Ruh-roh. John Boehner had better watch it or the Tea Baggers are going to be angry with him. He must think that no one has him either transcribed or recorded for the last year. Think Progress cites one example.

Boehner is lying. He has said that what Obama and Democratic leaders are doing is socialism. From his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference a few months ago:

Well, the stimulus, the omnibus, the budget — it’s all one big down payment on a new American socialist experiment. … All of these bills seek to replace our economic freedom with the whims and mandates of politicians and bureaucrats.

GREGORY:This question about the role of the government, and, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying this week what she worries about in terms of the tone of debate is that it could lead to violence, as it did in the ‘70s; you know, there was anti-government violence in the ‘90s in Oklahoma City, as well. How much of a concern is that? Do you share it, or do you think that that was an overstatement on her part?

GRAHAM: Well, quite frankly, I mean, the whole idea of the role of government needs to be debated. The public option; she says there will be no bill coming out of the House without a public option. America is saying, listen, the government programs we’ve got like Medicare is $34 trillion underfunded. The Baucus bill will let—adds 11 million to a Medicaid system that can’t—the states can’t afford. So a lot of us are concerned that Nancy Pelosi and others are pushing government to control prices when it will not work in health care. Competition and choice. If you’ve got only one plan in Alabama, let the people in Alabama shop around the country for plans. But I’m not so worried about—you know, her criticism about the opponents of the plan don’t bother me. The fact that we’re broke...

GREGORY: She’s talking about violence, though.

GRAHAM: Yeah. I don’t...

GREGORY: I mean, we’ll get to the health care. You don’t buy that.

GRAHAM: I don’t think any responsible person is asking for a violent response.

GREGORY: Do you—is that hyperbole?

BOEHNER: David, I’m, I’m not concerned about violence.

GRAHAM: No.

BOEHNER: I mean, I’m sure Speaker Pelosi was sincere in her concern. But let’s remember something. The debate that we’re in here is not just about health care, it’s about the, the trillion-dollar stimulus that was suppose to be about jobs and turned into nothing more spending—than spending and more spending. It was about a budget with a, with a nearly $2 trillion deficit this year and trillion-dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. It’s a cap and trade system, this big giant tax on the American people that this week, we just find out, the Treasury Department said will cost the average family $1700 per year. You add to that this whole question of health care and the government option, the government involvement, and Americans today are getting more news about what’s happening in their government than they have ever gotten before, and Americans are genuinely scared to death. Scared to death...

GREGORY: But, Leader, don’t they get even more scared when you got the head of the Republican Party sending out an e-mail that, you know, to challenge the president and Democratic leaders for a socialist power grab? I mean, is that appropriate conversation? Is this, did you really think the president’s a socialist?

BOEHNER: Listen, when you begin to look at how much they want to grow government, you can call it whatever you want, but the fact is, is that...

GREGORY: Well, what do you call it, though? This is important.

BOEHNER: This is unsustainable. We’re, we’re broke.

GREGORY: That’s fine. Do you think the president’s a socialist? Because that’s what...

BOEHNER: No.

GREGORY: OK. But the head of the Republican Party is, is calling him that.

BOEHNER: Well, listen, I didn’t call him that and I’m not going to call him that. What’s going on here is unsustainable. Our nation is broke. And, and at a time when we’ve got this serious economic problem, a near 10 percent unemployment, we ought to be looking to create jobs in America, not kill jobs in America. Their cap and trade proposal, all this spending, all of this debt and now their healthcare plan will make it more difficult for employers to hire people, more difficult and more expensive to have employees, which means we’re going to have less jobs in America. But Americans are scared. That’s why they’re speaking up and that’s why they’re engaging in their government.

Continue reading »

Mock, Paper, Scissors: Tengrain Presents the End of the Recession!

WetMachine: Benchmarks and the Broadband Ecology

Rawrahs: Thank you, Jimmy Carter

Susie Bright's Journal (not work-safe): Socialist is the new Black. And while we're doing the not-work-safe stuff, Alabama is still outlawing the sex toys. I'm so outta there forever.

Wonkette: Waitaminit, Judge: 'Saying something is so, does not make it so?' There goes the modern Conservative Movement.

