Bernie Sanders on the Democrats

Pat Caddell on Donald Trump and Political Armageddon

On Crony Capitalism and Establishment Access

Chary Cocktail Party Considers Cruz as Countermeasure to Trump

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is an Establishment Republican who dropped out of the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination race for lack of support.  Still, Graham strives to play kingmaker for the nomination.   

First, Lindsey Graham endorsed ex Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) to little avail in New Hampshire or even Graham's home state of South Carolina.  Jeb! dropped out after his disappointing fourth place finish in the Palmetto State. 

Afterwards, Graham tried to ply his comedic charm to sway voters in the GOP primary process, by grossly joking that his fellow Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is so unpopular on Capitol Hill that someone could kill him on the Senate floor and there would be no convictions.

But now that Donald Trump is threatening to be victorious in the Republican nomination race, Establishment Republicans are looking for an alternative to Trump.  Thus the GOP-e has desultory jumped from Jeb to Marco and Kasich to little avail.

Now Senator Graham has been charily campaigning on behalf of Senator Cruz as an alternative to Trump.  In Graham's estimation, Cruz ought to pair up with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) as a unity ticket.  

Of course, after Rubio cratering in the March 8th primaries, in which he came in last place in all four contests and netted scant candidates, this may no longer be viable. 

It is ironic that DC Establishment types are now touting anti-Establishment candidate Cruz, the between the beltways Cocktail Party has a Damaclesian choice, and in his mind Graham is opting for the devil he knows rather than the devil he does not know. 

Lindsey Graham on Senatorial Discourtesy

Failed 2016 Presidential hopeful Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had some sharp barbs at his rival Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) while speaking at the Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner.

Graham joked that that homicide could be committed on Cruz and there would be no conviction in the Senate. It is disgusting that Graham is echoing the homicidal hypothetical that Donald Trump used about to justify his cult of personality.  Graham might want to consult with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX 18th) on homicide. 

Graham may have revealed an inconvenient truth that Cruz upsets the apple-cart of the go along to get along Cocktail Party Club setup of the Senate, hence he's unpopular.

But if you parse Lindsey's language, no one in the Senate would convict. Perhaps that is to say that no Senators have convictions. Aside from Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Ben Sasse (R-NB), this train of thought might be on track.

Lindsey fancies himself to be a funny guy.  That may be true. But he shouldn't quit his day job. On second thought, leaving his day job might not be so bad. There may be some audiences in the Distict of Calamity that are craving political puppet shows. 

Considering When Doles Are Lemons And Not Pineapples

Ex Senator Bob Dole (R-KS)  offered some sharp comments about the surging conservative candidacy of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The 92 year old Dole served four terms in U.S. House (R-KS 6th & 1st) and who had a moderate voting record that bridged the gaps of the Kansas Republican party.  President Gerald Ford named Dole as his choice for his Vice Presidential running mate in 1976. Dole was also was a five term Senator from Kansas who resigned from the body in 1995 for his furtive campaign for President against President Bill Clinton.  Now Dole is a elder statesman surrogate for 2016 Republican Presidential hopeful former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL). Who can argue with experience like that?

The strategy for the Jeb! Bush campaign is to rely upon endorsements and advertising to achieve victory.  Wheeling out Bob Dole to write fundraising letters and make television appearances seems to epitomize the strategy.   What are they thinking?

Bob Dole has been out of office for twenty years! This may not seem significant to Jeb! as he has been out of elective office for nearly nine years himself, but Dole was the head of the ticket four presidential cycles ago.    When Dole ran for President in 1996 he was 72 years old.  Due to his World War II battle injuries, Dole did not give a vibrant persona on the campaign trail and was savaged by a Saturday Night Live satire of Dole being kicked out of the Real World house.  The years of Viagra commercials and Howard Stern appearances will not make Bob Dole seem fresh. 

Then it is imperative to consider the source of a conservative critique.  Bob Dole was renowned for his moderate voting record.  During the 1976 Presidential campaign, he took the second slot during the Kansas City GOP Presidential Convention to contrast the conservative insurgent, then Governor Ronald Reagan.  Dole was not know as a strong voice for conservatism during his ten year tenure as Senate Majority Leader.  Yet at this late date, Robert Dole is going to be the arbiter for real Republican conservatism.

