Sunday, March 27, 2016

A Little Birdie Whispered At Bernie Sanders' Podium Today

A Little Birdie Whispered At Bernie Sanders' Podium Today

"And of course, the bird now has its own hashtag: #BirdieSanders"

American elections ranked worst among Western democracies — here’s why

American elections ranked worst among Western democracies — here’s why

"This contest matters. It is the election for the most powerful leader in the Western world, and some – like the Economist Intelligence Unit – regard Donald Trump as a major risk to global prosperity and stability."

What happened in Arizona wasn’t an accident: When states make voting impossible, it’s for a very clear reason

What happened in Arizona wasn’t an accident: When states make voting impossible, it’s for a very clear reason

"The GOP excuse for these laws? It’s voter fraud, they say. But how often do voters attempt to scam the system? Among all federal elections between 2002 and 2005, the rate of voter fraud was 0.00000013 percent. This according to a five-year probe by George W. Bush’s Justice Department. Put another way, around 26 people out of 197 million were convicted of attempting to vote illegally during all of those elections. And yet the Republicans continue to screech about voter fraud anyway. (They’re willing to believe that voter fraud exists, even though it doesn’t, and yet the climate crisis, with its 97 percent scientific consensus, is clearly fiction.)"

Seth Meyers nails Trump and his racist supporters for their ‘sorry-not sorry’ phony apologies

Seth Meyers nails Trump and his racist supporters for their ‘sorry-not sorry’ phony apologies

"If there’s one thing politics brings out it’s the non-apology apology. Such is the case with racist Donald Trump supporters who have been caught assaulting African Americans in his rallies. It must be something they’re learning from the man himself, because the “sorry, not sorry” non-apology is something Trump has mastered from the beginning of the campaign. Seth Meyers nails them all on in Wednesday’s “Late Night"."

WATCH: AZ recorder blames voters for 5 hour waits after she cut polling places from 200 to 60

WATCH: AZ recorder blames voters for 5 hour waits after she cut polling places from 200 to 60

"Resign, Helen Purcell — you are terrible at your job."

NC suffers backlash over law allowing anti-LGBT discrimination

Arizona voters wait hours after GOP official closes polls: ‘It’s almost like they want to disenfranchise us’

Arizona voters wait hours after GOP official closes polls: ‘It’s almost like they want to disenfranchise us’

"Frustrated voters lashed out at Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, who made the decision to shut down two-thirds of the polling stations and scatter them further out into Phoenix suburbs."

Michigan Republicans Are Trying To Change Election Law To Stop Liberal Ballot Initiatives

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/24/3762667/michigan-republicans-fracking-ban-legal-marijuana/
"Grassroots groups in Michigan say they’re about to achieve something big. This year, if they get enough petition signatures, voters might get to decide at the ballot box whether to ban fracking and legalize marijuana. There’s just one problem: the state’s Republican lawmakers are now trying to change the rules in the middle of the game. The lawmakers aren’t opposing marijuana legalization or fracking bans on their merits — they’re trying to change election law to make it harder for citizen groups to get their issues on the ballot in the first place."

Trump Loves the Poorly Educated—and They Love Him Right Back @alternet

Trump Loves the Poorly Educated—and They Love Him Right Back @alternet:

"The low-educated, low-income counties of Trump’s America also receive large sums of public assistance. Social Security fraud—seeking disability payments for minor injuries or conditions—is so rampant that attorneys have created a cottage industry out of offering to secure services for clients willing to pay a one-time fee for longtime subsidy."

Watch: Jimmy Kimmel's Fake Ad Hilariously Points out Cruz and Trump Are One and the Same @alternet

Watch: Jimmy Kimmel's Fake Ad Hilariously Points out Cruz and Trump Are One and the Same @alternet:

"Republicans, who have no one but themselves to blame for the titanic disaster that is Donald Trump, also have no one but themselves to blame for the gigantic disaster that is Ted Cruz."

