Republican State Rep. Davis Proposes Health Care, Vaccine Rationing, "No one wants to be inhumane, but..."

We've been warned by Republicans that the Democrats will bring about rationing through socialized health care.

Imagine my surprise when I read that State Republican representative and possible lieutenant governor candidate Brett Davis wants just that, rationing, DECIDED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

Wisconsin State Journal: State Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said he was concerned ... that some inmates at a women's prison in Fond du Lac had gotten the H1N1 vaccine while some vulnerable members of the public are still waiting.

"No one wants to be inhumane," Davis said, "BUT there are pregnant women who have been law-abiding citizens who are having trouble getting the vaccine."

BUT it's okay to be "inhumane" even if it means rationing the vaccine by government bureaucrats. BUT then again, Republicans have moral superiority in these matters, so it's not really rationing is it.

"I strongly encourage the Department of Corrections to take action and make sure the law abiding citizens of our state are the ones that get this vaccine first," says Brett Davis.

Incredible hypocrisy. Rationing?

"Hopefully, there'll be more vaccine made available and we can serve everybody," Davis said. "But if it doesn't happen, we'll have to continue to make tough decisions."

Rationing does require making "tough decisions," doesn't it, and Republicans must make those tough "inhumane" decisions for us.

Christopher Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said "Prisoners are serving their debt to society, but being subjected to disease and death is not part of a just sentence in any civilized society."

Setting the record straight: "Corrections spokesman John Dipko said the agency, which has 10,000 employees and 22,000 inmates, has received 900 doses of the vaccine, 45 of which have been given to high-risk prisoners, including pregnant women at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. Dipko said the vaccine was administered, in order, to prison health care workers, pregnant employees and pregnant inmates."

The Decline of our Public Air Waves: Nude Photo Request No Big Deal

Just to start, I'm a radio veteran and former problem morning man at a number of Madison area stations, so what I'm about to write here is not coming from a conservative stuffed shirt.

The local teen leaning station WZEE-FM, or Z-104 as I once knew it, found one of its announcers soliciting nude pic's from listeners for concert tickets. Need I say more...

AP-Tyler Kruze of WZEE-FM (104) told listeners Wednesday the person with the best (nude) picture would win fourth-row tickets to see Sean Kingston. A number of people told a local TV station the stunt was ridiculous and appalling.

Amazingly, and defying decades of precedent to the contrary:

One radio official stands by his DJ. Mike Ferris is the operations manager for Clear Channel Madison. He says people are overreacting, and it was a bit of harmless, frivolous fun. He says seven listeners sent in pictures.

In the past, reckless suggestions like this were met with a reprimand, the usual apology and a few angry looks from station higher ups, like the program director and GM. I happens and is another lesson learned by the announcer. Bit it also opens the station up for all sorts of litigation and listener outrage. Mike Ferris, who has continually shown bad judgement from on air staff and time slot changes to poorly executed overlapping voice elements, didn't connect again with his listeners or appear to be the adult in the room. His tin ear for the multiple stations he oversees is truly mind boggling.

Having been in radio myself for 25 years, as a controversial morning music and talk host, I'm very familiar with station disciplinary actions and suspensions. And while I'm no shrinking violet, I do respect management that has vision and quality control, two qualities Ferris is dramatically in need of.

He says the station verified all the people were adults, but didn't say how.

There's nothing wrong with consenting adults exchanging pictures. By standing by the idea of nude photos for concert tickets, at a radio station supposedly serving the public interest, it opens that station up to criminal liability. It shows poor judgement and poor managerial skills.

And even more surprising, the groups management approved his statement to the press.

Almost All Republicans Angry Stimulus Saved Public Teaching Jobs. Those aren't Real Jobs!

The way the Republicans are whining about debt and federal spending that didn't go to the upper 1 percent of wage earners, you would have thought the stimulus money Obama had to spend was a failure:

NY Times: The House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, said, “While Washington keeps spending and piling more debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren, out-of-work families keep asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ ”

Since we already know Republicans don't like teachers or their public schools, nothing could be more wasteful than throwing more money at education that doesn't help charters or voucher schools.

The best symbol of the $787 billion federal stimulus program turns out not to be a construction worker in a hard hat, but rather a classroom teacher saved from a layoff. Of the 640,239 jobs recipients claimed to have created or saved so far, officials said, more than half — 325,000 — were in education. Most were teachers’ jobs that states said were saved when stimulus money averted a need for layoffs.

But what if a Republican stepped forward who had more to say than tired old tantrums about saving the economy and unfairly bailing out an economic collapse they created in the first place:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, whose state has faced perhaps the most severe budget crisis in the nation, said: “Some of our colleagues are saying that it hasn’t done much, or was a waste of money,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said, sharing the stage with Mr. Biden. “Well, I would dispute that.” He said the stimulus had created or saved more than 100,000 jobs in California, the most in the nation, more than half of which — 62,000 — were the jobs of teachers, professors and school administrators.

Mr. Schwarzenegger noted that some people have questioned whether those teachers would actually have been laid off without the stimulus. “No, those teachers would have been gone, if it wouldn’t have been for the federal stimulus money,” he said.

Nations Most Corrupt State Supreme Court Takes Big Money and their Cases. Wisconsin's conservative Activist Justices Shamelessly Okay Bribes

As the title suggests, with no hyperbole, the four conservative activist justices incredibly adopted changes to their code of conduct by suggestions made by two of the largest business groups, word for word. Funny how that works.

The additions to the judicial code of conduct were proposed by two powerful Wisconsin business groups, the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and adopted without a single change.

Abandoning the appearance of impropriety and influence, according to The Post Crescent:

The state Supreme Court adopted rules allowing judges to hear cases involving their biggest campaign contributors, siding with business interests and rejecting calls for reform.

One thing to keep in mind; conservative orthodoxy is always pure and always morally right. Those who dissent are activist legislators working from the bench. Got it? But why don't we let the four justices prove my point.

Voting 4-3, the court approved rules saying donations by groups and individuals to judges and independent spending to help them get elected do not by themselves require judges to step aside from cases. Justices Patience Roggensack and Annette Ziegler said the rules would prevent litigants from trying to force judges off cases simply because they received legal donations. Justice David Prosser said it would protect justices from attacks by those who unfairly suggest campaign money influences decisions.

So the whole idea of money influencing a judge or legislator is a straw man created by liberal influences to make bribery look bad. Amazing!

Their decision could have national importance because Wisconsin is one of the first states to reconsider rules for judicial recusal following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June. In that case, the court ruled that elected judges must step aside from cases when large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias. Wisconsin's code ... say(s) only that judges should withdraw from cases when a reasonable observer would question their fairness.

The court rejected stepping aside if they received donations above a certain threshold, such as $1,000 or $10,000. Those rules were proposed by retired Justice William Bablitch and the League of Women Voters, who said reform was necessary to improve public confidence in the court's integrity as spending on judicial campaigns skyrockets. Bablitch had warned the court not to adopt the business-backed rules. "That's the worst thing you could do."

