Watching the Republicans - Runaway Train

[Happy Monkey]

Will the funding come from cutting foodstamps?

[Lamplighter]

That, plus as of laws passed today, it will come from savings
by restricting when legal abortions can be performed.

...before to 6 weeks in North Dakota signed by (R) Gov. Jack Dalrymple
or, in Iowa on a case-by-case basis, at the personal discretion of (R)Gov. Terry Branstad.

The Republicans have been busy this week... maybe due to super-full moon ?

[Lamplighter]

Back to the IRS thing for a moment...

Is it possible that the cure is going to be worse than the disease ?

The IRS has set up a voluntary process for groupsthat
have been waiting for tax-exempt status for more than 120 days
to "self-certify" that they will comply with key rules limiting their political activity.
Such groups have to agree that they will not spend more than 40%
of their time or money on political campaign activities.
In exchange, they can win automatic tax-exempt status.

Sure, that'll work out well, because no one would ever cheat on the IRS !


The quote above is from this article...

USA Today
Deirdre Shesgreen
6/23/13

IRS: Other 'inappropriate' screening of groups done

WASHINGTON — Internal Revenue Service agents in Cincinnati
used additional "inappropriate" lists to flag certain tax-exempt applications
for extra scrutiny, IRS Principal Deputy Commissioner Danny Werfel said Monday.

He declined to say what criteria or terms were on the additional watch lists,
but congressional Democrats released a document showing that IRS
agents targeted groups with "progressive" in their names.
"Common thread is the word 'progressive'," the November 2010 IRS document says.
"Activities are partisan and appear as anti-Republican."<snip>

The IG audit said that of 298 organizations given extra scrutiny, about 96 were tea party groups.
The report did not specify why the other 202 applications were singled out.

The November 2010 IRS document, released by Democrats
on the House Ways and Means Committee, shows an entry titled "progressive"
and advises agents that such groups' activities "appear to lean toward
a new political party" and may not be eligible for tax-exempt status.

In a news release, the Ways and Means Committee Democrats said
they have verified that some of the 298 organizations examined by the Inspector General
were liberal organizations. Rep. Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the panel, said
he would ask the IG why that information was omitted from his initial report
and ask for a new hearing on the issue.

Oh, by the way... regarding Werfel quote above about "self certification":

Werfel [also] said the agency can always review these
groups' activities afterward, to make sure they are in compliance.

[Lamplighter]

There are moments in legislative proceedings when someone must "think on their feet".
Last night, the Texas Senate demonstrated this to a world of viewers
while Senator Wendy Davis was filibustering the latest circus on abortion.
But Sen Davis was only one of three heroines of the night.

Heroine # 1
#StandWithWendy Trends Online During Texas Senator's Abortion Filibuster

Without putting the issue to a vote, Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst ruled
that an attempt by Davis to talk about a previous sonogram bill in the context of SB5
was not "germane" to the SB5 bill.

Heroine #2
Senator Judith Zaffirini brought up the rule that the topic of "germaneness" must be
brought up three times or more before a strike could be issued;
however, at that point, the acting chair, Senator Robert Watson, dismissed her point of order
as having come after the ruling on Davis' topic was made.

Now enters Senator Leticia Van de Putte Heroine #3 to deliver a perfect "estocada"...



"At what point," Senator Leticia Van de Putte asked in the wake of the overridden objections,
"must a female senator raise her voice or hand to be recognized over male colleagues in the room?"

Throughout the night the public in attendance frequently disrupted the proceedings
with chants of "Let Her Speak," making it so hard to hear on the Senate floor
that they had to be ordered out of the courtroom at one point.

But at the last minute, the crowd noise proved to be the real deciding vote.
Tensions were visibly high, and as the final vote to dismiss the filibuster and pass the bill began,
at just ten minutes until midnight, the noise of the crowd rose to a fever pitch,
in one last desperate attempt to disrupt the assembly and forestall the debate.

On the floor was utter chaos.

