Democrats: U have a 2nd chance. Try to tout the healthcare law this time!

The GOP opposition to "obamacare" was always phony. Obama based it on the Heritage Foundation's idea (adopted by Mittens Romney who defended it vigorously until 2010) because he thought it would get bi-partisan support in Congress. Afterall, the conservatives loved the independent mandate: conservative, free-market, and "no free riders".




Only after Obama pushed for it did it suddenly become socialism.



Once Obama scored the big victory in 2010, many House and more than a few Senate Dems did their typical squishiness and let the GOP define the law. This was in part due to a "messaging conference" that did anything but help.





A "messaging conference" was held by Families USA based on polling by the Herndon Alliance for Democrats in 2010. What they told Democratic officials should be the central theme of the law was the following:

"The law is not perfect, but it does good things and helps many people. Now we'll work to improve it."

Wow. That showed confidence.



They continued with what NOT to say:

”Keep claims small and credible; don’t overpromise or ‘spin’ what the law delivers,” it advised. Its “to don’t” items include offering “a long list of benefits” or claims that “the law will reduce costs and the deficit,” even as “Voters are concerned about rising health care costs and believe that costs will continue to rise.”

Somehow, that didn't work. Bill Clinton, who knows something about winning elections, argued the opposite: To tout the damn benefits of the law. And there are MANY:

-No more denial of claims after paying premiums for decades



-No more denial of health insurance for PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS



-Coverage for your kids until 26 years old



-Free health checkup every 6 mopnths



-Free preventative health screening procedures for cancer and heart like mammograms, colonoscopies etc.



-Lower seniors' prescription-drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole.



-Moving forward means insurance companies can no longer charge a woman more just because of her gender.



-It saves money. (When Republicans threatened to repeal health reform, the CBO determined that a repeal would increase the deficit by $147 billion!)



-No lifetime caps anymore.

There are many, many more... I just picked a few to focus on.



Not many times in politics do you get a second chance to make a first impression. But for the next several days or even weeks, all the talk will be on health care.



WE CANNOT DECLARE VICTORY AND LEAVE. The fight is just beginning!



The GOP is going to be throwing everything at this. Hundreds of millions will go to TV ads saying "death panels" and "skyrocketing costs" and "government takeover" BS. They don't shy away from their opposition and are willing to lie to win in November.



Democrats in office only need to tell the truth. But it helps if you have a spine and actually stand up for it. Some tried even running from it in 2010, and you see how will that worked.



Democrats: There are A LOT of great things about the AHCA, not the least of which is that for the first time in our nation's history, everyone has a modicum of protection.... and it didn't cost us anything extra. You should be screaming about this from the pulpit.



This isn't just our victory, this is a victory for every American. Don't be afraid to talk about it and run on it. Own it. I'm proud of it, hell, I'm elated. I would love the opportunity to talk about it, and you should be too.
9:17 AM PT: PS... I can't WAIT to see what Rick Scott has to say about this...

REST EASY FLORIDA: New Bill Prevents UN-World Government Takeover of Our State

Don Gaetz is the not just another Florida politician, he will be the new Senate President in 2013.

He was the chair for the powerful reapportionment committee. You know, the one responsible for the legendary gerrymandering maps that give an overwhelming GOP edge to a state with more Democrats? (Also where he told black leaders who complained they were drawn unfairly that "Some people would complain if you hung them with a new rope".)

That guy.

So powerful is he that he actually got donors to give tons of cash to his completely idiot son, soon after he finished college, so his fellow FL teabaggers could elect him to the state House. (Here's the dumb kid's mug shot).

Don Gaetz is what passes for leadership in the GOP.

Power abuses, insentive bigot, and slightly loony.

His top priority as incoming Senate prez seems to be a bill he has been touting, which is finally a jobs bill bill that caters to the underrepresented paranoid, conspiracy nuts:

Expect a bill that shelters private property in Florida from takeover by a United Nations-led world government effort, Senate President-designate Don Gaetz said Tuesday.

And expect that bill to receive favorable support.

Appearing on Fort Walton radio station WFTW 1260 AM, Gaetz said he expected Florida lawmakers to introduce and approve a bill similar to Senate Bill 477 that has been approved by the Alabama Legislature.

Yes, let's follow Alabama. That's a recipe for success.

Gee, if ONLY our Constiution provided some sort of protection against seizing private property, something like this:

Private property shall not be taken for a public use, without just compensation.--5th amendment

Teabaggers who claim to be experts on the US Constitution must have skipped that over that one.

So your state has birthers? I just wish our legislators where that grounded.

Funny: Romney Tells Rick Scott To Downplay Job Gains

From Bloomberg:

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign asked Florida Governor Rick Scott to tone down his statements heralding improvements in the state’s economy because they clash with the presumptive Republican nominee’s message that the nation is suffering under President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Scott, a Republican, was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could improve faster under a Romney presidency, according to the people, who asked not to be named.

Don't worry, Mittens. It's nothing Rick Scott can take credit for anyway. Not at all.



What has happened is part of a national trend, the jobless rate is slowly improving. But I challenge you to tell me anything the state GOP has done to help with that.



Here is what the Tea Party legislature has given us since last year: 17 bills to restrict abortion, the largest cuts in education and health care in our state history (along with thousands of government jobs cut), and then passed a slew of voter suppression laws you've heard about.



On top of that, Rick Scott turned down High-Speed Rail last year, instantly costing us 48,000 jobs which were desperately needed in the construction industry where unemployment was at an all time high of 20%...for the sole reason that Obama was behind it. It was our only Democratic Senator, Bill Nelson, who was fighting OUR OWN governor to KEEP those jobs in Florida.





Not ONE jobs bill in two years, unless you count that one dwarf-tossing bill as job creation. (Yes, they really did say that.) So they can take credit for the 10 people who got work out of degrading themselves.



Everything else is Obama's recovery, who seems to be the only one fighting at all for the middle class. Naturally, Rick Scott, who is now ferociously backpedaling his claim that he would create 700,00 jobs, is nonetheless trying to take all the credit for the uptick in growth:

The state Republican party ran a television ad in March crediting Scott, who is a year and a half into a four-year term, for drops in the unemployment rate.



“Companies are hiring, expanding, putting more Floridians to work,” the ad narrator said. “Florida’s unemployment rate continues to get better.”

Unfortunately, this causes Mittens some problems:

“The first time I saw that ad I initially thought it was an Obama ad,” said Brad Coker, managing director of the Washington-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. “They’ll have to tamp it down.”

Yes, they will have to tamp that down to help poor Mittens. My God, if people get back to work, how we will ever justify giving extra tax cuts to billionaires that has worked out so well?



Nobody is buying that Monty Burns impersonator Rick Scott can take any credit, including Mittens himself. Rick Scott remains wildly unpopular and Mittens refuses to campaign with Rick Scott when he visits Florida. But he can't avoid him forever:

This is unwelcome news for Mitt Romney: Florida Gov. Rick Scott expects a high-profile speaking slot at the Republican National Convention...



Nothing says "Elect Mitt Romney!" like an unpopular multimillionaire awkwardly making the case on national TV.

Ha!

Owned by the FL NRA: Shooting neighborhoods up "for funsies" now legal

#37 of My Stupid State

An incident happened recently in a nearby neighborhood... a man fired at and killed some Muscovy ducks at a retention pond. (The ducks are pretty but not a protected species.) He fired repeatedly, surrounded by houses and children playing. No one called the cops this time. It is extremely dangerous, but thanks to the new law signed by Rick Scott, not illegal. In fact, if he was even to shoot across a road or "over any occupied premise", it would only be a misdemeanor.

The new law is forcing all counties and cities to repeal ALL of their gun ordinances by October 1 of this year. If they don't, they will be fined up to $100,000 for each ordinance that is stricter than Florida's (an EXTREMELY low bar--shooting at my house is only a midemeanor?). Orange County employees have already taken down the "no firearms" signs at county parks. In Groveland, they repealed an ordinance that banned firing a gun into the air. You can now do that in downtown Orlando as well. And the Orlando Sentinel added this nugget:

During the hurry, local governments also quietly rescinded ordinances that made it illegal to whip out the AK-47 and blast away for funsies in populated areas.

That same article talks about a poor woman who is forced to listen to rednecks shooting at her neighbor's property for 12 straight hours in an east Orange County subdivision. Certainly what our founding fathers had in mind.

Many people to thank for this genius-ness. But primarily, you can thank the second most hated person in Florida right now after Rick Scott. This person is someone you may not have heard of. She is a 4-foot-11, 73-year-old grandmother... and a sweet, little thing according to her gushy wikipedia page. But she is as close to evil as you might ever see.

