note to self: stop reading the comments

As seen in the comments section of the NPR article about Michele Bachmann's performance at last nights debate:
Democrats are ... Misogynists.

A preemptive apology: Snarkiness ahead:

Dear Tea Partiers, Republicans/Conservatives, or anybody who hates Obama:

It's possible that all those talking points you are running on are not entirely true. I know it's hard to verify the Talking Points Memo that you get every morning, I mean, you have to prep for that "fair and balanced" appearance you are making today to regurgitate those talking points. I understand how hard it might be to consider other points of view between tweeting and facebooking and all that. Honestly I'm impressed at your ability to multi-task so well. I know, I know, you've got control of the house now, so you really don't have to waste your time with this stuff, but you know, considering Boehner's heart-felt speech last night about working hard for Americans, I thought maybe before you lace up those boots and slip on those stilettos, you might just want to take a minute to consider a few things. I know the article is posted by that "lame-stream" bastion, Huffpo, those bastards, but really, it's not that long. Here, I'll even summarize for you:

1) Obama's actually reduced the deficit.

2)Obama cut taxes

3)Obama didn't bail out the banks

4)The stimulus did work, it just wasn't enough. We went from losing jobs by the thousands to gaining jobs. And seriously people, did you expect him to waive a magic wand and suddenly jobs would be every where? If you want to see where the jobs went why not ask those who favored outsourcing and loopholes for sending jobs over seas? Or those who deregged the banks so they could make these stupid loans. And the people who took out those loans when they obviously couldn't afford them...

5)Businesses don't hire when they receive tax cuts.

6)Obamacare actually reduced the deficit by 138 billion

7)Social Security Doesn't contribute to the deficit

8)Gov't spending doesn't take money out of the economy

The full text and link are below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/eight-false-things-the-pu_b_772643.html

It's called 8 false things the public "knows"

Here's the text;

Here are eight of the biggest myths that are out there:

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.

2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.

3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts wererequested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.

4) The stimulus didn't work.
Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.

5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire.Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.

6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.

7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.

8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

This stuff really matters.

If the public votes in a new Congress because a majority of voters think this one tripled the deficit, and as a result the new people follow the policies that actually tripled the deficit, the country could go broke.

If the public votes in a new Congress that rejects the idea of helping to create demand in the economy because they think it didn't work, then the new Congress could do things that cause a depression.

If the public votes in a new Congress because they think the health care reform will increase the deficit when it is actually projected to reduce the deficit, then the new Congress could repeal health care reform and thereby make the deficit worse. And on it goes.

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture I am a Fellow with CAF.

An example of Fiscal Conservatism?

A lot of conservative candidates are running on a platform of small-government and fiscal conservatism and how out of touch Washington is with Main St. Here's an article I found that may be of interest to all of us still struggling under the burden of student loans, or perhaps, for those of us who know student loans are in our children's future.

"Backdoor Bailout, Tea Party Fakeout: The GOP's Secret $90 Billion Gift To Wall Street"

The gist of it is that GOP hopefuls want to repeal the legislation that removed "a cushy deal that gave private banks a percentage of government-loan funds for "administering" loans (they weren't actually lending the money). They performed their administrative duties both inefficiently and unethically. What's more, the banks took a portion of their vig and spent it on lobbyists in order to keep the pot sweetened for themselves."

In addition:

"The Republican repeal plan wouldn't just put tens of billions of public dollars in bank coffers. It would also raise the maximum amount a graduate is forced to pay each year from 10 percent to 15 percent of income. And it would extend the length of time before their debt is forgiven from 20 to 25 years."

I don't have an email address or phone number for you to call on this one, but perhaps a more basic question to start a discussion:

Can you trust a candidate to do what's right for Main Street, when they are funded by Wall Street? Can you trust a Representative or Senator to listen to doctors when they are funded by lawyers? This is an old question but more relevant than ever considering the ability of corporations to donate like people. What do you think? Will we ever get away from the hypocrisy?

Raped girl must cheer for her attacker

Here's an article (thanks Andrew Rihn) about a high school girl who was sexually assaulted by a basketball player at her school. When she refused to chant his name during his free throws, she was kicked off the team.

What's even more disgusting, is that after the incedent happened, the school officials urged her to keep a low profile, avoid the cafeteria, perhaps forgo homecoming...Good for her for refusing to be shamed into silence.

At the end of the article are the emails for the school officials. I urge you to take a minute and shoot an email to these officials who are supposed to be protecting our children, who are instead, more worried about the athletes' reputations.

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/10/15/cheerleader-required-to-cheer-for-man-who-assaulted-her/

Richard Bain Jr., Superintendent, Silsbee Independent School District, 415 Highway 327 West, Silsbee, TX, 77656; rbain@silsbeeisd.org; (409) 980-7800

Eldon Franco, Principal, Silsbee High School, 1575 Highway 96 North, Silsbee, TX, 77656-4799; efranco@silsbeeisd.org; (409) 980-7800

Alimony Update:

It looks like my mom will be spared the continued victimization of having to pay alimony to her abuser. Phew! But for every one person who gets justice, hundreds more are still trapped into financially supporting the spouses that abused them. My mom is still working with Kathleen Chandler on this issue, in the hopes of making state-wide changes to the law. Look for updates on their progress in the coming months.

Thanks for all the support.