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[reilo]

The House has been passing budgets.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...get-that-includes-private-option-for-medicare


The House (both the Pelosi one and the Bohner one) have passed a lot bills that have died in Senate. I think the Pelosi era had racked up close to 300 of them at one point.

Personally, just because 300 or so bills were passed in the House doesn't mean that all 300 of them should make it through to the POTUS' desk.

 

[el retorno]

I used to scour through those op-eds religiously during 2008 elections...I don't think I've read one since then. But they can have good writers sometimes. I'm just not paying attention.

No doubt there are some good ones. They just seem so pointless. I´ve stoped reading Op-eds because I do not need to read the same talking points 30 times. The only ones I read are linked here or those that are done by experts (the guest ones in the times like a former head of the IAEA writing about Iran).

I still read blogs like Ezra and Foreign Policy though and those are a kind of Op-ed.

 

[ErasureAcer]

House Republicans are gonna defeat the Middle Class tax cuts approved by the Senate Democrats? I see a lot of new ads going up about this tax hike by Republicans...this could cost them the house.

 

[empty vessel]

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/...n-demand-side-approaches-to-unemployment.html

Ah, but I forget, keynesian econ has failed according to the all knowing right wing.

Yeah, that's a good article by Wray.

 

[PhoenixDark]

New Romney web ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwKNuaC7mds&feature=player_embedded

New Romney Ad Hits Obama Over Auto Bailout

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/new-romney-ad-hits-obama-over-auto-bailout
Haha oh man.

Romney is trying to do what Obama is doing to him (successfully): turn his positives into negatives; he wants Obama to move from pure praise to "the bailout wasn't perfect but" rhetoric, which I don't see happening. I just don't see this line of attack working with most folks in states that were impacted by the bailout.

In short, this MIGHT have worked for someone who didn't write an op-ed calling for Detroit to go bankrupt.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Study: Romney tax plan would shift burden to poor

Maybe now the media can start talking about this?

Romney's campaign response: Liberal organization with their Liberal analysis

Romney is trying to do what Obama is doing to him (successfully): turn his positives into negatives; he wants Obama to move from pure praise to a "the bailout wasn't perfect but" rhetoric, which I don't see happening. But I just don't see this line of attack working with most folks in states that were impacted by the bailout.

In short, this MIGHT have worked for someone who didn't write an op-ed calling for Detroit to go bankrupt.

He retroactively said them to let them not go bankrupt

 

[el retorno]

Romney is trying to do what Obama is doing to him (successfully): turn his positives into negatives; he wants Obama to move from pure praise to a "the bailout wasn't perfect but" rhetoric, which I don't see happening. But I just don't see this line of attack working with most folks in states that were impacted by the bailout.

In short, this MIGHT have worked for someone who didn't write an op-ed calling for Detroit to go bankrupt.

Exactly. He needs to shut up about this topic. He´s gonna get slamed for it.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Personally, just because 300 or so bills were passed in the House doesn't mean that all 300 of them should make it through to the POTUS' desk.

True and some of those were sent to die on purpose, just to make political points. But, overall the House does bear less of the blame compared to the Senate.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Personally, just because 300 or so bills were passed in the House doesn't mean that all 300 of them should make it through to the POTUS' desk.

Fine in the abstract, but many of them had merit; quite a few were jobs bills. I'm sure a good swath were political statements, as usual.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Romney is trying to do what Obama is doing to him (successfully): turn his positives into negatives; he wants Obama to move from pure praise to "the bailout wasn't perfect but" rhetoric, which I don't see happening. I just don't see this line of attack working with most folks in states that were impacted by the bailout.

In short, this MIGHT have worked for someone who didn't write an op-ed calling for Detroit to go bankrupt.

Or someone who later said Obama was just copying his ideas.

 

[PantherLotus]

Or someone who later said Obama was just copying his ideas.

holy shit I forgot about that!

 

[hydragonwarrior]

This election was a watershed for the Texas GOP in my assessment. Texas is no doubt a GOP dominated state but that domination has led to infighting within the GOP the likes that few other places have seen. Rick Perry has had a rough year. The simplicity of the Tea Party really amazes me- you can run on the platform of 1) I won't work with Democrats and 2) I have no political experience. I hope the national scene gives Sadler some support in the slow/inexorable path to Texas becoming a Democratic stronghold. It will take another 10-20 years but the day is coming.

