Be INFORMED

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sunday Satire: Mitt Romney Edition

   Romney won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, so, in the spirit of thinking that he’s an ass..

Jimmy Kimmel: "I came up with a great slogan for Romney. "It's time to Mitt or get off the pot."

“Apparently a large branch of Mitt Romney’s family lives in Mexico. … His grandfather in the late 1800s moved his whole family to Mexico to avoid being prosecuted for polygamy. … Mitt can use that to show that he’s tough on immigration. His family kicked themselves out of the country.”

Jay Leno: "Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night. See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds and run for president of the United States."

"You know the difference between Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Tim Tebow? When God tells Tim Tebow to run, he wins."

"A group calling itself the Courage Campaign is trying to win support for a millionaire tax by running an ad showing Kim Kardashian. They want the Kardashians to pay more. This is part of the plan to raise taxes on the dumbest 1 percent."

"Mitt Romney says he understands the middle class, and that he knows it's not easy keeping a roof over your family's heads — as well as vacation roofs in San Diego, New Hampshire, and Park City, Utah."

Jimmy Fallon: "While campaigning yesterday, Jon Huntsman said he was 'ready to rock and roll.' Not to be outdone, Mitt Romney said he was ready to 'easy listen.'"

"After Iowa and New Hampshire, Mitt Romney's campaign is now two for two. After his performance last night, Rick Perry's campaign merchandise is now two for one."

Conan O'Brien: "Fidel Castro declared that a robot would do a better job as president than Barack Obama. After hearing this, Mitt Romney thanked Castro for his endorsement."

"Yesterday Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stopped by the White House. There was an awkward moment when they tried to adopt President Obama."

David Letterman: "Mitt Romney said that he liked to fire people. Well, there's a pretty good message to send to Middle America."

The RNC Wants “Citizens United” Law Expanded

RNC Decides to Finish Destroying Democracy

by bmaples     Posted on Thu Jan 12, 2012

There are headlines that are so jaw-dropping in their implications that they stop you cold in your tracks. Then, when you try to tell others about them, talking about them doesn't work. You just have to share them, and wait for the other person to stop cold in their tracks as well.

So, here you go:

Republican National Committee Files Brief Seeking To Allow Corporate Funding of Campaigns

Yep -- you read that right. The RNC, those wonderful lovers of our form of government, have asked the Supreme Court to EXPAND the Citizens United decision to allow corporations to donate directly to campaigns. And to give as much as they want. With no limits.

If that hasn't caused you to mutter amazed expletives to yourself, try these numbers:

  • The total cost of the 2008 Presidential campaign for EVERYONE -- both candidates, PACs, 527s, you name it -- was $5.3 billion.
  • Citigroup's gross profit for 2011 was $60 billion.
In other words, ONE COMPANY could underwrite the entire campaign of any presidential candidate it chose -- and not even breathe hard.

I try -- I really try -- to be charitable to Republicans most of the time. But this is one of the most dangerous ideas any so-called political party has ever come up with, and it deserves to be shouted down by people from every side of the aisle.

Originally posted to bmaples on Thu Jan 12, 2012
Also republished by ClassWarfare Newsletter: WallStreet VS Working Class Global Occupy movement.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

First-time Unemployment Claims Spike To 399,000

By  Meteor Blades    for Daily Kos Labor       Thu Jan 12, 2012

The Department of Labor this morning reported a seasonally adjusted rise of 24,000 to 399,000 in first-time applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Jan. 7. The four-week moving average preferred by many economic analysts because flattens volatility rose to 381,750 from the previous week's revised average of 374,000. A year ago at this time the weekly number was 437,000 and and the four-week running average was 420,000.

The significant jump could be an indication that temporary hiring of package delivery personnel and retail workers in December was larger than expected. The median forecast of the 46 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 375,000. The rise could be bad news for a labor market that has been improving at a slightly accelerated rate the past few months. The claims figures, like other job reports, are especially volatile around the holiday season. The first week of the year typically shows a high number of claims.

“Labor demand is still not strong enough to support a complete jobs recovery,” Henry Mo, an economist at Credit Suisse in New York, said before the report. Even so, “the labor market is heading in the right direction.”
Originally posted to Daily Kos Labor on Thu Jan 12, 2012
Also republished by Daily Kos.

Company Wants To Be Able To Fire People and Prevent Them From Getting New Jobs

by quaoar      Mon Jan 09, 2012

This is a twist that Mitt Romney wishes he had thought of at Bain Capital -- where firing people is tons of fun.

A company called Halifax -- owned by Arkansas billionaire Warren Stephens -- recently bought a bunch of small newspapers that were owned by the NY Times. Halifax then started a process to decide which employees at these newspaper would be kept and which would be let go.

Apparently, according to a report at Poynter.org, some employees are being given a choice -- before they can keep their jobs they have to sign an agreement that lets Halifax fire them at will and prevents them from taking a job in any other city with a Halifax property for two years.

