The first caucus in history without a majority of white men

House Democrats became the first caucus in the history of either chamber not to have a majority of white men… The overwhelming majority of lawmakers sworn in Thursday were white men. But the new Congress, while still lagging behind the nation as whole in diversity, reflects national demographic changes that hold significant implications for American politics. — Congress now has more women, minorities than ever – The Washington Post

No wonder Lindsey Graham and Pat Toomey and many (most?) other white male Republicans are so angry. They need to remember that’s not our problem, though.

What’s easier: Understanding the Mitt Romney Olympics period or the Higgs boson?

“While he was in Utah getting the luge runs in shape, Romney was also still getting a six-figure salary for being a Bain “executive.” Perhaps for Mitt, that was just the going-away equivalent of a monogrammed briefcase. Although it does sort of take the steam out of his principled refusal to accept any money from the Olympics until his turnaround was successfully completed. So to summarize: Romney was at Bain after 1999, but not necessarily in the sense of occupying physical space. He was employed by folks in Utah, but not in the sense of the people who made out his paycheck. If we ever manage to really get our heads around Higgs boson, perhaps we will also be able to understand the Mitt Romney Olympics period.” —
Gail Collins
 (via azspot)

“Most Americans figure if you are the chairman, CEO and president of a company that you are responsible for what that company does.” — President Obama


image: demnewswire

“What was good for Bain Capital definitely wasn’t good for America.”

Paul Krugman remarks on why the ultimate purpose of corporations would never be good for America:

“Consider one of Mr. Romney’s most famous remarks: “Corporations are people, my friend.” When the audience jeered, he elaborated: “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets.” This is undoubtedly true, once you take into account the pockets of, say, partners at Bain Capital (who, I hasten to add, are, indeed, people). But one of the main points of outsourcing is to ensure that as little as possible of what corporations earn goes into the pockets of the people who actually work for those corporations.

“…if Bain got involved with your company, one way or another, the odds were pretty good that even if your job survived you ended up with lower pay and diminished benefits.”

“Why, for example, do many large companies now outsource cleaning and security to outside contractors? Surely the answer is, in large part, that outside contractors can hire cheap labor that isn’t represented by the union and can’t participate in the company health and retirement plans. And, sure enough, recent academic research finds that outsourced janitors and guards receive substantially lower wages and worse benefits than their in-house counterparts.

“Just to be clear, outsourcing is only one source of the huge disconnect between a tiny elite and ordinary American workers, a disconnect that has been growing for more than 30 years. And Bain, in turn, was only one player in the growth of outsourcing. So Mitt Romney didn’t personally, single-handedly, destroy the middle-class society we used to have. He was, however, an enthusiastic and very well remunerated participant in the process of destruction; if Bain got involved with your company, one way or another, the odds were pretty good that even if your job survived you ended up with lower pay and diminished benefits.

“In short, what was good for Bain Capital definitely wasn’t good for America. And, as I said at the beginning, the Obama campaign has every right to point that out.”

A corporation’s ONLY purpose is to maximize profits for the owners, by any means necessary.

4.6% — that’s your aggrievement, your entitlement, your socialism, your class warfare

Quote

Kevin Drum would like to remind everyone what the outrage from the top elite is all about:

“I just want everyone to be absolutely clear on what this “narrative of aggrievement” is all about. It’s about Obama’s proposal that the marginal tax rate on income over $400,000 should rise from 35% to 39.6%. That’s your aggrievement. That’s your entitlement. That’s your socialism. That’s your class warfare. An increase in the top marginal tax rate of 4.6 percentage points. Four. Point. Six. This is what America’s most prosperous citizens are up in arms about. This is why Barack Obama is an enemy of capitalism. These are the spiteful shackles he proposes to use to subjugate America’s engines of job creation. It’s the reason America’s wealthiest citizens are so frightened about the future of their country. 4.6 percentage points. Just let that sink in.”

Chrystia Freeland piles on:

“The president is arguing that what works for the top of the United States isn’t working for the middle, and that is a criticism the country’s lionized elite hasn’t heard from its leader in a very long time.”

Integrity and honesty: put up or shut up

“There is no whining in politics. Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns.”— GOP strategist John Weaver (via: think4yourself)


image: con-tem-plate

“I brought up a lot of stuff in the debate that doesn’t matter today.” — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, when asked about his consistent calls for Mitt Romney to reveal his income tax records during the Republican debates earlier this year. Perry, who made his remarks during a brief interview after stumping for Romney in Elko, Nevada, was quick to change the subject to Barack Obama’s college records and economic issues.  (via: think4yourself)

Video: Romney sings: OFA ad

Mitt Romney sings America the Beautiful (warning: Romney sings), accompanied by facts from his long career as a vulture capitalist and plutocratic elitist:



Romney will eat America.

“Statesman of the Year” is a “prestigious” award, obviously

Donald Trump will be in Florida a day before the Republican National Convention kicks off to receive a “Statesman of the Year” award from the Sarasota Republican Party. A spokesman for Trump said he is “honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award,” according to Mediaite.  Prestigious! 

If Republicans didn’t give each other these meaningless silly prestigious awards, who else would?

