Jellyfish at the SF Aquarium.
News!
The world's smallest violin is playing for John Boehner. "Thirty minutes. That’s roughly the time it took for conservatives to jump all over Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team after the GOP’s game plan for dealing with President Barack Obama’s health care law leaked to the media." The tears. They sting.
No, really, the zealots are a problem. House Republicans mean to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and to enact even more tax cuts for the wealthy while they close your middle class tax deduction loopholes. Or something. They are going to fast-track the procedure, 2013 is the target. This dovetails nicely with Romney's "Day One" ad, where he promises to cut taxes for the "job creators" and take away health care from millions. Oh, and remember how it was reported that House Republicans were going to punt on Keystone? Yeah, they are, he leads the ad with that. Apparently an oil pipeline will save the entire country. * head scratcher *
Greg Kessler absolutely dismantles Romney's newest line that he created 100,000 jobs at Bain and Obama lost 100,000 jobs in the auto industry. He's got the facts to back it up: "Romney’s remarks make little sense. Not only is his claim of creating 100,000 jobs at Bain untenable, but also his assertion that 100,000 jobs have been lost in the auto industry 'on the president’s watch' does not add up," handing Romney a four Pinocchios and a "repeat offender" award. Romney's flat-out lying, and he's going to continue to lie. Guess we just have to deal with it.
Hat tip to Wonkbook for this excellent quote (and story) from a "job creator". "'We’ve had it backward for the last 30 years,' Hanauer said at the TED conference. 'Rich businesspeople like me don’t create jobs. Rather, they are a consequence of an ecosystemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers.' When the middle class thrives, he said, 'businesses grow and hire, and owners profit.'" Read Jim Tankersley's "The 1 Percent Solution" in the National Review. Here is someone who "gets it".
A rebellion against Norquist? Some rookie Republicans in the House are doing just that. Good luck!
House Democrats are trying to do something about states that are making it harder for people to vote. Good luck with that, too. The Obama campaign has set up a new website that tells voters what they need to know about their state's laws - thing about that is, a lot of the poor and elderly and minorities these laws target aren't going to be reached through this medium, but every effort on this front is a good one.
Paul Krugman is jumping up and down and demanding you pay attention to what's happening in Europe. More often than not, Paul Krugman is right. Heed the warning.
Cub's owner Joe Ricketts pissed off the wrong guy. Don't be looking to the city of Chicago for help with Wrigley renovations anytime soon. And keep in mind that other members of the Ricketts family are also part-owners of the team - and they are Obama-backers. Any way they can buy Joe out and send him on his tea-bagging way?
That's it for now, the weekend beckons. Have a good one, and thanks for reading.