Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts

Republican Propaganda
Editing the State of the Nation Speech

Republicans Post Doctored Version Of State Of The Union, Censor Facts On Climate Change
BY EMILY ATKIN POSTED ON JANUARY 21, 2015 AT 10:42 AM



The official website for House Republicans has posted on YouTube a version of President Obama’s State of the Union address which cuts out comments where the President was critical of Republican rhetoric on climate change, ThinkProgress has learned.

Social Media Working Group Act of 2015

*there are reference and investigation tools listed in the sidebar if  you wish to investigate this further. I'm only posting it because I know many of my readers are interested in this area of activity
Current, and In the Senate:

Passed House without amendment (02/02/2015)
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Social Media Working Group Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a social media working group (the Group) to provide guidance and best practices to the emergency preparedness and response community on the use of social media technologies before, during, and after a terrorist attack or other emergency.

Requires the Group to submit an annual report that includes: (1) a review of current and emerging social media technologies being used to support preparedness and response activities related to terrorist attacks and other emergencies; (2) a review of best practices and lessons learned on the use of social media during the response to terrorist attacks and other emergencies that occurred during the period covered by the report; (3) recommendations to improve DHS's use of social media for emergency management purposes, to improve public awareness of the type of information disseminated through social media and how to access such information during a terrorist attack or other emergency, and to improve information sharing among DHS and its components and among state and local governments; (4) a review of available training for government officials on the use of social media in response to a terrorist attack or other emergency; and (5) a summary of coordination efforts with the private sector to discuss and resolve legal, operational, technical, privacy, and security concerns.

ref:H.R.623
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/623/text



Some thoughts on Political Details

Details, they say, are the dwellings of devils.

I'm always a little amazed at the "vital" particle -- and its slight stature compared to the body of work it brings to life. I have spent days in furious and obsessive search for that "detail" -- which once turned out to be a date:
It was 1987 when Eric discovered the nation was insane. 

and once, a flowering herb:
"Hemlock water dropwort" (Oenanthe crocata) the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin. The candidate for the "sardonic herb," a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, the herb was given to them as an intoxicant and once in the grip of the poison, they were dropped from a high rock or beaten to death. It was also said to cause rictus laughter from the victim before death.
-- that was such a cool find though.

Details. It is so little we need, but what we need is absolute.

The Case for Annual Testing

By: Grover J. "Russ" WhitehurstMartin R. WestMatthew M. Chingos and Mark Dynarski

The new U.S. Congress is moving post haste to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). With Republicans in the majority in both houses and the relevant committees chaired by individuals with considerable legislative skills (Lamar Alexander in the Senate and John Kline in the House) the smart money is on Obama seeing a bill in this session.
The most recent incarnation of ESEA, signed into law in January of 2002 by President George W. Bush, is the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB is the seventh reauthorization of ESEA since 1965, which means that Congress historically reworked this legislation roughly every five years. We’re now 13 years into NCLB, so reauthorization is long overdue. It is not just the long delay that argues for congressional action, but the extent to which the Obama administration has replaced the provisions of the bill with its own set of priorities implemented through Race to the Top and state waivers. Whatever one thinks of the appropriate federal role in education, there are surely strong reasons in our constitutional democracy to prefer that we get to where we are going through law rather than executive edict.

This is really a good article, well researched, thoughtful and I learned quit a bit from it. I've been so busy with awareness that Common Core has no testing requirements, I've been a little derelict with whether standardized testing should be out there. Not sure I'm qualified to press it one way or the other.

Anyway , if it caught your attention at all, it won't waste your time. 

Jon Stewart of the Daily Show: Slams the Koch Brothers

Daily Show viewers are likely to be the most -- moderately informed, if not best informed -- viewers (viewers being the people who still bother to watch the tripe produced for cable TV these days). This is because, Jon Stewart (and Stephen Colbert on his show), will slam anyone who is acting stupid, or trying to gloss over a heinous activity. Historically, these two shows don't really care if their targets are Democrat or Republican, or Tea Party or in the seat of the White House ... or advertising on the time slot of their show, as the Koch brothers found out this week. Basically the message is, "we care about our viewers, and if you are going to imply that we condone your actions, you are leading with your chin."  





