Instapundit, Malkin, and Joe the Plumber discuss politics for PJTV.
There is so much to love about this, I don’t know where to start, but certainly Joe the Plumber bemoaning the lack of spending cuts and general program cuts in the stimulus bill was a highlight. It is almost as if he doesn’t have the first damned clue what he is talking about. A close runner-up would be Instapundit heralding Bush’s MBA as evidence of his awesome managerial skills. There was just so much to love, it is hard to narrow down the “best” parts.
I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane. Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be a meal of tire rims and anthrax. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years.
Common Sense
Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her preference would be
a meal of tire rims and anthraxto give the rich guy at the next table a tax break, hoping he buys your dinner. If you can figure out a way to split the difference there and find a meal you will both enjoy, you can probably figure out how bipartisanship is going to work the next few years.fixed
Trinity
I think Team Obama is also coming to this conclusion.
D-Chance.
And yet, in FOUR DIFFERENT POSTS, you said you AGREE with Republicans that this stimulus bill is bad.
Methinks you are the one who is insane. You keep harping on the Republicans as if this is all their fault, yet you AGREE with them on the issue. Perhaps YOU are the one who likes tire rims and anthrax?
Jon H
It’s weird how a mere Master’s degree (the MBA) has to some acquired as much or more cachet than a PhD.
cleek
did JC say otherwise here?
i don’t see it.
TheHatOnMyCat
We simply have to fool some of the people, some of the time. The low-information people.
We could hire some actors to portray Dumb Liberals who go on tv and say that the stimulus package is all about supporting Christian faith in the economy. Even point to some provisions in the bill that seem to do this. The plaque-brains on the right would eat it up and … bingo!
Win, win.
Bubblegum Tate
Almost?
Ash Can
Shorter D-Chance: Forget what you really said, you said what I say you said. Also.
Adjusted due to excessive civility.
JGabriel
John Cole:
Tire rims & anthrax with tomato sauce is the obvious compromise here – which, come to think of it, is not that different than Republicans saying, "Of course it’s a centrist compromise, Joe Lieberman agrees with us."
.
John Cole
I think the thing you are missing is that I have said that I do not know if it is a good bill or not, but that is hardly saying I agree with the Republicans.
But back to the point- the notion that a bill, designed solely to pump money into the country as the government has become the buyer of last resort, in effect, SHOULD BE JAM PACKED FULL OF PROGRAM CUTS AND SPENDING CUTS is QUITE FUCKING CLEARLY CRAZY TALK.
I am starting to realize you are a Joe the Plumber kind of guy.
Joshua Norton
I’m thinking the Olive Garden salad bar.
El Cid
Clearly an effective economic stimulus should drastically cut spending and encourage people to save money.
Dave
John, you deserve some kind of medal for putting up with that.
I read somewhere else that they make extensive use of a clown car clip for no apparent reason. Is that true?
Nylund
Bemoaning the lack of spending cuts in a stimulus bill is like saying a tax cut bill doesn’t have enough tax hikes.
The Moar You Know
I don’t know what it’s going to take to get everyone to figure this out; the Republicans are not going to vote for this bill even if the Dems threw out all the spending and wrote in nothing but tax cuts.
It’s not theirs, they get no credit for it, and they’re not going to vote for it. Period.
BFR
I’ve come around to the "we’re pretty much fucked" viewpoint over the last few days.
I mean it’s not exactly hidden to the general public that:
a) We’ve got a serious economic mess
b) The Democrats are proposing means to remedy it
c) GOP policy is being set by a talk radio entertainer and a semi-employed plumber
And yet the polling shows support for the stimulus is rapidly declining. I don’t know what else to say – it’s shocking.
mgordon
You’re right. When the middle ground is a shit sandwich we are all fucked.
Adrienne
Teehehe.
Teh stoopid. It burnz.
amorphous
Glenn sounds more like a muppet than Matty Y. Also, at 5:08 Malkin claims that the Bush A.D.D.ministration "learned from" an experience. That doesn’t sound like the Dubya I know.
@John Cole: You’ve been a little caps lock-heavy the past couple of days. I think you need a drink or twelve.
Dave
Did Malkin wear the cheerleading outfit? I need to know if I should have extra-strong bleach for my eyes before I watch the video.
jenniebee
@D-Chance.:
Yes, and Mao disapproved of Stalin’s Marxism, so he must have been in total agreement with the entire West about Stalin, even though the West disapproved because it disapproved of Marxism in general, and Mao disapproved because Stalin’s Marxism didn’t go far enough.
For D-Chance, the agreement is key; all else is trivia and nuance.
Davebo
InstapunditMoe,MalkinLarry, andJoe the PlumberCurly discuss politics for PJTV.Aubrey Chernick is a genius alright!
Adrienne
Ding, ding, ding. We did this math days ago. I also already stated my preference on how to deal with these ratbastards.
TheHatOnMyCat
Come on, nothing for "plaque-brains?"
Where is the love around this fucking place?
El Cid
It reminds me of how liberal hawks used to dismiss foes of Reagan’s death squad and terror crusade throughout Central America as ‘too far on one extreme’.
One side, the Reaganites and liberal hawks, wanted us to hire people to kill civilians in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. (Among other places in the world.)
Another side, me and those like me, wanted us to NOT do that.
Presumably the bipartisan consensus would have been to kill half as many people, or maybe just wound them all.
