Showing posts with label ayn rand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ayn rand. Show all posts

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Virginia's Brat Stumbles On Day One

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Previous Related Posts:
Upset in Virgina as Cantor Loses to Libertarian Brat

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The main joke about the Brat Campaign on Day One was their name. I saw many variations on Twitter of "Brat Wurst/Worst" or "Worst Brat." Then there were the jokes about the literal meaning of "Brat" as a snotty-nosed kid, a description that might apply to his defeated opponent, the snarky Eric Cantor, as well as himself.









But it turns out, all silly jokes aside, the Beltway pundits were actually awestruck by Professor David Brat, the man who "Vanquished" Eric Cantor the same way Harry Potter vanquished the Dark Lord. He was some kind of superhero who had not only melted the wicked Republican warlock of Virginia but had come out of academia like Indiana Jones cracking the bullwhip.

David vs. Goliath times 1,000. ~ Chris Cuomo on CNN

But then he got his first big network interview, and this happened:



From Forbes
Chuck (Todd of MSNBC) began by tossing Professor Brat a softball, asking whether the candidate supported a federally mandated minimum wage.
Bear in mind that this is a candidate, an economics professor, who had spent the majority of the interview up the point of Todd’s question, extolling the virtues of a free market. Yet, when asked for his position on a federal minimum wage he struggled to avoid the question, obviously afraid of angering any voters who might be listening or create any news he felt could be harmful to his chances in November.
Smelling blood in Brat’s lack of a solid response, Todd pushed him for an answer, causing Mr. Brat to reply—

“I don’t have a well-crafted response to that one.”

. . . (Todd) “On a foreign policy issue, arming the Syrian rebels. Would you be in favor of that?”

. . . “Hey, Chuck, I thought we were just going to chat today about the celebratory aspects,” Brat said. “I’d love to go through all of this but my mind is just— I didn’t get much sleep last night. I love all the policy questions but I just wanted to talk about the victory ahead and I wanted to thank everybody that worked so hard on my campaign. I’m happy to take policy issues at any time, I just wanted to call out a thanks to everybody today.”

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So what we have with Brother Brat is another shining meteor like Rick Perry or Sarah Palin - flashy on the outside, but not all that deep on the inside. In fact, most voters will quickly figure out that his message is quite familiar, a carbon copy of Paul Ryan's rejected message from 2012: Money is truth and the greater good; the poor are moochers and immigrants are undesirables. Almost all government is BAD, even though he will be so proud to work in Washington and draw a paycheck and benefits for life.

And many have been quick to point out that the GOP has cast aside the only Jewish member of either the House or Senate, and a man who wasn't particularly religious, for someone who has some, uh, interesting Christian beliefs. Except I don't recall Jesus preaching much about Capitalism.

From Raw Story:
“Read Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s diagnosis of the weak modern Christian democratic man was spot on,” Brat wrote. “Jesus was a great man. Jesus said he was the Son of God. Jesus made things happen. Jesus had faith. Jesus actually made people better. Then came the Christians. What happened? What went wrong?”
“We appear to be a bit passive,” he continued. “Hitler came along, and he did not meet with unified resistance. I have the sinking feeling that it could all happen again, quite easily. The church should rise up higher than Nietzsche could see and prove him wrong.”
Brat encouraged Christians to harshly condemn their neighbors’ sins.
“We should love our neighbor so much that we actually believe in right and wrong, and do something about it,” he wrote. “If we all did the right thing and had the guts to spread the word, we would not need the government to backstop every action we take.”
. . . “I think the main point is that we need to synthesize Christianity and capitalism,” Brat concluded. “Augustine synthesized Plato and Christianity. Thomas Aquinas synthesized Aristotle and Christianity. Calvin synthesized all the rest, but capitalism was still coming. There is a book in here somewhere for the next Calvin. Go. God Bless.”



