Amid roars of laughter, he continued, “His father was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. Mitt Romney is a Chicano. But he won’t admit it. “I am not. I am Danish. I am French.” Something I pointed out recently when I wrote about how disappointed Romney’s Mexican cousins were with him over proposed his immigration policy. Romney isn’t supportive of comprehensive immigration reform, and has promoted what he calls a policy of “self-deportation.” Romney is also opposed to the DREAM Act which provides a pathway to citizenship to anyone brought into the country illegally as children through no fault of their own; he has stated that any such bill would receive a veto from him as president.

Lopez’s bit ended with some stern words for Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio, the controversial anti-immigrant enforcer currently under investigation by the DOJ for civil rights violations. As well as assembling his “cold case posse” to investigate the validity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

However, before putting Arpaio on blast, Lopez had the following to say about Romney, ” If you want our vote puto, come out of the closet. Get a hair net and lean back and say ole…His father, his grandfather went to Mexico to create a Mormon colony. That don’t sit good with Mexicans when you want six wives to get twelve kids. Fucking Latinos can have one wife and get twelve kids. Don’t fucking cheat.” Pretty funny stuff if you ask me, but I’m sure others disagree. However you may feel about it, all is fair when it comes to comedy — especially when it’s true. Like Obama’s father, Romney’s was not born in America.

Lopez had some kind words for president Obama, who he touted as being the closest thing  to a Latino there is. That said, from the looks of it, Mitt Romney will also have to worry about producing his birth certificate as well as his taxes. Heck, maybe we can put together a cold case posse of our own. I know, it sounds absurd; but hey, many believe Obama is Kenyan.

The post George Lopez: “Romney is a fucking Latino and he won’t admit it.” appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Just to piggy back on my earlier post about Mitt Romney’s epic fail of speaking at this week’s NAACP National Convention. I wanted to hit on something Chris pointed out on this morning’s show. That would be, the fact that Mitt Romney never mentioned anything about the Voting Rights Act while speaking to the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. As I pointed out earlier, Romney’s weak (and very lazy) attempt to appeal to the African-American vote shows that Romney truly doesn’t have the interest of the black electorate at heart.

Here’s a good discussion on the black vote being taken for-granted:

So here’s the question: is the Voting Rights Act even necessary in our new post-racial age? Of course I have my own opinions on the subject that is the removal of the Voting Rights Act and states having to adhere to federal rules. But, I’m really interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject. I mean, if the rights of voters are not as sacrosanct as once believed and constitutionally supported, then as conspicuous as that may be, why then is there even a need for voting right protections? Seriously, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to answer that question.

But before I go, do me a favor and watch the following video from Chris Hayes’ show before attempting to answer the question posited above. Also, before answering the question here’s something to consider: according to the result of a Harvard study that shows how Texas’ changes affect voters presented this week, former President George W. Bush himself would be ineligible to vote in his home state of Texas (read it here). Now I’m not sure if many of us would agree that George would be a great future president. However, I do think we can all agree that he isn’t a minority, and that he is a Republican. Not exactly the target of disenfranchisement; but hey, so too is a retired World war II veterans in Florida who happens to be white, as well.

The post Shouldn’t the Voting Rights Act of 1965 be Obsolete? appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

In my opinion, this signals that the Obama campaign is winning the messaging war, at least in the battleground states. No word on just how team Romney plans to counter the latest Obama campaign onslaught. However, the latest Obama attack ad, in my opinion, serves as the equivalent of a WWE pro-wrestling finishing move; or a Mortal Kombat flawless victory.

Check it out and tell me what you think:

The post Obama Campaign Has Spent Nearly $100 Million in Campaign Ads, Romney Smashed in New “Firms” Ad appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Yes, the long pause and awkward grin was epic; and I’m pretty sure the thought of doing a jig at that very moment crossed his mind. Surely such a move would have been greatly appreciated and applauded by the hankerchief-head-wearing Negroes he had bused in after picking them out at the Rent-A-Negro Store. You know, the ones who aren’t into getting “free stuff,” who obviously have no intentions of voting for “the other guy,” because, they would rather pick cotton for free for Bain Capital in China. Yeah, those black people; the ones who love what they see when they look into Mitt Romney’s heart. Yep, the not-so-secret black folk openly willing to vote for Mitt, unlike his down-low black supporters somebody has obviously lied to him about. C’mon, y’know he made that up, right?

Hi, my name is. What? My name is. Who? My name is... Mitt Shady.

I just wanted to clear that up, just in case you may think all black people look alike, like Mitt Romney obviously does. Which is really funny when you think about it; because, there is no way black folks should vote for a guy who not only doesn’t know where and what bank his money sits; but also a guy who can’t remember lies about where and when he ran Bain Capital when we’re trying to find employment, in this terrible economy. Sorry pal, but I’m not buying your, “I’m the savior of black people,” sales pitch. And I don’t know what black leaders you’ve been talking to — my guess is that you’re confusing Jesse Lee Peterson for Jesse Jackson, because we all look alike — but if you think your speech was a winner, you won’t be back next year — it’s not like Mitt wants our vote.

This from Mother Jones:

Leonard Alkins, the former head of the Boston NAACP, has few fond memories of Romney’s tenure. ”There was no relationship between the NAACP in Boston and Gov. Mitt Romney and his administration,” Alkins says. “The only time that the NAACP had any interaction with the administration and the governor was to protest when he eliminated the affirmative action office.”

In one of his early acts as governor, Romneydumped the state’s office of affirmative actionand replaced it with the office of diversity and equal opportunity. In doing so, he invalidated a half-dozen executive orders establishing affirmative action policies for women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities; diversity training programs; and equal-opportunity standards for state contractors. Romney’s executive orderreplaced all of this with what was essentially a broad—and, Alkins says, “toothless”—commitment to “diversity.”

Romney didn’t inform civil rights groups about his plans before scrapping the affirmative action office, and the reaction from activists was harsh. The Massachusetts Black Caucus accused Romney of attempting to “virtually dismantle affirmative action in Massachusetts state government.”

Romney eventually appointed a diversity commission to examine his new policy. But, according to Alkins, the NAACP was excluded from the commission—until other commissioners spoke up. “He excluded the NAACP from serving on that special commission until we protested,” Alkins recalls.

Romney appointed Alkins to the commission, but the process didn’t go well. Instead of approving Romney’s policy, the commission worked to strengthen the policies he invalidated. Word leaked to the governor, Alkins says, and the co-chair of the commission, Ruth Bramson, who was also Romney’s chief human resources officer, refused to call any more meetings, thwarting the commission from voting on and issuing final recommendations. Bramson, who is now CEO of the Girl Scouts in eastern Massachusetts, refused to comment, saying she has to stay out of politics. The Romney campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But a Romney spokesman told the Bay State Guardian at the time that Bramson felt the committee’s work was done and no further meetings were necessary.

So, do you think Romney really has the interest of black folk at heart? In his speech this week he spoke of his father marching with civil rights activists in the 1960s. But clearly from a policy position, it’s obvious that he doesn’t give a damn about the well being of black folks or anyone outside of his income bracket. If he did, why then would he propose tax cuts for the rich while raising taxes on the middle class and working poor? But hey, let him tell it, he’s the best thing for black folks since Moses and Joseph Smith delivered us from slavery, Jim Crow, and George W. Bush.

The post When Mitt Romney Spoke at the NAACP Convention, Dead Slaves Laughed appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

First, there was last week when he suggested that some people who support Obama would rather not own their own keep and instead would rather be his “slave,” and now he is comparing Social Security to slavery.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I think of Mr. West as a slave-catcher. In a world where he cannot rightfully locate and identify the actual slaves (the imprisoned and those buried under unrealistic student loan debt are the first and most obvious in my opinion), he must grab at ill-thought and apparently unexamined ideas and create them as slavery. Once he has swayed enough people with the age-old “say some shit and if ONE person repeats or believes it, then it is true” approach, he can set about his mission of “freeing” those “slaves” in a quest to make their overall situations better.

Now I never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I am damned sure that slavery has NOTHING to do with receiving benefits that are usually quite necessary.

Now how does this make him a slave catcher? Well, on the surface and with the use of a little slick language, he has reversed the definition of it, almost to make it seem as if being a slave is a positive for the person being held down and a negative for the one bankrolling the operation. But no, slaves are not employees or dependent beneficiaries, they’re captive and uncompensated participants and would usually exit the system if given a chance to understand why they should want to. So now, with the roles properly reversed, he can take non-slaves and in turn CREATE NEW ONES, which by comparative definition makes him a slave catcher, taking those who have something – albeit it usually very little – and leaving them with nothing other than their apparently wasted efforts.

No, Allen West, Social Security is not a form of slavery. Nor is being among the working poor, elderly or otherwise underprivileged. True slavery comes in the form of having an even worse station in life than that, and to blame those people in an attempts to bring them closer to the actual definition of the word does not make you a “Harriet Tubman” as you champion yourself with your tastelessly applied metaphor, it simply makes you the 2012 version of these guys.

The post Slave Catcher Alert: Allen West Has a Weird Slavery Fetish, Likens Obama to a Slave Master appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

This jackal probably knows the history of taxation in this country as far as the fact that we had the strongest economy combined with the lowest levels of unemployment when we had a 70% tax rate on high end capital gains. High end, of course, being the massive amounts of money made by those who were already very wealthy.

That high tax rate not only did nothing to hurt those people and corporations which were subject to it, but they also kept increasing their bottom line.

Furthermore, that economic strength, combined with American ingenuity and dedication to a strong work ethic, is the very thing that enabled the development of a strong middle class. And that strong middle class was the fuel for maintaining a strong economy.

The Glass-Steagal Act, passed in 1933 during the Great Depression, in part kept commercial banks from getting involved in risky venture
capital endeavors.

Grover Norquist: Possibly the most influential unelected individual in America

When that act was rescinded, such endeavors began in earnest as investment banks merged with commercial banks. It picked up steam as time went on and the corporate demand for deregulation took hold and began to hold sway, culminating first in what we so lovingly refer to as “Reaganomics”, the theory known as “trickle down economics”.

That theory led to lowering the tax rates on corporations and the wealthy, as well as a concerted effort to further deregulate as much as possible in support of increasing the incomes of the wealthy and the profits of the corporate world. This led directly to the “Great Recession” of 2008, otherwise known as the Bush Economic Crash.

Now comes Grover Norquist and the pro-corporate, no-tax-increase cabal of extreme right-wingers currently in control of the Republican Party. They clearly are aware of the history stated above, yet they insist that taxes on the wealthy and corporations be pared down even further. It is enough to make one wonder if perhaps they WANT the United States to fail, so that corporations can take over completely.

If that is the case, then they must be stopped at the ballot box in no uncertain terms. Failing that, we are heading for a new feudalism in which the wealthy do, indeed, control everything because they own everything and everyone.

It’s already started. The only question now is, can we stop it?

The post The Glass-Steagal Act: Grover Norquist, Taxes, & the New Feudalism appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Think I’m crazy, then take a look at Willard’s advisers. Nearly 70% of his advisers are the ones Bush followed to send this country into a depression. And make no mistake about it….this is not a recession….this thing that we’re living through now….is a full fledged depression…and Willard and his new found army of right wing conservatives wants to keep us there.

Why? Because he and his friends make money when we can’t. Willard is about the power. He already has the money. He has this driving, controlling need to run things. He wants to be king of the world, which is what the President of the US is, in fact. It is world domination Mormon style as preached by his church. And he wants to preach the prosperity gospels to his friends at our expense. The best way to do that is to bring back the policies of the Bush administration, complete with deeper tax cuts and more war thrown in for good measure.

Romney is using Glenn Hubbard as one of his economic advisers Hubbard is senior member of the team who gave us the Bush tax cuts at the same time Bush sent troops into two illegal wars searching for invisible weapons of mass destruction. This little move, by itself was crazy. But tax cuts in war time was suicidal, and we are paying for that right now.

Another Hubbard move that Romney wants to bring back is deregulation of the financial industry. Deregulation of the banks nearly destroyed the world in 2008. The rumblings are still reverberating around the globe. Merrill Lynch and Lehmann Brothers imploded, remember. Romney wants to trash the new regulations created by Obama to stabilize the financial industry.

Other Romney/Bush advisers are Dick Cheney trained NeoCons such as John Bolton, who thinks we should bomb Iran to help Israel shape the Middle East in its own image. Romney is not even in office yet and just like Sarah Palin, he is making a trek to Israel this month in an effort to boost his foreign policy cred. This is a tremendous slap in the face of the Black man in the White House. It is totally disrespectful of any sitting President.

U.S. President George W. Bush and Republican gubernatorial candidate for Massachusetts Mitt Romney pass one another on stage during a fund raising event for Romney in Boston October 4, 2002.

Bolton is already on record as having told the Israelis that America plans to use Syria, Iran and North Korea for target practice during the next administration-A Romney Administration. Romney says Bolton brings “clarity” to his team. Romney also employs the guys who convinced Dubya that bombing Iraq was a good idea and not a mistake.

As a woman, the scariest Bush holdover employed by Mitt Romney is Robert Bork, the failed Supreme Court nominee. He was rejected for a justice seat by the Senate back in 1987, because he is batshit crazy. Bork criticized the Civil Rights Act of 1964, calling it an “abomination.” He said that a ruling giving married couples the right to use contraception was “utterly specious.”

Bork says the First Amendment should be shrunken until it is small enough to be “drowned in the bathtub.” He also believes that government can and should criminalize sex, especially same sex copulations.

As if he can’t get any uglier, Bork says the Constitution does not protect women from gender discrimination, meaning bare foot and pregnant and under a man popping out his spawn is our only option for existence in this world.

If Romney should by some chance make it to the White House, then you can bet that Robert Bork will be nominated, once again to the Supreme Court. Consider this; 4 justices are over the age of 70 now and another is a cancer survivor, meaning the next President could possibly appoint 4 new justices.

It is not enough to look at the candidate. You must look at who he surrounds himself with. Romney wants power at any cost. He’s proven that by running for president these past 12 years over and over again.

The fact that he may be a moderate conservative masquerading as a right wing nutcase is beside the point. We can’t take the chance of putting him in touch with the power, because what comes with him, should he be successful is Mormon world domination doctrine, NeoCon American Exceptionalism and policies that have already done much to destroy the Middle Class of America.

Vote Responsibly in the coming November elections. This election is more important than 2008.

The post George Dubya Romney: The Need to Lick Bush in 2012 appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

The last thing I wanted to talk about today was the ongoing debate over last weeks Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare. I’ve written about it enough here and here; but, then Mitch McConnell spoke on Fox News Sunday yesterday. Speaking to host Chris Wallace, when asked about the “repeal and replace” meme circulating in GOP circles, McConnell said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the GOP is not interested in providing insurance coverage to the 30 million uninsured that Obama’s plan would cover. He also added that the American health care system was the finest in the world; but don’t tell that to the 50 million currently uninsured citizens across the country.

For me, coming from McConnell this isn’t a shocker. Heck, if you have ever listened to him speak, you get the impression that he chews tobacco, drinks moonshine, and beats slaves all at the same time; no seriously, I think he keeps a few left-over slaves in a shed out back. After all, he is one of the good ole boys from Kentucky. According to statehealthfacts.org, in 2010 Kentucky had a total of 655,100 non-elderly residents uninsured, with 24 percent of them living between 139 and 250 percent above the federal poverty line. McConnell has an estimated net worth of $17 million dollars.

Mitt Romney speaks to campaign adviser, Eric Fuhrstom

Now this falls right in line with Mitt Romney’s position of Obamacare resulting in a “massive tax.” An assertion that fuels the repeal and replace meme given that the new law imposes a new tax on everyone as Republicans would have us believe. Of course that false logic has already been debunked. However, to properly define Mitt’s position, top campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said, “The governor disagreed with the ruling of the Court,” and added, “he agreed with the dissent, which was written by Justice Scalia, which very clearly stated that the mandate was not a tax.” Okay, are you with me so far? Yes, Romney said it was a tax, everyone on the right says it’s a tax, but Romney’s top adviser says Mitt disagrees with himself and believes that the individual mandate is not a tax. Okay, are you confused just yet? Yes, I figured you would be. Well, watch the video below to figure it out if you can; pay attention closely, because this is getting confusing.

