Tag Archives: party

Poll: 71 Percent Of Americans Still Blame Bush For The Current Economic Woes

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In recent weeks, former White House adviser Karl Rove has been strongly advising President Obama to not blame President Bush for the current economic troubles, writing in his Wall Street Journal column, “it won’t work.” “For Mr. Obama and his party, all the escape hatches are shutting at the same time. Blaming Bush and harping on the GOP’s driving abilities is not a good strategy,” Rove continued. While the sincerity of any piece of counsel Rove offers to his political rivals should be suspect, especially when that prescription would help rehabilitate his own image, Rove’s latest bit of unsolicited advice also appears to be wrong. According to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll, over two-thirds of Americans still blame Bush for the economy’s woes: The 71% saying Bush should get blamed was a modest decline from the 80% who felt that way about a year ago, in July 2009. In the July 2009 poll, a third, 32%, said [Obama] should shoulder a great deal or moderate amount of the blame. That percentage has risen — no surprise, given that he’s been in office for 20 months. Now almost half, 48%, do. But 51% say he’s dealing with problems he inherited, not created, saying he deserves not much or none of the responsibility for economic problems that include high unemployment and a faltering housing market. There was, predictably, a yawning partisan divide on the question. Republicans by 4-1, 44, were more likely to give Obama a great deal of the blame than Bush. Democrats by more than 20-1 targeted Bush: They said the former president bore a great deal of the blame; just 3% said that of the current one. Indeed, as much as Bush advisers try to resurrect the legacy of their former boss, other polls have shown Americans really don’t miss Bush, while a recent survey of 238 presidential scholars rated Bush as the worst president of the modern era and among the bottom five of all time. added by: toyotabedzrock

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WaPo’s Givhan: Americans in Their Sloppy Vacation Wear Should Learn from Chic Mrs. Obama

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Washington Post fashion reporter Robin Givhan, best known to many as Michelle Obama’s worshipful accessory to fashion, lectured Sunday to the dumpy masses of America. As most U.S. citizens have “blighted” the landscape in horrid summer clothes, they should really honor the First Lady for knowing how to dress on vacation — even if Mrs. Obama is wearing a French-designer top that most likely cost upwards of $500 as she took taxpayers for a ride with a fancy Spanish vacation. There is no populism in the fashionista world. The headline on E6 in the Sunday Post read “Tourists, take some tips from an always photo-ready first lady: Don’t be slobs”. And so the lecture began: First lady Michelle Obama returned to the White House last week after spending her summer vacation walking the fine fashion line between comfortably casual and utterly camera-ready. Her travel attire served as a wake-up call to all those American tourists who have blighted the national landscape with their ill-fitting shorts, sad-sack T-shirts and aggressively revealing tank tops: You can do better. More than her cocktail dresses, evening gowns and the rest of her official wardrobe, which all draw boisterous analysis, Obama’s vacation clothes are positioned to have the most widespread impact. Please, let it be so . In a society where public attire has grown increasingly pajama-fied, the first lady offered proof that informal doesn’t mean sloppy and pulled-together doesn’t have to be stuffy. As usual, Givhan found Michelle struck a perfect balance, classy without being snobbishly elite: Through her vacation apparel, with its mix of Banana Republic and Narciso Rodriguez , Obama threw down the gauntlet, providing folks with a high-profile lesson on how to be a well-dressed tourist who does not cause the locals to flinch in dismay. Yet she still managed to convey a middle-of-the-road Americanness. She represented the populace in a manner that was approachable but savvy. In the most prominent photograph from her trip to Spain, she was wearing a black and white one-shoulder top by designer Jean Paul Gaultier . Certainly, Gaultier doesn’t come cheap, but the blouse wasn’t ostentatious and, paired with black trousers, it was a fine example of how to be bare without baring all. Notice that Givhan doesn’t labor to give us a specific price for the French top on the pricey Spanish trip, or compare that to the aura of failure left by a 9.6 unemployment rate and a failed Obama “stimulus” spending binge. Instead, in full worship mode, Givhan found that Mrs. Obama is a real-life fantasy for fashionistas who can’t stand the awful casual clothes choices of the lumpenproletariat: Obama also tapped into a fantasy that the fashion industry has been desperately selling for years. Designers have long imagined a world in which women and men are thoughtfully polished and even chic as they go about their daily activities. Stylists constantly counsel clients to keep aesthetics in mind, as well as comfort, when they choose their weekend wear. In fashion-land, no one ever wears skimpy jogging shorts when they bike; they wear charming clam diggers. They don’t wear lumpy basketball shoes, instead they choose laceless, retro sneakers. The images of Obama cycling along the paths of Martha’s Vineyard called these fantasies to mind. She proved that they can be made real. She reassured designers that no, they are not off their rocker. American vacation sloppiness is not inevitable; it’s willful. Givhan at least had to admit that she was at the front of the line attacking Mrs. Obama’s choice last summer to wear one of those awful, sloppy summer outfits as she disembarked a plane to visit the Grand Canyon. Apparently, this is Givhan’s way of letting the reader know that Mrs. Obama is paying attention to her critiques. Does Givhan thinks she’s doing Obama or the Democrats any favors with this kind of lecturing to Middle America? Get with it, and get out of your ghastly J.C. Penney togs! Get thee to Bergdorf Goodman! But Givhan she concluded the whole piece with another lecture, about how gauche Americans traveling abroad send all the wrong fashion signals: [W]hen regular folks travel abroad, they represent both themselves and the collective American identity. Must we continue to be perceived as the most poorly dressed of all tourists? And for those who remain in the States during the final long weekend of the summer, as you visit national parks and local beaches, remember: We are all part of the landscape. We are part of the postcard image, the memory that’s tucked into a scrapbook. We should do our best not to mar this country’s natural beauty.

