Politics Plus

Yesterday my volunteer appointment took much longer than expected, and I returned home tired out.  It was too late to do the research I needed to do today.  Therefore, this will be my only post today.  I’m writing it early and setting it to release automatically just after midnight, so I can go to bed.  I am not current with replies and will catch up ASAP, hopefully today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

It’s not out yet, so I’ll put two in tomorrow’s Open Thread.

Short Takes:

From Tumblr: The Republican Platform, 2012

Is this spot-on, or What?

From Boston Globe: U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs in February to complete three of the best months of hiring since the recession ended. The unemployment rate was unchanged, largely because more people streamed into the work force.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3 percent last month, the lowest in three years.

And hiring in January and December was better than first thought. The government revised those figures to show 61,000 an additional jobs.

Republicans are calling this a failure, even though the last six months have had the best for job growth in over six years.

From Huffington Post: A decision by a federal appeals court to block two major provisions of Alabama’s immigrant law is a significant victory not just for immigrants but for the rights of all residents of Alabama, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 8, 2012, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, US v. Alabama, and Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama v. Bentley, enjoined two key provisions of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer Citizen and Protection Act: one that barred Alabama courts from enforcing contracts with unauthorized immigrants and another that barred the state from entering into “business transactions” with unauthorized immigrants.

Because this is good for America, it’s bad for the Republican Party.

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Yesterday I returned home on time and had enough time to get in my afternoon sleep, but I slept late and am running a little behind.  I’m current with replies.  Today, my stack of mail still awaits and is growing.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:48 (average 5:50).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From USA Today: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pushed back on Wednesday against fresh demands for U.S. military involvement in Syria to end President Bashar Assad’s deadly crackdown on his people.

"What doesn’t make sense is to take unilateral action right now," Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee about advising President Obama to dispatch U.S. forces.

This an excellent response to even more Republican warmongering.  One reason the Republican Party loves war so much is that war is an ideal vehicle for transferring wealth from the poor and middle classes to the 1%.

From ABC: While the nation trained its attention on the top of the ticket in Ohio last night for the fierce and razor-thin battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, a similarly dramatic race played out two notches down the ballot.

Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, that working-class icon of the 2008 presidential campaign, swapped his double-ended wrenches for congressional campaign yard signs and snagged the GOP nomination in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District Tuesday night.

What a joke! Marcy Kaptor is a virtual shoe in.

From Think Progress: The Utah legislature passed a bill (HB 363) yesterday that makes teaching sex education optional for schools and prohibits any instruction about homosexuality or the use of contraception. Parents will now have to opt their children in to such classes as opposed to having the option to opt-out, and the classes can only teach abstinence.

This is just one more example in the ongoing parade of Republicans enforcing ignorance.

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Yesterday I was able to get in a good nap after my appointment, so I’m able to blog now.  I’m current with replies.  Today I have a two week pile of mail to sort.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:00 (average 5:06).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From San Francisco Chronicle: Ten senators — seven Democrats and three Republicans –say they won’t face voters again in November, the largest number of elected senators eschewing re-election since 13 decided to forgo new terms in 1996.

It could not please me more that one of them is Benedict Nelson (DINO-NE).

From Raw Story: Republican presidential Rick Santorum is advising President Barack Obama not to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans because “higher-income people don’t have to pay taxes if they don’t want to.” [emphasis added]

Santorum actually stated the Republican position precisely.

From Political Wire: Final Super Tuesday Polls

Ohio

Quinnipiac: Romney 34%, Santorum 31%, Gingrich 15%, Paul at 12%.

American Research Group: Romney 35%, Santorum 28%, Gingrich 18%, Paul 13%.

Rasmussen: Santorum 32%, Romney 31%, Gingrich 13%, Paul 13%.

Merriman: Romney 38%, Santorum 33%, Gingrich 18%, Paul 8%.

Suffolk: Santorum 37%, Romney 33%, Gingrich 16%, Paul 8%.

CNN/Opinion Research: Romney 32%, Santorum 32%, Gingrich 14%, Paul 11%

 

Georgia

 

Mason-Dixon: Gingrich 38%, Romney 24%, Santorum 22%, Paul 3%.

American Research Group: Gingrich 44%, Romney 24%, Santorum 19%, Paul 9%.

 

Tennessee

 

We Ask America: Romney 30%, Santorum 29%, Gingrich 29%, Paul 12%

It looks good for Rmoney, especially due to the terrible Republican screw-up in VA.

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Yesterday I rested, as I’m still well short of full speed.  I’m current with replies.  Today I take on the paperwork I ducked yesterday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:37 (average 4:22).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Bernie Sanders On The Senate Floor Today [Thursday]: ‘What If There Were 83 Women Senators?’

Republicans tried to screw all of us, not just women.

From Bloomberg: President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board can’t be challenged as part of a lawsuit over requirements for businesses to inform employees of their rights, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington yesterday said the National Federation of Independent Business and other trade groups “attempted to shoehorn a challenge” to the recess appointments into a case over a rule mandating that companies notify workers of their rights to form a union.

“The court declines this invitation to take up a political dispute that is not before it,” Jackson said in her six-page ruling. She didn’t rule on whether the appointments were legal.

While this battle has just begun, at least these corporate criminals did not get away with a challenge on the cheap that was hidden within an unrelated issue.

From TribLIVE: Former [state] House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, will be sentenced on March 21 on felony charges for directing a Republican Caucus effort to use public resources for campaigns.

Perzel pleaded guilty in August to overseeing the theft of $10 million in taxpayers’ money used to buy sophisticated computer equipment and technology to gain an edge in Republican campaigns.

This his how Republicans try to maintain power through crime, at taxpayer expense, wherever fools put them in control.

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