This via Think Progross:

The post Romney Adviser Says Individual Mandate “Not A Tax” appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Maybe you haven’t noticed, but it’s gotten so bad now that the Supreme Court has upheld ‘Obamacare’, that some of them are threatening to move to Canada. Can you believe that shit? OK, lemme repeat that: Republicans are so disgusted with yesterday’s decision on “socialized health care”, that they’re willing to move to another country that offers, er, um, socialized health care (?). But of course you may say that this is just the typical idiocy exhibited by those afflicted with the mental disorder that is conservatism. I say it takes a lot to make a man compromise on his ideology; and in this case, I say this is sure-fire proof that they’re just downright racist. How racist? Racist enough to leave the country because of a certain black guy — to hell with grabbing guns.

So what’s this ridiculousness about? Of course I’ve already told you; but the real irony is that they’re cloaking it with the “massive tax hike” meme. Which i absolutely false, by the way; because very few people will pay the penalty for not having coverage. But let them tell it as all the talking heads have: ‘Obamacare’ will in effect create an increase on taxes for all. Of course this is very far from the truth. And as a recent report shows, the recently upheld law by the Supreme Court, will actually be a tax cut for millions of Americans, according to Families USA. How many? Oh, about 28.6 million of them — mostly in the middle class — will once entering health care exchanges and receiving affordability credits from the government, But nooo, this is all about more liberal taxes and spending:

We found that an estimated 28.6 million Americans will be eligible for the tax credits in 2014, and that the total value of the tax credits that year will be $110.1 billion. The new tax credits will provide much-needed assistance to insured individuals and families who struggle harder each year to pay rising premiums, as well as to uninsured individuals and families who need help purchasing coverage that otherwise would be completely out of reach financially. Most of the families who will be eligible for the tax credits will be employed, many for small businesses, and will have incomes between two and four times poverty (between $44,100 and $88,200 for a family of four based on 2010 poverty guidelines).

But hey, as entertaining as it is to watch my right-wing friends freak out — one of them even told me that George W. Bush was a closet liberal for appointing Chief Justice Roberts — It’s important that we counter this silly talk with nothing but the truth. Moving forward, it is up to us lefties to continue selling the benefits of the health care law, even more than the White House has to. Because you know the old saying: when you repeat a lie enough, it magically takes on the look of truth. And of course we know that our friends, are very good at that sort of thing, right? But hey, don’t be surprised when the talk of redistribution of wealth via health care, or it being reparations for black people resurfaces in weeks to come. Like I said before: they’ll do anything to stop the black guy.

Look, I’m not suggesting that everyone opposed to the health care law is racist; however, I am in no uncertain terms saying, that to be opposed to the law makes one an idiot. And I say that because I have yet to hear one congruent argument, as to why expanding an access to a more affordable health care model is purportedly a bad idea; and, not in the best interest of consumers across the nation; consumers who will need health care services at some point in their lives. If you can convince me, I would love to hear it.

The post The GOP ‘Obamacare’ Hate Level is Red-Lining: Look Out Canada, Here Comes the Crazies appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

But don’t tell that to my Republican friends who are chock full of misinformation — you know, like the one that says the IRS will come for you if you don’t get health insurance like Marco Rubio says? — see this law as the death star that hangs ominously over the heads of citizens across the country. Let them tell it, the Supremes and Chief Justice John Roberts of all people, have gotten it wrong on this one — damn those activist judges! But hey, Republicans are idiots about the Affordable Care Act (read here). Let them tell it, the law is supposed to be a major job killer that negatively impacts small businesses, which are the engine of our economy. Wanna hear some truth? Per the law, businesses with less than 50 employees are not required to offer insurance coverage to employees. Wanna hear some more truth? About 96% of small businesses in the U.S. have less than 50 employees; which means, only a very small percentage of said small businesses will be required to provide coverage; and, for the ones that do — you know, the ones with at least 50 employees? — they’ll be given tax subsidies or tax credits as incentive for hiring which offsets cost.

But hey, facts don’t matter:

The post Supreme Court Rules Health Care Law Constitutional, Obama Wins, & Republicans are Idiots appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.