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WaPo’s Givhan: Americans in Their Sloppy Vacation Wear Should Learn from Chic Mrs. Obama

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AP’s Sidoti Laments Dems’ Prospects in Ohio, Is Convincing as HuffPo Zealot

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In a post at National Review Online’s Battle ’10 blog last night , Mytheos Holt commented on a report seen at the Huffington Post: HuffPo Panics about GOP Sweep of Ohio Looks like the Huffington Post is buying into the “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation” meme this election cycle, based on a story out today. The HuffPo item is by Liz Sidoti. But Sidoti is a national politics writer for the Associated Press, and what Holt really read was what AP would like us to believe is a supposedly “objective” analysis of the electoral situation in Ohio right off the wire. Word for word, the item at HuffPo is the same dispatch as found  at the AP’s main site . The only clue as to its origin, which Holt missed (and it’s easy to see how), is the teeny-tiny AP logo where Sidoti’s byline appears. In other words, Sidoti’s stridency and Democrat-sympathetic viewpoint are so obvious that she passes the HuffPo zealotry test. Here are some examples of how Sidoti “successfully” came off as a  budding HuffPo pundit: Dems’ prospects threatened by economic woes Frustrated, discouraged and just plain mad , a lot of people who have lost jobs – or know someone who has – now want to see the names of Democrats on pink slips. And that’s jeopardizing the party’s chances in Ohio and all across the country in November’s elections. In this big swing-voting state alone, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is in a dogfight for re-election. Senate candidate Lee Fisher may be even worse off. As many as six House Democrats could lose their jobs this fall. Recession-fueled animosity is dominating every race, giving Republicans hope of huge victories. … In Ohio, like almost everywhere else, voters don’t much care for Washington, Wall Street or anything resembling the establishment. They grouse about every politician, including President Barack Obama, whom Ohioans played a critical role in electing. They fume over the nation’s teetering finances. … Republicans are hoping to capitalize on voters’ economic disillusionment, frustration with Obama and tea party-generated enthusiasm. Democrats are relying on a financial advantage, a robust get-out-the-vote operation and, mostly, the ghost of George W. Bush to curb an expected Nov. 2 shellacking. … at Suzzie’s Beechwold Diner, Steve Reither epitomizes the Democrats’ other big challenge: a fired-up electorate tilting toward the GOP. A Republican-turned-independent, Reither is sick of both parties and says: “They all talk about change and nothing changes.” But he saves his harshest words for Obama, whom he calls a socialist and a liar. This year, he says he’ll probably vote largely with the GOP in November – “I’ll hold my nose” – simply to fire Democrats. “This administration and his cronies are running this country into the ground,” Reither, 55, says as he finishes his breakfast. The owner of a small auto restoration business, he says he’s been struggling for the past two years, and he blames Obama’s policies that “hurt the little guy.” Democrats at all levels are sounding a populist tone, casting their races as helping voters on Main Street vs. Republican policies intended to help Wall Street. Republicans, in turn, argue that Democrats – led by Obama – are making a tough economic situation worse with a free-spending, big-government agenda. Of course Sidoti’s work looks like HuffPo punditry, as it’s all from the Democrats’ “woe is us, these terrible things are happening” perspective. Republicans are seen as the unworthies upsetting the apple cart. And voters? Well, they’re just “mad” and full of “animosity.” It’s quite instructive to see how an AP report is correctly interpreted as left-leaning output. And sad to say, Liz Sidoti isn’t anywhere near the wire service’s worst offender. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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Monica Crowley Smacks Down Eleanor Clift Over Racism in the Tea Party