Birdie Sanders in Portland | Bernie Sanders

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Sanders Trounces Clinton in Washington State and Alaska @alternet

Sanders Trounces Clinton in Washington State and Alaska @alternet:

"Bernie Sanders has won decisive victories in Washington State and in Alaska, the New York Times and various other news sources are reporting. Primary voters are still at the polls in Hawaii."

Politics pauses for tiny bird and smiles

Arizona Recorder Helen Purcell Blames Voters For Her Screw-Up

Arizona Recorder Helen Purcell Blames Voters For Her Screw-Up

"This Maricopa County Recorder needs to resign or be fired, sooner rather than later. She had ONE JOB, and she screwed it up, royally."

“Just boxes and boxes of dildos” Seth Meyers roasts Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback after state sells adult toys to fix his tax screw-up

“Just boxes and boxes of dildos” Seth Meyers roasts Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback after state sells adult toys to fix his tax screw-up

"Gov. Sam Brownback became a target for the comedian after his proposed tax-cut for the wealthy and no income taxes for small businesses turned sour. Brownback was famously quoted as saying Kansas would be a “real live experiment” for conservative economic policies. “That’s a terrible sales pitch for something,” Meyers taunted. “Those words only usually show up in shady classified ads.” Conservatives assured the cuts would somehow generate $323 million in new revenue, but in actuality, they produced a $688 million loss. In desperation, the state tried to close the gap by selling adult industry toys, seized from a business that owed back taxes to the state. “Just boxes and boxes of dildos,” emphasized Meyers. Small businesses and residents are now disillusioned by the tax cuts, and troubled by the slashing of state budgets for public school education, leading Meyers to confirm that the results of the experiment are conclusive. “Republicans want to replicate these policies on a national level, but even when you buy couch cleaner they tell you to try it on a small patch of fabric first,” he said. “That’s what happened here — Kansas was the small patch of fabric. Not only did the cleaner not work, the couch exploded"."

Are the AZ Voting Problems A Dress Rehearsal for November?

Wapo Throws Up Its Hands: Donald Trump Is Dangerous

Wapo Throws Up Its Hands: Donald Trump Is Dangerous

"everything Trump said, and the way he said it, only reinforced Wapo's earlier editorial statement that "Mr. Trump must be stopped because he presents a threat to American democracy"."

Maricopa County Cuts Number Of Polling Places From 200 To 60, Chaos Ensues

Maricopa County Cuts Number Of Polling Places From 200 To 60, Chaos Ensues

"When the polls closed, there were still lines so long it was estimated that people would be waiting another 3 hours before they could vote."

Why Either Trump’s or Cruz’s Tax Plans Would Be the Largest Redistributions to the Rich in American History

Why Either Trump’s or Cruz’s Tax Plans Would Be the Largest Redistributions to the Rich in American History

"The tax cuts for the rich proposed by the two leading Republican candidates for the presidency—Donald Trump and Ted Cruz—are larger, as a proportion of the government budget and the total economy, than any tax cuts ever before proposed in history. Trump and Cruz pretend to be opposed to the Republican establishment, but when it comes to taxes they’re seeking exactly what that Republican establishment wants."

ALEC Has Officially Become More Powerful Than The Constitution

How Ted Cruz’s New Senior Economic Adviser Paved The Way For The Financial Crisis

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/03/22/3762291/ted-cruz-phil-gramm/
"He inserted a provision in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act in 2000 that exempted complex derivatives — such as credit-default swaps — from regulatory oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The lack of regulation meant that as the use of credit-default swaps grew in the lead up to the crisis, banks weren’t required to create backstops in case they failed, and once they all came crashing down amid the housing bubble’s burst, it left financial institutions exposed. Credit-default swaps took down AIG, leading to its bailout."

