Putting the G for Greed in GOP

Remember when John Boehner and the Republicans PROMISED Jobs Jobs Jobs would be their first and only priority?

Remember when the only legislation they passed was anti-abortion crap? The right is out of touch with Americans. They don't represent us. They don't give a damn about us, they are the party of special interests and intrusive government, not effective government.

Priorities?

What does the spleen do? (Love this!)

Dec. 10, 1869, in the Wyoming territory, the first American extension of suffrage to women in the United States

Conservative Elephants sure have short memories. Or maybe they are just hypocrites. Or both?

St. Ronnie Ray-gun, glad-handing Taliban terrorists.



John McCain BOWING, and shaking hands with Gadaffi, who was termed the Mad Dog of the Middle East by Reagan, and who was party to the 1986 Berlin Discotheque bombing that killed two American soldiers were killed and 79 injured (out of the total three dead and 230 injured).  In 1988, Libya under Gadaffi was also responsible for the Pan Am flight 103 terrorist attack aka the Lockerbie bombing, that killed 243 passengers and 16 crew.  Of those who died, 178 of the passengers were from the United States, and 11 of the crew.

So, just maybe, John McCain should shut up and sit down; he is in no position to criticize.



Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam.



Ronnie again, not shaking hands, just illegally hooking up and selling guns to the Ayatollah, to raise money for OTHER terrorists, this time in Central America.  Selling guns to a bad guy is worse than shaking hands with one.

John Kline, Obamacare and Bah! Hum bug!

John Kline, below right ,
and as his
Dickensian alter ego,
Ebeneezer Scrooge
(actually actor
Reginald Owen
as Scrooge)

Verklempt, too choked up/cramped up in the throat, with emotion, to speak; a good yiddish word to describe Congressman Kline's mute response to the growing success of Obamacare.  The opposite of schadenfreude, joy in the failure of someone - or something.

I have to own a little schadenfreude that the radical right and the weekly sheep-like establishment GOP are experiencing such obvious distress over the success of Obamacare, nationally and at the state level.  Both parties are substantially pinning their political hopes on either the success or falure of Obamacare for the 2014 and 2016 election cycle.  Success for Obamacare is not good for the right, the party of no progress, no hope, no change, and no dollars either, unless you are a special interest or the 1% (which, I suppose, is redundant).



Kline doesn't get verklempt over people being sick who are unable to get health care. Kline doesn't get verklempt over people dying in the United States from lack of health care. Kline doesn't get verklempt over children going without health care. Kline doesn't get verklempt over people having to file bankruptcy because of having junk insurance, insurance with caps, insurance with excessive deductibles, insurance that denies coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Kline doesn't get verklempt over people in some areas, due to lack of health insurance, literally dying 20 years SOONER than someone affluent.

But let Obamacare succeed, and Kline goes mute - and not due to any medical condition like laryngitis. When it comes to top quality medical care and the best possible insurance, Kline has his, and the hell with the rest of the American people.

Kline and his fellow Conservatives are verklempt, because Obamacare is doing well, because that is bad news for him and his political tribe of savages, skinflints and scrooges.

As noted by Americans United for Change.org :

Kline, Fellow Republicans Cried Crocodile Tears Over Health Law’s Rocky Enrollment Rollout Despite Voting Nearly 50 Times to Sabotage the Law … But They’re Always M.I.A. When Faced With News of Americans Benefiting

Washington D.C. – Republicans in Congress knew the risks they ran of rooting for the Affordable Care Act to fail since day one: that they would look like schmucks when it works.  That did not stop from Congressman John Kline (MN-02) and fellow Republicans from crowing over early Healthcare.gov website glitches and problems Americans had getting connected with plans on the insurance exchanges that fit their budgets. That did not stop them from holding hearings to vent phony ‘concerns’ with the growing pains of a law that they voted over 40 times to undermine, scrap, and defund without offering any replacement aside from making legal again the worst insurance company practices that bankrupted families for decades. And so it is not surprising that the same crowd sticks their heads in the sand every time good news about Americans benefiting from the law emerges, like this:   

• New York Times, Dec. 10: Health Care Exchange Is Vastly Improved, Users Say : For the most part, though, the news for the beleaguered online exchange, which serves 36 states, is improving. Since early December, the federal exchange website has run without crashing, officials said. In the first week of December, about 112,000 people selected plans — compared with about 100,000 in all of November and only 27,000 in October. Last week, more than half a million people created accounts on the federal website, according to people familiar with the health care project.   

