August 30, 2014

KEEPING Their Voters STUPID Keeps Republicans ELECTED

~snip~

Last year in Kansas a judge ruled that Governor Sam Brownback’s Draconian cuts to public education were unconstitutional; particularly because the lack of funding was due to using taxpayer dollars to fund unsustainable tax cuts for the rich. Brownback, like all Republicans, desperately needs an ignorant and uneducated citizenry who regularly fall for the insane notion that taking money from the people to enrich corporations and the wealthy is key to an economic Utopia. It is noteworthy that the storied “trickle down” theory has existed for about a generation, and the people that were denied a decent education then ignorantly support Brownback’s economic lunacy that has the state suffering three recent credit downgrades and flirting with bankruptcy in the very near future. It is even likely that people suffering the drastic social program cuts enacted by Republicans will vote for Brownback because they are too stupid to understand they are voting against their own survival. Another Republican state, Louisiana, is fighting federal and state court lawsuits due to Governor Bobby Jindal’s unconstitutional scheme of stealing from public schools to fund private religious institutions. Jindal, like all Republicans, depends on uneducated voters to support policies against their own self-interests such as rejecting free Medicaid expansion funding, giving free rein to dirty energy industry to foul Louisiana’s air and water, and cut social programs ignorant and uneducated citizens require to survive.



The common theme in keeping their citizens ignorant and uninformed is pandering to voters’ irrational fears. It is why Republicans’ claim Democrats are subverting their religious freedom, taking god out of schools, coming for their guns, and imposing Marxism, Socialism, or communism on the people. If any American does not believe how ignorance borne of an uneducated populace drives opposition to policies that help Americans, take heed of the number of times Republican and teabagger voters bemoan President Obama’s Marxist or socialist policies revealing they have no idea what Marxist or socialist policies entail. If one wants to end a debate, or conversation with a conservative parroting Republican talking points, ask them when the government came for their guns, what Marxism or socialism is, how their religious liberty, was subverted, or how President Obama is shredding the Constitution; a document they have never read, much less understand at even a rudimentary level.



It is beyond refute that if the citizens of this country were informed and educated, Republicans would be hard-pressed to get elected as dog-catchers, much less legislators. The assault on public education goes beyond Republican-controlled states as evidenced by congressional Republicans regularly cutting education funding. They, Republicans, know that if the public were educated, they could not demean science as the work of the devil, or claim contraception is abortion, or push the Christian bible as true science. There is a reason so many morons in the conservative movement are certain that god created America, wrote the Constitution, established America’s borders, and installed Christianity as the state religion, and it is simply due to their inability to pick up a history book or the founding document to check Republican claims for veracity.



Americans are not unintelligent, but a fair proportion of them are dirt stupid; it is the only reason a Republican ever gets elected. What Republicans are doing in the states to education is to maintain an ignorant, superstitious, and uninformed voting bloc as well as prepare the next generation to regularly vote against their own best interests. They will continue using any means to destroy public education because they know, as Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said, the only “true corrective of abuses of power is to see to it that a suitable education be provided for all its citizens.” It is a corrective that Republicans are waging a fierce battle against because their electoral survival depends on keeping their supporters uneducated, uninformed, and frankly, stupid from religion.






cont'


http://www.politicususa.com/2014/08/30/keeping-base-stupid-republicans-elected.html

August 29, 2014

Kentucky Press Examines Just HOW COZY McConnell Is With The KOCHS

The audio tape release of Mitch McConnell cozying up to the Kochs is raising some eyebrows back home in Kentucky. Particularly that part where he tells the billionaires gathered at the Koch retreat that the "the worst day of my political life" was when the campaign spending limits in McCain-Feingold passed. So the Courier-Journal decided to take a look at the financial relationship between McConnell and the Kochs.





