I Shouldn't Have Worried

I was wondering how the refucks would do, calling on the second string. Where was the Boner? Where was Michelle Bachman? Bobby Jindal? He came through like a champ.

Far from the pissantine whine I was expecting, he lied and bull shitted like the best of them.

When he made reference to the government's handling of Katrina... DUDE... YOUR party's president was in charge of that. HIS appointees did those heckuva jobs. YOUR party was in charge of Congress. YOU sat there.

I love how refucks do this: They create government failures so that can point out the failures of government. They create the reasons why we should mistrust government. He references the Refuckyoucan response to Katrina as the reason we should not trust the democrats, but rather the refuckyoucans to provide help to pull us through this Second Republican Depression. "We republicans have ideas." Dude... we get you... your ideas SUCK!!! That's why we've been voting your ilk out these past two elections. I get the idea he believes in those McCainian Economic Fundamentals.

And of course the straight faced bald faced lies: There is no railway from Disneyland to Vegas in the stimulus bill. You refucks have had NO energy plan, besides "drill baby, drill." You have had NO plan for universal health care beyond, "go to the emergency room." You have had NO economic plan beyond tax cuts, when times are good, bad, happy or sad.

BTW Bar.... Helluva speech. Back it up with action and you may force me to take down my Kucinich banner.

Fancy Assed Ways to Say "Fuck It"

Tale of two Republicans: For Sanford, it's worry, worry worry about how his state (all states) can sustain the mandates contained in the stimulus bill. The " federal strings attached." Pawlenty's state has already implemented those provisions. Hmmm Keep in mind, neither of these characters will rule out the possibility of running for President.

Pawlenty's figured out a rationalle whereby he can take the money, but as a sort of protest. He doesn't say so directly, but he thinks the feds owe his state this money. For Sanford there seems to be something intrinsically evil about (democratic) spending.

"Creative Destruction." I Wikied/Googled this term the first time I heard it and haven't come across anything linking it to Adam Smith, but it's out there again. Let everything go bankrupt, including the automakers. "bust the unions" "sell off the pension funds" Not said in those words, but the point was made by Pawlenty. Somehow this doesn't apply to banks and brokerages and corporate execs, who sit in the shade thinking of ways to make money with money; it only applies to manufactures and other blue collar industries. Somehow, magically a phoenix will rise from the ashes.

Granholm gets cut off when she starts making the point of this country heading in the direction of "Manufacturing nothing."

Governors like Granholm are going to get crucified by conservatards as being nothing more than money grabbers, no matter what they say about envisioning Obama's stimulus bill as a bridge to try to get us to a more active economy. In the meantime, people are hurting in numbers we haven't seen in decades. Sanford makes a lot of noise in opposition, Pawlenty makes excuses, for taking money to help them. Anyone wonder why I call these people and their party Refuckyoucans? ??? They don't care; they just express their disdain differently.

(WOW.... Juan Williams steps out of his "Man Servant" attire (a black Alan Colmes?) and calls a spade a spade regarding the NY Post's Obama/chimp cartoon, while Brit the Shar pei Hume and Billy Blood Lust Kristol excuses it. Face it, the stimulus is Obama's bill, no matter who actually typed it up, just like the devastating tax cuts of the last 30 years are Reagan's and Bush's. The NY Post is calling Obama a rogue chimp, on the attck, who needs to be shot. (see my comment over at Firestarter's))

(Another WOW: Ahnuld on Snuffallupolous: Give the people what they want, such as health care, even if it goes against your personal principles. Is he really a republican? I know he's not stupid.)

The nation is where it is, the economy is where it is, as a result of Refuckyoucan, conservative, Greenspanian, voodoo, policies. Bullshitiousness and douchebaggery: Industries can regulate themselves. Greenspan was SHOCKED to learn that the banks could not. Theoretically.... yes. It IS in the best interests, theoretically, to produce a good product, to give good service, to satisfy customers. Unless you're a shareholder; they're customers of a different color. Good service to them means getting a big dividend.

