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Obama’s Imbroglios
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My Rahm Reunion
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The Left Hates Us
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Such a Dynamic Duo
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The Continuing Crisis
May 1, 2013 | 0 comments
The Current Crisis
What Crime Has Harry Reid Committed?
Is it a felony or a misdemeanor? The betting is on the former.
WASHINGTON—I have one question about the way Majority Leader Harry Reid has been conducting the Senate. Has he committed a felony or a mere misdemeanor?
The wags will say that a politician from Nevada does not commit misdemeanors, but I am in earnest. The difference between whether Dingy Harry—as he is known by the eminent political scientist Dr. Rush Limbaugh—shuffles off to a federal prison or merely pays a hefty fine is significant. I suppose we can leave it to the federal prosecutors to decide, but if he gets off on a misdemeanor I urge it also entail mandatory budget counseling. No one would be surprised to hear of Harry being sentenced to a stint at anger management counseling. Why not mandatory budget counseling too?
Majority Leader Harry’s transgression is that for over 1300 days he has failed to pass a budget. In fact, there is no evidence he has even tried. This is against the law. Federal law clearly requires the Congress to pass a budget every year. I presume the reasoning behind this is that the American people deserve to know what their taxes are paying for, or another way of putting it is, why are the American people being mulcted every year by the Internal Revenue Service to pay for Harry and his gang’s criminal activities? What are their activities? Are they buying votes with public moneys? Are they favoring friends with subsidies and other extensions of the people’s treasure? What about lucre they have extended for “renewable energy,” for automobiles no one wants, for every idiot enthusiasm of the so-called welfare state.
For over 1300 days Harry has been operating his scam without a budget. The House of Representatives has passed budgets in accordance with the law. They have been designed by the law-abiding chairman of the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan. He has braved obloquy from Democrats and other ideologues for putting down on paper what he would spend federal money on and where the citizenry’s taxes are going. Harry has not, and according to the law he ought to go to jail or be otherwise punished. Surely we do not make laws without punishments, do we?
Not all senators are complicit in Harry’s intrigues. For instance, the affable Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is blameless and actually indignant with his colleagues and with Harry in particular. Recently he told my colleague at the Washington Examiner Byron York, “I think it should be a firm principle that we should not raise the debt ceiling until we have a plan on how the new borrowed money will be spent. If the government wants to borrow money so it can spend more, then the government ought to tell the Congress and the American people how they will spend it.” York concludes, “One problem, of course, is that the law already requires Congress to pass a budget, and Reid has violated that.” I say prosecute him. This is malfeasance on a vast scale.
Whether Harry goes to the can or accepts a lesser sentence, as I have suggested, a mandatory course in budget management, we are going to have to face up to these trillion dollar deficits that the government has been piling up since our smug President took over, Barack Obama. He envisages them for years to come, though obviously if those trillion-dollar deficits do come life in the great Republic will be very different from what it has been. We have already raised taxes on his hellish two percent, now Republicans have got to insist that President Obama make good on the other half of his deal and cut spending. The way to cut the trillion-dollar deficit is now through budget cuts. The federal government spends too much. It spends money it does not have. In the coming debt-ceiling fight Republicans and the handful of sober Democrats out there should offer suggestions on where the cuts should be.
I have just read a study by the increasingly mainstream Heritage Foundation outlining $150 billion dollars of cuts in the budget. Patrick Louis Knudsen, the author of the study, points out that many of the cuts are perfectly doable, for they envision the federal government’s desisting from undertaking what it should never have undertaken in the first place. Other cuts involve privatization, policy consolidation, ending ineffective programs, and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. For instance, Knudsen’s plan calls for cutting $13.5 billion from the Department of Agriculture, $3.5 billion from Community Development, $15.1 billion from Health Care, and $15.8 billion from the Department of Transportation. So it goes through every nook and cranny of the federal government, save the Department of Defense. Knudsen does not cut from the Pentagon because he feels that the military is an essential area of government involvement. Presumably he leaves it to the generals and admirals to decide what is essential for the security of the country.
The coming battle over the debt ceiling is the right time to demand our government get its fiscal house in order. If not now, when? As for Dingy Harry, possibly under the threat of prosecution he will smarten up. No one wants to see him go off to the calaboose.
