'Cuz some of 'em really are just that dumb, I give you the incomparable Mr Louie Gohmert (R-Wackysburg TX).
(at about 3:30..."cast aspersions on my asparagus")
hat tip = Crooks & Liars
May 17, 2013
May 16, 2013
High Calorie Content Warning
...because this is just too damned sweet.
Meanwhile, back in the boardrooms of Big US Oil - those guys are (probably) using every nickel in the Government Affairs budget to get Local, State and Federal agencies to keep the pressure on BP, and it shouldn't surprise anybody if it turns out (eg) Exxon's lending a bit of a hand directly to squeeze a few extra bucks out of BP "for the good of our hard-working local independent job-creatin' small business owners". Of course they do that kind of thing quietly and very carefully.
They're happy to get some Gubmint Assistance in order to fuck over a competitor and improve their market position, but they have to be careful not to disturb the rubes - above all else, they must never upset the delicate framing of "government is always bad except when it serves the interests of Business".
("and in cases like this, we're gonna let you pretend you're one of us").
And let's also not ignore the fairly obvious Tort Reform angle to all of this as well.
hat tip = Democratic Underground
BP wants Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene over the escalating cost of compensating US companies for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010.
BBC business editor Robert Peston has learned that BP feels its financial recovery is in jeopardy because the compensation system is being abused.
The financial burden of paying fictitious and inflated claims may even make BP a takeover target, it fears.
BP hopes Mr Cameron will raise the issue with the US government.BP shits on EPA every chance they get, and then they stiff-arm every government agency trying to help with Deepwater Horizon, but now that they're being held to account for their fuckup, they go cryin' to Parliament to save their asses.
Meanwhile, back in the boardrooms of Big US Oil - those guys are (probably) using every nickel in the Government Affairs budget to get Local, State and Federal agencies to keep the pressure on BP, and it shouldn't surprise anybody if it turns out (eg) Exxon's lending a bit of a hand directly to squeeze a few extra bucks out of BP "for the good of our hard-working local independent job-creatin' small business owners". Of course they do that kind of thing quietly and very carefully.
They're happy to get some Gubmint Assistance in order to fuck over a competitor and improve their market position, but they have to be careful not to disturb the rubes - above all else, they must never upset the delicate framing of "government is always bad except when it serves the interests of Business".
("and in cases like this, we're gonna let you pretend you're one of us").
And let's also not ignore the fairly obvious Tort Reform angle to all of this as well.
hat tip = Democratic Underground
The KrugMan Speaks
Outlook: a bit less than bleak.
Paul Krugman on the new CBO report on our Debt-Crisis-That-Isn't-Really-Real:
Paul Krugman on the new CBO report on our Debt-Crisis-That-Isn't-Really-Real:
Why, it’s almost as if the real goal was to make sure that benefits get cut even if the fiscal outlook improves.
Meanwhile, our policy discourse has been dominated for years by what turns out to be a false alarm. To the millions of Americans who are out of work and may never get another job thanks to premature fiscal austerity, the VSPs would like to say, “oopsies!”So let's review. Here's a partial list of what the Serious Thinkers in the GOP have been telling us for what's getting to be a very long time:
- Tax revenues will go up if we cut taxes.
- Spending will go up if we cut back on spending.
- Getting a stimulus effect of $.60 per dollar in tax cuts is better than getting a stimulus effect of $1.10 per dollar of Federal spending.
- Cutting future Soc Sec benefits now is how we prevent cutting Soc Sec benefits in the future.
May 15, 2013
Is It Really Real? - updated
So, right on schedule, The Curse of the Second Term comes home to Obamaland.
The IRS thing is a bit lame when I stop to think that every Prez (at least since Kennedy) has used the threat of an IRS audit to fuck with their political enemies.
And scooping up the AP phone records has a good solid stink to it too, even tho' it's pretty easy to remember how lotsa people tho't that was just peachy under FISA and USA PATRIOT Act. Yeah, it sucks, but c'mon.
I'm not saying we shouldn't slap some people around if they've pulled some shit - but I will say a coupla things that I think oughta get said.
First, this is a game of power. If you give anybody the power to fuck with people, you'll need to try a little harder not to act surprised when they start fucking with people. Power will be abused.
Second, stop giving them that kinda power. The laws they're hiding behind can be changed. We can do that here in God's America. Maybe we could try evoking a little of that Star-Spangled American Exceptionalism we hear so much about (that nobody seems to understand very well).
ie: These little games are played everywhere, all the time - we're supposed to be THE EXCEPTION. See how that works?
The IRS thing is a bit lame when I stop to think that every Prez (at least since Kennedy) has used the threat of an IRS audit to fuck with their political enemies.
And scooping up the AP phone records has a good solid stink to it too, even tho' it's pretty easy to remember how lotsa people tho't that was just peachy under FISA and USA PATRIOT Act. Yeah, it sucks, but c'mon.
I'm not saying we shouldn't slap some people around if they've pulled some shit - but I will say a coupla things that I think oughta get said.
First, this is a game of power. If you give anybody the power to fuck with people, you'll need to try a little harder not to act surprised when they start fucking with people. Power will be abused.
Second, stop giving them that kinda power. The laws they're hiding behind can be changed. We can do that here in God's America. Maybe we could try evoking a little of that Star-Spangled American Exceptionalism we hear so much about (that nobody seems to understand very well).
ie: These little games are played everywhere, all the time - we're supposed to be THE EXCEPTION. See how that works?
May 14, 2013
Today's Stoopid
This is the pic somebody working for The Director of Communications chose for the White House's twitter account:
Now, if you're a Wingnut, then it has to be perfectly obvious that Obama is sending a subtle message to his fellow-Islamists that the plan is proceeding apace, and that the US is on the verge of collapse, and Death To America, my bruthuhs!
What this is actually - is what visitors to the Oval Office see when they're standing in front of Obama's desk and they happen to look up at the ceiling above them.
So yeah. Obama's trying to kill us all by making it possible for everybody to get decent healthcare insurance; and by dis-entangling us from foreign wars; and by making sure the banks work properly; and why even bother debunking this crap? I need to stop.
Don't be such a fucking rube.
Now, if you're a Wingnut, then it has to be perfectly obvious that Obama is sending a subtle message to his fellow-Islamists that the plan is proceeding apace, and that the US is on the verge of collapse, and Death To America, my bruthuhs!
What this is actually - is what visitors to the Oval Office see when they're standing in front of Obama's desk and they happen to look up at the ceiling above them.
So yeah. Obama's trying to kill us all by making it possible for everybody to get decent healthcare insurance; and by dis-entangling us from foreign wars; and by making sure the banks work properly; and why even bother debunking this crap? I need to stop.
Don't be such a fucking rube.
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