Political News Bits of the Day

[Dardedar]

These people give prostitutes a bad name:

In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists’

WASHINGTON — In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident.

Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies.

E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans.

The lobbyists, employed by Genentech and by two Washington law firms, were remarkably successful in getting the statements printed in the Congressional Record under the names of different members of Congress.

Genentech, a subsidiary of the Swiss drug giant Roche, estimates that 42 House members picked up some of its talking points — 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats, an unusual bipartisan coup for lobbyists."

NY Times

[Dardedar]

Palin's new book is out. Media Matters has begun documenting the whoppers:

Rogue Facts: Media Matters' ongoing list of falsehoods in Palin's memoir

And here is her top ten:

Before Rogue: Sarah Palin's Top 10 past falsehoods

[Doug]

Will Phillips, 10-Year-Old, Won't Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays

See here.

Will Phillips appeared on CNN Monday morning with his father, Jay, to discuss his refusal to say the pledge of allegiance.

"I've grown up with a lot of people and I'm good friends with a lot of people who are gay and I think they should have the rights all people should, and I'm not going to swear that they do," the ten-year-old Phillips said.

Jay Phillips, asked if his son was prepared for the media attention, said his son saw it as an opportunity to raise awareness. "He felt that just because he's ten years old doesn't mean he doesn't have opinions, doesn't mean he doesn't have rights, and doesn't mean he can't make a difference."

[Dardedar]

When conservatives blame the current debt and deficit on Obama's policies, they should take notice of the last sentence in this excerpt from this informative NYT's piece:

America’s Sea of Red Ink Was Years in the Making

"The story of today’s deficits starts in January 2001, as President Bill Clinton was leaving office. The Congressional Budget Office estimated then that the government would run an average annual surplus of more than $800 billion a year from 2009 to 2012. Today, the government is expected to run a $1.2 trillion annual deficit in those years.

You can think of that roughly $2 trillion swing as coming from four broad categories: the business cycle, President George W. Bush’s policies, policies from the Bush years that are scheduled to expire but that Mr. Obama has chosen to extend, and new policies proposed by Mr. Obama.

The first category — the business cycle — accounts for 37 percent of the $2 trillion swing. It’s a reflection of the fact that both the 2001 recession and the current one reduced tax revenue, required more spending on safety-net programs and changed economists’ assumptions about how much in taxes the government would collect in future years.

About 33 percent of the swing stems from new legislation signed by Mr. Bush. That legislation, like his tax cuts and the Medicare prescription drug benefit, not only continue to cost the government but have also increased interest payments on the national debt.

Mr. Obama’s main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies, like the Iraq war and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Such policies — together with the Wall Street bailout, which was signed by Mr. Bush and supported by Mr. Obama — account for 20 percent of the swing.

About 7 percent comes from the stimulus bill that Mr. Obama signed in February. And only 3 percent comes from Mr. Obama’s agenda on health care, education, energy and other areas."

LINK

This is good too:

How Trillion-Dollar Deficits Were Created

[Doug]

Will Phillips, 10-Year-Old, Won't Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays

Note: This kid is in West Fork, Arkansas.

[Dardedar]

FOX News busted for blatantly lying for republicans again:

Fox News airs old footage from 2008 Palin rallies to pump up Palin's 2009 book tour.

Excerpt:

"This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign."

Appeared to be old footage? Nope, Media Matters busts them further and proves it.

Wow.

[kwlyon]

She is coming here....

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2009 ... book-tour/

[Dardedar]

Ed Begley Jr. doesn't put up with this anti global warming shit. Video clip

[kwlyon]

Ed Begley Jr. doesn't put up with this anti global warming shit. Video clip

Love how he points to a physicist friend as an authority on global warming! I may know more than the general public about climate change...but that is not saying much. And this is only because I have a couple friends in this field of study. Still I am by no means an expert. I am a physicist....not the right guy to talk to! This guy needs to learn to seek out proper authority. To be honest, however, I don't know if I believe him with regards to his physicist friend. It's hard to be a scientist and not have an appreciation for other fields of study. And keep in mind that ten years ago the jury WAS still out to a great extent. If any of the jury is out now...it is just a couple guys grabbing a coffee and they cast their vote before they left!

Kevin

[Doug]

Ed Begley Jr. doesn't put up with this anti global warming shit.

DOUG
Well, when he was here in Fayetteville he avoided coming down on any side of it, no doubt because he knew he was in Arkansas, which is a right-wing (wingnut) area.

[Dardedar]

"A recent study (PDF) found that 90 percent of Canadians support universal, single-payer health care. A poll taken last summer shows 82 percent of Canadians believe their health care system to be better than the US's, despite constant grumbling about waiting times for treatment of non-life-threatening conditions."

RAW Story

[Doug]

FAUX NEWS "educating" the gullible public. Apparently not in math...

