TomCat

Election Theft in Ohio

Posted by TomCat at 8:06 am Politics

Dec 012012

When Republicans claim they need to protect the integrity of elections from Democratic voter fraud, a problem proven not to exist, they are using projection. By making these false claims against Democrats, they are trying to cover up the need to protect the integrity of elections from Republican election theft. In Ohio, Republicans are at it again.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) became the public face of vote suppression this year for his overreaching election directives, which restricted early voting hours and forbid election officials from counting legitimate votes. Though President Obama won the state, Husted has not halted his efforts. With two House races heading to a recount, Husted is now facing accusations that he is illegally tossing provisional ballots. These House races will determine whether state Republicans get a super-majority to put constitutional amendments on the ballot without a single Democratic vote.

State representatives Kathleen Clyde (D-OH) and Debbie Phillips (D-OH) threatened to sue Wednesday evening over at least 384 ballots that have been discarded in the two districts in question, Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga. According to the state reps, some ballots were put in plain manila envelopes instead of provisional ballot envelopes, rendering them invalid. Additionally, they say Husted is rejecting ballots covered under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allows voters who have moved to a different address within the same congressional district to vote at their former precinct.

Even more ballots are likely to have been wrongly discarded because officials are using a database already proven to be flawed and incomplete to determine the voter’s registration status… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Rachel Maddow had more on this Republican attempt to overcome the voters’ will.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

There is no doubt that Clyde and Phillips should follow up their intent to sue, because nothing short of that will stop Husted. It seems that he no longer cares that the blatancy of his abuse of power makes his intent to steal the election crystal clear. Furthermore, DOJ needs to investigate Republican crimes pertaining to election theft both in Ohio and elsewhere.

SoINeedAName Has a BIG Mouth! ;-)

Posted by TomCat at 8:06 am Blog News, Politics

Dec 012012

38-Nameless

This is Nameless fifth Big Mouth Award, having won last September 2010, last May 2011, July 2011 and August 2011. He isn’t a blogger, so you can’t follow him home, but he comments almost daily here. He is the kind of participant that every blogger dreams of having, because instead of just stating opinions (which is fine in itself), he adds to the content of my articles with many useful links. I even receive comments about his contributions on other sites where I share our articles.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating Nameless!

Poll Results–12/1/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:04 am Blog News, Politics

Dec 012012

Here are the results of our Thanksgiving Dinner Poll. While the respondents were not demographically balanced to be representative of national culinary tastes, the poll contained no internal bias, and is therefore gastronomically correct for Politics Plus readers.

Poll1201

And here are your comments.

Posted by SoINeedAName on November 27, 2012 at 8:29 pm.

Late to this, but we had turkey AND ham – both were DELICIOUS!

(But to be honest, as a "foodie", the potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and creamed peas left a LOT to be desired.)

Posted by Marva on November 21, 2012 at 1:58 pm.

I voted twice since we’ll be having both turkey and ham. It just worked out that way.

As for cat food, it’s far more expensive than cheap tuna for humans. At least my picky cat demands the more expensive good.

Posted by Jerry Critter on November 21, 2012 at 12:23 pm.

My dinner will be vegan, but we are having dinner at one of our sons home and there will be turkey with all of the trimmings served.

Posted by Lynn Squance on November 19, 2012 at 4:09 pm.

Tuna sandwich and raw veggies! Of course I had turkey at Canadian Thanksgiving and am very fond of turkey. I think that is why people frequently call me a turkey!

Had I been able to take my mother out for dinner, we may have had turkey for dinner, but alas, she is sick.

Posted by James on November 18, 2012 at 4:25 pm.

On moving to Mazatlan, we decided to ditch the turkey in favor of more local fare – a combination lobster and shrimp plate, yummm.

Posted by Angelica on November 16, 2012 at 8:39 pm.

I am vegan, but we’re having company. It bothers my conscience to serve turkey.

Posted by Patty on November 16, 2012 at 3:15 pm.

I’m making turkey. It’s going to be a small one. There will only be Shane, his Mom and myself. He will help me in the kitchen a lot.

As for me, I’m the TomCat, so of course I had bird! I’m surprised that ham did worse than cat food. There is now a new poll for you. Enjoy!

Open Thread–12/1/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 012012

After spending most of yesterday manufacturing ZZZZZZs, I feel almost human again and ready to start a new month. I’m current with replies. Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. Sadly my Broncos’ meditation with the Bucs will not be televised. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:46 (average 5:41). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Rachel Maddow On How The Republican Party Hasn’t Learned One Damned Thing

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Let S = what Republicans say. Let D = what Republicans do. S – D = ∞.