• Reuters, Dec. 11: Obamacare health enrollment doubled in November: report
   
• New York Times, Dec. 9: ‘Amid the Uproar Over the Health Law, Voices of Quiet Optimism and Relief’ : More than 243,000 have signed up for private coverage through the exchanges, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and more than 567,000 have been determined eligible for Medicaid since the exchanges opened on Oct. 1. For many, particularly people with existing medical conditions like Mr. Acosta, the coverage is proving less expensive than what they had. Many others are getting health insurance for the first time in years, giving them alternatives to seeking care through free clinics or emergency rooms — or putting it off indefinitely.

Of course, tens of millions of Americans have been benefitting from the Affordable Care Act’s new benefits and consumer protections for some time now, but you’d never know it listening to Republicans like John Kline.  Here’s the Top 5 Benefits of the ACA that John Kline would undo today if he could:

1)      71 Million Americans Enjoying New Preventative Care: The ACA requires most private insurance plans to provide coverage for and eliminate cost-sharing on certain recommended preventive health services. As a result, approximately 71 million Americans with private insurance received expanded coverage of one or more preventive services in 2011 and 2012, according to analysis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The health care law also puts women in control of their health care decisions by requiring insurance plans to cover contraception at no additional cost.  Individuals with Medicare also now have access to free, recommended preventive services such as an annual wellness visit, bone mass measurements, cervical cancer screening, cholesterol and other cardiovascular screenings, and mammograms. See the full list of services here.  About 34 million Americans on Medicare have already received at least one preventive service at no out of pocket cost because of the health care law.

2)      Pre-Existing Conditions No Longer a Deal Breaker for 129 Million Americans.  If Republicans had their way and we went back to the way things were before the ACA, up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions could be denied health coverage or charged higher premiums just because of their health status when they shop in the individual market. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, in the vast majority of States, insurance companies in the individual and small group markets could deny coverage, charge higher premiums, and/or limit benefits to individuals based on pre-existing conditions like heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes or high blood pressure. In 2010, thanks to the health care law, up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health coverage or charged higher premiums because of their health. This critical, often save-saving protection extends to adults beginning in January 2014.

3)      Enhanced Mental Health Services: Because of the health care law, for the first time insurance companies in the individual and small group market are required to cover mental health and substance use disorder services as one of ten categories of essential health benefits. Altogether, the Affordable Care Act expands mental health and substance use disorder benefits and parity protections for approximately 60 million Americans.  The health care law also requires most health plans to cover recommended preventive services like depression screenings for adults and behavioral assessments for children at no cost to consumers. Approximately one in five adults experiences a mental illness in any given year, and young people are affected at a similar rate. While most mental illnesses are treatable, those with mental illness often struggle to get needed treatment if they do not have health insurance that covers mental health services.

4)      Better Prescription Drug Benefits: The ACA helps make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors by closing the Medicare prescription drug "donut" hole. Thanks to the law, more than 6.6 million people with Medicare have saved over $7 billion on prescription drugs, an average of $1,061. The ACA also limits out-of-pocket spending to $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family in 2014. That means you won't have to pay more than that amount even if you have expensive prescriptions.

