Thom Hartmann interviews Frank Schaffer, whose father founded the Moral Majority:
Category: Scary Crazy Wingnuts
Bachmann
Quote of the day
Now that the Republicans can see how much leverage the debt ceiling gives them, they’re going to pull this stunt every time it gets near. The best-case scenario, with a big $2 trillion increase, would mean that we’re going to go through the exact same thing late in 2012; a more modest increase in the debt limit would set up a reprise of the current fiasco much sooner.
And that’s the invidious thing about low-probability events. Repeat the experiment often enough, and eventually they’ll happen. We’ll get a deal done this time. But one day, we won’t. And that day is not going to be a happy one.
The call
This is the movement of religious extremists with which Rick Perry has aligned himself. They believe their prayer rallies can call down the wrath of God and destroy the demons that have possessed that particular area. Oh, they also hate Catholics and Mormons (more demon possession) and the people they convert have to publicly burn the religious artifacts of their former faith. (This rally is in San Diego.) Pretty scary stuff:
Poor people’s fault
Success story
Republican style! How is this different from slavery?
While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law dismantling collective bargaining rights has harmed teachers, nurses, and other civil servants, it’s helping a different group in Wisconsinites — inmates. Prisoners are now taking up jobs that used to be held by unionized workers in some parts of the state.
As the Madison Capital Times reports, “Besides losing their right to negotiate over the percentage of their paycheck that will go toward health care and retirement, unions also lost the ability to claim work as a ‘union-only’ job, opening the door for private workers and evidently even inmates to step in and take their place.” Inmates are not paid for their work, but may receive time off of their sentences.
The law went into effect last week, and Racine County is already using inmates to do landscaping, painting, and another basic maintenance around the county that was previously done by county workers. The union had successfully sued to stop the country from using prison labor for these jobs last year, but with Walker’s new law, they have no recourse. Watch a report from Fox6 in Green Bay:
The Washington Examiner called Racine’s move “another success story” and “all great news for Wisconsin taxpayers. Hopefully, we’ll see more of it.” So far, it appears no other jurisdiction has followed Racine’s example — for now. It may just be a matter of time to allow existing union contracts to expire. The spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office of Dane County, which includes Milwaukee, said, “Nobody in our jail will be benefiting…at this time” from the new law, but the left the door open for future changes.
Purge
So we have a group of freshman Congress members who won election by promising that things were black and white, and they’re going to be punished for illustrating that, as extreme as they were, they have to compromise on at least some things. It would be funny if I wasn’t dreading an even more extreme crop the next time:
It is miles to go before the 2012 Congressional races begin in earnest, but already some of the 87 freshmen who helped the Republicans win back the House last year are bracing for a challenge from within the party. At least half a dozen potential primary challengers to freshmen are considering a run, and there is heated chatter about more.
In some ways, the freshmen are responsible for their own predicament. Many won their seats after successfully challenging establishment Republicans in primaries, proving that a combination of gumption and the right political climate could overcome the advantages of incumbency.
Now, to some of the impatient and ideological voters who sent them to Washington to change things, the new House members may be seen as the establishment, and they face the disconcerting prospect of immediately defending themselves in the political marketplace.
Continue reading “Purge”
Why does Tom Corbett hate America?
Why else would he cut off services like this to give tax breaks to the rich?
Three years ago, Jessica couldn’t walk into a Fashion Bug without anxiety overwhelming her.
She is 25, and has a form of schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder. She was asked to tell her story to a statewide conference for the Clubhouse Coalition, a psychiatric rehabilitation program that helps mentally ill people learn social and workplace skills that can help them find success in their communities.
For the last three years, Jessica has traveled by Paratransit each day to the Cornerstone Clubhouse in Phoenixville, where her favorite activity is answering the phone.
That’s going to end July 15.
The state Medical Assistance Transportation Program has determined that although it is proper for Medicare to reimburse the cost of Jessica’s daily services at Clubhouse, it will no longer pay the cost of her traveling there.
She is one of thousands of mentally ill people who are trying to understand why their routines must change.
Advocates across the state are deeply troubled. I’m with them.
“They’re funding the program, but cutting off the transportation. We are floored,” said Lu Mauro, a director of a Clubhouse in Sellersville, and an advisory board member of the state Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.
She and others I spoke to predict the decision will save money in the short term and cost more in the end – and that doesn’t even begin to account for the human toll.
“You’re going to find them in hospitals,” Mauro predicted. “You’re going to find them in prisons.”
Ohio
Really, the women there should stop having sex with men – especially politicians.