Behold The Checks, Balances, And Oversight From Our Elected Leaders

Sadly, this clusterfuck was and is predictable.

Good thing we have an alert, investigative media that is willing to speak truth to power and hold our elected representatives accountable. No doubt they will be all over this clip like Josh Marshall on a donor's jockstrap.

And I'll be able to fit into my wife's Catholic All-Girl High School Uniform.

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:14 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Where is the stimulus money going?

You have to see this graph to really grasp how fucking ridiculous the whole thing is. 

Of the $29 billion spent this year, 90 percent has gone to assist Medicaid and to stabilize tottering state budgets, according to the report. That’s not just job creation — that’s emergency rescue, a fiscal crutch propping up our humpback deficit-ridden states.

No wonder the unemployment rate dropping so quickly.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 04:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The National Debt Explained

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RIP TOTUS One

I can't help but think that the White House has realized the importance of the teleprompter when they have two of them plus backup notes for Obama's speeches.

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But I thought liberals *loved* animals

Another incident of Guess the Party surfaces as the Democratic governor of Massachusetts proposes a plan that would result in euthanizing a fifth of the animals at two Boston-area zoos.

The Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston institution that has drawn generations of city and suburban families, might be forced to close its doors and possibly euthanize some of its animals as a result of the deep budget cuts imposed by Governor Deval Patrick, zoo officials said Friday.

Without more state funding, those zoo officials said, they will run out of money by October and have to close both the Franklin Park Zoo and its smaller counterpart, the Stone Zoo in Stoneham. They would lay off most of their 165 employees and attempt to find new homes for more than 1,000 animals, the officials said.

The zoo officials, in a written statement that echoed a letter sent earlier to legislative leaders, said they would be unlikely to find homes for at least 20 percent of the animals, “requiring either destroying them, or the care of the animals in perpetuity.”

Update: OK, I've figured out what is bothering me so freaking much about this.  The MassHealth program has a FY2010 budget of $10.318 billion.  The cost of shutting down the zoos is $9 million over three years, the cost of keeping the zoos open is $13 million a year (from state funds - I'm certain they're receiving some sort of private donations).  Now I'm not usually a person to argue that an animal's life is worth more than a humans, but I'd be willing to bet that at least one half of one percent of the people sucking up MassHealth dollars are perfectly capable of getting up off their lazy asses and getting a job and finding healthcare on their own, but choose to rely on the state to do it for them instead.  That one half of one percent would pay for five years of life for animals who did nothing to humans other than stand around and get captured.

Posted by: Alice H at 01:11 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Repeat Loser Not Named Murphy/Brooks/Noonan Defends Reagan

Given Bob Shrum's Detroit Lions-esque record of FAIL, seeing him defend Obamanomics instantly means it's doomed for the ashbin of history. But, the humorous part of his recent defense of The Messiah is that he cites the anti-Obama.

Look, this--Reagan went through this.  Reagan went through this in 1981 and, in fact, his approval rating, by the way, at this time was exactly the same as Obama's is today.  And...And Republicans, Republicans stayed with him.  They stayed despite the difficulties in the mid-term elections.  They got to 1983, the recovery came; so did morning in America and so did the confirmation of the Reagan era.  The real challenge here is for Democrats.  Are they going to stick with the president?  Are they going to get wobbly?  Are they going to get afraid?

Of course, Reagan's policies were the exact opposite of what The One wants to push, but let's not let details get in the way, shall we?. But what worries me more is should I reconsider Reagan if a complete and total fucktard loser is starting to cite him?

 

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:44 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You know what would have been funny?

If she'd been fucked and impregnated in the middle of a huge sporting venue by an internationally famous sports star--that's what! Har har!

And the best part? No apologies would be necessary. Because, you know, that's some classic comedy right there. And though I haven't browsed the archives, I'm gonna go ahead and guess that they didn't hold Letterman to the same standard. For some reason.

Well, it's mainly because there's nothing funny about Obama.  Yeah.

When he's pictured checking out someone's ass, well, there's no problem there. Right? No reason to make hay? Uh-huh.

Warning: That first link goes to Media Matters for America Obama, whose Jamison Foser should not be allowed to use the grown-up scissors.

(Thanks to eddiebear.)

Posted by: Sean M. at 02:47 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Democrat Congressman Scammed In Ponzi Scheme Not Named The U.S. Tax Code

Oh, the irony!

According to Orlando’s Local 6, Grayson was an investor in a Ponzi scheme run by the company Derivium Capital. The scheme allowed Grayson and other investors to turn over stock to Derivium in exchange for cash loans and redeem the value later if the stock prices increased.

The station cited court filings indicating that Grayson transferred about $29 million in stock to the fund, taking out about $26 million in cash. A South Carolina court ruled earlier this year that Derivium shareholders were owed about $270 million in lost profits and that Grayson’s share of that would be about $34 million.

And you know what the ultimate irony of ironies is?

He is a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Fucking hilarious/scary/whatever.

Posted by: eddiebear at 10:50 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Hi! I'm Troy McClure. You May Remember Me From Traffic Videos Such As....

Wait! Wasn't Orange County supposed to be the bastion of common sense in SoCal? After seeing this, I am not so sure.

Included in the options that will be available starting in August is the Comedy for Less Traffic School, Pizza 4U Great Comedians Traffic School and the Great Comedians Traffic School.

 The new offerings put Orange County on par with a number of other California counties already offering such traffic class options.

The comedy school offer a more amusing take on refreshing drivers on the rules and procedures related to driving compared with the traditional classes.

Please, Lord, tell me that a shitload of Stimulus, Bailout, California IOU Money was spent on this. Pleaaasseeee.....

Posted by: eddiebear at 12:34 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Your stimulus dollars at work

I'm so happy that the governor of Colorado has managed to fulfill my suspicions that our state's stimulus money would be spent poorly.

The governor's lawyers told the attorney general's office in February that they planned to hire outside counsel to help with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money. Deputy Attorney General Geoff Blue told them his office was willing to do it, but his offer was rejected.
...
A few weeks later, Ritter hired Hogan & Hartson through a no-bid contract. So far, the firm has been paid $40,000 from federal funds.

Governor Bill Ritter was a partner at Hogan & Hartson until he was elected governor in 2006.

It seems the Democrats' thinking is that it doesn't matter how the money gets spent, as long as each and every penny is gone from our pockets and future generations' pockets, and into the pockets of Democratic cronies.

On a more positive note, State Senator Josh Penry has announced that he will be running for governor in 2010. He's a fiscal conservative who doesn't believe in getting government mucked up in social issues, and has done some remarkable things in Colorado's congress, including raising school standards and standing up to labor unions. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a presidential candidate in 2020, and it will be a welcome change, as he's stated repeatedly that the GOP doesn't deserve to regain power until spending is reined in. I'm sincerely looking forward to Penry giving Ritter the Rockefeller finger on November 3 of next year.

Vid of Penry speaking at the Denver Metro Young Republicans meeting in March below the fold.

more...

Posted by: Alice H at 07:15 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Maybe it ain't working this time?

Some Detroit city councilor is whining because there are throwback Billy Dee Williams ads for Colt .45 all over the city.  Seriously, you don't have anything else more important to deal with in Detroit?  Nothing like a collapsing local economy or rampant violent crime?  Nothing?  Nothing at all?  I find that hard to believe. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I cannot believe I'm surprised by this

And yet I am. Sotomayor backers are urging the press to go after Ricci.

Of course they are.  Of course.  Every so often my cockeyed optimism that the human race isn't completely worthless rears its ugly head.  It never occurred to me that this would happen and yet, in hind sight, it's obvious it would. 

God, I truly loathe our current political climate.  Truly and honestly loathe.

 

Posted by: alexthechick at 09:35 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Since why should eddiebear have all the fun?

What the ever loving FUCK is WRONG with people?

First, there's the losers in Philly who don't want Those Kinds Of People in their pool. And, yeah, I've seen the spin, blah blah blah they meant noisy kids, blah blah blah. Bullshit. At the very very very least, the guy meant that having some probably underprivileged youths around would upset the wee gentry. That's not a classist and bigoted thing, nope, not at all. 

Then, you have the NY legislature hiring and firing based on that tell all qualification of skin tone.

Now, we have Justice Ginsburg saying this:

Growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of? I don't give a fuck how you sit and spin that, that's fucking eugenics. Straight up.

And, of course, there's the incident in Ohio where it certainly appears that the family attacked was the victim of a hate crime.  Call me cynical, but I rather doubt that the police would be hesitating to call it a hate crime if a group of white kids yelled it's a white world while beating a black family.

I repeat:  what the FUCK is WRONG with people?  The BFF and I agree that it's far better when people are openly bigoted. Nice and honest. But this? All of this?  Are we truly devolving back into a tribal state?  Because count me right the fuck out of that.

Ginsburg's comments bother me the most and, yeah, part of it is a queer thing.  Let's accept for the sake of argument that sexuality is genetic.  Accepting that, let's take the next step and presume that in very short order, parents will be able to tell in vitro if their kid will be queer.  Don't bother telling me that there's not a substantial number who will then abort.  Or, to get all Gattacay (which is too a word), the parents will simply not select that trait.  Voila!  No more queers!   It'll be like Iran and for the same reason.  There's no one queer because they're all dead. 

Then there's the fact that it's become not only socially acceptable but socially expected that a Woman Of A Certain Age who becomes pregnant will have an amnio and, heaven forbid, if the child will have Down's, the woman will then immediately abort.  Others have noted that much of the rage against Palin seems to come from the fact that she dared be so irresponsible to actually give birth to Trig.  That's just Not Done.  Not only is it Not Done, it's somehow morally inferior to do so.  Huh.  Gee.  I thought we were supposed to protect the rights of those who are Otherly Abled.  Sorry, I missed part of the memo on that.

Populations we don't want too many of.  Seriously, what the motherfucking fuckity fuck?  Though, really, that's right in keeping with Margaret Sanger and the inception of Planned Parenthood.  Nice to see Ginsburg's holding up that tradition.   

I just don't understand what the fuck is so hard about the fucking concept that externalities are not per se indicators of internal worth.  Or, less fancy talk, the fact that I'm so white I glow in the dark tells you JACK SHIT about my intellect, abilities, capabilities or potential. 

I'm about ready to throw in the towel on humanity.  Hands.  Hands all over the place. 

Posted by: alexthechick at 01:20 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Sheriff Joe Biden Is Doing An Awesome Job Watching Over The Stimulus Spending, Vol. 834

Especially when it comes to jobs in Ohio.

Oh, and this may or may not be on topic (like that's stopped me before), but Jimmie has a kick ass asskicking of Cap & Trade. Read. Then get stompy!

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Our enlightened progressive betters show us the way

So our enlightened, progressive betters in Philly show us it is okay to kick black kids out of a private pool.  And now we see in New York, liberal leaders in the state Senate complained about the lack of minority representation in the Senate staff, so they fired 200 white employees, and replaced them with minority employees.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:48 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Biden Set To Visit Ohio To Help Boost Poll Numbers?

Maybe.

I was trying to come up with a smart ass joke to make about this, but I can't improve upon the phrase "Biden sent to boost Obama's Poll Numbers". That is a joke in its own right.

Posted by: eddiebear at 08:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Union FAIL

The Stella D'Oro company makes biscuits and other baked goods.  The company was based in the Bronx.  The employee contract ended on August 14, the company tells the employees that they can't run the company profitably paying them $18-22 an hour and offer a nine week paid vacation, and of course the employees immediately go on strike. 

Judge orders Stella D'Oro to reinstate the employees.  They do so, and promptly announce they're closing the plant and relocating in October.  And this shit happens all the time.  Union guys, already getting good pay and benefits and all that good stuff above most of the rest of us, get greedy and overstep, and the management hands them their asses.  I of course sit here, with my ill paying non-union job, and see the union dopes wipe themselves out with their own stupidity and greed, while their dues money goes to corrupt union bosses and Democrats, all I can think is,

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:14 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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A Trip To The Hope And Change Clinics May Not Be A Sure Thing

If this story is true (warning: TNR link)

Clinton pollster Stan Greenberg highlights some of the problems O-Care is facing and could face. This is the money shot, if you ask me.

It may surprise you that Obama has already lost seniors, according to our current survey–only one-third approve of his plan. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see there isn’t much in it for them. There is already talk of carving out major savings from Medicare and, unlike during Clinton’s battle, no offer of a new drug benefit. Clearly, they need to see health care gains for themselves too {and Obama's "Die Early to Save The Country" Plan probably doesn't sit well with them either. But I'm just spitballin'-ed.}.

One would have expected union households to be among the most enthusiastic supporters of Clinton’s health reforms, but they held back. Resentment over NAFTA played a part, for sure. But the reforms also had uncertain benefits for their members, most of whom already had health care–many with the kind of “Cadillac” plans that Clinton’s team speculated about taxing. In the end, unions never seriously mobilized their members or financed advertising to defend reform {unions behaving selfishly? Surely you jest-ed.}.

Today, the unions are battered and divided and deeply affected by the changes in health care and employment that are propelling the country toward reform. With few illusions about the old system, union households are strong supporters of Obama’s proposal. Yet the members will ultimately judge whether the plan is good for their families–and I’m certain that all the talk about taxing insurance contributions has not gone unnoticed.

Yeah, but once a legbreaker pays a visit to the union household, do you really believe they won't toe the line? And how much do you want to bet that, magically, unions and their plans don't have their contributions taxed? Maybe this is why Obama is so eager to revive unions in this country.

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Thank You, Slow Joe, For Fucking Up Our Economy Even More

It appears as though Pluggy Joe's recent comments about the economy may not have been what investors wanted to hear.

Shares of major metal manufacturers traded sharply lower Monday, a day after Vice President Joe Biden said the White House “misread” the economy, prompting concerns that an economic recovery could be slower than expected.

...

During the second quarter, commodity prices “went through the roof,” and investors snapped up metal makers stocks on word that the economy was “less bad” than before, he said.

But, now, the market has switched its thinking amid broader concerns about the economy, he said.

Yup. Stick to asking the crippled to walk, Joe.

****CRITICAL, MASSIVE IMPORTANT TO ELEVENTY UPDATE! Rick Santelli lays into Pluggy Joe this morning.****

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A Story So Stupid, Only Politicians Could Be Involved

So, the dipshits in charge of running the state of Missouri want us to cut down on energy consumption. All well and good, but look at what happens as a result.

Though it might seem illogical, the new energy efficiency charge has support from utilities, most lawmakers, the governor, environmentalists and even the state’s official utility consumer advocate. The charge covers the cost of utilities’ efforts to promote energy efficiency and cut power use.

The assumption is that charging consumers for those initiatives ultimately will cost less than charging them to build the new power plants that will be needed if electricity use isn’t curtailed.

Yeah. Let's see how that ends up.

Posted by: eddiebear at 08:20 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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