The GOP’s self-defeating image of minorities as ‘takers’
I’m seeing and hearing a lot of this kind of thing, on this blog and elsewhere, as Republicans attempt to come to grips with Tuesday’s election defeat and try to seek explanations for why they lost.
For those unable to watch video, here’s what O’Reilly had to say on Election Night, as it was becoming apparent that it would be a bad night for Republicans:
“The white establishment is now the minority. And the voters, many of them, feel that the economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You are going to see a tremendous Hispanic vote for President Obama. Overwhelming black vote for President Obama. And women will probably break President Obama’s way. People feel that they are entitled to things and which candidate, between the two, is going to give them things?”
In one sense, you can understand why that kind of rationalization would be appealing. In effect, O’Reilly is telling his listeners that “We lost by being better than they are. It’s not our fault and there’s nothing we can or should change.” He applies the powerful salve of moral superiority to a open wound, and by doing so he makes people feel better. People like to feel better, so they’ll come back to Fox for more.
But O’Reilly’s wrong. He’s wrong as a matter of politics, he’s wrong as a matter of morality, and he’s wrong as a matter of history. His listeners are equally wrong to believe him. To the degree that they continue to do so, they are likely to experience more tough election nights in the years to come.
Think about it. While older white voters might find O’Reilly’s message reassuring, imagine that you’re black (93 percent for Obama), or Latino-American (71 percent for Obama), or Asian-American (73 percent for Obama). Imagine that you’re flipping through the news coverage on Election Night and you hear O’Reilly make those comments. How do they come across?
They come across as condescending and even racist, because they ARE condescending and racist. The comments equate the fading “white establishment” with all that is good and great in this country, while the rising minority tide is treated as “takers,” as leeches.
It’s not a complicated thing. Hearing that kind of argument, the natural reaction of almost any non-white listener will be to reject the political party from which such sentiments are emanating, regardless of what other affinities you might have with it. Because you and your parents and your cousins and your friends are being insulted.
But is O’Reilly’s formulation nonetheless accurate? Not even close.
To use his term, it was “the white establishment” that created Social Security, and it did so largely for white people, because that’s who dominated this country at the time. It was the white establishment that created Medicare, and it did so largely for white people, because again, that’s who dominated the country at that time. More recently, the white establishment, in the form of President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress, created Medicare Part D.
Who’s on Medicaid, the government-financed health care program that Romney/Ryan proposed to slash? Among the non-elderly, some 43 percent are white, 22 percent are black and 28 percent are Latino. And who’s on food stamps? According to the Census Bureau, 59 percent are white.
And if you really want to get down to it, we can do so.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan campaigns at The Villages retirement community in Florida, promising to protect "free stuff" for senior citizens.
When Paul Ryan campaigned in the massive Villages retirement community in central Florida this year, promising to restore the $716 billion in “free stuff” that Obama had cut from Medicare, he wasn’t pitching those remarks to retired black school-bus drivers. He was pitching them to white Americans over 65, 61 percent of whom ended up voting for the Romney/Ryan ticket.
Because let’s be blunt. No demographic group in the country gets more “free stuff” from the government than its senior citizens. In fact, seniors make up roughly half of that infamous “47 percent” who pay no federal income taxes. And a lot of them sat there Tuesday night, watching on Fox and shaking their heads in agreement with O’Reilly.
One final point:
The 2012 exit polls offer further evidence to rebut the notion that Obama’s coalition is motivated largely by the demand for “free stuff.”
For example:
– The 65 percent of Americans who believe that illegal immigrants ought to be given a chance to become U.S. citizens voted for Obama by a 24-point margin. These are people drawn to this country by the opportunity to work to make things better for themselves and their children, and the Obama coalition respects them for it.
– The 49 percent of Americans who believe that gay marriage should be legal voted for Obama by a 48-point margin. (The 46 percent who believe it should be banned voted for Romney by a similar margin.) Younger Americans in particular define that as a basic civil right, and voters in four states confirmed that belief Tuesday.
– The 59 percent of Americans who believe that abortion ought to be legal — that such an issue is up to the individual, rather than government bureaucrats — voted for Obama by a 36-point margin.
That’s not “free stuff.” That’s freedom and opportunity, even if the definitions of freedom and opportunity might differ from those of earlier generations of Americans. That’s how it ought to be. Every generation in this country has re-interpreted the American dream in its own way, and nothing is going to stop that process.
– Jay Bookman
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1,094 comments Add your comment
Realist
November 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
Bob, I would respectfully contend that it is the Democratic leaders who want–and NEED, as this election patently demonstrates–the poor to stay poor. As just one obvious example, under Obama, food stamp recipients have almost doubled (in other words, who has Obama gotten out of poverty in the last four years?)
