So, while we Democrats spend our time screaming at each other & ginning up petitions, the Repubs are busy trying to destroy the economy, same as they always are. The “omnibus” budget has passed both houses, and Paul Ryan reaps the credit, much good may it do him. Here’s a Politico story from last night on one of the GOP avatars of shamelessness:
Sen. Richard Shelby loaded up the $1.1 trillion spending bill with pet provisions, including one measure worth hundreds of millions to a rocket manufacturer with operations in his home state.
The cagey lawmaker also fought hard for language protecting red snapper fisheries on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, even issuing a news release bragging about his efforts. “That is why I fought tirelessly for several provisions to be included in the omnibus appropriations bill that I believe will help respond to the serious challenges facing anyone who wants to fish for red snapper in the Gulf,” Shelby said in the release.
But in an only-in-Congress twist, Shelby, a very senior member on the Appropriations Committee, still plans to vote against the sprawling omnibus package. He’s citing the lack of language to restrict Syrian refugees as the reason.
The move, however, could make the Republican senator the unofficial chairman of the “hope yes, vote no” caucus on Capitol Hill. It also demonstrates the potency of immigration as an electoral issue in Alabama and the power of Shelby’s fellow home-state senator, Republican Jeff Sessions, over the controversial topic in the Southern state.
GOP insiders note that Alabama’s Republican primary is on March 1, and Shelby is loath to do anything that would create distance between him and Sessions on immigration before that date.
Sessions, the hardest of hard-liners on immigration issues, has warned that passage of the omnibus is part of a plan by President Barack Obama — with the tacit acceptance of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — to resettle tens of thousands of potentially dangerous Syrian refugees in the United States…
It’s wrong to wish harm upon others, but if Senators Shelby and Sessions were to challenge each other to a mutually fatal bout of pistols at dawn, I would find it poetically fitting.
***********
Apart from the constancy of Repub dishonesty, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the week?
DaveL
Better: grenades at five feet.
redshirt
Ultimately that’s good politics.
If pork were still thrown to Congresspeople we’d have a semi-functioning Congress, because that is their job – help the people/region they were elected by.
SteveinSC
“So, while we Democrats spend our time screaming at each other & ginning up petitions…” Well, if people at the DNC would quit fucking around with Bernie Sanders’ mailing list, then maybe we could get back to calling out Repukes.
eemom
Well, to paraphrase the old song, if wishing harm is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. I devoutly wish poverty, misery, sickness and death upon every elected official in this country with an R after their name, every one of their enablers in the judiciary, and every one of their gazillionaire donors.
And while I’m at it, let me repeat that I would dearly love to see Wayne LaPierre and all of his filthy, blood-soaked ilk SHOT IN THE FACE with one of their precious assault rifles.
A girl can dream.
ThresherK (GPad)
We were offered an inordinately generous sum to total-out our crashed-into car, plus also coverage of the rental until it’s replaced. I’m turning that into a somewhat used Volvo soon.
redshirt
@eemom: An NRA meeting getting shot up would be pretty ironic.
Chris
Open thread so… I don’t see a post about site problems on the front page so maybe it’s on Page 2 but I can’t get there. When I click on the arrows or the little numbers at the bottom of the page it just goes to the front page even though the address bar says Page 2 or Page 2991.
(Ubuntu Linux 15.04, Chrome)
sparrow
Nathaniel Pearlman, co-founder of NGP VAN, which manages the master file for the DNC database, was also chief technology officer for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
I am Bob’s complete lack of surprise.
Baud
@sparrow: It’s a conspiracy!
BillinGlendaleCA
@redshirt: Especially since NRA meetings are gun free zones.
sparrow
@eemom: I understand what you’re saying, but I try not to give in to hate. It makes me too much like them. I rather wish for a speedy and sincere realization of the damage they have done with their entire lives. A worse punishment, if it were but possible.
BGinCHI
Both Senators can afford to buy substitutes, so just as their class of patriot did during the Civil War, they would just have someone else fight their battle.
Assholes.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: The N and the P in NGP probably stands for Nathaniel and Pearlman, the plot thickens…
Mnemosyne
There’s something other than “Star Wars” happening this weekend? You wouldn’t know it from my office. Of course, we’re all a bunch of entertainment geeks working in entertainment, so that only amplifies it.
And my fellow Hamimaniacs know what to listen for in “Star Wars,” right?
Roger Moore
@SteveinSC:
If people in Bernie’s campaign didn’t try to steal information from Hillary, the mess never would have gotten started.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Well, also you do work for GEC.
ETA: I didn’t see the first Star Wars movies until roughly 8 years after they came out.
