Schooling Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachman would be well advised to take a course or two at an accredited seminary where she would quickly discover the fallacy in accusing God of the massive destruction, deaths, and injuries resulting from natural disasters. One realizes, of course, the mindlessness of such remarks, but it’s time people like Bachmann are held accountable for the cruel implications their words have for the innocent victims of Irene, Katrina, etc..

Why did Americans allow Axelrod, Plouffe, and Daley to take over the country?

David Plouffe: "All hail the Messiah!"

Early in the Obama Administration, an upcoming Sunday sermon in my liberal church fellowship was titled, “The Obama Era.” Seriously. My God, I thought, they’ve anointed him pharaoh. I stayed home that morning.

The Obama Era emerged from the messianic campaign messages of David Axelrod and David Plouffe who, with the aid of Bill Daley, are apparently still trying to get all of us peasants to bow down to the One.

I don’t recall how Michael Tomansky responded to the Obama presidential campaign. He may or may not be one of the disillusioned who were once swept up in the glory days of 2008. Today, he’s in touch with reality in this post at the Daily Beast titled, “The Obama Team is Blowing it”:

We were told, as I recall, that Barack Obama had to seek a debt deal with the Republicans to please independent voters. Well, the independent voters are speaking, and they don’t appear to be especially appeased. There’s a new Gallup poll just out showing that independent voters hate the deal. Their views on it are far more similar to the GOP’s than to the Democratic Party’s.  Combine these data with the president’s approval numbers, which are swiftly heading south, and we have little choice but to conclude that this brilliant stratagem backfired. Isn’t it time for someone to say: this new White House political team is worse than the previous one?

First let me run you through the numbers. Americans disapprove of the deal by 46 to 39 percent. Democrats support it 58-28. Republicans oppose it 26-64. Independents oppose it 33-50. A second question asked of respondents: Was the deal a step forward or backward or neither with respect to “addressing the federal debt situation?” Democrats lined up 30-14-50. Republicans, 15-28-52. Independents, 16-25-50. Finally, independents also align more closely with Republicans on the question of whether the deal will have a good or bad effect on the economy.  Whereas 29 percent of Democrats think the effect will be good, just 12 percent of independents and 8 percent of Republicans believe that.

Let’s see, what else? The immigration speech from May? What, you don’t even remember it? If it was at least partly intended as a sop to Latino voters before the campaign really revs up, it seems to have left them largely unmoved—Obama is below 50 percent with Latinos in some surveys. OK, how about the more recent Midwestern jobs swing? Probably did no damage, but certainly did no good. The Vineyard vacation? I don’t begrudge the man a little R and R, and maybe it’s a small thing, but that destination—a bad symbol, Martha’s Vineyard. He might as well have gone to California wine country. Last I checked, there are golf courses aplenty to be found in North Carolina, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Colorado.

When David Axelrod left to go to the campaign office in Chicago, and Rahm Emanuel left to become mayor, the spin was that David Plouffe and Bill Daley, their respective replacements, would, if nothing else, bring fresh and unwearied perspectives to these admittedly grueling and thankless jobs. But they appear to have given Obama bad advice at nearly every turn. Plouffe, from what I can see, just looks to be in over his head in this job. He was a whiz at organizing a campaign field network. But this is a different game.

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Steve Jobs: “You’ve got to find what you love”

Technolism.com

Word that Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO at Apple Computer has set the tech world in turmoil. But reading this commencement speech he gave at Stanford in 2005, published online by the Stanford University News, helps put it all into perspective:

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

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Let’s march in protest this Labor Day!

How will you celebrate this Labor Day?

I agree with Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley and author of 'Aftershock':

Labor Day is traditionally a time for picnics and parades. But this year is no picnic for American workers, and a protest march would be more appropriate than a parade.

Not only are 25 million unemployed or underemployed, but American companies continue to cut wages and benefits. The median wage is still dropping, adjusted for inflation. High unemployment has given employers extra bargaining leverage to wring out wage concessions.

