Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Colbert: It Gets Better

This is cool. Stephen Colbert steps out of character for a minute to speak directly to kids who get picked on by bullies. He has a pretty good story to tell.





I don't know why, I found this one surprising. Surprising and cool.

28 Comments:

Anonymous the Keystone Democrats said...

John Boehner will get a third plan to raise the debt through the House of Reps this week and it doesn't appear that Harry Reid can get anything through the Senate

meaning soon, the Boehner plan will be the only choice:

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s new budget proposal to raise the national debt ceiling faces tough odds in his chamber, even with a White House endorsement.

Democrats rallied behind the plan after a Monday night briefing at the Capitol, but the 47-member Republican caucus seems mostly united in its opposition, making clear that Reid very likely lacks the 60 votes needed to move his legislation out of the Senate.

The Nevada Democrat’s proposal includes each party’s sacred cow: no revenue increases for Republicans, and no cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid for Democrats.

But the bill calls for $1 trillion in savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — a provision that Republicans, and even a Democratic caucus member, dismissed as a budgetary gimmick since the Pentagon already had planned to cut military spending through the troop drawdown.

“I don’t think it’s a real cut,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) “It’s like a bookkeeping cut. It goes to an artificially high [Congressional Budget Office] number to just what we assume will be a reduction in overseas contingencies fund because we’re drawing our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, chief vote-counter for Senate Republicans, said he doubted his conference would vote for the plan.

“Republicans, I don’t believe in the Senate, will support a bill that purports to cut spending if that’s the kind of the spending that it purports to cut,” the Arizona Republican said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called it a “terrible plan” that “does not solve our problem.” And Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) pointed to the $1 trillion in savings from Iraq and Afghanistan and said, “I don’t know how you call that a savings.”

Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner is moving forward with his own plan to increase the debt ceiling in two stages between now and early 2012.

Reid appears to be waiting for the precise moment to force a vote, so he can pressure Senate Republicans into making a choice: Support the Reid proposal, or face a potential economic meltdown.

Reid presented his plan on Sunday night to President Barack Obama, who supports it as a way to increase the national debt limit though it excludes the revenue increases he wants."

July 26, 2011 10:14 AM  
Anonymous chuckles said...

sounds like the Tea Party has basically already won this round

at this point, it's just a matter of how high we pile the victories!

cuts, no tax increase, Obama and Dem Senators go on record as opposing a balanced budget and a new commission to make more cuts

doesn't get any better than this!!

meanwhile, Obama's approval rating sinks daily

July 26, 2011 10:39 AM  
Anonymous David S. Fishback said...

If Reid cannot get anything through the Senate if will, once again, be the result of the undemcratic filibuster rule, which he was too cowardly to work to change at the beginning of this Congress.

When the history of this era is written, a perspicious historian will observe that the root of the dysfunction in our government was the abuse of the filibuster rule in 2009-10, carrying over to 2011.

One of the things I find ironic is that the Tea/Republican Party always touts its adherence to the Founders' intentions regarding the Constitution. But what they simply ignore -- and what the Democrats and the pundits also ignore -- is that our system was set up to avoid quick, radical changes in the absence of clear consensus. So if one were to follow the Founders' intentions, one would understand that without the Presidency (and the Senate), the House must compromise. They can make their case, and then the voters can decide whether or not to continue with ideologically divided government in the next election. If the GOP can hold the House, take the Senate, and take the Presidency, then, in terms of the Founders' procedural set up, they can pretty much do what they want if they are unified -- as the Democrats were able to do in the FDR New Deal era.

Finally, for the GOP to say that they are already compromising because they concede that the Debt Ceiling may be raised is bizarre, even though it appears that no one is calling them on it. The raising of the Debt Ceiling cannot be a bargaining chip itself if all parties to the discussion agree on the necessity of doing so. The compromises come with how to get to that goal -- not whether to get to that goal. I have not been glued to the TV or the newspapers, but I have yet to hear anyone point out this absurdity. Maybe people's minds get frozen in response to utter b.s.

July 26, 2011 11:02 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

BTW, did y'all see that the Secretary of Defense and the President certified DODT repeal this weekend?

July 26, 2011 12:10 PM  
Anonymous daffy duck said...

