Three of the Biggest Lies Republicans Tell About Themselves

Three of the Biggest Lies Republicans Tell About Themselves

November 25, 2013 By Allen Clifton  

 

When I talk with Republicans, I often feel like I’m speaking with someone who lives inside of a bubble where the outside world and all of its realities are simply unable to penetrate.  It’s the school teacher who votes Republican despite Republicans stripping teachers unions of collective bargaining power.  It’s the individual who’s soon to rely on Medicare and Social Security, claiming they don’t need the federal government.  The person on welfare who voted for the politician who just voted to cut their benefits.
But one area where Republicans excel at is propaganda.  They’re really good at it.  They’ve successfully convinced millions of people to be absolute hypocrites, vote against their own interests and believe that giving rich people more money benefits the rest of us.
Basically, they’ve convinced people to lie to themselves.
So I decided I would give a quick rundown of three of the bigger lies Republicans perpetuate about themselves (though there are far more than three).
1) They’re fiscally conservative 
This is probably the biggest joke of them all.  It’s amazing to me that this is real platform they actually run on, yet haven’t had a Republican president who’s actually balanced the budget since President Eisenhower in the 1950′s.  Hell, their “conservative hero” Ronald Reagan came close to quadrupling the national debt during his eight years.  How exactly is someone a “beacon for fiscal responsibility” when they almost quadrupled the national debt?
And I know some conservatives will do what they always do and blame Democrats for Reagan running up our national debt.  I love reading the asinine conclusion that the near quadrupling of our debt was the fault of Tip O’Neill, not Reagan.  I hate to break it to these people, but Reagan signed off on every single piece of legislation during his eight years in office that led to the massive growth of our national debt.  Congressional Democrats couldn’t simply enact legislation without Reagan’s approval.
Then again, conservatives who make this argument clearly don’t understand how government works.  They’re also the ones who give all of the credit for our balanced  budget in the 90′s to congressional Republicans.
Then look at George W. Bush.  He took a balanced budget and completely wrecked it.  It took him one year to send us back into deficits after President Clinton gave us a surplus.  And don’t even tell me that our budget surplus should be credited to the Republicans in Congress.  If they were the primary reason why we had a balanced budget, it would have continued after Clinton left the White House, when they were still in charge of Congress — but guess what?  It didn’t.
What Bush did was cut taxes, then started two wars.  That’s like buying an $80,000 sports car just after taking a massive pay cut at work.  He reduced our revenue then increased our spending.  How again is that being “fiscally conservative”?
The only area Republicans point to for this claim of “fiscal responsibility” is their opposition to tax hikes.  But guess what?  Cutting taxes has nothing to do with being smart with money.
Oh, but they’ll cut programs that help the poor and the needy, that’ll balance our budget, right?  But you damn sure better not mention cutting oil subsidies or closing tax loopholes for the rich — Republicans will have no part in eliminating either of those.
The only place Republicans are fiscally conservative is in their minds.
2) Small government 
This is another joke.  I love how the party which actively campaigns for president on the pretense of passing Constitutional Amendments that would define traditional marriage is somehow the party of “small government.”
Or the party that continues to pass laws in Republican-controlled states attacking the right for a woman to have an abortion, requiring ultrasounds or transvaginal probes before an abortion can be performed.  That’s small government? 
Hell, if they had their way there would still be a ban on homosexuals in the military.
The fact is, Republicans love government.  Well, as long as that government is supporting something they want.  The only time they’re advocates for “small government” is when the government forces them to do things like — give people civil rights.
I live in Texas, a highly Republican state, where you can’t even buy liquor on Sunday due to outdated laws passed decades ago.  Hell, there are some counties in Texas where you still can’t buy alcohol at all.  How “small government” of them.  Isn’t Texas supposed to be a beacon for “small government values”?  Right.
The truth is, Republicans love government when they can use it to try to enforce their bigotry and ignorance, but hate government when it prevents them from enforcing their bigotry and ignorance.
3) Pro-life 
Being anti-abortion doesn’t make you “pro-life.”  Just like supporting the right for a woman to have an abortion doesn’t make you “pro-abortion.”
Republicans constantly prove that they don’t give a crap about life the moment it’s out of the womb.  Sure, they’ll use a fetus to stir up anger within people to get votes, but the fact of the matter is once that baby is born — they couldn’t care less.
The GOP has consistently cut funding for programs that help the poor and the needy.  They’ve strongly stood against access to health care for all Americans.  There’s even a push now by many to privatize Medicare and Social Security so that these programs are handed over to greedy corporations that can gamble with the future of millions of Americans.
There are tens of millions of children who will have less to eat this holiday because of the Republican cuts to our nation’s SNAP program.  And if Republicans get their way, tens of billions more will be cut from the program.
In a state like Texas — where millions of its citizens go without health care — Rick Perry refused to expand Medicaid coverage so that millions of Texans could receive health care, some for the very first time.  This is a practice we’ve seen all over the country in many Republican-controlled states.
How “pro-life” of these Republicans to deny access to health care for millions of Americans who desperately need it.
And the sad fact is, Republicans only really “care” about a fetus because it helps them get votes.  Otherwise they wouldn’t oppose — and cut — funding to programs that would help millions of poor children all across the United States.
When Republicans say they’re “pro-life” all they really mean is they’re anti-abortion — that’s it.  To call Republicans “pro-life” is an absolute joke.  Because once that baby is born, they couldn’t care less what happens to it, as long as it votes Republican in 18 years.
Now of course these aren’t the only ways Republicans lie to themselves.  These are just three of the bigger “labels” they give themselves that I find completely absurd.
But I’m sure to any Republican reading this, I’m absolutely wrong.  Sure I am.  Of course, they’ve most likely never voted for a Republican president who’s balanced the budget, they probably support a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, and you can bet they support massive cuts to welfare programs that feed millions of poor children.
Like I said, it’s like they live in a delusional bubble that reality is simply unable to penetrate.