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Conservative radio host Monica Crowley on Friday smacked down Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift over racism in the Tea Party. In the second segment of “The McLaughlin Group,” the host addressed July’s controversial resolution by the NAACP condemning so-called racist elements within the Tea Party. Liberals Clift and Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune predictably supported the NAACP while bashing the conservative organization. Crowley with the support of Pat Buchanan defended the Tea Party while calling the NAACP irrelevant. With McLaughlin surprisingly taking Crowley and Buchanan’s side, sparks flew in an oftentimes heated discussion (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):  MONICA CROWLEY: Look, the Tea Party has an issue with the content of Obama’s policies, not the color of his skin, and I find it amazing that the NAACP would waste its time on nonexistent racism in the Tea Party when there are so many problems that still plague the black community like black on black violence, like fatherlessness, like education and drugs and guns in the inner cities. And so it seems to me to be a straw man that the NAACP set up because they are less willing to really confront all of those vexing problems in the black community. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, HOST: Exit question. CLARENCE PAGE: I think they are confronting them, but they don’t get the publicity until they attack the Tea Party. But believe me, they are dealing with those problems. ELEANOR CLIFT: Let’s have you do a radio show on what they’re doing on all those other issues. CROWLEY: And I have, Eleanor, I have. But you clearly don’t listen to it. After McLaughlin asked what kind of damage has the NAACP’s resolution done to race relations in this country, the sparks really flew: CLIFT: The NAACP is not hurting race relations. We have a very active faction on the right using racial issues as a wedge to try to defeat Democrats and a black president and I think that is where… CROWLEY: Oh boy. CLIFT: You’re gonna say that’s not true? CROWLEY: Well, I’m saying that you are making our point that when the left goes out there and stokes these kinds of racial issues when they don’t exist, what happens is it dilutes real racism and that’s the danger. CLIFT: Oh, so this is called stoking? CROWLEY: Yes. After some crosstalk, Page pressed the issue: PAGE: Well, I was just going to say, these are, these are kind of a smokescreen, they’re kind of totems. The NAACP is as important to the base of the Democratic Party as the Tea Party is to the base of the Republican Party and so that so never the twain shall meet. But, for you to say racism is not a problem anymore, that’s exactly the kind of thing… CROWLEY: No, that’s not what I said. I said nonexistent racism in the Tea Party. I didn’t say racism doesn’t exist in America. PAGE: Nonexistent racism in the Tea Party. That’s the same thing. From the vantage point of African-Americans and most liberals, they would say, “No way.” And that’s the real problem, Clarence. This comes from the vantage point of African-Americans and most liberals despite  lacking evidence to support that position:  CROWLEY: That’s not what I said. Let’s be clear. MCLAUGHLIN: Can we restore order here? CROWLEY: My point was that when we start slapping on the racist label, whether it’s on the right or the left, we end up diluting real racism. MCLAUGHLIN: President Obama said he was introducing a post-racial America. Do you think this action by the NAACP… PAGE: When did he say that, John? MCLAUGHLIN: …has torpedoed that? PAGE: When did he ever say that? MCLAUGHLIN: In his speech, in his speech on race. PAGE: No, no, he was introducing a post-racial America. CLIFT: The media announced that. PAGE: The media said that. MCLAUGHLIN: On the basis of his speech. That’s correct! Whether Obama specifically said that in his March 2008 speech in Philadelphia is somewhat irrelevant if that’s the way media reported it at the time:   PAGE: No, this is important, John, because Barack Obama… MCLAUGHLIN: You mean he doesn’t stand for a post-racial America? PAGE: Throughout Barack Obama’s campaign, I defy you to find me where he ever said it. No, he only talked about race when he had to, and that was after Reverend Wright.  MCLAUGHLIN: Well, he gave a 35, 45-minute speech on race, remember that? PAGE: Yes he did, he never said anything about a post-racial society. MCLAUGHLIN: I think he said it. PAGE: Go back to that speech and find me the bite. MCLAUGHLIN: Does he in the mind of Americans stand for a post-racial America? The answer is yes. PAGE: That’s different. MCLAUGHLIN: The NAACP torpedoed it, yes or no? PAGE: They did not torpedo it, not at all. MCLAUGHLIN: I think they torpedoed it. PAGE: Americans still view Barack Obama basically as the embodiment of racial progress. He didn’t have to say it. BUCHANAN: John, you’re right. Stick to your guns, you are exactly right. It damaged the whole idea of a post-racial America for no reason whatsoever. PAGE: We’ll be post-racial when we’re post-racist. MCLAUGHLIN: How much damage, on a ten scale? Is it cataclysmic damage? BUCHANAN: I think the series of things that’s not only Rev. Wright, but it’s Sgt. Crowley and this and the Black Panther thing has severely damaged what everybody hoped would be a post-racial America. (CROSSTALK) CLIFT: When a political party stops using race as a wedge, not because that party is racist… BUCHANAN: You all don’t use race as a wedge? For heaven sakes. CROWLEY: Eleanor, come on! In the end, what happened on that set was the embodiment of the condition of race relations in this nation today, as Left and Right have a diametric view of the problem as well as the causes. Yet, maybe most telling was how both Clift and Page blamed the media for the perception that Obama was going to create a post-racial America. They, of course, were quite correct in their accusation, but neither chose to accept responsibility despite their shameless. I wonder why that is?

