When Roger West first launched the progressive political blog "News From The Other Side" in May 2010, he could hardly have predicted the impact that his venture would have on the media and political debate. As the New Media emerged as a counterbalance to established media sources, Roger wrote his copious blogs about national politics, the tea party movement, mid-term elections, and the failings of the radical right to the vanguard of the New Media movement. Roger West's efforts as a leading blogger have tremendous reach. NFTOS has led the effort to bring accountability to mainstream media sources such as FOX NEWS, Breitbart's "Big Journalism.
Roger's breadth of experience, engaging style, and cultivation of loyal readership - over 92 million visitors - give him unique insight into the past, present, and future of the New Media and political rhetoric that exists in our society today.
What we are against:
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THE RESISTANCE
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare], the health care reform law signed by President Obama in 2010, ruling 5-4 that the law was constitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Elena Kagan on the opinion. The individual mandate, the requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance or pay a fine, was upheld as legal under Congress’ taxing ability.
Health care reform isn’t important just because it expands access to quality, affordable care, but also because rapidly rising costs and the fact that 30 million Americans don’t have insurance are weighing down the American economy. Here are four reasons why the Court’s decision is good news for the still-struggling economy:
Obamacare will reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that Obamacare will reduce the federal deficit by$210 billion over the next decade. The law is expected to save about $1 trillion over its second decade, according to other CBO analyses. The CBO found that repealing the law, as Republicans attempted to do in 2011, would increase the deficit by$230 billion over the next 10 years.
Health care costs for young Americans won’t skyrocket. More than 3.1 million young Americans have insurance thanks to Obamacare. Without the law, the cost of acquiring an equivalent health care plan would have risen dramatically at a time when young people are still struggling with the effects of the Great Recession.
Millions of jobs will be created. Health reform will help create roughly 4 million jobs over the next decade, according to a 2010 Center for American Progress report, by reducing the cost of health care and making it cheaper for businesses to hire. The law will create between 250,000 and 400,000 jobs a year, and they will be spread across sectors: according to the study, the law will help create more than 200,000 manufacturing and 900,000 in the service sector by 2016.
It will be cheaper for employers to provide health care. American businesses are under tremendous pressure thanks to rising health care costs, and these costs are often passed on to customers (one study estimates that each car sold by General Motors contains $1,200 in built-in health costs). The ACA, however, will make it cheaper for businesses to provide care, and not just by reducing the cost of care. Small businesses are already receiving tax credits contained in the law to help insure their employees, and it has already offered more than $4.7 billion in reinsurance payments to companies that are providing health care to retirees who aren’t yet eligible for Medicare.
Even a judge who was a finalist for appointment to the Supreme Court under George W. Bush agreed that striking down health care would have had disastrous consequences for the American economy. “States’ rights are important in many spheres, but the benefits of a national economic policy must also be considered,” federal appeals court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in February. “A vibrant economic order requires some political predictability, and the prospect of judges’ striking down commercial regulation on ill-defined and subjective bases is a prescription for economic chaos that the framers, in a simpler time, had the good sense to head off.” Fortunately, a majority on the Supreme Court agreed.
The Supreme Justices of the United States bitched slapped the radical republican tea baggers and told them to sit down and shut the phuck up, with an unprecedented 6-3 vote upholding POTUS’sObamacare. Obamacare is constitutional!
Score one for the good guys.
CNN drops the ball in reporting the decision:
Well, almost. If by almost you mean - almost exactly wrong!
Reports are still coming in, and the ruling is reportedly rather complicated, but it appears that Chief Justice John Roberts unexpectedly sided with the center-left justices, upheld the individual mandate, and the Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court majority.
The key, at this point, is that the court majority appears to have upheld the mandate as a tax.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act this week and could potentially strike down part or the whole of ‘Obamacare.’ Below are 10 things you will miss about the law if the justices invalidate it:
1) Access to health insurance for 30 million Americans and lower premiums. More than 30 million uninsured Americans will find coverage under the law. Middle-class families who buy health care coverage through the exchanges will be eligible for refundable and advanceable premium credits and cost-sharing subsidies to ensure that the coverage they have is affordable.
2) The ability of businesses and individuals to purchase comprehensive coverage from a regulated marketplace. The law creates new marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to compare and purchase comprehensive coverage. Insurers will have to meet quality measures to ensure that Americans can access comprehensive coverage when they need it.
3) Insurers’ inability to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Beginning in 2014, insurers can no longer deny insurance to families or individuals with pre-existing conditions. Insurers are also prohibited from placing lifetime limits on the dollar value of coverage and rescinding insurers except in cases of fraud. Insurers are already prohibited from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions.
