The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week another forecast of cold and snow… isn’t winter over yet? Thank God we have politics to keep us warm and entertained...

• Condolences to the family and friends of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) who passed away today… Mr. Lantos served 14 terms and was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress…
• Sen. Obama swept all the Democratic primaries/caucuses this past weekend, bringing him into a virtual delegate tie with Sen. Clinton…
• On the republican side; Gov. Huckabee had a good weekend,
• Speaking of Clinton, she has fired her campaign manager after being smacked-down by Obama over the weekend. This coupled with Obama’s impressive wins and news that some of her staff aren’t being paid is NOT good news for her presidential run… stay tuned.
• Former presidential candidate John Edwards has been meeting with people from both Obama and Clinton’s campaigns… VP slot anyone?
• Desperate to bring Romney’s supporters to his campaign, McCain is reaching out to Mitt Romney… VIP slot anyone?
• McCain’s camp didn’t waste any time combating Dobon’s endorsement of Huckabee as they secured the backing of conservative activist (isn’t that a contradiction in terms) and former president of Family Research Council Gary Bauer…(Yeah… people haven’t cared about what Bauer says for years... who this endorsement is expected to impress is anyone’s guess…)
• “President” Bush doesn’t think we’re in a recession or that a recession is looming… ya know, sometimes it’s more apt to just describe him as ‘lame’ rather than ‘lame-duck’…
• And have we mentioned? That not every crony in Bush’s administration supported the Iraq Surge? According to former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who was giving a speech yesterday in California, Bush ignored his advisers while he was deciding whether to implement the Iraq surge… with as many as 80% of them not agreeing with the strategy… (and yet, not shockingly, Bush ignored his advisers and did what he Cheney wanted him to do. Do like I do, keep telling yourself there is less than a year left…)

The Weekly Rewind

We’ve heard about it enough this week, so this Weekly Rewind is a Super Fat Tuesday-free zone… enjoy.

Applaud: to the DNC for finally growing a set… albeit a small pair. They disqualified Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r-CT) as a superdelegate earlier this week after he endorsed Sen. McCain for president. (about time they do something to show him up and slap him around for being a republican… now if only they had the balls to do more, like get him off of some of the more important committees he’s on. But this is definitely a good start…)

Heckle: to “President” Bush and his 2008/2009 budget… do I really need to elaborate on this? I didn’t think so…

Applaud: to Britain’s Prince Andrew. Earlier this week he let go a scathing attack on “President” Bush for “failing to listen to Britain during the conflict in Iraq.” Prince Andrew went on to say that because of that, most Britons have been left with “healthy skepticism” whenever something is said in DC… so there’s another country that doesn’t think highly of us anymore… will a new president be able to rectify this, or are we screwed?

Heckle: to speaking out of one’s ass…again During his speech to the CPAC Friday morning, “President” Bush told the crowd that Vice President Dick Cheney is “the best vice president in history.” (WHAT!!?? Are you kidding me??? Ignoring for a fact that a majority of the American people have a VASTLY different opinion on that as a scant 28% of American’s approve of the job Cheney is doing as vice president, there’s also over 221,000 Americans that have signed a petition calling for Cheney to be impeached… but in Bush’s eyes, he’s the best VP in the history of the US… which only goes to show you that Bush is either totally ignorant of American history – very real possibility in itself – or that he is so far out there, that he may never come back down to earth. My money is on the latter…)

Applaud: to Mark Moody-Stuart. Who’s he you ask, he is the former chairman of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, who called on the European Union to ban gas-guzzling cars earlier this week, saying; “Nobody needs a car that does 10-15 mpg.” (Nice… well said Mr. Moody-Stuart… too bad more people in your area of expertise don’t see things that way…)

Heckle: to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was five years ago this week that Powell stood up at the UN and spoke about Iraqi WMD’s, saying; “The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction pose to the world.” As it turned out, it was a bold-face lie. Sure, some people claim that Bush and his cronies lied to Powell, but it’s still a sad day for a man that once had promise and a bright future in American politics. Now, his political career is all but over… and for that, Bush should be ashamed of himself…

Applaud: to, once again, CREW… this time sending a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey that asks him to appoint a special council to investigate “whether the White House violated federal record-keeping laws by knowingly failing to preserve and restore millions of emails.” (Nice job guys… claims of executive privilege by the White House in 5, 4, 3…)

Heckle: to Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson. After the Philadelphia Housing Authority refused to “transfer a $2 million public property to a developer” who is a business friend of Jackson’s “at a substantial discount”, Jackson has retaliated against the agency by sending “dozens” of “menacing” threats over an 11-month period… my question is simple. Why the hell hasn’t an investigation been open about this?? This is a blatant example of mis-use, and yet no one seems to be paying attention… but of course this is how the Bush(whacked) Administration works…

Applaud: to the House of Representatives. In a 354-58 vote the House approved legislation earlier this week that looks to ease rising college costs and limit student debt. Additionally the bill would also expand federal Pell Grants to summer-school students and would address conflicts of interest in the student lending industry… (About. Time.)

