Conrad And Lieberman Come Out In Favor Of Allowing Wealthy To Keep Their Massive Bush Tax Cuts
Conrad And Lieberman Come Out In Favor Of Allowing Wealthy To Keep Their Massive Bush Tax Cuts
Currently, the Bush tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 are set to expire at the end of this year. Progressives have long planned to allow the tax cuts for the richest Americans to expire, which would help ease the U.S. debt burden. Unfortunately, a number of Democratic senators have come out for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Last week, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, called for a temporary extension of all the Bush tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, which the Obama administration would like to see expire. Conrad even suggested waiving pay-go rules (which apply to those cuts for the richest two percent) in order to extend the cuts without paying for them. Conrad quickly clarified that he wasn’t embracing the Republican approach, which is simply extending all of the tax cuts forever, calling that a “formula for the decline of the United States.” Today on CNBC, Conrad argued that now just isn’t the time to raise taxes on the wealthy:
We’ve got to be very careful with the timing of what we do. There’s no question in my mind that taxes have to go up on the wealthiest among us. The question is when. I don’t think this is the moment.
Watch it:
Meanwhile, DailyKos diarist rojjj caught Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) touting the Bush tax cuts on local Connecticut news station WTIC-1080. Lieberman said that “in the long term,” it may be appropriate to raise taxes on the wealthy, but that it would be a “mistake” to raise taxes on the richest Americans “right now“:
JOYCE: One of the things I’m hearing discussed I’m hearing this from time to time, and I do believe that head of the Fed Bernanke suggested that maybe the tax cuts be put in place the Bush tax cuts, should be kept for the next two years. Where are you on that, and what’s the talk?
LIEBERMAN: I don’t know that he specifically said that, but he’s somebody to listen to [...] We got a long term debt problem as Bernanke said and we gotta begin to bring our government back into balance. Probably in the long term that gonna mean we’re gonna have some more people in higher income levels. But I think that right now, as we’re trying to come out of a bad economy, that would be a mistake. I don’t know if its two years, six months, whether it’s a year, to just hold over these tax cuts so theres more money in the hands of these busineses, small businesses which create most of the jobs, a lot of people are in those upper brackets running those small businesses let’s make sure the economy’s stronger before we start raising taxes again.
Listen to it:
As the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo notes, “A two year extension of the cuts for the rich would cost about $75 billion, with little in terms of economic activity to show for it.” Senators who feign concern for fiscal responsibility, as both Conrad and Lieberman do, should take note of this budget-busting effect of extending the tax cuts.
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Cantor opposes Bachmann’s tea party caucus, says the movement should be kept ‘outside of Washington.’
Cantor opposes Bachmann’s tea party caucus, says the movement should be kept ‘outside of Washington.’
Last week, the House approved the creation of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) Tea Party Caucus, which aims to promote the movement’s “call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government” within Congress. A number of high-profile Republicans quickly signed on, such as Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN). But some conservative pundits have been leery, warning that the institutionalization of the tea party could corrupt the grassroots movement. Indeed, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) told the Richmond Times-Dispatch today that he would not be joining the caucus, because the tea party is “better left with the people,” and not Washington politicians:
Cantor explained in an e-mail interview that the tea-party movement is “certainly not of Washington and in that respect it’s better left with the people.” [...]
“Part of what is so inspiring about the tea-party movement is that it is not structured like a political party and, instead, is a truly organic, grass-roots effort,” Cantor said. “The movement was born outside of Washington and includes people of all political stripes — Republicans, independents and Democrats — who have come together out of frustration with their government in an effort to force it to change.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) — who is also strong tea party supporter — refused to join as well, explaining that the tea party movement “should be kept outside Congress.” “The more you try to put structure around the tea party, the more compromised it will be,” Chaffetz wrote on Twitter. “If any one person[s] tries to co-opt it, the tea party will lose its identity and effectiveness.” So far, out of the 178 Republicans in the House, only 46 have joined Bachmann’s caucus.
ANALYSIS: Both Regular And ‘Shadow’ RNCs Brought To You By Big Oil
Our guest blogger is Joshua Dorner, Communications Director for Progressive Media.
Following scandal after scandal, many donors have abandoned the Michael Steele-led Republican National Committee in favor of other right-wing groups preparing to attack Democratic candidates in this fall’s elections. The two biggest beneficiaries of the RNC’s woes appear to be American Crossroads, the “shadow RNC” setup by Bush operatives Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, and the Republican Governors Association, currently chaired by Mississippi Governor and former RNC Chairman Haley Barbour. Despite their apparent strategic differences, these three groups still have one thing in common: massive infusions of cash from Big Oil. Over $4 million of oil-related cash has spewed into the three groups in the second quarter alone.
