Did Any Of Them Build This?

Aug 30th, 2012

For all of the mileage the GOP is getting from what is shaping up to be the all time gaffe of President Obama's career, they still just don't seem to have thought this thing through.

The Only Thing They Did Build

"We Built It."

Okay. It's glib but clever. Obama handed it to them. Here's the problem with this theme for the week; it's beginning to look like they didn't actually find anyone to speak at the convention who didn't benefit from public investment.

Observing Our Decline

June 8th, 2012

Mitt Watch: Now He's Just Lying... Again

May 29th, 2012

If there's any hunk of red meat for self-declared "conservatives" which they can be relied upon to devour more voraciously than charges of "big government" I don't know what it is. Speaking to a crowd in Colorado today, Mittens Romney made the following statement:

"We have 145,000 more government workers under this president. Let’s send them home and put you back to work."

This isn't merely spin and it's not some sort of exaggeration. It's an outright, bold-faced, incredibly big-balled, straight up lie. Period. End of discussion. At least it should be.

Since President Obama took office, six hundred and eight thousand public sector jobs have been eliminated (SOURCE).

Here's the rub; Obama has actually presided over the largest contraction of government in generations, something the right has demanded for as long as can be remembered. That's well over half a million consumers not participating in the economy during the worst downturn in 80 years, a fact which has directly contributed to the stalled recovery by further depressing demand.

To Obama's army of detractors I would say this:

You can have wildly shrinking government or a robust and dynamic short term rebound.

You can't have both.

You have received full delivery on one of your movement's core demands and it is biting our country on the ass.

Sleep tight.

H/T to MM

Mitt Watch - A Staggeringly Ugly Reveal

May 26th, 2012

Image via

Websters defines the word game as an "activity engaged in for diversion or amusement."

Games are fun.

They are also frivolous.

This matters.

In an interview with one of his fawning water-carriers, the WSJ's Peggy Noonan, the GOP nominee for the most powerful position in the history of world said the following a few days ago:

"I think the game is like a sport for old guys. I mean, you know, I can’t compete in competitive sports very well, but I can compete in politics."

This should end Mitt Romney right here.

The shocking elitism in his statement is only matched by its craven stupidity. It's bad enough to consider his even thinking this way. But, to have so little regard for the people that he would say it aloud is unlike anything I have witnessed in the last quarter century.

Politics, by his own proclamation, is simply his latest hobby. While wife Ann spends part of their fortune on her "dressage," Romney has set out to saddle the people with a more hopeless future for his own gratification and that of his monied friends.

After all, it's just a "game."

We are the pawns and pieces. We are the poker chips. He likes a good bluff so why not truck with "birthers" and "tenthers" and propagandists? Anything to win.

After all, it's just a "game."

This serves to explain Romney's staggering mendacity. Why bother to tell the truth?

It's just a "game."

Wild proclamations that Russia is our "number one enemy" don't really mean anything.

It's just a "game."

Promising the last administration's neo-cons that he will give them their third war in the Middle East is of no consequence.

It's just a "game."

A worldview in which leadership of the United States is just a shiny prize during times this turbulent and potentially transformative should preclude eligibility for any office, much less Commander in Chief.

To doubt that a Romney presidency would be a disaster of previously un-imagined proportions is increasingly naive.

The Gaffes Are Uncountable

May 23rd, 2012

Rachel Maddow notes the sheer volume of GOP blunders in recent days and wonders why they are largely going unchallenged.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Romney Watch - The Guy Simply Can't NOT Lie

April 9th, 2012

Regarding a campaign appearance by Mittens last week, Dana Milbank notes just how shocking the candidate's distaste for the truth really is:

"PolitiFact has awarded Romney its “Pants on Fire” or “False” ratings for 32 claims. Among them are these: that Obama “didn’t even mention the deficit or debt” in his State of the Union address, that “our Navy is smaller than it’s been since 1917,” that Obama “never worked in the private sector,” that Obama “gave” the automakers “to the UAW,” and that “we’re only inches away from no longer being a free economy.”

Wednesday’s speech alone had more than a dozen distortions, including allegations that: Obama “has failed to even pass a budget” (Congress passes budget resolutions, which the president doesn’t sign); Obama created a panel empowered to deny treatments under Medicare (the board can only make recommendations, and only if Congress fails to find Medicare cuts), Obama “has added regulations at a staggering rate” (the Business Roundtable just said it “lauded” the administration’s attempt at regulatory reform).