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5 reasons why the American people can't stand the Republican party 

Robert SobelOrlando Liberal Examiner

February 28, 2013

 

The Republican party often has people scratching their heads and it's not just "liberals" who are doing it. With The Republican party splitting into multiple factions, the once proud political party has been thrown into disarray Here are five reasons why the American people can't stand the Grand Old Party.
1. Bush wastes money and American lives-
After the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, everyone throughout the country felt a variety of emotions. Some were upset, others scared or just plain angry. There isn't a right or wrong answer in how people felt because what happened was so horrific. It's natural to want revenge and that is how George W. Bush and the Republican party were able to get the country into a huge mess while lining their own pockets. Preying on the fear that came with the attacks on 9/11, the Bush administration decided to wage war, but with the wrong country. With his father, George H.W Bush, unable to capture Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s, George W. Bush wanted to finish the job that his father couldn't.
Knowing that Iraq was run by an evil dictator, had plenty of oil and could be a goldmine for companies to rebuild, Bush used the fear that overcame the United States to wage war with a country that had nothing to do with the attacks on that September day. Saddam Hussein was captured less than a year into the invasion of Iraq, but nearly a decade later the United States was still there.
The reason given to the American people for the invasion was that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction," but later Americans were told that Iraq didn't have these weapons and that the United States had received "bad intelligence." Many believe that there were never any weapons in Iraq and that it was an excuse to invade the country. Many companies, such as Dick Cheney's Halliburton, made billions rebuilding in Iraq while others ran off to the bank as well. According to a 2007 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the war in Iraq would cost $1.9 trillion dollars, or about $6,300 for each U.S citizen. Mix that with the thousands of courageous soldiers who lost their lives or became injured and you have a mess that every American should be mad about.
2. GOP Depression-
Today's economic climate is a scary one. Though the unemployment rate has dropped to 7.9%, there is still only one job opening for every four Americans looking for work. As Ronald Reagan dropped the top tax rate from 70% to 28% during his eight years in office and deregulated big business and the financial sector, the United States was placed on a path of economic destruction. President Clinton stabilized the economy enough that he was able to hand a surplus to George W. Bush in 2001, but all the reckless actions by Wall Street drove the United States to the brink until a taxpayer bailout of the banks was needed in 2008. They say history repeats itself and that is true in this case.
When the economy took a hard down turn in the 1980s and in 2008, if was because the same economic policies were repeated that caused the Stock Market to crash in 1929. The Great Depression was caused by deregulation and bad tax policies, put in place by three consecutive Republican presidents. Starting with Warren Harding in 1921, through Calvin Coolidge and then Herbert Hoover, the United States fell into an economic depression. It took President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his New Deal and World War 2 to help get the United States back on track. Roosevelt had to deal with Republican opposition in congress and a new war, but after years in office, was able to get the job done.
3. Medicare Part D-
Republicans today seem to hate anything that the government does until they need it. Conservatives scream about programs like Social Security and unemployment benefits, but once they enter retirement or lose their jobs, they're quick to hold on to government assistance. Republicans want to privatize programs like Social Security and Medicare by taking them out of the government and putting them into greedy hands on Wall Street. While conservatives are opposed to these programs now, you don't need to go back too far to find Republicans supporting parts of programs like Medicare.
George Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Part D) which went into effect on January 1, 2006. The program was supposed to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for those who receive Medicare, but it was never paid for. In the long run, Medicare Part D raised prices, cost taxpayers billions of dollars and while the cost of Medicare Part D has been projected to be less than originally thought, much of the declining cost is due to President Obama's new health care law that was passed in 2010.
4. Sexual Morality?-
The Republican party pounds their chest as the voice of morality, clutching their Bible, fighting back against the LGBT community and abortion and love to bring up that President Clinton cheated on his wife. If people make certain claims, they should learn to look in the mirror first. Former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich has been married three times and has a dark history of infidelity. While Gingrich was one of the leading voices against President Clinton in the 1990s, he was actually cheating on his own wife. In fact, while his wife was in remission with cancer, Gingrich served her divorce papers.
The list of Republicans who have engaged in sexual affairs is endless. Former Republican mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, Philip Giordano, is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing two underage girls. Republican congressman and anti-gay activist, Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar while Republican legislator, Richard Gardner, admitted to molesting his two daughters. This doesn't mean that Democrats haven't done anything like this in the past, they have, but there's an old saying - "those who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones."
5. Unions aren't the problem!-
Just the word "union" seems to have a negative connotation these days. Conservatives point their finger at unions for every fiscal issue that the country has closing their eyes to the fact that unions are fighting for the middle class. Whether you're a member of a union of not, you must understand what a union is there for. Unions are a collective voice for workers to make sure that their rights are protected. These rights are not limited to, but include safe working conditions, fair pay, health care and other benefits. As executive pay has risen to an all-time high, wages for workers remain stagnant and are at an all-time low. Unions are put together to make sure that those at the top don't hold back the average middle class worker, but Republicans have tried to destroy the voice of the middle class for decades.
From the time Ronald Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers on August 5, 1981 to Republicans trying to push for "right-to-work" laws across the country, the voice of the middle class is starting to become silent. Republicans claim union workers are "lazy" and "greedy," but that is not the case. Are there workers who take advantage of the benefits of being in a union? Of course there are, every system has issues, but the majority are grateful and work hard. If Republicans want to truly be patriotic they should start supporting the middle class, not just the wealthy.

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Media Manufactures GOP 2016 Front-Runner From Abject Failure

Media Manufactures GOP 2016 Front-Runner From Abject Failure

Would you buy a used car from this man?
Is this what an "ideal" president looks like?

Scott Walker will fail miserably on his promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin -- his austerity agenda, entirely from out-of-state multinational corporate interests, is a documented train wreck.

His job-growth stunt is so out-of-whack, that now Scott Walker is falsely puffing up numbers for business growth -- fraudulently counting nonprofits like girl scout troops, little league baseball, and other service groups as business entities.

