Bad Government

I wonder what all those big-government hating, Tea-baggers in Indiana think of this republican-led government intrusion?

 [Singing the anthem: Are you doing it 'right'? | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com]

"Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, has introduced a bill that would set specific "performance standards" for singing and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at any event sponsored by public schools and state universities.

The law also would cover private schools receiving state or local scholarship funds, including vouchers.

Performers would have to sign a contract agreeing to follow the guidelines. Musicians -- whether amateur or professional -- would be fined $25 if it were deemed they failed to meet the appropriate standards."

tnb

Guns vs Signs

The Second Amendment is OK but we're not sure about that first one. What the hell ?

From Assembly committee votes to allow concealed guns - JSOnline

"Assembly Republicans voted Thursday morning to allow concealed guns on the body's floor and in its public viewing galleries"

but then

"...people are not allowed to use cameras in the viewing galleries or hold signs but will be able to carry guns. Republicans voted down a Democratic motion to allow signs..."

This seems pretty balls-y. Some media hound should get the guys that voted for this in front of a camera and make them explain their reasoning to "the people"

tnb

Rick Perry: Good Point !

From Juan Cole: [Historical Question for Governor Perry | Informed Comment]

So if we were living in Germany’s Weimar Republiic and it was 1930, and a politician warned a central banker that his policies were treasonous to the nation, and threatened to have him roughed up, and said that the current president did not love his country, can you tell me to what political party that politician most likely belonged?

tnb

Tea Party Peak?

Economist: Has the tea party peaked

All the crap in this post sounds good and the Tea party probably has peaked but I think the post underestimates, even ignores the effect of the right wing propaganda machine.

I'd say that the turning point, as shown in the chart, was when the financial crisis hit and it suddenly looked like a liberal black man could win the election. At that point, Fox news and the conservative media went on a full-on, attack against government and even remotely liberal ideas, a propagand push of lies, rumors and scare tactics this country hadn't seen in my lifetime, and basically scared a bunch of retired old white people to death. Without Fox news there wouldn't be a Tea Party.

I think the reason the Tea-party seems to have cooled is that the conservative leaders and their propaganda wings know they can't win the presidency with a wacked-out Tea-bagger so now conservative media is pulling back the propaganda push in an attempt to attrack some of the middle ground voters that the crazy propaganda pushes away.

tnb

Indoctrination Camps

Remember a couple of years ago when Beck, Palin, Bachmann and all your Tea-bagger friends were wound up because Obama was going to send our kids to "Indoctrination Camps". Well, its happening now, except the "Indoctrination camps" are being run by the Tea-Baggers.

The right wing in this country has lost it's fucking mind.

Indoctrination Camps for kids

tnb

Police to focus on rural seat-belt use

Police to focus on rural seat-belt use | The Star Press

Randolph county is strong tea-bagger country. I'm guessing they'll all be out protesting this strong-arm government action.

tnb

Links

Gin and Tacos takes on [Christian Hypocrites].

[Sean Duffy] catches hell.

Mitch Daniels, playing a not-crazy, financially-responsible republican in the Washington Post. [Mitch the straight man] Problem is, he's not that financially responsible [Mitch as Budget director] and he is pretty crazy [Mitch the Christian Jihadist]

tnb

Jon Kyl Lies Twice

An update on this:[tnb: Jon Kyl Lies to Congress]

He originally said

"If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that’s well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does."

which was a lie, it's really about 3%, but the record now shows that he said this

"If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that is what Planned Parenthood does."

Found here [Lie Erased 1] and here [Lie erased 2]

He should be fired

tnb

Texas Tea Party

Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

This is my main beef with the Tea-Bagger types. Hypocrisy. They're all against government that helps other people but don't have any trouble with government for themselves. Farmers against welfare but taking farm subsidies. Seniors against government but living on Social Security. Ex-Military taking VA health care but against health care reform. Big business against government but accepting handouts, tax breaks, and protection from imports. Landlord's increased property values due to good schools in their area but bitching about property tax levels that support those schools.

