Idaho: GOP Playground

While hiking in the foothills near Walnut Creek over the weekend, I passed a number of painfully gigantic mega-mansions with sweeping views of the Bay Area, and thought “Those poor people.  What they need is a tax break.”

Later, as I watched a man in aviator sunglasses idling his Ferrari (for 20 minutes) outside a sandwich shop while waiting for his wife, I wondered: “Why is that man’s tax burden so high?”

And when I hear a teacher complain about having to bring her own paper to school, and the mice that infest the offices, I think to myself “Why are we taxing the rich so much?”

Thankfully, the Idaho legislature agrees with me. 

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GOP Sideshow Highlights

What’s that?  You say you didn’t spend your Saturday night watching The Biggest Loser the Iowa GOP debate?  But there have only been 113 debates so far!  And only 429 to go!

Well, I’m with you.  Saturday night “primetime” scheduling aside, watching “highlights” is painful enough…but you can count on my willingness to suffer to bring you some of the choicest moments from America’s most fascinating reality show.

One could garner a general idea of the all-out-crazy to come just by reading the name of the event’s host:  the Family Leader.  This is a group run by Bob Vander Plaats, whose main mission in life seems to be using government funding (which he hates, HATES, I TELL YOU!) to oppose same sex marriage.  He is also a big fan of slavery:  “…sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.”

Yes, he really did go there.

Anyways, lets dive right in:

• Biggest misunderstanding of the responsibilities of the job:  Rick Perry, who apparently feels that the Military should be an independent fourth wing of government, suggested that decisions about sending troops to war should NOT be made by “some Washington politician sitting in an air conditioned office.”  Perry, for the record, has pledged to use only a ceiling fan when he moves into the White House.
• Biggest misinterpretation of the word “Supreme”:  If Herman Cain doesn’t agree with the Supreme Court (specifically, regarding the potential overturn of the Defense of Marriage Act), he’ll just “overturn” them.  You know, because the President has the final say on the constitutionality of U.S. law.  Oh, that pesky, pesky constitution.  It REALLY gets in the way of hating gay people.
• Biggest panderer to the host:  Rick Santorum (granted, keeping to form), suggested that “Unless we protect the institution of marriage, our country will fail.”  Protect it, of course, not against a 50% divorce rate, but against two guys exchanging rings…oh, the horror…
• Best audition for role of Ebenezer Scrooge:  Newt Gingrich, who has enjoyed a surge in the polls of late (mostly because other front-runners have been exposed as flaming trainwrecks), had this to say to protestors who dare to suggest that Wall Street and the top 1% of American income earners are getting all the breaks:  “go get a job right after you take a bath”.   Because the problem isn’t that we need more jobs in this country, its that the unemployed are letting their hygiene go.
• Best Use of Planned Parenthood as Boogeyman:  Michele Bachmann, Evil Queen of CrazyTown, has identified the number one threat to America as Obama’s Health Care Plan because “Planned Parenthood now will be pushing chemical abortion and billing that to the federal government under preventative care.”  Oh yes, thats EXACTLY what’s going to happen.  The truth is…no.  NO!   You know what?  This is the problem.  The debate goes like this:  One person says something totally crazy, the other person spends their time attempting to correct the falsehood, and the headline reads “Planned Parenthood:  Are they pushing chemical abortion on unsuspecting women?  The debate continues…”  Better to just pat Ms. Bachmann gently on the hand, and ease her back into the straitjacket.

Ahhh…good times.  Ready for 14 more?

American Horror Story

If not for the enviable intransigence of the republicans – no tax increases of any form under any circumstances – some influential Democrats would have our country more closely resembling post-austerity Greece than the America we love today.

The Debt Reduction Super-Committee (the “Sup-Com“) was mandated as part of the infamous 2011 Debt Ceiling budget compromise…from HELL!  You remember, where in exchange for 100% spending cuts, Obama and the Democrats got…nothing.

So, the Sup-Com is trying to shave a minimum of $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit over the next 10 years.  So noble, right?  And both parties are working together in the spirit of bipartisanship and good faith to-

Oh, right.

