Category Archives: Tea Party

Preparing To Steal Elections.

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On Monday, Teapublicans in the Virginia State Senate used the absence of a Democratic senator (who was attending the Presidential Inauguration) to ambush Democrats by calling for a vote on a bill to redraw senate districts. The bill gerrymandered the state to ensure that Teapublicans would enjoy a virtual permanent advantage.

This is but the most recent effort by Teapublicans to prepare for the 2014 elections. It appears that they no longer believe they can win based on ideas. So rather than modify their ideas to make them more attractive to a majority of Americans, they have decided to cheat. They are in the process of gerrymandering wherever possible and passing laws that will make it more difficult for minorities and Democrats to vote.

Even Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, noted the other day that Republicans wouldn’t have retained control of the US House of Representatives if they hadn’t “cheated” through gerrymandering.

Another Teapublican attack involves remaking the electoral college. Currently, all but two states follow the nation’s original winner-take-all approach to electoral votes. In other words, if a presidential candidate wins the state’s popular vote, all of that state’s electoral votes go to that candidate.

But Teapublicans want to change that. They want the electoral votes to be awarded by district. Therefore, by gerrymandering the districts of the states, they hope to change the outcome of elections. The plan would make it far easier for a candidate to lose the popular vote and still win the election.

These tactics may represent the greatest threat to our nation’s democracy since the British invaded Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812. The only question is, will voters allow these anti-American thugs to get away with it?

Another Teapublican Backfire.

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Remember all of the idiotic comments about rape during the past election campaign? You know, the ones about how women’s bodies have a way of preventing pregnancy from “legitimate” rape.

It turns out that those comments prevented a bunch of Teapublicans from being elected.

What’s more, it seems that all of the discussion about women’s reproductive rights has backfired on the old white men who want to control a woman’s womb. According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, more people support Roe v. Wade than at any time since 1989. The poll shows that 7 in 10 people support a woman’s right to have an abortion in some or all circumstances!

Who knew that the best way to defeat intolerant, narrow-minded politicians is to simply let them talk?

Now let’s hope the stupid Teapublican statements about arming teachers have a similar effect on attitudes about gun safety.

A Fair Solution For The Debt “Crisis.”

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For the past four years, we’ve heard a lot of whining about the federal deficits and debt, primarily from red states.  Although quiet during the prolific spending spree of the Bush administration, once President Obama took office, Teapublican anger swelled throughout the old South and in states like Arizona.

Ironically, many of those who scream the loudest receive Social Security and Medicare. And many others take advantage of other federally-funded social programs such as food stamps, unemployment insurance and the GI Bill.

That caused me to wonder how the contributions of the most vocal states stack up compared to the largess they receive from the federal government. Certainly, given their angst, you would expect that they pay far more in federal taxes than they get back.

You would be wrong.

In 2007 (the most recent data I could find), Arizona contributed $35,485 million in federal taxes and received $48,012 million back in federal spending. So the state received $1,976 more per person than it contributed. In other words, it’s a state of “takers.”

In fact, of the 28 states that receive more than they contribute, the vast majority are reliably red!

On the other hand, the vast majority of the “giver” states are reliably blue. The top five (Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York) are all blue states, contributing $4,500 to $12,285 per person more than they receive.

Of the 22 states that pay in more than they get back, only Arkansas, Georgia, Nebraska, and Texas are red states.

So here’s my solution for the federal deficit: Let’s give red state Teapublicans what they want. Let’s balance the federal spending in those states to the amount they pay in federal taxes. All states can share the cost of national defense, natural emergencies, etc. But when it comes to the cost of highways, roads, bridges, universities, health care and retirement programs, each state is on its own. That means red states will have to raise taxes or dramatically cut services.

Then we’ll see if they still think the federal government is the enemy.

Yelling “Fire” On Radio And TV.

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Many years ago, the Supreme Court made it a crime to falsely yell “fire” in a crowded room. It was deemed to be a threat to public safety and, therefore, not covered under the First Amendment protection of free speech.

At the time (1919), the Supreme Court decision could not have foreseen an even greater threat that would be amplified by electronic media.

Since the end of the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine in 1987, thousands of media outlets and dozens of radio and TV hosts have routinely committed equivalent acts by creating fear of our own government and of each other. Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and many other conservative hosts routinely cause panic over a variety of falsehoods such as proposed regulations against gun violence, tax fairness, voter fraud, the Black Panther(s), Fast & Furious, Solyndra…even the national deficit and debt.

