Health Care: What YOU Can Do

If you've been following the Health Care Reform fight, then you know that the Senate Finance Committee met today to vote on Max Baucus' bill.

Well, five Blue Running Dogs joined the Republicans to vote against the public option authored by Senator Rockefeller (D-W.Va). This, despite the fact that two out of every three of their constituents (or more) FAVOUR a Public Option. And despite the fact that the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) has already published a report stating that Rockefeller's version of the public option would save the government between $50 billion and $150 billion over a ten-year period.

Needless to say, ALL the Republicans voted against the Public Option. So down it went in flames.

The time has come to fight back, people. Get off your duffs. A commenter at HuffPo left the following information on who to contact, and how:

BAUCUS: Phone: (202) 224-2651 Fax: (202) 224-9412
LINCOLN: Phone: (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371
CONRAD: Phone: (202) 224-2043 Fax: (202) 224-7776
NELSON: Phone: (202) 224-5274 Fax: (202) 228-2183
CARPER: Phone: (202) 224-2441 Fax: (202) 228-2190

If you are a constituent of any of these primo assholes, then it is your DUTY to call or fax them and demand to know why they have rejected Rockefeller's money-saving public option. They're now debating Chuck Schumer's version of the public option, a much weaker, watered-down version which won't save the country as much, if anything.

Any constituents of Charles Grassley out there? If you believe you deserve as good health care as he gets thanks to your taxes, call or fax him too, and ask him why he made this statement:

"Government is not a competitor. Government is a predator."

— Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

Does he really mean it? Has he given up HIS taxpayer-financed health care? Who is his private health care insurer? Why does he not switch over to private health care? If they're good enough for us, they should be good enough for him.

ICHC FTLOL

Give them all an earful, peeps. They deserve it. They've earned it.

Note: This blog does not advocate violence against anyone. However, we reserve the right to mercilessly mock our so-called elected representatives.

Additional note: Although it would be great if the people's representatives could be spayed or neutered, it is, unfortunately, too late, as most of them have already flung their obviously unworthy genes into the pool.

Stumble It!

Politics: Republican "Fambly Values"

Today's dose of Republican Fambly Values is brought to you by California Assemblymember Michael Duvall of Orange County. Duvall, who earned himself a 100 per cent rating for Repuglican Fambly Values, aka hatin' on teh ghey, was caught on tape talking about fucking two married female lobbyists. Apparently, the sex also involved spankings. Apparently, he has a habit of discussing his sexual adventures with other people in that deeply disturbing and creepy way that pervs usually have.



Apparently, the Assembly has no "zero tolerance" policy in place for such creepy perviness. In the commercial workplace if you corner your colleagues and start talking about scoring hot booty points the previous evening, you can be fired immediately for actions "contributing to a hostile workplace environment." But not in our Legislative bodies, where these slimy old hypocrites sit to pass the laws that regulate our lives.

Incidentally, both the fuckees were lobbying for industries that are regulated by the fucker. Ain't that sweet? Orange County, y'all need to get rid of this asshole. If it hasn't dawned on you by now that he sure as fuck ain't representing your interests, man, do y'awl need the trademarked Golden Bat o'Clue whumped upside your heads!



The OC Weekly has named the lobbyist Duvall is porking. FTA:

"Their relationship is the worst-kept secret in Sacramento," a capitol staffer recently told me. "He's old and fat. She's hot, blonde and about 20
 years younger. He could have never gotten a woman like that before he got
 this job.'"

[...]

"Assemblyman Duvall has been a consistent trooper for the conservative causes," CRI president Karen England announced in March. "For the last two years, he has voted time and time again to protect and preserve family values in California. We are grateful for his support of California
 families.'"

Acknowledging the CRI award, Duvall observed in a press release that as long as he is in office, he would work to protect "California families" from "constant assault in Sacramento."

Somebody should tell that to the families of the TWO women he is cheating on his wife with. Oh, yeah, and what about his two kids and wife? Apparently, he's content to "constantly assault" family values, he just doesn't want the rest of Sac'to joining in. Or something.

Is anybody surprised that this schmuck is an outspoken supporter of Prop 8? Or that he's voted against "Domestic Violence Protection," whatever that is?

Oh, and guess what? The creepy old perv sits on the Ethics Committee. Time to get him off that one, fersure. Also the Utilities and Commerce Committee, where he gets to decide on things that affect all our lives.

If you're disgusted by the gross, vulgar, unbelievably stupid and hypocritical "Fambly Values" displayed by this idiot, feel free to check out his Democratic opponent, John MacMurray. You can donate to his campaign here.

Update: Duvall has resigned. Naturally, he has not apologized or expressed any regret for being a scum-sucking scumbag. Let's hope the wife and both mistresses confront him and ensure that he spends the rest of his life panhandling on the streets of Yorba Linda. Yes, he's from there. Nixon is spinning in his grave.

Stumble It!

Sibel Edmond's Deposition

I just heard Brad from www.bradblog.com talking about Sibel Edmond's deposition from a a couple of weeks ago. Have you heard about this? She names names and discloses details of bribery, blackmail, and espionage against the good old USA perpetrated by people including members of Congress. She even talks about the sale of US nuclear secrets to our enemies. What? If this stuff is even half true (and Sibel Edmonds has a lot of credibility from being in the position to witness this stuff added to the gag order imposed on her by the Bush DOJ), you would think our news media would be all over it. What gives? Is this country that corrupt through and through that this story will not be allowed any traction? If you haven't heard about this go visit Brad's blog and read what he is reporting and spread the word. It stinks!

Stumble It!

Politics: There's Dawgs

and then there's dawgs.

This here dawg:

IHAH

despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, is a GOOD dawg.

These dawgs, OTOH, are some BAD, bad dawgs.

Remember all those years of Democratic Party congresscritters making backwards bridges of hands and feet to kiss Gee Dumbya's ass? Remember all those years when we cursed and swore at the idiots we had put into Congress who ran as Democrats, then ran FROM Democrats on every issue?

