Our Senator

"Can you do that by Executive Order...?"

The Senate is no place for stupid people.

Who'da Thunk!?

Scott Brown does it! Some thoughts:

This is what Her Majesty had to say yesterday. What will Nancy say tomorrow?

Juan Williams on Sean Hannity's program suggested that the President will keep to his promise to 'double-down' on an agenda that seems to be getting less and less popular, public opinion be damned. Will they stick to it? I find it hard to believe that smart pols can be that thick but who knows. If they do, I still stand by this: There will be bodies in the street come November.

There is apparently at least one grown up in the Senate. And maybe a second.

Finally, on what comes next, Mark Steyn quotes an anonymous emailer calling for a "Boxer Rebellion." From his lips to God's ears.

Bodies in the Streets

With a Scott Brown win in Massachusetts becoming an actual possibility, there has been much speculating in the last few days about how Congressional Democrats might deal with the loss of their 60-seat majority in passing a Health Care bill. Here is one potentiality:

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Mon, January 18, 2010 — 7:09 PM ET

Democrats Seeking to Push Senate Health Bill Through House

The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders, scrambling for a backup plan to rescue their health care legislation if Republicans win the special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday, are preparing to ask House Democrats to approve the Senate version of the bill, which would send the measure directly to President Obama for his signature.

Should they try this or attempt the other oft-talked-about solution of passing somehting via reconciliation, I do not doubt for one second there will be bodies in the streets of DC come November 2nd.

Obligatory Sports Post

Politico reports this morning that one-time Pony Express rider and current ESPN football analyst Craig James is considering a run for the US Senate: James told WFAA-TV that he’s testing the waters for a Senate race for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat. Hutchison is running for governor, and has said she would be stepping down from office sometime this year.

James told the station that he’s been meeting with prominent Texas Republican donors in order to raise his political profile, and will be the keynote speaker at an upcoming conservative policy luncheon being attended by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. John Cornyn.

“I'm a Texan. I’m concerned for our country,” he said. “I disagree with the approach that we're having, things that are taking place, and so whatever door opens up, I’ll look at it, if and when it opens up,” James said.

While James might fancy himself as a future politician, he’d have a tough time winning many votes in west Texas right now. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to call James one of the most loathed people in in Lubbock, where many students and alumni are blaming him for losing their successful coach.

Well, there is that...

4 Retirements and a Defection

Politico reports this morning that Southern Democrat Rep Parker Griffith (D-AL) is switching parties:

Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he’s switching parties to become a Republican.


According to two senior GOP aides familiar with the decision, the announcement will take place this afternoon in Griffith's district in northern Alabama.


Griffith’s party switch comes on the eve of a pivotal congressional health care vote and will send a jolt through a Democratic House Caucus that has already been unnerved by the recent retirements of a handful of members who, like Griffith, hail from districts that offer prime pickup opportunities for the GOP in 2010.


The switch represents a coup for the House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized the Democratic leadership in the wake of raucous town halls during the summer.


Griffith, who captured the seat in a close 2008 open seat contest, will become the first Republican to hold the historically Democratic, Huntsville-based district. A radiation oncologist who founded a cancer treatment center, Griffith plans to blast the Democratic health care bill as a prime reason for his decision to switch parties—and is expected to cite his medical background as his authority on the subject.

It appears that House Democrats may be getting nervous. They read polls, regardless of what they may or may not say about them and perhaps, at least a number of them, see where their party is and it aint anywhere near where the public is at this point.

Griffith's defection seems significant in that he is but a freshman member and a Blue Dog. The jump from D to R isn't a great leap as Politico notes but important given where his Alabama district is: Though it has never elected a Republican to Congress, Griffith’s seat has a long conservative tradition and has backed Democrats who have a brand independent from the national party. As a result of the district’s Democratic heritage, Democrats still hold the majority of state legislative seats within the 5th Congressional District’s boundaries.


The district, however, is trending Republican: A wave of new residents is moving into the Huntsville suburbs, where the area’s burgeoning aerospace and defense industries have created a miniboom. And those voters, with fewer ties to the area’s past politics, have been reliably Republican at the national level.

Pimps, Whores & Idiots

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse piles on after the events surrounding Healthcare reform over the weekend. In the best tradition of liberals everywhere, the Senator resorts to insults in describing opposition to Healthcare reform:

"Voting 'no' and hiding from the vote are the same result. Those of us on the floor see it. It was clear the three of them who did not cast their yes votes until all 60 Senate votes had been tallied and it was clear that the result was a foregone conclusion. And why? Why all this discord and discourtesy, all this unprecedented destructive action? All to break the momentum of our new young president.

