Is This The Line To Vote?

 

Unemployed Americans Have A New Full-time Job!

This "joke" was ripped directly from the headlines of - CNN: Unemployed Americans have a new full-time job: Filing for jobless benefits

It's the best Mort Drucker tribute I can give, at the moment.

Stimulus Deal

The White House and the Senate finished their deal early Wednesday morning over a $2-trillion package to place band-aids on an economy about to hit a major depression. The deal ends days of negotiations that produced one of the most expensive and far-reaching measures in the history of Congress.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are done," White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland said right before 1 a.m. after leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office. The battle over riders and pork has been going around the clock since last Friday. "We have a deal."

McConnell came to the floor to tell everyone, "At last, we have a deal. After days of intense discussions, the Senate has reached a bipartisan agreement on a historic relief package for this pandemic."

Articles of Impeachment

If the House Democrats had used the USPS, it might have gotten there about a week earlier. Maybe. At least there would have been a tracking number.

Impeachment: The Next Chapter

Nancy's Trial Balloon

Pelosi Takes Impeachment Off The Table

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it,” she told the Washington Post.

It looks like Mike Pence's order to Blindster.com will have to wait a little while longer.

Nancy Bandersnatch

The Trump Shutdown

In public fight with Democrats, Trump says he would be 'proud' to shut down government over border wall

Here's the Video link. Well worth the 15 minutes!

Nancy (With the stretchable face)

Ms. Pelosi, the 76-year-old San Francisco 'progressive', was expected to easily win re-election when her colleagues voted on Wednesday. She has become the lightning rod for complaints that Democrats have failed to offer a compelling, broad-based economic message to the working-class voters in the Midwest and South who helped them capture the House 10 years ago and made Ms. Pelosi the first woman speaker.

Judging by the House Democrat's vote, it seems they've not listened or still don't understand why they're not doing well with the voting public.

(Picture lovingly borrowed from Terry Gilliam's Brazil, played by the wonderful Katherine Marie Helmond)

No Confidence

In a new poll [Washington Post] , "Nearly three-quarters of Americans polled said they have little or no confidence in Washington to repair the economy. Confidence is down 21 percentage points from October 2010 and is less than half its 2002 levels. Roughly four in 10 have no confidence at all in the federal government when it comes to dealing with the economy, the poll indicates." So, what? The other 25% in the poll thinks the government will get help from Jesus to fix everything? Or is that only Governor Rick Santorum?

Remember, polls aren't accurate and aren't news. They're only an attempt to see which way the wind is blowing. Right now, that wind is hot and swirling.

Who's this good for? No one. It surly isn't good for Mr. Obama - but I don't think he really wants the job anyway. I wouldn't. And at this point in the game, he can't blame Bush anymore... at least, it's a pretty weak sauce to campaign on for re-election. And the Congressional Democrats should be taken out on a rail -- by the faithful Democrats who elected them! They've turned out to be so completely ineffectual I'm wondering if they are keeping their jobs just for the good health care? And the Republicans aren't any better. I see them getting the Senate in the next election -- but after they are seen as limp and open up new trade routes to create loopholes for corporation donors who use the chance to export more jobs and get a tax break because of it -- the Democrats will be running back in. I see sweeps in the next couple elections. Anger and reactionary sweep back to the other team. Teeter-Totter Ballot Boxes.

And how am I coming to that conclusion -- I look to the past to forecast the future. 2006 - Nancy and Harry come in to neuter Bush. 2008, Democrats sweep and take it all - rack up a huge bill with Stimulus One Slush Fund for Re-election and ObamaCare, and piss off so many people, you birth the Tea Party and get a hard swing to the right with the John Boehner House, and damn near lost the Senate. 2012 -- The Republicans can put anyone up against Mr. Obama right now. The Jimmy Carter comparison whispers aren't coming from the GOP - they're coming from Mr. Obama's biggest supporters!

Let me add a question that is swirling around the internet - "You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup and you have sewage up to your ceilings. What do you do……raise the ceilings, or pump out the crap?"