Republicans have drawn their line in the sand on taxes.  Democrats are testing how close they can come to that line, without establishing one of their own.  The latest “compromise” (again, this term has been redefined, meaning one side gets about 99% of what they want, the other side gets 1%) from the Democrats on the Sup-Com, going against the opinion of the vast majority of the entire country:  make tax cuts for the wealthy PERMANENT.  A classic Democratic fallback, no?  Because, if the rich can’t save us, who can?

The previous “compromise” offer was nothing short of brutal either.  Hearken back, if you will, to the National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, established via Executive Order by Obama in 2010 to address the budget deficit.  Not surprisingly, this group couldn’t agree on a series of recommendations, with Democrats pleading a mixture of targeted spending cuts and revenue increases, and republicans pushing for America as pre-revolution France.  Co-chairs (moderate Democrat) Erskine Bowles and former (conservative republican) Senator Alan Simpson (who likes to refer to recipients of social security as “lesser people“) finally decided to release their own set of proposals, generally considered as favoring the conservative viewpoint (i.e., big social safety net cuts coupled with tax cuts are our ticket to prosperity!).   Fast forward, and the Democrats’ last “compromise” plan fell significantly to the right of these fantastic ideas, with a 6-1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases, including medicare benefit cuts to individuals with incomes of $12,000 to $15,000 per year.

So, I have to ask again, as I’ve asked many times.  What is the strategy?  Sacrifice all Democratic gains at the expense of accomplishing something, when that something is an acceptance that eliminating job-training programs and cutting taxes for billionaires is the key to America’s success?  What is the remaining Democratic platform (“We’re not quite as far to the right as the republicans!!!”)?  If I’m off-base, why isn’t there a coordinated, 24×7 media campaign calling out republican bullshit? THEY ARE WRONG!

Its painful.  And in some perverse way, by continually saying no to what could only be a significant conservative victory, by only accepting our-way-or-the-highway, the republicans are actually helping the cause.

I say, let the committee fail.  Let the prospect of massive cuts to the defense budget loom large.  Then lets see what republicans are willing to offer when the health of the military-industrial complex is on the line.

UPDATE 1:  Lets punt!!!  Compromise is always easier next year.

Related articles

• Super Committee Plays The Blame Game (huffingtonpost.com)
• The GOP: Taking Hostages Again (thedailybeast.com)
• Robert Kuttner: The Superfluous Super Committee (huffingtonpost.com)

GOP: Government Spending Creates Jobs!!

Was that a pig flying overhead?

Did you hear the news?  In an abrupt about-face, republicans confess that Government Spending does, in fact, create jobs!  Wow, after all that back-and-forth, right?  After all that tooth-and-nail, no compromise, tax cuts are the only route to job growth BS.  Now we can finally get some things passed!

Oh right.

So, it turns out only government spending on defense is included in this epiphany.  Any other government spending – unemployment benefits, job training programs, education – does absolutely nothing to create jobs.

Why the sudden interest?  Have you heard of the Debt-reduction Super-Committee?  Its a bipartisan group of congressmen (and women) tasked with reducing government borrowing by $1.5 trillion or more over the next ten years.  If agreement isn’t reached by the November 23rd deadline, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion will automatically trigger, with the lion’s share taken out of defense and medicare.  Democrats on the committee have offered a combination of (about 2/3) spending cuts and (about 1/3) revenue increases, far to the right of other bipartisan plans.  Republicans have offered a combination of spending cuts and…that’s it.  100% spending cuts…just not to defense.  Because THAT leads to job loss.

Ahhhh…hypocrisy.

It reminds me of the republican screaming about Obama’s stimulus package: how it will ruin the country, how it was nothing but a failure in the end, and, according to former GOP Presidential front-runner Rick Perry, didn’t create one job.  Never mind that the stimulus actually did create lots and lots of jobs:  somewhere between 1 million and 2.9 million as of last June, according to the non-partisan (unless you’re a republican) Congressional Budget Office.  Its true, these numbers are disappointing when compared with Obama’s rosy, pre-Stimulus predictions, and they are certainly not enough to right the economy, with the unemployment rate still hanging tough at 9.0%.   Maybe it wasn’t big enough.

Oh, right…the hypocrisy.  Well, after vilifying it and the President, then voting against it, these same republican congressmen were secretly reveling in its benefits, begging Obama to divert Stimulus funds to their districts, and shooting photo ops of stimulus-funded projects in their home states…

Well, at least we can finally agree on something.  Cutting government spending will lead to job loss.

