Representative Niki Tsongas (D-MA) bravely showed up at a town hall to discuss health care reform, and rather than being shouted down, (thankfully) she got the chance to take a serious question from one of the people in the audience. (Please see the full story and video from Ed Morrissey at Hot Air.) CONSTITUENT: My question to you, Congresswoman Tsongas, is that if this is such a great plan, why did you opt out of it when you took the vote [loud applause, standing ovation]? TSONGAS: People often...

I know all about being a die hard fan, so immersed in your belief that you tend to deny reality. After all, I’m a veteran of decades of support for the New York Jets. (This is the year! I SWEAR it is this time!) Unfortunately, we sometimes have to face up to the fact that our team simply sucks. This is a lesson that could prove useful to “Smitty” over at The Other McCain blog, when he decides to proclaim that Rick Moran is “a blowhard.” The bee in his bonnet on this...

I was outside this morning having my first cup of coffee and looking at the dismal progress of my tomatoes, (which are totally failing to ripen) and it got me to thinking about the odd weather we’ve been having this summer. Summer is, of course, the traditional hurricane season, but have you seen many of them in the news? I haven’t seen much about it in the blogosphere. I stopped by the National Hurricane Center to take a peek at what was coming down the pipe. Click on the image for the...

I can’t quite make out her name in all the clutter, but based on her profile she apparently lost her job recently and, as such, might understandably be very concerned about making sure she had health care for her and her very large family. More from the mother of several: [W]ho will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of...

Josh Greenman of the New York Daily News takes a look at the partisan divide in Washington, which recent polls indicate has gotten wider, not narrower, in the Age of Obama, and concludes that it’s not the fault of the president. In his view, it’s people… not presidents… who are tearing the country asunder. It’s an interesting view, and I have to admit that the red blue chasm in this nation is pretty big to pin on one individual, no matter how influential they may be. As...

Mitt Romney has inked a deal to publish a new book in March of 2010, just in time for the mid-term election season and setting himself up nicely to launch a 2012 bid for the White House. Titled “No Apologies,” it seems fairly clear what ground the former Mass. governor is seeking to stake out, possibly giving a boost to his party’s message as they try to climb back from the minority office in Congress. Titled “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness,” the book outlines what...

I don’t see how anyone could have possibly predicted this. Seventy-one percent (71%) of U.S. voters say President Obama’s policies have increased the size of the federal deficit, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. A plurality of voters (37%) say cutting the federal deficit in half in the next four years is number one among the four priorities the president listed in a speech to Congress in February, but 66% view it as the goal he is least likely to achieve. Eighty-one...

It’s now official. El Tinklenberg is dropping out of the race to remove Michele Bachmann (R-Mars) from her seat for Minnesota’s sixth Congressional District. Apparently, there were enough Democrats interested in sending Michele a one way ticket back to Crazytown that Tinklenberg didn’t want to be involved in the internecine bloodbath. This may be a result of too many Democrats sensing that Bachmann is going to be particularly vulnerable, or just the usual jousting for a shot at...

Since you all never seem to be able to get enough of me and my endless supply of wit, I’ll be the guest on The Ed Morrissey show today, starting shortly at 3 pm ET. Just follow the link and be sure to register for a free user account at uStream if you don’t have one already if you want to chat. After that, at 4 pm ET, I’ll be cohosting as usual at Betty Jo Tucker’s Movie Addict Headquarters, where we will do a review of movies based on TV shows. Let’s see if I can think...

That’s the point being brought up by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in a recent op-ed, as brought to us by my radio partner in crime, the Lady Logician. For reasons which we’ll explore below, T-Paw seems to be picking an ideal time to dip a toe into this particular pool, and will be pointing to the health care program which was set up in his home state as a way for the rest of the nation to proceed. In Minnesota, our state employee health-care plan has demonstrated incredible results...

It’s not hard to understand why some supporters of the Democratic majority are in such a hurry to push through a massive health care reform bill before everyone has a chance to weigh in and gain some consensus. Rasmussen has finished yet another round of polling which indicates that a significant majority of Americans don’t really feel that we’re hovering in the range of third world nations when it comes to either coverage or care. (You can view the specific questions and percentages...

Who are the real blowhards in Congress or politics in general? You’d have to work pretty hard to beat the legacy of Godzilla. With that in mind, Cranky T-Rex brings on a new tradition of naming The Godzilla Awards for the best blowhards. The first recipient will likely not come as much of a surprise. Welcome aboard, my dino-friend.

