Liberal Forum

Have you ever read the Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein?Oh my, another far left moonbat endorsed by supposed non-moonbat little Miss Marxist.What does Klein claim?The neo-liberal economic policies—privatization, free trade, slashed social spending—that the Chicago School and the economist Milton Friedman have foisted on the world are catastrophic in two senses, argues this vigorous polemic. Because their results are disastrous—depressions, mass poverty, private corporations looting public wealthFree Market economics made Chile into the envy of all Latin America. It raised incomes in desperately poor Hong Kong almost to that of the US.Almost the entire world is dumping the Socialist model in favor of Free Market Capitalism.That's pretty catastropic -- to Socialist theorists. Just look at what's happening with collective bargaining, and cutting programs that Republicans have always hated. Case in point, Paul Ryan with his radical budget plan.Ryan admitted it himself when he said, "It's not a budget, it's a cause."Yes, the cause of Freedom, something liberals almost always despise.

Scott Walker's 'Waterloo': 19 Counties Flip To Democrats In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race WASHINGTON -- A divisive budget battle between labor unions and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) turned a state Supreme Court race into a nationally watched bellwether on the electorate's mood heading into a recall campaign and the 2012 elections. Nearly 1.5 million people turned out to vote, representing 33.5 percent of voting-age adults -- 68 percent higher than the 20 percent turnout officials had expected. Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg has already declared victory, with the vote tallies showing her beating incumbent David Prosser by just a couple hundred votes. The race is expected to head to a recount. Significantly, 19 counties that went for Walker in the 2010 elections this time flipped and went for Kloppenburg, including LaCrosse (59 percent), Sauk (56 percent) and Dunn (56 percent). On a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate was jubilant over the results, saying they represent a "watershed moment for Wisconsin and a Waterloo for Scott Walker." "It should give Republicans, who are -- for the moment -- in the majority, pause about how they proceed in enacting Walker's terrible budget," he added. Tate pointed to the Democratic pick-ups in the western part of the state, which went heavily for Kloppenburg. Even in counties that Democrats won in 2010, Tate was happy that the margins were wider than they were in November. For example, Tom Barrett, who lost the race for governor to Walker in November, won Eau Claire County with 51 percent of the vote. This time, Kloppenburg captured Eau Claire with 58 percent."In Wisconsin, we have a ... very high number of independent voters, who are not wedded to one party or another," said Tate, explaining the swing. The Wisconsin Republican Party did not return a request for comment. But Prosser's team has already said that it is working on the possibility of a recount. "We are assembling our legal team and continuing to watch our vote totals," Prosser Campaign Director Brian Nemoir said. "We are encouraged by the turnout and believe in a record-setting Supreme Court election there's plenty of reason to believe there's unrecognized opportunity to deliver a victory."Prosser was a strong ally of the governor, and both conservatives and progressives invested a significant amount of resources into the race. Nemoir previously admitted that Prosser's campaign was about "protecting the conservative judicial majority and acting as a common sense complement to both the new administration and Legislature." A new justice won't be sworn in until Aug. 1, and according to Lester Pines, a senior partner at the firm Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP in Madison, Wis., it's unlikely that the high court would consider a challenge to the governor's anti-union bill before then. "I think it's very unlikely, given where things are in court right now," he said.Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi issued an order saying that the state cannot enforce a bill stripping away collective bargaining rights for public employees. She is considering a lawsuit brought by the Dane County District Attorney, who sued four GOP lawmakers alleging that the bill violates the state's open-meetings law. Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court serve 10-year terms, and unseating a member is extremely rare. It was done in 2008, but before that, it had been 41 years since an incumbent lost an election. Pines argued that if Kloppenburg wins, it would provide a huge boost to Democrats' efforts to recall GOP senators."If we win this, then what happens is the momentum toward the recalls becomes overwhelming, and people will really be fired up because they have a victory," said Pines. "There's nothing like a victory to keep people's motivation high, and there's nothing like a loss to demoralize your opponents."Democrats have launched recall efforts against all eight eligible Republicans, although a Democratic state senator told The Huffington Post that he believes they have a solid chance at only six of them. Republicans are also targeting six Democrats in recall efforts.The flipped counties: Adams, Chippewa, Columbia, Dunn, Grant, Iron, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Lafayette, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Richland, Sauk, Vernon, Washburn and Wood. Link

