Things could be a lot better in our economy if we’d worked on fixing the health care system sooner. All rational people, even a few grudging Republicans, will acknowledge that. But for damn sure things are gonna get worse if we keep pretending Republicans have valid points and do nothing.
Another graphical cost representation follows concerning how little we get for what we spend compared to other nations:
Even Bloomberg News knows that Republicans are two-faced lying hypocrites when it comes to Recovery Act money.
I mean, hell, if Bloomberg isn’t shy about reporting about Rethugs sucking at the stimulus teat, that must mean it’s real. Right?
Here’s a nice video concerning the hypocrites the GOP are full of. They damn near all voted against the Recovery Act and yet fight like mad to get money and then claim credit for it.
Bastards.
https://youtu.be/cnO69fgdWZA?si=ljxLQ3UVOqs0UXZg
Over at the DCCC, they have the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame, listing the top Rethug House hypocrites.
Bob evaluates the success of the Recovery Act, as well as the horrible marketing campaign that should be informing Americans of the good their government is doing.
We as a national have done better in the stock market:
…in job creation:
…GDP growth:
…and in legislative achievement:
The New York Times figures that 1.6 million jobs have been created by the stimulus. Here is more on their reporting plus their sidebar graph info:
From my driving around from California to Colorado to Illinois, I’ve seen plenty of work being done. It isn’t a boondoggle. It isn’t waste (except for maybe some of the work here in Vegas but that’s a local – re:GOP – choice). Perfectly deployed and explained? No. But a damn sight better than the sitting on our hands Hooverite approach the Rethugs suggested? Hell yeah!
So basically you’ve got the GOP against jobs and growth. Also in this is the reality that the GOP voted against 25 different tax cuts. Yep, they are even voting against things they say they are for when Democrats propose them.
The stupidity and lies continue from the tea baggers.
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.
The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.
Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.
Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.
City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won’t pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.
– From a January 31st story on the problems about to come to fruition in Colorado Springs
This is what happens in the Capital of Conservatism when you stop caring for your fellow man and hoard your earnings all to yourself.
The notion of community, of nation, of common purpose and security is gone when it comes to the Talibangelicals. The lights are on at Focus on the Family, but the streets of Colorado Springs are about to get that much more dangerous because of these “me first” pseudo-christians.
Screw ’em. I hope they get what they deserve for poisoning our politics and bringing our nation to it’s knees.
A glimpse of how bad things are in California. Glitzy, wealthy, opulent buildings and a completely broke state government.
In short, there are a lot things that need fixed in the old Bear Republic, but I’m not sure that is an easy fix by anyone’s imagining.
How does one correct someone who is on your side but has bouts of straying like President Obama? Offer constructive criticism, rather than throwing his clothes on the lawn, for one. You’ve got a perfectly good right to bitch as well as moan about things, but the equivalent of crying “fire” in a crowded theater just makes for a crappy moviegoing experience.
Barack Obama is the center-left, charismatic politician he has been for most of his life in the public. There are numerous issues on which he should be much more progressive, not just for the overall fortunes of the progressive movement, but for the future strength of the country. But we won’t get there if every perceived misstep (especially one based on a less than clear story that is slowly being filled in) is greeted as if he kicked a puppy in the teeth. We shouldn’t help a media environment that already favors Democratic politicians wagging their finger at the base, nor should we allow Democratic pols to get away with conservative nonsense.
Measure pols like Obama on their words and hold them to high standards, but don’t profess anger at them for not holding up to a caricature you dreamily doodled in your Trapper Keeper.
Good, strong, honest, and thoughtful words from Oliver Willis.
I tend to agree with the premise. The downside of being a liberal is that you have to associate with really, really progressive liberals. They eat their young just as quickly as rabid, racist teabagger types…just for different justifications, if not reasons.
Look, overturning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is important. Just not as important to as many people as, say, reforming health care. Also, Obama isn’t a liberal. If you believe this, you are as stupid as the Dittoheads who fervently believe this. No, you are actually MORE stupid than those morons. They at least have the excuse of not thinking. You probably don’t.
Point is, the concept of even considering to object to EVERYTHING Obama does reactively is just as inane coming from a Rethug or a Progressive. Stop. Think. Wait for the details. Think some more. If it still offends you, fine, take a stance.
That said, I’m not a fan of the budget freeze thing, but more of from a historical 1937 perspective than some “he’s taking pages from the McCain handbook!” kind of crazy. I just think it’s a bad idea. Hell, if both Bob Reich and Paul Krugman are against it, it might not be that hot of a plan.
Juan Cole has a great idea. Sadly it is one the greedy bastards who brought our economy to it’s knees will never accept. His plan? Have the banks who are paying our $47 billion in bonuses to their scumbags as thanks for screwing everyone over given just 10% of it over to the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
Granted, these are the assholes who gave out bonuses FOR FAILURE and then are giving out bonuses for making a profit BECAUSE WE BAILED THEM OUT! That is at least two years of bonuses for either failing or succeeding because someone else kept your asses employed.
I’d be surprised if we saw a hundredth of a percent of all that money go to help anyone other than the GOP. Greedy, soulless cretins.
Texas, believe it or not, is about to get dumber.
Yeah, I know, I wasn’t sure they could sink any lower either, but Traitor Rick has turned down federal dollars for Texas’ schools.
Keep ’em stupid and they’ll keep voting Republican. Seems to have worked so far.
You may hear conservatives trying to scare you about how health care reform will “ruin” our economy much like it did Europe’s. Well, given our past decade of economic chaos compared to Europe, maybe we’d be better off “ruining” our’s as well.