For today’s offering, I give you a selection of the stories whose headlines drew my attention from various sources.
First up, from ForeignPolicy.com: “Save the Cato Institute, Save the World?”, a piece by Justin Logan regarding the continuing saga of the Koch Brothers vs CATO’s President Ed Crane.
Still at ForeignPolicy.com: in the wake of Rick Santorum’s announcement that he was (finally) bowing out of the Presidential race, Joshua Keating reminisces about five of Santorum’s foreign policy gaffes in his post “Our Favorite Rick Santorum Moments.” (Keating and I agree that the ‘Dutch Euthanasia’ story was #1.)
On to Newsmax.com: here, the headline “Gillespie: Romney’s Social Stances Won’t Alienate Women” caught my eye. As I started reading the article, I was puzzled by the fact that Romney had hired Ed Gillespie, who, with Karl Rove, ran the American Crossroads Super-PAC and Crossroads GPS. This puzzlement led me to:
MotherJones.com: where their April 5th, 2012, headline read “Mitt Romney Hires GOP Super-PAC Guru and Ex-Corporate Lobbyist.” I was glad to see that Mother Jones questioned the co-mingling of SuperPAC and candidate. Shouldn’t that be against even the Citizens United ruling?
Another bright shiny object from Mother Jones: “Mitt Romney Courts Big Tin Foil” – who could resist a headline like that? I haven’t delved into this one myself yet, but it sounds promising.
And lastly, from TheWeek.com (under the category “World Opinion”): “5 Curious Titanic Stories You May Have Missed,” the first ‘curious’ story being the fact that too many younger “Titanic” moviegoers did not realize that the movie was based on an historical event. (facepalm)
Enjoy!
This is our daily open thread — What’s on your mind today?
TheZoo 
David Stockton – budget director for Reagan, on Real Time Friday night:
“Frankly, we’ve been in a recession for 12 years. We have this monthly back and forth and everybody focuses on the numbers – the fact is that in March we had 132.5 million jobs in this country; the same number as April 2000. So we have basically been going up the hill and down the hill. We’ve had an economy that’s failing; is not generating middle class incomes – middle class jobs. We have a Fed that gives free money to Wall Street speculators – the stock market is up 100% and there are fewer jobs today than there were in March 2009.
April 2000. Those tax cuts for the ‘job creators ought to be kickin’ in and creating great jobs pretty soon. Right?
Yes. The job creators seem to be doing quite well, financially. Maybe they can and will eventually get around to using all that largesse from the otherwise evil ‘gubmint’ to actually uphold their mythology and ‘create’ some jobs?
Nah, ain’t no margin in that. Not when you got all you need to finance your next ten lifetimes.
We’ve created millions of jobs…Low wage sweatshop manufacturing jobs overseas.
Can’t you just feel the warm, golden flow of wealth trickling down upon you from the 1%?
Stockton is right – everything about the economy is worse today for the average Amurkan than it was in April 2000.
I still can’t tell the difference between a BadLipReading video and what Mitt Rmoney actually says.
He was caught on mike over the weekend saying…
“I’m going to take a lot of departments in Washington, and agencies, and combine them. Some eliminate, but I’m probably not going to lay out just exactly which ones are going to go,” Romney said. ”
Things like Housing and Urban Development, which my dad was head of, that might not be around later.” He said he’d cut the Education Department, though not eliminate it entirely, referring again to that 1994 Senate defeat. “The Department of Education: I will either consolidate with another agency, or perhaps make it a heck of a lot smaller. I’m not going to get rid of it entirely.” Romney also identified specific loopholes and deductions that he’s eliminate to finance his across-the-board tax cut. “I’m going to probably eliminate for high income people the second home mortgage deduction,” Romney said, per Haake, adding that he would also likely eliminate deductions for state income and property taxes as well.
So the middle class gets screwed again, whilst the second home mortgage deduction impact on the 1% is nil…
After all, they’ll need a Dept. of Education to hand out federal vouchers so the 1% can send their kids to private schools.
The Neocon view of the Obama foreign policy: ‘What, no more war? Why, you lousy …”
Events do not wait as Obama plays a delay defense
by Jackson Diehl, Deputy Editorial Page Editor, Washington Post
Excerpt, on N. Korea:
Diehl is similarly upset that the US is apparently not interested in going to war in Syria, or with Iran, or with the Palestinians, even with Russia. I mean imagine the horror: a peacemonger in the White House. Oh noes. How awful. No more wars? Try for peace instead? How ‘un-American’ can things get?
“I was glad to see that Mother Jones questioned the co-mingling of SuperPAC and candidate. Shouldn’t that be against even the Citizens United ruling?”
Of course it is. And of course the R’s are going to ignore it. And when called on the BS, they’ll retort… What? Us? in violation? Nawww…Can’t be..
