Waving the White Flag

post from Jutia Group on 16 May 2012 11:32:12 AM. © Jutia Group

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

For quite some time in this letter I have been making the case that for the eurozone to survive, the European Central Bank would have to print more money than any of us can now imagine. That the sentiment among European leaders was that they were prepared for such a move was clear – except for Germany, which is haunted by fears of a return to the days of the Weimar Republic and … [visit site to read . . . → Read More: Waving the White Flag

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Mitt Romney says he is severely for and against
spending one trillion dollars

post from Daily Kos on 16 May 2012 11:26:08 AM. © Daily Kos

Mirror image of two Mitt Romneys It's not exactly a flip-flop if you take both sides (Orig. photo: Pool/Reuters)
Yesterday, Mitt Romney gave a speech in Iowa in which he vowed to cut spending dramatically and slammed President Obama for spending too much:

Today America faces a financial crisis of debt and spending that threatens what it means to be an American. [...] The people of Iowa and America have watched President Obama for nearly four years, much of that time with Congress controlled by his own party. And rather than put out the spending fire, he has fed the fire. He has spent more and borrowed more. [...] Washington has been spending too much money and our new President made things much worse.

Romney singled out President Obama's stimulus plan for particularly harsh scorn:

President Obama started out with a near trillion-dollar stimulus package ? the biggest, most careless one-time expenditure by the federal government in history.

Leave aside the fact that it was actually a $787 billion plan and that Romney himself had praised it in January of 2009. Instead, check out what Mitt Romney told a town hall audience last week about spending:

I'm not going to cut a trillion dollars in the first year. And I heard a question. Why not? And the answer is: taking a trillion dollars out of a $15 trillion economy would cause our economy to shrink and would put a lot of people out of work.

So from one side of his mouth, Romney says President Obama's "trillion-dollar stimulus plan" as the single worst expenditure the federal government has ever made. From the other side of his mouth, Romney says he wouldn't immediately cut a trillion dollars in spending because it would "shrink" the economy and "put a lot of people out of work." From one side of his mouth, Romney says President Obama's spending policies threaten "what it means to be an American," yet from the other side of his mouth Romney says departing from those policies would be bad for the economy.

And the thing about Romney is that he says this kind of stuff every single day. Keeping up with his two-faced inconsistency is exhausting?and we've got nearly six more months of it ahead of us.

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s-severely-for-and-against-spending-one-trillion-dollars

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Gaslands Josh Fox Highlights Fracking On Known
Fault Lines in Los Angeles

post from Firedoglake on 16 May 2012 11:15:24 AM. © Firedoglake

Yesterday, Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director behind the anti-fracking movie Gasland, witnessed fracking going on adjacent to an oil field in Baldwin Hills, close to a residential neighborhood as well as a public park, and directly on a known fault[...]

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Cigarette Machine

post from Texas Liberal on 16 May 2012 11:03:24 AM. © Texas Liberal

Above is a photo I took recently in Houston of a cigarette machine. You used to see these machines all the time. Now you don’t see them so often. The cigarettes in this machine cost $10. Tobacco is indeed the Devil’s weed. Though the truth is my dad smoked incessantly from the Truman years up [...]

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http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/cigarette-machine/

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Sure, Sign Us Up!

post from Talking Points Memo on 16 May 2012 11:01:01 AM. © Talking Points Memo

Senate Republicans back Speaker Boehner's call for another debt limit showdown.[...]

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.php

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Kinda Weird

post from Talking Points Memo on 16 May 2012 11:01:01 AM. © Talking Points Memo

The new Washington Post/ABC poll shows independents are pretty negative on Gov. Romney's proposal to repeal 'Obamacare' root and branch -- yet at the same time, fairly big majorities of voters say they want the law repealed. [...]

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Good Money

post from Talking Points Memo on 16 May 2012 11:01:01 AM. © Talking Points Memo

Bloomberg says Facebook Co-founder could save a cool $67 million by dumping his US citizenship. [...]

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Sarah Palin’s Gal Upsets the Boys in
Nebraska

post from TaylorMarsh.com on 16 May 2012 11:00:55 AM. © TaylorMarsh.com

“Sarah Palin still can pick ?em.” – Jennifer Rubin

SARAH PALIN BACKED the log shot, while the guys were duking it out. Today Palin congratulates Deb Fischer on a spectacular upset.

