Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Fox Brings on Clinton Conspiracy Theorist to Attack Hillary for Waging a 'War on Women'

Fox Brings on Clinton Conspiracy Theorist to Attack Hillary for Waging a 'War on Women'

"I hate to break it to them, but if they think segments like this one are going to work with persuading women that Hillary is the one who really has it out for them and not Republicans who want to restrict reproductive rights, access to health care and who are against equal pay and for economic policies that do more damage to women than men, you'd better come up something better than this. I've got my issues with Hillary Clinton, but not because I think she's anti-woman. That's just ridiculous."

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

PERRspectives: Georgia Republicans are Killing Hospitals--and People

PERRspectives: Georgia Republicans are Killing Hospitals--and People

"By now, millions of Americans--most of them in red states-- are growing familiar with the "coverage gap." Thanks to their rejection of the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid in states they control, GOP leaders are leaving at least five million people in an insurance "dead zone," earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to obtain federal subsidies to purchase coverage on their. As a recent Harvard study suggests, that Republican dead zonewill a very real body count, with as many as 17,000 people forecast to needlessly die each year for lack of health insurance.

But GOP obstruction won't just kill people in places like Texas, Mississippi and many more. As the case of Georgia shows--where over 600,000 residents will fall into the coverage gap and as many as 1,175 will die this year--Republican policy is killing hospitals, too."

10 Charts Show a New Gilded Age for the One Percent

10 Charts Show a New Gilded Age for the One Percent

"Of course, America's super rich don't want to go back to some mythical Golden Age. As the numbers show, this is their Golden Age. And as the obscenely wealthy pull away from the merely wealthy, Tom Perkins, Sam Zell, Ken Langone and their exclusive club know they've never had it so good."

Filthy rich but secretly terrified: Inside the One Percent’s sore-winner backlash

Filthy rich but secretly terrified: Inside the One Percent’s sore-winner backlash

"Why are the super-rich whining so much? They rigged the game for themselves, but are terrified of being discovered"

Cast of characters in NJ bridge case grows

Spike in Oklahoma earthquake activity

Corporate Cronyism: The Secret to Overpaid CEOs

Corporate Cronyism: The Secret to Overpaid CEOs

"It's hardly a secret that the heads of major corporations in the United States get mind bending paychecks. While high pay may be understandable when a top executive turns around a failing company or vastly expands a company's revenue and profit, but CEOs can get paychecks in the tens or hundreds of millions even when they did nothing especially notable."

Christie’s longtime friend watched traffic jam

Are the police involved in ‘bridgegate’?

Nixon still runs the GOP: How the white South dominates the party

Nixon still runs the GOP: How the white South dominates the party

"If the Republican Party changed the South politically, less discussed is the question of how the South has influenced the GOP.  The Southern transformation of the Republican Party has shaped its persona in fundamental ways."

Big setback for unions after plant vote fails

Monday, February 17, 2014

PERRspectives: CBO Destroyed GOP Lies about Obama Stimulus Program

PERRspectives: CBO Destroyed GOP Lies about Obama Stimulus Program

"As their recent disinformation campaign over mythical Obamacare job losses shows, Republicans love the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Except when they hate the CBO, which is most of the time. After all, GOP leaders are using the fifth anniversary of the $787 billion Obama economic stimulus program to mark it is a failure despite the fact that the CBO--and most other analysts--long ago declared it a success."

The Christie scandal everyone overlooked: A $12 million self-motivated political scheme

The Christie scandal everyone overlooked: A $12 million self-motivated political scheme

"Yes, "Bridgegate" is bad. But a selfish, sleazy special election decision last year also cost the state. Here's how

Radiation Puts New Mexico Nuclear Waste Site in 'Shutdown Mode'

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/radiation-puts-new-mexico-nuclear-waste-site-shutdown-mode-n31946
"A nuclear waste storage site below New Mexico's desert is "in shutdown mode" after excessive radiation levels were detected, Department of Energy officials said Sunday."

Toxic Chemicals Linked to 'Global, Silent Pandemic' Striking Children Worldwide | Common Dreams

Toxic Chemicals Linked to 'Global, Silent Pandemic' Striking Children Worldwide | Common Dreams

"Toxic chemicals including some pesticides and solvents may be behind the increasing number of cases of neurodevelopmental disabilities—including autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—among children, researchers warn."

