Submitted by pmcarpenter on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 7:49am.
THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter
"President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Washington have rebranded themselves as the party of economic irresponsibility."
Thus wrote, in a ruthless affront to recent history, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.
It came in the third paragraph of a rather compressed, possibly hurried, five-paragraphs-long NY Times op-ed this Thursday morning, in which the author was celebrating this week's birth of a "New Republican Party," in venues such as Virginia. How did Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell do it? How did he pull it off in the wake of a massively Democratic 2008 and the state's previously rapid purpling?
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Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 5:41pm.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT On the same day Cigna posted a 92 percent increase in 3rd quarter profits, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) released the following statement condemning Cigna for its opposition to health care reform. "Cigna opposes urgently needed health care reform, and today we know why. Millions of Americans are struggling to provide health care for their families, while Cigna today reported its third quarter profits had soared, nearly doubling. For Cigna, maintaining the status is a good thing – for America, it would be a disaster." "Our health care reform bill helps the families and businesses that need affordable health care and want to stop price-gouging by insurers." The Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, includes a number of provisions to prevent price-gouging and ensure premiums are reasonable. It requires publicly-disclosed justification of all premium increases before they go into effect and includes provisions, authored by Rep. Schakowsky, that require rate review of premiums so that excessive increases are denied.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 4:47pm.
Ordinary, average, struggling Americans might be scratching their heads over the news today, as the Labor Department reports that unemployment is up by four-tenths of a percent for the month to a record 10.2%, fully three-tenths of a percent higher than economists had been forecasting, and stocks do what? Rise by a quarter of a percent!
What's going on here?
Well, the tube analysts are quick to say, unemployment figures are a "lagging" indicator. That is, employment generally lags the overall economy, with layoffs coming after a recession kicks in, and hiring waits until a recovery is well underway.
But that isn't true with a deep recession such as this one, because at some point -- and we're well past that point -- high and prolonged unemployment leads to reduced demand for goods and services, and to a psychology of fear and consumer withdrawal. Once people feel that they aren't going to find a new job soon, and once those who still have jobs feel their employment is not secure, they no longer buy things except what they absolutely need. And in an economy where fully 72% of economic activity is consumer spending, that is no longer a "lagging indicator." High, prolonged unemployment becomes a causal factor in the economic downturn.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 3:37pm.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT From the office of Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on her amendnent to the PATRIOT Act, originally passed in 2001. Continuing its consideration of the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845), the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed on a voice vote an amendment offered by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to further rein in abuses of the 2001 PATRIOT Act and restore constitutional checks and balances. H.R. 3845 reauthorizes, until December 31, 2013, two sections of the 2001 PATRIOT Act, but adds important modifications designed to balance the government's need to conduct valuable national security investigations and the protection of Americans' privacy interests. It also allows the controversial so-called "Lone Wolf" provision, which the Justice Department testified has never been used, to sunset at the end of this year.
Submitted by meg on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 1:35pm.
BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White There's an internal and external fight over the direction of atheism. That the conflict between so-called "new atheism" and standard-bearers of the movement was a topic of discussion at the Atheist Alliance International annual convention is no surprise. But why were "high-profile defendants of faith convened" at Brigham Young University last month in search of a response to new atheism? To get an idea of what religious experts are saying about this new movement, let's take a look at the "Think Again" segment of Foreign Policy magazine this month. Though the feature generally comes off as a provocative and thoughtful look at conventional wisdom, the latest submission has a ways to go in terms of challenging the status quo. Karen Armstrong, an author of numerous books on religion, takes umbrage with the insistence of these so-called new atheists that God is dead, should be uninvolved in political affairs, breeds violence and intolerance, is the opiate of the masses, is misogynistic, the enemy of science and incompatible with democracy.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:40pm.
