Putting on their best Poker Faces

Raising the budget debt ceiling negotiations are a real sham. The GOP is having their fun playing chicken on if the U.S. should default on their debt. You KNOW none of them are stupid enough to let it default before a big election year, but they continue to be extraordinary jerks.

Here is what I think Obama should do:
Honor his "Government transparency" campaign promise & bring the cameras in for the negotiations.
I want these dolts on film, demanding Tax cuts for the rich.
Them say they won't budge over that, or almost anything else.

Have them go on camera, showing all the items they refuse to negotiate on.
One talking head said just raising the debt ceiling at all is their biggest sacrifice, but they will demand all kinds of concessions from Obama.

The GOP has always enjoyed the tactic of using & abusing select buzzwords.

This month the catch phrases are:

• "Job Creators" Some fictional concept about the wealthy not being taxed so the little people can have jobs. Ten years of tax cuts for the wealthy & we are at 25% unemployment (the real number when all who are out of work are counted, not the 9.2% they are claiming).

You could play a drinking game on this phrase alone...
A talking head last night said it about 8 times in a short interview on PBS, Michelle Bachmann is spewing it, and of course John Boehner is reciting it too. They are relying heavily on the concept that if they say it enough times, it will become reality, a kind of word hypnosis, if you will.

• The (rich) people don't want taxes raised (the rest of the people want Social Security & Medicare messed with, instead??)
 It is all about trying to get middle-class & poor voters to swallow paying for tax cuts for rich people. 

These guys are proposing defunding hospice care, student loans & Sesame Street.   

What they actually do is:

Massive deficit spending on defense, upper-class tax cuts, bailouts, corporate subsidies, and big handouts to Pharma and the insurance industries.

Rolling Stone reports:

" Ryan’s proposal also includes dropping the top tax rate for rich people from 35 percent to 25 percent. All by itself, that one change means that the government would be collecting over $4 trillion less over the next ten years."

" The issue is being presented as if the debt comes entirely from growth in entitlement spending. It’s bad enough that middle-class taxpayers have been forced in the last few years to subsidize the vacations and beach houses of the idiots who caused the financial crisis, and it’s doubly insulting that they’re now being blamed for the budget mess."

Harry Reid said:

“Cooperation and compromise are not just good ideas.  They’re not political slogans.  They are essential to the end game.  With a cooperative spirit and willingness to compromise, we can move the country forward.  Without them, we can’t.  It’s as simple as that.

“I can speak only for my side when I say we’re ready to negotiate and legislate.  We’re ready to do our jobs.  But we can’t negotiate with ourselves, and we won’t negotiate through the media.

“Once the Republicans settle their own internal disagreements and decide what they stand for, we’ll get this done.  Until that happens, the country waits, watches and worries.”

Maybe that is their mistake. Maybe the ridiculous lack of budging on the budget is because they are behind closed doors. Let the cameras roll & let the truth be shown. 

The GOP just might come around in the spotlight of open negotiations. 

Otherwise, having the likes of Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner pitching a fit because the wealthy need tax breaks will be a treasure chest of film footage for the 2012 election year. 

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), noted that it was a misconception that raising the debt ceiling would permit Congress to spend more.

“All we are doing is making good on the spending that has already occurred,” she said. “It’s like they bought a new car and don’t want to make the payments.”

These guys all approved the spending that got us into debt, now they don't want to pay the bill."

Later speaking with Salon.com’s Joan Walsh, Matthews said that the

"Republican’s plan to hold the debt ceiling “hostage” until Democrats agreed to budget cuts was “terrorism.”"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I hate this fracking commercial

Yes I do



Oh gag me! The golden home lighting, the half circle flag bunting, the American flag, businesses "open", and some fatherly figure & geologist speaking about how thanks to technology, we can extract Natural gas, it's just right under our feet.