5)      Slowing Healthcare Costs: Consumers have saved $5 billion over the past two years due to a new requirement that insurance companies have to spend at least 80% of premium dollars on care for patients (at least 85% for large group insurers). If they don’t, they must send consumers a rebate. In 2013, 8.5 million enrollees will receive a total of $500 million in rebates (average of $100 per family).  Insurance companies must submit premium increases of 10% or more for review by experts. In 2012, 6.8 million Americans received an estimated $1.2 billion on health insurance premiums after their insurers cut back on planned increases as a result of this process. Health care price inflation is at its lowest level in 50 years, and, according to the most recent projections, health care spending grew at the slowest rate on record over the last three years. The Affordable Care Act is contributing to this progress through provisions that reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. 

Update on Craig Cobb and Court

Looks like Craig Cobb is not cooperative with his appointed attorneys.  This is surprising, given that he has asserted in the past that he was going to represent himself; apparently he changed his mind.  Those attorneys who are appointed to defend him have quit.  His new court date is January 13th.  In the interim, he appears to be remaining in custody in the nearest mental hospital, which seems appropriate, given his nutso hateful beliefs.

From WDAY, Fargo:

Craig Cobb's court hearing delayed

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A court hearing for a white supremacist who allegedly terrorized residents of a small North Dakota town he's trying to turn into an Aryan enclave has been rescheduled.
Court documents show that Craig Cobb's preliminary hearing set for Monday has been rescheduled to Jan. 13 because his court-appointed public defender has withdrawn from the case.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that it is the third time an appointed public defender has asked to withdraw. A new attorney must now be appointed for Cobb.
Cobb is at the state hospital in Jamestown, where he was taken late last month after starving himself in jail in what he said was an effort to seek spiritual enlightenment.
The 62-year-old Cobb and another man are accused of terrorizing residents of Leith with guns Nov. 16.

Conservatives believe false, stupid things

GOP = Hypocrites who want to go back to the bad old days of the Cold War

Except they're still birthers

Havana called it a 'gesture of hope'; a few in the U.S. noted it was a gesture consistent with and honoring the message of Nelson Mandela of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Like Charity and caring for the poor, love thy neighbor is one of those parts of Christianity and Christian values the Christian right chooses to ignore and even to vilify.



via Facebook and google, from AFP:

Obama shakes hands with Cuba's Castro at Mandela memorial

By Stephen Collinson (AFP) – 18 hours ago 

Soweto (South Africa) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday shook hands with Raul Castro, leader of America's Cold War foe Cuba, in a rare gesture at the memorial service in South Africa for Nelson Mandela.
Obama offered the handshake before taking the stage to eulogise Mandela, but minutes later, made a clear swipe at states like Cuba, saying those who proclaim Mandela's legacy must honour its meaning by easing curbs on freedom.
The handshake between Obama and the brother who took over the duties of longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was seen by millions around the world on live television. A White House official said it was not "pre-planned".
The Cuban government hailed it as a hopeful sign, writing on its website: "May this... be the beginning of the end of the US aggressions."
But it remained unclear whether the gesture would presage a meaningful thaw in relations across the shark-infested waters off Cuba.
It comes as Obama seeks to live up to his campaign promise made in 2007 to reach out directly to US enemies as president -- and after he spoke by phone to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September.
The United States maintains a five-decades-old embargo against the communist island nation, which Havana says has cost the economy $1.1 trillion and have only limited ties owing to the iron-fisted rule of the Castros.
Obama quickly faced some domestic backlash from his gesture, as Cuba is a fiercely divisive issue in US politics.
"It gives Raul some propaganda, to continue to prop up his dictatorial, brutal regime," Republican Senator John McCain told reporters in Washington.
"Why should you shake hands with somebody who is keeping Americans in prison?"
Vehemently anti-Castro Cuban-Americans make up a sizable portion of voters and political donors in Florida, a battleground state where US presidential elections can be won or lost.
Obama's clear jab at states like Cuba, which claim kinship with Mandela but do not follow the example of a man who forgave his enemies and built a pluralistic state, may have been intended to insulate him from some domestic criticism.
"There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people," Obama said, stabbing his finger in the air in the rain-sodden stadium hosting the event.
A White House official said the handshake was not a "pre-planned encounter", emphasising that "today is about honouring Nelson Mandela, and that was the president's singular focus at the memorial service."
As a presidential candidate, Obama was pilloried as naive and dangerous by rivals from both parties for suggesting that as president he would be willing to talk to foes without preconditions.
As he ran for re-election, Obama's success in tracking down and killing Osama bin Laden and a fearsome drone war largely insulated him from allegations of weakness in foreign and security policy.
But the interim nuclear deal between US and world powers reached last month and his decision to call off 11th-hour military strikes on Syria over the use of chemical weapons have revived opposition attacks over his foreign policy spine.
It was unclear whether Tuesday's gesture would significantly thaw relations. In 2000, then president Bill Clinton shook the hand of Fidel Castro at the UN General Assembly in New York.
There was no picture of the moment and the White House initially denied it had occurred.
Havana and Washington have not had diplomatic relations since 1961, two years after Fidel Castro came to power in the Cuban revolution.
Tensions have eased since Obama took office, with both countries reaching a series of agreements seen as confidence-building measures including cooperation on air and maritime rescue and migration issues.
In 2011 Obama eased restrictions on visas, remittances and travel.
The move was designed to expand religious and educational travel, allow any airport to offer charter flights to the country and restore cultural initiatives suspended by the previous Bush administration.

