Sunday, December 14, 2014

When tornadoes don't strike, like they're supposed to

You've heard it before: our temperature increases, and it results in more extreme weather.  The IPCC has been talking about this for... forever. In 2007, NASA told us that Global Warming would bring about more tornadoes.
ThinkProgress dumbly echoed this last year.
(Sidenote; I'm being redundant when I say that ThinkProgress dumbly did anything.)

Of course, the AGW crowd has also been talking about 50 million people being displaced by 2011 as a result of global warming, and that never happened either.

With all of that in mind, USAToday just told us that the last 3 years have had the lowest amount of tornadoes on record.
The U.S. experienced fewer tornadoes in the past three years than any similar span since accurate records began in the 1950s. Yet meteorologists aren't sure exactly why.

Neat.
Once again, the AGW scientists confidently predict doom and gloom... but when it doesn't happen.  Well. Its most likely because of....

Friday, October 24, 2014

When did Ebola become something less than highly infectious?

Ebola used to be the worst of the worst.  It was the disease that you didn't want to get, because of its high infection rate and the horrible, you know, death.

This is what the CDC said about Ebola in January of 2014:
After an international investigation team arrived in May 1995 and worked with Kikwit medical community to introduce VHF isolation precautions as well as standard precautions, no further nosocomial transmission of the virus was documented, indicating that although Ebola HF is highly infectious, the use of these measures is effective in preventing the spread of disease.

Sounds prettty dangerous, right?
I mean, Ebola was the thing that they based a lot of those movies on... where people would just start dying en masse.
Now?  Well, now, anyone who is worried, is a conspiracy theorist.

"Calibration Error" on touch screens makes you vote for Democrat candidates

I know a little bit about touch screens, and how you need to calibrate them.  However... it takes a massive calibration error for this to happen:
“I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,” Moynihan said. “You could imagine my surprise as the same thing happened with a number of races when I tried to vote for a Republican and the machine registered a vote for a Democrat.”

The people who program the machines purposefully put the two a mile or so apart, so that calibration errors of the touch screen won't do this.  So in order for this to happen, you'd either need the most incompetent person in the world doing the calibrating...
...or you'd need a completely crooked person.

Since this is Illinois, I'm going for the second category.

Where did all of that NIH funding go?

I love it when a politician makes a dumb claim, and then someone researches the crap out of it to prove them wrong.

For instance...

The absurd claim that only Republicans are to blame for cuts to Ebola research

What did Fact Check say about it?
 For NIH (see page 11), since 2006, there has been relatively little change in the size of the budget, going from about $28.5 billion in 2006 to $30.14 billion in 2014. That’s a slight increase, but in real terms that’s a cut given the impact of inflation

So where did NIH funding go?
For instance, the agency has spent $2,873,440 trying to figure out why lesbians are obese, and $466,642 on why fat girls have a tough time getting dates. Another $2,075,611 was spent encouraging old people to join choirs.
Neat.
Congratulations to the Washington Free Beacon, and Elizabeth Harrington in particular, for good research!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Anti gun state senator arrested. Guess what cops find on her?

Suppose you were Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed; and you were well known for your anti-gun position. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if you were arrested while protesting in Ferguson, and it was exposed that you had a gun a 9mm handgun on you at the time?

Monday, October 20, 2014

That moment when you forget that Greg Abbott's wife is...

Wendy Davis' campaign, in some form of hail mary desperation, wrote:
Now I know what you're thinking. Why wouldn't Greg Abbott clear up how he feels about interracial marriage? Well... maybe you could ask his wife. She's Hispanic.

Why didn't Raymond Damadian win a Nobel Prize?

Who is Raymond Damadian?  Well, if you've ever had an MRI, you can thank Raymond Damadian. He's one of the people who came up with the ideas behind it.

