World News Korner

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

The Affordable Care Act, President Barack Barack Obama’s signature health law, is already boosting household income and spending.

The Commerce Department reported Monday that consumer spending rose a better-than-expected 0.4% and personal incomes climbed 0.3% in January. The new health-care law accounted for a big chunk of the increase on both fronts.

On the incomes side, the law’s expanded coverage boosted Medicaid benefits by an estimated $19.2 billion, according to Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The ACA also offered several refundable tax credits, including health insurance premium subsidies, which added up to $14.7 billion.

Taken together, the Obamacare provisions are responsible for about three-quarters of January’s overall rise in Americans’ incomes.

Look, more news you won't be able to see on Fox News.

This is the kind of information that absolutely HAS to disseminated far and wide.

The GOP is still counting on running against the Affordable Care Act in 2014, the more data like this that gets out there the harder that will prove to be.

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Courtesy of TPM:

State Sen. Wendy Davis (D) and Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) won their respective nominations in the Texas gubernatorial race on Tuesday.

The primaries were called for Davis and Abbott about an hour after polls closed.

Davis is the first female Democratic nominee to be nominated for governor of Texas since Ann Richards.

"And now it's time, it's time for each of us to work as hard as we can and to fight for the very future of this great state, thank you so much for your help," Davis said in her victory speech. "I'm looking forward to working with you on this journey. God bless you all, and God bless Texas."

There is really nothing surprising about this outcome however I decided to write this post because the other day I watched a commentator on MSNBC, Chris Cillizza, say that he did not see a victory for Wendy Davis moving forward.

His claim is that the slight inconsistencies in her personal story, that the Right Wing blew WAY out of proportion would undermine her campaign and that the best hope for Texas to go blue was in the future.

This infuriated me to no end.

Look I don't expect every pundit on MSNBC to be a cheerleader for Davis, or ANY Democratic candidate for that matter, but to unfairly handicap the race as un-winnable against an opponent who thought it was a good campaign decision to have Ted Nugent show up on stage with him is ridiculous.

Especially after others have pointed out that the biography snafu will unlikely have a much of an effect on the election outcome.

But look ultimately it is up to the fine folks of Texas to get motivated and prove people like Chris Cillizza and Fox News wrong.

I swear if I were there on election day I would be offering rides to the polls for those who could not get there on their own. But I'm not, so it is up to those who are to make this the biggest midterm turnout for Democrats in American history.

And not just in Texas, we need to get our people motivated and mobilized ALL over the country.

We do that and we will greatly improve our chances of making some serious and very necessary improvements in our government, and set the stage for a much better future.

And just to help build a fire under folks, remember who is shaking her fake water filled pom poms for the other side:

It was a great night for conservatives in Texas last night – despite what the D.C. media would have you believe. Voters wisely selected many Tea Party candidates across the board. Congratulations to Greg Abbott, we’ll work hard to make sure he is the next Governor of Alaska’s little sister state. We were proud to support Katrina Pierson as well – a bold conservative woman who has overcome bigger challenges in life than election results. Katrina has a bright future ahead, and we know she will continue her fight for conservative values – after all, you don't need a title to make a difference. We need more bold women like Katrina in the GOP. 2014 is just underway, and together we’ll continue to give a leg up to grassroots conservatives, despite the odds, who embrace inspiration, ingenuity, and integrity. We’re just getting started!

That's right the Queen of Mean is already starting her victory lap, so let's do everything we can to trip her up, shall we?

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Courtesy of Mediaite:

During a hearing of the House Oversight Committee into allegations that the Internal Revenue Service scrutinized conservative groups’ tax-exempt status filings unduly, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) exploded at Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). Cummings charged that the way in which the proceedings were being conducted were “Un-American.” In apparent protest, Issa then walked out of the committee hearing.

While making a statement before the committee, Issa stood up and asked Cummings to yield.

“If you will sit down and allow me to ask a question,” Cummings insisted. “I am a member of a Congress of the United States of America.”

“I am tired of this,” he continued. “You cannot just have a one-sided investigation. There is absolutely something wrong with that, and it is absolutely un-American.”

