The Democrat Thread

[HuskyCaucasian]

What happens when you try really hard to be partisan? You end up supporting slavery... even though you're black:

 

Michael Steele Inadvertently Supports Constitutions 3/5 Compromise

Earlier today, RNC Chairman Michael Steele released a statement about Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, criticizing the solicitor general for "her support for statements suggesting that the Constitution "as originally drafted and conceived, was 'defective.'"

 

Just one problem -- Kagan was writing about comments made by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. And Marshall was referring to slavery.

 

Kagan wrote this about Marshall in a 1993 law review article:

During the year that mar

k

ed the bicentennial of the Con

s

titution, Ju

s

tice Mar

s

hall gave a characteri

s

tically candid

s

peech. He declared that the Con

s

titution, a

s

originally drafted and conceived, wa

s

"defective"; only over the cour

s

e of 200 year

s

had the nation "attain[ed] the

s

y

s

tem of con

s

titutional government, and it

s

re

s

pect for... individual freedom

s

and human right

s

, we hold a

s

fundamental today."

Marshall's speech gave particular note to the constitution's original definition of a slave as counting for only three-fifths of a person. Kagan wrote in her piece that "it was the role of the courts, in interpreting the Constitution, to protect the people who went unprotected by every other organ of government."

 

So Marshall critiques the Constitution for its treatment of slaves. Kagan cites the critique and praises the Court for fixing the problem. Steele slams Kagan. Nice.

 

OOPS!!

 

IMO: The constitutional IS by nature defective or flawed. It's written by humans. It was designed to be a living and breathing document that can be changed over time... hence the whole amendments thing.

Edited May 10, 2010 by Athomeboy_2000

[kapkomet]

What happens when you try really hard to be partisan? You end up supporting slavery... even though you're black:

 

Michael Steele Inadvertently Supports Constitutions 3/5 Compromise

 

 

OOPS!!

 

IMO: The constitutional IS by nature defective or flawed. It's written by humans. It was designed to be a living and breathing document that can be changed over time... hence the whole amendments thing.

 

If your definition of "living and breathing" is consitutional amendments, okay. But the bastardization of everything else is NOT "living and breathing".

[bmags]

Disagree.

[Balta1701]

The Red Cross today confirmed at the behest of the BBC that Bagram Air base, the lesser-known version of Gitmo, actually houses a second prison facility that previously hasn't been acknowledged. It appears to be casually known as "Tor Jail" which translates to black jail.

 

I assume it won't be long until someone there makes use of a blowtorch.

[Soxy]

I just got a final paper, written as a one-act play, entitled "George Bush in Speech Error-Land," characters include wombats, Freud and Skinner. This is a promising turn of events. Michelle Bachman, Helen Thomas and Chomsky also makes a cameo.

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

I just got a final paper, written as a one-act play, entitled "George Bush in Speech Error-Land," characters include wombats, Freud and Skinner. This is a promising turn of events. Michelle Bachman, Helen Thomas and Chomsky also makes a cameo.

Oh that sounds very interesting!

[BigSqwert]

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950

 

So what exactly are those Tea Partiers protesting exactly?

[Balta1701]

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950

 

So what exactly are those Tea Partiers protesting exactly?

Link

Not quite. According to the BEA, personal income in 2009 totalled $12 trillion and personal current taxes totalled $1.1 trillion. Sure enough, that's 9.2%. But, ahem, there's also $967 billion in "contributions for government social insurance." That's taxes to you and me. So that's $2.1 trillion in taxes, or about 17% of personal income.

 

But according to the OMB, federal tax receipts in 2009 totalled $2.1 trillion. And according to the Census Bureau, state and local tax receipts in 2009 totalled $1.2 trillion. That's $3.3 trillion, not $2.1 trillion. Do we really have $1.2 trillion in taxes not being paid by individuals? State and federal corporate taxes only amounted to about $200 billion. Are they not counting the employer portion of payroll taxes?

 

In any case, our total tax bite, which is eventually paid by individuals no matter what channel it goes through, was $3.3 trillion in 2009. That's 27.5% of personal income, not 9.2%. Caveat emptor.

 

(Note for Kap and 2k5. This post is taken from a liberal blog. Ergo, based on previously set discussion standards, you should take everything in it to be incorrect and assume that BS is 100% right).

[Balta1701]

If I could issue hunting permits, I would officially declare today opening day for liberals. The season would extend through November 2 and have no limits on how many taken as we desperately need to “thin” the herd.

That's a now disappeared facebook post from a Congressional candidate in California.

[CrimsonWeltall]

What happens when you try really hard to be partisan? You end up supporting slavery... even though you're black:

 

Michael Steele Inadvertently Supports Constitutions 3/5 Compromise

 

 

OOPS!!

 

IMO: The constitutional IS by nature defective or flawed. It's written by humans. It was designed to be a living and breathing document that can be changed over time... hence the whole amendments thing.

 

 

Comment from Ed Brayton's blog:

 

"I wonder what fraction of Michael Steele would like to revert to the original constitution." - Taz

 

 

[Balta1701]

I guess I'll be the one to post it, just padding my post count. Someone was gonna post it eventually. It's a legitimate campaign ad from Alabama.

 

 

Yes, we live in that country.

[StrangeSox]

I guess I'll be the one to post it, just padding my post count. Someone was gonna post it eventually. It's a legitimate campaign ad from Alabama.

 

 

Yes, we live in that country.

 

Byrne's response:

 

“As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God. As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books. Those who attack me have distorted, twisted and misrepresented my comments and are spewing utter lies to the people of this state.”