The chief thing that he contributed to the history of the MRI was the idea that the hydrogen in water, which is very prevalent in cancer cells, reacts differently to magnetic resonance.
(Don't understand what magnetic resonance is? Awesome.  Most people wouldn't/don't.  You can go here for a primer. Its an online version of a book sponsored by a European MRI group.)

 The realization that cancer would react differently to magnetic resonance gave life to a lot of different ideas that led to the modern MRI.
So much so, that Raymond himself created one of the first machines:
Nonetheless, Field Focusing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (FONAR) was the method used when he captured headlines in 1977, publishing the first image of a chest cavity of a live man. Initially, he had volunteered his own body for the job—without success. His associates told him he was too fat, recalls Dr Damadian. Indeed, “Indomitable”, which is what he called his machine, preferred Dr Minkoff's skinny torso. On July 3rd 1977, after four hours and 45 minutes of collecting data from 106 points, a picture was created.

So with that in mind, you'd think that Raymond would get a good portion of the credit by the Nobel committee.
You'd be wrong.

No I'm not religious.  I'm not even close to religious. But Raymond is... and he's a creationist. Which might explain why the Nobel committee snubbed him.  Even though his contribution to MRI was so important that GE had to pay him $130 million for patent infringements, along with a host of other companies paying him undisclosed sums.

The Nobel committee should be ashamed.

More voter fraud that is definitely not happening...

From the Arizona Daily Independent:
LaFaro recounts that between 12:54 p.m. and 1:04 p.m., he heard a loud thud and turned to see what was going on. “A person wearing a Citizens for a Better Arizona (CBA) t-shirt dropped a large box of hundreds of early ballots on the table and started stuffing the ballot box as I watched in amazement.”

Go read the entire article.  Its kinda amazing.  Or just watch this video, provided by the Daily Independent:


Thursday, August 07, 2014

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin doesn't know that Africa is a nation

Oh.  Wait.  Did I say Sarah Palin?


I meant the guy who won the vice presidency.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

That time when 1/3rd of the public said that Obama should be impeached

Keep in mind, only 24% of the people polled were Republicans...

Based on what you have read or heard, do you believe that President Obama should be impeached and removed from office, or don't you feel that way?
Should be impeached-----33%
Don't feel that way--------65%
No opinion-----------------1%

Some of the takeaways...
Age is almost a non factor in this poll.  The difference in age demographics is around 5%
Those who attended college don't want him impeached by a 11% margin.
Among "independents", 35% want to see him impeached.
Only 13% of liberals want impeachment.
Urban, 25%.  Rural, 43%.
41% white, 17% non-white.

Now what's really annoying is when CNN asks about impeachment later in the story.
This seems to be a "push poll": a poll designed to give an opinion about the reasons for impeachment:
Question 41- In general, do you think Congress should attempt to impeach a President in order to express dissatisfaction with his policies or the way the president is handling his job, or do you think Congress should attempt impeachment only if there is evidence that the president has committed a very serious crime such as treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors?
No one is trying to impeach the president for his policies.  They are, however, arguing that the president is going beyond his presidential powers.
From conservative media outlets to the campaign trail to book stores, chatter about impeaching Obama and members of his administration has heated up in recent weeks. It’s fueled by conservative anger over the president’s increasing use of executive actions on issues such as immigration and air pollution regulations, the exchange of Taliban detainees for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal, and the familiar issue of the Affordable Care Act.

Which means that the question within the poll is bunk.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/02/232163/time-to-impeach-obama.html#storylink=cpy

Saturday, July 26, 2014

That awkward moment when the architect of the ACA stated the intent

(Start watching this at around 31m, 30 seconds) 
 Jonathan Gruber is one of those people who thinks he's smarter than he actually is.
He clearly believes that you don't know what's right for you.  But he does.

