Boehner’s idea of leadership

Los Angeles Times: House Speaker John A. Boehner called last fall’s government shutdown a “very predictable disaster” that he warned his fellow Republicans to avoid, but ultimately went along with it at the behest of colleagues intent on a standoff with President Obama over his healthcare law.

Making his “Tonight Show” debut Thursday, the Ohio Republican told host Jay Leno that the episode reflected the challenges he faces leading an often rambunctious House majority.

“When I looked up, I saw my colleagues going this way.  And you learn that a leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk,” he said. “So I said, ‘You want to fight this fight?  I’ll go fight the fight with you.’ But it was a very predictable disaster.”

Leading by following. It’s the Boehner way.

After telling this little story, The Orange Weeper explained his job as Speaker, as he saw it: “Some members, I have to be the big brother figure. Some, I have to be the father figure.  Others, I have to be the dean of students or the principal. Some of them, I have to be the Gestapo.”

And sometimes he has to be the irresponsible babysitter who lets the kids eat all the candy they want, so he doesn’t have to listen to them cry about it. And if the kids are up all night puking afterward? Not his fault.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

Boehner’s argument against ENDA based primarily on bullshit and bad logic

Huffington Post: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) affirmed on Monday morning that he would oppose a law that would prohibit discrimination against gay and lesbian employees in the workplace, citing the possibility that it would put a financial burden on businesses.

"The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement.

The remark from Steel is a tough blow for supporters of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

ENDA would probably make it through the Senate, but Boehner’s opposition means it will probably not even come up for a vote in that chamber.

But consider the reasoning; does Boehner’s office believe that suits against businesses that practice gender, race, or religious discrimination are auomatically “frivolous”? I think there are quite a few people in America who would argue the opposite — and they’d be right. If there’s a law against discrimination, suing those who discriminate is pretty much the exact opposite of frivolous. And ask the person who was denied employment because of discrimination how well Boehner’s protecting jobs. The argument makes no sense at all.

When that argument fell apart, Boehner’s office “clarified” (i.e., made an entirely different and totally unrelated argument); “We have always believed this is covered by existing law.” Of course, it’s not. That’s why ENDA is needed. But even if Boehner was right, it would completely contradict his original argument — where are all the frivolous lawsuits destroying American businesses far and wide?

The truth is that Boehner’s arguing in bad faith. What going on — and what he’s bending over backwards to avoid saying — is that gerrymandering of House districts has made his party slaves to bigots. And as a result, Boehner’s nutjob caucus needs to take the least popular position on an issue once again, lest the hatemongering voters that the party has chosen for themselves will primary them with someone who hates the gays enough.

An alternate headline for this piece — indeed, the headline I’d originally considered — would be “How the GOP is committing suicide today.” Again, they can’t keep thwarting the will of the people and expect to win elections.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

No, Obama isn’t ‘caving’ on the debt limit

Politico is reporting “cracks” opening in the White House position on the debt limit, but this is more a case of Politico being a sensationalist rag that “drives the conversation" in Washington than anything. Politico is OK for facts, but it’s fishwrap when it comes to insight. When it comes to political analysis, Politico’s main goal is to get people talking about Politico — this sort of self-serving crap journalism is how they brag themselves up to advertisers. They don’t even try to hide it. Don’t fall for it.

What the White House is saying they’re open to is a short term increase in the debt limit — with no strings attached. Obama and Democrats would give up nothing in exchange for allowing Republicans a bit more time to step back from the ledge. It’s not a cave, it’s a carrot and a stick. If there’s one thing Boehner prays for before he goes to bed every nght, it’s some way out. If he needs more time to find it and it’s no skin off the President’s nose, then why not give it to him?

The worst that could happen here is that Republicans come out of this period as determined as ever to take the nation’s economic well-being hostage and we’re right back where we were. No gain, no loss. But this period would also be a period of time where polling data had a chance to really sink in and for the GOP to see beyond their own districts. To stare into the abyss of their own electoral demise as a party and face the very real possibility of one party rule for at least the next four years. If dems win the House this time around, they’ll hold it easily if a Democrat wins the White House — and a Democrat is going to win the White House.

