 In no particular order, here are a few of my (bleary-eyed) thoughts on the Nationals season that ended, in heartbreaking/heartstopping (is there a cardiologist in the house?!?) fashion early this morning.*First of all, anyone criticizing Drew Storen is an idiot. The guy is a great pitcher, period. Furthermore, he will be a great pitcher for many many years, and nothing that happened last night in any way changes that. Thank you, Drew Storen, for coming back from injury this year and pitching your heart out, also for being a class act all around. Don't let the brain-dead haters get you down!*Second, just to get this out of the way: the Nationals' decision to shut down Stephen Strasburg when they did was absolutely the correct one, both at the time and in 20/20 hindsight. The guy was coming off of Tommy John surgery, which is obviously major surgery, and if allowed time to heal properly - following the advice of medical experts - will be the Nats' ace for years to come. Thank you, Mike Rizzo, for sticking to your guns and not giving in to all the backseat drivers out there. *Kudos to the entire Washington Nationals organization, from high-quality owners (hello, Peter Angelos, are you watching this?!? note - I grew up an Orioles fan, have blamed Angelos for ruining the team for many years) to a superb General Manager (who should be named Executive of the Year), to manager Davey Johnson (a throwback in some ways to my all-time favorite manager, Earl Weaver, who Johnson played for during the O's glory days of the late 1960s and early 1970s). *Despite last night's stunning loss, this is a team, and a franchise, that is high-quality up and down, built to last, and one that will be playoff contenders for years to come. *It looks like the decision by Major League Baseball, against the opposition of Orioles' owner Peter Angelos and several from the DC council (David Catania, Phil Mendelson and Jim Graham and Adrian Fenty "voted against baseball 12 times"), to put a team in Washington, DC, is working out quite nicely, thank you. :) *The Nationals could have been in Northern Virginia, but as DC Councilmember Jack Evans explained the other day, "Northern Virginia fumbled on the bonds where the governor at that time, Mark Warner, said he wouldn't back the state -- wouldn't back the bonds." Also see here for details on how Arlington County told Major League Baseball no thanks! ("the Arlington County Board drove the final nail into the coffin on July 18, 2004 ,by sending a letter to the VBSA explaining that an MLB Stadium was unwanted in their county-period."), and also how House Speaker Bill Howell "changed his tune [about baseball in Virginia] on August 11, [2005] saying that he would not vote in favor of using the state's 'moral obligation' to back the construction bonds." *Good luck to the face of the Nationals', Ryan Zimmerman, who may very well need shoulder surgery this winter. *What a debut for teenager Bryce "Bam-Bam" Harper, a throwback (in a good way) to how baseball used to be back in the "old days" (run out every ground ball, get your uniform dirty, etc.). On top of being a strong Rookie of the Year contender, Harper also coined the instantly-famous phrase, "That's a clown question, bro," which was picked up by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Gotta love it. *Jayson Werth proved his "worth," and then some, to the team with a superb season following a broken wrist in early May, and culminating with his dramatic, 13-pitch, walk-off homer on Thursday night to win Game #4 for the Nats. *I absolutely LOVE this pitching staff, which believe it or not could be even better next year. *Go Teddy! :) *Excellent late-season acquisition of catcher Kurt Suzuki by the front office. The question is, what happens in 2013, when Wilson Ramos (presumably) returns from the DL? *Finally, since this IS a political blog after all, let me draw a couple lessons from the Nats' loss last night for the Obama-Romney race, and for politics in general: a) No matter how big a lead you have, you can NEVER assume that it's safe (not that the Nats' did anything like that last night, I'm just sayin'...). That's why when you have your opponent down, you do whatever it takes to make sure you don't let him back in the game. b) You need to do whatever you can to "make your own luck," by building as strong an organization - baseball or political - as possible. In the end, though, there's always an element of luck, serendipity, ridiculous stuff, wackiness, etc., as we saw last night, and to an extent as we saw in the first Romney-Obama debate. P.S. Whoops, almost forgot, but thanks to Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler for their radio broadcast of the Nats' games this season, it was a pleasure listening to you guys most nights! Photo by Keith Allison from Flickr Creative Commons |
A Few Thoughts on the Washington Nationals' Superb Season
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Mainstream Media & its Aversion to Substance
by: Progressive86Sat Oct 13, 2012 at 09:22:58 AM EDT[edit diary] - (Privilege of the Powerful) [subscribe] [modify promotion] [subject promote] |
 It is a sign of how far the mainstream media has shifted away from the substance of contemporary political debates to the "style" when commentators for The Washington Post bemoan this very phenomenon. That is, a commentator for one of America's most well known news outlets is essentially saying, "we don't focus on political substance as much as we should."And indeed, they don't. After the vice presidential debate, one of the most talked about aspects was "Joe Biden's smirk" (WTF!?). Yes, his smirk, a smirk that apparently sent chills down the spins of Romney partisans as much as it warmed the hearts of the Democratic Party faithful. Perhaps the focus on Mr. Biden's smirk or Paul Ryan's constant eye-popping moments wouldn't be so outrageous if the commentary following the debate focused more on the actual substance of what was said. All in all, however, it seemed as though both mainstream and online news outlets were content with exploring the expressions of the different candidates and how these could shape the future of the presidential election. |