The problem with all of this is that he was one of the architects of the ACA.  And as such, he's talking about the intention of creating the exchanges. Its clear what that is:
What’s important to remember politically about this is if you're a state and you don’t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don't get their tax credits—but your citizens still pay the taxes that support this bill. So you’re essentially saying [to] your citizens you’re going to pay all the taxes to help all the other states in the country. I hope that that's a blatant enough political reality that states will get their act together and realize there are billions of dollars at stake here in setting up these exchanges.
How much more explicit can you get that this wasn't a "typo", but that the law was trying to extort states into going along?

Imagine this.  Imagine that you were going to buy a car from someone.  They tell you that if you don't buy it, you'll get a penalty. Later, when a court challenges them, they call it a tax.  They explain that they 'misspoke'.
Okay.
At the same time you bought the car, the salesperson tells you that you're eligible for a dealer exchange... where you get money from the dealer for your car.  Again, its bought to the court, and you find out that the dealership never went along with the "dealer exchange" deal.  The dealer tells the court that it was a car manufacturer exchange... not a dealer exchange. He says it was a typo.
But then you find the person who created the plan calling it a dealer exchange.

Would you start to disbelieve everything that the salesperson says?

I would.  But hey, that's just me.  I'm an actual intelligent person.  I'm not Mr. Gruber.

So you might wonder what Gruber is saying about all of this now?
In order to understand this, you have to go to the alternate-world-reality of The New Republic, where Gruber told them:
I honestly don’t remember why I said that. I was speaking off-the-cuff. It was just a mistake. People make mistakes. Congress made a mistake drafting the law and I made a mistake talking about it.
I'm going to cut Gruber off there, because like a witness who painstakingly lets you in on their motivation, he's just stated it outright:
He made a mistake by talking about it.
Not that he was wrong.  But that he made a mistake by saying it out loud.
Which leads us to more Orwellian-speak:
My subsequent statement was just a speak-oyou know, like a typo.
Here's the thing about when people say something that doesn't make sense to them, accidentally: they don't go on and on about it.
Gruber was explicit in the intent.

Which means, that if the Supreme Court wants to actually interpret intent, they have to listen to what McGruber (sorry, had to do it) said. Because the best way to determine intent is to listen to someone's... you know... intentions.
Or, the Supreme Court can just pay attention to the letter of the law, and skip all of that.

Either way, the intent was clear; to extort states into setting up exchanges.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

That time when 61% of fake names were approved for subsidies by the ACA

I've said it before:
The best part of our government is the GAO... the general accounting office.

In a sting, they decided to see how many times they could put fake names past the uber-sophisticated ACA, and see if they could qualify for subsidies.
Guess how many were approved of the 18?
11.
Which is about a 61% success rate in creating fake names.

Wow.

Before the ACA was passed, a few of us (I'M POINTING TO MYSELF RIGHT NOW) suggested that it would be the greatest opportunity for fraud ever created.
Heck, I even wrote the premise for a novel based on that very idea.

But its already happening.  I'd love to know how many insurance companies are creating their own fake people just to do this?

Here's my favorite pull quote from the article:

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office says its undercover investigators were able to get subsidized health care under fake names in 11 out of 18 attempts. The GAO is still paying premiums for the policies, even as the Obama administration attempts to verify phony documentation.

The defense of the government is that you still need an insurance company, so how on earth could you defraud the government in such a way?

As if its hard to imagine how to do that.


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Barack Obama, television appearances, updated

Recently, the president said that he hates Photo-ops. This, from the man who had a giant image of himself hanging in his campaign headquarters in 2008.

 I've previously referred to the president as a celebredent, and said that he'll make a great game show host someday. But let's take this challenge. How many times has the president deliberately put himself into the limelight?

Luckily, IMDB helps us track that.
I tried to eliminate any appearances where the president is simply in a clip or a documentary about him.