Mission accomplished. With anti-government citizens demanding change, and with the publics confidence in the courts tanking, a corporate free for all in this country is upon us. It is anticipated the Federal Supreme Court will rule corporate spending and influence cannot be capped during an election, and that these "on paper" corporations are constitutionally protected persons.

The authoritarian nature of Justice Prosser, a former legislator, shined brightly through when he blamed "outsiders," like the public, for thinking there might be an appearance of bias:

"I've gone through the experience of members of the court being subjected to attacks without any justification," Prosser said. "I'm sorry, I've had it. It is time to address a true crisis that has been created, not by people on the court but people outside the court."

Public radio's WHA's morning show presented the audio clip below featuring Prosser misrepresenting an editorial comment from written by Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Prosser's one sick, openly partisan corrupt activist justice, isn't he.

Beck's book, "Arguing with Idiots, how to stop small minds and big government" is Free, in a Best Seller kinda Way.

Did you ever wonder why conservative crazy people who write books get best sellers?

I wonder how many books Townhall bought to make such an exciting offer?

Obama on your Shoulder Video Funny and So Wrong

Townhall's insanely irrelevant feature "Hamnation" surprised me with the video song below, "Obama, on My Shoulder." This over the top, ridiculous but funny take on doing the right thing, with the help of an Obama on your shoulder action figure, it actually clever. "Mary Katharine Ham, with the help of her favorite songwriter, explores life under the new rules and politics of an Obama administration that's in all your business."

You'll notice the conservative Ham in the video appears to make all the wrong decisions, like eating a cholesterol laden breakfast. Republicans continually tell us we can hold down health care costs without reform if we made better personal health decisions, like not eating food that's bad for us.

They Kept Us Safe...Except for 9/11! Otherwise....

Terry Jeffrey left himself wide open for criticism when he touted how the Bush administration protected us from even one terrorist attack. What is usually an unchallenged conservative declaration, Chris Matthews brought up the obvious question; who was in charge on 9/11? David Corn tries to get a word in but can't, fortunately for us, because he would have simply obscured the simple point Matthews was making to Jeffrey.

This is classic conservative finger pointing and denial.

Batman and Friends Sing and Dance in Ground Breaking Animated Episode

I'm a former comic book geek and artist (never published) who still loves to see my former heroes come to life. The retro "Batman Brave and the Bold" recently presented this imaginative musical episode, that even won over my wife, who just loves seeing people break into song.

Below is the opening number "Music Meister," featuring dancing super heroes and villians. Surreal.

Direct government over Public Schools Another Bad California Idea

All you need now is a simple majority of parents to toss a schools staff out. Oh boy. Edweek:

Under new rules released this week by the Los Angeles Unified School District, parents whose children attend some of the lowest-performing schools in the city will have the ability to force the district to launch new reform initiatives at troubled campuses. The rules—written by Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines and his team—are part of a series of regulations being crafted to govern the district’s new school choice policy.

The wild west of school reform, no quality control or the adoption of a proven formula, is about to take the form of majority rule. When will California learn? Again, the cliche' "this will give parents power" is the pat answer for everything. As for "smart academics," we don't need no eggheads.

“This is not about wealthy philanthropists or smart academics coming up with the right way to reform schools,” said Ben Austin, the executive director of the Parent Revolution, the nonprofit, pro-charter school group that lobbied Mr. Cortines to give parents authority over launching reforms. “This is simply about giving parents power."

By gathering a simple majority, or 51 percent, of parental signatures in a school community, parents can “trigger” the district to open up the targeted school for outside management. What’s more, the rules also grant that authority to certain prospective parents, such as those whose children attend schools that feed into the troubled campuses.

The so-called parent trigger, which has drawn the ire of United Teachers Los Angeles, could be the first-of-its-kind reform strategy in the nation.

Teachers Union President A.J. Duffy did not back away from (a lawsuit). “We are laying the groundwork for legal action,” he said. “Look, if this actually happens, and they give away 250 schools to multiple entities, you are going to have an education disaster in Los Angeles, the likes of which nobody can imagine seeing.”

Mr. Cortines’ rules have also sparked concerns from charter operators who say that their autonomy—a hallmark of the publicly financed schools—is threatened, so much so that many may decline to participate.

One of the biggest sticking points is the district’s requirement that outside operators provide slots to children in the neighborhood where the schools are located, essentially enforcing an attendance boundary for charters. That could imperil eligibility for private and federal charter school grants because rules for securing those monies often require charters to do admissions by lottery.

Mr. Duffy, the teachers’ union president, “It’s just such a messy way to do school reform” he said.

I Was Wrong, Things Aren't Bad Enough Yet!

Democrats are about to fail miserably trying to reform health care. They will brag about passing reform, and then take the blame from Republicans for not reigning in rising premiums. In the process, Democrats will prove they cannot be in charge of running a country. They will have imparted an uneasy feeling to Americans that nothing is really that important to them, nothing that can't be compromised into utter slop.

When it comes to the total meltdown of the world economy, it even gets stranger.

After crashing the world economy with free market "magic," the Republican Party will once again gain power, and the public will blame the Democrats for not fixing a totally dismantled regulatory system.

While many might be frightened by the angry radical far right agenda; the armed protesters, Nazi signs and threats of secession, they will be in control again of a country sliding further into dysfunction. But even then I don't believe the public will be ready for change.

There was a time when I thought many conservatives would moderate and throw out a whole bunch of faulty theories that made up their ideology, but that didn't happen. In fact there is now a libertarian movement splitting off from the Republican Party demanding even less government regulation than before. It won't be our debt that will drive other countries to different currencies, it will be our recklessness.

I hope Rep. Paul Ryan's idea of health care is adopted; people will get small tax credits that aren't adjusted to inflation, health insurers will carefully exclude treatments in the fine print once state mandates are eliminated due to buying across state lines and hundreds of thousands of people will die because they couldn't keep up with the rising cost of health care.

And it's all because things aren't bad enough yet.

Activist Supreme Court Will Legislate from the Bench for Corporate Personhood.

Here's a great commentary from Mike McCabe from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign:

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide a case - Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission - that started as a narrow dispute over whether federal election laws should have applied to a pay-per-view cable TV documentary savaging Hillary Clinton that was to air during the 2008 presidential primary elections.

As previously noted, Chief Justice John Roberts expanded the court's review to include two earlier Supreme Court rulings upholding restrictions on corporate spending in elections. Many court observers believe five of the nine justices favor reversing those precedents.

So at a time of corporate excess and irresponsibility not seen in our land since the Gilded Age, the court appears poised to rule that corporations do not have enough political clout and should be allowed to spend even more freely in elections. And rule thusly in the name of the First Amendment.

