Category Archives: Teapublicans

What Roberts Knew About The Healthcare Ruling.

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The primary thing that defines a nation is its rule of law, and that was very much in question with the Supreme Court decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  After a long series of 5-4 decisions heavily weighted to the right, Roberts likely knew the very credibility of the Court was on the line when he ruled that the mandate was a tax, allowing the law to stand.

Even so, the decision merely gives the Court’s reputation a temporary reprieve.

With such overtly political “justices” as Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the Court is still perceived as unduly biased toward the way-out-on-the-right-wing fringe of politics.  That perception began with the Court’s 2000 decision on Bush v. Gore which gave the presidency to the candidate with the fewest votes.  It has continued with a series of partisan decisions which have allowed elections to be sold to the highest bidder.

The conservatives on this partisan Court have shown a tendancy to argue cases out of both sides of their mouths to help their political causes, and they’ve shown disdain for long-standing tradition.

To wit, Clarence Thomas, whose wife was being paid to fight against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, refused to recuse himself from the case.  And, in a show of contempt for openness, he failed to list his wife’s job and income on his financial disclosure.

Scalia, a close buddy of Richard “The Dick” Cheney, has made numerous political statements that are unseemly for a Supreme Court justice.  One of the most bizzare was his assertion following the decision overturning most of Arizona’s SB 1070, that the entire law should have been upheld, likening it to the time when Southern states could exclude free blacks from their borders.

Scalia’s tendancy to mix justice with politics led columnist E. J. Dionne to write an opinion in The Washington Post calling for Scalia’s resignation.  Stating that Scalia cannot be a blatantly political actor and a justice at the same time, Dionne wrote, “So often, Scalia has chosen to ignore the obligation of a Supreme Court justice to be, and appear to be, impartial. He’s turned “judicial restraint” into an oxymoronic phrase.”

He went on to write, “Scalia should free himself to pursue his true vocation. We can then use his resignation as an occasion for a searching debate over just how political this Supreme Court has become.”

Justice Roberts’ deciding vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act would seem to have delayed that debate.  But, with Scalia and Thomas on the Court, likely not for long.

The Teapublican Plan For “Repeal And Replace.”

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When Tom Brokaw forced Rep. Eric Cantor to explain the Teapublican alternative to the Affordable Care Act, Cantor said that the GOP (Guardians Of Privilege) had already presented it.  It was the alternative they offered during the healthcare debate in 2009: H. R. 3962.  In short, what it calls for are more concessions to insurance companies, tort reform and a lot more hocus pocus.

At the time it was presented, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it would increase the number of insured by roughly 3 million by 2019.  That compares to the more than 30 million previously uninsured that will be covered under “Obamacare” by 2019.

Is it any wonder why Sen. Mitch McConnell was recently quoted as saying that “the uninsured are not the issue?”

Moreover, this great replacement for the Affordable Care Act would do very little, if anything, to curb rising healthcare costs.  Indeed, its provision to allow insurance companies to sell insurance across state lines, looks a lot like the deregulation of national banks which allowed them to skirt state usury laws to raise interest rates on credit cards to more than 30 percent.

If this bill were to replace the ACA, it would likely allow a few health insurers to become monopolies with the power to set their costs and coverage.  And it would allow doctors and hospitals to avoid any repercussions from malpractice and medical errors.

Whoeeee!  Let’s all celebrate.  Who wouldn’t want this over “Obamacare?”

We Know Romney Is Running For President. But Of Which Country?

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This week, The Huffington Post broke a story that disgraced Barclay’s CEO, Robert Diamond, rescinded an offer to co-host a pricey London fundraiser for Mitt Romney.  Apparently, he wanted to keep his own difficulties from tainting Romney.  Yet, despite Diamond’s withdrawal from the affair, the fundraiser is expected to go on with other British hosts.

This story raises a number of questions for US voters.

When did it become acceptable for foreigners to fund US candidates?  What do they expect in return?  More important, why would Romney even consider accepting money from such an event?

According to the HuffPost article, the fundraiser will occur while Romney is in London for the Summer Olympics.  Those who attend the fundraiser will be expected to pay $25,000-$75,000 for dinner; far more than fundraisers for British politicians. Of course, this comes on top of concerns that the Romney campaign and its Super PACs have already received anonymous contributions from other foreign entities, including money from China.

The slogan for the Romney campaign is “Believe in America.”  In fact, most of us do believe in America.  But, based on Romney’s avoidance of US income taxes and his willingness to accept money from foreign interests, it’s obvious that Romney doesn’t.

The Truth About The Great “Job Creator.”

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Former Governor and current Panderer-In-Chief, Mitt Romney, claims that he has the experience to put our economy on the fast track.  The question is, the fast track to where?

In his 15 years at Bain Capital, Romney made tens of millions by buying companies and dismantling them, or firing employees and outsourcing jobs to China.  Indeed, according to a story published in Vanity Fair, Bain itself found that during the period of 2002 to 2007, there is “little evidence that private equity owners, overall, added value” to the companies they took over.  Instead, the company found that most of its profits were the result of overall economic growth, rising stock markets and leverage.

