And here's a reason why the GOP is in deep sneakers...
Update and bumped
We talked about the farm bill with Congressman Thaddeus McCotter on Saturday. More on that bill by Robert Novak (I've edited it - read the original):
Rep. Paul Ryan of (R-WI) ...delivered unscripted remarks on the House floor as the farm bill neared passage: "This bill is an absence of leadership. This bill shows we are not leading."
A majority of both Senate and House Republicans voted for a bill that raises spending 44 percent above last year's, dooming chances to sustain President Bush's promised veto. GOP leaders were divided, with Bush sounding an uncertain trumpet. Today's Republican Party -- divided, drifting, demoralized -- is epitomized by the farm bill.
...Addressing the House Republican caucus behind closed doors at the White House May 7, he disclosed that he would veto the farm bill, then implied it was all right if members "voted their districts" -- that is, if the "aggies" supported the bill. This message was pressed on his colleagues by Rep. Robert Goodlatte of Virginia, ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee.
Yeah, I know, you gotta get reelected. BUT you don't do that for long by abandoning principles - especially a 44% increase without an emergency reason for it. Republicans should get slapped around for this - big time. Once again, they give us at the local level a hard row to hoe (as long as we're talking farms here) when we try to convince people that we believe in less government, less spending, and less taxes.
...Republican Leader Mitch McConnell not only supported the farm bill but earmarked a tax provision benefiting horse farms in his state of Kentucky...
But nobody cracked the party whip. On the contrary, Minority Whip Roy Blunt voted for the bill. So did Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, who was seen whipping votes for passage. House Republicans voted 100 to 91 to approve the bill (with only 15 Democrats in opposition), assuring an overriden veto. Similarly, in the Senate, Republicans voted 35 to 13 for the bill, and the only Democrats opposing it were Rhode Island's two senators.
Sure, the Republican branding motto is (H/T: Michelle):
The crack research staff at GOP HQ somehow missed that “Change You Deserve” is the marketing slogan for Effexor, an anti-depressant.
Brilliant.
Pass me a Effexor tablet, willya? I'm depressed.
...Seventeen pork-minded Republican senators gave the Democratic leadership necessary support to waive from the farm bill the brand new ban of earmarks on a bill that had cleared both houses. Thirty-two craven Republican House members voted for upper-bracket tax increases to finance new veterans benefits. They all return to work this week to encounter a new comprehensive reform introduced by Paul Ryan on health care, Social Security and taxes -- titled "A Roadmap for American's Future." If anybody needs a roadmap, it's Ryan's colleagues.
Ugh, pass the bottle...
I also went to the NH Republican Party meeting yesterday where I heard two stem winders speeches concerning base, core Republican values - Grant Bosse in NH-2 and John Stephen in NH-1. I am glad to see that some are actually running as rock-ribbed Republicans instead of running away from values (like I groussed about here).
Note: the 'Grok, nor Doug, nor I have yet endorsed any candidate anywhere - yet.
=======================================================
Taxpayer protection? Nope!
Bigger Government? Check!
Conservative values supported by conservative legislators? Nope?
Just a porkarama of a Farm Bill passing through Congress....
New sugar program: The bill would make the government buy sugar for 2X the world price, store it, then resell it at about an 80% loss to the taxpayer. Sugar sells for about 11¢/lb on the world market. The US government would have to buy sugar for about 22¢/lb, store it, and then auction off the excess to ethanol plants. We estimate that such an auction would net the government about 4¢/lb. In addition, this new provision would require the government to guarantee that domestic sugar producers get 85 percent of the domestic sugar market.
Why doesn't the government just tell us to reach into our pockets and throw money at them!
Sigh....glad to see my Senators (Gregg and Sununu) rejected this atrocity....
(H/T: Greg Mankiw)
