Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

We're going to start with a little music to set the tone: "Lies" by Black Light Burns.



You always know it's going to be a rough Saturday when you end up screaming "WILL YOU FUCKERS JUST STOP LYING?" at every blog entry. Lies lies lies lies lies lies lies.... if a Republicon opens his/her mouth, a lie comes tumbling out. If the truth comes out, you can bet it's an accident or prelude to an even bigger lie. Nothing has proved that so much as today.

Republicans lie on taxes and what Obama plans to do with them:

Yesterday The Entrepreneurial Agenda, a blog at Inc.com, looked at accusations that Obama would harm small business by raising taxes. McCain’s argument is that, “Small businesses are the job engine of America, and I will make it easier for them to grow and create more jobs….If you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Senator Obama is going to raise your tax rates.” The Agenda responds:

Well, McCain is certainly, unequivocally wrong that Obama will raise taxes on 23 million small businesses. Let’s begin by establishing the figures. According to Census Department (as reported by SBA), in 2005 there were some 26 million firms with 500 or fewer employees. (McCain’s figures apparently come from 2002.) Of these, 20 million have no employees at all. Many of these are glorified hobbies, others are lucrative consulting gigs, but as the nonpartisan Factcheck.org points out in a thorough debunking, “McCain is arguing that Obama’s tax increase would ‘destroy jobs,’ but he’s counting mostly firms that don’t produce any.”

A more interesting question is whether small businesses would actually see a bigger tax cut under Obama or McCain. Again, if the number-crunchers at the Tax Policy Center is to be trusted, then the laurels go to Obama, who’s proposing a variety of additional tax cuts targeted toward low-income and working families. (Here is the analysis, which includes very detailed descriptions of the candidates’ proposals. More detailed, in fact, than the candidates’ own position papers. Because the candidates haven’t fully fleshed out their tax proposals publicly, the Center has talked informally with campaign advisers and made its own assumptions to fill in the blanks.) Anyone earning under $112,000 in 2009 — or 80 percent of the population — is more likely to see a higher after-tax income under Obama than under McCain.

The post refers to this post at factcheck.org which debunks McCain’s charges on taxes on small business. This isn’t the only time
that factcheck.org has debunked false claims on Obama’s tax plans recently. They debunked a claim that Obama “voted to raise income taxes on individuals who earn as little as $32,000 per year.” They concluded that McCain’s $32,000 figure is “phony.” That is only one of many false claims on Obama’s record made by Republicans. Factcheck.org also debunked a claim from the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee that Obama voted for higher taxes 94 times.

I encourage you to read Ron Chiusad's full guest post over at The Carpetbagger Report. Just make sure to take your blood pressure medication first.

The Republicons lie about Obama's foreign trip and his cancelled visit to injured troops in Germany:

I can appreciate the fact that Republicans aren’t quite sure how to criticize Barack Obama’s international travel over the last week. It has, after all, been an usually successful trip, which the McCain campaign practically goaded Obama into taking.

They’ve tried out a few angles, but the attacks have either been foolish, contradictory, or both. Republicans said Obama shouldn’t campaign outside the U.S., but McCain did it first. They said Obama shouldn’t describe himself as a “citizen of the world,” but Reagan used the same line. They said Obama shouldn’t be so popular with people yearning to love America again, but no one’s sure what that actually means.

So, left with literally nothing else, Republicans have turned to an old stand-by: they’re making stuff up.

Obama had planned to visit with injured U.S. troops in Germany before he left the country this week. He scheduled a visit, he wanted to visit, and he arranged for the visit three weeks ago. And suddenly, the meeting was called off, and Obama left the country without having seen the troops.

“A ha!” said the unhinged right. “Obama was blowing off the troops!”

Yeah. The problem with that is, the Pentagon told him not to come. At least NBC, for once, did some actual reporting and set the record straight. But I'm sure that won't stop the lies. Reality has no meaning for these fuckwits.

And Republicons lie about the significance of German monuments (h/t Sadly, No!):

Just to be clear about the Victory Column: It is not a Nazi monument. Obama has not flunked history — or offended Germans — by choosing to speak there. The original source of this story is, again, my own employer, so I know when bloggers inflate the details out of all proportion. Some minor German politicians have grumbled about the Siegessäule’s history, for political reasons, but their comments aren’t very important.

This is just a glass full of lies. There's an ocean of them out there. That's why Dennis Kucinich is my hero o' the day: his attempts at impeaching Bush probably won't go anywhere, but at least he's trying to air out the lies:

House Democrats — and one Republican — are using today's hearing in the Judiciary Committee to slam President Bush for abusing his executive power.

After laying out a litany of charges against Bush, principally on the "illegal war for oil" in Iraq, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the driving force behind today's hearing, said Congress must act to remove Bush from office.

"The war was totally unnecessary, unprovoked and unjustified," Kucinich said in his opening statement. "The question for Congress is this: What responsibility do the president and his administration have for that unnecessary, unprovoked and unjustified war?"

Kucinich said if lawmakers reviewed the issue, they could only come to the conclusion that it was needed.

"I ask this committee to think, and then to act, in order to enable this Congress to right a very great wrong and to hold accountable those who have misled this Nation," Kucinich said.

If only. I truly do wish these fuckers could be made to pay for endless, terrible lies.