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Internet Petitions Stephen Colbert To Hold ‘Restoring Truthiness’ Rally At Lincoln Memorial

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

A grassroots campaign has begun to get Stephen Colbert to hold a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to counter Glenn Beck's recent “Restoring Honor” event. The would-be rally has been dubbed “Restoring Truthiness” and was inspired by a recent post on Reddit, where a young woman wondered if the only way to point out the absurdity of the Tea Party's rally would be if Colbert mirrored it with his own “Colbert Nation.” Now with its own website and Facebook group with over 8,000 members, the call for Colbert to hold a rally is spreading through the Internet like wildfire. Aside from being a satire of Beck's rally, the petition claims the rally is necessary because, “Recently our nation has suffered a truthiness drain.” The website gives a history of the newly founded movement, with links to news stories and a poster for the rally, which proposes the date “10/10/10.” The website also states: “Restoring Truthiness is a true grassroots movement propelled by YOU, the citizens of the internetz. Our goal is simple: Petition Stephen Colbert to hold a Restoring Truthiness Rally for the American people.” Given Colbert's love for his “Nation” and ability to satirize the Right so effectively, this almost seems like something Colbert would have thought of himself. While he is on vacation at the moment, it will be interesting to see if he addresses the petition when he returns to host “The Colbert Report” next week. Those interested in furthering the movement have been asked to join the Facebook group, spread the word, or email support@colbertrally.com for more information. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/03/restoring-truthiness-colbert-rally-beck… added by: pjacobs51

