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December 10, 2010 04:50 PM UTC

Open Line Friday!

  • 50 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Here you are, a Marxist socialist, you’re sitting there in the White House, and at the end of two years you have to say, “You know what? I was wrong. The supply-side theory actually does work?”

–Rush Limbaugh, yesterday

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50 thoughts on “Open Line Friday!”

  1. The Senate Republicans filibustered to death a bill that would have provided medical care to 9/11 rescue workers who suffered injuries and illnesses from their exposure to toxic crap as they rushed to help on 9/11.  Bill was fully paid for by closing a tax loophole that allowed companies to work out of P.O. boxes in the Grand Caymans.  Gee, I wondered why the Sen. Repubs filibustered….

    Hey Laughing Boy, what do you think of this?  Are you proud of your party?

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.c…

    2. They told the Dems they were going to filibuster everything until the enacted legislation to avoid the Obama tax hikes. The Dems could have had this bill you’re referring to passed already if they could just drop the class warrior crap for five minutes.

      I’m sure it wi get done as soon as the House has some sense in about a month.  

          1. The business of the country does not stop and start because of one policy debate (albeit a large one.) Especially when it’s helping people who selflessly risked their lives to help others. It’s crass, and it’s totally un-American.

            The Republicans have been filibustering everything since Obama took office. This one just happens to be pissing in the face of some of our finest citizens.

          3. I’m sorry, LB, but the football’s been pulled away one too many times – we’re not buying it any more.  The Republican shell game is designed to prevent Obama from accomplishing anything, not to extract one tax pledge for the wealthy.  Once the tax “compromise” is passed, there won’t be a magic clearing of the Senate backlog – Republicans will find something else to gum up the works.

              1. ..not this posturing bullshit.

                remind me there, Mr Slacker-student Teabagger…wasn’t one of the things that your political “movement” ran on something about ending earmarks?

                It seems that your favorite elected officials could give a shit about the useful idiots that got them elected:

                Anti-earmark Tea Party Caucus takes $1 billion in earmarks

                Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget.

                According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for which records are available.

                “It’s disturbing to see the Tea Party Caucus requested that much in earmarks. This is their time to put up or shut up, to be blunt,” said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. “There’s going to be a huge backlash if they continue to request earmarks.”

                http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_…

                So, what about THAT mandate?

                1. And importantly, they don’t think really rich people deserve a tax cut.

                  They already got a tax cut.  It’s their money, not yours.  And apparently 66% of the public would like them to keep it, at least for the next two years.

                  That just kills me – it’s not like the government was just being cool by ‘letting’ people keep more of what they earn.  The government is not God.  Not to anyone but the far left, anyway.  It, as an entity has not been divinely deemed to take as much money as it wants just because it’s able.

                  1. Where else can you borrow money from foreigners to give to the wealthy on the promise that the middle class will pay it back?

                    And anybody that objects is engaging in class warfare.

                    How do you say shit like that with a straight face.

                    Oh, I forgot, you don’t mean half the shit you say. It’s just the weekly yank-a-chain.

                    1. It’s not being given to the rich.  It’s just not being taken from them, so the government has to borrow for the money that they overspent on other things.

                      It’s not the government’s money.

                    3. The money being borrowed due to crazed spending by a Dem Congress since 2006 is China’s.

                      The additional money not being stolen from wealthy folks by the government is theirs.  They earned it, somehow.

                    5. Unless there is a change to the law, tax rates return to their pre-Bush rates.

                      Now please don’t get all preachy about overspending. The budget went to shit when Republicans were in charge. We’ve engaged in 2 wars since those tax cuts were passed and not once did Republicans call offer a way to pay for them. Not once. Apparently their idea fo shared sacrifice is to “go shopping.”

                      And while you repeat the Republican meme that “it’s not the government’s money”, WE are the government. We elect the people that make those decisions – they’re not aliens from Alpha-Centari. Republicans controlled the House, where spending originates, from 1994 to 2006. Exactly how many balanced budgets did they propose? Apparently NOBODY thinks we’re “overspending”. The only time it seems to matter is when it gets in the way of some perk for the wealthy.

