Cheney-Palin 2012: a dream come true

This was on the NPR website, got hundred of complaints from tea bag supporters. Despite the NPR ombuds-person’s negative review it stayed on the site.

 

There’s been much heat and not much light on this “deemed passed” strategy now in play to get health care done in the House. It’s the arrival of the anti-Christ for some, and a rather ordinary, often-used House rule by others.
Here’ the most reasonable discussion I’ve read, by Mike Dorf in his blog Dorf on Law
I’ve excerpted it here. You can read the full post there.
There is some serious confusion afoot about the constitutionality of the plan of the House leadership to pass health care reform indirectly, via a rule that deems the relevant bill passed without a simple yes-or-no vote on the legislation. I would note at the outset the awkwardness of the Republican Party in trying to paint the Democrats as circumventing democratic principles. Republicans and their allies are now demanding an up-or-down majority vote in the House, even as they are perfectly comfortable using their 41 votes in the Senate to prevent just such a vote in the Senate.

The great irony here, of course, is that the “deeming” procedure is fully democratic. In voting for the “rule,” a majority of the House also votes for its “deeming provision,” which, in this instance, provides that if and when the House subsequently votes for the reconciliation bill, it will deem the Senate version of the health care bill passed. Then, if the Senate votes for reconciliation in the same terms as the House, the two identical reconciliation measures having been passed, will go to the President to sign and become law. If the Senate somehow does not vote for reconciliation, or the Senate votes for a different set of provisions than the House, then the original Senate bill, now having been deemed passed by the House, will go to the President for signing.
What the House Democrats are attempting here will only succeed if a majority of House members vote for it. Thus, in both the Senate and the House, it is the Democrats who are attempting to govern with a majority, and it is the Republicans who are objecting to majority rule.
As far as the deeming procedure goes, there is no inconsistency with Article I, Section 7. To someone unfamiliar with the practice of “deeming,” it can sound odd, but it is quite common. For example, numerous federal statutes “deem” Washington, D.C. a state for various purposes. Or to choose an example dearer to conservatives’ hearts, numerous statutes–and the Supreme Court’s constitutional jurisprudence–deem corporations persons for various purposes. Deeming is simply part of legislating.
As conceptualized quite sensibly by the House parliamentarian, a vote for the rule is a vote for the already-enacted Senate bill, subject to a condition subsequent, namely, House passage of the reconciliation measure. There are numerous analogies here too. Congress frequently grants the President authority to take various measures–such as imposing sanctions against human rights abusers or collecting duties on goods from countries that engage in unfair trade practices–only upon the happening of some condition subsequent. The 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, for example, required the President to determine that further diplomatic efforts would be futile in order for the authorization to become effective.
So there is nothing especially peculiar about Congressional action that only becomes effective on the happening of some subsequent condition. The deemer at issue here is especially un-peculiar in light of the fact that the subsequent condition is fully within the House’s own control. If a majority of House members don’t want to vote for health care reform, they have two ways to kill it: vote against the rule or vote against the reconciliation measure that triggers the deemer clause in the rule. If anything, the deemer approach makes the enactment of legislation in the House harder than under the normal procedure, making the argument that it somehow short-circuits Article I, Section 7, extraordinarily weak.

In other news, a Clackamas county, Oregon man is going to the Supreme Court to fight for his right to give cops the finger. Here’s the whole story:
Man gives finger to cops

Anthony Weiner (D. NY) made history on the floor of the house day before yesterday. I laughed out loud when I saw it. In case you haven’t seen it, here it is.

Toyota, more than any other foreign company, contributed to the demise of the our auto industry. It’s therefore ironic that Toyota’s collapse might be responsible for the return of the American car.

If I were of a punning nature, I would call this “carma.”

Of course the major culprits are the American auto industry decision makers who saw the VW bug in the 60s, the tiny Toyotas and Nissans in the 70s and 80s suddenly invading our shores – and shrugged their shoulders. Toyota simply did what any other savvy business would do – saw a market and exploited it. /And, like any other business, they got ft, and cocky and lazy and are now paying the price.

But so are the American workers at the Fremont, CA Toyota-GM plant, soon to be closed. Toyota’s decision to stop making cars in Fremont in March will idle 4,700 workers at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. factory and send a job loss shockwave through more than a thousand California companies that supply parts to the only automotive plant on the West Coast.