FlipYrWhig
@Baud: We’re being persecuted by an overwhelming force arrayed against us! Donate now!
also we were monkeying around with personal data belonging to another campaign but that’s not the real issue so shut up
Baud
redshirt
@BillinGlendaleCA: I wonder why the gun lovers don’t froth and rage at the NRA making them leave their guns behind. Surely someone could bring up the… hypocrisy?
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: I read somewhere that a lot of the startup data came from Hillary’s 2008 campaign. Probably also has Obama data.
BillinGlendaleCA
It’s beginning to look like it may be a very cold(for us) and damp Christmas here in southern CA.
Baud
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It was the merger between two firms, NGP was Hilz 2008 data shop.
redshirt
@Mnemosyne: I have never been more afraid of the Internet and media in general then I am now. I can’t see the new Star Wars until Wednesday, and I am very much opposed to getting spoiled.
So I feel like my only choice is to shut almost everything down till then.
Please don’t spoil me, BJ.
Baud
@redshirt:
Luke was dead the whole time.
redshirt
@BillinGlendaleCA: Even though I live as far from So. California as possible within the lower 48, I’m always checking LA weather and wishing you all rain.
So a Merry Damp Xmas to you all! Let the snowpack in the Sierras grow deep.
Baud
@redshirt: You need to wish them snow.
ETA: ah, I didn’t really read your whole comment.
redshirt
@Baud: You just lost my vote.
Baud
@redshirt: I’ll get it back after you see the movie.
redshirt
California is the best state in the Union, by far, and I’m not even sure who’d be number 2 compared to the incredible awesomeness of CA.
I’d move there if it weren’t so insanely expensive – and rightfully so. It’s the best place in America, maybe on Earth.
redshirt
@Baud: Grrrrrr…..
Gin & Tonic
@redshirt: Recycled Star Wars is better than recycled Mad Max. Discuss.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
“Star Wars” (I refuse to call it “A New Hope” or “Episode IV” or whatever friggin’ thing it is now) came out when I was 8, so I was pretty much the target audience.
At least it’s getting good reviews — like most of my age cohort, I still remember the letdown that was “The Phantom Menace.”
redshirt
@Gin & Tonic: The new Mad Max is getting heavy Oscar buzz and I’m willing to bet will be nominated for at least Best Picture and Best Director.
Roger Moore
@redshirt:
While I appreciate the intent, lots of rain here is a decidedly mixed blessing. Much of the water will just go down our rivers to the sea, since we don’t have much local water storage, and the more rain we get in a short time the more of it will go unused. Also, lots of rain has a tendency to cause debris flows in recent fire areas, which is decidedly not nice for the people living down slope. What we need more than anything is snow in the mountains, especially the Sierras.
FlipYrWhig
@Baud: The first six Star Wars movies turn out to be the fantasy of a Confederate soldier in the moments before he’s hanged.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: I’ve only seen the 1st(in release order) three and I think the Phantom Menace. I was always more of a Trekkie anyway(I watched the original series when it aired).
ETA: I should note that I’ve not seen a movie in a theater in 10 years, and that was only because the kid wanted to see one. Before that was during the first Clinton administration.
redshirt
@Roger Moore: I get that, but it can only help though. Or are you all wishing against rain so as to avoid landslides and runoffs?
Also, you are getting snow in the Sierras. I saw a satellite picture from a few days ago compared to a year ago. Big improvement.
Go snow (in CA, not here in ME thank you very much)!
ThresherK (GPad)
@FlipYrWhig: You run with a literate crowd ,dontcha?
Roger Moore
@redshirt:
Some of the other Pacific states are pretty nice.
redshirt
@Roger Moore: Is it Oregon that has the mail in voting? If so, maybe I’d put them at 2 and Washington at 3. Seriously, the entire Pacific Coast is the saving grace for this country.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: Light to moderate rain does help here in the south; we do have local water storage that does refill when it rains here. Also, people water less when it rains and that helps conserve the supplies we need to import.
Roger Moore
@redshirt:
We’re mostly wishing for regular, moderate rain. 1-2″ per week every week between now and the end of April would do out water supply a lot of good without too much risk of debris flows. Any more than that will mostly wind up at sea anyway, and if we get one of the series of storms where we get heavy rain for many days in a row, we’ll have lots of debris flows.
Roger Moore
@BillinGlendaleCA:
We do, but it the best storage is in the local shallow water aquifers, and they need slow but steady to recharge. IIRC, Pasadena actually gets about half its water from the Raymond water basin, and might be able to get more once we clean up the perchlorate pollution from JPL.
BillinGlendaleCA
@redshirt: I’ve lived in southern CA most of my life except for 3 years in Seattle. Both are great places. My only regret is not continuing the hiking I did as a teen into adulthood(I’ve started hiking again this year); I’d be in much better physical shape and scenery both here and in WA is incredible.