She has also done more to enable the killing of innocent Florida citizens, and put many more lives in danger, than any other person in this state. She is Marion Hammer, the top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association in Florida.

Florida has the dumbest and most lax gun laws in the nation. We are a breeding ground for gun stupidity and danger. Yes, we were the first in the nation to try "Stand your Ground/Castle doctrine", which was used by Zimmerman to hunt down and kill Trayvon Martin. (Apparently, your "castle" includes any sidewalk or street.) Justifiable homicides have skyrocketed, which is JUST WHAT WE PREDICTED would happen when asshat Jeb legalized Marion's shoot first law:

Not be content with the extra killing, Marion went on a rampage when a Tallahassee pediatrician asked her granddaughter about having a secured gun in the house. (Those pediatricians like to ask standard "invasive" questions like if a pool is fenced in or if dangerous chemicals are locked up.). Her minions in the legislature worked to restrict doctors from asking about guns in the home: “Docs versus Glocks” law. Leading Marion's call was my own state rep, idiot and complete liar Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican, to sponsor a bill where a doctor who dared to ask if a gun was locked up would be thrown in prison for five years and fined ... up to $5 million freaking dollars! Thankfully, the Courts sided with the physicians, but Rick Scott promised to appeal. (Might as well, since he'll be in Court fighting the Justice Dept. on the purge anyway.)

On average, the legislature passes 1-2 gun friendly laws a year, each one crazier than the last. Many are to blame: the subjugated legislators, apathetic voters, and cowardly candidates for local office who are now for the first time being forced by Marion to fill out intimidating questionnaires with loaded questions like this:

"Do you agree that no victim of crime should be required to surrender his life, health, safety, personal dignity, autonomy, or property to a criminal, nor should a victim be required to retreat in the face of an attack from any place he or she has a right to be?"

a. "Yes, I believe the 'Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground' is appropriate and victims have a right to fight back without a duty to retreat."

b. "No, I oppose the 'Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground' and believe victims should surrender to criminals or retreat to avoid fighting back."

Answer the question their way, or be a target. And don't think about not answering: "Questions that are not answered will be graded as a response against Second Amendment rights."

SO thank you Marion and Rick, for your strong advocacy for the 2nd amendment. I hope there is a retention pond near your houses so someone can show off the sounds of freedom to you as well.

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"Truly Terrible": Daily Show Hits Rick Scott Hard

Every now and again, a politician comes along who is just truly terrible and really deserving of more scorn than even we can go out with our nightly 21 min, 30 second wise-ass-athon. I give you Fl governor and Mr. Clean impersonator (if Mr. Clean had for some reason reduced his caloric intake for a period of time) Rick Scott. --Jon Stewart

I'm not as good at this as BruinKid is, so I won't transcibe much. Jon Stewart really hit Rick Scott hard. He has hit him before, such as when he tried to make state employees (with the exception of politicians like himself) perform expensive, unnecessary drug tests. But this was in the context of other horrible governors. But last night Jon really took the gloves off and focused on our nightmare that is Rick Scott. He mentions Scott's dehumanizing campaign to test welfare recipients, which he pointed out saved our state government.... NEGATIVE $45,000. Then pivoted to why Rick Scott is making news today. His campaign to purge voters from the voting rolls, which has ensnared thousands of eligible people, (mostly Hispanic, Democrat, and Independent) to go after that small segment that Jon described perfectly:

Those people who live in fear of deportation but insist on voting.. there must be tens of those.

Noting that black Floridians were not forgotten: besides cutting down early voting, our legislature eliminated the Sunday RIGHT BEFORE ELECTION DAY for one reason: that particular day is the largest day that African-Americans vote because it is the day that black Churches organize drives to get out the vote. They didn't even try to hide it. Which brought Jon to the last target: newly registered voters, which overwhelmingly skew Democratic. Again, if you have paid attention at all in Florida, you realize that it was made a crime to turn in a registration form after 48 hours. This had the effect of all nonpartisan registration outfits like the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote leaving Florida. (Thankfully, there is an injunction against that madness and most returned, but the effect the GOP wanted succeeded... registration is down over 20% from last year). John Oliver talked with Fox News contributor and writer for American Spectator John Fund, who tries like hell to spin the 48 hour time limit law as a good thing and gets his ass handed to him. John Oliver nails him several times...It's worth the watch.

Next up for Rick Scott: Handwriting analysis for voter signatures (no snark)

If you are not paying attention in Florida, you need to. If you are, you will forgive the quick rehash of what has happened up till today. It is important in the context of what this diary is about: Right now, under Rick Scott’s Florida, you can be declared a "non-citizen" with no repercussions... and the onus is on YOU to prove otherwise. The self-proclaimed superpatriot TeaBags in the Legislature are surprisingly unconcerned about the trampling of our fundamental Constitutional right to vote. However, today in Florida, an eligible Democratic voter who has voted his entire life, such as a 91-year old war hero, is declared a "non-citizen", given a few days to drive to the Supervisor of Elections office and “request an administrative hearing to present evidence”. (Good thing Obama is not from here, since Birth Certificates don’t count anymore with the GOP.) The 2012 voter purge we are all discussing is the middle step of a highly coordinated effort. (Google “voter purge” and see Florida in all its glory). Rick Scott was obsessed with creating a “non-citizen” database soon after he took office. Don’t take my word for it: his own former Secretary of State, Ken Browning, admitted as much when he turned from the Dark Side and resigned rather than comply. The purge is based on old driver’s license data with the excuse that if you are snagged, you can just make a lot of unnecessary effort and get your Constitutional right back again. (JEEBUS... we're only talking your right to vote! not your right to carry a gun!) An analysis by the Miami Herald showed that the list was predominantly made up of Democrats, independents and Latinos. Coincidence, no doubt, but there are also plenty of "helpful" private efforts to purge legitimate voters coming from Republican hate groups. Now, Rick Scott could have done a database over a year ago, but the idea is to purge people as close to an election as possible. Besides, last year was the FIRST step of the process: Voter Suppression. In 2011, Scott disenfranched 100,000 previously eligible ex-felons who'd been granted the right to vote under GOP Governor Charlie Crist and signed the most sweeping voter suppression bill in our state’s history. You know, the one that shut down non-partisan voter registration drives; levied thousand-dollar fines for turning in registration forms late (something a teacher found out when she tried to criminally register her students), shred early voting, force provisional ballots to those who changed their name (women) and moved (college students), and allowed vote-caging operations. Which brings me to today. There are plenty of diaries and a lot of outrage on the voter purge, as there was a lot of anger with the voter suppression efforts last year. But I wish to talk a bit more about what I see as the final bullet coming from last year's law that received little attention. The one bullet that alters the standard for review of the voter signature. From a recent article by Adalia Woodbury:

Florida Concocts Signature Test to Purge Democratic Voters Even if you survive seriously flawed basis by which Florida is purging people from the rolls, you still need to contend with the signatures please law. This law requires voters to register their signatures with the government because signatures change with age…. ...let’s consider who will be deciding IF your signature matches the one on file. I’m guessing the same people who have done such an awesome job in the battle of nonexistent voter fraud so far will also be assessing your signature. Will they have the training needed to assess whether your signature is a match with the one on file with the Scott regime?

Folks, there will be thousands upon thousands of provisional ballots cast this election year. Before the teabag takeover of 2010, if you had changed your address or changed your last name you could sign an affidavit and vote normally. The 2011 Voter Suppression law changed that and now forces you to use a provisional ballot, which are not counted the majority of times. However, if we are in a tight election, these provisional ballots, along with the thousands of absentee ballots, might be pivotal. The GOP already succeeded in getting these likely Dem voters off the regular voter rolls... so what would be the best way to stop the provisional ballots from tipping an election? You can prove new residence or new name... but how can you stop someone from saying your signature doesn't match? Granted, I'm being cynical. Voter abuse here in Florida? Perish the thought. Okay...so lets assume everybody who works at SOE is above reproach and will simply honor the new law requirements for my signature and the upgraded standard for review. It begs the question, who deemed these people experts in handwriting analysis? I doubt most of them have a Graphology degree. Heck, I'm not even sure I have a signature on file with the SOE… and I know for a fact that I never "update" it. It's a fact that signatures change as we age, and I don't think anyone has ever thought to visit an SOE office just to "update" a signature. Yet any SOE website has the fine print: Volusia Co. SOE:

Signatures on your registration record are used to verify signatures on petitions, absentee ballots and provisional ballots. If your signatures do not match, your petition or ballot will not count. To update your signature, submit a Florida Voter Registration Application Form to the Department of Elections.

