Conservatives Dumb, Says Science

NEW YORK—Hey look! It’s that time of year again, and the semi-annual release of some or another study claiming that conservatives are stupid has finally landed on liberal doorsteps across America. Perfect timing, really! Since, you know, the one thing the country needs right now more than just about anything else is yet another excuse to avoid the hard work of looking at those we disagree with as equal partners in a national conversation, people who we must engage with and convince—and, oh, maybe as a result challenge ourselves to check our work and, you know, make better arguments!

But hey, now we can all let ourselves off the hook and just deride them as all a bunch of idiots who aren’t even worth talking to in the first place. Thank you, science! Yes, this is quite obviously how we will move forward together as a nation. (It was the dramatic improvement in the quality of the national discourse evidenced after the last two dozen times a study like this was published that gives us so much faith.) READ MORE »

North Carolina Representative: Let’s Bring Back Public Hangings

Republican Representative Larry Pittman of Cabarrus County, NC thinks, sort of like Newt Gingrich did back in the ’90s, that capital punishment is the only way to scare people like “abortionists, rapists and kidnappers” (what, no murderers?) into being better citizens (and more conservative). But Pittman goes a step further than Newt: he thinks we should bring back public hanging. It’s the only way, etc.

Well, about every 36 seconds a Republican calls for the return of some barbaric practice or another, so big deal. But Pittman had a funny way of expressing his views: not boldly or proudly, in front of his fellow lawmakers or at the very least, atop a milk crate in some park, but in an e-mail that he accidentally sent to every member of the General Assembly of North Carolina. Ah, well. READ MORE

2nd Mayor Says Obama ‘Wasn’t Tense At All’ During Brewer Encounter

TPM

Out of the three officials who met President Obama on an airport tarmac near Phoenix earlier this week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is now the only one who has characterized the president as anything other than cordial.

In numerous TV and radio interviews since the meeting, Brewer has said the president was “tense to say the least” and took issue with a book she wrote last year. She said Obama walked away from her while she was in mid-sentence and even told one Phoenix television station she felt “a little bit threatened” by the encounter........................

Romney Omitted Funds Held In Offshore Tax Havens From Ethics Forms

Romney Omitted Funds Held In Offshore Tax Havens From Ethics Forms

A now-closed Swiss bank account and at least 23 investment funds listed in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) recently released tax returns were not listed in his most recent financial disclosure forms, which are required to run for office. Among the unlisted funds were 11 based in offshore tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Luxembourg, the Los Angeles Times reported today, and many are associated with Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney co-founded. According to the Times, Romney’s campaign dismissed the discrepancies as “trivial” but said they will have to make “some minor technical amendments” to Romney’s disclosure forms.

Newt Gingrich Pledges Moon Base to Aid Interplanetary Tourism Sector

NEW YORK—So here is a thing that happened: Newt Gingrich said four preposterous things yesterday in the span of a single sentence. Let’s parse it! “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.” Ok, first: a moon base! Which, right, is just patently ridiculous.

But moving on: it will be American! Because of course it would be, or, well, at least when you’re the sort of person who will not rest until the entirety of the Middle East is remade in the American image. Thirdly: Newt suggested he will actually get elected president. (LOL, etc.) And fourthly! Newt suggested he will actually get elected president TWICE. (LOL squared, etc.) READ MORE »

U.S. Plummets In International Press Freedom Rankings Due To Violence Against Reporters Covering Occupy Movement

U.S. Plummets In International Press Freedom Rankings Due To Violence Against Reporters Covering Occupy Movement

Today, Reporters Without Borders released their annual Press Freedom Index, a leading assessment of how well countries are living up to principles of transparency and media freedom. It had nothing but bad news for the U.S., which dropped precipitously in the rankings to 47th place. The report bluntly explained that the U.S. “owed its fall of 27 places to the many arrests of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street protests.” Indeed, the U.S. fell almost as much as Bahrain, which was penalized for its brutal crackdown on reporters covering popular movements for government reform. The U.S. now ranks behind countries not typically known for media freedom, including Niger, Namibia, South Africa and Romania.

