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Dysfunction Junction
Author: BobR    Date: 12/07/2012 13:52:39

When was the last time you remember anything passing through Congress and being signed by the president that wasn't either a budget funding bill, the NDAA, or the debt ceiling being raised? It was probably 2010 during the lame-duck session as the Democratic House passed a flurry of bills, including the repeal of DADT. Since Jan of 2011, the Republican-led House has brought up (and in some cases passed) bills that would never make it through the Democratic-led Senate, and certainly not be signed by the president.

That's just party politics, and the wide chasm between the parties' ideologies. What's a mess is the filibuster in the Senate and the political infighting and power plays that seem to go on constantly among various factions of the Republican congressional members.

The absurdity of how messed up the Senate is was vividly illustrated yesterday when Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) fillibustered his own bill:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced legislation to raise the debt ceiling on Thursday, apparently with the intent of showing that even Democrats would not support such a bill.

However, McConnell’s plan backfired after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called for a vote on the legislation, which would have given the president the authority to raise the federal debt ceiling on his own. The top Senate Republican was forced to filibuster his own bill.
[..]
Durbin explained “to those who don’t follow the Senate” that by calling for the legislation to be passed by a 60-vote majority, McConnell had filibustered the bill. He said this was probably the first time in history that a senator had filibuster his own proposal.

Reid and other Democrats have called for the Senate’s filibuster rules to be reformed, claiming that Republicans have abused the parliamentary procedure and obstructed lawmaking.

This is Exhibit "A" for why the Senate is such a mess. The "60 vote filibuster" rule was created to give the minority party the opportunity to get legislation tweaked before it came up for a simple majority vote. It was not meant to permanently stop legislation, nor require a 60 vote supermajority to pass anything. Yet that is what the Republicans have been doing ever since the Dems took control.

So here we have the Senate minority leader putting up a bill he doesn't want for purely political purposes, and then has to filibuster it when the Dems call his bluff. After defeating the UN Persons with Disabilities treaty a few days ago, this is yet another black eye on the Senate.

Fortunately, one of the most divisive members there is leaving. Jim DeMint has decided to resign and take a position heading up the Heritage Foundation. Even though he's only been there for just over one term, it seems like forever. On his way out the door, he took a shot at House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for his seeming willingness to "increase revenue levels" (ie: raise taxes).

Boehner has his own set of problems as he tries to find a way to balance the reality of the most recent election results (and polls from Americans showing support for raising taxes on the rich) with the vocal ultra-conservative sect of his own party. They have not been hiding their feelings and the notion of mutiny and coup are very much in the air. He's tried to assert himself by taking a page from Tom DeLay "The Hammer", but that may not play well if there's enough of a groundswell for usurping the throne.

Meanwhile - what is getting done in the House? Very little, and that is unlikely to change as they will only be in session for 126 days in 2013.

What are we paying these people for anyway?
 

66 comments (Latest Comment: 12/07/2012 22:41:49 by Raine)
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Comment by Scoopster on 12/07/2012 13:57:11
Mornin' all & Happy Fridee!

So I had to block my brother on FB.. he's become a hardcore libertard conspiracy goon.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 14:03:41
Oh dear, that kinda sucks, Scoop.

Comment by wickedpam on 12/07/2012 14:08:52
Morning

Comment by trojanrabbit on 12/07/2012 14:09:40
Yeah, Scoop, that sucks.

Today the 8 co-op students who have spent the last 6 months with us give their presentations, then this afternoon we have our Christmas party. Don't think too much is getting done here today.

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 14:19:59
Morning, comrades!

Remember Pearl Harbor, and Happy Birthday to Larry Bird today.

Aside: I feel great, how can my freakin' whites be so low?

Anyway, I digress.



Comment by BobR on 12/07/2012 14:29:45
blog is up

Comment by BobR on 12/07/2012 14:35:41
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all & Happy Fridee!

So I had to block my brother on FB.. he's become a hardcore libertard conspiracy goon.

My oldest brother is a hardcore libertard, but not an overt conspiracy goon. He is not on FB because he doesn't want anyone to know what he's doing (which is essentially living with my parents and surfing the internet). He would prefer to live "off planet" (not kidding) to avoid any interaction with or interference from government.

He has javascript disabled on his browser because he's paranoid about the security hole it supposedly creates. Obviously, he does no buying online.



Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 14:39:09
Good morning, bloggers!!!

BobR, thanks for a great blog. I would argue that the Senate is so dysfunctional as to make the Founding Fathers spin in their graves. Mitchell filibustering his own proposal shows the need for filibuster reform.

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 14:39:43
See now, my brother is a highly placed union guy with GE Local 201 (Lynn, MA). Does a lot of politicking in the Northeast, and is mulling a run for Lynn City Council.

Ah, relatives...you can't pick 'em, can you?

Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 14:53:13
Good morning -- still flabbergasted at McDonnell.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 14:57:20
Well my brother is labor radical! he is a member of the Wobblies!

Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 15:07:59
Quote by TriSec:
See now, my brother is a highly placed union guy with GE Local 201 (Lynn, MA). Does a lot of politicking in the Northeast, and is mulling a run for Lynn City Council.

Ah, relatives...you can't pick 'em, can you?


No, and my brother is about as apolitical as you can get. I do have an older cousin who has served as a campaign surrogate for Governor Schweitzer in Montana.

Comment by BobR on 12/07/2012 15:15:00
Quote by TriSec:
See now, my brother is a highly placed union guy with GE Local 201 (Lynn, MA). Does a lot of politicking in the Northeast, and is mulling a run for Lynn City Council.

Ah, relatives...you can't pick 'em, can you?

My middle brother is a lazy Dem, and my younger sister is a southern Baptist Republican. My mother is an old school Republican (who still manages to hate President Obama) and my father is lifelong Dem (and Hillary supporter in 2008).

Yes, it's quite the mix.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 15:38:42
Quote by BobR:
Quote by TriSec:
See now, my brother is a highly placed union guy with GE Local 201 (Lynn, MA). Does a lot of politicking in the Northeast, and is mulling a run for Lynn City Council.

Ah, relatives...you can't pick 'em, can you?

My middle brother is a lazy Dem, and my younger sister is a southern Baptist Republican. My mother is an old school Republican (who still manages to hate President Obama) and my father is lifelong Dem (and Hillary supporter in 2008).

Yes, it's quite the mix.



In my father's side of the family there are nothing but liberals except for my cousin Jim, he's a tool of the Northern California Timber Industry and a Republican. We are all ashamed of him. He wasn't this way originally, his father and namesake, was a staunch Berkeley liberal; a history professor at UC Berkeley to boot. My cousin started down this Republican road about the same time her converted to Roman Catholicism. He constantly lays down this riff of he could support the Democratic Party but they support abortion rights. Umm cuz, have you not heard of pro-life Democrats?

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 15:39:27
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 15:53:29
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?


I guess when it plunges off a cliff, or hits a too-low overpass, hijinks might ensue.



Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 15:53:40
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?

I can't understand the allure.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 15:55:25
Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 16:01:21
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?


I guess when it plunges off a cliff, or hits a too-low overpass, hijinks might ensue.




Could be. The thought of a bunch of people who have had too much to drink and rocking, swaying and lurching bus sounds like a ideal condition for chain reaction

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 16:03:48
Alright, party's over!

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/10/06/bus_AP942306226525_620x350.jpg


Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 16:04:39
This is sad. Royal Prank Call Nurse 'Commits Suicide'

Comment by BobR on 12/07/2012 16:06:12
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?

I can't understand the allure.

no one has to be the designated driver

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 16:08:34
Quote by BobR:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?

I can't understand the allure.

no one has to be the designated driver



Ah but what is there is specific pick up and drop off point?

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 16:41:42
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.



Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 16:50:50
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.




My idea involves heavy chains, a boat anchor and the boat.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 16:52:07
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.




I do not advocate for the abuse of any prisoners, even if I am tempted in cases like this. Part of what I am tempted to have done would fall under the phrase cruel and unusual punishment -- such as impaling him for a week (particularly appropriate on where the spear would go) or force feeding the man his own flesh over several weeks as Ogodei Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, was said to have done to a Crusader leader who killed one of his envoys. (I have a dark side. I acknowledge it, seek to master it, and use it for humor and what good can come out of it.) However, a particularly fitting fate would be complete isolation, never seeing or hearing a human being, having any food be pushed in with a pole and being utterly alone. As I believe in the Divine and justice, I can only imagine what an afterlife for this man would be like.

Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 16:52:28
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.

Life in jail. Solitary. (I'm not a fan of rape in any way, to be honest.)

And I'd like for his wife to pay some penance as well. How did this day care get away with a license? Don't daycare workers have to go thru background checks?




Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 16:53:41
From Agence France-Press via Raw Story:

World’s oldest trees dying due to climate change: study
By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, December 6, 2012 22:21 EST

cientists Friday warned of an alarming increase in the death rates of the largest living organisms on the planet, the giant, old trees that harbour and sustain countless birds and wildlife.

Research by universities in Australia and the United States, published in Science, said ecosystems worldwide were in danger of losing forever their largest and oldest trees unless there were policy changes to better protect them.

“It’s a worldwide problem and appears to be happening in most types of forest,” said David Lindenmayer from the Australian National University, the lead author of a study into the problem.

“Just as large-bodied animals such as elephants, tigers, and cetaceans have declined drastically in many parts of the world, a growing body of evidence suggests that large old trees could be equally imperilled.”



Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 17:03:47
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.

Life in jail. Solitary. (I'm not a fan of rape in any way, to be honest.)

And I'd like for his wife to pay some penance as well. How did this day care get away with a license? Don't daycare workers have to go thru background checks?