Treasury May Borrow Federal Retirement Funds In Debt EmergencyThe government could temporarily tap tens of billions of dollars from two federal employee retirement programs if Congress fails to raise the federal debt ceiling next month, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers.The government expects to hit a $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16 or before, Geithner said in a Monday letter.Geither implored Congress to extend the debt ceiling by that deadline and said that if Congress does not, Treasury will be forced to borrow money from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, and the Thrift Savings Plan's Government Securities Investment Fund, or G Fund, both of which are invested in U.S. Treasury securities. Those two moves could free up $142 billion through early July.The government has taken similar steps before with no effect upon federal retirees. If the debt ceiling is extended by Congress within a couple months of the deadline, retirees and TSP participants should have nothing to worry about, several experts said. By law, both funds have to be repaid with interest, said Susan Irving, director for federal budget analysis at the Government Accountability Office."I would anticipate no impact," echoed Dan Adcock, legislative director for the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.Geithner said borrowing money from the federal retirement programs and other "extraordinary measures" available to the government would stave off the need to raise the debt ceiling until around July 8. Once those measures are exhausted, the government "will be limited in its ability to make payments across the government," Geithner said.In that case, retirees' pensions could be affected. Adcock said that, if that were to happen, any impact on retirement payouts would be "the least of their problems because we'll face a worldwide economic collapse."I think people would understand what's at stake and cooler heads would prevail," Adcock added.http://www.federalti...TS02/104050306/This one hits a little too close to home for me. That's my (and my husband's) money in the Civil Service Retirement Fund, and the Thrift Savings Plan's G Fund.I can move my Thrift Savings money from the G fund to one of the other funds which are mostly in the stock market, but my retirement is under threat by these Tea Bagging wackos who say they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling.More reason for me to hate Republicans. They happily raised the debt ceiling for Bush every time he asked. Seven times in all during his administration. Edited by MistyBlue, 06 April 2011 - 09:56 PM.

Idaho Republicans: Void Anti-Discrimination Laws in Case 'Gay Guy' Comes To Work 'in a Tutu'. Cornel Rasor, who chairs the Idaho Republican Party's resolutions committee, says that he pushed for a resolution to void all local ordinances banning discrimination against LGBT people because he wants to be able to fire any gay man who "comes into work in a tutu."The Associated Press reported that a non-binding resolution passed Saturday at the party's Central Committee summer meeting in McCall calls for the state legislature to block anti-discrimination ordinances passed by at least five municipalities throughout the state.For seven years, the Republican-controlled Legislature has refused to add sexual orientation to the Idaho Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race, religion and disability. So local governments like Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, Ketchum, Moscow and Boise have responded by passing their own ordinances protecting LGBT people.That's a trend that the Idaho Republican Party wants to stop before it spreads to more towns."I'd hire a gay guy if I thought he was a good worker," Rasor explained at the party's summer meeting, according to The Spokesman-Review. "But if he comes into work in a tutu he's not producing what I want in my office."So is it okay if a straight person comes to work in a tutu?

Anyone following the thread can see that you have been unable to cite any 'actual evidence' that the IRS was conducting tax return 'AUDITS' on right wing groups in a politically partisan manner. Take off the blindfold, troll.

Translation....I just made up that stuff about right wing groups being singled out for 'audits' by the IRS, now I'm stuck, so I'll just keep insulting you. Now that you've stuck your neck out far enough, I'm more than happy to chop it off. True the Vote, a nonprofit founded to train poll workers to detect and report voter fraud, filed suit against the IRS in federal court on Tuesday. Nearly three years after filing for tax-exempt status, True the Vote is still waiting for IRS approval. During that period, the group’s founder, Catherine Engelbrecht, a member of the Houston tea-party group King Street Patriots, saw her family’s manufacturing firm audited by the IRS and visited by OSHA, the ATF, and the FBI. Cleta Mitchell, the attorney representing True the Vote, says, “The IRS would have everyone believe that ‘all that was stopped in 2012.’ That is not true. Many, many organizations’ applications are still locked within the IRS.” ....The White House narrative, parroted by outgoing IRS commissioner Steve Miller to the House Ways and Means Committee that “the problems were resolved last year,” “simply does not square with the facts,” says Sekulow. Make no mistake, affirms Mitchell: “It is not in the past tense.” http://www.nationalr...-end-ian-tuttle