AMERICAN CROSSROADS: American Crossroads, the shadowy 527 group setup by Rove and Gillespie as a supposed “grassroots” alternative to the RNC, and whose stated goal is to distort the facts in order to brand the BP oil disaster as “Obama’s Katrina,” has received 97 percent of its funding from just four right-wing billionaires. Of these, two made their fortunes in the oil and gas industry, according to a report by Salon. The two Dallas-based oil billionaires, Trevor Rees-Jones and Robert Rowling, each contributed $1 million to the group, which recently began airing misleading attack ads against Senator Harry Reid. Rove and Gillespie have also explicitly taken advantage of the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision to setup a related 501(c)4 organization, American Crossroads GPS, in order to conceal the identity of some of their donors. The public will likely never know where the $5.1 million the group raised in June came from because of “the value of confidentiality to some donors,” but it could have come from other right-wing oil billionaires like tea party-funder David Koch to major corporations like BP America and Goldman Sachs.
RGA: Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has moved aggressively to promote the RGA as an alternative to the RNC. In addition to setting up “victory funds” across the country that have long been “the province of the RNC,” Barbour recently told a private audience that “[he] had to raise the RGA budget by $10 million because the RNC is in such bad shape.” Barbour, who has made something of a recent career out of downplaying the severity of the BP oil disaster, has indeed driven RGA fundraising to new heights during his tenure as chairman. As we previously reported, the oil and gas industry appears to have shown its appreciation for Barbour’s Big Oil apologism by contributing more than $2 million to the RGA’s coffers in the last quarter alone.
RNC: Despite its almost constant series of travails, the regular RNC, which still lists Gillespie as the owner of its headquarters, continues to take in boatloads of cash from Big Oil. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that so far this election cycle the RNC has received $555,439 from the oil and gas industry — enough to make Big Oil one of the embattled committee’s top ten sources of cash. The RNC unveiled a new ad yesterday attacking President Obama’s response to BP oil disaster, perhaps in the hopes of drumming up even more cash from Big Oil.
Unfortunately for the regular RNC, there’s at least one major GOP donor who is only giving his money to the shadow RNCs. Texas leveraged buyout billionaire Harold Simmons, best known for funding the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 and false attack ads linking President Obama to Bill Ayers in 2008, has recently channeled $1 million to American Crossroads and $125,000 to the RGA.
Kyl-Approved Judge Susan Bolton Blocks Key Provisions Of Arizona Immigration Law
This afternoon, in a long-awaited decision, federal district court judge Susan Bolton enjoined several major provisions of Arizona’s immigration law, SB-1070. While it was speculated that Bolton would block parts of SB-1070 relating to warrantless arrests and document requirements, the judge also ended up striking down the law’s most controversial and significant provision: the requirement that police check immigration status. Bolton blocked the following sections of SB-1070 arguing that “the United States is likely to succeed on the merits in showing that…[they] are preempted by federal law” and the “United States is likely to suffer irreparable harm” in the absence of an injunction:
Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070: Requires police to inquire about the immigration status of anyone they stop, detain, or arrest if they reasonably suspect the person is in the country illegally.
Section 3 of S.B. 1070: Criminalizes the the failure to apply for or carry immigration documents.
Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070: Criminalizes the solicitation, application for, or performance of work by an undocumented immigrant.
Section 6 of S.B. 1070: Authorizes the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person “removable.”
Bolton also echoed the criticisms made by SB-1070 opponents over the past few months, noting that “requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is check.” She additionally found that the burdensome verification requirement “will divert resources from the federal government’s other responsibilities and priorities.” However, a few problematic sections remain including the one which allows Arizona residents to sue local police if they believe they are not enforcing what remains of SB-1070 and the creation of a separate crime for knowingly transporting an undocumented immigrant under any circumstance, even in an emergency.
Ironically, on the recommendation of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) — an ardent proponent of SB-1070 — Bolton was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona by President Bill Clinton back in 2000. During her confirmation hearing, Kyl stated:
Well, there is one person in our state who’s a real expert on this in the judiciary, and that’s Judge Bolton. And because of her expertise and fairness, all of the contending interests from Arizona have been willing to place their concerns before her to be resolved, and she is right in the middle of this important litigation right now. They will be very sorry to see her leave in Maricopa County Superior Court bench. So, I have some mixed emotions in helping to nominate or to confirm Judge Bolton, but that’s how highly thought of she is.
Prior to the announcement of her decision, Kyl speculated that “she will parse the law, that is to say she will perhaps extract certain portions of it that she think might be problematic and might enjoin those portions calling additional briefings from the parties.” Before learning of Bolton’s decision, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) stated, “I’m confident Arizona will prevail.” Bolton has been described by her peers as an “impeccable” and “fearless” judge whose rulings are “well-reasoned and unambiguous.”
O’Reilly: Obama should ‘sign the executive order’ ending DADT, ‘it’s just not fair, we should stop this nonsense.’