About the Author
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. is the founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is the author of The Death of Liberalism, published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His previous books include the New York Times bestseller Boy Clinton: the Political Biography; The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton; The Liberal Crack-Up; The Conservative Crack-Up; Public Nuisances; The Future that Doesn’t Work: Social Democracy’s Failure in Britain; Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House; The Clinton Crack-Up; and After the Hangover: The Conservatives’ Road to Recovery.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (94) | Leave a comment
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Aristocat| 1.10.13 @ 6:35AM
Harry has been very clever...For the past two years, he has played possum, let the House pass budgets, then declare them DOA when they reach the Senate. By refusing to pass a budget, he gave Democrat Senators a pass against voting for budgets. This worked, as Democrats won 2012 Senate races: 24-8...That's 75% !! All the public heard was insance comments by Todd Aiken and Richard Mourdock. Reid was able to force the House to pass CRs every year to continue the House Democrat budget of 2009 every year. It was a win/win for the Democrats. And Boehner let them get away with it, thus insuring Obama's re-election. Boehner is a coward and so are all the Republicans who voted to keep his as Speaker after his manifest failure....
Gary B| 1.10.13 @ 7:02AM
Republicans... dead men walking. As the old saying goes, with friends like these, who needs enemies?
Gary B| 1.10.13 @ 12:21PM
If all the House Republicans went home, the result would be the same as it is now. If they went home, at least they couldn't be blamed for anything. "Pathetic" doesn't come close to describing these pricks.
mzk| 1.11.13 @ 3:47AM
Exactly what could the Republicans have done?
BTW, under the constitution each house is sovereign, so I doubt anything they do (excepting actively making actual war on the US) can be considered illegal.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 11:15AM
Aristocat: Excellent comment!
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 11:55AM
He's another Dick.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 12:38PM
Dick Armey?
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 1:54PM
Not Dick Armey.
Dick Leggy.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 1.10.13 @ 6:36AM
I wonder if the law requiring a budget was so that either branch of congress or the executive branch could simply force the others into court to pass a budget.
I'm surprised they haven't tried that.
John Navratil| 1.10.13 @ 8:13AM
Bill Hussein O'Stalin,
The act is "Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (1974)." Lot's of prescription of how to do things, even a mention of sequester, but in my scan of this tedious document I found no penalties for non-compliance. It's why the government continues under CRs. The House is complicit.
Von Mises Jr| 1.10.13 @ 9:03AM
They abandoned Constitutional government when they let the first entire year lapse without a budget and continued to pass CR's. Of course that was Pelosi at the time, but Johnny Boehner has now been Speaker for two full years and has accepted a de facto unconstitutional government that is established on a baseline including the Stimulus of $787B plus an additional $410B Omnibus Bill that has created the $1.2T deficits in perpetuity.
That brings us to the point where "Bite Me" declares that Holder, "Big Brother" Barry and he will discuss Executive Orders to ban our guns.
But the GOP is not only complicit by not acting. Christie is using Executive Order to pass Agenda21 in New Jersey.
Michael Savage last night explained that an EO is simply to clarify an existing law passed by the Legislature. We now have de facto rulers that think that they rule by decree like Stalin and Mao. And many whom understand this realize that a move to confiscate our guns could very well create something far less than civilized society. Savage asked the pertinent question last night: when they ask for your guns, will you hand them over?
CJW| 1.10.13 @ 9:06AM
Harry was never investigated for a shady land deal where he bought land, had it rezoned through his connections, then sold for a big profit.
.
Just google Reid and shady land deal. Bought for $400,000 and sold for 1.1 mil. And paid the cap gains tax.
http://archive.newsmax.com/arc.....5628.shtml
SUBVET| 1.10.13 @ 9:29AM
Harry.............hanging is to good for this pr*ck.
Von Mises Jr| 1.10.13 @ 9:36AM
There was one deal where he had inside information or personally pushed for the construction of a bridge that made the land accessible. It was Nevada's equivalent of a "Bridge to nowhere" except "nowhere" became "somewhere" and Harry cashed in.
This article seems to be talking about the one where he was declared owner after the fact and realized the huge gain while he did not have legal rights to the property.
Excuse me if I am mistaken, between Susan Rice, Valerie Jarret and Dingy Harry, there are so many shady deals that one cannot keep track.
