Tag: Congress
Congressional Rank-and-File Resistance Bodes Ill for the Fall
It’s almost as though it was the end of traditional power. I’ve been here for 20 years, and I’ve never seen so much of a repudiation of the conventional sources of power in the legislative or executive branch. It portends for a much more chaotic fall.
— Rep. James Moran (D-VA), quoted by the Washington Post, on the rank-and-file resistance to both President Obama and Speaker John Boehner on Capitol Hill.
House Republicans Call Out Senate Republicans Over Government Shutdown Plan
Does Ted Cruz have a plan to get 41 votes? Does he have a strategy he’s executing on to get 41 votes? Not that I’m aware of. Has he ever come to the House leadership and said, ‘Here’s my plan to get 41 votes in the Senate, to hold the line so we can defund Obamacare?’ Never. No. He’s just on his twitter account attacking House Republicans.
A frustrated but anonymous “GOP leadership aide” to NBC News, criticizing tea party Republicans vying for the 2016 presidential race, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who want to shut down the government (or at least pretend their goal isn’t to gain political advantage) in yet another attempt to derail the Affordable Care Act.
The Onion: Poll Supports Sending Congress to Syria
The Onion* proposes the only good solution to the Syria problem.
The New York Times/CBS News poll showed that though just 1 in 4 Americans believe that the United States has a responsibility to intervene in the Syrian conflict, more than 90 percent of the public is convinced that putting all 535 representatives of the United States Congress on the ground in Syria—including Senate pro tempore Patrick Leahy, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and, in fact, all current members of the House and Senate—is the best course of action at this time.
“I believe it is in the best interest of the United States, and the global community as a whole, to move forward with the deployment of all U.S. congressional leaders to Syria immediately,” respondent Carol Abare, 50, said in the nationwide telephone survey, echoing the thoughts of an estimated 9 in 10 Americans who said they “strongly support” any plan of action that involves putting the U.S. House and Senate on the ground in the war-torn Middle Eastern state. “With violence intensifying every day, now is absolutely the right moment—the perfect moment, really—for the United States to send our legislators to the region.”
“In fact, my preference would have been for Congress to be deployed months ago,” she added.
*A source for satire.
The Legislative Dodge
Oh, what should we do about the Syria mess?
Should we punish Assad for his sarin excess?
For help with the decision,
Though risking derision,
Obama opted to do the unthinkable — ask Congress.
Cook: Odds favor Dems in Budget Showdown
It’s difficult to understand why any Republicans on Capitol Hill would like their odds in any kind of budget showdown this fall that could result in a government shutdown. Very simply, they would be going into a game with an incredibly weak hand, and their odds of winning would be quite small. … While Obama’s numbers are hardly impressive, they are still much better than those for congressional Democrats, and they aren’t even in the same time zone as the bleak numbers for Republicans in Congress. This being the case, who goes into this fight with the least credibility? The answer is Republicans in Congress … It’s a time for Republicans to be realistic and for both sides to be adults — and allow a reasonable deal to be reached.
— Pundit Charlie Cook.
‘House of Cards’ Apparently Not an Accurate Portrayal of Congress
He does what he believes in; he does what he likes. He portrays this person with all the wrong things you hear about Washington. He literally murders one member. If I could murder one member, I’d never have to worry about another vote.
— House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), quoted by the Daily Pilot, about Kevin Spacey’s character in House of Cards.
Median Length of Service in Senate Down to Six Years from 11
6
The median years of service in the U.S. Senate, which “has plummeted from 11 to six in the past four years, because so many newcomers have replaced Senate icons, according to the Roll Call Blog. In the House, 46% of House members have completed fewer than three terms, “a generally accepted benchmark for being labeled a ‘junior member.'”
Someone Finally Puts Issa’s Past in Play
And if I were Republicans, I would say to Issa, in the parlance of his old business, “Please step away from that car.”
— David Axelrod, Democratic strategist, asserting that Republicans are approaching overreach concerning the IRS. Axelrod was alluding to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who, prior to being in Congress, was charged with grand theft auto, investigated for arson, arrested on weapons charges, and convicted of carrying an unregistered and concealed firearm.
Congress Losing a Squirrel; Country Gaining a Nut
There is no question that Rep. Michele Bachmann (GOP/Tea – Minn.) is among the squirreliest of the squirrels in Congress. But as she announces her decision not to seek re-election next year, the web site capitolwords has ranked the words and phrases most used by the head of the tea party caucus.
And the number one single word most used by Bachmann on the floor of the House is…“acorn.”
The surprises on the list, which can be sorted by one-word, two-word, three-word, etc. phrases include that “Obamacare” doesn’t make the top twenty in any category. “Obama” was of course number two on the single word list, and, to her credit, “President Obama” was number four when Bachmann used two words. Also on the lists: “socialized,” “democrat-controlled,” “planned parenthood,” “back to $2 a gallon,” and finally, “I was unexpectedly detained.”
In announcing her lame duckness via an eight-minute video, Bachmann did not say she was planning to spend more time with her family, and is more or less looking for a job.
