Block

Senate Republicans blocked the vote on Chuck Hagel to be Defense Secretary. This marks the first time a minority of Senators has ever used the Filibuster to prevent the conformation of a Cabinet nominee. The Filibuster has gotten worse and worse over time. It used to be only used to block major pieces of legislation, like Civil Rights. Then it was used to block every single piece of legislation ever. And then it was used to prevent judges and mid-level staffing of government. And now its being use to prevent the staffing of high government offices.

The Filibuster, rules that allow the minority to block the will of the majority in the Senate, has rendered the United States Government incapable of action. It is a fundamental breakdown of the governing structure of the Country.

And Yet Bankers Remain at Large

Eight officials from the city of Bell have been arrested for the crime of being paid too much for running a small city. Yet all kinds of banking officials remain at large while being paid hundreds of times what Bell officials made. Oh and the bankers destroyed the whole economy!

The New Constitution

Step 1 go on and on about how much you love the constituition.

Step 2 propose massive changes to the Constitution.

Bradford Plumer shows you step #2.

Evil Plan of Evil

As evil plans go, this one is a dozy. In an attempt to divert votes from Democrats, GOP operatives in Arizona have recruited homeless people to run as Green Party candidates. And people wonder why people are cynical about the election system.

Tax Cheat

The national deficit is created by a simple equation. Money spent - taxes collected = deficit. Note how there are two sides to the equation, spending and taxes and how they have an equal impact on the deficit? I.E. if you increase spending by a billion dollars it has the exact same impact on the deficit that cutting taxes by a billion dollars does.

The GOP want to pretend that taxes don't affect the deficit, that spending is the only part of the equation. Here's  Sen. Jon Kyl, the other Republican from Arizona, claiming that you should never have to offset the cost of a tax cut, as if that's some kind of accounting rule. 


No.


A tax cut adds to the debt. Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy will cost $678 billion just as sure as spending $678 billion on tanks, or health care or free pie for everyone in America. Tax cuts raise the deficit.

Robert Byrd, Dead.

The longest serving Senator in history has died at 92. He served 51 years. There's some good to praise in Byrd. There is something amazing about longevity in itself. Just showing up to work every day for that long shows something. He was a clear voice against the Iraq War. He brought classic old-fashion oratory to the Senate floor. He could pull off a seersucker suit, which is a rare thing these days.

But there is a lot to criticise about Byrd, not to speak ill of the dead, but to speak ill of the system from which he comes. There is no way you can be an effective Senator at age 92, and I say that as a guy who helps take care of his 93 year old grandfather. But Senate rules reward seniority, and voter love to send the same guys back to DC year after year. Byrd was a master of pork, sending project after project to a West Virgina that wouldn't rate them otherwise. All the power that comes from seniority and Byrd used it to fund the Robert Byrd Center for the Study of Coal or a airport for a town not big enough to rate a airfield. That is the sum total of his legacy. No legislation to address the problems of the nation. Just a lot of goodies of his home state.

So that is legacy of Robert Byrd.

2/3 Bad, 1/2 Good

More on how the two-thirds is wrecking government in California.

All in Fun Till Somebody Gets Assaulted

I know the right wing has all kinds of fun being crazy about the census. The government is going to count how many teeth you have so they can better steal your teeth and so on. But now people are getting hurt. Some folks pulled a gun on census worker here in Nor Cal, the police got called and a women died. So lay off the census, ok?

If you claim to love the Constitution, then you should love the Census, cause its right there in the document. Go Look (Article 1, Section 2) I'll wait. So greet your Census worker with a smile and fill out the damn form.

Your Republican Budget

Massive deficits. No more lecturing on deficits.

How Much Damage Can One Senator Do?

Jim Bunning continues his rampage. Still blocking measures that everyone, both Dems and Republicans want to see passed. Now its a pay cut for doctors. The man blocks an unemployment extension in the middle of a recession. He flips off TV cameras. He's not standing for reelection, it doesn't matter how big of an ass he is. One maniac brings the whole US government to a halt. But the world is full of jerks and crazy-people. The trick is not to let them derail the system for all of us. A Senate where one ass Senator can do this kind of damage is not a working Senate. The Senate is broken and needs to be fixed.