| Progressive86 :: The Mainstream Media & its Aversion to Substance |
| Here's a wakeup call to these news outlets: policy matters! Policy matters so much that the Romney ticket's aversion to spelling out its own tax-cutting policy specifics should send up a huge red flag for anyone in the country who is thinking about voting. It should also be the topic of discussion among every decent news outlet in America.To say you're going to cut marginal tax rates by 20 percent while significantly reducing our country's debt is a mighty bold claim. It is even bolder when there is no plan describing how this mighty feat will be accomplished. It should be the responsibility of every news outlet across the country to dig deeper for these answers. But for everyone but the Romney partisans, it's clear how this economic miracle will be pulled off, by further eroding the economic position of America's middle class, a class of American's that Romney apparently thinks are largely government subsidized freeloaders. Thus, in their aversion to substance, the mainstream news outlets in particular are assisting a presidential candidate who not only holds egregious policy positions, he also holds almost half of America as outside of his sphere of concern. Here's to a brave new world, indeed. |
The Party That Sold Out the Earth
by Kindler
 It wasn't that long ago that the environment was a bipartisan issue. Just 4 years ago, Republicans nominated John McCain, a Congressional leader on climate change, for president. The first President Bush appointed an activist EPA administrator, Bill Reilly, supported the Earth Summit in Rio and passed important Clean Air Act amendments. In past decades, the GOP included genuine environmental leaders like John Chafee and Sherwood Boehlert. But today's Republican party is the most anti-environment political force in America since the years of the robber barons. Paul Ryan is a climate change denier who has implied that snow in Wisconsin in winter somehow invalidates global warming. Can you say "duh"? (Yes, he also sent letters begging the Department of Energy for stimulus money for green jobs, but that was obviously just a routine pander for a constituent, probably just copied verbatim and barely read.)Romney and Ryan both routinely refer to the environment only in terms that dismiss all support for sustainability as, in Ryan's words, "green pork." Support for our children's future is thus recast as some sort of assault on the taxpayers. The fact that not all of the government's investments in renewable energy have succeeded is used to tar any attempt to do anything other than worship Big Oil, Gas & Coal. One of Romney's many lies in the last debate was to claim that "half" of the Recovery Act investments in renewables have failed, when in fact, even the Energy Department loan program that has received the most scrutiny has had a 90% success rate to date. |
| kindler :: The Party That Sold Out the Earth |
| Solyndra is used as the example to prove all of this, without any reference to the conditions that led to this company going under -- specifically, the Chinese government subsidization of the solar panel manufacturing industry, which caused the price of these panels to drop 75% in the past 3 years. The Obama administration has now instituted tariffs against Chinese photovoltaic panels to fight these practices and Solyndra itself is suing China's three largest PV manufacturers. Yes, as usual, Romney has held multiple positions on all of these issues, so it's hard to tell how this slippery character really feels about energy and the environment, if in fact he has any genuine opinions on anything at all. But the point to keep in mind is that the Koch Brothers have used their petrochemical dollars to gain firm control of the Republican party and have so successfully infused their tea party disciples with their propaganda that large numbers of rank and file Republicans now believe that climate change is some sort of vast conspiracy of evil scientists. And it doesn't help having Senate candidates like George Allen, who made hundreds of thousands of dollars from oil and coal companies, including by serving as spokesmodel for their "American Energy Freedom Center". It all adds up to a clear choice -- to fight for President Obama's clean energy agenda, and against the increasingly brazen efforts of Romney and the entire Republican party to take us back to the bad old days when industry's interest in saving money trumped everyone's interest in a safe and healthy future. There's too much at stake not to throw ourselves completely into this fight until we win it. |
Matt Taibbi Nails It Yet Again: Biden Was Absolutely Right to Laugh at Ryan's "beady-eyed BS-isms"
Friday, October 12, 2012
 As most of us are well aware, the vast majority of the corporate, legacy media is utter dreck: false equivalencies run amok; superficiality and focus on style (Obama wasn't smiling! Biden WAS smiling!) instead of substance (e.g., Romney and Ryan lying their asses off about everything); egregious errors left and right (e.g., Martha Raddatz stating, completely incorrectly, that Social Security is going bankrupt - as Dave Roberts of Grist points out, it most certainly IS NOT); all "horse race"/"who's up and who's down"; completely ignoring major issues, like energy and the environment (global warming, the #1 crisis facing humanity, so far not mentioned once); etc. It's utterly depressing and infuriating.Fortunately, there are a few bright spots in the generally brain-dead, bend-over-backwards-to-not-piss-off-the-crazy-right-wing media. One of them is Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, who is out with a superb new article entitled everyone (particularly the aforementioned lamestream media morons) needs to read, entitled The Vice Presidential Debate: Joe Biden Was Right to Laugh ("Biden did absolutely roll his eyes, snort, laugh derisively and throw his hands up in the air whenever Ryan trotted out his little beady-eyed BS-isms"). Why was Biden right to react this way? Very simple:...He was absolutely right to be doing it. We all should be doing it. That includes all of us in the media, and not just paid obnoxious-opinion-merchants like me, but so-called "objective" news reporters as well. We should all be rolling our eyes, and scoffing and saying, "Come back when you're serious."The load of balls that both Romney and Ryan have been pushing out there for this whole election season is simply not intellectually serious. Most of their platform isn't even a real platform, it's a fourth-rate parlor trick designed to paper over the real agenda - cutting taxes even more for super-rich dickheads like Mitt Romney, and getting everyone else to pay the bill.The bottom line, in Taibbi's view - and he's absolutely correct on this - is that the Romney/Ryan campaign is an utterly cynical Big Lie, so bad that "we should take patriotic offense that anyone is trying to seize the White House using such transparently childish and dishonest tactics." And yet the cowardly corporate media (terrified of the right-wing bullies) completely fails to do its job, which is to call a spade a spade. In this case, that would be reporting the facts - and they ARE empirically verifiable, demonstrable facts - that the Romney/Ryan platform is not laughable in only one possible context:"if you're a multi-millionaire and you recognize that this is the only way to sell your agenda to mass audiences." But if you're not a multi-millionaire using your millions to manipulate public opinion in your favor, then, as Taibbi concludes: ...you should laugh, you should roll your eyes, and it doesn't matter if you're the Vice President or an ABC reporter or a toll operator. You should laugh, because this stuff is a joke, and we shouldn't take it seriously.By the way, we should also be laughing at drivel like this article, a front-page story in the New York Times (supposedly the best newspaper in the country - sigh...), focused not in the least bit on substance, but instead on how Sarah Palin and other assorted Teapublican crazies (e.g., Rand Paul) feel about Joe Biden "showing his teeth" last night. Seriously, this is intended as real "news," but in fact it's a pathetic joke, yet another sign of the sad decline of the corporate media, as they desperately claw for "eyeballs." It almost makes me want to claw out my eyeballs. Either that, or just laugh hysterically at the idiocy of it all... |
Why Do Republicans (and the Corporate Media Who Love Them) Divert Attention to the Laugh?
 by KathyinLBlacksburgJ oe Biden did a masterful job of pointing out the "malarkey" in Paul Ryan's tangled web of lies. But predictably (you knew it would happen as soon as you saw the first laugh), the GOP has focused its attention on a negative frame. The story they will tell is of "the mean, disrespectful" Joe Biden. Lowell wrote an excellent blog post about Matt Taibi's column explaining why it is necessary to disrespect attempts to deceive us. Bipartisanship amid this kind of deception is impossible and it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. To pretend otherwise would be to collude with the deception.There is a reason for the GOP response. They cannot win on the facts. They never could. They can only win if they use emotion. This is something we Dems are sometimes slow to accept. While pretending to be moved by logical argument, conservatives use only emotion and no logic, while demanding logic from others. Certainly, Dems could do a better job at blending emotional appeal with their argument. And Joe showed us how. It was real, not the sniveling pretense of Paul Ryan who, for example, claimed to protect Social Security while on record for wanting to privatize it. But more to the point, the way they use emotion is manipulative and personal. That is how they try to get to us. The frame that the GOP uses is a frame which contends: 1) "Dems are not nice;" 2) the public must be made aware that "Dems aren't nice;" 3) Because "they are not nice," Dems must become self-hating and believers in the false equivalence myth the media creates; 4) Dems must be made reluctant to stand up to lies and aggression by Republicans; 5) Independents must know "Dems aren't nice," 6) in the finale, pretend to be the guardians of bipartisanship. Do this last thing, even while killing bipartisanship at every turn. Don't worry about the quantum leaps necessary to make this contorted demonizing of Democrats. Have supporters ready to roll with this approach the minute they get the opportunity. |
| KathyinBlacksburg :: Why Do Republicans (and the Corporate Media Who Love Them) Divert Attention to the Laugh? |
| The GOP pitches this even as they use every trick in the book, even tell literally dozens of lies. The Romney-Ryan performances made a record number of such untruths. But the frame will replace what really happened with something else altogether. You have seen it in the media last night and today. Stay tuned. I have already had one guy try it on me through a listserv he insinuated himself into. |
The Romney/Ryan Lie Machine
Thursday, October 11, 2012
by Elaine in Roanoke
To contain future deficits, Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress passed and signed the Statutory Pay As You Go Act of 2010, which mandated that new spending be offset with spending cuts or new revenue. That Clinton-era law was one reason the U.S. was able to achieve budget surpluses in the 1990's because it forced discipline on federal spending. (Republicans had let Pay Go expire early in George Bush's first term.) Guess how many Republicans voted against the new Pay As You Go law? All of them, including Paul Ryan. The corporate media too often has allowed Romney and Ryan to lie and say that President Obama has accelerated federal spending at a rate not seen in history. That's a blatant lie. Rex Nutting of MarketWatch, an affiliate of The Wall Street Journal, told the truth last May. "Spending under Obama grew by about $200 billion over four years, amounting to a 1.4 percent annualized increase." So, where does the deficit come from? |
