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

Category: Congress sucks

  • Campaigner flyer fail

    Campaigner flyer fail

    Brownley-campaign-flyer

    The Daily Caller reports that incumbent congresswoman Julia Brownley sent the above flyer to her constituents to show them who she is concerned about – apparently she’s concerned about female members of the German Luftwaffe;

    That photograph shows a young woman in a white, open-collared military uniform, wearing a white cap displaying a gold insignia and blue-and-gold trim.

    Although it bears a fleeting resemblance to official attire worn by the U.S. Navy, no branch of the United States military wears a uniform like the one in the mailer. And the insignia on the cap is the symbol of the Bundeswehr Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force.

    There was a Star Trek episode that stands out in my mind about a kid who wanted to mimic the life he saw on Earth. He cooked a meal with sumptuous food that he saw through his telescope, but when the crew of the Enterprise bit into the food, it had no taste, because the kid couldn’t know how the food tasted by looking at it. That’s how Congress interacts with the military – they see uniforms and they all look alike, so even a German Air Force uniform is suitable for campaign literature.

    “Washington is packed with politicians who love to pay lip service, to use our military veterans as props around election time,” Jessie Jane Duff, a retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant and advisor to Concerned Veterans for America, told The Daily Caller. “You would think that Rep. Brownley, who serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, would at least be able to do so correctly.”

    13 years of war and they still can’t get it right.

  • House passes compromise Vet bill

    The House voted 420-5 to pass a compromise bill on veterans’ care. I don’t know how much good it will do since all it does is throw $17 billion at the problem and make it easier for the new VA Secretary to fire department executives, according to the Washington Times;

    Lawmakers approved the plan to cut down on wait times 420-5, signaling that the eagerness to care for veterans outweighed the almost $17 billion price tag — $10 billion of which would be tacked onto the deficit, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

    “There’s no doubt that the Department of Veterans Affairs as we know it today is in crisis and our veterans are suffering,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, Florida Republican and co-author of the bill, on the House floor. “The conference committee report we’re considering today is the first step.”

    The bipartisan deal would let veterans who have been waiting more than 30 days for an appointment or who live more than 40 miles from a facility seek care outside the VA. It would also give newly-confirmed Secretary Robert McDonald more power to fire poor-performing senior executives.

    I don’t know how Congress can actually vote to lessen wait times. But, at least they feel like they “did something” and they can feel good about themselves – and isn’t that really all that matters. The good news is that some veterans can now take advantage of care outside the system if they meet the geographic preconditions. That should reduce wait times somewhat. the problem at the VA is a cultural problem, though and can’t be legislated away, you know, like most problems in this country.

    The problems go deeper than a few executives, though. The Senate (Bernie Sanders, specifically) protected their union base and the real problem employees are still safe, irrespective of how they do their jobs. I wish Mr. McDonald all of the luck in the world, and I wish those veterans who have been left out of the system all of the luck in the world, but I don’t have much hope.

  • Ellison: End Gaza blockade for peace

    The Washington Post has an opinion piece from Keith Ellison, the Muslim congressman, in which he tries to push the lie that if only Israel would lift the blockade of Gaza, the world would be peaceful, birds would sing and Skittle-shitting unicorns would run the Earth;

    I have traveled to Gaza three times since 2009 and have visited hospitals and schools there. As I have talked with ordinary Gazans, I have not encountered anyone representing Hamas. During one visit, I had the opportunity to meet Scott Anderson, deputy director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Anderson, a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army, said it best when I spoke to him again this week: “Unless there is material change to the status quo, you’re just resetting the clock for another cycle of violence.” Continuing to block goods and services to and from Gaza keeps the keys to opportunity away from the people who just want to live, work and travel.

    I’d suggest that Ellison take up his rosy view for the future with Hamas. The blockade of Gaza only keeps out weapons and thing that Hamas can use against the Israelis, their geographic neighbors. And, oh yeah, everything that Hamas gets their hands on goes towards building tunnels to feed their obsession of killing Jews. They could use building material for schools and mosques, they could use labor for improving their infrastructure, but instead it all goes into the ground. Like I said yesterday, Egypt has destroyed more than 1600 tunnels along the Gaza-Sinai frontier through which Hamas smuggles war-making materials.

    Did I mention that Israel uncovered another arsenal of rockets hidden in a school in Gaza? Well they did. And did you know that Hamas’ command center is under a hospital. Well, yes it is. And apparently the media knows it, but they don’t think that you should know. You’d think that Ellison would think that it would be important to make Hamas to quit hiding their missiles in UN schools and not hide their commanders underneath a hospital.

    Hamas is only content when they’re killing Jews and nothing else matters. So the blockade continues for a measure of relative peace in Israel. But, Ellison, a Hamas-hugger, thinks that all of the violence will end when the blockade ends – just like he used to tell us that the violence in Iraq would end if only we’d pull the US troops out.

    There was violence before the blockade and there would be violence after the blockade ends. Just because Ellison didn’t see any Hamas when he went to Gaza (like I believe that) doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

  • Congress to end Military tobacco subsidies

    David sends us a link to an NBC News article which reports that the new Defense spending bill plucks out the 25% discount that military members can take advantage of in the commissary;

    Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the subcommittee, said studies show that tobacco use is higher in the military. He said that translates into more illnesses and health care costs of $1.6 billion a year.

    “There is no reason these deadly products are subsidized,” Durbin said.

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was surprised that the subsidy was so high.

    […]

    The House version of the defense policy bill would thwart any Navy efforts to restrict access to tobacco. In May, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., described smoking as one of the few pleasures for a member of the military, and he easily convinced his colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee to back his measure.

