GOP's Bogus "Pledge to America" doesn't pass 8th grade arithmetic

The GOP Pledge: increase the deficit by trillions of dollars and take health-care insurance away from tens of millions of people.

The party of NO becomes the party of nonsense. It must be difficult for any thinking person to be a Republican these days.

As House GOP leader John Boehner said, "We're not going to be any different than what we've been." That's reassuring.

More.... here and here.

In essence, what they [the GOP] say is, “Deficits are a terrible thing. Let’s make them much bigger.” The document repeatedly condemns federal debt — 16 times, by my count. But the main substantive policy proposal is to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, which independent estimates say would add about $3.7 trillion to the debt over the next decade — about $700 billion more than the Obama administration’s tax proposals.

-- Paul Krugman, award winning economist

UPDATE:
GOP pledge fails the Fact Check.

Palin's New Yorker cover and latest gaffe

The New Yorker Magazine cover mocks Palin's foreign policy experience.

The New Yorker is published weekly, has a circulation of over 1 million, and an 88 year history.

Palin's latest gaffe as reported Politico, involves yet to be released parts of the Couric interview: when asked to discuss a Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade ... she could not name a single one.



Washington Post's Howard Kurts reports:

And the worst may be yet to come for Palin; sources say CBS has two more responses on tape that will likely prove embarrassing.

While some journalists say privately they are censoring their comments about Palin to avoid looking like they're piling on, pundits on the right are jumping ship. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough says Palin "just seems out of her league." National Review Editor Rich Lowry called her performance "dreadful." Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher described the interview as a "train wreck." Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker urged Palin to quit the race, saying: "If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."

Conservative media: "McCain loses his head"..."behaving like a flustered rookie"..."unpresidential"

McCain flails

Conservative media highlight the temperament and ineptitude of John McCain.

Wall Street Journal: "John McCain has made it clear this week he doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street...In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution."

George Will (Washington Post): "...McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. ...McCain's smear -- that Cox "betrayed the public's trust" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the public's trust," two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people."

McCain is dumb, reactionary and simple. As George Will pointed out, inexperience can be corrected, "a dismaying temperament" can not.

GOP Senator: Palin's explanations of her foreign policy credentials are "insulting to the American people"

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who has been to Iraq six times, commented on Palin's readiness to assume the VP spot in an interview with the Omaha World Herald:

“I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia.' That kind of thing is insulting to the American people. ... She doesn’t have any foreign policy credentials. You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don’t know what you can say. You can’t say anything.”

That about sums it up, and to hear it from a Republican Senator, a distinguished Vietnam vet. We knew McCain's pick of Palin was all about politics and not about qualifications. Even Karl Rove has said she is not the most qualified candidate.

Listen to Palin sum up her credentials and specific skills on national security … unscripted at her first Town Hall meeting . She doesn’t really answer the question because she doesn’t have any skills or experience, other to say “I’ll be ready”. She tries to belittle the person asking the question by suggesting the question is some sort of a “stump the candidate” game. She says this right at the end of the meeting so there can be no further discussion. Pathetic! This is no game.

The Palin effect is all downhill from here for McSame.

Article: Sarah Quaylin: Actually, Dan Quayle is looking pretty good right now

McCain interview with Spanish Radio: McCain doesn't know who the Prime Minister of Spain is

John McCain either doesn't know who the Prime Minister of Spain is, thinks Spain is a country in Latin America, or possibly both. I knew yesterday was a bad day for the old man, but I guess it was even worse that I thought. Yesterday John McCain was interviewed on the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio and in the interview, McCain appeared not to know who the Prime Minister of Spain was and assumed he was some anti-American leftist leader from South America.

TPM:

After the interviewer presses him a couple times on the point and tries to focus him on the fact that Prime Minister Zapatero isn't from Mexico and isn't a drug lord, McCain comes back at her saying, "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

Then there's a moment of awkward pause before she says. "But what about Europe? I'm talking about the President of Spain."

McCain: "What about me, what?

Interviewer: "Are you willing to meet with him if you're elected president?"

McCain: "I am wiling to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for humans rights, democracy and freedom. And I will stand up to those who do not."

At this point, the interviewer gets tongue-tied presumably because she can't get over McCain not knowing what Spain is.

Well, so much for our NATO allies!!

