Category Archives: Politics

The Republican Playbook.

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If you’ve ever been directly involved with a state or national political campaign, you may know that the people operating the campaigns are generally law school and political science graduates who view political campaigns in the same way most people view sports. It’s all about winning – often at any cost. That stated, it seems that Republicans take this philosophy to a completely different level.

Following is the Republican checklist for getting candidates elected:

1 – Create a variety of “think tanks” to “study” political issues. These groups are generally labeled with patriotic sounding names. A few examples are American Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, Center for Individual Freedom, Center for the Study of Popular Culture, Coalitions for America, F.A.I.R., FreedomWorks, Heritage Foundation, Leadership Institute, National Taxpayers Union, Club for Growth, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, American Center for Law and Justice, Family Research Council, Catholics United for the Faith, National Right to Life Committee, Center for Military Readiness, United Seniors Association, United States Border Control, American Civil Rights Institute, Media Research Center, Students for Academic Freedom… (Are you ready to salute, yet?).

The organizations bill themselves as independent and they generate lots of studies that are used to attack Democratic values. They also generate many of the Republican-sponsored bills that are introduced in Congress or in state legislatures. For example, the NRA wrote the liberal “Conceal and Carry” laws that have been passed in many states. And Kansas-based F.A.I.R. wrote the ill-conceived immigration bill recently passed in Arizona.

2 – Control the discussion. Ever wonder why Republican pundits on news programs never shut up? By controlling the discussion, they hope to control the agenda. They want the public to view each issue through a Republican lens. If Democrats bring up an issue first, Republicans do everything possible to re-frame the issue in a way that benefits them.  So Democrat-sponsored financial reform becomes a “government takeover” of banks.

3 – The big lie. The bigger the lie, the better. For example, a provision in the health reform bill designed to help people create living wills, became “death panels to pull the plug on Granny.” T.A.R.P., which was passed by the Bush administration to avoid worldwide financial collapse, is suddenly an example of Obama-inspired “Socialism”. And gays are an abomination under God, except for the ones Republicans sleep with.

4 – Names that disguise the reality of legislation. Bush’s “Clear Skies Initiative” was designed to weaken environmental protections. And “No Child Left Behind” was designed, not to improve education, but to punish impoverished schools with the most problematic enrollments.

5 – Wealth redistribution. You know how Republicans are always talking about Democrats wanting to redistribute wealth from the top down? (See #3) For 40 years, Republicans have been redistributing wealth upward.

6 – Small government. By repeating this mantra, Republicans have succeeded tapping into people’s dislike and distrust of bureaucracy. But it’s really just a cover for deregulation of stock markets, commodities, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, etc. Republicans abhor anything that stands in the way of corporate profits, even if it prevents calamities such the BP oil geyser in the Gulf. Funny how Republicans never seem to mind big military and big Homeland Security.

7 – Fear. The Bogeyman is going to get you unless you vote Republican. Only Republicans can save you from terrorists, communists, socialists, fascists, secularists, gay marriages, gays in the military, immigrants, drug lords, etc., etc.

8 – Unity and payback. You’re either with us or “agin” us. Compromise is a dirty word. So is bipartisanship.

9 – Activist judges. You’ve heard all about the evils of activist judges who rule on behalf of civil rights and the woman’s right to choose. But have you heard about the activist judges who decide the outcomes of elections and give corporations the rights of individuals, including the right to donate millions to Republican candidates?

10 – Media whores. Namely Fox News Channel and Rush Limbaugh who can be counted on to repeat Republican talking points without question.

11 – Obstruct Democrats in every way possible, then blame Democrats for the delays.  Just look at the current situation in Washington.  Republicans have invoked the filibuster rule more times this session than any other time in history to “stop Obama’s socialist agenda.”

12 – Repetition, repetition, repetition. This goes hand in hand with the big lie.  If they keep repeating a lie long enough, people begin to think it must be true.

What Republicans Really Stand For:

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Since Republicans like to attack any (make that every) Democrat idea, I thought it might be useful to look at what Republicans want.