“We had a hearing. It was adjourned,” Issa replied. “I gave you an opportunity to ask your questions. You had no questions.”

“I do have questions,” Elijah replied. “Chairman, what are you hiding?”

At this stage, Issa walked out of the hearing

"He's taking the fifth Elijah." I LOVED that!

I had the opportunity to see a longer clip from MSNBC this morning, and what Mediaite and this shorter clip leave out is that Issa adjourned the hearing right as Rep. Cummings started to make his statement, and then cut his mic.

I mean no wonder Cummings was pissed, but what angered him just as much was the fact that this whole hearing was a waste of time as the attorney for Lois Lerner stated that she would not be testifying today.

Update: Now Issa is claiming that Cummings slandered him:

“He was talking into a mic in an adjourned meeting,” Issa said. “The fact is Mr. Cummings came to make a point of his objections to the process we have been going through. He was actually slandering me at the moment that the mics did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation.”

Ahh, somebody got hims feelings hurted.

Update 2: Here is the longer version of Issa's tantrum courtesy of MSNBC.

(By the way I just noticed that Lois Lerner sat and listened to Elijah Cummings entire statement about the Republican IRS witch hunt even though Issa had dismissed her. For some reason that really tickled me.)

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Courtesy of Media Matters:

The right-wing's Benghazi scandal-mongering entered the realm of self-parody after Fox News let Sen. Lindsey Graham blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Obama administration's handling of the 2012 attacks in Libya -- the latest attempt in a series of conservative alchemy experiments trying to turn tragedy into political gold.

On March 4, Sen. Graham (R-SC) tweeted that the crisis in Ukraine "started with Benghazi," blaming the Obama administration's response to the attacks for 'inviting' aggression from Russia.

Graham made the same accusation on March 3 during Fox News' On The Record with Greta Van Susteren. At Van Susteren's prompting, Graham claimed that the Russian aggression in Ukraine "in many ways started with Benghazi, when our consulate was overrun and our first ambassador was killed in thirty-something years in the line of duty ... You're sending absolutely the wrong signal to our foes."

Okay it's official, Sarah Palin is no longer the craziest voice on the conservative side of the aisle.

And this guy is currently serving in the Senate!

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Courtesy of the Washington Times:

Opening a door to hedge his political bets, Sen. Rand Paul has asked the leader of the Kentucky Senate for legislation to ensure that Mr. Paul can run both for the White House and for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016, The Washington Times has learned.

“Yes, I am working on clarifying an ambiguous state law that Rand Paul believes is unconstitutional if it is interpreted to bar running for re-election to the Senate and for president at the same time,” Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told The Times on Monday.

“The purpose of the bill will be to make clear that Rand Paul or anyone in a similar situation in Kentucky can run for both offices in the same year,” Mr. Thayer explained.

If things go Mr. Paul’s way, he could win the GOP presidential nomination, then run in the fall 2016 general election for the presidency and to retain his U.S. Senate seat. If he wins the presidency and the Senate re-election bid, he would relinquish his Senate seat.

Okay my first take away from this was that clearly Rand Paul was not somebody who would let a few silly laws stand in the way of his political aspirations.

And secondly I think it is now obvious that Paul is DEFINITELY running for the GOP nomination is 2016. I am pretty sure Ted Cruz is going to throw his hat in, and there is talk about Bobby Jindal and possibly Marco Rubio as well.

Well so much for fewer clowns in the clown car this time around.

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Anybody who tells a sweet child like this that they were born into sin, is an ignorant POS.

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I know this is supposed to be joke, but you know it does make a certain kind of sense.

And that would also explain why Fundamentalists are always so bent out of shape about Sci-fi programs, video games, Harry Potter, and Dungeons and Dragons.

All of them attract their own rabid following of nerds and that threatens the uber-Christians who don't appreciate the competition.

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Courtesy of Queen Fester's Facebook page:

I find this stunning – scary, sad, and stunning. On the eve of Netanyahu's visit, President Obama announces to the world that he shall tell Israel's prime minister what to do; he'll lay blame for regional unrest on Israel and command they adopt an Obama-sanctioned "peace plan" that requires Israel to concede even more land and authority. Truly stunning.