That would be your Blue Dog Democrats, better known as Republicrats or Democraps or Demicans. They keep talking about some mythical "center" to which they owe allegiance while selling all our hopes and dreams down the river, along with their, and our, grandmothers, for a nickel the lot. Fuck me blind, I've had enough of this shit, and if you're sick and tired of so-called Democrats who'd rather have public buttsex with lobbyists and coporathieves than forward the agenda of those who elected them, that is, us - put on your buttkicking boots and get in line. Time for some activism!!

At a time when conservatives of every stripe are thoroughly sick of the betrayal of the conservative movement, at a time when progressives are joining hands with conservatives to protest the wholesale theft and looting of our nation, at a time when Republicans themselves can't run away fast enough from the Party of NoBrains, people like Ben Chandler of Kentucky, Heath Shuler of North Carolina and Kirstin Gillibrand of New York threaten to hold the Democratic Party hostage to their slimy, weaselly ways. These turncoats run as supposed Democrats, hoping to ride our very popular President's coattails to victory, then turn around and do their best to obstruct his agenda at every step.

Thanks to them, we had endless years of frustration, of "do-nothing" congresscritters, of Bush butt-buddies. Enough, we say. People, y'all better find better candidates than your blue dogs to put in power, because they're determined to fuck us all over, and they're gonna start with you.

If you love those ambulatory poops as much as we do, please be sure to let them know. We can't afford to have these weasels in power, mealy-mouthing us into another decade of lobbyists sucking the last drops out of the Taxpayer Trough. Get on them, people.

Here they are, in all their craven glory. Let them hear from you!


Blue Dog Leadership Team

• Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
  
• Rep. Baron Hill, Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
  
• Rep. Charlie Melancon, Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
  
• Rep. Joseph "Heath" Shuler, Blue Dog Whip

Foot Soldiers

• Altmire, Jason (PA-04)
  
• Arcuri, Mike (NY-24)
  
• Baca, Joe (CA-43)
  
• Barrow, John (GA-12)
  
• Berry, Robert Marion (AR-01)
  
• Bishop, Sanford (GA-02)
  
• Boren, Dan (OK-02)
  
• Boswell, Leonard (IA-03)
  
• Boyd, Allen (FL-02)
  
• Bright, Bobby (AL-02)
  
• Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)
  
• Carney, Christopher (PA-10)
  
• Chandler, Ben (KY-06)
  
• Childers, Travis (MS-01)
  
• Cooper, Jim (TN-05)
  
• Costa, Jim (CA-20)
  
• Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)
  
• Davis, Lincoln (TN-04)
  
• Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)
  
• Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08)
  
• Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08)
  
• Gordon, Bart (TN-06)
  
• Griffith, Parker (AL-05)
  
• Harman, Jane (CA-36)
  
• Hill, Baron (IN-09)
  
• Holden, Tim (PA-17)
  
• Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01)
  
• McIntyre, Mike (NC-07)
  
• Marshall, Jim (GA-03)
  
• Matheson, Jim (UT-02)
  
• Melancon, Charles (LA-03)
  
• Michaud, Mike (ME-02)
  
• Minnick, Walt (ID-01)
  
• Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05)
  
• Moore, Dennis (KS-03)
  
• Murphy, Patrick (PA-08)
  
• Nye, Glenn (VA-02)
  
• Peterson, Collin (MN-07)
  
• Pomeroy, Earl (ND)
  
• Ross, Mike (AR-04)
  
• Salazar, John (CO-03)
  
• Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47)
  
• Schiff, Adam (CA-29)
  
• Scott, David (GA-13)
  
• Space, Zack (OH-18)
  
• Tanner, John (TN-08)
  
• Taylor, Gene (MS-04)
  
• Thompson, Mike (CA-01)
  
• Wilson, Charles (OH-06)

List compiled by commenter unite4change at HuffPo.

Righteous commenter tsmith1440000 adds:

These "Blue Dogs" (& other Dems) are having a meeting with 44 tonight. This is a critical point in the new administration. They need to be reminded of how they reached these positions. This is a bad time for self-interest. Remind them that it'll be a WORSE time for it come election time. Copy & paste your (ahem) "opinion" to every single one of them. Feel free to use this:
"44 GETS HIS BUDGET OR I VOTE YOU OUT!!"

Stumble It!

Politics: From The Department of

You Can't Make This Shit Up: KKKarl Rove, aka Turdblossom, aka Brainfather of the Thousand-Year Republican Reich is attempting to give our new President advice on the politicization of the Justice Department.


Yes, that would be the same KKKarl Rove who, under Bush's tenure, politicized the Justice Department — by firing out of hand, and for no good reason anyone has yet determined, many excellent career attorneys (like David Iglesias, to offer just one example) for not being, what's a good phrase? Partisan hacks? Tools? Extreme Christian-Reichwing conservatives willing to bend over and take it in the keister for KKKarl? And by hiring hacks like Monica Goodling to oversee the hiring practices of the Department. Monica Goodling*, whose sole qualification for the position consisted of an unvarying allegiance to the Republican party.

* Note: Link to a PDF of DOJ investigation of Goodling.

Jason Linkins has the dirt over at HuffPo, with a big ha-ha of bitterly ironical laughter. Truly, it sucketh the chrome right off a high-rise building to have that motherfucker KKKarl offering his counterfeit two cents on the issue of politicizing the very office that is supposed to ensure justice for all. On the plus side, our new President is ignoring the little maggot.

We've blogged about this before, repeatedly. Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for Pennsylvania; David Iglesias, New Mexico; Monica Goodling; Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor; and the ongoing corruptionfest known as the Abu G show.

The cherry on KKKarl's shitpile-dessert has to be his disingenuously-posed question about the (obviously greatly-hoped for, at least by KKKarl) firing of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. KKKarl had targeted Fitzgerald for investigation, for the unthinkable crime of actually investigating the KKKarl Cabal. Hopes ran high all over blogtopia (y,Sctp!) for well over a year. Hopes that Fitzgerald, keen, methodical, impartial, painstakingly devoted to Justice, would find a way to topple the Evil Empire built by Cheney, Rove, Bush, and their rage of hunchmen.

Hopes that died a sad death when it became clear that Fitzgerald was stymied by factors outside his control. But we dare say that the thought of revenge burned brightly in our breast anyway. Many of us prayed and hoped and worked for the day when this vile and wretched ambulatory bag of putrescence would finally be brought to justice for the vast and thorough corruption he had worked on the nation. The political discourse that he had flung into the gutter. The bitter partisanship that he cultivated like some malodorous fungoid. The fear, paranoia, hate, bitterness that divided us from each other in this nation even as his puppetmaster's other favourite puppet was flapping his gums about being a "uniter, not a divider."