2008-2014 Good Morning America (TV Series) Himself
- Episode dated 27 June 2014 (2014) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- Obama to Tennessee GOP: Lay Off My Wife (2008) ... Himself

2006-2014 Face the Nation (TV Series) Himself
- Episode dated 22 June 2014 (2014) ... Himself
- Episode dated 12 March 2006 (2006) ... Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)

2014 Fox News Sunday (TV Series)
Himself - Power Player of the Week
- Episode dated 8 June 2014 (2014) ... Himself - Power Player of the Week (as President Barack Obama)

2014 Live with Kelly and Michael (TV Series)
Himself
- President Barack Obama (2014) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)

2007-2014 60 Minutes (TV Series documentary)
- President Obama & Secretary Clinton/The Fall of Lance Armstrong (2013) ... Himself
- President (segment "President Obama & Secretary Clinton")
- Campaign 2012 (2012) ... Himself - President
- President Obama/Howard Buffett (2011) ... Himself (segment "President Obama")
- Killing Bin Laden: The President's Story (2011) ... Himself
- President Obama/Pacman (2010) ... Himself (segment "President Obama")
- President Obama/Growing Body Parts/Ricky Gervais (2009) ... Himself (segment "President Obama")
- President Obama/Big Teddy/Guiding Light (2009) ... Himself (segment "President Obama")
- Vice President Biden/Powered by Coal/The Orphanage (2009) ... Himself - President (segment "Vice President Biden")
- President Obama/Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez (2009) ... Himself (segment "President Obama")
- The Road to the White House (2008) ... Himself - President Elect
- The 44th President (2008) ... Himself - President Elect (segment "The 44th President")
- The Candidates: McCain/The Candidates: Obama (2008) ... Himself - Senator, Illinois (segment "The Candidates: Obama")
- Obama Biden '08/Bombing Afghanistan/Awakening (2008) ... Himself - Senator, Illinois (segment "Obama Biden '08")
- Ohio/Lifeline/The Pentagon's Ray Gun (2008) ... Himself - Senator, Illinois (segment "Ohio")
- Obama '08/Hillary for President/Should We Make Cents? (2008) ... Himself - Senator, Illinois (segment "Obama '08")
- Barack Obama/The Death of Timothy Sounders/Norah Jones (2007) ... Himself - Senator, Illinois (segment "Barack Obama")

2014 Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis (TV Series)
Himself - Obama (2014) ... Himself

2008-2014 The O'Reilly Factor (TV Series)
Himself
- Episode dated 3 February 2014 (2014) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- Episode dated 9 September 2008 (2008) ... Himself
- Episode dated 8 September 2008 (2008) ... Himself
- Episode dated 4 September 2008 (2008) ... Himself

2013 Steve Harvey (TV Series)
Himself
- Steve Talks to President Obama! Holiday Homecoming/Ultimate Gift Guide/12 Days of Christmas (2013) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)

2013 World News with Diane Sawyer (TV Series)
Himself - President of the United States of America
- Episode dated 9 September 2013 (2013) ... Himself - President of the United States of America (as President Barack Obama)

2006-2013 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (TV Series)
Himself / Himself - Guest
- Episode #21.196 (2013) ... Himself - Guest (as President Barack Obama)
- Episode #21.23 (2012) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- President Barack Obama/Yo-Yo Ma & Friends (2011) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- Episode #17.50 (2009) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- Episode #15.185 (2007) ... Himself
- Episode #14.219 (2006) ... Himself

2005-2013 Charlie Rose (TV Series)
Himself - Guest / Himself
- Episode dated 17 June 2013 (2013) ... Himself - Guest
- Episode dated 16 July 2012 (2012) ... Himself - Guest
- Episode dated 19 October 2006 (2006) ... Himself - Guest
- Episode dated 25 April 2006 (2006) ... Himself - Guest
- Episode dated 11 January 2005 (2005) ... Himself

