Romney attacking Obama for same Medicare provision Paul Ryan endorsed

As always when dealing with Mitt Romney, things are a little uncomfortable:

With Paul Ryan as his vice presidential nominee, Mitt Romney’s central argument pushing back against critics of the House budget chief’s Medicare plan is that President Obama cut deep into Medicare under the Affordable Care Act. But Ryan’s plan includes the same cuts, which don’t target beneficiaries.

“Unlike the current president, who has cut Medicare funding by $700 billion, we will preserve and protect Medicare and Social Security,” Romney said Saturday while introducing Ryan.

The trouble with this argument — made frequently by Republicans, including Ryan himself — is that Republicans have voted overwhelmingly for Ryan’s own budget which sustains the Medicare cuts in “Obamacare.” Conservatives argue that Ryan’s plan, unlike the Affordable Care Act, doesn’t use the Medicare savings to fund additional spending.

Add to that the inconvenient fact that Obama didn't cut Medicare, he reduced Medicare waste while preserving the same benefits. And in any case, Paul Ryan did the same thing in his budget. Yet Romney, oddly, still picked him as his VIP. Read the rest of this post...

The gay Republican fetish

Log Cabin Republicans is the main gay GOP group - they recently endorsed Paul Ryan as VP, even though Ryan doesn't support any pro-gay policies at all. Well, our own Chris Andoe had something to say about that.

Few fetishes are as odd or as kinky, however, as the increasingly visible "Log Cabin fetish" sweeping the nation.

Until recently "Logging," as those in the lifestyle call it, was a discrete affair. Gay men would quietly develop Fox News addictions, sitting for hours in the privacy of their own homes, whispering to O'Reilly and Hannity: "That's right...tell me I'm a BAD BOY!"

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Video: Eva Cassidy's 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'

An amazing version if you've never heard it before.  Eva Cassidy was little known until after her death at 33 of skin cancer.  By random chance her version of this was played on the BBC and folks went wild. Then, I think this actual video was played on another BBC TV show, and her international fame was sealed. From what I can glean from Wikipedia, this video, below, was taken at Blues Alley in DC in January of 1996, the same year that she died (I believe it's the same video shown by the BBC).  Seriously, watch this video.

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Temps to increase 11°F by 2100; "That’s basically Miami Beach in Boston"

UPDATE: A complete list of climate series pieces is available here:
The Climate series: a reference post.
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While I'm working on the climate catastrophe "solutions" posts, I want to offer this. Many believe that we can "tech our way out" of global warming. That somehow technology is the answer.

And just as soon as we (people of earth) decide to actually make a change, voilà — our smarts will give us the equivalent of google glasses. Call it, "google instant carbon scrubber." Aren't Our Betters wonderful? They'll show up with a pony, just when we need one.

Seriously, counting on Daddy (Mr. Koch and his well-meaning friends) to save us is why we're in this mess.

In fact, relying on Daddy is the route to catastrophe — extinction. According to the director of the IEA (International Energy Agency), no pony for us (my emphases and paragraphing):

No magic bullet will solve all of today's energy challenges, IEA Director says

During an interview with the makers of Switch, a documentary which explores what role energy will play in the future, Ambassador Richard H. Jones warned that if energy policies do not adapt, enough carbon dioxide will be being emitted to reach 1,000 parts per million in the atmosphere.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC, which we've quoted extensively] that equates to 6º Celsius [11°F] increase in temperature by the end of this century. “That’s basically Miami Beach in Boston,” he said.

The IEA’s Deputy Executive Director stressed that there is no single solution that will combat climate change and address all of today’s other energy challenges.

“There is no one magic bullet. There is no one technology you need, because the world is different in different places. In some places solar is great because the sun shines all the time … In some places it’s really windy all the time, and that’s great for wind [power]. In other places the wind is too variable or the winds aren’t strong enough. You’ve got to do a real cradle to grave analysis,” he said.

So to recap (again):

• If we STOP NOW, we still get 1.5°C (3°F) global warming. Half has already occurred; half is in the pipeline. (Had enough? More on the way.)
  
  
• Elite consensus says warming above 2°C (3½°F) is a problem we can't afford (James Hansen: "a prescription for long-term disaster").
  
  
• At 3°C (5½°F) there's a mass extinction scenario for 20–50% of species living today.
  
  
• We're on track for up to 7°C (12½°F). That's what delay — serving the rich — will get us. My prediction — life on earth retreats to the sea.

One more county heard from — 1000 ppm CO2 in the air; 6°C warming by 2100.

Here's what 1000 ppm looks like in 2100. This is weeks per year above 100°F.

Translate that to months, starting in the south and moving through the growing regions of the Midwest:

• Phoenix — 5 months per year above 100°F.
• California central valley — 4–5 months per year.
• All of the south, including Texas except near the Atlantic — 3–5 months per year.
• Nebraska — 3 months per year.
• South Dakota — 2 months per year.
• North Dakota & Minnesota — 1 month per year above 100°F.

How do you grow anything in that heat? If we don't stop putting carbon into the air, this is our future and that of our grandchildren.

Quoting Mr. Jones:

No magic bullet.

We have to take this on ourselves. More soon.

GP

To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius Read the rest of this post...

Romney demanded "several" years tax returns from Ryan, only gave us 1.5 years

The arrogance.

Mitt Romney required Paul Ryan to provide "several years" of his tax returns in order to be vetted for the vice presidential slot.

But in order to vet Mitt Romney for the presidential slot, he's only provided the public 1.5 years worth of tax returns.

Putting aside the question of whether Romney didn't even pay taxes for ten years, as is rumored, how could he think to get away with asking Ryan for more tax returns than he himself is providing?

Arrogance.  That's how.  The Romneys are better than us.  And only the little people release their taxes. Read the rest of this post...