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You Should Watch This, This Is Funny of the Day: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em — in a new comedy sketch released by Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, he pokes fun at his exasperation with Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker and his superhero exploits. But when Mitt Romney calls, there’s one situation for which Booker isn’t prepared…
[playbook]
Female Candidates and the Emotion Doublebind – this ain’t livin’ (via lookoutsideyourself)
Extremely personally relevant.
(via modernistwitch)
A must-watch video on the GOP’s racial politics.
From Newt Gingrich’s lectures on how African-Americans should demand paychecks instead of food stamps, to labeling Obama the “food-stamp president,” betcha didn’t think the GOP’s rhetoric could be this dehumanizing.
The Non-Existent 'Judeo-Christian Tradition'
And, of course, the phrase is historically dubious. The founders based the republic more on classical models than Biblical ones, using noncommittal Enlightenment-era terminology for God (The Creator) if and when they deigned to mention him at all. That’s not to say Christianity has not infused the culture of our country at all: it clearly has. But none of the founders would have recognized the phrase “Judeo-Christian,” certainly not in the way it is used today, and they took pains to explain to other countries at the time that we were not a Christian nation, much less a “Judeo-Christian” one.
Why the Super Committee is Super Illegitimate
Let’s start with the premise of even having a deficit super committee in the first place. Basic macroeconomics tells us that trying to reduce the deficit before you have tackled the jobs crisis is great recipe for making things worse, largely because the lack of tax revenue that comes with high unemployment is a primary contributor to the deficit, and slashing government spending does not create jobs—quite the opposite. The idea that you can slash-and-grow the economy is an economic fairy tale that has been thoroughly debunked and has demonstrably failed in places like the U.K. Sensible approaches to the deficit from reality-based economists like Joseph Stiglitz (i.e. reduce unemployment and tax the top) have been around for some time, but they can’t seem to penetrate the bubble of economic delusion that is Washington, D.C.
What too few are wiling to say is that the fundamental goal of the super committee—that of deficit cutting in the face of a weak economy and jobs crisis – does not serve the welfare of the public (something our Constitution states clearly that our government is supposed to do, btw). The truth is that the super committee can’t properly devote itself to the general welfare because it has other constituencies to attend to, namely those who contribute big political money.
As a reminder, the members of the super committee are as follows:
From the Senate: Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio),Patty Murray (D-Wash.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
From the House: Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), and Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Maplight, a non-profit, non-partisan group dedicated to exposing money in politics, has released information on where the members of the super committee got their money over the last decade. Here are the ten biggest organization contributors (including PACs and employees) to super committee members:
Club for Growth - $1,009,884
Microsoft - $822,350
University of California - $652,935
Goldman Sachs - $605,684
EMILY’s List - $594,883
Citigroup - $584,831
JPMorgan Chase - $533,128
UBS - $451,280
Akin Gump - $435,254
Morgan Stanley - $393,779You will be unsurprised to learn that the Club for Growth, the number one contributor overall, is an extreme anti-tax and anti-government group comprising 9,000 members and dominated by Wall Street financiers and executives. Nor will you be surprised to find the big banks and financial houses well-represented on this list: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.
Obviously, neither the Club for Growth nor Big Finance advocates increasing the share of taxes on the wealthy and the financial sector as a way of addressing the deficit, in contrast to the American public, which does. Are we really supposed to believe that it is a coincidence that the six Republicans on the committee swore to block any tax increases, even on the big banks that helped bring on the 2008 crash that caused the deficit in the first place?
Is it a radical statement to say the president should have issued this statement long-ago in regards to Occupy Wall Street? Because he hasn’t. I’d like to take this moment to point out how much Wall St. gave Barack Obama in 2008…
- Goldman Sachs: $1,013,091
- JPMorgan Chase & Co: $808,799
- Citigroup Inc: $736,771
- UBS AG: $532,674
- General Electric: $529,855
- Morgan Stanley: $512,232
- Latham & Watkins: $503,295
- Total: $4,636,717
Here’s the top two recipients of donations from the financial/securities and investment sector since 2012:
As far as Wall Street, Obama’s already received over a third of what they donated in 2008 for the entire cycle. Though we can see who Wall Street’s favorite is for the GOP side. I don’t think it’s possible to deny the influence of corporate Wall Street dollars in our elections.
Let’s take Goldman Sachs as an example. Here’s their break down for 2012: They’ve donated a total of $1,858,958 thus far, $508,609 to Democrats and $1,350,349 to Republicans, for a 27%/73% split.
Compare to 2008. By the end of the election cycle, Goldman Sachs donated $6,025,681. Of that, $4,489,893 went to Democrats, and $1,525,448 went to Republicans for a 75%/25% split.
This is why I laugh nearly uncontrollably when I hear Fox News talking about Obama’s occupiers. He’s not on our side, guys.
Essentially, we’re supposed to support democratic movements elsewhere, not here at home. God forbid you actually participate.
Gotcha.
Ah, that moment when crime is legalized if it is understood to rest on religious bias. The Framers must be crying …
On Wednesday, legislators in Michigan’s Senate passed a bill “which not only neglects to protect students based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but creates a special exception for bullies who have a ‘sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.’”
The rebuke entered into the record by Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer is worth taking a couple of minutes to watch.
(via Think Progress; HT: Gavin Craig).
OK, Michigan Republicans, here’s our question: What if the bully’s religious justification is SHARIA? What do you do then? After your brains are done exploding, we mean.
^^^^^
“Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
Snap.
Today is the 23rd anniversary of one of the greatest-put downs in American political history—the 1988 vice presidential debate, in which Lloyd Bentsen, a Democrat, delivered a positively Churchillian retort when Dan Quayle told Americans he “had as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did.”
The line is great, but the video’s even greater—you can see Bentsen, in the background, react immediately with a mix of both disbelief and mouth-watering at the opening Quayle has given him. The great irony is how little the quip mattered: Quayle and running mate George H. W. Bush still destroyed Michael Dukakis and Bentsen. Quayle, in the meantime, is more remembered for his spelling follies than his misplaced self-regard.
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) became the first openly gay parent in Congress after welcoming a baby boy to his family Friday.
In Case You Missed It of the Day: It seems every GOP debate is determined to have that one moment sheer callousness that makes you fret for humanity’s future — and last night’s FOX News/Google debate did not disappoint.
Moderator Megyn Kelly introduced a YouTube question about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” from a now-openly-gay soldier serving his country in Iraq, after which several audience members could be heard booing.
But that wasn’t nearly the worst of it.
Halfway through Rick Santorum bigoted, literally-backward response, the same audience began cheering loudly — so loudly that the rest of his reply was barely audible.
And to Rick Santorum: Gay =/= “sexual activity,” and being allowed to be openly honest with other people about what makes you who you are without the threat of being ostracized =/= “special privilege.”
[towleroad.]
Bolded for emphasis.