They're all crap - and they need to go. All of them! Here's the solution -- You get rid of YOUR incumbent, and I'll get rid of mine. And the bonus is, if you're a Democrat or Republican you can still vote with your heart by voting in something only the AARP crowd does: Vote in the Primary.

What a Dick

Yep. It was his crotch.

Rep. Anthony Weiner appeared before the press to tearfully confess a series of “inappropriate communications”with six women he met online. He stressed that his relationship with these women had no physical component whatsoever, but refused to elaborate on the exact nature of the exchanges.

Weiner further admitted that the now-infamous underwear pic was in fact tweeted by him, and the hacking fabrication his used to cover it up was meant to protect his loved ones.

Calling his behavior “a destructive thing,” Weiner offered the media no clear-cut explanation for his actions, but said he knew what he was doing was a mistake. The congressman said he has no intention of resigning his post, believing he did not violate any law nor break the oath to his constituents.

Asked about how his marriage would fair in light of his admission, Weiner said he loves his wife “very much” and they two “have no intention of splitting up over this.” He later added that his wife had knowledge concerning some of these relationships “since before we were married.”

Meanwhile, ABC News posted an interview it conducted with Meagan Broussard, a 26-year-old woman who claims to have been one of the women with whom Rep. Weiner engaged in “a sexually-charged electronic relationship.”

Read More

Nancy Pelosi says she's "deeply disappointed," and has called for Ethics Committee investigation; Perhaps she forgot that she's not running the place and there actually WILL be an investigation. Its about the lies and the cover-up. The ridiculous, half-assed, cover-up.

Ben Smith: “Can Weiner keep his seat?”; The Hill‘s Ballot Box: Weiner’s seat “unlikely to fall to GOP.” Hell, he'll still probably run for mayor of New York, and he'll probably still win.

My comment - Even after he is caught, continued to lie, (poorly) and then only until pictures OF HIM came out did he even consider owing up to it. It was probably the worst cover up I've seen since Senator 'Wide Stance'. Like IL's Blago - Weiner has unchecked political ambition without anything to back it up, meaning no ideas or actual ability in the political arena.

Pelosi Thanks Bush

Pelosi thanks President Bush for his role in bin Laden's demise
Not an Onion Article - By Molly K. Hooper

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said she called former President George W. Bush on Tuesday to congratulate him on the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.

Following a classified briefing on the operation to take down bin Laden, Pelosi told reporters that she called the former president earlier in the day to "congratulate him and thank him for the leadership role he had played in this quest over the years."

Pelosi was Speaker of the House for two years while Bush was in the White House.

Pelosi said she thought Bush appreciated the call.

“I wanted him to know the appreciation that many of us have in a bipartisan way ... that his role was important," she said.

Perhaps this is the dawn of a new day?

The Week In Review - Sunday Comics

Finish line. We made it through another week. I got my computer back from the shop, and I was still able to maintain Blasphemes somehow. Mr. Obama was accused of not communicating with his base...
Mr. Goodwrench got his walking papers this week.
Nancy really does have a screw loose... and the Democrats who are agreeing to keep her as their leader must be insane. Even Representative Heath Shuler said that his fellow Democrats should learn from his failed N.F.L. career and replace their quarterback, Nancy Pelosi. Question there is, is Nancy the Offensive Coordinator, or the QB? Either way, it would have been a better move to marginalize her.
But look on the bright side of QE2... everything is half off! I'm sure that's why the Chinese are getting more than a bit pissed off for extending the credit of their best customer. Unfortunately, that customer is Norm Peterson.
TSA is getting out of hand... no, they're getting a little too handy - in the grab hands... er - okay, I'll admit I'm missing the funny headline here, but there's really nothing funny about what's been going on at the airports lately. There's a story of a TSA agent practically molesting a child at the airport the other day.
And if you thought that the only winners last Tuesday were the Republicans, you may want to check on what Hillary's up to. There's now open talk of a primary battle.
Oh, and Mr. Bush came back in the news for a week. His feud with Kanye is finally over... And he wrote a book. I think it really should be placed in the fiction category.
Well, that's this week, let's see if we can make it to the next? See you there.

