Arkansas Blog

Like his late brother, JB is a Moron. Nice, but a Moron nevertheless...
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You know, that is a great point...the Republicans COULD say they won't accept the stimulus money for thier districts since it is weighing so greatly on their conscience. They are probably having a hard time sleeping at night due to the guilt they have over how dirty they feel spending that stimulus money.

The Republicans blocking this stimulus package was just a way of show President Obama that they are old, worn, and bitter fools.

I wonder how many of my rich neighbors here in West Little Rock who are still sporting the McCain/Palin stickers on the Lexus are going to benefit from the stimulus package? Will they give back the money too? Nah!

The Repblicans see this "stimulus" for what it is, a spending spree for wasteful programs that will spiral this great nation towards a weak, socialistic,debt-ridden country. Gone will be the days where we will be able to provide protection and aid to the countries in desperate need. We will be the one needing help from others (possibly China, which is highly unlikely). I realize the Republicans share the blame for getting us into this jam, but at least they have the common sense not to screw it up further.
(and this comes from a poor guy in Cammck Village)

But did the Republicans not push through the huge stimulus bill for the banks right before the election last year? Remember how it was "an emergency" and how John McCain cancelled his appearance on Letterman to rush to Washington...which we all know he did not do.

That stimulus package benefits corporations and so far has not done much to help average citizens.

At least with this current stimulus package there are mostly good programs that will help average citizens. Expanded COBRA coverage is a great idea,especially with so many people losing jobs. Yes, there is some pork in there too and it will be interesting to see where that pork winds up.

***Boozman's office told the Arkansas Times this week it would not respond to requests for comment because it didn't consider the paper "fair and balanced."***

Bwaaahahaha... what a wimp. Republicans are such sissies... it's almost an insult to sissies to make such a comparison.

AR Times ought to do a cover... entire page photo of a screaming baby... with the above quote. If y'all make t-shirts, I will buy at least two.

Poor cammack guy.. It's about time you turned off the television... welcome!

Name one sound idea/solution republicans have come up with, just one?

Not spending/investing wisely now.. is like not bailing out a sinking boat.

Expecting the dumb guys who shot a hole in the boat in the first place... and who are still denying they did so, to come up with solutions.... well, it's just stupid.

As I said in another thread.. We have just begun to spend... we've are a robbed and looted nation (of countless trillions). It will take many tens of trillions (and hopefully a whole bunch of white collar prosecutions) to turn us back around.

The first stimulus bill had better be a drop in the bucket.

That bank "bail out'' was a specific plan needed to keep the economy running, and to stop a panic run on the banks. Which could have happened if it did not pass.So I would call that an emergency. Granted not all the money was spent the way it should have been, but it helped stablize bank balance sheets so they could stay in business. Like it or not, a free market finacial system is what we need to prosper - the government run economy spells doom. That said, we need to do a better job overseeing the unethical practices and bring the culprits to justice.
(BTW I doubt thos Lexus owners are getting a stimulus check.)

Hey Hippie Dude from Eureka Springs, you asked for one good Republican idea and i will give you two:
1. Cut taxes, income and capital gains. This puts money in most peoples pockets thus acting as a stimulus to the economy. Even John F. Kennedy ( a Democrat) was a big proponent of tax cuts and that was before your drug induced 1967 Summer of Love!
2. Freeing the slaves, that was done by Abraham Lincoln (a Republican).

Dear Average Guy: The stimulus bill DOES cut taxes, both individual and corporate, at the insistence of the GOP obstructionists who STILL voted against it.

Dear ordinaryaverageguy:
You are none of the above. Ordinary folks overwhelmingly put Obama in the White House. I doubt that's you.
Average guys have some insight into how the world works. You have none.
OK, I will stipulate to the fact that you are a guy since, unlike the above, there is no evidence to the contrary.
Where were you in your quest against wasteful government when your boys cut taxes for the wealthy [a far bigger price tag than the current stimulus package] and your boys followed the wuss into an unnecessary war [which also cost way more than the current stimulus.???]
Who made this country "weak and debt-ridden"? Why it was the boys you love to support on Wall Street and in Congress.
And again, who put us into hock up to our eyeballs to the Chinese - your boys at WallCong.
Your buddies are batting 1,000 at this point.
You are saying their current vote against the package was "common sense not to screw it up more." Wrong - it's rather a continuation of their total idiological insanity. The best I can say for them is that they are consistent f--kups!
Your second post was a clueless as your first. There were no "runs on the banks" - the a-holes in the banking sector had sold one another multiple times over a bunch of worthless paper. The banks were constipated. They are still not lending money to any significant degree because the unbridled capitalist system who love so much works for the shareholders not the public. The shareholders know they are holding crap in thier banks and are afriad to lend out the good money. Your boys in Congress refused to regulate their buddies on Wall Street - that, and the greedy mortgage market led to this fiasco - not as you so blindly put it - "a government run economy."
And then your final post - "cut taxes, capital gains, [you forgot to mention the estate tax]" and all will be right with the world. Even most of the conservative economists recognize that would be a tragic mistake. It's voodoo economics, trickle down Republicanism, and profligate spending of your "WallGress" boys that got us here. To get us out will take no Ordinary folk, no Average folk, and certainly more than guys.
Come back to the blog when you get an education other than from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

