the road to moneygall (say hello to henry in the comments)

An Irish television documentary on Henry Healy (and his American cousin)

Original video here

UPDATE: Sorry, video no longer available at link

 

safe home

the gop takes the weekend off. seriously.

child’s play

First Lady Michelle Obama greets children during her visit to the Naval Air Station Oceana Summer Camp in Virginia Beach, Va., July 21. Mrs. Obama toured the camp and later welcomed local military families to a special screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, as part of the Joining Forces Movie Series. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

‘how wall street reform is working for you’

close?

NYT: The Obama administration has informed Democratic Congressional leaders that President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner were starting to close in on a major budget deal that would enact substantial spending cuts and seek future revenues through a tax overhaul, Congressional officials said Thursday.

With the government staring at a potential default in less than two weeks, the officials said the administration on Wednesday night notified top members of Congress that a bargain with Mr. Boehner could be imminent. The Congressional leaders, whose help Mr. Obama would need to bring a compromise forward, were told that the new revenue tied to the looming agreement to increase the debt limit by Aug. 2 would be produced in 2012 through a tax code rewrite that would lower individual and corporate rates, close loopholes, end tax breaks and make other adjustments to produce revenue gains.

More here

ohio

President Obama helps spell out “Ohio” with the Weithman family, Rachel, 9, Josh, 11, and mom Rhonda, in their home in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2010

TPM: As any political pundit worth his or her salt will tell you, you can’t win the presidency as a Republican, Democratic, Whig or Bull Moose party member without winning the state of Ohio. Right now, President Barack Obama leads all GOP challengers there.

… In 2008, President Obama took the state by well over 200,000 votes. But in 2010 Republican John Kasich beat then Gov. Ted Strickland as the GOP wave swept the country. And as we approach 2012, the GOP may have once again be poisoning the well of public opinion, and the possible electoral results are starting to show.

In a new Quinnipiac poll President Obama leads head-to-head match ups against former MA Gov. Mitt Romney 45 – 41, Rep. Michele Bachman 49 – 36, undeclared maybe-candidate TX Gov. Rick Perry 47 – 35, and former AK Gov. Sarah Palin 51 – 35….

Additionally, Sen. Sherrod Brown, who had registered negative job approval ratings in early 2010, has skyrocketed in the wake of Gov. John Kasich’s push against organized labor and subsequent fall in the polls. Voters now think that Brown deserves reelection by at 47 – 33 margin, and his job approval stands at 49 – 30….

More here

Thanks Lisa

bye bye

Poor Cenk, he thinks he was a “tiger in a zoo”, his roaring magnificence, err, muffled. Does anyone believe his account of his talk with MSNBC? Me neither. If the channel was so reluctant to have ‘anti-establishment’ presenters, wouldn’t they be firing Rachel Maddow etc? Maybe you were just crap, Cenk?

😉

pitiful…

soldoutsandsellouts: Progressive Change Campaign Committee Treasurer Adam Green purchased the URL ColberSuperPAC.com, omitting the t in Stephen Colbert’s name, and then redirected that URL to his own PAC web site in an apparent attempt to steal critical membership and donations away from Colbert’s PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.

… Adam Green registered colbersuperpac.com at Godaddy.com, Inc. on July 1, 2011 for one year using the same address he used to register PCCC with the Federal Election Commission. Soon afterward, the URL began redirecting unwitting ABTT supporters to Green’s PCCC PAC website, soliciting memberships and donations intended for ABTT via a splash page similar to the graphic included here….

… According to PCCC’s ‘Statement of Organization’ filed with the Federal Election Commission, the committee was formed on December 19, 2008, the original treasurer was and remains Adam Green…..

Despite PCCC’s brief existence, the committee has already received two letters from the Commission requesting additional information for expenditure reporting discrepancies, both for 2010. In both circumstances, the Commission’s first request appeared to be its final warning including wording to the effect that PCCC must adequately respond by the deadline or risk audit or enforcement actions….

Full post here

Thanks everyone for the link to this story

‘opposition to a deal with obama creates problems for gop’

LA Times: As the debt ceiling debate enters its final stages, House Republicans face increasing political isolation in their opposition to sweeping budget reforms that President Obama has pushed for and polls show most Americans now prefer.

Republican resistance to compromise has turned a significant bloc of voters against them, according to several new polls, and has frustrated members of their own leadership as well as establishment GOP figures.

…  House Republicans remain the key obstacle to passing a debt ceiling increase and avoiding a possible federal default after Aug. 2. Their strict adherence to a no-new-taxes pledge all but rules out consideration of a larger agreement on deficits and the debt ceiling. Their position is reinforced by the fear that “tea party” groups will mount primary challenges against many Republicans who vote for anything that could be characterized as a tax increase.

… Boehner, at the center of negotiations with the White House over a sweeping deficit-reduction deal, has had to spend much of the last several days trying to get his members to lower their expectations and ease their hostility to a compromise.

Full article here

Thanks Tally