Clipmarks | jklugman's 'republicans' clips

California Republicans Cool to Youth-Voting Bills

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:54:22 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: This is a wonderful idea as it educates towards understanding that the vote is a right and important. If the Republicans are against it then they know their policies need changing to attract voters. ( This article indicates to me that the GOP people are not willing to make a forward step, let alone cater for younger voters.)

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

A pair of Assembly bills designed to bring more young people into the voting booths are being fought by Republicans who worry that too many of those new voters will be liberal Democrats.

One of the measures would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to "preregister" to vote, while the other would allow 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 by the date of the next general election. Both bills have prompted straight party-line votes, with no hint of GOP support.

While Democrats sponsoring the bills say they are merely good-government measures, studies show that their party would get a major election-day boost if more young voters cast ballots.

Exit polls done during this year's presidential primary season showed that the number of voters younger than 30 has more than doubled since the 2004 and 2000 elections, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, drawing an enthusiastic and growing response from those young voters.

Tags: the, next, dance, is, gop 3step, backwards

The true heart of the conservative movement

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:41:07 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Matt Yglesias said:

Of course as tends to be the case with Helms' most repugnantly racist bile, he said that a good ways back in the past. But even at that time, most Americans managed not to be repugnant racists. But not Helms. And unlike a lot of people who did take the white supremacist line in the 1950s and 60s, Helms never apologized and, indeed, never backed down doing things like mounting a filibuster against making Martin Luther King Day into a federal holiday. Remarkably, mainstream American conservatives are eager to tell us that this man is their hero. Even more remarkably, you sometimes hear conservatives talk about reaching out to black voters.

Clip Source: matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com

Politico: "To many on the right, it was Helms, not Reagan, who was the true heart of the conservative movement."

Mitch McConnell: "Today we lost a senator whose stature in Congress had few equals, . . . Senator Jesse Helms was a leading voice and courageous champion for the many causes he believed in.”

Jesse Helms: "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."

Tags: race, jesse helms, republicans, conservatives, racism

92% of max Bush contributors not giving now; Iraq concern

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:51:55 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "I always considered myself a Republican, primarily because of a belief in smaller government. And if you want a smaller government, you don’t want wars — especially wars that can be avoided."

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Citing Iraq opposition, former Bush donors are reluctant to donate to McCain.»

A CQ analysis shows that only about 8 percent of the 62,800 donors who gave the maximum contribution of $2,000 to Bush in 2004 had given to McCain as of April 30. Moreover, at least 46 of Bush’s 2004 donors have contributed significantly to both Obama and Clinton but are not listed as McCain donors. One, a lifelong Republican who donated $2,000 to Bush in 2004, said that he will not donate to McCain because of the senator’s fervent support of the Iraq war:

I always considered myself a Republican, primarily because of a belief in smaller government. And if you want a smaller government, you don’t want wars — especially wars that can be avoided.

Tags: bush, republicans, politics

Who's to Blame for High Gas Prices?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:42:09 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.powerlineblog.com

For several decades, the Democratic Party has pursued policies designed to drive up the cost of petroleum, and therefore gas at the pump. Remarkably, the Democrats don't seem to have taken much of a political hit from the current spike in gas prices. Probably that's because most people don't realize how different the two parties' energy policies have been.

ANWR Exploration House Republicans: 91% Supported House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas

86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas

Tags: gas, oil, politics, republicans, democrats

Republicans: Only Our Pastors Can Say Crazy Shit

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:12:33 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: firedoglake.com

As the wingnut chorus predictably disses Obama's eloquent speech, it's important to remember how completely ridiculous and manufactured this whole Wright "controversy" is:

Neither Jerry Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God.

Well, yeah. Duh.

The Republican Party has tied itself at the hip to a whole slew of "anti-American extremists" -- people who believe that the U.S. provoked the 9/11 attacks because God wants to punish us for the evil, wicked nation we've become -- and yet there is virtual silence about these associations.

Once again, it's important to keep making the point that when you've built an entire political movement on the backs of a crazy mob of Dixiecrat Savonarolas who make outrageous hateful comments pretty much every day, you've sort of opted-out of your ability to throw stones.

Unemployed, and Skewing the Picture

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:00:25 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

...you can be sure of one thing: Politicians will be quick to point out that joblessness remains low by historical standards. “Five percent is still a low unemployment rate,” Ed Lazear, the chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, said recently. “It’s below the average for the last three decades.”

The president and Senator John McCain also recently noted that unemployment remained low. Senators Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, both Republicans, have said the economy continues to be at “full employment.” Two Democratic governors, Christine Gregoire of Washington and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have bragged that their states recently recorded their lowest unemployment rates in history.

Statistically, all this is true enough. But it’s also deeply misleading.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Consider this: the average unemployment rate in this decade, just above 5 percent, has been lower than in any decade since the 1960s. Yet the percentage of prime-age men (those 25 to 54 years old) who are not working has been higher than in any decade since World War II. In January, almost 13 percent of prime-age men did not hold a job, up from 11 percent in 1998, 11 percent in 1988, 9 percent in 1978 and just 6 percent in 1968.

