Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is under fire (again) after his latest gaffe. Steele rewrote history again, and normally that wouldn't be a topic to discuss on BOR, but one of the few people rushing to his defense is none other than, Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
After Steele was quoted saying, the Afghanistan war launched by former President George W. Bush was "of (President Barack) Obama's choosing" and may be unwinnable.
While Republicans John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint all demanded Steele to apologize for his mischaracterization of facts, Ron Paul ran to Steele's defense.
However, conservative GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, in a statement to CNN, supported Steele and said the RNC chairman's characterization of the war was correct.
"He is guiding the party in the right direction and we (the GOP) are on the verge of victory this fall," said Paul, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008. "Chairman Steele should not back off. He is giving the country, especially young people, hope as he speaks truth about this war." (From CNN)
Ron Paul's son, Rand Paul is running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky and his gaffe's on civil rights, apologizing to BP, claims of being board certified in Ophthalmology make his father a poor choice for public defender.
One thing has become clear, Michael Steele is creating a a bipartisan coalition. Democrats and Republicans both agree Steele is bad chairman and should probably be fired.
While John Cornyn has called on every major Democrat to resign since January 11, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) appears to have made no statement on whether he supports Steele or thinks he should be fired. With 119 days left until the election, this fracturing is no good for the national Republican Party.
The loony fringe of the Texas GOP continues to fall all over itself standing by their big sugar daddy, BP. Louie Gohmert took extremism to a new level when he compared President Obama's demand to BP for $20 billion to who else but Hitler.
Is there a head doctor in the house? President Obama's demands for accountability and responsibility from BP seems to have driven the Texas GOP stark raving mad.
There they go outing themselves again. Republicans are the ones that are easily led idiots who will believe anything a demagogue says. Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are perfect examples. And as I recall, W. whined about how much easier it would have been to rule as a dictator instead of a democratically elected President.
Republicans continue to fall all over themselves defending BP. All are likely up to their eyeballs in donations from the oil and gas industry.
God forbid should BP be expected to pay every claim proposed by those whose loved ones have been killed and those whose businesses and careers have been destroyed by BP's reckless, irresponsible and apparently unstoppable oil volcano and gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile here in Texas our Attorney General is doing the same thing. According to a press release issued by Democratic candidate Barbara Radnofsky today Abbott seriously underestimated the devastating long term impact of the Gulf oil leak.
The big national news this morning is the extravagant spending by the Republican National Committee. From the Washington Post:
The Republican National Committee spent tens of thousands of dollars last month on luxury jets, posh hotels and other high-flying expenses, according to new Federal Election Commission filings, including nearly $2,000 for "meals" at Voyeur West Hollywood, a lesbian-themed nightclub that features topless dancers in bondage outfits.
They say that what happens in Las Vegas stays there, but for Rick Perry, not all of it has.
The governor's Oct. 24 political trip to Las Vegas to meet with Brian Sandoval, a Republican candidate for Nevada governor, included a bachelor party for Perry's son, Griffin, spokesman Mark Miner conceded Thursday.
[...]
The governor used a combination of money from his political donors and the Republican Governors Association to pay for his Vegas trip. It's illegal to use campaign funds for personal travel, but Perry has a history of combining business with pleasure trips so that political entities will pick up the tab.
So this is what RNC chairman Michael Steele meant by an “urban-suburban hip-hop what-up off the hook” campaign to make the Republican party more diverse. And by “more diverse,” I mean “crotchless panties.” Yes, apparently the RNC spent almost $2,000 in party funds at Voyeur West Hollywood, “a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.” (For $1,000 more they would’ve done more than imitate but this is the party of fiscal conservatives.)
The Party of No and Obstruction not only despises jobless and uninsured Americans, apparently it also loathes its donors, both big and small.
According to Politico, The RNC Finance Director gave a 74 page power point presentation to top donors and fundraisers at a party retreat in Florida a couple of weeks ago. The presentation mocked at its donors urging fundraisers to appeal to their egos and play upon their fears.
The memo candidly confirms that the aim of such caricature is to amp up "fear" among the GOP's conservative base. The memo also makes fun of major RNC donors, categorizing some as "ego-driven" and easily pacified with "tchochkes" (a Slavic word for toys).
Go ahead Republicans. Keep on emptying your pockets for those who disrespect and ridicule you.
The reason we know about this no longer secret strategy is because someone attending the retreat had left behind a paper handout of the presentation. As we can see, the handout is now making its way through the tubes and Internets. The mainstream media, including FOX "News" has covered this.
Thanks for making our day you careless and irresponsible silly ones.
Who would have thought? In its true and hypocritical form The Party of No and Obstruction opposes President Obama's proposed fees on banks.
