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Segami
Segami's Journal
Segami's Journal
August 30, 2012
- It is difficult to find the exact words to accurately portray Republicans and their supporters, but one thing in particular stands out; they hate this country, gays, minorities and especially women. The Republican platform gives Libertarians reason to celebrate and it is not surprising since they have embraced the notion of privatizing the government for ages. The highlights of the “libertarian plank” are returning to the gold standard, privatizing Medicare and slashing Medicaid, and “protecting access to ammunition.” Despite the rash of mass shootings recently, Republicans said, “We oppose legislation intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban” enacted in 1994 that included a ban on “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” The ban expired in 2004.
The GOP platform’s assault on women is particularly contemptible, and to say Republicans are anti-choice is an understatement, and not just for the personhood amendment Americans have rejected time and time again. The language Republicans used to allegedly “affirm the dignity of women by protecting the sanctity of human life” includes a canard to cover their bible-based prohibitions on abortion. According to Republicans, “numerous studies have shown that abortion endangers the health and well-being of women, and we stand firmly against it,” even in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother according to the personhood amendment aspect of the plank. The Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reforms Republicans are promoting will affect women who make up 70% of Medicaid beneficiaries that if enacted will drop 14-27 million people from its rolls by 2021, and raising the retirement age for Social Security will mean 20-million more elderly Americans will be in poverty and remove the only source of income for one-third of women over 65.
The past three years have been brutal for public sector workers with over 780,000 jobs lost in Republican-controlled states that has adversely affect the economy, but Republicans are calling for reducing more public sector jobs and “adjusting pay scales and benefits to reflect those of the private sector.” It is important to remember that Willard Romney considers $19,000 annual salary a good, solid middle-class income and many Republicans have pushed the idea of eliminating the minimum wage because it is not in the Constitution. Republicans want more Americans living in poverty and they are on pace to achieve their goal in they win big in November.
In a deliberate slap at homosexuals and single parent households, Republicans included a section that is stunning in its authoritarian imposition of religious fundamentalism. It says, “We believe that marriage, the union of one and one woman is a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.” The document’s language appears, on first glance, to support single-parent families with “We recognize and honor the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone, but children in intact married families are physically and emotionally healthier” so traditional families “must be upheld as the national standard.” The wording is straight out of the conservative Christian agenda and signals the beginning of American theocracy.
http://www.politicususa.com/rnc-backfire-familiarity-breeds-contempt-romney-republicans.html
RNC BACKFIRE: Familiarity BREEDS CONTEMPT for Romney and the Republicans
- It is difficult to find the exact words to accurately portray Republicans and their supporters, but one thing in particular stands out; they hate this country, gays, minorities and especially women. The Republican platform gives Libertarians reason to celebrate and it is not surprising since they have embraced the notion of privatizing the government for ages. The highlights of the “libertarian plank” are returning to the gold standard, privatizing Medicare and slashing Medicaid, and “protecting access to ammunition.” Despite the rash of mass shootings recently, Republicans said, “We oppose legislation intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban” enacted in 1994 that included a ban on “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” The ban expired in 2004.
The GOP platform’s assault on women is particularly contemptible, and to say Republicans are anti-choice is an understatement, and not just for the personhood amendment Americans have rejected time and time again. The language Republicans used to allegedly “affirm the dignity of women by protecting the sanctity of human life” includes a canard to cover their bible-based prohibitions on abortion. According to Republicans, “numerous studies have shown that abortion endangers the health and well-being of women, and we stand firmly against it,” even in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother according to the personhood amendment aspect of the plank. The Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reforms Republicans are promoting will affect women who make up 70% of Medicaid beneficiaries that if enacted will drop 14-27 million people from its rolls by 2021, and raising the retirement age for Social Security will mean 20-million more elderly Americans will be in poverty and remove the only source of income for one-third of women over 65.
The past three years have been brutal for public sector workers with over 780,000 jobs lost in Republican-controlled states that has adversely affect the economy, but Republicans are calling for reducing more public sector jobs and “adjusting pay scales and benefits to reflect those of the private sector.” It is important to remember that Willard Romney considers $19,000 annual salary a good, solid middle-class income and many Republicans have pushed the idea of eliminating the minimum wage because it is not in the Constitution. Republicans want more Americans living in poverty and they are on pace to achieve their goal in they win big in November.