As recently as a week ago, Deb Fischer was dismissed by the establishment. Why? Because she is not part of the good old boys? permanent political class. The message from the people of Nebraska is simple and powerful: America is looking for real change in Washington, and commonsense conservatives like Deb Fischer represent that change. I applaud Moms like Deb Fischer who are bold enough to step up and run on a conservative platform to restore America and protect our children?s future. Congratulations to the people of Nebraska. As the Huskers? fight song goes: ?The eyes of the land, upon every hand, are looking at you. Fight on for victory!?
- Sarah Palin

Rick Santorum and Club for Growth went for separate guys, while Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Deb Fischer nationalized her campaign, a phenomenon reminiscent of the power Palin used to wield back in 2010.

Fischer will face former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey in November.

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http://taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/05/sarah-palins-gal-upsets-the-boys-in-nebraska/

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Republicans Who Campaigned To End Taxpayer-Funded
Campaigning Spend Big On Taxpayer Funded Flyers

"Franked" Mailing from Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

The House Tea Party Caucus, chaired by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), says it seeks to represent the views of the people who have “had enough of the reckless spending and vast government overreach coming from Washington.” Fourteen House freshmen are part of the 60-member, all-Republican caucus. The group talks passionately about cutting spending and the need to “work towards getting our fiscal house in order, before the burden of debt is passed onto our children and grandchildren.”

Surprisingly, three of the freshmen Tea Party members were among the ten biggest spenders on taxpayer-funded mailings of the 444 people who served in the House over the last nine months of 2011, according to a new report by USA Today. They were:

#4 Rep. David McKinley (R-WV), $263,083
#8 Rep.Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), $253,156
#10 Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), $237,355

Members of Congress may send non-campaign materials to constituents by placing their signature in lieu of a postage stamp — a process known as “franking.” The mailings must be approved by a bipartisan commission.

McKinley, hilariously listed on his now-offline 2010 campaign website that he would “End Taxpayer-funded Campaigning.” His issues page said “David McKinley believes that it?s wrong to abuse taxpayer money by funding campaign-style ‘constituent’ mailings and phone calls during re-election years.”

Joe Walsh promised in his 2010 campaign to “go to Congress to put a huge ‘STOP’ sign up in front of this runaway train of government spending.”

On her campaign website, Hertzler calls for an “immediate end to the wasteful and inefficient pork-barrel spending” and “a freeze on discretionary spending except for our national defense, including veterans, Medicare, and Social Security.”

But Hertzler defended her mailings, telling USA Today “After 34 years of leadership by [the district's previous Congressman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D)], we feel like it’s important for me people to get to know me and for me to hear from them. It’s part of serving the people that you represent is to communicate with them, and that’s always been a priority of mine.”

But considering that these three are part of the group that has been most vocal in opposing government spending on unnecessary items, it says a lot that they are more than happy to use public funds to boost their standing with voters.

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http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/05/16/484951/republicans-taxpayer-funding-
flyers/

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Nike-Endorsed Boxer Condemns Same-Sex Marriage To
Fate Of Sodom And Gomorrah

World-famous Nike-endorsed boxer Manny Pacquiao recently spoke out against marriage equality, suggesting same-sex couples are violating God’s law:

PACQUIAO: God’s words first … obey God’s law first before considering the laws of man. God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other. It should not be of the same sex so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old.

Pacquiao’s comments imply the annihilation of gays and lesbians, putting him in stark contrast with his primary sponsor, Nike. Not only does Nike have a 100 percent score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, but it has also been a vocal advocate for marriage equality. The Courage Campaign has now launched a petition calling on Nike to drop Manny Pacquiao for his offensive remarks, urging the company not to let its pro-equality reputation be tarnished by such a negative role model.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is often cited to condemn homosexuality, because in it, God destroyed the two towns after its citizens attempted to gang rape two male visitors who turned out to be angels ? though little in the story resembles modern-day understandings of same-sex orientations or relationships. In his Examiner story about Pacquiao’s comments, journalist Granville Ampong also invoked Leviticus 20:13, which calls for men who lie with men to be put to death, confusing other outlets to believe Pacquiao had quoted it himself. Ampong has since clarified that he added the verse himself because of his own desire to emphasize his view of the Bible’s anti-gay perspective.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/16/484975/manny-pacquiao-marriage/

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