"Are you saying, as part of your budget, you assume the repeal of Obamacare?," Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Sunday. "Yes," Mr. Ryan answered. "That's not going to happen," Mr. Wallace later commented. Y'know, it 's SO much easier to balance a budget when you're able to use facts that don't exist. Just cut out billions of dollars that, in reality, you can't cut. At least it looks good on paper -- and in stump speeches. It's sort of the equivalent of the old Steve Martin joke, about how to make two million dollars. "First, get a million dollars." “Your facts are false,” Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), during a Sunday talk show debate about Social Security funding. “It's important to realize that the facts that are being brought out here are in fact, non-facts. Again, it's SO much easier to win a debating point when you're using fact that don't exist. I don't know if this is a Republican issue in general -- going back to when New Yorker writer Ron Suskind quoted a high-ranking Bush White House official (believed to be Karl Rove) chastising those people who lived in a "reality-based community," saying that instead, "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." (So, how did that work out for them?) -- or just a Wisconsin Republican thing. Either way, reality and facts have a funny way of rearing their ugly heads. Former governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) went on five Sunday talks. And five time defended his flip-flop on immigration, contradicting himself in his own book. It's shocking, I know, that Mr. Bush defended contradicting himself. The alternative of saying, "Oops, I got that wrong," is difficult for anyone, especially a politician, especially a politician testing the waters to run for president. But not doing so leaves the voting public with no idea what in the world you stand for. This might not seem like a bad thing to many politicians, especially those who don't stand for much of anything, but ask Mitt Romney how that worked out. There's been a lot of discussion in the media the last couple of days on whether co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck has been fired from The View. I'm still trying to figure out why she was ever hired. Certainly there had to have been other conservative women in America whose qualification exceeded being blonde, pretty and finishing fourth on a reality game show. At least if she is let go (or voted off, or whatever it is they do on The View), then I'll be up to speed again. The #1 movie at the box office this weekend, with an $80 million domestic opening was Oz: The Great and Powerful. Apparently they named it properly.
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A confusing headline in the Huffington Post reads, "GOP Senators Threaten to Delay Obama Pick." I'm sorry, I don't understand. What do they mean, "threaten to"? Actually, rather than a negative, this seems to be a huge positive, a big step in the right direction. If they're only threatening to delay a pick, that's major progress. Congrats, Republicans! * In discussing frustration during the Romney presidential campaign on Fox News, the candidate's wife Ann Romney blamed campaign operatives for not letting "Mitt be Mitt," and added, "I believe it was the media's fault as well ... He was not being given a fair shake, that people weren't really allowed to see him for who he was." Right-o, after campaigning first for the nomination, and then for the presidency, for well-over a year in full focus of dozens of televised debates, hundreds of millions of dollars spent on campaign ads, hundreds of interviews and more, the public still didn't get to see Mitt Romney for who he was. And it was the media's fault for that. And the campaign operatives. Everyone's fault -- except Mitt Romney's. Of course, the reality is that time and again, polls showed that the more people saw of Mitt Romney, the less they liked him. The reality is that the public got quite enough, thank you very much, of seeing who Mitt Romney was. Including a behind-the-scenes look speaking to a fundraiser about 47% of the country. And the country decided that for many reasons they didn't like the fellow enough to vote for him. * The parents of a 5-year-old boy in Great Britain were being pestered by their child to play the free "Zombies vs. Ninjas" game app for their iPad. So, they punched in their password for the Apple Store, downloaded the game and gave it to their child. What could go wrong with that? Not realizing that the game had the option for in-app upgrades and purchases, the password was left active, and they ended up with charges of $2,550. Apple graciously said it would refund the charges. And the parents said that their 5-year-old's iPad privileges had been revoked. No word on what punishment the parents are giving themselves. * The other day, I quipped here about how with President Obama tasked with cutting $85 billion from the budget because of the Sequester, wouldn't it be interesting if he started by cutting Congress's pay. Well, newly-elected Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that she will be taking an 8.4% pay cut and return the money to the U.S. treasury until the sequester issue is resolved. (She reached the figure after talking with school superintendents. The figure is equivalent to cuts in discretionary programs.) It's worth noting that Rep. Duckworth, an Iraq War Veteran who had lost both her legs, won election by defeating the embarrassingly offensive Joe Walsh in the state's 8th District. If she had done nothing more than that, she'd have earned her full paycheck. * There was a very funny, juxtaposition of headlines on the Huffington Post. The main Business section headline was -- "End of the 'Fat Cats?'" And over on the "Green" section, they had -- "Animal Shelter Gets 37-pound Cat." My immediate reaction was, hey, don't write off the fat cats just yet.