Thank you Jon Stewart for Doing It Right!

If you would like answers to baffling questions like these:

Why is America 83% in favor of health insurance companies being required to accept pre-existing conditions, yet only 43% in favor of Obamacare?

Why after six years of growth on Wall Street, lowering Unemployment, bringing healthcare reform and encouraging public schools with unprecedented resources for teachers which will minimize the unpaid "at home" hours they are required to engage in, is Obama's acceptance level only 43%?

Why, even after the Speaker of the House has admitted to the public that it is Congress who is holding up Immigration Reform (for the last six years) and even after the elections in November will continue to hold up Immigration Reform for another two years -- is the News Industry still pointing their finger at Obama?

Why, after Obama wrote an executive order directing activities which will insure the proper adoption of ACA by companies who have between  50 and 100 employees, which is well within his job description, and historically not even close to being a over-reach -- did Congress (while blocking, and fighting to make ACA fail) sue Obama with cheers coming from across the Internet?

Why, with only an 8% approval rating for their performance for the last two years, and the culture of obstruction they have created, do any of the Congressmen coming up for election in November have any chance of wining? Let alone, in some states, an edge in winning?

For answers to these and other troubling questions tumbling around in the educated minds of America, the Koch Brothers are a good place to start.

The goals of the Koch brothers, truly, do not have your best interests in mind. Here's a list that has been complied and researched.

Lessons Learned : Obama Sued By Congress

Lessons Learned is for teachers who wish to add into their curriculum lessons from current events which are highlighted in the news and a focus their students are interested in. There are many very good resources out on the Internet now for focused, well made, professional CCSS aligned lesson modules. From these resources, I try to find a few so that teachers can review them and use them in their classrooms. 


Current Event : For the first time in History, Congress (as Congress) is suing the President of the United States.


When, on July 2, the Obama Administration announced a one-year postponement of the January 1, 2014 effective date for the Affordable Care Act's requirement that large employers provide their workers health insurance or pay a tax, affected businesses "cheered." But anti-"Obamacare" advocates and politicians howled. They saw a "blatantly illegal move" (Brietbart.com pundit Ken Klukowski), a government acting "as though it were not bound by law" (CATO Institute economist Michael Cannon), and an unconstitutional "refus[al] to enforce" a democratically enacted law (Congressional Joint Resolution #45, introduced July 10 by New Jersey House Republican Scott Garrett). In the Wall Street Journal, Stanford Professor Michael McConnell, formerly a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench, huffed that the decision "raises grave concerns about [President Obama's] understanding" that, unlike medieval British monarchs, American presidents have, under Article II, Section 3 of our Constitution, a "duty, not a discretionary power" to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." Following up in the Journal this Monday, David Rivkin and Lee Casey, who helped lawyer last year's legal challenge to the ACA individual mandate, darkly intimated that the new employer mandate delay could trigger litigation that could result in "the whole statute fall[ing] while the president's suspension is in effect."


Constitution Ariticle 2 sec 3 clause 3

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Lessons for Class: 

In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students learn about the three branches of the United States government. Students develop their literacy skills as they explore a social studies focus on the powers that the Constitution assigns to each branch—legislative, executive, and judicial—and how the three branches work together. During this process, they read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and interactive activities.
CCSS: Strong alignment with adaption from k5-k12


NOTE: The lesson looked so good and engaging that I am listing it but it is not aligned with Common Core. Perhaps a little bit of adjustment could make it so.
In this lesson, students will examine the duties of the President as written in the Constitution and what the Oath of Office means.
CCSS: None - only National Alignment 


This course covers American Government: the Constitution, the branches of government (Presidency, Congress, Judiciary) and how politics works: elections, voting, parties, campaigning, policy making.  In addition we’ll look at how the media, interest groups, public opinion polls and political self-identification (are you liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or something else?) impact politics and political choices.  We’ll also cover the basics in economic, social and foreign policy and bring in current issues and show how they illustrate the process.
CCSS: None. This is a College Level Open Course for Government


End of Days Bats. Bill Wants his Money Back -- RANT

Hess is a mouth with a Koch in it
Obama has had it with your whining too. So, after you are fired, and unable to qualify for unemployment, think about that, alright? Come back when you can read.