Heckle: to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Wall Street Journal released its forecasting survey this week and economists gave Bernanke “the lowest grade of his two-year tenure — 75 out of 100 points — and said it was increasingly likely the nation’s economy would tumble into a recession.” Economists that took part in the survey put the odds of a recession at 49%, up from 40% in the January survey and 23% last June… (Nuff said…)

Applaud: to the American public for not allowing Bush’s lame-duck status interfere with their feelings for him. According to a new AP/Ipsos poll Bush’s approval rating is at 30% and most American’s can “barely stand the thought of President Bush” anymore… sometimes the snark just writes itself…

Heckle: to conservative activists Crystal Dueker and Rich Holt. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two are attempting to build support for their 527 group Think Condi at this week’s CPAC. The group is a “grassroots movement to get the secretary of state on the presidential ticket as vice president” because Dueker and Holter believe that Rice is “the best running mate for McCain” because she would be able to bring Bush supporters into McCain’s corner… (Ewww.. I feel unclean just reading that…)

Applaud: to long-time correspondent Helen Thomas. Do I really need to give a reason? Ok, how about for sharply criticizing “President” Bush and his administration earlier this week, calling it “one of the most secretive in history.” (Helen, I wish we had more like you…)

Heckle: to the U.S. Forest Service for approving a permit that will allow a British mining company to explore for uranium “just outside” the Grand Canyon. (First of all, as I said earlier this wee – like in ANWR – it’s NOT exploring, it’s drilling. Second of all, why? In Alaska they are looking for oil so the US is not beholding to OPEC countries… but why drill for uranium in the Grand Canyon? Can anyone answer that? Anyone? Heloooooo?)

Applaud: to some top Pentagon officials that haven’t drank the Bush Kool-Aid. Earlier this week while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the group said that Bush’s plan to withdraw some 20,000 U.S. troops from Iraq this summer would “do little to relieve the stress on the Army and Marine Corps.” (While the news they reported wasn’t applaud-worthy, we applaud their ability to tell the truth and ignore the BushCo lies… we all knew that this was going to happen… Bush and his phony war have pushed our military so thin that we are more at risk than we have been since 9/11… but the fear-mongering right won’t hear of that… 1/20/09 can not come soon enough…)

Heckle: to more talking out of one’s ass… but this time it’s not Bush. Earlier this week while AG Mukasey today, Rep. Lamar Smith (r-TX) insisted that “99% of Americans would support” waterboarding. Perhaps Mr. Smith, assuming he can watch anything other than Fox “News” should look into things before he speaks… as a recent CNN poll showed that 58% of Americans say the U.S. should not be allowed to use waterboarding against suspected terrorists…

Applaud: to the audience at CPAC booing John McCain even though they were told to not boo him… (Just goes to show you that conservatives can’t follow even the simplest directions… makes you wonder would have happened if they were told NOT to throw rotting fruit??)

Heckle: to even more speaking out of one’s ass… wow, we’ve finally found something the Bush(whacked) Administration is good at, you know, besides lying. Vice President Dick “President” Cheney was speaking at CPAC this week and offered an “aggressive, unwavering defense of the Bush administration” and, after someone asked if he would invade Iraq again, declared “You’re damn right I would.” (Is it possible that we have found someone who is every further out of touch with the American people than Bush? Cheney has always been rather rapid… but to say that he would invade Iraq again is an insult to every man and woman who has lost their life to this mis-led war… I would say he should be ashamed of himself, but we all know he has little to no heart)

Applaud: to the AFL-CIO (did I just write that?) for filing a lawsuit against Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. The suit claims that the new Labor Department disclosure rules “should be held unlawful and set aside.” (The applaud is more so for someone having the balls to fight the administration and it’s labor-union killing ways than for the lawsuit itself…)

Heckle: to AG Michael Mukasey for refusing to answer the question of whether or not he had been instructed by Bush not to enforce the subpoenas of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten. (Like Gonzales, Mukasey is a tool, plain and simple…)

