May 20, 2013

Monday Afternoon Thread: She is Golden!

December 3, 2012 by 107 Comments

The First Lady wows’em at the Kennedy Center Honors!

 

Filed Under: Open Thread Tagged With: , , , ,
  • Miranda

    Report: Adelson lost $50 million more on election than previously thought

    Billionaire Sheldon Adelson may have blown $50 million more than previously thought on conservative candidates during the 2012 election.

    Republican sources close to Adelson reportedly told The Huffington Post that the casino mogul may have lost $150 million trying to get candidates like former GOP nominee Mitt Romney elected, even though he had only promised to spend $100 million.

    Up to $40 million of Adelson’s money reportedly went to Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, which only had a 14 percent success rate on the $70 million it spent. Adelson also doled out $15 million or more to groups with ties to billionaires Charles and David Koch, $5 million to the Chamber of Commerce and $6.5 million to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

    more here
    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/03/report-adelson-lost-50-million-more-on-election-than-previously-thought/

  • Miranda

    Report: Adelson lost $50 million more on election than previously thought

    Billionaire Sheldon Adelson may have blown $50 million more than previously thought on conservative candidates during the 2012 election.

    Republican sources close to Adelson reportedly told The Huffington Post that the casino mogul may have lost $150 million trying to get candidates like former GOP nominee Mitt Romney elected, even though he had only promised to spend $100 million.

    Up to $40 million of Adelson’s money reportedly went to Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS, which only had a 14 percent success rate on the $70 million it spent. Adelson also doled out $15 million or more to groups with ties to billionaires Charles and David Koch, $5 million to the Chamber of Commerce and $6.5 million to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

    more here
    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/03/report-adelson-lost-50-million-more-on-election-than-previously-thought/

    • http://oldhollywood.net/ woody45

      Ha-ha. Adelson jumped into a fight not knowing why and got a 150 million dollar beatdown.

      • majii

        The old tool knew exactly why he threw so much money at GOPer candidates–he was hoping that if Romney won the WH and republicans controlled both houses of Congress, he could get rid of the fraud investigation AG Holder and the DOJ are conducting into his gambling operations in Asia. He thought money = winning, but the old tool never saw all of PBO’s supporters flooding the polls to keep Romney out of the WH. Romney’s ass would have done anything Adelson and his other rich backers asked him to do. Plus, Adelson wants the U.S. to help Israel invade Iran. I hate this idea with a passion because none of Romney’s sons would put their lives on the line to fight any war his Pa would have gotten us into.

        • rikyrah

          Shelly better make sure the checks clear for his lawyers…

          cause the AG is coming after his crooked ass

    • conlakappa

      ::points and laughs::

      Ha-ha!

      ::catches breath::

      Ha-ha encore!

    • AxelFoley

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    • edp4bho

      I surely wish I could be standing at the Pearly gates alongside the Lord, when these mofos try to enter, as they presumably think they have a right to. To witness God telling them….”no, you slimy bastards…yo ass belongs that way….(points down). Do enjoy your stay because you’ll be there a looonnnnggggg while !!

  • GreenLadyHere

    Good Afternoon POU FAM♥ – - –***BIG HUG** :>)– –

    — -Awwww! — –Ooooooo!- – - -Ahhhhhh!- – -:>) OUR VERY OWN- — -GOLDEN – -FIRST LADY!♥ – - -She is — -BEYOND – -RESPLENDENT :>) – —

    - – - –Annnd – -look how MR. PRESIDENT –HONORS annnd ADMIRES HIS – — -”GOLDEN WIFE”. :>) — – -

    - — -We have 3 MORE YEARS of these HONORS! :>) — -Lookin’ FORWARD- — -> :>) — -

    Have a good — -rest of the day. :>)

  • Miranda

    Now what muthasuckas? Here ya go …now see who shows up and who doesn’t. This will force GOP house members to have to either stay completely silent or be forced to say in the nicest way possible, McCain, Graham and Ayotte are idiots.

    House will get big briefing on Benghazi

    House lawmakers have been invited to a briefing on Benghazi this Wednesday, the Democratic Caucus announced.

    This will be the first opportunity for every member to hear from the intelligence community about the attack in Libya. Homeland security committees in the House and the Senate have already held closed-door briefings with top FBI and CIA officials, including former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus.

    Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Director of the National Terrorism Center Matthew Olsen, State Department Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy and other officials from the FBI, and DOD will give a “multimedia presentation” on Libya to members during the briefing, which is not open to the press.

    more here
    http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/12/house-will-get-big-briefing-on-benghazi-150944.html

  • Alma98

    FLOTUS looks beautiful, and as always PBO looks handsome.

  • creolechild

    SMDH…”coloreds?” Come on…for real?…”coloreds?” Racism aside, you would think with the money their parents are dishing out for their education that at the very least they would know how to spell words correctly…

    Harvard Club’s New Recruiting Flyer: ‘Jews Need Not Apply’

    Ah, the Ivy League. It’s classic architecture, vaunted reputation, stellar academics and…blatant, ugly racism. [....] Which leads one to ponder what the Harvard men involved were thinking when they slipped sealed envelopes under the dorm room doors of select students being recruited to their new club, the “Pigeon.” It’s not the invitation that invites incredulity; it’s the content.[....]

