Think this is overstating the issue? Well, listen to Suze Orman explain how banks are completely screwing students:
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that somebody doesn’t want anyone other than the rich to get a higher education.
UPDATE: Daily Kos published this same infographic, along with links to further information and raw data.
Mitt Romney is now comfortable contradicting himself in the same statement.
Today, after the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA (ObamaCare), Romney said:
Obamacare raises taxes on the American people by approximately $500 billion. Obamacare cuts Medicare — cuts Medicare by approximately $500 billion. And even with those cuts and tax increases, Obamacare adds trillions to our deficits and to our national debt, and pushes those obligations on to coming generations.
As PolitiFact says while rating this statement False, “How is it that a law can raise taxes and cut spending, but also add trillions to the deficit?” It just doesn’t make any sense at all.
You would think someone with so much business experience would understand that if a company raises revenues and cuts expenses, that is going to decrease their debt load. Of course, increasing the debt load of companies they acquired was a speciality of Bain Capital, and is what made Romney rich.
PolitiFact points out that in 2010 the Congressional Budget Office projected that the ACA would lower the deficit by $124 billion over 10 years. And in 2011, when Republicans advanced a bill to repeal the ACA, the CBO projected that would increase the deficit by about $210 billion over 10 years.
One of my favorite sites, electoral-vote.com has a good history of Health Care reform in the US, which they printed before the Supreme Court decision was announced. Here’s an extended quote:
President Harry Truman tried and failed in 1945. President Lyndon Johnson, the master of the Senate, twisted enough arms and other body parts to get Medicare through Congress in 1965. While it didn’t provide universal health care, it did provide care for seniors. Johnson, the consummate politician, apparently thought this was the best he could do.
The next major attempt was from President Richard Nixon, who issued a proposal in 1974. The core of the proposal was an employer mandate, requiring nearly all businesses to offer health insurance to their employees. He didn’t get it passed.
In 1989, the very conservative Heritage Foundation took up the problem and looked for a conservative solution. What they came up with was a plan to have everyone covered by making them buy insurance from a private insurance company. It was obvious to them that this was constitutional since big insurance companies all engage in interstate commerce. This plan had the huge advantage from their point of view that it left the entire health care system in the private sector, with no government involvement. It also meant big profits for the insurance companies. What else could you ask for? Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), a very conservative senator, introduced a bill with the Heritage Foundation plan in 1993. It didn’t pass.
In 2006, then-governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts advocated passing a modified version of the Heritage Foundation plan in Massachusetts. The state legislature tweaked it a bit, but it passed in 2006.
In 2009, President Obama thought the easiest way to get the Republicans to support a health-care plan was to use theirs, so he proposed Romney’s plan on a national scale. By doing this, he demonstrated that he was no Lyndon Johnson. The Republicans closed ranks to oppose their own plan, just to avoid giving Obama a big victory. None of the opposition at the time had anything to do with its constitutionality. Even the most conservative legal scholars agreed with the Heritage Foundation that regulating the massive insurance industry fell under the interstate commerce clause. Only after the bill passed and Republicans began looking for a way to get rid of it, did the constitutionality come up as a possible angle.
One of the reasons that conservative legal scholars didn’t think a case could be made on constitutional grounds is the 2005 Gonzales v. Raich case. In this case, the Court ruled that Angel Raich’s growing medicinal marijuana for his own personal use under his doctor’s instructions constituted interstate commerce and Congress had the power to overrule the California law allowing cultivation of marijuana for personal medical use. At the time of the decision, many legal scholars were surprised at the concept that growing your own (legal) marijuana with no intention of selling it at all, let alone interstate, somehow constituted interstate commerce. But that is how the court ruled. This led most Court observers to believe that the Court had a very expansive definition of interstate commerce and if growing your own marijuana was interstate commerce, then certainly something that affected 18% of GDP was going to be interstate commerce. We will find out if that is true later today. If the Court rules against the ACA, it will especially interesting to see how the majority reconciles the decision with Gonzales v. Raich..
