Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Everybody saw this coming.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

“But what about the lurkers?”

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

You are here: Home / Politics / Media / This Is a Stickup, Everybody Get Face Down

This Is a Stickup, Everybody Get Face Down

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Nobody move, nobody gets hurt:

Congressional Republicans have been breathtakingly irresponsible of late, but Shelby’s latest gambit might be the single most ridiculous stunt in a long while. What kind of right-wing clown rails against government spending and then holds the Senate hostage until he gets his earmarks?

This from a senator who once pledged to do “whatever it takes” to give presidential nominees “up or down” votes?

If Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback” became a national punch-line, Shelby’s scheme — it’ll need a clever little name — should easily become a humiliating moment for the senator and his party.

What makes it even better is who will be the recipient of the largesse Shelby is demanding (via Marci Wheeler):

The key issue is that Shelby wants the Air Force to tweak an RFP for refueling tankers so that Airbus (partnered with Northrup Grumman) would win the bid again over Boeing. The contract had been awarded in 2008, but the GAO found that the Air Force had erred in calculating the award. After the Air Force wrote a new RFP in preparation to rebid the contract, Airbus calculated that it would not win the new bid, and started complaining. Now, Airbus is threatening to withdraw from the competition unless the specs in the RFP are revised.

Essentially, then, Shelby’s threat is primarily about gaming this bidding process to make sure Airbus–and not Boeing–wins the contract (there’s a smaller program he’s complaining about, too, but this is the truly huge potential bounty for his state).

I’m not sure why anyone at all is surprised about this. First of all, this is just a repeat performance for Shelby. You will remember, of course, during the auto bailouts, Sen. Shelby and Sen. Corker did everything they could to make sure that GM and Chrysler died, and people remember that they were motivated in large part by their insatiable desire to destroy the UAW and weaken the power of unions nationwide. But the other reason Shelby and Corker were so eager to see GM and Chrysler die was because of the large presence of foreign auto manufacturers in their respective states. In other words, they are used to going to bat for foreign manufacturers over the American people and American industry. That is just how they roll.

Second, the other reason he is doing this is because is because he can. He will pay no political price for this whatsoever. The beltway media will not flay him alive like they did Nelson, even though the 100 billion dollar potential contract to a company propped up by foreign governments is ONE THOUSAND times bigger than the 100 million dollar Nebraska sweetheart deal that Nelson received. Not only will he not pay a price, but, in a couple of weeks, you can guarantee that Shelby will be intoning gravely about deficit spending and pork on one of the Sunday shows, and NO ONE will call him on it. Remember his rhetoric during the stimulus debate?

So, in short, I’m just not sure why anyone is surprised by this. Like any serial liar and thief, the reason he is doing it is because he can. Remember- IOKIYAR.

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  3. 3.

    R-Jud

    If Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback” became a national punch-line, Shelby’s scheme—it’ll need a clever little name—should easily become a humiliating moment for the senator and his party.

    “Twatwaffle Hoedown”.

  5. 5.

    BruinKid

    So can we declare Shelby an agent of a foreign government now, given that his primary focus now seems to be satisfying his foreign overlords rather than looking out for American citizens?

  7. 7.

    beltane

    I’m not surprised one bit. I am just furious beyond belief. Once, just once, I want to see one of these motherf**kers taken down over this kind of stunt.

  8. 8.

    Penon

    I prefer to think of this as the “Shelby Hostage Crisis.” Maybe we can get Nightline (is that still on?) to tick off the days.

  10. 10.

    beltane

    @R-Jud: The “French Connection”. Shelby is sabotaging the United States government on behalf of a French corporation.

  11. 11.

    John S.

    You know, this is a really good missive.

    Here’s an idea for you John (or some enterprising Balloon Juicer) along the lines of what was done with Steve Benen’s HCR missive. Let’s Google Bomb something like “Shelby Hostage Crisis” with a domain of like name shelby-hostage-crisis.com that redirects to a post like this, but with more linkage, clearly making the case that Shelby is a liar, hypocrite and sociopath. Then send out a press release to media outlets, let the blogosphere run wild with it…and voila! If people are talking about, it must be news.