    At the top of the pamphlet, three virtues: Inclusion, Diversity, Love were listed with three respective footnotes at the bottom of the page. Inclusion’s was “Jews need not apply.” Diversity’s was “Seriously, no f***ing Jews. Coloreds OK,” and Love’s was “Rophynol” — probably a misspelling of the date-rape drug rohypnol.

    Must make a parent, teacher, Dean, school community, etc., so proud of these privileged young men for showing such stellar judgment and integrity; clearly a product of their extraordinary education purchased at great cost and wrapped in impeachable regard worldwide.

    Or not.[....]

    Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/01/harvard-clubs-new-recruiting-flyer-jews-need-not-apply/

    H/T Lorraine Devon Wilke

  • creolechild

    Michael Bloomberg’s slip is showing…

    How One GOP Plutocrat Helped Make 20,000 Kids Homeless

    There are 20,000 kids sleeping in homeless shelters in New York City, according to the city’s latest estimate, a number that does not include homeless kids who are not sleeping in shelters because their families have been turned away. Up to 65 percent of families who apply for shelter don’t get in , and their options can be grim. “Some end up sleeping in subway trains,” Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst at Coalition for the Homeless, tells AlterNet. “Some go to hospital emergency rooms or laundromats. Women are going back to their batterers or staying in unsafe apartments.”

    Families that make it into shelters are taking longer to leave and move into stable, permanent housing. Asked by reporters why families were staying 30% longer than even last year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “… it is a much more pleasurable experience than they ever had before.”[....]

    Read more: http://www.alternet.org/how-one-gop-plutocrat-helped-make-20000-kids-homeless

    H/T Tana Ganeva

    • sagittarius

      Different Republican day, same Republican bullshit and fuckery

      2005
      “Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.” – Barbara Bush, commenting on citizens of Louisiana displaced by Hurricane Katrina into temporary shelter at the Houston Astrodome.

      2012
      “… it is a much more pleasurable experience than they ever had before.” – Mayor Michael Bloomberg, responding to why homeless families were staying in shelters 30% longer in 2012 than in 2011

      • dannie22

        i remember when babs bush said that. she basically said u niggas didnt have nothing no way so what difference does it make if your shack blew away.

  • aleth

    There is something satisfying about seeing all the right wing can do is get angry and post on facebook! I read this link from Wonkette.http://wonkette.com/491188/michelle-obama-bogarting-all-the-christmas-trees. I never read the actual right wing nut job language but today I clicked on the link to read the 234 comments and i did not even get upset.

    It was satisfying that all their rubbish for the last 4 years was dismissed and not rewarded. Now they are frustrated. To see of these becky’s and their fat bubba’s on there commenting was hilarious.

    P.S. I hope the next 4 years the President, His Wife and Kids do all what the other Presidents have done. Enjoy it. You earned it!

    • trose1

      I don’t get white people’s humor. I don’t get upset because I cannot understand it.

    • rikyrah

      reading this makes me ask this question..

      anyone seen Shelby Steele lately?

      POTUS winning the first time made him have a nervous breakdown.

      I wonder what the RE-ELECTION DID.

      BWA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HAA

      • AxelFoley

        Most self-hating black man I’ve ever seen. And there’s plenty of them to go around.

  • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

    Gorgeous!

    Ya’ll peep PBO checking out FLOTUS? I love it!

    • Miranda

      He got that “I’ll drank yo bath water!” look.

      • AxelFoley

        ___________ Done.

    • MsKitty

      “I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you walk away.”

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda- – - –Oooo–Kaaay. — – -LOL — –Iff it is printed — -I gotta –share — -GLOAT- — LOL –

    - – –<a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/12/03/new_insights_into_the_2012_presidential_race.html&#039;.New Insights Into the 2012 Presidential Race– –

    – –Here are some interesting nuggets from last week’s conference at Harvard:

    Huffington Post: “Mitt Romney’s campaign manager admitted regret that the Republican challenger took such a hardline stance on immigration during the GOP primary, one of the first clear acknowledgements by the Romney campaign that its candidate hurt himself among Latino voters… Rhoades went on to describe how the Romney campaign may have regarded Perry as a mortal threat for too long, leading it to engage him beyond the point when it was necessary, and setting itself up for a hard-right turn on immigration.”

    The Atlantic notes campaign manager Matt Rhoades was “completely blindsided” by the 47% hidden camera video of Mitt Romney speaking at a Florida fundraiser and that chief strategist Stuart Stevens claims he left the room for Romney’s infamous remarks.

    BuzzFeed reports that Obama digital director Teddy Goff said that the nearly 34 million Facebook users who “like” Barack Obama on the social networking sites are friends with 98% of the U.S. Facebook population, making it an effective tool to reach out to younger voters.

    The audio is definitely worth listening to. — -

    —- -The POU FAM♥ –REPORTS: — –BWAHAHAHA — HE! — – -A! –LOSER!!– –LOL

    • majii

      I’m glad to read this info, GLH. I only joined FB after I retired in 2009. Many of my former students are FB friends, and I use it to disseminate facts to them since many of them have parents who are so-called conservatives and consume only Fox News and Limbaugh info. I figure that if I can bring a bit of enlightenment to a few of them, maybe they won’t grow up as close-minded as their parents and grandparents, many of whom I’ve met. They come across as very nice people, but underneath, they’re some of the most racist, bigoted people on the planet. I was always nice to them, but I never took my eye off of them either, especially since this is still GA, and it’s still the South.