All the immediate family members of the Kochs have donated the maximum limits to McConnell, along with the PAC contributions, which the McConnell PAC can use for some travel and consultants and staff. As of yet, the Kochs and their Americans for Prosperity haven't directed any of their millions into television ads in Kentucky. But the Koch/McConnell connection in the state runs deep. The state director for the Koch's AFP is one Julie Crigler, who just happens to be married to Chase Crigler, Northern Kentucky field representative for McConnell. It's all just one big happy family.


Remember when Republicans said that the Koch brothers were just too obscure for the people back home to care about, and how it was a losing political issue for Harry Reid and the Democrats? Seems like the local media in Kentucky, at least, disagrees.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/29/1325634/-Kentucky-press-examines-just-how-cozy-McConnell-is-with-the-nbsp-Kochs

August 29, 2014

St. Paul Police VIOLENTLY ARREST A Black Man For Sitting On Bench

From the Twin Cities Daily Planet:






More transcription from the video and the Twin Cities Daily Planet:




The outrageous incident actually happened in January, but police kept the confiscated phone for six months. All charges against Chris Lollie, the man in the video, were eventually dropped:







http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/28/1325409/-St-Paul-police-violently-arrest-a-black-man-for-sitting-on-bench-waiting-for-his-children-VIDEO

August 28, 2014

HEY, Who Do You Think You Are?!

August 28, 2014

Mitch McConnell RUNS AWAY FROM REPORTERS After Leak Of Secret Speech To the KOCHS

RUUUUUUUUUNNNN MITCH RUUUUUUUUUUNNN!....................



Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been caught on video literally running away from reporters after audio of a secret speech that he gave to the Koch brothers was leaked.


In the leaked audio, McConnell admitted that the Kochs run the Republican Party, and that he will be carrying out their agenda if Republicans win the majority in the Senate. The leak of the secret speech combined with McConnell’s promise to shut down the government if Obama doesn’t do what he wants has led to McConnell literally running away from the media. In an interview eight days ago, McConnell threatened government shutdowns. The backlash caused by his annoucement of his strategy caused him to change his tune during an interview with CNN, “I’m the guy that’s gotten us out of the shutdowns that some of our members have pushed us into in the past. That does not mean that you should send the president a total blank check with no restrictions at all on how the money is spent.”



If McConnell won’t shut down the government, he has no leverage. For this reason alone, it is likely that McConnell was lying to CNN in order to save his own hide. The leak of the audio from the secret Koch summit poses a gigantic problem for a thirty-year incumbent who is already viewed as being too close to Washington. Sen. McConnell is running away from reporters because he was caught red-handed. He can claim that the things he said on the tape are nothing new, but to hear him expressing his need for the Koch brothers in a way that he hasn’t done for Kentucky voters is a damning indictment of McConnell’s priorities.




cont'


http://www.politicususa.com/2014/08/28/mitch-mcconnell-runs-reporters-leak-secret-speech-kochs.html

August 28, 2014

Investigators SEEK Phone Records Of CHRISTIE'S AID

TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK......................





HACKENSACK, N.J.—Lawmakers investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closings are going after the telephone records of a top aide of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, employing a new tactic in an apparent challenge to the aide's earlier sworn testimony. Dozens of subpoenas issued by the state legislative panel thus far have been directed at current or former government employees or offices, ordering them to go through their own files and produce documents related to the scandal. But the latest demand for records, issued on Monday, was sent to the telecommunications company AT&T, requesting a month of phone data — including text messages — sent or received by a Christie staffer who previously testified that she had erased a communication sent to the governor at a crucial time during the unfolding scandal.



AT&T's response to the subpoena is likely to test the legislative panel's legal authority to obtain otherwise private text messages from a third-party telecommunications company. Such information, when sought by law enforcement, sometimes requires a search warrant. AT&T representatives did not respond to a message left at their National Subpoena Compliance Center in Florida asking if they would comply with the demand for a month of text messages sent by Regina Egea, chief of Christie's authorities unit. Asked about any potential legal concerns, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the panel's Democratic co-chairman, said, "We have been guided by our counsel who advised us this was an appropriate way to seek information."