Brat is walking a tightrope like literary hypocrite Elmer Gantry - praising Jesus and Friedrich "God is Dead" Nietzsche at the same time, proving he is just another Tea Party schnook with cognitive dissonance, and probably not any nicer of a guy than Eric Cantor. And some of his campaign associates are worse, if that is possible (see quotes below). We know he is an anti-government Libertarian, but we don't know if Brat is a misogynist yet, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt (until he starts referencing rape and ladyparts). He ran against Immigration Reform, so he's obviously not too fond of the brown people. With his Biblical base he probably has a few cringeworthy things to say about The Gay.

So all we can do is watch and wait for the next shocking utterance as the new Tea Party "hero" in due time becomes the next Todd Akin or Ken Cuccinelli. Let's hope the Virginia Dems can get out the voters in November. I'm already planning a donation to Brat's opponent, Jack Trammell.



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. . . on the morning after, Brat is either the Tea Party's white knight or its motley fool – at center stage if also at the edge of the political spectrum.
But come the fall, Brat may be an historical footnote, having beaten the first sitting majority leader since the position was created in 1899, only to have gone on to lose the general election. (Which is unlikely when running against a Democratic slave-trade / disabilities / vampire scholar in one of Virginia's most conservative districts, but possible, especially given how wrong all the primary polling was, by a clean 34 points or so.) Or Brat will be one of dozens of incoming freshmen Congressmen … which is to say, an historical footnote in the making.
~ Ana Marie Cox in The Guardian



The media is making it seem like Brat was some sort of underdog, but in reality, he's strapped to the hilt with billionaire support and billionaire money.
. . . Like hundreds of other college professors across the country these days, David Brat is really just a  bought-and-paid-for shill of Charles and David Koch and their buddies.
But the connections between Brat and the dark money machine don't stop there. He was also the hand-picked candidate of the Koch-backed world of right-wing media..
Over the past few months, right-wing talkers like Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin have been pushing Brat and attacking Cantor non-stop on their radio shows. Ingraham even went so far as to say that she wished that President Obama traded Eric Cantor to the Taliban in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl.
~ Truthout and Thom Hartmann




This is being branded as a tea party victory. That's not quite accurate, and Brat addressed this last night. Not one major tea party organization came out and endorsed Brat. Supported Brat in any meaningful way. We had a difficult time getting the tea party groups and Brat connected. They bascially told him, 'you don't have a chance,' they wrote him off.
And there were a few people -- myself, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, Mickey Kaus, Breitbart News, The Daily Caller -- they were pretty much the only people covering this race. I said this yesterday on Fox & Friends. We had 625 people hanging off the balcony of Eric Cantor's own country club last Tuesday night and there was no major media there except for Breitbart News and a little reporter from the local NBC. That's it.
~ Laura Ingraham, paid shill, on Fox News

I hope it will at least shut down any more happy talk about amnesty this year. I wish it would have the effect of Republicans waking up and seeing that this is a winning issue for the Republicans.
. . . Republicans have gotta put their foot down to the Chamber of Commerce and say, ‘Look, if we bring in 30 million, 40 million illegal aliens who are going to break for the Democrats, we’re not gonna be able to give you anything else. That’s it, because it’s gonna be the end of the Republican Party in this country.
~ Pundit Ann Coulter on Fox News, via Raw Story




Stop chasing ethnic groups, stop chasing genitalia. Talk to the American people. Talk about liberty, opportunity. Explain to them that Obama’s wrong, and that we need to unleash the American people and unleash the economy.
~ Conservative Radio Host Mark Levin discussing Brat's campaign strategy with Fox's Sean Hannity




And finally, Brat may want to get a new campaign manager. The one he has is only 23 years old and had to scrub his facebook account yesterday due to so many weird posts.

Via Yahoo News
The campaign manager for the tea party-backed Republican who ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in one of the biggest upsets in congressional history is a 23-year-old class of 2013 Haverford College graduate who posted a slew of provocative opinions on a public Facebook page that was removed from view overnight following David Brat's victory.
. . . “Can someone who was outraged that George Zimmerman was found not guilty of ‘SOMETHING ANYTHING’ and who is simultaneously pro-choice explain the logical dissonance there? Ie. Why its not ok to kill someone who is banging your head into concrete but its ok to kill someone for simply existing who, through your conscious actions, you brought into the world?” Werrell had written in an Oct. 24, 2013, posting.
. . . On Oct. 29 of that year, it was a piece by Fred Reed from Lew Rockwell’s website on the wussification of boys that set him off. “There is a war on boys!” Werrell wrote. “Rough housing, playing soldier, etc, are all punished or medicated away. And we wonder why there is gender inequality in the classroom and in college/attendance/graduation rates.”
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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Upset in Virginia - Cantor Loses to Libertarian Brat