COMMON CORE meets EDUCATION REFORM. I love this title.. Sounds fierce doesn't it? Sounds like it is Full of Facts; Hard and Authoritative. However,  it completely ignores the fact that Common Core IS the reform for the law known as ESEA or No Child Left Behnd, imposed by Executive Branch of Federal and State -- which does not, by the way, require your vote or acceptance. CCSS is therefore .. law, for all intents and purpose. (Well done Obama. The hell with those Congress assholes).

That's right. If Obama, Bill Gates, the NGA, CCSSO, David and his crew of Rhode scholars didn't act, starting back in 2009, then last Tuesday, when the ESEA/NCLB came due on it's 12 year mark -- since no school in the whole country passed their AYP -- the action of the law would have fired every teacher in every state, and closed the schools. No school passed. Every school -- Epic Fail 

Schools then go under private license. Either sold or contracted. If Koch moves as fast as they are able, they'll be sold. Within six months, every teachers union is shattered. Teachers with plastic smiles and empty heads come to babysit children and tell parents what they want to hear. Salaries plumate -- Teachers become nothing more than glorified babysitters. Since the schools are now private corporations, there is no State oversight and Federal can't move in. Federal Government does not act directly with the schools, so even though the Department of Education is in the Executive Branch, Obama can't help you -- It is against federal law for federal involvement in the local schools. 

Oh? You didn't know that? Yes, all of your paranoia about Obama's federal take over of Education, was for nothing, based on nothing, and impossible for it to occur.

The funny thing is, you think I'm joking. This is all well documented, and that narration above is in the No Child Left Behind law.--


And So it Begins...Common Core Propaganda Steps up -- We start with the Basics

It was obvious, about 14 days ago, that a hell of a lot of money was suddenly injected into the Internet against Common Core. That money is coming from the usual suspects and lighting up the Koch camps a long the rivers near the capital. To see the fringes and the uglier , more rabid fray of the battle, tune into Twitter hashes #CommonCore #CCSS #StandUp4Kids There are a bunch of others, but those three will get you to the front lines.

The meme-pushers showed up in droves, with anti-Common Core jargon. At first it was infantile, and if you really thought about it, -- it was down right insulting that the average American, who could work a computer, was as ignorant as they proposed to be. I didn't make a connection right away. I really didn't believe at that time anyone who was moderately literate would object to Common Core. I was wrong. They were just late, that's all. Higher currents were keeping them back -- but that didn't really matter, they were here now.

Cut over to Common Core's web site, check out the Myths and Facts, and give a look over one of the Standards (this link will take you to a math standard).

Two things are abundantly clear once you are finished. First, there is no Teaching Method, no requirements about how the lesson is to be taught. People telling you that their child's homework is tougher than fighting fires or terrorists, because of the Common Core Math, are obviously lying(, or they might actually be stupid.) Ninety percent of the time, the same methods for teaching used before Common Core are still in place afterward Here, let's look at a Standard for English.

English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 1

Production and Distribution of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.4 - (W.1.4 begins in grade 3)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.5 - With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.6 - With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

[end of standard]


So this is it. That is Common Core. In the first grade our students need to learn about the Production and Distribution of Writing. Then there are three (actually two since the first has been changed to begin at 3rd grade) skill sets our students need to learn about this subject.  Standards are written in Concise Language, so they seem a bit more intense than they really are, but basically little Suzie needs to pick something to write about, "Ponies."


What's the trouble with the GOP?

The Reason I don't trust this man, is that nothing is ever on him.
The trouble with the GOP is just like the man says, "Here's the attitude. Ohhhh. Don't make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard," Boehner whined before a luncheon crowd at Brown's Run County Club in Madison Township.