      • GreenLadyHere

        HEEY majii – - -**BIG HUG*** :>)

        Look at-choo – - ->and I use it to disseminate facts to them since many of them have parents who are so-called conservatives and consume only Fox News and Limbaugh info. I figure that if I can bring a bit of enlightenment to a few of them, maybe they won’t grow up as close-minded as their parents and grandparents, . . . – - -***HUGS** – -

        U! – - -JUS’! – - -ENLIGHTEN! – -’EM – - -with – - -TRUTH!! :>)

        Good on U. :>) — -

        Thank U 4 sharin’. :>) – –I’m happy 2 KNOW U. :>)

      • conlakappa

        It was Team O that got me on Facebook to begin with back in 2008. Once again, they had an eye on the long game.

  • angee

    Good Afternoon Everyone,
    When I see they bullsh&t that is going on with Susan Rice it pisses me off cause I have a flashback of this:
    http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203611404577041950781477944-lMyQjAxMTAxMDIwMDEyNDAyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email
    “He should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president’s accomplishments. He should step aside for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

    And the first time they did this bs was in 2010 except they didn’t name billary to take his place:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111202846.html?sid=ST2010111203190

    Oh and remember they wanted to replace Joe “Ride or Die” Biden with billary cause that was the only way Obama could win re-election?
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/keller-just-the-ticket.html?_r=3&ref=global-home&amp;
    ” I know the arguments against this scenario, and we’ll get to those. But the arguments in favor are as simple as one-two-three. One: it does more to guarantee Obama’s re-election than anything else the Democrats can do. Two: it improves the chances that, come next January, he will not be a lame duck with a gridlocked Congress but a rejuvenated president with a mandate and a Congress that may be a little less forbidding. Three: it makes Hillary the party’s heir apparent in 2016. If she sits out politics for the next four years, other Democrats (yes, Governor Cuomo, we see your hand up) will fill the void.”

    Remind me of the time that people stood in line for SEVEN FREAKING HOURS for the clintons. Or the time that they got 50% of the popular vote? Or the policies that helped the USA and not send jobs overseas, restrict food for poor people and put more BLACK men in jail then any other POTUS?

    Yeah I feel some kinda way bout the clintons and the fantasy of the clinton era media/pundits/dems/rethugs are painting of those years.

    • creolechild

      Angee, read the article that I posted on Sunday’s evening thread entitled, The President Who Isn’t. Keep this in mind, PBO’s achievements in his first term alone despite everything they threw at him were “golden,” surpassing anything that Bill has ever done or will do. History will document everything that PBO accomplished when he was in the Oval Office. And no amount of revisionist thinking will be able to change that.~

      • angee

        ” surpassing anything that Bill has ever done or will do. History will document everything that PBO accomplished when he was in the Oval Office,” that statement is the reason why clintonistas have made a cottage industry of “attempting” to destroy Obama’s legacy and administration. The REAL 1st Black POTUS legacy will make bubba’s irrelevant. Obama will be remembered for Obamacare, Dream Act, Ledbetter and bill clinton will be remembered for a blue dress.

        • crazycanuck

          and Bin Laden

          • jds09

            and putting a dagger in the heart of the Southern Strategy.

          • isonprize

            ….and bin Laden.

        • AxelFoley

          That’s why the PL goes after PBO like they do. He’s been the ideal Democratic President, but they troll him like he was the worst Republican president ever.

          He’s what they wanted Bill to be. And they can’t stand it.

          And I drink their tears like milkshake.

          • isonprize

            He’s what they wanted Bill to be. And they can’t stand it.

            THIS, this right here!! So true.

    • trose1

      Yes, the push to take Biden off the ticket and replace with Hillary was a hoot. Remember she was going to help bring in that white vote.
      Well I guess that white vote wasn’t that important. LOL
      I remember Joe Madison, Black eagle, trying to sell put Hillary on the ticket bs. Shame some of US will carry water for people who may not have our best interests in mind.

      • angee

        Hey Lady, Dayum I forgot bout joe getting in that mess. As Rev.Al has said, “All family ain’t family!”

      • AxelFoley

        Madison hopped on that crazy train, too?

    • jds09

      They want the good old days back sooooo bad. Hilary’s time has passed. The DLC is dead. The era of Clinton/Bush dominance is over. Billary lost a 40 point lead in 2008, that tells me that the House of Clinton was built on sand. OFA not so much….its rock solid. It has beat back billionaires, the MSM, PLs and energized indifferent voters. The good old days weren’t really there and Hillary is in for a rude awakening if she starts to believe the hype.

      • angee

        They already got the PL working overtime for them. Evidently she was a speaker at a conference recently and they showed a video paying homage to her with pics of her with world leaders and John Kerry (no Susan Rice).
        http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/03/remnick-on-hillary-and-2016.html
        2007 all over again.

        • jds09

          Yeah, it was the AIPAC crowd. She better be careful, PBO hasn’t fully dealt with Bibi yet.

        • AxelFoley

          Again, notice how the GOP has nothing but good things to say about Bill and Hilary now? They slobbered all over Bill during the election (be careful, Bill likes to get slobbed on) and they don’t bring up Hillary’s name in the whole Benghazi mess.