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Eric Cantor is OUT in the Virginia GOP Primary. He lost to an almost unknown Tea Party college Professor named David Brat who teaches Ayn Rand's philosphy at Randolph-Macon University. This is the first time since 1899 that a Majority Leader in the House has been overturned in a Primary. The Democrats in that district just nominated Jack Trammell as their candidate, and weirdly enough he teaches at the same university! What a crazy race this will be to watch!

There is clear Shock and Awe amongst the punditry. They did NOT see this coming and have no way to explain. The only people more confused are Cantor's pollsters, who missed their numbers by a mile.

Cantor's Concession Speech








































































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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Paul Ryan - Empty Souls and Hunger Games

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Previous Related Posts:
Paul Ryan Lies About Marathon Race
Atlas Scrubbed: Paul Ryan Fakes Charity at Ohio Soup Kitchen
Takers Not Makers ~ Ryan's Homage to Ayn Rand
Unforgettable Memes of Election 2012 ~ Lyin' Ryan

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Paul Ryan resurfaced at CPAC last weekend giving a speech about how he knew of a poor child who refused a charity lunch at school because he would rather have a paper bag packed by a loving parent.

The left is making a big mistake here. What they’re offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. The American people want more than that. This reminds me of a story I heard from Eloise Anderson. She serves in the cabinet of my buddy, Governor Scott Walker. She once met a young boy from a very poor family, and every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program. He told Eloise he didn’t want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch, one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids. He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him. This is what the left does not understand.”
~ Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, March 6, 2014

Aw, nice story, even though it made me go "Huh?" First of all, even if Mom, Dad, Grandma, or Aunt Lulu pack an occasional lunch, that still doesn't mean that all children have that option. Maybe there is no food at home to pack? During the recent Snowmageddon inNew York City the Mayor refused to cancel school because kids needed to go there and get that one hot meal a day. Starving children? Charles Dickens is rolling in his grave every time Paul Ryan speaks.

But anyway, Ryan seems to believe that hungry children would rather have an empty paper sack from home, than actual food for lunch. To him, a sack lunch has dignity, even if it has zero nutrition and humiliates a child in a world of well-stocked lunch boxes and kids who take food for granted. To Ryan, government assistance gives a child "an empty soul." Empty soul - oh, please! I suppose his own kids have "full" souls from eating when they are hungry. Ugh.

Well, in spite of his best efforts to once again sell himself (and his own soul) at CPAC, old Paul Ryan blew up the bullsh*t meter again. He wasn't called "Lyin' Ryan" during the 2012 Election for nothing! 

This story has been twice plagiarized now: Lyin' Ryan stole it from Lyin' Eloise Anderson, a colleague from Wisconsin in charge of Children's Services (shudder), who was under oath at the time during a Congressional Hearing on Food Stamps chaired by Ryan himself. 

Eloise Anderson Testimony to Congress
My thought has always been around the SNAP program even when it was called "food stamps" is, why do you have this program, school program, school breakfast, school lunch, school dinner, when do we start asking parents to be responsible for their children?
You know, a little boy told me once that what was important to him is that he didn't want school lunch, he wanted a brown bag because the brown bag that he brought with his lunch in it meant that his mom cared about him. Just think what we have done. If this kid tells me a brown bag was more important than a free lunch, we've missed the whole notion of parents being there for their children because we've taken over that responsibility, and I think we need to be very careful about how we provide programs to families that don't undermine families' responsibilities.
Anderson made it sound as if she knew the child in the story, when in reality she merely overheard the quote on TV during an interview about the book. An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny by Laura Schroff. The book description from Amazon:

When Laura Schroff brushed by a young panhandler on a New York City corner one rainy afternoon, something made her stop and turn back. She took the boy to lunch at the McDonald’s across the street that day. And she continued to go back, again and again for the next four years until both their lives had changed dramatically. Nearly thirty years later, that young boy, Maurice, is married and has his own family. Now he works to change the lives of disadvantaged kids, just like the boy he used to be.
An Invisible Thread is the true story of the bond between a harried sales executive and an eleven-year-old boy who seemed destined for a life of poverty. It is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned three decades and brought meaning to an over-scheduled professional and hope to a hungry and desperate boy living on the streets.