2013 Newsround (TV Series)
Himself - US President
- Episode dated 17 June 2013 (2013) ... Himself - US President

2005-2012 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (TV Series)
Himself
- Barack Obama (2012) ... Himself
- Barack Obama (2010) ... Himself
- Barack Obama (2008) ... Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)
- Barack Obama (2008) ... Himself (as Senator Barack Obama)
- Barack Obama (2007) ... Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)
- Barack Obama (2005) ... Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)


2004-2012 Late Show with David Letterman (TV Series)
Himself / Himself - Guest / Himself - Top Ten List Presenter
- Episode #20.14 (2012) ... Himself - Guest
- Episode #17.10 (2009) ... Himself (as President Barack Obama)
- Episode #16.7 (2008) ... Himself - Guest (as Senator Barack Obama)
- Episode #15.107 (2008) ... Himself - Top Ten List Presenter (as Senator Barack Obama)
- Episode #15.51 (2008) ... Himself - Top Ten List Presenter (as Senator Barack Obama)
- Episode dated 9 April 2007 (2007) ... Himself
- Episode dated 26 November 2004 (2004) ... Himself

2012 2012 CMT Music Awards (TV Special)
Himself

2012 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (TV Series)
Himself - Guest
- Episode #4.63 (2012) ... Himself - Guest

2012 26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story (TV Movie documentary)
Himself (voice)

2012 Ali 70 from Las Vegas (TV Movie)
Himself

2012 Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Gir

2007-2012 Today Show
Himself
– Episode dated 13 January 2012 (2012) … Himself (as President Barack Obama)
– Episode dated 2 February 2009 (2009) … Himself
– Episode dated 23 September 2008 (2008) … Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)
– Episode dated 3 January 2008 (2008) … Himself
– Episode dated 28 December 2007 (2007) … Himself

2011 WWE Tribute to the Troops (TV movie)
2007-2011 The Situation Room (TV series)
Himself
– Episode dated 20 August 2011 (2011) … Himself
– Episode dated 1 December 2008 (2008) … Himself
– Episode dated 5 July 2007 (2007) … Himself

2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge Special (TV movie)

2011 Jeopardy! (TV series)
Himself - Video Greeting

2005-2011 The Oprah Winfrey Show (TV series)
Himself
– All New! President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (2011) … Himself (as President Barack Obama)
– Episode dated 18 October 2006 (2006) … Himself
– Episode dated 19 January 2005 (2005) … Himself

2011 All Together Now: A Celebration of Service (TV special)

2011 The 83rd Annual Academy Awards (TV special)

2010 WWE Tribute to the Troops (TV movie)

2010 Christmas in Washington (TV movie)

2010 MythBusters
(TV series documentary)
Himself
– President's Challenge (2010) … Himself

2010 A Conversation with President Obama (TV movie)
2010 Stand Up to Cancer
(TV special)

2007-2010 The View (TV series)
Himself
– Episode dated 29 July 2010 (2010) … Himself
– Episode dated 27 September 2007 (2007) … Himself (as Senator Barack Obama)

2010 The Apprentice (TV series)

2010 The Real World (TV series)
Himself
– From D.C., with Love (2010) … Himself
– White House, Glass House (2010) … Himself

2009-2010 The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (TV series)
Himself
– Episode #1.138 (2010) … Himself
– Episode #1.2 (2009) … Himself

2009 Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special (TV special)

2009 Get Schooled: You Have the Right (TV documentary)
Himself

2009 2009 MLB All-Star Game (TV movie)
2008-2009 The Colbert Report (TV series)
Himself / Himself - Guest
– Episode #5.76 (2009) … Himself - Guest (as President Barack Obama)
– Hillary Clinton/John Edwards/Barack Obama (2008) … Himself (as Senator Barack Obama)

2009 Inside the Obama White House (TV movie)
2009 Sky News: Live at Five
(TV series)

2009 A-studio (TV series)
Himself
– Episode dated 1 April 2009 (2009) … Himself

2006-2008 Meet the Press (TV series)
Himself
– Episode dated 7 December 2008 (2008) … Himself
– Episode dated 27 July 2008 (2008) … Himself (as Sen Barack Obama)
– Episode dated 22 October 2006 (2006) … Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)
– Episode dated 22 January 2006 (2006) … Himself (as Sen. Barack Obama)

