MindMover
MindMover's Journal4 Biggest Government Spending Myths Debunked
We're at the edge of the cliff of deficit disaster! National security spending is being, or will soon be, slashed to the bone! Obamacare will sink the ship of state!
Each of these claims has grabbed national attention in a big way, sucking up years' worth of precious airtime. That's a serious bummer, since each of them is a spending myth of the first order. Let's pop them, one by one, and move on to the truly urgent business of a nation that is indeed on the edge.
Spending Myth 1: Today's deficits have taken us to a historically unprecedented, economically catastrophic place.
This myth has had the effect of binding the hands of elected officials and policymakers at every level of government. It has also emboldened those who claim that we must cut government spending as quickly, as radically, as deeply as possible.
In fact, we've been here before. In 2009, the federal budget deficit was a whopping 10.1% of the American economy and back in 1943, in the midst of World War II, it was three times that—30.3%. This fiscal year the deficit will total around 7.6%. Yes, that is big. But in the Congressional Budget Office's grimmest projections, that figure will fall to 6.3% next year, and 5.8% in fiscal 2014. In 1983, under President Reagan, the deficit hit 6% of the economy, and by 1998, that had turned into a surplus. So, while projected deficits remain large, they're neither historically unprecedented, nor insurmountable.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/four-biggest-spending-myths-debunked
Record Heat Wave Pushes U.S. Belief in Climate Change to 70%
A record heat wave, drought and catastrophic wildfires are accomplishing what climate scientists could not: convincing a wide swath of Americans that global temperatures are rising.
In the four months since March there has been a jump in U.S. citizens’ belief that climate change is taking place, especially among independent voters and those in southern states such as Texas, which is now in its second year of record drought, according to nationwide polls by the University of Texas.
In a poll taken July 12-16, 70 percent of respondents said they think the climate is changing, compared with 65 percent in a similar poll in March. Those saying it’s not taking place fell to 15 percent from 22 percent, according to data set to be released this week by the UT Energy Poll.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-18/record-heat-wave-pushes-u-dot-s-dot-belief-in-climate-change-to-70-percent
I would have put this one in my "Republican laughing points" post ....
but I have already reached my limit of the day ....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/125157678
Mitch McConnell blows up at Harry Reid over filibuster rules
"But McConnell opposes any changes to the filibuster, and he now says if he’s in the majority it’ll be hard to argue to his conference why the GOP shouldn’t change the rules by a simple majority — given Reid’s new position on the matter."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78665.html
Heh Mittch, you are not in the majority and if we have anything to do with it, you and the likes of you, will never be ....
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6585214473/][img]
[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6585214473/]political-pictures-harry-reid-honesty-politics[/url]
Republican laughing point(s) of the day ....
Arpaio: Obama birth record 'definitely fraudulent'PHOENIX (AP) — Investigators for an Arizona sheriff's volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.
Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama's long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery.
Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it's fraudulent.
http://news.yahoo.com/arpaio-obama-birth-record-definitely-fraudulent-010211250.html?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boehner has received a "0" rating from the Human Rights Campaign in the last three congressional sessions, voting against the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, the Early Treatment for HIV Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Boehner voted for a Federal Marriage Amendment. In a letter to the Rights Campaign, Boehner stated, "I oppose any legislation that would provide special rights for homosexuals... Please be assured that I will continue to work to protect the idea of the traditional family as one of the fundamental tenets of western civilization."[31][32]
And this is the guy that says in the video that he cared so much about his workers and their families, I am going fishin, but I will bet anyone here that Boner head paid most of his people minimum wage .... anyone care to look it up .... ?
This self inflated dickhead who cannot lead his own party out of clown town mumbles er speaks again ... he almost said Fuck instead of Damn, now that would have been news
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no hiding there criminal activities anymore .....
Rick Scott's Plan to Purge Florida Voter Lists Moves Forward
Score one for Gov. Rick Scott, who is moving ahead with plans to ferret out "noncitizens" on Florida's voter rolls. The tea party stalwart won a yearlong battle with the Obama administration last weekend when the Department of Homeland Security agreed to let the state check its voter registrations against a federal database of resident aliens in the United States. Along with ongoing efforts to crack down on voters without IDs and keep convicts away from the polls, it's a thinly disguised voter suppression tactic that could tip the electoral scales in the crucial battleground state. Scott's communications director, Brian Burgess, bragged on Saturday that "all of Florida wins!" because of this development.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/floridas-attempt-kick-voters-rolls-can-continue-apace
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Romney Video Omits Passage Apparently Agreeing With Obama
The Romney campaign came out with a new video today highlighting Mitt Romney's attack yesterday in Irwin, PA on President Obama for saying “if you've got a business you didn't build that, someone else made that happen.” But the Romney video edits a a portion of Romney's speech in which he seems to agree with the broader context of the Obama's remarks, saying people didn't make it on their own.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RNC Finds One Republican Who Doesn’t Believe Romney Should Release Tax Returns
Enough Republicans have now called on Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns that it’s starting to become notable when a prominent Republican doesn’t urge the party’s nominee to reveal more information. On Wednesday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined the shrinking group of Republicans who think Romney’s done enough when it comes to taxes.
