It was no surprise that yesterday, House Republicans completed their bogus political theatre by voting to hold Attorney General, Eric Holder, in civil and criminal contempt of Congress.  What is despicable is that some Democrats goose-stepped behind the Republicans out of fear of a bad rating by the NRA.  I took names.

The following disloyal, worthless, scum sucking DINOs betrayed the American people by voting for HRES 706, the civil contempt citation.

Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4]

Rep. Ron Barber [D, AZ-8]

Rep. John Barrow [D, GA-12]

Rep. Dan Boren [D, OK-2]

Rep. Leonard Boswell [D, IA-3]

Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6]

Rep. Mark Critz [D, PA-12]

Rep. Peter DeFazio [D, OR-4]

Rep. Joe Donnelly [D, IN-2]

Rep. Kathleen Hochul [D, NY-26]

Rep. Ronald Kind [D, WI-3]

Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]

Rep. Jim Matheson [D, UT-2]

Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]

Rep. Michael Michaud [D, ME-2]

Rep. Bradley Miller [D, NC-13]

Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23]

Rep. Collin Peterson [D, MN-7]

Rep. Nick Rahall [D, WV-3]

Rep. Mike Ross [D, AR-4]

Rep. Timothy Walz [D, MN-1]

Inserted from <Open Congress>

The following disloyal, worthless, scum sucking DINOs betrayed the American people by voting for HRES 711, the criminal contempt citation.

Rep. Jason Altmire [D, PA-4]

Rep. John Barrow [D, GA-12]

Rep. Dan Boren [D, OK-2]

Rep. Leonard Boswell [D, IA-3]

Rep. Ben Chandler [D, KY-6]

Rep. Mark Critz [D, PA-12]

Rep. Joe Donnelly [D, IN-2]

Rep. Kathleen Hochul [D, NY-26]

Rep. Ronald Kind [D, WI-3]

Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]

Rep. Jim Matheson [D, UT-2]

Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]

Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23]

Rep. Collin Peterson [D, MN-7]

Rep. Nick Rahall [D, WV-3]

Rep. Mike Ross [D, AR-4]

Rep. Timothy Walz [D, MN-1]

Inserted from <Open Congress>

If you own one of these creeps, please give them a call.  Tell them how embarrassed you are that they represent you and how you didn’t elect a Democrat to act like a damn Republican.  Also tell them to grow a pair!

The Republican party can appear quite confusing to many, and that can make it difficult to understand their tactics.  Therefore, I shall attempt to make sense of the different components that make up the party and how they interact.  The one guiding principle to remember is that everything the Republican party does is intended to further one of their two key goals.  Their lesser goal is the transfer of wealth from the poor and middle classes to the super-rich.  Their greater goal is the establishment of a permanent regime of totalitarian, one-party Republican rule, in which elections function only as a sham justification for that regime.  Traditionally the Republican Party has had four wings, and they recently added a fifth.  Sometimes the wings overlap.

The Neocons:  Neocons support basing US foreign policy (and domestic if needed) on the use of military force.  The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) are neocon organizations.  Dick Cheney is a perfect example.  Neocons serve the lesser goal, because few things transfer wealth more easily than spending on war.  They serve the greater goal by propagandizing the ignorant through fear and nationalism disguised as patriotism.

The Corporacons and Plutocons:  These two are very similar.  The difference is that that the former support primarily corporate criminals while the latter support primarily super-rich individuals.  Both falsely claim the be the job creators, requiring special privilege in the tax code.  Paul Ryan is an excellent example.  They embody the lesser goal and serve the greater goal by financing Republican efforts to establish one party rule.

The Theocons: Theocons support religious freedom, as long as that freedom is only for their interpretation of Christianity.  They try to force their own piety codes on others, but seldom follow those codes themselves.  Rick Santorum is a definitive example.  They do little to help the lesser goal, but they have willingly abandoned Jesus’ teachings on our obligation to care for the poor.  They serve the greater goal through their ignorant acceptance of authority.