O’Reilly: Obama should ‘sign the executive order’ ending DADT, ‘it’s just not fair, we should stop this nonsense.’
On Monday, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly joined Jay Leno for an interview on The Tonight Show. Leno began by asking O’Reilly about his feelings on Lieutenant Dan Choi, who was dismissed from the National Guard in June because he came out as a gay man on national television. Under the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, openly gay men and women cannot serve in the armed forces. O’Reilly made his feelings clear:
LENO: I don’t know if you heard the thing I was mentioning, it actually made me angry. That kid, the West Point kid [Dan Choi], what’s your take on that?
O’REILLY: Well I don’t get it. President Obama has the power to stop this Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell business. Just sign an executive order. I don’t know why it’s taking so long.
LENO: And to me, doesn’t it cost like $300,000 to send a kid to West Point? He speaks Arabic…Anybody that’s willing to take a bullet for me is OK in my book.
O’REILLY: Yeah, but $300,000 to the government – that’s like $0.30, you know what I mean? So, they don’t care about cost. But, look, it’s just not fair, we should stop this nonsense.
Watch it:
O’Reilly, who seemed to be comfortable with continuing DADT in February, appears to have opened his mind on the issue just as large numbers of military officers and veterans have come out against the policy. As Dan Savage points out, O’Reilly’s new position places him “to the left of President Obama on DADT.” Obama, who campaigned on ending DADT, could issue an executive order suspending DADT anytime. (HT: Balloon Juice)
Rep. Steve King Joins Deficit Fraud Caucus: There’s No Need To Pay For The Bush Tax Cuts
Rep. Steve King Joins Deficit Fraud Caucus: There’s No Need To Pay For The Bush Tax Cuts
Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who spends a lot of time stoking fear about deficits under President Obama, explained on MSNBC this morning that the “difference” between President Bush and Obama is that Obama is spending far too much.
However, later in the very same interview, King threw concern for the deficit out the window, saying Congress should extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, and that there is no need to pay for the $678 billion in lost revenue they represent. “You don’t have to ask for a paid-for” to offset tax cuts, King said, before making the ludicrous claim that Bush’s cuts “increased revenues”:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Since you are, I’m presume, support extending the Bush tax cuts, do you think that you guys should figure out a way to pay for them, since it will add to the deficit, decreasing government revenues?
KING: [...] They have stimulated the economy. It is not paid for with offsets, those tax cuts have been in place as you characterized them, since May 28th of 2003. This is a continuation of a tax policy, so I would say you don’t have to ask for a paid-for continued tax policy. This is a tax increase if we let this happen without doing something happen about it. They have also demonstrated they increase in revenue with the capital gains as a part of that.
Watch it:
King is hardly the first congressional Republican to attack President Obama for increasing the deficit, while simultaneously endorsing the addition of hundreds of billions of dollars more in order to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) explained last week that “you should never have to offset the cost” of tax cuts, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, “there’s no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue.” These sentiments have been parroted by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and Sens. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and John Cornyn (R-TX), among others.
Of course, history has proven that the Bush tax cuts did not stimulate the economy, did not pay for themselves, and certainly did not increase tax revenue. Even Bush’s federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan — who once championed the tax cuts — recognized these facts earlier this month, calling on Congress to allow all the cuts to expire, in order to pay down the deficit.
Taking Advantage Of Citizens United, Dirty Coal Groups Form 527 To Elect Industry-Friendly Republicans
Taking Advantage Of Citizens United, Dirty Coal Groups Form 527 To Elect Industry-Friendly Republicans
Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported on coal baron Don Blankenship’s foray into the 2010 congressional elections in West Virginia, where he has contributed thousands of dollars to help elect coal-friendly Republicans. One of the candidates, Spike Maynard, previously served as chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and vacationed with Blankenship on the French Riviera while his company, Massey Energy, had millions of dollars in cases pending before Maynard’s court.
But Blankenship isn’t the only one with chips in the game. The Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky reports that several coal executives, including Blankenship, are pooling their money to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision loosening corporate campaign finance laws by forming a 527 group to help elect coal-friendly Republicans. Why a 527? Because according to the IRS, they can hide their activities until “next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.” From the report:
“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies. [...]
“A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District.
According to Nicholson, three other companies — Alliance Resource Partners, Natural Resource Partners, and Blankenship’s Massey Energy — “have already had some theoretical discussions about such an effort and would like to proceed in developing an action plan.” By combining their efforts and forming a 527, these companies could potentially spend millions of dollars to influence the West Virginia races.
Unfortunately, this political intervention by the dirty coal industry may come at the public’s expense. After all, for years, these companies have been lobbying for looser regulations. The results have been tragedies at coal mines, such as the 2006 Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 people; the mine was owned by Nicholson’s International Coal Group and had been cited for 276 safety violations in 2004 and 2005. More recently, an explosion at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia killed 29 people. The Mine Safety and Health Administration had cited Upper Big Branch for more than 3,000 violations — 638 since 2009. In April, two miners died at an Alliance Resources Partners mine that ranked “seventh in the U.S. by the number of ‘significant and substantial‘ violations accrued since January 2009.”
