Gabrielle Giffords’ novel cost-cutting idea for the supercommittee

While the supercommittee continues to debate slashing Social Security and Medicare programs to get the federal deficit under control, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords initiated legislation last January that would cut the salaries of lawmakers for the first time since the Great Depression.

Politico reports:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ aides, backed by 25 House members, have asked the supercommittee to cut lawmakers’ pay as the 12-member panel works to reach a deficit-reduction deal before its Thanksgiving deadline.

Giffords, who is recovering from an assassination attempt, first introduced legislation to slash congressional salaries in January. The Arizona Democrat has been in the news lately because her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, wrote a book about her ordeal.

In a letter to the supercommittee, the bipartisan group of lawmakers write that the cut should be made “both as a commonsense way to cut government spending and to send a powerful message to the American people that Congress should not be exept from the sacrifices it will take to balance the budget.”

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Gabrielle Giffords on the cover of People Magazine

Isn't the miraculous Gabrielle Giffords lovely as she stands encircled in the arms of her husband Mark Kelly?

Giffords and Kelly book: touching, inspirational, with a touch of humor

The memoir co-authored by Astronaut Mark Kelly and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is touching, inspirational, with a touch of humor, but it unavoidably reminds one of the increasing strain of violence in  American culture, visible both at home and abroad. 

Gifford’s memory of being “shocked” and “scared” after taking a bullet in the head in Arizona could describe any sane person’s response to the path Americans seem to be taking in the 21^st century. The review of the Kelly-Giffords book at Politico mentions other losses the couple shared:

Kelly writes that he tried to tell Giffords what happened during the attack multiple times, but she did not understand the situation until several months later on March 12. At that time, the AP writes, Kelly asked Giffords if she recalled being shot, and she said she did.

Giffords said three words when he asked what she remembered about it: “Shot. Shocked. Scary.”

She found out about the six who died the same day, the AP reported. Kelly was reading an article about her recovery and skipped a paragraph that discussed those who died on Jan. 8. Giffords realized he left a part out, and Kelly told her about the deaths.

Giffords was overwhelmed and had trouble with her therapy, the AP wrote, and later that night cried in bed with Kelly as she told her husband how awful she felt about those who had been killed.

She did not learn who died until six months later, however, the memoir reveals. After Giffords was released from the Houston hospital where she was recovering, she asked her husband to tell her who had died.

When Kelly first told her that her staffer, Gabe Zimmerman, had died, she broke down crying and moaning, the AP reported. Then he shared that her friend Judge John Roll also had been killed, before telling her about the four others who suffered fatal shots in the shooting spree.

The book details other personal tragedies experienced by Giffords and her husband. Giffords has lost 50 percent of her vision in both eyes, the AP wrote. And the two were trying to have a baby at the time of the shooting — Giffords had several rounds of fertility treatments over the years and wanted to be pregnant in 2011.

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Astronaut Mark Kelly and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords: an antidote to the Schwarzenegger and Strauss-Kahn scandals

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly

After reading the headlines this week blaring the sordid news of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s and Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sexual indiscretions, one turns with relief to the example set by Astronaut Mark Kelly, commander of the space shuttle Endeavor, and his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The wounded Giffords was on hand at Cape Canaveral for Endeavor’s launch; the couple exchanged wedding rings before yesterday’s liftoff.

Manuel Roig-Franzia reported at the Washington Post:

Space shuttle Endeavour vaulted elegantly into the sky Monday, a spectacle of fire and power lent a grace note by the wounded congresswoman watching from below.

The appearance here of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) added a new chapter to a remarkable saga of survival and recovery, five months after she was shot in the head in an attack in Tucson that left six others dead. 

Endeavour, which was originally scheduled to launch in November, blasted off 1 ½ weeks after its highly anticipated April 29 launch was scrubbed because of problems with the ship’s hydraulic system.

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Giffords to attend shuttle launch

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Astronaut Mark Kelly

 Gabrielle Giffords appears to be making slow but sure progress. The Huffington Post reports:

HOUSTON — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will attend husband Mark Kelly's space shuttle launch in Florida on Friday, Kelly said, allowing the Arizona congresswoman to travel for the first time since she was flown from Tucson to Houston more than three months ago to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.