I submitted my suggestion to The Rachel Maddow Show for a new name for the filibuster: “Repugnicantism.” I like it but it’s too much of a mouthful to work. Maybe I’ll get a tee-shirt.

Thanks to Think Progress — http://thinkprogress.org/touting-recovery-opposed/ — for this exposé of House and Senate Repugnicans who voted against the stimulus bill and then took credit for the money that it brought to their states or districts.
And a surprising thanks to the Washington Times – not a bastion of liberal thought – who recovered letters sent by many of these Congresspeople requesting stimulus money!

House Of Representatives

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA)
Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK)
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA)
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO)
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Rep. Bill Young (R-FL)
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL)
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA)
Rep. Tim Johnson (R-IL)
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL)
Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL)
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC)
Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE)
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC)
Rep. Sam Hall (R-TX)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Rep. John Carter (R-TX)
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX)
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH)
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY)
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)
Rep. Shelly Capito Moore (R-WV)
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)
Rep. Thad McCotter (R-MI
Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA)
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR)
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)
Rep. Parker Griffith (R-AL)
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA)
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ)
Rep. John Mica (R-FL)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL)
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL)
Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL)
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL
Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL)
Rep. John Linder (R-GA)
Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY)
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL)
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Total: 90. Number of Repugnicans in the House: 178.

Senate

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT)
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Total: 20. Total Repugnicans in the Senate: 41
The thorough record of their hypocrisy can be found at http://thinkprogress.org/touting-recovery-opposed/.

The Daily Kos recently hired non-partisan independent pollster Research 2000 to take a poll of over 2,000 self-identified Republicans. Here’s a cross-section of the results by category. For the full spectrum of astonishing responses, go here:

OBAMA and AMERICA

Should Barack Obama be impeached, or not?
Yes 39
No 32
Not Sure 29

Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist?
Yes 63
No 21
Not Sure 16

Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not?
Yes 42
No 36
Not Sure 22

Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win?
Yes 24
No 43
Not Sure 33

Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama?
Yes 53
No 14
Not Sure 33

Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates White people?
Yes 31
No 36
Not Sure 33

Do you believe your state should secede from the United States?
Yes 23
No 58
Not Sure 19

GAYS

Should openly gay men and women be allowed to serve in the military?
Yes 26
No 55
Not Sure 19

Should same sex couples be allowed to marry?
Yes 7
No 77
Not Sure 16

Should gay couples receive any state or federal benefits?
Yes 11
No 68
Not Sure 21

Should openly gay men and women be allowed to teach in public schools?
Yes 8
No 73
Not Sure 19

SCHOOLS

Should sex education be taught in the public schools?
Yes 42
No 51
Not Sure 7

Should public school students be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world?
Yes 77
No 15
Not Sure 8

WOMEN

Are marriages equal partnerships, or are men the leaders of their households?
Men 13
Equal 76
Not Sure 11

Should women work outside the home?
Yes 86
No 4
Not Sure 10

Should contraceptive use be outlawed?
Yes 31
No 56
Not Sure 13

Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?
Yes 34
No 48
Not Sure 18

---

I find this appalling. These are the people who are electing Republicans to high office? I am fast growing favorable to a voter intelligence test.

To be fair, in another poll, Democrats couldn’t identify Harry Reid as the Senate majority leader. OTOH, I think that Reid has a problem with that as well.

As Kos pointed out, we should make every effort to find a place for those who want to secede, name it Bagofhammersstan, and move them all there. They aren’t real Americans, anyway.

To support us real Americans (this one, anyway), order your Cheney-Palin 2012 bumper sticker:

Leave it to our rightwing loons to make hay (and raise $$) from the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. Limbaugh was on the air yesterday claiming that Obama would use the catastrophe to his advantage.
News flash: Obama could do nothing for the next three years and STILL get 90% of the black vote. On the other hand, imagine the outrage if Obama did nothing.

Robertson Fun-Raising plea

This almost needs no comment:

Pat Roberson blamed 9/11 on the homosexuals and sodomites in New York. He came down on the side of death and destruction after Hurricane Katrina. He partnered with Congolese mass murderer Charles Taylor in a diamond mine, some proceeds of which went to find Al Qaeda. He Does anyone else think this person a waste of oxygen?