2008 The Barbara Walters Summer Special (TV series)
Himself
– Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008 (2008) … Himself
– Barack and Michelle Obama (2008) … Himself

2008 Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer (TV series)

As you can see, clearly, the president is camera shy, and hates photo ops.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Actual cost of health care bill ( Affordable Care Act )

Two things caught my attention recently.

First, this CBO report.  Look at the two lines; how much the NET cost of the bill is, over ten years:

$1,680,000,000,000

Just over $1.5 Trillion.

Now look at the "gross" cost... or minus the tax revenue that's been promised?

$1,165,000,000,000





This means that the actual cost is just over $1 Trillion.
Now I know what you're going to say.  Hey... look at the small print?

Those amounts do not reflect the total budgetary impact of the ACA. That legislation included many other provisions that, on net, will reduce budget deficits. 

As usual, the government is telling us that it really won't cost anything.  Because the bill contains cost cutting measures that in the long run, will offset that $1 trillion.  Right?  For instance, as you know, the government is planning on cutting $711 billion in "waste, fraud, and abuse" from medicare.

So... if that's true, we should see at least a stabilization of Medicare costs.  Yes?
Let's check in and see what the government is planning from 2011-2021:
Medicare spending is estimated to have grown 6.3% in 2011 and projected to grow an average of 6.1% per year over the projection period.

Huh.  That is not a cut.  Which means that Medicare is still going to rise, and there will be no cost savings.  Yes?

So... that was all just bullshit.  Right?

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The best two parts of CPAC

In a close second, Ann Coulter, describing the "War On Women":


And absolutely, at #1, Sarah Palin talking about Gun Control, and mocking Bloomberg, at the same time.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Guess who "re-defined rape"? The DOJ

Here's the way the a democrat would describe it:


Paul Ryan introduced a bill that would redefine rape

I just had someone tell me that. Again.  In fact, this time, they told me that Ryan was trying to restrict women from getting abortions even for rape, incest, and when the mother was in danger.
So I thought I'd attempt to quash this myth for once and for all.

HR 3 was a bill that would allow federal funding for abortions when the mother was in danger, and in cases of rape and incest, but disallow it in all other cases.
I know that sounds exactly the opposite of what was described, above.  But that's what it was.

It wasn't introduced by Paul Ryan, although he was a co-sponsor.  Along with 227 other people.

Latest Title: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Sponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (227)

Wait... 227 other people?
Phew!
Here are the original co-sponsors of the bill.  I've highlighted the names of the women who co-sponsored it:
"Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. AKIN, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BARLETTA, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BONNER, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. BROOKS, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CANSECO, Mr. CARTER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. COLE, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CRAVAACK, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. CRITZ, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Ms. FOXX, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. GOWDY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. HALL, Mr. HARPER, Mr. HARRIS, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HURT, Ms. JENKINS, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. JONES, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. KELLY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. KLINE, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LANDRY, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LATTA, Mr. LEE of New York, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LONG, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. MARINO, Mr. MCCARTHY of California, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. OLSON, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. POSEY, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. RIGELL, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. ROSKAM, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ROSS of Arkansas, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. SCHILLING, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. SHULER, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. STUTZMAN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TURNER, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WOLF, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. BOREN, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. CALVERT, Mrs. ELLMERS, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. TIBERI, and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas)"

So... all of those women wanted to redefine rape?
Well... not quite.
This is the passage that so many democrats point to, as being offensive:

SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF ABORTIONS RELATED TO RAPE, INCEST, OR PRESERVING THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER.

    `The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion--
    `(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest; or
    `(2) in the case where the pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the pregnant female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.
       
