TomCat

Poll Results–3/1/2015

Posted by TomCat at 12:16 pm Blog News, Politics

Mar 012015

Here are the results of our “Netanyahu Rejection” poll. Politics Plus Polls are not scientific, because those who respond are not balanced according to demographic categories. Therefore, we do not accurately reflect the makeup of the US population. Nevertheless, our polls are usually factually accurate, and more often than not, they reflect thinking or will of the national majority.

0301Poll

Our Polling Host no longer allows us to copy and paste your comments made when taking the poll. To read them, click here.

“Do Not Attend” was the clear winner. I voted “walk out”, because Republicans will spin Democrats who do not attend as not caring about Israel and/or National Security enough to show up. Walking out clearly delineates the move as a protest.

The mree poll is up and ready you you to vote.

Open Thread–3/1/2015

Posted by TomCat at 12:16 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 012015

I’m running late today, because I had to collect all the data and prepare the graphics for tomorrow’s Monthly Report. My helper did not show up yesterday either. She probably had to work.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:29 (average 5:48). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The pension woes in NJ are, to a great extent, the result of past governors’ actions, but IMO Christie owned it as of his 2011 law/union negotiation package (that he is trying to renege on this year).

His argument that "I don’t have to abid by my own agreement because my own agreement is unconstitutional!!! Ha, ha, suck it, ya liberal union pensioners, gotta pay for dem tax cuts!" is a pretty bizarre argument for a lawyer/ex state’s attorney to make.

I don’t think it is going to fly. How’d you like this guy as your President?

Christie gets schooled by judge

In January, attorneys for the state argued that Christie could not make full payments because the 2011 law was violated a debt limitation clause and an appropriations clause in the state constitution.

But in today’s ruling, Jacobson said Christie "now takes the unusual position in this court of claiming that this legislative contractual guarantee, which embodied significant reforms for which he took substantial credit with great national fanfare, violates the New Jersey constitution."

Jacobson also ruled that the state must reimburse the unions for legal costs.

It’s a shame that they can’t charge PIGnocchio with the legal fees, instead of the NJ taxpayers.

From USA Today: Rand Paul won a high-profile straw poll for a third straight year Saturday, capping an annual conservative conference at which delegates argued about how to turn their ideas into a presidential victory in 2016.

The Kentucky senator carried 25.7% in the Conservative Political Action Conference poll, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker finished second with 21.4% — a closer-than-expected tally in this early test of political strength among conservative Republican activists.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, finished third with 11.5%, followed closely by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4%.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush — perhaps the most criticized candidate at this conservative conclave — finished fifth at 8.3%.

Other potential presidential candidates — including Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, and Rick Perry — had less than 4% in the straw poll. Paul also won CPAC contests in 2013 and 2014.

This about what I’d expect from CPUKE. What a foul collection od sold souls they are!

From Right Wing Watch:

An anti-abortion panel at CPAC this afternoon was clearly gunning for a spot on the main stage next year. Americans United for Life President Charmaine Yoest, Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, and Darla St. Martin, co-executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, made the case that their movement is winning and that they can fill a room with activists.

Dannenfelser started the discussion by declaring that "abortion-centered feminism is dead."

The three credited their carefully formulated, incremental strategy that has brought them a slew of state-level victories cutting back on abortion access and pushing narrowly-tailored abortion bans meant to push back on Roe v. Wade in the courts while winning public opinion to their side.

I think these dress wearing Republicans are unworthy to be called women.

Cartoon:

0301Cartoon

Which of Boehner’s Statements Is a Lie?

Posted by TomCat at 1:07 pm Politics

Feb 282015

Yesterday John Boehner, aka Agent Orange, proved that the Republican Party is too incompetent to govern, as their own Homeland Security extension came to the floor and failed. Leadership with such a large majority should at least know how their own caucus is going to vote to spare themselves the humiliation of such an incident. In the end, he had to obtain Democrats help so save his bacon, and more important, spare the country a DHS shutdown. Did he lie to her to obtain that help?

Republicans vowing to govern effectively as a congressional majority failed a fundamental test Friday, when House leaders only narrowly managed to avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security after an embarrassing defeat earlier in the day.

The seven-day funding extension, approved by a vote of 357 to 60, came just hours before money for the department was to run out at midnight. The accord was reached after a stunning and humiliating setback for Speaker John A. Boehner and his leadership team earlier Friday, when the House voted against their original plan to extend funding for the department for three weeks — a position that Mr. Boehner had considered a fail-safe. More than 50 House Republicans defected, voting against the bill.