 

:facepalm:

[bigklita]

Byrne's response:

 

 

 

:facepalm:

 

First of all the commercial is wrong, the theory of evolution does not deal with the origins of life, it deals with what happened after life already was on the earth. Secondly, his response is more idiotic than the commercial, creationism (or intelligent design for that matter) can not be taught in any form in US public schools don't these politicians know court rulings. These are the things that upset me both as a biology major and as a Christian.

[StrangeSox]

Them court rulins' is just fancy, librul actavist judges banning the Bible!

[bigklita]

Them court rulins' is just fancy, librul actavist judges banning the Bible!

 

The funny thing is Kitzmiller v. Dover, which ruled intelligent design was not allowed, was ruled on by a republican, John E. Jones, who was a Bush appointee recommended by Rick Santorum.

[Balta1701]

The funny thing is Kitzmiller v. Dover, which ruled intelligent design was not allowed, was ruled on by a republican, John E. Jones, who was a Bush appointee recommended by Rick Santorum.

Bush is a socialist hippy. Kap told me so.

 

Conservatism can never fail. It can only be failed. Bush failed. Therefore, he must have been a socialist.

[bigklita]

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

 

I found this absolutely hilarious last night!

[HuskyCaucasian]

GOP Kills Science Jobs Bill By Forcing Dems To Vote For Porn

 

In an example of Republican obstructionism rendered beautiful by its simplicity, the GOP yesterday killed a House bill that would increase funding for scientific research and math and science education by forcing Democrats to vote in favor of federal employees viewing pornography.

 

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), the ranking member of the House science committee, introduced a motion to recommit, a last-ditch effort to change a bill by sending it back to the committee with mandatory instructions.

 

In this case, Republicans included a provision that would bar the federal government from paying the salaries of employees who've been disciplined for viewing pornography at work.

 

To proceed with the bill and bring it to a final vote, Democrats would have had to vote against the motion to recommit, and against the porn ban.

 

But they didn't have the stomach for it, and 121 Democrats jumped ship and voted with Republicans to kill the bill.

 

"For anyone that is concerned about federal employees watching pornography, they just saw a pornographic movie. It's called; 'Motion to Recommit,'" Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) said. "It was a cynical effort to undermine an important bill for my 9-year-old daughter, for your kids and your grandkids."

 

The bill had passed the committee last month with bipartisan support, in a vote of 29 to 8.

 

"If at any point during the 48 hearings we've held on this bill, the Minority brought up their concerns with isolated incidents of federal employees viewing pornography, or if they had made an amendment in order during any of the three Subcommittee markups, the Full Committee Markup, or the Floor Consideration, I would have been happy to vote for that amendment," Gordon said in a press release after the vote.

 

"We're all opposed to federal employees watching pornography. That is not a question; but that's not what this was about," he went on. "The Motion to Recommit was about gutting funding for our science agencies."

 

Democrats pulled the bill off the floor after the motion passed and promised to introduce it again next week.

 

The bill -- a re-authorization of the 2007 COMPETES Act -- has been supported by interests usually seen as aligned with Republicans, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

 

Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[bmags]

Porn is hiwawious

[mr_genius]

I guess I'll be the one to post it, just padding my post count. Someone was gonna post it eventually. It's a legitimate campaign ad from Alabama.

 

 

Yes, we live in that country.

 

haha. that ad is hilarious.

[Rex Kickass]

The Tea Party is calling for a repeal of the 17th Amendment. The amendment that allows you to vote for your Senator, instead of your state legislature.

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05...tes.php?ref=fpa

 

There are signs that tea party calls to repeal the 17th Amendment -- taking the selection of U.S. Senators out of the hands of voters and putting it in the hands of state governments -- are proving to be a bridge too far for Republican candidates desperate to steal some of the movement's mojo. In the past couple weeks, at least two mainstream Republican candidates have found themselves walking back from pledges to support repealing the amendment, suggesting there's a limit to how much support the tea parties can provide.

 

The "Repeal The 17th" movement is a vocal part of the overall tea party structure. Supporters of the plan say that ending the public vote for Senators would give the states more power to protect their own interests in Washington (and of course, give all of us "more liberty" in the process.) As their process of "vetting" candidates, some tea party groups have required candidates to weigh in on the idea of repeal in questionnaires. And that's where the trouble starts.

 

In Ohio, Steve Stivers -- the Republican attempting to unseat Democratic Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy in the state's 15th District -- came under fire from Democrats when it was revealed he had checked the box saying he would repeal the 17th Amendment on a tea party survey (see question 11 here).

 

Kilroy's campaign set up a website slamming Stivers for the stance, and attacked him in the press.

 

Stivers flip-flopped almost immediately, telling the Columbus Dispatch that despite the survey (and a January quote in The Hill), he didn't know what he was saying when he called for an end to Senators elected directly by the people they represent.

 

"I made a mistake," Stivers told the paper. "I answered that question wrong. It was not intentional."

[Balta1701]

The Tea Party is calling for a repeal of the 17th Amendment. The amendment that allows you to vote for your Senator, instead of your state legislature.

 

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05...tes.php?ref=fpa

With the way the Senate works now, where every vote is for sale, and Wall Street and a few other lobbies own a majority of Senators...I'm not sure it'd really be worse.

[Balta1701]

The WSJ laments all those minorities intruding onto the communities their writers want to retire into.

In old-money enclaves like Palm Beach, Fla., Nantucket, Mass., and Greenwich, Conn., WASPs are being priced out of their waterfront estates and displaced on their nonprofit boards by Jewish, Catholic and other non-Protestant entrepreneurs.

[StrangeSox]

That's not the message I got from that article.

[Balta1701]

There appears to have been a possible nuclear negotiations breakthrough regarding Iran overnight.