Congress

In Defense of Congress

~ Lee Swanson ~ 1 Comment

It seems as though everywhere you turn some Beltway observer is complaining that the 113th Congress did not do anything. It’s true that up until their last day in session they had passed fewer bills than any in history. Then in a flurry of activity they voted on just enough legislation to surpass the 112th Congress, barely.

But those who consider this a “do-nothing” Congress, weren’t watching C-SPAN at the right time.

“We’re totally outraged by this legislative deal, which was done in the middle of the night.”

Congress Says It Has to Cut Pensions to Save Them
Bloomberg BusinessWeek

“[The bill was] released in the middle of the night,” Slaughter said at the beginning of the hearing.

Boehner Ally Admits Omnibus Bill Was Crafted in Literal Cigar Smoke-Filled Back Room
Breitbart.com

That’s why Democrats had to use a parliamentary maneuver in the middle of the night to pass it.

Obamacare & the Gruber Democrats
Real Clear Politics

Remember in 2009 when the Democrats controlled the House and Senate and passed Obamacare in the middle of the night without anyone reading the thousands of pages of the law and over the vehement objections of the American people.

Obama: President or King-Dictator?
al.com

The vote was moved up two weeks in the middle of the night …

Messy Fight for Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Slot
Rollcall.com

If they bring it up in the middle of the night and there are only Democrats there, it is ratified.

Gun Rights Activists Are Worried Obama Could Use Executive Action On United Nations Treaty Limiting Gun Rights  
Westernjournalism.com

“The fact that we have made it legal now…in the middle of the night, days before Christmas…”

Blanche Lincoln Segment on Mike Huckabee Show Full of Nonsense
USPoker.com

“These kinds of backroom deals and changing of the rules in the middle of the night is exactly why Congress has a lower approval rating than cockroaches and traffic jams,” he said.

Nancy Pelosi Says Decision to Delete Reporting Requirement for Free Trips ‘Must Be Reversed’
National Journal

Unlike the criticism Congress received following the passage of UIGEA (which was attached to the Safe Ports Act of 2006 literally in the middle of the night)…

House Judiciary Committee May Hold iGaming Hearing During Lame Duck
NJPokerOnline.net

Apparently Congress worked a lot, but waited until after dark to do it. It also seems the work they did at night was on legislation that no one liked and may have actually been harmful.

The solution seems simple. The halls of Congress should close at the same time as the Georgetown bars.

Obama Executive Order Has GOP Fuming

~ Lee Swanson ~ 1 Comment

(Washington, DC) – Reaction to President Barack Obama’s latest executive order has been swift and angry. On Friday, the president issued an order declaring government offices will be closed on Friday December 26, 2014. Republicans are vowing to stop the order from taking effect.

“This sort of scorched earth approach to governing has got to be stopped,” House Speaker John Boehner told a hastily called news conference. “The American people expect their government to be working for them,” he said from the clubhouse foyer at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda before the House leadership adjourned to the golf course.

“It is the purview of the Congress to shut down the government,” Boehner added. “It cannot be done by executive order. As the president said himself, he is not an emperor.”

The Speaker brushed aside criticism that the House will be in session a total of only 17 days from October through December. “This is about a president who ignores his oath to uphold the Constitution. If we have to, we will file a lawsuit to stop him,” Boehner said angrily, his face turning from its usual bright orange to deep red.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a presumed presidential contender, declared the president’s action a “fiscal disaster waiting to happen.” He claimed the one day closure will cost the government billions in lost productivity and demanded that funds be found to make up for the loss. “Before we go around closing offices, we need to cut programs to be sure the taxpayers aren’t left holding the bag,” Cruz told reporters. “And I think we start with Obamacare and immigration reform.”

“This is the sort of thing you would expect from a socialist Muslim,” former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said on Fox News. “He’s trying to move the most important holiday on the Christian calendar, which is to say the only calendar there is in this Christian nation and around the world, super-specially at this time of year, so he can have another day to face Mecca. He needs to be reminded the White House is the people’s house, Sean. It has an East Room, but it doesn’t have a Mideast Room.” Palin was speaking on the Fox News hastily arranged special program “Escalating the War on Christmas.”

When asked for his view of the executive order and reaction to it, soon to be Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said, “It is not only illegal, it is immoral and repulsive. And frankly it is totally unnecessary. I’ve been in the Senate since 1985 and have never worked a single Friday.”

Blackout

~ Lee Swanson ~ Leave a comment

I learned a lot during a power blackout here in San Diego the other day.  The whole county, parts of other counties and part of Mexico were without electricity.  “Plunged into darkness” as the newspapers would have you believe.  Truth is, the darkness came at about the same rate it usually does, it just wasn’t artificially supplemented.

The blackout started in the afternoon long before dark set in and the neighborhood parties got going and it was informative to watch people try to get home.  All the stop lights were out and cars were backed up blocks long all over the city.  But at least on the city streets I was on, people were patiently waiting their turn.  No horns and shouts, no cars sneaking across the intersection to try to get ahead of others.  Everyone seemed to know that each car had a right to go across the intersection and everyone let them get there.

And it got me thinking.  Maybe stop lights aren’t such a good idea.  Almost everyone seems to run the yellow lights, if not the red. If there’s no light, and no stop sign, people seem to do pretty well at being cooperative.  I know, I know, it was slow and cumbersome.  But in due time everyone got where they were going.

It was civilized and considerate.  Everyone agreed without argument; without even discussion. But more than traffic control, I’m wondering  what can we do to get a blackout on Capitol Hill?