Then they’ll wave the flag and say you hate America for even bringing up the question.
The amount of negative publicity for the Koch-roaches is increasing I think. First the Cato institute takeover now more discussion on SuperPAC funding. Still nothing yet on the Koch-suckers stake in the Keystone pipeline, though.
I just found out that Ann Romney’s youngest is 30. While raising sons is hard work, this woman hasn’t had a job doing that for a long time.
Yup. She’s been unemployed for some 12 years now. Talk about lazy and entitled.
Has she had some ‘work’ done?
Somebody has to take care of Mittens. I bet he calls her “Mom” at home.
St Ronnie called Nancy “Mommie” .
And it was truly creepy.
Oh that’s right. I’d forgotten!
According to the Rude Pundit article Terry linked to, Ann Romney has MS, and is a breast cancer survivor. Still doesn’t make her any kind of source for how the 99% deal with the economy. I doubt her rich friends are any better either.
All the more reason to understand she lives in a fantasy world. Either of those issues would create an incredible burden and under any but the most pampered circumstances cause one to realize just how fragile a person’s life really is. I have known too many hard working middle class types who have had to deal with those problems and had to fight just to keep their heads above water.
In a post at C&L, Ann Romney said they sold AMC stock to pay the bills early in their marriage. Bought at $6 a share, they were selling it at $96 a share during that time. I hope all the voters get to know all these tidbits about the Romneys.
Was that meant to be a story about their hard-scrabble early years? 🙄
When the rest of us were deciding whether to share cheese on toast or chicken noodle soup, the Rmoneys were deciding which shares to sell …
It’s horrible to imagine such trying times that one’s dividends don’t cover the mortgage on one’s third home.
Does the article mention when the MS really kicked in? My boss, for example, wasn’t diagnosed until he was in his 40s, but my ex was diagnosed in her early 20s. Other than the initial symptoms, which subsequently disappeared, she wasn’t disabled until well into her 30s. Ann Rmoney may not have been severely affected until her kids were effectively raised–not to mention whatever support they could afford to buy.
I’m sorry, but Mrs. Two Cadillac I’m Not Wealthy Rmoney can stuff it.
Newtie is letting his prima donna flag fly.
Lesson for budding journalist: politicians only talk about what they want to talk about. Asking direct questions like that is no longer part of “journalism.”
Srsly, what are journalism school teaching these kids anyway? Sheesh.
He’s such a toddler in his demeanor/actions.
Well said.
The disgusting part is that this will serve only to increase Newt’s stature among the dozen people who still give a shit what he says/does. He probably also realized that he just might need that job at FAUX”News” since his campaign is broke and he’ll be left holding the bag.
Acting that way seems to make the authoritarian submissives feel all squirmy in their naughty bits.
From the thread at TP, Romney claims in his book, that children of ‘non-working parents’ will be conditioned to have ‘an indolent and unproductive life’. I’ve got two stepsons leading such a life, and we worked our butts off while they were growing up. I don’t think Romney has a clue what motivates people.
Rmoney is clueless about life. It must be difficult not to make and keep a stand on issues. He’s never sure from one day to the next where his stance on an issue was the day before.
He knows that the “librul media” won’t point it out so anyone who get’s their “news” from the TV won’t ever realize that he’s never said anything he didn’t contradict.
So working outside the home builds character in women? And otherwise it leads to an indolent and unproductive life? How deep do you think the hole needs to be there, Willard? Or do you think it is nice to call your sweetums indolent and unproductive?
A cute little kitty bed in the shop!!
Oh shoot. The link takes me to a blank screen. I’ll have to see it later.
Your awwwws for the day
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animals-with-stuffed-versions-of-themselves
Adorable!
I think the stuffed toy in the second picture is a pig…still cute.
Stuffed pigs don’t care who they sleep with evidently!
Floozies. 😉
They all have the ahhh factor. Did you note #17: a sweet sleeping pig with a stuffed pig!
And
#26: EV Hedgehog with a toy knitted turtle and stuffed hedgehog!
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I’m a bit embarrassed to relay Mel’s toys: caps to medicine bottles (he plays cat hockey on the kitchen floor). He does have one stuffed (with catnip) mouse!
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Zooey, how’s Honeybump doing these days?
Loved the piglet and stuffed pig AND the hedgehog. EV would love that one. 🙂
My son’s cat used to play with caps from pop bottles, and she’d even play fetch — while the dog (who doesn’t understand the purpose of toys) looked on patiently.
Honeybump is doing better! She’s not limping at all right now, and I switched her to canned food — which is ungodly nasty — and that’s easier on her remaining teeth, and gets more moisture into her. I really thought she’d be gone by now, but she’s hanging in there!
I think I just broke my cute bone!
Better put some ice on that. 😉
When I find it, I will!
