Political Ruminations

Morning Quote: Paul Ryan

Beware of authoritarians in the form of  foolish little Republimen. Especially if you’re a senior citizen.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), aka the very same guy (and the Chairman of the House Budget Committee) who wants to do away with Medicare, likes to have senior citizens arrested for asking questions, and had a very casual, mean response to the incident involving a senior citizen who was pushed to the ground and handcuffed at Ryan’s town hall by Ryan’s security people:

“I hope he’s taking his blood pressure medication.”

More on this from Think Progress:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the author of the House GOP plan to phase out Medicare, does not like it when constituents publicly challenge him. In fact, people who disagree with Ryan have a habit of getting arrested for it. A few weeks ago, several of Ryan’s unemployed constituents staged a peaceful sit-in at his Kenosha, Wisconsin office to protest his unpopular decision not to hold any free public town halls during the August recess. These constituents didn’t think they should have to pay to ask their elected representative a question. Instead of meeting with them, Ryan’s staff called the police.

So it should come as no surprise that this week, three people who paid to see Ryan speak were arrested and charged with trespassing for protesting the event. One constituent, a 71-year-old retired plumber from Kenosha, Wisconsin, was handcuffed and pushed to the ground by security:  [read more]

Shades of 1930’s Germany.

Stupid Quote of the Day

During a town hall meeting, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), a millionaire, urged his constituents¹  not to raise taxes on the rich, saying:

In the last election I was labeled a millionaire. Seriously. I ain’t wealthy. I built my own house, I wouldn’t do it again. I own my building, I have a dental practice. I live just like the rest of you folks. It’s all on paper, it’s not in cash.

Watch it:

Standards of what constitutes “wealth” are different for different people, but given the crowd he was speaking to, and the median income cited below, there is little doubt that Gosar would be considered wealthy by their standards.

Reliable wealth data is unavailable for Arizona’s first congressional district, the vast, largely rural area represented by Gosar. However, the median income is about $32,900 — a far cry below Gosar’s approximate $174,000 a year gig as a member of Congress. As Gosar mentions, he also owns substantial real estate, including a building worth up to $1 million, a dental practice worth up to $500,000, an antique store worth up to $500,000, and other assets.

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¹According to Think Progress, the crowd consisted of “police officers, public school teachers, a city council member, and about fifteen others from the Tusayan area”.

Morning Quote: Raise taxes on the corporations!

The town hall backlash over the Ryan budget, which would end Medicare as we know it, and extend tax cuts for the wealthy while decimating other programs, continues.

Rep. Dan Webster (R-FL) threatened to have a constituent thrown out of his town hall because the constituent (Taylor) told him that the state has to “raise taxes on the corporations”.

TAYLOR: What I want to know is, we’ve been able to balance our budget before by raising taxes and lowering spending and we know this because Eisenhower did it, Ford did it, Reagan did it, Bush the first did it, they were all Republicans. I want to know who’s going to pay, who’s going to pay for this? Because I don’t think we should take away Social Security [sic] just because we’re under 55 and public education, we need public education. [Inaudible] That’s wrong.

WEBSTER: The problem is this. Who’s going to pay? Your children and your grandchildren. That’s who’s going to pay. If we continue on this, yes, can we fund a lot of things going up this line? Sure can. But just know, most of it’s borrowed money.

TAYLOR: You need to raise taxes on the corporations! [Inaudible] And stop the wars! Just stop all the warring.

WEBSTER: Just a minute. I can hear, everybody in here can hear. So you’re making a choice of whether you want to stay or not.

TAYLOR: Answer the question!

[Audience cheers] [Two men walk out in protest]

Watch:

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. 

Joe Miller’s Thugs aka Guards, Arrest a Reporter at Town Hall Event

So much for the First Amendment.

A week ago, Miller announced that he would no longer answer questions from the press. Yesterday, he employed what I would certainly call fascist tactics at a public town hall meeting.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Tony Hopfinger, who founded and edits "Alaska Dispatch," was arrested by Miller's private guards at an Anchorage school. The senate hopeful was on hand as part of a town hall event…..

According to the Alaska Dispatch:

Hopfinger had been trying to ask Miller questions when two or three guards told him to leave or risk being charged with trespassing.

When Hopfinger continued to try to ask questions, one of the guards put the reporter in an arm-bar and then handcuffed him.

Hopfinger was released after police arrived.

The reporter was on public property where a public event was being held at the time of the incident.

Anchorage Police freed Alaska Dispatcher editor Tony Hopfinger from Senate candidate Joe Mlller's body guards at Central Middle School early Sunday evening. Sergeant Mark Rein of the Anchorage Police Department said Hopfinger is not in custody or under arrest.

Hopfinger had been trying to ask Miller questions when two or three guards told him to leave or risk being charged with trespassing.

When Hopfinger continued to try to ask questions, one of the guards put the reporter in an arm-bar and then handcuffed him.

Hopfinger was released after police arrived.

The reporter was on public property where a public event was being held at the time of the incident.

Miller has been adamant about his desire to avoid talking to the Alaska media, but no one in the working press in Alaska has ever before seen a candidate go to this length to avoid questions.

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UPDATE : Miller's campaign released a statement in which they claim that they didn't know that Hopfinger was a reporter, that he just appeared to be a threat to the candidate.

It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who reporting on the campaign. To them, the blogger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.

But the Alaska Daily News claims otherwise:

While Hopfinger was still in handcuffs, the guards attempted to prevent other reporters from talking to him and threatened them too with arrest for trespass.

This is what you can look forward to if you elect Tea Party candidates such as Joe Miller, Sharon Angle, Rand Paul, et al.

For what it's worth, I'm hearing rumors that Hopfinger is a Conservative, and that the guards were bragging about being ex-Blackwater thugs.

UPDATE 2:

Full story now here, and you can view the rather ugly video here.