Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Better hope the economy magically turns a heel because nothing is going to pass this senate/house, except maybe immigration. And I have a feeling we're about to see a big revolt on that from the right.
SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.
On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.
Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents — who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.
I watch TV and read the papers like everyone else. We know what we’re going to hear: vague platitudes like “tough vote” and “complicated issue.” I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress. I know what a complicated issue is; I know what it feels like to take a tough vote. This was neither. These senators made their decision based on political fear and on cold calculations about the money of special interests like the National Rifle Association, which in the last election cycle spent around $25 million on contributions, lobbying and outside spending.
Speaking is physically difficult for me. But my feelings are clear: I’m furious. I will not rest until we have righted the wrong these senators have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can look parents in the face and say: We are trying to keep your children safe. We cannot allow the status quo — desperately protected by the gun lobby so that they can make more money by spreading fear and misinformation — to go on.
I am asking every reasonable American to help me tell the truth about the cowardice these senators demonstrated. I am asking for mothers to stop these lawmakers at the grocery store and tell them: You’ve lost my vote. I am asking activists to unsubscribe from these senators’ e-mail lists and to stop giving them money. I’m asking citizens to go to their offices and say: You’ve disappointed me, and there will be consequences.
People have told me that I’m courageous, but I have seen greater courage. Gabe Zimmerman, my friend and staff member in whose honor we dedicated a room in the United States Capitol this week, saw me shot in the head and saw the shooter turn his gunfire on others. Gabe ran toward me as I lay bleeding. Toward gunfire. And then the gunman shot him, and then Gabe died. His body lay on the pavement in front of the Safeway for hours.
I have thought a lot about why Gabe ran toward me when he could have run away. Service was part of his life, but it was also his job. The senators who voted against background checks for online and gun-show sales, and those who voted against checks to screen out would-be gun buyers with mental illness, failed to do their job.
They looked at these most benign and practical of solutions, offered by moderates from each party, and then they looked over their shoulder at the powerful, shadowy gun lobby — and brought shame on themselves and our government itself by choosing to do nothing.
They will try to hide their decision behind grand talk, behind willfully false accounts of what the bill might have done — trust me, I know how politicians talk when they want to distract you — but their decision was based on a misplaced sense of self-interest. I say misplaced, because to preserve their dignity and their legacy, they should have heeded the voices of their constituents. They should have honored the legacy of the thousands of victims of gun violence and their families, who have begged for action, not because it would bring their loved ones back, but so that others might be spared their agony.
This defeat is only the latest chapter of what I’ve always known would be a long, hard haul. Our democracy’s history is littered with names we neither remember nor celebrate — people who stood in the way of progress while protecting the powerful. On Wednesday, a number of senators voted to join that list.
Mark my words: if we cannot make our communities safer with the Congress we have now, we will use every means available to make sure we have a different Congress, one that puts communities’ interests ahead of the gun lobby’s. To do nothing while others are in danger is not the American way.
Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic representative from Arizona from 2007 to 2012, is a founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions, which focuses on gun violence.
Aww, what happened to the Butcher of Benghazi?Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Better hope the economy magically turns a heel because nothing is going to pass this senate/house, except maybe immigration. And I have a feeling we're about to see a big revolt on that from the right.
Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Better hope the economy magically turns a heel because nothing is going to pass this senate/house, except maybe immigration. And I have a feeling we're about to see a big revolt on that from the right.
It takes two to govern. Democrats compromised and watered down their demands. They co-opted republican ideas and put them in the bill. And it still failed. At a certain point, politics ends and governance begins. Republicans showed today that they have zero interest in governing. Don't go blaming Obama for this bullshit.
Nothing was passed in those years. The stimulus, health care, fair pay act, dont ask don't tell don't count?It takes two but that's a losing campaign slogan. Voters gave democrats a pretty big majority in 2008 and didn't get much of anything from it (from their perspective), hence 2010. And with a sluggish economy it's hard to see some massive push to give democrats a big win next year. Obviously things can change but right now it just looks bad.
I'm starting to get the impression that many republicans are realizing they won't be punished for their bullshit by voters. Josh Marshall had an article a few days ago about an apparent shift among republicans on immigration: many no longer believe they "have" to pass anything.
Nothing was passed in those years. The stimulus, health care, fair pay act, dont ask don't tell don't count?
