Obama’s "Sequester"….Mantra and Sloganeering To The Uninformed

How many times since January, 2013 have you heard the following.

“…his sequester”
“Obama’s sequester”
“The Administration’s sequester”

You have heard it haven’t you? In fact, it seems to be a newly coined RNC/GOP talking point phrase.  The problem is, the majority of Americans are informed, avoid Fox News, and are not easily manipulated by slick GOP oratory.

First and foremost, if the Cantor, Boehner and McConnell obstructionist did not attempt to setback the nation via opposition to raising the Deb Ceiling (payments we already owed, not new debt), the word “sequester” may have been held for another day and another GOP induced fight.

The GOP trick of taking a “facilitation” word suggested by the White House, and twisting the word (they also accepted) into talking point mantras, is cheap, bush league (no pun intended)  and very much Andrew Breitbartish.

As I have frequently stated, one problem with Right-wing dogma manifest via supporting oratory is the Right has not grown to understand technology. There is a record of everything these days.  They also forget there is always a person who either will accept pay to ‘reveal’, or who will ‘do the right thing’ via revelation for other reasons. Ultimately, the GOP fails to realize the days of the Memo-graph machine and eight-track audio tape have long passed into history.

                 

The Daily Beast and Talking Points Memo are reporting a PowerPoint presentation John Boehner used in 2011 Boehner as he apparently worked to secure approval of an agreement with the White House, that, if I am correct, became known as the ‘sequester.”

An excerpt from the TPM piece.

PowerPoint Presentation Shows Boehner Selling The Sequester To His Members In 2011 SAHIL KAPUR FEBRUARY 20, 2013, 11:10 AM 

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives to meet with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Although he now blames President Obama for the draconian spending cuts set to take effectMarch 1, just days before it passed House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) characterized the so-called sequester as a way to hold the president accountable.

A PowerPoint presentation that Boehner sent to his conference on July 31, 2011, obtained by The Daily Beast’s John Avlon, cast the sequester and the rest of the deal in favorable terms. The seven-slide PowerPoint was titled “Two-Step Approach To Hold President Obama Accountable” and the final slide made the case for sequestration.

 Click for all slides.

Within two days, the Budget Control Act — a debt limit hike, a wave of nearly $1 trillion in spending cuts, and the sequester — was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama. “When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted,” Boehner told CBS News at the time. “I’m pretty happy.”

Read more

“Used with permission from the TPM websites, a service of TPM Media LLC.” All rights not expressly granted herein are hereby reserved.

Of course, a member of Boehner’s staff addressed the presentation as having no significance regarding use of the word sequester.  As stated above the GOP is ‘word-smithing’ the issue. Their actions may entertain their supporters and contribute to solace in the scope of their obstruction, but the acts are counter-productive and surreptitious.  

Now, take a second or two and look at another example of archived information.  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll677.xml

The House of OZ Treks Towards The Fiscal Cliff

Thelma and Louise, they ain’t……but a cliff is a cliff. No Cantor in the back seat?

As I think back on Thune and McCain’s very public rants against President Obama for his mid-day address to the nation, I factor-in today’s deliberations in the House of OZ.  The president and his team are strategic enough to recognize angst from the Left, thus the )President Obama’s jovial and relaxed demeanor and they also know the GOP (House of OZ).

While many pundits feel the “cliff”: is nothing more than a “curb” with little cause for serious alarm in early 2013, the federal kerfuffle has taken on familiar appearance  I should add with predictable outcomes from the GOTP laden House of OZ.

Throughout December CNN has broadcast segments regarding the so-called Fiscal Cliff.  The following clips represents a select few explanations from foreman; each is very short and to the point. If you consider yourself independent and neutral on matters of politics foreman does his thing with a great deal of exact reporting without opine.  He is very much unlike those, like me, who see the absolutely ridiculousness of the GOP (especially the House of OZ).

CNN Tom Foreman delineates…

Video I (12/16/12) The Problem
Video II (12/20/12) The Cliff 
Video III (12/28/12) The Cliff and Your Tax Return  
Video IV (January 1, 2013)  The House of OZ
     House Republicans say we cannot extend unemployment payments for the chronically unemployed?    Video IV (January 1, 2013) latest video Update within the hour. We will update this page later tonight.

The full text of the: American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, AKA the bill to avert the Fiscal Cliff.157 pages (Do not try to read it!) Read more

______________________________

UPDATE: BIll approved

House approves fiscal cliff bill

Passes 257-167, heads to Obama

The president says he won’t debate with Congress over whether “they should pay the bills.” 

