The virulently-- and historically-- anti-democracy Koch family usually gets blamed for the financial elite's move against the democratic form of government they and other obscenely rich conservatives have always despised and feared. The move to get rid of democracy once and for all is really rolling now and it goes way beyond just the Kochs.
Organized crime figure and reputed operative for the governments of both China and Israel, Sheldon Adelson and his Israeli wife, are now the biggest contributors to the Republican Party, to the campaign to elect Mitt Romney and to both Eric Cantor and John Boehner. Adelson, under investigation for a myriad of serious national security violations as well as for corruption at home and abroad, has given Boehner and Cantor $5,000,000 each, an unprecedented amount of money for congressional efforts in the history of America, a bribe made possible by the 5 anti-democratic corporate whores on the Supreme Court-- Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito.
A lot of the unregulated cash flowing into the Romney efforts go to the Restore Our Future superPAC, which, appears to be 100% coordinated with the Romney's campaign, which is patently illegal.
Many of the biggest donors are shadowy figure who have become commonly known now. Each of these has given at least a million dollars to Restore Our Future.
• Miriam Adelson Sheldon's Israeli wife, a drug addiction specialist, known for pushing methadone treatment, which just switches the drug addicted to. Donation: $5 million
• Bob Perry- Houston home builder and the original financier of the swiftboat liars and scum. Total donations: $6 million
• F8 LLC and Eli Publishing- Very shady Provo-based firms that share an address and are eager to finance a Mormon take over of America. Both have been linked to former executives of Nu Skin, a Utah-based skin care and cosmetics company. Total donations: $2 million
• Oxbow Carbon & Minerals- a West Palm Beach-based firm run by Bill Koch, third of the notorious Koch brothers. Total Oxbow Carbon and Koch donations: $2 million
• Julian Robertson- Predatory hedge fund manipulator and major credit default swap crook. Total donations: $1.3 million
• Frank VanderSloot- Obsessed with hatred of gay people, an Idaho pyramid scheme crook and Mormon supremacist who runs fake nutritional and makeup company, Melaleuca. Total donations: $1.1 million
• Kenneth Griffin- Chicago-based hedge fund manager and CEO of Citadel LLC. Total donations: $1.1 million
• Huron Carbon- another shady shell company that shares its address in Florida with Oxbow Carbon. Donation: $1 million
• Crow Holdings- Dallas-based investment firm managing the wealth of the family of the late Dallas real estate mogul Trammell Crow, whose sons Harlan and Trammell S. Crow are also donors. Total Crow Holdings and Crow donations: $1.3 million
• John Paulson- another sleazy hedge fund manager who, like so many Romney top financial supporters, became fabulously wealthy by short-selling subprime mortgages and tanking the American economy for their own private gain. None have ever gone to trial, I feel one of one of the Obama administration's greatest shortcomings. Donation: $1 million
• John Kleinheinz- Texas hedge fund manager and criminal thug. Donation: $1 million
• Edward Conard- Another Bain Capital vulture who headed the Wall Street operation for the Boston based Romney corporate raisers and outsourcers Donation: $1 million
• Paul and Sandra Edgerly- Paul Edgerly is another Bain Capital predator who got rich destroying businesses across America. Total donations: $1 million
• Robert Mercer- Far right hedge fund manager at Renaissance Technologies. Donation: $1 million
• Paul Singer- Another corrupt hedge fund manager (Elliott Management) and swiftboat financier who buys distressed debt cheaply and sells it at a profit, often by suing for full payment. Donation: $1 million
• Rooney Holdings Inc (AKA- Rooney Brothers)- private investment operation and owner of Manhattan Construction, which builds large projects at taxpayer expense, bilking everyone along the way of all the money they can. Total donations: $1 million
• Richard Marriott- Key member of the Mormon Mafia. Total donations: $1 million
• J.W. Marriott Jr.- Another Key member of the Mormon Mafia. Total donations: $1 million
• Steven Webster- Predatory leveraged buyout specialist at Avista Capital in Houston. Total donations: $1 million
• John Childs- Another predatory leveraged buyout specialist, founder of J.W. Childs Associates LP in Florida. Donation: $1 million
• Robert Brockman- CEO at Reynolds and Reynolds, a Dayton, Ohio-based car dealership support company that shares a P.O. Box with CRC Information Systems Inc, Fairbanks Properties LLC and Waterbury Properties LLC, which split the donation three ways. Total donations: $1 million
• Miguel Fernandez- chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm. MBF Family Investments also donated to the Super PAC. Total donations: $1 million
On top of that, of course, is American Crossroads, the swiftboating operation being run against Democrats by Rove. As of the end of June they had raised over $40 million. Their million dollar and above donors include:
• Harold Simmons- billionaire Dallas bankster and father of the leveraged buy-out scheme who operates on the premise that the rich shouldn't pay taxes; currently owner and CEO of Contran Corp. Total donations: $11 million
• Bob Perry- (See above) Total donations: $4.5 million
• Joe Craft- Billionaire coal executive from Tulsa, Oklahoma, CEO of Alliance Holdings, which is also a donor. Total donations: $2.1 million
• Contran Corp- Simmons' Dallas-based maker of titanium components. Total donations: $2 million
• Jerry Perenchio Living Trust- a trust of billionaire television tycoon A. Jerrold Perenchio, who is a former chairman of Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. Donation: $2 million
• Crow Holdings - Dallas-based real estate investment firm. Total donations: $1.5 million
• Robert Rowling- an Irving, Texas, businessman and a conservative and active Republican donor. Donation: $1 million
• TRT Holdings, Inc- Anti-gay fanatic Robert Rowling's company which runs the Omni Hotel and Gold's Gyms chains. Total donation to Rove's operations: over $6 million
• Robert Brockman- (See above) Total donations: $1 million
• Whiteco Industries- Indiana-based company involved in advertising, construction entertainment and hotels. Donation: $1 million
• Philip Geier- Propaganda expert. Total donations: $1 million
• Irving Moskowitz- Like Adelson, a shady gambling magnate and Florida bingo executive who supports Israeli's taking over Palestinian land in East Jerusalem Donation: $1 million
• Kenneth Griffin- (see above) Total donations: $1 million
What do these billionaires want for their money? What kind of returns are they expecting?
Monday, July 23, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Republicans tell American workers to fuck off!
Debbie Stabenow's S. 3364, the Brings Jobs Home Act, is a pretty simple bill and a bipartisan majority of the Senate supports it. But Mitch "I am a corporate whore" McConnell, in a desperate attempt to not embarrass Mitt Romney', with his long record at Bain of outsourcing and offshoring American jobs as part of his company's very profitable business model, is big shock... filibustering the bill and keeping it from being voted on.
This week, Harry Reid tried once again to bring the bill up for a vote and his attempt failed, 56 voting in favor (every single Democrat plus 4 Republicans) and 42 conservatives voting NO.
Remember when a majority vote was all that was needed to pass legislation? Oh yeah! That ended the day Democrats took the majority.
This bill is probably one of the least contentious pieces of legislation for American voters and support is practically universal:
Bring Jobs Home Act-- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and (2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. Requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.
This week, Harry Reid tried once again to bring the bill up for a vote and his attempt failed, 56 voting in favor (every single Democrat plus 4 Republicans) and 42 conservatives voting NO.
Remember when a majority vote was all that was needed to pass legislation? Oh yeah! That ended the day Democrats took the majority.
This bill is probably one of the least contentious pieces of legislation for American voters and support is practically universal:
Bring Jobs Home Act-- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and (2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. Requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.
Is it time for an adult conversation about gun control?
On May 30, 2012 a gunman walked into Café Racer in Denver Colorado and killed four people.
On January 17, 1989, a gunman in Stockton, California walked onto a playground and opened fire, killing 5 children and injuring 30 more.
On July 1, 1993, a gunman in San Francisco walked into a law office and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 6.
On April 20, 1999, two gunmen in Columbine, Colorado walked into their high school and opened fire, killing 13 people and injuring 21 others.
On January 16, 2002, a gunman in Virginia walked into a law school and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 3.
On July 8, 2003, a gunman in Mississippi walked into a factory and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 8.
On March 21, 2005, a gunman in Minnesota walked into a high school and opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 5.
On November 20, 2005, a gunman in Tacoma walked into the mall and opened fire, injuring 6.
On March 25, 2006, a gunman in Seattle walked into a party and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 2.
On February 12, 2007, a gunman in Utah walked into a mall and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 4.
On April 16, 2007, a gunman in Virginia walked onto the Virginia Tech campus and opened fire, killing 32 people and wounding 17 others.
On December 5, 2007, a gunman in Nebraska walked into a mall and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 4.
On December 9, 2007, a gunman in Colorado Springs walked onto a church parking lot and opened fire, killing 2 and wounding 3.
On February 7, 2008, a gunman in Missouri walked into a city council meeting and opened fire, killing 5 and wounding 2.
