Easter has arrived! Hope you all have a quiet and enjoyable time.
As it is traditional on Politicalgates on such occasions, let's post a little bit of music, for your enjoyment.
There is a "hot new boy group" in town, but this time, a little bit different. Three young Italian singers formed the group "Il Volo", and they are not your "average boy group." They sing so beautifully, that even Barbara Streisand" could not resist and performed together with them.
OK, the next one is unusual. It's actually a commercial for Wrangler from brilliant director Jonathan Glazer. I include it not only because it is real art in my opinion, but my question is: Have any of you ever done such a "wild trip?" :-)
Check on youtube for more excellent commercials by Jonathan Glazer.
There is another message I would like to emphasize for Easter: Be nice to each other! I say that because during the last two days, we witnessed with astonishment how "pro-Palin" and "anti-Palin" right-wingers got into a series of pretty brutal cat- and/or dogfights on twitter.
The underlying cause for these fights was the reporting by Wonkette on the March 28 and by the Daily Beast on March 29. There it was reported by these outlets that Sarah Palin SarahPAC spent more than twice as much on consultants in the 2012 election cycle as it did on candidates, despite the fact that Sarah Palin slammed consultants as a profession in her recent CPAC speech. It was also reported that 94 percent of the whole expenditures of SarahPAC went to the "overhead."
I say "partially" because her article was preceded by "conservative outrage" on twitter about the laughable financials of SarahPAC, where the "enemy of consultants" Sarah Palin spent virtually all her money on consultants. The right-wingers gave the Palinbots a good beating on twitter.
Yes, debunked indeed! In the report of Alaska state investigator Tim Petumenos from June 21, 2010 it was publicly revealed for the first time that the State of Alaska was actually willing to pay for Sarah Palin's legal defence - but she refused, for reasons which remain in the dark up until today.
I tried to be a positive example for being nice on twitter, and had a very civil exchange with Palinbot and C4P-writer Adrienne Ross, in which she was surprisingly tight-lipped:
Same with Palinbot and C4P-writer Michelle McCormick, who didn't answer my question about the funds, and who really should ask Sarah Palin for Trig's birth certificate next time she sees her (just to make sure!):
So, we had lots of fun on twitter!
What's left to say on this memorable Easter 2013? Let's give the last word to grumpy cat! :-)
Sarah Palin released a new video that is being promoted by her political action committee, SarahPAC. The video makes the case that Sarah Palin is a powerful voice of the conservative movement that has influenced key elections in 2010 and 2012 and she stands to do so again in 2014.
The underlying message is that SarahPAC, not just Sarah herself, is behind these electoral victories. And it needs your money to continue.
This article digs into what exactly SarahPAC has done as a PAC to help get people elected. One must separate an endorsement from Sarah and her speaking on behalf of a candidate, which can easily be done without a PAC, vs. the typical activities that a PAC does (i.e. mailers, TV ads).
While Sarah does do the former, SarahPAC does little of these typical PAC activities, leaving one to wonder what the donors are getting for their hard earned dollars.
Sarah’s supporters will tell you that she had to quit her job as governor due to the personal financial hardship of numerous, bogus ethical investigations. But even they can’t deny that Sarah has done rather well for herself after leaving the Governor’s mansion and its $125,000 salary (and its restrictions on earning outside income). ABC News conservatively estimated that Sarah Palin has made $12 million from her book deals, speaker’s fees, TV reality shows, FOX News appearances, etc. since resigning. While everyone has a right to cash in on any fame that should come their way, it’s easy to argue that Sarah’s number one cause after resigning as governor has been helping out herself and her family.
A good charity will spend at least 75% of their funds on their actual programs as opposed to administrative costs (good read: Charities with the highest admin costs in the USA). While comparison to a charity may have its limitations, it’s obvious that SarahPAC doesn’t exhibit the “fiscal responsibility” one would expect of a fiscal conservative.
FEC filings show that between 2009 and 2012, SarahPAC took in $10,600,000 and spent about $9,500,000. During this period she gave only $815,000 to the candidates she endorsed. That’s less than 9 percent spent on actually helping other candidates get elected!