No one has singlehandedly contributed as much to the destruction of everything this nation stands for as this nasty little man. Is it too much to hope that karma bites him in the tush? What would be a suitable fate for him? We'd like to wish him a thousand incarnations as a cockroach, but most cockroaches probably have a more beneficial relationship with humanity than this scum. Multiple lifetimes as a scum-sucking bottom-feeding eel? A diatom? A bacterium that survives on fecal matter?

Perhaps we'd settle for seeing him alongside Dick and Al in an orange jumpsuit. Don't forget the wrist and leg shackles.

Stumble It!

Politics: Satan Indicted

Well, well, well. Strike me down with a feather. Or paint me pink and call me a Cadillac. Or something.



The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Richard "Satan" Bruce Cheney, the current Vice-President of this fine nation, has been indicted by a South Texas grand jury

" ... on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers."

The story goes on to explain on exactly what grounds Satan was indicted. See, apparently Dickie Boy owns a stake in the Vanguard Group

" ... which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and 'at least misdemeanor assaults' on detainees by working through the prison companies."

Remember when we blogged about the prison-industrial complex in this country? This country which has imprisoned approximately one per cent of its total population? How that job of imprisoning the working poor had then been outsourced to private industry which was charging taxpayers a hefty fee for "taking care" of our unfortunate fellow-citizens even as it exploited their labour and used it to drive down the wages of the working poor further?

Well, it looks as if some prosecutor has finally discovered a pair of cojones lying around and clapped them on. Oh, yeah, and we forgot to mention that Alberto Gonezales was also indicted, on the grounds that he had stopped an investigation into the abuses going on in these detention centers.

Hallelujah. Will wonders never cease?

La Casa de Los Gatos recommends a glass or two of the spirits of your choice in celebration. Will Al and Satan's Dick actually make it into a prison? With orange jumpsuits and leg shackles? Will they be making our license plates?


Oh, frabjous day, callooh callay, he chortled in his joy. (Thanks, Lewis Carroll!)

Stumble It!

Letter From A Hedge Fund Manager

Apparently, one Andrew Lahde, a hedge fund manager, wrote this letter to his erstwhile clients after deciding to shut down the hedge fund which had paid them returns of 1,000 per cent since he started it.

Mr. Lahde is to be commended for his breadth and range of topic and his writing style. Also ass-kicking. An endeavour of which we highly approve:

Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.

Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, "What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it." I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.

There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list those deserving thanks know who they are.

I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they look forward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.

So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don't worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer's company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.

I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life -- where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management -- with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.

On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man's interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft's near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.

Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won't see it included in BP's, "Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions," television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM's similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant -- marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other additive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let's stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.

With that I say good-bye and good luck.

All the best,

Andrew Lahde

He's right, y'know. And that has to be the best-written Fuck You on the planet.

Stumble It!

2008 Elections: Oh, Looky

Oh, my. Digg buddy and detail-oriented researcher Jennifer posted this partial list of lobbyists associated with McStain's campaign today:

When cable news shows air footage of McCain railing against greedy execs and the lobbyists who rig the rules for the benefit of Wall Street dealmakers, there ought to be a crawl beneath him listing these lobbyists. (Talk about a fair and balanced presentation.) Short of that, here's the list of the McCain aides and bundlers who have worked for the high-finance greed-mongers McCain has pledged to take on. So far, it seems, none of them have been cast out of the campaign. If McCain were serious about his outrage, he might throw these money-changers out of his own temple:

• Phil Anderson: American Council of Life Insurers, Aetna, AIG, New York Life, MassMutual, VISA
  
  
• Rebecca Anderson: Aegon, American Council of Life Insurers, Cigna, Barclays, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC
  
  
• Stanton Anderson: The Debt Exchange
  
  
• David Beightol: Allstate, Amerigroup, Charles Schwab, HSBC
  
  
• Rhonda Bentz: VISA
  
  
• Wayne Berman: American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Americhoice, Shinsei Bank, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Broidy Capital Management, Credit Suisse Securities, Highstar Capital, VISA, Ameriquest Mortgage, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fitch Ratings
  
  
• Charlie Black: JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, National Association of Mortgage Brokers
  
  
• Judy Black: Colorado Credit Union League, Genworth Financial, Bay Harbour Management, Merrill Lynch
  
  
• Kirk Blalock: Credit Union National Association, Financial Executives International, American Insurance Association, Mutual of Omaha, Zurich Financial Service Group, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
  
  
• Carlos Bonilla: Financial Services Roundtable, Freddie Mac
  
  
• Christine Burgeson: Citigroup
  
  
• Mark Buse: Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company
  
  
• Nicholas Calio: Citigroup, Managed Fund Association, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, The Investment Company Institute, TIAA-CRE, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
  
  
• Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Amscot Financial Corporation, Community Financial Services Association, Fidelity National Financial
  
  
• Andrew Cantor: American Insurance Association, Merrill Lynch
  
  
• Alberto Cardenas: Fannie Mae
  
  
• James Courter: Goldman Sachs, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Investment Company Institute, Merrill Lynch
  
  
• David Crane: Financial Services Roundtable, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Bank of America, Association of Corporate Credit Unions, Freddie Mac
  
  
• Dan Crippen: Merrill Lynch, National Multi-Housing Council
  
  
• Arthur Culvahouse: Fannie Mae
  
  
• Bryan Cunningham: Arch Capital Group
  
  
• Alfonse D'Amato: AIG, Freddie Mac
  
  
• Doug Davenport: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, VISA
  
  
• Ashley Davis: Prudential Financial, American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters, Great American Insurance Company
  
  
• Mimi Dawson: MassMutual
  
  
• Melissa Edwards: Freddie Mac, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Access to Capital Coalition
  
  
• Chris Fidler: American Bankers Association, Milcom Venture Partners, National Association Real Estate Investment Trusts
  
  
• Samuel Geduldig: American Bankers Association, American Institute of CPAs, America Gains, Berkshire Hathaway, Consumer Bankers Association, Ernst & Young, Financial Services Roundtable, Investment Company Institute, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, Sovereign Investment Council, Fidelity Investments, FMR Corp.
  
