“Respectfully, Scott Brown ought to be ashamed of himself,” Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) told Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Network. “This is the defining moment of this generation. We have got to be bold. We know these entitlements have to be reformed to be saved. He knows that.”
Walsh added that any Republican opposed to the plan was motivated by “political reasons.”
“Any Republican that doesn’t vote for this or doesn’t support this is purely being guided by political reasons,” Walsh continued. “This is not time to be politically scared. Every day I am in this town I am more convinced this president has no clue as to the financial cliff we are about to fall off of.”
A real Republican would know that the only way to save Medicare is to abolish it and give all the money to the Koch brothers.
I like these new purity tests. They make Grammy feel all warm and happy inside.
ETA: As commenter Spitting Image notes, Rep. Joe Walsh is all about the financial responsibilty.
Team Obama’s debt limit scare tactics are getting really old. Fast.
Splitting Image
Would that be this Joe Walsh?
Team Obama’s debt limit scare tactics are getting really old. Fast.
WereBear
I thought we almost fell off a financial cliff already. If there’s anything Republicans know about, it’s financial cliffs!
Linda Featheringill
I’ve seen several other Republicans saying something to this effect. Who told them they have to be bold? Did they all go to the same prayer meeting or something?
Well, they [several Republicans in several different positions] have tried to be bold. They have been blatant. I wonder if they know the difference?
delphi_ote
Clever Catch-22 references make me SO love you.
Wag
republicans running scared, such a pretty sight. more of this, please.
How long until Brown caves? …or will this be the beginning of the return of the moderate wing of the GOP?
beltane
Joe Walsh is correct. True Republicans do not want to abolish Medicare for political reasons, but out of a heartfelt desire to personally witness old people die miserable and degrading deaths, preferably out on the street. How do expect a good Randian to enjoy his supper if he’s not watching someone starve to death?
Spaghetti Lee
We know these entitlements have to be reformed to be saved.
We have always been at war with Eastasia, too.
I wonder if this guy’s tune will change when he remembers his district is only R +1 or so, and its residents proved perfectly willing to elect a Democrat to congress when Melissa Bean beat Phil Crane? Or maybe he’s one of the dumbass true believer types. Either way, Dems should make a target out of this guy and all the other Teabaggers dumb enough to think they have a mandate for scrapping Medicare.
Spaghetti Lee
@Wag:
I think the moderate wing of the GOP is called the DLC.
Linda Featheringill
@Splitting Image:
What about urgings of the US Chamber of Commerce?
nhdemocrat
Walsh is, to put it politely, an idiot. If you ever see him on Fox or on the floor, he has no grasp of budgetary issues but pontificates with the best of them. So, he’s clearly one of the House GOP’s brightest lights.
Duncan Dönitz (formerly Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
“Any Republican”. “Purely political reasons”. That’s kind of amazing. This guy knows what’s in every Congressional Republican’s head. Every one. No Republicans could be leaning against this budget because they think it’s wrong, only to save their seats. What an asshole.
Oh, and any time somebody begins by saying “respectfully”, you can count on whatever follows not being respectful. Not that I believe Brown has earned a whole hell of a lot of respect, I’m only pointing it out…
Roger Moore
@Linda Featheringill:
I think it was Darth Somebody-or-other who mentioned it. It was on the list of talking points for today, at any rate. We must find bold, new ways of fucking over the poor, sick, and elderly because the old ways just aren’t fun anymore.
beltane
@Spaghetti Lee: If this asshole’s district is only R+1 it is likely that he will soon be having toast with his tea, or he’ll be the toast with his tea.
Linda Featheringill
@Roger Moore:
Wheeze.
LOL.
Splitting Image
@Linda Featheringill:
They’re part of Team Obama, when they’re not quietly shovelling money into Joe Walsh’s coffers. Don’t forget, the Tea Party represents Main Street, not Wall Street.
Bruce Bartlett is a screaming leftist. Also, too.
Roger Moore
It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it.
Villago Delenda Est
@beltane:
This, this, this.
We are dealing with naked, proud sociopaths here. Along the lines of Reinhard Heydrich.
Dream On
Not to be confused with the Eagles guitarist, who is undoubtably smarter. Must be.
beltane
@Dream On: That Joe Walsh used to show up at concerts so plastered it was a wonder he could even stand up. What’s this Joe Walsh’s excuse?
Linda Featheringill
@Villago Delenda Est:
No, no, no. Sociopaths, maybe, but not that bad.
I did an in-depth study of Reinhard and his Einsatzgruppen. Really, really nasty.
The current crop of Republicans are merely ordinary, garden-variety sociopaths.