Alls I know is that I nor anyone else voting in this election here in Florida is going to have any chance to fight an injustice, such as having a provisional ballot thrown out because it didn't match a signature block. Since that awful day in Nov. 2010 you'd think we'd be used to this by now. What the GOP is doing is beyond brazen, and here I am on Dkos being asked to petition Obama's own DOJ to even bother to fight these efforts. (It's here if you want to.) But what really teas me off is my state Dem party won't even attempt a citizen initiative to reverse the Voter Suppression law or for that matter, do a damn thing about anything, except make crappy web ads. If we are ever gonna win here in Florida, we have only ourselves to count on.

Enough!

Seminole's "Senator" Deserved Better

Having the oldest and largest Cypress tree was a source of pride for us in Seminole County. We don't have a lot of landmarks, but that tree could compare to any of the natural wonders of the world. It certainly did for those blessed to see it for the first time.

My sadness of the loss is almost matched by my anger for the apparent incompetence in the investigation. Almost immediately, an investigator from FL Department of Agriculture ruled out arson, saying it was likely either a lightning strike or "friction". Really? Does anyone remember any lightning the past few days? So out of nowhere there was a lightning bolt that happened to hit only the Senator in the middle of the night and nothing else? The other explanation is equally preposterous. We are supposed to believe a tree that stood 3500 years spontaneously combusted?

Maybe they did happen, but I would bet targeted arson is a heck of a lot more likely, and it certainly should not have instantaneously been ruled out. If it was arson, I'm sure the perpetrator is laughing his head off... and pondering now if he can get away with attacking the sister tree, Lady Liberty.

Hopefully our officials will realize the danger and at the very least have a motion sensor around Lady Liberty to alert if someone gets close at night. Unlike man-made national monuents, these can never be rebuild.

Mitt Romney and Rick Scott Have a LOT in Common

Medicare fraud and corruption run hand in hand with these guys. No wonder they endorsed each other...

Sandy Adams Screws Us on Payroll Tax Cut

The Senate passed a payroll tax cut extension with 90% approval. However, the House GOP, including my own representative, Sandy Adams, just walked out knowing inaction will cause a big cut in my take-home pay next year.

I note the GOP had no trouble passing the Bush tax cut, which unlike the payroll tax cut, wasn't paid for and primarily benefitted the upper crust. But the payroll tax cut only helps working families, and has been labeled a “gimmick” by GOP members for weeks. And now we are to believe they really did want it but are rejecting it because it isn’t long enough?

We are not stupid. There are many reasons for the GOP to oppose this tax cut. Maybe they think working families don’t deserve it, or maybe it’s their misguided belief that a bad economy will help them this November, or maybe it’s just because Obama dared to support it. But don’t dare tell me you are giving me a tax hike because you are fighting for me.

If you hate the tax hike as well Contact Sandy Adams and let her know.

House GOP to REJECT payroll tax cut...Admits because it will help Obama!!

The Orange one, Boehner, as you may recall, gave his counterpart in the Senate, Mitch, the proxy to negotiate a compromise on the payroll tax cut extension and promised to support it. The Senate finally reached a compromise with 89 votes in favor.

Boehner described the Senate vote as "a good deal" and "a victory". All's good... until he talked with Cantor and other teabaggers on a conference call yesterday.

CNN:

"The rank-and-file members are extremely opposed to it," said the GOP source, adding that most members were concerned with the uncertainty caused by just a two-month extension, as well as the political benefit the White House could gain in the national dialogue over taxes.

MOTHER-F REALLY!??

Let's read that one more time..,.

...most [teabag] members were concerned with the uncertainty caused by just a two-month extension, as well as the political benefit the White House could gain in the national dialogue over taxes.

I can't believe I am reading that. The House GOP is admitting their big concern is that the middle-class will get a tax cut, and Obama will get credit for it... so let's JUST F- them!!

Anybody in the middle-class who votes GOP is insane or not paying any attention.

There was NO problem whatsoever passing the Bush tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefitted millionaires and billionaires. Those cuts didn't even have to be paid for... and we all know how they worked out. The Bush years dragged our economy down into the gutter... and ran our deficit into the stratsosphere.

Cutting taxes on the top 1% is the only kind of tax cuts the GOP likes. The payroll tax cut only benefits the middle-class (GASP) and will give the working families much needed relief that will actually HELP our economy because the middle-class has no choice but to spend on items they need. But because it primarily helps the middle-class, and because it is OBAMA who dares to ask for this tax cut, the GOP is fighting tooth and nail against it!

The same people who rail about tax cuts can't come up with any reason to oppose it... so they actually ADMIT that their main beef is that this will help Obama and the Democrats.

In case you had any doubt the GOP wanted to sabotage the economy to help themselves, look no further.

Now, obviously, the Weeper of the House reversed position right after that call and now opposes the payroll tax cut extension... making him not only a coward but a liar since he originally promised to back the deal by Sen. McConnell.

Chuck Schumer has had enough:

"This is a test of whether the House Republicans are fit to govern, and it is a make-or-break moment for John Boehner's speakership," Schumer said in a statement. "You cannot let a small group at the extreme resort to brinksmanship every time there is a major national issue and try to dictate every move this nation makes."

According to Schumer,

"This compromise was good enough for Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio. It was good enough for Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn. It should be good enough for Speaker Boehner," Schumer said, naming conservative Republican senators who supported the plan. "The speaker needs to put the Senate's bipartisan compromise on the floor and let House Democrats and the remaining sane members of the House Republican caucus vote for it."

I've had enough too....

FL GOP Legislature: Rich Men Who Cheat Will Be Protected

Because if there is ever an oppressed class, its unfaithful wealthy men...

This is also an example of how bad gerrymandering has gotten in this state. Even during the large red wave of conservative activism last year, a constitutional amendment to end the practice was passed with a supermajority of voters. (Although the FL legislature is spending millions to overturn it.)

They are angry that idiot legislators like Ritch Workman (R-Melbourne) are very, very safe and win big.

SO safe, he can pitch DWARF-TOSSING as a jobs bill.

So safe, that this SOB is now putting forth a horrible bill with the sole purpose of protecting rich men who cheat on their wives.


The bill would:

-Forbid judges from considering adultery when they determine alimony.

-Put a cap on the amount and the length of time its paid.

-Allow any and all PREVIOUS divorce agreements to be reopened and renegotiated.



I'm sure this is completely unrelated... but Rich Workman just finalized his own divorce 8 DAYS after filing this travesty of a bill. Any guesses the reason for that divorce? Anyone?

Don't think for a second this doesn't stand a chance of passage. We have a super majority Republican legislature that backs this stupidity... with many of them from the "moral values" crowd who are either currently divorced or even going through the process right now.

Divorce lawyers stand to make a fortune in reopening claims--and there is a niche industry in Central Florida that cater to wealthy men who don't want to support their wives or children. (If you live here, you've seen the bill boards). And then, of course, you need to understand the powerful lobby groups, such as Fathers and Family, Florida Alimony Reform, etc., who represent rich, divorced fathers. (I hear Newt is a fan.)

Last year's session of the FL legislature served only to make the vast majority of us suffer. Forced ultrasounds, schools cut to the bone, and voting rights destroyed just to name a few.

Unfortunately, this awful bill, which even Workman admits he didn't think through, will likely be one of many torture sessions we must endure before election next November.

Christmas 2011: Ebeneezer Scrooge is the GOP Hero

Bill Maher:

And finally, since it's our last show before the holidays, New Rule: someone needs to explain to the Republicans that Ebenezer Scrooge is supposed to be the bad guy. And before conservatives start whining about another "War on Christmas", they must admit they hate everything about Christmas. Because brotherhood, good will toward men, and especially charity make their skin crawl.
Now this week, Michele Bachmann proposed cutting huge holes in the federal safety net, demonstrating a total misunderstanding of the concept of a net. Here's what she said.

MICHELE BACHMANN (11/7/2011): Self-reliance means if anyone will not work, neither should he eat.

Merry Christmas to you too, crazy lady. Yeah, that's the first thing I think whenever self-reliance comes up: punishment by starvation.

Honestly, who could hear that statement, and not think of Scrooge, who in A Christmas Carol, suggests that if the poor don't want to go to the workhouse, they should get on with dying as a service to population control. Now if Herman Cain said that at a Republican debate, he would get a standing ovation. And say what you want about Ebenezer Scrooge, he never shoved Bob Cratchit's head into his groin and said, "Look, you want Christmas off or not?"