Applaud: to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) for placing a hold on the nomination of Mark Filip to be deputy AG. Sen. Durbin wants it held until AG Mukasey answers questions on torture and detainee abuse cases that are in three letters Durbin sent to the DOH starting back in 2005. (While it’s my state’s junior senator that gets most of the attention, it’s our senior statesman that works behind the scenes and gets things done… quietly without much fanfare… and I think that how he likes it…)

Heckle:(just in case you thought we were done with this line of heckles, we aren’t.) To even MORE talking out of one’s ass. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testified earlier this week that a failure to provide legal immunity in FISA legislation to telecom companies “will have far-reaching consequences” and would “severely degrade the capabilities” of intelligence agencies to protect the country… how??? That’s all I want to know is how… and an example, I want one true and real example of how all of this crap has protected our country… just one... Welllllll? We’re waiting…

Applaud:to, once again, the American People… a new AP/Ipsos poll that Americans want to end the recession is to end the Iraq war, with a scant 19% of those polled saying they plan to go out and spend the money from the rebate checks in the economic stimulus package compared to 45% whom responded that will use the checks to pay down debt. But the results we want to applaud is that 48% said a pullout would help fix the country’s economic problems “a great deal,” with an additional 20% believing that it would help at least somewhat… (Again, more and more people are not only waking up to how bad Bush is, but also that the country is in a recession and that the war is a primary reason for that… acknowledging there’s a problem is always the first step…)

Heckle:to “President” Bush… today on Fox “News” Time’s Mark Halperin said that, behind the scenes, Bush has “told people for months that he thought McCain would be the nominee. Even during some of those dark periods he still thought he could win. And also that McCain would be the best to carry forth his agenda.” (As if we needed any more reason to NOT vote for McCain, now we have Bush’s endorsement of him… ‘nuff said…)

And this week, like always, we at TBWA institute had a hell of a time narrowing a large playing field to get down to one, but we did it… so I present this week’s conservative tool of the week… I thought briefly about naming F*e* P*e*p* because of his plans to picket the funerals of last week’s southern tornadoes and the victims of the Tinley Park, Illinois mall shootings, but I don’t want to give more press to the putz than he’s already gotten… and besides, I think we can all agree he’s a TOOL of the Millennium without any input from Scott and I… so we picked someone else…

Mitt Romney.

Sure, he’s almost bad enough that we could say; just because and most people would shake their heads in agreement, but we have actual reasons… first, despite that fact that he continuously said he was NOT going to drop out of the race after Super Tuesday he did just that during his speech at CPAC, where he also utilized that gop tradition of fear-mongering, criticizing Senators Obama and Clinton during his speech of retreat, claiming that an electoral victory by either of them would mean “attacks on America. [...] About this, I have no doubt.” (Way to take the highroad there Mitt... your pathetic trolling for the vice presidency is only beaten by your inane comments and fear-mongering… and that’s why he’s our; conservative. Tool. Of. The. Week.

Take ‘em as you will…

Right again...

Remember how I asked yesterday how long it would be after Romney dropped out for Limbaugh, Dobson and Coulter to endorse Huckabee?
Well, it took Dobson less than 24-hours…

The busybody founder for the organization-which-I-refuse-to-name has announced that he is endorsing former Gov. Mike Huckabee's White House bid…

Wow… I am shocked… I didn’t see that coming...

It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form.

Said Dobson;

“My decision comes in the wake of my statement on Super Tuesday that I could not vote for Sen. John McCain, even if he goes on to win the Republican nomination. […] That left two pro-family candidates whom I could support, but I was reluctant to choose between them. However, the decision by Gov. Mitt Romney to put his campaign ‘on hold’ changes the political landscape. The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Gov. Huckabee. His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others.”

You have to hand it to Dobson to be able to speak a lot of words without really saying anything, but let me see if I can translate it for you… ahem; I chose Huckabee because he’s a religious conservative like me who doesn’t believe people should use their own minds and should listen and follow the teachings of my church to the letter… so I’m gonna back him and his stem-cell hating, putting abortion back in alleys campaign…

Of course I’m paraphrasing… but you get the point.

One could argue that this endorsement is not really an endorsement for Huckabee as much as it is a slap at McCain and his so-called “un-conservative ways”, but despite that, it gives Huckabee something to hang his hat on in the primaries that lie ahead… and even though Dobson is avowing his endorsement is as a private citizen so he doesn’t violate his organization’s tax-exempt status, you can count on a horde of his followers taking that as their cue to put their money and approval on Huckabee.