"We get elected to make choices. We get elected to solve problems and it's remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just don't want to ... They'll take the path of least resistance."

Boehner said he's been working for 16 or 17 months trying to push Congress to deal with immigration reform.

Their one and only agenda for the last six years is to create a culture of obstruction. If it moves, they try to stop it. If it looks like it is going to work, they do everything in their power to shut it down. Never mind that most people want their Healthcare, and that the GOP has no idea what to replace Obamacare with, 33 times is still not enough challenges to rape the taxpayers with. There must be more.

There were in fact NO ISIS at the Border today... or any other day



Pants on Fire: Duncan Hunter makes unconfirmed claim Border Patrol caught at least 10 ISIS fighters | PolitiFact Texas
The California Republican, speaking to Greta Van Susteren on Fox News Oct. 7, 2014, said he’d learned from the U.S. Border Patrol that Islamic State fighters had been nabbed trying to enter the country from Mexico. "ISIS is coming across the southern border," Hunter said, adding a moment later: "I know that at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas."
-- PolitiFact Texas
No state or federal law enforcement agency confirmed Hunter’s account when PolitiFact Texas inquired, and Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper declined to reveal the congressman’s sources.  Of course it is very difficult to reveal the non-existent.

Fox News, in its original Oct. 8, 2014, online news report on Hunter’s declaration, quoted the Department of Homeland Security disputing his account.
Homeland Security told PolitiFact Texas that no such apprehensions have occurred. An agency spokeswoman, Marsha Catron, emailed: 
"The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the Southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground. DHS continues to have no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border."

Our GOP - Drugs, Alienation, Obstruction. -- RANT

GOP Congress has a 12% Approval Rating. Obama is 40% and Boehner thinks Obama needs  help.
“The biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is the American people don’t trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass,” Boehner said. “He’s got to show the American people and show the Congress that he can be trusted to implement the law the way it may be passed.”
No Boehner, we don't trust you. In fact we haven't trusted you since you shutdown the Government last year -- nothing you have done since then has changed anyone's mind about you either. 
Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients
"Why don't we drug test all the members of Congress here," McGovern said shortly before the drug-testing measure passed. "Force everybody to go urinate in a cup or see whether or not anybody is on drugs? Maybe that will explain why some of these amendments are coming up or why some of the votes are turning out the way they are."
And to further their Culture of Obstruction, House Speaker is ready to Shut Down again.. for same reason. 
WASHINGTON -- Less than a year after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the 2013 government shutdown over funding for Obamacare a “predictable disaster,” Republicans are hinting they might be willing to do it again in a few months.
A group of 14 Republicans, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote to Boehner on Wednesday identifying a provision of the Affordable Care Act that a Government Accountability Office report concluded would require an additional appropriation from Congress in the next fiscal year
To which any sane person should say "So F%#king What?"  53 Times? Is that how many times they have tried to take our Healthcare away from us? Over 53? I loose track. The idea has reached the level of Ludicrous. 65% Approval rating for the Healthcare program. Congress only has a 12% approval rating right now. 
Senator Says Obama Is Only Fighting ISIS To Help Democrats
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) argued on Sunday that President Obama has declared war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in order to help Democrats win the midterm elections in November and expressed concern that he would abandon the fight in the new year.
“I think we have a problem where the president’s foreign policy is being trapped by his campaign rhetoric,” Ayotte began during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “I’m very fearful as we look at the current military strategy that it is surrounding the November elections and he won’t have the resolve to follow through with what needs to be done in a sustained effort to destroy ISIS, and we’re about to repeat the same thing with Afghanistan,” she added, referring to the effort to withdraw American troops from that country.
It is stuff like this which powers the 80% disapproval rating America has given the GOP. There is no reason for this comment. It has no bases except for personal opinion. Even if it is true, so what? Seriously. He is the Commander and Chief. Her only purpose is to throw out into the media confusion, controversy while attempting to garner distrust. The GOP is a Culture of Obstruction. It would be nice if they would just do their damn job.
That drug testing thing is sounding Really Good.