Now, any bright ideas for increasing revenues?

Nobody’s Hero: Meet Rick Santorum

Hey, he won the Pennsylvania Straw Poll last month..that’s something.  Just because Herman Cain is getting all the attention right now (did you hear?  He has a secret plan to help the poor!), doesn’t mean we can’t ridicule this jackass, right.

We’ve seen this cast member of America’s most entertaining reality show the GOP presidential race before.  You may remember that he lost his Senate re-election campaign in 2006 by the LARGEST MARGIN EVER.  Undaunted, he’s baaaaack…joining the “Surely, SOMEONE on this stage can beat Obama” festivities that light up our screens every week.

Like many of our other “No, I’m the craziest” favorites – Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain  – its hard to know where to begin with this guy.  But lets just dive right in:

• Condoms are evil!  As self-deluded leader of America’s morality, Santorum’s top legislative priority is jobs…no, that’s not it.  Oh right, its sex (OH NO!  RUN!), specifically “the dangers of contraception” – keeping Americans from having it unless they are having babies.  Birth control, is, apparently, a “license to do things in a sexual realm“…I can’t even think of how to make that sound more funny than it already is.
• Gay marriage will bring the apocalypse!  Continuing in his passionate fight for issues that don’t matter, Rick Santorum has pledged to “die on that hill” in the battle to “save” traditional marriage.  Just to reiterate, Rick Santorum is willing to die…not to defend our nation from foreign invasion, not to save an old lady from getting hit by a car…so two guys can’t marry each other.
• Hate brings out the vote!  So, the republicans’ tireless obsession with illegal immigrants hasn’t exactly won them a lot of support among Hispanics in this country.  But Rick Santorum knows what to do:  Unite them in a crusade against gays!  Because if its one thing that brings people together, its hating other people.
• We have to defend the private jet owners of America!  When President Obama suggested ending a tax break for owners of corporate jets, Rick Santorum went ballistic.  “Ugly”, “divisive”, and “acrimonious” was how he described his own hate-filled crusade against gays Obama’s idea that we can fund just a few more of our priorities by asking this very small constituency to pay a bit more to enjoy the benefits of federally-funded air traffic control.  Important note:  Rick Santorum has never looked in a mirror.
  
• Saturday Night Live is mean!  Poor little Ricky!  I guess that when a long-running satirical show performs a sketch that pokes fun at a bigoted knucklehead who is attempting to foster a culture of hate and fear in our society, its called  “bullying“.

So many fruitcakes, so little time.  Who will be eliminated?  Will there be alliances, betrayals?  Who will get the final rose?  I’m waiting for that night on the town, when one of them gets really, really drunk and it teaches us all a lesson about friendships and personal issues.  And, the big question:  who will Snooki sleep with?

Wrong show?  Think again.

Stay tuned.

Meet Herman Cain

The frontrunner for the GOP presidential nod has changed yet again.  Governor Rick “I can too debates!” Perry is last week’s news (so soon?  Awwww, say it a’int so!).  As if his actual policies weren’t enough to dissuade voters, Perry’s recent debate performance really killed it for him.  Consider the following example of dazzling wordplay (brace yourself!):

“I think Americans just don’t know sometimes which Mitt Romney they’re dealing with. Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of, against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment?  Was it, was before, he was before the social programs from the standpoint of – he was for standing up for Roe versus Wade before he was against first Roe versus Wade?  Him, he was for Race to the Top. He’s for ‘ObamaCare’ and now he’s against it. I mean, we’ll wait until tomorrow and, and, and see which Mitt Romney we’re really talking to tonight.”

Yes, lets wait until tomorrow to see who we’re talking to…tonight…idiot.

Now, republicans have a new favorite nutjob (besting Mitt Romney by a staggering 27% to 23%):  Godfather’s Pizza-magnate former Herman Cain.  Don’t know the name?  Maybe because he’s never held political office.  Oh, where do we begin with this guy?