Villago Delenda Est
@Wag:
Brown may be a Cosmo centerfold, but he’s smart enough to know that they Ryan plan is absolute electoral poison.
Mitch McConnell knows it, too. The Senate R leadership will not put the hurt on any Republican who votes against this crap. Let the dumbfucks in the GOP House caucus write their own obituaries.
jrg
The “current generation” of retirees won’t be impacted, right? And this fuckwad is talking about “being guided by political reasons”?
I guess if I’m paying for the medical care of the demographic that’s most supportive of the GOP, it’s not “soc ialsm”, provided I don’t get back what I pay in.
burnspbesq
I just turned 56 a week ago, so why am I not amused by the GOP’s pandering to me?
Bondor
Happy coincidence, but I was listening to the Chicago NPR station on my commute home…and Joe may not have a district to run for reelection in…
wbez.org/story/congressional-republicans-left-mercy-illinois-dems-86918
Wag
@Spaghetti Lee:
LOL
burnspbesq
On a completely unrelated subject, DNA test results which appear to implicate Strauss-Kahn have been leaked.
my.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20110523/380deea0-ad6c-4565-bc77-f0992bef787c
I don’t approve of trial by media leaks, even when the accused appears to deserve whatever ends up happening to him/her.
Linda Featheringill
@burnspbesq:
Ah, a mere youngster! :-)
You are probably not amused because you suspect they will get around to doing you in somehow and/or you don’t want to start a generational war.
Roger Moore
@Villago Delenda Est:
It doesn’t help that most of the Republican caucus would gain intellectual heft by being asked to do something so mentally challenging as posing for Cosmo. Putting on their own clothes, repeating slogans, and voting as they’re told seem to be the limits of their abilities.
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq:
Oh, jeeze. I had hoped this would not happen, but not at all surprised that it has.
This entire thing is fully in the National Enquirer mode now.
RossInDetroit
It’s fascinating to me how the GOP politicians and wannabes all have to take these absurd positions to attract the votes of what must be a small fraction of the electorate who identify as Tea Partiers or Libertarians. Selling out the vast middle for the votes of the fringe.
I’d love to learn that this was a prank played on them by the media: hyping the malcontent loonies into the appearance of a constituency to be reckoned with so the republicans would stampede over a cliff in pursuit like Wylie Coyote following a misplaced road sign
Redshift
@Villago Delenda Est:
Except apparently he isn’t. First he said “I’d vote for it if it came up in the Senate, but of course it’s a hypothetical because it won’t.” Then when it looked less hypothetical, he ludicrously tried to claim he just said he’d vote on it, not for it. Then he realized he’d screwed up badly enough he needed to come out strongly against it.
So I think it’s safe to say he wasn’t actually smart enough to know what a bad idea it is without having to learn it the hard way. Really, really not the brightest bulb.
jacy
@Linda Featheringill:
Give them time.
Jon
@Duncan Dönitz (formerly Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.): I’d respectfully submit that Brown does seem like someone who wants to deal in good faith if only he was allowed to. Understood that’s due in large part to the blue-as-hell state he represents, AND an election year but to me, it just seems the case. Have at me, BJ.
Redshift
@Linda Featheringill: I’m a bit younger, so I’d be on the front lines of the generational war if any of this were to come close to actually happening. They’re not even pandering to people to my age, just hoping we’re dumb enough to buy into the “Social Security and Medicare won’t be there for you anyway” BS.
Sarah Proud and Tall
@burnspbesq:
Because you’re not a real American. Duh.
Redshift
@Jon:
I’d be interested to hear your reasoning, since I haven’t seen much evidence for it myself. To start with, which side of the issue do you see him taking in good faith, since he’s been on both sides, plus “undecided”?
MikeBoyScout
Apparently the war on drugs had a secret component of providing toxic doses of seized drugs to prospective republican politicians.
When know-nuthin Scott Brown is your party’s voice of reason and intelligence….. well.
Villago Delenda Est
@Redshift:
Well, give him some credit. He did actually learn, it seems.
Compare and contrast with, say, Newt Gingrich…
Ash Can
Joe Walsh is a nobody — a “Tea Party” politician (according to his Wikipedia entry) who straddles rural, recreational, and heavily populated Chicago suburban areas. The R+1 sounds about right; he looks to have a fairly precarious mix in his district that includes Hispanics and a wide range of ages, and I believe a fair amount of urban/suburban retirees since his district includes the Chain-o-Lakes. He may have hoodwinked a majority of voters there into electing him, but it remains to be seen whether he’s savvy enough to convince his electorate that he deserves to stay in his job. A Google search of him and his accomplishments turns up bupkis. I’m not convinced his district is sufficiently brain-dead to keep him, but the Dems do have to run someone there in 2012.
