The Boy Who Cried Minimum Wage

Huffintonpost:  Could an increase in the minimum wage put the $5 footlong in jeopardy? Maybe, according to the founder and CEO of Subway. 

Fred Deluca, the man behind the sandwich chain, told CNBC that a sharp increase in the minimum wage is “a bad idea.”
 
These greedy robber baron CEO's say that every time somebody mentions raising the well-below-poverty-level minimum wage.  It's going to raise prices, cost jobs, blah, blah, blah.  The only thing it's going to do is possibly decrease their short term compensation.  Other than that, history has proven time and time again that what it actually does is stimulate demand and consumer spending because people at that wage level have no choice but to spend the extra money.   Of course broad wage growth, which we haven't had since Bush/Cheney/Team GOP came into power, can lead to inflation but that's a demand to supply issue and not what this guy is talking about.

Slavery Lite

Think Progress:  As President Obama pushes to increase the national minimum wage, Mississippi Republicans are digging in their heels to prevent any similar efforts in the Hospitality State. A bill working its way through the Republican-controlled Mississippi legislature aims to ensure that no local government enacts a mandatory minimum wage or other worker protections.

Hell why not indentured servitude?  Let's bring back child labor while we're at it.

They fought for slaves back then and they fight for wage slaves today.  Conservatives have been working on behalf the plantation owner since before this country was founded.  

Come Strong Or Don't Come At All

Rep Keith Ellison (D-MN) to Sean Hannity:  You're not a Republican?  You're nothing but a Republican...  You're a shill for the Republican party...  You say things that aren't true... You're immoral.

Note to Democrats: if you go on Fox News and you come with anything less than this, you're betraying yourself, your party, and the progressive movement. 

Proof? We Don't Need No Stinking Proof

Raw Story:  Michigan state Sen. Tom Casperson, a Republican, said Tuesday he wasn’t sure whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

“I don’t know because it seems like that issue was dropped immediately as far as the major media went,” he said on Michael Patrick Shiels’ radio show. “My gut tells me if it had been a different president, like say George W. Bush, they’d have been digging into like there was no tomorrow and trying to get to the bottom of, which they never really tried to get to the bottom of, so it became a conspiracy theory and no big deal.”

“I think it is strange, again, that it is not being looked at by certain groups that normally would,” Casperson added. “I think what the media did to George W. Bush was OK. They kept his feet to the fire, but I think they equally should be doing the same thing to this president.”

Of course 1 in 4 Republicans also believe Obama just may be the anti-Christ.  This is why it's dangerous to vote Republican.  They believe in things for which their is no proof, and they refuse to believe in that for which there is proof.  For example, they fight against progressive economic and fiscal policy - regulated capitalism - which history has proven time and time again to be achieve great results, and they continue to legislate on behalf of billionaires and transnational corporations and a deregulated market, which anybody who wasn't in a coma in 2008/2009 can tell you is a God-damn-national-disaster.

Mitch McConnell (R-China)

TPM: ProgressKentucky is a progressive group that first made headlines by announcing its intention to fund a tea party candidate to run against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) in the 2014 primary. On Tuesday, the group’s leadership tried to defend itself after a series of tweets this month referencing the ethnicity of McConnell’s wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and her father’s business ties to China.

All they said is that McConnell's wife is Chinese and her father makes a fortune importing crap from Asia.  And thus McConnell has a conflict of interest when he pushes Republican policies that encourage and enable outsourcing. And now everybody has a case of the vapors.  Progressives need to toughen up.  This is well within bounds.  But look, you got a problem with it, fine, if his wife's fathers business is not the reason he's selling out his country and the American worker, let him explain what are the reasons he legislates like he's representing the Chinese Factory Owners Association rather than the people of Kentucky. 

Threat

American Prospect: Cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant program would leave 373,000 mentally ill people without services. Nearly 8,900 homeless people with mental illness would also lose treatment, outreach, housing, and support with cuts to the Projects for assistance in Transition from Homelessness program.

This along with our wonderful Republican/NRA gun laws poses a serious threat to public safety.  It's but one of the many dangerous things that are about to happen because the Republicans refuse to close the tax loopholes that allow Mitt Romney and Exxon to pay little or no federal income tax.

