Now Is Not The Time To Roll Over

Simply put, last night was a rough one for the Democratic Party. Sixty or so seats in the House, six or seven in the Senate and a plethora of governorships and legislatures across the country were lost to the Republican Party. Soon to be Speaker Boehner is claiming a mandate, President Obama has tail between his legs, but now more than ever is the time to fight for a progressive agenda in America.

For some odd reason, the President thinks that being a Democrat is a bad thing in light of what happened at the polls. He is mistaken however.

In the last two years the President has accomplished more to help the American worker since L.B.J. Where Bill Clinton failed on health care in 1993, Obama succeeded by taking the first (but not final) step towards ensuring that all Americans have health insurance. The Recovery Act helped our nation avoid a true economic catastrophe. And there are many more fucking things on list of accomplishments.

Unfortunately though, the devastation wrought by the Bush Administration was beyond horrific and could not have been remedied in under two years' time. Sadly, the American voter by and large assessed Obama and his party with the blame for our unemployment woes.

Obama and his party can take some of that heat, not for what they did, but for what they did not do. A full scale, innovative and assertive jobs bill should have been the first item on the agenda (perhaps if they stuck to their guns with the original idea and intent of the Recovery Act).

Most importantly though, what has been a complete failure for the men and women in blue has been the lack of effective messaging. What was Obama's greatest strength as a Presidential candidate was the weakest link for both the White House and the Democratic majority on the Hill. For instance, the word "stimulus" should have been left to the policy wonks. The "Jobs, Jobs and more Jobs Act" would have been better.

So in the next two years, as Obama re-learns his campaigning skills (a Ryan Seacrest interview does not signal an improvement in his game), our party's faithful has to push harder than ever to force the thinned out Democrats to stick to their principles and vote for smart, sensible legislation and not the type of bill that widens the income equality gap more than it's at now (which is at it's largest in American history). Republicans will try to claim that giving tax cuts to the wealthy will spur job growth, but in reality that has only hurt the American worker, hardly ever has it helped. Instead we must regulate big business, or at least make it clear to the voters that that is the intent of the (sadly) leaner and (hopefully) meaner Democratic Party.

If the lesson learned for the Democratic leadership is to "compromise" with the uncompromisable G.O.P, then the results of 2012 will look a lot like 2010....only with the Presidency on the line.

Boehner Reverts To Fearmongering

Perhaps this is what the "rebranding" effort is all about. Producing videos and making statements about how afraid we all should be now that Barack Obama is in charge. Boehner and the GOP will use whatever tactic, from fearmongering about terror to how bad it is that Obama wants to help the middle class take all the tax cuts away from the rich. The only problem with this is that there is no "rebranding" going on here, it's simply more of the same from a failed national regional party.

Even Boehner Admits Bush Administration Tortured

While John Boehner came out to trash the Obama Administration for disclosing the Bush memos outlining how authorities should torture alleged terrorists, he let his personal views on the "techniques" slip. Being a member of the GOP, most of his statements today were seriously misguided and harmful to having an open government in our country. Nevertheless, at least he affirmed that what Bush and his cronies did was torture.

From The Huffington Post:

While cable news outlets and major newspapers continue to use euphemisms such as "harsh interrogation tactics" to describe the Bush administration's approach to intelligence gathering, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) used a more succinct term Thursday: "torture."

"Last week, they released these memos outlining torture techniques. That was clearly a political decision and ignored the advice of their Director of National Intelligence and their CIA director," Boehner said at a press conference in the Capitol.

Of course the press on hand had to follow up and Boehner's spokesman tried to walk back the comments:

Regarding the Boehner's use of the T-word, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel writes, "It is clear from the context that Boehner was simply using liberals' verbiage to describe these interrogation techniques. The United States does not torture.

Nice try Michael. Someone in a position like Boehner's should know the difference between the truth and a GOP talking point. Perhaps it was a subconscious slip but at least it was evidence that Boehner could tell at least one truth among the empty partisan rhetoric that came out of his mouth today.

MIT Professor Tells House GOP To Stop Lying About His Cap And Trade Study

Don't you just hate it when Republicans take your thorough academic work and twist it for their own diabolical ends? M.I.T. Professor John Reilly certainly feels that way now as the House Republicans led by John Boehner continue to blatant lie about what is in his report on what cap and trade costs to the public. Though he isn't taking it lightly, in fact he wrote a blistering open letter so that they'll stop misrepresenting the truth.