Never mind the word "corporation" does not appear in the First Amendment. Nor does the word appear even once in the entire U.S. Constitution for that matter. These justices who call themselves "strict constructionists" and claim to be faithful to the original text of the Constitution are getting ready to sweep away century-old laws banning corporate election spending.

Roberts and his ideological soulmates will not be able to base such a decision on what the Constitution actually says. Nor will they be able to find any predecessor on the nation's highest court who wrote a decision proclaiming that corporations are people and possess the same rights as flesh-and-blood citizens, including those rights spelled out under the First Amendment. Instead, the Roberts court will have to take this guy's word for it.

Bancroft Davis. Former president of a railroad company. As the court reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court, he gave railroad companies a great gift in 1886 when he added a comment to the high court's ruling in a case involving the taxation of railroad properties. And in so doing, this one man gave all corporations a great gift by inventing the pseudolegal doctrine of corporate personhood. Out of thin air.

If the current Supreme Court rules in Citizens United the way many legal experts expect, the handiwork of Bancroft Davis will be affirmed and further cemented in place.

If the Roberts court does this, it will not just be naked judicial activism. It will not simply be the very thing they claim to abhor - legislating from the bench. These "strict constructionists" will be effectively rewriting the Constitution.

What next? Redesign the flag? To capture the essence of the Roberts court's mindset, it will need to look this one.

Fox News Looking Over Shoulder Now. Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff Dissects Strategy.

Below are two perfect examples of Fox News spin, where one individual decides to cut off the guest for suggesting the discussion was less than "fair and balanced, and Shep Smith calling out a reporter for only interviewing the Republican candidate in the race. Shep's class shines through as he apologizes for the lack of balance.



So is it any wonder, Vanity Fair's Michael Wolff couldn't help examining the possible White House strategy in telling the truth about Fox News' all opinion format.

The Nation's John Nichols sees the confrontation in political terms, ignoring the fact that the White House is telling the truth, Fox isn't a news network. For this weak kneed liberal, Nichols predicts or hopes the WH backs away. A typical worm like strategy by the easily intimidated defensive liberal pundit.

Shocker: Charter Schools Under Perform Public Schools in Milwaukee.

The hot thing now in politics is giving mayors control of their public school systems. Never mind the fact that anti-public school ideologues will do everything they can to promote vouchers and charter schools and put in place lackey appointees. It's happening now in Milwaukee:

Wispolitics.com: Governor Jim Doyle today joined ... supporters in announcing a bill to reform Milwaukee Public Schools and establish a Mayorally-appointed Superintendent.

But what is or is not working don't necessarily scream out mayoral control. In fact the newest research should be telling everyone, including Arne Duncan and Barack Obama, they may not be promoting the winning strategy after all.

State Representative Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) made public recently obtained information related to City of Milwaukee charter schools, raising new concerns over the merits of a mayoral takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

A memo drafted by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reveals that, on average, more students at MPS are performing better than the students attending charter schools under contract with the City of Milwaukee. As the Legislative Fiscal Bureau notes, in the 2008-2009 school year 49.9% of those attending a city-controlled charter school scored proficient or advanced in reading, while 59% of MPS students scored at that level in the same year.

In the area of mathematics, 49% of the tested MPS students scored at a proficient or advanced level in the 2008-2009 school year, while only 33.1% of students at the City of Milwaukee charter schools met that standard.

As the recent fiscal bureau memo concludes, after averaging together test scores from the three most recent school years, “49.6% of City charter school pupils were proficient and advanced in reading, and 32% were proficient and advanced in math.”

Within that same time period, 59% of MPS pupils scored at the proficient or advanced level in reading and 45% scored at those levels in mathematics, resulting in an achievement gap in which MPS students are outperforming City of Milwaukee charter students in both subjects.

Grigsby said. “The need for improvement at both our city charter schools and MPS is a clear indication that no simple change in school governance or sleight of hand will be the solution needed to better educate our children. We cannot afford to pander to such ideas, just as we cannot afford to abide by the status quo.”

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) Admits It Buys Court influence

One of my favorite local blogs, rocknetroots.com, just posted this wonderfully revealing story that just about says it all about our pay to play system of government. The moneyed interests in our state bought our last two Supreme Court Justices, and are now ready to defend it:

"In what probably is one of the most obscene proposals ever to be submitted to the state's high court, the morally bankrupt group known as the WMC is requesting that..."

Daily Press Excerpt:...judges would not be required to step aside from cases involving groups or individuals no matter how much they spent to help their campaigns.

Daily Press Excerpt:"Individuals and organizations spend money to help elect a judicial candidate precisely because they want that candidate to be a judge — that is, to preside over cases, including their own," WMC attorney Mike Wittenwyler said in the petition. "There is nothing corrupt about that. That is democracy."

"That's not democracy - that's bold-faced corruption. In that case, why bother with campaign contributions? Why not just pay the judges directly for each court case?"

Traitor Joe Lieberman Wants to extend 100 year blockade of Health Care Reform.

Sen. Joe Lieberman intends to stop the momentum of 100 years of history to protect the insurance industry profits from taking a hit. Good for you Joe. So what if the states can opt out, Joe just doesn't even want to consider that.

Oh, and the fair and balanced Fox News networks coverage? I tagged "traitor" Joe's comment when a fairly one sided promo taking a look at how the GOP is going to kill heath care reform. Now that's balanced.

Scalia Admits to being Strict Constructionist. That's Called Activist!

The news in the following story isn't the fact that Justice Stephen Breyer looks at the constitution as a "living document," we knew that already, but the real scoop is the open admission by activist Justice Antonin Scalia that he is a constitutional constructionist-an originalist. It is without a doubt a partisan, conservative ideological view of the constitution.

What's even more apparent is Scalia's attempt to create a fiction by reversing the reality around the idea that the rigidity of a strict interpretation, believe it or not, allows MORE flexibility. It really is just the opposite. It's down the rabbit hole again...

AP- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says those who want modern-day legal interpretations to view the U.S. Constitution through contemporary lenses are seeking rigidity, not flexibility, in the country's justice system. He told a Tucson audience that the rival approach favors sweeping judicial decrees to shape society "coast to coast" on issues such as abortion, rather than seeking to pass laws state by state.

That's an odd view since he seems to be arguing against the idea of the "federal' constitution, one that encompasses all states. On the MORE flexible side:

Justice Stephen Breyer says interpretations should consider current circumstances because society has different values than it did in the 18th century on matters such as cruel and unusual punishment

According to the Arizona Daily Star:

Breyer noted, for example, when the Constitution was written and people were promised “equal protection under the law.” But there was no on-going debate about same sex marriages at that time, he said. As a result, justices need to consider what the framers intended by that phrase.

Scalia disagreed. He asked the crowd to imagine having a Constitution with a footnote at the end that said ... “Equal protection means what the Supreme Court says it means from year-to-year.”

