GOP Blocks Another Attempt to Extend Unemployment Benefits

In the most under-reported story of the week, the Republican’s have, yet again, screwed over the people who have been hardest hit by the recession. This is the second time this month that the GOP has blocked extending unemployment benefits.

Washington Independent’s Mike Lillis wrote:

Last week, Senate Democratic leaders rolled out a proposal to extend unemployment insurance by 14 weeks — with an extra six weeks thrown in for those states where jobless figures have topped 8.5 percent — only to have Republicans block the measure on the chamber floor.

Well, today it happened again.

According to the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Democrats on Tuesday asked for consent to pass the bill, only to be shot down by GOP leaders.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Republicans aren’t objecting to the extension, but to how it’s funded. (The Democrats’ plan would tap an expiring surtax on businesses, while the Republicans want to use unspent money from the stimulus bill.)

The House has already passed its version of the extension. With unemployment numbers creeping up each month, the pressure’s on the Senate to work out a deal quickly.

The saddest thing about this story is not the story itself (which is disgusting enough), but the comments by regular American people who responded to this story and the desperation some of them are feeling. I have posted the following comments as they were written.

My unemployment benefits ran out in August and I am barely holding on. I am watching daily to see if this bill will be passed. I lost my job and went from a salary of comfortable salary to $450.00 a week.my family and I was able to live off of our saving for a while but now we are dependent on UI benefits. My husband was layed off and we are only surviving on his benefits. We are in jeopardy of losing our home. We’ve already lost both cars and have had to cut our expenses substantially. As the weather changed we are afraid to use our heater and we are bundling up for fear of not being able to pay the bill our heating bill.. . I need the GOP to get off their high horses and live a day in my life. I guess if you haven’t been affected by the economy then you don’t get it. I will just continue to pray.

I wish people would stop playing the blame game, and realize it doesn’t matter who we vote in or out!

And…

well i finally got enough money to buy a little groceries for the kids and the rent never thought i would have to do what i did to get it but necessity out ways legality,all because these assholes aren’t in our shoes, so they can take there sweet time because the crime rate will go up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be nice if the GOP would leave their bubble of knee-jerk obstruction to see real American’s who are suffering. Their lives should not be used as political pawns by a party who wants every opportunity to create a Democratic Waterloo.

Thankfully, not all is lost. More comments and commentary below the fold.

Screw you, Jerry Bruckheimer

Take a hike, you douchebag. And you can take Gary Sinese with you. You are both Republican tools.

Why do I say this?

I was watching CSI: NY tonight. The premise was this: dere’s dis guy (oh, wait, this is NY not NJ, sorry) and he’s using technology to kill people. First, he takes over a car’s GPS and directs the victim to a bad area of NYC, then takes over the On-Star type service to first enjoy taunting his victim, then listening as he dies. Another guy dies when the killer takes over the restaurant ordering system to give this victim a double helping of peanuts instead of the peanut-free dinner that was originally entered by the server. As the victim’s throat closes up the killer is on the phone (who knew killer’s answered 911 calls?), asking for the gory details as to whether the victim has turned blue yet. MUWAHHHH!

Sounds interesting, right? I thought so.

Turns out, this guy was killing specific people; a doctor, the owner of a hospital, and staff members who had the unfortunate job of telling him that he no longer had insurance and they would not treat his advanced stage cancer any more. He chose Mac (Sinese’s character) to “tell his story” because Mac’s father had died of a pretty invasive cancer, too, and he just knew that Mac could relate to him after watching his father die of a similar cancer.

Heady stuff.

I would have forgotten the plot line as just another interesting CSI plot (it’s hard to feel sympathy for a killer, but it’s also difficult to not feel sympathy for a man who maybe had a chance if he could have gotten the chemotherapy and other treatment he needed, a thought provoking dichotomy, to be sure) – until the very end when Mac made a little speech to the killer, who was now in the hospital, getting treatment for his cancer, at the city’s expense, saying that the killer was nothing like his father! His father would have been proud to say that he lived long enough and it was his time to go – and go quietly into the night, happily (singing patriotic songs as the life flowed out of his body, I am sure). Of course, his dad had insurance, which took care of him until there was nothing left to do, but his time had come and it was time to go and go proudly he would. Glad to die, by golly!

One guy has insurance and runs the course of his therapy and the other who is no longer insured (the reason was not given) is cut-off mid-therapy. One might think this could be called a false equivalency.

Not in the eyes of these Republican tools – rich, Republican tools who could pay cold hard cash straight from their personal checking accounts for a heart transplant – several times a year.

I am washing my hands of the far too many Bruckheimer franchises. One viewer down. And I didn’t even have to die to do it.