President Obama signed a directive that put into motion $85 billion of across-the-board budget cuts, as the sequester now takes effect. It would be interesting if the first of those cuts was the pay to members of Congress * In an interview with "Fox News" that will air in full on Sunday, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, "I think the president has to act in the interest of the country. And that means if we need an aircraft carrier in the Gulf -- and I believe we do, I thought we needed one more -- he should do it," It's nice to see that Mr. Romney has finally decided to talk about foreign policy. It's also nice to see that he thinks the president has to act in the interest of the country. While that's a fresh take on politics, my view is slightly different. Me, I know the president has to to act in the interest of the country. As for his specific advice -- oh, never mind, the American public already said it disagrees with him. * A Huffington Post headline reads, "Jennifer Lawrence Looks Different Without Makeup." We look forward to upcoming breaking stories: "Jennifer Hudson Looks Different After Losing 40 Pounds." "Charles Barkley Looks Different with Head Shaved." "John Boehner Looks Different Than When He Was in Third Grade." "Every Woman on Earth Looks Different Without Makeup." * In the latest issue of Inspire, Al Qaeda's English-language magazine, the terrorist group denounced President Obama's "evolving" position on gay marriage. This is incredibly stunning news. Who knew that Al Qaeda had a magazine??! By the way, the current issue has articles, "Torching Parked Vehicles" and "Causing Road Accidents." (Honest.) I'm going to guess that next month they'll have a follow-up piece, "How to Get the Auto Club to Cover Your Next Vehicle." * I swear to God this is true. With my hand on a Bible, I didn't see this until 20 minutes after writing the above item on joke, upcoming Huffington Post headlines. But to at least prove the headline is real, here is a screen shot -- from their front page, no less!
On Meet the Press Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said, "I'm confident that Senator Hagel will probably have the votes necessary to be confirmed as secretary of defense." Mr. McCain’s upbeat confidence would be oh-so much more meaningful if he hadn’t been one of the leading senators to filibuster Chuck Hagel’s nomination – the first-ever filibuster of a Secretary of Defense nominee in U.S. history.
Race car driver Danica Patrick got all manner of high praise and wall-to-wall cover on sports shows yesterday when she became the first woman in history to earn the pole position for the upcoming Daytona 500, one of the top and most famous races on the circuit. It is indeed a major achievement, and any such “first” deserves praise – and I hope she goes on to win the race. I also hope that for all the massive coverage this received, reporters recognize that the actual goal is not to get the best starting position, but to actually win the race. Up until a few weeks ago, State Senator Toi Hutchinson was the leading candidate in an upcoming primary on Feb. 26 to replace Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. in his Illinois congressional district. Then, ads began touting her proud “A” grade from the NRA. On Sunday, with her poll numbers plummeting, Ms. Hutchinson dropped out of the race. Further, she endorsed former State Rep. Robin Kelly – who has been proudly touting her “F” grade from the NRA. Anyone who thinks NRA influence in elections is not waning, might wish to reconsider. Fast. While there’s still time to reconsider. There was an awful headline yesterday, “Man Accused of Throwing Ex-Wife Overboard Cruise Ship.” This was not a good week for the cruise ship industry. With the Oscars coming up, it’s worth noting that yesterday at the Writers Guild Awards, the winner for Best Original Screenplay was Chris Terrio for Argo, and the winner for Best Adapted Screenplay was Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty. Also, Malik Bendjelloul won Best Documentary Screenplay for Searching for Sugarman. There’s a good chance you’ve seen the first two – but not the latter. Try to see the latter, it’s enthralling and an utter treat. If they don’t re-release in theaters, rent the DVD. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent out an email to supporters yesterday, ginning up fear by warning without substance about their guns.
