Imagine that. If he's surprised, then it kind of goes to show you how little he actually believes in what he's been saying.

Either that, or how little he's thought through the consequences of all his politically expedient babble.

Like deploring government spending until his own state is burning down.

The same could be said for most of the Republican field, who are always so surprised when there are consequences to the decisions they make so easily, if they think it will win them a vote, or some campaign donations.

But it's OK to execute an innocent life. What a hypocrite!

He's for life before he's against it.

They want to keep govenment small and not intrude on personal liberty unless...

This puts a pretty interesting context around the whole episode:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/13/news/economy/census_bureau_health_insurance/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

Apparently, a full 1/6 of America's population totally lacks personal responsibility.

The number of people who lacked health insurance last year climbed to 49.9 million, up from 49 million in 2009, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Why don't all these lazy liberals just go out and get jobs so they can get some health insurance?

Or wait ....

Much of the declines in insured rates in recent years can be attributed to the loss of employer-provided coverage, which fell amid sustained unemployment and as employers continued to cut back on benefits.

The percentage of people who had health insurance through their employers fell to 55.3% in 2010 from 56.1% the year before, continuing a long, downward trend. In 2000, 64.1% of the population received health insurance through their employers.

"As the job market remains weak, Americans can no longer depend on their workplace for consistent affordable coverage," said Elise Gould, Director of Health Policy Research for the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

Some employers have stopped offering health insurance, while others are passing along more of the cost to their employees, said Gould. As a result, some workers are abandoning their employer's plans because the premiums have become too expensive, she said.

The average health insurance premium for family coverage has more than doubled over the past decade to $13,770 a year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit which focuses on health care policy and issues.

All of you conservatives should take careful note of the consequences of the society that your policies are creating. I suspect that not all of these people are indolent liberals, and that many were gainfully employed before Bush's recession knocked them off their feet.

Well he is also touting education - doesn't Texas come at the bottom level on education????

'Bachmann said on NBC's TODAY Show this morning that she was approached by a woman after the debate whose daughter had suffered mental retardation as a result of getting the vaccine.' How does she know the vaccine was the cause of the mental retardation? If science is what is showing the connection, then why doesn't she just state that the scientists are making this up to get additional funding?

'Perry dismissed that idea as similar to debunked theories linking vaccinations to autism.' Debunked theories....like supply side economics?

"And they've been in our schools, they've done their work, they've prepared themselves good, they want to be contributing members of society."

I believe these children have actually prepared themselves "well", not "good". Which is more than Governor Perry can apparently say.

SOTB -- you're picking on the wrong person. I'm not for the Affordable Care Act. I'm for universal coverage, or at least a public option, to either give insurance companies the boot or some REAL competition. The current bill punishes those who can least afford to be punished, does not guarantee coverage, makes no effort to control costs, and leaves the middleman in place, skimming anywhere from 15 to 20 percent off the top of the already skyrocketing costs of care for overhead and profit.

Not everything goes better with profit. In fact, if you look around right now, you might be hard pressed to find ANYTHING that's going better with profit -- not health care, not the environment, and certainly not education ....

'Bachmann said on NBC's TODAY Show this morning that she was approached by a woman after the debate whose daughter had suffered mental retardation as a result of getting the vaccine.' How does she know the vaccine was the cause of the mental retardation?

Simple... SHE doesn't!

As I posted under a seperate thread:

Welcome to our first Josephine the Plumber moment of 2012...

You are so right Feisty. The right wingers are full of contradictions. Prior to the debate, Bobby Jindal was being interviewed and stated the usual mantra, "government does not create jobs" when criticizing Obama. In the next sentence he was praising Rick Perry for all the jobs he created in Texas. HUH? Apparently government does not create jobs unless it creates jobs. These people are so blind they don't see their own inconsistencies.

I live in the Tampa area and cannot wait to protest the Republican National Convention next year. Here's hoping that all the progressive groups come out so we can create a real scene.

Liberal loons? So you believe the govt is always wrong except when it kills. Then it's infallible. Yep. Typical right wing nut.

Oh please, Republicans don't listen to anything or anybody.

I understand that Republicans in the crowd were cheering to let an innocent man die rather than allow him to see a doctor when they were discussing health insurance.

What a sick bunch of wrongheaded nuts.

Here's hoping that all the progressive groups come out so we can create a real scene.

Let us know when & where Kraig! ;o)

SickoftheBickering - Hey buddy there's been more than one innocent person who's been executed in this country. Just because you've been found guilty doesn't necessarily mean you are. Witness all the overturned convictions based on DNA evidence that wasn't available decades ago. So don't go tell me or anyone else that innocent people aren't executed because you're lying. If even one innocent person gets executed in this country it's an absolute argument against the death penality.

JoAnna:

Keep in mind that the spending you talk about includes tax cuts, the cost of which is calculated in the total cost of any stimulus. In the first one, tax cuts were about 3/8 of the total cost.

There is no hiring because demand is not there and those working are highly productive. High unemployment is a symptom of a structual problem with our economy. After shipping so many manufacturing jobs to low wage, no benefit countries, we have a large pool of skilled and semi-skilled workers who have no where to look for work in this country. We don't provide any significant job training for people, so most workers have no good way to adjust to changes in the labor market. Everyone is at fault for this, not just democrats. This is what happens when you try to build an entire economy on maximizing profit with no thought for the consequences.

It goes on an on. It's just like the tea party types complaining about socialized medicine. We have the furthest thing from socialized medicine, and the Health Care Reform Act just forces more people into the private sector. Costs are high because there is no incentive for those providing the care to keep costs down. It has nothing to do with individuals or insurance companies, for they are not in control of the cost of providing care. This is just one of the many things that is lost in the debate.

If he is so much the Party of life why is there so many uninsured in Texas? And this IS a discussion about illegals taking even more money out of our government. I live in TX and my property taxes (which are some of the highest in the nation) are paying for that education.

Here's the REAL Rick Perry:

Perry's 2001 remarks on study of joint health plan with Mexico get scrutiny

By

Robert T. Garrett/Reporter
rtgarrett@dallasnews.com | Bio
6:00 AM on Wed., Aug. 31, 2011 | Permalink

Ten years ago, Gov. Rick Perry spoke at a border summit held in South Texas. It's a safe bet that few remember his comments that day, back in the halcyon days before the war on terror.
But some Texas tea party adherents have dusted off the Perry text and found an objectionable reference to a legislatively required study of "the feasibility of bi-national health insurance," or coverage of both U.S. and Mexican residents along the border.

Not to mention some other friendly gestures Perry made that day toward Mexico, including a boast about how he'd just signed a Texas DREAM Act that granted in-state college tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants who are academic achievers. "Texas took the national lead in allowing such deserving young minds to attend a Texas college at a resident rate," he said.

Perry also spoke glowingly of how the Legislature in 2001 passed a children's Medicaid simplification bill and increased funding for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

"More checking under the hood needed before we buy the car," tea party activist JoAnn Fleming of Tyler wrote this week. A blogger weighed in with similar criticism in this post on RedState.com. Alice Linahan, a North Texas tea party activist and media aggregator, circulated the comments. She later told me in an email, "Rick Perry is like most politicians right now. They are beholden to their large donors vs. the voters who put them in office."

You can be the judge of Perry's remarks, available here on the governor's office website.
Perry campaign spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger downplayed the reference to bi-national health insurance.

"A bill was passed by the Legislature that authorized a study to look into this issue, which ultimately concluded there were numerous barriers to accomplishing that idea, and the Legislature took no further action on this concept," she said.

Perry's speech, delivered a few weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, brimmed with optimism. He talked about NAFTA , hailed the then-new administration of Mexico President Vicente Fox (above, AP photo from 2004) and extolled the prospect of peace and prosperity along the U.S.-Mexico border. It sure seems like a distant era ...

Google: Rick Perry's Mexico Summit Speech

Great posts, AM.

You argue persuasively.

But...

If the "Republican field" is as bad as you say...why have a number of them become viable alternatives to President Obama?

Give me...and everybody else...an explanation of that, plus a vigorous defense and endorsement of the Obama Administration.

Argue for President Obama...

You've really been a shrinking violet in terms of support for the Obama Administration.

So...go all-in, AM.

Governor Perry only looks good to American voters...to the extent that he looks good compared to President Obama.

Whose fault is that, AM?

BAGGERS out to destroy conservatism at every turn.

Perry wants their votes, but yet they shock even him with their murder voices. Let me know when anti-military, pro-murder, anti-economy BAGGGERS have stopped acting like their radical left counterparts at destroying their own party.