In summary, the Republican opposition to ObamaCare (a.k.a. RomneyCare a.k.a HeritageCare) is purely political since it was their plan to start with. If a Republican senator had introduced it during either Bush administration it would have sailed through Congress with a huge bipartisan majorities. After all, 40% of the Republican senators voted for Medicare, which is essentially socialized insurance and goes much further than ObamaCare.
I am very happy that the Supreme Court upheld the ACA (ObamaCare). Although it was a close decision (5-4, with the conservatives wanting to overturn the entire law, not just the individual mandate). Interestingly, the swing vote in this case was Chief Justice John Roberts, not Anthony Kennedy (who typically plays that role).
Ironically, even though this is a victory for Obama and the Democrats, it will probably hurt them somewhat in the upcoming election.
UPDATE: Conservatives are threatening to move to Canada, because of the Supreme Court decision about ObamaCare. Canada. Seriously. Could you get any stupider?
UPDATE 2: Rand Paul declares:
Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional. While the court may have erroneously come to the conclusion that the law is allowable, it certainly does nothing to make this mandate or government takeover of our health care right.
Since multiple fact checking organizations have pointed out that anyone saying Obamacare is a “government takeover of our health care” is lying, I’m not sure if I trust Paul’s authority on the constitution. I also find it funny that he said “health care right” — if it is a right, shouldn’t everyone have it?
UPDATE 3: On March 26, Bill O’Reilly bullied his guest Caroline Fredrickson, claimed that the ACA was clearly unconstitutional and that it would lose. And he said that if the Supreme Court upheld the individual health care mandate he would replay that interview and “apologize for being an idiot”. Watch it:
Does anyone think he will actually apologize?
UPDATE 4: Good article about empty promises from right wing blow hards. Includes not only Bill O’Reilly’s promise to apologize (which he has not done), but also Sean Hannity’s offer to be water-boarded to prove that it is not torture, and Rush Limbaugh’s promise to move to Costa Rica if ObamaCare is implemented. These guys are not only liars, they are chicken-shit liars.
UPDATE 5: Bill O’Reilly actually apologizes (sort of), but only after multiple sites point out his hypocrisy. And says “I’m not really sorry” and calls the media sites that called him on it “far-left kooks”.
Transcript of Romney’s remarks:
This is so much fun. It’s so much fun running for president, I gotta tell ya. It is fun being here with you. This is kind of historic, you know that? To all be together on a, on a morning like this and uh, to be in the bright sunshine in a beautiful place and to be running for president with your help, we’re doin’ this together! This is not about me. This is not about me. You’re not here because I’m some spectacular speaker, y’all know better than that. Yer. You’re, you’re not here just because the Republican Party is the answer to all things, you know better than that. You know instead this is America. And Amer, America is the answer to all good things, and we are caring about our country. We wanna get it on track again, to care for ourselves and for the people of the world that love liberty!
Chicken and uh, you know, noodles, it’s vuh, there’s good, good German food right here.
I love it when the media actually does their job. Fortune Magazine investigated the whole “Fast and Furious” scandal. You know, the one where Republicans are accusing ATF of allowing guns to be sold to Mexican drug cartels, two of which guns were used to kill border patrol agent Brian Terry.
I knew something didn’t make sense when the same people who accuse the Democrats of trying to curtail second amendment rights were complaining because Obama didn’t arrest people for buying guns. But I didn’t realize how overblown and politicized this has become until now.
It turns out that the ATF was not purposely letting guns “walk” and end up in Mexico. The truth is that the gun laws are so weak in Arizona that there were no grounds for arresting the people that ATF knew were buying guns for the Mexican drug cartels. It simply isn’t illegal to purchase these guns and then either sell or give them to someone else. Indeed, the ATF has been criticized in the past for trying to arrest people for just this!
