I think it’s frightening that this dude is the Vice President of the United States.
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that – you think?
Wow.
Monthly Archive for February, 2010
God help us all.
Nancy Pelosi announced today that the House is ready to pass the Senate bill and make this healthcare horror story a reality.
Prepare yourselves for a big ole gigantic tax hike, folks. Yippee!
In other news, I am in DC! My dad and I had a full day of sightseeing, which was all sorts of awesome. We landed at around 8.30 this morning, checked into our hotel, and then headed to the city. First stop – Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Utterly AMAZING. We only went to the original one, not the one out by Dulles that has the huge aircraft in it – just wasn’t enough time. But what we saw was so fabulously cool. I love space stuff. The Hubble telescope, the Lunar Module , the space shuttles, the rockets – all of it. Much of it looks so totally just cobbled together out of stuff you’d find in your kitchen that I cannot BELIEVE it does what it does. But it does! So neat.
But the neatest part of today was seeing the National Archives. I actually got a little emotional about seeing our founding documents in person. The Rotunda in which they are all stored, dimly lit and sealed tightly, is so impressive. And you know what struck me? Seeing John Adams’ name listed as the Vice President of the United States, and realizing, with HORROR mind you, that someone as ridiculous as JOE BIDEN actually gets the honor of sharing the same title. I’m sorry, but that is totally f*cked up.
Anyway, tomorrow we’re doing a tour of the Capitol, and I have Senate/House gallery passes. I’m hoping to see all those clowns in session so I can make faces at them. 
I love DC.
This gave me the giggles.
You guys, I’m headed to DC tomorrow! If I see Obama, I’ll be sure to tell him you all said hello. 
This morning, I read an article about how liberals are trying to get Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) “ousted from the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his block on extending unemployment benefits, according to a group that advocates for the unemployed.”
Some dude named Rick Sloan, who is “acting executive director of Ur Union of Unemployed, a grass roots organization for unemployed Americans,” has a petition going around to get Senator Bunning booted out of the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his freakin’ political stance.
He continued by putting his hands over his ears, holding his breath, stomping his feet and spewing this: “His legacy as a great ball player is about to be surpassed by his reputation as an obstinate and uncaring ideologue.”
Oooooh. You’re scary, Mr. Sloan.
Does anyone else see the absurdity here? What in the holy hell does Bunning’s BASEBALL career – an obviously decorated one – have anything to do with his political leanings? Agree with him or not, I just don’t see the correlation, bleeding heart libs.
Nice try. For crying out loud, get a life already.
BEHOLD: Maxine Waters having absolutely no clue about the difference between the federal funds rate and the discount rate.
Now, I’m not going to try and claim that it makes a speck of sense to me either, but then again, I’m not on the freaking CONGRESSIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE.
Gawd.
Still – my all time favorite video clip of Maxine is this one. LOVE:
This article sums up some of the major quotes from the healthcare summit. Here are some of my personal faves from the right side of the aisle:
REPUBLICAN SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN
“Both of us … promised ‘change in Washington.’… Eight times you (Obama) said negotiations on healthcare reform would be conducted before C-Span cameras. I’m glad, more than a year later, that they are here. Unfortunately, this (Democratic) product was not produced in that fashion. It was produced behind doors.”
REPUBLICAN SENATOR TOM COBURN
“The government now directs over 60 percent of the healthcare in this country. And if throwing money at it and creating new government programs could solve it, we wouldn’t be sitting here today because we’ve done all that. It hasn’t worked.”
REPUBLICAN SENATOR LAMAR ALEXANDER
“With respect, you (Obama) are wrong about your bill. It would increase premiums, I believe.”
SENATE REPUBLICAN WHIP JON KYL
“There are some fundamental differences between us here that we cannot paper over. We do not agree about the fundamental question about who should be mostly in charge. There’s so much in the bills that you’ve supported that puts control in Washington that we have a very difficult time supporting those provisions.”
HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHIP ERIC CANTOR
“We can’t afford this. That is the ultimate problem here.”
