By GottaLaff
Lawrence O'Donnell takes Jim DeMint down... and out... with facts:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
"The penalty for not paying the tax penalty... is nothing... There isn't a real individual mandate in this bill, because there isn't a real penalty for violating an individual mandate.
The Republicans.... reeeaallly like scaring you."
Yeah yeah, scary socialists, we know. Via Taegan-
"The way that it was presented as some kind of marketing ploy, I don't like that, but I think there's real substance here. I mean you don't have to put a name on it, but I think it's gone far beyond anything that's liberal."
-- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, defending the recently leaked RNC fundraising presentation that claimed President Obama was taking the country towards socialism.
By GottaLaff
Rawl To Announce Campaign for US SenateThere's a Facebook page supporting him here.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- 3/3/2010- 9:51 AM
Vic Rawl, former State Legislator, Judge, Prosecutor and current member of Charleston County Council will open his campaign to represent South Carolina in the United States Senate with a day long tour from the coast to the mountains on Monday, March 8.
Rawl will begin the tour at 10 am in front of the Lonnie Hamilton County Services Building 4045 Bridge View Dr, in North Charleston, SC. In case of rain, the announcement will be made inside the building’s rotunda.
The Campaign will move to Columbia, SC for a 1 pm press conference at SC Democratic Party Headquarters at 1529 Hampton St.
The Tour will conclude with appearances at both the Spartanburg and Greenville County Democratic Party Conventions that evening between 6 and 8 pm.
The Campaign’s online presence will activate that morning with a Website, Twitter, and Facebook presence.
The campaign tour can be reached on cell phone that day at (843) 343-9486. Updates will be posted on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Rawl_for_Se... throughout the day with links to internet and video content.
If he receives the Democratic nomination, Rawl will stand against Jim "Waterloo" DeMint in the November 2010 general election for the privilege of representing the State of South Carolina in the US Senate.
Dance Jimmy, Dance!!
By GottaLaff
After his words attracted national attention and drew condemnation from a Jewish state senator, a South Carolina Republican official is now apologizing for co-writing a newspaper op-ed that described Jews as penny-pinchers. [...]State senator Joel Lourie, a Democrat and one of South Carolina's two Jewish lawmakers, issued a statement on Monday rebuking the two Republicans, calling them "individuals who unapologetically espouse racist and stereotypical attitudes."
He also called on DeMint and South Carolina GOP chairwoman Karen Floyd to denounce the comments.
Floyd did so on Tuesday, calling the observation "an offensive and inappropriate comment" while also accusing critics of using the controversy for political gain. Aides to DeMint have not responded to requests for comment. (UPDATE: DeMint has also weighed in.)
The Republican Jewish Coalition also blasted the op-ed. RJC Executive Director Matthew Brooks said in a statement that Ulmer and Merwin "have done a tremendous disservice to their party."
Ulmer [...] said he "quoted a statement which I have heard many times in my life, truly in admiration for a method of bettering one's lot in life."
See? He was just quoting other anti-Semites. And it was a compliment! What's all the fuss about?
He e-mailed in an apology last night:
"I meant absolutely nothing derogatory by the reference to a great and honorable people," he said in the e-mail. "I hope that anyone and all who were offended by my comment will accept my humble apology."
How about this? Stop sending e-mails and get in front of a mic. Then say it like you mean it.
Merwin waited until this morning:
"At this time I wish to deeply apologize for any material included in that letter that would be considered antisemitic [sic] in any way," he wrote in an e-mail to reporters and other Republican officials.
I see. It wasn't really anti-Semitic. It was just considered anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism (note the spelling, Ace) is apparently in the eyes of the beholder.
"I have always abhored [sic] in the past, and shall continue to do so in the future, anti-semitism [sic] in any form whatsoever. I concur fully with the apology offered by my co-author, Jim Ulmer, and likewise beg that any and all who were offended will accept my deep felt apology."
At least it was deep felt. I know that to be the case, because he said so.... in his badly spelled e-mail.
By GottaLaff
After a Democratic state senator wrote that DeMint didn't bring enough money back to the state, Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer responded that he was just looking after the nation's pennies -- like a Jew would.
"There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves," Ulmer and Merwin wrote.
No words. None.
By GottaLaff
Weren't we just talking about Jim DeMint? Why yes, yes we were. He just keeps on creeping ("creep" being the operative word) into convos, doesn't he?
On Saturday, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) discussed the direction of the GOP in an address to the Republican Northeast Conference in Newport, RI. [...] McCotter explained that these individuals want to “purge” opponents “all the time…because they’re nuts.” He then clarified that his remarks were directed at radical conservatives like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC):
MCCOTTER: If the Republican Party wants to become its own antithesis, which is an ideological party, we’re going to continue to have these problems. Remember, ideologues, there’s a reason why they purge all the time — it’s because they’re nuts. Hope the ideologues weren’t listening. If, however, as I said before, we understand that we represent constituencies and America is a vast country full of a variety of opinions and peoples, way of life, then we will get where we need to go. As for the attitude of the Senator from South Carolina that it is better to have fewer friends than more, that’s easier to say in South Carolina than Detroit.
By GottaLaff
Gaaaa! Stop the evil socialist commie Marxist fascist liberal progressive hippies before they control the whole wide world!
I'm sorry, what's that coming through my non-existent socialist earpiece? It's too late?... just ask Greece? I don't understand. That must be some kind of ultra super duper double whammy secret lefty code:
Via Taegan:
"Liberal doesn't even touch it. This is a socialist agenda, plain and simple, demanding control. So we've got to stop them."We've got to stop us!
-- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), in an interview over the weekend, on the Obama administration.
It's pretty obvious that they don't listen to what they say. Vid via Think Progress.
By GottaLaff
"I am not going to be able to persuade my colleagues to do the right things, so I am just going to have to create pain."
-- Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), in an interview with World Magazine.
By GottaLaff
Boss Limbaugh finds humor in Americans doing things like, oh I dunno, suffering through foreclosures, unemployment, starvation... Isn't that hilarious? Are we slapping our knees and guffawing yet?
Last night, Rush Limbaugh came to Washington, D.C. to address the President’s Club Dinner, a meeting of wealthy donors and supporters of the Heritage Foundation. The audience included Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), as well as various millionaire trustees of the Heritage Foundation, like Thomas Saunders. [...]As he continued to gloat about his show’s success, Limbaugh mocked the idea that Americans are suffering, noting, “I’ve never had financially a down year” despite the “supposed” recession:
LIMBAUGH: But during all this growth I haven’t lost any audience. I’ve never had financially a down year. There’s supposedly a recession, but we’ve got - what is this May? Back in February we already had 102% of 2008 overbooked for 2009. [applause] So I always believed that if we’re going to have a recession, just don’t participate. [laughter]
Apparently his audience is just as unhinged as he is. Mocking mass misery is the tone-deaf Rushpublics' favorite pastime, quite the little diversion from reality.
By GottaLaff
Loverly suh-nap:
"Quite the opposite. We're seeing across the country right now that the biggest tent of all is the tent of freedom." Sanchez then stopped DeMint, demanding, "What the hell does that mean? The 'biggest tent' is 'freedom'? Freedom? You've got to do better than that!"Watching Rushpbulican punditiots commenting on today's breaking news is kind of like watching injured ants with multiple broken legs hoisting boulders, attempting to form a line to make their way back to their crumbling ant hill.
By GottaLaff
DeMint, a fierce opponent of government expansion, told the CPAC crowd that conservatives might have to “take to the streets to stop America’s slide into socialism.”
His remarks comes a day after Mike Huckabee told the conference of conservative activists that “the Union of American Socialist Republics is being born” with the president’s stimulus package.
“Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff,” Huckabee said of the government bailing out financial institutions.
Republicans are obstructionists, yes. But even worse, they are also destructionists. They care nothing about their own country, and are irrationally giving this kind of dangerous spew way to much momentum. They have to be stopped.
By GottaLaff
Politico reports that House GOP congressional aides decided to invite Wurzelbacher to a meeting on the stimulus in hopes that it will attract some media attention:Wurzelbacher, who became a household name during the presidential election, will be focusing his talk on the proposed stimulus package. He’s apparently not a fan of the economic rescue package, according to members of the group. [...]“In case you weren’t planning to attend CWG tomorrow morning, you might want to reconsider because Joe the Plumber will be joining us!” Kimberly Wallner, an aide to South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, wrote in a message to her e-mail list this afternoon.
Hot diggity dog! A special guest star! What would a deadly serious discussion about our failed economy be without the insights of a fraud aching for media attention? Just imagine the pearls of wisdom dripping from the big fat mouth of a guy who has no expertise at all!
Steve Benen:
“This is what it’s come to for Republican staffers in Congress. In the midst of an economic crisis, and after balking at a stimulus package, the GOP is turning to an unlicensed plumber/campaign prop to discuss legislative strategy on economic policy.”Next thing you know, they'll bring in Bristol Palin.
By GottaLaff
Think Progress has the details, but here is the gist:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that President Obama’s recovery package, priced at roughly $819 billion, is too expensive. GOP “members” believe that they can pass a “very robust” stimulus at a cheaper price, he said.
Meantime, some moderate Republicans may be coming around.
Not surprisingly, DeMint’s plan consists of permanent tax breaks for corporations and lowering income tax for the wealthy. For the Senate GOP, it seems that deficit spending is permissible as long as it is done via tax cuts for the rich.
By GottaLaff
Thank you Barney Frank. Thank you Think Progress:
From ABC's This Week
Sam Stein adds, "The argument Frank makes is that in the context of chiding government spending, self-purported fiscal conservatives should not be entitled to selective memory."And thank you, Sam Stein.
By GottaLaff
So the FEC still functions? Where are their judgments on John McCain's campaign?
Federal Election Commissioners have approved an agreement by which Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) campaign will pay a $25,000 fine for accepting contributions above legal limits, according to files made public Friday.
The freshman senator, who has emerged as a leading conservative voice, accepted $68,000 in excessive contributions during his 2004 bid to replace ex-Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.). [...]The FEC also released judgments against Kalyn Free, who ran for the Democratic nomination in Oklahoma’s 2nd District in 2004, and against Suzanne Haik Terrell (R), who narrowly lost a 2002 challenge to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
The judgment against Terrell requires the candidate's committee to refund more than $625,000 in contributions and pay a fine of $42,543 for accepting illegal corporate contributions. Several individuals will pay fines ranging from $2,500 to $8,000 for their roles in the campaign.
I've been trying to figure out how exactly to put this, so I guess the most obvious way is the best. The Republicans will lose the Midwest FOREVER** if they let us get shat on. Just now on our local news there was a story about 5 new factory/shop/business closings, 3 of them automotive industry related. The Midwest will become the 21st Century version of the Dust Bowl if something doesn't happen. More on the travesty here.
You want to see riots? Do nothing.
**Someone else said this first, can't remember who. h/t TP.
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