I'm for a leaner government myself but I'm at least willing to admit that government can be good, can help everyone and be worth paying for.

we've become a nation of greedy bastards.

tnb

Palin

This is just wrong. [Bristol Palin - Teen pregnancy prevention Foundataion]

Bristol Palin was hired by a teen pregnancy prevention foundation. The foundation paid Bristol $262,000 while giving only $35,000 to actual teen pregnancy prevention work.

Another reason the Palins should go back to Alaska and leave the rest of us alone.

tnb

Michelle Bachmann

It Smells Like Wingnut in the Morning | The World According to MEH

I still think someone should market Bachmann and Palin bobble-heads. They'd sell like crazy. The wingnuts would buy them. Many of the "haters" would buy them. I don't think there could never be a better named product for advertising purposes,.. "Palin bobble head" or "Bachmann bobble head". It just doesn't get any better than that. They sound like a can't-miss items to me.

I just want a small part of the profits for the idea.

tnb

Pin the Crazy on the Tea Party

From [Bruce Bartlett - GOP is blowing it by pandering to the Tea Party]

The main reason is that so many of its members simply don’t know what they are talking about; they seem to think that strong opinions are a substitute for facts, research and analysis. Consequently, many Tea Party members hold views on various topics that are, frankly, nuts, and these views have been embraced by some Republican voters as well.

For example, a March 15, 2011, poll by Public Policy Polling found that 25 percent of Republicans expect that a group called ACORN is going to steal the election for Obama next year and 31 percent aren’t sure; only 43 percent of Republicans believe this is false. In point of fact, ACORN no longer even exists, and it’s doubtful that it could have stolen a local election for dog catcher even if it wanted to.

An August 27, 2010, poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates International found that 52 percent of Republicans believe that Obama sympathizes with Islamic fundamentalists and favors imposing Islamic law around the world; only 7 percent thought this was definitely untrue.

A March 24, 2010, Harris poll found that 67 percent of Republicans believe that Obama is a socialist, 61 percent think he wants to take away the right to own guns, 57 percent believe he is a Muslim, 45 percent say he was not born in the U.S. and has no right to be president, and 41 percent think he is just looking for an excuse to seize dictatorial power.

As a consequence, even solid conservatives like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are considered dangerous liberals. And slightly less conservative Republicans such as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman are treated as dangerous radicals. In a March 14 New York Times report, Utah Tea Party leader Jacqueline Smith said of Huntsman, “On a good day, he’s a socialist. On a bad day, he’s a communist.”

This sort of rhetoric serves no useful purpose and is at best distracting. It also elevates minor differences on policy or strategy among Republicans into deep disagreements over principle. This has made it impossible for Congress to finish work on the 2011 budget, which should have been done last summer. Hard line Tea Party members keep insisting on impossibly large budget cuts despite the fact that the vast bulk of the budget is effectively off limits.

I mostly agree. The Tea-Party has some generally stupid beliefs and they will hurt the Republicans eventually but I don't think they can separated from the GOP as easily as this article believes. The Republican Party started the stupid and I'm afraid they're going to have to live with it.

Just a few years ago I considered myself a Republican. Hell, I voted for Bush Jr. the first time, but they, the Republican party, scared me away with the crap they've pulled over the last three years. Republican crap, not Tea-party crap. The key screw-ups were, Sarah Palin for VP, The lies of the campaign, and the post-election, Fox News-fed hissy-fit. Again, these were Republican actions that drove me, and I assume others, away.

I was excited about Palin at first but after listening to her a while, it was pretty obvious she's just not that sharp. The Republican leadership knew she wasn't that sharp yet they spent most of a year trying to convince the country she was qualified. They were willing to lie to the voters and put dizzy Sarah Palin that close to the controls of the country to win the election. That's about as responsible as a parent giving their sixteen year old kid a case of beer, a bag of dope, and a loaded gun, then handing them the keys to the car and telling him to go have some fun. Absolutely irresponsible. Where were the adults? And,.... they think I'm dumb enough not to see through it. They took me for a fool.