El Cid
@TheHatOnMyCat: We Make Holes-In-Teeth!
SpotWeld
And this is pretty much the same corner that science teachers get backed into when creationists school board members demand they "teach the weaknesses" and allow for "alternate explainations like ID".
Esentially the whole process is held hostage by a small fanatical group that must be appeased "or else".
Don’t hear the GOP chanting "up or down vote" much these days, do you?
Davebo
Not so much..
JGabriel
Dave:
No. Joe the Plumber did.
And Glenn Reynolds wore the leather. And a light sabre.
.
chrome agnomen
i’ll just keep those 21 minutes, thank you.
it really is hard to figure the opposition party out. you can’t really consider them insane, by and large. immoral, yes. pig-ignorant, beyond question. it’s more like a bunch of people hurtling down a highway out of control, with no one driving, and sending one blind person after another up to man the helm.
so frustrating to try and argue with people who start from no substantive position. the fact that they aren’t publicly ridiculed by major portions of the populace is discouraging, to say the least.
DonnaInMichigan
When the republicans rely on someone like Joe the Plumber as their spokesperson…you know for sure the Republican party is going down the drain….
TheHatOnMyCat
Two words: Bread sticks.
srv
Take-out in a Ferrari with the appropriate animal skin seats would work here.
JGabriel
chrome agnomen:
You have a very generous definition of "not insane".
.
BDeevDad
I’ll let you enjoy the pain/unintentional comedy and mock it so I don’t lose any more brain cells. I have few enough already. I think you need another category now that PJ has gone to video to go along with the ‘I Read These Morons So You Don’t Have To’ Category
TheHatOnMyCat
Yeah, but they’re controlling the debate ……
jenniebee
@The Moar You Know: right on. Bipartisanship is all about giving the other side political cover. There is absolutely no reason for the Republicans to do so (except, you know, doing what’s best for their country, patriotism, etc., and even there it’s possible that they’re so ideologically deranged that they lack the capacity for judgment, etc.). There is no benefit to the Republicans for helping on this, because the odds that the economy will be good before the 2010 elections are pretty slim, and if they do anything other than stand against the stimulus bill, they’ll have thrown away what they think is their big issue for the midterm elections.
Personally, I can’t wait to watch Republicans run on the economy. I think it’s pretty clear to most people that when times are bad, Republicans aren’t the ones you want digging you out (it helps that the Republican response to being in a hole is to stock the company store with free market shovels).
former capitalist
@BFR:
There are times when you just have to admit that some (most?) Americans aren’t very damn smart, and will vote against their own interests time and again (witness two terms of GWB). Instead, they’re willing to listen to jackasses like Joe T. Plumber and Mr. Limbaugh. As liberals, sometimes we just have to realize that and do things that help them, in spite of their blatant stupidity. If the stimulus bill doesn’t pass, the Repubs aren’t going to take the fall for the economy falling off a cliff and WWIII. The fingers will point to the POTUS as fast as their fists can be unclenched.
Dreggas
can we just refer to Joe the plumber as "Joe the Dumber" now? Please? The upshot is because of his whoring himself out the way he has he probably now has reason to worry that his taxes will go up under Obama.
What a douche nozzle.
Tim in SF
I watched three minutes. It was too boring for me to get my hate on.
big woo
So Glenn Reynolds is really Neil Hamburger?
That’s good to know.
chrome agnomen
another, hardly original, way to look at the intransigence of the right here, is to reflect that they are merely abandoning all of the people who are not in the top 5%, including their base. those at the top have ‘got theirs’, and have enough to weather all but the most extreme events that can ensue. after the dust settles, they just take up their mantra again, counting on the collective amnesia of a large portion of the populace, and start to play the game again.
i’ve always told the few members of my own family who support the wingtard way, that the one thing they do not realize is how much the right despises them, they being relatively lower/middle class folks with no power. they only love them on nov 4.
jenniebee
@El Cid:
Yes, and on gang-raping the nuns, the solution would be to cut the rapist-to-nun ratio from 15/1 down to a more manageable 4/1 – 7/1 range.
Rick Taylor
I read that a proposal to do a stimulus bill based entirely on tax cuts got the votes of all but 4 Republican senators. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
Joshua Norton
Pete Sessions says House Republicans promise Taliban insurgent tactics
Going, going, gonzo! ! !
Maus
Has anyone yet pointed out to Malkin that her gimmick is so dumb that JTP is doing it without any whit of education or intelligence?
JGabriel
BDeevDad:
How about we call it:
.
Bobby Thomson
OT, but I think John would be interested to know The Editors is back to talking trash.
The Moar You Know
@Adrienne: I like your idea with one huge caveat; I am not convinced that the American public is smart enough to realize when action is being attempted in their own best interests.
Rick Taylor
As bad as things are, just imagine how much worse they’d be if McCain were president.
JGabriel
Joshua Norton:
That’s atypically honest of them.
.
The Moar You Know
@Joshua Norton: Republicans praising the Taliban. I think U.S. politics has officially jumped the shark.
BDeevDad
@Joshua Norton: Wow! How fast until a Democrat comes out and says I don’t think that is what Sessions meant to say.
Cyrus
No, dammit, his name is Samuel Wurzelbacher or, if he prefers, Sam, or Joe. Under AP style, calling him by his last name after the first reference is preferred. But I am not giving the cueball Bircher the familiarity of a soubriquet. I’ll call him a plumber when I get out the Yellow Pages for help with my malfunctioning dishwasher and can’t find anyone suitable between A and V, or when I see him wearing red overalls, a matching cap, and a handlebar moustache; not until then.
