The Price Is Wrong

From Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog at MSNBC:

The reason there’s so much interest in who Donald Trump will choose for various positions in his administration is a simple principle: personnel is policy. We want to know what the Trump/Pence administration will do once it’s in power, so we keep an eye on his cabinet and White House selections to get a sense of the next White House’s substantive agenda.

And when it comes to health care, the president-elect apparently intends to go in a very dangerous direction.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will nominate Georgia Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

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And it’s 1, 2, 3 strikes, your drought!

Here we go again. Remember back in 2007 when then-Governor of Georgia, Sonny Rainman Perdue, when faced with the worst drought in 100 years, came up with a logical solution? That’s right, he held a public prayer vigil. How about when, also in 2007, then-Governor of Alabama, Bob Riley, actually issued a “Pray for Rain” proclamation in his “Curse Drought” campaign? Well, those crazy Rethuglican kids are at it again! From Salon:

Trend alert! In the face of devastating natural disasters, Republican governors around the country are increasingly asking constituents to join in prayer to God to solve their states’ intractable problems.

The latest example is Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who, in response to a brutal heat wave that has contributed to over one hundred wildfires, asked Oklahomans to collectively pray for rain on Sunday.

To the tune of Who’ll Stop the Rain, written by John Fogerty, as performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

♪ ♫

A natural disaster, drives a lot of folks insane,
They drop to their knees faster, yeah, that old trick again,
The rainman down in Georgia, ex-Governor Perdue,
In aught 7, he looked to heaven, not one drop of dew.

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Dim Bulb Barton

From Bloomberg:

U.S. House Republicans urged passage of a measure to block a phase-out of traditional light bulbs, as the Obama administration called the bill anti-consumer.

The legislation, which was debated on the House floor yesterday and may be voted on this week, would cost Americans $6 billion in energy savings in 2015, the White House said in a statement yesterday.

Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, introduced the proposal to invalidate lighting efficiency standards that would effectively ban bulbs similar to the one invented by Thomas Edison more than 130 years ago. The requirements were included in a 2007 energy law signed by Republican President George W. Bush.

You remember ol’ Joe Barton, dont’cha, kids? He was the one who called the deal worked out between President Obama and BP in which BP would set up a $20 billion fun to pay for damages after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a “shakedown,” and who apologized to Tony Hayward when he testified in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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Call Me Un-American

From Andrew Schenkel at mother nature network:

Thursday morning in Washington began with what has become a yearly ritual. The executives from the big five oil companies got to answer questions about their government subsidies in the wake of huge quarterly profits.

Senate Finance Committee Chariman Max Baucus wanted to know exactly why the “Big Five” felt they should continue to get $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies while enjoying profits of $31 billion during the first quarter of 2011 alone.

…snip…

While many reports will make note of the hearing’s circus atmosphere that included Sen. Orrin Hatch’s unveiling of a picture of a dog sitting on a pony after saying he didn’t want the hearing to be about cheap political stunts, there was some actual tension in the room that didn’t require any stunts to feel.

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A Few of My Favorite Zings

To the tune of My Favorite Things (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein):

Health care and midterms and all kinds of fighting,
Rallies and scandals, it was so exciting,
Tea party darlings were at it again,
All this shit happened in 2010.

Nothing but heartache for millions of Haitians,
While dumb old Pat Robertson hurled accusations,
John Roberts’ activist band of Supremes,
Were simply the court of a lobbyist’s dreams.

Its Comical, Part 8: Clean-up Edition

This will be the last installment of the series, so let’s take a look at some of the comics and comic-related pix we haven’t seen before. One of the longest running comics is Dennis the Menace, and we have had a few different Dennises. There was Chimpy, with Deadeye Dick Cheney filling in for Mr. Wilson…
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It’s Comical, Part 6: What a Character Edition

We’ve focused on comic book and book covers, and today I thought we’d concentrate on the characters.  When I was little, I always read Blondie comics, and my favorite characters were Dagwood and his boss, Mr. Dithers.  I did a bit of a update during the Chimpy administration years.  Here’s Chimpy with his boss, Deadeye Dick Cheney (with an appearance at the end by Laura Pickles Bush and Barney).  Of course, Deadeye Dick never dithered…

Little Randy went to a farm, e-i-e-i-zzzzzzzzzzzzz

From THE DAILY CALLER:

It’s a tradition stretching back 130 years: Local and national candidates meet annually in Fancy Farm, Kentucky to deliver their best and most colorful one-liners against opponents and scream fiery speeches full of partisan red meat to a raucous crowd hungry to hear rhetorical arrows flung across the aisle.

Every year, thousands gather at the politically themed picnic hosted by St. Jerome Catholic Church in rural western Kentucky to hear rousing political speeches, and the event is known as the unofficial start of the campaign season in the state.

…snip…

Unfortunately for one of this year’s speakers, Republican Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul, it seemed he missed the memo that he was there to excite members of the audience, not put them to sleep.

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