WOW. I think its pretty clear now.
Republicans were allowing federal funding in cases of rape, incest, or preserving the life of the mother.
Wait.  What?
That's exactly the opposite as its been described, by many people.

Let's skip past that for a moment... because what really bothers Democrats is that Republicans are trying to "redefine rape."  Right?
Its not like its a legal term that the FBI used all of the time?
Forcible rape, as defined in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.  Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.

The FBI defined "forcible rape."  Yes?  We agree on that?
But wait.  There's more.  A year after the bill, above, was introduced... the DOJ quietly backed away from this definition.  Presumably because they didn't want to get the blame that the Republicans were getting for using the correct terminology.
 “Forcible rape” had been defined by the UCR SRS as “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.”  That definition, unchanged since 1927, was outdated and narrow. It only included forcible male penile penetration of a female vagina.
Now you know the full story, and how it wasn't the Republicans who re-defined rape, but the DOJ.
Not that a democrat will ever tell you that.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Like shit, Voter Fraud Happens

Thank you, Daytona Beach News Journal, for pointing this out.
The best part of this story?
Yet it was the Republican Party of Florida — a proponent of strong anti-fraud laws — that recently reported one of their own voter-registration contractors may have run afoul of state law. According to The Associated Press, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement charged two ex-employees of a GOP-hired firm with third-degree felonies. 
The employees were just a few out of hundreds at Strategic Allied Consulting, a group hired by Republicans to do voter registration drives in Florida and other states. The Florida investigation began when the state GOP fired the company and filed an election fraud complaint with state officials, according to AP. More than 25 voter-registration forms appear to be fraudulent, police said.
Kudos to the GOP for turning them in.
You made me proud.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Cantor copying Obama. Or rather, Obama copies Cantor

Sometimes the left gets something so entirely wrong, that you can't even laugh at how wrong it is.
For instance.. this post by Jason Easley on Politicus USA:

Eric Cantor Rebrands the Republican Party by Plagiarizing a 2011 Obama Speech 

Sounds like a slam dunk, Right? And sure enough, when you read the entry, you're astounded by how much Cantor's speech sounds like Obama's speech.

It makes it clear that Cantor was copying Obama... and as the blogger suggests, trying rebrand the GOP.
Unless, of course, Cantor had made a similiar speech before Obama did.

But that can't be.  Right?  Because then that would suggest that Obama... had copied Cantor???

Which would really be hilarious.
And it is:
Below is a comparison of President Obama’s remarks (as prepared for delivery) and Leader Cantor’s. While their words are similar, their message is very different. Republicans want everyone to have a fair shot at earning their success, but the President is calling for tax increases, government controlled equality of outcomes and sweeping changes that will put Washington in charge of determining opportunity.

Keep in mind, Jason Easley was accusing Cantor of copying Obama's 2011 Kansas speech. But as the blog points out, in 2011, Obama was copying Cantor's material!
Neat trick.
Now someone (pointing to himself) may have tried to correct PoliticusUSA.  They might even have tried to let them know how wrong they were.
And originally, PoliticusUSA let that guy link to Cantor's original statements.
But then two things happened.  Or rather, didn't happen.
Firstly, the blog never corrected itself.  Go figure.  The left never admits that they're wrong, thus allowing themselves to think that they're always right.
Secondly, the blog didn't let this guy post again.  Go figure, again... if you're going to get it that wrong, you don't want someone suggesting that you should fix your post... when you want to spread the lie.
More importantly... you have to protect Obama from criticism.  Especially when you just aimed that exact same criticism at someone else.
I was curious if anyone else had accused Cantor of copying Obama... and lo and behold, the website Smoke And Mirrors provided me with the best pull quote of the week:
Eric Cantor did more than steal the president’s words. Cantor tried to steal the essence, concept, and theme that has been the trademark of Obama’s words and promise on economic equality, rights, and immigration since taking office. Like other transparent and lazy Republicans of his class, Eric Cantor assumes that the voting public will be fooled by sleazy tactics, empty promises, and the same tired policies wrapped in poetic language ripped from a popular progressive president.
We’re smarter than that.
Aren’t we?

