PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That

PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That
"President Bush added $5.1 trillion in red ink to the national ledger. But while the debt has grown by over $5 trillion during Obama's first term, less than $1 trillion can be attributed to new programs he put in place. The rest is the result of the tax revenue loss from the deep recession which began in December 2007 and the continuation of policies inherited from George W. Bush."

Americans For Job Security: Conduit For Right Wing Dark Money

Americans For Job Security: Conduit For Right Wing Dark Money
"After Citizens United, attention has been paid to the sheer amount of money the right wing poured into elections and how that money has influenced public opinion, debate, and outcomes. But for the most part, attention has been placed on the so-called SuperPACs and their participation. While American Crossroads and others were certainly big players on the national landscape, little attention has been paid to how they operate on a state by state basis, and how they are used to launder money across state lines in order to subvert even the mildest disclosure requirements. In this post and ones to follow, I'll be putting the spotlight on these organizations and how they operate together to subvert democracy."

Tea Party's Judson Phillips Throws Romney and Boehner Under the Bus

Tea Party's Judson Phillips Throws Romney and Boehner Under the Bus
"If Romney was the "worst candidate" ever, what does that say about the rest of the wingnuts he was running against in their primary? He would have been a bad candidate already, but Phillips and his ilk along with the rest of the GOP base pushing him to the right helped to assure his fate. He alienated every group out there other than crusty old white men and the millionaires paying his tab, and he paid dearly for it later.

It's always amusing to watch these guys come on the air and complain about a problem they helped create. It's too bad they're not called out for it and asked about who is funding these AstroTurf groups that they represent when they're allowed on the air."

What Could Have Been: The Most Important Bills Blocked By Republicans In 2012

What Could Have Been: The Most Important Bills Blocked By Republicans In 2012: 1. A minimum wage increase. House Democrats proposed legislation in June that would have raised the national minimum wage to $10 an hour, but Republicans blocked it. The minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour, even though it would need to be raised to $9.92 to match the borrowing power it had in 1968. If [...]/p

Conservatives’ Infighting Reaches Melt-Down Levels | Alternet

Conservatives’ Infighting Reaches Melt-Down Levels | Alternet
"Most recently, on Christmas Day, those of us who loathe Dick Armey received the gift of Amy Gardner’s Washington Post expose, which detailed the way he tried to take over FreedomWorks backed by a gun-toting thug, and wound up, defeated, with an $8 million golden parachute."

GOP Rep: NRA Plan To Put Guns In Schools Would Create ‘Orwellian Surveillance State’

GOP Rep: NRA Plan To Put Guns In Schools Would Create ‘Orwellian Surveillance State’: Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) blasted National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre’s plan to put armed guards in school, worrying that it would lead to “an Orwellian police state in America.” Paul, a libertarian most famous for his numerous presidential runs, connected the NRA proposal to onerous TSA regulations in statement on his [...]/p

Mosque Arsonist: Fox News Made Me Do It! | Alternet

Mosque Arsonist: Fox News Made Me Do It! | Alternet
"An Indiana man who pleaded guilty yesterday to setting an Ohio mosque on fire told a judge he was motivated by media accounts – specifically those on Fox News – suggesting Muslims were threatening Americans and were in control of parts of the federal government."

Pastor: 9/11 and CT School Shooting were 'Gracious' Acts of God's Judgment | Right Wing Watch

Pastor: 9/11 and CT School Shooting were 'Gracious' Acts of God's Judgment | Right Wing Watch
"Pastor Bill Elliff of the Arkansas-based The Summit Church and the Religious Right group OneCry appeared on AFA Today with host Buster Wilson this week where he explained that the September 11 attacks and the elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut were “gracious” acts of divine punishment. He said that God allowed the two tragedies to occur because of “our humanistic pride” and secular government in order to “bring us to our senses and bring us back to him.”

Wilson was positively dumbfounded as to why people would be offended by such rhetoric and similar language by AFA spokesman Bryan Fischer, who said that God refused to stop the school shooting because he’s a “gentleman,” and Elliff worried the U.S. is going the way of the Roman and British empires."

Wisconsin's Scott Walker Trusts Teachers with Guns, But Not Collective Bargaining | Alternet

Wisconsin's Scott Walker Trusts Teachers with Guns, But Not Collective Bargaining | Alternet
"Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, who became nationally known for severely limiting the union rights of teachers and other public employees, has indicated support for arming those same school officials who apparently cannot be trusted to collectively bargain."

Close Bachmann Ally Bradlee Dean Suggests Sandy Hook was a Government Plot | Right Wing Watch

Close Bachmann Ally Bradlee Dean Suggests Sandy Hook was a Government Plot | Right Wing Watch
"Bradlee Dean, whose close ties to Rep. Michele Bachmann are well-known and well-established, published a column in WND (Rick Santorum's new home) suggesting that, just as the Nazis burned the Reichstag, the shootings at Sandy Hook and in Aurora, Colorado were orchestrated by the government:"

In Wake of School Massacre, Tea Party Holds 'Great Gun Giveaway' | Common Dreams

In Wake of School Massacre, Tea Party Holds 'Great Gun Giveaway' | Common Dreams
"Four days after a gunman massacred 26 people—including 20 children—at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a North Carolina tea party group announced a "Great Gun Giveaway" to raffle two semi-automatic weapons, including a rifle similar to that used in Friday's shooting in Connecticut."