All Perry needs to do is talk with Chris Christie, who knows the GOP let the crazies out of the asylum and now they don't know how to get them back into their cells. A Prayer Meeting was a good start, but the purity test never ends, whether it's illegals or cherishing life AFTER birth. Good luck with that Rick.

You have to love it when a guy named SickOfTheBickering just adds to the Bickering!!! Give me a break!

Kraig 33761

Prior to the debate, Bobby Jindal was being interviewed and stated the usual mantra, "government does not create jobs" when criticizing Obama. In the next sentence he was praising Rick Perry for all the jobs he created in Texas. HUH? Apparently government does not create jobs unless it creates jobs. These people are so blind they don't see their own inconsistencies.

Was that during John King's interview on CNN? I've noticed King tends to toss softball questions at Republicans like Jindal and never calls them out when they blatantly contradict themselves, which they often do, sometimes in the same sentence. John King is much harder on Democrats, like in his interview with Vice President Joe Biden last night, which bordered on outright disrespect.

Oh Elise, it's just as easy for you to verify the falseness of your statements as it is for you to pose a rhetorical question to the group.

Texas is pretty much middle of the road compared to other states, unless you compare it to California. In that comparison, Texas beats California in every measurement:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/tables/11s0265.pdf

(And I attended California schools throughout my entire education)

Thank you Spider737231

The cruelty of the younger generation is wide-spread with disrespect for human beings. The lack of care for the elderly. The easy dismissal of the young, as witnessed by how many children are left in trash bags, toilets or abandoned. The lack of respect for self. The lack of respect for their parents.

For those generations relying on the youth coming into positions of decision making....HEAVEN, HELP US ALL!

Trying to get an answer out of a 20-30 yr. old is an act of pull and plead. Watching the lack of care for that group is heartbreaking. They grew up watching heads chopped-off on TV cartoons....the Game Boy with the antics of cruelty for entertainment. What can one expect?

There are so many people that feel no empathy for anyone in need. They walk around those asking for help with cold hearts and blind vision. What can one expect?

For the generation after the baby-boomers, these are your children. You can hope that they will care, as you age...but, so far I have NOT seen that compassion. Last night's reaction certainly showed the sad representation of a group, that has no HEART beating for anyone that might cut into THEIR bank accounts.

Not a good sign...yet, that is what the congress is showing now, being backed so heartedly by these Tea Party constituents. The land of America is showing a very BAD side and the generation coming forth is showing hearts of very cold steel.

Practical Libertarian

To put it simply; no we didn't get the Healthcare Bill we wanted. According to the majority of polls done on ObamaCare, 57% (some going as high as 65% in a few polls) of Americans wanted the Public Option. It was taken out and replaced by the individual mandate to garner Republican support.

And surprise surprise Republicans were for it before they were against it. A partial list of Republicans who rail against Obama for "forcing" the "unconstitutional" part of the bill are:

Lincoln Chafee, R-RI, in 1994.
John McCain, R-AZ, in the 90s
Mitt Romney, R-MA (and signed the bill as Governor)
Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.

When polled on individual parts of the bill over 80% want the reforms contained therein. When asked if they support "ObamaCare" it drops to around 45%.

Why?

Because people seem to be listening to the loudest most ignorant people in our political system today. Republicans and the Tea Party.

TO: Practical Libertarian who wrote:

"...How is it that with Dems in charge, and Obamacare passed, healthcare is in decline, and somehow this is the Republicans fault?

You got your stinking healthcare bill..."

Yep, we got some stinking Republicans too who think their only job is to force failure on America and the American People, and as we've seen in past, failure is what Republicans are best at, as well as holding down Working Americans' wages.

Republicans may not have the White House, but they're not without power. The whole world watched as the Republican Tea Baggers brought America to the brink of default, and succeeded at having our credit rating lowered.

If what Republicans have been doing is considered "winning" amongst the Teabagging Republican crowd, then it must be the "Charlie Sheen" version of "winning" where you lose everything in the end.

James Connah - And you think your opinion isn't silly I'll bet??? Hah!! The comment you just made about women was as silly as they come and ignorant on top of that. Get counseling for your anger.

Holey Moley, SuckerFish...

Are you suggesting that the "kids" suck worse than the "boomers" do?

Wait'll they find out that they've become indentured servants to the "boomers".

That reaction ought to be fun to watch.

Just be sure to wear your protective headgear.

Anna,

It is then safe to say that the Blamer in Chief and all his shills are part of that 1/16. How all encompasing a generic 1/16 can be.

The great thing about that is when Nov 2012 hits there will be a few more in that number passing blame on why congress and the white house is now more TeaBag than not.

Tea is ready want a cup?

Practical Libertarian - The health care bill stinks because of all the Republican amendments that watered it down to mere insurance regulation, which does not go into full effect until 2014, but somehow is currently killing jobs. Also, because of the Grand Obstructionist Party, Dems need a filibuster-proof super majority to pass anything. The Dems only enjoyed a super majority (minus Blue Dogs) for about nine months.

Republicans are only good at spinning, not governing. Obama/Biden - 2012!

The spin that people put on Perry is unbelievable and I have no opinion on Perry.

1. I live in Texas and have a teenage daughter. Her doctor asked me about the HPV vaccine for my daughter. I told the doctor no. We went on to the next issue. That was it. Very simple.

2. On executions. People that are executed have willingly killed another person. The person needs to pay for his wrong. Inmates are able to go to the US Supreme Court if needed. Its not just up to Perry alone.

People can't and should not compare a sick person to a person who willingly killed someone. Use common sense people.

Rick Perry called Social Security a ponzi scheme. When you discover a ponzi scheme, you end it. All people involved, including the innocent victimes, lose, except those who already cashed out and are long gone.

Since the politicians have been utilizing the excess funds in SS to pay for government operations for decades, they are the ones who cashed out and are long gone.

The only thing Rick Perry wants to do is to end Social Security.

Why do Republicans want to run the government, just to shut it down ?

What about the $1.00 that each of us pay (donate)on every electric bill we pay each and every month to be placed in a fund for poor people who cannot afford to pay their electric bill. According to a newscast on Houston's KHOU-TV Channel -11, 3 weeks ago, only 40 % of those donation actually go towards that fund for the poor people, The other 60% goes into the Texas state treasury to help balance the state budget. So now Mr. Rick Perry, who's cheating who ? Most people don't know that their dollar each month goes into the treasury to balance the Texas budget.

C'mon, get serious. The guy graduated with a 2.5gpa in Animal Science, and then raised cotton with his father until getting into politics. Is this really the best American to be President? Would you even hire him to run a public zoo?

So My Liberal friends Whats the name of the Democratic congressperson who has put this bill up for a vote? Ive been looking all over and I cant seem to find the name! And to rrobeson...... what was Mr Obama university gpa or his HS gpa or any part of any of his educational record.

I suspect that not all of these people are indolent liberals, and that many were gainfully employed before Bush's recession knocked them off their feet.

True. I was employed, and a Republican. Then the party started it's mad rush to the right, leaving me more independant... now I seem to be surrounded by democrats agreeing with me whenever I say just about anything. Except the death penalty. I'm for that. But the "Party of Life"? If you want to save lives, Universal Health Care! In other nations, the conservatives are the ones who make it work.

Sorry dude... not innocent. GUILTY! As found by a jury of his peers!

Yeah, right. Tell that to Cameron Todd Willingham. Perry refused him a stay of execution, and then tried to cover up the fact that forensic evidence proved the fire that he was accused of setting, that killed his children, was NOT arson:

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-01/justice/texas.execution.probe_1_willingham-case-cameron-todd-willingham-execution?_s=PM:CRIME

"Rather than let this important hearing go forward and the report be heard, the governor fires the independent chairman and two other members of this commission," Scheck said. "It's like Nixon firing Archibald Cox to avoid turning over the Watergate tapes."

true,

Then what you are saying is, when the dems did have a super majority they sat around doing nothing until the tea party slapped them upside the head to wake them and now it is the tea party that is keeping them from doing their job. How great it must be to be able to think up this kind of stuff. I am sure the majority of those that read your post are scratching their heads and saying "Huh?" I guess it is better the read yourself talk than to truely think about what you are writing to read.

Want a cup? You might like the taste if you tried some instead of rejecting the taste as bitter without knowing what it is all about.

"Perry distinguished from that the issue of "justice," reiterating his strong support and "respect" for the death penalty on a state-by-state basis. "But the Republican party ought to be about life and protecting, particularly, innocent life," he added."

