Category Archives: Teapublicans

Teapublican Mandated Nonsense.

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We all know that Teapublicans have their knickers in a knot over the insurance mandates in President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Not only are individuals mandated to carry insurance. Organizations are mandated to offer insurance that covers many types of preventative care, including (OMG!) contraception!

Teapublicans claim that such mandates are unconstitutional and must be repealed immediately. They claim that mandates are evidence of the “socialist, out-of-control big government of the Obama administration.”

But what about the Teapublican-ordered mandates that have been forced upon us?

Teapublicans have been pushing mandates on the American citizenry for many years. Indeed, the idea for health insurance mandates began with the very conservative Heritage Foundation. The idea was promoted by Richard Nixon and Bob Dole, and it was first implemented by Teapublican presidential frontrunner, Mitt Romney.

In a number of states, Teapublicans have mandated ultrasound exams for pregnant women considering an aborton. In most states, Teapublicans have mandated that voters present a photo ID with a current address. Most states have mandated that businesses, bars, even churches post signs if they choose not to allow guns in their establishments. In Florida, Teapublicans have mandated that those down on their luck pay for drug tests before receiving public assistance. In Arizona, Teapublicans are pushing a mandate that the unemployed pay for drug tests before they can receive benefits from their unemployment insurance. And, in many states, Teapublicans have mandated that funds intended for public schools be used for private and parochial schools.

And that’s just scratching the surface. We could also include such Teapublican mandates that marriage be only between and man and a woman, that the sale of the Plan B contraceptive be banned because they consider it tatamount to abortion, etc. And, of course, we can’t forget all those Teapublican–sponsored mandates that either failed to become law or were tossed out by the courts, such as mandatory prayer in schools, religious symbols in government buildings and mandates that the US be officially recognized as a “Christian” nation.

It seems that, for Teapublicans, a policy is only a mandate if you disagree with it.

Corporate America’s Shadow Government

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Ever wonder why, when Arizona passes an anti-immigrant bill, suddenly similar bills show up in other state legislatures? Or why, as North Carolina legislators introduce a Voter ID bill designed to suppress minority and student votes, similar bills are making their way through dozens of other states?

It’s not coincidence. And it’s not merely some sort of copycat, legislative follow-the-leader. It’s orchestrated by an organization called ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).

Sponsored by large corporations, ALEC describes itself as “a membership organization of state legislators which favors federalism and conservative public policy solutions.” More accurately, ALECWatch.org describes the group as “a screen for hundreds of big corporations and trade associations to advance their legislative agendas in state capitols from coast to coast.”

Membership of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board reads like a Who’s Who of big, greedy corporations and conservative special interest groups: CenterPoint360, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Reynolds American, Wal-Mart, Johnson&Johnson, PhRMA, KraftFoods, AT&T, UPS, ExxonMobil, Altria, State Farm, and, of course, the now infamous Koch Industries, to name but a few.

Here’s how it works: ALEC maintains a staff of “scholars”, lawyers and conservative ideologues who write legislation on behalf of its corporate sponsors. It then distributes the proposed bills for its legislative members to introduce in every state legislature in America. Often the legislators don’t even read the bills which carry their names until after they’ve introduced them. An example is a Florida legislator who, upon introducing a bill on the floor of the Florida statehouse, began reading the ALEC “for your eyes only” instructions that accompanied the bill.

In Arizona alone, ALEC members have introduced more than 50 ALEC–authored bills during the current legislative session. These bills read like a robber baron’s wish list, ranging from cutting corporate taxes to eliminating collective bargaining to privatizing more prisons to eliminating regulations and public oversight of corporations.

There are no comparable organizations for private citizens and progressives. Indeed, ALEC’s website brags that “ALEC is the only state legislative organization that adopts policies and creates model legislation for its members to use in their states. To date, ALEC has nearly 1,000 pieces of model legislation.”

And you probably thought your legislators were elected to work for you! To learn more, read the report on ALEC by Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Right Wing Attack Pig.

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That may seem cruel, but to call Rush-To-The-Pharmacy Limbaugh a right wing attack dog would be an insult to dogs. Even junk yard dogs. For years, Limbaugh has made millions from his vitriolic attacks on liberals. But this past week he unleashed his disgusting mouth on a new target:  Women.

Following Sandra Fluke’s testimony before an unofficial Congressional committee (Teapublicans refused to let her, or any other woman, testify before the official committee hearing) on the medical need for contraceptives, he chose to label the 30-year-old college student a “slut” and a “prostitute.” He asserted that the reason she needed her insurance company to pay for contraception is that she’s “having so much sex” she couldn’t afford to pay for contraception herself. He then offered to buy aspirin for every female college student in Georgetown to place between their knees as a form of birth control.