By definition, and by design, these people stay dependent on governent and are more than reliable voters. That is also why the Democrats state that they are in favor of amnesty–yet, when they have control of the White House and Congress for two full years, they do nothing on the issue. But once again, the Hispanics were a lock to vote Democrat.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:37 pm
josef — “And you can speak for yourself, but you gotta admit, calling me and you “alter egos” IS funny…”
Anyone who thinks we’re the same person is either asleep, drunk or new here.
wreckinball
November 8th, 2012
4:38 pm
well we can’t afford the gov’t to be santa much longer and there are not enough rich people to tax to make up a trillion plus deficit per year. something’s gotta give and BO’s plan is more free stuff to his favored constituents
the saying goes if you rob peter to pay for paul you will always get paul’s vote
AmericaShrugged
November 8th, 2012
4:40 pm
Bro 4:13 – What percentage of the Democratic voters were white? You almost make it sound like all the white people voted for Rmney. If they had he would have won.
Obama in particular and the Dems in general have done a great job forging a coalition of minorities, gays, young, unions, etc. to win almost half of the important political positions in this country.
But most of the conservatives just don’t think that’s necessarily for the overall betterment of the country.
RW-(the original)
November 8th, 2012
4:41 pm
Did you know that 95% of the Republican voters in Ohio were White? I found that little gem when reading about exit poll data. I wonder how many of those who despise 95% of one race voting for a person will voice anger about that
Brosephus,
This is a drive by, but you’re off in the apples and oranges land here. The people that complain/despise/express concern for or what have you are talking about 95% of the entirety of one group going to one party. Your comparison leaves out the white D voters and I’d bet that universe of voters was more than 5% of the total white vote.
It does mean Republicans are screwed if they don’t whiten up Ohio though
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:42 pm
KRYSTAL
@ 4:23
I would tend to agree with that.
JamVet
November 8th, 2012
4:42 pm
Several new “faces” here today. ironically offset by the absence of several old “faces”.
Realist, just settle on the perfect name and stick with it.
Maybe “Coward of the County”? LOL.
For you, Nunna Yobinnes, Joseph, towncrier, RB, Mssrs, Romney, Ryan, West, Walsh, Mourdock, Akin, Brown, Allen, Berg, et al.
And Republican mystery meat bloggers everywhere!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:43 pm
Realist — “Bob, I would respectfully contend that it is the Democratic leaders who want–and NEED, as this election patently demonstrates–the poor to stay poor. As just one obvious example, under Obama, food stamp recipients have almost doubled (in other words, who has Obama gotten out of poverty in the last four years?)”
The increase in SNAP recipients (food stamps have been discontinued for what, eight years now?) was greater, from both a percentage perspective and a raw number perspective, under President Bush. By that measure, Obama’s done *better* than his predecessor, but conservatives won’t admit that.
Liberal initiatives to press for increases in the minimum wage, for labor union negotiation rights, for employee benefits like FLMA, for expanded funding of mass transit system construction and operation *all* fly in the face of your claim that liberals want the poor to stay poor.
Both my grandfathers were UMWA coal miners in Ohio, and both told me that the benefits they received — which increased over time as they gained seniority — helped them *immensely* in raising their families. Both men were solidly middle-class when they died, despite being born in desperate poverty in the Appalachian coal country of southeastern OH.
And who pushed for those workplace benefits? Not conservatives.
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:43 pm
JHM
I know that’s right!
RW-(the original)
November 8th, 2012
4:43 pm
is either asleep, drunk or new here.
Stick around long enough and you’ll realize that isn’t an either/or proposition.
/RW Out
Nunna Yobinnes
November 8th, 2012
4:44 pm
Sorry, I am rather new here. I’m really a moderate, but dang it, I want some free stuff too.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
4:44 pm
“I wanted everybody to have as good a life as I’ve had…”
Sounds like our President.
I think debt reduction and leveling the playing field for the future generations can be done.
We will drag the cons along as usual.
willie lynch
November 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:27 pm
“Was sure looking great to me Tuesday night…and, no, I’m not talking about Obama’s reelection…”
That’s one of the niceties of life…appearances.
‘
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
ZamVet
“Several new “faces” here today. ironically offset by the absence of several old “faces”.”
I had noticed that, too. Maybe we need to do a who’s who list.
wreckinball
November 8th, 2012
4:45 pm
but the coalition is based on special privilege (with the exception of gays)
affirmative action (i.e. racism) and blocking folks “right to work” is not going to help the economy, it is just going to protect special interests
I agree with O’Reilly that the folks want free stuff. I also think a large number of the folks are just plain dumb. Really raise taxes on the rich and keep spending is your plan.
