Archive for senate
The State of the Union is Broke
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The federal debt now equals 100% of GDP. It’s been 1000 days since the Senate last passed a budget. The president never mentioned Obamacare, or the Keystone Pipeline. I want my Mitch Daniels!
Won’t Take No For an Answer
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Obama feels we deserve to be protected from the Congress we elected, and he’s just the man to do it. To that end he made recess appointments to the NLRB and the new Consumer Protection bureaucracy. Only problem is Congress wasn’t in recess. The Senate was in a pro forma session. Obama says that’s a gimmick. Which is probably true considering the senate was in pro forma session when it approved the payroll tax cut extension.
Looting the Lockbox
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Republicans are said to have run up a blind alley since Boehner rejected the Senate version of the payroll tax cut. McConnell is still pushing hard for a 2 month extension of the cuts. After that, they can fight it out again – if Social Security isn’t broke yet. Where’s that lockbox?
Update: House Republicans cave.
Lockbox sighting?
Private Sector Doing Just Fine Until the Rape and Murder Begins
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Unable to push Obama’s jobs bill though the Senate, Democrats shoved it through the chipper instead and hope to pass it piece by piece. Wednesday’s piece was money for the public sector. Harry Reid said this is important because “the private sector is doing just fine“. Joe Biden deflected heat from Harry’s howler by threatening murder and rape if we don’t pass this piece of… legislation right away.
Here are some job numbers since Dec 2007 from IBD: private sector – 5.4%, public sector at all levels – 1.75%, public sector federal level +2.29%. Also, Bloomberg reports the average federal salary in Washington, DC is $126,000.
Odd Job
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On the other hand, Obama’s dead jobs bill may have been dreamed up as a club to use on the Republicans who were bound to kill it.
FEMA Relief
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For those keeping score, FEMA seems to have enough money to tide it over until Friday, which is the end of the fiscal year, and thereby avoid a government shutdown.
Rebuttal
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Nancy Pelosi is offended that Republicans won’t tear themselves away from the game tonight to complain about Obama’s speech.
Sausage Works
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President Obama signed $2.4 billion of new debt ceiling sausage into law. The Beaver’s evil twin, Missouri Democrat, Emanuel Clever, called the deal a satan sandwich. The stock market took one bite and retched up its remaining green gains for 2011.
Kick the Can
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Here’s Obama telling congress not to kick the can down the road. Here’s Obama kicking the can down the road last February. Here’s the can. It’s big.
Bluff
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The president admitted that he’s bluffing on the debt ceiling by ordering Eric Cantor not to call him on it. Mitch McConnell acknowledged he doesn’t have the votes for the cuts Republicans want, so he offered a complicated “fallback” plan. McConnell’s plan let’s Obama have his way with Congress but Republicans get to vote against it. Theoretically, that would be useful next election, provided voters can figure what the hell he’s talking about.