80% of US Citizens Have No Confidence in GOP

I love how the Republicans are so clueless that they believe a weaker Obama means that they are growing in strength. The two do not equate Congress. Poll after Poll has shown this to you. The two effects don't even cross paths in the same realm of reality. Congress GOP is weak because -- you are weak. You don't act. You don't work. You do even less than the 112 did. And the polls show this to you day after day. Even other Republicans are giving you a vote of no confidence.

"The House has continued to listen to the American people and to focus on their concerns," Boehner told reporters. "Whether it's the economy, whether it's jobs, whether it's protecting the American people from Obamacare -- we've done our work."
You do realize that we all have the Internet now, right? That we can all look back with a few keystrokes and bring up everything you have done and said with absolute clarity and zero propaganda tampering. Like this for instance Boehner. We do not see your ads. We do not see your TV Interviews. We see your track-record of lies, propaganda and disloyalty to the people of the United States. We have FACTS now, not FOX
112th Congress Republicans proposed: 44 bills on abortion
99 bills on religion
36 bills on marriage
113th Congress Republicans added 69 bills on abortion
42 bills  on marriage
75 bills on religion

Praises for Court Justice Scalia when he declared his Religious agenda proposed for use at on the bench -- Really? You believe that backing someone's insane ideas to discredit the Constitution makes anyone in the middle class comfortable?. Even republican voters are saying "what?"

Several bills brought up under the abortion heading suggest that the mother's life is forfeit. Actions and voting against education, The Constant attacks on Common Core, Welfare, healthcare give the impression that once the baby is born, the Republican Congress could care less if it starves to death, or dies from lack of medical attention -- that is just part of the will of God, right?

THESE ARE CITIZENS you silly people!

Maybe Obama is aloof, maybe he does have a distance about it -- but the actions of this Republican Congress are inhuman, uncaring, inept, disloyal, and they [GOP members] praise all of these things with each other. Actions which are treason have been accepted. A congressman calls the President of the United States a "tar baby" -- publicly! And he is still given a warm hand shake.

It is obvious that you stand for nothing except the failure of the Presidency -- Everyone sees this. It is plain in everything you do -- and all the things you do not do with your culture of obstruction.

No. The weaker Obama is at this point, the weaker you become as well Congress. Continuing to attack him in office  - only demonstrates how you do not back anyone else in this country.  Do you really think that we want to put a Republican in the White House, or in Congress, and risk losing our health care? Losing our kids education? Losing the jobs that have been building? That we would trust you with out future?

You have it all so twisted up and backwards you can't even see that the rope you are holding is hanging you.

Boehner and Ebola

"The House has continued to listen to the American people and to focus on their concerns," Boehner told reporters. "Whether it's the economy, whether it's jobs, whether it's protecting the American people from Obamacare -- we've done our work."

Before GOPTea Boehner became House Speaker, GOP Gingrich’s 1995 congress was on record as the least productive congress in our history with the passage of merely 88 bills.

However, Boehner’s sorry record beats Newt’s.

Since Boehner became Speaker in January 2011, his two congresses have passed fewer bills than any other congresses in American history.

The 112th congress got less done than any congress before it with the passage of 61 bills; as well, it saw public support for congress drop to the lowest level ever recorded in the history of modern polling.

The 113th congress is now on record to be worse than even than the 112th with the passage of fewer than 55 bills. (~ House Clerk’s Office)

No congress has passed fewer bills under any other Speaker than Boehner’s two congresses.

Compare Boehner’s record with Nancy Pelosi’s: She is on record as one of our greatest Speakers with the passage of 400 bills in her tenure.

GOPTea’s were elected in 2010 on the false slogan of “jobs jobs jobs.” So far Boehner and his GOPTea’s have created ZERO jobs.

Boehner’s Houses will be known for their vast number of vacation days, their failed 46-repeal-Obamacare-votes and shutting down the government over defunding-Obamacare, costing the American taxpayers $53+ million and $26+ billion respectively.

Voted against veterans on several bills that would have given them retraining, small business loans, better Veteran care and even voted to cut food stamps for the families of serving troops doing their duty while waving the flag.