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How Dare the President bid for the Olympics!

There has been much ado, of late, concerning President Obama trying to procure Chicago as the 2016 Olympic site for the United States of America.  Chicago, they say, is just part of the dirty Obama/Chicago Machine.

Let’s see what that dirty, liberal, Marxist, communist, Fascist, hippy President had to say about it:

Union League Club of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

11:35 A.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank the members of the 2016 Chicago bid to get the Olympics. Listen, Mr. Mayor, you and your committee have put together a great plan. It’s a plan that will make America proud.

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we’re fortunate enough to be selected, but really it’s coming to America, and I can’t think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

This is a well thought out venue. There will be — the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I — this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Thank you all.

END 11:36 A.M. CST

Oh, wait, that wasn’t President Obama who said that, it was President Bush,  on January 7, 2008.

Must have been something to do with the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created over the next eight years and the millions of dollars that would be injected into this craptastic economy by dozens of countries worldwide.  We definitely don’t need that!

Nevermind.

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SC Rep. Joe Wilson calls Obama a Liar

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

During tonight’s speech to the joint assembly of Congress, Joe Wilson, the Republican representative from South Carolina, decided that he was attending a WWE wrestling event instead of a session of the US Congress addressed by the President of the United States of America. Of course, it is Rep. Wilson who is the liar.

Feel free to contact Rep. Wilson, should you so choose.

Address in DC:
The Honorable Joe Wilson
United States House of Representatives
212 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4002

DC Phone: 202-225-2452
DC Fax: 202-225-2455

Email Address: http://www.house.gov/formwilson/IMA/issue.htm

WWW Homepage: http://www.joewilson.house.gov/

District Offices:
903 Port Republic Street
Beaufort, SC 29902
Voice: 843-521-2530
FAX: 843-521-2535

1700 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1
West Columbia, SC 29169
Voice: 803-939-0041
FAX: 803-939-0078

UPDATE:

Did you see Pelosi’s face?  This idiot’s head will be ringing when she gets done with him.

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The Blog Post Every American Needs to Read

Want a real life story about the French healthcare system? Not a story from a guy some guy knows who is a friend of a colleague, but from an American who, while in Paris on vacation, had to suffer the indignity of that socialist country’s terrible emergency healthcare system? Read it now.

Sometimes it’s best to start a long story at the very end. In the case of my emergency eye problems in France, it’s the part of the story where the French medical system keeps refusing to let me pay for my $3000 surgery.

Go on. Click that link!

And pass it along!

BREAKING: Call him Senator Franken

CNN is reporting, in Breaking News:

Minnesota’s Supreme Court has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the state’s disputed U.S. Senate race.

Now it’s up to Pawlenty to certify the results.

HAARM – Healthy Americans Against Reforming Medicine

Are you scared yet?

Go to HAARM’s website.

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The Extremist’s Threats Continue

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***UPDATE 6/26: It appears that the Savage Weiner has walked back his threat.***

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Hal Turner, a White Supremacist blogger, was arrested and charged with making:

…internet postings threatening to assault and murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for their recent ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and a suburb.

What did Turner say?

“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed.” The postings included photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.

This was Turner’s second arrest this month.

Earlier this month, he turned himself in to the Connecticut State Police on charges of “inciting violence” against three state officials. He urged his audience to “take up arms” because he was reportedly “angry over legislation that would have given lay members of Roman Catholic churches in Connecticut more control over their parish’s finances.”

But Hal’s not the only right-wing extremist out there. Michael “Savage Nation” Weiner has decided to throw out a few threats of his own.

Right wing talker Michael Savage vowed yesterday during his broadcast that he will retaliate against media watchdog Media Matters for America by posting pictures and “pertinent information” about the organization’s staff on his website.

Also from the article on Savage:

The history of right wing extremists using “wanted” posters against abortion providers is well documented. Recently the right wing Christian group the American Center for Law and Justice celebrated its court victory for the “truth truck” that promoted incendiary attacks on Dr. George Tiller. Sadly two days later Tiller was dead, assassinated in his place of worship.

David Neiwert, Managing Editor at Crooks and Liars, has been writing about extremists for a long time. Check out his posts. They are very enlightening – and terrifying (which is the point of these extremists).  David has also written an exceptional book; The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, in which he talks extensively about the extremist dynamic. From Amazon:

Neiwert (Strawberry Days), founder of the political blog Orcinus, links the proliferation of radical conservative ideas in the political mainstream to the looming specter of eliminationism, an ideology rejecting dialogue and debate in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and eviction, or extermination.

If you want to be informed on this subject, Neiwert’s book is the place to go.

