This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Congress sucks

  • Frank Buckles controversy

    We’ve done our best here at TAH to honor the last American World War One veteran, Frank Buckles in life as well as his recent death. There is a campaign seeking to allow Mr. Buckles to lie in State in the Capitol Rotunda to represent the sacrifice of that entire generation of warriors.

    Well not much is done in that building without it being partisan to a certain extent. According to CBS News, my Senators (both Democrats) are blaming Republicans for blocking this honor;

    Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin III both released statements saying the speaker had blocked the Capitol honor. Asked if that were true, Boehner spokesman Mike Steel said the speaker and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid would seek Defense Department permission for a ceremony for Buckles at Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington.

    Well, I have a phone so I used it and called the Speaker’s office. The answer I got was “Mr. Buckles will be properly honored in the Capitol as well as at Arlington. You don’t have to worry about that.”

    As with everything we hear from Washington, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the hell that means.

    In the interim, here’s the Speaker’s contact information if you can’t wait;

    H-232 The Capitol
    Washington, DC 20515
    Phone: (202) 225-0600
    Fax: (202) 225-5117

  • Milbank: Troops need equipment? Let ’em drink beer.

    I don’t agree much with Washington Post’s Dana Milbank. I had a brief talk with him one day a few years ago and he’s a personable enough fellow, but his writing have the liberal left leanings you’d expect from a Post columnist. But he wrote an excellent piece last night in the Post.

    It’s about the hearings yesterday in Congress in which Secretary of Defense gates pleaded with Congress to provide money for force protection in Afghanistan;

    The money has been held up because it would come from a project benefiting a major contributor to the committee chairman, Bill Young (R-Fla.).

    “Mr. Chairman, our troops need this force-protection equipment, and they need it now,” Gates pleaded. “Every day that goes by without this equipment, the lives of our troops are at greater risk.” He urged action “today” on the funds, admonishing: “We should not put American lives at risk to protect specific programs or contractors.”

    So how did the committee respond to Gates’ plea? Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) asked Gates’ how the Pentagon felt about his bill to let underage troops drink beer. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and Norm Dicks (D-WA) spent their time presenting to the committee the suitability of their respective constituent aircraft companies for a Pentagon contract. Milbank lists other issues more important than Congress’ inability to fund force protection needs;

    Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) complained about the war in Afghanistan. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) opined about creating a no-fly zone over Libya. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) had thoughts about the presidential helicopter.

    Gates merely wanted Congress to shift money, not appropriate more money. But, committee chairman, Bill Young (R-Fla.) isn’t listening to Gates.

    Why? Because Young objects to the money being taken away from the Army’s Humvee program. Never mind that the Army has more Humvees than it wants. They are manufactured by AM General – which happens to be Young’s third-largest campaign contributor.

  • OK, let’s get to the really important stuff

    ROS sends us a link to a Hill article about Sheila Jackson Lee who is spitting mad about the really important stuff. I mean would could be more important than a Pepsi ad?

    In the ad for Pepsi Max, a black woman sitting on a park bench gets angry with her husband after an attractive, white female jogger sits down next to the couple and smiles and waves at the man.

    After the man smiles back, his girlfriend or wife gets angry and whips her Pepsi Max can at him. The man ducks, and the can hits the attractive jogger in the head. The ad is titled “Love hurts.”

    My goodness…that’s as bad as Iran’s nukes or Hezzbollah having it’s own country.. But just to make the caricature of herself complete, Jackson or Lee or Sheila or whatever says;

    “In this month of African-American history where we’re trying to celebrate what is good and great, it certainly seems ridiculous that Pepsi would utilize this kind of humor,” she said. “It was not humorous. It was demeaning — an African-American woman throwing something at an African-American male and winding up hitting a Caucasian woman.”

    Yup, the commercial would have been more appropriate on Boxer Day, or Caucasian Non-Joggers Month.

    Jackson Lee also said it would be great to have a lot more women in ads at the Super Bowl.

    I never realized there was a shortage of women in ads during the Superbowl. I am aware of the fact that the women in the ads during the Superbowl DON’T look remotely like Jackson, Lee or Sheila.

    Here’s the ad, so you can be outraged, too.
    (more…)

  • Kucinich and Brad Manning

    Dennis Kucinich is taking time out from his lawsuit against the Congressional cafeteria to focus on Bradley Manning’s treatment at Quantico. On his website, he posts his letter asking the SecDef, Robert Gates for a visitation;

    Private Manning’s guilt or innocence is a question for adjudication and his treatment at Quantico severely undermines the presumption of innocence as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and raises questions as to whether he is truly able to stand trial. His care while in the custody of the Department of Defense is the responsibility of the U.S. Government and as a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform it is my duty to conduct effective oversight.