All told, it's been the worst decade for American workers in a century. According to Commerce Department data, private-sector wage gains over the last decade have even lagged behind wage gains during the decade of the Great Depression (4 percent over the last ten years, adjusted for inflation, versus 5 percent from 1929 to 1939).

Big American corporations are making more money, and creating more jobs, outside the United States than in it. If corporations are people, as the Supreme Court's twisted logic now insists, most of the big ones headquartered here are rapidly losing their American identity.

CEO pay, meanwhile, has soared. The median value of salaries, bonuses and long-term incentive awards for CEOs at 350 big American companies surged 11 percent last year to $9.3 million (according to a study of proxy statements conducted for The Wall Street Journal by the management consultancy Hay Group.). Bonuses have surged 19.7 percent.

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For anyone who recalls 2008, Obama’s poll numbers are shocking

Remember 2008?

Here’s the latest from Gallup:

President Obama finds himself in tight races with a handful of his Republican rivals, according to a new Gallup poll of registered voters released Monday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads Obama, 48 percent to 46 percent, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry ties the president at 47 percent. The president holds a two-point lead over Texas Rep. Ron Paul and a four-point edge over Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

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Rebels advance to Tripoli

Celebrations in Libya as rebels advance in Tripoli

With the support of NATO’s air strikes against Gaddafi’s regime, rebels have advanced to Tripoli. Thomas Erdbrink and Liz Sly at the Washington Post report: 

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s four-decade-long rule over the country was crumbling at breakneck speed as hundreds of rebel fighters swept into Tripoli and took control Monday of the symbolically significant Green Square in the heart of the city.

With rebel leaders saying late Sunday that Gad­dafi’s compound was surrounded, that his son Saif al-Islam had been captured and that his presidential guard had surrendered, the six-month-old battle for control of Libya appeared to be hurtling toward a dramatic finale.

In a written statement, President Obama said: “Tonight, the momentum against the Qadhafi regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant.”

Early Monday there were reports of heavy clashes near Gaddafi’s compound. Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman said that tanks had emerged from the complex and began firing, AP said.

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In the good old days when Obama pledged to transform a broken Washington

Maureen Dowd’s acerbic, literary style is at its peak as she chides President Obama in today’s NY Times column, Of dystopias and alphas, and incidentally gives a favorable nod to Bill Clinton. One has to ask, though, where was Dowd’s razor sharp intellect in 2008 when she followed the lemmings over the cliff in support of Obama while doing her utmost to destroy both Bill and Hillary Clinton?

Ah, well, perhaps we can still enjoy seeing Dowd’s talent rescued from the trash bin of history and put to better uses in the summer of 2011:

President Obama was on the way to Alpha when a plea came for him to be, well, more alpha.

LuAnn Lavine, a real estate agent from Geneseo, a rural town just up the road from Alpha, Ill., the last stop on the president’s Midwestern bus tour, told The Times’s Jeff Zeleny: “Everyone was so hopeful with him, but Washington grabbed him and here we are. I just want him to stay strong and don’t take the guff. We want a president who is a leader, and I want him to be a little bit stronger.” 

Hers was a gentler message than the sign stuck on a post outside Alpha: “One Term President.” 

But her three words summed it up: Washington grabbed him. Why did this man whose contempt for Congress is clear, who ran on the idea that he could transform a broken Washington, surrender to its conventional timetable and bureaucratic language? 

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What does Bill Clinton’s vegan diet have to do with the Chinese eating more meat?

The meat counter at a Wal-Mart in China. Photo credits: iasoybeans.com

If you’re curious about what Bill Clinton’s eating habits have to do with the Chinese developing a taste for red meat, read on.