The paranoia they foment has made millions of Americans suspicious of our president, federal agencies, law enforcement…even each other. Their evil rhetoric has led to massive increases in right wing militias, racist groups, gun collectors and doomsday preppers.

What punishment do these nitwits face for creating such panic? None.

Instead, they are rewarded with higher ratings and higher incomes. Their ratings bring in more advertisements for gold, silver and guns. They have become the defacto leaders of the Teapublican Party, having helped drive away most of the Republican moderates. And officials who are elected as the result of their media-driven fear carry their fear-mongering messages into state legislatures and Congress.

As long as they continue to have unfettered access to their electronic megaphones, there will be more political anger, more deadlocks in government, more fear and bickering, more stockpiling of guns, more mass shootings and more unnecessary wars. Of course, we can’t censor what these people say. But we can demand that they stop yelling “fire” and begin to act in the public interest.

It’s time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Tell your Senators and Representatives that you would like to see a return of civility, honesty and trust in our media. We can afford nothing less!

Looking Up To Cockroaches.

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Yesterday, Congress reached a new milestone. A survey measuring its approval ratings found that Congress is now less popular than cockroaches, head lice and root canals!

The latter seems particularly appropriate for those of us living in northern Arizona as we are represented by a dentist who has a lot to do with our current problems. Teapublican representative Paul Gosar is a proud member of the House’s Tea Party caucus which is trying to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and the poor.

Gosar voted in support of Paul Ryan’s austerity budget which, if implemented, would not only plummet our economy into a deep recession. It would take the first steps toward privatizing Social Security and Medicare. And it would cut funding for the most vulnerable while cutting taxes for the wealthy and large corporations. Gosar has also repeatedly voted against women’s rights, Obamacare, and investments in our infrastructure.

In addition, he is one of 67 GOP representatives who voted against extending flood insurance funds to those affected by Hurricane Sandy!

Given the approval rating of Congress, the question is which group will come to their senses first? Our representatives in Congress? Or voters?

This Confirmation Hearing Is Going To Be Good!

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Numerous Teapublicans have already stated that they will not support the nomination of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. Set aside for a moment that tradition dictates that a president has the right to choose whom he pleases for his cabinet, it’s going to be really entertaining to watch Teapublicans attack one of their own.

Why, you may ask, would they attack a Republican who is qualified for the position and share many of their own beliefs? A man who is a decorated war hero?

It seems that while still in the Senate, Hagel had a nasty habit of telling the truth a little too often. For example, he dared to say that our invasion of Iraq was all about oil – in contrast to the Bush administration’s official position that we were “bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East.” Hagel was also against the surge of troops in Iraq, fearing that so many troops might drag Iran into the war. Worse yet, Hagel is said to be “weak on Iran” because he opposed the Bush administration’s attempt to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

In doing so, Hagel said that, though he fully supports Israel, he swore to uphold the interests of the United States first.

How dare he take his oath of office so seriously? Didn’t he realize that Israelis and their Jewish-American supporters were watching? Didn’t he understand that his position could cost Teapublicans votes? Didn’t he know that the US is supposed to support everything the Israeli war hawks want, no matter how much it inflames the situation in the Middle East?

Whatever your position on the issues, the confirmation hearing is going to be fascinating. So pull up a chair and a bowl of popcorn and turn on C-Span. The Teapublican questioning of Hagel is going to be entertaining. Having watched Hagel for a number of years, I’m convinced he’ll give a lot better than he gets.

Gavel Envy?

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Ever notice Speaker of the House John Boehner’s enormous gavel?

The thing must be a foot and a half long and weigh a couple of pounds. Which leads me to wonder why would he choose to wield a gavel that looks like it belongs to a circus clown, or in a kangaroo court?  Certainly he must be compensating for something. The question is what? Lack of manhood? Lack of power?

Personally, I’m betting on both.

Boehner is on record as saying his job is the worst job in Congress. Given the fact that he doesn’t believe in compromise (he can’t even bring himself to say the word), it’s little wonder he finds the job so difficult. Yet, when he had the opportunity to hand his oversize gavel to someone else, his oversize ego wouldn’t let that happen. So here we are, back to 2010 all over again; a recalcitrant House majority with an uncompromising leader who says he will no longer negotiate with the president. What could possibly go wrong?

The 112th Congress finished with approval ratings hovering around 10 percent. With the Tea Party caucus and Boehner’s leadership, the 113th could reach zero.

The Worse-Than-Do-Nothing Congress.

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In 1948, President Harry Truman labeled the 80th Congress the “Do Nothing” Congress since it refused to pass most of the bills of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the Truman administration. Instead, it focused on passing a few bills to benefit big business.