| Elaine in Roanoke :: The Romney/Ryan Lie Machine |
| There's a simple answer to that. The revenue stream going to the government has been much smaller because of unemployment and the lower tax rates pushed by the Bush administration.To repeat, President Obama raised federal spending less than any president in the last sixty years. The deficit is not one caused by massive new spending by the Obama administration. It has been caused by lowering tax rates in the first Bush administration (the revenue side), while not paying for massively expensive, ongoing things like two wars, an expansion of Medicare to cover prescriptions, the creation of a new government bureaucracy in Homeland Security, etc. (the expenses side). That brings us to the second lie Romney has been repeating ad nauseum, the one about President Obama "doubling" the national debt. The truth is the President has lowered annual deficits from $1.4 trillion that he inherited to $1.1 trillion this year, with the deficit projected to be below $1 trillion next year. As the recovery takes hold, we have to do far more to contain the national debt at a healthy level as the Baby Boomers continue to retire, but falling once again for the snake oil "remedy" of tax cuts for the wealthy and supply-side economics will only make the situation far worse. The Romney/Ryan economic plan is a recipe for disaster. Someone told me recently that, "at least Paul Ryan has a plan." Well, lots of people have plans. Heck, even Hitler had a plan. Having a plan is is worse than meaningless if the plan is a bad one. |
Kaine-Allen "People's Debate" in Richmond: Tim Kaine Easily Wins Another One
Monday, October 8, 2012
Are you watching the Kaine-Allen debate, which starts at 8 pm tonight? Here is a list of stations you can watch it on. Personally, I'll probably check it out on C-SPAN, and attempt to live blog it (we'll see how that goes). Anyway, feel free to use the comments section to discuss the debate, and go Kaine!P.S. Oh, and if you're following the debate on Twitter, I hear that hashtags to use are #peoplesdebate and #VASEN, while folks you might want to follow are @timkaine, @moelleithee, @adamslily, and @brandihoffine. Enjoy! UPDATE 10:11 pm: Turns out moderator Bob Holsworth was totally wrong. In fact, he himself announced the rules 90 seconds-90-60 (for rebuttal) at the beginning of the debate, then didn't follow them at all and even told both candidates they were wrong! Amazing, apparently it's impossible to find a decent moderator, either one extreme (Jim Lehrer passive/wuss #FAIL) or the other (Holsworth control freak/dead wrong #FAIL). UPDATE 8:56 pm: Once again, Tim Kaine dominated George Allen in terms of substance, not even close. Kaine also dominated in terms of honesty and truthfulness, whereas Allen just spouted ideological talking points, no matter how crazy or false. Finally, in terms of style, they were both fine I guess (although I find Kaine far more sincere than Allen, and Allen to be oily and insufferable to listen to), but the bottom line with these political debates is we should focus on SUBSTANCE not on who's more "energetic" or whatever other idiocy the corporate media loves to focus on. UPDATE 8:54 pm: We're on the verge of economic breakthrough, Congress is holding us back. Need new ways of thinking in Congress. Need to invest in infrastructure. I've got a record of being fiscally responsible. We were at top of all accolades when I was governor. My opponent has a different record, turned huge surplus into deficit, wrecked both sides of balance sheet and hasn't said anything today about how to balance it. Allen said his job was to enjoy knocking Dems soft teeth down their whiny throats, he ridiculed John Warner for trying to reach a compromise. We need to work together. UPDATE 8:52 pm: Closing statements. Allen says he'll be there for the same people as when he was chair of the DNC. Says he wants to see change in Washington, send message that America's open for business. Anyone who pays taxes, uses electricity, drives a car, agree that doctors and patients should be making health care decisions, work for a living or want a job...should be on our side. (Note: all of that is demonstrably, almost absurdly, false.) Says he hopes to be "your voice" in Washington (more like the voice of powerful corporations and wealth individuals!) |
| lowkell :: Kaine-Allen "People's Debate" in Richmond: Tim Kaine Easily Wins Another One |
| UPDATE 8:49 pm: Question on affirmative action. Kaine - We want to have a university system that looks like our state, diverse! Hopes that Supreme Court affirms right of public institutions to try to make sure student body looks like the state. Certainly should use factors other than race, such as income, but need diversity, it's a strength. Allen - Some agreement with Kaine, supports affirmative recruitment. Don't want people better qualified denied the opportunity, either. Repeats the Big Lie about repealing Obamacare saving $1 trillion. Blah blah blah drill baby drill. UPDATE 8:45 pm: Question on sequestration. Allen - Should never have done it in the first place (did Allen tell that to all his Republican allies who voted for it and supported it?). It's all about a "vibrant economy" (yeah, Republicans have been great on that - not!). (Lies again, claims repealing Obamacare will save money, which is NOT what the non-partisan CBO says.) Unleash energy resources (what on earth does this have to do with sequestration? this guy just babbles and babbles, blah blah blah). Kaine - Allen dodged sequester question, other than repeal Affordable Care Act, which CBO says would REDUCE the deficit (THANK YOU!). Let Bush tax cuts expire for over $500k, take away subsidies for Big 5 oil companies, fix