Wingnut Welfare

By Jeff Simpson



As Andy Borowitz wrote today:

Andy Borowitz

2 hours ago

Used Tool Purchased for $1.8 Million

Unfortunately for the rest of us in America, truth is stranger than fiction:

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is joining the Wall Street firm Moelis & Co., the firm announced on Tuesday.
“Eric has proven himself to be a pro-business advocate and one who will enhance our boardroom discussions with CEOs and senior management as we help them navigate their most important strategic decisions,” the firm’s founder, Ken Moelis, said in a statement.

Cantor is signing on with the boutique investment bank as a vice chairman and managing director, the company said. He will also be elected to its board of directors.

Cantor is expected to receive a pay package of $3.4 million in his new role, Business Insider reported, citing a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

$3.4 MILLION Dollars a year to have discussion with CEO's.  Despite the fact that Eric Cantor's career was more that of a circus clown than business executive.

 Lets take a quick look:

Via Politifact in October 2010:

"What you've seen (in Washington) is a crowd that has taken advantage of a crisis back in late '08, early '09 and spent more money than this country has spent in the last 200 years combined, in the two years since."

OUCH that would be pants on fire Mr. Cantor.

The issue for us is rebuilding a governing majority that is comfortable with differences that can transcend the divisiveness and unify behind the principles that we know our party has succeeded on.

Eric Cantor

 Ummmm, arent you suing the President of the United States?

 At least he had the courage to trample a little girl!  O yeah when he lost he turned tail and quit, thus taking his ball and going home with his tail between his legs. 

I am not sure exactly what kind of advice he will be giving to CEO's, just know if he talks to your CEO, I would update the resume!  

Finally, and maybe most important, lets send Paul Ryan to be with his friend Eric Cantor. 

Vote for Rob Zerban!   

The Cantor Crying Game

 

By Jeff Simpson

By now, anyone who has a remote interest in politics knows that Eric Cantor was upset in his bid to stay entrenched in Washington with his fellow "Young Guns"!

However, like most things in the media, the narrative that came out of the national media, is not based on reality.   Let's take a look at some myths and realities:

1 The tea party beat the establishment -  Myth:

WASHINGTON — The demise of the Tea Party has been greatly exaggerated.
The anti-establishment force within the GOP was strong enough Tuesday to oust House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a stunning upset by a political newcomer, Randolph-Macon College economics professor Dave Brat.

 The problem here is, the tea party recently backed Eric Cantor to take over for John Boehner as Speaker and they have never backed Dave Brat!

 Eric Cantor's stunning defeat on Tuesday came even as the national tea-party groups basically sat out the race, spending less than $10,000 against the soon-to-be former majority leader.

Just try to find any mention of the 'tea party" on his campaign website!  

2.  The Establishment did not support Brat.    Mostly true.  While the establishment definitely supported Cantor, at least Dave Brat was allowed to speak at the local republican convention(Mike Tate take notice):





3.  Messaging matters -  true. 

Like it or not, spend two minutes on his website and you will know EXACTLY what he stands for(agree with him or not).   He took strong stands, and it showed at the polls.   Can you tell me the messages from some of our local candidates?

4.  Money does not matter.   -  False

Despite the fact that Cantor massively outspent Brat, he lost.  That is THE EXCEPTION, not the rule. 

5.   When you rely on, and govern by "polls" you deserve to get beat:

A poll conducted late last month for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) shows him with a wide lead over challenger David Brat heading toward next Tuesday's Republican primary election.
The poll, shared with Post Politics, shows Cantor with a 62 percent to 28 percent lead over Brat, an economics professor running to Cantor's right. Eleven percent say they are undecided.

6. In what turns out to be a perfect example of how sick and corrupted politics has become, Eric Cantor, representing the people of Virginia's 7th district, had so seriously gerrymandered the district that he knew he would never lose.   So much so that he was not even in his district yesterday.  

In an even worse example of what politics has become, Eric Cantor "knew" he was up 34 points and STILL Spent 5 MILLION DOLLARS!!!  

7.  This is bad for America - myth.

Saying that implies Eric Cantor brought something of value to the US.   He did not.      America will survive this, we have survived much much worse than Cantor losing his job!  

