Wednesday Toon Roundup 2- Putin and the G7

Wednesday Toon Roundup 1- GOP Alternatives

TOON: Job Creator

An amazing chart on how the Koch brothers are dominating the Senate ad race

BY AARON BLAKE
There has been much hand-wringing over the past 48-72 hours about predictions that Republicans are now favored to take over the Senate in November.

There have also been plenty of warning signs being thrown up by Democratic leaders, from top strategists to President Obama.

The chart below, from Kantar Media Intelligence/CMAG, explains both of these about as clearly as possible.




As you can see, not only are Democrats defending very red states; they are getting clobbered on the airwaves early this election year.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/03/25/how-the-koch-brothers-are-dominating-the-senate-ad-race-in-one-chart/

"I Only Get – and My Committee Only Gets – What They WANT To Give Me."

“Do You Think That Because I’m Chairman of The Intelligence Committee That I Just Say “I Want It”, and They Give It To Me? They Control It. All Of It. ALL of It. ALL THE TIME. I Only Get – and My Committee Only Gets – What They WANT To Give Me.”

Posted on March 25, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog
Agencies Have Gone Rogue … With No Oversight

In 2007, reporter Charles Davis asked then-Chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee – Jay Rockefeller – about clandestine U.S. operations against a foreign government.

Here’s the exchange (hear the whole minute plus recording or just listen to the 20-second money quote):

DAVIS: Reports quote administration officials as saying this is going on and it’s being done in a way to avoid oversight of the Intelligence Committee. Is there any way—

ROCKEFELLER: They’ll go to any lengths to do that, as we’ve seen in the last two days [during hearings on FISA].

DAVIS: Is there anything you could do in your position as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee to find answers about this, if it is in fact going on?

ROCKEFELLER: Don’t you understand the way Intelligence works? Do you think that because I’m Chairman of the Intelligence Committee that I just say I want it, and they give it to me? They control it. All of it. ALL of it. ALL THE TIME. I only get - and my committee only gets - what they WANT to give me.

more

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/03/senate-intelligence-chairman-think-im-chairman-intelligence-committee-just-say-want-give-control-al.html

Why isn't THIS on the air 24/7???

The Affordable Care Act Is Working
By PHIL SCHILIRO March 24, 2014

It is now four years since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. And in more than 30 years in government, I’ve never seen a law get so little recognition for doing so much good so quickly.

The right measure of the ACA isn’t whether it avoids political controversy; it’s whether it makes America better by achieving its five most fundamental goals: expanding health-insurance coverage, lowering costs and promoting fiscal responsibility, increasing quality through innovation, protecting seniors and delivering peace of mind to American families by guaranteeing essential rights in dealing with insurance companies.

By that standard the law is already a success. Health insurance has expanded. More than 5 million Americans have signed up for coverage through federal and state marketplaces; millions have been determined eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program; and 3 million young adults gained insurance through their parents’ coverage. Even more compelling than statistics are the letters hard-working Americans are sharing with the president. Their unscripted and private testimonials are building a lasting record of the life-changing—and often lifesaving—impacts the ACA is having. One woman from Colorado shared what the peace of mind of having coverage meant to her. “After using my new insurance for the first time, you probably heard my sigh of relief from the White House,” she wrote to President Obama. “I felt like a human being again. I felt that I had value.”

At the same time, costs are coming down. The Congressional Budget Office found the health care law is making significant contributions to fiscal responsibility. The CBO’s most recent estimates show that repealing the law would actually increase deficits by $1.7 trillion over the next 20 years. Moreover, average premiums for coverage through the marketplaces are about 15 percent lower than the CBO previously projected.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/affordable-care-act-is-working-104942.html

All I hear about are the latest Koch brothers lies. This should be broadcast just as often.

Little Girl Taken Out Of Christian School After Told She's Too Much Like A Boy

Timberlake, VA - Sports, sneakers, and short hair; it's what makes eight year old Sunnie Kahle unique. It's also what had her removed from Timberlake Christian School. Her grandparents pulled the plug on her time there after they said she was no longer welcome.

The family received a letter telling them that if their eight year old granddaughter didn't follow the school's "biblical standards," that she'd be refused enrollment next year. She's out and in public school now.

Sunnie Kahle has short hair and a huge heart, and as far as her grandparents are concerned, she is a completely normal little girl.

"She cries every morning to get on the bus, she cries when she comes home because she wants to go back to Timberlake Christian with her friends," said Doris Thompson.

more

http://www.wset.com/story/25061872/little-girl-taken-out-of-christian-school-after-told-shes-too-much-like-a-boy

Paul Krugman- Things Go Better With Kochs

Hey, I had to use that headline before someone else claimed it.

David Weigel reports that Democrats are finding the Koch brothers an effective fundraising tool — emails that bash the Kochs raise three times as much as emails that don’t.

And you can see why: the Kochs are perfect villains. It’s not just what they are — serious evildoers who use their wealth to push hard-line right-wing, anti-environmental policies that redound very much to their own benefit. It’s also what they aren’t: they’re wealthy heirs, not self-made men, they aren’t identified with innovation (which you can at least argue for Bill Gates), they haven’t made money for other people like Warren Buffett. So focusing on the Kochs is a way to personalize a vision of conservative politics as a defense of people with unearned privilege.

And here’s the thing: that vision is basically right. Very few of the superrich are movie stars, even if the usual suspects love to pretend otherwise. Not many are innovators. A fair number are self-made wheeler-dealers, but a growing number probably were born to great wealth.

In effect, Koch-bashing is a way of making Piketty personal and concrete. It’s the real thing.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/things-go-better-with-kochs/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

This is why there is so much panic in the RW media about this. For example:

Whining about the Koch brothers is a losing strategy
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/national-interest/65971-whining-about-the-koch-brothers-is-a-losing-strategy

We’re supposed to believe the Kochs are evil but leftist billionaires are disinterested givers?
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373927/medias-democratic-donor-delusions-matthew-continetti

Kochs Add Life
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373959/kochs-add-life-deroy-murdock

Democrats Are Addicted to Koch
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/democrats-are-addicted-to-koch-20140313


and so on. The more they squeal, the more we should press this.

The Most Important Economic Chart

If you must know only one fact about the U.S. economy, it should be this chart:



The chart shows that productivity, or output per hour of work, has quadrupled since 1947 in the United States. This is a spectacular achievement by an advanced economy.

The gains in productivity were quite widely shared from 1947 to 1980. Real income for the median U.S. family doubled during this time just as output per hour of work performed doubled. The rising tide was lifting all boats.

However, what we want to focus on today is the remarkable separation in productivity and median real income since 1980. While the United States is producing twice as much per hour of work today compared to 1980, a small part of the gain in real income has gone to the bottom half of the income distribution. The gap between productivity and median real income is at an historic all-time high today.

more

http://houseofdebt.org/2014/03/18/the-most-important-economic-chart.html

Tuesday Toon Roundup 3- The Rest

Gunz









Spy




G8


Plane