I was in the midst of Daniel Quinn’s novel, Ishmael, all about the takers and leavers, and how the takers are destroying the earth in their greedy efforts to expand and protect their food production, when I caught the CBS Evening News report on why U.S. grocery prices are up. If you thought the Chinese are still eating only rice and fish, you’re in for a big surprise:

(CBS News)

 

BEIJING - The booming economy in China has increased the country's appetite for oil - that is well known. But what you might not know is prosperity has also increased China's appetite for another commodity - meat.

The report continues:

But there's a problem. China's approximately the same size as the United States but its land supports four times the population: 1.3 billion people. Year after year of drought has lead to severe water shortages, and that means trouble for a country trying to raise an expanding number of livestock.

Here’s the deal back home: the Chinese are importing American food products and driving our grocery prices up; that’s the short-term problem. The long-term problem is what Ishmael is talking about – the ultimate destruction of the planet.

Okay. Now I understand why I’ve cut back on meat consumption lately and added more rice to my diet; I’m trying to live within my means. Seriously, folks, I make a large bowl of brown rice and use it to supplement my meals throughout the week.

Just when I started feeling sorry for myself and blaming those inconsiderate Chinese for changing their dietary habits, our good buddy from Arkansas, once known for his love of burgers and fries, grabbed the spotlight with this headline: Bill Clinton, Champion Of The Plant-Based Diet, Goes Vegan. The Huffington Post reports:

Bill Clinton is a vegan -- or is, at least, very close to being one. 

The former U.S. president told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta this week that he doesn't eat any dairy, eggs or meat, and consumes very little oil. He first opened up about his new plant-based diet last year to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Clinton has turned to eating solely plants in order to keep weight off and his heart healthy. 

So I guess we should all follow Bill’s lead for a healthier life and balancing our budgets.

Tell Harry Reid: Warren Buffett wants you to raise his taxes

Hi all, 

It's time, Harry!

I just got this note from Matt Lockshin at Credo. I signed, how about you?

Dear Virginia,

We hear a lot about "shared sacrifice" and belt-tightening out of Washington, but as billionaire investor Warren Buffett noted on Sunday:

"Our leaders have asked for 'shared sacrifice.' But when they did the asking, they spared me...and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks."¹

As complicated as some want to make it, this issue is very simple. In a time of economic crisis, it's both healthy for our democracy and fundamentally fair to ask the super rich to pay more.

Senator Bernie Sanders has a bill to do this and make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has yet to call a vote on it.

Tell Harry Reid: Warren Buffett wants you to raise his taxes. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

One of the main drivers of our federal deficit are the Bush tax cuts, which have driven down tax rates for the wealthiest Americans to the lowest levels we've seen since the 1950s.

Tax rates for the richest Americans have fallen sharply despite the fact that taxing millionaires and billionaires is wildly popular, and the cost of not taxing them extremely high. The Sanders bill alone would bring in an additional $50 billion a year in revenue.

When someone like billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that he and his friends "have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,"² people pay close attention. And with Washington focused on what to cut and by how much, Mr. Buffett asking for Congress to raise his taxes represents an important opportunity.

This is a rare moment to inject common sense into the debate over budgets and get senators on the record about being for or against record low tax rates enjoyed by billionaires like Mr. Buffett.

Tell Harry Reid: Warren Buffett wants you to raise his taxes. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

With the creation of a new twelve member Super Committee empowered to fast-track through Congress budget-slashing legislation that cannot be amended, it's more important than ever that we pressure our representatives to deal with the crisis caused by their inability to end the Bush tax cuts and bring back rational taxation rates for the richest Americans.

And before the congressional Super Committee issues a draft of its budget plan, we need all senators to go on the record about whether they support or oppose the simple notion that the super rich need to pay their fair share. This will create much needed momentum to help Democrats on the Super Committee hold the line on our demands for revenue increases.

Tell Harry Reid: Warren Buffett wants you to raise his taxes. Click here to automatically sign the petition asking Harry Reid to call a Senate vote on Sen. Sanders' bill to tax millionaires and billionaires.

