All Posts Tagged With: "senator"

Tales from The Crypt:

Roland Burris, the man Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked to succeed Barack Obama in the Senate, might get to etch another accolade into the monument he built for himself if this appointment goes through.

You see, Burris has already charted his esteemed career path on the walls of his future grave in Chicago’s Oak Woods Cemetery (pictured here). Beneath a seal of the state of Illinois, Burris lists his accomplishments to date, and there seems to be plenty of room above the bench to mention his career in the Senate - if he has one.

Humility, unfortunately, has never been a pre-qualification for the U.S. Senate. Vanity, on the other hand, seems to be a prerequisite.

It all seems so very tragically comical (and utterly embarassing for the people of Illinois).

From Bloomberg:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to slow consideration of the economic stimulus package Democrats are drafting, warning that the measure sought by President-elect Barack Obama invites wasteful spending.

“A trillion-dollar spending bill would be the largest spending bill in the history of our country at a time when our national debt is already the largest in history,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement. “As a result, it will require tough scrutiny and oversight. Taxpayers, already stretched to the limit, deserve nothing less.”

Caution… restraint… those are very novel concepts in Congress. I wonder where Mitch McConnell has been for the last eight years. That’s right… he was Republican leader for the last two years and majority whip for the four years before that and has consistently and unreservedly supported the Republican president of the last eight years who set an incredible example of spending “caution” and “restraint” …

(CBSNews.com) — With no fanfare and little notice, the national debt has grown by more than $4 trillion during George W. Bush’s presidency.

It’s the biggest increase under any president in U.S history.

On the day President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.727 trillion. The latest number from the Treasury Department shows the national debt now stands at more than $9.849 trillion. That’s a 71.9 percent increase on Mr. Bush’s watch.

And that story doesn’t even account for the hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars that’s been spent since as party of this administration’s haphazardly executed economic bailout plan.

Again, I ask, where was Mitch McConnell and his “fiscally conservative” Republican colleagues when his president was nearly doubling the national debt in his administration alone. But, then again, Republican presidents haven’t had the best track record when it comes to “caution” and “restraint” in spending or fiscal responsibility…

*

*

So, why is it that Mitch McConnell all of a sudden cares about “caution” and “restraint” in spending now that a new president — a Democratic president — is coming into office? Because it’s about partisan politics, not principle. While I would agree that we need “caution” and “restraint,” Mitch McConnell has no room to talk about fiscal responsibility. His actions have spoken volumes more than his rhetorically empty words.

An intriguing bit of news about the soon-to-be vacated junior Senator’s seat…

Another Senator Kennedy?  The crazy speculation about Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat may not be so crazy after all.  A Democrat who would know tells ABC News that New York governor David Paterson has talked to Caroline Kennedy about taking the seat, which was once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy.  It’s not exactly shocking that Paterson would reach out to one of the most highly respected public figures in New York, but this is:  Sources say Kennedy is considering it, and has not ruled out coming to Washington to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday that he believes “the new administration is off to a good start.”

“They’re saying, in my view, all the right things … that they want to govern in the middle and tackle big things.”

McConnell added a cautionary note: “It would not be a good idea for the new administration … to go down a laundry list of left-wing proposals and try to jam them through.”

“I don’t anticipate they’re going to do that. I’m hoping for the best,” McConnell said.

The GOP senator also said he was glad to see the current president get ready to leave.

“Our members, in one way, are kind of relieved by the departure of an administration that became unpopular and made it very difficult for us to compete.”

The Senate’s longest serving Republican and recently convicted felon has lost his bid for re-election, the AP reports. Another sign that true change is coming in this country.

Stevens’ ouster on his 85th birthday marks an abrupt realignment in Alaska politics and will alter the power structure in the Senate, where he has served since the days of the Johnson administration while holding seats on some of the most influential committees in Congress.

The crotchety octogenarian likes to encourage comparisons with the Incredible Hulk, and he occupies an outsized place in Alaska history. His involvement in politics dates to the days before Alaska statehood, and he is esteemed for his ability to secure billions of dollars in federal aid for transportation and military projects. The Anchorage airport bears his name; in Alaska, it’s simply “Uncle Ted.”

The infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” project probably best symbolizes (and memorializes) Stevens’ legacy of obscene congressional pork. Good riddance to this legendary Pork King.

Congratulations, Alaska, you’ve at least partially redeemed yourself. Now, if only my own state would wake up and give our infamous senator the boot, perhaps Oklahoma could redeem itself.