Tea Party: This is war, and we must win it at all cost.

To the GOP/Tea Party, this action tonight isn't about running the country. To them, this is war, pure and simple. And unfortunately, I can only think of 1 analogy that works.

It was rhetorically asked today by 1 reporter in a tweet, "Why don't the GOP understand that to the Democrats that sequestration was the compromise?" Well, what the reporter missed is that to the GOP, this is a war, and the other side must be annihilated. To them, the GOP is one country, and everyone else is an enemy country. And sequestration was a truce between the two countries. And the GOP was like a country that gave up some of its military so that the Democrats country would give it some of the Democrats' land. Now, 2 years later, the GOP nation says if the Democrats' country don't give them more of its land, they'll take it over by force. I hate to say it, but it sure seems that only analogy I can think of that comes close to being appropriate to show the GOP action is 1930s Europe, and that means the GOP is playing Germany, and the rest of the country is the rest of Europe. I wish I could think of another parallel, but I really can't.

To the GOP, this is war, and it's a war they feel they have to win. To them, his isn't 1 country, but 2 separate nations. And that other nation must be defeated and taken over. Too bad we've seen this action before, and what happened wasn't pretty. I'm afraid it won't be very pretty, again.        

GOP: We are the Tea Party, not those squishy Rs!!!!

The GOP, in a final attempt to show the nation that it is is now the Tea Party, has added another demand in their push to defund the Affordable Care Act, has acted to limit women's access to contraception. Yes, to the GOP, women having access to birth control is part of the budget. But in a way, that wasn't bad enough. No, when the House GOP voted in a caucus to force a showdown with the President, there was such a cheer in the chamber that it could be heard out in the halls by all the reporters. Then, when one of the GOP House members stepped out to talk to reporters, he said this bill proved that the GOP was winning. He then said that with this bill, they had boxed the Democratic Party into a corner, and the GOP was in a win-win situation. So, limiting birth control or shutting down the government is a win-win scenario?

Think Ronald Reagan thought not compromising, forcing the country into a take-it or leave- it situation, and a shut-down of government was governing? That's right, this isn't your parent's GOP. This is now the Tea Party, and to them, if you don't like it, lump it.  

GOP makes demands to continue funding federal government

Well, the GOP finally did it. They finally gave the President a list of demands, and without these demands being made, the federal government would shut down. If that's not hostage taking, with the country as the hostages, I don't know what is.

The GOP sent to the President a list of demands, and if the President doesn't agree to these demands, they simply will refuse to sign a budget or raise the debt ceiling. What were the demands? Well, without making a full list, they basically said that the President must, as much as possible, undo every action President Obama has ever done, and act like a member of the Tea Party. To start with, the Affordable Health Care Act must be delayed or completely defunded. The new Dodd-Frank financial rules? Gone. The new Consumer Protection bureau? Gone. Restrictions on oil drilling on federal lands? Gone. The Keystone Pipeline has to be approved. Getting the idea yet? There are other actions the President would have to take, but I think you get the idea. It was so bad, some were wondering why they hadn't added a Birther Bill. Then, just to put more oil on the fire, after President Obama announced that he had spoken with the Iranian President. The GOP then demand to know why the President hadn't talked to Speaker Boehner in the last week. One phone call in 34 years to Iran, and the GOP wants to know why the President wants to know why the President and the Speaker won't talk every week? What for, to be told what the demands of the GOP are?

The GOP gave the President a list of demands yesterday to keep the government running. They may not be able to legislate, but they obviously passed Hostage Taking 101 with flying colors.  

Does Senator Cruz ever make sense?

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas got on the Senate floor Tuesday night to filibuster against the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But, it wasn't a filibuster, it won't stop the Act, and very little that he said made sense. As a matter of, does anything he says make sense?