Stimulus and health care were pretty unpopular with voters in November 2010, and are still viewed with mixed opinions today. The problem is that the economy remains sluggish/bad; if we're still at inconsistent job growth in summer 2014 it's hard imagining people wanting to keep democrats in charge. Not saying they'll lose the senate, just that the results will be another horribly mixed house and a more narrow senate lead. Which would mean two more years of nothing getting done.
It takes two but that's a losing campaign slogan. Voters gave democrats a pretty big majority in 2008 and didn't get much of anything from it (from their perspective), hence 2010. And with a sluggish economy it's hard to see some massive push to give democrats a big win next year. Obviously things can change but right now it just looks bad.
I like how both Obama not being able to pass a budget because of Republican obstructionism and Obama offering unpopular spending cuts in an effort to win Republican support is somehow simultaneously and only Obama's problem.And please, stop pretending that Obama is going to get cooperation from the Republicans about the economy. Theres only two levers the Republicans want Obama to pull and thats the ones labelled cut taxes and cut spending.
I like how both Obama not being able to pass a budget because of Republican obstructionism and Obama offering unpopular spending cuts in an effort to win Republican support is somehow simultaneously and only Obama's problem.
PD blaming Obama for this. I shouldn't have expected any different.
If he was getting the blame wouldn't him being on the ballot be a drag for Democrats?Not blaming him, just saying he'll get the blame. A loss is a loss. He won't be on the ballot in 2014 so yea, I'm not particularly confident.
Yes. You've made a lot of bad predictions.Not blaming him, just saying he'll get the blame. A loss is a loss. He won't be on the ballot in 2014 so yea, I'm not particularly confident.
While the SS thing is fucking dumb, congress/the senate is not his fault.Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Better hope the economy magically turns a heel because nothing is going to pass this senate/house, except maybe immigration. And I have a feeling we're about to see a big revolt on that from the right.
Obama's second term has pretty much been a disaster thus far, from this to the social security farce. Seems like a playbook called "how to depress your base in a midterm election." Again.
Better hope the economy magically turns a heel because nothing is going to pass this senate/house, except maybe immigration. And I have a feeling we're about to see a big revolt on that from the right.
For the first time in over thirty years, the U.S. government has granted an import permit to an American hunter who wants to bring his black rhino trophy out of Africa and into his living room.
It's actually the first time any endangered species taken from the wild has ever been allowed to be imported into the country and news of the permit's issuance came out on the same day that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives appear on a special episode of Antiques Roadshow to talk about the importance of ending trade in rhino horn.
In 2009, David K. Reinke, CEO of Liberty Parts Team, a wholesale retailer and manufacturer of laser printer components based in Madison, Wisconsin traveled to Namibia with T&O safaris and shot a 34-year-old black rhino bull in Waterberg Plateau Park.
There are only five thousand black rhinos left in the wild.
Obama....
Fuck you.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-endangered-species-hunters-bring-trophies-235310711.html
No seriously. Fuck you.
And I hope Reinke dies in a laser printer explosion.
I agree. That is fucked up.Obama....
Fuck you.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-endangered-species-hunters-bring-trophies-235310711.html
No seriously. Fuck you.
And I hope Reinke dies in a laser printer explosion.
Obama....
Fuck you.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-endangered-species-hunters-bring-trophies-235310711.html
No seriously. Fuck you.
And I hope Reinke dies in a laser printer explosion.
Obama....
Fuck you.
Does something like this actually cross Obama's desk?
So reading this if say Japan stands at 34%, this means that 34% of my income is determined by the income of my parent that is s primary income earner. So if I end up making $66,000, a little more than $22,000 of that is solely due to my primary income earning parent. Is this correct?
I was wondering "What about connections and work background?". Anyway I'll probably make a thread on social mobility tomorrow tomseemwhatnother people think.34% of the variance in income can be explained by parents' income. Intergenerational earnings elasticity is basically the R^2 of parents' income's effect on their children's income. So you're correct. In Peru, around 63% of income variance can be explained by parents' income.
However, you have to be careful when dealing with cases at the individual level. This kind of analysis really only works at the aggregate level. With individuals, there's far too much randomness to be able to predict anything.
Precisely.President Obama said:"Instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill," Obama told White House reporters.
Noting polls that showed 90% support for such a measure, Obama called it a "pretty shameful day for Washington" and wondered of Congress: "Who are we here to represent?"