Aaaand, my personal favorite from the left side of the aisle (I’m including this one in video format because it’s more compelling to watch, really):
And there you have it, folks.
The healthcare thing must be a really awesome distraction for House and Ways Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel this week, seeing as how he denies doing anything wrong “by accepting trips to the Caribbean, especially after the House Ethics Committee approved the travel. But in documents released Friday by the panel, investigators say Rangel’s aides wrote memos to the Congressman, indicating that corporate sponsors were footing the bill. But Rangel denied seeing any of the communiqués.”
Yeah, riiiiight.
Of course, Pelosi came to his defense, blaming everything on his staff. I mean, a boss shouldn’t be held accountable for knowing what his staff is doing, right? And when in doubt, it’s just easy to take the damn vacations, then blame it on your staff later on, really. Stellar.
In light of today’s Charlie-really-lacks-ethics revelations, the Ethics Committee continues to probe issues surrounding Rangel’s taxes, his use of Congressional stationary for fundraising purposes, his use of rent-controlled apartments in Harlem and questions about storing a broken-down Mercedes-Benz in a House parking garage.
And here’s McBotox, all flustered and deer-in-the-headlights looking (although I think that’s chemically-induced more than anything) when asked about Rangel’s future:
Yay Congress. And by yay, I obviously mean that Congress sucks monkey poo.
Megyn Kelly. That chick doesn’t take crap from ANYONE, let alone White House Communications Director Linda Douglass. This exchange is lengthy, but if you were wanting evidence that Democratic spokespeople cannot answer a direct question, well, here you go.
“The Anti-Obama.” That’s what Mona Charen calls My Man Mitch.
I swear, you guys, that totally gives me a Chris Matthews thrill-up-the-leg. I mean, it’s like a compliment of the highest order, really.
Now that news of Mitch Daniels not ruling out a presidential run has gotten around, columnists and pundits are starting to take notice. Charen’s column is just one of many I’ve seen floating around the past several days. And in all of them, Mitch’s many accomplishments are listed – he’s long on experience, unlike Obama, who never ran anything before he was hired to run the country.
Charen writes, “This is not a slick, packaged politician. Daniels writes his own speeches — and they are thoughtful, substantive exercises — and even pens the content of his political ads. His demeanor is friendly, and his posture is forward-looking. He has never run a negative ad. He is a conservative, but not of the grievance variety. In style, Daniels is low-key and witty without being arrogant. He treats every voter, supporter or not, with respect.”
And she tells it like it is when she compares Mitch’s experience with Obama’s: “Both men are poised, intelligent, and well-spoken. The most glaring contrast aside from philosophy is Daniels’s wealth of experience and record of governing success.”
BURN.
I love the way Charen described Mitch in her conclusion: “He promised Hoosiers he would serve out his term and feels duty-bound to abide by his promise. But Daniels has a combination of traits — broad experience, wisdom, skill, and likeability — that are rarer than rare. Surely Hoosiers would release him from his promise if he asked — if we all asked.”
YES, Mona Charen. I, for one, would release him happily. And with facesmashes and hug assaults, even. Mitch should be shared with the whole country!
Hey – did you guys know that this healthcare legislation is going to create 400,000 jobs IMMEDIATELY?
My Mom taught me that if I have nothing nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. Well, I obviously didn’t heed that advice, what with co-writing this blog and all (I think she still loves me regardless). I’ll tell you what, Mom. I’ll try to be just a wee bit nice and stop at the fact that McChoppyHands may very well be losing the battle of sanity to all that Botox in her cranial area and call it a night.
Wow.
Remember the election back in 2008? Specifically, do you remember all the lemmings who chanted hope and change and free everything under Obamamessiah? I personally remember hosting a Big Ten tailgate and talking to a bunch of Millenials about the upcoming election. The response was overwhelming – they were all going to vote for the rock star – Obama. Why? They couldn’t really answer that. They could only give me one specific reason, really – Obama was way cooler than that old crusty white dude.