BG filling in today and tomorrow for Mike, who's jamming.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: FBI numbers prove that the 'War on Drugs' is a failure

Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Congressman Alan Grayson talks Fed transparency and missing money

Culture Monster: Glenn Beck and Freedom Works' 9/12 logo based on communist and socialist designs

The New Republic: Wealthcare

Echidne of the Snakes: Guarding our hearts and wallets

Sadly, No!: Quick Question

After Wednesday night's speech, Bill O was running with McCain's original idea to "fix" health care by opening up all insurance companies to compete in all states. The problem with that is that each state has its own laws governing health care and it would cause incredible conflicts that could not be resolved. BillO is actually stumping for the federal government to destroy states' rights and their laws. Wow.

BillO: Why wouldn't the president say, let's let everybody compete. Let's let all the insurance companies compete nation wide and that will drive the price down...

Axelrod: Well first of all we have a system of state regulation, you know that of the insurance industry that makes that difficult. What we want is these individual market places. Some markets have competition, other markets don't.

BillO: The Feds can override the states...

Axelrod: Excuse me?

BillO: The Feds can override the states, you know that. You can make it so that all health insurance companies compete nationwide.

Axelrod: This is a historic moment with you calling for the feds overriding the states. I didn't realize you had that...

O'Reilly: Federal jurisdiction, you know federal jurisdiction takes precedence in almost every legislative area...

Axelrod was so shocked that he had to ask BillO to repeat himself. O'Reilly is a socialist now.

This is another example of how disingenuous conservatives are. If they want something---everything goes....Now he can't complain about anything the federal government does from now on because what he's saying is far more radical than anything that has been put forth by the Obama administration. Can you imagine the uproar that would take place if the president said he was going to override the states?

Even the media is starting to call out republicans over their seriously ridiculous protests against President Obama--who dared to give a back to school speech to the children. Usually the teabagger brigade compares Obama to Hitler or a socialist, but Joe Watkins (former Bush 41 guy) came up with a new and even more stupid argument than usual. Parents can't compete with his charisma----ergo he shouldn't speak to the kids. Huh?

Watkins: This president is not an ordinary president. He's one of the most gifted speakers that the world has ever seen. He's gifted, he's charismatic and when he speaks he speaks with tremendous authority and great conviction and with tremendous persuasion. And it's one thing to talk to adult who maybe have the ability to discern between right or wrong or whether they agree or disagree. The challenge becomes the parents when he talks to their kids about the present, he's so persuasive, he's campaigning for the hearts and minds of the kids. Today's speech was fine....but what moms and dads are afraid of is that what happens when kids who can't distinguish what moms or dads can when the Defense of Marriage is repealed or the act comes up to...

Dr. Nancy: Joe, Joe, he didn't slip, there was no gotcha in this speech, you know that, there was nothing like that here.

Watkins: No, but we know they'll be other times when the president will make very strong and compelling arguments for issues that moms and dads don't agree with.

Usually, this would be the perfect trait that American appreciate in a president, so he could be a positive influence on the kids of America. Telling them that cutting class and to study hard is what they need to hear, but not to republicans. And Watkins turns it into a gay bashing segment. Is Joe saying that the president will schedule a speech to school kids in favor and talk about the Defense of Marriage Act? Is he kidding me? Even Chuck Todd looked at Watkins like he had an alien brain.

Todd: Joe, it sounds like you're worried the president's going to be too popular with kids. I guess...is that the concern that if he were less charismatic you'd be OK with him speaking to children?

Watkins: No, not at all....he's so popular and persuasive that parents don't want to compete with that

Say, what? Liar, liar, Watkins' pants are on fire. As long as the president is conservative then that president can speak to the kids every single day. I'm waiting for conservatives to ban their children from ever watching an Obama speech or interview. Republicans have become freaks since they've let the teabaggers take over their party.

Media Matters puts it together. This is what airs day in and day out...Notice that these are all rich people with incredible health care who are doing all the smearing.

I wonder how Jared Polis got mixed up with this crowd?