It’s not a “give them enough rope” strategy, because there isn’t enough slack to hand them more rope. This is an issue of grave importance without a lot of wiggle room. It’s more like tying a noose around their necks and making them live with it for a while. Maybe if they see that noose every time they look in the mirror, they’ll finally realize that they aren’t as immune to consequence as they might like to think.

This move is designed to shake Republican resolve. Don’t let Politico’s shit reporting shake yours.

[photo via Wikimedia Commons]

This is a Republican shutdown, plain and simple

James Fallows lists “The Two Basic Facts That Should Be in Every Shutdown Story”:

1. If the House of Representatives voted on a “clean” budget bill — one that opened up the closed federal offices but did not attempt to defund the Obama health care program — that bill would pass, and the shutdown would be over. Nearly all Democrats would vote for it, as would enough Republicans to end the shutdown and its related damage. (And of course it has already passed the Senate, repeatedly, and would be signed by the president.) For illustrations of the wanton damage, see here and here.
   
   
2. So far House Speaker John Boehner has refused to let this vote occur. His Tea Party contingent knows how the vote would go and therefore does not want it to happen; and such is Boehner’s fear of them, and fear for his job as Speaker, that he will not let it take place.

Therefore, the shutdown is a strictly Republican baby. If the bill that John Boehner now has stuffed in his back pocket were to go up for a vote, it would pass and that would be that. The shutdown continues because Boehner refuses to end it.

Period. End of story.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

Boehner pretends to be in control of runaway train

Agence France-Press: The House of Representatives doubled down Wednesday on a gamble to strip funding for “Obamacare” as part of a stop-gap budget, inching the US government closer to a shutdown.

Congress has until September 30, the end of the fiscal year, to pass a temporary budget measure or see closures of all federal agencies and programs just as the administration seeks to extend the government’s legal borrowing limit and secure Syria’s chemical weapons.

House Speaker John Boehner appeared to cave in to the conservative wing of his Republican Party, which has threatened to vote against any deal on a temporary budget — known as a continuing resolution, or CR — unless it defunds President Barack Obama’s landmark health care law and keeps this year’s automatic spending cuts in place.

"This week the House will pass a CR that locks the sequester savings in and defunds Obamacare,” Boehner told reporters after meeting for an hour with his caucus.

"Boehner dismissed accusations he has lost control of his caucus, many of which revolted last week against a Boehner bill that would have allowed the Senate to easily strip out language to defund Obamacare as part of the CR," the report goes on. Let’s stop pretending that Boehner is anything other than a figurehead here, not a leader. He doesn’t twist arms, he has his arm twisted. So basically what’s happening here is that Boehner has acted as spokesperson for the Tea Party, announcing that the wingnut tantrum will be going along as scheduled.

However, the tantrum — like all tantrums — is unlikely to accomplish anything. It’s basically bluster, hoping that someone in Democratic leadership might be bluffed into blinking. “To be clear about what this means, all that has changed today is that GOP leaders have just confirmed they are not yet willing to face the inevitable reckoning that will take place when they admit House Republicans don’t have the leverage they need to block Obamacare,” explains Greg Sargent. “House GOP leaders have simply confirmed that they can’t overcome internal conservative demands for a Total War posture against the health law, and — for now, anyway — will continue to placate those demands, even though those leaders themselves think this posture is insane, unworkable, and self destructive.”

Republicans can either shut down the government and enjoy the fruits of that articular disaster or they can cave, accept that Obamacare is a done deal, and move forward like adults. But one thing is clear here;in the end, the only choice left to Republicans seems to be the manner in which they’d prefer to lose.

In a post-Citizens United world, Boehner still manages to find campaign finance laws to break

Cleveland Plain Dealer: The Federal Election Commission is examining whether dozens of political action committees and individuals contributed more than the legally allowed amount to House Speaker John Boehner during last year’s election cycle.