• Energy policy:  Herman Cain’s common-sense solution to the problem of illegal immigration?  A twenty-foot high electrified border fence, with U.S. troops patrolling it.  How about land mines?  Maybe a moat with alligators?  Heh …just kidding, he would never have said that…oh, right.
• Video Game policy:  By now, you’ve probably heard of Mr. Cain’s “9-9-9” tax plan. wherein, to summarize, the poor pay more taxes and the rich pay less.  What you may not have heard, is that this “radical new idea” came from the default setting in the video game “SimCity 4”.  Hey, have you heard about Cain’s new zombie-killing policy?
• Employment policy:  If you don’t live under a rock, you may have heard that a small protest in Manhattan dubbed “Occupy Wall Street” has ballooned into a global movement against economic inequality.  When asked his thoughts on some of the frustrations that may have led people to participate in these events, Cain responded:  “If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!”  Apparently, there are at least 31 million extremely high-paying job openings right now.  Who knew?  And those are just for the currently unemployed, of course.  Imagine how many more highly lucrative job openings there are for those if us who are already working!  All we have to do is try a little bit harder…
• Recycling Policy:  Although, in his own words, Cain has “no idea” how his 9-9-9 policy would actually work, what he does know is that taxes will go up on most goods…but not used goods.  Therefore…(ready?)…poor people, struggling with rising food costs, should strongly consider “used goods”.  Like…used food…for example.  Just as good.

Thank you republicans…keep ’em coming.

They make me laugh…but also cry a bit.   If only one of these weirdos didn’t have a real chance of winning next year.  “The other guy is crazy” election strategy may not be enough.

Lets get ‘er done.

UPDATE:  Did you know that “a liberal court” killed Jesus?  Well, Herman Cain sure does.  Man, those uppity liberals, right?

The Gloves Come Off…FINALLY!

Could it be?

Is the long, dark cave-athon to the republican party over?

Its been tough, lo these last few years.  Universal Health Care?  No dice.  Tax cuts for the wealthy?  Maintained.  Stronger clean air standards?  On hold.  Debt ceiling crisis solution? 100% spending cuts.  Address to joint session of congress?  Rescheduled.

Yes, pretty painful to watch.  Compromise is great when the other side is willing to meet you halfway, but not when it means “we get everything WE want, and you get nothing.”  Where’s the 2008 Obama?  Where’s the backbone?  How about some Democratic ideals winning the day every now and then?  What, on earth, is your strategy, Mr. President?

Here it is:  math.

Warren Buffett (why aren’t more rich people like this?) once complained that his secretary paid a higher tax rate than he does.  (Buffett, whose net worth in 2007 was approximately $52 billion, paid just 17% on earnings of $46 million in 2006, his $60,000/year secretary?  30%.)  He called out his fellow richies at a recent fundraiser for Hilary Clinton:  “If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”  Wow…just imagine the 3rd wealthiest person in the world saying that to a room full of rich donors.

Obama has (FINALLY) seized the moment.  “Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we’re going to have to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare,” Obama said on Monday. “We can’t afford to do both.”

Wow…

In addition to inisting…err, again…that the Bush-era tax cuts for upper-income earners be allowed to expire, he has proposed the “Buffett Rule“:  a minimum tax rate for millionaires and billionaires.  This “controversial” idea that the wealthy should pay at least the same tax rate as lower income earners isn’t going to fix everything, but  makes a powerful statement on priorities.

As expected, the republicans respond with cries of “Class Warfare” to any suggestion that the wealthy pay a little bit more of their fair share to help our country pay for what it needs.  They fail to see the irony that by creating a system that favors the welfare of the rich and large corporations at the expense of social safety nets (which they call “living within our means”), they are merely…well, there’s no point using logic here, right?  Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for Senator in Massachusetts recently said “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own“.  Its time to give back.

Anyways, its exciting stuff…or it could be.   The public is on the President’s side: more than 2/3 of the country, including a majority of republicans (believe it), favor increasing taxes on incomes greater than $250,000.   If you throw in eliminating subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies (some of which goes straight to Exxon Mobil, the MOST PROFITABLE COMPANY IN THE WORLD), and closing the loophole allowing hedge fund managers to claim their income as capital gains (this would raise $4 billion a year…from just 25 people), pretty soon, you’re talking real money.

Stand strong, Mr. President.

Meet Rick Perry

Lets see…Obama caved yada yada, running toward the center, etc, where’s your hope now, blah blah so disappointed…

Oh, boo hoo.  So, you’re disappointed.  Obama didn’t turn America into a liberal utopia, end all wars, stop global warming and turn nuclear waste into puppies.  So, what, now you’re not going to vote?  Doesn’t matter who gets elected President, they’re all the same?  Might as well just let a republican in because how could it be worse?