Okay - what did the author give the indigent boy? Oh yeah - food and hope, both of which have become bad words to the GOP and especially these Libertarian Ayn Rand types who don't give a damn. And the real kicker is that the child mentioned in Ryan's story has grown up now and is an advocate for hunger programs!



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I say this to all the schools that I've visited that Maurice has told me the meaning of of the brown paper bag -- the bag is merely paper, but it is really about love…its a reminder that someone loves you. This is the one story that always comes up whenever we have talked about it."
But Maurice describes being hungry as being punched in the stomach. And given the choice between a free lunch and not eating at all, he would choose the free lunch.
~ Author Laura Schroff speaking to Huff Post in rebuttal to Ryan's remarks

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Laura Schroff and Maurice Mazyck advocate for the group
No Kid Hungry
Pretty much the opposite of Paul Ryan.

Here is Laura Schroff on All In With Chris Hayes:



. . . a simple inquiry would have determined that the person telling the story actually is an advocate for the federal programs that Ryan now claims leave people with “a full stomach and an empty soul.” So he (Ryan) also earns Four Pinocchios.
~ Washington Post

Full stomach, empty soul? Isn't that the slogan for Arby's?
. . . Point taken. People on food assistance have empty souls. Jesus once said, "If you give a man a fish, don't. Period. End of Bible.
~ John Stewart on The Daily Show

Ryan didn’t understand that this was a made-up story. After reporting by the Wonkette blog and The Post’s Glenn Kessler, Anderson admitted that she had never spoken to the boy. She picked up the story from a TV interview. Worse, she then twisted a tale first told by supporters of government nutrition assistance that had absolutely nothing to do with school lunch programs.
But what’s most troubling here is that it did not occur to Ryan to check the story because it apparently didn’t occur to him that most kids on free lunch programs have parents who do care about them. They just can’t afford to put a nutritious lunch in a brown paper bag every day.
Ryan was so eager to make an ideological statement about family structure that he was not bothered by the implicit insult he was issuing to actual families of children on the lunch program. A little more empathy could have saved Ryan a lot of trouble. He apologized for the factual error but not for the insult.
~ E.J. Dionne in WaPo

A kid with a brown paper bag does have someone who loves them; but the kid without the brown paper bag, the one whose parent either won’t or can't – because they’re working hard to get ahead and give themselves and their families better lives – deserves a society that loves and cares for them too.
~ Robert Schlesinger on U.S. News

Let’s be clear — the blame for this lay squarely with Paul Ryan because he’s not only a congressman sharing false anecdotes, he’s the Budget Committee chairman and he’s on a quest to cut vital programs that feed the needy. His next budget proposal is expected to hit food programs hard.
Feeding children shouldn’t be partisan, but it is because of sociopathic bean-counters like Ryan.
~ J.M. Ashby on The Daily Banter

In some ways, Paul Ryan is his own Walking Benghazi - he's never accountable!
~ Sam Seder





















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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Whether Freudian Slip or Gaffe, Paul Ryan Wants to Destroy Healthcare

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Previous Post:
Snark Amendment: Ryan Reruns Plan to Repeal Obamacare



"This to us is something that we're not going to give up on, because we are not going to give up on destroying the health care system for the American people."
~ Freudian Slip by Republican Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, while unveiling his budget plan to "Repeal Obamacare" and to cut Medicare and Medicaid for millions of poor and needy Americans


A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth - some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say.
~ Journalist Michael Kinsley

Now that's some funny stuff right there...or at least it would be if the stakes weren't so high for the American people.
So much for the meme that Republicans are capable of learning from their defeat in 3 of the last 4 elections.
~ John B. on Maddow Blog

