Did You Mean Funny HaHa or Funny Ironic

When the cap and trade bill passed out of the House a couple of weeks ago, many were appalled and outraged (myself included) that none of the legislators that voted on that bill (or the stimulus bill for that matter) were given the opportunity to read the bill before voting on it. Well get ready for more of the same from the Pelosi/Reid/Obama Transparency team.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that the health-care reform bill now pending in Congress would garner very few votes if lawmakers actually had to read the entire bill before voting on it.

Did you get that? If our Legislators actually did their job and read the legislation that they passed, this bill would garner "very few votes". But WAIT - there's more.....

In fact, Hoyer found the idea of the pledge humorous, laughing as he responded to the question. “I’m laughing because a) I don’t know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill,” he said.

So it is funny that we should expect transparency from the Legislative process and to expect our Legislators to read what they vote on???? But isn't transparency what Nancy Pelosi promised voters when she took over the Speakers gavel?

THIS is Nancy Pelosi's idea of transparency? I don't know about you but it sure is not MY idea of transparency......

Constitution? What Constitution?????

That seems to be the thinking of the UN and President Obama when it comes to dealing with the situation in Honduras (HT The Logical Husband)

...when a socialist demagogue was ejected unceremoniously from Honduras on Sunday by his own government for trying to establish a presidency for life, Mr. Obama instantly sprang to his defense.

What happened in Honduras was not a military coup. Honduras has a civilian president, Roberto Micheletti, a member of former President Manuel Zelaya's own Liberal Party, who was elevated to the post after Mr. Zelaya was removed. The army did not seize power, but acted as the elected government's instrument in ousting Mr. Zelaya, who was well on his way to subverting the Honduran constitution and erecting a dictatorship.

Emphasis mine. Let me emphasize again that this was a Constitutional action and not a military coup. The Honduran Supreme Court, in response to unConstitutional actions by Mr. Zelaya, issued an appropriate arrest warrant which the military carried out.

The UN apparently thinks as little of the Honduran Constitution as it does of ours - choosing to side with a potential dictator over the rule of law.

Scrambling to hold on to his presidency, deposed Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya pleaded his case in the United States yesterday, winning a rare unanimous vote of support from the U.N. General Assembly but failing to get an audience with top Obama administration officials.

The President's response to this working of the Honduran Constitution? A move to rescind economic and military development agreements with the country.

However, this is not the only Constitution that our President is willing to ignore in order to advance his agenda (HT Hot Air).

With the clock running out on a new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5, a senior White House official said Sunday said that the difficulty of the task might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate’s constitutional role in ratifying treaties by enforcing certain aspects of a new deal on an executive levels and a “provisional basis” until the Senate ratifies the treaty.

Emphasis mine. I wonder how President Obama former colleagues in the Senate will take to being bypassed in such a blatent manner.

As my friend Ed Morrissey noted, this is not surprising in the least. There is a reason why Republicans spent so much time "obsessing" on then candidate Obama's relationships. Whether it is Bill Ayers or Jeremiah Wright or any of his other past radical associations, it is a clear window into the political philosophy of man. The political philosophy tells you how a person is going to govern.

The only ones "surprised" by all of this seems to be the journalists that glossed over all of this during the primaries. This is what happens when you buy into a meme without checking out the man behind the meme.

Update: - WELCOME Hot Air readers. Please take a moment to snoop around - open the cabinets and see what else is here.

Legislative Malfeasance

Once again our US House of Representatives voted on a bill that NO ONE EVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ, just as they had done on the "stimulus" bill. The chairman of the Energy Committee, Henry Waxman, even threw in a 300 page amendment at 3am on the day that they voted on the bill and when some legislators had the nerve to ask for a copy of the bill to read, they were told "it's here somewhere!"

I just have one question for the defenders of the actions of the House Leadership - if these bills are so good, why can't the House abide by their own rules (and their President's rule) and post the bill for 72 hours on their website before the vote? Are they so afraid of the voters that they can not handle a little criticism?

The Most Ethical Congress Ever?????

You know things are bad for you (as the Majority Leader) when the New York Times jumps on the bandwagon that is calling for an ethical investigation into the activities of PMA and Rep. John Murtha.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi should listen to the wise Democrats who are pushing for an ethics inquiry into the far-too-cozy relationship between lawmakers and the PMA Group of superlobbyists.

The Justice Department is investigating whether PMA used illegal straw donors to lard the campaign kitties of cooperative lawmakers. The firm — which shut itself down after being raided by federal agents — fed and fed richly off the defense appropriations subcommittee led by Representative John Murtha, the House baron of Pentagon spending.

Beyond the criminal investigation, the House needs to look into any violations of its own ethics rules. And the Democrats need to deliver on their party’s ethics promises — and more and more of them know it. As Representative Ron Kind told The Hill newspaper, “As long as this is not dealt with in the right manner, it’s just going to be a cloud hanging over us.”

