Majority of Oklahomans Oppose Tax Cuts!

Will the Republican Governor and Legislature Listen?

Oklahomans are waking up to the fact these Republicans in State Government will bankrupt state entities in order to give their wealthy donors more tax cuts.  Voters are not happy as recent polling is starting to show:

Voter Support for Income Tax Cuts Falls
By MATT TROTTER

A new poll shows falling voter support for Oklahoma personal income tax cuts. 

Approval of income tax cuts fell from 52 to 46 percent. When surveyed voters were asked if they approve of cuts an analysis says would largely benefit the top 1 percent of Oklahoma households, less than one-third did. 

"There really is nobody at this point, no constituency out there clamoring for tax cuts," said Oklahoma Policy Institute Executive Director David Blatt. "At the same time, you have a legislature that still seems hell-bent on passing a tax cut whether anybody's asking for one or not." 

Tax cut support among voters is even lower when asked which public services they favor cutting to support lower income taxes.

The poll also asked voters whether an educated and well-trained workforce or low personal income tax rates were more important to economic growth in the state. 

"People understand that it's an educated and well-trained workforce," Blatt said. "Seventy-four percent responded that an educated workforce is what's needed to create economic growth, compared to 17 percent who said low personal income tax rates." 

The poll of 610 registered Oklahoma voters was conducted earlier this month by Washington, D.C.-based Global Strategy Group.

From OK Policy Email, 24 March 2014:

Less than half of Oklahoma voters now say they support income tax cut plans, and opposition jumps to more than 60 percent when voters learn more about the plan. OETA reported on implications of a study that ranks Oklahoma near the bottom in the nation for family financial security

From Together Oklahoma Email, 24 March 2014:

Oklahomans Agree...
A new public opinion poll shows that less than half of Oklahoma registered voters now support the plan to reduce the state’s top income tax rate. Huge majorities oppose cutting funding for services like education, public safety, and health care to pay for tax cuts. Oklahomans know that isn't a good trade.

The poll shows that Oklahomans are starting to pay attention, but chances are high that our legislators haven't got the message. We are the anti-tax cut majority, but we won't be heard if we don't speak up! 

Tell your legislators: "Fund my services, don't cut my taxes!"

Haven't talked to my conscientious objector State Rep since he was elected and not about to start now.   The man joined the National Guard to have them pay for college and when he found out they were being deployed declared CO status not once but on two separate occasions.  He also lied about where he was living.  First time he ran we had a State GOP Chair who agreed a GOP CO should not be elected along with State House office holders. Then the hard right took over Oklahoma GOP and he got the support of the State Party.  Because he has an (R) behind his name some people here vote for him without any hesitation.   He has accomplished one thing -- help lead me to support Democrats for good.  Cannot take the hard right and their 'my way or no way attitude' which is prevalent in their ranks.

Maybe there is hope after all since people are waking up on tax cuts maybe they will wake up to the fact that our statewide Republicans in some offices in state government are costing taxpayers a lot of money.  Sill waiting for someone to explain why our state Attorney General is wasting tax dollars supporting a law suit by a Republican Major donor David Green who heads Hobby Lobby before the SCOTUS on the ACA mandate for birth control.  

Like many Oklahomans we are getting tired of social issues being the end all be all.  Many of us are upset that vouchers and charter schools are being pushed by the OK State School Superintendent Barrisi at the expense of public schools using text books from Bob Jones University which has been proven to be a fringe University years ago along with Beka Books.  These schools are teaching creationism and substituting conservative ideology for science.   At the same time we are seeing school funding cut by the OK legislature since taking over in January 2009 by over $600M -- why?  Have they gone that far right that normal voters are starting to wake up?  We can only hope!

Now will the Governor finally wake up and realize that Oklahoma cannot afford a tax cut?  We have our serious doubts since major donors are pushing for more tax cuts:

“Lets take this opportunity to show the country that lower taxes and limited government do work,” Fallin said. “We believe in them for a reason. The Oklahoma way and not the Washington way is the best way to support economic growth and help the middle class, Oklahomans and Americans.” 

Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said the $7 billion budget contains $71 million in budget cuts. Cuts would include $47.7 million from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and $49.4 million from the Regents for Higher Education. 

In response to the budget released by the state, University of Oklahoma President Boren released a statement. 

“This budget will be very damaging to the future of our state if it is not modified in the weeks ahead. How can we afford another tax cut when we are already shortchanging the education of our children and grandchildren? Failure to adequately support higher education and all of education will discourage the creation of new jobs and investments in our state. Investors are looking for a highly-educated and trained work force. It is a tragic mistake to invest less per student in education than is being invested in surrounding states.” 

David Blatt of the Oklahoma Policy Institute responded that as Fallin calls for another tax cut, the budget is already $572 million below Fiscal Year 2009 after inflation. Oklahoma has jumped from a budget shortfall in a national recession to an equally serious shortfall of our own creation, he said. 

“Especially troubling is that at a time when Medicaid needs new funding just to continue existing services, the governor suggests cutting state funding for Medicaid while continuing to refuse federal funds,” Blatt said.

If the Governor was truly for limited government, she would tell the hard right there is a moratorium on social issues and quit wasting our tax dollars joining lawsuits against ACA which has been declared the law of the land by SCOTUS.  Gov Fallin knows in her heart the right thing to do for Oklahomans would have been to take ACA Exchanges but she caved to the hard right and now our Medicaid recipients are going to be cut even more along with education.  This is not responsible governing but putting your reelection ahead of what is best for the State of Oklahoma.  Count her as another Republican I was wrong about -- they are mounting up as they put re-election over doing the right thing -- shame on the whole bunch of them.  It is a joke that they say they are for limited government but want to tell the rest of us what we can do -- my way or no way attitude is on full display.

The experiment to put the Republicans in charge of states has failed -- please join in returning common sense to our state government -- no more social issues and fully fund education and infrastructure at the state level.  Today's Republicans have trouble with the facts when it comes to tax breaks:

Rep Issa Needs to Resign as Head of House Investigation Committee NOW!

Rep Issa (R-CA) may be the biggest jerk of either party to head the Investigation Committee while Speaker Boehner is flat out wrong after seeing this video, if he bothered to watch, defend this lowlife.  Do Republicans not know any shame or what the word "decorum" means?  For the non-educated in the Republican Party:  

Decorum:  correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners 

Decided to use the Merriam Webster Learner's Dictionary to make it easier for Republicans to understand the word "Decorum" because it is obvious they have no clue.

This interview on Hardball including the clip of President Reagan saying he paid for the microphone when they tried to cut him off in the campaign is well worth watching.  This is a reminder of the man that Speaker Boehner and the Republicans in the House stand behind.


What kind of a House is Boehner running when someone can run a committee like this -- turning off the microphone of the ranking member of the Democrats on the Committee.  Do Republicans want the Democrats to have no voice?  This is not how the Congress worked up until the Republicans took the House in 2010 and Republicans started filibustering in the Senate in 2009 when President Obama won the White House which has been more then all the time in the history of filibusters.  Republicans have lost it and look like mean, angry, old white guys who act like bullies.  Do Republicans refuse to honor the results of the election since President Obama was elected twice by the Country, and the lowlife Republicans are still filibustering in the Senate to stop anything from passing.
After things I have learned this week, I cannot believe these Republicans are even in charge of the snack cart in Congress.  They deserve to be banished to the dust bin of history -- in fact the whole party does with the spectacle going on at CPAC in DC this weekend which makes me cringe but that has been happening for years.  Difference is this group of hard right are now in charge of the Republican Party.  
In my lifetime, I have never seen someone who as head of a committee be so rude and nasty to the Ranking Member of the opposite party.  Issa is the worst example of a thug in a suit I think I have seen.   Republicans in Congress have lost it between the trumped IRS Scandal, Benghazi, and voting the 50th time in the House to repeal ACA. 
It gets even worse as the lawyer for the person they wanted to answer questions on the IRS Scandal agreed to answer the questions for the witness but Issa was having none of that after all he is King of this House Committee on Oversight and Investigations and everyone will do as he says.
The Republicans truly are "USELESS."
Have a terrific weekend and get ready next week for the road to the NCAA March Madness to begin with Conference tournaments of the larger conferences.  This is the time of year that it is basketball 24/7, spring football for colleges, and regular season opens for Major League baseball.  What you have is a trifecta for the sports fans of America!
Boomer Sooner!