Oh come on, I bet they’re all cute. 😀
:-$
Or rather: 😳
The filthy repiggies have blocked the Buffett rule, like we knew they would.
Millionaires hug their money a little more tightly this evening…
Seriously?
Unbelievable, huh?
(the article states she was there all of 30 min.)
From that same page:
And look who defends:
One must remember that most people don’t seek out news. They just absorb what they see on the TV, if anything, and probably tune out everything but sports and weather. These passive “news” watchers will never hear that Mittens is a pandering freak who has directly contradicted virtually every policy position he’s ever mentioned. They will never hear that he likes to fire people so much that his corporation has sent thousands of jobs off shore or eliminated them entirely. They will never hear his attacks on anyone who isn’t as fabulously wealthy as he is. They will never hear his flips and flops. And they most certainly won’t ever hear anyone call him a liar. They will, however, hear the political ads calling President Obama a Marxist radical and worse, because those ads play during American Idol, and the amount of money available for those ads is infinite and unaccounted for.
Seriously not. These polls fail to discriminate between states that Obama will carry, states Romney might carry, and states that are in play. The states that are in play include NH, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, OH, IN, MO, IA, ND, SD, MT, CO, AZ, and possibly TX. When you look at the electoral votes that Obama already has almost certainly locked up, he only needs 17 more from the above collection to win, while Romney needs something like 145. (If TX really is in play, then Romney needs something like 183.)
If you look at the color map across the US, you see no real red spots and no real blue spots. Rather, you see a purple smear across the board. But that is not how the presidency is won. The reason news organizations and their pimps will keep pushing this “neck and neck” meme is because they don’t want the viewers to get board and switch channels. For myself, I’ve been predicting for a while that it is going to be a blood-bath in favor of the Democratic ticket.
(The above analysis I owe to a friend and academic colleague.)
Gary, I’m seeing a similar prediction on Eliot Spitzer.
They are crediting Obama with 242 ‘locked up’, and Romney 188. The states they show ‘in play’ are Nevada (6), Colorado (9), New Mexico (5), Iowa (6), Ohio (18), New Hampshire (3), Virginia (13), North Carolina (15) and Florida (29).
A landslide of epic proportions!!! 😀
Virginia Foxx (R-ube), who has “little tolerance” for people with student loans, involved in huge student loan scam:
http://www.salon.com/2012/04/16/a_huge_student_loan_scam/singleton/
That unholy bitch. A pox on her house.
I’m not being snarky.
From my biased perspective as a Minnesotan I still think that Batscat Bachmann is crazier than Ginny Foxx. But Ginny might be the meanest person in the House.
Even though I’m feeling yucky sicko today, I managed to get 8 tea wallets cut out and prepped, and two of them completed. I’ll get the rest of them done tomorrow, and then I’ll put up a picture.
Mother’s Day approaches!!
Do you have any upcoming craft fairs you could show your bags at? Mother’s Day weekend we were always at the Prater’s Mill Country Fair near Dalton, Georgia, with my mother in law’s stoneware pottery, and that kind of kicked off the craft show season for her.
I’ll have to find out!
Think of Walt when I access the NASA site! His influence is never far away..
These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Tethys were taken on April 14, 2012, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
Just in case there was any doubt; Mrs. Romney is just as consistent as Mittens. I think the day that a Romney says something that he or she does not contradict, clarify, or walk back I will have to assume that I’ve seen everything and slip this mortal coil for whatever adventure, if any, lies beyond.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/ann-romney-birthday-gift_n_1429891.html
BTW. “That wasn’t how I meant it” is really weak. Even for a Romney.
Looks like those two idiots were made for each other.
I wish they’d go away somewhere and enjoy their money.
Flip’s wife Ann is now shape shifting…
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/ann-romney-on-seamus-episode-dog-loved-it
Right, the dog loved it so much that he shit himself, and the Romneys are such loving pet owners that they hosed down a sick dog and then stuck him back in the crate so he could get chilled in the wind.
Holy shit, these people are unbelievable. Keep talking!!!
Well, at least they didn’t eat him. Prolly because he was covered with shit but hey.
Wowing teabaggers.
Mittens shames himself. Again. Still.
Senate GOP just blocked the Buffet rule stopping debate by 9 votes. I think I heard the CNN chat saying something like ‘The GOP votes in favour of wealthy Americans again…’ or something.
Mittens would like the Obamas to “start packing.”
*faceplant*
“So [Obama]he’s going to try to make this campaign about the fact that I’ve been successful, that I’ve made a lot of money,” he [Romney] said.”
Mittens, it’s really about HOW you made a lot of money, and WHERE you have it stashed to avoid paying taxes. And that’s why you refuse to release your tax returns.
HOW MANY people lost their jobs because YOU ‘like firing people’
It’s almost midnight here and it’s still 65 degrees out. Much nicer than the 80+ degrees this afternoon.