1. Guns for everybody, no training required, the more the better.

2. Elimination of income taxes. Replace them with sales taxes, so the rich are taxed disproportionately less.

3. Elimination of labor unions. Who needs collective bargaining when corporations are so caring and generous to their employees?

4. Elimination of welfare, unemployment benefits, Social Security and Medicare. Only the wealthy deserve entitlements.

5. Elimination of public schools. After all, who wants children learning about such controversial issues as evolution anyway?

6. The criminalization of abortion, birth control and sex education. You can never have enough unwanted, uneducated children, right?

7. Repeal of health care reform – if you can’t afford health care on your own, you deserve to die.

8. Unlimited campaign contributions from corporations, but only for Republicans.

9. Deregulation of Wall Street, Big Oil, mining, Big Pharma, military contractors, commodities and any other campaign contributors.

10. Elimination of community organizers – you know, anyone who will fight for the underpriviledged and, most importantly, anyone who will register poor people to vote.

11. Elimination of mandatory minimum wages. It’s a drag on business to have to pay employees a living wage.

12. Downsizing of government, except for Homeland Security, I.C.E., border patrols, and any agency that looks out for wealthy Americans.

13. Privatization of the military, the Post Office, National Parks, and almost every other branch of government. There’s no profit for shareholders if the government does it.

14. Elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency. Climate change is just a myth perpetuated by Al Gore and those tree-hugging liberals. Besides, what good are natural resources if corporations can’t exploit them? Right?

15. Recognition of Christianity as the state religion. God bless America.

If you think I’m exaggerating, you just haven’t been paying attention.

The Oil Boys’ Legacy.

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In the first 90 days of the George W. Bush administration, Richard the Dick Cheney held a series of secret meetings on the subject of energy policy.  Famously (or should I say infamously), the Dick refused to list those who were present and what was discussed, but it’s well-known that the meetings included more than 100 oil industry officials who drafted a wish list of demands.  In all likelihood, those meetings led to almost every single negative event over the past 10 years.

Think I exaggerate?  Consider this:

Over that 10 years, our nation has suffered through skyrocketing gas and oil prices.  We have engaged in two wars, which interestingly enough have involved two nations considered critical to the oil industry.  (It’s well-known that Iraq has large oil deposits, and Afghanistan is necessary for the construction of a pipeline to get oil from the Balkans to world markets.)  We have seen pressure from the Bush administration to drill for oil in the Atlantic National Wildlife Refuge.  We have seen a Republican-led campaign to expand off-shore drilling.  And we have seen the oil giant, Halliburton, awarded enormous no-bid government contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq by its former CEO, Richard the Dick Cheney.  (Of course, it’s only coincidence that Halliburton paid the Dick $34 million after he was elected Vice-President.)

There’s another troubling legacy of the Dick’s meetings.

An internal investigation of the Minerals Management Service in 2008 described a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” by workers at the agency which regulates the oil industry. The investigation by Inspector General Earl E. Devaney found “a culture of ethical failure” at the MMS royalty collection office in Denver.  The report pointed to parties for MMS personnel and energy company representatives.  Indeed, the report stated that MMS personnel and oil companies were literally in bed with one another.  In addition to the sex, the Inspector General also reported that MMS employees accepted drugs, illegal contracts and gifts, such as ski trips and golf outings from oil representatives. 

Even more troubling, the Inspector General reported that the Bush/Cheney gang at MMS “showed no remorse” when confronted with the accusations.  And though they were disciplined, most of those people are still employed by MMS as regulators of energy.

It doesn’t take much imagination to see that the current oil gusher and environmental disaster in the Gulf is the direct result of Bush/Cheney policies and appointees.   Indeed, just this week, a whistleblower came forward with information detailing a pattern of negligence and falsified tests by BP and other oil giants along with lax oversight by government “regulators.”

So what are the solutions to this mess?  (Of course, there is no solution to the ecological disaster taking place in the Gulf.  It will be decades, if not centuries, for the environment to recover.)  BP, Halliburton and Transocean should be held accountable for the environmental and economic disaster taking place in the Gulf.   Congressional Republicans should immediately release their holds on dozens of Obama appointees.  Congress should subpeona Cheney to testify under oath about his energy meetings. 