WND Floats Armed Resistance to Obama Administration | Right Wing Watch

WND Floats Armed Resistance to Obama Administration | Right Wing Watch
"Earlier this week, WorldNetDaily columnist and regular Fox News guest Erik Rushtweeted a video arguing that President Obama orchestrated the Sandy Hook and Aurora, Colorado shootings in order to cover-up a massive government scandal, forcibly disarm Americans, put people in concentration camps and start a civil war. Of course the conspiracy theory is complete nonsense, but Rush doesn’t think so.

Today in WND, Rush effectively suggested that people should begin an armed revolt against the government:"

Welcome to 'Michiganistan' | Common Dreams

Welcome to 'Michiganistan' | Common Dreams
"Formerly the Republican governor, Snyder has been enthroned by the GOP’s lame-duck, legislative supermajority to rule with an iron fist — democracy, rule-of-law, fairness, and the people be damned."

North Carolina Tea Party Group Hosts ‘Great Gun Giveaway’ Before All Newtown Victims Are Even Buried

North Carolina Tea Party Group Hosts ‘Great Gun Giveaway’ Before All Newtown Victims Are Even Buried: Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, gun advocates have, by and large, wisely kept out of the spotlight. Even the National Rifle Association, hardly a bastion of liberal thinking, was self-aware enough to temporarily suspend their social media accounts and exercise restraint before finally issuing a statement four days after the tragedy. The Asheville [...]/p

Tea Party Nation: Train Teachers in SWAT Teams to Fight Hamas | Right Wing Watch

Tea Party Nation: Train Teachers in SWAT Teams to Fight Hamas | Right Wing Watch
"In his initial response to the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips emailed members an article about the massacre whichsharply criticized teachers and urged government to cripple teachers’ unions andplace guards like George Zimmerman at every school. Today, Phillips emailed out apiece arguing that it should “be required that all teachers and other staff be armed and in trained in SWAT” because Americans should worry about “the bloodbath you may well see if Iranian and Hamas agents go en masse into the schools of this nation"."

Pro-Capitalist, Anti-Government Extremists | Alternet

Pro-Capitalist, Anti-Government Extremists | Alternet
"A new breed of investment consultant mixes dubious financial advice with anti-government propaganda."

Tea Party Group Blames Connecticut Shooting On Teachers, Unions, And Sex

Tea Party Group Blames Connecticut Shooting On Teachers, Unions, And Sex: A piece posted to the Tea Party Nation website yesterday, and sent to the group’s members in an email from TPN head Judson Phillips, blamed the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on teachers, unions, bureaucracy, and the presence of sex in popular culture. In a lengthy screed that’s essentially a round-up of every major cultural [...]/p

Meet Sen. Tim Scott: The Tea Party Lawmaker Who Wanted To Impeach President Obama And Kick Kids Off Food Stamps

Meet Sen. Tim Scott: The Tea Party Lawmaker Who Wanted To Impeach President Obama And Kick Kids Off Food Stamps: Tim Scott is America’s newest senator today after getting tapped by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to fill the vacancy left by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). DeMint announced this month that he was leaving the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation, an arch-conservative think tank in Washington DC. Though DeMint left big, [...]/p

Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye | Alternet

Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye | Alternet
"All around us, our public institutions are disintegrating, and the most important public institution of all – our public education system – will likely be the next to go."

How an Astounding New Right-Wing Lie About the Economy Is Born | Alternet

How an Astounding New Right-Wing Lie About the Economy Is Born | Alternet
"There's a new economic myth that's now being amplified by the conservative media. It demonizes vital public services and suggests that the poor are doing just fine thanks to the largesse of the country's “makers.” Conservatives are being told that the United States is now spending vast fortunes combatting poverty – more than we dedicate to national defense, Social Security and Medicare.

This new spin is notable not for its mendacity – although it is completely divorced from reality – but because its origins are easily traced, allowing us to see how these kinds of distortions come to be."

Michigan Governor Heedless Of Election, Pushes Radical Agenda

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The GOP’s Existential Crisis | Common Dreams

The GOP’s Existential Crisis | Common Dreams
"No, what we’re having is a political crisis, born of the fact that one of our two great political parties has reached the end of a 30-year road. The modern Republican Party’s grand, radical agenda lies in ruins — but the party doesn’t know how to deal with that failure, and it retains enough power to do immense damage as it strikes out in frustration."

Lie of the Year: Romney's Jeep, Jobs and China Claim

Lie of the Year: Romney's Jeep, Jobs and China Claim
"Congratulations to Rove, Fox News, and Mitt Romney! They've received an honor which finally matches the recipient: Lie and Liars of the year."