4) Tax credits for small businesses that offer insurance. Small employers that purchase health insurance for employees are already receiving tax credits to encourage them to continue providing coverage.
5) Assistance for businesses that provide health benefits to early retirees.The law created a temporary reinsurance program for employers providing health insurance coverage to retirees over age 55 who are not eligible for Medicare, reimbursing employers or insurers for 80% of retiree claims. The program has offered at least $4.73 billion in reinsurance paymentsto more than 2,800 employers and other sponsors of retiree plans, with an average cumulative reimbursement per plan sponsor of approximately $189,700.
6) Affordable health care for lower-income Americans. Obamacare extends Medicaid to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line, guaranteeing that the nation’ most vulnerable population has access to affordable, comprehensive coverage.
7) Investments in women’s health. Obamacare prohibits insurers from charging women substantially more than men and requires insurers to offer preventive services — including contraception — at no additional cost.
8) Young adults’ ability to stay on their parents’ health care plans. More than 3.1 million young people have already benefited from dependent coverage, which allows children up to age 26 to remain insured on their parents’ plans.
9) Discounts for seniors on brand-name drugs. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to provide a 50% discount on prescriptions filled in the Medicare Part D coverage gap. Seniors have already saved $3.5 billion on prescription drug costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act provision.
10) Temporary coverage for the sickest Americans. The law established temporary national high-risk pools that are providing health coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions who cannot find insurance on the individual market. In 2014, they will be able to enroll in insurance through the exchanges. 67,482 individuals have already benefited from the program.
Here is theory that some Congressional Republicans believe: The Obama Administration intentionally handed over automatic weapons to Mexican drug cartels, who they knew would commit violent acts, because they wanted to scare Americans into supporting stricter gun laws.
That supposed series of events has now led Congress to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt.
Holder is caught up in a scandal over what happened during Operation Fast and Furious, one in a series of efforts started under former President Bush, in which firearms owned by the U.S. government are intentionally sold to criminals with the hopes that they can be traced back, and criminal activity can be monitored. One such firearm turned up at the crime scene where border patrol agent Brian Terry was killed.
Republicans cite the case as a national security issue, but they’ve simultaneously turned it into an indictment over what they believe is a conspiracy aimed at taking away their own firearms. They argue that this was all a ploy to expose how dangerous guns can be. Here are the facts you should know about the conspiracy, and who’s behind it:
The man who started the conspiracy theory also rallied people to break congressional windows. Mike Vanderboegh, a man who once called for militias to break the windows of members of Congress because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, started this conspiracy theory. Rachel Maddow uncovered that Vanderboegh has been encouraging members of Congress to embrace the theory.
Major Republicans, including Darrell Issa, endorse this conspiracy theory. Among those are Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is Chair of the House Oversight Committee and is heading up the investigation of Eric Holder. In an interview on FOX, Issa said, “very clearly, they made a crisis, and they’re using this crisis to somehow take away or limit people’s Second Amendment rights.” He also pushed the theory at an NRA convention. But Issa isn’t the only one who is buying in: former Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich just two days ago agreed with the theory. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), and many other Republicans have voiced support for this theory too.
The NRA is driving the conspiracy theory paranoia though ads. The National Rifle Association is furthering the paranoia as a way to rally gun owners by running advertisements and a petition calling on President Obama to fire Eric Holder. The ads don’t specifically mention the gun control conspiracy, but the Executive Director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action is a full-throttle conspiracy believer. The NRA also threatened members of Congress who voted on the contempt charge yesterday, saying that a vote against contempt wouldreflect poorly on that member’s pro-gun ratings.
Conspiracy theorists blame Holder for a new gun law he didn’t make. Even if one were to believe the vast conspiracy theory, a linchpin in the theorists’ argument is based on a false premise. They say that recently Holder ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to report anyone who bought more than one large gun in five day as a way to track American gun owners. In reality, ATF made a request about reporting gun purchases and the Justice Department only approved it after a delay.
Issa defended Bush for the same thing of which he is accusing Holder. Issa has been tearing apart Holder for not wanting to hand over private communications from the Justice Department that could compromise ongoing criminal investigations. But when George Bush refused to do the same thing in 2007, Issa blasted the move as a “political witch hunt.”
Last year the Vice President of the NRA said that there is “a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment.” This conspiracy theory feeds directly into that sentiment. But there is absolutely no evidence that the President has any intention of tightening gun laws. In fact, he’s loosening regulations on firearm exports.