Problems with Obama-care

I love the word Obamacare -- you know the Democrats came up with that first, because it ever so slightly sounds like Obama Cares. He doesn't. Neither do his cronies in the House and Senate.

Folks are (finally) taking a second look at that nonsense that whipped up the Tea Parties in to existence in the first place... here's some take aways to have at your next wine tasting party to, you know, play devil's advocate.

- The bill does not decrease health care costs for the government. That's why Democrats were ordered not to say that anymore on the campaign stumps. According to Medicare's actuary, it will increase costs. The same is likely to happen for privately funded health care. Surprise. Not free.

-Elective abortions are covered, contrary to promises that it wouldn't, but these will likely be tied up for years in litigation, and in the end may not survive the court challenge. And that's a good use of everyone's time and money, isn't it?

The bill does not allow employees or most small businesses to keep the coverage they have and like. As 69 percent of employees, 80 percent of small businesses, and 64 percent of large businesses will be forced to change coverage, probably to more expensive plans.

- Get ready for an increase insurance premiums -- in some places, it already has. Insurers, suddenly forced to cover clients' children until age 26, have little choice but to raise premiums, and they attribute to mandates of 1 to 9 percent increase. Mr. Obama's only method of preventing massive rate increases so far has been to threaten insurers. And Pelosi's on point as that attack dog.

-Seasonal employers -- especially the ski and amusement park industries -- to pay huge fines, cut hours, or lay off employees.

- States are forced to guarantee not only payment but also treatment for indigent Medicaid patients. With many doctors now refusing to take Medicaid (because they lose money doing so), cash-strapped states could be sued and ordered to increase reimbursement rates beyond their means. Ooops. Wonder why the 10th Amendment is being brought up?

- Huge nonmedical tax compliance burdens are placed on small business. It will require them to mail IRS 1099 tax forms to every vendor from whom they make purchases of more than $600 in a year, with duplicate forms going to the Internal Revenue Service. Like so much else in the 2,500-page bill, our senators and representatives were apparently unaware of this when they passed the measure. Oh, is that a problem?

- The IRS is ordered to confiscate part or all of your tax refund if you do not purchase a qualified insurance plan. The bill funds 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure Americans stay in line. This is what tea people, and everyone should be complaining about - this IS the expansion of government, and not in a 'I'm here to help' kind of way

If you don't know why people are upset, or wonder why the Democrats are scared stupid of the November 2nd referendum on their job to 'fix everything the Republicans broke' - print this handy guide out. Email it to your friend the journalist, and see if they can defend it as well as they did before it passed.

Swamp Draining Continues

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is part of the all new swamp draining effort by the House - in a last ditch effort to look all change-y before November. The House Investigative Panel has charged California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters with violating ethics rules. Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, and not so much about 'Change', would face a trial in the fall unless she negotiates a settlement. The specific charges against Waters were not made public in the announcement Monday from the House ethics committee... what, no, that would be turning against one of their own.

So they're very slowly draining the Pelosi swamp - Rangel and now Waters. Too late, for me - what do you think?

Rangel Wrangles No More

House Panel Says Rep. Charles B. Rangel Violated Ethics Rules

A House investigative panel has concluded that Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, violated a range of ethics rules. Which means, in Nancy Pelosi's House, he was SO blatant, and was SO corrupt, they finally had to at least pretend to do something about Rangel.

The investigative panel did not disclose any details about the violations that it found, (science forbid!) but one House official who has been briefed on the findings said that they included some that were among the most serious allegations that had been examined.

In its investigation, which lasted nearly two years, the committee looked into accusations that Mr. Rangel received improper discounts on four rent-stabilized apartments he rented in Harlem, that he failed to report or pay taxes on rental income from a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic, and that he improperly provided legislative favors for a company that promised to give $1 million for an academic center named for him. Is the name of the building the Rangel House of Corruption and Hypocrisy? Well, that's what I'd call it.

Want to Read More?

The Week In Review - Sunday Comics

Yesterday there was a protest against oil in Washington DC and also "hands across the sands" which was a bunch of white people holding hands on their beach front property. Many of them had green hard hats on, which meant they wanted 'clean' energy. Of note, were the green hard hats which were made of plastic. Which is made of petroleum. Goddamn it people.