    If it’s good enough for skull fucking kittens, it’s good enough for topics of importance.

    EDIT: We can even have a counter for how many days Obama’s nominees have been held hostage, with a prisoner of war theme and everything!

  15. 15.

    El Cid

    This isn’t about greed for Big Gubmit Munee.

    It’s about Senator Porkwall Shelby protecting America from Obama’s embrace of terrorism:

    “Sen. Shelby has placed holds on several pending nominees due to unaddressed national security concerns,” Shelby spokesperson Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement. “Among his concerns” are the progress on multi-billion dollar defense contract that would see planes built in Mobile, AL and Obama’s decision to scrap a $45 million FBI improvised explosive device lab Shelby secured an earmark for in 2008.
    …
    Graffeo lashed out at Obama’s decision to cancel the lab, which he says “impedes” the ability of the military and intelligence agencies in their efforts to fight terrorism.
    …
    He said the decision was part of a pattern on the part of the White House to put political concerns over fighting terror. Graffeo also suggested the holds were no big deal.
    …
    “The Obama Administration wants to read terrorists our Miranda rights and try them in U.S. courts but is impeding the processing of evidence that could lead to convictions,” he said. “If this administration were as worried about hunting down terrorists as it is about the confirmation of low-level political nominations, America would be a safer place“

    If only one day we could be as safe as under Republican leadership when we had 2 World Trade Centers, a 5 sided Pentagon, and no hijacked planes crashed into the ground.

    Clearly Bill Clinton & Barack Obama erred grievously in reading Richard Reid the Shoe Not Bomber his Miranda rights and putting him through one of those gay wimpy civilian trials rather than a manly, leather thong wearing, sandals and robe-clad military tribunal.

    [Brought up from last thread.]

  17. 17.

    AngusTheGodOfMeat

    This isn’t a new idea here, but we’ve mentioned that the real basis for the “partisanship” (translation: cage fight) in Washington is the fight over who gets the keys to the cashbox.

    Washington is the center of large, steaming moneygobs available to whoever has the balls to grab them. Ethics, principles, patriotism, progressivism, conservatism, or whatever ism you want to name … mean nothing in the long run. What did the Dems do when they owned congress all those years? Gamed, and stole. What did the GOP do under Bush when nobody was really watching the store? Gamed, and stole.

    Gaming and stealing are the most reliable things in Washington. The only thing that changes is the color of the curtains they string up in front of the crime scene.

  19. 19.

    jacy

    We need better meme dispersal mechanisms. If Sarah Starbursts can Facebook “death panels” we ought to be able to do something with Shelby’s terrorist hostage takeover.

    It’s a shame Sully has worn out his fainting couch already this year.

  20. 20.

    El Cid

    [Also from last thread — Shelby’s comments on the stimulus weren’t just ‘back then’ but a few weeks ago, too.]

    Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Senator Richard Porkwall Shelby from the Great Confederate State of Alabama, just a few weeks ago:

    Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is sharply criticizing the Department of Commerce’s management of the broadband stimulus program, which he says is a “poster child” for wasteful spending under the Obama administration.
    …
    “This program is not stimulating the economy — it is simply more government spending that is forcing our nation much further into debt,” he said during an oversight hearing this morning.
    …
    “The stimulus broadband funding has taken what was once a small agency and turned it into a bureaucratic nightmare,” added Shelby, ranking member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee on Appropriations.

    MUNEE WHICH AH DON’T GIT IZ BAD MUNEE. U R A TERRIST IF U DON’T GIMME ALL DA MUNEE.

  22. 22.

    Michael

    OT, but it looks like the metric of screaming “its Soc!alism” about everything that would have seemed normal in an Eisenhower Administration has had an effect.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/05/gallup-majority-of-democrats-have-positive-image-of-socialism/

    More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of “socialism,” while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives. …

  23. 23.

    Ailuridae

    I would just like to point out something about the foreign auto plants that dot the south that even liberal blogs don’t mention often enough: they are on a system of perpetual bailout from the federal government.