Here’s what you need to know about Issa’s witch hunt vote:
1. Issa Has No Case: Issa’s uncovered no evidence showing Holder bears any blame for the botched operations begun under George W. Bush, even though the Justice Department turned over thousands of pages of documents concerning the operations. Instead of accepting this fact, Issa has requested many more documents containing confidential information regarding ongoing law enforcement investigations, and is now threatening to hold Holder in contempt if these documents are not turned over. Holder is entirely correct to withhold these documents, however, because Justice Department documents are not subject to congressional subpoena if they would reveal “strategies and procedures that could be used by individuals seeking to evade [DOJ's] law enforcement efforts.”
2. Reagan’s Justice Department Agreed With Holder: President Reagan’s Justice Department warned in the 1980sthat the Constitution’s separation of powers prevents the kind of documents Issa is seeking from being revealed to Congress because of the risk that the legislature could “exert pressure or attempt to influence the prosecution of criminal cases.”
3. Law Enforcement Rejects Issa’s Witchhunt: Issa’s efforts to embarrass Holder are an unnecessary distraction that hinders the Department of Justice’s ability to do its real job. As an organization representing numerous senior law enforcement officials warned Issa, his efforts are “an impediment to the vigorous enforcement of violence and crime.”
4. Even Top Republicans Think Issa Goes Too Far: After Issa leaked his plans to pursue contempt charges to the media, the House Republican leadership pressured him to back off. Indeed, even House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has indicated that Issa is overreaching.
5. Issa Is Fixated On A Conspiracy Theory: Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this affair is what Issa once suggested his investigation will uncover. In an interview with Sean Hannity, Issa claimed that the Obama administration “made a crisis” when they continued the Bush-era gunrunning operations because they wanted to “us[e] this crisis to somehow take away or limit people’s Second Amendment rights.” This accusation originates from a former militiaman who supports violent resistance to imagine government attempts to seize his guns. And it amounts to an accusation that a series of botched gun stings that begun during the Bush Administration were actually part of a secret Obama plot to release guns to Mexican drug lords, so that those guns could then be used to kill federal agents, which would then cause a national uprising in support of gun control.
Darrell Issa, you sir win the oxygen thief of the month award, better known as asshat of the month!
Planned Parenthood’s action fund is sending a costumed package of birth control dubbed “Pillamina” out on the campaign trail to highlight Mitt Romney’s opposition to President Obama’s birth control coverage provision. In a statement introducing Pillamina, Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards noted that her organization wants to emphasize the fact that birth control is “an economic issue for women — period. That’s something that President Obama clearly understands, and that Mitt Romney simply doesn’t.” Romney has said that he opposes requiring insurers to offer birth control coverage without additional co-pays.
In March, Mitt Romneydemanded“President Obama needs to level with the American public about his real agenda.” But on numerous topics, Romney has refused to answer basic questions about his views, leaving voters to guess at where he stands on important issues. Romney’s ambiguity appears to be a calculated strategy to avoid alienating the conservative base or moderate swing voters. If he’s successful in avoiding articulating policy positions, he can market himself as the “generic Republican” alternative to President Obama.
Here are seven major issues on which Romney has refused to take a stand:
1. Romney won’t say whether he would undo Obama’s decision to end deportations of DREAM-eligible immigrants. Romney and his campaign passed up numerous opportunitiesover the weekend to say whether he agreed with the substance of the Obama administration’s order to stop deporting some young undocumented immigrants and whether a President Romney would rescind the order, saying only, “We’ll look at that — we’ll look at that setting as we– as we reach that.”
2. Romney won’t say whether he’d support the Paycheck Fairness Act. Romney repeatedly dodged questions about whether he’d support the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill to crack down on wage discrimination and close the wage gap between men and women. His campaign didn’t respond to five requests by the conservative Washington Times seeking his stance on the bill.
3. Romney won’t specify which tax loopholes he’d close. Asked yesterday which tax deductions he would eliminate to offset his massive proposed tax-cuts for the rich, Romney refused to offer any specifics on a plan that he has admitted is so vague it cannot even be scored, saying only, “We’ll go through that process with Congress.”
4. Romney won’t say which federal agencies he’d eliminate. At a private fundraiser, Romney reportedly told donors he would eliminate or combine “a lot of departments in Washington,” but that he was “probably not going to lay out just exactly which ones are going to go.” Why? Because he feared telling the voters his plans before the election might hurt his political chances, just as it did in his 1994 Senate race.
5. Romney won’t say whether he supports the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Romney’s campaign refused to say whether he would have signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law that helps women hold employers accountable for discriminating in the pay practices based on gender. Romney said, “I’m not going to go back and look at all the prior laws and say had I been there which ones would I have supported and signed.”
