Shootout in Texas: Hutch deploys the Teab*gger as human sheild and tactical nuke

We had our Republican candidate debate last night here in the Lone Star State. (archive vid here)  Oh, if only our Presidential debates had been so entertaining.

First, our Stunt Governor, who, predictably, turned down education funding for Texas, saying we're doing just fine, thanks. 

Next up, Hutch, our Senior Senator, who for some reason, wants to come back to Texas to stay.

Last up, a surprise visitor, a token TeaB*gger.  I have no idea how these things are decided, but sure, the more the merrier.  I'm not sure of her qualifications, but she's elligible, so hey.

First we have commercials from Lockheed(with Rocket Day!) and AARP(you can trust us to represnt you, really!). 

Oh, the audio isn't synced up, that's distracting.  Hope they fix that in the archive.  Anyway, introductions all around, and we start off with the first question: Just how crazy are you?  Would you really secede, and if there's something the feds do that you like, how would you replicate it here?

Perry likes the military.  He'd take care of our veterans and men and women in uniform.  Then an attempt to be funny, saying the feds should deliver mail, protect the country and the borders, and one out of three isn't bad.  Leaving us to guess which one he meant I guess.  But the moderator had already moved on...

Well, governor, what would you nullify?  There's a lot of people talking about it, got an answer for them?

Perry: uh...well, we need to stop healthcare, and our Senator over there needs to get back to Washington and stop it.  We gotta stop...

moderator: would you nullify it?

Perry runs out the clock and the moderator turns to stimulus funds.  Perry wouldn't take it if we didn't send so much to washington in the first place.  More running out the clock.

Now Hutch.  She, predictably, lists her favorite federal program as the military, except she can back her claim with her membership and leadership in various military and veterans' committees.  Claims to be fighting against healthcare now, and says that Texas now gets 92 cents back for every dollar it sends to D.C., not 76 cents, as Perry claims.  What she wants to do is eliminate the Highway Trust Fund.  We've got the roads built, so why keep collecting taxes?  Well, that sounds good, but one would think a Senator would be more effective in working on that.  Also, it's not just for highways anymore.

Mod: so what would you nullify?  Funding for ACORN. They're scary.

(That was a cheap shot, Hutch, you ignorant mutt. -nbv)

So now on to Medina, who gleefully informs us that the feds have let the veterans down, and she can't really say that the government does anything well.

Mod: answer the question, already.  You've said you think the government should only enforce treaties.

Medina: Yes. We must nullify Healthcare and get the EPA out of engergy and bidness and all will be well.

Audience question from FaceBook. OOh, aren't we modern?  A woman is worried about losing her unemployment benefits. (thanks, welfare deform -nbv).  What are you going to do?

Medina: non-answer, basic TeaB*gger boilerplate, less government, more bidness.

Perry, after it's noted by a mod that unemployment has double in his tenure: non answer, "Texas is the greatest state." Anecdote about a guy who would rather be unemployed in Texas than anywhere else.  We're great because we don't have frivolous lawsuits, and we rejected stimulus funds (f**cker)

Mod: we've lost more jobs than we've gained...

Perry: Nuh uh!

Everybody else: You're talking about '07and '08! Recession started in '09, and this is '10.

Perry:  Texas! Greatest!  My opponents are tearing Texas down! I love Texas!

Time's up.

What were we talking about again? Oh, yes, unemployment.

Hutch: lower taxes on business, get rid of the mismanagement on the unemployment fund.  Make the educational system better (well, better hurry) so kids can get good jobs (and this helps the asker how?) 

Sideswipe on Perry: We did lose 300,000 jobs in Texas.

Time's up.

Medina takes the bait:  Jobs were lost in the private sector, but the public sector jobs did go up.

Perry: wait wait wait. 1,000 people move here a day. They wouldn't if we didn't have low taxes and fair taxes.

Hutch: the business margin tax was yours.

crosstalk, Perry sputtering and Hutch saying property taxes went up because evaluations went up.  Cant' hear Medina.

Moderator: SHADDUP

Part II coming soon.

Matthew 25:44

I had the bright idea that someone could photoshop some dollar bills talking about this story and drop those in the anti-immigrant/anti-gay Salvation Army kettles, but this works too. They look like checks.

 

I got these via Jesus' General

YOU LIE!

Thanks to Facebook and C-SPAN, I have a use for this meme.

My Congressman expressed his sadness over the shootings at Fort Hood.  Some of his friends took the time to express their belief that MUSLIM = BAD.  I took them to task for this, as did others.  The ensuing discussion didn't get Internet Ugly, but it wasn't nice.