    These states (SC, GA, MS, TN, etc) are debtor states to the federal government. Nearly all of them attracted the foreign auto makers by large up front payments coupled with minimal or no taxes on the business and, sometimes waving property taxes. What makes this pernicious is that these states can’t pay their own bills and are on the federal government’s tit so, in effect, people in states like IL and MN are paying their federal taxes so that volvo can pay a non-unionized worker less than an American automaker pays a UAW employee while Volvo makes a shitty overpriced care. I know this isn’t the simplest thing to explain to people but this is the exact tactic that should have been taken when Corker and Shelby were lying during the auto bailout.

  25. 25.

    demo woman

    I can’t post on Hot Air but they do have a fair description about what is going on. If you are signed on to comment can you please post about the French Connection.

  26. 26.

    Hiram Taine

    Not only will he not pay a price, but, in a couple of weeks days, you can guarantee that Shelby will be intoning gravely about deficit spending and pork on one of the Sunday shows, and NO ONE will call him on it. Remember his rhetoric during the stimulus debate?

    Today is Friday so I fixed this for accuracy.

  28. 28.

    scav

    @BruinKid: oh dear, but it’s a foreign corporation not a foreign govt and thus worthy of free(-market) speech and representation according to some of the Supremes (“Stop! In the Name of Pork!”). Isn’t this how it’s all supposed to work now?

  29. 29.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    Thank goodness for the strong liberal mainstream media bias otherwise stories like this would never reach the people.

  30. 30.

    demo woman

    Let’s not forget that Shelby released classified information before. His excuse runs hollow.

  31. 31.

    pillsy

    I’m not surprised. I’m just not letting my complete lack of surprise get in the way of my spittle-flecked, vitriolic and purely partisan outrage.

  35. 35.

    Malron

    In a related bit of poetic justice, Shelby and Corker will be hit hard by the losses at Toyota due to the millions of cars recalled and work stoppages because of acceleration and electrical problems.

  36. 36.

    Church Lady

    “…they are used to going to bat for foreign manufacturers over the American people and American industry” even though those foreign manufacturers just happen to employ lots of American citizens that just happen to be their constituents. I can’t imagine why they would go to bat for these sneaky furrin companies.

  37. 37.

    Kryptik

    I’m just waiting for when someone in the broken media complex we’ve got decides to try and spin this into something wrong with Democrats.

    “If Obama didn’t hate the troops so much, Shelby wouldn’t have to do this!”

    …wait, goddammit.

    No, seriously, can these assholes be parodied anymore? It seems like making fun of them makes them less cartoonish than they really are. How the fuck can Stewart, Colbert, and the Onion keep their sanity (and their jobs) when reality is so much batshit as to be nigh impossible to satirize?

  38. 38.

    Rommie

    Hey, he’s just protecting Jerbs from those damn Hippie freaks in Seattle and the O-bot menace in Chicago, so it’s just another day in the office of Patriotic Duty. He would be irresponsible not to protect his constituents from the SOC’ist types trying to steal Jerbs from Real Americans.

  41. 41.

    demo woman

    These are the invites to Obama’s super bowl bash.
    Senator Landrieu
    Senator Vitter
    Senator Bayh
    Senator Lugar
    Senator Dodd
    Senator Shelby
    Rep. Cao
    Rep. Carson
    Valerie Jarrett
    Michael Strautmanis
    Three injured service members
    These are those attending..
    Senator Dodd
    Rep. Cao
    Rep. Carson
    Valerie Jarrett
    Michael Strautmanis
    Three injured service members

    Must credit the page…

  45. 45.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Let us again practice Arithmetic.

    The tanker contract amount is $40 billion, probably broken down as follows: Labor (50%); Materials (40%); Profit (10%). Materials and Profit are not tied to local markets, so this is about $20 billion for Alabama.

    Now consider that Peter Orszag testified that the taxpayer can assume all of Fannie-Freddie’s liabilities for probably no money. But in practice the banks had around $10 trillion in mortgage liability and most surely the Bankers sent the ‘bad’, and not the ‘good’ mortgages to Fannie-Freddie. Rahm was on the Board of Directors.

    So with the market down 30%, and the GSEs probably holding 80% of the bad loans, this means that the taxpayer liability is actually (0.80) times ($3 trillion) equals $2.4 trillion.

