President Obama signs a line worker’s shirt after touring the Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tenn., July 30 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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Steve Benen: Why would the GOP balk at a corporate tax cut?
As promised, President Obama spoke in Tennessee this afternoon, and made congressional Republicans an offer they probably shouldn’t refuse: the GOP would get corporate tax reforms, including lower rates, while Democrats would get investments in infrastructure and manufacturing.
…. GOP opposition is just a little more difficult to understand. Sure, when the White House proposes new tax revenue from the wealthy, it stands to reason that Republicans will scream bloody murder. When the president talks about increasing the size of government in any appreciable way, we know the GOP will go berserk.
But corporate tax breaks and infrastructure jobs? Why announce knee-jerk opposition to these ideas?
I’ve spent some time this afternoon collecting Republican complaints about the new Obama offer, so let’s take them one at a time.
More here
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To understand PBO’s grand bargain on taxes, read @Smartypants32 on conciliation as ruthless strategy. http://t.co/8XFSg4oNGE
— allanbrauer (@allanbrauer) July 30, 2013
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Smartypants: A common sense proposal for NSA reform
Now that it appears as if the American public is ready to move beyond their fear-based approach to national security, I agree with President Obama.
I’ve got to tell you though Charlie, I think this is a healthy thing because its a sign of maturity that this debate would not have been taking place 5 years ago. And I welcome it.
That means that perhaps we can have a rational discussion about the NSA and potential reforms that make sense. Of course folks like Greenwald are not going to initiate a discussion about solutions – that would mean actually owning some responsibility rather than simply screaming from the sidelines (not to mention that solutions are terrible link-bait). But somebody needs to do it. As is often the case, that part is left to the pragmatists.
More here
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And now for a balanced, informed view of the Manning verdict. Kidding, it’s Hamwald.
— Ethan Peretz (@MperiousRex) July 31, 2013
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Seems many journos also don’t get that the beneficiary of true whistleblowing is supposed to be THE PUBLIC, not their byline. @Lawrence
— Only4RM (@Only4RM) July 31, 2013
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@whitehouse This morning, President Obama and VP Biden met with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on resuming peace talks
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ThinkProgress: Obama Calls Out Republicans For Wasting Time On Keystone: ‘That’s Not A Jobs Plan’
In a speech on Tuesday focused on repairing the American economy, President Obama called out Republicans in Congress for flouting serious job-creation efforts in favor of trying to repeal environmental regulations and push for the creation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
While Republicans have advocated for Keystone by insisting that it will create jobs, Obama slammed that assertion Tuesday, pointing to the Cornell University estimate that Keystone would only create 50 permanent jobs….
More here
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Check it out: The restaurant industry is growing, and average hours are up. #ObamacareIsWorkinghttp://t.co/U8VXtXD3iC
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 30, 2013
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Thank you, PBO! Took my kids to doctor for annual checkups, NO COPAY for first time ever! I Love, Love, Love the ACA! #ObamaCares
— Aღanda (@AC_BOwen) July 30, 2013
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Very funny historical comparison by @NYTimeskrugman on Marco Rubio’s latest gibberish about Obamacare: http://t.co/0Olfck2SYY
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 28, 2013
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We’ve come a long way—but there’s still more work to do. #TransformationTuesday, pic.twitter.com/IPgpU2o7C2
— The White House (@whitehouse) July 30, 2013
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BREAKING! We now have a fully confirmed @NLRB board. —> http://t.co/xFtN04CKGO#1u#NLRB
— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) July 30, 2013
RT @richardtrumka: For the first time in more than a decade America now has a fully staffed #NLRB
— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) July 30, 2013
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The most useful invention since the wheel?
Seen on the shelves at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Chattanooga just visited by POTUS: pic.twitter.com/WI1lidi76q
— Jay Carney (EOP) (@PressSec) July 30, 2013
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Will catch up with whatever good stuff I missed in tomorrow’s R&S
The Obama Diary 
GE Chips, TOD….. Was on an internet vacation……..well rested!