G NO P
"Just Say No"
...
Republican War on working people!!!

Hey CB, (I can't spell your name out for the pain it implies). I realize that, but it was all the pork that was included in the bill that was the overriding reason they could not bring themselves to vote FOR it. You take out things like Pelosi's improvements for field mice habitat in the SF Bay area, and other wasteful programs, then you would get more folks to vote for it.

Will grant you the first is a somewhat legitimate answer. Since most people agree Lincoln is dead.. i will laugh, but not credit it as anything else. *s*

How typical.. you republicans just start off stereotyping folks into some sort of minority or hippie without anything to back it up... and if i were what you suggest... you evade trying to say what's wrong in any factual manner. typical.

Bush Jr reduced 1.3 trillion in taxes as his early stimulus plan... and half of the current 800 billion stimulus plan is tax cuts.

How's that working out for America as a whole?

I read low wage earners are going to get 7 dollars a week from the current round of tax cuts... When in truth... if they got a 7 dollar an hour raise... they would still not be earning the purchasing power of an American minimum wage earner in the early 1970's.

No. What we need is an entirely different economy. Kill or dramatically alter trade agreements like NAFTA. Nationalize banks. Increase Social Security amounts since folks just lost and will continue to lose their pensions from the looting. Green energy, with a new green ready electrical grid. No or close to no imported oil. We need health care for all without insurance profiteers. Every American home should have cheap high speed (truly high speed) broadband. Build out massive public transit... etc.

Only good progressive government can do these things. Republican socialism - wealthfare, does not work... there is no such thing as trickle down.

Ann you republicans need to quit trying the same old failed gimmicks.. with new evasive slogans. But your reply tends to make me think you are among the shooters who have yet to admit you shot a hole in the American dream boat.

I won't waste my time whipping up on ordinaryaverageguy, you all are doing a fine job. I don't know why John Boozman decided to look at life as a battle between the rich and the poor. He comes from a nice family and I think he's a nice guy. But entering politics was a big mistake. He doesn't have the horsepower for it upstairs. Someone told him in order to be a Republican he had to check his brain at the door, and he did.

Want to know what Boozman will do next month? He'll follow the hard right Republican line just like his bosses in DC tell him to. He'll say what they tell him to say and he'll vote as they tell him to vote and if they tell him to walk naked down Pennsylvania Avenue, get ready to see more Boozman flesh than you've ever seen in your life. He's no man....he's a dog on a leash and he goes where he's pulled and I think that's a crying shame. I can't imagine what motivates him.

But those of us in the 3rd District will be delighted to take that DC money even if Boozman has voted no to everything but war and torture. Maybe we're getting all this money in hopes we'll wake up and vote in a Democrat next time.....fine with me! I'll be sure and tell everyone that we're getting this money no thanks to John Boozman.

Since our currency is based on nothing any more, let DC write as as many checks as their hands can write. Their cash ain't nothing but trash......so give me all ya got! And thanks in advance to President Obama who's doing all he can to pull us out of the Bush Depression. Even if it doesn't work out.....I appreciate the effort.

average guy,

Assuming you can understand a simple graph click on my name for history of fiscal policy outcomes.
It's a pretty simple graph, divided by political party. It puts to rest the myth that Republics
are good for our economy.

.