    Now, divide $2.4 trillion by Alabama’s $20 billion, and we arrive at the number 120. As a percentage, this can be expressed as twelve thousand percent.

    So Orszag is a twelve thousand percent bigger serial thief and liar than Shelby. And Obama promoted him.

    Imagine that.

  47. 47.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    So should we call our Senatecritters and ask them to pass a motion to publicly humiliate Senator Shelgame??

  48. 48.

    Shalimar

    #17 @BFR: As someone who went to the University of Alabama and also thinks Shelby is a scumbag, I really don’t think that is fair or appropriate. Political partisans shouldn’t use academic affiliations as insults.

  49. 49.

    Beeb

    I like the Shelby Shakedown, but just in case it doesn’t catch on… According to Wikipedia, Alabama’s nickname is the Yellowhammer State, which I guess would make Shelby and Sessions the Yellowhammer Yahoos. I can’t instantly convert that into a catchy alliterative euphemism for blackmail, though. Yellowhammer Yumyums? Nah. Sounds like a candy. How about the Clodhopper Kickback? The Confederate Clawback? Or the Redneck Ripoff?

  50. 50.

    demo woman

    @jacy: From what I know he does seem like he’s doing a good job. Maybe he’ll switch sides.
    I agree with the President that you should keep your enemies close but inviting Shelby to a superbowl party.. Give me a break. The republicans do not want to and will not ever play fair.

  51. 51.

    Michael

    Crimson Bribe

    Like it – its catchy, you can dance to it.

    Shelby’s Airmarks for Airbus.

    FTW.

  53. 53.

    raymond

    “it’ll need a clever little name”

    Just call it the “Shelby Stickup”. Maybe not clever, but very descriptive and nice resonance with the familiar name “Shelby Steele”.

  54. 54.

    mak

    If Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback” became a national punch-line, Shelby’s scheme—it’ll need a clever little name—should easily become a humiliating moment for the senator and his party.

    Though I would prefer “Senator Shelby is a Dick,” I suppose ‘Shelby Shakedown’ has a slightly better ring to it.

  55. 55.

    demo woman

    @Brick Oven Bill: So do you think that the President should accept the bribe. Do a little research and tell me why it’s legal for congressmen to bribe. If I called the President and said 40 billion or else, I would be in deep sh..t.

  56. 56.

    JGabriel

    On further reflection, I like: Shelby Shakedown.

    Cotton State Cockblock is good too, but we want Shelby’s name associated with this forever, so Shelby Shakedown should take the prize.

    .

  57. 57.

    BFR

    @Pigs & Spiders:

    Boeing’s been busy too – they just bought themselves two shiny new Senators from South Carolina, to add to their stable in WA, MO, IL and CA.

    On that note, it’ll be interesting to see how DeMint and Graham respond to this.

  61. 61.

    Sasha

    The beltway media will not flay him alive like they did Nelson, even though the 100 billion dollar potential contract to a company propped up by foreign governments is ONE THOUSAND times bigger than the 100 million dollar Nebraska sweetheart deal that Nelson received.

    $100 million vs. $100 billion sounds the same. It’s only one letter’s difference.

    Now $100 million vs. $100,000 million . . . that’s pretty messed up.

  63. 63.

    batgirl

    On a google news search for this story here are the first two headlines:

    Adminstration faults GOP tactic of blocking presidential appointments

    Richard Shelby holds up Senate for home state pork

    Guess which one is from WaPo? (The other is actually from CBS News)

    We are fucked. There are days that I think every real Democrat should walk away from government, hand complete control over to the Republicans and give the people what they think they want. When they begin to cry, there will be no Democrat in sight for the GOP to blame. Fuck it all.

  64. 64.

    jacy

    @demo woman:

    By my reckoning, Cao is the single honest politician at any level from dogcatcher to governor in the entire state of Louisiana, which is why he’s doomed.

    BTW, followed some link to Douchehat’s latest assemblage of words and he was saying somethign akin to “just wait till Jindal’s living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue….” Guess he didn’t get the memo.

  65. 65.