Emphasis mine. Thus far Speaker Pelosi has resisted all calls (from the left and the right) to investigate ALL of the Representatives tied to PMA and their illegal campaign contributions. Rep. Murtha, while not the only representative or senator tied to PMA, has the closest ties to PMA and it's management. Included in the list above were members of Utah's Congressional Delegation. Senator Hatch ($4,000), Sen. Bob Bennet ($1,000), Rep Matheson ($10,000), and Rep Rob Bishop ($1,000) have all taken money from the embattled lobbying firm.

Remember, the person blocking this investigation is the woman that promised us the "most ethical Congress EVAH..." and yet here she is actively blocking attempts to investigate one of the largest Congressional pay-off scandals ever. She had best change her tune if she wishes to remain Speaker of the House in 2010.

Nothing Better To Do

...to focus on, we have the prospect of a Congressional investigation into the BCS...

Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he will hold hearings and possibly subpoena NCAA officials, college presidents, players, coaches and athletics directors in an effort to force a playoff in Division 1-A football, USA Today reports.

Now I can certainly buy into the argument that Utah deserves the National Championship but the ARGUMENT about who is the best team in college football adds to the excitement and the hype and what drives INTEREST in college football. People care more about college football when there is a controversy about the national championship. It gives alums something to talk about during the rest of the year.

Sure the BCS system is flawed. I will grant you that and add that the NCAA has done a horrible job of deciding the national football championship FOR YEARS - I don't care what system they used. A playoff system (a la the Men's Basketball championships) probably won't be much better and it would certainly not be as fun. Given all of that, I still think that Congressman Towns would have many more important things on his plate - don't you????

Minnesota's Bridge to Somewhere...Please Send Money

I yield the floor to Logical Lady - Sue Jeffers

Dear Congressman Oberstar,

In your Tribune Counter Point comments on Oct. 26 you stated it is “unfathomable to not be moved to act decisively” after the tragedy of the bridge collapse. Well, what are you waiting for?

On August 6 President Bush signed your bill to authorize $250 million in emergency transportation aid and $5 million in transit funding assistance to MN for the collapse of the 35W Bridge. MN needs the remaining $195 million promised immediately. Three months later MN is still waiting for the federal funding while behind the scenes state Democrats continue to play politics with state DOT funding.

As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee you stated traffic congestion in our metro area is costing the state economy $1.1 billion per year and commuters waste 43 hours and 30 gallons of gas just sitting in congestion. The bridge collapse has significantly compounded these problems in the north metro.As Chairman you know far too often politicians choose to spend our tax dollars on pork instead of priorities. You know we have a Highway trust fund, which gas taxes and other funds are to be deposited. These funds are most often not used for their stated purpose but added to the general fund for spending on pet projects including bike paths and light rail transit. You know our bridge money is tied up in an incredibly expensive transportation bill, so loaded with pork that President Bush is threatening to again veto it. It also includes $250,000 for more bike paths in your district.

As Chairman you know the Federal Highway Administration reported of the 594,000 bridges in the US, about 73,500 (12%) are structurally deficient. These bridges need significant rehabilitation, maintenance or replacement. As Chairman you know the Congressional Budget office reports infrastructure spending has accounted for about 3% of the total federal expenditures since 1987 and will continue to be so through 2009.

Voters still remember the 2005 Transportation Bill, over $286 billion including 6373 earmarks that totaled $24 billion. This bill also included the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, the $223 million bridge in rural Alaska. Rather than fund roads and bridges, your priorities included $16million for MN bike paths and $120 million for your district’s transportation projects and $600 million to encourage kids to walk or bike. Another $3 billion was for earmarked for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

Congressman, your solution, to further punish Minnesota drivers, low income families, farmers, truckers and small businesses who rely on low transportation costs, is raising the gas tax. The public has, in large numbers, clearly stated that we oppose a gas tax increase. How about an explanation as to why the gas tax revenue is so poorly spent?

Congressman, as Chair and a representative for the people of Minnesota we need to know road and bridge safety funding is your priority. We do not need additional gas or other taxes. Federal and state monies must be spent first and foremost on infrastructure including road and bridge safety.

Transportation priorities should include safety, congestion and pollution, not light rail transit (LRT). As chairman you already know light rail transit does not eliminate congestion. LRT can not follow population or job growth and can never compete with the automobile of which 92% of us drive. LRT can not move goods and services or create economic growth. LRT is one of the most expensive and lowest return use of our transportation dollars. The Minnesota Department of Economic Development reports that only 2.8% of the state's commuters ride buses or rail to get to work, yet these projects get up to 25% of the funding.

MN is far from broke, our general fund has grown by over $2 billion in each of the last two budget cycles. Currently it is a whopping $34.5 billion in a state of 5 million people. MN started the year with a record $2 billion budget surplus, and a good economy added another $200 million of unexpected revenue. In recent years over $2 billion in potential funding has been diverted from road and bridge repair to the state’s light (and heavy) rail projects. Higher taxes will not make our roads and bridges safer if we don't spend the money on roads and bridges.

About the only thing both sides can agree on is that in spite of increased budgets, MnDOT has a significant backlog of road and bridge maintenance and expansion projects. Year after year legislators continue fund pork instead of bridges and roads. Money is not spent on roads and bridges but to art centers, zoos, sports stadiums and welfare benefits.