Ellen
November 8th, 2012
4:47 pm
Gotta love welfare for the 1% and corporations. They are the biggest takers of all…
getalife
November 8th, 2012
4:47 pm
How do you whiten up Ohio?
wreckinball
November 8th, 2012
4:48 pm
and BO is the king of corporate welfare, Solyndra, Fisker to name a few. And these companies took gov’t money and basically just closed. Great 4 more years of that
willie lynch
November 8th, 2012
4:48 pm
Krystal’sBalls
November 8th, 2012
4:24 pm
Very well put.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
4:48 pm
Although not proportional, whites still rule the welfare roll. We make up at least 39%.
we’re winning, we’re winning.
Nunna Yobinnes
November 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
getalife – especially after decades of acid rain?
Regnad Kcin
November 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
Joe & Josef – he don’t know you very well, do he?
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:49 pm
willie L
I wouldn’t argue against that…and it works both ways…
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:50 pm
getalife — “How do you whiten up Ohio?”
I don’t know the demographic breakdown of the various regions, but based on my visits there, I’d say it’s pretty average in terms of how ‘white’ it is.
oops
November 8th, 2012
4:50 pm
Dow down again. Obama, not the best choice for the economy.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:50 pm
R. Kcin — “Joe & Josef – he don’t know you very well, do he?”
No he do not.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
4:51 pm
“getalife – especially after decades of acid rain?”
White strips?
LUCIFER
November 8th, 2012
4:51 pm
Hey, that’s OK with me. Let the GOP double down by becoming even more obstructionist and out-dated. Let the Tea Baggers have more control of the Party. Let’s let the Old White Guys fight every step of the way as they are put out to pasture. We have the Senate, we have the White House, now we need to recapture the House of Representatives and put Boehner and Canter into the trash heap of history. Let the Grand OLD Party continue to destroy any chances of leading this country because of their reluctance to accept the fact the demographics in the nation have changed, and that’s OK with me. Believe me, the incompetence of the Bush/Cheny regime soured me on this Party for the rest of my life. What buffoons!!
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:52 pm
wreckinball — “and BO is the king of corporate welfare, Solyndra, Fisker to name a few.”
Guess those no-competition, no-bid value-plus contracts the Bush Administration cut during the Iraq War escaped your notice, huh?
Billions gone missing and unaccounted for not a problem for you?
getalife
November 8th, 2012
4:54 pm
oops,
I am sure you will give our President credit when it reaches 13,000 again.
Brosephus™
November 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
What percentage of the Democratic voters were white?
About 40%. That still doesn’t help the GOP in their outreach towards minorities. If they don’t expand the base, they will become irrelevant in Ohio. That was the point I wanted to make about that.
People talk about 95% of Blacks voting for one party, but the Black voting percentage increased in this past election cycle, especially in Ohio. That means that both parties will see increased numbers of Blacks voting even if the percentage don’t move at all.
On the other hand, the percentage of the White vote in Ohio decreased between elections. That doesn’t bode well for the future of the GOP, and it may end up switching Ohio from a purple to a diehard blue state. Given that no recent Republican has won a presidential election without carrying Ohio, that statistic should be very frightening to the GOP. It worries me as I think the country is better off if more states were open to go for either party vs always being locked into one column.
————————-
RW
I see your point. I guess I should have expounded quite a bit more as I did above. My bad…
getalife
November 8th, 2012
4:55 pm
cons can stop slobbering over the wealthy.
Even after a collapse, they are doing fine.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
4:56 pm
Oops — “Dow down again. Obama, not the best choice for the economy.”
I’ll take another four years of Obama. At least he didn’t return a 42% plunge from peak to trough like Bush (the younger) did.
If your retirement fund and investments didn’t take a stiff hit in 2008, then either you didn’t *have* those things or you were invested in the stacks of freeze-dried food and toilet paper piled up in your survivalist shelter.
Redcoat
November 8th, 2012
4:56 pm
Right on cue……..who said they are all minorities…….Jay is saying it and so it goes! All this because people just want to be liked……Ron Paul is right, we are too far gone now and they can’t print the money fast enough now. Good Times!
josef
November 8th, 2012
4:57 pm
JHM
“No he do not.”
He at least got us to agree on ONE thing…
pete
November 8th, 2012
4:58 pm
California Voters Approve Higher Taxes
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578104854095658918.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird)
The headline should read,
California Voters Approve Taking Money From Achievers And Hand To Moochers
This is EXACTLY why my brother moved from San Francisco to Yuma,AZ.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
5:02 pm
redcoat,
Is your name thomas?
curious
November 8th, 2012
5:02 pm
For all of us.
We need to stop being so gleeful on bad economic reports because they hurt the other party.
Obama is here for 4 more years and it’ll be to our collective good to work together to make things better.
And no, no party has a monopoly on brains or good ideas.
