Saturday, October 2, 2010
Tea Party Refuses to Take the Pledge
Welcome to the REAL TEA PARTY!
"Tea Party vs. War Party?
by Patrick J. Buchanan
10/01/2010
..... Here is where the Tea Party and War Party split the blanket.
If Obama makes good on his pledge of full withdrawal of the 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of 2011, will the Tea Party and Republican right oppose that withdrawal and join the War Party in demanding that we retain an army in Iraq indefinitely?
If Obama refuses to go to war against Iran, a war that would send oil prices soaring, close the Persian Gulf and be a disaster for the global economy, will the Tea Party join the War Party in denouncing Obama for not launching a third war in the Near East?
If Obama begins his promised withdrawal from Afghanistan next July, will Tea Party Republicans join the War Party and the generals in accusing Obama of inviting an American defeat?
The neocons are nervous the Tea Party may not sign up to soldier on for the empire. Writing in The Washington Post, Danielle Pletka and Thomas Donnelly of AEI have sniffed out the unmistakable scent of "isolationism" among Tea Party favorites.
They are warning that the old right and Tea Party might unite in a "combination of Ebenezer Scrooge and George McGovern, withdrawing from the world to a countinghouse America."
Sorry, but the old neocon name-calling won't cut it this time.
After Iraq and Afghanistan, the American people are not going to give the establishment and War Party a free hand in foreign policy. Every patriot will do what is necessary and pay what is needed to defend his country. But national security is one thing, empire security another....
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Also see: Pat Buchanan: 9/11 Truther?
I think Pat knows or suspects some of the truth, yeah.
More: Did Hitler Want War?
Actually, that was confirmed by of all things the Military Channel yesterday. British researchers telling me Hitler didn't even want war with Britain and that he felt they had a kinship with Germans. Only took over Western Europe to eliminate it as battle front for eventual turn east as he had always planned.
Here is your corporate media fooley and diversion, dear readers,
"House GOP rolling out pledge against taxes
WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are vowing to cut taxes and federal spending, repeal President Obama’s health care law, and ban federal funding of abortion as part of a campaign manifesto designed to propel them to victory in midterm elections Nov. 2.
The “Pledge to America,’’ circulated to GOP lawmakers yesterday, emphasizes job creation and spending control, as well as changing the way Congress does business.
That's what we voted for four years ago and nothing changed.
It pairs some familiar Republican ideas — such as deep spending cuts, medical liability reform, and stricter border enforcement — with an antigovernment call to action that draws on themes of the Tea Party movement and echoes voters’ discontent with the economy and Obama....
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"In ‘Pledge to America,’ GOP vows to stop Obama’s efforts; Document sets sights on bailout, health care plan" by Dan Balz, Washington Post | September 24, 2010
WASHINGTON —At its heart, the “Pledge to America’’ represents a promise to stop Obama....
The pledge is a political document in the guise of a governing agenda....
And here I have propaganda posing as a newspaper.
Yeah, just stick with Democrats, folks. They have done such a great job.
The document is filled with rhetorical flourishes that echo language heard for the past year from Tea Party activists around the country.
The same insulting BS that fills the pages of my paper?
Its opening paragraphs bow to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and describe Washington much the way Colonialists once described King George III.
Washington is portrayed as arrogant and out of touch, ruled by “self-appointed elites’’ who are willfully ignoring the people’s interests.
THAT is RIGHT! That is why we are FLIPPING IT OVER AGAIN!!
Consider this statement on the opening page of the pledge: “In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent.’’
Oh, I think we can ALL AGREE on THAT!!
That sets up the contrast Republicans have been trying to draw for November’s elections, when the GOP hopes to capitalize on the frustration of Americans over the lack of significant progress in turning around the economy and the backlash on the right against the growth in the size and scope of government....
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"Obama, Republicans clash over campaign blueprint
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Republicans’ plan to slash taxes and cut spending if the GOP retakes the House in November is no more than “an echo of a disastrous decade we can’t afford to relive.’’
Those are beginning to look like the salad days, sir.
Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address yesterday to skewer House Republicans over the plan, “A Pledge to America.’’ It also promised to cut down on government regulation, repeal Obama’s health care law and end his stimulus program.
In the Republican address, California Representative. Kevin McCarthy, said, “The new agenda embodies Americans’ rejection of the notion that we can simply tax, borrow, and spend our way to prosperity.’’
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Yes, NO TALK of WARS in those pieces -- or any other political pablum the press is shoveling forth.
Posted by Rocker at 11:41 AM Links to this post
Labels: American Tyranny, Neo-Con Plan, Politics, U.S.
The Two-Headed War Party
No wonder we can't get the change we want!
"The defense policy bill has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, passing 48 years in a row with both parties eager to back the military"
"GOP blocks repeal of ‘don’t ask’; Filibuster stalls vote on military’s gay rule" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | September 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans dealt a stinging setback yesterday to efforts to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy for gay soldiers, defeating attempts by Democratic leaders to take up a major military bill that includes the issue.
Democrats fell four votes shy of the 60 votes needed to break a GOP filibuster....
The defeat is expected to push any efforts to repeal “don’t ask’’ past mid-term elections. For gay-rights advocates and Democratic leaders, this means that a lame-duck session could represent a last stand for a repeal, because election gains expected for Republicans could extinguish any chances in a new Congress....
The defense policy bill has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, passing 48 years in a row with both parties eager to back the military....
An estimated 13,000 people have been discharged under the policy since it was implemented in 1993. Gay rights groups have been eager to see the law repealed, and supporters began mobilizing in recent days.
Yeah, let's not talk about ending the damn things.
Singer Lady Gaga made an appeal to two Maine Republicans — Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe — by traveling to Portland this week.
Who is Lady Gaga and why should I care?
Ultimately, the issue failed by a 56-to-43 vote. Republicans were unanimous against the measure and were joined by two Democratic senators from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. Reid also changed his vote to no, as a procedural tactic that will allow him to bring the issue up again.
Democrats yesterday had also hoped to take up an amendment to the bill that would provide illegal immigrants with a quicker pathway to citizenship through college or military service.
Yeah, GO DIE in WARS BASED on LIES and we will let you in!
Yeah, but the AGENDA-PUSHING WAR PAPER cares soooo much about the poor illegals, blah, blah, blah.
Dubbed the Dream Act, it would create a path to legal residency for youths who arrived before they turned 16; have lived in the United States for five consecutive years; and have no criminal record. Because Republicans blocked the defense bill from coming up, however, there was no vote on the amendment.
Why is this crap being attached anyway? I thought Democraps were transparent.
A group of somber-faced students demonstrating outside of Brown’s office in Boston vowed to push for the Dream Act yesterday. “It is a disappointment, but it’s not the end,’’ said Deivid Ribeiro, spokesman for the Student Immigrant Movement, a group advocating for undocumented immigrant children.
