Political Mercy Fuck, La Bachmann’s Epic Fail, a Democrat Betrayl?, refusing to refuse to vote for Obama, confessions of a partisan, why The West Wing is a terrible guide to American democracy, Scott Brown: Scalia “model justice”, NY AG sues JP Morgan Chase, and more GOP voter fraud.
Welcome to the Daily Sausage.
First up, it’s mistermix at Balloon Juice, responding to a piece by George Will:
Today I learned that voting for Obama is the political equivalent of a mercy fuck.
The article is George Will arguing that firing Barack Obama would make us even more post-racial. Never mind that we’re still not post-racial, mainly because George Will’s party picked up the banner of racism after the Democrats kicked them out in ’64.
Michele Bachmann had a very bad day last week, in which she swung by a Chicago-area synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday of the Jewish people, prompting members of the congregation to walk out, and others to donate to her opponent, Jim Graves.
I really have to ask, who in Michele Bachmann’s inner circle decided that stopping by a Jewish synagogue in Chicago on Yom Kippur was a good idea? You’re talking about a very liberal religious and ethnic group in a very liberal city on the holiest day of the year. That’s like Keith Ellison dropping in to an Evangelical church in Alabama on Easter. Just not a really smart move.
The New York Times is reporting that Congress has begun planning an ambitious set of plans to avoid the “fiscal cliff” tied to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, sequester, and other factors.
The plan consists of three elements:
- Agreement on a deficit reduction target (rumored to be $4 trillion over 10 years), reached via a combination of tax code reforms, savings from changed to Medicare and Social Security, and cuts to federal programs.
- A variation on the Simpson/Bowles plan, including broad cuts to the social safety net.
- A vote to put off the sequestration plan with a deficit reduction down payment.
There are a number of problems with this.
First up, the GOP is staffed almost exclusively by extremists who reject 10:1 cuts to spending ratios. 4:1 would be an impossible sell.
Second, most of the people involved in this could be lame ducks after November, assuming that GOP gains in the Senate fail to materialize and the House reverts to Democratic control. A lame duck GOP about to find itself out of power could easily decide to torpedo anything to stop the fiscal cliff just to screw over Democrats before going out of power again.
Third, and most importantly, massive cuts to the social safety net, as outlined by the Simpson/Bowles plan, would be a tremendous betrayal of everything the Democratic party stands for.
So, here’s my question: why isn’t anyone talking about the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ “Budget For All”? We’re talking about a budget that achieves the same level of deficit reduction as the Ryan budget without gutting the social safety net and while investing in American infrastructure and job creation.
We’ve suffered through thirty years of conservative looting of the national treasury. Isn’t it time we give someone else a shot?
Here’s the budget if you want to read it.
Robert Wright from The Atlantic has a response to Conor Friedersdorf, titled “Why I Refuse to Refuse to Vote for Obama”.
He posits an interesting question: as a likely Obama voter, is there a dealbreaker that would cause you to vote for Mitt Romney or not at all?
Yes. There are things the President could say or do that would lead me to conclude that he is unfit for office and should be removed. However, all of those things would involve the President saying or doing something entirely out of character. He would need to become an entirely different person for that to happen.
Am I happy with everything the President has done? No. Am I downright terrified at the prospect of a Mitt Romney presidency? You betcha. That’s why I’m voting for President Obama; not because he’s the perfect option, but because he’s the best option.
Speaking of which, here are some confessions of an anonymous partisan.
If my guy loses I will wake up every morning with the name of my enemy on my lips. The man who beat my guy in the election. The man who hijacked my government and stole my country.
My enemy, my president.
Yeah, when Romney loses the Right is going to lose their goddamn minds.
And now a Public Service Announcement to fledgling democracies.
ATTENTION FLEDGLING DEMOCRACIES: THE WEST WING IS A TERRIBLE GUIDE TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.
This has been a Public Service Announcement to fledgling democracies.
Scott Brown: SO INDEPENDENT.
In case you missed it, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a civil lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase alleging widespread fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities. Go get ’em, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman!
Finally, the GOP’s efforts to combat mostly imaginary voter fraud have lead them to commit voter fraud, as the GOP-hired and aligned firm under investigation in Florida is now under investigation in North Carolina. Strategic Allied Consulting, owned by longtime GOP operative Nathan Sproul, is now under investigation by the North Carolina board of elections for submitting fraudulent voter registration forms.
Worth noting: the RNC paid SAC 3.1 million dollars to do voter registration for them in swing states. Sproul has a long history of doing this kind of stuff. This wasn’t an accident.