But as far as I'm concerned, if you don't believe in the progressive income tax you've talked yourself out of the Democratic party, period. There is no more fundamental tenet of the progressive philosophy. It's like being a socialist Republican -- philosophically incoherent. (And you'll notice, there aren't any such things.) Protecting people who make more than $350,000 dollars a year from being taxed beyond their currently historically low level --- the vaunted top 1% --- simply cannot be a Democratic value. It's absurd on its face.

This is concern trolling by the Wall Street Journal, to be sure. But they didn't make up Jared Polis' position. If Polis can't explain to his wealthy Democratic constituents why they have an obligation to give back to ensure that our society is stable and secure and our economy is strong, then he needs to go into another line of work.

Charlie Cook tells us how he really feels about the Republicans wonderful idea (which didn't end up being passed) to rename the Democratic Party the "Democrat Socialist Party" and how anyone who voted for the ridiculous proposal should be treated. I'd like to know why Chris Matthews thinks the Republican's, rightfully called out by Charlie Cook, childish name calling could ever be considered something along the line of "fun"? It always strikes me as nothing other than downright meanness.

Matthews: Alright. I've known for years we've lived with uh..and it's been kind of fun in a weird sick way, every time you heard a Republican at a Republican convention or at a party event would say "the Democrat party" rather than Democratic party and you know that didn't hurt anybody. It's just a stupid way of saying, like Bob Dole used to do it all the time. Now they want to go further and call it the Socialist, or the Democrat Socialist Party. In fact the Associated Press today got it screwed up and referred to it as, they were going to call them the Nationalist Socialist Democratic Party, the Nazi party. That was a typo I guess.

Cook: You know, this reminds me, I laughed when you use the playground metaphor because that was exactly right. It's like in school when you say "Oh your mother wears combat boots". I mean this is just stupid, sophomoric, towel snapping. And the thing is you know Republicans didn't lose fifty four House seats in two elections, fourteen Senate seats and the Presidency for nothing. I think that people, the American people have effectively put them in a time out chair.

They're not listening to Republicans and they don't really care what they say. The question is do Republicans take this time and use it in an effective way to figure out okay, when we get allowed to rejoin the class, when people start listening to us again, what are they, what are we going to say and maybe what can we say that might be more appealing than what they were saying the last two elections.

Fineman: The RNC has no clout, has no place on the landscape. That RNC has been replaced by another RNC, which is Rush, Newt and Cheney.

Cook: You know Republicans should take a list of everybody that votes for this resolution and say okay here's a list of people we should never listen to again, because these are people that are part of the problem, and look for forward thinking people. People that put the party in a position where people might actually want to vote for them again.

Chris Matthews asks Rep. John Culberson to respond to Tom DeLay's whining about Texas being a donor state and points out that the states which are the biggest donor states are mainly blue states and the ones which receive the most are primarily red states. Of course Culberson has to try to change the subject and talk about not wanting our children taxed instead of answering the question. You sure didn't see any Republicans coming on the television worried about our children's future while Bush was breaking the bank. Matthews gives it another shot and then... what else could he possibly retreat to? Culberson pulls out the France/socialism boogeyman card.

Matthews: Do you think Texas has a special complaint against the union because you believe that you're a donor state. That's what Tom DeLay said last night. A special complaint. It turns out that a lot of the liberal states which you guys would call Democrat states up in the Northeast, states like New Jersey, are the ones that spend the most money in taxes. Now maybe they should be complainers like Texas but, they're not complaining. Why are you guys complaining? Why are the pitchforks so out in the rural states?

Culberson: Because Texas is, because we see Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama and this Congress trying to turn America into France. And Texas is not going to become France. We don't want to be a socialist, European nation. We treasure our freedom. We treasure local government. We treasure the right to let Texans run Texas.

Yeah, heaven forbid the US could become anything like that scary, scary France. The horror of possibly having nationalized health care, shorter work weeks and stronger unions. I don't know how we'd survive it. Matthews makes Culberson look as foolish as he is with his Texas loves America more than anyone nonsense that follows. They love it so much they want to leave it.

Culberson: ..the core point here is Texans have a special feeling in our hearts about what it means to be an American. And to be an American means the government should leave me alone and get off my back and get out of my way and get out of my wallet...(crosstalk)

Matthews: Who has that special feeling?