Russel| 1.10.13 @ 10:12AM
Well yeah, that's what I was talking about below . Not only the land deals , but he bot re- election via the SEIU , via casino's . He tried ( whether successful I know not ) to pass internet gambling to repay the gambling industry . I was laughing hard over Nevada's terrible economy until a resident said the whole state voted against the POS except one county - yep , the gambling co.. No question many more shady dealings he has under his cloak .
CJW| 1.10.13 @ 10:31AM
Von
We have a radio show in Pgh, "Quinn and Rose" that has discussed Agenda 21 at the local level. Quinn knows tha subject well and has appeared at his township meetings to oppose it. I believe you can get the show in NJ. Rose Tennant has been on Hannity.
gintuition| 1.10.13 @ 11:10AM
One important detail about that land....it was difficult to get to...in other words, before the new bridge over Hoover Dam, you had to drive all the way to Dolan Springs, AZ. Now there is a bridge that goes straight there. Makes 1.1 million look small, then you realize it wasn't necessarily
"sold" as much as just transferred to another name or LLC that funnels back to Reid.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 11:17AM
" when they ask for your guns, will you hand them over?" My answer: No.
Al Adab| 1.10.13 @ 4:46PM
What guns officer?
chuck| 1.10.13 @ 7:47AM
No more continuing resolutions.
The House GOP needs to make it clear that there will be NO MORE CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS!
The House needs to pass the Budget, and refuse to do anything else until the Senate passes a Budget, then they can work out a compromise in Conference Committee. This is the way the process is suppose to work. No more secret deals, no private meetings with the Halfrican.
Pass a Budget, or shut the whole damned mess down until they do.
c. j. acworth| 1.10.13 @ 10:02AM
I wonder, who signs a senator's paycheck? Can the House (where all spending is supposed to originate) simply withhold salaries of the Senate and their staffs until they do their jobs? If there is no enforcement mechanism in place to force compliance with the law, then at least let's not pay the SOB's.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 11:19AM
chuck: I agree. No More Continuing Resolutions.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 1.10.13 @ 7:52AM
Why should Harry Reid feel obliged to follow a law? He certainly hasn't felt obliged to live up to what the Constitution requires, or his oath to support and defend it.
OP4| 1.10.13 @ 8:42AM
Maybe he could be prosecuted for perjury.
gintuition| 1.10.13 @ 11:12AM
Not if you ask Nevada's AG.
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 9:53AM
This is for Bill.
Think about it.
Why SHOULD Harry Reid pass a Budget? The Executive Branch is the Enforcement Branch of the three. N0-one in Obama's Crime Family is gonna force Harry Reid to do anything. Especially, not a Budget. That would let everyone see for themselves, all of the Waste and Corruption, the Double Dipping and the Pork Laden paybacks to Special Interests. Plus, it would put an end to these constant "EMERGENCIES" which need to be Dealt with, as Soon as Possible, No time to READ THE BILL.
He hasn't even been Inaugurated yet, and this Kettle is already nearing a Boil.
There will be a Conflagration in this Country. Sooner than most of us even think. It's inevitable, and it's exactly what he wants. Why else would he be Stockpiling Ammunition throughout all the different Departments in his Administration? Maybe one of his Buttboys can clue us in? DRed, perhaps? (Yeah, right.)
Like the Title of that Daniel Day Lewis Film: THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
Of that, I have no doubt.
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 9:54AM
Or, Albert.
Either way.
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 10:07AM
Did I say: Albert?
I meant Dom.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 11:21AM
I keep trying to tell you, it is Don Dom.
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 11:56AM
Try Harder!
gintuition| 1.10.13 @ 11:13AM
They need it, treasonous rats are terrible shots.
MacWell™| 1.10.13 @ 8:02PM
I'm hoping that there are a few patriots that know where those stockpiles are. If the shtf for real, it may take stockpiles to take these America haters out.
We will not go silent into the night!
Russel| 1.10.13 @ 8:09AM
If the shoe were on the other foot, the socialist's would be screaming for his head . The despicable little tapeworm is so crooked , he has to screw his socks on . Our Founders wouldn't have had him sweeping the floor . Yet Boehner has given him pass after pass . That there is my biggest disappointment with the speaker . The house is the most powerful and should have taken the hairball to task years ago . All this aside , Chuck is right -- enough . An official investigation into his dealings might just send him packing . With him gone , healing could begin .