piece of Medicare I talked about earlier. Fix those three things, we only have $225 billion not $1 trillion of cuts we need to find. UPDATE 8:41 pm: Question on Medicare financial ground going into future. Kaine - Medicare is challenging because of something good, we're living longer. There are right solutions and wrong solutions. We should cut costs and save costs rather than shift costs onto seniors' shoulders. Medicare Part D - provision made it unlawful for government to negotiate on price of prescription drugs. Make that one change, will save $240 billion over next 10 years. Should pay for healthy outcomes, not for # of procedures. Allen - Tim criticizes me for supporting Medicare Part D (that is NOT what Kaine said, he criticized Allen for the WAY he passed Medicare Part D and for the prohibition on negotiating prescription drug costs). Raise eligibility age, means test. Allow people to use 401ks and IRAs to purchase long-term care insurance. UPDATE 8:38 pm: Question on illegal immigrants, DREAM Act. Allen - we need immigration reform, immigrants can contribute a great deal to our country, Obama ignored the law (WTF?). Need to secure the border. There are positive, constructive reforms we can make. Be magnet for talent. Don't reward illegal behavior. Kaine - We need some visa reform, make process easier for tourists to visit US. I do support the DREAM Act, comprehensive immigration reform that would have significant financial penalty to people here illegally and they can get in line to get a green card. Allen actually proposed to eliminate birthright citizenship. UPDATE 8:34 pm: Question on DISCLOSE Act. Kaine says he'll support it, says current way of funding campaigns needs to be changed. No secret money. I offered George to make a deal on that for this campaign, he turned that down. I tried again in February with deal on SuperPACs disclosing their donors, once again he turned us down. What you see on TV is huge #s of ads by these organizations, often labeled false. George will defend this status quo. Allen - Says he's strongly in favor of freedom (what does THAT mean in this context?). Says Kaine is running ads attacking Allen for raising his own pay, says he returned his salary as governor, Kaine didn't cut his pay at all, except half-heartedly and late. Shouldn't be any pay increases for Congress, should withhold their pay. UPDATE 8:30 pm: Question about ultrasounds, personhood amendment. Allen - Says they're state issues (dodge!), says he'd never prohibit contraceptives (sorry, George, but personhood WOULD do that!). Claims this is some sort of attack on religion, which of course it isn't. Goes back to budget deficit (notice how he TOTALLY dodged that question rather than be seen as the extremist he is? I hope Kaine calls him on this.). Kaine - Allen repeatedly voted to raise his own pay. On women's health, the spectacle in General Assembly was horrifying, invasive ultrasound against their will, horrible bill. Allen says on his website that we should pass personhood legislation, overturn Roe v. Wade, supports Blunt amendment to deny women contraceptive coverage, I'm against that, I'll protect women's rights. UPDATE 8:27 pm: Kaine - On taxes, we have a balance sheet that's broken. When Allen went into Senate, we had a surplus, but he broke both sides of the balance sheet. When he left, the balance sheet was completely out of whack. Have to fix it on both sides of the balance sheet. $2-$3 in cuts for every $1 in revenue. George has never shown an ability to make any kind of cuts. Let Bush tax cuts expire for those making more than $500k per year, that will raise $500 billion over next 10 years and avoid sequestration cuts. Allen won't fix either side of balance sheet. Allen - Needs to be cuts made in federal spending, need to grow economy (notice no revenues?). Repeal Obamacare (note: CBO says Obamacare REDUCES the deficit). Comprehensive tax reform, reduce rates (note: that will INCREASE the deficit). Blah blah blah drill baby drill blah blah blah. UPDATE 8:23 pm: Question on unemployment. Kaine - there are signs economy's starting to move forward, lowest unemployment rate in 4 years, but Congress is the anchor weight. Senate Republicans filibustered veterans jobs bill. Over summer, the Senate passed a farm bill, but House bottled it up. Parties won't work together, we can't afford to put people in Congress who want to add to partisan rancor, we need bridge builders. Allen ridiculed John Warner's efforts to find compromise. Allen - We need to repeal and replace Obamacare. Says he's worked across aisle on a bunch of different things. Empower individuals, don't take away choices from doctors and patients (of course, nobody's doing that). Claims Obamacare is an impediment to small business (FALSE). Health savings accounts... UPDATE 8:21 pm: Question on Ryan plan, whether candidates support it. Allen dodges, attacks Obamacare, lies about $716 billion being taken out of Medicare, except he says "million" not "billion" (does he know the difference?). Kaine - Points out that Allen voted for risky privatization scheme. I will fight that to my last breath. On Medicare, Allen says $716 billion is to end overpayments to insurance company and helping people receiving Medicare benefits. Says Allen would take that $716 billion from seniors and give it back to insurance companies. (GREAT formulation by Tim Kaine - nice!) UPDATE 8:19 pm: Very different strategy from Allen on how to deal with Soc. Security and Medicare. Notes that Allen voted to privatize Soc. Sec., would have been a "huge catastrophe." Adjust payroll tax cap upwards. Don't turn Medicare into a voucher system, instead work to save costs without jeopardizing benefits. UPDATE 8:17 pm: Question on Social Security benefits. Allen says we need to preserve Social Security benefits. Vibrant economy, more people working will help fund Social Security. For those under 50, have gradual increase in age of eligibility, have some income adjustments (aka, "means testing"). Again, uses