6. Romney won’t say whether he’d support full reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Offering only general support for renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, Romney would not specify whether he supported the bipartisan Senate version or the GOP House rolllback bill. His spokeswoman said only that he “hopes [the bill] can be reauthorized without turning it into a political football.”
7. Romney won’t say whether say whether he’d eliminate the “carried interest” tax break for private equity partners. Romney’s campaign has refused to answer questions about whether he supports eliminating the “carried interest” tax break for private equity partners, even when asked directly, saying only that we should probably “take a close look at to see if we’re treating capital gains as capital gains or are we treating, in some cases, carried interest as capital gains when it’s more like ordinary income.”
If you want a snapshot of mittens, might I suggest you take one from 40, 000 feet in the air, this way you shall see the snake in the grass. The man with reversal Robin Hood in his ideology. If we don't call him out on these issues, then truly get what we deserve should this oxygen thief win in November.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans — including 49 percent of Republicans — say President George W. Bush is responsible for the state of today’s economy, a new Gallup poll finds.
Indeed, the country is still reeling from Bush’s disastrous economic stewardship. His irresponsible tax cuts and deregulatory policies have contributed significantly to the slow recovery and are partly responsible for the nation’s economic plight. Here are 5 reasons why:
1. Deregulated Wall Street: It was a great time to be a Wall Street executive during the Bush administration. Sweeping financial deregulation helped build the housing bubble and allowed financial institutions to pursue risky trades unchecked. In fact, Bush eliminated the rules that allowed Wall Street to cause the financial crash that plunged the nation into the Great Recession.
2. Cut Taxes For The Wealthy: The Bush tax cuts — over 50 percent of which benefited the richest 5 percent of American taxpayers — cost about $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were enacted. Ten years later, Bush’s tax cuts are still the main driving factor of the national debt:
3. Ran Up A Tab On Two Wars: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the country trillionsofdollars. Combined with Bush’s tax cuts, war spending was a main factor in blowing up the deficit and spending the surplus accumulated under Clinton. Lawmakers now use the deficit as an excuse for inaction.
4. Left Homeowners In A Lurch: While Bush was happy to help out the banks in the wake of the housing crisis, he did little to assist struggling homeowners. Hope For Homeowners, Bush’s proposal to assist those struggling with their mortgages, was a colossal failure; in its first six months, it helped just one homeowner renegotiate his mortgage. Many mortgage holders — 15.7 million or, one in three— are still underwater today.
5. Weakened Workers: Bush weakened worker safety regulations and collective bargaining rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Labor throughout his time in office. Today, corporations are back to making record profits, while workers’ incomes are falling.
Shellie Zimmerman, 25, is the wife of George Zimmerman, the man who is charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, a 16 year old African-American male.
She has been charged with perjury and was arrested Tuesday in connection with her husband's trial. The charge stems from her testimony about the family's finances. Following the shooting, there was a national outcry and there is still an ongoing debate about Zimmerman's responsibilities. An account was opened and interested parties were able to make donations. In a short amount of time the Zimmerman's had acquired over $135,000, and then failed to disclose the money in court at the initial bond hearing.
Under the microscope of scrutiny, did they think they would be able to keep the money a secret? Why was the money not immediately disclosed and verified?
Sheller Zimmerman was released on a $1,000 bond after being taken to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility, coincidentally the very same facility that is currently housing her husband.
She will be arraigned on July 31. If convicted, she faces a single year in prison for a first degree felony. Had the prosecutor's office sought a third degree charge, she could have faced up to 15 years.
The George Zimmerman family, two peas in a pod, a family of bullshit artists!
UnitedHealthcare — one of the nation’s largest health insurers — has announced that it will preserve a provision of the health care law that allows young adults to stay on their family health care plans up to age 26, even if the high court rules the law unconstitutional later this month.
The measure is one of several so-called “Patients’ Bill of Rights” included in the law that UnitedHealthcare will keep in place. The company will also continue offering preventive health care services without out-of-pocket costs and end lifetime limits on insurance payouts:
“The protections we are voluntarily extending are good for people’s health, promote broader access to quality care and contribute to helping control rising health care costs,” Stephen J. Hemsley, president and chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, said in a statement. “These provisions are compatible with our mission and continue our operating practices.”
A spokesman at UnitedHealthcare said officials chose to announce their intentions now because “people in this uncertain time are worried about what might happen to their coverage and we think the time is right to let people know that these provisions will continue and they can count on us.”
The announcement applies to the roughly 9 million consumers in plans that they or their employer have purchased from UnitedHealthcare.