GOP lies in 2012: 'Otherwise they wouldn't win'

The fact-checkers at Politifact chose Mitt Romney's alarmist attack ad alleging that Chrysler will move Jeep production to China as the "lie of the year."

Michigan’s New 'Corporate Servitude Law' Takes Away Worker Rights | Common Dreams

Michigan’s New 'Corporate Servitude Law' Takes Away Worker Rights | Common Dreams
"Michigan has just passed a corporate servitude law. It is designed to take away many of the worker rights that unions have conferred throughout their history: The right to a living wage. The right to equal pay for women. The right to deferred payments in the form of pensions. The right to negotiate workplace standards and working conditions. The right to overtime pay."

5 Things Boehner Doesn’t Want You To Know About His Fiscal Cliff Deal

5 Things Boehner Doesn’t Want You To Know About His Fiscal Cliff Deal: As the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire automatically in a few weeks, some Republicans are urging their leaders to accept President Obama’s deal to allow tax rates to rise for the top 2 percent of earners, while looking ahead to the next budget showdown. The US will hit its debt limit in early [...]/p

PERRspectives: 10 Things Republicans Don't Want You to Know About the Fiscal Cliff

PERRspectives: 10 Things Republicans Don't Want You to Know About the Fiscal Cliff
"Like Mitt Romney before him, Speaker Boehner's mathdoesn't--and cannot--work. More pathetic still, it is the GOP which is trying to dupe the American people by continuing to peddle its long-debunked myths about taxes and the debt."

‘Right to work’: The wrong answer for Michigan’s economy | Economic Policy Institute

‘Right to work’: The wrong answer for Michigan’s economy | Economic Policy Institute
"RTW laws lower wages for union and non-union workers by an average of $1,500 a year and decrease the likelihood employees will get health insurance or pensions through their jobs. By lowering compensation, they have the indirect effect of undermining consumer spending, which threatens economic growth. For every $1 million in wage cuts to workers, $850,000 less is spent in the economy, which translates into a loss of six jobs."

How the Bitter Losers of 2012 Rammed Through a Union-Destroying Bill in Michigan | Alternet

How the Bitter Losers of 2012 Rammed Through a Union-Destroying Bill in Michigan | Alternet
"The lightning-quick adoption of union-busting ‘right-to-work’ legislation in Michigan this week by an outgoing, lame-duck Legislature was a political coup led by vengeful Republicans as payback for their corporate patrons, including the billionaire oil baron Koch brothers and their front group,Americans for Prosperity ."

GOP Consultant: Voter ID, Longer Lines Are Partisan Strategy

GOP Consultant: Voter ID, Longer Lines Are Partisan Strategy: On Monday, the Pew Center on the States hosted an election post-mortem conference to discuss voting issues. During one panel focused on the long lines and voting difficulties many Americans faced this election, Republican campaign consultant Scott Tranter laughed off the idea that bipartisan support for election reform could ever be achieved. Tranter noted that, [...]/p

Former Republican: 6 Reasons the GOP Is Doomed | Alternet

Former Republican: 6 Reasons the GOP Is Doomed | Alternet
"Although most Republicans see hints of future demographic challenges in the exit polls, many prefer to focus on other factors to explain Romney’s loss out of a desire not to “blow up the party if there are less radical solutions.”  (Hence, the delusional quality of so many of their post-mortems and the lack of interest in meaningful change.)"

PERRspectives: 10 Things Republicans Don't Want You to Know About the Fiscal Cliff

PERRspectives: 10 Things Republicans Don't Want You to Know About the Fiscal Cliff
"Like Mitt Romney before him, Speaker Boehner's mathdoesn't--and cannot--work. More pathetic still, it is the GOP which is trying to dupe the American people by continuing to peddle its long-debunked myths about taxes and the debt."

One Party Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

What are the consequences for America when one of its political parties has gone totally insane?

Threepers Creepers: On Far-Right Fringes, the Exodus to the Woods is Under Way

Threepers Creepers: On Far-Right Fringes, the Exodus to the Woods is Under Way
"Now that they've lost their election and are seeing their political future circling down the drain, a lot of folks on the political right are drowning in despair and retreating even further into the cocoon of non-reality they've created for themselves. And that response is especially acute on farthest fringes of the Right, where the militiamen are stocking up for the Obamacalypse"

Big Right-Wing Names Like Karl Rove and Dick Armey Are Taking the Fall, But It Won't Repair the GOP | Alternet

Big Right-Wing Names Like Karl Rove and Dick Armey Are Taking the Fall, But It Won't Repair the GOP | Alternet
"The GOP’s November shellacking is rattling the foundations of its powerful media-wingnut welfare-industrial complex. Some big names are either parting ways with former allies, or find themselves under suspicion, with their privileges to roam the right-wing fearscape spewing propaganda suddenly limited."

