I mean, sure, it is a great piece. However, I happen to think that Erickson is a bit of an egoistischen Arschloch. He also allowed one of his diarists to slander me. For that, he gets no respect from this writer at all.
Category: politics
If you are planning on voting for Bill de Blasio……
You might want to read the following items, before you vote.
- First read this article by Pamela Geller
- Then, read this article on Bill de Blasio’s past. It makes for very interesting reading. (It is a PDF file, so be sure you have Adobe reader first.)
I am not much into political hit pieces; but this stuff is quite serious.
Anonymous Twitterer @natsecwonk outed as now fired Jofi Joseph, a former White House Official
This is most interesting. How this guy got away with this for as long as he did; speaks volumes to the incompetence of our Government. I thought the NSA could press a button and know all of this stuff? I thought that the Government was listening on everything; as snowden told everyone? Hmph, guess not.
If the house was smart; they would subpoena the man, force him to testify under oath, about everything he knows about fast and furious; and benghazi. Maybe even offer him clemency, if he tells everything; and I mean everything. But, it won’t happen now. The Republicans cannot afford anymore bad press; no thanks to the stupid, idiotic, clown actions of Ted Cruz. 🙄
The Story:
A White House national security official was fired last week after being caught as the mystery Tweeter who has been tormenting the foreign policy community with insulting comments and revealing internal Obama administration information for over two years.
Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferation section of the National Security Staff at the White House, has been surreptitiously tweeting under the moniker @natsecwonk, a Twitter feed famous inside Washington policy circles since it began in February, 2011 until it was shut down last week. Two administration officials confirmed that the mystery tweeter was Joseph, who has also worked at the State Department and on Capitol Hill for Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Joe Biden. Until recently, he was part of the administration’s team working on negotiations with Iran.
During his time tweeting under the @natsecwonk name, Joseph openly criticized the policies of his White House bosses and often insulted their intellect and appearance. At different times, he insulted or criticized several top White House and State Department officials, including former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Secretary of State John Kerry, and many many others.
via Exclusive: White House Official Fired for Tweeting Under Fake Name – The Daily Beast.
Others: Talking Points Memo, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Hot Air, Right Wing News, BillMoyers.com,Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, The Week, BBC, Taylor Marsh, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and Althouse
Sebelius says President didn’t know of Obamacare website’s woes in advance
The Video:
Any other time, I would say that I find this to be very hard to believe. However, when it comes to the President of the United States; I can believe this one. Because it is a fact that President Bush was kept in the dark about what was happening in Iraq and with what was happening in afghanistan; and about the enhanced interrogation; until they could not keep it from him any longer. So, this could be entirely the case.
The Story:
(CNN) — President Barack Obama didn’t know of problems with the Affordable Care Act’s website — despite insurance companies’ complaints and the site’s crashing during a test run — until after its now well-documented abysmal launch, the nation’s health chief told CNN on Tuesday.
Rough Obamacare rollout: 4 reasons why
In an exclusive interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta asked when the President first learned about the considerable issues with the Obamacare website. Sebelius responded that it was in “the first couple of days” after the site went live October 1.
“But not before that?” Gupta followed up.
To which Sebelius replied, “No, sir.”
via Sebelius: President didn’t know of Obamacare website’s woes in advance – CNN.com.
Others: Yahoo! News, “The Lid”, BuzzFeed, Real Clear Politics, americanthinker.com, Scared Monkeys, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, NBC Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, Washington Wire, The Fix, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, Hot Air, The Raw Story and New York Times
John McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016
Here’s the audio:
The Story:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that he is considering running for another term in 2016, when he would be 80 years old.
“I’m seriously thinking about maybe giving another opportunity for you to vote for or against me in a few years from now,” McCain said on KFYI-AM in Phoenix. “I’m seriously giving that a lot of thought.”
Asked by host Barry Young to clarify if he was saying he might run again, McCain said: “That would not be wrong.”
The New York Times’s Mark Leibovich, who is in Arizona following McCain, first tweeted the news.
McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, is in his fifth term. He has never taken less than 56 percent of the vote and easily dispatched a primary challenge in 2010 from former congressman J.D. Hayworth.
If he runs again, McCain will likely find himself targeted by tea party groups.
I really do not know much about Arizona politics and so, I cannot comment on whether John McCain would win or not in a primary. So, I will refrain from commenting on that one. However, I do believe that this might be an indication of the panic of the Republican Party establishment towards the Tea Party House members like Ted Cruz. As it is right now, we have the chamber of commerce and business groups wanting them out. This might be an extension of that.
As Ron Paul pointed out, when it came to America’s occupation of foreign lands; there is a simple thing called “Blowback.” Which is a negative reaction to someone’s actions. In this case here; the Tea Party House members overreached and had a horrible strategic plan. Ted Cruz, and House members shut down the Government. However, they did not have a plan; and they played the wrong game. Which, of course, put the establishment Republicans in a dire panic; not to mention the rest of the House.