Talks are under way to resume a direct postal service between the two countries.

Meanwhile, emphasis on the 'mean', Sen. Cruz disgraced this country while representing it in a foreign country, and demonstrated his determination to undermine American diplomacy, in favor of a return to the bad old days of the cold war.  Like all good conservatives, Cruz believes that taking accountability and behaving humanely, are all virtues that everyone else BUT conservatives should be required to do. 

There is no greater hypocrisy than to complain to Raul Castro about the lengthy imprisonment of innocent people and torturing people while we do exactly the same thing - in CUBA - at Gitmo.  This only goes to underline why Senator Cruz should not be in the Congress, and why so long as the radical right hijacks the GOP, we should not have a Republican president for a long time to come.  Least of all should that person be the hypocrite-in-chief, Ted Cruz.

from CNN 

Sen. Cruz walks out on Castro speech at Mandela memorial
(CNN) - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, part of a Congressional delegation at Nelson Mandela's memorial service, walked out of the service Tuesday while Cuban President Raul Castro delivered his speech.

"Sen. Cruz very much hopes that Castro learns the lessons of Nelson Mandela," his spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, said.

"For decades, Castro has wrongly imprisoned and tortured countless innocents. Just as Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, Castro should finally release his political prisoners. He should hold free elections, and once and for all, set the Cuban people free."
ABC News first reported this story.
President Barack Obama, along with former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush attended the event in Johannesburg. Before eulogizing the former South African, Obama shook Castro's hand as he walked onto the stage – a rare gesture between the leaders of two nations that have not shared diplomacy in over a half century.
CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The Tea Bagger Banner - more misspelling, another happy holiday expression of hate

Teacher Reform? Or something else?

Hilarious - it's fun to laugh at Conservative angst

Not Lovin' It AT ALL! Golden Starches - bad for workers, bad for consumes.

Tell it to the world! There are tea partiers who need to hear it.

Snow is annoying, sometimes.......but then there are those OTHER times...

It is NOT caring for those in poverty that is hurting your pocket.

Via Facebook / Princess Free Zone (h/t and photo)

Google's image for the day:

and thanks to wikipedia for the bio

Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992) was an American computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. A pioneer in the field, she was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, and developed the first compiler for a computer programming language.[1][2][3][4][5] She conceptualized the idea of machine-independent programming languages, which led to the development of COBOL, one of the first modern programming languages. She is credited with popularizing the term "debugging" for fixing computer glitches (inspired by an actual moth removed from the computer). Owing to the breadth of her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as "Amazing Grace".[6][7] The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Hopper (DDG-70) is named for her, as was the Cray XE6 "Hopper" supercomputer at NERSC.

