Bred in conservative evangelical talk radio reality, Bachmann is used to a political climate in which even her most obvious lies can pass unchallenged.
So she sometimes prefers to "forget" that people who live in the real world will occasionally fact check her. That explains her claims about the turnout for the Glenn Beck rally in Washington DC. Here's Bachmann on the Laura Ingraham show:
"Unofficially, off the record, we talked to one of the guys from the National Park Police who told us he thought it was 1.6 million. There had to be over a million people there.Unofficially, off the record, we talked to one of the guys from the National Park Police who told us he thought it was 1.6 million. There had to be over a million people there. People were packed in from the Washington Monument all the way to the Lincoln Memorial."
But along comes this University of Arizona professor who's in the business of estimating crowd sizes from photographs. According to him, Bachmann "somewhere between 1 million and 1.6 million" estimate is--well, according to him it's ridiculous.
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Former UK finance minister Alistair Darling stated yesterday that the punitive taxes his government assessed to executive bonuses had no effect on excessive pay.
Jan Randolph, a UK banking annalyst, added this in an interview with American Media's "Market Place",
It seems that if you want to get at the root of the problem [of excessive executive pay], you're going to have to do much more than just provide an annual tax. And all it's done is provide a little bit more revenue for the government. It hasn't fundamentally changed incentives and behavior.
This was all said with a somber disappointment regarding the effectiveness of the program in curbing executive pay. But this is great news for Mark Dayton and the democrats in the debate over tax policy in fixing our budget crises. Why? Because what this "failed experiment" in the UK is telling us is that raising taxes on the wealthy, even to as high as %50, has little or no economic impact other than to raise revenue for the government. These addition funds can then be invested in programs that DO have a significant economic impact, such as early education or deficit reduction.
I wonder if anybody in the Dayton camp will pick up on this golden trump card? Hmm, probably not.
In 2006, Mr. Kline was also a no-show for the Goodhue County Veterans candidate forum. Check out this video on YouTube.
Does Mr. Kline even live in MN or does he live in TX? Is his ranch in TX being paid for by government subsidies? Must be nice to be Mr. Kline.
I guess that shouldn't surprise anyone because Mr. Kline's support for veterans affair's has also been M.I.A. Mr. Kline has actually voted NO on a number of different bills that would have helped Veterans.
Most recently Mr. Kline voted NO on making an amendment that was going to fund military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies.
Over the course of Mr. Kline's political career he has voted NO on a number of other bills that affect veterans.
Mr. Kline has voted NO on an amendment to the military quality of life and veterans affairs that would have added $53 million for veterans health care and other benefits.
Mr. Kline voted NO on a motion to expand access to the military's health insurance program to thousands of reservist and National Guard members.
Mr. Kline voted NO on a motion on the 2005 bankruptcy reform bill to exempt members of the National Guard and Reserve if their debt was a result of active duty or was incurred within two years of returning home from their service.
Mr. Kline voted NO on a motion to fund full disability and retirement benefits for all of the nation's veterans.
But wait! Mr. Kline did vote YES on one issue concerning our Veterans.
He voted for final passage of the $2.6 trillion budget conference report for 2006. This cut funding for veterans health care by $13.5 billion over five years.
Mr. Kline says that his greatest duty in Congress is to continue supporting our veterans. But is he really doing that?
Mr. Kline is doing a great job showing how much veterans mean to him and our country. Mr. Kline is also championing another great plan to cut government spending by $120 billion. It's called YOUCUT, so much for rebuilding our infrastructure.
State Republican Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb, "former blogger", loses patience with blogger questions.
Brodkorb with his faithful Mark Dayton tracker took the podium after a press conference with Twin City Mayors, DNC chair Tim Kaine and Mark. Link to press conference: http://theuptake.org/2010/09/0...
Soren Sorenson, peace activist and blogger tried to follow up with Bodkorb; not much accomplished.
The predominant attribute of American elites is a refusal to take responsibility for any failures. The favored tactic for accomplishing this evasion is the "nobody-could-have-known" excuse.
- There have been a lot of these types of diaries (don't give up on November) at Daily Kos lately. They're pretty good, I think.
- The Washington Timeschanges ownership, again. I mention this because plenty of righties, including bloggers, still, in all apparent seriousness, cite that rag as legitimate source material. Via TPMMuckraker.
So what was wrong with the story that Social Security is broke?
When Randy Demmer said, "The truth is there's no money there now. There is no social security fund. It's been used up. The government has not taken care of that and the fund is gone," he clearly means there's nothing there now. So of several correct answers, the most correct is probably "If there's no money why haven't the checks stopped?", because wouldn't you think, if the fund is gone, the checks couldn't keep going out? Wouldn't this be a massively huge piece of news? Somehow, only Demmer knows this? A better question: how did this guy become a candidate for Congress?