Well of course she finds it stunning, scary, and sad. After all if Obama stops allowing Israel to continue yanking America's chain, and forces it to make real peace with the Palestinians, she might not get that important war that was predicted in the Book of Revelations and she won't get to meet Jesus.

After all Palin would not piss on Israel if it was on fire, if she did not believe that it was instrumental in ushering in the Second Coming of Christ.

For those who may not know what has Palin's crusty panties all in a bunch, this is what has been reported about Obama's plans:

President Obama plans to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to support the U.S. framework for peace with the Palestinians when the two men meet in the Oval Office on Monday, according to aides familiar with the agenda.

But Obama may also offer tougher talk than ever before on the importance of reaching a peace agreement and ending Israeli settlement construction in the occupied territories.

In an interview published by Bloomberg News on Sunday, Obama told journalist Jeffrey Goldberg that the U.S. is still willing to defend Israel before the international community but that his ability to do that effectively may wane without a peace deal.

“If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction -- and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time,” Obama said. “If Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited.”

If Netanyahu doesn’t believe that a peace deal is the right thing to do for Israel, Obama told Goldberg, “then he needs to articulate an alternative approach.”

“It’s hard to come up with one that’s plausible,” he added.

In other words after decades of US Presidents spending tons of time, money, and wasted political capital trying to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, Obama is upping the stakes by suggesting that if Netanyahu is not serious about working towards peace in the Middle East, then he should have the guts to admit it.

And that once he does, America might not be able, or perhaps even willing, to protect them from the aggression that is surely going to come their way.

To my way of thinking this kind of tough talk is EXACTLY what Netanyahu needs to hear.

Perhaps once he realizes that THIS President is unwilling to continue being jerked around, he will put a stop to the aggressive settlement construction and start negotiating in good faith.

After all wasn't it the conservatives and Fox News who said that President Obama needed to start talking tougher and backing it up with action?

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Courtesy of Raw Story:

A Catholic school in Massachusetts is refusing to march in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade for the first time in nearly 25 years because a group of LGBT military veterans were granted permission to participate this year.

Last week, parade organizers said that the LGBT group MassEquality would be able to march in the St. Patrick’s Day after the request was denied four other years.

Brother Thomas Dalton, principal of The Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Harvard, reacted on Monday by saying that band members and students from his school would not attend for the first time in decades.

“The familiar scene of Saint Patrick joyfully giving his blessing to the crowds has, sad to say, come to an end,” Dalton told WCVB. “In the footsteps of Saint Patrick, IHM does not condone and will not appear to condone the homosexual lifestyle.”

“Homosexual acts are gravely immoral and are not to be promoted in any way,” he added.

“We must stand firm with the Church which states in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, that ‘homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity’ and ‘are intrinsically disordered… Under no circumstances can they be approved.’”

Yes clearly it is impossible for the Catholic's to participate in anything that even remotely condones the behavior sodomites. Unless of course it is priests sodomizing young boys, THAT must be covered up and excused at all cost.

I find it interesting that the Catholics are perfectly fine with participating in parade that essentially promotes heavy drinking, and outrageous behaviors, but let two men hold hands, and they lose their ever loving minds.

I guess it is perfectly fine if you are drunkenly mauling some barmaid while wearing a "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirt, just so long as you yourself are not another female doing it.

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Before I start with the transcript I want you to just take a moment and look at this image.

THAT is the expression that Palin wore throughout almost the entire interview. I swear it is the same look that my daughter's dog had on its face after she recently came out of surgery.

Methinks somebody might have taken a little something for their nerves before the camera started rolling.

Hannity starts it off by showing the tape of Palin reading off of a teleprompter her "prediction" that Russia would invade the Ukraine.

He then asks her what she saw that the President failed to see. (You know, besides whatever hallucinations are currently dancing before her eyes.)

