Sen. Mitch McConnell, Serial Liar

Last week in the space of 10 minutes, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell repeated the same lie concerning the Democrats' financial reform legislation three times:

• It is "a permanent taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."

• It is "an endless taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."

• It is "a perpetual taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."

He claimed the legislation "perpetuates the one thing the American people have said they don't want to happen again, which is to have their tax money used to prop up the a large failed institution."

I looked forward to hearing McConnell explain his assertions when he was interviewed on CNN Sunday, but when asked by Candy Crowley of CNN to respond to President Obama's statement that the bill contained no provision for "taxpayer funded bailouts," observe McConnell's obfuscation:

MCCONNELL: Well, Candy, he ought to talk to his own treasury secretary, who agrees with me, as well as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, that there is a bailout fund in the bill that was reported out of the Banking Committee, the partisan bill that came out of committee on a party-line vote.

CROWLEY: But that still does not--

MCCONNELL: I don't think that's in dispute.

CROWLEY: But that bailout is funded by the banks themselves, is it not? It is not a taxpayer bailout?

MCCONNELL: Well, Robert Reich, who was Bill Clinton's secretary of labor, says it is a bailout fund. I mean, regardless of how the money is produced, it is a bailout fund that sort of guarantees in perpetuity that we will be intervening once again to bail out these big firms.

Note how McConnell never did address Ms. Crowley's questions regarding who would actually be funding the bailout fund. Instead he simply calls it a "bailout" and ignores the key word "taxpayer."

Of course close followers of the news know that "taxpayer bailout" is a GOP "talking point" recommended by Republican strategist Frank Luntz to defeat any attempts at financial reform legislation. And the fact that taxpayers aren't involved at all funding the process is apparently irrelevant to the GOP, which continues to mislabel the "bailout fund" even though it would be totally funded by the banks themselves. And the $50 billion fund would be used by the government "to liquidate failing financial companies that pose a significant risk to the financial stability of the United States in a manner that mitigates such risk and minimizes moral hazard," not to rescue them. A failing bank would be broken up, sold off, and its executive management fired. That's sure some "taxpayer bailout of Wall Street" Senator!

Canadian Health Care: Fact vs. Fiction

I recently saw an interesting report comparing US and Canadian health care. It's a couple of years old, the figures are for 2005, but it clearly illustrates one of the fallacies perpetuated by opponents of single-payer health care for the US.

We regularly hear stories of Canadians coming to the US for medical treatment because of alleged long waits for treatment in Canada - or even stories of someone dying while on a Canadian wait list. And of course the blame is always placed on the Canadian government's involvement in the process.

Consider these numbers though: in 2005 annual per capita expenditures for health care in the US were $6,401, vs. $3,359 in Canada!* Isn't it likely the shortage of services in Canada is due more to underfunding than to the fact that it's a single-payer system? Wouldn't raising per capita spending by say 50% likely eliminate most of the problem? And at $5,000 that would still be far far less than what we spend in the US.

* http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snapshots_20071205/

Costa Rica Photos

I posted all (~600) of my Costa Rica photos, some good, some bad, mostly just so-so, on Picasa Web: http://picasaweb.google.com/tom.severns/CostaRica#

More Anti-Obama Trash

So today I receive another unsolicited email bashing Obama - this time for putting his feet up on the desk in the Oval Office. Here are a few choice remarks from the email:

"We should inundate the White House with emails demanding he keep his feet off of our furniture. This arrogant, immature, and self-centered man has no sense of honor, or of simple decency."

"He thinks of himself as a king -- and not as a servant of the people, humbly occupying our White House for his term in office."

Now you can probably guess what I did next: quickly Google "Bush feet on desk," and in a flash I found a photo of Dubya in exactly the same position as Obama. And there was also a nice photo of Jerry Ford doing the same thing. The difference? Well, Obama is a Democrat, and he's an African-American, and I guess that's enough for these right-wing nuts!

A Perfect Day in Pasadena

Overreaction?

When I heard about the recent aborted terrorist incident on a Detroit-bound aircraft my first thought was how did the guy get explosive materials onto the plane - especially since the flight originated in Amsterdam, where security is especially tight.

And my second thought was what kind of crazy new restrictions will this mean for passengers. First it was the ban on tiny Swiss Army knives, then on liquids except in 3.4 ounce containers in a single little plastic bag, then the shoe deal - how will they punish us passengers this time?

The answer was fast in coming: According to a statement posted Saturday morning on Air Canada’s Web site, the Transportation Security Administration will severely limit the behavior of both passengers and crew during flights in United States airspace — restricting movement in the final hour of flight. “Among other things,” the statement in Air Canada’s Web site read, “during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps.”

Now exactly what has changed since last week? Why is movement in the last hour of a flight, or having something on your lap (a book?) suddenly more dangerous now than it was last week? Once again the TSA has overreacted. One can only wonder what might happen after the next incident - no carryons at all? And after that, flying naked?

Obama Snubbed?

Today I received a forwarded email from right-wing acquaintance. The message's subject line was "Gee, I didn't see this on network TV!!!! Obama snubbed."

The message opened with" "Watch this 10 second video where a lineup of leading Russians refuse to shake his hand. Did you see this on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or MSNBC? " Of course my first thought was to wonder whether anyone saw it on Fox News either - and why the writer failed to mention what is probably his or her favorite news source!

My puzzlement quickly vanished once I checked snopes.com, as I always do upon receipt of such questionable material. Not surprisingly Snopes labeled the message as FALSE, stating that it contained an "edited version" of a much longer video which clearly showed that there was no "snub." See for yourself at http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/snubbed.asp.

Why must these people stoop to fabricating such items to attack the president and the mainstream media? Do they feel their position is so weak that only fabrications stand a chance of making their case? I hope you'll remember to always first check the validity of email messages you receive before forwarding them to your friends. Remember that forwarded messages reflect on YOU!

Conservative Buckeyes still rule Big Ten roost - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Conservative Buckeyes still rule Big Ten roost - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Claiming he "screwed up," Hannity "apologizes" for airing "incorrect video" of 9-12 protests while discussing Bachmann rally

Claiming he "screwed up," Hannity "apologizes" for airing "incorrect video" of 9-12 protests while discussing Bachmann rally

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Laurel & Hardy - Bonnie Scotland

This my favorite Laurel & Hardy scene. The tune is "Wi' a Hundred Pipers." I hope you enjoy it.

"Heads we win, tails you lose!"

Daily-Jeff.com - Cougar caught on camera near Salt Fork

If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

If you go out in the woods today,
You'd better not go alone.
It's lovely out in the woods today,
But safer to stay at home.




Daily-Jeff.com - Cougar caught on camera near Salt Fork

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