The Hollywood Liberal

Christine O’Donnell’s Witch Tales

Paladino Within Striking Distance of Cuomo
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York finds Andrew Cuomo (D) leading Carl Paladino (R) by just six points among likely voters in the race for governor, 49% to 43%.

Said pollster Maurice Carroll: “The question was whether Carl Paladino would get a bounce from his big Republican primary victory. The answer is yes. He’s within shouting distance and — you can count on it — he will be shouting. Andrew Cuomo might be a victim of his own excess. Politicians and polls have depicted him so relentlessly as a sure thing that he might be a victim of the ‘throw the bums out’ attitude that hits incumbents in this angry year.”

Palin Looks Like a Candidate in New Video
Sarah Palin’s political action committee released a video “that makes it hard not to believe that she is making a 2012 run for the American presidency, or least seriously testing the waters wrapped in the Tea Party flag,” CBS News reports.

“The video is a highly produced campaign ad for the Tea Party movement. The one minute, 20 second video shows images of Palin giving speeches to large crowds, proclaiming that the Tea Party is ‘the future of politics,’ with ‘real people, not politicos’ speaking out for ‘common sense conservative principles.'”

“The video leaves no doubt as to who is the leader of the Tea Party and the person trying to remake the Republican party as well.”

Toomey Keeps Lead in Pennsylvania
A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania shows Pat Toomey (R) now leads Rep. Joe Sestak (D) by seven points among likely voters in the race for U.S. Senate, 50% to 43%.

Said pollster Peter Brown: “Toomey’s lead among independents is why he is ahead. With only 7% of the likely voters undecided and another 14% who are for a candidate saying they might change their mind, the battle for the Senate seat appears likely to come down to a relatively small number of voters and in the final weeks expect the campaigns to target their messages for those undecided and softly committed voters.”

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Election Day May Be A Bummer But, At Least, Evan Bayh Will Be Gone
Check this out from THINK PROGRESS. One thing I admire about the right (it’s the only thing I admire about the right) is that they will not tolerate Republicans who totally sleep with the enemy. No Evan Bayh, Joe Lieberman,…



Joe Lieberman – Evan Bayh – Ben Nelson – Republican Party – United States

The Defining Issue: Who Should Get The Tax Cut – The Rich Or Everyone Else?
Who deserves a tax cut more: the top 2 percent — whose wages and benefits are higher than ever, and among whose ranks are the CEOs and Wall Street mavens whose antics have sliced jobs and wages and nearly destroyed…


Wall Street – Tax cut – United States – President – Bill Clinton

With Just 40 Votes, Republicans Block Debate Over Defense Authorization Bill

Moments ago, in a 56-43 vote, Senate Democrats failed to invoke cloture on the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, falling three votes shy of the 60 need to break a Republican filibuster. As is customary, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) voted against the measure as a procedural tactic, allowing him to revive the bill at a later date. The result represents a major setback for advocates of repealing the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and supporters of the DREAM Act.

Chances of invoking cloture began to fade early this afternoon, as moderate Republican Senators who support DADT repeal, used procedural explanations to substantiate their vote against starting debate on the measure. Along with concerns about voting to repeal the DADT policy before the Pentagon completed its year-long review and the suggestion that the DREAM Act was unrelated to national defense, the Republicans also complained that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was limiting debate to just three amendments — DADT, DREAM, and secret holds. Reid, however, had made assurances that he would consider Republican amendments after the recess. Ignoring Reid’s concession, Republican moderates like Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) took to the floor to equate repealing the ban against open service in the military to restricting the right of Republicans to offer alternative amendments:

– SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): “I support the provisions in this bill. I debated for them; I was the sole Republican on the Committee that voted for the Lieberman-Levin language on don’t ask, don’t tell. I think it’s the right thing to do, I think it’s only fair. I think we should welcome the service of these individuals who are willing and capable of serving their country. But I cannot vote to proceed to this bill under a situation that is going to shut down debate and preclude Republican amendments. That too is not fair.”

– SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE (R-ME): “First and foremost, the Senate should have the ability to debate more than the three amendments the Majority Leader is allowing…We should all have the opportunity to review that [DADT] report which is to be completed on December 1, as we reevaluate this policy and the implementation of any new changes”

– SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R-MA): “The majority party, I feel, is using our men and women in uniform as a tactic to pass politically expedient legislation entirely unrelated to the defense authorization. It is in my view not appropriate.”

– SEN. GEROGE VOINOVICH (R-OH): “The DREAM Act deals with immigration and shouldn’t be on this bill. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is a controversial issue that needs to be debated on the Senate floor but I believe it would be logical to wait for the Department of Defense to issue its report on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

Democrats, who also today announced that they would likely adjourn a week early, say they plan to take up the act after the midterm elections. “We’re going to come back into session in November or December. I spoke to Sen. Reid today. He’s very clear and strong that he’s going to bring this bill to the floor in November or December,” Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) told the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson. Lieberman also predicted that “opponents of the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ have enough votes to take that repeal out of this legislation,” something Collins confirmed in her floor speech today, saying that she would vote “against the amendment to strike don’t ask, don’t tell provisions from this bill.”

At a press conference earlier today, Durbin said that this is the first time since 1952 that the Congress failed to pass a defense authorization measure. “What would be unprecedented is if Republicans block the Senate from passing the defense authorization bill for the first time since 1952,” Durbin said.

First lady to stump for Democrats in October
Finally, congressional Democrats will get something they’ve been asking for.


Democratic – United States – Politics – Michelle Obama – Parties

House Republicans set to unveil policy agenda Thursday
House Republicans will release their long-awaited governing agenda on Thursday at an event at a hardware store in Sterling, Va., offering a set of proposals they would look to enact if they control Congress after the midterm elections.



United States – Republican – Politics – Parties – Democratic

Senate fails in attempt to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
Senate Republicans dealt a severe and potentially fatal blow Tuesday to efforts this year to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the armed forces.


Senate – United States – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell – Filibuster – Government

The Fix: Sarah Palin, tea party candidate in 2012?
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) appears to be making a purposeful play in recent days to be the face of the “tea party” movement, a strategy that suggests what sort of candidacy she would run if she enters the 2012 presidential contest.


Sarah Palin – Republican – United States – Politics – Parties

Can Massive Opposition Stop ObamaCare?
Mark Landsbaum, OC Register
The GOP is patting itself on the back even as the Tea Party is spanking the establishment Republican machine both of whom expect a big day at the polls on Nov. 2, perhaps returning one or more houses of Congress to the Grand Old Party.The public is lopsidedly opposed to Obamacare, which helps fuel opposition to Democratic incumbents running for reelection, many of whom have shied away from openly speaking in favor of the vast government take-over of health care for fear of even greater voter backlash.

Obama Appoints a Good Consumer Watchdog

Corporate Giving Swings Toward the GOP

Gold Isn’t Expensive, The Dollar Is Cheap
John Tamny, RealClearMarkets
Gold has been surging of late, and yesterday it hit an all-time high of roughly $1,280/ounce. Supply/demand theory would likely say that demand for the yellow metal is outstripping supply, but this would be mistaken thinking. Instead, gold is expensive right now because the dollar is cheap.Unique among commodities, nearly every ounce of gold ever mined is still with us today. In numerical terms, there are roughly 148,000 metric tons of gold on earth, and the supply of newly discovered gold each year usually works out to 2,000 metric tons.The above-mentioned stock/flow disparity explains…