Dole's charges against Cruz are that he tried to shut down the government.  The legislative branch creates governmental budgets and the Executive Branch.  Cruz gave a flying flip in to use Congressional Power to roll back Obamacare, an issue which gave Republicans a majority in the House after the 2010 elections and ultimately the Senate after the 2014 election.  But it is so much easier in the District of Calamity Cocktail Party to go along and get along and occasionally offer some red meat when back home around election time. 

Per Bob Dole, the second scarlet mark on Senator Cruz was calling Senate Majority Leader(?) Mitch McConnell a liar on the Senate floor.  Oh, the humanity.  A breach in protocol in the world's leading debate society.  The problem is, to put it in Texas twang, it's ain't necessarily so. Kind of like McConnell's word. Cruz recounted the truth about broken promises but avoided the label of liar,

Dole's damning of Cruz's conservatism underscores how out of touch elites are about the sentiments of the grassroot Republicans.  With Trump, Cruz, Carson and Rubio attracting the support of over 50% of the base GOP voters, it is an odd tactic to claim that their outside the beltway dissatisfaction with the status quo are not real conservative Republican sentiments. 

The medium is also the message.  Dole delivered his diatribe against Cruz and Trump on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell show.  It is dubious if ANY conservatives watch that program much less are swayed by the rhetoric. 

Dole's attacks against Cruz may extend from political animus to a concerted strategy.  It has been postulated that Jeb! proponents  will scatter shots against most of the rest of the GOP field save "the brash billionaire  to make it a damoclean choice between Jeb! and "the Donald".

After Dole's Andrea Mitchell hit, one should wonder about when Doles are lemons and not pineapples.  At this stage in the process, Dole would be wise to can it.

Should the DC GOP Change Their Symbol from an Elephant to a Turtle?

After the Iran Nuclear Deal failed to break Cloture, Senator Mitch McConnell did media rounds proclaiming that opponents may have lost a short-term battle but we won the argument.




True, only 21% of Americans support President Obama's Executive Agreement capitulation to the nuclear ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but it seems that it will go into effect anyways. The Corker/Cardin Bill turned Senate Treaty ratification on its head.  Instead of requiring 2/3rds of senators to approve (67 votes), it allowed the deal to go thru with the support of only 34 Senators.  Showing such special courage, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would not even let the Iran Nuke Deal go to a vote, but sought to let it come into effect anyways with 41 votes against Cloture (cutting off debate).  That way, waivering Democrat Senators could claim that they did not actually support the deal, when their sin of omission was to not act when they could to kill it.

The Republican Majority also showed a troubling lack of courage and conviction.  While Corker/Cardin may have been unwise (or even unconstitutional), the LAWs provisions were not even followed.  President Obama was bound by Corker/Cardin to give the Congress all information (including secret side agreements) pertaining to the Iran Nuke Deal within four days of concluding the agreement.  That July 21st deadline passed and we continue to hear more about withheld information and side treaties.  Yet the the United States Senate voted on the Iran Deal and the Senate Majority Leader has the temerity to say that "we" won.  At least the House was prodded into acknowledging that Corker/Cardin was not followed before voting against the Deal.

Majority "Leader" McConnell shows a troubling lack of leadership.  He argues that the Senate can not put together veto proof majorities, so he will not invest political capital in lots of legislation, be it the Iran Nuke Deal or Defunding Planned Parenthood.  In all likelihood neither vote would be blessed by President Obama, but it would mean taking a stand on vital issues.  Sometimes, public pressure can sway an obstinate politician.  Even if it is unsuccessful, it differentiates parties instead of having a District of Calamity Cocktail Party where party labels do not matter.

It is troubling that Senator McConnell thinks that "we won" for the Iran Nuke Deal, when this procedure allows the mullahs in Iran to get $150 Billion in frozen assets to fund their unrenounced terrorist ambitions. McConnell thinks this will be a great campaign issue. Really? Playing politics with American National Security?  Kind of sounds like what establishment Republicans did with Obamacare, promising repeal and staging show votes but never taking a hard stand.

