Political Ruminations

Mitt Romney is a Liar - Jeep is Not Moving Production Overseas

Recently in Ohio, Mitt Romney began claiming that "Jeep is planning to move all of its production overseas.". Sunday, on ‘Meet the Press’, Rachel Maddow rebutted Romney’s latest Big Lie:

“It's ok for a candidate to make a flub, but to not correct it, to not say ' I was wrong about that….' The campaign was asked, 'Are you sure [Romney] actually meant that? Because that doesn't seem to be true.' No response clearing that up from the [Romney] campaign.

There's been a truthfulness problem with the Romney campaign that connects even to the very basic issues like the economy in the states where it most matters.”

Chrysler debunks the Romney lie on Jeep’s so-called move to China:

“Despite clear and accurate reporting, the take has given birth to a number of stories making readers believe that Chrysler plans to shift all Jeep production to China from North America, and therefore idle assembly lines and U.S. workforce. It is a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats.

Let’s set the record straight: Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China. It’s simply reviewing the opportunities to return Jeep output to China for the world’s largest auto market. U.S. Jeep assembly lines will continue to stay in operation. A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.”

UPDATE-October 31:

From Think Progress ‘Progress Report’ (email newsletter):

Last week, Mitt Romney made now infamous comments in Defiance, Ohio claiming that Jeep was going to “move all production” to China. The comments were immediately exposed as completely false. This, however, did not stop the Romney campaign from doubling down on the comments and making several other misleading claims in a TV spot. And when that ad came in for heavy criticism, they again doubled down by putting out an even more egregiously misleading radio ad about the auto bailout.

Well, the reviews of Romney’s desperate Ohio Hail Mary are in — and they’re not pretty.

Fact Checkers: “Pants on Fire,” “4 Pinocchios”

Hey Girl, Mitt Romney is a Real Extremist When it Comes to Women

Mr. Romney has a new ad out, an ad that attempts to hide his extremist positions.

It features a woman who clearly lies about Romney’s positions, and then claims that she voted for Obama in 2008. The problem is well, that while you can find sites which back her up, they do so either in error or in order to deceive. The truth is in what Mr. Romney himself has recently said.

On the issue of contraception, we can look to the Blunt Amendment to determine whether or not Mr. Romney supports the use of contraceptives.

The Blunt Amendment allows your boss to decide for you whether or not you will get access to contraceptives through your health insurance. That’s right. And Mitt Romney said himself that he supports the Blunt amendment (@14:46 on the Maddow video).

“Of course I support the Blunt Amendment.”

On the issue of a woman’s right to choose, abortion, Mitt Romney has said very recently (September 2012) that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would strike down Roe v. Wade:

“But I am pro-life and will intend, if I’m president of the United States, to encourage pro-life policies. [...] And I hope to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the law and the constitution. And it would be my preference that they reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore they return to the people and their elected representatives the decisions with regards to this important issue.”

Romney also said that he would sign a bill which banned all abortions (@11:33 on the video):

“I’d be delighted to sign that bill.”

“Delighted.” Rachel Maddow on Romney’s severely conservative positions(the segment on these issues starts at approximately 09:04):

A Romney administration would end abortion, would take away our right to choose what we do with our own bodies.

No exceptions for anything. Not rape. Not incest. Not the life of the mother.

Factor this in with Romney's stance on the Blunt Amendment -- which would make it more difficult for you to obtain contraceptives since he will allow your boss to decide whether or not you could obtain contraceptives through your health insurance.

This is what Mitt Romney really supports. This is what the Republican War On Women is about. This is what it will mean to women if Mitt Romney is elected.

If you’re undecided at this point, you need to think hard about your options, and then go to the polls and vote for Barack Obama. Not to do so will affect you, your children, and your grandchildren in ways you can’t even begin to count.

Paul Krugman Debunks Romney-Ryan Lies on Medicare and Vouchercare (Video & Transcript)

At the GOP’s convention last week, Paul Ryan told even more lies regarding his plans for Medicare; this one the most blatant and most likely to delude those who aren’t paying attention:

“ Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it. A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare. ”

Watch as Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman and Rachel Maddow debunk the universe of Medicare lies from Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in five short minutes:

UPDATE: The transcript from the video clip follows:

Is President Obama Trying to Gut Welfare Reform?

