Meet Patrick McHenry, R-NC. The youngest member of Congress at 31, McHenry hasn't lost his babyfat yet, and has a pleasant appearance and mild manner... you could imagine that he has a grandmother that pinches his cheek lovingly.
Despite his innocent appearance, or perhaps because of it, Patrick McHenry appears to have been assigned the role of "hatchet man" during the early days of this Congress. (Or maybe it's because John McHancock, Thomas McPaine, and Ben McFranklin weren't available for the job.)
At any rate, after participating in 36 straight hours of whining Wednesday and Thursday, McHenry added abject ridiculousness to his repetoire Friday afternoon in a speech on the House floor. The laughable silliness that is Patrick McHenry, after the fold...
First, McHenry of course had to continue the whine-a-thon about the Minority Bill of Rights for the third straight day. After channeling Joseph McCarthy and calling the Democratic Party the "Democrat Party", he whined that Democratic misconduct over the past few days was "disheartening" to him "as an American citizen." He then reflected on his sense of deep disappointment several more times, clasping his hands and solemnly shaking his head while describing just how naughty Democrats had been.
Once that was taken care of, McHenry proceeded to tell us the details of what had transpired in the first two days of the legislative session:
"The first action they took was to lock out all dissenting voices, even within their own party!"
McHenry shows he has a soft spot deep in his heart for all those disenfranchised Democrats in the House chamber-- you know, those same Democrats that are voting 'YES' unanimously in vote after vote.
Seconds later, McHenry unintentionally gives us insight into what's really going on:
"We offered [The Minority Bill of Rights] here on the House floor yesterday... and it was flatly rejected... every Democrat voted against it."
So, there really aren't any disenfanchised Democrats. The only thing that Democrats are "flatly rejecting" is the concept that Republicans like Patrick McHenry should get one fucking crumb of credit for the vastly improved set of rules under which this Congress will operate! Beyond that though, this Democratic Congress is practically bending over backwards to accomodate Republicans in an attempt to leave the era of ugly Republican abuse of power behind. But you won't hear that from McHenry:
"It is striking to me that in our first day with the Democrat Majority, they're already going back on their words that they campaigned on. That they campaigned on in 2004. In 2005. In 2006."
No, Democrats are keeping their word, and the only thing that happened in 2004, 2005, and 2006 was a Republican refusal to even consider a "Minority Bill of Rights," coupled with unprecedented and shameless abuse of power and trampling of the rights of Democratic members. That is what happened-- in 2004. 2005. And 2006.
"The issue today is that the process corrupts the policy! When you stack the deck on the outcome you corrupt the policy of this House chamber and the law of ths Land! So process and policy are intertwined! When one is corrupted, so is the other!"
After spending time in the Republican Caucus Room the past two years with the likes of Duke Cunningham, Tom Delay, Bob Ney, and Mark Foley, McHenry should know a great deal about corrupt processes and corrupt outcomes....
Finally, McHenry moves on to his grand finale: He attempts to make the argument that Democrats are COMPLETELY IGNORING ANY AND ALL PROBLEMS that aren't specifically addressed in the first 100 hours agenda! You know the problems he's talking about... they're the exact same problems that the House Republicans failed to address in TWELVE YEARS!
But don't take my word for it-- read McHenry's words below (my emphasis added):
"This 100 hour proposal COMPLETELY! COMPLETELY IGNORES some of the most pressing issues in our country.
"Certainly ensuring that our troops in the field are funded fully-- now THAT is very important. COMPLETELY IGNORED in the 100 hour plan.
"What about entitlement reform? Because obviously that's the largest section of the budget, of our Federal Budget. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security-- very important programs but we need to make sure that they're fiscally efficient! That they're fiscally sound! And it is clear that they are not! Neither efficient nor sound! So we need to look at entitlement programs, yet the Democrat majority has COMPLETELY IGNORED entitlement reform in their agenda.
"They have COMPLETELY IGNORED making Social Security solvent for future generations, and as someone who's eligible for retirement the same year that Social Security goes finally broke I'm concerned about that! And my generation should be concerned about that as well as all generations of Americans!
"What else is missing? Well, obviously litigation, the cost of litigation on small business across this country-- COMPLETELY IGNORED that. Certainly because, well, you know, the trial lawyers have helped write the Democrat agenda for this Congress. And there's a big difference between what trial lawyers seek and what the average small businessman or the average family doctor in this country seeks... And so they've COMPLETELY IGNORED reforming and limiting litigation and the cost of litigation on American society! COMPLETELY IGNORED that.
"They've also IGNORED small businesses with health care, either thru health savings accounts where individuals can save tax free. We as republicans have worked very hard and free market conservatives like the idea of being able to save tax free without Uncle Sam reaching in to your savings and pocketing that money. Or association health plans where small business can come together, link up and increase their affordability and their buying capacity, to give their employees health care. COMPLETELY IGNORED with the Democrats' agenda. In fact the Democrats came on the floor-- some of these campaigns on the other side of the aisle-- as helping small businesses-- one of their first votes was to vote against letting small businesses pool their resources to buy health care! That hurts! That hurts in the opening days of Congress!
"Beyond that! Beyond that they've IGNORED border security. I think the American people have demanded border security and a sane immigration policy for this country. There are many leaders on my side of the aisle on the issue of border security. And I think we need to engage on that discussion on how we reform our immigration policy in this United States, and how we plan to do that. I think most Americans agree that we must begin with the border, to ensure that we have an immigration policy that's enforceable, realistic, and real for this country."
FYI, that's a total of 10 'IGNORES', 8 of those being 'COMPLETELY IGNORES.'
Yes, McHenry really made this ridiculous argument with a straight face! According to McHenry, Democrats are COMPLETELY IGNORING war appropriations, Medicare reform, Medicaid reform, Social Security reform, tort reform, health care, and immigration, simply becasue these issues aren't included in the agenda for the first 100 hours!
Easy there, McHenry. Democrats will eventually get to all the issues that your Republican colleagues failed to address even with control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency... but even Democrats need time to solve problems. The 100 hour agenda represents an ambitious but achievable legislative effort that quickly will provide benefit to the American people in a number of areas. Once that is accomplished, Democrats aren't simply going on vacation, not at all! No, Democrats will then begin tackling, one by one, those issues you mention; the same issues that your side failed miserably to solve over a TWELVE YEAR PERIOD.