Ridiculous Regressive Republican Priorities

Below is a recent poll showing what Americans think is the most important issue. Ignoring the priorities of the American public, the Regressive Republicans still have not come up with a jobs bill and have refused to pass President Obama's American Jobs Act which would put millions of Americans to work, and which would be fully paid for. Instead, tomorrow the Regressives in Congress will be working on yet another anti-abortion bill -- an issue that isn't even in the top 10 in the minds of Americans. REMEMBER THIS next year at election time. And send this blog to all your Republican friends.

CBS News Poll. Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2011. N=1,012 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.
"What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" Open-ended
			%
	Economy and jobs		54
	Budget deficit/National debt		6
	War/Iraq/Afghanistan		4
	Partisan politics		3
	Health care		2
	Education		2
	Politicians/Government		2
	Religious values		2
	Moral values/Family values		2

Republicans Vote Against Middle Class Jobs Bill

Last night, even though a majority of the Senate voted in favor of President Obama's jobs bill, it failed because it did not receive a 60 vote filibuster-proof majority.

The bill would have provided for

• a large cut in payroll taxes for the middle class, leaving more take-home pay of spendable income
• extending unemployment benefits
• funding for job training
• $35 billion for states to rehire laid-off teachers, police and firefighters.

And it would have been completely paid for by a 5.6% surtax only on incomes over $1 million dollars. So if you made a million dollars next year, your taxes wouldn't increase by even one cent. If you made over a million, say $1,100,000, then you would have to pay an additional 5.6% only on that additional $100,000 above and beyond the first million. So if you made $1,100,000, you'd pay an additional $5,600. That's it. That's what all the fuss is about.

This would affect only one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of Americans.  But the Regressive republicans don't care about the US economy, the middle class, jobs, or small businesses. They have proven, once again, that they only care about the very richest one tenth of one percent of the population.  Every Republican voted against this economy-saving, completely paid for jobs bill. Remember this next year at election time. And send this blog to all your Regressive republican friends.

Half of the GOP Doesn't Know What GOP Stands For

Hard to believe.

As seen on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on Current TV, a recent poll taken by 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair asked Republicans what the term "GOP" stands for. Amazingly, only 51% knew it meant "Grand Old Party." More than a third thought it stood for "Government of the People" and 5% actually thought it meant "Grumpy Old People."
Now that I'm thinking about it, I think those 5% are right.

Happy World Vegetarian Day!

Take a look at 33 celebrities who are either vegetarian or vegan. Click here.

Those "Promiscuous" Republicans

Watch Bill Maher's video, chronicling their recent, fleeting love affairs, with Donald Trump, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and now Chris Christie.

SNL's Version of Last Week's Republican Debate

Lewis Black

Comedian Lewis Black angrily takes on Dr. Oz for a false report about arsenic in apples and why Chaz Bono is more controversial than a bunch of criminals and freaks.  Watch "Back in Black" from The Daily Show:
 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Justice Denied

Last week in Georgia, a man was executed for a crime he most likely didn't commit. After being incarcerated for over 20 years, Troy Davis was put to death despite

• the fact that there was no physical evidence that he shot anyone
• the fact that no murder weapon was ever found
• the fact that there was no DNA evidence whatsoever
• the fact that another man confessed to the crime
• the fact that 7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted their testimony, saying they were coerced by the prosecution at the time of the trial
• the fact that 3 jurors said that if they knew then what they know now, they would have voted "not guilty".

The fact is, no jury system is 100% correct.  Ever. That being said, assuming the juries in Texas have been correct an astounding 90% of the time, then around 23 of the 235 executions in that state under Governor Rick Perry involved the state sponsored murder of completely innocent people. Let's remember juries are chosen by lawyers based on the likelihood of being able to sway them.

The Innocence Project has documented 266 people scheduled for executions in the last 20 years who were proven to be innocent thanks to DNA testing.

Once you execute someone, you can't take it back.