No, President Obama is not trying to gut welfare reform.

This is  yet another Big Fat Lie by Mitt Romney, spread by Romney and other Republicans who know better, but prefer to use made-up racist dogwhistles in their efforts to beat POTUS because they can’t win on the issues!

Rachel Maddow explains (segment begins at 10:25):

For the sake of reference, you can watch the Big Fat Lying Romney Ad itself:

Aw.....

This is just the cutest thing ever.....ducklings almost lose their momma when they visit the White House....enjoy!

Does anyone know if the momma duck is a mallard duck as Rachel said? Doesn’t look like one to me but I really don’t know.

Maddow: Mitt Romney is a Lying Liar

And Romney’s lies are very much targeting the Obama presidency, so here’s Rachel Maddow to tell some truth about Mitt Romney’s lies:

Maddow finishes with her assessment of Mitt Romney’s dishonesty:

“He lies all the time. Really easily. He says things that are not true with unnerving frequency, arguably more than any modern candidate for a major office, and there are a lot of creeps among them. Some dishonesty in national American politics is frankly routine. It's too bad that that's true. Romney style dishonesty is a sight to behold. It's different, he's bending the curve.”

Via Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Maddow: Boehner and Cantor Really Bad at Running the House

Steve Benen gives us some of  the gory details on the Boehner-Cantor disasters in the making:

About a month ago, we learned that "behind-the-scenes fighting" between the offices of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Speaker John Boehner had grown so intense, senior aides had to organize a "truce."

The fact that such a step was even necessary seems rather bizarre -- the Speaker's office and Majority Leader's office, as a rule, should not be at war with one another -- and reinforces the perception that House Republicans aren't exactly ready for prime time when it comes to governing in the midst of trying times.

As it turns out, however, Cantor aides haven't just been engaged in an ongoing conflict with Boehner aides; they've also been clashing with one another.

The sudden departure of trusted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor aide Brad Dayspring late last week followed a heated, nearly physical confrontation with another senior Cantor staffer over the unveiling of a major GOP initiative.

The dramatic exit of Dayspring -- one of the House Republican Conference's savviest and most controversial operatives -- came after a clash with another top Cantor aide, Mike Ference, over the rollout of a jobs bill that's set to hit the floor this week.

Watch:

Maybe the two opposing Republican teams, Boehner v. Cantor, will annihilate one and other....we can dream.

Rachel Maddow - Politifact Not a Fact-Finding Organization

Back in December, Politifact pretty much crippled its credibility with Progressives when it chose as the biggest lie of the year something that was not a lie at all.

This was presumably done by Politifact,  in order to kiss a little elephantine ass so that said elephants would stop calling Politifact a left wing tool.  Of course, it didn’t work, and the end result is that they have now limited their usefulness in their efforts to bend way the hell over backwards to appear non-partisan.

Case in point on the non-partisanship thing, is the piece with which Rachel Maddow takes issue:

Maddow said that she has "lost [her] mind more than once recently about how bad Politifact is, and how anybody who values the meaning of the word fact needs to stop citing them as an authority on the subject of facts." On Tuesday's show, Maddow discussed how Politifact looked into Sen. Marco Rubio's recent claim that the "majority of Americans are conservative."

"So, to sum up," Maddow said. "Marco Rubio says, 'the majority of Americans are conservative.' Politifact looks into that and finds that a majority of Amerians do not identify as conservative. And even if you wanted to extrapolate to parties...Republican-leaning instead of conservative...that still doesn't get you to a majority either. So, according to Politifact, Rubio's statement is false." Maddow then turned to Politifact's "truth-o-meter" which concluded that Rubio's statement is "mostly true."

Maddow yelled, "Seriously? Claim A: false. Claim B: false. Overall Politifact rating: mostly true!" Maddow was so angry that she told Politifact to "please leave the building." She asked the organization to leave the lights on as "we will need them to clean up the mess that you have left behind...You are a disaster."

