Republicans Hate Small Businesses

Sure, we heard Republicans talk the talk, but when it comes to small businesses, Republicans turned their backs and voted “no” on a bill that would aid small businesses.  They are only for tax breaks for Corporations and Wall Street Banks.  When it comes to helping small businesses, they say “no”.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday rejected a bill to aid small businesses with expanded loan programs and tax breaks, in a procedural blockade that underscored how fiercely determined the party’s leaders are to deny Democrats any further legislative accomplishments ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Republicans in Congress have done their very best in trying to block legislation that benefits the middle class, working American.  They take their orders directly from Rush Limbaugh, the drug addict.  Rush wanted America to fail and the Republicans are doing whatever it takes to make sure that America fails.

Pat Toomey is just another Republican set on fulfilling Limbaugh’s wish of a failed America.

Who Will Be the Survivor?

The latest ad by the DNC…. too good to pass up.

No one new idea among any member of that group.

Twas the Night… Yes We Can

T’was the Night Before Inauguration
By John Cobarruvias
BayAreaHouston.blogspot.com

T’was the night before inauguration and what to my dismay
The market was tanking, I lost my 401K!
The stocks were hung, in downfall they stuck
While Bush did nothing, a truly lame duck

The republicans were nestled, their heads in the sand
With visions of defeat of the republican brand.
And Cheney with his gun, his heart a pace
Looking for someone, to shoot in the face.

When out on the house floor, there came such a clatter
I sprang to the internets to find what’s the matter.
Away to my screen I ran with a flash
Hoping the market, didn’t crash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow
Showed me someone I needed to know.
When what to my eyes, I paused, with a comma
But a vision of hope, It was Barack Obama!

With excitement and conviction in each of his steps
I wondered what he and his elves, would do next.
More rapid than eagles his appointments they came
And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name.

Now Emanuel! Now, Daschle! Now Richardson and Biden!
On, Clinton, On Napolitano, and Gates, no sense in hidin’!
To fix the economy, our reputation and more.
And to stop the killing of this unnecessary war.

As Obama stood still, the republicans they trembled
Remembering 8 years of a disaster they had assembled.
They’ve broken our banks, and doubled our debt.
They scared us to death with weapons of threats.

They squandered a surplus, They started a war.
They shredded our constitution, littered on the floor.
They attack our unions, our immigrants and those who are gay.
They claim to be Christians, yet on the sick they prey.

We may never recover from this hole they dug.
But we will climb to the top with an American tug.
The republican party has destroyed all that matters
They deserve nothing more but to hold the damn ladder.

But his voice did change, along with a smile.
Thinking of the bills that soon would be filed.
Protect those who are old and young alike
Restore our honor and our military might.

Protect our planet, and clean our air.
While creating a surplus we can leave to our heirs
Fix our economy, and health care for all.
And honor those who fought, and those who fall.

Obama sprang to his feet, to his team he gave a shout.
The challenges seem impossible, hard work needed no doubt
But I heard him exclaim ere he talked and ran.
Hey! It’s not just a slogan, YES WE CAN!

——–

Have a great Holiday everyone.
There is hope in the White House!

For the Texans who receive this: FYI: John Cobarruvias is the man who filed the ethics complaint against Speaker Tom Craddick and his daughter Christy Craddick.

(from an email)

When Black Friday Comes…

Only, this time it’s Black Monday. This is part of the Bush Economic Plan, the very plan that John McCain supports and wants to continue. A couple of years ago, Dick Cheney dumped his stock investments and purchased Bonds. Cheney saw this coming. McCain won’t feel any of this pain. As a matter of fact, drug and alcohol use increases during times of financial depression.

The better tax plan…

Woohoo! A better tax break with Obama for Middle Class Americans, those of us that have to work for a living.

WAIT… There’s more

Little Facts Add Up on Palin

This thread is posted in it’s entirety with the written permission of the author, Melinda Donahey.

Some “Little Facts” About Sarah Palin

By Melinda Donahey

The American public has less than 60 days to judge Sarah Palin’s fitness for high office, dangerous risk-taking indeed when as vice-president she would be next in line to a 72-year-old man who has had bouts with melanoma, whose father and grandfather both died younger than he is now, and who, as a former prisoner-of-war, confronts the likelihood of a shorter-than-average lifespan.

Palin has been kept under extremely tight wraps since her nomination. Reporters can’t ask her questions directly, and she never appears on the campaign trail unless accompanied by John McCain or delivers a speech that isn’t written for her.

Though Palin is a virtual stranger to most Americans, McCain campaign aide Rick Davis is indifferent to the public’s right to know anything unscripted about her policy views, stating “We’re going to do what’s in our best interests to try to win the election.” Apparently, the best interests of the electorate don’t figure into the equation.