OMG...this is at least 47% as damning as Mr. Romney's ill-fated utterance...just sayin.
~ Going to Texas on Maddow Blog

Ayn Rand, when she was eligible, signed up for both Soc. Security and Medicare.
~ blatcat on Maddow Blog









Just ’cause it has numbers in it doesn’t make it a budget. Right? My lottery ticket is not a budget just ’cause it’s a bunch of numbers on the page.
He’s not a deficit hawk, he’s a health care hawk.
~ Ari Melber on MSNBC, via Political Carnival

I'm guessing that Paul Ryan thinks those manly biceps are just going to dazzle the media so much that they'll just glide right over the most truthful Freudian slip to ever cross those PX90-lovin' lips.
~ Crooks and Liars

I hope this accidental moment of honesty dogs you for the rest of a short and miserable political career.
~ Mr. Flibble on Crooks and Liars





Thanks Paul. Now, tell us something we didn't already know.
~ Jed Lewison on Daily Kos

The Very Serious People "value" Sadism.
~ Egalitare on Daily Kos

Freud is laughing from whichever afterlife he's in. Now that's a Slip!
~ Icicle 68 on Daily Kos

Quintessential Kinsley gaffe. Pretty much the textbook definition.
~ Purple2Blue on Daily Kos

Ryan's nickname: The Grim Reaper.
~ Eyeball Kid on Daily Kos

Dear Mr. Ryan,

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Respectfully,
The American People
~ GomezAdams on Huff Post

If Ryan had his way we'd all be goose stepping to his jingoisms.
~ cecilok on Huff Post

I see republicans have softened their message.
~ makemyteabagmoist on Huff Post

President Romney will sign this into law when it reaches his desk
~ ThreadKiller on Huff Post

If Ryan truly believes that Obamacare will collapse under it's own weight, then why is he working so hard to repeal it? Answer: what the Republicans are really afraid of, is that it will be a smashing success.
~ coraggio on Raw Story

More proof Republicans are not interested in governing or in compromise.
~ transformer1 on Raw Story



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Monday, October 15, 2012

"Atlas Scrubbed" - Paul Ryan Fakes Charity at Ohio Soup Kitchen

PaulRyanCharityFailure

From CBS News
Brian J. Antag, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society in Youngstown, told the Washington Post that the Romney campaign had not asked to make the Saturday visit to the soup kitchen. He said that he runs an apolitical faith-based organization which has bylaws barring it from hosting political candidates, and that the visit jeopardized donations from private individuals.

"They showed up there and they did not have permission," he said. "They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors." Antag added that Ryan and his family "did nothing" while on the premises.

"He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall," he said.

Our campaign and Congressman Ryan were pleased to bring attention to the meaningful charitable contributions the St. Vincent De Paul Society makes to people in need.
~ Chris Maloney, director of communications in Ohio for the Romney Campaign (rhymes with baloney)

Sin....Sin.... big old ugly SIN = Using the POOR as a campaign prop
~ comment by The Fighting Irish on Washington Post

This is the future for our seniors under Ryan, BTW..line up for charity because your government guarantees, the ones you paid into all those years, will disappear and that Medicare voucher will just about cover pre-lim's.
~ comment by hrayovac2 on Washington Post

Atlas Scrubbed.
~ comment by Travis Pitts on Washington Post



All I really need to know about Paul Ryan I Learned From This Soup Kitchen Photo Op
~ avengerco on Tumblr

It would have been more appropriate for him to dress like P90X Paul Ryan.
~ comment by Evilito on New York Mag

You didn't scrub that!
~ comment by Cags on New York Mag

Dude! Rage Against the Tureen!
~ comment by FiscalClifford on New York Mag

Note the spotless apron, and the, I'm guessing, water-proof watch.
~ comment by liberalagogo on Daily Kos

Out! Out damn'd spot!
~ comment by Anne Elk on Daily Kos

Actually, it had nothing to do with staging a "reg'lar" guy photo of Rep. Ryan donning an apron and washing dishes.
He was merely trying to find a water source.
I mean, come on. After Thursday night's performance, we know how important hydration is to Ryan.
The apron was a ruse. Workout boy needed to rehydrate.
Minutes after this photo was taken, he was seen tearing off the top of a fire hydrant right outside the building.
~ comment by Bender Rodriguez on Daily Kos