Senator Ted Cruz got on the Senate floor and talked for over 20 hours. Was it a filibuster to stop a bill? No. Then he got on the floor and spoke of the ACA and likened it to the holocaust. So Senator, how is 30 million people getting insurance like Germany killing million of people because they believed in the Jewish religion? If that wasn't dumb and stupid enough, he said that Neville Chamberlain told England in the 40s that Hitler needed to be appeased because he couldn't be defeated. Senator, it was in the 30s that Chamberlain signed a treaty that gave Germany land, and said to the English people that he agreed to the treaty because Hitler said that was the only land they wanted. Later, when Hitler and Germany continued to attack other countries, Chamberlain resigned in disgrace. Again, you made no sense. Then you quoted Green eggs and Hams, saying that this shows that if the country tries the ACA, it would be addicted to it. No, the story is about not liking something because you haven't tried it. Again, you make no sense. Then, you state that nobody in America follow politicians in Washington because of their cheap suits. So, exactly what were you doing speaking for over 20 hours if no body in America listens to you? Again, you make no sense. Finally, when you're done, you're asked what you accomplished. You state that you wanted to show America that they could get rid of the ACA. No Senator, you got up and talked so far-right idiots could watch you and give you money. Again, you lied.

Senator Cruz got up on the Senate floor and lied and made no sense for over 20 hours. Senator Cruz, do you ever make sense?      

Senator Cruz: The majority can not have its way!

The "so-called" filibuster by Senator Ted Cruz has shown the one belief that the GOP has now that it will never give up: The majority can not have its way!

Senator Ted Cruz is basically making speeches so that the Senate cannot take a vote on cloture on the CR budget bill. What does that mean? Simply, a cloture vote means that the majority of the Senators can pass the bill before it. Senator Cruz wants the 60 vote threshold to pass the bill. Yes, in effect, Senator Cruz again is saying that the majority has no right to rule on funding a law. Now, this really isn't anything new for the GOP in the last 3 years. And not just in the Senate. While the Senate has for the last 3 years worked under the 60 vote threshold, making it easy to see that the minority is impeding the majority, in fact, it has been effect throughout the legislature since 2010. While the House has been held by the GOP since 2010, it was actually Democrats who won the most House votes in 2012, getting over 2 million votes nation-wide than the GOP. And, of course, President Obama won the election by more than 4 million votes. So, in trying to stop President Obama from acting on all type of things, the GOP is basically saying that the majority in America have no right to have what it wants done in the country.

Senator Ted Cruz stated a basic GOP truth when he stated that he was going to do everything he could so that the majority of Senators could get a bill passed. Sarah Palin, when talking about Cruz, stated an ever deeper truth: Ted Cruz is a tool.        

Did the Romans know that Rome was falling?

In the last 2 weeks, we've seen some incredible things in the country, but nothing worthwhile in Congress. But that just continues the trend that has been going on for the last several years.

In the last 2 weeks-
-- When the President went to Congress to get authorization to attack Syria, GOP Congressmen asked the Secretary of State why the people in Benghazi wasn't saved. That happened over 14 months ago, and the report has been out for over 6 months.
-- When 13 people were killed on a Navy base, the NRA asked why it took 7 minutes for the police to show up. They didn't say that gun laws needed to be looked at. And Congress in its budget has slashed the budget for police and firemen the last 2 years, and has slashed even more money in its budget for next year.
-- 33 people were killed by guns in Chicago one night. Not one word from Congress.
-- 10 stores in Maryland were found to misuse the food stamp program. So what did Congress do? They slashed 5% of the food stamp program, so that more poor people would starve.
-- Rain has made parts of Colorado a torrent of killing creeks. Dozens were killed, and thousands were displaced. Now, 2 Colorado congressmen did ask for federal help, but these were 2 of the many people who said that no money should to help those affected by Super-storm Sandy, although millions were affected and left homeless for months.
-- The deficit continues to drop at record rates. The GOP answer: Let's shut down the government if the Affordable Care Act isn't defunded. And if it is, more money needs to be slashed from the federal budget.

But that is just the latest moves by the worst Congress ever.
-- Our roads and bridges are crumbling, but the GOP refuses to pass a transportation bill.
-- Our schools, once the way out of poverty for millions of Americans, now are priced out of reach for all but the richest in the country. And even basic schooling is under fire from religious groups that want sciences like evolution taken out, while other groups want global warming struck from the curriculum.
-- Our trains, once the best in the world, now go the same speed that they did 60 years ago. Our fastest trains, which only run in a small northeast corridor, run 2/3 the speed of bullet trains in Europe and Asia.