Chip Shirley 'the Dixie Dove'
November 8th, 2012
5:03 pm
RIGHT ON JAY
Nunna Yobinnes
November 8th, 2012
5:04 pm
Thank you curious. Well said.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
5:04 pm
Redcoat — “……Ron Paul is right, we are too far gone now and they can’t print the money fast enough now. ”
So what’s your solution? A rapid contraction of the money supply? Defaulting on national debt? A return to barter? I hear your complaint, but I’m not hearing any recommendations.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
5:05 pm
REAL numbers here.
4.1% of Americans on welfare costing $193 B
Average % taxes for top 1 million wage earners in America 10.3%
IF……. The top 1 million earning citizens actually paid my 16.5% taxes I paid last year it would be almost $100 B
You’re worried about the wrong thing.
My tree constantly complaining tree cutter gave me 30% off if I paid cash. Why you reckon he did that Barney.
josef
November 8th, 2012
5:06 pm
curioua
“And no, no party has a monopoly on brains or good ideas.”
Pretty hard to have a monopoly on what neither one has an overabundance of.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
5:07 pm
pete — “California Voters Approve Taking Money From Achievers And Hand To Moochers”
My wife’s best friend from college is *filthy* stinkin’ rich. So rich, in fact, that if I told you his name, you’d immediately know how his family made their money.
Assuming my wife’s friend didn’t bother to work (he does work, but let’s assume for a moment that he doesn’t), then exactly *what* has he achieved in his wife, other than being born to the right family?
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think
November 8th, 2012
5:07 pm
Interesting…
——
Breaking from Newsmax.com
Ex Malo Bonum — From Bad Comes Good
By Michael Burns
Being a moderate Republican can be very lonely. I supported Mitt Romney for the simple reason that I believed that he would accomplish more than our current president.
In truth, there is no real Republican Party today. Will Rogers’ famous line, “I’m not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat,” better fits the fragmented state of today’s dysfunctional Republican family.
My father, who landed at Iwo Jima and recently passed away, used to tell me that if your point of view doesn’t upset the zealots on both sides of an issue, then it probably doesn’t come close to solving the problem at hand. I agree with him.
Women and Hispanics voted overwhelming for Obama’s second term, and they should have. I agree whole-heartedly with my dear friend Susan Collins of Maine who told The New York Times recently, “Republicans cannot win with just rural, white voters.” That said, neither Democrats nor our country can win without Democrats reaching across the aisle to actually get something done. And it better be soon.
Immigration
“Self-deportation” has always been a laughable concept and obviously not a solution. When I attended one of Gov. Romney’s exclusive LA fundraising dinners, he spoke both specifically and eloquently of a point system that could be a way for undocumented workers to stay in this country. But sadly, that dialogue disappeared during the campaign.
Our newly re-elected president now has a golden opportunity to get real immigration reform passed this term if he actually garners just a handful of key Republican lawmakers to help with that cause.
George W. Bush made a colossal mistake going back into Iraq, but he was incredibly forward thinking with his “DREAM Act” and his view toward embracing our nation’s undocumented immigrant population. Now is when the president and smart Republicans can band together and make something positive happen here.
Women’s Rights
I do not know where a human life actually begins, but no sane person is ever “pro-abortion.” Although Paul Ryan’s sonogram heartbeat story resonated with me, I do not believe that we can completely deny a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.
Instead, I would draw a line in the sand and give that right only in the first trimester. After that date, only a woman’s life being at stake would be a legally sanctioned justification to abort.
As a consequence, it must be our society’s obligation to find adoptive homes for these unwanted children after they are born and their mothers decide they cannot care for them.
Gay Rights
As far as I’m concerned, if gay people want to get married in a state that has deemed it legal, then they should be allowed to do so without federal interference.
How is it that the Republican Party ended up at war with gay people?
The solutions to our economic and geopolitical problems have nothing to do with an individual’s sexual identity.
Iran and Israel
Another terrible consequence of the Iraqi war was that we took out Iran’s “natural” enemy and thereby facilitated their development of nuclear weapons.
In truth, the United States today has very few reliable allies in the world, but Israel is certainly one of them. However, we must stop pretending that the Palestinians are going to settle the conflict without being granted real land.
In much the same way that our country helped launch Israel as it exists today, we must take the same leading position with the creation of the state of Palestine. And yes, we must help fund this initiative and lean on every capable country to do the same.
As part of this plan we must also stop supporting countries that don’t adhere to basic human rights. This list naturally includes a wide range of oil-rich empires that have simply exploited our country’s shortsighted and seemingly never-ending dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
An obvious partial solution here is one which our current president should not hesitate to implement by simply reversing his position on the Keystone Pipeline. Of course conservation and alternative energy policies must be implemented, and I for one believe there is a terrific opportunity in natural gas exploration and exploitation.
Both clear-thinking Republicans and Democrats want to protect the environment for future generations, but we must also focus on creating jobs and finding a way to move toward energy independence.
