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aldron on Mar 24, 2012 at 10:56 am HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Republican lawmakers who vote for tax increases are “rat heads in a Coke bottle,” anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said during a speech Friday at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, a conservative gathering where he was a featured speaker. Last week, Norquist called Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval a “ rat ” for supporting tax increases. This week, Norquist expanded the attack, saying that the same way Coca-Cola would lose customers if a rat head was found in a Coke bottle, Republicans voting for tax increases “damage the brand.” Instead, Norquist said, the GOP needs conservatives like former President Ronald Reagan who oppose taxes at all costs: NORQUIST: Don’t raise taxes. Tax reform? Sure. Reduce rates, broaden the base, like Reagan did. … No net tax increases! [...] Republican elected officials who vote for tax increases are rat heads in a Coke bottle . Watch it: By invoking Reagan to make his cas...

ThinkProgress » Wisconsin Gov. Walker Reiterates That The ‘National Guard’ Will Be Used Against A Worker ‘Walk-Off "ThinkProgress has been following both Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) recent “budget repair bill,” which would effectively eliminate state workers’ right to collectively bargain, and his coinciding threat to deploy the National Guard to stop a walkout. Yesterday, the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers criticized Walker, saying that collective bargaining is “fundamental” to the middle class. Approximately 13,000 peaceful protesters flooded the state Capitol yesterday, including nearly 800 Madison East High School students who left school to protest Walker’s bill. Democratic lawmakers listened to testimonies from citizens for more than 20 hours, stretching into the early morning. Many people who hadn’t yet gotten to speak pulled out sleeping bags. Responding to his inappropriate threat to use the National Guard against resisting workers, Walker said last night on Greta V...

The Human Cost of Failed Revolutions | Solidarity "appened Ernest Mandel In November/December 1918 and in March 1920, a Germany governed by workers councils was on the agenda. The defeat of both the workers uprising of 1918-19 and of the beginning revolution in 1920, however, was brought about by two factors: 1) the collaboration of the Social Democracy (which represented a majority political party within the working class) with the military and bourgeois elites, and 2) the immature and weak leadership of the revolution itself. The German working class paid a high price for this missed opportunity, as did a large portion of the world’s population. One cannot, of course, substitute an imaginary “What would have happened if” for the real historical process which did occur. But it is possible to empirically demonstrate that alternative outcomes were objectively possible. Revolutionary and counterrevolutionary classes, along with significant layers of these classes and their represen...

Union Protest: Wisconsin Teachers Calling in Sick en Masse - Teachers Union - Fox Nation "The protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) proposals to roll back public employee unions rights are continuing Wednesday, with schools in the state capital Madison closing as the result of teachers calling in sick en masse. Under Walker's plan, as TPM has previously posted, most state workers would no longer be able to negotiate for better pensions or health benefits or anything other than higher salaries, which couldn't rise at a quicker pace than the Consumer Price Index. Walker and state Republican leaders have said the plan is necessary to deal with the state's budget shortfall. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Union Leader: Governor's Budget is "An Attack on Labor" - WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News "Local unions representing public employees are speaking out against Governor Scott Walker's budget repair proposal, saying it undermines all the rights of a union. The bill would strip unions of all collective bargaining power except wages, ending more than 50 years of municipal employee bargaining rights. 'Employees will not have justice. They will not have a say in the workplace. That's anti-American,' Danny McGowan, business representative of Teamsters Local 662, said. Local union leaders are up in arms over the proposal. 'It's nothing more than an attack on labor,' McGowan said. 'We can't fix the states budget woes off the backs of public employees. It's not fair, because it's not their fault.' The president of Local 662, which represents about 9,500 public employees, says he believes the move is about co...

Middle East unrest: Middle Eastern nations scramble to contain unrest - latimes.com "Reporting from Amman, Jordan — To track the growing political movements gaining strength from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia across North Africa and the Middle East, one would be well advised to get a planner. There were Saturday's clashes between demonstrators and police in Algeria, now referred to as #feb12 on Twitter, much as Egypt's uprising shall forever be known as #jan25. New popular protests are scheduled Monday in Bahrain (#feb14) and Iran (#25Bahman). Libya comes next on #feb17, followed by Algeria again on #feb19, Morocco #feb20, Cameroon #feb23 and Kuwait #mar8. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Democracy Under Attack "Egypt has always been a strong ally of the United States. The country is now in a situation of near anarchy. Doing nothing is not an option, but improper intervention by the US could be destructive with extremely negative long-term consequences to its position in the Middle East, the proliferation of Radical Islam, and the stability of the entire region. Wise and well calculated decisions and actions are essential to the solution of the current disaster in Egypt. The US has several options that can help to diffuse the situation in Egypt. These include: - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Democracy under attack - by the U.S.A. | Examiner Editorial | Editorials | Washington Examiner Editorials Democracy under attack - by the U.S.A. * TAGS: * washington examiner Comments (0) 'BookmarkShare PrintPrint By: Examiner Editorial 09/10/09 11:00 PM America might refuse to honor the upcoming election results of another democratic nation. But our State Department has taken this hostile posture not toward Venezuela or Iran -- where dictatorships thrive through doubtful and fraudulent elections -- but toward Honduras, which removed a usurping president this summer in an action supported by the letter of its own constitution. Nothing has changed about the upcoming election in Honduras. The candidates are the same ones who were running before President Manuel Zelaya was ousted, with the approval of the nation's Congress and Supreme Court. The only difference now is the United States is demanding that the rapacious Zelaya be returned to power. This would punish self-govern...

