A Primer for the Democrats in the 2010 Elections

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 9:57am.

• Guest Commentary

HUGH CONRAD FOR BUZZFLASH

Lesson One:  Today's Words Are "Republican Recession"

The passage of the healthcare reform package became reality for a plethora of reasons, but one was essential: Barack Obama went back to his base and argued his case in a fiery and a passionate way. For the Democrats to prevent the opposition from taking over either body of Congress in November, they have to be as vocal and as passionate as Obama was down the stretch.

The Democrats must do this with issues that the Republicans have destroyed: National Security, corruption, Republican ties to Wall Street, eviscerating the Constitution under Bush, along with the major issue, the Economy.

First, here is what the Democrats should do to make their case about the economy: Demonstrate outrage at the Republicans for mishandling the economy and causing the loss of eight million jobs.

My first suggestion is a simple one: Repeat these words over and over: This was / is a "Republican Recession."

Everyone -- those on the campaign trail, those in the netroots, and those who talk to the media -- should repeat these because repetition strengthens and confirms ideas in the minds of the American people.

The second suggestion is also simple: Tie the Republicans to Wall Street. This is simple with the financial-reform bill currently being debated in Congress. Republicans will try to prevent any meaningful reform.

The last suggestion here is to use history, tying it into the Republican Recession. For instance, use this historical scenario.

The Republicans ruled for 12 years in the 1920s and early 30s. What happened? The Great Depression, the worst financial failure in history. This occurred because of the policies of Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. The Depression ended after the people elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, who instituted meaningful change.

The Republicans again ruled for 12 years during the 1980s and early 90s. What happened? The Republicans rang up the largest budget deficits in history under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and forced the country into a serious recession. This ended after the voters elected Bill Clinton, who balanced the budget and built a surplus that the Republicans squandered under George W. Bush.

The Republicans ruled for eight years under George W. Bush. What happened? The worst recession in history, forcing the government into bailing out banks and spending stimulus money to try and rebuild the country. Eight million jobs have been lost because of the Republican Recession.

History is clear: Republicans have been horrible stewards of the economy.

Since 1980, Republicans have controlled the White House 20 of 29 years. We are experiencing this economic turmoil because of the reprehensible trickle-down economics of Ronald Reagan that have led to two major recessions, the last almost another Republican Depression.

When Americans go to the polls this fall, they must remember that this horrible economy is a Republican Recession.

Summary: Tie the Great Depression, constant recessions, and horrible budget deficits to the Republicans. This is historically accurate and can be very effective in doing over and over and over again.

HUGH CONRAD FOR BUZZFLASH

Let The Sun Shine In......

The Brutal Clarity of the "L" Word

Keep telling low-information people that they are in hell, they will vote for the devil, himself, to get out.....of course, they will find themselves in the deeper recesses of the pit.

Last week, NY Times economics correspondent Floyd Norris noted a major development that, as major developments go, is elsewhere observed with peculiar infrequency: "The American economy," began Norris' lede, "appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength.

"Firms have begun to hire," he continued -- indeed, in the first quarter alone the economy added more than a million jobs, "the best performance since the spring of 2005" -- and of perhaps even better news for the long-term outlook, that prime mover of the economic machine, consumer spending, "seems to be accelerating."

Additionally, the stock market has rallied more than 3,000 points since President Obama took office, and that's enormously good news for many an individual's retirement plans.
So all in all, the economic legacy of the previous administration's blinding misrule, mismanagement and miscalculation is happily turning from present reality to good-riddance history.

Yet, although we're hardly out of the woods, which even the White House is randy to remind us at every podium and press-release opportunity, "it is surprising," wrote Norris, "that many commentators ... seem to doubt that such a thing could possibly be happening."

Worse, in this layman's opinion, is that their complicating "doubt" is often converted to simple dismissal, which, in J.M. Keynes' famous metaphorical terms, only suppresses the economy's "animal spirits" -- a collective kind of spooky financial zeitgeist that plagued FDR's New Dealers to a palsied frustration; they soon found themselves boxing dark and elusive shadows rather than toasting the economy's somewhat optimistic tangibles. It's a pathology that feeds on itself.

