gop

During last night’s GOP/Tea Party debate on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul if under his America would a sick man without insurance be allowed to die instead of receiving care. Before Paul could even answer, the Tea Partiers started chanting “yes”. Here’s the video caught by TPM:

It really hurts my brain to think about these people and how they go out and act like the righteous when it comes to religion, yet they ignore the most basically preaching's of God and Jesus. It also makes me want to break things when I think about these hypocrites. These are the same people that sat in town halls a couple of years ago telling politicians that the government better not touch their Medicare. These people believe that they are the ones entitled, but no one else.

Yes the headline is harsh, but so are the actions of the GOP. Tonight President Obama is to ask for an extension of the payroll tax cuts and even increase them. Hasn’t the right been telling us that tax cuts are what keeps the economy rolling? Well apparently not now:

Congressional Republicans over the past year have threatened to both shut down the government and default on U.S. debt in order to prevent tax hikes. But in January, without congressional action, payroll taxes are set to increase by 50 percent on millions of American workers. The GOP response? A resounding meh.

When President Obama travels to Congress on Thursday to deliver a major jobs speech, he'll be encountering a species previously considered mythical on Capitol Hill: Republicans who don't support tax cuts.

The one-year payroll tax cut was passed as part of the deal that extended Bush-era tax rates through 2012, and Republicans routinely described the potential expiration of that cut as a "tax hike." While the payroll tax cut applies to no more than the first $106,000 in income, the Bush tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthy. But the key difference between the two is the author: The payroll tax is Obama's and his alone.

And if you continue reading the article you’ll find quotes from tons of Republicans in Congress, like this one:

"My personal view is that the debt is already impacting the economy," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) "If your debt is this large, I think you've gotta be very careful about adding debt." HuffPost asked whether that view put the GOP in the unusual position of advocating that taxes go up on millions of people in January, when the one-year cut expires.

While corporations are sitting on records amount of cash and still refusing to hire we have the reality absent GOP pushing for more tax cuts for these people. They consider to insist that their almost 30 year old failed experiment in economics is the way to go, that some how corporations will create supply without any demand. It's enough to make your head explode. 

Today Think Progress posted this chart. I have seen it before but always forgot to share it. It's a striking tell of what the Bush tax cuts did for the jobs market:

I know many on the right will be quick to dismiss this chart as some form of partisan hackery, compiled using fake numbers. To those people I ask you to look at the data source. This data comes straight from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and at the time of the data, George Bush was President. So if you honestly believe that the Bush administration would alter data to make it look like one of his keystone pieces of legislation was a failure then I'm amazed you even have the common sense to turn on a computer.

For those that do accept this data and realize it is true, especially given the fact that it was produced by the Bush administration, thank you. We can get beyond the partisan rhetoric and talk like grown ups, which is something greatly amiss in our country today.

When the S&P downgraded our credit rating last Friday one of the reasons they gave was the inability of Congress to raise revenues, IE tax increases. That's rather interesting given the Republican front-runner's handling of credit ratings in the past:

Gov. Mitt Romney lobbied the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s in 2004 to raise his state’s credit rating in part because Massachusetts had raised taxes during an economic downturn two years earlier.

The claim was part of a presentation to the ratings agency obtained by POLITICO under a state freedom of information law from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. The Nov. 4 presentation, stamped “confidential,” helped persuade S&P to raise the state’s grade and handed Romney the perfect talking point for last week’s humiliating national downgrade by the same agency.

Romney used tax hikes as a reason to improve his state's credit rating. That's interesting coming from the man who wants to lead the party that dismissed that idea from the onset of the debt ceiling debate.

A majority of people are against the handling of the debt crisis on the part of every party, but the vast majority disapprove of the way the Republicans are handling the issue than anyone else a CBS News poll finds.

This really comes as no surprise given the melodramatic way GOP leaders like Eric Cantor have acted during the talks. On top of that, the GOP has constantly changed their goal posts. It's becoming more and more obvious that the right is playing politics with this issue while ignoring the financial security of our nation.

So what will happen if the negotiations fail and we don't raise the debt limit? My guess is that the GOP will way dearly for it and the best way to make sure of that is for the Democrats to pounce on it. They don't need to spin or stretch the truth. Just remind the American people of some simple facts:

People who believe the Republicans want to turn this economy around are sadly mistaken:

The concern arises as numerous top Republicans react coldly to the prospect of temporarily reducing the payroll tax burden on employers and employees -- to juice the economy before federal spending draws down in the years ahead.

Traditionally, and particularly in tough economic times, this and a handful of other stimulative policies have enjoyed bipartisan support. But with the outcome of the 2012 election likely to hinge on the nation's economic trajectory, the GOP is mysteriously rethinking those positions. And Democrats are starting to note of the suspicious timing.

Got that? The Republicans are opposing tax cuts because it might hurt their chances in the elections next year. This is another case of "party before country" and anyone supporting Republicans should be ashamed of that fact.

Of course the Republicans don't deserve all the blame on this. What they are doing is just playing the new system of politics that has been created in this country. Politics has become a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry and by default any politician isn't a good sportsman. They will lie, cheat and steal to come out on top. The biggest failure this highlights is that of the free market, especially when it filters down into our elections.

Eric Cantor has already called on Anthony Weiner to resign amid the photo scandal, but now he is calling on Nancy Pelosi to strip Anthony Weiner of his committee assignments:

Majority Leader Eric Cantor escalated the GOP's war of words over Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D-NY) online indiscretions on Monday, calling on Democrats to remove him of his committee assignments if they can't push him out of office.

"I called on him to resign early, because I think that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, the way that his leaders now have called on him to resign." Cantor said at a pen and pad briefing. "I'm hoping that they will begin to move, if he does not resign, toward perhaps stripping him of his committees."

Cantor was among the first Republicans to wade into the Weiner scandal, which other members of his party largely avoided until after the New York Democrat confessed to lying about a lewd photo he sent to a Seattle college student.

Of course Cantor, while serving as Majority Whip, was part of the GOP leadership during the Mark Foley scandal. What was his comment on Foley? Mum!. And even though there is no proof that Cantor knew of Foley's activities, it can be safely assumed that he did. It was one of the worst kept secrets in Washington, including articles published in 2000 and 2001 about Foley's follies.

Wisconsin State Journal reports:

State election officials have cleared the way for three more GOP state senators to face recall elections, meaning six senators will almost certainly have to defend their seats.

Republicans had challenged recall petitions against Sens. Robert Cowles, Alberta Darling and Sheila Harsdorf. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board tossed out most of the challenges.

This brings the total number of Republicans facing recall in the cheese state to six. I bet they are glad they stuck by Scott Walker and his radical, right-wing agenda.