Now that you've stuck your neck out far enough, I'm more than happy to chop it off. The auditing of a manufacturing firm?That's the best you can do?ATF inspecting a factory that makes component parts for guns, and Osha inspecting any factory for safety?Oh my what a scandal!And the FBI did not question them about the factory.Their questions were concerning a member of the King Street Patriots.True The Vote was not 'audited' was it?Why do groups like King Street Patriots and True the Vote who engage in voter intimidation deserve tax exempt status anyway?

Virginia Republican pleads guilty to dozens of counts of voter fraud.A Virginia Republican and supporter of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) pleaded guilty on Tuesday to perjury and 36 counts of voter fraud.Adam Ward, 28, claimed he collected more than 11,000 petition signatures for Gingrich during the Republican presidential primaries, in an effort to ensure the candidate’s embattled campaign had a spot on the state’s ballot. Over 4,000 of those petition signatures turned out to be fake, according to NBC News affiliate WVIR-TV.Isn't it ironic that right wingers are always whining about the so-called rampant Democratic voter fraud, yet every time we read about voter fraud convictions, they always seem to involve Republicans.

Isn't it ironic that right wingers are always whining about the so-called rampant Democratic voter fraud, yet every time we read about voter fraud convictions, they always seem to involve Republicans. Only to trolls like you who keep their eyes shut to Democrat voter fraud. Obama didn't even qualify for Indiana's presidential primary, except for voter fraud. He'd likely never have won the primary without it.

The auditing of a manufacturing firm? That's the best you can do? ATF inspecting a factory that makes component parts for guns, and Osha inspecting any factory for safety? Oh my what a scandal! Oh gosh, harassment, intimidation and the loss of large amounts of one's money? Possible bankruptcy as a result of multiple federal agents harassing, auditing and bullying you? Hey, that's no big deal. Ask Gibson Guitar, which was "inspected" by federal agents carrying automatic weapons over an issue about disputed imported wood. A**hole. And it wasn't just the ATF. ....saw her family’s manufacturing firm audited by the IRS and visited by OSHA, the ATF, and the FBI. Alinsky-ite Obama Fascism has come to the US. True The Vote was not 'audited' was it? If the individuals running it or contributing it are intimidated into non-participation, that makes no difference. We both know no matter what the evidence or how broad or obvious, you'll lie and stonewall just like you did for Clinton for years and still do. Lying troll.