In Norris' answer to Why all the doubt (and dismissal)? he offered several explanations "for the glum outlook that are unrelated to the actual economic data," including empirical evidence of traditionally slow recoveries; economic gurus' mortification at having blown past predictions, so now there exists their "understandable hesitation to appear foolishly optimistic again"; those plucky Republicans who "are loath to give President Obama credit for anything"; and, counterintuitively, Congressional Democrats who "would love to give the president credit" but also want "another stimulus bill ... [and] chances for that are not enhanced by the perception the economy is getting better."

Given the shortest shrift in Norris' piece, however, is possibly the most conspicuous reason for the nation's sustained gloom: the GOP's cranky, relentlessly depressing doomsday machine (see above; the Great Depression's psychological factors).

I'm certainly not saying that 24/7 Republican gloom and doom is the principal contributor to the economy's structural troubles -- of which there are many, most notably vast inequalities in wealth and the redistributive shortfalls that maintain and exacerbate those undeserved inequalities -- but in the way of unremitting drags on indispensible optimism, you'll find no better source than the Grand Old Party.

To hear Republicans tell it, we are, in fact, doomed. The economy may have added hundreds of thousands of jobs, the markets may be bubbling upwards, and consumer spending and business investment may indeed be on the wary uptick, but we're doomed, they'll tell you: doomed, Doomed, DOOMED!

Sure, that's politics; that's the way it goes, and no one should expect those tirelessly patriotic hypesters of the indomitable American Spirit and the American Way and the American Dream to say anything different (wait, is there a rhetorical flaw somewhere in that?). There are, after all, only 535 jobs + 1 that Republicans are interested in -- and the invincible gloom of "Anything is better than this" is always a splendid entry in the "Objectives" section of any political resumé.

No, what irks me -- and quite possibly irks Floyd Norris -- is that Democrats are so repeatedly hesitant to rebuff the Republicans' gloom: Isn't it becoming a trifle close to reelection time to be downplaying economic improvement, notwithstanding the Democratic desire for an additional stimulus package?

But what irks even more is Democratic resistance to the simple yet devastatingly accurate use of the "L" word: Republicans, despite alpine mountains of economic data which prove otherwise, are simply lying to the American people when they hammer away at the invented ineffectiveness of last year's stimulus package -- hundreds of billions spent and "Not one job created," they cry.

There's no better word for it. They're lying. Republicans aren't just distorting, they're not merely twisting, and they're far exceeding any tasteful boundaries of political spin. They're lying. They know it and Democrats know it; problem is, millions of low-information, American would-be consumers -- those prime movers -- don't know it.

On the whole, the news that first filters down and registers among habitually inattentive voters is the Big Bad Lie of altogether negative information. And the only way to effectively combat and conquer the Lie is to pointedly, ruthlessly call it what it is: that makes the news -- pound, pound, pound, Democrats Call Republicans Liars, pound, pound, pound -- and that then registers in the woefully part-time civic mind.

Little lightbulbs ensue.

Some might object that calling a lie a lie -- traditionally, to be sure, a political no-no -- would only add hostility to our already overhostile and polarized environment. No doubt, it would. The counter-objection, however, is that calling a lie a lie adds perhaps brutal but necessary clarity.

Please respond to P.M.'s commentary by leaving comments below and sharing them with the BuzzFlash community. For personal questions or comments you can contact him at fifthcolumnistmail@gmail.com

THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter

Let The Sun Shine In......

A minute of news, in case you missed it.

Submitted by meg on Mon, 04/12/2010 - 9:00am.

• Barbara's Daily Buzz

BARBARA'S DAILY BUZZFLASH MINUTE


Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Repuglicans, every last mother's son of them:
George W. Bush 'knew Guantánamo prisoners were innocent': 

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq

They aided and abetted terrorism by incarcerating innocent men, by torturing innocent men and giving innocent men reason to want retaliation. I say yes, I want my country back, back from the Repuglicans who stole the very essence of America, they stole everything this country stands for: truth, justice, and the rule of law!

