The Republican-dominated House is looking more ridiculous than ever, if that’s even possible. The latest debacle is the defeat of a farm bill that included deep cuts to food stamps. Most House Dems voted against it, and so did 62 House Republicans. The Dems objected because it cut food stamps too much. The Republicans, however, appeared to think it didn’t cut food stamps enough.
Anyhoo, having failed to move its extremist wing to pass something that might actually, you know, become law, the leadership of the House Republicans blamed Democrats.
The leadership of the House GOP — which, last time I checked, controls the Lower Chamber – is blaming Democrats for failing to deliver enough votes to make passage possible. A spokesman for Eric Cantor claimed it shows Dems “are not able to govern.â€
The Republicans, and noted soprano-singing House Speaker John Boehner, who last saw his balls in October of 2010, have decided that the blame really lies in a reluctance by Democrats to be properly complicit in making poor children hungry enough to pull themselves up by their bootstraps rather than eating them.
Then the Republican leadership blames Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for only bringing 24 Democratic “aye†votes to the table. Jesus. We’re not sure that Nancy Pelosi got 24 votes from the Republican Party on all major bills combined in the years 2009 and 2010. Also, there’s a reason that most Democrats didn’t vote for this farm bill, and that’s because they hate it, because it assaults the social safety net. But yeah, anyway, sure, this is Nancy Pelosi’s fault, boo, she’s evil and wears a lot of makeup, boo.
Newell also writes,
Now then, what’s the problem? Oh right, it’s the House of Representatives, which is terrible at everything, and offers no indication of being any other way until at least 2023. Let’s give some credit: They’re adept at passing go-nowhere bills to repeal Obamacare or ban abortion or tattoo the words “Under God†to every baby’s forehead. Great work there from the House Republican Party. On issues that might appeal to an even slightly broader cross-section of the country, though, they’ve got nothing. You know this. You’ve seen the same routine in nearly every important vote since 2009. Remember that time the government considered arbitrarily defaulting on the public debt and destroying the global economy forever? That was a head-scratcher for the House; took some real “working out†before they concluded it would best be averted, for now.
It always works out the same way, at the 11th hour. A Senate-originated compromise, after much pouting, is taken up by the House after several defeats of their own insane legislation. Maybe a tweak or two is offered. The House passes it. Conservatives serve up uncreative epithets for John Boehner for exercising the only decent option available to him. The next big piece of legislation comes up. And, at least as of yesterday’s farm bill flop, they begin this same fatal cycle of time wasting again.
This pretty much means that the only way real legislation can be passed in the House is with a substantial number of Dem votes, because the Clown Caucus won’t pass anything that resembles actual governance.
Charles Pierce explains the implications for an immigration reform bill:
Mind you, Boehner couldn’t whip enough votes out of his caucus to pass this mess, which included enough hometown pork to bring Dan Rostenkowski back from the dead. Keep that in mind when you consider that he is the guy who’s supposed to get a reasonable immigration bill through this monkeyhouse. I keep hearing that they want the “Gang of 8” proposal to get 70 votes in the Senate. This, allegedly, will “put pressure” on the House to pass a decent immigration reform bill. This is completely absurd. Pressure from whom? Boehner? Marco Rubio, who got booed in front of the Capitol yesterday? One half of the national legislature is utterly in the hands of the inmates of Bedlam. What possible reason is there to believe that anything will get done? Hell, Steve King is even nuttier on immigration than he is on poor kids.
Josh Marshall agrees, saying in effect that Boehner’s only real choice is to give the House a relatively “moderate” (by Washington standards) immigration bill that Dems will vote for, and then get out of the way. No bill will be approved by the House extremists that would be acceptable to anyone else.
See also Elise Foley, “Farm Bill Failure Shows John Boehner’s Tight Spot on Immigration.”
Update: Details on what happened — in short, the House Republican Crazies loaded the bill up with amendments to make it toxic to Dems, and then complained the Dems “sandbagged” them by not voting for the bill — see Roll Call and Politico.
In other news, the San Antonio Spurs are blaming the Miami Heat for their defeat in the NBA finals.
Jesus God this is too much. Now Boehner is trying to figure out why we don’t do massive public works projects anymore.
A spokesman for Eric Cantor claimed it shows Dems “are not able to govern.â€
Wow I’m speechless!
Charles Pierce has a way with words. Wish the teadiots had a way with sanity.
It is the Democrat’s fault. They refuse to support a bill that cuts foodstamps. That’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of.
My former congress critter Chris Count Chocula had alot to do with this thing going down, he is the head of the “Club for Growth”. I disagree with him and his organization on almost everything, but in this case I may have to agree. Their stated cause for lobbying against the bill was to end Farm Subsidies, which sounds like a good idea to me!
The playwrights from “The Theatre of the Absurd” period bow their heads, kneel, and prostrate themselves, in admiration.
And inside, they sob at how lame their own efforts at absurdity were.
Dadaist and Surrealist artists would throw their paints, canvasses, furry toilet seats, and melting watches away, and take up accounting.
Beckett and Dali, popping peyote, mescaline, and acid like popcorn, and washing that down with tequila and absinthe, couldn’t have in their wildest drug-crazed imaginations, have created the current Republican House of Representatives caucus.
If Beckett were alive today, the closest he’d come would be by writing a play called “Waiting for Governance.”
In it, the House Republicans would stand around, talk a lot, spin wild stories, and dream about how when tomorrow comes, they will finally, finally, repeal Obamacare, and eliminate abortion, contraception, and the social safety-net.
And in like his play, “Waiting for Godot,” they will stand around, blowing a lot of hot air, and wait for tomorrow.
