6 out of 7 GOP candidates for governor in Illinois will opt out of public option

By GottaLaff

I'm sure all those voters whose health and/or savings will be at stake based on your "opting out" politics will thank you. Way to play with the health and lives of fellow Americans:

All seven candidates, to varying degrees, competed to be the most conservative, the biggest "outsider," the most opposed to tax hikes, and the most opposed to increased government spending on health care.

"If I wanted to be part of socialized medicine, I'd move to Europe," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale). [...]

Six of the seven candidates said that as governor, they would "opt out" of any new federal government-funded health care plan. Ryan said he'd want to see it first.

But wait! There's more!

Asked what the state could do to prevent disasters such as Thursday's mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, most of the candidates talked about better communication with the National Guard and the state's other law enforcement entities. Brady said a law allowing Illinois residents to carry concealed guns "would help to respond to incidents like this as well as the tragic incident that occurred on Northern Illinois University's campus."

Yes! Yes! By all means, more guns are needed to shoot more people who also have guns! What a healthy trend. And speaking of health...

Not only will people lose their lives due to lack of affordable health care, they'll also increase the likelihood of dying at the hands of a fellow gunslinger.

America just keeps on getting more civilized, doesn't it? Do unto others...

H/t: Windy City Watch

Video- Arrogant Michael Steele to Lawrence O'Donnell: I Apologize for Allowing You to Ask Me a Question

Great thanks to FDL for grabbing this since I could barely believe it when I heard it. What an arrogant f***wad.

Ralph Reed's New Values Group: 'Not Your Daddy's Christian Coalition'

By GottaLaff

Nothing inspires trust like a failed candidate, a plagiarist with an arrest record, who's been investigated, been accused of election-rigging, who turned to lobbying, who is forever associated with felon Jack Abramoff, to mobilize the brand spankin' new version of Values Voters: The Next Generation:

Ralph Reed [...] is quietly launching a group aimed at using the Web to mobilize a new generation of values voters. In addition to targeting the GOP's traditional faith-based allies—white evangelicals and observant Catholics—the group, called the Faith and Freedom Coalition, will reach out to Democratic-leaning constituencies, including Hispanics, blacks, young people, and women.

Faith and Freedom? Really? With actual people of color, young 'uns, and ::gasp!:: women?! That's quite an undertaking. By the way, Ralphie, who's your daddy?

"This is not your daddy's Christian Coalition," Reed said in an interview Monday. "It's got to be more brown, more black, more female, and younger. It's critical that we open the door wide and let them know if they share our values and believe in the principles of faith and marriage and family, they're welcome."

That's swell how he recognizes that people other than white old men exist, isn't it? I'm excited for him. This opens so many doors so wide! See? Even Rushpublic doors have wide stances!

"There's a whole rising generation of young leaders in the faith community, and rather than nab the publicity I did at Christian Coalition, I want to cultivate and train that rising generation," Reed said. "One question is, who is our future Barack Obama, doing local organizing just like he was in the 1990s?"

One: Cultivate and train = Coerce and brain wash.

Two: He's in search of the next Barack Obama, Community Organizer? Did I read that right? WWSS??*

Moving on:

Reed is serving as chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and says he has filed papers with the Internal Revenue Service to register it as a 501(c)(4), a tax-free designation that permits lobbying and certain political activities. Gary Marx, Reed's deputy at the 2004 Bush campaign and Mitt Romney's conservative outreach director in 2008, will help advise the group. Jack St. Martin, a former top Republican National Committee staffer, is running day-to-day operations. [...]

"People of faith today are still a minority, but they're not a beleaguered minority," Reed said. "Twenty years ago, we never had people who had been the chief speechwriter to the president or senior staff at the Justice Department and all that has changed."

And hey, if that's not reassuring, nothing is.

*What Will Sarah Say?

GOP Lawmakers Callously Use Uninsured Witnesses as a Pretense for Opposition to Public Healthcare Plan

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash:

GOP Lawmakers Callously Use Uninsured Witnesses as a Pretense for Opposition to Public Healthcare Plan

Beaton was denied coverage on the Friday before the Monday on which her surgery was scheduled.

"Can you imagine having to walk around with cancer growing in your body with no insurance?" Beaton asked tearfully in her opening statement. "I can't even say how bad it was."

Follow the link for the entire post.

The Party of Blockage-- Senate GOP: Not so fast on Court pick

By GottaLaff

The Party of Blockage... although when it comes to Rushpublics, more like constipated:

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are resisting President Barack Obama’s call for a swift confirmation of his choice for Supreme Court, opening a rift between the parties even before the nominee has even been named.