          Unfortunately for them, plenty of us remember the 90s when they went after Bill and Hill like they stole something.

  • creolechild

    Traffic signals for cyclists pop up nationwide

    It’s not all about the painted lanes, folks. In an effort to make streets more bike-friendly, more than 16 U.S. cities have embraced traffic signals just for bike-riders.[....] Bicyclists can be at risk when entering an intersection on a yellow light that allows enough time for cars to clear the intersection, but not for bikes, the study found.

    Even traditional green lights may not allow enough time for a bicyclist starting from a stopped position to make it across. Bicycle signals can also help prevent collisions when a motorist is turning right and a cyclist is going straight, by allowing the cyclist a few seconds head start.

    Over the last few months, adoption has picked up as Chicago, Atlanta, and Salem, Ore., have all installed the new signals[....]

    Read more: http://grist.org/news/traffic-signals-for-cyclists-pop-up-nationwide/

    H/T Susie Cagle

  • sagittarius

    Good afternoon, Fam!

    Hope all is well. Bullshit and fuckery, whether from Republicans, the professional left, Clintonistas and others, is not sitting well with me today. I need to stay in safe zones, before I end up verbally cutting a mofo at 60 paces.

    • dannie22

      hey sis!!

      • sagittarius

        Hey, Sis! Hope all is good!

    • Alma98

      Hi sag! I’m right there with you.

      • sagittarius

        Hi, Alma!

        It does my heart good to see sisters standing up for Susan Rice. Billary and the rest of those Clintonistas are on notice: you screwed over Black women during your two terms of office. Enough! No more!

        • Alma98

          Hillary did Susan Rice the same way she did PBO. Remember she was when asked if she thought he was a christian, she hemmed & hawed. I’ve been done with them, I never liked Hillary or Bill.

    • rikyrah

      SAG….

      go ahead and cut

      go ahead and cut!!

      lol

    • GreenLadyHere

      OH. DANG! – –HEEY sagittarius! ***BIG HUG*** – - -:>)

      ***runnin’ in 2 give U – –THESE!! – - -AMI 2 L8???*** – -LOL

      How’s yer – -”cuttin’/throwin’ arm??? —- – -LOL

      Good 2 C U sagittarius. :>)

      P.S. Got enuff 4 da POU FAM♥ – - -WE gotcher back. LOL – - – -

  • dannie22

    http://www.callandpost.com/index.php/news/metro/3104-two-killed-after-cleveland-police-fire-137-shots-in-car cleveland police are off the hook!! this happened not far from where i live

    • Alma98

      That’s some crazzzy shit right there dannie. Damn!

    • trose1

      that is some mess

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda – - –MR. PRESIDENT. – - -s soooo21st –CENTURY! —tweet – - tweet –:>) – -

    - – - -TWITTER CHAT on “FISCAL CLIFF- – - -[Hope this works. :>) I’m on da run. :>)

  • Town

    http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-12-01/entertainment/bal-barricaded-man-tweets-broadcasts-police-standoff-from-basement-20121201_1_tweets-web-radio-broadcasts
    ——————————————-

    I don’t know if any of you were spectator to the spectacle on Twitter Saturday night:

    This blogger, the Baltimore Spectator, had a warrant out on him

    He starts tweeting threats to Baltimore PD

    Baltimore PD sends over a SWAT team to pick him up

    He live blogged/live tweeted the entire standoff before surrendering peacefully.

    He tweeted a whole bunch of people from Pres. Obama on down to MC Hammer for help.

    I see Roland Martin tried to insert himself into the story, like he tried to get things popping with the suggestion that Obama & ‘Em were dissing Jesse Jackson Sr.

    Stop trying to be part of the news and just report it, or is that too hard?

    • Miranda

      For many of them, its is really too hard. They’re just that damn arrogant.

    • AxelFoley

      Hol’ up. I can see asking PBO for help (ain’t gonna happen, but I can see him asking), but Hammer? WTF is Hammer gonna do to help your ass? Get Psy and go gangnam style on the Baltimore PD?

  • isonprize

    I may be late the party, but I had no idea Kerry could be this quick….

    article with Video… LOLOLOL


    McCain calls Kerry ‘Mr. Secretary,’ Kerry responds ‘Thank you, Mr. President’ … That’s what happens when two losers get together!

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    • Alma98

      John Kerry is good he was hilarious on twitter during the debates.

  • rikyrah

    “Michelle is Superwoman. What can’t she do?” Samuel L. Jackson recently told Newsweek. “That’s why people love her. She can be on the Supreme Court and anywhere else she wants. She can be the president. She’s history and she’ll stay history because she is so amazingly smart and together.”

    • angee

      Hey you have a link to this?

      • rikyrah

        just found it in the comments at TOD

  • itgurl_29

    I love Mrs. O’s dress. One of my favorites ever.

  • itgurl_29

    I’ll just say this. Hillary’s ass is in for a rude awakening if she thinks she’s got the 2016 Dem nomination on lock. I know I won’t be voting for her. I never jumped on the Hillary bandwagon. Yeah, she’s done a “good job” as SOS, but now with this mess going on with Susan Rice, I feel vindicated for never forgiving her for her ’08 mess. I don’t like her ass and she’s as sneaky as Bill.