So, now, you have establishment moderate Republican types, like John McCain; who put in a good lifetime of service and was ready to call it a good run and shuffle off to retirement —- actually rethinking that a bit, and wondering if he should stick around least the Tea Party crazies try and strike again.
This is why, if you are going to try and play a political game like the one Ted Cruz did; you need to have a real game plan in place and it is quite obvious to this writer and many others; that Ted Cruz simply did not have that sort of a game plan in place. It was massive overreach and screw up on his part. Furthermore, it very much could have hurt his standing for the 2016 election.
September Jobs report is proof of stagnation
(H/T of credit goes to Ed Morrissey who’s report on this subject is most excellent.)
From the Bureau of Labor:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September, and the unemployment rate
was little changed at 7.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Employment increased in construction, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing.
[….]
In September, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was little changed at 4.1 million. These individuals accounted for 36.9 percent of the
unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has declined by 725,000 over the past
year. (See table A-12.)Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.2 percent, and the employment-
population ratio at 58.6 percent, were unchanged in September. Over the year, the labor
force participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point, while the employment-
population ratio has changed little. (See table A-1.)The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to
as involuntary part-time workers) was unchanged at 7.9 million in September. These
individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they
were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)In September, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from
2.5 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)Among the marginally attached, there were 852,000 discouraged workers in September,
essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe
no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached
to the labor force in September had not searched for work for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Ed Morrissey as always, provides some excellent analysis:
The jobless rate declined to 7.2%, but that’s not coming from an employment explosion. In order to keep up with population growth, the US economy has to add around 150K jobs net each month, which means we did slightly worse than tread water in September. Both the U-3 and the U-6 number declined in this case by a tenth of a point, with U-6 now at 13.6%. Before the Great Recession really got into high gear in the fall of 2008, U-6 was at 10.8%, and it was at 14.2% when Barack Obama took office.
This month, 136,000 people left the workforce in the population survey, which is almost the same number as the net jobs added in the establishment survey. The number of employed in the same population survey only increased 133,000. It’s a real demonstration of the continuing stagnation, and another indication of the decreasing value of the jobless rate as an economic indicator.
The business friendly media saw this and called it the following (Via CNBC):
Today’s blistering jobs report has quickly reminded America that our economic problems are getting worse, despite talking point reassurances from Federal Reserve officials,” said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital.
The report likely will do little to move the needle on monetary policy.
Most market-watchers now expect the Federal Reserve to continue its $85 billion a month bond-buying program until well into 2014. Consensus sentiment is now that the central bank won’t even start easing back on, or “tapering,” the purchases until the spring.
“You would think by now you would be consistently creating over a couple hundred-thousand jobs a month, at least,” said Brad Levitt, senior economist for Oppenheimer Funds. “The Fed wants to see over 200,000 jobs a month on a consistent basis before a change of policy.”
[….]
In short, the demand isn’t there and the money to pay additional workers isn’t there,” Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis for the Conference Board, said in a statement. “Both job and income growth remain stuck in neutral.”
Okay, now it is time for me to rant a little here; after all the domain name here, and the former name of this blog was “Thoughts and Rantings” at one point. Now before I begin; please keep in mind that I have never been much of a partisan blogger. I have my political convictions and all, but I am not, nor have I ever been a “Republican” blogger. I am a Paleoconservative, a Pat Buchanan type. Basically, when it comes to matters like this here, Free Trade, and somewhat wall street —- I am still pretty much a populist, not a progressive populist, but still very much a populist.
You see my friends, this here is what you get when you put in a Neoconservative President for eight years, who puts America into a war. This is what happens when you put in neoconservatives in congress that spend like drunken sailors. This is what happens when Democrats come in, take over congress and promise the moon and the stars and proceed to do absolutely nothing! What did they do? Continued the damned spending, just like the Republicans did under Dennis Hastert.
All the Democrats did, when they were campaigning, was carp on about ending the war, not once did they ever say anything about the jobs situation. Then, finally, after they won the election, and routed out the Republicans; did they change anything? Did they stop the war? Did they even bother to slow down spending, did they bring the fed’s printing of money under control? Did they try to lighten the burden of taxes to the big and small businesses, did they try to clear some of the idiotic regulations for small businesses, so that job growth could actually happen? Hell no, they didn’t!
Now look what we have to show for it, Republicans and Democrats. A pure crap-hole for an economy! As for those job numbers; those numbers are a damn farce. When you add in the people, like myself, who have basically given up on trying to look for work, and have been out of the workforce for longer than say, six months; the numbers are much, much, higher. Some say, if you factor in ALL unemployed people, the number is as high as 30%. I believe if the United States Government would actually stop trying to fake the damned numbers on unemployment, and take a real damned survey; the numbers would be shocking and would plunge Wall Street into a full on panic.