    Ailuridae

    @Pigs & Spiders:

    Boeing moved a ton of its manufacturing years ago to Topeka if I remember correctly. That should mean two pissed off conservatives (who presumably wouldn’t vote for Shelby’s hostage taking) in Roberts and Brownback

  66. 66.

    CalD

    Nothing like a good hostage situation. If Democrats can’t make a little hay off of this, they might just as well pack it in and get an early start on their memoirs.

  67. 67.

    Svensker

    The beltway media will not flay him alive like they did Nelson, even though the 100 billion dollar potential contract to a company propped up by foreign governments is ONE THOUSAND times bigger than the 100 million dollar Nebraska sweetheart deal that Nelson received.

    Oh, come on, John. You KNOW Fox, Rush, Breibart, Savage, Beck, Hannity, Caribou Barbie, et al, will be ALL OVER this, because they are very committed to small government and to getting rid of earmarks and pork. Very. The lefty media will ignore it, of course.

    You have to admit this is true.

  69. 69.

    Allan

    So Richard Shelby walks into a butcher shop.

    He pulls out a gun, points it at the butcher and says, Give me some pork and nobody gets hurt.

    How will this scene end?

  71. 71.

    Pigs & Spiders

    @BFR: I know, but as far as I can tell they’ve been suspiciously quiet. Which means they are either doing their job as Senators and not doing their job as Boeing Boys, or Boeing is waiting to see how this all rolls out.

  73. 73.

    asiangrrlMN

    Join me amongst those not surprised by this revelation, but still disgusted. I’m too tired to be anything more than bone-weary disgusted, though. If I got enraged every time a Republican did something duplicitous, idiotic, batshitcrazy, or in his own self-interest, I wouldn’t have time for anything else.

  74. 74.

    Cassidy

    @Ailuridae: He doesn’t need to. All he needs to know is that he can blame brown people and not the lily white executives of Wall Street.

  76. 76.

    Jon

    As one of this ass clown’s former constituents, I vote for either the “Roll Bribe” or the “Shelby Steal.”

    Meanwhile, hit up Teh Google and look at ‘University of Alabama + Machine’ – and then call his office and see if they’ll comment on the fact that Dick Shelby was President of the organization when he was at the university. (While you’re at it, ask why his conservative convictions only swayed him to change parties once the GOP already had the majority won.)

  77. 77.

    raymond

    @Allen, JGabriel: Stickup doesn’t imply success, Steal sort of does. I’m hopeful that Shelby’s tactic won’t succeed. Naive, I know…

  78. 78.

    Ajay

    Dems have no balls. They are fucking clueless and dont deserve to be in majority.

    I am hoping Reid looses and someone like Schumer(?) takes over and fucks these morons with reconciliation after reconciliation.

    Even though its not Obama’s fault at all, he comes across as weak because of events like this as people perceive the president to be the almighty.

  82. 82.

    BFR

    @Pigs & Spiders:

    Boeing’s not sitting quietly by the phone on this.

    Here’s the short history: The first time the tanker contract came up if I recall correctly, Boeing won the contract by bribing the Pentagon directly. They got slapped around for that, hence the second bid (which Airbus won). Then it came out that the Pentagon had skewed the 2nd RFP in a way that guaranteed Airbus would win (basically awarding points for a larger aircraft) without telling Boeing.

    Boeing cried foul and so here we are again. I guarantee that Graham, DeMint, Bond, Brownback, Roberts, etc etc have received some “concerned constituent calls” today. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

  84. 84.

    Ash Can

    @Church Lady:

    even though those foreign manufacturers just happen to employ lots of American citizens that just happen to be their constituents.

    And any time Shelby wants to come clean and ADMIT that and have an honest debate about it for a change, it’s OK by me.

  85. 85.

    cat48

    Hmm, like “Shelby Shakedown”, but like Crimson Bribe & ‘Bama Blackmail is very descriptive. Shelby Shakedown is catchier I think and remembered easier.

  89. 89.

    batgirl

    This is just fail from Gibbs, IMHO:

    From TPM:

    “Gibbs on Shelby holds: “I fear there won’t [b]e a greater example of silliness throughout the entire year of 2010.”