Party Like It's 1995

Daily Kos:  With draconian sequester cuts just around the corner and with the Republican leadership refusing to do a damn thing to stop them, it's time to start looking at the impact these cuts will have on individual states, starting with John "I got 98 percent of what I wanted" Boehner's own Buckeye State.

As he says later on down his post, congress appropriates money, not the President.  This is on the Republicans in the house.  And we need to make sure they wear it every day until November 2014.  Hopefully after that we can be rid of their constant efforts to trample the poor and disabled underfoot in favor of billionaires and transnational corporations.  Either way, let this be a lesson: let Republicans serve in government and they will do everything they can to make sure it doesn't work, at least not for the 99%.   

The Corporatocracy

Think Progress:  A bill introduced by Montana state Rep. Steve Lavin would give corporations the right to vote in municipal elections:

Provision for vote by corporate property owner. (1) Subject to subsection (2), if a firm, partnership, company, or corporation owns real property within the municipality, the president, vice president, secretary, or other designee of the entity is eligible to vote in a municipal election as provided in [section 1].

(2) The individual who is designated to vote by the entity is subject to the provisions of [section 1] and shall also provide to the election administrator documentation of the entity’s registration with the secretary of state under 35-1-217 and proof of the individual’s designation to vote on behalf of the entity.

There is so much wrong with this we don't even know where to begin.  So let's just say this:  this guy is a member of ALEC.  ALEC wrote many of the Republican backed voter suppression laws.  So they want to give property owning corporations the right to vote, while they take it from poor, elderly, disabled, and minority Americans.  Nice. 

All (Cold, Black) Heart

TPM: A few weeks ago, Tom Teves, of Phoenix, sent his senators a letter. His 24-year-old son, Alex, was killed last year in the Aurora, Colo. movie theater massacre, and he wanted to tell them Alex’s story and encourage them to take action on guns. In response, he received cold, impersonal form letters.

Both Arizona senators are of course Republicans.  Perhaps they were too busy trying to yank public assistance from poor, disabled kids to actually take a minute for constituents who just had their son murdered.  Elected Republicans, their staffers, and their base are soulless ghouls.  Seriously, what a blackhearted bunch. 

Let Them Die (Kill Them)

TPM: Constituents at a town hall hosted by Sen. John McCain Wednesday in Phoenix cheered after the Arizona Republican told the mother of an Aurora, Colo. shooting victim that an assault weapons ban could not get through Congress.

"My 24-year-old son, Alex, was murdered in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.," Caren Teves said. "These assault rifles allow the shooter to fire many rounds without having to reload. These weapons to do not belong on our streets."

"I can tell you right now you need some straight talk. That assault weapons ban will not pass the Congress of the United States," McCain responded. The video, posted Thursday by Phoenix's KTVK, showed the line drawing applause and cheers from the crowd.

Remember during the campaign when the crowd at a Republican debate shouted we should let people without medical insurance die?  Or the more recent McCain town hall attendee saying we need to just murder undocumented workers? We're not sure if cheering McCain's slap down of a woman who's son was lost to Republican party public/gun policy is worse than those instances or not, but we are sure it's indicative of a Republican party base that is deeply deranged.  If you're thinking of voting Republican in 2014 you should consider the company you keep. 

Spitzer Wore Socks, Vitter Wore Diapers

TPM: The Republican Party of Massachusetts on Tuesday called on Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a Democratic candidate in the state's special U.S. Senate election, to cancel a fundraiser scheduled for next month that will be co-hosted by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D). 

In a statement, Kirsten Hughes, chairman of MassGOP, said that it's "disgusting" that Markey would "rub elbows" with Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal.

“You are judged by the company you keep and it’s disgusting for Congressman Markey to rub elbows with a man best known for his solicitation of prostitutes,” said Kirsten Hughes, MassGOP Chairman.“Instead of lining his campaign coffers with donations from the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, Markey should immediately cancel the fundraiser and denounce Spitzer’s abhorrent and unacceptable behavior.  Anything short of a public condemnation and cancellation would send the wrong message to women everywhere.”

The fundraiser is scheduled to be held March 13 at the Washington, D.C. home of Spitzer's sister, Emily. 