More disturbing, the Vanity Fair article found that Romney used every conceivable trick to avoid paying federal income taxes.  Not only did he stash money in a secret Swiss bank account.  He stashed an estimated $30 million in Bain Capital Funds in the Cayman Islands.  In another questionable transaction, he shifted funds to his wife’s name in order to avoid taxes.  There’s even the mystery of how Romney’s IRA, with contribution ceilings of $2,000 per year for 15 years, now contains up to $102 million!

So, while most Americans play by the rules and pay up to 35 percent of their income in taxes, the great “Job Creator” deposited millions off-shore in order to avoid paying taxes to the country he wants to run?  And in the process, he destroyed American companies and jobs?

If this man collects a single vote from an ordinary working American, that’s one more than he deserves.

Willing Ourselves To A Better Economy.

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As several economists have told me, we get the economy we want.  If we think the economy is good, we will buy what we want or need.  Our purchases will increase sales for retailers.  That will increase manufacturing, and the economy will thrive.  As a result, tax revenue grows and our deficits decrease.

On the other hand, if we think the economy is going to be bad, we will restrict spending and increase saving.  If enough people do this, our economy will be pushed into recession, jobs will be cut, tax revenues drop and our deficits and national debt will grow.

Most people know this, especially large corporations, the wealthy and politicians.  And they often manipulate these principles in order to cash in on easy money.  The losers of this sort of manipulation are almost always ordinary working people.

Everyone knows about the principle of buy low, sell high.  So if you’re among the wealthy and powerful, it doesn’t benefit you if the economy grows at a steady, sustainable rate.  In order to really cash in, you need to create periods of high growth, followed by recessions.  In the midst of a recession, you buy low.  Then at the peak of growth, you sell high.  That’s why a chart of our economic history looks like a ride through the Rocky Mountains.

The interest of the wealthy and powerful is obviously money.  But why would politicians be interested in such a strategy of manipulation?

In a word, Power.

If the opposition is in power, the GOP (Guardians Of Privilege) starts screaming about inflation, deficits, debt and other issues in order to frighten ordinary people.  If they scream loud enough and long enough, a large percentage of our population will hold onto their cash in preparation for the coming calamity and delay purchases.  As a result, the economy struggles.

That’s what’s been happening for the past 3+ years.

In order to make President Obama fail, Teapublicans have howled about “outrageous” deficits.  They talk about “saddling our grandchildren with oppressive, overwhelming debt.”  They’ve scared voters about illegal immigrants taking their jobs.  They’ve talked about an “out-of-control government” and “the end of freedom.” 

Unfortunately, the Tea Party, the religious right and others have scooped up this load of dung as if it were gold in the streets.

The only way to avoid being buried by the dung is to call it what it really is.  And to let everyone know that the people spreading the dung are the southern-most end of a north bound elephant.

In Contempt Of Congress.

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Yesterday, the Teapublican-controlled House of Representatives voted to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.  If I could speak directly to Mr. Holder, I would offer my congratulations.

I think most American citizens are in contempt of this Congress!

As I’ve previously written, the charges that Mr. Holder is withholding “vital” information on Fast and Furious that would expose corruption in the administration is fantasy.  Contrary to Congressman Issa and the National Rifle Association’s bizarre conspiracy theory, the ATF did not let guns “walk” across the border in order to create an outcry for stricter Arizona gun laws.

I’ve read conspiracy theories about UFO cover-ups that are more plausible than that!

We don’t need some crazy conspiracy to draw attention to the need for common sense gun laws.  All we need is to focus attention on the fact that there are now more deaths each year as the result of guns than from auto accidents.  Further, what is the sense of allowing anyone over 18 to purchase enough assault weapons and handguns to outfit a small army?  Was that really the intent of the Second Amendment?  And, if so, do we really want to allow buyers to turn around and sell them to others without a license or background checks?

Too bad there isn’t a mechanism to allow ordinary citizens to officially cite Congress and the NRA for contempt.  Oh wait…there is.  All you have to do is vote the NRA-supporting Teapublicans out of office this November.

The Panderer-In-Chief.

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Anyone else amused at Mitt Romney’s response to the Supreme Court ruling on Thursday?  We were treated to the Panderer-In-Chief attacking the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act as an unconstitutional over-reach.  He called it morally wrong and vowed to repeal and replace it his first day in office.

Can anyone believe anything this man says?

Does he actually think that we don’t know that the healthcare mandate was a conservative idea?  Does he think we don’t know that he proposed an almost identical healthcare plan for Massachusetts and signed it into law as governor?

Never mind his lack of compassion and understanding for ordinary citizens.  Never mind his actions as a vulture capitalist.  Never mind that he destroyed businessess and shipped jobs overseas.  Never mind that his proposals would throw our economy into a recession while bloating our deficits.

Anyone with so little respect for the intelligence of voters should never be elected to office.

Fast And Furious Lies.