    It’s like twenty little vacations in a box. But, hey, Congress knows what’s best for us, so go ahead, Durbin. You know what else is bad for the troops’ health? Giving weapons to our future enemies, but I don’t see you stopping that practice anytime soon. Deadly products, FFS. But if someone offered to supply the troops with free pot, Durbin would break his own neck to vote for it.

  • Gun control fight in the Senate

    Chief Tango sends us a link to the Washington Post which reports that new gun laws are being proposed for adding into the Bipartisan Sportsmen Act (S.2363) which will make it easier for sportsmen to hunt and fish on government land and make more shooting ranges available. But the new proposals are strictly written down partisan lines;

    Republicans want to overturn the ban on large-capacity magazines and assault weapons in the District of Columbia; expand the right to purchase or transport firearms and ammunition across state lines; limit when a military veteran can be denied a firearm due to mental illness; and allow gun owners to carry weapons into post offices or other federal sites. Democrats said they are working on proposals to limit the sale of certain weapons and ammunition; expand the national background-check system; and stiffen penalties for gun straw purchasers.

    I’ll go along with the stiffened penalties for straw purchasers, but I wonder what “expand the national background checks” mean and which “certain weapons and ammunition” they want to regulate. So I went to Congress.gov and I see that Feinstein has an amendment that doesn’t have the text linked to it yet, so does Shaheen. Shaheen’s amendment has 5 co-sponsors, including Susan Collins, but no public text yet. In fairness, the Republican amendments haven’t been posted either. But if there is going to be debate this week, shouldn’t the public know what the debate is about?

  • Boehner explains his stupid strategy

    Republicans don’t like being the majority party in Congress. That has to be the answer – because whenever Democrats show the American public how their political solutions are intellectually vacuous, and Americans begin to understand how Democrats have no idea how to lead this country, the Republicans do something stupid to screw up an election. I guess it’s House Speaker John Boehner’s turn to do something stupid. He tried to explain the inexplicable in CNN yesterday;

    ater this month, we will bring legislation to the House floor that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.

    What’s disappointing is the President’s flippant dismissal of the Constitution we are both sworn to defend. It is utterly beneath the dignity of the office. I know the President is frustrated. I’m frustrated. The American people are frustrated, too.

    Boenher goes on to explain how screwed up the economy, unemployment, our foreign policy, our national security, our energy policy have all suffered under this administration for the last four years. I agree with all of that, but a solution doesn’t reside in the judicial system. It reminds me of the Clinton years when the Republicans, for more than two years focused entirely on impeaching the President instead of taking advantage of their position to return the government to the People.

    Basically, Boehner is hoping to pit all three branches of government against each other in a huge power struggle. Actually, the courts put the Obama Administration in it’s place without the legislative branch last week when the president overreached his grasp. Of course, the Obama Administration doubled down on their wrist slapping by looking more ridiculous and announced their intention to use Executive orders to bypass the Constitution.

    It’s been my habit, when an intellectual opponent is doing their best to look like an idiot – I stand back and let them go at it. Public opinion of this President is slipping rapidly. Gas prices are soaring, unemployment and the economy seem to be stagnant, pajama-clad goat ropers make fun of our national security, illegal immigrants flaunt our laws. While I feel Mr. Boehner’s frustration, he doesn’t do the President’s opposition any favors by waving his arms and pleading with us to look at his own idiotic antics instead.

  • Another parade discussion

    Another parade discussion

    tim-kaine-2010-3-16-20-1-50

    Remember when we had this whole discussion about a “victory parade” for Iraq? Well, now Senator (VA-D) Tim Kaine, in the middle of the discussion about how we’re going to go back to Iraq, wants to have a parade for the “end” of combat operations in Afghanistan, according to the Military Times;

    “The president has said combat operations (in Afghanistan) will end in 2014, and we can’t allow these kind of milestones to go unrecognized,” the Virginia Democrat said. “We need to have that moment. We need to mark the end of that chapter.”

    On Thursday, Kaine will introduce a resolution to mark this Veterans Day as an official “welcome home” commemoration for the youngest generation of warfighters.

    The move doesn’t carry any money or mandates, but Kaine hopes if it passes the Senate it can act as a firing pistol for a host of nationwide celebrations honoring the military sacrifices of the last 13 years.

    Is it really the end of combat operations in Afghanistan, Timmy? Are you really that naive? I’m sure the warriors who fought the war in Afghanistan would feel more welcomed home if they came back to a less dysfunctional Veterans Affairs Department and a fully funded health care system.

    But, hey, parades are easy, it’s the stuff that works in the real world that’s hard, so yeah, let’s have a big f’n parade so we can punish the troops with hours of parade practice and the rest of America can take a break from the mall and feel good about themselves for “supporting the troops”. We could tie a huge yellow ribbon around Manhattan or something.

  • Pelosi appoints committee members for Benghazi

    Well, you knew the Democrats weren’t going to let the Republicans do this all by themselves, did you? So Pelosi, after a whole lot of drama, appointed five Democrats to the committee investigating the attack on the Benghazi consulate on September 11, 2012. Leading the list is Elijah Cummings, who you might remember, got butthurt when Darrel Issa cut off his mike when Lois Lerner pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer the questions of the committee investigating the IRS scandal. The other four Democrats, according to the Washington Post are;

    Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee
    Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations), Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
    Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.), Committee on Ways and Means (Subcommittee on Oversight)
    Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Armed Services Committee, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

    I’m sure the whole thing will make for good TV, but bad governance.