It's an unsettling statement from someone who should know better. If he had his way, the south would still be able to vote on slavery, state by state, ignoring the equal protection law. But for those looking to take on the ideological "constructionists" out there, Breyer provides a few great examples to pose in a debate:

Breyer used a hypothetical murder to illustrate his point. Criminal defendants have the right to confront their accusers in court and hearsay testimony is impermissible, Breyer said. But what happens if a woman tells a police officer her husband is going to kill her and then the husband kills her, Breyer asked. Should the police officer be precluded from testifying because the defendant has a right to confront his accuser?

Breyer also pointed out that what were once acceptable means of punishment are no longer acceptable. When asked about the death penalty for juveniles, Breyer said he doesn’t believe anyone today thinks it’s OK to execute a 13-year-old. "Where you draw the line today is not where you drew the line back then,” Breyer said.

Scalia argued his approach, which he called “originalism” yields many of the answers they seek, while Breyer’s approach, which he called “playing-it-by-ear” yields zero answers.

Right... only if you're ideological enough like Scalia to believe the "all or nothing" conclusion he just painted for us.

GOP warnings Nothing but Hot Air.

Let's dissect the arguments against the Democratic health care overhaul, from the AP:

With landmark health care votes expected in the coming weeks, Republicans are warning voters that the Democratic plan to expand coverage to millions who lack it will increase costs for the average American.

The Republicans are warning against people getting health care. Plain and simple.

Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns (R) said the plan would hurt a cross-section of people struggling in the economic downturn.

It would hurt struggling families who can't afford health care by getting them health care, help that could keep them from bankruptcy.

(Johanns warns) college graduates, saddled with student loans would be forced to pay for health care they might not be able to afford.

Students low cost, and probably subsidized health care, will not have to be paid for in everyone else's premiums. There will be no freeloading.

Johanns also claimed that the Democratic plan would eliminate entirely the ability for families to pay for medical expenses using tax-free dollars through flexible spending accounts.

Good. Health Saving Accounts were temporary gimmicks that required huge deductibles, high premium increase every year and eventually would become too expensive. (I know, because I've had different HSA's for 7 years. Even worse, tax deductible contributions are capped at around $5,000, despite having a $9,000 deductible. A ripoff)

Legislation in the Senate would cap at $2,500 annually the amount people are allowed to deduct from their salaries for deposit in these tax-free accounts. Currently, there is no federal cap ...The proposed change raises money to help pay for Democratic health care legislation because it exposes more income to taxation.

That's a good thing for two reasons: people can afford $2,500, not $9,000; and HSA's would no longer be a tax write-off for the wealthy, the only ones who could afford them.

Are Free Market Ayn Randers Brave Enough to Face Reality?

This is the most recent and most convincing proof that free unregulated markets don't work. But Ayn Randers are blind to the obvious. PBS's Frontline, shortened.

Phony AP Fact Check Equates Hershey sweets to Health Insurers. This is a Major News Outlet Advocating Ludicrous Industry Talking Points

To start with, profits are different from income. Profits happens after health insurers pay for everything from salaries and bonuses to brick and mortar costs. It's what's left.

In the AP analysis below, profits are "presented" as "all of the above," and not just what's left after expenses. AP blatantly misinforms the public under the disguise as "fact checking." I've never seen anything like this.

Never in the following piece does AP's "fact check" make the distinction. Cute.

(AP) - Quick quiz: What do these enterprises have in common? Farm and construction machinery, Tupperware, the railroads, Hershey sweets, Yum food brands and Yahoo? Answer: They're all more profitable than the health insurance industry. In the health care debate, Democrats and their allies have gone after insurance companies as rapacious profiteers making "immoral" and "obscene" returns while "the bodies pile up."

See how they set that up? Profits for consumer goods, with their highly mechanized factories churning out product, are compared with a bloated industry of employees, buildings and CEO's. A bizarre comparison to say the least. Don't forget, this is the Associated Press, a supposed "news" organization. They continued with this;

"Profits barely exceeded 2 percent of revenues in the latest annual measure. HealthSpring, the best performer in the health insurance industry, posted 5.4 percent. That's a less profitable margin than was achieved by the makers of Tupperware, Clorox bleach and Molson and Coors beers. The star among the health insurance companies did, however, nose out Jack in the Box
restaurants..."

That was AP's snarky attempt at humor by Calvin Woodward, from the conservative wing located in Washington, D.C..

Maybe the White House is calling out the wrong faux news agency.

All this Free Market, Tax Cut and Deregulation talk is a Right Wing Plot to Drive us MAD!

As the right wing continues to blame Obama for not doing enough to turn the economy around, a mess they created but refused to clean-up, they seem determined to re-create the problem in the name of ideology alone. It doesn't make sense to expect a different result, yet these wacky conservatives still want to keep the tax cuts that will break the economy, and deregulate Wall Street completely in the next five years.

Is this their secret plot to drive everyone else, the majority of Americans who are left of center, completely nuts? See for yourself, from the Ed Show on the left to Rachel Maddow on the right.

Deception to Win, GOP Pose as Democrats on Twitter.

I've already written about the attempts in Wisconsin by the Republican Party to run conservatives as Democrats, which didn't work out too well, but that deception has moved on to Twitter. Do ya think people would get mad when they find out they've been duped? The NY Times:

BlogTalk: Twitter and the G.O.P. ...apparently some Republicans in Connecticut have gotten their hands slapped by Twitter for creating fake “handles” to send out messages that portend to be written by Democrats. The company shut down 33 such sites with names like “MeetRepDonovan” and “MeetRepUrban,” which appear to belong to Democrats running for the state Legislature, and told state Republicans to cease and desist on the fakery.

When you try to click on those links, you get this message, Sorry, the account you were headed to has been suspended due to strange activity.

With no affiliation to Twitter, the Web sites say at the bottom that they are “Paid for and Authorized by the Connecticut Republican Party, Jerry Labriola Jr. Treasurer,” but you have to get past a lot of negative information about Mr. Donovan before you get to that.

Chris Healy, the Connecticut Republican chairman, told ... the Advocate that the party has no intention of taking down the fake Web sites, in spite of complaints from Democrats: “They didn’t think of it first, so that’s why they’re whining,” Mr. Healy told him.

Jay Stevens on Left in the West calls Mr. Healy’s response “classy.”

“Just as sleezy and lowdown as you’d expect,” writes Paddy at Political Carnival.

Frank Gafney to Ron Reagan: "Your father would be ashamed of you." What a Snake.

This Hardball video clip gets the uncomfortable moment of the year award, when after the debate, war monger Frank Gafney low blows Air America's Ron Reagan with the most reprehensible comment. This says everything you ever needed to say about the take no prisoners attitude of the conservative Neo-con sickos who once had control of this country.

Watch what happens at the end of the clip at about the 5 minute mark.

After Sen. Grayson's Questioning, Republicans Don't Have Any Answers. Count Cheney?

