PERRspectives: GOP Extortionists Admit Not Raising Debt Ceiling Means "Financial Collapse and Calamity"

PERRspectives: GOP Extortionists Admit Not Raising Debt Ceiling Means "Financial Collapse and Calamity"
Former Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has a term for those of his Republican colleagues willing to shoot the hostage, that is, the U.S. economy. As he worried in April 2011:

"The people who are threatening not to pass the debt ceiling are our version of al Qaeda terrorists. Really. They're really putting our whole society at risk by threatening to round up 50 percent of the members of the Congress, who are loony, who would put our credit at risk."

With Millions Still Waiting For Sandy Relief, Republicans Reintroduce Obamacare Repeal

With Millions Still Waiting For Sandy Relief, Republicans Reintroduce Obamacare Repeal: The 112th Congress gaveled to a close on Thursday afternoon without passing a relief package for victims of Hurricane Sandy or reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, but Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) isn’t too concerned about finishing what Republicans had left undone. Instead, at 12:00 PM she introduced the very first piece of legislation to [...]/p

The US Has Averaged More Than 18 Gun Deaths Every Day Since the Newtown School Shooting | Alternet

The US Has Averaged More Than 18 Gun Deaths Every Day Since the Newtown School Shooting | Alternet
"There have been more than 400 guns deaths since the Newtown massacre on December 14, according to a new interactive projectbetween Slate.com and the anonymous twitter user @gundeaths."

In Fight Against Privatized Water, Bottles Banned in Concord, Mass | Common Dreams

In Fight Against Privatized Water, Bottles Banned in Concord, Mass | Common Dreams
"Concord, Massachusetts became the first town in the nation to ban the sale of plastic water bottles as a new bylaw went into effect Tuesday, following years of campaigning by local activists."

Chris Christie, Spare Us Your Anti-GOP Theatrics -- You're Still a Republican | Alternet

Chris Christie, Spare Us Your Anti-GOP Theatrics -- You're Still a Republican | Alternet
"Spare me, Chris Christie. The New Jersey governor  delighted political reporters with his theatrical excoriation of the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives after Speaker John Boehner refused to allow a bill funding aid for people affected by Hurricane Sandy to come to the floor for a vote this week.

This would be the same Christie who, in September 2012, headlined  a fundraiser for Iowa congressman Steve King, who is not just one of the craziest members of the GOP crazy wing, but who also  announced a month later that he probably wouldn’t vote for relief money for Sandy victims for the same reason he refused to vote for federal aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina: Because he was pretty sure people spent the relief money on “Gucci bags and massage parlors.” This is a man Christie wanted to win reelection, in order to help Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, so that they could continue ignoring the priorities and desperate needs of liberal, urban coastal states like New Jersey."

Ten People We Are Grateful Are No Longer Members Of Congress

Ten People We Are Grateful Are No Longer Members Of Congress: Under the Twentieth Amendment, “[t]he terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January.” Accordingly, as of this very moment, many members of 112th Congress are now unemployed. Here are ten that [...]/p

12 Biggest Right-Wing Lies About America | Alternet

12 Biggest Right-Wing Lies About America | Alternet
"Our nation was gripped by so many fallacies and delusions in 2012 that the whole Mayan calendar end-of-the-world thing didn’t even make the list.

Even those apocalyptic prophecies were more plausible than the idea that cutting Social Security will help the deficit, that government spending cuts will jump-start the economy, there were no crimes on Wall Street, or that we live in a “divided nation” whose “center” wants more business as usual in Washington. Here then, without further ado, are our Top 12 Political Fallacies for 2012."

How Fox News Screwed the GOP | Alternet

How Fox News Screwed the GOP | Alternet
"From the farcical, underwhelming GOP primary that Fox News sponsored, through the general election campaign, it seemed that at every juncture where Romney suffered a major misstep, Fox misinformation hovered nearby. Again and again, Romney damaged his presidential hopes when he embraced the Fox News rhetoric; when he ran as the  Fox News candidate."