Safely unlock natural gas trapped in rock thousands of feet below us!
Safely unlock this clean & very natural gas
providing energy security
AND economic growth all across this country.
It's all about "discovery" folks.
Trees √
Breakfast & Lunch counter storefront
probably selling apple pies√
 made by some Mom√


Yea well, I discovered Dick Cheney made it so that the chemicals used for fracking are proprietary & therefore do not need to be disclosed.
Wonder why they did not put THIS footage in their commercial??

I'm calling bullshit on the "sky is falling" economy

Here's a little Friday news dump you might have missed:

It's like Christmas in in July~


The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Pentagon budget by $17 billion and covers the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


We don't have money for Medicare & have to raid Social Security funds due to an economic crisis, while flushing billions down the toilet in *more war funding*. 


The strong bipartisan vote was 336-87 and reflected lawmakers' intent to ensure national security, preserve defense jobs across the nation and avoid deep cuts while the country is at war.


Just about the only thing congress can do in a bipartisan way is fund wars. 

Scoffing at the suggestion that "everything is on the table" in budget negotiations between the Obama administration and congressional leaders, Rep Barney Frank said: 

"The military budget is not on the table. The military is at the table, and it is eating everybody else's lunch."

Still, the overall bill is $9 billion less than President Barack Obama sought.

In a series of votes Thursday, Republicans and Democrats expressed their dissatisfaction with the Libya operation, now in its fourth month with no end in sight and waning support from some nations in the international coalition. The House voted to bar military aid to the rebels but moments later rejected efforts to prevent funding for the limited U.S. mission.

The congressional unrest over Libya stems from a stalemated civil war and Obama's contention that he didn't need congressional authorization to engage in another war on top of Afghanistan and Iraq because Libya fighting isn't full-blown hostilities. Among war-weary NATO allies, Italy announced that it was reducing its participation in the campaign by removing an aircraft carrier from the region and pulling thousands of troops home.

"Libya did not attack us. Libya did not attack NATO," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. "However much we detest Mr. Gadhafi and his regime, we have no reason to be at war."

The House voted 225-201 for an amendment sponsored by Cole to bar the Pentagon from providing "military equipment, training or advice or other support for military activities" to an outside group, such as rebel forces, for military action in or against Libya.

Forty-eight Democrats backed the Republican-sponsored measure.

At nearly $700 billion, the U.S. military budget is bigger than that of the next 17 countries combined.

Since NATO took command of the Libya operation in early April, the U.S. role has largely been limited to support efforts such as intelligence, surveillance and electronic warfare. The U.S. has launched drone attacks and other airstrikes, flying more than 3,400 sorties.

Source: Common Dreams

How can they say "war" budgets are on the table when they swiftly & separately passed this burgeoning billions of dollar war budget before the (remaining) budget talks are even over?

If corporations are people....

 An intriguing suggestion popped up at a political gathering last week. If the Supreme Court really wants corporations to be like people and be able to influence elections, the court should set some basic rules. Corporations should be at least 18 years old before they can give money to political campaigns, and be U.S. citizens in good standing (no felony convictions among their managers). Maybe they need to register for the draft?

Any other requirements come to mind? 

~ Hat tip to the Eugene Weekly for this quote. 

Love it!

George Carlin was ahead of the times....

Check out his prediction about Social Security:

Court of Appeals to Military: Stop dragging your anchor re DADT

The Washingtom Post reports:

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordered the Pentagonon Wednesday to cease investigations and discharges of service members in violation of the ban on gays serving openly in the military. The ruling noted that the Obama administration has said it thinks another federal law — the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages — is unconstitutional.

The Defense Department will comply with the court order and took steps late Wednesday to begin informing the forces of the change, according to Marine Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.

The law requires every man and woman serving in military uniform to complete training courses about the end of the policy before its repeal. Military officials said President Obama will certify “in the coming weeks” that the military has completed the training courses and is ready to end the ban.

The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which began in late 1993, will officially end 60 days after Obama’s written certification.