These are the four traditional wings, and even though they cooperate far better than we Democrats ever do, the party was in decline.  They were able to hold the Presidency in 2000 and 2004 only through overt election theft, and their unfitness to govern virtually destroyed the nation’s economy.  After 2008, they needed a transfusion.

There are extremists on both the left and the right, such as anarchists and the KKK respectively.  Normally both sides have ignored their extremist fringes.  But in desperation, the Republicans embraced their fringe and created the Tea Party as a vehicle to make hatred “respectable” like never before in our nation’s history.

The InsaniTEA Wing:  Teabaggers are a collection of bigots, racists, misogynists, homophobes, xenophobes, militias, birthers, tenthers, birchers and every other fringe abomination you could imagine, financed by Plutocons like the Koch Brothers.  With them are also a significant number of decent people, who have been taken in by the slick rhetoric, created by well financed propagandists, and furthered by the Republican Ministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise.  Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, and Clarence Thomas are good examples.  They serve the lesser goal by ignoring their own purported economic philosophy.  They serve the greater goal as the Republican Party’s Brown Shirts.  They are inconvenient, because they often insist on having their own way instead of goose-stepping with the other four wings of the party.

Hopefully you have a better picture of the Republican Party.  Again, remember the lesser and greater goals.  If you are confused about why they are doing something, ask yourself how it relates to those goals, and it should become clear to you.

Most of all…

Republicans do NOT represent YOU!

I missed Obama’s State of the Union address, because I was doing volunteer work in prison at the time and did not get to see it until yesterday morning, so please color this better late than never.  I have the full enhanced video of the speech, followed by my own notes in raw format.  I did not like everything I heard, but I did like far more than I disliked.

Here is the video:

And here are my raw notes.  Boo indicates that I heard Republicans booing the President at that point.

He opened with the end of the Iraq war, the death of Osama bin Laden, the disruption of Al Qaeda, and the ability to cut forces in Afghanistan.  He used the teamwork of our military as an example of the teamwork that there should be in Congress.

 

He stressed that everyone must get a fair shot, do their fair share, and play by the same set of the years.

 

He describes the onset of the financial crisis.  Businesses have created more than 3 million Jobs since Obama’s policies took effect.

 

He accurately described the State of the Union as "getting stronger".

 

He said he will work with anyone, but will fight obstruction and oppose policies that would return us to the conditions that  brought on the recession.

 

He praised the auto industry for their success since we saved it.  He stressed insourcing to bring manufacturing jobs home.

 

He called for ending the tax deduction for outsourcing and creating one for insourcing.  He proposed  a Basic Minimum Tax on companies who move jobs and profits overseas and use the revenues generated to give tax cuts for companies that create jobs. (Boo)

 

He has created a Trade Enforcement group to combat unfair trade practices by foreign nations.  He proposed a bold jobs training program, and called on Congress to support community colleges and reemployment programs. (Boo)

 

He called for support for teachers giving schools the resources to retain good teachers, pay the best ones more, and discharge those who are ineffective.  Proposed that all students to be requires to stay in high school.  Congress must stop the interest on student loans from doubling in July [as Republicans scheduled it to do].  Funding for colleges must be contingent on their ability to hold tuition costs down.

 

Obama said he has increased border security, and now we need comprehensive immigration reform, and called for a dream act in the interim. (Boo)

 

He said women must earn equal pay for equal work.

 

He said to give tax relief to small businesses, to fund research,  and to open more oil and gas resources.  He said gas companies must disclose the chemicals they use and those must be regulated for human and environmental safety.  We need an all of the above strategy, so we also need to develop green energy.  End the tax subsidies for fossil fuels and give them to green energy.  We need to help manufactures use less energy through conservation.

 

We need to repair and upgrade America’s infrastructure.  Invest 50% of war savings on infrastructure. (Boo)

 

Allow American homeowners to refinance at lower interest rates.

