Wednesday Mashup (11/10/10)

I have only one word to say in response to the release of the “Catfood Commission” proposals here…

OMFG (I may have more to say later – and I’m sure it’s no accident that this “dropped” while Number 44 was far away from Washington).

Also, we learn the following from The Daily Tucker here…

ACORN executive Amy Adele Busefink has cut a deal with Nevada prosecutors in hopes of avoiding prison time for her role in a voter fraud-related conspiracy.

Voter fraud, also called electoral fraud, is a blanket term encompassing a host of election-related improprieties. In this case, Busefink entered an “Alford plea” which is roughly equivalent to “no contest.” The case involves a conspiracy to provide illegal financial bonuses to voter registration canvassers exceeding their daily quotas. Nevada law forbids the practice on the theory that such bonuses provide an incentive for canvassers to file bogus registrations.

By the way, it should be noted from here that Busefink was no longer employed with ACORN as of May 2009.

Also, name for me a single occasion in which an individual affiliated with ACORN falsified a ballot that ended up being counted in an election.

On the other hand, I give you the following from here, alleging that Texas teabaggers engaged in a campaign of voter intimidation; Fix Noise humanoid Megyn Kelly also failed to mention that the Department of Justice was looking into the allegations. Also, Republicans allegedly harassed elderly black voters in their homes, and Sen.-Elect Mark Kirk of Illinois planned to organize “voter integrity squads” for African American neighborhoods for the 2010 election.

Closer to home, the Bucks County Courier Times has basically “disappeared” any mention of the “Self” Ciervo-Mike Fitzpatrick voter fraud letter, which is in keeping with a tradition in our fair county of trying to disenfranchise voters, to wit…

In 2008, the Bucks County Board of Election relocated a minority serving polling location, a move that led to a lawsuit from concerned voters. [Philadelphia Inquirer, September 28, 2008]

Across the state, Pennsylvania Republicans have engaged in widespread efforts to intimidate and disenfranchise voters. In 2004, Republicans tried to relocate 63 Philadelphia polling places, mostly in Democratic and minority serving areas. [Philadelphia Daily News, October 18, 2004]

In 2004, Republicans tried to challenge tens of thousands of voters in Philadelphia, a desperate move that was condemned by a legal counsel to the Republican City Committee who said Republicans were being "chicken littles." [Philadelphia Inquirer, October 25, 2004]

In 2008, Republicans attempted to institute a "dress code" for voters. Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason worried that voters could wear "musical hats" to the polls. This move was clearly targeted at intimidating voters. [AP, October 5, 2008]

But look there – ACORN!

Next, Charles Babington of the AP is just oh so happy to tell us about the Dem “division” caused by the decision of Nancy Pelosi to run for Minority Leader here in this recent column (wonder if The Orange One garnered this much publicity when he did the same thing awhile back?)…

Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said he was "disappointed that Speaker Pelosi is going to seek the position of Minority Leader." North Carolina Rep. Larry Kissell's office said he hopes Pelosi "will change her mind and step aside."

Reps. Dan Boren of Oklahoma and Mike Ross of Arkansas also said they opposed Pelosi.

Oh, speaking of Ross and Boren, did you know that they were two of four Democrats who actually benefited from spending by the “U.S.” Chamber of Commerce in the last election, as noted here (also including Jim Matheson and John Barrow)?

And as for “Democrat” Boren, he once claimed here that he couldn’t support Barack Obama for president because he was “too liberal,” he opposed a provision in an Iraq supplemental appropriation to try and keep Dubya from launching a pre-emptive attack on Iran here, and of course he supported the tax cuts of Commander Codpiece here.

Pelosi said she wore the scorn of the Repugs as a badge of honor, or words to that effect. She should treat the cowardice of these four insects the same way.

Update 11/12/10: And I'm sure Matheson will follow suit shortly also (here).

Finally, I give you the following from Repug U.S. House Rep Fred Upton here…

As you know, your health care bill passed with zero Republican support. Never in modern American history has such a landmark piece of legislation — which affects nearly every man, woman and child — passed with no votes from the minority party.

This tells us that the stimulus passed without the vote of a single Repug U.S. House rep, and the 1993 budget from President Clinton that subsequently brought us about eight years of prosperity passed with the same Repug non-support (and by the way, since he opposes HCR, he should read this and find out that about 50 million people in this country did not have health insurance last year – aside from Upton’s “free market” pabulum, any other ideas that are actually serious?)

Continuing…

Though we agree that our current system is broken, the “Affordable Care Act” merely compounds existing problems and creates a slew of new ones. The law not only sets a frightening precedent by federally forcing individuals to purchase a private product, it mandates that these products have certain level of benefits, increasing costs.

Upton is talking about the mandate to purchase coverage, which the Repugs actually supported back when they were sane (here, led by a certain Willard Mitt Romney, the architect – no matter how much he’s running away from that now – of Massachusetts’ coverage)…

Continuing…

Most alarmingly, the bill allows federal funds to go toward abortion services for the first time ever, which goes against the strong pro-life values that many American taxpayers, including myself, hold dear.

As noted here...

The (amendment sponsored by Dem U.S. House Rep Lois Capps) does contain a statement...that prohibits the use of public money to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. That would still allow the public plan to cover all abortions, so long as the plans took in enough private money in the form of premiums paid by individuals or their employers. The Capps language also would allow private plans purchased with federal subsidies ("affordability credits" for low-income families and workers) to cover abortion.

And as Rachel Maddow, among others, has noted, women seeking abortion coverage have to elect that apart from their regular coverage, forcing them to pay out of pocket for a medical service (which abortion is in the final analysis, as any reasonable person would recognize) that they may never need (conversely, I wonder how loud the howls of outrage would be if men had to pay an additional premium and “elect” coverage for Cialis or Viagra).

And on the question of HCR paying for abortions (which it doesn’t through government funds, but only through subscriber premiums and credits, as noted above), I’m still waiting for the outcry from Repugs on the matter of “health savings accounts” used to pay for abortion coverage (cue the sound of crickets).

Oh, and just for good measure, I should add that Upton opposes Net Neutrality (here), having received over $135,000 in campaign contributions from the telcos, and has said that “we do need hearings” here, having questioned the science of man-made global warming and thus calling for Congressional hearings to investigate climate scientists (did I mention that Upton may end up in charge of the House Energy Committee, assuming he beats out “Smokey Joe” Barton?).

The good news is that I should have tons of posting material after these clowns take over the House in January (assuming I can keep this thing going…we’ll see).

The bad news is that, by the time they’re done, we could be a banana republic in more than name only (here).