Walker's "flagship" economic development agency, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, is a fiscal disaster that has lost track of more than $19 million dollars of taxpayers money.  Fully 36% of its loans are uncollectable.  Is WEDC just a failure or is it actually a campaign laundering scam and pay-to-play?

There are multiple criminal investigations into Walker's ascent to power -- at least one, which no one talks about, resulted in the FBI obtaining and executing a search warrant to seize computers and evidence from one of Walker's top associates, Cynthia Archer.

Objectively, Scott Walker can be shown to be a most dishonest and disingenuous politician -- perhaps even making habitual liars like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan look "truthful" by comparison.

And then there's the fact that Scott Walker positioned himself squarely in the middle of the republican War on Women, signing, over the long 4th-of-July weekend, a vaginal ultrasound bill -- one of the most controversial in the nation.  Women's groups, a vocal voting block, are up-in-arms about it -- Scott Walker proclaims it is unfair to talk about.

Scott Walker dropped out of college after pulling illegal campaign stunts on campus that resulted in Marquette Tribute proclaiming him "unfit for office".  Walker would not only be the first president in modern times to have not earned a degree -- but his peers on campus still remember Walker's disgraceful conduct.  Walker recently lied to Time that that he left college for the birth of his son -- four years before he was born.

But perhaps most disturbing is how Wisconsin's self-proclaimed "divide and conquer" Governor, admitted deceiving the electorate and "dropping the bomb" with extreme and controversial legislation.  On multiple occasions, Walker has admitted considering crimes against our democracy by planting "troublemakers" in crowds of peaceful crowds expressing their Constitutional Rights to seek redress of grievances.

A fiscal conservative? -- HA!  Walker's budgets are not balanced and greatly inflate debt-service taxpayers will be saddled with in the future -- interest and expenses that create the illusion of fiscal responsibility.

So just how does the media snooker the public into falsely believing that a man with this track record, Scott Walker, is an "ideal" presidential candidate?  It takes a lot of propaganda.

Scott Walker is in need of some "big guns" to create and disseminate propaganda -- but have no fear -- the media is here!  A rational & objective analysis of Scott Walker's record in Wisconsin proves he is not presidential timber -- however, no one has told the media yet.

It will take a lot of propaganda, heavy-hittin' propaganda artists, and a massive right-wing media echo-chamber to catapult Gov. Scott Walker across the Badger State and the Nation as a credible presidential candidate.

Putting him in the White House will take another stolen election -- but here in Wisconsin, election irregularities and downright fraud are the norm.  It can be scientifically demonstrated that Scott Walker stole the 2012 recall.

FAIL:  Economic Austerity Crashes Wisconsin Economy

Let's begin with the massive job failure -- and this isn't just about Scott Walker's 2010 signature 250,000 job promise.  Wisconsin is also falling far behind its neighboring states in economic growth -- our economy is one of the worst in the nation -- all after implementing Walker's austerity agenda.

Click to enlarge, source:  Cap Times
Interactive Data -- Job Growth

Maybe turning to radical extreme out-of-state multinational corporate agendas via one-party rule isn't such a good idea after all.

In the coveted private sector manufacturing arena -- Wisconsin has actually LOST jobs (NOTE:  Please read that last link carefully, Journal Communications headline is extremely misleading -- more HERE).

We know why Scott Walker left his job growth promise out of his ghost-written and "not-a-tell-all" book -- by every assessment -- Walker is going to fail to grow the Wisconsin economy and will miss his jobs goal by a huge margin.

In fact, now that they are done promoting Walker's dishonest book, Sunday's New York Times outlines the differences in political philosophies in the Midwest, documenting that, compared to every nearby state, Walker's austerity is an utter failure.

NYT held these facts back until after Walker's book bamboozle tour was over.  Please note that NYT has not yet challenged the false notion that Walker is the "ideal" presidential candidate in 2012.

FAIL:  Business Growth

Lesser known than Walker's signature promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin during is first term is that he would also create 10,000 new businesses.  We know he is not going to come anywhere close to the 250,000 jobs -- and this does matter, despite Walker's attempts to roll-back those claims.

But Walker is also failing to create 10,000 new businesses -- and don't believe Journal Communications' propaganda artists at PolitiFact.  Not only is Walker falling short, but he (and Journal Communications) fraudulently prop up Walker's deceptive numbers by misusing what Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (WDFI) terms "business entities.  These are not all businesses -- not even close.

When Walker saw he was falling almost 6,000 businesses short of his goal, he turned to WDFI to orchestrate a great deception and is now counting Girl Scout troops and Little League teams as new business creations in the state.

FAIL:  Wisconsin Economic Development Agency, Walker's "Flagship"
& Misappropriate of Federal Community Development Block Grants

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, will not be able to collect more than 1/3 of the loans it has made, according to the most-recent audit by Schneck SC, which states that WEDC's internal accounting controls over loans were not in place and that loan agreements did not all have required performance reviews.  So what does Scott Walker have to say about?

He claims that having more than 1/3 of WEDC's loans, all taxpayer money, uncollectible is just a "boo-boo" that couldn't have been anticipated and that it's the computer's fault. And when the public found out about this mess, Walker proclaimed:

The vast majority of the people at the WEDC are doing good work. We've just got to make sure that the other things are corrected so that stays the focal point now and in the future.

The Schneck audit identified other "material weaknesses":

• No procedures were established to monitor loans
• Financial transactions were regularly recorded wrong or not at all
• Accounting journal entries were made without any documentation and often entirely without approval.  This may be an indication of fraud and cover up.
• Almost one-quarter of all credit card uses during the year were not approved.

Walker's Department of Administration was forced to respond by announcing that DOA would administer Community Development Block Grants.  H.U.D. had suspended the grant program because WEDC was not in compliance with state and federal statues, rules and regulations.  The law demands that these grants be administered by state agencies.  Since Walker created WEDC as a quasi-private agency to replaced the former Wisconsin Department of Commerce, he was afoul of federal laws.

