Why it’s called the ‘Stupid Party’ – ‘Governor Explains Away Poor Jobs Numbers: Most Unemployed People Are On Drugs’

‘Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is facing an uphill fight for re-election as he battles negative job approval ratings and a slow economic recovery’.

‘During an appearance on a local radio show this week, Corbett sought to explain away Pennsylvania’s less than stellar performance, arguing that the state gained 111,000 private sector jobs since he took office and is “doing better than other states.”

‘But then he grew defensive and complained that “a lot” of businesses are still having trouble filling their ranks because too many Pennsylvanians use illegal drugs’:

CORBETT: “The other area is, there are many employers that say we’re looking for people but we can’t find anybody that has passed a drug test, a lot of them. And that’s a concern for me because we’re having a serious problem with that”.

‘Earlier this month, a state senator introduced a bill requiring drug testing of all recipients and applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Pennsylvania’.

‘The state is currently “conducing a pilot program in 19 counties of testing only those convicted of felony drug offenses.” Since January of 2012, just two people have failed’.
From : http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/04/30/1939341/governor-poor-jobs-numbers-unemployed-people-on-drugs/?mobile=nc

Why America Is Failing – ‘Meals On Wheels Sequestration Cuts Taking Effect’

But the GREAT news is that the Army is going to get more tanks that they don’t want and there’s no additional delay in our air travel.

ROANOKE, Va. — ‘William McCormick remembers from his working-class upbringing in Covington, Va., that neighbors took care of neighbors’.

“Both my parents worked in the mill,” he said. “For people in the neighborhood who were hungry we’d make up two or three bags of groceries, put $5 or $10 in it, set it on the porch, knock on the door and leave. We wouldn’t tell ’em who did it.”

‘Now McCormick is 70 years old and living alone in a one-bedroom apartment in a six-story building. Only about 40 of the building’s 144 units are occupied. The parking lots are barren and the hallways are dingy with torn carpets. McCormick considers the building “spooky.”

‘He’s lived here since 2005, and for most of that time he has benefited from food charity every week day — not left at his door anonymously, but brought to him by Meals On Wheels volunteers’.

‘Since 1972 the Administration on Aging has provided federal funding for senior nutrition, and today volunteers from some 5,000 Meals On Wheels affiliates across the country distribute a million meals a day’.

‘But federal funding for senior nutrition has been reduced by budget cuts known as sequestration, meaning less food for old people here and elsewhere’.

‘The White House has said the cuts would mean 4 million fewer meals for seniors this year, while the Meals On Wheels Association of America put the loss at 19 million meals’.

‘Michele Daley, director of nutrition services at the Local Office on Aging, which serves Roanoke, Alleghany, Botetourt and Craig counties in Virginia, said the agency expects to receive $95,000 less in federal funds this year (it has an operating budget of $1 million)’.

‘They’re gradually reducing the number of people receiving daily meals from 650 to 600 as a result of the budget cuts’.
From : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/meals-on-wheels-sequestration_n_3165256.html

Republicans 2016 – ‘Ted Cruz Mocks His GOP Colleagues, Calls Newtown Families ‘Props’ and Takes Credit for Blocking Background Checks’

Remember when Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump ALL were getting 30% in the Republican Presidential Primary polls in the Spring/Summer of 2011?

It will be enjoyable to see Ted Cruz do the same.

And no doubt, flame out just as fast as the others did.

From : http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cruz-mocks-his-gop-colleagues-calls-newtown-families-props-and-takes-credit-blocking-backgro

Why it’s called the ‘Stupid Party’ – ‘Washington Lawmaker’s Office: If Gay People Face Discrimination, They ‘Can Just Grow Their Own Food’

All of this started in and is centered around a Spokane couple, 2 men, are going to get married and went to a florist they’d been doing business with for years to order the flowers for their wedding.

The florist refused because she says her religion, Christianity, forbids gay marriage.

State Senator Hewitt is out of Pasco, South East Washington.

As to the florist?

She can start paying for her own roads that deliver her product and which she delivers her product on, roads that are built for all regardless of sexual orientation. She can start paying for her own police department that protects her business yet provides protection regardless of sexual orientation. She can start paying for her own fire department that provides fire protection to all regardless of sexual orientation.

‘A bill introduced in Washington state last week would allow people to use their “sincerely held religious beliefs” to justify discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation’.

‘One activist started calling the bill’s sponsors to find out more about why they supported such a negative bill. His primary question was, “What are rural gays supposed to do if the only gas station or grocery store for miles won’t sell them gas and food?”

