A Typical Republican Budget (in Minnesota)

As the stimulus bill is being fought over in the Congress of the United States, and as the Repugnicans fight to get provisions which would truly help people removed, and as the Repugnicans continue to insist that stimulus means reducing taxes on the rich, similar budgetary chicanery is going on elsewhere, especially in states unfortunate enough to be stuck with a Repugnican governor.

Consider Minnesota. Down through the years, Minnesota has been deemed one of the more enlightened, progressive states. I mean what other state has produced a Garrison Keilor or an Al Franken? Well, Missouri produced Mark Twain and Illinois produced Carl Sandburg...but, you know what I mean!

The governor of Minnesota is a christianist wingnut by name of Tim Pawlenty who lives the typical Repugnican ideology which holds as a matter of principle that it's better to have principles than people with jobs.

So, a couple of weeks ago, the Minnesota gov unwrapped his 2010-11 budget proposal. You know already what's coming:

Yup.

Tax cuts for the rich (corporations).

Oh, this sounds good: Increased funding for K-12 education.

Uh, oh. Steep reductions in money for higher education, local government aid and health and human services.

More bad news: "adults without children would no longer be eligible for state health insurance programs, while coverage for adults with kids would be limited to those earning less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($21,200 for a family of four). It's estimated that 84,000 Minnesotans would lose their health insurance under the proposal."

And more bad news. The increase in K-12 spending comes with a mandate that all school districts have to implement a "compensation system that bases teacher salaries on student performance." [That doesn't work, by the way; and is grossly unfair in every respect; and no teacher worth his/her salt would consider such a stupid proposal!]

It also seems to me that no politician should be able to vote to reduce someone's health insurance without taking a comparable cut himself or herself. And if a politician voted to cut off completely someone's health insurance, then he/she should lose their health insurance also. Seems only fair.


More at The Minnesota Independent, here.

Arne Carlson, former gov of Minnesota for Obama

The former governor of Minnesota, a "moderate" Republican by name of Arne Carlson, has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

Carlson based his decision on Obama's stance with regard to the war in Iraq, the economy, and the environment. Carlson was also put-off by recent comments suggesting Obama and other U.S. politicians may be "anti-American."

"He [Obama]", said Carlson, "has laid out for this nation a vision for a national purpose."

It is inspiring to see that there are a few Republicans left who put the national interest above the Party and what appears to be the Republican Party's main goal of obtaining and maintaining power to serve the interests of the high and the mighty.

Michelle Bachmann - Minnesota moron

Michelle Bachmann is a disgrace, and those Minnesotans who voted for her should hide their heads in a collective gesture of guilt and shame and then beg the people in Minnesota and all other Americans for forgive them for electing this wingnut to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a previous post, we mentioned, among other things, Bachmann's fundamentalist Christian views, which she promotes as often as she gets a mike in her hand and her "palling around" with an extremist pastor, one Mac Hammond, who is under investigation by the IRS for misusing his church's funds.

Bachmann is back in the news again, not because of her belief that global warming is a hoax, or because she thinks god got her elected to the House of Reps, or because she thought John McCain was too liberal, or because she doesn't believe in evolution, or because god is on her side, but because she is incredibly stupid and accepted an invite to appear on Hardball with Chris Matthews.

Bachmann derives from the same mold as Sarah Palin, but, as unbelievable as it sounds, she may be even more stupid than Palin.

That stupidity became vividly and embarrassingly evident when Bachmann, on camera, smeared Barack Obama and other members of the United States Congress.

Bachmann accused Barack Obama of being "anti-American." She said, "I'm very concerneed that he may have anti-American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are. That's why Joe the plumber has figured so highly in the last few days."

Huh?

Like Palin, Bachmann is incoherent.

"In his book," claimed Bachmann, "Barack Obama had pointed to Jeremiah Wright as one of his mentors and also Father Pfleger as one of his mentors. Two of the three mentors are Father Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright. Now, these are very strange, anti-American mentors."

Bachmann wasn't done with her smearing, so she continued: "Barack Obama has been associating with anti-Americans, by and large -- the people who are radical leftists. That's the real question about Barack Obama."

She also said that it was fair to say that Obama "palled" around with terrorists.

Then she accused several members of Congress of having an "anti-American nature." When Matthews asked to name some of them, she couldn't or wouldn't. Nevertheless, she thought it would be a great idea if the anti-American members of Congress were investigated for the anti-American views.


Takes one right back to the good old days of Joe McCarthy! Bachmann is a freak of nature, who lives in a fantasy world derived from false images of the 1950's.

The real problem, though, is that's she's just as mean and nasty as Sarah Palin. And, like Palin, her meanness and nastiness is, in the eyes of many flummoxed and bamboozled fundamentalist Christians, cleansed and legitimized because she's been "saved," or "born again" and loves Jesus and prays and goes to church, and wears the flag on her sleeve, and just knows what god wants for America.

I guess when you really love Jesus, anything goes!

In fact, you can even take credit for projects you voted against! Click here.

Barf!