This store is about a quarter mile from my house - I won’t be shopping at Lowe’s again. - Editor

Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) Calls Out Lowe’s Bigotry

Murphy doesn't mince words here. He'll be a welcome addition to the U.S. Senate next year when he replaces the awful Joe Lieberman.

via The Hill:

"This is a major American company rubber-stamping basic foundational bigotry against a major American religious group," Murphy said. "Lowe's pulled these ads because one right-wing anti-Muslim group in Florida said that the show hides the 'true agenda of Islam,' which according to this group is to destroy America," he added. "It's one thing when a fringe group or a radical, unhinged pastor is doing it. It's quite another when a fortune 100 company is endorsing this nonsense."

Murphy, who is running for the Senate, rejected Lowe's statement that said some of its customers have "strong political and social views."

"Congratulations to Lowe's for acknowledging that there are some really bigoted people in the world," Murphy said. "That doesn't mean that Lowe's or any other company should acquiesce to this kind of behavior. For instance, there are, unfortunately, a lot of people out there who still hold racist views about African-Americans, but I don't think that means Lowe's is going to be pulling its ads from television shows featuring African-Americans."

UPDATE: John Amato:

After Scarce posted this yesterday on Video Cafe, it's taken off in the main stream media. Greg Sargent writes: Turning up the heat on Lowe’s and anti-Muslim bigotry

By now you may have heard that retail behemoth Lowe’s Home Improvement yanked ads from TLC’s “All-American Muslim” reality show after a single conservative Christian group complained that the show is “propaganda” that endangers “American liberties and Christian values.”

That one of the “American liberties” we hold to be important is freedom of religion was an irony lost on the group — and on Lowe’s — and the decision has been widely pilloried. Lowe’s subsequently offered a strikingly weak justification for the move, arguing that the program had triggered “strong political and societal views” and insisting that it is “best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance.” Lowe’s, of course, is only “deferring” to the bigoted views that one conservative group holds about millions and millions of Americans.

Now Dem Rep. Chris Murphy — who’s running for Senate in Connecticut — has given a wonderful speech on the House floor lambasting Lowe’s over the decision, mocking the company’s justification for it, and vowing that Congress will turn up the heat on Lowe’s to reverse course. Murphy says to Lowe’s: “You’re better than this”

Bernie Sanders Confronts Defense Contractor Fraud

Eric Dolan Raw Story

Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Senate floor Wednesday urged lawmakers to make the Pentagon fight against defense contractor fraud as they debated the National Defense Authorization Act.

“This country has a record breaking deficit and a $15 trillion national debt,” he said. “What many people do not know is that one of the reasons our deficit is as high as it is, is because there is a significant amount of fraud from defense contractors who sell their products to the Department of Defense.”

The Pentagon paid more than $1.1 trillion during the past decade to 37 contractors that had defrauded the Department of Defense, according to a report released in October. Another $255 million went to 54 defense contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period.

“I think the American people are very clear that when we pay a dollar for a product that goes to our military, we want to get a dollar’s worth of value,” Sanders continued. “That we do not want to see the taxpayers of this country or the Department of Defense ripped off by fraudulent contractors.”

Sanders has proposed an amendment to the annual defense bill that would require the Pentagon to step up its efforts to fight fraud and submit annual reports.

“What this amendment does is tell the DOD, ‘get your act together,’” he said.

The Florida Division of Elections is making it  nearly impossible for seniors and the disabled to confirm their voting status. Do you think you could get the security key right the first ? Log on and try yours.

Florida Division of Elections Voter Status Page

The Republicans Think They Can Get Away with Helping Wall Street Bankers Loot the Treasury, Divert Medicare Funds, and Privatize Social Security.

Republicans tell seniors to go take a hike.

GOP Rep. Rob Woodall On Medicare: Suck it up and take care of yourself.

At least he's honest. At a town hall meeting, Rep. Rob Woodall lectured a constituent about Medicare, saying she should simply take care of herself.

A Woodall constituent raised a practical obstacle to obtaining coverage in the private market within the confines of an employer-based health insurance system: What happens when you retire?

"The private corporation that I retired from does not give medical benefits to retirees," the woman told the congressman in video captured a local Patch reporter in Dacula, Ga.

"Hear yourself, ma'am. Hear yourself," Woodall told the woman. "You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, 'When do I decide I'm going to take care of me?'"

Because it's just so easy, don't you know? Think about what this guy is really saying. He's saying that senior citizens should either go bankrupt or without health care unless they're lucky enough to have the money to pay for it. He's assuming everyone would somehow manage to have the means to get necessary care and Medicare is just a crutch!