Tsulagi
I think you hit on the central flaw in Obama’s bipartisan/postpartisan/"can’t we all just get along" hope. He needs to change that.
These are the people who are quite happy and proud killing additional science funding, but if there was money in the stimulus package to train snowflake babies to smile at pro-lifers, they’d be stumbling over each other to add zeros.
For me, 3.5 minutes. That’s all I could take. So this PJTV is the PJM mogul’s vision of the future? I’m thinking Jesus would rather be up on the cross than endure that boring tard pabulum.
Libby
I sincerely hope you have a comp subscription as a member of PJ Media and aren’t encouraging them by actually paying to watch that tripe. And if you are paying for it, on the premise that someone has to keep an eye on them, could you post transcripts or at least a couple of choice quotes so no one else has to subsidize their inanity? It would be the patriotic thing to do.
amorphous
I’m sure the these idiots and other Republicans will be happy to see us plebeians racing to the bottom.
gbear
Harry Reid is frustrated:
pseudonymous in nc
FTW. The WaPo loves it some Susan Collins right now. Village idiocy at its best.
If you’re in the business of making sausage, cure it to serve cold or stick it on the grill and eat it hot. Lukewarm sausage will just have everyone shitting themselves.
As for Chauncy Plummer, what the fuck? Seriously.
Adrienne
@The Moar You Know: I agree. That’s why I’m not saying "let’s hope they realize…". I’m sayin, let’s MAKE them realize.
There is a reason the public was for this thing a few weeks ago, and there is a reason that public support seems to be slipping. There is NO reason, NONE, that we can’t win this argument. Americans are afraid, but more importantly, we are pissed. the. fuck. off. I see NO reason why we can’t tap into that and direct it at the Republicans by painting them as the slimey obstructionists that they are. They are out there actively rooting for economic armageddon. In the middle of the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression these pricks are holding up the very needed stimulus bill by trivializing it and making it about "pork" and "earmarks".
We elected Democrats for a reason. We elected Obama over McCain for a reason. I see no issues with using the bully pulpit to do what we elected them to do.
Davis X. Machina
Susan Collins is stuck at the age of 14. I guarantee she has an internal monologue in her head going from the time she gets up in the morning, like a kid shooting baskets.
"Here’s the moderate Senator from Maine, makin’ the hard choices, takin’ the heat from both sides…."
Snowe, whatever her failings, is at least a senator. Collins is playing at it. That she has any power at all in this process is frightening. Doogie Hauser, without the M.D. degree….
DougJ
@Joshua Norton
You beat me to it.
DougJ
Normally, these things make me fear for the future of our country. This one makes me wonder about the entire human race.
It’s time to face the real possibility that some kind of toxin is degrading human DNA.
pseudonymous in nc
I think the Senate GOPpers have overstepped their capabilities now. Those 36 votes for MOAR TAX CUTZ establish the Fucktard Caucus, and that clearly delineates the people who aren’t playing Ski-jump Hand-job with Limbaugh and Plumber.
Get it into conference, send the bill back to the Senate, and see if the DINOs and RINOs have the cojones to scuttle it.
Joshua Norton
Obama pretty much painted a bulls eye on his back when he specifically stated that he wanted 80 votes out of the Senate. Like the Repugs were about to let that happen. Now all the pundicks are shouting "epic fail".
It’s like he’s never met these people before.
Ugh
Obama: Good Morning.
Republicans: Good morning, sir. Welcome to the National Republican Stimulus Emporium.
O: Ah, thank you my good man.
R: What can I do for you, Mr. President?
O: Well, I was, uh, sitting in the Oval Office on Pennsylvania Street just now, skimming through the Democratic Stimulus Bill, and I suddenly came over all bipartisanshippy.
O: Bipartisanshippy, sir?
O: Open to negotiation.
R: Eh?
O: (In a deep, southeran accent): I wanna do sum bidness witchy’all.
R: Ah, foolish.
O: In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, ‘a little back-and-forth haggle-haggle will do the trick’. So I curtailed my reading activites, sallied forth, and infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the stimulating of our national economy.
R: Come again?
O: I want to pass a bill.
R: Oh, I thought you were complaining about the banjo player.
O: Oh, heaven forbid. I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Deliverancey muse.
R: Sorry?
O: (In a deep Sourthern accent) Yee-ha!
R: So he can go on playing, can he?
O: Most certainly. Now then, some negotation please, my good man.
R: Certainly, sir. What would you like?
O: Well, eh, how about a little family planning?
R: I’m afraid we’re fresh out of family planning, sir.
O: Oh never mind, how are you on state aid?
R: I’m afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir. We get it fresh in 2013.
O: Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four billion of mass transit, if you please.
R: Ah. It’s been on order, sir, for two decades. I was expecting it this next century.
O: It’s not my lucky day, is it? Er, sod for the Mall?
R: Sorry, sir.
O: Tax cuts for working families?
R: Normally, sir, yes. But they vote democrat.
O: Ah. Extended unemployment insurance?
R: Sorry.
O: Caps on executive compensation?
R: No.
O: Any job training, per chance?
R: No.
O: Pell grants?
R: No.
O: National science foundation funding?
R: No.