Zombie Voters Latest Scourge to Terrorize SC GOP’s Imagination

We all know that Democrats are forever trying to let poor and minority people be allowed to vote, which, you know, huge SCANDAL already right there, but have you heard about the latest Republican voter “fraud” outrage du jour? ZOMBIES, VOTING! (Vampires: so last year.)

South Carolina’s DMV director Kevin Shwedo, a Nikki “what massive state unemployment rate” Haley appointee, produced a list of 957 dead people who he claims managed against all odds to vote in South Carolina’s primary last weekend.

This conclusively proves the need for a voter ID, in order to help poll workers better determine whether the person standing before them at the registration desk is or is not a member of the undead. Shwedo won’t let anyone from the state’s election commission see the list of names, of course, maybe because the whole six names he did hand over to the commission were investigated and did not turn out to be cases of fraud at all? READ MORE »

Davos elite confronts crisis of Western capitalism

RAW STORY

Leaders of the global business elite were confronted on Wednesday with the fear that the Western model of capitalism has failed and is about to be shoved aside by emerging powers.

Over four decades, the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos has become an emblem of the triumphant market but this year delegates admitted that state capitalism on the Chinese model is in the ascendant.

Four days of public debate and private networking kicked off with a stark warning from a panel of experts that the historic motors of the 20th century global economy will have to reform or die.

“I think we have three to four years in the West to improve theeconomic model that we have, and if we don’t do that soon I think we’ve lost the game,” warned David Rubenstein, managing director of the Carlyle investment fund.

The 62-year-old billionaire has done very well out of financial capitalism, the US firm paid him a $134 million annual bonus this month, but he warned that the West needs to get its deficits under control and return to growth.

“If we don’t do that soon, when we are here in three to four years … the game will be over for the type of capitalism that many of us have lived through and thought was the best type of capitalism,” Rubenstein said.

Global labour leader Sharan Burrow, general secretary of theInternational Trade Union Confederation, urged corporations and governments to work with workers to develop a new economic model — and warned of a backlash............................

Comedy Saved: Michele Bachmann Running for Congress Again

Were you, like us, very ultra super secretly sighing to yourself — under your breath when you were absolutely sure no one could hear you — hasn’t this campaign season gotten sorta boring since Michele Bachmann dropped out?

WELL SIGH NO MORE: her surrealist sideshow is coming BACK following Michele’s announcement today that she will run for re-election to Congress! Will the voters of Minnesota’s 6th District once again choose to be represented by a whacked out, pill-snarfing lunatic screamer over any other available adult human? True, it’s not like America will be in any DANGER if she wins again — she never actually does anything in Congress, ever.

She is more like very expensive, taxpayer-funded entertainment. But hey, maybe Minnesota’s 6th District is feeling flush again this year? UPDATE: HAHA oh god we love it, Michele Bachmann has no idea what words mean in English and went on Fox News to qualify her initial statement of “yes” with more of a “maybe definitely yes” declaration of non-candidacy candidacy. Who knows! READ MORE »

Sunday Morning Talk Shows Featured Twice As Many Republicans As Dems Last Year

THINK PROGRESS

The Sunday morning political talk shows have long played a key role in American political discourse, providing a venue for balanced discussion about key political topics. But in 2011 at least, they were heavily skewed to one political party over the other. According to a new analysis of shows like Meet the Press from Roll Call, Republican lawmakers appeared nearly twice as often as Democratic ones last year, and held a smaller advantage in previous years:

In 2009 and 2010, Republican Members held a small advantage over Democratic Members in appearances on these programs, getting 52 percent of the invites in both years. In both years, CBS had more Democrats as guests than Republicans by a narrow margin; in the same period, Fox News had more Republican guests by a wider margin.

But in 2011, the GOP lawmakers captured 64 percent of the Congressional appearances on the five shows that Roll Call tracks, and every network featured more Republican lawmakers than Democrats. Of 330 Congressional appearances tallied by Roll Call last year, 210 went to Republicans and only 120 went to Democrats — fewer if you subtract the eight appearances made by Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Certainly, some imbalance could be expected given that Republicans control the House and have a presidential primary contest, but the disparity could arguably be too great to explain this way. Michael Shanahan, assistant director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, offered another explanation: “Democrats aren’t all that interesting.” In other words, producers find that Democrats provide less entertainment value. Either way, it means that viewers will get disproportional exposure to one world view.