Here's the problem in a nut-shell for religious wing-nuts. He continues to see the world in black and white. Aside from children, there are very few "innocent" people out there. His Christianity out to tell him that vengeance is God's, and that we should show the same amount of forgiveness and care to others that we'd desire for ourselves. Instead, Perry thinks he should be judge, jury, and God regarding someone's right to life or death.

There is just way too much off about this guy that any reasonable person, or even a right-winger, could consider attractive as a President. Granted, I won't vote GOP, if I did, it'd be for Romney right now. He's the most level headed and moderate of the whacky bunch.

you can come out, but be prepared to crawl under a rock after the elections.

Practical Libertarian:

How is it that with Dems in charge, and Obamacare passed, healthcare is in decline, and somehow this is the Republicans fault?

You're making the predictable mistake of thinking that, because I'm liberal, I'm defending the Democrats on this. I'm not. On May 15, 2009, when President Obama threw the single-payer advocates out of the room and let the insurance companies have seats at the grownups' table, I observed to those who knew me then that it was possible he had just lost my vote. The Democrats are squarely to blame for giving in to the emotional histrionics and theatrics of the selfish Republican thugs who stood in the way of REAL reform. The President is squarely to blame for allowing insurance companies to drive the bus.

If you want to know more about that, read the Florida decision. It pretty much lays it all out.

I'm what they call "professional left," which is a lot like Libertarian, when you think about it, except we care much more about people than we do about our so-called "property rights."

And in case you're wondering, I learned a little bit about property rights in law school.

Mixed Bag:

You've really been a shrinking violet in terms of support for the Obama Administration.

LoL You've noticed. How sweet.

Were you really expecting me to defend what I consider to be the indefensible?

But that doesn't mean I won't vote for President Obama. I've seen the alternatives, and I've imagined what might happen if a Republican President and Republican Congress take office in January, 2013. I don't like what I see, not one little bit. But I'm also realistic enough to understand that there's a viable field on the other side only because the President has, at least in my opinion, placed himself squarely into that position.

Ironically, he did it not by being too liberal, but by mocking and then abandoning the ideals of the "professional left." What goes around ....

Harrison Burney:

The other 60% goes into the Texas state treasury to help balance the state budget. So now Mr. Rick Perry, who's cheating who ? Most people don't know that their dollar each month goes into the treasury to balance the Texas budget.

Yes, a not-so-well-hidden tax -- probably just one of many that he has implemented, such as making low-income rural residents pay a fee for school bus service in addition to their other taxes -- in addition to the federal stimulus money that he used to balance the budget, effectively transferring Texas's deficit from its own credit card to the federal credit card. And then he tells you that he kept your taxes low and complains about the federal deficit. And worst of all, after robbing nearly $19 billion in stimulus to balance his own books, takes credit for the jobs that were created while criticizing the President because the stimulus supposedly didn't create jobs.

Nice work if you can get it.

That's a non-starter Spider. You knit a web of utter distrust. Remember, the non-liberal views can also be thought of as right-wing media. Guess you don't see it that way. Objectively, I find the right has been acting less that sincerely over the past 18 months with one and only one goal in mind - oust the Prez regardless of the cost to the nation. It just might come back to haunt them.

The Pro-Death Party really tore off the mask last night.

I don't see how a GOP candidate that appeals to the Pro-Death Party will ever appeal to the rest of the country. These people are crazy.

Feisty, Capital punishment is a good way to handler murderers. That's one less person on the streets killing our kids and our grandparents. I'm all for it.

While I agree that capital punishment is not a deterrant, it WILL stop that person from ever killing again.

Jemma, God forbid it ever happen to your or anyone in your family, but you can't forget the victims, and their families. They deserve justice.

Gee Spider... Texas ranks 51st ...yes DEAD FREAKING LAST in scholastic achievement out of all 50 States plus the District of Columbia. And it's a 100% RETHUGLICON state. Put 2 and 2 together.

As for Perry's hypocritical statement "We're the party of life"..... LMFAO....yeah.... as long as it's PRE-BORN and NOT VIABLE. After that, anything's game. They're willing to let you die from hunger, die from lack of healthcare, die fighting their wars and die via state execution. The GOP is anything BUT "pro-life"... it is most certainly "PRO-DEATH".

JollyOldSoul: Despite your ignorance....you need to know that you must have a 4.0 GPA in order to be accepted to Harvard. So, even if we don't know President Obama's GPA, you can pretty much assume that it was 4.0! I know....I had a 3.9 GPA average and couldn't get into Harvard....I was told that it wasn't high enough! Maybe you need to research the requirements to get into Harvard, Yale, and/or any other ivy league college....it ain't easy and you have to be a top-of-the-line student!

I sincerely doubt that Perry could even BEGIN to get into Harvard!!

Suckerfish,

I wouldn't say that MY generation doesn't care, or that we're cold or indecisive. We just had to live with all the mistakes of former administrations dem and rep alike. I've watched my father work his tail off for the last 30 years, only to see him spend it all on health insurance so the CEO's can line their pockets. I've watched as promise after promise has been made by one politician or another. I've watched american company's ship their work to different countries so they could again line their pockets. I've watched the fight over abortion so long that I no longer care. I don't think it's right but it is not my place to decided what another woman has the right to do with her own body. I've watched as people that love each other are denied the right to be married. I'm married and would hope that one day a same sex couple will be able to legally say the same. I've also watched as illegal immigrants come in to this country and use our resources and our tax dollars. If I went to someones home and began to use their belongings to better my-self that would be considered stealing. Illegal immigrants are doing the same thing. If you want to live in this country then do it legally, pay your taxes I have no problem with that oh yeah and learn to speak english. My generation has answers we're just not heard. BTW I have a lot of respect for the elder generation, I'm just to busy working to pay my taxes, my fair share (and the share of all the illegals and the share of the rich that write everything off, and the share of the business that get refunds, and the share of the to poor to pay taxes) and raising my children to have too much time for anything else. And for the record they can take my freaking bank account for all I care they wouldn't be able to do much with what's in there anyways.

SuckerFish: There's been some talk about how 20-30 year olds are "frightening" because they don't care about humans and it's like pulling teeth to get them to do anything. Well, I got news for ya. I probably know 1000% more about the human race than your average joe. I volunteer often and work hard for the money and education I receive. I support the people around me. I have not met ANYONE my age who "doesn't care." If you're someone who thinks this about us Gen Y-ers, please get to know us better. There are always people who won't care, but these come from every age and from every walk of life. Let me just add that we in our 20s and 30s are at the forefront of the real green movement and we're more in touch with what is important to our lives. A lot of the scientific discoveries that are making headlines- being worked on by someone who is 20 or 30. You grouping all of us together is like saying that everyone who likes the color green all have IQs below 100. It's absolutely asinine.

It is getting a little tedious the comments about the impending execution of an "innocent man". There is very, very little doubt the guy is guilty. He himself admits he was there he just claims the other guy did it. First, right out the gate who did the actual deed is immaterial since you are guilty if you participate in a criminal act resulting in murder regardless of whether or not you pulled the trigger. Second, much is made of the claim no DNA of his was found on the guns, totaly disregarding the fact they were stabbed as well as shot and gloves were found in the car. Third, the confession of the accomplice didn't occur until after he was given a life sentence without parole leaving him nothing to lose. In short, there is WAY MORE evidence of guilt than innocence, to the point of way beyond a reasonable doubt. All of the other stuff is just smoke screen by the anti-capital punishment crowd. Now, you can argue the fairnes all day of one guy getting life and the other death and there at least you have a point but to claim innocence? No way in hades is the guy innocent. By the way red and the other screaming lbs on here, I don't believe in the death penalty either, I am just not so gullible to believe the guy is innocent.

LMAO........ Really! Tell that to all the wealthy people and people of influence who have gotten into any of the Ivy league colleges. Two to be precise John Kerry and George Bush (Jr) both with 2.75 gpa or less. gee wizz you sure are a smart woman. Oooooops

I was born and raised in Texas and I can just say Perry was not my choice in the last election for Governor. He's done nothing for this state, if anything just the opposite. He can take credit Texas for having the lowest paying jobs. He only cares for special interest groups, namely Republicans that are rich. He himself has become a millionaire while holding the office of Governor. So, if you think he's good to run this country -- LOOK OUT!!! Send him back to Texas where he needs to clean up the mess he's made. Namely, for one our EdUCATION SYSTEM!!!!

SickOfTheBickering

Sorry dude... not innocent. GUILTY! As found by a jury of his peers!

THAT is the problem with you liberal loons... you want to protect the criminal and throw the victim under the bus.