Blackburn defended Romney on a call organized by the RNC to attack Obama over government grants to Obama donors.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/marsha-blackburn-romeny-tax-returns.php
=========================================================
And there explanations of why they vote one way or the other are ludicrous ... and laughable ...
John McCain Explains Why He Voted Against DISCLOSE
On the way into the Cheney luncheon that I wrote about earlier, Sen. John McCain stopped to talk to reporters about why he'd vote against the DISCLOSE Act -- twice in two days.
"The fundamental here," he said, "is the way you do any reform is on a bipartisan basis. This is totally a partisan bill. We all know that. It's not going to pass. It's for a political purpose. I resent that, having been involved, with Sen. Feingold, in campaign finance reform that was indeed meaningful. Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court gutted it. But the fact is, everybody knows it has to be done on a bipartisan basis. They have chosen to attack this issue on a partisan basis, for partisan reasons."
Another reporter followed up: Would McCain introduce his own reform bill?
"No, because I don't have any agreement from a Democrat. I can't find a Democrat who'd agree to rein in the influence of the trade unions. When a Democrat is willing to do that, I expect to join him."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/07/17/john_mccain_explains_why_he_voted_against_disclose.html
'Larry King Now' talk show debuts on Hulu
Source: LA Times
Larry King intends to prove that he's not too old to break into a new medium: the Internet.
The 78-year-old broadcaster came out of retirement Monday to debut "Larry King Now," a new 30-minute talk show available on the popular online video service Hulu.
The Internet production marks King's return to news and entertainment after his long-running CNN series,"Larry King Live," ended in December 2010 after 25 years and nearly 7,000 shows. Unlike his hourlong call-in cable program, a nightly fixture, new shows are scheduled to be posted online Monday through Thursday about 3 p.m. Pacific time. And instead of fielding phone calls, King will take questions from the audience via Twitter.
The show is being produced by Ora TV (Ora means "now" in Italian), a newly launched digital venture financed by Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim Helú. Slim had been a guest on King's CNN program, and the two began discussing the new enterprise more than a year ago. King is a co-founder of Ora TV.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-larry-king-hulu-20120717,0,712802.story?track=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=52115
Dick Cheney: Stop the Pentagon cuts
Former Vice President Dick Cheney told House Republicans Tuesday evening that slashing spending at the Pentagon is fine when the world is safe, but it’s not.
“There is no significant change in our strategic stance to justify these cuts,” Cheney told members of the House Republican whip team in the basement of the Capitol, according to a source in attendance. “Actually, things are not better, they’re worse.”
Cheney was on a whirlwind tour of the Capitol Tuesday, meeting Republicans about the automatic defense cuts scheduled to begin next year. Cheney resumed his criticism of President Barack Obama, saying he doesn’t have a plan and it harms national defense.
At a private meeting with Senate Republicans earlier Tuesday, Cheney also urged them to fight against the so-called sequester, which would cut half a trillion from the Pentagon.
“What decisions are made now affect our defense capabilities a decade from now,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said after emerging from the lunch. “The vice president’s suggestion here, speaking as a former Secretary of Defense is, ‘I hope you find a way to avoid the defense side of sequestration.’”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78614.html
Presto! The DISCLOSE Act Disappears ... Moyers
Ask any magician and they’ll tell you that the secret to a successful magic trick is misdirection — distracting the crowd so they don’t realize how they’re being fooled. Get them watching your left hand while your right hand palms the silver dollar: “Now you see it, now you don’t.” The purloined coin now belongs to the magician.
Just like democracy. Once upon a time conservatives supported the full disclosure of campaign contributors. Now they oppose it with their might — and magic, especially when it comes to unlimited cash from corporations. My goodness, they say, with a semantic wave of the wand, what’s the big deal?: nary a single Fortune 500 company had given a dime to the super PACs. (Even that’s not entirely true, by the way.)
Meanwhile the other hand is poking around for loopholes, stuffing millions of secret corporate dollars into non-profit, tax-exempt organizations called 501(c)s that funnel the money into advertising on behalf of candidates or causes. Legally, in part because the Federal Election Commission does not consider them political committees, they can keep it all nice and anonymous, never revealing who’s really behind the donations or the political ads they buy. This is especially handy for corporations — why risk offending customers by revealing your politics or letting them know how much you’re willing to shell out for a permanent piece of an obliging politician?
http://billmoyers.com/2012/07/17/presto-the-disclose-act-disappears/
Profile Information
Member since: Sun Jul 31, 2011, 05:36 PMNumber of posts: 5,016