In a deliberate slap at homosexuals and single parent households, Republicans included a section that is stunning in its authoritarian imposition of religious fundamentalism. It says, “We believe that marriage, the union of one and one woman is a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.” The document’s language appears, on first glance, to support single-parent families with “We recognize and honor the courageous efforts of those who bear the many burdens of parenting alone, but children in intact married families are physically and emotionally healthier” so traditional families “must be upheld as the national standard.” The wording is straight out of the conservative Christian agenda and signals the beginning of American theocracy.
http://www.politicususa.com/rnc-backfire-familiarity-breeds-contempt-romney-republicans.html
August 30, 2012
HEY RYAN, Chris Wallace FACT-CHECKED The Janesville GM Plant and Bowles-Simpson Plan
August 30, 2012
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was apparently moved to tears
as he watched fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan speak at the Republican National Convention.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA: Gov. Scott Walker CRIES During Paul Ryan Speech
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was apparently moved to tears
as he watched fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan speak at the Republican National Convention.
August 30, 2012
After the former Arkansas governor insults her on the stage
of the Republican National Convention
This bloated, evangelical con artist should learn to keep his pie-hole shut.
Mike Huckabee started his speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention not with a shot at Barack Obama, but, oddly, a shot at Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“Tampa has been such a wonderful and hospitable city to us,” Huckabee said. “The only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz practicing her speech for the DNC in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.”
In a statement, Wasserman Schultz’s national press secretary, Melanie Roussell, replied to the former Arkansas governor and Fox News host’s insult:
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/30/wasserman_schultz_fires_back_at_huckabee/
Wasserman Schultz FIRES BACK At Huckabee
After the former Arkansas governor insults her on the stage
of the Republican National Convention
This bloated, evangelical con artist should learn to keep his pie-hole shut.
Mike Huckabee started his speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention not with a shot at Barack Obama, but, oddly, a shot at Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“Tampa has been such a wonderful and hospitable city to us,” Huckabee said. “The only hitch in an otherwise perfect week was the awful noise coming from the hotel room next door to mine. Turns out it was just Debbie Wasserman Schultz practicing her speech for the DNC in Charlotte next week. Bless her heart.”
In a statement, Wasserman Schultz’s national press secretary, Melanie Roussell, replied to the former Arkansas governor and Fox News host’s insult:
Perhaps Mr. Huckabee should pay more attention to the company he keeps, such as Todd Akin, instead of taking potshots at the Chairwoman for applause lines. While Huckabee continues to promote the extreme Akin plank, the Chair will defend women’s rights to reproductive health free from dictation by men who don’t know fundamental biology.
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/30/wasserman_schultz_fires_back_at_huckabee/
August 30, 2012
During a Reddit IAmA chat, President Obama made some big news today by announcing that he supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
During his Reddit chat, Obama touched a topic that very few elected politicians will go near. The president not only discussed the role of money in politics, but he also endorsed a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
The president said,
Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress – to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/c60nc6s
A certain Vermont Senator just so happens to have both a constitutional amendment, and a movement behind it to overturn Citizens United.
SECTION 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.
SECTION 2. Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press.
SECTION 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.
SECTION 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.
Hundreds of thousands of people have signed the petition in support of the constitutional amendment. People who have been paying attention to the effort to overturn Citizens United know exact what the president was referring to.
Obama was correct. The odds of successfully changing the constitution are small, but the amendment gives opponents a chance to discuss Citizens United each time it is brought up and talked about. The Disclose Act is just the first step. Citizens United must be overturned, and President Obama has provided a huge shot in the arm to Bernie Sanders and his movement to stop the conservative billionaires from buying our government.
http://www.politicususa.com/obama-endorses-bernie-sanders-constitutional-amendment-overturn-citizens-united.html
Obama ENDORSES Bernie Sanders’ Constitutional Amendment to OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED
During a Reddit IAmA chat, President Obama made some big news today by announcing that he supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
During his Reddit chat, Obama touched a topic that very few elected politicians will go near. The president not only discussed the role of money in politics, but he also endorsed a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
The president said,
Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress – to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn’t revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/c60nc6s
A certain Vermont Senator just so happens to have both a constitutional amendment, and a movement behind it to overturn Citizens United.
SECTION 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.
SECTION 2. Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press.
SECTION 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.
SECTION 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.
Hundreds of thousands of people have signed the petition in support of the constitutional amendment. People who have been paying attention to the effort to overturn Citizens United know exact what the president was referring to.
Obama was correct. The odds of successfully changing the constitution are small, but the amendment gives opponents a chance to discuss Citizens United each time it is brought up and talked about. The Disclose Act is just the first step. Citizens United must be overturned, and President Obama has provided a huge shot in the arm to Bernie Sanders and his movement to stop the conservative billionaires from buying our government.
http://www.politicususa.com/obama-endorses-bernie-sanders-constitutional-amendment-overturn-citizens-united.html
August 29, 2012
With the revelation of the assassination conspiracy out of Georgia comes a flood of revelations about the conspirators. At the center of the conspiracy is Private Isaac Aguigui of Cashmere, Washington.What prosecutors have uncovered with Private Aguigui shows an ambitious young man engaged in the political process. He was a member of the Boys’ Nation delegation for Washington State. He was vocal in the local press on political issues. And he was a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention:
He was also a widower, after his pregnant wife died in Georgia. His late wife Deirdre Wetzker Aguigui died of an apparent blood clot in July of 2011. However, for Mr Aguigui it was a heavy payday, with him a half-million dollar beneficiary from her death. It was this windfall which was funding the conspirators efforts, enabling them to buy $87,000 worth of firearms and bomb making material, as well as purchasing land for a base of operations according to prosecutors.