No.  It can be much worse.

The current frontrunner in the preposterous freak show running for the republican nomination is Rick Perry.  Rick Perry is worse.  Rick Perry is MUCH worse.

Consider the following items to be embraced by our potential fearless leader:

1.  Global Warming is a hoax.  On the science behind the overwhelming global consensus that the earth’s climate is changing and that human activity is accelerating that change:  “all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under its own weight.”  Never mind that 2010 was the warmest year since 1880, and New York City was recently evacuated due to hurricane threat.  Meh, best response is just business as usual.

2.  The Death Penalty is AWESOME.  235 Executions (and counting) in Texas under Rick Perry’s leadership.  Rick Perry has been governor for 10 years.  Total number of executions in the United States in the last 35 years is 1,266.  The math:  nearly 20% of all executions in the United States in the last 35 years have been under the direction of Rick Perry.  There have been 273 post-conviction exonerations of inmates on death row.  There are numerous cases of wrongful execution (where an individual who was put to death was later found to have been innocent).

In last week’s republican debate, Brian Williams wondered if the idea of an innocent person being put to death might bother the Governor:  “No, sir. I’ve never struggled with that at all.”  That’s too bad…ask Rick Perry about Cameron Todd Willingham.

3.  The “United” States of America.  Rick Perry in 2009:  “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Why such drastic measures?  What could be so dire as to warrant the secession of a state from the Union?  This was a response to Obama’s health care plan, which proposed horrific policy changes like preventing insurance companies from dropping patients due to pre-existing conditions and allowing kids to stay on their parents’ health plans for a few years more…oh, right, and killing everyone’s grandparents…how could I forget?

4.  Social Security is a felony.  Oh, you didn’t know that?  Perry calls social security a “Ponzi Scheme“.  Bernie Madoff received a 150-year prison sentence in 2009 for cheating investors in the Ponzi Scheme he developed sometime in the mid-1990s.  What’s the difference between Bernie Madoff  and a system whereby working citizens pay into a fund that supports non-working, older citizens through the challenges of retirement, disability, survivorship, and death?  I’m just going to stop right there…

5.  There’s nothing funnier than gun control.  Rick Perry’s gun control policy?  “Use both hands.”  Heh…heh…  In May, the Texas Senate approved a bill allowing concealed weapons on college campuses.  That same day, another bill passed without debate to allow lawmakers to carry concealed weapons…ANYWHERE.  Think Perry will veto these outrageous assaults on public safety?  Would you, if you felt it necessary to carry a pistol while jogging?

There’s more.  Much more.

Tell me it doesn’t matter who sits in the Oval Office next year.

Republican Governors at play

Its deadlock in DC.  Republicans refuse to consider any legislation that will help the American economy, and hold the debt ceiling hostage to massive budget cuts with zero revenue increases.  Democrats and the President continue to “compromise” by moving farther and farther to the right…from a strong center-right starting point.  Across the country, however, republicans are hard at work making the United States a less and less desirable place to live…but a great place to run a corporation:

• Keeping our drinking establishments safe:  What we really need to get America back on track is a way of life that more closely resembles the HBO series “Deadwood”.  Ohio Governor signs bill allowing guns in bars.  Firearms and alcohol…is there a better mix?
• Our way or the highway (gets closed, due to lack of funds):  Much like their brethren in Washington, republicans in Minnesota have taken the emminently reasonable stance that negotiating with Democrats on filling a budget shortfall means republicans get everything they want:  100% budget cuts, zero new revenues.  Because, if you’re starving, rather than attempt to acquire food, you should just try to lose weight, right?  Anyhow, the government of Minnesota has now shutdown – all parks closed, no more “non-essential” government services (you know, like community services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence), and more than 20,000 layoffs (good for the economy!)…  Just imagine the fun with a Federal shutdown! Can’t wait?  Yeah, me too.
• Kansas – a great place to be a woman:  Republicans have long been defenders of the rule of law, except for those they don’t agree with…like Roe v. Wade.  Newly elected Kansas governor Sam Brownback has been busy denying the legitimacy of the Supreme Court by shutting down clinics that provide abortions all over the state.  By enacting a new law giving clinics 7 days to comply with amazingly strict new regulations, Kansas is now down to a single clinic…yes, 1 clinic, 1.5 million women…seems fair, right?
• Gas Yes, Brains No!:  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett and his legislative minions passed a draconian budget slashing $280 million from Medicaid benefits (which translates to $425 million with federal matching), and a staggering $863 million from higher education.  Once again, zero new revenues, solving budget shortfalls by going after the poor, the sick…and the smart (on the upside, more future republican voters!).  Did you know that Pennsylvania is the only state NOT to tax companies that drill for natural gas?  Did you know that Tom Corbett’s campaign received $450,000 from Chesapeake Energy in 2004?  Yeah….

