D***, after all that I missed one. In those two long (they seemed long when I was writing them anyway) posts I wrote about the NRSC survey I received and what it suggested about themes the Republicans are considering for this year's election, I missed a whopper. Even though I was writing about how some themes were deceptive, and I wrote those "fun with debunking" things, I only today stumbled upon the knowledge that I got fooled. Maybe they thought if they threw enough at me they could slip one by, and well done GOP!
The question is, "Do you support creation of an independent panel like the 9-11 Commission to investigate the mortgage crisis and other factors that contributed to the economic crisis in our nation?" Sounds like a reasonable idea, right? The Democrats had talked about another Pecora Commission. That should have clued me in, because guess what? There already is one, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. It holds its first hearing Thursday. How are Republicans going to make that work, even for dittoheads, when the news is full of the commission's report?
It's like demanding a 911 commission while Kean and Hamilton are meeting with Bush and Cheney. It's like calling for teabaggers to have a rally to listen to nonsense and claptrap. Next, I suggest the proprietors of MN Progressive Project start a project for progressives in Minnesota.
"That will tie up their staff in knots." -- Michele Bachmann, 12 December 2009
And with Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive, you know - KNOW - that's not the only outrageous stuff she spewed.
Like, this:
"That's literally what it felt like yesterday. It felt like I had mud on my face, blood and battle scars. It just felt awful."
"Then Barney Frank snuck through a bill that no one had even heard of before. Thirteen hundred pages long, it's the takeover of the financial services sector. And I know that this is hard to believe but this bill, in my opinion, is even worse that the government takeover of healthcare and worse than cap and trade."
"It is the worst bill because any financial transaction from writing a check to using a credit card - government is now in control, and the House passed it. It's the last vote that we took yesterday before I flew out of Washington D.C."
"That's right, not one Member of Congress read this bill, including me. And it isn't because for lack of not wanting to, or being too stupid to read the bill. It is impossible, because we didn't even hear about it until Tuesday and it isn't like we don't have a lot of other things to do. They're ramming bills through right now. It's almost like you'd think they want to destroy the country."
"It will destroy a million jobs at minimum, this one section of the bill dealing with derivatives, it will destroy at least a million. It's a massive government takeover of the economy. It creates an unelected Czar. This Czar has the power to set wages and set the wages of a bank teller in Anoka, Minnesota."
"They will choose the most radical leftist option every time and then they'll twist and break arms to get what they want to get."
And while those comments by Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive are certainly outrageous, the most outrageous - IMNSO - is a Congresswoman advocating that supporters interfere with the efficient operation of fellow elected official's staff. That quote, once again:
"That will tie up their staff in knots." -- Michele Bachmann, 12 December 2009
GOPers are always claiming "government doesn't work" - and here Bachmann is, advocating that her supporters ensure it can't.
That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is your tax dollars -- NOT at work.
(Finally, some good news. Thanks, Eric - promoted by The Big E)
There are many people on the left feeling like every thing has gone to crap since we celebrated Obama's inauguration. The approval ratings of Obama and Congress are lousy, in no small part because of disgruntled Democrats who feel Obama has followed Bush's policies on the wars and civil liberties. Allegedly Democratic senators are on the point of killing health care reform, conservatives are resurgent and feeling quite cocky about their prospects for next year. At the state level, Pawlenty is so far getting away with unallotment and somehow still has about half on Minnesotans liking him.
However, some things have gone well over the last year, and even some disappointments have their mitigations. Suspect if you want that I'm keeping the glass half full by pouring a bucket into a bottomless glass, but consider a few things. All right, a bunch of things, which is why this is just part 1 instead of the whole thing. It was getting rather long for a blog, but let's get started:
I'm going to jump ahead of the obvious criticism of that headline and acknowledge it's premature. We don't yet know how the health care debate will come out. I'm going to expound on the lessons learned anyway for two reasons, only the weaker of which is that at this point, we've seen enough to be pretty sure what some of the lessons will be. With the acknowledgment that this assertion is arguable, I'm confident that most of what I say will hold up when a bill is passed and when some time has passed.
However, the second reason is not arguable at all: the legislative fights to which these lessons must be applied are starting already. The state legislature goes into its non-budgetary session in January, where it will be trying to reverse some of Pawlenty's unallotments, especially GAMC. There will also be the bonding bill which is always contentious, at least with Gov. Wounded Deer still in office. Congress is already working on financial reform and global warming legislation, the corporate lobbyists have already chosen their targets, and conservatives are certain to use the same tactics they've been using to obstruct health care, the stimulus, and pretty much everything. That's why the heading says "apply" instead of "learn". What particularly worries me is I see the same mistakes being made at this early stage.
