The stimulus package passes the house without even 1 ‘Phant vote. So much for bitartisanship.
One of the nice things is that the Nadler amendment passed, adding $3 billion to mass transit.
Category: Congress
Politically Kosher: Don’t Mix Meat and Milk
Sometimes, the pork in the stimulus package is beef.
In this case it was an attempt by the Dairy industry to have the government purchase about 300,000 of milk cows and sell them to slaughter houses in order to arrest the recent declines in the cost of milk.
The dairy farmers wanted this, but the beef farmers did not, and when all was said and done, it ended up on the cutting room floor, but not before I made hay of the situation.
Don’t have a cow, man!
The Norm Coleman Clown Show
So, first the Coleman campaign submitted false documents to the judges, and now their own witnesses are admitting to completely bollixing up their absentee ballots:
One of the voters was Douglas Thompson, who admitted under oath that his girlfriend filled out his absentee ballot application for him, signing his name with her own hand and purporting to be himself. His ballot was rejected because the signature on his ballot envelope (his own) did not match the signature on the application (his girlfriend’s).
…
Another one of the voters, an older man named Wesley Briest, initially responded that he voted at the polls — not by absentee. Then Coleman attorney James Langdon showed him his absentee ballot envelope, reminding him that he did not go to the polls, too. Upon cross-examination by Franken lawyer Kevin Hamilton, Briest admitted that his wife, who served as the witness on his ballot, did not fully complete the witness section of the absentee ballot.
Jeebus, the stupid, it burns!
Conyers Subpoenas Rove
This should get interesting, because we likely have an Attorney General, or will shortly, who might actually enforce a Congressional subpoena.
My guess as to the end game is that he will show up and then refuse to answer questions, but Rove sees himself as the smartest guy in the room, and if he talks, he’ll lie.
If he lies, that’s a federal crime.
Because They Still Won’t Vote For It
So while Barack Obama is meeting with Republicans to get support for the stimulus package, John Boehner has already instructed his caucus not to vote for it.
A bright spot in all this is the report that Obama told the ‘Phants at a meeting to go pound sand on low income tax cuts.
They are claiming that it’s “Welfare”, though Ronald Reagan called it the “Earned Income Tax Credit,” and strongly supported it.
H/t Americablog for the pic.
Election Update
It’s the first day of the Minnesota Election trial, and the Judges just threw out Coleman’s evidence, and told him to submit originals, rather than certified copies, because their copies of ballot envelopers were discovered to have been altered.
Good way to piss of the judges.
JSF Breaks Nunn-McCurdy Limits
Which means that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is massively over budget.
They have finally gotten to the point where they cannot use accounting tricks to cover this up.
I expect the unit cost to rise sharply now, and be near that of the F-22.
A number of people have been predicting this, most notably the House Appropriations Committee, who have been pushing for more Super Hornets, and the DoD, who were trying to accellerate purchases, doubtless to beat this announcement. (paid subscription required)
Props to My Cousin
Who I’ve never met, Dianne Feinstein*, it appears that even though Obama has issued an executive order banning torture, she is proceeding with legislation to make it the law of the land:
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the committee, said that despite the executive orders she still planned to press for legislation mandating a single standard for military and C.I.A. interrogators. Such a law would be harder to reverse than Mr. Obama’s executive order, which he could alter or cancel at any time by issuing a new order.
Cool.
*Full disclosure, my great grandfather, Harry Goldman, and her grandfather, Sam Goldman were brothers.
Clinton Senate Replacement
New York Governor David Paterson has picked Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
She’s a member of the Blue Dog caucus in the house (**blarf**), probably because she is in a Republican leaning district, but we have already seen some evidence of moderation, as she recently came out* for marriage equality and the repeal of DOMA and DADT, so she is making nice with the gay community.
It appears that she has thrown a few elbows, and because of this she is not particularly popular with other members of her delegation.