A review of her expenditures doesn’t show any independent expenditures which is what most PACs do. By comparison, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads PAC spent 89.5% of its total expenses ($117,000,000) on independent expenditures for the two year period from 2011 to 2012.
The high point of SarahPAC’s spending orgy was arguably during the six month period from 1/1/11 through 6/30/11 where nearly $1.6 million was spent. Keep in mind that this period is during the low point of the campaign season. The consulting fees are astounding; $18,000 for ‘coalition consulting’, $30,000 for ‘chief of staff consulting’, $45,000 for ‘issue consulting’, $44,000 for ‘logistical trip consulting’, and $47,500 for political consulting. The great speech giver Sarah needed $40,000 to help write those speeches. Over $50,000 was spent on legal fees and $90,000 was spent on six months of the treasurer’s salary. Of course, the millionaire Sarah can’t pay for her own travel. The PAC paid for $103,000 in airfare and $15,000 in lodging. Over $550,000 was spent on direct mail and postage! This is Sarah asking her fans for more money. Priorities. Finally, the bus wrap for the infamous bus trip cost $13,700 and Sarah’s Israel trip cost at least $5,800.
"I need the consultants to read my newspapers, god dammit!"
So, what did her fans see as a result of all of these costs? Well, there was the bus tour and numerous posts on her website talking about the bus tour. I’ll let Sarah explain how all of this actually led to more conservatives being elected. I certainly can’t figure it out.
After her great tease in 2011, SarahPAC laid low during the critical 2012 election. She almost endorsed Gingrich during the primary and only endorsed Romney with a few days left in the campaign. The PAC gave Romney $5,000.
The SarahPAC site continued to lay low in 2013 with only four posts all year. The latest post is about the new fundraising video, the prior two talk about her CPAC speech, and there’s one from January where Ted Cruz thanks her for her support. Going back last year there is a Christmas/Newtown post in Sarah’s typical word salad. The post before that is from June 25 bragging about her inventing the term ‘death panel’. Yes, the influential SarahPAC went through the entire 2012 campaign season without adding a single post to their website.
Now, with Sarah not having a regular job and people being wise to her teasing ways, she sees a new niche rife for grifting – anger at moderate Republicans for not sharing the views of the extreme right. Not having any real world responsibilities, it’s easy for Sarah to talk as if she has all the answers to today’s problems. Sarah says she could get the right people in office and successfully rebrand her party. Just give her enough money and she’ll get it done.
Ted Cruz is playing along and saying he couldn’t have gotten elected without Sarah. SarahPAC gave him $5,000 in 2012. This represents a whopping 0.034 percent of the $14,511,279 that Cruz raised altogether. So, it clearly wasn’t SarahPAC’s money that made the difference.
While Palin did give a speech at one of his campaign events, she was hardly out campaigning regularly for Cruz or any of the other candidates she endorsed. Again, we don’t see any of the typical activities that a PAC does to help out a candidate. Indeed, most people who do exactly what Sarah did for Cruz, do so for other candidates without asking for any money, let alone having to form a PAC to do so.
In conclusion, Sarah’s PAC doesn’t do much to help candidates get elected outside of putting up a website that lists Sarah’s endorsements and redirecting some money their way. We don’t see any strategic campaign assistance, volunteer coordination, mailers, etc. Less than 10 percent of the money generated by SarahPAC actually goes to candidates and their campaigns. Given all this, the fiscally responsible thing to do would be for Sarah to put up her list of endorsed candidates and have her minions give their money directly to the candidates. If your goal is really to get ‘common sense’ conservatives elected, there is no need for SarahPAC at all.
+++
Bonus (by Patrick):
Many thanks for our reader VinnieF for this excellent post! Today, Sarah Palin has become the laughingstock of the media (again), following an article by the Daily Beast about the expenditures of SarahPAC to Sarah's numerous consultants. This article has quickly been picked up by Huffington Post, TPM and others. Good! It's always nice to see when the hated "lamestream media" takes on Quitler, the fraudster from the North.
There is another noteworthy development. The fact that Sarah Palin takes credit for Marco Rubio's election in her new clip, as VinnieF also mentioned, raised eyebrows, to put it mildly. The "Tampa Bay Times" felt compelled to publish what could be regarded as an "inside view" in response.