They are desperate to break this president. They have ardent supporters who are nearly hysterical at the very election of President Barack Obama. The birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist. That is one powerful reason. It is not the only one."

With all un-due respect Senator, you can stuff that nonsense back down your pie-hole and choke on it. People don't want this bill because of what's in it, not because of who is for it.

Pimps & Whores

Roger Kimball writes after learning of Senator Ben Nelson's decision to fall in with the other 59 Democrats:  The good news is that today, December 19, 2009, is the day we got clarity on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid effort to steal medical care and call it “reform.”

I hope that Ben enjoys his final two years in the Senate.
OK, that’s not quite right. Since it was Ben Nelson of Nebraska that finally got Harry Reid his desperately needed 60th vote for socialized medicine, I hope 1) that the next two year are unpleasant for Sen. Nelson and 2) that he loses in 2012 by a landslide.

I’m still not being entirely candid. Nelson is a pathetic pawn in this game. He’s history and I hope he has plans for a new day job. He’ll need ‘em.

He's obviously angry but it comes across to me as somehow, almost muted. Or perhaps, despite being a writer, he--like me--can't find the words to adequately express the anger.

As was noted this morning on the FNS panel, everyone has a price and Senator Nelson settled on his yesterday. Moving past the anger for a moment, it becomes apparent that the true cost of this for Nelson and the other 59 pro-votes is minimal.

Yes, it's true they may lose their seats. But they--and many of them for decades--live on our dime and will continue so until the day they die enjoying their gold-plated Federal health benefits all the while, BTW.

They pay no real price for being gloriously wrong about the negative effects of this "reform" should they come to pass.

Something to Keep in Mind

Something for the 4 Democrats and lone Republican to keep in mind now that the Baucus bill has made it out of Committee.

Lack of Decorum?

Well, yeah:

Shouts of — “Stop printing money,” “We don’t care what you think,” and “You’re a moron” — permeated the 90-minute session, which drew far more than the 450 people who filled Van Nostrand Theatre. Scores more were not allowed inside after a Suffolk fire marshal closed the doors.

People opposing the proposed health care reform outnumbered those in favor, though both sides strove to outshout each other during the question-and-answer period.

Definitely funny though, especially in light of this today: Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is at 21% this month, down significantly from last month's 31% and from the recent high of 39% in March.

There's bringing it on yourself and then there's bringing it on yourself...

Tick, Tock

For whom the bell tolls...well, it's not a bell it's a clock and according to Byron York it ticks for Charlie Rangel:


It hasn’t gotten much attention amid news of Ted Kennedy, Obamacare and the worsening outlook in Afghanistan, but an extraordinary situation is developing in the House of Representatives. With each passing day, it’s becoming more clear that the powerful committee chairman in charge of writing America’s tax laws is a financial wheeler-dealer, a serial asset-hider, and a tax offender. . . .

Last week, we learned that Rangel filed a grossly misleading financial disclosure report for 2007 — failing to report at least half a million dollars in assets.

It turns out Rangel had a credit union account worth at least $250,000 and maybe as much as $500,000 — and didn’t report it. He had investment accounts worth about the same, which he also didn’t report. Ditto for three pieces of property in New Jersey.

Beyond that, we’ve learned that Rangel has failed to report assets totaling more than $1 million on legally required financial disclosure forms going back to at least 2001.

The news comes on top of revelations last year that Rangel didn’t report — and didn’t pay taxes on — income from a villa in the Caribbean. In that matter, the Internal Revenue Service gave him sweetheart treatment; Rangel paid about $10,000 in back taxes but was not required to pay any penalty or interest.

The crook needs to go...

The Government they Deserve

I've been watching the recent stories about Charlie Rangel's latest round of financial mis-management and wanted to write about it but life has conspired against me; time hasn't been very abundant. Until I noticed these today I was content to watch.

At this point however I can't keep biting my tongue. Harlem has been getting the Government it deserves for way too long (Rangel has sat in Congress for nearly all of my 43 years). If ever a member of our Federal Government has begun to think he's entitled, it's Charlie.

The Congressman isn't entitled and the fact that he's ridden 38 years of Congressional service to his own little kingdom belies everything he's ever said about the virtues of public service. Us little folks could never get away with his recent history of non-disclosure in matters financial.

He shouldn't either. The crook needs to go...

Good Job Guys!

Didn't have time to chime in on this yesterday but wanted to shout out to the morons of Minnesota whose message vote puts Al Franken in the US Senate.

Unreal...

What should be a no-brainer...

Congress deadlocked over offshore drilling:

With a gallon of gas hovering at $4, energy prices are the No. 1 issue on voters' minds. But congressional leaders are increasingly deadlocked over what to do. In response, frustrated rank-and-file members on both sides of the aisle are stepping up efforts to find common ground.

