Up Is Down

RNC Chairman Reis Priebus speaking about Latino outreach on MSNBC Wednesday: If we continue to talk about creating good jobs in this country, and continue to show that Barack Obama has actually been an absolute failure when it comes to jobs – except for, obviously promoting the, you know, securing his own job – I think we do very well in that community. And when it comes to jobs, when it comes to spending, the deficit, the debt, and keeping more money in people’s pockets, the Republican Party is the right party.

Right. Except all the evidence says exactly the opposite. And they're equally bad in comparison on the deficit and the national debt. The Republican party might be the right party if you're looking for job growth in China and India, but here at home they're a God-damn-national-disaster.

They Would Know

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul: 'Right to health care' is slavery

No, slavery is slavery. The party of the confederate flag and the southern strategy should know that.

Don't like Democrats, Hate Democracy

Raw Story: Claiming they only wish to prevent voter fraud, Wisconsin Republicans are rushing a bill that would impose additional identification requirements on citizens who attempt to cast a ballot -- all ahead of key recall elections that could see the GOP thrown from power in the state. The new rules would in effect limit the numbers of Democratic voters, according to research (PDF link) carried out by New York University. The elderly, the poor and minority voters tend to lean Democratic, and also have the highest percentages of people without driver's licenses or other photo IDs.

Putting aside the longstanding moral cesspool that is Republican Party vote suppression, claiming to fix problems that don't exist shows them to be untrustworthy and of low character.

Defend That

"You can't talk about cuts without first looking at eliminating the giveaways to big oil. It should start there,” Jon Summers, a top spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said in a statement today. “We agree we have to cut spending, but it is ridiculous for Republicans to push a plan to kill Medicare while trying to defend taxpayer handouts to big oil companies that are making record profits. They don't need the money. If Republicans are serious about cutting spending, they'll support our plan to eliminate welfare for Big Oil so we can apply that money toward the deficit.”

That's good. But if we're talking medicare there's a more relevant example of Republican corruption and lack of fiscal responsibility. In order to take care of big pharma they're sticking it to the American people by refusing to let the government negotiate better drug prices for Medicare. No conversation about spending should be without it.

Rainbow Six

Ross Doubthat in today's NYT: For those with eyes to see, the daylight between the foreign policies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama has been shrinking ever since the current president took the oath of office. But last week made it official: When the story of America’s post-9/11 wars is written, historians will be obliged to assess the two administrations together, and pass judgment on the Bush-Obama era.

This idea that Obama only got Bin Ladin because he was doing what Bush/Cheney did is ridiculous. Bush/Cheney's national security policy consisted mostly of lying and cheating to invade countries that posed no threat to the United States. Obama used proven counter terrorism methods to target and eliminate a real threat. Not even close to the same thing.

Bush Is Not Running

MSNBC Democratic consultant/contributor this morning: Republicans can't both run from Bush's economic record and embrace...

Wait. Stop right there. The economic meltdown we were in when Obama took over had nothing to do with Bush. It was a result of Republican party public policy. Their policy has not changed. And neither will the result if we let it come into effect again.

Love Fetuses, Hate Kids

Chris Smith (R-NJ): Fetuses "the most persecuted minority in the world"

If we could get past the fact these men want to force women who have been raped, who have been a victim of incest, who are way too young or poor or in ill health to have a baby - to have a baby, we could then consider the brutal irony of being a big fan of fetuses but dead set against any kind of public policy that would give most of these kinds of kids a chance.