You want to go die for lies, empire, and Israel, fine. I'm done trying to talk you out of it, kids. Bye.
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Related: Gay adoption ban unconstitutional
Foes of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ score another win as judge orders lesbian reinstated
Yeah, fine, bye.
Related:
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to pressure some of those Democrats to switch their votes.... California Democratic Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey says the White House has also threatened to pull support from freshman anti-war Democrats who vote no on the bill.... In the crosshairs of the big guns at the White House and on Capitol Hill are anti-war freshmen legislators and the movement to hold those responsible for torture accountable.
In funding the wars, the White House has been able to rely on strong GOP support to marginalize the anti-war Democrats who have pledged to vote against continued funding (as 51 Democrats did in May when the supplemental was first voted on). But the White House is running into trouble now because of Republican opposition to some of the provisions added to the bill (and one removed), meaning the pro-war Democrats actually need a fair number of anti-war Democrats to switch sides. In short, the current battle will clearly reveal exactly how many Democrats actually oppose these wars. And, according to reports, the White House and Democratic Leadership have the gloves off in the fight:
Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, a leader of the antiwar Democrats, said the White House is threatening to withdraw support from freshmen who oppose the bill, saying “you’ll never hear from us again.” She said the House leadership also is targeting the freshmen. “It’s really hard for the freshmen,” she said. “Nancy’s pretty powerful.”
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We will be bidding her a goodbye, too.
Also see: Pelosi Protested at Shea-Porter Promo
Some of the most disappointing political revelations of my lifetime.
But don't change back to those icky Repuglicans no matter what you do!
Also see:
"A child nutrition bill that was a centerpiece of Michelle Obama’s healthful eating campaign stalled in the House this week after antihunger groups and more than 100 Democrats protested the use of food stamp dollars to pay for it....
What, looting banks and war-profiteers couldn't spare some chump change?
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Posted by Rocker at 11:40 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
Obama's Political Panic
He ought to be. He is looking at a historic loss.
"Small-business bill sent to Obama; Congress passes long-delayed $40b aid measure" by Andrew Taylor, Associated Press | September 24, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Congress yesterday sent President Obama a long-delayed bill to help struggling small businesses with easier credit and other incentives to expand and hire more workers.
Related: Senate Cuts Banks $30 Billion Check
Not what we wanted.
The $40 billion-plus bill is the last vestige of the heralded jobs agenda that Obama and Democrats promoted early this year. They ended up delivering only a fraction of what they promised because emboldened Senate Republicans blocked most of the agenda with delaying tactics.
Look at the biased tone of that paragraph.
Yup, the corporate media is telling you its all Republicans fault so you better vote Democrat. I mean, they have been doing such a great job!
The Senate passed the measure last week. The 237-187 House vote yesterday that sent the bill to the president split along party lines as Democrats praised the measure for creating a $30 billion federal fund to help smaller banks issue loans to small businesses and for cutting taxes by $12 billion over the coming decade.
“It combines . . . tax relief with increased access to critical financing so that our nation’s small businesses can move forward on new or delayed expansion plans,’’ said Representative Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat. “Small-business growth means job creation.’’
Republicans, poised for big gains in elections just six weeks away, said the new loan fund is just a smaller version of the unpopular 2008 bailout of the financial system.
“What we have today before us is junior TARP,’’ said Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.
While community bankers enthusiastically support the measure, it is getting only tepid support from GOP-leaning small-business groups, which are more focused on expiring tax cuts.
The vote gives Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress a much-needed, but minor, victory as elections approach.
Earlier this year, Democrats had ambitious designs to boost green jobs, provide new funding for roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects, pay for a summer jobs program for disadvantaged young people, and renew health insurance subsidies for the jobless.
What was enacted was far smaller: more unemployment checks for the jobless; relief from payroll taxes for companies that hire more workers; and billions of dollars in aid for states and local schools.
They forgot about the $800 billion stimuloot already?
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"President signs measure to help small businesses
WASHINGTON — Scoring a prized political victory five weeks before the Nov. 2 elections, President Obama yesterday signed a bill to help small businesses expand and hire by cutting their taxes and creating a $30 billion loan fund.
Obama said the incentives will help businesses right away. But any hiring may not be enough to help some Democrats before crucial midterm elections in which voters are expected to vent their frustrations over a slow-growing economy and high unemployment....
And nothing in heaven or on earth is going to stop us.
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What was cut from the printed paper:
"Campaigning, Obama embarks on four-state tour
WASHINGTON -- President Obama began a four-state tour yesterday that is expected to feature three more of the backyard visits with voters that have become a campaign staple.
The president flew to Albuquerque, where he planned to spend the night. He will meet this morning with several people at a private home to discuss the economy and education. Obama plans similar backyard visits tomorrow in Des Moines and Richmond.
Yeah, thanks for helping with all the global-warming, taxpayer-funded trips.
He will attend a Democratic campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison tonight.
The event is organized as more youth-focused pep rally than policy discussion. Popular rock band the National and singer-songwriter Ben Harper are scheduled to warm up the crowd."
Pffft!
And now he is SCOLDING Democrats?
"Obama prods Democrats to get busy for November
ALBUQUERQUE — Buck up. Stop whining. And get to work.
Clearly frustrated by Republicans’ energy — and his own party’s lack of enthusiasm — President Obama scolded fellow Democrats even as he rallied them yesterday in an effort to save the party from big GOP gains in the crucial midterm elections. In the final month of campaigning, he is trying to reenergize young voters, despondent liberals, and other Democrats whose excitement over his election has dissipated.
Well, that is going to happen when you are the THIRD TERM of GEORGE BUSH!
“It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines,’’ the president declared in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. He said that supposed supporters who are “sitting on their hands complaining’’ are irresponsible because the consequence of Republican congressional victories could be dashed Democratic plans....
Lecturing never works with me. I am likely to do the opposite just out of sheer spite.
It was the first of four large rallies planned for the campaign homestretch as the president tries to rekindle some of his 2008 campaign magic and fire up young supporters and others who helped elect Obama but who Democrats fear might stay home this fall.
You HAD TWO YEARS and NOW you SUDDEN;Y REDISCOVER THEM?
Top lieutenants Vice President Joe Biden, Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine, and Cabinet members also fanned out on other college campuses to call party foot soldiers to action.
Everything has to have a WAR CONNOTATION in the WAR PAPER!
At Penn State University in State College, Pa., Biden noted he was criticized a day earlier in New Hampshire for urging Democrats to “remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives.’’
*********
With the elections looming, the White House and Democratic Party are focused primarily on trying to compel their core voters — liberals and minority groups — as well as the ideologically broad coalition that helped elect Obama in 2008 to participate in the first congressional elections of his presidency.
That is usually what we call a losing battle.