And why does America need 20 million barrels of oil A DAY?
Yeah, it's a joke about the sweatshop that made the iPhone 4, but the reality is that it's our waiting-in-line attitude and cult-ish worship of the newest and shiniest new gadget rolled out on top of the pile of pointless consumerism and one-up-manship of the Joneses. But on the bright side, this lifestyle is completely unsustainable. Just ask everyone looking for employment.

That recovery is going great! Right?! I mean, every country in the world is following Mr. Obama's advice and driving their countries into crippling debt and dependence? What? they're not? They're standing up to him? Oh, Greece scared the living crap out of everyone? Really?

And as the G8 gets around to condemning North Korea for continuing to fight the Korean War, with a mildly worded letter, the good old fashioned protesting in Toronto is being led by Tyler Durden... no, really.

No. I mean, really. That's not shopped.

What a week. See you next time.

Guess Who Voted to Limit the Liability of Oil Companies?

S

Man, people are pissed about that oil spill. But some of that blame is (rightfully) bouncing back to the congress-persons who voted for the Oil Pollution Act. Many believe that those who voted for it are directly responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf. That's a stretch... But they did enable British Petroleum to loosen their safety procedures, to operate without redundant oil spill prevention systems, to take risks, and be, you know, capitalist pig dogs. The argument is that this is why they're using the same oil spill clean up technologies used the in the late 70’s are still in place today.

The Oil Pollution Act diluted (heh heh) any motivation for improvement in oil spill safety, prevention and oil spill containment procedures by removing the penalties for neglect.

Many congress-persons who voted for this act are still in office today. The cry for these people to be removed is getting louder... and yes, I agree, but not for this. What we really should be outraged is that government, which demands obedience to protect us from these things, accepts no liability when they happen.

But anyway, here are their names (these congress-persons voted for the Oil Pollution Act of 1990):

United States Senators – [source]

Richard Shelby – Alabama

John McCain – Arizona

Barbara Boxer – California

Chris Dodd – Connecticut

Joe Lieberman – Connecticut

Joe Biden – Delaware (currently Vice President)

Tom Carper – Deleware

Daniel Inouye – Hawaii

Daniel Akaka – Hawaii

Dick Durbin – Illinois

Richard Lugar – Indiana

Chuck Grassley – Iowa

Tom Harkin – Iowa

Pat Roberts – Kansas

Jim Bunning – Kentucky

Mitch McConnell – Kentucky

Olympia Snowe – Maine

Ben Cardin – Maryland

Barbara Mikulski – Maryland

John Kerry – Massachusettes

Carl Levin – Michigan

Thad Cochran – Mississippi

Kit Bond – Missouri

Max Baucus – Montana

Harry Reid – Nevada

Frank Lautenberg – New Jersey

Jeff Bingaman – New Mexico

Chuck Schumer – New York

Kent Conrad – North Dakota

Byron Dorgan – North Dakota

Jim Inhofe – Oklahoma

Ron Wyden – Oregon

Arlen Specter – Pennsylvania

Tim Johnson – South Dakota

Orrin Hatch – Utah

Patrick Leahy – Vermont

Robert Byrd – West Virgnia

Jay Rockefeller – West Virginia

Herb Kohl – Wisconsin

U.S. House – [source]

