After Melissa Harris-Perry's ouster, questions about a less-diverse MSNBC

http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2016/02/after_melissa_harris-perrys_ou.html

I agree on economics, Democrats and Republicans are similar. Clinton passed NAFTA, Obama wants TPP, both of which are good for corporations and bad for workers. Clinton also signed the Gramm Bliley Act, the biggest Wall Street deregulation bill since the Great Depression. Also, if you look at the wealthiest politicians in DC, they are mostly Democrats. John Kerry was the wealthiest politician with 3.2 billion, about equal to Donald Trump.

Thanks to Clinton's NAFTA, Carrier moving 1,400 jobs to Mexico

http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2016/02/10/carrier-move-indy-unit-mexico-eliminate-1400-jobs/80181804/

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/nyregion/questions-about-al-sharptons-finances-accompany-his-rise-in-influence.html

Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses.

Georgia 12-year-old becomes internet hit as he brands Obama 'unwilling to protect America'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2964747/Twelve-year-old-YouTube-hit-BACKING-Rudy-Giuliani-s-claims-Obama-doesn-t-love-America.html

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani may have come under fire for saying that President Barack Obama does not love America, but he has at least one 12-year-old backer in Georgia.

Middle school student CJ Pearson made a YouTube video in which he said that the commander in chief had a 'downright hate for the American values our country holds'.

The video, posted Saturday on his channel, has garnered more than 112,000 views as of Sunday night.

He said in his video that if Obama really loved America he would call Islamic State 'what it really is, an assault on Christianity'

The student added that the president, who has ordered airstrikes on ISIS and asked for approval to send limited ground troops, was 'not willing to defend our country against the evil of terrorism domestic and abroad'.

The student said that the president 'wouldn't try to take away what hard working Americans have worked for their entire lives' and 'wouldn't take away the rights of the American people'.

Barbara Boxer is, after months of speculation to such, retiring. This will cause a huge power struggle in CA politics. I hope it doesn't just go to someone like Gavin Newsom.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/barbara-boxer-retires-114076.html?hp=t1_r

I'm glad she stayed around long enough to beat that hack Carly Fiorina.

She couldn't stand being in the minority party with no power, so she bailed.

Clinton named 21 times in pedophile pimp's phone book

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/6/bill-clintons-name-found-21-times-in-sex-offender-/

Lawyers sifting through documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy sex offender accused of pimping out an underage girl to Britain’s Prince Andrew, stumbled across an interesting finding among the filings: 21 email and telephone contacts for former President Bill Clinton and his personal aide, Doug Band.

He now says he accidentally walked into a KKK meeting. How do you not know that is a Klan meeting? And instead of pointing fingers, kick them out, regardless of party. To say "Well Byrd did it too" truly misses the whole point. Because it sounds like there are some who have no problem with a racist as long as that person belongs to their party. That's just disappointing. Is this where we all are at now in 2015? It's cool for a person to lie about what their leanings and feelings are as long as we vote for them? Really?

Scalise is a Italian Catholic. Why would he attend KKK, which openly hates Catholics?

Moderate how? His district is like 70%+ Republican, he can't be that moderate to get elected there. He scored a low 21% on Civil Rights, which well below where supposedly moderate Republicans score.

I really don't care who replaces him, I'm not a Republican, so whoever is in their leadership is of no concern to me.

Scalise scored 76% on conservative ratings. By comparison, Ted Cruz scored 95%.

http://www.heritageactionscorecard.com/members

2002 is not a long time ago, not by any stretch. And even in death, Byrd's civil rights record is still better than Scalise's and always will be, despite voting against the Civil Rights Act, his later voters were much more liberal. Records matter.

And if you think giving a speech to pander for voters is something minor, you are incredibly wrong.

Voting records matter, and Scalise's record shows that he's a moderate Republican. That's why Democrat congressmen like Cedric Richmond have been defending Scalise. If Scalise is removed, he may be replaced by an ultra-conservative tea partier. Be careful what you wish for.