the words "increase taxes" and "Tim Kaine" in the same sentence. Sensing a theme here? :) UPDATE 8:14 pm: Question about Libya. Kaine says he supports military action against al Qaeda, including in North Africa. Al Qaeda terrorists have declared war on the United States, we need to go get them wherever they are, they've committed an act of war against our country. Allen - We ought to go after the terrorist who killed our ambassador. Reminder of how wrong and dangerous it is to have cuts to military preparedness. Claims Tim and his allies don't want to avert these cuts, but want to raise taxes instead, which will cause job losses. Cut off aid to Egypt. UPDATE 8:12 pm: Lots of efforts to block women's progress, Allen and I differ on this issue. Supports paycheck equity, Lily Ledbetter, Family and Medical Leave, women's right to choose, Allen opposes those things. UPDATE 8:10 pm: Question to Allen on women earning less than men. Allen - noone works harder than women, I see that in my wife Susan. Says he cares a lot about pay gaps. Need to get economy moving in right direction. Women have disproportionately been feeling the brunt of the economy. Mentions high gasoline prices and need for more affordable energy. UPDATE 8:09 pm: Allen says Kaine could have said "no" when President Obama asked him to serve as DNC chair, could have said people are hurting in Virginia, you needed to give all your attention to the people of Virginia. UPDATE 8:07 pm: Kaine points out he worked closely with Bush administration on a number of key initiatives, such as rail to Dulles, aftermath of shootings at Virginia Tech. Great track record of working across party lines, as mayor and governor. Best managed state, etc. Points out that Allen served in a partisan role as well while governor. Lists success stories as governor. UPDATE 8:03 pm: Allen says he has a detailed plan for "America's comeback." Which one of us can be counted upon? Says he was one of the most accomplished modern governors, worked across the aisle. Attacks Kaine for serving as national party chair rather than focusing on Virginia's economic crisis, says Kaine proposed to raise taxes, claims Kaine supported sequestration. Says he'll work to create jobs. UPDATE 8:01 pm: Tim Kaine goes first with opening statement. Pledges not to fire Big Bird or defends public broadcasting. Will work to invest in talent, infrastructure, grow the economy. We have a ball and chain, that's Congress, they're holding us back. We need to change Congress. Need people who are more fiscally responsible, who know how to work together. Governed during tough times. I know how to be fiscally responsible. My opponent has a different record...turned surpluses into deficits. Allen bragged about knocking Dems' soft teeth down their whiny throats. UPDATE 8:00 pm: Moderator Dr. Bob Holsworth introduces the candidates, lays out the rules, introduces panel. |
Top 10 Economic Statistics for Reelecting President Obama
Sunday, October 7, 2012
 There are many, many reasons to reelect President Obama, on a variety of fronts (economic, foreign policy, women's rights, GLBT rights, etc, etc.), but for now, here are 10 top economic statistics which should get you to the voting booth and pushing the button for Democrats all the way!1. According to Gallup, the U.S. Economic Confidence Index at this time in October 2008 was a horrendous minus 63, close to the lowest level ever recorded. Today, that number is up 46 points, close to the highest it's ever been.2. Again according to Gallup, the U.S. unemployment rate is now 7.7% (it was 7.8% in September according to the BLS), far lower than during the first few months after Barack Obama inherited a free-falling economy from George W. Bush (e.g., hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost every month, on the way to a 10%+ unemployment rate). Most importantly, the trend is very much in the right direction under President Obama. Let's keep it going! 3. Yet again according to Gallup, the U.S. Job Creation Index was at minus 10 when Barack Obama took over. Today, it is up 30 points, to a healthy +20. Again, we're headed in the right direction under President Obama. 4. The U.S. housing market is rebounding strongly, with home prices in August jumping the most in 6 years. 5. Want to buy a house? You're in luck, as mortgage rates are now "the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s." |
| lowkell :: Top 10 Economic Statistics for Reelecting President Obama |
| 6. Auto sales were up 11% in September compared to the previous year, and are expected "to total about 14.3 million this year, up from 12.8 million last year...[and up from] 10.4 million during the recession in 2009." Remember, Willard "Mitt" Romney said we should just let Detroit go bankrupt. Imagine if President Obama had listened to THAT horrendous advice?!? 7. The stock market is way up, with the Dow near "its highest level in nearly 5 years," as is the S&P 500, which "has appreciated nearly 17 percent so far this year, and is on track for its best yearly gain since 2009." 8 .The deficit, while still high (due mostly to the Bush tax cuts, which cost about $400 billion per year, combined with the Bush Recession and unpaid-for Bush era wars and entitlements), fell $207 billion in FY 2012, with the deficit as a share of the economy falling to 7%, down sharply from 10.1% in 2009. (Also note, there was actually a budget surplus in September -- "just the second month in the black for the U.S. government since September 2008"). 9. According to an analysis by Moody's Analytics, if we continue on our current trajectory and avoid the "fiscal cliff" with the balanced approach Democrats are advocating, the economy will "grow at a 4 percent clip or more in 2014, compared to less than 2 percent so far this year, and unemployment to fall to 5.6 percent in 2016." 