Letters the Federal Election Committee sent Monday to Friends of John Boehner indicated that donors including coal, energy, and gambling interests, exceeded contribution limits to Boehner’s committee by more than $150,000.

Among the groups that were allegedly overgenerous to Boehner were Coalpac and Minepac, which represent the mining industry, as well as political committees representing the Exelon, Constellation and Luminant power companies, and the Ceasars and Penn National gambling enterprises.

Needless to say, the FEC expects FoJB to send some checks back. Of course, this isn’t the first time Boehner’s been caught playing fast and loose with campaign finance laws. In 1995, Boehner was caught on the House floor, handing out checks from Big Tobacco prior to a vote. Most people would call that bribery and most people would be right.

After the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the world of campaign finance is damned near anarchy — there aren’t a lot of laws left governing it. That Boehner still managed to find one to break shows skill and a real commitment to corruption.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

The incredibly stupid thing John Boehner said today

Steve Benen: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was asked at a press briefing this morning about President Obama’s series of speeches on the economy and the middle class. My jaw dropped a bit by the response.

"I’m not going to speak to what the president is doing or why he’s doing it. If I had poll numbers as low as his, I’d probably be out doing the same thing, if I were him."

Look, if Boehner wants to say his ideas are better than the president’s, fine. If the Speaker wants to make the case that the Republican vision of governance is superior to the Democratic vision, that’s his right. These are subjective questions.

But the one topic John Boehner should go out of his way not to talk about his poll numbers. If he had “poll numbers as low" as Obama’s? Seriously? If Boehner had poll numbers as high as the president’s he wouldn’t be such a hapless, accomplishment-free House Speaker.

Boehner wishes he had approval numbers “as low as" President Obama’s, as the chart above demonstrates. I’m not sure why Boehner wants to pick this fight, but it’s one he can’t possibly win.

Those poll numbers reflect an uncomfortable truth for Boehner — that his attempts to blame the economy on the President are failing. People are well aware that Washington Republicans are sabotaging economic recovery with obstructionism, while at the state level demand-attacking morons like Wisconsin’s own Scott Walker are doing as much damage as they can. The party is actively harming America for political gain.

"Obama is a relatively popular president; Congress is a national laughingstock," writes Benen. “The House Speaker sometimes struggles with current events, but if he thinks he enjoys a stronger public standing than Obama, he needs to have a long chat with his pollster."

Immigration reform has Boehner, Cantor looking for emergency exits

Steve Benen: House Republicans are still opposed to comprehensive immigration reform, but they’re suddenly taking a fresh look at the Dream Act.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday offered an endorsement for a proposal to grant citizenship to children who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents.

"This is about basic fairness," Boehner said one week after convening a two-hour meeting to discuss immigration with his conference. “These children were brought here of no accord of their own, and frankly they’re in a very difficult position," he said. “And I think many of our members believe that this issue needs to be addressed."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) recently sounded a very similar note. “It’s an issue of decency and compassion," he said. “Where else would these kids go?"

To that end, The Hill reports that Cantor and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) are crafting a bill to deal with children brought to the U.S. illegally, and the measure will likely get an initial House hearing next week.

Of course, Benen points out some problems with this new line by House GOP leadership. First, they hated the DREAM Act when it first came around. Boehner and Cantor both voted against it. Further, “just last month, nearly every member of the House Republican caucus voted to deport Dream Act kids." And finally, if the DREAM Act got passed, it wouldn’t be any sort of aternative to immigration reform, since it doesn’t protect the families of all these newly-minted citizens. “Congratulations, we’ve passed the Dream Act and you can stay," Benen imagine House GOP saying. “Now say goodbye to your mom and dad."

The fact is that immigration reform is dying in the House, Boehner and Cantor recognize that this would be electoral suicide for their party, but they can’t do anything to stop it because the “leadership" part of “House leadership" is entirely theoretical. They both lead by following and when the two bump heads, as they often do, the disagreement is over what faction should be leading them around by the nose.

