Scaring granny

Raise the debt limit or we shoot this dog!

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Real Clear Politics:

Budget Director Won’t Answer If WH Would Prioritize Social Security Payments:

White House Budget Director Jacob Lew dodged CNN’s Candy Crowley’s question if the administration would prioritize Social Security payments if a default occurred. Transcript of the exchange below:

CNN’s Candy Crowley, HOST: “More immediately, you’d have to make some spending priorities — payment priority decisions: Social Security benefits, and federal worker pay, and defense contractors. What are your priorities should the debt ceiling not be raised on the 2nd, when you have the bills that immediately come due? Social Security checks, federal worker pay, defense contractors?”

Jacob Lew, WH Budget Director: “Our plan is for Congress to do its work and the President to sign into law legislation that will make it possible for the United States as it always has, to keep its obligations. We’ll be ready to deal with whatever happens. There is no plan other than meeting our obligations.”

CROWLEY: “Surely you must have discussed priorities, though, we have to pay this?”

LEW: “The truth is this is a different situation the United States has ever faced. We’ve never gone into a situation where we didn’t have enough money to pay our bills. We borrow 40 cents on a dollar right now. And if the time comes when we lose the ability to pay our bills, there will be a cash flow issue that is very real, and that’s why it’s critical that Congress take action before August 2nd.”

CROWLEY: “Would you allow it to happen that those the Social Security checks would not go out? Would you allow that to happen?”

LEW: “As the President has indicated, it’s not a question of what we allow and what we don’t allow –”

CROWLEY: “But you get to decide priorities. There will be some money –”

LEW: “There will not be enough money to pay all the bills.”

CROWLEY: “Of course not, that’s why I’m talking about priorities.”

LEW: “I think that once someone gets into the business of trying to ask about setting priorities it misses the question. Which is that it’s unacceptable for the United States to be in a place whether it’s Social Security recipients, or a soldier or somebody who is just owed money by the government can’t be paid because we have not done our job.”

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We’ve all been in the situation where our bills exceeded our income. So what do you do if you have $2,500 in bills and $2,000 in income? You pay the most important $2,000 in bills. That’s called “prioritizing.”

Some stupid Chillbilly:

We have the $200 billion coming into the federal government every month. It takes $35 billion — I’m sorry, billion dollars — we have $35 billion that we must use to service the debt, $50 billion that we must use to write those Social Security checks, $2.9 billion to pay for our military personnel, and then other essentials.

You prioritize. Our president essentially suggested the other day that he’s not able to prioritize. As the chief executive of our nation, he cannot prioritize, and that’s why he suggested that Social Security checks may not be written come August 2nd if that debt ceiling isn’t increased.

No. You pay for the essentials first and then the non-essentials have to get cut. They have to wait.

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What should our priorities be?

Social Security. Medicare. Military pay. Servicing our existing debt.

Non-priorities:

White House dinner parties and concerts. Potemkin townhalls. Executive salaries.

That is not to say that most government spending isn’t a good idea. But you have to make do with what you have. This whole idea of raising the debt limit now and cutting spending later is like giving a credit card to a crackhead.

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Summers loving

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Via Corrente, A Tiny Revolution:

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If Only the Czar Knew

This is tough for me, because I was hating on Larry Summers before hating Larry Summers was cool. But I’m going to defend him about something important. That’s just how honest I am.

One of the stories that appears to have developed on liberal blugs is that some of Obama’s economists believed that a stimulus package of over $1.3 trillion was needed—but Larry Summers prevented this news from getting to the president. And here we are in 2011 with a hideous economy that may be getting worse, and it’s Larry Summers’ fault.

(boring details omitted)

So it’s obvious Obama knew what his economists were saying. He had all the information he needed. You can’t pin this one on my dear friend Larry Summers.

The stimulus bill ended up at $787 billion, and because of the way it was designed, with much less bang for the buck than was possible. Thank you, Barack “No One Cares Less Than Me About Whether I’m Reelected” Obama.

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Don’t blame Larry, and don’t blame Moe, Curly or any other stooge.

Blame Dick.

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Missing In Action: The anti-war movement

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Todd Gitlin at Salon:

Where have all the war protesters gone?

The outrage that greeted the run-up to the Bush-Blair Iraq war debacle generated what must have been the largest antiwar rallies and demonstrations in the history of the world. Sometimes in subzero temperatures, millions of marchers in New York, London and elsewhere took to the streets to interrupt the roar of self-righteous crypto-imperial bravado, to barge through George Bush’s strutters’ ball and its fevers of fantastical, deceptive and self-deceptive claims about Saddam Hussein’s danger to the United States and Washington’s promise to parachute democracy into Saddam’s stricken land. In the well-chosen words of one London sign, the marchers were “Shocked, Not Awed.”

Then the marches stopped.

They stopped partly because the antiwar leadership was barely cobbled together, with some conspicuous quarters reluctant to speak harshly of the multi-murderous Saddam Hussein. The movement’s drawing power was limited from the start, and then, once the war was on in earnest, it felt — realistically — that it had run smack against the brick wall of George Bush’s manic pigheadedness. Demonstrators are unlikely to invest their energies in what look from the start like very lost causes. And the demonstrations also tailed off because the mainstream media didn’t pay attention — refused to pay attention. The story line they were promoting was: America kicks ass, new era begins!

Do not neglect the new wars’ insulation from the American population, either. A volunteer army, disproportionately staffed from rural areas, is an army insulated from the more vocal, influential sectors of the country. By the same token, drone wars in Yemen and Somalia take place behind thick curtains, with some effectiveness against hated jihadis, and the offstage moans are muffled. For the vast American majority, ordinary life goes on — business as usual. For that matter, too, it’s troubled business, with many people beleaguered by what feel like the more urgent cares of joblessness and eviction. Paradoxically, perhaps, a more prosperous country is better available to resist its own wars.

We don’t need protesters because we elected the “anti-war” candidate so the wars are all over now. They even gave him a Nobel Peace Prize.

Besides, all the former protesters are busy looking for work.

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UPDATE:

The secret war in Somalia

Writing in the Nation this week, Jeremy Scahill revealed that the CIA is running “a counterterrorism training program for Somali intelligence agents and operatives” at Mogadishu’s airport and also using a secret prison in the beleaguered Horn of Africa nation.

The revelations come just two weeks after media reports — sourced to unnamed American officials — of a U.S. drone attack in Somalia on members of the Islamic militant group Shabaab, which was designated a terrorist organization by the State Department in 2008.

The Washington Post noted that Somalia is now the sixth country — joining Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Yemen — where the Obama administration has launched drone attacks.

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I’m pretty sure the Somalis know about the war there, so who is it being kept secret from?

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Somebody must have slept through civics class

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Politico:

Cain: Americans should be able to ban mosques

Herman Cain says voters across the country should have the right to prevent Muslims from building mosques in their communities.

In an exchange on “Fox News Sunday,” the Republican presidential contender said that he sided with some in a town near Nashville who were trying to prevent Muslims from worshiping in their community.

“Our Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state,” he said. “Islam combines church and state. They’re using the church part of our First Amendment to infuse their morals in that community, and the people of that community do not like it. They disagree with it.”

Asked by host Chris Wallace if any community could ban a mosque if it wanted to, Cain said: “They have a right to do that.”

Cain, an African-American who grew up during the civil rights era, claimed he was not discriminating against Muslims. He said it was “totally different” than the fight for racial equality because there were laws prohibiting blacks from advancing.

Nonetheless, Cain has drawn backlash for comments about Muslims in the past, saying that he would be uncomfortable if a Muslim served in his Cabinet if he were elected president.

“I’m willing to take a harder look at people that might be terrorists,” Cain said Sunday. “If you look at my career, I have never discriminated against anybody. … I’m going to err on the side of caution.”

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The magic words are “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” We have to go with what the law is and not what we what it to be. Either that or we need to change it.

As for Cabinet members I really doubt a terrorist would pass the FBI background check and Senate hearings.

BTW – I’m wondering if any current or former employees of Godfather’s Pizza are Muslims? Seems to me if there are they just got handed a gift for a discrimination lawsuit.

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Maybe she got tired of being a punching bag

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Merced Sun-Stroke:

Woman accused of husband’s stabbing death at Merced hotel arraigned on charges

The woman accused of stabbing her husband to death at the Tioga Hotel pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon.

Courtney Ross, 32, made her first in-person appearance at the Merced County Superior Court wearing a yellow jailhouse jumpsuit and a bandage on her right hand. She had briefly appeared in court Wednesday via a live video feed at the Merced County Jail, where she’s being held without bail.

The hearing-impaired defendant communicated through a sign language interpreter. The defendant broke into tears as she communicated with her attorney, John Garcia, minutes before her arraignment.

[...]