Most important, we all should push our representatives to vote for non-carbon renewable energy. 

Who are we afraid of?

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Following the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, we have no military foes.  (At least not in a traditional sense.)  The Soviet Union is gone, replaced by Russia and a host of independent states.  China has gone from being a perceived enemy to our out-sourced manufacturing state holding billions in U.S. bonds.  And Germany and Japan have not been allowed to rebuild significant forces since the end of WWII. 

The only perceived threats are the failing state of North Korea, which has a large infantry and a few nuclear-tipped missles that are incapable of reaching our shores, and Iran, which has a smaller infantry and a nuclear bomb in the making.  In addition, there is nuclear-armed Pakistan with a government under seige by fundamentalist Muslims. 

True, it’s possible that our relationship with Russia could deteriorate enough that we might eventually have to worry about its nuclear aresenal.  But that would seem to be unlikely, and we have far superior technology along with our own enormous nuclear arsenal.

So, I repeat, who are we afraid of? 

What could possibly justify our continuing expenditures on military weaponry?  We spend more on our navy than the next 13 nations combined.   And, in total, our military expenditures exceed the next 11 nations combined! 

We could trim tens of billions of dollars from our weapons procurement budget and still be more than adequately prepared for any potential threat.  Indeed, one could argue that we could use that money more effectively to prevent poverty and other conditions that lead to war.  What if there were good schools for poor Muslim children and respectable jobs waiting for them after they graduate.  What if that helped them achieve the self-respect they are looking for?  Would they still consider blowing themselves up in a suicide attack? 

What if we relegated the neo-cons’ misguided “Plan for A New American Century” to the garbage bin of history where it belongs?  What if, instead, we quit trying to dominate the world?  What if we quit using our lone superpower status to support the imperialist designs of our large corporations?  What if we quit using our political clout and collective wealth to exploit the natural resources of less developed nations?

Or what if we used a portion of our enormous military budget to pay down our national debt?  Yeah, I know.  Why on Earth would we want to do that?

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

Can an entire political party be sociopathic?

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A sociopath is defined as one who has no conscience; someone who’s every action is intended to help themselves.  Now, I ask you.  Does that not describe the Republican Party and its media whores?

Consider the following: 

Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama administration want to close Guantanemo and try those imprisoned there.  Republicans go ballistic that these “illegal combatants” don’t deserve to be treated as criminals.  How naive for President Obama to believe in our justice system!

Or how about the “underpants bomber”?  A confused young man from Nigeria decides to stash explosives in his underpants in order to blow up a plane.  The Republican response is to point fingers at the Obama administration for Mirandizing him.  Despite the fact that the Obama administration acted exactly as the Bush administration did in response to Richard Reed, the shoe bomber, Republicans pretended to be outraged that the young man was read his Miranda rights.  Never mind that the “underpants bomber” cooperated with authorities with torture.

Or how about health care reform?  A bill that regulates health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and provides health care to 33 million Americans is, according to Republicans, a socialist or communist plot.  The census?  According to Republicans, it’s an Obama plot to round up conservatives and place them in internment camps.  (Of course that’s wrong.  Instead, Obama should use the data to round up Republicans and put them where they belong – in insane asylums.) 

Financial reform?  Despite the fact that Republicans allowed the “free markets” to send our economy into a death spiral while those responsible made millions in bonuses, Republicans would have us believe that reform is a Socialist plot leading to a government takeover of banks.  The worst oil disaster in the history of America (or maybe the world)?  According to Republicans, it was caused by environmental terrorists.  And the government’s response was delayed so the Obama administration can put an end to off-shore drilling. 

A failed terroist bombing of Times Square was, in twisted Republican minds, the result of the Obama administration being soft on terrorists and reaching out to Muslim nations.  Pay no attention to the fact that the suspect was quickly caught and provided information that led to the arrest of at least one Pakistani national without our resorting to torture.

