DOWNLOADS: (474)

PLAYS: (1917)

Embed

Apparently I'm not the only one that caught this segment with Rep. John Shadegg on Morning Joe and was completely appalled. With unemployment benefits set to expire for hundreds of thousands of Americans, we get this joker coming on the air and claiming that unemployment benefits aren't stimulative to the economy and those Bush tax cuts for the rich are.

Republicans really are determined to completely destroy the US economy. Tax cuts for the rich and the rest of you can eat cake.

Rep. Shadegg Scoffs At The Fact That Jobless Benefits Are A Benefit To The Economy: ‘No, They’re Not!’:

According to calculations by the Congressional Budget Office, Moody’s Economy, and myriad other economists, unemployment benefits are the single best way to pump money into the economy and generate economic activity, as the unemployed are very likely to spend all of the benefits they receive (thus moving money into local businesses). But during an interview with MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle today, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) scoffed at the notion that unemployment benefits help the economy. “Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn’t know that,” Shadegg jeered:

BARNICLE: What about the fact that unemployment benefits pumped into the economy are an immediate benefit to the economy? Immediate…

SHADEGG: No, they’re not! Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn’t know that.

BARNICLE: Unemployed people spend money Congressman, ’cause they have no money.

SHADEGG: Aha! So your answer is it’s the spending of money that drives the economy and I don’t think that’s right. It’s the creation of jobs that drives the economy…Actually, the truth is the unemployed will spend as little of that money as they possibly can. Job creators create jobs.

BARNICLE: Have you ever been unemployed? Have you ever been unemployed?

SHADEGG: Yes, I have.

BARNICLE: What did you do with the money? Save it?

Go read the rest of the post for more from Think Progress on why Shadegg is just dead wrong here and on the damage not extending unemployment benefits is going to do to our economy. And as they also noted, Shadegg saying he's going to be unemployed soon is likely of little consequence to him.

And while Shadegg joked that he will be unemployed come January since he is retiring from Congress, next year he will be eligible for a federal pension (if he opted for one), as he is turning 62 and served on Capitol Hill for more than five years.

Given his resume, I would imagine some Republican lobby shop has got a cushy job waiting in the wings for him as well.

DOWNLOADS: (905)

PLAYS: (5964)

Embed

As Think Progress already noted, John McCain's new "complete the danged fence" ad has a slight problem, it features the wrong sheriff.

In his attempt to portray himself as more right-wing than his far-right senatorial competitor J.D. Hayworth, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) put out a new ad this past weekend called “Complete The Danged Fence.” In it the ad, McCain is walking along the border in the southern Arizona town of Nogales, telling Sheriff Paul Babeu about his 10-point border security plan.

...There’s something wrong with McCain’s video: Nogales is in Santa Cruz County. Babeu, however, is from Pinal County, which is 115 miles north in central Arizona.

...As Andrea Nill explains on the Wonk Room, “Chances are McCain didn’t feature a local border town police chief because that person probably would’ve told him his ten-point plan is a waste of manpower and resources.”

After opining about how terrible it was that President Obama joked about Arizona's new "show me your papers" law in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Scarborough runs McCain's new "danged fence" ad and neither he or Shadegg can keep from busting up after watching it.

As Steve Benen pointed out:

This probably isn't a good sign for McCain. Scarborough is a conservative former congressman, and Shadegg is a conservative lawmaker who endorsed McCain's re-election. If they can't watch his commercial without laughing, I wonder what Republican primary voters are thinking.

More from Media Matters on McCain's flip-flopping on this issue. New Pro-Fence Ad From McCain Leaves Out His Anti-Fence Voting Record:

In a new pro-border fence ad, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) converses with Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu about border security measures. McCain conveniently leaves out his anti-border security funding votes and his anti-fence statements from this new, misleading ad.

...2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing $85 Million And 800 New Staff For Immigration Investigation.

...2006: McCain Voted AGAINST Providing Additional Funds To Build A Border Fence On Southwest Border.

...2006: McCain Said Putting National Guard At Border Is "Partially PR."

...2003 McCain: "We Can't Secure Our Borders. We Can Never Build An Impenetrable Wall To The North And South Of Us."

...2003: McCain Said Border Couldn't Be Fully Protected Because Good Jobs Would Continue To Drive Illegal Immigration.