UPDATE: Wendy Davis and the Texas Democratic Party confirmed that Senate Bill 5 is dead.

[Clodfobble]

Overnight, she's gone from being nobody to being discussed as a serious candidate for governor. God it would be nice to finally get rid of Rick Perry...

[tw]

Why do wacko extremists think that hate of gays, hate of immigrants, muslims are evil, and imposing their religious beliefs on all others will make them popular? Well it does work on brainwashed disciples. Adults who only know what they are told to believe. Their parents were told to "lynch the negro". Were also just as easily brainwashed by that extremist rhetoric. And also became just as unpopular.

Or did they? People such as Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond became the darlings of people who hate gays, blame immigrants, disparage innovation, fear muslims, and impose their religion on all others.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

UPDATE: Wendy Davis and the Texas Democratic Party confirmed that Senate Bill 5 is dead.

But not before the Republicans tried to fraudulently alter the timestamp on the vote to make it seem to have occurred before the deadline.

[Lamplighter]

And now, Mr Brooks, have you ever used the word "mutt" ?

NY Times
DAVID BROOKS
Published: June 27, 2013

A Nation of Mutts

<snip>
Moreover, up until now, America was primarily an outpost of European civilization.
Between 1830 and 1880, 80 percent of the immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe.
Over the following decades, the bulk came from Southern and Central Europe. In 1960,
75 percent of the foreign-born population came from Europe, with European ideas and European heritage.

Soon, we will no longer be an outpost of Europe, but a nation of mutts,
a nation with hundreds of fluid ethnicities from around the world, intermarrying and intermingling.
Americans of European descent are already a minority among 5-year-olds.
European-Americans will be a minority over all in 30 years at the latest, and probably sooner.
<snip>
Because high immigration is taking place at a time of unprecedentedly
low ethnic hostility, we’re seeing high rates of intermarriage.
This creates large numbers of hybrid individuals, biracial or triracial
people with names like Enrique Cohen-Chan.
These people transcend existing categories and soften the social boundaries between groups.

Will someone please tell David his star has faded.

[Clodfobble]

This creates large numbers of hybrid individuals, biracial or triracial
people with names like Enrique Cohen-Chan.

[richlevy]

Soon, we will no longer be an outpost of Europe, but a nation of mutts

Already there......

[Lamplighter]

Back during the Nixon days, there were "operatives" in charge of "dirty tricks".
They were young fellows, Republicans, that spent their pre-election time
finding ways to embarrass the Democrats.
Sometimes, their tricks worked, sometimes backfired, and sometimes
they were found out...to the embarrassment of the G.O.P.
Now, some such Republicans have matured into the Congressional leadership.

Can we take a look at Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, for a minute ?

Washington Post
Dana Milbank
June 28, 2013

Darrell Issa and the overblown scandals

This is how a scandal implodes:
<snip>
Documents released by Ways and Means committee Democrats this week show that the IRS,
in addition to targeting tea party groups, also had “Be on the Lookout” (BOLO) lists
for groups using descriptors such as “progressive,” “health care legislation,”
“medical marijuana,” “paying national debt” and “green energy.”

Finally, evidence surfaces that the investigator stacked the deck.
Tuesday night, the Hill newspaper quoted a spokesman for Treasury’s inspector general,
Russell George, saying the group was asked by Issa “to narrowly focus on tea party organizations.”
The inspectors knew there were other terms, but “that was outside the scope of our audit.”

Certainly, something went badly wrong at the IRS that caused groups
to be targeted because of ideology. But it’s nothing like the conspiracy Issa cooked up
in which the president and his men supposedly used the tax authority to attack their political foes.
<snip>

Shortly before the 2010 election, Issa told Rush Limbaugh that Obama
“has been one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.”
He later said Obama isn’t “personally corrupt” but his administration is.
Issa then set out to prove it.