This of course adds credence to that supposed "conspiracy theory" that Iraq was the key to their plan for world domination. History will prove Richard Nixon was but a passing irritation when compared to Bush/Cheney and the rest of the gang of Repuglicans!  

To all those crazy Repuglicans who supported every Bush/Cheney move, including torture and abuse, and who want America to fail today, all those just-say-NO sons of treason, I say: Go to hell, where you belong. Do your damage elsewhere because I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!

---

And now you know how and why pedophilia runs rampant and is ignored in the Catholic Church, all because the 13 year old altar boys wanted it:

"There are 13 year old adolescents who are under age and who are perfectly in agreement with, and what’s more wanting it, and if you are careless they will even provoke you."

...That's Spanish Bishop Bernando Alvarez coming to the defense of Catholic priests who've raped children — but they only raped the slutty ones, the ones who wanted it, so it's all good.

Blaming the victim is not going to absolve the sins of priests, bishops, cardinals and popes, neither those who raped the children, nor those who covered it up.

---

This is what has happened in Cardinal Ratzinger now Pope Benedict's Catholic Church:

Church Secrets: Abusive Memphis priest reassigned rather than reined in: A troubled traveler, keeper of the faith had secretive past...

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At least one CNN host isn't cuddling up to the tea-bagger right-wing nuts:

Sarah Palin takes a break from shooting wolves to appear at Michele Bachmann rally. You know, you have to love these two. They`re like the Lucy and Ethel of the lunatic fringe.

 Hooray for Joy Behar, a sensitive woman with truly discerning taste!

---

Proof positive mainstream corporate media is not -- I repeat: is not liberal -- from the Washington Post:

Two Republican stars -- Palin and Bachmann -- align for first time

Er, I'd hardly call them "stars." More like meteorites that will destroy this earth if they ever connect! Do we really want to go the way of the dinosaurs so many years ago, do we really want extinction, do we really want the Armageddon these two "lunatic fringe" seek so fervently?

BARBARA'S DAILY BUZZFLASH MINUTE

Let The Sun Shine In......

So much for the “nuclear” Senate showdown.