Some boring, but important background on jostling re: the next chairman of the FED that’s spilling into to the public…….
Aha, LP! So you BTs virtually all go on vacation at the same time. Maybe I should volunteer to be your PA, organizing all your vacays or trips to far off places so they don’t coincide.
Evening VC! How are things on your end….all is well? p.s. you would quit within a week…….I am the definition of procrastination….will drive you bananas!
Yes, things are okay under the circumstances. We had the funeral on Saturday, and it truly was a celebration of the lad’s life. Now we continue, one day at a time.
My offer to be PA would be for all of the BTs, not just you. That way I could hang up a huge calendar, fill it all your combined movements, and know who is in and who is out and when. 😉 (Just don’t tell anyone on the team that I am an expert at procrastination in my personal life.)
VC, why are you stressing? I have not seen TOD miss a beat with UT in control! In addition, LL, LP. AMK, and Zizi are always on the ready to pitch in with fabulous posts. Like President Obama, Chipsticks has such “a keen instinct on selecting the best people to assist her. I know how hard Chipsticks works, but I am so glad that all these brilliant “BT she selected (UT, AMK, LL, LP and Zizi) have done such a marvelous job.
You misunderstand me, Nathk. I am not stressing at all! I just like to give some of the leaders a ‘hard time’, and I do it because I don’t think they mind. In fact, I’m pretty sure they don’t. It’s one of the ways we communicate. They mostly know how well I think of their work because I HAVE told them! Plus all of our BTs are outspoken and confident enough to give as good as they get, so don’t worry.
I apologize! I should by now know that you enjoy giving Chips, and her fellow BT, a hard time because you love them so much. I actually love your sense of humor most of the times, but somehow I mistook this to be a serious concern. I must also confess that I truly love reading UT’s passionate commentaries and her marvelous tweets breaking down the President’s speeches or the News of the day for many of us who miss seeing/listening to them live.
Here I come!
Video and text of Kerry’s remarks today on the peace process:
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/07/212553.htm
Thanks meta. I watched Sec.Kerry give the remarks, and I am encouraged about the peace talks. HZ
Thank you so much, Meta, for sharing this video of Sec. John Kerry’s remarks and the remarks of the Israel and Palestinian negotiators. For the first time in my life, I feel very hopeful that the Israel/Palestine conflict will finally be resolved under President Obama’s watch. I was two years old when Israel declared independence. For 65 years the Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting. Surely it’s way past time for their leaders to realize that their peoples, especially the young, deserve to live in peace.
You are so welcome, nathkatun. I, too, feel very hopeful about this. It’s clear SOS Kerry has been preparing for this for a very long time. He will bring more grounding and a thoughtful process to the negotiations. Let’s keep hope alive.
Daycare Kids Camp Out to Meet President Obama:
I enjoyed this video. Thanks a lot for sharing
…..and some fun…… one the great background stories I remember about the night of the OBL raid was that Dan Pfieffer was at the movies watching Fast & Furious when he got a text to come to the WH at 8:00PM on a Sunday night………at the front gate was the cast of True Blood…who had just had their White House tour cancelled for no apparent reason!! ………anyway if any TOD’ers watch True Blood this is will make you laugh.
So Chips, I guess you got your dingle dongle figured out.
😆 Japa, that is EXACTLY what I call it most times, and my techy-genius nephew just shakes his head and sighs.
You know the way water diviners walk around with their diviner thingie looking for, well, water? That was me today, only with my dingle dongle and laptop, trying to find a spot where I could getting a flippin’ signal.
There were cattle near me, giving me strange looks, not least when I stepped in to their poo.
It’s been a long day 😕
COW PIES!!
Great round-up Chiparoo.
Ah, thank you Chelsea Girl, but I’m sure I missed 94ish% of the day’s big news! Thank you again for all your posting, we’d be lost without ya. DM’ed ya.