From ThinkProgress:

PolitiFact interviewed John Reilly, an MIT professor and one of the authors of the study, who explained he had spoken with a representative from the House Republicans on March 20, and that he had clearly told them, “why the estimate they had was probably incorrect and what they should do to correct it.” Nonetheless, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) decided to use the $3,100 figure to attack cap-and-trade, while the National Republican Campaign Committee blasted dozens of press releases like the following on March 31:

As Congress takes the President’s federal budget under consideration, North Carolina families deserve to know if Rep. Larry Kissell (D-NC) would support such a devastating energy tax proposal. […] MIT researchers released an “Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals,” which shows that the increase would be an increase of more than $3,000 a year for each household.

Today, Professor Reilly sent a forceful letter to Boehner and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to denounce this blatant distortion being told by Congressional Republicans. Reilly noted that $3,100 was actually “10 times the correct estimate which is approximately $340″ and that the costs on lower and middle income households can be “completely offset by returning allowance revenue to these households”:

It has come to my attention that an analysis we conducted examining proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Report No., 146, Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals, has been misrepresented in recent press releases distributed by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The press release claims our report estimates an average cost per family of a carbon cap and trade program that would meet targets now being discussed in Congress to be over $3,000, but that is nearly 10 times the correct estimate which is approximately $340. […] Our Report 160 shows that the costs on lower and middle income households can be completely offset by returning allowance revenue to these households.

Of course Congressman Boehner can't be troubled with actual facts. Only unmitigated spin and propaganda is allowed through his office. Whatever it takes to appease his fossil fuel lobbyist friends, John Boehner is happy to acquiesce. If the ecosystem has to go down for it, so be it.

S-CHIP: Why Republicans Being In The Minority Is A Good Thing

There are so many reasons that the American people have rejected Republicans at the ballot box in the last two elections. Here today we have House Minority Leader John Boehner, trying to make excuses about why we should not give health care coverage to children whose parents have trouble affording it:

Boehner On National Debt, He's One To Talk

I seriously wonder how Rep. Boehner manages to keep a straight face on when he talks about the worrisome rising national debt. While Bush nearly doubled the total, he said nothing. Now that Barack Obama is actually trying to save the economy by spending dollars on infrastructure, the Republican all of a sudden cares about deficit spending.



That goes for Mitch McConnell's feigned sincerity on the issue as well.

Boehner Calls Obama Chickenshit Straight From The Coop

This weekend the surrogates were out in full force for both candidates but the tone of both sides couldn't be more different. House Minority Leader John Boehner for example, talked about Obama's "present" votes in the Illinois Legislature, calling him "chickenshit" for not voting yes or no on certain legislation. Of course, with anything Republicans use to attack their opponents across the aisle, there is a certain level of another animal's excrement and a layer of hypocrisy on top of it.

From Yahoo News:

While campaigning for Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday, Boehner told a small crowd at a bar in the college town of Oxford that failing to vote "yes" or "no" on an issue meant a lawmaker was a "chickens---."

The Ohio congressman said the last thing the country needs is to have a "chicken" in the White House.[...]

In the Illinois General Assembly, "present" votes are common and used for far more than avoiding a difficult choice. At times lawmakers vote "present" when they have a conflict of interest. In other cases, they do it to register opposition to a procedural decision or to signal that they support a bill's goal but feel the legislation is flawed.

In Obama's case, the 129 "present" votes amounted to about 3.5 percent of the votes he cast in nearly eight years as a state senator.

During his talk, Boehner also disparaged Obama's work as a community organizer.

"This guy was a community organizer for 20 years," Boehner said. "If somebody can tell me what a community organizer is, maybe I can understand it better."

I'd love for Boehner to say that to the face of a community organizer but I'm guessing he is too much of a coward. The truth is, community organizers do an incredible amount of hard work for our nation and for Republicans to use this as a campaign attack is sickening to organizers in both parties.

Now back to the issue of legislative voting. Boehner goes after Obama for the "present" votes that make up 3.5 percent, but it is Boehner who has missed more than five percent of all his votes in Congress since 1991 (and don't even get me started on McCain's voting habits recently). And then there are the votes he did show up for such as hate crimes legislation, but the ignorance and bigotry they rest on isn't out of courage, but cowardly political expediency.

Talk about a chickenshit legislator!

Drill, Drill, Drill Or Get A Tune-Up

As I am going to the dentist in two hours, the word "drill" repeated several times over almost immediately has me searching for an alternative. Although this isn't about my teeth, it is about our nation's coastline and pristine wilderness. Republicans want to lease even more land so that oil companies can have "instant assets" by taking their new properties (c/o us, the taxpayers) and selling them on the market to increase their margins.

