....big business and financial institutions.

Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul says Obama's criticism of BP oil company sounds like an attack on business and "really un-American." Rush Limbaugh stated that the Sierra Club should pay for cleaning up the oil spill because they forced BP to drill so far off shore.

• Does a free market mean it's OK for BP to destroy our coastline and ruin the livelihoods of our citizens?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK that greedy Wall Street brokers and bank CEOs nearly bankrupted our country?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK that wealthy insurance companies drop people when they become ill and charge such exorbitant rates that people can't afford coverage?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK for politicians with their hands in the pockets of lobbyists to use scare tactics on the American public to make them fear regulation of business?
  

Protect yourselves Americans, not wealthy businessman. Ignore claims that regulating business threatens Capitalism. Don't give free reign to entities that have no conscience.

Insist they don't destroy our environment in order to make a buck. Don't worry about big businesses, they'll do just fine!

Big business has no conscience:

"60 Minutes" interviewed a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and verified that crewmembers had either ignored or insufficiently addressed serious safety concerns on the rig as BP executives pressed them to drill down faster into Earth's core to reach the oil.

Don't worry, the BP CEO says it's just a tiny spill. No need to release their underwater footage of the leak site, there's just a few gallons spilling out. Any hey, only 11 people died so no big deal.

Big business has no conscience:

"60 Minutes" interviewed a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and verified that crewmembers had either ignored or insufficiently addressed serious safety concerns on the rig as BP executives pressed them to drill down faster into Earth's core to reach the oil.

Don't worry, the BP CEO says it's just a tiny spill. No need to release their underwater footage of the leak site, there's just a few gallons spilling out. Any hey, only 11 people died so no big deal.

When BP was testifying to get the license to drill offshore, their claims included that they had the means, equipment and technology to contain and clean up any potential oil spill.

Now that the worst has happened, their claims are that they really don't have tried and tested technology to contain and clean up this oil spill.

So, Sen. Barbara Boxer is looking into filing charges against BP for lying to congress.

We see that the thinking of the tea party and their yapping about too much government includes:

-no government laws against private business discrimination

-no government laws mandating private businesses accomodate the disabled

-no government laws mandating private housing from discriminating.

So, I guess we can extrapolate that to mean

-no government laws about food and drug safety

-no government laws about workplace safety

SO TO THE TEA PARTY I SAY: NO thank you. I'll take all this "government" in the interest of my safety. You, in the meantime can purchase your meds, foods, pet food and toys from China, or better yet, from the back of a van (hey, cheaper and no government "interference")

Edited May 21, 201016 yr by Cleo's Mom

Rand Paul, the gift that keeps on giving

by pollchecker

Fri May 21, 2010 at 06:59:46 AM PDT

You would think after inserting his foot into his mouth less than 2 days after winning the GOP Kentucky primary for Senate, Rand Paul would learn to choose his words a bit more wisely.

So far he has not backed down from his assertion that private business or home owners should not be covered under the 1964 civil rights act.

But if that is NOT enough, now he is at it again.

Rand Paul is a clear illustration of EVERYTHING that is wrong with the tea baggers. And if that is not bad enough, he is just another example of what is very, very wrong with the Republican Party.

Paul says Obama's criticism of the oil company sounds like an attack on business and "really un-American."

Really, Rand? You think that it is un-American to call a liar a liar? Your party doesn't seem to have a problem calling other people liars when they are telling the truth?

BP has the worst safety record of any company in the oil and gas business. THAT IS A FACT. I guess you don't remember that 15 people were killed at a refinery owned by BP in 2005. 15 PEOPLE RAND! That's 15 sons or daughters, 15 possible fathers or mothers. And why were these people killed? Because BP put profits over safety.

Fast forward 5 years later. Today we have 11 more people dead for the same darn reasons. BP put profits over safety! That's been made very clear by people who were actually there.

What you are basically saying Rand is that you believe in a country that should be ruled by BIG BUSINESS whose only goal is to make money and drive their stock prices up. What you are saying Rand, is that you basically support all of the failed policies of the Bush/Cheney administration only you want to take it farther. What you are saying Rand is that people don't matter, only businesses matter.