Helloooooooo everyone, just to let you know I’ll be sunbathing in the rain – 😕 – the next two weeks-ish, but I will be around every day and will post when I can. If there are any problems at all and you’re not getting a quick reply from me here or on Twitter, fear not: I’ll get back to ya asap! And when I’m not around and if anyone wants to post anything, if you could DM UT that would be great, she’ll know what’s coming up and when it’s the best time for the blog legends to post. Thanks a gazillion!
Up next: the legend that is LL – thank you kind sir!
Have a blast, honey.
Thank you VL!!
Chips, hope you enjoy your vacation as much as possible…..as well deserved as any!! …..I will also be gone for the next 2 weeks as well. I am going to Vegas Thursday to play poker(pay for school) before my classes start in a month…. I will be lurking at all weird hours of the day, but will not have time to post anything of substance. So there will not be any traffic jams coming from my end… Hope get to clean your palette as much as possible……and don’t get sunburned if the rain subsides!
Apart from the rain, hope you are someplace sublime and will have as relaxing and refreshing vacation as possible, Chips. You’ve certainly earned it!!!
#FORWARD
Chips – This makes me so happy, it’s almost as though I’m taking the vacay myself! Relax, relax, relax. You will be missed, and welcomed back like a returning Obama warrior. Love ya!
You know, Chipsticks, I am a strong believer that you can, for the most part, tell the person’s character by the company he/she keeps. The fact that you hang out with brilliant people like LL, UT, LP, AMK and Zizi, tells me all I want to know about you,
Enjoy your vacation – cow pies and all! 🙂
hope you have plenty of fun and relaxation during your vacy!
No doubt we will be in brilliant safe hands with the ” mini blog tyrants”
Back to the serious……. good read if so inclined.
Sometimes I think about how much, much much farther along in helping the American people President Obama would be if those gop would make at least a decent attempt in cooperating with him.
Saw LovelyPlains “horserace” articles about the Fed, which doesn’t interest me at all (no offense, LP).
I think the MSM like these kinds of articles to show how smart they are, and who they know at various agencies.
From what I can tell, the bulk of the young and middle-aged “pundits” have a Finance background. That’s OK for one or two, but almost all? They all begin to merge together, especially their POVs.
But what the MSM love to ignore is how Wall Street admits they are “making” money hand over fist by CHEATING.
Just before the close of Morning Joe this morning, two white men were discussing how JP Chase (I think, may have bis een Citi) will pay a fine for PRICE FIXING. Even these jaded pundits seemed shocked at what the bank is getting away with.
Here’s John Oliver discussing how Goldman Sachs CHEATS to make money in the commodities (aluminum) market:
Why the Hell are people not jailed for this? Paying a paltry fine is meaningless when you’re making tens of millions of dollars a year (as an invidual, not the company).
Oh, I meant to say that JP Chase is getting away with PRICE FIXING in the electricity market. They have admitted guilt and are paying a fine. But they will continue to cheat until people are actually thrown in jail.
It grates – especially when individuals are taken to court for not filing income tax returns – and those with no income to file on a return end up in jail – basically for being poor.
To bring TODville up to speed on the ongoing saga of… JUST HOW BAD A SPEAKER IS BOEHNER?
To which Japa responded:
This is the whining tweet that Tapper responded to in the first tweet:
No doubt both Boehner and Brendan Buck were out drinking last night.
Remember during grand bargain, of 2011? Boner keeps dissing POTUS!
Screening calls my ass! He was probably too drunk to talk….
This shell of a man is done. I am just waiting for him to hit himself with that big gavel that he has no business holding.
You know what they say! Big gavel, little ****
The way he was parading that “thing” around, is proof that he’s a “little” man.
::shiver me timbers::
Vitaminlover, I have come to the conclusion they have no intention in cooperating with him just because of the color of his skin. They would rather see Billary get all the credit if she is elected( I am think VP Biden would be a better choice), or they will let the country close down and seal their own fate while pointing the blame at this remarkable President. They will do whatever they can even after if we allow them to get back into office to make sure everything get passed or repeal everything. Even going so far as to repeal their own asses because they are that stupid and evil.
