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Paul Ryan Refuses to Tip Elderly Black Waiter

Rep. Paul Ryan refused to tip an elderly waiter today at a Washington-area soul food restaurant.

According to witnesses at Auntie Ruth’s Bistro in Northeast D.C., Ryan stiffed his server on the grounds of “personal austerity” and proceeded to tell the 72-year-old man to “get a real job.”

The situation started when the Wisconsin Republican showed up with 15 of his staffers to have a two-hour working meeting at the restaurant. Although he didn’t have a reservation and no one called ahead, the staff at Auntie Ruth’s worked hard to accommodate his request.

James Anderson, who’s been waiting tables at the restaurant for 20 years, skipped his lunch break to serve the congressman and his entourage.

After hours of backbreaking work, the congressional staff returned to their offices and Congressman Ryan stayed behind to put the bill on his government credit card.

Human of the Year

When Ryan attempted to leave the premises without paying any tip at all, Anderson politely asked Ryan if he was satisfied with the service.

“Listen, I was satisfied with the service,” Ryan explained, “but I’m not paying you a cent. You know why? Because you’re a taker. I’ve already paid for my meal. I’ve spent the money I’m legally obligated to spend - and here you are begging for more.

“Why don’t you go out and get yourself a real job? Get an education and then go be an engineer or something. Don’t sit around doing shitty jobs your whole life and then expect me to pay for your bad decisions.

“You don’t like the fact that you work a minimum wage job? Tough. You should have used your parents’ inheritance money to get a college education instead of wasting it on booze and women.”’

Genius Next Door

For his part, Anderson says he was fully within his rights to suggest Ryan leave a tip and is “disappointed” by Ryan’s comments.

“I didn’t take my lunch break just to serve Ryan’s table,” he explains. “I was serving 15 people. That ‘s a big group, and I worked very hard. I rely on tips to pay my bills, so I felt I had to ask.

“The truth is, I never got any inheritance money from my parents. My folks were sharecroppers down in Georgia, never had a dime to their name. What little money I ever had went to pay for their health care.

“I was the top of my class in high school. And I got a scholarship to go to Georgetown University. But when I showed up, the school withdrew the money. They didn’t know I was black.

“So I’ve just been here in Washington ever since. Doing odd jobs. Just trying to make enough to get by. I think I would have made a great engineer. Math was my best subject. But those were the segregation days.”

A spokesperson for Ryan says he has no plans to apologize to Anderson, and claimed “those people” are the reason why this country is going bankrupt.

EDIT: Well Fuck Me, It’s a Hoax…. 

Kiss my ass. This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.

Mitt Romney’s traveling press secretary RICK GORKA, in not allowing reporters to ask his boss questions while at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw. Romney has only held one press availability during his gaffe-filled European trip.  He would later tell another reporter to “shove it.”

Hey, great idea for a press secretary to do.  In front of cameras and microphones.  And journalists!

Also telling people to “kiss my ass” and “shove it” at  ”holy site for Polish people” is way less disrespectful than… oh wait.  It isn’t.

(via ABC News)

(Nancy) Pelosi was not alone in thinking Romney - who was labeled an “Etch-A-Sketch” candidate during the Republican primary campaign for shifting his positions - may have solicited that reaction.

Avis Jones-DeWeever, the executive director of the National Council of Negro Women, told ABC News that Romney’s comment about so-called Obamacare was a “calculated” message to conservatives that he would not back down on repealing the law.

“That was like a victory lap on Fox News,” she said. “That was exactly what he went there intending to do.”

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow agreed.

“It seemed like Mitt Romney wanted to get booed at the NAACP this morning,” Maddow said. “He wanted to wear that around his neck like a badge of courage. It looks like he is not wasting any time in doing so.”

And some speech-watchers noted that Romney paused when the booing began rather attempting to cut it off or speak over it.

The New York Daily News, “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Says Mitt Romney Made a ‘Calculated Move’ to Get Booed at NAACP.”

Exactly no one with half a brain is surprised.

(via inothernews)

Republicans have said repeatedly that the landmark health care reform law, upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court last week, must be repealed and replaced. But the GOP leader in the U.S. Senate gave a surprising answer on “Fox News Sunday” when asked how Republicans would provide health care coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans.

“That is not the issue,” Sen. Mitch McConnell said. “The question is how to go step by step to improve the American health care system. It is already the finest health care system in the world.”

“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace interrupted, “You don’t think 30 million uninsured is an issue?”

“We’re not going to turn the American health care system into a western European system,” McConnell said. “That’s exactly what is at the heart of Obamacare. They want to … have the federal government take over all American health care. The federal government can’t handle Medicare or Medicaid.”

Wallace pressed McConnell, noting that the Affordable Care Act will prohibit insurance companies from not offering plans to individuals with pre-existing health conditions. “If you repeal Obamacare, how will you protect those people with pre-existing conditions?”

“Over the half of the states have high-risk pools that deal with that issue,” McConnell said, assuring Wallace that the state programs could cover the tens of millions of uninsured Americans who have pre-existing health conditions.

Thirty-five states now have high-risk pools, covering about 208,000 people. Those policies are open to individuals with pre-existing health issues but often come with high premiums, waiting periods and coverage exclusions for certain conditions.

The Huffington Post, “Mitch McConnell on 30 Million Uninsured: ‘That Is Not the Issue.’”

Even Fox “News” guy Chris Wallace is stunned by what he hears.

But those with a conscience aren’t.

(via inothernews)

Mitt Romney calls for these things that are already part of Obamacare during his press conference calling for the repeal of Obamacare:

wilwheaton:

inothernews:

  • “We have to make sure that people who want to keep their current insurance will be able to do so.”
  • “We also have to assure that we do our very best to help each state in their effort to assure (sic) that every American has access to affordable healthcare.”
  • “We’ve gotta make sure that those people who have pre-existing conditions know that they will be able to be insured.”

(via The Daily Show)

Mitt Romney is a liar. Whenever he opens his mouth, he lies. He is a liar. A liar.

In fact, all four significant Republican presidential candidates still standing are fiscal phonies. They issue apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of government debt and, in the name of deficit reduction, demand savage cuts in programs that protect the middle class and the poor. But then they propose squandering all the money thereby saved — and much, much more — on tax cuts for the rich.

New York Times columnist PAUL KRUGMAN, writing on March 1, 2012 about Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP presidential candidates.

Politico has a hard-on for Paul Krugman.  And so do I.

(via inothernews)
If you haven’t cursed out a New York Times reporter during the course of a campaign, you’re not really a real Republican, is the way I look at it.

Republican presidential candidate RICK SANTORUM, being all “I hate the liberal media and stuff,” on Fox & Friends. 

Well when the liberal media hurts your feelings by asking you to explain your own words, there’s no salve better for those wounds than Fox “News.”

(via)

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