Entitlement Programs
Every person I count as a friend believes in a safety net. They also don’t believe in a free ride. That being said, the simple fact remains that minimum wage doesn’t cut it for most families, and a lot of people have quite logically come to believe they are better off living on government subsidies.
My simple, and yes, complicated, solution to improving this situation is a two-year matching program for anyone currently on subsidies who finds employment. If that person finds a job at minimum wage, the government will match that wage dollar for dollar over a specified time frame.
The incentive is obvious. If you work, you are rewarded. Of course, this isn’t perfect, but I believe it is a much more promising approach than launching Stimulus III which (as recent history indicates) would be both unmanageable and imprudent.
The status quo. This isn’t about the money, it’s about the money!
A talented director friend of mine and I had an interesting email exchange last week. I wrote to compliment him on his powerful Obama campaign video in which he had very effectively used regular people. In the course of our dialogue, it became clear that we both agreed on one thing for certain: the system is broken.
I believe that money is very much the root cause of this breakdown.
Although money will not necessarily get you elected (as evidenced by the Connecticut Senate race) it certainly influences the outcome of too many bills in Congress. Some independent-thinking friends of mine in New Mexico are spending real money coming up with a constitutional amendment to address this issue.
Although certainly an uphill battle, I applaud my pals for putting their money towards this extremely worthwhile cause.
Most of the reasonable people I know believe that we must do most of the following: Stop printing money, demand China play by the same rules the rest of the world does with regard to their currency, spend less on the military and demand accountability on what we do spend with enormous penalties for fraud, rethink Obamacare, which although passed with good intentions is too flawed to succeed.
A safety net needs to be established, but the system needs to be streamlined without the injection of undue government influence.
I had some fun just before the election and wore a Romney pin while dropping off my 5-year-old son Tiernan to his very Democratic leaning kindergarten. While discussing the upcoming elections the day before, he had announced to his class that although his dad was voting for Romney, he, his mother, and 4-year-old brother were “voting for Obama.”
Upon hearing that story from my son’s teacher, David, I knew in my heart the election was over. I had a similar sinking feeling when I actually took the time to read the Republican convention platform. I, like most of the Republicans I respect, agreed with little of it.
Why, then, I was asked as I walked away from Tiernan’s school, was I still a Republican? It was and is a very good question.
The two presidents I admire most are Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Both were very different and both Republicans.
Like President Reagan, who I had the privilege of spending some time with as a young man, I believe the federal government is inherently inefficient, and the more money we give it to spend, the more money it will misspend. Again, I believe most of my friends from both parties can agree on that point.
The United States of America is the most generous country in the world filled with enormously magnanimous people. Whether one is a Democrat or Republican most of us who have the means would gladly pay more in taxes if it were shown that our income taxes were in fact being effectively invested in our country and for the purposes and citizens truly in need of those funds. Doing that, in my view, is this second term president’s biggest challenge.
Michael Burns is vice-chairman of Lionsgate, one of the nation’s leading entertainment companies.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
5:08 pm
correction to above: ” . . . then exactly *what* has he achieved in his life, other than being born to the right family?:”
Speeling errur
bob
November 8th, 2012
5:08 pm
If the GOP want to compete with the democrat party they have to give more stuff away, fairly simple.
Nunna Yobinnes
November 8th, 2012
5:11 pm
I wants me some free stuff.
Erwin's cat
November 8th, 2012
5:11 pm
JHM – What makes you so sure *you’re* a man?
I thought you answered that downstairs?
Are we not men?
getalife
November 8th, 2012
5:12 pm
bob,
2 trillion to the military industrial complex and trillions in tax cuts and other corporate welfare not big enough for you?
Get a grip bob.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
5:12 pm
GOA
Defense spending is still number one.
My 401k is up 22% in 3 years. Thanks Prez
The popular vote would have been different but data mining said the election could be won by winning the swing states. Glad I live down here where it doesn’t matter, I didn’t have to miss my railroad commercials.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
5:13 pm
We should listen to the gop but never do what they say because they are always dead wrong.
Joe Hussein Mama
November 8th, 2012
5:13 pm
E. Cat — “I thought you answered that downstairs? Are we not men?”
WE ARE DEVO
D – E – V- O
(staccato guitar break)
josef
November 8th, 2012
5:43 pm
Well somebody say something….
JohnnyReb
November 8th, 2012
5:43 pm
I really love it when a group of old white guys in the liberal press, like MSNBC or little Stephie, tells us the problem with the Repubican party is that it is old white guys. What the heck do they think they are?
One thing for sure – we don’t need the liberal media/pundits telling what is wrong with us. Their solution is to make us like them. That’s not gonna happen.
Another point is, there were more white people who cast votes in the election than any other race. We may be browning, but we are not to the brown majority yet.
If there is a Republican problem it is with white people, not minorities.