So, near the end, when one person stated that Obama and his advisors were racist, I asked for proof, and was sent to this gem of a YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chSH-cu20Oc&feature=PlayList&p=C19499E2161F8F85&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=36

Which is a shortened and interestingly edited bit of a committee hearing about the economy and a number  of other things held on 1/7/09:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/283157-1&showFullAbstract=1

I don't blame you if you don't want to watch the whole of either video.  The first is less than four minutes, but about 30 seconds in, the video shows Robert Reich saying "I am concerned as I'm sure many of you are that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals, or to white male construction workers."  There is a text overlay that helpfully tells you what the audio is saying.  And then cuts off, going into hysterics about how racist it all is.

In the C-SPAN video, Reich doesn't speak until about 22 minutes in.  Dry stuff, let me tell you.  At around 29:00, he says

"I am concerned as I'm sure many of you are that these jobs not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals, or to white male construction workers - I have nothing against white male construction workers - I'm just saying there are a lot of other people who have needs as well."

He goes on to say that in his written remarks submitted to the committee he has outlined some criteria that may be used to be sure that federal stimulus money is spread evenly, and especially to people hit hardest - the long term unemployed, women, and others who aren't already at the top of the heap*.

The entirety of his testimony is about how everyone can get some help through these times.  The speaker before him, Mark Zandi, spoke about the difference between stimulus and tax cuts.  Studies have shown that stimulus money produces more GDP than tax cuts.  I don't have notes on the stuff after Reich, because I gave up around then.

But yes, context matters.  Sources matter.  Thinking matters.  We always find what we're looking for, and if we're looking for some Other to be Evil, then by golly we'll find it.

Even if we've got to edit the video to "prove it".



*Reich also said at around 28 minutes in "get over this partisan 'I don't trust that governer from the Other Party.' Get over it, and get money to the local and state governments!"

Okay, C-SPAN, I forgive you

I've shelled out the money for bandwidth, and so the streaming is somewhat better.  Also, you can find it all now!

The new video library is searchable by date, person, and event.  I've been wanting this for years.  I don't know when it started, but boy I like it!

There's my guy!

Oh, finally an issue of substance!  Here I was afraid I'd have to talk about Faust News - Your Voice For Evil© and their War Against the White House Lies About Us - Yes, It's All About US!

No, on the slightly less important stage of world events, we have the Battle of the Vice Presidents, specifically Mr*. Cheney and my man, VP Joe.

Mr. Cheney's apparently upset that the bloodshed hasn't been more bloody - President Obama is apparently "emboldening our enemies" by thinking before he acts.

The Vice President's response? "Who cares?"  My thoughts exactly.

Now stopping right there, I think that's all that need be said.  Cheney and daughter(s) can argue all day long that this think tank and that group and these "observers" agree with everything they have to say - but that doesn't make it true.  Cheney spent a whole lot of time setting up the "Team B" charade.  Remember we have to know the message and the messenger(s).

But, Joe being Joe, he didn't stop there:

Asked what he thought about criticisms former Vice President Cheney had made about the Obama administration, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters “Who cares what – ” and then stopped himself.

“Yeah, yeah, I can see the headline now,” Mr. Biden said. “I’m getting better, guys. I’m getting a little better, you know what I mean?”

Hee!  So now the news isn't about Joe opening his mouth, but closing it.  The rest of the conversation is worth a read, too.  Upshot: The President asked me to go to Afghanistan and come back and tell him what I thought.  I did.  He may take my advice, he may not.  That's ok. He's the President.

Then further down, my Joe is back, talking about a little dust up over the change in missile defense last month: “Could it have been done better? Yeah. Obviously it could have been done better.”

Translation: the story is what's changed for the better, now how you feel about it now, press corps.


============
*I understand, but don't follow, the convention of addressing or referencing former office holders by their last title.  Mr. Cheney is Mr. Cheney. Mr. Clinton is Mr. Clinton.  Well, I do make an exception for General Reno, but that's just because I like saying it.

Putting Money Where My Mouth Is...

I finally signed up with ActBlue.  There are Republican alternatives, most notably RedSlate.  Looking at RedSlate's list, it's not likely I'll be sending money that way, but you never know.

Right now all I've got is a recurring $10/month donation to an as yet unnamed Democratic candidate against Randy Neugebauer.

Not much, but it's a start.

Lemme get out my violin...

"There is fury...Absolute fury."

This is in regards to Executive Order #13490* (up from 13476), which an order that "bars anyone appointed by the President who has been a federally-registered lobbyist within the past two years from working on particular matters or in the specific areas in which they lobbied or from serving in agencies they had lobbied."

Pity poor K street, which for the last 8 years, had been pretty much given free rein over all aspects of the legislative and executive processes. 

I'm not shedding any tears. The less lobbyists have to do with government, the better. 

Now the big problem is this. The CQ article mentioned that small businesses and groups wouldn't be able to afford to staff the lobbying firms and the panels.  So the panels aren't going away, and big business will have the same if not more access to lawmakers. 

My answer is to ban lobbyists alltogether, but that may be a little too much fire applied to the forrest. 


*signed waaay back in January.