In order to satisfy buying customers, industry must invest and spend. To satisfy shareholder customers, industry must cut corners and save. Hence ship jobs to China, Vietnam and Indonesia where labor is dirt cheap or the Marianas Islands and import Chinese as slaves. And give tax breaks for the "cost of investment" in doing so. To sell this shit as a benefit to consumers, harp on the notion that higher, meaning any, business taxes will increase prices, while ignoring the FACT that NO ONE lowers their prices when production costs decrease.

What has happened in the past eight years, and actually it began with Reagan, is that investors have become the customer in terms of government financial policies, not the buying public. The end result of these tax and business policies were that the last pool of capital left in this country was the equity people had in their homes. If there was no equity, it was created artificially by cheapening money and deregulating credit and loosening qualifications for mortgages to get people to refinance their homes. In the meantime, these same policies allowed people who were totally unqualified to apply for and get loans to buy homes. While it was the equity they were after, they also got toxic loans. Two separate issues.

The equity as was intended, got spent. It DID create jobs... in the service and retail sectors. Manufacturing continued to move and stay overseas. But the effects of spending home equity are temporary, and the effects have run out. So what we have now are people with refinanced houses, no equity in them and no way to pay for them because they have no jobs. NEW toxic assets added to the other ones: the toxic loans.

Enter the smoke and mirrors of mortgage (bad loan) backed securities, derivatives, credit default swaps, and other fraudulent cover ups (Ponzi schemes) cooked up by the ban-sure-vest ment industry. That anyone, anywhere would be surprised that the economy is where it is is ludicrous. I understand being desperate, but what the fuck do people expect to happen when millions run out of money?

Interest Only Loans. I couldn't believe such nonsensical entities existed. And I couldn't believe people would be so unscrupulous as to sell them. What if the price of the house goes down? DUHH!!! I know the only way I could be convinced to accept such a thing would be that I was lied to or defrauded in some other way. Or just be desparate to have shelter: Sign the loan or live in a crate? I'd sign the loan. Knowing I'm leaving someone else holding the bag.

When you boil down all the financial finnegglings of these past months, their true intent is to protect these bag holders. And it's all been insured at every step of the way with money that never existed. NOTHING is being done to protect the buyer. "Let the buyer beware." EVERYTHING being done is to protect the investor. "Let the buyer be... bailed out?"

Oooooo.... Nouriel Roubini and Paul Krugman face off against George Dubya F Will. School house time.

George is doing his best to not be ridiculed by people who know what the fuck they're talking about. Almost funny as I watch him squirm and seethe as he swallows his conservatard cliches. Shit... I kept watching and waiting for Will to show what an ass he can be and I missed the sensible shit from Roubini and Krugman.

Bobby the Exorcist Jindal. You want to live in a "Republican Paradise?" Move to Louisiana. This fucker's crazy. "I just have a fundamental difference with this package." I can't take money to help people if it differs from my personal political philosophy: Cut (capital gains) taxes.

A-Roid: Now as a Toon Lune

I won't say I never liked him, but since he left Seattle, which was long before he signed his contract with the Texas Rangers, I've despised him. He's a calculating phony. Last year was the first year I failed to attend a game for the express purpose of booing his sorry ass.

I don't care how talented he is, and his using 'roids has done nothing to change my opinion, he's a fucking loser. Now that he's pulling a Dubya, and making new lies as the old ones are blown full of holes... well... He is TRASH. can you tell I hate phonies?

I have a T-shirt I bought in Maui that has a saying on it, the adherence to which would serve A-roid and other phonies and compulsive liars well:

Tell the truth; there's less to remember.

Trying to live by that may not change the type of person you are (like a recovering oxycontin addict who turns to booze or sex is still an addict) but it will make life simpler.

Who the Fuck is Worse?

(I haven't looked yet, but the link is there under my CNN feed)

Watching Tweety and I heard there's a survey ranking presidents and Dubya ranks 36. I'm cornfused. Very very verrrrrry cornfused.

Seriously, SIX presidents were worse? This must be a misguided effort at being bi partisan. Or charitable. Or perhaps stupid. Ya think? ???

Must be that he's tied. six way? Hmmm... I give up; gotta look.