    She won’t be getting my vote in 2016. I know that much.

    • angee

      Remember when ann romney said,”it’s our turn”? That’s the mindset of PL, billary, clintonistas. “It’s HER turn!” But at the end of the day she LOST and we don’t owe her a dayum thing.

    • Kennymack1971

      The Clintonistas need to chill. All this 2016 talk when the President hasn’t even started his second term is pissing off people she’s going to need if she decides to run. They were popping this inevitable nominee BS in 2008 and we know how that turned out.

  • rikyrah

    The Obama Diary @TheObamaDiary

    Gallup have President Obama approval at 54% today, highest since Oct 2009 – so, that means he’s probably 60%+ #Nice gallup.com/poll/113980/Ga…

    • conlakappa

      …but… but… the NY Times told me that he has had the smallest bounce ever of any re-elected President in modern times!!! Like what the heck is that all about? When will the MSM get over the fact that he one, January 19, 2017?

  • rikyrah

    Dan Pfeiffer: “The Republican letter released today does not meet the test of balance. In fact, it actually promises to lower rates for the wealthy and sticks the middle class with the bill. Their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate, which loopholes they will close or which Medicare savings they would achieve. Independent analysts who have looked at plans like this one have concluded that middle class taxes will have to go up to pay for lower rates for millionaires and billionaires.

    While the President is willing to compromise to get a significant, balanced deal and believes that compromise is readily available to Congress, he is not willing to compromise on the principles of fairness and balance that include asking the wealthiest to pay higher rates. President Obama believes – and the American people agree – that the economy works best when it is grown from the middle out, not from the top down. Until the Republicans in Congress are willing to get serious about asking the wealthiest to pay slightly higher tax rates, we won’t be able to achieve a significant, balanced approach to reduce our deficit our nation needs.”

    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/white-house-gop-fiscal-cliff-offer-sticks-middle?ref=fpb

    • malletgirl02

      Why do the Republicans want the taxes on the middle class to be higher than on the wealthy? Don’t they know one of the reasons that led to the ancient regime during the the French revolution of 1789 was that taxes were higher on the middle classes and lower class , also know as the third estate than on the aristocrats. These higher taxes led the middle classes to join the revolution. if it were not for this the French revolution would have just been a peasant revolt, and a footnote in history instead a major world changing event it came to be.

  • rikyrah

    Josh Barro (Bloomberg): House Republicans are out with their response to the President’s opening bid on the fiscal cliff, and it’s not very impressive. Here are three big problems with the letter they sent to the White House:

    1. It’s not really a proposal – it’s just a set of headline numbers without specific policies….

    2. The description of tax reform makes little sense…

    3. The proposal does not fully avert the fiscal cliff …. it would only partly delay the implementation of austerity measures (tax increases and spending cuts) into future years when the economy is stronger.

    …. The letter also says nothing about the payroll tax holiday or extended unemployment insurance benefits, both of which Republicans likely want to sunset. As such, this proposal only constitutes a partial aversion of the fiscal cliff, which would mean a drag on economic growth in 2013.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-03/what-s-wrong-with-the-republican-fiscal-cliff-counteroffer.html

    • Miranda

      So this is just like them standing up there with their “budget” back in 2009 and it was nothing but a blue book with pictures in it.

      • conlakappa

        As offered by Lyin, who really wanted to focus on those graphs.

  • rikyrah

    Michael Tomasky: So, the House Republicans made their counter-offer today. But it’s not much of a counter-offer. Josh Barro of Bloomberg identifies three problems: 1, zero specifics; 2, what description there is of the tax numbers doesn’t add up; 3, it doesn’t really avert the fiscal cliff….

    …. It’s always the same story with these people. They have these policy goals that they know are quite unpopular outside their besotted 30 percent, so they’ll never put specifics to them until the last possible second. But until then, anyone would be a fool to trust them. The only thing they really care about is cutting high-end tax rates, but they know full well that they can’t say that, so they make us all play these silly games.

    …. Let’s keep remembering, folks, that they’re going through all these contortions basically so as not to raise the top tax rate 4.6 percent on taxable income above $250,000, which a little less than 2 percent of the population even has. Deeply unserious people.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/03/boehner-s-bowles-plan-has-a-detractor-bowles.html

  • rikyrah

    A Health Insurance Detective Story

    I’ve had a long career as a business journalist, beginning at Forbes and including eight years as the editor of Money, a personal finance magazine. But I’ve never faced a more confounding reporting challenge than the one I’m engaged in now: What will I pay next year for the pill that controls my blood cancer?

    After making more than 70 phone calls to 16 organizations over the past few weeks, I’m still not totally sure what I will owe for my Revlimid, a derivative of thalidomide that is keeping my multiple myeloma in check. The drug is extremely expensive — about $11,000 retail for a four-week supply, $132,000 a year, $524 a pill. Time Warner, my former employer, has covered me for years under its Supplementary Medicare Program, a plan for retirees that included a special Writers Guild benefit capping my out-of-pocket prescription costs at $1,000 a year. That out-of-pocket limit is scheduled to expire on Jan. 1. So what will my Revlimid cost me next year?

    The answers I got ranged from $20 a month to $17,000 a year. One of the first people I phoned said that no matter what I heard, I wouldn’t know the cost until I filed a claim in January. Seventy phone calls later, that may still be the most reliable thing anyone has told me.