[Dardedar]

Don't ya just love the smell of conservative hypocrisy in the morning? Good stuff:

***


A new report reveals that there are as many as 7 other sex tapes and dozens of topless and nude photos of former Miss California Carrie Prejean.

According to Radar:

Now a RadarOnline.com investigation has uncovered that there are SEVEN more “biggest mistakes” of her life – all of them solo performances, just like the one sex tape that the religious beauty queen has admitted to. And there are 30 photos of Carrie, most topless, some showing everything, and most taken by Carrie using her reflection in a mirror.

On one tape Carrie is wearing just a flowing white blouse as she touches her own body in an alluring manner. Carrie can be heard moaning on a few of the tapes.

On Wednesday, Prejean attempted (and failed) to storm off the set of "Larry King Live," and just yesterday Christianity Today published an interview with the former beauty queen in which she defended herself as both a role model and a Christian."

LINK

[Dardedar]

Teapocalypse. The Tea party fracturing. Video clip from Jason Jones on The Daily Show.

And some really nice Glenn Beck roast here:

Stewart calls out Beck on his hypocrisy about the quality of health care in America.

[Dardedar]

The end of the Wash. Times and Rev. Moon's right-wing charity

December 08, 2009

You'd think that somebody with a direct line to the Almighty, and tapped by Jesus to save mankind on Earth, would be able to come up with a better business plan for running a daily newspaper. But, alas, after nearly three decades of unrelenting financial losses, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a federal tax cheat, accused cult leader, and founder of the Unification Church, has decided to pull out. Actually, according to news reports, it's more like Moon's U.S. college-educated sons, as part of an internal family power struggle, have decided to finally cut off the endless stream of Asian church cash that's kept The Washington Times afloat.

With the announcement that 40 percent of the Times' staff is getting pink-slipped, and that the daily's no longer even going to bother with traditional who/what/where/when/why reporting, instead publishing an opinion-heavy publication that will be free of charge at a diminished number of local outlets, Times owners look like they're angling to be a Weekly Standard wannabe, churning out lots of predictable GOP Noise Machine opinion prattle. (Paging Andrew Breitbart!) What is clear is that the daily's days as a functioning newspaper are now over.

R.I.P. The Washington Times.

At this time of reflection, it's worth pondering two rather astonishing facets about the Times and its bizarre life and looming death. The first is the deep irony of how the Times, a clarion voice of partisan right-wing values, was run as a charity for nearly three decades and whose business model made a mockery of the free-marketplace system supposedly cherished by conservatives. The second is the even deeper irony of how the Times was owned by a delusional prophet whose apocalyptic visions made an even bigger mockery of the Christian values supposedly cherished by conservative activists."

http://mediamatters.org/columns/2009120 ... d=38927510

[Dardedar]

Excellent news!

Appropriations Bill Marks Victory For Sexual Health: Advocates Need to Remain Vigilant

Excerpt:

"On Sunday, December 13th, the Senate passed the Omnibus Appropriations Bill by a vote of 57 to 35. The House passed the bill late last week by a vote of 221 to 202. This appropriations "catch-all" bill contains all of the remaining FY 2010 spending bills with the exception of Defense. The omnibus bill will now go to the President for his signature.

The Omnibus Appropriations Bill marked two significant victories impacting the sexual health of young people.

First, Congress and the Obama Administration removed all direct funding ($99.5 M) for the ideological-based and harmful Community-Based Abstinence Education program and in its place provided $114.5 million for more comprehensive, evidence-based teenage pregnancy prevention. This is a great first step and a sea change from the Bush Administration."

Link

[Dardedar]

"Why Progressives Are Batshit Crazy to Oppose the Senate Bill"



Five Thirty Eight

[Dardedar]

Record Breaking: Senate Conservatives Use Filibuster for 62nd Time in This Session of Congress

New Report Shows How Conservative Minority Rules by Filibuster, Preventing Up or Down Vote on a Record Number of Bills

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Republican Senate
minority today filibustered an omnibus budget bill, setting a modern-day
record for blocking the most legislation during a congressional session. A
new report released today by the Campaign for America's Future details the
62 times conservatives have used the filibuster to block legislation (or
force modification of bills) in the first session of the 110th Congress. In
just the first year of this two-year Congress, their use of the filibuster
in the Senate topped the previous record, reached during the entire 107th
Congress.

The new report outlines every bill filibustered, vetoed or threatened
to be vetoed by President Bush. Conservatives filibustered bills to end the
occupation of Iraq, provide soldiers in Iraq rest time equal to their
deployments, support renewable energy and grant residents of the District
of Columbia representation in Congress. Today's record-breaker involved a
$516 billion budget package passed by the House to fund the federal
government in 2008. The conservative minority demanded $20 billion
additional funding for the war and opposed House language to bring troops
home, and threatened a filibuster to prevent the bill from getting an up or
down vote.

"In just one session, a minority in Congress has prevented a
mind-blowing 62 pieces of legislation from going to the floor for an up or
down vote," said Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey.
"Our report shows how over and over again, the uncompromising minority has
thwarted the will of majorities in Congress and of the American people,
holding the Senate floor hostage to a radical right-wing agenda."