No fewer than three Romney claims in that one speech merited PolitiFact’s “Pants on Fire” rating: that Obama led “a government takeover of health care,” has been “apologizing for America abroad” and is ending “Medicare as we know it.” Romney’s assertions that Obama “is the only president to ever cut $500 billion from Medicare” and that eliminating Obamacare saves “about $100 billion” were rated false.

That Romney resorts to such gratuitous falsehoods discredits his leadership more than his opponent’s."

Panicky Gasbag Cries Conspiracy

Feb 21st, 2012

Dick Morris has no legitimate way to counter the recent wave of positive economic data that benefits the President. His solution? Crazy talk.

via Media Matters

Ron Paul's Temperament Problem

Jan 1st, 2012
by F. Grey Parker

Critics on all sides have been hammering at Rep. Ron Paul's (R-TX) alleged fringe views. From his newsletters to his associations, legitimate issues have emerged that demand some answers. His narrative has changed over time and that alone is disturbing. However, I am more troubled by his temperament than by his inconsistencies.

The Mythical "Job Creators"

Dec 26th, 2011

Business Insider's Henry Blodget writes:

"The most important reason the theory that "rich people create the jobs" is absurd, argues Nick Hanauer, the founder of online advertising company aQuantive, which Microsoft bought for $6.4 billion, is that rich people do not create jobs, even if they found and build companies that eventually employ thousands of people.

What creates the jobs, Hanauer astutely observes, is a healthy economic ecosystem surrounding the company, which starts with the company's customers.

The company's customers buy the company's products, which, in turn, creates the need for the employees to produce, sell, and service those products. If those customers go broke, the demand for the company's products will collapse. And the jobs will disappear, regardless of what the entrepreneur does.

Now, of course entrepreneurs are an important part of the company-creation process. And so are investors, who risk capital in the hope of earning returns. But, ultimately, whether a new company continues growing and creates self-sustaining jobs is a function of customers' ability and willingness to pay for the company's products, not the entrepreneur or the investor capital. Suggesting that "rich entrepreneurs and investors" create the jobs, therefore, Hanauer observes, is like suggesting that squirrels create evolution.

(Or, to put it even more simply, it's like saying that a seed creates a tree. The seed does not create the tree. The seed starts the tree. But what creates the tree is the combination of the DNA in the seed and the soil, sunshine, water, atmosphere, nutrients, and other factors that nurture it. Plant the seed in an inhospitable environment, and it won't create anything. It will die.)"

But, like the Fannie and Freddie myth, this is a lie that will not die.

One more time, it's the demand crisis which is killing us.

Romney Watch - His Super PAC Goes Overboard

Dec 26th, 2011

Dave Weigel takes a look at a new wave of campaign ads attacking Newt Gingrich's stance on immigration quite disingenuously. His takeaway:

"There's a little deja vu here, because in 2007, Romney closed out the Iowa caucuses with a similar campaign. Iowans who'd fallen in love with Mike Huckabee were told of his dangerously pro-immigrant views. It didn't work. This seems to be working better. The story about Romney now is more "Gingrich reels from ad assault," less "this ad is untrue."

So You Don't Have To

Nov 7th, 2011

Image via TPR

Chris Rodda, much to his credit, continues to keep a watchful eye on pseudo-historian and professional prevaricator David Barton.

Mr. Barton, famous for his endless use of "unconfirmed quotes," has apparently been trying to gain some traction by embarrassing an "atheist" group which recently removed a billboard containing an inaccurate Jefferson quote.

Hey Rudy, There Aren't Enough Jobs For Us To "Occupy A Job"

Nov 5th, 2011

The dishonorable former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, gave a glib and spittle-dribbled performance at the annual "Americans For Prosperity" gala in Washington this weekend. He used his time on the dais to smear the Occupy movement. His most crowd pleasing riff? "How about you go and occupy a job." Before watching this vulgar bit of agit-prop (video below), let's look at the most recent job numbers, shall we?

