As the legendary Watergate source Deep Throat never actually said: “Follow the money.”

The dishonest “solution” proposed by Romney and running mate Paul Ryan for the federal government’s budget woes relies largely on a shell game: Transfer unfunded liabilities to the states.

Most disastrously, this is what Romney and Ryan propose for Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor. The GOP plan would give the states block grants that would not begin to cover Medicaid’s rising costs. Governors and legislatures would be forced to impose draconian cuts, with potentially catastrophic impact for millions of Americans.

Medicaid’s most expensive role — and thus, under Romney, the most imperiled — is to fund nursing-home care for seniors who classify as “poor” only because they have exhausted their life savings. Transferring the onus of Medicaid and other programs to the states would save money only by making it impossible to provide services at current levels.

For the hard-right ideologues who control the Republican Party, this would be a good thing. Our society has become too dependent on government, they believe, too “entitled” to benefits; we are unwilling to “take personal responsibility and care for” our lives, as Romney said in his secretly recorded “47 percent” speech.

Romney’s budget proposals would end all this coddling — except for the Pentagon and its contractors, who would get a big boost in federal largess, and of course, the wealthy, who would get a huge tax cut.

So-called “discretionary” federal spending would be sharply reduced. This would include spending for such agencies as FEMA. So yes, even if Romney was just pandering to the right-wing base at that June debate, one consequence of his policies would be to squeeze funding for federal emergency relief.

I guess having to survive a few hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes on our own would certainly foster personal responsibility.

And by the way, why is it that we’re having such a huge hurricane make landfall in such an unusual place at such a late date in the season? Is this another of those freakish once-in-a-century weather events that seem to be happening so often these days?

I know it’s impossible to definitively blame any one storm on human-induced atmospheric warming. But I’m sorry, these off-the-charts phenomena are becoming awfully commonplace. By the time scientists definitively establish what’s happening, it will be too late.

As has been noted, the words “climate change” were not spoken during the presidential debates. Hurricane Sandy wants to know why.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-romney-would-pass-the-buck-on-disasters/2012/10/29/c1dbbdca-21f2-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_print.html

No, I won't forget... How could I?... One of my moles in Canberra told me a few things I cannot repeat in full here, of course, except to say that more and more people think that Abbott is not very bright... some of the words used were dumb, dull and other rude adjectives that would not be fitting of this respectable site... Coming from what is mostly Liberal channels, there could be hope on the horizon... 

As the 'Frankenstorm' hits the United States, the Climate Institute's John Connor says Americans are finally waking up to what the experts have been saying about global warming, what the instruments are showing, and what the basic science tells us.

As Hurricane Sandy lurches destructively across the eastern seaboard of North America, there are sure signs that wilder weather is also impacting the American mind. At least for now.

While not a capricious monster in the class of Hurricane Katrina or our own Cyclone Yasi in terms of wind speed, Sandy is a reminder that we are likely to see more intense and/or frequent storms as global temperatures rise.

The oceans are warming, energising storms and sending more water vapour aloft; raising the risk of heavy downpours and flooding.

A paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at the history of Atlantic hurricanes making landfall. Storm activity was shown to be highest in warm years with the largest storms most affected by the warmer conditions. The frequency of large surge events has risen since 1923 and Katrina-like storms have occurred twice as often in warm years as with cold years.

Despite a planet-sized body of evidence for man-made climate change, scientists have found it tough-going against the cadre of vested interests. It's also tough going with people who, for other often understandable reasons, don't want to engage with the science and its implications.

But while Americans' views on global warming still rank as the world's most sceptical, scepticism is on the wane. This is backed by a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press showing that nearly half of Republicans - even conservative Republicans - now accept that the world is warming.

With one in five now saying they are personally affected by extreme weather, surveys conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication show how the tide of opinion has turned. More importantly, the number of people who outright reject the science has declined to less than a third. Only 12 per cent of Americans now do not accept that global warming is happening at all.

More and more people are worried about impacts and a growing number feel threatened by weather-related disasters. And with the kind of weather that they have recently had, it makes sense.

The question is whether this pattern stays in place or reverses, as the weather will.

In Australia, we were much more concerned about climate change while we were in drought conditions. With the drought gone – and the ushering of a very wet, equally untypical weather – minds changed again.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4341984.html?WT.svl=theDrum

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Gus: Here now, Australia has gone into an El Nino weather pattern. It has not rained for a while and the penny will drop. After a few years of an extended La Nina, in which we saw cyclone Yasi, the Queensland floods and wet weather on the east coast, the weather pattern has already flipped. Now some farmers are getting worried: the farms are getting DRY...