This is a plan that they set out from day one and they rewrite the script every time President Obama succeeds in boldy standing firm in what he believes is right for America and its people. As pathetic and painful it is to watch, I am so proud of this man because he will not give up on us and we certainly are NOT giving up on him.
Spot on!
Well said, LDS. Unlike the Republicans who care only about themselves and their own political skins, the president cares about all of us and demonstrates that every day. That’s why he will ultimately succeed and be remembered for his greatness, while they will sink into oblivion.
That last “sinking” part can’t happen fast enough, for me! Well said.
I think it’s more than just that. Let’s them all off the hook too easily. I think they have been shoveling the BS for so long, they now believe their OWN bs. They have gotten very rich off the tax breaks, subsidies, deregulation, etc. They know that the plans proposed by PBO will work like a charm, but they can’t have that because then the ruse will be up, everyone will finally get a clue that all their bullshit, was bullshit all along…and they lied to the American people for the benefit of a few, them included. The govt gravy train will come to an end.
His being black is just yet another reason to them. One more tick in the box. Democrat, tick. Progressive, tick. Smart, tick. Truthful, tick. They can’t give him any easy successes…that, they think…will be a deathwish for decades. He appeals to too many people. People genuinely like him. The good person that he is. He goes against everything they stand for and he’s not playing their games.Pisses them right the hell off even more. But he doesn’t work for them, he works for us…their selfish, selfserving minds just can’t wrap around all that. He is a better man than the entire collective of them will ever be. And they know it.
What I find truly amazing – the demise of the GOP talk about “family values”. Suddenly there is a man in the white house who represents every family value that the GOP have preached – for centuries – and suddenly there is no more talk about family values. Suddenly they would elect to congress a man who deserted his wife, family and his job for a sexual encounter.
Their social values turned entirely against women and abortion, If they could have found a “scandal” within PBO’s family relationships I doubt the attacks on women’s reproduction would ever have occurred.
The GOP’s whole view on life changes whenever there is a Democrat in the the White house – it gets worse with a black Democrat.
You got that last part right, 99ts!
Well said, df, Amen!
BRAVO! BRILLIANT
Bipartisanship only exists during Republican administrations – Democrats can support the GOP – but the reverse – never
LDS, I agree with you 100%! I don’t care how repugnantly the Republicans and the so called mainstream media treat President Obama. He will still go down in history as one of the best Presidents of the United States. I know of no other President in the history of the United States, who was subjected to such insane opposition, and visceral hatred, from right wingers, the left wingers, and the so called mainstream media. Despite all the hatred and insane opposition, President Obama remains relentlessly focused on improving the lives of ordinary Americans
Nath, your comment sums all of the above beautiful TOD family members comments above and mine. You said what I was thinking in my heart as I was reading. Thank you so much, nathkatun7.
“Despite all the hatred and insane opposition, President Obama remains relentlessly focused on improving the lives of ordinary Americans.”
So true,, So true. HZ
Thanks HZ. I am so fed up with the Republicans, the holier than thou Progressives, and the mainstream media, who blame President for every thing. It’s as if they think all of us are so stupid not to see through their BS!
When I saw him at that rally, i knew the emoprogs and the GOTPs heads would be popping and scrambling for something bad to say about him.
To me, the emoprogs are even worse, because they should know better. The GOTPs are just a bunch of “small”, ignorant, Greedy Old People, can’t expect much from them.
LDS, every day I thank our lucky stars that we managed, somehow to get this man elected — TWICE!!! Thinking back to the disaster of the bushie regime, it’s amazing that we did it. Now, let’s work to get rid of the obstructionists and then maybe, just maybe we can actually work towards fixing our beloved country
@BuzzfeedAndrew asked: “Does Ken Cuccinelli have a Google Problem?” (The photo in his tweet was totally unrelated and confusing, so I sent out a less confusing one):
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/does-ken-cuccinelli-have-a-google-problem
Brilliant. And you might want to tweet that to Terry McCauliffe’s campaign folks. 🙂
Uh oh…Santorum all over again. HA — he deserves every bit of it.
Evening all. Hope everyone has a great night. I enjoy the brilliance of cartoons which are so simple and yet so true.