Boehner’s Waterloo

Fox News joined Boehner in saber rattling

Yesterday afternoon House Speaker John Boehner exhibited the most disturbing, ill-advised, and veritable child-like national television press conference in US History.

 

Washington Post Ed O’Keefe Post Politics.

In an afternoon news conference that lasted less than one minute, Boehner said the House would pass his “Plan B” on Thursday “to make permanent tax relief for nearly every American – 99.81 percent of the American people.”

  

“I hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach,” Boehner said. “Then the president will have this decision to make: He can call on Senate Democrats to pass that bill or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in American history.” 

The exhibition was as Nancy Pelosi categorized it, “desperate“.  Peolosi was benevolent.  Boehner’s spectacle was an indication of the fallacy of Republican politics.  He spoke words indicative of the depths to which the party has dissolved and the shallowness of its principles, dogma and, frankly, anti-Obamaism.  

Gerrymandering 101 And Boehner’s House

It goes to show that when you get to choose the ground on which electoral battles are fought, you’re very likely to win them.~~ Nick Bauman, Mother Jones

John Boehner spoke to the nation the day after President Obama won re-election. His message in a few words, “Mr. President, you do not have a mandate, despite the overwhelming Electoral vote.  The voters gave a mandate to the GOP via holding onto control of the House.”  He finished his well crafted talk with what amounted to conciliation, defiance, and self-serving bravado  Bravado, or course, mixed with clear indications of ‘things will be different’ than in 2011.  Immersed in his words was the message, ‘hands off raising taxes”. While, he used words about small business owners, the voting publicly clearly now knows they wish to protect the nation’s wealthy at all and any cost.

Boehner and Cantor’s mandates could be the result of a process in Us political that has both good and bad potential with consideration of the party that holds the reigns of Power in the House of Representatives.  Such power was granted the Republicans in the House in the year 2011.  The 2010 Census and the elections of 2010, gave the GOP opportunity for re-districting congressional districts, after decade of population census change.  The GOP pursued redistricting as veraciously as they work to placate and massage the will of big business and the nations wealthy.

Through the re-districting process commonly known as “Gerrymandering”, Boehner and Cantor ensured control of the House through the 2014 Congressional elections.

Gerrymandering 101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r7qJvprHXw

WikiPedia on Gerrymandering… 

In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan or incumbent-protected districts. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander (/ˈɡɛrimændər/, alt. /ˈdʒɛriˌmændər/); however, that word can also refer to the process.

Gerrymandering may be used to achieve desired electoral results for a particular party, or may be used to help or hinder a particular demographic, such as a political, ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, or class group.

When used to allege that a given party is gaining disproportionate power, the term gerrymandering has negative connotations. However, a gerrymander may also be used for purposes that some perceive as positive, such as in US federal voting district boundaries that produce a majority of constituents representative of African-American or other racial minorities (these are thus called “majority-minority districts“).

Jeff Reichert in 2010 released a documentary on Gerrymandering that is an eye-opener.  The documentary is a full 77 minutes, thus less desirable for those who like a quick shot of information and the euphoria of moving on to the next brain entertainment  The documentary is revealing in its depiction of a political practice that needs a serious revisit and a fix.

Jeff Reichert’s Gerrymandering 

A said, how does re-districting, gerrymandering, benefit the GOP and maintaining a majority in the House of Representatives?

Why John Boehner Has Gerrymandering to Thank for His Majority…Mother Jones

Excerpt

Because the census was taken in 2010, GOP control of state legislatures and governors mansions around the country gave Republicans the power to draw congressional district lines largely as they chose. They seized that chance, aggressively gerrymandering so as to protect Republican incumbents and endanger any remaining Democrats. The Dems would have done the same thing, of course, had they won control of these crucial states in 2010. But they didn’t. Nick Bauman.

Excerpt

Here are the numbers for states that Obama won or came close and where Republicans drew the congressional map:

• North Carolina, which Obama lost by around 2 percentage points: 9-4 GOP

• Florida, which Obama won by around half a percentage point: 17-10 GOP

• Ohio, which Obama won by nearly 2 percentage points: 12-4 GOP

• Virginia, which Obama won by around 3 percentage points: 8-3 GOP

• Pennsylvania, which Obama won by more than 5 percentage points: 13-5 GOP*

• Wisconsin, which Obama won by 6 percentage points: 5-3 GOP

• Michigan, which Obama won by 8 percentage points: 9-5 GOP

It goes to show that when you get to choose the ground on which electoral battles are fought, you’re very likely to win them.