Man, Joe the Plumber really needs to move in there.

 

[Jackson50]

Another interest tidbit from those polls:

There was a recent op-ed in the NYT on the composition of undecided voters. And what I presume is a surprise to most, pure independents constitute only a plurality of undecided voters. The remainder are a variety of partisans displeased with their respective party. If I had to guess, the majority of undecided Democrats are probably discontented with the economy and the Republicans disquieted with the party's rightward shift.

HuffPo can be so embarrassing at times. They ran somebody's oped about how Obama STILL JUST MIGHT make Hillary his VP, even though Biden has been campaigning for months and his name is plastered all over campaign gear. They said that Hillary and Biden should switch positions.

I understand the prospects of this are negligible. But every time I encounter this proposal, and I've witnessed it a few times in PoliGAF, I have to iterate my opposition. Mind you, Hillary would be a supernal VP-especially under Obama's tutelage. But keep Biden away from Foggy Bottom, please.

 

[LosDaddie]

This one. They probably won't believe it, but at least you're trying to help them not be misinformed.

You should do nothing and keep this email in your back pocket. Then, when it becomes plainly apparent that Obama has not committed the US to secret UN resolutions, wave this in front of her face every chance you get repeating that she should never trust "news" she gets in a chain email, and that doesnt include a source.

Send a reply saying "If you keep this up mom, I'm going to have to take your gun away"

Both of these.

Well, I chickened out. I typed up a response, but decided against sending it / embarrassing my mom in front of others. She's been dealing with a lot lately, so I figure I'd spare her some more heartache.

But she's coming in town this weekend, so I'll talk to her about it then. Or at least tell to stop emailing me the bullshit.

 

[PantherLotus]

PoliGAF, please read this gem of an article:


Too Much Baggage
Mitt Romney needs to fire his foreign-policy team. Yesterday.

Some choice bits:

The statement, a suggestion that Israel had thrived while Palestinians struggled because of the innate superiority of the Israelis, was also something more. It was racist. There are two possibilities here. One is that Romney was given by bad advice about what to say by his staff. The other is that he either ignored the advice he got or misunderstood it and was personally responsible for saying the stupid thing he said. (The likelihood of this latter possibility goes up, by the way, when it is noted that the language he used is similar to elements of his memoir in which he muses about the reason nations decline. In other words, he may actually believe the awful, damaging statement he made.)

Not only was the statement manifestly untrue, it showed a really deep misunderstanding of the plight of the Palestinians and worse, a failure to grasp that the key to peace in that part of the world will be helping the Palestinians tap their extraordinary human resources and flourish economically on their own. The statement immediately produced a backlash from Palestinians, with whom the United States and Israel must work to achieve a lasting settlement. And that it was all done at a fundraiser to pander to big donors -- including Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate who once called the Palestinians an "invented people" and likened AIPAC's support for peace talks to "committing suicide" -- somehow managed to cheapen what was pretty dumb to begin with.

If Romney were following the advice of his staff when he made either his London gaffe or his Israel blunder, he should fire them. If they didn't advise him to say these things, but failed to give him useful advice about what not to say, he should fire them. And even if they did give him smart things to say and useful guidance about what not to say, he should fire them -- because he can't quit and he'd better find a team he actually trusts enough to avoid falling victim to his own bad judgment again.

I never quite mentally connected the dots that Rothkopf does here, but he makes a good point. It doesn't particularly matter what Romney actually believes, the fact that he said what he did shows remarkable lack of discipline, unpreparedness, and terrible political management. Shocking really.

What's more, the repeated foreign-policy misstatements and the missteps on this trip undermine one of Romney's main selling points. Supposedly, his experience as a chief executive and manager has helped prepare him to run a government better than the "community organizer" commander-in-chief he regularly attacks. But to date -- between these problems and the mindboggling mismanagement of his financial disclosure -- there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is a well-run campaign. Quite the contrary: It's a mess, regularly producing bad headlines and failing to take advantage of the abysmal state of the economy -- a campaign gift that should, on its own, give him a solid lead in the polls right now.

This more or less echoes what all of us have been saying for weeks now. That Romney isn't tied or leading nationwide either means the economy on the ground is better than we think it is (it is), or it means he and his team are fucking this chicken so raw Huckabee couldn't revive it with a celebrate-the-phobes day.