Countdown to Limbaugh and Coulter endorsing Huckabee in five, four, three—

The Friday Presidential Race ‘BushWhack’ing

Quite a lot happened this week on the campaign trail so let’s get to it…

• Super Fat Tuesday was, well, Tuesday… and with 24 states voting, here’s what went down; Clinton won Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Obama won Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah… with New Mexico still too close to call. On the republican side: McCain won Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. Romney won Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Utah. Huckabee won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia.
• Democratic primaries tomorrow in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska while the republicans have Louisiana and Kansas.
• Romney dropped out and so the question is now; will Romney supporters flock to Huckabee? I think yes… so stay tuned. Oh, and his aides are saying the Mittster might run again in 2012. Personally, I think he's on the short list for McCain's VP as I think McCain's people are talking to Romney about being the VP choice in an attempt to get his supporters... at least that's what I would be doing...
• Despite saying time and again on the stump that passing the economic stimulus package was very important to him, McCain skipped the Senate vote on the package, so I guess it’s not AS important as he led people to believe. By the way, the measure fell short of ending the debate by ONE vote… I guess one person can make a difference, huh John?
• The gop “front-runner” (for the moment) Sen. McCain was booed when he spoke at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday… this came in a week that not only saw James “XX” Dobson criticize him, but Mary Matalin take a back-handed swipe at him (favoring the now-defunct Romney), Rush Limbaugh spending an entire program trashing him and XX. McCain is hurting among conservatives right now… and the question is if he can unite them before November…
• Despite some political “journalists” still talking about sex and race as being factors in the Democratic race, others are finally seeing what I’ve been shouting from the rooftops… this race isn’t, and SHOULD NOT BE, about that… the sex or race of a candidate should NOT come into play when deciding on your choice. Leave it to the issues… but I also know that no matter how many times I scream that, some people won’t be able to do it…
• Sen. Clinton loaned her campaign some money this week… Sen. Obama isn’t going to have to worry about that any time soon…
• This week’s delegate tally: Clinton has 1,033. Obama has 937 and Edwards has 26. McCain has 714. Romney has 286. Huckabee has 181 and Paul has 16.
• And have we mentioned? That more than a few pundits are saying the republicans are uniting behind McCain (bullshit) andthat Dems aren’t uniting at all? These pundits also say that that could be a problem if the nominating process drags out to the convention this summer. (I don’t buy that conservatives are uniting behind McCain, even with Romney dropping out. I explained why yesterday, and for more proof, watch video of McCain getting booed at CPAC yesterday. Until Huckabee – who vows to stay in until the last vote is counted - and to a lesser extent Paul, drops out, both races are up for grabs…)

Another one bites the dust

CNN is reporting that republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will suspend his campaign today following his poor primary & caucus showings earlier this week.

This race just got more interesting…

Since they don’t really trust Sen. McCain and question his conservative credentials, religious conservatives are going to flock to Huckabee. All the ‘clarity’ that conservative pundits were spouting off about after Tuesday is out the window in my opinion… with the numbers Romney was drawing on Tues, if they flock to Huckabee, as I think they will, the races will be that much tighter and McCain’s frontrunner status may be short lived.

Another thing to consider is this; how long until Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and James Dobson (after writing all those names I need a shower) announce they’re endorsing Huckabee? Okay, maybe not a strict and proper endorsement, but more of what they have been doing; attacking/questioning McCain’s conservative credentials and offer back-handed support to Huckabee.

As always, stay tuned…

UPDATE: Rather than admit he screwed up and was a major flip-flopper, Mitt Romney took advantage of everyone listening to him (as it WILL be the last time anyone care's what he says) and criticized Senators Obama and Clinton during his speech of retreat, claiming that an electoral victory by either of them would mean “attacks on America. [...] About this, I have no doubt."

What a tool. Stay classy Mitt...