But this eliminationist rhetoric isn’t just about Turner or Savage.  It goes deep, all the way into people in our government.

Adulterous Governor Sanford a Democrat?

According to Fox he is (from Media Matters).  Big surprise, eh?

Of course, Governor Sanford was playing hide the plantain with a South American “Dear, Dear Friend.”  Noticeably absent from this breaking news conference was the governor’s wife.

Whoops.

Read more about this lying, hypocritical, ultra-conservative Republican here and here (if you can stand the stink).

UPDATE: Governor Sanford’s mistress may or may not be South American. My bad.

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My email from President Obama

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I received the following email today….and I took action to give my views on the Healthcare debate.  You can too.

Joanne —

The chance to finally reform our nation’s health care system is here. While Congress moves rapidly to produce a detailed plan, I have made it clear that real reform must uphold three core principles — it must reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.

As we know, challenging the status quo will not be easy. Its defenders will claim our goals are too big, that we should once again settle for half measures and empty talk. Left unanswered, these voices of doubt might yet again derail the comprehensive reform we so badly need. That’s where you come in.

When our opponents spread fear and confusion about the changes we seek, your support for these core principles will show clarity and resolve. When the lobbyists for the status quo tell Congress to hold back, your personal story will give them the courage to press forward.

Join my call: Ask Congress to pass real health care reform in 2009.

After adding your name, please consider sharing your personal story about the importance of health care reform in your life and the lives of those you love.

I will be personally reviewing many of these signatures and stories. If you speak up now, your voice will make a difference.

Jesse Ventura Schools Elizabeth Hasselbeck

Is there anything this woman actually knows?  Why are our airwaves infested with people like this?  Dumb yet so certain in their ignorance.

Mike Pence (R-IN) Refuses to Acknowledge Science

In the following segment on Hardball today, Mike Pence refuses to acknowledge that evolution is valid science and repeatedly dodges the science question.  In addition, he continues to perpetuate the talking point that there is major scientific opposition on global climate change.

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Maddow and Benen on Jeff Sessions

You all know I am a huge fan of Steve Benen from The Washington Monthly.  I get all googly watching two intelligent political wonks discuss serious issues.  Here Steve and Rachel Maddow discuss the lunacy of Sessions joining the Judiciary Committee.

What’s Wrong With 23% of Americans?

[Ed: I originally wrote this post back in January (and for whatever reason, neglected to post it).  More on this below. MsJ]

CNN reports that 75% of the American populace will be happy to see George W. Bush leave office.

As President Bush prepares to leave office, three quarters of Americans have a parting thought: “Good riddance.”

It’s been like a failed marriage. Things started out well. When President Bush first took office, more than 60 percent saw him as strong and decisive.

Hmmm, I wonder why.   Could it be….

• When we disagreed with the official policy of his administration, we weren’t just called that filthy name, “liberal,” we were called traitors and unpatriotic.
• Using knowingly faulty intelligence to lie us into two wars which were desired (and destined to happen with the PNACers in his government) long before 9/11 ever happened.
• Total destruction of Habeus Corpus, torture/rendition and wiretapping, and whatever other tools he used to virtually shred the constitution (along with the blessing of the spineless Congress).
• Using 9/11 to further divide the country from within and without.  After 9/11, America had the blessings, sympathy, and support of the entire world. Did  Bush leverage that to unite our nation?  Did Bush leverage that to create global harmony against those who wish to destroy us?  No.  He used it to further divide America into deep red and blue.
• Two botched wars.  Three if you include the abysmal failure which is the Global War on Terror.  Nothing like espousing care and concern about public safety by continually making us less safe.
• The response to Katrina and Ike.
• Treating Congress like some red-headed step-child and showing nothing but disgust and disdain for a co-equal branch of government.
• Secrecy always and forever.  Checks and balances?  Subpoena us and we will send you a giant Fuck You in the mail.
• Complete lack of compassion for anyone but cronies and industry.
• War profiteering by pals.
• Greed to the Nth degree.
• Changing governmental data to suit their predetermined outcomes – no matter what the topic
• Deregulation to the point that the economy collapsed.

Back to the CNN article.  While 75% are eagerly awaiting the exit of one of the worst President’s in US history:

23 percent (of those surveyed) said they will miss him.

[Ed: While I wrote this some months ago, each bullet point is still salient and that which we should never forget.  Additionally, Nate Silver shows that the GOP still hangs on to almost 25% of the American populace.  So, I continue to ask:  WTF is wrong with nearly a quarter of Americans?]

BREAKING! Obama and Biden eat burgers

I have MSNBC on in the background and right now they have a Breaking Story that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are eating at a burger joint in Arlington, Virginia.