Unbelievable.

Ridiculous generalizations. THAT is the problem with asshats like you. What's unfortunate is that tactics such as this are the norm.

Believe it.

Bohemian Rapsody: Have you ever heard the word "filibuster? The Republicans are really good at it, and it was because of this that, despite having a Democratic congress, they could not pass anything. And, guess what, they're STILL at it! They're REALLY also good at holding the Middle Class hostage so they can get their own way, despite the fact that it is not only hurting the Middle Class, but it's hurting their own constituents!

Uhm? Social Security a PONZI SCHEME? What are Republican backed policies that allow insurance companies to fraud millions of policy holders out of billions of dollars each year called? What are Republican finance policies of 401K called that caused millions of hard working Americans to lose billions of their savings when Wall Street has a down turn? Insurance companies and 401K saving plans are the real PONZI SCHEMES that Republicans don't want the public to know about. Remember the Republican President George W. Bush that stood behind the idea that outsourcing of millions of American jobs would help us globally to achieve jobs from other countries. The Republicans give away jobs, then accuse the Democrats of not creating jobs. What a bunch of HYPOCRITES!

Pssst! Bachmann, one doesn't "get" mental retardation. One is either born retarded, or not.

Really how did the hrc get through! Didi.........your a bearer of bad news! Oh thats right that super secret midnight vote thing!

AM-

Re: President Obama.

High-five, and again:

Consensus.

Neither of us likes Perry.

Actually, I don't think I like Perry as a presidential candidate, or personally.

Unlike President Obama.

Personally, I like him.

As President...?

Not so much.

Kinda like you, AM.

;-)

JollyOldSoul, sourgrapes DOESN'T even use ANY SOURCE to back up his ludicrous claim. Are you the PETA member you pretend to hate?

To Allen_Shore and Spyder - Have not you guys been paying attention. I even heard this on FOX news but you need the facts even though for the past two weeks people have been proving this all along. Keep your heads in sand!!

From Politifact check

In 2000, when Perry first took office, 75.7 percent of state residents 25 or older had graduated high school, according to the Census bureau. That figure placed Texas 45th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia were lower.)

By 2009, nearly a decade later, the percentage of Texas residents with a high school diploma had increased to 79.6. But other states increased at a greater rate, leaving the Lone Star State ranking dead last.

The Census Bureau includes Washington, D.C. in its data, so Texas actually ranked 51st.

There are your facts!

Rick,

No offense meant Dude, but severe head trauma can also cause the dramatic loss of motor skills and cognitive functions. While not Down's Syndrome or other cognitive handicaps usually associated with birth defects, hereditary or genetic causes it's still a mental impairment. Whenever Rep. Bachman opens her mouth "stupid" falls out, but in this case she may have simply used the wrong term and speaking of which...

I'm trying very hard not to use the word "retarded" which is regarded as a pejorative in the 21st century. It's hard, because I'm 61 years old and grew up using the term myself. I"m not trying to criticize you for the use of the word, I'm just saying...

On to other matters, the "Party of Life" huh? No affordable health care, capital punishment, war without end, and a threatened reduction in Social Security, Medicare and public assistance benefits. And let's not forget the Arizona Governor and her "death panels" that decide what diseases your insurance will cover.

Yeah, that would be my definition of a "Party of Life" alright. (In Bizarro World maybe)

America Held Hostage day 256

Obama/Biden 2012 They are truly pro-life

"Justice" Not "JustUs"

Perry created jobs in Texas by getting Gov't out of the way. Yes, you can create a job without spending money on it.

If More Government were the Solution - we would be in PARADISE NOW. Gov't is twice as big now as it was in 2001.

As for the uninsured in Texas or the education levels, do you want the figures to include the illegals or not?

Without illegals, Texas is middle of the states in uninsured and above average in education.

Understand that the Federal Gov't blocks states from catching illegals. We are forced to educate them and provide healthcare by Washington.

However, when it comes time to pay, Washington says THAT IS A STATE ISSUE.

The US executes about 250 born people a year, and 1,350,000 unborn a year.

As for Gaurdisil - it is FDA approved.

Perry didn't mandate it's use. Unlike the other vaccines that are mandatory(such as the menigitis vaccine, that Texas alone requires all college students to have), it was optional.

It drives me bonkers when the media/leftists say it was a mandatory vaccine. We have those here, you cannot opt out of a mandatory vaccine (unless you have special permission).

Reminds me of when they call international calls domestic wiretaps. Check the phone bill, it's not a domestic call. So if a call to Afghanistan from the US is "Domestic", then what is a call between Maine and Ohio? "Super Domestic"? "Really, Really Domestic"? "Domestic Domestic"?

Same thing with calling something that was optional "mandated". It's just not "Mandated Mandated".

When was the last time a Democrat let the public opt out of any Gov't plan?

When the Federal Gov't was low on cash during the debt ceiling debate, Washington (Geitner) let slip a fact about Social Security that we should all remember: there is no money in the Social Security fund. Yes, they were not going to mail out checks if the Debt Ceiling didn't get raised. So that means they had no money in a Social Security "fund". Otherwise, borrowing new money would have no effect on Social Security checks.

Thank you Perry for defending those of us and our kids who will pay our whole lives into SS only to get nothing in return.

It's time to wind down SS. It meets the definition of a Ponzi scheme - if young people didn't pay in it would collapse within the week.

And that is Security?

(Soon we will all have same vunderful (sic) government provided coverage, comrade!) - SOTB

Good heavens, I so hope you're right! Have a grandma on Medicare? She loves it (we all do!) It's single-payer and is why every other industrialized country has affordable healthare WITH better outcomes than the US.

We'll finally get out from under "for profit" healthcare, where your life-saving heart surgery is considered a "loss" to shareholders, and kills 45,000 working Americans a year, kicking them off the health insurance rolls when they get sick, then jacking up premiums (to maintain profit margins) for the few remaining "healthy" people still privileged to have coverage (until they get sick, they they can just die, too.)

You clearly don't have two working neurons to rub together, but I AM hoping your prediction goes viral!

Jolly -

Obama graduated in the top 5%.

Is that better than Perry's 2.5?

Probably waaaaaaaaaaaay better.

Relax, skip-

The young will pay our Social Security and Medicare 'til we're both gone.

They'll still be voting for the left right up until they figure out what was done to them.

By then they won't be young anymore.

Literally, or figuratively.

Wisdom...dearly paid for.

Reality check for Feisty: Listen and learn? Your boy Obama is not gettin the job done. Maybe Perry can't get it done either. Where's Hilary when you need her. I'm guessing not under the desk of that morally bankrupt husband.

I think everybody is taken aback by his inability to tell the truth. He's been getting away with his B.S. for so long in Texas he figures the rest of the country is going to sit back and take it. This man is dangerous.

Darrell 409,

You said it. Don't forget the U.S. Chamber of Commerce boob that is backing all the Repubs who is still saying outsourcing our jobs is a good thing.

I just wish that Obama had gotten this kind of scrutiny during the last presidential election. We were presented with a cipher with a platform based on vague and meaningless catch phrases like "hope' and 'change' and no real examination of his policies, his actions or his intentions.

The press gave him a pass for any background check and glossed over what other candidates would have been crucified. Case in point is Palin. They were all over her and to this day they went over her emails with a fine tooth comb, hoping to find some little tidbit of dirt and she isn't even running for office.

There are still some questions about Obama's background and his associates, especially the Chicago connection, but, those tidbits never make air or print. As to inability to tell the truth....transparency, five days to read the bill, close Gitmo...

Mygirl1 - are you kidding me. You don't think the Clinton and McCain folks looked into PRESIDENT Obama's records. Boy are you naive. I mean they both wanted to be POTUS so they went through his record with a fine tooth comb.

Bohemian Rapsody-3951899 -- To reply to your incoherent ramblings, during the months the Dems had a super majority, among the 420 bills passed in the House under Pelosi, three (3) were jobs bills along with major legislation such as Dodd Frank financial reform. If necessary, I'll re-post a list of the most important bills.

Pelosi's Congress in the first month was in session for 16 days, 134 hours, and 50 minutes. Boehner's was 11 days, 62 hours, and 5 minutes. Which may explain why the House under Boehner has passed only 14 bills or so? Currently THE DO NOTHING CONGRESS refers specifically to the Boehner/Cantor Teapublican House.

Vote the Teapublican Bums out!

