If only Frank Luntz hadn't given up on politics, he totally could find the magic words so people would love bridge traffic jams
— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbplainblog) January 8, 2014
@RaniaKhalek You can cover a lot with fat guy jolliness, that's why we let Santa keep slaves.
— Eric Thornton (@EricWHThornton) January 8, 2014
Apparently it’s a requirement for all front-pagers to mock Chris “Today’s GOP Punching Bag” Christie, perhaps for fear that failing to do so will lead to Derp accusing us of ‘being in love with that fat pig’. (/snark)
***********
What’s going on in all our extremely localized Wars on Poverty?
rikyrah
Boehner eyes jobless as leverage
01/08/14 08:00 AM—Updated 01/08/14 08:12 AM
By Steve Benen
Shortly after the Senate advanced a measure to extend federal unemployment benefits, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), unprompted, issued a statement intended to throw cold water on the idea.
There’s quite a bit wrong with this. For example, Boehner knows jobless Americans need these benefits and knows cutting off aid will hurt the economy, but insists on spending cuts to offset the costs. Why? He didn’t say. What needs to get cut? He didn’t say. Why have Republicans supported previous extensions without offsetting cuts, only to change course now? He didn’t say.
For that matter, note that Boehner believes President Obama offered no plan to “help put people back to work.” Actually, that’s the opposite of the truth – Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act in 2011. The Speaker might remember this; he was sitting behind the president when it was presented to the public. Indeed, Boehner might also remember killing the legislation – which independent estimates projected would have created over 1 million jobs – while offering no alternative bill to boost job creation.
But the larger takeaway from the statement is that the Speaker of the House sees the Senate moving on unemployment benefits and wants to make it perfectly clear that he has certain expectations. While some see this as an emergency for struggling families and a key economic issue, Boehner senses an opportunity – the plight of jobless Americans can be exploited to advance Republican priorities.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/boehner-eyes-jobless-leverage
Corner Stone
I, for one, am not sure what the problem is? Christie is a person we can work with. He’s a straight talker, and someone who knows what the nation needs to move forward.
His stances on some issues may give pause, but really, that’s just bs politics. As long as we know where he stands, and we can work with him, that’s all that really matters.
Corner Stone
Wow. Who could’ve guessed?
Sly
It’s not “causing a traffic jam as political retribution,” its “calming a dangerous section of roadway despite the protestations of Elite Politicians who don’t care about public safety.”
Just to be a dick, I’ll take that million dollar consulting fee in nickels.
Jim, Foolish LIteralist
Dylan Byers is also feeling neglected, I’m sure
and also too, whom does Young Dylan, Bard ’08, consider worthy of the title of “public intellectual”?
“tho not anymore” cause now he’s like all shrill and partisan and shit. What about Jim Vande Hei? And Mike Allen? Young Dylan, who will soon be shaving every day, no doubt took a course on the Public Intellectual, and Professor Flywheel surely told him his term paper displayed keen insight and remarkable maturity for an undergraduate
Mark S.
Unlike my esteemed colleague Corner Stone, I believe this is the end of Christie. But for the record, I never thought he was going anywhere before all of this. His personality does not play well with a whole shitload of people.
Corner Stone
So…it’s obvious Rand Paul has not hired Steve Schmidt.
Corner Stone
@Mark S.: But qua his workability with other people who we can work with?
I thought it was important that at least we knew where he stands on issues?
chopper
wot, no billmon? what have you done with anne laurie?
Corner Stone
O..M..G..
Rand Paul and Chris Christie got into a tussle and, “Christie came out on top of that”.
Blergh! BLERGHH!!
Bill E Pilgrim
@Mark S.:
You don’t have to draw me a picture. In fact, please don’t.
ultraviolet thunder
10 days on the TX/MX border and counting. Trying to finish a job and get home. Poverty isn’t hard to find around here.
lamh36
Good question from Richard Wolfe on Lawrence, why hasn’t the annoucement made that the aide Mrs Bridges had been “put on leave” pending the outcome of investigation or just that she had been fired?
Corner Stone
@ultraviolet thunder:
On the upside, real deal, Tex-Mex food!
ultraviolet thunder
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, well not for my Midwestern digestive system. I’m taking my meals on the US side to be safe. I travel constantly and stay healthy by not taking chances, no matter how delicious.
But I can’t complain about the weather. It gets down to 40 and everyone bundles up like they’re off in search of the Northwest Passage. It’s adorable.
RepubAnon
@Corner Stone: You’re joking, right? Chris Christie is a vindictive bully who mercilessly crushes anyone who crosses him.
Working with Chris Christie would be like Popeye working with Bluto – sooner or later, Mr. Christie will try and beat you in to submission.
Petorado
Boehner’s right. I propose capitol gains taxes! (Hey, he didn’t explicitly say these payments had to come from cuts!) Now Mr. Boehner, please proceed.