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

One more day to Friday… more primaries are looming…

• Sen. Clinton’s campaign is starting to show some signs of financial strain. First we get word that she had to loan her campaign $5 million of her own money, then we get word that some of her campaign staff are working for no pay… this happened to Rudy Giuliani weeks ago, and we all know what happened to his campaign. (This could be big trouble for the Clinton camp… Obama is alluring to the younger crowd who may not be able to offer HUGE amounts of money, but they are willing to give what they can afford, and that can add up. Plus, he does have a few wealthy donors, so he has a nice combination… Clinton has been relying solely on wealthy, older voters and it seems that she may be hitting a wall so to speak… this is something you definitely want to keep an eye on as the campaign continues…)
• John McCain, the gop front-runner, is desperately trying to appeal to the conservative base… which is not a good idea for him as it usually backfires. Stay tuned…
• The photos that got Julie Myers, then-acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in hot water back in October have been released publicly…
• Clinton/Obama? Obama/Clinton? It could happen…
• Apparently the Bush(whacked) Administration isn’t just interested in destroying the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge but also in marring the beauty of the Grand Canyon as the U.S. Forest Service has approved a permit to allow a British mining company to “explore for uranium” near the Grand Canyon. (First of all – like in ANWR – it’s NOT exploring, it’s drilling. Second of all, why? In Alaska they are looking for oil so the US is not beholding to OPEC countries… but why drill for uranium in the Grand Canyon? Is there a uranium shortage I’m not aware of?)
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r-CT) will be disqualified as a superdelegate at the Democratic convention? It’s true… Lieberman is being punished (for lack of a better word) for endorsing Sen. McCain for president and the DNC is using the ‘Zell Miller Rule’ to take away his status. (For those of you, like me, had forgotten, back in 2004, Miller, then a Democratic senator from Georgia, attacked Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in a speech at the Republican National Convention, so the DNC created a rule that disqualifies any Democrat who crosses the aisle from being a super delegate… to Joe I say; HAH!)

Don't mess with Helen

She’s one of the elder stateswomen of the White House press corps, having covered every president since JFK… and the Bush White House has, since day one, treated her like crap because she asks questions…

Now she’s mad as hell and isn’t going to take it anymore.

Yesterday at a speech in North Carolina, Helen Thomas sharply criticized “President” Bush and his administration, calling it “one of the most secretive in history” and adding that “this man has forgotten the poor and the sick. […] “We are hated around the world.”

You’re preaching to the choir Ms. Thomas… I, along with thousands of others, have been saying that for some time. And only now, with less than a year until his reign is over, are others FINALLY starting to see the light.

Our standing in the world has taken drastic hits since Bush was "elected" - a term I use loosely - and the next president, Democrat or [shudder] republican, will have a long road ahead of him/her to get us back to the place we were before Bush and his cronies came in and destroyed the place.

Ms. Thomas, you represent true journalists and journalism, which unfortunately is a very rare commodity in today’s media as most of your “peers” are simply stenographers and sycophants that write down what the Bush(whacked) Administration says…

We need, above all, credible journalists like you in order to keep the populace that wishes to be informed, informed.

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

The morning after… and I’m sore…

• Super Fat Tuesday was yesterday… here’s a rundown of who won what: Clinton won Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Obama won Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah… with New Mexico still too close to call. On the republican side: McCain won Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. Romney won Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Utah. Huckabee won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia. What does all this mean? That neither side has a true front-runner. Yes, McCain has more delegates, but with Romney and Huckabee winning some states, it shows that McCain is not loved by all on the right. And the Democrats? Well, we have two strong candidates, but somewhere down the line one of them will emerge as the front-runner we need. Stay tuned as the Dems have seven more primaries fast approaching…
• A Senate showdown on the economic stimulus package, which the media seems to have forgotten about since it was announced with much fanfare days ago, is looming. Here’s an idea – STFU and get it done…
• Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said yesterday that “Al Qaeda is gaining in strength from its refuge in Pakistan and is steadily improving its ability to recruit, train and position operatives capable of carrying out attacks inside the United States.” (What more needs to be said? Al-Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attacks… and Bush and his cronies started going after them in Afghanistan, got them on the run, then promptly changed course and invaded Iraq while ignoring the true group that carried out the attacks of 9/11, and now they’re gaining in strength and numbers. Way to go Bush… ya dumbass)
• Like he’s done with so many other things, (clean coal energy), Bush is cutting funding to something he boasted about in the SOTU. This time the victim is the Millennium Challenge Account, a program designed to not only widen our fight against AIDS but to also aid democracy in developing nations. (What. A. Tool. Is the man truly that simple and addle-minded that he doesn’t think people will notice that he crowed about the achievements and future of a program that he then cuts down to size with his budget?? The man clearly lives in his own little world and doesn’t care about anything but himself… January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough…
• Bush is also screwing public broadcasters with their pants on with a budget that “cut(s) in half the $400 million allocated in advance by Congress for fiscal year 2009 and cut $220 million from the $420 million already planned for 2010... nice job again Georgie boy…
• And have we mentioned? That the Iraq war is endangering the country? Sure we already had an idea that it was, but now we have someone who knows about these types of things agreeing with us… and it’s someone in Bush’s administration. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, said in prepared testimony yesterday that “U.S. forces are ’significantly stressed’ by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan” and that the “pace of ongoing operations impacts our ability to be ready to counter future threats.” (Lovely… an unjust war that, on the surface, doesn’t seem to have us safer is actually putting us more at risk. But then again this isn’t a total surprise, is it?)