Then the lies started. I think there were more crazy lies in the last election than any other in my lifetime, the Obama is a socialist, Muslim, pals around with terrorists, no birth certificate crap. Lies that were so easy to see through that you'd have to be a complete idiot to believe them. There's just no way can I vote for someone who thinks I'm stupid enough to believe that crap. The bullshit was too deep. This was during the campaign, pre-Tea Party, so again was Republican BS not Tea-Party BS.

After the election, the Fox News fed hissy-fit started and the Tea Party was born. I've never seen so much whining from a political group in my life. The Republicans refused to give up control and threw everything they could at Obama. They put up a helluva fight. They saved their party and gave birth to the Tea Party with a propaganda-fed, scare campaign that this country hadn't seen in my lifetime. For two years, every day, 24/7, there were the Fox News talking heads, in the background, like Orwell's big-brother, creating and blasting out their "truth", just to scare people, to tear down a legitimately elected administration, to make it impossible for them to govern. It's like the Steelers, after losing the Super Bowl, went to Green Bay and beat the hell out of the Packers, took their trophy and rings just because they thought THEY should have won. I can't support anyone who refuses to play by the rules and plays this dirty.

Now they're blaming the crazy on the Tea Party when in reality the Republicans themselves were responsible. They knew Palin was an idiot. They knew Obama wasn't a socialist, Marxist, terrorist Kenyan. They could have been good sports and played by the rules. They could have been good losers, took their defeat in stride and started working on a new platform with some fresh ideas. They didn't. Instead, they threw a two year tantrum that helped create the very Tea Party that they're now trying to distance themselves from.

The Republican party is responsible. They started the crazy but it got away from them. Fox news took it way out there and created the Tea-Party which helped them in the last election but now that crazy is beginning to scare them. If it continues, it could cost them the more-sane, middle-ground voter in the next election, or even split the party, so,... they're trying to pin the crazy on the Tea-baggers and present themselves as a separate, sane group. The problem is, at this time they're not. There's about this much (hold thumb and index finger about 1/8 inch apart) difference between the Republican party and the Tea-Party. America has to take them together as a package deal.

I suppose distancing themselves from the Tea-Party could work. I'd have never guessed that voters would believe all the stupid crap of the last two years but they did. Maybe, with some crappy media on the left and the full support of Fox News, the voters will believe this crap too. The Republicans won't get my vote next time but I've learned that you can't under-estimate the stupidity of the American voter.

tnb

Tim Pawlenty

Here's a quote from Tim Pawlenty. (found on uggabugga: Pawlenty)

There is a brighter future for America. We know what we need to do: Grow jobs, limit government spending, and tackle entitlements. We need to encourage the dreamers and innovators, the small business owners, the hard workers, the brave men and women throughout this country's history that have asked for nothing more than the freedom to work hard and get ahead without government getting in the way.

This sounds like a Sarah Palin quote. If there was a "drill, baby, drill" in there, no one would know the difference.

You gotta talk the talk if you want Tea-bagger support.

tnb

Washington ruined your washing Machine.

WSJ: Sam Kazman: How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine

What a crappy article by Sam Kazman. This is an agenda-driven, hit piece, just designed to pile-on and promote the Tea-Bagger, "Government screws up everything it does" crap. What a crappy media we have.

The opening line.

"In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair" or "poor." This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as "often mediocre or worse."

Of course some or even most top loaders were rated "very good" or "excellent" in the 90s, they were all we had to compare and were the peak of the technology for the time. There were good cars in the 60s too but even the best from that time wouldn't rate very good against today's models. We've progressed, cars and washings machines are both better today. In washing machines, the current front loaders are much better than the old 1996 top loaders, they clean your clothes as well but do it more efficiently in terms of detergent, water and electricity use. They are also, generally easier on your clothes.