11 Reasons You’re Glad Jim DeMint Is Leaving The Senate

11 Reasons You’re Glad Jim DeMint Is Leaving The Senate: In an unexpected move, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), an arch-conservative and leader of the Tea Party movement, is resigning his seat in order to head up the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington DC. DeMint has been among the most extreme members of the Senate since first getting elected in 2004, drawing a [...]/p

The Ten Most Absurd Stories at Rick Santorum's New Home, WorldNetDaily | Right Wing Watch

The Ten Most Absurd Stories at Rick Santorum's New Home, WorldNetDaily | Right Wing Watch
"Angling for another presidential run in 2016, Rick Santorum’s decision to join WorldNetDaily, the organization best known for promoting birther conspiracy theories, may not be the worst idea as birthers were projected to be a majority of Republican voters."

How An Obamacare Provision Has Saved Americans $1.5 Billion On Their Health Benefits

How An Obamacare Provision Has Saved Americans $1.5 Billion On Their Health Benefits: A new report from the Commonwealth Foundation finds that Obamacare’s “medical loss ratio” provision — the so-called “80/20 rule” requiring insurers to spend at least 80 percent of every Americans’ premium costs on patient care, rather than on their own profits or overhead — has resulted in a total of $1.5 billion overhead savings and [...]/p

Being Spectacularly Wrong About the Election Won't Be Enough to Pop the Republican Bubble | Alternet

Being Spectacularly Wrong About the Election Won't Be Enough to Pop the Republican Bubble | Alternet
'Rather than one all-encompassing "bubble" that hermetically seals the Republicans inside their media universe there's no shortage of other equally important "bubbles" that serve corporate power. These bubbles often overlap in influence and personnel and still possess the awe-inspiring ability to persuade public opinion on the problems of greatest magnitude facing the United States today."

Sex, Lies and Wiretaps: James O'Keefe's Slimy Underworld

Sex, Lies and Wiretaps: James O'Keefe's Slimy Underworld
"In a nutshell, this is the story of slime merchant James O'Keefe's attempts to prevent the truth about the ugly underbelly of his smear operations from becoming known -- in part because that truth could well land him in prison -- and how his cohorts in the smear operation, especially his "legal team" in the L.A. District Attorney's office, have relentlessly attempted to keep that truth hidden."

Santorum To Write Column For Right-Wing Conspiracy Website

Santorum To Write Column For Right-Wing Conspiracy Website: Rick Santorum has joined WorldNetDaily, a conspiracy theory blog best known for its indefatigable work advancing the birther movement, as an exclusive columnist. The former Pennsylvania senator, who was voted out of office in 2006, will use the perch to remain in the conservative consciousness as he eyes another presidential bid in 2016. His column [...]/p

Meet Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Todd Akin

Meet Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Todd Akin: Virginia’s Republican Party appears poised to nominate state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to be its candidate for governor in 2013 — embracing a man whose extreme political views bear striking resemblance to those of unsuccessful 2012 Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO). With his fervent anti-science, anti-choice, and anti-LGBT, anti-federal government activism, Akin’s extreme positions [...]/p

Dominance: The New Democratic Voting Base Is an Electoral Steamroller | Alternet

Dominance: The New Democratic Voting Base Is an Electoral Steamroller | Alternet
"Republicans will have a permanent disadvantage in presidential elections. That’s not unusual in American elections; Democrats right now appear to have a systematic disadvantage in both House and Senate elections due to how voters happen to be spread out – so, in a sense, a real Democratic advantage for the presidency only evens things out a bit.

It would, however, be a real change in how presidential elections have been fought for at least the last several decades. Republicans would be, in effect, starting every cycle two points behind. If it’s true – and I’m sure before long we’ll have reports from political scientists who have investigated each of the possibilities I suggested – then it’s a pretty big deal."

Oops: New Senator Picks Ghostwriter Behind Rick Perry’s Extremist Book As Chief of Staff

Oops: New Senator Picks Ghostwriter Behind Rick Perry’s Extremist Book As Chief of Staff: Senator-elect Ted Cruz (R-TX) is no stranger to fringe ideas. He authored an unconstitutional plan to nullify the Affordable Care Act. His first campaign ad touted his work helping Texas to execute an “illegal alien.” And he published an article last January claiming that the United Nations and billionaire George Soros are engaged in a [...]/p

The Right-Wing Media Bubble Cocoons Republicans from Adapting to the New Political Landscape | Alternet

The Right-Wing Media Bubble Cocoons Republicans from Adapting to the New Political Landscape | Alternet
"Republicans are responding to their recent losses not by moderating their rhetoric or rethinking their policy preferences, but by retreating deeper into the conservative bubble -- and hardening it lest any objective reality intrude."

Tea Party Refuses to Accept Reality, Opts for Desperation

Tea Party Refuses to Accept Reality, Opts for Desperation
"By the way, there's a reason Tea Party Nation is one of the few tea party groups to snag the attention of the Southern Poverty Law Center. They're extreme and extremely hateful. They also seem to have a problem with reality-based living."

For Scott Walker, Walls Are Closing In

For Scott Walker, Walls Are Closing In
"According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the last player in the Walkergate case is his right-hand man, Tim Russell, who just reached a plea deal with prosecutors over his alleged embezzlement of funds from a veterans group."