Suspected Radiation Leak in Military's Nuclear Dumping Ground | Common Dreams

Suspected Radiation Leak in Military's Nuclear Dumping Ground | Common Dreams

"Over the weekend, abnormally high levels of radioactive particles were found underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico, where radioactive waste, including from nuclear weapons production, is dumped deep beneath the earth's surface and stored in salt formations."

A Reading Guide on the Billionaire Koch Brothers

A Reading Guide on the Billionaire Koch Brothers

"how the brothers’ political views “dovetail with [their] corporate interests"."

Fox Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Stimulus by Spreading GOP Zombie Lies on Recovery

Fox Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of Stimulus by Spreading GOP Zombie Lies on Recovery

"It's been five years since the passage of the stimulus package that saved millions of jobs when our economy was in a free fall, but that hasn't stopped Faux "news" and the Republicans from continuing to spread the zombie lie that the Recovery Act supposedly didn't work."

The 4 Most Profound Ways Privatization Perverts Education

www.alternet.org/education/4-most-profound-ways-privatization-perverts-education
"Profit-seeking in the banking and health care industries has victimized Americans. Now it's beginning to happen in education, with our children as the products."

Last Call: Joni Mitchell Contest Ends Today

Last Call: Joni Mitchell Contest Ends Today

"The Koch brothers are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in Orlando to try to defeat Grayson with their regular complain of smears and lies."

Republicans Slam Stimulus On Fifth Anniversary — But Most Took Credit For It Back Home

www.thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/02/17/3298561/hypocrites/
"over half of the GOP caucus praised the effects of the stimulus or took credit for the federal dollars in their home districts and states — despite repeatedly voting against it in Washington D.C."

Cheers for the Recovery Act on its 5th Birthday, Jeers for the Anti-Recovery Act We’ve (Implicitly) Passed in the Past Three Years

Cheers for the Recovery Act on its 5th Birthday, Jeers for the Anti-Recovery Act We’ve (Implicitly) Passed in the Past Three Years

"Today marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or simply the Recovery Act). Passed after a six-month stretch during which the economy lost an average of 750,000 jobs each month, ARRA was the single biggest contributor to stopping the economic freefall that followed the bursting of the housing bubble. To be clear, the assessment that the ARRA contributed significantly to ending the Great Recession is not a contested opinion among macroeconomists, or at least not among those macroeconomists whose paycheck depends on correctly predicting what will impact economic activity."

Cheers for the Recovery Act on its 5th Birthday, Jeers for the Anti-Recovery Act We’ve (Implicitly) Passed in the Past Three Years

Cheers for the Recovery Act on its 5th Birthday, Jeers for the Anti-Recovery Act We’ve (Implicitly) Passed in the Past Three Years

"Today marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or simply the Recovery Act). Passed after a six-month stretch during which the economy lost an average of 750,000 jobs each month, ARRA was the single biggest contributor to stopping the economic freefall that followed the bursting of the housing bubble. To be clear, the assessment that the ARRA contributed significantly to ending the Great Recession is not a contested opinion among macroeconomists, or at least not among those macroeconomists whose paycheck depends on correctly predicting what will impact economic activity."

Sunday, February 16, 2014

David Brooks Finally Admits That There is No 'Tea Party'

David Brooks Finally Admits That There is No 'Tea Party'

"David Brooks finally admits something we've known for years... that the "tea party" is just the Republican base that's always been with us."

Human wall of students around Missouri stadium block Westboro from protesting gay player

Human wall of students around Missouri stadium block Westboro from protesting gay player

"Hundreds of students formed a human wall around the basketball stadium at the University of Missouri on Saturday because the Westboro Baptist Church had pledged to protest gay football player Michael Sam."

7 Deranged Comments from America's Far-Right This Week—Ted Cruz's Achy Breaky Heart Edition

www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/7-deranged-comments-americas-far-right-week-ted-cruzs-achy-breaky-heart-edition
"Plus, Tom Perkins thinks more wealth should mean more votes."

25% Of Americans Don't Know The Earth Revolves Around The Sun

25% Of Americans Don't Know The Earth Revolves Around The Sun

"We always discuss how a dumbed down America usually votes against its own interests when it comes to employment, but now we have the evidence that they're even dumber then we thought."

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Fantasizing About California, or Already Here: 5 Shocking Drought Facts to Make You Rethink the Golden State

www.alternet.org/5-crucial-things-you-should-know-about-californias-epic-drought
"Droughts aren’t new to California, but this one is for the ages and comes with a distinct set of troubles."

