I Pledge a Grievance to the Flag and the United States of America

From THE HILL:

Congressional leaders have until Aug. 16 to name the 12 members of the newly created “supercommittee” to deal with reducing the deficit, but special interest groups are wasting no time in pushing their choices for the panel.

The debt-ceiling-increase legislation enacted Tuesday created a bicameral, joint committee of 12 legislators charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts by Nov. 23.

…snip..

Failure to come up with a plan will result in deep automatic defense and Medicare cuts.

One wrong pick, lobbyists on the right and left said Wednesday, could swing the panel toward a terrible compromise. So they are not taking chances.

These sources are already urging leaders to pick top lieutenants who will stick to party positions — no entitlement cuts for Democrats and no tax increases for Republicans.

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The Gang’s All Somewhere

From the Los Angeles Times:

For months, as a group of senators known as the “Gang of Six” secretively holed up in the Capitol, their unusual bipartisan meetings frequently included some version of the doomsday speech.

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Ask and Tell

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who helped shepherd through today’s Senate repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, told reporters after the final vote this afternoon that ending the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers is a big step for LGBT rights.

“To me, it is a step forward to a larger societal acceptance [of gay rights,]” Lieberman said. “This is a civil rights piece of legislation in my opinion.”

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There’s a Teabag in Every Crappy Meal!

From POST POLITICS at The Washington Post:

Sharron Angle, Nevada’s newly minted Republican Senate nominee, arrived in Washington on Tuesday to court GOP powerbrokers and try to prove that she is ready to take down Majority Leader Harry M. Reid. But as she made the rounds of the senators she came to see, the anti-Washington candidate seemed to go out of her way not to be seen.

All of Angle’s meetings took place behind closed doors, beginning with a stop at the Senate Republicans’ weekly luncheon as the guest of John Ensign (Nev.). She hustled past reporters without saying a word, and remained inside for an hour and a half.

What the article doesn’t tell you is that the gang went over to their favorite haunt, McRonald’s! They had lots of fun, and they were looked over by none other than the ghost of Ronald McReagan.  (If Sue Lowden had won the primary, would they have ordered Chicken McNuggets?)

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(If I did this correctly, you can click on the image and then click on that for a larger version so you can see all the little details.)

Everything Changes, Except Rethuglican’s Small Minds

From Planet Washington (McCLATCHY Trusted Voices):

In 1993, when Congress strongly resisted President Bill Clinton’s attempt to end the U.S. military’s ban on gay service members, Gen. Colin Powell, then the top military officer, helped broker a compromise policy that came to be known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Wednesday, Powell joined the Pentagon’s current leadership, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, now the nation’s top officer, in urging the policy’s repeal, saying that “attitudes and circumstances have changed.”

They have indeed.

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It’s only dead if you kill it, moron!

(CBS) Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the health care bill passed last night by the House of Representatives is “dead on arrival to the Senate.”

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Shhh! It’s a secret!

From The Plum Line:

A rather intriguing reaction from one of John Ensign’s Senate GOP colleagues to the news of Ensign’s extramarital affair:

“I think he will be welcomed back by his colleagues and go back to being a good senator,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Ensign shouldn’t have resigned his leadership spot.

Graham downplayed the political impact this would have on the GOP, saying, “Most Americans look at this as a personal situation.”

Graham let out a laugh and said: “I’ve got plenty of sins that I’m not going to share with anyone else.”

Sins? Well, kids, you know that your intrepid reporter (that would be me) cannot let that go without an investigation. Through my sources, I was able to obtain a photograph of what goes on when the Senate Republican are not voting no or making speeches about why they voted no.

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(With a little bit of help from this poster)

Beating the Tar Out of Big Tobacco

From The Seattle Times:

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would give government broad new authority to regulate tobacco products, slash nicotine content and restrict advertising.

Health advocates cheered the 79-17 passage of the bill, saying it could prevent thousands of deaths and reduce the $100 billion in annual health-care costs linked to tobacco usage.

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