War On Women Continues: Arkansas Lawmakers Seize Opportunity To Push Anti-Choice Legislation

War On Women Continues: Arkansas Lawmakers Seize Opportunity To Push Anti-Choice Legislation: Voters across the country rejected radical anti-choice legislation in this month’s election, and far-right candidates whose campaigns centered on denying women abortion access overwhelmingly lost their races. But that doesn’t mean anti-choice activists are giving up the War on Women quite yet. Republican lawmakers in Arkansas are already looking ahead to the new year, when [...]/p

The Millennial Generation: Our Liberal Future

The Millennial Generation: Our Liberal Future
"How doomed are conservatives? Pretty doomed, if you look carefully at the Pew Research Survey’s close analysis of the youth vote in the 2012 elections. The Republicans’ long-term dilemma has generally been framed in racial terms, but it’s mainly a generational one. The youngest generation of voters contains a much smaller proportion of white voters than previous generations, and those whites in that generation vote Republican by a much smaller margin than their elders. What’s more, younger voters supported President Obama during the last two election cycles for reasons that seem to go beyond the usual reasons — social issues like gay marriage and feminism, immigration policy, or Obama’s personal appeal — and suggest a deeper attachment to liberalism. The proclivities of younger voters may actually portend a full-scale sea change in American politics."

Mitt Romney '47 percent watch': 47!

Mitt Romney '47 percent watch': 47!
"So what drama is left? Well, if Obama surpasses 51 percent, he'll be just the fourth president in the last 100 years to do so twice, and the last since Ronald Reagan. That shouldn't be a problem given what's left to be counted."

Glenn Beck Has the Paranoid Conspiracy World Cowering with "Agenda 21" | Alternet

Glenn Beck Has the Paranoid Conspiracy World Cowering with "Agenda 21" | Alternet
"When the Corporate Elite tells us we need to be afraid of something, they almost always expect to make some money off our fear."

How FOX News Is Destroying the GOP | Alternet

How FOX News Is Destroying the GOP | Alternet
"So yes, those are conspicuous handcuffs the GOP is wearing: Fox News has hijacked the party's communications apparatus and is pushing the type of paranoid,  blame-the-voter rhetoric that loses elections, and the type of rhetoric Romney's now being blamed for. But the GOP can't turn it off. In fact, most Republicans can't even work up enough courage to ask Fox News to turn down the volume.

Unwilling to acknowledge the GOP's future poses a long-term media problem (the topic is not to be discussed ), Republicans pretend they have a short-term Romney one."

Can We Help the Would-Be Secessionists Pack?

Can We Help the Would-Be Secessionists Pack?
"The Tea Party folks -- to no one's great surprise -- are not taking their electoral defeat at the hands of a black man lying down. They're threatening to pack up their soccer ball and take it home."

Putting Lipstick on a Pig: 4 Messes that Sink the GOP's Dreams of Regaining the Presidency | Alternet

Putting Lipstick on a Pig: 4 Messes that Sink the GOP's Dreams of Regaining the Presidency | Alternet
"In a nutshell, how does a party of insular, rigid true believers, thrusting warlike middle fingers towards modernity, talk itself into modernizing just because it lost one election? Aside from putting lipstick on a pig, where’s the miraculous (earthbound) agency that modernizes angry, resentful Tea Partiers whose outrage targeted the very diverse, younger, secular crowds now crowning the future?"

The War On Women Is a Class War | Alternet

The War On Women Is a Class War | Alternet
"Last week the voters delivered their verdict on what has come to be known as "the Republican War on Women": They're against it."

Virginia GOP Official: Obama Will Go To Hell

Virginia GOP Official: Obama Will Go To Hell: Virginia Republican party official Bob FitzSimmonds is by no means a fortune teller, but he feels confident guessing that President Obama is going to hell. In a Facebook posting, FitzSimmonds, who is a close associate of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, speculated that Obama would live a long life but when he died at 90, [...]/p

Racist Reagan Operatives Behind New Robocall Calling for Obama's Impeachment

Racist Reagan Operatives Behind New Robocall Calling for Obama's Impeachment
"Make no mistake. These are the people who carry the heart and the torch of today's Republican Party. They are not edge cases, but mainstream Republicans doing mainstream Republican things. They have ties to Karl Rove and the neocon right, and ties to Pat Buchanan and the hardcore racist right.

Reagan built that."

It's The "Jobs Cliff" Stupid...

Beware of con men bearing slogans. The oldest trick in the book is for conservatives -- cons -- to create hysteria around something, and then get all of us to give them billions of our tax dollars to fix the problem they've gotten us all hysterical about.

Drudge Goes All in With "Secession" Meme as the Republican War on the Constitution Escalates | Alternet

Drudge Goes All in With "Secession" Meme as the Republican War on the Constitution Escalates | Alternet
"There is no greater oxymoron in America's political discourse than the “Constitutional conservative"."