O: NIH funding?
R: No.
O: Infrastructure repair?
R: No.
O: Prevention & wellness programs?
R: No.
O: Highway funds?
R: No.
O: Wind farms?
R: No.
O: Solar panels?
R: No.
O: Funds for planes, trains, boats, automobiles, motorcycles, jet skis?
R: No.
O: Refundable tax credits, perhaps?
R: Ah! We have refundable tax credits, yes sir.
O: You do! Excellent.
R: Yes, sir. It’s, ah ….. it’s a bit funny.
O: Oh, I like it funny.
R: Well, it’s very funny, actually, sir.
O: No matter. Fetch hither le fromage de la refundable tax credits! M-mmm!
R: I think it’s a bit funnier than you’ll like it, sir.
O: I don’t care how fucking funny it is. Hand it over with all speed.
R: Oh …..
O: What now?
R: Boehner’s eaten it.
O: Has he?
R: She, sir.
(pause)
O: Bad bank?
R: No.
O: Nationalization?
R: No.
O: Buy american?
R: No.
O: Detroit bailout?
R: No.
O: Money market guarantees?
R: No, sir.
O: You do have some stimulus, do you?
R: Of course, sir. It’s a stimulus shop, sir. We’ve got …..
O: No, no, don’t tell me. I’m keen to guess.
R: Fair enough.
O: Insanity Party?
R: Yes?
O: Ah, well, I’ll have some of that.
R: Oh, I thought you were talking to me, sir, that’s my name.
O: Children’s health insurance?
R: Ah, not as such.
O: Er, national health care?
R: No.
O: Cram downs?
R: No.
O: Loan guarantees?
R: No.
O: Protectionism?
R: No.
O: Tax and spend?
R: No.
O: Borrow and spend?
R: No.
O: Spend and spend?
R: Not this term, sir, no.
(pause)
O: Ah, how about printing money?
R: Well, we don’t get much call for it around here, sir.
O: Not much ca- It’s the single most popular stimulus in the world!
R: Not round here, sir.
O: And what is the most popular stimulus round here?
R: Tax cuts for the rich, sir.
O: Is it.
R: Oh yes, sir. It’s staggeringly popular in this emporium, squire.
O: Is it.
R: It’s our number-one best seller, sir.
O: I see. Ah, tax cuts for the rich, eh?
R: Right, sir.
O: All right. Okay. Will you vote for the bill if I give it to you, he asked expecting the answer no?
R: I’ll have a look, sir ….. nnnnnnooooooooo.
O: It’s not much of a stimulus shop, is it?
R: Finest in the District, sir.
O: Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.
R: Well, it’s so right wing, sir.
O: It’s certainly uncontaminated by rational thought.
R: You haven’t asked me about stock purchases, sir.
O: Is it worth it?
R: Could be.
O: Have you- SHUT THAT BLOODY BANJO UP!
R: (To dancers) Told you so.
O: Have you got any stock purchases?
R: No.
O: That figures. Predictable really, I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have tried to negotiate with you in the first place. Tell me:
R: Yes, sir?
O: Have you in fact got any stimulus here at all?
R: Yes, sir.
O: Really?
(pause)
R: No. Not really, sir.
O: You haven’t.
R: No, sir, not a scrap. I was deliberately wrecking the country, sir.
O: Well, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to shoot you.
R: Right-O, sir.
O: (Shoots him) What a senseless waste of human life.
Adrienne
He’s awfully late to the party that Pelosi started weeks ago! Why do you think Pelosi did what she did? She’s a smart broad. She knew they weren’t gonna play ball and had NO interest in true bipartisanship so she just said screw ’em and kept it moving.
The election wasn’t even close and Dems have a mandate. I say, crush the bastards. Like I said yesterday, we already have all the footage we need of Obama doing the bipartisan thing – footage of him in meetings at the WH, footage of him coming to the Hill to meet with Republicans, inviting them over for drinks, and on and on and on ad nauseum. If he decides to run over these idiots monster truck style, who can blame him?
Dave
@Davis X. Machina:
And you wonder why so many of us in Maine were ripshit pissed over Tom Allen’s half-assed campaign? Collins could’ve gone down but Allen played the "I’m not (name here)" game that Kerry did in ’04 and got the same result.
Conservatively Liberal
Ugh, excellent rewrite! LMAO!
kay
Bipartisanship is going to work because there are 5 Republican moderates in the Senate.
And that’s all he needs.
It IS sort of wild though. Five. In Congress. Not a lot. No wiggle room there. No, sir.
Laura W
"The honeymoon is over. There’s a lot of wife beating going on."
-Pat Buchanan, 4:17pm
thud
Cyrus
And the problem with the Republican Party is, they aren’t insane. It seems to me that the party’s best strategy for success in the next several elections are to complain about, object to and water down everything they can but not actually prevent too much from passing into law, and then when programs fail, run against them. What else are they going to do, run against the Democrats from the left? LOL. The base might have nowhere to go, but the Republican Party still needs money and they won’t get it by abandoning big business. Acquiesce? Running as Republicans-lite didn’t work for Democrats in 2002 and running as Democrats-lite wouldn’t work for Republicans going forward. Go nativist? Eventually, but right now it’s impossible to do so without violating Lee Atwater’s advice. What we’re seeing may look disastrous, but corrupt mismanagement of bad policies has left them with no better choice.