Overall, the temperatures have been above average, even if there was moisture. Now with less cloudy water vapours, though Antarctica has been shown to be melting faster and faster, we could be in for a scorcher of a summer on the east coast. Melbourne will experience around 34 degrees Celsius today... Average temperature in Sydney. ... Alice Springs (centre) will be about 9 degrees Celsius above average, like most of the desert centre. Darwin will be about one degree above average, its temperature being regulated by the sea around it.

Global warming is real and is happening at warp speed (in geological time frame).

What took 2000 years to induce a 5 degrees Celsius variation we are achieving in less than 100 years. And I say we are achieving it because the relationship between higher temperatures and higher CO2 levels is undeniable. What is undeniable is that humans through the burning of fossil fuels are adding EXTRA  CO2 to the natural carbon equation which has been oscillating between 180 and 300 ppm of CO2.

Now we are approaching 400 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere and the warming figures don't look good and point to massive increase in temperature — above 10 degrees of what they are now. Be warned. Be prepared.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has found his inner racecaller to try to stir up leadership tensions in the Coalition.

Tony Abbott used Question Time on Thursday to again press the Prime Minister over potential harm caused by the carbon price.

Mr Combet latched onto the theme, assuring the parliament that industries will not crumble and that this year's Melbourne Cup will go ahead.

"Carbon pricing will not stop the Victoria Derby on Saturday and it will not stop the Melbourne Cup next Tuesday, and the carnival is going to go well," he said.

"Treasury modelling showed the carbon price impact on sport and recreation will only be 0.3 per cent or 20 cents a week.

"Fashion at Flemington will be OK because last week's CPI figures showed women's clothing, actually the prices fell by 0.2 per cent in the September quarter."

Mr Combet said that four months since the introduction of the carbon tax, the economic picture was quite different to the one predicted by Mr Abbott.

"The Opposition Leader's scare campaign has been the biggest shakedown since the Fine Cotton affair in 1984," he said.

"Quite frankly, the Liberal Party stewards should intervene and look at changing the leadership.

"What about the Member for Wentworth (Malcolm Turnbull); a classy thoroughbred if ever there's been one.

"He was badly checked by the Member for Warringah (Tony Abbott) in the 2009 race."

Mr Combet went on to call the Liberal leadership race and form, including Joe Hockey who was "hungry for a win but not up to Group One racing" after being ejected from the chamber earlier.

He said Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop might stand a chance after three times being runner-up, while Scott Morrison was "a promising weight for ager" but was "spooked by foreign horses every time".

MPs on both sides of the house were seen laughing at the display.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-01/greg-combet-turns-racecaller-to-stir-liberals/4348204

 

 

Suddenly you have become THE talking point among the chattering commentators. We're all running round quizzing nervous Liberals about what's going wrong and what you must do about it. So, a few thoughts.
If we mark your performance as Opposition Leader, you get distinctions for the early grades. You helped bring down Kevin Rudd, put big holes in Julia Gillard. But, unfortunately for you, Tony, you're enrolled in a continuous assessment course. There's a big exam at the end, but if you start to bomb out in the monthly assignments, there could be unpleasant surprises later.
It's still hard to see how you could actually lose, or to believe your troops would get to the stage of replacing you.

But the size of majorities matter. You don't want to squeak into office and have that Bill Shorten (or whoever) doing you over quickly. On the leadership: if you're in a long trough, Malcolm Turnbull might not be able to get the numbers but his omnipresence will drive you mad.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/tony-lighten-up-for-the-battle-ahead-20121103-28qq5.html#ixzz2BFRcWdxC
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Grattan is wanking wild here...
Tony Abbott has been the favourite talking point amongst the chattering commentariat for years — as their favourite baby... as the chosen messiah...

Rarely has there been any bad word said about Abbott in the press, I mean bad word that would really show who the geezer is... But even when the media gives Tony a wrap on the knuckles it is usually (always) as a way to praise him...  Here, it looks like Michelle Grattan is in love with Tony...

Not only the media has been super-lenient with Tony, now Grattan is giving Tony advice to rise above the mediocrity that Tony is. But as a teacher who loves her pet pupil, she's given him great marks for crappy reports and bad behaviour...  For example the dismissal of Rudd was more bullying by Abbott and the media helping Abbott beyond the kid (Abbott)'s capability, Rudd also helped by beiing unable to fight the crap as well being erratic and scatter-brain...

Tony is still the dull, "dumb" bully as he might have learned to be, at St John's College... He cannot change much. If his female entourage is trying to prop him and show him as a caring whatever, it may be true in such a restricted environment... In the wider world, the wider world is beyond him.... He does not understand it... He never will...

Don't waste your breath, and efforts Michelle.