I look at all that has happened, and how little Congress will do to help re-build the country after the 2nd worst monetary crisis in the country's history, and I have to ask: Did the Romans know how weak Rome was long before Rome felt? If so, I think they must have felt like many Americans do today.    

GOP: Those that won't get SNAP payments, don't worry. We're shutting down the entire government.

The GOP House voted Thursday to cut $40 billion from the food stamp program (SNAP), cutting 4 million poor, working Americans out of the safety net. Now, the GOP said, to start with, that there was that much fraud in the system. They used the Baltimore stores that were giving cash to those who handed the stores their food stamps to show how much fraud is in the system. I guess that the GOP thinks that since store are illegally manipulating the system, the way to stop that is to take the food coupon away from poor people so the stores can't abuse them. But then, the GOP decided that screwing poor people wasn't enough. They then took actions that will either stop 30 million Americans from getting health care, or they will shut down the government, affecting over 100 million Americans. So, in a way, the GOP told the 4 million that they want to take food out of their months: Don't worry, we aren't just screwing you. We'll shut down the government, affecting over 100 million Americans. Now, don't you feel better now?    

For the GOP, defunding ObamaCare is their compromise position.

Many people who call themselves liberal and moderates, including most political pundits, can't understand how the GOP can take what seems the ridiculous, and very far-right, move to shutdown the government if ObamaCare is funded. Well, what they all miss is that for the GOP, that is a compromise position. Shutting down the federal government is their real desire, their perfect solution for the country.

Most pundits can't understand why the GOP keeps harping on the size of government when the the deficit spending of the government has fallen 60%. Well, the simple reason is, to the GOP, any federal budget other than for defense is too much. This is a party that doesn't want to get rid of 3 cabinet posts, it wants to get rid of the federal government's ability to oversee them. To them, Education, Commerce, and Health and Human Services should be run by the the states. The GOP doesn't care about people in large cities, so Housing and Urban Development can be eliminated. Most states run by the GOP are enacting laws to get the federal government out of elections and want federal agents to be arrested for serving gun warrants. They also want to get rid of the IRS. That takes care of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General for the GOP. Business have too many regulations on them, so after getting rid of Commerce, getting of the Department of Labor is perfectly fine with them, too. Big oil companies can do what they want, so what does the GOP need with the Departments of Energy or Agriculture? Nothing, so they can be axed. The GOP doesn't want the government to fix roads and bridges, and wants to stop all subsidies of trains and alternative modes of travel to cars. So, the GOP can get rid of the Department of Transportation. Since the two factions of the GOP either wants to isolate America from the rest of the world or bomb any country that isn't already in a treaty with the country, the Department of State can be at least downgraded and folded in the Department of Defense, if not eliminated. The Department of Homeland Security is really part of Defense, too, as is the VA, and therefore they could be folded in Defense, although they wouldn't lose money. After all, Defense contractors never lose money, do they?

For the GOP, keeping the rest of the federal government running while defunding ObamaCare is their compromise position. In a perfect country for the GOP, there would only be the Departments of Defense and Treasury, and the President would have no power over the states. Wait!! Why can't the states mint their own money? Now, that would really be a perfect country for the GOP.      

Colorado recalls show 2 election problems

The NRA is boasting about their might and power after an election that recalled 2 pro-gun control representatives in Colorado. But, in fact, the recall showed 2 election problems that need to be fix, and quickly.

While 2 pro-gun control representatives were recalled, there were 2 problems that this election showed. The first was the fact that the election was held so quickly, mail-in ballots weren't able to be sent out, and regular voting places in the 2 districts couldn't be used, so other, larger but fewer, places were used. Now, why would any election held at a time when normal election voting procedures can't be used? What this led to was a bloc of voters that only if they had a deep desire in the outcome. This meant that many of those that were happy with the status quo wouldn't take the time to find out how and where to vote. This led to over 30% fewer voters in the recall election than 3 years ago when these representatives were elected. Not a year ago during a Presidential election, but in 2010, in an off-election. The second problem shown in this election was the fact that, while money from groups against the recall out-spent the groups for the election, the Koch Bros. through their non-political PAC was able to buy ad times, and since it is a non-political group, their money is unknown. But how can any group buy ads in a recall election and call themselves non-political? This is actually the bigger problem, and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

The NRA is proud of their result in the Colorado recall elections. Are they also proud of the way our election process was perverted?          