This strategy may be bad for the country and it may be bad for the Republican Party of the year 2030 or 2050, but it’s not like a 60-year-old millionaire now in office has any reason to care about either of those.
joeyess
I would like to explain something to Not Joe:
You’d better quit with the whole "left side, right side" bit and pick the "right side" or you’re going to find a horse head in your bed courtesy of Michelle and her flying monkey circus.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
Ah, Pat. We always know where we stand with you.
(Far, far out of the range of the lightning bolt.)
Tonal Crow
I love it. Utter clowns and freaks accusing Obama of being a clown and a freak:
— Brookings as a "left-wing" organization;
— "I suppose I should refrain that".
— "Worry about the bill come later"
— Even the GOP "still wants to spend"…"no one’s talking about cutting programs".
— A governor is cutting stuff, "It’s a more responsible approach…we’re not seeing that at the federal level".
— "Fiscal conservatives".
— McConnell is "mushy" and GOP is "colluding" to "show that Republicans are for something" which is "what got us into this mess in the first place".
— Senate GOP thinks that "obstructionism is something to be apologized for".
I got too nauseated when they began trotting out the "polls" and killed it. Then I rebooted from a CD and ran a full malware scan on my system.
Stuck
This wasn’t far from my diet during college, if you throw in copious amounts of cold beer.
norbizness
By all means, keep their business model going and inflict organic brain damage on your readership.
Mike S
This is what Roger Simon is putting his money into? If he wants to waste his money this bad I’d be more than happy to spout a bunch of idiotic talking points for some.
Laura W
As I further meditate upon the profundity of it all, I think it’s a shoe-in title for DougJ’s next post.
DougJ
They sure didn’t spend much on hair and make-up for Instapundit.
Stuck
Where have you gone, Joe the Plumber
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What’s that you say, Mrs. Palinson
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)
We’d like to know a little bit about
you for our files.
Coo coo ca choo.
Dave
@DougJ:
Why bother? It’s like lipstick on a pig…
Balconesfault
@Joshua Norton:
Yep – she can fill her plate with salad forks and extra plates to munch on … after she’s asked the busboy to blow his nose on them.
You can have the cherry tomatoes.
Rome Again
@DougJ:
It’s in the cup of Jesus’ blood they give you at church. That’s why it only affects Soc Cons.
The Populist
Michelle Malkin is a useless idiot (or is that USEFUL when talking about the right wing pov?). Why is it that people like that get all this attention.
When Chris "tweetie" Matthews shut her down years ago I thought that was it for the factually challenged little propagandist. Nope, here she is acting like what she does is some kind of journalism.
Sorry sweetie, what you do is smear people in the name of selling talking points that I am sure you didn’t even come up with on your own.
ksmiami
Finally – John you waking to what we’ve been dealing with for at least 20 years. THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS AND HAVE NO BUSINESS RUNNING A MCDONALDS LET ALONE THE GOVT
Zifnab
Republicans prop her up as a "friendly minority" that’s just as batshit crazy as they are. Kinda like running out Michael Steele or Clarence Thomas to race bait for them.
Democrats have turned her into the poster child for the right wing flaming idiot brigades. And she does a heckava job. She’s like an Asian Ann Coulter, except I think Ann at least knows its all an act.
Rome Again
I’m so sick of hearing these soundbites on tv of Republican senators kvetching over spending money after they rubber stamped so much over the last several years. Someone shoot me, please!
Xanthippas
You are perilously close to uncovering this highly protected secret.
Punchy
When does Joe the Plumber become a pr0n name? When does his broke-ass become a pr0n actor?
The Populist
Can somebody explain to the cable news shows that Joe The Plumber’s 15 minutes are long gone? No wonder their ratings are going down.
Zifnab
@Punchy: After Nail’n Palin, you’d think it would have been a short trip, right?
Comrade Kevin
@The Moar You Know:
That phrase needs to be thrown under the bus.
Jon H
Here’s 30 seconds of video you won’t regret.
(via Balko)
Xanthippas
It does have me thinking, this is what they ditched their bloggers for?
SGEW
Ugh wins an internets.
Indylib
@DonnaInMichigan:
Next thing you know they will have flushed all their integrity.
Brian J
This is almost like a bad joke.
I have nothing else left to say.
Zuzu's Petals
@Libby:
It’s a freebie promo. Hard to imagine anyone actually paying to see this stuff.
Though I hated to drive Simon’s numbers up just by going over to make sure.
Rome Again
They’ll be lucky if they have a pot to piss in.
ThymeZone
Interesting to see how well their "let the people keep more of their own money" slogan works when the people have no jobs and no money to keep.
Bill H
Here you go John.
headpan
You actually sat through that? All of it? my god . . . my god . . . you are my new superhero of uncommon strength
Clambone
I’ve never heard Glenn Reynolds speak before. Does he always sound like that, or is he sick?
The Moar You Know
@ThymeZone: The last election proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that at least 45% of the populace would buy that line of horseshit even if they were naked and starving to death in the middle of the Sahara.
Wile E. Quixote
@Joshua Norton
Cool, does this mean we can send in the Air Force and the Special Forces troops and kill the bastards?
Rick Taylor
Via Digby, here’s the proposal all but five Republican senators support to amend the stimulus bill:
Even I didn’t expect something like this. These people are completely nuts. Can we please drop the talk of bipartisanship and get on with the work of saving the world economy?
John S.