So, politics still being the art of the possible, they see the DREAM Act as something they could maybe, possibly, with a little luck talk enough self-destructively bigoted Tea Party nutjobs into passing. Then they’ll just start talking about it as “immigration reform" and hope — as they always do — that voters are too stupid to know the difference.

[photo via capl@washjeff.edu (Washington & Jefferson College)]

Boehner’s not the leader of House Republicans, he’s the spokesperson

Talking Points Memo: If you feel like the inmates have taken over the asylum in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) wants you to know that your suspicions are totally correct.

At his weekly Capitol briefing Thursday, Boehner faced questions about two aging and increasingly questionable elements of the GOP’s legislative strategy: repeated votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and continued efforts to extract partisan concessions from Democrats in exchange for increasing the debt ceiling.

In both cases, Boehner acknowledged that the conservative wing of the House is driving the agenda.

“We’ve got 17 new members that have not had the opportunity to vote on the President’s health care law,” Boehner said, referring to next week’s ACA repeal vote. “Frankly they’ve been asking for an opportunity to vote on it, and we’re going to give it to them.”

And the debt ceiling? Same basic story.

“Our conversations have begun,” he said. “We’re going to have a big conversation with our members next week to talk about a way forward — what do our members believe is necessary to allow them to vote yes on increasing the debt limit?”

It’s yet more evidence that the party’s national and legislative strategies are driven by rank and file conservatives, not party leadership.

Just yesterday I brought up a trend in punditry that held that Pres. Obama was supposedly the problem in Washington, because he isn’t “leading” Republicans. The idea is that Obama needs to grab up the secret White House Magic Wand and make extremist Republicans into reasonable moderates.

Something like that anyway. It’s not really clear on what he’s supposed to do specifically, because they never actually explain it. They just say “leadership” because they’re lazy and dumb and saying Republicans are the problem would just be “media bias” (which has come to be a synonym for “reality” these days).

Anyway, none of these deep thinkers ever accuses John Boehner of not practicing leadership, even though the case is much better in his case. Like Obama, Boehner can’t just wave a magic wand and suddenly get people to do everything he says. But unlike Obama, Boehner rarely even tries to get people to follow him.  Where the President actually proposes legislation, the Speaker mostly reacts. When he holds a press conference, it’s like he gathers the other House Republicans around and asks, “So what do you want me to tell these guys?”

If there’s any lack of leadership in Washington, it’s coming from the Speaker’s office, not the White House.

Boehner misreads polls to claim support for GOP cuts

Greg Sargent:

John Boehner is promoting a new Marist-McClatchy poll which supposedly shows that Americans love cutting government spending. Boehner claims the poll shows that “Americans want spending cuts,” and quotes a Marist official asserting it demonstrates that Americans “are not in a mood to increase taxes.”

Which is funny, because the poll actually shows that majorities of voters would rather increase taxes than cut spending on education, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and infrastructure. In other words, it demonstrates a central fact about public opinion that may help determine how the sequester “blame game” will play: Americans say they love cutting government but suddenly balk in a big way when you start talking about cutting specific programs.

The poll’s toplines do at first glance appear favorable to Republicans. It finds that voters prefer cutting spending to increasing taxes in general by 53-37. It finds that a plurality of Americans think spending cuts won’t impact them — and that as many think the cuts will help the economy or have no impact on it as think the cuts will hurt it.

But here’s the thing, that’s the result you always get — at least, when you aren’t specific about the cuts. People love spending cuts in the abstract, because they seem too think that half or money is overseas as foreign aid and the other half is wasted on dubious scientific studies about democracy in goldfish. But when it’s not just vague “wasteful spending,” government spending suddenly becomes very popular — which the Marist-McClatchy poll found. According to Sargent, “the poll took the welcome step — which I haven’t seen before — of asking whether Americans prefer tax hikes rather than cuts in specific programs.”