The speaker was rescued by Democrats, who supported his offer of a weeklong extension because they believed it would lead to a vote next week on full funding for the department through the fiscal year, without any provisions related to President Obama’s executive actions on immigration included in the House’s original legislation. A spokesman for Mr. Boehner said the speaker had made no promises or deals with House Democrats to guarantee such a vote.

“Your vote tonight will assure that we will vote for full funding next week,” wrote Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, in a letter to her members on Friday night urging them to support Mr. Boehner’s seven-day funding measure. The House vote came after the Senate had already agreed to a seven-day funding extension.

About 10 minutes before the funding was set to expire, the White House announced that the president had signed the weeklong extension… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Rachel Maddow covered the story of the conflict.

I see it this way. Pelosi never has had a problem with saying and doing things that will be unpopular with her base, such as her 2006 promise that the Democratic Party impeach or prosecute Texas Torquemada and Dead-eye Dick. Had she not received the promise she claims, she would have asked her caucus to support the one week extension anyway, because Democrats, Unlike the Republican Party, care about what’s best for the country. I’m sure she asked for the guarantee, however.

I think what probably happened is that Agent Orange made the promise, because he knows that, if DHS is shut-down, his party will have a PR disaster akin to the hit they took for shutting down the government. Putting a clean bill on the floor is the only way he can avoid that. So I think that he lied to his own caucus through his spokesperson, to temporarily avoid a noisy revolt.

The final question is this. Will he keep the promise he made, or will he cave-in to the Theocon and InsaniTEA wings of his caucus? After all, Republican promises have no value.

Open Thread–2/28/2014

Posted by TomCat at 1:07 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 282015

My helper friend called yesterday and said she could not make it until 10 AM today. It’s Noon and I’m still waiting. I slept most of yesterday, needed it, and could probably use another few hours.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 5:02). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: By a huge majority, Americans support laws legalizing marijuana and criminalizing Congress, according to a poll released on Thursday.

While the poll reflects a relaxation of attitudes about recreational pot use, it also suggests that many Americans now view membership in Congress as a problem ravaging the nation.

Harland Dorrinson, an activist who has spent years mobilizing support for the criminalization of Congress, said that “this poll reinforces what many of us have been saying for a long time: Congress destroys lives.”

Never has Andy’s satire been more true.

From Media Matters: Fox News Host Sean Hannity is criticizing singer John Legend’s Oscars speech, which invoked the civil rights movement and the ongoing fight for racial and social justice. In response to Legend’s completely accurate statement that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is under attack today, Hannity disagreed and appeared to argue that the seminal civil rights law was irrelevant to strict voter ID laws.

On February 22, Legend and co-writer Common won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Glory," from the film Selma, a historical drama about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fight for equal voting rights. In his acceptance speech, Legend noted that the civil rights struggle represented in the movie continues "right now": "We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago, but we say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now. We know that the Voting Rights Act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now, in this country, today."

Barf Bag Alert!!

Everything Legend said was true. Fowler was completely accurate when Hannity wasn’t overwhelming him with the loudest mic. Innis is just a token paid to betray his people, and said nothing of import. Hannity opened his mouth, with no food going in. You know what that means.

From Daily Kos: Earlier today, when asked about ISIS, presidential hopeful and current Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said that his response to the peaceful labor protests in Madison in 2011 prepared him to stamp out international terrorism. Apparently that means that in case of a terrorist attack he would sneak in and out of the White House via a not-so-secret rat tunnel and consult on the phone with bloggers pretending to be billionaire David Koch.

0228isisgrannies

Here’s just one image the foolish Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan inspired. Click through for a bunch more.

Cartoon:

Prosper

Personal Update–2/27/2015

Posted by TomCat at 12:05 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 272015

Yesterday’s meeting between my guys in prison and a couple Oregon State University criminology classes was excellent. My guys wowed them. Although I’m completely pooped, today is the only day my helper friend can come to clean. Argh!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today;s took me 3:48 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

I thought they might not let me out!!

TCPrison

Obama Town Hall: You Decide

Posted by TomCat at 9:48 am Politics

Feb 262015

0226you-decide

Here’s the truth. I was to tired that I slept through the Obama Town Hall. Normally I would post the video and do the analysis for you. But, since I don’t have time to watch the video, let alone do analysis, we’re doing it different today. I’ll post the video, and you analyze it for me.