*Correction: This post originally said that Pennsylvania was 8-5 GOP. It’s actually 13-5 GOP.

Down With Tyranny Dot Blogspot Dot Com

Ohio Redistricting before and after the GOP Gerrymandeering.

Pennsylvania Redistricting before and after the GOP Gerrymandeering.

 

New York State Re-redistricting post 2010

Emily Brazelon  of Slate Dot Com writes…

It’s Appalling that Gerrymandering Is Legal

And if the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act, it’s going to get a lot worse. 

By Emily Bazelon|Posted Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, at 5:14 PM ET

The maps are amazing: Ohio and Pennsylvania, states that went blue for Barack Obama, have congressional delegations that are heavily red. As David Weigel pointed out Wednesday, the maps show how gerrymandering saved the Republican majority in the House. (Even though Obama won Pennsylvania by 5 points, Republicans took 13 of 18 House districts. In Ohio, Obama won by two and the GOP kept 12 of 16 House seats.*) It’s outrageous. It’s also perfectly legal, and Democrats do it too, when given the chance—just ask the Republicans in Illinois. Gerrymandering is an American game both parties play because the courts allow it and the voters don’t punish them for it.

On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the only real bulwark against gerrymandering still standing. With the election over, it was inevitable that such a case would move onto the court’s docket. That doesn’t make it good news.

Re-districting can prove beneficial for either party.  It has been used to distribute black votes to the positive for district citizens and their representatives   It is factually the way the game is played whenever opportunity prevails. The 2010 Census handed the GOP the line drawing leverage, and the GOP ‘drew’.  

The problem in terms of the November 6th General Election, GOP Gerrymandering handed the party opportunity to hold a majority in the House.  There is something about the picture that takes away the foundation of Boehner’s claim of a mandate to stand tall as the protector of the nation’s wealthy and uber wealthy. 

UPDATE VIDEO: Romney’s "Upper Crust" speak and deliver $3 million

Is there really any wonder?

The LA Times and other sources are reporting on the elect Romney campaign ’shin-dig’ at the Hamptons over the ‘second’ 4th of July “weekend.    Romney left the mansion laden landscape with a ‘cool’ $3 million neatly folded into his war chest; a good result and an expected result.  He also left the Hamptons with a ‘sticky’ trial of elitism comments that can only equal comment of people who would have appeared on the no defunct “Life Styles and the Rich and Famous” Show, if the exclusive properties included comment from occupant denizens.

Since, we have little opportunity to secure first hand reports on the lavish ‘upper crust’ event, we are at the mercy of reporters who have either captured or purchase reports related on the event.  Of course, Rachel Maddow askance of whether there exist an  insider who has leaked information, is moot although intriguing. 

The LA time offers a snippet of how the upper crust thinks and speaks.

A money manager in a green Jeep said it was time for Romney to “up his game and be more reactive.” So far, said the donor (who would not give his name because he said it would hurt his business), Romney has had a “very timid offense.” 

A New York City donor a few cars back, who also would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. “I don’t think the common person is getting it,” she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. “Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them. 

“We’ve got the message,” she added. “But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies — everybody who’s got the right to vote — they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income — one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”

(I wonder the wisdom of knocking the ‘nails ladies”. I also wonder if the nail ladies are comparable to the shoe shine boys of old.)

It seem the wealth just have to have people to look down upon.

Apparently, the guardian of the nation’s wealthy Eric Cantor hob-knob with the best of the guest.  The Koch’s sponsored an evening event that certainly left Romney with an inflated campaign hoppers, and a good dose of Koch expectations once the stooge is elected, should the baton suffer such a fate.

As Romney winged off to another ‘upper crust’ enclave in Colorado, a friend PC’d a comment that I must share.  I do not think most Americans are truly envious of ‘upper crust’ wealth.  But, when the upper crust lumps us into ‘the uneducated’ classification as if clumping the Hunger Game minions into play fields of play, some move to comment.

MerryKat…

Well, this common person is educated, and understands full well that the snobby bitch quoted in this article has no idea how the world really works. 

She needs to understand that I don’t want to live my life as a slave to some corporation just so she, and all the others like her, can live her life without ever doing a days honest work. 

I’d like to see her scrub toilets for $8.00 an hour and then call it a fair wage when it won’t even pay the rent.

