January 4, 2013
"

House Speaker John Boehner yanked the bill to provide $60 billion in emergency aid to states ravaged by Hurricane Sandy to get back at a top lieutenant who defied him over the Fiscal Cliff fix, Congressional sources said Wednesday.

Boehner was angry, the sources said, when Majority Leader Eric Cantor led the revolt Tuesday by conservative House Republicans against the Fiscal Cliff compromise that wound up being passed later in the day, the sources said.

So rather than let Cantor bring the Sandy aid bill he had hammered out with New York and New Jersey lawmakers to the floor for a vote, Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled rank and tabled it - likely killing the aid package for the current session of Congress, which ends Thursday.

Boehner’s decision to pull the bill triggered outrage Wednesday from both Republicans and Democrats in New York and other states devastated by Sandy. They said his decision forces tens of thousands of storm victims to wait even longer for help.

His voice shaking, Rep. Pete King, a Long Island Republican, took to the floor of the House Wednesday morning to launch an extrordinary attack against Boehner, his own political leader.

King called it a “cruel knife in the back” to New York and New Jersey.

Gov. Cuomo, a Democrat, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, issued a joint statement calling the House’s inaction a “dereliction of duty.”

And at a Manhattan press conference, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “Speaker Boehner pulled out the rug from us at the last minute.” He added, “This failure to get relief now could be called the Boehner betrayal.”

"

The New York Daily News, “Sources: House Speaker Yanked $60 Billion In Sandy Aid Out of Spite.”

Pathetic.

(via inothernews)

The most childish man in modern American politics.

(via wilwheaton)

December 27, 2012
"

I understand the reflexive establishment posture, which suggests partisan observations are necessarily wrong, but consider recent events: the fiscal talks have broken down because Republicans won’t compromise and accept meaningful concessions; the farm bill and the Violence Against Women Act are stuck because Republicans won’t vote on them; efforts to reduce gun violence face extremely long odds because Republicans are beholden to the NRA; a U.N. treaty on disabilities was killed because Republicans believed extremist conspiracy theories; the process of filling President Obama’s second term cabinet is stalled because of Republican smear campaigns; and another debt-ceiling crisis is underway because Republicans are threatening to hurt Americans on purpose unless Democrats pay a steep ransom.

It’s not “both their fault.” One side is being reasonable; the other side is being nihilistic. One need not be partisan or biased to see what is plainly true.

"

It’s not ‘both their fault’ (via wilwheaton)

But at least Boehner was trying to move on the fiscal cliff. If you want to pinpoint the blame even more squarely, there’s exactly one place to put it: Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives.

(via wilwheaton)

November 25, 2012
thegoddamazon:

oddlyclad:

Pretty much.
Sorry, but yeah. Pretty much.

Basically.

Thank you for explaining to me exactly what has bothered me about certain wealthy white acquaintances of mine pulling this bullshit. I could never articulate what it was that bothered me so. But this is it exactly.
If you have everything you need, then it’s your responsibility as a human being to advocate for other people to have everything they need, too. That’s how it works.

thegoddamazon:

oddlyclad:

Pretty much.

Sorry, but yeah. Pretty much.

Basically.

Thank you for explaining to me exactly what has bothered me about certain wealthy white acquaintances of mine pulling this bullshit. I could never articulate what it was that bothered me so. But this is it exactly.

If you have everything you need, then it’s your responsibility as a human being to advocate for other people to have everything they need, too. That’s how it works.

(via macaroni-overlord)

November 11, 2012
The End of Liberty in America

LibertarianRepublican.net:

Today starts a new course for my life. I’ve soured on electoral politics given what happened last night. I believe now the best course of action is outright revolt. What do I mean by that?

Well, to each his own. Some may choose to push secession in their state legislatures. Others may choose to leave the U.S. for good (Costa Rica, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina, Hong Kong, Israel). Still others may want to personally separate themselves from the United States here in North America while still living under communist rule’ the Glenn Beck, grab your guns, food storage, build bunkers, survivalist route. I heartily endorse all these efforts.

However, for me, I’m choosing another rather unique path; a personal boycott, if you will. Starting early this morning, I am going to un-friend every single individual on Facebook who voted for Obama, or I even suspect may have Democrat leanings. I will do the same in person. All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them. They are in short, the enemies of liberty. They deserve nothing less than hatred and utter contempt.

Thanks, dude. Makes it easier to avoid jackasses like you. Kisses!~

(But seriously, click through and read this if you want to see the extent to which Obama’s re-election has unhinged the American right.)

November 6, 2012
Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location have now cast their ballots.

So far, the election stands thusly:

Barack Obama: 28 votes
Mitt Romney: 14 votes
Gary Johnson: 1 vote

The Obama/Romney numbers are sure to flatten out a bit as voting beings nationwide in the morning, but I’d bet that Johnson’s current 2.3% of the vote stays pretty much even as the rest of the votes are counted.

November 6, 2012
The first five votes of the election are in (thanks to Dixville Notch, NH):

evanfleischer:

Obama: 5.

Romney: 5.

(It’s the town’s first ever tie, by the way.)

It’s is going to be a long week.

November 4, 2012
For Romney to Win, State Polls Must Be Statistically Biased

abesserwisser:

Nate Silver for FiveThirtyEight and the New York Times:

My argument, rather, is this: we’ve about reached the point where if Mr. Romney wins, it can only be because the polls have been biased against him. Almost all of the chance that Mr. Romney has in the FiveThirtyEight forecast, about 16 percent to win the Electoral College, reflects this possibility.

Yes, of course: most of the arguments that the polls are necessarily biased against Mr. Romney reflect little more than wishful thinking.

Nevertheless, these arguments are potentially more intellectually coherent than the ones that propose that the leader in the race is “too close to call.” It isn’t. If the state polls are right, then Mr. Obama will win the Electoral College. If you can’t acknowledge that after a day when Mr. Obama leads 19 out of 20 swing-state polls, then you should abandon the pretense that your goal is to inform rather than entertain the public.

Presented without further comment.

November 1, 2012
Look, this is really very simple:

If you’re as rich as Romney, you’re supposed to be Batman.

Is Romney Batman? No.

We’re done here.

October 21, 2012
"Wendy Tonn, 63, a Romney supporter who splits her time between Michigan and Florida, said she found comfort in his vocabulary, comparing it to the simple innocence of “Leave It to Beaver.” “We are of that era, and we’d like to be returned to that kind of era,” she said."

The New York Times » Romney’s Throwback Language, His Mittisms

Speaking as someone who has very consciously added “good heavens”, “goodness”, and similar expressions to his arsenal over the last several years, I really ought to be more sympathetic to Romney on the subject of his language. But even ignoring his supporters’ coded wishes to return to an era of blatant racism and sexism, I’ve just figured out exactly who Romney reminds me of:

image of Mayor Wilkins from Buffy

October 19, 2012
"

If this portrait of a Romney willing to say anything to get elected seems harsh, we need only revisit his branding of 47 percent of Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, yet feel victimized and entitled to government assistance. His job, he told a group of wealthy donors, “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Where, we ask, is the pragmatic, inclusive Romney, the Massachusetts governor who left the state with a model health care plan in place, the Romney who led Utah to Olympic glory? That Romney skedaddled and is nowhere to be found.

"

Tribune Endorsement: Too Many Mitts | The Salt Lake Tribune

The Salt Lake Tribune. Ouch.