Ugh.

And yet, sometimes there is that oh-so-rare, refreshingly-sweet, taste of victory, something that makes the very souls of coal-blooded, self-righteous republican recoil and wither…New York just made same sex marriage legal.  Maybe, just maybe, we’ll actually witness here a shift in a seemingly unmoveable world view amongst the increasingly-elusive rational republican…just ask David Frum (former George W. Bush speechwriter), who penned the amazingly humble “I was wrong about same-sex marriage“…see kids, miracles DO happen.

Now we just need some more.

Republicans continue to kill the team

Life sometimes gets in the way of the serious political blogging one would like to do in one’s spare time.  Nonetheless, even a cursory breeze through the headlines reveals a litany of republican “whatthef*ckery”.  I’m continually amazed that this group of loons and jackals somehow, time and time again, convince Americans to vote against their own self-interest and catapult them into positions of power, where they are free to do their best to destroy the lives of their constituents, and of this great country at large.

Where to even begin?  When every day brings fresh incredulity, another round of “are you frickn kidding me?”, the seventh exasperated head shaking of the morning?  Here’s some good ones:

• In a time of budget-cutting on the backs of the poor and disadvantaged and government spending as THE root of all that is wrong with America (finally, we know!), some thoughtful congressmen and our president pointed out that the government could save about $4 billion a year by eliminating some annual subsidies to oil companies (a rather small proportion of TOTAL subsidies to oil companies, which may be closer to $35 billion), including ExxonMobil, THE MOST PROFITABLE CORPORATION IN THE WORLD.  (want to get really angry?  Next time you buy a stamp at the post office, just think…thats more than Exxon Mobil paid in taxes in 2009.)  Senate republicans, who once claimed they would have to invoke the “nuclear option” in response to Democratic filibustering of ultra-conservative judicial nominations of George W’s (“why, oh why can’t we just have a straight up-or-down vote, like our forefathers intended”), filibustered a bill to repeal oil subsidies, because who, oh who, will think of the oil companies?!?!?.   Republicans, now apparently lovers of government spending, and handouts to those who don’t need them.
• Freshman Senator (and “OHMYGOD, THIS GUY GOT ELECTED?” showcase) Rand Paul (r-KY), never a fan of civil rights, now thinks the Bill of Rights could use a little dicing up as well (why stop with just one of our country’s founding documents, right?).  Free Speech?  Peaceful assembly?  That’s commie talk!  While Paul is no supporter of racial profiling (for shame, what kind of monster do you take him for?), he does feel that the Bill of Rights should be torn to shreds:  “if someone is attending speeches from someone who is promoting the violent overthrow of our government, that’s really an offense that we should be going after — they should be deported or put in prison.”  How about attending a rally of former Nevada republican senatorial nominee Sharon (“Second Amendment Remedies“) Angle?  Or listening to a radio interview by potential republican nutjob presidential contender Michelle (“I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous“) Bachmann?  What if the entire prison population was comprised of members of Senator Paul’s very own Tea Party?
• On the lighter side, here’s the republican quote of the week:  Newt Gingrich, on Democrats’ use of direct, fully-in-context quotes from a recent Meet the Press interview “Any ad that quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.”  ………..  Yes, recently announced (finally, right?) presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was busy issuing his “heartfelt apology” (it was the liberal media’s fault, don’t you know?) to the GOP, following a very public flogging over daring to take a moderate position on the viability of Paul Ryan’s proposal to gut medicare.  He has since retracted his words with the usual misspokes and entrapment and misleading questions, blah, blah, blah.  By the way, John Lithgow does an excellent Newt Gingrich.

More to come?  With the presidential campaign season just a few months away, my guess is…probably.