So far, 6.6 million young adults between 19 and 25 years old have signed up for insurance coverage through their parents’ policies. It’s a popular provision that even Republicans, like Tea Party favorite Rep. Allen West (FL), support. During an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) — one of the staunchest opponents of the law — also defended the insurer’s decision, noting, “to allow them to stay on that family plan, just helps the family until that person goes to school [and is] established in life.”
The growing bipartisan support for some provisions of the law will complicate the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, particularly as Americans start to benefit from it. The measure expands access to health insurance for millions of Americans, and UnitedHealthcare’s decision to continue at least some of its provisions means that Obamacare has already changed the health care system — no matter what the Supreme Court decides.
6.6 Million young adults insured thanks to Obamacare!
Even though much of the Affordable Care Act does not go into effect until 2014, conservatives insist the bill is making things worse for Americans. But a new study shows that one implemented provision of the ACA is already providing millions of young Americans with health insurance.
According to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, 6.6 million young adults have signed up for coverage through their parents’ health insurance plans. Under the ACA provision, young people can now stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26. About half of the 19-to-25 year-olds interviewed for the study reported opting in to their parents’ plans between November 2010 and November 2011.
Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote college presidents and student organizations urging them to remind students they can stay on their parents’ plans after graduation. “Now, graduating students are free to make career choices based on what they want to do, not where they can get health insurance,” they wrote.
Some of President Obama’s staunchest critics are also beginning to realize the benefit of increased young people in insurance pools. Republican Senators Scott Brown and Roy Blunt broke ranks to speak approvingly of the provision. Even Tea Party favorite Rep. Allen West signaled his support of the measure in an interview with ThinkProgress.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll also showed that about 71 percent of Americans view the provision favorably.
Late last year, the government estimated there would be 2.5 million new young adultscovered under the provision. The new estimate is higher, in part, because it also includes young people who were previously covered but were able to obtain better, cheaper coverage under the Obamacare provision.
George W. Bush’s favorable rating lowest of any living president, poll shows
President George W. Bush had a low favorable rating when he left office, and he's still not popular, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Thursday. In fact, he's the only living president with a favorable rating that's under 50 percent.
The polls shows that 43% of people questioned had a favorable opinion of Bush, with 54% saying they had an unfavorable view. That's the same favorable rating Bush had in 2010 in CNN polling, but it is up from his mid-30's favorable rating during 2009.
How might this play out in this year's presidential election? "Don't be surprised if the Obama campaign mentions the name of George W. Bush at every opportunity, and don't be surprised if that strategy works," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
When respondents were asked whether they are better or worse off than they were four years ago, they split, 44 percent to 43 percent. But when asked if they are better or worse off than they were "when Bush was president," 47 percent say they are better off compared to 41 percent who say they are worse off, the poll found.
Here's how the other living president's stack up: Bill Clinton, a 66 percent favorable rating and a 31 percent unfavorable; George H.W. Bush, a 59 percent favorable rating and 34 percent unfavorable; and Jimmy Carter, 54 percent favorable and 30 percent unfavorable.
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International, with 1,009 adult Americans questioned by telephone from May 29-31. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker has won the Wisconsin governor’s recall over Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, holding onto his job after his push to slash collective bargaining rights for public employees sparked intense statewide backlash.
Walker’s win caps a chaotic year in Wisconsin, marked by heated demonstrations, endless campaigning and a flood of outside money, all of which vaulted the state from ordinary battleground to Ground Zero of the national political debate — and elevated Walker to national superstardom among the Republican faithful.
Walker was favored from the outset, bolstered by an enormous cash advantage, and a firewall of support from national Republican figures.
With 40 percent of precincts reporting, Walker has 59 percent of the vote, and Barrett has 40 percent, according to the Associated Press. The result is very likely to narrow, with more liberal areas typically reporting later in Wisconsin. Walker has been projected the winner by multiple news organizations.
“This is such a tremendous victory for Wisconsin taxpayers,” said Ciara Matthews, Walker campaign communications director, in a statement. “Today, Wisconsin voters have told the nation they stand with Governor Walker because he stands with them.”
Walker said: “Bringing our state together will take some time, but I hope to start right away. It is time to put our differences aside and figure out ways that we can move Wisconsin forward.”
Barrett told supporters at his concession speech: “And what we have seen over the last 16 months, is we have seen this democracy come alive. To those of you who fought, who obtained signatures, who stood out in the cold, who did what you thought was right — never, ever stop doing what you think is right. That’s what makes this such a great country.”
Walker previously faced Barrett in 2010, when he won the open-seat contest by a 52 percent to 47 percent margin.