But even after taking remedial action, Scott Walker and his WEDC are not off the hook, because HUD is investigating previous grants WEDC improperly awarded and reserves the right to demand Wisconsin pay-back any funds that were disbursed inappropriately.  If laws were broken, there could be other repercussions -- is any of this related to ongoing criminal investigations?

FAIL:  Multiple Ongoing Probes into Walker's Ascent to Power

The closed Milwaukee County John Doe probe resulted in 6 people being convicted of 15 felonies and 3 misdemeanors -- those top Walker aides are still in jail. Walker's right-wing supporters and media shills are worried and now screech lies that the whole process is unfair.

We now know that there are multiple ongoing probes -- all stemming from the original Milwaukee County John Doe probe. And we still do not know the results from the Federal search warrant that the FBI used to raid close Walker associate Cynthia Archer's Madison home.

With people currently serving time for felonies and with so many open investigations, how can the media tell us that Scott Walker is an "ideal" GOP candidate for 2016? 

This looks more like a train-wreck than a ticket to the White House.

FAIL:  General in War on Women & Reproductive Rights

Scott Walker is proclaiming to attendees at a recent Christian Science Monitor breakfast that he does not expect the "War on Women" to be an effective line of attack against him in his 2014 re-election campaign.  Christian Science Monitor's report reads like pure propaganda -- all but anointing Walker the next President of the United States.

This despite the fact that Walkersigned one of the Nation's most divisive and extreme vaginal ultrasound bills -- trying to hide it from the public by delaying signing it until the long Fourth of July 2013 weekend.  We know why Scott Walker tells lies -- in this case -- insisting he has no responsibility for taking away reproductive rights and signing into law state sanctioned rape.  Why does the media endlessly repeat these lies?

Reproductive rights are not just a women's issue either -- women and men have a vested interest in being able to determine when the time is right to raise a family.  Walker is thumbing his nose at the majority of Americans of reproductive age -- is this a stepping-stone to the White House?

FAIL:  Disgraceful Electioneering at Marquette University

Scott Walker, a man that can be objectively demonstrated to tell many lies, has a long history of being a political bully and has a track record of dirty campaign tactics & illegal campaigning.  Dr. Glen Barry, a former classmate at Marquette University, spoke out about the recall and Walker's disgraceful political roots which began at that school.  Read more of the sultry details of Scott Walker's life running for Marquette student government HERE.

FAIL:  Divide and Conquer Politics

Scott Walker, in January 2011, was asked by Diane Hendricks, a Wisconsin billionaire who is his largest campaign donor and who paid no state taxes in 2010, if he could make Wisconsin a "right to work state"  (video HERE).  His reply was, speaking in hushed tone was:

Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill.  The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. So for us, the base we've got for that is the fact that we've got – budgetarily we can't afford not to. If we have collective bargaining agreements in place, there's no way not only the state but local governments can balance things out.

Proclaiming to your wealthiest in-state donor that you will fail to serve large blocks of your constituency, declaring intentions to "divide and conquer" them instead, does not qualify one as the "ideal" presidential candidate.  Why does the media consistently proclaim otherwise?

FAIL:  "Drop the Bomb" -- Extreme & Divisive Legislative Agenda,
Hidden from the Electorate

Scott Walker has been lying about the most embarrassing mistake he has made as governor -- getting punked by a prank phone call by blogger Ian Murphy who pretended to be David Koch.  Murphy claims to have been "fairly stoned" when he made the call.  What was Scott Walker's excuse for falling for the prank?

Here's what Scott Walker said:

[…] the Monday right after the 6th. Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, and that Monday night I had all of my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were gonna do, how we were gonna do it. We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb.

As Governor, Scott Walker declared war on the people he has a sworn oath to serve.  He literally described his strategies as dropping "the bomb" on Badger Citizens.  But it gets worse, much worse.

FAIL:  Admits to Crimes Against Democracy -- Agent Provocateurs.

In that same prank phone call, Gov. Scott Walker admitted that state authorities had “thought about” using troublemakers -- actually agent provocateurs -- to infiltrate the crowds demonstrating against his effort to eliminate collective bargaining rights.

During a press conference that followed, Walker defended these remarks, stating “The bottom line is, the things I said are things I said publicly all along.”

We are talking about serious federal crimes here -- violating laws that go back to the Civil War era and protect citizens from direct attacks by their government -- even admitting thinking about these great crimes against our democracy is criminal. But to potential GOP presidential hopeful, Scott Walker, its all-in-a-days-work.

On February 23, 2011, Walker appeared on Fox News with anchor Greta Van Susteren -- she asked Walker if he and his aides had considered employing agent provocateurs to play “dirty tricks in the crowd.”  Walker openly confirmed -- yes indeed, he had, going so far as to explain: “I even had lawmakers and others suggesting riling things up.”

While Walker said that he rejected the idea, he has never expressed moral concerns about “riling things up”, potentially creating a dangerous situation for the for crowds that included children, elderly folks and people with disabilities. 

How can this episode reinforce Walker's front-runner status as the "ideal" GOP candidate for President of the United States in 2016?

FAIL:  Budget Shenanigans -- Deficits and Massive Debt

In 2011, Gov. Scott Walker needed a crisis to exploit, so he ginned up a budget deficit to enable his attack on public unions.  Then, in In May 2011, the state issued additional debt of approximately $558.3 million, which will cost state taxpayers an additional $156.2 million interest costs.

Gubernatorial opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, was correct  when he pointed out Walker's deception -- to help balance the 2011-13 budget, Gov. Scott Walker used "a credit card" approach that "pushed over $500 million in debt onto our children and our grandchildren" costing state taxpayers "more than $150 million in interest."

Even the conservative pro-business journal, Forbes, had to call out his lies on balancing the budget:

In fact, we now know that the Governor is either being untruthful with the good people of Wisconsin on the whole ‘I balanced budget and wiped out the deficit’ thing or he’s been, shall we say, stretching the truth when speaking to Uncle Sam on the same topicv 

In a letter sent by Mike Huebsch, Walker’s Administration Secretary, to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services just two months ago, Huebsch disclosed that the state of Wisconsin would have an ‘undisclosed deficit’ from January, 2012 through June, 2013.