Dick Cheney must be hard at work at that printing press in his undisclosed basement.
Prominent Republicans are coming out in opposition to President Barack Obama's proposal for a $90-billion fee on large banks that took bailout money, a move that political observers say could force the GOP to choose between their traditional anti-tax position and populist anger over the bailout.
On Thursday, GOP Chairman Michael Steele declared that the bank fee -- which would be levied only on banks that took bailout money and have more than $50 billion in assets -- is "another tax on the American public."
The GOP is standing by fat cat the banker in yet another effort to oppose President Obama. Republicans demonstrate time and time again that they are willing to put politics ahead of working on solutions to solve the daunting challenges that we face on local, state and national levels.
The Party of No and Obstruction, at least where sending any kind of economic lifelines to the American people are concerned, sure had no problem with turning over our national treasury to the fat cats on Wall St. And the GOP's blind faith in a unfettered free market economy did nothing other than make a handful of wealthy folks much richer while the majority of us grew much poorer. The Reagan/Bush/W. Bush's legacies of failure brought this once great nation to its knees.
At least when W. ran his companies into the ground Daddy's friends would step up and bail junior out. But Daddy's buddies are nowhere to be found now that W. and his GOP drove the country straight to hell. Tragically for the American taxpayers, we, our children, our grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to clean up the squalor. It will take generations to undo the GOP's financial carnage.
A recent article published in the Washington Post reveals that the American worker lost big time during the past decade.
This news should come as no surprise to any hard working middle class American. We have been living the pain for 10 long years.
The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times, a sharp reversal from a long period of prosperity that is leading economists and policymakers to fundamentally rethink the underpinnings of the nation's growth.
It was, according to a wide range of data, a lost decade for American workers. The decade began in a moment of triumphalism -- there was a current of thought among economists in 1999 that recessions were a thing of the past. By the end, there were two, bookends to a debt-driven expansion that was neither robust nor sustainable.
The Washington Post also reveals that there has been zero net job creation since December 1999. Conditions have not been this grim for decades. Essentially, the American worker has not had a raise in a very long time.
The Party of No and Obstruction, at least where sending any kind of economic lifelines to the American people are concerned, sure had no problem with turning over our national treasury to the fat cats on Wall St. And the GOP's blind faith in a unfettered free market economy did nothing other than make a handful of wealthy folks much richer while the majority of us grew much poorer. The Reagan/Bush/W. Bush's legacies of failure brought this once great nation to its knees.
At least when W. ran his companies into the ground Daddy's friends would step up and bail junior out. But Daddy's buddies are nowhere to be found now that W. and his GOP drove the country straight to hell. Tragically for the American taxpayers, we, our children, our grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to clean up the squalor. It will take generations to undo the GOP's financial carnage.
A recent article published in the Washington Post reveals that the American worker lost big time during the past decade.
This news should come as no surprise to any hard working middle class American. We have been living the pain for 10 long years.
The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times, a sharp reversal from a long period of prosperity that is leading economists and policymakers to fundamentally rethink the underpinnings of the nation's growth.
It was, according to a wide range of data, a lost decade for American workers. The decade began in a moment of triumphalism -- there was a current of thought among economists in 1999 that recessions were a thing of the past. By the end, there were two, bookends to a debt-driven expansion that was neither robust nor sustainable.
The Washington Post also reveals that there has been zero net job creation since December 1999. Conditions have not been this grim for decades. Essentially, the American worker has not had a raise in a very long time.
In a political turnabout that may indicate what lies ahead, Cornyn abandoned his long-standing support of federal spending for NASA and for the Johnson Space Center.
In the pre-Christmas legislative rush, he joined Senate Republicans, with fellow Texan and NASA champion Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison among them, in opposing a government-wide, $448 billion spending package that included $18.7 billion for the space agency.
Toughest part to come
"Clearly because you end up voting against a bill because it has excessive spending doesn't mean you don't support a lot of the underlying components of it," Cornyn explained. "But there needs to be a little restraint - particularly during the time of high deficits and runaway debt."
Where were the Senators fiscal restraint when they voted to fight a completely unnecessary war? Where was their fiscal restraint when they voted for huge tax cuts for the wealthy during a time in which our nation waged war on two fronts? Where was their so-called fiscal constraint in 2003 when Republicans voted for an expansion of Medicare, putting all of the above on the nation's credit card?
Democrats are troubled by the inconsistency of Republican lawmakers who approved a major Medicare expansion six years ago that has added tens of billions of dollars to federal deficits, but oppose current health overhaul plans.
All current GOP senators, including the 24 who voted for the 2003 Medicare expansion, oppose the health care bill that's backed by President Barack Obama and most congressional Democrats.