They have little choice.
Midterm contests come down largely to which party can get out more of its backers. And polls show that Republicans are far more enthusiastic this year partly because of Tea Party anger. Also, polls show Democrats cannot count on independent voters who carried them to victory in consecutive national elections.
That is why they are staring at MASSIVE LOSSES!
Mindful of that and armed with polling, the White House has said that voters who backed Obama in 2008 must turn out for Democrats this year because the GOP wants to undo what the president has accomplished, that the “hope and change’’ Obama backers embraced two years ago is at risk if Republicans sweep these elections.
I'm out of hope, and we got no change.
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Yup, the more things change....
"On campaign trail, Obama lays blame on GOP
DES MOINES — A priest expressed concern to President Obama about an unemployed parishioner. A businessman criticized Obama’s tax policy. A woman said her son and his friends, once inspired by Obama, “are losing their hope.’’
Ever notice the HATED WARS NEVER COME UP in the POLITICAL DEBATE?
Obama addressed all those concerns, and more, during his two-day, four-state tour that ended yesterday in Richmond. In the middle, he drew raucous cheers at a college rally in Wisconsin.
Despite all his mingling with middle class voters, however, Obama’s chief focus was on people who never showed up: congressional Republicans and their corporate allies who, the president said, are trying to thwart his administration’s progress and turn the clock back to the George W. Bush era.
With his party facing potentially mammoth congressional and gubernatorial losses on Nov. 2, Obama is pouring more time into campaigning....
I wish he would do what we say, run the country, and let us worry about the politics.
With time running short, Obama also showed a plaintive side. He poked fun at himself and practically begged those who voted for him in 2008 to turn out this fall for congressional and gubernatorial Democratic candidates.
Just a DAY AGO he SCOLDED THEM!
“I know times are tough,’’ he told thousands of students at the University of Wisconsin on Tuesday....
“Sometimes it feels a long way from the hope and excitement that we felt on Election Day,’’ he said, but young voters’ involvement “can’t end with the vote that you cast in 2008.’’
Obama acknowledged that his promises to change the culture in Washington have been harder to fulfill than many of his supporters expected. He placed the blame on Republican lawmakers, who he said made a political calculation to oppose nearly all of his policies.
That some change, huh?
It is a strategy Obama said has been “pretty successful’’ given the sentiments of many voters heading into the midterm elections....
The president will meet with top congressional Democrats today for one last strategy session before lawmakers flee town to campaign for reelection.
A Democratic aide said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and other top leaders of the House and Senate will attend the White House meeting. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private gathering.
The session will give the president and his top allies on Capitol Hill a chance to talk politics and discuss their legislative agenda, including plans for a lame-duck session after November’s election.
They DARE DEFY the WILL of the PEOPLE AGAIN?
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Related: White House says economic stimulus law working
Obama chief of staff reportedly to announce resignation today
Emanuel bids farewell to White House
It is always better to have one less Mossad mole in the White House.
Posted by Rocker at 11:38 AM Links to this post
Labels: American Tyranny, Politics, U.S.
Democrats Tax Trap Left Empty
The taxes of tyranny are already too high, and they just do not get it.
"Democrats to delay vote on tax cuts" by Ryan J. Donmoyer, Bloomberg News | September 27, 2010
WASHINGTON -- Democrats so far haven’t succeeded in forcing Republicans to choose between passing tax cuts that benefit 97 percent of taxpayers and facing political attacks for opposing them, said Henry Aaron, an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
“The Democrats have allowed the debate to be framed as whether it is a good idea to raise taxes on anyone.’’ Aaron said.
We have had ENOUGH of TAXES to pay for TYRANNY and WARS (with banks looting the rest)!!
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Related: Senate Democrats delay tax cut vote
Tax cuts may face vote in House
Also see: Primary Party: Tax Trap
Looks like some Democrats want to save their skins, too:
"Democrats break ranks, ask for continuation of tax cuts
WASHINGTON — Forty-seven House Democrats — enough to give Republicans a victory on taxes if the issue came to a vote — are breaking ranks with President Obama by calling on party leaders to continue Bush-era tax cuts on investment income....
See how the SAME INTERESTS are ALWAYS BEING SERVED?
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Related:
"Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note released Sept. 22 that even a temporary failure by Congress to extend the cuts may erase US economic growth in the first half of next year....
Well, if anyone would know those economy-crashing thieves would.
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Too bad the pubwic ain't buyin' it, huh?
"Middle class tax-cut issue backfiring on Democrats" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | September 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s urgent call for Congress to immediately extend tax breaks for the middle class was supposed to create a defining Democratic issue and cast Republicans as defenders of the rich on the eve of crucial midterm elections. Now, three weeks later, Democrats are further divided and Republicans are using the tax cut issue to their advantage.
You guys can't do anything right, can you?
The House and Senate adjourned last night, leaving the central pocketbook issue to be decided after the Nov. 2 midterm elections — and just weeks before the tax cuts are set to expire. That indecision injects more uncertainty into whose taxes will go up, and by how much.
Democrats worry that they have been robbed of their most valuable populist talking point: that cuts on income taxes should be extended for the middle class, but not for the wealthy....
The tax cut extension is expected to remain a political issue over the next few weeks, but not in the way Democrats had initially intended. Rather than using it on the campaign trail against Republicans, Democrats could find themselves on the defensive as the GOP yesterday began framing the vote delay as an example of government ineptitude and cowardice.
“The failure to have a vote on the expiration of the tax cuts, knowing that they were coming, with a majority in the House and Senate, makes the president and the Democratic leadership of Congress look even more incompetent,’’ Republican strategist Karl Rove, a former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, said in an interview.
That's who the Globe is calling up, huh?
A national GOP group has sent out press releases targeting Democrats in key races, including Representative Niki Tsongas of Lowell, contending they put their own interests over those of taxpayers by avoiding a vote that could be perceived as a tax increase on the wealthy.
Now, the tax question awaits action in a lame-duck session in November and December, when it will be among the top issues of a crowded agenda.
They can't WAIT and do what WE WANT instead?
Some think that with the election-year posturing removed, a resolution to the issue should be easier to reach; others think the two sides could become even more entrenched.....
Republicans, along with some moderate Democrats facing close elections in conservative districts and states, argue that all the cuts should be extended to bolster a shaky economic recovery. Obama, and most Democrats, argue that the continued tax cut for the rich is not worth the cost of almost $700 billion over 10 years....
About the same as the TARP you gave to the banks.
How many trillions the wars costs so far?
Democrats would still hold the majority during a lame-duck session, but their position against tax cuts for the wealthy could become untenable if voters resoundingly repudiate their agenda.
Their positions have already been repudiated, and will only be formalized in November.
The debate could be further complicated if Democrats lose their Senate seats in states where the winner may be seated immediately. A Republican win in Illinois, Colorado, Delaware, or West Virginia would make it easier for them to stifle the Democrats’ plan through a filibuster....