Ironically, one of the candidates this new 527 wants to back — Rand Paul — was hit by his primary opponent for once acknowledging that coal “is a very dirty form of energy.”
Deficit Fraud Shadegg Can’t Name A Single Program He Would Cut To Reduce The Deficit
Monday night, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was pressed by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to identify what programs he would eliminate in order to address the deficit. All Ryan could come up with was repealing the remaining stimulus and TARP funds. By advocating for the elimination of the stimulus, Ryan was endorsing a tax increase on the middle class. However, at least Ryan was able to positively identify something that he would cut.
Today, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) went on MSNBC and put on an even less impressive performance. Mike Barnacle begged Shadegg to identify just one specific program that he would axe, but Shadegg fell back on the conservative tactic of calling for an across the board cut on all programs:
BARNACLE: We have had an endless stream of members of Congress and the United States Senate on here over the past two or three years and whenever they are asked the question, ’specifically, what would you cut to trim spending in the federal government,’ everybody agrees it’s a huge problem, we have to soak our faces in cement here on the set to prevent ourselves from laughing out loud at the non-answers we get. So my question to you, long-winded question here, is, can you please, I’m begging you, give me just one program you’d cut? We’ll start with just one program you’d cut.
SHADEGG: Well, there are lots of programs I would cut. I would begin by an across the board cut on all spending because I think we need to spread this…I’d say five percent across the board tomorrow on every single program, including defense, then you’d begin the process in the right direction.
Watch it:
But an across the board cut makes no attempt to prioritize between vital, necessary programs that people depend upon and unnecessary, wasteful spending. It simply takes the same chunk out of everything. Is Shadegg willing to cut veteran’s health care or Social Security benefits by five percent tomorrow? How about border enforcement, food stamps, homeland security, the FBI, or national park funding? By not providing one single idea, instead opting for a tired talking point, Shadegg shows that he isn’t interested in grappling with any of the realities of the budget.
The Wonk Room has ideas on programs that could be cut.
Joining Other Hypocritical GOP Reps, Petri Flip-Flops And Pledges To Repeal Health Reform With Steve King
Joining Other Hypocritical GOP Reps, Petri Flip-Flops And Pledges To Repeal Health Reform With Steve King
During an interview in July, ThinkProgress asked Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) if he wished to repeal health reform, specifically inquiring if he would join the right-wing “100% repeal” discharge petition circulated by Rep. Steve King (R-IA). Petri, known as a moderate to some, said he would not join King’s effort. “I’m not in favor of repealing every last thing in it,” he explained after a town hall in Mayville, Wisconsin. Watch it:
However, Petri signed King’s discharge petition yesterday to repeal everything in health reform. In doing so, he joined other GOP members, like Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), and Rep. Charles Djou (R-HI), who all similarly said they were not interested in stripping Americans of new health reform subsidies and protections. Those members also signed King’s radical petition to do with away with every last provision of the health reform law.
Reached for comment, Petri spokesman Niel Wright told ThinkProgress that although his boss signed King’s petition, he does not share King’s views on health reform and does not intend “at this time” to sign onto King’s companion health reform repeal bill, H.R. 4972.
ThinkFast: July 28, 2010
ThinkFast: July 28, 2010
The House voted 308-114 yesterday to approve “a major war-funding increase of $33 billion to pay for his surge in Afghanistan.” Twelve Republicans and 102 Democrats opposed the measure; last year, “32 Democrats opposed a similar midyear spending bill.” The vote came after the leak of classified documents on the Afghanistan war and now heads to President Obama for his signature.
800,000 gallons of oil have spilled “into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating wildlife,” following a leak from a pipeline that goes from Indiana to Ontario. Rep. Mark Schauer (D-MI) said the spill is a “public health crisis” and plans to hold hearings on the issue.
A new Natural Resources Defense Council report has found that BP’s Gulf oil spill has not impacted the vast majority of the area’s beaches but is still keeping tourists away. Beach closures have been mainly limited to three areas of Louisiana while “[c]losures or advisories have been issued for 49 of 253 monitored beach sites in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.”
Ignoring a White House veto threat, the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee voted to add $450 million to the defense budget for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Pat Garofalo notes, “Congress’ insistence on funding the wasteful program comes at the same time that deficit hysteria is preventing any and all measures to combat the Great Recession from easily moving on Capitol Hill.”
Two “leading economists wielding complex quantitative models” say they have “empirically proved” that government economic interventions under Presidents Bush and Obama saved the economy. In a new paper, they argue that without the Wall Street bailout, Federal Reserve lending, and Obama’s stimulus package, “the nation’s gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year.”
