afternoon all

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Steve Benen: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie threw an odd tantrum yesterday, blasting President Obama for the failure of the congressional super-committee …. Part of the problem here is that Christie isn’t quite as smart as he thinks he is, and bombast can only go so far in covering up ignorance.

…. The president has tried every negotiating tactic that exists to get congressional Republicans to work on finding solutions. Obama has tried hands-on talks; he’s tried keeping his distance. The president has tried hard sells and soft sells, directly and indirectly. He’s made private appeals and public appeals. He’s made arguments based on policy, polls, and principles. He’s tried charm offensives, combativeness, and everything in between. He’s made partisan, bipartisan, tripartisan, and nonpartisan arguments, all in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, GOP leaders will be open to good-faith compromise.

And yet, nothing has worked. Nothing …. The New Jersey governor seems to believe a debt deal would come together if Republicans and the president simply sat down for candid conversations. Given that Obama has already tried this repeatedly, without success, anyone who believes such stupidity just hasn’t been paying close enough attention.

Full post here

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President Obama meets with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands in the Oval Office, November 29

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I’m tempted to post this every day for the next year 😉

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TPM

Crikey, how many more “ooops” before this idiot crawls back to Texas??

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Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, right, looks on as Vice President Joe Biden shake hands with the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey after he arrived, in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 29

WH: Vice President Biden has arrived in Baghdad, Iraq. While there, the Vice President will co-chair a meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee. He will also meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and other political leaders. The Vice President will also participate in, and give remarks at, an event to commemorate the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi troops.

More here

 

perry’s uterus obsession

“i will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose”

Thank you bjw2

As recently as 2002, Romney had called his support for abortion rights “unequivocal”. But in May 2005, he told USA Today that he was “in a different place”. Two months later, he began saying that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting abortion rights, had cheapened life. He vetoed a bill promoting emergency contraception, which he had supported as a candidate. (link)

1994:

As bjw2 said when posting this video in the comments, “we could just keep going all night”.

True! Thank you bjw2.

“sandbagged by a pro”

Stephen Goldstein (Sun Sentinel): Wealth care vs. health care.

That choice will frame the debate for the 2012 election. As a result, President Barack Obama has already won his second term, and Democrats will recapture majorities in both houses of Congress. Everything until then is a delicious denouement, when tea party extremists will have turned the Republican Party into a blip on the political screen….

Whiz kid wannabe, Rep. Paul Ryan will be the unwitting savior of the Democratic Party and cause of his party’s humiliating defeat. He issued his penny-pinching “Path to Prosperity” before the president spoke about our debt and deficit. For the unveiling, image consultants gave the Wisconsonite a new hairdo to soften his usual menacing part and ghoulish gaze, but they couldn’t change the mean-spirited, elitist strategy to which he committed Republicans: Adiós – Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid; Hola – tax cuts for the drowning-in-money.

…For average Americans, Ryan’s “Path” is a road to ruin. The Ryan Republican tea party would make a 65-year-old eligible for Medicare in 10 years pay nearly $6,400 more than people pay today – and force them into the private insurance market, where they probably won’t be able to afford, or even get, coverage. It swells the deficit by trillions and doesn’t achieve a balanced budget for decades….

When Obama delivered his vision for America, he drew an election-winning distinction between his party and Ryan extremists. Cool, calm and collected, he outlined a pragmatic path to fiscal health, while reaffirming his commitment to the social infrastructure on which all Americans depend. He spoke like the wise, senior member of an accounting firm, chastening an overzealous, junior bean-counter. Squirming in the audience, Ryan, who naively expected the president to kowtow to him, was sandbagged by a pro.

Whatever plan emerges to restore our fiscal health – and everyone agrees we need one – Obama will be the winner. Ryan/tea party/Republicans overplayed their hand. Exactly 150 years after our first Civil War, we are fighting another one for the republic’s heart and soul – and wallet. Ryan promises magically to create prosperity-for-all by pledging never to raise revenue while redistributing trillions in wealth care to the rich. So, he’s led a delusional GOP to a path to political suicide. When he and other defeated tea party/Republicans are looking for jobs, Obama’s commitment to health care reform will be the only thing that saves their family finances.

Full article here

Thank you Sarah T – this article is sublime

past versus future

38 years ago…

Statement by the President on the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision:

“Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I am committed to protecting this constitutional right. I also remain committed to policies, initiatives, and programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant women and mothers, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

resolution

President Barack Obama signs the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, December 8

Last month: The U.S. Senate approved a $1.15 billion measure to fund a settlement initially reached between the Agriculture Department and minority farmers more than a decade ago.

The 1997 Pigford v. Glickman case against the U.S. Agriculture Department was settled out of court 11 years ago. Under a federal judge’s terms dating to 1999, qualified farmers could receive $50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias.

Officials are still working to resolve similar discrimination lawsuits filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture by women and Latino farmers.

The Senate also cleared – in the same piece of legislation – $3.4 billion to fund a separate settlement reached with the Department of Interior for the mishandling of a trust fund managed for Native Americans. The bill also includes settlements for four water-right lawsuits filed by Native American tribes.

Prominent members of both parties have voiced support for paying out the settlements.

nice shades, sir

President Barack Obama tours through V & M Star, a leading producer of seamless pipe for the oil and gas industry, in Youngstown, Ohio, May 18, 2010