The Human Toll of Texas's Decision To Not Expand Medicaid

Tesla Motors - The Car Company They're Scared Of And Why

Union Vote At Car Plant Exposes Sneaky Dirty Politics

A Portrait of Time Warner's Active Role in ALEC

A Portrait of Time Warner's Active Role in ALEC

"How is this possible? How could tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and lobbying expenditures for the benefit of Ohio lawmakers have completely disappeared from public sight?

The answer is a pretty straightforward one: Ohio law contains numerous disclosure exemptions for items of worth (be they cash, meals, or plane tickets) received by lawmakers in conjunction with events held by certain legislative membership organizations."

Tennesee Preacher Refuses to Marry Whites and Blacks Because Communism (Video)

Tennesee Preacher Refuses to Marry Whites and Blacks Because Communism (Video)

"Driving his point home, Brother Donny explains the real problem with the mixing of races: that’s right–Communism.

“Communism, has infiltrated our message. Not through Stalin, not through Mussolini, but through mixed marriages,” he claims."

Close the "Water's Edge" Loophole!

Another Chemical Spill in WV?

WATCH: Tennessee GOP Threats Scare VW Workers And Stymies Union Formation

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/15/gop-scares-workers-voting-union-tn-vw-plant-video/
"Is this not undue government interference in the business of a private company? Is this not a government threat against the well being of the middle class worker? It definitely is. Ultimately the threat worked. The union drive for the plant was defeated."

Let Citizens Vote? Not In Republican World [Stunning Quote]

Ted Cruz’s imperialist fantasy: Why his latest anti-Obama epithet is so dangerous

Ted Cruz’s imperialist fantasy: Why his latest anti-Obama epithet is so dangerous

"When Cruz says we're living under an "imperial presidency," his ignorance and hypocrisy are staggering. Here's why"

World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant Uses As Much Water As Two Holes On Nearby Golf Course

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/13/3289361/worlds-largest-solar-plant/
"With California struggling through one of the worst droughts on record, and Ivanpah already being located in a high desert climate, water conservation has been a major focus. Solar thermal plants use solar mirrors to heat water in boilers that in turn produce steam to turn the electricity generating turbines, are more water intensive than more common solar photovoltaic panels."

Historic drought strains California's towns and farms

N.C. Governor No Longer Works for Duke Energy, But After Coal Spill, Is He Doing Their Bidding?

Huge Solar Thermal Plant Opens as Solar Industry Grows (PHOTOS)

www.talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/huge-thermal-plant-opens-as-solar-industry-grows
"The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year."

GMOs Are Killing the Bees, Butterflies, Birds and... ? | Common Dreams

GMOs Are Killing the Bees, Butterflies, Birds and... ? | Common Dreams

"When the honeybees started dying en masse, the alarm bells went off. Bees are critical to food production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than a quarter of America’s diet relies on pollination by honeybees.

No bees, no food. Or at least, no apples, cherries, onions, celery, cabbage, and a long listof others, including almonds and blueberries which, according to the American Beekeeping Federation, are 90-percent dependent on bees for pollination."


The Great Isolation of the 1%

www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/great-isolation-1
"Due to a spate of bizarre rants from members of the 1 percent over the past two weeks, it would be easy to conclude that America’s super-rich have gone off the rails."

Petrified of the Tea Party: GOP Cowards Reach Pathetic New Low In Vote Scheme

www.alternet.org/gop-cowards-reach-pathetic-new-low-vote-scheme
"Our standard for courage is shamefully low when Mitch McConnell gets praised for ending the debt-ceiling stand off."

Friday, February 14, 2014

Pope jumps into spending arms race for NC judges

www.southernstudies.org/2014/02/pope-jumps-into-spending-arms-race-for-nc-judges.html
"First Art Pope helped change the rules about money's influence in electing judges to North Carolina courts. Now, the GOP mega-donor is mobilizing special-interest donors -- and spending his own family fortune -- to take advantage of the new money-fueled judicial election system he helped create."

Kansas's Radical Attack on Gays and Lesbians

Kansas's Radical Attack on Gays and Lesbians

"Not only does the state's proposed law allow private businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples; it permits state employees to deny them basic services."

TN Senator Shows South How To Block Unions By Lying, Bullying, And Breaking The Law (VIDEO)

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/14/tn-sen-corker-union-meddling/
"VW has actually been campaigning for the UAW. The company wants to establish a management-labor work council in the plant. Such councils in its other plants help make decisions about how the plants are run. In the U.S., by law, that requires union representation for the workers."