BP Chairman: Tony Hayward Did A ‘Great Job,’ Ouster Was Simply To Help ‘Rebuild’ The BP ‘Brand’
BP Chairman: Tony Hayward Did A ‘Great Job,’ Ouster Was Simply To Help ‘Rebuild’ The BP ‘Brand’
Over the weekend, news broke that three months after his oil company’s rig set off the largest oil spill in American history, BP CEO Tony Hayward would be stepping down. In his resignation statement, Hayward stressed that, “BP will be a changed company as a result of” its oil spill in the Gulf.
As the Progress Report today details, “Hayward’s departure will mark the end of a disastrous legacy that was spent botching the company’s response to its oil spill in the Gulf.” Almost a month after the gusher released 32 million gallons of toxic oil into the surrounding ocean as well as an unprecedented amount of chemical dispersants, Hayward told Sky News that “the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest.” In May, Hayward told a reporter who asked him about the victims of his company’s oil spill, “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.”
However, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, who has previously told the American public that he cares about the “little people,” appeared on CNBC this morning to celebrate Hayward’s record at BP. “Tony Hayward has done a great job for the company,” Svanberg said proudly. He then admitted to CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo that the change in leadership at BP is simply cosmetic. Hayward’s presence at the company, Svanberg explained, hurt its image, so replacing Hayward was based simply on “rebuild[ing]” the BP “brand and reputation”:
SVANBERG: Tony Hayward has done a great job for the company through his almost thirty years and he has done it very well, greatly as a CEO. He has driven the company’s performance and developed the company in many, many ways. He has also led an unprecedented response in the Gulf of Mexico. But it became obvious to him and to us that in order to rebuild our position, in order to rebuilt our brand and reputation, we needed fresh leadership and that is why we are doing the change.
BARTIROMO: Of course on Hayward’s watch, the company suffered and the country in America suffered the worst environmental disaster ever.
Watch it:
Given the golden parachute pension Hayward received — “an immediate £600,000-a-year ($930,000) pension when he leaves the firm in October” — it’s no wonder his fellow executives at BP think highly of his tenure at the oil conglomerate.
National Organization For Marriage Activist Sign: The ‘Solution To Gay Marriage’ Is Lynching Same-Sex Couples
National Organization For Marriage Activist Sign: The ‘Solution To Gay Marriage’ Is Lynching Same-Sex Couples
The National Organization For Marriage (NOM) has embarked on a disastrous 23-city “Summer for Marriage Tour 2010,” spreading the gospel of one-man-one-woman marriage to tens of supporters and encountering well organized counter protests in almost every city. Yesterday, the The Bilerico Project’s Bil Browning attended a NOM rally in Indianapolis, Indiana and found that while “over 250 LGBT and allied folks protested the rally,” “only 40 fundies showed up.” Among the small crowd of so-called traditional marriage supporters was a man holding a sign reminiscent of the Jim Crowe era. It showed two yellow nooses and a bible passage suggesting that gay couples should be put to death:
Over NOM’s objections, a NOM tour tracker from the Courage Campaign interviewed Larry Adams, the man holding the sign, who revealed that he had struggled with homosexual tendencies before discovering the bible:
NOM STAFFER TO ADAMS: We don’t want anything inflammatory, we’re here in love. [...]
ADAMS: If homosexuality was punished like it was supposed to be, there wouldn’t be so much homosexuality out here….
COURAGE CAMPAIGN: Have you ever had that temptation?
ADAMS: Oh yea…I know it is from the devil so I avoided it….I was all confused myself until about 40 years old and started reading the bible…and now I know what’s right and what’s wrong. The bible says, then I believe it.
Watch it:
Ironically, NOM has been portraying itself as a victim of LGBT activists who claim that the group’s supporters are bigoted or intolerant. During an interview on the Lars Larson show on Thursday — before the Indiana rally — former NOM CEO Maggie Gallagher said she was “really proud of our supporters.” ” If you look at the tape, they remain very peaceful and prayerful and respectful of the law, because that’s who our people are.” LGBT activists “want us treated like racists in the public square and it’s wrong and it should stop.”
Gallagher also criticized LGBT leaders for failing to condemn the counter protesters’ “disruptive” tactics. “I mean, what kind of people do that, first of all, and what kind of movement doesn’t step up and say, ‘No, this isn’t what our movement is about.’
Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.
Hayward: I’m ‘too busy’ to testify to the Senate about the Lockerbie bomber’s release.
Hayward: I’m ‘too busy’ to testify to the Senate about the Lockerbie bomber’s release.
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be holding a hearing on the release of Lockerbie airliner bomb Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, and the role that BP may have played. Today, however, ousted BP CEO Tony Hayward told reporters that he wouldn’t be attending the hearing because he’s “too busy”:
Speaking to journalists at the company’s London headquarters, Hayward claimed that he had been unfairly “demonised and vilified” in the US where Barack Obama and other politicians have been severely critical of BP’s actions and taken exception to some of Hayward’s public comments. [...]
