Former Extremist Republican Rep. John Gard puts "fiercely conservative" individual on State Judicial Commission. The Law is Republican?

The following is a perfect example of how acceptable, and conditioned we’ve become, to the radical nature of the Republican Party and what we'll let them get away with.

Former Republican extremist, Rep. John Gard, wrote something that if put into words by a Democrat, would result in decades of liberal trashing. Just imagine:

jsonline: Gard told an aide to Walker that he had found people for the state Judicial Commission who were "fiercely conservative" and "will never wimp out." "These are not people who require any hand holding - they are fiercely conservative and will never wimp out. There will be no surprises." Of (one of the people he found), Gard wrote: "I laid out what we were looking for and (he) said he would do it if needed."

This is corruption, plain and simple. "Fiercely conservative"…on the state Judicial Commission of all places. Nothing is out of bounds, nothing is too ethically challenged. And for conservative voters, their authority is beyond question, so what’s the big deal? I can hear them now, “it’s legal isn’t it?” 

It looks like Gard still has Justice Prosser's back. Gard helped turn the commission investigating Supreme Court Justice David Prosser around.

Gardwas an aide to Prosser in the 1980s, when Prosser was Republican leader in the state Assembly. In 1987, Gard was elected to the Assembly and served with Prosser for nearly a decade, including when Prosser was speaker. 

Wall Street Loves Cheap Foreign Labor and Profits, then Whines about Weak U.S. Hiring.

You don’t have to know much about investing or Wall Street to know, that after encouraging and profiting off corporate offshoring and cheap foreign labor, that it’s a bit hypocritical to act surprised we’re experiencing slow job growth.

I mean really, let’s get serious;

AP: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 124 points, wiping out its gain for the week, after the U.S. government reported that only 80,000 jobs were created in June. It was the third straight month of weak hiring.

And the bright spot…longer work hours?

BRIGHT SPOTS: There were a few bright spots in the bleak jobs report, according to Sharon Stark, chief market strategist at brokerage firm Sterne Agee. She says the number of work hours and average hourly earnings increased last month.

Best Buy, worried about losing sales to online retailers, thinks cutting more sales people a good idea.

To show how out of touch Best Buy management is, they’re about to make their stores even more of a nightmare than they were before. 

Anyone go to Best Buy and either never find a salesperson, or wait endlessly for one to free themselves from the customer that wouldn’t leave?

Best Buy now thinks that that wasn’t bad enough. This is what happens when, after a Great Recession takes out the competition, consumers are at the mercy of lousy management.  

Yahoo News: Electronics retailer Best Buy is laying off 600 staffers in its Geek Squad technical support division and 1,800 other store workers, totaling about 1.4 percent of its 167,000 employees. Best Buy is cutting costs and restructuring as it tries to combat the "showrooming" of its stores, as consumers test out products at its stores but go home and buy them cheaper online or at discounters. The company is trying to trim $800 million in costs. Interim CEO Mike Mikan has vowed that the retailer is committed to fundamentally changing operations to improve results.

 Sadly, those salespeople who really knew their stuff, and made Best Buy a competitor, are the ones on the losing end of CEO Mike Mikan's  "blame someone else" management style.  

Calling Stupid…Stupid, the next big step for Democrats

Instead of letting idiots have their way saying dumb things to the media, and getting away with it, we should highlight their lunacy and call it that.

The award this hour goes to Maine governor Paul LePage, who equates freeloading with being free:

Stupid!

Maine governor Paul LePage blasted the Supreme Court's health care ruling on Saturday, saying the "decision has made America less free. We the people have been told there is no choice. You must buy health insurance or pay the new Gestapo -- the I.R.S.."

Stupid!!!!

The Republicans are outraged when Democrats even hint at Nazi comparisons, but are morally justified portraying Democrats to Hitler.