I know you are but what am I!?

Nancy Pelosi says today of President Bush (not the Administration, but the President himself):

"God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States -- a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview.

"For him to be challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again -- at the end of the day, Congress will have passed its responsibility to pass legislation," she said.

It would be bracing criticism if not for the fact that Bush--the object of so much derision and ire--is more than twice as popular as Pelosi's 110th Congress.

That's why it's called a Futures Market

Yet another lesson in the basics of Free markets today...

The Mainstream press reads: Crude oil was little changed below $139 a barrel in New York after tumbling more than $6 yesterday because of concern a slower U.S. economy will curtail demand.

Prices dropped as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said risks to growth and inflation have risen, in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee. He abandoned a June assessment that the threat of an economic slowdown had diminished.

Then there's this alternative analysis from a bit earlier in the day: In a dramatic move yesterday President Bush removed the executive-branch moratorium on offshore drilling. Today, at a news conference, Bush repeated his new position, and slammed the Democratic Congress for not removing the congressional moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere. Crude-oil futures for August delivery plunged $9.26, or 6.3 percent, almost immediately as Bush was speaking, bringing the barrel price down to $136.

Now isn’t this interesting?

Regardless of the reason, the larger point is still the only point--the market reflects the future possibilities of increases, decreases in supply, demand and even the occasional indirect effect (think Iranian missile tests). And Democrats continue to be wrong and or stupid on the entire subject...

Why Democrats are wrong...

...when they tell you starting to explore and/or drill for new oil won't affect the price:

Now here is the good news. Any policy that causes the expected future oil price to fall can cause the current price to fall, or to rise less than it would otherwise do. In other words, it is possible to bring down today's price of oil with policies that will have their physical impact on oil demand or supply only in the future.

For example, increases in government subsidies to develop technology that will make future cars more efficient, or tighter standards that gradually improve the gas mileage of the stock of cars, would lower the future demand for oil and therefore the price of oil today.

Similarly, increasing the expected future supply of oil would also reduce today's price. That fall in the current price would induce an immediate rise in oil consumption that would be matched by an increase in supply from the OPEC producers and others with some current excess capacity or available inventories.

Any steps that can be taken now to increase the future supply of oil, or reduce the future demand for oil in the U.S. or elsewhere, can therefore lead both to lower prices and increased consumption today.

But I leave it to you...you can believe the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan or Chuck Schumer.

Apologize already...

John Murtha owes a bunch of Marines an apology...this is me holding my breath waiting for that press conference.

What she really meant to say...

What Nancy Pelosi said today about gas prices in America:

"We cannot drill our way out of this," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California countered. Opening the wildlife refuge in Alaska would reduce U.S. gasoline prices by one penny per gallon, she said. She and other Democrats blame President George W. Bush's energy policies for the gasoline price spike.

"A barrel of oil now costs four times more than it did when President Bush took office," Pelosi said. "Two oil men in the White House, cost of oil four times higher. Price at the pump: $4 a gallon."

I'm sure she didn't mean it. I mean, how could somebody of her stature be that stupid? Well, judging by this, it's not real hard:

She said oil companies already lease about 68 million acres of land that is not being drilled. She questioned why oil companies were pushing to open up the ANWR in Alaska when so many acres they currently hold are not being developed.

On that point, a group of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would compel oil companies to drill in lands they are now leasing from the federal government.

"Oil corporations are trying to take control of as much land now during the oil-friendly Bush administration years, but are holding off on drilling until the price of oil soars to $200 or $300 a barrel so they can make even greater profits," said Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat and a sponsor of the drilling bill.

The bill would force oil companies to pay fees for leased lands that go unused. The fees would increase over time. Republicans argue current law already requires oil companies to "use or lose" the lands they lease.

I'm sure what she meant to say was that we can't conserve our way out of this, given the large increase in Global demand coming from China and India in the last few years. I mean, after all, members of Congress can't possibly be that stupid...

Thanks for the Help!

To get the full gist on what exactly this is and where it comes from check this post at Powerline.

To otherwise enjoy the direct and powerfully humurous contrast between the parties simply requires 10 seconds of your time to enlarge and read.

Kinda speaks for itself...

Stupid Congressional Act of the Day

A new feature? Maybe...Lord knows we don't hurt for entries.

At least on this day though it's a one-time deal, courtesy of everybody's favorite Congressional loon:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential contender, said Monday he wants the House to consider a resolution to impeach President Bush.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi consistently has said impeachment was "off the table."
Kucinich, D-Ohio, read his proposed impeachment language in a floor speech. He contended Bush deceived the nation and violated his oath of office in leading the country into the Iraq war.