Paul Ryan wants to be Pontius Pilate and wash his hands of the poor.
~ comment by LakeSuperior on Daily Kos

We think soup kitchen patrons are lazy moochers but we care deeply about them all the same.
~ comment by PianoMan on Daily Kos

So, you know, still lying.
~ Wonkette

Those children look like they have never seen a pot or pan in their lives.
~ comment by MissTaken on Wonkette

He's acting out Grover Norquist's old fantasy of dragging government to the bathtub (or in this case, an industrial sink) and drowning it. With the help of his kids
~ comment by LastGasp on Wonkette

Ayn cringed while Atlas mugged.
~ comment by Barto on Wonkette
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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Ryan Says 30% are "Takers, Not Makers" ~ homage to Ayn Rand


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Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream. They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want the welfare state. Before too long, we could become a society where the net majority of Americans are takers, not makers.
~ Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, via Huffington Post

“Public welfare is the welfare of those who do not earn it; those who do, are entitled to no welfare.”
— John Galt
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Part 3, Chapter 7)


And what is notable about these and will effect the debate tomorrow is that Mr. Ryan makes the same case that Mitt Romney was making when he made those devastating 47 percent remarks. In Mr. Ryan’s case, he doesn’t use the phrase ’47 percent.’ He picks a slightly different figure. For him, the figure is 30 percent.
. . . This idea that a large proportion of the country are just dependent, mooching victims to whom the American dream is inapplicable, who are beyond the reach of the kind of politics the Republican ticket is offering, it turns out it is both guys on the ticket who believe that.
~ Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, quoted by Raw Story

Why is Ryan dissing the GOP base?
~ comment by BOBINMO on Huffington Post

I don't mind Paul saying that because he has a vast experience outside the government. Oh wait.......
~ comment by Enlightened22 on Huffington Post

Ryan's family's construction company was successful...on GOVERNMENT CONTACTS for rural highways...
Ryan funded his college with SOCIAL SECURITY...
after a short run in the private sector as the Oscar Mayer We_in_er Moblie Driver...
has spent the last 14 YEARS ON THE GOVERNMENT PAYROLL...
in which time he authored TWO BILLS. That's ONE BILL every 7 YEARS.
It sounds to me like he's the one living off the taxpayer and not wanting to work.
~ comment by EllisIsland on Huffington Post

47% layabouts? 30% lazy bums? Who's right about Americans? Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan?
Peas in a pod. Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have complete disdain for a large portion of Americans. They just disagree about whether nearly half are lazy, Obama-voting bums unwilling to give up their government handouts or nearly a third are.
. . . The contempt with which this pair holds tens of millions of Americans oozes from their pores and other orifices. On that score, we should consider ourselves lucky. Many plutocrats have learned how to conceal their scorn, making them far more palatable to voters who don't look past their veneer.
~ Meteor Blades on Daily Kos

Ryan actually used Makers and Takers. No dog whistles with that guy. Straight up Rand.
~ comment by greblos on Daily Kos

Nobody told Ryan that Atlas Shrugged was a work of fiction. Bad fiction at that.
~ comment by Happy Camper on Daily Kos

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Romney Fall-Out Continues from Video-Gate


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 "Mitt Doesn't Disdain the Poor"
~ Name of a video with Ann Romney taking up for Mitt, posted then pulled by the Romney campaign for unknown reasons, via BuzzFeed



"Mitt Romney, Man of Constant Sorrow"
~ Headline on Politico

It turns out that Mitt Romney was right. There is class warfare being waged in the 2012 campaign. It is Mr. Romney who is waging it, not President Obama, and he’s stood the whole idea on its head.
~ The New York Times Editorial

My first reaction was 'can't be true.' The tape must be edited. Somebody must have played games with it. He can't possibly have disparaged almost half of the population of the country with seven weeks to go in the election campaign. Alas, it turns out to be exactly what he said.
~ Legendary anchorman Dan Rather on MSNBC, to Rachel Maddow