10. We're rocking and rolling on the energy front, with net oil imports at their lowest level since the early 1990s; with natural gas production at its highest level in over 40 years; with wind and solar power generation at their highest levels ever (and rising rapidly); and with the U.S. more energy efficient than ever (today, it takes less than half the energy to produce an inflation-adjusted dollar of economic output than it did in 1973) and falling.Bottom line: under President Obama's leadership, we're moving in the right direction on practically every indicator you can think of. That's a stark contrast to where we were at 4 years ago at this time, which was in economic free-fall/collapse. It's also nothing short of miraculous that Obama and the Democrats have managed to turn around the catastrophic mess they inherited from Bush, Cheney et al, especially given that Republicans made a decision shortly after Obama was elected that they would not cooperate with him on anything, even if meant the economy would fail (which they figured would be their ticket back to power, as they'd lie and blame it all on Obama). In 30 days, let's reward Obama and the Democrats for working hard to drag our economy out of the ditch they found it in, and punish Republicans for working to keep it there. That's not a tough choice, now is it? |
Video: George Takei Urges Asian Americans to get "actively involved in the electoral process" (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 19:45:05 PM EDT ( - promoted by lowkell) Discuss :: (0 Comments) Virginia News Headlines: Saturday Morning (+) by: lowkell Sat Oct 06, 2012 at 07:09:43 AM EDT Here are a few Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 6. Also check out President Obama's weekly address, in which he argues that "Congress should act to keep our nation moving forward by keeping taxes low for 98 percent of Americans, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at lower rates, and creating a veterans jobs corps to help our returning heroes find work." *Jobless rate nears 4-year low (No thanks whatsoever to Republican obstructionists!) *Jobless number costs Romney a key argument *In Virginia stops, Obama and Romney differ on jobs report (What's really misleading is that Romney overlooks the fact that his own party was in power when the recession began, and his own party has done everything in its power to prevent action on the situation since President Obama took office.) *An economy on the move ("Jobs report gives Mr. Obama reason to crow.") *The unemployment truthers are not helping Romney *Jobs News Makes Obama's Case Easier *Santorum endorses Allen, environmentalists back Kaine *Rasmussen: Virginia senate race now leans Democrat *Eric Cantor: 7.8 percent 'simply isn't good enough' (He's right that it isn't good enough, so why won't his party pass a jobs bill that independent analysts say would significantly lower the unemployment rate?!?) *Energized Obama touts new jobs report in Virginia, Ohio *Cuccinelli says VPA should steer port bids *A last hurrah for the last residents of a 100-year-old Va. Beach community *Metro ordered to display pro-Israel ads that it worried might incite violence *D.C. area forecast: Strong cold front to end mild streak; cold and wet Sunday *Amid controversy, Cardinals advance to face Nats Discuss :: (0 Comments) Subliminal Messages in the First Presidential Debate (+) by: Teddy Goodson Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 20:37:40 PM EDT Prior to the first debate, many Democrats were metaphorically high-fiving each other, doing a pre-victory dance in the end-zone. After the debate, the revived Republicans powered up their CEO smirk- machine, crowing that their man's aggressive performance buried an obviously weak President, revealing him as an amateur in over his head. The next day came one analysis after another from upset liberals, disappointed supporters, and know-it-all pundits, some piling on with criticism of President Obama's "passive" or "listless" performance, some rationalizing that "the President just had a bad day," some pointing out that Obama plays a masterful "long game," and was giving Romney rope enough to hang himself (witness the new attack ads based on Romney's lie-a-minute self-contradictory statements), and all of them taking note of Romney's rudeness, his bullying behavior, and his refusal to play by the rules. All have agreed that Obama does not debate well, and never has; all have agreed that Romney was hyper-aggressive, domineering, and, some hinted, may have illegally used hidden notes which he smuggled on to his podium (an as-yet-unconfirmed accusation). Upon reflection, I believe the debate offers two very interesting subliminal narratives, one for each side. They are not mutually exclusive; one, both, or neither may have been deliberately employed, and each delivers a powerful psychological punch, if, as I believe, politics is power, and is a form of warfare. There's More... :: (3 Comments, 3 new, 1830 words in story) More Pathological Ideas from Paul Ryan (+) by: KathyinBlacksburg Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 19:32:18 PM EDT Paul Ryan has admitted they (he, Mitt and the GOP) are waging class warfare. But he blames it on the Dems. "We should not shy away from class warfare" he said. He blames President Obama and the Democrats for it. Instead of working to help the poor and Middle Class better their lives, Ryan thinks he should obliterate all the programs that helped to build the Middle Class. Then he accuses them of class envy. He falsely accuses Democrats of thinking one's class is fixed, while at the same time working to assure that that is exactly what happens and will continue to happen. After all the Koch's and the Waltons aren't rich enough. But Ryan wants to throw more tax breaks from them and make the rest of us pay for them. But that is class envy? In fact, the Koch's, Walton's and the rest of the 1% are so contemptuous of the Middle lass and the poor that they have hired the entire GOP goon squad to make sure the Middle Class disappears. Thirty-plus years have shown the abject failure of trickle down voodoo "economics." Who is