Robert, maybe you should occasionally read a newpaper

"President Obama’s decision to give a speech tonight was proof that things have not gone well for him. He threw (another) tantrum in the Friday news conference, he turned down a bipartisan deal presented to him Sunday and thereby took himself out of the limelight. Tonight’s speech was not intended to “solve” the impasse but to make sure Obama would get credit if a deal is struck and avoid blame if it is not.

The speech itself was part panic attack, part platitudes and a whole lot of class warfare (corporate jets! hedge fund managers!). He stood awkwardly at the East Room podium, minus any press corps. He began with a ponderous recap of the budget train wreck, and then described his grand bargain (light on the details, because, of course, he never put a concrete plan out there). He ridiculed the Republican plan, saying it didn’t ask for sacrifices from the rich. But wait, Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) doesn’t have taxes in his plan. In fact, his whole plan was an indictment of Reid’s no-tax plan. Apparently, he assumed no one was keeping up with current developments.

He then desperately argued against the short-term deal that is available to him and could pass the House. He talked down our credit rating. ( “a six-month extension of the debt ceiling might not be enough to avoid a credit downgrade and the higher interest rates that all Americans would have to pay as a result”) and said he couldn’t do a second deal because Republicans would again object to taxes. However, realizing that there is no chance of a deal that includes taxes and takes us through 2012, he left a little wiggle room. (“I think that’s a much better path, although serious deficit reduction would still require us to tackle the tough challenges of entitlement and tax reform. Either way, I have told leaders of both parties that they must come up with a fair compromise in the next few days that can pass both houses of Congress — a compromise I can sign.”)

It was a speech entirely divorced from reality. The Senate Democrats can’t pass tax hikes. The grand bargain can’t get through the Congress with jumbo tax hikes. It is he who rejected a deal that had the agreeement of House and Senate leaders. You have to wonder why he set the bar so high. He’ll face the flood of “President Capitulates!” headlines when it doesn’t come about. But the answer lies in the sole and consuming passion of this White House: reelection. Hence, the class warfare and the excuse-mongering."

July 26, 2011 2:59 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

"the Boehner plan will be the only choice"

Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid again?

Why are you counting votes on the GOP bill in the Senate? It has to get passed in the House before it can even go to the Senate, but many GOTP House members are running as fast as they can away from "the Boehner plan."

WaPo reports at a meeting this morning:

"... Representative Eric Cantor, the chamber’s majority leader, told fellow Republicans to “stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives and rally behind” the House speaker John A. Boehner’s plan. But many lawmakers complained that it lacked sufficient spending cuts. As a further blow to its prospects, the Club for Growth, which scores members on their fiscally conservative votes, came out against the plan.

The scramble for votes came as lawmakers’ phone lines and Web sites were overwhelmed in response to President Obama’s plea on Monday night for Americans to call members of Congress and push for a compromise...."


Thousands of phone calls are pouring in to Congress from voters all over the country, urging House members to compromise and save the US from default, in spite of the tea baggers belief that default won't happen and/or won't matter if it does.

The GOTP members of the House can't even pass a jobs bill, much less a bill to raise in the debt ceiling. And they won't compromise on taxes because they value their pledge to Grover Norquist over their pledge to serve their constituents.

July 26, 2011 5:27 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Oops, that was a NYTimes report, not WaPo's.

July 26, 2011 5:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Why are you counting votes on the GOP bill in the Senate? It has to get passed in the House before it can even go to the Senate, but many GOTP House members are running as fast as they can away from "the Boehner plan.""

misleading use of language

they think Boehner doesn't go far enough but he's tweaking the plan tonight

they'll get there

even if they don't, they've already passed cut,cap and balance so that will also be an alternative as the hours tick down and the Senate has, like Obama, done nothing

"Thousands of phone calls are pouring in to Congress from voters all over the country, urging House members to compromise and save the US from default,"

actually, the calls aren't overwhelmingly in support of Obama

most Tea Party legislators are being called on by supporters to stand fast

"in spite of the tea baggers belief that default won't happen and/or won't matter if it does"

did you know foreign investors are showing no signs of worry?