11 Terrible Right-Wing Laws and Ideas Pushed by Far-Right Republicans Near You @alternet

11 Terrible Right-Wing Laws and Ideas Pushed by Far-Right Republicans Near You @alternet:

"In November, many Americans who didn’t vote in 2014 or 2015 will be casting a vote for president of the United States. Midterms and off-year elections are often ignored by registered voters, but anyone who doubts the importance of voting in every election need only look at the type of damage far-right Republicans can do at the state or local level when they are in control. Although Democrats have won the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections, and President Barack Obama was reelected decisively in 2012, Republicans fared extremely well during the 2010 and 2014 midterms, not only in Congress, but in the state and local races. The result has been an obscene amount of destructive legislation"

Obama gets Cuba deal done where past presidents have failed

Seth Meyers: GOP wrecked Kansas economy so bad they had to auction off dildos for cash

Seth Meyers: GOP wrecked Kansas economy so bad they had to auction off dildos for cash

"For years, Democrats have fought back against the idea that Reaganomics or ‘trickle-down economics’ works as an economic policy. Now, we’re in a presidential election where Republicans are pitching the same policies that have proven to be unsuccessful. The difference, this time, is that we have actual proof of truly bankrupted economies when we look at what Gov. Sam Brownback did to Kansas and his followers are doing in other states like Oklahoma and Louisiana. Monday evening, “Late Night” host Seth Meyers used the opportunity to educate the country on what happened and why it’s so messed up."

Sam Brownback, America’s worst governor: He’s gutted Kansas with an ultraconservative, religious agenda — and it’s getting worse

Sam Brownback, America’s worst governor: He’s gutted Kansas with an ultraconservative, religious agenda — and it’s getting worse

"We do know that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the Kansas Policy Institute (KPI) and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce (KCC) are not so quietly influencing and applying pressure on Kansas legislators. They also play the part of the Trickster, a mischievous, cross-cultural archetypal character often surrounded by conflict and confusion, with his/her own self-interests primarily in mind. Tricksters have often been used in myth and literature to teach us what not to do, such as spinning and spreading memes of misinformation, a common past time of ALEC, KPI and the KCC. Major sources of funding for these groups include Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, Ivan Crossland of Crossland Construction and David Murfin of Murfin Drilling Corp. In addition to funding, they also provide their own form of legislative arm twisting."

Republicans Are Holding the Entire Court System Hostage

PERRspectives: Ted Cruz is Getting the Iran-Contra Band Back Together

PERRspectives: Ted Cruz is Getting the Iran-Contra Band Back Together

"Iran-Contra, as you'll recall, almost laid waste to the Reagan presidency. Desperate to free U.S. hostages held by Iranian proxies in Lebanon, President Reagan provided weapons Tehran badly needed in its long war with Saddam Hussein (who, of course, was backed by the United States). In a clumsy and illegal attempt to skirt U.S. law, the proceeds of those sales were then funneled to the Contras fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And as the media appear not to recall, it was Michael Ledeen who established Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar as the middleman to Tehran and Elliott Abrams who then lied to Congress about the Reagan administration's scheme to unlawfully aid the Contras."

Revealed: Trump foreign policy advisor was booted from Pentagon for blocking probes of Bush White House

Revealed: Trump foreign policy advisor was booted from Pentagon for blocking probes of Bush White House

"Joseph E. Schmitz, named by Donald Trump as a key foreign policy adviser on Monday, was forced out of his job as the Pentagon’s top watchdog a decade ago amid accusations that he protected top officials in the George W. Bush administration suspected of wrongdoing."

Obama Speaks To Cuban People- Full Speech

The Daily Show Mocks Right Wing Freak-Out Over Cuba Visit

The Daily Show Mocks Right Wing Freak-Out Over Cuba Visit

"Thankfully, our late night comedy shows have a terrific way of dealing with the stupidity espoused by our Mainstream Media."

Obama At Entrepreneurs Event in Cuba

Obama Visits Cuba in Historic Trip, But Will U.S. Ever End Embargo & Give Back Guantanamo? @alternet

Obama Visits Cuba in Historic Trip, But Will U.S. Ever End Embargo & Give Back Guantanamo? @alternet:

"President Obama has arrived in Cuba for a historic three-day visit, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island in 88 years."