There are only two possible explanations for this bizarre combination of a falling employment rate and a falling unemployment rate. The first is that there has been a big increase in the number of people not working purely by their own choice.

The second possible explanation — a jump in the number of people who aren’t working, who aren’t actively looking but who would, in fact, like to find a good job — is less comforting. It also appears to be the more accurate explanation.

Clip Source: s58.photobucket.com

Tags: unemployment, statistics, teaching, teaching-statistics, comparison, comparisons, comparisons-over-time

Name that party Slideshow version

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:40:19 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: ABC makes it easy. Instead of having to go search for media bias, ABC does all the work in a nice pretty slideshow format.

The official numbers go like this. Of the 13 sex scandals, 12 involve elected officials. Of those, 7 are republican and 5 are democrat. And if you counted you know that they mention party only once for the democrats (20%), but they mention it in six of the clips involving republicans (86%).

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Political Sex Scandals

Tags: media, bias, democrats, republicans, politics, sex, msm

Jack Kingston R-GA - stupidest man in Congress

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:19:59 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) has always been one of my favorite buffoons in Congress. No one trick pony, he's been putting in long moron hours for years up on the Hill and on the chat shows. But it was a particular tour de force even for Jack when he showed up last night on MSNBC to bash Barack Obama for not wearing a flag lapel ... without remembering to wear one himself ...

[Video]

Tags: stupid, humor, jack kingston, hypocrisy, republicans

Shame on Clinton, McCain, & Obama

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:28:46 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: The Senate narrowly passed the intelligence authorization bill which required the CIA to follow the Army Field Manual in interrogations (which forbids waterboarding).

McCain, a supposed torture opponent, voted against the bill.

Clinton & Obama, also alleged torture opponents, abstained.

See righthand's clip for a discussion of the bill itself.

Clip Source: tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

So now it's on to that veto. The Senate just narrowly passed the intelligence authorization bill, which contained a provision that would effectively ban the CIA's use of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques forbidden by the Army Field Manual.

The final vote was rather close -- 51-45, with a few Republicans crossing over to make the difference. There were a couple remarkable "no" votes, though, from senators who've vocally opposed the use of waterboarding. Both Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who's vocally opposed the use of waterboarding, and Arlen Specter (R-PA) voted against. We've inquired why and we'll let you know what we find out.

Clip Source: www.senate.gov

Clinton (D-NY), Not Voting

McCain (R-AZ), Nay

Obama (D-IL), Not Voting

Iowa: Obama 36, Edwards 30, Clinton 30

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:57:18 GMT

clipped by: faramarzb
clipper's remarks: Giuliani out (almost!!)

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to become the nation's first black president, captured the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, opening test in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory in the Republican caucuses.

Among Republicans, Huckabee, a preacher turned politician, handily defeated Mitt Romney despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars, and deciding in the campaign's final days to scrap television commercials that would have assailed the former Massachusetts governor.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Results: Obama 36; Edwards 30; Clinton 30;
Huckabee 36; Romney 23; Thompson 15; McCain 12; Paul 11; Giuliani 2
Arianna: What Obama's Wins Says About America

Tags: elections, iowa, obama, edwards, clinton, giuliani

DREAM Act defeated in the Senate

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:32:24 GMT

clipped by: amgin

Clip Source: www.statesman.com

DREAM Act defeated in the Senate

By Eunice Moscoso | Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 02:06 PM

After an emotional debate, the Senate voted down a controversial measure that would have allowed thousands of young illegal immigrants to stay in the United States if they attended college or joined the military.

The measure needed 60 votes to proceed, but only got 52. Eleven Republicans voted in favor of the bill and eight Democrats opposed it. The defeat showed the difficulty in passing any immigration legislation this year.

In an effort to gain support, lead sponsor Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., had included an age limit of 30 and dropped language that would have cleared the path for the students to receive in-state tuition.

During the debate, Durbin said the illegal immigrant children should not be punished for the sins of their parents.

Tags: immigration, dream

Senators tried to suppress CIA testimony in Plame affair

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 19:22:42 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Jim Marcinkowski is a former CIA official who trained with Valerie Plame. He wanted to testify before Senate committees about the exposure of Plame. After he testified before the Republican-led Senate Select Intelligence committee, Pat Roberts declared his testimony secret, so he couldn't testify before the Democratic Policy Committee.

Marcinkowski, the lawyer and deputy city attorney, was stunned. "I sat on the park bench, in a daze. I didn't know what the hell to do. Now it hits me, that is why the Senate Select Intelligence Committee had scheduled their testimony for the day before the Senate Democratic public hearing. Until that happened we didn't hear shit from the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. They slapped the secrecy thing on it, that was their intention," to try to prevent Valerie's CIA colleagues from testifying publicly about what had happened to her, and why it was a betrayal of everyone in the CIA.

Clip Source: www.warandpiece.com

Marcinkowski told the senators that the exposure of Plame by her own government was "unprecedented. It was our classmate. We had kept a secret for eighteen years. And we were all betrayed by this White House." Marcinkowski had prepared a statement to deliver in open session before the Senate Democratic Policy committee the next day. "I also said she was covert, and I knew it. And they were taking it very seriously."