But Hayward said today he could not go [to the hearing] because “I have got a busy week [in the office]“. BP said it would send another representative to testify at the hearing.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was infuriated by Hayward’s reply, stating, “It is apparently more important to BP and Mr Hayward to focus on his multimillion dollar golden parachute than to help answer serious questions about whether the company advocated trading blood for oil.” Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and former British justice secretary Jack Straw have also declined to show up.
Bye Bye, Matt Corley!
Bye Bye, Matt Corley!
From the moment that Matt arrived at our offices for his interview wearing an American flag tie and excitedly talking about his passion for blogs, we knew that he would be a perfect fit for our team. And for the past three years, he worked hard to bring you stories of interest and importance. Now, however, Matt is off to earn his masters degree in political science at George Washington University.
During his time at ThinkProgress, Matt imposed a measure of accountability on right-wing hate radio, had a careful ear for the deceptions of Fox News pundits, and learned to spot interesting angles for stories that others would miss. His warm sense of humor, enthusiasm for the news, and friendship will be missed around the office. A look at some of Matt’s greatest hits:
REPORT: GOP Lawmakers Outnumber Democratic Lawmakers 2 To 1 In Stimulus Debate On Cable News [Link]
John Gibson Mocks ‘Weirdo’ Heath Ledger’s Death: ‘He Found Out How To Quit You’ [Link]
Steele on judges with ‘empathy’: ‘I’ll give you empathy. Empathize right on your behind!’ [Link]
Conservatives Attack Gay Dumbledore; Claim Vindication For Jerry Falwell’s Homophobia [Link]
Feeney Covered Up True Cost Of Abramoff Junket [Link]
Wallace Responds To Cokie Roberts’ Criticism By Joking About Her Watching Kristol Crawl Around In A Dog Collar [Link]
Beck, A Self-Proclaimed Heir To Civil Rights Movement, Promotes Quotes By Anti-Civil Rights Ezra Taft Benson [Link]
Hagee Says Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was ‘Planning A Sinful’ ‘Homosexual Rally’ [Link]
Hans Von Spakovsky 101: How To Suppress The Vote Like A Pro [Link]
ThinkProgress Interviews O’Reilly Hit Man Jesse Watters [Link]
We wish Matt the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Gingrich Calls NYC Mosque Supporters ‘Hostile To Our Civilization’
Gingrich Calls NYC Mosque Supporters ‘Hostile To Our Civilization’
Last week, Newt Gingrich joined in on the right-wing freak out over plans to build a mosque and Muslim community center near the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City. Strangely arguing that the U.S. should model itself after a non-democratic country, Gingrich said in a statement, “There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.”
Last night on Fox News, Gingrich seemed to stand by that claim, reiterating, “I’d love to have these folks say, ‘Let’s build a church and a synagogue in Mecca, or rather in Saudi Arabia, and that would balance off our having an interfaith mosque.’” Gingrich went on to say that the organizations behind the project — which are based in New York — are “hostile to our civilization”:
VAN SUSTEREN: The interesting thing is that Sarah Palin came out against it. And Mayor Bloomberg responded, saying that the — that efforts to derail the mosque are un-American.
GINGRICH: See, and I just think that’s baloney. … I like Mike a lot. He’s a very good mayor. I don’t know why he’s taking this position. The idea of a 13-story building set up by a group many of whom, frankly, are very hostile to our civilization — and I’m talking now about the people who organized this, many of whom are apologists for sharia, which is a form of law that I think we cannot allow in this country, period.
Watch it:
TPM’s Eric Kleefeld notes that, in the same interview, Gingrich signaled that a mosque near Central Park would be more appropriate than one near Ground Zero. Matt Yglesias responds by trying to map out the “mosque exclusion zone.”
The downtown Manhattan mosque and community center project is a collaboration between the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and the Cordoba Initiative, both of which seek “to elevate the discourse on Islam” and bring “together leaders across the Muslim-West divide to speak out for innovative, proactive, and positive solutions to challenges we share.” And as Van Susteren noted, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg recently offered support for their effort:
What is great about America and particularly New York is we welcome everybody, and if we are so afraid of something like this, what does that say about us? Democracy is stronger than this. You know the ability to practice your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded. And for us to just say no is just, I think, not appropriate is a nice way to phrase it.
In fact, other city and state politicians stood by ASMA founder Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s project. “This is precisely where this kind of center for peace and place of worship should rise up,” New York City Comptroller John Liu said. Moreover, 46 percent of Manhattan voters support the proposal while 36 percent opposed. So according to Gingrich’s logic, these New Yorkers are also by extension “hostile to our civilization.”