Perhaps you should read up in your History books Rand or even a dictionary. Because if you do, I believe you will find that these tea party ideas you are representing border very closely on Fascism. And we all know who was the main Fascist in History. Oh, I forgot, the tea partiers want to rewrite History. Perhaps you should read Orwell's 1984. It sounds dangerously close to what you are advocating for our country.

I would say shut up Rand, but the more you talk, the more you show the nation the reality behind the tea party. And the more you do that, the more you help your opponent in November. Hell, the more you talk, the more you help the entire Democratic Party. And the more the GOP embraces you and your outlandish and entirely inappropriate statements, the more normal, every day people see you for what you really are.

Yes, Rand, you are the perfect gift for the Dems.....the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving. You and your comrades will most likely give the Dems the opportunity to retain that majority in the Senate and that's a good thing.

It's bad enough that the GOP wants to help those liars at BP. But to call anyone "unAmerican", especially the White House because they challenge this disgraceful companies lies, well, I'd like to see you say that to the faces of those families who have lost loved ones at either that Texas City refinery or on that Horizon well.

No honeymoon for you Rand. Not when you keep opening your mouth and disgracing our country, your party and your family with statements like that. Keep it up. We Dems couldn't do better to get reelected in November if we tried.

dailykos

Yes, Rand Paul was whining today that after a big win- "where is my honeymoon" he asks, of course blaming the democrats, liberals and rachel maddow for asking questions about his positions. Heaven forbid that he be asked questions that might show him for what he is. Hey Rand, this politics is for the big boys, if you can't take it - quit, but don't blame the liberals or democrats for your extremist positions. It is people like you that we have to keep from hijacking our country.

Edited May 21, 201016 yr by Cleo's Mom

I just wanna know.

Did Rand Paul just break a record? The record of winning an election AND losing one within 48 hours? The cosmos have tip the balance in dems favor. First clown on stage, Palin. Second clown, McShame and AZ, then the coupe de gra, Rand Paul. Gotta love that chicken pepperoni!!

What is really classic is Paul is the King of the tea baggers!!!

I'm goin' in, all in. Just like the Republicans.

Glenn Beck watchers need to watch their purses! While stirring up fear about the economy among his followers he's trying to line his own pockets.

"It is not surprising that Glen Beck is attempting to deflect from his behavior in promoting Goldline," said Congressman Weiner. ""But the facts are clear. Goldline rips off consumers and Glenn Beck helps."

Weiner charges that Goldline "grossly overcharges" for coins and makes false claims about gold being a good investment. Goldline touts gold as a more solid investment in this economic climate.

The report says the gold retailer has entered "an unholy alliance with conservative pundits" — among them Beck, Fred Thompson, Dennis Miller, Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham — to "promote Goldline by playing off the fear of inflation."

"What we have found, by looking through the public records, is that very often they use their public programs to advocate purchasing gold, and then immediately, advertisements begin for Goldline," Weiner said in a news conference Tuesday.

....big business and financial institutions.

Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul says Obama's criticism of BP oil company sounds like an attack on business and "really un-American." Rush Limbaugh stated that the Sierra Club should pay for cleaning up the oil spill because they forced BP to drill so far off shore.

• Does a free market mean it's OK for BP to destroy our coastline and ruin the livelihoods of our citizens?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK that greedy Wall Street brokers and bank CEOs nearly bankrupted our country?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK that wealthy insurance companies drop people when they become ill and charge such exorbitant rates that people can't afford coverage?
  
• Does a free market mean it's OK for politicians with their hands in the pockets of lobbyists to use scare tactics on the American public to make them fear regulation of business?
  

Protect yourselves Americans, not wealthy businessman. Ignore claims that regulating business threatens Capitalism. Don't give free reign to entities that have no conscience.

Insist they don't destroy our environment in order to make a buck. Don't worry about big businesses, they'll do just fine!