Republican hostage-taking and other deeply undemocratic tactics by members of both parties have left us with a budget process that is broken, and as a result most senators avoid taking a stand on important issues like whether we should raise taxes on the very richest among us.

But in the face of massive budget shortfalls, and with a billionaire like Warren Buffett literally asking for it, there's no excuse for Congress not to vote on taxing millionaires and billionaires.

Tell Harry Reid: Warren Buffett wants you to raise his taxes. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Notes:
¹"Stop Coddling the Super-Rich," Warren Buffett, New York Times, Aug. 14,2011.
²Ibid.

Marlo Thomas on her friendship with Gloria Steinem

I’ve got a busy day ahead of me with a freelance writing assignment among other things, and I hadn’t planned to post this morning, but when I saw this tribute by Marlo Thomas to Gloria Steinem, who will be featured this evening in the HBO documentary, Gloria, in her own words, I couldn’t resist.

Incidentally, I saw Gloria and Marlo in person in Chicago in 1980 when I joined thousands of other women to march in Grant Park in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Marlo writes:

In the forty years I've known Gloria Steinem, we have been confidantes, soul mates and sisters. And only once can I remember feeling any worry about our friendship. I had fallen in love with a white-haired Irishman, and had decided to marry the guy. This was not going to be easy to break to my soul mate.

Until that moment, Gloria and I had always been philosophically synced. We were two unmarried women who were obviously not man-haters, which is how many people at the time tried to portray feminists. We were women who had loving relationships with men, and shared a passion about women's freedom -- and the concept of marriage just never fit in the equation for either of us.

In fact, both of us would often get mail from women who'd write, "I refer to you whenever my mother nags me about settling down. I say to her, 'Well, Gloria Steinem and Marlo Thomas aren't married, and they're not crazy!'"

But in 1977, I met Phil, and the idea of marriage surprisingly seemed possible for me.

But there was still Gloria -- and that had me worried. So the night before my wedding, I wrote her a long letter, pouring out my feelings, and assuring her that walking down the aisle would never mean walking away from all we believed in. 

"This will be the greatest test of our sisterhood," I wrote. "We've always been a support for each other on this issue, and I hope now you won't feel abandoned by me."

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The irony of Michele Bachmann’s challenge to Barack Obama

There was a time when Democrats felt secure in holding on to the votes of a majority of women for they felt confident there was no place else for them to go. It’s the same dilemma faced too often by the battered wife. And that in a nutshell explains the abusive treatment Hillary Clinton took in 08 from the DNC and the superdelegates as they scurried off after Pied Piper Barack Obama, the hip young senator who was going to save the world solely by virtue of his personality and those sonorous speeches ringing with the cadences of an evangelical preacher.

Have you seen David Axelrod recently? The once oily smooth fellow with all the answers now looks harried and distraught. Must be tough facing the reality that 2012 isn’t going to be a repeat of 2008.

And then there’s the scary word out of Ames, IA that a conservative woman won the straw poll. Chris Cilliza at the  Washington Post:

AMES, Iowa — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann scored a victory in the GOP Ames Straw Poll on Saturday, a win likely to provide her considerable momentum as the 2012 race ramps up.

“What we saw happen today is this is the very first step toward taking the White House in 2012, and you have just sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president,” said Bachmann (R-Minn.) after her victory was announced.

Got it, boys? A female GOP candidate is set to take down Barack Obama and from the mess the country is in today, you have to think she just might have a chance.

Bachmann’s rise is not just a wake up call for the good ol’ boys in the GOP, it’s also a wake up call for the good ol’ boys in the Democratic Party who called the shots in 08 and declared that racism was taboo, but it was open season for sexism. It must also be kind of depressing at this point for the Dems to realize that Bill and Hillary Clinton are both at the top of their game while Barack Obama is stumbling around, muttering something about “broken politics.”

A word to the wise, oh, great Democratic Party leaders: pick a leader next time.

ElizabethWarren for Senator: Run, Elizabeth, Run!