Jon
@Redshift: To be fair, maybe I’m basing much too much of my thought on his DADT vote (which I assume a vote against would be death in MA), but maybe I could have stated it better. Maybe he’s more of an idiot who has a basic sense of decency that he is unallowed to acknowledge.
But, I’m open to a refutation. Just a thought.
Linda Featheringill
@jacy:
Republican sociopaths:
What we have to do is not give them power.
Slightly on a tangent:
I did find in my studies that the Nazis were very sensitive to criticism and really couldn’t tolerate public demonstrations against their policies. If they couldn’t shoot all the demonstrators [sometimes not practical], they actually dropped a few of their programs. An example of this would be the euthanasia of special-needs children.
Perhaps such public criticism would work for other bullies as well.
Ash Can
@Bondor: Saw your comment too late to add to mine, “whoops.” :)
burnspbesq
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yeah. I can hardly wait for the next screed from Levy.
Linda Featheringill
Everybody have a good day tomorrow. I’m going to turn into a pumpkin any minute now and have to go. Night.
scav
Would they be less old and boring if they came in the traditional scary color-coded scale?
Dollared
@Jon: The Wehrmacht in particular was filled with competent, honest field commanders. They were still on the wrong side of morality and history.
And many of them could have posed for Cosmo if the Geneva Convention had permitted…..
burnspbesq
Well, my kid says the new Stefani Germanotta record is great, but a critic I respect thinks otherwise. Any other opinions?
wbez.org/blog/jim-derogatis/2011-05-23/album-review-lady-gaga-%E2%80%9Cborn-way%E2%80%9D-interscope-…
Villago Delenda Est
@scav:
Well, you know, they’re, um, NEAR, so they’re very scary right there!
Sarah Proud and Tall
@burnspbesq:
Eh. I’m not convinced by this one. It’s all a bit too too. But then again, I’m usually only in it for the remixes, so I will reserve judgement until the inevitable remix album comes out.
gf120581
Figures Joe Walsh would say something like this. The man is one of the biggest idiots of the GOP freshman class (which is really saying something).
And unlike Brown, who actually cares about keeping his seat in the next election, Walsh was a fluke winner who won his seat by mere hundreds of votes (even the GOP was stunned he won) and whose chances of survival in 2012 were zero even before he voted for the Paul Ryan Mass Suicide Plan (especially after redistricting is done in IL). So he’s not constrained by political concerns and is free to say any dumbshit comments he can.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Wag:
I don’t think Brown will cave, nor do I believe that the Repugs are anywhere near returning to being moderate. I think this is going to fall along purely political lines; if the (R) Senator can get away with it without hurting their reelection chances then they will vote for it, if they can’t then they won’t. Ol’ Mitch the Bitch says that he won’t whip his Senate members to vote for it, which means that he is very aware that this could be a political death sentence for some of his team if they are forced to vote for it.
I’m sure that there are some (R) Senators and party members who are very pissed off at the loose cannons in the House who voted to pass the piece of shit Ryan ‘plan’. Either these Senators hold their noses and vote for it, possibly committing political suicide, or they leave the House members swinging in the wind while hanging from the noose that Ryan gave them (that they gleefully pulled around their own necks).
The Repugs were happy that they had the House because they intended to abuse their power by passing bills that they thought would be popular. They knew that the Democratic controlled Senate would stop the measures in their tracks by opposing them, which then their fellow (R) members in the Senate would exploit by blaming the Democrats for blocking passage of the ‘popular’ measures. This game has been played over and over again in the past and they know how the game is played.
What they didn’t count on was the level of public anger over the Ryan plan. As DougJ said, Bobo, Sully and the other Nut Fluffers (I like that name, very descriptive) who pimped this plan helped to create the illusion that this was a bold and decicive plan that the public would support and the Repugs actually believed them and are now finding out that what they were saying was wrong.
In this case, thank goodness for the idiots that finally became useful to us. They have tied an anchor around the necks of the Repugs and that sucker is taking them down to the bottom. If the Repugs in the Senate vote for it in lockstep then the House and Senate Repugs are damned in the next election. If the Senate bails on the Ryan plan then the Repugs in the House are damned.
I have a funny feeling that the Repugs in the Senate are going to vote to save their own skins and let their fellow Repugs in the House swing in the wind.
Either way, we win and they lose. Good.
Redshift
@Jon: I can accept that could be a possibility. I do still hold out hope he makes enough of an ass of himself over this that MA gets someone better than “Senator Dumb-as-a-post who may have a sense of decency when it’s not locked in a box by his party.”