Unlike whoever wrote the piece I quoted from Huffpost (author was unnamed), I think Maddow is spot on, and her indignation is richly deserved by Politifact, who I think should take the word ‘fact’ out of their name.

Barring that, they really need to take a step back from this idea of non-partisanship that they have. As we know, the truth has a liberal bias, and I am not being facetious when I say this.

Watch:

Ironworker to Sen. Scott Brown: Where are the jobs?

Via The Rachel Maddow Show:

“The first question [I would have asked Senator Scott Brown is], where's the jobs? He campaigned on his independent platform about job creation, with the brown jacket and pickup truck. You know, the prop comic. And he came into Washington and everything he's voted has been anti-worker, anti-jobs. So where are the jobs that he promised? I didn't vote for him, personally, but he does represent me in the Senate, and I just had one question to ask him, maybe would have taken 30 seconds, and he just couldn't provide that time today...You know, I can't do what my grandfather did. I can't work my job, buy a house, raise a family and send the kids off to college. The American Dream's not attainable in this economic environment. So, it's been frustrating to say the least.”

- Jay Chambers, third generation iron worker from the Boston area and "Take Back the Capitol" protester, on why he spent much of the day Tuesday camped out in Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's office hoping to get a chance to talk to the senator

Watch (Mr. Chambers speaks with Rachel starting at approximately 4:05):

Quote of the Day II

Rachel Maddow on Speaker of the House John Boehner’s (R-OH) reaction to President Obama’s announcement that he has a jobs plan, soon to be released:

“This is what John Boehner is like as speaker of the House. The president announces job creation ideas that the speaker rejects. The president announces he`ll release a whole new big job creation plan, the speaker says plan? Where is this plan? Dude, that`s the point. That`s the announcement. When somebody says here comes this plan, expect it on this date -- you don’t respond with where is the plan? Who even does that?”

Watch (the segment that contains the quote is at approx. 7:11):

Morning Quote: Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow on the GOP’s economic terrorism:

“Over the last two weeks… we came within a whisker of defaulting on our debt for the first time in our history because of the Republican Party`s flirtation with that sort of catastrophic default. We had our credit rating downgraded for the first time ever… We haven`t had just a wake-up call. We`ve had a wake-up call followed by an alarm clock, followed by somebody throwing a bucket of water on us, followed by a burglar entering the bedroom and grabbing us by the neck. We are awake.”

Watch (quote begins at approx. 9:30min):

Nuclear Plant at Fort Calhoun in Trouble

On June 7, a fire knocked out the cooling pumps at the Fort Calhoun plant, bringing with it fears of Fukushima in Nebraska. Pro Publica:

A fire [1] in an electrical switch room on Tuesday briefly knocked out cooling for a pool holding spent nuclear fuel at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant [2] outside Omaha, Neb., plant officials said.

The safety of deep pools used to store used radioactive fuel at nuclear plants has been an issue since the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant in March. If the cooling water a pool is lost, the used nuclear fuel could catch fire and release radiation.

As ProPublica reported earlier, fire safety is a continuing concern [3] at the country's 104 commercial reactors, as is the volume of spent fuel [4] piling up at plants.

Officials at Fort Calhoun said the situation at their plant came nowhere near to Fukushima's. They said it would have taken 88 hours for the heat produced by the fuel to boil away the cooling water.

Workers restored cooling in about 90 minutes, and plant officials said the temperature in the pool only increased by two degrees.

The fire, reported at 9:30 a.m., led to the loss of electrical power for the system that circulates cooling water through the spent fuel pool, according to a report [5] from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A chemical fire suppression system discharged, and the plant's fire brigade cleared smoke from the room and reported that the fire was out at 10:20 a.m., the NRC said.

A nuclear emergency alert was issued:

Maddow on current problems with nuclear power plants in the U.S., including the imminent/building crisis at the Fort Calhoun power plant in Nebraska pictured above (image from the Maddow Show). As you watch, keep in mind that the Fukushima reactor’s cooling pumps were knocked out by the flooding from the tsunami which hit Japan last Spring.