I'm a liberal who lives in TX and I believe in the death penalty. Today with the use of DNA testing you can pin the person to the crime without any lingering thought. I really do believe it is better than housing someone for years on end. Of course each case is decided individually. It's one story when the meth head kills grandma with lots of torture involved than when you have a crime of passion.

Just my opinion.

Anna Molly can you give me a link or something for this:

On May 15, 2009, when President Obama threw the single-payer advocates out of the room and let the insurance companies have seats at the grownups' table

Thanks

Elise, don't facts and pertinent information mean anything to you?

To help you out, here's a factual resource for you to ponder - 2007-2008 high school graduation rates by state: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011012.pdf (page 37 of 104)

Texas is not great at 16th off the bottom, but ahead of California, New York, and many others.

But I'm guessing you'll ignore this information too, because it doesn't help you with your prejudiced stereotypes.

rico, you surprise me. being from Texas you should surely be aware of all of the crime lab scandals across the state, where DNA evidence was tainted, mis-tested, and results were used in courts to convict people. Texas' justice is the most backwater, barbaric in the modern world. Amanda Knox stands more chance of being innocent in Italy than she ever would in Texas. In Texas, arrested means guilty. And if you're arrested and brown, then you're about to do some hard time.

In Texas, if your arrested and anything other than a white evangelical christian, you better start praying to your worthless god (worthless because it is not the god of the evangelicals...lol) because you will soon be dead.

wow, dirp-

I have friends living in Texas.

Different skin colors...no evangelical Christians.

Their everyday lives remind me of mine, here in California.

Sure, more Californians want to go to Texas than the other way around, but...

Whatever.

Are you sure you're not exaggerating just a little bit?

Just a teensy bit?

The GOP is the party of life, eh? What a joke. Unless you're poor. Or you've just retired, and you're a year younger then Perry. Then you're just supposed to sit in the house you can no longer afford and starve to death with quiet dignity.

The GOP is the party of "I've got mine, screw you."

As for getting heath care if you aren't insured, well, why should hospitals have to provide care for free? That's what's driving up costs the most, you know. So carry an insurance card, or a really big pile of cash, and you won't get kicked out of the E.R.

That's why we need manditory health care, and a private option. Well, I guess that boat has sailed. The only thing left is to start bouncing indigents at the ER door.

Of course, this is obviously a terrible idea, voiced as irony. But I guess it gets cheers from the TP people at Perry's meetings.

Based on cheers for executions, and cheers for letting an uninsured person die (unless it's Terri Schiavo?), and booing when Ron Paul for anti-war positions, it's clear that Teapublicans are not pro-life--they don't even have civility. But after the Town Squalls, Tea Party protests, and head stomping, did we expect anything else? The American people want civility--throw the barbarian anarchists out!

Mixed Bag: maybe a little bit of exageration.

I can tell you one thing, if you stay in the hot sun too long, your brain will actually fry inside your skull. And about Texas politicians, they've spent way too much time in the 100 degree sun for too many decades.

Kinda explains George W. Bush, Ron Paul and Rick Perry.

SickOfTheBickeringExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

Sorry dude... not innocent. GUILTY! As found by a jury of his peers!

THAT is the problem with you liberal loons... you want to protect the criminal and throw the victim under the bus.

Unbelievable.

No, unlike Republicon/T-baggers we only want to make sure the accused is guilty. We don't believe in a mire body-count!

SOTB:

Sorry dude... not innocent. GUILTY! As found by a jury of his peers!

If I may, I would like to remind Sick of the Bickering and others pounding the drums for the death penalty in this case that O.J. Simpson was ACQUITTED by a jury of his peers.

I don't think it's fair to say that the acquittal made Simpson "innocent," any more than a conviction makes an innocent man "guilty."

Be careful what you wish for. If you say, "kill them all, and let God sort it out," you may very well wind up with God sorting it all out, including your own fate.

This is the face of the American Right. They cheer the death of poor people. They applaud state murder even when innocent people are killed by the government. These people are dangerous, and I don't think America truly understands how dangerous this really is.

I support Romney. He was prepared. He knows that social security is here to stay and has the experience and know how to fix it. He has worked in politics and the private sector.

Perry is nuts. He's religious. He agrees to give in-state tuition to illegal aliens' kids. He mandated all the 12 year old girls in Texas to get a vaccine by an executive order.

The fellow who goes by the name, "sickofthebickering" wrties that it was okay that Texas Perry MURDERED an innocent man on deathrow, because he was found guilty by 12 morons and for the Liberals bleeding hearts club to quit crying. DNA has freed over 400 people today on deathrow who were also found guilty by 12 morons. I hope you are found guilty of a crime you are innocent of by 12 morons and put on deathrow, or I hope you are in a truck wreck and paralyzed from the neck down and have to live this way for 20 years, so you know what it is like to have your LIFE taken from you.

Watch what you wish on others Christopher it comes back to you ten fold.

Karen his mandate lasted all of 5 seconds, the people including doctor's stood up and said oh hell no and that was that.

Rick-numbers you can "become" mentally retarded through brain damage I was a special education teacher 80% of my students weren't "born" that way, they were abused, think about how hard you would have to hit a child to cause retardation.

Cygnus_X-1 what you need to remember about Texas is that we have a lot of drug usage here and we have a whole lotta gangs. Both of those contribute to what I feel is a lot of violent crime. I'm really not aware of how the labs work or what their percentages are. All I can say is that as a law abiding, older resident of Texas....I don't feel safe. Hence, while years ago I would never have dreamed of owning a gun... I now do. AND I would not so much as cringe should I have to use it. In my area the police have a dismal response time.

One does what one has to do.

ok...So was Perry "taken aback" by what we have known all along about the these TP zealots? That they are a bunch of cold-hearted, unloving reincarnates of the Pharisees...you know the Religious politicians who killed Jesus (the perfect man) himself??

or was he just "taken aback" that they were so willing to go so public with their cold-hearted, unloving nature for the national audience to see??? just asking...

Secure the borders. Just because your here doesn't mean we have to like it.We have legal ways to come to the land of the free,not land of the unlawful.

I don't think the GOP understands the monstrosity their party has become. They've let chowder-heads like Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, and Savage drive the message for the GOP for so long that they've lost control of what the party stands for. Occasionally you'll see a Republican politician attempt to stand up to Limbaugh, but they always end up belly-crawling back to lick Limbaugh's shoes.

There are a lot of "Eisenhower Republicans" out there that consider today's GOP a sick joke.

Eisenhower spear-headed deregulation, de-rationing, and refused deficit spending.

Beware what you say, man. Eisenhower's philosophies are well-represented with the bulk of the infamous TP.

Eisenhower also refused to lower taxes (top marginal rate of 91%) if it added a cent to the debt.

I certainly don't consider myself an "Eisenhower Republican" but if you compare today's GOP to the GOP under Eisenhower today's GOP comes off as an unhinged group of extremists.

Rick Perry - able to take on his own party and able to contrast himself to the current president. And he has nice hair and a nice smile. Unless they find out has a love child with six different women in Texas (or something crazy along those lines), Perry will be the Republican nominee.

Will - You are probably correct. But that "unless" you mention is certainly out there...

You might want to look up Perry's relationship with his former chief of staff Geoff Conner and maybe somebody in the press should talk to the private chefs Texas provides Governor Perry...

And Eisenhower warned us against allowing the military-industrial complex to develop. They now control both this country and most of the world's economy.

You note that Rick Perry was not offended that Michelle Bachman thought he was a whore to Merck, only that she thought he could be bought so cheaply. And he did not even deny that he was bought.

Will-109 - if Rick Perry is the nominee (and the Teavangelical's won't nominate a mormon) I think there are enough people who are afraid of him to prevent him from winning the general election. I mean, do you really thing people actually liked Harry Reid?

TO: Will-1091847 who wrote:

"Rick Perry - able to take on his own party and able to contrast himself to the current president. And he has nice hair and a nice smile. Unless they find out has a love child with six different women in Texas (or something crazy along those lines), Perry will be the Republican nominee."

One can only hope. A Perry nomination will guarantee President Obama's reelection.

Perry is un-electable. His stance on Social Security alone cost him Florida at the very least.

As for your contention that Perry has nice hair and a nice smile, you also forgot - short neck, possibly no neck.

Perry's shirt collars go right up to his ear lobes.

Don't bring up Eisenhower. Like every general past Jackson, he made a terrible president. There is very little in his administration worth applauding, unless you count quietly working to get the 38th parallel ceasefire in Korea, which still more or less stands today.

He was mediocre. A great general, but no statesman.

nisl

Will - You are probably correct. But that "unless" you mention is certainly out there...