LePage could have said 'you can't have freeloading without the word free.' What’s clear is the message; you don’t have to buy health insurance anymore, because it’s what Obama wants. Why not spend other peoples hard earned money paying for your emergency room bill? That’s freedom, tea party losers. What’s next, government mandated pea soup?

Stupid again!

“Now that Congress can use the taxation power of the federal government to compel behavior or lack thereof, what’s next? More taxes if we don’t drive Toyota Priuses or if we eat too much junk food or maybe even pea soup?”

The shameful Huffington Post media response?

LePage has a penchant for controversial remarks. 

The new truthful media response; LePage is to stupid to be a governor.  

Are we the greatest country in the world? We can be.

This is one of the great scenes out of HBO's new series, Newsroom. I saw it first on Hardball, when fill-in Michael Smirconish said he didn't agree. Well, I disagree with Michael. It's a great series and it's filled with similar lines throughout. For some it'll mean a bit of thoughtful reflection, and for others, an energizer.

Long Lines in Canada? Doesn't come close to Stephanie Miller's Story

It's not just something liberals are saying for effect; people are dying because of our lousy health care system. We need the Affordable Care Act now, not parts of it sometime when Republicans get around to it, or when they can decide they need to defund food stamps, Medicare, Social Security, or infrastructure spending in exchange for passage. 

People are dying. That's the bottom line, and Stephanie Miller's recent chance meeting with Pres. Obama tells the whole story. Here one of the better interviews I've seen, with Al Sharpton. It's a human tragedy: 

Huffington Post: During an appearance on MSNBC on Friday, Stephanie Miller reiterated her belief that a measure like President Barack Obama's health care law could have saved her sister's life if it were enacted during her battle with cancer.

Miller's sister, Kelly Hines, passed away of colon cancer in 2008. Hines did not have health care coverage.

On Thursday, a tearful Miller found herself face to face with President Barack Obama on the campaign in trail in Ohio, and thanked him for passing health care reform. Miller and Obama were captured on camera sharing a hug.

Asked on MSNBC about what she told the president, Miller said, "I truly believe that if a bill like President Obama’s had been in effect 5 or 10 years ago, my sister could’ve went to the doctor, she could have gotten preventative health care." She added, "They could’ve detected the cancer early, it’s one of the most curable cancers there is. She could still be here with her kids."

Free to go to Voucher Muslim Schools too.....?

Voucher schools may be the secret and subversive way to spread Islam according to one Louisiana Republican. Is it surprising that another pocket constitutionalist isn't real familiar with the First Amendment? 

Jezebel: It's an honest mistake, assuming that the Constitution only protects your own personal megachurch faith. But one Louisiana Republican Valarie Hodges is learning the hard way that religious school vouchers can be used to fund education at all sorts of religious schools, even Muslim ones. And while she's totally in favor of taxpayer money being used to pay for kids to go to Christian schools, she's willing to put a stop to the entire program if Muslim schools are going to be involved.

Valarie Hodges admitted she assumed the religious school vouchers could only be used for Christian schools. 

“I actually support funding for teaching the fundamentals of America's Founding Fathers' religion, which is Christianity, in public schools or private schools.”

The Founding Fathers were pretty high on Deism and pretty low on Christian rock concerts/ talking about The Children's collective virginity/ having a personal relationship with Jesus. She added Bachmannesquely, “We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”

Louisiana's Kenneth the Page governor had pushed pretty hard for the vouchers program and fast tracking it through the legislature. The voucher program, called Act 2, passed, opening the door for god knows how many non-Valarie Hodge's-religion schools that might interfere with her vision of America as a sort of Christian Saudi Arabia. 

Who needs the Supreme Court, or the Constitution? Not Arizona

Aw, conservative cry babies didn't get their way. Time for a tantrum. 

This amazing story is unfolding in Arizona and on a few right wing web sites, where some claim they can override the federal government and the Constitution with voter approval.

Would I kid you?