Paddy
I have officially lost my war on poverty. Frozen pipes busted all over the kitchen and dining room, couldn’t turn the water off, DH was at work, adorable troupe of city firefighters showed up (after my tearful plea on non er line), went above and beyond duty to help. Now have a decimated kitchen, no water and it’s f’g freezing. Tomorrow will be filled with insurance bullshit.
But I have vodka for tonight.
DH
Maybe Ms. Kelly doesn’t want the role of person taking the fall for the Big Bully. Students of Watergate may remember that John Dean decided he wasn’t going to volunteer for that role.
All in all, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy than Christie.
Omnes Omnibus
@Paddy: You also have an excuse to put off doing the dishes.
Bob
@chopper:
Here is your billmon fix:
January 2017. President Christie to U.S. Strategic Command: “That’s right, you heard me. Ft. Lee. Now. With everything we’ve got.”
— @billmon1
Suffern ACE
O.K. But what does Randino think about this. We still haven’t heard from Randino.
Although I have to admit, I’m liking this one a lot better than that time each FPer needed to remind us for a week that we were happy that Breitburt died.
ultraviolet thunder
@Paddy:
Oh, that’s pretty awful. Our kitchen pipes froze Monday but my wife caught them in time. Thawed them with an electric heater under a cabinet. If she’d been gone all day it would have been a disaster. And I’m 2200 miles away.
jl
@Petorado:
” not only be paid for but include something to help put people back to work. ”
I suggest a federally funded program to throw House GOPers out of office in the next election. It can be funneled through private contractors, and it will be easy to find contractors that will want big results fast, so it won’t be a wasteful big gummint make-work program. Boehner and his pals should be OK with it. I’ll send him an email.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: I am already writing my bid.
p.a.
As Christie sinks, will my hero Ted Cruz rise? Great speech today. I don’t know what my grandparents were thinking leaving Italy for a better life here. They didn’t realize the real American dream was scraping by on minimum wage and relying on private charity and faith to keep the wolves at bay. Dumb wops. If they were alive I’d smack em.
beltane
@Paddy: I’m sorry.Whenever there’s a cold snap I’m up all night listening for the distinctive sound of the baseboard pipes popping (we heat mostly with wood).
Suffern ACE
@Petorado: I’d go with high speed rail from columbus to chicago with a station conveniently located at the condemed by eminant domain home of one J. Boehner.
Omnes Omnibus
@p.a.:
And guns. Can’t forget the guns.
muddy
@RepubAnon:
Oh no, can’t unsee… the proportions are there.
jl
@p.a.: I saw in the news Cruz is going to renounce the Canadian half of his dual citizenship That could be high risk territory. Teabaggers might be worrying Cruz renounces his U.S. half by mistake.
beltane
@p.a.: Gee, if that’s what your grandparents really wanted they could have stayed where they were and enjoyed universal health care along with a much better climate and scenery.
Ash Can
@lamh36:
The fact that she wasn’t shows that this really is no big deal to Christie (as he recently said), despite his protestations to the contrary tonight. Either that, or he’s afraid that if he cans her, she’ll sing.
Hill Dweller
@Jim, Foolish LIteralist: Here’s an excerpt from Charlie Pierce’s evisceration of Byers:
dopeyo
@ultraviolet thunder: plenty of good tex-mex food on the Texas side. unfortunately, comes with a side of Texans.
Petorado
@muddy: Yup. Lots of supersized humor going around today.
Paddy
@Omnes Omnibus: Just noticed that “restoration” guy that came out put kitchen cabinets down as a casualty!! YEAH! G’bye 80’s brown laminates with wheat sheaves in the center.
Silver lining bitchez.
Anne Laurie
@Suffern ACE:
But we were soooo happy when that happened!…
In my defense, I sat out the extensive “Steve Jobs Changed Everything” mourning, on principle (the principle being, I didn’t give a rat’s, then or now).
Botsplainer
@rikyrah:
It can be paid for by canceling the F-35.
muddy
@Petorado: I’m just glad that men can for once strive for equal attention on this front. Freedom!
Violet
@Paddy: I’m so sorry. That’s awful. The pipes in my house froze a few years ago. Didn’t bust the pipes, thankfully. The freeze was shortlived and they thawed by afternoon. Scary as hell, though. Since then, every time a freeze is forecast I open every cabinet in the kitchen and run both hot and cold water overnight. Drip the faucets if a light freeze and run more if a harder freeze is forecast like the past few days. I don’t care if it’s wasteful because a disaster like you’ve got costs a lot more. I’ll always turn them off once we’re out of danger. Best of luck with the insurance company and getting everything fixed quickly.
Corner Stone
@ultraviolet thunder:
I can not lie. I have absolutely been taunting my colleagues in Chicago mercilessly. One of them canceled a meeting and I told him I could feel his pain. It had reached 29 F the night before and I almost passed out when I woke up!
He was not amused.