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Robert Reich: Stimulate Economy With 90% Tax On Top Earners

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Can you imagine what would happen to the economy if top wage earners were taxed at 70 to 90 percent? Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich can, and he thinks it’s a great idea. To be sure, many Americans were concerned that giving Democrats control of the executive and legislative branches of our government during an economic crisis could usher back in socialist tendencies first seen in this nation during the Depression. Fears of such a leftward shift sparked a new powerful movement called the Tea Party. With this in mind, Reich’s op-ed “How to End the Great Recession” published in Friday’s New York Times validates these concerns:  The rich spend a much smaller proportion of their incomes than the rest of us. So when they get a disproportionate share of total income, the economy is robbed of the demand it needs to keep growing and creating jobs. What’s more, the rich don’t necessarily invest their earnings and savings in the American economy; they send them anywhere around the globe where they’ll summon the highest returns – sometimes that’s here, but often it’s the Cayman Islands, China or elsewhere. The rich also put their money into assets most likely to attract other big investors (commodities, stocks, dot-coms or real estate), which can become wildly inflated as a result. Meanwhile, as the economy grows, the vast majority in the middle naturally want to live better. Their consequent spending fuels continued growth and creates enough jobs for almost everyone, at least for a time. But because this situation can’t be sustained, at some point – 1929 and 2008 offer ready examples – the bill comes due. And how does Reich see “us” paying that bill? If you said “higher and higher taxes,” give yourself a cigar: THE Great Depression and its aftermath demonstrate that there is only one way back to full recovery: through more widely shared prosperity. In the 1930s, the American economy was completely restructured. New Deal measures – Social Security, a 40-hour work week with time-and-a-half overtime, unemployment insurance, the right to form unions and bargain collectively, the minimum wage – leveled the playing field. In the decades after World War II, legislation like the G.I. Bill, a vast expansion of public higher education and civil rights and voting rights laws further reduced economic inequality. Much of this was paid for with a 70 percent to 90 percent marginal income tax on the highest incomes. And as America’s middle class shared more of the economy’s gains, it was able to buy more of the goods and services the economy could provide. The result: rapid growth and more jobs. 70 to 90 percent! He said it, didn’t he? 70 to 90 percent! But there’s more: What else could be done to raise wages and thereby spur the economy? We might consider, for example, extending the earned income tax credit all the way up through the middle class, and paying for it with a tax on carbon. Or exempting the first $20,000 of income from payroll taxes and paying for it with a payroll tax on incomes over $250,000. Yep. Let’s tax carbon and give the proceeds to lower and middle-income wage earners. There it is, folks. If you doubted the whole global warming scam was specifically designed to redistribute wealth, one of the left’s most-respected economic strategists just admitted it! But there’s still more: In the longer term, Americans must be better prepared to succeed in the global, high-tech economy. Early childhood education should be more widely available, paid for by a small 0.5 percent fee on all financial transactions. Public universities should be free; in return, graduates would then be required to pay back 10 percent of their first 10 years of full-time income. A 0.5 percent fee on all financial transactions! Does that mean if one buy’s stock or a house, the government gets a half of a percent? And another half when you sell? Does that include mutual funds, treasury bills, and money market accounts? And certificates of deposit? See where this could lead? Now just imagine if these socialists also get their way and a new valued added tax is implemented? At that point, any time you want to actually use your money, the government gets a slice kind of like a mafia kingpin or a union leader. And this is supposed to help the economy? But there’s still more: Another step: workers who lose their jobs and have to settle for positions that pay less could qualify for “earnings insurance” that would pay half the salary difference for two years; such a program would probably prove less expensive than extended unemployment benefits. Earnings insurance! Earnings insurance! As I hinted at the onset, this op-ed by Reich is a picture of the future if the Party in power and their media minions get their way.   Be afraid, America! Be very afraid!

