October 24, 2013

Did Pete Sessions INSULT THE PRESIDENT To His Face?

There’s a little Washington kerfuffle going on right now over whether Dallas’ Pete Sessions, in a meeting of congressional Republicans with the president in October, said to him, “I can’t even stand to look at you.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it happened, and it was Sessions who said it. A Sessions spokeswoman denies it.


If it happened, it is reminiscent of the famous infamous incident in 1962 when Ted Dealey, the publisher of the Dallas Morning News, at a meeting of newspaper industry leaders at the White House, told John F. Kennedy to his face to “get off Carolyn’s tricycle” and lead the country. That incivility in the White House made headlines around the country, and would be brought up again and again after the assassination as proof of the dangerous currents alive in Dallas that became encapsulated in the tag “City of Hate.”

UPDATE: The White House is saying it didn’t happen, but Senator Dick Durbin, who made the original claim, is sticking with it.




http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2013/10/24/did-pete-sessions-insult-the-president-to-his-face/

October 24, 2013

Report: Another Senator To 'VERIFY' Durbin's GOP Quote

Another senator will back up Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-IL) account of an alleged exchange between President Barack Obama and a House Republican, according to MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski.



Brzezinski said on-air Thursday that after reaching out to Durbin's office, a spokesperson reiterated that the senator stands by his claim and that a colleague will "verify" his account. "His spokesman says the senator is standing by the claim and said that another senator today will verify Durbin's story," Brzezinski said.



Durbin wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that during a recent closed-door meeting, a House Republican told Obama, "I cannot even stand to look at you." White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that after talking to a participant in the meeting, the alleged exchange "did not happen." House leadership also repudiated Durbin's claim and demanded an apology.




http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/report-another-senator-to-verify-durbin-on-gop-quote

October 24, 2013

Chris Hayes BLOWS APART ‘Obamacare Kills Jobs’ Lies

We are all well aware of the Obamacare lies and misinformation. The big one; Obamacare kills jobs. Everyone remember Hannity’s big fail? He featured three families claiming to be hurt by Obamacare. It turns out all three would be helped by Obamacare. Of course there are many other lies that are easy to dispel. Obamacare is a government takeover of healthcare? That lie is easily dispelled since insurance is provided by the private sector. Medical services are provided by private hospitals and doctors. That is in no way a government takeover. Obamacare gets between you and your doctor? Really? The reality is that your private insurance is the one that does that. They tell you what drug you can use. They tell you which doctor you can see. They tell you which hospital you can go to.



The other big lie is that Obamacare kills jobs.


The narrative from the Republicans is that Obamacare kills jobs by creating a job market of part time work. Obamacare requires that companies with over 50 employees provide insurance to employees working over 30 hours per week. Their theory is that that would cause employers near 50 to stay below 50 workers. They also assume employees would be kept below 30 hours per week. For a party that claims to be business savvy they miss an important point. Companies hire to maximize profits. Taxes and health insurance are costs of doing business just like any other cost. If it is not burdensome enough to stunt a marginal profit increase, hiring will occur.



For a party that claims to be business savvy they miss an important point. Companies hire to maximize profits. Taxes and health insurance are costs of doing business just like any other cost. If it is not burdensome enough to stunt a marginal profit increase, hiring will occur. In the aggregate, everyone pays for the uninsured. As such, total employment is affected whether it is paid for by the employer or through the economy by the taxpayer. Those dollars are redirected to healthcare and away from other goods and services.



The jobs report came out today and the ‘Obamacare Kills Jobs’ lie was completely dispelled. Involuntary part time jobs declined (also see WSJ & Politifact). This has been occurring for over a year even as Obamacare is being rolled out.|part time jobs declined] (also see WSJ & Politifact).



http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/10/23/chris-hayes-obamacare-kills-jobs/

October 23, 2013

Repubs Want An APOLOGY, WH DENIES Durbin's Story

Earlier a diary here updated the now infamous remark Sen. Durbin claims he heard.
http://www.dailykos.com/...


Now Boehner and Cantor want an apology from Durbin for this remark

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...

This seems like such an odd way for this story to be playing out.

Why did it take so long for the WH to say it didn't happen?

Why (according to Kat68's diary) did Press Secretary Carney go from saying "somebody" denied to "participants" denying it?

Why did it take so long for the republicans to say it didnt happen and want an apology?


Did Durbin make a false statement or did he misunderstand what someone said?


How do you misunderstand that kind of statement?

Durbin wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that a House GOP leader said "I cannot even stand to look at you" to President Obama during a negotiations over the federal government shutdown

I just don't think Durbin lied. But I do think he is going to be made to eat dirt for all this.




http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/23/1250007/-Repubs-want-an-apolgy-WH-denies-Durbin-s-story

October 23, 2013

Dick Durbin STANDS BY HOUSE GOP QUOTE

Why would the WH be siding with a bunch of lying, hate-filled reTHUGS over the word of a Democratic Senator??....




Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) is sticking with his storythat a House GOP leader told President Obama "I cannot even stand to look at you" during a meeting over the federal government shutdown earlier this month.


"Senator Durbin stands by his comments," Max Gleicshman, Durbin's spokesperson, told TPM in an email.


The White House and House leadership both denied that the incident took place.




http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/durbin-stands-by-his-anecdote

October 23, 2013

‘IT DID NOT HAPPEN’ WhiteHouse DEBUNKS Durbin Quote

The White House said Wednesday that an alleged exchange between President Barack Obama and a House Republican — relayed to the public by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) — "did not happen."

Durbin recounted over the weekend that a House Republican told Obama at a recent closed-door meeting that he "cannot even stand to look at" him. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said during his daily press briefing that, after touching base with a participant in the meeting, Durbin's account is not right.

"It did not happen," Carney said.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) each said they had no recollection of the exchange at the meeting.






http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/white-house-on-durbin-s-quote-it-did-not-happen

October 23, 2013

TEA PARTY JESUS vs. REPUBLICAN JESUS

"...Tea Party Jesus came along and told Republican Jesus™ he wasn’t Republican enough...."......





Perhaps you have already met my good friend Republican Jesus™? He’s that guy that Republicans claim is the loving son of God. The only problem is that he seems to hate pretty much everything and everyone except for his “chosen people.”

Are you not white? Republican Jesus™ hates you.

Are you a woman? Republican Jesus™ hates you.

Are you gay? Republican Jesus REALLY hates you. And so on.

We’ve all become pretty familiar with Republican Jesus™ over the last couple of decades. He’s the motivating force behind conservative politics. Or at least he was until Tea Party Jesus came along and told Republican Jesus™ he wasn’t Republican enough.



Who the hell is Tea Party Jesus?


Tea Party Jesus is the dimwitted illegitimate child of Republican Jesus™ and a roll of tinfoil from Ayn Rand’s kitchen cabinet. He was midwifed by the Koch brothers and Alex Jones. The whole affair was quite sordid and I’ll leave the icky details to your disturbed imagination. Suffice to say, Tea Party Jesus is a deep embarrassment to Republican Jesus™. But how far from the tree did the apple fall? Well, not too far at all it turns out. The problem is that the apple was rotten on the branch to begin with. When he was first born, Tea Party Jesus swore on Republican Jesus™’ Conservative Bible that he didn’t care about social issues, just economic ones. Issues like being Taxed Enough Already and the tyranny of Obamacare.



But the strange thing about this is that taxes were already at a decades long low. Even more bizarre, the original Tea Party that Tea Party Jesus named himself after wasn’t protesting taxes at all. They were protesting a tax cut for the East India Company, a multinational corporation (or the Colonial equivalent) which was undermining local businesses. Further, the original Tea Party was upset about being taxed without having a say in politics. “Taxation Without Representation!” was the slogan. Last time I looked, Tea Party Jesus had the best representation that billions in corporate money can buy. It appeared that Tea Party Jesus wasn’t very well educated about American history. Big Daddy Republican Jesus™ didn’t seem to mind, though. Tea Party Jesus was super excited about voting against Obama and that’s all Republican Jesus™ really cared about at the time. And, oh boy, did Tea Party Jesus vote against Obama! Republican Jesus™ was so proud of his little boy. But there were warning signs that something was seriously wrong with Tea Party Jesus. For instance, Tea Party Jesus couldn’t stop talking about Obama’s birth certificate. And he couldn’t stop making racist remarks about Obama, either. But Republican Jesus™ brushed this off as growing pains. But it didn’t stop. And it got worse.



What does Tea Party Jesus believe in?

Tea Party Jesus believes that being taxed lower than he was in the 80?s is the same as being overburdened with taxes.

Tea Party Jesus believes that the financial crisis of 2008, brought on by Wall Street running amok, is proof that we need less government regulation.

Tea Party Jesus is absolutely positive that the deficit has gone up since Obama took office.

Tea Party Jesus knows, just knows, that President Obama is a secret Muslim.

Tea Party Jesus believes that ACORN stole the 2008 election.

Tea Party Jesus also believes ACORN stole the 2012 election. They’re not entirely clear how that is possible since ACORN ceased to exist in 2010 but, darn it!, they believe!

This goes on for a while. But it doesn’t seem all that different from Republican Jesus™. Tea Party Jesus loves guns with the same kind of creepy sexual fetish. He loves the rich like a dog loves its abusive master. He loves the free market although he would be hard pressed to explain what it is. And Tea Party Jesus definitely loves the Constitution. Except, you know, for all the Amendments that aren’t #2.



cont'



http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/10/23/tea-party-jesus/

October 23, 2013

Boehner, Cantor Spokesman DENY Durbin Account of White House Meeting

Spokesmen for both Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor say neither official said or remembers anyone else saying they couldn’t stand to look at President Obama at a White House summit during the government shutdown, as Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois alleged in a Facebook post. “The speaker certainly didn’t say that, and does not recall anyone else doing so,” says Michael Steel, Boehner’s spokesman. Cantor spokesman Rory Cooper also says his boss did not say and does not remember anyone saying that.