Watch:

900 feet vs. 903 feet. And a broken gauge. Gee, we should all feel absolutely safe. /sarcasm

All this, and yet, the national media still has not picked it up.

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RELATED POSTS:
~ Radioactive Leaks Found at 48 US Nuke Sites (June 21, 2011)
~ Fukushima Could Happen Here (June 23, 2011)
~ Developing: Nuclear Plants on Alert in Nebraska (June 27, 2011)

Morning Quote: Republican Hypocrisy

Two years ago, Senator John Ensign (NV) admitted to cheating on his wife, and having a sexual relationship with the wife of one of his Senate staffers. His mistress was also working for Ensign’s campaign.

At that time, currently the number 2 Republican in the House, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA) was asked by Chris Wallace (FOX News) if Sanford should resign from office. Cantor's response to that question:

“Look, I mean, is anyone happy to see all that have happened?  No.  It‘s not good.  But, listen, we have our thoughts with their families and they themselves.”

Wallace then asked Cantor why Cantor would not "walk the walk" and ask both Ensign and Sanford to step down(both Sanford and Ensign had done their press conferences by the time Cantor was on Wallace's Fox News show). Cantor's response to Wallace was only too predictable:

“Well, listen—I mean, again many the instance of the people of South Carolina and Nevada, I mean, it‘s up to them.  I mean, those are the elected individuals by those states.”

About a week after Ensign's confession press conference, Republican Governor Mark Sanford (SC) admitted to the nation that he had not only cheated on his wife, but that he then lied to his constituents, and the nation in an attempt to cover it up. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) was asked if Sanford should resign from office. Cantor’s response was to say that it was up to Sanford’s constituents (as Cantor also said re Ensign):

“As far as his remaining governor, Brian, it‘s up to the people of South Carolina and that will play out.  But, listen, Governor Sanford apologized yesterday.  We ought to be, you know, really dedicating our thoughts and prayers to his family right now going through a difficult time.”

So, in both of these cases, Cantor made sympathetic noises, and suggested that it’s up to the people whether or not these two cheating lawmakers should resign, never once stating that they should do so.

Two years later, here comes Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), a man who held a press conference admitting to his chatting and sexting (not even actual physical cheating……..NO adultery that we know of), and the lies he told to cover it up. Surely Rep. Cantor would treat him the same as he did Sen. Ensign and Gov. Sanford, right? Of course not. When asked if Weiner should resign, Cantor was quick to throw him under the bus:

“I think it is up to Congressman Weiner and his constituents to make that decision.  I don‘t condone his activity.  I think he should resign.”

I know it shouldn’t, but the blatant hypocrisy of Republicans never fails to surprise me. sigh…

Watch Maddow take this apart:

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Image courtesy of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show. IOKIYAR acronym > it’s only okay if you’re a Republican

Adding....If you feel as I do, and you want to see Rep. Weiner keep on working for the people, and you don't want to see him resign, be sure to visit the Facebook page which was created in order to encourage Rep. Weiner not to resign, and to show support.

Quote of the Day

A very to the point, and honest statement from Rachel Maddow on the Republican attack against Medicare:

Republicans are trying to kill Medicare. Republicans are trying to get rid of it. They are trying to force old people to buy private insurance instead.

Watch (at approx 4:32):

As we rightfully castigate Republicans for their transparent attempts to strip the elderly of Medicare insurance, we should be mindful that the GOP is also attempting to strip the poor of basic and essential access to health care via Medicaid “reforms”. Josh Marshall:

Medicare gets all the attention, for a lot of good reasons. But as TPM Reader KH argues the cuts to Medicaid are no less devastating, though most people don't figure it will ever directly affect them ..