Redshift
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Don’t forget the most delicious ones — the ones who have to decide whether they’re more afraid of a teabagger primary or political suicide in the general. Based on Hatch’s recent asinine behavior, I’m guessing there will be at least a few of those.
Spaghetti Lee
Regarding Scott Brown, I’m not terribly familiar with MA politics, but I know it’s a blue state, and for the life of me I’m confused as to why no one’s emerged to challenge him yet. MA has 10 Democrats in the House, and I’m sure many more in the state legislature and state-level positions. None of them want to be Senator? None of them think they can beat a Republican relative newcomer, in the most Democratic state in the country?
The Dems have about 5 places to pick up a Senate seat next November, and I’d think MA is one of them. They’ll be playing a lot of defense with McCaskill, Tester, et al., unless Obama’s coattails are really fucking big when he romps Palin/Cain or whoever. The sane people have the advantage in the senate by 4 seats, and that’s not enough to make me feel safe.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Redshift:
That’s what’s going to make this fun to watch! Either way, shit is going to fly and a lot of Repugs are going to get hit with it.
Popcorn futures are looking real good right now. Butter too!
Dollared
@Odie Hugh Manatee: I think you’re an optimist. 14 months from now, the Republicans will deny this ever happened, and all cable networks will agree.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Dollared:
That may be the case but I don’t think the Democrats, Obama nor the seniors who are pissed right now will be that willing to forget about it.
I already know that the media will be quick to ‘forget’ about this, that’s a given. I also know that the manic progressives will forget about it too, that’s why I have no problem dismissing them out of hand. But this went a lot further than Dumbya’s plan to privatize Social Security. Hell, Gingrich is already saying that any Democrat or group who quotes him calling this plan “right-wing social engineering” are liars…lol!
They know that they’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest over this, thus the disarray in their hasty retreat from it. Short memories in the press and public notwithstanding, Obama is going to beat on this like a drum and the Democrats would be stupid to ignore a winning issue that’s been handed to them.
Of course we all know that Democrats are experts at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat so I guess we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out. Right now it’s just speculation on our part but it’s a hell of a lot more than we’ve had in the past. The Repugs gift wrapped this baby for us and we would be stupid to ignore it.
Thus my dismissal of the manic progressives, they don’t care about anything but their pet issues. IMO they’re the teapartiers of the left and I just prefer to laugh and point at them. As much as the right hates them, they make it a net positive for Obama to pretty much ignore them because he becomes more popular on the right that way.
It’s a crazy political world we find ourselves in right now and I’m interested to see how this all shakes out in the end (next election). If we (Democrats) fail then we deserve the failure. While I agree with many of the issues that are near and dear to the manic progressives, I think their ‘tactics’ suck shit and only hurt our side. Right now Democrats are picking up small races across the country and IMO that’s a possible signal of how 2012 is going to shake out.
Anne Laurie
@Jon:
My take is that he’s not too bright and he’s not that interested in the ‘job’ of politics, as opposed to the ‘glamour’ of getting his picture taken & having people smarter/richer than him having ask his opinion. But, while I haven’t read his ‘autobiography’, from what I’ve heard about his background he grew up in an unstable & sometimes physically violent household. That’ll give a person an almost preternatural ability to sense when the “mood” is changing, so they can scramble to escape/evade/apologize. From what I’ve seen on the local news since Brown started his “miraculous ascent” over the past few months, the real difference between him & Palin is that Palin spent her youth being rewarded for playing the Mean Girl, while Brown learned young that sometimes a tactical retreat, even a ‘surrender’, was the best way to survive.
I don’t like him, and I’ll be very happy to have the chance to vote against him, again, but I’ll give him due credit for not being enough of an idiot to double down on the stupid when it’s clearly counter-productive.
(Now watch him do something spectacularly nonsensical in the next 48 hours… )
TenguPhule
One of those newfangled Dark Light Emitters then.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
last one in is a rotten egg-alitarian.
Ash Can
@Spaghetti Lee: Remember, senators have six-year terms. Massachusetts is stuck with Senator Himbo for a while.
grandpajohn
@Linda Featheringill:
Bold like Custer at Little Big Horn
Hey I,m all for it self annihilation of the puke party .
A most amazing display of what? self-immolation over a bill that doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of ever being enacted into law. Have we reached peak wingnut at last?
Mandramas
I don’t understand why is bad to have “political reasons” to do the things. It is expected that a politician make all their choices by political reasons, not by another “personals”, o “financial” reasons.
I really hate the wingnut doublespeak.
grandpajohn
@Linda Featheringill:
Well it probably would IF you had a public media that was willing to make these public criticisms or that would even publish such criticisms made by private people. But we don’t have such a media, so we rapidly descend toward third world status.