Good afternoon, Daily Kos readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, offer critiques and suggestions, or post manifestos. We'll be here all snowy weekend.
All the Hill news that fit to blog is over the fold...
Richard Shelby two-fer
Our first two items are brought to you by the "Party of Fiscal Conservatism." Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama today perfectly illustrates what the loyal opposition has become: The Party of Blind Obstruction.
Shelby's Office Confirms Holds, Lashes Out At Obama
Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-AL) office has confirmed to TPMDC the reports that Shelby has placed a hold on President Obama's nominees over a pair of government programs set to be based in Alabama. He did not confirm that Shelby has taken the rare step of blocking all of Obama's nominees, as was reported yesterday.
"Sen. Shelby has placed holds on several pending nominees due to unaddressed national security concerns," Shelby spokesperson Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement. "Among his concerns" are the progress on multi-billion dollar defense contract that would see planes built in Mobile, AL and Obama's decision to scrap a $45 million FBI improvised explosive device lab Shelby secured an earmark for in 2008.
Some of those holds are on -- wait for it -- National Security nominees.
The shorter version: Shelby only cares about national security to the extent that his state benefits financially.
And exhibit B:
Dodd to move forward, financial talks with Shelby at 'impasse'
Bipartisan negotiations on financial reform in the Senate Banking Committee are at an "impasse," the panel's chairman said.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that he will push forward without a clear deal given the stalemate with the senior Republican on his committee.
"For now we have reached an impasse," said Dodd, the Banking panel chairman, referring to months of negotiations with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
Senator Tom "Dr. No" Coburn issued this statement:
Very good, young Padawan. But you still have much to learn.
I think we can safely call this tyranny of the minority.
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Boehner rejects deficit reduction proposal
House Majority Leader John Boehner says he won't even discuss creating a commission to tackle the national deficit and debt unless the minority party is equally represented.
GOP leader rejects White House terms for deficit commission
Boehner told Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in a telephone call that Republicans would refuse to participate on the 18-member commission unless it were comprised equally of Republicans and Democrats, and unless all GOP members were appointed by their caucus leaders, according to a top Boehner aide.
A deal between the White House and congressional Democrats calls for the commission to include six GOP lawmakers, six Democratic lawmakers and six presidential appointees, two of whom would be Republicans.
A few points on Boehner's latest whining:
- The Democrats won in 2006 and 2008. Deal with it.
- When the Republicans took over in 2001, the country was running a budget surplus and paying down the debt.
- Republicans routinely froze Democrats out of meaningful negotiations during those years.
- STFU
- The Democrats should proceed without them.
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Louisiana Purchase was Jindal's idea
Senator Mary Landrieu says that the $300 million Louisiana Purchase was Bobby Jindal's idea and it was never a condition of her support for the health care bill.
Sen. Landrieu defends ‘Louisiana Purchase,' says Jindal asked for it
Landrieu used a floor speech, press conference and private e-mails from Jindal to fire back against critics of the $300 million-plus in Medicaid funds that became known as the “Louisiana Purchase.”
“Nothing about this effort was secret — it was public from the very first meeting that happened at the governor’s mansion in January,” Landrieu said. “It was a broadly supported delegation effort from the beginning. And it was never a condition of my support for the bill.
“There should be some concerns about specific arrangements that were made, or for specific promises of support. This was not one of them. And the record will show that.”
This still begs the central question: Why did the Democrats have to worry about her vote for cloture?
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We're not the opposition; we're the alternative
One of the GOP's more conservative House members is floating a budget proposal that has supposedly caught the president's attention.
Republican lawmaker's budget plan gets Obama's attention
Rep. Paul D. Ryan says he is determined to make sure the Republican Party is viewed as "the alternative party, not the opposition party."
That is a goal President Obama embraced when he visited House Republicans at their policy retreat in Baltimore last week, and he singled out Ryan as someone he would like to work with -- even mentioning budget legislation the Wisconsin Republican co-wrote.
