Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[General_Failure]

From flames to fiery opposition, protests rock Ukraine, Venezuela, Thailand

tl:dr version

The people of Ukraine, Venezuela, and Thailand want Presidents (or Thailand's Prime Minister) and for things to suck less. The governments want none of that and to tear up protester asses.

[Rome]

shtein's getting real in Venezuela.   Just goes to show you that the harder the gubment puts its thumb down the more assured it will be overthrown with or without violence.

[ice grillin you]

nice....i just discussed going there this summer

[Seabiscuit36]

With your hatred of the USA USA USA, you would have fit in just fine.

[General_Failure]

You should go now and beat the rush while tickets are cheap.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President is trying to get to Russia with all his guards and the public have had their first look at his recently built mansion with exotic petting zoo. They'd like to know where he got the money to build a multi-million dollar compound on his salary, and also maybe hang him.

[Rome]

What the Stimulus Accomplished

By THE NYT EDITORIAL BOARD FEB. 22, 2014

Of all the myths and falsehoods that Republicans have spread about President Obama, the most pernicious and long-lasting is that the $832 billion stimulus package did not work. Since 2009, Republican lawmakers have inextricably linked the words "failed" and "stimulus," and last week, five years after passage of the Recovery Act, they dusted off their old playbook again.

"The 'stimulus' has turned out to be a classic case of big promises and big spending with little results," wrote Speaker John Boehner. "Five years and hundreds of billions of dollars later, millions of families are still asking, 'where are the jobs?' "

The stimulus could have done more good had it been bigger and more carefully constructed. But put simply, it prevented a second recession that could have turned into a depression. It created or saved an average of 1.6 million jobs a year for four years. (There are the jobs, Mr. Boehner.) It raised the nation's economic output by 2 to 3 percent from 2009 to 2011. It prevented a significant increase in poverty — without it, 5.3 million additional people would have become poor in 2010.

And yet Republicans were successful in discrediting the very idea that federal spending can boost the economy and raise employment. They made the argument that the stimulus was a failure not just to ensure that Mr. Obama would get no credit for the recovery that did occur, but to justify their obstruction of all further attempts at stimulus.

So the American Jobs Act was killed, and so was the infrastructure bank and any number of other spending proposals that might have helped the country. The president's plan to spend another $56 billion on job training, education and energy efficiency, to be unveiled in his budget next month, will almost certainly suffer a similar fate.

This may be the singular tragedy of the Obama administration. Five years later, it is clear to all fair-minded economists that the stimulus did work, and that it did enormous good for the economy and for tens of millions of people. But because it fell short of its goals, and was roundly ridiculed by Republicans and inadequately defended by Democrats, who should have trumpeted its success, the president's stimulus plan is now widely considered a stumble.

This enabled Republicans to champion an austerity policy that produced deep reductions in discretionary spending, undoing many of the gains begun in 2009. The result has been a post-stimulus recovery that remains weak and struggling, undermining an economic legacy that should be seen as a remarkable accomplishment.

The legacy of that policy, detailed by the White House last week in its final report on the effects of the stimulus, affects virtually every American who drives, uses mass transit, or drinks water. It improved 42,000 miles of road, fixed or replaced 2,700 bridges, and bought more than 12,000 transit vehicles. It cleaned up water supplies, created the school reforms of the Race to the Top program, and greatly expanded the use of renewable energy and broadband Internet service.

It's probably too late for the White House to persuade skeptics about its program, but its assessment echoes the views of many independent economists and the independent Congressional Budget Office. "The Recovery Act was not a failed program," the C.B.O.'s director, Douglas Elmendorf, told annoyed Republican lawmakers in 2012. "Our position is that it created higher output and employment than would have occurred without it."

Government spending worked, helping millions of people who never realized it. And it can work again, whenever lawmakers agree that putting people to work is more important than winning ideological fights.

The ironic thing is it helped the very people who hate government and Obama the most.

[ice grillin you]

The ironic thing is it helped the very people who hate government and Obama the most.

isnt that always the case romey....they hate the skin not the prez

[Rome]

Nugent's latest is shockingly awful.  I mean calling the POTUS a subhuman mongrel?  How hasn't every Republican come out and blasted that sort of garbage?   

[ice grillin you]

how is ted nugent one of your point people....thats all that needs to be said about the party

[Rome]

I simply cannot understand why they don't appeal to simple human decency in their candidates.   When someone says shtein like that it's guaranteed to turn off anyone who is a reasonable person.  Sure, we all say stupid shtein and I certainly did when Bush & Cheney were dragging the country to the edge of the abyss, but whatever happened to simply being respectful and courteous to your opponents?   

How does the guy call it "tough language" instead of vile and completely disgusting language?  He's a candidate for public office and he should obliterate that kind of talk even if his "base" agrees with it (which they do).

I'm just depressed reading this sort of crap.  It's 2014, for God's sake.

[ice grillin you]

pointing out the year or time we are in is worthless....because they are literally going backwards to the dark ages....and the worst part is that its not one or two nutcases....its the base of their friggin party

perfect example is this new young earth movement they have going on....its absolute insanity

[ice grillin you]

[MDS]

i knew white people were gonna worked up that a black man was in power, but i didnt think it would be like this

literally all of the vitriol toward barry stems from the fact that hes black. all of it.

[ice grillin you]

thats it....thats the list

[PhillyPhreak54]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/lobbyist-drafts-bill-ban-gay-players-michael-sam-223224821--nfl.html;_ylt=AwrTWVWTyAtTnDsAnxdNbK5

Yeahhhh ok Mr Lobbyist guy