AZ BlueMeanie

The Blue Meanie is an Arizona citizen who wishes, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous when blogging about politics. Armed with a deep knowledge of the law, politics and public policy, as well as pen filled with all the colors stolen from Pepperland, the Blue Meanie’s mission is to pursue and prosecute the hypocrites, liars, and fools of politics and the media – which, in practical terms, is nearly all of them. Don’t even try to unmask him or he’ll seal you in a music-proof bubble and rendition you to Pepperland for a good face-stomping.

Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas)

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Now that the TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner and House Tea-Publicans have caved in the payroll tax fight and handed President Obama a victory, the president may now join his family in his home state of Hawaii for Christmas. Well done, Mr. President. Mele Kalikimaka (Hawaiian for Merry Christmas), as … Read more

The TanMan and House Tea-Publicans cave in payroll tax fight

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Screenshot-6The TanMan, Weeper of the House John Boehner and House Tea-Publicans proved this week that they don't know what they are doing and just got their asses handed to them by the Septegenarian Ninja Turtle, Mitch McConnell and the U.S. Senate.

John Boehner is the WORST. SPEAKER. EVER. If he had any sense of honor he would resign and step aside.

The sad part is that all of this drama could have been avoided if Boehner was not the weakest Speaker in modern American history. He is held captive by freshmen Tea Party mutineers in the House.

Boehner is being forced to take the offer that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put on the table earlier this week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered House Republican leaders a way out of their payroll-tax-cut mess: after the House approves the Senate-approved bipartisan compromise, senators can start the next round of negotiations over a year-long extension.

This morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced his support for Reid’s approach. Political Animal – McConnell sides with Dems over Boehner:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says the House and Senate should meet in Washington to extend the payroll tax set to expire Dec. 31.

With the clock ticking, McConnell says the House should pass a short-term extension that gives 160 million Americans certainty that their taxes will not rise Jan. 1. The Kentucky Republican also called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to convene negotiators on the longer-term extension that House Republicans are demanding.

As a practical matter, McConnell was throwing his support to the same proposal Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered House GOP leaders earlier in the week — after the House approves the Senate-approved bipartisan compromise, senators can start the next round of negotiations over a year-long extension.

The timing of McConnell’s announcement was rather remarkable. House Republican leaders, including Speaker Boehner, had just wrapped up a press conference on the Hill, telling reporters that the House GOP caucus won’t give in, won’t pass the temporary extension, and won’t do anything until a conference committee convenes (the conference committee would invariably kill the tax cut).

McConnell, almost immediately after Boehner wrapped up his remarks, cut the legs out from underneath the House GOP leadership and sided with Harry Reid’s proposed solution.

In other words, the Septegenarian Ninja Turtle threw the Tan Man under the proverbial bus. Something like this hasn't happened since the failed "coup" attempt against House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.

Shortly after McConnell's statement, President Obama threw his support behind the same plan to pile on. The cheese stood alone.

This afternoon, the TanMan waved the white flag and surrendered in defeat. Political Animal – House Republicans cave in payroll fight:

This morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other leading officials from his caucus told reporters that House Republicans would stick to their guns when it comes to extending the payroll tax break. If Democrats wanted to avoid a tax increase on the middle class, they would have to cave and make Boehner and his cohorts happy.

Not quite six hours later, Boehner and his cohorts threw in the towel.

House Republicans on Thursday crumpled under the weight of White House and public pressure and have agreed to pass a two-month extension of the 2 percent payroll-tax cut, Republican and Democratic sources told National Journal.

The House made the move after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreed to appoint conferees to a committee to resolve differences between the Senate’s two-month payroll-tax cut and the House’s one-year alternative.

Reid, you’ll remember, made this offer on Monday, and soon after Boehner said this morning that the deal wasn’t good enough, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) endorsed Reid’s solution. President Obama backed the same approach shortly thereafter.

The House will reportedly make some technical changes to the Senate bill, and the Senate will approve that final bill by unanimous consent.

With nine days to go, it appears all but certain that the payroll tax break — as well as a clean extension of unemployment benefits — will be extended for two months. Between now and then, a conference committee will be tasked with working on a deal for a full-year extension.

* * *

If Boehner were a stronger, more effective House Speaker, this fiasco could have been easily avoided. He could have told his caucus this was a fight they were likely to lose, so passing the Senate bill quickly was the smart course of action. But he couldn’t — Boehner takes orders; he doesn’t give them.

It’s what helps make this story a disaster, not only for Republicans in general, but also for John Boehner personally. As he surrenders this afternoon, Boehner becomes The Speaker Who Has No Clothes.

* * *

Neither party has had a Speaker this feeble in modern times. His instincts told him to take the deal over the weekend, but Boehner allowed himself to be pushed around by his unhinged caucus, then get pushed around by Democrats, then get pushed around by his allies, then get pushed around by Senate Republicans.

How big a disaster was this for Boehner? Keep an eye on whether Eric Cantor’s travel schedule changes over the holidays.

Eric Cantor has been Iago to John Boehne'rs Othello, plotting against him every step of the way out of his lust for the House Speaker position. This Tea Party treachery is explained by Martin Bashir.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript below the fold.

Feliz Navidad

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Jose Feliciano sings Feliz Navidad. Time to fire up some Christmas tamales for dinner– my favorite!

(Tentative) Congressional and Legislative District Maps

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Below are the Congressional and Legislative District Maps tentatively approved by the AIRC on December 20, 2011, pending analyses by the panel's legal counsel and voting-rights consultants. The AIRC must still vote to ratify the maps after receiving the legal and technical analyses. I am curious to hear from the Green Valley/Sahuarita/Quail … Read more