Oh, he’s sick all right.
I’m just not sure that it has any bearing on his diction.
Cain
I’m waiting for this Obama move
cain
Joshua Norton
@Wile E. Quixote:
I don’t think so, but I’d gladly put all their airline tickets on my American Express card so they could go over there to get a little on-the-job training. One way, of course.
Tom Hilton
As I said in comments here, the next time any Republicans need brain surgery they should call in their all-around expert ‘Joe’ the ‘Plumber’.
To which another commenter replied: obviously, a lot of them already have.
amorphous
@Rick Taylor: Let’s lower the corporate tax rate, but close the fucking loopholes. Then the effective rate actually goes up. Suck on that Repugnantcans.
Also: Sarah Palin says everything she knows she learned from sports. Things just got a lot clearer over here.
Rick Taylor
From the same link, house representative Pete Sessions is using the Taliban as an model for an insurgency.
Completely nuts.
tim
John, you really do have an awesome twist with words at times: "tire rims and anthrax…"
LOL
former capitalist
@Rick Taylor:
Digby doesn’t do snark, but I really hope that’s satire.
b-psycho
Really? Seems to me like printing money is exactly what’s been going on for quite some time now.
Tattoosydney
This is entirely OT, but there’s no open thread…
Anyone seen Litlebritdifrnt around?
She would want to see this.
Yay! Torchwood!
forked tongue
Clap clap, Ugh.
Rick Taylor
@former capitalist:
I wish. I found the points on Jone DeMint’s website.
Tabletop Joe
@Jon H:
trying…not…to…laugh….
headpan
"Ugh" that was a trippin masterpiece. thk u
AkaDad
That would be like a slap in the face.
Davis X. Machina
Dave@69
Allen’s campaign, good, bad, or indifferent, was irrelevant. Collins would have beaten anybody who ran against her. Collins’ whole career is built on Democratic women voters. A Republican with no gender gap can’t be beat.
A la lanterne les aristos!
Rick Taylor @ 108
I totally read those bullets as O’s and thought that was the new GOP National Anthem.
The Populist
Permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax once and for all;Permanently extend the $1,000-per-child tax credit;Permanently simplify itemized deductions to include only home mortgage interest and charitable contributions.
Yes on these, no on the others except:
Lower corporate tax rate as well, from 35 percent to 25 percent.
Add these to the proposal:
The only companies that qualify are the ones who’s workforce is 75% American. So if Mattel (for example) has 10,000 workers (of which 7K are in China and Mexico) then you don’t qualify.
If you outsource, you don’t get a discount. If you are a service company and you outsource IT/Customer Service to India or Pakistan, you lose.
If you own 30 factories and none are located in the USA, you lose.
The way I see it, encourage American corporations to come back here. Maybe then companies like Mattel won’t worry if one of their dolls has health related issues.
andy
liberals are idiots. thanks for spending my kids and grandkids money on ‘stimulus’ that is going to do nothing but put us deeper in the hole. typical liberal thought process…’if it’s broken, let’s throw a bunch of money at it’. WRONG. again. lefties.
MikeL
Well, John, you don’t deserve Joe the Plumber anyway.
You can interpret that any way you want.
bernard
liberals are losing the message. the Taliban concept Sessions cited is how Republicans are operating. to see Obama let the Republicans control the message shows how inept and spineless the Democrats are. the slide into an elitist cohesive theocracy continues.
Stuck
Dispatch From the Bong of Wisdom!
The Populist
liberals are idiots. thanks for spending my kids and grandkids money on ‘stimulus’ that is going to do nothing but put us deeper in the hole. typical liberal thought process…’if it’s broken, let’s throw a bunch of money at it’. WRONG. again. lefties.
Wow Andy, is that the best you can do? What a deep thinker you are!
I notice you didn’t get all worked up when Bush spent 1 trillion on useless nonsense, death and destruction. You should be more worried about your kid’s future. Without college loans, good jobs and the like is it really all that big of a deal that Obama tried his best to right the ship?
I see…as long as it’s YOUR guy spending the money it’s perfectly okay. Zing…I win. Go ahead and play the idiot. The GOP appreciate it.
Ash Can
Shorter andy, MikeL, and bernard: "Trick or treat!"
Aw, aren’t they sweet?
P.S. Ugh, you rock.
R. Porrofatto
thanks for spending my kids and grandkids money on ‘stimulus’ that is going to do nothing but put us deeper in the hole.
Sorry, Andy, but the previous administration already spent your kids’ and grandkids’ money on a "war" in Iraq, Star Wars, and trillions for their Wall St. banker pals, as well as your great grandkids’ and their kids’. But don’t worry, if the GOP has its way, and a stimulus bill of nothing but tax cuts passes, it’ll come out of your Social Security check.
b-psycho
If Obama was anywhere near the fire-breathing lefty the wingnuts think he is, his response to the pork accusations would be to say "why yes, I agree we need to deal with this wasteful spending!"…then promptly propose cutting the "defense" budget in half.
Tommykey
Can we stop referring to the guy as Joe "the plumber"? When was the last time the guy actually worked as a plumber?
We don’t call Donald Rumsfeld "Donald the Defense Secretary" anymore.
mclaren
To see the full extent of the devolution, compare the American discourse with Vladimir Putin’s speech on the economic crisis at Davos.
Wow. Just…wow.
