Thickening Plot in the US Senate

The budget resolution being drafted by
Senate Democrats will include reconciliation instructions, according to
Democrats briefed on the matter.

The reconciliation instructions, which allow legislation to move through the upper chamber with a simple majority instead of 60 votes, will be included

          to ease the passage of deficit reduction measures, according to Democrats on
          the Senate Budget Committee.

But the reconciliation language could
also be used to pass the extension of expiring tax cuts, job-creation measures
and energy legislation, according to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

It could also be used for any number of legislative items on dems wish list, even a Public Option for HCR. So long as it is budget related. Good sign though that Senate dems are planning for the certainty that the GOP will block whatever they try to pass, no matter if it is good for the country, or not. Stay tuned

I Love the Smell of Irony In the Morning--Smells, like, - Victory!

The same can't be said of another event held just outside town today at Ft. Hunt National Park in northern Virgina. According to the Washington Post, protesters at the "Restore The Constitution" rally will take advantage of new gun laws signed by President Obama allowing the carrying of firearms in national parks to make an armed stand for liberty today.

So Much For a GOP Tidal Wave In November

The Apple Dumpling Revolution, Too long in the oven? The faithful out in the countryside are not as pleased with the parties direction as Tea Partiers tell us.

Afternoon Obot Cafe

If you appreciate the intersection of traditional folk music and the ethereal female singing voice, then this tune could be for you. A little long at 11 minutes, but well worth it, especially if feeling stressed.

The Unthanks - Anache Gordon

Carolina Chocolate Drops performing "Hit' Em Up Style"

How Can It Get Any Worse?

From TPM Livewire

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said on CNN's State of the Union that Obama
has thrown "fuel on the fire at a time when the civil, when the debate
about politics is a very angry debate to begin with."

"What this is going to do is cause the election of a lot more
Republican Scott Browns in November who are determined to come in and
provide some checks and balances in Washington to stop the overreaching
of the government," he added

It would be impossible, or nearly so, for things to get much worse in the US Senate with the GOP obstructing about every thing that moves. It is the modus operandi and low brow political tactics of the party of personal responsibility. Fist make impossible for Obama to effectively run the government with record holds on various appointees, then when Obama has no choice but to make emergency recess appointments in key government agency positions, the right wing cries foul and that Obama is poisoning a well of comity that does not exist thanks to GOP obstruction. And if he doesn't fill these critical positions, it opens him up to GOP charges of incompetence and mismanagement when agencies fall short of their mandates to congress. It is abut the most cynical and depraved method of politicking and with a clueless or amiable media, it seems to be working, for now.

Some of this type of sparing is normal for political posturing in the senate done by both parties when a president of the other party holds the White House. But the republicans under Obama have taken it to an entirely different level with not only appointment holds, but record filibusters and other parliamentary trickery. It borders on sedition toward fostering failure of the government to function.

And HCR is just the most recent claim that Obama is governing like some kind of Marxist Dictator, when the only thing he is guilty of is passing laws well within the rules that the GOP doesn't like. Or, a duly elected government with democrats given a huge majority to govern, which they have done well within Obama's campaign promise to reform health care. With the truth being, the HCR bill that passed was much more conservative than liberal, with many provisions inserted by republicans.

And now we get, after all the lies and distortions the GOP has put out on HCR, charges of democrats passing laws that are not wanted by the public, a public that is so thoroughly confused from the lies and distortions from the right, based on mostly a single pollster called Rasmussen, a known GOP polling outfit.

Debt and Deception

They are still playing from the Reagan playbook of “tax and spend” liberals, being the party of cheap pseudo jingoism.
And part of the con is to effort the debt into a big problem with the public. Usually doesn’t work very well, but this time Bush’s massive tax cuts to rich people, unnecessary expensive Iraq adventure, and the corporate wingnut welfare that is Medicare part d, exploded the deficit before Obama came along, that all together, along with little regulation of the finance sector, caused an unbalanced supply side to demand in the economy, that imploded it, and then needed drastic rescue from taxpayers that added greatly more to the deficit.
Part of that was the plan all along, to run up the debt with unpaid for wreckless wingnut priority spending to later thwart liberals from enacting social programs that actually benefit ordinary citizens. Though not the finance sector meltdown.
The size of the debt now, I believe, has become a viable campaign issue that is favoring wingers, especially with independent swing voters that decide elections. And the fact that the right caused nearly all of it, wingnuts know will likely not register with the here and now for those independents that are low info and subject to be brainwashed by the wingnut wurlitzer, that grinds out daily the bullshit they lap up.
I never take lightly, the salesmanship of repubs when they create viable talking points and false memes that register with the nano short attentions span that is the American electorate. They can be relentlessly on message as a group to a degree dems do not come close to matching, and I believe incapable of it due to the basic psychology of the liberal mind. We value individual opinions for the most part, that does not fit well with regimented messaging. Though we could do some better than we do.
The wingers are experts at the lies and plausible deniability, mainly because they have no conscience and no shame. And they never ever quit with the bullshit they often can make themselves actually believe.
And though I give big kudos to Obama and dems in congress for passing HCR and the huge stimulus that wasn’t that but a long term prog investment. These things have, along with repubs wreckless spending and governance in general, has made this a viable issue, simply due to the enormous numbers of debt and an economy still sputtering forward, but sputtering nonetheless.
Obama and dems need for the economy to hurry up and recover and start producing jobs, otherwise, Nov will not be kind, though I do doubt now that wingers will take over either chamber of congress. They will put a serious dent in dem majorities however.