Observe:

• by 65-31 they prefer to raise taxes than cut spending on education
• by 60-33 they prefer to raise taxes than cut Social Security
• by 57-36 they prefer to raise taxes than cut Medicare
• by 53-40 they prefer to raise taxes than cut spending for transportation including roads and bridges
• by 50-42 they prefer to raise taxes than cut Medicaid

By using this poll to champion the GOP’s super-awesome stand on the sequester (i.e., let the cuts happen), Boehner is once again signing his caucus’s name to some unpopular cuts. And, of course, he’s making the mistake of pointing out exactly the sort of cuts Republicans are demanding. Worse, since he’s misusing poll numbers to misrepresent public support, he’s basically lying to you about what you believe. I’ll never understand why politicians believe that would work.

In any case, this is the GOP’s schizoid messaging on sequester cuts : if you don’t like them, they were Obama’s idea. But if you do like them, the Republican Party is responsible. As always, cognitive dissonance is no impediment to the resourceful Republican spin doctor.

[photo via Gage Skidmore]

John Boehner explains sequestration

It’s Boehner’s sequester now

The New York Times has an article up about Republican reaction to the sequester deadline and Boehner’s kamikaze run at the economy. That reaction is pure joy.

While the frustrations of Congressional Democrats and Mr. Obama with Mr. Boehner are reaching a fever pitch, House Republicans could not be more pleased with their leader.

“We asked him to commit to us that when the cuts actually came on March 1, that he would stand firm and not give in, and he’s holding to that,” said Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. “I think Friday will be an important day that shows we’re finally willing to stand and fight for conservative principles and force Washington to start living within its means. And that will be a big victory.”

That’s just a representative sample, GOPer after GOPer steps forward to give the Orange One “credit” for triggering the sequester. “Republican aides say privately that Mr. Boehner sees no need to negotiate; Republicans are in a good place, they argue, because they want spending cuts and those cuts are happening,” the report tells us.

All of which triggers this observation from Ed Kilgore:

[The] expressions of deep satisfaction with the sequester being heard in Republican circles almost everywhere seem to have rapidly replaced last week’s talking points blaming the whole thing on the president. I guess they just can’t stop the joy in their hearts from bursting into view at the dismay of public employees and the fear and confusion of “takers” everywhere. But happiest of all is the Orange Man who for once can go to sleep at night without fear of being shivved in this sleep by Eric Cantor or humiliated by his own supposed followers. So enjoy the day, Mr. Speaker; it won’t get any better than this.

No, it won’t get better. It’ll get worse. And all this Republican triumphalism is profoundly unwise on their part. After a huge effort to pin the blame on the President, message discipline breaks down completely and House Republicans parade the sequester around like a trophy

The public was already inclined to blame the GOP for the sequester, drastically cutting spending is not going to bring the sunny economic days ‘baggers seem to believe it will, and Republicans’ fingerprints are not just all over this thing — they’ve actually signed their names on it in fingerpaints.

This is not going to turn out well. Not for me, not for you, not for the nation — but especially not for Republicans celebrating the fact that they just dropped a time bomb of their own making down their pants. This is in all likelihood all going to go so very, very wrong, leaving Republicans to explain to 2014 voters why it was exactly that they broke out the champagne and confetti on March the First, 2013.

[photo via Keith Allison]

Boehner’s shaky position as Speaker

Roll Call:

A concerted effort to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner was under way the day of his re-election to the position, but participants called it off 30 minutes before the House floor vote, CQ Roll Call has learned.

A group of disaffected conservatives had agreed to vote against the Ohio lawmaker if they could get at least 25 members to join the effort. But one member, whose identity could not be verified, rescinded his or her participation the morning of the vote, leaving the group one person short of its self-imposed 25-member threshold. Only 17 votes against Boehner were required to force a second ballot, but the group wanted to have insurance.

Even with 24 members, the group would easily have been able to force a second ballot round, but the effort was aborted in frenetic discussions on the House floor.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” you’re thinking. “Palace intrigue. How fascinating… So what?”

Well, last week Nate Silver looked at the vote and concluded that “recent history doesn’t bode well” for Boehner. Speakers with weak support tend not to be Speakers with longevity. And keep in mind that Silver’s analysis came before we knew the full extent of the opposition to Boehner. the Orange One’s position is actually much, much weaker than Silver had realized.

