On Monday night, Jon Stewart looked at how fast Congress acted to fix the airport delays caused by the sequester, and had special ire for Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), chair of the Appropriations Committee, to how he reacted to the cuts.
The best part of this story, the hearing Congress held demanding answers about airline delays from FAA director Michael Huerta.
REP. HAL ROGERS, R-KY (4/24/2013): We've got a lot of questions for you this morning. The first one is gonna be, how come you didn't tell us about this beforehand — the sequester's impact on the layoffs, furloughs — not a word, not a breath. You didn't forewarn us that this was coming.
"Won't ever get old, and we won't ever die."
That's Congressman Hal Rogers, the head of the House Appropriations Committee, the committee that oversees all federal expenditures, asking why they were never told that the sequester — the cutting of said expenditures — would impact air travel. And he's got a point. Why didn't anyone mention that? Roll montage of everyone mentioning that.
ALYSON CAMEROTA (2/26/2013): No sequester deal in sight. The White House says air travel will go haywire.
CHRIS JANSING (2/22/2013): Federal spending cuts threaten delays in air travel.
HOWARD FINEMAN (3/4/2013): You're going to see lines at the airport, you're going to see furloughs.
NEWS REPORT (2/26/2013): Fewer flights, and delays of up to 90 minutes or more.
ED HENRY (2/22/2013): Some flights are going to be cancelled, towers shut down for periods of time to deal with these budget cuts.
(Jon strokes chin) What do they mean by that?
OK, fine. But we never heard that from... the Secretary of Transportation. Roll footage of the Secretary of Transportation.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY RAY LaHOOD (2/25/2013): Well, look at when it comes to transportation, we have to cut a billion dollars, $600 million from FAA, and that's the reason that we've announced that there's going to be a slowdown and delays in flights. We're going to have to furlough air traffic controllers.
Adding, "How loud do I have to fucking say it?" (wild audience cheering and applause)
You know, look. Watch Congressman Rogers... this is kind of fun. Watch Congressman Rogers confronted with the fact that he was forewarned. Watch him assimilate this new information, and still find a way to use it against his opponent using some kind of dick-jitsu move.
4/25/2013:
FAA ADMINISTRATOR MICHAEL HUERTA: We have been talking about reduction in available controller hours of 10% for months.
REP. HAL ROGERS, R-KY: But you didn't tell them which airports, which airlines.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR MICHAEL HUERTA: We told them that they should expect significant impacts at major hub facilities.
REP. HAL ROGERS, R-KY: Well, la-di-da. Everyone knew that.
(shocked audience gasps of disgusted laughter)
"La-di-da. I mean, major airport hubs could be... could be anything. I dunno. I mean, fuck me twice with a bullfrog."
That guy there? That guy there, that's the reason peanut butter jars have to say:
Video below the fold.
Aasif Mandvi then took a closer look at
those affected by the sequester.
Jon then couldn't believe the
crazy update to the case of who sent ricin in the mail to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Then last night, Jon looked at the
situation in Syria, and how the
war hawks are responding.
He then covered
Jason Collins coming out in the NBA.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Stephen talked about the NBA's
Jason Collins coming out and the
reaction from some conservative Christians like
Pat Buchanan.
He then noted that Yelp now has
prison reviews.
Then last night, Stephen looked at how Congress is still spending
millions on tanks the Army says it doesn't need. Specifically, he calls out Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for being responsible for this, because the tanks are made in Lima, Ohio.
He then looked at a new trend,
medical repatriation, or dumping sick patients outside of the border instead of caring for them.
He then had another
Thought for Food update.
Jon talked with actor Jon Hamm on Monday and actor Robert Downey, Jr. on Tuesday. Stephen had on punk rocker Iggy Pop on Monday night, who performed "Job" and "Burn" on the show, and then Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the creators of Snapchat, on Tuesday night.