DC: going stupid once more

And again, lawmakers creating bills in DC and making decisions when they have no idea about the contents of the bills themselves.

From Breitbart.com:

Orrin Hatch on Trade Bill: ‘I Don’t Know Fully What’s in TPP Myself’

by Alex Swoyer

Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) went to the Senate floor to push for immediate consideration of a bill that would make the Obamatrade text public — right now Congress has to go to a secured room to review the text and can’t take notes out or discuss what is in it with the public. That motion failed when

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) objected, since it required unanimous consent.

The two Democrats even praised President George W. Bush, who released his free trade text in 2001. Today, President Obama, who promised to have the most transparent administration in history, is not releasing his deal.

“We’re just asking for some transparency before we have this crucial vote,” said Warren.

Well isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black.  However, continuing evidence that the Obama Administration is one of the most opaque in the history of American government.

Opacity indicates to me: corruption, secrecy, fear of the American public objecting to contents, much like the ACA — which will have even more dire future consequences for American Taxpayers.

Hatch confesses he’s ignorant and doesn’t mind making that fact public.

Ironically, Hatch also admits he doesn’t know what is in the TPP deal, while at the same time he objects to the push for more transparency prior to any crucial votes.

“I don’t know fully what’s in T.P.P. myself, and I am going to be one of the most interested people on earth when that comes, if not the most interested, you know, when they finally agree. But there is — it’s still not a completed agreement, as far as I know,” admitted Hatch.

The Dems disagreeing with Mr Obama?

“Secrecy is no good,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) responded, backing Warren and Manchin.

Now the question is: will the GOP give Obama what he wants with the trade bill?

From RollCall.com:

Could Conservatives Push TPA Over the Finish Line?

by Matt Fuller

As the House inches closer to a vote on the long-awaited Trade Promotion Authority bill, conservatives who have traditionally been hard-liners in their opposition to deals with the White House are taking a softer approach.

While many on the right are still hedging their position on the TPA, there appears to be some conservative support for the trade process legislation. And with congressional Democrats increasingly taking a firmer line against the TPA, which would give expedited consideration to the Trans-Pacific Partnership under negotiation with 11 other countries, conservatives could be the key to getting the TPA over the finish line.

Translated: those GOP members who embrace the TPP are also those who embrace the obscurity and opacity of the bill itself and the Obama Administration overall.  Good, back-slapping, go-along-to-get-along GOP critters.  Bi-partisan,

Ah, nice to know you can always count on elements of the Old Guard GOP to stand in support of their Demorat brethren and sistren.

Another in a continuing series of reasons I changed from Republican to Independent, and why I no longer write checks to the RNC.

BZ

 

Republicans: once again warring on Conservatives

McConnell's Staffer's Nasty Ass Comment to LevinMany people who are actual Conservatives (with a capital “C”) have “had it” with the staid old GOP representatives in Congress, to include (off the immediate top of my head) John McCain, John Boehner and now, Mitch McConnell via his newest insult proffered by a staffer named Brad Dayspring.  See the Tweet above, slamming Conservative talk show host Mark Levin.

Levin responded here on Facebook, as reproduced below:

These sleazy intimidation tactics will not work

January 9, 2014 at 7:54am

Mitch McConnell’s National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) hit man, some idiot named Brad Dayspring, does not intimidate me and will not silence me with his sleazy inside-the-beltway tactics.  (See link below.)  In fact, I am more fired up than ever.

Liberty and Tyranny is nearly 5 years old, sold nearly 1.3 million copies, and was on the New York Times best-seller list for half a year during 2009.  The Senate Conservative Fund (SCF) has been using the paperback version of the book in recent months to encourage donations in support of conservative candidates.  This has nothing to do with best-seller lists that date back to 2009.  I am told that the number of books distributed by the SCF represents about 3 percent of the total.  In addition, the SCF worked directly with the publisher, not me, in making these arrangements, and SCF apparently received a deep discount because of the bulk purchase of the paperbacks as would others who use the book for promotion purposes.  I am told this is typical.

Now, let me be clear.  I hold McConnell and the chairman of the NRSC –  Jerry Moran of Kansas – personally and politically accountable for the sleazy intimidation tactics of their current and former staffers.  My opposition to McConnell’s re-election is underscored by pathetic behavior like this.  Conservatives should not give a dime to the NRSC, money which is used to pay the salaries of these hit men and empower McConnell, et al.

I take Mark Levin to heart.  I do not contribute to the NRSC.  I do not contribute to the NRC.  I gave that up roughly five years ago.  I target my contributions to specific individuals because I do not trust the GOP.  I predicate this upon having an actual memory.  And the BZ phrase that goes something like this: “the best predictor of future behavior is past performance or the lack thereof.”

Invertebrate GOPFurther, as many people already realize, having read this blog, I am no longer a registered Republican.  I am an Independent because the GOP has proven, time and again, that it has no spine, that it is clueless, that it is rudderless, that it is leader-less, and that it is too interested in being loved.  It is too interested in being involved in compromise and bi-partisanship.

These days, visions of bi-partisanship and compromise involve, via the Demorats who are in control, voting and thinking precisely as the Demorats themselves.  Anything less is heinous, racist, sexist, homophobic, ageist and any other -ist that Leftists can craft.

At the end of the day, in truth, Old School/Old Guard Republicans (OSOGRs) visit local DC watering holes and bend elbows with their good friends the Demorats — belly larfing and back-slapping with the stimulated vigor of having hosed the American Taxpayer another day, to their mutual and eternal pensional and future employment benefit.

I have had it with Republicans who propose caution and consideration and taciturn reflection predicated but upon caving and capitulation and a willingness to cast aside the basic and fundamental documents of this great nation.

Let there be no mistake: I am not a massive fan of Mark Levin.  He writes well, he is an attorney, but I cannot physically listen to more than five minutes of his stridently-nasal and irritating voice and, clearly, he isn’t sufficiently strong in my local radio market to deserve a leading AM or PM Drive slot.

That said, I don’t doubt for a microsecond that he is a true Conservative in every form.

The American Media Maggots portray issues on the Right as the TEA Party vs all others.  Let me be clear: I frequently do not agree with much of the various TEA Party formulations who, in my estimation, have lost their compass.

The current Demorat Mantra is this: “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine unless you have the power to wrest it back from me.”

Given past history — when the GOP owned the House, the Senate and the White House — just what did they do with this power?

Nothing.

BZ