Tag Archives: Rush Limbaugh

A few days ago, I was stuck in the car for a long drive. Because of the complete absence of progressive talk from Orlando’s airwaves, I had no real choice but to listen to the nasal maundering of Mark Levin on the radio. Levin was very upset about the federal deficit.

Interestingly, Levin was a high-level appointee in the Reagan Administration. Dick Cheney, who was Reagan’s Defense Secretary and later the Vice President, said 10 years ago that “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”

I must concede that it is rather difficult to reconcile the conflicting statements of these two gentlemen, Messrs. Levin and Cheney. Evidently, they believe deficits are a terrible tragedy when a Democrat is President, and a wonderful gift when a Republican is President.

There has got to be a more objective standard than that.

Here’s one: the federal deficit is a problem when long-term interest rates are high, and not much of a problem when long-term interest rates are low. The Federal Reserve dictates short-term interest rates, but long-term rates still are, pretty much, set by the market, in its usual ruthless fashion. (Which is why James Carville said that after he dies, he “want[s] to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.”)

When long-term interest rates are high, a federal deficit competes against and “crowds out” private borrowing and investment. When long-term interest rates are low, the federal deficit is not taking away from borrowing by the private sector. On the contrary, the federal deficit is acting as a needed boost to aggregate demand in the economy, an action also known as “fiscal policy.” When the economy is slack, every dollar of reduction in federal spending takes three or four dollars off of our gross national product.

So, by that test, where are we? Well, as I explained last week, long-term U.S. interest rates are at their lowest in history. So what does that tell you about the deficit?

Sorry – I didn’t mention that there was going to be a quiz.

When Ronald Reagan was President, long-term interest rates sometimes exceeded 15% – ten times as high as long-term interest rates today. The market was screaming at the top of its lungs that the Reagan deficit was too high. And today? Silence.

Look around the world. The ten-year note in Greece yields a little less than 30%. Pakistan, 13%. Portugal and Venezuela, 12%. In those countries, the bond market is shouting, “Cut that out!”

Not here.

Thanks to all the deficit-mongering by Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Fox “News,” etc., a lot of Americans are scared by the federal deficit. The advice from Democratic pollsters is to go along with this hand-wringing. But there is an alternative: Explain to the American people when a federal deficit is bad, and when it is not.

Like I just did.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell the GOP: Trayvon Martin was racially profiled

03/29/2012 Nativegrl77

Last Friday, President Obama reminded the country how personal Trayvon Martin’s death feels to any parent of a Black child. He said, “You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”¹

There is no doubt that Trayvon — a 17-year-old boy armed only with Skittles and iced tea — was considered “suspicious” and subsequently killed because of the color of his skin. But many on the right — including presidential candidates Rick Santorum² and Newt Gingrich³ — want to avoid acknowledging the clear role that race and stereotypes played in this case.Instead, they’re attacking the President for telling the truth, and they’re trying to push race out of the picture.

We have reached a critical moment. Americans of all walks of life are talking openly and honestly about racial profiling, targeting and the dehumanization of Black boys and men. We can’t stand by while politicians who claim to want to lead all Americans play dumb and deny the racial realities surrounding Trayvon’s death.

Please join us in calling on the Republican National Committee — which leads the party and coordinates the GOP’s election strategy — to withhold its support from any candidate who uses Trayvon Martin’s killing to divide Americans and distort honest conversations about race for political gain. If the RNC refuses, it will send a clear message about the GOP’s willingness to lead on the most critical issues facing all Americans. Click here to take action, and please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/trayvon_gop

Trayvon’s death had everything to do with what he looked like. But some conservatives are determined to deny the reality of racial prejudice in America and the mortal threat it poses.

It’s no great surprise that right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh responded to President Obama’s comments last week by saying, “It is the least important thing, what the kid looks like.”⁴But Americans have reason to expect better from the GOP’s presidential candidates, men who claim to be able to represent all of us.

Rick Santorum accused the President of trying to “drive a wedge in America.”⁵ Newt Gingrich lashed out with: “What the president said, in a sense, is disgraceful. It’s not a question of who that young man looked like.”⁶

The Republican National Committee, chaired by Reince Priebus, has the power to reign in cynical, dishonest comments like these. The RNC develops and promotes the Republican political platform and coordinates its fundraising and election strategy.