The "Tampa Bay Times" make some interesting observations, and the do not agree with the claim made by Sarah Palin:
Sarah Palin, enjoying a mini resurgence after her CPAC speech, is trying to feed her PAC and promoting herself as a kingmaker. In a new video, her PAC takes credit for picking winners from Ted Cruz to Marco Rubio.
But anyone who follows Florida politics knows Rubio kept a distance from Palin and she only showed interest after he was surging.
From a Nov. 8, 2010, Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald story: Rubio had an opportunity to cozy up to tea party darling and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, but his campaign never emphasized her support. "Marco, keep up the good work. Call me. Can I help ya?" Palin told a conservative blogger who asked about Rubio at a conservative gathering in New Orleans in April. He never did. In the final stretch of the campaign, when it was clear he would win, Rubio showed up to a big rally in Orlando featuring Palin. But he left before she came on stage, denying opponents a photograph that could be used against him in the future.
Well, I am sure that in her head, Sarah rules the world.
Unfortunately, there are too many "low information voters" around who might fall for Sarah Palin's "easy to see through propaganda." The great folks at "NewLeftMedia" again provided more than enough evidence for the existence of these voters a few months ago when they interviewed supporters at a Mitt Romney rally. As I said before, it is always scary as hell to witness that the propaganda of Fox News and others actually works (clips HERE and HERE).
Daily Beast and CNN contributor John Avlon, who became the object of hate today for the Palinbots due to his widely read article in the Daily Beast, appeared on CNN and explained again his criticism regarding SarahPAC:
In 1991 the Golden Girls were way ahead of their time and understood that marriage should be for everyone. That it is the love between two people that makes a marriage a marriage. Not a persons gender.
Now is the time for the Supreme Court to finally make marriage equality a reality.
Can I interest you in my latest scheme to screw over average Americans? Hello? Anyone? Would you like some candy?
Paul Ryan's latest budget iteration is much like naugahyde stew prepared in your slow-cooker:no matter how you slice it, dice it, and spice it, the results will be completely devoid of the essential nourishmentthat poor and middle-class Americans need to survive.
Priorities, Priorities, Priorities
We can and must be smarter with our spending decisions and make cuts in
ways that do not intentionally and unnecessarily inflict hardship and
aggravation upon the American people. If you think this sentiment might possibly appear in the new and improved budget, you'd be wrong, of course. So it must surely have been a noble caution from President Obama, right? No, no, that indignant little homily was put forth courtesy of Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas. And was he talking about the budget? Good gracious, NO! Senator Moran has his Jockeys in a jumble because White House tours have been canceled due to the sequestration -- which, of course, the Tea Party legislators were all for until they came up against a cut that is not only easily observable by the public,but one that has a direct and immediate consequence. Oops! See how that works, guys?
As the Daily Kosreported recently, When Rep. Paul Ryan insisted two
years ago that his budget "vision" wasn't truly unpopular, it was
just misunderstood, it made for a good laugh. The laughs only got better when he
insisted that his constituents love his vision after he got booed out of a
town meeting. After Ryan's vision was put on the national ballot, and lost, you
might think Ryan would change his tune.
So don't expect that Paul Ryan will go all mushy for theleast of us. While the newly elected pope of the Roman Catholic Churchhas been hailed as a fighter for social and economic justice, don't count on seeing any of that in Ryan's 2013 effort to swindle average-income and poor Americans. To whit, at his papal installation Mass on March 19, Pope Francis implored world leaders toprotect the environment, the weakest, and the poorest. As a practicing Catholic, perhaps the representative from Wisconsin needs to rethink his budgetary priorities and engage in a little more, um, practice.
2012 Election Rejection
It's what the people want. Honestly! Cross my heart and hope to...OK, maybe I won't go THAT far!
The latest Republican failed vice presidential candidate, like many on the dark side of the political spectrum, simply refuses to admit that the American electorate soundly rejected his ad nauseam budget plans in November 2012. Americans want jobs. Americans need jobs. Americans need jobs NOW. Oh, well, I guess Ryan figures that at least he's keeping the Government Printing Office folks employed.