And the guns found at the scene of Brian Terry’s murder? The ATF had been notified of the purchase of those guns after the fact, and dutifully entered their serial numbers into their database. But they had never even seen the guns, nor had any chance to seize them. Nor could they have seized them if they had wanted to, since they were legally purchased.
There are many other parts of this controversy that are entirely made up.
But that’s politics.
Interestingly, even Jon Stewart’s humorous take on Fast and Furious gets it wrong:
“The Supreme Court has decided not to fine broadcast networks for fleeting expletives or momentary nudity. It looks like ‘Wheel of Fortune’ is about to get a lot more interesting.” – Conan O’Brien
“Today the Supreme Court ruled that TV networks can show momentary nudity. So, by popular demand, ‘The View’ is now a radio show.” – Conan O’Brien
“Mitt Romney has accused President Obama of pandering to the Latino community. The president said he’s too busy to comment because he’s watching Telemundo and eating chalupas.” – Conan O’Brien
“A new survey found that only 31 percent of Americans would want to sit next to Mitt Romney on a flight. Romney was so upset, he was like, ‘I don’t understand. How would they get on my private jet?'” – Jimmy Fallon
“Just 31 percent of Americans said they would sit next to Romney on an airplane and 57 percent would rather sit next to president Obama — while 100 percent would want to watch them have to sit next to each other, just have them go at it.” – Jimmy Fallon
“A new report found that President Obama’s campaign spent $6 million more than it raised last month. Which explains why his latest campaign ad ended with the phrase, ‘I’m Barack Obama and I’m selling some old CDs on Craigslist.'” – Jimmy Fallon
“According to federal reports filed yesterday, the Obama campaign spent more money than they raised in the month of May. They spent more money than they raised? Well, that’s called being a Democrat” – Jay Leno
“It was 100 degrees in New York City. It was so hot, you know Solyndra, the solar company? They actually made money.” –Jay Leno
“It was so hot, Attorney General Eric Holder was selling water guns to Mexican drug gangs.” –Jay Leno
“A House committee is now recommending that Attorney General Eric Holder be cited for contempt of Congress. Now, don’t confuse that for what you and I have. That’s contempt FOR Congress.” – Jay Leno
“There was a big Twitter outage in the U.S. today. Or as people at work put it “Well, I guess I better get back to Facebook.'” – Jimmy Fallon
“This weekend begins Gay Pride Week. Their big parade begins on 12th Street and ends in Sarah Jessica Parker’s shoe closet.” – David Letterman
Why is it that it is ok to say the words “penis”, “erection”, “erectile dysfunction”, but not the word “vagina”? A study of the use of the words “penis” and “vagina” on network television (counting scripted shows only) found that the word “penis” was used 116 times in the 2010-2011 season, but “vagina” only 35 times (and 12 of those were on a single show — “2 Broke Girls” on CBS). A decade earlier, “penis” was used 30 times, and “vagina” only 4 times.
Ironically, during the recent debate over laws that would have forced women to have an ultrasound of the fetus before having an abortion, the term “vaginal probe” was used frequently, but not the word “vagina”.
One possible explanation is that the word “vagina” does something that men can’t stand — in an age where women are constantly over-sexualized, the clinical-sounding word “vagina” takes the sex out of it. Men prefer other words for that body part.
What the Republicans said three months ago when gas prices rose above $4/gallon:
Mitt Romney, March 18, 2012: “He gets full credit or blame for what’s happened in this economy, and what’s happened to gasoline prices under his watch, and what’s happened to our schools, and what’s happened to our military forces. All these things are his responsibility while he’s president.”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), April 6, 2012: “The president holds the key to addressing the pain Ohioans are feeling at the gas pump and moving our nation away from its reliance on foreign energy. My question for the president is: what are you waiting for?”