This really isn't about reducing the price of oil, no matter how many times Minority Leader Boehner threatens to shut down the government in order to achieve it. However, there is an easy way to get that supposed oil that drilling proponents claim will come with their idea. It is called conservation, but there's an easier way than that, as Barack Obama pointed out, just get your tires inflated and your car tuned up.

From Time Magazine:

How out of touch is Barack Obama? He's so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their tires properly and took their cars for regular tune-ups, they could save as much oil as new offshore drilling would produce. Gleeful Republicans have made this their daily talking point; Rush Limbaugh is having a field day; and the Republican National Committee is sending tire gauges labeled "Barack Obama's Energy Plan" to Washington reporters.

But who's really out of touch? The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.

And as Time points out a few paragraphs below, conserving energy is easy as long as you get in the habit of doing so. Unplugging appliances, having low-energy bulbs, taking mass transit, all things that are good for your wallet and the environment simultaneously. So while the right makes fun of Obama for leading people to conserve and help our energy crisis in a multi-faceted way (of course wind and solar projects are on their way too), he actually has a plan, while McCain is offering someone $300 million for a battery.

Boehner Claims No Animals In ANWR As He Shares A Screen With Them

The quality of this YouTube isn't of the highest resolution but you can clearly see House Minority Leader John Boehner dismissively talk about how it is unlikely there are any animals in the controversial ANWR area. I don't know if a CNN staffer put the B-roll on of ANWR animals as a joke, but it made Boehner look incredibly stupid as he talked (not that he needs background images to do that in any case).

Fossella Is Finished

The GOP is nothing if not top-down (and corrupt, self-serving, greedy, etc) and when the leadership says something in the midst of one member's scandal, the clouds for that person turn dark and ominous. That is what happened today to Vito Fossella after he admitted to an extramarital affair and that he has a three year old daughter with the woman that bailed him out of jail last week. None other than John Boehner laid down the law when the press asked him about the development.

From Politico:

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that fellow Republican Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) should do some serious thinking over the weekend about his political future.

Earlier in the day, Fossella acknowledged that he “had a relationship” with Laura Fay, a retired Air Force officer who paid his bail after he was arrested last week for drunk driving — and that he is the father of her 3-year-old daughter.

“I think Mr. Fossella is going to have some decisions to make over the weekend,” Boehner said at a press conference with reporters.

“I would hope and frankly expect, that this is a decision between he and his family," Boehner said.

Um, would that be his New York family or his Virginia family?

Add Boehner To The List Of Crazy Republican Dreamers

This wouldn't be a dream like Martin Luther King's. Boehner's dream consists of gaining back power in this year's electoral contests for the Republican party. Like the GOP crazies who thought they'd win the midterm elections two years ago, Boehner sees success in November in spite of the money woes. Of course like any Republican in politics, he fails to grasp the big picture.

From FireDogLake:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) predicted Thursday that Republicans will pick up seats in the 2008 election despite a slew of GOP retirements and the Democrats' significant fundraising advantage. "We don't need as much money as [Democrats] have," he said. "We need enough to tell our story." He added, "I think we are going to gain seats this year. Period."

Confident Delusional Hilarious words for a man who just a few weeks ago was pleading with his fellow Goopers to get off their "dead asses" and raise money because the GOP's fundraising "sucks."

Money, schmoney. Boehner's right. There is that wonderful Republican story to be told of the housing crisis, the recession, two lost wars and generally what awesome shape the country's in. Because when voters hear that story, they'll swoon.

It's just fabulous.

Yes, I can't wait for Boehner to tell that story, gather around the children and let the lies flow like water out of the Hoover Dam. I hope they spend whatever money is left letting Americans know all about those wonderful things.

Republicans Literally Walkout From Accountability!

In an un-Democratic Party way, the leadership in the House of Representatives stood up and demanded accountability from White House personnel that disregarded Congressional subpoenas. After several long months of House Democrats hemming and hawing, they finally brought the resolution to the floor that held Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt of Congress. Well one bold act deserves another, and Republicans did just that.

From RawStory:

On a vote of 223-to-32 House Democrats succeeded in passing the contempt charges against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers, after Republicans walked out in protest.

House Republicans staged a walk-out Thursday afternoon to protest the contempt vote and the failure by the chamber's majority members to bow to President Bush's demands on a controversial spying law.

"We will not stand here and watch this floor be abused for pure political grandstanding at the expense of our national security. ... Let's just get up and leave," Republican Leader John Boehner advised his colleagues as they dramatically left the floor Thursday afternoon.

When faced with the dilemma of participating in holding members their own party accountable, they act like five year olds and walkout. Truly pathetic!