  
• Benjamin Ginsberg: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, AIG Technical Services
  
  
• David Girard-Dicarlo: American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters
  
  
• Juleanna Glover Weiss: RJI Capital, American Institute of CPAs, BNP Paribas, Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  
  
• Slade Gorton: Allstate Insurance, Hannan Armstrong Capital
  
  
• Phil Gramm: UBS Americas
  
  
• John Green: Laredo National Bank, Alternative Investment Management Association, AIG, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group, Fannie Mae, Icahn Associates, FMR Corp., AFLAC, VISA
  
  
• Janet Grissom: American Institute of CPAs, NYSE, Merrill Lynch
  
  
• Kristen Gullott: San Diego Credit Union
  
  
• Kent Hance: Stanford Financial Group, Municipal Capital Markets Group, Inc.
  
  
• Vicki Hart: American Financial Services Association, Citigroup, Investment Company Institute, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, New York Stock Exchange, VISA, Carlyle Group, Credit Suisse, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Goldman Sachs, National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, Stanford Group, Lloyd's of London, National City Corp.
  
  
• Richard Hohlt: Capmark Financial Group, Fannie Mae, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Student Loan Marketing Association, Washington Mutual, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Peachtree Settlement Funding, Dime Savings Bank of New York
  
  
• Gaylord Hughey: Heartland Security Insurance Group
  
  
• Kate Hull: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Zurich Financial Services, American Insurance Association, Financial Executives International
  
  
• James Hyland: American Insurance Association, Seattle Home Loan Bank, Self Help Credit Union, National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, Merrill Lynch, Mortgage Investors Corp., Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Freddie Mac, New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, VISA
  
  
• Aleix Jarvis: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Financial Executives International, Mutual of Omaha, American Insurance Association, Zurich Financial Services
  
  
• Greg Jenner: American Council of Life Insurers, JG Wentworth, UBS, VISA, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  
  
• Frank Keating: Former Gov. OK. Former Asst. AG, American Council of Life Insurers
  
  
• Steven Kuykendall: California Bankers Association
  
  
• William Lesher: Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Commerce Ventures, Rabobank International
  
  
• Thomas Loeffler: Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Investment Company Institute, World Savings and Loan Association, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
  
  
• Kelly Lugar: RJI Capital Strategies
  
  
• Peter Madigan: Arthur Andersen, Bank of New York, Broadridge Securities Processing, Charles Schwab, Deloitte and Touche, Goldman Sachs, International Employee Stock Option Coalition, Mastercard, NYSE, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, PNC Bank
  
  
• Mary Mann: MassMutual
  
  
• Paul Martino: Morgan Stanley, Baker Tilly
  
  
• Jana McKeag: Venture Catalyst
  
  
• Alison McSlarrow: Fannie Mae, Hartford
  
  
• Mike Meece: Georgetown Partners
  
  
• David Metzner: Ernst & Young, Harbinger Capital Investments, Prudential, Public Financial Management, Western Union
  
  
• Susan Molinari: Freddie Mac, American Land Title Association, Association of Consumer Credit Unions, Beacon Capital Partners, College Loan Corp, Coventry First, E-Trade, Financial Services Roundtable, Rent-A-Center
  
  
• John Moran: Cerberus Capital Management, American Council of Life Insurers, Accenture
  
  
• John Napier: Freddie Mac
  
  
• Susan Nelson: AIG, San Antonio Credit Union
  
  
• Paul Otellini: Ernst & Young, Financial Services Forum
  
  
  
  
• Steve Perry: Charles Schwab, Hoover Partners, HSBC, National Stock Exchange
  
  
• Nancy Pfotenhauer: American Land Title Association, Mortgage Bankers Association
  
  
• Elise Pickering-Finley: Credit Suisse, DE Shaw, Hartford Financial Services, Research In Motion, Retail Industry Lenders Association, URL Mutual
  
  
• James Pitts: Advanced Association for Life Underwriting, AETNA, American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Debt Advisory International, Financial Services Coordinating Council, GE Financial Assurance, Hartford Life, Jefferson Pilot Financial, Kenwood Investments, MassMutual, Mutual of Omaha, New York Life, UNUM Provident, VISA, PMI Group
  
  
• Tim Powers: AP Capital, Genworth Financial, Retail Industry Lenders Association, E-LOAN, General Electric Mortgage Insurance
  
  
• Walter Price: Wachovia
  
  
• Sloan Rappoport: Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR), Trafelet Delta Funds
  
  
• Hans Rickhoff: Capital One, Investment Company Institute, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
  
  
• Kathleen Shanahan: New York Stock Exchange
  
  
• Andrew Shore: Accenture, Retail Industry Lenders Association, Barclays, Bond Market Association, Credit Suisse, TPG Capital
  
  
• Katie Stahl: Alliance for Investment Transparency, Ares Management, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Uhlmann Financial Group
  
  
• Milly Stanges: TIAA-CREF
  
  
• Aquiles Suarez: Fannie Mae
  
  
• Don Sundquist: Freddie Mac, The Hartford
  
  
• Peter Terpeluk: JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, Prudential
  
  
• Fred Thompson: Equitas
  
  
• Jeri Thompson: American Insurance Association
  
  
• John Timmons: National Association of Federal Credit Unions
  
  
• William Timmons Sr.: American Council of Life Insurers, Citigroup, Dun & Bradstreet, Freddie Mac, Vanguard Group
  
  
• Vin Weber: Agstar Financial Services, AKT Investment Corp., American Institute of CPAs, Ernst & Young, Freddie Mac, Louis Dreyfus Corp, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  
  
• Jeffery Weiss: JP Morgan
  
  
• Tony Williams: Russell Investment Group, American Life Inc., Northwestern Mutual

Quite a list, eh? And look at the huge number of banks and insurance companies that are represented here. Worse yet, count the number of lobbyists representing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

John McCain. Bringing change to Washington. Whatever change is left in your pockets after he and his lobbyist pals shake you down.

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Politics: Have Something To Say About The Bailout?