Besides the fact that the top two GOP officials in the House don’t remember the moment, the allegation is odd for a number of reasons. First, Durbin doesn’t specify who allegedly said it. Second, and more important, the manner in which Durbin conveyed the information (a weekend Facebook post) doesn’t comport with how Democrats likely would have used the information had it been true.


If, at the meeting between Obama and the House GOP leaders, one Republican had told Obama he can’t stand to even look at him, that information would have been immediately useful to Democrats in the ongoing fights over the shutdown and the debt ceiling as evidence of GOP intransigence and unreasonableness. That makes it more likely it would have been leaked then and to a media outlet with credibility to convincingly assert the event actually took place.




http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/362004/boehner-cantor-spokesman-deny-durbin-account-white-house-meeting-jonathan-strong

October 23, 2013

Dick Cheney's HEARTLESS HYPOCRISY

BOOK LAUNCH INTO OUTER SPACE....BWHAHAHAHAHA...........................BREAK OUT THE 'BEANO'....




Former Vice President Dick Cheney, out promoting his new book Heart about how his life was saved by very expensive heart-transplant surgery, is simultaneously praising the Tea Party, which is hard at work trying to prevent less fortunate Americans from getting anything close to the government-financed care that spared Cheney. In an appearance on NBC's "Today" show, Cheney called the Tea Party and its fierce opposition to government spending a "good thing." He also noted how the Tea Party made possible the insurgent Wyoming Senate campaign of his daughter Liz because she was "partly motivated" by the same concerns about high taxes, high national debt and the cost of the Affordable Care Act.



Out of that zeal to repeal Obamacare, the Tea Party and its congressional adherents provoked this month's government shutdown and near credit default. Yet, Cheney declared, "I've got a lot of respect for what the people are doing." But what the Tea Party has been doing is trying to prevent the federal government from implementing reforms in the health-insurance system that would enable some 30 million Americans, including many with pre-existing conditions, to obtain insurance often at reduced or subsidized prices. The Tea Party is also fighting expansion of Medicaid for poor families in states controlled by Republicans. In other words, the Tea Party wants to force Americans with pre-existing medical conditions – like, say, a diseased heart – to remain at the mercy of greedy insurance companies that have made a lucrative business plan out of denying coverage to the people who need it most.




Such a victim of America's perverse health-care system would have been Dick Cheney, who has had at least five heart attacks dating back to when he was 37. But Cheney was lucky enough to qualify for government-funded health care as a federal employee for most of his adult life, including his time in the Nixon administration, his service in Congress, and his eight years as vice president. As a retired official who is now over 65, he further qualifies for Medicare and other health benefits.
The cost of the heart transplant alone over the first year is estimated at $1 million, and the 72-year-old Cheney has received a variety of other expensive heart procedures over the decades.



Saving the Cheney Family

But Cheney's personal hypocrisy regarding the federal government's role to "provide for ... the general Welfare" when it comes to less fortunate Americans did not start with the life-saving gift of a new heart. It traces back to the Cheney family's rise from the hard-scrabble life that confronted many hard-working Americans who were buffeted by the periodic financial crises of unrestrained capitalism, the system idealized by the Tea Party. In Cheney's 2011 memoir, In My Time, he acknowledges that his personal success was made possible by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and the fact that Cheney's father managed to land a steady job with the federal government. "I've often reflected on how different was the utterly stable environment he provided for his family and wondered if because of that I have been able to take risks, to change directions, and to leave one career path for another with hardly a second thought," Cheney wrote.



cont'


http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/19577-dick-cheneys-heartless-hypocrisy

October 22, 2013

HIGH TIMES: 58% WANT LEGAL WEED

For the first time, more than half of Americans think that marijuana usage should be made legal, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now back legalizing marijuana. That represents an 8-point increase from the previous record of 50 percent in 2011, and a 10-point increase from November 2012, just after Colorado and Washington voted for legalization.







"With Americans' support for legalization quadrupling since 1969, and localities on the East Coast such as Portland, Maine, considering a symbolic referendum to legalize marijuana, it is clear that interest in this drug and these issues will remain elevated in the foreseeable future," wrote Art Swift, Gallup's managing editor.



Much of the new support for legalization comes among independent voters, 62 percent of whom now support it, up from just 50 percent last November. Majorities of all age groups up to age 64 also support legalization, including two-thirds of those from 18 to 29. Other surveys have found rapidly increasing support for legalizing marijuana use. A Pew Research poll released in March found a majority supporting legalization for the first time.



The Gallup poll surveyed 1,028 Americans by phone between Oct. 3 and Oct. 6.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/legal-marijuana-poll_n_4143995.html