Much of the turmoil this election season has been among Republicans and the ascendant Tea Party movement. But at least on Capitol Hill, the party has been united in blocking Democratic objectives. In the Senate, at least three moderates — Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Kent Conrad of North Dakota; and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut — joined them in saying tax cuts must be extended for everyone.
When asked why his party could not agree on a plan, Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, said simply, “Because we’re Democrats.’’
Bye, Chris.
Related: Senate Sends Along Financial Fraud Bill
That's his crowning achievement?
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And now I hear he is going to become a lobbyist (like his wife)?
See: On K Street, An Ex-Senate Staffer Is Worth $740,000 A Year
Oh, just his staff.
Posted by Rocker at 11:31 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
The Return of Karl Rove
And you Democrats thought he left with Bush?
"Rove devises strategy to put Republicans back in power" by Jim Rutenberg, New York Times | September 26, 2010
WASHINGTON — In 2004, the Republican master strategist Karl Rove led weekly sessions at his Washington townhouse where, over big plates of “eggies’’ and bacon slabs, he planned the reelection of President George W. Bush — and what he hoped would be lasting Republican dominion over Democrats.
In April, Rove summoned several of the key players behind Bush’s ascendance to his house once again, this time to draw up plans to push a Republican resurgence.
Over takeout chicken pot pies, the group — Fred V. Malek, the longtime Republican fund-raiser, Ed Gillespie, the onetime lobbyist and Bush White House counselor, and Mary Cheney, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter, among others — agreed on plans for an ambitious new political machine that would marshal the resources of disparate business, nonprofit, and interest groups to bring Republicans back to power this fall.
What a crew!
When he left the White House in 2007, Democrats rejoiced at what they believed would be the end of Rove’s political career and the brand of Republicanism he espoused.
This election season is proving that he is back — if he ever left at all.
The landscape has changed, with Rove at times clashing with potent new Tea Party movement-style activists, some of whom view him as a face of the old party establishment they want to upend.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Tea Bags Steeped in S***
America's False Choices Beckon
You know where I stand, dear readers!
Already a prominent presence as an analyst on Fox News Channel and a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, Rove is also playing a leading role in building what amounts to a shadow Republican Party, a network of donors and operatives that is among the most aggressive players in the Republican effort to capture control of the House and Senate.
Unless it means helping little Chrissy. Turns out Rove is Democrats best friend.
He has taken a major role in helping to summon the old coalition of millionaires and billionaires who supported Bush and have huge financial stakes in regulatory and tax policy, like Harold C. Simmons, the leveraged buyout magnate in Texas whose holdings include a major waste management firm that handles some radioactive materials; Carl H. Lindner Jr., the Cincinnati businessman whose American Financial Group includes several property and casualty insurance concerns; and Robert B. Rowling, whose TRT Holdings owns Omni Hotels and Gold’s Gym.
Their personal and corporate money — as well as that of other donors who have not been identified — has gone to outside groups Rove helped form with Gillespie, including American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which in turn are loosely affiliated with similar groups staffed or backed by other operatives and donors with ties to Rove.
With $32 million and counting, they are now filling the void created by the diminished condition of the Republican National Committee, which has faced fund-raising difficulties under its embattled chairman, Michael Steele.
Related: Democrats Caught With Drawers Down
See what BOTH PARTIES are doing with the MONEY?
“A lot of what we’re doing would normally be done with the RNC,’’ said Cheney, who is part of a group working with the organizations Rove helped start on encouraging early voting in House races this fall. “There’s no money there.’’
Crossroads officials say they are seeking to supplement party activities, not replace them.
Plans at American Crossroads include an anti-Democratic barrage of attack advertisements that will be seen tens of thousands of times, a final get-out-the-vote push with some 40 million negative mail pieces, and 20 million automated phone calls, officials there say.
“They’re running a very proficient party operation funded by millions of dollars of undisclosed, special interest dollars,’’ said David Axelrod, a special adviser to President Obama.
Referring to Rove and Gillespie, he added, “These guys are great political operatives, and they will have an impact in this election.’’
House is gone; Dems will be lucky to hold Senate.
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Posted by Rocker at 11:30 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
Democrats Take Liking to Texas Tea
I'll bet it taste terrible.
"A decent showing by Libertarian Kathie Glass, courting many of the same Tea Party conservatives Perry has charmed, could also help White if she draws enough votes away from the governor."
Oh, they are not an INSURGENT when they might help Democrats!
"Democrats see opportunity in Texas governor’s race; Tight polls fuel challenger’s hope" by Jay Root, Associated Press | September 26, 2010
TYLER, Texas — People tell Bill White he picked the wrong election to stage a rescue of the troubled Texas Democratic Party. It’s a Republican year in a Republican state.
But the former Houston mayor, a lawyerly man who speaks so slowly and deliberately that reporters hardly need tape recorders, has not yet faded into the familiar doom Democrats have come to expect from their gubernatorial candidates every four years.
A Democratic shocker in conservative Texas remains about as likely as a blizzard in Houston.
That isn't very unlikely these days. Agenda-pushing media always acts like you forgot.
Still, a series of recent polls shows a stubbornly tight race, in the single digits, leaving White within striking distance of longtime Republican Governor Rick Perry, who is seeking reelection to an unprecedented third term in November.
A decent showing by Libertarian Kathie Glass, courting many of the same Tea Party conservatives Perry has charmed, could also help White if she draws enough votes away from the governor.
“White has made some inroads in what is a very bad national environment for Democrats,’’ said University of Texas pollster and political scientist Jim Henson. “But it’s a very hard slog for him.’’
Texas hasn’t had a Democratic governor since Ann Richards was defeated by George W. Bush in 1994, and it’s been just as long since any Democrat won statewide office. But Democrats insist Perry is vulnerable.
Same old delusional Democrats.
The same anti-incumbent fervor that threatens to upend the Democratic-controlled Congress is turning voters against Perry, they say....
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Also see: A Republican Ransom: Just Say No!
How strange it is that he needs Democrats down there and I need Republicans up here.
Posted by Rocker at 11:29 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
Tea Party Could Govern Empire State
Which is why the establishment is closing ranks:
"Cuomo woos independents with help from Bloomberg
ALBANY — Democrat Andrew Cuomo sought to bolster his appeal among independents yesterday in the race for governor with an endorsement from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City, as a new poll indicated that Carl Paladino, a conservative Republican, is gaining ground.
Cuomo appeared in Manhattan with the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent Bloomberg, a three-term mayor.
Related: Paying a Mayor's Ransom
So how does the unpopular mayor help Cuomo?
The pair tried to showcase Bloomberg’s bipartisan appeal and to link it to Cuomo, with the popular billionaire praising Cuomo as the candidate who “knows that real change requires reaching across the aisle.’’
“No one political party caused the problem,’’ Cuomo said. “Both share the blame, in my opinion.’’
Paladino, a firebrand who shocked the GOP a week ago by winning the primary, has sought to ride a wave of voter anger at Albany’s high taxes, high spending, and a string of corruption cases in state government, which is controlled by Democrats.
As in Massachusetts, the stuff seems to follow them around like stink.
The Quinnipiac poll suggested that Cuomo, former attorney general, has a 49 percent-to-43 percent lead among probable New York voters. Seven percent were undecided. In previous polls of registered voters, Cuomo has held a better than 2-to-1 edge.
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Posted by Rocker at 11:27 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
Sestak Haunted by Specter in Pennsylvania Senate Race
And this was one seat I'm sure Democrats were hoping to keep.
"Brown headlines fund-raiser for Pa. Senate candidate
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s Republican candidate for US Senate, Pat Toomey, continued his efforts to appeal to moderates with a visit yesterday from Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, a Tea Party movement favorite until a centrist voting streak turned many former supporters against him.
Brown, headliner for a Toomey fund-raiser at a posh riverfront restaurant in Philadelphia, is the second Republican New England senator in two months to raise money for Toomey in this heavily Democratic city....
A recent Quinnipiac University poll has given Toomey an apparent edge over Democrat Joe Sestak in the hotly contested Senate race....
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Related: The Swiftboating of Joe Sestak
Maybe this is why Rove doesn't need Delaware.
Posted by Rocker at 11:25 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S.
Crazy Chrissy O'Donnell
Related: O’Donnell Is Doable
"O’Donnell’s ‘crazy stuff’ showing up on TV
NEW YORK — Christine O’Donnell’s eagerness to go on TV is coming back to haunt her campaign for US Senate.
HBO’s Bill Maher played a tape last week from 1999 in which the conservative Christian activist said that she dabbled in witchcraft while in high school.
Was she a good witch or a bad witch? Looks like a good witch (more like Glinda).
On Monday, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly said that he had tapes of “crazy stuff’’ that O’Donnell said during past appearances on his program....
Oh, so NOW O-REILLY is coming to the AID and COMFORT of the ESTABLISHMENT and DEMOCRATS!!
First Rove, now Bill-O!
How you LIKIN' the POLITICAL FOOLEYS, folks?!
--more--"
And then she vanished from the Globe newspaper like a witch in a cloud of smoke!
Posted by Rocker at 11:22 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.N., Women
Connecticut Cage Match
She must be winning the choreographed spectacle of a Senate race then.
Related: Connecticut Cong
Bringing out the big guns now:
"Nephew challenges use of JFK’s words" by Associated Press | September 23, 2010
HARTFORD — A nephew of President Kennedy is asking Linda McMahon, Connecticut’s Republican candidate for Senate, to pull her political advertisement featuring the late president talking about tax cuts.
The two-page letter from Edward M. Kennedy Jr., obtained by the Associated Press, calls the ad misleading to voters. The letter says McMahon “distorts the legacy of President Kennedy in order to mislead voters into thinking’’ that he would have supported her position on tax policy.
So does the corporate war media but I never see 'em raising a fuss.
“Using President Kennedy’s image in your ad gives your tax position false legitimacy,’’ writes Kennedy, who lives in Connecticut.
For a false argument.
The 30-second spot has appeared so far only on McMahon’s YouTube channel, where it was originally posted Sept. 16. A campaign spokesman said the ad will remain on YouTube. He did not rule out running it on television.
“Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax cuts because he recognized that a high tax ‘reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking,’ ’’ said spokesman Ed Patru, quoting the former president. “That was the case 47 years ago, and it’s the case today.’’
The ad features grainy footage from 1963 of Kennedy discussing the economic importance of tax cuts, saying “every dollar released from taxation that is spared or invested would help create a new job.’’ It ends with the words “A good idea then, a better idea now.’’
JFK was so right about many things.
McMahon has voiced support for extending the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts, including those for individuals making more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000 in adjusted gross income. The former wrestling executive argues that those higher-income brackets include many small-business owners who are key to the economy.
Kennedy, the son of the late senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, argued in his letter that the US economic scenario was very different when the former president called for a reduction in taxes.
McMahon is challenging Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, for the Senate seat held by Chris Dodd, who is retiring. Unlike McMahon, Blumenthal supports extending the tax cuts only for individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000.
Taxes are too high and there are too many of them in America, period!
--more--"
Also see: Burying Blumenthal
Hey, it's okay to elect a liar in Connecticut.
Posted by Rocker at 11:21 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, U.S., Women
Mass. Democrats Deserting a Sinking Ship
They won't even stay and fight for themselves; what makes you think they would fight for you?
"Mass. may lose its clout in House; GOP gains would shift power balance; some in delegation could quit in 2012" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | September 26, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Massachusetts House delegation, a bastion of Democratic power for the last four years, will lose much of its clout if midterm voters restore a Republican majority in November — an outcome that Bay State party leaders and consultants say could trigger a major reshuffling as representatives assess their futures.
The state’s House members publicly insist that Democrats will remain in control.
Related: Massachusetts Democrats Delusional
It's sad, really.
That viewpoint is belied by national polls, however, which indicate angry voters may sweep the incumbent party out of power in the House and perhaps even the Senate.
With chairmanships, budget-writing authority, and other trappings of control stripped away, many Democrats across the country would probably consider an exit in 2012. Several members of the Massachusetts House are believed to be of that mind, as well, including Newton liberal Barney Frank, who has speculated about taking an Obama Cabinet post, and Michael Capuano of Somerville, who could make another bid for US Senate.
“If we go back in the minority, you’ll see some senior members reassess about whether they want to hang in here for another four, or six, or eight years to try and get the majority back,’’ said Representative Stephen Lynch, who himself has been the focus of speculation about a campaign for Republican Scott Brown’s Senate seat.
The GOP needs 39 seats to seize control of the House.
They should get that easy.
Thus far, the only one of the 10 Massachusetts districts that is believed to be in play by political forecasters is the open Tenth Congressional District seat, which is being vacated by Representative William Delahunt.
Even if the remaining nine survive their challenges, they would be reduced to trying to slow Republican initiatives and perhaps cutting deals to advance lesser priorities. It would represent a significant change for a set of staunch Democrats who were instrumental in passing the health care overhaul and financial reforms.
They were only in the minority four years ago!
How come they didn't do any of those things then?
“If the Republicans take the majority, it will be a disaster for Massachusetts,’’ said Phil Johnston, former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. “It really will be a huge setback. We’ve lost [Senator Edward M.] Kennedy, we’ve lost Tip [O’Neill, the former House speaker]. Now we have people who are either in key chairmanships, or about to move into them.’’