The MN gas tax is accurately called a user fee with 100% of the proceeds constitutionally dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund, meaning that the funds are not used to supplement the general fund or even to pay for mass transit. Ditto for license plate tabs fees. Unfortunately for the last 25 years the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST) has been raided to supplement the general fund. Federal funding has also been directed away from bridges and roads.

Starting in 2012 the MVST will be 100% dedicated to transportation, the amendment passed in November 2006 has a goofy 60-40 formula for dividing money between roads and mass transit. It could be legally used entirely for mass transit. If history repeats itself, we can count on even more funding to be re-routed to mass transit instead of funding roads and bridges.

Minnesotans are very generous; we are one of the highest taxed states in the nation. Projects are, literally or figuratively, collapsing around us while Minnesotans wait for the promised federal funding. So while we are busy here trying to get our state legislators to make roads and bridges priorities please do your job and send our federal bridge money.

Sincerely,
Sue Jeffers

Deconstructing the SCHIP debate

I posted this at True North yesterday, but I forgot to post it here. It must be old age setting in!

Michele Bachmann fires back at her critics on the SCHIP debate in today's Star Tribune. In it she lays out the glaring flaws in the bill that the many critics of the legislation have been trying to get past the "gatekeepers" in the media.

Under the bill passed by Congress and vetoed by the president, SCHIP dollars could be used to cover childless adults and more-affluent families -- in some cases, households earning up to $83,000 per year. It also changes current law to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get SCHIP funds.
A Congressional Budget Office study shows that more than 77 percent of children affected by this expansion already have personal, private health insurance. So why create an incentive that pushes kids out of private insurance into a government-run
program, rather than focusing on low-income, uninsured children?
Worse, this legislation makes SCHIP financially unstable. In order to appear fiscally sound, it gives children health insurance for five years, then cuts SCHIP funding by
nearly 80 percent -- a classic bait and switch that will cause millions of American children to lose their health coverage.
And what are the taxpayers getting in return? According to the CBO, the bill will lead to only 800,000 eligible-but-unenrolled children being enrolled in SCHIP by 2012. The sad fact is that it would be cheaper to give each of these kids $72,000 than it would be to enact this bill, and it would probably show healthier results.

The other "lie" that Michele puts to rest is that the Republicans in Congress don't "care" about the children.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, several million SCHIP-eligible children are
uninsured. Surely, children in need should have the health insurance promised to
them before SCHIP is expanded further up the income ladder or before more of the
program's limited resources are used for adults.
Here's my idea: Let's cover the kids first. Let's focus on children in need who don't have access to health insurance and fund SCHIP as it was meant to be. I've publicly supported legislation that would accomplish these goals and keep SCHIP moving forward to help those it was intended to help.

Brava Rep. Bachmann. Brava.....it nice to see a Republican standing up to the attack dogs in this debate.

House ditches troops

I don't usually write about these things and for a good reason. However, what happened in DC Friday and Saturday are extrordinary events and need to be treated as such.

The American Legion, an organization of which the Logical Husband IS a member, issued a press release in the aftermath of the historic House anti-troops vote. (H/T AAA)

"The leader of the nation’s largest wartime veterans’ organization provided the following statement in response to the House vote disapproving the President’s decision to deploy more than 20,000 additional combat troops to the Iraqi theater.“Congress may consider its vote today on H. Con. Res. 63 to be non-binding, but veterans of previous wars and those in the field of combat right now consider Congress’s action to be a betrayal of trust and the first step toward surrender to the terrorists who caused this war in the first place." (emphasis mine)

Democrats like Rep Pelosi and Rep. Murtha will try to paint H.R. 63 as everything but an anti-troops resolution, but the troops see it for what it is....a slap in the face and the first step toward defeat.

"This war didn’t just start with the invasion of Iraq. It’s been going on for decades. It’s been going on in Republican and Democrat administrations and Congresses.
It isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about America. It’s about all of us, and especially those who are at this moment risking their lives on the field of battle.
Americans are not the enemy here. The terrorists and all of those governments that support them are the enemy. We must never forget that. "

Leave it to the Legion to remind Americans of the very recent history that the media and the Democrats would just as soon you forget.

"And, equally important, we must never forget the primary lesson learned in Vietnam: you cannot separate the war from the warrior.
Congress can talk all it wants to about how it supports the troops. But its actions set the table. The message they sent today to the frontline is that America is preparing to cut and run. We essentially told our fighting men and women that ‘we have taken step one in the plan to cut reinforcements, to cut armaments, and to withdraw any support you need to complete your mission" (emphasis again mine).

When will the American people (and especially the political classes) get this simple statement of fact!

"The Speaker characterized it succinctly when she said, “(t)his legislation will signal a change in direction that will end the fighting and bring our troops home.’
What she failed to add was ‘… in defeat, and without completing the mission they were trained to complete and ready to win if only America had not given up before they did.’
The American Legion and the American people find this to be totally unacceptable and we will do everything within our power to ensure that our troops are not used as political pawns by a Congress that lacks the will to win.”

There is not much else left to say - other than God bless and watch over our troops...because their government has ducked out on them!