Federal Eye - 2011 Budget: Spending cuts and reductions "President Obama's 2011 budget proposes more than 120 cuts totaling roughly $20 billion in savings. Here's a look at some of the more interesting proposed cuts and spending reductions. Leave your thoughts on the budget in the comments section below: - Sent using Google Toolbar"

An Overview of Social Inequality : "EXPLORATIONS IN SOCIAL INEQUALITY An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. --Plutarch Edward N. Wolff's Recent Trends in Wealth Ownership 1983-1998 A 1979 Carnegie study ('Small Futures: Children, Inequality, and the Limits of Liberal Reform', Richard de Lone principal investigator) found that a child's future to be largely determined by social status, not brains. Consider Bobby and Jimmy, two second-graders, who both pay attention in the classroom, do well, and have nearly identical I.Q.s. Yet Bobby is the son of a successful lawyer; Jimmy's works infrequently as custodial assistant. Despite their similarities, the difference in the circumstances to which they were born makes it 27 times more likely that Bobby will get a job that by time he is in late 40s will pay him an income in the top tenth of all incomes in this country. Jimmy had about one chance in eight of earning...

theGrio | African American Breaking News and Opinion : "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

MLK Was a Working-Class Hero : "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Robert Kennedy Quotes - Page 2 - BrainyQuote : "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

China terms Obama-Dalai Lama meeting a gross violation of international relations : "Beijing, Feb.19 (ANI): China on Friday described Thursday’s meeting between US President Barack Obama and Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the Map Room of the White House as a “gross violation” of international relations and called for the United States to “stop conniving and supporting anti-Chinese forces”. “The US act grossly violated the norms governing international relations and ran counter to the principles,” The Telegraph quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, as saying.”It also went against the repeated commitments by the US government that the US recognises Tibet as part of China and gives no support to ‘Tibet independence’,” he added. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

ThinkProgress » After Promising To ‘Repeal And Replace’ Obama’s Health Law, Republicans Have No Replacement : "As the first major legislative act with their new majority, Republicans are planning to hold a futile vote next week to repeal President Obama’s health care law. The laughably named “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act” has an equally laughable chance of becoming law, as the Democratic majority in the Senate will inevitably block it. President Obama has also confirmed that he’ll veto it. Nonetheless, House Republicans are rushing headlong into inevitable defeat, insisting that their efforts aren’t doomed, and promising to “replace” Obama’s law with their own, better one. “Repeal and replace” has been a mantra for Republicans and their conservative allies since March of last year, though the repealers have been hazy on with what they would “replace” it with. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Today in America 50% of the White have $67,000 in total assets, the Hispanic $8,000 in total assets, and the Blacks $5,000; while 1% of the population owns 90% of all the wealth in America. How can America prosper with such inequality. The Oil Industry Is Gauging Us

The current rules that govern the Senate are hurting our democracy.Obscure rules like secret holds and filibusters allow individual Senators to hold the nation's work hostage while cutting backroom deals. They give preference to the special interests that fund and further their careers.In order for our legislative branch to once again become part of a functioning democracy, the Senate’s rules must be updated. Let the Senate know that national interest comes before self-interest. Join us and sign the petition to Fix the Senate Now. Fix the Senate Now | Sign the Petition Now Blogged with the Flock Browser

John G. Roberts Jr. was originally nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005 to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court succeeding Sandra Day O'Connor, who was retiring. But the sudden death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist that September prompted the president to name Mr. Roberts to the chief justice's position. He was confirmed by a vote of 78 to 22 after an uneventful confirmation hearing, in which Mr. Roberts stressed his philosophy of judicial modesty and respect for precedent. John G. Roberts Jr. News - The New York Times Blogged with the Flock Browser

Following the first election since the Supreme Court has struck down limits on election-related advertising, a new poll finds that 9 in 10 voters said that in the 2010 election they encountered information they believed was misleading or false, with 56% saying this occurred frequently. Fifty-four percent said that it had been more frequent than usual, while just three percent said it was less frequent than usual, according to the poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, based at the University of Maryland, and Knowledge Networks. Voters Say Election Full of Misleading and False Information - World Public Opinion Blogged with the Flock Browser

What will the senior and disabled eat, and how are they going to pay their bills; they’ll need to move-in with relatives to share the facilities and the living expenses in order to survive. Senior and the disabled will need to (Eat Cat Food) to survive. They will need to live with their children because they won’t be able to afford rent. It will like it used to be when senior and the disabled lived in closets, and they were invisible. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost