US POLITICS SPRING 2011: Let's just call off this country.

they were hacked bro

gonna guess they were hacked

xp

or a hack, I guess, maybe? idk lol xp

can't believe aerosmith hacked the fox news twitter feed

sorry guys sometimes I just have to hack

They're gonna say Jon Stewart did it though. They're blaming him for a lot these days

Happy Independence Day.

From Obama and the NSA

Will Republicans bend in Minnesota or in the nation's capitol re taxes and deductions? Can Dems stand up to them?

next, on sick sad world

i hope rick santelli reads this and his head explodes just enough for him to die slowly/painfully

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/hud-to-give-away-1-billion-to-struggling-homeowners/2011/06/30/gHQAbbgtxH_story.html

The newly launched $1 billion Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, or EHLP, is targeting homeowners who are among the most difficult to help: those who fell behind on their payments because of job loss or unexpected medical bills. For many of them, it might be the last chance to save their homes.

Attention Hackers: Put Max Headroom saying cryptic shit back on the airwaves. Best hack evar

Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, or EHLP

so close. and yet

HAH! Yeah wtf.

lol

Homeowner's Assistance Loan Program

lol

so close. and yet

an excellent summary of the Obama Administration in toto.

also, excuse me please if this Frank Rich article has already been discussed elsewhere, but if not ...

I'd broaden the scope of Rich's gist and suggest Obama's undoing has been his failure to forcefully follow-up on just about everything.

I predict the youtube trail left behind from his imminent campaign will not be pleasant, especially if he opens himself up to being called on for his conspicuous concessions or lack of action on several fronts. The guy can't just blame the economy, because then all those admissions of a weak economy will in turn be used against him. "You're the president, do something!" may not be realistic, but it may be effective with the public.

david brooks (!) has a joseph welch moment regarding the gop ~

"That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. . . . The members of this movement do not accept the legitimacy of scholars and intellectual authorities. . . . The members of this movement have no sense of moral decency. . . ."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/opinion/05brooks.html?_r=2

how long will this new david brooks view of the gop last? 1 day? 1 week? 1.5 weeks? what's his oped schedule again?

(he also commits a typo: "If the debt ceiling talks fail, independents voters will see. . . ." oh ny times)

maybe nu-brooks will last time the sunday talk shows?

david brooks has always had a hard-on for conservative scholars and intellectual authorities. he's a sort of Thomas Friedman of the GOP. i dunno if it's only now that Brooks has realized that the unschooled Teabaggers are steering the ship, and i've neither the time nor the stomach to peruse his back pages to find out.

I have a hard time seeing how Obama wont be blamed for this debt ceiling bullshit. The GOP narrative always seems to win out..

a historical lesson about what happens when rich fuckers insist on low taxes über alles for themselves.

Yep. Does anyone but Obama and his White House staff think the way to appeal to independents (and to everyone else) is to take what Obama perceives as a post-partisan centrist approach on everything, but gets viewed as watered-down and light by some and unexplainable by others because Obama and the Dems are not day in and day out spelling out the liberal argument in a way that would make it sensible and logical to most, or at least something to think about other than the Republican perspective.

Republicans and their pet economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin are as annoying on the subject of jobs as Tim Geithner (maybe even worse)

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/republicans-falsely-claim-obama-advisers-burying-data-proving-stimulus-is-hurting-economy.php?ref=fpa

Republicans are also citing the Weekly Standard article to revisit one of their oldest claims about the stimulus: that every job the Recovery Act saved or created cost taxpayers about $278,000. That's the number you get if you clumsily divide the cost of the stimulus by the number of jobs it's responsible for. The White House is aggressively pushing back on this argument by pointing out that the stimulus paid for more than jobs -- it paid for new infrastructure, materials and so on.

Zandi adds another layer to this critique: "[I]t is inappropriate to say that ARRA cost taxpayers $278k per job. The cost should be calculated based on the number of full-time equivalents," he said. Specifically, the stimulus' efficiency shouldn't be calculated based only on how many full-time jobs it was responsible for, but by how many part-time or seasonal jobs it created as well. "I'm not arguing that ARRA was as efficient as it could have been, although given the political constraints and the crisis environment it is a significant achievement."

Some things never change:

As lawmakers prepare to cut trillions of dollars from the budget as a condition to raising the nation's debt ceiling, the story of the Cates Landing project underscores the dilemma that faces many members of the Republican-run House and the freshmen class in particular. Federal spending is derided as nothing short of a threat to the country's future -- unless, of course, it happens to be directed at that congressman's home district.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/05/freshman-republicans-federal-spending_n_890518.html

Dean Baker vs. George Will

http://www.businessinsider.com/george-will-spreads-some-lies-about-the-economic-crisis-2011-7

George Will got lots of approving pats on the back this weekend after he asked the (admittedly terrible) group of liberal co-panelists, "Can Congress require the obese to sign up for weight reduction programs" as a public interest?

https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/george-will-proves-himself-wrong-about-the-constitution/

That was my obvious answer. It's the old Charles Evans Hughes adage: "The Constitution is what we say it is."

If Congress does not raise the debt limit, 42 percent of American adults say Republicans will be "mainly responsible," according to a June poll conducted by the Pew Research Center and Washington Post. Some 33 percent cited the Obama administration, and the rest answered both, neither, or unsure.

When asked how federal deficits should be reduced, 59 percent of Americans say they'd prefer a blend of spending cuts and tax hikes, according to an April ABC News/Washington Post poll. That's far more than the 36 percent who argue only for cutting spending (the approach Republican lawmakers are pushing for). Only 3 percent say to solve the budget problem entirely through tax hikes. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found a similar result.

Some 50 percent of American adults say they prefer Obama's approach to "tough" budget choices, while 42 percent favored that of Republicans, in a CNN/Opinion Research survey concluded at the beginning of May. On that question, Obama widened his lead since January.

SHUT IT DOWN

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/ron-paul-seeks-to-abolish-tsa-despite-its-500-cute-puppies/241479/

What's the surest sign that the Transportation Security Administration has an image problem? On its Web site, TSA.gov, one of the featured news items describes the agency's "puppy program." It's the fuzziest, most cuddly homeland security initiative ever undertaken. Staffers have so far helped breed and birth 500 adorable little dogs, who'll eventually be used to detect bombs and other explosives. Did I mention that each puppy is named for a 9/11 victim? Or that the widow of Captain Robert Edward Doland Jr., killed in the attack on the Pentagon, was invited on the "Today Show" a few months back to meet the namesake puppy of her late husband?

should I be this amused that the TSA is attempting to rehabilitate its image by breeding an animal known for greeting you by shoving its nose into your crotch

anybody else watching this #askobama thing?

most interesting moment so far has been when he made fun of a twitter user's profile pic

If Congress does not raise the debt limit, 42 percent of American adults say Republicans will be "mainly responsible," according to a June poll conducted by the Pew Research Center and Washington Post. Some 33 percent cited the Obama administration, and the rest answered both, neither, or unsure.

i find it really hard to believe that 75% of American adults (42%+33%) understand the debt limit issue at even the most basic level.

James Inhofe continues to be giant fucking douche.

Such arrogance. But I guess Oklahoma likes that.

"I did nothing wrong..." Actually, Senator, you did.

Yeah I mean talk about calling something its own opposite and just putting it out there in the press as truth. Classic example.

arrrrgh this fucking guy

The latest laff riot from homeland security and the US terror threat assessment crew:

http://sitrep.globalsecurity.org/articles/110706775-the-joker-bomb.htm

out of my way, i'm a united states senator!!

President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-debt-talks-obama-offers-social-security-cuts/2011/07/06/gIQA2sFO1H_story.html

oyyyyyyyyyyyy

this is not actually surprising just disappointing right?

Mr. Obama, who is to meet at the White House with the bipartisan leadership of Congress in an effort to work out an agreement to raise the federal debt limit, wants to move well beyond the $2 trillion in savings sought in earlier negotiations and seek perhaps twice as much over the next decade, Democratic officials briefed on the negotiations said Wednesday. (<that's from the NYT article)

the doubling of the "savings" is surprising to me, although i have to admit i haven't followed it too closely over the last few days because i assumed it would go down to the wire.