‘A staffer at state Sen. Mike Hewitt’s (R) office had a unique reply’:

“Well, gay people can just grow their own food”.
From : http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/04/29/1932971/washington-lawmakers-office-if-gay-people-face-discrimination-they-can-just-grow-their-own-food/?mobile=nc

 

What Congress does – ‘Congress Orders More Tanks Army Does Not Want, Sequester Cuts To Social Services Still Ignored’

Senior citizens don’t need check ins with Meals on Wheels.

We need more tanks and no waiting at our airports!

‘Republican Congressman Jim Jordan and Senator Rob Portman, both of Ohio, have been beating the budget cut mantra for awhile, claiming that Washington DC spends too much money’.

‘However, when it comes to a program involving their home state of Ohio, suddenly they are spending like drunken sailors, as they both are pushing for a half-billion in spending on new M-1 Abrams battle tanks for the US Army’.

‘The M-1, built in Lima, Ohio by defense contractor General Dynamics, is one of the worlds premier battle tanks. And, as the Department of Defense has stated multiple times, they don’t need any more’.

See : ‘Army says no to more tanks, but Congress insists’
@ : http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TOO_MANY_TANKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-28-08-58-08

‘The two Republicans argument is that this is the only factory capable of producing tanks within the United States, so it must continue to be paid for, and tanks ordered, whether we need them or not’.
From : http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/29/congress-orders-more-tanks-army-does-not-want-sequester-cuts-to-social-services-still-ignored/

 

Why it’s called the ‘Stupid Party’ – ‘Members Of Congress Introduce Legislation Based On Fringe Conspiracy Theory’

Oh No! The Gobermint is buying up all the bullets!!!

‘Two Republican members of Congress introduced legislation on Friday that would limit the amount of ammunition the government is able to purchase at a given time’.

‘The bill is a response to far-right conspiracy theories that the government is “stockpiling” ammunition, either to wage a war against the American people or to dry up the ammunition market so average citizens can’t buy bullets’.

‘Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) will put forth the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability Act (or, AMMO) Act in both the House and Senate’.

‘The bill would require executive branch agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to maintain ammunition levels below the average monthly amounts that the agencies had before Obama took office’.

“President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans’ access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” said Inhofe. “One way the Obama Administration is able to do this is by limiting what’s available in the market with federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition”.

‘The theory comes from fringe websites like Alex Jones’s Infowars, but have been given a platform by Drudge, a site that commonly peddles unfounded conspiracy theories’.

‘Even some far-right sites have taken it upon themselves to debunk the claim that DHS is “stockpiling” weapons. Brietbart.com described the theories as “based more on panic than fact.”
From : http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/26/1925461/stockpiling-conspiracy-inhofe/

 

Stories From The Fringe – ‘Share this Page: TwitterFacebookEmailPrint Gov. Mike Huckabee calls Southern Poverty Law Center one of the “Biggest Frauds in America”

Mike Huckabee…….

‘Earlier today, General Jerry Boykin,FRC’s Executive Vice President appeared on Mike Huckabee’s radio show to discuss the release of a new video that shows the Southern Poverty Law Center’s link to the terrorist shooting at Family Research Council on August 15’.

In the interview, Governor Huckabee said, “I am going to do everything I can to expose the Southern Poverty Law Center for the fraud that it is…for the complete disingenuous service that it does to this country by falsely and I think just ridiculously naming decent organizations as ‘hate groups.’ They should be held accountable for the manner in which they have created the acrimonious… environment in this country and have done all kinds of things to falsely label people and get them targeted. People need to know that this is not some benign organization.”
From : http://frcblog.com/2013/04/gov-mike-huckabee-calls-southern-poverty-law-center-one-biggest-frauds-america/

 

What is wrong with the Republican Party – ‘Luntz Pulls Plug on Scholarship After Comments Were Taped’

“Call me naive, but I thought it was possible to have an open, honest conversation about American politics and not make it a national conversation, which is what it has has become,” Luntz said’.
@ : http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/04/student-leaks-off-the-record-luntz-comments

So on the one hand, Frank Luntz wants an ‘open and honest conversation’ but on the other hand he wants to control who can listen.

Oh and nice touch Frank. Pulling your Father’s scholarship.

That’s the lesson everyone will take away.

Do what I say or I’ll take my money.

‘After his comments critical of Rush Limbaugh were secretly taped by a University of Pennsylvania student, GOP strategist Frank Luntz told the Daily Pennsylvanian that “he would never return to speak after this incident, and would discourage others from speaking here.”