BUZZFLASH MAILBAG Want to join the conversation? Share your thoughts with other Mailbag readers by clicking here. You also may comment below; post articles yourself at BuzzFlash.net; or send urls for BuzzFlash to post to: www.buzzflash.com/contact/newstip.html. Subject: Bachmann A message to Bachman and her supporters It’s with great interest I watch the rabid right wing hold a press conference {sic} where there is a call for revolution against the elected government of the United States. This is not only appalling, but in my opinion treason, and the press is derelict to not call it such. To her and her 4,000 bused in supporters I would like to take this opportunity to tell them, real Americans will not stand by and watch as you try to take over our elected government, so tread lightly. If you want to change what you don't like do it at the polls, not through threats of violence as you may find violence met with violence and it seems there are more of us who are happy with our government then there are of you. I fought in Vietnam for the right of free speech, however free speech comes with a duty not to subvert the elected process of the U.S., so how bout we cut this crap out now and get on with our obligation to take care of Americans instead of kicking our fellow citizens when they are down. Thanks Buzz for letting me vent Trapped in red TN. Robert
Harrison TN
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:30pm.
MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON Buzz Flash, Misers Thief: Don't make a move, this is a stick-up! Jack Benny: What? Thief: You heard me. Benny: Mister . . . Mister, put down that gun. Thief: Shut up . . . Now, come on . . . your money or your life. (Long pause) Look bud, I said: Your money or your life. Benny: I'm thinking . . . "The Jack Benny Show," NBC-Radio, 1948 Divide and conquer. Isn't that what the plantation owners did at sometime during the 1600s when they became worried that the thousands of Indian, white and black slaves might band together and take over the plantations? So, they devised ways to get the slaves to hate or despise one another. Separate the masses? Well, the Republican Party has being doing so since Nixon. Pitting American citizens against their fellow Americans. People should be responsible for their own behavior and judged accordingly. Not because of the color of their skin. Not because of their sexuality. Not because of where they are from, but because of who they are or their own actions . . . and that leaves us with those who voted against gay marriage in Maine. Those people voted against the happiness and well being of people that they don't even know or could never understand because of their narrow minded approach to people who are different from themselves.
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 12:17pm.
BARBARA'S DAILY BUZZFLASH MINUTE So much for a Repuglican healthcare plan and the Repuglican Party! -- " The GOP Health Care Plan: A Cruel Joke...the Republican Party thinks the solution is a health care plan that gives MORE leeway to insurance companies? The one thing that all Americans agree on is that people shouldn't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, right? Right, everyone except the Republican Party. The Party of No wants insurance companies to be able to continue a practice that results in thousands of premature deaths each year, especially amongst children....the leading Republican spokesperson for their new plan, Congressman John Boehner has pocketed nearly a million dollars from the insurance special interests." It's business as usual for the Party of NO! Repuglicans are the schlemiels in our government! If you don't believe me, have a long look around and you'll find an America that resulted from 8 long long years of Repuglicans. No jobs, eternal wars, economic hell, yep that's the Repuglicans doing what they do best, disaster, and disaster is what they want to continue! Don't show me anything Repuglican and expect any kudos! By definition a schlemiel is -- a person who habitually fails, a screw up, a bungler, a dolt, a Repuglican!
Submitted by mark karlin on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 9:59am.
BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG By Mark Karlin Over nearly 10 years, BuzzFlash has repeatedly received e-mails and letters from readers thanking us for helping them by offering articles that dispel the right wing/centrist mainstream media myths. During the Bush years, many a time people wrote something akin to "I don't know how I would have survived with my sanity intact without you." Since I only have a salary of $22,500 a year, these are the rewards of our work. But who do I go to in order to make sure that I maintain my sanity? Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show." In fact, it is the only program I watch with any regularity on television. (Alas, the cable package that includes MSNBC costs more, so I watch Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann in the day-after clips.)
Submitted by findingavoice on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 9:29am.
FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow
The mainstream media has a tendency to talk about news sources as if they were just expressing opposing views of a given issue, even though it should be apparent by now that nothing of the sort is true. There are even those in the general population who acquiesce in some tortured sense of fairness to the notion that Sean Hannity on Fox is stating an opinion on the right just as Keith Olbermann on MSNBC does on the left. The difference is, however, that on Fox opinion is propped up by opinion whereas on programs that maintain some sense of integrity opinion is informed by factual material.
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