And nothing will change.
Nothing will happen.
At least not until we turn the Absurdist’s, Dadaist’s, Anarchist’s, and Nihilists, out of Congress.
And then, maybe the wait for ‘governance’ will finally end, and we can all move forward – if, that is, we remember how, and still can.
The thing that scares me is that I think most of the Crazy Caucus thinks the inability of the House to pass any legislation other than pointless diatribes hating on Obamacare is actually a feature, not a bug.
They seem to truly believe that Government is the problem, not the solution, so they don’t want to spend any money on anything. Heck, it used to be the Farm Bill was certain to pass because, as Pierce says, it was laden with pork for everyone. But the Crazies aren’t into that. The system has completely broken down.
I don’t think most of the Beltway press has really grasped how completely busted the rules are now, and how utterly f’d the nation is as a result of the Crazy Caucus in power. Apparently, the only legitimate purpose of Government for those loons is forcing women back into their proper role as subservient wombs, and deporting Mekskins. Anyone who wants anything resembling a functioning modern nation had better look elsewhere.
When you talk about fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer monies, the salary paid to these Republican clowns is the biggest fraud, waste, and abuse. Bigger than anything that goes down at the Pentagon.
700 hundred miles of new border fence coming up! @ 13 million dollars per mile. The sad part is that it’s going to be completely devoid of architectural beauty. It’s gonna be an oversized junk yard fence.. If they would at least copy the Great Wall of China and build it of stone it might make a little more sense. Face it off with some nice polished granite, or imported Italian marble or Ashlar, or maybe even field stone to give it that New England founding fathers minuteman look. A look of permanence, not some cheap perforated galvanized sheet metal like they’re using now.
It might just be the homeowner in me thinking if you’re gonna spend the money, than do it right. Like they say..” The quality remains longer after the price is forgotten”.
From Forbes
“The farm bill, which is passed every five years, has long been exhibit number one of what is wrong with Washington. Although U.S. agriculture is the most productive and efficient in the world, our farmers still receive subsidies, price supports, and loans under programs that date back to the farm collapse of the Great Depression. The vast majority of today’s farm programs simply transfer tax dollars to a few wealthy grain farmers, dairymen, and sugar growers at taxpayer and consumer expense. They raise milk and sugar prices (Americans pay at least double the world price) under the guise of helping the struggling family farm. Small agricultural enterprises get only one quarter of the goodies that the farm bill hands out. The top ten percent get three quarters. Where are the Congressional opponents of inequality when we need them?”
What Forbes does not mention is that insurance companies get subsides for not growing crops – they bought the farms that have those deals and they give to keep the cash flowing from programs that outlived their use decades ago, As far as I can tell, those farm programs were untouched but the opening round of shredding the social safety net was fired – and democrats responded appropriately.
Rewriting the farm bill so it’s not a gift to huge corporate special interests in the food industry should have appeal across the aisle – but he leadership in both parties has ‘bought and paid for’ tattooed on the left or right cheek (depending on party) of their establishment asses. (Nancy & Harry, I AM talking about you – why are you in bed with Eric and John when it comes to subsidizing the fat cats?)
Now that’s an interesting Idea, Swami.A big, functional viaduct.perhaps with an enclosed high speed railway,and wind generators and solar traps to generate electricity.
Just a little something to help understand the conservative mind.. I got kinda bogged down trying to comprehend the logic of a border fence and found this little nugget.. It serves as a wonderful pick me up in providing something less challenging to try to wrap my head around. I guess it’s just the getting away from politics, or at least the political aspect of conservatism. Boy, it would be such a wonderful world if women just knew their place.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/christian-domestic-discipline-spanking-jesus-marriage_n_3479646.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Swami, your comments about the fence got me looking at Google maps. I started thinking about border security in contiguous cities like Calexico/Mexicali and Nogales, so I started looking at them. You can use the street view to get a good look at the border, which is a worthwhile exercise.
I remember noticing this myself at Calexico, how the border passes right through residential neighborhoods in some places. People’s houses on both sides, and right through the middle is this fence. Very weird.
Yeah buddy;nothing gets the little lady hotter’n a little spanking on a Sunday afternoon.Praise the lord!
There are several “clubs” in South East Florida (so I’ve heard) where you can go to get a spanking from a lady wearing a black latex suit. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a nice dinner, a bottle of wine and a chick flick to get my honey in the mood. This Christian Taliban stuff reminds me of “The Handmaid’s tale”. creepy weird-ass stuff!
We made a pact back in ’74 that there would be zero tolerance for domestic violence in our relationship. She was used to smacking her brother, and I wouldn’t play that.
HOKEY SMOKES, BULLWINKLE!!!
And not in a good or funny way.
Shades of Lenin, Stalin, “1984,” and Mao. Our government is encouraging the watchers to keep an eye on other watchers – OR ELSE!!!:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/20/194513/obamas-crackdown-views-leaks-as.html#.UcbbVTTD_IU
“Even before a former U.S. intelligence contractor exposed the secret collection of Americans’ phone records, the Obama administration was pressing a government-wide crackdown on security threats that requires federal employees to keep closer tabs on their co-workers and exhorts managers to punish those who fail to report their suspicions.”
This isn’t just misguided – this is bordering on paranoia and evil.
Read the whole thing – but only if, IF, you want to ruin the first weekend of Summer.
Swami — Jeebus. What was I saying about it’s all about the patriarchy?
OT – A good read, from an NFL player:
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/23/chris_kluwe_heres_whats_wrong_with_ayn_rand_libertarians/?source=newsletter