Rep Sander Levin Calls out the GOP Dark Money Groups on Floor of House!

Democrats in the House are fighting back against the Republicans in the House who lied about the IRS scandal and costs the American taxpayers $14M to keep hiding the dark money donors to Karl Rove's American Crossroads GPS and two Koch owned organizations:

Then Levin got all truth buster on the GOP and brought up the explosion of dark money groups after the Citizens United ruling, “Why is this important? Because applications for 501(c)(4) status have nearly doubled between 2010 and 2012 to 3,357, and 501(c)(4) spending has skyrocketed. In 2006 $1 million was spent by 501(c)(4) organizations. In 2010, $92 million was spent. And in 2012, $256 million was spent by 501(c)(4) organizations.” 

Levin pointed out that this designation allows the organizations to keep their donors secret. And that this secrecy is actually what Republicans are trying to protect, “That is exactly the secrecy that the Republicans are trying to preserve. Why? Because the three largest spenders representing fully 51% of the total are a who’s who list of Republican political operatives. Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS spent $71 million. Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers, spent $36 million. The American Future Fund, also the Koch brothers, spent $25 million.”

Can I say FINALLY?  The Democrats are on the offense against the fake IRS Scandal to protect the Republican dark money organizations.  Watching Rep Levin call them out for their lies and using a narrative to fool the American people, made my day.  I love it:

Levin didn’t shy away from the truth, “If you live in a targeted state and you turn on your television, you have probably seen these groups that work at distorting the Affordable Care Act. That is why we are here today purely and simply. Not because Republicans want to stand up for the rights of social welfare organizations, and they often talk about small ones, but to preserve the secrecy around the Republicans’ big campaign efforts.” 

And now, after all of the public drama, we get to the entire point of the Republican fable about the IRS, which we explained to you as it was going on. Yes, this is all about protecting dark money. It always has been. Levin demanded, “Why are we standing here and saying to the IRS don’t look at 501(c)(4)s. Don’t look at the possible massive abuse. Don’t look at what has happened in the last few years where political operatives, under the guise of 501(c)(4), have moved from $1 million in many cases to $256 million as reported to the FEC.” 

Why are Republicans trying to force the IRS to look the other way? Because Republicans can’t win elections without dark money spreading lies about Democrats. Republicans can’t afford to run on issues. They have to run on smears, since their policies are determined by the Koch Brothers et al, and thus benefit the top 1% instead of the people.

Read More at Politicususa

Not sure if Karl Rove has an honest bone in his body any more than the Koch Bros -- they are all about scamming the American people to get their way.  None of the dark money groups care one iota about the American people and worse about our Constitution.  They are a bunch of lowlife win at any cost mentality types who will lie, cheat, and if that doesn't work steal the election.  One thing to remember about Republicans is that they will accuse the other side of what they are doing.  The 2012 election was a perfect example of them accusing the Democrats of voter fraud when the fraud that was found was Republican.

Been saying for a long time that anything Cong Issa (R-CA) is involved in investigation is most like tainted. How many people do you know who insure a building for a much higher amount, make sure a computer is not in the building, and a few weeks later it burns down or stole cars, or threaten people with guns, etc?  Why won't the media call him out?  Who is controlling the media today?  Frankly disheartening to see so many so-called journalists 'forget' to ask pertinent questions preferring to deal with fluff:

Rep. Darrell Issa's past includes arrests for weapons charges and auto theft, suspicions of arson, and accusations of intimidation with a gun, but you'd hardly know it from the media's recent coverage of the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. While Issa was substantially mentioned in 15 articles in the nation's largest newspapers since the last election -- including several major profiles -- only one of those articles mentioned any of these allegations. Likewise, interviewers did not ask Issa about his alleged criminal past in any of the cable or network interviews he sat for during that period.

1982: Issa Suspected, But Never Charged, In Arson Incident At Manufacturing Plant. According to the Los Angeles Times: "A suspected arson fire ripped through [Issa's Ohio] manufacturing plant in 1982. No one was ever charged in the fire, but authorities were troubled by a dramatic escalation in the facility's fire insurance just weeks earlier. Even before the blaze was put out, investigators began peppering Issa and his partner with 'crazy questions' regarding their whereabouts before the fire, Issa recalled." [Los Angeles Times, 5/23/98, via Nexis, emphasis added] 

Read Full Details at Media Matters 

My basic question for sometime has been how did Issa with such a shady background get chosen to head the House Investigation Committee?  If you were into conspiracy theories you would look at the arson fire was at a warehouse in Ohio and the Speaker who chooses heads of committees is from Ohio.
Draw your own conclusion but it sure does smell.  What better person to put in charge of investigations then people you can control because of their background?

People of California need to vote Issa out in 2014 along with Republicans controlling the House and the Agenda because they are the party of NO unless it is their idea which has the Country at a standstill. The Republican Party of today is flat out worthless who are told what they are to do by the likes of the Koch Bros, Rove, Fox News, and other wealthy donors.  Seems their brains are hooked on donor money and the vast majority of American people can 'shove it' in their opinion.

To see Rep Levin take on the Republican trash in the House leaving me smiling.  The GOP House has not earned anyone's respect but instead have earned our distrust and disdain.  Send the GOP to the unemployment line in 2014 and see how they like no federal benefits they chose not to renew.

 

Forty-Three Ted Cruz Hard Right House Republicans Planning to Sue President Obama for Doing His Job as President

When I think it is impossible for the Republican Party to get any dumber, along comes some of the House Republicans to prove me wrong once again.  One of those jerks is running for the Oklahoma Senate seat being vacated by Senator Coburn at the end of the year -- Republican James Lankford of the 5th District.  BTW, when is he going to resign?  The Speaker of the OK House, TW Shannon, resigned to run for the seat but not heard a peep out of Lankford.  TW would make a much better Senator than Lankford any day of the week. Would bet TW is happy to be out of the OK House and having to deal with some of the hard right because he is not that hard right -- it must have driven him up a wall.    Will bring you more on the OK Senate races as it gets closer to our summer primary and probably gets nastier.

Some of the hard right House Republicans have jumped over the cliff with their latest attacks on President Obama for doing his job.  One of my favorite writers, Jason Easley, Politicususa had this to say:

Forty three House Republicans Want to Sue Barack Obama for Being President

Forty three House Republicans are sponsoring a bill that if passed would force the House to sue President Obama for behaving like a president. 

According to The Hill, “Forty-three Republicans have cosponsored the resolution since Obama’s State of the Union address, where he threatened to enact policies if Congress didn’t act. The “Stop This Overreaching Presidency (STOP)” measure, introduced by Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.), now has 104 co-sponsors, including Senate GOP hopeful Reps. Jack Kingston (Ga.), James Lankford (Okla.), Steve Stockman (Texas), Paul Broun (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.) and Phil Gingrey (Ga.).” 

The House Republicans are upset because Barack Obama had the nerve to act like a president. They are angry that he delayed the employer mandate, implemented the DREAM Act for the executive branch, let people keep their substandard health insurance policies, and ended work requirements for welfare recipients. 

Courts have ruled for decades that presidents have the constitutional power to delay the implementation of a law. Like all presidents, Obama’s executive orders only cover the executive branch. President Obama didn’t implement the DREAM Act for all of the country, just for the executive branch.  Read More

It dawns on you that these current hard right Republicans in the House and Senate could care less what the Constitution says about three equal branches of Government.  No place does it say the House is Supreme to all other branches but you would never understand that from the hard right rhetoric aka lies coming from the mouths of the Senator Ted Cruz Republicans in the House:

House Republicans are trying to sue the president for exercising his constitutionally granted powers. This is another attempt to delegitimize this president. Republicans are upset that the president is working around their obstruction, so they are taking him to court to try to get him to stop behaving like a president.

How much influence has Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) had on this current action of suing the Presiddent since he convinced the House to shut down the Government last fall?  My guess is a lot seeing some of the people involved.  In doing the research I found this 5 Feb 2014 article from the Houston Chronicle's, Texas on the Potomac Blog:

Cruz report accuses Obama of “assault on Texas”Posted on February 5, 2014 | By William T. Brown 

Sen. Ted Cruz has issued a report on “The Obama Administration’s Assault on Texas.”
The freshman Republican from Texas  is the ranking minority member of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee which deals with the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. 