Employees at the 16 papers now owned by Halifax Media Group are being asked to sign an agreement that allows the company to fire them anytime but prevents them from working for media companies in any other city with a Halifax property for two years. A tipster said employees have until tomorrow to decide whether to sign or lose their jobs.

It used to be that if a company wanted to part ways with someone and prevent them from competing with them once they left, they had to negotiate a buyout.

And it often involved someone who had inside knowledge of the workings of the company that would be valuable to a competitor.

But Halifax is apparently taking that to a new level. Why shell out money for buyouts when you can just coerce everyone into signing noncompete agreements and then let them go?

Just think of all the extra cash that Romney could have earned for Bain Capital if he had thought of this years ago.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Florida’s Metro-Area Housing Prices Predicted To Rise in 2012…

… and for home owners in the state of Florida, that will be some welcome news, providing that they can find buyers for their homes as many homeowners are still attempting to dump their over-mortgaged properties.

   Home prices for Tampa Bay are forecast to increase by 7.4% for the year according to Clear Capitol, a firm which does housing valuations and analytics.

   The report also believes that prices will go up in Orlando by 11.7%, in Miami by 8.8%, and prices in Jacksonville will rise by 4.3%.

Monday, January 09, 2012

Newt Gingrich’s Super PAC Strikes Back Against Mitt Romney’s

    Oh yes, now the real fun begins as these two snakes go about trying to swallow the other one up in their quest to be the GOP warrior against President Barack Obama in the November, 2012 election. This Gingrich/Romney title fight should be presented on pay-per-view as the “ Super Pac Men “ championship show down. Grab your beer, chips, and salsa for this one as Newt strikes back against Romney with a new video.

Gingrich Super PAC Hits Romney for Corporate Raiding Past — Bring the Popcorn!

By Mets102      Posted on Sat Jan 07, 2012

Newt Gingrich's super PAC has purchased the rights to a film attacking Mitt Romney's history of being a corporate raider.  The ads are set to go in South Carolina, with its all-important GOP primary coming up.  And, these days, it seems Newt is more interested in settling scores and hitting Romney following attacks on Gingrich by Romney's super PAC.  After running a largely positive campaign in Iowa, Gingrich now appears ready to go scorched earth in his attacks on the "Massachusetts Moderate" to deny Romney the nomination.

Peter Boyer, over at The Daily Beast, reported last night that it is a 27-minute video, entitled, When Mitt Romney Came to Town that:

focuses on four case studies of Bain’s acquisitions—a Florida-based company called UniMac, which produced commercial laundry equipment; KayBee Toys; the electronics company DDI; and AmPad, an Indiana-based office-supply producer. The key result of these transactions, the film asserts, was “spectacular returns” for Bain through “stripping American businesses of assets, selling everything to the highest bidder, and often killing jobs for big financial rewards.”

As Rick Tyler, described by MSNBC as a senior adviser to Gingrich's super PAC, stated:

“For the first time, this film will show what Bain Capital actually did,” said Rick Tyler, a senior adviser to Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich super PAC that acquired the rights to the movie on Friday. The super PAC is posting a two-minute trailer from the 27-minute film on a website Saturday.

“They targeted companies … they raided them … and thousands of workers lost their jobs. This is not capitalism. This is predatory, (emphasis my own)” Tyler said.

I must say, it is quite fun to see the Republicans comparing each other to President Obama because one dares to attack Romney's past as a corporate raider:

Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, responded Saturday: “It’s puzzling to see Speaker Gingrich and his supporters continue their attacks on free enterprise. This is the type of criticism we've come to expect from President Obama and his left-wing allies at MoveOn.org. Unlike President Obama and Speaker Gingrich, Mitt Romney spent his career in business and knows what it will take to turn around our nation’s bad economy.”

With the Republicans debating the crazy tonight, all I can say is let's enjoy watching them attack each other and write President Obama's ads for this fall, especially if Romney is the nominee.  Corporate Raider Mitt Romney, who has never met an issue he isn't willing to flip-flop on, provides a stark contrast with President Obama and the fight for the middle class.  Oh, and the best part, this video was made by someone who once did ads for Romney and is connected to Mary Cheney, daughter of Dick Cheney.  All I can say is:  Sit back and bring the popcorn!

Originally posted to Jews For President Obama on Sat Jan 07, 2012
Also republished by Democrats, I Vote for Democrats, and Kos Georgia.

 

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Taxpayer Supported “ Liquid Stupid “

   So, what exactly is taxpayer supported “ liquid Stupid “ you ask?

   That would be the tax dollars that the United States Government collects from many of you, only to give it back to a group of people who did stupid shit while they were growing up, and continue to do as adults. That group would be those who have become lifelong drunkards who now collect a Social Security Disability check, or an Supplemental Security Income check from Uncle Sam because they were to stupid to know their limits. In many cases, they just did not care. Many of these ass-wipes haven’t been able to hold a steady job for better than 20 or more years because they couldn’t lay off of the booze long enough to go to work.