Pandering to racists isn't something to shrug off. It shows that he (and by extension the GOP) are more than happy to cater to those views. He also doesn't seem to give any indication he regrets his views or that he even has any views. He struggled to even admit he spoke to them.

What I'm confused about is who forgave Byrd. I remember the GOP hammering him time and time again in the last years of his life, doing their best to show us he was a racist and Democrats were racists if they didn't denounce him.

How many of those Republicans have said a word about Steve Scalise?

Scalise doesn't remember giving that speech because now it appears that it may not have happened after all.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/david_duke_adviser_kenny_knigh.html

Reports that Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave a speech to a white nationalist conference connected with David Duke in 2002 are not accurate, the man who organized the events said Wednesday (Dec. 31).

Kenny Knight, a longtime political adviser to Duke, said Scalise spoke at a meeting of the Jefferson Heights Civic Association -- not affiliated with the European-American Unity and Rights conference that was held in the same Metairie hotel -- two-and-a-half hours before the white nationalist event started.

Number one, his civil rights record was better than most Republicans post civil rights movement and number two, something that happened in the 1940s is a lot different than something that happened in 2002. And considering that Byrd is dead, he can't resign from anything.

2002 is a long time ago. That is a long time to change one's opinions. Why can Byrd be forgiven for something that happened decades ago, but Scalise cannot? In addition, Byrd was an actual member of KKK and voted against the Civil Rights Act, while Scalise just gave a speech to pander for votes.

Majority Whip spoke at "white nationalist" group in 2002. Ugh.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-scalise-david-duke-wat

But, Senator Robert Byrd (D) was a member of the KKK, and Democrats never called on him to resign.

Ceding to Florida, New York Falls to No. 4 in Population

Jeb Bush just announced he's exploring a 2016 run. I think that he could win. Ohio and Florida went to Bush in 2000 and 2004. He could win back those states, which went to Obama. Also, his wife is Latina and has half Latino sons. He should do well with the Latino vote.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeb-bush-actively-explore-possibility-running-president/story?id=27633330

How many Democrats in office made fun of any children or grandchildren?

California Democratic official wishes death on Ted Cruz staffer's children

http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/323705-california-democratic-official-wishes-death-on-cruz-staffers-children

I think it's obvious there are vicious people of all political persuasions who don't mind going after kids. Poor Chelsea Clinton was really dragged for sport and I don't think that had much to do with politics. Some people just take a certain joy in being hurtful, especially if they think they are hurting a child they perceive as spoiled. Just look at the way some go after North West, Suri Cruise or any number of celebrity children. It's an ugly side of our modern society.

I agree. I wonder why Democrats are offended, when they make fun of children of Republicans. Didn't an MSNBC host make fun of Mitt Romney's black grandson?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/sarah-palin-msnbc-mitt-romney-attack-article-1.1562152

I've always thought Hoyer and Pelosi were a bad mix, and I have never known what exactly Hoyer's strength even is. Pelosi is good for scraping votes together to keep a unified caucus, and I don't think she's ever been the bogeywoman she's made out to be, but I do think it's time for her to move on.

Anyway, our latest, and far from our last, case of far right double standards. A (now former) staffer for a far right Congressman trashed Malia and Sasha Obama for having no class. As it turns out, she was arrested as a teenager.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lauten-sasha-malia-class-arrested-teen

Yet Democrats made fun of Palin's daughters when they were underage.

Looks like John Boehner won't rule out another government shutdown if the President takes any form of executive action on the immigration issue. And Senator Ted Cruz does not have cooperation in mind on anything. House Republicans suggested doing piecemeal legislation (oh no, that won't take forever) but like health care reform, they have yet to present anything substantial or of substance. So let's leave things and people in limbo and fail to know who is in this country since many undocumented won't step out of the shadows. I'm sure it's great for national security as well. And throw in another government shutdown for good measure-- everyone will really appreciate that.

And the dysfunction continues...

If Obama takes executive action, then there will be a flood of new illegal immigrants arriving and hoping for the same amnesty. Borders need to be secured before any immigration reform. Right now, borders are not secure.

