It’s ‘Deranged’ to Not Raise Taxes, Washington Post’s Marcus Declares on ABC’s Roundtable
November 14, 2010 No Comment
Despairing that the current income tax rates will be extended for all income levels, on Sunday’s This Week , Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus declared: “I think that the conversation right now is deranged” and “crazy.” In measuring the long-term “cost” of keeping the Bush rates for those below $250,000 versus for all, she argued: I think that the conversation right now is deranged. We have in one room the deficit commission folks saying look at this huge hole, look at the tax increases and serious spending cuts that we need to do to fill it. And then outside the room, we're having a debate about whether we should add $4 trillion to the deficit long-term or a mere 3.3. This is crazy. Marcus issued her characterizations after New York Times columnist Paul Krugman had made his case for raising taxes: read more
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While never a neutral arbiter in the Middle East, it still is surprising that the U.S. has promised something like a long-term security agreement—including 20 F-35 fighter jets and a promise to veto any “damaging” UN security council resolution—in exchange for an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank. The agreement is currently a divisive issue for the Israeli cabinet, as four members of the Likud party opposed the U.S.‘s move to resume peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. One can only surmise the collective uproar that result after the same deal with the Palestinian Authority. Just sayin’. —JCL The Guardian: A US proposal offering security and diplomatic incentives to Israel in exchange for a renewal of a freeze on the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank drew an angry response from several senior Israeli ministers at a cabinet meeting today. Four cabinet members from the rightwing Likud party opposed Washington’s initiative to resume peace talks, in what Israeli media described as heated discussions. The Palestinian authority also said today that it had not been informed . “We haven’t heard anything official from the Americans,” said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator. “We are waiting for them to contact us.” The US has reportedly offered Israel a long-term security agreement, which includes the delivery of 20 F-35 fighter jets worth $3bn (£1.9bn). Washington also vowed to veto any UN security council resolution that could be damaging for Israel. Read more Related Entries November 9, 2010 Obama Reaches Out to Muslims on Indonesian Trip November 9, 2010 Noam Chomsky on Misguided Outrage
Continue reading …Daily Kos: The American Dream Is a Virus Like AIDS, and Rick Perry is Satan
November 14, 2010 No Comment
How much do the bloggers of the Daily Kos hate conservatism and the limited-government ideas that informed America's founding? They associate them with Satan…and with disease. Blogger Kevin Tully is really angry about the election returns and wondered if
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President Barack Obama is capping a 10-day trip to Asia meeting with Russia’s president. Associated Press correspondent Mark Smith reports on Obama’s role in international politics after a tough mid-term election. (Nov. 13)
Continue reading …Roland Martin brought his full-blown Palin Derangement Syndrome to Friday's Anderson Cooper 360, labeling the former Alaska governor ” the Kim Kardashian of politics .” Martin continued that Palin is ” making a ton of money. We're trying to figure out why. It's the same as Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton …. She quit her job because she wanted to go out and be a celebrity .” The CNN contributor actually first tried out his questionable label of the Tea Party favorite on his Twitter account. At 5:12 pm on November 9 , Martin posted the following Tweet: ” Palin slammed then-Sen. Obama as a celebrity in 2008 campaign, and she's more of a celebrity because she doesn't hold office .” Mind you, at that time, Palin was Alaska's governor and the Republican vice presidential candidate, but the liberal continued by complaining in a second Tweet that “the media goes ga ga over whatever she says. Palin is often wrong. She's a former governor who quit her job rather than tough it out .” During his third Tweet , Martin added, ” She holds no position; wants no accountability; and wants to sling arrows and then gets angry when called on the carpet 4 her nonsense .” The CNN personality completed his rant by comparing the Republican to the curvy celebrity most infamous for making a pornographic video : ” At the end of the day, Sarah Palin is the Kim Kardashian of Politics. She's a celebrity with no real purpose other than picking up a check .” [ Video below the jump ]
Continue reading …Michael Moore Schooled On ‘Real Time’: Anti-Obama Sentiment Isn’t Racist
November 13, 2010 No Comment
Schlockumentary filmmaker Michael Moore on Friday's “Real Time” got a much-needed education about how absurd it is to claim “white America does not like having a black president.” CNN's Jessica Yellin also taught Moore a thing or two about voter turnout during midterm elections (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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After two whole months of active campaigning, it is only now official. Rahm Emanuel, who returned to Chicago after resigning as White House chief of staff, has formally announced his intent to run as mayor of the Windy City. —JCL The Associated Press: Rahm Emanuel officially announced Saturday what everyone has known since he quit his job as White House chief of staff, hugged President Barack Obama and returned to Chicago: He’s in. To the surprise of no one, Emanuel, who has long talked about his desire to be mayor, told a packed auditorium at a school on Chicago’sNorth Side that he is running to succeed retiring Mayor Richard Daley. The election is Feb. 22. Emanuel represented the city’s North Side in Congress before he went to the White House. He has been actively campaigning in the city since his return about two months ago. Read more Related Entries November 12, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Debt Commission; Obama’s Overseas Bust November 12, 2010 Connecting the Dots on the Great Disconnect
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While jobs may be scarce in most parts of the country, look out for a boom in the exorcism sector. A shortage in the number of clergy who can perform the rite has led the Catholic Church to hold a conference and training in the sacred art of purging spirits from the possessed. —JCL The Associated Press: Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the rite, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops are holding a conference on how to conduct exorcisms. The two-day training, which ends Saturday in Baltimore, is to outline the scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed, and review the prayers and rituals that comprise an exorcism. Among the speakers will be Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, and a priest-assistant to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. “Learning the liturgical rite is not difficult,” DiNardo said in a phone interview before the conference, which is open to clergy only. “The problem is the discernment that the exorcist needs before he would ever attempt the rite.” Read more Related Entries November 12, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Debt Commission; Obama’s Overseas Bust November 12, 2010 Connecting the Dots on the Great Disconnect
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Contemporary Nicaraguan politics has always been mired in conflict, be it in response to natural disasters, U.S.-sponsored terrorism, or depressing and dire poverty. And now President Daniel Ortega is using a “contested interpretation” of the country’s constitution to try to stay in power, incensing his opposition. Ortega has irked many of his former allies, with one former rebel fighter planning to run against him and another taking up arms in the same mountains where civil war raged for years. —JCL The New York Times: President Daniel Ortega’s push to stay in power using a contested interpretation of the Constitution has reignited the furor of former contras who fought his Sandinista government in the 1980s, with one former rebel taking up arms in the mountains and another vowing to oust him at the polls. But in the absence of a post-cold-war sponsor, Nicaragua’s opposition is struggling to coordinate an electoral offensive against Mr. Ortega, whose approval ratings rose to 45 percent last month with the help of his Venezuelan-financed response to flooding that killed scores of people and forced thousands to flee their homes. Mr. Ortega’s critics contend that he is disregarding the Constitution and turning his role as the largest Central American beneficiary of Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chávez, into political capital for next year’s vote, in November. Read more Related Entries November 12, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Debt Commission; Obama’s Overseas Bust November 12, 2010 Connecting the Dots on the Great Disconnect
Continue reading …Charles Krauthammer Schools Carlson and Krugman on Raising Social Security Retirement Age
November 13, 2010 No Comment
Charles Krauthammer on Friday gave a much-needed education to Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson about why the age at which one can receive Social Security benefits must be raised. His words on PBS's “Inside Washington” also refuted Paul Krugman's foolish claims on this matter published in Friday's New York Times (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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