On February 14, 2008, a gunman in Illinois walked onto a college campus and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 17.
On June 25, 2008, a gunman in Kentucky walked into a factory and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 1.
On January 24, 2009, a gunman in Portland walked up to a nightclub and opened fire, killing 2 and injuring 7.
On March 29, 2009, a gunman in North Carolina walked into a retirement home and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 2.
On August 4, 2009, a gunman in a suburb of Pittsburgh walked into a fitness club and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 9.
On November 5, 2009, a gunman at Fort Hood in Texas walked into a medical center and opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 29.
On November 29, 2009, a gunman in Lakewood, Washington walked into a coffee shop and killed 4 police officers.
On January 7, 2010, a gunman in St Louis walked into a power plant and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 6.
On January 12, 2010, a gunman in Georgia walked into a truck rental place and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 2.
On February 12, 2010, a gunwoman in Alabama stood up in a college faculty meeting and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 3.
On August 3, 2010, a gunman in Connecticut walked into a warehouse and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 2.
On August 7, 2011, a gunman in Ohio broke into his girlfriend’s house and opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 1.
On September 6, 2011, a gunman in Nevada walked into a pancake restaurant and opened fire, killing 4 and injuring 7.
On October 5, 2011, a gunman in Cupertino, California walked into a quarry where people were working and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 7.
There are more....Many more. Yet only one of these was called terrorism. Guess why?
On January 17, 1989, a gunman in Stockton, California walked onto a playground and opened fire, killing 5 children and injuring 30 more.
On July 1, 1993, a gunman in San Francisco walked into a law office and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 6.
On April 20, 1999, two gunmen in Columbine, Colorado walked into their high school and opened fire, killing 13 people and injuring 21 others.
On January 16, 2002, a gunman in Virginia walked into a law school and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 3.
On July 8, 2003, a gunman in Mississippi walked into a factory and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 8.
On March 21, 2005, a gunman in Minnesota walked into a high school and opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 5.
On November 20, 2005, a gunman in Tacoma walked into the mall and opened fire, injuring 6.
On March 25, 2006, a gunman in Seattle walked into a party and opened fire, killing 6 and injuring 2.
On February 12, 2007, a gunman in Utah walked into a mall and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 4.
On April 16, 2007, a gunman in Virginia walked onto the Virginia Tech campus and opened fire, killing 32 people and wounding 17 others.
On December 5, 2007, a gunman in Nebraska walked into a mall and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 4.
On December 9, 2007, a gunman in Colorado Springs walked onto a church parking lot and opened fire, killing 2 and wounding 3.
On February 7, 2008, a gunman in Missouri walked into a city council meeting and opened fire, killing 5 and wounding 2.
On February 14, 2008, a gunman in Illinois walked onto a college campus and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 17.
On June 25, 2008, a gunman in Kentucky walked into a factory and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 1.
On January 24, 2009, a gunman in Portland walked up to a nightclub and opened fire, killing 2 and injuring 7.
On March 29, 2009, a gunman in North Carolina walked into a retirement home and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 2.
On August 4, 2009, a gunman in a suburb of Pittsburgh walked into a fitness club and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 9.
On November 5, 2009, a gunman at Fort Hood in Texas walked into a medical center and opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 29.
On November 29, 2009, a gunman in Lakewood, Washington walked into a coffee shop and killed 4 police officers.
On January 7, 2010, a gunman in St Louis walked into a power plant and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 6.
On January 12, 2010, a gunman in Georgia walked into a truck rental place and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 2.
On February 12, 2010, a gunwoman in Alabama stood up in a college faculty meeting and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 3.
On August 3, 2010, a gunman in Connecticut walked into a warehouse and opened fire, killing 8 and injuring 2.
On August 7, 2011, a gunman in Ohio broke into his girlfriend’s house and opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 1.
On September 6, 2011, a gunman in Nevada walked into a pancake restaurant and opened fire, killing 4 and injuring 7.
On October 5, 2011, a gunman in Cupertino, California walked into a quarry where people were working and opened fire, killing 3 and injuring 7.
There are more....Many more. Yet only one of these was called terrorism. Guess why?
Friday, July 20, 2012
Xenophobia rules the conservative mindset.
It was nice that McCain had the guts to stand up to the Islamophobic sociopaths in his own party-- and lucky for her and the country that he knows Huma Abedin, who is married to former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who is Jewish, personally. Nice to see some sanity, even if McCain has problems with reality at times.
But where's the GOP's presumptive leader on this. Have you heard a peep from Mitt Romney?