Obama Meets with Embassy Staff in Cuba

5 Reasons Why the Republican Party is Directly Responsible for the Rise of Donald Trump

5 Reasons Why the Republican Party is Directly Responsible for the Rise of Donald Trump

"1. The embrace of the “Southern Strategy”: This was really the foundation of it all. Back in the 1960s, the Republican party deliberately began focusing on “white anger” during the civil rights era by pointing out that Democrats were becoming the party of African-Americans. This was the party literally saying that they were going to pander to racism because they knew they could use that ignorance to their political benefit. This was when the “party of Lincoln” officially died."

From bad to worse for Sam Brownback’s Kansas

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/bad-worse-sam-brownbacks-kansas
"Not long after he made the transition from senator to governor in late 2010, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback boasted about his grand ambitions. The far-right Kansan, working with a GOP-led legislature, would cut taxes far beyond what the state could afford, in what Brownback described at the time as “a real-live experiment.” He was optimistic, though the Republican governor added at the time, “We’ll see how it works.” We sure will. In his first term, Brownback’s “experiment” led to debt downgrades, weak growth, and state finances in shambles. Perhaps the jobs picture is more heartening? Guess again. The Kansas City Star’s Yael Abouhalkah reported today on the state’s latest job numbers. Let this stunning news sink in: The Kansas jobs report released Friday shows the state lost another 1,900 jobs in February and now has 5,400 fewer jobs than it did one year ago. That’s right: The Sunflower State had a “growth” rate of negative 0.4 percent from February 2015 to February 2016, the first time that’s happened in more than five years. That negative employment rate is one of the worst in the nation. The same piece noted that, just a year ago during his re-election campaign, Brownback set a goal of 25,000 new jobs, per year, for a total of 100,000 new jobs in his second term. Eighteen months later, Kansas has created 1,600 jobs. Put another way, the GOP governor set a projection of over 2,000 jobs per month. Since then, Kansas has created about 90 jobs per month."

Franken Calls GOP Obstructionism "Absurd" And Provides Examples

Republican governor of Alabama guts state services, gives his staff 80% pay raises for doing it

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/19/1503343/-Republican-governor-of-Alabama-guts-state-services-gives-his-staff-80-pay-raises-for-doing-it
"Here's a great story, one of hundreds and hundreds, that boils down the Republican efforts to govern the states over the last few years to its essence. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley recently signed a bill barring the cities in his state from raising their minimum wage. They're not allowed to do it now, don't care the reason, because Robert Bentley doesn't believe in that sort of thing. Bentley led the state in a spending purge that, like the similar efforts in other states with Republican governors, slashed uncouth things the common rabble might use under the omnipresent GOP motto: We Just Can't Afford Nice Things Anymore. You know what's next for the people in Robert Bentley's office, right? Raises all around!"

BOMBSHELL: Police Suspect Flint Water Files Stolen In “Inside Job” Burglary

http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/03/20/bombshell-police-reveal-flint-water-files-stolen-inside-job-burglary/
"The suspicious nature of the break-in and the long trail of emails showing that Snyder and his office conspired to hide the lead contamination in Flint’s exorbitantly expensive water would seem to indicate that they also conspired to seize evidence that could implicate the Governor’s office for knowingly poisoning thousands of innocent people, which will cause permanent brain damage in up to 8,000 children."

Elizabeth Warren Mauls Trump On Twitter

John Oliver Absolutely Destroys Trump's 'Stupid F*cking' Wall in Brilliant Segment (Video)

John Oliver Absolutely Destroys Trump's 'Stupid F*cking' Wall in Brilliant Segment (Video)

"Take for instance Trump’s insistence that the wall would cost anywhere between $4-12 billion. Though as Oliver pointed out, that estimate is complete fiction. In fact, after all the estimated costs associated with such a massive project are added up, it would likely cost around $24 billion just to build the thing. Furthermore, the CBO projects that within seven years the upkeep on the wall would exceed the actual cost to build it."