Do nothing congress
And wow at this editorial. I think it deserves its own thread, outside the vote thread because this is probably the most powerful opinion colum I've ever read
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/opinion/a-senate-in-the-gun-lobbys-grip.html?_r=0
Obama....
Fuck you.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-endangered-species-hunters-bring-trophies-235310711.html
No seriously. Fuck you.
And I hope Reinke dies in a laser printer explosion.
Wait, someone sent a ricin covered envelope to both Obama and a Republican senator? The fuck?
Good. Maybe the media will actually do their goddamn job and shame these fucks.Morning Joe showing faces of those who voted no. They're really going in.
Obama....
Fuck you.
http://news.yahoo.com/u-endangered-species-hunters-bring-trophies-235310711.html
No seriously. Fuck you.
And I hope Reinke dies in a laser printer explosion.
It takes two but that's a losing campaign slogan. Voters gave democrats a pretty big majority in 2008 and didn't get much of anything from it (from their perspective), hence 2010. And with a sluggish economy it's hard to see some massive push to give democrats a big win next year. Obviously things can change but right now it just looks bad.
I'm starting to get the impression that many republicans are realizing they won't be punished for their bullshit by voters. Josh Marshall had an article a few days ago about an apparent shift among republicans on immigration: many no longer believe they "have" to pass anything.
Stimulus and health care were pretty unpopular with voters in November 2010, and are still viewed with mixed opinions today. The problem is that the economy remains sluggish/bad; if we're still at inconsistent job growth in summer 2014 it's hard imagining people wanting to keep democrats in charge. Not saying they'll lose the senate, just that the results will be another horribly mixed house and a more narrow senate lead. Which would mean two more years of nothing getting done.
WAL-MART VS. THE MORONS (NOT A JOKE)
I know lots of folks don't like Wal-Mart, but this is fascinating.
This is spot-on.
PLEASE, READ THIS TO THE END. IT IS VERY INTERESTING!!!
Wal-Mart vs. The Morons
1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day.
2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March
17th) than Target sells all year.
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco
K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private
employer, and most speak English.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and
keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years.
8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought
bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are
Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur
at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.
You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground
work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart
to fix the economy.
This should be read and understood by all Americans Democrats,
Republicans, EVERYONE!!
To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,
it is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:
a. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234
years to get it right and it is broke.
b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to
get it right and it is broke.
c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get
it right and it is broke.
d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it
right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to
"the poor" and they only want more.
e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44
years to get it right and they are broke.
f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get
it right and it is broke.
g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our
dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of
$24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get
it right and it is an abysmal failure.
You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our
throats while overspending our tax dollars.
AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED
WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??
Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end
up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything)
and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.
AND
I know what's wrong. We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone please tell me what is wrong with all the people that
run this country!!!!!!
We're "broke" and can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless
etc. and the last months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and Turkey and now
Pakistan ( the previous home of bin Laden). literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!
Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do
they get any breaks.
AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children
going to bed hungry, elderly going without needed medicines, and mentally ill
without treatment, etc.
Imagine if the GOVERNMENT gave U. S. the same support they give to
other countries. Sad isn't it?
*99% of the people receiving this message won't have the guts to forward this.
*I'm one of the 1% -- I Just Did
BEING UNITED SAVES AMERICA!
If you can get to the end without bursting into laughter, you're a better man than I.
I barely made it a fourth of the way.
The proliferation of Walmart has a lot to do with the spread of poverty in the nation, so I'm not sure I'd want them in charge of the economy.
*sigh*
The Obama administration seems intent on breaking every promise they've ever made. Remember when people actually believed that he was going to make things more transparent?
the beefed-up reporting requirements will still apply to the president, vice president, members of Congress and candidates for Congress. Some presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed government employees would also still adhere to the new disclosure requirement. The new law also delays the creation of that database until the beginning of 2014.
If you can get to the end without bursting into laughter, you're a better man than I.
I barely made it a fourth of the way.
Ah the US senate, the only place in the universe where 46 > 54
If this weak tea bill can't pass through the Senate, then what will? Filibuster rules need revision and the makeup of the Senate has to change.
Gonna repimp this image that was on the nytimes and shared on Real Time. It's a big part of the problem.
The caption at the bottom reads:
Rural voters from southern or smaller states who are less supportive of gun control have overwhelming representation in the Senate. It's highly unlikely that something will pass - even if it's ineffectual! - until that changes.