Silly Lies

You have to love this.

Governor Jindall, in his response to the President's address to the nation, told this cute/funny story about some mindless bureaucrat trying to stop boats from coming into New Orleans to help rescue people off of roof tops because they didn't have registration.

He told it like he was there.

Turns out he wasn't.

After 8 years of a President who frequently said things that were not true, that he should have known were not true, now we have the official spokesman of the Republican Party making up a story for his national address.

The number and frequency with which Republicans have said things about the Stimulus package that were simply and clearly untrue is quite breathtaking.

Thank god for sites like FactCheck.Org and PolitiFact.com

These are serious times and there are real disagreements between the parties. For reasons passing understanding it seems like Republicans can't talk about the issues and simply tell the truth.

Throwing President Bush under the Bus

Its been fun in a sick way to watch how the Republican Party has thrown President Bush completely under the bus then made sure it ran over him a couple of times.
Bobby Jindall's Republican response to the President's address was only part of it.
You hear current Republican Congressmen and Senators talk like none of the excesses and stupidities of the Bush years have anything to do with them.
All of a sudden they have discovered fiscal responsibility.
Some how they were the party in power when the FEMA so completely botched its response to Hurricane Katrina.
Now that he is no longer a candidate for President of the US, Senator McCain is saying the war in Afghanistan is lost
After 8 years of Earmarks run amok, all of a sudden earmarks are evil and have to be opposed at every turn.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem that the public is buying it. Despite their lackluster performance, public approval for the Democrats in Congress is up, almost to 50% whild approval for Republicans is still in the 20's.
And President Obama's approval is in the 60's
After 8 years of defending and supporting George Walker Bush, the entire Republican establishment has thrown the man under the bus.
Its funny.

I love Bobby Jindall

I watched the President's address to Congress last night and then watched Governor Jindall's response.

I really hope that this man is the future of the Republican party. To say his speech, especially following the President's speech, was uninspiring is a vast understatement. And that's only style points.

Governor Jindall decided to remind the country of the Federal Governments horribly failed response to Hurricane Katrina.

He distorted the requirements attached to the Unemployment Insurance monies in the Stimulus Bill.

He chose to remind us of the incredible growth in spending under a Republican President and (for 6 of 8 years) a Republican congress and then claimed that Republicans have the solution to solving the financial crisis they largely created.

Being a Republican, he stated that the economic policies he and the Republican party support consist of cutting taxes. Completely deaf to the realization that President Bush's tax cuts didn't give us vibrant growth and literally doubled the national debt in 8 years. 8 years of tepid growth in GDP and 8 years where job growth didn't even keep up with population growth.

8 years of record deficits

And his solution - Cut Taxes

I love this guy!!!

He complains that the US Government is going to spend $300Million buying new more efficient vehicles which provides jobs to auto workers, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and helps to reduce green house gas emissions.

I love this guy!!!

He complains about the Democrats spending money we do not have on things we do not need. Coming from a Republican after what they did the past 8 years, that is the very picture of irony. and he doesn't even see it!

He seems to thing that the Republican package of pure tax cuts wouldn't amount to spending money we don't have. He seems to think that cutting taxes won't ballon the debt. Clueless is the word I am looking for.

I love this guy!!!!

Then there was his disconnect on energy policy. Some of the programs Republicans have been complaining about (like buying fuel efficient vehicles and building high speed rail lines) are directly aimed reducing our dependence on foreign oil and cleaning up our environment. Then he goes on to say that we must increase use of alternative energy supplies and become more efficient. He does add increased domestic drilling and an expansion of nuclear power to the list of things that our President is already pushing for.

That's clearly going to be a winning strategy for the Republican Party.

On to Health Care.

He states that the goal of the Republican party is to ensure that no one has to worry about losing their health care. Then adds that Republicans don't want government bureaucrats interfering in the decisions made by doctors and their patients. He seems quite content to allow insurance companies interfere all they want. Problem is that President Obama hasn't advocated a government take over of health care. He advocates universal health care through access to private insurance or allowing Americans to join the same health plan used by members of Congress. Republicans love straw men and this is one of them. Obama has not proposed a government take over of health care, so Republicans find themselves warning against something the President isn't proposing.

If this really is the best the Republicans have, they are in more trouble than I thought!!

I love this guy!!!!