There is a reason they did not take back that statement on that tape. They are restating it now in a way that is less blunt, but it is actually their world view and their policy. And that's why this tape has been like a nuclear bomb, not a dirty bomb, in the Republican's campaign for the presidency this year.
~ Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

Mitt Romney’s comments felt as if he were stabbing me in the heart. I stopped breathing for a few seconds with a profound feeling that I was trapped in another world where people have no clue, not one little clue of what it’s like to have to struggle to get through every single day.
~ Roz Levine in NYT

Mitt Romney should be reminded that rights to food, housing and health care are recognized in international covenants that the United States has signed. The federal government is not required to “provide” these goods, but it is legally obligated “to respect, protect and fulfill” these rights.
Mr. Romney’s comments suggest not only contempt for working people and the poor but also for fundamental human rights.
~ ~ Marc Edelman in NYT

Mr. Romney in his current configuration is better suited to serve as king of 18th-century France rather than as president of the United States.
~ Stephen Korn in NYT

What we should strive for, what we have to improve upon, in the inner cities, in the poor rural areas, is to make sure that people get that chance so that they can make the most of their lives. So we should not be looking at people as if they are stuck in some station or stuck in some class or some victim or something like that.
~ Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, rolling back Romney's remarks on video

We are a big, complicated nation. And we are human beings. We are people. We have souls. We are complex. We are not data points. Many things go into our decisions and our political affiliations.
You have to be sophisticated to know that. And if you’re operating at the top of national politics, you’re supposed to be sophisticated.
I think there is a broad and growing feeling now, among Republicans, that this thing is slipping out of Romney’s hands.
It’s time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one. It’s not big, it’s not brave, it’s not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It’s always been too small for the moment.
. . . An intervention is in order. “Mitt, this isn’t working.”
~ Peggy Noonan on Wall Street Journal

Grim-faced aides acknowledged that it was an unusually dark moment, made worse by the self-inflicted, seemingly avoidable nature of the wound. In low-volume, out-of-the-way conversations, a few of them are now wondering whether victory is still possible and whether they are entering McCain-Palin ticket territory.
It may prove a fleeting anxiety: national polls show the race remains close, even though Mr. Romney trails in some key swing states.
Still, a flustered adviser, describing the mood, said that the campaign was turning into a vulgar, unprintable phrase.
~ The New York Times

Caught! Let's Play Hardball
(Hardball Theme plays)
Hello this is Chris Matthews in New York.
Let me start tonight with:
(singing)
If I were a rich man,
Yubba, Dibby, Dibby
Dibby, Dibby, Dibby, Dibby Dum.
Dumb!!!
~ Chris Matthews on Hardball

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I disagree with Governor Romney's insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care. I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be.
~ Linda McMahon, running for a Republican Senate seat in Connecticutt

That's not the way I view the world. As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in. Too many people today who want to work are being forced into public assistance for lack of jobs.
~ Senator Scott Brown, who is running against Democrat Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts

Who else loves the American people as much as Miffed Romney?
  • Leona Helmsley
  • Nikita Krushchev.
  • Dick Cheney.
  • Paris Hilton.
  • Gina Rinehart.
  • Eduardo Saverin.
  • Somali pirates.
~ Wonkette

Oh my God. People think they are entitled to food! Are there no workhouses?
~ comment by PuckStopsHere on Wonkette

He forgot to call them "vermin" and mention his plans for dealing with them once and for all.
~ comment by Chet Kinkaide on Wonkette

This has been another episode of Uncle Rockefeller's Summer Cottage.
~ comment by SayItWithWookies on Wonkette

















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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Obama Wins 47 States With Help of Moochers

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Previous Post: Romney Goes Totally Ayn Rand in Secret Video






























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Romney Goes Totally Ayn Rand in Secret Video

hell

Mother Jones:
Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate fundraiser—where he candidly discussed his campaign strategy and foreign policy ideas in stark terms he does not use in public—and has confirmed its authenticity. To protect the confidential source who provided the video, we have blurred some of the image, and we will not identify the date or location of the event, which occurred after Romney had clinched the Republican presidential nomination.
[UPDATE: After a restriction was lifted, Mother Jones reported that this fundraiser was held at the Boca Raton home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder on May 17.]


