Republican's Debt Deal Signals A Shrinking Economy And More Uncertainty - Dow Dives

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Just days after the Tea Party led-GOP authored a deal cutting trillions of dollars in active capital out of the U.S economy, the DOW responds with a a steep dive.

JSonline Stock market plunges as economic concerns deepen:
Stocks plunged Thursday in a broad sell-off fueled by worries about a weakening U.S. economy and concern that Europe's debt troubles may spread.

It was the worst day in financial markets since the crisis of 2008-'09.

The Nasdaq was down 5% on the day and the S&P 500 wasn't far behind, posting a loss around 4.75%. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 500 points - more than 4%.

"It's giving the appearance that the stock market is finally realizing that the economy is in a very slow growth mode," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co.

Once the profit-takers clean up and count their booty, I'm sure the market will rebound as usual for a slow and steady (market) recovery. It always does, it has to in order to set up for the next wave of profit-taking.

Constitutional Amendment Proposed To Repeal Partisan Election County Offices

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2011 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION 51

This constitutional amendment, proposed to the 2011 legislature on first consideration, makes elections for the office of district attorney, sheriff, register of deeds, county clerk, treasurer, surveyor, coroner, and clerk of circuit court nonpartisan and changes the term of office to begin on the first Monday in June.

Press Release Excerpt:
I could never understand why these positions were partisan in the first place,” Spanbauer explained. “As I asked my colleagues, is there really a Republican way to carry out the register of deeds’ duties, or a Democratic approach to being clerk of courts? With regard to sheriffs and district attorneys, their top priority should be public safety – they shouldn’t have to be distracted by party politics.”

Well, at least they are not trying to wrest the offices away from the ballot box, but I have a feeling that's not too far away.

Personally speaking, excluding the misinformation publishing campaign and repeated attacks against one county office holder from the Janesville Gazette newspaper, Rock County has been blessed with very low-key partisanship undertones between candidates during county office elections. Of course no constitutional amendment can stop people from asking where a candidate might stand on some political issues that are relevant to the office or stop individuals and interest groups from advocating for a candidate for non-partisan office, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court well demonstrates.

Read Resolution here.

Norquist: States like Wisconsin Cut Spending and Did Not Raise Taxes

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During a roundtable with George Will and Paul Krugman, the radioactive Grover Norquist rattled off a GOP party talking point claiming that states with Republican governors like New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, etc., have cut spending and not raised taxes. Paul Krugman said, "it's just not true." Krugman's right. Two recent mainstream media reports on Wisconsin alone show that Scott Walker's budget increased spending by $1.1 billion while property taxes are projected to rise an average of 2.6% this year with additional increases expected in each of the following years. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

As far as the debt ceiling deal goes, Krugman describes a shrinking national economy with the country now headed into a lost decade and looking to 90's Japan as an economic role model. With no light at the end of the tunnel and long-term unemployment expected, Krugman predicts the wrong-headed Republican-based debt deal will make things only worse.

Krugman's Debt ceiling Summary Begins at 2:60
Norquist's False statements at 6:30

Watch for it:

Rip Rap

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More Right-Wing Zombigots (Def.#2) Moving In to Defend Koch's Fitzwalkerstan

RD Magazine Excerpt:

Ralph Reed’s Group Goes after “Union Thugs” in Wisconsin
[...] join the fight with 100 plus FFC activists who will be going door-to-door encouraging the Badger State to vote for candidates who share our values of lower taxes, less government, faith, and who will stand up to union thugs who support Obama’s tax and spend solutions. We need your financial support to make our Wisconsin get-out-the-vote program work.

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-backed group that backed the election of Scott Walker and his anti-union agenda, co-founded the political consulting firm Century Strategies with Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed.

Amazing how all of these organizations sprout from one cancerous tumor.

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GOP Representative Refers to Obama as Tar Baby

Think Progress Excerpt:
Appearing on the Caplis and Silverman radio show last Friday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said, “Now I don’t even want to have to be associated with [Obama], it’s like touching a tar baby and you’re stuck, you’re part of the problem now. You can’t get away.”

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Americans For Prosperity: Running the elections like they'd run a Business - Fraudulently

The GOP's Koch machine was caught sending absentee ballots to Democrats in at least two Wisconsin state Senate recall districts with instructions to return the paperwork days after the election is over.

The fliers, obtained by POLITICO, ask solidly Democratic voters to return ballots for the Aug. 9 election to the city clerk "before Aug. 11."

Below: Image from flier

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Is This Emblematic of Walker's Wisconsin?

a ...WARZONE?

LaCrosse Tribune Photo Slide

Are we this far under siege? According to a report by the LaCrosse Tribune, a fire in downtown LaCrosse destroyed downtown buildings Saturday, claiming six apartments, a warehouse and the local headquarters of a political organizing group just 10 days before an election.

LaCrosse Tribune Excerpt:
The La Crosse headquarters for We Are Wisconsin, a left-leaning political action committee, was a total loss, said group spokesman Kelly Steele.

Thank goodness that no one was seriously injured, but several firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.

An investigation for the cause of the fire is under way.