The bottom line: The United States of America’s economy and jobs situation is an absolute disaster; and the United States Government continues under this neo-liberal Presidential administration to cover up the fact that America’s unemployment problem is extremely severe. Just like the previous neoconservative President did. The solution to this problem is to end the free trade deals, and get the federal reserve under control. This is when real economic reforms can begin.
Others:
Good News for Seniors: Sen. Bernie Sanders Will Be On Budget Conference Committee
I think this is a good thing. Because I do not like the idea of the Republicans attempting to tinker with Social Security and Medicare.
Via The Huffington Post:
In what can only be seen as good news for people who like traditional earned-benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, here’s one name that appears on the list of Senate conferees in the upcoming Paul Ryan-Patty Murray budget talks — Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. This ensures that beneficiaries of these programs will, at the very least, have one strong, supportive voice in the room who won’t go down in a squishy heap of “grand bargaining.” (I’m sure Paul Ryan is thrilled.)
Statement via Sen. Bernie Sanders Official website:
Sen. Bernie Sanders was appointed to a Senate and House budget conference committee to create a long-term budget plan by Dec. 13 to avert another government shutdown. A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders said he looks forward to developing an alternative to the stopgap, sequestration-level budget that Congress approved late Wednesday as part of an agreement to reopen the government. “I am excited about being a member of the budget conference committee and I look forward to working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to end the absurdity of sequestration and to develop a budget which works for all Americans. In my view, it is imperative that this new budget helps us create the millions of jobs we desperately need and does not balance the budget on the backs of working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor,” Sanders said.
The conference committee was assigned to try to reconcile differences between separate budgets passed earlier this year by the Senate and the House.
[…]
The Senate budget protects Medicare while the House version would end Medicare as we know it by providing coupons for private health insurance. Unlike the House budget, the Senate resolution does not repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would prevent more than 20 million Americans from getting health insurance. The House version would eliminate grants for up to 1 million college students while the Senate plan protects Pell grants. The House version would kick up to 24 million Americans off of Medicaid while the Senate budget would protect their benefits. The Senate budget calls for new revenue while the House version would provide trillions of dollars in tax breaks mainly for the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations offset by increased taxes on the middle class.
Progressive Blog Corrent has the full list:
House Democrats:
Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.)
Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.)From Senate Democratic Caucus:
Sen. Patty Murray (Ore.)
Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.)
Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.)
Sen. Mark Warner (Va.)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.)
Sen. Chris Coons (Del.)
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.)
Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.)
Sen. Angus King (Maine)In case anyone cares, here’s the list of Republicans:
House Republicans:
Paul Ryan (Wis.)
Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.)
Rep. Tom Price (Ga.)
Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.)Senate Republicans:
Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.)
Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa)
Sen. Mike Enzi (Wyo.)
Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.)
Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio)
Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.)
Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.)
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)
Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.)
The reason why I say that Bernie Sanders is good addition to the group is this; Bernie Sanders is an independent populist type. He is not a Obama loyalist, and he will not be afraid to stand up to the Obama Democrats.
I have always said on this blog, that the solution to America’s debt problem is not the ripping out of Social Security or Medicare. The solution is to get rid of the so-called “Free Trade” deals and the pork barrel spending, which both parties partake in. Furthermore, tariffs for all imports would pay down our debt and fund the social safety net.
Either way, it is good to see someone like Bernie Sanders fighting for the seniors and the disabled in this Country; like my aunt, who is developmentally disabled.
Lindsey Graham is ticked off at everyone
I would say, “What else is new?” But, I think he has a very valid reason to be ticked off.
Via Politico:
Sen. Lindsey Graham is angry. He’s frustrated. He’s upset. In his own words, he’s “very dangerous.”
With the government shutdown now in its 12th day, and a possible U.S. debt default looming on Oct. 17, the veteran Republican was in the mood to lash out at everyone Saturday. President Barack Obama, House Republicans, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans — they were all the target of Graham’s ire.
“The president is a pathetic leader. He’s only engaged in the last couple of days,” Graham said after the Senate blocked action on a Democratic plan for a “clean” debt-ceiling increase through 2014. “Every time you get close to getting a deal over here with our Democratic friends, they move the ball because some poll comes out. Our friends in the House apparently can’t muster the votes to send something over here to open up the government. So it’s dysfunction at every level.”
But the 58-year-old Graham wasn’t through venting yet. “You can blame us [Republicans], we’ve overplayed our hand, that’s for damn sure,” Graham said. “But their response, where the president and [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] basically shutting everybody out, and when you try to negotiate, they keep changing the terms of the deal … it’s very frustrating.”