This Week In Right WIng CrazyLand

 

By Jeff Simpson

*  We arrested an Anti-American terrorist, thus making our country much safer and IT DIDNT MAKE NEWS!  

But Robert James Talbot, Jr. gets arrested for terrorism and I don’t see a thing about it until days later, until this weekend when I happened upon this article from the Southern Poverty Law Center. So weird! In fact, most of the other articles I’ve been able to find are from local Texas news sources. Very few national outlets have even bothered with the story.
Talbot is a white, radical right-wing conservative who was arrested by the FBI on charges of “attempted interference with commerce by robbery, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and possession of an explosive material.”
He set up a Facebook page, “American Insurgent Movement” in order to recruit five or six like-minded folks for what he called a “a Pre-Constitutionalist Community that offers those who seek True patriotism and are looking for absolute Freedom by doing the Will of God. Who want to restore America Pre- Constitutionally and look forward to stopping the Regime with action by bloodshed.” People, whom he said, must be willing to walk away from their lives to “stop the regime.” His plan was to rob banks to fund his revolution, and then also blow up mosques. He claimed to have already cased several Bank of Americas.

 

A right wing terrorist is arrested and the people who whined when the Southern Poverty Law Ceneter pointed out that these people are terrorists, have remained incredibly quiet! 

*   National republicans still holding firm against actually helping Americans by refusing to extend unemployment benefits!

Cantor was asked directly on the House floor by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) whether Senate action on its bill next week might prompt the House to act. Cantor did not explicitly say yes or no, but strongly indicated Republicans would not consider it. .

"It doesn't create any jobs, and right now we are in the business of trying to see how we can get people back to work, for an America that works for more people," he said.

 Apparently the law of Supply and Demand does not exist in right wing world.  Besides the 2.2 million Americans who are hurting and desperate because of this should just be more like Robert Marcus!  

Robert D. Marcus, the chief executive of Time Warner Cable, is set to receive an $80 million payout if the company goes through with its planned acquisition by Comcast, the company said in a regulatory filing Thursday.

Comcast announced the deal six weeks after Marcus took over as CEO, meaning he will receive more than $2 million per day for his time as CEO prior to the deal. That is the equivalent of receiving $1,300 per minute during that period.
 
Other Time Warner executives are on track to receive large payouts if the merger goes through. Time Warner Cable's chief financial officer will receive $27 million, Michael L. LaJoie, the company's Chief Technology Officer, will get $16.3 million, and Philip G. Meeks, the company's COO, will receive $11.7 million.

The record for a “golden parachute” payout is currently held by former General Electric CEO John Welch, who got $417 million when he left the company. Other executives who received notable “golden parachute” payouts include former Exxon Mobil head Lee R. Raymond, who got $321 million when he left the company in 2005, and William McGuire, who got $286 million when he left UnitedHealth Group eight years ago.

*  If people in Wisconsin are not making money, how will we keep paying Leah Vukmir's legal bills?

  Taxpayers are paying $15,000 in attorneys fees and damages and state Sen. Leah Vukmir is turning over documents to a liberal group as part of a settlement over a lawsuit under the state's open records law.
The case deals in part with official records on Vukmir's personal email account. The settlement avoids a showdown over when legislators are immune from open records lawsuits.
The documents stem from Vukmir's involvement with the American Legislative Exchange Council, which works with corporations and conservatives to write model legislation that can be introduced in state legislatures throughout the country. Vukmir serves as ALEC's second vice chairwoman, the third-highest position on the board.

*  Maybe, just maybe, right wing philosophy and politics- doesn't work!

 For the sixth consecutive year, Mississippians were the most likely in the U.S. to report struggling to afford food. In 2013, 25.1% report there was at least one time in the last 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy the food they or their families needed. Residents in West Virginia, Louisiana, and Alabama were also among the most likely to struggle to afford food. Residents of Alaska, New Hampshire, and Minnesota were among the least likely to have this problem.

 

Government Shutdown

BY Jeff Simpson

Rachel Maddow breaks down the Government Shutdown in detail


Some takeways;

1.  There has been NO significant legislation passed since Boehner/Cantor/Ryan have taken over the house!

2.
Maddow also mocked Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), who invoked the 9/11 rallying cry, “Let’s roll,” during a gleeful meeting with party mates about pushing for a delay on the Affordable Care Act.
“Let’s roll – let’s bring the U.S. government to its knees,” Maddow said sarcastically. “Just like on 9/11. Except the other way.”