You might want to look up Perry's relationship with his former chief of staff Geoff Conner and maybe somebody in the press should talk to the private chefs Texas provides Governor Perry...

It will probably prove to be nothing...on the other hand, if not...ROFLMAO at the potential impact!

theCavalier

Don't bring up Eisenhower. Like every general past Jackson, he made a terrible president. There is very little in his administration worth applauding, unless you count quietly working to get the 38th parallel ceasefire in Korea, which still more or less stands today.

He was mediocre. A great general, but no statesman.

Still...considerably better than anything the GOP offers up as candidates these days!

Rick Perry is a shill of Big Oil. Big Oil keeps all Americans hostage so they can continue to enjoy huge profits. Does lunatic Perry have any idea what happens to Americans who have no pensions, didn't earn the 6-figure salaries he does and can't afford health care?

These are the personally responsible eldest Americans who didn't depend on pensions because they believed it was their responsibility to work, pay into Social Security which protected them from a grand mal kind of Madoffing they all experienced during the Great Depression. Now, the rug is supposed to be ripped out from under them and all because some idiot from Texas thinks it's okay to confiscate payroll deductions? So he can funnel it to Wall Street investment addicts to play with?

How is any 70 year old going to compete for a job with a 20-something with a college degree up the wazoo? How is an 80 year old supposed to have the kind of energy, stamina and endurance of a hotcha 40 or 50 something who thinks he/she can retire on their Wall Street investments so long as they take money out of Social Security to do it?

What a bunch of lunatics! Perry the Pretty Boy with his gold cuff links hasn't a clue what happens outside his own state. In fact, he can't utter a single sentence without the word "Texas" in it. This is what we need right now? Texification of the entire country?

'Retirement' is a completely new concept introduced in the 30's.

Throughout the thousands/millions of years of human existence, the young were the caretakers of the young and the elderly. Grandma got sick, she moved in with her daughter or son and they cared for them.

There is, in fact, some survival benefits to be gained from having children :) pity that we've become too 'civilized' for such base discourse, right?

Concepts of the Human Condition and Social Hierarchies just aren't condoned any more outside of a college campus.

teknishan - I have no children. Who do I move in with? You?

teknishan - Really? Is that what you think? Well perhaps there were some Waltons around before the 1930's but perhaps you don't know about the little thing called "Poor Houses". Those were places that people with little or no money went and the majority of those places were filled with the elderly and the sick. You know how I know about them? When I was a little girl I was fascinated with the story of Helen Keller. Well her teacher Annie Sullivan and Annie's little brother lived in a poor house because they had no mother or father. The tiime frame was somewhere around 1880 in the United States. Annie's little brother had a tubercular hip and Annie cared for him in that poor house until he died....a little boy given no medication....put in a poor house to die! Annie Sullivan wrote that she and her brother were several of only a handful of young people...the rest in the poor house were the elderly.....Do the TPer's sound like the types that would get rid of Medicare/Medicaid and institute poor houses again? The answer is yes.

The day my children have to wipe my old ass for me, is the day I will ask someone to do all of us a favor and smother me with a pillow. But that won't happen either because I could live in a hotel room in Vegas, get my meals from room service, and pay a hooker to wipe my ass cheaper than a nursing home.

You didn't hear every candidate say they wouldn't touch the current retirement with SS? Haven't you heard them say it over and over? The "old" people are safe.

laurie - Have you ever heard of the Orphan Trains? They rounded up all the street kids in New York and shipped them out West to be adopted. Many of them became slave labor on farms and didn't have a much better life than they did living on the streets. Some fortunate ones ended up in good families that took care of them. It is rumored that "Billy the Kid" came off one of the Orphan Trains.

In order!

Summertime - You die.

laurie - ok. You didn't actually respond to the statement, but your anecdote was quaint.

FG - Hookers and blow? That's your decision, but I respect it.

teknishan - Quaint? Is that how you describe how poor people were treated at the turn of the 20th century. My point is that Medicare/Medicaid were solutions to a humane problem that was dogging this country for generations. The elderly were living in poverty and not getting the health care they needed. Social Security and then Medicare/Medicaid insured that the elderly could live out their ending years in dignity. Not all elderly can depend on family and not all families are the WALTONS!

Laurie, Than do what I do......go to irs.gov open up an account using your ssn and you can donate money to the general fund. I send $300 to $600 a month. I really think that you liberals should stop talking and DO SOMETHING. Even a few dollars would be great. Then you can say something with out being so hypocritical. And you get a nice little email thanking you for your donation.

I gave at the office.

Absolutely Forrest Grump! LOL !

Me too, and at the gas pump, and the toll road, and the liquor store, and the cigarette store, and the grocery store.

Teknishan: Modern retirement was created in the 20th century. Slaves were emancipated in the 19th century. Civil rights was big in the '60s. Computers started really moving in the '80s.

The good ideas just keep coming. No reason to wipe them out just because they started on a certain date.

I thought they were against late term abortions, abortion in the 320th trimester is still late term abortion.

It is an old person not a choice!

Well I hope they make these people watch an ultrasound of their little old hearts beating so they can think about what they are doing before they take away an innocent old persons right to life.

Vote Pro-Life Vote to save SS and Medicare Vote Democratic

Run Forest...Run! Good stuff!

Once a Democrat, always a Democrat at heart.

See Rick. See Rick shape-shift. See slippery Ricky. Slick Rick.

Okay, compare these two photos. The first, from MSNBC's front page last night:

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-cvr-110912-debate-perry-7p.grid-7x2.jpg

This one is Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate".

http://www.northhollyhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pacino.jpg

Remarkable similarity, don't you think?

He was not a democrat, he was a Dixiecrat, AKA southern democrat, because there was no Republican party in the south since Abe Lincoln beat the socks off of them.

After about a hundred years of having no political representation in the federal government, southerners finally figured out that if the party of Lincoln would better pursue their goals, maybe they should just forget the whole re-fighting the War Between the States thing, and jump into the GOP feet first.

Having said that, I'm not sure that policies promoted by successful politicians have anything to do with either party or conservative or liberal idealogy. It has to do with what works, what gets them re-elected and what they feel will leave a positive and noteworthy legacy.

Anti-communist Nixon opened US relations Red China and signed Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, Reagan raised taxes and gave illegal aliens a path to freedom, Clinton balanced the budget, Bush sent government spending into the statosphere and Obama kept Gitmo open, dropped union-supported Card Check and and generally given Republicans all they want in taxes and environmental regs. Romney has been on both sides of many issues having been a Republican governor of a democratic state. Then, of course, there's Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman.

Parties just provide access to money.

GreenTimer: I agree with the last 2 paragraphs. I don't really no what kind of Democrat Perry was. Since K. "Satan's right testical wart" Rove got him to switch, I'd have to say he was a DINO.

The history of the Democratic party is a little different from what you outlined, although you have it right when you say they were smashed by the Republicans in 1860. Back then, the democrats were the supporters of rich white slave owners. Racist through and through. The were the conservative party then, and the Republicans were the progressives. They were so unwilling to change, they split themselves into factions and got torn apart. That part is pretty well understood.

What happened later is a little more obscure, unless you've studied the switch. Democrats, in total disarray, were irrelivant until the depression. They were still a pretty conservative, racist bunch, but FDR (supported by rich white democrats), managed to run left of Republican Hoover (who should probably be remembered as the man who saved more lives <in the Russian Famine> in the history of the world), calling him a tax and spend Republican. Hoover lost as big as he had previously won.

Then, FDR totally stabbed his buddies in the back with the new deal (parts of which were actually Hoover's own proposals), and they called him everything from a socialist to a class traitor. When his policies actually reversed the downward flow of GDP and put people back to work, the modern democrats were born. With astounding political forsight, he brought us through a world war, but died before it ended, leaving Truman in charge. No one thought much of Truman. They thought he was weak. Until he nuked Japan without a second thought, and stared Stalin in the face and told him what he thought of his policies. The democratic party had a real problem, though. Although the conservatives started fleeing to the republican party as soon as FDR came into power, they still had a nasty, sticky, embarrasing group of racists that just wouldn't go away.

The republicans rode discontent over the communists taking China into office with Mediocre Ike, and they became more relevant, but they still didn't really have the clout the wanted. After all, they could yell Commie, and Red for some time, but they needed more people than just the frightened masses. Sometime a little later, a young politician named George Herbert Walker Bush helped them out by taking the racist faction away from the democrats. The democratics of the time publicly thanked him for the favor. That pretty much set up the current republican party's course: accept any group that feels left out, no matter how crazy or socially backward or downright scary they are, because a vote is a vote.