GOP gears up for Senate theatrics   By: Manu Raju   March 24, 2010 05:07 AM EDT

After President Barack Obama’s showy Tuesday signing ceremony, the Senate’s cleanup work this week on health care is looking more like a political strategy session, as each party tries to cement public impressions of the bill. “It’s going to pass here,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said matter-of-factly. “It’s a matter of what amendments [Democrats] want to be for and what they’re not.” To be sure, Republicans have lined up a bundle of politically embarrassing amendments and plan to wreak all sorts of procedural havoc.    No one ever died of embarrassment. Let's get on with it. “I think there’s going to be long nights, and there’s going to be anger and demagoguery from the Republicans,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “But I think the outcome is pretty clear.” So at this point, Republicans are simply going to continue with their key themes: that the new law will drastically cut Medicare, increase taxes and expand the government’s ballooning budget deficit. And as Democrats try to downplay the bill as mere “fixes” to the law and vow to kill all GOP amendments, Republicans are inflating the measure’s importance by arguing it would make even more draconian changes to the newly enacted law. Republicans are challenging several provisions with the Senate’s parliamentarian, Alan Frumin, on the grounds that they violate the so-called Byrd rule — named after Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) — which prohibits the addition of extraneous items to budget legislation. Republicans are also pushing uncomfortable amendments, including one by Coburn that prohibits sex offenders from being prescribed drugs for erectile dysfunction. And Republicans are planning unusual procedural tricks to ensure their objections are heard; the GOP on Tuesday forced committee work in the Senate to essentially come to a halt. In other words, they've started their disinformation campaign for November. But even if the GOP is successful in delaying action in the Senate and forcing changes to the bill, House Democratic leaders may bring the chamber back to session during the upcoming spring recess to pass the reconciliation bill one last time. And that fact is not lost on some. “Obviously, the damage has been done,” said New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, who is leading the fight over the reconciliation bill. “But we have not had an opportunity to address some of the substantive policy questions which are out there that should be discussed in an amendment-type atmosphere.” Since they began the health care debate last year, Democrats had kept the reconciliation process — a filibuster-proof way to make changes in tax laws and entitlement programs — firmly on the table. Nearly every time the strategy came to the fore, Republicans likened the idea to the “nuclear option” that nearly shut down the Senate in 2005, when the GOP tried to end filibusters for George W. Bush’s judicial nominees. Gregg said the nuclear option was being referred to in the context of moving the whole health care bill through reconciliation — rather than the smaller set of items now being considered. “This bill was used to buy votes; it’s a much smaller bill,” Gregg said. In fact, it was House Democrats who pushed for the reconciliation bill to clean up some of the more politically problematic provisions in the Senate bill, including closing the doughnut hole on Medicare prescription drug coverage, delaying an excise tax on high-end insurance plans and killing the so-called Cornhusker Kickback. The Senate bill also includes a sweeping rewrite of student loan laws that most Republicans strongly oppose. Democrats, feeling confident, are making fun of Senate Republicans for actually holding up the bill that removes some of the most controversial items. “I don’t understand what they’re doing, because they’re all going to be for supporting the Nebraska cornhusker provision and will be voting against all the things this bill cleans up,” Brown said. There is one potential area that could blow up the debate. If Vice President Joe Biden uses his authority to overrule a decision by parliamentarian Frumin, it could cause chaos in the chamber because that is so rarely done. “They would be very loath to do that because it would clearly be a political act,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “And the Democrats have already said they’re going to abide by the parliamentarian, which means they must have some confidence that whatever they said is going to work out their way.” Democrats downplay the likelihood of such a scenario, and Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), declined to comment on the possibility. Republicans aren’t sparing Frumin, who is supposed to be an impartial referee on Senate procedure. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to say Tuesday whether he believes the parliamentarian has been a fair arbiter of the Senate rules. “We’ll have views about that, I suppose, as we move along,” McConnell said Tuesday. “We’ll see what the parliamentarian rules and whether he becomes a player in this exercise or truly a referee, an umpire.” The theatrics may go beyond rhetoric as well. Republicans could go to lengths to keep the Senate in session by trying to extend the freewheeling amendment process indefinitely — even though Democrats said they may push Frumin to rule such a tactic dilatory and prevent them from doing that. “Realistically, I think the answer to that question is how long can senators stay awake continuously,” said Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). “We may see.” But most Senate insiders don’t think the GOP will go to such lengths, as the real battle is now on the campaign trail. “I’m not sure the public really differentiates between the [comprehensive] bill and the reconciliation bill,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “It’s all part of the machinations; it’s part of the process here.”

© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC

Let The Sun Shine In......

WASHINGTON — Americans by 9 percentage points have a favorable view of the health care overhaul that President Obama signed into law Tuesday, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, a notable turnaround from surveys before the vote that showed a plurality against it.

By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was "a good thing" rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill. Half describe their reaction in positive terms, as "enthusiastic" or "pleased," while about four in 10 describe it in negative ways, as "disappointed" or "angry."

The largest single group, 48%, calls the bill "a good first step" that should be followed by more action on health care. An additional 4% also have a favorable view, saying the bill makes the most important changes needed in the nation's health care system.

 

LAWSUITS: 13 AGs sue over health bill

 

HEALTH BILL: How six groups will be affected

 

BUSINESS: Employers unclear on impact

To be sure, the nation remains divided about the massive legislation that narrowly passed the House late Sunday and was signed by Obama in an emotional East Room ceremony Tuesday morning. The Senate began debate Tuesday afternoon on a package of "fixes" demanded by the House.

The findings are encouraging for the White House and congressional Democrats, who get higher ratings than congressional Republicans for their work on the issue. The poll shows receptive terrain as the White House and advocacy groups launch efforts to sell the plan, including a trip by Obama to Iowa on Thursday.