This report, the third in a series written by Cruz on what he sees as Obama overreach, “ goes through 10 cases where the Obama administration has advocated for overbroad views of federal power and has been over and over again repudiated by the federal courts,” Cruz said in a Fox News interview.  Read More

Question of the Day:  Can a sitting Senator can also be Speaker of the House since the Speaker does not have to be an elected House Member?   Seems that Ted Cruz is already the de facto head of the hard right in the House so why not be Speaker?  Cruz must be livid at Speaker Boehner for finally getting the courage to go against the House's hard right to pass a clean Debt Ceiling Bill as Cruz was determined not to let a clean bill pass.  Then Cruz lost in the Senate, when Minority Leader McConnell grew a backbone for a few hours and rounded up votes to stop a Cruz filibuster.  Now the hard right who has raised more money than the Chamber and middle of the road Republican groups are out for blood in the 2014 election wanting to elect hard right ideologues and don't care if they beat Democrats in November as long as they stand on principle.

These excerpts from the article at Alternet, Tea Party and the Right, basically say what many of us who were lifelong Republicans until 2010-2012 have been saying:

This week, the Tea Party aligned Senate Conservatives Fund called on House Republicans to force out Speaker John Boehner in an email that read, “Unless we install a new leader who will actually go on offense, Democrats will never fear us and we will never have any leverage.” 

We may be witnessing the genesis of another temporary or permanent fracture of the Republican Party, for what was once a happy coalition of secular and social conservatives, united to defeating Obama and liberalism, has turned into an openly hostile civil war for control of party, and by all measures the Christian Right/Tea Party faction are winning in their objective of purging what they believe are Republicans In Name Only. 

This is a war establishment Republicans cannot win for not only is the Christian Right/Tea Party faction the most reliable and agitated voting bloc within the party, but also they’re now out raising Chamber of Commerce-sponsored establishment candidates thanks to a cabal of hyper-religious organizations, the Club for Growth, and the Koch brothers. Since August, the Koch’s Americans for Prosperity has spent more than $27 million on ads, which puts it on pace to outstrip its overall $38.5 million spent on the 2010 election. 

It’s worth noting that there barely remain any open shirted “moderate Republicans.” Almost two-thirds of House Republicans voted against bipartisan efforts to reopen the federal government and prevent the U.S. defaulting on its loan obligations. The non-partisan Mann and Ornstein write in Its Worse Than it Looks, “The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier – ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

Lost count of the number of times since 1998 that I have been in dust ups with the 'my way or no way' crowd on conservative websites for their stupid mantra of not caring if their candidate wins as long as they stand on principle.  My shock is that they are now in charge of the Republican Party.  According to everywhere I turn, the hard right have outraised the establishment types led by the Chamber who were attempting to wrest control of the Republican Party away from the hard right.  Looks like a dismal failure from establishment groups after what I am hearing from people I know in various locations.

Koch Bros are willing to let the hard right have their theocracy as long as they get what they want -- no Government rules and regulations so they are free to pollute at will and kill the vibrancy that has always been the hallmark of American ingenuity.   Koch Bros who want more money for themselves discovered they could get the hard right to be their puppets because it is obvious the hard right are more inclined to be puppets when you use the right mantra then think for themselves.  They have been sitting in hard right churches for years being told what to think and what to do.  Cannot fathom that.

Took me years but finally found out my trouble here in Oklahoma from the time we moved to Norman was with the hard right Republicans who make up most of the GOP in Oklahoma.  I am an independent thinker and that falls outside the norm for loyal GOP party members who are told which candidates to support. Here is an example:  In 2006 in the GOP primary for Governor, a nasty hit piece went out around the state by some County Chairs in support of Ernest Istook for Governor.  I was supporting another candidate.  When I got sent the letter as the Vice Chair of the County, the nitwits at OK GOP had left in faint grey lettering - Paid for by the Ernest Istook Campaign for Governor.  OK GOP and some County Chairs had sent out an obvious partisan Istook document and the worst part is a good many Republicans believed the document.  You cannot fight stupidity.

I can think of a few others that had the same trouble with the hard right who is now firmly in charge the OK GOP and calling the shots in the Governor's office.  The allegiance to ALEC and the Koch Bros in this state by some of the Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature along with some statewide elected officials is mind boggling.  Cannot fathom being led around by some ideological group -- guess that is why I gave up Rush Limbaugh years ago -- found myself yelling at my radio in the car -- very seldom listened at home since the early 90's when he had all the parodies which were funny -- my all time favorite was the one on Ross Perot, "They are coming to take me away."  It was hilarious but Limbaugh hasn't been funny in years -- now he is just a shrill hard righter spouting lies and hate.

In 2007/2008 after supporting Rudy in the primary and getting clobbered by so many people on conservative websites, I started backing off posting where I had posted for years.  The Washington Post even had me as part of the purge of the GOP in the fall of 2006 from a website but I was in FL not posting.  It took awhile but almost immediately after the mid terms, I realized that the Republican Party had left me a long time ago and I just wouldn't admit it.  Was never a hard right ideologue -- always considered their 'my way or no way' mantra stupid and still do.  No way to run a Government.

Meeting more and more Republicans who live in the hard right red states who have had it and are changing parties or supporting Democrats in 2014.  This hard right takeover that leaves no room for independent thinking is my last straw.  Wish I could say it has been fun to be a Republican in Oklahoma but I would be lying.  At times it has been horrible, terrible, and nasty with attacks from the hard right that I cannot fathom toward more centrist GOP.  First time in my life to be considered a liberal Republican is in Oklahoma.  When you meet the Tea Party/Religious Right here you understand why.  You finally wake up one morning and realize I cannot deal with these people any longer.  Mine came in the spring of 2012 when I decided to support President Obama and drive my neighbors nuts. Never regretted it for a moment.  The words I use are 'Freedom, Liberated, and Relief'  as I can now express my feelings and not be called names by those on the progressive side.

Finished Reading Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist's new book, The Party's Over -- How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.  Enjoyed the book from start to finish and found myself agreeing with the current Democrat candidate for FL Governor over and over again. Gov Crist speaks my language.  You understand when someone as high profile as the former Governor can write a book like this that you are on the right track with supporting Democrats across America in 2014 and telling the GOP to 'Shove It!"

Republican Party in Chaos -- Who is in Charge?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “There isn’t a Republican Party. I wish there were, I wish there was a Republican Party. I wish there was one person we could sit across the table from, make a deal, make a compromise and know when you got up from that table it was done.” -Vice President Joe Biden, weighing in on the fractured GOP

Vice President Biden has nailed -- there is no Republican Party -- it is fractured beyond my comprehension.

Am currently reading former Florida Governor Charlie Crist's new book, The Party's Over,  on "How the Extreme right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat."  I am about halfway through and extremely impressed while I keep nodding in agreement and saying to myself "exactly." He has nailed my sentiments in what I have read so far.

There is one thing about the Florida Governor's race I find amusing -- that his Democrat opponent calling Charlie Crist a conservative.  He lost to Rubio because he was not a conservative.  I cannot remember ever considering Crist a conservative starting with his race for AG.  Charlie is someone who works with both sides of the aisle for the good of the people of Florida unlike the current Governor Scott who I would have a hard time finding anyone who likes him. Still haven't recovered from his Lt Governor Jennifer Carroll having to resign as Lt Governor due to ethical problems.  Guess you could say Rick Scott and ethics are probably not friends and you would be correct.  Scott is one of the many problem Governors in the GOP.

MSNBC take on the Republican Party chaos today:

MAINSTREAM VS. MAD HATTERS: The gloves have come off and now the contenders are ready to throw their punches. According to a new report, House Republicans are blaming Sen. Ted Cruz for killing the GOP’s immigration reform efforts. 

It may have once seemed promising that Boehner and House Republicans would work with Democrats to reach a compromise on immigration reform, but now any realistic hopes of progress have been dashed after Cruz blasted the party’s plan as “amnesty” and led to some constituents voicing anger at their representatives. “After that it was ‘We’ll get back to you on immigration reform,’” an anonymous Republican congressman said. 

Meanwhile, Cruz introduced a bill earlier this week that would “amend chapter 1 of title 1, United States Code, with regard to the definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’ for Federal purposes.” Sound familiar? That’s because it looks a lot like the Defense of Marriage Act–which was struck down last year by the Supreme Court. 

So now the question everyone should be asking: who’s really in charge here? Is Speaker Boehner really leading his caucus? Or have individuals like Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee taken over? We’ve said this before, but it begs repeating during a discussion like this: if the party can’t unite on one road this year, they’re looking at another rough primary season ahead of the 2016 presidential election–and if 2012 was any indication of how that might end for the GOP, it’s not looking too positive.

Add in the GOP State Governors along with GOP dominated state legislatures and you are asking yourself where did these people come from.  Have never seen anything like it as I have been writing on here for a long time.  I still think my choice for the #1 idiotic bill introduced anywhere is a bill to End Marriage in Oklahoma to keep Gay Marriage out -- went viral around the Country and provided all kinds of humor.  It is so outlandish I thought it was a joke but it is an actual bill that was submitted. This is how loony the right has gotten over time. These hard right social conservatives never should have been elected to office because all they care about are social issues and making sure the wealthy donors get their fair share.  The more I read about the OK Legislature, the more I shake my head that common sense has totally left them and the Republican Party as a whole.

Jason Easley, Politicus, had this to say at the end of January:

The Republican Party is in shambles because they are accurately viewed by most Americans as the uncaring party of the rich. Republicans can pay lip service to the middle class and claim they care about poverty, but they aren’t fooling anyone. 

The GOP has been branded as the party of the wealthy few. President Obama’s efforts to reach across the aisle, and fight for the American people are paying off. Obama and the Democrats don’t get credit in the media for what they are doing, but voters understand who is really on their side. 

President Obama has turned the Democratic Party into the party of middle class populism. There is only one party of the people in this country right now, and it isn’t the Koch fueled GOP. President Obama isn’t just setting the Democrats up for victory today. He has successfully exploited the desire of the Republicans to represent only the wealthy few to lay the groundwork for Democratic victories for years to come.

Republicans today rely on a narrative with no basis in fact yet most of the media goes right along with the narrative and are only now beginning to think instead of just take the GOP narrative at face value and run with it like it was fact.  It is like the reporter who gets a press release from a company and that's what they use for the article instead of making sure the press release is factual.  Many of the media have covered for the Republican Party because they are frankly lazy and refuse to do the research to see if something is true or they are stupid.  I think most are just lazy.  If you see Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, pushing a narrative, you are going to run away from that narrative.  She is so blindly partisan that how anyone can pay attention to her except for a laugh is beyond me.  Republican narratives as many already know describes Fox News reporting.  That said, it is not just Fox News but some reporters in other news organizations that are also pushing the narrative -- at times CNN has sounded like Fox light recently.

If you are a Republican who is not hard right, you are in for some tough times ahead because the party is falling apart right before our eyes now as the fights are going public like the one on the clean debt ceiling where Speaker Boehner finally did the right thing and the hard right is clobbering him.  If I was Boehner, I would tell the House to shove it and go register as a Democrat but deep down he does care about the Country even when he doesn't show it or he would walk away and allow the hard right in the House to take control.  He is catching all kinds of grief from the Tea Party and all the hard right Koch organizations.  Same with McConnell in the Senate who had to round up five votes to end the Cruz filibuster.  Must admit that I would love to see that Kentucky Senate seat of McConnell's flip to Blue with Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes defeating Mitch McConnell.  Think she can do it from what I heard from friends in Kentucky.  That would make my evening on election night on 4 November 2014.

Enjoy Valentine's Day and the weekend -- expected to reach almost 70 degrees here in Norman on Sunday after 8 degrees last week -- can take hot weather much better than cold.  Let the celebration begin that spring is just around the corner as one good friend put it -- Major League Baseball Camps are opening = spring has arrived.

Happy Valentine's Day

Can Republicans in Congress get any Dumber with their Comments?

The answer to that question is yes!  A short time ago, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), made a fool of himself once again which seems to be happening more and more since being challenged for his Senate seat by the left and right.  What more can he ask for, he has Rand Paul on his side now. McConnell better not turn his back.  His comments about ACA made me almost laugh they are so ludicrous.  What a waste of floor time to grandstand and show America your loony agenda.

Mitch McConnell had the nerve today to demand on the Senate floor that President Obama use the State Of The Union to announce that he is ditching Obamacare:

Actually, Mitch, this isn’t the kind of reform that Kentuckians want. The Republican proposal that McConnell is touting as bipartisan reform would take away healthcare from 116,000 Kentuckians. A new poll by the Foundation For A Healthy Kentucky found that nearly 80% of Kentuckians favor the Medicaid expansion that the Republican healthcare bill would end. 60% of Kentucky Republicans support the Medicaid expansion that McConnell is trying to end. 

Mitch McConnell’s ridiculous demand that President Obama uses his State Of The Union address to announce that he is killing Obamacare is what happens when a desperate incumbent senator who is fighting for his political life puts all of his eggs in the repeal Obamacare basket. 

The Republican alternative to the ACA would raise taxes on the 150 million Americans who get their health insurance from their employer while throwing nearly 10M people off of their current health insurance.

Not to be outdone by the Minority Leader, Speaker Boehner had his moment in the limelight today which also did not go as planned:

On Tuesday morning, at a breakfast discussing the State of the Union address later in the evening, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) told reporters that President Obama is on dangerous ground on his use of executive orders. Essentially, Boehner issued a veiled threat stating that if the President thinks he can enact more change by circumventing Congress and utilizing executive orders, then Obama could be facing a backlash from Congressional Republicans. While he did not overtly state it, it seemed pretty clear he was talking about impeachment. 

“We’re just not going to sit here and let the President trample all over us. This idea that he’s just going to go it alone, I have to remind him we do have a constitution. And the Congress writes the laws, and the President’s job is to execute the laws faithfully. And if he tries to ignore this he’s going to run into a brick wall.” 

The new talking point among Republicans now seems to be that the President is mad with power and is looking to trample on the Constitution by ignoring Congress. Nevermind that the President is well within his rights to issue certain executive orders. Or that House Republicans have pretty much refused to work with the President since he was elected to his first term. It doesn’t matter. If the President has the audacity to try to get something done without the express written approval of the Party of No, then it is time for him to truly pay. 

Also at the breakfast, Boehner made an embarrassing gaffe and said that he felt that the President’s executive order that was issued earlier in the day raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers would help nobody. After the meeting with reporters, Boehner’s aides had to clarify to the press that Boehner really meant that it would not help anyone right away, as this was only for new hires and would go into effect in 2015. Of course, it seems abundantly clear that House Republicans want nothing to do with raising the minimum wage for all workers anyway, so Boehner doesn’t really care if it helps anyone or not.

For the rest of the day, Boehner has been dealing with his gaffe which a lot of people like me say it is what he really believes.  Guess Boehner forgets all the Executive Orders signed by President Bush because he was a Republican and that's okay.  Not being able to function as the President with full powers seems to only apply to Democrat Presidents.

Question is whether the GOP members of Congress will be rude to President Obama like they have in the past or will they at least treat the Office of President with respect.  My guess is that the GOP will sit there like bumps on a log or make a fool of themselves.  GOP already looks petty with the three State of Union replies they have for the President's speech.  One isn't good enough as they need three. GOP can have 50 for all I care as you couldn't pay me to watch one GOP response.  It is not hard to see they operate on narrative not on facts so why would anyone expect them to change for their Response?

At the White House Day in the Life, Dan Pfeiffer has taken over the White House Instagram account for today with the State of the Union Speech tonight:

A Day in the Life: Inside the State of the Union with Dan Pfeiffer:

Dan PfeifferJanuary 28, 2014
09:47 AM EST

After months of meetings, piles of memos and dozens of drafts, it’s gameday — and I'm taking over the White House Instagram to give you a look inside the West Wing as the President gets ready for his 5th State of the Union. Thanks for following, and be sure to watch the speech tonight at 9pm ET on WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU. 

My favorite picture from the Day in the White House for the State of the Union needs no introduction -- speaks for itself:

The cutest little bundles of fur are set for a walk!  Priorities!  Follow along at Instagram to see more pictures from the day.  Partial to pets who love you with all their heart and only asks you to love them back and if like our dog Chewie, wants spoiled all the time.

Looking at tonight's State of the Union is like our Sooner basketball game last night against our pesky rival OSU -- OU won big even though the media has over ranked and overhyped OSU.  Kind of what the inside the beltway media has done to the GOP in Congress -- overhyped their ideas and almost everything they say against this President.  Predicting the President is going to dunk on the GOP tonight and win the end game!  Will be sitting here cheering the President on and booing the GOP if they decide to be rude.   Once a sports fan always a sports fan.

Why the GOP is in Trouble for 2014/2016

Today at The Daily Beast, Michael Tomasky, has an excellent article asking how bad the GOP needs Chris Christie.  As I read the article, I was nodding my head in agreement.  Then I got to the part I fully agree with on how the establishment GOP has allowed the nutcase hard right (my words) take over the GOP and are afraid to say much for fear of a split of the Party and they will be wandering the political wilderness for years.

What the Republican Party Establishment has done in playing to the hard right was to toss more centrist people like me under the bus.  They refused to listen to us in 2010 that the Tea Party was bad for the GOP as they were from the hard right, the John Birchers, militia, anti-immigration, and in fact pretty racists at least from what I saw around me.  Instead of listening, they embraced the hard right and their earth is 7,500 year old, creationism theories along with demanding that public schools teach the Bible but they didn't stop there.  In short order they started condemning public schools where all of my three children received an outstanding education in various states except for Massachusetts and Ohio.  Didn't make sense until all of a sudden the Charter school movement took off and realized it was run by big GOP donors in places I knew so I assume it is all over.

You could say that 2010 stands out as the year the lunatic, my way or no way fringe was elected to the Halls of Congress followed by more lunatics in 2012.  Their racism and hatred for anyone who are not white knows no bounds.  The idiots at the RNC hold seminars in how to speak to people so not to irritate them.  It is not working.  As a woman, I couldn't be any more disgusted with the GOP today and their war against women.  Women of all ages deserve better then the Republican Party.  If women are staying in the GOP, then it is like a woman who is an abused spouse who cannot bring herself to leave.

Tomasky has done an outstanding job with his article about the GOP today and they need Christie as I have excerpted below:

The fact that the GOP establishment needs to come face-to-face with is that they have no one to blame for this but themselves. They’ve reached the point where they almost have to have a Northeasterner like Christie to run for president, just as they had to settle for Romney last time. They’ve let their party go so far off the deep end that practically no Republican officeholder from any other region of the country could appeal to enough moderates in enough purple and blue states to win back the territory the party ceded to the Democrats in the last two elections. 

Remember: the Republicans come into the next presidential election with 206 reliable electoral votes from states their nominees have won at least four of the last six elections. The Democrats’ corresponding number is 257 (just 13 shy of the victory threshold). These tallies leave five states on the table: Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada. And I’m not even sure if, with Clinton in the race, if the last three could even be called purple anymore. The Republicans have a lot of territory to reclaim. 

They were, and I suppose still are, hoping that Christie could win it back for two reasons. First, and more obviously, he’d give them back the White House. But second, a Christie presidential win could paper over the profound and disturbing problems with today’s GOP. This is a party deeply in need of an internal thrashing of heads to pull it out of loony-land and back toward the center. Republican grandees know this, of course, but they’d much rather not have to go through this civil war. Indeed, the war could be cleansing enough that the party splits into two. Only Christie can save them from that possibility. The party would just become whatever Christie wanted it to be, and the Big Conversations could all be shelved. 

Pretty high stakes. So the establishment isn’t going to give up on Christie easily. And of course he can enjoy the benefit in these next weeks and months of becoming a more sympathetic figure to the hard right than he’s ever been, because all he has to do to please that crowd is carry on about how the East Coast liberal media are trying to do him in. And it may just work. 

But ultimately, facts are facts. And if the facts finish him off, and the GOP is stuck with Cruz-Rubio-Paul, or even a right-wing governor like Scott Walker, the establishment will be reaping what it’s spent the Obama years sowing: a party that cares more about feeding its base’s fever-dreams than being nationally electable. And that’s where things stand, as Christie begins a term that there’s a sporting chance he may not even be able to finish.

Wouldn't take a bet on Christie finishing his term.  He reminds me of Richard Nixon only nastier. The day Christie said he wasn't a bully, almost spilled Coke on my keyboard which would have meant off to the OU IT Store to pick up another Apple keyboard.  Next time I am on Campus Corner might pick up another one as a backup just in case.

I burst out laughing at Christie because he that typical New Jersey bully.  The only thought that came in my mind was the #1 bad GOP candidate in 2010 "I am not a witch" Christine O'Donnell, GOP candidate for DE Senate, who was wearing a black dress when she said it.  She had the full support of the Tea Party and establishment GOP when she was one of the biggest loons I have seen run for office. She accused her opponent, Rep Mike Castle, in the primary of lurking behind bushes outside her apartment in order to spy on her.  Yet she won the primary, but fortunately for the Senate, she lost big in the general although she got a lot more votes then I thought as she was not fit mentally to be in the Senate.  Although looking back, she would fit in well with Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, and others who have gone over the edge.

Then the GOP had Sharron Angle opposing Harry Reid who has never been my favorite Senator as his lack of backbone always made me wonder about him.  That said I donated to his campaign because Angle was the #2 bad candidate who after winning primary forgot to campaign or debate and had a campaign manager from MO who spent more time in MO then in Nevada.  She was fully backed by the Tea Party movement.

Must not forget #3 Joe Miller of AK.  Talk about loons, he is stranger then Sarah Palin which gives you some idea how bad he would have been in the Senate.  He beat a sitting Senator Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary and then many GOP, Indy's, and Democrats encouraged Murkowski to run as a write-in candidate.  GOP laughed at her attempt but then Miller said Eskimos and other tribes who did not speak English should not be allowed to vote.  These people are native to Alaska and have been there a long longer the white man.  With Sarah Palin, the former Alaska Governor and GOP VP candidate on Miller's side, Murkowski won the write-in over Miller whose name was on the ballot.  Then the Miller camp tried to throw out ballots that didn't have her name spelled correctly but got overruled if the intent was there.  Funniest election I have seen and enjoyed watching Miller go down.

That was a sampling of 2010 hard right candidates for Senate backed by the Tea Party.  There were more but those are my Top Three looney candidates.  It only got worse in 2012 when Texas sent Ted Cruz to the Senate.  It could have been even worse but GOP candidates for Senate in MO and IN made total fools of themselves talking about rape and how a woman cannot get pregnant from rape.

Couldn't take it any more -- office holders I had considered reasonably sane people were sounding like the hard right loons so I told the GOP and their 'my way or no way' crowd to shove it and joined Republicans for Obama and then Obama campaign.  That began my donating to Democrats and working for their election.  Before leaving the GOP, I never posted on Twitter -- was a member but had maybe 20 tweets if that.  Since telling the GOP establishment and the hard right where they could go, I have over 10,000 tweets and loving every minute of leaving the GOP behind and meeting new, reasonable people on Twitter.

Started with Republicans for Obama and then Unite Blue finding a home with like minded people. Then it  expanded to others who share the same philosophy of helping others have a better life along with not telling people how to live.  I want clean air and clean water, environmental regulations enforced, racism ended, every person has a right to vote, women's rights upheld, veterans jobs bill passed along with other jobs bills, access to medical care and the list goes on.  Those are issues that today's hard right Republican Party oppose and no amount of seminars on how to talk to voters is going to change their basic beliefs as they come out almost daily attacking the President and calling him all sorts of names like school yard bullies.

GOP refuses to acknowledge that a lot of us have told them to go jump, take a hike, shove it, and some a lot worse.  I am still getting snail mail telling me to renew my 2014 membership in the RNC.  If I had received my phone calls, email, and snail mail there is no way I would have kept me on their list.

