Upper Left

Latest Republican Immigration Bill “Almost too Absurd to Take Seriously”

Labels: Fail, Immigration, Republicans

What’s the point of being speaker if you’re not truly in charge of the House?

Labels: Fail, John Boehner, Leadership

Do you really think that you could have Anti-Government Republicans in charge for 30 plus years and actively working to destroy the infrastructure of government without causing system failures?

Labels: Fail, Good Question, Republicans, Since You Asked

...her book tour kicks off in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the 66th largest MSA in the country. She'll tour reliable GOP hotspots like Noblesville, Indiana and Washington, Pennsylvania. Apart from media visits to New York and Chicago, the largest city on her itinerary is Cincinnati though she will stop by in Bloomington, Minnesota which is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA, the 16th largest MSA in the country. Two military bases are on the route, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Hood which was added after the shootings that left 13 dead and 31 wounded. And she'll revisit some of her more memorable rally spots from the campaign like Orlando, Colorado Springs and Albuquerque.

Labels: Book Tour, Fail, Sarah Palin

When U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner told a newscaster Sunday that not a single stimulus-funded road contract in his home state of Ohio had been let, he was wrong.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has OK'd 52 stimulus-funded road and bridge projects at a cost of nearly $84 million.... An ODOT spokesman called Boehner's statement "disappointing."

And Scott Varner noted that ODOT had just OK'd six more stimulus road projects which will cost about $43 million.

Labels: Ecomomic Stimulus, Fail, John Boehner, Ohio, Public Works, Transportation

Labels: Fail, Fraud, Sarah Palin

So Bobby Jindal makes fun of "volcano monitoring", and soon afterwards Mt. Redoubt erupts. Susan Collins makes sure that funds for pandemic protection are stripped from the stimulus bill, and the swine quickly attack. What else did the right oppose recently? I just want enough information to take cover.

Labels: Bobby JIndal, Fail, Paul Krugman, Republicans, Susan Collins

"It is near-extinct in many ways in the Northeast, it is extinct in many ways on the West Coast, and it is endangered in the Mountain West, increasingly endangered in the Southwest... and if you look at the state of the party, it is a shrinking entity."

Labels: Fail, Republicans, Steve Schmidt

Republicans are not relevant.

Labels: Ed Rollins, Fail, Republicans

Republicans once called themselves the party of Lincoln. Then they began to use opposition to Civil Rights as a staple of their “southern strategy”. They once described themselves as defenders of freedom. Then they started supporting wiretapping and the suspension of habeas corpus rights. They once called themselves pro-business. Now they laugh at American companies that face bankruptcy.

What’s left, other than hatefulness and the occasional reference to Edmund Burke?

Labels: Fail, Republicans, Since You Asked

"Could we possibly act more inadequate to the challenge? More futile? More brain dead?"

Labels: David Frum, Fail, Republicans, Since You Asked

All human life is a gift from our creator that is sacred, unique and worthy of protection.

George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States.

Labels: Bush Legacy, Choice, Death Penalty, Fail, George W. Bush

Dog food for dinner. That, in a few words, sums up the Bush legacy.

Labels: Bush Legacy, Fail, George W. Bush

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE

Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING

Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CHENEY FAVORABILITY RATING

Then: 49% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONGRESS APPROVAL RATING

Then: 48% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION

Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)

Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY

Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE

Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET

Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

Epic fail.

Labels: Budget Deficit, Economy, Fail, George W. Bush, Jobs, Polls, Poverty

"What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?"

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General, Fail

“In my mind, the foremost obligation we had from a moral or an ethical standpoint was to the oath of office we took when we were sworn in, on January 20 of 2001, to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. And that’s what we’ve done,” he said.

Article II, Section 1.

...Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Labels: Constitution, Dick Cheney, Fail, Oath, Torture