Jack Conway, Rand Paul's opponent, responded to this:

Kentucky Attorney General and Democratic nominee for Senate Jack Conway released a statement today criticizing Rand Paul for saying that President Obama's comments about BP's role in the Gulf Coast oil spill were "really un-American."

In the statement, Conway says, "we need a senator who will hold companies accountable."

Here's the full statement:

Rand Paul apparently has a deeply held conviction that corporations should be allowed to do what they see fit without oversight or accountability. He even goes so far as to say that that criticizing corporations when they hurt taxpayers and working families - as in the case of the massive BP oil disaster - is 'un-American.' As Attorney General, I've seen how corporations can take advantage of consumers - whether it's oil companies that gouge Kentucky customers after a series of storms or pharmaceutical companies that commit Medicaid fraud. I have a deeply held conviction that we need a senator who will hold companies accountable. We have enough senators in Washington who are looking out for what's best for corporations. My sole focus will be looking out for Kentucky's taxpayers and families.

Very scary stuff. This is what I want my country back from. Some on these boards support this, which is the real agenda of the right - to go back to a two class system - the rich and the poor and eliminate the middle class and the power they have and are quickly losing:

Sen. Sanders tells the ugly truth "We're an Oligarchy and I think it's getting worse"

Sat May 22, 2010 at 01:29:10 PM PDT

THE Question - Is America a Democracy or an Oligarchy?

Sen. Sanders:

"Right now, what ends up happening, is Big Money interests, whether in fact it is in oil and energy, whether it's in prescription drugs . . ."

Dylan Ratigan:

"BP"

Sen. Sanders:

"Whether it is in banking, these guys have huge amounts of money, and the situation gets worse with the recent

Citizens United

Supreme Court decision, and anyone who stands up to the big money interests can expect a huge amount of 30 second ads against them. That's the reality.

Are we a Democracy, or are we an Oligarchy where the very powerful special interests exert enormous influence over our Government?

"

Ratigan:

"What's your answer to that question?"

Sen. Sanders: "I think we're an Oligarchy and I think it's getting worse."

Sen. Sanders:

"The middle class in this country is collapsing. Poverty is increasing and the gap between the very rich and everybody else is growing wider. And what's happening with the banks, is one of the reasons that that is occurring, so this is not esoteric. This is our standard of living. This is the survival of the middle class.

There is tons and tons of data that back up the claim made by Senator Sanders that "Poverty is increasing and the gap between the very rich and everybody else is growing wider.", and it isn't hard to see when the average real wage (wage growth vs inflation) has been stagnant for decades while the average CEO salary is 100 times what it was a few decades ago/

Compare what Senator Bernie Sanders says about how Special Interests control congress and the disappearing middle class and growing poverty of the average American to Kentucky GOP Senate Candidate Rand Paul, who claims it is "Un-American" to criticize oil polluters, and then ask yourself, who is on my side?

We have seen the failure of the Kaufman-Brown Amendment 33-61 to break up the Too Big To Fail banks, we have seen how the return of Glass-Steagal has failed, and how derivatives reform is likely to fail. Yet again, another vital reform is being watered down, only this time, it will directly lead to the next crash. And yet again, the rich shall get rich will get richer and every one else will get poorer.

When Bill Moyers told America about the fact that 6 Banks Control Wealth = to 60% GNP. And asked the question "Is the U.S. at the Mercy of an Unstoppable Oligarchy?" there is one and only one Senator with the guts to tell us the ugly truth, and his name is Bernie Sanders.

Is America a Democracy or an Oligarchy?

Sen. Sanders: "I think we're an Oligarchy and I think it's getting worse."

Damn right it's getting worse, the banksters have planned their Plutonomy and are betting on it.

So what else can the non rich do but take the power back?

dailykos

Edited May 22, 201016 yr by Cleo's Mom

Did Glen " I am a dangerous commedian" Beck get sufficiently taken to task for successfuly selling gold to the unsuspected Fake Noise masses? Then again, not surprised since the REAL comedy channel is selling news as fact. Almost wish I had thought of seling garbage wrapped in a big bow to the ignorant masses. I would be geting paid with such low hanging fruit.