Merced police say the defendant stabbed the victim to death after an argument.

Officers responded to the 1715 N. St. hotel about 1:20 a.m. Monday after someone called the police. The victim was found with three stab wounds to the upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene.

Merced police earlier this week confirmed the defendant’s husband had a history of domestic violence and had served time in jail.

Garcia, who’s taking the case pro-bono, said he has received the preliminary reports but is awaiting others. There are also out-of-state witnesses whose names and addresses are being compiled, he added.

Garcia said his staff has reasons to believe that there are records showing the Jonathan Ross was previously arrested for spousal battery against the defendant.

On the night of the stabbing, Courtney Ross had bruises on both of her shoulders and cuts to her hand, he said, and had X-rays taken for possible broken fingers.

“We are trying to work as expeditiously as possible. My client is incarcerated and if she doesn’t deserve to be there, we don’t want to keep her there any longer,” Garcia said.

He said he believes his client’s actions were justifiable and that the facts will show it.

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Watch the DA try to turn abusive hubby into an innocent victim.

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What are they buying?

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New Stable of Wealthy Donors Fueled Obama Campaign’s Record Fund-Raising Quarter

President Obama recruited roughly 150 new elite donors, raising as much as a half a million dollars each, to help propel him to a large and early lead over his Republican opponents in the race for campaign cash, according to campaign filings released last week.

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“Recruited” is not really the right term. “Sold out to” is more like it.

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Their presence, along with the names of more than 100 veterans of Mr. Obama’s formidable 2008 fund-raising operation, suggests that the president and his aides have moved quickly to replenish the ranks of top fund-raisers as he prepares for an onslaught of advertising next year mounted by independent groups in support of his Republican opponent.

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Awww, it’s all the Republicans fault. Poor little Dick didn’t want to sell his soul, he had to.

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Flashback – The Denver Group

Back in July 2008 The Denver Group (Heidi Li Feldman and Marc Rubin) ran this ad:

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Would Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi have kept his name off the ballot?

Franklin Roosevelt went into the 1932 Democratic Convention 90 delegates short of the 2/3 majority needed to win the nomination. He finally won on the 4th ballot in a contentious convention. The Democratic Party survived.

Senator Obama and Senator Clinton both go to the convention without the necessary majority needed to secure the nomination. Yet there is talk that Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and some elements of the DNC want to subvert the democratic process by keeping Senator Clinton’s name from being placed in nomination.

Senator Clinton is still a candidate. She is the popular vote winner who won more votes than any Democratic primary candidate in history. Democratic processes demand that Senator Clinton’s name be officially placed in nomination. There must be an open convention with an honest roll call vote so super delegates who will decide this nomination can vote according to their judgment and conscience for either candidate as Democratic party rules provide. And if some in the DNC are afraid that a democratic process could produce a result different from a preconceived set of expectations, as someone once said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Keep the Democratic Party democratic. Paid for by The Denver Group http://www.thedenvergroup.blogspot.com and not authorized by any candidate, candidate’s committee or any political party.

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Hillary Clinton won more primary votes than any Democrat ever – including second place finisher Barack Obama. She finished the primaries in a virtual tie with Obama for pledged delegates. Yet if the Democratic party would have had it’s way she would not have even been on the nominating ballot at the DNC convention!

Which reminds me:

Brazile: I’ll Quit DNC Position Over Superdelegates

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile — who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and is herself a superdelegate — says she will quit her position within the Democratic Party if her superdelegate colleagues decide the party’s nomination.

“Let’s wait for some of these other states to help sort this out,” Brazile, a News & Notes contributor, told Farai Chideya.

As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to run neck-and-neck in amassing the total delegates needed to win the nomination, some have suggested that the party’s superdelegates — comprising party activists and high-ranking officials — could make the deciding vote.

But Brazile says the superdelegate vote “should reflect the will of the people.”

Has she quit yet?

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“The Nobel Committee sent me. They want their Peace Prize back.”

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WaPo:

Obama meets with Dalai Lama

President Obama held a closed-door meeting with the Dalai Lama on Saturday, despite the strong objections of the Chinese government.

The 45-minute session in the White House Map Room broke little ground on policy. In a statement released after the meeting, the White House said Obama reiterated the U.S. position that Tibet is a part of China but that he supports “the preservation of the unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions of Tibet and the Tibetan people throughout the world.”

Obama restated that the United States does not support Tibetan independence.

We don’t want to upset our Chinese overlords too much, now do we?

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