So top loaders don't work as well under the new efficiency rules, so what, front loaders work better.

According to EnergyStar.gov, Energy Star-rated washing machines use about 30 percent less energy and 50 percent less water than non-qualified machines. Replacing a 10-year-old washer with a new Energy Star machine, they say, can save the average person about $135 per year on utility bills. [Consumer Research]

Using a newer washer with a high speed spin cycle (top or front loaders) will also cut your dryer use dramatically. When I replaced my washer, dryer use was cut about 40%. So not only am I saving money with the washer, I'm also saving even more electricity running the dryer less and the decreased use should make it last a little longer.

A couple links and some personal thoughts on today's washers:  [Link 1]  [Link 2]

A washing machine as an Investment?

I would argue that one of the the best under-$1000 investments today is to replace your old top loader with a new front load washing machine (or even new top loader) with a high speed spin cycle. Putting 1,000$ in the bank (at about 1%) will make you 10$ a year at today's rates. Replacing an old top loader with a high-speed spin front loader should save you 130$ or more in electricity, water and detergent savings. Savings could be even more with a large family.

Consumers Beware.

Consumers have to be careful when buying today's machines. Appliance salesmen seem to be directly related to used-car salesmen, politicians, and Wall Street journal writers. They are going to dance around the truth and some are not above lying to you to make a sale.

DO some research. You don't have to have every feature or the fastest spin cycle. A spin cycle around 700-900rpm is OK. The "Washer Stands" they want to sell you at about $150 to 200$ each seem like a rip-off to me.

Skip the dryer. Most people like to see a matching washer and dryer but you don't need a new dryer to reap the savings. Most of today's dryers are only slightly more efficient than older models. The washer is the key unit. Its high speed spin cycle gets so much water out of clothes that even an old dryer will run less, lasting longer, cutting your electricity bill all the while.

You can spend over $2,000 on a new washer and dryer but you don't have too. I bought a new washer, skipped the dryer and the stand, for only for $600 and was saving about 15$ a month on my electric bill immediately (YMMV).

I don't expect the new machine to last as long as an old 1985 top loader. they are more complicated, with more electronics and seem lighter and more cheaply made today. Of course this isn't the government's fault, it's the manufacturers, in their search for profits they cut costs to the bone making everything cheaper and lighter weight.

So government didn't ruin your old washing machine, they forced it to get better. The manufacturer did make it cheaper so it probably won't last as long, and you can't necessarily believe their advertisng, and the salesman may lie to you about features and savings to get you to buy the model he makes the most commission on, and........

wow, tell me again how the private, free-market is always better than government?

Anyway, Sam Kazman shouldn't be allowed to write any more washing machine articles.

tnb

Enemies - part 2

This said [Enemies]. I do think the Tea-Baggers are the group most exploited today, generally being led by the nose by The Propaganda Network to support things against their best interest.

Political Irony › It’s a Tea Party World

Income Inequality, Big Cities and the Tea Party

Creative Class » Blog Archive » Cities, Inequality and Wages - Creative Class

"All of this leads to an intriguing conclusion about the connection between cities and wages. On the one hand, city-size has become a factor in increasing inequality, magnifying the underlying bifurcation of the labor market. On the other hand, bigger cities appear to pay better average wages. Cities make us richer, more productive and increase our wages, even as they reflect and compound the growing social and economic divides of today’s increasingly spiky world."

The big city adds to income inequality. This could help explain the rise of the mostly rural tea-party. The older, rural class sits at home watching their world change. Their successful children move to the big cities, leaving them to watch their now poorer and older neighborhoods, grow poorer and older.