Here is a comprehensive list of names, email addresses, and phone numbers for every single one of your Congresscritters in the Senate. Pick up the phone or keyboard and have at it!

Those slimy bastards need an earful from each and every one of us about this ridiculous giveaway of OUR MONEY!!!

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Sign Senator Bernie Sanders petition

America's senator, Bernie Sanders, has a petition to old Henry (hanky panky) Paulson that would pay for this stinking Wall Street bailout with a surtax on the rich, instead of taxing the middle class. The middle class did not cause this "crisis" so why in the hell should we pay for it? If we don't make enough noise we will. Make noise! And sign Bernie's petition!

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2008 Elections: A Summary of Facts, Part I

Eww, don't touch me, old dude!

We all know this is a very important election. So important that the handwringing has already begun and Concern Trolls (people who pretend they're very concerned about a candidate's chances while simultaneously sliming said candidate and severely depressing said candidate's supporters*) are surfacing like turds in the sewage reclamation plant.

If you're an Obama supporter, there is plenty of evidence out there that you should calm down. The polls go up, the polls go down, your head goes round and round. Here, for example, is a wonderful piece by Seth Colter Walls, Political Reporter for The Huffington Post, explaining how pollsters weight their polls — and, incidentally, explaining why you should not trust polls!

But the Republican candidates — Sarah Palin and John McCain — appear to giving so many people the heebie jeebies that we're obliged to do a little rooting around here and find out exactly what gives.

Do you want to see that face for the next four years?

Here, in brief, is what John McCain says about his platform:

• You say you have "A pro-growth, pro-jobs strategy to get our economy back on track."
  
  Well, everybody wants one of those. How'd'you plan to deliver one, John? Especially after telling us “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” [...].
  
  Dude, it's 2008. There's a little over three months left to the year. This is not the time to be tellin' us you don't have a plan and you'll need some on-the-job training, because, um, you know, you shoulda got that training back in 2000 when you were running FOR THE EXACT SAME JOB, YOU FUCKING DOOFUS. You've had eight years to fix this gap in your knowledge. Surely you were contemplating a second run for the Presidency. So what the fuck were you doing the past eight years, porking lobbyists, or lobbying for pork?
  
  Based on the insults you're hurling at Democrats, it's kinda hard to believe you'll be able to scare up a "bi-partisan" National Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice. How long will they take to give you a "recommendation"? Because, y'know, that 9/11 Commission took a fucking long time to tell us anything. Just sayin'.
  
  Oh, and giving people comp time instead of overtime money is not really helpful when real wages have been stagnant for a decade. We don't all have $100 million in the bank and seven houses, yaknow. Finally, we're proud of you for supporting all that cool legislation to help families and all, but, um, 1993 was, like FIFTEEN YEARS ago? Y'know, 20th Century, vs. 21st? Things have changed a bit?
  
  
• You say "Bringing costs under control is the only way to stop the erosion of affordable health insurance, save Medicare and Medicaid, protect private health benefits for retirees, and allow our companies to effectively compete around the world."
  
  By giving us $5,000 per family (regardless of economic circumstances) for health insurance? Put down the crack pipe, dude. We pay double that for two adults with no degenerative diseases and few drug copays. That doesn't include vision or dental, which we pay separately. Besides, without jobs and unemployment hovering over 6 per cent and the current economic collapse, how the fuck are we supposed to pay for this insurance?
  
  Are you seriously going to hand every American family, rich and poor, $5K out of the treasury? Cause you might run out of paper to print that money, yaknow. You say: "When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions and often decide against unnecessary options." You mean when you tell them here's your $5K and you can't afford surgery for your kid's cleft palate on that, they'll forgo the surgery, right? Will Cindy's charity step up to the plate? I hear they do lots of cleft palate surgeries in other countries.
  
  Oh, btw, John? Your statement "John McCain will promote the rapid deployment of 21st century information systems and technology to improve patient safety, enhance quality and lower costs"? Doesn't sound too good considering how much of our medical information processing has been outsourced and leaked to identity theft rings.
  
  
• You say you "believe[s] that the highest priority for any President is protecting the lives of American citizens, defending their personal freedom, and securing our land and resources.
  
  Does that mean you'll be revoking the Patriot Act in accordance with the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of our right to be secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures"? Will you force the telcos to obey the law and cease their unconstitutional spying on Americans?
  
  Will you restore the people's right "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" according to the First Amendment to the Constitution? Or was the attack on the protestors and the press at the RNC just a taste of things to come?
  
  
• You say you have "fought to honor our national commitment to our veterans who have given their careers and livelihoods to ensuring our freedom," you say.
  
  Why, then, did you vote against the Webb amendment to give troops more rest time between deployments? Why, in July 2007, did you vote against troop drawdown in Iraq? Why, in March 2007, did you not even bother to show up to vote on troop drawdown? Why, in February, did you fail to show up to vote against condemning the "surge"?
  
  Why did you vote against increasing the VA's health care facilities budget? Why did you repeatedly vote against increasing the VA's budget for outpatient care and treatment?
  
  Why, in February 2006, did you vote against closing the corporate tax loophole and awarding any monies thereby earned to the VA to provide treatment for injured veterans? You did the same thing in March 2004, preferring your corporate cronies to the veterans who have loyally served their nation.
  
  So when you say you have fought to honor these brave men and women, who were you fighting? Did you not know that injured veterans were lying neglected at Walter Reed?
  
  You're drawing 100 per cent disability pay, Senator. Nearly $60,000 a year. With a yearly income of around $6 million, why are you taking that pension, when you don't need it? You have seven houses, Senator. You spend $520 on a pair of shoes.
  
  Did you know that thousands of veterans have been denied disability benefits, Senator?
  
  Even without your wife's $100 million fortune, you're not poor, Senator. You earn $169,300 annually as a Senator. Add your tax-exempt disability pay and your Social Security income ($1,930/mo=$23,960/pa) and your book royalties of $176,508. That's a lot of money, Senator. $369,768 in taxable income and approximately $60,000 in non-taxable income. Your lifetime health care is provided by us, the taxpayers. You don't have to pay a cent for it. You don't pay a cent for housing, either, or for your children's food, clothing, health care, housing, transportation, education, and other incidental expenses.
  