End MerryKat….

In a strange way, the comments from the ‘nail lady’ reminds of the upper crust denizens from the movie “The Help“. I can see them sitting around that dinner table as stiff and upper crust as a cheap over-starched dress shirt.  Only difference, the Hamptons ‘upper crust’ and the likes of Eric Cantor, do not restrict their ‘lofty elitism and oppression’ to a black maids….they would just as soon deliver same to you.

And the GOP protects those ‘uber’ wealthy elitist from paying just a bit more in taxes!

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

John Boehner: "dumb people" in Congress!

Besieged by his own party!

John Boehner’s Election ‘face’ is now on and in full election mode. 


Huffingtopn Post-Politics reports a Boehner’s comments about the mentality of congressional representatives.

“We got some of the smartest people in the country who serve here, and some of the dumbest. We got some of the best people you’d ever meet, and some of the raunchiest. We’ve got ‘em all,” he said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Boehner speaks frankly to the Wall Street Journal.  I am finding this election year typical of what republicans do when they have lost their obstructionist mission.  Eric Cantor stated this past week that, “…..we can come together when we want to (paraphrased).”  Of course, Mr. Cantor and  Mr Boehner could have taken that position much earlier in the Obama Administration. Let’s face it, President Obama has been legislatively successful even in areas of aversion to the GOP. Their aversion lead to an environment that is nothing less than shameful if one considers the  manner in which the GOP has failed to work towards moving the nation forward.  The only proposal or measure I can recall that received full support from both Houses of Congress and from obtuse Republicans was a recently passed Veterans Jobs Bill. Jim Demint (R) South Carolina was vehemently opposed to its passage, but I believe even he voted for passage.  Outside that bill, I can recall few if any bi-partisan support in Congress.



Boehner also praised his leadership in 2011.

“There’s nobody who tried harder last year with the president to do the right thing,” he said. “There’s nobody who walked further out on a limb than I did to try to get him to do the right thing.”

Boehner’s lament and self-promotion falls sort of reality for those who closely follow US politics.  He speaks of trying to get the president to do the “right thing”.  It seems he feels GOP obstructionism in all case was ‘the right thing’.  How about using unemployment payments as bargaining chips for programs that solely benefited wealthy Americans?   How about the business of standing tall while issues related to the debt ceiling pushed the US into a less than Triple ”A” Credit Rating?  His actions in ignoring 
65 to 70 % of voters who feel the nation’s wealthy should ‘carry a more fair and balanced tax rate structure.  Ultimately, Boehner’s comments has to be placed in a file I sometimes refer to as  a ‘pity-file”; the following graph illustrates why.



The ‘pity-file’?  The file is a place to lay aside comments, arguments, and drivel that has little to no rational substance.  


Boehner takes aim at the President for (implied) not doing the right thing, when we see slow but steady improvements in the economy, effective handling of our national defense, and much more than competent executive leadership.  If there is a criticism of the president, it was his insistence on working for compromise with a GOP that, as Bill O’Reilly said, “hates you”. 


Huff Posts Alan Horwitz, actually places Boehner’s reason for speaking out in perspective.

Boehner’s comments referred to last year’s contentious debt talks. The months-long saga resulted in a bitter struggle between Democrats and Republicans, as well as between Obama and GOP leaders. Obama once blamed Boehner for the talks falling apart after the Speaker walked out in the middle of a meeting.

In Horwitz’s context, it is obvious Boehner knows he took a major leadership hit last fall.  The hit was not surprising as his party successfully loaded the House with tea party representatives. Representatives whose only mission was, and is, preservation of conservative doctrine (fallacy about reducing spending, and obvious support for corporate America over the concerns of voters). The Tea party has yet to support a jobs bill focused don helping to reduce the nation’s high unemployment rate.


Boehner’s lament is not surprising. His comment about ‘trying to get the president to do the right thing‘, is indicative of the shallow world in which he administers.  His comments remind me of Eric Cantor’s comments along the lines of the following, “..if the president would just work with us“.  Yes, he actually said those words in a climate of near single digit congressional approval ratings.  Obviously, the vast majority of voters, do not share Boehner’s and Cantor’s perspectives.  Interestingly, the president’s approval ratings are not sky-rocketing. But, it is clearly illustrated above via the Gallup February 2012 graph, the public does not want Boehner’s ‘right thing’.


No Mr. President, maintain focus, direction and emphasis; do not consider Boehner’s “right thing”. Boehner can cry his crocodile tears all the way past this coming November.