(wild audience applause)

Newt Gingrich refers to Obama as the "Food Stamp President", because Obama doesn't want children to starve to death, fuckin' commie.

Mitt Romney says we should let all the people about to lose their homes, lose them. And they can just become renters. Ownership society? Meet "No pets, no waterbeds". Mitt said the same thing a few years ago when the automobile industry was tottering: "Let it die".

I find it ironic that Republicans have such disdain for the lazy, and yet their solution to every problem is "do nothing".

Their answer to wealth inequality? Do nothing.

Health care? Do nothing.

Climate change? Nothing.

Racism? Doesn't exist.

For a group of people so head over heels in love with self-reliance, they sure do recommend a lot of sitting on their ass.

If A Christmas Carol was performed by the Tea Party Dramatic Society, it would be a cautionary tale about how the hero, Scrooge, a blameless job creator, is turned into a socialist through the corrupting influence of Tiny Tim. And the play would end with a simple plaintive question from Mr. Scrooge: "Just how much of my wealth does Mr. Tim think he's entitled to?"

And that is the great Republican fallacy of this election, that our economic problems are due not to Wall Street's gambling, but because too many Americans are lazy. But there are 16 million unemployed, and we only created 80,000 jobs last month. The problem isn't laziness, it's math.

But this is where the Republican Party is now.

In favor of people dying, because they don't have health insurance.

In favor of letting people go unfed if they won't work.

And if they want to work, but are Mexicans, in favor of putting up a fence that electrocutes them.

Even Scrooge is thinking, "Look, I hate the poor, but I'm not a fucking psychopath."

But that's where this party is. It simply has no bottom. Except Marcus Bachmann, he's a bottom.

Real Loser of Last Night's Debate (not Rick Perry)

I can't help but feel bad for Rick Perry. I've had a few moments where I'm talking in front of a large group of people, or a debate roundtable on television, or am invited to a radio show, and during a tirade it hits me... there are A LOT of people watching me. Unlike Rick Perry, I press through it and never once considered passing up a chance to be heard.

See, that's the thing about debates. You get better each time you practice. I guess blowing off all those debates all those years in Texas didn't do him any favors in the big league. I was one of those people who relentlessly teased him about ducking the rest of the debates. But even I had no idea how horrendously unprepared and god-awful he could be. He was right... he REALLY should have skipped the debates.

Romney again showed how lucky he is, by picking off candidates without ever firing a shot. His chief rivals, Cain and Perry, imploded in the same week. Ironically, up to the magic moment when Perry shot his foot off, he actually had the strongest performance to date. Romney gave a relatively weak performance, messing up answers on the auto bailout and again being incoherent on his signature accomplishment... the individual mandate. But again, the stars aligned and Rick Perry saved him by being the focus of attention for the next few days.

Romney came out the winner of last night's debate thanks to Rick.

Who is the BIG winner of last night's debate you ask?

Dan Quayle.

Before last night, he was the victim of the worst debate moment in history when Senator Lloyd Benson handed him his ass in the best verbal smackdown to date.

Now we have a new champion. Rick Perry.

But Perry's complete implosion over passionately shutting down a federal agency he can't even name which has, let's face it, ended his campaign for prez even if he won't admit it, is not the BIG loser of last night's debate.

Fact is, Perry was finished before the debate even started. All we are watching is the painful death of a candidacy that has been on life support two months ago. (But that first month, what a ride).

No, the Biggest Loser: TIM PAWLENTY

That's right.

He was the original "anti-Romney", and if we have learned anything by watching the GOP circus, the base HATES. THE. MITT. (The Establishment GOP, who has always seen the teabags as useful idiots, must be positively gleeful.)

But it didn't have to be. Up to the completely meaningless Iowa Straw Poll, Pawlenty
was overshadowed by "frontrunners" Bachmann and Paul. Paul was never gonna happen, and Bachmann quickly became the joke she already was. Perry stalled, and Cain imploded. Now Perry, whom some had hoped would get a second wind (who else did they have?) is now officially DOA.

The anti-romney coalition won't rally around an unelectable like Gingrich, and refuse to even consider the only adult in the room, Huntsman, because he isn't a pandering jackass.

If Tim Pawlenty was still in the race, HE WOULD BE THE FRONT RUNNER.

Which is why I find this so delicious.

Not too long ago, he admitted he regretted his decision:

"If we would have known then what we know now, would we have made some different decisions?" he replied. "Sure we would have, and I regret not making different decisions."

That he surrendered to Michelle Bachmann and Mitt Romney. His ONE and ONLY shot at this, and he blew it.

What an idiot. I can only imagine what is going through his head right now.

I give you the BIGGEST LOSER on the planet. Tim Pawlenty.

No, the honor of who will go on to be defeated by Obama will be as has been foretold. Mittens Romney.

Of course, if any of the GOP candidates win, then I will have to declare a new Biggest Loser... the American people.

FL Teacher Faces $1000 Fine for Registering Students to VOTE!

Nobody does voter suppression like the new Florida:

New Smyrna Beach High School Jill Cicciarelli is an excellent civics teacher who has been teaching for many years. But she is also a criminal. Her crime? Helping her students register to vote.

This wasn't a crime last year, before Rick Scott. In fact, Mrs. Cicciarelli helps her senior class EVERY year with the paperwork to preregister for the voting rolls. But she was on maternity leave in the spring when the Legislature passed a a new voter suppression law that, among other things, requires third parties to register with the state before they help sign up new voters.

Mrs. Cicciarelli is an unauthorized party. Furthermore, she waited longer than the insane new 48 hour time limit to hand in the applications.

She now is looking at a $1000 fine.

I documented all of the voter suppression tactics in this horrible GOP law in a blog post last April. The new law is the worst in the nation that somehow manages to tarnish our already poor reputation on voting rights.

For one thing, it requires likely Dem voters to receive provisional ballots (women who change their name, college students with new addresses, almost anyone who is challenged by vote caging, etc,). This is significant because the majority of provisional ballots ARE NOT COUNTED!

It forces registration of every volunteer who might want to register someone to vote. It restricts video or audio of voters at polling places (which helps teabaggers who engage in vote caging operations), and puts a ridiculous time limit on registration forms. Fines are minimum $50 per late application!

Then there's the politicizing of the supervisors of elections, cutting early voting, curbing citizen intiatives... and as you are about to see, ridiculous regulations imposed on election supervisors that try to help people register.

All in the name of "voter fraud", of which Kurt Browning, our right-wing Sec. of State, admits he can't find ONE F&*&ING INCIDENT. Interestingly, they couldn't get one GOP supervisor of elections to name one either.

In fact, they think the law sucks too.

Ann Mcfall is the REPUBLICAN Supervisor of Elections of Volusia County who was forced to report the teacher and her students to the Division of Elections for noncompliance.

She is outraged about that... and justifiably so. I urge you to read the entire article she penned in the Daytona beach paper entitled "Voter registration law is frustrating and unenforceable" :

Traditionally, as supervisor of elections, I go out of my way to avoid controversy and conflict. My job is to implement new laws and manage elections, no matter what laws or rules may change. But legislation passed in the 2011 session was, in my humble opinion, so egregious that I felt I had to bring it to the attention of all interested citizens.

You see, she can no longer just give out forms. She is forced to keep a record and report to the state the name of everyone who picks up a voter registration form from a third-party. HOW THE HELL is anyone supposed to know that since they are usually left in stacks at libraries, post offices, etc.

She is supposed to report how many are provided, how many get processed per day, the date filled out (even though the person signing it has to date it on the form anyway), etc. The goal here is obvious... to make it ridiculously cumbersome to register to vote. That, cominbed with outrageous fines, will make sure most people don't bother.

As for the teacher, Senator Bill Nelson (D) has gotten involved. He met with the teacher, and the students. He told them that this is a "direct assault on democracy." He promised the teacher and the students that would share their stories with Gov. Skeletor and ask the law be repealed next session.

(Our other Senator, Marco Rubio (teabagger), didn't bother to assist and thinks the new law is just dandy.)

Teacher in trouble after registering students to vote: MyFoxORLANDO.com

Although she faces $1000 in fines, this case has become high-profile thanks to Sen. Nelson and it is likely that this teacher will get a "warning". But Scott and his allies got their message out to the electorate: Help register people to vote, and risk getting in trouble.

They have been wildly successful with this.

