Elizabeth Warren, doing what Elizabeth Warren does so well.

Courtesy of the Daily Kos:

You know, we don’t actually know what Donald Trump pays in taxes because he is the first presidential nominee in 40 years to refuse to disclose his tax return. 

(Video shows Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio saying there’s a ‘bombshell’ in his taxes.) 

Maybe he’s just a lousy businessman who doesn’t want you to find out he’s worth a whole lot less than he claims. We really can’t know for sure. Here’s what we do know. The last time Donald Trump’s taxes were made public, it turned out Donald Trump paid nothing in federal taxes. Zero. Zero taxes before and for all we know, zero taxes today. And he’s proud of it. 

A few weeks ago he said that he’s more than happy to dodge taxes, because he doesn’t want to throw his money down the drain. Yeah, Trump likes being a billionaire. But he doesn’t think the rules that apply to everyone else should apply to him. 

But let’s be clear. Donald Trump didn’t get rich on his own. His businesses relied on roads and bridges that the rest of us paid for. His businesses relied on workers that the rest of us paid to educate, and on the police force and brave fire fighters the rest of us pay to support. Donald Trump and his businesses are defended by a world-class military that defends us abroad, keeps us safe and the rest of us pay to support. 

When anyone builds something terrific, they should be able to keep a big hunk of it, but they should also pay a fair share forward so the next kid and the next kid and the next kid to come along will get their chance to build something too. 

That’s how we build a future that works for everyone. And that goes double for Donald Trump, because we know how he got rich. He inherited a fortune from his father, and kept it going by scamming people, declaring bankruptcy and skipping out on what he got. 

Nurses, teachers, dock workers—they pay their fare share for the services that keep Trump’s business’s going. Programmers, and engineers and small business owners—they pay their fair share to support courageous first responders. 

Donald Trump thinks that supporting them is throwing money down the drain. I say we just throw Donald Trump down the drain. Donald Trump is a fraud, a cheapskate and a bully. 

And look. He’s probably going to come up with a bunch of lame new nicknames for me just for filming this video. You know why he does that? He does that to intimidate, to threaten, to make us shut up. But you and I know how to beat him. We don’t back down. 

So here’s what we need to do. Whatever Donald Trump says, whatever scam he tries to pull, whatever disgusting thing he thinks he can say because he’s “Donald Trump,” speak out. Talk to the person behind you in the grocery store, talk to the person pumping gas next to you. And yeah, share this video with your friends. Ask your Fox News-loving uncle, “Why do you pay your taxes, but Donald Trump doesn’t?” 

If Donald Trump doesn’t even believe in paying his fair share for government, we shouldn’t put him in charge of the government. 

If we’re going to build a future that’s not just for the rich and powerful, but a future that’s for everybody, then it’s time for all of us to fight back.”

I swear nobody kneecaps Trump nearly as effectively as Elizabeth Warren.

MoveOn.org launches petition to hold John Boehner accountable for violating the "Logan Act."

"If you turn a little more to the right I can stab you in the back a little deeper."

Courtesy of MoveOn.org:  

By his inviting a foreign leader to address Congress, John Boehner deliberately dealt in foreign policy and thus violated the "Logan Act", thus usurping the powers of the presidency of the United States. 

In so doing, Boehner also deliberately violated the "separation of powers" clause in the US Constitution. By law, he must now be tried by Congress, and forced to resign. 

Under the "Logan Act" of 1799, (1 Stat. 613, 30 January 1799, currently codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953) Executive power to engage in Foreign Policy is ONLY vested in the President of the United States of America. 

The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 30 January 1799, currently codified at 18 U.S.C. § 953) specifically forbids any unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. 

The Act is intended to prohibit United States citizens without authority from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign governments. 

It was passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years. 

I don't usually have a lot of confidence in the ability of petitions to inspire real change, however considering that the rabid Republican base wants Boehner out anyhow, well you never know.

What I think we can all agree on is that John Boehner sucks at his job, and inviting Netanyahu to speak to the Congress and sabotage the President's progress with Iran, was completely unconscionable. 

And as it turns out, possibly illegal.

Anyhow I signed the petition. 

Robert Reich explains the Republican war on America.

Courtesy of MoveOn.org:  

Connect the dots between policies that keep many of our fellow Americans desperate, and you’ll see they add up to a war on the poor and working families. 

I bet you thought my headline was hyperbole didn't you?

Sadly, it is not.

It is time for the Democrats to start fighting as if they are fighting for their very lives.

Because they are. 

There exists over on MoveOn.org a petition calling for the arrest of the Republicans responsible for the government shutdown.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

A petition posted online at MoveOn.org is calling for the arrest of prominent House Republicans on sedition charges for their role in engineering a 16-day government shutdown. 

“I call on the Justice Department of the United States of America to arrest Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and other decision-making House Republican leaders for the crime of seditious conspiracy against the United States of America,” the petition says. 

The petition had attracted nearly 36,000 digital signatures by Friday morning. (By the way the number as of this posting is 43,905 and it is only asking for 50,000.)

“Arrest and try all those who were a party to deliberately trying to destroy the American Economy,” said one signer. 

The petition’s author, Mark Belisle, said GOP lawmakers bent the rules to prevent the Democratic minority from bringing measures to the floor that could have allowed a so-called clean funding resolution to be brought to a vote. 

“The House GOP leadership’s use of the Hastert Rule and H. Res 368 to shut down the government and threaten the U.S. economy with default is an attempt to extort the United States government into altering or abolishing the Affordable Care Act, and thus, is self-evidently a seditious conspiracy,” the petition claims. “Arrest the perpetrators in Congress immediately and bring them to justice.”