Please.  Any prostitute will tell you business is never so good as when the Republican national convention comes to town.  These guys love hookers and love the guys who love hookers even more.  Hell, Vitter the Shitter (R-Payforsex) would call hookers to arrange his "dates" from his cell phone on the floor of the senate, and then show up in diapers. And not only did he keep his leadership position in the party, but in his first appearance before his caucus after the scandal broke, they gave him a standing ovation. 

Republicans Are Going To Hell

Booman:  John McCain held a townhall meeting near Phoenix today and was berated by his own constituents, many of whom completely disagree with ever letting undocumented workers become citizens, and some of whom would prefer to shoot them. All in all, it's just one more brick in the wall that is being erected to isolate the Republican Party from anything resembling majority rule. They cannot tame the beast they created in their effort to beat Obama.

All in all, it's just one more brick in the wall that is being erected to isolate the Republican Party from anything resembling decency.  Seriously, white people complaining we should shoot Latinos in southern Arizona.  We stole it from them and now they want to shoot them for being there.  Better yet these people go back to Europe.  Either that or get out in the fields and pick their own produce, flip their own burgers, and do their own gardening.    

Fascism Rising

TPM: Missouri state Rep. Mike Leara (R) loves the Second Amendment so much he wants to make it a felony for state lawmakers to propose legislation he thinks would violate it. On Sunday, Leara offered up this addition to Missouri law: “Any member of the general assembly who proposes a piece of legislation that further restricts the right of an individual to bear arms, as set forth under the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States, shall be guilty of a class D felony,”

Yes you read that right, they want to jail their political opponents. And they've done it before. Hitler
would be proud.. 

Bombers, Hostage Takers, Extortionists

Daily Kos: Here's a simple proposition: Republicans who think it's a brilliant political move to refuse to compromise on the sequester are nuts. Don't ask me, ask former Virginia governor and Republican National Committee chairman Jim Gilmore. He says:

“That’s the biggest problem with the Republicans” on Capitol Hill, Gilmore, a former Virginia governor, said this morning over coffee and a ham-and-egg biscuit in Alexandria. “They think spending is the most important thing. It’s not.”

He says he has urged GOP leaders to back down and compromise to prevent the so-called sequester spending cuts from going through – “I keep telling them, you’re going to lose this” – and he has strong words for congressional leaders’ focus on deficit reduction as their primary economy goal.

“Above all things,” he says, “they shouldn’t be talking about debt and deficits. Because the left’s got an answer for them.”

That answer would be, raise taxes, which Gilmore says is the opposite of what the economy needs right now – and he’s quite critical of Democrats for pushing tax increases. But spending cuts won’t help the economy either, he says.

Our answer isn't just to raise taxes, it's to raise taxes on super rich people and make sure super rich people  and giant transnational corporations can't use their ridiculous bought-and-paid-for loopholes to completely escape their tax obligations.

And they won't back down. They don't care. Since Newt Gingrich the GOP MO has been to treat government as nothing more than a way to get their people paid.  Anything else and they threaten to shut down the government, default the government, destabilize or otherwise blow up the government.  When it comes to a government to help people, or advance the interests of the country, they don't like it, they don't believe in it, and they damn sure shouldn't be allowed to serve in it. 

The Corruptionists

WASHINGTON: -- The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will hear a case challenging the per-biennial cycle limit on campaign contributions from individuals.

The case, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, argues that the limit on what individuals are allowed to give candidates ($46,200 per two-year cycle) and parties and PACs ($70,800 per two-year cycle) is an unconstitutional violation of the individual donor's free speech rights.

Of course it will.  And just like Citizens United it will use it to blast another giant hole in our democracy.  The only way to keep the conservative majority on the USSC from selling our government to their billionaire buddies is to get rid of the conservative majority on the USSC, or to amend the constitution to say what we all know to be true, money-is-not-speech.  To do the former we need to keep electing Democratic presidents, and to do the latter, we need a Democratic house and a stronger majority in the senate.  That's it.  It's that simple.  

Deal, My Deal, Your Deal, What Deal?

Think Progress:  ABC News’ Jonathan Karl confronted Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) over his past support for the sequester, just as the one-time GOP vice presidential candidate sought to blame President Obama for the automatic across-the-board cuts scheduled to go into effect on March 1. 

During an appearance on This Week, Ryan argued that President Obama “proposed the sequester” and hasn’t “put any details out there” to offset it. “We are here because the president back in the last session of Congress refused to cut spending in any place and therefore we wound up with the sequester,” Ryan insisted. But Ryan hasn’t always opposed the automatic cuts. 

