Republican blackmail schemes endanger American prosperity

It has been said that the whole debacle surrounding the recent debt ceiling legislation was a “manufactured crisis.” Republicans have taken control of the US House of Representatives and effectively use their threat of filibuster to stymie any progressive legislation from passing the US Senate. Republicans picked the “debt ceiling crisis” as their latest and greatest fight to wrest blackmail from the country in the furtherance of The Republican War on Christmas. And see here. Republicans have posited a series of ever more extremist and radical plans to restructure government under the guise of “fighting the deficit.” But, Republicans have offered more of the same failed and fatally flawed economic polices of the Bush era with more and better tax breaks for corporations, millionaires and billionaires with the added twist of abolishing Medicare and gutting Social Security.  And see here, here and here. Recent revelations by a high ranking Republican Budget Committee staffer confirms the Republicans’ blackmail as their chief strategy to preserve the privileges and incomes of the corporations, millionaires and billionaires to the economic damage of the rest of us Americans. [More. . . ]

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Republicans Fiddle and Lie, Obama Shuffles, America Burns

Republicans in the US House and Senate have been complete money grubbers when it comes to getting funds from the Democratic Stimulus Bill but, total lying sacks of dung when reporting about the real results the stimulus bill. Most of those asking for the stimulus funds in the US House have been Republicans. All of the Republicans getting any of such funds have touted their individual successes at bringing home the bacon for their districts or states. [Note: I offering numerous links throughout this post; rather than embed them, I am leaving them as text, which will make it easier to see the topics of the links based on the permalinks]. http://www.iwatchnews.org/2010/10/19/2420/tea-party-founder-texans-among-those-asking-stimulus-funds http://www.democrats.org/news/blog/gop_hypocrisy_on_recovery_act_projects_makes_news_nationwide http://www.wusf.usf.edu/news/2010/10/18/gop_congressmen_criticize_stimulus_ask_for_money [More . . . ]

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Republican Eric Cantor is dishonest and heartless

Republican US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has made his position absolutely clear on aid to the stricken victims of Hurricane Irene; any funds spent on disaster relief will have to be offset by cuts from other areas of federal spending. In an absolutely alien way, Mr. Cantor has claimed that the current budget and debt “crisis” requires that any monies spent for disaster relief must be offset by cuts in the budget elsewhere. I suggest any aid to Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which spawned Mr. Cantor, be moved to the top of that list. Just because the media in Virginia’s 7th have described the disaster as the worst ever to hit the area is no reason to have any sympathy for any of Mr. Cantor’s constituents, eh? Oops, that would make me a heartless bastard like Cantor! Even the banksters that have screwed the economic pooch with their sub-prime mortgage greed have more of a heart than Mr. Cantor and are waiving some fees and charges after Irene. And see here and here. Now Mr. Cantor says he never suggested that disaster relief funds be delayed because of any debt or budget concerns! NJ Republican Governor Chris Christie is having none of that; “Our people are suffering now and they need help now. And they can all go back down there and get back to work and figure out budget cuts later.” Clearly, for a small minority of the US House Republican majority, the political goals of long term deficit reduction outweigh any other concerns, even life threatening concerns. There will not be an end to the political gridlock and conflict in Washington until those elected officials in Washington who are more dedicated to narrow ideology than the well being of all Americans are gone.

Continue ReadingRepublican Eric Cantor is dishonest and heartless

There REALLY Ought a be a Law . . .

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has published an unapologetic paean to his war crimes, torture and tortured reasoning in a memoir which he calls; In My Time. Needless to say, some find Mr. Cheney’s alleged memoir a work of fiction and suitable “for supermarket tabloids” and “full of cheap shots.” The book will be out August 30, 2011. Mr. Cheney and his attack-dog daughter, Liz, have launched another campaign to clean up Mr. Cheney’s image but, Mr. Cheney remains one of the most unpopular politicians in American history with an approval rating going towards the single digits. In Mr. Cheney’s book he highlights how he counseled bombing Syria to “restore America’s standing among the Arabs.” Apparently, Mr. Cheney’s plans also included the possibilities of nuking Iraq, Iran and Syria to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to those countries. I wonder if Mr. Cheney’s memoir mentions the secret CIA assassination squads which he set up and then ordered the CIA to not disclose to Congress as required by law or his advocacy of the illegal use of US troops against US citizens on US soil? [More . . . ]

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It’s REALLY Still the Economy Stupid!

By now, whatever stimulus effect the Obama Stimulus Plan has had is nearly gone or gone. It is certain that the approximately $200 million in Democratic Middle Class Tax Cuts are gone which was the price Republicans demanded as part of the re-authorization of the Bush tax breaks for the top 2% of wage earners near the end of last year. The states have spent all the federal monies given to them which allowed states to initially avoid laying-off police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and teachers and now states are going through lay-offs in droves further depressing the economy. And see here. There were only 18% of the Stimulus Plan dollars which went to “infrastructure” and those dollars are gone, too. The economy was treading water, and now growth is slipping. More federal dollars for bridges, roads and schools are needed and proposed by President Obama but, Republicans apparently will not vote for anything but cutting federal spending or cutting taxes for corporations and millionaires. 15 year fixed mortgage rates for well qualified borrowers are approximately 3.375 % as of the writing of this piece. Some broker/lenders will quote lower rates if you buy points. What’s there for the merely “decently” qualified borrowers? You might get 3.5% for a 15 year fixed rate. But, there’s a way to get all of those amongst us who are current on our loans and the loans are owned by FHLMC (“Freddie Mac”) and FNMA (“Fannie Mae”) (recently combined into the FHLA), FHA and VA an immediate break which will stimulate the economy. [More. . . ]

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