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I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but it seems to be getting more and more likely that the Dems may be in for a replay of 1994.

In general, Americans don’t like politicians who go to extremes, and when any one party is in control, they ALWAYS go to extremes.  Clinton tried pushing through health care and it was a disaster for the Dems.  Bush got it in 2002 and pushed through the Iraq fiasco – which led to the current Dem majority.   Now it appears that Obama is heading down the same path.

You know things are bad for Democrats when the NY Times opinion page has 3 stories – and they are all complaining about Democrats.  Check them out.

The Lady and the Arlen – Gail Collins

They Still Don’t Get It – Bob Herbert

Mobs Rule – Charles Blow

gk

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Hey, maybe someone will eventually be held accountable for Bush’s flaunting of the constitution!  Here’s a Reuters report on a possible Senate inquiry.

A U.S. “truth commission” should investigate Bush administration policies including the promotion of war in Iraq, detainee treatment and wiretapping without a warrant, an influential senator proposed on Monday.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, urged a commission as a way to heal what he called sharp political divides under former President George W. Bush and to prevent future abuses.

He compared it to other truth commissions, such as one in South Africa that investigated the apartheid era.

It’s about time!  Some of us have been bitching about Bush’s toilet paper treatment of the constitution since it started as soon as he quit hiding right after 9/11.  It’s probably too much to hope for, but maybe we could get him a few years in jail with no charges being filed…. 

gk

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Buy the wino another bottle of Mad Dog!  That’s what we did today.

The Senate today failed to vote down spending another $350 billion on the TARP program for banks.  In other words, we just printed $350,000,000,000.00 out of thin air and we’re going to give it to banks who made stupid investment decisions.

We should simply let them go broke.  Let them go out of business.

Giving billions to businesses to let them avoid the consequences of bad decisions is exactly the same as giving a wino another bottle of wine.  It makes him feel better, but it simply allows him to avoid facing the facts for another day.

Here’s a link to the CNN story if you want to read the details.

Here’s a link to the Senate site where you can see how your Senators voted.  Because this was a vote to deny funding, a “Yea” vote means that they voted against spending the money.

For my state (Tennessee) Senator Alexander voted to spend our money.  He also voted for the original bailout.  He’s a dumbass who can’t add.

Senator Corker voted against blowing our money – this time.  He voted for the original $750 billion bailout bill, so maybe he actually watched how the money was blown and changed his mind.  I hope so, but he’s still on my shit list for now.  At least until he decides to grow a pair and continue to vote against these stupid bailouts.

I’m pissed.  I could write for hours about the stupid bailouts and why they don’t – and can’t – work, but I’d just get more pissed.  They’re idiots who can’t add.

gk

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The Senate tonight passed the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007″.   Why should you care?  Because it’s the single largest, most intrusive, most budget busting bill ever passed.

In case you’re wondering, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007″ is the name of the Senate version of the bail out bill.   I’m serious.  And I’m serious about kicking both of my Senators (Corker and Alexander) out.  On their asses.  Hard.  Because both of their asses voted for this monstrosity.

The bill passed 74 to 25.  You can see how your Senators voted here.

Take a minute and read some of the highlights of what’s in the bill.  Here are a few quotes.  Let me know when you figure out what the hell this has to do with the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007″ – or how these items will somehow make the bill more palatable to House Republicans.

The package adds provisions to the House version – including temporarily raising the FDIC insurance cap to $250,000 from $100,000. It says the FDIC may not charge member banks more to cover the increase in coverage.

The bill allows the FDIC to borrow from the Treasury to cover any losses that might occur as a result of the higher insurance limit (This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard – prohibit the FDIC from raising insurance rates – while allowing them to “cover any losses” (yes, it’s UNLIMITED) by borrowing from us.  STUPID!)

Here are some other financial bail out items included in the bill that I’m sure Corker and Alexander think we needed….

a deduction for the purchase of solar panels….

allow individuals to deduct state and local sales taxes on their federal returns….

relief for another year from the Alternative Minimum Tax….

Here’s the kicker – and I quote “The Congressional Budget Office said it cannot estimate the net budget effects of the troubled asset program because of the many unknowns about that piece of the bill.”

The dumbass Senators who voted for this bill didn’t have a fucking clue as to what they were voting on – because “of the many unknowns” contained in the bill!

PLEASE – Call and write your Representatives.  Now.  I mean right now, not tomorrow morning, don’t wait, DO IT NOW.  This financial nightmare that’s being ramrodded down our throats can still be stopped if enough people express outrage.  If the House doesn’t pass it – it won’t become law.  It’s that simple.

God help us (and our kids) if this gigantic takeover of the private sector goes through.  I’m only 46 and there’s no way to pay for it in my lifetime – it’s borrowed from my kids and their kids.  STOP THE MADNESS NOW!

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