Is this leadership which the Republican base really wants? Cocktail Party Quislings who say one thing on the hustings and act another way on Capitol Hill. Perhaps the Between the Beltways GOP should change their symbol from the Elephant who always remembers to the Turtle which recoils from any threat.

Senator Ted Cruz on the Washington Party

In a rare Sunday session held to consider the must pass Highway Bill, Republican Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), called up an amendment to revive the Export Import Bank and filled the tree to prevent any other amendments, aside from a sisyphean symbolic vote to repeal Obamacare (which, as expected, failed to reach cloture).

Senator Ted Cruz' (R-TX)  floor speech on Sunday Bloody Sunday, the junior Senator from Texas had better hope that the campaign trail keeps him busy as he should not expected any invites to Cocktail Parties in the District of Calamity (sic).

Cruz's cri-de-couer floor speech may not help him in the current Grand Old Party Senate Cloakroom, but may curry favor from anti-establishment supporters on the campaign hustings.  Assuming the Cruz remains in the Senate, he may be standing alone or with several new practical conservative colleagues. 

Trent Lott on Co-opting New Members

Although former Senator Trent Lott has not been the GOP Senate Leader since his resignation in 2007, Lott still epitomizes the establishment inertia, as the are elected officials who are happy to go along to get along rather than to boldly govern.

Senator Lott's advice to GOP Senatorial Leadership to co-opt the new members is a quintessential example of the Cocktail Party, where members are more concerned about comity and social invites between the beltways rather than challenging the status quo or listening to their constituents. 

Senator Lott could have continued in the Senate, but he chose to resign in December 2007, which allowed him to wait only one year before lobbying his former colleagues.  Senator Lott established a lobbying firm with former Senator John Breaux (D-LA) which was later acquired by the law firm Patton Boggs.  Senator Lott now serves on the Bipartisan Policy Center,  focusing on energy, transportation, national security and congressional reform.

Sarah Palin on "No More Kings"

At the 2014 Western Conservative Summit, former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) rallied the audience of 2,000 conservative grassroots activists with a scathing speech decrying politics in the District of Calamity (sic).  

Palin noted that: "[W]e don't do kings."  But this was not a feel good historical allusion ala Schoolhouse Rock. Palin colloquially ticked off a list of offenses which the Obama Administration has been involved:

Man rocking us to our core. From Benghazi. Fast and Furious gun running. Stimulus bust...greenies on our greenbacks. And scandals? NSA spies. Obamacare lies. VA...let's die.The IRS aims to repress conservative's voice. The DOJ wiretaps reporters. Violation of our religious rights. And then there's ignoring illegal, in house fundraising that you heard recently has been going on...the list of abuses it goes on and on...And look alone not defending borders is dereliction of duty. Violating the oath of office. If that's not impeachable....

Castigating the most polemic and progressive President in our nation's history would seem to be in a conservative's Common Core (sic).  However, Palin embodied the spirit of the Tea Party speaking on behalf of the Forgotten Man by challenging  Congressional Republicans to live up to their oaths of office.

Palin acknowledged that making the case for impeachment was not difficult. What is difficult is to have the will to do what's right. Inevitably that means impeachment.

Naturally, liberals lambaste Palin as being stupid  not just for being a conservative female politician but also for doubling down on impeachment.

But Republican party regulars also bristle at the suggestion of doing something controversial just before an election so the media can alienate prospective voters from voting for the GOP.  As for the cautious inaction modus operandi, Palin notes that it misses the point that Obama is abrogating Congressional authority.  Moreover, Palin laments that big GOP majorities do not necessarily reign in radicals, as was demonstrated from the wake of the 2010 wave election.