How Republicans Stole the Election... Again

How Republicans Stole the Election... Again
"Except that’s not quite true, Mr King, and you know it. The American people didn’t vote for a Republican House, the Republicans didn’t actually win the House, and therefore there is no mandate. 53,952,240 votes were cast for a Democratic House candidate compared to 53,402,643 cast for a Republican; in other words, over half a million more Americans voted for Democratic House candidates than for Republican candidates. Republicans received less than half of the vote for members of the House of Representatives, and even lost seats in the House this election. Yet Republicans still took 55 percent of the seats in the House. In effect, they had to steal the House. Here’s how:"

Dear Secessionists, Go For It, Please | Common Dreams

Dear Secessionists, Go For It, Please | Common Dreams
"Interestingly, it turns out most red states aremoochers and welfare queens who take more than they give in federal funds. We wish them godspeed, and good luck with their budgets."

Obama Swept States With The Most Educated Workforces And The Highest Paid Teachers

Obama Swept States With The Most Educated Workforces And The Highest Paid Teachers: Barack Obama fared well across the country Tuesday night, winning 332 electoral votes en route to a second term as president. Nowhere did he perform better, however, than in states that place the highest emphasis on education. Of the 10 most educated states, measured by the percentage of residents over 25 years old who have [...]/p

Brief Rundown of Just How Big a Victory Tuesday Was for Democrats

Brief Rundown of Just How Big a Victory Tuesday Was for Democrats
"After being told for six months how close the race was, turns out, No. No it wasn't. How big of a win was it? In the end, it wasn't even close. President Obama won BOTH the Electoral College AND the Popular Vote... and not just by a little, but by A LOT... 126 Electoral votes and nearly 3 Million in the Popular Vote"

Thanks, teabaggers, for gifting us the Senate!

Thanks, teabaggers, for gifting us the Senate!
"So we can safely assume that if the teabaggers didn't exist, Republicans today would be enjoying a 53-47 Senate majority. Instead, they face a 10-seat 55-45 deficit."

5 Fraudulent Election Claims by Religious Right Leaders Exposed | Alternet

5 Fraudulent Election Claims by Religious Right Leaders Exposed | Alternet
"The religious right took a drubbing at the polls yesterday as voters rejected not only Mitt Romney but also some of the most extreme Republican candidates, even those in races that should have been easy Republican victories."

Republican Party is going to have to leave their proverbial bubble to remain viable

The Republican Party is going to have to leave their proverbial bubble to remain viable. Facts matter. Terrific breakdown of election night. The national results were predicted by fact-based models while the right wing media failed as usual.

Six Congressional Races Where GOP Extremism Lost

Six Congressional Races Where GOP Extremism Lost: The 2012 House and Senate races were to a significant degree about the GOP’s shift to the far right of the American historical norm — assaults on the fundamentals of the social safety net unseen since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, unprecedented attempts to restrict women’s reproductive freedom, and near-theological devotion to lowering tax [...]/p

Karl Rove, the Biggest Loser | Alternet

Karl Rove, the Biggest Loser | Alternet
"Mitt Romney wasn’t the only big loser last night. For  Karl Rove,  the coup de grace came in the hour just before midnight"

OBAMA'S BIG NIGHT - The Atlantic

OBAMA'S BIG NIGHT - The Atlantic
"In the end, it wasn't particularly close. Assuming his late leads hold in Florida and Ohio, Obama will have lost just two states from his 2008 sweep, Indiana and North Carolina. Every other swing state -- from Ohio, Iowa and New Hampshire to Virginia, Florida, Colorado and Nevada -- fell for Obama. The Democratic-leaning states Romney tried to put on the board, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, never came close."

Nate Silver: Obama Has 86.3 Percent Chance of Winning Election | Alternet

Nate Silver: Obama Has 86.3 Percent Chance of Winning Election | Alternet
"Silver explained why his forecast shows Obama winning ina recent column . “Friday’s polling should make it easy to discern why Mr. Obama has the Electoral College advantage. There were 22 polls of swing states published Friday,” Silver writes. “Of these, Mr. Obama led in 19 polls, and two showed a tie. Mitt Romney led in just one of the surveys, a Mason-Dixon poll of Florida"." Now get out there and VOTE!!!!! The higher the turnout the harder it is to steal. Remember republicans have not won a presidential election (except by cheating Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004) since 1988. (Silver's final 2008 presidential election forecast accurately predicted the winner of 49 of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia (missing only the prediction for Indiana). He also correctly predicted the winners of every U.S. Senate race.)

5 Signs Romney is Getting Desperate | Alternet

5 Signs Romney is Getting Desperate | Alternet
"The polls, though, continue show a solid lead for President Obama, particularly in the Electoral College race. And that means it’s time for the Romney-Ryan campaign to get desperate--which is exactly what they’ve been doing."

Romney's big miscalculation on the Jeep-to-China lie

Romney's big miscalculation on the Jeep-to-China lie
"By now there's no real doubt that Mitt Romney's lies about Chrysler and General Motors moving jobs from the United States to China thanks to the auto bailout hurt rather than helped him."