  So why are you taking disability money and social security money when the median household income is $50,000 a year, Senator? If you're 100% disabled, you shouldn't be running for office. And if you're not, you shouldn't be taking the money.
  
  
• You say you have "a broad and cohesive vision for the future of American innovation."
  
  Really? Your "broad and cohesive vision" — that of a man who still does not know how to log on to a computer or access the Internet, who doesn't know the difference between Google and the World-Wide Web, appears to consist of fiscal incentives combined with low taxes and deregulation to stimulate innovation.
  
  Have you talked to Phil Gramm or Alan Greenspan lately? Because that approach was tried with the financials markets, and do you know where that got us? Oh wait, we forgot, your friend Phil Gramm is one of those rich scoundrels who helped respected Swiss bank UBS lose 70 per cent of its value since he signed on; he and his wife Wendy are deeply involved with deregulating the energy markets, the Enron scandal, and deregulation of the EPA. Plus, richie rich Phil thinks the recession is "mental" and Americans are a "nation of whiners" because they can't all land jobs as VP of UBS, helping wealthy Americans evade taxes.

So much for Part I. We're too exhausted to continue tonight. Tomorrow, same channel, please. We will present Part II. And we plan to investigate Mooseburger Mamma, too.

Meanwhile, for your delectation:

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Justice Department Scandal

Yowza! Jon Stewart interviews David Iglesias, former U.S. Attorney who was fired for refusing to prosecute dubious cases of "voter fraud" based on weak evidence. Raw Story has the details.

Obviously, we need to watch all those Star Wars episodes we skipped, because here is Mr. Iglesias' operative quote:

Stewart ended by asking Igleaias, “Is the greatest disappointment for you that you were a guy who believed in what they were doing? … Do you feel betrayed in that sense?”

“I thought I was working with the Jedi Knights and I was working for the Sith Lords,” Iglesias acknowledged, as the audience broke into applause.

Iglesias has written a book that has just hit the stands, titled In Justice, which details the politicization of the Justice Department.

When your own nation's highest legal authorities engage in selective prosecution and use the law to penalize those who speak out against one party, one administration, or one group of politically powerful and wealthy people, how can you ever again criticize fascist or communist dictatorships? Ask Hope Steffey, Angie Garbarino, and the countless other victims of creeping fascism in America about their experiences. These are just the ones who got attention from the media. We have no idea how many more people have stories to tell.

People, we can never relax our vigilance. Think about it. How many people do you know who put their country first, their community first, their neighbours first? We are all inclined to be selfish, and if we know there are no consequences, most of us reach for whatever we can get and ignore everyone else. So if you don't want your rights stolen, if you don't want to live in a dictatorship, then it's your job, our job, every one of us, to scrutinize our leaders carefully, to make sure they don't steal our rights as well as our jobs, health, lives, and money.

We already know our government has no shame about performing medical experiments on us and lying about it.

If there's one good thing to come out of the Justice Department Scandal, it's that we now know, with evidence, that our government can be politicized and used against us. We know that the ensuing investigation might include liability for those higher up the food chain. We know that Alberto Gonezales will have to pay for his crimes. He's already paying: after Shrubya dumped the ineffectual little liar, he shopped his resume around in search of a job. Result? Zilch, nothing, nada, zero, zip, says the NYT (login required, registration free).

Maybe this will inspire the little worm to feel some sympathy for the large numbers of unemployed who lost their jobs thanks to his buddies.

In other truly heartening news, ambulatory wastebucket Bradley Schlozman will probably face prosecution for his role in the Justice Department scandal, the trumped up charges that led to the firings of so many dedicated U.S. Attorneys and the illegal filing of voter fraud charges on slim evidence and timed to influence the elections. The Wah!Poo reports that Schlozman's testimony is under examination by a grand jury.


May we just take this opportunity to add that it couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch of schmucks.

Bonus question: Why do these guys all look like they just cheated your 90-year-old Aunt Agnes out of her life savings, or seduced your underage daughter?

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Politics: Oh Pleez Oh Pleez Oh Pleez Oh Pleez Oh Yes!

Is there a Deity? Does it hear the pleas of its creation? There's a good case to be made for the existence of a Deity that doth listen to the many prayers for good.

The Chicago Trib announced today that ambulatory scumball and professional sleazebucket impersonator KKKarl Rove has been subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about whether the White House improperly meddled with the Justice Department.

He will testify on 10 July about the illegal firings of U.S. attorneys and the dirty tricks involved in the prosecution of ex-Governor Don Siegelman. Rep. Conyers (D-Michigan) issued a statement that is admirably snarky in tone without departing from the professional standards that we expect of our legislators:

"It is unfortunate that Mr. Rove has failed to cooperate with our requests," Conyers, D-Mich., said in a statement. "Although he does not seem the least bit hesitant to discuss these very issues weekly on cable television and in the print news media, Mr. Rove and his attorney have apparently concluded that a public hearing room would not be appropriate."

We congratulate Michiganders for having the good sense to elect Rep. Conyers and to repeat the proof of their intelligence and discrimination as needed. We beg that portion of the electorate responsible for such abominations as Mitch McConnell (KYnYouPeopleQuitAwreddy), John Boner (R-OhGodNotAgain), John Cornyn (R-TXCutsForTehRich), Lindsay Graham (R-SCuzzball), and their ilk, to follow the example of Michiganders and Do The Right Thing. C'mon, there's gotta be way better candidates in each of your states to replace these pathetic lying weaseling proto-skunks. C'mon!

We are off to put our underroos on our heads and caper about singing "Oh, Frabjous Day! Callooh, Callay," and other such entertainments as reflect our overwhelming joy and delight in these developments.

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Politics: One More Down

Those rats who haven't already abandoned the sinking FAILBOAT known as the Dick 'n Bush Misadministration, are being picked off one by one as their crimes catch up with them.

Latest to resign, according to Bloomberg, is none other than HUD Secretary Alphonso "Golfing Buddies Get First Dibs" Jackson.

If you're thinking to yourself, "Hmm, that name sounds familiar," it's probably because of Jackson's purported refusal to award HUD contracts to anyone who criticizes the Idiot-in-Chief. Last time we checked, HUD was financed by taxpayer money, not Shrubya's personal fortune. As such, party affiliation and loyalty to Der Chimpenfuehrer should not count at all in how HUD money is disbursed. But that was before the rise of the fascist state that puts party loyalty and personal loyalty above merit.