Please join us in calling on the RNC to withhold its support from any GOP candidate who responds to Trayvon Martin’s killing by sweeping its race-related realities under the rug.If the RNC refuses, it will send a clear message about the party’s willingness to lead on the most critical issues facing Americans. And when you sign, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/trayvon_gop

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 29th, 2012

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References

1. “Obama Speaks Out on Trayvon Martin Killing,” The New York Times, 03-23-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1253?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=7

2. “Plouffe calls out GOP candidates over Obama reaction,” CNN.com, 03-25-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1248?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=9

3. “Newt Gingrich: Obama’s Trayvon Martin Statement ‘Disgraceful’,” Huffington Post, 03-23-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1249?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=11

4. “Rush Limbaugh hits Obama: Trayvon Martin not a race case,” Politico, 03-26-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1250?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=13

5. See reference 2

6. See reference 3

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Rush Limbaugh said what? concerned only about two words?

03/07/2012 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Uploaded by ABCNews on Mar 2, 2012

The social issues debate re-ignited on Capitol Hill today when senators killed a proposal to throw out President Obama’s contraception mandate. Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh was thrust into the center of the debate after he called the woman who was denied the right to speak on the controversial all-male conception panel at a hearing last month a “slut” on his show Wednesday. The issue heated up more today when Limbaugh took his comments even further. For more on this story, click here: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/rush-limbaugh-sandra-fluke-a-slu…

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RE: Tell Republican leaders to denounce Rush Limbaugh!

03/02/2012 Nativegrl77

Thanks for signing the petition!

We want to put Republican Leaders on the record about non denouncing Rush Limbaugh.

Please forward the email below to 3 of your friends right now and encourage them to add their name to our petition at WWW.DCCC.ORG

You can also share the petition on Facebook and Twitter.

With your help, we can call out Speaker Boehner, Eric Cantor and the rest of the Republican leadership who have been silent on this issue.

Thanks for your support!

——————————————————————————————————————————-

“What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.” — Rush Limbaugh

We are absolutely repulsed right now.

Sandra Fluke, the courageous Georgetown Law student who had the strength to stand up in Congress against Republican attacks on birth control coverage, is now under attack from the right wing.

First, House Republicans refused to let Sandra testify. Now, they think they can shame us into silence.

Standing up for women’s health care does not make you a “slut” or a “prostitute.” We must send the strongest message possible that we will not stand for the Republican War on Women!

Sign our petition right now calling on Republican leaders to publicly denounce Rush Limbaugh’s cruel tirade against women >> WWW.DCCC.ORG

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help UCS tell Rush Limbaugh that thermometers don’t lie

09/16/2011 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

It’s a critical time in the fight against global warming. The attacks on science are intensifying, more shrill and blatant than ever.

The heat index in Washington, D.C. hit 116 degrees this summer. But, instead of addressing why it’s been so hot, Rush Limbaugh charged that this scientific scale was “manufactured by the government.”

Let’s end the disinformation on climate change.

Help UCS expose and challenge attacks on science.

That’s why I’m asking you to become a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and help us stand up for science—and fight back against disinformation about global warming. www.ucsusa.org

Cynical media pundits like Rush Limbaugh can try to distract the public with empty charges against an accepted scientific measurement scale developed more than three decades ago to help protect public health. But global warming is happening and the time to act is now.

It isn’t just a question of one hot summer. Consider that:
Fifteen of the past sixteen years have ranked as the warmest ever.
The world’s major scientific research teams have all independently determined that 2001-2010 was the hottest decade on record.

So, while climate deniers try to mislead the public, UCS is stepping up our efforts to get out the facts and propose real-world practical solutions to the problems that climate change is causing.

And you are a key partner in all our work.

So, don’t let cynical pundits, corporations, or politicians get away with lies or try to change the subject about global warming. You know that in this age of massive corporate donations to political campaigns, clear, independent analysis is harder and harder to come by.

That’s why I’m counting on you to become a member today. www.ucsusa.org

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for all your help and support.

Sincerely,

Kevin Knobloch
President