Two points about this "story." At no point does the reporter ask the president or anyone in the administration to comment on Rep. Ryan's proposal. Furthermore, Boehner is not taking the idea seriously. In all honesty, there is probably nothing to see here.
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More evidence that the last item is crap
It seems one part of Ryan's plan includes privatizing Social Security. In the House, you don't need anywhere from 60-100 votes to debate and vote on a resolution, so the Democratic leadership plans to make the GOP put up or shut up.
Dems To Force GOP Vote On Anti-Social Security Privatization Resolution
House Democrats are going to force their Republican colleagues to vote on a resolution opposing the privatization of Social Security. The move shows Democrats are putting their full political muscle into painting the Republicans as enemies of Social Security and using the chief GOP budget writer Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to cut benefits as evidence.
Rep. John Larson (D-CT) and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) this afternoon introduced the resolution which "expresses the will of House Democrats to preserve Social Security and reaffirms our commitment to working in a bipartisan way to make common sense adjustments to strengthen the program for generations to come."
Bring it! Then we can talk about who wants to kill grandma.
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Veering to the center or not?
One of these stories is not like the other.
From the Huffington Post:
Obama Calls Out Conservative Democrats For Their Timidity
Just as President Obama's appearance before the House Republican caucus last Friday gave him an opportunity to push back against some of the most outlandish conservative caricatures of his presidency, his visit with Senate Democrats on Wednesday morning allowed him to confront, head on and in public, the timidity and centrism from within his own party.
~snip
In one key exchange this morning, Obama rebuked pleas from Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) that he moderate his agenda and work with Republicans to ease the current state of economic uncertainty.
And from Politico:
Dems grouse as Obama tacks to center
President Barack Obama is running into resistance from congressional Democrats over several key economic proposals — blunting the party’s ability to send a clear message to middle-class voters that Democrats feel their pain.
Obama has run into friction from fellow Democrats over plans to freeze some federal spending, to use bailout funds for small-business lending and to limit the reach of big banks.
Who's right? Who knows? But it is far superior to the far-right ideological purity that we have seen from the Republicans since they lost control of Congress in January, 2007.
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Teabaggers Unite!
Finally, The Most Important News of the Day™ visits the Tea Party people who are meeting in Nashville where they doing something. Anyway, this one is so expensive (so much for a grassroots movement) that former Congressman, one-time presidential candidate, and kos avoider Tom Tancredo spoke because he could not afford a ticket.
DAVID: You came to the Tea Party Convention because they asked you?
TANCREDO: Well, sure! I didn’t have $500 for a ticket! Only way I could get in this room was to be a speaker!
Actually, the fee is $549. Ha! Netroots Nation isn't that expensive.
Tancredo argued that Judeo-Christian values demand the elimination of the nanny state. That burning you feel on your forehead is normal after hearing idiotic statements like this.
Those who are loaded enough to attend have formed a Political Action Committee. .. or someone did
The PAC, Ensuring Liberty Corp., will give money and resources to candidates who advocate fiscal responsibility, less government, lower taxes, states' rights and strong national security, convention spokesman Mark Skoda told reporters. Skoda said he would serve on the board of the PAC, which will be organized as a nonprofit based in Memphis, but he declined to identify any other leaders of the committee.
Skoda, who heads the Memphis Tea Party, said the PAC would immediately support candidates in a half-dozen congressional races in Tennessee and other states and would look for others to back.
It was difficult to determine during Skoda's 30-minute news conference whether his PAC had been embraced nationally or whether he was launching it as a lone wolf.
Oh, and these uber patriots did not even open with the Pledge of Allegiance, but that, of course, was the fault of some minimum wage retail slave who didn't read minds and make sure there was a flag available. But, but, but... all of those patriotic people and they couldn't find a flag? If this is the way they are going to operate, the only thing the Democrats have to fear is a whole string of NY-23 like elections.
I suggest following Dave Weigel's coverage of the teabag fest.
With that, I bid you a good night and a pleasant weekend. Enjoy the Super Bowl. Can you guess which team Heckuva Job Brownie is rooting for without peeking?