    Come on, can’t the WH be a little stronger on this? I mean what a frakkin great opportunity. As for his fear that there “won’t be a greater example of silliness throughout the entire year of 2010” he should remember that it is only the beginning of February and if the Democrats have shown us anything, it is that they make a perfect door mat for the Republicans and the news media.

  91. 91.

    mario

    I haven’t read the prospect link in John’s post, but I’m assuming it’s Benen.

    Steve’s a nice guy and an occasional good read, but geez louise, when is he going to stop gaping open-mouthed at Republican antics?

    It’s like he’s eternally surprised that they did something crazier this week than last week.

    Not to get on Steve’s case particularly, but this kind of geegaw blogging just makes us look silly.

  94. 94.

    dww44

    Can someone provide links to the most authoritative site/info on the deal struck with Nelson to get his yea vote on HCR bill? And, is it operative if there is no actual bill legislated into actual law?

    My conservative brother and I got into an argument last week at the end of the SOU address, when he, contrary to the specific advice of his liberal wife, said we didn’t need health care reform as we have the “best healthcare in the whole world” and FWIW, the Canadians have the worst. But, to his credit, he doesn’t care for Shelby. For my case I care for precious few Republican Senators, if any, but for darn sure, can not think of a single one whose views are reasonable and rational. My two are the pits. They’ve had to disavow every reasonable and sane position they ever once held.

    But, for what it’s worth, Ga didn’t really have an in with the foreign automater gravy train until just recently when a KIA plant opened. But hey, if the Feds shut down a bunch of military bases, we’d go back to the economy of the Reconstruction era lickety-split.

  96. 96.

    Cassidy

    @Church Lady: I don’t see Senators from those states robbing the gov’t if they don’t get thier way. Nice strawman, though. It had linky’s and everything.

  97. 97.

    Ash Can

    @Jay B.: He’s making it pretty clear that he considers jobs and the economy a more urgent priority than health care reform, that’s true. But his actual quote about it being up to the legislators sounds more threatening than capitulatory. Specifically, note how he ties it directly in with the midterm elections. It sounds more like he’s saying, “If you guys punt on this, your constituents may not be happy, and may think twice about re-hiring you in the fall.” All the rest, about leaving it up to Congress and wanting input from the Republicans, is the same boilerplate he’s been handing out on this subject since day one.

  98. 98.

    dww44

    Can someone provide links to the most authoritative site/info on the deal struck with Nelson to get his yea vote on HCR bill? And, is it operative if there is no actual bill legislated into actual law?

    My conservative brother and I got into an argument last week at the end of the SOU address, when he, contrary to the specific advice of his liberal wife, said we didn’t need health care reform as we have the “best healthcare in the whole world” and FWIW, he said “the Canadians have the worst.” But, to his credit, he doesn’t care for Shelby. However, he made reference to the Nelson pay-off of “300 million” to Nebraska, and I’d like to know the specifics.

  100. 100.

    Ailuridae

    @Church Lady:

    Except of course that the 40B fueling project that Shelby is trying to gain for Alabama is twice as large as all of the nation’s total earmarks in any fiscal year going back many years. Innumeracy, for the loss! Again.

  101. 101.

    Mike in NC

    Shelby will be intoning gravely about deficit spending and pork on one of the Sunday shows, and NO ONE will call him on it.

    Not only that, but it would be awesome if he shared the table with John “Asshole” McCain, who’d be given half an hour to lie and dissemble about why he’s against repealing DADT. Must see TeeVee, my friends. Country First (unless you’re a senator from AL or AZ)!

  102. 102.

    Cassidy

    go back to the economy of the Reconstruction era lickety-split.

    This might be what it takes. Cripple the South economically, again. It’s not like red states actually contribute to the federal budget. Plus I’m tired of being stationed in bumf*ck redneckville anyway.

  103. 103.

    Eric S.

    I like the Shelby Shakedown. I just wish I had the confidence to think Obama would shoot the hostage taker.

    The Senate is scheduled to go into recess over President’s Day weekend. Obama should — no, he must — give recess appointments to all those on hold. Every. Single. One.

  104. 104.

