AZ Congressional Delegation

(Update) Tea-Publican economic terrorists take Medicare ‘Doc fix’ hostage

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I warned you about this the other day. Tea-Publican economic terrorists plot to take Medicare hostage to delay ‘ObamaCare’.

REDOn Friday, Tea-Publicans took their fifty-second vote to repeal or to undermine “ObamaCare,” this time to delay the individual mandate for five years and to use the $138 billion resulting savings for the annual Medicare “Doc fix.”

For those of you keeping score at home, yes our Arizona “Blue Dogs” Ron Barber and Kirsten Sinema, once again, voted with the Tea-Publicans to delay the individual mandate. HR 4015.

They will argue that having once voted for the delay, they must continue to be consistent. There is nothing admirable in being consistently wrong. Admit your error and move on.

They will also argue that this was a “safety” vote, with no real consequences because the Senate will never take up the bill. So why enable Tea-Publicans with their manufactured crises designed for the conservative media entertainment complex and fundraising appeals to the GOP crazy base? Barber and Sinema just set themselves up to be used by Tea-Publicans as evidence of support for the GOP position.

Congress has less than three weeks to come up with a funding scheme for the Medicare “Doc fix” that the Senate will accept, and the House (likely Democrats and a handful of Tea-Publicans) will pass.

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Ancient Arizona Republic columnist befuddled by diversity

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

We can’t bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don’t go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m’shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ’em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you’d say. Now where was I… oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn’t get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…

Grandpa MacEachern is projecting again.

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Senate Tea-Publicans filibuster veterans benefits while beating the drums for the next war

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Last Thursday, Senate Tea-Publicans blocked Democrats on a procedural vote from advancing a bill that would have expanded healthcare and education programs for our military veterans. The Hill reported, GOP blocks veterans bill:

mccain_flakeIn a 56-41 vote Thursday, the motion to waive a budget point of order against the bill failed, as Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the Republican roadblock.

GOP Sens. Dean Heller (Nev.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) voted with Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refused to allow a GOP substitute amendment to get an up-or-down vote because it included Iran sanctions, which he said were unrelated to veterans’ issues.

“I hope all the veterans groups have witnessed all the contortions the Republicans have done to defeat this bill,” Reid said Thursday. “Shame on Republicans for bringing base politics into a bill to help veterans.”

Republicans tried to force consideration of the GOP amendment, but failed to table Reid’s pending amendments on a 44-52 vote.

[Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake voted to block the bill.]

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Congressman Ed Pastor retiring from Congress

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…Thank you for your service and let the scrum begin…

From the Washington Post –

Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) announced Thursday that he will be retiring after his current term, setting off what could be a widespread battle to replace him.

The 11-term lawmaker made the announcement via Facebook: “After 23 years in Congress serving the people of Arizona, I have decided that I will not seek re-election this year. It has been a great honor and experience, but it is time for me to close this chapter of my life and start a new one,” he said. “I want to thank everyone who has assisted me and supported me throughout my career. Thank you very much for all of your support.”

First, let me be one of the many who thank Congressman Pastor for his decades of service to the people of his district, to Phoenix, and Arizona. His quietly effective style of getting things done will be missed, and will leave some big shoes to fill, for whoever ends up with the job.

Second, the popcorn part of the post.

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