Louisiana Obamacare Attack Ads Use Actors To Tell Made-Up Horror Stories

Louisiana Obamacare Attack Ads Use Actors To Tell Made-Up Horror Stories

"I guess the real people they tried to use in other ads got tired of having their stories debunked by actual real reporters, so now AfP is running ads with actors and fake stories. How ethical of them!"

Get Out The Vote: Let’s Make Election Day A National Holiday (VIDEO)

www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/14/election-day-national-holiday-petition/
"That’s right people:  We vote when we vote because our ancestors had to travel on horseback after picking their crops but before church and winter. Why is it still this way? Because for some reason, Congress sees a day in the middle of the week, when lower and middle class people have to work, as a completely legitimate day to ask them to vote."

Koch Brothers Hire Paid Actors To Star In Attack Ad Claiming Obamacare Hurts Louisiana Residents

www.thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/14/3293291/koch-brothers-paid-actors-louisiana/
"Indeed, it’s a not new tactic. The Koch-backed organization, which has poured millions into a misinformation campaign against health reform over the past several months, also hired a paid actress from Maryland to star in an anti-Obamacare ad targeted at Alaska residents."

Spill spotlights McCrory ties to Duke Energy

Lawmakers Threaten Workers Over Union Vote Their Bosses Welcome

www.thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/02/14/3293801/volkswagen-vote-tennessee-threaten/
"Watson’s threats and Corker’s cajoling come even though Volkswagen has welcomed the United Auto Workers into its Chattanooga factory and sought to bring German labor organizing ideas to Tennessee. The German company is accustomed to working with worker groups in its facilities in Europe and is seeking to establish the same kind of positive rapport with its labor force in the American south"

Fox Enters Tennessee Labor Fight With Anti-Worker Binge

www.mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/13/fox-enters-tennessee-labor-fight-with-anti-work/198047
"All Volkswagen plants currently have union representation besides Chattanooga and two plants in China. And the German company has praised the benefits such organization has brought to its other plants -- As The Washington Post wrote, "the company even sees its culture of worker codetermination as a 'competitive advantage,'" according to Volkswagen's global works council leader, Bernard Osterloh. As UC Berkley's Harley Shaiken has explained, this competitive advantage has already helped boost Volkswagen's bottom line -- the company "has led all major automakers in raising shareholder value" over the last three years and was "virtually tied for second place in global auto production in 2012'."

GOP senator tries to influence union vote

INSTITUTE INDEX: Just how cozy are Gov. McCrory and Duke Energy?

www.southernstudies.org/2014/02/institute-index-just-how-cozy-are-gov-mccrory-and-.html
"Given Duke Energy's 2012 operating revenues of $19.6 billion, the fine's dollar equivalent for a person earning a $60,000 salary: $.30"

Authorities: Ohio Republican ripped off investors to fund campaign and friend’s church

www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/13/authorities-ohio-republican-ripped-off-investors-to-fund-campaign-and-friends-church/
"An Ohio Republican already facing more than 100 years in prison on 16 felony charges was slapped Thursday with 53 additional counts." 

PERRspectives: The 1 Percenters are Right: Let's Go Back to the Good Old Days

PERRspectives: The 1 Percenters are Right: Let's Go Back to the Good Old Days

"But the Dow Jones hasn't just doubled since Obama entered the White House. There's no shortage of studies to show that stock market returns are higher under Democratic leadership. As Slate in 2002 and the New York Times in 2003 found, "It's not even close. The stock market does far better under Democrats." And as Bloomberg News documented two years ago, Barack Obama has been no exception"

Brent Bozell Always Attacks Lazy Media, Gets Outed With Ghostwritten Columns

Brent Bozell Always Attacks Lazy Media, Gets Outed With Ghostwritten Columns

"Brent Bozell, head of the conservative Media Research Center, who always chides lazy journalists, gets caught being the truly lazy and hypocritical one: He never wrote his own syndicated columns."

Gun-Toting Life Promoting Montana Republican Jailed For Child Abuse

Gun-Toting Life Promoting Montana Republican Jailed For Child Abuse

"There is a special cave in the darkest pit of hell for people like this. I don't care who you are, you do not beat up little kids. Period. This is just more evidence that the whole "value life" line these guys spew is cynical and empty. This guy is unworthy to hold any office other than maybe Chairman of Prison Toilet Cleanup."