    Like around 47 million other Medicare beneficiaries, I have until this Friday, Dec. 7, when open enrollment ends, to choose my 2013 Medicare coverage, either through traditional Medicare or a private insurer, as well as my drug coverage — or I will risk all sorts of complications and potential late penalties.

    But if a seasoned personal-finance journalist can’t get a straight answer to a simple question, what chance do most people have of picking the right health insurance option?…

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/opinion/sunday/a-health-insurance-detective-story.html?_r=0

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda – - -[Apologies iff a dup] — –A GOP – -”FLIP –FLOP”! – — -How RARE – — HAH —NOT!!! – - – - -

    - —After Promising To Preserve Medicare For Current Retirees, GOP Demands Immediate Cuts In Fiscal Cliff Talks – –

    - — – -Throughout the election, Republicans tried to sell Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Medicare reforms by arguing that the party’s proposed changes would not affect current seniors. “Our point is we need to preserve their benefits, because government made promises to them that they’ve organized their retirements around,” Ryan argued in his first interview after being named as Mitt Romney’s running mate. “In order to make sure we can do that, you must reform it for those of us who are younger.”

    But in negotiating legislation to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, Republicans are abandoning this guarantee and pressuring President Obama to accept immediate changes to the program as a “down payment” for larger “structural reform”:

    Republicans have countered by arguing for a smaller down payment that must include immediate savings from Medicare and other entitlements….House Republicans say the down payment should be at least $110 billion, the value of the automatic spending cuts they would cancel next year, and they want those savings to come largely from cuts in Medicare and other benefit programs. [...]

    But Republicans say they are selling Congress short on what can be done before the January deadline. They made clear that they want some initial changes to entitlement programs ahead of larger talks next year.
    THERE IS MORE — –KRAP!!! – -

    – -COMMENT: —-Brian Grinstead
    Translation: “I know we promised during the campaign to preserve Medicare benefits for current retirees. But since you didn’t elect us, forget what we said earlier.”     – - – -FLIP! – - -FLOP!! — -LIE!! – –

  • qosine

    PBO and FLOTUS look wonderful. She looks so beautiful, and her dress
    is stunning. I just keep going back and looking at them.

  • rikyrah

    Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein

    Los Angeles County finally finished counting its 3.2 million votes. Obama won by 42 points: 70% to 28%

    • Miranda

      And that 28% were mercy votes.

      • conlakappa

        Old-time Gov. St. Ronnie supporters, Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer, the Hilton family, Chuck Norris, and Susan Lucci.

        • AxelFoley

          Wait, Susan Lucci’s with that crowd?

          • conlakappa

            Yep. From way back.

  • GreenLadyHere

    mieanda – - – - -Woo! Hoo! – - – -FOCUS on OUR BELOVED “GOLDEN GIRL” – —annnnd her – –BLAH DESIGNER – - —YEP! – - – -BLAH! – –:>)

    – –Overnight, Michelle Obama made black designer Laura Smalls a name to know – —

    - – - – -It was Thursday, September 6, 2012 when Laura Smalls received a voicemail from her mother that would ultimately have fashionistas and fashion bloggers alike frenziedly Googling her name.

    “I think Michelle Obama has your dress on!” her mother reportedly gushed, having spotted the FLOTUS in a full-skirted, printed aubergine dress with a bateau neckline as she watched the closing night of the Democratic National Convention.

    Smalls, who wasn’t home at the time, contacted her husband. “Take a picture of the TV!” Fashionista.com reports she told him. “My head was spinning.” Suddenly, Smalls had been catapulted into the mainstream on a very big stage.

    The private designer expressed to theGrio via email of the heady moment, “I am highly honored and truly blessed that our first lady has chosen to wear my designs,” but wouldn’t say more about the process that led to her creating the custom piece for Mrs. Obama, citing “the utmost respect that I have for the Obama administration.”

    In spite of the overnight spike in her brand due to national attention, Smalls is not new to the fashion industry.
    THERE IS MORE. – -:>)

    – - -In 5 – –4 – - -3 – -2 — -1 – –

    – - – - – — -IMMA wait 4 the “THEY ‘ON’T do nuthin’ 4 BLAH FOLKS –HATAS!!”
    - – - -2 – -SPEAK!! – - –HAH!

    ***crickets*** –- WHA’!? — -WHA’!? — -I THOUGHT SO!! – - -HAH!

    • AxelFoley

      Wait, I thought PBO and FLOTUS don’t do anything for black folk? That’s what Tavis an’ nem said.

      • GreenLadyHere

        HEEY AxelFoley. ***BIG HUG*** :>)

        – - –LOL – — – -***fist bump** —-STILL waitin’ 4 a REACTION from da HATAS!! LOL – -

        Good 2 C U – -AxelFoley. :>) – –

    • angee

      I remember her from TV. Her beautiful mother was on that Beverly Johnson model competition show on TVland for women over 35. Her mother use to be an Ebony Fashion Fair model back in the 60s and her daughter Laura encouraged her to enter the competition. Her mom is probably in her 70s but she still got it!
      Her mother mentioned that her daughter was a designer. WOW just wow.