The catalyst for the uproar that forced the recall was Walker’s legislation stripping most public-sector workers of collective bargaining rights — and the ensuing protests that filled the state Capitol and inspired demonstrations across the country, along with a high-profile effort by the minority Democrats to flee the state and block a three-fifths budget quorum to prevent the bill from moving forward. After Republicans found a way around the roadblock and passed the bill, Democrats initiated the first round of state Senate recalls, which took place in August 2011 and attracted tens of millions of dollars in political spending from both sides.
The results were a mixed bag. Democrats picked up two Senate seats, but were not the one more they needed to deprive Republicans of the majority. Out of the recall campaigns that were waged by both parties, four incumbent Republicans and three Democrats retained their seats, while two Republicans lost to Democratic challengers.
Democrats nonetheless sensed political blood was in the water, and quickly began laying the groundwork for an effort to recall Walker himself — an option that was only possible, under Wisconsin’s recall law, once an elected official has served at least one year of his current term.
And this new election saw a huge flood of money, as well. Walker raised over $30 million for the election — aided by the fact that he was able to take in unlimited donations during the 60-day window when petitions were collected — compared to just under $4 million for Barrett. Combined with interest group spending, the total GOP advantage over the Democrats was $47 million to $19 million.
Another clear trend in the election was been the extent to which Republicans have eagerly nationalized the race. Walker received help from surrogates throughout the contest, including visits by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others.
Indeed, some liberals prominently grumbled throughout the recall about a lack of national backup.
Barrett did, however, eventually get a late boost from high-wattage Democrats, including campaign appearances by DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz Democratic Governors Association Chairman Martin O’Malley, and finally a stop from former President Bill Clinton.
If you needed you fucking wakeup call America, this was it, continue to vote tea bagger, and soon the America you know will be reverted back to the 1700’s. While there are bigger fish to fry, you liberals need to get off your ass and put you’re money where your mouth is - also get out and vote.
Wisconsin voted for an idiot, let’s not make the same mistake for POTUS in November!
How apropos will it be that the twice elected Koch Whore will more than likely be indicted for his shenanigans?
As the late Molly Ivins once said; the best way to cure a dog from killing chickens is to make that dog wear a dead chicken around his neck for awhile and see how he likes it. I’m thinking the people of WI would be well served with a chicken necklace for the next 2 years.
NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
RECALL SCOTT WALKER
Wisconsin voters report receiving robocalls telling them not to vote.
FromEau Claire to Beloit, voters across Wisconsin are relaying stories via Twitter, Facebook and online message boards about anonymous “robocalls” from allies of Scott Walker, telling them–incorrectly–that if they signed petitions to recall Governor Walker, their vote in today’s crucial election has been recorded.
An NBC reporter tweeted that a family friend was one recipient of the call:
Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and the Democratic nominee to unseat Governor Scott Walker,told MSNBC host Ed Schultz last night that his campaign began receiving complaints yesterday that voters had been contacted with the misinformation. This morning, Salon reported on the robocalls too, and included comments from Carol Gibbons, a Wisconsin resident who got the call herself. And a local CBS affiliate is even reporting that the caller sounds eerily similar to Tom Barrett, suggesting the group behind the call may have hired a Barrett impersonator.
So far no recording of the call has surfaced, but the reports from voters was enough to prompt the Barrett campaign to make calls of its own, warning voters not to listen to the first call. For its part, the Walker campaign denied any involvement in or knowledge of the robocall or who was behind it.
Election day antics were a near certainty in Wisconsin. In the last week, reports of other campaign antics surfaced, including an attempt by Walker supporters to disable the Barrett campaign’s phone lines by flooding their call centers with spam phone calls.
RELATED: Madison City Clerk: Turnout Is On Pace To Reach 119%. Turnout in excess of 100% is possible because Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration. The numbers suggest that many people are registering at the polls. Heavy turnout in Madison, a liberal stronghold, would likely benefit Democrat Tom Barrett.
In Florida, nearly 70 percent of people who invoked ‘Stand Your Ground’ walked away scot free
It took 44 days before George Zimmerman was arrested for Trayvon Martin’s death because police claimed he was “standing his ground” when he fatally shot the teenager. But these kinds of delays are not all that uncommon under the ALEC-sponsored law, anew report by Tampa Bay Times concludes.The report finds that in nearly one-third of 200 Stand Your Ground cases, the defendant had initiated the fight, shot an unarmed individual or first pursued the victim, and were never even charged with crimes.
Additionally, Stand Your Ground has allowed police a wide latitude of interpretation, resulting in uneven enforcement for whites and blacks. Some of the report’s findings include:
Nearly 70 percent of those who have invoked “stand your ground” to avoid prosecution have gone free.
73 percent of those who killed a black person walked away without penalty, while 59 percent of those who killed a white person went free.
