News Flash! Daily Howler misses elephantine agenda!

If you want to defund the Federal Government (which presumably may be assumed of NH senatorJudd Gregg), why act like it's bad news when you say the Social Security trust fund will swiftly and drastically reduce the amount of money administered by Congress? The money quote:

That means defense, education, federal highways, environmental programs—every other area of government will be impacted.

Emphasis added by Howler. So what's the deal? I suspect the Party has figured out the wages of democracy. The Republican Senate & House majorities have been built on decrying the "waste, fraud, and abuse" they see in every government program.

Well, see, wait a minute, the Party now runs the program. That's what winning means.

Howler & Atrios are aghast (& rightfully so) at the reach of Gregg's bullshit column in Roll Call, a publication whose influence is out of all proportion to its hack editor's deserving. But what gets to me is the apparent statement against interest of a man who has won awards from the National Taxpayers Union and Dick Armey's Citizens for a Sound Economy (btw, avoid the CSE link if you can't bear Armey's gravelly yet weaselly voice). Why the crocodile tears?

It makes sense if we see the collapsing Social Security phase-out plan as a feint...



(more to come)

Tipping is encouraged

Here's a tip for your local service workers: take a look at the bill Banning State Minimum Wage Laws (third provision described).

The whole bill is such a sweeping disaster for low-wage workers generally that I can't imagine even the GOP would pass it, even for Santorum. But it does show priorities, doesn't it?

The hat tip is for Atrios.