JohnnyReb
November 8th, 2012
5:44 pm
hello josef – can you hear me?
josef
November 8th, 2012
5:48 pm
JohnnyReb
Yeah, I hear you…even if my head is WAAAAY up here in the clouds…
Erwin's cat
November 8th, 2012
5:49 pm
josef – can you hear me?
can you feel me near you?
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 8th, 2012
5:50 pm
josef
Hear this one out. Also all you whiners out there LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpHmxxSKBQc
lynnie gal
November 8th, 2012
5:51 pm
Leave it to the rich guy on TV to complain that poor people want “stuff”.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
5:51 pm
Liberal. A view that’s embraces everyone’s right to life, liberty and propert(prosperity). It’s better than conservative(status quo), rich stay rich and poor stay poor. Anybody making less than 250k\yr is not voting with they’re pocket book if they vote republican, they’re just dreaming the American dream. Rich men don’t won’t you to get rich, they want you to make them richer. 90% of small business fail after three years, but not until they made someone else richer. Silly wabbits.
Erwin's cat
November 8th, 2012
5:55 pm
90% of small business fail after three years, but not until they made someone else richer.
huh?
Road Scholar
November 8th, 2012
5:56 pm
Johnny Reb: Have you ever heard of the word “listen”? How about “consider”?
josef
November 8th, 2012
5:58 pm
Common Sense
gm
November 8th, 2012
5:58 pm
What about the all the people in Ohio and Mich, Fl who have jobs and voted for the President are they lazy and want free stuff? untill the right stop listen old white conservatives guys like O’Reilly, scum bags like Rush, Hannity, Neal B. the only votes the rep are going to get are confederate voters.
Have these idiots on the right ever thought young rep voted for Obama? because poor, middle whites dont have the money to send their kids to college and have to use pell grants like every one else. Obama won states where there is a small amount of blacks, VT, RI, Iowa.
News Flash
November 8th, 2012
5:58 pm
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Ronald Reagan Parkway
November 8th, 2012
6:01 pm
Romney ‘transition’ website briefly appears online
Mitt Romney told reporters aboard his plane on Tuesday afternoon that he had prepared an 1,118-word “victory speech” to give supporters on election night. And it appears the Romney campaign was preparing a website for his transition from candidate to president, too.
The site appeared online on Wednesday and was taken down—but not before Taegan Goddard, a blogger for Roll Call’s Political Wire, captured screenshots, which included a “President Elect” seal, information about the inauguration, a fresh tagline (”Smaller, Simpler, Smarter”) and a quote from the Republican nominee (”I’m excited about our prospects as a nation. My priority is putting people back to work in America.”).
The site also included a page with information on how to join the Romney administration, as well as a section on the president-elect’s process of picking a Cabinet:
President-elect Romney is working closely with his transition team to put together his administration to ensure a smooth transfer of power on January 20th, 2013 and get to work for the American people.
It’s unclear how long the transition site was live or who was responsible for its content. A spokesman for the Romney campaign did not return a request for comment.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/romney-transition-192214963–election.html
Brosephus™
November 8th, 2012
6:03 pm
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/millions-tax-dollars-diverted-private-schools/nS2by/
A Channel 2 investigation uncovered public tax money diverted so private school students could get a break on their tuition.
The tax credit scholarship program was intended to help Georgia students get out of struggling public schools, but Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh found it doesn’t always work that way.
[...]
The so-called scandal involves a state law that allows people to divert state tax money to private schools. Under the law, Georgians would get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit by donating money to help private schools. Then, that money was supposed to help disadvantaged students who attend those schools.
[...]
Before it was law, state Rep. David Casas said his tax credit scholarship program would help “students transfer from public schools to private schools” and “help parents who can’t afford private education.”
But the law itself had no wording about helping impoverished children. The law also said students must be enrolled in a public school but didn’t explicitly say they had to attend class, allowing private school students to also enroll in public schools to collect the credit benefit.
In a 2011 video, Casas told private school parents the wording of the law was intentional.
[...]
Channel 2 filed an open records request with the Georgia Department of Revenue for audits and other records from the Georgia Student Scholarship Organization, but the department denied the request and said it would be illegal to release the information.
State Rep. Earl Ehrhart, a co-sponsor of the scholarship bill, maintained critics could not prove that the money was misused.
When Kavanaugh asked him if it was possible to identify how many students have benefited from the law and if they are in fact in need, Ehrhart replied, “No, and why should we have to worry about the basic minutia with that respect when what we’re trying to do is benefit these children?”
Just think, Georgians have just given these people even more control over not only their state tax dollars, but their local tax dollars as well. Make way for the “Big Government Express” and watch your tax dollars end up in the pockets of your legislator’s best friends and political campaign donors.