Besides Rep. Alan Grayson new web site, "Names of the Dead.com," he's been busy keeping Republicans honest, in a way. Again, if only every Democrat came this prepared to debunk these House carnival barkers. Think Progress had this:

Yesterday, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) challenged the constitutionality of one of these anti-ACORN measures being supported by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) during a hearing of the Science and Technology committee. Grayson repeatedly questioned Broun about the constitutionality of “bills of attainder” — which are punishments that single out a group or individual without a court trial. The Georgia Republican was unable to offer a coherent rebuttal

Take a look:



Chris Matthews gets the scoop on Namesofthedead.com, and Grayson's off the wall description of Dick Cheney.

Sen. Bayh Might Filibuster His Own Party on Health Care Reform. Colbert Lampoons.

I could be wrong, but don't U.S. Senators represent, not only their states, but their country as well when devising laws for America. I'm mentioning this because my heart sank as I read the following tunnel visioned comment from the passionless Evan Bayh.

AP-It's possible that Obama and party leaders eventually will ask Democrats such as Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana,in the name of party loyalty, to vote to block a GOP filibuster of a health bill even if they plan to vote against the bill on final passage. The strategy might enable Democrats to muster the 60 votes needed on a crucial procedural question and then pass the bill with a simple majority.

Bayh said that if a party leader "is asking some of us to enable the passage of legislation that we think would be harmful to the people of our state, I don't think that's a fair thing to ask."

So health care for all, without concern for a profit driven industry that has nothing to do with medical delivery or treatment, is harmful and unfair? At this point we have only the Democrats to blame if reform fails again because of a few people in a few states that just don't get it.

In the Republican side show: As usual, Rachel Maddow puts the Republican opposition to health care reform in perspective.



When you have perspectives like those shown in the above video clip, you can only assume these right wingers are ripe fodder for comedy. Here's Stephen Colbert's take on the "danger" Sen. Pat Roberts warned us about in his opposition to change:

Muslim Fear Mongering by Republican House Members Breathtaking.

Paranoia and fear appears to be the only card left to play for congressional Republicans, after four Representatives presented their conspiracy theory that Muslims were spying on lawmakers. Rachel Maddow decided to go to Suhail Khan, a former senior political appointee in the Bush administration and member of the Institute for Global Engagement, for his take on what he refers to "professional bigots."



I couldn't help but look at what propagandist Fox News had to "report."

Four House Republicans on Wednesday called for an investigation into the Council on American Islamic Relations after discovering an internal memo noting the group's strategy of placing Muslim interns in congressional offices, specifically on three committees -- Homeland Security, Intelligence and the Judiciary -- that preside over national security issues.

But the Intelligence Committee does not accept interns, and the Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees select candidates on a case-by-case basis with no preferential treatment given to any group. The Homeland Security Committee, which was made permanent only four years ago, has not had any interns sponsored by CAIR in at least three years, an aide to the panel said.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told Foxnews.com,"Isn't that what we're supposed to do as Americans?" he said, incredulously. "These Muslim bashers seem to think the only people who shouldn't participate in the political process are Muslims."

Each time I've posted stories like this, I've felt that statements like this are examples of what might be considered defining moments in what is now a fundementalist political party.

Glenn Beck Pushes for Higher Consumer Internet Bills, Bigger Corporate Profits.

Americans for Prosperity’s Phil Kerpen, taking on net neutrality, completely mis-characterizes what net neutrality means and why opposing it will cost Americans a lot of their hard earned money.

But these guys are conservative, they wouldn't do that, right? Just like opposing health care reform, which will end up costing most of us twice as much as does now in a few years, conservatives would go to the wall to protect profits. Corporate bottom lines blindly get an exemption to rob you blind. According to Think Progress:

Beck also appears to have no idea what net neutrality actually means. Science Progress aptly explained it last year: At the most basic level, net neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet; all content on the Internet is equally accessible, and once a person pays for access to the Internet, they alone get to choose how they use it. This means that providers should not be allowed to block access to certain sites or applications, or charge different customers different amounts for services



Watching Beck is like watching sequels to the movie Network, if Howard Beil didn't die, and looked like our favorite Fox News loon.

Fear group "Oath Keepers" Preparing for Concentration Camps, Foreign Invasion and Losing Their Guns.

The Republican Party "of fear" has opened a can of worms they will never contain, and may even destroy or divide their party in half forever. For a party looking to get government out of our lives, little did they realize they were ginning up the anti-government libertarians who are frustrated with both parties. MSNBC's Chris Matthews shreds Oath Keepers' Stewart Rhodes, another crazy "constitutional lawyer" trying to set in stone their own wacky interpretation of our founding document.

Again, the Democrats need to get out there and defend against this right wing taking of America's constitution, the same way the GOP villified the meaning of the word liberal. Repetition works, and no one is stopping them this time either.

Media Encourages Fox News, Obama Won't. Now Media Criticizes Obama?

One of the major points of this blog is to call out the Republican Party for its bizarre behavior and deceptive "down the rabbit hole" world view (check out the two screen shots here, left and right, as proof). The only reason the GOP looks like a collection of fringe elements of society is because no one has reigned them in, challenged their ideas and crazy talk, which has only encouraged them to grow more extreme. Which is why I agree with the White House's approach to Fox News.

The Daily Beast wrote this about Politico's story, "Obama's Plan to Discredit GOP."

President Barack Obama has the Republican Party in his sights, and he intends to take it down. In private and in public, the White House has gone after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Rush Limbaugh, Wall Street executives, and Fox News. The administration's strategy is evidently to eject their adversaries from mainstream culture by dismissing their criticism as not even worth discussing. “They won—why don’t they act like it?” a former Bush press secretary said. “The more they fight, the more defensive they look. It’s only been 10 months, and they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.” But the strategy could be working. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found
that only 20 percent of people surveyed identified themselves as Republican—a 26-year low—while 83 percent of independents said they didn't trust Republicans to make the right decisions.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell talks to Media Matters about how quickly Fox News shed its cover of being "fair and balanced" (except for Shepard Smith and sometimes Chris Wallace).

Can Town Hall Protesters Defend Medical Bankruptcies? Sen. Franken Comes to Life.

Two points on medical bankruptcies. First this exchange from an energized Sen. Al Franken, who might show the old guard a thing or two about knowing your subject, and winning the argument.

Think Progress: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) questioned Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth about medical bankruptcies. Franken asked Furchtgott-Roth — who claimed that moving towards a European-style system of universal health care would increase bankruptcies — about how many medical bankruptcies there were in countries that have universal health care, like Switzerland and France. Furchtgott-Rott repeatedly told Franken that she didn’t “have that number,” and Franken informed her that the number was actually zero.

I also have this heart wrenching clip featuring a similar perspective from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, courtesy of Keith Olbermann. The disciplinarian approach by Republicans on this issue is jaw dropping in its ruthlessness.

Help! There are "Liberal" Elements in the Democratic Party.