I'm tired of the hyperbole. And stop hanging on to the past!
The delegation does now enjoy an unusual concentration of power.
That means we are able to rip off more tax loot.
Just over the last several months, Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was at the forefront of one of the biggest debates in Washington, leading passage of a Wall Street regulatory overhaul in response to the economic crisis.
Related: Senate Sends Along Financial Fraud Bill
Yeah, great job.
Representative Edward J. Markey, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, oversaw Gulf Coast oil spill hearings and forced BP to release live video feed of the gushing well.
Representative John Olver, Democrat of Amherst, is part of an elite club of members known in the House as “cardinals,’’ because he holds a subcommittee chairmanship on the Appropriations Committee.
Oh, my PoS puke!
Representative Richard Neal, Democrat of Springfield, has been angling to become the next chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful positions in Washington. Some believe Markey, the dean of the delegation, may jump in against Brown, while Olver may step aside after one more term.
He was supposed to leave this year. Leadership must have talked him into staying.
I'll be voting for Gunn the Republican out here.
“You may have two retire, and you may have two or three run for Senate if it flips,’’ said Scott Ferson, a Massachusetts-based Democratic consultant. “You’ve got a couple people who are powerful but aging. Olver, who is in his 70s, might think, ‘What am I doing?’ You’ve got Barney Frank, who has indicated at some point he’s going to move on. Does this hasten his exit?’’
Where is Barney going?
In a biography written about him last year, Frank told author and former aide Stuart Weisberg that he would like to cap his career as Housing and Urban Development secretary but not before passing legislation on affordable housing.
After he was up to his neck in the Fannie-Freddie mess?
Related: Former Marine fighting the odds in 4th District
4th District race hits fever pitch
Also see: Bill Clinton Being Frank About Fall Elections
“I want at least two years with President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can get the federal government back in the housing business,’’ Frank said in the book. He has since tamped down any speculation that he would retire, or take a Cabinet position. At a breakfast meeting with reporters on Friday, he declined to discuss what would happen in a post-loss world for Democrats.
The size and one-party makeup of the Massachusetts House delegation makes it unique....
Nationally, this time around, 79 of the 86 races considered competitive by the Cook Political Report are held by Democrats.
And we are in an INCUMBENTS OUT kind of mood.
In Massachusetts, the incumbents face some spirited challengers, but are all expected to win reelection, at least at this juncture with five weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election.
Much to Massachusetts shame.
Most said they don’t even want to contemplate life in the minority.
“That’s not going to happen,’’ said Olver. “I don’t like working in hypotheticals.’’
That's called denial (or does he know something about the machines that we do not?).
“I’ll have to up my medication,’’ quipped Representative James McGovern, Democrat of Worcester, who is second in seniority on the Rules Committee. “Obviously it’s better to be in charge than not. I don’t even want to speculate what it would be like to lose the House. It would be not only bad for Massachusetts, but bad for the country. I’m not thinking that way. I refuse to allow myself to.’’
'Markey was adamant that Democrats would retain the House majority.
“There is no scenario under which the Massachusetts delegation is going to be viewed as anything other than very powerful. No scenario,’’ he said. “We are going to win.’’
If Democrats are again in the minority, it would likely be by a narrow margin....
Whether Massachusetts would lose money from federal appropriations is harder to measure. Olver, while he’s on the appropriations committee, does not have a reputation for aggressively seeking pork-barrel projects for the state.
See how us "country folk" are good people?
House Democrats this year also banned earmarks for for-profit institutions, and spending is expected to be even tighter in the coming years as concerns over the deficit continue to take precedence.
Related: Congress Out of Earshot
Why are they hiding stuff on you, American voters?
If Republicans win control of the Senate — an unlikelier, but still possible, prospect — it would bump Senator John F. Kerry from his perch as chairman of the influential Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Oh, that would be sweet!
In a statement, he offered little hint about what he would do in such a scenario. He will be up for reelection in 2014.
“I’ve served in the majority and I’ve served in the minority and it’s a hell of a lot better to be in the majority,’’ Kerry said. “I want to be fighting to make good things happen, not just fighting to stop bad things from happening.’’
This the same guy that voted for the Iraq War, etc? Just checking.
Maybe you guys could fight ONCE to stop something bad (war with Iran?).
A move to the majority, however, would only be a plus for Brown, currently the lone Republican in the delegation.
--more--"
Either way, Massachusetts is losing:
"Mass. may lose congressional seat in ’12
WASHINGTON — Massachusetts is expected to be one of 10 states to lose congressional seats in 2012 as a result of shifting populations, according to a new study.
Massachusetts would join Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in losing one seat, projections from Election Data Services Inc. revealed. New York and Ohio would each lose two seats.
Texas would be the biggest beneficiary, gaining four seats, with Florida in line for two more seats, and one each for Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington....
--more--"
Posted by Rocker at 11:18 AM Links to this post
Labels: Politics, State, U.S.
States Stole Public Pension Money
I'm starting to view it as theft in any event:
"Belt-tightening states target pensions; Public sector retirees facing cuts to benefits" by Geoff Mulvihill and Susan Haigh, Associated Press | September 19, 2010
TRENTON, N.J. — William Liberty began as a trash collector in Lindenwold 37 years ago and worked his way up to public works supervisor. Until recently, he figured he would hold on to the job until he turned 65.
But this month, at 62, he was preparing his retirement papers, joining a rush among New Jersey public employees.
Liberty’s reason for getting out now: He is feeling the sting of a campaign by Republican Governor Chris Christie and a growing number of other public officials across the United States to balance their budgets by making government employment — and retirement — less lucrative.
Unless it is their own perks and privileges, at least in Massachusetts.
Yeah, don't read or hear much about that anymore.
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
Something just seems unfair about taxpayers picking up the tab for "public servants" when the public isn't served at all.
Liberty’s pay has been frozen for two years, he has taken unpaid furlough days, and now, “It’s going to get worse.’’ Pension proposals announced last week could reduce how much he receives when he retires.
Since 2008, New Jersey and at least 19 other states have rolled back pension benefits or considered doing do — and not just for new hires, but for current employees and retirees.
It’s not just a US phenomenon. In France, lawmakers recently voted to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Yeah, except the French are in the streets over that one.
If the measure wins final approval, France would become the latest European Union country to require workers to stay on the job longer because of a deficit-plagued pension system....
Well, WHOSE FAULT is THAT?
WHO was OVERSEEING the FUND, government?
How come GOLDMAN SACHS and the rest of the BANKS TAXPAYERS are MAKING INTEREST PAYMENTS to all seem to DO JUST FINE with their investments, etc, etc?
To be sure, the looming benefit changes are not the only reason many public employees in New Jersey are retiring. Some say they want out for the usual reasons — to spend time with the grandchildren or go fishing, for example. But other employees figure that by retiring now, they can lock in certain benefits before it is too late, although they may not receive automatic raises....