This not-so-excellent adventure proved it: Romney's foreign-policy team is not ready for prime time. They're floundering, and with less than 100 days to go in the campaign, the Republican candidate has only a few short weeks to make the changes needed to avoid another series of screw-ups that could cost him the presidency or worse, set him, us, and the world up for a sequence of much more serious problems were he actually to be elected.

And here's the kicker. Romney is getting dangerously close to not-just-unfortunate-timing or wrong-candidate-for-the-cycle, but rather this-guy-might-actually-be-a-terrible-leader.

I said a year ago I wasn't afraid of a Romney presidency, and in some cases it might have even lifted a bit of the gridlock preventing congress from doing the necessary structural investments. I have to take it back now. This guy ain't ready. And that he's had six years to get ready should be a giant fucking red flag for all of us. I am worried.

 

[empty vessel]

Just reply to her. My mom used to pass on these chain emails, until I started replying every time with a snopes link.

Eventually, she started forwarding stuff just to me and asking if it seemed like it was true, before forwarding to everyone else she knows.

So you never know!

I agree with this approach. Has worked on a grandfather similarly.

 

[reilo]

You know how they say "practice makes perfect"?

Mitt Romney is really trying to challenge that truism.

 

[RustyNails]

I said a year ago I wasn't afraid of a Romney presidency, and in some cases it might have even lifted a bit of the gridlock preventing congress from doing the necessary structural investments. I have to take it back now. This guy ain't ready. And that he's had six years to get ready should be a giant fucking red flag for all of us. I am worried.

But PD told us Romney presidency wouldn't be all that different from Obama presidency...

 

[thatbox]

Fine in the abstract, but many of them had merit; quite a few were jobs bills. I'm sure a good swath were political statements, as usual.

Haven't they tried to abolish the PPACA thirty times? That's 10% of the chunk right there, potentially.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Haven't they tried to abolish the PPACA thirty times? That's 10% of the chunk right there, potentially.

I was referring to Pelosi's House specifically, when Dems had the majority; I should have been more clear. They actually passed a lot of worthwhile bills.

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Third-ranking House Republican: This Senate is ‘probably’ the worst ever.

"We passed 43265547321 bills repealing Obamacare and the Senate didn't take up one, NOT ONE!"

 

[Effect]

Seems like this is pretty much always the case. The House does crazy stuff as they shift back and forth every two years. The Senate sits on their thumbs and obstructs.



Just reply to her. My mom used to pass on these chain emails, until I started replying every time with a snopes link.

Eventually, she started forwarding stuff just to me and asking if it seemed like it was true, before forwarding to everyone else she knows.

So you never know!

Good practice.

Well, I chickened out. I typed up a response, but decided against sending it / embarrassing my mom in front of others. She's been dealing with a lot lately, so I figure I'd spare her some more heartache.

But she's coming in town this weekend, so I'll talk to her about it then. Or at least tell to stop emailing me the bullshit.

Probably best not to embrasse her in front of everyone. Didn't consider that. Sorry. Talking to her would be good but might require you to do so repeatedly so she at least starts to question what she's reading.

 

[thatbox]

I was referring to Pelosi's House specifically, when Dems had the majority; I should have been more clear. They actually passed a lot of worthwhile bills.

Oh, no, reading more closely above that's on me. You were clear enough.

PoliGAF, please read this gem of an article:


Too Much Baggage
Mitt Romney needs to fire his foreign-policy team. Yesterday.

Some choice bits:



I never quite mentally connected the dots that Rothkopf does here, but he makes a good point. It doesn't particularly matter what Romney actually believes, the fact that he said what he did shows remarkable lack of discipline, unpreparedness, and terrible political management. Shocking really.



This more or less echoes what all of us have been saying for weeks now. That Romney isn't tied or leading nationwide either means the economy on the ground is better than we think it is (it is), or it means he and his team are fucking this chicken so raw Huckabee couldn't revive it with a celebrate-the-phobes day.



And here's the kicker. Romney is getting dangerously close to not-just-unfortunate-timing or wrong-candidate-for-the-cycle, but rather this-guy-might-actually-be-a-terrible-leader.