Some gay troops serving on the front lines said Thursday that military culture — not a court order — would dictate whether they eventually reveal their sexual orientation.

“I’m ecstatic,” said one soldier stationed in Baghdad, adding that he planned to meet Thursday night at a military coffee shop with other gay soldiers to celebrate.

“We won’t be loud or obnoxious, but we will show solidarity and resolve,” the soldier said by e-mail, speaking on the condition of anonymity while the ban remains in effect.

An Army officer based in Kabul said that he and his gay comrades were unlikely to publicly disclose their sexual orientation immediately — whenever the ban ends. “I’d like to, but that’s difficult because of the culture around me,” he said in an interview. Complicating the decision, he said, he has heard fellow soldiers and commanding officers use gay slurs and make gay jokes.

“I don’t know who will be accepting,” he said. Even if the ban ends quickly, “military culture won’t change overnight.”1

The military was taking it;s sweet time to enact the repeal of DADT, it was a stalling tactic, and      the gay community was advised to refrain from going public while in this transition time. Unless or until the policy was officially in place, gay service members remained at risk of being kicked out for coming out publicly. 

It was a lame & spineless policy to begin with, asking soldiers to perform Duty & Honor for their country, while requiring them to lie about themselves & who they are. 

Duty, Honor & Lies was a horrible policy & glad to see the courts calling BS on the stalling. 

Rock & rollers don't roll that way..... Get off of my cloud!

Interestingly enough, different politicians have chosen music to play during their campaign rallies, and it turns out, mostly republicans, have used the music without the permission of the performing artist, and frankly, these artists feel especially touchy about politicians they don't like using their songs.


I happened to come across this story that Tom Petty has issued a cease & desist letter issued to Michelle Bachmann after she used his song at the end of her announcement to run for president. The article, titled not HIS American girl, "A few hours after the rally, Matt Ortega tweeted, "@TomPetty unhappy with Michele Bachmann's use of 'American Girl' and in process of issuing [a cease and desist] letter."
Petty wanted to make it clear that he does not support Bachmann's candidacy


• Petty ain't scared. Remember when he did the same to George W. Bush for using "I Won't Back Down"?


• Eagles frontman Don Henley issued a lawsuit against GOP candidate Charles DeVore, after the politician used two songs—“The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”—in web campaign videos. Though Henley first complained to YouTube about the videos, YouTube told him that he’d have to file an official copyright claim before they could remove them. So Henley did just that. Though DeVore defiantly stood his ground on his right to use the songs (calling Henley a “liberal goon” in the process), a court didn’t agree with the politician. After a judge ruled in favor of Henley, DeVore issued an apology statement for the copyright infringement. Oh, and for the name-calling.

• Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne sued Florida’s Republican governor, Charlie Crist, for the use of “Road To Nowhere” in a campaign video used during the politician’s unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in 2010. The singer asked for $1 million and though the suit was settled for an undisclosed sum,

•  When Ronald Reagan ran for reelection in 1984, the Gipper hoped to buttress his muscular agenda through the use of Bruce Springsteen's newly released hit, "Born in the USA." Springsteen, who went on to endorse both John Kerry and Barack Obama in 2004 and 2008, thought his anti-war anthem was being misused. He told Kurt Loder of  Rolling Stone on December 6, 1984, the following: "But I think there's a large group of people in this country whose dreams don't mean that much to [Ronald Reagan], that just get indiscriminately swept aside. I guess my view of America is of a real bighearted country, real compassionate."

•  In 2008, progressive/activist artist Jackson Browne sued John McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party for the use of his 1977 song “Running on Empty” in a campaign ad without asking permission. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount and McCain apologized to Browne, though he maintained that he had no knowledge of the ad. However, McCain has also had other big-name artists, such as John Mellencamp, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters, balk at his using of their work for campaigns. That's a lot of (well deserved) rejection

• The Brits faced off against the Germans in this music tiff. When Angela Merkel was running for chancellor of Germany in 2005, she used a track by The Rolling Stones, appropriately titled "Angie." However, the Stones' agent wasn't too happy, saying the candidate did not have permission to use the song. "We would probably have said 'no' if they had (asked," a rep said. Merkel's team didn't back down, claiming they licensed the track from a German music distribution agency. 