the U.S. Treasury owes a great deal of many to the Fed- it could easily be written off giving the U.S. another two years

"The GOTP members of the House can't even pass a jobs bill,"

so sad, Dems have now convinced themselves that they'll be able to blame unemployment on the Tea Party in 2012

won't work, Bea, but, please, keep it up

"much less a bill to raise in the debt ceiling."

they've already passed one

Harry and Barry haven't done a thing

"And they won't compromise on taxes because they value their pledge to Grover Norquist over their pledge to serve their constituents"

their constituents don't want taxes raised

we all believe the government is quite big enough and even Harry Reid has given up on this one

July 26, 2011 8:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

one last thing about last night's speech

Obama again attacks breaks for oil and gas companies

Barry, let me splain something to you

one of the main candidates to replace (and, yes, you will be replaced) is Gov Rick Perry of Texas

the reason he has such an advantage is that his state accounts for over half of all new jobs created since you became president

his state is the center of the oil and gas industry

leading one to conclude that sparing companies from excessive taxation and allowing them to earn healthy profits results in them hiring people

so, when the Tea Party protects those tax breaks, it has created jobs

socialism equals dependence on government and loss of freedom

free enterprise equals jobs and self-reliance

can you get that through your head, Barry?

is anyone in there?

anyone at all?

July 26, 2011 8:51 PM  
Anonymous chuckle, chuckle said...

"The White House today issued a veto threat against the deficit reduction bill being offered by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, saying that were it to be “presented to the President, the President’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill.”

House Republicans point out that the threat that “the President’s senior advisers would recommend” a veto is not the strongest one White House’s issue.

That language is “If the President were presented this bill for signature, he would veto it."

And in that space, House Republicans see wiggle room for the president to sign the Boehner legislation.

The White House insists Republicans are wrong about the wiggle room, but officials have been careful to avoid definitive language."

July 26, 2011 9:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

in that space, House Republicans see wiggle room

they are hallucinating

July 26, 2011 9:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"But what they simply ignore -- and what the Democrats and the pundits also ignore -- is that our system was set up to avoid quick, radical changes in the absence of clear consensus. So if one were to follow the Founders' intentions, one would understand that without the Presidency (and the Senate), the House must compromise"


David, did you completely FORGET the Obamacare plan that was RAMMED through Congress using procedural tricks w/o a clear consensus....

I mean SERIOUSLY ?

And now you want a discussion about it ????

Go jump in a lake.

July 26, 2011 9:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"RAMMED through Congress using procedural tricks w/o a clear consensus"

The Bush tax cuts were RAMMED THROUGH using the Congressional procedudral trick called reconciliation.

How soon they forget.

July 26, 2011 10:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's right.

Even the White House was in on it. VP Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

July 26, 2011 10:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"in that space, House Republicans see wiggle room

they are hallucinating"

really?

do you really think that if Congress passed an increase in the debt ceiling that Obama woul dveto it?

even as inept as he is, he knows that history would never forget it

July 26, 2011 11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The government might be able to pay the bills and avoid a default on obligations for longer than expected, economic analysts said.

As lawmakers and President Obama rush to craft an agreement to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, the Treasury Department is standing by its estimate that the government will need to borrow more money after Aug. 2 to pay for all its obligations.

But several new reports — from UBS, Barclays and Wells Fargo — have cast doubt on that estimate. Analysts have said that daily tax receipts have been higher than anticipated and that the Treasury has quite a bit of cash on hand.

As of Friday, according to the Treasury, the government had $85 billion in cash.

Wells Fargo Securities said the government might have to cut back on some spending but could pay most of its bill through August.

“If policymakers are truly falling short by just a few days on a big agreement, they now seem to have an extra week or so,” said Barclays analysts, led by senior debt strategist Ajay Rajadhyaksha.

July 26, 2011 11:27 PM  
Anonymous tea party was right said...

Treasuries rose as speculation U.S. lawmakers will reach an agreement boosted investor demand at today’s auction of $35 billion in two-year notes.

The securities drew a yield of 0.417 percent, versus the average forecast of 0.414 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of seven Federal Reserve primary dealers. The bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 3.14. That was higher than the average of 2.38 from 1998 through 2001, when the U.S. had 4 straight years of budget surpluses.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- We're one week away from a potential Default-pocalypse. There appears to be no end in sight to the bickering between the donkeys and elephants.