The subpoena requests all Egea's incoming and outgoing calls and text messages for December 2013. On Dec. 9, Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye and two agency employees who manage the bridge testified that a Christie loyalist at the agency had ordered the lane closings. Egea told lawmakers during her hearing in July that she recalled sending Christie a text while watching the December testimony and commenting on how "professional" the Port Authority employees seemed, but she said she believed it had been erased. The governor has said he doesn't recall the text message.






cont'

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/investigators-seek-phone-records-christies

August 28, 2014

Kentucky Challenger: ‘Mitch McConnell Revealed His TRUE QUEST FOR POWER’

McConnell serves the Koch's agenda well.............Kentuckians are on their own!......




When the political mercenaries of American oligarchy jet off to consort with their electoral paymasters, they never imagine that the interactions will have consequences with constituents. The meetings are conducted in secret, the commitments that are made are never supposed to be revealed. But, as Mitt Romney learned during the 2012 campaign, this is a new political era – when the old backroom banter about abandoning “the 47 percent” can go public and become the rallying cry for an opponent. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was learning that Wednesday, as revelations about the top Republican's pledges to serve the agenda of the billionaire Koch Brothers came back to haunt him on the campaign trail in Kentucky. Within hours after the revelation of McConnell promising a room full of millionaires and billionaires that he would block minimum-wage increases, the extension of unemployment benefits and student-loan debt relief, his Democratic challenger was signaling that the senator would be held to account at home. The campaign of Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, whose populist run has made McConnell’s reelection race a polling “toss up,” declared that:




The political fallout came amid widespread circulation of a tape of promises McConnell made to a California gathering of wealthy donors organized by Charles and David Koch. The audio tape, which was obtained by The Nation and The Undercurrent, has been big news in Kentucky, where radio and television stations have aired the tape and newspapers featured headlines that included:




The tape features McConnell announcing that: “in the House and Senate, we own the budget. So what does that mean? That means that we can pass the spending bill. And I assure you that in the spending bill, we will be pushing back against this bureaucracy by doing what’s called placing riders in the bill. No money can be spent to do this or to do that. We’re going to go after them on healthcare, on financial services, on the Environmental Protection Agency, across the board... All across the federal government, we’re going to go after it.” In his remarks, McConnell griped about limits on campaign spending, hailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and encouraged his audience of millionaires and billionaires “to give to Americans for Prosperity” – the Koch-fueled political operation that has become a primary vehicle for aiding McConnell in his quest to become Senate Majority Leader.





cont'


http://www.thenation.com/blog/181408/kentucky-challenger-mitch-mcconnell-revealed-his-true-quest-power

August 28, 2014

Mitch McConnell PROMISES THE KOCH's That Republicans Can Do THEIR BIDDING With 51 Votes

The heavily Koch gifted Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is pretty desperate to win the Senate for Republicans. He’s got a lot on the agenda. A lot he can’t tell you about. Republicans have to keep their real agendas secret, or no one would vote for them. So it is that Mitch McConnell found himself prostrate before his masters, the Koch Brothers, promising anything to get that ring during a secret strategy meeting on June 15th, full of right-wing big money types. The Republican Senate Minority leader will give them anything if they will just keep giving him money. He will give them your jobs. Your minimum wage. Your consumer protections (what few Democrats have managed to carve out for you, that is). He will give them your healthcare. He will give them your access to affordable college loans.

Tape exclusively released by The Nation and The Undercurrent:


Transcript via The Undercurrent:




Mitch promised the room full of greedy and clueless Richie Rich activists that he won’t be raising that minimum wage because it kills jobs, but of course, that is not accurate. That has been shown to be untrue. He won’t be raising the minimum wage because it would cut into their profits and might empower the people to be able to afford food, and when people can afford food and shelter, they have time to focus on things like what Mitch McConnell is really doing in the Senate. Chaos and starvation keep the people down, where the GOP need them in order to serve the Kochs. It is a great talking point and excuse for the Republican failure to act for the people, though.




cont'

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/08/27/mitch-mcconnell-promises-kochs-republicans-lot-51-votes.html

August 28, 2014

BWHAHAHAHA!- Mitt's 2016 Plan: WOO Hispanic Voters With GOP's STELLAR MESSAGE

......