To prove their "patriotism," Tea Party Republicans are getting out their dog eared pocket constitutions, tossed them into the trash bin, and have decided to ignore the rule of law and the founding document of our country. If this isn't a recipe for complete chaos, I don't know what is:

AZDailySun: Voters could get the right to overrule federal laws and mandates under the terms of an initiative filed late Thursday. The Arizona Constitution already says the federal Constitution "is the supreme law of the land." This measure, if approved in November, it would add language saying that federal document may not be violated by any government -- including the federal government.

More to the point, it would allow Arizonans "to reject any federal action that they determine violates the United States Constitution." That could occur through a vote of the state House and Senate with consent of the governor. But that also could occur through a popular vote on a ballot measure, effectively allowing voters to decide which federal laws they feel infringe on Arizona's rights as a sovereign state.

Now you know what our shoot from the hip, radically unorganized, small government Republicans think constitutes freedom and liberty; lawless Boss Hog chaos. There's more:

Organizer Jack Biltis said there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution which gives the federal government the power to enact a national health care plan. Biltis acknowledged that the U.S. Supreme Court, faced with exactly that question, ruled to the contrary. "I believe the Supreme Court completely got it wrong," he said.

Biltis’ also included the argument put forward by liberal talk host Thom Hartmann:

In fact, Biltis argued, the ability of the nation's high court to interpret -- and invalidate -- federal laws itself is not part of the U.S. Constitution but was claimed by the court in 1803.

Biltis (also) finds to be constitutionally unacceptable the federal law signed during the Bush administration which phases out the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs to save energy. 

 Yes, he's one of those "pigtail light bulb" protesters. Does it sound like Biltis wants to go back to, let’s say, the Civil War?

Nor is Biltis troubled by the idea of individual states interpreting federal law -- and nullifying those they believe are unconstitutional. He said that is precisely what happened in pre-Civil War days when some Northern states refused to honor the federal Fugitive Slave Act which required escaped slaves to be returned to their owners.

But Bilitis’ measure isn’t the only one on the ballot:

A separate proposal crafted by Rep. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, would have Arizona declare its "sovereign and exclusive authority and jurisdiction over the air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources within its boundaries." Exempt would be tribal and military reservations.

Here's conservative radio's nicotine numskull Vicki McKenna, and 10th Amendment Centers Michael Bolden, pushing nullification of the health care exchanges (audio):

Romney Avoids Paying his Taxes with Offshore Accounts.

We’ve got a Republican presidential candidate that has chosen not to support his country, and not pay his taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars he deposited offshore. Is this worse than a picture showing Romney on a jet ski?

No excuses. Romney is not paying his fair share of taxes from his Bain Capital money. I don’t know about you, but can he skip paying taxes, while we have to pay ours?

While Republican voters whine and criticize public workers who pay taxes, they’re okay with millionaires who think they’re too good to pay their taxes?  Here’s the details from Opposing Views:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney keeps at least $30 million, probably more, in the tax-free Cayman Islands, Vanity Fair reported on Tuesday.

The Romney campaign claims that the candidate has not exploited offshore havens to avoid paying necessary U.S. taxes, but the Vanity Fair report detailed how Romney continues to have interests in at least 12 of the 138 funds, organized by his company Bain Capital, in the Cayman Islands.

Cayman Islands investments are hidden behind confidentiality disclaimers, making the total amount of Romney’s true wealth virtually impossible.

Romney also holds a Swiss bank account, with $3 million in it, according to 2010 tax returns, and other money in tax havens such as Bermuda, according to the report in the August issue of Vanity Fair.

In 2010 he reported income of $21.7 million, mostly from investments, and paid just over $3 million in taxes, a rate of just 13.9 percent, far lower than the rate for most Americans.

The Romney campaign immediately tried to distract voters:

The Romney campaign released a statement on the article, saying: “As job growth slows, manufacturing activity stalls (Blah, blah, blah)… President Obama knows he can’t make a legitimate argument for another term in office."

In response, the Obama campaign quoted Vice President Joe Biden on Twitter: “We need to choose someone who invests in America, not in a Swiss bank account.”