Spinning something that can't be spun... again

Yesterday I posted about how, in the eyes of the Bush(whacked) Administration, that an up-tick in violence in Afghanistan was a good thing… and this administration's knack of spinning bad things as good. They’re doing it again...

This time it’s healthcare.

Back in 2000, the WHO ranked the US 37th in health care out of 191 countries… not soon after, “President” Bush said; “we have fabulous health care.” All fine and good, but when millions of your citizens aren’t covered, something’s amiss… and it’s not fabulous.

Fast-forward to this week and OMB Director Jim Nussle echoing Bush’s inaccurate claim while explaining Bush’s new (historical – and not in a good way) budget... that US healthcare is the “best,” saying;

“So beneficiaries, I don’t think, will see the differences. … We have the best health care in the world. And our seniors especially get great health care. And that will not be affected by this small drop in percentage increases over the next five years.”

He apparently wants all of us to ignore the $200 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts over the next five years, which will make the dismal state of U.S. health care even worse… yes, that’s possible. Scary, but possible…

The way that Bush’s budget cuts Medicaid, by $18.2 billion over five years, essentially shifts costs to the states and thus will force the states to institute even bigger program cuts or tax increases to cover the expenses. So who gets screwed in the end? Well, it’s the Bush(whacked) Administration… so naturally it will be the little guy… and senior citizens, and in turn the people that care for them.

Nussle wasn’t done spinning as he continued by saying that Medicare “access and quality should not suffer at all.”

Uh-huh… why do I not believe that? And I’m not the only one, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) also disagrees, strongly;

“Many of the proposed cuts go well beyond the reductions that MedPAC, Congress’ expert advisory commission on Medicare payments, recommended and considers safe. […] These reductions could drive some health care providers to limit the number of Medicare patients they see or drop out of the program entirely. That, in turn, would jeopardize health care for significant numbers of people who are elderly or have serious disabilities.”

Remember that a majority of Medicare savings would be achieved by reducing the annual update in federal payments to hospitals, many of which service large numbers of the uninsured… thus creating an incredibly large lack of funds to help the uninsured…

Bush is a lame duck and it’s high time Congress starts treating him like one. They need to get it through his thick skull that he’s screwed up big time and that he needs to stop doing stupid things before he pushes the populace even further into an economic pit of darkness… the likes of which this country has not seen in a very long time.

As if his legacy is not battered enough and rife with both moral and fiscal irresponsibility, he has to pull something like this in the last act of what is a very sad presidency… and an even sadder time in the history of the United States.

Well?

Have you voted yet? What? Why not?

Think about it... do you want THIS MAN to win it all?

Didn't think so... so get off your ass and go vote...

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

It’s Super Fat Tuesday… as Scott and I have reminded you a couple of times today; get off your ass and go vote…

• Who will win Super Fat Tuesday? Obama? Clinton? The Democrats are in a statistical dead heat across the country… McCain? Romney? Huckabee? Stay tuned…
• Voters in 24 states head to the polls today in what is now the “biggest primary day in U.S. history” with 1,681 Democratic delegates at stake… but with the Democrat’s use of proportional representation it’s unlikely, unless there’s a rout, that a front-runner will emerge when all is said and done…
• If you’re one of those politicos that likes to stay up late and watch the results filter in, you may be up for a late night. Polls don’t close in California until 8 pm, which means folks in the Midwest and East Coast will have to stay up until 10 or 11 p.m. just to see some results… (It’s Fat Tuesday, so drink a LOT of coffee and eat a lot and you’ll be fine…)
• We all know that “President” submitted his historical (and not in a good way) budget yesterday, and as more experts peruse it, we’re starting to get more of an idea that he cares about nothing but Iraq. Case in point, his budget would slash funding for the EPA by “$330 million from fiscal 2008 to $7.1 billion.” The budget proposal also calls for an “overall decrease of almost $600 million from EPA spending” in 2007 along with the elimination of five EPA programs… (Not a surprise… Bush has long had a disdain for the environment, and I am sure the feeling is mutual… but to destruct it his much is overkill, even for him…)
• Bob Dole aint’ happy with Rush Limbaugh… and to express his ire, Dole sent a letter to Rush Limbaugh defending, but not endorsing, John McCain, whom Limbaugh has been slamming McCain for a few days now saying he’s not conservative enough to be the gop nominee. Having apparently heard enough, Dole sent off the letter in which he compares McCain's Senate record to former Sen. Jesse Helms… which I, personally, don’t see… but I, personally, love seeing conservatives argue amongst themselves, it can only help us in November… so keep it up Rush…
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. Clinton cried again… the day before a HUGE primary… though I’m sure it was just mere coincidence…

VOTE !