Photo courtesy of politicalcarnival.net

At coffee after church the other day, a friend and I were lamenting the sorry state of politics in Washington – we were both fatigued from observing the scandalous behavior of our elected leaders during the debt limit debate. Seeking inspiration on the political front, I mentioned Elizabeth Warren, and my friend’s eyes lit up.

So it’s good news to see the banner headline at the Huffington Post today shouting: Elizabeth Warren Gearing Up For Senate Run, Announcement To Come Post Labor Day. Sam Stein has the story:

WASHINGTON -- Former Obama adviser and longtime consumer protection advocate Elizabeth Warren is moving toward a Senate run, several Democratic sources tell the Huffington Post.

The Massachusetts resident and Harvard Law School professor authored a post for an influential progressive state-based blog on Thursday afternoon pledging that she would not "stop fighting for middle class families." The article prompted a slew of speculation that Warren was poised to take on sitting Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

Additional information relayed from Massachusetts Democratic sources suggest she's even more serious about launching a campaign. Warren is currently being assisted by two influential Democratic operatives in the state: Doug Rubin, the chief strategist for Gov. Deval Patrick's two successful statewide runs, and Kyle Sullivan, Patrick's press secretary for his first term. She has also begun making a series of calls to influential activists and party officials in the state, including one to the Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman John Walsh on Thursday, a Massachusetts Democrat tells the Huffington Post.

The current plan is to spend the "next few weeks listening to residents across Massachusetts, calling activists, party leaders and elected officials," the source relays. A final decision is expected after Labor Day.

All told, the signs point to a likely run by Warren, in what could quickly shape up to be one of the most closely watched Senate races in the cycle.

Anyhow – run, Elizabeth, run!

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Dems oust two Republican state senators in Wisconsin recall election

Image courtesy of WKOW.com, Madison, WI

It wasn’t enough to take control of the state senate in Wisconsin, but Dems are celebrating two wins in the recall election, which makes it a 17-16 body with little wiggle room for Republicans in their union-busting efforts.

Here’s the wrap up of the recall election:

WASHINGTON -- Democrats won two Wisconsin state Senate seats in Tuesday's dramatic recall elections, but they fell short of the three needed to take the majority away from Republicans. 

Six incumbent GOP state senators were forced to defend their seats on Tuesday in historic recall elections. The efforts to change the makeup of the state Senate came after Republicans passed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) controversial measure stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights. 

Even though Democrats weren't able to take back one of the chambers of the legislature, they touted the fact that voters ousted two incumbent Republicans as a major victory.

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On Wisconsin! Senate recall elections on Aug. 9th and 16th

Here’s the scoop on those state senate recall elections in Wisconsin that offer the Democrats the opportunity to seize control of the senate and hopefully thwart Gov. Walker’s anti-labor agenda:

WASHINGTON -- Following a highly contentious seven-month battle, all but one of the nine recalled Wisconsin state Senators will fight to keep their seats in general elections happening on August 9 and August 16.

After Governor Scott Walker (R) signed a highly contentious budget bill that stripped public employees of their collective bargaining rights, petitions were filed to recall six Republican and three Democratic state Senators.

Energized by the decision by 14 Democratic state Senators to initially flee the state in an effort to prevent a vote on the legislation and the subsequent protests that occurred once Walker's budget was passed anyway, Democrats had pledged to exact revenge by removing Republican lawmakers through the recall process. Republicans responded by targeting three of those Democrats in return.

On July 19th, Democrat Dave Hansen won the first of the nine general recall elections against challenger David VanderLeest. Never a favorite of the state Republican Party, VanderLeest was hurt by his own legal and personal troubles, including nearly $25,000 in unpaid property taxes and past arrests for domestic abuse. Hansen took 65 percent of the vote in the election, easily keeping his hold on his seat, representing the 30th state Senate District.

