Ted Cruz, the G.O.P.’s Nasty Newcomer – NYTimes.com

Ted Cruz, a Republican freshman in the Senate who has been front and center in his party’s effort to squash Chuck Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense, has a problem. He’s an ornery, swaggering piece of work. Just six weeks since his arrival on Capitol Hill, he’s already known for his naysaying, his nit-picking and his itch to upbraid lawmakers who are vastly senior to him, who have sacrificed more than he has and who deserve a measure of respect, or at least an iota of courtesy. Courtesy isn’t Cruz’s métier. Grandstanding and browbeating are.

Ted Cruz, the G.O.P.’s Nasty Newcomer – NYTimes.com

GOP Florida House Speaker Blasts Plan To Rig Electoral College | ThinkProgress

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) poured cold water on a Republican plan to rig the Electoral College that is being considered in a number of states to all but ensure that the next president will be a Republican.

GOP Florida House Speaker Blasts Plan To Rig Electoral College | ThinkProgress

How Republicans Plan To Rig The Next Presidential Election, In Six Pictures | ThinkProgress

Under the Republican Plan, most electoral votes will be allocated to the winner of individual Congressional districts, rather than to the winner of the state as a whole. Because the Republican Plan would be implemented in states that are heavily gerrymandered to favor Republicans, the resulting maps would all but guarantee that the Republican would win a majority of each state’s electoral votes, even if the Democratic candidate wins the state as a whole.

How Republicans Plan To Rig The Next Presidential Election, In Six Pictures | ThinkProgress

This is a conservative speaking…

Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering | ThinkProgress

SCARBOROUGH: William F. Buckley in the 1960s at some point had to start defining the boundaries of conservatism. He went after the John Birch Society, Ayn Rand, George Wallace. That has to happen again with this party because it’s getting smaller and smaller. In this debate, we actually have conservative thinkers, talking about ronald reagan being a RINO — a Republican in name only, because he supported an assault weapons ban. They keep pushing themselves closer and closer to the cliff. But I just have to say one other really important point, because I made a mistake over the past month talking about how Republicans have also won a majority in the House. As this article I was referencing mentioned, we actually got a minority of votes nationwide in House races. It was just gerrymandering from 2010 that gave us the majority.

Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering | ThinkProgress

“Reince Priebus”? Isn’t he the pasty kid in Slytherin? The most important outcome of 2010 was setting up Republicans to stack the deck in as many states as they can.

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election | ThinkProgress

Earlier this week, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus endorsed a Republican plan to rig the next presidential election to make it nearly impossible for the Democratic candidate to win the White House, no matter who the American people vote for. The election-rigging plan, which would allocate electoral votes by congressional district rather than by states as a whole in a handful of states that consistently vote for Democratic presidential candidates, would have allowed Mitt Romney to narrowly win the Electoral College last November despite losing the popular vote by nearly four points.

On Monday, seven Pennsylvania Republican state representatives introduced a bill to make this vote-rigging scheme a reality in their state. Under their bill, the winner of Pennsylvania as a whole will receive only 2 of the state’s 20 electoral votes, while “[e]ach of the remaining presidential electors shall be elected in the presidential elector’s congressional district.”

Pennsylvania is a blue state that voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every single presidential race for the last two decades, so implementing the GOP election-rigging plan in Pennsylvania would make it much harder for a Democrat to be elected to the White House.

Pennsylvania House Republicans Introduce Bill To Rig The 2016 Presidential Election | ThinkProgress

No surprise, really. An article in the Abqjournal about Hostess’ bankruptcy blames the union 100% and makes NO mention of recent HUGE increases in executive compensation. The apparently incompetent CEO walks with a small fortune.

ABQJournal Online » Workers’ Strike Proves Fatal to Hostess

By Journal Staff on Fri, Nov 16, 2012

Hostess Brands Inc. says it’s going out of business – and eliminating 18,500 jobs – after striking workers across the country crippled its ability to make its Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other snacks.

The move will also result in the closure of a contract Albuquerque distributing company, putting 27 local drivers, merchandisers and other employees out of work.

ABQJournal Online » Workers’ Strike Proves Fatal to Hostess

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO’s Pay | ThinkProgress

while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.

At the time, creditors warned that the decision signaled an attempt to “sidestep” bankruptcy rules, potentially as a means for trying to keep the executive at a failing company. The Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union pointed this out in their written reaction to the news that the business is closing:

BCTGM members are well aware that as the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, the then CEO of Hostess was awarded a 300 percent raise (from approximately $750,000 to $2,550,000) and at least nine other top executives of the company received massive pay raises. One such executive received a pay increase from $500,000 to $900,000 and another received one taking his salary from $375,000 to $656,256.

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO’s Pay | ThinkProgress

I’ve always taken some pride in being out of the mainstream. For example, I’m the only person on the planet who has never seen the gangnam video. I do not give a damn about sports or religion (which seem the same to me). My views have been minority views my whole life. That is, a minority within the United States, not within my community.

I’m more than happy to celebrate a diverse culture. I’ve been surrounded by progressives my whole life. I can say truthfully that very nearly every aging white male I know is a progressive. Please remember that as we wave good-bye to those who don’t embrace change.

[updated to correct the spelling of ‘gangnam’.]