One wonders how Republicans can make these accusations without laughing out loud.  Are they secretly biting their tongues in order to keep a straight face?  Or are they, as I suspect, clinically sociopathic?  You decide.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

“The Party of No”, Exhibit A

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Last week, Democrats attempted to break a logjam of 101 executive branch nominees being blocked by Republicans.  Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) appeared on the Senate floor to call up the names.  Unfortunately, Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) arrived just in time to officially object to each and every name.  Therefore, C-Span viewers were treated to an extraordinary example of theater by the “Party of No“.

Whitehouse read five names, followed by McCaskill, who read another 17. Each time a name was mentioned, Kyl adjusted his tie and smugly stated “I object.”  McCaskill returned to the floor later in the day and read 75 more.  All were met with the same response by Republicans.

No one should be surprised by such tactics from Republicans (least of all those of us who live in the state represented by Kyl and his pal, John McNasty).  Since the 2008 election, Republicans have blocked hundreds of nominations for key positions in the Obama administration.  They have refused to vote for any major legislation, even after Democrats embraced many Republican amendments.  They continue to call the President a “Socialist” despite the fact that he has governed from the center, and even though he appointed a number of Republicans to key positions.  (In reality, he has only done what he promised to do during the campaign.)

So when Kyl repeatedly stated “I object” on the Senate floor, he was simply articulating the entire agenda of the Republican Party.   Republican leaders seem proud of their obstructionism.  Indeed, Sarah Palin has said that it’s not the “Party of No.”  It’s the “Party of Hell No”.

Let’s hope that, when these Republicans are up for re-election and ask for support, voters respond in kind with a loud “Hell No”!

Main Street 57, Wall Street 41.

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For two days in a row, a bill for financial reform came up 3 votes short in the Senate. All 41 Republican Senators voted to prevent debate. In other words, they voted to filibuster. Polls show the American public overwhelmingly wants to see financial reform because they understand that it was the high-risk gambling on Wall Street that caused the worst economy since the Great Depression. Yet Republicans voted in unison to block it.

Why?

The answer is simple. Republicans say that they want financial reform, but they don’t want it to interfere with the almighty “free” market. It took them 62 years to undo the Glass-Steagall Act and they don’t want to see a similar bill. They don’t want to limit their wealthy and powerful masters’ ability to make outrageous profits from consumers. They don’t want to allow any form of consumer protection. And they certainly don’t want the voting public to see them taking the side of Wall Street in an open debate.

By keeping the debate behind closed doors, Republicans can make deals with bank lobbyists that will keep the money flowing on Wall Street and, more importantly, keep the money flowing toward Republican candidates.

So, for now, we’re treated to a high stakes game of cat and mouse. Democrats will keep asking for debate on financial reform, and Republicans will keep voting to block it. How long before Main Street reminds Republicans who they’re supposed to be working for?

Just Plain McNasty!

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For years, John McCain was known as the maverick because he occasionally crossed party lines to vote with Democrats. But now he says that he has never considered himself a maverick. Really? After months of campaigning with the half-governor, Sarah Palin, as “a team of mavericks?”

Well, I guess we’ll have to go back to referring to McCain by the nickname given him by his classmates: McNasty. It fits him better anyway.

For several years now, McCain has been campaigning against the truth. During his latest run for President, virtually every commercial or ad was based on outright lies. (I know this, because I vowed to send McCain an email for every lie he told. As a result, I sent him an email almost every day. And some days, I sent him 3 or more.)

One of McCain’s biggest lies is his famed stance against “earmarks” or what he calls “pork.” McCain is proud of the fact that he’s never been responsible for a single earmark. But if you study the issue, you’ll discover that his claim is nothing to be proud of, especially given McCain’s definition of pork. He has long turned down legitimate requests from the State of Arizona for schools, roads, bridges, health care, etc., etc., etc. Indeed, it’s difficult to determine what McCain has ever done for the state he allegedly represents.