Here was her catatonic response:

"Well anyone who carries the common sense gene would know that Putin does not change his stripes. (Because he is a tiger.) He harkens back to the era of the czars, and he wants that Russian empire to grow again. He wants to exert huge power and dominance, so he has to get to those border areas, and he has to capture them. But you know what Sean? More importantly...we were right on that, I'm right when I talk about that inherent link between energy and security. Energy and prosperity. And when we don't develop our resources, and when we are not able to feed others with our resources, and so many others are reliant upon Russia, who does develop their resources, and with that wealth are able to strengthen their military and their influence and power on the globe, then other nations are in trouble." (For the record 2013 saw the United States breaking records with its domestic oil production. Which of course proves that Palin has no damn idea what she is talking about.)


I like the fact that after vomiting forth this chunk of clearly pre-written mooseshit that Palin looked almost pleased with herself as if she thought she had knocked it out of the park, while instead she had been chewing on her bat the entire time.

Hannity then follows the predetermined talking point of suggesting that the solution to all of the planet's problems is more fracking. Also making the point that the Ukraine is crisscrossed with various pipelines.

Palin: "Right, see that building of pipelines is an example of developing natural resources and what they can provide to a region, and here today...was it in Washington D.C.? We had all these protestors against the Keystone Pipeline. Look, America needs pipelines! Just like the other parts of the globe we were just talking about need their pipelines, we need ours. And those protestors griping about..oh I don't know...perhaps an earthworm will be displaced when a pipeline in built in America. That earthworm, it can take one for the team." (I am not exactly sure why an earthworm would care to take one for a team of creatures that routinely destroys it habitat, but putting that aside the fear of what having heavy tar sands flowing through the Keystone Pipeline in the U.S. could do to our environment is about far more than a displaced worm.)

Hannity then asks Palin for her predictions as to what Putin might do next, and if it is possible he will invade more countries. (Because as we all know she used to spy on him from her house.)

Palin: "Well yes, especially under the Commander-in-Chief that we have today, because Obama's...the perception of him, and his potency...across the world is one of such weakness, you know and I...lookit people are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil. They look at our President as one who wears mom jeans and equivocates and bloviates."

Did somebody mention "mom jeans?"

"We are not exercising that peace through strength that can only be brought to you courtesy of the red, white, and blue. That only a strengthened United States military can do."

Okay is crazy eyes literally suggesting that Obama should threaten Russia with military force? Surely even SHE is not that out to lunch. Or is she?

And speaking of the President, why was she talking about his "potency?" That did not seem like an appropriate word for what she was talking about.

Hannity then goes on to mock the President for his "reset" of relations with Russia, most of which took place during the term of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who appeared to be much more interested in negotiating with the west than has been demonstrated by Putin.

Palin greedily takes the bait: "Yeah that reset button thing that was just more um...more political speak, and double speak, that is so prevalent in the Obama administration. No...um...Obama instead has chosen to adopt this MO of leading from behind, whatever the heck that means, I mean because the rest of the world...looking for that shining city on a hill, looking for that country in which...that they can emulate. Um they're not seeing that anymore in America because of Obama's weak leadership, leading from behind, which makes absolutely no sense. Um what...what's going on...in a greater sense here is other countries finally taking advantage of that weakness in America at this point. Because our Commander-in-Chief does not understand the peace through strength that so many of us want to get back to. That is the only way that our world will be safer, more secure."

Okay first off that "leading from behind" thing is an invention of Fox News and Right Wing talking points. So if Madame Mooseshit here does not understand what it means she needs to talk to her script writers.

Secondly it sounds to me like this lunatic is suggesting that the only way to control Russia is to beef up our military and return to a cold war mentality. Because you know, THAT would be making progress.

Hannity makes some comments about Russia and China giving each other a reach around, and then Palin chimes in with her final point.

Palin: "My last point is...when Putin now is being accused by critics of violating law, in his actions today, well I'm loathe to give any advice to a tyrant like Putin, but you know what he could do is what liberals adopt here in America as acceptable, and that is when our President decides which laws, picking and choosing, that he will follow, he can just call it an executive order and nobody says boo."

Yes because not wanting to support DOMA is just like invading another country, right you moron?

By the way perhaps somebody needs to remind this idiot that so far President Obama has only used the Executive Order 168 times to George W. Bush's 291. (Clinton chocked up 364.)