The Democrats claim that their plan moving through Congress now will pay for itself with higher taxes and spending cuts and they cite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for support.
By contrast, when Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House in 2003, they overcame Democratic opposition to add a deficit-financed prescription drug benefit to Medicare. The program will cost a half-trillion dollars over 10 years, or more by some estimates.
With no new taxes or spending offsets accompanying the Medicare drug program, the cost has been added to the federal debt.
Some Republicans say they don't believe the CBO's projections that the health care overhaul will pay for itself. As for their newfound worries about big government health expansions, they essentially say: That was then, this is now.
Six years ago, "it was standard practice not to pay for things," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "We were concerned about it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question." His 2003 vote has been vindicated, Hatch said, because the prescription drug benefit "has done a lot of good."
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said those who see hypocrisy "can legitimately raise that issue."
You betcha we can and you betcha we are.
Senators Hutchison and Cornyn have been standing on hypocrisy and bringing home lumps of coal to Texas for far too long.
Once again, let's raise our glasses to a new decade of change, more change, hope and recovery.
Yesterday I received an electronic newsletter from John Cornyn that rather surprised me. In his letter to his so-called constituents, Senator Cornyn informed us that he agrees with the uber liberal/progressive former chair of the DNC and governor of Vermont on the health care reform bill.
Wow. This is a new and interesting twist in right/left politics.
In what way, Senator? Please do explain.
My colleagues and I picked up an unlikely ally in our quest to stop the Reid health care bill. Gov. Howard Dean pleaded for his fellow Democrats to "kill this bill" in a Washington Post op-ed on Thursday morning, saying that it "will do more harm than good to the future of America." Despite the vocal protests from Liberals, Conservatives, and Independents, Democrats remain determined to force the bill through by Christmas. I assure you that my fellow Republicans and I remain resolute in stopping the Reid bill dead in its tracks.
As usual, Cornyn is full hot air. The Republicans are screaming about expanded government, as usual, and a health care program that will be affordable and will include millions of uninsured Americans. Republicans are obviously perfectly pleased with the status quo of nearly 50 million uninsured folks who use emergency rooms for their primary care needs. When this happens, the expense is passed along to taxpayers. As W. said during his Administration, everyone has access to health care. Everyone can go to the emergency rooms. Taxpayers shoulder this burden as we do W.'s war in Iraq and his tax cuts to the wealthy. Republicans hate taxation except when it comes to sticking the middle class with taxes.
Progressive Democrats are very unhappy about the lack of a government run public option that would introduce competition into the health insurance market. Many are also worried about the mandates if there is no real competition in the insurance market. Folks have every right to fear that the insurance sharks will take advantage of them if there are no checks and balances. They would do it in a New York nanosecond. Cornyn and the Republicans, by the way, have been enabling these sharks for decades.
If Cornyn had paid attention to the news yesterday he would have known that Dr. Dean now believes the bill should pass. Are you still on board with Dr. Dean, Sir?
I didn't think so.
If John Cornyn and his Republican Party were so concerned about their constituents they would have engaged in this debate a long time ago. They failed to. And now the spineless cowards are trying to align themselves with Dr. Dean and other Progressives who are rightfully upset about the absence of a public option.
Cornyn also writes:
As Texans are well aware by now, the Senate is coming to the end of its third straight week in the debate over health care reform. I think many of you have seen that as this debate progresses, we've learned two important things. First, with each passing day we have more questions than answers about the Reid bill, and secondly, the more the American public learns about it, the more they don't like it. The most recent Washington Post / ABC News Poll says that a solid majority of Americans are opposed to the Reid bill, with a CNN estimate pegging opposition as high as 61% among Americans. I met recently with a group of San Antonio firefighters in my Washington office who echoed this sentiment to me, telling me they could not afford the new taxes they would be saddled with should the bill pass. The President's own chief cost analyst recently became the latest expert to sound alarms over the Reid bill. The Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Rick Foster, issued a report last week concluding that the Reid bill would increase health care costs, threaten access to care for seniors, and force people off of their current coverage. In other words, the Administration's own expert conclusively demonstrated that the Democrats' rhetoric does not match the reality of their bill and that passing the legislation would be worse than doing nothing. You can read the CMS report for yourself here.
Dude, the public is against a health care reform bill that lacks a public option.
Reform with public option or medicare expansion won 59% to 31% support.
Now tell me Sir, are you going to embrace a public option if it is present in the final bill?
I didn't think so.
Folks might be interested to know that John Cornyn has accepted millions of dollars in donations from the insurance, health professionals and pharma sectors. He has received:
$576,878 from insurance, $1,371,928 from health professionals and $288,165 from pharma.
Cornyn has also taken $362,390 from lobbyists. Banking and oil & gas are his biggest contributors.
