Mostly Political

Mostly Political exists to inform, explain, and facilitate discussion about political issues. Talking heads on television too often over-complicate important issues, making it difficult for everyday people to understand how the decisions made in Washington can fundamentally affect their lives. Mostly Political is designed to explain politics in understandable ways through commentary, political cartoons, and informative videos.

[mostlypolitical]

What's going on?

I suppose I should have let you guys know what's going on with Mostly Political.

Basically, it all came down to time commitment. I've been juggling a few different projects, and am starting a full-time job tomorrow, so I've kind of been neglecting MP for a while.

Starting today, Mostly Political is on an indefinite hiatus. Very soon, the MostlyPolitical.com URL will redirect to my personal blog. There are a few reasons for this:

First, I still occasionally write about politics. And I need an outlet for those times when I just have to say something. While MP has a few hundred followers, my personal blog has a larger following. And if I'm not going to write about politics regularly, I don't want to keep operating a blog that's fairly stagnant.

Secondly, Mostly Political never really "took off" in the way I thought it would. At its height, it had amassed several hundred followers, and had about 1500 unique pageviews per week. But for some reason, I could never really get much interaction with followers and readers. The goal of MP was always to be a conversation about politics. I wanted readers to submit guest posts, comment, speak up with their opinions, and just interact with the content. That never happened in a significant way. I'm not sure why. MP had a healthy following and great page view numbers for its age, but the audience just wasn't engaged.

So I've been focused on other things lately, and MP has just been gathering dust. I might bring Mostly Political back at some point in the future, but for now, it's going to folded into the /tagged/politics section of my personal blog. You'll find a lot of the same content and commentary there. That blog is very random -- featuring random graphics, gifs, life updates, literary quotes, tech news, and more. Politics won't be the focus there, but if you'd like to join me, I'd love to have you. If don't want to follow me there, you can keep up with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and slew of other places.

It's been fun, but I'm officially shutting down this project as of today.

-Jesse

[demnewswire]

[mostlypolitical]

Market Watch’s Rex Nutting examines the facts and concludes, “of all the falsehoods told about President Barack Obama, the biggest whopper is the one about his reckless spending spree.” The actual record under President Obama “doesn’t show a reckless increase in spending. Far from it.” Take a look at Nutting’s breakdown of spending over the last four years, which says that, under President Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower was President:

Here are the facts, according to the official government statistics:

In the 2009 fiscal year—the last of George W. Bush’s presidency—federal spending rose by 17.9% from $2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. Check the official numbers at the Office of Management and Budget.

In fiscal 2010—the first budget under Obama—spending fell 1.8% to $3.46 trillion.

In fiscal 2011, spending rose 4.3% to $3.60 trillion.

In fiscal 2012, spending is set to rise 0.7% to $3.63 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the budget that was agreed to last August.

Finally in fiscal 2013—the final budget of Obama’s term—spending is scheduled to fall 1.3% to $3.58 trillion. Read the CBO’s latest budget outlook.

Over Obama’s four budget years, federal spending is on track to rise from $3.52 trillion to $3.58 trillion, an annualized increase of just 0.4%.

There has been no huge increase in spending under the current president, despite what you hear.

Most importantly, the President has a balanced plan that would cut deficits by over $4 trillion over the next decade, including the spending cuts he has already signed into law that will bring discretionary spending to its lowest levels as a share of the economy since the Eisenhower Administration.

[tpmmedia]

[mostlypolitical]

An Obama Spending Spree? Hardly

TPM’s Sahil Kapur looks at the numbers behind a recurrent theme of recent budget debates:

A dominant theme of the national political discourse has been the crushing spending spree the U.S. has ostensibly embarked on during the Obama presidency. That argument, ignited by Republicans and picked up by many elite opinion makers, has infused the national dialogue and shaped the public debate in nearly every major budget battle of the last thee years.

But the numbers tell a different story.

The fact that the national debt has risen from $10.6 trillion to $15.6 trillion under Obama’s watch makes for easy partisan attacks. But the vast bulk of the increase was caused by a combination of revenue losses due to the 2008-09 economic downturn as well as Bush-era tax cuts and automatic increases in safety-net spending that were already written into law.

Obama’s policies, including the much-criticized stimulus package, have caused the slowest increase in federal spending of any president in almost 60 nears, according to data compiled by the financial news service MarketWatch.

(Read the full story)

[mostlypolitical]

Moving Forward

*see what I did there?

Hey guys!

I know a lot has happened over the last few weeks while MP has been on hiatus. Sorry I haven't been around to cover it all for you. 