‘Said Luntz: “I can’t imagine a speaker coming to Penn and being so open. I can’t imagine a speaker coming to Penn and being so candid. Frankly, I think it’ll have a chilling effect on whether speakers do or don’t come. I wish it didn’t.”

‘He also added that he would not renew a scholarship in his father’s name for students to travel to Washington, D.C’.
From : http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/04/27/luntz_pulls_plug_on_scholarship_after_comments_were_taped.html

What is wrong with the Republican Party – ‘Michigan GOP Would Rather End Food Assistance For 200K People Than Raise Taxes On The 1%’

‘Kathleen Gray from the Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan’s Republican-led House Appropriations subcommittee passed a budget that would require drastic cuts for an already eviscerated Department of Human Services’.

‘The proposed budget would have cut 1,000 DHS jobs, made 211,496 people ineligible for food assistance, cut $546,000 in disability assistance, and snatched $15 million from the foster care program — meaning 550 children would be forced to return to dangerous family situations’.

‘Fortunately, Michigan’s more level-headed Senate unanimously passed the far more reasonable budget advocated by Governor Rick Snyder — also a Republican. Although Snyder’s budget provides 269 fewer caseworkers than requested, it’ll leave current programs mostly intact’.
From : http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/27/michigan-gop-cuts-food-200k-taxes/

 

’12 Programs Congress Refuses To Save From Automatic Spending Cuts’

But the GREAT news is that the FAA can take money from future airport improvements such as updating runways so that there won’t be flight delays.

1. Long-term unemployment: There are 4.7 million Americans who have been unemployed for longer than six months, but sequestration cut federal long-term unemployment insurance checks by up to 10.7 percent, costing recipients as much as $450 over the rest of the year.

2. Head Start: As states have cut bus transportation services and started conducting lotteries to determine which kids would no longer have access to the program, 70,000 children will lose access to Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

3. Cancer treatment: Budget cuts have forced doctors and cancer clinics to deny chemotherapy treatments to thousands of cancer patients thanks to a 2 percent cut to Medicare. One clinic in New York has refused to see more than 5,000 of its Medicare patients, and many cancer patients have had to travel to other states to receive their treatments, an option that obviously isn’t available to lower-income people.

4. Health research: The National Institutes of Health lost $1.6 billion thanks to sequestration, jeopardizing important health research into AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. That won’t just impact research and the people who do it, though. It will also hurt the economy, costing the U.S. $860 billion in lost economic growth and at least 500,000 jobs.

5. Low-income housing: 140,000 low-income families — primarily seniors with disabilities and families with children — will lose rental assistance thanks to sequestration’s budget cuts.

6. Student aid: Sequestration is already raising fees on Direct student loans, increasing costs for students who are already buried in debt.

7. Meals On Wheels: Local Meals on Wheels programs, which help low-income and disabled seniors access food, have faced hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts, costing tens of thousands of seniors access to the program. Many of those seniors have little access to food without the program, but Congress has made no effort to replace the funding.

8. Disaster relief: The Federal Emergency Management Administration will lose nearly $1 billion in funding thanks to sequestration, jeopardizing aid for families, cities, and states right as the spring storm season begins. The aid package Congress passed for Hurricane Sandy relief will also see more than $1 billion in reductions.

9. Heating assistance: The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps nearly 9 million households afford their heating and cooling bills. Sequestration will cut the program by an estimated $180 million, meaning about 400,000 households will no longer receive aid.

10. Workplace safety: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has long suffered from a lack of funds, which means its staff is so stretched that many workplaces go without an inspection for 99 years. The fertilizer plant that exploded in West, Texas, for example, hadn’t had a visit from OSHA since 1985. That will get worse, as sequestration will cut the agency’s budget by $564.8 million, likely leading to 1,200 fewer workplace inspections.

11. Obamacare: Sequestration cuts a number of important programs in the Affordable Care Act: $13 million from the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program, or CO-OPs; $57 million from the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control program; $51 million from the Prevention and Public Health Fund; $27 million from the State Grants and Demonstrations program; and $44 million from the Affordable Insurance Exchange Grants program, or the insurance exchanges.

12. Child care: Child care costs can exceed rent payments or college tuition and waiting lists for getting assistance are already long. Yet sequestration will reduce funds even further, meaning that 30,000 children will lose subsidies for care. For example, Arizona will experience a $3 million cut to funding that will force 1,000 out of care.
From : http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/04/26/1927581/12-programs-congress-refuses-to-save-from-automatic-spending-cuts/?mobile=nc