Here’s why mainstream America has given up on the Republican Party

“The Republican Party should be less worried about its image and more worried about its substance. No party that dismantles the American Jobs Act, blocks the Violence Against Women Act and defeats the DREAM Act can expect to win the hearts and minds of mainstream America, let alone a governing majority.

For crying out loud, Republicans in the chamber couldn’t even manage to stand up and applaud for protecting voting rights and helping kids go to pre-school. Instead of continuing to oppose everything Democrats stand for, Republicans should explain to the American people why the only thing Republicans seem to consistently stand for —- more tax cuts for the rich —- didn’t create jobs and ward off our financial crisis when those cuts were in place.”

— “Republicans need to quit complaining and start cooperating with Obama” by Sally Kohn at FOX News [thechosenjuan]

Recap / GIFs from the SOTU and the GOP response

Obama’s State Of The Union Address (FULL TEXT) » The President spoke about the policies and issues on which he campaigned AND WON a second term.

PDF from the White House of the policies that the President outlined.

State of the union address: Obama lays down gauntlet »

  • Second term to focus on immigration, gun control, economy
  • Obama: ‘We must pay our bills on time’
  • President announces pullout of 34,000 troops from Afghanistan
  • Calls for increase in minimum wage for US workers


via @Ronc99

Ezra Klein: Imagine, for a moment, that President Obama managed to pass every policy he proposed tonight. Within a couple of years, every four-year-old would have access to preschool. The federal minimum wage would be at $9 — higher than it’s been, after adjusting for inflation, since 1981. There’d be a cap-and-trade program limiting our carbon emissions and a vast infrastructure investment to upgrade our roads and bridges. Taxes would be higher, guns would be harder to come by, and undocumented immigrants would have a path to citizenship. America would be a noticeably different country.


Daily Intelligencer: Joe Biden loved it when Obama suggested that Congress “pass the rest” of his jobs legislation.

“We are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations; that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter in our American story.” — President Obama, SOTU 2013


via workingamerica

JM AshbyWhile I will praise this announcement, I expect the Far Right will say it’s too soon, and the Far Left will say it’s too late.

President Barack Obama Blows a kiss to first lady Michelle Obama,
  
via obama2016


via krispycrustacean

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And the GOP’s response, courtesy of their best hope (this week) for 2016:


via inothernews


via theatlantic

Full transcript of Sen. Marco Rubio’s response to the State of the Union »

The State of the Hydration, in “slow-mo” (notice Rubio NEVER loses eye contact with the camera):

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via @jedlewison


…said no one but Fox Nation. (via)


via myhappymachine

FACT CHECK: Under President Obama, federal spending has grown at the slowest rates since President Eisenhower » (via occupy-my-blog)

Other:

Twenty-two Congressmen invited people whose lives have been touched by gun violence, in an effort coordinated by Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island. Counterbalancing those invitees is a Texas congressman who invited Ted Nugent. Nugent was investigated by the secret service after saying that if President Obama were reelected he, Nugent, would end up “dead or in jail.” Turned out the answer was c) at the state of the union. — guardian.co.uk

Photos of Shitty Pants Nugent during the SOTU here and here and here.

Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech: NINE issues he decided he wouldn’t talk about

Long on biography but short on policy.

Think Progress lists 9 items Romney either didn’t bring up — or that were mentioned in passing — in his acceptance speech last night. “[F]or a candidate who chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to signal a willingness to take on big challenges, Romney spent precious few — if any — words discussing some of the country’s most pressing problems and even less time explaining how a Romney/Ryan administration would solve them:”

