I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.
Grundig blaupunkt luger frug Watusi snarf wazoo! Nixon dirksen nasahist Reboso boogaloo.
Superman :: GPOYW :: Taulk-taulk
Ask me your questions, bridge keeper. I'm not afraid.
The evolution of the Obama Administration’s health care plan confirmed, to me, that traditional liberalism of the kind that dominated mid-twentieth century America has been effectively marginalized. The obvious answer to our health care system was some kind of Medicare for everyone, a government-run system providing a genuine alternative to the private health care industry which, inevitably, tries to take as much money out of the economy as it can while providing a necessity. The original House bill—emerging from perhaps the most liberal House that I am ever going to see again in my lifetime—included such an option, but Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson killed it in the Senate. Like liberal positions in foreign policy, genuine New Deal-type reforms in domestic policy get serious consideration only in Democratic primaries. After a Democrat is elected they become embarrassments that rarely if ever survive the legislative process—and so it was in this case.
‘See, it was our job to start (the Iraq War) badly. We did that. We were fucking idiots. His job is to finish it well.’ …You know, for the guys who bear a good amount of responsibility for getting us into this clusterfuck to go all Statler and Waldorf on the exit… It’s like the captain of the Exxon Valdez standing around Alaska, saying ‘Hey, you’re scrubbin’ the oil off those birds all wrong. You should be using steel wool and Ajax. I can’t believe you jackoffs are screwing up the environment like this.’
For God’s sake, in like three days, Obama’s taken us down from three wars to one. (Beat.) Is that what’s going on here? Are America’s hawks having empty nest syndrome?
―
A bewildered JON STEWART, on Republican critics such as John McCain, Michele Bachmann and Lindsey Graham being critical of president Obama’s recent foreign policy triumphs in Libya and Iraq, on The Daily Show.
Yep.
(via inothernews)
First of all, I did get elected President, so not everybody hates me…. But what you know is true is, if you’re watching TV lately, it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time. You know, I think you’ve gotta take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just what’s called politics, where once one party wins, the other party kinda feels like it needs to poke you a little bit to keep you on your toes.
And so you shouldn’t take it too seriously. And then sometimes — as I’ve said before, people — I think they’re worried about their own lives. A lot of people are losing their jobs right now; a lot of people are losing their healthcare, or they’ve lost their homes to foreclosure. And they’re feeling frustrated. And when you’re President of the United States, you’ve gotta deal with all of that.
…And, you know, you get some of the credit when things go good. When things are going tough, you know, you’re going to get some of the blame, and that’s part of the job. But I’m a pretty tough guy. (To child.) Are you a tough guy? You look like you’re pretty tough. And so, you’ve just gotta keep on going when folks are criticizing you… as long as you know you’re doing it for other people.
―
President BARACK OBAMA, responding to a 4th-grade student asking “Why do people hate you?” during a televised town hall meeting in New Orleans, LA.
A child calls it hate. The Republican and Tea Parties call it fair game.
Despite what the child sees.
Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.
By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.
The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him.
Bolded our favorite line from this. (Thanks Matt for sending this along)
President Obama will unveil a deficit-reduction plan on Monday that uses entitlement cuts, tax increases and war savings to reduce government spending by more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years, administration officials said.
The plan, which Mr. Obama will lay out Monday morning at the White House, is the administration’s opening move in sweeping negotiations on deficit reduction to be taken up by a joint House-Senate committee over the next two months. If a deal is not struck by Dec. 23, cuts could take effect automatically across government agencies.
Mr. Obama will call for $1.5 trillion in tax increases, primarily on the wealthy, through a combination of closing loopholes and limiting the amount that high earners can deduct. The proposal also includes $580 billion in adjustments to health and entitlement programs, including $248 billion to Medicare and $72 billion to Medicaid. Administration officials said that the Medicare cuts would not come from an increase in the Medicare eligibility age.
Senior administration officials who briefed reporters on some of the details of Mr. Obama’s proposal said that the plan also counts a savings of $1.1 trillion from the ending of the American combat mission in Iraq and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
In laying out his proposal, aides said, Mr. Obama will expressly promise to veto any legislation that seeks to cut the deficit through spending cuts alone and does not include revenue increases in the form of tax increases on the wealthy.
―
The New York Times, “Obama to Offer Plan to Cut Deficit by Over $3 Trillion.”
Go get ‘em, Mr. President. But know that we’re holding you to that last promise.
(via inothernews)
Warren Buffett is a tough negotiator, which is one reason why he’s the second-wealthiest person in America.
So when the President refers to his new initiative to raise taxes on millionaires as the “Buffett rule” we might expect he’d start the bargaining from a tough position.
But this is…
US Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) was ordered by a Chicago judge to prove he doesn’t owe more than $100,000 in back child support.
The Tea Party spokesman and alleged fiscal conservative’s ex-wife, Laura Walsh sued the Congressman once she heard that he had loaned his own campaign $35,000, despite claiming that he was too broke to pay child support.
Much to the dismay of Cook County Circuit Judge Raul Vega, Welsh didn’t show up for court during Wednesday’s hearing.
In court, Walsh’s attorney, Janet Boyle, asked Vega “for what purpose” he wanted the congressman in court.
Vega gave her a puzzled look — to which Boyle responded: “Mr. Walsh is a U.S. congressman.”
“Well, he’s no different than anyone else,” the judge replied.
Walsh famously made a video asking President Obama to stop putting debt on the backs of his children. It wasn’t because he’s a fiscal conservative. I’ll bet it was because he saw Obama as intruding on his family and that it’s his job to place debt on their backs.