John Boehner wants very much to be Speaker of the House. It’s probably as far as he’ll ever go in politics and he knows it. This is why Boehner is so eager to please and so easily led around by the nose by the Tea Party crazies in his caucus. The result of this, as I’ve pointed out before, is that House Republicans are actually leaderless, since the Speaker takes his marching orders from the people supposedly following him. This is what’s led to so many logjams in Washington — the inmates are running the asylum.

Now that Boehner knows just how tenuous his position as Speaker actually is, expect things to get even worse.

News Roundup for 5/1/12

Mitt Romney

-Headline of the Day-
"Has Team Romney forgotten that the Bush years were terrible?"

They sure seem to have.

According to Ezra Klein, "Last week, when CNN asked House Speaker John Boehner whom Mitt Romney, the likely GOP presidential nominee, should choose as his vice presidential running mate, he named Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Daniels and Portman served as budget directors in the Bush White House. Perhaps more surprising, a variety of big-name Republicans have openly yearned for Jeb Bush to get the nod — and before that, to run for the nomination itself.

"Meanwhile, Romney’s campaign staff is thick with Bush administration veterans. Two of his economic advisers — N. Greg Mankiw and Glenn Hubbard — served as chief economists for Bush. His policy director, Lanhee Chen, worked on health policy in the Bush White House."

Yeah, let's get Bush economic advisers back in the White House, because that worked out so awesome the last time.

Still, this should finally end the question as to whether Mittens is a "real" conservative. And not just because he seems to be running for Dubya's third term. See, when a real conservative starts talking about change, they mean they want to change things back to the way they used to be when they sucked -- e.g., the War on Women that would send women's rights back to the fifties.

On that score, Romney seems to be as real a conservative as possible. (Washington Post)


-Listen to the lady-



She's right on the money. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Romney’s Openly-Gay Spokesperson Resigns After Facing Pressure From Anti-Gay Right Wing."

More evidence that Mitt's a real conservative -- he's way too responsive to bigots. (ThinkProgress)

Stories to Watch: 4/24/12

Kind of feeling a little beat today. I've been getting more exercise than I'm used to -- which I suppose is good, but tiring. Now here's the news...


Ann Romney's seriously screwed up gaffe.


Rightwing hater Bradlee Dean is too extreme even for the Republican Party of Minnesota.


Yet another Romney "pivot."


John Boehner told another lie today.


Wal-Mart demonstrates how to close a barn door after the horse has escaped.


John Thune threatens a tantrum and a government shutdown, because he's smart like that.


Finally, Gingrich may finally succumb to reality and quit.

Related articles

• John Boehner: 'America Can't Live For Four More Years With Barack Obama As President' (mediaite.com)
• High School Principal Resigns In Wake Of Bradlee Dean Debacle (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Bradlee Dean, Rachel Maddow and Conservative Entitlement (thinkprogress.org)
• Coincidence? Republicans oppose affordable student loans, launch another stupid attack on Obama (dailykos.com)

News Roundup for 3/8/12

Boehner came up with a brilliant wedge issue
-- and now he's stuck with it

-Headline of the Day-
"Dems twist knife in birth control fight."

You hear about this Rush Limbaugh thing? Oh, it's terrible! He's yelling at ladies he doesn't even know and calling them whores and prostitutes, just because they want prescription drug coverage.

Turns out that this isn't just a sudden bout of Tourette's or something. It was brought about by a big Republican freak out over employers' coverage of birth control. It seems that employers can no longer force employees to live by the employers' religious beliefs and this is the worst thing ever!

Anyway, this is becoming a problem for Republicans, since the whole thing is stupid and everybody knows it. GOP leaders just want it all to go away (although Limbaugh isn't really playing along on that point).

So a bunch of Democrats, who also happen to be women, cooked up a plan. This thing isn't going to fade away, as GOP leadership hopes. Republicans are going to have to come out -- in public and on the record -- about how they feel about contraceptive coverage.