Of course not.
Mitt Romney has never bothered to take on the radical freaks like Gohmert and Bachmann and the rest. Right now they're beating him into the ground about his desire to not give Sarah Palin a prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. They'll win-- just the way virulent homophobe and Christian impersonator Bryan Fischer forced Romney to fire his one gay staffer.
Romney is a classic coward-- fine to lead a bunch of teenagers terrorizing a younger student then hold him down and cut his hair, but standing up to bigger boys?
Mitt Romney? When a woman at a rally called the president a "Monster", he responded weakly "That is not a term I would use"....Way to take a stand Willy.
He's the most dangerous kind of cowardly bully we could ever dream of giving elected office.
Even John Boehner spoke up tepidly in defense of Huma, chastising Bachmann and reminding decent Americans of all stripes that Bachmann's baseless hate-fueled accusations were "pretty dangerous." . Future Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on he other hand, praised McCain for “his powerful rejection of these baseless accusations.
The 5 Congresspeople, vying for the title, "Dumbest in Congress", Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Tom Rooney (R-FL) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Ms. Bachmann (R-MN), are in the midst of a shared paranoid delusion that Muslim terrorists have infiltrated our government...The logical twists and turns needed to attach Huma to the Muslim Brotherhood is convoluted, and circumstantial at best.
Ms. Bachmann's attachment to terror groups is far less convoluted.
HSBC Holdings, accused in a Senate report this week of exposing the U.S. financial system to illegal funds from Saudi Arabian terrorists, Mexican drug cartels and rogue regimes in North Korea and Cuba, is a major donor of Ms. Bachmann's.
A paranoid individual might suggest that she implicated Huma and others in order to divert attention from her connections to terrorism and drug trafficking. But that would be wild speculation and merely guilt by association, and who would do that?
But where's the GOP's presumptive leader on this. Have you heard a peep from Mitt Romney?
Of course not.
Mitt Romney has never bothered to take on the radical freaks like Gohmert and Bachmann and the rest. Right now they're beating him into the ground about his desire to not give Sarah Palin a prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. They'll win-- just the way virulent homophobe and Christian impersonator Bryan Fischer forced Romney to fire his one gay staffer.
Romney is a classic coward-- fine to lead a bunch of teenagers terrorizing a younger student then hold him down and cut his hair, but standing up to bigger boys?
Mitt Romney? When a woman at a rally called the president a "Monster", he responded weakly "That is not a term I would use"....Way to take a stand Willy.
He's the most dangerous kind of cowardly bully we could ever dream of giving elected office.
Even John Boehner spoke up tepidly in defense of Huma, chastising Bachmann and reminding decent Americans of all stripes that Bachmann's baseless hate-fueled accusations were "pretty dangerous." . Future Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on he other hand, praised McCain for “his powerful rejection of these baseless accusations.
The 5 Congresspeople, vying for the title, "Dumbest in Congress", Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Tom Rooney (R-FL) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Ms. Bachmann (R-MN), are in the midst of a shared paranoid delusion that Muslim terrorists have infiltrated our government...The logical twists and turns needed to attach Huma to the Muslim Brotherhood is convoluted, and circumstantial at best.
Ms. Bachmann's attachment to terror groups is far less convoluted.
HSBC Holdings, accused in a Senate report this week of exposing the U.S. financial system to illegal funds from Saudi Arabian terrorists, Mexican drug cartels and rogue regimes in North Korea and Cuba, is a major donor of Ms. Bachmann's.
A paranoid individual might suggest that she implicated Huma and others in order to divert attention from her connections to terrorism and drug trafficking. But that would be wild speculation and merely guilt by association, and who would do that?
Friday, July 13, 2012
Bribing Members of Congress is a cost of doing business for Big Pharma. Lobbying and bribing congressman (which in reality is just giving them their cut of the profits of what they rip off from American consumers) is nothing compared to what they spend on advertising. As for who to bribe... they have it down pat. Here are the Big Seven for the 2012 electoral cycle:
Cantor, Boehner and McCarthy control the House agenda, so they automatically get their cuts. Fred Upton is the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Pitts chairs that Committee's subcommittee on Health and Eshoo is one of the senior Democrats on the Committee. And Dave Camp is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and chairs the Joint Committee on Taxation. For a few paltry bucks to a handful of greedy corrupt Members of Congress, Big Pharma gets to charge American consumers 400% more than people anywhere else for the same drugs. What could be better?