...and JUST like the AIDS virus, the Repukes will ignore any solution which WORKS until their mom, aunt, brother or friend actually is affected: saved from foreclosure, OR the bridge everyone expects to tumble is rebuilt first, OR their cousin whose unemployment or insurance is about to run out is extended... They have been scum-sucking, un-American assholes for the past 35+ years, and they continue to be - while most "average" Americans are still supporting the guy with a vision, who can communicate a concept (and talk in complete, English sentences), who inspires and has a clue - who is ATTEMPTING to solve problems, not just roll out the same ol' Same Ol' for the intellectually challenged nutsacks (like oag and RUSH!) to continue to orgasm over. (My apologies to nutsacks.)

I just wish he'd stand up and say "I tried to work with these clueless, obstructionist assholes, you see the results. Republicans: get back to me when you have an idea, or maybe when you WIN something, otherwise FK Off!"
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Ouch Janus, such anger! I think in my first post, if you would have calmed down to read it, I said the Republicans share the blame.It's funny how you imply that I was all for the past 8 years of lack of oversight and waste. I am against all unneccesary spending Republican and Democrat. As for the war in Iraq- I feel it was a horrible mistake. Going on with your vitriolic diatribe, BECAUSE of the bank bail out plan (otherwise known as TARP)the public was allayed and there was no run on the banks.
A capitalistic economy is what has made this country great, and it allows us to help other countries in need. There is no other country on Earth that helps out in times of desperate need than the US, and we should be proud of that. I guess you missed that I also mentioned there needs to be better system in place to oversee the unethical, greedy pratices that go on on Wall St. As for my boys (and if I am not mistaken there are some ladies) in Congress, since 'o6 it has been Democratic. It was both parties to blame for the mortgage crises, your own Barney Frank was pushing bills to allow people to buy homes they couldn't afford.As for the banks lending money it was actually UP in the 4th quarter. So I suggest you do a little more reading than the NYTimes, Arkansas Times, and watch other shows than Rachel Maddow, and Keith Olberman (which by the way I also watch to see what both sides are saying).
I hope and pray Obama and the Democratic Congress can get us out of this mess. If they can I will be the first to give them Kudos.
I realized that I kind of poked some fun at Eureka Springs I was just trying to joke around, no hurt feelings were intended. I can take a joke as well as the next guy but Janus, your one -sided, hate speech I can see is no joke and is typical of some liberals. You need to relax and enjoy your life in this free and wonderful country.

>>Going on with your vitriolic diatribe, BECAUSE of the bank bail out plan (otherwise known as TARP)the public was allayed and there was no run on the banks.<<

The banks are still failing. There was never a "run on banks" only insolvency due to their poor judgment and UNREGULATED markets which could "rate a cow." There are few loans being made because the big players, after TARP, are barely solvent due to toxic assets but mostly due to 56 TRILLION in credit default swaps, mostly worthless, which were the creation of the finance industry and were UNREGULATED.

We need to get it established that Bush-Paulson were the first to SOCIALIZE banking assets or banks. There's many more that need to be nationalized and their equity held by the taxpayers with all executive remuneration determined by regulators.

Hey eLwood, great graph thanks for showing it. Very interesting. There is no question Bush Jr. really screwed up lowering taxes (revenue) and spent money like a drunken trust fund baby that he is. I will defend Regan, He did inherit a economy deep in recesscion and cut taxes to stimulate the great economy of the 80's. We did suffer a slight recession with Bush Sr. in the early '90's.Clinton who was in charge while we had a Republican Congress from ('94-'2000) who I credit keeping the spending down, also was receiving more tax revenue due to the booming economy.
eLwood, I do not take offense at your assumption that I may or may not have trouble reading a simple graph - I enjoy the exchanging of ideas and I am always open to others opinions especially with some sort of back up. I do have a private liberal arts college education, one that was afforded by the hard work of my Dad and Mom (she was a homemaker with 6 kids) and they started with nothing. I am forever appreciative of that.So I think I have SOME level of intelligence, and always try to be fair and balanced (I know most of y'all hate that FOX motto) with some modicom (sp?) of humor thrown in. I do have my own opinions, I would hope you would respect them as I respect yours (we may just never agree and that what makes these blogs interesting.

Larry, read my reponse to eLwood . Please try to respond civilly, not with hatefilled chatter and obscenities.

"...the public was allayed and there was no run on the banks."

Yeah, right - and the money was apparently sent down a rat hole (the same place the Billion$ in Iraq that disappeared) to "untouchable" criminals whose only apparent goal in life is to further enrich themselves. NOW at our expense yet again. And all you can hear from the "right" (wrong) is CUT TAXES... Regardless of whose idea it was or who signed on, it's bullfeathers - R strategy: SPEND more while REDUCING revenues. Brilliant!