DOWNLOADS: (484)

PLAYS: (1381)

Embed

Well here we go with the latest round of Republican talking points defending their hate-filled rhetoric we've been hearing for the last year. John Pelosi-Will-Be-Breaking-Arms Shadegg explains to Chris Matthews how everyone should just play nice and get along now and attempts to paint the Democrats of acting as badly as the Democrats have. When Eugene Robinson points out that the Republicans were holding up a "Don't Tread on Me" sign and egging on the protesters outside of the Capitol last weekend, Shadegg defends it by saying that there were Democratic lawmakers over with the pro-health care bill side of the event as well. Yeah, that's exactly the same thing John. I don't believe anyone there to celebrate the bill passing was calling members of Congress racial epithets and spitting on them. As Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out tonight, the Republicans are playing their usual game right out of the Karl Rove playbook, take your main weakness and accuse the other side of doing it as well.

Oh and that supposed attack on Eric Cantor's office they're all carrying on about, looks like it was nothing more than a stray bullet.

Police: Bullet that hit Cantor campaign office window was randomly fired in air a long way off:

Richmond police say the bullet that hit a window of Republican Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor's office had been randomly fired skyward.

Amid reports of threats and vandalism against Democrats who voted Sunday for sweeping health care reforms, Cantor said at a Washington news conference Thursday that a bullet was fired into his Richmond office.

In a news release, Richmond police said that the bullet had been fired into the air early Tuesday. It hit the front window of a building that houses Cantor's campaign office as it fell to back earth at a sharp angle.

The round landed on the floor of the office a foot inside a broken window pane. No one was in the building, and police say an investigation has yielded no suspects.

I don't suspect this will be changing the GOP's views on gun control laws any time soon but they're going to use it to claim they're being threatened.

Transcript via Lexis Nexis below the fold.

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (1935)

PLAYS: (1196)

Embed

Oops. Republican John Shadegg appeared on MSNBC just after Dennis Kucinich made his statement saying that he was going to vote for the health care bill. While arguing against the mandate to buy insurance Shadegg let's one slip and basically made the argument for having single payer health insurance. As The Hill noted, he quickly switched gears. Shadegg (R): 'I would support single payer' over individual mandate:

Shadegg blasted the for-profit health insurance industry during an appearance on MSNBC today, finally declaring, "I would support single payer."

He quickly clarified his comment, saying he would simply like to see health insurance companies have more competition.

"I would support forcing American healthcare companies to compete right," he said "Now they have a monopoly."

That's similar to the argument Democrats have made for the public option, and in a statement to The Hill, Shadegg's office said a public option would be better than requiring individuals to buy insurance from the for-profit sector.

Read on...

David Shuster did a pretty good job here. It is humorous to watch these Republicans spinning so badly in an attempt to attack the Democrats that they're going from repeating Dennis Kucinich's point about why we should have single payer in one breath and then talking about high risk pools in the next. I don't recall any support for single payer coming from Shadegg on the House floor over the last year. Instead he was busy using a baby as a prop while he talked about the "dangers" of government run health care. These Republicans never seem to run out of goal posts to move.

I know a lot of people are mad at Kucinich for changing his vote. I'm not happy with this whole deal but I say cut him some slack. He didn't have any good options to deal with and not passing this bill is political suicide for the Democrats right now and he knows it. There's no reason we can't keep pushing these guys for a Medicare buy in as Grayson is proposing and for single payer after this passes. This fight isn't over if the bill does pass and I know Dennis will be one of the ones continuing to push the party to do the right thing. I'm not ready to throw him or Bernie Sanders or any of the other progressive Democrats who vote for this bill under the bus. They're not what's wrong with our Congress. The problem is there aren't enough of them.

We can keep pushing the Democrats to do the right thing and supporting primary challengers against the ones who won't or we can throw our hands up and let the party that has "moved into a mental hospital" back in power. We're stuck with a two party system right now so I'll take the former. I shudder at the thought of a President Romney or Palin, a Leader McConnell, a Speaker Boehner and a Michele Bachmann chairing some committee in the House. I had enough of the wingnuts running the show under Bush to last me for the rest of my life and that was before they started ratcheting up the crazy the way they are now.

From The Daily Show:

The House of Representatives finally passes health care reform after the exciting pre-game festivities.