For GOP, their hatred for Obama doesn't stop at the water's edge.

For many years, when it came to the President and foreign affairs, there would be no speaking badly about the President. Literally, any actions taken by a President when it came to other countries would have no broaching, except in chambers and when debating a bill or a treaty. But that isn't true anymore for the GOP. When it comes to President Obama, their hatred of him can reach all the way around the world.

One of the reasons The Dixie Chicks got got such a horrible reply by so many was when they spoke against President Bush and the attack on Iraq was they did it in London. It's one thing to speak bad about a President and his domestic policies, but quite another thing to speak about his foreign country actions, and way over the line to do it in a foreign country. And remember, this was a country singing group. So why were 3 members of the GOP in the House of Representatives in Egypt saying that they were glad that the military had taken over for President Morsi? Then, they lied and said that it was the Muslim Brotherhood that had attacked America on 9/11, when in fact it was Al Qaeda, and the attack was denounced by the Muslim Brotherhood. Why would they do such a thing? Because President Obama has tried to walk a thin line between the Egyptian military and the Brotherhood. Then, after the President gave his speech on Syria Tuesday night, GOP Senator Rand Paul gave a rebuttal speech. The President give a foreign policy speech, and the GOP thinks they have to rebut it? Is this a State of the Union speech? Why would they do such a thing? Simply their hatred for the President.

Before the President's speech Tuesday night, several GOP Senators and Representatives spoke out at a rally in Washington on the need to shut down the government if the Affordable HealthCare Act wasn't de-funded. But it's not bad enough to show their hatred for the President on domestic policies, now they show their hatred all over the world, and it makes America look small and petty. It's just another way the GOP wants the entire country to seem just like them.      

So, GOP will act quickly for Syrians but not Americans?

So, the Tea Party members of the GOP agreed with the President and pushed the House and the Senate to take meetings during their summer recess. Now, many Democrats and some moderate GOP members asked that the recess be delayed so that items like jobs, the budget, immigration, and the voting rights act could be debated and votes held. But you were too busy trying to get rid of Health Care for 30 million Americans to do anything. Well, I'm sure the American people are REAL glad that you in the Tea Party section of the GOP will make extra efforts to protect Syrians, but just sit on your hands when it comes to helping Americans.

Senator Rand Paul shows his foreign affairs stupidity

Rand Paul got on Meet The Press Sunday and showed how little he understands foreign affairs, and little he's ready to take a step up in national political discussions. He stated that he was against military action in Syria, which as far as I'm concerned, is a fine stance to take. But then, he said he was glad that the President was going to delay, for this would give the UN inspectors time to give their report on what happened in Syria. Again, a fine stance. But then, he said he wanted the Obama administration to take that report and show it to Russia and China. Now, I must admit that, after this, I didn't care what he said. What could he say? For one, isn't the hatred that the GOP has for the UN the reason why the Senate refused to approve a treaty that would make all countries accept handicap laws that the America already has? Yes! But to me, that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that he doesn't understand that there's nothing in any report that will make either Russia or China to allow any action in Syria. They not only consider the Syrian regime friends, they don't care about their own people, much less those of the Syrian people. If China thinks it's okay for children and women to work in factories as de facto slaves, what makes Senator Paul think China cares about Syrians? If Putin and the Russians are allowing beating of gays and lesbians and will jail anyone who speaks out on their behalf, what could be said in a report that Putin would allow action against the Assad regime? That's right, absolutely nothing. So, why does he want the inspectors report to be seen by Russia and China? I don't know either, and but it does show how little he really knows foreign affairs, and why he's not ready for the national stage.