Last Call

Joe Biden being Joe Biden at today's swearing in ceremony for the Senate of the new 113th Congress.  Which is also being awesome.



ALL OF THE BIDEN.

Turtle Talks Tough On Taxes

My senator, Mitch "Turtle Boy" McConnell, takes to Yahoo News today in an op-ed designed to...I think, at least...assure the American people that they're going to suffer nasty spending cuts pretty soon, so they might as well get used to the pain of austerity, declaring another hostage situation on the debt ceiling is imminent.

Yeah, that's what I said when I read it, too.

Predictably, the President is already claiming that his tax hike on the “rich” isn’t enough. I have news for him: the moment that he and virtually every elected Democrat in Washington signed off on the terms of the current arrangement, it was the last word on taxes. That debate is over. Now the conversation turns to cutting spending on the government programs that are the real source of the nation’s fiscal imbalance. And the upcoming debate on the debt limit is the perfect time to have that discussion. 

We simply cannot increase the nation’s borrowing limit without committing to long overdue reforms to spending programs that are the very cause of our debt. 

The only way to achieve the balance the President claims to want is by cutting spending. As he himself has admitted, no amount of tax hikes or revenue could possibly keep up with the amount of money Washington is projected to spend in the coming years. At some point, high taxes become such a drag on the economy that the revenue stalls. 

While most Washington Democrats may want to deny it, the truth is, the only thing we can do to solve the nation’s fiscal problem is to tackle government spending head on — and particularly, spending on health care programs, which appear to take off like a fighter jet on every chart available that details current trends in federal spending. 

The President may not want to have a fight about government spending over the next few months, but it’s the fight he is going to have, because it’s a debate the country needs. For the sake of our future, the President must show up to this debate early and convince his party to do something that neither he nor they have been willing to do until now. Over the next two months they need to deliver the same kind of bipartisan resolution to the spending problem we have now achieved on revenue — before the 11th hour. 

In other words, Mitch is all but promising massive Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid cuts, and once again is threatening no new revenue.  Should be just about as effective as the last time the GOP tried this, leading directly to the spanking they got at the polls in November.  It's a pretty clear signal that Republicans expect to cut trillions from these programs and get away with it.

They've got another thing coming.

Equality In Illinois

Will the Second City become the next hot spot for same-sex marriage?  Illinois lawmakers in both parties seem to want to go in that direction, after a little pushing from the President.  And yes, that means Illinois Republicans are getting behind something they see passing as inevitable.  Leading that contingent is state GOP chair Pat Brady.

Brady emphasized the calls were being made to express his personal views only. The Illinois Republican Party platform (PDF) still endorses only the “traditional family,” which is “based on the principle of marriage between one man and one woman.”

Brady told the conservative publication Illinois Review that the “true conservative position is in favor” of allowing same sex marriage.

Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris (D) and state Sen. Heather Steans (D) hope to pass the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act during the lame-duck session, which ends next week. The bill would provide married same sex couples with all the protections and benefits granted to married opposite sex couples, while allowing churches to decide whether or not they will perform same sex marriages.

So it looks like Illinois could have a same sex marriage law on the books in a matter of days, joining New York, nearly all of New England (I'm looking at you, Rhode Island), Washington and Iowa.  Change marches on.

StupidiNews!

• Pakistani officials say a US drone strike has killed 15, including Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Nazir.
• Some 10 states raise their minimum wages this month, affecting more than one million workers who will see a bigger paycheck.
• A disbarred Miami lawyer has been charged with trying to sell guns belonging to Saddam Hussein's son, Qusay, to a New Jersey sporting goods store.
• Arabic news network Al Jazeera has sealed a deal to buy Current TV from Al Gore for some $500 million.
• The Apple/Google map wars continue as Apple is considering reloading with social navigation startup Waze.

Last Call

And Podcast Versus The Stupid is back from holiday break with Episode 20, Fiscal Cliffmess, Happy New Year!

Listen to internet radio with Zandar Versus The Stupid on Blog Talk Radio

Bon and I tackle the Fiscal Cliff, the epic fail of the House's unfinished business, the Newtown shooting tragedy, why being near Justin Beiber is bad for your heath, Hillary Clinton being awesome, and more!

Download the episode here, or subscribe in iTunes!

