Goofy Obstructionist Psychosis

by: Foiled Goil

Bachmann strikes(out) again

Feb. 18: Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., took a new stand against President Barack Obama when she claimed the stimulus bill was just a payoff for those who supported him throughout the election. The Nation’s Chris Hayes discusses.

There are lies, there is stupidity, there are stupid lies, there are migraine-inducingly-stupid slanderous lies, and then there are Bachmannisms.

Steve Benen has the greatest hits from Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's latest flurry of inanity:

ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion." (In reality, ACORN is not under federal indictment and isn't mentioned in the stimulus bill at all.)
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many members of Congress have "a real aversion to capitalism.
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the stimulus bill includes a measure to create a "rationing board" for health care, and after the bill becomes law, "your doctor will no longer be able to make your healthcare decisions with you."
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the recovery package is part of a Democratic conspiracy to "direct" funding away from Republican districts, so Democratic districts can "suck up" all federal funds. Bachmann doesn't think this will work because, as she put it, "We're running out of rich people in this country."
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the "Community-Organizer-in-Chief" is also orchestrating a conspiracy involving the Census Bureau, which the president will use to redraw congressional lines to keep Democrats in power for up to "40 years." When the host said he was confused, noting that congressional district lines are drawn at the state level, Bachmann said Obama's non-existent plan is an "anti-constitutional move."

In all seriousness, these latest Bachmannisms really are rather disturbing. It's one thing for a regular citizen to be so woefully misinformed that they spew this kind of blatantly idiotic nonsense. It's relatively easy to ignore such a person and move on with one's life.

It's quite alarming, however, that someone viewing the political scene through such a twisted kaleidoscope lens is a member in good standing of the United States House of Representatives.

Perhaps we really should not be disheartened, though: it is proof positive that there really is almost nothing you can say or do that's crazy enough to kill a political career.

If you're a Republican, anyway.

The problem for stimulus critics is that the package has no earmarks, leaving little to ridicule.

But the money has to be spent somewhere, so House Republicans went looking for embarrassing projects that could be funded by the stimulus. "Appropriations Committee Republicans have been asking federal agencies exactly how the pots of money in the bill will be spent - since much of the spending isn't explicitly spelled out in the legislation," wrote Michael Steel, an aide to Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), in an e-mail to reporters.

"One response? Thirty million dollars for wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay Area - including work to protect the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse," he said. [...]

On Thursday, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) took to the House floor to make a different point: the money for the restoration isn't actually in the bill.

"There are no earmarks in this bill. There is no earmark for rats in San Francisco. There is money that goes to the EPA and the Department of the Interior for cleanup of wetlands and maintaining of wetlands and apparently this is on a list of ready-to-go projects but it, like many others, must compete within the departments for that money. It is not a specific earmark within the bill," he said. "That trivializes this bill."

Steel isn't backing down. "The bottom line remains the same: if the bill passes, taxpayers will spend $30 million to protect a rodent in San Francisco. That will not help struggling American families, and it will not help our economy create or preserve jobs," he told the Huffington Post.

But Pelosi's office says even this broader claim isn't true. Spokesman Drew Hammill tells the Plum Line's Greg Sargent, "There are no federal wetland restoration projects in line to get funded in San Francisco... The idea that $30 million will be spent to save mice is a total fabrication."

Last Friday we were treated to the sight of Republicans self-righteously opposing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as one after another, they denounced a non-existent mouse earmark.

And today the White House has released "state-specific details on the local impact" the bill will have across the nation.

So let's take a moment to remember that while Republicans were taking to the floor to rail against imaginary marsh mice, Democrats were taking action to jump start the economy, even for the luckless constituents of the rodent-obsessed.

The madness continues on the right-wing’s crusade against a mythical high-speed rail to Las Vegas project that Harry Reid is alleged to have snuck into the stimulus bill. “Tell me how spending $8 billion,” asked House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) on the floor, “in this bill to have a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is going to help the construction worker in my district.” [...]

In a last-minute change, the total quantity of funds available was increased. But there’s no special plan for Las Vegas. The money will be spread all across the country. [...]