According to Greg Sargent, "In a letter to Speaker John Boehner — which was sent my way by a source — the 12 female Senate Dems, led by Patty Murray, are demanding that he drop his promise to hold a vote on the House version of the Blunt amendment, which has over 200 Republicans co-sponsors.

"The letter from the female Senators — which is timed to International Women’s Day — asks Boehner to pledge not to move any more birth-control-related legislation in the House."

See, the problem here is that the nuts are dug in on this issue because of Limbaugh. They think they have to defend him and in doing so have taken his whole slut/whore/bitch line as Gospel. If Boehner drops the issue, they're going to be ma-ad. But if he puts it up to a vote, everyone else will be. For the record, "everyone else" outnumbers the nuts by, like, a lot. This is what you call being between yer rock and a hard place. If Boehner let's the issue fade, a bunch of females get to shout "victory!" from the rooftops and piss off the GOP base. If not... well, that's pretty much like flooring it into the brick wall of public opinion -- in an election year that's already looking a little shaky for the Grand Old Party.

Of course, it wasn't the dem women who put Boehner between that rock and that hard place. Some guy named "John Boehner" did that.

They're just making sure he stays there for a while. (Plum Line)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, this week we're going to learn all about a Iran and the nuclear weapons program it doesn't actually have...


Click for animation

Bonus fun: it wouldn't really be a war over nuclear weapons, since Iran doesn't actually have any of those. It'd be a war against Forbidden Knowledge -- which is futile. (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Joe The Plumber/Future Congressman Whining About ‘Gotcha’ Questions Already."

Hey, he learned that whine from the best. (Wonkette)

Stories to Watch: 1/24/12

Lasagna tonight. Gonna be awesome. Now here's the news...


Big State of the Union address tonight. There will reportedly be a focus on the shrinking middle class, so expect shrieks of "class warfare!" from the country club set. John Boehner gets the fainting couch all warmed up.


One of my fave go-to bloggers -- Steve Benen -- is moving to the Rachel Maddow show. No word on who'll be replacing Steve, but Washington Monthly' Political Animal will go on.


Both Gingrich and Romney are unpopular with general election voters. The frontrunner situation has the right falling on each other like a pack of wolves.


Barney Frank proves that flawless logic can be really funny.


Dem insiders think the GOP primaries could last until the daisies start sprouting again.


This may be the stupidest, most unnecessary piece of legislation in the nation right now.


Bill Kristol's panic deepens.


Finally, Wisconsin dems make sure Scott Walker's out-of-state fundraising tour gets the attention it deserves.

Related articles

• Griper Blade: Out of State Money King Scott Walker Complains About Out of State Money in Wisconsin Recall (gripernews.blogspot.com)
• Preview Obama's State Of The Union Address (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Romney Attacks Obama in 'Prebuttal' (myfoxny.com)
• White House on the offensive in final hours before State of the Union (whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/20/11

Failed to make fudge today. It's like the only thing I have absolutely no talent for cooking. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm done trying. You win fudge. Now here's the news...


Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doesn't have the guts to put his new first amendment curbs on protests to the test.


Iowa religious nutjob Bob Vander Plaats urged Michele Bachmann to drop out, I guess because she was hurting Rick Santorum's chances. Newsflash for Vander Plaats: Rick Santorum is the one hurting Rick Santorum's chances. Then again Bob and the Family Leader are completely insane.


Today proves that John Boehner isn't blessed with leadership skills. Want a payroll tax cut extension to help you get through the holidays? OK, here's a bust of Winston Churchill. Close enough.


Bloomberg News gives the 1% a chance to tell their side of the story -- a chance they promptly blow by being whiny, bitchy, pissy, and hopelessly out of touch. In short, every bit the fat-cat stereotype you envision when you think of them. I'll bet they were chomping on cigars. Check out Felix Salmon's take on the piece.


Tim Tebow's message for gay teens considering suicide; it does not get better. Like 99% of hardcore evangelicals, Tebow is an ass.