They tried to block funding for super storm Sandy relief until Chris Christie publicly shamed you by saying he never felt more ashamed to be a Republican.

Boehner has consistently addressed the national media in an incoherent fashion with slurred speech and nothing but nonsense that was debunked as soon as it left your mouth but you felt no shame in repeating it over and over.

Most of the time John Boehner is addressing the public he is lying. http://www.politifact.com/personalities/john-boehner/statements/?page=1

The culture of this Congress is centered around obstruction. It doesn't matter how good the program is, what it stimulates, or if it is successful once in motion -- if it goes against the GOP agenda, or makes Obama even a slight success, they attack. 

Call for Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo to Resign (Blaze of Glory optional)

“I think we need to take action against [the Islamic State] and I want to be supportive of that. It is a threat to our allies and to our own country,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said, after leaving a classified military briefing on Obama’s Syria strategy. Sept 11, 2014

And then...Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican with support among the tea party movement, reportedly told a group of conservative voters that he is quietly working to convince Obama’s top generals to resign.

8 U.S. Code § 2388 - Activities affecting armed forces during war

(a) Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies; or

Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or willfully obstructs the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the service or the United States, or attempts to do so—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

(b) If two or more persons conspire to violate subsection (a) of this section and one or more such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be punished as provided in said subsection (a).

(c) Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe or suspect, has committed, or is about to commit, an offense under this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

(d) This section shall apply within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and on the high seas, as well as within the United States.

Sept 29, 2014  -- Jarred Rego, a spokesman for Lamborn, responding to a Military Times request for comment, sought to clarify the lawmaker’s remarks.
“In his remarks, Congressman Lamborn was referencing past policy decisions by President Obama, such as draconian defense budget cuts and changes to ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ where generals and admirals approached members of Congress and expressed serious disagreement with these policy changes. There are no current discussions taking place and there are none that have anything whatsoever to do with criticizing our current military strategy to combat ISIS,” Rego said.

Congressman Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, is an un-American demagogue, willing to sabotage this country for his own grandstanding narcissism. If his words are to be believed, this brigadier blowhard is thoroughly unfit for public office and instead should be rotting in jail on charges of treason. 
Or am I being too subtle?
Lamborn is the latest type of political muck America needs to scrape off the bottom of its national shoe: an officeholder so absorbed with his hatred of the opposing party that he is willing to do anything, no matter how much it damages our national security and the underpinnings of our democracy, if it will win him some applause and maybe a couple of votes.

I personally don't care if he is Republican, or Tea Party, or God's little Gift to the Myopic Narcissistic Party... he doesn't belong in Congress, his voice is not that of the United States, his actions represent no one who would be a citizen of our country. 

Lamborn seems to have trouble according President Obama elementary respect.I can understand and even accept that Lamborn, or anyone could not agree with decisions, I could go so far as to understand and apprciate a strong emotional investment in situations like that -- but Obama is the president, and no matter what, you respect the office. Well, I think most Americans respect the office.  Lamborn boycotted the State of the Union address in 2012  he refered to the president as a "tar baby." and blurted out classified information about North Korea's nuclear capabilities during an open-session broadcast on C-SPAN in 2013. 

The man is useless and the sooner he finds another career, the better off this country will be.


U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican from Aurora, tweeted a link to a story about Lamborn’s comments and said, “As a Marine and combat veteran, I know to keep my politics off the battlefield.”

And when asked about Lamborn’s statement, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said: “There is no room for partisan politics when it comes to our men and women in uniform.”



Ron Paul - Great servant, but Not a Master

In an article I just read, Ron Paul declares our efforts in Syria and Iraq to be illegal, as well as part of the problem. The rhetoric is clean, and feels well thought out. Reading his words I was lulled a bit into thinking "Yeah, why the hell should we care?" Many commentators on the article suggest that our country needs a man like Ron Paul Some one who looks at things clearly, and without all the hampering of political trappings. 

I am lulled enough to almost agree... almost. Then I smell the burning. 