waging class warfare again? It doesn't trickle down. Never has and never will. Here's the full quote. Notice the utter fabrication of a justification for his own contempt and class warfare. "We should not shy away from class warfare," Ryan said. "We should take this head on, which is, the president is preying on the emotions of fear, envy and resentment, and he's speaking to people in America as if they're fixed in some class. That's the European model. That's the model our ancestors left to come create an opportunity society, equality of opportunity, equal protection of the law -- not equality of outcome. Government's role is not to equalize the results of our lives. And we should take that on in a moral way and defend the system of upward mobility." Insulting and hypocritical: Ryan has made both terms an art form. There's More... :: (1 Comments, 1 new, 62 words in story) Video: "Mitt Romney's Disdain For The Middle Class. He Said It, He Meant It" (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 17:32:33 PM EDT Willard can try to run and "Etch-a-Sketch," but ultimately he can't hide...from his own words, and for his own contempt for America's middle class. #FAIL Discuss :: (0 Comments) Crazy Extremist Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum Endorses George Allen (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 14:34:17 PM EDT Patriot Voices PAC Makes Major Endorsements in U.S. Senate Races Verona, PA - Former Republican Presidential Candidate and Chairman of Patriot Voices Rick Santorum announced today that Patriot Voices PAC has made endorsements in several U.S. Senate races. The endorsements are: George Allen in Virginia, Wendy Long in New York, Josh Mandel in Ohio and Tom Smith in Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum said, "These individuals are incredibly committed conservatives who will be tremendous assets in the United States Senate. Each of them shares a commitment to lowering taxes, protecting life at every stage, promoting the traditional family and a belief that the individual should have the power -- not the government. Patriot Voices PAC is pleased to make these endorsements today and we look forward to helping their candidacies between now and November." Rick Santorum, Chairman of Patriot Voices PAC, issued the following statements about each candidate: George Allen "I have known George Allen for years and have enormous respect for his committed conservative values. When we served together in the Senate, I watched George fight with great tenacity to stop wasteful spending, protect the sanctity of life, preserve the family, and support tax cuts that spurred job creation in 2001 and 2003." So, just to remind everyone who Rick Santorum is and what he's all about, here are 10 of the crazy things (out of many, many more) Santorum's said over the years, starting with his comparison of homosexuality to "man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be." Santorum's also said: There's More... :: (0 Comments, 239 words in story) Video: President Obama Campaigns at GMU in Fairfax, VA (+) by: lowkell Fri Oct 05, 2012 at 10:57:23 AM EDT Here's some the full video from today's Obama rally at George Mason University in Fairfax. I'll post more video as it becomes available. Also, see the pool reports in the comments section. There's More... :: (9 Comments, 5 words in story) BREAKING: Unemployment Rate FALLS to 7.8%; Employment #s for July, August Revised UP Sharply
Friday, October 5, 2012
 BREAKING: Excellent news on the employment front!*"Unemployment rate way down to 7.8%" *"Big revisions. Combined +86k for July Aug." *"Huge gain in employment per household survey." *"Household survey really just crushes it. +873k employed, +418k on labor force, MINUS 456k on unemployed." *"This makes me think that the improvement in the consumer confidence surveys in recent was picking up something real." *"With revisions, summer lull in job growth wasn't much of a lull at all." Also note that four years ago at this time, the economy was hemmorhaging jobs, with 159,000 jobs LOST in September 2008, the 9th straight month of job LOSSES that year. Are we better than we were four years ago? YES, and by a long, long ways! Thank you, President Obama! (The Washington Post notes that "There are now 325,000 more than when Obama took office." If you think about that for a few minutes, consider the absolute free fall/disaster Obama walked into, that's nothing short of incredible, astounding, impressive, whatever word you want to use. Wow.) P.S. There goes the Romney campaign's moronic line that "unemployment's been above 8% for xx months." That was always absurd, as it ignored a million things (e.g., when the recession began and WHY it began, the fact that unemployment's been coming down steadily the past 3+ years, the fact that this progress has occurred in SPITE of Republican obstructionism and their monomaniacal focus on causing President Obama - and along with it the US economy - to "fail"). Can we say "FOUR MORE YEARS?" :) UPDATE: Here's the BLS report, which has more good news such as... *"In September, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs decreased by 468,000" *"Total employment rose by 873,000 in September" *"The employment-population ratio increased by 0.4 percentage point to 58.7 percent" *"The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from +141,000 to +181,000, and the change for August was revised from +96,000 to +142,000" UPDATE #2: Oh, and for all the crazy Republican conspiracy theorists out there, claiming that these numbers were made up to help Obama before the election, consider this: TrimTabs (private firm) estimated even BETTER numbers (+210k jobs in 9/12), as did private firm ADP (+162k jobs in 9/12). Big conspiracy, I guess! LOL |
Video: President Obama Campaigns at GMU in Fairfax, VA
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| lowkell :: Video: President Obama Campaigns at GMU in Fairfax, VA |
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