They still support the conservative cause, that is, keep rich people rich and don't mess with anything that keeps the status quo, and they figure they can just throw a bone to each of the crazy groups, that have stuck to them like ooze over the years, at election time, and everyone is happy. That's todays Republican party.

@ DaNoid As do the Dems based on their response when Obama got Osama.....

They are going to get rid of the electric chair in Texas, they are getting a new electric couch!

Electric couch funny stuff.there also heard that they were thinking off getting a big scene tv and showing Perrys debates while they wait to flip the switch.but they found that would not be human to his buddies that received free tickets to the show!!!!!!!

Actually, I think there is a misconception about why many (not all) democrats are against the death penalty. I myself was for it for a long time. I eventually turned against the death penalty partly because of the statistical certianty that an innocent man would die, but mostly because of the fact that the costs of the death penalty are far greater (mostly due to the addional legal work) than the cost of life in prison. However, despite the old addum of 'a society can be judged by how it treats it prisoners' and despite that fact that I have never been in prison...I do not think that we should be giving prisoners a higher level of healthcare that we give a poor person in the streets, and I think more prisoners should be forced to work on farms or some other physically demanding job to pay back society. Many of those who have life sentences (which formerly would have been the death penalty) will probably be the ones shot while trying to escape anyway. Also, the truely scary crazy ones will avoid the chair by an insanity plea. If given the choice, I would rather live next to the girl that killed her abusive dad, than the girl who slaughtered everyone in a Denny's because the Cookie Monster told her to do it.

@hypocrisy But they were not against President Obama giving the order to kill Bin Laden. Can you expound on the difference between that and being against the death penalty?

Very good point ksw. They are for abortion which kills a human life. They were for the death of Osama Bin Laden. What they are against is a republican that stands for the death penalty - a legally adopted punishment for crimes in certain states. Their logic is totally dismissive and a complete scam.

What is there to expound on . This man (Bin Laden ) killed three thousand american , and the President had him killed . What would you want the president to do sit back and do nothing ? what you are talking about has nothing to do with the death penalty .

KarGuy if you fail to see the correlation, heaven help you. You can't really be that dense. A person is a murderer whether he orders the murder of thousands of people or he himself is the murderer. The President ordered the execution of a murderer which is the same as carrying out the death penalty.

So let' s get this straight - you KSW are against the death of OBL. I see the republiCLOWNS are not done pushing themselves into a tight corner. It is evident the whole bunch is squirming - especially after the JOBS bill took on steam. One wonders........

Most right-wingers will fall off the radar, the remaining will fall in line with a 2012 Obama Presidency. And a DEM majority in Congress which should give the country the four years to push through what is right.

Give me a break KSW the bush administration all ready decided that enemies would not be granted the same Habeus Corpus rights as US citizens and the whole country has went along with premise, remember when we decided not to have a trial in NY and use our judicial system to try these types of people.

Sorry guys I don't see anywhere I stated my own opinion on the death penalty. My point is there is no difference between the President ordering the execution of Bin Laden and the legal application of the death penalty. The liberals posters on here say there is a difference. I just don't like hypocrites. It is still meting out a punishment for the crime. By the way I did not vote for Bush either.

KSW: Apparently, you don't know the whole story--President Obama did NOT order OBL to be murdered. The Seals were told to only kill him if he resisted or appeared to be resisting. When they broke into his bedroom, he came at them menacingly...so they shot him. This has NOTHING to do with abortions and there is NO correlation between this and Governor Perry's feelings about the death penalty in Texas!! It's apples and oranges!

Is the Texas governor beginning to display conscience here? Could it be He's really a "hinged" and responsible person? Go ahead Governor. Remove that raiment of modern republican claptrap. One should never attempt to hide the light of reason under the popularity of ignorance.

RKapoor - stop inventing things that don't exist. ksw did not say anything that would have indicated he was against the death of OBL. You're just making stuff up to be a troll. All ksw said is that there is no difference between ordering the execution of OBL and ordering the execution of a murderer in Texas. From a rational perspective (hard for you, I know) he is correct.

Didi, just wondering the source of your inside information about the Commander-in-Chief's instructions to SEAL team 6. Do tell.

LMFAO......NOW Didi is a Seal/SOCOM expert. OMFG! So Didi how many years did you spend in our military, out of those years how many in a Spec Ops unit under SOCOM command? And which weapons platforms were you qualed in! Me......thats easy 10 years active duty 6 months active reserves. 7 years in a mobile front deployed weapons group with 3 combat tours. What was that again Didi say that again! I know for a fact the only thing Mr Obama did say, is what any of the CIC that I served under would and could say. One of two things 1 Its a go or 2 Scrap the mission! thats it.

Right from the CIC's to your ears, you must have been a 3 or 4 star general Jolly. Attention! general officer on deck!

We won't hear from Didi again. Stands to reason too. His post was completely made up. Easy to spot the Bullshi++ers on here.

It's NOT apples to oranges. Not when it comes to support of killing either a baby or a terrorist as compared to using the justice system to put down a convicted murderer. All lead to death and if you are for abortion or the death sentence on OBL you have no where to go when you put Texas's legal system down.

I was a Chief Petty Officer and as a senior member of my command I received bi weekly and sometimes daily briefings from NSA and several other top secret agencies. I was involved in several missions you would be familiar with that I will not discuss. But I will tell you that I was part of the military honor guard for the Carter/Sadat/Begin peace accord in DC. I will ask you, what have YOU done FOR your country ever.

TO: ksw62118 who wrote:

"@ DaNoid As do the Dems based on their response when Obama got Osama..."

Makes me wonder how long these phoney "patriots" are going to morn the death of the world's #1 Terrorist.

All eyes on Perry, ta da...now why is that? What is with the Perry bashing? Could it be that the 'Obama will be re-elected' mantra is now not quite so certain, not quite so guaranteed? Obama isn't exactly the perfect fellow he and his loyal followers presented him as being?

Remember, all the progressive were stating that the republicans are jokes and idiots, they haven't got a clue or a chance. If that is truly the case then why all the anxiety and angst?

You should go on about your business, secure in the knowledge that your way is always best, always superior and brokers no opposition. At least that's what always being said.

To all above who responded to my post....I was in the military for over 23 years and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel....additionally, one of my relatives WAS a Seal member, and we discussed this in detail. Seals do NOT arbitrarily go in and murder someone, even with orders, but they ARE taught to kill in defense. I also worked with a Seal team on several occasions on joint operations, AND I'm trained in all weapons of defense that they are trained on. Do you have any more comments to make???

@ Didi several of my family members are career service including Navy. If you believe the CIC did not give a go or no go order I am not sure what branch of the military you served in. My brother and father were both Navy and no I do not believe the Seals murdered Bin Laden. I do however believe they acted on orders from above.

Didi, your the first female Officer I have ever met that was NOT a republican, hell your the first officer at all. You can research it and you will see that Our military officers ranks are full of republicans. My bother is an active duty F18 MArine corps pilot and my nephew was the commander of the 306th Strategic Wing (SAC),Ramstein AB, Germany and flew SR-71 over the USSR. He laughed when I mentioned a democratic officer. Since most of them are now republican consultants for the military. Not saying its not possible, just saying highly unlikey. However I wish to thank you for your service to our country!

JollyOldSoul: Sorry to hear that....I know quite a few military friends, relatives, co-workers who are Democrats through and through. I don't think you can pigeon-hole people into one group or the other arbitrarily. I have, at times, voted Republican, but I wouldn't vote for any of these idiots if they were the only ones running. Unfortunately, there isn't a single person running for President that I honestly feel could do the job!

And, thank you for your "thank you." I joined the military as a WAC and loved it! I made it to E-6 before I got out and joined the Reserve, where I got my direct commission. I would still be there if I could just get my ol' knees to work!! But, I'm still a member of MOAA, etc.

My aunt retired as a major and she's pure democrat!

Can't blame them. That's the voices they hear in their heads at night. Remember Bush? Well, there you have it.

First he has to beat the Alpha male in the republican primary, Michele Bachmann.

Forrest, choice one keep em coming.

Alan NJ yes people are complex unless you are from Texas, then its simple, big gun, big beer, big talk, big well you know they drive them around town, small minds, what you say is different from what you do.

None nada not a chance Alan.

@Tis the Season: Carefuly what you say about Texans, these are great people, and I for one am glad to be Texan. We fought for our freedom, didnt have it handed to us on a silver plate.

Tis the Season - Please remember that Austin is in Texas. Not all Texans are pig ignorant wingnuts, just most of them.