To buttress her call for patriotic citizens to unite and have the will to do their part in doing right, Palin implored:

It is our work now-- it is our turn. This President's Forgotten Man is "We the People". And We the People know that our best days are still ahead because we know that God shed his grace on thee America. He's given us our freedom to do what's right.  God doesn't drive parked cars-- I think he expects us to get up and take action in order to defend these freedoms that are God given.  I think that it's an affront to God to let this go on as He gave us these freedoms.  We're not going to let someone-- a person, a party-- take them from us.  We are not going to dethrone God and substitute Him with someone who wants to play God. 

Palin closed her provocative comments by invoking Colorado's motto-- "Nothing without Providence".

Invoking patriotism along  traditional understandings of our founding (and believing them), recognizing God in America, adhering to the Constitution, advocating doing the right thing-- no wonder why progressives and the GOP Cocktail Party (not always different entities) consider Sarah Palin such a pariah.

On Ignoring the Constitution

Back in 2001, when Barack Obama was just a community organizer and State Legislator, he made some remarkable observations about the US Constitution. 

Some of these remarks resurfaced during the final stretch of the 2008 Presidential campaign, particularly Mr. Obama's January 2001 interview on Chicago Public Radio.  Mark Levin offered an incisive analysis of Obama's constitutional interpretations.

In case some may claim that Mr. Obama was misquoted, here is a transcript of Barack Obama on WBEZ  discussing negative liberties and redistributionism.

No wonder why Jon McNaughton was moved to paint "The Forgotten Man" (2010).

The Forgotten Man (2010) by Jon McNaughton

McNaughton wanted to depict the plight of the common man in the wake of Obama's redistribution of wealth and trampling upon the rights in the Constitution. However, the painter insists that both parties are guilty of trampling upon our fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.



Mc Naughton hopes to inspire a metanoia where Americans return to the principles of the Constitution with a limited government, when individual and states' rights are protected and without the encumbrance of entitlement programs. 

As we see the lawless manner which the federal government is acting along with its insatiable hunger for revenue and aggregating power for apparatchniks and Cocktail Party Nomenklatura  in the District of Calamity (sic), may Americans be reawakened to defending Constitutional first principles. 

h/t:  Jon Mc Naughton
       Mark Levin

Thad Cochran Is Still Out of Touch on the Tea Party

Last month, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) was asked by a reporter what he thought about the Tea Party and the senior Senator said: "That is something that I don't know a lot about."  The six term Senator is being challenged by State Senator Chris McDaniel (R-MS 42nd, Ellisville)  a Tea Party inspired Republican primary challenger.  A month later, Senator Cochran did not seem much more clued in.

It is curious that news of the Tea Party phenomenon had difficulty reaching Senator Cochran's Cocktail Party in the District of Calamity.  After all, the Tea Party recently celebrate its fifth anniversary and gave the GOP the impetus to net 60 seats and regain control of the House of Representatives in 2011.

While it is possible that the 76 year old Senator Cochran was feigning ignorance about the Tea Party so as not to give his Tea Party challenger more credence.  If that is so, it might not have been wise for Senator Cochran to partially echo Will Rogers charming deprecation “Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers" as he launched into his vaudeville schtick.   As delightful as Will Roger's homespun wisdom sounds, he died in 1935 which is two years before Thad Cochran was born, which further contributes to the out of touch impression.

Some might claim that this is a prima facia example of why there ought to be term limits for elected federal officials.   Personally, I am chary about term limits on Congress as the will of the people should not be impinged as there are regular elections and the power of an individual legislator is limited.

That being said, the electorate needs to think about their franchise.  Typically, Congress fails in favorability polls on the whole but these same people think that their elected officials are fine.  Cochran served three terms in the House before being elected to Senate in 1978.  Mississippi voters need to discern if seniority is more important that being in touch with the electorate.

University of Virginia political pundit Professor Larry Sabato has observed that the Mississippi primary is the most likely race of 2014 in which a challenger can win.  Magnolia State voters will decide when their primary is held on June 2nd.

h/t: Breitbart 

McConnell Vows to Crush Tea Party in GOP Primaries

Days after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gave a seven minute speech at  CPAC 2014 and promised a Senate in the 114th Congress that would make retiring conservative Senator Tom Coburn proud, the New York Times exposed McConnell's true colors.  The New York Times magazine quoted McConnell: "I think we are going to crush them everywhere.  I don't think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country."

