Political Irony

Republicans like to think of themselves as the party of Reagan, but it is interesting to consider how if Reagan were a politician today he would almost certainly be branded a RINO, and voted out by the Tea Party know nothings. After all, Reagan passed strong gun control legislation, raised taxes, and gave amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants. Wow.

But there is new evidence, memos released last week from the Reagan and elder Bush administrations, which show a White House eager to assert leadership in environmental issues including climate change and ozone depletion (it was Reagan who promoted and signed the law banning chlorofluorocarbons).

Most interesting is a memo from 1980, which argues that the US should take a leadership role on climate change, which was just beginning to draw attention back then. The memo calls the threat of climate change “the most far reaching environmental issue of our time.” It also quotes then Secretary of State James Baker:

As you yourself stated, we cannot wait until all the uncertainties have been resolved before we act to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for whatever climate change we are already committed to.

Compare this to what the current (keystone cop) crop of GOP presidential candidates are saying about climate change. For example, Donald Trump dismissing climate change, saying he is “not a believer” and accusing the crisis as something “created by and for the Chinese”.

Or Chris Christie saying on TV “It’s not a crisis. I don’t see evidence that it’s a crisis. I don’t.”

So, my question is, when did it become required for Republicans to be so aggressively stupid? Was it when the Koch brothers and big oil started paying them lots of money to be so?

Yet another benefit from Obamacare. One of the lesser known features of the ACA was new guidelines and rules to try to reduce “hospital acquired conditions” – things like patients receiving the wrong medication, or improper sterilization leading to infections.

The new law has helped. According to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the ACA saved approximately 87,000 lives and $19.8 billion saved over the last five years (since the rules took effect).

Wow!

I’ve posted in the past about how efforts to create the conservative Republican utopia have failed miserably – first in Kansas under governor Sam Brownback and then in Wisconsin under Scott Walker.

I’ve also posted about how when progressive Democrats took over in California under Jerry Brown and the economy improved dramatically. Could that have been a fluke or lucky timing? Well, now we have another great example.

Minnesota, which is right next door to Wisconsin, elected progressive Mark Dayton in 2011. Before he took office the state had a $6.2 billion deficit and owed the schools $2 billion, but he turned it into a $1.9 billion surplus. How did he do that? First, he raised taxes on the rich by 2 percent and increased the minimum wage. That injected money into the economy. Once the economy stabilized, he started paying down the state’s debt and increased funding for schools. And finally, the governor is starting to make good on his promise to implement broadband internet “border-to-border”. He’s even thinking of lowering property taxes.

And while this is not about the economy, I have to applaud Dayton for his stance on immigration and racism. Last month he said:

Look around you. This is Minnesota. Minnesota is not like it was 30, 50 years ago. But, this is Minnesota and you have every right to be here. And anybody who cannot accept your right to be here and this is Minnesota should find another state.

If you are that intolerant, if you are that much of a racist or a bigot, then find another state. Find a state where the minority population is 1 percent or whatever. It’s not that in Minnesota. It’s not going to be again. It’s not going to be that in St. Cloud, or Rochester or Worthington.

© Tom Tomorrow

How can anyone, no matter how right-wing nutty, who witnesses the winter season of every year, believe for a second that there is any kind of war on Christmas here?

Personally, I don’t like what the Christmas holiday has become in this country. And yet, my wife somehow got me to dress up as Santa Claus for an event. My mailbox is overflowing with Christmas sales. I’m hearing Christmas music. We have invitations to multiple Christmas parties. Heck, even my Jewish friends celebrate Christmas! You just can’t avoid it!

Even a very conservative newspaper like the NY Daily News has had enough. This is their front page from Thursday.

© NY Daily News

Electoral Vote points out that virtually all the Republican candidates reacted on Twitter with “prayers”, but none of them specified even approximately what they are asking God to do:

Usually when you pray you have one or more requests you would like God to fulfill. Do they want Him to directly intervene and prevent crazy people from getting guns, so Congress doesn’t have to? Not one of the Republicans offered anything concrete other than urging people to pray but not saying what for.

Their insincerity knows no bounds.

© Adam Zyglis

If you don’t want to keep hearing about mass shootings, there are a few things you can do.

For example, you can stop listening to the news. A better (but similar) solution would be for the news to stop giving quite so much attention to mass shooters, so that angry and mentally disturbed people won’t go on a rampage in order to get attention.

But here’s a much better solution: After the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, a bill was introduced that would require background checks on all gun purchases (the Sandy Hook shooter had a history of mental illness). Even though this law makes good sense, it died under heavy lobbying from the gun industry.

Here’s an article that lists the 46 Senators who voted against that law, and also lists how much money each of them received from the gun industry.

And here’s the important part. It gives you addresses, phone numbers, twitter handles, and other ways of contacting them so you can express your displeasure. It even gives you suggestions on how to have maximum impact.

I believe that the Second Amendment gives people the right to own guns. But no right is absolute. Free speech does not give you the right to slander people. Freedom of religion does not let you sacrifice animals to your deity of choice. It is time we stop sacrificing our children and our neighbors.