Also, Rep. Woodall believes that if you want Medicare, you should just head on out of the US and over to Canada or other countries who actually value their citizens' health:

Woodall suggested that the woman concerned about vouchers might find the type of health care system she and her children approve of in Canada or another industrialized nation.

"If you want a socialized health care program, there are lots of places to find that," he said. "But, for your children's sake, I beg you: There aren't many places to find the freedom to succeed by the sweat of your brow like we have here.”

This is the heart of the Medicare debate. It isn't that Republicans want to change Medicare. They want to end it completely. Digby is right:

There's only one answer for Democratic opponents if the Republicans try this:

"So you believe 'em? If they're willing to screw your kids and grandkids what makes you think they aren't going to screw you too?"

Steve Benen:

This is important rhetoric. Woodall is obviously something of an extremist, but at least he’s presenting the Republican agenda in stark, cold terms. His remarks come at the intersection of candor, callousness, and conservatism — seniors who worked for companies that don’t offer benefits to retirees are out of luck. If they didn’t save enough to cover their own medical bills, they’ll just have to suffer or go to some other country.

Politically, the Republican strategy is emerging. Attack hard enough to get Democrats to agree to deep Medicare cuts, then circle back and attack from the left in 2012 because they agreed to them.

Greg Sargent:

Putting aside the argument over the merits of the GOP and Pelosi policy approaches, the political dynamic here could not be clearer. Dems, you have now been put on notice: If you agree to deep cuts in Medicare in the Biden-led talks, Republicans will see to it that you lose the political advantage you have built up by attacking Ryan’s plan. You may even lose the general advantage you have built up over the generations by positioning yourselves as defenders of signature Democratic policy achievements on entitlements. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Democrats need to pay attention to that strategy and stand up with strong backbones against ANY Medicare cuts.

It's worth noting that Rep. Woodall enjoys a robust health insurance program as the result of his career employment as a Congressional staffer, and now a Congressman. He would be one of the fortunate few to have post-retirement health insurance at taxpayers' expense. Oh, right. That's "earned by the sweat of his brow." Yeah, right.

One of Bush’s criminal accomplices dares to show her face on the TV. She’s unable to leave the country for fear of arrest so Condi attempts to re-write history. She will go down in history to be a traitor to the American people. This war criminal is currently employed by Stanford University. Apparently the folks at Stanford are all too happy to look the other way when it comes to the slaughter of a million Iraqis two thirds of which were women and children.

Florida Chamber of Commerce Attacks Middle-Class

Just three weeks ago, you helped awaken Floridians to the reality of devastating budget cuts being proposed by Gov. Scott and his allies in the Florida Legislature. Now the time has come for us to awaken Floridians to the forces behind the push for budget cuts. The Florida Chamber of Commerce has been leading Gov. Scott and the Republican Legislature's assault on Florida's middle class. They say they're speaking for the best interests of Floridians. The Florida Chamber of Commerce has just stepped up their attacks on the middle-class and unions by releasing an incredibly misleading television ad. You can watch it and sign the petition here: "The Florida Chamber of Commerce doesn't speak for me."

Since March 8th, grassroots energy has been mounting. Everyday Floridians have been hosting rallies, marches, and other protests around the state demanding a stop to the attacks on our middle class families and communities. At the same time, the Florida Chamber has been pushing Gov. Scott and the Legislature's anti-middle class agenda in Tallahassee, with the St. Petersburg Timesreporting Florida Chamber CEO Mark Wilson's "support for plans by Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature to cut benefits for public employees, lay off state workers and end tenure for teachers." Some local chambers of commerce such as Seminole County's have said the Florida Chamber is "way too political."
Sign the pledge and let the Florida Chamber know they don't speak for us.

Gov. Scott and the Florida Chamber's anti-middle class agenda won't help small businesses or local communities. Slashing jobs, salaries, and retirement security for hard working Floridians will do nothing to create the jobs we need for our economy to recover. Balancing our state's budget on the backs of middle class Floridians is not a fiscally responsible agenda. Gov. Scott, his allies in the Legislature, and the Florida Chamber are focused on one thing only: supporting their wealthy big business backers. Yet the Florida Chamber of Commerce insists they're speaking for Florida's best interests.

Sign the pledge and tell the Florida Chamber of Commerce they don't speak for us.

We need to continue our efforts to Awake The State against Gov. Scott and his allies' anti-middle class agenda of unaffordable budget cuts, job losses, and attacks on our quality of life. Be sure to take the pledge, and stay tuned as we continue to build our grassroots movement.

Thank you for all you're doing to Awake The State.

For Florida,
Casey, Stephanie, Sheena, Mike and the rest of the Awake The State team