   I use a 57 year old female as an example, for starters. We will call her Terri, since that is her real name. This woman has a problem with alcohol that is so bad that it put her out in the streets for 7 years up until 2010. If it was not for the government giving her a monthly “ Stupid Check “ she would still be living in dirt.

   I remember that is was only a few years ago that the term “ stupid check “ was one that I did not care to hear. Well guess what? If Terri is an indication, then the term is an highly accurate one which fits the description of these clowns, and Terri is the queen bee of the group.

    Her habit was so bad enough at the time I met her, that in order to get her daily cans of “ Liquid Stupid “ she had resorted to prostitution for 4-packs of crap that no normal beer drinker would dare to call beer.

From her police record, it would seem that she was to drunk to sell her self, as she got arrested 2 times while walking the streets. She swears that both times were the first time that she had tried to be a hooker.

   When I met this creature, she had a habit of going into an apartment complex which is full of mostly older, handicapped people, and playing what I call “ touchy, feely “ with the old men  in order to get her nickels and dimes for her beers and cigarettes. I was not aware of this at the time that this was happening. She was drunk one day and told me about it. She also had the habit of selling off her monthly SNAP ( food stamps ) allotment to get her cans of crap for herself and for her other “ drunkard “ friends who were to lazy to get up off of their asses and apply for their own stamps, much less look for a job. These are the true bums that you workers  should not have to support.

    Terri has been an alcoholic for some 30 years and her own children would have nothing to do with her, even though they lived only a couple of miles away from her.

   Long story short, she now receives a check every month, a Social Security Disability check of slightly more than a 1k.

   What does she do now? Drinks her “ Liquid Stupid “ every day of the week until she runs out of money, and she drinks more of it now that she has a place to live in. In Tampa it is nearly impossible to rent a place if you have 6 felonies, so it took a few of us quite a bit of talking to get her in to a place, and lot’s of promises. Now she sits on her ass all day long, getting fat off of her beer and blaming everyone else but herself for her self-induced problems.

   You and I pay for her to do this shit. Why is that? Why do we have to pay for some idiot dimwit’s drinking habit, or for someone else's crack habit? This is an affront to the people of America who actually get up early in the morning to go to work or to look for a job. It is an insult and a slap in the face to those of us who try to make things better for ourselves and others. It is an insult to those people who have very real disabilities, yet have to jump through hoops to get approval for payment.

   This waste of taxpayer’s having to finance drinking and drug habits for people who chose to be stupid for most, if not all of their lives, has to come to an end. Our government is creating nothing but even more problems for our society by allowing drunks and drug addicts  to live off of those of us who try to make our lives worth something instead of sitting on our asses doing nothing but wasting a life that it not really worth living thanks to  “ Uncle Sam.”

   That may sound harsh to many of you, but it is the truth.

   Let’s get back to the drunk which I am using as an example, shall we?

   This past Sunday night, she got pissed off because I gave her the third degree over her consistent mumbling while we were watching a flick on dvd. She is like one of those assholes in a theater who cannot stop flapping their face without being told to shut up a few times. This only happens when she is stuck on drunk “ stupid.”  Anyway, she left for an hour or so and came back after I had went to bed. She has a key to let herself in, naturally, even though she shouldn’t be allowed to keep one as she leaves it in the door or loses it somewhere else.

   She lost it for the 4th time on Sunday, and after having torn up the place looking for it, I could only surmise  that she left it in the door once again. This time though, it appears that someone came along and took it.

   Now, I have 3 laptops and a desktop along with various other electronic gadgets which I am very fond of, so time to change the locks. I should not have to do this, and I would not have to if a normal person were here instead of some drunk piece of garbage.

   Before you start throwing insults my way, let me state that when sober she is as sweet as can be and I love her to death. When drunk, which is 95% of the time after she gets her check, she is not worth the ground that she crawls on and for at least 2 weeks, I do not like her at all.

    You can love someone to death for eternity, but when they keep doing the same stupid shit and not learning from it one has to stop caring as much. You cannot let your life go down the drain because of another persons stupidity and failure to try to do something about their problem. This woman does not even make the effort to do anything unless a can of Natural Ice is involved.

    She is lucky that she is not a male, otherwise that ass would be beaten down into the dirt every day of the week. As is, I am very close to not caring about whether she is a female or not, and just plain cleaning her fucking clock!

  2 years I have tried to get Terri do do something that would help herself, all to no avail.

  It is now time for myself to move on and to let her sink down back into the gutter that she came out of, where she apparently prefers to be.

  2012 is a new year and one in which I will be far away from this pathetic creature, because I no longer care what happens to her. She has made sure of that.

  S.S.D. should have never been approved for her, or for many others just like her. This is what the government allows many other drinkers and druggies to become.

   I have a few solutions to this waste of taxpayer money which I will be getting into later in the month. Right now, I have to go make sure that the drunk has not set the couch on fire.

   This rant is over and I am truly sorry that I vented on this blog. Had to get some of this off of my chest, and the only other people around here are never sober enough to speak with.