‘Armed Teacher Training Program’ Launches In 15 States

‘Armed Teacher Training Program’ Launches In 15 States: An Ohio gun owners’ group is launching an “Armed Teacher Training Program” to instruct teachers and school staff on how to shoot off firearms in the classroom. Perhaps at the outlandish suggestion of the National Rifle Association, who last month called for armed guards in every school as a response to the tragedy at Sandy [...]/p

GOP Senate Leader Pushes Republicans To ‘Seize’ Debt Ceiling Hostage

GOP Senate Leader Pushes Republicans To ‘Seize’ Debt Ceiling Hostage: Several Republican senators have recently said that they intend to take the federal debt limit — and thus the creditworthiness of the nation — hostage in order to force Democrats and President Obama to accept cuts to critical federal programs, including Social Security and Medicare. “Before we vote again to address the debt ceiling — [...]/p

The Latest Effort to Fix Election Results: Rig the Electoral College

The Latest Effort to Fix Election Results: Rig the Electoral College
"Republicans are not discussing changes to electoral allocation in solidly red states, but only in Democrat-leaning states whose congressional maps were recently gerrymandered to benefit the GOP -- and if these states allocated their electoral votes according to Congressional district the presidential race could have a similarly disparate outcome."

Almost Half Of Federal Prisoners Held For Drug Crimes

Almost Half Of Federal Prisoners Held For Drug Crimes: These numbers reflect the impact of the aggressive U.S. “War on Drugs,” a major contributor to the United States’ standing as the number one jailer in the world. 

Spending More On Health Care Doesn’t Guarantee Better Treatment

Spending More On Health Care Doesn’t Guarantee Better Treatment: Considering that the United States spends more than any other developed nation on its health care — the U.S. spent almost $2.6 trillion, nearly 18 percent of its GDP, on health services in 2010 — Americans might hope they’re getting some bang for their buck. But since the U.S. health care system is ranked a [...]/p

PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That

PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That
"President Bush added $5.1 trillion in red ink to the national ledger. But while the debt has grown by over $5 trillion during Obama's first term, less than $1 trillion can be attributed to new programs he put in place. The rest is the result of the tax revenue loss from the deep recession which began in December 2007 and the continuation of policies inherited from George W. Bush." (Reposted)

House GOP Fails to Act on Violence Against Women | Common Dreams

House GOP Fails to Act on Violence Against Women | Common Dreams
"Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Democratic point person on VAWA, condemned the House leadership in astatement calling the failure to take up and pass the Senate's "bipartisan and inclusive" VAWA bill "inexcusable"."

Bridge To Nowhere? NOAA Confirms High Methane Leakage Rate Up To 9% From Gas Fields, Gutting Climate Benefit

Bridge To Nowhere? NOAA Confirms High Methane Leakage Rate Up To 9% From Gas Fields, Gutting Climate Benefit: Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have reconfirmed earlier findings of high rates of methane leakage from natural gas fields. If these findings are replicated elsewhere, they would utterly vitiate the climate benefit of natural gas, even when used to switch off coal. Indeed, if the previous findings — of 4% methane leakage [...]/p

“Energy In Depth” – A Reporters’ Guide to Its Founding, Funding, and Flacks

“Energy In Depth” – A Reporters’ Guide to Its Founding, Funding, and Flacks
"What is Energy In Depth, really? EID describes itself as "a research, education and public outreach campaign focused on getting the facts out" about hydraulic fracturing, widely known as "fracking." It's a website created by a trade group for the gas industry -- the "Independent Petroleum Association of America"(IPAA) -- and a public relations firm."

U.S. Could Enact More Austerity Than European Countries In 2013

U.S. Could Enact More Austerity Than European Countries In 2013: Had the United States gone fully over the so-called “fiscal cliff,” it would have enacted policies that led to more austerity than the European debt crisis has caused across the Atlantic. Congress averted much of the fiscal cliff this week, while punting other parts to deadlines later in the year, but even without a full [...]/p

Fixing the Economy, A New Focus for Congress | Common Dreams

Fixing the Economy, A New Focus for Congress | Common Dreams
"Largely missing is any discussion of how to fix the economy, to make it work for working people once more. Just sustaining the faltering recovery won’t get it done. We’re still struggling with mass unemployment, declining wages and worsening inequality. Corporate profits now capture an all-time record percentage of the economy; workers’ wages have hit an all-time low. A little constriction, or a lot, won’t do anything to change that reality.
So how about a New Year’s resolution for Washington’s political class: Vow to focus on what can be done to fix the economy, rather than on how much to lacerate it."

