Monday Meshuganas

Tea Party Congressman John Fleming (R-LA) was whining to MSNBC’s Chris Jansing about President Obama’s tax plan that will increase taxes on investment income for the nation’s rich.  Fleming, is a business owner, so Jansing asked, “If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?” Fleming responded by saying that while his businesses made $6.3 million last year, after you “pay 500 employees, you pay rent, you pay equipment, and food,” his profits “a mere fraction of that” — “by the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over.”  Oh my, how is the poor Fleming family going to survive?

Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff and media hog Joe Arpaio knows the best defense is a good offense.  So as his reputation and legitimacy is being torn down one block at a time, he does what any cornered rat would do: he bites back.  Facing internal investigations for misallocation of funds and failure to pursue cases, a federal civil rights investigation, and now being tied to the abuse of power investigation of his buddy former county attorney Andrew Thomas, Arpaio hitched his wagon to the Surprise (AZ) Tea Party’s tired birther claims.  Assigning his privately funded ‘Cold Case Posse’ to investigate the legitimacy of the President’s birth certificate now makes him unfit for office.  Unfortunately the sheep in Maricopa County lack the stones to vote the man out.

Remember when the new Republican controlled House wrapped itself in the Constitution?  The Boehner-heads started with a reading of The Constitution, but also enacted new rules requiring all new bills to cite the supporting Constitution clause or "Constitutional Authority Statement" to make the point that the bill was constitutional and in the spirit of the Founding Fathers.  Instead, the GOP House has bent the Constitution say whatever they want it to. Over nine months, the House has passed laws about a variety of modern issues that the Founders didn't mention - abortion, charter schools and lasers. Have the new rules been effective?  Well let’s ask Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., a top ally of Boehner's:  "I think it's a useful exercise - it is a reminder of the importance of our most important document.”  Has the new rule actually altered the substance of bills, to make them consistent with a limited-government philosophy? "Probably," Walden said. "But I can't point to any specific examples."

National Journal’s Kevin Williamson calls for the death of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in an a recent article.  Williamson leads with “The pending default of the United States Postal Service is our national fiscal crisis in miniature: a collection of self-interested government employees working desperately to save their salaries and benefits, with the actual service provided by the agency — if, indeed, “service” is the right word — a distant second, if it is considered at all.”  Williamson goes off on an anti-governmental rant that is unrelated to the woes of the USPS.  He further loses the point when he compares the USPS to private entities FedEx and UPS; a comparison that is unfit because unlike the USPS, Brown and Purple aren’t legally required to provide delivery and pick up EVERYWHERE.  Further, USPS requires congressional approval to make any changes in its operations.  Imagine Feed Smith having to ask John Boehner to approve his business plan.  Williamson also mistakenly thinks that all households are can function with e-mail, e-commerce, and e-banking.  Far from it, then again Williamson doesn’t pay any mind to seniors who still use the good ole USPS.  Weak argument buddy and worse article.