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

Coffee Can Health Care - Ch. 4

 

By Jeff Simpson

Tim Alsip, from Portland Oregon needed help, and he had no where to go to get it.   See Mr. Alsip has a  history of mental illness, addiction and dental problems(anyone who has ever had a toothache knows how terrible this can be).


Now turn quickly to Washington DC, where Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and John Boehner are in the midst of a five week paid vacation.   Before they left for their FIVE week paid vacation, they took up the very important business of voting to repeal Obamacare for the FORTIETH time!    Of course, Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) had to check in with his bosses before he took his paid vacation, but that is another blog!

 

Now we switch back to Portland, Oregon.  While the republicans in Congress, have made their sole priority, making sure President Obama has no successes, Mr, Alsip was in too much pain and in need of so much help, that he had no where to turn.  So he turned, in desperation, to a crime.

He decided to rob a bank!   

On Friday morning, 50-year-old Alsip walked into a Portland-area Bank of America and calmly handed the teller a note: “This is a hold up. Give me a dollar.” Alsip then took his single dollar bill and sat quietly in the lobby, waiting for police to arrive. According to The Oregonian, he has a history of mental illness, addiction, and dental problems that seem to have gone untreated. Sacrificing his freedom was the price Alsip felt he had to pay to receive medical care.

Alsip is currently homeless and has no past criminal record in the state. He was arrested without incident and charged with second-degree robbery and bail set at $250,000.

 Things are so bad, in the real world, that an American, desperate for health care and homeless had no where to turn but to crime.  Luckily, for the people of Portland, Mr. Alsip's desperation, couple with mental illness, did not decide to arm himself with 6000 rounds.

 

Instead he choose to get help the only way he knew how.  Now the man who asked peacefully for $1, will be sitting in a jail cell with a $250,000 bail.   Hopefully he gets the medical help he so desperately needs, then they drop the charges.   

However, when will people ever learn?  Steal $1 go to jail, "lose" $80,000,000 and you get elected Governor.   

Republican Bell Ringing

By Jeff Simpson

We told you how the truth came out in Wisconsin and the republicans in Wisconsin are admitting to be being bought and paid for!   Now we know why the republicans are so incompetent on a national level.  They are just doing what they are told!

 In a letter to members of Congress, which was obtained by NBC News, Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation (which recently found itself in hot water over the racial IQ theories of the co-author of their widely panned immigration reform study, Jason Richwine, who resigned from the think tank last Friday), urged Republicans on Capitol Hill not to govern, and instead, to focus on the would-be “scandals” plaguing the Obama administration.

Not only that, the Heritage Foundation was very explicit in their directions:  DONT TALK ISSUES!!

In light of the white hot media spotlight on the administration, and to deflect attention from the many policy areas where Republicans don’t quite get along, the letter urges: “it is incumbent upon the House of Representatives to conduct oversight hearings on those actions, but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference.”

It would be imprudent for anyone to know what the republicans stand for, just keep yelling  "Benghazi" and whatever you do do NOT do your jobs!   The worst part is though, the national republicans jumped at their letter like Pavlov's Dogs!

Full Letter Here:

The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker of the House
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Eric Cantor
House Majority Leader
H-329, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor:
For the first time, the activities of the Obama administration are receiving a sustained public vetting.  Americans’ outrage over Benghazi is amplified by the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation of conservative grassroots organizations and a cascade of negative headlines.  There is the real sense the Obama administration has been less than forthright with the American people, the press and lawmakers.
Recent events have rightly focused the nation’s attention squarely on the actions of the Obama administration. It is incumbent upon the House of Representatives to conduct oversight hearings on those actions, but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference.
To that end, we urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference.  Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another “circular firing squad” article.
Make no mistake, principled conservatives will still oppose bad policy if it comes to the floor.  Rather than scheduling such legislation for consideration, we urge you to keep the attention focused squarely on the Obama administration.  As the public’s trust in their government continues to erode, it is incumbent upon those of us who support a smaller, less intrusive government to lead.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America

I Hope Rep. Phil Gingrey Isn't Your Doctor

If you thought that, along with Mitt Romney and Allen West, the GOP rape comments made during the 2012 election cycle would slip into obscurity, never to return, you were so very wrong.

