COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Charlie Rangel Discusses Joe Biden’s foolish remark


Rangel condemned Biden's latest display of his notorious stupidity in a radio interview with The Perez Notes.  It shows up at about 1:37 on the video.
According to Rangel:

"Was he talking about slavery? You bet your ass he was," Rangel said. "Was he using the vernacular? Yes, he was. Did he think it was cute? Yes, he did. Was it something stupid to say? You bet your life it was stupid."
"It's something that if a black had said it, we would have been laughing because we would know that deep down they may be beating the hell out of us but they ain't thinking of putting us in chains," Rangel continued.



35 comments:

  1. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan created the Gold Commission. The purpose of the commission was to appease conservatives who wanted to see the country return to the gold standard. The conclusion of the Commission? That’s a clown idea, bro.

    Clown Idea, Bro

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, to recap, in 1981, amidst a serious inflation problem, Reagan created a commission to study a gold standard. You couldn’t have picked a more sympathetic president, or a more sympathetic moment, to the gold standard. And they still rejected it.

      Now fast forward 30 years. There’s no inflation problem. The head of the Federal Reserve was originally appointed by George W. Bush and is credited by most observers as having headed off a potential Great Depression through creative monetary policy. And so what does the Republican Party want to do? Well, according to a draft of the party’s platform, they want another Gold Commission.

      Delete
    2. You're like a broken Web Spider as we used to call them, that crawls around the Web, but only extracts whatever it finds that can be used to bash the GOP, no matter what the subject of a thread or conversation happens to be.

      A sad, pathetic case, indeed.

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    3. A pathetic sad, sad case. Far beyond redemption or cure. A lost cause. A man without discernment. The wind blowing east. An echo of Ash. The silently crashing wave on the meaningless beach, beyond hearing....

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    4. .

      Sad, sad, sad, said Frick and Frack.

      .

      Delete

  2. Don't spend any time on facebook, but happened to check back a whole week in my e-mail and spotted an update from our son that shocked me, left me in tears, and engulfed in gratitude that this very very busy young man still remembers the most important person in his life...

    William updated his status:

    "Anniversary...

    A day that commemorates or celebrates a past event. Do precious memories truly mean more to us on one specific day rather than on all the other moments in our lives?

    Generally I think not, however, 6 months ago on this day I lost my mother, my friend, my role model, and even my boss.

    It seems like only yesterday that I saw her sweet caring smile look upon me, and yet it seems like an eternity since I was last held in her arms.

    These feelings know no specific moment, they just are.
    So what is 6 months?

    6 months ago the Earth was on the opposite end of our Universe and I kissed my mother goodbye for the last time... 185,911,775 miles away from where I am today...

    I have never felt so far from her.

    I love you Mom!"

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  3. That puts all this political stuff in perspective for sure.

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  4. I guess Charlie never heard of "Wage Slaves".

    The term wage slavery has been used to criticize economic exploitation and social stratification, with the former seen primarily as unequal bargaining power between labor and capital

    Mr Biden was speaking symbolically, which flew over the head of Mr Rangel.
    Metaphor and symbolism, beyond both Mr Rangel and the big "b" bopper.

    The Republicans do wish to return to the regulatory system that wipe out the real estate market, through the lending policies of the banks that were "To Big to Fail".
    Leaving Main Street in dire straits, while Wall Street financiers soaring to post melt down highs, already.

    As Mr Romney said, just yesterday, "Big Business" in the US is doing fine.

    Romney said to a group of 300 at the Lafayette Club in this Minneapolis suburb.
    "Big business is doing fine in many places - they get the loans they need, they can deal with all the regulation. They know how to find ways to get through the tax code, save money by putting various things in the places where there are low tax havens around the world for their businesses."


    Mr Romney, an expert on evading taxes through foreign divestiture and off shore accounts, speaks the truth.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The crapper was constipated this fine morning, then had his coffee, and took his dump here.

      Delete
  6. The Obama Administration has been great...
    For "Big Business"

    In case you need more confirmation that the US economy is out of balance, here are three charts for you.
    1) Corporate profit margins just hit an all-time high. Companies are making more per dollar of sales than they ever have before. (And some people are still saying that companies are suffering from "too much regulation" and "too many taxes." Maybe little companies are, but big ones certainly aren't).

    2) Fewer Americans are working than at any time in the past three decades. One reason corporations are so profitable is that they don't employ as many Americans as they used to.


    3) Wages as a percent of the economy are at an all-time low. This is both cause and effect. One reason companies are so profitable is that they're paying employees less than they ever have as a share of GDP. And that, in turn, is one reason the economy is so weak: Those "wages" are other companies' revenue.



    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-profits-just-hit-an-all-time-high-wages-just-hit-an-all-time-low-2012-6#ixzz24Zs8QnX9

    The information referenced came from the St Louis Federal Reserve.

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  7. Big "b" bopper cannot refute his main man.... Mr Romney.

    Nor can he refute data provided by the Federal Reserve.

    So he spreads his shit, instead.

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  8. The "Big Business" section of the "Private Sector" is doing just fine.

    Big government and big business moving forward, hand in hand.

    ReplyDelete
  9. And so, if you look at Ryan’s specific cuts, most of them are programs for poor people. In fact, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that more than six of every 10 dollars Ryan cuts from the federal budget is coming from programs for the poor.

