Issue #2

August 5^th, 2011

WINNING
Because this point won't be made by the corrupt and rotten media (too truthy): Every country that's tried austerity has had their economy get worse. The more harsh the austerity, the worse that country has fared. CNBC analysts blamed the market troubles on a European economy that looks like it's going to fall off another cliff, and Europe is largely the poster child for the kind of austerity we just enacted. The few countries that practiced stimulus all fared better, with the United States near the top in spending and near the top in recovery metrics, really only trailing Germany because of a good export market. So naturally the GOP forced Congress to reverse course and enact serious austerity measures. Within 48 hours, the Dow crashed and a NYT/CBS News poll finds the the highest disapproval of Congress in history, at 82%. This, after GOP leader Speaker John Boehner bragged that his party got 98% of what it wanted from the debt ceiling deal.

I Fire Back Once And This Contaminated Little Maggot Can't Handle My Power And Can't Handle The Truth
The aforementioned NYT/CBS Poll found that 44% of Americans blame the deficit on George W. Bush. Only 15% blame President Obama. 43% say the Tea Party has too much influence in Washington, up 27% from April. (h/t Sam Stein, Dave Weigl)

I'm Tired Of Pretending I'm Not A Total Bitchin' Rock Star From Mars.
Don't fall into the media narrative that everyone in Washington is equally hated. Here are some leadership breakouts (approval ratings):

President Barack Obama: 48-47

House
John Boehner: 30-57
Nancy Pelosi: 35-52

Senate
Mitch McConnell: 27-32 (CNN/ORC)
Harry Reid: 29-37

Congressional GOP: 25-66 (Pew)
Congressional Dems: 30-60 (Pew)

Dem job approval over debt ceiling: 31-58
GOP job approval over debt ceiling: 21-71

And general poll results, almost all of which are either bad for Republicans, or worse for Republicans than Dems...

Who people trust to make the right decisions about the economy:
Obama: 47%
Congressional GOP: 33%

Should be the higher priority:
Cutting spending: 26%
Creating jobs: 63%

What should have the debt ceiling deal been made of:
Cuts and taxes: 50%
Cuts only: 44%

Was the debt fight about doing what's best for the country, or political games:
Best for country: 14%
Games: 82%

Remember, this is the fight where Speaker Boehner said the GOP got 98% of what it wanted.

Who to blame for the debt ceiling being difficult:
Obama + Democrats: 29%
Republicans: 47%

Did the GOP compromise too much, too little, or just right:
Just right: 26%
Too much: 15%
Too little: 52%

Increase taxes to deal with budget deficit:
Increase: 63%
Don't increase: 34%

Remember, the Republican Party nearly unanimously has pledged to never raise taxes. Ever. GOP leadership is already swearing up and down that they won't nominate anyone to the Super Congress commission that's willing to raise taxes.

Tea Party favorables:
Favorable: 20%
Unfavorable: 40%

Tea Party influence:
Too much: 43%
Too little: 17%
Just right: 25%

"Too much" is an all-time high for the question, up from 27% four months ago. Shorter version of all this poll data: Dems are hurting, but no matter how much the public hates Democrats, they really hate the Tea Party and GOP.

Great. I Was Already Planning On Staying 100 Parsecs Away From Her.
The panel that replaced Glenn Beck has been reliable entertainment, and yesterday was no exception. One panel member admitted that FNC goes easy on The Quitter because she works for FNC: "..I say something bad and I see her in the hallway I feel really awkward and wrong so I just kind of say, 'That was a good job' and move on." Of course it wouldn't matter if Palin wasn't on the FNC payroll, they'd go easy on her because she's a Republican and FNC is a PR arm of the Republican Party. Besides being corrupt, they're also craven.

I'm Sorry, Man, But I've Got Magic. I've Got Poetry In My Fingertips.
Former Nixon/Ford/Reagan adviser, two-time GOP presidential candidate, and Nazi apologist Pat Buchanan is simultaneously bummed over the end of "White America" and "the death of Christian America". He writes in his new book that the George Wallace movement had a "sense that they were are losing their country .. and they are right".

I'm Dealing With Fools And Trolls And Soft Targets. It's Just Strafing Runs In My Underwear Before My First Cup Of Coffee. I Don't Have Time For These Clowns.
Found this while surfing around for unrelated materials. Apparently, even the Tea Party is too far to the right for the Ku Klux Klan. As the author asked aid, "when even the KKK tries to distance itself from your actions..."

Nate Tweets
@fivethirtyeight: It can't be far from wrong to call both presidency and House control a toss-up right now. (Not sure about the Senate.)
@fivethirtyeight: A 14% approval rating for Congress corresponds to 90-100 House members losing seats (counting primaries, retirements). bit.ly/qIZJ6C

Life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them. - Charlie Sheen