Dr. Syed Taj is the Democrat running for the now empty Thaddeus McCotter seat in the Detroit suburbs. He thinks John Aravosis hit the nail right on the head...
http://www.americablog.com/2012/07/i-just-paid-111-in-paris-for-drugs-that.html
"Much more than just dollars and cents are at stake in the health care and pharmaceutical industries. When insurance companies raise rates or deny coverage to increase profits, or when pharmaceutical companies increase costs because the demand will be met regardless, the wellbeing and general health of millions of people are affected. When middle-class Americans are forced to pay upwards of $8,000 a month for cancer treatment medication, it’s obvious our priorities are not in the right place.
It’s been shown that drug companies price discriminate-– they sell drugs in Canada and elsewhere for less because they know they can still hike prices in the United States. This is proof that a laissez faire pharmaceutical market does not work; the
greater the profits for drug companies, the sicker and poorer people become."
Cantor, Boehner and McCarthy control the House agenda, so they automatically get their cuts. Fred Upton is the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Pitts chairs that Committee's subcommittee on Health and Eshoo is one of the senior Democrats on the Committee. And Dave Camp is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and chairs the Joint Committee on Taxation. For a few paltry bucks to a handful of greedy corrupt Members of Congress, Big Pharma gets to charge American consumers 400% more than people anywhere else for the same drugs. What could be better?
Dr. Syed Taj is the Democrat running for the now empty Thaddeus McCotter seat in the Detroit suburbs. He thinks John Aravosis hit the nail right on the head...
http://www.americablog.com/2012/07/i-just-paid-111-in-paris-for-drugs-that.html
"Much more than just dollars and cents are at stake in the health care and pharmaceutical industries. When insurance companies raise rates or deny coverage to increase profits, or when pharmaceutical companies increase costs because the demand will be met regardless, the wellbeing and general health of millions of people are affected. When middle-class Americans are forced to pay upwards of $8,000 a month for cancer treatment medication, it’s obvious our priorities are not in the right place.
It’s been shown that drug companies price discriminate-– they sell drugs in Canada and elsewhere for less because they know they can still hike prices in the United States. This is proof that a laissez faire pharmaceutical market does not work; the
greater the profits for drug companies, the sicker and poorer people become."
Friday, July 6, 2012
What the fuck is wrong with Texas Republicans?
Seriously, they are the single most backwards thinking people outside of Mississippi republicans.... It seems that they want to abolish critical thinking, because that might harm children's "Fixed beliefs"..You know, superstitions and racism....
In a document that outlines their platform, it becomes frighteningly clear:
The Republicans it seems are against government interference and demanding strict adherence to the original intent of both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. They then proceed immediately to the sanctity of a fertilized egg and the end of a woman's right to privacy regarding her reproductive health. They acrobatically flip between a fierce belief in the freedom of choice and demanding limits on that freedom. They have decided to tell Texans, exactly what constitutes a family. Families must consist of the marriage of a "natural" man and a "natural" woman.
Period.
Lest we think that the "un-naturals" have any legitimate rights or choices. Number 11 on the rambling preamble list makes no sense, but gives an insight to the dominionist ideology presented here:
11) "The laws of nature and nature's God" as our Founding Father's Believed.
They are also screeching for more border security, and against Washington D.C. becoming a state. In no particular order they are also against:
Executive Orders
Affirmative Action
The Voter Rights Act
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Campaign Finance Reform
And a host of other things including flag desecration. Flag desecration it seems is far more important to Texas Republicans than education, because education is mentioned four pages later. After a few more demands such as the return of plaques honoring the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund, they get down to the telling their constituents what constitutes a family.
The next four pages go into fine detail just exactly what a family is and is not. According to the Republicans a family consists of those related by blood, heterosexual marriage or adoption. That's it.
Domestic Partnerships do not count! Gay or straight, kids or no kids, you are not and can not be considered a family.
Period.
On the subject of gays they let their bigot flags fly!: " Homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family."
Not only can gays never be a family or have a family other than the one they were born into, they are said to be directly responsible for tearing families apart...Based on I am sure "Biblical facts".....
From here they go into insane ramblings around all things "life" related for three pages and it is a tough read to be sure. They want to repeal Roe v. Wade, ban stem cell research and go on a tear against Title X, Public Health Services and Medicaid.
I was already deciding that these were the most corrupt, bigoted moronic folks to ever walk the Earth when suddenly, there it was... a statement repudiating "Human Trafficking." OK, we can agree on that. The practice of selling young usually poor, usually minority girls into prostitution must absolutely be abolished.