The conspirators plans read like a plot out of a James Bond movie. Poisoning fruit crops, blowing up dams, assassinating the president, they had the technical know-how and material to do it according to prosecutors. When Private Aguigui began his stockpiling of weapons, the gun store owner reported it to police, which told the owner that Aguigui was not doing anything illegal, and could not do anything about it.
What could drive this man to engage in such an action? Did the death of his wife drive him over the edge? Does he have a mental disorder? Or was he fed a steady diet of right-wing lies and distortions until he could no longer engage in critical thinking? We only have questions to ask, and few answers.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/08/27/obama-assassination-plot-disrupted/
Portrait Of A Would Be ASSASSIN
With the revelation of the assassination conspiracy out of Georgia comes a flood of revelations about the conspirators. At the center of the conspiracy is Private Isaac Aguigui of Cashmere, Washington.What prosecutors have uncovered with Private Aguigui shows an ambitious young man engaged in the political process. He was a member of the Boys’ Nation delegation for Washington State. He was vocal in the local press on political issues. And he was a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention:
He was also a widower, after his pregnant wife died in Georgia. His late wife Deirdre Wetzker Aguigui died of an apparent blood clot in July of 2011. However, for Mr Aguigui it was a heavy payday, with him a half-million dollar beneficiary from her death. It was this windfall which was funding the conspirators efforts, enabling them to buy $87,000 worth of firearms and bomb making material, as well as purchasing land for a base of operations according to prosecutors.
The conspirators plans read like a plot out of a James Bond movie. Poisoning fruit crops, blowing up dams, assassinating the president, they had the technical know-how and material to do it according to prosecutors. When Private Aguigui began his stockpiling of weapons, the gun store owner reported it to police, which told the owner that Aguigui was not doing anything illegal, and could not do anything about it.
What could drive this man to engage in such an action? Did the death of his wife drive him over the edge? Does he have a mental disorder? Or was he fed a steady diet of right-wing lies and distortions until he could no longer engage in critical thinking? We only have questions to ask, and few answers.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/08/27/obama-assassination-plot-disrupted/
August 29, 2012
Fans of former president Ronald Reagan have been trying to revive him for years in the form of zombies, dreams and ghosts — and on Thursday, they may finally get their wish, according to Fox News. A revised Republican National Committee schedule released Monday showed a mystery “To Be Announced” speaker would take the stage just before Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday night. Even the Romney campaign said that they didn’t know who it would be.
During a Wednesday report, Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher speculated on some of the possibilities. They included Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, actor Clint Eastwood and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. But Gallagher also threw out the name of the former president as potential speaker.
“Maybe a hologram of… Ronald Reagan,” he predicted. “They could do it now with technology. And the word is, maybe they just put Ronald Reagan up on the screen using a little bit of media magic to have Ronald Reagan endorse [Mitt Romney].” “Is that actually a theory that’s out there?” host Megyn Kelly wondered.
“Yes!” Gallagher replied. “That’s a total theory. They could do it.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/29/fox-news-predicts-surprise-hologram-of-ronald-reagan-at-rnc/
.
Fox News PREDICTS Surprise ‘HOLOGRAM of RONALD REAGAN’ at RNC
Fans of former president Ronald Reagan have been trying to revive him for years in the form of zombies, dreams and ghosts — and on Thursday, they may finally get their wish, according to Fox News. A revised Republican National Committee schedule released Monday showed a mystery “To Be Announced” speaker would take the stage just before Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday night. Even the Romney campaign said that they didn’t know who it would be.
During a Wednesday report, Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher speculated on some of the possibilities. They included Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, actor Clint Eastwood and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. But Gallagher also threw out the name of the former president as potential speaker.
“Maybe a hologram of… Ronald Reagan,” he predicted. “They could do it now with technology. And the word is, maybe they just put Ronald Reagan up on the screen using a little bit of media magic to have Ronald Reagan endorse [Mitt Romney].” “Is that actually a theory that’s out there?” host Megyn Kelly wondered.
“Yes!” Gallagher replied. “That’s a total theory. They could do it.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/29/fox-news-predicts-surprise-hologram-of-ronald-reagan-at-rnc/
.
August 29, 2012
It doesn't sound like they are going to be knocking on doors for Mittens in this election.
Eruption: THE PAULITES Are REALLY PISSED
It doesn't sound like they are going to be knocking on doors for Mittens in this election.