Ooo... this is kinda interesting:

The prize for the greatest jump in approval from historians over the last nine years, however, went to a president who has often sat near the bottom of such rankings: Ulysses S. Grant. The Civil War general jumped 10 notches, from 33rd to 23rd.

Grant has traditionally received poor marks for corruption among people in his administration and the failed postwar reconstruction effort he presided over.

They give a bunch of crap possible reasons for the jump, but I just think it's numbness due to the common placeness granted to corruption and ineptitude by Dubya's cronies. Ida figgered he'd a been one of 'em.

Ahhh.... Buchanan. PA's eternal source of shame. The Keystone state's only president. dead last. Harding... yeah I could see him as being worse. Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce... I have to confess, I know little about them. Who else could rank lower? That's only four who are more fuckupulous. Who're the other two?

Andrew Johnson... Survived impeachment by only one vote. I guess if he'd been better than Dubya he would have avoided the whole process...? That can't be the reason or Clinton would rank lower also.

William Henry Harrison... no fair. The fucker died after only 32 days in office. He didn't have time to do much of anything beside getting sick and dying. "Vote George Dubya... He survived fatal colds." Riiiiight. I'm not thinking so. Fuckin' Dub.... he's #37 at best.

The Farking Bastidges

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Couple of choices were tough to make. I also came out as a Peace Patroller.

h/t BlueGal

Add This to Your Reading List:

The Myth of Ronald Reagan

It's always comforting to get a confirmation... actually, I'm not sure "comforting" fits. Vindicated? I don't know, but thanks, Nunya.

I have several unread books on my shelf, so I'm not sure if I'll buy this one or not. The reviewer describes it as, not just a book for pissed-off liberals, but as a wake up call for conservatives. Hmmmm.... could it somehow change my views regarding the pathogenicity of conservatism? (I was taught in high school that a pathogen kills its host) I don't know.

Two other books to add:

Greenspan's Fraud

Screwed

A Misuse of Humor?

I don't know. (maybe just chalk this up as Sunday morning too-big-a-breakfast-tummy-rumbling ramblings) In some ways I'm getting tired of my own rage over the past 8 yrs of asswipulous dipshittulous fuckwaddity, otherwise known as W's reign of error destruction. I know there are some serious health detriments due to rage, and benefits to engaging in laughter, humor, the occasional wearing of rose colored glasses, etc but...



(inspired by C&L)

Are WE now fiddling while Rome burns? I wonder.

I've said repeatedly that Dubya was right when he said we misunderestimate him. And not only him, but the entire refuckyoucan party. Now, after an election about "Change we can believ in," one thing that has NOT changed is: The Refuckyoucan party.

They're still up to their same old shit: Obstructionism; smoke and mirrors; outright lies; and most of all, Cowardice. They are afraid of what they've wrought; of owning up to their responsibility and facing the consequences of their actions.

To hear Lindsay Graham talk about "keeping open the possibility of involving government and nationalizing banks..." as he sits with Steffulopogus, the fucker looks like a whipped puppy rather than your usual swashbuckling, tax cutting, labor fucking, free marketeer. Not that he's not still championing tax cuts, oh boy. Especially for the latest refuck toy, "small business," not that we even know what that term means anymore.

Their term du jour: "Bipartisan." WTF? OK, so Obama threw the term around during election season. Was he right? Wrong? Without 60 Dems to prevent a second consecutive record breaking refuckyoucan filibuster performance, he needs cross-over votes. Meet the most powerful people in government: Susan Collins, Olympia Snow and Arlen Spector. The rest of them seem to think it's more important to rewrite the history of the First Republican Depression, otherwise known as the Great Depression: Roosevelt caused it. Reagan's tax cuts ended it.

All this whining and crying about Obama and the Dems not being bipartisan... not reaching out... not including republicans... or their ideas. Well just maybe it's because your ideas SUCK!!! And maybe it's because when one your ideas is included, you still vote against it. Life's rough when you haven't done a single solitary good thing in the past eight years. Get's rougher when people start to realize it.