Next he Texas Republicans address the matter of health care by promoting self-sufficiency in all things. This sounds good on paper and would be quite noble if it was even possible. Of course this asinine mentality has resulted in Texas leading the way, "NUMBER 1!! in uninsured children and adults and last in everything else.
50 out of 50...Not exactly a "Great State"....
As for their ideas about education, they start of...START OFF! Demanding that students should pledge allegiance to the American and Texas flags. They want career and technology programs, corporal punishment and equal treatment of "all" sides of scientific theories around things like life origins and environmental change; you know, the science side and the religious or the current corporate side.
I get it, calling for measures that will indoctrinate children with their preferred religious and social values. No surprise there, but the next two points of the Republican agenda are mind boggling... Really pull down your pants and slide on the ice kind of mind boggling . As in put down your beverage or you might do a "spit-take", loony tunes!
This is a direct quote from their PDF, because you have to read it to fucking believe it.
"We believe that parents are best suited to train their children in their early development and oppose mandatory pre-school and kindergarten. We urge Congress to repeal government sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development. "
And the second point will cause any reasonable thinking person to just stroke out:
"We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."
For fuck sake!!! Isn't that the entire POINT OF AN EDUCATION?
Again, this is Texas....Where they rewrote their history textbooks to more coincide with current conservative Christian ideology, as opposed to historical facts...But this is the Religious Reich's real goal, a nation of indoctrinated Christian simpletons who believe that the Founders were all Evangelical Christian Ministers, and Free Market, Prosperity Gospel, Capitalists.
Thank you Mr. Reagan for bringing these dingbats into government, and blurring the lines between Church and State, you and your followers and their Randian bullshit set this country into a flaming death spiral, and lowered the bar enough so that a man, who had no real talents other than baseball and stubbornness to rise to the highest office in America.
He was a Texan...Go figure.
In a document that outlines their platform, it becomes frighteningly clear:
The Republicans it seems are against government interference and demanding strict adherence to the original intent of both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. They then proceed immediately to the sanctity of a fertilized egg and the end of a woman's right to privacy regarding her reproductive health. They acrobatically flip between a fierce belief in the freedom of choice and demanding limits on that freedom. They have decided to tell Texans, exactly what constitutes a family. Families must consist of the marriage of a "natural" man and a "natural" woman.
Period.
Lest we think that the "un-naturals" have any legitimate rights or choices. Number 11 on the rambling preamble list makes no sense, but gives an insight to the dominionist ideology presented here:
11) "The laws of nature and nature's God" as our Founding Father's Believed.
They are also screeching for more border security, and against Washington D.C. becoming a state. In no particular order they are also against:
Executive Orders
Affirmative Action
The Voter Rights Act
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Campaign Finance Reform
And a host of other things including flag desecration. Flag desecration it seems is far more important to Texas Republicans than education, because education is mentioned four pages later. After a few more demands such as the return of plaques honoring the Confederate Widow's Pension Fund, they get down to the telling their constituents what constitutes a family.
The next four pages go into fine detail just exactly what a family is and is not. According to the Republicans a family consists of those related by blood, heterosexual marriage or adoption. That's it.
Domestic Partnerships do not count! Gay or straight, kids or no kids, you are not and can not be considered a family.
Period.
On the subject of gays they let their bigot flags fly!: " Homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family."
Not only can gays never be a family or have a family other than the one they were born into, they are said to be directly responsible for tearing families apart...Based on I am sure "Biblical facts".....
From here they go into insane ramblings around all things "life" related for three pages and it is a tough read to be sure. They want to repeal Roe v. Wade, ban stem cell research and go on a tear against Title X, Public Health Services and Medicaid.
I was already deciding that these were the most corrupt, bigoted moronic folks to ever walk the Earth when suddenly, there it was... a statement repudiating "Human Trafficking." OK, we can agree on that. The practice of selling young usually poor, usually minority girls into prostitution must absolutely be abolished.
Next he Texas Republicans address the matter of health care by promoting self-sufficiency in all things. This sounds good on paper and would be quite noble if it was even possible. Of course this asinine mentality has resulted in Texas leading the way, "NUMBER 1!! in uninsured children and adults and last in everything else.
50 out of 50...Not exactly a "Great State"....
As for their ideas about education, they start of...START OFF! Demanding that students should pledge allegiance to the American and Texas flags. They want career and technology programs, corporal punishment and equal treatment of "all" sides of scientific theories around things like life origins and environmental change; you know, the science side and the religious or the current corporate side.