Rocker Jon Bon Jovi shares a trait with Schrödinger's cat; he is both dead and alive.


Finally, this is a real headline: "Arrested man dies from eating cocaine hidden in brother’s butt." Happy Holidays, everyone!

Related articles

• One Iowa: Vander Plaats Out of Touch with Iowa Voters (bilerico.com)
• Rick Santorum Endorsed by Fundamentalist Birther Vander Plaats (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Anti-Gay Marriage Leaders Endorse Rick Santorum (thinkprogress.org)
• Iowa's Leading Anti-Gay, 'Pro-Family' Activist Endorses Rick Santorum: VIDEO (towleroad.com)

Stories to Watch: 12/19/11

No roundup today and I doubt there will be one for the rest of the week. Holiday prep, combined with Walker recall work, leaves me a little squeezed for time and the roundup is nothing if not time consuming. On the plus side, I'm making a buttload of sourdough pancakes that I'll freeze and give away like Christmas cookies. This place smells awesome. I'm almost done with everyone's, then I'll make a batch for myself. Now here's the news...


North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il's condition is downgraded to Kim Jong Dead.


CNN has a poll out showing that the Newt Gingrich fad is doing what fads do.


Stuff that makes your blood boil; after making a killing killing jobs, Mitt Romney still makes money off Bain Capital -- and probably pays a lower tax rate on it than you do.


Nate Silver says Ron Paul is actually leading in Iowa.


Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown -- already in a tough reelection battle against Elizabeth Warren -- is not happy with the way John Boehner totally screwed up the payroll tax cut extension.


On a related note, Tea Party Rep. Phil Gingrey is a clown.


And speaking of the Tea Party, remember how it's just crazy to suggest there's any racism among the 'baggers? Yeah, about that...


Rick Perry is embarrassed.


Finally, Sarah Palin is still in denial about the expiration date on her fifteen minutes of fame.

Related articles

• Rep. Phil Gingrey: Payroll tax fight is GOP 'Braveheart moment' (dailykos.com)
• PPP Iowa Tracker: Ron Paul takes lead, Newt Gingrich falls off cliff (dailykos.com)
• Sarah Palin Tells Fox Business Network That 'It's Not Too Late' To Jump Into The GOP Race (mediaite.com)
• GOP Elite Suddenly Terrified That Romney's Bain Capital History May Be A Liability (huffingtonpost.com)

Stories to Watch: 11/15/11

Did a little tweaking of the blogspot blogs last night. I think it looks good. Now here's the news...


A judge declares Zuccotti Park a free-speech-free zone.


Are mayors coordinating the crackdown on the Occupy movement? Sure sounds like it.


During a presidential debate, Newt Gingrich said he was paid by Freddie Mac to be "a historian." If that sounded insane to you at the time (why does a lender need a freakin' historian?), that's because it was bullshit. Newt was hired as a lobbyist to "to build bridges to Capitol Hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s public-private structure that would resonate with conservatives seeking to dismantle it." In short, Newton is a liar. Pure and simple.


David Brooks wrote something stupid again.


Two people who worked for him are now confirming the obvious; "investigative journalist" James O'Keefe has zero interest in journalism and only wants to push propaganda.


Both Google and Facebook oppose an anti-piracy bill. Why? Because it's so stupidly written that both services could be held responsible for the way other people use them. Imagine Ford having to answer for every hit-and-run or drunk driver in a Mustang and you get an idea of what the problem is here.


Texas executes mostly black people.


John Boehner is a prick.


Finally, remember how ketchup became a vegetable under Reagan? Now pizza's a vegetable, according to House Republicans. I know it's a crazy idea, but how about we stop declaring things to be other things? Because that's stupid.

Related articles

• Newt Gingrich Lied about That $300,000 He Took from Freddie & Fannie (firedoglake.com)
• Newt Gingrich Paid $300,000 By Freddie And Fannie To Court Republicans (alan.com)
• New York Times Total Fail: Yes, Another David Brooks Edition (delong.typepad.com)