Stephie| 1.10.13 @ 8:26AM
He tell the worm to go fuck himself though :-)
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 10:05AM
Stephie, Stephie, Stephie
Be careful. Be careful.
Especially on the Big Man's Spot
They'll Ban You, They'll Ban You.
Unless you're Gay you cannot say
Anything you want to say
Just see Pelleas at his best
Getting those F-Bombs off his Chest.
And, yet he never gets banned.
He doesn't even get his Posts taken Down.
Who's lap do you have to put your face in, around here, to get that kind of Preferential Treatment?
Cause, obviously, it's Someone's.
C'mon Man!| 1.10.13 @ 2:12PM
Ah, so it's language, not shooting that gets you banned.....
I was wrong.
TLP| 1.10.13 @ 2:54PM
That too.
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 5:39PM
A fascinating possibility, Bob Tyrrell, but consider who would be doing this---as crooked a group of vermin as ever existed.
I fear that we will end up with a "Caliphate" US government, led by a Pat Buckman type.
By the way, today Tom Kratman's Magnificent Novel Caliphate is available on Amazon Kindle for FREE. Read that, and then go on to Carnifex.
TLP, if you've got a KINDLE, download at ONCE!
Al Adab| 1.10.13 @ 8:39AM
The House should immediatly pass and adopt a balanced budget and send it up to the Senate for approval. Then we will see just who are the obstructionists and anti-constitutional party. Nothing would make more plain the failure of the Reid Senate to perform their duty.
CJW| 1.10.13 @ 10:33AM
Al Adab
The House has sent budgets to the Senate, including, I believe, two by Paul Ryan. No action, and the MSM just ignores it. Maybe it got lost in the mail.
Al Adab| 1.10.13 @ 11:15AM
The necessity for a good bit of self-promotion on the part of the GOP house is evident. Public relations is not a GOP strong suit, even though as you note the MSM is a wholey owned subsidiary of the Dem party.
fmm| 1.10.13 @ 9:00AM
If there were more than 5 honest men in the bunch, Reid would have been ousted long ago. But crooks protect their own.
Americanpatriot| 1.11.13 @ 9:27PM
They are scum, corrupted, despicable pieces of human beings. How Reid,Obama, Axelrod, Shumer, Pelosi can get up every morning and look themselves in the mirror is beyond most decent human beings.God forgive me for saying that but as a parent, wife, grandmother when I think of what they are doing to my childrenit makes me totally sick to my stomach. They have no regard for other human beings except themselves and would quite readily throw one another under the bus if they needed to. They are all a company of wolves and have no business in public office
Hardcard| 1.10.13 @ 9:49AM
E.Bob we are past all this he guilty of this or that. The people in this government do as they please BJ's in the oval orifice, yes is no, pass it to read it, abu hassan king O, joe biden, pelosi,rangle, the supremes, fat al, dirty harry, weeping willie boner,hillary I can't remember. mrs. weiner, it goes on and on. We have lost our freedom and Our Country, these traitors are in the seat of power, they now rule us, we are screwed.
Anthony| 1.10.13 @ 9:56AM
You're dreaming Emmett. The Republicans in congress are the biggest cowards, whimps, and screwups ever assembled under one roof.
Obozo and Reid laugh at these impotent simps. They walk over them with impunity, like Eliot Spitzier's high priced dominatrix.
Our leaders are totally incapable or unwilling of fighting back. They have no guts, no vision, and no desire to lead. Leadership requires the ability to make hard decisions in the face of political insanity. Leadership requires one to stand and shout STOP. ENOUGH. Who among our leaders is doing that???
Our leaders cower as the left become more and more rabid. They are nothing more than professional political hacks seeking to remain at the political table for as long as they can.
If you think the R leadership is going to take a hard line on the left's foaming at the mouth desire to erase the 2nd Amendment and the debt ceiling, I have a copy of John Boehner's greatest speeches I'll sell to you at a discount price.
You live and work in Oz Emmett, and it ain't REAL!!!
Citizen Jerry| 1.10.13 @ 10:20AM
I'm not among those who don't want to see Dingy Harry go off the the calaboose.
howard lohmuller| 1.10.13 @ 10:33AM
Mr. Tyrrell has exposed the tip of an iceberg in describing the lawlessness of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in refusing to submit a budget as required by law. Many of the Agency and Bureau heads in the Obama Administration are routinely breaking the law. Obama's administration acts out its determination to shred the Constitution every day. We, whom want to live under the law and Constitution, are in danger of losing our country.
JP| 1.10.13 @ 10:41AM
The Progressives finally found the ingredients needed to rule (not to be confused with govern).
1)Win the Oval Office
2)Win at least 1 House in Congress
Reid is only guilty of a crime if Congress and/or the DOJ says he is. There is now penalty for not passing budgets. The simplicity of the Progressive criminality is breathtaking. From Bengahzi, to Fast and Furious, to Hillary's 90 day boozed drenched vacation (formerly known as the "flu" and concussions), this adminsitration is a special case.
Hardcard| 1.10.13 @ 10:45AM
the danger has passed, we lost our country. We are screwed.
Crassus| 1.10.13 @ 10:52AM
They should drop an H-bomb on the state of Nevada for re-electing that worthless POS.
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 5:41PM
They have in the past---many of them, Crassus. That accounts for the reasons that Nevadans vote for Harry Reid. (Look up the Nevada testing grounds, which had explosions visible from Los Vegas.)
Louis Jenkins| 1.10.13 @ 11:03AM
You want to make Harry Reid a criminal? Good luck with that. Laws, we don't need no stinkin' laws. Once elected and in a place of power the buggers do what they want, and to he-- with laws. Reason? There is no reason in the District of Criminals. Your premis would work if the Washington crowd were normal, but normality is a thing of the past. Reid will pass a budget when Hell freezes over, and since global warming is now the policy, that will never happen.
loulou| 1.10.13 @ 11:09AM
Harry Reid don't care. Harry Reid is badass.
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 5:40PM
Harry Reid's a Honey Badger.
Michele San Pietro| 1.10.13 @ 11:27AM
Harry Reid, a parasite and a criminal.
RCV| 1.10.13 @ 11:36AM
I realize that RET didn't go to law school, but even most non-lawyers understand the difference between criminal laws -- violations of which are indeed felonies and misdemeanors -- and civil regulations. But this has not been a good year for RET's connection to reality.
John Navratil| 1.10.13 @ 12:35PM
RCV,
Good form would have them at least repeal the 1974 act. Come to think of it, Gramm-Rudman hasn't been repealed either - just emasculated.
CJW| 1.10.13 @ 12:39PM
Such niceties do not apply when Dems investigate Reps.
Walsh, the Iran Contra prosecutor, spent eight years investigating Reps. They kept referring to violations of the Boland Amendment, which was a civil amendment to some bill to restrict sales to the contras after a certain date. It was not a criminal statute but it provided the basis for most of the investigation that resulted in criminal convicitons.
So appoint another Walsh to investigate why Reid refused to follow a civil law. The investigation will produce perjury and obstuction of justice charges as most such political investigations routinely do.
Stu(B)| 1.10.13 @ 11:40AM
R you are spot but for one thing, I would certainly revel in the sight of "Dingy" Harry being frog marched off to the hoosegow!
Stormy| 1.10.13 @ 11:42AM
We can agree that Harry Reid has broken the law and should be prosecuted. Now, who is going to do it? Eric Holder's DoJ? Surely, you can not be serious.
atilla| 1.10.13 @ 11:59AM
knowing who we are dealing with and the grotesque amount of money involved, the slammer and for a long time.
its time we set an example to those criminals who think little of taxpayer funds.
you know what they do to us if we do'n pay.
Pecos Pete| 1.10.13 @ 12:41PM
atilla: I like the French solution better: The Guillotine.
cicero| 1.10.13 @ 1:05PM
I almost feel bad even getting in on this. We talk and talk about the obvious, but are powerless to do anything about it. The House need only propose a balanced budget. I would suggest the 2007 budget, or better yet, the 1998 budget. We were certainly spending adaquately then. Send it to the Senate. Reed will declare it dead on arrival. Refuse to pass any spending legislation. The government will then go into automatic pilot. Soc. Sec. checks will go out as usual (despite O's statements that they will not.) The soldiers and sailors will be paid. All non-essentials will not be paid. In the overall budget as currently existing, you would be suprised how little of it is to pay for essential, and Constitutional activities. When the people realize that the country will not disapear, there will be dancing in the streets, (at least by the 49%). The rest can storm the empty halls of congress and the WH.