This is what is wrong today with all of their GOP bogus attacks on the President calling him all kinds of names and GOP Senators refusing to allow him to appoint people to his Administration.  Harry Reid and the Democrats ended the filibuster by the GOP minority on appointments because a President of either party that is in office has a right to their own appointees.  GOP claims to be the Party of the Constitution and the only Party that loves America but by their actions it is just opposite as pointed out by Friedman of the NY Times:

'Worthless' GOP House About to Work Even Less Days in 2013!

"You guys are worthless!"  Hecklers to GOP Press Conference, 1 October 2013

Truer words were never spoken then calling this bunch of Republican Congressional welfare and drama queens worthless!   Taking a full salary when you work less then 1/3 of the time and passing so few bills makes them the worst Congress in modern history if not all of history.

Another week has started and House Republicans are already trying to figure out how to work even less days between now and the end of the year.  They are nothing more today then Congressional welfare recipients ripping off the American taxpayers for their salaries and expenses.  They are the most incompetent and annoying in history with their lack of passing legislation.  How they can rip off the taxpayers and then go back to their districts and face them -- wait a second -- most don't hold face to face Town Halls today so they don't have to face us.   They did have to face a few people at a press conference following their shutdown of Government which is priceless:


Guess this means no Immigration Bill, no Jobs Bills, no Veterans bills, etc., as they prefer not to vote on anything.  Should be no votes, no pay!  If any of us pulled this stunt on our jobs we would be fired but then we were be fired for drinking on the job like the GOP House was doing before that Saturday night vote on the shutdown.  No wonder they were happy -- they were drunk.  When you hear reporters talking about you could smell alcohol when they walked by, then you have a major problem. IMHO if they drink on the job, they should resign immediately.  Since the current GOP House Members have the ethics of a gnat, don't expect to see that happen.

From Politicususa.org comes this gem:

Republicans are pondering canceling some of the remaining days in their session because they can’t come up with anything to do now that their efforts to defund ObamaCare, shut down the government and take us to the brink of default have failed. It’s not as if Speaker Boehner would actually allow a vote on real legislation, after all. 

Politico reported:

For the first time in months, House Republicans are facing no immediate cataclysmic deadlines, and GOP leaders are struggling to come up with an agenda to fill the 19 legislative days that are left in 2013. 

Need evidence? The House votes Monday evening and will finish its work week Wednesday. After that, the House is out of session until Nov. 12. Internally, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and senior Republicans aren’t discussing coming back early from the scheduled recess, but instead, they are wondering if they’ll cancel some of the remaining days in session.   

(snip)

This shouldn’t be a surprise. The Republican-led House has set records for working fewer days and passing the least amount of legislation. In December of 2012, we reported that even though House Republicans are going to be in session for only 126 days in 2013, they are still demanding their full $174,000 salary. 

With that salary, House Republicans have wasted taxpayer money on pretend ObamaCare repeal votes, witch hunts over scandals they made up and fed to the press with lies, they wasted 24 billion on their government shutdown, and now they’re wasting more money on glitch hunts. They are not passing any actual legislation, however, which is their actual job. 

In July, we reported that this 113th Congress was historically lazy, having passed only 16 legislative items in six months. The 112th Congress set another historic low of 23 legislative items passed by the same time of year. “They made history as the most unproductive session since the 1940s (records only go back to 1947) for passing only 220 laws. For perspective, President Harry Truman labeled his Congress the “Do-Nothing Congress” for passing just 906 laws.”  

Excerpts:  Read more at Politicususa.org

Following are more stories about the 'worthless' GOP House:

House Plans No Immigration Vote in 2013
House Republican leadership has no plans to vote on any immigration reform legislation before the end the year.  —  The House has just 19 days in session before the end of 2013, and there are a number of reasons why immigration reform is stalled this year.

GOP may vote again to delay Obamacare
The House Republican with direct oversight of Obamacare hinted that the GOP might, once again, vote to delay a critical component of the health care law. 

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) hinted Friday that the House might vote to delay the sign-up date for Obamacare. The current enrollment period lasts through March.

House leaders plot new fall GOP strategy
On Monday, House GOP chiefs of staff are meeting with leadership and the House Administration Committee on how members and staff will handle enrollment in the health care exchanges mandated under ACA. Boehner and House Republicans unsuccessfully pushed legislation that would end the government’s employer contribution to health care for lawmakers and aides. Now that they have to sign up, House Republicans face numerous questions on how to do so and who is covered. 

In the meantime, it appears that the House will — once again — vote to delay portions of Obamacare, setting up another fight with Senate Democrats and the White House.

Right flanks join to push conservative goals
Building on the foundation laid by tea party godfather Jim DeMint, the right flanks of the House and Senate have been getting together for months — or in some cases years — to design an agenda around trimming food stamp benefits, impairing Obamacare, hacking away at spending and other reliable red meat. The informal group is viewed suspiciously by establishment Republicans and those in leadership, but conservatives say there’s nothing to hide.   

“If they were secret, we wouldn’t have done it at Tortilla Coast,” said Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), referring to a meeting at the Capitol Hill eatery with Cruz and other conservatives two days before a crucial debt ceiling deadline this month. “We were very transparent that we were talking to one another.”

Senior Republican aides in both chambers — often furious with the scheming of the new brand of congressional Republicans — describe the relationship between the right flanks in the House and Senate as dictatorial. They argue Cruz and Lee come over to the lower chamber and deliver legislative marching orders that are difficult to achieve, like insisting on defunding the president’s primary legislative achievement. Democrats are quick to seize on that tension, urging that “reasonable” Republicans show some courage and stand up to the right and joking of a “Speaker Cruz” pulling the strings in the House.

Welcome to the United States Congress where many Republicans have taken their oath and tossed it out the window.  They are not for all Americans but for the Koch Bros ALEC agenda and what they are told to do by former Senator Jim DeMint who now heads Koch Bros Heritage, Freedom Works, and other organizations of the Kochs.  The hard right ideology doesn't compute with most Americans who frankly think the Tea Party is out of control with their hard right agenda who refuse to face reality while not having any common sense.  The Koch/ALEC agenda can be summed up simply with more money for the wealthy, no regulations, destroying Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid while using unlimited campaign contributions to buy more Republicans to put them in Congress.   

Have to admit that the Koch Bros bought and paid for some of the laziest members of the Republican caucus I have seen to date and they want to put more in the House and Senate.  Just say NO to the Koch Bros Tea Party and their hard right candidates in 2014! 

Republican House GOP/TP Own the Shutdown of the Government

“Speaker John Boehner won’t even let the bill get a yes-or-no vote because he doesn’t want to anger the extremists in his party,” the president said. If the speaker allows a vote, Mr. Obama added, within minutes “we can get back to the business of helping the American people.” President Obama, 10/03/2012

I am so proud of my vote for Barack Obama for President last November as I have watched him stand up to the hostage takers in the Republican Party and not budge.  This was my first vote for a Democrat for President.  Today I feel like I hit the jackpot in getting the kind of President I have wanted for years who puts the people of America first.  I have been privileged to be on conference calls with OFA and have listened to some of the most articulate and knowledgeable people I have ever heard on a conference call.  It is a 180 from previous times on conference calls with the GOP.

This just in from Politicususa.com:

An open mic and camera caught Rand Paul discussing shutdown strategy with Mitch McConnell. Paul admitted that Republicans don’t want to be there, and their only hope is to look reasonable.

(snip) 

Rand Paul admitted to the world the Republicans only hope of getting out of the government shutdown is if Democrats didn’t focus group test their talking points enough. It is nice to see Mitch McConnell confirm that there isn’t going to be a secret deal. Obama is telling Republicans privately the exact same thing that he is saying publicly. They are going to get nothing. 

However, Republicans are saying something publicly that they don’t believe privately. Publicly, the Republicans are talking tough. Privately, they are desperate for a way out of the shutdown that allows them to claim some little symbolic or token victory. 

After saying no to everything since Obama took office, Republicans aren’t going to be able to fool people into thinking that they are the party of compromise with a few well tested shutdown talking points. Paul has the mood of the country wrong. The American people want these games to stop. The Democratic message is a call for the American people to take a stand against these partisan games. Republicans don’t have a counter message to the actual mood of the country. 