Indeed, the existing plan is a bit freakishly Ohio-centric, offering both a Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago line and a Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati-Indianapolis corridor while leaving things like Houston-Dallas and Orlando-Jacksonville (and, indeed, LA-Vegas) off the list. Long story short, John Boehner doesn’t know what he’s talking about and his position on this issue would imperil both short term jobs for Ohioans and an opportunity to substantially improve Ohio’s long-run capacity for economic growth.

This is the economic stimulus package that was passed by Congress on Feb. 13, 2009. The final version is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to cost $787 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

The two portions of the final agreed-upon bill text can be downloaded here in .pdf form (Div. A - appropriations and Div. B - tax provisions).

Bond flip-flops on stimulus

Feb. 18: Worst Persons: Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., voted against the stimulus yet took every opportunity he could to take credit for it once it was passed. Watch in Worst Persons in the World.

Last week, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) slammed President Obama’s recovery and reinvestment plan. “Hold on to your wallets folks because with the passage of this trillion-dollar baby the Democrats will be poised to spend as much as $3 trillion in your tax dollars,” Bond said. “Unfortunately, this bill stimulates the debt, it stimulates the growth of government, but it doesn’t stimulate jobs,” Bond insisted.

However, today Bond is touring Missouri to tout the very stimulus plan he railed against. In a press release, Bond boasted about an amendment he included in the bill to provide more funding for affordable housing — and that will create jobs: [...]

“This is the type of emergency stimulus spending we should be supporting — programs that will create jobs now and help families,” Bond said. [...]

Bond is not alone in trying to reap the political benefits both from voting against the bill and from bringing much needed funding to his district:

– Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), who complained that the “federal government is spending money they don’t have,” told Rachel Maddow he would nevertheless accept funds for Minnesota: “Our view is, if you buy the pizza, it’s OK if you have a slice.”

– Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who also campaigned ardently against the bill, said he would nevertheless gladly accept its funds for his state. “You don’t want to be crazy here,” he said.

– Rep. John Mica (R-FL) gushed over the bill, which he, too, voted against. “I applaud President Obama’s recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America’s future,” he said in a press release.

– Rep. Don Young (R-AK) boasted that he “won a victory for…Alaska small business owners” in the recovery bill he refused to vote for.

No wonder RNC Chairman Michael Steele declared recently, “You have absolutely no reason — none — to trust our word or our actions at this point.”

The Republican Party has found itself:

Seeking political traction, Republicans are using the economic stimulus package to try to restore an image of fiscal discipline tarnished by a free-spending GOP Congress under former President George W. Bush.

The return to what many Republicans consider their small-government, tax-cut roots is driving unity in a party that now lacks power in the White House and in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

So, after taking the country from a $5.6 trillion surplus to a $1.2 trillion deficit, the GOP has remembered their roots.

And with their long, power-induced amnesia cured, they're ready to tell anyone who will listen about their "bedrock principles" of restrained spending ... now that they're actually restrained from spending.

And what better way to proclaim their new-found fiscal responsibility then to go after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, because:

A message of fiscal discipline is a surefire energizer for the party's long dispirited conservative base, party faithful who will be critical foot soldiers for the GOP's fundraising and organizing efforts in next year's midterm congressional elections and beyond.

R. J. Matson

Seriously. Look at Republicans, their enablers and allies, and the beltway media -- they're all trumpeting how the GOP is "back!" because of their "unity".

Unity? Really?

That's never been a problem with the GOP. In fact, we were able to kick their asses the last two cycles precisely because Republicans were unable to break with Bush on anything, not even on denying healthcare to kids. Heck, that was the point of all those "Congressman X voted with Bush 99.8 percent of the time" commercials Democratic challengers ran (and will continue to run in 2010). If there's one thing Republicans can do, it's "unity". And it's done them (and the country) zero good in recent years.

But somehow, everyone has convinced themselves that by showing "unity", that Republicans are suddenly back and a force to be reckoned with, despite all the polling showing otherwise. As if anyone gives a damn outside of the Beltway media whether Republicans are "unified" or not. As if "unity" ever had anything to do with the GOP's woes (which still boil down to "their ideas suck and everyone hates them").

But let those jokers believe whatever it is they want to believe. The country is certainly marching to a different beat.

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Wing-nuttier · Party · Games