How much longer will the refucks keep playing their dumbass fucking games? ??? George F Will: "The fallacy of the false alternative, that the president is wielding promiscuously." explained? Fuck no. George again: "You are a pyromaniac in a field of straw men." explained? Again, fuck no. Big words and fancy phrases for empty ideas. Someone please help me out: What did Will have to say this morning? Of substance, I mean.

And while we're at it, let's listen to Carly "I-was-fired-with-a-kick-ass-bonus-for-fucking-up-Hewlitt-Packard" Fiorina give her views what else: CEO bonuses and saving big business and banks. Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment; I'm watching Fucks News.

"It's all fun and games till someone gets hurt."

I laughed like hell at Sarah Palin's impersonations of Tina... what's that? Tina Fey was doing the impersonations? well... even if there's a way to tell the difference, some things just aren't funny anymore.

People are hurting.

The world is hurting.

The planet is hurting.

Thank you Conservatards

For your representatives.

For your policies.

Why anyone not born independently wealthy would want to vote for these people is beyond me.

VD is Coming

Prepare yourselves for the yearly pain-in-the-ass, guys.

No, not the clap, doofus. Valentines Day.

Card? Check

Flowers? Check

Present? DON'T buy anything useful: No appliances, no clothes, no tools. Call it a bauble, a gee gaw, whatever, it absolutely cannot have any practical value or use.

Not sure what to do about dinner? Check this out for ideas.

Things that make you go,

"Hmmmmmm..."

Keith O played a portion of this tonight. Here's the whole clip.



If this makes you wonder if there's a way out of this mess without a total crash, you're not alone. Especially when you read this little gem from the NY Times. h/t to C&L

Sometimes You Just Gotta Say, (UPDATED)

What the fuck.

Sometimes that's ALL you can say. or ask. And now is one of those times.

I haven't had much to say these past few days as Dumbocrats roll over for Refuckyoucans. Not stimulative enough; too much spending; not enough tax cuts; we can't afford more debt -- think of the children;

"Our plan pares back a very substantial amount of money that we believed didn't belong in the bill. Didn't belong in a bill that was designed to fix our economy called a stimulus package.

Now if we looked at these proposals many of them will work well in a budget or in another bill. Ben Nelson

So your problem is semantics? Terminology? Note that Ben Nelson, at least in name, much like Joe LIEberman, is a Democrat. Idiocy is NOT a one party issue. Anyway...

As the pontificators in the House of Lords, spout their bullshit for the networks, and posture and pose for their donors, all I can do is shake my head. We have real problems in this country, and rather than solve them, they think they're on some kind of a proving ground for their ideology(ies).

Actually, in a way we are, we have been, and we always will be. But all we need to do is look at history: EVERY economic depression/panic has been preceded by a period of an unregulated, free market economy. Voo Doo Economics. It's an undeniable fact.

Now there's (another) stream of refuckyoucan revisionism going on regarding the success or (in their twisted minds) failure of the New Deal. (Oh Fuck me with a taser... Ron Christie on the TeeVee. PURE.... BLIND.... devotion/submission to refuckyoucan propoganda) Yes, there was a hiccup in '38... due to a return to fiscal conservatism. That hiccup in turn leads to the theory that it was WWII and not the New Deal that ended the First Republican Depression. (although we all know, as Rush Limplog told us, it was Raygun's tax cuts that reeeeally ended it)

Assume for a moment that that is true: WW II ended the Depression. Now ask, "HOW?" Was it through the death and destruction? wellllll... it did create millions of casualties, both removing many from the work force requiring fewer jobs to be created, as well as requiring the employment of many in the health care and assisted living fields to care for the disabled (one reason Harry Truman tried to provide universal coverage) Along those same lines, there's no denying the need for reconstruction projects.

Why not do the same things we did with WW II, but without the death and destruction. The Marshal Plan... Economic stimulus? That was tax cuts, right? No; spending.

I will give ground on one "tax cut," and that's the "fix" for the Alternative Minimum Tax, which is flawed and needs a permanent fix. Although if it was fixed permanently the refucks would never again be able to trot it out as a tax cut. Other tax cuts that sound good to refucks but are useless to a great degree are the new car credit and the housebuyer credit. Nice; if you have the money to buy a house, or a car. ie...