Now McNasty is living up to his nickname in his campaign to retain his Senate seat in a primary battle against conservative radio talk show host and former Congressman, J.D. Hayworth. The campaign has turned into a contest to determine who can be the most far right wingnut – Dumb versus Dumber.  McCain’s commercials call him “the last man standing against Obama’s radical agenda.” They then go on to attack Hayworth by taking his statements and votes out of context. The commercials end by stating “It’s a matter of character.”

That’s correct. McCain has none.

New Poll: Tea Party Members Not Stupid! Just Greedy, Racist and Poorly Informed.

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Okay, I have to admit that my recent description of the Tea Party was somewhat flawed.  They are rednecks, but much to my surprise, it turns out that most are highly educated. (Now there’s an indictment of our education system, if I’ve ever seen one.)  A new poll by The New York Times and CBS found that a high precentage of these people are college-educated.  They’re also highly paid and highly confused. 

They say they hate government, yet they love Social Security.  They say they hate the new health care reform bill, yet they love government-run Medicare.  They say they hate the increase in national debt, yet they love the man who created most of it – George W. Bush.  They’re furious about tax “increases,” yet their taxes are lower than at any time during the Bush administration, and the second-lowest in last 50 years.  And they say they’re nostalgic for the fifties and sixties, yet those were the days when taxes were at an all-time high and the nation was in extreme turmoil.

How could these otherwise intelligent people be so confused?  I think I can provide the answer in three words – Fox News Channel.  They rely on the Republican propaganda channel for most of their information.

Indeed, Politico recently revealed a memo from a Political Action Committee leader to the Republican Party that shows the Tea Party Express was actually conceived by the Republican Party with the aid of Fox News.  Why?  The memo states that the purpose was to raise money for the Political Action Committee and Republicans to aid Republican candidates.

I believe there was another, unstated issue.  By focusing anger on President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress over the bailout of automakers and the stimulus package, the Tea Party Express would deflect attention from those really responsible for our nation’s financial meltdown – former President George W. Bush and the Republican Party.

So Tea Party activists, how does it feel to find out that you’ve been used to help the very people who got us into the mess you so deplore?  Or are you so blinded by your racism against an African-American President and non-white immigrants that you simply don’t care? 

Putting the party back in the Grand Old Party.

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Who’s running the Republican National Committee?  A bunch of aging fraternity brothers and sorority sisters?

For more than a year, the Republican Party has hammered President Obama and the Democratic Congress for spending money in order to resucitate the moribund economy left by George W. Bush.  (Nevermind that, as a result of the administration’s efforts, the economy seems to be rebounding.)   

Now it has been revealed that the Republican National Committee spent $1,946 at West Hollywood’s Voyeur Club featuring topless dancers in bondage outfits.  The expenditure was listed as “meals.”  Rrrrrright!   

Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission also show that the RNC spent more than $80,000 on private jets and $13,000 for limousines in February alone, plus $9,000 for the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,600 for the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons, and $15,000 at the W Hotel in Washington.    

In addition, this Grand Old Party of the people reported that it spent $982 of donors’ money on “office supplies” from the Boyden Valley Winery last December and more than $700 worth of “office supplies” from Congressional Liquors on Capitol Hill.  And, in December, the RNC reimbursed its Deputy Finance Director, Debbie LeHardy, for $453 worth of “meals” from Henri Bendel, a Fifth Avenue New York boutique that bills itself as a “Girls’ Playground for trendsetting young women from around the world.”  

By now, you’re probably wondering how you can get a job with the RNC.  But wait!  It gets better!   

In the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, the RNC spent more than $43,000 to hold its 2010 winter meeting at a posh resort on Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach, not including airfare.  Of course, Republicans used the occasion to give lip-service to their message of fiscal responsibility and to chastise Democrats for being “out of touch with average Americans” – all the while spending donor money on cocktails, spas and beach cabanas.  

Amazingly, these are the people who call themselves “conservatives.”   And they’re trying to convince voters to put them back in charge of the federal budget.  Let’s see.  How did that work out last time?  Oh, that’s right.  They’re the ones who brought us unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy, two unfunded wars, deregulation of commodities leading to inflated oil prices, and deregulation of financial institutions leading to the economic collapse of 2008. 

Yeah, let’s do that again.