• During his 2010 bid for U.S. Senate, Republican Rand Paul used two songs by the band Rush to pump up crowds and add background music to a promotional video. This prompted Rush's lawyer to write to Paul's team, claiming the politician never asked permission to use the tunes. But the libertarian-minded band insisted the move was not a statement. "This is not a political issue — this is a copyright issue," Rush's attorney told the Courier-Journal. "We would do this no matter who it is."

• In 2008, Heart's "Barracuda" played at the Republican National Convention in tribute to then-Vice-President nominee Sarah Palin, whose high-school nickname had been Sarah Barracuda. Heart wanted nothing to do with Palin, sending a stern email to the campaign stating that, "Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image.” Could this help explain why Palin’s spirit animal is now a grizzly bear?"

* Credit TIME newsfeed

I think it's cool that these musicians have taken back their music from politicians who basically tried to use it for their own political gain... a paid job as a politician when the artists themselves don't support the candidate or message. The "not in my name" spirit carried over so strongly- it came to lawsuits & strong worded demands to cease & desist. 

The republicans have done more than enough damage, let's not let them take our music too!

Right on!

Flags & Fireworks: Made in China

Check out these statistics:

"Nearly 97% of U.S. money for firework imports popped up in China last year, according to U.S. trade statistics. The hard numbers: we paid nearly $200 million for all of our skyrockets, Roman candles, sparklers and other pyrotechnics.


As for the Stars and Stripes, about 88% of our money for American flag imports billowed over to China in 2010.  U.S. foreign trade statistics show that the U.S. imported $3.2 million worth of flags, and $2.8 million of that went to our top trade partner.

The U.S. China-Business Council’s website highlights America’s burgeoning trade imbalance over the last decade. In 2001, the U.S. ran up a deficit with China of $83 billion. By 2010 however, that number had more than tripled to $273 billion – the largest trade imbalance the U.S. has ever had with a single country.

So as the U.S. suffers from a trade deficit, how does China enjoy its trade excess?

Well, a good deal of that money is found in its domestic infrastructure projects. As an old China hand, I can tell you that around the country China is building out everything from its national road network and subway systems, to its airports, trains and bridges.

According to Caixin, China currently has about 175 airports across the country. By 2013, it aims to push that number up to 230. That’s like building a brand-new airport in each U.S. state in the next year and a half.

China spent $34 billion on its new high-speed rail line linking Beijing and Shanghai. It just opened on June 30 shunting passengers 1,318 kilometers in just under five hours.

And more than $1.5 billion was floated to build the world’s longest bridge in Qingdao, China. That opened on July 1 and spans 41.58 kilometers.

Yes, indeed, China does have cash flow.

Pretty soon, Beijing will be helping us to build our own bridges. Oh wait…it already does. This month the last segments of the new San Francisco cross-bay bridge to Oakland will be shipped from Shanghai. Scheduled for completion by 2013, projects like these just might be a harbinger of things to come: a China that’s moved on from making our flags and fireworks to our major bridges and buildings." ~ CNN

Wow! That is a staggering amount  of  trade imbalance $273 billion. Something to think about, when Americans buy "Made in China" American flags, & blow off Chinese fireworks to celebrate United States independence, while we support the Chinese economy.

4th of July ~

"Freedom is not a right that is granted or defended with rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air. 
Freedom is not achieved by man-made, blood-soaked borders.

The world cannot know that there is an alternative to violence and war, without a people of peace making peace."