A few updates:

We have a brand new design. It's clean, minimalist, and totally responsive. If you don't know what that means, it simply means that the design works well on a variety of devices and screen sizes -- seriously, go look at our website on your phone. It look fantastic! Except for the big banner ad at the top. Which brings me to number two...

I've been experimenting with ads on this website for a while without much luck. Over the last year, I've made about $32. I'm going to be pushing more and more content to the website itself via "Read Mores" and heavy use of social media. Right now, the majority of you read through the Tumblr dashboard, which is great. But I'd like to get a little more involvement on the site itself. Revenue isn't my goal here, and if the ads become too distracting (or simply ineffective) after a month or two, I'll remove them. Like I said before, the top ad is already killing our beautiful new mobile design because Adsense doesn't yet support responsive designs.

Sometime in the next few days, I'll set up a commenting system. I've used both Facebook comments and Disqus before. I don't really have a preference. Do you?

Mostly Political will officially resume a regular posting schedule Monday morning. I'll most likely reblog posts between now and then, but there won't be any original content. 

On a personal note, I'd like to thank you all for your patience with me. It's been a hectic month with classes, finals, graduation, etc. I needed to focus on other things, so I took a little time away from the blog.

See you soon!

[stfuconservatives]

No. The American people don’t want to vote for a loser. They don’t want to vote for someone that hasn’t been successful. I think Mitt Romney has an opportunity to show the American people that they, too, can succeed.

John Boehner on Mitt Romney. Yeah John, every American sure can succeed when they’re raised in a ridiculously rich household. Some serious bootstraps self-made man stuff right there.

(via stfuconservatives)

Heh. I think the Speaker may have just supported President Obama. He is the one who truly became a success of his own accord. Governor Romney inherited his money. The President doesn't come from a wealthy family. If the American people want to see how to make yourself successful, why would they model their aspirations on someone who was born rich and had his way of life handed to him over a man from a single-parent home who worked his way through college, became a best-selling author, Senator, and the first African-American to ascend to the highest office in the land. 

But, you know, Romney has more money. So he's obviously more successful. 

[think-progress]

Republican math:

[mostlypolitical]

Affordable: $1 TRILLION per year in tax cuts for the rich

Unaffordable: $6 BILLION per year to help millions of students

[mostlypolitical]

Ron Paul - the winner of the Iowa primary*

via Wikipedia:

Of the 620 bills that Paul had sponsored through December 2011, over a period of more than 22 years in Congress, only one had been signed into law – a lifetime success rate of less than 0.3%. The sole measure authored by Paul that was ultimately enacted allowed for a federal customhouse to be sold to a local historic preservation society (H.R. 2121 in 2009).

*for now. Until the Iowa GOP decides someone else wins. Which they tend to do quite often -- Paul is the third person to be named winner of that particular primary. And with such a successful record in the House, it's easy to see why!

[mostlypolitical]

Typical conservative: liberals are bad because Jesus doesn't like conservation, caring for the planet, impoverished people to be cared for, or a strong educational system. Also, OBAMA SUPPORTS CANNIBALS!!!!!

This is the blog of a former professor of mine. I've never agreed with him politically, but I could at least respect his positions a few years ago. As I've followed his blog over the years, his somewhat reasoned posts and political analyses have devolved into these hyper-religious regurgitations of the latest Glenn Beck newsletter or talking points from last night's Fox News primetime lineup.

In any event, before you read this post, entitled "This is Why I Write," be sure to remove any forks from your general vicinity, as you're sure to be tempted to gauge out your eyeballs and stab your computer screen. Case in point, here's the opening paragraph:

One of my concerns for those who read my posts is that they won’t grasp the real reasons why I desire to share my views. It would be easy, from a superficial reading, to think I’m just a conservative who doesn’t like Obama specifically and Democrats/liberals in general. I do oppose Obama and his policies, and I’m also opposed to the Democrat agenda. But there are foundational principles that guide my opposition. I believe in objective truth, and that it exists through the God of the Bible. I want to stand strong for truth.

Doesn't that just sound like something directly from the Glenn Beck homepage? 

[paxamericana]

[mostlypolitical]

Romney gives a speech in a closed down factory to rail against Obama’s failed economic policies. One problem? The factory shut down in 2008. The other problem? Romney’s the one who thinks factory closings are hilarious.

[mostlypolitical]

Now, I know President Obama isn't to blame for [insert controversy of choice], but I'm going to spend the next five paragraphs explaining why it's his fault anyway.

Conservative Bloggers

[skepticalavenger]

[mostlypolitical]

A few other things President Obama has done…

(via Forbes )

Extended child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes

Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes

Required economic justification for tax changes

Implemented “Women Owned Business” contracting program

Changed standards for determining broadband access

Established a credit card bill of rights

Expanded loan programs for small businesses

Extended the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes

Extended the 2007 Alternative MinimumTax patch

Closed the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan

Expanded the Senior Corps volunteer program

Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions

Gave tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums

Required large employers to contribute to a national health plan

Required children to have health insurance coverage

Expanded eligibility for Medicaid

Expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)

Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care

Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information

In non-competitive markets, forced insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care

Eliminated the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans

Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners

Increased funding to expand community based prevention programs

Reinstated executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.

Increased the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals

Expanded the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care

Appointed a special adviser to the president on violence against women

Fully funded the Violence Against Women Act

Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq

Began removing combat brigades from Iraq

Created a military families advisory board

Ended the abuse of supplemental budgets for war

Made U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts

Opened “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe

Allocated Homeland Security funding according to risk

Created a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan

Increased funding for local emergency planning

Extended monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty

Appointed a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security

Initiated a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime

Improved relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds

Launched an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)

Created a rapid response fund for emerging democracies

Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba

Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program

Established an Energy Partnership for the Americas

Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers

Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.

Provided affordable, high-quality child care

Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession

Reduced subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers

Encouraged water-conservation efforts in the West

Increased funding for national parks and forests

Increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund

Encouraged farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient

Expanded Pell grants for low-income students

Pursued a wildfire management plan

Removed more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires

Expanded access to places to hunt and fish

Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors

Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy

Restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

Reformed mandatory minimum sentences

Created a White House Office on Urban Policy

Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

Established program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders

Established ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty

Worked toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system

Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps

Created a Social Investment Fund Network

Bolstered the military’s ability to speak differentlanguages

Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer

Provided grants to early-career researchers

Worked to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear

Created a national declassification center

Appointed an American Indian policy adviser

Created new financial regulations

Increased funding for land-grant colleges

Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees

Signed a “universal” health care bill

Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud

Required 10 percent renewable energy by 2012

Released oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Raised fuel economy standards

Invested in all types of alternative energy

Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars

Asked people and businesses to conserve electricity

Required more energy-efficient appliances

Created a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans

Created job training programs for clean technologies

Required states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption

Supported high-speed rail

Supported airline service in small towns

Invested in public transportation

Equalized tax breaks for driving and public transit

Considered “smart growth” in transportation funding

Shared environmental technology with other countries

Doubled federal spending for research on clean fuels

Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes

Increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency

Raised the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009

Extended unemployment insurance benefits and

temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits

Supported network neutrality on the Internet

Reversed restrictions on stem cell research

Killed Osama bin Laden

Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program that encourages manufacturing efficiency

Included environmental and labor standards in trade agreements

Created an international tax haven watch list

Made permanent the Research & Development tax credit

Required automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans

Required automatic enrollment in IRA plans

Created a consumer-friendly credit card rating system

Created a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges

Required full disclosure of company pension investments to employees

Provided easy-to-understand comparisons of the Medicare prescription drug plans

Invested in electronic health information systems

Phased in requirements for health information technology

Required that health plans utilize disease management programs

Required providers to report measures of health care costs and quality

Held hospitals and health plans accountable for disparities in care

Implemented and funded proven health intervention programs

Prevented drug companies from blocking generic drugs

Allowed Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices

Worked with schools to create more healthful environments for children

Improved recruitment of public health workers

Mandated insurance coverage of autism treatment

Fully funded the Combating Autism Act and Federal Autism Research Initiatives

Doubled federal funding for cancer research

Increased participation in cancer-related clinical trials

Fully funded the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Set a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds for developmental disorders

Commissioned a study on students with disabilities and their transition to jobs or higher education

Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act

Created a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities

Launched educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities

Reduced the threshhold for the Family and Medical Leave Act from companies with 50 employees to companies with 25 employees

Provided a $1.5 billion fund to help states launch programs for paid family and medical leave

Required employers to provide seven paid sick days per year

Streamlined the Social Security disability approval process

Expanded Veterans Centers in rural areas

Established standards of care for traumatic brain injury treatment

Made the Veterans Administration a national leader in health reform

Reduced the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog

Instituted electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration

Expanded housing vouchers program for homeless veterans

Launched a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness

Expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence or sexual assault

Fully funded debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries

Created a fund for international small and medium enterprises (SME)