Photo via Zimbio.com

The Daily GOP Ignominious

Have you ever been in a department store and witnessed an obvious case of, ‘kid runs the show’ (young little spoiled one)? You know the kid underage five (5) who has learned via ‘certain treatment’ at home (or lack there of), that they can act-up, cry and scream, throw tantrums, hit, and literally yell at their adult guardian (in most cases a parent or a grand-parent) have their way. The stated behavior generally manifest with the guardian guiding the store cart far too close to the toy department, or the second area of DEFCON Alert:  the candy isle. The parent or guardian can do nothing with the kid while in the store; the screaming is witnessed by everyone with four to five shopping isles. If you have similar experiences, the behavior seems to quickly subside before the kid reaches his/her parents or guardians automobile.  The parking lot is the “outer-limits” of the tears and screams. Yes, the parent is helpless and often embarrassed while in the store. Unless, and of course, the parent or guardian gives in to the kids ‘leading’ behavior. How satisfying for the kid!

It seems we are seeing similar behavior from leaders of the GOP now that we have moved into an election year. Republican members of Congress (with an exception for the contrived contraception issue) seem to have moved away from their past proud obstructionism. The payroll tax extension is a prime example.  See ‘potential republican retreat below’ link below.

Party leaders are now attempting to manage their ‘loose-cannon’ tea party members with whom they so proudly affiliated from 2009 through 2011.  The headline below tells the story.  The “kid” (GOTP) has acted-up, stifled legislation, avoided confronting taxes of the rich, disrupted and crashed any semblance of moderation from the GOP, and  all the while ‘roaming’ the legislative landscape for opportunity to vampire their ideology on state and federal government. Of course, some in the ‘so-called’ tea party used their platforms for personal gain or agenda driven dogma. Florida Governor Scott and Wisconsin Governor Walker are prime examples of use of office for personal gain.   The Governor of Ohio, completely klutz-zed his way into the national spotlight, as he retrenched after many of his state’s citizens rebelled against his war on collective-bargaining.

Well, the metaphoric GOP parents are trying to reason with their ‘firebrand’ and often irrational tea party members of Congress (and probably state legislatures). After all, ‘we must win reelection’. The sad part about their strategy is, Americans are so shortsighted, the cloak GOP leaders are attempting to throw over the party, my fool some voters.

Huffington Post-POLITICS


Payroll Tax Has Republican Leaders Urging Tea Party Members To Be Less Extreme, More Politically Savvy


Michael McAuliffmike.mcauliff@huffingtonpost.comBecome a fan of this reporter

WASHINGTON — The potential Republican retreat from a hard-line stance on extending the payroll tax cut comes as GOP leaders have been quietly urging their Tea Party members to be less extreme.  

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his top lieutenants on Monday proposed extending the 2-percent cut for the rest of the year without first finding a way to pay for it — a dramatic switch from a position that led to a pre-Christmas showdown that almost saw lawmakers working through the holiday.

As a young boy, I learned a valuable lesson while sitting in front of a television set and watching every cowboy show, movie or commercial on the tube: “….live by the gun, die by the gun”.  I also learned a poignant fable: The Scorpion and the Frog.  Despite, the circumstance and the facade, “I am going to do what I do; it is my nature”.  Let’s hope American voters can see through dubiety, misplaced priorities and in some cases malfeasance of conservative America.  We are still working to clean-up a national messes left from years 2000-2008.

I wish Boehner, McConnell, Cantor and other ‘the worse’ in dealing with ‘self-proclaimed’ Mr. and Mrs. Tea Party (Bachmann and Demint), and of course, the GOP wild man, Allan West.


….and the Band Marches On.…

Cantor’s non-softball interview: Meet 60 Minutes

Have you noticed the virtually secretive leadership of the GOP has  availed themselves for very public interviews (outside of Fox News)? When politicians become suddenly more visible, questions arise.  Why?

I will never forget the look on Cantor’s face as Boehner conceded this years’ “December Legislative Battle”.  He and Boehner won-out in previous years at the expense of common citizens, but this year was different.  He looked as if he had swallowed a frog or he looked as if he had lost a bundle of cash. In either case, he looked sick.

On the first day of an election year, he sits with CBS (formerly a “liberal media”) and tries to speak in an amenable manner.  The House Majority leader has not spoken in such a manner as long as I have been aware of his existence. I distinctly remember his comments that the President should just ‘work with us’.  ”Just work with us” is a loaded statement and only works from a person who feels they hold a position of power.