Don Young – Alaska

Jon Kyl – Arizona

Howard Berman – California

David Dreier – California

Elton Gallegly – California

Wally Herger – California

Jerry Lewis – California

George Miller – California

Nancy Pelosi – California

Dana Rohrabacher – California

Henry Waxman – California

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – Florida

Cliff Stearns – Florida

Bill Young – Florida

John Lewis – Georgia

Jerry Costello – Illinois

Dan Burton – Indiana

Pete Visclosky – Indiana

Hal Rogers – Kentucky

Barney Frank – Massachussetts

Ed Markey – Massachussetts

Richard Neal – Massachussetts

Steny Hoyer – Maryland

John Conyers – Michigan

John Dingell – Michigan

Dale Kildee – Michigan

Sander Levin – Michigan

Fred Upton – Michigan

Jim Oberstar – Minnesota

Gene Taylor – Mississippi

Frank Pallone – New Jersey

Chris Smith – New Jersey

Donald Payne – New Jersey

Gary Ackerman – New York

Eliot Engel – New York

Nita Lowey – New York

Charles Rangel – New York

Jose Serrano – New York

Louise Slaughter – New York

Ed Towns – New York

Howard Coble – North Carolina

David Price – North Carolina

Marcy Kaptur – Ohio

Peter DeFazio – Oregon

Paul Kanjorski – Pennsylvania

John Spratt, Jr. – South Carolina

Jim Cooper – Tennessee

John Duncan – Tennessee

Bart Gordon – Tennessee

John Tanner – Tennessee

Joe Barton – Texas

Ralph Hall – Texas

Solomon Ortiz – Texas

Lamar Smith – Texas

Frank Wolf – Virgnia

Jim McDermott – Washington

Nick Rahall – West Virginia

Alan Mollohan – West Virgninia

Dave Obey – Wisconsin

Jim Sensenbrenner – Wisconsin

and

Newt Gingrich

Now what ought to REALLY anger you is how many of these jokers are still incumbents TWENTY years after. That is greater of incumbents that existed under one party rule in China and the Soviet Union. I think only Castro has outlived these lifetime Congressional 'leaders'?

And since we're on the issue, weren't these the same idiots who were against liability caps for medical malpractice just a few months ago, pointing to the increased cost of business that are incurred as a result of doctors taking great pains to avoid litigation? If you didn't support the doctors in that case and then turn around and yell they didn't put big enough caps or should have unlimited liability in the case of Big Oil Spill, perhaps you can share why? Also, do you consider a cap on medical liability an intrusion of government? Why would your opinion change so radically, and so quickly?

Something something Glass Houses?

Just found this gem on Salon.com...

An anti-government militant -- on disability

Activist Mike Vanderboegh urged his fellow extremists to break Democrats' windows. But he gets "Marxist" welfare.
By Joe Conason

Mike Vanderboegh is the far-right activist from Alabama who gained sudden notoriety when he posted a message this week urging his fellow extremists to smash the windows of Democratic politicians to protest healthcare reform -- a wingnut Kristallnacht. In a revealing profile in today's Washington Post, Vanderboegh explains that throwing rocks was merely meant to warn of an impending "civil war" against Washington's infringements on poor honest folk like him.

"So, if you wish to send a message that Pelosi and her party cannot fail to hear, break their windows," Vanderboegh wrote on a blog called Sipsey Street Irregulars. "Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM."

He assured the Post that untold numbers of alienated Americans "are not only willing to resist this law to the very end of their lives, but are armed and are capable of making such resistance possible and perhaps even initiating a civil war." So far there is no evidence that Vanderboegh followed his own advice, which might have entailed a personal risk for him, after all.

As a longtime "militia" organizer and Minuteman border patroller, he has advocated violence for many years without consequence. In a 2005 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Vanderboegh was identified as a hard-line nativist, obsessed with the notion of instigating a civil war in the United States.

Back in the mid-1990s, he wrote a document titled "Strategy and Tactics for a Militia Civil War" in which he discussed the utility of snipers using "violence carefully targeted and clearly defensive: war criminals, secret policemen, rats ..." SPLC director Mark Potok set Vanderboegh in the current context of "Patriot" extremism on NPR's "Fresh Air" yesterday.

While Vanderboegh claims to be a militant "libertarian," a tribune of the oppressed white middle class, and a student of Friedrich von Hayek, he appears to be an ordinary welfare case. Claiming to be too ill for gainful employment, he apparently spends most of his time stirring up violence, with a nice federal subsidy.

According to the Post, he lives off his wife, who works at a forklift company -- and also gets a monthly disability check from his "Marxist" federal government.

Mike, You're Blaspheme's Hypocrite of the Week buddy! You just narrowly beat out Congress and their staff members for not signing up for what they just made the rest of their countrymen have to endure. But with that, hey, at least it wasn't a surprise. We already know they're hypocrites. Oh, and one more thing, Mike. You're not a libertarian. Okay?