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a pattern on the Sunday morning talk shows, especially for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is famous for his ubiquitousness on Sunday mornings, making at least 53 appearances on Meet the Press alone.

The finding also undercuts the pervasive conservative myth about the media possessing a liberal bias. That is, unless one believes that more chances Republicans get to express their views the more they hurt themselves.

Fact Sheet Responding to Republican “No Budget” Claims

Republican Claims That the Senate Has Not Passed a Budget Are WRONG

(Prepared by Majority Staff, Senate Budget Committee)

It is wrong to assert that there is no budget. The Budget Control Act enacted in August contained the budget for this year. It was passed by both the House and Senate, signed by the President, and enacted into law.

The Budget Control Act achieved all of the essential elements of a traditional budget – setting discretionary caps, providing enforcement mechanisms, and creating a process for addressing entitlement spending and revenues.

In many ways, the Budget Control Act was even more extensive than a traditional budget:

It has the force of law, unlike a budget resolution that is not signed by the President.
It set discretionary caps for 10 years, instead of the one year normally set in a budget resolution.
It provided enforcement mechanisms, including a two-year “deemer,” allowing budget points of order to be enforced.
And it addressed entitlement spending and revenues by creating the “Super Committee,” which was given explicit authority to reform entitlements and the tax code. The Super Committee process represented an enhanced version of the reconciliation process that can be established under a budget resolution. And it was further backed up with a $1.2 trillion sequester.

Republican rhetoric aside, Congress did pass a budget. The Republican-controlled House passed it; the Democratic Senate passed it; and the President signed it. The Budget Control Act set 10 years of spending caps; it established a two-year “deemer” to enforce spending levels; and it created a reconciliation-like process to consider entitlement and tax reform.

The Budget Control Act, passed by the Senate in August, set the federal budget for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 – a fact acknowledged in recent months by leading Senate Republicans:

Sen. Collins Called the Budget Control Act a “Budget Agreement” and a “Budget Plan.” “The budget agreement also requires a vote on a balanced budget Constitutional amendment by the end of the year…While I supported the budget plan recently passed by Congress, I did so with serious reservations.” [Collins Column, 8/5/11]

Sen. Grassley Called the Budget Control Act a “Budget Agreement.” “We should be doing those things not only in this budget agreement, this deficit reduction agreement, but in all the decisions we make in the Congress.” [Congressional Record, 8/1/11]

Sen. Alexander Called the Budget Control Act a “Budget Agreement.” “The budget agreement we came to in August pretty well got 40 percent of the budget under control, the part we call discretionary spending – everything from national defense to national parks. It’s only growing at about the rate of inflation over the next 10 years.” [NPR, 9/22/11]

CHART – The Cost Of War: Iraq Versus Libya

THINK PROGRESS

Sarah Palin Under the Impression That Chris Christie Wears ‘Panties’

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the supposed-to-have-run of the Republican party, declared Newt Gingrich to be an “embarrassment” to the party during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press this past weekend, so as usual a Republican is embarrassed by America, since Newt, you know, won the South Carolina primary with many more votes than John McCain won in 2008.

To this remark, Fox News loiterer Sarah Palin condescendingly forgave Christie immediately — “Poor Chris. That was a rookie mistake” — but at the same time suggested that the New Jersey governor was getting his “panties in a wad,” though this is probably a requirement/side effect of joining the Romney campaign. Romney himself prefers long chastity underwear, worn inside out, with the buttons on the inside to make access by others more difficult. READ MORE »

Sarah Palin Movie … Nominated For An Oscar?

Can the Wasilla Grifter possibly get another five minutes added to her expired fifteen minutes of infamy? Well, yes, of course. Besides, her fifteen minutes actually turned out to be three-and-a-half years, which is pretty substantial for an aging snowbilly grandma whose one and only talent was being less physically repulsive than John McCain, back in 2008.

Anyway, that awful feature-length commercial for Palin’s nonexistent presidential campaign, Undefeated, has been nominated for an Academy Award (TM) … and not even in the expected categories of Animated Feature Film or Hilarious Costume Design.

UPDATE FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT MOVIES: Ha, thank Christ, it’s a different movie also called the same thing, Undefeated. Whew. READ MORE »