What Today's Payroll Tax Vote Means

Dec 20th, 2011

Allow me to register my total lack of surprise. AP reports:

"The House Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million American workers on Jan. 1.

Obama said the two-month compromise is the only way to stop payroll taxes from going up by two percentage points.

"Now let's be clear," Obama said in a surprise appearance in theWhite House briefing room after the House vote. "The bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. The only one."

First of all, this was a case of hostage taking. It's plain and simple. If the GOP had wanted to keep the payroll rate in place, all they had to do was vote for it. They insisted that it "had to be paid for." How does this square with their 30 year mantra that "tax cuts" pay for themselves by magically expanding growth? It doesn't and an obedient media is largely obliging them by not asking about that. More predictably and repulsively, they not only insisted that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline was somehow related to the payroll tax rate, but they uniformly parroted each and every proven falsehood regarding that project.

What does it mean for you? The chart below shows it clearly.

Graphic via CNN

Newt Watch - Legacy Edition

Nov 29th, 2011

Lawrence Lessig writes:

"There is no candidate for president who has had more experience in changing Washington than Gingrich. Indeed, there may be no American since James Madison who has had more of an effect in making the institution of Congress what it is today.

For as far too few remember, more than any other living American, it is Newt Gingrich who gave us the current version of our hopelessly dysfunctional Congress — an institution which, according to a New York Times/CBS poll, now has the confidence of 9% of the American people. That monster is his baby, and no one should deny him his parental bragging rights."

We couldn't agree more. He deserves every bit of credit for this. We encourage you to read the whole piece.

FAA Showdown Over... For Now...

August 4th, 2011

The good news? The crisis over funding the FAA is apparently over. The bad news? It's not really over.

Just in via CBS:

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday that Congress has reached a deal to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I am pleased to announce that we have been able to broker a bipartisan compromise between the House and the Senate to put 74,000 transportation and construction workers back to work," Reid said in a statement. "This agreement does not resolve the important differences that still remain. But I believe we should keep Americans working while Congress settles its differences, and this agreement will do exactly that."

The FAA shut down on July 23 after Congress failed to pass an extension of the agency's existing budget authorization. Congress has done that simple extension, with no strings attached, 20 times in the past four years."

If Congress "settles its deifferences" in a way similar to the debt deal, I would recommend planning travel via rail for the foreseeable future.

Tweet Of The Year Nominee

July 31st, 2011

Borowitz pokes some fun... serious fun.

They Did What?

July 28th, 2011

We couldn't make this up if we tried.

As anyone who has been within a quarter mile of a television or the internet in the last month by now knows, the whole of American representative governance has ground to a halt over raising the debt ceiling. Today was supposed to the big day for Speaker Boehner's bill. It may be dead on arrival in the Senate, but that's only if it ever gets there. Here's what happened via WaPo:

"The House was nearing the end of its debate on the legislation when Republicans suddenly shifted gears. They instead moved to a bill renaming a post office in Peoria, Ill." EMPHASIS OURS

"GOP leaders have been laboring to line up the 216 votes the debt bill would need to pass the House, and they have encountered opposition from some conservatives. There are 240 Republicans in the House."

Rep. Boehner may well be the most incapable Speaker of the House in generations.

rePUBLICan ENEMY #1, part 4

Jan 3rd, 2011

Low-life Motherfucker

The saga of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) keeps getting better. He has just announced his list of investigative targets. Topping the list is Fannie Mae.



You see, Issa is one of those Republicans who thinks that we should lay the blame for the real estate meltdown at the feet of lower middle class families. How DARE they not understand the arcane language of elaborate, misleading and sometimes even criminal bank documents?

The thing is, he voted to repeal Glass-Steagall in 1999 paving the way for the mess. Then, in 2007, he voted AGAINST stricter regulation of the sub-prime lending market.

Perhaps he could simply point the finger at himself, apologize and fucking resign.

I encourage you to call this low-life motherfucker and tell him that you are now aware that he is a low-life motherfucker. Really.

Rep. Darrell Issa in Washington, D.C.

202-225-3906

Rep. Darrel Issa in Vista, CA.

760-599-5000

rePUBLICan ENEMY #1

Jan 3rd, 2011

by F. Grey Parker

The most dangerously irresponsible man in the 112th Congress will very likely be Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). As the incoming Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, it is his plan to use his new found subpoena power to attempt to grind the basic operations of government to a halt. 

His extremism is matched by his dishonesty.

Making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows yesterday, he threw as much red meat to the American right as he could while masquerading as a devoted public servant. On CNN, he portrayed President Obama as having used $800 Billion in TARP money as "walking around money." 

On The Murdoch Device (FOX), Rep. Issa made sure to appeal to their "demographic" by affirming his intention to investigate Attorney General Eric Holder over his handling of the phony New Black Panther Party controversy and ACORN. It matters not to him that both stories have been consistently debunked. He's going to spend our money to make sure the Tea Party base knows that he's looking out for whitey.

His record as an apologist for some of the most evil actors over the last 10 years deserves more scrutiny before he is allowed to attempt to sabotage and smear the Executive branch of our government on our dime.