Mann and Ornstein were talking about you, Robb
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Late last month, political scientists Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein wrote an op-ed, Let's just say it: The Republicans Are The Problem in the Washington Post that generated a great deal of discussion. (Oddly enough, the op-ed was not republished in either The Arizona Republic of the Arizona Daily Star, despite those newspapers subscribing to the Post's stable of syndicated columnists and often republishing Post editorials).
The premise of their op-ed is the same as in their new book, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism:
We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.
The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.
When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.
Mann and Orrnstein also had harsh words for the corporate media villagers as well:
We understand the values of mainstream journalists, including the effort to report both sides of a story. But a balanced treatment of an unbalanced phenomenon distorts reality. If the political dynamics of Washington are unlikely to change anytime soon, at least we should change the way that reality is portrayed to the public.
Our advice to the press: Don’t seek professional safety through the even-handed, unfiltered presentation of opposing views. Which politician is telling the truth? Who is taking hostages, at what risks and to what ends?
Also, stop lending legitimacy to Senate filibusters by treating a 60-vote hurdle as routine. The framers certainly didn’t intend it to be. Report individual senators’ abusive use of holds and identify every time the minority party uses a filibuster to kill a bill or nomination with majority support.
Look ahead to the likely consequences of voters’ choices in the November elections. How would the candidates govern? What could they accomplish? What differences can people expect from a unified Republican or Democratic government, or one divided between the parties?
In the end, while the press can make certain political choices understandable, it is up to voters to decide.
Citizens United (David Bossie) to air an attack ad for Jesse Kelly
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Jeffrey Toobin has a lengthy analysis of how Chief Justice John Roberts orchestrated the Citizens United decision in Money Unlimited for the New Yorker. Really a must-read. So who is behind Citizens United?: Floyd Brown had worked around the fringes of the conservative movement for years before he became famous, in 1988. … Read more
The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, threatens to take America hostage again
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
If "Luffa Boy" Bill O'Rielly want to talk about "terrorism," them let's talk about actual terrorism, the economic terrorism perpetrated by Tea-Publicans in Congress taking America hostage to their radical agenda using the federal debt ceiling and default as leverage. Their economic terrorism already resulted in a downgrade of the credit of the United States for the first time in our history after their last terrorist act of hostage taking over the federal debt ceiling.
The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner, spoke at the Peter G. Peterson Fiscal Summit on Tuesday. For the politically uninitiated, Peter Peterson is a right-wing ideologue who runs a foundation dedicated to the purpose of ending social security and Medicare. The 'very serious people" of the D.C. Media villager crowd treat Pete as a "very serious person" on the subject of "entitlements," but let's be clear, Pete is a right-wing ideologue who would end social security and Medicare. He believes in an "ownership society" — "You're on your own, Grandma! Suck it!"
"We shouldn’t dread the debt limit," said Speaker John Boehner… "We should welcome it. It’s an action-forcing event in a town that has become infamous for inaction." (Maybe he should talk to his counterpart in the Senate, the Septegenarian Ninja Turtle Mitch McConnell, who has rendered the Senate dysfunctional with his constant abuse of the filibuster rule).
Ezra Klein writes at Wonkbook: Of course Boehner wants another debt-ceiling showdown:
[Boehner's] comments have been the occasion for much wailing and gnashing of teeth, as if anyone, anywhere, believed that the Republicans' 2011 debt-ceiling antics were some sort of one-off. But Boehner was clear on Tuesday. "I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase," he said.
Of course he will. For one thing, it worked well for him in 2011. Republicans got more than $900 billion in immediate spending cuts, as well as $1.2 trillion in triggered spending cuts — though they don't much like the $500 billion or so of those cuts scheduled to fall on the Pentagon. They also drove President Obama's approval ratings beneath 40 percent. And while I'm not one who thinks Republicans intentionally tank the economy to undermine Obama [Ezra is naive], there's little doubt that the effect of the debt-ceiling debacle was to set back the recovery, brightening Republican prospects and darkening Democratic ones. The fact is that it's easier to be sanguine about economic showdowns when you're not the ones in charge.