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67% of NYC Residents Oppose Ground Zero Mosque According to NYT Poll

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

A new poll released by the New York Times Friday is sure to rock the liberal media’s world: “Two-thirds of New York City residents want a planned Muslim community center and mosque to be relocated to a less controversial site farther away from ground zero in Lower Manhattan.” Another finding likely to particularly upset the shills at MSNBC:  One-fifth of New Yorkers acknowledged animosity toward Muslims. Thirty-three percent said that compared with other American citizens, Muslims were more sympathetic to terrorists. And nearly 60 percent said people they know had negative feelings toward Muslims because of 9/11.   Here are more of the surprising details: Over all, 50 percent of those surveyed oppose building the project two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, even though a majority believe that the developers have the right to do so. Thirty-five percent favor it. The poll, however, reveals a more complicated portrait of the opposition in New York: 67 percent said that while Muslims had a right to construct the center near ground zero, they should find a different site. Most strikingly, 38 percent of those who expressed support for the plan to build it in Lower Manhattan said later in a follow-up question that they would prefer it be moved farther away, suggesting that even those who defend the plan question the wisdom of the location. And this is the point the mosque’s backers in the media – in particular the shills at MSNBC such as Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Ed Schultz – have missed: this issue isn’t about Constitutionality or rights.  Most people outside the liberal press are intelligent enough to understand that developers have the right to build this mosque if its zoning is approved. They just question the wisdom of doing so. If an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers can understand the difference between having the right to do something and whether or not it would be appropriate, why can’t media members? 

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David Brooks Writes Alternate History in Which Obama Cuts Taxes, Vetoes Big Spending Bills

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

This is a sad time to be David Brooks, the New York Times house conservative. The souring economy (along with other poor administration decisions) has caused a big drop in the popularity of his beloved Barack Obama with his party facing electoral disaster at the polls this November. So what to do? Why, engage in fantasy by writing an alternate history in which an all-wise Obama cuts taxes and vetoes big spending plans passed by the Democrat congress. Here is some of the comedy gold Brooks dreamed up in his alternate history universe: …He told his aides to put away the history books and reject the New Deal comparisons. Unlike in 1932, Americans today have a raging distrust of Washington, he observed. Living through a crisis caused by excessive debt, they will viscerally recoil at the prospect of federal debt without end. “Somehow,” Obama concluded, “we have to address the crisis without further terrifying the American people.” The stimulus package, he continued, should rely heavily on cutting payroll taxes. This, he argued, will send a quick jolt to the economy without concentrating power in Washington. It will deliver a sharp psychological boost to the middle class. It might even be bipartisan. Obama noted that John McCain had a $445 billion stimulus plan along these lines and his fellow Republican senator, Mel Martinez, a $713 billion plan. Yes, in this Brooksian alternate history the same Barack Obama who won’t even extend the Bush tax cuts will go completely against his proven character and cut taxes. And now more from the fantasy world whirling around inside of Brooks’ fervid imagination: In March, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill, stuffed with earmarks. Obama vetoed it. As for ObamaCare, it was put on the backburner by the politically savvy Obama in this alternate history: April brought the cruelest fight: whether to spend the rest of the year getting health care reform or a new energy policy. Obama decided to do energy first. The economy was uppermost on everybody’s mind. Americans were wondering where new innovations would come from, what new jobs would emerge.   Left out of this alternate history is Brooks’ real history of gullibly swallowing the economic excuses of this administration in early 2009. Here is how Brooks was wooed with his very own wall chart by Obama bigwigs back then after he very briefly objected to the policies back then: The White House has produced a chart showing nondefense discretionary spending as a share of G.D.P. That’s spending for education, welfare and all the stuff that Democrats love. Since 1985, this spending has hovered around 3.7 percent of G.D.P. This year, it’s about 4.6 percent. The White House claims that it is going to reduce this spending to 3.1 percent by 2019, lower than at any time in any recent Republican administration. I was invited to hang this chart on my wall and judge them by how well they meet these targets. (I have.) In my own alternate history, a skeptical David Brooks tells the Obama insiders: You expect me to buy into your absurd projections because they are on a chart? That’s really laughable so why don’t you take your chart and stick it where the moon don’t shine. Of course, that happened only in the alternate history. In real life, that chart could still be on David Brooks’ wall.