If you have a fucking JOB !!!!

Tax cuts don't do shit for people who don't have a job, and the more the refucks in Congress push for them, the more they PROVE that they don't give a flying fuck about working class people.

A guy at work -- who's from Alabama and is fairly conservative, although claims no allegince to the refuckyoucan party -- came up with the simplest of plans to stimulate the economy:

Ask the state and local governments to submit a list of projects they have on hold due to lack of funds and fund them. Will they submit some "bridges to nowhere?" Sure. Will they want some new sod on their capitol malls? Sure. Will some projects, like a new Seattle viaduct, get bogged down in legal battles? Sure.

There would be arguments over including/excluding projects; no plan is perfect.

The alternative is the Mark Sandford plan (which may have merit, since the refucks have so thoroughly screwed things up...possibly beyond repair): Let everything go to hell in the name of Adam Smith's "creative destruction," or whatever Smith's term was.

UPDATE: Further distortions from Fucks Noise and Newtie the Blowhard: Only 37% of American people approve of the stimulus bill; Only the far left approve of it.

Uhhhhhhh.... your percentage might be correct, but everything after that is (as usual) totally suspect.

Count me as one of the 63% who disapprove. But I disapprove because your ilk has fucked with it AFTER it was already a watered down ghost of what stimulus should be. At first it was 30% tax cuts. Now it's supposedly 42%. 30% was too much.

Your bankrupt, immoral, pathogenic conservative philosophies of solving all problems through tax cuts are Bull Shit. THAT'S why only 37% approve. Take them out and the numbers will flip.

Morning Decision I, II

Fuck Morning Joe.

Watching him this morning and listening to him, and hearing his adolescent sniping at Mika, Obama, and all things not near and dear to his heart of hearts, basically bowing down and worshiping the golden calf of tax cuts, I came to the conclusion that he's an ass. A pompous ass.

The show is much better when he's not there.

I can put up with Mika and Courtney McCain Hazlett. I enjoy listening to many of the guests. I like looking at Erin Burnett. But the Scar? He belongs on Fucks Noise with Hannity and the other conservatards.

That's My decision; #I.

Decision #II isn't one for me. It's for all you GOPers in the Conservative Working Group: Do you REEEEEeeeeeaaallly want to have your face caught on film attending a meeting on economic stimulus ideas where Joe the Plumber is a guest? Not just a guest, but the FEATURED guest.

Who the fuck came up with that idea? ??? Are you sure they're on your side? ???

OooooKay, It's Linky Love Time or...

Blog Roll Amnesty Day. So, here's a couple of links to blogs I've never visited before:

1) Circle Jerk at the Square Dance

2) Opinions You Should Have

3) ...and the strangest things seem, suddenly routine

Why these? The titles, silly. Actually I used to buy wines in much the same way: by the label.

OK so I didn't exactly follow the rules laid out by Ms Blue Gal. Actually I didn't come close, but...

Amnesty. You can't shoot me. (the wife wouldn't like that. anyone shoots me, she has dibs)

I have no idea if these guys get fewer hits than I do. I have no idea how many they get. If I can check em out for a first time, so can you.

Blogroll Amnesty Day

Tuesday, February 3

You link to me, I link to you*










Read all about it here or here.

* I actually link to anyone who leaves a comment. Without even asking if they link to me.

h/t Blue Gal



THAT is not Blue Gal.

Katchkatchuwan? ???

Fucking Dick Morris. What an asshole.

Of course he's on Fucks Noise so what do you expect.

Word of advice Dick, Know the name of the town involved when you're going to slam someone for funding the bridge to nowhere. In this case, he's slamming Don Young, who Beck thought had been kicked out of the Senate... Wrong guy, wrong house...

After all the months these stories were in the news, the name of the town Dick, and you too Glenn, since you didn't know to correct your fellow Foxtard, is

Ketchikan.

Dumb asses

OK Erin, You're Hot but, Seriously....