This example of Americans trying to discuss the economic crisis is, like, the Olympics of stupidity. It’s like the Stockholm Nobel awards for ignorance. It reminds me of that scene early in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the apes are fumbling around with pieces of bone in front of the monolith. Except here, every time the apes touch the black monolith, their intelligence decreases.
Craig
And people are supposed to _pay_ for this? I’ll tell you one thing, though, at least the Ole Perfesser stops playing all coy about his views when he’s doing this "show." What a jackass.
r€nato
I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking tired of hearing in the allegedly liberal media that it takes 60 votes to pass a bill in the Senate (heard it again on NPR this AM).
It does not take 60 votes. It takes a majority of those voting. There are, at last count, 99 senators. If all vote either yea or nay, 50 votes carries the day.
It takes 60 votes to invoke cloture to end a filibuster.
If the Republicans wish to filibuster, let them filibuster.
On the other hand, if the Democrats allow the Senate’s minority party to hold them hostage by rolling over at the mere threat of a filibuster, then yes it takes 60 votes to pass anything.
So why are the Democrats allowing themselves to be held hostage by a defeated minority?
r€nato
I’ve been reading a great book which was (and still is, I think) wildly popular in Italy, "La Casta (The Caste)". It’s about the rampant corruption and nepotism in Italian politics.
There are lots of amazing tales of brass-balledness on the part of Italian pols; here’s one which speaks to your comment.
In one particular northern province, three Catholic bishops spoke out publically against a rather lavish expenditure by the provincial government on new automobiles. The president of the provincial council, rather than rolling over for them, vociferously denounced them and retaliated by cutting social services directly affecting the poor and elderly, in the name of cutting government spending while reminding the bishops that it was he who enabled such spending on the poor, children and elderly.
After much protesting by constituents to the bishops about the government cuts which they had inspired, two of the three quickly folded. One stuck to his guns; another claimed he’d been misquoted and the third simply walked back his denunciation of the spending on new autos.
(Notice how they didn’t blame the politician who made the cuts; they blamed the bishops for getting their robes in a gather about the cars)
Now THAT is power politics. I wish there were an English translation of "La Casta"; I’d gladly buy Obama a copy.
"Fair and Balanced" Dave
It’s a good bet that the majority of the lunkheads on Wall Street who are responsible for the whole CDO, and Mortgage-Backed Security mess we’re in right now have MBA’s. Dubya may be the most grossly incompetent person ever to hold the degree but he’s not the only one.
Glenn
A close runner-up would be Instapundit heralding Bush’s MBA as evidence of his awesome managerial skills.
Well, in fairness to InstaJackass, the premise that having a professional degree is, by itself, conclusive evidence of one’s skill in that profession is rather central to his self-identity.
owlbear1
Imagine trying to negotiate an agreement on dinner plans with your date, and you suggest Italian and she states her
preference would be religion requires a meal of tire rims and anthrax.You left GOD out of the equation.
owlbear1
argh!
Charles Weaver
Listened to Obama’s talk, mostly extemporaneous, with Democratic lawmakers on Feb-5. He’s learning that it’s not easy to pet a rabid dog.
Sammy
@Ugh:
I must disagree with SGEW.
You win ALL teh intarnets.
Alan in SF
Maybe a better analogy would be if your date wanted to go out to dinner at a place that featured tire rims and anthrax, and you wanted to go stick up a nursing home.
Jim in Chicago
Let’s all be honest here…Nobama has no real need to get bi-partisan support for this bill, except for the CYA factor. If he (and the rest of the crazy Pelosi clan) are SO convinced the stimulus package will work, then get it done! They don’t need the GOP. The only reason he is trying to get them on board is so that when this stimulus package fails miserably, he and the Dems can share the blame with someone and say, "we all agreed (GOP included) that this was the right thing at the time". It’s a bunch of political BS!
Nobama is just like every other old school politician who ever came to Washington: Promise a bunch of stuff you can’t deliver on, blame the other guy, etc., etc. Let’s see how Mr. Nobama scores so far: 1) he basically let far left wing Pelosi and her clan craft the stimulus package [so much for bringing the 2 sides together or cutting out unnecessary spending for that matter– where did that scalpel go Nobama?!]; 2) he has nominated 2 tax evaders for positions in his administration [I guess it’s OK to cheat if you’re a Dem]; and 3) what happened to “people voted for hope not fear”? Now he is scaring people into thinking that if the stimulus is voted in soon the world will come to an end! So much for change and a new way of doing business in Washington….that strategy has fallen by the wayside after only 2 weeks in office!!!!
No Blood for Hubris
So it is, I hope, thus officially time once and for all to dump the "bipartisan iz da bomb" frame?
slag
I’m just catching up on this dead thread and wanted to make a quick comment because Jim in Chicago is clearly a lunatic, and it’s not fair to this thread for his to be its final comment.
That is all.
ummm…No Blood for Hubris now renders my comment obsolete.
Never mind.
get a degree for breakfast!
MBA’s come free in $100,000 boxes of Crackerjacks!
TeriMac
I agree with everything you have written here John, except for one little thing, I am writing about Sam the Liar, who you and others refer to as Joe the Plumber, when his name is not Joe and he is not a Plumber! No license, no title.
Oh well, it’s a little point not a big one.
donna
Well, obviously that dinner date would be with Ann Coulter….