Were you able to hold onto your job or home, American?
Yeah, I don't want to read about the "poor public servant" in the tax-pushing paper.
I'm not saying these people should get nothing; however, the greed has gone far enough.
Unless you would prefer another option....
(Blog editor only provides artwork as a metaphor; I prefer tar and feathers)
The Pew Center on the States reported this year that in eight states, at least one-third of the future pension obligations for all public employees, including teachers, are unfunded.
Yeah, it is OKAY for the STATE not to meet ITS COMMITMENTS but if you don't fork over those taxes..... sigh.
As of 2008, Pew said, state and local governments had pension obligations totaling $3.35 trillion — $1 trillion of that not covered by the future stream of government and employee contributions specified under current law.
See: State Budgets: Pensions and Prisons
Oh, public pigs now on the defensive and prisons are good bidness?
Also related: Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
Yup, they are back at it again with the same old cries of poverty.
Are you really going to be fooled again, Massachusetts?
Only four states — Florida, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin — had fully funded pension systems as of 2008.
Part of the reason for the gap is that in tough times, states often skip paying their share into retirement funds.
Un-flipping-real!
Yeah, because that money has to go to banks as interest payments on government mismanagement; to well-connected corporations and individuals as tax loot giveaways; and to political pensions and perks first. Then the same self-serving "public servants" will get around to seeing if their is any of you money left for you, taxpayers.
Makes one wonder why you needed to give it to them in the first place. Better of in your pocket with YOU deciding how to spend it!
New Jersey, for instance, is skipping its $3.1 billion in payments this year.
Yeah, try skipping your tax payment and see what happens.
The problem is compounded when investments lose money, as many have in recent years.
Whose advice were they taking?
Related: Massachusetts State Pensions Stolen
And the Globe tells us that was one of the better performing ones.
In the past, states have been more likely to reduce pensions for incoming employees, while generally leaving the benefits of current workers and retirees untouched. That strategy can be a way around objections from unions and lawsuits from those who say the government is reneging on promises....
Well, here is a clue from the outside: GET USED TO IT! Happens ALL the TIME to us SERFS and PEONS out here, so BITE the BULLET and SHADDUP like we have to, swine!!
Yeah, a GOVERNMENT UNION arguing with.... the GOVERNMENT!
Only in AmeriKa!!!
--more--"
Globe making you pay for that yet?
What ungrateful bastards after I bought their s*** sheet paper all these years and sent viewers to their website.
Posted by Rocker at 5:20 AM Links to this post
Labels: American Tyranny, U.S.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
"Legislators also agreed last week to change legal language in the recently passed sales tax hike to assure credit agencies that $100 million earmarked for the Turnpike Authority would go toward paying off Big Dig debt"
Also see:
The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
Now you know where your increased taxes are going (and not going), dear fellow citizens.
"Unions raise $1.3m to fight ballot drive to cut sales tax; Warn of deep drop in local services" by Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | September 21, 2010
Determined not to be caught off-guard in a volatile election year, labor unions are pouring money into an effort to fight a deep cut in the state sales tax, campaign finance reports show.
A group of unions — fearing mass layoffs of teachers, firefighters, and other state and municipal workers — has raised $1.3 million so far this year to defeat Question 3, one of two antitax measures on the November ballot. Supporters have raised $76,000.
And yet we have STILL HAD SERVICES SLASHED after we were TOLD that WOULD NOT HAPPEN if we ACCEPTED a SALES TAX HIKE! You SEE WHAT it WENT FOR above!!!
And here is a TRUISM of AmeriKan politics: ALWAYS GO with the LESSER MONEY!
The reason SUPPORTERS have NO MONEY is because it was PAID as TAXES!
Similar ballot measures failed in 2002 and 2008, but the money flowing into the campaign to defeat the measure shows that opponents of the ballot question are taking nothing for granted in a year that has already produced political surprises across the country.
Are you REALLY GOING TO ALLOW yourselves to be LIED TO AGAIN, Massachusetts?
Also see: I Made Forbes Magazine
It's time. If not now, when?
Opponents say passage of the question, which would cut the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, would open up a hole in the fragile state budget of more than $2 billion and lead to Draconian cuts at the state and local levels.
That is WHAT THEY SAID the LAST TIME when they UPPED IT and we STILL GOT CUTS!
Draconian enough that all three major gubernatorial candidates — Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat; Charles D. Baker, a Republican; and independent Timothy P. Cahill — oppose Question 3.
Then ISN'T THERE ANYONE ELSE to VOTE FOR?
“If this referendum passes, there is no doubt it will have a devastating impact on local services that have already been cut to the bone,’’ said Stephen G. Crawford, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Coalition for Our Communities, which includes the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and the Service Employees International Union. “Teachers, firefighters, local health care service, police officers — those services will bear the brunt of this referendum question.’’
But BANKS, loser biotech and green-tech, Hollywood, and political pensions and perks will not.
Supporters of the tax rollback, led by longtime libertarian activist Carla Howell, gathered about 19,000 signatures this year to put the question on the ballot and are hoping to capitalize on the restive mood of the electorate.
“They will have big money; we have a grass-roots campaign,’’ Howell said....
YUP!
Opponents of the ballot measure have spent money on public relations and polling firms....
Oh, THAT is NOT GOING TO WORK this year!!
Another tax question on the ballot, Question 1, would restore a sales tax exemption for alcoholic beverages....
I'm for prohibition, so.....
Hey, if it is good enough for the devil's weed it should be good enough for the devil's brew.
Think of the children.
You don't hate children.... do you?
Restoring the exemption, which Baker and Cahill support but Patrick opposes, would cost the state about $100 million in annual revenue, which now goes to support addiction treatment programs.
Gee, I KNOW WHERE you could get $100 million if some BILLIONS-in-PROFITS BANKS would HELP OUT!
Package stores say they are losing business to New Hampshire retailers because of the tax, though state reports say the impact has been minimal....
Of course, the money-grubbing state has no self-serving interest there.
Related: Mass. Lawmaker Boozes Up On Bathroom Break in New Hampshire
Oh, drunken hypocrisy to boot. Gotta love it. Only in Massachushitts!!!
State officials say the Commonwealth is taking in more from the tax than expected, a sign that sales of alcohol in Massachusetts remain robust....
That explains a lot of what I see in the area.
I will say one thing for AmeriKa: we sure have plenty of liquor stores.
--more--"
"In poll, edge goes to sales tax cut; Voters sharply divided amid intense effort to defeat state measure" by Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | September 27, 2010
Massachusetts voters are deeply split over a November ballot question that would slash the state sales tax, a new Globe poll indicates, with a narrow plurality of those surveyed saying they favor the proposal.
Which likely means it should pass easily.