I have a simple message today after reading this Washington Post headline:

"Liberals increase pressure for public insurance plan in health bill"

News Flash!!! Democrats are liberal! Liberalism isn't some kind of radical outside force to be feared. Oh sure, political pundits make it sound extreme, reinforced by all the major news outlets. But isn't it odd that those who are "right wing" or conservative are proud of their ideological underpinning's in the Republican Party.

Librals...are Democrats, even if the media denies it.

Sen. Kyle: Pass War Debt on to our Kids, not Health Care Spending. There's an Empty Seat at the Mad Hatters Table.

Mostly ignored by the media, which focused soley on Sen. Jon Kyle's discounting of the number of people who die each year due to lack of health insurance, was David Gregory breakthrough question about deficit neutral war funding. I've been waiting a long time for someone, anyone, to to ask a Republican about a possible war tax.

For Sen. Kyle, there isn't a debt big enough to discourage him and his cowering fellow Republicans to stop spending taxpayer dollars on war. They're affraid, big time. We can never be too safe, even at the expense of health care, education, energy and a balance budget.

Are These Republicans just plain Loco When it comes to Census?

Republicans would love to mess up the U.S. Census. A dysfunctional count will just bolster their argument that big government can't do anything right. But the party of no has now hatched a few other ways to politicize counting heads. These "fiscal" conservatives would also love to waste millions of taxpayer dollars. It's true. NY Times:

With the start of the 2010 census just a few months away, Senator David Vitter, a Republican of Louisiana, wants to cut off financing for the count unless the survey includes a question asking if the respondent is a United States citizen.

Of course that means reprinting hundreds of millions of new census forms and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. They could have saved that money by changing the form a year and a half ago the changes were proposed.

Because Republicans want to be identified as constitutional scholars, they apparently have no problem ignoring one important part.

Mr. Vitter said that his aim is to exclude noncitizens from population totals that are used to determine the number of Congressional representatives from each state. He is ignoring the fact that it is a settled matter of law that the Constitution requires the census to count everyone in the country, without regard to citizenship, and that those totals are used to determine the number of representatives.

Vitter's purpose is to discourage participation from those who are legal and illegal. Even more amazing, if we did ignore the constitution, states and cities would be short changed from getting federal dollars. That would increase local and state taxes. Will anyone blame the Republicans for raising your taxes?

But subtly is not the GOP's strong suit.

Advocates for the census say that Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican of Utah, has also raised the idea of another bad, last-minute change. Under current practice, the only people living abroad included in the census are military personnel and federal civilian employees, and the families of both, stationed overseas. Mr. Hatch, these officials say, wants to include certain other Americans living abroad temporarily, a definition that would be tailored to include — you guessed it — Mormon missionaries. There seems little doubt that the goal would be to increase population numbers for Utah — to try to garner another Congressional seat.

Gov. Candidate Walker, Republican Flim Flam Man.

Walker Flip-Flop Timeline, from Wisdems.org:

March 25, 2009 Walker: “I will not compile a stimulus ‘wish list.’”
Walker’s Milwaukee Small Business Times column.

March 31, 2009 Walker releases list of stimulus projects.
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Jan. 6, 2009 Walker: “I'm not asking for any new projects or things to be done here.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

March 31, 2009 Walker applies for $130 million in stimulus. projectsWalker press release.
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Feb. 28, 2009 Walker: “Why I’m not lining up for stimulus handouts” Walker’s Wall Street Journal column.

March 31, 2009 Walker: "We're going to go after stimulus money” WISN
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March 25, 2009 Walker: “Let me clearly lay out our position … no matching funds required by Milwaukee County” Milwaukee Small Business Times.

March 31, 2009 Walker: “I didn't say 'never' on match" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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April 13, 2009 Walker: “I was supposed to be giddy about feeding from the federal trough. But I refused” Walker fundraising letter.

March 31, 2009 Walker: "We're going to go after stimulus money” WISN
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And now, to cap it off, Walker thanks the Democratic leadership for the federal stimulus investment. June 29, 2009 Walker: The county can get through 2011 without a major crisis in transit funding, thanks to an infusion of federal stimulus funds. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Walker jumps back on the "Flip-Flop" train and criticizes the stimulus that he thanked Democrats for only months ago. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Is it "Risky Business" to be Honest and admit Fox News is NOT a News Network? Only to the Unquestioning Media where everything is Relative.

Update: I just watched Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman and Ed Schultz criticize the White House for telling the truth about Fox "News." That tells me they actually think the cable channel is a legitimate news source. They're wrong, and a bunch of weinies. That's why cable news is so clueless.

We don't want to be honest, do we. Check out this appalling headline and story in the LA Times:

The Obama war against Fox News: Risky business? White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CNN that Fox News isn't even a news organization. And White House political guru David Axelrod, who had coffee a few weeks ago in New York with Fox News founder Roger Ailes, told ABC that Fox News is "really
not news. ... Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way. We're not going to treat them that way."

But LA Times writer Johanna Neuman went so far as to suggest audience size might give them news credibility.

But some are wondering if this is smart politics. Given that Fox News boasts a far larger audience than cable competitors CNNand MSNBC ... the strategy could backfire.

White House communications director Anita Dunn, keeping up the White House attack, ... charged that Fox serves as "the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party."

News man and career reporter Glenn Beck, on the parole of Fox News Corps, draws from the topic conservatives have forbidden the Democratic Party from using, Nazis.

Now Beck is charging that the White House attack is akin to media genocide, like going after the Jews during the Holocaust.

Real classy stuff there.

Health Care Horror Stories-U.S.A. MD Coverage Canceled State Wide, Cesarian is Pre-existing Condition.

Radio talk host Thom Hartmann wrote about this horror story:

"Mark Johnson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting a new low in healthcare. Bill Caudle, 39 signed up for the Army just so that he could get health insurance for his wife who needs ovarian cancer treatment. Bill was laid off from his job after 20 years, and couldn't find a new job. So, he signed up for the Army so that his wife and high school sweetheart, Michelle, could get chemotherapy. The four-year sign up means Bill won't be there through his daughter Chelsea's four years of high school, but his wife has a chance to live."

Conservative Economic Solution: Let the Free Market Work, and Catastrophic Health Care Insurance for all?

The freeloading Texas A&M group, "Young Conservatives," are advocating their position that people have the freedom to buy or not buy health insurance. After all, they're young and immortal. And if they do decide to get insurance someday, a "low cost" catastrophic plan would be much better than "Obamacare."

Ah, the voice of inexperience. I wonder what's so attractive about high deductables, co-pays and high monthly premiums that increase dramatically every year?

David Shuster tries so hard to get a answer.



Below, Texas tea party organizer Phillip Dennis defends not protesting the Bush administration and Republican Party because at that point, they were still getting "extremely ticked off." President Bush was bad, admits Dennis, but Obama had the audacity to save the economy with a "stimulus" package. How dare Obama and his "over educated, under smart people" do what FDR did.