If this guy was president, we would have zero foreign policy, no Department of Education, no EPA. no public schools, no SSI, no unemployment insurance, no medical research, no colleges. He's a Libertarian, and the Libertarian views always sound good when you are in the middle of struggles, because they ask, "why are you doing all this stuff? Just stop. It is not our problem." 

"Finally, I think that the smallest level of government possible best performs education. Teachers, parents, and local community leaders should be making decisions about exactly how our children should be taught, not Washington bureaucrats." -- Ron Paul


Which sounds good. Until you see what is going on in Texas right now... where every social science book and history text melds biblical rhetoric (most of it wrong) into the fabric of every aspect of our history -- Moses was the founder of our Constitution. Jesus told our founders that everyone is equal under the law, Divine Mandate was our right for slaughter and slavery. Don't believe me? Look for your self



Of course this presses for home schools or on-line schools, which is the real Libertarian goal for national education. Those of us in the Middle Class would only think this is a good idea if we were non-parents. The 1% just higher a teacher. No worries. 

And getting rid of the EPA is a must because they are inconvenient for oil, coal, health, waste and profits because they insist that even if Climate Change isn't real, we still need to breath -- check out China's life without EPA. 

However, Climate Change HAS to be false, at all costs, because if it is real, then the EPA has to remain and government has to be seriously involved in our industry and business. So, Climate Change can not be real. The Koch put out millions every year in propaganda and false studies, to insure we remain on the fence about that, and pay off congressmen so they'll act like idiots in hearings. The longer Climate Change is put off, the more money the 1% will make. 

Never mind that as of 2007, when the American Association of Petroleum Geologists released a revised statement, no scientific body of national or international standing rejected the findings of human-induced effects on climate change. There are fringe people, most of whom do not show their processes or give peer review evidence (or are simply falsifying information), who continue to cry out differences, but no serious group has any doubt that Climate Change is happening, and that it is human-induced.  

None of that matters. Business first, health and life second. 

Interestingly enough, Ron Paul wants small government, a government with their hands off business and the market, but believes his personal feelings about abortion should be pressed onto women. Back off the Education, and the EPA and the FDA and anything else that stands in the way of a business man doing what he wants to do, but he'll keep is paws inside every woman's womb. Typical. 

Ron Paul opposes the War on Drugs. Believes that drugs, and their legality should be a local community issue. -- Like that has ever worked any where in the world, ever.

Ron Paul supports the elimination of the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He asserts that Congress had no power to impose a direct income tax and has introduced legislation to repeal of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on February 3, 1913.

"An income tax is the most degrading and totalitarian of all possible taxes. Its implementation wrongly suggests that the government owns the lives and labor of the citizens it is supposed to represent. Tellingly, “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax” is Plank #2 of the Communist Manifesto, which was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and first published in 1848." -- Ron Paul


Which sounds good, unless you believe the government should have things like a military, boarder patrols, roads, hospitals, emergency response for disasters, and just about anything else. And yes, Income tax is Plank #2 of the Communist Manifesto. So what?
In the year 10 AD, Emperor Wang Mang of the Xin Dynasty instituted an unprecedented income tax, at the rate of 10 percent of profits, for professionals and skilled labor. He was overthrown 13 years later in 23 AD and earlier policies were restored during the reestablished Han Dynasty which followed.

One of the first recorded taxes on income was the Saladin tithe introduced by Henry II in 1188 to raise money for the Third Crusade.

The inception date of the modern income tax is typically accepted as 1799. This income tax was introduced in Britain by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in his budget of December 1798, to pay for weapons and equipment for the French Revolutionary War. 

... so it isn't an invention of the Communist Manifesto, as Ron Paul (the Transparent) implies with his statement. 

Another thing Ron Paul isn't being Transparent about is that Libertarian politics is only a small step up from Anarchy.  So no, he wouldn't engage in the Middle East, and he wouldn't care at all that your child needed to eat, or that a plague came into our country, or that medical research needed to be done to save millions. Let the world burn. He's fine with that.

Where the Wild Things Are...

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