And yes, there is no question that "respectfully exchanging ideas" is a good thing. I'll worry about that when I've "caught up" with the loads of toxic BS Republibaptists nitwits have crammed up my butt for the past forever, since Religion got out of hand and the "culture war" joined the "drug war" as another great way to feel important and piss away our treasury while ignoring the REAL problems in this country. There is not a single thing that Bush and Co. did that helped the country - NOTHING; and we're pissed AND I intend to stay so, even if the only result is a temporary high of "an eye for an eye."
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"If they can I will be the first to give them Kudos. "

THANKS!!! oag, that certainly sets you apart from R "leadership."
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Hey Larry, Bottomline, all I am for is making America a wonderful place to live no matter what party is in control.
BTW you and Janus need to get married!

And Average Guy regarding Republican policies here is the ball grabber graph to end all graphs.

I personally presented it to Congressman Boozman at local office.

It's done by Moody's Economy, compiled by economist Mark Zandi

It shows the economic outcome of federal fiscal policies or in vernacular, "bang for the buck"

You can see it by clicking on eLwood.

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eLwood, interesting. I will share that with my right wing, holier than thou, flag waving, homophobic, friends at my next Klan Meeting :).
No seriously, thanks. I always like all credible information.
Signing off, It's been real.
OAG

Double AMEN to everything Larry's written on this thread!! (Nothing personal, averageguy, just an understanding of his oh-so colorful and apt sentiment regarding the last 8+ years of Republican HELL.)

Crap is crap.

HA! GOOD one, oag. Married 3 times to 2 women (never divorced) currently 25 years & counting... I LIKE your previous statement, and that's what's AFU with our political "process!" That's NOT #1 with our political "leadership." When people begin where they AGREE, instead of DISagree, stuff can get done civilly otherwise it's "mine is bigger than yours," and that never gets any further than it did in the sandbox!!!
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"Fair and balanced" eh?

I was flipping through basic cable channels late one night and saw the Boze himself on VTN (religious nut channel), which is about as far off to the right as every left-leaning journalist in the US combined.

ordinary, you almost had me convinced that you are a thinking, reasonable person until I scrolled up and saw that you referenced Nancy Pelosi's "mouse story."
That had been debunked, totally and completely, for days.
But welcome to the blog and have a great night.

Kizzy, I have not seen where it has been debunked, and if it is not true I'll will certainly stand corrected. Is there a link? My overiding point was that there is too much waste in the stimulus package as passed.

o.k. Kizzy, I stand corrected on the money for the field mouse . "Although there was $50 million "may be used for programs under the California Bay- Delta Restoration Act. The House bill included no such stipulation calling for only a $50 million "Watershed Rehabilitation Program.
Pelosi according to her spokeperson had no involvement in directing funds to the Harvest Mouse Project, and that restoration is key economic activity, including farming ,fisheries, recreation and clean water." Which I am all for by the way.
The below text is from FactCheck.org. As I stated before I am all about truthful and intelligent dialogue.
Kizzy thanks for giving me the motivation for checking the facts.

Pork for Mice?

And, as Schatz notes, it's much more difficult to identify who may have requested what. Republicans have charged that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi benefits from some pork in the compromise legislation: She has long pushed for protection for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse in wetlands in the San Francisco Bay area, and the final bill calls for millions for wetlands restoration that could pay for such a "pet project." But it was the Senate bill that said a sum of money ($50 million) "may be used for" programs under the California Bay-Delta Restoration Act. The House bill included no such stipulation, calling only for $50 million for a "Watershed Rehabilitation Program." It's worth noting that the Senate also stipulated that another $50 million "may" be used for the Central Utah Projection Completion Act. Would that be $50 million of pork for Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett? Or a necessary stimulus for a vital project? The funding for both the California and Utah programs survived in the final conference report.

A Pelosi spokesman told the Washington Times that she had no involvement in directing the funds to the harvest mouse project, noting that "restoration is key to economic activity, including farming, fisheries, recreation and clean water."

Obama may be right about the House bill, which was indeed stripped of a few items that representatives questioned, as he said. Our colleagues at PolitiFact.com also called the office of Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, an outspoken opponent of earmarks, and spokesman Matthew Specht told them: "Yeah, we agree that the House version can probably be considered earmark-free."
ected. Here is what FactCheck.org has put out