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The GOP is Nuts by BooMan, boomantribune.com | December 21, 2012
Can we safely say that the majority of the House Republican caucus has been so indoctrinated into their own propaganda that they no longer realize that it is just bullshit designed to help rich people get their way? Do they all now actually believe that raising taxes reduces revenues? Do they believe that increasing income inequality increases consumer demand and promotes economic growth? Do they actually believe that government spending doesn't create any jobs even when the government is paying people to work? It is extremely dangerous to have a party this detached from reality read more »The Big Fail by David Weigel, slate.com | December 21, 2012
When they met behind closed doors, Boehner told his members that they were done, and could go home for Christmas. Some of the “no” votes didn’t even bother to show up, opting to attend a gumbo-themed send-off for a member who’d lost his re-election. Those who did show up heard their speaker declare defeat and recite a prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." And then it was away for Christmas. The meltdown shocked Washington, but it shouldn’t have. Here are the four reasons why. read more »Will Boehner's Speakership Survive Until Plan C? by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | December 21, 2012
Has there been a House speaker in modern American history with less control over his members than John Boehner? A significant number of Boehner’s members clearly don’t trust his strategic instincts, they don’t feel personally bound to support him, they clearly disagree with his belief that tax rates must rise as part of a deal, and they, along with many other Republicans, must be humiliated after the shenanigans on the House floor this evening. Worse, they know that Boehner knows he’ll need Democratic support to get a budget deal done. That means “a cave,” at least from the perspective of the conservative bloc, is certain. That, too, will make a change of leadership appealing. If a conservative spoiler runs, he or she could very possibly deny Boehner the 218 votes he needs to become speaker. It’s hard to say exactly how likely that is. But it’s likelier than it was, say, this morning. read more »Fiscal Cliff Vote Fails Due to Republican Theology on Taxes by Daniel Gross, thedailybeast.com | December 21, 2012
People in our world too frequently fail to take professionals at their words. The modern Republican Party doesn’t believe in raising taxes. Full stop. In fact, as a rule, its members believes that taxes are too high. When they get in power, Republicans try to cut taxes, regardless of the economic or fiscal situation. George W. Bush may have had a failed presidency in many ways, but you can’t deny his success at reducing taxes on income, capital gains, dividends, and estates. When they are out of power Republicans agitate to cut taxes and oppose tax increases. When they run for office, they promise to cut taxes and oppose tax increases. And when confronted with the prospect of massive tax increases that will result from mere inaction, they have proven, thus far, unwilling to take evasive action if it means raising taxes on anybody. read more »Republicans Crush Boehner’s Plan B by Brian Beutler, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com | December 21, 2012
So what happens now? Boehner has two problems: one with President Obama and another with his conference. And to the extent that he meliorates one he exacerbates the other. He can return to fiscal cliff negotiations with an empowered Obama, and try to eke out the sort of deal he just rejected, then pass it through the House next week, on a bipartisan basis at but a huge risk to his Speakership. That’s the course he told members he’d pursue in the conference meeting Thursday night. And the White House is open to it. It sets up a scenario where Boehner’s old nemesis Nancy Pelosi is suddenly back in the driver’s seat, controlling the votes necessary to pass a deal. But if a last ditch effort fails, or he chooses to rebuff Obama, he’ll set one of two unpredictable chains of events into motion. read more »Boehner’s Failure and the GOP’s Disgrace by Robert b. Reich, robertreich.org | December 21, 2012
Remarkably, John Boehner couldn’t get enough House Republicans to vote in favor of his proposal to keep the Bush tax cuts in place on the first million dollars of everyone’s income and apply the old Clinton rates only to dollars over and above a million. What? Even Grover Norquist blessed Boehner’s proposal, saying it wasn’t really a tax increase. Even Paul Ryan supported it. What does Boehner’s failure tell us about the modern Republican party? That it has become a party of hypocrisy masquerading as principled ideology. The GOP talks endlessly about the importance of reducing the budget deficit. But it isn’t even willing to raise revenues from the richest three-tenths of one percent of Americans to help with the task. We’re talking about 400,000 people, for crying out loud read more »Poll: 53% Say Republican Policies Are Too Extreme by Laura Clawson, dailykos.com | December 20, 2012
The Republican Party has for years gotten away with having extremist positions without being widely branded as an extremist party. But a new CNN/ORC International poll finds that, for the first time, a majority of Americans say Republican policies are too extreme, and the bad news for the GOP doesn't stop there. The poll found 53 percent saying Republican policies are too extreme, as compared with 37 percent who say Democratic policies are too extreme. The group calling Republicans too extreme is up 17 points from two years ago—basically, Republicans took their wins in 2010 and used them to convince the nation they're extremists. And if you think one of two parties working on a "compromise" is too extreme, chances are you think that party should compromise more. read more »Concealed Carry and the Triumph of Fear by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | December 20, 2012
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the NRA and the gun manufacturers, 49 states now issue concealed-carry permits to people for whom merely owning guns is not enough. As we focus our attention on military-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, we need to remember that the most important change in recent years isn't in the equipment, but in the spread of a new kind of mentality among many gun owners, one that seeks to make fear the organizing principle of American society. This has been the essential focus of gun advocates' work in recent years: changing laws so that as many people as possible can carry as many guns as possible into as many places as possible. Since the people who want to do so have driven the discussion and the laws on guns, it's important to understand where they're coming from. And frankly, it's an ugly place. read more »'Right to Work' for Less Laws Have Racist Origins by Kenneth Quinnell, aflcio.org | December 20, 2012