Which is why the inmates are now running the asylum and everything that can possibly be broken, is.

Jackson's other claims to fame:

• Refusal to correct reported corruption and mismanagement and retaliatory "reassignment" of whistleblowers;
  
  
• Spending $100,000 to have formal portraits of HUD chiefs painted &mdash at a time when the housing market is spiraling into the depths and people are losing their homes every day;
  
  
• Slow and inadequate response to rebuilding public housing in New Orleans, resulting in four-fifths of public housing occupants not being permitted to occupy their former housing, even when it is in good shape;
  
  
• Claiming he lied when he made that statement about only awarding contracts to those who showed sufficient loyalty to Der Leader;
  
  
• Being proved to have &mdash unfortunately &mdash told the truth, in that investigators noticed only contractors who donated heavily to the Republican party or were personal friends got huge amounts of public money in the form of contracts awarded.

In case you're wondering, Jackson got his job as head of HUD because he used to be George W. Bush's buddy back in Dallas.

Is there a single member of this pathetic misadministration who was chosen solely for their competence and qualifications?

Today, Jackson announced that he, like Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonezales, John Ashcroft, and the other hundred or so miscreants hired by this repulsive gang of crooks and thugs, is leaving to spend more time annoying his family. To the Jackson family, we say: His resignation isn't effective for another two weeks. There is time! Save yourselves! Fly, you fools.

To the rest of America, we say: See this fat, smug, repulsive visage?

Remember it well. Do not let this man within a hundred miles of any job involving your tax dollars. Wealthy golfers don't need your charity. Especially not where our money is involved.

Jeez, you just can't make up this stuff.

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Feel Safer Now?

Raw Story tells us that a man carrying a loaded shotgun was arrested in January near the U.S. Capitol, and explosives left in his truck nearby went undetected for three weeks.

The schmuck in question, one Michael Gorbey, 38, of Rapidan, Va., was allegedly trying to manufacture a

"weapon of mass destruction, that is, an explosive device capable of causing multiple deaths or serious bodily injuries to multiple persons, or massive destruction of property," according to the indictment.

[...]

Now U.S. Capitol Police are investigating how their bomb squad missed the bomb.

[...]

Court records show Gorbey is a convicted felon and has been in and out of prison since 1991 for convictions on larceny, domestic violence and illegal gun and drug charges.

So we have to take our shoes off at the airport and stand in line for hours and dump breast milk and carry shampoo in little tiny bottles, and the FBI and DHS are monitoring every fucking email, phone call, and Web click we make, we can't even fart in peace in our houses without the DHS analyzing our poots, but convicted felons and loonies can bring bombs into the capital and DHS doesn't find them for three weeks? HELLO? Why does Michael Chertoff still have a job?

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Politics: Update on NRCC

What the Republican Party thinks of you, America!

We forgot to mention that Christopher J. Ward, NRCC treasurer for the past five years, who is being investigated by the FBI for the disappearance of large sums of money donated to the NRCC, was a partner in Political Compliance Services, the firm that did so much work for Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. If you remember anything at all about the Swift Boat Veterans, you will remember that truth was something with which they apparently had only the briefest of passing acquaintance. Mr. Ward's job was to assist these poisoners of the public discourse to spread their poison deep into the very veins of America's body politic.

Thanks to their lies and machinations (and no shortage of a spineless, grovelling, cowardly, lickspittle media) combined with the gullibility of millions of Americans who denied their deeply closeted selves and listened to uber-whore Chris "my head is bigger than the wheelbarrow I carry George's balls around in" Matthews drool and sigh over the Combuster-in-chief's Holy Ball-Package, we got four more years of wholesale destruction of our economy, damage of our banks, and breakage of every institution and organization required to keep this country functional.

It's only fitting that the Republican Party which shoved the Swiftboaters down our gullets and created a new term for our dictionaries that expresses the worst and slimiest of behaviour should be, as it were, hoist on its own petard. The NRCC is now asking all Republican lawmakers who might have had anything to do with Mr. Ward to examine their accounts for evidence of pilferage. At least two Republican legislators have reported "irregularities." Rodney Alexander of LA is not one of them, having cut his ties with Mr. Ward upon hearing of the NRCC's problems.

Mr. Alexander apparently prefers sexual scandals to financial. When we last heard of Rep. Alexander, he was deeply enmeshed in the Mark Foley "sexual improprieties with teenage pages" scandal, and was busy fending off a lawsuit for sexual harrassment of one of his own employees.

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Politics: Schadenfreude

Image from Inspector Lohmann's site

Warning: If you think we cuss and swear a lot, you ain't seen nothin' yet. So exercise a little caution if you're planning to visit Inspector Lohmann.

For years, we've had to endure the GOP's endless yawping about how Democrats want to raise taxes, they're tax and spenders, they are throwing away the nation's money, looting the treasury, blah blah blah ad infinitum ad nauseam.

Of course, the past seven years has shown us that the GOP shill in the White House, combined with the GOP rubber-stampers in Congress, have managed to blow away the trillion dollar surplus the Clinton Administration left us, and burn through several trillion more, so that now we are facing the largest amount of national debt ever, combined with negative economic growth and inadequate job growth and collapse of the industrial and manufacturing infrastructure, combined with a devaluing dollar, and collapsing national infrastructure. The GOP hasn't raised taxes on us, but they've managed to raise the price of everything, from gas to food &mdash everything except housing, that is, so that more people now own less equity in their houses than any time since World War II. That's right. You have to go back 60 years to find a time when homeowners were worse off.

Congratulations, Chimpy McDumbass.

In the midst of all this terrible news, it's kind of refreshing to hear that the GOP has not escaped unscathed from all the troubles they started.

The NYT tells us:

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing and presumed stolen from the chief fund-raising arm of House Republicans, according to party officials who described the findings of emergency internal audits.

The financial records of the group, the National Republican Congressional Committee, may also have been falsified for several years, Republican officials said. The campaign committees of several Republican lawmakers may also have been victims of a scam that is now under criminal investigation by the F.B.I.