~ Mark Schloneger

No.The Newspaper editorial hashed out

This editorial appeared in our local rag:

Too much focus on flubs

The candidates’ slips shouldn’t obscure the substance

Published: (Friday, Jul 1, 2011 05:01AM)Midnight, July 1

In today’s age of electronic sound bites and instant analysis, it’s become easy — too easy — for people who are in the public eye to misspeak and get caught doing it. Politicians and elected leaders have proven to be particularly vulnerable.

During his 2008 campaign, President Obama was caught on camera in Beaverton saying that his campaign for president had taken him to “57 states,” not including Alaska and Hawaii.

More recently, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and announced Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann have been ridiculed by news media and political opponents for off-the-mark comments they made while on camera. 

Most people have no problem with seeing politicians held up to ridicule when they commit a gaffe. The mistakes provide fodder for the late-night talk shows on TV, newspaper copy that’s often fun to read, and material for the cable news outlets to mine for their seemingly endless hours of often provocative programming.

But sometimes enough is enough. The news media generally have become so obsessed with publishing, broadcasting or cablecasting the verbal missteps of celebrities and political figures that one begins to wonder what important news is being missed. Sometimes, as happened when the news media jumped on Palin’s recent ad-lib about Paul Revere riding to warn the British, the coverage of the minutiae can overwhelm the more substantive information that’s being reported.

Bachmann recently has supplanted Palin as a favored media target. The conservative, straight-talking wife and mother currently represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District and has become known for assertions that are sometimes wide of the mark. An Associated Press analysis of some of her misquotes and misstatements of fact referred to them as “bomblets.”

Appearing on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America,” Bachmann incorrectly referred to John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, as one of the Founding Fathers. John Quincy, of course, was the son of a Founding Father, John Adams, who became our second president.

Misstatements like that, if based on fatigue or confusion or just a lack of preparedness, can be forgiven; ones based on lack of intelligence or simple ignorance are much harder to forgive.

It would be nice, though, if the media hounds would take a step back and refocus on what’s really important in covering in the news, and presidential politics in particular. American voters deserve to have some meat and potatoes served up with the occasional bonbons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This editorial tells us we should not be scrutinizing politicians about "gaffes". To me, it was the same as saying we should "dumb down" for presidential candidates. 


So what if Palin totally botched the Paul Revere historical event? Then went out to defend herself, insisting that she got it right.

What of Bachmann mixing up which Adams family member was a founding father?

It does matter. It is a sampler of the very lack of substance of their campaigns. They gloss over & make up historic details, winking & announcing how "god told them" to run for president or not. While Bachmann's grandstanding announcement of her candidacy made reference to John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer, rather than the hometown of John Wayne the actor, it is true we examine "where her head is at", rather than the fact her & her husband are some hateful fundamentalists, homophobes, and they have no problem taking over half a million dollars in Federal welfare, for the family farm & clinic business, while spouting off the Tea Party rhetoric saying Federal give aways & welfare are bad. Do as she says, not as she does. 

And although candidates are (allegedly) human & can make mistakes, to give wrong & fabricated fractured fairy tale versions of history is like the ebonics of history. 

It insults our intelligence. 

If they make a mistake they should cop to it, and rather than this editorial, advising us to lower the bar, and accept all kinds of inaccurate and rhetorical garbage, we should be looking for candidates who have their facts together, or at least have the sense to shut up. 

The last president people felt like they could "have a beer with" turned out to be a disaster of epic proportions. 

We need to raise, rather than lower the bar for presidential standards. 

Talking with god & botching historical facts is hardly a platform in which to build a candidacy. 

Here is the clincher, as far as I am concerned-- they tell us to back off of the gaffes, and pay more attention to the substantive content of their message. Apparently whomever wrote that editorial has not been paying attention. 

For people like Palin (who is waiting for god to tell her if she should run), and Bachmann (god already told her to run).... gaffes and flubs ARE their substance- that's all they've got. 

Friday Tune