When we hear news of a mass shooting, especially a mass shooting on a military base, we prepare for really grim news. Happily, according to NBC News, this one seems to be emerging as considerably less so. Rather than a mass shooting, as we’re used to hearing about, this seems to have been an argument between a few National Guardsmen in which one doofus pulled out a gun and shot one fellow guardsman in the foot and another in the leg.
Perhaps we should coin the portmanteau, ‘derpfrag’ to describe this unfortunate but apparently nonlethal incident.
The idea that we’re going to get some sort of ‘grand bargain’ negotiation completed or frankly even started in the next eight weeks sounds basically ridiculous. And as important as ridiculous, simply unnecessary. In the short to medium term, the country’s fiscal gap is shrinking and despite House Republicans adding to the debt load by marginally increasing the costs of borrowing by the Defundo stunt, things are moving in the right direction. But given where we are, both politically and economically, the starting point for any grand bargain discussions needs to be a one for one formula between cuts and new revenue. And that means net new revenue. The earlier discussions were on the basis of zany 10:1 ratios and even then Republican leaders couldn’t actually get their caucuses to agree to any new revenue at all.
A big, sprawling criminal investigation into various aspects of Wisconsin politics yet no one can talk about it. Here’s what’s going on.
Howard Dean: ‘You Gotta Blame’ The GOP For Some Of Obamacare’s Glitches.
Last year Orrin Hatch had to go into full Tea Party-palooza mode to hold on to his seat after his colleague was ousted and replaced by arch-Tea Partier Mike Lee. But now that Lee is hurting at home after becoming Ted Cruz’s self-appointed deputy Defundo monkey, Hatch is singing a different tune.
Boehner and Cantor, through spokespersons, say they can’t recall any member of their caucus telling the President they “I cannot even stand to look at you.”