This is how a lying troll operates.It's blatantly obvious that Clem knew that I was specifically talking about a claim he made that Conservative groups were unfairly singled out for 'audits' by the IRS, since I put the word in quotes every time I typed it.Being unable to back up his false claim, he has now moved the goalpost to make it look like we were discussing the 'general topic' of harassment and/or bullying of right wing groups by the IRS.Clem's claim:Misty: Which right wing group was 'audited' by the IRS.Give me a name.RichClem: There are several threads about the topic, moonbat. If you're too lazy to read them, don't bother me.You'll just stonewall and lie whatever evidence I cite.Misty: So IOW you just made it up.Got it.RichClem: So because you're too freaking lazy to read the threads, I "made it up?"Misty: So I'm supposed to know which threads contain posts about the so-called 'auditing' of Tea Party groups?What am I, a **** mind reader?Why don't you point out the threads?RichClem: They're holding hearings on it, troll. Conservatives on the board have reported details for weeks now. But because you couldn't find anything with a quick google search, I'm the liar.Misty: You made a very specific accusation that the IRS has been 'auditing' Tea Party groups.And when asked to prove it, you can't, because it is not true.An IRS 'audit' is very different from being asked to answer questions when applying for tax exempt status.You made a false claim, refused to prove it, then told me to go find some mystery threads where you say it was posted.Of course if it did actually happen, I should be able to find it on an internet search, which I wasn't.It's so **** ironic that you go around accusing others of being liars all the time, when in actuality, you are the biggest liar on this forum.RichClem: F*** you and your false accusation. You accused me of lying simply because I refused to provide you with info.Likely 3, 4, 5 threads are available on the most recent pages, but you refused to even check.Misty: No I accused you of lying because you lied about Tea Party groups being 'audited' by the IRS.RichClem: I just brought up one of my threads about this, with a new source cited. It's been sitting there infront of your beady little troll eyes. Misty: I haven't been online for a couple of days, and since I'm not clairvoyant, I have no idea which thread you are talking about.If there was such a thread that contained proof of Tea Party groups being singled out for 'audits' by the IRS, then why can't you just post a link to it or at the very least give the title?You can't, because it never happened, and once again you have proven that you are the one guilty of being a liar and that's why you always project that accusation onto others.RichClem: So you haven't the slightest idea how much evidence I've cited, or anyone else, even though one of my threads was high on the board when you were posting online.Yet you accused me of lying because I refuse to waste time showing evidence to you personally.Thanks for again confirming what a dishonest hack you are.Misty: More projection and proof that you are nothing but a filthy liar.If you really had any proof, you would either post a link, or at least give the title of the thread.You have taken the time to repeat this same crap over and over, yet you won't take a few seconds to copy and paste the title of the thread?RichClem: There must have been 6, 7, 8 different threads on this top by different people.But because you can't find your a** with both hands and a hunting dog, we're all liars. Is this the best the liberal-left can do, shameless lying trolls and hopeless imbeciles?Misty: 6, 7 or 8 threads on Tea Party groups being 'audited' by the IRS?And yet you can't seem to name one.You're a liar and everyone knows it.And this is where Clem pretends that we were never talking specifically about IRS 'audits'.IRS audits Puss. We were talking about IRS audits, not the general topic of harassment and/or bullying by the IRS.And this is why arguing with you is about as useful as repeatedly smashing your head into a brick wall.Jesus - a stab in the liver.How can that pig keep showing his face after such an ***-busting outing?My mother used to teach me about sex, allowing me to have intercourse with her.DAMN! TMI, son.

Jesus - a stab in the liver. How can that pig keep showing his face after such an ***-busting outing? Little Miss Marxist's empty words are an "*** busting?" Psychotic moonbat. This Is No Ordinary Scandal Political abuse of the IRS threatens the basic integrity of our government. ...We are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate. The reputation of the Obama White House has, among conservatives, gone from sketchy to sinister, and, among liberals, from unsatisfying to dangerous. ... The president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He's shocked, it's unacceptable, he'll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you. But he is not unconnected, he is not a bystander. This is his administration. Those are his executive agencies. He runs the IRS and the Justice Department. .... In order to suppress conservative groups—at first those with words like "Tea Party" and "Patriot" in their names, then including those that opposed ObamaCare or advanced the Second Amendment—the IRS demanded donor rolls, membership lists, data on all contributions, names of volunteers, the contents of all speeches made by members, Facebook FB +0.46% posts, minutes of all meetings, and copies of all materials handed out at gatherings. Among its questions: What are you thinking about? Did you ever think of running for office? Do you ever contact political figures? What are you reading? One group sent what it was reading: the U.S. Constitution.The second part of the scandal is the auditing of political activists who have opposed the administration. The Journal's Kim Strassel reported an Idaho businessman named Frank VanderSloot, who'd donated more than a million dollars to groups supporting Mitt Romney. He found himself last June, for the first time in 30 years, the target of IRS auditors. His wife and his business were also soon audited. Hal Scherz, a Georgia physician, also came to the government's attention. He told ABC News: "It is odd that nothing changed on my tax return and I was never audited until I publicly criticized ObamaCare." Franklin Graham, son of Billy, told Politico he believes his father was targeted. A conservative Catholic academic who has written for these pages faced questions about her meager freelance writing income. Many of these stories will come out, but not as many as there are. People are not only afraid of being audited, they're afraid of saying they were audited. All of these IRS actions took place in the years leading up to the 2012 election. They constitute the use of governmental power to intrude on the privacy and shackle the political freedom of American citizens. The purpose, obviously, was to overwhelm and intimidate—to kill the opposition, question by question and audit by audit. It is not even remotely possible that all this was an accident, a mistake. Again, only conservative groups were targeted, not liberal. It is not even remotely possible that only one IRS office was involved.... What happened at the IRS is the government's essential business. The IRS case deserves and calls out for an independent counsel, fully armed with all that position's powers. Only then will stables that badly need to be cleaned, be cleaned. Everyone involved in this abuse of power should pay a price, because if they don't, the politicization of the IRS will continue—forever. If it is not stopped now, it will never stop. And if it isn't stopped, no one will ever respect or have even minimal faith in the revenue-gathering arm of the U.S. government again. http://online.wsj.co...BelowLEFTSecond This is how a lying troll operates. It's blatantly obvious that Clem knew that I was specifically talking about a claim he made that Conservative groups were unfairly singled out for 'audits' by the IRS, since I put the word in quotes every time I typed it. Being unable to back up his false claim, he has now moved the goalpost to make it look like we were discussing the 'general topic' of harassment and/or bullying of right wing groups by the IRS. IRS audits Puss. We were talking about IRS audits, not the general topic of harassment and/or bullying by the IRS. And this is why arguing with you is about as useful as repeatedly smashing your head into a brick wall. But no matter how much evidence I cite, she'll stonewall and lie. Just like she did for years about Clinton and does to this day.