After he finished with his testimony and the senators' questions, Marcinkowski went out the back door of the building and walked over to a little park between the Senate office building and Union Station. He sat down to think about what had just happened and his cell phone rang. It was Tom Daschle's staffer, who was setting up the hearing for the next day's Democratic Policy Committee meeting. "And she told me, ‘Jim, Pat Roberts just declared all your testimony to be secret. I don't know what you are planning on saying tomorrow, but he declared it secret.'"

Tags: cia, jim marcinkowski, pat roberts, republicans, senate, deception, secrecy, plame-affair

Rich states, poor states, and support for Bush & Kerry

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:38:42 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Thus, the familiar red-blue divide of cosmopolitan coastal Democrats and heartland-state Republicans shows up among the rich but not the poor.

Clip Source: www.stat.columbia.edu

I'll take advantage of Paul Krugman's recent link to our paper on income and voting by putting up some cool scatterplots that we made recently. It started with our maps of which states Bush and Kerry would've won if only the votes of the poor, middle-income, and rich were counted:

We noticed that the familiar red-blue pattern (rich northeast and west coast supporting the Democrats, rest of the country supporting the Republicans) showed up clearly among rich voters, but not among the poor or middle class.

Thus, the familiar red-blue divide of cosmopolitan coastal Democrats and heartland-state Republicans shows up among the rich but not the poor.

Tags: andrew gelman, voting, class, income, political, bush, kerry, george w. bush, george bush, john kerry, republicans, democrats, politics

The Surge Succeeds

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:53:32 GMT

clipped by: caoilfhionn
clipper's remarks: They'd rather rely on their own ideas rather than listen to the military, just one of the reasons democrats should never be trusted in issues of national defense.

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

It's now quite clear how the results of the surge will be dealt with by domestic opponents of the Iraq war.

They're going to be ignored.

They're being ignored now. Virtually no media source or Democratic politician (and not a few Republicans, led by Richard "I can always backtrack" Lugar) is willing to admit that the situation on the ground has changed dramatically over the past three months. Coalition efforts have undergone a remarkable reversal of fortune, a near-textbook example as to how an effective strategy can overcome what appear to be overwhelming drawbacks.

Tags: surge, democrats, surrender lobby, white flag

Where Were Vocal Conservatives When It Mattered?

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 17:11:31 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Rod Dreher is a conservative writer for Beliefnet.

Few of us stood up to Bush when he took us to this disastrous war in Iraq. Few, if any, stood up to him over his foolish support for Rumsfeld, long after it became obvious what a disaster Rumsfeld was. Few, if any, stood up to him over his amassing of power in the executive branch. Few, if any, stood up to him on the spending....

Clip Source: www.beliefnet.com

So yes, by all means let's turn our backs on this failed presidency, and save what we can, while we can. But let's not kid ourselves: Bush has failed conservatives, yes, but we have also failed ourselves. It doesn't take much courage to stand up for conservative principle to a president as weak as this one has become.

If we're looking to blame someone for the failure of Republican government and the conservative crack-up, look to the White House, yes, and look to the late, unlamented Republican Congress. But also look to the conservative talk show hosts, the conservative columnists, and finally, in the mirror. The only way we're going to rebuild after the present and coming political shattering is through honest reckoning, and taking responsibility for what we've done.

It is tempting to blame Bush for everything. But it's not fair, and it's not honest. Bush is today who he always was. The difference is we conservatives pretty much loved the guy -- when he was a winner.

Tags: conservatives, republicans, gop, bush, failure, blame, fear, responsibility, principles, honesty

Clipmarks | jklugman's 'republicans' clips

California Republicans Cool to Youth-Voting Bills

The true heart of the conservative movement

92% of max Bush contributors not giving now; Iraq concern

Citing Iraq opposition, former Bush donors are reluctant to donate to McCain.»

Who's to Blame for High Gas Prices?

Republicans: Only Our Pastors Can Say Crazy Shit

Unemployed, and Skewing the Picture

Name that party Slideshow version

POLITICAL SEX SCANDALS REDUX

Political Sex Scandals

Jack Kingston R-GA - stupidest man in Congress

Shame on Clinton, McCain, & Obama

Iowa: Obama 36, Edwards 30, Clinton 30

Results: Obama 36; Edwards 30; Clinton 30; Huckabee 36; Romney 23; Thompson 15; McCain 12; Paul 11; Giuliani 2Arianna: What Obama's Wins Says About America

DREAM Act defeated in the Senate

DREAM Act defeated in the Senate

Senators tried to suppress CIA testimony in Plame affair

Rich states, poor states, and support for Bush & Kerry

The Surge Succeeds

Where Were Vocal Conservatives When It Mattered?

Results: Obama 36; Edwards 30; Clinton 30;
Huckabee 36; Romney 23; Thompson 15; McCain 12; Paul 11; Giuliani 2
Arianna: What Obama's Wins Says About America