The Obama campaign also linked to a map where Mitt Romney has reportedly kept money, including: Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, reports the New York Daly News.

Here's the Obama video response:

Jonathan Krohn: 14 Year Old Conservative becomes 17 year old Liberal.

You might remember this bit from Real Time's Bill Maher about 14 year old conservatives:



Jonathan Krohn has now grown up, and going off to college. He's also turned into a bit of a liberal. Amazing what you can learn in 3 years. 17 is so old and wise. Michael Schmirconish:

SUV takes flight off Buckled Highway.

It's so hot...the roads are buckling. Check out this airborne SUV:

Chippewa County (WQOW) - A highway has been repaired and reopened after a crash and a near miss. The pavement buckled because of the heat Sunday, creating a ramp that led to an incredible scene which was caught on camera.  It happened on Highway 29 near County T in Chippewa County.

"From the overpass we could see the big divots, but we'd stopped to take a picture of it because we'd seen a bunch of cars going over slowly, and scraping the underside of their cars.  They were kind of lining up, checking the damage," said Theresa Reich from Eau Claire.  Reich and her brother-in-law had stopped on that overpass to take a picture of Highway 29.  What Theresa didn't realize was that as she tried to take a still picture of the pavement, the camera in her phone was already rolling... and it captured video of an SUV that went up the ramp, crossed the other lane of traffic, narrowly missed another vehicle... before coming to rest off the road.

Paul Ryan thinks We don't need government, we already have our rights from God!!

You came into this world naked, and loaded up with God given rights. That's all you need...okay, maybe a few clothes too.

But government can't do anything more, and according to Paul Ryan, that's just fine with him. Life saving health care coverage...forget it.

TPM: House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Sunday that ‘Obamacare’ should be repealed because the rights of individuals come from God.

“I think this at the end of the day is a big philosophy difference,” Ryan told ABC’s “This Week.”

“We disagree with the notion that our rights come from government, that the government can now grant us and define our rights. Those are ours, they come from nature and God, according to the Declaration of Independence – a huge difference in philosophy.”

I've seen a number of interviews with Sister Simone, the Nun on a Bus, and I'd have to say this was her best comment. With Lawrence O'Donnell:

Filling in for Sly in the Morning Thursday and Friday.

Check it out if you the time. 1670 WTDY. Any comments or topics, just leave a comment here.

Romney now says its a tax....from Obama, and his was a penalty.

It's the same thing, but...different. When the state taxes you for freeloading and not buying insurance,   it's a penalty. When Obama does it for the Affordable Care Act it's a tax, because Justice John Roberts says so.

Got it. I wish this would go away...CBS News:

The Weather may be Hot, but at least we don't have Volcanic Eruptions...or Godzilla!

Having worked with a TV weatherman for many years, Gordy Young (somewhere in Indiana), I teased him endlessly over the manufactured gimmicks they would come up with to make forecasts...remotely interesting. Well, I think the following guy out did everyone... 

Huffington Post: Aaron Justus, weatherman for local CBS affiliate WTVR, sure knows how to handle a high-pressure situation.

Faced with volcanic eruptions, massive tropical storms and battles with Godzilla, Justus manages to maintain his professional tone -- giving the good people of Richmond, Va., the information they'll need to get them through the next few days of terror.

JP Morgan may be gouging electric customers and businesses by manipulating electricity.

Wanna get government off the backs of business, and let freedom and liberty ring?

Republican candidates and Mitt Romney say deregulation is the way to go. Heck, they know what they’re talking about, because many of them have been corporate executives themselves, right?

Oh, didn’t they tell you, you’ll be paying a lot more of your hard earned money to those same deregulated corporations, because...well, that’s capitalism. Go tea party.

In Wisconsin alone...

Financial Times: The US electricity regulator has subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase twice in the past three months investigating whether the bank manipulated power markets in California and the Midwest region.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the bank’s bidding practices may have inflated electricity costs by at least $73m.