No.  No you aren't.  You're really, really dumb.
Because even though I'm pointing out to you, now, that Cantor said it first, I'm willing to bet that you'll never.  Ever.  Ever.  Admit that you were.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Two Chairs

When I was young, I always wondered about people who had to have the biggest chair.  There was something that felt very insecure about it.

So when I heard that then candidate Barack had this on his chair, it struck me as arrogant and insecure at the same time:



What makes someone who is running for President decide that they need a chair that says President?
Keep that thought in mind as you view this image from the White House press office:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Back_of_President_Obama_chair_in_the_Cabinet_Room.jpg

Dude... you're President of the United States.  Did you really think that you needed a plaque on your chair just to make sure that everyone else knew who the fuck you were?
Or was this a history thing that happens to every chair in the White House?
"Okay... we got a new chair for the new president.  Let's put a plaque on it with the inaugeration date.  Ugh."

However you look at it, it feels... desperate.  Insecure & arrogant at the same time.
Hey, this is my fucking chair.  I'm the president.  Get it?

Maddow: Obama's deficit reduction is solid???

From Real Clear Politics.... you need to watch the video:

It is completely delusional.

I debunked the idea that Republicans were responsible for the FY 2009 spending here, and you can read all about it.  But the important take away is that FY 2009 didn't actually have a budget.  Why?  Because the left wanted to wait until a president who was more friendly to spending came into office.
That man's name was Barack Obama... and Reid was so glad:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said before passage that he was “very” surprised at how long it took lawmakers to reach agreement on the legislation. He said the bill will provide needed funding increases for federal agencies that saw too many lean budgets during former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Go figure... Democrats get into office and add $400 billion in spending.  This isn't the stimulus, btw.  It was just $400 billion in spending that they tacked onto the original spending.
So Democrats, and Barack, are responsible for FY 2009.

But wait, you say, spending did decrease since FY 2009.
Let me show you this chart that explains it all:
Year----Revenue--Spending--Difference
2000---2,025.2----1,789.0----88.34%
2001---1,991.1----1,862.9----93.56%
2002---1,853.1----2,010.9----108.52%
2003---1,782.3----2,159.9----121.19%
2004---1,880.1----2,292.9----121.96%
2005---2,153.6----2,472.0----114.78%
2006---2,406.9----2,655.1----110.31%
2007---2,568.0----2,728.7----106.26%
2008---2,524.0----2,982.5----118.17%
2009---2,105.0----3,517.7----167.11%
2010---2,162.7----3,456.2----159.81%
2011----2303.5----3603.1----156.42%
Source

What did you notice?
If you're like me, you noticed that revenue dropped from FY 2000 to FY 2003.  But then it went up.
Which seems counter-intuitive, since there were tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.  How do tax cuts result in an increase in revenue?  Ask any supply sider, and they'll explain.
Secondly, note when the difference between revenue and spending really skyrockets.  It starts rising in 2008 (after Democrats take over congresss), but just takes off like a bullet in FY 2009.

Go figure... right?
Now yes... its dipped a little since then.  But...
It was supposed to.  TARP and the stimulus were both supposed to be one time expenses.  So in theory, after FY 2009, the difference between revenue and spending should have gone back to FY 2008 levels.  Yes?
But we spent MORE - even though the stimulus and TARP were not included - in FY 2011, then in FY 2009.  How the fuck did that happen?
Ergo, to say that Obama decreased the deficit is true only if you forget that FY 2009 had a huge amount of additional spending in it... and that FY 2010 did also.  It also requires you to forget that TARP was mostly paid back.  Soooo where did that money go?  Shouldn't the difference go down significantly?