Via The Economist:

"In the month of October, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 80,000 jobs—less than economists expected. The report was less disappointing than might be imagined given that number, however. The initial zero-job figure from August has now been revised up to an increase of 104,000, and September's total has also been revised up, to 158,000. That pace is scarcely enough to keep up with population growth, but it's considerably better than the economy managed in the early summer." EMPHASIS OURS

For over a decade now, the American economy has not added the minimum number of jobs to simply accommodate new entrants in the labor force. Even if we exclude the Wall Street driven disasters of the last three years, there aren't enough jobs to "occupy." That didn't stop Rudy. Why should it? Facts never have gotten in his way.

Mayor Bloomberg's "Marie Antoinette Moment"

Nov 4th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker - NSFW

The only thing more annoying than the dissemination of certifiably provable bullshit is the constant and calculated repetition of that bullshit. People that do so, when they know better, are referred to as as 'bullshit artists.'

In pushing back against the Occupy Movement recently, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg demonstrated a true mastery of that form. 

The "Uncertainty" Lie

Oct 10th, 2011

To hear the Republican party's current ranking members tell it, everything wrong with the American economy stems from "over regulation." This has created too much "uncertainty" and is the reason the engine of job creation has collapsed.

In particular, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) entire economic message is based on this premise. A few weeks ago, he repeated his position, "By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations, we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers."

There are more examples of this nonsense HERE, HERE and HERE.

Most experts have been growing increasingly annoyed listening to this skipping record. You don't have to be an ardent Keynesian to understand that the problem starts with demand. Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute recently observed:

"There is a ... story, widely told by Republican politicians and business trade associations, which claims that business investment and hiring is being held back by uncertainty over future regulations and taxation. As Maine Senator Susan Collins said in introducing her bill to put a moratorium on all new regulations: “Businesses, our nation’s job creators and the engine of any lasting economic growth, have been saying for some time that the lack of jobs is largely due to a climate of uncertainty, most notably the uncertainty and cost created by new federal regulations” (Kasperowicz 2011). Her view has been repeated by others, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (2011) and the Chamber of Commerce (Donohue 2011)."

Is it true? Are America's businesses desperately crying out against "regulation?" 

In a word, "NO." 

As it turns out, not only is it provable that this is bullshit but, even better, it is former Reagan aide and stalwart conservative economist Bruce Bartlett who has done just that.

"Evidence supporting Mr. Cantor’s contention that deregulation would decrease unemployment is very weak. For some years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has had a program that tracks mass layoffs. In 2007, the program was expanded, and businesses were asked their reasons for laying off workers. Among the reasons offered was “government regulations/intervention.” There is only partial data for 2007, but we have data since then through the second quarter of this year.

The table below presents the bureau’s data. As one can see, the number of layoffs nationwide caused by government regulation is minuscule and shows no evidence of getting worse during the Obama administration. Lack of demand for business products and services is vastly more important."

Here is the same data from the BLS crunched by the EPI in the form of a graph.

I have opined in the past that this "uncertainty" meme is not only dishonest, it is actually anti-Capitalist.

What the GOP has been arguing in favor of over the last decade is not unfettered markets. They want to rig the game, not set it free.

Pure Capitalism is built on the concept of accepting risk.

Today's Republicans are stipulating that there should be little or no risk.

They are determined to shield capital investors from the consequences of stupid or even dangerous decisions. Their message and their mission is to eliminate responsibility.

The sick irony, now that they also have declared that "corporations are people," is that they are actually doing what they have been arguing "liberals" have been trying to do for the last two generations.

The GOP is actively conferring victimhood on a group and trying to confer special rights and a special status.

It's not the corporation's fault... it's everybody else's fault.

The little dears... 

Hey Kids! It's Glenn Beck Time!

Oct 1st, 2011
by F. Grey Parker
NSFW. Also, it's not a violation of Godwin when you are actually fighting a fascist.

I have to admit that I'm surprised I didn't see this coming sooner. Remember when Glenn Beck accused the President of "indoctrination" for giving a back-to-school speech to America's children?


Beck likened Barack Obama to Mussolini at the time. How could he not draw such a frightening comparison when the President's speech was riddled with such overtly partisan messages as this one?

"Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide."

You get the idea. Well, Beck's back, baby, and he actually is after the children.