                      And so the question remains – other than the deficit, what exactly have the Bush tax cuts gotten us?

                      </rant>

                    6. It’s god’s money.

                      And she just happens to love rich people cause she made so many of them rich . . ., er, wait?

                    7. … that you can transmogrify “being asked for their fair share” as “taking”?

                      They consume more and benefit more from government than the middle and poor classes; therefore their fair share is proportionally higher.

                      That’s just and right. They still get to be fabulously wealthy and able to live the American dream. And they’ll benefit from the relief of the middle and poor classes too, as demonstrated by the fact that America and all Americans were in their best shape from the 40s through the 70s.

                      Don’t buy into their selfish argument that something is being “taken.” Only if the burden were unfair, could you call it that.

                    8. and yet they decry “government” having the audacity to take their money !

                      If they have a problem with it go to fucking Somalia. Sheesh.

              4. You must be talking about the mandate…

                … to increase the debt limit?

                … to continue earmarks?

                … to eliminate the Dept of Ed?

                … to impeach the President?

                … to introduce Constitutional amendments to balance the budget, ban abortion, close the borders?

                Wait …what are you talking about?

      3. as long as you told the Democrats you were going to do it?  Well, OK then!  That makes a lot of sense.

        By the way, the Republicans in the House opposed the bill, too.  

        House Republicans trashed the bill, calling the health care money a “slush fund.” The chamber passed it anyway, overcoming the opposition of more than 90% of the House GOP.

        So yeah, I’m sure it will get done as soon as those @$$holes are in charge of the House.

      4. …and it seems you’re helping right along with the Talk Radio fundamentalist frogwash. Explain how it’s the “Obama Tax Hikes” when the legislation that created the cuts is why it’s set to expire.

        And, like I said yesterday, where’s the bullshit GOP rhetoric like “increasing our nation’s crushing deficit on the backs of our children by an additional $47 billion is wrong” regarding ONE YEAR of the Millionaire Tax Cut and Estate tax bonus?

        Or are we back to “deficits don’t matter when it comes to tax cuts?”

        The Kochsuckers in the Senate are doing one thing – paying back the millions of ads that Repubs got in the last election. Don’t give me that bullshit excuse of the GOP saying they’ll stop the filibuster threat when they pass tax legislation.

        The Deal (however shitty it is for America) has been cut. The Bill is in the Senate. I’d like the Republican’t party to take the thumb from out of their ass and work on some legislation, like the extending unemployment, 9/11 Responder Bill, GI Bill 2.0, and repealing DADT.

      5. I’m sure it wi[ll] get done as soon as the House has some sense in about a month.

         

        And this comment about Republican “principles” — because nothing, absofuckinglutely nothing is as important as getting millionaires and billionaire their tax cuts.

        What were you saying about “class warrior crap”?

      6. when the Rs were in the majority and the Rs would have caved? You would have recommended Rs cave then? I don’t think so.

        RSB has it right. According to your view the minority should always be able to force the majority to bend to its will by holding the deserving hostage.  That pretty much completely eliminates the last vestiges of democratic process via majority rule from the Senate where its long been on life support as it is due to the growing plethora of anti-democratic procedural rules and the fact that nobody need be inconvenienced by actually dragging out the cots and carrying out a real filibuster anymore.

        As with terrorists, the hostage takers are the ones to responsible for the damage, not those who stand up to them. If we are supposed to just put our hands up and fork over the dough whenever the minority points a gun at somebody’s head, which is exactly what the GOP is doing, why bother to pretend we have functioning civilized democratic institutions? And by the way the majority of the American people do favor ending the Bush tax break for the top 2%.

  2. Huh..so maybe Julian Assange IS a titantic delusional asshole who rapes his interns after all….

    Fed up with what they perceive as autocratic leadership, former members of St Julian d’Assange’s core inner circle at WikiLeaks will start a breakaway site on Monday called OpenLeaks. The site will act as an intermediary between whistleblowers and the press, reports Dagens Nyheter.