 

We need to both remove outdated regulations and add more regulations that protect Americans.  He said he has added less regulations than Bush did in his first six years.  He stressed the CFPB and Richard Cordray.  (Boo)

 

He announced a special investigation unit, made up of DOJ personnel and state Attorneys General to investigate the criminal Wall Street mortgage practices that caused the crisis.

 

He called for passage of the payroll tax cut without side issues and drama. (Boo)

 

He called for deficit reduction using the Buffet Rule where people making over $1 million must pay a minimum of 30%.  It is not class warfare to say a billionaire should pay more than his secretary.  It is common sense. (Boo)

 

Ban insider trading by members of Congress.  (BIG Boo)

 

All judicial nominations should receive an up or down vote within 90 days.

 

Allow him to consolidate the federal bureaucracy.

 

He called on Republicans to help, as we should all work together for a smarter, more effective actions.

 

He returned to the success that our troops have achieved through teamwork, and listed other foreign policy successes.  He said that the renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe.  "America is back!"  "Anyone who tells you America is in decline does not know what they are talking about."  He praised the troops.  He said he has increased VA spending every year [over Republican opposition].

 

He said we all need to learn from out troops.  We all need to do our jobs and get each others’ backs.

Next here is a complete detailed analysis of the Republican Response

In my opinion his outreach to Republicans is futile, as I woke up this morning to the sound of Republicans ranting and raving about class warfare on MSNBC.  However, he displayed authentic patriotism, so different that the phony flag-wrapping Republicans do.

Considering the available choices there is a virtually infinite gulf between Obama and either of his Republican opponents. (Santorum has frothed out.  Paul never mattered and never will.)  He did an excellent job in making that gulf apparent.

91% of Americans polled said they approved of what Obama proposed.  9% opposed it.  I count myself in the 91%.

When President Barack Obama recess appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and three members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), he ignited a controversy between Democrats and Republicans that could grow into a Constitutional crisis.  Many Republicans are saying that Obama has trashed the Constitution.  Many Democrats are saying that Obama’s appointments are no different that the the recess appointments by previous Presidents.  Both sides are wrong.  Here is why.

The President has the authority to make recess appointments when the Senate is not in session for fifteen days or more.  Otherwise, he is required to submit his nominees for the Senate to advise and consent.

We are currently in the month called the Christmas Recess, but Republicans have have held a pro-forma session, a session lasting for seconds only, every three days.  They have announced that there will no business conducted in these sessions.  It is their position that, since the Senate has not had fifteen days when it was out of session, Obama’s appointments are not legal.  They are correct that, in 2007, Democrats used the same tactic to block the recess appointment of John Bolton, the extreme Neocon who violently opposed the UN, as US Ambassador to the UN.

It is Obama’s position  that pro-forma sessions are not legitimate sessions, because b Republicans did state they have no intent to conduct business, and therefore, pro-forma sessions cannot count against the fifteen day requirement.  If effect, Obama has been saying that the Senate has been out of session the entire time, making his appointments legal.

This is different from recess appointments Republicans have made, because Obama’s justification is unique, having never been used before.  But the Republican claim that Obama is trashing the Constitution is equally untrue.  Obama is not trashing the Constitution, because there is no precedent to determine the constitutionality of the act.

So the constitutional question here is whether or not a mere pro-forma session is legitimate for the purpose of obstructing Presidential recess appointments during a recess that is longer than fifteen days.

To make a legal challenge to this Republicans must correctly cast themselves in the role of favoring their own obstruction of legitimate functions of government in order to assist corporate criminals to prey on American consumers and to assist other criminal corporate criminals to deny workers’ rights.  They have foolishly painted themselves into another corner.

That said, I cannot say how such a challenge might come out, but I could not be more pleased that Obama has thrown down this gauntlet.

To further explain, here is Lawrence O’Donnell’s take on it, including his interview with new CFPB Director, Richard Cordray.

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

Please take special note of Elizabeth Warren’s two segments in the video.  Also note that a Republican administration could appoint a CFPB Director that could transform the CFPB into a tool to assist Banksters in their predations on the 99%.  This is one more reason that keeping Republicans out of the White House is a generational imperative.