Tag Archives: Mitch McConnell

Why we aren’t going back.

Posted by Shea in Politics and tagged with , ,

The US Senate just finished bending over to the gun lobby and voted down a measure that would, and I cannot make this up, make private or online sales of deadly weapons subject to a background check, because as one Senator from Utah put it “It would be too confusing for citizens to do when purchasing a gun”.  Let’s ignore that the Brady Bill, enacted 20 years ago, has stopped 2 million people who shouldn’t own a gun from obtaining one legally, and that this bill specifically said there would be no gun registry (because of course the paranoid morons in the US think the UN choppers are coming at any minute to take their guns), it still failed.

People ask if Monkey and I would ever move our family to the US.  No.  Never.  The US has lost their damn minds, and I have no intention of ever moving back.  It’s bad enough I have to pay taxes to them every year (as will my son, even if he never lives or works on US soil), I sure as hell don’t have to let my kid be a walking target practice dummy for these morons.  (From the linked report, here’s US: #1 in gun ownership, with 88 guns per 100 people, and #1 in gun deaths of 1st world nations per capita). To quote from the scientists who did the report:  ”Americans are seven times more likely to be murdered than people in the other countries, and 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun.”).

And to be fair, it’s not just prostitution to the gun lobby that gets me – it’s Universal healthcare tanking in the US (while US outspends the rest of the world on healthcare per person yet leads the modern world in infant mortality, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, drug abuse, obesity and diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and disabilities), or the fact that the UK/EU has the most stringent GMO regulations in the world while the US anonymously sticks the Monsanto Protection Act into a bill.  It’s the fact that for many, many of its issues, my kid statistically has a better chance of making his 5th birthday here versus the US.  Hell, his life expectancy overall is much better here than in the land of the free.  Statistically, he’ll go to school longer and test much higher in math and literacy than if he was in the US (America is 7th in literacy, 22nd in science, 27th in math).

We may have left them 237 years ago, but in the United Kingdom, my son has a better chance at Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness than in the US.

Now, it would be one thing if this didn’t pass, and everyone was discussing what they feel would be reasonable measures to stem the tide of gun violence.  But no.  Here is the leader of the majority, Mitch McConnell, on his official facebook page this morning:

mitch mcconnell massive asshole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s right, we got an IN YO FACE meme, while parents of dead children sat in the Senate gallery, watching the vote.  Fuck your dead kids, fuck the fact that public polls 90% wanted background checks, and 70% of NRA members agreed, the gun lobby says NO, and we go where the money is.

It’s that particular brand of pissing on the graves of the dead that gets me – the out and out purchase of the House and Senate, the fact that they are proud of turning their backs on the will of the people, the ones who voted them in office in the first place…well, I don’t see why I should choose to live there when I have options.

 

Mitch McConnell filibusters his own bill in game of Chicken with Senate

Posted by Shea in Politics and tagged with , , , , , ,

A rather remarkable thing happened on the Senate floor yesterday.  Kentucky Senator and former Tootsie Pop spokesman Mitch McConnell came to the floor to ask for a vote on raising the debt ceiling.  This type of vote isn’t new – the federal debt limit has been raised 106 times since 1940, 18 times under Ronald Regan, and 7 times under George W Bush (source: White House Office of Budget and Management).  The fact that it needed to be raised isn’t very remarkable either, as the Senate has repeatedly proven.  It was even boring to see McConnell grandstanding and playing chicken with the debt ceiling for a political power play.    What was remarkable was how badly it blew up in his face.  You see, the Senate majority leader Harry Reid called him on his little game of chicken, and McConnell was forced to either filibuster against his own bill, or back down.  Here is the link to the video, or simply watch below:

Such a proud moment for America, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Now, I’m a bit of an oldie, and a political junkie, so I can remember when a filibuster meant something.  I remember when New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato filibustered for nearly a full day concerning a military bill in 1986.  And in the early 80′s, there was even a filibuster over the debt ceiling being raised, led by William Proxmire of Wisconsin.  Filibusters are a necessary part of the political process, and even when used for evil (such as Strom Thurmond filibustering against the Civil Rights Act of 1957), they still have place in the discourse of the Senate.

So why is this such a low point for Capitol Hill, and the GOP?  It all leads back, ironically, to McConnell and his now infamous quote in the National Journal on October 23, 2010 – “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” The GOP can no longer hide behind mercurial, abstract rules when they try to obstruct the President, and by extension, the nation.  McConnell’s massive mis-step yesterday proved that.  They either have to publicly embrace the fact that they attempted to play chicken with the United States of America, or change course and actually attempt to get something done.  Not only will McConnell’s blunder serve as fodder for the Left, it will also serve as the touchstone as why filibuster reform is so desperately needed.

Perhaps this is all a good thing.  There is the school of thought that states you can’t turn your life around till you’ve hit rock bottom.  Maybe this was the wake up call that the GOP desperately needed.  Somehow, though, I doubt McConnell will have a moment of clarity.  Ah well.  At least the American public will be reminded of this moment, over and over, in the run up to 2014.  Enjoy the mid-term elections, Mr. McConnell.