Seriously?  Seriously.

The salient point?  The food is probably not as good as what they have in the White House.

You have got to be kidding. I realize that there is a 24-hour news cycle, but honestly, THIS is breaking news?

GOP Teetering into Total Irrelevance

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

RNC Welcomes Everyone (but only if you like Totally agree!)

Recently, Michael Steele, party chairman of the RNC, welcomed moderates into the now tiny tent that is the Republican party:

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele appealed to the political middle Friday to join his party but added that the party itself wouldn’t moderate.

“All you moderates out there, y’all come. I mean, that’s the message,” Steele said at a news conference. “The message of this party is this is a big table for everyone to have a seat. I have a place setting with your name on the front.

“Understand that when you come into someone’s house, you’re not looking to change it. You come in because that’s the place you want to be.”

What a welcome!

TNR gives the best response:

Steele added that moderates would be expected to clear the table and wash dishes quietly while the other guests argued over whether Barack Obama was a fascist or merely a socialist. Oh, and hope you guys are up for a little unpaid babysitting: The rest of us were hoping to check out a tea party later tonight.

You betcha!

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Tuesday Open Thread – Rise and Shine

Wake up everyone! It’s Tuesday, May 5th, better known as Cinco de Mayo. What are YOU doing today?

Be sure to read our new posts below!

The Best Thought of The Day

Who do you think should be nominated to become the next member of the SCOTUS?

Here’s a thought – How about Anita Hill?  Oh, yeah, baby! That sound you hear is conservative heads explodin’, including one Clarence Thomas.

How about a can of Coke, Mr. Thomas?

It’s Official: MsJoanne is a Dittohead

Beth Ditto lead singer for The Gossip:  Heavy Cross

Let’s Play “Who Said This”

“Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the supporter of capital, and deserves the higher consideration.”

Answer below the fold.  No peeking!

A Thank You Letter to the GOP – Open Thread

Dear GOP,

Thank you for becoming the Party of No. Thank you for allowing Rush Limbaugh to be your fearless (feckless?) leader. Thank you for continually showing your ignorance of – and obstruction on – every topic relevant to the American people. Thank you for pushing out any moderate elected Republican and showing that your ongoing move to the far end of the rightosphere perpetuates your continued downward spiral into complete irrelevance.

Don’t ever change.

Love,

MsJoanne

p.s. Be sure to catch our new posts below.

On TX Secession: Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya

This pretty well sums it up.

51% of Texas Republican’s are for secession. I say go for it.

Let the Teabagging Begin

Today begins the great teabagging event. This nationwide effort, led by lobbyists, organized through right wing blogs and Fox News, is a protest! A protest they say! What exactly they are protesting? Well, that is a little fuzzy.

Taxes! We don’t want our rich folks to pay an added 3% in taxes, dammit!

Obama is a Muslim!

Obama isn’t an American citizen!

Obama is a Socialist/ Marxist/ Communist/ Fascist!

We hate the Fed!

We hate! (That pretty much sums it up.)

Actually, I think Rude Pundit sums it up perfectly:

Somewhere, Karl Marx is laughing his bearded ass off. Because what is this but classic exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie? It’s a bunch of rich fu*ks, beginning with that tool Rick Santelli on CNBC and ending with the slavering profitmongers at Fox “news,” making the poor idiots, who are desperate from fear of or actual job loss and heath insurance loss and home loss, do their bidding. Look at the people attending. Bedraggled Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin wannabes, clinging to the image of those who create the illusion of the working class without the work or the class. Ignorance is such bliss, man.

Right-Winger Thanks Bush for Somali Rescue

Well, didn’t you just know this was coming?

Andy Martin thanks President George W. Bush for rescuing the U.S. ship captain held hostage by Somali pirates

Obama’s “Somali” response sent a message of weakness to our enemies, says Martin

Liberal media again distort the true significance of the rescue [Ed. Did this guy ever hear of a period?]

(NEW YORK)(April 13, 2009) I don’t often have good things to say about former President George W. Bush. But today I want to thank him for the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, held hostage by Somali criminals and rescued by the U. S. Navy.

The captain was rescued by George W. Bush’s Navy, not Barack Obama’s Navy.
…
That is why today I am alone in all of America’s media in singing the praises of President George W. Bush. He rescued Captain Phillips.
…
Well, Obama “proved” himself all right. He proved he is an uncertain and unsteady hand on the tiller.
…
Barack Obama proved he is the new Jimmy Carter.

Even though Obama has increased the size of the defense budget, it is not enough for these neocons. And the whole Obama Is a Muslim and Not An American Citizen is old and tired. Sorry, fellas, nobody is buying what you’re selling.

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