We all know Mitt Romney is running for the 2016 nomination. The only one who doesn't is Mitt, I suppose. Except this time he's not going to act like he wants to. Those damned Republicans are going to have to beg and beg and beg before he tosses his hat in the ring. Mittens is making the rounds of right-wing radio and television shows to let everyone know he's totally NOT running. Except maybe he'll consider it. If they beg hard enough. Mittens appeared on Hugh Hewitt's radio show Tuesday to tell everyone he's still not running, ok, maybe he might, if some mysterious circumstance changes. Like God coming down from the heavens with mighty tablets telling him he should not ever consider another run for the presidency. He also spent a few minutes outlining his 2016 strategy, disguised as "things we did wrong in 2012."






Would the message he's looking to make sure they get out be "Diseased children from Central America, go home and die?" Marco Rubio's latest "message" is full of Republican awesome, too. Flip-flopping yet again because he's terrified of what will happen if the President unleashes an executive order halting deportations on immigrants who are here but haven't broken any laws -- DACA on steroids -- Rubio is begging Republicans to pass immigration reform after he voted against his own bill! Out of the other side of his mouth, Rubio is threatening another government shutdown over a possible executive order. Man, that guy is sweating bullets, isn't he? Another government shutdown a month before midterms would be just awesome. Please proceed, Senator.




cont'


http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/mitts-2016-plan-woo-hispanic-voters-gops

August 27, 2014

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Senate Hopefuls PRAISE KOCHS

We Are Listening.....KEEP TALKING!!............



WASHINGTON -- Three top Republican Senate candidates heaped praise on the political network built by the conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch during a secretive conference held by the brothers this past summer, according to audio of the event. Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst and Arkansas Rep. Tom Cotton directly credited donors present at the June 16 retreat in Dana Point, California, for propelling them forward. Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner told attendees that his race would likely be decided by the presence of "third party" money -- an obvious pitch for generosity from the well-heeled crowd. The presence of Gardner and Cotton was previously reported by The Nation magazine, though it is unclear if Cotton ever confirmed his appearance. Ernst's attendance had not previously been reported.



For all three, the association with the Koch brothers' network is likely to provide kindling for their opponents, who have already argued that the Republicans are steered by deep-pocketed conservatives. Audio of the event, held at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort, was obtained by The Undercurrent and shared exclusively with The Huffington Post. In it, the three Republican candidates, appearing on a panel titled "The Senate: A Window of Policy Opportunity for Principled Leaders," speak for several minutes each about the state of their respective races. Because the discussion took place in mid-June, some of the comments are dated. In addition, some of the audio was redacted to preserve the anonymity of the individual who provided it -- "a source who was present at the event," per an official with The Undercurrent -- and to remove sections with too much cross-talk. A separate source, who helped organize the retreat, confirmed each candidate's participation.



During their speeches, both Cotton and Ernst noted that this was actually the second Koch brothers' retreat they had attended. Last year, the two had gone to the New Mexico event as politicians of less stature. The Koch network has since helped usher them to the doorsteps of the United States Senate. "I was not known at that time," Ernst said. "A little-known state senator from a very rural part of Iowa, known through my National Guard service and some circles in Iowa. But the exposure to this group and to this network and the opportunity to meet so many of you, that really started my trajectory." "We are going to paint some very clear differences in this general election," she said earlier in her talk. "And this is the thing that we are going to take back -- that it started right here with all of your folks, this wonderful network." Cotton went further, crediting Koch-funded groups for helping change the political landscape of Arkansas. "Americans for Prosperity in Arkansas has played a critical role in turning our state from a one-party Democratic state [inaudible] building the kind of constant engagement to get people in the state involved in their communities," he said.




cont'


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/26/koch-brothers-ernst-cotton-gardner_n_5718773.html