Enter congressman Phil Gingrey. Truthfully, I hadn't heard of this guy until I read about his attempt to "explain" away Todd Akin's comments about rape. You remember the whole "legitimate rape, women's bodies can shut that whole thing down" thing. Congressman Gingrey went before the Smyrna Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce this week to discuss a plethora of topics, but somehow ended up at Akin and Murdock's rape comments. Here's the ironic kicker about Gingrey - he has Dr. in front of his name. Yes, someone though it was smart to give this man a medical degree and license. And worst than that, he's an obstetrician/gynecologist. No, this isn't from The Onion.

To the women of Georgia who might have this guy as their doctor, I highly suggest you seek out someone else who doesn't put politics and ideology above your safety and well being.

Ready for this? Says Dr. Gingrey:

“And in Missouri, Todd Akin … was asked by a local news source about rape and he said, ‘Look, in a legitimate rape situation’ — and what he meant by legitimate rape was just look, someone can say I was raped: a scared-to-death 15-year-old that becomes impregnated by her boyfriend and then has to tell her parents, that’s pretty tough and might on some occasion say, ‘Hey, I was raped.’ That’s what he meant when he said legitimate rape versus non-legitimate rape. I don’t find anything so horrible about that. But then he went on and said that in a situation of rape, of a legitimate rape, a woman’s body has a way of shutting down so the pregnancy would not occur. He’s partly right on that.”

Really? A young girl who claims to have been raped probably was just messing around with her boyfriend, and is now scared and pregnant? THIS MAN IS A DOCTOR! Plus, there's nothing more detrimental to curbing violence against women then to suggest we're always making it up. No wonder congress can't pass the Violence Against Women Act. And no, there is no "partly right" because Akin was fully wrong.

Gingrey goes on to say:

"And I’ve delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things. It is true. We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate.’ So he was partially right wasn’t he? But the fact that a woman may have already ovulated 12 hours before she is raped, you’re not going to prevent a pregnancy there by a woman’s body shutting anything down because the horse has already left the barn, so to speak. And yet the media took that and tore it apart."

A medical doctor considers getting women tipsy on wine, medical advice. Remember ladies, this doctor's advice is to just try to ovulate before you're sexually assaulted, so you won't have any rape babies! Makes perfect sense! The fact that Gingrey is even trying to bring these comments back to the forefront is disturbing to say the least. But on the flip side of the coin, it's a great chance to once again remind American's how far behind the times the right-wing is on women's issues. We can't even get congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act, and really how can they? They have congressman running around trying to re-define sexual violence, deny rights to some (remember, Eric Cantor does NOT believe Native American women deserve protection from violence) suggesting that scared teenagers are lying about their assaults, and want to use their medical degree to try and save their side from never winning an election again. Here's some advice from me:

Dear GOP,
It's 2013. Feel free to evolve and join the rest of the sane, free thinking world at any time.

If I were a member of the The Georgia Composite Medical Board, I would be asking some serious questions regarding Dr. Gingrey and whether or not he's able to practice medicine in a safe and productive manner.

The Al-Koch(a) 15

Jan 20th, 2009. The Day President Barack Obama was sworn into office as the 44th president of the US.  This marked a new day in America as an African American was sworn into the highest office of the land for the very first time in our great  country.  While millions of Americans tuned in and celebrated, I think my highlight of the day was when Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen were singing "This Land is Your Land".

Hope was restored to our nation and we needed it at that time!

Unfortunately for President Obama and the rest of America, a group of bitter men had other ideas.  A group of approximately 15 men got together that very night and started plotting the best way to take down America.  Unfortunately, the guest list was full of familiar faces.  You would think that I was talking about Kim Jong Il, Osama Bin Laden, Ali Atwa, Abdul Rahman Yasin, Isnilon Totoni Hapilon, Grover Norquist, Tim Phillips, and other assorted anti-American Vermin. Sadly no.   The group that got together that night to plot the take down of our President, were all elected officials(and Frank Luntz).