Office of Eric Cantor's Democratic Opponent Vandalized With "Baby-Killer," "Nigger-Lover" | Alternet

Office of Eric Cantor's Democratic Opponent Vandalized With "Baby-Killer," "Nigger-Lover" | Alternet
"A notably ugly election just keeps getting uglier"

Bomb Scares, Belligerent Tea Partiers and Last-Minute Disenfranchisement – This Election Is Already Ugly | Alternet

Bomb Scares, Belligerent Tea Partiers and Last-Minute Disenfranchisement – This Election Is Already Ugly | Alternet
"We're seeing all the right-wing nonsense about our elections bear fruit."

Mitt Hits the Panic Button | Alternet

Mitt Hits the Panic Button | Alternet
"Of course, the state polls say something else, and state polls are what really count.  Obama is ahead , if marginally, in almost every swing state. This means that Obama can afford to lose in a few states he’s currently winning, while Romney has to win every single state he’s currently winning plus steal a bunch of states from Obama, especially Ohio, where he’s never fared well. Some recent polls even show Obama leading Virginia and Florida, both of which Romney needs. These numbers have made Nate Silver confident enough to  bet $1,000 that Obama wins (his model gives Obama a 79 percent chance of victory at the moment)."

PERRspectives: Elderly Will Be Hit Hard by Romney's Medicare, Medicaid Plans

PERRspectives: Elderly Will Be Hit Hard by Romney's Medicare, Medicaid Plans
"As the Congressional Budget Office and a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study confirmed, the Romney-Ryan plan to "voucherize and privatize" Medicare will invariably lead to much higher health care costs for future recipients. But today's elderly voters will feel a double sting under President Romney as well. After all, his pledge to "kill Obamacare dead" will erase hard-won drug benefits and health services those over 65 have gained under the Affordable Care Act. And as it turns out, Romney's proposal to slash Medicaid spending by more than a third over the next decade and give what remains as block grants to the states could jeopardize nursing home care for millions of American seniors."

Christie Praises Obama, Doesn't 'Give a Damn' About Romney Photo Op

Christie Praises Obama, Doesn't 'Give a Damn' About Romney Photo Op
""The president was great last night," Christie continued. "He said he would get it done. At 2 a.m., I got a call from FEMA to answer a couple of final questions and then he signed the declaration this morning. So I have to give the president great credit. He's been on the phone with me three times in the last 24 hours. He's been very attentive, and anything that I've asked for, he's gotten to me. So, I thank the president publicly for that. He's done -- as far as I'm concerned -- a great job for New Jersey"."

How the GOP's Real Agenda Is Revealed in Their Nasty Rape Comments | Alternet

How the GOP's Real Agenda Is Revealed in Their Nasty Rape Comments | Alternet
"What this umpteenth rape comment tells us isn't that the Republican party has a handful of unhinged members who sometimes flub their talking points. It reveals the real agendas and beliefs of the GOP as a whole."

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney's Auto Neurotic Prevarication

PERRspectives: Mitt Romney's Auto Neurotic Prevarication
"It's as if Mitt Romney simply can't help himself. Gripped by an irresistible obsession to become President of the United States, Romney will lie to voters on almost any issue, large or small. And on no point is Romney's compulsion to fabricate more pathological than on President Obama's successful rescue of the American auto industry. As his new ad designed to dupe voters in Ohio and across the industrial Midwest makes clear, the same Mitt Romney who was content to "let Detroit go bankrupt" now pretends to be its savior."

Romney Returns to His 'Obama Made the Economy Worse' Lie

Romney Returns to His 'Obama Made the Economy Worse' Lie
"Unfortunately for Romney, the facts and the overwhelming consensus of economists - including the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and John McCain's 2008 brain trust - flatly contradict Mitt's closing argument. Instead, the numbers show and the experts confirm that President Obama saved the American free-enterprise system from the abyss and averted Great Depression 2.0."

PERRspectives: After Bashing Auto Workers, Romney Asks for Their Votes

PERRspectives: After Bashing Auto Workers, Romney Asks for Their Votes
"In an effort to win over auto workers in Ohio and across the Midwest, Team Romney this week unveiled a jaw-droppingly fraudulent ad rewriting Mitt's opposition to the federal bailout that saved the entire industry. But largely overlooked in the shocked response to his bogus claims about Jeep shipping U.S. jobs to China has been the union-bashing that was at the center of Romney's primary campaign to win the Republican nomination for president. As a quick glance reveals, Mitt Romney may profess "I love American cars," but not the Americans who make them."

Where Did Paul Ryan Find Inspiration for 'Reforming' Social Security? A Brutal Military Dictatorship, Naturally | Alternet

Where Did Paul Ryan Find Inspiration for 'Reforming' Social Security? A Brutal Military Dictatorship, Naturally | Alternet
"While the Republican Party and its wealthy plutocrat backers have been accused of waging an elitist virtual war against the American majority, both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have financial and ideological ties to rich Latin American elites who have waged real wars against average citizens in their countries."