I said a year ago I wasn't afraid of a Romney presidency, and in some cases it might have even lifted a bit of the gridlock preventing congress from doing the necessary structural investments. I have to take it back now. This guy ain't ready. And that he's had six years to get ready should be a giant fucking red flag for all of us. I am worried.

I don't know. There's also the Romney three-dimensional checkers argument that he says this stuff purposefully because he thinks it improves his numbers back home - at least the Palestinian inferiority stuff. Presumably the other gaffes can easily be taken at face value. This would be the same scheme that had him getting intentionally booed at the NAACP conference, potentially.

 

[PantherLotus]

Oh, no, reading more closely above that's on me. You were clear enough.


I don't know. There's also the Romney three-dimensional checkers argument that he says this stuff purposefully because he thinks it improves his numbers back home - at least the Palestinian inferiority stuff. Presumably the other gaffes can easily be taken at face value. This would be the same scheme that had him getting intentionally booed at the NAACP conference, potentially.

Just to play along...where and with whom would it improve his numbers? Everyone knows he can't win with just tea baggers and the southern bloc. Everything he is doing, intentionally or otherwise, undermines the basic smell test -- "is this guy ready?"

 

[B-Dubs]

Just to play along...where and with whom would it improve his numbers? Everyone knows he can't win with just tea baggers and the southern bloc. Everything he is doing, intentionally or otherwise, undermines the basic smell test -- "is this guy ready?"

It's probably him just trying to sure up him base before the vp pick, but he may be trying a bit too hard.

 

[RustyNails]

Just to play along...where and with whom would it improve his numbers? Everyone knows he can't win with just tea baggers and the southern bloc. Everything he is doing, intentionally or otherwise, undermines the basic smell test -- "is this guy ready?"

It's not about numbers. It was a shakedown for his rich sugar daddy Sheldon Adelson. Sole reason why Sheldon kept Newt's campaign on life support is because Newt made it a campaign issue to make Jerusalem Israel's undivided capital.

 

[Allard]

True and some of those were sent to die on purpose, just to make political points. But, overall the House does bear less of the blame compared to the Senate.

I was mainly talking about the "Proposed" part of the complaint. Its not the senates duty to propose the budget. Could it help? Sure it might help with negotiation... that is if votes could get pass cloture (Which his party keeps blocking). So I am having trouble understanding his complaints since he is part of the senates biggest problems.

 

[PantherLotus]

So his plan is to appease his donors at the cost of electability?

 

[PhoenixDark]

So his plan is to appease his donors at the cost of electability?

I can't think of another explanation for his Jewish culture comment. That goes well beyond the typical anti-Islamist government rhetoric on the right into pure racism....just to stroke the ego of a handful of Jewish donors and government officials. How can he possibly contribute to the peace process if he manages to win the election?

It's becoming more and more evident that words matter. From this to Hillary Clinton getting protested in Egypt based on the comments of Michelle Bachman, our political discourse is no longer regulated to a vacuum.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

So 13 trillion divided by 330 million is pretty much 40,000. $40,000 to each person? That can't be right (though this doesn't include how much they are taxed). The average person makes $43,000.

But going by this assuming that their income is 35% taxed, that would be $25,606. Now have that money would only go to the bottom third of Americans that would be $76,818. Divide that in half so that the 1% have half their wealth thats $38,409. So we could give each of the bottom 33% of Americans $38,409 if we took half of the 1%s income?

So I assume that my math was correct being that nobody quoted me saying "Ahahahahaha Flying_Phoenix is such an IDIOT!"

 

[thatbox]

Just to play along...where and with whom would it improve his numbers? Everyone knows he can't win with just tea baggers and the southern bloc. Everything he is doing, intentionally or otherwise, undermines the basic smell test -- "is this guy ready?"

Well, playing along with you playing along with me, his campaign has probably done polling and discovered that pro-Israel bigotry helps him with his base and undecided Christians more than it hurts him with undecided independents. He knows he's not running for president of the world, and a lot of America is ready to lap up any Israel cheerleading for whatever reason.

 

[RustyNails]

So his plan is to appease his donors at the cost of electability?

Yes.

There's nothing money can't fix in American politics. Also no one really cares about Palestinians and their problems in US outside of moderate foreign policy people. You can take a huge steaming dump on Palestinians, just like Romney did, and still win an election with a landslide. So electability is not an issue. The media won't focus on what he said, but on Romney's overall readiness to be the commander in chief, coupled with his London gaffes.