Culberson: More than anyone else I think Texans have a special feeling in their heart about what it means to be an American and the core values that made Americans...(crosstalk)

Matthews: You know how absurd that is Congressman. You say that you guys are more emotional about your Americanism and yet you've got a Governor talking about splitting from America. You know how absurd that sounds.

Culberson: He's not serious about it. Governor Perry...

Matthews: Why'd he..he did it all week this week. (crosstalk) You say you love the country but you're threatening to leave it.

Yes completely absurd and hypocritical but I'm sure they won't let that stop them from continuing with the absurdity. Never does. I want to hear that same tough talk out of these idiots the next time they have a hurricane and need some help from the Federal government.

December 30, 2008 MSNBC Rachel Maddow Show

Senator Obama was in full mockery mode today at his rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Deep down, John McCain knows his economic theories don't work. That's why his campaign said if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. That's why I keep on talking about the economy. They don't want to talk about the economy. But that's what you want to talk about. That's what affects your lives day in and day out. Now, because he knows his economic theories don't work, he's been spending these last few days calling me every name in the book. Lately he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can give some tax relief to the middle class. I don't know what's next. By next week he'll be calling me a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Look, that's his choice. That's the kind of campaign he chooses to run. But you have a choice, too.

It would be even funnier if it weren't true. Case in point: Neal Boortz in the digital pages of World Nut Daily, arguing that public schools are brainwashing children into embracing communism. I kid you not.

The students are seated, the bell rings. As fast as you can say the Pledge of Allegiance without the "under God" part, the indoctrination begins. The government teacher steps in front of her virtual hostages and promptly delivers the first raw lesson in the power of government. The students are instructed to bring all of their precious school supplies – their property – to the front of the classroom and put them into a huge box. They are told that the supplies belong to all of the class now, and the teacher will assume the responsibility of distributing the supplies as they are needed.

"Whoaa! Hold on a minute here! These are my supplies. My daddy bought them for me. You can't have them! They're mine!"

Nope. Sorry! They were yours. Now all those supplies belong to – guess who? The government!

Behold the leading lights of the modern "intellectual" conservative movement.

  Sure sounds like it. The Kansas City Star's Dave Helling interviewed John McCain after a town hall meeting Thursday in Kansas City and had this little exchange about one of the Republican nominee's stump speech attacks.

Download | play   Download | play  

Helling: You talked about a little bit about Senator Obama today. You said he was the most extreme member of the Senate.

McCain: Yea, that's his voting record.

Helling: Extreme? You really think he's an extremist? I mean he's clearly liberal..

McCain: Well, that's his voting record. All I said was his voting record. And it's more to the left that the announced socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Helling: You really think he's a socialist, Barack Obama?

McCain: Oh, I don't know. All I know is his voting record.

This is hardly the first time the McCain campaign has tried to distort Obama's record and tag him as some sort of extremist. Joe Lieberman says "it's a good question" to ask whether Obama is a marxist, Glenn Beck rants about Michelle Obama having a "socialist agenda," and Bill Kristol believes the "bitter" remarks revealed Obama's inner Karl Marx.

Steve Benen has already debunked the right-wing claim that Obama is the "most liberal member of the US Senate" so I won't bother repeating it here, but a look at McCain's voting record during the Bush years reveals just what you would expect: Despite the CW that McCain is a party-bucking maverick, he's voted with Bush 91% of the time -- including 100% and 95% in 2008 and 2007, respectively. A debates over voting records is not one the McCain campaign should be eager to engage in.

Also take note of McCain's blatant lying towards the end of the clip as he attempts to defend himself from flip-flopping charges. Unlike the majority of McCain's Media™, Helling actually confronts the candidate, and gets him on tape denying things that are demonstrably true.

Take, for instance, the myth McCain now peddles that he only opposed the Bush tax cuts in 2001 because they weren't accompanied by restraint in spending. Well, if that was the case, why did he say this back then?: "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief." It's really a shame that the somewhat-respectable Republican McCain used to be has become possessed by the base-pandering, run-of-the-mill GOP ideologue he is today.

Like Jon Stewart once said, McCain has gone to "crazy base world." And it doesn't look like he's coming back.