Boehner, April 6, 2012: “The president’s own policies to date have made matters worse and driven up gas prices.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Feb. 28 2012: “This President will go to any length to drive up gas prices and pave the way for his ideological agenda.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), March 13, 2012: Obama is “fully responsible for what the American public is paying for gasoline.”
What the Republicans are saying now that gas prices are falling (and are predicted to continue falling, likely below $3/gallon):
crickets.
“There is a record heat wave back east, close to 100 degrees in New York City. The temperatures are higher than President Obama was in high school.” – Jay Leno
“Obama campaign unveils new ad to target Hispanics. It’s basically the president saying, ‘Yo soy el hombre who killed Osama bin Laden’.” – Conan O’Brien
“Today President Obama used his executive privilege to withhold documents about a weapons operation called ‘Fast and Furious.’ I don’t know what’s scarier: that we can’t see those documents or that the government is naming operations after Vin Diesel movies.” – Jimmy Fallon
“In Chicago some anti-Mitt Romney protesters told reporters they’re being paid to protest. They said they’re being paid by Democrats to stand outside and chant anti-Romney slogans. Well, who says President Obama isn’t creating any new jobs?” – Jay Leno
“Mitt Romney’s picking up a head of steam. He’s roaring and ready to go. He says if he’s elected president he will also consider hunting vampires.” – David Letterman
“With the presidential debates right around the corner, John Kerry is going to play Mitt Romney to help the President prepare for the debates. That’s kind of a stretch; a rich white guy from Massachusetts playing a rich white guy from Massachusetts.” – Jay Leno
“How does that make John Kerry feel? Hey John, we need a guy who is kind of stiff, out of touch, and a flip-flopper. You’d be perfect. Just be yourself.” – Jay Leno
“Last night on the premiere of a new reality show, Bristol Palin confronted a man in a bar and demanded to know why he hates her mother. In response, John McCain said ‘Leave me alone, I’m having a drink.'” – Conan O’Brien
“Bristol Palin’s new show premiered on the Lifetime network. It’s funny how many of Lifetime’s shows are targeted to people who have no lives at all.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“According to Rielle Hunter, John Edwards lied to her when they first met, saying he was seeing three other woman so she wouldn’t get attached to him. He lied about that. That’s got to be tough to keep straight for Edwards; lying to your wife that you’re not seeing another woman, while lying to the other woman that you are seeing three other women. Guys, don’t try this; John Edwards is a former trial lawyer and a senator. He is a trained professional liar! You will never, ever be able to keep up with him.” – Jay Leno
“For the first time in history, the number of Asian immigrants coming into America is larger than the number of Hispanic immigrants. Now even our immigrants are being made in China.” – Jimmy Kimmel
Americans Pool Together $945.23 To Counteract Corporate Money’s Influence In Politics
WASHINGTON — Spurred into action by the surge of Super PAC donations ahead of November’s general election, the American people this week collectively managed to raise $945.23 to offset the influence of corporate spending on politics. “Today we take a stand against big money’s stranglehold on the U.S. electoral system and give a voice back to the voters,” said spokesman Danny Bader, an unemployed carpenter who scraped together $1.10 as part of the effort to counteract the unlimited number of undisclosed independent expenditures corporations are legally allowed to make. “With these funds, we will print some pamphlets and hopefully get a website up, and we will send a clear message that billions in shadowy spending will not buy this election.” At press time, the American people were struggling to raise an additional $65 for another dozen T-shirts.
To me, the big question is: does Mitt Romney realize the difference between running Bain Capital and running the country? He got bored even running the State of Massachusetts, or maybe it just didn’t make him enough money.
[reprinted from the Booman Tribune]
I think Mitt Romney broke his own recored for telling the most lies this week. I don’t think Steve Benen even had to try that hard to find 30 enormous whoppers. Most of them have to do with statistics and the budget. Some just grossly mischaracterize what the president has said or done. Any way you look at it, though, Mitt Romney routinely lies and gets away with it. I know it’s difficult to maintain a claim of objectivity if you’re constantly forced to point out that Mitt Romney just told a gigantic falsehood, but it’s not objective to just ignore it.