No one gets overwhelmingly positive ratings on the issue, but Obama fares the best: 46% say his work has been excellent or good; 31% call it poor. Congressional Democrats get an even split: 32% call their efforts good or excellent; 33% poor.

The standing of congressional Republicans is more negative. While 26% rate their work on health care as good or excellent, a larger group, 34%, say it has been poor.

For more results and a look at the demographic breakdown of the poll findings, see Wednesday's USA TODAY.

You might be interested in:

• Obama invites Republicans to health care talks (USATODAY.com in News)
• Sunday's best: The big health care vote (USATODAY.com )
• Health care bill heads for showdown (USATODAY.com in News)
• Obama: Republican health care ideas must meet certain goals (USATODAY.com )

Let The Sun Shine In......

Neugeberger was the Republican Who Shouted "Baby Killer!"

It's getting way past NASTY in D.C.

enhanced by Google

By JIM ABRAMS, AP
2 hours ago
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WASHINGTON — Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer acknowledged Monday that he is the lawmaker who shouted out "baby killer" during a floor speech by Rep. Bart Stupak, an anti-abortion Democrat whose vote was crucial to passing the Democratic health care bill Sunday evening.

Neugebauer, who has represented a solidly GOP district that includes the city of Lubbock since 2003, said he had apologized to Stupak for his outburst, which drew a rebuke from the chair during the often-rowdy debate.

"Those that are shouting out are out of order," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., who was presiding in the chair at the time.

Neugebauer insisted in a statement that he was not referring directly to Stupak but to the agreement that the Michigan Democrat helped work out with the White House. That eleventh-hour agreement, under which President Barack Obama said he would issue an executive order pledging that no federal funds be used for abortions, helped seal the last votes Democrats needed to pass the bill.

He said his exact words, referring to that agreement, were "it's a baby killer."

"While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself," he said.

But Neugebauer also acknowledged that the House chamber "is a place of decorum and respect. The timing and tone of my comment last night was inappropriate."

AP - Watch the Outburst

Neugebauer is one of the House's most conservative members, consistently speaking out about the need for lower taxes and smaller government. Last year he co-sponsored a resolution requiring that presidential candidates produce copies of their birth certificates.
That followed "birther" movement allegations that Obama was born outside the United States and not qualified to be president.

In an interview Monday with Fox News, Stupak lamented the prevalence over the past year of "uncivilized behavior" when lawmakers are trying to speak on the House floor. "We can disagree on these issues as we should and we should have a meaningful debate but personal attacks have no place on it."

Later, talking to MSNBC, Stupak said he accepted Neugebauer's apology but questioned the Texas Republican's claim that it was not personal. "I certainly took it as a personal attack on me," Stupak said. If not, "maybe Randy needs to apologize to the House of Representatives."

The outburst was reminiscent of last September when another GOP conservative, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, yelled out "you lie" when Obama was addressing Congress on the health care issue. He also issued an apology.

Unlike that incident, Wilson was quickly identified by reporters covering the speech. This time, it was not immediately known who did the shouting and it was nearly a day before Neugebauer came forward.

In Wilson's case, the House on a mainly party line vote passed a resolution of disapproval formally criticizing him for violating basic rules of decorum and civility.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., asked Monday about Neugebauer, noted that he had apologized.

"He shouldn't have done it. ... I don't think further action is needed," Hoyer said.

Neugebauer's "baby killer" shout came at the end of a day of passionate and often vitriolic speeches on both sides of the health care issue. There were also tea party movement protests against the health care bill in which some demonstrators used racial slurs against black members of Congress and reportedly spit at one black lawmaker.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Let The Sun Shine In......

Is The Boomerrand Curving...Again

We can only hope. I know I do because I have always hated a bully.

THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter

I'm sensing that Congressional Republicans are swiftly moving to a monumental "Oops" mentality; that, having watched their Waterloo strategy march right up to the edge of victory, they're now realizing that the worm of political battle has irreversibly turned -- and, having already exhausted their supply of star-spangled obstructionism, there's nothing left but foxhole prayer and battlefield panic.