I have to start by admitting that I am not the biggest fan of petitions, especially national ones, because I don't think they usually have much of an impact. 

However I have to admit that this man makes some very compelling arguments. And in a perfect world I would love to see thee people punished for what they did to this country and to the American people, especially considering that it was a lost cause from the very beginning.

Anyhow I signed it.

Mitt Romney, he'd let America fail. Update!

I don't think Romney is going to have much luck fighting back against the perception that if he were elected President, Americans, who are NOT millionaires or corporations, are essentially on their own.

Remember this is the man who believes corporations are people, and introduced a tax plan that was a gift to the very wealthy, and would cut spending by taking away funds that benefit the poor and middle class in America:

He proposed cutting individual marginal income tax rates by 20 percent; reducing the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, from 35 percent; eliminating capital gains taxes for people with incomes below $200,000; abolishing the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax; indexing the eligibility age for Medicare to longevity; allowing private insurers to compete with Medicare; eliminating the Affordable Care Act, Obama's health care law; and reducing federal spending to 20 percent of the national economy by making "hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts," including to programs like Amtrak and Planned Parenthood.

So reducing the corporate tax to 25 percent,  raising the age that the elderly receive medicare, and taking away funds from, or eliminating altogether, programs that provide medical assistance and transportation to those who otherwise cannot afford it.

Yeah that is exactly who Americans should place in office.

Update: And the Romney gaffes keep right on rolling in.

Asked by the AP reporter if he follows NASCAR, Romney responded, "Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners."

Yep a real man of the people. Assuming of course that corporations really ARE people.

Teabaggers use intimidation to disrupt Moveon.org meeting in Roseburg, Oregon.

Courtesy of The News Review:

Many members of the Douglas County tea party, including Americans for Prosperity President Rich Raynor, initially defended the party's actions and vowed to use similar tactics to break up future MoveOn meetings.

After the incident was reported, Raynor told The News-Review he received phone calls threatening his family. Raynor said several email accounts and his Facebook account had been hacked. 

Seemingly boastful exchanges between him and tea party member Karen Meier were posted in The News-Review's comment section, allegedly by an email hacker. 

Meier and Raynor said the hackings are being investigated by the FBI. Regional FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said she was “not aware of any active investigations” involving email hacking.

In a voice mail message, Raynor said he had been “advised not to make any further comment.” 

In a phone interview Tuesday, Meier, who attended the event, extended an apology to the MoveOn group, saying tea partiers got caught up in the moment.

This is a shameful display.  How can people who claim to want to defend the Constitution so callously interrupt someone's attempts to exercise their right to free speech?

They were clearly just being bullies and assholes, and if nobody every stands up to them they will continue acting that way until somebody gets hurt.

Of course it could have been worse for the MoveOn.org people.  When Dennis Zaki and I interviewed Teabaggers in Anchorage two years ago, a number of them were packing guns and wearing shirts that claimed they were members of the 2nd Amendment Patriots. (Later they gathered outside of the Dena'ina Convention Center and dared Senator Mark Begich to come out and talk to them.)

Do you still need more motivation to get out and vote? Perhaps this video from MoveOn.org will be the wake up call that you need.

By the way just in case you worry that I might miss the opportunity to vote while I am off gallivanting around Washington D.C., don't be!

Number one, I don't gallivant!  And number two, I voted last week.

You see I take my responsibility to cast my vote very seriously. 

So do the Religious Right, the Republicans, and the Teabaggers.

The only question left to ask, is do YOU?

MoveOn.Org ad about Public Option with actress Heather Graham is a winner.

I just have to say that if the Public Option looked like Heather Graham the old Republican farts would knock each other down to be associated with it.

Of course those of us on THIS side of the ideological fence already know it is that attractive. As do the majority of Americans.

MoveOn.org has a petition to Attorney General Eric Holder that they would like you to sign. As do I.

On Thursday, President Obama released memos that describe, in horrific detail, the torture techniques authorized by the Bush administration.

So far there's been no accountability for the architects of Bush's torture program. We need a full investigation and real consequences for those responsible - it's the only way to keep this from happening again.

Can you sign our petition to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the torture program?

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to Attorney General Eric Holder.

If you are at all like me you have been reading the torture memos and becoming overwhelmed by the horror of what our country has done. You have probably also felt the need to do something but have been unsure what you could do, or if it would matter.

Well what I have learned in this last year is that if enough of us stand together for truth and justice, than it is almost impossible to ignore us.

I could not sign this petition fast enough, and I hope you follow suit. Just click the title and let your voice be heard.

Our country will never heal effectively as long as this terrible wound is allowed to fester without receiving an application of good old American justice.

Powerful new Moveon.org ad.

New MoveOn.Org ad.

Ooooh I like this one!

New Moveon.org ad.

Pretty powerful stuff.

I am guessing that this is the kind of ad that will help people truly understand what a vote for John McCain means to the future of our children.

Hillary attacks the left wing of the Democratic party! WTF?

At a small closed-door fundraiser after Super Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton blamed what she called the "activist base" of the Democratic Party -- and MoveOn.org in particular -- for many of her electoral defeats, saying activists had "flooded" state caucuses and "intimidated" her supporters, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by The Huffington Post.

"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."

Do you like irony?

Moveon.org was created to help protect BILL CLINTON from being impeached!

Hillary is attacking the group that came to her husbands defense because they have the temerity to support her opponent during a democratic presidential nomination process.

In other words SHE IS ATTACKING THEM FOR PARTICIPATING IN DEMOCRACY BECAUSE IT IS NOT WORKING IN HER FAVOR!

You have got to be fucking kidding me!