    Take Medicaid. Ryan cuts nearly $1.4 trillion from Medicaid over the next 10 years. That’s a 34 percent cut to the program’s expected spending over the next decade. Those cuts, unlike the cuts to Medicare, are specific, and they begin immediately. Estimates from the Urban Institute suggest that if those cuts are made, about 30 million people could lose their health insurance.

    Oh, and Ryan repeals the Affordable Care Act. That’s where some of his Medicaid cuts come from, but that also knocks out all the subsidies for lower-income Americans to get health insurance. So that’s another 15 million people without health insurance. So under Ryan’s budget, about 45 million people would lose health insurance they otherwise would’ve gotten.

    Ryan’s budget cuts $134 billion from food stamps, which is enough to kick 8-10 million people off the program.

    Ryan cuts $166 billion from the portion of the budget that houses our education, training, employment and social services funding. We don’t know exactly how he’d . . . . .


    The Real Ryan/Romney Budget Cuts

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  10. On that Mr Romney and Mr Obama seem to agree.

    Mr Romney echoing Mr Obama's comments from 8JUN12

    "We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months. The private sector is doing fine," said Obama.

    Birds of a feather, flocking together

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  11. .

    An odd number 27. Why would he pick 27 months? Because that is were there has been some job growth. It ignores the rest of Obama's term when we were hemorraging jobs.

    And what kind of jobs were included in the 4.3 million? I'd have to look up the detail but as I recall at least half were low wage, part time, or temporary.

    Neither party has anything to crow about wrt job creation; but then, it's not really either party's priority.

    .

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  12. Exactly, Q.

    Both candidates tell US that the "Big Business" is doing just fine.

    Both ignoring Main Street, while providing lip service to those under the bus.

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  13. Sometimes you just have to take the best of a sub-standard lot, or in this case "stay away from the absolute worst."

    There is no doubt in my mind that we just barely avoided the Great Depression II.

    I'm sure the Ryan/Tea Party group would have put us there had they had their way.

    I don't necessarily "love" Obama, but I'm convinced the Republicans have the capacity for Disaster.

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  14. RS
    FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR
    Nevada Geothermal Power: Solyndra Lite?
    By: Steve Maley (Diary) | October 2nd at 11:45 PM |


    The New York Times reports on another Department of Energy green energy loan going bad. This one involves Nevada Geothermal Power, which generates electrical power using near-surface geothermal heat. After $79 million in loans and $66 million in outright grants, the company’s auditor has concluded that there is significant doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern.

    In this case, Nevada Geothermal was unable to deliver electricity in the quantities that it had planned and contracted to sell. It has also encountered technical difficulty with well design and surface facilities that may require substantially more investment.

    And like Solyndra, there are Democratic fingerprints at the scene.

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  15. There was a super cool 1959 Metropolitan convertible at the Old Timers car show here this morning. All the way from Texas, it had trailer made of the back end of another Metro of the same year, painted to match. These cars had an itsy bitsy back seat, and the trailer did too, with a restraint bar to keep the kids in. Perfect condition, the old four banger had been removed replaced with some souped up V-8.

    A car and trailer to die for.

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  16. .

    Geez, Bob, those last six or seven posts you put up are about the best you've done in months. Pithy, to the point, and although I don't really agree with them, I think you've finally found your niche.

    Stick to those single syllable words. It suits you.

    :)

    .

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  17. No "Waste or Fraud" here.

    Makes "Green Energy a money saver

    Multiple Pentagon efforts to account precisely for the flow of military spending are facing major delays and at least an $8 billion cost overrun, according to a new report by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

    Talking millions spent on "Green" while BILLIONS are lost at DoD.

    A department of the Government Mr Romney wants to increase spending at.

    Thank GOD for the sequester!

    Go Tea Party!

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  18. August 3, 2012 WASHINGTON | Despite being rejected by three-out-of-four relevant congressional committees, the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on July 31, 2012 included in its version of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) spending bill $380 million for the widely-criticized Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). Since no authorization exists for MEADS, the funding added by the Senate subcommittee qualifies as an earmark under Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) longstanding criteria.

    A $380 million dollar earmark!

    Where's the outrage!

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    Replies
    1. Can't Kill the Cow

      MEADS’ troubles are well documented. The program has been plagued with cost overruns of nearly $2 billion and is 10 years behind schedule.

      Another bi-partisan debacle, billions lost

      Where's the outrage?

      Delete
    2. said CAGW President Tom Schatz.
      “Members cannot even rid taxpayers of a program that has encountered massive cost overruns, delays, and poor performance. Eliminating MEADS would serve as a fine example of a judicious approach to trimming DOD waste. The continuation of its funding by the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee represents a squandered opportunity.

      Delete
  19. Another $4 billion dollar defense project, that's come in $6 billion over budget.

    Only a 150% cost misestimate.

    $10 billion, instead of $4.

    Nothing to see here, move on please ...

    Green Energy is chump change, by comparison to DoD waste and fraud and mismanagement.

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  20. The sequester moves DoD spending back to 2006 levels ...

    The most serious security problem facing the nation is our federal debt. Reducing defense won't solve that problem. But since defense accounts for 20% of federal expenditures and 50% of all discretionary spending, it can and should reduce be reduced to 2006 levels, sequester or no sequester.

    The American people support it. And if the Pentagon's leaders can't do it, they don't deserve to be there.

    ReplyDelete