I agree with you about his wife? WTF? Pull her license. Charge her with aiding and abetting.


Comment by livingonli on 12/07/2012 17:11:55
Good day, folks. Maybe Mitch McChinless needs some turtle wax squirted on him.

Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 17:17:04
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.

Life in jail. Solitary. (I'm not a fan of rape in any way, to be honest.)

And I'd like for his wife to pay some penance as well. How did this day care get away with a license? Don't daycare workers have to go thru background checks?




I agree with you about his wife? WTF? Pull her license. Charge her with aiding and abetting.
She is just as guilty as he is in my opinion.

She KNEW that he was capable of this.


Comment by clintster on 12/07/2012 17:20:56
THanks for the blog, Bobber. Nice work!

BTW, if Eric Cantor and his Teabagger buds keep doing stuff like this, we may not have that much to worry about.

Comment by livingonli on 12/07/2012 17:24:49
I just posted this but I had to share more;

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=511027905598298&set=a.149730225061403.24294.125955227438903&type=1&ref=nf


Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 17:24:57
Quote by clintster:
THanks for the blog, Bobber. Nice work!

BTW, if Eric Cantor and his Teabagger buds keep doing stuff like this, we may not have that much to worry about.
They are masters at playing idiotic games, that is for damn sure.


Comment by livingonli on 12/07/2012 17:25:14
It doesn't show up on my screen here.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 12/07/2012 17:28:02
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.

Life in jail. Solitary. (I'm not a fan of rape in any way, to be honest.)

And I'd like for his wife to pay some penance as well. How did this day care get away with a license? Don't daycare workers have to go thru background checks?





They should but sometimes people slip through the cracks in any system. Raine, I guess I have a slightly more stern version of solitary where the creep never interacts with another human being again, as a sign that he is unfit to be in any society.

Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 17:35:56
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Just as an exercise, what would you do with this fuck?

I'm for a regular trial, then send him to maximum security in the general population. You know what will happen.

Life in jail. Solitary. (I'm not a fan of rape in any way, to be honest.)

And I'd like for his wife to pay some penance as well. How did this day care get away with a license? Don't daycare workers have to go thru background checks?




I agree with you about his wife? WTF? Pull her license. Charge her with aiding and abetting.
She is just as guilty as he is in my opinion.

She KNEW that he was capable of this.



Which is why she needs to go to jail as well. For a long time.

Comment by BobR on 12/07/2012 17:44:08
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Quote by Mondobubba:
I have question for all and sundry. Can you please explain the allure of a party bus?

I can't understand the allure.

no one has to be the designated driver

Ah but what is there is specific pick up and drop off point?

around here, that means Metro.


Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 17:44:56
" I didn't know what Pearl Harbor was, but I knew it didn't sound good."

Papa Trisec, age 7, on this day in 1941.



Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 18:30:30
News from my Council....

They sure as hell got their "Good Turn" in that weekend!



(I thought about going, but cancer.....actually, it was too short notice - I couldn't really make it happen.)


Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 18:36:30
John Boeher just a few moments ago:

The president is forcing us to take America over the fiscal cliff


IOW: He's making us shoot ourselves!!1!! Ohnoes!1!

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 18:55:52
Compromise.

Dictionary.com:

1. a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.

2. the result of such a settlement.


GOP.com:

1. FASCISM! HITLER!
2. SOCIALISM! AMERICA IS WEAK!
3. KENYA! MUSLIMS! HE'S BLACK!

Comment by TriSec on 12/07/2012 19:15:16
Just seen elsewhere:

I'm a Member of PETA!

People
Eating
Tasty
Animals



Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 19:33:50
Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 19:43:36
Quote by TriSec:
Just seen elsewhere:

I'm a Member of PETA!

People
Eating
Tasty
Animals




I heard that yesterdee, weird.

Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 19:47:34
Quote by Raine:
John Boeher just a few moments ago:

The president is forcing us to take America over the fiscal cliff


IOW: He's making us shoot ourselves!!1!! Ohnoes!1!
He also went on to say that he wasn't going to lower taxes for the 98% if it meant raising taxes on the top 2%
Uhm...




Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 19:48:12
Quote by Mondobubba:
Glee fans, do you agree?
IS there a spoiler here? I didn't watch last nights episode.


Comment by wickedpam on 12/07/2012 19:52:41
Quote by Mondobubba:
Glee fans, do you agree?


There are some really good and touching epi's with Sue but she can be very overbearing to the story and just plain out mean. I do miss Nene (she really was great going up against Sue) and I really want more stories with Coach Bieste.

To be honest, though, this season hasn't been all the great so far.


Comment by Mondobubba on 12/07/2012 19:53:05
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Glee fans, do you agree?
IS there a spoiler here? I didn't watch last nights episode.



Not that I know of. It is an article about how some shows work better without a scene stealing character like Sue.

Comment by Raine on 12/07/2012 19:54:01
This is an extraordinary story. After 71 years, a woman's report on pearl harbor is finally published

Wow.