In an interview with CBS' Katie Couric, Kelly said Giffords' doctors had given her permission to travel to Cape Canaveral, Fla., for the launch of Endeavour, which is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. Friday. Kelly is the commander of the shuttle mission.

CBS released excerpts of the interview Sunday, and it was scheduled to air Monday on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," according to a network statement.

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When was the last time you heard a plea for “shared sacrifice” in our national discourse?

FL Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

We’ve all become better acquainted in the past several months with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as she joined Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in offering strong support to their severely wounded friend, Gabrielle Giffords. Observing their warmth and compassion for Giffords has been inspirational.

And we’ve been reminded that although Giffords has been temporarily sidelined, these three women are all outstanding leaders in the Democratic Party.

In recognition of her leadership skills, President Obama recently picked Wasserman Schultz to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Obama chose the right person. Her response to his deficit reduction speech yesterday is among the most intelligent, balanced, and thoughtful that I’ve scanned in this morning’s online coverage. I mean, how often in the last decade – in spite of our two wars - have you heard anyone use the phrase, “shared sacrifice?”

Politico’s Jennifer Epstein reports (emphases mine):

In her first interviews since getting the nod last week, the Florida congresswoman said that Obama’s Wednesday speech began to lay out an adult vision of shared sacrifices that stands in sharp contrast to the position that Republicans* have taken.

“The president envisions trying to address our budget deficit and turn the economy around and focus on job creation and not short-circuit our economic recovery,” she said on NBC’s “Today” show. In contrast, “the direction that the Republicans have proposed … is to balance all of the sacrifice on the backs of our seniors, on the backs of our frail elderly.”

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*I would add, "and many faux liberals as well." 

Facebook photo of Gabrielle Giffords just before she was shot

Mourning the victims of the Arizona shooting.

It’s hard to look at the photo of Gabrielle Giffords posted on her Facebook page just before she was shot in Tucson that fateful day without tearing up, as well as the other photos of her on her Facebook wall. To see the photo(s) click here.

Could Gabby Giffords take AZ Senator Jon Kyl’s seat?

 According to Politico, Dems are looking to Gabby Giffords as a potential candidate to replace Jon Kyl; now this is true optimism and maybe even faith, and we can only cheer Gabby Giffords and her supporters on.

Politico’s Alexander Burns writes:

The race for Arizona’s open Senate seat has quickly focused in on one question: What will Gabrielle Giffords do?

The Democratic congresswoman, who survived an assassination attempt in Tucson last month, is still undergoing rehabilitation in Houston for a gunshot wound to the head. Physicians have warned that her recovery will proceed at its own pace.

But even though questions about her health remain, Giffords’s astonishingly rapid recovery has left Democrats in Arizona and Washington looking to her as a potential candidate to replace retiring GOP Sen. Jon Kyl.

Giffords was mentioned as one possible contender for the 2012 race during a closed-door meeting of Senate Democrats on Thursday, two sources with knowledge of the meeting said.

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Rep. Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, reports on her progress at National Prayer Breakfast

Washington Post staff writer Sandhya Somashekhar reports:

The husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords delivered a moving tribute to his wife and to the power of faith Thursday during the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, remarking on her steady improvement and urging the nation to keep her in its thoughts and prayers because "it's helping.”

Mark E. Kelly, an astronaut and Navy captain, was invited to deliver the closing prayer for the annual event, which also featured President Obama. Kelly said he was able to attend only because Giffords - who was shot in the head during a shooting rampage last month - continues to improve at a promising clip, though he did not offer specifics.

Giffords and husband Mark Kelly watch SOTU (photo)

The New York Times' Jim Roberts shared this photo on Twitter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly watching the State of the Union Address.

Both President Obama in his SOTU speech and Rep. Paul Ryan, who gave the Republican response, recognized Gifford at the beginning of their speeches. In her honor, members of  Congress wore black and white ribbons like that worn by Mark Kelly in the above photo. At the SOTU, the Arizona delegation left an empty chair for Giffords.