It's worth noting that the Congressional Progressive Caucus has presented a starkly different alternative to the Ryan plan, the Back To Work Budget. This is an easy-to-read detailed outline for job creation. And no, it's not a make-work, herding-unicorns proposal. Rather, it's a plan that would, in part, spend money to repair the country's crumbling infrastructure. But like all Republicans and too many Democrats who would rather see children murdered by AR-15s than risk their do-nothing jobs, so might they rather see a school bus full of dead children at the bottom of an abyss, thanks to a collapsed bridge.
When the Future is the Past -- On Steroids
I realize this may come as something of a shock, but the newest version of Ryan's piece of shit budget legislation easily passed the House of Representatives on March 21st. Not long afterward, the Senate soundly rejected it, 40/59. Even five Republicans didn't like it enough to vote for it, because it projects a balanced budget in a decade but relies on $600 billion-plus
in tax revenues on the wealthy enacted in January to do it. The three Republican Tea Party members (Rand, Cruz, and Lee) couldn't let that happen, now could they? The two other Republicans, Susan Collins and Dean Heller voted Nay because it cuts sharply from safety net programs for the poor and contains a plan
to turn the Medicare program for the elderly into a voucher-like system for
future beneficiaries born in 1959 or later.
Earlier on that same historic day, Michele Bachmann(she of the President has five Air Force One chefs, two projectionists, one dog walker -- and, I suppose, a partridge in a pear tree) took to the floor of the House to beg for the repeal of Obamacare before it strangles all of us in our beds. Or something like that. Forget that repeal of Obamacare has been tried more than thirtytimes in the past, plus having been found Constitutional by the Supreme Court. The Republican Tea Party needs to get over it!
(Though I have not been able to find a second source -- and I have no intention of listening to the entire speech -- Jason Linkins at HuffPo reported that at one point in her CPAC 2013 spiel Bachmann also said, You can never count on your cat.Okey dokey, then! I declare, y'all, it's just so difficult to keep up with the rantings coming fromOur Crazy Lady of the Old Testament Church, isn't it?)
End Note
Only the skeletal bones of a
once proud and powerful Grand Old Party remain.
Today’s Republicans are arrogant, obtuse, crass, and deceitful.
The GOP is now controlled by
the scum who run for office by saying that “Government is bad, Washington is broken.”
And once elected, they do their damnedest to make it so.
News alert to Republicans: It's the GOP that is broken. Washington and government are what the House and the Senate make it. YOU are the problem. Try being part of the solution for a change.
It’s Women’s History Month again, and the Republicansare
still at it. Although Ann Romney loves you women and Michele Bachmann has
stated that the GOP is really very good on women’s issues, the proof is in the pudding
ridiculous, offensive, soul-hurting comments they make about women and, more
devastatingly, the horrible laws they try to (and often do) pass.
Hard to believe it’s been a year since my last post about
the Republican War on Women. Last year about this time was when Rush Limbaugh
was on his slut rant; Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell had just earned his “Governor
Ultrasound” title; and the rest of the gang were doing everything in their power
to marginalize and malign women. Hmm, how’d that work out for you guys come
November 2012? What’s that?
According
to CNN's exit polls, 55 percent of women voted for Obama, while only 44
percent voted for Mitt Romney… and women made up about 54 percent of the
electorate. In total, the gender gap added up to 18 percent -- a
significantly wider margin than the 12-point gender gap in the 2008 election.
But Republicans won’t let something like losing a
Presidential Election stop them from doing everything in their power to keep
the “little ladies” in their place. Let’s look at some of their more heinous
actions during the past year, shall we?
Here’s a Moveon.org video about the subject:
And now let’s "move on" in a musical fashion--
MY FAIR LADY
Hey, GOP, Lerner and Lowe were writing a musical, not
proffering a manifesto, when they penned “A Hymn to Him” (Why Can’t
a Woman Be More Like a Man) with lyrics that included:
Women are irrational, that's all there is to that!
Their heads are full of cotton, hay, and rags!
They're nothing but exasperating, irritating,
vacillating, calculating, agitating,
Maddening and infuriating hags!