Poll: Public favors Obama’s economic policies over Bush’s by wide margin.
Poll: Public favors Obama’s economic policies over Bush’s by wide margin.
As congressional Republicans double down on President Bush’s failed economic policies, a new National Journal/Pew Research poll finds that Americans believe President Obama’s “policies offer a better chance at improving the economy over the policies of his predecessor.” Interestingly, more Democrats favor Obama’s policies than Republicans favor Bush’s, while independents overwhelming side with Obama. Overall, despite continued tough economic times, 46 percent of Americans say Obama’s policies will do more to improve the economy, compared to just 29 percent who say the same of Bush’s:
The poll also found that only 30 percent of Americans support retaining all the Bush tax cuts, while a similar portion believe they should all be allowed to expire. Twenty-seven percent favor repealing the tax cuts for wealthy, while maintaining the rest, as the Obama administration has proposed.
Big Oil Apologist Haley Barbour Raises More Than $2 Million In Oil Money For RGA
Big Oil Apologist Haley Barbour Raises More Than $2 Million In Oil Money For RGA
Our guest blogger is Joshua Dorner, Communications Director for Progressive Media.
Thanks to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s (R) prodigious fundraising, which continued apace even the very same day the oil slick reached Mississippi, the Republican Governors Association was able to raise an astonishing $19 million last quarter. A ThinkProgress review of RGA documents recently filed with the Internal Revenue Service reveals that a significant portion of last quarter’s haul—more than $2,000,000—came from oil and gas industry interests, including:
$1,000,000 from infamous right-wing oil billionaire and tea party-funder David Koch. $250,000 from Devon Energy $150,000 from Chevron $100,000 from ExxonMobil $100,000 from Hunt Oil $25,000 from Marathon Oil $25,000 each from Bollinger Shipyards and the president of Gilbert Cheramie Boat, both of which provide support services to the offshore oil drilling industry.
Barbour is no stranger to raking in huge sums of money from Big Oil and other polluters. He raised some $1.8 million in campaign cash from the oil and gas industries during his 2003 and 2007 gubernatorial campaigns. During his two cycles as chairman of the Republican National Committee in the 90s, the oil and gas industry contributed $30 million to the RNC — nearly three times as much as it gave to Democrats during the same period. He also maintained extremely close ties to dirty energy interests when he was one of Washington D.C.’s most prominent corporate lobbyists, representing some of the nation’s largest polluters. As Mississippi governor, he has remained an outspoken opponent of clean energy policies.
As BP’s oil rolled onto the beaches of the Gulf Coast and the cash rolled into the RGA, Barbour consistently and conspicuously downplayed the significance of the BP disaster. After skipping two meetings with President Obama, he went on to argue that the Obama administration’s common-sense moratorium on deepwater drilling was worse than the spill itself. And before eventually backtracking, Barbour complained that the $20 billion escrow fund BP agreed to setup “bother[ed]” him because it might cut into BP’s profits.
One wonders whether it’s a coincidence that all of the large donations listed above came in after Barbour began downplaying the significance of the disaster. The Biloxi Sun-Herald, which twice endorsed Barbour for governor, wrote that Barbour’s “underestimation” of the oil disaster left had left Mississippi’s Gulf Coast “more vulnerable” than that of neighboring states. The paper also called his decision to continue fundraising during “these days of crisis” “questionable, even troubling.”
Only 1.38 percent of Fox News’ primetime viewers are African-American.
Only 1.38 percent of Fox News’ primetime viewers are African-American.
While working on his article published yesterday in the New York Times highlighting the right-wing media’s “misleading coverage,” reporter Brian Stelter did some background research into cable news viewership demographics. While he didn’t include the findings in his story, he found them notable enough to publish on Twitter. The Huffington Post summarizes the results:
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter tweeted that, according to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News has averaged just 29,000 black viewers in primetime so far this television season (9/09-7/10). That represents just 1.38% of its 2.102 million total viewer audience.
CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, both have far more black viewers, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of their overall audiences.
Fox’s coverage of race hasn’t done anything to attract an African-American audience. Their “long history of aggressive race-baiting and racially charged commentary” has perhaps alienated many of their viewers. As Stelter reported in his article, “The National Association of Black Journalists has faulted Fox for years for inaccurately portraying blacks.” The group recently condemned the channel for their “lack of due diligence” on the Shirley Sherrod story. The group’s criticism came on the heels of Fox News contributor slamming Fox host Megyn Kelly being slammed on air for “doing the ’scary black man thing’” with her coverage of the New Black Panthers Party faux scandal.
Birther Radio Host Confronts Ken Buck, Who Refuses To Apologize To All The ‘Dumbasses’ Out There
Birther Radio Host Confronts Ken Buck, Who Refuses To Apologize To All The ‘Dumbasses’ Out There
Colorado GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck appeared on Denver’s talk radio station KHOW. Buck responded to the controversy surrounding his taped admission that there are some “dumbasses” in the tea parties who adamantly believe that President Obama was not born in the United States.