Transparency in campaign contributors is political ‘terrorism’ to FAUX News
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
have you heard about this? "Luffa Boy" Bill O'Rielly accused President Obama of being a political "terrorist." O'Reilly Accuses Obama Camp Of 'Terrorism' – Fox Nation – Fox News:
"Personal Story" segment tonight, a company named Melaleuca, that sells wellness products out of Idaho is under siege because the CEO donated a million dollars to a super PAC that supports Mitt Romney. And that CEO, Frank Vandersloot, is being personally attacked, as well.
Yeah, Frank Vandersloot is Mitt Romney's campaign finance co-chair, not just some businessman from Idaho, and he has a long history of using his fortune to effect the outcome of elections in Idaho. So what does "Luffa Boy" consider political "terrorism"?
The Obama campain has a web site that discloses the names of known contributors to Super PACs in the wake of Citizens United v. FEC. Behind the curtain: A brief history of Romney’s donors:
Frank Vandersloot: Frank Vandersloot is the national finance co-chairman of the Romney campaign and, through his company Melaleuca, has donated $1 million to Restore Our Future. He is also a “litigious, combative, and a bitter foe of the gay rights movement” who “spent big” on ads in an “ultimately unsuccessful effort to force Idaho Public Television to cancel a program that showed gays and lesbians in a favorable light to school children.”
Oh the horrors! Transparency about who is actually behind those Super PACs like Romney's Restore Our Future. Billionaire bullies ought to be able to smear candidates from the safety of their undisclosed bunkers. "Ignore that man behind the curtain!"
Might FAUX News Fraudcasting's sudden interest in the political 'terrorism" of disclosing the names of the plutocrats who contribute to Super PACs have something to do with Karl Rove and this? Groups that finance election ads can't hide donors' IDs, court says:
An appeals court has ruled, for the time being, against groups that finance electioneering ads and want to keep the identity of their donors secret.
In a 2-1 decision late Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the groups provided no evidence their contributors would face threats if their names were disclosed. The merits of the case will be argued before the appeals court in September.
The disclosure issue involves broadcast ads that don't expressly advocate for or against a candidate running for office.
How ‘Mittens’ gets away with his lying – a complicit corporate media
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Yesterday, Willard "Mittens" Romney gave a big speech in which he accused President Obama of lighting a “prairie fire of debt.” Apparently Mittens is unaware that "Prarie Fire" is the name of the progressive movement in the Great Plains, but whatever. Prairie Fire – The Progressive Voice of the Great Plains.
Mittens' speech has been fact checked by the Associated Press and dissected by Jonathan Chait and Steve Benen. As Greg Sargent notes at the Plum Line, How Mitt Romney Gets Away With His Lying:
They note that it’s entirely at odds with conventional understanding of how deficits work, and utterly disconnected from context, rendering it almost unquantifiably misleading.
But I wanted to make another point. If you scan through all the media attention Romney’s speech received, you are hard-pressed to find any news accounts that tell readers the following rather relevant points:
1) Nonpartisan experts believe Romney’s plans would increase the deficit far more than Obama’s would.
2) George W. Bush’s policies arguably are more responsible for increasing the deficit than Obama's are.
Oh, sure, many of the news accounts contain the Obama campaign’s response to Romney’s speech; the Obama campaign put out a widely-reprinted statement arguing that Romney’s plans would increase the deficit and that he’d return to policies that created it in the first place.
How about a Star Barber/Kelly Fact Check on Medicare and Social Security?
May 16, 2012
by
by David Safier The Star has an AP Fact Check in today's paper looking at Romney's claims about Obama's responsibility for the national debt. I'm pleased to say, it doesn't indulge in false equivalence. It basically says Romney's accusations against Obama are incorrect without creating a weak, on-the-other-hand "balance" to muddy the waters. Obviously, I … Read more
Day of Action – May 19th – Walking for Arizona’s Democratic Future!
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Pima County Democratic Party: Day of Action – May 19th – Walking for Arizona's Democratic Future! Saturday, May 19th, 2012 It is time to finish collecting those last signatures for our Democratic Candidates! Join Democrats and candidates from all over Southern Arizona as we complete the last bits of … Read more
CD 8 Special Election: Watch the debate tonight, Vote early tomorrow!
May 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The first of two debates is tonight — a prerecorded televised debate on Arizona Public Media's Arizona Illustrated, PBS-HD Channel 6, simulcast on the radio NPR 89.1 FM. at 6:00 p.m. If you have any questions for the candidates for the AZPM forum, submit them by going to this link, and give … Read more
