Balta1701 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Henry Waxman just rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 18, 2008 -> 06:42 PM) A good portion of his blog posts are comical in nature. Like this gem: Pulse-Pounding Action! Country Bear Fred Thompson is getting his own radio show on Westwood One. Two hours of slow-spoken murmuring interspersed with Tourette's-like . Exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 This reminded me of this: LINK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 History says that the last time these people were in office and they wanted to pardon a bunch of their criminal buddies so that they could return 8 years later and run this country further in to the ground, they did so on December 24th. Just something to watch as we come through the media shutdown period that starts tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 02:36 PM) History says that the last time these people were in office and they wanted to pardon a bunch of their criminal buddies so that they could return 8 years later and run this country further in to the ground, they did so on December 24th. Just something to watch as we come through the media shutdown period that starts tomorrow. cnn.com's breaking news band says this right now: President Bush grants 19 pardons; Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby is not among them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 23, 2008 -> 12:38 PM) cnn.com's breaking news band says this right now: These are somewhat the normal ones. The big ones would be anyone who might have been employed by the CIA or the Army or the DOD (i.e. the people who ran the torture program), anyone who ran the NSA program, Libby, Stevens, or any of the folks involved in the various bribery scandals surrounding Stevens, Cunningham, and Abramoff. Those would be the ones I'd expect to see tomorrow night or on a day like that if they're going to do them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 A slideshow of other shirtless presidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Speaking of pardons...we're going to spend a chunk of late January hearing again about the Mark Rich pardon as a way of going after the President's choice for Attorney General. With that in mind, I'm at least going to use our wonderful Dem only thread to point out this friendly guy who was one of Mr. Bush's pardons yesterday. President Bush pardoned a Brooklyn real estate developer accused of scamming hundreds of poor, minority homebuyers - and whose father donated $28,500 to the Republican Party this year. Bush pardoned Isaac Toussie, 36, two days before Christmas in a gesture of mercy that outraged ex-customers who said they were duped into buying overpriced, defective homes. "We're in the middle of a mortgage crisis [and] this is somebody who was alleged to have participated in predatory lending practices," said Peter Seidman, a lawyer who represents 460 people who say they were fleeced. "To pardon Isaac Toussie is a kick in the teeth to homeowners struggling with mortgages they can't afford." Neither the White House nor the Justice Department would say why Toussie deserved the pardon, which clears his record of convictions in a 2003 guilty plea for mail fraud and lying to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Toussie admitted falsifying finances of prospective homebuyers seeking HUD mortgages. His sentence was a "relatively mild" five months in prison and five months house arrest, a $10,000 fine and no restitution, one U.S. official said. Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration does not discuss individual pardons. Toussie's lawyer, Henry Mazurek, also declined to comment. Federal Election Commission records show Toussie's father, Robert, made his first political donation last April - $28,500 to the Republican National Committee. On Aug. 7, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ronald Rodgers received Isaac Toussie's pardon petition, a Justice spokeswoman said. So, to summarize, guy commits housing related fraud in the middle of a housing debacle. Guy's family makes large donation to the RNC, their first donation ever. A few months later, guy is pardoned by the President. I'm sure this is of course less corrupt than the Rich pardon, because you know, when Bush does it, it's always different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Wow. 8 years and they still haven't figured out how to do the most basic things. President George W. Bush on Wednesday took the extraordinary step of reversing a pardon issued the day before to Isaac Robert Toussie, the Brooklyn developer convicted of a large-scale Suffolk real estate scam, the White House said. Victims of the scam and Suffolk elected officials rejoiced at the revocation of the pardon, which the White House said was made Tuesday without the usual Justice Department review. Bush reversed the pardon after learning more about the nature of Toussie's crimes and political contributions to the Republican Party this year by Toussie's father, Robert Toussie, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Beverly Sanchez, 42, one of hundreds of minority homebuyers who said they were fleeced by Toussie, expressed delight Wednesday. "There is a Santa Claus after all," said Beverly Sanchez, 42, who bought a Toussie property in Gordon Heights that is low-lying and has suffered flooding and mold because of subpar construction. "I couldn't have wished for a better present." Brookhaven Supervisor Brian X. Foley faulted the White House for failing to be "in full command of the facts before executing" the pardon. "None of this should have been a surprise to them before issuing the pardon," Foley said. Of course, there's another issue. They may wellnot be able to reverse their decision after granting it. Once a pardon is granted it can't be revoked, the issue is how far they got along in processing the documents. We'll wait for some more constitutional interpretation in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 24, 2008 -> 11:58 PM) Wow. 8 years and they still haven't figured out how to do the most basic things. Of course, there's another issue. They may wellnot be able to reverse their decision after granting it. Once a pardon is granted it can't be revoked, the issue is how far they got along in processing the documents. We'll wait for some more constitutional interpretation in a few days. This is truly a mess. Someone obviously handed Bush a list of recommended pardons, he rubber stamped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Alberto Gonzalez doesn't understand why everyone thinks he did something wrong. "What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" he said during an interview Tuesday, offering his most extensive comments since leaving government. During a lunch meeting two blocks from the White House, where he served under his longtime friend, President George W. Bush, Mr. Gonzales said that "for some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror." He takes shots at pretty much everyone who might have said anything negative about him in that piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 03:15 PM) Alberto Gonzalez doesn't understand why everyone thinks he did something wrong. He takes shots at pretty much everyone who might have said anything negative about him in that piece. In an inner circle full of awful picks, he may have been the worst. He truly is terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2008 -> 04:15 PM) Alberto Gonzalez doesn't understand why everyone thinks he did something wrong. He takes shots at pretty much everyone who might have said anything negative about him in that piece. lol, he damn near answers his own question. Moron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LET’S HOPE THE MAGIC NEGRO DOES A GOOD JOB. LOVE JEN AND JOHN C.New year's greetings from your totally non-racist friends at one of the major cable news networks. Go ahead, guess which one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Eh that's not really racist in the way it was said. Stupid, but not racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Time to set the DVR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/...n_b_154980.html I just laughed out loud at this. Further proof that George W. Bush lives in an alternate reality. Granted, Obama is owned just as completely by the Israeli lobby (god do I hate that about American politics), but the irony in Bush's statement is hilarious and I bet he doesn't even realize it. Sadly his administration has been riddled with those kinds of contradictions for virtually the whole presidency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Italy did for retirement financing what President George W. Bush couldn’t do in the U.S.: It privatized part of its social security system. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The global market meltdown has created losses for those who agreed to shift their contributions from a government severance payment plan to private funds meant to yield higher returns. Anger is rising both at the state, which promoted the change, and money managers such as UniCredit SpA and Arca Previdenza, which stood to profit. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s administration is now considering ways to compensate as many as 1.2 million people who made the switch, giving up a fixed return for private plans linked to financial markets. It’s also letting people delay redemptions on retirement funds to avoid losses after Italy’s benchmark stock index fell 50 percent in 2008, destroying 300 billion euros ($423 billion) in wealth. “The reform didn’t help anyone,” said Gabriele Fava, who heads the Fava & Associati law firm in Milan and writes about labor law. “Not the government, which was hoping everyone would make the switch to take the strain off its coffers, nor the workers who have not resolved the problem of needing a supplement to their social security pensions.” ... Gaetano Turchetta, a Rome office manager, made the irreversible move to a private plan after a union representative boasted of the potential for 20 percent annual returns. The 43- year-old father of three now says he would sign with “two hands and two feet” if he could switch back. “What do I want from the government?” he said. “Just not to become a burden on my kids.” Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 QUOTE (lostfan @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 12:08 PM) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kelly/...n_b_154980.html I just laughed out loud at this. Further proof that George W. Bush lives in an alternate reality. Granted, Obama is owned just as completely by the Israeli lobby (god do I hate that about American politics), but the irony in Bush's statement is hilarious and I bet he doesn't even realize it. Sadly his administration has been riddled with those kinds of contradictions for virtually the whole presidency. Jesus Christ. My keyboard is soaked from the irony dripping off that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 When Muhammad Saad Iqbal arrived home here in August after more than six years in American custody, including five at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, he had difficulty walking, his left ear was severely infected, and he was dependent on a cocktail of antibiotics and antidepressants. In November, a Pakistani surgeon operated on his ear, physical therapists were working on lower back problems and a psychiatrist was trying to wean him off the drugs he carried around in a white, plastic shopping bag. The maladies, said Mr. Iqbal, 31, a professional reader of the Koran, are the result of a gantlet of torture, imprisonment and interrogation for which his Washington lawyer plans to sue the United States government. Read whole thing, lots of details. For once, you can safely say this man has the scars to prove how well his captors treated him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I want to know how someone gets away with doing that since it's so BLATANTLY illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) We've heard and seen many news reports about how unpopular Congress is with the American people. And it is at an all time low, but what most TV analysts are refusing to point out is that it's the Republicans in Congress that are dragging down the approval rating. As a new Gallop poll shows us--Republicans in Congress Less Popular Than Bush: As Gallup showed last month, congressional Democrats are significantly more esteemed than Bush-- and significantly more esteemed than their Republican colleagues in Congress. According to the latest Gallup Poll, 67% of Americans disapprove of Bush, while 69% disapprove of Republicans in the House and Senate and only 55% disapprove of Democrats in the House and Senate. I've talked to some of our Blue America candidates and they told me that since '06, the Republicans did everything they could to block and obstruct the daily business of the Congress in hopes that America would have a bad opinion of the House and Senate and it would lead to them retaking or making big gains in '08 and 2010. The 25% approval rating for the Republicans in Congress establishes a new Gallup Poll low, surpassing the 26% measured about this time last year. Gallup first began asking about approval of the Congressional parties in 1999. Well, Americans aren't buying their me first---America second attitude and in the end if they obstruct Obama's agenda from the outset then they will only fall deeper into the dark hole they have dug for themselves and America. I'm hoping they do just that so it knocks out some of the bipartisan rhetoric Obama is using because they will not be willing players in the restoration of America and hand Obama a win. Never-going-to-happen. I think Obama will get his first stimulus package through with some grumblings from the Mitch McConnell wing and then it'll go downhill from there. As the Gallop poll points out for all to see: Nobody likes "Republicans." LINK Edited January 6, 2009 by BigSqwert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) Read whole thing, lots of details. For once, you can safely say this man has the scars to prove how well his captors treated him. Did the NYT really manage to misspell "gauntlet" as "gantlet"? Gantlet is a real word, but its about railroad ties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Last thing I've been keeping open to post... At a press conference in Washington today, President-elect Barack Obama repeatedly refused to answer questions about the size of his package, calling the subject “a personal matter.” Again and again, reporters attempted to get Mr. Obama to tell them exactly how big his package was, but the president-elect was steadfast in his refusal to quantify it. “If I tell you the size of my package, some of you will think that it sounds too small, “ he said. “And others will be uncomfortable with how big it is.” The president-elect seemed to indicate, however, that the size of his package may vary according to the circumstances. “Depending on what is going on, my package could grow significantly larger,” he said. “It all comes down to the amount of stimulus.” The president-elect apologized for his vagueness about his package, telling reporters, “I know you’re having a hard time getting your arms around it.” Mr. Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, later indicated that the president-elect does plan on unveiling his package for the American people, probably at his inauguration. “This will give the American people an opportunity to finally grasp his package,” Mr. Emanuel said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) Last thing I've been keeping open to post... wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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