Attorneys are increasingly invoking Stand Your Ground in ways state legislators didn’t originally intend, and use of this defense has grown five-fold in nonfatal cases between 2008 and 2011.
Among the incidents where defendants walked free: “One man killed two unarmed people and walked out of jail. Another shot a man as he lay on the ground. Others went free after shooting their victims in the back.”
There are three times more concealed carry permits in Florida since 2005, when Florida passed the law.
In Florida, the number of Stand Your Ground cases is on the rise, being invoked in cases with both minor injuries and where the defendants shot a person who was unarmed or whose back was turned. As Tampa Bay Times writes, “If you claim ‘stand your ground’ as the reason you shot someone, what happens to you can depend less on the merits of the case than on who you are, whom you kill and where your case is decided.” For George Zimmerman, these inconsistencies have played out in national media, but many times these cases escape notice and even police records.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) unwilling admitted to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Friday afternoon that he believed women who receive abortions should face criminal charges. “I think the punishment should certainly be very serious,” he said. “It should be more than a civil case. It should be something very serious”:
Stearns was appearing on the program to talk about the GOP’s recent effort to ban sex-selective abortions. That bill, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act or PRENDA, failed earlier this week and would have fined and imprisoned doctors who knowingly aborted fetuses based on racial or gender discrimination.
The congressman sought to defend the measure by arguing that “if all of Europe and most of Asia has this same rule, that you cannot have sex selection as an abortion, why can’t we in the united states pass the same bill?” But Matthews responded succinctly, saying, “it’s always amazing when you guys on the right want to import the values of other countries. Any time we do it, any time a liberal tries to do it, you say they’re bringing foreign values into this country.”
North Carolina is no stranger to
the “if you dislike it then you should have made a law against it” model of
legislation, but this is extreme: The state General Assembly’s Replacement
House Bill 819 would rule that scientists are not
allowed to accurately predict sea-level rise. By all legal calculations,
the sea level will now rise eight inches by the end of the century. Sure, so
far models have predicted an increase of more than three feet, but if they keep
that shit up, they’re going to JAIL.
OK, there’s not really a prison
sentence attached to this proposed rule, but that doesn’t stop it from being
crazeballs. See, actual sea-level rise is nonlinear, because there’s feedback —
the warmer it gets, the more the water volume expands, and the more stuff
melts, and the more it expands, etc. That’s how most scientific models arrive
at their predictions, because that is how physics works. But an increase that
big is extremely inconvenient for a state with a beach-based tourist trade. So
North Carolina’s solution is simple: Change how physics works, or at least
change how people do physics.
Accordingly, this bill mandates
that models use a linear increase — a consistent amount of change every year,
based on historical data. This will lead to predictions that are much less
catastrophic, and much more reassuring for people building resorts in the Outer
Banks. The predictions will also be flat-out wrong, but that’s nothing new for
North Carolina.
If it’s not obvious why this is
stupid, look at it this way: In 1790, the year North Carolina is stuck in, the population was about
400,000. In 1900, it was 1.9 million. That’s an increase of 1.5 million in 110
years — so if there were an analogous rule for population, the state would
prepare for 3.4 million residents in 2010. Which might cause some strife among
the 9.7 million people who live there now, but you know, whatever — the law is
the law, so screw you, math. If the 6.3 million people unaccounted for by the
legal model wanted housing and services, they should have fallen in line with
North Carolina reality.
Anyway, we wish North Carolina
the best of luck in staving off disaster by legislating what mathematical
calculations people can perform. It will probably be about as effective as
fixing the health-care crisis through etymology, or balancing the budget with
entry-level yoga. But if it works, I’m moving to North Carolina, where living
in a fantasy world has the force of law.
Having lived in Utah for a spell, [where the men are men and the sheep run scared] I can tell you that this faith is very much the cult.
It is self evident that Pastor Robert Jeffress is correct in referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more colloquially known as the Mormons, as “a cult.” There do seem to be one or two points of similarity; The Mormons have a supreme leader, known as the prophet or the president, whose word is allegedly supreme. They can be ordered to turn upon and shun any members who show any signs of backsliding. They have distinctive little practices, such as the famous underwear, to mark them off from other mortals, and they are said to be highly disciplined and continent when it comes to sex, booze, nicotine, and coffee. It is well known that the church can be harder to leave than it was to join. Hefty donations and tithes are apparently appreciated from the membership.
According to claims made by Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, Jesus Christ, the Bible and America are the basis of the new religion he founded more than a hundred years ago in the United States. However, no Christian denomination has ever recognized the religion that Smith created as a Christian faith or an extension of Christianity. Instead, it is seen as a unique new religion with a theology of its own. The Mormons, as Smith's followers would later be commonly called, see themselves as the new Israel, God's chosen people, who wandered through America until they came to the promised land, now known as Utah.