The audits were ordered after the abrupt departure several weeks ago of Christopher J. Ward, who had been treasurer of the committee. Lawmakers said that Mr. Ward, who served a similar role for dozens of individual members of Congress and their political committees, is the focus of the F.B.I.’s criminal investigation.

The committee has acknowledged publicly that it was aware of “irregularities in our financial audit process” and that it had called in the F.B.I. in February because “these irregularities may include fraud.”

But until now the committee has not acknowledged that any money was missing from its bank accounts or that the financial irregularities might extend beyond the national committee to the campaign funds of individual Republican lawmakers who also worked with Mr. Ward, a longtime party operative.

BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh, sorry. We don't mean to take so much joy in the pain of others &mdash no, wait, we do. Because these are the selfsame crooks, thugs, and liars who kept telling us, as they cut taxes for themselves and their wealthy friends and tried to convince poor, working class, and middle-class Americans that it was imperative to repeal estate taxes to keep Paris Hilton in designer handbags, that we should "take personal responsibility" for the fucked-up economy, the mass offshoring of our jobs, the rising cost of school loans, the rising cost of health insurance, the rising cost of food, the rising cost of housing. Yes, these schmucks who encouraged a "I got mine, and fuck you all very much" mentality for the past decade, these putzes who wanted to "shrink government," that is, social programs that feed poor schoolchildren and help retirees find adequate health care and suitable housing, and give poor women prenatal care so they can birth and raise healthy children, they wanted to "drown [those programs] like a baby in the bathtub."

How does it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot, folks? You don't believe in big government, right. Hey, you believe in no government. Grover Norquist, your reigning queen, thinks people don't need government. So why the hell are you calling in the FBI? Why don't you guys take some personal responsibility for first, encouraging this greedy mentality, and then hiring people who live by it?


Take your situational ethics and cram them, GOP. Right up alongside your head. Yes. In your ass.

As for our good fellow-citizens who contributed to the GOP? Hope you're happy now that your money (which is devaluing hourly) has basically just sprouted wings and flown away. See if you can find out how Mr. Ward spent it. Oysters and champagne? Prostitutes? Luxury automobiles? Trips to exotic destinations? Don't cry too hard over it, though. Just don't give the bastards another red cent, or you'll be living in a refrigerator box out by the local dump, and eating cat food if you're lucky.

Update: More here.

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Politics: Are They ALL

growing balls? Ovaries? Reproductive bits indicative of strength, fortitude and large-scale deweaselment?


Raw Story is telling us, this morning, that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has asked the (in)Justice Department to open a grand jury investigation into whether President Bush's chief of staff and former counsel should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

The idea of Harriet Myers and Josh Bolten in the hoosegow has us faint and trembling with delight.

A clarification: We don't necessarily want to inflict misery on other people per se. Seriously. We don't want people tortured or murdered or beaten up or jailed. We would prefer that people live peaceful happy lives as far as that is possible. What we do want is fairness and justice. If the law is going to drag some poor crack-smoker to the hoosegow, then it must also drag the rich coke-sniffer to the hoosegow.

Thus, if some of the people investigated during the baseless Whitewater scandal got to sit in the pokey, some of the people involved in the lies that led us to war in Iraq, the disappearance of billions from our treasury, the gifting of taxpayer dollars to companies like Halliburton and Blackwater, and the myriad crimes of this Misadministration must also be investigated, convicted as justified, and either spend their time in the pokey or start singing like canaries so we, the people, can find out exactly how, when, where, how often, and by whom we've been screwed. Because make no mistake about it, we have been screwed.

We want the rule of law. If it sweeps some of our idols and role models into its dragnet, well, we'll be unhappy but we'll live with it.

When Harriet Myers and Josh Bolten dared to tell the people that they would not be held accountable for their acts, that sent a very troubling message to the nation and the world. No one is, or should be, above the law. No one. Not kings, priests, presidents, businessmen, politicians, and certainly not the toadying shallow minions of a petty, egocentric sociopath who has treated the country like his personal poop-box for seven years. Because if any one person is above the law, then what incentive is there for any other person to obey it?

The article states, in part:

Pelosi, D-Calif., demanded that the department pursue misdemeanor charges against former White House counsel Harriet Miers for refusing to testify to Congress about the firings of federal prosecutors in 2006 and against chief of staff Josh Bolten for failing to turn over White House documents related to the dismissals.

She gave Attorney General Michael Mukasey one week to respond and said refusal to take the matter to a grand jury will result in the House's filing a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration.

So this is about the federal prosecutors that the Bush Maladministration fired in their effort to turn the Justice Department into their pathetic spineless tool. Finally.

Nancy Pelosi, if you can push this through, our admiration for you automatically rises ten notches, and we will back off on beating you about the head and shoulders verbally.

If you haven't been following the Justice Department scandal, you can find great detail about it here. Just search for justice department.

If you don't necessarily want that level of detail, we've blogged the issue here, here, here, here, and here.

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Politics: Indictment du Jour

Rick Renzi, corrupt crook and congresscritter

Is there going to be an end to the daily scandal? Perhaps when all the crooks, liars, and thugs have been cleaned out of the House (White or Legislative), and the people's duly elected &mdash not appointed &mdash representatives have taken up the business of fixing the damage that eight years of an ethically impaired fool and his myrmidons have wrought upon the country.

While Chimpy McFuckwit (see Maru for a complete list of excellent names for the Idiot 'n Thief) wanders unnoticed around Africa making an even bigger and more pathetic fool of himself than we had thought possible, and becoming increasingly irrelevant and repellent, the house of cards he left us is falling down around our ears.

Raw Story has the details of the 26-page indictment against Renzi. A pertinent excerpt:

Renzi also is a co-chairman of Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Arizona leadership team. And the Arizona Senator aided Renzi's re-election bid.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Indiana Thursday, McCain, an Arizona senator, demurred when asked about the indictment.

"I'm sorry. I feel for the family; as you know, he has 12 children," McCain told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

TWELVE? The bastard spawned TWELVE? Well, that's reason enough right there to indict his sorry ass. Whatthehell is wrong with guys like this? Do they really come cheaper by the dozen, or do you just not feel like enough of a man if you can't outbreed your neighbours?

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