Archive for Congress
The Blagoshpere
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Here’s all the inside Blago baseball you need to know in a lengthy Chicago News Cooperative piece by James Warren
New Math
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The House returned from vacation to pass a $26 billion bail-out for the dues paying, campaign funding, men and women who educate our children. According to USA Today, federal workers make more than you. Teachers aren’t federal workers but neither is the city manager of Bell, California (pop 40,000). He earned even more vacation and sick time than teachers, clocking in at 28 weeks, and way more in salary - $800,000 per year! He lost his job when word got out thanks to the LA Times. Now he has to make do with a $600,000 per year pension. Bail-out for California, anyone?
Rangel Rant
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Nancy Pelosi called Congress back from vacation to vote for the teacher bail-out bill. Famed vacationer, Charlie Rangel, took the opportunity to dare his colleagues to throw him out. Jon Stewart wonders how he morphed into an old Jewish guy.
Campaign Slogan Tryouts
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Robert Gibbs said Republicans could win the House. Pelosi slammed Gibbs. Joe Biden claimed, “we’re going to win the House and the Senate”. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D., N.J.) felt compelled to announce ”…an end to a growing rumor that the president doesn’t want the House, only the Senate, and feels he can get more done with a split Congress…” . Jonathan Weisman and Naftali Bendavid have the story in the WSJ.
Like to Watch
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The 2,300 page Dodd-Frank financial bill passed yesterday. Only 3 republicans voted for it. The rest hope the voters hate Congress even more than they hate Wall Street.
Nobody knows how it will work - Chris Dodd says so. We do know there’s nothing in the bill about Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They’re not part of the problem - Barney Frank (scroll to 43.) says so.
Meanwhile, a Justice Department lawyer, Christian Adams, resigned his post. He was unhappy the department dropped his voter intimidation case against two New Black Panthers, one of whom was a certified poll watcher.
It’s a Surprise
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Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi explain here that you have to pass their 2000 page bills to find out what’s in them.
William Saletan has an interesting piece in Slate detailing how Kagan, while working in the Clinton White House, doctored a report on partial birth abortion by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynocologists. He points out that the report was taken as expert opinion in court rulings. If she gets on the Supreme Court and overturns a ruling because it was based on her original lie, would that make her an activist judge?
Byrd of a Different Feather
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I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that a senate that passed an 800 billion dollar pork packed stimulus bill would go all out for the the passing of the king of pork. Jonah Goldberg has the bad manners to also bring up the Exalted Cyclops’s KKK organizing days here. Michael Barone admires Senator Byrd’s interest in the constitution, in a more balanced view here.
Vapid Confirmation Hearing
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Elena Kagan doesn’t have much of a legal paper trail. This is considered a good career move for Supreme Court nominees, ever since Robert Bork talked his way out of a job. One footprint she has left, however, is a 15 year old complaint that the Bork-A-Dope strategy has caused confirmation hearings to become “vapid” .
Gotcha Journalism
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Bob Etheridge, D-NC was asked by one of two student video bloggers if he supports Obama’s agenda. Clearly a trick question for a Democrat these days. Etheridge surmised his predicament and responded as prudently as possible. He grabbed the kid’s wrist, put a Vulcan Death Grip on his neck, bear hugged him, and demanded that he identify himself. When the video became public, as it always does, the congressman apologized and his peers came to his defense.
Why The Libertarian Crossed the Road
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Rand Paul won Kentucky’s Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate last week. He’s libertarian like his father, Ron Paul. Libertarians are for limited government, including the right to own property without government interference. No doubt that’s a reason the Tea Party likes him.
In 1964 private property rights ran up against the Civil Rights Act. The day after the election Rachel Maddow turned Paul inside out on that point. Here’s the interview.
I think it’s safe to say Rich Lowry believes in property rights too but he thinks Paul is wrong. Lowry views the Civil Rights Act as “the last spasm of the Civil War”. The Civil War - now there’s a government intervention for you.