Mitt's Quotes from the Videos on Mother Jones


...There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

...There is a perception, 'Oh, we were born with a silver spoon, he never had to earn anything and so forth.' Frankly, I was born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you can have: which is to get born in America.

..."Had he (my father) been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot of winning this."

...I have a very good team of extraordinarily experienced, highly successful consultants, a couple of people in particular who have done races around the world. I didn't realize it. These guys in the US—the Karl Rove equivalents—they do races all over the world: in Armenia, in Africa, in Israel. I mean, they work for Bibi Netanyahu in his race. So they do these races and they see which ads work, and which processes work best, and we have ideas about what we do over the course of the campaign. I'd tell them to you, but I'd have to shoot you.

...my own view is that if we win on November 6th, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. We'll see capital come back and we'll see—without actually doing anything—we'll actually get a boost in the economy. If the president gets reelected, I don't know what will happen. I can—I can never predict what the markets will do. Sometimes it does the exact opposite of what I would have expected. But my own view is that if we get a "Taxageddon," as they call it, January 1st, with this president, and with a Congress that can't work together, it's—it really is frightening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obama Campaign Response
“It’s shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives,” Jim Messina, Obama for America campaign manager, said in a statement. “It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”

Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work.
~ Statement from Romney Spokesperson Gail Gitcho


Mitt's Lame Apology
"Well, um, It's not elegantly stated let me put it that way I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question and I'm sure I can state it more clearly in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that and so I'm sure ill point that out as time goes on."
Full Transcript Here


Off-the-cuff means 'this is what I really think.' It wasn't scripted, it wasn't prepared. It was 'off-the-cuff.' I'm just telling you what was in my head.
~ David Corn of Mother Jones on Last Word

It plays exactly into the views that people all ready had of Mitt Romney and his views of the American public.
~ Krystal Ball on MSNBC's Last Word

Surely there was an "elegant" way of stating that 47% of the population are bums.
~ Lawrence O'Donnell on Last Word

The contemptuousness and the condescension in that line is horrible, and ... it plays to the obvious stereotypes of Gordon Gecko meets Thurston Howell III.
. . . The worst thing that could happen to Romney would be if Republicans just decide the moment has come where he is lost, we're done, every man for himself, let him go, cut him loose, and let's focus on the house and Senate. And we're not that far from that point right now.
~ John Heileman of New York Times on Last Word

I don't -- I don't think the candidate's off message at all. I think that it's very true that, in America today and many colonies that are watching this right now the biggest employer 20 years ago in many of these places where big private business or manufacturing plant.
And now the biggest employer in many places around America is just the government. It's either the school board or the municipality. We have people that are -- we have an explosion in benefits and in subsidies from the government around the country.
. . . What I mean by that is, you know, there isn't enough money out there to pay for the monstrosity that we've created. And so we have a world -- or excuse me, a country that, when my son is my age, just like a lot of little kids, when they become our age, we're going to spend about 45 cents on every dollar made in America just to run the federal government.
The point of all of this is -- is that the size of government is too big, and if we don't do something about it we're going to really lose the very idea of America.
~ RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on CNN

Today Mitt Romney Lost the Election
You can mark my prediction now: A secret recording from a closed-door Mitt Romney fundraiser, released today by David Corn at Mother Jones, has killed Mitt Romney's campaign for president.
. . . Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon, and people have been reduced to guessing what his true feelings are. This video provides an answer: He feels that you're a loser. It's not an answer that wins elections.
~ Josh Barro on Bloomberg

Thurston Howell Romney
[Romney] really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare?
. . . The Republican Party, and apparently Mitt Romney, too, has shifted over toward a much more hyperindividualistic and atomistic social view — from the Reaganesque language of common citizenship to the libertarian language of makers and takers. There’s no way the country will trust the Republican Party to reform the welfare state if that party doesn’t have a basic commitment to provide a safety net for those who suffer for no fault of their own.
~ David Brooks on New York Times

























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