Fast forward to now. According to Pew Research Center, the glitz of Obamamania has faded, and he’s lost what was an obvious edge in the Millenial demographic.
The Democratic advantage over the Republicans in party affiliation among young voters, including those who “lean” to a party, reached a whopping 62% to 30% margin in 2008. But by the end of 2009 this 32-point margin had shrunk to just 14 points: 54% Democrat, 40% Republican.
Behold the graphical representation of Millenials falling out of love with the Great One:
The research also points out that MY generation – the GenX’ers – are increasingly conservative. And the baby boomers? Conservative mostly, moderate second.
So, let’s recap. The older you get, the smarter you presumably get. And the more conservative you get.
Coincidence? I think not.
There are folks out there saying it was out of line for Obama to admonish McCain the way he did. And while I can certainly see that point, the bigger issue to me is that Obama is Actually Saying that they’re no longer campaigning.
WHAT IN THE HOLY HELL???
Obama never STOPPED campaigning. He’s like the campaigniest president of all time.
Unsolicited advice to Obama: When called out for not fulfilling campaign promises, it miiiiiight not be the best idea to reply with, “Well, we’re not campaigning anymore.” That basically just makes it sound like you’re totally not interested in fulfilling any campaign promises. Just fyi.
Crowder gives some insight on how the government is managing the rebuilding of the twin towers, compared to the work of a private company on Tower 7.
Yeah. It’s pretty much what you’d expect, only with awesome Crowder humor mixed in.
Remember, folks – public sector salaries average higher than private now. Yippee!!
Best moment of today. Hands down.
You know what’s kind of sad? I Actually Regretted not taking the day off today so I could sit home and watch the whole summit. That is how much of a political junkie I’ve become.
According to this, CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks the Tea Party movement is going to “twinkle and disappear” once the economy “comes back.”
He said, “People meet. They talk about it. What can we change? How? And it’s all healthy and it’s all good. But I’m just saying they’re not going anywhere with it because nobody is coming up and saying, ‘Here’s our candidate, here’s our solution, here’s what we’re going to do, and have a whole policy debate over the various different issues.’”
He also said, “They’re disappointed of the unemployment rate. They’re disappointed of the housing crisis. They’re disappointed that government is not acting fast enough, and all of those kind of things.”
So, the way I see it, Arnold is saying this for one of two possible reasons:
1. He Actually Believes what he’s saying, in which case he has seriously underestimated the passion and conviction behind all that “anger and disappointment” OR
2. He is saying this to rile up the tea partiers even more than they already are, a call to more action, if you will, in which case he’s quite clever indeed.
I’m going with option 1.
Thoughts?
Oh baby YOU. You got what I neeeeeeed.
Biz Markie and friends are spinning energy issues in DC. And, by the enthusiasm of the unbelievably HUUUUGE crowd you can see for yourself in this video, I’m thinking that the event was a big success.
Anyone else really, really cold? Me too.
And, just curious – who in the hell is Gloria Reuben?
This isn’t really news to anyone out there in Internet land, I’m sure, but the numbers are kind of enlightening.
According to Rasmussen Reports, “voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job. That’s up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago.”
Basically, 70% of us think that Congress hasn’t passed any legislation that is worth a crap. And we definitely don’t think that Congress has our best interests in mind when they go to work every day (if you want to call what they do work, that is).
Other notable numbers from the most recent polls:
Earlier this month, 63% of voters said it would be better for the country if most incumbents in Congress were defeated this November
Three out of four voters (75%) report being at least somewhat angry at the policies of the federal government.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters say a better strategy to reform the health care system would be to pass smaller bills that address problems individually.
Aaaaand, as a result of all of these enlightening numbers, “Republican candidates have consistently held an advantage over Democrats in the Generic Congressional Ballot” in 2010.
Go figure.
But yeah – we should let these Congressional morons – in which no one has any freakin’ faith – completely revamp healthcare. Brilliant.