Lesson number 213 on how to remain in the minority for a long time no matter how badly the Democrats drive the nation’s economy toward the event horizon of a fiscal black hole. Oppose one of the few popular things that Congress has managed to do with your tax dollars. If the Senate doesn’t agree to cough up another 2 billion dollars for the Cash for Clunkers program to match the House’s vote, it will be shut down. Republicans say the problems with the program are another strike...

Orrin Hatch may not be loving the Democrats’ health care reform plans. Of course, for a moment there, I thought he might be, since he referred to it as being “out of this world.” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has a long history of teaming up with Democrats on healthcare legislation, says Democratic healthcare reform plans now under consideration are “out of this world.” Hatch also told The Hill in a Friday interview he would be “shocked” if Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)...

It’s test time for the Legislative branch of our government. As the Associated Press correctly points out, House members and Senators are now heading home where they will face questions, criticism and scrutiny from their many employers (i.e. the voters) who will decide in the months and years to come whether or not they will keep their jobs. The problem they face in this test is the same one which comes around every few years and both parties are plagued by it. Each party has to deal with the...

When it comes to questions of how we’re going to pay for health care reform, clean air initiatives and everything else up to and including free ponies for everyone, many self-styled pundits have been crying out that we should tax the poncy, bourgeoisie bastards who hoard all the cash. “The rich should pay their fair share!” That’s the cry we hear. You may want to read the following and then ask yourself exactly what their “fair share” really is. Tax Burden of Top...

Possible Louisiana Senate candidate (and porn star) Stormy Daniels may be learning just how dangerous the political arena can be. (Or maybe not.) It’s being reported that her political adviser had his car blown up this week, and there’s even video of it after the jump. A political adviser to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who’s considering a Senate run in Louisiana, told a New Orleans TV station Monday that someone bombed his car. Brian Welsh, who wasn’t hurt in the incident,...

There’s been a plethora of coverage, both here and elsewhere, of the “Gates-Gate” affair currently choking the news cycle to death. Of course, most of these people are choosing to focus on “teachable moments” and the “status of black-white relations” and blah, blah, blah, blah. Sadly, what most of these analysts are missing is the good news underlying the affairs of the last week, and that is that racism, while perhaps not entirely dead, is on its last legs...

As we’ve discussed in the past, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has proven himself to be a political prognosticator of extraordinary skills since his debut on the scene. This may only come in second to his abilities in scoring major league baseball. Of course, when he wanders off into other areas, such as global warming, his platform as an analyst can go a bit pear shaped, but we shouldn’t hold that against him. That’s why I was looking forward to reading his analysis of how...

Coming up shortly, I’ll be one of the guests on The Rick Moran Show to discuss the birther movement and the state of health care reform today. For those of you here screaming at me recently on either of these issues, you can stop by, call in, and scream in person if you wish. Follow the link for details. See you on the radio!

It seems that the mortgage troubles of two Democratic Senators – Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad – just won’t go away. (Let’s remember, Dodd was the same one who claimed he had no idea who inserted a clause in the stimulus bill to allow AIG executives to collect huge bonuses, and then later recalled that it was him.) After assuring us that he never received any special, preferential treatment from Countrywide lenders, a different opinion on the subject has emerged from, ummm…...

Following our last discussion on the Franking Commission, I did a bit more digging on the history of Franking. There were also more nuggets buried in the news containing quotes from the various players involved in this mess. With that in mind, I invite you to read my latest column, currently up at Pajamas Media, titled The Franking Sign Monster. As always, your witty observations are welcome.

As a freelance pundit and political addict, I must pause to bow my head and give thanks for one small thing. Even after Sarah Palin stepped down from the public stage, we’ll always have Minnesota, home of Jesse Ventura, Al Franken and… our favorite member of Congress for high comedy. Today, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) introduced a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood. The resolution also proclaims the state as President Obama’s birthplace… Just...

Nancy Pelosi is a woman on a mission. We may not know exactly what that mission is or where these train tracks end, but she’s on a path. America, having had more than sufficient time to observe her leadership as our first female Speaker of the House, has registered a rather overwhelmingly negative view of her performance to date, but would a little thing like that bother Pelosi? No way, Jose’. Nancy Pelosi on being unpopular: ‘I don’t care’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

It seems that Orly Taitz will be showing up on The Colbert Report this week. She will doubtless have her own certified United States birth certificate on hand. Aside from the delicious entertainment such a meeting promises, we should take this chance to attempt predicting some of the highlights. A lot of this will depend on the rationale of Taitz for accepting the interview. Is she simply unaware of Colbert’s format and nobody has had the heart to tell her that he’s not actually an adjunct...