Yep—that apparently is really what the GOPers think. Last year, my
Women’s History Month post examined anti-woman legislation, month by month, but
they’ve stepped up their game and amped their stupidity to the point where what
the GOP doesn’t understand about women could fill a 12-book encyclopedic series.
So this year, we’ll just have to restrict ourselves to the highlights
lowlights of their incredible ignorance and denigration of women.
While we're on a musical bent, remember that great Sam Cooke song, What a Wonderful World It Would Be? Well, it's not a wonderful world with the Republican attitudes, but they certainly...
DON’T KNOW MUCH
ABOUT HISTORY...
While Ann Romney was LOVING YOU WOMEN, 2012 had
the second-highest
number of new anti-abortion laws enacted in the decades following Roe v. Wade. Rachel
Maddow’s blog has a great recap of the Guttmacher report and its analysis of the new data, that shows more than half of the 43 new
anti-abortion laws of 2012 were enacted in just six states.
Reproductive health and rights was once again the subject of
extensive debate in state capitols in 2012. Over the course of the year, 42
states and the District of Columbia enacted 122 provisions related to
reproductive health and rights. One-third of these new provisions, 43 in 19
states, sought to restrict access to abortion services. Although this is a
sharp decrease from the record-breaking 92 abortion restrictions enacted in
2011, it is the second highest annual number of new abortion restrictions.
As of 9/13/2012, according to
Think Progress:
REPORT: HOUSE GOP HAS HELD 55
VOTES ON ANTI-WOMEN BILLS|House
Democrats have released a new study tracking the House GOP’sharmful anti-women agenda. Since
January 2011, the Republican-controlled House hasvoted55 times on bills to
“undermine women’s health, roll back women’s rights, and defund programs and
institutions that provide support for women,” according to the report prepared
by the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Democratic staff. The votes — including
17 about health insurance, 11 to cut access to preventive care, and 10 to limit
abortion access — make up5 percentof all the House
legislative votes in the 112th Congress.
And although 2013 is just getting started, the anti-choice gang
of Republicans arechipping away at reproductive rightsfrom all angles, particularly on the state
level.
Who can forget Foster Friess saying, “Want contraception? Put an aspirin
between your knees.” Yeah, that’s the kind of contribution Republicans are making to the conversation. Here is video clip of the amiable Mr. Friess explaining
things to an astounded Andrea Mitchell.
I could write interminably about Republicans’ views on rape,
but eclectablog.com has put together some excellent graphics depicting the GOP
Rape Advisory chart, so I’ll just let it speak for itself (NOTE--this is not something new with Republicans. They've been saying stupid, misogynistic things for MANY years.)
And if that's not enough, Volume 2:
And Volume 3:
DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT A SCIENCE BOOK...
U.S. Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) comment that it is
"rare" for a woman to get pregnant after a "legitimate
rape" because
"the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
Celeste
Greig who leads the California
Republican Assembly, trying to clear up Akin’s comment, goes even further in
the weeds. "That was an insensitive remark,"
Greig said. "I'm sure he regretted it. He should have come back and
apologized."
She then went on, however, to agree with Akin's premise that
such pregnancies are uncommon.
"Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is
small because it's an act of violence, because the body is traumatized,"
she added. "I don't know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the
violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don't know
what percentage of pregnancy results from the act."
AND WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN?
Sadly, it’s not only Republican men—their women seem to be
almost as anti-woman (if THAT’S not an oxymoron, I don’t know what is)
Here’s
the list of the ten female members of Congress who voted against protecting
women from domestic violence and other forms of violence against women (note—they’re
all Republicans, of course):
·Michele Bachmann (MN-06)
·Diane Black (TN-06)
·Marsha Blackburn (TN-07)
·Renee Ellmers (NC-02)
·Virginia Foxx (NC-05)
·Vicky Hartlzer (MO-04)
·Cynthia Lummis (WY)
·Kristi Noem (SD)
·Martha Roby (AL-02)
·Ann Wagner (MO-02)
WE CAN DO THIS
Let’s remember, women are the
MAJORITY of voters in this country, and more and more, are standing up and
being heard.
For an up-to-date listing of
personhood bills and ballot initiatives and what you can do to help stop the
madness, Resolve.org
provides an incredible amount of information.