In addition, it's hypocritical for the far rightwing "right to life" phonies to salivate at the thought of another execution. We heard these pitchfork and torch carriers at the Regressives' debate just 2 weeks ago applauding and cheering when Perry's execution record was merely mentioned (watch the video on blog post for September 14).

More hypocrisy: the far rightwing Teabag crowd that constantly shrieks "the government can't do anything right!" wants to trust the government with the ultimate power of life and death -- the same government these screamers insist is incompetent.

Civilized countries around the world have long banned state sponsored murder. It's still very popular in Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia and the USA. That's the kind of company the Teabaggers and Regressive Republicans want us to keep.

Headline News Host Celebrates West Hollywood Ban on Fur

Sign at a Recent Rally

The Solyndra Controversy

A "green" company that received half a billion dollars recently went bankrupt. It received the money as part of President Obama's stimulus plan, but the loan was guaranteed months before Obama became president -- during the Bush Administration.

Once the fake outrage on the right dies down, I'm wondering when the outrage for the EIGHT billion that was "lost" by Halliburton in Iraq several years ago will be investigated.

Here's a graph of some of the money wasted by the US military to put Solyndra in perspective:

Pass This Jobs Bill Right Away

President Obama's jobs bill has been released. It will help bring employment back to some of the 14,000,000 Americans who are currently without jobs.  Of course, the predictable Regressive Republicans were against it before they even read it, screaming the two word mantra "class warfare!"  But they are the ones who have consistently engaged in class warfare, declaring war on the middle class American worker, by railing against the minimum wage, stripping labor unions of the ability to bargain on their own behalf, cutting salaries to teachers, cops and firemen, and eliminating government jobs by the millions. And they incessantly lie, making the false claim that when the wealthy have a to pay a higher tax rate, employment decreases. That's a blatant lie, as the following chart shows:

That little, teeny tiny red bar (above) is where we are right now -- with essentially no employment growth although the tax rate is only 35%. Notice how much higher job growth was when the top tax rate for the rich was 39%... 50%... even 90%! Yet the Fake News mouthpieces relentlessly repeat the scripted lie that a higher tax rate for the wealthy will "hurt job growth". And their hypnotized audience of Foxbots believes every word.

History proves that's a lie.

Here is how the President plans to cut the deficit, with a balanced approach of spending cuts and new revenue:

 

The vast majority of Americans agree with the President and wants this balanced approach. Call your US Senator and US Representative and tell them to pass President Obama's bill now.

Teabaggers Cheer "Let Him Die!"

At the most recent Regressive Republican debate, Ron Paul was asked about a hypothetical 30 year old without insurance.

From Huffington Post:

After asking Ron Paul a hypothetical question about an uninsured patient who needed care, Wolf Blitzer pushed the point harder: "Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?" Before Paul could respond, however, a few members of the Tea Party audience began whooping and cheering, as if the Pennzoil car had just gotten the checkered flag.

At the previous week's debate, another Teabagger audience cheered when Brian Williams mentioned that Governor Yosemite Sam from Texas executed 234 people. It didn't matter to this barbaric, bloodthirsty mob that some may have been innocent. Assuming that Texas juries may have been correct as much as 90% of the time, that means at least 23 innocent people were killed.



Quite interesting that the same group of far rightwing Regressive Republicans who claimed to be so afraid of imaginary "death panels" two years ago have since become death panels.

Update: At the very next Regressive Republican Teabagger Nutjob Hatefest Debate, the audience booed for an American soldier in Iraq.



So now they've cheered for executions, screamed "let him die" for an uninsured American worker, and disrespected an American soldier in Iraq.

Can you imagine the outrage if a Democratic audience at a Democratic debate had booed for an American soldier in Iraq?

Updated Jobs Graph

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

As the stimulus money became depleted, the number of new jobs fizzled out. There were zero new jobs in the private sector for the month of August.

Although the Regressive republicans and Teabaggers campaigned a year ago on "jobs, jobs, jobs," their leader, John Boner, hasn't come up with a single jobs bill in 8 months.  The graph shows exactly why we need another, bigger stimulus bill, to repair crumbling schools, highways and bridges and put millions to work.