Diggapedia

Be careful what you wish for.   Bill O’Reilly is going after Media Matters by challenging whether its tax exempt status under IRS status 501(c)3.   According to tax filings, the main 501(c)3 branch of Media Matters -- Media Matters for America -- earned nearly $7 million in 2009.  Bill’O and Fox are basing their case on the anti-Fox reporting done by MMA.   If Fox challenges the tax exempt status in court, MMA will be enter Fox’s reporting as evidence and what is more damaging: MMA losing its tax exempt status or Fox having to disavow its ‘fair and balanced’ tagline? Adios Beckster.   Where Bette Midler sang the farewell song to Johnny, Beck gets Judy Collins and “Send in the Clowns”.   Go join Olbermann in the wilderness and save a place for Hannity, Schultz, and Maddow.   Blowhards on either side are getting on my nerves. WTF? Fall River authorities say the body of a woman who died in a public pool went undetected for days as swimmers continued to us...

Many on the right and left are calling for an immediate pull out of U.S. troops from Afghanistan based on the killing of Bin Laden and the reported decimation of Al Qaeda in the war torn country.     I believe the President is doing the right thing and people have forgotten that the Pakistan of 2001 versus the Pakistan of 2011are two different places.   Its proliferation of nuclear weapons, the rise of an Islamic terror organization, the overthrow of one government, the murder of a popular leader, the terror attack in India, and the rise of China have forced us to change the mission and the desired outcomes have also changed.   Also, the counterinsurgency policy works only if it leads to a peaceful diplomatic solution that must involve the Taliban in the government in some form.   It is neither clean nor perfect, but then again what is in the world today. I remember the old Steven Wright comedy bit about how he named his dog Stay, and would tell him “Come here S...

Why are Social Conservatives so damn hypocritical? Take Michelle Bachmann in these two separate quotes: “And I think the most eloquent words ever written were those in our Declaration of Independence that said it's a creator who endowed us with inalienable rights given to us from God, not from government,.” "In 5,000 years of recorded human history... neither in the east or in the west... has any society ever defined marriage as anything other than between men and women," Bachmann said during the latest installment of the Iowa Family Leader's presidential lecture series. "Not one in 5000 years of recorded human history. That's an astounding fact and it isn't until the last 12 years or so that we have seen for the first time in recorded human history marriage defined as anything other than between men and between women." Conclusion: According to Bachmann and the rest of the Evangelical Social Conservative only some of us are endowed with some of God’s...

Republicans still sticking with their tax cuts are net revenue raisers.   Really?   They also love to point to Ronald Reagan’s 8 years as proof that tax cuts have a net benefit to federal finances.   Simply not true.   When looking at tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product, the total federal revenues fell from 19.6 percent of GDP in 1981 to 18.4 percent of GDP by 1989, indicating revenues were $66 billion lower in 1989 as a result of Reagan’s policies.   This is not surprising given that no one in the Reagan administration ever claimed that his 1981tax cut would pay for itself or that it did. Reagan economists Bill Niskanen and Martin Anderson have written extensively on this oft-repeated myth. Conservative economist Lawrence Lindsey concluded that the behavioral and macroeconomic effects of the 1981 tax cut, resulting from both supply-side and demand-side effects, recouped about a third of the static revenue loss. The World Bank is encouraging ...

The latest from shoot first aim second Arizona Senator John McCain.   While visiting the Wallow fire in northern Arizona Senator Senile claimed brush fires are started by illegal immigrants.   When pressed about which fire, McCain could not answer.   No one should be surprised by this statement as McCain also claimed that Phoenix was the kidnap capital of the world without offering any data to support the false allegation.   Paging Wilford Brimley, please take Senator McCain to the Cocoon pool please. While the fate of the New York state same sex marriage law remains uncertain, no one can argue that Republican state senator Roy McDonald didn’t make the proceedings a lot more interesting with this quote explaining why he was switching his vote in support of the bill :   “ You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing.” "You might not like that. You might be very cynical a...