I get it, calling for measures that will indoctrinate children with their preferred religious and social values. No surprise there, but the next two points of the Republican agenda are mind boggling... Really pull down your pants and slide on the ice kind of mind boggling . As in put down your beverage or you might do a "spit-take", loony tunes!
This is a direct quote from their PDF, because you have to read it to fucking believe it.
"We believe that parents are best suited to train their children in their early development and oppose mandatory pre-school and kindergarten. We urge Congress to repeal government sponsored programs that deal with early childhood development. "
And the second point will cause any reasonable thinking person to just stroke out:
"We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student's fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."
For fuck sake!!! Isn't that the entire POINT OF AN EDUCATION?
Again, this is Texas....Where they rewrote their history textbooks to more coincide with current conservative Christian ideology, as opposed to historical facts...But this is the Religious Reich's real goal, a nation of indoctrinated Christian simpletons who believe that the Founders were all Evangelical Christian Ministers, and Free Market, Prosperity Gospel, Capitalists.
Thank you Mr. Reagan for bringing these dingbats into government, and blurring the lines between Church and State, you and your followers and their Randian bullshit set this country into a flaming death spiral, and lowered the bar enough so that a man, who had no real talents other than baseball and stubbornness to rise to the highest office in America.
He was a Texan...Go figure.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Who are the Bros. Koch? And why have they bought the Republican party?
The Koch family has always been a very foreign, profoundly anti-American operation. The family background is a collage of racism, fascism and hate. Looking at it makes clear the genesis of the current generation as the biggest threat to American democracy since the Nazis -- and for many similar-- if not identical-- reasons.
To understand why Charles and David Koch are using their billions to assault American democracy-- even teaming up with Iran (the way their father had teamed up with Stalin) to do so-- you have to look back at the history of this family.
Their Dutch-born Nazi-oriented grandfather, Harry Koch, took part in a years long right-wing propaganda campaign to shoot down New Deal programs. Grandfather and grandsons employ eerily familiar talking points to bash government pension and welfare programs... In a series of early editorials, Harry Koch scoffed at the idea that land rents should be regulated, and ridiculed the plight of heavily indebted farmers, writing that while they might find indebtedness unpleasant, a much bigger problem was their laziness and inability to take care of the farm equipment they had purchased on credit." His son, Fred, another neo-Nazi-- the father of the current generation, Charles, David and William (brother Frederick is just a normal billionaire)-- was one of the founders, and chief financier, of the John Birch Society.
The Koch father was as ruthless as his sons appear, only more likely to share his obsessive racism and anti-American rants with the general public than the current crop of pseudo respectable Kochs do today.
The Koch Father claimed that the Democratic and Republican parties were infiltrated by the Communist Party and he was a big time supporter of European fascists, like his hero Benito Mussolini. He wrote that "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," and that "Welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment a vicious race war." He may sound a lot like David Duke, but he was far more damaging and dangerous for this country than Duke and the whole KKK ever was. And now his obscenely rich sons have bought the Republican Party, bag and baggage. They own it outright, and dictate its every move through shell organizations, shadow groups, think tanks and PACs....
Groups like Americans for Prosperity, ALEC, FreedomWorks, the Tea Party, John Birch Society, the CATO Institute, the Mercatus Center, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Democracy Data & Communications, a firm specializing in helping major corporations to activate their employees politically, etc
.
Their Foundations give money to nonprofit organizations that do research and advocacy on issues that impact the profit margin of Koch Industries, the Institute for Justice, which files lawsuits opposing state and federal regulations; the Institute for Humane Studies, which underwrites libertarian academics; and the Bill of Rights Institute, which promotes a conservative slant on the Constitution, the Independent Women’s Forum, which opposes the presentation of global warming as a scientific fact in American public schools.
ALEC in case you don't know, is the Koch-funded group largely responsible for the latest round of voter ID laws which is being halted by the Justice Department for discriminating against minorities, it’s also responsible for “Stand Your Ground” laws around the country.
Just about two years ago investigative journalist Lee Fang first broke the story wide open about the nature of the relationship between the Kochs and Rep. Mike Pompeo, (R-KS). And the relationship isn't normal and isn't conducive to a democracy-- though it sure explains a lot about Pompeo's shameful behavior in Congress.
Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star published a lengthy article explaining how Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Kansas, has for years maintained a symbiotic relationship with the right-wing oil plutocrats David and Charles Koch and their conglomerate Koch Industries.
