Newt just had his "Dean scream" moment and is too stupid to realize it

So, John King gives Newt the chance to give his side of the story after another network dropped a bombshell -- that was a GIFT to Newt. Newt could have taken the opportunity to answer the charges in a dignified way and move on. Instead, Newt acted like an ass. And the SC Republicans loved him for it. Says something, eh?

Also: Once the bravado of the moment passes, Newt will find that he has given a week or more to what could have been a one-day story about his second divorce. Tactically, he screwed up in order to satisfy his ego and vent. That stuff may play well with South Carolina Republicans. Independents, however, will remember it as a tantrum. What an idiot.

Re: Newt - What I say when a Republican says: "But BILL CLINTON (insert infidelity comment here)"

My response:

"Bill Clinton is not Jesus Christ. Bill Clinton has no power to wash away the sins of the Republicans. Newt owns his own behavior no matter what Bill Clinton did or did not do."

The Case Against Liberal Despair (Daily Beast)

Children are our future? Michigan Dems act like they really believe that (Free college tuition)

You're Fired!

GOP World: New state (of Michigan) tax rules good for business -- Some residents will pay more

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican lawmakers pushed through a series of far-reaching tax changes in 2011 that will hand businesses drastically lower tax bills while raising the amounts low-income workers and retirees will pay as new laws take effect.

Many companies will see significantly lower tax bills or pay no business taxes at all in 2012, thanks to a switch from the Michigan Business Tax to a new 6 percent corporate income tax that kicks in Sunday and falls mostly on large corporations with shareholders. Businesses can expect to pay $1.1 billion less in taxes this year and $1.7 billion less in 2013, according to estimates. Two-thirds of companies will pay no state income tax at all.

If the changes work as Snyder hopes they do, they could balance the tax burden more fairly between younger workers and retirees while helping to create jobs and push down Michigan's stubbornly high unemployment rate that in November finally dipped below double digits for the first time in three years.

Some worry the tax changes may simply take money from public education and state programs that $2 billion in annual business taxes paid for in the past, a move critics say could leave students with fewer educational opportunities and force cuts to everything from prisons to food and hospital inspections.

Full story here: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120102/NEWS04/201020321/New-state-tax-rules-good-business

2008 Iowa Caucus Victory Speech: Promises Kept

Column: Drug testing welfare recipients would ‘solve’ a nonexistent problem

Determined to keep Michigan on the frontlines of the nation’s divisive, unnecessary culture wars, Republicans in the state government have found another way to single out a group unpopular with their base. Fresh off their success in banning domestic partnership benefits for public employees – a move seen as a victory against the “gay agenda” – they’re now focusing on welfare recipients.

House Bill 5223, introduced last month by Rep. Jeff Farrington, R-Utica, would require applicants for cash assistance to pass a drug test. Those who failed or refused the tests would be deemed automatically ineligible. Those who passed could receive welfare payments if they met all of the other requirements, but the cost of the tests would be deducted from any benefits received.

A similar plan is under consideration by the Michigan Department of Human Services. In that case, actual tests would be administered only to those who failed a “screening” process of some kind.

The ostensible reason for either policy is that we would save money. The thinking goes like this: Because everybody knows welfare recipients are heavy drug users, widespread screening would be a good way to reduce the number of people on assistance. Such a plan also would, in theory, provide a powerful incentive for those on the dole to get clean and stay that way, enhancing their employment prospects.

More here: http://www.northstarwriters.com/2012/01/04/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-would-%E2%80%98solve%E2%80%99-a-nonexistent-problem/

Powerful video: Quite Desperation in Oakland County, Mich.

Long one of the wealthiest large counties in America, Oakland County is not immune to the great recession. At first glance, it may be hard to tell. But look closer and see the stories of people in need and those who are working to address the problem.

Free Press Editorial Cartoonist Mike Thompson has spent the past six months talking to Oakland County residents whose lives have been upended by Michigan's struggling economy. Over the next week, he'll share glimpses of the despair behind Oakland's facade of economic normalcy. All animation, art, video and photography by Mike Thompson. Music by Loopmasters.com. Total run time 9:45.

Video here: http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/BLOG2401/399990086/Mike-Thompson-Oakland-Co-desperation?odyssey=mod|dnmiss|umbrella|3

Column: Jamie Dimon should relax; nobody wants to take his stuff away

Jamie Dimon wants you to know that he’s not a bad guy and wishes people would stop picking on him and people like him.

Speaking at an investors’ conference in New York recently, Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said: “Acting like everyone who’s been successful is bad and because you’re rich you’re bad, I don’t understand it. Sometimes there’s a bad apple, yet we denigrate the whole.”You’re right, Mr. Dimon, you don’t understand it. If you really think the rise of Occupy Wall Street and the rest of the “99 percent movement” is about demonizing individuals or denigrating the notion of success, then you really are missing the point.

The angst we see in the country today isn’t so much about “hatin’ the playas,” it’s about “hatin’ the game.” By “game,” I don’t mean capitalism, but the way capitalism has been used in recent years to further enrich people who were already wealthy, while the incomes of those in the middle class have stagnated or declined in real (after-inflation) terms. We see that not only in the Occupy movement, but in the Tea Party as well.

One does not have to be a Maoist, a follower of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un or some other kind or extreme egalitarian to be concerned about the rapidly growing income and wealth inequality in the United States. For a lot of people, there is a sense that the 2008 banking crisis was just a symptom of a bigger disease – some kind of cancer eating away at the ability of folks like them to get ahead and feel confident about their financial futures. They don’t want to seize the riches of the top 1 percent. They just want to be able to earn enough at work to provide a little comfort and security for their families – and maybe buy a new car every few years or take a trip to Disney World.

More here: http://www.northstarwriters.com/2011/12/21/jamie-dimon-should-relax-nobody-wants-to-take-his-stuff-away/#more-9530