GOP - disingenuous, tone deaf, lacking in wisdom, compassion or decency

Treasonous Traitors then, Treasonous Traitors NOW

Dishonesty us a right wing tactic; it is used for propaganda to fear monger and justify hatred.

Tea Baggers and other paranoiacs - the REAL War on Christmas

Poor Concept

Too good not to share, too offensive and false not to condemn publicly.

via facebook /Veterans for Obama



There is no significant, credible evidence that Nelson Mandela was a communist, which was the pretext for Reagan vetoing sanctions against Apartheid. Bill O'Reilly is a liar, perpetuating a lie to try to save the false legacy of the right, of Reagan.

Apartheid was a horrible, horrible system of oppression that brutalized, tortured, impoverished, effectively enslaved, and even killed millions of people.  It institutionalized some of the most heinous racism in history.

To compare it to Obamacare is obscene, and profoundly ignorant. So far, I have yet to see a single voice on the right call Santorum or any other ignorant right wing nut for this ind of obscenity, this utter contempt for the suffering of millions.

Shame on (secular) St. Ronnie Ray-gun, and those who wrongly revere him.

No surprise, big business from the U.S. supported apartheid.

Sunday funnies - it will happen

via Addicting Info

Guns on December 8th: then, now, .......and the future?

Lennon Murder scene

Mark Chapman,
Lennon's murderer

Today, December 8th, is the anniversary of several famous shootings, and the beginning of the week which marks the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre.

One of those famous tragic shootings was the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980.The other event was a spree-shooting, the Australian Queen Street massacre in 1987, one of the mass shootings that led to effective gun control in that country.  This mass shooting, combined with subsequent  Aussies decided they would do what was necessary rather than tolerate mass shootings by crazy people, angry people, armed people who wrongly think they know best.

Like the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, the Queen Street massacre shooter had a fascination with other mass shootings.  Like Adam Lanza, the Queen Street shooter used a legally purchased gun under the existing lax gun laws.

In the past week, lawyers for James Holmes, the alleged Aurora, Colorado shooter, who shot 70 people, killing 12, in a theater with legally purchased weapons are attempting to close court hearings on Holmes' sanity.  His lawyers are attempting to use a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity, and have sought additional psychiatric evaluation, which at least hints that the first evaluation to date did not find him insane under the law.

Congress last week passed a renewal of the law that prohibits plastic guns; unlike when the initial legislation was drafted, such guns can now be made on 3D printers and are undetectable by the metal detectors that are used to prevent people bringing guns into prohibited places.  Such guns have no other purpose than to kill people.  Such guns HAVE been made and used and continue to evolve. Gun control advocates want to revise the original legislation to reflect the current technology.  Pro-gun advocates don't want to do anything that might impede new gun manufacture and innovation, regardless of the use and purpose of such weapons.  The senate vote is scheduled for tomorrow.

These events underline that the choice.  Between the mass shooting spree in 1987 and the passage of strict gun control laws in Australia in 1996, after the Port Arthur mass shooting, there were 7 such mass shootings.  That was sufficient for Australia to take action.  There have been ZERO mass shootings since the Port Arthur tragedy.

Since the Sandy Hook tragedy last December we have had 26 additional mass shootings.

When will we do what is necessary to end gun violence?  When will we have the political will to do what it takes?  Australia is still as safe or safer than it was with lax gun laws in 1987; Australia still has hunting with guns, and gun sports, just no more mass shootings.  Gun accidents declined, gun suicides declined, gun homicides declined.  Armed robbery did not skyrocket.  Assault rates did not change because of fewer guns for self-defense.

We can make the same change for the better; but we have to decide that human life is more important than guns.  All w have to do is decide we don't want any more mass shootings, any more day in day out gun violence.

Catching Up with Science!