Tag: Congress

Proof That S.C. Voters Should Never, Ever Get Back Together With Former Gov. Mark Sanford

Trish

Former Gov. Mark Sanford’s braying jackassiness shone through in his recent debate with opponent Elizabeth Colbert-Busch. Both are running from South Carolina for a seat in the United States House of Representatives.

The election is Tuesday, May 7, and polls show Busch expanding her lead or tying with Sanford, depending on the political affiliations of the pollsters. Either way, Sanford is no longer going into the election with an air of inevitability.

Come on South Carolina! Every seat in Congress counts, and it’s time to stop sending fiscal hypocrites and knee-jerk “NO!” ninnies* to Washington, and then wondering why nothing gets done there.

*With all due respect to the late Vice Pres. Spiro Agnew.

Congress Lifted the FAA Sequester for the Sake of … Lawmakers

Buck Banks

The group that Congress is helping the most by lifting the FAA sequester isn’t business flyers. No, lawmakers are helping themselves. There is no more pampered class of air traveler than members of Congress… The point is, Congress’s decision to lift the sequester was even more self-serving than you probably imagined. After casting their votes on Friday, most members raced to the airport and went home.

— Joshua Green, noting in Businessweek that the decision to reverse the automatic cuts that were causing air-traffic controllers to be furloughed — delaying hundreds of flights — wasn’t about business air travelers.

Senate Goes Rogue: Votes to Continue Gun Show and Internet Loophole

Trish

The next time there’s a mass shooting and they’re asked what they did to prevent it, they’re going to have to say nothing.

Erica Lafferty, the daughter of the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary, who was shot and killed along with 20 first-graders and five teachers during five minutes in December of 2012. Lafferty was reacting to news that the Senate failed to pass a bill to close a loophole exempting gun shows and online gun sales from background checks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) joined three other Democrats and all but four Republicans in voting against the measure, which polls show that 90 percent of Americans favor.

Republican Senator Doesn’t Cite Gay Relatives in His Support for Marriage Equality

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Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

Many people who change their minds from being against marriage equality to being for it chalk up their “evolving” to knowing someone personally who is gay. Such was the case for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who recently revealed that a) his son is gay, and b) he thinks gay people should be able to marry the person they love.

Another Republican senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois, has now stepped forward to endorse marriage equality, but for more compelling reasons. In a short blog post, Kirk laid out his position simply.

One wonders if Portman, unlike Kirk, would have seen the light if not for the personal interest of actually knowing and loving a gay person, and wanting his son to be happy

When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others.

Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back– government has no place in the middle.

Climbing those steps was difficult for Kirk because he is recovering from the stroke he suffered in January of 2012.

[…]

More Voters Want to Send Democrats to Congress

Trish

44%

Registered voters who said they would vote for a generic Democratic Congressional candidate, were an election held today. Only 37% would pick the generic Republican, according to the conservative polling site, Rasmussen Reports, which is having a bad start to the week. The site’s own surveys show that 52% of likely voters approve of the job Pres. Obama is doing while 46% disapprove, and that, for the first time in five years, less than half of those questioned believe the economy is still in recession.

Headlines We’d Like to See When It’s Not April Fool’s Day

Trish
Google's April Fool's offering

Tis the season, or at least the day, for a little fakery, so here are some headlines that are too good to be true, even though we wish they were.

  • Dennis Rodman Promises to Stay Home and Never Visit Anywhere Again
  • Sen. Marco Rubio Announces Immigration Reform Planning to Begin “Within His Lifetime”
  • Media Sources Pass One Whole Week Without Commenting on Michelle Obama’s Hair or Dress
  • Tea Party Leader Explains The Entire Movement is All About Race
  • “Plots Involving Vampires All Used Up,” Hollywood Studios Say
  • Sarah Palin Tragedy: Chokes on Big Gulp, Trips Over Teleprompter, Lands in Coma
  • Fracking Outlawed After Oil Companies Apologize: “We Couldn’t Believe You Let Us Take It This Far. Sorry.”
  • Scientists Discover Link Between Increased Sugar Consumption and Weight Loss
  • House Republicans Push Assault Weapons Ban

O.K., that gets us started. Please add your own April Fool’s headline in the comments.

Note to my fellow editors: Please add yours in the post.

Twitter Not Amused by Rubio’s Ill-Timed Tweet

Trish

PR’s own Buck nominated Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (GOP/Tea) for the “Really Trying Way Too Hard” Hall of Fame after Rubio told the gossip site TMZ that his favorite songs of all-time are NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton,” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and Tupac’s “Killuminati.”

The likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate, recently dubbed by Time Magazine the “saviour” of the party, is also brandishing a reputation as the life of the party, and nothing says frat boy quite like this tweet, posted the day the economy-wrecking sequester took effect.

If I put #HarlemShake video 2gether in Senate who should be in it?Taking suggestions now. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?utm_campaign=Fee

Rubio apparently didn’t spend the day trying to figure out how to keep from damaging the economy or how to save American jobs, but instead daydreaming about his own fantasy football-esque dance party. Here were some of the responses to his call for suggestions on his Twitter feed.*

  • @jbminn — @marcorubio I’d suggest you stop wasting time and money.
  • @haroldpollack — @marcorubio even I am too cool for the Harlem shake.
  • @devincf — I suggest you fix the sequester.
  • @Brian_Thill — LOL you are so hip!! OMG!!1! wheres my checkbook

    • […]

Look Out Liberals — Rubio Hydrates!

Trish

“Send the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you…he hydrates you too.” — Nonsensical call to action from the Reclaim America PAC, Sen. Marco Rubio’s political action committee that raises money to elect conservatives to the Senate.

For a minimum donation of $25, Rubio’s supporters can buy a water bottle with his name on it and thereby scare thirsty liberals. As inexplicable as the message itself is the fact that the photo and caption have received over 71,000 “Likes” on Facebook (and counting).