Press reports about Palin pour forth, but no one has put all the information together in a coherent whole, as this article attempts to do.

Meanwhile, the McCain campaign complains loudly that Palin has been maligned by the media in a sexist manner, and should be judged by the same standard as male politicians seeking the highest offices in the land. Fair enough.

Let’s see exactly how well she’s actually performed as mayor and governor of Alaska. And since she seeks a position with awesome responsibility in the most diverse, complex, multi-faceted superpower in history, a country with over 300 million citizens–let’s see how the size and complexity of her previous responsibilities compare to the job she seeks.

Here we go again, more Republican lies

: : : : : : : : : :

There’s an update at the bottom of this post and that is why I am re-submitting this thread.

More Republican lies brought to the American people by the big oil companies. These House Republicans that are acting like spoiled children don’t have to worry about getting paid by the taxpayers for their temper tantrums and whining while the House is not in session. The big oil companies are picking up the tab.

On Friday and again on Monday, the House Republicans say that we need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Good idea, however, the oil companies are not at all concerned with selling more oil in the United States. This is the dirty little secret that isn’t being told to the American public.

(the original article has been removed. This is a copy of a “cached” file)

WASHINGTON3 (Reuters) – While the U.S. oil industry want access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.

A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.

The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

“We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country,” President Bush told reporters this week. “We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home.”

“As a nation, we can have more control over our energy destiny by supplying more of the oil and natural gas we’ll be consuming from resources here at home,” Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum (otcbb: AMPE.OB – news – people ) Institute, said in a letter last week to U.S. lawmakers.

But environmentalists and other opponents to expanding drilling areas could seize on the record exports to argue Congress should not open more acres if U.S. refineries are churning crude oil into petroleum products that are sent out of the American market.

“It doesn’t look good to say: ‘We need more oil.’ But then export the refined products that you’re getting. It doesn’t seem to be consistent,” said Jim Presswood, energy lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

But many energy experts say oil and petroleum products are traded globally, and it may make economic sense to export gasoline refined along the U.S. Gulf Coast to Latin America and import European-refined gasoline to U.S. East Coast markets.

“The fact is that the (United States) participates in global markets for both crude and refined products, and there are any number of variables that impact supply and prices in those markets,” said Bill Holbrook, spokesman for the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association.

The 1.6 million barrels a day in record petroleum exports represented 9 percent of total U.S. refining capacity of 17.6 million barrels a day.

However, with refiners operating at 85 percent of capacity during the January-April period, the shipments represented a much a larger share of total U.S. oil products produced.

The exports were also equal to half the 3.2 million barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products the United States imported each day over the 4-month period.

The biggest share of U.S. oil products exported went to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Singapore and Brazil.

U.S. consumers are paying record prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, which the Bush administration blames in part on tight supplies.

While the administration argues that more supplies would help to bring down prices, U.S exports of diesel fuel in April averaged 387,000 barrels per day, up almost seven-fold from 59,000 barrels a day in the same month a year earlier.

U.S. gasoline shipments in April averaged 202,000 barrels a day, the most for the month since 1945, when America was sending fuel overseas to ease supply shortages in other countries during World War II. Gasoline exports in April 2007 were almost half at 116,000 barrels per day.

Residual fuel exports in April were 377,000 barrels per day, the fourth highest level for any month, and up 10 percent from 344,000 barrels per day a year earlier.

The Republicans know all about this increase in US oil exports and so does the boy Bush who stated that our government should not get involved with the free market. My guess is that this means that as long as the friends of the boy Bush and his pal barnacle Cheney are making records profits, our government will have a hands off policy. The UK Guardian also has the story on US oil exports.

Time moves on and the election is drawing near and if the Democrats get control of the White House, there is a high probability that there won’t be more off shore drilling give aways to the oil companies.

So, as the Republicans continue “acting out”, oil prices continue to drop. I’ve seen gasoline selling for $3.65/gallon this weekend. That’s down $.40/gallon and there have not been any changes in drilling nor has there been a gasoline tax holiday. The price of oil is just another commodity speculation. If the Republicans really wanted to help the American people, then they would support the elimination of the “Enron loophole”. They don’t want to do that because they would lose campaign and lobby monies donated to them from the major oil companies.

The Republicans holding this phony Congressional session is just a charade. If they win, then the American people will lose and the oil companies will just get richer at our expense. Don’t be fooled.

UPDATE: Here’s a link with more information about drilling. The Republicans are NOT telling Americans the truth. We will not see any of this oil that would come from more drilling.