Remind Me Again

Yes! Remind me again...why we allow Americans to be killed in Afghanistan.  Why are we STILL there?  After all, they are getting millions of dollars from Iran.  Both Karzai and Iran confirm it.  What do they need us for?

Oh, know what else he says?

Karzai said Monday he receives millions of dollars in cash from Iran, adding that Washington gives him "bags of money" too because his office lacks funds.

I guess they need our money too.  But the lives of our people.  Why do they need that too?

Hey!  I lack some money too.  How about sending one of those bags my way?

Willful Ignorance

This video is what every Teabagger campaign ad REALLY says.  It covers most republicans too.  Is this really the kind of people you want running YOUR government?



H/T to Libertas and Latte via a comment at RealityZone

The Public Doesn't Know S**t

Great article by Dave Johnson.


It is amazing that these eight items that the public doesn't know are republican talking points.  The spread of mis-information is alive and well.  Here they are:

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first reduced that to $1.29 trillion. 2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.
3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.
4) The stimulus didn't work.
Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.
5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.
6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.
7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.
8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

Know the facts before you vote, or suffer the consequences after you vote.

I Am Now Officially Impressed ...

...by my dog.  Here she is.

I was upstairs in my office.  Mrs. Critter was in the living room.  She wanted me for something so she told Nikki to go and get me.  Nikki came up stairs, stood at my office door, and barked.  I thought she wanted to go outside.  I said, "Do you want to go outside?"  She turned around and went down the stairs.  I followed.  However, instead of going to the door to go into the backyard, she went into the living room.

I started giving Nikki a hard time about going to the living room instead of the back door at which point Mrs. Critter piped up and said, "That is because I told her to go and get you".

I'm impressed!

You Might Be A Republican If...

You have got to check out this list of reasons you might be a republican over at Cosmic Navel Lint.  It is not to be missed.

Where Is Heaven?

Maybe heaven is created by the mind of others.  We live in heaven through the remembrances and dreams of our loved ones. 

Ten Pennies Versus Two Dollars And Fifty-five Cents

Why does on pill cost $0.10 and the other cost $2.55?

Mrs. Critter has been taking a medication for high blood pressure and chest pains.  It cost about $2.55 per pill.  She takes one pill per day.  We get 90 pills at a time, a 3 month supply.  We have been buying the brand name drug.  She prefers that over the generic brand.

It is time for another 90 pills.  I decided to check with our pharmacy to see what it would cost if we switched to the generic.  They told me it would cost a little less than $9.00 for 90 pills. 

WTF?!?

I said, "Are you sure"?  They said "Yes".  I said, "You are telling me my choices are paying $230 or paying $9"?  They said, "Yes".

I find this price difference mind-boggling.  How can one pharmaceutical company charge $230 and another one charge $9 for the same drug?  I don't care what their "research and development" costs are.  Hell, most of it was probably funded by the government anyway.  The pharmaceutical companies are spending all their money annoying me in the evening with drug commercials, but that is a whole other rant!

I will let you  guess which one I bought today.

Witches, Homophobes, And Playacting Nazis -- Welcome To The Tea Party

Last night Keith Olbermann did a segment with Eugene Robinson from the Washington Post about the candidate running in Ohio's ninth congressional district, Rich Iott, a weekend Nazi reenactor.

Olberman asked, "[At] any other time in our history, wouldn't the press, left, right, and middle, just for the sake of the story, be screaming for the rooftops, hey, look, alot of crazy people running for office?"

Here is Robinson's answer.



I love his first line.

"You've got a witch,...a raging homophobe,...a guy who dresses up like a nazi for fun..."

There's the Tea Party for you.  And people seriously want these wackos running the country?

Teabagging Dummies

This video covers the teabaggers' political positions perfectly and does it with great humor.  After all, what is funnier than teabaggers explaining their beliefs. 



Thanks to Tim over at Scared Stiff for this video that I stole from him.

We Don't Need No Stinking Government Services

Here is what Teabagger (republican) rule will get you.  What you didn't pay?  Well, tough shit!  Got any marshmallows?

Turn Raising Sea Levels Into Business Opportunities

No wonder republicans are denying climate change.  They want to use it to make money.  Here is their plan for New York.

Why Are We Arguing Over Tax Cuts For The Rich?

Let's get our priorities straight.  So says the Center For American Progress in this article.

There is agreement between Democrats and republicans that the Bush tax cuts should be extended to the poor and middle class, essentially everyone earning $250,000 per year.  That covers 98% of the American people.  The Democrats and republicans AGREE (will wonders never cease!) on tax policy for 98% of the people.  Yet republicans are willing to let the republican Bush tax cuts expire and result in a republican tax increase for everyone if the cuts are not extended for the top 2% also.

Let's see who has been hurt by the recent recession.  Here is a figure from the above referenced article.

Well, look at that!  The top 1/5 of people were hurt the least in 2007 - 2008 and have recovered the most in 200-2009.  In fact, their income is going up again, while everyone else's is still declining.

So here is what we are arguing about -- extending tax cuts for people who have already recovered from the negative effects of the recession.  We are arguing about tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of the population.  These are people earning over $250,000 per year.

Extending tax cuts to these people will cost ALL of us about $800,000,000,000 (800 billion) dollars over 10 years.  Eighty percent of that benefit ($640,000,000,000) will go to people earning over $1,000,000 per year and their average tax cut will be more than $100,000. That’s almost twice what the median American household makes in a year. 

Where is the sense in that?  We are arguing about going almost 1 TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT in order to give people who have already recovered from the recession more money.

How much money is that?  It is the cost of the healthcare bill over 10 years.  And healthcare is paid for.  That was a big issue.  This is a giveaway to people who do not need it.  It is NOT paid for.  They will get it only because they are rich and powerful.

Which Is It?

The republicans say they will reduce the size of government and the size of the deficit.  Yet, republicans are responsible for the majority of the debt and the majority of the government growth.  That means that either:

• The republicans are lying.
• The republicans are inept at governing.

Take you pick.  Either way, lying or inept, do you really want them in power again?