Rand Paul is delusional if he thinks that Republicans are going to win this. They’ve already lost. The only things left to be determined are the size of the loss, and whether or not this will cost them control of the House in 2014. 

Rand Paul basically admitted that the Republican tough talk is empty. Paul probably thought he was being clever by speaking to McConnell in front of the camera and mic, but all he did was dig the hole a little deeper for the Republican Party.

Even now GOP are looking for words to dig them out of this hole they are in thanks to the hard right of which Rand Paul is a member.  Senate GOP wants to put pressure on the House GOP/TP, then vote unanimously in the Senate for a clean CR which the GOP Senators are refusing to do.  Backbones missing in today's Koch funded GOP.

My email today to my Congressman about this GOP/TP House Shutdown of the Government:

Tom
"Seventy-two percent of respondents overall disapprove, including 76 percent of independents and 49 percent of Republicans. Even among respondents who disapprove of the president's health care law, 59 percent disapprove of shutting down the government to force changes to it. More Americans blame Republicans for the shutdown than blame President Barack Obama and the Democrats, by a margin of 44 to 35 percent. Seventeen percent blame both parties." 

Would love to have seen the breakout of Republican women because most women I know believe there is a Republican War on Women.  You are the ONLY member of the OK delegation who voted for the VAWA so it shows you are not afraid to break ranks. 

The very fact that Boehner won't bring the clean CR to the floor for a vote to end the shutdown makes zero sense to the people who I know who have been around politics.  It also makes no sense that the GOP is lying when they say only 30-40 are keeping this from happening.  Even with the Hastert Rule  they could not keep it from coming to the floor.  I watch the video of the Saturday night GOP Conference going out in the hall and you were all giddy knowing you were going to be on the losing end by shutting down the government unless all the drinking made you all delusional and refusing to face reality.  I didn't see one Republican face that was sad but I saw you with thumbs up and talking about a good bill. 

ACA is NOT a bill, it is a law which some Neanderthal Republicans cannot seem to get through their heads.  Because you don't like a like law, you cannot pick and choose.   

Anyone with a brain knew the GOP tactics were going to fail and polls are starting to show that.  You and your buddies are putting our Nation's economy at risk for what? Trying to hold the debt ceiling hostage on October 17 since you have held the budget hostage.

When you attached a conference committee on the budget to the clean CR, you looked like fools as you have refused 18 times to send GOP Reps to a Conference Committee on the Budget.  I hear your members talking about the Senate didn't pass a budget but they passed one in March.  American people should be asked why the GOP stalled until the end of the fiscal year when the Democrats agreed to take your numbers.  It doesn't take a genius to know you did this on purpose thinking the President would cave but he didn't because he has the support of the American people like me to stand up to hostage takers. 

Over 10,000,000 Americans hit the site for ACA which crashed the site including a lot of them from red states which is ignored.  The very idea the GOP supports uninsured going to emergency rooms for care is stupid but then your lack of caring about the poor is even worse.  Talk farm and oil subsidies and the GOP/TP House is right there voting to keep which destroying food stamps.  Now in OK if you don't have a job, are single, and cannot find work, you cannot get any food stamps.  I would rather see one instance of fraud and feed thousands then be the judge and jury to make someone go hungry.

Passing a Veterans budget bill that calls for less funding then agreed to is nothing but a PR stunt and thankfully the Democrats have woken up to how underhanded the GOP has become over the years.  GOP/TP House is not dealing with a full deck and as the hours tick by you have lost the Chamber plus 251 organizations, Wall Street, and now CEO's but somewhere missing is the Koch Brothers and their vast minions of wanting to take down the Government. 

When I heard the voices of the hard right in the media and see them on line talking about an overthrow of the President, it is scary.  We elected him -- it wasn't any fraud and it wasn't ACORN which is out of business even if some members of Congress try to defund -- it was the American people.  Now the hard right refuses to acknowledge the results of the election and acknowledge without gerrymandering this would not have happened as votes for Democrats for the House were over one million more for the Democrats.  Yet your Conference decided to play with the continuing resolution for what?  It makes no sense to go down this path against the American people.  What is there to gain?  More money from the Koch's?

You have some of the dumbest people in the House I have ever heard talk but they follow instructions well as they came to DC to shutdown Government and that is what the members of the GOP in the House have allowed to happen.  You let Freshman takeover knowing full well they were loyal to Bachmann who is one of the worst members of Congress ever and right down there with stupidity and instead of working pulling stunts like the WWII Memorial.

Stop the stunts and pass a clean CR and a clean debt ceiling.  Start helping mold the ACA instead of acting like spoiled brats who lost the game.  As one person said on Twitter maybe Notre Dame should have asked for a redo so they could add 15 points to the score after they lost (to OU). 

One group is thanking you, the fundraisers of the Democrats because the GOP/TP House has handed them a bonanza of donations from small donors who all have votes something the GOP has forgotten while going after big donors. 

Pass a clean continuing resolution and debt ceiling or that number of 72% is going to continue to climb as ordinary people (those ones that the GOP ignores today) are starting to lose money and resources they count on to live.

Regards,
Sharon

Republican big donors have shut up their checkbooks to the GOP yet the House GOP continues down this road and ignore many of the big donors who have underwritten GOP campaigns -- makes no sense:

“I have been in politics for 45 years,” said Georgette Mosbacher, a cosmetics CEO in New York whom The Washington Post once called “the eccentric grande dame of GOP fundraising.” “Every time something does not work, it has to be blamed on an entity ‘out there.’ Well, I am sorry, but the Tea Party isn’t that powerful, and anybody who stopped to think about it long enough would know that.”

House GOP/TP could end the shutdown right now by bringing to the floor and passing a CLEAN CR but Boehner refuses to do that so the shutdown continues while spin that it is the Democrats fault for negotiating wears thin.  There never should have been any negotiation on the continuing resolution. Pass a CLEAN CR -- no negotiation.

Right now, Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads over financing the federal government. Some Republicans have suggested that a broader bargain, including changes to entitlement programs, might be one path forward. But the White House has insisted that Republicans not include the debt ceiling in any negotiations. 

Nearly 190 Democrats, including all members of the party’s House leadership team, have signed a letter circulated by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont supporting a “clean” debt-ceiling extension. 

Republicans “view the health care bill as an existential threat to the country, and they are willing to use all tactics, including blowing up the economy, to get rid of Obamacare,” Mr. Welch said in an interview. “If shutdown and default become legitimate tactics, any Congress in the future could use those tactics to get their way.” 

Wall Street “should be concerned,” President Obama told CNBC on Wednesday. “When you have a situation in which a faction is willing to potentially default on U.S. government obligations, then we’re in trouble.” 

He added that it was “important” for Wall Street “to recognize that this is going to have a profound impact on our economy and their bottom lines, their employees and their shareholders.”

After the meeting late yesterday at the White House, it is obvious that the Republicans are not budging from their hard right stance in shutting down the Government.  We were warned when the GOP came to Congress they wanted to shut down the Government.  What did the House GOP leadership do, bow down to the new Tea Party Representatives and put them on leadership and major committees.  They are now reaping the results of the stupid move and because of their lack of backbones, they have shutdown the government costing 800,000+ their jobs and income.  

WASHINGTON — An impassioned President Obama on Thursday kept up the pressure on House Republicans to end the three-day-old government shutdown, appearing at a small construction company outside the capital to challenge Speaker John A. Boehner to quit blocking a vote on federal spending. 

“This isn’t happening because of some financial crisis. It’s happening because of a reckless Republican shutdown in Washington,” he said, to cheers and calls of “That’s right!” from the assembled construction workers at M. Luis Construction, a company formed by Portuguese immigrants in Rockville, Md., a suburb north of Washington. 

“Remember, it was just five years ago that our economy was in a free fall,” Mr. Obama said, speaking on the fifth anniversary of Congress’s vote to bail out the nearly collapsed financial system. Since then, he said, businesses have added more than 7.5 million jobs, an improving housing market has helped construction companies recover, and auto sales have continued to grow. “We can’t afford to threaten that progress right now.” 