Kathleen Vinehout points out the myths in the current 2-year budget:

1. The 2013-15 budget spends $4 billion more than the previous one. In fact, state spending is greater than it has ever been in Wisconsin’s history.
2. Walker's 2013-2014 
3. budget spends more than it is projected to collect in revenue.  When spending is greater than revenue, a deficit exists
4. In the 2011-13 legislative session, Gov. Scott Walker did not pay an even larger amount of debt payments coming due. Because debt payments were not made, more money goes to pay off debt in the current budget than ever before.

Scott Walker is not a fiscal conservative.  He is a flim-flam man that panders to a compliant media to generate misleading headlines -- one of his most outrageous shams was loading up the the Badger State's rainy day fund in a publicity stunt that the media promoted.  This borrowed money is not an asset set aside for future use -- it is a liability that taxpayers get stuck with while Walker struts around like a genius.


Fraudulently Creating a Republican "Rock Star"

So how can anyone look at each of these failures and objectively proclaim Scott Walker is a republican "rock star"?  How is Scott Walker the "ideal" candidate for GOP in 2016?  Why did the national media prop Scott Walker up for an entire week to let him promote his misleading and deceptive ghost-written biography?

Pretty powerful propaganda -- but we haven't see the worst of it yet. The media is, after all, anointing Scott Walker as the "ideal" GOPPER for the White House.

Posted by Voices Newspaper Blogat 6:41 PM

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How Republicans Fit The Classic Profile Of An Abuser

Author: Julie Driscoll October 16, 2013 9:01 pm

 

A domestic violence survivor and crisis hotline counselor explains how today’s Republican party matches the classic profile of an abuser. The Republican party fits the classic personality profile of an abuser. Photo montage by Elisabeth Parker for Addicting Info.

As a former victim of domestic violence, in another lifetime, I learned a lot about the abusive personality. When it was over, and I was out, I became a domestic violence hotline counselor. The classes I took to train me for this job taught me two things:  One, abusers aren’t psychotic, but instead have character disorders; and two, abusive behavior isn’t uncontrollable – it’s a learned social behavior.
Enter stage left, Republicans and what used to be their “fringe” faction, the tea baggers.  The “fringe” faction, though, has of late become “non-fringe” enough to take over the House, lead John Boehner around by the nose, shut down the federal government and gleefully high-five each other as our country teeters on the edge of default – all, ostensibly, to wage war against Obamacare, a law that was passed by the House and Senate, signed by the President, upheld by the Supreme Court and that has withstood 42 Republican-driven repeal attempts.

Like abusers, Republicans always make things someone else’s fault.

The behavior of Republicans – most recently around their government shutdown, and as they dig in their heels and rationalize – by making it someone else’s fault – driving the country into default, it reminds me vividly of the abusive personality that I engaged with daily, for years, until my divorce. No compromise was ever allowed, it was his way or his other way. He never talked about the many ways in which he was wrong, it was “look what you made me do.” In his mind, the only one whose behavior needed changing was mine. Any abusive behavior of his was justified because, in his warped thinking, I provoked him. He used bullying, fear tactics, threats and intimidation to get his way. In the end, although never abusive to them directly, he used my kids as pawns in his abusive game. He refused to share responsibility in any part of our relationship breakdown. I owned it, lock, stock and barrel.

Like abusers, Republicans do not negotiate in good faith.

If you break it down, how different is the behavior of a classic abuser than the behavior we are now seeing within the Republican Party, most notably, and startlingly, the tea baggers, beginning with the mastermind of the Republican government shutdown, Ted Cruz, and moving on through the ranks of Mike Lee and Michele Bachmann and Paul Ryan and Louie Gohmert, and about 30 others? As a domestic violence survivor, I know that the President and Harry Reid are utterly correct to hold the line at negotiation.  Abusers – such as the House tea baggers, along with John Boehner, their puppet – do not negotiate in good faith.  Regardless of what “deals” they offer up today, they will renege when it comes time to uphold their end of the bargain.  When Republicans say they want a short-term “deal” to re-open the government and avoid a default, I know what that means: Just as abusive personalities are generally incapable of rehabilitation, neither are Republicans. Rehabilitation implies that there is a point of normalcy in the past to which one can return. I have yet to see that point for Republicans; they’re beyond redemption. A year ago, Paul Krugman aptly pointed out that the debt ceiling debacle demonstrates that “raw extortion works and carries no political cost,” and that “irresponsible brinksmanship” is now “a proven effective negotiating tactic.”  Mr. Krugman, meet your classic abuser.

Like abusers, Republicans must win at all costs.

An abusive personality really doesn’t care who is caught in the crossfire. His desire for control, his low self-esteem and irrational, desperate need to be the winner at any cost trumps any scrap of humanity. Despite the fact that Republicans raised the debt ceiling more than 25 times under Republican presidents (and five times, without batting an eye, under Bush), their classically abusive personalities have risen to the fore under this President. At any cost, regardless of any harm to others, they will win. So what if the U.S. defaults?  According to some Republicans, for the President to allow a default would be an “impeachable offense;” on the other hand, if the President were to invoke the 14th Amendment and direct the Treasury to pay its bills regardless of the House’s inactivity, that, too, in the minds of Republicans, would no doubt rise to the level of an impeachable offense.  As in all abusive relationships, it’s a Catch 22. Listening to the screaming rage of Republicans, it’s clear that no cost is too great to make President Obama look bad.  If the measures Republicans implement increase the chance that this President’s success story will be on pause, they’ll make a pact with any devil.  So what if their newly-discovered “fiscal conservatism” trashes a still fragile economy, tanking the markets, and driving unemployment numbers up?  If that’s what’s required to be the victors in the game of chicken they’ve been playing with our lives, that’s what they’ll do. Their lack of humanity, and lack of a moral center, is truly breathtaking.

Like abusers, Republicans will invalidate you.