And speaking of George W, Bush, most pundits agree that it was HIS actions while invading Iraq that have helped to embolden Putin. NOT the policies of the current resident of the White House.

Here is the interview for you to watch on your own. (If you so desire.)

While watching it, my very first thought was that she looked like she was tranquilized, and that thought was immediately followed by "What the fuck in on her head?"

As for her delivery, it was clear she had been coached, and a script written for her, but in her medicated state she clearly had a difficult time sticking to it.

Here is what the Obama Diary tweeted after her appearance.

MT @SarahPalinUSA On @seanhannity tonight to talk about Russia and Ukraine // Palin aides school her first --> pic.twitter.com/24DeZOcMuK
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) March 3, 2014

Too funny, and too true.

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Courtesy of Wonkette:

In our latest edition of Sarah Palin Picked Your Pockets (And You Liked It), we discover that so far in the 2014 election cycle, up through Dec. 31, 2013, Sarah Palin’s SarahPAC has given a total of $5,000 to candidates … or, er, one candidate, comer Jason Smith of MO. What else (Nordstrom) is SarahPAC (Nordstrom) spending money on (Nordstrom) today?

Wonkette was inspired to make their post after Open Secrets did their very helpful breakdown, which was not yet available to me when I did my first reporting on this back in January.

Here is what Open Secrets posted:

If she keeps spending more money than she takes in she may eventually have to start spending money she actually earns from doing something. You know, like the little people.

Here is the breakdown of the expenditures.

Personally I think it is that "Unclassified consulting" which keeps so many secrets safe up here in Alaska.

When she can not longer pay that, then things will start to get interesting.

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This description from the YouTube page:

This presenter was one of several consultants flown in from California and the United Kingdom for the Chicago Public Schools' Office of Strategic School Support Services' special network. This is a professional development for teachers of Saturday ISAT preparation classes.

To be clear this are accredited teachers, many with years of experience, being treated as if they themselves are children.

Here is how one educator described what they were seeing on this video: Yes, you can make a lot of things look bad taken out of context, but I don’t think a case can be made that this is appropriate for any professional development, or classroom, context…

I may be somewhat hyper sensitive to this personally because I myself am in the last month of a three month mandatory training process that has provided me with NO new information, and during which I have been called upon repeatedly by the newly hired instructors to provide context or clarification for what they are trying to teach.

I have been more than slightly irritated during this training, but at least they have never treated us as poorly as the Chicago teachers in the video.

I can assure all of you that if anybody addressed me in such a manner I would gather my things and walk out never to return again. And I would not give two shits if it were mandatory or not.

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Courtesy of Raw Story:

Disgraced conservative columnist John Derbyshire is urging the Republican Party to abandon its meager efforts to court voters who aren’t racist white men.

Derbyshire, who lost his job with the National Review after publishing a “nasty and indefensible” 2012 column about his racial prejudices, told Communities Digital News on Friday that the GOP would never attract enough black and women voters to be worth the effort.

“The future of the conservative movement is as a home for white ethnocentrism,” said Derbyshire, who now writes for the white nationalist site VDARE.

He said “conservatives are the only people in the U.S.A. trying to ‘transcend contentious racial issues,’” but agreed with his “friend” — white nationalist Jared Taylor – that white people should stop trying to get along with black people.

“Whites may as well start asserting themselves and join in fighting for the spoils,” Derbyshire said. “If that’s right, ‘colorblind conservatism’ is a dead end, and the future of the conservative movement is as a home for white ethnocentrism.”

Well now finally some truth telling from the conservatives.

And does anybody really think that this is NOT the opinion of the vast number of Republican party members?

Oh they can pretend to want to create a "big tent" but really all they want is a big plantation, with the darkies relegated to the positions of servitude that these racists believe they were born to occupy.

Oh and don't think his opinions on women are any more enlightened.

“Women are just like that,” Derbyshire said. “One thing we might try would be putting some alpha males up front, instead of mealy-mouthed cringing betas.”

So according to this guy the only hope for the survival of a conservative party made up of angry white guys, is to become even angrier and whiter moving forward.

Good to know.

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