Yet, stocks weren't down all that much Tuesday. And long-term Treasury bond prices even rose a bit. Move along. Nothing to see here.

What's it going to take before investors truly become afraid about the possibility that there may not be an agreement to raise the debt ceiling by August 2? The market still has faith that a deal must happen.

"There is a general understanding in the market of how the political system works," said Fred Fraenkel, vice chairman of Beacon Trust, an investment firm in Morristown, N.J. "It's ugly and depressing. But the odds of a default are still very low."



“It was a reassuring auction,” said Christian Cooper, head of U.S. dollar derivatives trading in New York at Jefferies Group Inc., which as one of the 20 primary dealers is obligated to bid in Treasury sales. “The market is really not ready to acknowledge default as a possibility at this point. If we have a poor auction, it would be telling of a shift in the perceived safety of Treasuries.”

July 26, 2011 11:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jim
For or against the proposed teenagers curfew for under 18 in MC ?


Curious as to your position.
I am against. My problem, my issue, my responsibility.

But then of course I believe it is MY responsibility to raise my child, NOt the govt...

For or against the curfew ????

Very curious as to your position.

July 27, 2011 12:35 AM  
Blogger JimK said...

As a former kid and believer in personal freedom I am against a curfew.

JimK

July 27, 2011 6:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Jim and Theresa

did you know that the parent of any kid caught violating the curfew will be required to attend parenting classes?

of course, the MC Council knows how to parent better than the rest of us

burdening the many for the crimes of the few is a classic Nazi tactic that is sometimes deployed against the young because they can't vote

whether this passes or not, any Council member who votes for it should join Duchy in the Council Alumni Club

July 27, 2011 7:32 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

the MC Council knows how to parent better than the rest of us

Oh brother, the hypocrisy is getting thick in here.

Now tell us what you think about all those nanny state legislatures passing laws to require all pregnant women considering abortion submit to and view sonograms, listen to fetal heartbeats, and watch videos about pregnancy and childbirth.

July 27, 2011 8:46 AM  
Anonymous summer in tthe city said...

that's making sure these women have adequate information before they decide to kill someone

the curfew is simply to make it easier for law enforcement to control a population

they would never get away with similarly violating the rights of innocent adults

July 27, 2011 9:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"If Reid cannot get anything through the Senate if will, once again, be the result of the undemcratic filibuster rule, which he was too cowardly to work to change at the beginning of this Congress.

When the history of this era is written, a perspicious historian will observe that the root of the dysfunction in our government was the abuse of the filibuster rule in 2009-10, carrying over to 2011."

David

The reason the House of Reps has the upper hand is that Repubs have a clear majority while, in the Senate, the margin of the majority party is much smaller.

So the situation you decry is actually a balance based on election results.

Democracy triumphs again- to the liberals' chagrin.

July 27, 2011 9:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Entire Massachusetts Congressional Delegation Appears In 'It Gets Better' Video -- Except Scott Brown

July 27, 2011 6:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

since I know we have some homosexual commenters, a quick question:

does it, in fact, get better or is this just another deceptive campaign aimed at misleading youth?

July 27, 2011 9:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good question

July 27, 2011 9:45 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Every person who has made one of the It Gets Better video attests to the fact that it does get better once you can live your life honestly out in the open.

Any person who has watched a single one of these videos, including Stephen Colbert's above, knows that.

Of course Anon still has to ask if things do get better living your life honestly. The answer is yes, Anon, things get better.

I bet Anon hasn't watched a single one of the It Gets Better videos posted at the It Gets Better website, where you can sign up to help make things better and take this pledge:

THE PLEDGE: Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that "It Gets Better."

Outlast your high school bully tormentors, kids. It appears at least some of them grow up to be hateful anonymous blog commenters who are uninformed and easily ignored.

July 28, 2011 8:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I bet Anon hasn't watched a single one of the It Gets Better videos"

it's a bet you'd win because, you're right, I haven't

"Outlast your high school bully tormentors, kids."

gays aren't being bullied in high schools

July 28, 2011 9:30 AM  

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