The League of Women voters suspended voter registration efforts in Florida for fear of exposing volunteers to up to $1,000 in fines, and the thousands of volunteers in other nonprofits aren't risking it either.

My only hope is that those of us brave enough to register to vote and God Forbid help others to register will remember which party it was that tried to stop them.

Next year, I plan on registering as many people as I can to vote. Arrest me. I just hope my fellow fed-up Floridians will join me.

Khaddafi Killed; Rebels Support OWS

Hillary Clinton returned from Libya one day before they captured and killed the man that Ronald Reagan tried for years but was unable to touch.

A man whose brutal regime was apparently not bad enough that George W. Bush felt the need to life ALL sanctions in 2004.

No American soldier died. No treasure spent. Libya is the anti-Iraq, and shows how a GOOD American president can foster democracy.

The Arab Spring is inspiring, but now is the time for the American Autumn. When ordinary Americans rise up and say NO MORE to Wall Street abuses and their GOP enablers.

-No more taxpayer subsidies for the Biggest Oil Companies.

-No more dead peasant insurance.

-No more raiding retirement funds to pay top-level executives.

-No more GOP stripping away all consumer rights and employee protections.

Enough.

Occupy Florida

Occupy Florida

A handful of occupations are happening tomorrow (Ocala, Orlando, Daytona Beach) and some are ongoing (Gainesville, Tampa).

Join the movement!

Anita Perry Blames Obama for Her Idiot Son

Anita Perry stepped in it again. She told a crowd her spoiled son is out of work because of Obama:

Rick Perry's wife Anita said Friday that she could sympathize with the plight of the unemployed because her son was forced to resign his job to take a more active role on his father's presidential campaign.

Anita Perry blamed the Obama administration for her son having to resign his position.

"My son had to resign his job because of federal regulations that Washington has put on us," Mrs. Perry said while campaigning for her husband in South Carolina, after a voter shared the story of losing his job....


"My son lost his job because of this administration," she said a few minutes later.

You see, there is this regulation that has been on the books for some time that prevents financial backers from undue influence on a political campaign.

That's a good thing.

But this mama's boy CHOSE to leave his job at Deutche bank to take ANOTHER job working for his dad to help his sagging campaign... a new job that I might add is certain to pay him handsomely.

And the ditz says this qualifies her to sympathize with people who CANNOT get a job and are really suffering.

Seriously. The Perry family, part of that top 1% you've been hearing about, are doing the typical GOP thing and playing the victims.

This idiot kid has been living off his father's name for quite some time. At the ripe old age of 23, Griffin Perry secured a sweet job at UBS. The fact that the investment banking firm stood to make hundreds of millions through a lottery proposal the governor was pushing I'm sure had nothing to do with that. Nor the fact that UBS is where former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, whose political action committee once gave the governor $610,000, works as a vice chairman.

Somehow, I don't think Griffin is going to wind up at McDonald's or any of the Mcjobs Rick Perry is famous for creating after his dad's campaign finishes going down in flames.

So to sum up... if you are out of work and liberal, it's your OWN DAMN FAULT. If you are "out of work" and conservative... it's OBAMA.

I wonder who Anita will blame when her equally moronic husband loses?


UPDATE:

6:11 PM PT: WHOOPS!

Check out this YouTube video of Anita Perry saying her son couldn't wait to quit his job. You are going to want to go right to the 6:03 mark (trust me, you won't want to see the whole video. She is painful to listen to.)

http://www.youtube.com/...

Rick Scott Attacks the Elderly

You would think that the large geriatric population in Florida would mean that the teabaggers would at least ensure there is proper funding and oversight for nursing homes.

And you would be wrong.

First of all, Florida nursing homes are in serious, serious trouble. Rick Scott and his GOP allies cut back funding drastically; and coupled with federal cuts we now have Florida facilities with NO way to meet payroll expenses:

But even more alarming, operators say, is the prospect of no beds available for the sickest patients, who need the highest — and most costly — levels of nursing.

But don't worry, the Florida legislature made sure to match the cuts by allowing lesser care for the patients. They were able to pass a bill that limits the number of hours of direct care. They also tried (and will try again next year) to target volunteers to make it extremely difficult to visit a facility. (Pretty soon, it will be almost as hard as registering to vote.)

Bottom line: It will be harder for quality nursing homes to remain in business... but this is great news for the greedy ones who never cared about the patient. Just how bad have things gotten?

Residents are actually dying at a rate of once a month as a result of abuse and neglect.

If you can stomach it, the Miami Herald did an expose of horrible stories of residents being tortured, starved, drugged, and brutalized.


Luckily, there was Ombudsman Brian Lee, head of the state's watchdog program. Lee had an office set up years ago with virtually no budget, and an army of unpaid volunteers. All they did was visit nursing homes and report obvious cases of filth and neglect.


He was aggressive and successful. Surveys showed 98 percent satisfaction. The program had conducted a record-high 9,000-plus investigations the previous year. It cost virutally nothing.

Naturally, Lee and his team was HATED by the nursing-home industry. Nursing home operators in December had urged Gov. Rick Scott to replace Brian Lee for being "too aggressive."

In his lawsuit, Lee said he was approached soon after Scott's election and told to either resign or be fired because he was asking for too much information.

He refused to resign, and Gov. Voldemort fired him as one of his first acts as goober.



To this day, Sick Rott cannot explain why. He told federal investigators it was "normal turnover". (Odd, since Lee was fired. But I guess lying to federal investigators comes second nature to Gov. Scott.)

The new ombudsman is Jim Crochet, appointed to the position by Charles Corley, appointed by Sick Rott. All are friendly to the industry and have so far done nothing... whcih was the plan all along.

In fact, the US Administration on Aging recently investigated and detemirned that our ombudsman program doesn't even meet the minimum standard for protectng and caring for the elderly.

You can now add seniors now to the long list of victims (children, the poor, veterans, the mentally disabled, dentists, teachers, all government employees, and as of yesterday, dwarfs, etc.) of Rick Scott and his allies. I guess it wasn't enough to just steal their money...

Florida GOP Jobs Bill: Legalize Dwarf-Tossing! (not kidding)

Our unemployment rate is sky high at 10.7%, with some industries like construction nearly double that. We also have the highest foreclosure rate and critical infrastructure needs.

Our Teabag state legislature responded quickly: by introducing 17 bills to restrict abortion, by making the largest cuts in education and health care in state history, and by making voter registration nearly impossible.

Naturally, Floridians were outraged. But don't worry, it took them awhile but they have a jobless plan:

Jobless dwarfs should have the option of being flung around a barroom for cash rather than standing in the unemployment line, according to one Florida state lawmaker.

Representative Ritch Workman, a Melbourne Republican, has introduced a bill to undo a ban on “dwarf-tossing”... he said it may put a few people to work in a state where unemployment is 1.6 percentage points above the national average.

Dear Lord I hate these people.

Our criminal governor was outraged... just kidding. His spokesman said he needed to "review the legislation" and therfore claimed it "wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment.”


WTF??

It was banned decades ago for obvious reasons:

It is dangerous.

It is dehumanizing.

What the hell do you have to "review" governor?

Well, I have a few things to "review":

• Rick Scott killed, his first month in office, a fully-funded high-speed rail project that would have generated more than 71,000 jobs! (but wants to spend 77 million of state money to dredge the wrong port.



• He then bragged about laying off 15,000 government workers.



• And now says he’ll reject (along with state house leaders "Hair"adopolis and Cannon) $7.5 billion in grants from President Obama’s new jobs plan, which would create more than 60,000 jobs and give despereatly neeeded funds for schools, public works and foreclosure relief... even though this would be offset by spending cuts and we would just be getting our money back that was sent to DC.

Rick Scott made news this week for lying about his pledge to produce 700,000 jobs. (See the video below, he openly contradicts himself).

But unless 700,000 little people come to this state willing to degrade themselves... our teabag overlords are out of ideas.

:

Message to Teabaggers

From Ray Pensador at Dkos:

...You will never find a hate-filled racist Progressive. You will never find an anti-intellectualism Progressive. You will never find a Progressive who does not have a clear understanding of the importance of the concept of separation between Church and State. Look as hard as you want, and you will never find a Progressive that does not accept the scientific proof that human industrial activity has a negative impact on climate change.

There are no neo-Nazi Progressives. A Progressive would never cheer upon hearing someone mention the high count of state-sponsored executions of prisoners by a State. You would never find a Progressive that, blinded by a deep-seated hate and racism, would believe that the duly elected president of the United States is not a citizen.