RABart| 1.10.13 @ 1:07PM
atilla and pecos: I like the Fargo solution better:the wood chipper
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 5:42PM
The Fargo visitor's center has the original woodchipper. The movie was actually shot in Brainerd, MN.
RABart| 1.10.13 @ 1:11PM
If the republicans (bohrner) fails and caves on the upcoming debt-ceiling debate--they are finished and rightfully so.
Who Knows?| 1.10.13 @ 1:29PM
I just read “Warrior Politics” by Robert D. Kaplan, from 2002. He runs through all the great writers, as they remind us that there’s nothing new about human nature.
I especially appreciated his look at Hobbes and Machiavelli. Actually, given that another decade has passed since this prescriptive book, and things have only gotten WORSE, since the GOP leaders continue to exhibit their ignorance of history, as well as stupidity and gutlessness, who can be even a little bit optimistic?
Who Knows?| 1.10.13 @ 1:29PM
It’s a sure sign that America, as we knew it, is (probably) over, when someone of your fame and stature, Mr. Tyrrell Jr., FINALLY gets around to pointing out the nakedness of Harry Reid---I realized, myself, a long time ago, that it isn’t that the GOP is stupid, only, but that it is gutless.
Indeed, they are reputedly the law and order party. So, why doesn’t McConnell SUE Harry Reid?
Way too many mortgages are under water, and as the WSJ reported yesterday, in the states with “judicial” obstacles, it takes years to foreclose on them, whereas in more free market states, foreclosure is easier, and the markets are thus able to clear, and in fact prices are even stabilizing in them.
Well, Congress + Obama ARE the equivalent of those unqualified borrowers who should have NEVER been allowed to get a mortgage. And, what do you know, Reid et al are over-staying in their under water “houses”!
Where are the grownups?
Who Knows?| 1.10.13 @ 1:30PM
For me, though, it did help solidify my previous take about the GOP, in particular the way the recent election played out. Romney was no Machiavelli! Too, neither was McCain in 2008, Dole in 1996, etc etc etc.
Talk about a political GAP!
The left has eaten and digested Machiavelli, and therefore accepts almost NO BOUNDARIES, when it comes to winning elections, and governing.
The right, however, is epitomized by a Mr. Nice Guy Romney, a Mormon, who believes in playing fair!
Here’s the simple thing to take away from recent American history, a gift from Hobbes---the GOP lives in fear of what the left will do. The left KNOWS this, and has NO FEAR of anything the right will do.
I can dream on, though, and imagine how discombobulated Obama and Reid and Pelosi and their gang of thieves would be, if the GOP did sue them for breaking the law, for not submitting a budget.
That would be something!
A realist, however, I remain. So, I expect more of the same old dance, which simply can’t have a felicitous outcome.
There can only be an economic event, like the inflation that happened at the end of the Carter presidency---at least.
Hardcard| 1.10.13 @ 1:30PM
I think the king can have susan rice make the collar,and dirty harry won't mind so much, she's a well spoken light skinned negro ya know!!
old progrmr| 1.10.13 @ 1:50PM
A serious question: What can a taxpayer do to take action against this law breaking by our esteemed Senate. As taxpayers don't we have legal standing to sue the Senate Leadership for violating the constitution? Why are some laws inviolable and other mean nothing? Contract law related to Union Pensions CANNOT be violated, yet, in this case, ol'Harry can obviously violate the Constitution with reckless abandon. I would think that this is an excellent case for some aggressive, constitutional lawyer type trying to make a name for himself. There is NO WAY a continuing resoluton can be interpreted to be a meaningful budget. How can there be any comment by any politician in reference to THE BUDGET when we have none? Any opinions out there.
Sturmudgeon| 1.10.13 @ 2:10PM
Well, Mr. Tyrrell... you are most probably wrong on one count: for myself and many others, we would be ecstatic to see 'Dingy' AND several other 'law-breakers' in our government, go off to jail!
Thom| 1.10.13 @ 3:04PM
"Surely we do not make laws without punishments, do we?"
I lost my breakfast on that rhetorical question. You expect the law to apply to the government?