Launched robust diplomatic effort with Iraq and its neighbors

Provided $30 billion over 10 years to Israel

Limited Guard and Reserve deployments to one year for every six years

Ended the “Stop-Loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments

Fully and properly equipped troops

Created a Civilian Assistance Corps that would organize private sector professionals to help in times of need

Included humanitarian international missions in long-term budgeting

Reviewed weapons programs

Modernized ships and invested more in small vessels

Set standards for when the government should hire defense contractors

Restored the government’s ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps

Created a system of incentives and penalties for defense contracts

Establish a Global Education Fund

Strengthened the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) aimed at stopping spread of weapons of mass destruction

Organized successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010

Expanded federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons

Developed a comprehensive cyber security and response strategy

Mandated standards for securing personal data

Required companies to disclose personal information data breaches

Worked to persuade the European Union to end credit guarantees to Iran

Seek to negotiate a political agreement on Cyprus

Restructured and streamlined USAID

Increased the size of the foreign service

Urged China to stop manipulation of its currency value

Pressed China to end its support for regimes in Sudan, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe

Created a public “Contracts and Influence” database

Required Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings

Conducted regulatory agency business in public

Promoted more pre-school education

Expanded Early Head Start and Head Start

Reformed No Child Left Behind

Doubled funding for Federal Charter School Program and require more accountability

Addressed the dropout crisis by giving schools incentives for more dropout prevention

Created Teacher Residency Programs that will send teachers to high-need schools

Expanded teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time

Promoted innovative ways to reward good teachers

Simplified the application process for financial aid

Increased the number of high school students taking college-level courses

Created incentives for tree planting and promote carbon sequestration

Improved water quality

Regulated pollution from major livestock operations

Strengthened federal environmental justice programs

Increased funding for organic and sustainable agriculture

Partnered with landowners to conserve private lands

Created a community college partnership program

Increased funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey

Supported wetlands protection

Promoted economic development in Mexico

Supported repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Vigorously pursued hate crimes and civil rights abuses

Signed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law

Supported regional innovation clusters

Helped low-income areas get phone and Internet service

Created a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons

Increased the supply of affordable housing throughout metropolitan regions

Invested in transitional jobs and career pathway programs

Fully funded the COPS program

Improved emergency response plans

Capped interest rates on payday loans and improve disclosure

Expanded public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations

Improved climate change data records

Supported improved weather prediction program

Offered prizes for advances in consumer technology

Encouraged contests and programs to interest students in science

Increased research opportunities for college students

Strengthened the levees in New Orleans

Directed revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection

Shook loose federal money for rebuilding the Gulf Coast

[underthemountainbunker-deactiva]

[mostlypolitical]

Time for Boehner to update his talking points

John Boehner: “This election is going to be a referendum on the president’s economic policies. They’ve not only not helped the economy, they’ve actually made it worse. When you look at his higher taxes, his refusal to deal with the debt, the regulatory regime here in Washington out of control, they’ve scared every businessperson and investor in America.” 

Speaker Boehner has an odd definition of “worse.” While Boehner talks about Obama’s “higher taxes,” Obama has actually cut taxes. While Boehner said Obama has refused to deal with the debt, Obama offered Boehner a $4 trillion debt-reduction plan that Republicans rejected. While Boehner frets over a “regulatory regime,” Obama has actually created fewer regulations than his Republican predecessor. 

And then there’s the notion that Obama made the economy “worse.”… 

[one-angry-liberal]

[livealifethatscompletelyfree]

[tytnetwork]

[mostlypolitical]

The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks down the latest favorability polls for President Obama and Mitt Romney, explaining why the President's favorability numbers are much higher than Romney's, but the electability numbers are a statistical tie. 

[phroyd]

[kileyrae]

[mostlypolitical]

Obama leads Mitt Romney by landslide numbers - Daily Kos

The big difference from 2008, when Obama got 365 EVs to John McCain’s 173 is that Obama loses Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska’s single electoral vote from its Omaha-based district. But that’s it. The end result is still a 341-197 landslide.

And with Romney losing Latinos and women by landslide numbers, any effort to turn this slide and claw back some of these states will be particularly difficult—and he still has to hold on to those few states in which he currently leads.

So what do Republicans have to say about all this? Gas prices! Gas prices! Gas prices!

Last time I checked, gas prices were high now. It ain’t doing Romney a lick of good.