And, yes, even though there are Progressives that hold religious beliefs, you will never find an in-your-face bible-thumping Progressive wanting to incite the beginning of Armageddon in Israel in order to precipitate the Second Coming.

You will never find Progressives that believe that the best way to deal with a state that's literally burning is by praying for rain.

You see, Progressives believe that many of those battles were fought after the Middle Ages, and that the age of reason and enlightenment, and the renaissance, won the day.

So, to my dear teabagger readers, think carefully about these things. Are you really that proud that only within your ranks can you find racists, and extreme religious fundamentalists, and sadists who cheer at the thought of an uninsured man being left to die if he gets seriously ill and can't afford to pay for healthcare?

And, please, don't misunderstand me. I know that not all of you teabaggers are like that. But it is a fact that only within your ranks can you find such despicable characters. Think about that. And thanks for reading.

Even the dumest teabagger should understand this

Between the years 1980 and 2005 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%. Let me put that in terms that even you fatass teabaggers, sorry, can understand. Say 100 Americans get together and order a 100 slice pizza, the pizza arrives, they open the box, and the first guy takes 80 slices. And if someone suggests "Why don't you just take 79 slices?" THAT'S SOCIALISM!


...Bill Maher

Florida ER: "Good Thing You Aren't a Teacher!"

I am writing this to you from the ER at my hospital in Central Florida. I had chest pains at 3am last night so decided not to take any chances. I was taken by a nurse, then poked, stabbed, and prodded, then back to my assigned room. (I'll be here overnight.) I was visited by a case worker, several nurses, a pharmacist, and of course, the bill collector. The bill collector was a nice, older lady that asked if I could pay all at once. I said yes. She told me it would be $100.00 with my insurance. Although I can afford it, I protested a little bit. I said it was $25 when I was here last (in 2001). She responded:

"Good thing you aren't a teacher."

I asked what she meant by that. She told me teachers now have to pay $300.00 JUST TO VISIT THE ER. A new teacher makes under $28,000 in Orange County, so I was surprised it was so much. I had chilling thoughts of young teachers bringing their children in and being forced to cough up so much just so their kids can be seen. I asked her how long has it been so high. She said matter-of-factly, "Just this year."

And then added, "Our new governor."

I started seething. Every day I am introduced to a way that teabag son-of-a-bitch is hurting people. It no doubt is contributing to my stress, which is probably why I'm here in the first place. But I couldn't resist. I blurted out how much of a bastard I think he is. She mumbled something about how he certainly doesn't seem to like teachers. I asked her what she tells teachers before she gives them the bill. Her response:

"At least you're not a firefighter."

She told me firefighters in the city have to pay $700 to be seen at the ER.

Teachers and firefighters are leeches in the eyes of our governor and his teabag cronies who run this state. This is ironic since the only ACTUAL leeches on the public dole are the governor and his teabag cronies: the ones who apparently get paid to hurt people, not help.

And these ACTUAL leeches don't see any problem with taxpayers being forced to give THEM sweet healthcare. Gov. Skeletor pays only $360 A YEAR for healthcare! That's less than any other government employee in the state, including his cleaning staff.

The FL teabag state legislators who rail against public servants and decry government "waste"?
They pay just $8.34 a month for healthcare!

No wonder my heart is giving out...

Congratulations to Obama on Libya

More dictators and terrorist leaders have fallen than all conservative presidents combined. After your speech in Cairo, the Arab Spring. Tunisia dictatorship... gone. Mubarak of Egypt... gone. Osama Bin Laden, the bastard George W. promised to hunt down and then got tired of chasing, GONE!!! Qadaffi, the man called the "MADDOG of the Middle East" by GOP savior Reagan... who made it his personal mission to oust him but utterly failed, GONE!!! (Well, he will be soon...)

Obama is a foreign policy master. He didn't oust Qadaffi unilaterally, spending TRILLIONS of dollars and thousands of American lives like a certain other president. When Qaddafi began to get the upper hand in Feb. and promised to go house to house and slaughter his own people, Obama calmly met with NATO allies and initiated the bombing campaign to stop the slaughter. The rebels got the upper-hand and now Libya will be freed.

Libya is the anti-Iraq.

Rick Scott's New Florida: State-Sponsored Intimidation!

My heart sank when I saw the document.

I go to to townhalls, and I do occasionally ask questions of my representative. I am firm, but always polite and respectful (unlike certain GOP leaders I know). My current rep., teabag extraordinaire Sandy Adams, doesn't do townhalls, but her cowardice is my fortune because right next to my house is the gerrymandered line of another bagger named Dan Webster. He was affectionately named "Taliban Dan" by his predecessor, one Alan Grayson. After you read this, you will understand how spot on Grayson was.

I had heard that Taliban Dan had his staff take video and pictures of everyone who spoke at different townhall meetings.

Now we know why.

Everyone at Dan Webster's townhalls who asked a tough question was put on a "Citizen Watch List"!

No, I am not exaggerating. You can see the creepy document here.

The document gives the person's full name, picture, and pointed questions to be shouted at the them at future townhalls or given to the media to helpfully interrogate them.

Who are these dangerous extremists that need to be "watched"? According to the document, they are professional trouble-makers who must all work for liberal groups like the dreaded MoveON. Except, they aren't. With one exception, none of them are associated with any group... and ALL OF THEM are constituents of Dan Webster!

The only link between them is that everyone on that list made the local news by asking a tough question at one of these townhalls. That's it.

For example, one person on the list, Ron Parsell, dared to ask a tough question.. and prefaced it by saying he was a Vietnam veteran.

According to the document, like-minded teabag attendees are supposed to shout questions or demand the media ask questions that insinuate he didn't really serve. (Are you really a Vietnam vet? What branch? What unit? Where EXACTLY did you serve?)

He, along with the others profiled, were also supposed to be interrogated as to whether they worked on Obama's campaign. (Like that would matter, but according to the Huffington Post, the one news outfit that picked this story up, NONE OF THEM DID!)

These are Webster's constituents. People he should be looking out for... NOT harrassing!

One of the people on the list is an unemployed gentleman who had the audacity to ask a question about jobs. Now he is regretting his right to speak up. WHY?

Because local organizers have said this document has been distributed as far away from Florida as Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina!


Hundreds of miles away, one GOP wingnut named Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark) handed out this "Citizen Watch List" to ALL ATTENDEES at his town hall meeting in Arkansas. Never mind that the document only had people from Florida District 8 who have NEVER attended a townhall outside of their own district. Like Webster, Tim Griffin had staffers on hand to photoraph and video each person who asked a question.

So why the hell would he pass out a Citizen Watch List featuring these people?

Simple. To intimidate. To scare. To make it perfectly clear: Ask the wrong question, end up like these poor saps!

Griffin's spokesperson, Jon Samford, tried to claim the document was prepared by an "outside group" when asked about it. This didn't explain why staffers ensured everyone had a copy, and why staffers were instructing attendees that this was their "homework"! The jackass then said these watch lists were passed out to show what they WERE NOT going to do. Right.

I would call for a full invetigation, but I know better. Our attorney general, Pam Bondi, is a wingnut with her own severe ethics problems, and our local media has completely ignored this story with the exception of a few blogs. Heck, not too long ago Rick Scott used law enforcement to intimidate protesters at a taxpayer-funded event.

Welcome to the New Florida.

HELP win back Wisconsin!

http://calloutthevote.com/



Stop Scott Walker and his thugs from ruining Wisconsin. I only wish we had a recall mechanism here in Florida.

OOPS! Redstate Backpedals After Blaming Muslims for Oslo Attack

Erick Erickson is an ass. (Which was the exact title of a post I wrote two years ago.) Right now he's bragging that GOP Senators, Congresspeople, and staff are calling him asking his advice on what to do with the debt ceiling. (Assuming that's true, I've got some advice...how about working for your damn constituents and not letting right-wing nutballs set your policy agenda.)

But dumbass had to do some serious backpedaling with an idiotic explanation of why he IMMEDIATELY jumped to the conclusion that it was obviously a Muslim conducting the terror attack while the terror was was ongoing without any evidence whatsoever. But, as Erick, son of Erick, had to admit:

Turns out, the now captured shooter, who I think we can probably say is connected to the bombing, lists himself as a conservative Christian on a Facebook page.

OOPS! Turns out this "Islamic" terrorist would have been a disciple of Cheryl Sullenger if he was in the states.

But instead of admitting to talking out of his ass, he goes on the defensive:

First, those of us on the right who point out the now fairly common ties between terrorists and Islam do so largely because the secular left has become willfully naive....
With Christians, it is rather rare to see a self-described Christian engage in heinous terrorist acts.

