Thanks for nothing you worthless gang of lobbyists’ whores. Both sides.
Republicans Say “No” to Tax Breaks? Add It To The “No” List.
So the GOP that keeps insisting that tax breaks would fix everything have put their foot down, and somehow still managed to put that foot in their mouths. Money left over from the TARP bailout could be used, but the Republicans seem hell-bent on not allowing this to happen, even if it meant tax breaks for small businesses, which they are always saying is a great idea. And aren’t they always saying that if we gave tax breaks to small businesses, then those businesses would prosper and pay more taxes?
Maybe it is only a great idea if they are the ones doing it. I mean if they allow things like this to pass, how can they ever expect to win the next election? And let’s face it, winning the next election is FAR more important to them then the plight of those people that they keep saying that they are for.
But this is a much funnier sign of who exactly is a conservative, and how their voting base is thinking:
The GOP may be in more hot water with their constituents than most of us thought, as a new poll has come out saying that the Tea Party would win more votes than the Republican party. Currently there is no national Tea Party, though there has been a few efforts to make the Tea Party a reality in some states. As long as no third-party candidate takes up the mantle of the Tea Party, then the GOP should be assured that those people would vote for them, but this seems like a golden opportunity for say, a former Governor of Alaska to run in 2012, splitting votes of the conservatives. So… go Tea Party, go!
Naresh Jain Arrested
Naresh Jain is known as the Hawala King, and while hawala can be used often by poor people to move funds at little expense, the system is used at the higher levels by drug cartels and terrorists.
Strange background music in some of that news broadcast, the CNN over here is so boring.
Jackie Ramos
Bank of America charges up to 29.99% interest? I know the bank was founded by an Italian-American, but never realized the he was a wiseguy.
H/T to The Consumerist
Honduras: How To Legitimize a Coup
Well here is a non-surprise for ya’, the same group that seized power in Honduras through the use of force has “won” the election in that country.
If the beatings shown at around 5:27 of the video are any indication of how this “democracy” is operating, then nothing about these elections should be seen as legitimate in any way.
While the news is not surprising that the elections were about as free and fair as apartheid South Africa, the fact the election is somehow being touted as some sort of victory for democracy is really ridiculous.
H/T to Dissident Voice
Hamid Karzai and Robert Gates
Karzai’s statement that Afghanistan would not be able to pay for their own security force for 15 YEARS isn’t exactly the most optimistic thing I have heard lately, I guess the gradual withdrawal of our forces will be one soldier at a time.
Co-Ordinated Explosions in Iraq Kill At Least 112
The violence within Iraq never disappeared, but it has not been this bad in quite some time.
…Three car bombs exploded near offices of the labour, interior and finance ministries and a suicide attacker in a car struck a police patrol in Dora, in southern Baghdad, causing 15 deaths, an interior ministry official said.
The first explosion in the centre of Baghdad was heard at 10:25 am (0725 GMT), another came within seconds and a third one minute later.
Although no group has yet admitted responsibility, the timing of the blasts and the fact that three of them targeted government buildings bears all the hallmarks of an al Qaeda operation.
Sporadic gunfire erupted after the explosions, followed by the sound of sirens from emergency vehicles as helicopters took to the skies and roads were cordoned off, causing gridlock across the city.
_____________________________________________________
Actually it wouldn’t shock me at all to learn that this was a Baathist operation, though that distinction hardly matters to those that were killed. Regardless of who was responsible, victory in Iraq is more of a statement than a fact, and one cannot help but wonder what Afghanistan has in store for the near future for us. Actually if this was al-Qaeda, the attacks might be designed to slow our extraction from Iraq, delaying troops from moving to Afghanistan.
At this point though, nobody seems to know just who did this.
Iranian Protesters vs. Their Own Government
Considering how severely Iran has dealt with protesters in the recent past, the fact that people are still gathering in large groups to protest what they feel was an unfair election says quite a bit about how the many of the citizens of Iran feel as opposed to how their government operates. For decades after the revolution when they deposed the Shah and took American hostages, it seemed as if the citizens and government of Iran were on the same page for almost every issue, and thankfully this is no longer the case.
Los Angeles County Republicans At War – With Themselves
Some excerpts From Courthouse News Service, a tale that warms my heart, as the GOP attacks itself:
by Dan McCue
Leaders of the Los Angeles County Republican Committee say that “old guard” party members staged a “Communist Russia style” coup that ousted them from the posts to which they were elected a year ago. The furious, 38-page complaint, which includes allegations of Holocaust denial and 9/11 “truther” complaints of U.S. involvement in the events of Sept. 11, also claims that the “coup events” of May 14 this year violated party bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order.
…After surviving the December vote, (Gary) Aminoff, the only member of the old guard to retain his position, “would soon be busily organizing a coup” with Barnett, the plaintiffs say.
In a series of emails and posts to a Yahoo! group – which are reproduced in the complaint – Aminoff went to great lengths to highlight the newcomers’ inexperience.…The split quickly grew nasty. The old guard derided the new chairman and executive committee as “a motley crew of assorted local hangers-on” and as “flotsam and jetsam,” according to the complaint.
Aminoff made even more personal attacks, calling out plaintiff Vaughn in particular.
”For some reason, the Ron Paul backers to a great extent are crackpots,” Aminoff allegedly said.
”Robert Vaughn, who was the campaign chairman for Ron Paul in Los Angeles, is a 9/11 truther who believes the government set up 9/11, and is a Holocaust denier. He also is a supporter of Palestinians and believes that Israel is Nazi-like. And … he wants to be chairman of RPLAC.” (Ellipsis in complaint, citing an email.)
Vaughn denied these assertions, but Aminoff persisted, telling him, “We don’t need help from the bat shit crazy wing of those trying to be our party. The Republican Party doesn’t need you to rescue it,” according to the complaint. (Emphasis added)The plaintiffs say that to carry out their plan, the old guard used a motion to “vacate the chair,” then adjourned and immediately reconvened to elect defendant Barnett the new chairman, ignoring the committee’s bylaws process of automatic succession in the event of a vacancy.
Then a voice vote was held to vacate all the remaining offices and the balance of the defendants were invalidly installed in their place, according to the complaint.
Link to full story from Courthouse News
________________________________________________________
Burn freak show, burn. If these charges are true, they do represent a serious breach of how elected officials are supposed to operate, at least in this country.