Last week, after Michigan became the latest state to pass "right to work" for less legislation, many began to dig into the history of such laws and discovered that one of the earliest pushes for "right to work" came from an extreme right-wing activist Vance Muse, who was staunchly anti-communist, anti-integration and anti-union. Muse was the leader of the Christian American Association, an organization that fought to pass "right to work" in more than a dozen states in the 1940s. Working with conservative business leaders and segregationist groups, the Christian American Association first pushed for so-called "anti-violence" laws that were designed to clamp down on picketing by unions. After they successfully passed that law in Texas and in other Southern states, they moved on to "right to work" in 1945, passing the first such law in Texas in 1947. In Florida and Arkansas, the Christian American Association used messaging that compared union growth to race-mixing and communism. read more »Rich Make Out Like Bandits in Fiscal-Cliff Negotiations by Daniel Gross, thedailybeast.com | December 19, 2012
If the stock market is a barometer on how the wealthy and powerful are feeling about their prospects, then the 1 percent has come down with a healthy dose of the Christmas spirit. In the past few weeks, the S&P 500 has rallied more than 7 percent. And why not? Staring at the fiscal cliff, which would have raised taxes on income, capital gains, dividends, and estates taxes, the wealthy had reason to fear. The moneyed class placed a huge, one-sided bet on their tribune, Mitt Romney, and on the Republicans. And they lost. Big time. In mid-November you could detect, in the precincts of Greenwich and Palm Beach, in Scottsdale and Buckhead, a grim sort of resignation. The first several weeks of the fiscal-cliff hostage situation gave them more reason to fear. But the developments of this week should cause the posh to take heart. Instead of getting soaked, it looks like the rich will receive a gentle spray of spring water. read more »
The Latest
Federal Aid Finally Reaches New Orleans, USA Today | March 18, 2009
More than $700 million worth of public projects will start to emerge in this embattled city this year, as New Orleans' recovery enters one of its busiest stages since the devastating floods of Hurricane Katrina, the city's mayor said. read more »
Obama Targets Food Safety, | March 15, 2009
Describing the U.S. government’s failure to inspect 95 percent of food-processing plants as ‘‘a hazard to the public health,’’ President Barack Obama promised to bolster and reorganize the nation’s fractured food-safety system. ‘‘In the end, food safety is something I take seriously, not just as your president, but as a parent,’’ Mr. read more »
FDA Issues Peanut Safety Guidelines, Reuters | March 11, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued safety guidelines for companies that use peanut products and said it may seize products that test positive for salmonella bacteria. While heat-sensitive, salmonella bacteria become heat-resistant in high-fat environments such as peanut butter, the FDA guidance advises. read more »
Food Problems Elude Private Inspectors, The New York Times | March 6, 2009
With government inspectors overwhelmed by the task of guarding the nation’s food supply, the job of monitoring food plants has in large part fallen to an army of private auditors. An examination of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in recent years shows that auditors failed to detect problems at plants whose contaminated products later sickened consumers. read more »
Supreme Court: Patients Can Sue Drug Makers, Los Angeles Times | March 5, 2009
The Supreme Court dealt a defeat to the pharmaceutical industry and the Bush administration, ruling that federal approval of a prescription drug does not provide a shield against lawsuits from injured patients. The 6-3 decision upholds the traditional right of American consumers to sue the manufacturer if they are harmed by a defective product. read more »
Dead Mice, Dropping Found at Peanut Plant, Reuters | March 4, 2009
Dead mice and rodent droppings were found throughout a Texas plant run by a company whose peanut products caused one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history, food inspectors reported. Effective measures are not being taken to exclude pests from the processing areas and protect against the contamination of food on the premises by pests," the report reads. The U.S. read more »
Senate to Investigate CIA Under Bush, Los Angeles Times | February 27, 2009
The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to launch an investigation of the CIA's detention and interrogation programs under President George W. Bush, setting the stage for a sweeping examination of some of most secretive and controversial operations in recent agency history. read more »
Wall Street Gets Low Marks for Ethics, Honesty, Reuters | February 27, 2009
Americans hold a dim view of business executives, giving them poor grades for honesty and ethics and blaming them for business failures, according to a survey. Nearly 60 percent gave the worst grades to Wall Street executives for honesty and ethical practices, according to research. The poll questioned 2,071 U.S. adults and 110 business executives. read more »
Firms Defraud Government, Get New Contracts, Associated Press | February 27, 2009
Companies that defrauded the United States and jeopardized American lives received new government work despite rulings designed to stop them from receiving federal contracts, government investigators report. The companies were on a government database of 70,000 individuals and businesses suspended or barred from receiving government contract work. read more »
Salmonella Sickens 666, Reuters | February 25, 2009
An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning traced to peanut products has sickened 666 people and is continuing despite one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history, health officials said. But the outbreak of salmonella is still only linked to nine deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. read more »