He does this, mind you, AFTER talking about Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh. But those, he says aren't real Christians. But the shooter at Ft Hood, THAT was a real Muslim, I guess.

Right-wing religious terrorists exist... the Klan considers itself a very Christian organization, whereas we all see it as a right-wing terrorist organization. They join all of those hateful white supremacist groups and militias whose members suddenly have found acceptance within the Tea Party ranks.

The abortion terrorists, our own American Taliban, are not just "self-described" Christians, but downright militant fanatics who don't think anything of gunning down abortion providers, blowing up clinics with IEDs, or just harassing and threatening anyone associated with the clinics.

Then Erick Erick goes Batshit Beckian crazy:

Secular leftists and Islamists are both of this world. Christians may be traveling through, but we are most definitely not of the world. In fact, Christ commands us to throw off our ties to this world. But the things of this world love this world and hate the things of God. That’s why secular leftism can embrace both activist homosexuals and activist muslims when the latter would, when true to their faith, be happy to kill the former.

Getting a glimpse of the warped brain of a right-wing zealot...they admit to hating this world which is why they are so intent on doing things to destroy it. (No wonder we have a hard time "negotiating" with that mindset.)

So in a nutshell... Christians are excused when they kill because they aren't really Christians, Muslims who kill are real Muslims, and somehow "activist" gays are to blame for this tragedy as well.

The left has intellectuals like Maddow, but we just don't have anyone on our side that is filled with this sort of vile. Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and the rest of their ilk have so much hate for others and find fault with everyone who is different than they are. They need to be treated, but in today's GOP, they are called the movement's "leaders". These are the people they call up for guidance.

People like Erick Erickson.

Mitt Romney: "Rick Scott is a great man, a great leader!"

On the national level, defeating Romney is all about pointing to how he made his fortune: by bankrupting profitable businesses, literally destroying thousands of jobs, and outsourcing the rest overseas. Then there's his miserable record as governor, which had one of the worst job creation records in the country. Not to mention his flip-flops on every issue... and that little bit of hypocricy called Romneycare.

But state by state is how the GOP fights, and that's what we need to do. So here is how it will go down in the Sunshine state...

First of all, let me be clear. Romney will be the nominee. Period. Spare me any talk about the new GOP or the tea party or any of that crap. I am terrible at picking the Democratic nominees (I was sure it would be Clinton in ‘08 just as I was sure it wouldn’t be in ’92), but when it comes to the GOP, my track record is 100% because I know the truth: the establishment always wins. It was Dole’s turn in ’96, although there were stronger players. No doubt it was W for ’00, although like Bob Dole, McCain put up a good fight and unquestionably supported the establishment choice…. thus putting himself in the que for the 2008 election. The pattern continues, and it’s Romney’s turn. The GOP establishment will not allow Bachmann or Palin to be the nominee and there is nothing, NOTHING, the useful idiots can do to stop that.

So we focus on Romney.

A visual of the plan looks something like this.

If there is one thing Floridians hate, its their devious, criminal, teabag governor.
He is now at 29% approval, the worst of any modern governor in any poll with the exception of Rod Blagojevich… and you know, he wasn’t that far behind with 18%.

Scott is so far in the dumps that he is trying to remake his image with pre-written Letters to the Editor and unsolicited, nonstop robocalls to every Floridian saying we got it wrong and he is actually awesome. (Everyone loves robocalls--Genius!)

Last November, Scott sank Sink by tying her to Obama. Repeatedly. Countless ads showing Sink saying nice things about Obama. Obama was nowhere on the ballot, but he was everywhere. This election cycle, we need to return the favor…

Rick Scott is a great man, a great leader…
-Mitt Romney

Rick Scott was strongly endorsed by Mitt Romney last year. They shared the stage in Florida’s conservative capital—the stepford-wives creepy “the Villages”.

At the Villages, Mitt Romney touted Rick Scott’s business experience… even though he knew about his documented criminal past.

He didn’t have to do this. He didn't have to endorse him. He could have stood on principle, if he had any. No other presidential hopeful bothered to stand with Rick Scott.

In fact, many conservative pundits and GOP politicians denounced Rick Scott. The VERY same day that Mitt Romney stood on stage with Rick Scott, Fox News darling Dick Morris gave an interview with WDBO where he had this to say:

"I think Rick Scott is a criminal who belongs in jail not in the governor's office."

Morris went on to say that he'd vote for the Democrat Alex Sink.

"She's a terrible candidate... her opponent is a criminal," he said.

But after the election, you'd think Mitt would have had the good sense to shut up. But it was Mitt who supported Scott sending the massive job-creating, 2.4 billion rail project to another state:

I read the governor's decision. He was concerned that the rail project would be a longterm sinkhole...--Mitt Romney

Right… which explains why Scott rejected a fully-funded project but supports spending $77 million of state money on an actual sinkhole. And didn't you go after try to spend hundreds of millions on rail in MA, Mitt?

Romney was also supportive of Rick Scott’s job-killing budget. I'm no youtube guru, but this writes itself: quotes from Romney praising Rick Scott to the moon... pictures of them arm-in-arm... Rick Scott calling funds for needy people, seniors, veterans, and disabled kids “frivolous and wasteful spending”. For added measure, show the salaries of his staff that he greatly increased and his new digs that he could afford after doubling his office budget to $638 million.

1 minute video... priceless.

Finally, in a state full of geriatrics, Romney and Scott are tied together by mutual admiration of a man who is toxic in this state. The guy who supports ending Medicare as we know it... Paul Ryan:

He is setting the right tone for finally getting spending and entitlements under control. Anyone who has read my book knows that we are on the same page.
--Mitt Romney

And Paul Ryan LOVES him some Rick Scott.

Mitt is going to try everything to distance himself from Scott... LET US NOT LET HIM.

Fortunately, Rick Scott won't let him either. Last month, Rick Scott decided to piss on Romney by doing the worst thing possible to him: endorsing him for president.

Romney—Scott, Scott—Romney.

Rick Scott has already proved that his endorsements are cursed. The Democratic party won VERY surprising victories in both the Tampa and Jacksonville mayor’s races this spring after Rick Scott came out for them.

Sitting governors in this state are absolutely a factor in national elections. The tea party minions came out in droves for the right-wing Rubio even thought the Florida GOP was solid (initially) behind Charlie Crist because of thier anti-Obama fervor. The popularity of Jeb was also a major factor for people supporting his brother's candidacy here in 2000. (Sorry about that, by the way.)


Thanks to Gov. Voldemort, he has managed to energize a Democratic-base completely demoralized for years. I am also seeing an awakening in the state's long suffering and inept Democratic party. They have their work cut out for them... the state offices are strongly GOP, the rethuglicans have a ton more money, and they just made voting for Democrats A LOT more difficult. But if the Florida Dems can hang Rick Scott around Romney's neck, then it's game over for Mittens.

GOP goes to the mat... for tax subsidies for BIG OIL

Last December, President Obama caved in to the Republicans who demanded extra tax cuts for the wealthy in exchange for an extension on unemployment benefits. Now the GOP is balking at paying for these cuts by refusing to raise the debt ceiling.

You should also be offended that we are talking about cutting Medicaid and Social Security, which we paid into, but the GOP refuses to even consider closing tax loopholes on corporate-jet owners or getting rid of taxpayer subsidies on big oil companies.

By the way, the corporate jet loophole would only mean depreciating the stupid jets at 5 years instead of 7. Yeah, that will really cost a lot of jobs somehow.

Then there's that stupid hedge fund loophole that only benefits a few on Wall Street but costs us hundreds of billions...nah, better to cut off Grandma's water bill.

That is what they are going to the mat for folks. This is the GOP's line in the sand... NO sacrifice for any rich-folk and taxpayer money being GIVEN to those who need it least.

That is the line in the sand. Please consider that fact next November.

Fox News: Casey Verdict Makes Sense

For those of you who know me on the site, I do a series called "my stupid state" chronicling the sheer madness that lives here. We have a lot of trouble with voting, we like to elect criminals, and after today, we can add "let child killers go free" to the list.

There were piles of evidence that she was involved in the death... the search engine, the duct tape, the laundry bag, the other items from her house found at the scene. Her ridiculous excuse that she drowned... (Why the hell would you duct tape her mouth!?!?) Her nonstop lying to the police. The contempt she showed her daughter before her disappearance and the sickening celebratory behavior after Caylee was killed.