@Forrest

Good one LOL!

Hmmm, is Carl trying to claim that Texans are the only ones who fought for their "freedom"? Is he referring to the Alamo? I don't think he was even an afterthought when that battle was fought, let alone being alive, hehe.

Aren't people complex? It is an interesting question. Another one is why would the supposed typical liberal begrudge the fact that Perry did have or may continue to have some reasonable positions?

Yes to you first question. No to your second, he has a chance.

In Texas, I did not but I know democrats that voted for Perry in the gubernatorial primary to ensure that the Democratic candidate faced him and not the more moderate Kay Bailey Hutchinson. The reasoning being that having a more hard core conservative running would have been better to allow the Democrat to win the Governorship. It was thought Perry's long record could be exploited and analyzed. It didn't work. Perhaps this strategy will play a part in other national primaries, with Democrats trying to tweak the results. Frankly I think it is not a good idea.

Perry will be the republican nominee. I made this prediction months ago when the national media didn't even mention him. As far as the general election, everything depends on the state of the economy but barring a miracle recovery Perry will win a swing state and eke out the Presidency. However, the GOP voters could continue to be "taken aback" by Perry's preceived less then idealogically pure views. If that happens and Romney wins the nomination he wins by three or four states. Hardly a landslide in either case.

Carl...I hate to even bring this up, but you say Texans fought for their freedom. And back in the day, you bet they did! However, where's the fight against the insidiously slow takeover of your state, among other border states, by those who come into your state under the cover of darkness from south of the border?? They are taking your jobs!! They are lowering your standards of living! They are breaking state and federal immigration laws (among others). And, your governor wants to offer these criminals and their anchor children in-state college tuition?? Who knows....your own progeny may be left out in the cold from a quality education because they were bumped by an illegal alien's child! Where's the "fight" against the takeover of your state by the illegals??

Carl 1916720 - There are pedophiles who are proud to be members of NAMBLA too. Both disgust me.

Really Kostoniann? You are disgusted by all 24.8 million Texans. Well the feeling's mutual. Give us a call when you graduate from middle school and we'll talk.

Forrest has a roll going today! LOL !

Their pro-death after berth, just listen to the applause about killing someone.

@ Cameron The reverse of that could be said you can't be pro-choice and against the death penalty. Fine line...

Mo - apparently you and the rest of the world were listening to two different debates. The applause was not about killing someone. The hypothetical question - to Ron Paul BTW - was about what should happen to a healthy 30 year old who made the conscious decision not to buy health insurance (to which he supposedly had access) and then developed some catastrophic illness such as cancer or injuries from an accident. No one, neither the audience nor Wolf Blitzer allowed anyone to actually answer the question. Where Paul was trying to go with his answer was that the 30 year old made a choice and that there are consequences to the choices we make. No one ever said that the hypothetical individual should be denied care but Paul was implying that the patient would be responsible for the cost of that care since his predicament was a direct consequence of his own decision. The apparent republican answer to this hypothetical is that people should be responsible for the decisions they make. The apparent democratic answer to this hypothetical is that people should not be allowed to make decisions for themselves and if they make bad choices then the government should step in and save them.

amen!

Well if you want to paint all TP members with the actions of a few, you are going to be painted with that same bigoted brush. The loons on the left with the swastica's, The "I'm Here To Kill Bush" signs, the endless hate, the burning of the Hummer dealerships, the Seattle union thugs who took hostages a week ago and damaged property, etc...

You folks wanting acceptance for your ideas need to pull your heads out - Perry, not my choice, took some very reasonable positions, and all you loons can do is scream your bigotry louder. Unbelievable.

Practical, you can't blame the Democrats for hating haters. Hating haters is noble and not the same as instigating the hate (like republicans do).

Republicans deserve to be hated because they try to push their religious BS down everyone's throat. They cause mass destruction , paint it a different color and then try to use Jedi mind tricks to blame it on the Democrats. They are narcissists who never admit they are wrong. They elect cheesedick people who have great hair, lots of money and shout yee haw statements that mean nothing. They say they are pro-business but every time republicans have been in power the economy takes a dump. I try to avoid doing business with republicans because it usually means getting screwed.

I believe that republicans and their way of thinking is ruining this country.

gpotts - but the Christian Right is neither. Rename them the Christian Right-Wingnuts.

AMEN!!!! Not only ruining this country but ruining the planet.

marinmom - And you would know that of course because you have personally met and assessed every republican in the country. You are clearly a political bigot deserving of absolutely no significant attention. Not all republicans are members of either the Christian Right or the TEA Party. Many of us are moderate republicans trying to wrest control of our party back from the extreme fringe of said party. Similar efforts are needed to bring the democratic party back from its own extreme left-leaning fringes. Hate is Hate and is never productive.

Okay joemike, why don't you send your Tea Party friends by my house later so I can get to know them all?

What a dumb thing to say.

"Jedi mind tricks" LOL

Now THAT is a dumb thing to say..

Been busy for awhile, good to be back to see you are posting the same hateful garbage you always do marinmom. I like to follow your posts for a good laugh. Just reading you insulting an entire group of people while you say others are "haters" and "closemeinded". You truly identify the term "leftard" Of course it's OK for you to be a hater 'cause your just "hating the haters". fool LOL

I was going to same exactly the same thing! We all err at times, but I would assume someone who is relatively well educated should know the difference between "good" and "well." Ain't thot riate?

See that's just BS. $2.3 mil per execution. I can buy a box of shells and cut this price way down.

I'm guessing that 2.3m is because of appeals?

Yes, it is because of appeals. Appeals being necessary because the judicial system frequently makes mistakes, and needs to make absolutely sure it hasn't made one when deciding to kill somebody.

What page are you on!? Or what part of the country? The Tea Party is for taking responsibility for yourself. Not the socialistic ideals of the liberal left! We cannot take care of everybody. Even though we try the money is just not there. Not greedy or money worshiping. Just realistic, not theological.

If you're hoping that President Obama is re-elected then hope Perry is the nominee. With that accent and package resemblance of GW, Perry would just about guarantee 4 more years.

What do you mean ? They've ALWAYS been the party of GREED and the 'god' they REALLY worship is MONEY. All that "christianity" stuff is just a cloak of deceit they hide behind. Everything they do is in direct contradiction with their Big Bad Book of Bronze Age Fairytales. Jesus would be so ashamed of what they claim to do in his name. Sorry folks... Jesus was a hippie liberal and would NEVER in a billion years be a selfish, egotistical, apathetic, money hungry, fellow human being hating, hoarding/coveting conservatard and would be APPALLED by what capitalism has done to the human race. MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL....no truer words were every spoken/written.

TO: Jerry-750592 who wrote:

"... The Tea Party is for taking responsibility for yourself. Not the socialistic ideals of the liberal left! We cannot take care of everybody. Even though we try the money is just not there..."

I thought the Teabaggers were supposed to be pro-U.S. Constitution. Well the U.S. Constitution says that the U.S. Government DOES have to provide for the "general welfare and the common defense".

Why would Teabaggers think it's ok to pick and choose which parts of the United States Consitution they want to obey?

How about this: Why not forget about the "common defense" part and just provide for the general welfare of the American People, especially since we're the only ones paying the bills because Republicans refuse to allow the rich to make any sort of definitive contribution towards the United States.

Wrong AmericanGirl. The Constitution says to promote...not provide. Check it out. It's right there in black and white. I think we can all agree promote does not mean provide.

Preamble:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Notice that the wealthy didn't threaten to leave the country over taxes during the Eisenhower years?

Notice that those high tax rates didn't cause business to stop hiring?

To listen to today's Republicans, none of that could possibly have happened.

Yeah, the Republican Party used to be the party that dealt with reality, now they create their own reality.

Which brings up the point, what medical care is societies moral obligation, and what care is not?

I just hope he is "taken aback" all the way back to Texas

It's not just a moral obligation. A healthier society is a wealthier society. Even disregarding the moral question there is an incentive to keeping people healthy, working, and contributing.

Just Perry shape-shifting to meet the political need of the moment. It's like watching a leopard change its spots before your eyes.

Has anyone figured out yet that Rick Perry is the poster child for self-serving, graft-taking, for sale to the highest bidder career politician yet?

Teabags, you really should pay attention.

Yeah, I'm anxious to see what kind of pledge they'll have to take (from Grover Norquist) if Perry becomes president....will he have to sign the pledge not to raise taxes???? Interesting....because if that comes up again, I think everyone that signs it should be tried for treason since it's against the pledge they make to the American public when they are elected into office!!