I remember, during the days when I was on the receiving end of such bullying tactics, how my heart would pound and adrenaline would flow, how my stomach would knot up. I’ve felt that way any number of times during these past terrible weeks as progressives have fought for a toehold in the battle of integrity against a foe who has none. My gut has kept score.  A classic abusive personality generally uses sexually derogatory slurs against his victim, but in this case, Republicans continue to press the case that this President is not legitimate.  Their use of coded and un-coded racial slurs against our President are not dissimilar to the derogatory terms like “slut” and “whore” that classic abusers use to refer to their women; it’s how they engage. And it is, sadly, how the Republicans have engaged politically ever since President Obama was elected, and continue to engage.

Like abusers, Republicans will grind you down.

When you deal with an abusive personality, day after day, it grinds you down. Exhaustion takes over, mental fatigue weakens your facilities, hopelessness, fear and despair reduce your ability to fight. Sometimes, giving in to ridiculous demands is a relief. It stops the emotional, mental, and physical pain, even if only briefly. You think of leaving, but resist because on some level you know that your very life could be in danger if you do. Of course such fear is not misplaced; most women are killed at the point they are attempting to leave their abuser. And so, as goes domestic violence, so goes the Republican tactics. For every sane, rational plan put forward by Democrats the Republicans up the insane, irrational ante by demanding such things as the repeal or defunding of Obamacare, a “conscience clause” for the dispensing of birth control, the repeal of taxes that fund Obamacare, and even more stringent and austere financial cuts to an already stripped-to-the-bone federal budget.
Republicans – astoundingly, even Republicans who were exultant about the power they were able to wield by shutting down the government in the first place – now refuse to take responsibility for the current crisis, and instead claim that President Obama is responsible because he’s refused to negotiate with a gun to his head.  And although Democrats, like every victim of bullying and abuse, know on some level that a refusal to comply will mean pain and suffering for many, if not all, Americans, they, finally, refused to comply.   In the face of an abusive entity standing with a threatening stance in the doorway, walking through it is perilous.  As we’ve seen, when abusers are thwarted, the danger is great; we hear, see and feel their howls of rage.

Like an abuser, Republicans don’t care who they hurt.

I understand that emotion; I lived it for far too long. The Republicans have bullied, threatened and extorted for a very long time. And they get away with it because they have something the Democrats will never have: A callous disregard for anyone standing between them and a win. An abuser will knock a child out of the way in a rage, to reach the object of his obsessive fury. Republicans will knock this country out of the way in that same towering rage, carelessly tossing aside Americans, blaming others for their behavior, refusing to take responsibility for the current state, and never, ever compromising. Just as an abused woman puts her life in danger when she tries to leave, the Democrats know that they’ll put this country at great risk if they set their own requirements and firmly stand their ground.  But abused women do find the courage to leave, and the Democrats have found the courage to lead.
The thing about being an abuse victim, though – if you’re basically strong – is that the day comes when you fight back. The day comes when you pick up a Louisville Slugger and look him in the eye and dare him to take one more step in your direction. It’s an empowering moment when you realize that bullies can feel fear, that abusers can be dissuaded, that you don’t have to fear walking through that doorway. You realize that you have little to lose by asserting yourself. I’m confident that this day has, finally, come for our country, for Democrats, for all progressives. This is the day when we look the Republicans in the eye, brandish our symbolic Louisville Sluggers and say, “No more.” Domestic violence organizations have engaged the services of big, burly private detectives or cops to accompany women to court to face their abusers. It’s interesting, but the one thing abusers seem to respond to is the prospect of being harmed themselves. When faced with a threat, they back down.

Now, it’s time to call their bluff.

Our threat, the greatest weapon we have at our disposal, is stripping Republicans of the one thing they value most: Power and control. In the next election, the tea baggers must be voted out. In 2014, we must re-gain the House.  In 2014, we must send a clear message that abuse will not be tolerated, thuggery will not be accepted, and that we will call their every bluff. Our power is in the strength of our integrity and our ability to scream bloody murder when we’re threatened by forces that we know have no interest in our well-being. Abusers say they love us, just as Republicans say they love this country. Republicans say that their behavior is justified to save America from the evil scourge of liberals and the devil that is Obamacare, just as abusive men claim their behavior is justified to save themselves from a conniving bitch. The cycle of violence is clear: Whatever it takes to drive her away, followed by everything it takes to win her back. We as progressives are required, even obligated, to stop the cycle of Republican violence against Americans. We will stop it with the power in our numbers, with with the power of our votes, with the power of our loud voices.
In the movie, “The Burning Bed,” the female protagonist played by Farah Fawcett poured gasoline on the bed and lit it on fire; killing her abusive husband. When it comes to Republican policies, Republican hypocrisy, and their carelessness with our lives, I’m prepared to light the match.

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No thanks to Walmart

No thanks to Walmart

by Mark Sumner for Daily Kos

I think we can all agree that 2010 wasn’t the best of years. After all, unemployment at midyear was still bordering on 10 percent, home foreclosures were at a record high, and profits per employee at US corporations only rose 24 percent. Now, go back and read that last one again. As it happens, U.S. corporations were on their way to record profits in 2010, raking in more money at the same time as they were cutting both staff and benefits. Think that’s a fluke? Profits per employee jumped another 22 percent in 2011. That’s as layoffs reached record heights and 312,000 jobs were eliminated. The year 2011 also marked another record year of profits for U.S. companies. Not only did Fortune 500 corporations pocket a record $824.5 billion, they generated earnings at a rate 23 percent percent higher than the historical average. By the end of that year, Apple alone had $76 billion in the bank, after generating a profit amounting to half a million dollars per employee.
Tell me again that this was a hard year. The economy is bad only in that we've allowed the economy of corporations and the economy of real, living human beings to become totally disconnected.
It’s one thing to say that middle class wages are stagnant while those of the top 1 percent are continuously growing, but there’s a deeper, more fundamental flaw in our current notion of capitalism: Everyone understands that profit is good, but no one seems to understand what profit is for. We’ve constructed a set of standard practices that would not only make Gordon Gekko blush, they’re self-destructive. American capitalism is profiting itself to death.
Few companies are as emblematic of the New American System as is Walmart. The company that in 2011 generated more revenues than any other, the company that is now the largest food retailer in the world is the same company that recently encouraged donations of food to its own employees. It’s also a company that, putting aside any losses generated when it replaces smaller, local stores, causes a net loss to every community it enters in the form of increased tax revenues needed to support the underpaid employees. Walnart not only counts on taxpayer dollars to subsidize its “low cost” stores, it counts on that same taxpayer dollars to drive its business. Walmart employees not only need food stamps to get by, Walmart is the largest place where those food stamps are redeemed. It’s a cycle that grinds employees (and communities) relentlessly down, while driving Walmart revenues just as consistently up.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way.

