Morning Must Reads

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-flip-flops-on-his-own-record-84768277.html
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York makes a great point.

“And finally, The Economist blames Obama for D.C. dysfunction and Ed Kilgore imagines a Washington worse off without him.”
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Baccus, Nelson, Lieberman, Dodd, Obama, Etc. is a rush to mediocrity.
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The GOP is a race to the bottom.
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That is it in a nutshell

“Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, another presidential hopeful, addresses CPAC today”
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The more you see the less you will like.
He’ll either go with the “Aww Shucks I’m a Wal-Mart republican” or he’ll talk about winning elections in a “Blue” state while omitting that he has never received 50% of the vote.
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Either way he’ll get great press, the dude always does.

That Economist piece is exceptionally ignorant, even by the Economist’s high standards.
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It is not so much that America is ungovernable, as that Mr Obama has done a lousy job of winning over Republicans and independents to the causes he favours. If, instead of handing over health care to his party’s left wing, he had lived up to his promise to be a bipartisan president and courted conservatives by offering, say, reform of the tort system, he might have got health care through
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What? How did Obama “hand health care to his party’s left wing”? The left wing wanted a single-payer system, and Obama refused to discuss it. As a compromise, he floated the public option, but soon abandoned that as well in the face of right-wing resistance. He turned the keys over to Max Baucus, hardly a left winger, who in turn spent all his time courting right-of-center Republicans like Grassley and Snowe.
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Washington is dysfunctional because Republicans are using the filibuster at record rates. The 110th Congress — the one before Obama became president — saw the Republican minority force something like 140 cloture motions, which was more than double the previous record. Did Obama travel back in time and make them do that?

The furriners don’t get it: No one’s filibustered anything, the Reps only threaten to do so. (KT: “Do it! DO IT!!!”)

It’s high standards of ignorance or in general?

Here’s something you may have missed.

Senator Brown from Mass is to Joe Stack as Chris Rock is to OJ Simpson.

“I don’t condone it…but I understand”
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Appearing on Fox News soon after Stack flew an airplane into a building, Brown told the national television audience that he “feels for the families” affected by the attack. In the next breath, however, the senator added:

“I don’t know if it’s related but I can just sense not only in my election, but since being here in Washington, people are frustrated. They want transparency. They want their elected officials to be accountable and open and talk about the things affecting their daily lives. So I am not sure if there is a connection, I certainly hope not, but we need to do things better.”

Brown added that an incident like the one in Austin is “extreme,” but added, “No one likes paying taxes obviously.”
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http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_02/022483.php

Just more inventive for the GOP to walk away from this meeting. Not sure if that’s enough to make it a political win for the president.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

“The Economist blames Obama for D.C. dysfunction”

Because DC was the model of comity and efficiency prior to his arrival? The Republican strategy is to not support ANYTHING Obama supports even if they’re the ones who suggested it in the first place. So simply by virtue of Obama being Obama and being a president that isn’t a Republican, then, yes, he is to blame.

Osama bin Limbaugh gave the order I bet.

DC is dysfunctional because we have two unpalatable choices: extreme Democrats and extreme Republicans.

Gerrymandering, ballot access idiocy, and all the other taxpayer-paid trappings of power that the two ‘major’ parties use to bulletproof THEIR entitlements are the real problem.

The Economist is spot-on with this one, but they don’t go far enough.

Just as the battle between GM’s management and its unions became more important than moving forward, the same slow death is occurring in DC. New options are needed to defocus their attention on each other and refocus it on the peoples’ business.

Its high standards of ignorance. Their reporting on American politics is atrocious.

Along the same lines…
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At the CPAC conference, Human Events editor Jed Babbin introduced Grover Norquist, the top anti-tax conservative activist in the country. During his introduction, Babbin joked about the recent airplane attack on an IRS building in Texas, which reportedly killed both the alleged perpetrator and a person who was in the building.

“And let me just say, I’m really happy to see Grover today,” said Babbin. “He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building.”
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“How did Obama “hand health care to his party’s left wing”? The left wing wanted a single-payer system, and Obama refused to discuss it. As a compromise, he floated the public option, but soon abandoned that as well in the face of right-wing resistance. He turned the keys over to Max Baucus, hardly a left winger, who in turn spent all his time courting right-of-center Republicans like Grassley and Snowe”

Your own argument confirms what The Economist wrote. The health plan started with the wing nuts, Obama flinched, went half-heartedly to a public option and after then he flopped on transparency and whether or not he had a plan or whose plan he supported the public tired of it. It essence he did a lousy job!

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“Washington is dysfunctional because Republicans are using the filibuster at record rates.”

Which health care bill that passed the Senate or the one that passed the House did the Repubs filibuster? A blatant lie to blame the Repubs for the incompetence of the rabid left of the Democratic party and the Administration Both bills suck and there was no intestinal fortitude from any Demos to pass either.

But charlie, don’t you see? If Obama wasn’t such a rigid socialist and the Dems not so extreme communistic lefty hippies, the Republicans wouldn’t have to withhold their votes like that! Oh, if only they were more bipartisan, then the Repubs might be willing to work with them!