Rightwing Troll
November 8th, 2012
6:04 pm
“well we can’t afford the gov’t to be santa much longer and there are not enough rich people to tax to make up a trillion plus deficit per year. something’s gotta give and BO’s plan is more free stuff to his favored constituents”
Pillbo alert Pillbo alert!!! quick, get this man an oxycodone… before he really starts to believe what his fat, angry, pied piper tells him to believe…
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:05 pm
ROAD SCHOLAR
JohnnyReb did listen and did consider…he’s one of my heroes…jus’ sayin’
TaxPayer
November 8th, 2012
6:09 pm
Are republicans still in mourning?
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 8th, 2012
6:10 pm
somebody out to switch out Rush’s oxycodone with Viagra so he can go fork himself to death LOL
j/k
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:10 pm
TAXI
Looks like they’ve taken a vow of silence…
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:11 pm
Common Sense
@ 6:10
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 8th, 2012
6:12 pm
TP
Are republicans still in mourning?
————————————————
No, their families will be when they frighten themselves to death over the election
Road Scholar
November 8th, 2012
6:13 pm
People have complained about the affects of racially diverse impacts on welfare.Check this out:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002144229
It is based off the 2010 census. 63% of all welfare is to whites, 12 % to African Americans, 16% to Hispanics, and 5% to Asian. Sort of destroys the myth that non whites are “lazy” huh?
Georgia
November 8th, 2012
6:13 pm
Conservatives are going through the five stages from grief to acceptance. They’ve blamed every possible group. Blacks. Latinos. Mother Nature. No, All women. No all women’s reproductive systems.
Wait’ll they find out it was Mother Nature’s G(OP) Spot that prevents Birthers what done them in.
Let’s give them some room.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
6:14 pm
All that capital you borrowed , inherited , or maybe even saved is lost to others as you SPEND SPEND trying to start you business. That’s the risk of living the dream. When you are spending you are growing wealth for others. That’s what 90% of small business co’s do as they’re going out of business.
Why are we complaining. More millionaires are made during a recession than in any other economic climate.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
6:14 pm
“Romney’s top campaign official in Florida conceded that Obama will win the state, acknowledging a vote count that was moving inexorably against the Republicans.”
mitt is gone.
Totally crushed.
Life is good.
BobFromcobb
November 8th, 2012
6:16 pm
39% white. Check your smart box again. Not that it matters unless you’re one of them.
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:17 pm
ROAD SCHOLAR
Interesting, isn’t it, how closely those figures reflect that group’s share of the general population?
Krystal'sBalls
November 8th, 2012
6:17 pm
If you listen to the language of the GOP right now, they are forecasting their strategy to go forward.
LISTEN UP AND TAKE NOTE, BECAUSE YOU HEARD IT FROM KRYSTAL’S BALLS FIRST!!
They don’t care about bringing Blacks or other ehnic groups into the “tent”. They only care about “Latinos”. So here is the plan – DRAW A WEDGE BY STIRRING UP ANIMOSITY BETWEEN BLACKS AND LATINOS/HISPANICS.
Cynical? Yes….but again you heard it here FIRST.
Krystal’s Balls.
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:20 pm
KRYSTAL
“DRAW A WEDGE BY STIRRING UP ANIMOSITY BETWEEN BLACKS AND LATINOS/HISPANICS.”
Just being EOI here, but they won’t have to stir too hard…
Mick
November 8th, 2012
6:21 pm
usmc
Of course I tune into el flusbo every now and then, it’s basic godfather 101 – “keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer”. The great bloviator has skills and is the ultimate excuse maker, I had to tune in the day after and hear it to believe it, he didn’t disappoint. If you continue to let him lead your party, you are doomed or damned, same result…
TaxPayer
November 8th, 2012
6:21 pm
I think it only appropriate that those of us not in mourning be there for those in mourning. I am here for you guys and gals. Go ahead and grieve. I know that you placed you faith in Karl rove and his faux math and in faux news and their foxy hosts and in rassamatazz polling results, etc. it is okay to feel abused.
getalife
November 8th, 2012
6:23 pm
Krystal’s Balls,
The old divide and conquer strategy.
I think they will pass immigration reform again to try to get them back.
bill copeland
November 8th, 2012
6:23 pm
as for ‘takers’, note that red states (like georgia, the rest of the deep south, and the plains and mountain states) are the ” takers” when it comes to dividing the federal goodies. it is the blue states (like mass, minnesota, new york, connecticut, new jersey, illinois, and california, and the other coastal states) that pay far more in federal taxes than they get back in federal payments. apparently, it is the republican states that ‘want stuff’, in the immortal words of bill o’reilly.
Brosephus™
November 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
Kinda on topic of the GOP’s self-defeating image….
http://gawker.com/5958923/australia-twitter+shames-the-crap-out-of-random-teen-who-threatens-to-move-down-under-after-obama-win
18-year-old Kristen Neel of Georgia thought she would be just another threat in the crowd when she tweeted shortly after President Obama’s reelection that she was “moving to Australia, because their president is a Christian and actually supports what he says.”