Forget about Boehner and company though, the true test is to see whether the Attorney General will actually follow the rules set forth in the Constitution and have this matter adjudicated. So far I have little hope in Mukasey, but time will tell I guess.

John Kerry Doesn't Get It, They'll Never Apologize

We all remember the sorry affair of John Kerry's not-so-funny, not-so-offensive joke last year before the election about George Bush and the troops. The Republicans got him to acquiesce and apologize for something that was only offensive towards the President. The event knocked his credibility to campaign for Democrats across the country.

Well know John Boehner that Iraq is a "small price" to pay if we do not fight terror or whatever. That is offensive to EVERYONE. The occupation of Iraq has cost us thousands of lives, tens of thousands of injured soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars. This is simply no laughing matter. So what did Kerry do, he asked for an apology.

Now here is the difference between John Kerry and John Boehner.....and frankly most Democrats and Republicans. We'll fall over ourselves to apologize for nothing, caving into the demands of a small percentage of elected officials (they are in the minority now, hello!) while they will continue to rampage and cause havoc when it comes to Iraq, the economy and our Constitution.

Basically, they play hardball and we need to accept that. Calling for even a rhetorical apology will not get us anywhere. We need to continue to hammer them where it hurts. Maximize every one of their scandals, rip those that testify on their behalf when they are in front of Congress....and most importantly, use the power of the majority to bring an end to Bush's disastrous policies, starting with the war in Iraq. Boehner called it a "small price," well you can counter that by refusing to pay for the war. Congress has the power of the purse and it is far past the time since we should have used that to bring our troops home, they have paid far too much already.

GOP Whiners In The House

Ah, nothing like the stench of hypocrites in D.C. They are all over I'm sure, but definitely reside mostly within the Republican party. The Republican majority in the past ran roughshod over the Democrats for twelve years and now they are complaining that Democratic freshmen want to clean up the place and remove the status quo. Old school Democrats are also complaining about the new rule as well.

From The Hill:

Republicans began their assault in the mid-afternoon after hearing that the Democratic leadership allegedly planned to change the germaneness rule, which would limit the ability of the minority to challenge provisions in a bill on the floor.

“This is an astonishing attempt by the majority leadership to duck accountability for tax-and-spend policies the American people do not want,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “The majority leadership is gutting House rules that have been in place for 185 years so they can raise taxes and increase government spending without a vote. House Republicans will use every tool available to fight this abuse of power.”

Stacey Bernard, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), said the Republican antics were counterproductive and that they had not even seen the content of the bill they were protesting.

“They are delaying a bill that is critical,” she said, referring to the defense authorization bill that was scheduled to come to the floor. “They don’t know what they are doing.”

Republicans not knowing what they are doing? I would never have thought such a thing. The GOP leadership is threatening to bring down the House because they fear that if lobbying as it is done now gets curtailed, they will lose all willingness to be there in the first place. They hate government unless it pays them well. If corruption is attacked by new, tough rules, what is the point of being a Republican in Congress?

The House Declares War On Bush's War

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Majority began a four day debate on the non-binding resolution to come out against the escalation of troops in Iraq. We have the first day over and done with and plenty was accomplished. Congrats to the Democratic Congress and jeers to the Republican trickery we saw on the House floor.

From RawStory:

Just after 12:30 today, the Speaker led off the formal debate on a nonbinding concurrent resolution "disapproving of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq." The simple two-line resolution expressed support for members of the American armed services, along with disapproval of the president's plan to send approximately 21,500 more soldiers to secure Baghdad.

Pelosi was critical of the president's reasoning in her address opening the debate.

"The President's plan is based on a judgment that the way out of Iraq lies in sending more troops in," she said. "History has proven just the opposite. Four previous troop escalations have resulted primarily in escalating levels of violence.

Right on Madam Speaker, that is exactly the type of tough talk we need to send to the commander in chief who has misguided us in Iraq for four long years. History is on our side and we need to get it through the thick heads of the remaining Bush sycophants. Especially Congressman Boehner, he is incredibly lost as you can see below:

"Al Qaida and its sympathizers are trying to divide us here at home," he said. "We have the opportunity to show that we will not take the bait."

Boehner further attempted to link the resolution with a cutoff to funding for US soldiers.

"If we cut off our funding for our troops in the field, and abandon Iraq as many supporters of this nonbinding resolution want to," he warned, "the consequences of our failure will be catastrophic."

Boehner is still sticking to tired old talking points that do not fly with the American people and reality in general. However, at the end of the week we, the American people will prevail in this debate and start the war against Bush's crime of knowingly using bad intelligence to draw us into the mess that is Iraq.