While Walmart may be the corporate expression of the darkest timeline, Costco shows that it’s not required to be a corporate ass to be profitable. Costco workers start at a salary of over $11 an hour—a modest amount, certainly, but an amount that most Walmart employee never attain even after years of labor. The average Costco worker makes almost twice that amount on an hourly basis, and Costco workers also tend to work normal work weeks, with all the benefits that implies, rather than the truncated working hours Walmart imposes to keep employees just shy of such extravagances as health care or paid leave. Costco executives also make a much more reasonable sum compared to the corporate profits. Put it all together, and the CEO of Costco makes as much as 48 workers earning the median wage—a rate that’s high by historical standards, but downright Spartan compared to the situation at Walmart where the CEO pulls in the pay of 796 average workers (a shameful rate that is closely matched by the 645 employees it would take to reach the pay awarded the CEO of Target).
Walmart's unending quest to inflate its profit by any means is such that it scrambles to find elaborate schemes to deny the wages promised to workers who sacrifice their holidays to the corporate coffers.
The most shameful thing out of all these numbers may be this: Walmart could quite easily afford to pay its workers a living wage.  It could do so without threatening its ability to operate. It could do so without slowing its relentless expansion. It could do so without residing its prices one dime. Walmart has ample ability to pay its workers more, because it's not just profitable, it's massively profitable.
If Walmart were to pay all of its employees a living wage—not a poverty rate, but something more like the $45k average that Costco workers earn—if it did that, Walmart's corporate profits would have declined last year from $17 billion, to a mere $12.5 billion.
But this isn't just a Walmart story, it's an American story. Not so long ago, American corporations accepted the idea that they had obligations to their stockholders, but also to their workers and the communities where they did business. They understood that profit was a tool, a fuel that powered the corporation to achieve its goals. But now profit is the goal. It's been fetishized beyond all reason. Many people will even tell you that there's a law requiring companies to generate as much profit as possible. There is no such law. There never was. And the only thing more insane than believing that such a harmful law might exist, is that many seem to think it's a good idea.

Originally posted to Daily Kos on Sun Nov 24, 2013 at 06:00 AM PST.

Also republished by In Support of Labor and Unions.

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Law Does Apply to the Rightwing and Koch Brothers

Law Does Apply to the Rightwing and Koch Brothers

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Wisconsin - AFP
Is the main the main political group run by the Koch brothers.
AFP is 501(c)4; The regulations about IRC 501(c)(4)s provide
that promotion of social welfare does not include participation
or intervention in political campaigns, reads an IRS document.

The MacIver Institute, Wisconsin Reporter, MediaTrackers and the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute are an effective party press for the Wisconsin Republican Party, as they lawyer up.

Hey, just chat, cooperate and talk straight and you won't even need lawyers unless you really went bent the law the last two years, or are a part of politcal dark money.

• MacIver Institute - 501(C)(3)
• The Wisconsin Reporter - a protect of the  Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting rightwing propaganda
• MediaTrackers  - a 501(c)(3( devoted to rightwing propaganda
• Wisconsin Policy Research Institute - a 501(c) Non-Stock Corporation

I care about the people of the Republican Party too much to see them lives of dependence on legal funds and their destiny controlled by attorneys.

So, some free info:

"Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity," reads an IRS guide.

Palm Beach Press Reporter said in Feb. 2012 interview with David Koch that he took credit
for Republicans maintaining control of the state Senate Wisconsin in recall elections

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Wal-Mart's Employee Food Drive

As the greedy underclass continues to demand a living wage, Wal-Mart generously hosts a food drive for its own employees.  (02:40)

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive

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You Might Be Surprised Who Collects on the Tips You Leave at Restaurants

By law your tip is supposed to go to restaurant workers -- often they don't.

 

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/Rommel Canlas

November 17, 2013  |  

 

I was asked during a recent interview what happens to the tips we leave in restaurants. Do they actually go to the workers? I said they’re supposed to. Often they don't.
First, tips don't  only go to servers. They are typically shared—with bussers, runners, bartenders, floor captains, and more. These workers receive varying percentages of total tips on top of the abysmally low minimum hourly wage they receive for tipped labor—$2.13 at the federal level, and between $2 and $4 in most states. These workers live off low wages earned from their employers as well as the generosity given by their customers, who decide whether and how much to tip.
By law, restaurants are required to make up the difference between a server's hourly base pay and the federal minimum for all other workers, $7.25. That means restaurants are supposed to calculate how much servers make in tips and ensure that those tips exceed $7.25 per hour on average. This legally required business expense is offset by what's called a "tip credit"—a discount on workers' wages because we, the customers, are asked to pay workers' wages for restaurants.
Having to calculate whether tips actually bring workers' wages up to the federal minimum wage each week can put an incredible burden on small businesses. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Department of Labor reports a violation rate of 84 percent with regard to the tip credit.
Worse, these workers' paltry earnings are often stolen.
One in five servers reports being forced to share tips with management, according to a national survey conducted by my organization. You might think that happens only with cash, not with credit cards. Think again. Restaurants often deduct credit card-processing fees from workers’ tips.
Philadelphia recently passed an ordinance banning the deduction of credit card-processing fees from tips. When the bill was being debated, a local restauranteur complained that he'd lose $500,000 annually. It was a rare case of unintended honesty. He had been skimming half a million dollars from his workers' tips. Sadly, Philadelphia is just one of a few places to ban tip-skimming.
Workers’ tips are stolen in other ways. One of our leaders, Claudia Munoz, tells the story of having worked at the IHOP in Houston while in graduate school. Her hourly base pay $2.13. The IHOP did not bother making sure that her tips brought her hourly wages up to the federal minimum. It reported that she was earning $7.25 an hour regardless of what she earned in tips. The result? No paycheck. Ever. The real $2.13 an hour paid the taxes on the fictional $7.25 an hour.
Claudia describes not being able to afford food, and being so hungry that she’d wait to get to the restaurant so she could flirt with cooks to get extra food. One evening, Claudia worked an overnight shift at the IHOP, and earned some decent tips. But at the end of the night, a couple walked out without paying the bill. The restaurant's management—though it is illegal—required Claudia to pay for the walkout, which was more than everything she earned that night.
Claudia paid $20 to work for nothing.
What can we do as tippers? First, leave tips in cash. Second, demand that tips go solely and directly to workers, and that workers be paid a full, stable, livable base wage. Don't continue subsidizing an industry that should be paying its own workers. No one should be living off tips.