Pompeo, who actually penned an OpEd in Politico denouncing people who want to look into the Koch brothers' shady dealing and the danger they are posing to democracy and to America. Pompeo's attacks don't stop with the usual target--President Obama-- but go on to savage Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) for daring to ask the Koch brothers to send "a representative" of their business for a hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Former Rep. Dan Glickman (D-KS), who lost to Tiahrt in 1994, said that Koch Industries funneled resources-- including its employees and funds-- to oppose him. Now, with an open seat in Koch Industries’ backyard, the massive “Kochtopus” network of Koch money and front groups is working to elect a new right-wing Republican to fill the seat: Mike Pompeo. Pompeo isn’t just another Wall Street-friendly, pro-polluter GOP radical (his initial response to the BP oil disaster was to say that he “fervently” hoped the government wouldn’t “overreact”), he is essentially a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch brothers’ business empire.
To understand why Charles and David Koch are using their billions to assault American democracy-- even teaming up with Iran (the way their father had teamed up with Stalin) to do so-- you have to look back at the history of this family.
Their Dutch-born Nazi-oriented grandfather, Harry Koch, took part in a years long right-wing propaganda campaign to shoot down New Deal programs. Grandfather and grandsons employ eerily familiar talking points to bash government pension and welfare programs... In a series of early editorials, Harry Koch scoffed at the idea that land rents should be regulated, and ridiculed the plight of heavily indebted farmers, writing that while they might find indebtedness unpleasant, a much bigger problem was their laziness and inability to take care of the farm equipment they had purchased on credit." His son, Fred, another neo-Nazi-- the father of the current generation, Charles, David and William (brother Frederick is just a normal billionaire)-- was one of the founders, and chief financier, of the John Birch Society.
The Koch father was as ruthless as his sons appear, only more likely to share his obsessive racism and anti-American rants with the general public than the current crop of pseudo respectable Kochs do today.
The Koch Father claimed that the Democratic and Republican parties were infiltrated by the Communist Party and he was a big time supporter of European fascists, like his hero Benito Mussolini. He wrote that "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," and that "Welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment a vicious race war." He may sound a lot like David Duke, but he was far more damaging and dangerous for this country than Duke and the whole KKK ever was. And now his obscenely rich sons have bought the Republican Party, bag and baggage. They own it outright, and dictate its every move through shell organizations, shadow groups, think tanks and PACs....
Groups like Americans for Prosperity, ALEC, FreedomWorks, the Tea Party, John Birch Society, the CATO Institute, the Mercatus Center, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Democracy Data & Communications, a firm specializing in helping major corporations to activate their employees politically, etc
.
Their Foundations give money to nonprofit organizations that do research and advocacy on issues that impact the profit margin of Koch Industries, the Institute for Justice, which files lawsuits opposing state and federal regulations; the Institute for Humane Studies, which underwrites libertarian academics; and the Bill of Rights Institute, which promotes a conservative slant on the Constitution, the Independent Women’s Forum, which opposes the presentation of global warming as a scientific fact in American public schools.
ALEC in case you don't know, is the Koch-funded group largely responsible for the latest round of voter ID laws which is being halted by the Justice Department for discriminating against minorities, it’s also responsible for “Stand Your Ground” laws around the country.
Just about two years ago investigative journalist Lee Fang first broke the story wide open about the nature of the relationship between the Kochs and Rep. Mike Pompeo, (R-KS). And the relationship isn't normal and isn't conducive to a democracy-- though it sure explains a lot about Pompeo's shameful behavior in Congress.
Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star published a lengthy article explaining how Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Kansas, has for years maintained a symbiotic relationship with the right-wing oil plutocrats David and Charles Koch and their conglomerate Koch Industries.
Pompeo, who actually penned an OpEd in Politico denouncing people who want to look into the Koch brothers' shady dealing and the danger they are posing to democracy and to America. Pompeo's attacks don't stop with the usual target--President Obama-- but go on to savage Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) for daring to ask the Koch brothers to send "a representative" of their business for a hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Former Rep. Dan Glickman (D-KS), who lost to Tiahrt in 1994, said that Koch Industries funneled resources-- including its employees and funds-- to oppose him. Now, with an open seat in Koch Industries’ backyard, the massive “Kochtopus” network of Koch money and front groups is working to elect a new right-wing Republican to fill the seat: Mike Pompeo. Pompeo isn’t just another Wall Street-friendly, pro-polluter GOP radical (his initial response to the BP oil disaster was to say that he “fervently” hoped the government wouldn’t “overreact”), he is essentially a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch brothers’ business empire.
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