Tea Party traffic jam, how not to be taken seriously, diversity hires, Everybody Hates Mitt, Harry Reid is not Michele Bachmann, and meet Todd Akin.
Welcome to the Daily Sausage.
First up, via the Wall Street Journal, a proposed tax in Atlanta to help fund infrastructure improvements to ease congestion, as well as improve public transportation, was roundly defeated after being opposed by local Tea Party groups.
The tax? Increasing the metro Atlanta sales tax by a penny.
The plan was endorsed by Governor Nathan Deal, a conservative Republican, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, a liberal Democrat. Major area corporations including Coca-Cola, Delta, and Home Depot supported the measure.
So, should you ever find yourself in a traffic jam in Atlanta, which if you ever go to Atlanta is almost a certainty, keep an eye out for a “This traffic jam brought to you by the Tea Party!” sign.
Next up, Ed from Gin and Tacos posts the greatest combination of article title/picture ever: “How Not To Be Taken Seriously”.
Just remember, folks: Sarah Palin was *THIS* close to being Vice President.
TPM’s Evan McMorris-Santoro has a rundown of the speakers at the GOP convention, which serve to highlight deep rifts within the party.
Here’s a list:
- South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
- Arizona Senator John McCain
- Former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice
- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
- Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum
- Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
- Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
- New Mexico Governor Susan Martinez
- Ohio Governor John Kasich
- Florida Governor Rick Scott
It’s true that these individuals do not share a monolithic viewpoint. It is, however, worth noting that only Susan Martinez, among current elected officials, is remotely popular in his or her state. McCain and Paul both break even. Haley, Kasich, and Scott are almost assuredly going to be thrown out of office at the end of their terms. And everyone else is a retread. The only person with something even resembling gravitas in the bunch is McCain, and lord knows the base LOVES John McCain.
The GOP convention is going to be a shitshow. They should sell tickets. Ten to one says Santorum or Huckabee says something that makes Pat Buchanan go “Wow, that’s fucked up.”
And now a it’s time for your daily Mitt Romney Pun: Everyone Hates Mitt!
Romney’s midsummer favorability numbers are the lowest since 1948, besting George H.W. Bush’s in 1988.
President Obama’s numbers, by the way, are 53% favorable, 43% unfavorable overall, and 53% favorable, 40% unfavorable with independents. Basically, if you’re voting for Mitt Romney, you’re probably holding your nose while you do it.
TPM Editor and Publisher Josh Marshall has a new article on why Harry Reid is no Michele Bachmann.
He opens by saying:
Harry Reid’s claim of an undisclosed source who says Mitt Romney paid no taxes for ten years was a low blow and an irresponsible claim. Not because it was implausible or even particularly unlikely but simply because you shouldn’t publicly accuse people of things based on totally unsubstantiated and unrevealed evidence.
Yes, hi, Josh? This is the last four years calling. Perhaps you missed the whole “Birther” thing, or the fact that most Republicans believe the President of the United States is a Socialist Communist Kenyan Muslim Illegal Immigrant with grand ambitions of selling us all into white slavery.
But I digress.
But now conservatives are claiming a double-standard because Reid’s claims aren’t being treated in just the same way as Rep. Michele Bachmann’s smear of Huma Abedin and other American Muslims.
It is difficult to find a better example of the strange mixture of paranoia, bad faith and self-pity that is behind so many conservative claims of media bias.
Better, although conservatives are right: there is absolutely a double-standard. Years of conservative screaming about “liberal bias” have cowed the mainstream media into treating whatever loony policy position the GOP has decided to support as something that’s legitimate in the name of “balance”. The Balanced Budget Amendment? Totally legitimate, other than being the absolute worst idea in Washington. The media is treating Mitt Romney’s tax plan like it’s a Real Tax Plan, and it’s not. It’s platitudes and numbers based on promises no one can make work. Paul Ryan is held up as some kind of wunderkind, although I guess being able to count as high as your toes makes him the equivalent of a wunderkind for the GOP, because he’s created a budget that throws the social safety net into the shredder so the Department of Defense can build a few more bombers and Mitt Romney and his pals can get a big ol’ tax break.
But I digress.
You go on to say:
Huma Abedin is certainly not a traitor or a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. We’re not lacking proof of Bachmann’s claim. It’s a transparently ridiculous claim with all the positive evidence in the world showing it is untrue.
And then, in the next paragraph, say:
It’s actually quite plausible that Romney paid little or no income taxes in years after his severance agreement with Bain Capital.
So, you open the piece by saying that Harry Reid’s claim is irresponsible and a low blow, then go on to say that there’s a decent chance that it’s true, just because Harry Reid won’t say who his source is?
Mitt Romney is out on the campaign trail literally lying his ass off to the American people. Not a word of truth has escaped his lips since he started running for President. He’s taken both sides of every position, and only secured the nomination because his opponents were retreads and nutballs and he could drop a Brinks truck on whoever got out of line, and the only one of them that even had a shot at beating President Obama didn’t have a shot at being the nominee because President Obama made him Ambassador to China.
If you’re going to play the not-quite-false-equivalence-but-still-iffy game, you’re gonna need better evidence. Michele Bachmann is accusing highly placed members of the State Department of being secret Muslim infiltrators, which absolutely smacks of Joe McCarthy. Harry Reid is making a claim that, based on Mitt’s history and actions, could certainly be plausible. There’s kind of a big difference.
And finally, let’s meet Missouri Senate GOP Candidate Todd Akin.
Todd Akin:
- Believes Medicare is unconstitutional.
- Said that “the heart of liberalism really is hatred for God.”
- Is one of the most anti-gay members of the House, sponsoring more anti-gay legislation than almost any other member.
- Has called recent legislation and the President socialist, on several occasions.
- Wants the US to withdraw from the UN.
- Thinks the Departments of Education, EPA, and Energy should be eliminated.
Akin’s opponent is Senator Claire McCaskill, who certainly isn’t a great Democrat, but at the very least isn’t a complete nutball either.