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Smart ALEC: How Corporations Are Writing State Laws

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Atlas Shrugged Conservative Pam Geller Devalues Victims of Breivik’s Terror On Skin Color

Think Progress Excerpt:
To get her point across, Geller posts a picture of the youth camp children Breivik targeted. The picture was taken on the Utøya island camp about 24 hours before Breivik killed over 30 children, so it is likely Geller is mocking many of the victims. Under the picture, Geller writes: “Note the faces which are more MIddle [sic] Eastern or mixed than pure Norwegian.”

Think Progress noted that Geller deleted the inflammatory race mixing line from her post. However a screenshot was saved here.

Janesville School Taxes going up 7.6% under Walker Budget

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After increasing spending by $1.1 billion over previous Doyle budgets while promising to cut taxes, Republican assembly representative Joe Knilans of Janesville admits Walker's budget can’t help Janesville taxpayers facing a school-tax increase as high as 7.6 percent.

JG Excerpt:
“I understand the school board is in a tight situation, here, but the state budget was in a tight situation, too,” Knilans said when asked whether there’s something lawmakers can do now to help districts such as Janesville.

Cuts But No Revenue. Was Obama Ever Not a Sell-Out?

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Why can't they just get a clean one-page debt ceiling hike like they did seven times during the deficit-spending Bush era?

Voice of America Excerpt:
He said that panel will consider all options, including tax increases and cuts to social welfare programs like Medicare. [...] The president called the proposal a compromise that lets the country avoid default while making a serious down payment on deficit reduction.

Yeah right. In December, Obama called extending the Bush tax cuts in exchange for unemployment compensation, both deficit generators, a necessary compromise. Now he's throwing Social Security and Medicare under a bus as another necessary compromise for the nation to avoid default? I'm not buying it anymore. And they're going to consider tax increases later? Who are they trying to kid?

Republicans Already Plotting To Bind The Debt Reduction Committee

Even so, it appears Boehner is already pushing the goal posts. A bipartisan debt reduction committee established by the proposal is charged with looking for ways to reduce the deficit by either cutting spending or increasing revenue. But Boehner put out a statement tonight titled, “Two Step Approach To Hold President Obama Accountable,” saying Republicans intend to bind the commitee with accounting rules to “effectively mak[e] it impossible for Joint Committee to increase taxes.” Obama said in his address that he would push for a “balanced approach” on the committee.

Progressive Co-Chair Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, "This deal is a cure as bad as the disease. I reject it, and the American people reject it." Read More Here.

Fire Dog Lake - On Grijalva Statement Opposing the Bill He Voted For Yesterday When it was Reid's

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman calls the deal a "catastrophe on multiple levels."

The White House, on the other hand, calls it "A Win for the Economy and Budget Discipline."

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argues "the radical right has now won a huge tactical and strategic victory."

Debt madness was always about killing Social security

Janesville Newspaper Rips Through Unions With Anonymity

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For the past few weeks, the politically active Janesville Gazette has ramped up the usual highly caustic anti-union anti-teacher statements in their "professionally vetted" anonymous Sound Off newspaper columns. The recent upsurge in the newspaper's union centered articles and anonymous comments seems to draw on their reckless conservative assumptions that because the media's focus have become somewhat displaced by much larger and pressing issues than unions in the upcoming Wisconsin recall elections, they figure now is a good time to turn full attention back on them and re-energize their hardened conservative base with recycled anti-union propaganda.

Sorry, the newspaper's "anonymous" columns are not published online.

Corp Hack Ron Johnson Pegging Work and Health Safety to Unemployment Levels

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Ron Johnson must of had his thinking cap ironed and tightly screwed on when he devised this highly poisonous hyper-partisan piece of class war legislation tying health and safety regulations to unemployment rates, and high unemployment rates to President Obama. This ought to catapult the senator's fear-mongering politics and lamebrain reputation right up there with the vacant Sarah Palin and empty-suited Paul Ryan.

Ron Johnson Press Release Excerpt:
Today Senator Ron Johnson (WI) introduced S. 1438, the Regulation Moratorium and Job Preservation Act. The bill calls for a moratorium on burdensome federal regulations until the national unemployment rate falls to 7.7 percent – below where it was when President Obama was sworn into office.

“With unemployment at 9.2 percent, and employers nationwide fearful about the Obama agenda, regulators should take a pause.

What this screaming imbecile does is tell businesses that if they start hiring, those dreaded government regulators that they supposedly claim stifles profits will come back poking around and boobytrap your business. Talk about an incentive.

Act Excerpt:
SEC. 3. SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTIONS.
8 (a) IN GENERAL.— No agency may take any significant regulatory action, until the Bureau of Labor Statistics average of monthly unemployment rates for any quarter beginning after the date of enactment of this Act is equal to or less than 7.7 percent.

Keep unemployment high and you will be rewarded. Stay fearful of Obama's agenda for driving high unemployment AND stay fearful of Obama's government regulators IF you make any attempt to bring unemployment down. Whatever you do, you don't want to do anything that could help re-elect that Kenyan Muslim Socialist back into the White House, is the general message.

Act Excerpt:

(e) REASONABLE ATTORNEY FEES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.
The court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a substantially prevailing small business in any civil action arising under this Act. A party qualifies as substantially prevailing even without obtaining a final judgment in its favor if the agency changes its position as a result of the civil action.

Here, Johnson takes this even further by legislating taxpayer dollars to cover any damages that may arise from his dysfunctional legislation, but only for the business regardless of judgment. No sympathy for the victim of corporate greed from this fine, fine senator.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Democurmudgeon asks What is wrong with this guy?