I love this headline

Florida's Scott takes businessman's ax to budget

Because, as we all know, successful businesses get that way by reducing staff, offering fewer products, and eliminating customer service. It's hard to imagine Florida not zooming to the top of the pile of desirable US states to migrate to.

Continue reading I love this headline

Paging Heath Shuler

Western North Carolina's conservative Democratic representative is trying to make a name for himself by attacking the liberal House leadership of his party.

Dude, here's a much better target for you. Do something with it if you really care about your constituents and your party.

Harris spent months condemning the idea of Americans being entitled to taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage. Now that the election's over, Harris suddenly feels entitled to taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage -- and wants it immediately. (For the record, Harris and his family will probably rely on COBRA to stay insured until his coverage kicks in. COBRA, of course, is another government program that the right opposed.)

That Harris apparently sought a public option for him and his family just makes the whole story that much more hilarious.

Just to clarify, I don't actually blame the far-right congressman-elect. He wants coverage for him and his family, and doesn't want to have to worry about a 28-day gap in which he, his wife, and his kids would have no protections if they get sick.

I do, however, blame the far-right congressman-elect for failing to realize that millions of American families want the same peace of mind he's seeking.

Harris wants to know "what he would do without 28 days of health care"? I don't know, Andy, what have tens of millions of Americans, including millions of children, done without access to quality health care for years? Why are you entitled to government-subsidized health care, but they're not? What will those families do after you repeal the Affordable Care Act? Wait for tort reform to magically cover everyone?

What an embarrassment.

Continue reading Paging Heath Shuler

Froot Loops

Why not tell NC Representative Larry Brown what you think of him by making a donation to Equality NC in his name? For every donation, ENC will send the Rep. a box of Froot Loops.

Don't forget to keep House Minority Leader Paul Stam in your thoughts as well.

Continue reading Froot Loops

Not an instruction manual

I remember being on the radio back in 2002 or so, and in conversation with a caller saying something like "When Orwell wrote 1984, it was a warning, not an instruction manual."

But these guys take doublethink to a whole new level.

TPM:

Tuesday, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) called Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- best known for his work with multicultural Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan -- a "radical" and criticized the Obama Administration for including him on a Middle East speaking tour. That tour, which includes stops in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is designed by the public diplomacy office to explain to Muslims abroad what it's like to be a Muslim in America.

. . .

If one were to hearken back to the halcyon days of the Bush Administration, one would remember that, when Bush adviser Karen Hughes was appointed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, the Bush Administration saw improving America's standing among Muslims abroad as a part of its national security strategy. And, as such, Hughes set up listening tours, attended meetings and worked with interfaith groups that -- shocking, by today's Republican standards -- included actual Muslims.

One of those people was Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Contemporary press accounts indicate that Rauf and Hughes were part of the February 2006 U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar. He was part of a delegation that met with her in March 2006 and held a joint press conference. A letter to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in November 2007 indicates that contacts with Hughes and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns had continued apace.

Fortunately, as a member of the professional left, i'm allowed to notice.

Continue reading Not an instruction manual

Yep, i'm stupid

Colorado Republican Ken Buck wants to be perfectly clear: He does not think President Obama poses a bigger threat to the country than Al Qaeda. That's an honor he reserves for the "progressive liberal movement." Got it?

. . .

"But I think the largest threat we really have is the progressive liberal movement. I think if Barack Obama stepped down tomorrow, we would still have that threat."

So, we've spent a trillion dollars fighting enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan who aren't even as big a threat to the US as the progressive wing of the Democratic Party?

I guess i'm too stupid to comprehend that.

Continue reading Yep, i'm stupid

I guess i am stupid

Bennett also suggested that Republicans may not have a clear plan to govern even if they do take control of the Senate this year.

I totally forgot that whoever controls the Senate governs the country, regardless of who is in the White House, or who is in the majority of the House of Representatives.

How could i be so stupid?

Continue reading I guess i am stupid

Deep thought

I'm so old i remember when Republicans were the party calling for law and order.

Continue reading Deep thought

Open letter

Dear Congressman Boehner,

Please make this the centerpiece of House Republican strategy in the November elections.

Sincerely,
Mr. Dependable.

Continue reading Open letter

Good luck with that

Carly for California

Passover is a time of remembrance and thanks. This festival provides us all — Jewish, Christian and all faiths — an opportunity to reflect on the challenges we have faced and the triumphs we have achieved together. It is also a reminder of the resilient spirit that has carried people through trials of every kind through every generation.

This week, as we break bread and spend time with our families and friends, I hope we also take a moment to say a word of thanks for our freedom and for those who have given their lives in freedom’s name. Let us also look ahead with hope to the opportunities to come.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

Sincerely,

Carly Fiorina

Some of my best friends are Jewish. Why do you ask?

