With the economy as weak as it is, and few signs of an imminent pickup, there is a reasonable chance that Barack Obama might not be re-elected to the Presidency in 2012. Yet as frightening as the prospects of a (probable) Gingrich presidency might seem (and we should all fear the asenscion to the Presidency of a man who advocates firing school janitors and replacing them with middle_school students) it is the manner in which he might be elected that should concern Americans the most. That is because in state legislatures around the nation the party that represents the interests of a small minority of wealthy Americans is mounting a full throated offensive against the principle of universal suffrage. Whether through laws that shorten the period during which a citizen can actually go to the polls and cast his ballot (remember, in this nation voting is always held on a work day and no law mandates that workers be given time off to cast their ballot) or laws that specifically target certain demographics for disenfranchisement, Republicans seem determined to win the Presidency at any cost and with little regard for the doubt these measures tend to cast on the very legitimacy of elections themselves. According to USA Today, early voting has been a made a target because, traditionally, more Democrats than Republicans vote early:
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Here’s a little news that’ll put a simle on your face: the latest polls in Massachussetts show Elizabeth Warren running seven points ahead of Republican rival Scott Brown for the 2012 campaign for Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat, thus proving (or at least strongly suggesting) that you don’t have to be a worthless piece of shit asswipe corporate tool to have a shot at a Senate seat in America.

As Newt Gingrich’s campaign catches fire, and the former Speaker of the House looks set to win the Gold medal at the Iowa Olympics for the Clinically Insane, it’s probably time for him to step up his game and take it to the next level. He’s clearly got the momentum, he’s scrambling for the money, now all he needs is a slogan, something short and sweet that will be as catchy and clever as Sarah Palin’s “Drill Baby, Drill” or Herman Cain’s “Nine, Nine, Nine!”

May I suggest:

Newt Gingrich: Because If Nancy Pelosi Reveals the Dirt She Has On Me She’ll be Breaking the Law.

So here’s your f%#ed up thought for the day, Stinquers:

With the exit of Herman Cain from the GOP primary race, a mad dash in on for his supporters. The thinking is that the candidate who manages to claim them will claim the GOP nomination. And with the economy still in the dumps, there’s a fair chance that said candidate could become the next president of the United States of America.

ERGO: there’s a distressingly good chance that America’s next president will, essentially, be hand picked by the folks who stuck with this guy to the bitter end.

For the past couple of years, President Obama has chided the GOP for seeking to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and working class. In seeking to reduce the deficit through cuts to social programs alone, while leaving the tax rates of the richest Americans untouched (or even lowered), the GOP has shown a naked allegiance to the wealthiest Americans and a willlingness to inflict untold pain on all the rest.

Well it would appear that the GOP has heard the President’s complaints and has responded by offering compromise legislation that asks both poor and rich alike to sacrifice in the name of balancing the budget. Faced with mounting criticism of their refusal to back an extension of the payroll tax cut that affects mostly working Americans, the GOP has offered up a plan to pay for the cut while not adding further to the nation’s deficit. Federal workers, almost all of them middle income earners, will see their pay frozen through 2015, while 10% of them will lose their jobs altogether. The rich will also share in the pain, with millionaries and billionaires excluded from collecting food stamps and unemployment benefits. Yeah… let me repeat that last part: millionaires and billionaires are being asked to share in the pain by giving up their right to collect food stamps and unemployment benefits…. not, it doesn’t get any better the second time you say it. Read more »

Today the front page of the New York Times features an obituary for the Congressional Deficit Committee. Should anyone be surprised at the collapse of a committe whose goal was to reach a political compromise that would reduce the National Debt by several trillion dollars, when half the membership represented a political party that has made a refusal to compromise its modus operandi?

Democrats insist that they were closing in on the framework of an agreement, but that Republicans backed away from their willingness to accept significant revenue increases in exchange for cuts in the growth of entitlement programs. They said Mr. Boehner sealed the fate of the panel on Thursday by offering a package that had a mere $3 billion in new revenue, far less than an earlier Republican plan.

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I really hate to be the bearer of bad, shitty, terrible, apocalyptic news, but in case you haven’t heard yet, the European single currency seems to be on the verge of collapse (for reals this time). The New York Times today reports that interest on Italian government bonds has broken the 7% barrier, making it ever more costly for the Italian government to finance its debt. It’s sign that investors are growing ever more skeptical that Italy is immune from the possibility of default.

As painful as a Greek default would be, the world economy faces a much graver threat if investors abandon Italian debt and the cost of borrowing for the Italian government becomes prohibitive. Italy is the world’s fourth largest borrower after the United States, Japan and Germany. Indeed, it owes more than the other troubled countries on the periphery of Europe — Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain — put together.

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