He led a probe into the failed “Fast and Furious” gun sting
by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Issa declared that “it went all the way to the White House,” insisting that the plan
was approved “at the highest levels of the Obama appointees,”
and that the Justice Department “has blood on their hands.”
The Justice Department inspector general determined that Attorney General
Eric Holder didn’t even know about the program until after it was shut down.

After the failure of Solyndra, a government-aided solar company,
Issa probed Energy Department loan guarantees, saying
“I want to see when the president and his cronies are picking winners and losers
... that it wasn’t because there were large contributions given to them.”
The committee documented no cronyism and no presidential involvement.

Issa probed the response to Freedom of Information Act requests
by the Department of Homeland Security, saying the matter
“reeks of a Nixonian enemies list, and this committee will not tolerate it.”
Nothing Nixonian surfaced.

After the killing of U.S. officials in Benghazi, Libya, Issa accused then-Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton of giving false information to Congress when
she said she wasn’t involved in denying the Libyan diplomats’ security requests.
He also said that it was “perhaps the White House” that later changed talking points
to make it appear that the assault had begun as a protest.
It turned out Clinton wasn’t involved in the security decision
and the White House wasn’t behind the change in the talking points.
.

Darrell Issa seems bound and determined to prove the validity of the Peter Principal.

[Lamplighter]

Obama is finally learning to play the game by rules the Republicans will understand...

USA TODAY
David Jackson,
July 11, 2013

White House pledges veto of GOP farm bill

<snip>
"Traditionally, farm bills are enacted by a partnership of rural lawmakers interested
in agricultural programs and urban supporters of food stamps and other public nutrition programs."
<snip>
House Republicans are scheduled to vote on their own farm bill Thursday,
but the White House has already threatened a veto.

The Democrat-run Senate is also unlikely to pass the House Republican farm bill
that would expand a crop insurance program, but does not include food stamps for the poor.<snip>

Typical Republican behavior of late...They will pass this House Bill,
and then take their bat-n-ball and go home for summer recess.
.

[ZenGum]

Rep Mark Takano (D - CA), I love you.

http://www.happyplace.com/25021/form...with-a-red-pen

[Adak]

Love the red pen, but have you ever read a bill of say, 300 pages? Every page will typically refer you to another part of the bill, and that part of the bill, will refer you to one or more other parts. You probably read some of them before, but you need to reread them again, in this new context.

They are typically complex legal documents. Even if you read 300 pages per day, you might very well not finish a full reading of a 300 page bill, in a week, since every page requires a re-read of several sections, in the new context.

No one had read Obamacare fully, before it was passed. Most had not even managed a half-decent overview of it, and it's implications on an industry (health care), that makes up in total, nearly 1/3rd of our economy.

Public opinion was turning against Obamacare, so it had to be rammed down our throats, and some Senators and Representatives, had to be blatantly bribed with $$$ promises.

There is no earthly reason to lump a farm aid bill, with non-farm aid matters. The unearthly reason to do so, is so a LOT of welfare can be covered over as "farm aid", instead of welfare for non-farmers.

This is very handy for the Democratic party. They love the poor so much. They want a lot more of them, and under the past several liberal Presidents and Congresses - by god, it's working!

[tw]

Originally Posted by Adak

There is no earthly reason to lump a farm aid bill, with non-farm aid matters.

The farm aid bill is government welfare to big corporations. As a result, American now pays about $140 million to Brazilian farmers annually. A fine imposed on America due to illegal 'corporate welfare' in that existing bill.

The farm bill is almost entirely welfare to big corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland. A right wing research organization (Cato Institute) even discusses this:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-241.html

Why do we waste energy and money on ethanol? Corporate welfare. Even that only exists because charity to big corporations is more important than science, reality, and the advancement of America.

We have a serious problem. Due to an economy created by 'enrich the rich' legislation, we know have an increasing number of people even working in poverty. And now dependent on food stamps. They must be evil. Instead we must protection welfare to corporations. And continue the policies that have created our economic malaise.

The farm bill is welfare to big agriculture - corporations.