Granted, the five term Senator is facing a primary challenge in Kentucky by Tea Party sympathizer Matt Bevin, so he may feel feisty about Tea Party challenges.  While McConnell may be up 40 points over his opponent, it does not hold that the same trend holds elsewhere.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) successfully repelled primary challenges from a crowded GOP field.  But  Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) may face problems in Kansas especially since it has been shown that Roberts live in Kansas and that he only established residency renting a room in Dodge City only after Milton Wolfe filed his primary challenge.

[L] Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Seven term incumbent Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) is being challenged by Mississippi State Senator Christopher McDaniel (R-MS 42nd, Ellisburg)  who is backed by the conservative Club for Growth.  In December, a Human Events poll showed the 76 year old incumbent tied with McDaniel.

There are open races in Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska, so Cocktail Party simpaticos may not be shoe-ins for McConnell.

What is curious is the cocky contrast that the uncamouflaged McConnell has addressing elites on elections compared to the contrite rhetoric uttered at CPAC about bringing the fight for the little guy next year.  If McConnell meant to protect the little guy's interest, why would he wait until next year?  

Last September, Senator Ted Cruz brought the fight on Obamacare with his flying flip quasi filibuster, but was abandoned by the GOP Senate leadership, even though many of Cruz's suggestions have been imposed by unconstitutional Executive fiat. Pro arguendo, if McConnell's claims of crushing the Tea Party are true, what impetus will the go along to get along Cocktail Party have to legislate like conscientious conservatives, especially with President Obama still in the White House? 

Some talk show types have railed against the supposed standing ovation which McConnell received at CPAC. Being in the ballroom for McConnell's time on center stage, I can testify that there is more applause for a double bogie on an PGA putting green than what Senate Majority Leader McConnell got at CPAC.  What was unexpected was candidate McConnell's contrite campaigning to quickly being shown to be as phony as triumphantly branding a firearm onstage at CPAC.

h/t: John Darkow 

The US Tax Code Is Ten Times Longer Than the Bible With None of the Good News

House Budget Committee Chairman Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) was one of the initial speakers at CPAC 2014.  Ryan's restrained rhetorical style along with his general remarks did not fire up the crowd as Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) or Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) with their early morning speeches.  However, Rep. Ryan did have one well wrought out zinger which illustrated his overall point

The House Budget Chairman quipped that:  "Right now, the U.S. tax code is ten times longer than the Bible with none of the Good News."  It was a great line to try to soft pitch House Ways and Means Chairman Representative Dave Camp's (R-MI 10th) controversial tax reform over-hall plan.  Regardless of how one feels about the particulars on the policies, it is aimed at cutting away bureaucratic red tape and allowing taxpayers to keep more of their own money.

But instead of debating how a Big Brother bureaucracy is burdening Americans and forcing a Statist will upon individuals, much of the media nit-picked as the chain of knowledge for the source on his "brown bag lunch story." The Left's tizzy tactics illustrates Ryan's point that the left is out of ideas and would rather demonize their opponents instead of engaging in debate.

By virtue of his position as House Chairman, Representative Ryan is part of GOP House Leadership.  But his bold budget plans do not show a Cocktail Party complacency which plagues many GOP elites.  Based on the tepid applause at CPAC 2014 as well as his eighth place finish (with 3%) in the CPAC Straw Poll, Ryan can not count on the conservative base for support in a prospective Presidential run this cycle. 

That being said, Rep. Ryan is a respected representative who can bolster the notion that Conservatives are the ones with ideas, and perhaps actuate that with Republican majorities in Congress. 

Obamascare Video -- Haunting the District of Calamity

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) continued his campaign to #MakeDCListen by releasing a video which tells the scary truths about Obamacare.





The video "ObamaScare--It's Coming to a Mailbox Near You" is remarkable for several reasons.  Cruz did not end his efforts to oppose Obamacare after his 21 hour plus hour quasi-filibuster from late September.  Nor is Senator Cruz taking his cues from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who cut a backroom deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)  for a short-term Continuing Resolution and Debt Ceiling Hike with no quid pro quo.  Moreover, McConnell promised not to use the prospects of another government shut down as the next deadline approaches.