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B.o.B Is Living The Dream In ‘Magic’ Video — Watch It Here!

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Upstart VMA-nominee is joined by Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo at raging house party in new clip. By Jayson Rodriguez Rivers Cuomo and B.o.B Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ Getty Images You can’t blame B.o.B if he wanted to pinch himself. The VMA-nominated newcomer is riding an enormous wave via his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which has spawned three consecutive top 10 singles, “Nothin’ on You,” “Airplanes” and his latest, “Magic.” And for his “Magic” clip, the Atlanta rapper recruited director Sanaa Hamri (Jay-Z, Christina Aguilera) who put B.o.B in the middle of a raucous house party. But in the video, which premiered Thursday (September 2) at midnight on MTV.com, Bobby Ray can’t seem to believe his good fortune, As he and his “Magic” collaborator, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo , jam in the backyard, B.o.B mentally traces back to earlier in the day when the young rapper first wakes up. B.o.B tries to shake awake a sleeping version of himself but to no avail. The girls, the party, all the happenings do seem to be going on — and all for him. Partygoers run through the house and Bobby Ray snaps pictures with the girl of his dreams. But in an instant — as quick as he’s been clicking Polaroid pictures — the party is over and B.o.B awakens. Turns out he was dreaming. The sleep-eyed MC, however, takes a look around his bedroom and notices two photos on the ground: two snapshots of him and his leading lady. He’s got the magic, indeed. Last week, “Magic” landed on the Billboard Hot 100 at the #10 position. The track follows “Nothin’ on You,” which went to the top of the chart, and “Airplanes,” a top 5 hit. Also on Thursday, B.o.B opened for Eminem and Jay-Z during the superstar MCs’ Home and Home concert series in Detroit; he’s scheduled to open for the pair again on Friday (September 3), and later this month in New York. What do you think of B.o.B’s “Magic” video? Tell us in the comments! Related Videos Unplugged: B.o.B Related Artists B.o.B Rivers Cuomo

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B.o.B Is Living The Dream In ‘Magic’ Video — Watch It Here!

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Matthews to Dem Candidate: I Hope Your Party Gets Organized and Wins This Thing!