The Twenty-Seven Percent's Solution

"Principled" conservative Conor Friedersdorf doesn't understand why the "Obama's coming for your guns!" section of the country is openly talking about armed insurrection and a Second Civil War.

It's one thing to argue that gun control legislation is a nonstarter, despite tens of thousands of deaths by gunshot per year, because the safeguards articulated in the Bill of Rights are sacrosanct. I can respect that... but not from people who simultaneously insist that 3,000 dead in a terrorist attack justifies departing from the plain text of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth amendments, and giving the president de-facto power to declare war without Congressional approval.

The conservative movement has a broad, textualist reading of the 2nd Amendment... and nothing else.  

I don't understand a subset of the rank-and-file either.

If you're a gun owner who worries that gun control today could make tyranny easier to impose tomorrow, I get that, and if you worry about federal excesses generally, I have no argument with you.

I think law-abiding Americans should always be allowed to own guns.

But if you're a conservative gun owner who worries that gun control today could make tyranny easier to impose tomorrow, and you support warrantless spying, indefinite detention, and secret drone strikes on Americans accused of terrorism, what explains your seeming schizophrenia? 

It's called "cognitive dissonance" Conor, and it's the hallmark of the modern GOP.    Where the hell have you been for the last five plus years, man?

Thanks.

Orange Julius Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Politico rounds up TEAM WIN THE MORNING(tm) to bring us this microcosm of Fiscal Cliffmas:

House Speaker John Boehner couldn’t hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday.

It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a “dictatorship” in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.

“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present.

Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?”

Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself."

The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.

So yeah, that happened just a few days ago.   But both sides do it, right?  Get to open up with Tools of 2013 tag right off the bat.

StupidiNews!

• By a 257-167 vote, the House has passed the Senate's fiscal cliff deal, but the debt ceiling fight still looms just weeks away.
• The House however did not act on Hurricane Sandy relief legislation, leaving the package to the next Congress.
• Additional taxes on the wealthy involving Obamacare also go into effect this week, which will raise $258 billion over the next decade.
• In Europe, plunging 2012 power prices will continue into 2013 as the Eurozone recession takes a big bite out of power demands.
• Scientists now say they have a reversible molecular rotor engine sitting on a "ball bearing" made of a single ruthenium atom.

StupidiNews, New Year's Edition!

• The Senate has passed a fiscal cliff deal, but the legislation faces an uncertain House vote.
• The price of buffalo wings has skyrocketed in 2012, rising 52%, and could face a similar jump in 2013.
• Congress has acted on legislation to rename a Yosemite peak after former Olympic star and Mono County, California Supervisor Andrea Lawrence.
• Japan's population shrank by a record amount in 2012 as the aging country slowed for a sixth straight year.
• The biggest storm of last year was one that most of us never heard of:  the Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012.

Last Call (Of The Year)

And we go over the fiscal cliff tonight because Republicans, who spent all of 2012 calling Barack Obama a Kenyan anti-colonialist blackity black black shiftless lazy welfare pimp daddy black person, have hurt feelings.

Republicans refused to have a vote in the House tonight.  Not Democrats.  Republicans.

That is all.

See you next year.

Zandar's 2013 Predictions

Can I do any better than 5.5 out of 10?  We'll give it a shot.  What's ahead for 2013?  Here's what I think, and I'm just some guy.

1)  The upcoming debt ceiling fight will cost America another credit notch from one of the big three agencies.  This seems like a pretty safe bet as the Republicans are already demanding Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid cuts or they'll wreck the economy as a result.

2)  Bashar al-Assad won't be Syria's President by Dec 31, 2013.  This also seems like a pretty safe bet, as the end of 2012 sees him barely holding on as leader.

3)  President Obama will have to make a recess appointment for a Cabinet position.  That's unprecedented as far as I know.  But that's really the next step in Total Republican Opposition, isn't it?

4)  Chris Christie will be re-elected as Governor of New Jersey with Cory Booker holding out for Senate...but don't be surprised if Christie doesn't finish his term.

5)  As more Obamacare benefits kick in, it will gain majority approval by Americans.  I honestly believe this will get better as more benefits come due.

6)  Republicans will muster enough votes to split the electoral vote by Congressional district in at least one state that went for Obama in 2012.  Ohio would be the biggest prize.