Mr. Obama’s appearance came just after the Treasury Department released a report arguing that a default could provoke a recession “comparable to or worse” than the one deepened by the financial crisis of 2008, which was the worst since the Depression.
Besides the well-publicized disruption of the shutdown for tourists, veterans, older people and children in Head Start, Mr. Obama added, “Companies like this one worry that their businesses are going to be disrupted.” The federal government provides $1 billion a month in loans to small businesses that now cannot be processed, he said.

Time for the Republican Party to stop all the hate rhetoric as anything that goes down is not going to be good if the chatter on line is any indication.

Are Tea Party Anarchists Pulling the Strings of the House GOP Leadership on the Budget Continuing Resolution?

"We're now waiting to see what the House of Representatives is going to do, how absurd it's going to be, what they're going to send us," Reid said Wednesday. "We know it's going to be something really strange and weird because the speaker has to do everything he can to mold a piece of legislation that will meet the needs of the tea party -- the anarchists -- and I say that without any equivocation. They do not want government to work on any level."  Majority Leader Reid

After coming down off the ceiling most of the morning, I went to lunch and then did a few errands only to come home to this nonsense from the Republicans in the House.   Senate Majority Reid is right that some of these people are anarchists:

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed Wednesday to push ahead with a bill to defund Obamacare or shut down the government -- an effort that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) panned as an "absurd" ploy inspired by tea party "anarchists." 

With Congress facing a Sept. 30 deadline to figure out how to keep paying for the federal government, Boehner said in a Capitol Hill news conference that defunding President Barack Obama's health care reform was a key part of that effort. 

"We're going to continue to do everything we can to repeal the president's failed health care law," Boehner said. "This week, the House will pass the CR [continuing resolution] that locks the sequester savings in and defunds Obamacare." 

Many mainstream Republicans have repeatedly slammed such an approach as "stupid," and Boehner himself has tried to avoid linking Obamacare to a potential government shutdown. But after a summer break in which tea party leaders toured the country pushing for the defunding bid -- and Boehner failed to find a compromise -- the Republican House leader has decided to push ahead. 

"We've got a lot of divergent opinions in the caucus," Boehner acknowledged, but suggested that tea party demands were still leading the way. "I was here in the Gingrich era. He had a little plaque that was in his office. It's a management model: 'Listen, learn, help and lead.' We listened to our colleagues over the last week. We have a plan that they're happy with. We're going forward." 

But Obama is expected to veto any bill that defunds his signature domestic accomplishment, and Reid has insisted such a measure would not pass the Senate, guaranteeing an upcoming government shutdown. 

Reid hammered those Republicans insisting on such a path, suggesting they would like a government shutdown.   Excerpted:  Read More a Huffington Post

Boehner wouldn't know what it is like to lead as he has been led around by the Tea Party since they hit Congress in 2010.  What a joke for a speaker.  Will no one look into to how Boehner went from being middle class to millionaire in Congress or his investment in the Keystone Pipeline?  Why does this all stay buried from the MSM that the GOP loved to hate which seems to be in their back pocket today.

We may have the answer to the media.  If you listen to some of the media like Chuck Todd at MSNBC, you find out has determined it is not his responsibility to point out the Republican lies when reporting.

MSNBC host Chuck Todd said Wednesday that when it comes to misinformation about the new federal health care law, don't expect members of the media to correct the record. 

During a segment on "Morning Joe," former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) speculated that most opponents of the Affordable Care Act have been fed erroneous information about the law. Todd said that Republicans "have successfully messaged against it" but he disagrees with those who argue that the media should educate the public on the law. According to Todd, that's President Barack Obama's job. 

"But more importantly, it would be stuff that Republicans have successfully messaged against it," Todd told Rendell. "They don't repeat the other stuff because they haven't even heard the Democratic message. What I always love is people say, 'Well, it's you folks' fault in the media.' No, it's the President of the United States' fault for not selling it."

Already been disgusted by lack of ethics in our media in Oklahoma over an SI story about corruption at Oklahoma State University where the local media mantra was to take aim at the authors of the story not researching for facts.  Todd is no different -- not his job to find facts.  Todd needs fired at MSNBC but then there probably be another unethical person to take his place.  Once Congress is cleaned out, then time the media got cleaned out.  How do you do that?  Quit talking to them so they have no stories and tell their bosses until you get honest reporters my door is closed.


Boehner is going to save us all by taking away our health care?   The word that comes to mind starts a 'b' and ends with 'd' because that is exactly how I feel about the man today.  I apologize for putting this video on the site but you have to see just how bad the Republicans have become so they can be voted out of Congress.  Jason Easley of Politicususa has the full story today:

In a speakership that has been full of blunders, this one takes the cake. At a press conference today, Speaker John Boehner promised to protect America’s families by denying them healthcare.   

Video:

At a press conference today, Boehner said, “We’re going to continue to do everything we can to repeal the president’s failed health care law. This week, the House will pass a CR that locks the sequester savings in, and defunds ObamaCare. The president has signed seven bills over the last two and a half years to make changes to ObamaCare, and I sincerely hope our friends in the Senate have plans to make this an eighth time. The law is a train wreck. The president has protected American big business, it’s time to protect American families from this unworkable law.” 

John Boehner is currently under federal investigation for taking illegal campaign contributions from corporations in 2012, but he is trying to convince the American people that he is fighting for them. More odious than Boehner’s claims of middle class hero are the tactics that he is using to “protect America’s families.” Speaker Boehner is fighting tooth and nail so that the American people never have to know the horror of being able to go to the doctor. Boehner is battling hard so that the American people never have to fear the trauma of not being buried in a lifetime of medical debt. 

(snip) 

In case you didn’t understand what the Speaker was really saying today, John Boehner went on the record as promising to takeaway healthcare to millions of uninsured Americans. He is also promising to deny people with preexisting conditions coverage, and to put the insurance companies back in charge of your medical decisions. 

John Boehner’s leadership of the House majority has been a historic disaster, but vowing to take away the healthcare of the American people might be the biggest and final mistake of his tenure as speaker.   

Excerpted:  Read the Full Story at Politicususa

How can people support Republicans?  Having been one for years, I quit supporting them when I found out they were lying about President Obama and a lot of other things.  The Tea Party in 2010 did me in completely and now there is no way I would ever vote for any Republican including my Congressman who doesn't have the backbone to stand up to them and tell them they are dead wrong and quit this nonsense.

Do you know how bad it is going to be with a Government shutdown?  Going to be horrible as programs get shut down one by one from DoD to food inspection to safety for employees to clean water, worker's salaries, etc. as the list is endless.   First hit should be checks to members of Congress and their staffs - they don't deserve to get paid anyway as few of days as they have worked.  The very idea they are voting this week to defund Obamacare as part of a continuing resolution and taking off next week is totally irresponsible and they should be booted from the halls of Congress.

That doesn't even including the anarchy they are supporting.  As mad as I was at Democrats over the years, it does not come close to the anger I feel at today's Republicans who are right there with the scum of the earth with their lack of empathy for the American people.  These House Republicans don't deserve to be called Congressman because they have broken their oath they took as they turned their back on all but the wealthy donors:

The oath used today has not changed since 1966 and is prescribed in Title 5, Section 3331 of the United States Code. It reads: “I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” In contrast to the presidential oath, where it’s used only by tradition, the phrase “so help me God” has been part of the official oath of office for non-presidential offices since 1862. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” — U.S. Constitution, Article VI, clause 3

Unfortunately some of the enemies of the United States sit in the House of Representatives with their obstructionists and failure to do their job according to the Constitution:

“All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 7, clause 1 

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 9, clause 7

Republican leadership has refused to send representatives to a Conference Committee on the Budget to reconcile differences with the Senate budget passed in the spring.  For a few years the House ranted and raved the Senate did not pass a budget.  Now that the Senate passed a budget on time, the House refuses to negotiate which means they are refusing to do their Constitutional duty and should be recalled by their States which is not going to happen but should IMHO.

Vote these 'Tea Party clowns' out of office ASAP.  BTW, the word 'clowns' is what Senator Graham used about their bonehead moves on the continuing resolution containing defunding of Obamacare.  Most of Obamacare is not discretionary spending which is the only spending they are talking about in the budget.  Obamacare, Social Security, and other things are mandatory spending not subject to the whims of the 'Tea Party clowns.'

This whole debacle by Republicans shows they cannot govern because they are beholden to wealthy donors who pull their strings.