Sorry for the lack of sausage yesterday, but we’re back.
“Gay Donor pulls support from Mitt Romney over gay marriage, asks for money back” – Mollie Reilly (Huffington Post)
This is basically the worst case scenario for the Romney Campaign. The President forced him into attacking gay marriage to shore up support from a virulently homophobic base that will cost him moderates and independents. Doghouse Riley pillories the speech here. By the way, this isn’t just a national problem either. Some guy in Virginia is keeping a guy off the judicial bench because he’s gay. The GOP House Speaker in Colorado is trying to kill a civil unions bill despite a huge majority approving, and complaining that the Democrats made him do it. The pitfalls for the GOP here are HUGE, and what’s worse is that they know it, but the base has them locked in. Someday, someone is going to write a book about the 2012 Romney Campaign titled “Campaign: OBLIVION!”.
“Jamie Dimon’s Failure” – Felix Salmon (Reuters)
This is probably the best explanation of what went on at JPMorgan that I’ve read. Basically, JPMorgan was betting on the financial collapse of Europe and a second US recession, and failed. Now, let’s look at the responses of our major Presidential candidates: Obama, and Romney. I wonder whose side a former financial regulator comes down on? And just for shiggles, here’s walking, talking penis Reince Priebus saying we need LESS regulation.
“German voters must break the Merkel mindset that got them into this.” – Robin Wells (The Guardian)
Germany is killing the Euro. The relentless austerity push is killing European economies from the Atlantic to the Aegean. The French just rejected Sarkozy, who was noted as having a particular fondness for Merkel, in favor of an honest-to-god Socialist (who I imagine will be significantly less receptive to austerity). I’m interested to see whether anyone in Europe is willing to listen to reason, rather than panic about invisible bond vigilantes.
“Who really caused the deficit?” – Sahil Kapur (TPM)
Just because we should be reminded every so often of why our national debt is so high.
“Former Republican Senator Hagel says Reagan would not identify with modern GOP” – Josh Israel (ThinkProgress)
My favorite quote from this article: “If Nixon or Eisenhower were alive today, they would be run out of the party.” Nixon offered Ted Kennedy universal health care with a public option. Eisenhower used his farewell address to warn about endless war and the military industrial complex. These guys are to the Left of the current DEMOCRATIC President. I think what infuriates me most of all is that not one of these GOP Dinosaurs has come out and said “Nixon hitching the GOP to Dixiecrats in 1968 was the worst thing that could have happened to the GOP” or “Reagan courting social conservatives and evangelicals in 1980 was fucking stupid.” or “Gingrich deciding to demonize his political opposition is why Washington is dysfunctional.” or “George W. Bush basically went on an eight year political bender and drove America into a ditch.” because doing so would righteously piss off the Republican base. I mean, for God’s sakes, they’re lauding Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook founder, for skipping the country to avoid paying taxes on the Facebook IPO, as an American hero. Of course, all these guys are “self-made men”. Not one of them ever says “Hey, I benefited ENORMOUSLY from taxpayer-funded, Government-run projects. I should pay taxes.”
Every so often, someone pulls a Saverin and renounces their citizenship to avoid paying taxes, and the Right gets a collective boner about “going Galt” and taking their “talents” elsewhere, like some country that doesn’t have a capital gains tax. On behalf of the rest of us that recognize how truly shitty a thing to do this is, I wholeheartedly encourage them to do so. Seriously, get the fuck out. I’d much prefer these assholes take their money, go somewhere else, and set up private jungle fiefdoms than stay here and continue to fund the gear grinding that’s going on in Congress and State Houses across the country.
