Another government shutdown looms, President Obama announces his re-election campaign (who could have foreseen it?), and the House Republicans prepare to commit political hara-kiri with budget proposals that go all-out to destroy the social safety net while further enriching the top 1%. We may be witnessing the most astonishing self-immolation of a political party in American history.
Achievements in government transparency: Rep. 'Doc' Hastings wins the award this week, following revelations of how he drafted offshore drilling bills in secret with oil company lobbyists, while avoiding emails to help make sure no one knew what was going on. Yes, offshore drilling - off of the California and Atlantic coasts. Because, you know, there's clearly no reason to come up with these proposals in a transparent and open process - it's not like there's any public interest involved in knowing what's going on. Clearly Hastings was channeling his inner Dick Cheney. Of course, I hope no one is actually surprised by all this...If there is one thing the GOP is absolutely consistent about, it is the principle that fossil fuel industries (and their servants in Congress) should always be trusted to operate with less and less oversight.
A Republican who wants government to subsidize health care! Well, sonograms in 'crisis pregnancy centers,' otherwise known as anti-abortion clinics, anyway. Yes, Rep. Stearns of Florida - following the GOP playbook of throwing up every roadblock possible to abortion access - would have the government pay for sonograms which would of course be used to help persuade women not to have abortions. Well, ladies, take what you can get - this is probably the ONLY government support for any medical care that will come out of the current GOP crew.
Poor, poor, pitiful me: Poor Rep. Duffy of Wisconsin. He complained in a public meeting about how his $174,000 salary is just too little to make ends meet, what with his 6 kids and all. Then, when he was mocked and ridiculed for his complaints, his response was to attack the website talkingpointsmemo to demand that they not post the video of him complaining. Eventually he (or his advisors) figured out that this heavy-handed, ham-fisted approach made him look at least as bad as his original tone-deaf comments. When a man complains that his salary is only several times as large as that of his typical constituent, it suggests that he might just be a teeny bit out of touch with their economic concerns.
Achievements in ending government waste: Rep. Chris Smith flew to Kenya - on the taxpayer dime - to lobby against abortion access there. Abortion is already generally illegal in Kenya; what got Smith so worked up was wording in the new Constitution that would allow for exceptions to protect the mother's health - which, of course (at least in his mind) opens the door to 'abortion on demand.' Ah, those Republicans - ever the champions of smaller, less intrusive government, that does not have power over our lives. And they'll fly to Kenya on your dime to make sure that government there becomes less intrusive as well - by forcing women to give birth no matter what the circumstances.
Is our Representatives learning? First, Michelle Bachmann revealed that the battles of Lexington and Concord took place in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts. Now comes Rep. Marino, who frets that the UN- and Arab League-sanctioned, NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Libya, and the aerial attacks on Qaddafi's ground forces there, might lead to an invasion of 'Africa'. Hopefully someone has since informed him that Africa is a continent, not a country, that Libya IS in Africa, and that no, we're not invading it.
The modern, GOP way to hold an election: In the course of their union-busting activities at the state and local levels, motivated by their absolute hatred for the idea that working people might actually collaborate to fight for better wages, benefits, working conditions, etc., the GOP has managed to redefine voting. You may not have been aware of this, but not voting should actually be counted as a vote - against whomever or whatever the GOP disapproves of. In this case, if a worker doesn't participate in a vote on forming a union, the GOP thinks it should count as a 'no' vote. Example: if 60% of eligible workers vote, and 80% of those voting say 'yes' to the union, then the 'no's' win. You see, 80% of 60% = 48%, and all of those who didn't participate are really 'no' votes! So in reality, 52% of workers were against the union!
Of course, this does not reflect what normal people understand about 'elections' and 'counting votes.' But thank goodness the GOP is here, to lead us away from the primitive and unsophisticated practice of simply counting up yes's and no's and seeing which category has more.
Paranoid delusions category (Update): I really can't believe I overlooked this before, but it belongs in this week's diary. Rep Louis Gohmert of Texas is, quite possibly, a victim of paranoid delusions. I do not say that lightly. But this is so crazy, one has to wonder. Gohmert proclaimed that the U.S. attacks in Libya may be a 'false flag' strategy for Obama to call up a "Presidential reserve" officer's corps. And why would Obama do that? Well, I guess, to impose martial law. Or something scary. Because, well, he's a liberal! A socialist! A Marxist! A scary black guy! Check it out.
To sum it all up: Apparently the Libya operation will so strain our military that President Obama will call up a 'secret army' of - are you ready - doctors and nurses and public health professionals - no doubt led by that sinister military mastermind, the Surgeon General - and they will come and - and - give you emergency health care! Or something like that! Which is really, really scary!
And the majority of voters in a district in Texas actually wanted this guy to be in Congress. This is as inexplicable as Michelle Bachmann.