From NY Times: Israel is moving forward with development of Jewish settlements in a contentious area east of Jerusalem, defying the United States by advancing a project that has long been condemned by Washington as effectively dooming any prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A day after the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the status of the Palestinians, a senior Israeli official said the government would pursue “preliminary zoning and planning preparations” for a development that would separate the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem. If such a project were to go beyond blueprints, it could prevent the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.

What stronger indication could there be that the intent of the Netanyahu government is to default on their treaty obligations and pursue a one state solution?

From Washington Post: Details of Obama’s opening bid leaked Thursday, and the president drove home its central message at a campaign-like rally in Pennsylvania Frida: He’s refusing to budge on top tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, and he’s refusing to make significant preemptive concessions to Republicans. Republicans have spent the last 24 hours or so howling in protest.

“It’s not acceptable to me, and I don’t think it’s acceptable to you, for just a handful of Republicans in Congress to hold middle-class tax cuts hostage simply because they don’t want tax rates on upper-income folks to go up,” Obama said outside a toy factory in Hatfield, Pa.

Dang! What audacity!! How dare he act as though he won the election!!!

Cartoon:

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Open Thread–11/30/2012

Posted by TomCat at 9:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 302012

I am soooooo pooped! Yesterday’s meeting in prison was an open meeting with about ninety guys. They asked me to give a presentation, so I talked for about fifteen minutes about the rewards of what they are doing in terms of their own authenticity as human beings, maintaining their freedom upon their release, and fostering restorative justice for safer communities. Their commitment and dedication is a credit to who they are. I could not be more proud or supportive of them. Critter sends greetings to Critter. This is today’s only article, and I’m current with replies, albeit briefly. Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:46 (average 4:51). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: When Morgan Freeman Narrates A 30-second Clip, You Know It’s Going To Be Good

Now if someone would only tell the Republican Party.

From NY Times: More than 130 countries voted on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state of the United Nations, a triumph for Palestinian diplomacy and a sharp rebuke to the United States and Israel…

…The new status will give the Palestinians more tools to challenge Israel in international legal forums for its occupation activities in the West Bank, including settlement-building, and it helped bolster the Palestinian Authority, weakened after eight days of battle between its rival Hamas and Israel.

Despite Barack Obama’s opposition to this measure, I think the UN has done the right thing here by ending the unjust practice of denying Palestinians recourse to international justice that could make both sides in that dispute accountable for war crimes. In the same vein, the US should join the ICC, because isolating our nation to protect Republicans from the crimes of the Bush Regime is anti-democratic.

From Media Matters:

Fox News has repeatedly attacked people and organizations who use the term holiday when the network would prefer them to use the term Christmas, claiming that they are engaging in a "war on Christmas."

On Fox & Friends First, co-host Heather Nauert claimed Chafee made the "decision to kill Christmas," alluding to a decision by the governor not to host a tree lighting ceremony at the statehouse this year.

Chafee reportedly made the decision because in 2011, protesters attended the tree lighting ceremony to criticize the governor for using the term "holiday tree." Fox played its part in creating controversy over the tree, enlisting viewers in a feverish and overblown campaign against the governor and the words "holiday tree."

But only minutes after Fox complained of the Governor’s use of the word "holiday" in place of "Christmas," Nauert announced a new segment called "Fox & Friends First’s Holiday Wish list":

Geez! Merry Christmas, or the appropriate greeting for whatever faith you choose, to you all, unless you are a Faux Noise sheep. In that case, Happy Holidays.

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It’s time we remember this lesson from history!

Support Your Local President

Posted by TomCat at 8:00 am Politics

Nov 292012

Republicans have suggested a willingness to put revenue on the table, but except for some mumbling about eliminating deductions for the rich, a plan shown ineffectual during the campaign, without having the middle class carry the majority of the burden, they won’t say what they mean. They claim they want to protect the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, but refuse to extend them without bonus tax cuts for the rich. If their only reason is not to protect millionaires and billionaires, why not are they holding 98% of Americans hostage?

President Obama surrounded himself with taxpayers on Wednesday to pitch his plan to preserve current rates for the middle class and raise them for the wealthy. A day before, he met with small-business owners for the same purpose. On Friday, he plans to fly to Pennsylvania to tour a factory to make the same point…

…Mr. Obama has embraced specific cuts to the federal budget in the past and has committed to an agreement with Congress that will include deep reductions in spending. But it would be easy for those who listen to his public pronouncements lately to miss it. In public statements since his re-election, he has barely discussed how he would pare back federal spending, focusing instead on the aspect of his plan that plays to his liberal base and involves all gain and no pain for 98 percent of taxpayers.

Republicans and even some Democrats have expressed frustration that Mr. Obama has avoided a serious public discussion on spending with barely a month until deep automatic budget cuts and tax increases are scheduled to take effect… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

There’s no mystery here. When Obama discussed spending cuts in the past, Republicans were able to make the deficit the center of media attention. Now that Obama is discussing tax cuts for the middle class, Democrats have made that the center of media attention.