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In 2010, Sen. John “McNasty” McCain, Gov. Janet “Finger Wagging” Brewer and many other Teapublican politicians vilified immigrants in order to be elected.  The only things that have changed for 2012 are the candidates and the scare tactic.  Since the Supreme Court gutted SB 1070, the focus has turned to Fast and Furious.

Fast and Furious, of course, is the name of the ATF program designed to stop the flow of guns into Mexico.  In case you don’t know, it’s illegal for anyone in Mexico outside of the military or police to own a gun.  So the drug cartels have made Arizona their personal gun store.  Arizona’s gun laws are so lax that anyone over 18 can buy as many guns as they can afford.  All they have to do is pass a quick background check.  And, if they want to avoid the background check, they can go to any of the state’s hundreds of gun shows and buy guns with no questions asked.

Is this a great state or what?

As a result of this lunacy, Mexican cartels have shipped drugs into the US in exchange for cash and guns.  This arrangement has been so successful, Mexico claims the resulting gun violence has resulted in the deaths of 47,000 Mexicans since 2006!  And that’s despite the fact that ATF has seized more than 68,000 guns over the same period.

How do you think Americans would react to the deaths of 47,000 of our citizens as the result of lax Mexican laws?  That’s more than double the number of deaths from 9/11 every year for 6 years!

But Teapublicans seem to not care about those deaths.  Instead, they have their teabags in knots over the death of a US Border Agent who was shot with a gun that was being tracked by the ATF.  Obviously, any such death is horrible. But it seems our Teapublicans also view it as an opportunity.  So based on the flimsiest of evidence, they have set about politicizing the ATF and the Department of Justice.  They have used it to attack Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.

Now Katherine Eban has exposed the truth about Fast and Furious in an investigative report for Fortune magazine.  In short, the article places the blame for the “failed” operation on a bureaucratic Assistant US Attorney and Arizona’s insane gun laws.  It also appears that the so-called “whistle-blower” was a recalcitrant and incompetent subordinate with a grudge against the ATF Division leader.

As for “gun-walking” and a supposed cover-up?  It appears those were merely the figments of Teapublican imaginations repeated by a lazy and biased media.  The entire controversy could have been avoided if either the press or the Congressional Oversight Committee had been more focused on finding the truth than scoring ratings or political points.

More Evidence That Mainstream Media Are Not Liberal (Or Fair).

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ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox’s Sunday morning “news” guests between June, 2011 and February, 2012 have been 70% Republican, 86% men and 92% white according to the monitoring agency, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.  This is particularly revealing since Sunday morning programs are some of the most-watched programs for government and business leaders. 

These statistics are a reflection of those who are deemed to be most influential in our government.  And since they are given more access to promote their agenda on national television, they are allowed to gain even more influence.

So tell me again, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, et all.  Exactly where is this liberal “lamestream” media you constantly whine about?

Fast And Furious Politics.

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The name of the failed ATF gun-walking program could also apply to the Teapublican attacks on the US Attorney General and, by association, President Obama.

In case you don’t already know, Fast and Furious was a program intended to reach the leaders of the Mexican drug cartels who are using “straw buyers” to obtain assault weapons from Arizona.  This was a program unique to the Phoenix division of the ATF that followed a similar program called Wide Receiver that began in 2006.

Neither program succeeded in achieving its goals.  And they likely would have gone unnoticed had not two of the guns been involved in the death of US Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry.

Of course, Teapublicans have never passed up an opportunity to attack President Obama.  So Congressman Darrell Issa called for hearings into the matter.  That could have been constructive had his committee decided to examine the origins of the program, the reasons for the program and the participation of all involved.  Instead, Issa used the opportunity to attack and embarrass Attorney General Eric Holder.

It seems that Holder originally testified that he was unaware of the program, and that’s quite likely.  In his 8 ensuing appearances before the committee, he apologized and cooperated to the tune of more than 7,600 documents provided.  According to Issa that was not enough.  Issa demanded transcripts of wiretaps and other documents that Holder could not legally provide “in the interest of full disclosure.”  That’s rich, considering that the committee refused to call for testimony from the previous Attorney General or any of the individuals who orginated the program under the Bush administration.

Some “full disclosure.”

When Holder agreed to provide more documents under the condition that Issa would agree that the subpeona for documents had been satisfied, Issa refused.  Recognizing that Issa was more interested in embarrassing Holder than seeking the truth, President Obama exerted Executive Privilege over the remaning documents.  Of course, Issa and the Teapublican media were outraged.  The committee responded by voting to find Holder in contempt.

Far more contemptable are Arizona’s idiotic gun laws.  These laws make it all too easy for straw buyers to provide weapons to the cartels.  Even with intense searches of vehicles leaving Arizona for Mexico, guns are crossing the border with great frequency; not all that surprising considering that anyone can walk into one of hundreds of gun shows and buy weapons without having to pass a background check.

The truth is, the Obama administration has been more transparent and done more to secure the border than any administration in recent history.  Unfortunately, at the same time, Issa and his colleagues have done more to obstruct the administration than any Congress in history!