"No one wants to see him go off to the calaboose."
Actually ...
Lyoncelt| 1.10.13 @ 4:43PM
Alas, Mr. Tyrrell seems naively unacquainted with the perfidies of Congress. When Congress passes laws for others, it exempt its members. When Congress passes laws for itself, it of course omits any penalty for violation of the law. Congress is a penalty-free enclave of abomination. One contemplates in awe Mr. Tyrrell's infantile naivete in assuming that there would be any penalty for anyone in Congress for anything. Does he not remember Patrick Kennedy's first words, coached into him to a fare-thee-well by his father, when he was apprehended driving intoxicated at 2 am? That he was on his way to a vote in the House. That was attributed to his intoxicated stupor, but was actually a reflection of the excellent training by his father that a member of Congress may not be apprehended for violaton of any law while en route to or performing legislative duties. The DC police, instead of appropriately arresting him, drove him home. That is a "Don't even go to jail" card, rather than a "get out of jail free" card, for the corrupt monopoly players in Washington treating taxpayers as boobs with their own money. One would think after following the Clintons for a third of a Century that Mr. Tyrrell would possess some degree of cynicism regarding government in general, if not Congress in particular. But, perhaps this column is written in complete jest, a la The Onion. If so, my apologies, Mr. Tyrrell.
Purp| 1.10.13 @ 5:11PM
Of course you are wrong.
"Federal law clearly requires the Congress to pass a budget every year. " - yep, and the Senate is one part of Congress, not the whole. It means both Houses of Congress, in concert with each other must pass a budget. It does not single out the Senate to pass a budget on it's own, or the House, nor does it say the House can pass any old budget it wants and it's done. That is why BOTH Houses must agree to a budget.
Checks and balances requires them to agree on a budget. If they don't - no budget.
Now if you want to lock up all of Congress, by all means, have at it.
But stop cherry picking and focusing only on the House you don't like, and it's leader. The House Speaker and the House can't pass a budget that is a compromise with the Senate either. So they are useless to the process.
Occam's Tool| 1.10.13 @ 5:43PM
And NO ONE in the Senate voted for the Obama budget.
John Navratil| 1.10.13 @ 6:04PM
Purp,
Read the Constitution and then the law. (1) Revenue bills MUST originate in the House and are then (2) sent to the Senate which may amend. Then the (3) budget reconciliation process begins and conference committees produce a bill that must then (4) pass both houses.
Nowhere does it say the House must produce a bill the Senate likes in step (1).
So far step (1) has been done several times. It seems Mr. Reid can't do his bit with step (2) in direct contravention of the 1974 law. And he does that so that big spending Democrats don't have to be called out. But you knew that, didn't you?
Purp| 1.10.13 @ 6:55PM
You are correct - in fact, the Senate dislikes the House bills so much, they don't even bother - it IS their prerogative, and is not lawbreaking.
Until the House Reps get their head out of their a** and realize they don't run the government, and MUST compromise, you will get what you got so far. You cannot compromise without a willing partner - Ask the Israelis about that one.
Now tell me again why that's a Harry Reid problem...
John Navratil| 1.10.13 @ 7:46PM
Purp,
Read the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 for yourself. Reid is the leader of the Senate and the Senate is called to act on the budget presented to it by the House. Simple really, despite your feeble protestations to the contrary.
John Navratil| 1.10.13 @ 8:04PM
Purp,
Even considering your proposition that the Congress acts in unison, - a truly ludicrous interpretation of a bicameral government - where is the action in the Senate? The only thing they have done regarding any budget is to bury Obama's offering. Read Title III of the act and defend Reid. I don't think even your sophistry is up to it.
CJW| 1.10.13 @ 8:10PM
Purp the Village Idiot says God caused Hurricane Sandy to help Obama. Purpie believes God killed hundreds and destroyed millions of dollars of property to help Obama win:
"Purp| 11.8.12 @ 10:35AM
"The Lord rules, not Obama." - CORRECT!
The Lord works in mysterious ways... and this is something for the faithful to contemplate in the way the see the world:
Hurricane Sandy and Chris Christie was the Lord's way of pressing his thumb on the scale to tilt in the direction of President Obama. It was His punishment of Republicans for their lying and trying to cheat (Voter Suppression) their way to political victory, while espousing faith, freedom and constitutional credentials.