JB2008
Yes, one of the parties is clearly insane. But that has been the case since before Ronald Reagan displayed his senile dementia to the world for five bewildering minutes in a televised debate with Walter Mondale in 1984. The last three Repub presidents have tallied up an insane $9, 10, 11? Trillion in debt to go alongside the $900 billion of all other U.S. presidents combined, and yet they continue to delude themselves that they are somehow fiscally responsible. They put forth obvious morons like Sarah Palin and Joe/Sam the Not/Plumber and then whine when people point out that their leaders are, well, fucking morons.
The Democratic Congress needs to be hit hard with an idiot stick by Obama, but the Republicans are hopeless incompetent sociopaths. Best to leave them to stew in their own rot and move on.
Jim in Chicago
LOL….love that response…I’m more than happy to be labeled a lunatic…that is hardly an argument or rebuttal to my points above…debate is always healthy, but I’ll stay off your thread here….it’s obviously a liberal love/bash all republicans fest…you folks keep patting each other on the back and telling yourselves you have all the answers…
john johnson
It is so obvious what the GOPeePee is doing. They get their
money from those who have alot of $ and want more. All of
their ideas are taxcuts and disagreement to ideas that help the middle class,
such as infrastructure spending and jobs.
They do not want the middle class to succeed, let alone flourish.
Because the middle class is supported by the democrats which have the concern for all people not just
those that support the party with contributions. The GOPee
have only one interest in mind and that is staying in power.
They have their small racist and ideological, religious base and that’s it. We have wise up as a country and can see that
they do not care about the people in this country as people
but only as tools (think JTP and Palin). Thank god for the
internet that has exposed their lies and ways, otherwise we
may never have seen the truth. Just look at the politics they
are playing with the stimulus. No concern for the continuing freefall in the economy, just that they are trying
to win a fight in congress and show that the un-united party
is actually united. They are bad for the direction of this country and we need to keep voting them out. The people
said on Nov 4th, 2008 that "we want someone in power that
will do what is best for this country and not just for the
wealthiest of us". Get out you tired, played out liars and fools! I could go on and I would like to, but enough for now.
utm
here’s a new independent political advert on how bipartisanship works from the agitburo of the universal truth machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IXCf-y2mWg
Jay Ballou
Lying, or stupid?
Noni Mausa
chrome agnomen sed: "…it really is hard to figure the opposition party out. you can’t really consider them insane…"
The word you want is "delusional."
You’re welcome.
Noni
Father Time
Bi-Partisanship, isn’t that an oxymoron?
Magginkat
I copied your last paragraph and sent it to the White House at the contact link below. Great comment and Oh, so true!
Remember how the Republicans have used the words "death tax" to describe the inheritance tax? Well this is one time we need to turn the tables on them. We need to rename the stimulus bill and call it a Job’s Bill. Now if only we could get Obama to do the same and rub the Republicans nose in it when they vote against jobs for Americans.
The Dittoheads are making phone calls to push dope addict Limpball’s propaganda. Come on people. We outnumber Limpballs’ little fan club by the millions. Use the toll free number below to make daily calls, lots of them, to Senators & the White House.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ (Tell President Obama to call this a Job’s Bill)
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
800-828-0498 (Contact members of Congress or White House
LindaSoG
ohfercryinoutloud.
neither Glenn nor Michelle could get through a sentence without at least two "uhs" in there, two highly unprofessional professional speakers. The few minutes I gave Joe had about half the number of uhs.
In between the uhs, just the same old crap covered by blogs all over. Boring.
So much for my first and last PJTV experience.
Wareq
It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.
Professor Smartass
There is only one semi-defensible reason why Obama and the Democrats pursue bipartisanship.
However small, insane, and stupid that dinner date is, if you piss her off, she’ll call her pimp and have you killed. Except he isn’t exactly a pimp, he’s more like Tony Soprano with the whole world as his turf.
Republicans are the servants of the financial elite, so stepping on a GOP pols toes is like kicking the master’s dog–the master might get mad at you.
Republicans also have things easier than Democrats: their base of voters pretty much ignore economic issues apart from parroting whatever Rush Limbaugh tells them, so they are free to take care of the haves and have mores as they see fit.
Democrats problem is their base of voters follows economics somewhat, so Democrats try to avoid offending them AND avoid offending the financial elite who they would like to woo away from the GOP.
The result is that their initiatives and public statements often sound like a judge trying to come up with a verdict that would please both a rapist and his victim.
Dave Ullman
Too many of you are thinking the Republicans are insane. I doubt very much that this is the case.
Regardless of how they try to spin it, they know that the eight years of the Bush Admin really sucked for most Americans. As a consequence they’ve suffered in the last two elections and are probably looking forward to more losses in the midterms if things don’t turn around for them.
They’ll do their best to put a happy face on the Bush disaster, but they know that if Obama and the Dems start looking good, they are looking at total disaster. And between serving the public interest, and keeping/gaining political power, well, for the Repubs, that is really no choice at all.
So if the Republicans are to have any chance at all in future elections, they have got to make the Dems look at least as bad as Bush. And if it plunges the country into the hell of a depression, well, too bad, but if it gives the Repubs a shot at power, they’re willing to do it. Or put somewhat poetically: Better to rule in hell than serve in Heaven. (That line is from John Milton’s Paradise Lost.)
If my analysis is correct, it is absolutely inconceivable the Republicans could possibly negotiate in good faith. They are there purely as spoilers posing as "loyal opposition."