Ponder, for instance, the utter void of this risible threat, issued last Sunday by a seethingly insincere Lindsay Graham, on ABC's "This Week": "When it comes to health care, [Obama's] been tone-deaf, he's been arrogant and they're pushing a legislative proposal and a way to that legislative proposal that's going to destroy the ability of this country to work together for a very long time."

It's the president and his Capitol Hill allies who are going to destroy the ability of this country to work together? Man, that's classic; a genuine knee-slapper, even for the barely and only occasionally attentive.

The president, Mr. Graham, outfoxed your party but good. You never should have gathered your House forces to confront him on national TV, and you never ever should have shown up at Blair House. Not, that is, with the strategy you were packing, which was noticeably reducible to one word: "No."

Those sorry engagements were, with apologies to Churchill, the beginning of the end. They were the equivalent of orderly town halls -- now where's the populist fun in that? -- endlessly looped on video tape and expository of nothing but GOP nihilism.

No, No, No blanketed the airwaves for days -- a patchwork-spectacle ranging from unremitting hostility to uncomprehending sheepishness, a range that instilled a creeping sense of reconsideration among independents. Hold it, they thought; these guys aren't the principled opposition -- they're just a bunch of insatiable, unprincipled thugs.

The evidence of this is just barely quantifiable, but quantifiable nevertheless. Slight but undeniable upticks in pro-reform polling have appeared of late (pdf), with the shifts and stirrings coming almost certainly from the middle only. This tectonic phenomenon should be, of course, unsurprising, since in general it's only the non-ideological middle that's moveable.

And not a single one of my friends have been called for their opinions and they are all pro-reform and anti-healthcare industry. Their only regret is that big pharma aren't going to take the hit they deserve.

And though non-ideological the American middle may be, its one consistent sensibility is a resistance to naked brutishness.

Me thinks that the GOP ignored one very important thing. That would be the building animosity toward corporate America. I'm hearing and seeing a lot about that. 

Recall, for example, the GOP's "Oops" moments of the mid and late 1990s, infused as they were with a mindless government shutdown and a malicious impeachment. In both instances the GOP pushed too far -- as is the characteristic wont of a bully -- and was repelled into a humiliating retreat.

Now, the denouement of its Waterloo strategy is beginning to look familiar; indeed sound familiar, as rang so true in the hysteria of Lindsay Graham's "arrogance"-hurling and spectacularly laughable accusation of Democratic intransigence.

Aside from brutish obstructionism, Dennis Kucinich put his belated finger on an even larger GOP program already well in progress, which the body politic had been watching and uneasily noticing before this week:

"One of the things that’s bothered me is the attempt to try to delegitimize [Obama's] presidency," said the congressman at his Wednesday press conference. "That hurts the nation when that happens ... We have to be very careful that the potential of President Obama’s presidency not be destroyed by this debate. And I feel, even though I have many differences with him on policy, there’s something much bigger at stake here for America, and that’s what I’d like people to think about."

Mr. Kucinich, I think -- with no quantifying proof whatsoever -- that they've been doing just that.

While remaining rather neurotic about Obama's health care reform, public attitudes have begun to transcend that singular debate. Historical memory is stirring: The GOP's strategy is more than mere partisanship and polarization; it's yet another attempt to overturn yet another legitimate election. Or at least that's my sense of the electorate's sense.

Will all of this boomerang on the GOP in November? Who knows. It's way too early (albeit fun) to prognosticate with assurance, as Karl Rove preposterously did with his recent prediction that "if [Democrats] pass" health care reform, "they’re dead in the polls."

All we can do is watch the boomerang in flight; its destination unknown , but it seems to be curving.

Please respond to P.M.'s commentary by leaving comments below and sharing them with the BuzzFlash community. For personal questions or comments you can contact him at fifthcolumnistmail@gmail.com

THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter

Let The Sun Shine In......