 

[pigeon]

Love it.

"Romney 2012 -- King me!"

 

[PantherLotus]

I think we've discovered the new push-point of the election then. Previously, it was "will the economy improve enough to give Obama a chance?" Now, it's "can enough money outweigh an absolutely terrible candidate?"

Does anybody think if McCain/Palin matched Obama dollar-for-dollar that the outcome would have been different? What if the money was reversed?

 

[The Technomancer]

Love it.

Ahahaha, I missed that

I think we've discovered the new push-point of the election then. Previously, it was "will the economy improve enough to give Obama a chance?" Now, it's "can enough money outweigh an absolutely terrible candidate?"

I think it can and I think the popular vote is going to be depressingly close.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Money past a certain point is irrelevant.

There are only a small handful of states (and regions within that state) that decide an election. There is a finite time where that money/ads/etc can even make a discernable difference.

Of course, if you go overboard you risk alienating more people than you win over.

 

[Tim-E]

I think we've discovered the new push-point of the election then. Previously, it was "will the economy improve enough to give Obama a chance?" Now, it's "can enough money outweigh an absolutely terrible candidate?"

Does anybody think if McCain/Palin matched Obama dollar-for-dollar that the outcome would have been different? What if the money was reversed?

The democrats could've nominated a duck after the Bush administration and it probably would've won.

 

[RustyNails]

This pic of Obama

Al Capone/baseball bat?

 

[cartoon_soldier]

WTF Feds

No steps to stimulate economy. Really, wtf.

 

[Tamanon]

Typical Chicago politician.

 

[PhoenixDark]

WTF Feds

No steps to stimulate economy. Really, wtf.

Waiting for Romney

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Back to our favorite pundit...Dick Morris!

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/08/hathos-alert.html

DICK MORRIS: I guarantee you, Sean, based on what I’ve heard from third parties or I’ve spoken to that William Jefferson Clinton is going to cast his ballot for Mitt Romney.

HANNITY: Wow!

MORRIS: However, he's going to open his mouth for Barack Obama because his wife is hostage. They have her under lock and key as Secretary of State, and he is scared that Obama will lose and blame him if he undermines Obama. So he’ll do everything he asks him to do and then he’ll jab him whenever he can.

 

[Officerrob]

Money past a certain point is irrelevant.

There are only a small handful of states (and regions within that state) that decide an election. There is a finite time where that money/ads/etc can even make a discernable difference.

Of course, if you go overboard you risk alienating more people than you win over.

The number of Romney ads here in Virginia during the Olympics is bordering on the obscene. Many times I've seen two (and one time three) Romney ads during the same commercial break.

 

[Tim-E]

Nobummer's thugs in the Fed wanted stimulus??? Government bailing everything out again! Sorry, Hussein, but one thing you won't be able to bail out is your presidency!!!!

 

[TacticalFox88]

Back to our favorite pundit...Dick Morris!

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/08/hathos-alert.html

I know these people have a loose grip on reality, but Jesus Christ. They're acting as if 'Bams is holding Clinton hostage, Taken-style.

 

[RDreamer]

Back to our favorite pundit...Dick Morris!

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/08/hathos-alert.html

Do these people listen to themselves talk or just drift in and out? And by drift in and out I use that lightly, since I think it's mostly just out.

 

[RustyNails]

When Dick Morris opens his mouth, small furry critters die.

 

[PhoenixDark]

"Seeing as how Dick - excuse me, Vice President Cheney - never misfires, then evidently he's quite convinced that what he had evidently read about me by the lamestream media, having been written, what I believe is a false narrative over the last four years, evidently Dick Cheney believed that stuff and that's a shame."

-- Sarah Palin, in an interview on Fox News, responding to Cheney's comments that Sen. John McCain's pick of Palin as his running mate was a mistake.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/08/01/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html

Is anyone better at pushing people's buttons on a psychological level than Palin? Wow

 

[The Technomancer]

Seeing as how Dick - ...- never misfires

Holy shit was that intentional? Bwahaha

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

So I assume that my math was correct being that nobody quoted me saying "Ahahahahaha Flying_Phoenix is such an IDIOT!"

Not really sure where you're getting most of those numbers, actually. $13 trillion is the total annual US income. 21% of that (what the top 1% earn before taxes) is ~$2.7 trillion.