A few days later, he continued to attack Fluke by saying “If we’re going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

So, in addition to being a well-known drug addict, he must also be a pervert. Could it be that he’s trying to cover up his own sexual inadequacies? Or is he simply angry that few women would want this Jabba The Hut impersonator to climb on top of them?

Update: The furor over Limbaugh’s comments have resulted in the loss of numerous sponsors for his radio show. And the reaction has become so intense, for the first time in memory, he posted an apology for his “choice of words” on his website. But it seems to be much too little too late.  Advertisers continue to disassociate themselves from Rush.  And women have turned on the GOP.

Guns Don’t Kill People. Gun Laws Do!

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There are more than 200 million guns in ciruclation in the US. More than 40 percent of households claim to have one or more guns in the home. And those numbers have grown dramatically ever since a man of African-American heritage was inaugurated as president.

According to statistics compiled by the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and calculated by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a single year almost 100,000 Americans are shot or killed with a gun. Of those, 31,593 people die from gun violence, including the 12,179 who are murdered. Another 66,769 Americans survive gun injuries, including 44,466 who are shot in an attack. In one year, 18,223 Americans kill themselves with guns, and 3,031 more survive a suicide attempt with a gun.

Among 23 populous, high-income countries, 80% of all firearm deaths occur in the United States.

Obviously, we need more gun control. Not less. But hunters and gun collectors need not worry about common sense regulations for hunting rifles and shotguns. Gun violence statistics overwhelmingly apply to handguns.

For example, in 2005, 75% of the 10,100 firearm-involved homicides in the United States were committed using handguns. That compares to just 4% with rifles and 5% with shotguns. The remaining 16% were committed using an unspecified type of firearm. So it’s clear that merely limiting the sale and carry of handguns could greatly diminish gun violence in the US.

As for Teapublican and National Rifle Association (please note the word “rifle” in the name) claims that guns are needed to prevent crimes, statistics clearly expose those claims as fraudulent. According to the FBI, each year private citizens are responsible for approximately 200 legally justified self-defense homicides. An even more inconvenient statistic for handgun proponents is from a 2009 study which found that people in possession of a gun are 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault!

Guns are used to intimidate and threaten 4 to 6 times more often than they are used to thwart crime. They are 4 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting than for self-defense and 22 times more likely to be used in a suicide.

Further, it’s estimated that gun violence in the US costs $100 billion annually.  So limiting the sale and possession of handguns could even help lower our national debt!

The Teapublican Time Machine.

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For several years, Teapublicans, especially white pre-Baby Boomers, have fondly remembered the days of their childhood when life was simple. When they could gas up the ’57 Chevy for $3.00 and cruise Main St. all night. It was a white-dominated “Father Knows Best” society of tidy neighborhoods with white picket fences.

Now those same Teapublicans seem determined to take us back to that era.

They can’t seem to grasp that those post-war days are really gone. Those days simply can’t, and won’t, be duplicated. Moreover, Teapublicans can’t seem to grasp the cultural dynamics that created the era they so fondly remember. It was an era of union-based manufacturing jobs that paid well enough to allow Mom to stay home with the kids. It was an era of small retailers, instead of big box chains; of neighborhood diners, instead of fast food chains. It was an era when everyone understood the importance of government and of working together – an attitude necessary for the defeat of Hitler and Hirohito. And it was an era when most of the products we used were made in the USA.

What these nostalgia-loving Teapublicans too easily forget are the seamy underpinnings of that era. African-Americans were segregated and denied the vote. Women were left out of business and politics. Young women were disdained and abandoned if they were unlucky enough to get pregnant before marriage. They were not allowed to attend school. Many were sent away to religious schools to be “rehabilitated” and have their babies in seclusion before giving them up for adoption. Many were simply barred from leaving home so the neighbors wouldn’t find out that they had become “fallen” women. If they chose to keep their babies, they received no child care payments. And if they didn’t want to have their babies, their choices consisted of tumbling down stairs, coat hangars, lye or back-alley butchers.

Yet the Santorum and Gingrich led Teapublicans want to revisit those days. Indeed, the policies being pushed by these candidates may well turn the “way back clock” back past the 60s and 50s, past the horrors of World War II, past the Great Depression, and past the Roaring 20s…all the way back to the 1800s, the days of Robber Barons. A time prior to the formation of the middle class. A time when there were no safety nets for those who were down on their luck. A time when rich industrialists ran everything, and when everyone else slaved 7 days a week to scratch out an existence.