Smith said he had received a revelation, which would ultimately lead to the restoration of the true church and its priesthood, that had been lost. He believed this priesthood and authority had been lost for centuries, until he had his revelation during the 1820s near Palmyra, New York. Smith said, no other church on the face of the earth held equal authority and he became Mormonism's first modern-day prophet.
Within the composite belief system that Smith subsequently devised, humanity is described as essentially "gods in embryo." Smith believed that God himself had once been a human being and had become a God through a process. And that his followers could become gods too, if they would follow his new religion.
The supposed restoration of the lost priesthood and truth took place when Smith's divine revelation occurred. At that time Smith was a 14-year-old boy. Never-the-less he claimed that divine beings had told him not to join any existing church or religion, but instead to begin his own, which would become the one true and anointed church authorized by God.
A similar story is told by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder and leader of the Unification Church. Cult leaders such as David Koresh, Shoko Asahara of Japan and Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple all seemed to feel that God had given them an exclusive mission and somehow exalted their group above all others.
In 1823, Smith said a heavenly being or angel named "Moroni," who he claimed was the son of Mormon, a man that died about 400 A.D., appeared to Smith. Maroni, told Smith that there hidden written records on "golden plates" of a lost people who once had a great civilization in America. These plates were conveniently burried just outside the town where Smith lived. But they were written in an unknown language Smith called "Reformed Egyptian." Maroni instructed Smith to use two special peep stones to look through, which would enable his to translate the plates. Smith said he uncovered the golden plates, translated them with these stones and the end result is now known as the "Book of Mormon." And Maroni is now commemorated as the golden figure perched atop Mormon Temples.
Smith was and is largely regarded as a con man and a fraud. His golden plates disappeared, transported to heaven, or so he said. The civilizations recorded within the Book of Mormon have never been substantiated by any historical evidence through either archaeology or corroborated by any credible scholar or historian. Instead, as originally perceived by Smith's contemporaries, they appear to be little more than a collection of fictional stories put together by Smith, based largely upon other writings and his own creative imagination.
Smith eventually became a virtual dictator of his own city called Nauvoo in Illinois, which was populated by his followers. He also led a large private army as its General. His rule was often tyrannical and he became a feared figure within Illinois. In 1844 after Smith destroyed a Nauvoo newspaper that dared to openly criticize him as he was jailed in Carthage. An angry mob broke into the jail and Smith was killed. At the time of his death, his ardent apostles were promoting him as a candidate for president of the United States.
The story of Smith's city and his "persecution" is very reminiscent of Jim Jones who founded Jonestown, and David Koresh of Waco Texas fame, but unlike these small groups that have been called "cults," Smith's small cult has evolved into a major delusional cult wearing special undies with members of the devine lunacy running for POTUS.
Was Joseph Smith mentally ill?
Here are some quotes from good old Joe himself:
Joseph Smith boasted that he did more than Jesus. "God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil--all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet . . . " (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 408-409).
Joseph Smith said our greatest responsibility is to seek after our dead. "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, page 7).
Joseph Smith said that there are men living on the moon who dress like Quakers and live to be nearly 1000 years old. Since he was wrong about the moon, is it safe to trust him regarding the way to Heaven? (The Young Woman's Journal, Vol. 3, pages 263-264. See reprint in Mormonism -- Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner, page 4.)
Joseph Smith said the Book of Mormon was more correct than the Bible."I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461)
Joseph Smith said mothers have babies in eternity and some are on thrones."A question may be asked, 'Will mothers have their children in eternity?' Yes! Yes! Mothers, you shall have your children." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, page 10). "Eternity is full of thrones, upon which dwell thousands of children reigning on thrones of glory, with not one cubit added to their stature." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 10).
Joseph Smith said there are many Gods."Hence, the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other doctrine. It is all over the face of the Bible . . . Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many . . . but to us there is but one God--that is pertaining to us; and he is in all and through all" (History of the Church, Vol. 6, page 474). "In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5).
Here are some questions. If Mormons say they are Christians, how come they follow more than one God? (In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it." Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5.)
Smith thought he did more than Jesus. Sounds like a mental health issue, possible narcissism, borderline psychopath? How about pathological liar? So let's see, if he was mentally ill, how did he manage to get so many people to follow him?
Mental illness or con artist, you choose, but the point of the day is…do we really want a guy whom adheres to and follows this crap to be the leader of the most powerful country in the land? Absolutely and unequivocally; HELL NO!