Give yourself full credit if you guessed the answer was the trust fund holds federal bonds. To those who say the money should have been invested instead of just sitting there, what's a good investment for people who are retired or nearing retirement? Such people are often advised to invest in something safe, getting a low interest rate in exchange for complete safety. They'll be directed to the safest investment there is, where the issuer has never missed a payment which is how it gets by with paying dinky interest: federal bonds.
Republican MN-GOV candidate Tom Emmer just put a sign up on a billboard for drivers heading south on Hwy. 494 north of Hwy. 55. It's not exactly a major intersection, but a lot of people drive past it every day. There's only one problem ... can you see it?
Team Emmer can't count! There are eight people on the billboard but Tom only cares about seven of them. Ha ha ha ha ha!
So is Tom and Team Emmer ignoring his wife? Or which kid?
New polling data came out today about lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's anemic 2012 presidential campaign. Pawlenty's presidential hopes have never really gotten off the ground. He has continually polled in the lower single digits.
Keep in mind that this is the same flawed MPR/Humphrey Institute poll Joe dissected yesterday. In other words, because of the rightwards skewing of this poll, this news could be even worse.
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? What? Okay, but I'm going to give you the good news for Timmeh first.
...But Pawlenty easily beats former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 59 to 24 percent.
Yup. That's right. The current sitting Governor of Minnesota whomps the Quittah from Wasilla. Timmeh wins today's tallest midget award for that one.
The rest of the news is bad.
...when it comes to whether Minnesotans would vote for Pawlenty for president, a majority, or 53 percent, consider that unlikely. Even nearly one in four Republicans, or 23 percent, say they've be unlikely to vote for him.
Ouch. A majority of Minnesotans wouldn't vote for him and nearly 1 our of 4 Republicans wouldn't support him in a primary contest.
Possibly even more stinging for the governor is a question about who would make a better president among potential Republican competitors. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney outpolls Pawlenty on that question, 45 percent to 32 percent.
He can't even beat Mittens the Mormon in his own backyard.
Is this good news that he finally got out of the lower single digits in a poll or is this a sign of the his campaign leaving the runway and hitting the first tree?
Before I get too deep into Afghanistan, pray indulge one comment on Iraq. As I hear Republicans who want credit for conditions in Iraq improving, it sounds like demanding credit for picking up broken glass after smashing the windows.
Actually, there is a direct relation between Iraq and my main point, because it seems one of the biggest changes we made in Iraq has gone unremarked upon, even though I suspect it's one of the main causes of improvements. Specifically, I'm suggesting the improvements as we approach the withdrawal date are because of the withdrawal date. By setting that date, we told the Iraqis that we really intend to leave and would not be their occupiers.
That's what Obama did by setting July 2011 as the end of the build up in Afghanistan. That is, by setting a date, he told Afghans that the US has no intention to be their permanent occupiers. His reiteration of that in his speech last night was the most important thing he said, at least in a purely Afghan context, yet it's gone unnoted in the commentary I'm aware of.
Minnesota State Senate District 15, geographically comprising much of St. Cloud and regions south and east, is home to an open seat going into the 2010 election, because incumbent Tarryl Clark is running for the US Congress. Her federal race is the object of no little interest, including here on this website.
The DFL candidate is Bruce Hentges. Under 'Priorities' on his website, education is listed first and foremost (he's been a teacher and principal). Fair taxation also gets a nod, as do jobs and infrastructure.
The GOP candidate is John C. Pederson, who's been on the St. Cloud City Council for a while, likely voting however Mayor Dave Kleis (a former somewhat high-profile Republican state legislator, regarded as potential governor material by some) tells him to. His website has plenty of GOP-generic canards like "live within our means" and "our good jobs will move to other states." Reminds one of a failed, lame-duck governor...
The MN Secretary of State's office lists no third-party candidates in this race.
The district leans red, with an hPVI of +6 Republican. This recent article discusses how it's more 'plaid' than one might think, given the beliefs and behavior of its high-profile representative in DC.
Obviously, Tarryl's shoes will be filled righteously only if Mr. Hentges emerges triumphant. If the former could get elected here, so can the latter.
It caught the reporters and the professional political media by surprise--but you guys, the ones who regularly read my Bachmann stuff here--*you* weren't that surprised, were you?
I'm referring to this:
Beck's marriage of politics and religion raising questions
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A few weeks before organizing a massive rally on the Mall that had the feel of a religious revival, Glenn Beck sought the blessing of some of the country's most prominent conservative Christian leaders.
The Fox talk show host wanted their support as he shifted from political commentary to a more spiritual message, he told the group of about 20...
If you read these things I've been posting on Bachmann for the past five or six years--you already have an idea about who some of names in "the group of about 20" that Beck went to for support.
For five or six years now, I've been telling readers that the rise of Michele Bachmann and her proto-fascist garbage was facilitated by a religious right that has already been organized as "a de facto third party" in American politics.
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New polling data came out today about lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's anemic 2012 presidential campaign. Pawlenty's presidential hopes have never really gotten off the ground. He has continually polled in the lower single digits.