No excuses, I already did this morning on my way to work.

So what are you waiting for????

REMINDER!

If you live in one of the plethora of states holding a primary today, remember, regardless of political affiliation, to get out and

VOTE!!

A Super (Fat) Tuesday Primer: The other side

As we get closer and closer to Super Fat Tuesday, I thought it might be beneficial to go through some of the more hot-button issues and where Senator McCain and former Governors Romney and Huckabee stand on each. Yes, NO Ron Paul… this is a Ron Paul-free zone…

Iraq
McCain: voted to authorize the war but was a critic of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's prosecution of the war and wanted to send more troops over there before Bush was told that’s what he wanted to do… also opposes any pullout timetable and can see us being over there for at least 100 years…

Romney: supported the invasion of Iraq and the prosecution of the war, including last year's “surge.” Has not advocated a timetable for withdrawal in public, lest he upset his base, but supposedly he has said in private he would like to have U.S. and Iraqi talks “timetables and milestones”… which should instantly endear him to his base… yes, that was sarcasm again…

Huckabee: says it’s all Bush’s fault that the US didn’t send enough troops to Iraq in the first place… also supported the surge (I know, you’re shocked) and doesn’t offer a timetable of any kind and would rely on commanders' recommendations on when to start withdrawing our troops… in other words, be another Dubya…

Health care
McCain: supports purchase of health insurance across state lines while giving a tax credit to increase incentives for insurance coverage.

Romney: supports individual state-by-state health care reform while opposes universal health care… he is a republican after all, this shouldn’t surprise you…

Huckabee: opposes universal health care as well…and doesn’t have any other thoughts about it… so there ya go…

Taxes
McCain: even though he voted against them initially, he now supports Bush’s tax cuts and wants to make them permanent.

Romney: also supports making Bush tax cuts permanent while lowering tax rates for all individuals…

Huckabee: supports replacing current income tax system with a flat tax or national sales tax system… which most economists agree would (further) fuck up the economy…

Energy
McCain: supports immediate reduction in greenhouse gases and a ban on drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Wait, what?)

Romney: supports research to identify cleaner and more efficient sources of energy (Wait, what?). Global Warming? Not so much…

Huckabee: wants a federal research and development budget that will be matched by the private sector to seek new products in alternative fuels (interesting… I mean, wait, what?)

Trade
McCain: opposes protectionism and says free trade is a way to open “closed societies” in the Middle East.

Romney: wants to renegotiate trade.

Huckabee: blames weak U.S. regulatory action for trade imbalance and imports of unsafe products from China... I would make a smart-ass comment about that, but I don't want to get in trouble...

Abortion
McCain: says Roe vs. Wade ruling should be overturned, with states allowed to make own laws on abortion (which hurts him regarding his base, but he attempts to appease them by saying that he hopes leaving it up to states would lead to the end of the procedure... (Riiiiiiiiiiiiight…)

Romney: opposes a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and, like McCain, wants to let states decide the issue.

Huckabee: he’s a preacher, do I really need to spell it out for you? Sigh… okay, he favors a constitutional amendment to totally ban abortion and says his opponents ideas of allowing states to decide is similar to the “logic of the Civil War,” when some states were free states and others were slave states… (Uh-huh… Huckabee thought this would be enough to propel him to victory, so far it’s only worked once)

Economy
McCain: proposes to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Would allow first-year deduction, or "expensing," of investments in equipment and technology.

Romney: wants to introduce a long-term strategy of cutting the capital gains tax to zero and making the Bush tax cuts permanent. He's waiting to unveil his short-term economic stimulus plan soon... if he waits too long, it's liable to not matter...

Huckabee: favors a "pro-growth, low-inflation policy" by the Federal Reserve and wants to preserve, and expand in ways I couldn't imagine, the Bush tax cuts... oh, he also wants to abolish the IRS and institute a national sales tax.

Education
McCain: likes parental choice of schools and school vouchers for private schools when approved by local officials. Also believes in the right of parents to choose home-schooling.

Romney: likes federal requirements for standardized tests, praises No Child Left Behind law, supports "school choice, better pay for better teachers, high standards, scholarships for the best kids." (Who does he sound like there.... oh yeah; Dubya... one more reason to NOT vote for him...)

