This is how we feed the animals

Two delegates at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Tuesday reportedly threw nuts at a black camerawoman working for CNN and said “This is how we feed animals” before being removed from the convention. This incident has been confirmed by the network.

The convention released a statement about the Tuesday incident, saying: "Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

This campaign has been one long dog whistle. I am not sure if the Republicans have been running against Obama or FDR with all of the efforts to tear down the New Deal and the safety net. Now I am wondering if it isn't Lincoln they are actually running against. How many are muttering under their breath that it's time to "get the nigger out of the White House?"

viral tea party broadside

The Republican narrative of late is that Obama is an advocate for the welfare state and dependence. The reality is that he has not been any different than any of his predecessors since Roosevelt. It is the GOP that has been preaching for the radical shift in policy, dismembering Medicare and Social Security.

The relaxation of the welfare work requirement kerfuffle is particularly disingenuous. Obama was asked by five senators to grant them waivers and flexibility from the welfare work requirements in the program known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Romney himself sought greater TANF flexibility in 2005 as Massachusetts’ governor. In fact historically, the majority of the waiver requests came from Republican governors, with 28 members of the Republican Governors Association seeking greater flexibility in implementing the program.

Obama’s had issued a directive in a July 12 letter requires states to more effectively move welfare recipients from welfare to work. The Obama administration announced in July that it would consider waiving certain federal welfare rules if states have ideas for "demonstration projects" they promise can increase welfare employment outcomes by 20 percent (states are required to maintain certain percentages of welfare beneficiaries in work activities or else face penalties). It does not repeal or waive the work requirements enacted by Congress and signed into law in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton.

Two of the Governors who sought exemptions are Nevada's Brian Sandoval and Utah's Gary Herbert, both Republicans. Now they are dancing around the waiver requests, saying that they were just "exploring" the concept.

How's this from Sandoval's office:

“Nevada hasn’t requested a waiver and has no intention of requesting one,” his spokeswoman Mary-Sarah Kinner told the Las Vegas Sun. “The letter was not a request for a waiver; it was a request to explore the possibilities.”

Boehner has jumped on board, excusing Obama of trying to push more welfare to shore up his (read black) base.

The Republicans know that this whole line of inquiry is bogus and false, not to mention created to spark tensions around racial fault lines.

A Republican operative sniffed when confronted by the falsehoods at the convention yesterday. "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said at a panel organized by ABC News.

Even representatives from right wing groups like the Heritage Foundation claim that the welfare charges are bogus. But I guarantee that they are sure effective, just like the birther joke, infuriating the nitwit base that doesn't have the time, judgement or inclination to separate fact from fiction and who will just eat this stuff up. Of course not every Republican is a racist, but there certainly seem to be quite a few of them lurking under the big tent.

Obamabucks - brought to you by the Republican Women's Club of San Bernardino County