GOP Rep. Calls For Tax Cuts For The Wealthy, Tax Hikes For Everyone Else, And A Hit To The Economy

GOP Rep. Calls For Tax Cuts For The Wealthy, Tax Hikes For Everyone Else, And A Hit To The Economy: Tea Party Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) went on CNBC today and within the course of about two minutes managed to call for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, while also hiking taxes on lower-income and working Americans. When asked by the host what he thought should be done about the upcoming “fiscal cliff,” [...]/p

14 Most Extreme Candidates | Alternet

14 Most Extreme Candidates | Alternet
"It’s well known that in recent years, this country has seen its electoral politics polarized to an extent that has only rarely been paralleled in American history. But that polarization in many cases goes far beyond anything resembling mainstream discourse, extending to men and women who are linked to hate groups and racial, ethnic, religious, anti-gay and antigovernment extremism, or who promote extremist propaganda."

After Attending Stimulus Funded Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony, Tea Party Rep. Dismisses Stimulus Money

After Attending Stimulus Funded Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony, Tea Party Rep. Dismisses Stimulus Money: CONWAY, New Hampshire — Less than a year after attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new stimulus funded infrastructure project in New Hampshire, Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) derided the Recovery Act, telling constituents at a debate to ask “if that stimulus helped them.” The freshman congressman attended and spoke at a dedication of a new [...]/p

Add the auto bailout to the list of things Romney opposed but profited from

Add the auto bailout to the list of things Romney opposed but profited from
"Apparently there's nothing that Romney opposes so much he won't try to make a profit off of it. Which, actually, we already knew, thanks to his role in Bain investments in a medical-waste firm that disposed of aborted fetuses. And don't forget how Romney invested in a company founded to make profits on the aftermath of 9/11. Never mind all that profit from exactly the kind of Chinese trade practices he's campaigning against."

Just Study It Out Buddy: Annals of Right-Wing Idiocy | Common Dreams

Just Study It Out Buddy: Annals of Right-Wing Idiocy | Common Dreams
"llinois Tea Partier Joe Walsh is the latest, among many like-minded morons, to confirm Ellsberg, Chomsky et al are right: There are not as many differences as there should be between the major parties/candidates, but there are enough to matter. To wit: Walsh's latest drivel, after telling employers they should harass employees into voting Republican, saying he opposes abortion with no exceptions because "modern technology and science" ensure "you can't find one instance" of a woman's health or life endangered by a pregnancy."

Meet Romney’s Economic Hit Man | Common Dreams

Meet Romney’s Economic Hit Man | Common Dreams
"Hubbard is the ideological hit man instrumental in justifying the mortgage derivatives bubble that caused the Great Recession during the George W. Bush years. He now serves as Romney’s key economic adviser and is the front-runner to be the next Treasury secretary should the Republican win."

Neoconservative Jingoism Plus Mormon Delusion Equals Perpetual War | Alternet

Neoconservative Jingoism Plus Mormon Delusion Equals Perpetual War | Alternet
"You see unlike Romney's sons my military-aged son volunteered to serve our country."

Billy Graham's Romney Endorsement Backfires -- 'Mormonism Is a Cult' Meme Could Reach Millions | Alternet

Billy Graham's Romney Endorsement Backfires -- 'Mormonism Is a Cult' Meme Could Reach Millions | Alternet
"Romney is counting on evangelicals. The irony is that this is a shotgun marriage between two very different religions but they are completely dependent upon one another for victory."

Does the Romney Family Now Own Your E-Vote?

Does the Romney Family Now Own Your E-Vote?
"But these Hart machines are deeply flawed and widely know to be open to a troubling variety of attacks and breakdowns ( http://www.bradblog.com/... ).  There is no legal or other means to definitively monitor and re-check a tally compiled on Hart or other electronic voting machines.  Ohio's current governor and secretary of state are both Republicans."

Despite Court Order, Ohio’s GOP Election Chief Is Still Cutting Back Early Voting

Despite Court Order, Ohio’s GOP Election Chief Is Still Cutting Back Early Voting: There is a simple explanation for why Ohio Republicans are so determined to cut back early voting. Early voters are more likely to be minorities and are more likely to have lower incomes. They are also much less likely to have jobs that give them the flexibility to take time off to vote on election day. According to a recent Ohio poll,President Obama leads 57 percent to 38 percent among people who already voted, but is tied at 43 percent with Mitt Romney among likely voters who have yet to cast their ballot.

Virginia GOP Caught Throwing Away Voter Registrations

Virginia GOP Caught Throwing Away Voter Registrations
"You know how every time they're in control, Republicans grow the government and run into the ground to prove that government is inefficient and bloated? Well, I think it's time to realize that the GOP is now determined to prove that their cries of voter fraud are true...because they're the ones committing it."

Romney Told 31 Myths In 41 Minutes During Last Night's Debate | Alternet

Romney Told 31 Myths In 41 Minutes During Last Night's Debate | Alternet
"During the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado Romney managed to tell  27 myths in his 38 minutes  of speaking time. But at his second encounter with Obama in New York, the GOP presidential candidate — who has run  a post-truth campaign  from day one — outdid himself and crammed 31 myths in 41 minutes:"