No other "news" organization is justifying or condemning the verdict... but reporting the facts. But Fox decided to put this on the FRONT PAGE of their website:

Why Casey Anthony's Verdict Makes Sense by Dr. Keith Ablow


"Dr. Keith Ablow" focused entirely on her behavior after the killing. He said it "makes good sense" because certain people party after a trauma... especially someone like Casey who was "raped as a child" (although he admits this is something Casey just accused her father of). He tries to explain behavior in this ridiculous article that he admits may never have happened. It truly is indicative of a Fox News Story.

I was furious, but then I remembered that name. Where have I heard Dr. Keith Ablow before?

OH YEAH, this guy! Glenn Beck's minion:


Fox News Contributor Dr. Keith Ablow Attacks Barack & Michelle Obama’s Patriotism

October 2010

Fox News favorite psychiatrist, Dr. Keith Ablow, who is a Republican and who was last seen on Fox’s Megyn Kelly show where he deplored the creeping nanny state that monitors the body mass of American school children. He also provides validation for Glenn Beck as shown by his response to Beck’s contention that Obama has a problem with race. Ablow, being his objective medical self, said that “The president needs to look at himself and say, ‘Do I have prejudice that I wasn’t even aware of, perhaps, towards white people?” So surprise, surprise, this morning we have a Fox News “opinion” column which says that America is “in denial” about Obama because they just can’t deal with Obama’s questionable loyalty to America. Ablow burnishes his “creds” by invoking his experience as a doctor in order to do a “virtual” psychological evaluation on the feelings of Americans towards their president. How’s that for some nice, slick agitprop?

This there was this. Jon Stewart had fun with this one:

Fox News Pundit Responds To J. Crew Pink Nail Polish Controversy By Ignoring Facts, Spewing Misinformation

April 2011

The most offensive opinion piece published on a nationally recognized journalism outlet appeared on Fox News' website.

Dr. Keith Ablow, a television psychiatrist and Glenn Beck associate, penned the story. (He also recently co-authored a book called The 7, a combination of Beck memoir and Ablow's self-help techniques.)

...

He then sinks into a deep non sequitur:

"And while that may seem like no big deal, it will be a very big deal if it turns out that neither gender is very comfortable anymore nurturing children above all else..."

Dr. Ablow, what does raising children have to do with wearing nail polish? The logical fallacy of grouping these things together allows you to ignore the real issue, and instead highlight the conservative 's political call to "save the American family," whatever that means. It's like the Westboro Baptist Church rhetoric, just without the offensive words.

"...and neither gender is motivated to rank creating a family above having great sex forever..."

Again, what does pink nail polish have to do with having great sex all the time? As if you can't have both?

The close association on Dr. Ablow's part between gender identity and sexual activity is completely uninformed. For an average heterosexual American, unfamiliar with the plethora of alternatives in society, this error is a understandable. But Dr. Ablow is a psychiatrist. He is using this factual error to spread misinformation and, yes, hate.

It's nice to see Glenn Beck's people will continue to infect Fox News long after he has left.

Rick Sneaks Out of State to Meet Koch Brothers While State Burns

This is our governor:

Meanwhile, in Florida, days after declaring a state of emergency for his state’s own climate crisis, Gov. Rick Scott (R) disappeared over the weekend, failing to disclose his whereabouts in his public schedule and refusing to respond to numerous press inquiries. Yesterday, Scott finally admitted he left the state without informing his constituents to attend the the Koch summit. Florida press spent most of the past few days trying to track down the rogue governor while more than 300 wildfires continue to burn in the state:

​We finally have an answer as to where Gov. Rick Scott was this weekend, and it confirms our suspicion: at the billionaire Koch brothers’ secret conference outside Vail, Colorado.

St. Petersburg Times reporter Alex Leary got the information out of him, a day after the governor’s spokesman wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Scott was there.

“I told anybody who asked me,” the governor told the Times, apparently ignoring the fact that he spends most of his days playing hide-and-seek from the media.

For the first time since he took office, Scott’s public schedule was empty this past weekend, leading most to assume he was trying to conceal his attendance at the Koch event. Scott eventually admitted that he addressed attendees at the retreat, but was vague about what he said.

TWO Rick Scott Scandals on Same Day!

Because Scott is just bad enough that one scandal won't do...

Scandal #1:

For the first time in Florida history, a Governor's budget signing ceremony was deemed a "private" event. Even though the 70 billion dollar budget effects the lives of every single Floridian, and even though it was held outdoors in a public town square by a retirement community..

As usual, the most unpopular governor in the country wanted a friendly audience. So he addressed a teabag crowd at the "Villages", the ultra-conservative right-wing mecca of our state. He thought he was gauranteed a friendly audience.

He thought wrong.

Even in this conservative bastion, there were plenty of protestors. In his speech, he touted cuts to $615 million that he called "wasteful" and "frivolous" spending, which included programs for homeless veterans, public radio, cancer research, aid for disabled children, meals for needy seniors, and other "frivolous" spending.

Many of the seniors were upset with the $187.5 million cut in "wasteful" nursing home care, others were upset about that their children and grandchildren were getting kicked in the gut while the Teabag legislature revived slushfunds, bloated their highly-paid staffs, had million-dollar giveaways and payback for their cronies, and still somehow found 20 million dollars to FIGHT the Fair District amendments that passed with 63% of the vote.

Gov. Rick Scott was clearly startled, and the Sumter County Sheriff's Office was oredered to "keep Democrats out" and to literally look for "liberal-looking" seniors. By "liberal-looking", I guess they meant pins, buttons, and disingenious t-shirts that said something rabble-rousing like "I Like Teachers" or "We Care About Our Veterans". More than a dozen were removed.

This was not only immoral. It was illegal.

1. If this was a "private event"... TAXPAYER MONEY was used. The RNC didn't stage this. It was paid for completely by the taxpayers. They had no right. They should be sued.

2. Florida's budget signing has never been, nor should it be, a "private event". It effects all of us, and hurts most of us in this case. The least we can expect is for this cowardly governor to feebily attempt to justify it to our face.

3. This was outdoors in a public town square. Nuff said.

Here is a YouTube video of the Sumter County deputies pulling the trouble-making seniors away from the signing:




As sick as that was, that was just scandal numero uno that day.

Scandal #2:

The newspapers that covered the event showed the same pictures of Rick Scott being surrounded by screaming, uniformed children... many holding signs displaying their "affection" for Rick Scott.

Creepy pictures LIKE THIS ONE and THIS ONE.

I immediately knew something was off. Why would kids be crowding a Golem-looking freak like Rick Scott like he was Justin Beiber? Especially one who just fired their teachers??

This is the guy who tried to cut $3 BILLION in education, but still succeeded in the largest cut in our state history ($1.35 billion)

(And to add insult to injury, the SOB actually had the GALL to speak under a massive banner that read LESS WASTE - MORE FOR EDUCATION.)

Well, turns out the screaming kids weren't public school kids. Gov. Golem has NEVER visited a public school, and never will. Public schools, by the way, have policies against attending political events.

They were from two taxpayer-funded charter schools. (Scott wants charter schools to replace public schools.) But not just any charter schools. NO, the nearby Villages charter schools DID NOT ALLOW their children to attend Scott's "Spit on a Teacher, Kick a Disabled Kid" TEABAGGER Rally.

No, as usual,
something was up:

As it turns out, the kids were from the P.M. Wells and Four Corners charter schools in Osceola County. Both are run by Charter Schools USA, a large charter management firm whose CEO, Jonathan Hage, served on Gov. Scott’s education transition team when Scott took office in January. Scott is a big fan of charter schools and routinely pulls them in for photo opps, although it is uncertain whether as Governor he has ever visited a traditional public school. If he has, the media has not been made aware.

The kids were bused over 60 MILES back AND forth to attend this event.

Charter Schools USA had their "public relations consultant", Colleen Reynolds, defend the trip. (Our public school has to beg for essential funds, but charter schools run by Rick Scott buddies get enough taxpayer money to hire F&**ing public relations personnel!)

Mz. Reynolds said school funds were used, not taxpayer money, to bus the kids in...which is COMPLETE AND UTTER BS since the school funds ARE THE SAME AS TAXPAYER MONEY!! In fact, those two schools receive MILLIONS in taxpayer funding!

Mz. Reynolds also had the audacity to say it was a valuable field trip to teach kids about the democratic process.

So if my kid went to that school, he or she would learn that the democratic process means passing a budget that ruins the lives of the millions of citizens and then keeping out any possible dissenters by force.... not to mention being told to hold up pre-made propoganda signs bemoaning "earmarks" for the less fortunate.

Nice lesson, jerks.