Republicans Need A 12-Step Program To Kick Their Anti-Obamacare Addiction

On the eve of a Republican-precipitated government shutdown, I think we need an intervention. Republicans need to check themselves into a 12-step program to kick their anti-Obamacare addiction. And it’s quite likely some Republicans may require simultaneous treatment for the very dangerous Obama Derangement Syndrome (ODS). Let me kick off the process by offering these essential steps.

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Climate Change And Denialism: Is Science Ever 100 Percent Certain About Anything?

There are some who are climate change deniers. No amount of evidence will ever convince them anthropogenic global warming is real and happening right now. Then there are others who may choose to play the role of devil’s advocate, even if they fully accept climate change is real. When a UN report shows 95% certainty that climate change is real and humans are the cause, the devil’s advocate says there is still a 5% chance they are wrong, so therefore people who say they are skeptics (including out-and-out deniers) have a valid point. — No, they don’t, and here’s why.

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CHART: Minimum Wage vs. Unemployment Rate, 1948 – 2012

Most Americans believe the minimum wage should be increased. It would make good economic sense, and it would help pull people out of poverty. But many Republicans in Washington say this is a non-starter because raising the minimum wage would be a job killer. But how do we know this is true? Should we just take their word for it? And come to think of it, calling something a job killer seems to be the boilerplate Republican response to just about anything these days, including Obamacare and raising taxes. Republicans aren’t lying to us, are they?

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Two Charts Climate Change Deniers Don’t Believe

There’s a lot of hot air (okay, that was too predictable) from climate change deniers in the run up to today’s UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report. Some of these deniers are actually saying global warming has stopped or in some cases reversed. Remember, we aren’t talking about skeptics. These people are out-and-out denialists. They are unconcerned with facts and evidence. The only thing that matters in their narrow worldview is their “belief” that climate change is not real or not man-made.

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