News Roundup for 1/10/12

New RNC logo

-Headline of the Day-
"Republicans Hand Democrats a Populist Issue."

Republicans handed Democrats a gift today, by way on confirming one of the worst GOP stereotypes. In a fourth circuit court case, the Republican National Committee filed an amicus brief [PDF] arguing that candidates for office should be able to get that sweet, sweet corporate cash straight from the corporations themselves.

"Especially if Romney is the nominee, expect this to be rolled into Romney's 'corporations are people, my friend' line, the Bain Capital stuff, and the recent 'I like to fire people gaffe,' with Occupy undertones, for Democrats (or their super PAC surrogates) to make an anti-corporate, Populist message for Obama's reelection," writes Rick Hasen of the Election Law Blog.

In fact, since the RNC basically makes the "corporations are people" argument in the brief, I'd say this was a pretty sure bet. They might as well slap a "for sale" sign on the GOP logo, because the RNC is indicating that they want to sell the party really, really bad. (Political Wire)


-Shovel-Ready-



Don't worry New Hampshire, it's almost over. (Time)


-Bonus HotD-
"Heckler askes Romney: 'Are you going to fire the baby?'"

A Romney critic blows the obligatory baby picture photo op. Experts say this is the most embarrassing infant-related campaign incident since Chester Arthur confused the "shake hands, kiss baby" routine and had to be forcibly stopped from shaking babies. (Raw Story)

Stories to Watch: 12/2/11

I've tried a bunch of different ways to speed up rising bread, but the best way is still the way my grandma did it; use a heating pad on medium. Now here's the news...


Jon Huntsman's campaign emails a reporter, on whether he'll attend the Donald Trump/Newsmax celebrity game show GOP debate; "Lol. We look forward to watching Mitt and Newt suck-up to The Donald with a big bowl of popcorn." So I'm taking that as a no.


Unemployment numbers have dropped more quickly than expected, which is confusing on many levels.


The Republican War on Voting marches on.


Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus is a shameless liar.


Will disaffected GOP moderates run a third party candidate? Former NJ Gov. and Bushie Christine Todd Whitman says yes and Jon Huntsman's on the short list.


Insiders on both sides of the aisle have deep, deep doubts as to whether Newt Gingrich will be the nominee.


Finally, what was a hot item during the national Black Friday sales riots? Guns. I guess all that "peace on Earth" stuff is still a bunch of hooey.

Related articles

• Huntsman Down with Gingrich, Not with Trump (thepage.time.com)
• Having declined an invite the Donald Trump-moderated GOP debate, Jon Huntsman will instead face off one-on-one with Newt Gingrich at a Lincoln-Douglass style debate. (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• Wait, What? Donald Trump To Moderate Newsmax Sponsored GOP Presidential Debate (mediaite.com)
• Tamron Hall To Trump: Could Your Debate Look 'Like An Episode Of The Apprentice?' (mediaite.com)

Stories to Watch: 8/10/11

I had a cable guy come out and install a new box. Worked great for a bit, then the cable sputtered and died, cutting in and out with greater frequency until it finally went out altogether. I called the company and they told me it wasn't the new box, it's an area-wide outage. What are the odds? At least I get my internet through the phone company. Now here's the news...


Polling on the new "super-committee" on deficit reduction, CNN has good news, bad news, and (arguably) good news within the bad news. The good news is that 63% want to increase taxes on the wealthy, the bad news is that 57% want "major cuts in domestic spending." The good news within the bad news is that people obviously have no idea what domestic spending actually is. "Nearly two-thirds say no to major changes to Social Security and Medicare," we're told. So the good news within the bad news is that the deep cuts in domestic spending everyone wants are impossible -- which is good, because they would be stupid. Through the process of elimination, soak the rich it is.


Polling the same issue, Gallup finds that everyone wants compromise -- except the 'baggers.


Senate party leaders have announced their picks for the super-committee and one of Harry Reid's choices is characteristically idiotic. Fake dem Max Baucus will sit on the committee, making certain that conservatives have most of the votes on the Senate side. Was Joe Lieberman busy? Can't anybody here play this game? (For a differing opinion, check Steve Benen -- but I'm pretty sure liberals will wind up cursing Baucus before all is said and done).


The word of the day on Wall Stree is "Yikes!"


RNC head Reince Priebus says that the GOP's poll numbers are nosediving because people don't like Obama. No, really.


Finally, John Nichols calls BS on GOP triumphalism over the recall elections last night. You don't lose two senate seats to a recall and get to declare yourselves the winner. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin agrees.

