On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a teacher from Racine refused an award because it was given to him by Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.). The same Paul Ryan who has perpetually been adamantly against [...]]]>

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a teacher from Racine refused an award because it was given to him by Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.). The same Paul Ryan who has perpetually been adamantly against extending unemployment benefits for the unemployed workers in his district(which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country), protections for General Motors and thousands of other American jobs and also has his sites set on dismantling Social Security and Medicare as we know it.

Al Levie had this to say about his refusal of the award from Pink Slip Paulie:

“I would not accept the award from Paul Ryan because Paul Ryan is a lackey for the 1 percent,” he said. “Paul Ryan had no business at a Martin Luther King event, it’s totally hypocritical. On the one hand he votes to slash health care, while on the other hand, King dedicated his life and he died for it, for people to have adequate healthcare, to have adequate jobs.”

“King made it very clear that he was on the side of working people,” he continued. “Ryan on the other hand, he has absolutely no affinity for the working class and for him to come to an event where somebody of King’s stature was honored is wrong.”

This tremendously upset the right wing as people like the rights brilliant orator Andy "go to hell" Breitbart labeled this "Liberal Hate".

No way that Paul Ryan (R-$350 bottles of wine) would ever treat anyone with such contempt, right?

Packer/Badger Schedule anyone?

Paul Ryan (R – Wall St.) had his 42nd birthday and his many admirers at Fox “news” could not let the occasion go by without letting the congressman ( who used to live in Janesville) know how [...]]]> H/T Democrumudgeon! Speaking of things that need to be shared, this definitely qualifies!

Paul Ryan (R – Wall St.) had his 42nd birthday and his many admirers at Fox “news” could not let the occasion go by without letting the congressman ( who used to live in Janesville) know how much they love him.

I am not very sure how to take this:

* is it a sign of respect for how much of a fan of Wall St. that Paul Ryan is?

* Is the fact that he wont eat it a sign that he is truly living up the the saying “Let them eat cake!”?

* Did Fox put the dollar sign on it because that is the only way to get his attention?

* Is he so arrogant that he does not think he will ever lose so photo ops like this will not matter?

* Except for eating a corn dog at the county fair, Ryan could not have had a worse picture taken.

* Does Chris Wallace have a neutral bone in his body? His father must be so ashamed!

* www.robzerban.com

* Does Ryan “not eat sweets” because they interfere with the taste of a $350 bottle of wine?

* Here is the perfect campaign picture for Paul Ryan this year:

1. Five Missouri State democratic legislators(four of which are African American women) found rifle crosshair [...]]]> Here are a list of links about your Republican party that need to be shared, but that I did not have the time, patience or inclination to go into more detail. They however really do speak for themselves!

1. Five Missouri State democratic legislators(four of which are African American women) found rifle crosshair stickers on the office doors.

2. In Arizona(yes Jan Brewer's AZ) a police SARGENT posted a picture on facebook of a bullet riddled T-shirt with President Obama's picture on it!

The Secret Service is investigating an Arizona police officer over a picture he posted on Facebook that appeared to show President Barack Obama riddled with bullets.

Peoria’s Sgt. Pat Shearer admitted to KNXV that he took the photo of several young men — possibly minors — posing with guns and an Obama “Hope” T-shirt that had been destroyed by gunfire. The photo went viral after Shearer posted it to his Facebook page.

“Another trip to the ranch,” read the caption on the photo, according to Phoenix New Times. Comments on the photo included, “Damn it feels good to be a gangsta,” and, “They look like Gangsta’s huh?”

Two of the young men are holding what appears to be assault rifles and another is sporting a pistol.

“I don’t think that the shooting of that T-shirt is that big of a deal,” Shearer said. “It was more of a political statement.”

3. Anti American extremist Grover Norquist says that if President Obama does not extend the Bush tax cuts, he will have him impeached:

NJ: What if the Democrats still have control? What’s your scenario then?

NORQUIST: Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

Let’s make absolutely sure the republicans do not have the senate!!

4. Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum sought to limit malpractice awards for everyone but his wife(I know color me surprised):

On the campaign trail, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he will push to limit payments to victims in medical malpractice lawsuits, which he blames for unnecessarily driving up health-care costs. And over the course of his two decades in politics, he repeatedly spoke in favor of capping such awards.

But Santorum testified in support of his wife when she filed a medical malpractice suit in 1999 that sought $500,000, twice the cap in his 1994 legislative proposal. Karen Santorum claimed that a Fairfax chiropractor had left her with a permanent back injury that probably would result in a lifetime of pain medication and restricted mobility.

5. Leaders from the Catholic church have sent a letter to Republican presidential contenders Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, and asked them “to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.”

Catholic leaders issued a letter Friday to GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, themselves Catholics, urging them “to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.”

The letter, signed by 45 Catholic leaders says:

Mr. Gingrich has frequently attacked President Obama as a “food stamp president” and claimed that African Americans are content to collect welfare benefits rather than pursue employment. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Santorum remarked: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.”

“At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can’t address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting,” the letter adds.

“This statement is urging prominent Catholics in the race to go back and look at church teaching,” John Gehring, the Catholic outreach coordinator at Faith in Public Life, tells The Florida Independent, adding “that the letter is also about poverty.”

“The Catholic bishops have been incredibly important in raising a prophetic voice that really challenges those who think that the free market alone can sort of solve our economic problems,” Gehring says.

“You have Catholic conservative leaders, like John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and they’ve all been looking to dismantle vital social safety nets,” Gehring says.

The minimum ticket price for the event is $125, a price [...]]]> Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who last year demonstrated his elitist tastes for $350 bottles of wine, is hosting a luncheon fundraiser in a wine store for Republican State Sen. Van Wanggaard, who’ll find himself on a recall election ballot in short order.

The minimum ticket price for the event is $125, a price that no doubt is far too steep for many of Wanggaard’s constituents, given the fact that the City of Racine, which falls in Wanggaard’s State Senate district, has the highest unemployment rate in the state.

No doubt we can expect to see Paul Ryan and Van Wanggaard cracking open a few $350 bottles of wine while they toast to all they have failed to accomplish during their collective time in office.

H/T to the Root River Siren.

Here is an “its working” billboard on the grounds of the shuttered GM plant in Janesville. How classy. By the way if your wondering why [...]]]> Not sure who had the unmitigated gall to place this billboard at this specific location, but I would say that Governor Walker owes the city of Janesville an apology!

Photo courtesy Robert Naatz

Here is an “its working” billboard on the grounds of the shuttered GM plant in Janesville. How classy. By the way if your wondering why the GM plant shut down? ask Paul Ryan he promised to always keep it open. As for the billboard, I thought Government did NOT create jobs yet our Governor is taking credit for creating jobs?

But nowhere is the disdain for organized labor more evident than on the Republican presidential campaign trail. Never in the modern history of the Republican Party, which [...]]]> The Nation and Madison’s own John Nichols, has a great column out about the republican presidential primary, their love for Scott Walker and hatred of unions.

But nowhere is the disdain for organized labor more evident than on the Republican presidential campaign trail. Never in the modern history of the Republican Party, which once made a serious effort to compete with Democrats for labor endorsements and the votes of union members, has a field of GOP presidential candidates been so united and so aggressive in opposing collective-bargaining rights for public-sector and private-sector workers.

Well we know that the economy is down and many places are broke so that we need to knock down the “haves” of public employees down to their private sector counterparts. Things are so bad, Wall St. employees are threatening to quit unless they get record bonuses.

Hold on now, before we start a fundraiser for Wall St. executives,(save your charity for Sean Duffy he needs it), while bonuses may be down, total compensation, which includes salaries, benefits and bonuses, is on track to exceed 2010 levels at seven big banks. I am breathing easier, now that I know the Big Banks, who are job creators and victims, will be paying record bonuses. If anyone deserves it, its them! I mean it’s not like they have needed any help from "the taxpayers" of this country. Oops! Move along, nothing to see here.

We all know that teachers and other public employees, make more than their private sector counterparts. NOT THEM! They don't count they work harder than everyone else in America! I was talking about this part of the private sector. 16 million children living in poverty in the US and teachers have the nerve to think they can have health care AND cable TV? Those greedy bastards. No wonder the right wing ideologues hate our teachers so.

Here are a couple of interesting videos:

Wall St. Bonuses exceed aid to Africa!

Scott Pellys expose on 60 Minutes!

And the crazy liberals like to cry “class warfare” when there is absolutely NO proof of it. EVeryone knows that these families could all be drinking $350 bottles of wine, if they would only work harder!!

Cantor was speaking with interviewer Lesley Stahl, who asked if he was ready to start compromising with Democrats on taxes. Cantor said he was indeed “ready to [...]]]> House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Hypocrisy), was on 60 Minutes this week and turned the simplest questions into an adventure(enough so to make Sarah Palin proud).

Cantor was speaking with interviewer Lesley Stahl, who asked if he was ready to start compromising with Democrats on taxes. Cantor said he was indeed “ready to cooperate,” but then hedged his response.

“But what’s the difference between compromise and cooperate?” Stahl asked.

“I would say cooperate is ‘Let’s look to where we can move things forward to where we agree,” Cantor said. “Compromising principles, you don’t want to ask anybody to do that. That’s who they are as their core being.”

Stahl then mentioned to Cantor how his “idol” Reagan compromised his principles by raising taxes during his presidency. Cantor tried to deflect the focus by mentioning that Reagan cut taxes, but Stahl reiterated her point.

Upset at the reporter, Cantor’s press secretary yelled off camera, “That’s not true, and I don’t want to let that stand.”

No matter if Cantor, his staff or conservatives at-large want to deny that Reagan raised taxes, what Stahl said is completely true.

After his huge tax cut in 1981 slashed all tax rates to 23 percent, sparking a budget crisis, Reagan realized he’d also have to raise taxes in the years that followed. He raised taxes four times between 1982 to 1984, increasing the payroll tax, broadening the base of Social Security payees, applying the income tax to higher earners and rolling back corporate and individual tax breaks.

So the question is how do you reason & compromise, with someone who has absolutely NO grasp on reality?? How can someone who does not even understand he basic facts of his “hero” be relied upon to move our great country FORWARD? There are people that actually vote for him? Is there a difference between Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan? Are there a group of people doing more damage to our country right now than congressional Republicans?

Here is the full interview:

Here is the Ronald Reagan dodge and denial of reality:

Here is more Eric Cantor's blatant hypocrisy!

Sometimes it seems that a 9% approval rating for Congress is way too high! It is quite clear that the Republicans who like to tout themselves as the party of Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln would not welcome either to the current party!