But for the food – do not, under any circumstance, think food in MX is actually edible Tex-Mex cuisine.
Because, it is not.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
When Christie resigns, I was the first to suggest the headline “Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters, I Will Lay Me Down.”
p.a.
@beltane: they never became citizens- hard to do when you sign your name with’x’. So I can claim Italian citizenship and enjoy the benefit of, I believe, living anywhere in the EU. And I can sign my name. Have the application process in my laptop. Can order a sandwich and glass of water in Italian (and get my face slapped), and remember almost nothing from 5 years of highschool French.
Corner Stone
@RepubAnon: What do you mean? Chris Christie is clearly a straight talker, and some one we here on the other side of the aisle can work with.
Listen, he may have an R after his name, but that shouldn’t stop us. To move the govt forward we’re going to need to find those we can work with. And clearly, Christie is that person.
Cole’s backing him, what’s your problem?
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Corner Stone: The way He and Obama handled Hurricane Sandy was dreamy, although in hindsight, I bet he wished he’d have just ordered the hurricane shut down.
beltane
@p.a.: My father was an Italian citizen when I was born and I never really felt very American in a cultural sense. All I know is that my cousins enjoy far more comfortable, secure lives than mine.
Little Boots
the important thing is to yell at cornerstone.
do it.
Violet
@Corner Stone:
Of course it’s not. It’s not Tex-Mex; it’s Mexican food.
Corner Stone
@Violet: Eh, not really. IME, the food in border town MX is absolutely not Mexican cuisine. And is not Tex-Mex.
It’s some indigestible amalgam of something other.
But it’s not Mexican food, anymore.
p.a.
@beltane: my neighborhood was so Italian-American we even gave the the Portuguese kids shit when they moved in, but our knowledge of Italian culture began and ended with Rocky , the Godfather and Saturday Night Fever. And the Feast of 7 Fishes.
Sly
The mayor of Fort Lee is awesome.
Kay
I don’t see how the “misled” story flies because there’s too big a time gap. What he’s saying is two told him something or other, so he fired them, but two just neglected to mention that they’d be starring in the emails that were due to come out and continued to lie to him (at least by omission) every day since then.
How does that happen? Does he have any contact with these people at all? What were the other two doing the day he fired the first batch and every day since then? Avoiding him?
Little Boots
seriously, this is what happens here?
fine.
Violet
@Corner Stone: You didn’t specify border towns in your first statement. Border towns are always a little sketchy, but TX/MX border has definitely got worse.
Kay
@Sly:
He was good on CNN. I liked how he said “I’m a Democrat. I supported Ms. Buono”
Unlike the rest of these dopes who were apparently too scared to cross the Big Boss.
Origuy
Not being a right-coaster, I had no idea where Fort Lee, NJ is or how big it is, so I looked it up. It’s a borough with only 35,000 or so people in it! This is what got Christie’s people so heated up that they pulled this stunt? How fucking petty do you have to be? When you look at the map, you see that the GWB runs right through the middle of the place. Blocking off the entrances would tie up every street in town in no time. It wouldn’t just be the people going to NYC that would be affected.
Little Boots
I kinda blame cornerstone, sort of.
Little Boots
needs more omnes.
Corner Stone
Man. The people that just reflexively post shit.
Corner Stone
@Violet: Wevs.
Violet
@Corner Stone: ?
Mike in NC
@Paddy: Neighbor down the street had the same thing happen and came by to borrow bottled water.
Little Boots
@Corner Stone:
see? omnes.
Mike in NC
@dopeyo: A guy I served with went through flight training at NAS Corpus Christi, where he reported somebody wrote on a stall in the Officers Club head: “Here I sit with my bowels flexin’, giving birth to another Texan”.
MattR
@Sly: That was awesome.
@Kay: Not scared. Enthralled by the promises Christie made. In the Chris Hayes interview, Mayor Sokolich took a nice shot at all the Democrats who endorsed Christie by pointing out that he had no political aspirations and was not just using his current position as a stepping stone to the next one.
@Origuy:
I briefly looked through some numbers and made a rough estimate that 35-50% of the bridge’s traffic goes through those access lanes. Those are thousands of commuters from the surrounding towns and counties who were also affected.
Mike in NC
@Corner Stone:In Wonder Bread America, Mexican food is Taco Bell and Italian food is Olive Garden.
TS
@Kay:
Perhaps we are now getting full sight of why they were scared. What else has/could happen that no-one has yet discovered?
gian
@beltane:
when I was a kid we had frozen pipes. then the parents paid a ton to move the pipes – all of them inside the insulated portions of the house, not just behind the siding. it never happened again. I guess you’re supposed to heat the house to 72 degrees or something to prevent the pipes from freezing.
Corner Stone
@Mike in NC: And?
Little Boots
@Corner Stone:
don’t upset the crazy.
tybee
@Bill E Pilgrim:
you’d need a wider screen.
Paul in KY
@TS: Excellent question.