Old Photos Surface Showing Breitbart, O’Keefe Hobnobbing with White Nationalists

Old Photos Surface Showing Breitbart, O’Keefe Hobnobbing with White Nationalists

"Photographs published this week by an anti-racist website show the late Andrew Breitbart, a leading figurehead among mainstream conservatives, and his onetime protégé James O’Keefe – whose undercover videos are credited with causing the demise of the community organizing group ACORN – rubbing elbows with young white nationalists at two different right-wing conferences."

Why Are GOP Politicians and Anti-Union Groups Interfering With the VW Vote?

Why Are GOP Politicians and Anti-Union Groups Interfering With the VW Vote?

"Finally, the most notable feature of the VW campaign has been the unprecedented campaign of intimidation by shadowy anti-union organizations. Right-wing activists, including Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers, are furious that VW management has not attempted to pressure workers to vote "no." So they have stepped into the breach. Ludicrously misnamed organizations such as the Workplace Fairness Institute, Worker Freedom Institute and Center for Worker Freedom have attempted to transform the union election into a sleazy political campaign: They have suggested that UAW-represented auto companies are bankrupt, when in fact they are thriving, with Ford posting record profits; they have told workers that unionization would "imperil the fate of their employer," when in fact VW would be delighted to have a cooperative relationship with unionized workers within the plant; and they have spread ludicrous right-wing fantasies, such as the union "wants your guns." No other democratic country has organizations such as these - peddling outright falsehoods - that are dedicated to undermining workers' right to choose a union."

David Cay Johnston Takes Apart Chris Christie's False Meme on 'Income Equality'

David Cay Johnston Takes Apart Chris Christie's False Meme on 'Income Equality'

"Everyday Americans who haven't had their brains fried by right-wing hate talk or Faux "news" have known for some time that trickle-down doesn't work and that the game has been rigged for the rich and against the average working person who is just trying to get by for a very long time now."

Kansas Republicans Violate The Constitution By Passing Anti-Gay Segregation Law

www.politicususa.com/2014/02/14/kansas-republicans-violate-constitution-passing-anti-gay-segregation-law.html
"Christian lawmakers give government employees the right to deny services to gays in the name of “religious liberty,” and every government employee will receive explicit permission to discriminate against gays including any Kansas government worker. For example, if a gay person calls the police because they are being assaulted, an officer can refuse to help them if interacting with gays violates their religious principles. State hospitals can prevent gays from entering and deny them treatment with impunity, and gays will be barred from public parks, public pools, or any institution operating under the aegis of Kansas state theocracy; including the public school system.
The theocrats supporting the religious law claim it only applies gay couples, as if that makes the edict acceptable, but the text of the bill is absent any principles limiting it to gay couples, or straight people, whose very existence Christians feel violates their religious liberty."

Banks Throw Hissy Fit After Elizabeth Warren Endorses Idea to Allow Post Office to Offer Financial Services

www.alternet.org/economy/banks-throw-hissy-fit-after-elizabeth-warren-endorses-idea-allow-post-office-offer-financial
"The plan? The post office would offer services designed to appeal to America’s unbanked and under-banked — the more than 50 million adults who either have no checking or savings account, or use high-cost, predatory services like payday loans to supplement traditional banking needs.
This sounds like a win-win. Americans — particularly low-income Americans — clearly need greater access to low-cost financial services. At the same time, many financial institutions have been complaining for years that providing banking services to low-income Americans is costing them money. So much so that they can barely bring themselves to open bank branches in anything less than well-heeled neighborhoods."

Can Right-Wingers and Plutocrats Be Stopped from Destroying Social Security?

www.alternet.org/economy/can-right-wingers-and-plutocrats-be-stopped-destroying-social-security?page=0%2C0
"There's momentum in the fight to strengthen, instead of gut, social security."

What Won't This Private Prison Corporation Do To Turn a Profit? | Common Dreams

What Won't This Private Prison Corporation Do To Turn a Profit? | Common Dreams

"Corrections Corporation of America exposed for fraudulently billing state taxpayers for thousands of staff hours"

Idaho's "Ag-Gag" Law Latest to Criminalize Defenders of Animals | Common Dreams

Idaho's "Ag-Gag" Law Latest to Criminalize Defenders of Animals | Common Dreams

"Though similar efforts in other states have failed, a bill moving swiftly through the Idaho legislature this week is trying to criminalize the activities of animal rights advocates who expose the mistreatment of farm animals and livestock by documenting abuse by their human handlers."