Keeping President Obama Honest

I encourage everyone to check out http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

It's a site that is tracking President Obama's performance against 510 promises that they have identified that he made since beginning his campaign for the Presidency.

The current count is:

Promises Kept: 9
Promises Broken: 2
Compromises: 3
Stalled:0
In the works:21
Not Started: 475

Whatever you think of our President, he asked to be held accountable to his promises and that is what this site does.

It also confirms or debunks many of the statements being made by people on both sides of the aisle.

If you hear some claims, good or bad, about the President and his efforts, this is a great place to check (along with Snopes.com and FactCheck.org) to find if the claims are true or not.

Enjoy

Legalize Marijuana

I was struck by the idiocy of the furor around the picture of Michael Phelps taking a hit from a bong.

This kid is clearly one of the most incredible athletes in the world right now and he was forced to do the mea culpa circuit for smoking pot.

Utterly insane.

The original laws against Marijuana were racist in nature, specifically targeting Hispanics. The arguments used against pot were complete fabrications about how Hispanics and Blacks who smoked became crazed beasts who might even look at a White Woman.

I remember a great propaganda film called Reefer Madness that I saw when I was in college. It portrayed pot users as wild beasts, capable of murder and rape. I went to college in the 70's. Most everyone I knew smoked from time to time. None of them were murders or rapists.

And now, any attempt to legalize pot run into a hailstorm of illogic and outright lies.

The biggest lie is the "gateway drug" lie. The only reason pot is a gateway to more serious drug use is that its illegal. Once you have crossed the line into illegal drug use, there are fewer barriers to cross before you graduate to seriously harmful drugs.

Marijuana is not physically addictive (unlike both alcohol and tobacco).
Marijuana is much less physically harmful than alcohol.
Marijuana is not a gateway to other crimes of violence like alcohol is.

Alcohol leads directly to the deaths of around 200,000 Americans a year. Tobacco leads to the death of perhaps 400,000 every year.

Show me a study that links any deaths to Marijuana.

I have no doubt that people high on pot have done stupid things like drive and ended up dead or killing other people. Nothing close to the number killed in the same way by Alcohol. But I am sure it happens.

Marijuana use probably leads to lung cancer. Pulling smoke into your lungs and holding it there is not actually going to be good for you. But since most smokers that I know smoke maybe a joint a day, I doubt it has the same impact as a pack of cigarettes.

Its another testament to Republicans and their fondness for belief based laws that marijuana is still illegal.

My poison of choice is alcohol. Despite all the drugs I could have tried in college, I never did for no reason other than I just didn't care to. But I should have the choice. The same way I can choose to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.

I screwed up

Can you believe it, a President who admits to mistakes, doesn't try to blame anybody else and commits to doing better next time!!

President Obama last night on NBC News

"I'm here on television saying I screwed up, and that's part of the era of responsibility. It's not never making mistakes; it's owning up to them and trying to make sure you never repeat them and that's what we intend to do."

Now that is a Change.

Wrong Again

I am wondering if Republicans ever tire of being wrong, seriously mind-numbingly wrong??

In 1993, President Bill Clinton inherited record Budget Deficits and a faltering economy. He pushed through an Economic Plan that included raising taxes. It got not a single vote in the House. Republicans predicted economic doom and disaster. What we got was the 8 years of strong economic growth, 21 million new jobs, and a Budget Surplus.

In 2001, President Bush inherits a Budget Surplus and a faltering economy. He pushed through massive tax cuts, only by limiting them to 10 years because of their huge cost, promising strong economic growth. Instead what we got was 8 years of anemic job growth, growing income disparities, a sputtering Stock Market and obscene deficits. By the time President Bush and the Republicans were through, we had an economic collapse to rival the Great Depression, Trillion Dollar Deficits, more than doubling of the National Debt, a banking system that won't lend, a diminished prestige in the world and two wars, one of which should never have been fought, the other should never have been ignored. Oh, and a ruined city.

Now its 2009, President Obama has inherited more challenges than perhaps any President in history with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. And now, a badly needed stimulus package has passed the House without a single Republican vote. Sound familiar.

Do they ever get tired of being wrong

About the Economy
About regulation
About Global Warming
About Invading Iraq
About the importance of Competence
About Torture

I almost looks like they like being wrong.