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What Will The Republicans Do With All That Money?
July 8, 2012
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Posted by Bob Lord Commentators love to speculate, but so far I've seen no speculation on how the Republicans and their Super PACs will spend all the money they're raising for the Presidential race. It seems the assumption is that it all will go to advertising in the swing states, but is that necessarily true? … Read more
Ethan Orr: DeceptiCon
July 7, 2012
Dem? Green? Nope. You will note that Republican candidate for state legislature Ethan Orr has signs up around the district. You can see one here. There are are a few unusual things about them. They are blue and green, not the usual color choices for Republican candidates. More indicative of Dem and Green party candidates. … Read more
FCC’s political ad rule will take effect on Aug. 2
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I previously posted about the investigative journalists at Pro Publica who have had enough of the media conglomerates delaying new FCC rules in Congress requiring local TV stations to post public information about political ads online, so they have taken matters into their own hands. If TV Stations Won't Post Their Data on Political Ads, We Will.
The delay is almost over. The Hill reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Tuesday that its political ad rule will take effect on Aug. 2, just in time for the fall's expected barrage of political advertising. FCC's political ad rule to take effect Aug. 2:
The regulation, which the FCC adopted in April, will require television broadcasters to post information about political advertisements online.
TV stations were already required to compile data on how much political campaigns paid for ads, but previously, anyone who wanted access to the information would have to go to the station in person. The rule will require the broadcasters to load the information into a database on the FCC's website.
The commission published a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday morning that the Office of Management and Budget had given the rule final approval, meaning it will go into effect in 30 days, or Aug. 2.
For the first two years, the rule only applies to network-affiliated stations in the top 50 markets, but after that, all stations will have to comply with the requirements.
California the sixth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Huffington Post reported this week: One of the largest states in the nation took an official stand Thursday against the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which ruled that government restriction of corporation or union spending on political campaigns violated the First Amendment right to free … Read more
Conservative icon says the GOP has become “goofy”
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlieMeanie:
Not the word I would have used; "goofy" implies silly and is benign. Radical, extreme, and dangerous are far more accurate descriptions. Maybe he had the Birthers im mind.
Richard Posner, a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, has long been considering a leading conservative legal thinker and is an icon of the right. Even he has had enough of the modern-day GOP. Richard Posner Drifting To The Left?:
[I]n an interview with NPR yesterday, Richard Posner said:
“There’s been a real deterioration in conservative thinking. And that has to lead people to re-examine and modify their thinking. ”I’ve become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy.”
Although Posner has never been considered a party-line conservative, he was a Reagan nominee considered ideologically solid enough to be a possible Supreme Court candidate in the Bush administration——albeit not enough to actually be nominated. Posner also has a huge amount of influence on American legal thought as one of the most widely cited judges and legal scholars in the country. It’s not that Posner’s comments will sway votes, after all he’s not exactly a celebrity. But the people paying attention to him will shape the direction of the law for decades to come. And if a leading conservative thinker has lost respect for the GOP, that’s worth noticing.
UPDATE: Apparently Judge Posner was more illuminating than this one quote. Crooksandliars.com has the audio file, Reagan-Appointed Judge: Republican 'Lunatics' Made Me Less Conservative:
‘Question Austerity!’ – The GOP’s job-killing agenda
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
As the good sisters on the Nuns on The Bus Tour said, "Question Austerity!"
Jonathan Bernstein at The Plum Line reports on the GOP's job-killing agenda. Again: Republicans are mostly getting their way on the economy:
A must-read for jobs day: The new big-picture analysis from the Economic Policy Institute’s Josh Bivens and Heidi Shierholz that assesses just how much of the gap between where we are and full employment is attributable to cuts in government jobs.
The answer? Over 20%, or about 2.3 million jobs. Half of those jobs would be in the private sector.
Their analysis counts four effects from government job cuts. One is just direct job losses; that’s the 600,000 public jobs lost, almost all at the state and local levels, that you may have heard about. But as they note, that’s only the beginning.
During normal times, public sector jobs grow gradually with the population, so there’s another chunk of missing job growth in addition to public sector jobs lost. There’s also the jobs lost because all those public sector employees normally use stuff that they have to buy, and also buy stuff because they’re employed. And they also count in jobs lost thanks to the multiplier effects of transfer payments, which is certainly a real thing although not as closely connected to jobs.
There may be yet another effect here that is not included in their calculations. Bivens and Shiefholz account for how much money a laid off teacher doesn’t spend, and how that hurts the economy. But what of all those teachers, prison guards, cops, and firefighters (and even more boring government bureaucrats) who don’t get laid off — but fear for their jobs and curtail their spending accordingly?
Who is at fault for all this? That’s easy.
(Update) Nuns on The Bus Tour Wraps Up
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Nuns On The Bus tour wrapped up in Washington D.C. this week, where Ayn Rand acolyte Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) failed to meet with the good sisters both in D.C. and at his Janesville, WI congressional office, after numerous requests. Republicans Rebuff Catholic Nuns on the Bus | Politicol.
Ryan claims to be a good Catholic boy, but no good Catholic boy would have stiffed the good sisters. I warned you Pauly, don't mess with the penguins!
Suzy Khimm at Ezra Klein's WonkBlog reports Budget smackdown! Paul Ryan vs. Catholic nuns on a bus:
“It’s immoral!” the 81-year-old Catholic nun said of the Wisconsin Republican’s fiscal plan, as the crowd gathered on Capitol Hill erupted in cheers. Another nun, Sister Simone Campbell, denounced the proposed cuts to food stamps, child care, and other programs for the needy. “That’s not Christian,” said Campbell, who leads a Catholic social justice lobby called NETWORK. Campbell reminded her supporters of the Bible’s teachings on charity and compassion—but threw in a dash of realism as well. “Sisters don’t just do it with grace,” she explained. “For heaven’s sake, we need money!”
The nuns were concluding a two-week bus tour through nine swing states to protest the Ryan budget proposal, contending that it undermined Catholic teachings to serve the poor and vulnerable.
But the Catholic nuns also understand that Kumbaya moments aren’t enough to change votes in Washington: They have a full-fledged lobbying campaign, complete with a 53-page “faithful budget” that outlines their own fiscal priorities in considerable detail, backed by an interfaith coalition of social justice groups.
Romney’s Offshore Money
July 7, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Obama campaign has posted a map of Romney’s offshore money:
