Young Poor & Angry Press

DAILY SHOW- Jon Stewart took on people “speaking crazy to power last night.” Rep. Michele Bachmann recently said that President Obama is going to put our children in reeducation camps. Bachmann makes as much sense as the argument for the Fair Tax. Hannity of course jumped on it, talking about how brave Bachmann was about bringing up the truth. Stewart followed this clip up with a plethora of moves the previous administration made to reduce freedom, transparency, and state’s rights, and said the pair were confusing “tyranny” and “losing.” Read the rest of this entry »

Ronald Reagan once said that “Government is not the solution to the problem, Government is the problem.” For the last eight years Ronald Regan was absolutely correct. Government was the problem. The Republican party duped the American population into thinking that no one loves them more than they do.

The Republicans never before feined so much interest in the economic well being of it’s citizens. Deregulating the economy so that the new buzz phrase in economic history will be “credit default swaps.” Ushering in under the blanket of tragedy a ownership society that has left most Americans pennyless and in debt. Credit agencies have become the new drug dealers, and it’s users are overdosing on ill advised credit risks.

Told by the administration that we’re being shielded from terrorists as our civil liberties were stripped away. The mantra became “we won’t let them win,” as we installed surveillance on our streets, and tapped our citizens phones. The Bush administration telling us to forget those alleged violations of civil rights, we all know they wouldn’t have been punished if they hadn’t been doing somethin wrong right?

Tent cities during the Great Depression

Our environmental well being became a thing of the past. Global warming doesn’t exist, too many possible causes we were told. We consumed en mass, but not of our own fruits. During the war industrial manufacturing in this country was at a all time low. That’s okay though, who needs those narrow minded labor unions dictating equal pay for an equal day’s work? Too big a burden on that payroll, too many mouths to feed, and bodies to insure.

We shipped it over seas, because the Bush administration always knows of some other war torn country who exploits it’s children to take care our labor needs. When there was an outcry, we were told we were not patriotic and were “lazy,” for losing our jobs to foreign competitors. Maybe if you didn’t unionize your jobs would still be there, the administration all but told us.

How silly for us to rely on government, don’t you know they screw things up, the Republicans like Bobby Jindal tell us. I say no, that it’s not the Government that’s the problem, it’s the Republicans that are the problem. Consensus is not a fact base exercise, just because you all believe something to be true, doesn’t mean the rest of us buy into your rehetoric.

You cling to your faith, and pray for problems to fix themselves, while you deregulate the markets and wage war. You’re corruption and illusions of grander are now blatantly transparent. There is no sympathy for the plight of the Wall Street broker and his well to do family, as AIG receives death threats. New York once again has transfered into the city of old, where classware and gang violence put a city into chaos. Your golden cow has been melted down by taxes. No longer will the American people tolerate such disgraceful behavior.

Once every eight or so years when the Democrats take the executive branch back there is scientific progress, exploration into vast new wealths of information, and fiscal responsibility. Rosevelt offered the New Deal, Kennedy promised the moon, and made good on it, and Clinton lowered the national debt, leaving the country with a three trillion dollar surplus

There is a new authority in town, one of intellect and courage. Taking on new tasks and paving new roads in not just infrastructure, but green energy, education, and fiscal discipline. Have patience America. Do not jump on the band wagon of the Republican cabal. Do not listen to the naysayers and soothsayers who corrupted the nation for eight years.

Stay true to the hope and change we managed throughout the long campaign.  Stand tall as we walk towards the new technologies and policies of this President. Embrace the “yes we can,” and throw out the “party of no.” Together, we can achieve liberty and justice for all.

Posted by Brian Montopoli @ CBS.COM

WASHINGTONG- President Obama just   wrapped up an online town hall meeting in which he answered questions submitted to the White House web site.

As CBS News’ Chief Political Correspondent Marc Ambinder points out, the top-rated questions in the “budget” and “fiscal stability” sections of the submissions page concerned the legalization of marijuana.

(Here’s one: “With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?”)

Hotsheet did not expect President Obama to address the pot questions during the town hall, particularly after the event opened with a pair of relatively straightforward questions. But we were wrong: the president interrupted the event midway through to address the issue.

“…we took votes about which questions were going to be asked, and I think 3 million people voted or 3.5 million people voted,” he said. “I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation.”

The president then joked that “I don’t know what this says about the online audience,” prompting laughter from the roughly 100 people gathered in the White House East Room for the event.

“…but I just want — I don’t want people to think that — this was a fairly popular question,” he continued. “We want to make sure that it was answered.”

“The answer is, no, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow our economy,” the president said. His answer prompted applause from the audience.

The online town hall was something of an odd affair: It was designed to show that the president is bypassing the media in order to directly address the concerns of the American people, and yet the White House itself selected the questions – which meant that, potentially, the president could simply field a series of softballs and avoid questions he didn’t like.

So the president’s decision to address the pot issue is commendable – after all, ignoring it would have gone against the very spirit of the event. A White House spokesman told Ambinder that the president was shown the popular online questions, but he wasn’t told the specific questions that would be asked. Clearly, the president noted that the pot question was high on the list, and he decided he should address it even if questioner Jared Bernstein might have been planning to ignore it.

The pot legalization issue is not a frivolous one. California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill calling for legalizing the drug and regulating it in much the same way alcohol is regulated. The California Board of Equalization, which collects taxes, estimates California’s possible revenue from doing so at $1.3 billion per year.

A CBS News poll last week showed that 38 percent of Americans favor legalizing and taxing marijuana, while 58 percent want it kept illegal.

More than 90,000 people submitted in excess of 104,000 questions and cast more than 3,600,000 votes for the town hall event. The White House said that 64,000 people watched it online.

Other topics addressed by the president included education, unemployment and the mortgage crisis. He said jobs would come from investing in clean energy technologies and that it will take time before jobs are more widely available.

Mr. Obama pressed for more early childhood education, and noted that the current school calendar is a holdover from a time when America was a more farm-based society. He said the educational system had to do a better job removing bad teachers from their jobs.

The president also spoke kindly of nurses, noting that “it was the nurses who were there when [daughter Sasha] had to get a spinal tap and all the things that were bringing me to tears.”