Geez! HE was late to the party!
Yeah, baby! Let’s do this thing!
Hey Chips Have a lovely rainy vacation! Sounds grand! 😉
and I’m off to bed g’nite TOD
zzzzzzzzzzz
(sleep tight)
Night, alice:)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html?pagewanted=all
LINDSTROM, Minn. — Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.
He says that too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means. He supports politicians who promise to cut government spending. In 2010, he printed T-shirts for the Tea Party campaign of a neighbor, Chip Cravaack, who ousted this region’s long-serving Democratic congressman.
Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice.
snip/
One of the oldest criticisms of democracy is that the people will inevitably drain the treasury by demanding more spending than taxes. The theory is that citizens who get more than they pay for will vote for politicians who promise to increase spending.
But Dean P. Lacy, a professor of political science at Dartmouth College, has identified a twist on that theme in American politics over the last generation. Support for Republican candidates, who generally promise to cut government spending, has increased since 1980 in states where the federal government spends more than it collects. The greater the dependence, the greater the support for Republican candidates.
Conversely, states that pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits tend to support Democratic candidates. And Professor Lacy found that the pattern could not be explained by demographics or social issues.
Very interesting article, though I think that some of the Medicare/Medicaid figures might be wrong now because of ACA…worth the read, and might explain the anger and guilt that these people feel about taking money for their livelihoods.
Good to bookmark for future reference…. TY!
Great article, desertflower, thank you for sharing. So sad that these people don’t see their hypocrisy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go back to reread it because my article limit for the month is up. OH well,…NYT won’t be getting my money.
I think I’m going to bed.
“Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked.” ~Pearl S. Buck
Sweet dreams, TODobots!
Sweet dreams, vc:)
TYVM, Df. 😀 Ta-ta
TTFN!
Sleep well, VC. See ya tomorrow!
MUST READ. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/30/pro-life-gop-promotes-nine-out-of-ten-things-that-cause-death-in-unborn-children/
A GOP BS QUIZ! http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/30/republican-bullshit-quiz/
Found a good site:) http://www.crywolfproject.org/
Ha! More or less my lovely generation:
“Partisans, not willing to face realities, will drag out red herrings as they have always done — to divert attention from the trail of their own weaknesses.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
Great quote and so true. Could be used on a sticker placed on the forehead of every Republican and Emoprog.
Goodness. Look at THEM:)
Amazing!
Oh, JOB, you’re bringing it all back. Thanks.
Like it were yesterday, yes?
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/08/24-policies-that-republicans-supported/
Another must read for you night owls:)
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/
Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.
Lot of this going around lately.
Goodnight to you, df! Thanks for all of the great info.
Night job….really, I’m going now:) Hope you’re not here by yourself….where is everyone tonight….99? amk? They should all be having their morning coffee now! Off I go…the dog has been more than a little patient with me:)
Our beliefs form the boundaries of our consciousness. –generality from sociology.
Wouldn’t THIS be nice to see?
Fabulous!
wish the Dems in NJ would get behind the actual Dem candidates in NJ. I am not on the Christie self-serving band wagon
I’d love to give Christie a “tumble” right out of office! He can run off with Rand Paul and they can yell about each other’s weaknesses ’til the cows come home!
Night everyone….
Night beautiful desertflower. ( My desert angel) Thanks for all of the wonderful links. You are such a beautiful fountain of great information for this space. Have a beautiful evening. HZ
Love you, Chips. Relax and know that you are so appreciated by me and all of our TOD family. (((Relax, my special angel))))HZ
I close tonight thinking of our brilliant President. Thank you for all of your work for the American people and people all over this world. God bless you, Mr. President.
Quote: ” Character is never erected on a neglected conscience.”