I missed most all of Stuffy today as well as Chris Wallace and his Nights of the Dark Table, but I did catch a bit of Meet the Press. Erin Burnett was there, along with Steve Forbes and some Nimrod. No not David Gregory, someone else. Anyway, Erin got talking about the latest $18 Billion of bonuses and tried once again to explain her belief -- because I believe it IS a belief and NOT a fact -- that bailout money is not being spent on bonuses.

For this to be true, there would have to be NO co-mingling of funds. In other words the banks would HAVE money over here, but be broke over there. somewhere.

Let me explain this to you like you're a high school drop out. Because I've had to explain this to a high school drop out in my family. Ahem... Seriously, I'm not the only (step) parent who's had to explain this I'm sure. And DON'T try to tell me how family business is not business business. Money is as money does.

A certain un-named member of this family is ALWAYS struggling with money. Doesn't make he...them evil, it's just a fact. What bugs me is the "I spent my own money..." argument sh...they trot out all the time. The reason they have any money that they can consider "theirs" is that we're paying one or more of their bills, say car insurance or cell phone, or a bill covering a kid expense. Paying that bill frees up money that can now be waste...spent on shoes, purses, baubles and geegaws. We don't pay those bills, they don't have that money. Unless of course they go without a cell phone (with bluetooth), car insurance or...

Very simple.

The banks used money to pay bonuses because we taxpayers gave it to them. It doesn't matter how loudly they argue that they used "our money" somewhere else and used "their money" for the bonuses, it just plain fucking doesn't work that way. Not without using a hefty collection of mirrors with extra dark smoke.

Oh geezuss... a buttfuckoulous festival of mutual hero worship between Sean Vanitty and Puss Limbaugh... There goes my appetite.

Geezuss returns.... I'm kind liking Kirsten Powers right now. I mean the brown eyes/blond hair kinda says that if there's carpet, it don't match the drapes, but she just told Glenn Beck he (and Malkin) sound "coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs" as he talks abut Mexico invading the US if we pass Obama's stimulus plan. I'm not finding a whole lot to argue about there. With what she says, not Beck.

With all Due Respect...

Several days, still lots of mileage from Obama's "outrage" over the NY Times story about Wall Street/ banker/ executive bonuses.

Where the fuck have you been these past few years Barry? ???

When the Washington Mutual guy got millions for a several weeks of watching the company spiral down the shitter... Where was your outrage?

When the airline industries were all going through chapter 11 and the bankruptcy courts granted their execs big ass bonuses while slashing thousands of rank and file jobs and wages... Where the fuck was your outrage then?

When the fat fuck CEO from Exxon retired with HUNDREDS of millions in his golden parachute, after raping and pillaging us all with high prices and record profits... Where the fuck was your god damned fucking progressive populist "change we can believe in" outrage then?

Oh.... you were arguing over keeping your Blackberry...

And it's not just the size, frequency and disconnect-from-reality of these bonuses, it's the content. It would be one thing if these bonuses were salary. As salary they would be subject to a rate of 35% over $357k; roughly. However, the vast bulk of many of these bouses are in the form of stock, options and other items that are not subject to income tax. Instead they are subject to the Capitol Gains tax. If they hold on to their stock for more then one year before selling, their tax rate drops from 35% to 15%. That's the HIGHEST rate.

This is why the term is not "executive salary," or "executive pay," it's "executive compensation."

No wonder corporate tools like McShame and the Boner want to make the bush tax cuts permanent.

Hey. It's nice when a president pulls his head from the sand and takes a quick look around now and then... it hasn't happened in 8 fucking years, but what the fuck had YOUR head in the sand until now, eh Bar? And are you going to KEEP your head out there for the next 4 years? ??? I really don't think it's going to take us long to get answers, at least to the second question. Just watch and see how much bi-partison negotiation watering down goes into this stimulus and other bills. And watch and see if he has the guts to stand up to the MEDIA and their bullshit cheerleading for the assholes on the right who fucked us over for... 8 yrs... since Ronnie Raygun... their entire existence. (you thought I was going to say far left, eh?)

I got a compliment from Lisa not long ago, saying it was nice to see I still had my skepticism. Hey. I just watch and listen.

And look for a good reason to take down my Kucinich banner.

It stays.