Additionally, even if she moderates some of her views, I think that the fact that she has a 100% rating from the NRA, and that will antagonize many of the New York state Democrats, particularly Carolyn McCarthy, who is already threatening an aggressive primary challenge.
This is not surprising. Rep. McCarthy takes gun control very personally, as her husband was murdered, and her son gravely injured by the Long Island Rail Road killing spree of Colin Ferguson.
In any case, let’s see how she does over the next year.
*Pun not intended.
Never Start a Negotiation With a Compromise Offer
Because, of course the Republicans are demanding less stimulus and more tax cut.
Seriously, peel off one Senator, and tell the rest of the Republicans to go Cheney themselves.
Not only do they have a political win if the plan fails, they have a philosophical win too, because Keynesian stimulus refutes everything that they believe in.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Passes House
Therw were some minor changes, so the law allowing a greater statute of limitations on ongoing pay discrimination has to go back through the house, but it appears headed to Obama’s desk in a matter of days.
As Kevin Drum notes, “All 56 voting Democrats supported the bill, and five Republicans joined in. Which ones? Arlen Specter plus all four of the women in the GOP caucus. Imagine that.“
Lovely
We now have word that mass transit got the shart in the bailout package because they need to cut a few hundred billion out to accommodate the dumb-ass tax cuts.
This pursuit of 80 votes by Obama is not a smart move. Remember, Social Security was passed with out a single Republican vote in either house of Congress.
The pursuit of bipartisan support will make the bill worse not better.
I Hope That He is Not Serious
In his confirmation hearings, Timothy “Eddie Haskell” Geithner aggressively supported a strong dollar policy.
I understand that this is the conventional wisdom, because much of the money made in Wall Street comes from borrowing cheaply and lending expensively, because the strong dollar policy makes it an attractive reserve currency, but in the long run it’s unsustainable.
He probably had to say it. I just hope that he’s not another Bob “Under Investigation for Insider Trading” Rubin about this.
BTW, the Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of his appointment by 18-5 and sent him to the Senate floor.
Word is that Caroline Kennedy Has Withdrawn from Senate Consideration
Heard on Countdown, reports confirmed in the NY Times.
Clinton Is Approved for State
94-2, but no vote on Holder yet.
Part of the delay on Eric Holder is because the ‘Phants want to bash Bill Clinton over pardons again, but it’s also because they want him to promise not to prosecute torture.
Obama Opposes Cram-Down in Stimulus
Dumb move. With mortgages sliced and diced amongst dozens, if not hundreds, of investors, you cannot renegotiate terms in many cases, which means more defaults and foreclosures.
He’s not opposed to allowing bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages, he just does not want it in the bailout package.
That’s because he’s still pursuing the asinine goal of getting 80 votes in the senate.
He won’t get 80 votes for a bill that works, because Republicans cannot afford fiscal stimulus to succeed.
Paterson to Announce Clinton Replacement By Saturday
And he has said that, “he has all but decided“.
I really Hope that it isn’t Caroline Kennedy. Notwithstanding the issues, she reminds me a lot of her cousin Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (KKT), who was incompetent enough as a campaigner to lose a race for Governor in Maryland.
Sen. Kennedy Released From Hospital After Seizure – NYTimes.com
He’s OK, but it appears that occasional seizures are a likely side effect of his surgery, and he may have more.
Kennedy Suffers Seizure At Inaugural Luncheon
He is apparrently conscious and speaking.
Giving the Fed What For
An exchange between freshman Congressman Alan Grayson and Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn, where the distinguished gentleman from Florida points out the Fed is spending around $4000.00 (actually, it total, it’s closer to $20,000.00 at this point when other programs are rolled in) of taxpayer money for every man, woman, and child in the US, and refusing to provide details.
The Fed is completely out of control, and has gone native, and believes that the financial industry is the economy, and Grayson shows just how corrupt the whole process has become in this exchange.