KHOW host Peter Boyles — an avid birther himself who believes that there is a “high degree of probability” that Obama is a dual citizen of the United States and Kenya — conducted the interview. Buck said while he wished that he hadn’t been caught making that statement, “I spoke my mind on the subject.”
When pressed to give his personal views on the legitimacy of the birther conspiracy, Buck disassociated himself from the birther movement. “I think the President has provided evidence that he was born in the United States, and I don’t think the issue itself is going anywhere,” Buck said. “Why call these people dumbasses for asking you questions?” Boyles asked angrily. Buck responded that his frustration with the birther “dumbasses” is that they “dominate meetings to the point where I can’t talk about issues that I think are more important and more relevant.” At the end of interview, Buck refused to offer an apology for his comment:
BOYLES: Do you apologize for saying they’re dumbasses?
BUCK: I have said I wish I had chosen different words, yes.
BOYLES: That’s not an apology. […] Do you say, “Gee, dumbasses, I’m sorry.” That’d be great. They’d feel good.
BUCK: Well I gotta tell you. There’s seven or eight people out there, and I’m not apologizing to them. I think they were rude to me in meetings and the other people that were in the meetings, and you know, it was a very limited group.
Listen here:
Ironically, by arrogantly and self-assuredly promoting the birther conspiracy, Boyles acted just like the typical “dumbasses” Buck was complaining about.
Over the course of the interview, Boyles doggedly persisted in trying to get Buck to sympathize with the birthers, presenting one “fact” after another. “I don’t know where he was born, I don’t know what he was born,” Boyles said, adding “there are enormous problems in the so-called nativity story of Barack Obama. He has lived almost fifty years without leaving any footprints.” Boyles ultimately forced Buck to agree that “there are enormous questions with this.”
Blankenship’s Dirty Coal Money Pollutes West Virginia Congressional Races
Blankenship’s Dirty Coal Money Pollutes West Virginia Congressional Races
Don Blankenship is notorious in West Virginia, and he’s gained increased recognition nationally following the deadly explosion at his company’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV, the worst U.S. coal disaster in 40 years. As the chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, Blankenship is an anti-regulatory, science-denying, unrepentant right-wing capitalist coal baron. Just as significantly, he wields tremendous political power in West Virginia and even bought a state Supreme Court seat in 2004. As Ian Millhiser explained last year:
When West Virginia coal overlord Don Blankenship’s company lost a $50 million verdict to one of its competitors, Blankenship set out to buy a judge. Rather than appeal his case to a fair tribunal, Blankenship spent $3 million to elect a friendly lawyer to the West Virginia Supreme Court, even running ads accusing the lawyer’s opponent of voting to free an incarcerated child rapist, and of allowing that rapist to work in a public school. Once elected by a Blankenship-funded campaign, the newly-minted justice cast the deciding vote overturning the verdict against Blankenship’s company.
In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that justice is not for sale, ruling that Blankenship’s judge, Brent Benjamin, should have recused himself because the conflict of interest was so “extreme.” (Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas dissented.)
Blankenship is now trying to extend his control of the federal government by getting involved in West Virginia’s congressional elections, via Republican candidates Spike Maynard and David McKinley. As the AP reported on Sunday:
Blankenship contributed $4,800 to Elliott “Spike” Maynard, the Democrat-turned-Republican running in the 3rd U.S. House District, during the three-month reporting period that ended June 30. David McKinley, the GOP’s 1st District nominee, received $2,400 from Blankenship. [...]
Upper Big Branch, located in the 3rd District, is likely to play a role in the Rahall-Maynard contest. Around $21,000 of Maynard’s money during the quarter came from Massey employees, Blankenship’s family and former political operatives including [Greg] Thomas. All told, around one-third of Maynard’s individual contributions came from the energy sector. That amount includes $15,200 from 19 executives or employees of International Coal Group.
Maynard’s relationship with Blankenship is especially tight. In 2006, when Maynard was chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and Massey Energy had millions of dollars of cases pending before the court, Maynard and Blankenship went on an expensive vacation in the French Riviera together. A fellow justice said he was “outraged” by Maynard’s impropriety. Later that year, Maynard voted with the majority in favor of Massey. Watch an ABC News report on their relationship here. (When ABC tried to talk to Blankenship for the story, he said, “If you’re going to start taking pictures of me, you’re liable to get shot,” and tried to tear off the camera’s viewfinder.)
McKinley has hired Greg Thomas to assist his campaign. Previously, Thomas “helped oversee that 2004 spending and other Blankenship-funded political campaigns” and has been described as the former “chief political consultant” for Blankenship. In the past, Thomas aided Maynard’s Supreme Court re-election bid.
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