Democrats contend that Republicans are planning to slow-walk an inevitable confirmation. The GOP has an incentive to do so: Conservative activists have vowed to use the court fight to raise money, fire up their base, identify troops and rebuild their movement, with millions of dollars in advertising planned.

That's nice, isn't it, how the Rushpublics are interfering with/infringing upon yet another branch of government (the first being their refusal to seat Senator Al Franken)? Yeah, that'll win over voters. Memo to Rushpublics: It's the American people and democracy that suffers.

America first, that's their motto, yesireebob.

GOP chief counsel on Senate Judiciary Committee: Gay marriage=pedophilia

By GottaLaff

The Party of No, the Backward Party, the Party of Bigots, the Ignorant Party, the Party of Homophobes... need I go on? Because I'm angry enough to do that. Oh, I could go on all day:

Last week, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) named William Smith as the chief counsel for the GOP on the Senate Judiciary Committee. David Ingram of Legal Times reports today that Smith recently compared support for same-sex marriage to support for pedophilia. In a blog post that has now been taken down, Smith responded to former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt’s speech to the Log Cabin Republicans by writing that he wondered “if next week Schmidt will take his close minded stump speech to a NAMBLA meeting. For those unfamiliar with NAMBLA, the acronym is for North American Man Boy Love Association.” Smith also compared same-sex marriage to bestiality.

Party of Bottom Feeders, the Sphincter Party....

Morally Bankrupt

I have no rejoinder.

Hannity And Steyn Attack Colin Powell Over Criticisms Of Limbaugh

As proof that Limbaugh is mainstream Republican, Steyn said, “Take Rush Limbaugh's listeners away from the Republican Party base and there isn't a lot left.”

I think that's the whole point. Via Newshounds.

Local GOP cancel speech by Utah governor-- too moderate

By GottaLaff

Well isn't that just like the Rushpublics? I may have to start calling them the Tushpublics:

Joanne Voorhees, the chairwoman of the Kent County Republican party in Michigan, has "abruptly canceled" an upcoming fundraiser with Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R). Voorhees "said that hosting the moderate Utah governor would mean abandoning the party's conservative principles." [...] Huntsman sharply criticizes the national GOP leadership, giving them an "incomplete" grade on their first 100 days as an opposition party to President Obama. "Instead of just kind of grousing and complaining, it would do us all a whole lot of good if we actually started engaging directly in finding compromises and common ground and shared solutions," said Hunstman."

Huntsman should think about changing teams right about now...

H/t: Pigboy

GOP Admits it Owns FOX?

By GottaLaff

Robert G. Kaufman, author of In Defense of the Bush Doctrine: Moral Democratic Realism and American Grand Strategy, published in 2007:

The fifth thing that Republicans have to do is understand the problem of communicating in a world where much of the television media, particularly, is hostile...If I had to recommend one single thing that the Republicans should be doing to help articulate the message, it is to acquire another television network so that there is not just FOX, but multiple sources of alternative information that will do a much better job than we did in 2008 to keep things honest.

Please go here for more.

VIDEOS: Republican stunt men roll out GOP budget

By GottaLaff

And here you thought stunt men were only in the movies. The fuss-budget Rushpublics and stunt people do have one thing in common: They both work in fantasyland:



Last week they pretended to roll out their fudge-it. Today Paul Ryan actually presented something-or-other in the song stylings of the usual Tee Vee Machine persona of the condescending pre-school teacher, a la Ba-ba-ba-Bobby Jindal. They just keep on embarrassing themselves, don't they?

In face of all this criticism, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is now backtracking and admitting that last week’s budget was just a “marketing” stunt. Asked by Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski if the budget legislation he’s introducing in the House today is “a little bit more clear than the one we saw last week,” Ryan responded by claiming last week’s budget wasn’t a budget at all, but rather just a “marketing document”:

RYAN: Yes. The thing you saw last week was not the alternative budget. This is our alternative budget we’re bringing to the floor today. […]

What was released last week was more of a marketing document. Not a budget. This is our budget.

Despite his admission, Ryan’s budget proposal doesn’t appear to make any more economic sense than it did last week. Indeed, despite the growing recession, Ryan is calling for a five-year spending freeze which, as Pat Garofalo explains, would “negate the stimulus, while betting economic recovery will occur thanks to an abundance of supply-side tax cuts.”

And they want America to take them seriously? Not if they keep this up:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Photo Phun: Got 0 Plans

By GottaLaff

(via)

Got 0 Plans

By GottaLaff

Paul Begala has a way with words:

"The Republicans are like an arsonist who complains that the fire department is wasting water... Unless and until they do offer an alternative, they really have no right to whine about the president. For now at least, GOP stands for Got 0 Plans."