    Defectors include Daniel Domscheit-Berg, otherwise known as Daniel Schmitt, who made a high-profile exit from WikiLeaks in September, and Herbert Snorrason, an Icelandic student. Both resigned in September. Snorrason is quoted as telling Assange, in an online chat log acquired by WiReD:

    And you’re not even fulfilling your role as a leader right now. A leader communicates and cultivates trust in himself. You are doing the exact opposite. You behave like some kind of emperor or slave trader.

    Snorrason’s departure was fomented by this declaration from Assange:

    I am the heart and soul of this organization, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organizer, financier and all the rest. If you have a problem with me, piss off.

    And he did.

    According to the Swedish newspaper, the former inner circle “were dissatisfied with the operation’s association with Assange’s personal problems and how he used the organisation in his explanation of the criminal charges.”

    Assange handed himself in to police earlier this week, and is remanded in London pending an extradition hearing next week following a request from the Swedish authorities which want to speak to him in relation to two alleged sexual offences.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2…

    4. Let’s talk about Julian Assange. Let’s call in psychoanalysts to provide remote psychoanalysis. Let’s have links to the very page in DSM!

      Don’t like what WikiLeaks is doing? ATTACK JULIAN ASSANGE.

      Don’t like what WikiLeaks is doing? Accuse Julian Assange of “rape,” aka not using a condom during Phase 2 of consensual sex. Yep, “rapes his interns after all.”

      Good thing to get this straightened out.

      1. and I believe the game was to get him into custody regardless of how bogus those charges are, so they can extradite him.  I think that part is total crap.

        I also think the whole character assasination attempts are crap too.

        That being said, I still do think the guy is a narcissist.

      2. ..regardless of how awesome he thinks he is. This bullshit he’s spouting about “retaliation” if he’s arrested just proves what a delusional dickhead he is.

        The arrest warrant isn’t from Saudi Arabia, it’s from Sweden. They seem to have such things as due process, and he also got his day in court in the UK to fight the extradition.

        FAIL – so he gets to answer the prosecutor’s questions in Sweden. And if we believe that the Swedish Justice System is fair and looks out for the victims, maybe they are looking out for two women who really were sexually assaulted.

        I’d rather have the Swedish justice system decide he’s innocent than a bunch of basement-dwelling hackers who think they have the right to attack Mastercard with DoS attacks because their hero is going to have to answer some questions in front of a Swedish court.

        1. that Swedish prosecutors have not been of like mind in this case. First, one files charges. Then another drops the charges. Then a third (a supervisor, if memory serves) reinstates the charges.

          FOR WHAT REASON? We don’t quite know, at least, I din’t know. New evidence? Bearing in mind that the activity that led to the charges was, allegedly, not wearing a condom in Round 2, is “rape” the right charge?

          Of course, it may be that in Sweden, being a dickhead is a crime under statutes covering “rape.” I’m not familiar with that aspect, or any aspect, of Swedish law.

          I am familiar with techniques to discredit political enemies by diverting attention to the vicinity of the waist (abortion and sexual orientation come to mind, among other topics.)  

        2. OK, seriously.  It wasn’t OK for Buck to blow off an investigation and it’s not OK to do it for some guy pissing off Republicans, or the establishment, or whatever.

          Hypocrites – They suck.

          So, well said, Dan.

  3. The naughty word is “triangulation,” and it does indeed sound like something that in some conservative locales might still be against the law, even if rarely prosecuted when practiced by consenting adults.