Some soul searching of conservative attitudes is in order, for sure."
Why answer this stupid, bigoted moron, just mock and ridicule him with his own words.
JohnTee| 1.10.13 @ 6:15PM
Surely, Mr Tyrell, you're not serious. Why waste time on trivial fantasy?
I think that with a little digging this provocateur has enough lined up against him to put him against the wall. The budget is the least of them. Starting with the credentials of the "ghost", I don't believe for a second that he is a legitimate president. He has deliberately and contemptuously skirted and evaded the principles of the constitution with all of his executive orders, his appointment of a shadow cabinet without the advice and consent of the Senate, his illegal wars, his evasion of court orders on Gulf oil drilling, his legalization of border crossing invaders, etc,etc,etc.! But it was all in the spirit of Hope and Change, right? And by the way, who will prosecute your charges? What? The Republican House of Representatives???
Heh,heh...... Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.... Yuk, yuk, yuk,yuk!! That was a good one! Do you have any other?
JohnTee| 1.10.13 @ 6:23PM
Obviously, my comment was meant primarily in reference to his fearless leader, Reid being only the obnoxious tool, for the real miscreant. But Reid will skate too. While Reid and Obama have been joined at the hip in imposing tyranny on America, he's a second stringer compared to the top guy.
Purp| 1.10.13 @ 6:57PM
What are you babbling about? You still on the "birther" bullshit?
JohnTee| 1.12.13 @ 12:18AM
Hey Burp:
Classy comment. Matches your thoughtful analysis on the origins of the "perp" Take an Alka Seltzer and maybe the gas will go away.
Lisa | 1.10.13 @ 11:36PM
I don't know why the Democrats take the least qualified individuals and put them in leadership positions.
CHAUSSURES FEMME AIR MAX LTD | 1.11.13 @ 1:38AM
I suppose we can leave it to the federal prosecutors to decide, but if he gets off on a misdemeanor I urge it also entail mandatory budget counseling. No one would be surprised to hear of Harry being sentenced to a stint at anger management counseling. Why not mandatory budget counseling too?
Mazzuchelli| 1.11.13 @ 2:25PM
I would add that Dirty Harry like many Dems in the West has engaged in fraud involving government lands. BUT, since the media only reports on 'Pubs these days, those little incidentals will never see the light of day. I would pay someone at the SF Chron $1K of my own money to really report on San Fran Nan and her real estate dealings. But, if they don't care, why should I?
Ralph Novy| 1.11.13 @ 5:10PM
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo!
Congratulations, Tyrrell!
You've graduated from "near fringe" to "full blown fringe."
Hope you enjoy your utter marginalization in American political discourse hereinafter.
Oh. Wait. Maybe you could join Dimwit and Addle-Brained over at Heritage.
I am SO enjoying the self-destruction of the American Right. It's like watching Hitler commit suicide with a hammer.
Ralph Novy| 1.11.13 @ 5:10PM
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo!
Congratulations, Tyrrell!
You've graduated from "near fringe" to "full blown fringe."
Hope you enjoy your utter marginalization in American political discourse hereinafter.
Oh. Wait. Maybe you could join Dimwit and Addle-Brained over at Heritage.
I am SO enjoying the self-destruction of the American Right. It's like watching Hitler commit suicide with a hammer.
Americanpatriot| 1.11.13 @ 9:16PM
Reid, Feinstein, Obama, Pelosi,, Shumer the whole kitten kaboodle of them need to go to prison for failing to honor their constitutional oath on a number of issues from cover ups, failing to pass a budget, crony capitialism by using taxpayer funds for their friends, starting a war in Libya without congressional approvel, amnesty without a law passed thru congress, they are the most corrupt, despicable, immoral kind of politicians our great nation has ever known.
Americanpatriot| 1.11.13 @ 9:18PM
Vote fraud has helped many a democrat get into office. Why do you think they fight tooth and nail against voter id laws.
Americanpatriot| 1.11.13 @ 9:18PM
Vote fraud has helped many a democrat get into office. Why do you think they fight tooth and nail against voter id laws.
Tumbleweed| 1.12.13 @ 11:34AM
Impersonating a member of Congress!
For not passing a budget in four years!
For trying to eliminate the 2nd Amendment!
For his shady land deals in Nevada!