  1. – 0 mentions of Financial Reform: Even as millions of Americans struggle with the effects of the Great Recession caused by Wall Street malfeasance and scores of others continue to deal with the fallout of the foreclosure fraud scandal, Romney has said that he will repeal the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, but has yet to detail what, if anything, he would put in its place.
  2. — 0 mentions of Climate Change: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet,” Romney said to loud laughter. It’s too bad that he and most of the GOP delegates don’t believe in the very real threat of global warming.
  3. – 0 mentions of Immigration: “We are a nation of immigrants,” Romney said, without explaining how he would help the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Romney has not said if he would rescind Obama’s temporary directive permitting young undocumented immigrants to work in the country, though his advisers have suggested that he would.
  4. – 0 mentions of Romneycare: The convention speakers didn’t tackle Romney’s greatest accomplishment as governor, the enactment of universal health care coverage in Massachusetts. Romney promised to repeal Obamacare, but did not say what he would replace it with.
  5. – 0 mentions of Afghanistan or Syria: Romney did not mention how he planned to address the nation’s largest ongoing wars or one of the most important ongoing humanitarian crises on Earth. This may be because the Romney campaign has been unable to meaningfully distinguish its policies from those of the Obama administration on either of these crucial issues.
  6. – 0 mentions of Social Security: Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, has proposed Social Security privatization schemes that would have cost retirees dearly if they had been in place during the financial crisis.
  7. – 0 mentions of Veterans: Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Romney has ignored veterans issues. After he spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last month, veteran advocates said they were “still waiting for Romney to spell out how he would do better than his opponent.” “We haven’t … heard any specific plans yet from Governor Romney or his campaign,” said Bob Wallace, executive director at the Washington office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, echoing the sentiment of many advocates.”
  8. – 1 mention of Medicare: Romney criticized Obama for cutting $716 billion cuts from Medicare — reductions that are also included in Paul Ryan’s budget. But did not explain what his own controversial reforms. Under Romney’s “premium support” plan, seniors would have to spend significantly more for health care.
  9. – 1 mention of Housing: Romney did say, “when the realtor told you that to sell your house you’d have to take a big loss” — but that’s all. The Federal Reserve bank of New York anticipates that millions of Americans will face foreclosure this year and next, but Romney has yet to release a housing plan, beyond telling homeowners in foreclosure-battered Las Vegas “don’t try and stop the foreclosure process,” just “let it run its course and hit the bottom.”

Mitt Romney is a firm believer in keeping secrets, which includes his policy plans. Romney has restricted voters to a ‘need to know’ access, meaning they don’t need to know until after they vote for him.

Romney 2012: Isn’t it time America had a president who’s afraid to take an opinion on anything?

quickhits: Mitt Romney 2012 — Because isn’t it time America had a president afraid to stake out an opinion on anything?

Romney’s ‘official statement’ is:

“Today’s decision underscores the need for a President who will lead on this critical issue and work in a bipartisan fashion to pursue a national immigration strategy. President Obama has failed to provide any leadership on immigration. This represents yet another broken promise by this President. I believe that each state has the duty — and the right — to secure our borders and preserve the rule of law, particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities. As Candidate Obama, he promised to present an immigration plan during his first year in office. But 4 years later, we are still waiting.”

Steve Benen comments:  ”This one paragraph helps highlight so much of that’s wrong with Romney’s approach to campaigning for the presidency. He managed to say 104 words about a Supreme Court ruling, without actually taking a side — I know no more about Romney’s beliefs on this after reading his statement than I did before reading it.”

“The irony is almost jaw-dropping. Romney is certain we need a president “who will lead” on immigration policy, while at the exact same time, Romney refuses to lead on immigration policy. Put it this way: refusing to take a stand because one constituency or another might get angry isn’t leadership; it’s cowardice (and for the Republican presidential hopeful, it’s far too common).”

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is worried about Republicans’ rhetoric on immigration

“As a Republican, I am saying that the way Republicans have talked about this issue has been harmful to the party…The dialogue has been mean, and we find our party facing an uphill battle because of the way we talk about this issue, immigration. I worry about the future of this country in a post-9/11 world. We need to know who is in our country and why…I believe we don’t need a $3,000 fence [sic]. It is a waste of money. I do agree we need a secure border, but we can do so without a fence.” — Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales warned Thursday that Republicans’ rhetoric on immigration could be a big liability in November

Yeah, he should be worried about the way Republicans have talked about this issue — AND EVERY OTHER ISSUE they talk about: women, gays, the poor, the working class, the middle class, non-whites, Trayvon Martin’s murder, democrats, the unemployed, OWS protesters, the citizens of Iran and Afghanistan and Iraq (God, just enter any country here), Muslims, government employees, teachers, veterans, the uninsured, etc etc etc…

Republicans make Patriot-Eagle not feel like soaring, not even if Ashcroft sings.
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Obama on the Republicans and immigration reform: “They’ll never be satisfied”

“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I gotta say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time. Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat.

President Obama, 10 May 2011 in El Paso TX, on immigration reform and the Republicans.

Watch:

Tea Party Logic: Immigration

“My great-grandfather did not travel across 4,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this country overrun by immigrants….”

- Stephen Colbert

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Let’s face it: Some in the Washington press corps still resent Stephen Colbert because he so brilliantly lampooned them to their faces at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner over their coziness with the Bush White House.

On Friday, some elite journalists couldn’t contain their anger after Colbert testified before Congress on behalf of immigrant farm workers — mostly in character (with some funny and not-so-funny jokes) and partly in total seriousness:

“I like talking about people who don’t have any power and it seems like some of the least powerful people in the United States are the migrant workers who come and do our work and don’t have any rights as a result . And yet we still invite them to come here, and at the same time ask them to leave. That seems like an interesting contradiction to me.”

Thanks to Colbert, a hearing on migrant workers that would have been ignored by mainstream journalists was jam-packed with mainstream journalists.