    The question echoing through Democratic circles, among lawmakers and liberal commentators alike, is whether President Barack Obama might be trying to separate himself from his unpopular party through acts of triangulation

    http://www.politico.com/news/s…

    Seems to me he has a lot less chance of getting re-elected without rank and file Dems than with them.  As the GOP knows, you have to grab your share of the middle while keeping your base. But the way he continually sends Gibbs and Biden out to dis garden variety Dems by labeling them unreasonable extremists if they don’t express unqualified enthusiasm for his now familiar method of starting every bargaining session by giving Rs most of whatever they want as the opening offer,  it doesn’t sound far fetched. Does he think Rs don’t mean it when they say their only goal is to destroy him? Has he not noticed that no matter how far to the corporatist right he tacks the rightie spin machine still calls him a devoted Marxist? Is Obama a classic case of book smart/street clueless when it comes to functioning after getting yourself elected? Is it too early to have a drink because and I’m feeling the need.

    1. He’s just having a private meeting with Bubba today.

      I’d love to buy you that drink.  Unfortunately, the whole “job” thing is in my way as well.

      1. Bubba, after all, always managed to triangulate and remain very popularwith grass roots Dems.  If anything, I hope Bubba has some good advice for Obama on that score.  While there is much to criticize in Clinton’s role in areas such as irresponsible deregulation I don’t recall his ever treating ordinary Dems with disdain the way Obama does. And there were a good number of old fashioned traditional Rs left in Clinton’s day with whom a Dem could deal and who actually wanted to accomplish something positive. The present bunch couldn’t care less about anything but greed. Clinton actually got stuff in return from his Rs and maintained high positives in spite of everything. Sat Say what you will about Clinton, he was highly effective.

  4. Another water main break.  Several cars flooded.

    These emergency fixes of water main breaks are probably costing several times more than just biting the bullet and fixing the infrastructure!

    There is not only the piecemeal fixes but also the property damage of flooding.

    http://www.9news.com/news/arti…

    Update the water pipes, save money in the long run AND create more than a few days worth of JOBS at a time.

    The same goes for using asphalt for heavily used roads.  Asphalt needs repair or replacing every few years.  Concrete will last many years with a comparative minimum of maintenance.  Not thinking about the budget in more than 1 or 2 years at a time wastes taxpayer dollars!

  5. 2nd Amendment Pron for our firearm-inclined bloggers:

    US Army: Judge Dredd smartgun in every squad from 2014

    The US Army has confirmed plans to equip every infantry squad and special-forces team by 2014 with an XM-25 Judge Dredd style computer smartgun able to hit enemies hiding around corners or behind rocks etc.

    As regular readers will be well aware, the XM-25 shoots special, fat 25mm projectiles rather like a cross between ordinary rifle bullets and 40mm launched grenades. But the XM-25 rounds have an added special sauce: an extremely accurate time fuse which is set electronically by the gun’s systems at the moment of firing, permitting them to explode in midair at a precise distance from the muzzle.

    The XM-25’s computing sight features an accurate rangefinding laser and corrects automatically for such variables as air temperature and pressure. This means that a user can ping a target feature – for instance a boulder behind which an enemy lurks – with the laser, then select an additional metre or two of range using a thumb control and raise his point of aim slightly.

    The 25mm smartshell will thus fly over the boulder and explode just above the hidden enemy’s head, spraying him with deadly shrapnel. The same capability can be used to make rounds travel through shrubbery, windows, bunker entrances etc before exploding just where the user wants. And the XM-25 has a good bit more range than the M-4 carbines commonly carried by US troops, too, which should make it useful in the longer-distance gunfights often seen nowadays in Afghanistan.

    Apart from the basic airburst shrapnel round, there are plans to produce various other specialist 25mm cartridges. PEO Soldier documents have mentioned an armour piercing variant – presumably intended for impact rather than airburst, and using a shaped-charge warhead – and non-lethal both airbursting and blunt. The airburst non-lethal would be a smaller version of the “flash bang” stun grenades popular with special-ops and police SWAT teams in hostage situations, and the blunt version a more ordinary plastic or rubber bullet.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2…

    Or, you can see James Cameron came up with these weapons back in 1986 for the movie Aliens:

    1. Now that he’s leaving, he – like one or two of his former House colleagues – apparently feels free to “open up” and vent his true feelings about his fellow Republican obstructors-in-office and the workings of the Senate in general.

      Good for him; he might just prove more effective outside of the Senate than he was inside of it.

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