Food Poisoning on a Global Scale | Common Dreams

Food Poisoning on a Global Scale | Common Dreams
"Food is supposed to provide us nourishment and health but because of the toxins it contains, what we consume has become a major threat to our health. Some toxic substances are added to our food physically, through adulteration, while some enter our food system chemically, through pesticide residues. And some toxins enter the food chain genetically, through genetic engineering of seeds and crops. Even food packaging can be a source of toxins in food."

PERRspectives: House GOP Budget Would Require $6 Trillion Debt Ceiling Hike

PERRspectives: House GOP Budget Would Require $6 Trillion Debt Ceiling Hike
"If nothing else, the right-wing temper tantrum over Tuesday's "fiscal cliff" agreement is rich with irony. After all, the "crisis" was never really about deficit reduction (which the expiration of the Bush tax cuts would have handled quite nicely) but the very real danger of slashing the national debt too fast and thus triggering an economic downturn in 2013. More pathetic still, the GOP's ersatz deficit hawks on Capitol Hill, always more concerned with shredding the social safety net than stemming the flow of red ink, voted overwhelmingly for Paul Ryan's House Republican budget which would require $6 trillion more in debt ceiling increases over the next decade."

Sean Hannity lost half his TV audience after the election

Sean Hannity lost half his TV audience after the election
"Conservative mouthpiece Sean Hannity lost about half of his TV audience in the weeks after the election while his colleague Bill O’Reilly’s viewership only dropped by about a third"

4 Painful Political Lessons from the Fiscal Cliff Debates | Alternet

4 Painful Political Lessons from the Fiscal Cliff Debates | Alternet
"Republicans don’t care about deficit reduction.  They care about protecting the wealthy (I told you this is stuff we knew) which worsens the deficit.  Their talking points suggest they want to cut spending, reduce entitlement s and shrink government, but for the most part—there are notable exceptions*—they don’t have actual proposals to do so."

The Bottom Line: A prescription for American healthcare

The Republican Party Is the Problem

The Republican Party Is the Problem
"The fight over the fiscal cliff was a reminder that the GOP remains the main impediment to economic recovery."

Arizona Losing Millions As A Result Of Anti-Immigration Law

Arizona Losing Millions As A Result Of Anti-Immigration Law: As President Obama starts off 2013 with a goal of enacting comprehensive immigration reform, states that have tried to pass their own laws on the issue are suffering the ill effects of a broken immigration system. The latest example? Officials in Phoenix, Arizona are having a hard time attracting new businesses to the city, and [...]/p

Thanks To Gerrymandering, Democrats Would Need To Win The Popular Vote By Over 7 Percent To Take Back The House

Thanks To Gerrymandering, Democrats Would Need To Win The Popular Vote By Over 7 Percent To Take Back The House: As of this writing, every single state except Hawai’i has finalized its vote totals for the 2012 House elections, and Democrats currently lead Republicans by 1,362,351 votes in the overall popular vote total. Democratic House candidates earned 49.15 percent of the popular vote, while Republicans earned only 48.03 percent — meaning that the American people [...]/p

The Fiscal Cliff Deal, By The Numbers

The Fiscal Cliff Deal, By The Numbers: Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Senate’s compromise bill to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” The bill, dubbed the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012,” raised taxes on (some of) the wealthiest Americans, while punting several other budget decisions down the road, including whether or not the so-called “sequester” spending cuts will occur. [...]/p

FreedomWorks' Civil War Reveals That in Washington, Cash Trumps Ideology Every Time | Alternet

FreedomWorks' Civil War Reveals That in Washington, Cash Trumps Ideology Every Time | Alternet
"The hubbub at FreedomWorks, an instrumental force within the Tea Party, shows just how bankrupt conservative ideology really is."

Study: Rick Scott’s Long Voting Lines Cost Obama A Net 11,000 Votes In Central Florida

Study: Rick Scott’s Long Voting Lines Cost Obama A Net 11,000 Votes In Central Florida: Thanks in large part to a law signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), which cut early voting opportunities in that state, many Florida voters endured six hour lines simply to cast a ballot. These lines did not wind up costing Obama Florida’s electoral votes, but, according to an Ohio State University study, they reduced [...]/p

House Adjourns Without Passing Hurricane Sandy Relief

House Adjourns Without Passing Hurricane Sandy Relief
"This could possibly be the most despicable non-act of Congress ever."

