Given the new Supreme Court ruling on corporate freedom to now go as wild as they like in political campaign spending a new report shows that this past year it was getting much worse . . . all by itself. Can it be any clearer the reasons the government has stopped working, it seems, altogether:
“The Center for Responsive Politics puts the total at nearly $3.5 billion, a five percent increase over 2008. The pharmaceutical and health products industry spent nearly $267 million on lobbying, the greatest amount ever spent on lobbying efforts by a single industry. The Chamber of Commerce spent over $144 million dollars on lobbying, a 60 percent increase over 2008. Other big spenders on lobbying included Exxon Mobil, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or Pharma, General Electric, Pfizer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, AARP, American Medical Association, Chevron, the National Association of Realtors, and the American Beverage Association. Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics said, “Lobbying appears recession proof. Even when companies are scaling back other operations, many view lobbying as a critical tool in protecting their future interests.”
Walking through beautiful Inwood Park the other day, in the middle of our picturesque snowstorm, I suddenly heard a familiar voice. It was a snowman in the image of (major Global Warming denier) Senator James Inhofe . “It’s all bunk, Sonny.”, he said. “It’s cold, right? There’s all this snow, right? What are ya, blind?.” Just then Shoshana the Rescue Dog appeared on the scene. “Well, it sure feels warmer.”, he mumbled. ” Don’t know what to think now.”
Sarah Palin’s celebrity-burn-rate continues at volcanic temps. We happy blog workers here are always glad to help.
Forget the Super Bowl, dig Sarah’s flying wedge . . . against herself.
So after pissing off Tea Partiers with a very un-populist $100,000 fee for her to chirp at their convention in Nashville, she is caught referring to scribbles she made on her hand (remember her “Obama, the guy with the teleprompter”?). Next she carried her Rahm Emanuel is toast for using the word, retard” campaign to Fox News. When asked if it was okay that Rush Limbaugh used it, she said, uh huh.
I have to wonder, where is the rest of her policy? I ‘m sure the R word is written around there somewhere. It’s her registered trademark.
From the Huffington Post:
“On Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, she said his comments calling liberal groups “f-ing retards” was “indecent and insensitive” and cause for his dismissal.
But the former governor went to great and sometimes awkward lengths to insist that when conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh used the same exact term to describe the same exact group, it was simply in the role of political humorist.
“They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh,” she said, when read a quote of Limbaugh calling liberal groups “retards.” “Rush Limbaugh was using satire … . I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with ‘f-ing retards,’ and we did know that Rahm Emanuel, as has been reported, did say that. There is a big difference there.”
On Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Half-Time Show will take its cue from the ground-breaking commercial scheduled by Focus on the Family in which Tim Tebow, college football star, makes his anti-abortion case by stating that he wasn’t aborted and he’s darned glad about it. Immediately following this announcement the teams will take the field at half-time. The Colts, playing assassinated abortion doctor, George Tiller, will attempt to carry a pregnant woman downfield. The Saints, naturally, will try to save the life of her unborn fetus with firearms.
In the grand finale, with the field bathed in red, the cleansed spirit of Dr. Tiller rises in the shape of an enormous Madonna Macy’s balloon, cradling a brand new, plump and very happy looking football.
Howard Zinn, who passed away last week was a hero to many of us and a pain in the neck to the right people. Basically, he devoted his life to seeing past mythology and getting history down to the brave reality. Romantic history can kill, he says. But the truth, while painful at first, is a powerful antiseptic, ultimately. His People’s History of the United States is a classic that is a very useful reminder that history has many dark underpinnings and that movements of ordinary people have, from time to time, found the power to shine a light and prevail. Here’s a video version of What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire by Howard Zinn Narrated by Viggo Mortensen Art by Mike Konopacki:
Sarah Palin’s celebrity-burn-rate continues at volcanic temps. We happy blog workers here are always glad to help.