LINK

[Dardedar]

Obama wrote me an email today. Here is what he said:

***
Darrel --

Early this morning, the Senate made history and health reform cleared its most important hurdle yet -- garnering the 60 votes needed to move toward a final vote in that chamber later this week.

This marks the first time in our nation's history that comprehensive health reform has come to this point. And it appears that the American people will soon realize the genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options to those who do not.

I'm grateful to Senator Harry Reid and every senator who's been working around the clock to make this happen. And I'm grateful to you, and every member of the Organizing for America community, for all the work you have done to make this progress possible.

After a nearly century-long struggle, we are now on the cusp of making health insurance reform a reality in the United States of America.

As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process. But I'm pleased that recently added provisions have made this landmark bill even stronger. Between the time when the bill passes and the time when the insurance exchanges get up and running, insurance companies that try to jack up their rates do so at their own peril. Those who hike their prices may be barred from selling plans on the exchanges.

And while insurance companies will be prevented from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions once the exchanges are open, in the meantime there will be a high-risk pool where people with pre-existing conditions can purchase affordable coverage.

A recent amendment has made these protections even stronger. Insurance companies will now be prohibited from denying coverage to children immediately after this bill passes. There's also explicit language in this bill that will protect a patient's choice of doctor. And small businesses will get additional assistance as well.

These protections are in addition to the ones we've been talking about for some time. No longer will insurance companies be able to drop your coverage if you become sick and no longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for treatments that you need.

Under this bill families will save on their premiums; businesses that would see their costs rise if we don't act will save money now and in the future. This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it's paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system, this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade.

Finally, this reform will extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who don't have it.

These are not small changes. These are big changes. They're fundamental reforms. They will save money. They will save lives.

And your passion, your work, your organizing helped make all of this possible. Now it's time to finish the job.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama
***

[Dardedar]

Top Ten Worst Things about the Bush Decade

Excerpts:

10. Stagnating worker wages and the emergence of a new monied aristocracy. Of all the income growth of the entire country of the United States in the Bush years, the richest 1 percent of the working population, about 1.3 million persons, grabbed up over two-thirds of it.

9. Health and food insecurity increased for ordinary Americans. Health care costs skyrocketed. Most Americans in the work force who have health care are covered via their employers. 'From 1999 to 2009 health insurance premiums increased 132%" for the companies paying most of the costs of coverage to their employees. Euromonitor adds, "Average private health insurance premiums for a family of four in 1999 were US$5,485 per annum or 7.2% of household disposable income. 2008 premiums were estimated at US$12,973 per annum or 14.8% of average household disposable income."

8. The environment became more polluted. The Bush administration was the worst on record on environmental issues.

7. The imperial presidency was ensconced in ways it will be difficult to pare back... A part of this process was the abrogation of fourth amendment protections against arbitrary search, seizure and snooping into people's mail and effects, and of other key constitutional rights under vague and unconstitutional rubrics such as 'providing material aid to terrorists,...

6. The Katrina flood and the destruction of much of historic African-American New Orleans, and the massive failure of the Bush administration to come to the aid of one of America's great cities.

5. The Bush administration's post-2002 mishandling of Afghanistan, where the Taliban had been overthrown successfully in 2001 and were universally despised. The Bush administration's attempt to assert itself with a big troop presence in the Pashtun provinces, its use of search and destroy tactics and missile strikes, its neglect of civilian reconstruction, and its failure to finish off al-Qaeda, allowed an insurgency gradually to grow.

4. The Iraq War, in which the US illegally launched a war of aggression that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, displaced 4 million (over a million abroad), destroyed entire cities such as Fallujah, set off a Sunni-Shiite civil war, allowed Baghdad to be ethnically cleansed of its Sunnis, practiced systematic and widespread torture before the eyes of the Muslim Middle East and the world, and immeasurably strengthened Iran's hand in the Middle East.

3. The great $12 trillion Bank Robberry, in which unscrupulous bankers and financiers were deregulated and given free rein to create worthless derivatives, sell impossible mortgages to uninformed marks who could not understand their complicated terms, and then to roll this garbage up into securities re-sold like the
Cheshire cat, with a big visible smile of asserted value hanging in the air even as their actual worth disappeared into thin air.

2. The September 11 attacks on New York and Washington by al-Qaeda, an organization that stemmed from the Reagan administration's anti-Soviet jihad in the 1980s and which decided that, having defeated one superpower, it could take down the other.

1. The constitutional coup of 2000, in which Bush was declared the winner of an election he had lost, with the deployment of the most ugly racial and other low tricks in the ballot counting and the intervention of a partisan and far right-wing Supreme Court (itself drawn from or serving the oligarchs), and which gave us the worst president in the history of the union, who proceeded to drive the country off a cliff for the succeeding 8 years.