Cantor now comes forth with wife to his right and a watchful ‘press secretary’ in the wings.   Before, I moved to a couple of short video segment, think back to the last time you heard a crass-interrupting spokesperson interrupt an interview. The interview was on an internationally televised network: CBS.  There is something brewing on the political Right that is well outside the realm of decency and professionalism.  Unless, of course, the interview was set for Fox News where such crass behavior would not draw the ire of either on-camera subject. Cantor’s wife showed complete surprise by the interruption and Leslie Stahl appeared completely perplexed.  

If you want to see the real depth of contempt from the Right, take a look at how 60 Minutes Producers handled the crassness for the Cantor Camp.  How can a party be so short-sighted forget (or not know of) past video; video verifies facts.  

If you care to watch the entire interview with Cantor, here it is.   The Machismo is certainly missing!

Not only did Reagan cut taxes he raised taxed quite a few times.

Wiki Answers….

How Many Times did President Reagan Raise Taxes?

Answer:

In 1991, Reagan’s first year, income taxes were greatly reduced. In 1982 and 1984 taxes were raised to almost reach the the pre-1981 reduction level. In 1986, a major tax reform act was passed. This reform dropped the highest tax bracket level, but added taxes on business and made other changes that kept revenue about the same. The increases in business taxes and decreases in personal taxes were phased in over the new three years.

As I was seeking the WIki answer, I ran across a little something you might find interesting if you do not follow current events as much as others. “Progressives are the big spenders and the debt builders”! You might look very closely at the red upsurges on the following chart. After the review, take a look at the name below the Red upsurges.

It is amazing how the GOP machine handles itself when sitting for interviews with on networks other than  CNN or Fox News.  When the Republican sits for an interview with true journalist, they really should be far more prepared.

2011 ending with GOP (Ism) gone bad!

I just sat through a segment of MSNBC’s Hardball. Chris Matthews had two conservatives on camera spewing Right-Wing taking-points and looking generally stupid.

As the segment ended Matthews asked each  who they supported for their parties nomination to run for President. A noted “Tea Party’ blowhard (spokesman) from the Dallas area answered, “Ronald Reagan.” The Tea Party spokesman had just railed about how Obama has spent 4 trillion while raising the deficit. While the data in the follow chart ends in 2010, the chart exposes the asinine arguments that so emanate from Tea Party spokespeople. parties 

Federal_Debt_1901-2010_.jpg

Time series of U.S. federal debt overlaid with partisan affiliation of the White House and the Congress

Obstructionist Optics

Speaker John Boehner holds a news conference at the Capitol in Washington with Republican House members after a vote to block a Senate bill to extend the payroll tax break for an additional two months on Dec. 20, 2011., Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call / Getty Images

Loneliness

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1

How could a political party allow itself to self imploded into a mere mockery of its past (self alleged) greatness?  

The election of Barack Obama certainly precipitated the current state of GOP disarray.  Actually the election of any Democrat in 2008 would have brought-on heightened levels of malcontent from the Right. Obama’s election generated outright frothing accompanied by demented-delirium never before seen in US politics.  The level of angst that would lead to public proclamations such as this….

Even if McConnell, Boehner and Cantor thought of any areas of compromise with the Democratic President, McConnell (to his supporters at the Heritage Foundation) placed an obstructionist stake in the arena.

All in all, does anyone ever stop to think of America with John McCain and Sarah Palin in the top two position of federal governance.

Tea Party anyone? The House of OZ leaders gone mad!

If anyone has any remaining thoughts the House of Representatives of 112th Congress represents citizens of the United States vs. special interest, you truly are brainwashed. 

There are times when video tells stories that words cannot best convey.

Boehner’s response to a question about millionaire taxes. 

Seventy per cent (70%) to eighty per cent (80%) of the voting public feels the nation’s wealthy should contribute in a more fair and balanced way.  Yet, Boehner cavalierly flips-off the question.

After the Senate passed the bill that would continue the Payroll Tax and continue unemployment payments to the nation’s unemployed, the House Leaders will not allow a vote in their Chamber.  They fear their caucus will break ranks and do the right thing, thus ‘flipping the bird’ to the artificially inserted business of the Keystone Pipeline. It should be noted the democrats took the millionaire tax increase off the table.

What happens when power goes bad….. 

Do you think Boehner would have shown the Kochs or any member of the Millionaire Donors Club such a level of childishness?

Tea Party anyone?