Morning Quote: Rachel Maddow

A segment from last week when Rachel Maddow questioned the prevalence of Republicans on the Sunday shows (video & transcript):

Here it is: Republican Senator Dick Lugar; Republican former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani; Republican former Congressman Tom Davis; the Bush administration’s CIA director, General Michael Hayden; the Bush administration’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice; the Bush administration’s homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff; the Bush administration’s defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld; the Bush administration’s vice president, Dick Cheney; the Bush administration’s vice president’s daughter, Liz Cheney — the week the Obama administration announces it has killed Osama bin Laden, that’s the guest list on the Sunday morning political talk shows to talk about it.

The Sunday shows are supposedly the apex of political debate — the pulsing, throbbing heart of what’s going on in American politics. Is the biggest story in American politics right now retirees from the Bush administration and how they feel about stuff? Plus, Dick Lugar?

Honestly, this is the roster? This is Sunday morning in all of its thundering seriousness?

Now, among those nine Bush administration officials and other Republican politicians, there were three outliers: Senator John Kerry, also a former White House communications director named Anita Dunn, and one current White House official Tom Donilon, the national security adviser. So, there were those three.

But the week the Obama administration announces that bin Laden is dead, the invitees to the adult’s table, the measure of serious and importance in Washington is three-to-one, Bush administration and Republican officials.

Why is that?

Watch:

Why is that, indeed. The so-called “Liberal media” certainly doesn’t favor Liberals.

Adding…..the Sunday shows routinely feature a cast of Republicans to 1 or 2 Democrats at best. It is, in my humble opinion, a disgrace.

 

Maddow on President Obama’s Accomplishments

Rachel hits another home run!

Watch:

Via Bob Cesca

America's Humiliation - Our Honor and Credibility in the Toilet

I’ve always understood that the root of Birtherism was the racism inherent in a not inconsequential portion of the American electorate.

And, despite Tea Party cries of “foul” when called on their racist leanings, many of us also understood that racism was always the heart of the Tea Party movement¹, and that many Teabagger Republicans were also Birthers.

That said, the Birther movement did not really surprise me, but Donald Trump…..the current, rabid, carnival barker for the Birthers, managed to do just that.

Donald Trump's disrespect of our president, of the very institution of the presidency, is unforgiveable.

Trump's intentional humiliation of a man who has always exhibited stunning dignity, decency, intellect, and honor, and who is our president, dishonors us all as Americans. Add to that the fact that we have become the laughingstock of the world, and images of Donald Trump tarred, feathered, and run out of the country begin to seem too kind a punishment.

Constituents Verbally Attack Republican Legislators at Town Halls Over Ryan Budget & Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

Really, I feel like jumping up and down for joy because there has been so little indication over the past 2 years that the average voter even pays an iota of attention to what’s happening in our politics. 

But last night, after I watched the clips from the town hall meetings, I felt something distinctly strange…..I think it might be….hope - even if it is an infinitesimal amount. Why? Because it seems that people are finally starting to get it.

Watch:

Still, knowing how Republicans operate, we can probably rest assured that they will find a way to spin this to their advantage.

Let’s not let them. 

Morning Quote: Rachel Maddow

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow describes the situation in Michigan, where Republicans have enacted a law which essentially does away with democracy on the local level:

With this emergency law in Michigan, the state says that these places can‘t be fixed with their democracy in place and functioning, that the solution for them depends on doing away with that democracy, doing away with representative government, doing away with their elected officials.  The repair for their brokenness begins with ending their democratic decision making and imposing something shocking name to it but is the only way to describe this—imposing a kind of dictatorship, with the dictator being a person of the state‘s choosing.

Let’s not kid ourselves, however. Although emergency financial managers will all technically have the power, the truth is that the EFMs serve at the will of Gov. Snyder and thus they are  likely to be more like puppets, with Snyder being the puppeteer,  than independent voices, making Snyder himself the “dictator”.

You can view the video here.

Maddow: Update on Michigan Dictatorship

I’m short on time, and so I just grabbed Maddow’s latest vid (from last night), and I am presenting it with out much comment.

I will try to remember to grab the transcript for this segment when it gets posted, so check back if you’re interested. (you can now read the transcript after the jump)

This segment is primarily about Benton Harbor and the Catherine Ferguson Academy. Benton Harbor is planning to sue on constitutional grounds.