ETA: Another regret is not taking more pics from my hiking when I was a teen, but film cameras…
Mike J
Why do I get the feeling that the rider doesn’t do anything to protect the fisheries, but instead allows commercial interests to deplete it? Please note, this is only a guess, since I haven’t actually read it. I would be thrilled to learn that a Republican was pushing for reasonable caps on catch sizes. But I’m not stupid enough to believe they care about the long term health of anything until I actually see it in writing.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I’m glad you mentioned this, because otherwise I would have had two damp and very unhappy teenagers on my hands at Disneyland tomorrow. Adding rain ponchos to my last-minute Target list.
NotMax
@redshirt
Heh.
Some of us are unable (or unwilling) to see it until it is released on disc.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: There’s also local reservoirs in the San Gabriels, but the aquifers are the lions share of local water storage.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: I’d take the panchos as precaution.
redshirt
@NotMax: So I assume you accept you’ll be spoiled?
They do have movie theaters in Hi, don’t they?
Applejinx
@SteveinSC: That’s a snarky aside, put in because as a blogposter you can do that. You shouldn’t derail the thread just because somebody is trying to spin stuff, even if it’s a front pager.
If we had to respond to every little dig anybody put in, we’d never get to have other topics, ever! :)
Let the thread be about Shelby and let the extra spin pass.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
If I bring them, it won’t rain a drop. If I don’t, we’ll be scrounging garbage bags. This ain’t my first time at the theme park rodeo.
NotMax
@redshirt
Yes and yes, but not willing to become violently debilitated the next day. Tremendously allergic to something in the theaters here (as opposed to the ones they replaced). Become so ill that having Ted Cruz recite the collected works of Bulwer-Lytton would seem a balm.
It’s been confirmed by someone in a position to know about these things that the particular pungent stench I describe and the acute symptoms which follow are a minority but not uncommon reaction and most likely due to the chemicals used for pest control.
Haven’t set foot in a theater here in this century.
As for spoilers, they don’t much bother me. Mentally compartmentalize and thence ignore them.
Mnemosyne
I must be getting nervous about this whole Christmas hosting thing — last night I dreamed that ALL of my relatives (including ones who don’t actually exist) showed up while I was still in bed and demanded to know why dinner wasn’t ready yet and why I didn’t have holiday decorations up. For some reason, I had old birthday decorations up instead.
(And G was a transgender woman, which he is not, but I chalk that up to dreams being where your brain puts weird shit in just because it can.)
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Making me glad I’m one of those people who never ever remembers dreams.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: This is an often under remarked upon issue. While the fact that both chambers’ institutional rules are in need of serious updating, and the GOP is functioning as a parliamentary party in a congress, the removal of pork barrel spending and earmarks has made things just that much more difficult. It removed the ability to grease the gears to move legislation by removing two of the tools to build non party, issue based coalitions to move legislation.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: Looking forward to hearing G’s reaction.
Adam L Silverman
@BGinCHI: Sessions would need to. I’m not sure he’s big enough to handle a dueling pistol.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: They do.
Mnemosyne
@WereBear:
He was sympathetic to my stress and promised to do more Christmas decorating today. He wasn’t really sure what to say about the other part. Honestly, I’m not sure what any husband could say to that other than, “Guh?”
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: If he starts looking up surgical options in Telluride, CO or Sweden he’s figured the other part out…
And no more nachos with triple jalapeños before bed!
Starfish
This is the bill that has the new visa travel restrictions for Iranian, Iraqi, and Sudanese nationals. It needs to be burned down.
tybee
@FlipYrWhig:
Occurrence at Owl Creek?
Just One More Canuck
@Baud: It was all a dream, and when he woke up, he told Emily all about it
Mike G
How many immigrants want to move to their ignorant bigoted redneck state anyway?
It’s frequently the people with the least exposure to immigrants who piss their pants the most about them.
Just like the bible-thumper-dominated parts of the country soiling their church pants over “Sharia law”.
FlipYrWhig
@tybee: ding
Steeplejack
@Chris:
The latest post on site issues is at the top under “About Balloon Juice | Site Maintenance.”
As for getting older posts, you can use the date in a URL, e.g.:
www.balloon-juice.com/2015/12/11
That gets you all the posts from December 11.
Skippy-san
Shelby, my worthless piece of sh*t senator. Tha whole Alabama Congressional delegation is useless. My Congress man is a teabagger crazed loon who caters to other crazed loons. If you ever look hard at the Huntsville area you will find the region’s econmy exists on pork.
Anoniminous
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