As If We Didn't Know

Sept 23rd, 2011

via Media Matters:
"Ari Rabin-Havt on Current TV's Countdown: News Corp. is "a news company that exists to lie to its viewers."

"Screw Social Justice"

Sept 2nd, 2011

So says Rush Limbaugh in a rant about the "left" which sounds more like a portrait of his own listeners. His views are as narrow and backward as our opponents have ever been. His level of invective, however, is getting worse.

via Media Matters

Perry Watch - Unoriginality Edition

Sept 1st, 2011

Remember the nutty lie about President Obama doing more for Brazilian oil exploration then he has domestically? Remember how even Fox News was shamed into toning it down because it was a blatant falsehood?

Well, apparently, Republican Presidential hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry never got that memo. In his continuing quest for attention and validation, he repeated it recently. This has naturally earned him a Politifact "pants-on-fire" award.

Also, would someone please tell Perry that when you fire a gun in the air the bullet comes back down? Just an aside. Thinking of the children.

How They Operate

Aug 22nd, 2011

Lost in the spectacle of Christine O'Donnell walking out on an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan last week has been the Republican reaction to the book she is hawking, ostensibly her reason for having been there. A fundamental theme of O'Donnell's book seems to be that of casting herself as a victim of the "political establishment."

She would apparently have us believe that her experience in Delaware politics was beset by at every turn by snubs and disrespect. It sounds like the latest entry in the growing bibliography of "conservative victimhood."

Maria Evans, a former aide to 2008 Delaware Gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee, has an interesting piece over at Frum Forum today. It illustrates as well as anything I have seen lately just how despicable the tactics of the conservative movement's Dominionist interlopers really can be when they are proved to have been untruthful.

"On Monday, August 15, 2011, I issued a press release to set the record straight about an event featuring Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, an event that three time Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell cites in her new book, Troublemaker as an example of how the Delaware Republican Party was snubbing her all of the way back in 2008, when she was the party’s chosen nominee."

O'Donnell's portrayal of the event in question is, to put it politely, a prevarication. At that time of the event in question, one of Evans' responsibilities was to record all public events at which Lee participated. She presented a recording as evidence of O'Donnell's misrepresentations.

What follows is a narrative detailing the O'Donnell camp's response.

"The day after I issued the press release, on a local radio station where I had once worked as a talk show host, blogger and reporter, O’Donnell said that she “felt sorry” for me and the show’s host, one of her sycophants, called me Mike Castle’s “concubine.”

I was horrified to realize that my 12 year-old son had been listening to the broadcast. “Are you OK, Mom?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I told you yesterday that people were going to say bad things about me, but it’s OK because I’m telling the truth, and when you tell the truth, everything works out.”

“Mom, what’s a ‘concubine’?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.

I paused for and long moment and considered my answer. “In this case, it means someone’s who’s right,” I said. I figured that I could clear up that definition on another day, when he seemed less upset.

I was glad that my son didn’t know that I had also been called a “liar,” a “political scoundrel,” “corrupt” and that I was accused of doctoring the tape. O’Donnell’s supporters went as far as to attack other members of my family in order to discredit and quiet me."

It is of no surprise to me that Ms. O'Donnell would essentially resort to a form of political slut-shaming when confronted with an empirically provable rebuttal. After all, her's is a movement which argues endlessly to impose their narrow morality upon us, but, which finds no sin more offensive than the exposure of their own lies.

Good News... Again

Aug 20th, 2011

The ratings for some of the most dishonest right wing propagandists continue to show evidence of freefall. I noted last month what is arguably the under-reported story of the year, that Fox News' ratings are in a devastating decline. It gets better. A lot better.


From Business Insider:

"The just-released Arbitron report reveals that a lot less people are listening to right-wing talk radio.

With a lull in ratings since November, Rush Limbaugh had a 3.0 share of listeners for his radio time slot, which is a 33% slide from October and from last April, reports Crain's Business.

Meanwhile, The Sean Hannity Show was reported to be down 28% from its peak numbers in the fall."

This does beg a few questions. Where is the shake-up? You know? Where is the evidence that they have been approached by management and are attempting to retool their programs for better market share?

There is none. And, you shouldn't expect any. That is because these are not pundits. They are craven corporatist activists whose masters are willing to lose money so that they might keep dis-informing the public.

Are you ready to fight for the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine yet?