    The ironic part of the letter, he defends Manning’s right to the assumption of innocence while Kucinich presumes that the DoD is guilty of Manning’s lawyer’s charges of mistreatment. You’d think he’d wait to visit Manning before giving a defense lawyer any credence.

    Thanks to Daniel for the link.

  • Senate avoids important stuff

    So while the Senate investigates why our intelligence agencies didn’t anticipate the drama unfolding in the middle east, and they point fingers at the FBI and the Army for their failures in the Hasan murders, natural gas supplies are dwindling in the southwest. From Associated Press;

    With tens of thousands of people across New Mexico without natural gas service, Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday declared a state of emergency, ordered government offices be shut down Friday and urged schools to “strongly consider” remaining closed for the day.

    Demand has soared because of extremely cold weather across the state since Tuesday. New Mexico Gas Company said rolling blackouts in West Texas also impeded the delivery of natural gas to New Mexico.

    From Fox Phoenix;

    Southwest Gas is working to restore service to about 14,000 Southwest Gas customers out of luck Thursday due to the unseasonably cold weather.

    Southwest Gas customers in the Rita Ranch and eastern foothills areas of Tucson are experiencing a natural gas outage.

    Can you imagine? A natural gas shortage in the United States? With untapped reserves inside our own borders. I filled my propane tank Wednesday and the cost was almost 100% higher than it was when I last filled it in September.

    Drill here, drill now.

  • Bachmann keeps vet benefits on chopping block

    I read in the Army Times about Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the Tea Party’s mouthpiece these days, who has recommended $400b in cuts which include veterans’ benefits;

    …Bachmann…has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits.

    Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website.

    So, it didn’t sound right to me. I called Bachmann’s office and the receptionist, obviously being fed information by another aide confirmed that Bachmann did indeed include veterans benefits in her plan “for the moment” said the receptionist. Another politician who sees the easy way out by balancing the budget on the backs of veterans and retirees.

    This is from her proposal;

    I always thought the Tea Party felt a little too much like the Ron Paul movement and this proves it to me. Look, I’m all for cutting the federal budget, but cutting or freezing veterans benefits is underhanded skullduggery. The veterans have already paid their portion of the bargain.

    If this what the Tea Party is all about, count me out.

    Oh, by the way, Bachmann’s phone number is (202) 225-2331.

  • Kucinich sues congressional cafeteria

    BooRadley and ROS sent this link to an article about Cleveland congressman Dennis Kucinich who is suing the congressional cafeteria because the little pussy has an owie;

    Rep. Dennis Kucinich has rapped a U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria with a $150,000 lawsuit for selling him a vegetarian sandwich wrap in 2008 that he says caused dental damage when he bit into an olive pit.

    The lawsuit that the Cleveland Democrat filed Jan. 3 against operators and suppliers of the Longworth House Office Building cafeteria says the sandwich he bought there “on or about” April 17, 2008 “contained dangerous substances, namely an olive pit….

    Um, don’t the American tax payers give Kucinich enough money to purchase dental insurance? Well, then that’s enough. Grow the hell up, you little twerp.

  • Pelosi saved or created jobs for military pilots and stewards

    Yeah, while you were out looking for a job last year, trying to feed your family and not lose your house, Nancy Pelosi was flying 90,000 miles in military aircraft and apparently the Air Force footed the bill for countless airborne parties and celebrations. I don’t usually link to Judicial Watch, but;

    Former Speaker Pelosi received chocolate covered strawberries as a birthday surprise on a March 26, 2010 flight. According to one internal Air Force email sent on March 25, 2010: “The speaker’s office is requesting egg salad sandwiches on wheat toast with fruit (watermelon, etc) for desert [sic]. It’s the speaker’s B-Day tomorrow so we’re also asking for something like chocolate covered strawberries (dark chocolate preferred)…” The immediate response to the email from another member of the Air Force staff: “Copy all. We’ll plan something for the birthday and take care of the meal.”

    According to previous documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the former Speaker’s military travel cost the United States Air Force $2,100,744.59 over one two-year period — $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol. For example, purchases for one Pelosi-led congressional delegation traveling from Washington, DC, through Tel Aviv, Israel to Baghdad, Iraq May 15-20, 2008, included: Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Baileys Irish Cream, Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewar’s scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniel’s whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine.

    It’s so nice to know that our elected officials spend tax payer money on their own comfort and entertainment in such a lavish fashion. We need Marie Antoinette-types to keep us in our place.