Believe it or not, the recently ended 112th Congress was worse!

Not only was the 112th unproductive. It was counter-productive. At several points in the last two years, its approval rating among voters was 10 percent. That’s right, 10 percent! That makes it even more unpopular than communism which has an approval rating of 11 percent in the US.

Among the 112th’s few accomplishments was lowering the credit rating of the US government for the first time in history. By blustering and balking at raising the debt ceiling and threatening to pay debts that Congress had already spent, it nearly collapsed the world economy. And instead of focusing on creating jobs and improving the US economy, it spent most of its time trying to discredit President Obama.

It passed no bills to build infrastructure, to increase exports, to bring jobs back home from overseas, to reform immigration, to regulate the type of military-style weapons used in the Newtown massacre, or to bring fairness to our tax codes.

Indeed, the 112th passed the fewest bills ever.

The 112th rabidly talked of lowering the deficit and reducing the national debt, but it succeeded only in kicking the can down the road for 11 months. In doing so, it created an artificial “fiscal cliff” that nearly dragged us back into recession. Teapublicans in the 112th bragged that they didn’t know the meaning of compromise. Dominated by a rabid Tea Party caucus led by likely escaped mental patient Michele Bachmann, the 112th even refused to follow its own leadership.

Incredulously, it even refused to vote for financial aid for the victims of Hurricane Sandy! An inaction that prompted several of its national leaders to say that if you donate to GOP campaigns, you must be “out of your mind.”

So goodbye, 112th! You will be forgotten, but not missed.

UPDATE: Following its failure to negotiate a long-term solution for the “fiscal cliff,” Congress’ approval rate is now in the single digits. Understandably, Congress is less popular than head lice and cockroaches! 

From The Age Of Enlightened Minds To The Age Of Dimwits.

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The so-called Tea Party “Patriots” are fond of comparing themselves to the Founding Fathers in order to promote their self-serving, narrow-minded philosophy. Indeed, they named themselves after those courageous souls who dared to stand up to the British at places such as Boston Harbor, Lexington and Concord.

Yet today’s teabaggers couldn’t be more different from the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

The Founding Fathers were committed to education, to science and reason. By contrast, the Tea Party is committed to superstition, faith and brutish behavior. The Tea Party believes in slashing funding for education. Its followers dismiss science, and they consider those who are well-educated to be anti-American elitists.

According to Jon Meacham’s wonderful biography Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power, Jefferson was an avid student of history and philosophy. He believed that “…reason, not revelation or unquestioned tradition or superstition, deserved pride of place in human affairs.”

Tea Party adherents, on the other hand, reject reason and cling to an inaccurate version of history in order to make our nation fit their narrow-minded ideology. An ideology based on the Articles of Confederation rather than the Constitution which replaced them, and on a plutocratic interpretation of Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations that seems to reject government intervention in the free market. Yet many scholars reject that interpretation, pointing to the fact that, time and again, Smith warned of the dangers of businesses forming cabals and monopolies in order to fix the highest price “which can be squeezed out of the buyers.”

In order to realize the best possible future for our nation, who are we to follow? George Washington or Eric Cantor? Benjamin Franklin or Sarah Palin? Thomas Jefferson or Michele Bachmann?

You decide.

Who’s Really Behind Gun Violence?

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Certainly the NRA and other gun rights groups deserve a lot of the blame. Over the past 30 years, they’ve evolved from organizations intended to preserve hunting and to promote gun safety into lobbyists for gun manufacturers.

But the real blame for increased violence belongs to those who have fostered paranoia. Paranoia about crime. Paranoia about minorities and immigrants. Paranoia about a potential financial crisis. Paranoia about non-Christians. Paranoia about a world catastrophe. Even paranoia about our own government.

The loudmouths on Fox News Channel and right wing radio have convinced the weak-minded that non-white, welfare-abusing “takers” are out to get them and the fruits of their labor. In their little minds, Democrats and liberals are destroying the United States. They believe that our nation is headed toward bankruptcy and socialism or worse.

The result has been a dramatic spike in sales of “tactical” weapons (aka military-style assault rifles and shotguns) and semi-automatic handguns since 2009. There has also been a six-fold increase in non-Islamic domestic terrorist groups since 2009. And we now have thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of “preppers” who are stashing food, water, weapons and ammunition in preparation for what they consider the inevitable failure of our nation.

Moreover, the vast majority of gun sales and paranoid activity has taken place in the Southern US, mostly since the election of our first black president.

Coincidence? I think not.