Republicans obstruct vote to lower gas prices

House Republican leaders pressured 13 of their members to switch their vote from “yes” to “no” during Wednesday's vote on the Commodity Markets and Transparency Act (H.R. 6604), a bill designed to rein in oil profiteers. Thanks to these strong arm tactics and weak members, the bill to lower gasoline prices by controlling profiteers failed by a vote of 276-151, falling ten votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for passage under the suspension of the House rules.

Once again, the GOP leadership sided with oil profiteers and used their power to help keep oil prices and profits high, while hurting the average American.

Then they have the balls to pull yesterday's stunt and blame the Democrats. What is wrong with these people? Why are some people so ill informed that they fall for such a stunt, even celebrate it? Are they too stupid to remember the Bush energy policies for the past 8 years that put us in this situation? Can't they remember the last Republican Congress - the 109th "Do Nothing" Congress that met less time in session, failed to pass budget resolutions and appropriations bills, provided no serious oversight of the disaster in Iraq, no major substantive policy achievements, and boasted 18 corrupt Republicans that were investigated/convicted or indicted (including 2 that went to the slammer: Ney and Cunningham)?

John McCain proved 3 times last week that he is dumb about war.

Old soldiers never die, they get young soldiers killed

McCain said for the third time in two days, that Iran, a Shi’ite stronghold was training al Qaeda a militant Sunni organization. This complete misunderstanding was more than a mere gaffe. Fox News' Brit Hume called McCain's confusion a "senior moment". Perhaps pushing this misconception will give McCain the groundwork as a possible future president to, in his words sung to the Beach Boys song... "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran".

Of course Gen. Petraeus refuted this claim of an Iran / al Qaeda link on CNN:

"As you know the flow of foreign fighters and suicide bombers that help out al Qaeda typically is through Syria." - Gen. David Petraeus.

Unwittingly, with Bushies in tow, GW has done more to strengthen al Qaeda than they could have ever accomplished on their own - FACT. Ahjmadinejad smooches Iraqi leaders and our enemies have become united. Are the Bushies too oblivious to see this?

McCain is in total agreement now with bin Laden and al Qaeda. McCain wants to continue the Bush "stay the course" doctrine - playing right into the hands of the enemy. Al Qaeda has us exactly where they want us, waging an expensive unilateral war, depleting our military in a war where there is no defense against suicide bombers, where our economy is being sucked dry slowly and surely while feeding the hate for America by our presence in Iraq - the best recruiting campaign that al Qaeda could hope for. That's what we can expect from John McCain.

Speaking of the fact that McCain clearly doesn't understand the war we're in, as usual Bill Maher, nailed it:

"But it’s not just a ‘gaffe,’ it’s what McCain really thinks. And therein lies the paradox of this campaign: McCain’s strength is really his weakness. He’s a warrior who’s dumb about war. Whoever read The Art of War, chapter three of The Art of War says, “Know thy enemy.” And John McCain plainly doesn’t. He thinks the solution is our presence in the Middle East. No, the problem is our presence in the Middle East. ... he’s exactly the same as Bush on the war. They both don’t get the same thing. As long as we’re setting up shop in the heart of the Arab world, we’re not keeping America safer. ... Winning the War on Terror comes down to this: what will make us safer from pissed off Arab teenagers who are willing to die? There are a number of good answers to that question, but occupying their land for the next 100 years is not one of them."

Do we really want someone who has "senior moments" and is dumb about war with his finger on the trigger? Just a reminder here, we could be hiring 11,000 new border patrol guards for a year to protect this country from illegals with the amount that is spend in Iraq EVERY DAY - now nearly a half billion ($435 million / day).

A vote for McCain is a vote for GW Bush, more war, and a continually worsening economy.

Bad news for Huckabee

Consider these two stories, then consider Huckabee's recent rise in the polls. Pretty pathetic if this is the GOP's man:

TP

Huckabee Clueless On Iran NIE: ‘No,’ Never Heard Of It

The Politico’s David Paul Kuhn asked former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) what he thought of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. Huckabee’s response? Hasn’t heard of it:

and....

TP

“Confidential Arkansas state government records, including letters from these women, obtained by the Huffington Post,” reveal that, as governor, Mike Huckabee pushed for the release of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond despite being warned that the convict would strike again. After being released, Dumond raped and murdered Carol Sue Shields.

Check this out. Huckabee tries to blame Bill Clinton and the Dems for his actions!!

Remember the GOP mantra: "Admit nothing. Deny everything. Blame someone else."