This seems similar to the Oakies of the great depression. The changing world has passed them by, destroyed the life they had known. However, instead of being forced to move-out, take, or go with the family to California in search of a better life, they stay where they are, safe at home, comforted by their social security and medicare, watching fox news for hours on end. Blaming it all on Obama and those damned liberals.

tnb

Revolutions: Egypt vs TeaBaggers

From: The Rude Pundit

The other difference? In Egypt, they have been revolting against a government that has stripped away their rights, with the arrest and random torture of citizens, with a three-decade state of emergency in existence, with corruption wrecking the standard of life for the populace. The Egyptians have been intense and unrelenting, sacrificing their time, their bodies, their jobs, and, in some cases, their lives in order to guarantee democracy in their country, doing so with comparatively little violence. In the United States, a few cranks didn't like the way an election went. And they wandered aimlessly for a little while, listening to their incoherent speakers, fondling their guns that most of them will never really use, but, oh, they can fantasize, and then they went home until it was time to vote again, probably stopping at the Taco Bell drive-thru on the way to watch Beck on the Tivo.

well said.

tnb

Sarah Palin - The Stupid Hurts 2

Sarah Palin Criticizes President Barack Obama on Egypt Saying 3 a.m. call Went to Answering Machine - ABC News

I doubt Sarah Palin could have found Egypt on a map a couple of years ago but now she's qualified to comment on Obama's handling of the revolt. How the fuck can that be?

Americans, especially the right-wing evangelical type, just kill me. They scream continually about the constitution, democracy, freedom, the will of the people, etc. but they go freakin' berserk as soon as a country even looks like it could elect a government with a different religion or vision. Hell, they could barely contain themselves with the results of our last election. Effectively throwing a two-year, Fox News/republican led hissy-fit because THEY didn't like the guy MOST people voted for.

tnb

Arizona Shootings - Wikileaks

The right thinks,...

that Bill O'Reilly screaming "Tiller, The baby Killer" multiple times on prime time TV couldn't possibly have influenced the shooter of Dr. Tiller

and

That presenting Obama as a, ... socialist, communist, marxist, kenyan, no-birth-certificate holding, pal'd-around-with-terrorists hoodlum who's trying to take your gun, your bible, AND put your parents in front of death panels, while taking over the auto industry and the banks in a socialist takeover complete with a bunch of those evil Czar guys,...... couldn't possibly cause some nutcase to try to assassinate him.

but

They want to execute Julian Assange of Wikileaks because they think some of the documents that he was given, and could release, could get someone killed.

WTF?

tnb

On Reading The Constitution

You've probably heard that Congress skipped-over a few passages in their reading of the Constitution this week. The unread parts are things that are actually still in the document but have been amended-out so that they do not affect our current law, basically, because later leaders found these passages unfair or found better alternatives.

Here's an article listing what was left out, the big one being the mention of slaves being equal to 3/5's of a free person. [LINK - Washington Post]

Congressional leaders chose to read it as it is applied today not in its original, un-altered form which is fine with me. It's their coronation. They can have it their way.

My personal feeling is that republican leaders didn't want to tread on the view of many on the right, who see the Constitution with a religious-like conviction and see it as basically infalible. They accept it on faith that it is the correct, noble, unchanging law-of-the-land. To read sections that are easily seen as wrong or to give the idea that it could actually be changed is heretical.

But,.... Here's a very good post on why we should read the entire document, warts and all.

Balkinization

Here's a portion but you should read it all

Reading the entire Constitution is a way of reminding ourselves that the Constitution is always a work in progress; that it has been flawed in the past and probably is still flawed in the present; that what we have now before us is not necessarily the final version of the Constitution, but that the Constitution can always be improved and that it must be improved; that no matter how much our political institutions may have failed us in the past, and no matter how much we have failed ourselves in the past, political redemption is always still possible; and that We the People of the United States can still always strive for a more just, more free, and more equal country-- what the Preamble of the Constitution calls a "More Perfect Union."

Reading the entire Constitution-- including its oblique references to slavery--is a way of engaging in proper humility about the products of flawed human beings, but it is also a way of expressing faith in eventual improvement. If the Constitution once allowed great evils, and now it does not, perhaps someday we will be able to recognize the current evils it still allows, and ameliorate them as well.

Again, you should read it all.

tnb