Huckabee: thinks that states, and not DC, should be responsible for education and thus given more authority overseeing it. But he also believes that every student should take music and art courses... something that isn't very conservativey of him... (it's a word if I use it)

Immigration
McCain: supports a guest worker program but also wants to increase border security and the construction of the Berlin Wall border fence…

Romney: opposes any kind of amnesty for illegal immigrants and supports increasing border security.

Huckabee: also wants to increase border security and the construction of the Berlin Wall border fence…

Gay marriage
McCain: opposes gay marriage and maintains that states should control marriage laws.

Romney: wants a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Huckabee: again, he’s a preacher, do I really need to spell it out for you? Sigh… okay… he opposes gay marriage.

All I have… yes, this was filled with snark, but what do you expect; I’m a Liberal…

Regardless of political affiliation, remember… VOTE TOMORROW! It’s not only your birthright, it’s a moral imperative…

A Super (Fat) Tuesday Primer: The Democrats

As we get closer and closer to Super Fat Tuesday, I thought it might be beneficial to go through some of the more hot-button issues and where Senators Clinton and Obama stand on each… if you want information about the republican candidates, hold tight, I’ll be spreading that manure information out soon… then again...

Iraq
Clinton: Voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq but says she wouldn't have done so if she knew then what she knows now (Uh-huh… sure, Ms. Clinton did oppose the surge, but she was in presidential candidate mode at that time… so take it as you will). Her future plans for Iraq would be to order military leaders to develop a plan that would start bringing U.S. troops home within the first 60 days of her administration, though she hasn’t committed to a withdrawal timetable and says some troops will have to remain in the country.

Obama: Opposed the war from the start along with opposing the surge. Vows that as president he would immediately begin to remove U.S. troops, bringing one or two combat brigades home per month until all troops are out of Iraq within 16 months. Like Clinton Mr. Obama would keep some troops in Iraq, primarily to protect U.S. diplomats and to fight terrorism.

Health care
Clinton: Ms. Clinton’s pet issue since she was First Lady… her plan now is somewhat similar to the one she tried to push through in the 90’s, but now favors keeping existing coverage or allow people to have access to the same private insurance options that Congress has.

Obama: wants to create a new national health plan that would allow individuals without access to affordable insurance coverage to buy coverage similar to that available to members of Congress… (wait? Isn’t that like Ms. Clinton’s?)

Taxes
Clinton: supports permanently ending marriage penalty, extending the lower-income tax rates and providing a deduction for college tuition.

Obama: wants to increase the number of working parents eligible for Earned Income Tax Credits while increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments. Unlike Clinton, Mr. Obama only wants to reduce the marriage penalty and not totally abolish it.

Energy
Clinton: Supports a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund (paid for in part by Bush’s friends, I mean oil companies) to fund investments in various forms of alternative energy.

Obama: Supports implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists.

Trade
Clinton: Seeks to reopen NAFTA in order to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards.

Obama: Also seeks to reopen NAFTA to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards…

Abortion
Clinton: Supports abortion rights, but adds that “pro-choice” doesn’t necessarily mean “pro-abortion.”

Obama: Supports abortion rights and urges efforts to reduce teen pregnancy.

Economy
Clinton: Proposes economic stimulus package up to $110 billion, including $40 billion in tax rebates, a $30 billion fund to help states and cities deal with housing foreclosures, a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and a five-year interest-rate freeze on sub-prime mortgages.

Obama: Wants to use $75 billion in tax cuts and direct spending to stimulate the economy while providing an immediate $250 tax cut to workers and their families, along with an immediate, temporary $250 bonus to seniors in their Social Security checks.

Education
Clinton: Wants Pre-Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds. She also opposes performance-based merit pay for teachers, yet favors incentives for teachers in high-need places and subjects. Originally supported No Child Left Behind but now says it has not been properly financed or run.

Obama: Would encourage, but not require, universal Pre-Kindergarten while rewarding teachers with higher salaries that wouldn’t be tied to standardized test scores. Wants to amend NCLB… but then again, who doesn’t…

Immigration
Clinton: Supports the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Minors), which aims to provide a path to citizenship through military service or higher education.

Obama: Supports new employment eligibility verification system and the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure fair immigration application fees.

Gay marriage
Clinton: Opposes same-sex marriage, favors civil unions while saying it's a state issue.

Obama: Also opposes same-sex marriage and supports civil unions.

Hope this gives you some idea… if you want more information, I suggest you visit each candidates website

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): www.barackobama.com

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY): www.hillaryclinton.com

And remember… VOTE TOMORROW! It’s not only your birthright, it’s a moral imperative…