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It’s Time: Hillary for 2012 (video)

After eight years of George W. Bush and four years of Barack Obama, the nation is ready for a real leader like Hillary Clinton. Watch the ad below purchased by a Chicago dentist named William DeJean.

Hillary has stated she won’t run in 2012, but maybe we can talk her into it. And there’s always a write-in possibility.

Who loses when Obama and the Dems cave to rightwing extortion?

Photo credits: courtesy of the Nation

Leslie Savan, blogging at the Nation, talks about how the MSM ignores the debt ceiling deal’s effect on real people:

Right before a break on The Daily Rundown the other day, host Chuck Todd was talking about the debt deal and mentioned “unemployment lines.” Then he announced, “Coming up: Did Washington take its eye off the ball of what really matters?”  

For one naïve moment, I expected that “what really matters” would entail the debt deal’s effect on actual people, maybe even a sound bite or two from someone who depends on the newly threatened Medicare coverage or unemployment benefits (Congress’s “compromise” failed to extend federal emergency jobless benefits).

Instead, Todd returned to talk with two Washington journalists on what the deal means to the larger economy.A necessary discussion, for sure, but like most TV politi-chat these days, it didn’t touch onhow “the deal savages programs for the lower and middle classes,” as my colleague George Zornick put it in a post that breaks down the likely effects on veterans, students, seniors, the poor, and the unemployed. This Nation slideshow illustrates what most MSM avert their eyes to.  

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An unimpressed customer ignores Obama at the Good Stuff Eatery (photo)

Image credit: Pete Souza/White House

You have to love this photo of President Obama and his advisors enjoying burgers at the Good Stuff Eatery the day before Obama’s 50^th birthday as an unimpressed customer seated a few feet away checks out her cell phone.

Begging for a Democratic primary challenger in 2012

Image courtesy of UppityWoman08.wordpress.com

In the aftermath of the debt ceiling bill fiasco, Froma Harrop offers a sane and balanced rationale for a Democratic challenger to oppose Barack Obama in 2012. If anything, Harrop might be accused of being too kind to Obama:

Ed Rendell, do you have plans for 2012? Hillary Clinton? If you, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, or you, the secretary of state, are free next year and wouldn't mind, would you please launch a primary challenge against President Obama?

This request stems not from anger at Obama's penchant for blithely negotiating away certain Medicare benefits or the need to modestly raise tax revenues -- things that Democrats want, and if the polls are correct, so do most Americans. It was about not negotiating at all while appearing to negotiate on a matter that should be non-negotiable: the full faith and credit of the United States.

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Keith Olbermann on the debt ceiling bill: “The Four Great Hypocrisies”

Is this special comment at Current TV by the same Keith Olbermann who in 08 repeatedly trashed Hillary Clinton while worshiping at the feet of Barack Obama?

Watch:

Video of Gabby Giffords' appearance on the House floor

Politico has a detailed account of Gabby Giffords’ appearance on the House floor for the debt ceiling vote; go here for a video of her appearance.

Gabby Giffords votes for debt limit deal

Many Americans are saddened today that a debt limit deal has been reached that takes from the poor and gives to the richest among us. 

But after weeks of depressing news out of Washington, a ray of hope lit up the House of Representatives as Gabby Giffords, Dem., AZ, returned for the vote.

 

Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona made a surprise return to Washington Monday to vote in favor of an agreement to raise the debt limit. 

"The #Capitol looks beautiful and I am honored to be at work tonight," she said in a Tweet. 

Lawmakers offered Giffords a standing ovation on the House floor when she showed up for the vote. After it was completed, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Giffords' name inspires the love and admiration of Americans and called the lawmaker the "personification of courage."

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Mr. Post-partisan caves again…

Mr. Post-partisan

TGW sums up the latest debt ceiling bill:

As expected, Mr. Post-Partisan caved again. President Obama has proved over and over again that he is not a fighter! Because he is such a gutless wonder, people are going to suffer. With Democrats like Obama, who the hell needs Republicans?

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