Lest you think I exaggerate, consider the following legislative initiatives and proposals: All of the Teapublican candidates are on record as saying they would cut taxes, especially for the rich and for large corporations. They would eliminate capital gains taxes for the wealthy. At the same time, they would raise taxes on the poor. They would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act making it impossible for tens of millions Americans to afford health insurance. And they would cut or destroy Medicare and Social Security.

They would drastically cut government, eliminating the Departments of Education and Commerce at a time when our economy is just beginning to show signs of recovery. They would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency allowing large corporations to pollute our water and air at will with no consequences. They would continue or increase oil subsidies under the GOP’s “drill, baby drill” mantra. At the same time, they would eliminate subsidies for sustainable sources of energy.

They would likely start yet another war by attacking Iran, unleashing a torrent of hatred from the entire Muslim world and destablizing the Middle East and most of Asia. They would deny women the right to control their own bodies, even making it more difficult to obtain contraception. And perhaps most alarming of all, they would weaken the Constitutional separation of church and state.

Interestingly, despite the Teapublican candidate’s promises to shrink the federal government and cut the national debt, their fiscal policy proposals would actually increase the national debt according to the non-partisan US Budget Watch, while President Obama’s proposals would begin to shrink the deficit!

Even if you’re not a progressive as I am, a trip backward in the Teapublican time machine has to be an alarming prospect for all but the most right wing religious zealots.

Tell Teapublicans To Shove It.

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Now that the Teapublican legislators of Virginia have passed a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to submit to a vaginal ultrasound, I would suggest a companion bill.  The new bill would require the male legislators of Virginia and Congressman Dan Issa, along with his all-male panel which testified on female contraception, to have an ultrasound wand shoved up their rectums in search of a brain.

Further, I propose that the anti-woman, anti-middle class, anti-Obama, anti-everything Teapublican presidential candidates be subjected to the same procedure.  It’s unlikely that the doctors would find a single brain among them.

Ending “Drive-By” Politics.

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Over the past decades, I’ve noticed an increasing trend among Teapublicans. They tend to make a snide statement about Democrats or Democratic principles secure in their belief that you’ll either agree with their statement or remain silent.

They say things like, “We’ve got to get that damned socialist out of the White House.” Or, “This president is going to bankrupt all of us.” If you say you disagree with them, or want to debate the issue, they walk away saying, “I don’t want to talk politics.”

Really? They’re the ones who brought it up!

But, according to these Teapublicans, they’re not being political. They’re just stating a “fact.” I don’t know about you, but I refuse to allow them to spout the latest talking points from Fox News Channel and walk away. Certainly they have a right to their opinion, and they have every right to say it. But I have a right to politely refute their statements and debate the issues. I have a right to call their statements as I see them: Drive-by cheap shots.

According to political correctness, there are two things that should never be brought up in polite conversation: Politics and religion. However, for many years, it has seemed that Teapublicans and Christian evangelists have felt free to say whatever they want. For what it’s worth, here is my policy going forward. If someone asks about my religious beliefs, I will tell them it’s none of their business. Religion is a very personal and private matter of faith.

On the other hand, if someone makes a political statement – even as a drive-by – I will not let them walk away without expressing my point of view. I hope you’ll join me. Polite debate of the issues is not only healthy for our nation. I believe it’s our responsibility. We cannot afford to bite our tongues and allow the uneducated, the uninformed, and the misinformed to dominate our political dialogue.

Our silence has made it all too easy for big money interests and their supporters to take over our government.

A True Conservative.

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During the Teapublican primaries, we’ve all heard candidates who claim to be true conservatives. But upon listening to their plans, I have come to the realization that the only things they really want to conserve are their own fortunes.

It was during a recent Teapublican debate that I discovered I’m definitely not a liberal – never have been. I’ve been a conservative all along.

I believe in conserving clean air and water. I believe in conserving our forests, our streams and our oceans. I believe in conserving wildlife. I believe in conserving fossil fuels by not using them wastefully. I believe in conserving our natural resources by not subsidizing large corporations to exploit them. I believe in conserving our Constitution. I believe in conserving the Bill of Rights which provides equality and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. I believe in conserving the separation of church and state.

I believe in conserving lives by only going to war as an absolute last resort. I believe in conserving taxpayer money by eliminating corporate subsidies, off-shore tax havens and no-bid defense contracts. I believe in conserving American middle class jobs. I believe in conserving the American tradition of building things rather than destroying them through vulture capitalism. I believe in conserving the rights of workers to bargain for fair compensation. I believe in conserving our electoral system by banning contributions from corporations and lobbying groups.