-- Paul Begala, on CNN, on the Republican criticisms of President Obama's budget.

Zero.

GOP 'trackers' stalk Dems in hunt for 'macaca' moment

Yep, but as Dan points out, they're not just standing there, they're trying to instigate situations that would embarrass the politicians. Your modern GOP.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Chris Carney was walking down a Capitol Hill street when suddenly — bam — an anonymous Republican with a video camera who'd been following him asked him a question that was intended to embarrass the Pennsylvania Democrat.

The interviewer asked first about a single provision in the massive economic stimulus bill, then asked if Carney was going to be "ready to vote tomorrow."

An irritated Carney answered: "Like I told you before, if I see the damn package, I'll have an answer."

(snip)

The National Republican Congressional Committee is sending out video "trackers" to ask provocative questions of Democratic members of Congress. The trackers, who are congressional committee staffers, were earlier reported by Congress Daily, a specialty publication distributed largely on Capitol Hill.

NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay told McClatchy that Democratic complaints were "whining," adding that "The modern-day world of campaign politics demands that we track our opponents' steps and missteps. We have nothing to hide when it comes to asking tough questions, but it appears that Democrats do when it comes to answering them."

White Nationalist-Linked ‘Right-Wing Youth’ Group At CPAC

By GottaLaff

I take everything back that I said about Republicans not being an inclusive party. Just look what they've done now. They've gone and opened their arms to this bunch of young'uns, and I hope America gets wind of it in a huge way. I'm here to do what I can to spread the word:

A well-funded new organization whose stated purpose is to launch a “right-wing youth movement” will make a splashy debut tonight at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC [...]

According to CPAC materials, the group, Youth for Western Civilization, is one of the official co-sponsors, or major donors, of this year’s conference. [...]

In the past, CPAC organizers have shielded the reputation of their mainstream conservative enterprise by forbidding racist organizations like the Council of Conservative Citizens from participating. They may want to take a closer look at Youth for Western Civilization.

There, you see? Look at that. Big open GOP arms are reaching out to the youth of America. Racist America, that is:

One of the group’s founders, [1] Marcus Epstein, is a frequent contributor to the white nationalist hate website VDARE.com.

“Diversity can be good in moderation — if what is being brought in is desirable,” Epstein wrote in one VDARE.com essay. “Most Americans don’t mind a little ethnic food, some Asian math whizzes, or a few Mariachi dancers — as long as these trends do not overwhelm the dominant culture.”

Epstein is also the head of the Robert A. Taft Club, a Washington, D.C., group whose events regularly feature prominent academic racists like Jared Taylor, the editor of the overtly white supremacist journal American Renaissance.

Another Youth for Western Civilization founder, Kevin DeAnna, has posted several times in recent years to the Spartan Spectator, the website of the Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, or MSU-YAF.

In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center [2] identified MSU-YAF as a hate group after it organized a “Catch an Illegal Alien Day” game, sponsored a “Koran desecration contest,” jokingly threatened to distribute small-pox infected blankets to Native American students, posted “Gays spread AIDS” fliers, called Latino students and faculty members “savages,” and invited Nick Griffin, the chairman of the neofascist British National Party, to speak on the MSU campus.

Who wouldn't want to join the Republican party after reading that?

Okay, snark aside, these monsters and the party that supports them must be exposed over and over again for what they are. Hate mongering like this helped lose them the election. However, it seems that they don't see the connection. Let's do that for America. Let's connect the dots for as many people as we can.

The Republican party is imploding into a miasmic mass of bigotry, and the least we can do is assist them by publicizing their hatred and self-destruction.

More here, if you can stomach it. Their Facebook page here:

The end goal of Youth for Western Civilization is an awakening of young Westerners that will fight for their heritage and their liberties against leftist occupation and restore sanity to American universities.

Cartoon of the Day

G-d bless Mike Luckovich. Via.

Republicans will have to pay a high price

By GottaLaff

Way to play politics, GOP:

The Washington Post noted "the more Obama makes it seem like he is reaching out, the higher the price the Republicans will have to pay in order to oppose him."

I hope they have cash. Their credit card days are over.

Unexpected Quote-O'-The-Day: Norah O'Donnell edition

By GottaLaff

Just now on MSNBC, Norah O'Donnell (practically screaming) to Republican strategist about the GOP response to the stimulus package:

"Is anyone a thinker in the Republican party??!"

Someone pick me up off of the floor.

Fox News’ Fact-Checker Lies About ‘Phantom Earmarks’

In this respect, who's to say there isn't a provision in the bill to harness Republicans to windmills to create electricity for the country? That's an earmark to believe in... Via Think Progress.

The Audacity Of Nope

McCain says Obama needs to work on bipartisanship