Dennis's solution would have let the free market prevail, cut taxes and relieve government regulations on businesses, or...do what Bush did. You know, doing nothing sounds pretty easy.

Like all conservatives, Dennis would support Obama if he passed Republican legislation. Do these people listen to themselves or care about election results? Does Chris Matthews get through to this smug dunderhead?

Free Loading Conservatives Want You and Me to Pay for their Insurance. Tenth Amendment Says they Can.

Can the federal government require everyone to buy health care insurance? Professor Paul Rothstein of Georgetown University weighs in on the Tenth Amendment and the free loader tenther movement. MSNBC's David Shuster:

GOP Strategy of Countering Obama with Michael Steele, an Absolute Disaster.

Even as we see the public tilt closer and closer to electing Republicans in the upcoming 2010 elections, their approval rating in congress is dipping lower and their rhetoric is becoming more and more extreme. How is that possible? Who knows.

Always keep in mind: Sara Palin was nominated by the GOP as the answer to Hillary Clinton. Can you guess why Michael Steele was voted in as the RNC leader?

Jon Stewart takes a quick look at Steele's "cool" factor.

Mitt Romney on Apologist Obama, Mass.'s Rising Health Care Costs and More...

I normally debate, point by point, the inaccuracies in Republican punditry. It's harder to do when you have a video clip filled with back to back fibbing. For many, it's easier just reading what's in the clip, and not sit here watching a long meandering video (which I edit down for time, unlike the other sites).

Mitt Romney is featured here on Milwaukee's "Upfront with Mike Gousha" (Goo-shay), practicing his "removed from reality" talking point cliche's, with my commentary scrolling across the screen.

It's just an experiment, but wouldn't it be interesting to see this done over repeats of inteviews on the cable news outlets as fact checking notes, and not just opinion? Kind of like the old "pop up" videos on VH1.

Republicans Tell Democrats, Spend Money Faster. (except for health care reform)

For the last century, Democrats have been trying to pass universal health care, only to be stopped by the Republican Party. Now the GOP complains the reform moving through congress is going to fast. A century is too fast? They want to slow the process down so they can read every line, subject every section to public scrutiny, and squeeze every wasteful penny out.

But wait a second. In Wisconsin, the Republican Party is complaining the stimulus money is being spent TOO SLOWLY, that it's taking too long for government officials to get taxpayer cash out there. My head is hurtng again.

Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said he was concerned that the stimulus spending was taking too long and was too focused on saving jobs in the public sector.

"That's turning into a real issue with the general public," he said.

Oh, I see, they want to have it both ways. They actually think no one will notice.

For them, it's taking too long to spend money wisely. It's too focused on saving government jobs. After all, families dependent on making a living working for the state don't really contribute to the economy. They don't spend money on food, clothing and housing. They don't impulse buy things. They are parasites living off everyone else's taxes. Isn't it about time public employees work for free, like those elected officials in our state legislature? Oh, they don't work for free? They get a per diem on top of their salaries and benefits...what's that?

My guess is Rep. Fitzgerald would disagree with the administrations attempt to limit wasteful spending and creating or retaining jobs.

State officials stress that, to spend the money wisely and avoid waste, many steps have to be taken. That can include waiting for federal guidance, getting state lawmakers' approval, waiting for local schools or police to send in their plans for using the money, and then deciding how best to award it. Chris Patton, director of the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, pointed to federal figures that show Wisconsin, a relatively small state, ranks eleventh in the nation for its number of stimulus projects under way.

Of course we already know that Republicans would have spent all the stimulus money "like drunken sailors." They have a history of doing that.

Obama taking gloves off after Insurance Industry Stunt

Telling it like it is...

Washington Post:

President Obama hailed the progress Congress is making toward restructuring the nation's health-care system Saturday but warned that the health-insurance industry is among those determined "to kill reform at any cost." Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address:

"The insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest - to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo," Obama said. "They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads.They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people."

"It's smoke and mirrors. It's bogus. And it's all too familiar," Obama said. "Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time."

Right Wing Web Site Declares "2011 Obama's Coup Fails"

Conservatives have an odd sense of humor. Is it any wonder why they sound out of breath and panicky every second of the day, on talk radio and Fox "News," after imagining the most insane outcomes from the last election. While Democrats put up with Bush and the Republican Congress, and maybe we shouldn't have, the right churns out this dreck.


I just love the anti-American, anti-Obama web site USofEarth.com. We can now entertain ourselves with a game of revolt or get a dose of good humor, like the Trade Center "sand castle" below.

Isn't it strange how the Republicans, after being voted out of office, stamp their feet and hold their breath when they can't get their way anymore.

Under the web site heading, "2011 Obama's Coup Fails," they weave their little story...

Private Ownership of firearms has been outlawed, and Obama has promised a new era of equality and peace. Unfortunately for Obama, Americans would not act like the sheep he had taken them for. Revolution begins.

The United States is a creation of "racists and warmongers," Obama says to a stunned America, and is to be replaced by the North American Union. In the course of this very broadcast, Obama, with two simple pen strokes, signs the "treaties" into law. One dissolves the United States and its Constitution, and the other disarms what is left of the gun-owning United States citizenry, as part and parcel of a United Nations Treaty to ban all firearms, which had already been signed into law by over 40 nations.

As for the Trade Tower picture below (oddly listed under "Humor"), the tasteless terrorist art form of sculpture is not made fun of, but instead featured to elicit "humorous" outrage?

"Politically Incorrect reaction to the following photo from me I guess when I say that these a**holes need a damned nuke dropped right on top of them. Pisses me off to see celebrating planes going into the Twin Towers and making a celebration and sandcastles and having a grand party. Yeah I know, since I live in NY I can hear people chime in with ” We caused it”. That kind of BS makes me sick to hear."

It's a crazy, disjointed, mixed up, "down the rabbit hole" world. And we're seeing more of this stuff.

Why Aren't Republicans Angry over Insurance Industry Threats to Raise Rates?

What I found interesting about Republican complaints about the Baucus bill, were their comments about the Price-Waterhouse-Cooper report the insurance industry asked to justify huge price increases due to reform. They appeared unfazed by the fact that their comments were given well after Price back tracked on their conclusions, saying they were asked to not consider many of the Baucus bills cost saving elements.

The question not asked of the Republicans by the news media was: Doesn't it infuriate you knowing the insurance industry will raise rates anyway, no matter what reforms are put in place?

GOP Okay with Rape, Not ACORN!

Without sounding partisan, I can't help it sometimes, I will let Jon Stewart demonstrate just how deeply troubled the conservative mind set is right now (I guess that came across partisan). The bottom line is this; The GOP advocates cutting funding for ACORN, demanding an investigation, yet they would let military contractors commit rape get off Scott free.

Anti-Government Tea Partiers vs Small Government Republicans.