Through this ObamaScare video, Cruz continues to point out the real world consequences of Obamacare implementation, specifically skyrocketing premiums for lesser coverage and people losing their current health insurance.

Senator Cruz is capitalizing on social media to get the message out, rather than relying upon the liberal elite media (a.k.a. the Lamestream Media).  The message is timely, full of pop reference (horror movie motifs) and is well produced.  This ObamaScare video seems more like infotainment which people want to share.

This ObamaScare social media strategy is in stark contrast to  the blitz of bludgeoning gubernatorial ads for Virginia Democrat Terry McAliffe (D-VA) which have been blanketing the airwaves between-the-beltways.  While these patently political hit pieces may lower the female vote for Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA), but it is not a message which viewers are eager to share.

In the District of Calamity (sic), it is not unusual to see multi-media ads throughout the year about legislative initiatives.  These ad often run on news and politically oriented radio stations, some local segments of cable news channels and early evening local access time.  Normally, the commercials are produced by monied interests who are using wholesale marketing to achieve their objectives by ginning up constituent calls.  What is different about Cruz's media blitz is that it is a Senator at the helm to generate public support on legislation.

In the run up to the fiscal new year, Senator Cruz inspired radio ads ran on conservative talk radio.  In addition, Cruz made many media appearances to market his message. Now Cruz is continuing to share the public policy landscape through viral social media.


Those who haunt Cocktail Parties in the District of Calamity should not be scared of the fancy Halloween decorations in Georgetown.  The lead title to the ObamaScare title is "Brought to you by Congress". Cocktail Party types should be frightened of a back bencher who they thought was the walking dead after his filibuster fizzled.  They thought Cruz could be buried by backroom deals and bad press.  Yet the ObamaScare viral video shows that he may rise again and be more powerful than before.


The Cocktail Party crowd should be afraid, very afraid.  But not of a
zombie attack between the beltways, as Zombies feed on brains and they know better than to feast in the District of Calamity (sic). But at some time, they will have to return to their home districts.  At that point, Katey bar the door.

The Sham of Senate Civility

After the attempted assassination of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th), there were calls for civility in political discourse.  In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting,Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said:

Being more mindful of the weight of our words always helps. We have much more to gain than to lose from civility and discretion. …

Some may be inspired by the town halls of two Augusts ago. Others by the heated election debates. Some may be motivated by the conversation that started after Arizona. And many will seek more civility simply because it’s the right thing to do. Whatever the reason, I hope the turn to more responsible rhetoric is more than empty rhetoric. I intend to do my part.

But what Democrats really meant by civility seems to be to silence their ideological opponents with the cudgel of civility via the Lamestream Media without moderating their raucous rhetoric or correcting their faux pas. 

A recent example of this incongruity between rhetoric and reality was Senator Reid's recent call for civil discourse on the Senate floor.  The Senate Democrat Majority Leader had called House Speaker John Boehner a coward for not standing up to anarchists in his own party who Reid implied precipitated the Federal Government shutdown.   Reid also derided his colleague Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) as the "very junior Senator from Texas"  who was acting as the "Joint House Speaker."

Yet Senator Reid lectured the Senate about decorum:

We all have to understand that these rules create a little bit of distance so senators are more likely to debate ideas and less likely to talk about personalities. And if we do that, we maintain a more civil decorum as a result. So I bring this matter to the attention of senators because we've fallen out of this habit. It's gotten worse the last month or so.
 

To be fair, Senator Reid kind of apologized for his harsh words by intoning:  "Some recent stories have even suggested that the speaker is keeping the government shut down because I hurt his feelings. If that's true, I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings."  

So it's OK to capture headlines and slander your opponents, and then give a tentative mea culpa "if I hurt your feelings"?  Where does someone go to get their reputation back?

Reid advocated not mentioning other Senators by their first names and addressing their colleagues in the third person.  This Senate Speak, a District of Calamity (sic) patois which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has mastered  forces the speaker to call enemies "My Friends" before rhetorically excoriating them.  No wonder why so many ordinary people are turned off by politics. 