As Karl pointed out, when Congress was debating the Budget Control Act in August of 2011, Ryan supported the framework and urged his fellow Republicans to vote for the sequester:

KARL: Congressman, I’ve heard you Republicans for a long time. This was the president’s idea on and on and on but let’s look at your own words. What you said right after the law putting this in place was passed in August of 2011. These are your words. You said “what conservatives like me have been fighting for for years are statutory caps on spending, literally legal caps in law that says government agencies cannot spend over a set amount of money and if they breach that amount across the board sequester comes in to cut that spending. You can’t turn it out without a supermajority. We got that into law.” Now, it sounds to me there like if you weren’t taking credit for the idea of the sequester, you were certainly suggesting it was a good idea.

First of all, the cuts in the sequester are what they are because the GOP went to the mat to kill any significant tax increases on the rich. It's why Boehner was proudly able to proclaim he got 98% of what he wanted in this arrangement.  But now that a little bit of their massive corruption is being threatened, and the military industrial complex is about to take a hit, these scumbags are lying, suggesting we let 45,000 Americans per year die instead, and trying to blame the president for the deal they not only put together, but bragged about afterwords.  What a bunch of tools.. 

The Party Of Death

Huffingtonpost: To avoid a March 1 sequester, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested on Fox News Sunday that Congress save money by cutting the Affordable Care Act instead.

Tens of thousands of Americans die every year due to the lack of affordable health insurance.  The affordable Care Act starts to address that problem.  The sequester is going to hit the military-industrial complex. Republicans don't like that one bit.  So the current mouthpiece of the GOP just went on record suggesting we kill all those Americans in order to protect a military budget that outstrips the rest of the world combined.  His people need to be paid, 45,000 unfortunate Americans a year be damned. 

Steal From Taxpayers, Cheat Kids

Raw Story:  A for-profit school that was hyped by Republican lawmakers as a solution to Tennessee's education problems recently admitted deleting bad grades to "more accurately recognize students' current progress." 

A December email obtained by WTVF showed that Tennessee Virtual Academy’s vice principal instructed middle school teachers to delete “failing grades” from October and September.

“After … looking at so many failing grades, we need to make some changes before the holidays,” the email says, adding that each teacher needed to “take out the October and September progress [reports]; delete it so that all that is showing is November progress.” 

TNREPORT:  "They lied to parents, they cheated kids and they stole from taxpayers," Johnson said. "Tennesseans deserve better than a big, out-of-state corporation cheating our children and taxpayers to line its own pockets, and it's time to fix this multi-million dollar mistake."

And there you have GOP education policy in a nutshell.  Corrupt Republican businessmen bribe a corrupt Republican state legislature to steal 15 million taxpayer dollars that was supposed to go to public schools, but instead it goes to the corrupt Republican businessmen (the CEO paid himself 2.1 million last year) and the corrupt Republican state legislature in the form of campaign contributions.  And all the while the kids are getting crap for education (which is fine with Republicans because the dumber the population the better they can run their scams).

Republican Super Hero

Think Progress: Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) has announced that he would be bringing musician and conservative loudmouth Ted Nugent to President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

While we happily accept another opportunity to document what an anti-American, draft dodging, scumbag Ted Nugent really is, given that he's threatened Obama multiple times, perhaps it's not a good idea to let him be in the same room with the President.  It is however, a good time to yet again reflect on the fact this guy is a hero in conservative circles and what that says about the movement.

No Really, Why Arn't You In Prison?

CHEYNNE, Wyo -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday night that President Barack Obama has jeopardized U.S. national security by nominating substandard candidates for key cabinet posts and by degrading the U.S. military.

First of all, he's talking about John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.  Both men are actual war heroes.  Cheney (and Bush) dodged the draft and let other Americans go to Vietnam and fight and die in their place.

More immediately, Darth Cheney appears to prefer the kind of people that helped him lie us into Iraq, protect those lies by deliberately burning the American spy network that existed to keep WMD from terrorists, and rob the American taxpayers by buying weapons systems that even the Pentagon doesn't want.  He a corrupt war criminal, a coward, and a traitor.  He should be in prison multiple times over