Your tax dollars at work: the do-nothing Republican House did more of that yesterday

244 members vote to repeal Obamacare, for the 31st time. House Republicans just spent 89 hours to repeal Obamacare instead of, you know, doing something that actually helps people.

image: demnewswire

And who were the five bluedogs who voted with the GOP? Reps. Dan Boren (OK), Larry Kissell (NC), Mike McIntyre (NC), Mike Ross (AR), and Jim Matheson (UT).

Mitt Romney apparently thinks he has black voters all figured out

After being booed at the NAACP convention yesterday, Romney scurried off to a fund-raiser in Hamilton, Montana where he decided to finally respond: “Remind them of this: If they want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy, more free stuff. But don’t forget, nothing is really free.”

What Mitt lacks in a spine (or a grown man’s testicles) he more than makes up for in dog-whistling for rich, white donors in Montana.

Tommy Christopher: ”This will probably help Romney with certain segments of the Republican base, but the broader electorate may well react negatively to the contemptuous attitude he displays toward people who support health care reform, who simply want the insurance that they pay for to actually cover them and their loved ones when they need it to. It will also give the press, and the former Massachusetts Governor’s opponents, a chance to remind independent voters that Mitt Romney actually does give different speeches to different audiences. To his donors, people who favor government health care reform with an individual mandate are freeloaders, while he tells the people of several years ago that government health care reform with an individual mandate eliminates the freeloader.” 

Steve Benen: ”In fact, this was entirely predictable — the far-right Republican presidential candidate spoke to the NAACP and effectively proclaimed, “Vote for me and I’ll make sure 7 million African Americans lose their health insurance.” What kind of campaign pitch is that? For crying out loud, of course Romney got booed. At the risk of being overly cynical, I can’t help but wonder if Romney did this on purpose precisely so he would be booed. [...] Indeed, if I had to guess, I’d say Romney will now position himself as something of a victim — he appeared in good faith, the argument goes, but that mean ol’ NAACP audience booed him for standing by his beliefs. It’ll be nonsense, but it’s likely to become the Republican talking point.”

callmeclinton: Responses to Romney’s NAACP speech, in which he announced, “If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him.”
callmeclinton: Responses to Romney’s NAACP speech, in which he announced, “If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him.”

Mitt Romney: If you want a president who will make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him.
Black people: what
White people: what
Mexican people: what
Asian people: what
Young children: what
My cat: what
The large rock in my backyard: what
Time: what
Space: what
Light: what
Literally the entire universe: what
via: deadcrackerstorage

RNC Political Director Rick Wiley is way too hip for this presidential campaign

According to Josh Fruhlinger at Wonkette, RNC Political Director Rick Wiley has been sending “Obama’s campaign manager like four or five Tweets a day making fun of his lousy campaign and calling him “bro.”" Seriously:

Just having some fun on Twitter, don't get your panties in a knot

The RNC does important stuff! Fruhlinger reports that “Jim Messina’s been taking the high road so far and not responding.” Why would anyone respond to such an idiot? Told you conservative pinheads like to spew trash on Twitter.

Tip: Bro, try gluing some of that chin beard where your eyebrows should be.

images: wonkette 

RelatedRNC Chair Reince Priebus goes Full Metal Apocalypse on Fox Entertainment

Your GOP-led Congress and jobs, jobs, jobs

Dave Weigel remarks on the lousy jobs forecast and how your Congress is ON IT:

“Michele Bachmann assures us that the economy is struggling because of “uncertainty.” Mitt Romney wants the “kick in the gut” to end. Amid all the verbs and gerunds expressing disappointment, Eric Cantor gives us a sort of heads-up about how Congress will respond: “In the coming weeks, the House will vote to stop the tax hike on working families and remove the red tape burdening small businesses to reduce uncertainty and make America more competitive.” What this means, functionally: The House will hold yet another vote on full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. It will pass, and die in the Senate. Tread carefully. After that vote, you don’t want to be mobbed on the street by newly certainty-infused people offering you jobs.”

And another thing:

Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus

President Obama is 100% committed to not extending tax cuts for the wealthy

Think Progress reports on Robert Gibbs’ and Jay Carney’s insistence that the President is 100% committed to not extending tax cuts for the wealthy:

“As House Republicans return to Washington to a vote on extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for another year, Obama adviser Robert Gibbs insisted that the president would not support giving rich people another tax break. “Let’s make some progress on our spending by doing away with tax cuts for people who quite frankly don’t need them – tax cuts that haven’t worked,” Gibbs said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. Obama is “100% committed” to that position, he insisted. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney made a similar pledge last month when he was asked directly if the president supports a temporary extension of the cuts, which expire at the end of the year. Carney said, “He will not. Could I be more clear?”” 

Your decision in November is pretty clear:

Tennessee Tea Party goes Full Metal Orwell

Rewriting history to suit your personal comfort level is doubleplusgood.

Charles Johnson reports that Teabaggers in Tennessee are demanding that school textbooks leave out America’s history of slavery:

“…a group of Tea Party activists in Tennessee has renewed its push to whitewash school textbooks. The group is seeking to remove references to slavery and mentions of the country’s founders being slave owners.

“According to reports, Hal Rounds, the Fayette County attorney and spokesman for the group, said during a recent news conference that there has been “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.

“[...] The group called for textbook selection criteria to include: “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”