Obama didn't even qualify for Indiana's presidential primary, except for voter fraud.Is the proof of that also in those boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence that you're always braying about?You claimed that Tea Party groups were being unfairly 'audited' by the IRS.You still have been unable to cite one 'Tea Party group' that was 'audited' by the IRS.

Is the proof of that also in those boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence you're always braying about?Are you still insisting that there was no evidence in the boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence that Schippers et al collected for months?Hey, that's believable. You claimed that Tea Party groups were being unfairly 'audited' by the IRS.You still have been unable to cite one 'Tea Party group' that was 'audited' by the IRS.I can't prove anything to a troll like you who keeps her eyes closed and lies shamelessly.

I can't prove anything to a troll like you who keeps her eyes closed and lies shamelessly.You can't prove that any Tea Party groups were unfairly audited.That's for sure.

Little Miss Marxist's empty words are an "*** busting?" Psychotic moonbat. But no matter how much evidence I cite, she'll stonewall and lie. Just like she did for years about Clinton and does to this day. HHAHAHAHAHAHHA yessssss... he is soooooooo convincing HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... watch your handler hiss and spit when his amateurish manipulation attempts are laughed into the sewer where they came from... YOU HAVE ZERO CREDIBILITY little dog rape boy.

You can't prove that any Tea Party groups were unfairly audited. That's for sure. Was there evidence of Clinton's non-Lewinsky felonies and impeachable acts in the boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence that Schippers, House Impeachment Managers and staff collected? Let's see if you can give an honest answer.

Was there evidence of Clinton's non-Lewinsky felonies and impeachable acts in the boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence that Schippers, House Impeachment Managers and staff collected?Let's see if you can give an honest answer. Have you seen the 'evidence' in those boxes and boxes and boxes Puss?Whenever you're losing you revert to Clinton. ROFL

Was there evidence of Clinton's non-Lewinsky felonies and impeachable acts in the boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence that Schippers, House Impeachment Managers and staff collected? Let's see if you can give an honest answer. Have you seen the 'evidence' in those boxes and boxes and boxes Puss? Whenever you're losing you revert to Clinton. ROFL So you can't give an honest answer. All you can do is bleat, dissemble and lie in defense of corrupt Democrats. Thanks for once again clearing that up.

All I can do is bleat, dissemble and lie in defense of corrupt Republicans.I know.Thanks for once again clearing that up.