Ryan Dobson Defends his Father's Comments About Sandy Hook, Calling Him 'a Man who is Making a Stand for Righteousness' | Right Wing Watch

Ryan Dobson Defends his Father's Comments About Sandy Hook, Calling Him 'a Man who is Making a Stand for Righteousness' | Right Wing Watch
"Shortly after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, James Dobson weighed in to declare that the shooting was evidence that God has "allowed judgment to fall upon us" because the nation has turned its back on him by accepting things like abortion and gay marriage."

GOP Rep. Says Boehner ‘Put A Knife In The Back Of New Yorkers’ By Blocking Vote On Sandy Relief

GOP Rep. Says Boehner ‘Put A Knife In The Back Of New Yorkers’ By Blocking Vote On Sandy Relief: A furious Rep. Peter King (R-NY) took aim at his own party in a Fox News interview Wednesday, a day after House GOP leaders broke their promise to hold a vote on a Hurricane Sandy relief bill. King said the decision by the House Republican leadership to scrap a planned vote on a multi- billion [...]/p

Pope Benedict Slams Capitalism, Economic Inequality | Common Dreams

Pope Benedict Slams Capitalism, Economic Inequality | Common Dreams
"Pope Benedict XVI said in his New Year’s peace message today that the world was under threat from unbridled capitalism."

2012 Culture and Resistance with Alice Walker, Randy Weston, Walter Mosley, Gore Vidal and More

Uninformed Politicians Pushing US Toward Austerity

Uninformed Politicians Pushing US Toward Austerity
"Some of us had fun with a recent Business Insider poll finding that by a large margin, people who thought they knew something about the fiscal cliff believed that it would increase, not reduce, the deficit.

Hahaha — although I actually have a lot of sympathy for ordinary voters, who don't follow these things closely but know that everyone important has been warning for years that the budget deficit is Worse Than Hitler or something. How are they supposed to know that those very same people are now screaming that the deficit is coming down too fast? I have less sympathy for major political figures who also can't get it straight."

Why We Need a New Year's Revolution Against the Corporatocracy | Alternet

Why We Need a New Year's Revolution Against the Corporatocracy | Alternet
"Starting today, not next year, we all have to become climate hawks and democracy activists, breaking corporate control over the marketplace and over our elections, media, and public policy. Starting today we must move together to save our climate, our civilization, and Mother Earth."

12 Unbelievably Awful Things Fox News Did This Year | Alternet

12 Unbelievably Awful Things Fox News Did This Year | Alternet
"2012 was a dismal year for Fox News. The PR arm of the GOP failed to fulfill its prime directive: advancing the interests of Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. It spent much of the year constructing an alternative reality that left millions of its flock in shock when President Obama won an overwhelming reelection. It refused to accept the facts on the ground and denigrated polls (even its own) when the results conflicted with the fictional narrative it was peddling. And perhaps most painful of all, Fox surrendered its ratings lead to MSNBC. Two-thirds of its primetime lineup (Hannity and Van Susteren) dropped to second place behind the competition on MSNBC (Maddow and O’Donnell). However, Fox’s travails did not occur for lack of effort. It was clearly operating at the top of its capacity to distort and deceive. In the process it unleashed some of the most feverishly biased reporting, even for Fox News. "

CNN's Velshi Calls Out GOP Rep for Misleading Stats on Taxes and Small Businesses

CNN's Velshi Calls Out GOP Rep for Misleading Stats on Taxes and Small Businesses
"Velshi laid into Huelskamp for pretending that raising taxes on those making over $250,000 a year is going to harm a large number of the small businesses out there and those so-called "job creators," and gave him some grief for the stats he was quoting as well."

John McCain: GOP Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless Entitlements Are Cut Drastically

John McCain: GOP Will Destroy America’s Solvency Unless Entitlements Are Cut Drastically: In an interview Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) confirmed that Congressional Republicans plan again to use the upcoming debt limit to hold the nation hostage to their demands for massive cuts to Medicare and Social Security. His comments echoed earlier remarks by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and anti-government activist Grover Norquist. Raising the debt ceiling [...]/p