Still waiting to hear something new from the Republicans on job creation (lowering taxes doesn’t work and zero regulations…well we know how that turned out) and something from the Democrats on deficit reduction.   Not holding breath. Some Tea Party activists in Florida are offering a weeklong summer camp in Florida that teaches kids that government issued currency is worthless.   And they claim Obama was indoctrinating kids. A bad sign for yours truly.   A New York man was thrown off an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight when a flight attendant claimed he was being disruptive while the flight sat on the ground during a 45 minute delay.   “What’s taking so f—king long?” was enough to get Brooklyn’s Mr. Robert Sayegh kicked off.   Yep, I am so screwed. The Dutch government is planning on passing new laws preventing non-Dutch citizens from buying hashish in the country’s famed ‘coffee shops’.   These anti-tourism laws will likely lead to increased street deali...

Republican leadership conference is being held in New Orleans.   Not since Katrina have so many snakes and rats been in the streets of the crescent city. Circle August 2 nd on your calendars.   That is when the federal government will hit the debt ceiling and the United States would be in default to its debt holders.   Now I am sure Treasury Secretary Geithner can play some tricks with what gets pad first, but to those that do not think this is serious, you are sadly mistaken.   If the U.S. defaults, its debt rating will be lowered from AAA to junk and our costs for borrowing will sky rocket.   If you thought our debt was unbearable burden now…. Florida Governor Rick Scott wants to institute mandatory drug testing for all recipients of state aid (not including food stamps) and all government employees.   Here are the issues with this approach.   One, there is legal precedence that this type of testing for welfare recipients and state employees violate...

How amazing is Boston as a sports city?   All of its current coaches of the four major sports have won titles for their respective Boston franchise.   All four major teams have won a title in the last seven years.   The longest title-free streak?   The Belichick-Brady led Patriots.   Yo Foxboro time to get your act together…slackers. Republicans on the House franking commission, which screens the content of mass mailings paid for with Congressional funds, have become more sensitive since the May 24 special election in New York.   The commission has objections to language stating that the GOP budget would “end” Medicare. The commission asked a Virginia Democrat to rephrase the passage to say the plan could “change” or “could privatize portions” of the federal health insurance program for seniors and the disabled… Similarly, the commission asked Rep. Ed Perlmutter to strike the words “eliminate” and “dismantle” in favor of the word “change” in a flier about ...

So the GOP is all about free markets.   Then explain why they consistently protect farm subsidies?   I know the elephant is the symbol of the Republican party, but based on the amount of pork in their budget it should be changed to the pig.   Sadly, these ethanol and farm subsidy driven sycophants would rather cut aid to low income mothers and children than take away corporate welfare from these ‘poor’ farm owners that make over $750k that get thousands of dollars.   Yeah, the annual bill to pay for food and farm programs next year would cut food aid for low-income mothers and children by $685 million.   Wake Up America. What is burning hotter Wallow fire or Palin as she has been usurped by Michelle Bachmann in the hearts and little minds of the Tea Party?   Yes, crazy eyes has taken the mantle. Hey Sarah there is always Mayor of Cave Creek? Not a good sign for Rick “anal lube meets fecal matter” Santorum.   In Republican polling in his home state of P...

Michelle Bachmann is going out of her way to show America that she is a better, brighter, and brainer version of Sarah Palin (take about setting low goals).   Where the Wasillan Wolf Hunter couldn’t name a single newspaper, magazine, or major Supreme Court case during the gotcha Couric interview of 2008, Bachmann went into full name dropping mode during a recent interview with the overly obsequious WSJ reporter Stephen Moore.   When asked about her favorite economists, the Golden Gopher responded that she admires the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. Really?   The self-professed proponent of the Free Market would obviously love Freidman and his University of Chicago economic theory, but how does she explain her support for farm and oil subsidies?   Subsidies, along with minimum wage, tariffs, and taxes were the anathema of Friedman and his followers.   I guess when your family farm has received tens of thousands of dollars, like ...

Talk about irony.   The cause of the deadly E.coli outbreak in Germany that has killed 33 and sickened thousands   was organic bean sprouts grown in Germany.   Hmmm, I thought organic foods were supposed to be healthier? I will hold a special place in my heart for the Mavericks victory over the Heat in this year’s NBA playoffs like I hold the D-backs over the Yankees in 2001, Saints over the Colts in 2010, and the Avalanche over the Devils in 2001.   I felt bad that I missed a lot of the 4 th quarter last night, but it also looks like most of the Heat players did as well. I sent a request to the state of Minnesota for Tim Pawlenty’s birth certificate as I am convinced the GOP Presidential candidate was actually made by Gippetto, which would make him Italian. While former IMF chief and alleged sexual assault perpetrator Dominique Strauss Kahn awaits trial, his former employer is looking at his replacement, and the leading candidate is Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde, t...