August 29, 2012
JANSING: But you agree that these claims that the work requirement has been abolished are false?
BROWNBACK: As far as I have seen, but I don’t know all of the basis to it. I do know the basis to this dependency on the government and how big the government is and how big the entitlement state is and how much of a debt we’re leaving to our kids.
Republican Gov. Brownback ADMITS Romney WELFARE ADS ARE FALSE
JANSING: But you agree that these claims that the work requirement has been abolished are false?
BROWNBACK: As far as I have seen, but I don’t know all of the basis to it. I do know the basis to this dependency on the government and how big the government is and how big the entitlement state is and how much of a debt we’re leaving to our kids.
August 29, 2012
Like Ann Romney, Chris Christie talked about his hardscrabble early years, when he and his wife moved into a "studio apartment," as if it's the norm of a young married couple to move into a suburban McMansion straight out of college. Let's go through the lines of Ann Romney's speech to see where the cute-poverty rhetoric doesn't quite match up with history:
Their first apartment
Ann Romney Tuesday: "We got married and moved into a basement apartment. We walked to class together, shared the housekeeping, and ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish."
Ann Romney in 1994: When Mitt Romney was running for Senate in 1994, his wife gave a candid interview with Jack Thomas of The Boston Globe, published October 20, 1994. She told Thomas that after their Hawaii honeymoon, Mitt transferred to Brigham Young University. Back then, she still thought of that time as tough. But she wasn't as good at describing it, suggesting that it was rough living off stock options:
Whether Mitt was 'handed success'
Ann Romney 2012: "Mitt will be the first to tell you that he is the most fortunate man in the world. He had two loving parents who gave him strong values and taught him the value of work. He had the chance to get the education his father never had. But as his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you Mitt Romney was not handed success."
Ann Romney 1994: "Remember, we'd been paying $ 62 a month rent, but here, rents were $ 400, and for a dump. This is when we took the now-famous loan that Mitt talks about from his father and bought a $42,000 home in Belmont, and you know? The mortgage payment was less than rent. Mitt saw that the Boston market was behind Chicago, LA and New York. We stayed there seven years and sold it for $90,000, so we not only stayed for free, we made money. As I said, Mitt's very bright.
"Another son came along 18 months later, although we waited four years to have the third, because Mitt was still in school and we had no income except the stock we were chipping away at. We were living on the edge, not entertaining. No, I did not work. Mitt thought it was important for me to stay home with the children, and I was delighted."
cont'
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/08/fact-checking-ann-and-mitt-romneys-hardknock-early-years/56321/
Fact-Checking Ann and Mitt Romney's HARDKNOCK EARLY YEARS
Like Ann Romney, Chris Christie talked about his hardscrabble early years, when he and his wife moved into a "studio apartment," as if it's the norm of a young married couple to move into a suburban McMansion straight out of college. Let's go through the lines of Ann Romney's speech to see where the cute-poverty rhetoric doesn't quite match up with history:
Their first apartment
Ann Romney Tuesday: "We got married and moved into a basement apartment. We walked to class together, shared the housekeeping, and ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish."
Ann Romney in 1994: When Mitt Romney was running for Senate in 1994, his wife gave a candid interview with Jack Thomas of The Boston Globe, published October 20, 1994. She told Thomas that after their Hawaii honeymoon, Mitt transferred to Brigham Young University. Back then, she still thought of that time as tough. But she wasn't as good at describing it, suggesting that it was rough living off stock options:
"They were not easy years. You have to understand, I was raised in a lovely neighborhood, as was Mitt, and at BYU, we moved into a $62-a-month basement apartment with a cement floor and lived there two years as students with no income... Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time."
Whether Mitt was 'handed success'
Ann Romney 2012: "Mitt will be the first to tell you that he is the most fortunate man in the world. He had two loving parents who gave him strong values and taught him the value of work. He had the chance to get the education his father never had. But as his partner on this amazing journey, I can tell you Mitt Romney was not handed success."
Ann Romney 1994: "Remember, we'd been paying $ 62 a month rent, but here, rents were $ 400, and for a dump. This is when we took the now-famous loan that Mitt talks about from his father and bought a $42,000 home in Belmont, and you know? The mortgage payment was less than rent. Mitt saw that the Boston market was behind Chicago, LA and New York. We stayed there seven years and sold it for $90,000, so we not only stayed for free, we made money. As I said, Mitt's very bright.
"Another son came along 18 months later, although we waited four years to have the third, because Mitt was still in school and we had no income except the stock we were chipping away at. We were living on the edge, not entertaining. No, I did not work. Mitt thought it was important for me to stay home with the children, and I was delighted."
cont'
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/08/fact-checking-ann-and-mitt-romneys-hardknock-early-years/56321/
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