New Rule

I'm proposing a new rule: Unless you advocate cutting some spending that you like, you don't get to complain about the budget deficit.

The world is filled with Congress-critters who go on and on and on about spending, but the moment the budget ax come anywhere close to them, they scream bloody murder. I'm sick of it.

When Mitch McConnell, (R-Coal Country) calls for ending coal mining tax breaks or Ben Nelson (D-Land of Corn) wants cuts in farm subsidies, then they can lecture the rest of on spending. Till then, shut up.

Big Bail Bond

There are special interest groups out there you have never even heard of, and they are screwing things up for all of us.

Honestly, do you know of a single local jail that isn't described as "overcrowded?" Do you know of single sherrif department that isn't looking at a jail exspantion costing millions? There's a reason for that, and it is not a crime wave.

Ever Better

And now the Supreme Courts comes in with a ruling making it easier for corporations to buy elections. As if they didn't already have enough power in the system already.

Best week ever.

Election Day!

Well, kind of. For a lucky few. If you live in New Jersey or Virginia. New York Mayor. Upstate New York has a little soap going. John Garamendi is going to get himself a seat in Congress today. Just a little action to get the political junkies their fix. While I am grateful that fix, I have to say that odd-year governor and mayoral races are a bad idea. They kill turnout and cut a huge part of the electorate out of local government. The Presidency being what it is, you are just always going to get the best turnout for that election. But governor and mayor are really important jobs! Everybody should put their 2 cents on smaller races. I say put as many gigs on the ballot as possible and then get everyone out.

Even I Have Trouble

Today is special election day, get to polls, important matter of state to be decided, every vote counts. You know the drill. I'm having a bit of trouble caring myself, and I a damn political junkie. Special elections should be banned. You want your ballot measure passed, you wait for the next regularly scheduled election like everyone else. In California over the last few years we have had 2 special elections just for ballot measures, a recall election, and a Presidential primary separate from the primaries for every office. This needs to stop. It hurts turn out, costs a lot, and makes everyone more cynical about the process. Two elections, primary and general, every two years, that's should be the limit. I'm going to get to work on the ballot measure right now.

But anyway, do you duty, can't complain if you can't vote, people died to get you this right, blah, blah, blah.

The War Within

Forget al Qaeda, the Taliban or aliens from space. Defense Secretary Robert Gates just declared war on the toughest foe he will ever face: the American Military-Industrial Complex.

Take the F-22. Please. It is easily the sexiest thing ever to fly over this earth, but its price tag is enough to make you weep and it is very little use to fight an enemy who lives in a cave. The F-22 is just a sexy waste of money for the world we face.

But building F-22's makes a lot of people a lot of money. That's who Gates has to take on. Killing the F-22 program will be the fight of his life. Afganistan will just be a mop-up operation after that.

Our Dumb Congress

Oh Boy.

I Swear

If I hear one more lecture about how only the free market and private enterprise can create jobs, I shall scream.

Private enterprise is cutting millions of jobs. The free market destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth when the housing bubble burst. The whole point of the stimulus is for government to step in and take up some of the slack. People don't need tax cuts for paychecks that they are not receiving any more.

Markets fail all the time. Private enterprise fails all the time. When that happens, government really does matter. Government keeps us in shelter. Government is what keeps us from starving to death.

The oposite of government is not freedom. The opposite of government is anarchy.

Well Spent

Congratulations America, you are the proud owner of a brand spanking new $700 million embassy. Of course, ruling Iraq from this grand embassy will be difficult with a new administration no longer concerned with carving out a new empire. So if we aren't going to rule Iraq with this building, what are we going to do with it? Can we rent out the extra office space? Make some of our money back.

Drilling for Oil

The next scandal:

The Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.
...
The investigation also concluded that several of the officials “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.”

They were literally in bed with the oil industry. Not a metaphor. These were the people who's job it was to make sure the public got a good deal when oil companies drilled on public land. And they got bought off with blow and blow.

Oh and John McCain was the chair of the commerce committee during this scandal, which oversees this department.