Related articles

• Murray: All is on table in debt "super committee" (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Baucus added to debt super committee - msnbc.com (news.google.com)
• Awaiting Nancy Pelosi's picks for deficit committee (sfgate.com)
• Dow Jones Closes Down More Than 520 Points, Ninth Worst Point-Loss Ever (huffingtonpost.com)

News Roundup for 6/9/11

The Gingrich campaign

-Headline of the day-
"Gingrich presidential campaign implodes."

That hero of epic poetry, Newt Gingrich, is pretty much done. According to the report, his presidential campaign blew a gasket today "with his entire senior staff resigning en masse."

Part of the problem is that Newt's an idiot. The report tells us that among "the issues leading to the resignations... was the two-week vacation that Gingrich and his wife, Callista, insisted upon taking against the advice of his top political staff. Coming as it did after one of the most disastrous campaign launches in recent memory, it raised questions as to whether Gingrich would be willing to 'commit time to the grassroots.'"

Given the context, "commit time to the grassroots" seems to translate roughly as "do work."

"I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring," Gingrich responded in a statement. "The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles."

Yes Newt, I'm sure that's what you'd like to believe. (The Fix)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, Dogboy and Mr. Dan are back! Yay! And they;re here to tell us all about the debt ceiling.


Click for animation

You can tell Mr. Dan is the rightwing one, because when it comes to economics, he's clueless. (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Top Republican National Committee official involved in Wisconsin GOP shenanigans."

And the head of the RNC used to be the head of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

What an amazing coincidence! (Plum Line)

Stories to Watch: 5/6/11

Back on Firefox. Compared to Chrome, it's a big clumsy workhorse. Turns out I need a big clumsy workhorse. Now here's the news...


President Barack HUSSEIN!! Obama hates on America by having the flag taken down at Ground Zero. Except he didn't. Once again, I'm amazed at the gullibility of rightwing nutjobs and their inability to grasp the concept of "too bad to be true."


Herman Cain is the big winner in the first GOP presidential debate. Better pack your bags for the White House Hermanator, because this thing is totally in the bag. Of course, the real winner was any unannounced candidate who's thinking of running.


And John Boehner didn't even watch it.


The next time you think our politics are ridiculous, remember this: allies of Iranian President Ahmadinejad are being accused of sorcery. Here, we just accuse people of being commies. Still, if it works, expect the RNC to start a whisper campaign in '12.


Today's mind-blowing hypocrisy: Wisconsin Republicans are accused of massive fraud involving forged and otherwise ineligible signatures (i.e., signatories were told they were signing something else) on recall petitions against Democrats. At the same time, that same state GOP is pushing a voter ID bill through the legislature to fight -- get ready for it -- election fraud. Forehead. Downward. Keyboard. Slam.


So why are we paying oil companies to screw consumers at the pump? The president thinks we should quit doing that, what with the deficit and all.


Finally, about all those overtaxed rich people and corporations...

Stories to Watch: 2/19/11

So I wake up this morning, open the city's only print daily, and discover that coverage of the protests here are about 75% anti-union BS. It's not surprising, since the Wisconsin State Journal has always been the city's conservative paper, completely out of step with the community it serves. From now on, get your Madison protest news from The Capital Times. It's got top-flight reporting, it's updated throughout the day, and the price is right -- free. Give them your traffic. Now here's the news...


Speaking of the CapTimes, the paper is reporting that the right is painting protests in Madison as "riots" and "chaos in the streets." Bullshit, it's a love fest here and family-friendly. Wanna free bratwurst?


In related news, Gov. Scott Walker's starting to lose the support of the business community. That ought to give him pause.


A leaked book manuscript from a former Sarah Palin aide tells us what we pretty much already know about her days as governor -- and about her today -- Palin is venal, vindictive, and knowingly broke the law.


Just a reminder: Arizona still has an actual, honest-to-goodness government death panel and Republicans love it.


I've been handing out this link to people for days. Now, One Wisconsin Now is distributing it too. Long story short, Wisconsin public employees are not overcompensated. Once again, math hates Republicans.


Gearing up for a big budget fight and almost certain government shutdown, President Obama puts education front and center. Smart move, if you ask me. Republicans don't seem to realize it, but people are real. I've long held that conservatives like people a lot more when they happen to be hypothetical.


Finally, new RNC chair Reince Priebus picks up where the last clown left off. He sends out a letter calling peaceful protesters in Madison "union thugs." Words mean things, Reince. Why do you hate the English language?