1st year of Obama Administration

257 or 59% of House

60 or 60% of Senate

1 or 100% of Presidency

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Once again liberals fail math. It’s all on them!

An innocent person is dead and they make jokes. Them’s NeoCons for ya.

You can say that he didn’t offer much leadership on the issue. You can also say, he being a former member, he left things up to Congress with the hope it would get thru minefields on its own — noble idea that didn’t work.
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And what exactly do those numbers mean, Freep? I’m obviously ignorant of facts here.

“The procedure, known as budget reconciliation, would let Democrats advance the bill with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority.”

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Do Democrats simply not understand how this will be perceived and understood by the voters? Those 60+ percent of the voters in America who are fully against this bill?
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This is no different than the suicide pilot who yesterday ran his plane into the IRS building in Texas. He was insane. Go ahead, taxi your plane on the runway to hell.
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When Democrats, most specifically, the Progressive Democrats led to the slaughter by Obama, Pelosi, and Reid understand this Bill is not the bill the vast majority of Americans want for health care reform. How much clearer does it have to be?
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How many times do we need to say, “We do not want Government in control of our Health Care”? Period. Go back to the negotiating table, draft a bill that really means something. A Bill which cuts costs, and stops unfair insurance company practices. A bill which promotes competition and free market principles.
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Anyone who truly gives a damn about this country will write their Congressional Representative in either the House or the Senate and urge them to vote “No”.
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Those who simply want some type of “victory”, a “mission accomplished” banner to fly will continue voting for this bill. Americans will yet again be screwed by those who are greedy and corrupt. Special interest groups in Washington will continue to throw out more money at elected officials. They will buy off Presidents, Senators, and Representatives. But one thing they cannot buy in November is our vote. Pass this insane bill Democrats, please do. Your time in Washington is indeed very limited.

Hey, he was no one they knew personally.
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It takes long years of training/indocrination to become that insensitive… and surrounding yourself with others who reinforce that behavior.

Rusty worried that reconciliation might happen.
Why not a plea to Republicans to work and pass health care?

“And what exactly do those numbers mean, Freep? I’m obviously ignorant of facts here.”

The Dems could have passed any thing they wanted to if there was a grown-up in the crowd. Not Obama’s style to accept responsibility for failure when you can always blame someone else.

One thing you missed, Sorie: Former VP Dick pronouncing @ CPAC that BO would be a one-term president. So who’s gonna beat BO: HIM???

Pictures of the Dalai Lama ;leaving the White House and walking past Obama’s agenda

http://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/96834730/AFP

Oh yeah…the same numbers that say Fox is so great.

‘Figure many years in isolation, denial and — dare I? — uppityness produces an extremely high level of lack of compassion.

The Frank Lutz memo to Congressional Republicans, The Language of Healcare 2009 (link), and the almost universal adherence to its recommendations by Republican officials (it became the commonplace for the media too), confirms that Republicans would have opposed any plan to come from a Democratic WH and majority.
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Also, I agree with free from above: there was no intestinal fortitude from any Demos to pass either (the House or Senate bill) (I wouldn’t have said any, but fairly accurate nonetheless). You can reasonably add that they didn’t have the fortitude to make the best plan possible.
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Pretty weak all around.

I’m not impressed with any of the republicans speaking at cpac. In fact, I’m actually embarrassed for them. They’re coming across more like junior high students at a rally or stand up commedians than adults serious about governance and leading this country.

I was wrong–he went with over the top nuttiness.
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From bravely defending God-
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And he made an overt religious pitch: “God’s in charge,” invoking the “Creator” cited in the Declaration of Independence.

“People say, aw, Pawlenty, don’t bring that up. It’s politically incorrect — hogwash,” he said, dismissing “the naysayers who try to crowd out God.”
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To being as current as an episode of Roc Live-

“He even teed off on Tiger Woods’ first public appearance in nearly three months, saying Woods’ wife “said I’ve had enough — no more.

“We should take a lesson from her playbook and take a nine-iron and smash the window out of big government. We’ve had enough.”

http://tinyurl.com/y8qhnmk

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Link is to a Startribune story on his speech.

nflfog”

Oh yeah…the same numbers that say Fox is so great.

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IU guess if you don’t like the facts go back to the old reliable liberal standby – name call or denigrate. Still won’t change the fact liberals had majorities in both Houses plus the WH and could not get the job done. They make Jimmah Carter looklike Mr. Efficieny.

Paul: To bad Sarah isn’t there. She would have joined in with a “you betcha”.

“Still won’t change the fact liberals had majorities in both Houses plus the WH and could not get the job done.”
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Liberals have a majority nowhere you nitwit.
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If Democrats could pass their centrist/corporatist/conservative (this is getting tiresome) agenda with a majority vote, they would. They can’t because Republicans are filibustering everything. And yes, that’s the definition of a filibuster as it has been for many years, Democratic or Republican control – Democrats just didn’t abuse the prerogative so traitorously.