Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

We saw through their cunning little schemes long ago, but today, the Cons got busted (h/t & h/t):

A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama's health care proposals by delaying its consideration.

The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post from a Democratic source, provides the clearest illustration to date of the political playbook being used to stop Democratic attempts at a health care overhaul. Much of the material mirrors the speeches and presentations made by conservatives both inside and out of elected office to date. Obama's plan for health care is deemed an "experiment" and a "risk" that could bankrupt the country and dangerously change the doctor-patient relationship.

In particular, the 12-page memo makes the case that it is a Republican priority to slow down the consideration of health care reform before it can become codified.

"The Republican National Committee will engage in every activity we can to slow down this mad rush while promoting sensible alternatives that address health care costs and preserve quality," the memo affirmatively declares.

What fucking quality?

Digby demolishes this dumbfuckery point by point. Since you know all your Faux News-loving friends will be spouting these talking points like perfect little parrots, it may be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the antidote.

Oh, and Blue Dogs? When you scream for delay, you do realize you're playing right into the Cons' hands, right? This will not go well for you come Election Day:

Now, I have no doubt that certain Blue Dogs and Democratic wingnuts think they can personally benefit by distancing themselves from Democratic initiatives. They are stupid. If Obama goes down in flames, as Brownstien says, those in conservative districts will get creamed by a Republican challenger in 2010, regardless of whether they voted against the health care bill. They are the ones who will pay the price for Obama's failure, not him and not the liberals who voted for it.

Any Blue Dog from a swing district who is listening to little Republican birdies whispering in his ear telling them that he has to vote against Obama's agenda or risk losing in 2010 is a useful idiot who is engineering his own defeat.

Hear that, Rep. Dan "I'm Really a Con, but They Were Losing at the Time" Boren?

Oh, and speaking of losers whose last names begin with the letter B, Con Rep. Joe Barton can't remember how much campain cash he's taken from the health insurance industry. Let's give him a little reminder, shall we?

According to OpenSecrets, the health care sector has been Barton’s second largest contributor over the years, donating $2,096,021. In the current election cycle, only the energy and natural resources industries have given him more money.

Could this be one of the reasons why Cons and Blue Dogs are so desperate to maintain the status quo? I do believe it might, I do I do.

Now, we all know what's going to happen when health care reform passes over the screaming tantrums of the fucktards who've been sucking at the insurance industry's teat. They'll rail and cry about evil big gubmint and socialism and how very awful it is, all the while taking credit for the benefits flowing from the legislation they so desperately fought. How do we know? It's because that's exactly what the fucktards are doing with the stimulus:

Indeed, this happens quite a bit. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) hates the stimulus, except for the transportation money it brought to his district. Other House Republicans have bragged about recovery funds headed for their communities, thanks to a bill they voted in lock-step against.

Bobby Jindal's not even being subtle about it:

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) reemerged on the national stage yesterday, penning an op-ed in the Politico to slam efforts to reform health care and declaring the Economic Recovery Act a failure. Jindal declared the Recovery Act “a nearly trillion-dollar stimulus that has not stimulated.” However, less than 24 hours before Jindal published his op-ed, Jindal traveled to Anacoco, Louisiana to present a jumbo-sized check to residents of Vernon Parish. The funds included hundreds of thousands of dollars directly from the Recovery Act — at least $157,848 in Community Block Grant money authorized by the Recovery Act and $138,611 for Byrne/JAG job training programs created by the Recovery Act. Rather than credit the federal government or the Recovery Act he opposed, Jindal printed his own name on the corner of the massive check.

And Mark Pence should be joining the hypocritical harmony any moment now:

Pence recently attacked the stimulus in a speech, declaring that “the American people deserve a real plan for a real recovery.” Back in February he called for a Federal spending freeze amid the recession.

So how will Pence react to this big story in one of his state’s major papers?

Stimulus Has Hoosiers Working

INDIANAPOLIS — More than 2,400 people are now at work on federal stimulus-funded roadway projects in Indiana, according to a state report being released today.

Covering 83 projects and listing a total payroll of $2.8 million, the Indiana Department of Transportation report details only a small fraction of the hundreds of projects so far selected for funding using the $440 million the agency received under the American Relief and Recovery Act.

Economists say it’s too early to tell whether the long-term value of President Barack Obama’s economy-boosting effort will justify its $787 billion cost. But construction executives say stimulus-funded projects certainly have created jobs and spared layoffs within the industry.

Since Indiana's only seen the benefits of a drop of that stimulus cash, Pence feels comfortable singing the tax cut song. But you can bet he'll be singing a different song to his constituents.

I can hardly wait till these fuckers come up for reelection. All those ads using their own non-cherrypicked words to show them up for two-faced fucktards should be a lot of fun.

We talked a bit recently about the GOP's propensity for extortion. Sen. DeMint's decided to try his own hand at the racket:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-N.C.) delayed committee votes on two State Department posts today over objections to the administration's policy towards Honduras, Reuters reports.

DeMint, who believes the recent coup in Honduras was legal, asked to delay votes on the nominations of (1) Arturo Valenzuela to be Assistant Secretary of State for western hemisphere affairs and (2) Thomas Shannon to be Ambassador to Brazil.

[snip]

The Senate Foreign Relations committee will likely vote on the nominations next week, by which time DeMint hopes the administration will reconsider its support for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

I wonder if RICO covers rackets like this?

We'll close Happy Hour with a rare bit of Con sanity that has neocons shitting their pants:

Given Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) work on eliminating unnecessary F-22 funding, I sort of expected the Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb, a former McCain aide, to support the majority today.

No such luck.

If there is any consolation to be had here it comes from the fact that there will be a time when this administration's weakness on defense, and the subservience of their enablers in Congress, will reemerge as a national political issue. And at that time, some Republican will run an add [sic] that shows the trillions this government has wasted on pet projects and social experiments and contrast that with the determination that same government showed in killing a crucial weapons system -- because they decided there isn't enough money left for our military to have the very best equipment money can buy.

America is less safe now than it was an hour ago.

OK, let's get into this a bit. On the latter point, it's worth remembering that the F-22 is a bit of a mess. For every hour it spends in the air, it requires more than 30 hours of maintenance. One of its key problems is -- I'm not kidding -- "vulnerability to rain." After years of effort, the plane, in operational flight tests, has met only seven of its 22 "key requirements." It features a radar-absorbing canopy that tends to imprison pilots for hours. It was designed to address Cold War-era national security needs, and has flown a grand total of zero missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Even if we exclude President Obama from the equation, the excess F-22 spending was opposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates (a Bush/Cheney appointee), the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (a Bush/Cheney appointee), the current Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff, and the leading Democrat and Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Senate vote today had 15 GOP members, including some very conservative lawmakers, joining with the majority.

Goldfarb's having a heart attack from delusions that the fatally-fucked up F-22 was keeping America safe, and now the evil Senators have made us less safe. I'm having a heart attack because 15 GOP members displayed some actual sense.

If only it wasn't for the relentless parade of dumbfuckery we saw today, I'd think it's a sign of hope. Alas, it appears a mere abberation. But perhaps the exotic tang of rationality shall linger on their tongues. Perhaps they'll even like it, and want to try a little bit more.

We can but dream.