Senator Cruz has been the target of Democrats derision in the Federal Government Shutdown fight.  Cruz gave a short floor speech which exposed this Sham of Senate Civility to conceal political perfidy.

There has been a concerted effort in the Lamestream Media to discredit Ted Cruz as just advancing his own presidential ambitions by prominently fighting for defunding Obamacare.  This scathing critique comes from Democrats as well as Cocktail Party Republicans who understand the earnestness of Tea Party conservatives who threaten their cushy situations.  Establishment Republicans are content to go along to get along, cast symbolic votes which they can sell to their primary voters but do not mean anything.

While Cruz may leverage his prominence in the Shutdown fight for the 2016 Presidential race, he is also living up to his role to represent constituents who are fed up with the status quo and the meaningless games politicos in Washington play rather than fight for their ideals. Civilly telling the truth is a rarity between the beltways these days. 

It is beyond the pale of propriety to characterize Tea Party types like Senator Cruz as anarchists for standing up for the Constitution. But the hostility towards such honest oratory from Tea Party politicians is revealing.  

 In the face of totalitarian influences across the globe, George Orwell opined:  "The further a society drifts away from the truth,  the more it will hate those that speak it."  In a similar vein, the author of 1984 also  wrote: "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." 

Maybe Senator Reid's crie-de-coeur will be heard on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where outrageous Obama incivility now seems to be an everyday occurrence 

A Partial S.O.S. From Legislative Leviathans

Three years ago, President Barack Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ( Pub. L-11-203).  When it was passed, it was a long  2,319  page piece of legislation.  Although financial legislation can be tricky, Sarbanes-Oxley (2002) was only 66 pages and Gramm-Leach–Bliley (1999) was 145 pages.    This contemporary financial legislation was legislatively loquacious compared to the Federal Reserve Act (1913) that took 31 pages or Glass-Steagall (1933) that was 33 pages.  

But much like Obamacare (the misnamed Affordable Care Act), the bloated Dodd Frank bill delegated bureaucratic the authority to write implementing regulations. Currently, Dodd-Frank is comprised of 13,789 pages of rule-making from ten different regulatory agencies. 
  

To put this into terms which most people can wrap their minds around, Dodd-Frank is now the equivalent of 28 copies of War and Peace.  And Mel Brooks quipped that no-one makes it through War and Peace.   What can be done to avoid such governing monstrosities again?      


 ***  

1. Either abolish or reorganize the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to have an Executive Board rather than a Consumer “Czar” and be financially responsible to the legislative branch rather than being an “independent” branch of government. 
2. While it might seem kind of quaint, but  to follow the Constitution.  
3. Congress need to stop rushing legislation.   When he first ran for President in the 2008 cycle, Mr. Obama promised that: “As president, Obama will not sign any nonemergency bill without giving the American public to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days.”  So much for that promise.  Speaker John Boehner repeatedly promised that all bills would be put on line for 72 hours before being voted upon.  This pledge has been repeatedly broken.  These Federal politicians need to live up to their political pledges or be held accountable at the ballot box rather than accepted as the standard practice of the Cocktail Party in the District of Calamity (sic).
4. Congress should pass legislation that is no longer than 50 pages long.  This is longer than some Tea Party type legislators advocate, but it is readable by the Member and can accommodate for the complexities of contemporary government.
5.  Congress must Enact legislation to  take control over expensive Executive Branch regulations.  It is understandable that members of Congress are not going to have expertise in complex areas of governmance, like the financial industry and the environement.  But they must not cede authority to smug technocratic bureaucrats who are given wide deference by the judiciary and are not beholden to the ballot box.

***

Compliance costs with the legislative leviathan is strangling growth in the American economy and is chipping away at household budgets.   The REINS legislation could be enhanced by adding a 5 year sunset provisions to any costly regulation which could be reapproved by Congress.  This would rein in an overzealous Executive Branch in issuing regulations as well as tempering the bureaucratic beast.

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com