However, not wanting to get stuck with someone as ignorant as Neel, the people of Australia quickly banded together and tweet-shamed her into oblivion.
“[O]ur “president” is a prime minister, is a woman, and is an atheist,” responded one of the more than 1,500 Twitter users who retweeted Neel’s remark. “I think you meant Antarctica. Move there.”
I actually feel bad for her in a sense, but that’s what you get for exposing your lack of learning for everyone in the world to see. If only she were under the age of 18, maybe she could enroll in a charter school.
Mick
November 8th, 2012
6:26 pm
bill copeland
In the immortal words of scout: Thanks for that…
getalife
November 8th, 2012
6:27 pm
The takers are the military industrial complex (mic) and the coc (chamber of commerce).
The mic and coc get trillions not millions.
Please include these facts in your moocher arguments,
Thanks.
gm
November 8th, 2012
6:29 pm
Obama wins Florida by 55,000 thank God for Florida or Romney would have won the confederate as President.
Wake up conservatives southerners you always have been on the wrong side of history, slavery , civil rights, women rights, Obama, and you wonder why you are the butt of every joke around the world.
saywhat?
November 8th, 2012
6:31 pm
So here is the plan – DRAW A WEDGE BY STIRRING UP ANIMOSITY BETWEEN BLACKS AND LATINOS/HISPANICS.
__________________________________________________
They tried that to some extent in 2000. No doubt they will try again.
F. Sinkwich
November 8th, 2012
6:31 pm
The resident genius on this blog posted a pithy, spot-on observation worthy of review:
“O’bozo said four years ago he would fundamentally change America. I naively believed he couldn’t do that, but he succeeded.
All he had to do was promise free stuff (healthcare, student loans, rubbers and whatnot) funded by undeserving ingrates (the “rich”) and it worked, easily!
RIP USA, 1776 – 2012″
The free lunch crowd now runs the country. I accept that.
By the way, how do I get my Obamaphone?
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 8th, 2012
6:32 pm
Bro
I woulda tweeted the twit back and said come on down.
Except our PM is a woman, atheist and an aborgine
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:32 pm
gm
Yeah, but us Southerners are statistically verifiably way ahead of our Northern kin where it really matters, right SoCoBro?
DawgDad
November 8th, 2012
6:36 pm
Jay, you are off-the-charts intellectually dishonest about the GOP and minorities. Calling us racists is not going to promote domestic peace and harmony in America. I’m not, and I don’t appreciate you or anyone else calling me racist.
The problem conservative voters have with illegal immigrants is they take stuff to which they are not legally entitled and create thorny social and economic problems. I would advise you my MAIN issue with illegal immigration has NOTHING to do with a person’s skin color; it has NOTHING to do with the immigrants themselves and EVERYTHING to do with the politicians in Washington and with rubbish spewed by the mainstream media. The fact is the Democrats and main stream media don’t want to SOLVE the problem of illegal immigration because it would take their pet issue off the table and render the immigrants less dependent on them.
The problem with abortion, by and large, is the right to choose has morphed into the right to force us to pay for it. Call me racist? My position on abortion would promote MORE minority births and voters. That’s an indisputable fact.
Gay marriage? As it stands, working as I do for a Fortune 500 corporation, I can obtain health insurance coverage for a same-sex domestic partner but NOT an opposite sex domestic partner unless that partner is a spouse. Pure nuttiness, foisted on us by the LBGT lobby and Democrats, who I have no doubt would insist this is not discriminatory. Gay marriage is NOT a civil right, despite what any 20-somethings think. Marriage is not a civil right, it’s a civil rite. I guess our leftist schools don’t teach the difference.
JamVet
November 8th, 2012
6:38 pm
RIP Andy.
We Americans will keep kicking ass without you, thank you very little!
indigo
November 8th, 2012
6:41 pm
TaxPayer – “are the Republicans still in mourning”
It’s much more serious than that. Most Republicans flooded God with fervent prayers for Romney to be elected. Most actually felt their “God of love” spoke to them and assured a victory.
Now, they are shaken to their fundamentalist roots, engaging in frenetic bouts of mental gymnanstics and convoluted thinking in order to get their house of faith off the shifting sands of doubt and back on the rock of certainty.
Since blind faith tops any amount of logic and reason, they’ll soon be back to rock solid faith. Unfortunately, they then have to figure what to do about all those pesky women, Black and Latino voters.
josef
November 8th, 2012
6:43 pm
indigo
Logic and reason rest on faith.
liberal hack
November 8th, 2012
6:43 pm
gm, how rude of you! I am always going to be on the other side of large instrusive big gov’t that you so lovingly endorse. I will always love smaller gov’t that doesn’t take tax dollars and distributes to whomever they desire….