I believe in conserving our citizens’ homes and savings with common-sense regulations for greedy financial institutions. I believe in conserving our citizens’ health by providing access to affordable health care. I believe in conserving safety nets such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I believe in conserving the rights of all people to pursue the marital relationship of their choice. I believe in conserving the rights of women to control their own bodies even if I disagree with some of their decisions. I believe in conserving our future by providing all children with the opportunity to receive a good education.

Finally, I believe in conserving America’s standing as a role model for the world rather than as a bully. And I believe in conserving the idealism that has always driven Americans by focusing on what can be, rather than what once was.

The Civil War 2.0.

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For some time, I’ve wondered if the rancor in today’s politics has some connection to the outcome of the Civil War. Sounds crazy, right? After all, the Civil War ended in 1865. Yet Teapublicans continue to say things that evoke the elitism and racism of antebellum America. We’ve heard them refer to President Obama as a fascist, socialist and communist. We’ve seen the signs showing his picture distorted to resemble the Joker. And we’re heard them call the President a Kenyan-born, anti-Christian Muslim.

Is it coincidence that such anger and disrespect are directed toward the first president of African-American descent? Doubtful.

Of course, I’m not the only writer to note the obvious. For example, Michael Lind wrote, “Today’s Tea Party is less an ideological movement than the latest incarnation of an angry white minority — predominantly Southern, and mainly rural — that has repeatedly attacked American democracy in order to get its way.” And Robert Reich stated, “It’s no mere coincidence that the states responsible for putting the most Tea Party representatives in the House are all former members of the Confederacy. Of the Tea Party caucus, twelve hail from Texas, seven from Florida, five from Louisiana, and five from Georgia, and three each from South Carolina, Tennessee, and border-state Missouri.”

Upon reading these comments, I knew I had to do my own research. Here’s what I found:

The Union consisted of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Of the 25 Union states, only three – Kansas, Kentucky and Missouri – voted for McCain in 2008! And it’s important to note that all three were divided during the war. (In both Kentucky and Missouri, pro-secession governments declared for the Confederacy, but never gained significant control of their states. And Kansas was notoriously split with many Confederate sympathizers.)

Now let’s look at the Confederacy. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia all seceded from the United States. In addition, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma were divided, and portions of New Mexico and Arizona collaborated with the Confederacy. Of the 16 Confederate states, only four – Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia – voted for Obama in 2008! And of those four, only New Mexico could be considered a blue state.

To take it a step farther, many of the states which attained statehood following the Civil War were settled by former Confederate soldiers and Confederate sympathizers who were running away from the federal government. These include Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Arizona. All nine voted for McCain in 2008!

Three other latecomers – Colorado, New Mexico, and Washington – already had significant populations prior to the Civil War. Both Colorado and New Mexico had large Hispanic and Native American populations that were indifferent to the war. All three of these states voted for Obama in 2008!

Hawaii and Alaska were not admitted to the Union until the 1950s, so little can be concluded from their votes, especially since President Obama was born in Hawaii and the VP candidate on the opposing ticket was from Alaska.

Despite Teapublican denials, it would seem that the issues of racism and states’ rights are “gifts” that keep on giving.

Patriots? Or Idiots?

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Over the past 40 years, Teapublicans have co-opted patriotism and Christianity. They have cloaked themselves in flags and decried liberals and Democrats as socialists, communists, even fascists. They have blindly supported our military while ignoring our veterans. They have implied that anyone who fails to subscribe to their beliefs is unpatriotic. And they have stated that those who support peace, civil rights, public education, science, and economic fairness are un-Christian.

Hmmm…maybe they should read the Constitution and the Bible in their entireity.

It seems these Bible-thumping, gun-toting Teapublican “patriots” have a few things to learn about their nation and their faith. For starters, let’s take a look at how these so-called “patriots” refer to their duly-elected Commander-in-Chief.

Conservative activist, writer and Catholic, L. Brent Bozell III called President Obama a “skinny, ghetto crackhead.” Teapublican cars and trucks are often covered with bumper stickers stating “What an O-Hole,” “B.O. Stinks,” “A village in Kenya is missing its idiot,” “100% Douchebag,” and “Don’t blame me. I voted for the American.” Moreover, Teapublicans threatened the president and Democratic congressional representatives by carrying guns to their public appearances.

These are not the words and actions of patriots. And they certainly do not reflect the teachings of Christ who asked that his followers help the poor and turn the other cheek to violence.

These are the words and actions of a decidedly un-American, anti-Christian mob of bullies and thugs who have convinced themselves of their infallible superiority. They ignore science, re-write history, promote violence, and deny the civil rights of others.

What kind of patriotism is that?