Thank you, Mr. President for being in that Oval Office fighting for all of us.HZ
Manning, Assange, Snowden — Note how all three are (or were, at the time of their leaks) young white men? Later in his life, Abraham Maslow, creator of the Hierarchy of Needs, talked facetiously about a “hierarchy of grumbles.” If our primary needs are not met, we will focus on food, shelter, safety, etc. If they are we might focus on friends, romantic relationships, “esteem” consumption, etc. What do we grumble about? That will indicate where we “are” on the Hierarchy of Needs. Now, many of us today, especially here, post about jobs, health and health care, family, the horror with which we view the erosion of women’s reproductive rights and voting rights, the appalling racism we observe bubbling to the surface in our society. What do people like Greenwald, etc. obsess about? Chris Hayes? That their phone numbers are being swept up in the kind of meta-data summaries (with NO details!) that our NSA could evaluate in case of terrorist concerns/attacks? These are obsessions for people who do not HAVE TO BE concerned about REAL threats to their economic well being, their race, their sex, their health. Their concerns are the concerns of privileged white males, and narcissistic ones at that!
Hello TODers, before I turn in, I wanted to post this article and see what you think about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-s-goodman/on-his-jobs-tour-obama-to_b_3678474.html#postComment
Love this place — you all are AWESOME!
Typical reaction of self satisfied white man (who is a business editor, probably never caught a local bus ) – think up all the negatives about anything the President has to say. I do believe states/cities are mainly responsible for public transport – but they like to reduce taxes so only the wealthy have viable transport. Sad.
“think up all the negatives about anything the President has to say.”
Exactly my thoughts too, 99ts.
There was nothing in there about offering solutions, just complaining about what the president didn’t say. I thought the president actually kind of covered transportation when he talked about fixing the infrastructure. To me, that all kind of goes hand in hand.
Thanks for responding, 99ts. I appreciate your input.
The media has been the BFF of the GOP since before PBO was inaugurated in 2009. They do nothing to support his ideas – always the opposite – always poor me & the sky is falling. I have never seen a media so intent on finding fault with everything a President says or does and so keen to ignore economic reality. Interesting that it took years of wars before the media began to realize that GWB was seriously incompetent.
I love that PBO just keeps on doing all he can to support ALL the people of his country & to provide great leadership in worldwide issues.
Spot on! He ignores the haters and they HATE that. They are the biggest bunch of lazy babies that I have ever seen, and it’s shameful how far once great institutions (newspapers, morning news shows, etc) have gone steadily downhill. They have no idea how to keep up with the influx of technology and social media.
I wish, for once, they would just tell the truth — don’t try to make it about both sides, because it’s NOT about both sides, it’s about the “correct” side.
Thank you 99ts for your response. “think up al the negatives about anything the President has to say.” You got THAT right! Again, offers up a lot of criticism, but doesn’t seem to have any solutions.
Darn….accidentally posted that twice. 🙂 whoops
Always blame WP for posting errors – 9 times out of 10 that is the problem 🙂 🙂
Thank you :D! I have no problems doing that. No need to know that it was operator error…shhhhh 😉
THIS!
glad to see Senator Casey speaking out. I will always remember how he unabashedly supported then-Senator-Obama from the very start of his candidacy for the presidency
This is a big step forward for Sen. Casey. When I wrote his office asking him to help us with the voter ID law in 2012, he wrote back saying that was a state issue he could not interfere with. I think it’s gotten so egregious and blatant that he now feels compelled to fight back. Bob Casey is a decent man–not the most forceful in the world–but inherently decent and I will always bless him for so soundly defeating the revolting Rick Santorum.
As a senator he represents every person in the state – glad to see he is now realizing he should be fighting for his state. Every democrat in congress should be helping their state counterparts – it seems the only way to stop states legislating for men with guns and against women with uteri.
New post until Rise and Shine.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/07/31/early-birds-chat-2/
A few things that have confused me about the Snowden, Manning, Assange, Greenwald supporters who argue that the government should not monitor suspicious communication due to privacy concerns:
HOW do we expect the intelligence analysts to determine patterns that pose a threat?
Doesn’t the public demand that spies “connect the dots”?
will people say they are grateful for total privacy in the unfortunate but likely event that an attack happens which could have been prevented by meta-data analysis that the NSA is being condemned for.