Of note, Rachel mentions that Rick Snyder will be the first governor since 1984 to act as Benton Harbor’s grand marshall in the city’s Grand Floral Parade (part of their Blossomtime Festival). This is happening in Benton Harbor next week, on May 7. Feel free to go and throw some rotten tomatoes. Certainly, no one deserves that more than Gov. Rick Snyder.

While I’m talking about the parade, I should mention that a friend of mine is producing a documentary about the anti-democracy movement in Michigan, and he will be at the parade to document the tomatoes, and any other occurrences.

Watch:

Maddow: Republicans Are the Party of BIG, as in Big Brother, Government

As many differences as we have between us, I think that all Liberals-Progressives can agree on this: Republicans have run completely amuck. And nowhere is this more evident than at the state level.

The question now is, could we have known this would happen, did Republicans who ran for state level offices tell us what they were planning?

No, of course not. Case in point. Rick Snyder, the newly elected governor of Michigan. He wisely refused to engage in debates during the run-up to the election. When his opponent, Virg Bernero, the current mayor of Lansing, Michigan, cornered Snyder in a very public way, Snyder agreed to one debate which turned out to be complete and utter nonsense. useless since Snyder in no way intimated his plans for the state during said debate.

Rachel Maddow called out Republicans for their utter hypocrisy, some might call it criminal hypocrisy, in promising smaller government to voters during campaigns, and then going for really BIG government, BIG Brother type government, once in office.

Watch (this is a long clip, but it’s worth watching):

Scary stuff.

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NEW & RELATED POSTS:

~ Republican Gov. Rick Snyder Begins Rape of Michigan to Benefit Wealthy Cronies

~ Corporations Behind Michigan's Unconstitutional EFM Law, Including Amway and Koch Industries

~ The Corporatization of Michigan

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder Begins Rape of Michigan to Benefit Wealthy Cronies

Having been sick for the past few days, I missed hearing on Friday that Benton Harbor, Michigan had been “seized” by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder under the authority of the much despised, un-democratic, unconstitutional, emergency financial manager law.

The EFM law gives Snyder the power to hand pick emergency financial managers (or emergency financial "corporate persons"), who then have the authority to take the following actions:

1. Consolidate or dissolve local governments and dismiss the officials elected by the people.
2. Consolidate or dissolve school districts, close schools, and dismiss elected school board members.
3. Sell off public property. Public. Property. Parks, buildings, licenses, permits, and so forth. All of it.
4. Privatize government services, with all that entails.
5. Shred all contracts agreed to by local governments and schools, including union contracts.

On Thursday, Snyder’s newly appointed EFM Nazi, Joseph Harris, stripped the elected government of Benton Harbor of all  powers:

Fresh from our "Isn't this America?" file, Todd A. Haywood of The Michigan Messenger is reporting that Joe Harris, the emergency financial manager of the city of Benton Harbor, Mich. has issued an order stripping all city boards and commissions of all their authority to take any action.

The order, signed Thursday, limits the actions available to such bodies to calling a meeting to order, approving the minutes of meetings and adjourning a meeting. The bodies are prohibited under the act from taking any other action without the express authority of the Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris.

Before we go further, let me do a little geography lesson for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Southwest Michigan area.

Marked in red on Michigan’s southwest coast are a few of the many beach towns ubiquitous to the land bordered by the great lakes, in this case, by Lake Michigan.

Grand Haven, Holland, Saugatuck and St. Joseph are primarily populated by Caucasians (all over 80%), are also mostly populated by the wealthy who spend winters in Chicago or Detroit, and are relatively expensive to vacation in. Homes on the water are, of course, priced out of reach for all but the very wealthy.

Benton Harbor has only one thing in common with these towns. It has a very lovely waterfront area which was donated to the town as a park. Uncommon to the other towns, the population of Benton Harbor is better than 80% black, and the town is very poor. You can see where I’m going with this.