    "Dials set to Stupid"

    Stopping the original sweetheart tanker deal for Boeing was one of President McCain’s crowning achievements–despite the fact that he only got involved because he hated [former Air Force Secretary] Jim Roche for decades. Of course, the Air Force still doesn’t have a tanker some 10 years later, maybe Shillby’s on to something…

    Remember, foreigners do jobs Americans won’t.

  105. 105.

    Ash Can

    @Church Lady: What John is doing is calling Shelby on what amounts to blatant hypocrisy and lack of candor (if not outright dishonesty). There’s nothing stupid about that.

  107. 107.

    Waynski

    @R-Jud on post 2 — How about the Alabama Boondoggle. I like Twatwaffle Hoedown, but not sure the media will pick up on it.

  108. 108.

    Church Lady

    @Ash Can: Yes, he did that, and that was fine. Sticking in the part about going against American interests was just stupid – those jobs in Alabama aren’t being filled by French citizens. Is Sessions a hypocrit? Hell yes. Is he fighting for jobs in his state? Hell yes. Which do you think the voters of Alabama care more about?

  109. 109.

    SteveinSC

    @BFR:

    Boeing cried foul and so here we are again. I guarantee that Graham, DeMint,…

    I’ll e-mail Demented and the Lady Lindsay and tell them how they simply must, I repeat MUST, do something about Senator Shelby’s shameful cheating for the Franch against our Freedom Fries loving, red blooded, confederate americans. And I expect the Lady Lindsay’s main squeeze Ole Johnny (reb) McC to help the Palmetto State get what it deserves in our good, beneficial federal pork.

  110. 110.

    R-Jud

    @Waynski:

    How about the Alabama Boondoggle. I like Twatwaffle Hoedown, but not sure the media will pick up on it.

    Honestly, I just wanted to write “twatwaffle”.

  111. 111.

    kay

    “Sen. Shelby has placed holds on several pending nominees due to unaddressed national security concerns,” Shelby spokesperson Jonathan Graffeo said in a statement. “Among his concerns” are the progress on multi-billion dollar defense contract that would see planes built in Mobile, AL and Obama’s decision to scrap a $45 million FBI improvised explosive device lab Shelby secured an earmark for in 2008.”

    Such fearmongering bullshit. If he wants the planes built, if that’s his “concern”, he can have that.

    They just won’t be built in Alabama.

    I don’t know why Alabama gets a 45 million dollar lab anyway. Now that they’re holding us hostage, I’m less inclined to pour taxpayer money into that state.

  114. 114.

    John S.

    This is just fail from Gibbs, IMHO

    I’ve gotten used to it.

    Gibbs is not the best spokesman for the administration by ANY stretch of the imagination. Unfortunately, he gets too caught up in trying to think and explaining things. He would be much more effective if he just stood up there and fired off talking points ad nauseum (the kind that fit on bumper stickers) like his predecessors.

  115. 115.

    JGabriel

    @Church Lady:

    Alabama has a whole lot less in earmarks than states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York …

    In dollars per capita? I doubt it. I know that NY, for instance, is a net giver in the federal take — i.e., we give more in taxes than we receive in benefits. Alabama, on the other hand, decidedly takes in more from the feds than they give.

    So, yes, I’m calling bullshit.

    .

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    @Allan:

    So Richard Shelby walks into a butcher shop. He pulls out a gun, points it at the butcher and says, Give me some pork and nobody gets hurt. How will this scene end?

    Shelby gets all the pork he wants, and shoots the butcher anyway so that there are no witnesses.

  117. 117.

    batgirl

    @Church Lady:

    Is Sessions a hypocrit[e]? Hell yes. Is he fighting for jobs in his state? Hell yes. Which do you think the voters of Alabama care more about?

    Exactly! Which is why the Republicans talking about earmarks, runaway spending, deficit control is bullshit. The spending for my state is always essential, needed, important while the spending for your state is pork.

    We the people are not much better.

    “Our senator is one of the good guys but the rest need to go.”

    “Get your government hands off my Medicare.”

    “Cut my taxes, close the deficit, but don’t touch my social security or Medicare.”

    We may be manipulated but we seem to ask for it. I’m beginning to think that we get the government we deserve.

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