Tag: Mitch McConnell

Happy Holidays! The House GOP Sucker Punches the President, Their Own Senate Republican Colleagues, and the American People

Michael MatheronLeave a comment

December 20, 2011

I’m listening to CNN as the deplorable House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA), talks about the House vote, just made, to force a conference on HR 3630, the payroll tax and unemployment extension proposal. Legislative proposals must pass both the House and the Senate in identical forms to meet constitutional requirements. A conference committee is an often-used method to reach a compromise between competing House and Senate proposals. Regarding HR 3630, Cantor and his Tea Party Congressloons did not accept the Senate version of HR 3630 that sought a two month semi-solution/compromise to the difficulties posed by widely divergent House and Senate HR 3630s. How divergent? The Senate version of HR 3630 was 34 pages. The House? 370 pages. Now that’s divergent. And yes, senators kicked the can down the road. But yes, a kick is better than a stomp that was, with few exceptions, the House version of HR 3630.

Of course, since the House leadership (apparently now putatively led by Cantor, not Boehner, the de facto Speaker) and Tea Partiers desire nothing more than loading up the payroll tax/unemployment benefit legislation with poison pills, they naturally want a conference, not to resolve issues, but to create more delay through intransigence. Also, counterintuitively, and counterproductively, they hope to embarrass the GOP Senate, with whom they now appear to be in open conflict. I worked on Capitol Hill with members of both Houses of Congress for a nearly a quarter century, and I understand this internecine warfare. It’s part of the expanding and contracting of relative strength within parties. It’s used by both sides, yet never so irresponsibly, capriciously, and aggressively as the present GOP House. Conservatives? Revolutionaries.

After reaching agreement on the two-month extension, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and the rest of the bunch left town last Saturday vowing to not discuss anything until the House approves the two-month extension. A few minutes ago, that possibility vanished. So, who knows what’s next? The conference committee, perhaps before January 1st? Well, whenever it convenes, in the end, the House conferees will characteristically shout “Havoc!” and unleash their yapping dogs. In the end, the conference will likely be as useful and unsuccessful as was the vaunted Supercommittee. . . Yadda Yadda Yadda . .

More Insult, More Injury. What really rankles though is Cantor and other GOP Congressloons using against him the President’s encouragement of a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance. Remember, the Senate just passed the two-month solution with GOP support, including Mitch McConnell who agrees with nothing but unseating President Obama in November 2012. This bipartisan agreement was a major achievement. Today, the House GOP, however, refused to agree, not with Democrats, but with its own Senate minority. In any event, after packing the House proposal with poison pills, and then passing it over the administration’s objections, you are at least morally prohibited from trying to obscure your dishonesty by trying to implicate the president in your plans, as Cantor does now when he says, “even the President wanted a full year solution, so we’re simply doing what the president requested.” That is the very definition of flapdoodle.

The one-year extension Cantor refers to was simply the cherry on the top, not the underlying “cake” of what the President advocated for. He – and then the Senate with a huge plurality – reached a simple solution, for now, not a final solution, forever. The Senate produced what was rational, providing 34 pages of simple language to close the gap for the holidays and thereby keep the payroll tax reduction in place until Congress returns in late January. Then, there’s time to battle. The House, with neither embarrassment nor honesty, and with insincere Tea Party Christmas spirit, handed the President, their own senate colleagues, and the American people their own HR 3630, a 370 page insult, with a cherry of injury atop.

GOP Congressional Leadership Letter to Ben Bernanke, as Subtle as a Baby Ruth in a Federal Reserve Punch Bowl

Michael MatheronLeave a comment

September 21, 2011

Why did the GOP congressional leadership send a snail-mail missive to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke? Haven’t they gotten the news about “e-mail”? Do they need pen pals that badly? Do they need a loan? Or what?

Imagine, these legendary GOP lunkheads suddenly looking for “ample data,” “quantifiable benefits,” “measurable outcomes,” and . . . evidence!  Characteristically, in their letter below, they offer none of those to back up their assertions about the effects of Fed policies. They offer nothing but naked – and uncharacteristically weaselly – claims that “the Federal Reserve’s actions have likely led to more fluctuations and uncertainty in our already weak economy,” and “further intervention by the Federal Reserve could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy.” 

