Here Come the Republicans

This week the first session of the 112th Congress got under way.  As expected, John Boehner was elected Speaker of the House, and Nancy Pelosi as the Minority Leader.  First on the order of business was the reading of the Constitution.  Some view this as a nod to the Tea Party; others dismiss it as grandstanding, and still others (Democrats mainly) seem to be upset that it was read in the first place, and using the word "fetish" to describe those who approve of this reading.

Next on the order of business will be a repeal of Obamacare.  On this one there's also criticism from the Democrats, as well as some pundits who grandstand on how this is a wasted vote.  We even have Barney Frank grousing about the process, about not being allowed to offer amendments.....to a repeal measure, no less.

On these two events, I'm going to come to the defense of the Republicans, or more specifically, to the defense of the "House" Republicans.  First I'll look at the reading of the Constitution.

I'll grant that I don't know exactly what was on the minds of the leadership when they made this decision.  I could second-guess them as grandstanding or trying to curry favor with the Tea Party.  The perception of grandstanding, is of course, depending on your frame of reference as as you watch the reading, but the reality is that the House Republican leadership is going to have to keep the Tea Party as part of their base.  The Tea Party has demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with, and I'm going to tell you right now that if such an accommodation isn't made then the Tea Party will either try to hijack the Democratic Party or they're going to dedicate themselves to making the Republicans the next "third" party.  Reading the Constitution doesn't take up a whole lot of time in the grand scheme of things, and personally I would rather have all Congressmen tested on the Constitution before they're allowed to take the oath of office.

And for those who are throwing around the word "fetish":  what's your problem?  Right before the election, your party had that comedian, whats-his-name Colbert testifying in committee and asking that his colonoscopy be entered into the Congressional record.  So who's got the "fetish" here?  I'd rather have a reading of the Constitution on the House floor rather than some clown testifying before another bunch of clowns.  If you're upset about some "fetish" with the Constitution, then I'm going to respectfully suggest that you re-evaluate your priorities.

Next, the repeal of Obamacare.

First of all, we all know that the Senate will not act on the repeal.  So why do it?

Here's one reason:  many of the newly elected ran on campaign promises that they would fight Obamacare and vote to repeal it.  So now they have a chance to vote on it early on, and thus quickly uphold a campaign promise.

How often do you see a politician keep a campaign promise?  Aren't most of us ready to march on Capitol Hill with pitchforks because we feel that those bums up there on the Hill are out of touch with us?

Here's another reason:  if they don't vote on the repeal, then when the next campaign gets under way, their challengers are going to say, "hey, they promised you to repeal Obamacare, and they didn't so much as even vote on it!"  Of course the challenger isn't going to vote to repeal it either, but you won't be thinking about that  once it's pointed out that your guy didn't vote on it.  I don't see the House Republican leadership as having much of a choice, politically, in this matter.  They talked the talk.  Now they have to walk the walk.  Vote on it, send it over to the Senate, and if the Senate doesn't act, then the Republicans can make that an issue next year.

And as for Barney Frank upset about not being allowed to offer amendments......hello?  You're voting to repeal something!  You're going to amend a law that you're getting rid of?  Cheese Louise!  Write up your amendment and introduce it as separate legislation, or attach it to something else.  Do you really need an engineer from Tucson to give you instructions on how to do your job?

To be honest, I'm not really sure that Republicans in charge of Congress is really a good thing in and of itself.  I certainly am wary about giving them control of the Senate, when you consider that the elitists like John McCain and Lindsey Graham will be running the committees, while the Rand Pauls and Jim Demints are assigned to taking out the trash and changing the light bulbs.

But I'll have to say this:  week one of the new House session made a positive impression on me.  Let's hope that Boehner and his help are serious about reining in the deficit and and taking the time to actually read the legislation that they're going to vote on.

I would also hope that they keep one thing in mind.

The Republicans weren't given charge of the House of Representatives because they were the better party.

They were given charge of the House because they weren't Democrats.

If they go back to their previous ways, of drunken spending and working with the Democrats to give illegal aliens the right to a welfare check and the ballot box, then we'll have to rise up and vote them out of commission.

* * * * * * *

I normally wouldn't add anything to a commentary, but I've got some odds and ends to pass along, mainly because I'm behind on my emails and having a few folks ask me if I'm all right.

Work-wise, I'm between assignments, as that my project had its funding cut off before we broke for Christmas.  I'm between jobs right now, but will be offered a part time assignment within the company by a program manager that I used to work for back in 2001.  I've got a lead on another part time assignment, which I'll pursue as well.

And, in six weeks or so, maybe eight, I'm going to be offered work helping out with some research, determining applications for some rather specialized components that I never heard of before until two days ago.  That sounds exciting as all get-out, and very promising.  The supervisor definitely wants me to work for him, but won't have funding for a while yet.  So, I'll be doing some odd jobs here and there until those higher up the food chain decide it's time to proceed.

On another front, State Farm has issued me one more check, as that the first one didn't cover the lodging and rental car in Lake Havasu City.  I split repairs and expenses between two credit cards and one bill has already been paid in full.  Now if the other issuer will only go ahead and send me their bill, I'll have that one paid off in one fell swoop as well.

And on another, I've caught up on a lot of reading.  I'm now working on Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford, an Asimov Estate-authorized "Foundation" novel.  I am one third of the way thru it and it hasn't exactly been an easy read.  I think some of the backfill descriptions are superfluous, and I don't yet understand the relevance of the Joan of Arc and Voltaire "sims" to the Foundation story, but now I'm into a section where some political intrigue of the Galactic Empire and Emperor Cleon I is being explored.  This story may yet pick up, though most customer reviews of this book that I've seen online are negative.

That's all for now.

And.....(you saw this coming!).............don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!