But, while you might have thought that this was primarily about race, you would have been wrong, although race is certainly a factor, as is class. Rachel Maddow reveals the real reason behind the takeover. Watch:

So this is what we know - Rick Snyder’s wealthy cronies want the waterfront area currently owned by the city of Benton Harbor for themselves. They also want the contracts for the redevelopment of said area. The only remaining question is how exactly this will go down. Stay tuned…….

Rachel Maddow on the Rich Getting Richer

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Morning Quote: Michael Moore

In an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s show, Michael Moore pointed out that the 400 wealthiest people in this country have more wealth than half of all American families combined, and directed a few very pointed comments at the ultra wealthy elites:

This is what‘s coming for you [referring to the protests in Wisconsin & elsewhere], because the people aren’t going to take it any more.

The people are going to demand justice. They‘re going to demand that your ass is in jail. 

You have taken the money, we want the money back.

You have taken our jobs overseas, we want those jobs back.  Those are a national resource.  Those are not yours to do with as you please.  They affect all of us as a society.

We have a right to those jobs.  We have a right to that money that used to belong to the people of this country. 

A million people evicted from homes, foreclosed this year.  Another million expected this year. How many—I just wonder again, if I can, just address the Wall Streeters and banksters out there—how many more people do you think you can throw out of their homes before they do revolt?  How long do you think this is going to go on?

Exactly how I feel about it. I’ve had enough, and I hope you have too.

You can watch the video here.

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow & Michael Moore - GOP Stripping the Rights of People in Michigan

Watch:

Adding.....for some reason, this video  keeps "vanishing", and nothing I do seems to correct the situation. So, if you don't see the video here, click here to go to MSNBC to watch the vid. Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

Wisconsin Passes the Public Worker Union Ban Without Democrats

Bastards. Hard to know how this will pan out. Keith Olbermann says that Republicans have committed suicide. We’ll see.

I will say that next up for reversal will be minimum wage laws, the 40 hour work week, and so on. This is what they’re working toward at the direction of their corporate masters.

Reuters:

Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate passed the most controversial portions of Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill late on Wednesday, stripping out the sections that required the presence of their 14 absent Democratic colleagues in the upper chamber.

In an 18-to-1 vote, the Senate approved the curbs on collective bargaining by public employees that Walker has insisted are needed to help the state's cash-strapped municipalities deal with a projected $1.27 billion drop in state aid over the next two years.

Adding….Twitter is going crazy over this news. The hacker group known as “anonymous” appears to have decided to stand with the workers. The link on that tweet is to a chat room, currently inundated with 7000+ people.

Adding….

Gov. Rick Snyder and Michigan Republicans Engaging in Disaster Capitalism

Today, the Republican controlled Michigan Senate will vote on a bill giving newly elected Governor Rick Snyder, unprecedented power to:declare any town, city, or school district in fiscal emergency, and to appoint a fiscal manager to such a town or school district.

The fiscal manager, which can be a corporation, then gains the following powers:

• Authority to dismiss all or any of your elected officials
• Authority to privatize all or any city services, including schools
• Authority to break any and all contracts entered in to by your city via your elected officials, including collective bargaining contracts
• Authority to disincorporate your town or city
• Authority to merge your school district with another school district

Union busting, disaster capitalism at it's finest. The Michigan Messenger:

Critics argue that the deep cuts in school funding and revenue sharing proposed by Snyder and Republican legislators could push many cities over the brink into bankruptcy, dramatically increasing the number of cities under the control of state-appointed emergency managers that will, after the passage of this bill, have unprecedented and — many argue — unconstitutional powers.

Rachel Maddow discusses this situation, and Republican plans for disaster capitalism with Naomi Klein. Watch:

For reference purposes, it may be helpful to note that Rick Snyder is a former CEO of Gateway, the same guy who sold it to the Chinese.

Adding……this is the Michigan House bill that has already passed. And, a quote from Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO.

We are Wisconsin on the installment plan, Collective bargaining in Michigan is dying a death by a thousand cuts.

Rachel Maddow: 81% of Americans Want to Raise Taxes on the Rich

Heh.

Watch:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

VIDEO: Maddow “Wisconsin You Are Winning!”