Hardball's Chris Matthews talked to S. Carolina's Tea Party organizer Allen Olson and Florida's Tea Party Patriots organizer Everett Wilkerson about their attacks on Sen Lindsey Graham at a town hall gathering. It looks like the small government Republicans have stirred up the anti-government right wing, so much so, that the GOP may now be witnessing the unintended consequences of their folly. The end of their party. Republican politicians must have forgotten they were a PART of big government

Let 'em have it libertarians and militias. This is truly fun to watch.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Protest Ignored by Fox News, Unlike Tea Baggers Event.

In stark comparison, Jon Stewart points out their media bias aganst the Don't Ask, Don't Tell rally in D.C.. What could be their excuse?

Scout Knife Weilding 6 Year Old Gets Reprieve! Zero Intellegence... I mean...Tolerence Policy Changed

Zero tolerance policies at our public schools have pretty much embarrassed districts all across America, yet no one appears to have the slightest intention of changing them, until now.

When a school district attempts to send a 6 year old to reform school for breaking a rule, there's really something wrong their judgement and the system.

Let's hope more districts change like the one below. The first clip is the initial Fox News report with Shepard Smith, the final report by WTXF-TV.



Seacoastonline opinion: In the case of your average six year old, “malice aforethought” lasts about three minutes. Possibly ten if the same six year old spends that time in a corner. Yet, it took national news coverage to get a reprieve for a First Grader in Delaware for a sentence that would have been over the top for a teenager. The fact is, there was no malice in any thought involved when little Zachary Christie brought his new cub scout all in one, handy dandy, eating utensil to school. Unless you consider murdering lunch an act of malice, that is.

Remember the days when a teacher would just roll their eyes and take away whatever offensive item was being waved around the classroom? “This will be in my desk until the end of the day. Don’t bring it back to school.” It seems in Delaware, if your six year old brings a cub scout knife to school to eat lunch with, the child will spend 45 days in reform school unless the incident gets shouted from the playground all the way to Washington.

Great Recession Ushers in Great Corporate Welfare State

You won't believe this story of corporate welfare. It's a glance at the future of business in America, thanks to the Republican Great Recession. The Capital Times:

"Jack Norman, Research Director at the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, released a report this week titled "The Twisted Saga of Mercury Marine." The report ... helps explain how the firm basically blackmailed its employees and taxpayers by threatening to leave the state.

Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac ... pressured workers in Fond du Lac to accept large concessions and got local taxpayers to dole out $53 million in incentives -- all the while it hasn't paid a dime in state income taxes since 2000.

But perhaps most telling is the way many right-wingers used the Mercury case as an example of how Wisconsin's high taxes are driving companies out of the state.

In reality, Mercury Marine/Brunswick hasn''t paid a dime of income tax in Wisconsin since 2000, according to Norman's' report and records obtained from the Department of Revenue.

"The Mercury Marine/Brunswick Corporation melodrama in Fond du Lac had nothing to do with Wisconsin wage levels, business climate or tax policy," says Norman. "It was just another example of corporate mismanagement causing implosions that leave citizens, workers, taxpayers and other business people to clean up the mess."

That's not all:

According to the report, the key player was Illinois-based Brunswick Corporation, which took over Mercury Marine in 1961. Brunswick had been in a financial meltdown since CEO Dustan McCoy became head of the firm in December 2005. Since then, Brunswick has shed 5,300 jobs with those remaining facing pay and benefit cuts. Shareholders have lost 70 percent of their stock value while white-collar managers claim they were betrayed by the company ... the only people protected from loss have been the decision-makers at the very top of the Brunswick hierarchy: CEO McCoy collected over $10 million in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and his five senior Board members received an average of $506,000 each during this same time period, the report says.

Revealed: The Dumb as a Post Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu

"I'm proud to say this as a Democrat. I believe in the private sector. I don't believe in government running every program for everybody."- Sen. Mary Landrieu on health care reform.

Believe it or not, Landrieu's a Democrat. Believe it or not, she fabricated this outlandish strawman:

"I think when people hear “public option” they hear “free health care.” Everybody wants free health care. Everybody wants health care they don’t have to pay for."

I will let those who left comments on YouTube and Think Progress do the talking:

Here's one Democratic ( DINO ) candidate who needs to lose her job and be classified as ' Unemployed without health insurance

Mary is chasing demons in her mind. It's probably racism or hatred of poor people in general. She sounds pretty angry about it, too.

Mary Landrieu isn't much of a Democrat. I don't want free health care. I just don't want to get screwed by my insurer and the Public Option would keep health insurance companies honest. That's more than I can sat for Mary Landrieu.

Is Senator Mary Landrieu really that dumb? Or is she just in the Health Insurance Industry’s pocket?

Pretty easy to figure this one out.

Bad enough there are Republicans around ; we certainly don’t need anyone imitating them……..

“Stupid is as stupid does.”…Forrest Gump

This ‘free’ crap is worse than the death panels, Nazi, Soviet and all of the other Republican scare tactics. We don’t have ‘free’ police, fire, highways, water and sewage treatment, schools, etc. We pay for them with our taxes.

So, honey, the only thing free around here is your mouth. Too bad its attached to your wallet and not your brain.

What will the U.S. do with so many Unemployed People? Make them Work for Free!

The Sunday Parade Magazine section featured this insane story last week, "Should Unemployed People Work for Free?" Where else but in Georgia would you see the idea of such a program attempted, without question, to exploit the down and out jobless.

"...in Georgia, thousands of unemployed people are working without a salary in “auditions” for paying gigs."

They call them "auditions." Preying on the hopes of the unemployed, and their undeniable desperation, employers now have a free pool of minimum wage workers.

Under the Georgia Works program, jobless citizens work part-time for up to six weeks at businesses with job openings. They earn no salary, but the state pays unemployment benefits along with a weekly stipend for transportation, child care, and other expenses. And while the businesses involved don’t issue paychecks, they do provide valuable on-the-job training, according to Michael Thurmond, the state’s labor commissioner.

Because it's an job "audition," some people are hired, which is good. But guess what, almost as many are not hired, providing free employment without benefits on the taxpayer dime. It's a shot in the arm for business, which saved $15 million overall.

So far, some 3000 Georgians (58% of participants) have been hired at the places where they started working for free. Thurmond calls it a “win, win, win” program that has helped the unemployed find work; saved employers nearly $15 million in labor, hiring, and training costs; and saved the state $5.3 million in benefits it would have paid to people who remained unemployed.

Dangling the idea of free labor, and going after the freeloading unemployed worker collecting a check, many other states see their spot in our race to the bottom.

At least 17 other states have asked about starting similar programs.

Thankfully:

Still, there are critics. Andrew Stettner of the National Employment Law Project says that unemployed workers should spend their time looking for the right job. He fears the Georgia program could lead to mandatory unpaid work for the unemployed if it were replicated in other states. “The purpose of unemployment ought to be to enable people to search for suitable work, not to give employers free labor,” he says.

Sadly, in their online poll, the answer to the question "Should Unemployed People Work for Free?" was: 54% Yes, 46% No.