Rachel Maddow and Eugene Robinson discussed Obama’s latest tactics, and the Republican response to them.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have already been contacted, and am taking action as requested.

If both Bought Bitch Mitch and the Republican Ministry of Propaganda are screaming, Obama must be on the right track. In addition, he has history on his side.

…Since 1944, the United States has only raised taxes on the rich twice—in 1992 and 1994. What followed those tax increases was one of the greatest economic booms in American history. Though Clinton’s decision to raise the top rate didn’t build the World Wide Web or spark global trade, it certainly didn’t hurt the economy either — despite Republican predictions that hiking taxes on the wealthy would drive America into recession or worse. Well before the end of the decade, tax revenues had increased sufficiently to transform the Reagan-Bush deficits into a surplus, and the Treasury was looking forward to paying off the national debt.

Then the Bush tax cuts drove the budget into unprecedented deficits and the national debt to stratospheric levels (along with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). Still, Republicans are promoting policies that echo George W. Bush’s belief that tax cuts can solve the nation’s fiscal problems — and they are ridiculing President Clinton’s strategy of asking the rich to pay more.

Former Reagan advisor Bruce Bartlett points out that people just don’t buy that argument. “Even without looking up government statistics, they know that the 1990s were a time when the economy boomed, while the 2000s were a period of economic stagnation,” he wrote.

So if Speaker Boehner is insisting that tax cuts will increase revenues, President Obama should be just as confident in insisting that carefully targeted tax increases will not only pay for themselves, they’ll make other spending cuts unnecessary.

At least he has the 1990s to back him up. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The National Memo>

Keeping the tax cuts for the middle class gives them more money to spend, and that creates jobs. Raising taxes for the rich gives government money to decrease the debt and stimulate the economy. That creates more jobs. That also increases tax revenue, which can then be used to reduce the debt.

Open Thread–11/29/2012

Posted by TomCat at 7:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 292012

I’m hurrying to get done, so I can rest before leaving for volunteer work in prison. I’m current with replies. Since I shall return home late, having missed sleep, and shall be overly tired, please expect no more tomorrow than an Open Thread.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:10 (average 4:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: BOOM: World’s Awesomest* Astrophysicist Destroys December 21 Prophecy In A Snap

I’ve noticed that the people hyping the December 12 idiocy tend to be the same people infamous as 9/11 truthers.

From Washington Post: Wonkbook’s Number of the Day: 60 percent. That’s the percentage of Americans who support higher taxes on higher incomes, according to a new Post-ABC poll. Seventy-three percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents support an increase, whereas 59 percent of Republicans oppose increasing taxes on the well-off.

Republicans are completely out of step with America, as usual.

From Daily Kos: He doesn’t have a vote in the Senate anymore, but he has a critical interest in how the legislative process works. Or in the case of recent years, doesn’t. So President Obama is backing the filibuster reform plan from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

To avoid confusion, the plan this author attributes to Harry Reid, is really the plan proposed by Oregon’s Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall (D-NM).

Cartoon:

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Someone needed to remind Palestinians then, and someone needs to remind Israel now.

Open Thread–11/28/2012

Posted by TomCat at 6:29 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 282012

Yesterday I was supposed to have a CoDA group in prison. The prison had a power outage, so we could not get in to work with the guys. How frustrating! I’m current with replies. I hope to get articles posted tomorrow, before I leave for another volunteer day in prison.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:02 (average 5:35). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: KILLER ROBOTS: The Scariest Weapons You Have Never Heard Of

I have never made a big stink about drones, because every time a drone is used, there is a human flying it. The only difference between a drone attack and any other airstrike is the location of the pilot. Military robots are fine for such things as bomb disposal, but machines that can decide to kill without human intervention must never be allowed.

From NY Times: Seventeen months ago, President Obama said that the 30,000 American troops deployed to Afghanistan for the “surge” would be home by this September, and he made good on that promise. He also said troop reductions would continue at a “steady pace” until the remaining 66,000 were out by the end of 2014.

A “steady pace” should mean withdrawing all combat forces on a schedule dictated only by the security of the troops. That should start now and should not take more than a year.

This is huge, because it’s not just the view of a staff writer or Op-Ed contributor. This carries the weight of the entire editorial board and management of the Times.

From MSNBC: Rachel Maddow describes the Republican Party by showing what the people they have chosen to head House Committees in the next session have in common.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Note that there is not a single Black, Latino or Asian face in the bunch, and even an old TomCat can tell there are no kitties in that collection. I guess the next year’s Republican Wars on Minorities and Women start in the House.

Cartoon:

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