Saru Jayaraman is the co-founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley. She is the author of Behind the Kitchen Door.

 

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Rachel Maddow Nails How Utterly Nutty Wis GOP Has Become (Now With Even More Voter Suppression)

Rachel Maddow Nails How Utterly Nutty Wis GOP Has Become (Now With Even More Voter Suppression)

by PuddytatFollow

 

Must see video (H/T to BruinKid for his comment/tip on how to embed this since the "new" MSNBC video no longer embeds):

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

She nailed it from the extremism to the petty bullying that has infested our State Legislature since the Red Tide election of 2010.
After taking even more extremist anti-abortion legislation off the table as I diaried here, saying they were going to end the legislative session on a lighter note, Republicans in the State Assembly pulled out a brand new shiny Voter Suppression Bill and resurrected a bill to allow state-issued anti-abortion license plates.
They did this because they got into a snit about Assembly Democrats calling for a vote on an already approved bill to honor the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre which passed the State Senate unanimously.  Republicans in the Assembly refused to even consider that bill.  Why?  Nobody seems to know.  So, in retaliation, they brought out more extremist bills including a brand new one to further restrict voting in Wisconsin.  Yes, it's gotten that petty.

The most severe of the voter suppression measures Republicans passed in 2011, including the presentation of a state-issued ID, are on hold by the courts.  Left in place, however, are measures that restrict early voting and absentee ballots,  as well as a requirement that all voters must sign the poll book.  These measures increase the amount voters who must vote in person as well as increase the actual amount of time poll workers need to spend with each voter.  Of course, this increases the lines of people who vote, further discouraging those with busy schedules or in crowded voting precincts.  And that's the intent of those laws - to suppress the vote in Democratic areas.
That wasn't enough for Republicans, though.  Their brand new shiny voter suppression bill removes ALL weekend voting (their limitation to 1 weekend from 3 in 2011 wasn't restrictive enough to prevent electoral wins by Tammy Baldwin and Barack Obama in 2012) and restricts early voting to ONE WEEK and ONLY during the hours of 7:30 AM - 5 PM (that'll show those folks who try to vote before or after work).
Not only that, but anyone without that ID needs to sign an affidavit that they're indigent and their "vote" is not guaranteed to be counted.  A person who doesn't have the time to go during work hours to get that ID, has no transportation to a DMV for that ID, or who can't obtain the documents necessary for the ID will have to declare their indigent and possibly get their vote tossed if they aren't.
So, here we go again.
On top of all of this, they want to make the Chief Justice position based on the election of the fellow justices (currently it's the most senior Justice and has been done that way for more than 100 years).  Naturally, they want to impose the will of the RW 4 of 7 justices who have bought their seats instead of having moderate Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson as the Chief based on her long history of service on the State Supreme Court.
And they've also succeeded in changing the reasons for recall to the reasons Scott Walker cited during his own recall.   There has been no reason necessary other than the will of the voters.  Now the recalled official must be charged and/or convicted of a felony or ethics violation.  This would make it impossible for Walker to have politically profited from the voter anger that made him Milwaukee County Executive had it been in effect 15 years ago.  It would also make it impossible for us to recall anyone for malfeasance in office or anything outside of criminal behavior.
I think we be "safe" from them for the next year.  They're done with their extremism until after the next election because they can't count on the poor memories of Wisconsinites or the power of their massive money to ensure their re-election.
They know no bottom and know no shame.
.

Originally posted to Puddytat on Sat Nov 16, 2013 at 12:29 PM PST.

Also republished by Badger State Progressive and Friends of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

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Wal-Mart Asks Workers To Donate Food To Its Needy Employees

Wal-Mart Asks Workers To Donate Food To Its Needy Employees

Ashley Lutz 58 minutes ago 4,056 14

walmart checkout

Walmart Media Relations


A Cleveland Wal-Mart store is holding a food drive — for its own employees.

"Please donate food items so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner," reads a sign accompanied by several plastic bins.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported on the food drive, which has sparked outrage in the area.

"That Wal-Mart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to donate food to other low-wage workers — to me, it is a moral outrage," Norma Mills, a customer at the store, told the Plain Dealer.

A company spokesman defended the food drive, telling the Plain Dealer that it is evidence that employees care about each other.

"This store has been doing this for several years and is for associates that have faced an extreme hardship recently," spokesman Kory Lundberg told us.

Lundberg says an example of this would be a recent layoff in the family or some other financial hardship.

Wal-Mart has been criticized for paying low wages to its 2.2 million employees.

Last week, 50 people were arrested after protesting the retailer's pay at a store in Los Angeles.

Wal-Mart turned a profit of $15.7 billion last year.

SEE ALSO:  Facts About Wal-Mart That Will Blow Your Mind

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-asks-customers-to-donate-food-2013-11#ixzz2l1IUPjsq

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