7)  The Leap Motion controller turns into one of the big tech successes of 2013.  I'm feeling pretty good about this one, enough to put my money on one.

8)  Kim Kardashian's baby with Kanye West will be the story we're all sick of by the end of the year.  I'm already sick of it.

9)  Lincoln takes home the most Oscars.  Tall order, I know.  But I just see this being the big Oscar flick in 2013's awards.

10)  ZVTS makes it to the end of another year.  I still plan to be around, and Bon is concentrating on her writing these days, but you'll see more of us.  Still plenty of Stupid to fight.

So into the Future files you go then.  We'll see where we are this time in 2013.

Zandar's 2012 Scorecard

The tradition continues as I score my predictions for the year from last Dec. 31.

Seems I was right about 5 of 10 at least:

1. President Obama was reelected, quite handily.
2. The GOP kept at least one chamber of Congress (House)
3. 2012 broke box office records.
4. Sarah Palin was not the GOP veep choice.
5. ZVTS is still here.

Partial credit on:

1. The Eurozone nations didn't blow up into crisis mode, but they are in recession thanks to austerity as I did predict.

I was wrong about:

1. We got extremely close to a GOP candidate breaking the N-word Event Horizon, but no winner.
2. The GOP didn't shut down the government in 2012.
3. Syria's al-Assad is still in power, albeit barely.
4. No military incident on the Iran-Iraq border.  I was very surprised at this one, but glad to be wrong here.

So, 5.5 out of 10 is actually my best score so far out of doing these.   I'll have my predictions for 2013 later today.

StupidiNews!

• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" related to his treatment for cancer, according to officials, and is in "delicate health" at this hour.
• Mexico City has launched a recycling-for-food program to help reduce the 12,000 tons of trash the city produces daily.
• Even if the fiscal cliff is averted, economists believe 2013 will be another mediocre year for the economy.
• End of year Census estimates give more evidence that the US is on pace for its lowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.
• Microsoft is warning that Internet Explorer 8 and earlier are vulnerable to remote hacking exploits, and that users need to upgrade to IE 9.

Last Call

A couple of stories as we head into the last day of the year tomorrow:

First, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized as a routine procedure after her follow-up exam to clear her to return to work after her recent illness and concussion turned up a blood clot.  Her docs are not fooling around on this one, and it's a good thing this one was caught when it was.  Blood clots are no joke.

Second, still no fiscal cliff deal as of tonight, and all sides seem to agree that the defense sequestration cuts are going to happen regardless, which could lead to some 800,000 defense contractors having to take some unpaid leave.  Also, no joke.

We'll see where we are tomorrow night.  I'll also pull out my 2012 predictions from last year, and make my 2013 predictions.  Hopefully, we'll have some good news for you guys on New Year's Day, too.

Stay tuned.

Null If I Know

If there's a state currently trying to nullify federal regulations because STATE'S RIGHTS and whatever, you can bet that state is South Carolina.

Claiming that the federal government lacks the Constitutional authority to regulate firearms maintained within one state, a South Carolina State Senator has introduced a bill that would exempt the state’s guns, ammo and accessories from all federal regulation.

The bill, called the South Carolina Firearms Freedom Act, cites the Ninth and Tenth Amendments for legal support, in conjunction with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The argument goes that the two Amendments give to states all powers not specifically given to Washington, and that since state’s regulate intrastate commerce—in this case, the sale and purchase of firearms—states have the sole authority to regulate firearms manufactured and used within their borders.

The bill’s scope is specifically limited to only natively built and sold firearms to keep it from broaching the federal government’s power to regulate interstate trade via the Commerce Clause.

State Sen. Lee Bright (R) pre-filed the bill earlier this month for the state legislature to take up the issue in the coming session. Bright filed the same bill during the current session, but it never reached a floor vote.

This is really a clever plan to create jobs by attracting the rocket-propelled grenade industry, right?

"If we make it and sell it within the state then the Feds can't touch us" is something that's been used before in legal arguments over the decades in the US, and for the most part, it hasn't worked.  But good luck for trying to have your own firearms industry, guys.  Maybe you haven't thought this through, but I'm sure gunmakers have.

Just declare nullification and secede already.  Worked well for you last time, I understand.