Remember, this is the SAME PAPER that predicted a DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN for Coakley over Brown based on their polls.
Forty-six percent of likely voters said they support Question 3, to cut the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, while 43 percent said they were opposed and the rest undecided. The difference is within the poll’s margin of error.
The tax cut proposal, which would slice $2.5 billion from the state budget, has alarmed Beacon Hill and is opposed by all three major gubernatorial candidates, although all three say they would honor the tax cut if it is backed by a majority of voters.
Critics say it would have a devastating impact on the state by leading to massive layoffs and deep cuts to education, local aid, and law enforcement.
I thought you ACCEPTED the INCREASE to PRESERVE THOSE, Bay-Staters -- and yet you STILL GOT CUTS!!
Sorry, but we KNOW WHERE the TAX LOOT is GOING and the GAME is UP, Globe!
Also on the ballot this fall is a measure that would exempt alcohol from the sales tax. It is opposed by half of likely voters, the Globe poll found. Fifty percent said they were against it, and 36 percent said they were in favor.
So the rigged voting machines will give us a break on the booze so we can drink up and forget about the sales tax staying the same, huh?
Both issues will be on the Nov. 2 ballot, with a “no’’ vote preserving the tax rates at their current levels and a “yes’’ vote cutting them.
A broad coalition of opponents, including unions, business groups, and most of the state’s political leadership, has mobilized in favor of a “no’’ vote against the tax cuts in Question 3, amassing a $1.3 million war chest to defeat the measure.
If for no other reason THAT is why you should VOTE YES!! HOW MANY TIMES are you going to BELIEVE the LIES of your LEADERS, Massachusetts?
The “yes’’ campaign is led by Carla Howell, a libertarian activist who organized the signature drive to place the question on the ballot.
God Bless her!
Other tax-cut measures have failed in the past; proposals to eliminate the state income tax were defeated in 2002 and 2008.
Because people here bought the BS!
But the new poll suggests many voters are receptive to the antitax campaign this year. Supporters of the sales tax rollback have far less organized backing than opponents, but have vowed a grass-roots campaign....
I'm surprised the Globe hasn't used the word "insurgent" yet.
Maybe that is too blatant an insult for the hometown constituency, huh?
Though the poll shows significant support for Question 3, Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the Globe survey, cautioned that undecided voters on ballot issues often gravitate to the “no’’ side.
“Voters tend to be more supportive of the devil they know than the devil they don’t know,’’ he said....
Not this year!!
Devil is on the ballot and not an incumbent?
Got my vote!
In the Globe poll, a large percentage of respondents on both sides said they felt strongly about the issue, suggesting a polarized atmosphere that was reflected in follow-up interviews with respondents....
Media manipulation so you won't notice the looting.
--more--"
And where are the gubernatorial candidates coming down?
"Taxes dominate debates; Patrick slams Baker, Cahill cut proposals" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | September 29, 2010
For weeks, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker has been attacking both independent rival Timothy P. Cahill and Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, over taxes and spending, trying to persuade voters that the “Patrick-Cahill’’ administration has been bad for taxpayers.
No doubt about that.
Yesterday, Patrick turned the tables, painting Baker and Cahill as a fiscally reckless duo whose plans to cut the corporate, income, and sales tax rates to 5 percent would do as much damage to the state budget as a ballot question to roll back the sales tax, which all four gubernatorial candidates oppose.
I'm sorry; however, I AM NO LONGER IN FAVOR of taxes, etc, like the good lefty I was all those years. Not after I have seen WHERE THE MONEY is REALLY GOING!!
Americans need LESS TAXES and LESS GOVERNMENT right now, not more tolls for tyranny!!!
“Their budget proposals would have exactly the same impact, exactly the same impact, $2.5 billion,’’ the governor said at a candidates’ forum at Faneuil Hall, which focused on the challenges facing social service providers. “The time will come to talk about rolling back the tax rate, and we should. But the time is not right now.’’
WHY NOT? We have ALLEGEDLY been in RECOVERY for a YEAR and survived the recession better than other states?
Besides DUMP the TAXES and watch the ECONOMY TAKE OFF!!
***********
Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow candidate, highlighted her plans to eradicate millions of dollars in state tax incentives for large corporations and direct the money to human services workers.
Excuse me?
She also proposed moving toward a single-payer health care system, which she likened to a “Medicare-for-all system.’’
Tell you what: I will raise a BEER STEIN to THAT!!!
“When you’re told there’s not enough money, you’re really being told there’s not enough money for you,’’ Stein told the audience....
Yeah, that's right!!
*************
Stein, criticizing Patrick for cutting human services during the economic downturn, said it was not enough for the governor to talk about supporting those who care for the neediest residents in the state. She said voters must decide “whether we want oratory and beautiful sentiments from our leaders, or we want results.’’
Oh, SHE SEES HIM for WHAT HE IS!!
Meanwhile, Baker’s campaign slammed a new advertisement that Bay State Future, a group affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association, is running on Patrick’s behalf. The ad accuses Baker, by signing a no-new-taxes pledge, of supporting tax breaks for companies that export jobs overseas.
Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-checking organization, has labeled such ads false....
Yeah, I notice there is NEVER AS BIG a FUSS over DEMOCRAT DIRTY TRICKS!!
Related: Globe's Governor's Race: Democrats Cook Up Dirty Tricks on Baker
Looks like they have more in store.
--more--"
Related: Connaughton backs off opposition to ballot question
I think she is sensing the mood, folks.
And look who else didn't get enough money:
"Jill Stein narrowly misses requirement for public funding; Campaign of rival Cahill to benefit" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | September 30, 2010
Green-Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein has failed to qualify for up to $519,000 in public funding, a setback for her struggling candidacy but one that gives Governor Deval Patrick a boost....
That is potentially good for Patrick, because it lowers the profile of Stein’s challenge from the left, and potentially bad for Republican Charles D. Baker, some of whose supporters believe the better Cahill does, the more it takes votes away from the GOP ticket. (A Globe poll released this week, however, suggested that Cahill voters, if they abandon the state treasurer, would fall equally to Patrick and Baker.)
See: Globe's Governor's Race: Baker Rising as Patrick Falls
And what challenge from the "left" are they talking about?
The news is a blow to Stein’s hopes of mounting a serious third-party bid....
That Stein fell short of qualifying this year will also add to the public funding for Attorney General Martha Coakley and state auditor candidates Suzanne Bump, the Democrat, and Mary Connaughton, the Republican, all of whom have submitted enough qualifying donations.
They will divide the remaining $288,000 of the total $1.03 million that was appropriated this year to provide public funding....
Don't you think that TAX LOOT could be BETTER SPENT, dear fellow citizen?
Or at least BETTER OFF in YOUR POCKET!?
--more--"
Posted by Rocker at 10:53 PM Links to this post
Labels: American Tyranny, State, U.S.
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