Continue reading Good luck with that

Incentive

Limbaugh threatens to leave the country if health care reform passes.

Funny, though. He threatens to go to Costa Rica, which appears to have full blown Obamacare in operation.

Continue reading Incentive

True wonder

The true wonder isn't that morons like this want to rule us.

The true wonder is that Democrats can't figure out how to beat them in an election. He's up for re-election in 2011. I'd hope this video sees wide use in the campaign next year.

via phb

Continue reading True wonder

Choices

N&O:

Wake County will no longer pay for elective abortions for employees, with leaders citing a 29-year-old state Supreme Court ruling which they say makes reimbursement for the practice illegal.

An agenda item for Monday’s Wake County Board of Commissioners meeting will address the change, but only to take note of it, not to ask permission, board chairman Tony Gurley said today. The change was made administratively Wednesday by county manager David Cooke, Gurley said.

“We don't pay for that any more,” Gurley said. “As soon as we were made aware it was illegal, we stopped doing it.”

. . .

After Apex dropped coverage recently for elective abortion for its employees, legal analysts from the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of North Carolina said governments have a choice.

The two groups analyzed city and county insurance rights in the state. They said that state statutes allow local governments to provide whatever benefits package is deemed appropriate without specific restriction on abortion coverage, a finding both Gurley and Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly dispute.

Gurley is wrong. The Stam case does not make it illegal for municipalities to provide abortion coverage to their employees in their health insurance plan.

This being North Carolina, though, public employees have no collective bargaining rights. So Gurley and his lackeys can make unilateral decisions about the terms of employment of county workers with impunity.

But here's the Durham impact. Turns out that Tony Gurley is the owner of Gurley's Pharmacy on Main Street in downtown Durham. If the dude wants to be so cavalier with the health of women employees of Wake County, that's up to the Wake County voters to act on. Durham residents, though, aren't obligated to do business with him. I know i won't. And rumor has it that Gurley is in his shop several days a week. I hope to stop by and let him know why he'll never see any of my business. Maybe i won't be the only one.

Continue reading Choices

Racist?

I don't get it. What did Vinny del Negro ever do to you?

Continue reading Racist?

Big lie

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Good Morning America, earlier today:

"What [Obama] should be doing is following the right things Bush did. One of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama," Giuliani said.

Good Morning America co-host George "Snuffleupagus" Stephanopolous, writing about the incident in his blog later:

Giuliani seems to have forgotten about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Two things. First, Snuffleupagus somehow couldn't bring himself to raise the issue with Giuliani when they were on the air. Second, Rudy is no wht second prominent Republican (following former Bush administration spokesperson Dana Perino) to make the claim that there were no terrorist attacks under Bush's watch. Not a coincidence.

Continue reading Big lie

Or Timothy

Idiots:

Radio host Mike Gallagher recently said, “There should be a separate line to scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed,” and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) raised the idea of profiling people based on their religions.

Baptists, even.

Continue reading Or Timothy

Strategy

For the past 40 years or so, Republicans have opposed every Democratic initiative, hoping to pick off a few "moderate" or "conservative" Democrats to vote against their party. They reason, correctly, that Americans will figure that if the Democrats can't stand up to a bunch of wheezing old fart bed-wetters, how in the world will they stand up to our real enemies.

That Blanche Linclon, Ben Nelson, and Mary Landrieu haven't figured this out yet is one of life's enduring mysteries.

Continue reading Strategy

Whatever it takes

TPM has this story about State Senator Phil Berger (R- Guilford) delivering a wheelbarrow of surveys to Gov. Perdue's office today. The surveys were supposed to represent pro-GOP views, but it looks like Senator Berger got his bad self punk'd.

Loved this question:
"Do you support sending the North Carolina National Guard to help secure our southern border?"

Actually, yes. Anything to keep those South Carolinians where they belong. As the saying goes, too small for a republic, too big for an insane asylum.

Continue reading Whatever it takes

Fuck Michelle Bachmann

AP:

A U.S. Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.

Congress falls all over itself cutting ties with ACORN, but when one of its own indulges in right-wing fantasies against a government agency, do they even notice?

Continue reading Fuck Michelle Bachmann

Just sayin'

I'm imagining the 24/7 Fox News outrage had some Democratic backbencher called George Bush a liar during one of his addresses to Congress back in 2003, during the run up to the Iraq war.

You know, when he actually was lying.

Continue reading Just sayin'

Not safe for work

My nominee for funniest story of the year:

Michael Duvall is a conservative Republican state representative from Orange County, California. While waiting for the start of a legislative hearing in July, the 54-year-old married father of two and family values champion began describing, for the benefit of a colleague seated next to him, his ongoing affairs with two different women. In very graphic detail.

It gets even better.

The sad thing is we let these people make the rules for the rest of us.

UPDATE: Holy cow! He resigned!

Continue reading Not safe for work