Republicans Won't Reconcile with Reconciling Evil Democrats

It's probably not surprising that the Republicans are trying to make the legislative reconciliation process sound like Satanic rocket science, but what else can they do? It's not like they can flip flop since they have already committed to demonizing Obama past his due, before his due.

E.J. Dionne Jr. in the N.Y. Times points out the obvious shenaniganism:

In an op-ed in Tuesday's Post, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) offered an excellent example of this hypocrisy. Right off, the piece was wrong on a core fact. Hatch accused the Democrats of trying to, yes, "ram through the Senate a multitrillion-dollar health-care bill."

No. The health-care bill passed the Senate in December with 60 votes under the normal process. The only thing that would pass under a simple majority vote would be a series of amendments that fit comfortably under the "reconciliation" rules established to deal with money issues. Near the end of his column, Hatch conceded that reconciliation would be used for "only parts" of the bill. But why didn't he say that in the first place?

(N.Y. Times)

See it's all supposed to work differently in the Republican mind. You lose the presidency and don't control Congress, and by virtue of this lack of elective support, you then get to force the opposition to do it all your way, as opposed to them doing it their way, with a wee bit of your input as a compromise. But if we wanted a Republican way of not solving healthcare problems they would have been voted right in.

Democrats are not inspiring much confidence either, with some quitting Congress and others whining about what they can or cannot support. You know, because absolutely perfect legislation is something that is the historical norm ever since Washington crossed the Delaware on some calm, sunny day to buy donuts for his troops in Trenton.

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At work today someone suggested that 911 was an inside operation of some sort, and I was disappointed to see The Crazies drifting from the movie theater into the mouths of my coworkers. I. Hate. Conspiracy. Theorists. And here is another, shooting up the Pentagon for no reason. He doubted the facts of 911. I think you really have to have a college degree, maybe even a master's before you will be permitted to speculate on the complexities of blowing up buildings and terrorist capabilities. Empty minds gravitate toward the ridiculous. He is dead now, unfortunately, but fortunately.

Other News:

• New music from the great Peter Gabriel, although he is far too talented to be reinterpreting other people's work. In the NPR photo he looks like he is channeling either Jesus, Satan, Yoda or Gandalf. 

• Republicans and populists, especially populists, like to quote or hark back to figures from the Revolutionary period, and with guys like Paine and Jefferson the most quoted. But this man is one of our greatest Americans... this lawyer and banker and battlefield fighter. He helped stabilize the country financially, creating a... a... bank!