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

It’s no secret that Chris Matthews once flirted with the idea of  running for Senate in Pennsylvania , but since he didn’t throw his hat into that race, the Hardball host, on Thursday night, did everything he could to help Joe Sestak beat Republican Pat Toomey, as he urged: “I hope your party gets organized up there, because the Democratic Party of Ed Rendell and you and all those other guys ought to get together with Brady and win this thing!” And even before Matthews invited viewers to “Meet Joe Sestak” in an interview segment, the MSNBCer began cheerleading for him in a preview as he teased: “Up next, Joe Sestak from my home state of Pennsylvania, he’s fighting hard, the good fight against Pat Toomey, the Club for Growther of the far right.” The following exchanges were aired on the September 2 edition of Hardball: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Congressman Joe Sestak pulled off a big upset back in May when he beat Arlen Specter, he had been senator forever in Pennsylvania, in that primary. Sestak may need another upset come November. He faces a tough political climate up there. Pat Toomey, the Club for Growther of the far right is averaging a six-point gain on him right now in the latest pollsters average poll. Congressman Sestak joins right now us now. You know Pennsylvania, as you know, I’m talking to an expert, it’s a purple state. It’s somewhere in the middle. It’s a John Wayne state. It’s not a far right or far left state. How come Toomey is doing well when he’s on the far right side? What is going on? Isn’t he a [Rick] Santorum type? … MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about the support from the establishment up there. You beat the heck out of these people. You took the money people in big Philly. You took the machine, such as it was, on that day, it could be more interested, I think, on general election day and you beat the heck out of them. You pulled the biggest upset. Are those guys still mad at you for beating, the underdog, for beating their guy Specter? JOE SESTAK: I’m told they’re all gonna be there. A lot of them are gone for pre-Labor Day. And they’re gonna be there right after Labor Day. Look, I’m not going to depend upon that. You know we raised close to $2 million in four weeks, right after the election. We’re out there working every day. But more than that, I am going to help leverage those centers of excellence. I also have over 25 offices open, 25,000 phone calls a day since 1 January. We’re gonna build a warfare coalition just like those 30 ships I had when I was a Navy admiral, doing the retaliatory strikes off Afghanistan, working together. But I also want you to know this Chris. I’m also focused on moderate Republicans and independents. I think when they find how extreme Congressman Toomey is, I mean if you liked Rick Santorum, you’re gonna love Pat Toomey. MATTHEWS: How is he extreme? Give me some examples! I know I asked about the steel industry a while ago and he said basically he’s a free marketer, “Let it rot! Don’t do anything. The government has no responsibility to save industries that are in trouble.” What’s your view and what’s wrong with his? SESTAK: Well let me tell you, in his book he calls it “creative destruction.” It’s okay that we have China subsidizing their exports because it’ll have creative destruction in America where people will be unemployed, but they’ll find a job somewhere else. You know zero, zero taxes for corporations where you don’t have to pay for it. Look when he was in Hong Kong, working for a Hong Kong billionaire, he actually worked on those currency swaps that helped China keep down over the years those, the, the value of, of the, the wan. And so we have, as someone who believes “benefit big business, benefit Wall Street and wealth might trickle down.” Look he actually believed, when he was on the Small Business committee, he slashed in half the small business budget. He voted against studies for women to find out why are they’re only getting two percent of all federal contracts supposed to go to small businesses? He just voted against that. Time after time, whether its education. Here’s Philadelphia, you talk about a challenge in Philadelphia? Only about 28 percent of African-American males are graduating from high school there. And Chris it’s only 33 percent of whites. And so I’m on the Education committee. This is about the common good. And he helped slash the education budget by $3 billion and voted against Pell Grants. He, what he did when he was president and this is the worst, I think. When he was president of Club for Growth — and I like Pat, I’ve had a beer with him — but when he was president of Club for Growth which John McCain called “a grab bag for the ultra rich,”when he was president he actually had as his principle mission purging the Republican Party of moderates and went after Senator Lincoln Chafee and others. MATTHEWS: I know. SESTAK: In my mind we don’t need an ideology, we need someone who is willing to work. MATTHEWS: Is he a right winger? Is he a right winger? Is he a right winger? SESTAK: He, he’s farther from the right wing. Yes he’s much, he’s extreme. Look… MATTHEWS: Okay let me ask you, let’s talk, let’s talk turkey, Admiral, Congressman. I mean you deserve both titles. You’ve earned them. Let me ask you this. Are you gonna get Bill Clinton in there? It seems to me that if you look at Southwestern Pennsylvania, if you look at anywhere in that state, among the African-American community, which has been hammered with unemployment. They, if they had the jobs that the Irish guys had, in the neighborhoods I grew up in today, they’d be unbelievably middle class. They’d be in such a great shape. Those jobs are gone, those steel jobs. Let me ask you. Are you gonna bring Bill Clinton in there? Because, it seems to me, he would be even better than the President, to help you in Pennsylvania? SESTAK: Yes. Yeah he’s already come in for Scranton. Great rally. Unfortunately I was down in Washington for the good business of voting for that EFNEP bill that Congressman Toomey opposed and would have had 12,000 Pennsylvanians… MATTHEWS: Well you gonna bring him back? SESTAK: …if we hadn’t passed it. Absolutely. Actually I was talking with them the other day and they just wanted to know what days. They tell me I’m their top priority and I’m gonna keep working on that. So, I hope to see him out there a lot. MATTHEWS: Well I hope your party, I hope your party gets organized up there, because the Democratic Party of Ed Rendell and you and all those other guys ought to get together with Brady and win this thing! Anyway, thank you Congressman Joe Sestak, running for Pennsylvania senator.

Excerpt from:
Matthews to Dem Candidate: I Hope Your Party Gets Organized and Wins This Thing!

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