      • GreenLadyHere

        HEEY angee. ***BIG HUG** :>)

        U! JUS’ DO THAT – – -BLACK HISTORY –MOMENT!! – –LOL – –THANK U. :>)

        Jus’ soooo HAPPY 4 her. :>)

        Good 2 C U –angee. :>)

  • Miranda

    rikyrah, angee….found the Samuel L. Jackson quote in a mediate.com column and its not even the best line from full Newsweek article about it…this is:The profile also includes South Carolina’s Democratic Rep. James Clyburn saying that Mrs. Obama would be a “breath of fresh air in D.C.” However, the White House told the publication that the first lady does not have “the temperament” necessary to deal with the “b.s.” in Washington.http://www.mediaite.com/online/samuel-l-jackson-michelle-obama-is-superwoman-who-can-be-the-president/

    • rikyrah

      thank you!!

    • angee

      Thank you. I wanted to bookmark it for later.

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Dayum!

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda — -Ooooooweeeee! – - -***FIGHT! – - -FIGHT!- –OVA HERE!!*** LOL

    – - -Republicans Revert To Pre-Election Tax Plan: Promise To Raise Revenue By Magic —

    – - – -After spending weeks insisting that they don’t need to release additional details for a proposal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, House Republicans publicized a counter offer to President Obama’s plan on Monday. The plan is similar to the vague outline Mitt Romney proposed during the election and offers few specifics as to how Republicans aim to raise the revenue they’ve promised.

    The $2.2 trillion blueprint extends Bush tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthiest two percent, but finds $800 billion in revenue from “tax reform” by limiting or closing unspecified tax loopholes, deductions, and lowering tax rates. Significantly, the higher revenues will be identified by the relevant House committees next year, and will not be included in the immediate down payment. The plan also enacts an array of mandatory and discretionary spending cuts:

    – $600 billion in health savings, including raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.
    – $300 billion from savings in other mandatory programs.
    – $200 billion by applying a less generous measure of inflation to Social Security and Medicare benefits.
    – $300 billion in cuts to agency budgets.

    - – –Update: — The White House rejects the plan:
    — – -“The Republican letter released today does not meet the test of balance.

    – — – —-Update: – –House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has announced that Democrats will file “a discharge petition, to force a vote on extending the middle income tax cut, on Tuesday at noon.” – - –

    THIS — -TRULY –is –A BFD!! — —WOW&1/2!! – - -

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda — – -BWAHAHAHA – - —T(r)AVESTY! – - – -T(r)AVESTY!! – –

    U jus’ CAIN’T become RELEVANT by SAYIN’ the latest — -BUZZ WORDS!! – - -LOL -

    – - -Tavis Smiley: Ceilings, Cliffs and Walls – - -

    —–*Ceiling caving, cliff hanging, walls closing in — sounds like an Indiana Jones movie. Except this is real life. The real lives of millions of Americans.

    First, we hit the debt ceiling. Now we’re hanging over the fiscal cliff. Next, the walls start to close in on millions of Americans, particularly the poor.

    The news media is covering this story everyday as if this is some kind of “cliffhanger” when, in truth, it’s really not. I can tell you right now how this movie ends. Indiana Jones is not going to show up and save the day. Whenever this so-called “grand bargain” is reached, it may be grand for the elite, but not so much for the nation’s poor. I would love to be wrong about this, but signs point to yet another piling on of the poor. Eventually, if not immediately.

    — – —ENUFF!! – - -LOL – - – -I! —JUS’! — CAIN’T!! LOL – — –

    – —-HERE! – - –PICK ONE!! –LOL – - -

    • Jeremy

      This guy needs to shut the hell up ! I can’t recall this clown talking about the poor when Clinton and Bush were in office. And there is no grand bargain and the Dems are not going to sign off on a bad deal.

      • GreenLadyHere

        HEEY Jeremy. ***BIG HUG*** :>)

        – –***fist bump*** U! –AIN’T! – -NEVA! —LIED!! – –

        His little JEALOUS TWISTED MIND MADE THAT one up 2 – -AGAIN – - -B RELEVANT! — – –IT DI–ENT WORK!!

        His RATING di-ent jump ! — -In FACT –he LOST viewers. LOL

        — –***lookin’ 4 the “proverbial fork” 2 “stick in him!”*** – - – -HE’S Sooooo DONE!! LOL

        Good 2 C U Jeremy. :>)

      • Ebogan63

        Thank you Jeremy, I get so sick of these PL idiots and their, grand bargain bullshit, that’s so 2011 and things have changed.

    • AxelFoley

      So that’s where he’s been.

    • Kennymack1971

      Tavis go sit your ass down. Your act is tired.

  • rikyrah

    Marvin Gaye’s Son Begs Lenny Kravitz not to Play his Dad

    December 3, 2012

    Marvin Gaye‘s son and Lenny Kravitz may be childhood friends, but it doesn’t mean the heir wants the rocker playing his father on the big screen.

    In fact, Marvin Gaye III and his family members are against the project altogether, according to TMZ.com.

    Kravitz will play Gaye in the biopic “Sexual Healing” (working title), which is said to follow the legend’s life in the 80s when he battled drug abuse and depression – up until his father shot and killed him in 1984.

    Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2012/12/marvin-gayes-son-begs-lenny-kravitz-not-to-play-his-dad/#e0IBxCxYHDq5938K.99

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda – - –OOps. – –Almost missed Mr. Harry. LOL – - –

    — – -Harry Reid To GOP: ‘Get Serious’ —

    – - –Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) joined the White House and top Democrats in rejecting the GOP’s counter-offer on a fiscal cliff deal, lamenting that it harms the middle class and does not raise tax rates on high incomes.

    He also indicated that an agreement must address the debt limit, which will need to be raised again early next year. “Republicans have made an offer,” he said, “but now it is time for them to get serious about forging a balanced approach.”

    Reid’s full statement late Monday:

    “To protect millionaires, Speaker Boehner’s offer would force middle class families to pay higher taxes. Raising taxes on the middle class is bad policy and flunks the test of balance. To protect the middle class while reducing the deficit, simple math dictates that tax rates must rise on the top two percent of taxpayers next year. The sooner Republicans grasp that reality, the sooner we can avoid the fiscal cliff.
    – - -SNIP – —

    “Republicans have made an offer, but now it is time for them to get serious about forging a balanced approach.”
    THERE IS MORE

    – –HARRY! — HARRY! — -LOL – –KEEP HAMMERIN’!!! :>) – –

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda – - -GOOD AUTO NEWS – - –Woo! Hoo! – - -

    – - – -Chrysler Posts 32nd Consecutive Month of Sales Growth – -

    – — – -Good news — the hype and fearmongering over the so-called “fiscal cliff” is not having an impact on domestic auto sales. In fact November sales reached their highest point since 2007.

    Chrysler, Ford and General Motors saw their November sales rise by 14%, 6.5% and 3.4% respectively.

    Industrywide new vehicle sales are expected to increase 12% from November 2011 as rising consumer confidence and more generous holiday incentives bolstered sales. [...]

    – — –SNIP – - –

    – –Chrysler saw its 32nd consecutive month of sales growth during the month of November. Because, you know, the company imploded just as predicted after they received a federal bailout.

    “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” will likely be remembered as a defining position of the Republican party at this current period in our history. Mitt Romney may have written the column, but it was adopted by the entire party as their official position on rescuing the auto-industry. And they rode that position all the way to electoral defeat. – -[BWAHAHA - - -]
    THERE IS MORE.

    THANK U – -MR. PRESIDENT :>) – —

  • GreenLadyHere

    miranda – — -***TEARS**** annnd ***SMILES*** – — -THESE R a FEW – - -of a project: – –

    — -Whitney’s Life in Pictures [1 - 5] – - -

    – –ENJOY. – - – RIHEP – –Dear DIVA WHITNEY♥. :>)

  • GreenLadyHere
  • Camille

    In what world do ringing endorsements and gushing testimonials by Bibi Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, Henry Kissinger, John McCain etc. constitute anything positive, progressive, peaceful or great for America –or the world for that matter?

    And when as Secretary of State you or your people actually go out of your way to collect and tout these gushing endorsements from these extremely dubious characters together in a specially prepared video as part of a precursor to a potential 2016 presidential run – and as solid proof of your “great ability” and “credibility” and “respect from world leaders”, —–wow, wow, wow!!

    What is most profane, sticks out most and makes this madness unbelievable is not the fact that for so long we have been told that the reason the Secretary of State conveniently stays mum when vicious lies and attacks are lobbed at the President — even attacks about stuff directly related to the agency she oversees and is solely responsible for — is because her position requires that she “stay out of the fray” with regard to anything that could even be remotely construed as “political”;

    But then we have the same Secretary of State prancing around at the behest of Haim Saban – the Clintons very own Sheldon Adelson – while she proudly and crassly touts the effusive endorsement of the vilest of characters who for a long time –and currently– make up the most vocal and most vicious and malicious attackers of the President she serves.

    And nobody blinks an eye???

    I take great comfort in the fact that at the end of the day it will all be for naught.

    Clearly the idea that after all this time, Hillary Clinton and her handlers still fail to get or appreciate even the most basic sense of not just what’s decent and right, but are so caught up in their unhealthily obsessive needs, so arrogant, short-sighted, vindictive, opportunistic and tone deaf they actually think that trotting out Netanyahu, McCain etc. slam in the middle of their very public, unprovoked and raucous one-sided personal wars against President Obama, is somehow a good idea or “politically savvy”, should seriously give every smart, thinking person great pause.

    They have not learnt a damn thing. Not one darned thing. And this is who we are now yet again being force-fed the meme of being the “most qualified” and “most prepared to be president”. You just can’t make this shit up!

    But they are about to get their feelings very, very hurt.

    Hurry Karma.

    p.s-

    When I wrote a couple of weeks ago that they weren’t really expecting President Obama to win but in the last weeks hedged their bets all the same so they could potentially take credit and make demands of him and Michelle, I know some of my family here thought I was being harsh and cynical. This past Sunday, Bill Clinton invited Terry Macaulife along to “play golf” with President Obama. LOL.

    Let me be clear, if these people persist with their shenanigans and attempts at strong-arming the President, they’ll not only be the losers for it, they’ll completely destroy whatever carefully recreated and managed but largely fragile image-repair and re-invention President Obama essentially helped facilitate after they thoroughly disgraced and exposed themselves in their crass and vicious displays of desperation in 2008.

    But for now, at this very defining moment, they’re once again in yet another bout of desperation, dancing dangerously on the edge.

    • rikyrah

      bless you Camille