I am a child of immigrants who arrived legally, waiting 10 years for green card, then more years for naturalization. It isn't fair for illegal immigrants to skip the line and not follow the rules.

If I had to choose between living in Texas and NYC, I would choose Texas in a heartbeat. When you're a young adult it really doesn't matter, but at some point having a house and raising a family become very difficult in NYC, unless you are doing very well. Most of my extended family has managed, but mostly because they inherited a brownstone or other property. They certainly could never have afforded to buy in that market.

Exactly. $200,000 will buy a large house in Texas. In NYC, $200,000 will buy nothing. Real estate prices are much more affordable in Texas.

I recently read an article that quote a few Tea Party Republicans who claim they intend to force the main party conservatives to emphasize what they see as their main platform, which does not include compromise with the Democrats-- even if this means another government shutdown.

I'm convinced that some just do not want the government to remain anything but dysfunctional simply because there are indeed some who benefit from this dysfunction and paralysis.

My question to Greg is that if Texas is so great, why are there so many Texans living in NYC? Seems like you can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone from Ohio or Texas! I guess those people do not work in the oil industry.

There are more New Yorkers living in Texas than Texans living in New York. Comparing the 2010 Census to the 2000 Census, Texas grew 20.6% in population, while New York grew only 2.1%

http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf

Tell that to Kansas.

As for Texas, its job boom is more a bubble - to use your word - from the oil and gas industry. There's been an increase in those jobs all over the country where fracking has become popular including here in Ohio. Texas also ranks high in poverty (#46), obesity (#15), and teen pregnancy (#5) and I know a few years ago they had the largest percentage of minimum wage workers in any state other than Mississippi. Texas is pretty much a perfect commercial for Republican policies. Whether one thinks that's good or bad obviously depends ones perspective and values.

Wall Street deregulation is also a Republican policy. The fact that Clinton signed off on it doesn't change that. He also signed off on lots of GOP garbage like DADT and welfare reform. That was just some of that famous "reaching across the aisle" and "compromising" Democrats like to do so much. The problem there is when the policies fail then the Republicans who championed them disavow any reponsibility and call them Democratic policies.

But Texas has oil and gas jobs for 100 years. Why the sudden increase in job growth? I think it has to do with the friendly business environment.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/368705/why-texas-growing-and-illinois-isnt-michael-barone

The shale boom has obviously helped Texas, but it’s far from the sole cause of its strength. Its economy is highly diversified, to the point that it’s gaining high-tech jobs from Silicon Valley. From September 2007 to November 2013, while the nation lost 1.8 million jobs, Texas gained 1.1 million. Texas’s public policies — low taxes, light regulation — have clearly paid off.

Clinton left office with a surplus. Bush left office with the next Great Depression. Republican policies don't work.

The surplus was based on the dot com bubble and the real estate bubble. Both bubbles were eventually going to burst. In addition, in 1999, Clinton signed the Graham Leach Bliley Act, the biggest Wall Street deregulation since the Great Depression.

43% of all job growth occured in Texas, and there is a huge population shift from blue states to red states, so I think, on a state level at least, Republican financial policies work.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are race baiting hate mongers. I don't blame you for voting against them. I am not asian, but if leaders of one party said that crap about my ethnic group I wouldn't vote for them either.

Most Asians, like myself, live in heavily Democratic areas, such as California and New York, so them voting GOP doesn't affect anything anyway. It's just the principle. Still, in 2016, I think that at least 60% of Asians will vote for the Democrat, especially if it's Hillary. Asians love Hillary.

I'm an Asian who voted for GOP. The number one reason is that the GOP rejects Affirmative Action, which hurts Asians the most. Also, Jesse Jackson recently made statements how Silicon Valley should stop hiring Asians in favor of blacks. I find that Jackson and Al Sharpton are always making statements like this. It's like they are picking on Asians for being successful.

49% of Asians voted for the GOP this time, a huge turnaround from 2010.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-05/republicans-courted-asians-and-it-paid-off