There it is. What say you?

Open Thread–2/26/2015

Posted by TomCat at 9:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 262015

It’s prisoner volunteer day, and I’m hurrying like crazy.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:38 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From PRWatch: The Wisconsin Senate held a hearing of sorts on the GOP proposal to make Wisconsin a "right to work" state.

The bill pushed by Wisconsin Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) bears a striking similarity to the American Legislative Exchange Council "model" bill of the same name (see CMD’s side-by-side comparison here). In his opening statement, Sen. Fitzgerald claimed that right to work legislation would "protect every worker" from being forced to join a union. He added that the legislation would save families from being uprooted by having to find non-union employers elsewhere. He presented no data or even anecdotal evidence to support these claims.

The argument that the bill would protect workers from "forced" unionization is a red herring. The U.S. Supreme Court has long stated that nobody can be forced to join a union, or be forced to pay unions dues, or to have their dues go to political campaigns. What current federal and Wisconsin law allows, and what the right to work law would make illegal, are "fair share" agreements and fees in union contracts that make all represented workers, including those choosing not to join the union, contribute to the costs of worker representation on the job.

Click through for more detail on how Fartfuhrer Walker’s vile minions are whoring themselves for Koch rocks.

From The New Yorker: In the hopes of appealing to Republican primary voters, candidates for the 2016 Presidential nomination are working around the clock to unlearn everything that they have learned since the third grade, aides to the candidates have confirmed.

With the Iowa caucuses less than a year away, the hopefuls are busy scrubbing their brains of basic facts of math, science, and geography in an attempt to resemble the semi-sentient beings that Republican primary voters prize.

An aide to Jeb Bush acknowledged that, for the former Florida governor, “The unlearning curve has been daunting.”

“The biggest strike against Jeb is that he graduated from college Phi Beta Kappa,” the aide said. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get his brain back to its factory settings.”

At the campaign of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the mood was considerably more upbeat, as aides indicated that Walker’s ironclad façade of ignorance is being polished to a high sheen.

“The fact that Scott instinctively says that he doesn’t know the answers to even the easiest questions gives him an enormous leg up,” an aide said.

Andy’s satire is so accurate, that it might as well be factual.

From Think Progress: Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R) has introduced two new bills that seek to criminalize the use of bathrooms by transgender people. Not only could trans people face jail time and fines for using gender-segregated facilities that match their gender, so too could businesses who make their facilities open to trans patrons.

Businesses might post "Trans patrons peeing on Republican Reps permitted!"

Cartoon:

0226Cartoon

21 Barf Bag Alerts

Posted by TomCat at 11:18 am Politics

Feb 252015

Who on earth is so very vile by ]nature that they could trigger the use of 21 barf bags? Considering the state of the Republican party, I’m sure there must be several, but one very obvious choice is Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot, aka Rand Paul. I promise to be merciful.

Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, seems to have no problem contradicting himself. The self-proclaimed "constitutional conservative" is typically lost in libertarian thought leading him to make inflammatory sexist, racist and overbearingly hypocritical comments on nearly every issue he faces. Whether he’s attempting to police women’s bodies, ignoring police brutality for stingy tobacco taxes, or speaking out against vaccines and posting himself receiving booster shots only days later, Ron Paul’s son is one politician you can unabashedly hate or enjoy laughing at.

1. When Paul spoke out against vaccines:

"I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.Rand Paul / Twitter

2. When he backed voter ID laws:

"I don’t think there’s a problem with showing your ID, but I do think there’s a problem with Republicans saying, ‘Hey, our big issue for the campaign is going to be voter ID,’ because what it creates is — a lot of African-Americans understandably remember the ’40s and ’50s in the South, and they remember suppression of the vote."

3. When he spoke out against government assistance:

“As humans, yeah, we do have an obligation to give people water, to give people food, to give people health care."

“But it’s not a right because once you conscript people and say, ‘Oh, it’s a right,’ then really you’re in charge, it’s servitude, you’re in charge of me and I’m supposed to do whatever you tell me to do… It really shouldn’t be seen that way."…

Inserted from <Alternet>

I promised mercy, and I delivered. So far you should have used up only three barf bags. Chick through to use the other 19.

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