It’s not surprising this Gang of No would “instruct” the Fed this way. They speak for the bigger gang of GOP/TP Fed haters. In good times and in bad times they detest the Federal Reserve. Now, however, having consciously slowed the economy by blocking any meaningful – and temporary – fiscal stimulus, they must kneecap the Fed. And now. Why? To cut off monetary stimulus as well. They cannot win the White House in 2012 without a substantially weakening economy between now and November 2012. Moreover, the blatant, if hamfistedly muted, threat against Bernanke and the Fed inherent in their letter is as subtle as a Hustler billboard in Vatican Square.

One wonders, are they playing chicken with a depression? Are they actively courting one for political purposes alone? It seems unlikely to seek economic catastrophe, but, recall, they are batsh*t crazy. We ought never underestimate batsh*t, or crazy. Here’s their cris de coeur, dated September 19, 2011:

“Dear Chairman Bernanke,

It is our understanding that the Board Members of the Federal Reserve will meet later this week to consider additional monetary stimulus proposals. We write to express our reservations about any such measures. Respectfully, we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy, particularly without a clear articulation of the goals of such a policy, direction for success, ample data proving a case for economic action and quantifiable benefits to the American people.

It is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve has facilitated economic growth or reduced the unemployment rate. To the contrary, there has been significant concern expressed by Federal Reserve Board Members, academics, business leaders, Members of Congress and the public. Although the goal of quantitative easing was, in part, to stabilize the price level against deflationary fears, the Federal Reserve’s actions have likely led to more fluctuations and uncertainty in our already weak economy.

We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Federal Reserve could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy. Such steps may erode the already weakened U.S. dollar or promote more borrowing by overleveraged consumers. To date, we have seen no evidence that further monetary stimulus will create jobs or provide a sustainable path towards economic recovery.

Ultimately, the American economy is driven by the confidence of consumers and investors and the innovations of its workers. The American people have reason to be skeptical of the Federal Reserve vastly increasing its role in the economy if measurable outcomes cannot be demonstrated. We respectfully request that a copy of this letter be shared with each Member of the Board.

Sincerely, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. John Boehner, Sen. Jon Kyl, Rep. Eric Cantor”

White House Debt Summit Tomorrow – Will Obama Cave or Pave?

Michael MatheronLeave a comment

July 6, 2011

Tomorrow morning President Obama hosts some friends and enemies at his big white house. They’ll powwow about bills for this and bills for that. Who will pay for them?  Will we pay for them at all? Can we even afford a weekend summer vacation in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River? The big question, though, suggested by an unsettling report by WaPo tonight, is whether President Obama is ready to sell the ranch, lock, stock, and barrel.

Cave Or Pave?  The Washington Post reported tonight that “President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue. . . As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of Social Security, according to people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal.”

My fondest hope is that he doesn’t really want to put much of Medicare or Social Security on the table, if at all.  I can’t believe – I must not believe – he’d cave again as he did last December.  Or will he pave the way to GOP humiliation?

My gentler angels suggest that the Medicare/Social Security talk is a political gambit designed to highlight the GOP anti-tax jihad, and to further isolate them as the stumbling block to a budget (and debt ceiling) agreement. The President may be betting all-in that he can win on his home field when he meets congressional leaders at the White House tomorrow. 

There, afterwards, he can roll out the bully pulpit and go directly to the American people. Tomorrow, if the GOP resists even the slightest amount of tax revenue increases, he can herald it to a nation where many cannot understand why the wealthiest among them should not pay a fair share. GOP stickiness on taxes is well-known, of course. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), for example, agreed to discuss the elimination of tax breaks like the one for corporate jets, yet – remarkably – he refused to do so if an eliminated tax break resulted in any increase whatever to federal revenues. Here’s how much he’s willing to budge on increasing tax revenue: “If the president wants to talk loopholes, we’ll be glad to talk loopholes . . . we’re not for any proposal that increases taxes, and any type of discussion should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else.”

How generous of him.  In any event, even that “concession” – worthless as it is – was kiboshed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch “We look a lot like Greece already” McConnell (R-KY). 