Remember “the California energy crisis of 2000-01, when Enron and other traders were accused of rigging supplies and causing blackouts.”

FERC has in the past year alleged Barclays and Deutsche Bank manipulated electricity markets and has compelled Constellation Energy to pay $245m to settle another case.

JPMorgan is already under intense scrutiny since (they experienced) $2bn in trading losses related to credit derivatives.

The bank’s commodities business owns or has rights to output from several electric generators (and may have) extracted “inflated” or “excessive” payments from two wholesale power markets serving California and several Midwest states..

This manipulation, and inflated payments, are ultimately paid for you and me, "businesses and government entities that are the end consumers of electricity,” the FERC wrote.

Anybody for deregulation? That’s what the Republicans are running on. 

Louisiana Voucher School, with no facilities and teachers, is approved to take 315 students.

In addition to the title above, parents are left with a useless voucher. Here's the incredible story:

TownTalk: Emails between Louisiana Education Superintendent John C. White, Gov. Bobby Jindal's spokesman Kyle Plotkin and Jindal policy adviser Stafford Palmieri show White devising a scheme to "muddy up a narrative" and to "take some air out of the room" after a news report about the new voucher program that was published ... In the email exchange, White proposes creating a news story about the "due diligence" process for school voucher approvals to counter a Monroe News-Star article that revealed the state Department of Education had not performed site visits or extensive review of voucher applications.

Those site visits and reviews weren’t being done. Even worse, parents of children were left to be the victims of the voucher scheme.

White (was told) by the committee that he would answer questions about the department's approval of New Living Word in Ruston. The school did not have the facilities, teachers or technology to accommodate the 315 students the state approved them to accept. New Living Word was accepted, (but) did not include site visits. The department's initial statements (was) that it "left it up to the parents" to determine if a site met their needs.

That’s right, after parents went through all the trouble of signing their kids up, even missing out on other choices, they would later find that there was no physical school to visit and no teachers to meet.

Members of the Senate committee were concerned this school was an indication of big problems in the state's voucher program.

A major understatement to say the least.

Employers Dumping Employee Health Insurance.

The Affordable Care Act is coming at just the right time. While Republicans claim they're tying to keep your current doctor and health plan, their policies have encouraged business to dump employees to save money. From the Economic Policy Institute: 

The expansion of insurance is particularly important now as a growing share of Americans are without health coverage. Historically, Americans under age 65 have received insurance through the workplace, but since 2000, that valuable source of coverage hasdeclined every year for 11 years running, a total decline of over 10 percentage points, as shown below.

So the mandate makes reform more efficient. This means it must be opposed by conservatives, because they have all along been determined to make any health reform as inefficient as possible. Remember the 2006 Medicare Part D legislation that cost way too much because it barred the government from bargaining with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices? And which subsidized private HMOs to cover Medicare beneficiaries? Remember the public option, which would’ve saved the public money but was taken out of the ACA in the early stages? Remember the voucherization of Medicare called for in the Ryan budget, which would insure that Americans spend far more to cover health costs in the future?

This was no grand constitutional issue, this was just conservatives doing what they reflexively do when it comes to health reform: trying to make sure it’s as inefficient as possible.

Lehman wins again, in recount, but that's not good enough for Republican thug Van Wanggaard.

The tortured recount will never end if Racine Republicans and Tea Party brownshirts continue to intimidate poll volunteers and local residents. I couldn't resist re-posting this creative picture at the Siren's site, showing a few Republican investigators questioning liberal terrorists.

Check out the whole bizarre story, and the lengths these thugs will go to kill the public's faith in anything. No one is closer to the story in Racine than the Siren.

I heard Scott Walker say that he would not call a special session with the Democratic senate, because Democrats won't agree with everything they would cover. 

Jobs Drop by almost Half under Walker!!

This wasn't supposed to happen under the magical small business management style of Scott Walker:

Dems: 2010 vs Walker: 2011