"You and I are literally surrounded," the email starts. "The gun-grabbers in the Senate are about to launch an all-out-assault on the Second Amendment. On your rights. On your freedom." In case readers didn't get the point, he later writes frantically that "they're coming for your guns." I don't think this is normal McConnell-obstruction. I think Mitch McConnell has begun to look over his shoulder at a challenge in 2014 for his Senate seat when he's up for reelection. A fear of challenge, in part, from his own party where bizarrely he's not seen as inherently conservative enough on everything in life, and in part because, of all things, a rumored challenge on the Democratic side by a real-life Celebrity, actress Ashley Judd, who hasn't squashed rumors. The point is that I think for the next two years, we're going to see Mitch McConnell go even farther to the radical Far Right than he already is. * During the delivery of the inaugural poem, cameras happened to cut to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) grimacing, and this got a bit of news coverage, including a homepage headline on the Huffington Post that "Eric Cantor Hates Poetry." Honestly, I think it would have been news if someone on the reviewing stand actually liked poetry. * It's been reported that Google will be releasing a "White Paper" on January 28 to suggest that future systems no longer rely on hackable passwords, but use a hardware option. This would be along the lines of having a ring or fob on key chain or some such embedded with SmartCard information, and you'd tap your computer to recognize the code. * Mitt Romey didn't attend the Inauguration. Perfectly reasonable. He also released through friends that he didn't plan to even watch. A little surprising to not watch, but perfectly understandable given how personally difficult it must be. What was totally unnecessary was going out of your way to announce that you won't be watching. Because as far as I know, nobody asked. * Today, Tuesday, is the only day available to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to change the filibuster rule, if he decides to do so. And if he does decide, the question will be which of the rule proposals will he allow put forth. Of those I've head, the one I think makes most sense is the rule that requires Senators to actually stand and filibuster, rather than just simply make a motion and that's it. It continues the exact same right to filibuster, but forces those opposed to make your case why you are doing so, and that you are doing so, that you are blocking a bill from moving forward. The biggest argument against this that I've heard is a warning from Republicans to Democrats to "be careful what you wish for," because at some point they could be in the minority. Well, I think the answer to that is simple -- fair enough. Democrats should be required to stand and filibuster, too, should it come to that, rather than hide behind a private motion. All of our senators, whatever their party, whenever they decide to filibuster, should. The founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, has stepped back and now says that he regrets comparing the Affordable Health Care Act to "fascism".
Coming as a shock, no doubt, this comments provoked outrage among many of the grocery chain's customers, many of whom have called for a boycott. "I regret using that word now because it's got so much baggage attached to it," Mackey told HuffPost Live on Thursday. "Of course, I was just using the standard dictionary definition." Actually, I think it's pretty clear that he regrets using the word now because many of his customers have called for a boycott. As for the baggage attached to it, like, oh, say, millions of deaths, fascism has more baggage attached to it than a Samsonite warehouse. It was a reprehensible thing to say. Of course, I'm just using the standard dictionary definition. * A Public Policy Polling report shows that in head-to-head match-ups in the state of Florida against Florida politicians Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton leads both of them. She's ahead of former-Governor Bush by 5 points and Senator Rubio by 4 points. She also leads all other potential Democratic challengers in a mythical Florida primary. Mythical is a good choice of words. Forgetting for a moment that the election that the poll is referring to is four years away, anyone who looks at these results as showing Secretary of State Clinton as an invincible steamroller among Democrats is best served to recall that that is precisely how she was perceived as little as one year before the nomination for the 2008 election. And then a first-term senator, Barack Obama, got into the race. How did that work out for her? Clearly she's the "front-runner favorite" right now among Democrats. And clearly she could even win the election. But just as clearly, nothing is that clear. * Best quote of the day. Speaking to the U.S. Conference of Mayors to convince them to get behind the president's gun control legislation, Vice President Joe Biden pushed the mayor to support the ban of high-capacity gun magazines. "As one hunter told me, if you got 12 rounds, it means you already missed the deer 11 times," he said as the room broke into laughter. "You should pack the sucker in. You don't deserve a gun, period, if you're that bad." |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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