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX),
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA),
Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R),
Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ-R),
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK-R),
Sen. John Ensign (NV-R) and
Sen. Bob Corker (TN-R)

A group of well known republican officials led by Wisconsin's own Paul Ryan, failed presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, and republican racist pollster and Scott Walkers good friend Frank Luntz wasted no time in meeting.

In his new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives."by Robert Draper, Draper takes us inside that meeting.

 The dinner lasted nearly four hours. They parted company almost giddily. The Republicans had agreed on a way forward:
Go after Geithner. (And indeed Kyl did, the next day: ‘Would you answer my question rather than dancing around it—please?’)
Show united and unyielding opposition to the president’s economic policies. (Eight days later, Minority Whip Cantor would hold the House Republicans to a unanimous No against Obama’s economic stimulus plan.)

Begin attacking vulnerable Democrats on the airwaves. (The first National Republican Congressional Committee attack ads would run in less than two months.)
Win the spear point of the House in 2010. Jab Obama relentlessly in 2011. Win the White House and the Senate in 2012.

  Daily Kos, is asking Darrell Issa to open an investigation:

  Not only did these Senior members of Congress plot to destroy the American Economy more than it already was destroyed? They actually carried out their mission:  

- Every one of these Senior members of Congress have threatened Government Shutdown over things like:
not funding planned parenthood, not raising the Debt Ceiling which, in-and-of-itself, would cause US Economic turmoil. ... oh, and stay current, these same House GOP members of Congress are still, today, threatening a Government Shutdown.

- Senators: Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl, Tom Coburn, John Ensign, and Bob Corker have
- Filibustered more Bills than any Congress combined in US History.
- Voted NO on every single piece of Legislation brought to the Floor including: NO on Al Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment, NO on Lilly Ledbetter, NO on Fair Pay Act.

- Representatives: Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Pete Sessions, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Hoekstra and Dan Lungren
- Voted NO on every single piece of Legislation; including NO on increasing FEMA during natural disasters.
- Have been on tv constantly chanting the lie that they were guilty of ... the lie that "President Obama's policies undermine the US Economy."

 The Daily Beast focused on different aspects beyond the anti-American 15.  The book points out that John Boehner was not invited to this meeting to take down America, but instead he was somewhere whining about the end of earmarks....

Despite the anti-earmark rhetoric in Congress, John Boehner still misses them.  During a conversation with Congressman Ralph Hall of Texas, Boehner regretted that earmarks disappeared, as it had made the task of keeping unruly members under control much easier. He sadly noted “It’s not like the old days, Ralph. Without earmarks to offer, it’s hard to herd the cats.”

John Boehner is finding it hard to keep people in line without the threat of pulling their funding...take taht tea party!

 But I digress...back to the Al-Kocha gang of 15!

 Paul Ryan and his cohorts, who call themselves the Young Guns, spent that historic night in 2009, not working on ways to end the recession, or lower the deficit, or end the wars, or even lower the unemployment rate.   They used their time and "talent" to brainstorm ways to make the President of the United States fail and if all went according to plan, fail miserably!!!

It is no wonder that what passes as humor these days on the right is talk of shooting democrats!   

**  Congressman Ryan did not respond to questions at the time of this writing. As a matter of fact Congressman Ryan has never responded to a single question posed by yours truly!  

Meet The New GOP, Same As The Old GOP

Well, that didn't take long.  


Three weeks into this new "historic" congress with its tsunami of newly elected GOP politicians, we have our first scandal.  Representative David Rivera (R-Fla.) is under a dual probe for ethics and campaign finance violations:

The 45-year-old Rivera, who was elected to the House in November after eight years in the Florida Legislature, has been under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement since last fall over allegations that he failed to disclose more than $130,000 in loans from a company owned by his mother. Rivera has since repaid the loans by selling off some real estate, but there are least two parallel probes into his finances and campaign records going on now, and Democrats have seized on the controversy to embarrass the House GOP leadership.

Keep in mind that House Majority Leader, Representative Eric Cantor (R-Hypocrisy Land) had promised a zero-tolerance for bad behavior from his fellow House members has yet to say anything, even though he's known about it for at least three weeks now.


They said they were going to reform government and the way it does business, but they sound a whole lot like the same old GOP that we all know but don't love.