Now, I just watched most of a speech that the president made today in Orlando at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference. I didn’t notice him tell one lie or make one gross distortion. I’m not saying he never embellishes anything. I’m just saying that he basically tells the truth about his own record and about what Romney has proposed. I’m sure a dutiful fact-checker could find some stuff to quibble with, but it would all be very minor. Maybe the OMB and CBO disagree about a figure and the president chooses the more favorable one. We’re talking strictly minor-league distortion here. But it’s nothing like Romney saying that his proposals will cut the budget deficit when they will add $5 trillion to the deficit, or Romney saying that eliminating ObamaCare will save a hundred billions dollars when it will actually cost at least that much. Did the president sign free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama this year? Yes? Then why does Romney say that the president hasn’t passed any free trade agreements with Latin America?
Maybe Obama should start a rumor that Romney was born in Mexico and is a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Then we can see if the press calls him a liar.
Steve Benen is compiling a weekly list of lies told by Mitt Romney. Here is his 23rd installment.
Also, be sure to read this article from the Guardian “Mendacious Mitt: Romney’s bid to become liar-in-chief“:
In general, those of us in the pundit class are really not supposed to accuse politicians of lying – they mislead, they embellish, they mischaracterize, etc. Indeed, there is natural tendency for nominally objective reporters, in particular, to stay away from loaded terms such as lying. Which is precisely why Romney’s repeated lies are so effective. In fact, lying is really the only appropriate word to use here, because, well, Romney lies a lot.
Or as Steve Benen put it:
Romney gets away with it because he and his team realize contemporary political journalism isn’t equipped to deal with a candidate who lies this much, about so many topics, so often.
Romney is demonstrating the power of “the Big Lie“. If you tell the same lie often enough and without shame, and it is a big enough lie that it is almost impossible to refute it, then it becomes the truth. Or at least indistinguishable. As Joseph Goebbels put it “when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it.” And you must keep up your lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.
(did I say billions? I meant trillions)
Dubya threw money at the banksters. Obama threw even more money at the banksters. We were told we “had to do it” or our economy would collapse. And that all that money we threw at the banks would trickle down to us. Hah! We fell for that one again.
But Iceland balked and said “no” to the banksters. They arrested the former chief executives of the largest three banks. One of them even ended up in solitary confinement (like what we did to Bradley Manning).
So what happened to their economy? Young Turk Cenk Uygur has the surprising answer:
UPDATE: After I posted this, I found a new episode of Bill Moyers’ show with guests Matt Taibbi (one of my heroes) and Yves Smith, which spells out how the US banks are operating just like the mafia. It is a bit longer than Cenk Uygur’s rant, but if you want to understand what is going on, you really have to watch this:
Michael Tomasky has an interesting article about the biography of Mitt Romney, and the ironic fact that the life of the man who might end up our next president is almost completely a liability — his childhood, his career, his faith, even his mostly undistinguished stint as governor. It seems like the only thing that is going for Romney is the fact that he is extremely rich, and is willing to say whatever it takes in order to get elected. Is this what politics has come to?
As Tomasky sums up:
Every aspect of his life story is in some way compromised. It’s not that he’s led a dishonorable life. But he’s led a remote and rarefied life, a life lived behind heavy doors and conducted in “quiet rooms,” as he famously said of the place where inequality is best discussed. It’s precisely in those quiet rooms where most Americans are ritually screwed, where decisions were made up through September 2008 that nearly destroyed the economy. That’s his America, and as he has shown with his unintended but brusque insults of working people, the folks in those quiet rooms don’t want to know the rest of us, and most of us don’t want to know them. It’s very striking that his Bain compatriots all testify to what a great guy he is, while Massachusetts state legislators, for example, found him on the whole aloof and obnoxious.
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