The hypocrisy stuns, as always. Remember – as a commenter at Political Animal did:

“John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, John Kyle, etc.all voted for multiple debt limit increases and multiple budgets that included deficit spending (before we had a Democrat in the White House). If Mitch thinks we are like Greece, then he can look in a mirror and see the reason.”

Mirror, mirror, on the wall . . .

The Anthony Weiner Underpants Probe — Breaking News: Senatorial Underpants Pop Up in Harry Reid’s Twitter Account!

Michael MatheronLeave a comment

June 15, 2011

WHOOPS, There It Is!  In the wake of NY Congressman Anthony Weiner’s Twitter woes, in the wee hours of Friday morning things got worse. Lots worse. Not for Mr. Weiner, but for the U.S. Senate. At 1:00 am (EDST) before a solemn and sleepy Washington D.C. press corps, the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), announced that his Twitter account had logged 12 tweets from 12 senators. Each tweet featured “a picture of the legislator in his underpants.” Reid then promised “to investigate quickly, before a bunch of basically inanimate senatorial reproductive organs sully the entire Senate’s moral reputation. I have already called on Minority Leader McConnell to assist me in this effort.” At present, however, Reid told reporters that he “firmly believes” that the dozen senators involved “acted alone, as individuals. God help us should we discover a coordinated congressional cabal of penis poppers in the people’s house.”

He continued, clearly embarrassed, “I cannot understand this. The median age of the offending senators is in the mid-70s, and due to advancing age, many have not, shall we say, ‘noticed’ their own reproductive organs for many years. Why then this flurry of activity?”

U.S. Senate Psychiatrist Opines. Reid then introduced the Senate psychiatric team Director, Dr. Drew Edwards, who speculated, “Although the team has yet to forensically examine the 12 [senators], we suspect the sudden appearance of Congressman Weiner’s difficulties pushed these senators’ innate competitiveness to levels they could not suppress. For example, Senator Reid’s office informed us that some of these senators will run for re-election in 2012. Seeing the attention Congressman Weiner has captured, they may have considered his alleged tweet a savvy political move, and simply copied it. Since the first Congress, the two bodies have pursued a lively competition. Mr. Weiner’s leadership role in this issue area likely caused a state of deep discomfort among senators, which may have unleashed the dragons within. In any event, the mental health team plans to move quickly. And perhaps through the agency of elderly senators’ underpants and penises we shall learn more about how to prevent this inexplicable behavior that has the Senate in its grip . . .”

Mr. Reid, however, applauded Edwards’s plans to examine the inner workings of certain senators’ heads. Addressing Dr. Edwards, he offered “hands-on support to the Senate Mental Health Directorate. I will bypass the rigid Senate rules implemented during the Clinton era – rules dealing directly with underpants, penises, and other suchlike sex organs and the things they do.”

As for the federal budget discussions, the debt limit battle, and the “various wars we’re in all the damned time,” Reid declared, “these issues will be put aside indefinitely so that the Senate may concentrate all its attention on the senators’ underpants.”

GOP Minority Leader McConnell Displays Rigidity. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans, Senate and House, were silent, although many legislators witnessed freshmen congressmen and congresswomen giggling, and consequently wetting themselves.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Minority Leader was, however, far from silent, accusing Senator Reid and Senate Democrats of trying to “push the ball down the road on the budget and debt ceiling.” He went on, “Senator Reid demands that I view these underpants tweets. My duty is clear when the Majority Leader speaks. I shall view these images. I shall do so, however, without the Majority Leader or any staff present. I will examine these emails, or tweeties, or whatever they are called, very closely. Moreover, I intend to review the disgusting images again and again until my duties are exhaustively discharged. But I shall not enjoy it.”

After pausing a few moments to rest, catch his breath, and adjust his pants, Senator McConnell went on, “This underpants brouhaha is a false issue, badly delaying the Senate’s legislative duties. Today, however, I must peer into the private life of 12 senators, their underpants, and their clothed peni. The Founders of our great nation mentioned neither underpants nor peni in the Constitution. But the Majority Leader insists. Underpants! Underpants! Peni! Peni! I’ve said enough. Despite my constitutional objections, out of respect for the Majority Leader, this very day in his office, I shall vigorously investigate, and carefully investigate 12 senatorial underpants.”