discriminatory practice of Don Ask, Don’t Tell. Let’s hope the Republicans can finally see their way to do the right thing and vote to end this before this Congress ends. It would be a nice Christmas present for the gay community and their families and friends. But it’s the Republicans…so don’t count on it.
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As if you need another example of what wonderful people Republicans are….and I know you don’t, but this one is too delicious to pass up…..the Senate Republicans lost a vote today that would end earmarks. Here’s the best part….one Senator voting for the motion to end earmarks – Jon “Zeig Heil” Kyl – just slipped a $200 million earmark into a bill last week. Can we all say “Piece of Shit” boys and girls?
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So the long-awaited tax summit was today. President Obama plus the leaders of both parties in Congress got together at the White House to discuss extending the Bush tax cuts. From all accounts it was a friendly, (read: courteous) meeting that yielded no positive results. In other words – nothing happened. What a surprise.
· Obama wants the START treaty ratified by the Senate, plus….
· Obama wants the extension of tax cuts for all Americans earning up to $250,000 per household, plus ….
· Obama wants an extension to unemployment benefits that are due to expire next Tuesday.
· The Republicans want the tax cuts extended for everyone (read: THE WEALTIEST 1% OF THE NATION)
Here’s what I think the end game will be:
· The Republicans agree to ratify the START treaty plus…
· They agree to extend the unemployment benefits
· Obama agrees to extend the tax cuts for all taxpayers (including THE WEALTIEST 1% OF THE NATION) for 2-3 years and for all taxpayers who earn up to $1 M permanently.
This is such a crock!
Every former Republican Secretary of State and Republican Defense Secretary together with all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff plus all ranking leaders in the military want the START treaty ratified. The only people who don’t are a handful of Republican Senators and the Tea Freaks. So…other than the fact the whole world supports this treaty, as does the American public, and that if it’s not ratified it will actually make the world a more dangerous place…it’s not really that big of a deal for the Republicans to vote to approve it.
Next….extending the unemployment benefits costs a pittance compared to the tax savings the top 1% will get if the tax cuts are extended so they’re not really giving up anything here so this is an easy pill to swallow for the R’s.
The Republicans aren’t giving up very much at all….although they’ll crow about bipartisanship and how they worked with Obama and how much they gave in…blah…blah…
All they really want is to ensure that the tax cuts for the top 1% are extended….that’s the ONLY thing that matters to them.
And so Obama will yield to the Republicans once again. And the Republicans will have got exactly everything they wanted. And Obama will spin this as a victory for all Americans…the taxpayer….the unemployed…and the security of our nation.
Bullshit! What we really have here is a capitulation to the Republicans. Look…the majority of Americans don’t want tax cuts extended for the top 1%…they want the deficit reduced…they know dropping the extension for the top 1% will knock $700 billion off the deficit over the next 10 years…they know all this. Obama has not only the majority of all Americans on his side but the nations of the world too.
He’s in the best position he could ever hope to be….he can call out the Republicans for being in favor of “loose nukes”…of not supporting our national security…of increasing the risks that Al Qaeda will get a nuclear bomb…and that’s just on the START treaty! He can call them what they are: traitors!
Then he can hammer them for not helping the unemployed in the middle of the worst recession in 80 years!!….and for doing this at Christmas!
Then he can hammer them as standing up only for the rich of the country and holding tax cuts hostage for the 98% of the country who earn less than $250,000!
Then he can tell America of the hypocrisy of the Republicans who say they want to curb spending and reduce the deficit and that giving them what they want will increase the deficit $700 billion without any offset!
He can totally defuse their argument that the tax cuts for the wealthy will create jobs by asking the Republicans one simple question: How’s that job creation thing been working out for the country over the last 8+ years while you’ve had these exact tax cuts? Hello! End of story!
He can hold tight and he can & would win. But he won’t, will he?
He has the support of the American people…it’s a winner in the polls. Do you know his popularity has dropped to 39%? The lowest of his Presidency. Hell ..that’s getting close to Bush numbers.
America needs him to lead! We need him to be The Decider! Show some courage Mr. President.
And when he surrenders and our deficit grows once again, the Republicans will thank him by attacking his healthcare program and yelling that Obama needs to stop the runaway government spending and that it’s imperative that the deficit be reduced. Just you wait and see.
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And finally…..
It’s just been reported that there’s been a huge outbreak of gonorrhea in Alaska.
Now people…..people….please. I know what you’re thinking.
Now….you don’t really think the dancin’ daughter & runnin’ Mom have anything to do with this, do you?
Until Wednesday …………….
