Friday, December 23, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Friday, December 23, 2011


I weep...
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5 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45768642

House Republican leaders abruptly caved and agreed to demands by President Barack Obama, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans for a two-month extension of tax cuts for all workers.

* BAD POLICY... BAD POLITICS... AND YET BOEHNER RETAINS THE SPEAKERSHIP.

The agreement, struck after some of the staunchest House conservatives began to retreat, also would renew jobless benefits for almost two million people...

* "BENEFITS" THEY DIDN'T PAY FOR. "BENEFITS" THE REST OF US ARE GOING INTO DEBT TO PROVIDE. "BENEFITS" FINANCED UPON OUR CHILDREN'S AND GRANDCHILDREN'S FUTURES.

...and spare doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments.

* MORE PHONY ACCOUNTING. (REMEMBER, FOLKS, THESE "CUTS" WERE PART OF OBAMACARE. DEMS ASSURED US THEY'D TAKE PLACE. NOW THEY'RE NOT TAKING PLACE. SAME OLD WASHINGTON. LIARS AND FRAUDS.

December 23, 2011 at 7:48 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/us-imf-quotas-idUSTRE7BM01W20111223?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true

IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday urged member countries to quickly sign off on an agreement last year to double IMF resources...

* WITH WHAT...?!?! WE'RE BROKE! WE'RE OFFICIALLY OVER $15 TRILLION IN DEBT - AND THAT DOESN'T COUNT UNFUNDED LIABILITIES! WE'VE JUST RUN YET ANOTHER $1 TRILLION-PLUS DEFICIT!

...and give under-represented nations, such as China, greater voting power in the global lender.

(*MY HEAD IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE*)

* FOLKS... THE INSANITY CONTINUES.

December 23, 2011 at 7:59 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203893404577100313135266898.html?mod=opinion_newsreel

The Obama Administration's re-election mobilization continues: Witness Eric Holder's attempt to play the race card and perhaps twist the law in a campaign against voter identification laws.

In the Attorney General's telling, the movement in the states to require voters to show some ID is a revival of minority disenfranchisement a la Jim Crow.

* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... IT'S NOT REALLY THAT BIG A STRETCH TO SAY DEMOCRATS FAVOR VOTE FRAUD.

(*SHRUG*)

Mr. Holder's remarks are especially notable because they come as the Justice Department is reviewing voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina for "preclearance" under the Voting Rights Act. The states' plans require voters to present photo ID like a driver's license or passport to vote, a measure endorsed by the Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker in 2005 to protect the integrity of the ballot.

Thirty states now require some form of ID at the polls, and one goal of Mr. Holder's attack is to intimidate other states that want to toughen their laws.

(He's probably also signaling that Justice will strike down the Texas and South Carolina statutes.)

* MY FRIENDS... (*SIGH*)... AMERICA IS UNDER ASSAULT FROM WITHIN. DON'T DOUBT ME ON THIS.

December 23, 2011 at 8:20 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=946&chamber=H&congress=1121&tally=1

* VERY INTERESTING...

* MICHELE BACHMANN DIDN'T BOTHER TO MAKE IT BACK TO WASHINGTON TO VOTE AGAINST THE PAYROLL TAX HOLIDAY EXTENSION AND UNFUNDED UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENSION.

* NEITHER DID RON PAUL, WHO FAVORED THE PAYROLL TAX HOLIDAY EXTENSION.

* IF THESE PEOPLE CAN'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN THEIR SPARE TIME WHILE FULFILLING THEIR EXISTING RESPONSIBILITIES THEN THEY SHOULD RESIGN THEIR SEATS IN CONGRESS.

* BTW... THE LIST OF REPUBLICAN HOUSE MEMBERS WHO VOTED "NAY" (FOR WHATEVER REASON...) (*SHRUG*):

Jeff Flake (AZ)
Tim Johnson (IL)
Walter Jones (NC)
Charles Bass (NH)
Chris Gibson (NY)
Frank Wolf (VA)
Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA)

* AND THAT'S IT, FOLKS...

(*SIGH*)

* SO MUCH FOR BACHMANN'S "LEADERSHIP."

December 23, 2011 at 11:07 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/dec/23/billions-dollars-passed-through-congress-empty-cha/

* JUST READ THIS, FOLKS, AND TELL ME AMERICA IS STILL A REPUBLIC FUNCTIONING UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.

Given the billions of dollars in new spending and tax cuts Congress approved Friday morning, it is surprising just how few lawmakers had a hand in the final denouement.

All told, with such momentous issues at stake, only a dozen lawmakers were present for the action, which happened in an amazing 2½ minutes of total floor time.

The Senate went first, gaveling into session at 9:30 with just Majority Leader Harry Reid on the floor and Sen. Mark Warner presiding.

Mr. Reid read out a preapproved agreement that automatically gave Senate approval to a two-month payroll tax cut once the bill made it over from the House later in the morning. Mr. Warner then gaveled closed the session just 70 seconds after he opened it.

Across the Capitol a half-hour later the House acted. In the space of 90 seconds Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican, asked that a bill be introduced, it be excused from going through the regular committee process, the required reading of the legislation be waived and the measure be considered to have passed. House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, a Democrat who came to see the proceedings, took a moment to praise the agreement, and then House Speaker John A. Boehner announced the deal's passage. Total time was 90 seconds.

Those three House members were joined by another Republican and six other Democrats who were mere spectators to the proceedings.

In both chambers, the bill was passed through unanimous consent - a tool frequently used in the Senate, but which is more rare in the House, and is usually used for housekeeping such as revising statements - not to pass major legislation.

If a single member of either chamber had objected, the deal would have been scuttled. But some members didn't even get that chance - given the time difference between the final agreement Thursday and Friday morning's action, it's unlikely West Coast lawmakers could have made it even if they'd wanted to object.

Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican, told CNN he had considered objecting but said the timing of the deal left him no time to make it back to Washington.

"By the time we were notified that the unanimous consent agreement would be offered, where I come from in Kansas, I can't get to Washington quick enough on this short notice," he told the network on Friday.

He said the GOP's leaders broke their own pledge to give all members three days to read legislation before putting bills on the floor for action.

The bill passed and signed into law Friday didn't even exist until 10:30 Friday morning when it was officially introduced - half an hour after the Senate had deemed it to have passed.

In order to head off potential mischief in that time gap, Mr. Reid wrote into the Senate's agreement that the language must exactly match that of the bill the Senate passed last weekend, or else the prearranged consent of senators would be withdrawn and the bill would not have passed the upper chamber.

December 23, 2011 at 4:26 PM

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