“This is a very frustrated Lindsey Graham,” he added. “Which is a very dangerous thing.”
[….]
By Saturday afternoon, Graham suggested he may try to attach a version of Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) amendment ending health-care subsidies for lawmakers and congressional staffers to any Reid-McConnell agreement. Graham knows it’s a potential poison pill for any deal, but he is that unhappy right now.
“I am going to look at offering the Vitter language on anything that comes out of the Senate,” Graham told reporters. “If we’re going to screw up the whole country, we might as well throw ourselves in the mix.”
Graham had just come off the Senate floor where at least 15 senators huddled in bipartisan group discussing the current state of play and how to break the deadlock.
“There were how many, 15 people? There were 13 ideas,” Graham joked. “Two guys didn’t have an idea. They were the smart ones. They were the ones that kept their mouths shut.”
Graham then excused himself to go home and watch a football game.
Cranky old feller, ain’t he? 
But, seriously, the reason why Graham is so upset, is because he is up for reelection next year; I mean, you would be cranky too, if the polls were showing that you might not actually win the election.
It goes without saying that Senator Graham is an establishment GOP type of a person and that the Tea Party, along with many others; are simply not happy with him at all. I think he knows this and this is why he is upset.
Either way, I hope football game was better. 
Obama rejects House offer to end shutdown
Remember the possible deal that I wrote about? Well, no dice says Obama.
Via Politico:
Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans Saturday morning that his efforts to strike a deal with President Barack Obama are at a standstill.
There is no agreement, Boehner said in a room in the Capitol Saturday, and there are no negotiations between House Republicans and the White House, since Obama rejected the speaker’s effort to lift the debt ceiling for six weeks and reopen government while setting up a budget negotiating process.
With that, a familiar dynamic has resurfaced 12 days into the government shutdown and five days before Treasury says the nation runs out of borrowing authority: The pendulum has swung back to Senate Republicans, who now look more likely to cut a deal with Obama to end the first government shutdown since 1996, and avoid the first default on U.S. debt in history.
After the news that talks between Boehner and Obama have broken down, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) emerged on the floor to emphasize that the nation’s eyes are firmly fixed on the chamber.
“I was happy to see the Republicans engaged in talks with the president, the House Republicans. That’s over with. It’s done. They’re not talking anymore,” Reid said. “I say to my friends on the Republican side of this Senate, time is running out.”
House Republicans are, for the first time, acknowledging that reality. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told the closed meeting of GOP lawmakers that, “Senate Republicans need to stand strong and fight,” according to sources in the room.
“It’s all good,” Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) said. “It’s now up to the Senate Republicans to stand up.”
House Republican leaders met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Friday to receive a briefing on the state of play in the Senate.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are circulating a 23-page draft bill that would increase the nation’s borrowing limit through January and reopen government until March.
Meanwhile the House Republicans are not too happy. Via NRO’s Corner:
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan lashed out at Senate Republicans for interfering with the House GOP’s talks with the White House to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling, suggesting his colleagues on the other side of the Capitol were betraying Speaker John Boehner.
“They’re trying to cut the House out, and trying to jam us with the Senate. We’re not going to roll over and take that,” Ryan told reporters. When asked if he felt “double crossed,” Ryan said “you look at the facts and draw your own conclusions.”
Senate Republicans, led by Senator Susan Collins of Maine, are negotiating with Democrats on a package to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling into next year with relatively modest concessions for the GOP.
Ryan said House Republicans only learned the details about the plan this morning, and added that he strenuously objects to it. When asked which parts of the plan he objected to, Ryan said there are “too many to go into.”
Two things here:
- I do believe that Paul Ryan just took the bait of the Obama administration to divide and conquer the GOP.
- This is not a good way to get elected in 2016 as President. Ryan must have forgotten the 11 commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”
Either way, I believe this is going to drag out for a very long time.
Republicans Meeting with Obama “productive”, but no deal yet.
Looks like this one might go on for a while.
The Story:
Senate Republicans described a high-stakes meeting with President Obama on Friday as positive, but did not announce a deal, as they continued to work toward a bipartisan plan that could end the partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is helping lead the effort on the Senate side to craft an alternative proposal, said she presented a plan to the White House that would fund the government for six months and raise the debt ceiling through the end of January.
She said Obama did not say, “that’s a great idea.” But Collins said there were discussions about both short- and long-term approaches. She called on Obama to put out a debt-ceiling plan of his own.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., said he was optimistic, though there were no deadlines or specifics discussed. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., called the meeting “constructive.”
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., was less hopeful about the state of play. He said the meeting was not very encouraging. Though Coburn said talking is better than the alternative, the senator said he “didn’t think” it helped address the debt-ceiling crisis.
via Senate Republicans say White House meeting positive, but no deal reached | Fox News.