On her show last night, Rachel Maddow talked directly to those fighting for their collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, telling them that they are now winning. And  she’s right.
But, I am seeing less vocal/open support for this battle, which is important to a vast majority of Americans, because when Wisconsin wins, all of the working people in America win. 

SHOW your support, America! It is not time to stand down.

Image of Heros - Wisconsinites Sleep Outside Capitol Last Night

From @Triumph68 on Twitter, via Maddow, protesters in #Wisconsin refuse to give in, to give up, after Gov. Scott Walker locked them out of the people’s statehouse. Braving the extreme cold, the snow, they stayed.

Maddow to Wisconsinites on her show last night:

Wisconsin, you are winning. I will say that again. Wisconsin, you are winning this fight.

There is a reason that after all of this time, your governor is not willing to negotiate. He is not willing to talk at all. But he is willing to kick you out of the Capitol.

A judge has now ordered that Walker re-open the capitol building. Whether or not he will comply, remains to be seen. 

Morning Quote: Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow on the Wisconsin protests

If you break the public unions in Wisconsin you can break them everywhere.

And as Maddow points out in the video, the Democratic Party can not survive with out the unions. (thank you again, SCOTUS, for the Citizens United ruling).

Rachel Maddow: Democrats Need Unions to Survive as a Party

Watch:

Morning Quote – VIDEO: Rachel Maddow on Newt & Newt Gingrich on Unemployment Compensation

One of the men who would be your president, 2012 wannabe, and pretender to seriousness, Republican Asshat, Newt Gingrich weighs in on unemployment compensation during a speech to GOP activists:

I'm opposed to giving people money for doing nothing.

And Rachel Maddow strikes back at the hypocritical and pathetic, 2012 wannabe, Newt Gingrich:

Let is review for just a second how Newt Gingrich makes his money,

For starters, he hands out fake awards in exchange for cash. Newt Gingrich makes money right now running a fake awards for small businesses scam. Last year he tried to give one of his fake awards to a small business called The Lodge in Dallas, Texas. In exchange for a $5,000 donation, Gingrich offered The Lodge, a strip club, a certificate, a novelty gavel and a dinner with him. When Mr. Gingrich realized he was giving one of his fake awards -- for a $5,000 donation -- to a strip club he decided to rescind the award and the dinner invitation. In mid-December, Gingrich sent another letter to The Lodge and asked them for a $2,000 donation to his American Solutions organization. This is how Newt Gingrich makes his money but he doesn't think that you earned yours.

Newt Gingrich is a direct mail scam artist. He hires the analog equivalent of spammers to troll the Yellow Pages, looking for businesses he can fool into thinking they are winning a 'Newt award,' and then he cons money out of them for accepting it.

 

Morning Quote: Rachel Maddow on DADT Repeal

Rachel Maddow’s comments to MSNBC News after the Senates vote on DADT repeal:

This is the president’s victory. This is something about which the President took a lot of criticism, a lot of abuse. Um, a lot of skepticism from his otherwise most loyal supporters on this. But this is an issue on which the President did not waver. He continually insisted that this was possible, that it would get done. It in fact was not possible for the President to do this through executive action. This is something that had to happen legislatively if it was really going to happen in a definitive way. The President did not waver. He did work on the Senate to make this happen. He insisted that it was possible against a lot of people, including me, saying it was not possible. This is a difficult promise kept. It's not just a promise kept. It was one that was hard to keep, that cost a lot of political capital, and a lot of work, and this is the President's victory today, and his base will reward him for it. [emphasis mine]

Very classy comment from Ms. Maddow.

Watch:

 

RACHEL MADDOW: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is Urging Members to Outsource Jobs

The hypocrisy, the blatant anti-Americanism of the far Right Wing U.S. Chamber of Commerce is enough to make your blood boil. Watch it, and let the rage begin.

 

VIDEO: Maddow and Letterman on Andrew Breitbart and Fox News

Maddow and Letterman take apart Fox News and Andrew Breitbart, and go on to discuss the state of cable news in general. Really good piece.