Monday night will be the 2 nd Republican debate.   This one will happen at St. Anselms college in New Hampshire and will include Mitt “The Job Slayer” Romney, Tim “Tax Rates Less Than Zero” Pawlenty, Herman “And You May Ask Yourself, How Did I Get Here” Cain, Michelle “AAA TripTik” Bachmann, Rick “Counting On the Fetus Vote” Santorum, Newt “Oh What a Lonely Boy” Gingrich, Ron “CrackPots and PanDering” Paul”.     Quick prediction, all will slam Obama and Bachmann will be especially tough on The Affordable Care Act which will make Romney squirm.   Ronald Reagan will be mentioned no less than 20 times, and Ron Paul will hold onto the title of the King of Crazy Talk. As for Pawlenty’s plan, it is best qualified to be served as toilet paper.   His tax cut proposal would cut taxes by an average of $490,000 per millionaire in 2013, while people earning $40k - $50k would get an average tax cut of about $700, or less than 2 percent of after-tax income.  The Ta...

I love Conservatives.   Not really, but I do love it when they wrap themselves in the flag, set their heads down on the ten commandments, wallpaper their homes in pages from the Bible, and use reprints of the Constitution for place mats.   Whether it’s Bachmann telling us how the founding fathers fought to end slavery, Santorum telling us gay marriage will lead to man on dog sex, John Boehner mistaking the Declaration of Independence for the preamble of the Constitution, and Palin told us to go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant -- they're quite clear -- that we would create law based on the God of the bible and the ten commandments, and then there’s Herman Insane in the Cane.   Check out this from the latest Conservative darling during an interview with Lord Beck of Moronistan: CAIN: The exact language was when I was asked, “would you be comfortable with a Muslim in your cabinet?” And I said, “no, I would not be comfortable.” I didn’t say I wouldn...

I was a big fan of Congressman Weiner.   He is always god for a sarcastic comment and a vociferous argument on the floor of the House.   Now, I think what Weiner did was reprehensible and how he handled it inexcusable.   That being said, it is not up to Congressional leaders to determine if Weiner should resign.   I get that Pelosi, Hoyer, and others can apply significant pressure on him to resign, but whether he serves or not is the decision of his constituents.   Everyone thought Charlie Rangel was a fool and rule breaker, and at the end of the day he was re-elected in a landslide.   Ultimately it is Weiner’s decision, though if he does decide to resign, I think Eliot Spitzer just found his new cohost.   In related news, there is no confirmation that Brett Favre is now following Anthony Wiener on Twitter. Frazier-Ali, Munson-Fisk, Borg-McEnroe, Fischer-Spassky, Leno-Letterman….and now Palin-Bachmann.   So before the claims about sexism and Lame ...

Obviously the May jobs numbers were disappointing. And like good politicians the Republicans are piling on the President with the usual attacks: failed stimulus, excessive regulation, uncertainty, anti-business policies, spending, etc.   You want to know why our employment recovery is lagging and consequently dragging down the overall economy?   Lack of demand.   Unemployment in the construction industry is at 16%, down from the January high of 22.5%, but a long way from the pre-financial collapse of 5.3%.   Construction fuels this economy, and we have a glut of residential and commercial properties on the market.   It is why Ben Bernanke quipped we should burn down vacant houses to get them off the market and reduce the supply.   As for the other GOP playbook attacks, what excessive regulation are you talking about?   You mean financial reform?   I suppose when you go from zero regulation to some regulation, some people would call that excessive....

I think I am the sane one. Exhibit One: No one knows the sex of Storm Stocker a 4-month-old baby from Toronto. Only the parents, midwives and two older brothers have ever peeked beneath the diaper. That's because his -- or is it her -- parents, Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, want to raise their child genderless.   What the heck is genderless?   Memo to these Canadian Crackpots, gender is hardwired, you don’t discover it. Exhibit Two: The Christian Coalition’s Queen of Crazy Michelle Bachmann: "I am convinced in my heart and in my mind that if the United States fails to stand with Israel, that is the end of the United States . . . [W]e have to show that we are inextricably entwined, that as a nation we have been blessed because of our relationship with Israel, and if we reject Israel, then there is a curse that comes into play. And my husband and I are both Christians, and we believe very strongly the verse from Genesis [Genesis 12:3], we believe very strongly that...