Bachmann Tea Party Rally Cost Taxpayers $14,000

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s November event that brought thousands of tea partiers to the Capitol for a “House Call on Washington” to reign in government and stop big spending cost taxpayers $14,000.
(h/t RightWingWatch)

Bachmann and three other lawmakers split the cost for a private company to arrange staging and a sound system, using their official congressional member allowances. Joining her were Reps. Tom Price of Georgia, Todd Akin of Missouri and Steve King of Iowa.

Democrats use monies for rallies too, but when the rally is specifically targeted at reducing spending and the taxpayer is sent the …

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Kitty Kelley, author of the blockbuster book Oprah: A Biography, reveals never-before-told details about the life and media empire of Oprah Winfrey.

• With the April 15 tax deadline just hours away, Marco Ceglie of The Other 95% tells Alan why the vast majority of Americans should thank President Obama for cutting their taxes.

• Holder vs. Cheney: Alan weighs on Attorney General Eric Holder’s response to Liz Cheney’s attacks on lawyers who represented Gitmo detainees.…

No One In This Post Was Raped

by William K. Wolfrum

It is astounding that in the Year 2010, so many people still treat the word rape as if it’s a clever description from everything from taxes to actions at sporting events. The pictured cartoon made the rounds on the heels of the passage of health care reform. At seemingly all levels in the world of politics, many consider “rape” to be a true conversational gem:

Conservatives Liken Nuclear Summit Logo To Muslim Crescent Moon

They’re not actually saying Barack Obama is really a secret Muslim, just that the logo for the nuclear summit is just so reminiscent of the flags you see in Islamic countries. Michael Goodwin in the New York Post even says he’s not saying Obama is a secret Muslim but…

But I am certain the crescent-like design of the logo is not a coincidence, especially at an event where Iran’s nuclear ambition and al Qaeda’s search for a bomb are prime topics.

Obama has been open about his aim to improve America’s relations with Muslims. His bowing and apologies are nauseating, …

Rep. Michele Bachmann “We’re Hoping That President Obama’s Policies Don’t Succeed.”

by Thomas Wellborn

Like many Republicans before her (Tom Delay, Michelle Malkin, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has jumped on the bandwagon of FAIL to emphatically endorse her wish for failure of President Barack Obama’s policies.  Bar none.

Bachmann spoke on radio with Fargo conservative talker Scott Hennen.

Hennen: Is that what Republicans are doing? Are we rooting for failure…?

Bachmann:”We’re hoping that President Obama’s policies don’t succeed exactly as you said.

Really, Ms. Bachmann?  Regardless of rhyme or reason, you’re willing to sweep all of this president’s initiatives onto …

Just Who Payes Taxes? And Why Is Your Favorite Talk Show Host Complaining?

Yes, it’s true, as we’ve pointed out, that 47% of households owe no income taxes for 2009. However, as David Leonhardt explains in the New York Times, that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story.

The answer is that tax rates almost certainly have to rise more on the affluent than on other groups. Over the last 30 years, rates have fallen more for the wealthy, and especially the very wealthy, than for any other group. At the same time, their incomes have soared, and the incomes of most workers have grown only moderately faster than inflation.

So …

Theological Scholar Forced To Resign After Supporting Evolution

Bruce K. Waltke, an Old Testament scholar at Florida’s Reformed Theological Seminary, has resigned his position after it was discovered he made a video endorsing evolution.

According to several people who saw the video, Waltke said that Christianity’s continued denial of evolution will “make [them] a cult.”

Inside Higher Ed notes that the video was removed from the website of the BioLogos Foundation at Waltke’s request because it upset his employers.

Waltke is a big enough name in evangelical theology that the incident is prompting considerable soul-searching. On the one hand, his public endorsement of the view that believing in …

Oklahoma GOP Leaders Say “No Thanks” To The Idea Of Tea Party “Militia”

by webwiseass

Ubiquitous anti-government paranoia has spurred a group of tea party leaders and at least one Republican Oklahoma state lawmaker to organize a separate state “militia”. Republican Sen. Randy Brogdon (who just happens to be a candidate for governor, pictured) believes that forming a tea party-populated vigilante militia should be sufficient to “protect” Oklahoma from, as he sees it, federal infringements on state’s rights.

However, rather than cheer the idea of a homegrown militia of gun-loving nutcases, Oklahoma state GOP leaders are not on board. In fact, according to state GOP Chairman Gary Jones, the tea partiers have …

Let’s Learn From History Before We’re Condemned To Repeat It

by James Frye

There will be a quiet ceremony on Monday, April 19th. It won’t get national media coverage. There will be no presidential proclamation. People attending will pass through a gate with the time “9:02″ inscribed on it and will hear remembrances of victims and stories of survivors. They will place flowers on 168 empty chairs made of bronze, glass and steel. It is a memorial to hatred and its costs and stands where the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City used to before Timothy McVeigh set off a large bomb and killed 168 of the people who worked …

Birther In Military Under Investigation After Refusing To Obey Orders

The Army is planning to court martial Lt. Colonel Terry Lakin, who is refusing orders because he doesn’t believe President Obama is eligible to be commander in chief.

Army doctor Lt. Col. Terry Lakin believes Obama does not meet the constitutional requirements to be president and commander-in-chief, because he believes (incorrectly) that Obama wasn’t born in the United States.

Lakin refused this week to report to Fort Campbell, KY for deployment to Afghanistan, but instead showed up at the Pentagon, where he was confronted by his brigade Commander Col. Gordon Roberts, a Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient.

Lakin was …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Will Democrats lose control of Congress in November? Alan debates Dick Morris, whose new book is 2010: Take Back America - A Battle Plan.

• When will Joe go? Alan ponders how long it’ll be before Sen. Joseph Lieberman officially joins the GOP.

• Alan questions why Republicans seem so hesitant to accept the concept of a gay Supreme Court justice.…