“Miami needs the money.” Politicians are asked about Super Bowl predictions…

“O’Reilly Factor” producer Jesse Watters goes to Washington DC and visits Capitol Hill, where he interviews members of Congress about their Super Bowl predictions, wagers they’ve made and game day traditions.

The highlight of the clip comes about 1:35 in, where New York Congressmen Charlie Rangel expresses his hopes for the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are screwed.

Extra point:  Watters said Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Bawney Fwank, a Patwiots fan, turned down an opportunity to be interviewed about the Super Bowl because he does not like to “mix” politics and sports.

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Moonbat Civil War: The Black Caucus deserting Pelosi?

Via The Hill Blog. In the ongoing internal struggle to determine who should lead the Democrats through their mandatory journey through the wilderness of electoral defeat, battles are being fought on several different fronts.  In the weeks after the election, shell-shocked Blue Dogs voiced near unanimous distaste over the election of soon-to-be former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as House Minority Leader.

Pelosi’s announcement that she’d be seeking the leadership position pushed the number two and number three men in the House, Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, into a potential battle for minority whip. Hoyer of course is rich white dude; Clyburn is a black man from a poverty stricken southern state (it’s not really, but that’s their meme so let’s run with it).

To resolve and avoid such a nasty fight, Pelosi agreed to create a new position in the Democrat Caucus and name Clyburn to it, allowing him to keep a leadership position.  But the Congressional Black Caucus is apparently still not satisfied, and is suggesting their caucus may not support Pelosi.

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Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the black caucus, told The Hill on Monday evening (site down) that she was "reserving judgment" about Pelosi's leadership candidacy.

The CBC is particularly looking to study the deal Pelosi had cut over the weekend to keep Clyburn in the third-ranking position of the House Democratic leadership by creating a new position to which the outgoing whip would have to be elected. CBC members had hoped Clyburn would remain in the position of whip, the second-ranking job in the minority. Under the deal created by Pelosi, outgoing Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) would become the new whip.

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Overnight, this story, confirming the first, broke at CNN.com:

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The Congressional Black Caucus has decided to withhold its approval for the House Democratic leadership team, denying Speaker Nancy Pelosi full support of the 42-member organization as she campaigns to remain leader.

After a nearly two hour long meeting on Monday night, chairwoman Barbara Lee of California said the group only will endorse caucus member James Clyburn of South Carolina for a leadership position. The causus first wants to know what his role will be in the Democratic leadership before backing the full slate.

"We fully support our current Whip, Mr. Clyburn, for the number three position and we are currently reserving judgment on the entire package until we see what the actual portfolio entails, in terms of responsibilities," Lee said.

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If there are still enough Blue Dogs willing to walk out on Pelosi, and if the CBC presents a united no-support front, Madam Speaker’s days in the leadership of the Democrat Caucus may be limited.

When the Caucus does its private vote (possibly as early as this week), it will be interesting to see who emerges as House Minority Leader.

Look on the bright side, lefties: At least you still have K Street

Democrats lost Main Street for good last August, as the Tea Party movement gained steam and ruling class lawmakers went home to face town hall audiences angry over their leftist, big government agenda.  The super-sized majorities let them ram through all sorts of liberal policy initiatives, including cap and trade in the House and the $800+ billion stimulus.  Last summer, Congressional Democrats had a plurality of public opinion on their side.  This summer, a clear majority disapproves of their job performance, and the economic news is not going to get much better before they have to go home, campaign and defend their records.

The news gets worse for Democrats—as this summer, it looks like they’ve lost Wall Street.

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Wall Street interests are giving the lion's share of their federal campaign contributions to Republicans, reversing their heavy giving to Democrats who control Congress, a new analysis of second-quarter financial reports shows.

Back in March 2009, people and political action committees in the securities and investment industry gave 70% of their contributions to Democrats. By June of this year, the situation had changed markedly with 68% of Wall Street money now going to Republicans, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which studies money in politics.

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As an industry, Wall Street is as good as Vegas when it comes to picking winners and losers.  Sure, individual advisers bookies get it wrong on occasion, but in the long run, they always end up banking on the right side and pocketing the juice commission.

The USA Today story would like you to believe that Wall Street bailed on the Democrats because of the newly minted financial regulations reform bill.  Don’t buy that for one second.  The deep-pockets on Wall Street made sure their oxes wouldn’t be gored by that abomination.  The shift in backing isn’t vengeance, it’s just good business to bet with the odds-on favorite.

But, at least the lefties have one silver lining.  K Street still loves Obama and the Democrats, especially after Obama famously made—then broke—a promise that his administration would suffer no lobbyists in its halls.

I suppose they probably still have a little support on the Arab Street, too.

Gimme some feedback in the comments.

Radical, left wing news media attacks radical, left wing regime for not being radical or left wing enough

This is comedy gold.  In an interview with The Hill, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs expressed some frustration over the fact that the radical, left wing media organizations like MSNBC are criticizing the Obama regime for being, well, not radical or left wing enough.

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“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as healthcare reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”

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The last thing in the world this regime needs is an attack from its left flank, especially with the southbound Congressional and White House poll numbers. But Gibbsy's petulance is a perfect illustration of the mood in the West Wing these days. It's not nervousness about the upcoming midterm election. It's not even a gnawing little fear. It's abject terror.

In the Glorious Revolution of 1994, an entire generation of Democratic politicians was wiped out, never to be heard from again. It took the Democrats 12 years and a furious onslaught from the radical left wing media to claw back into power. After six years of Democrat congressional majorities and two years of almost uncheckable power, the electorate seems to have seen enough of this bunch and ruling class Democrats know what's in store. What really gets under their skin though is the fact that the grass nutroots that helped them get to where they are have been some of the most vocal critics in recent months.

Pass the popcorn, and gimme some feedback in the comments.

In politics, perception is everything

If money is the mother's milk of politics, perception is the stern glare of the father.  The last several months have not been kind to Democrats, and the plight they're in is one of their own making.

Nothing demonstrates a failure to appreciate how perception affects voters like the Obamas' vacation to Maine in July and Mrs. Obama's lavish, six-day excursion to the ritzy, glitzy Mediterranean coast of Spain which ended Sunday.  Mrs. Obama arrived back at the White House south lawn just in time to enjoy some grilled Gulf shrimp.  That shrimp must have come from Tampa or South Padre, because it sure didn't come out of the waters of the northern Gulf Coast.

While ordinary Americans across the country are tightening their belts--and while some residents of the Gulf Coast are literally gasping for air--the Obama's are living the high life.  They're hanging with rock stars.  They're shooting hoops with superstars.  They're closing down whole national parks and cordoning off big stretches of beach so they can enjoy the spoils of power.

While the economy is bleeding jobs, growth was slowing and the Macondo well was spewing crude into the Gulf, el Presidente enjoyed more rounds of in a couple of months than I've played all year.  At the rate he's playing, he's probably gotten good enough to have beaten Tiger Woods at Firestone last weekend.

Mrs. Obama's trip to Spain--which included lavish accommodations at an exclusive resort and dining with Spanish royalty--led the NY Daily News' Andrea Tantaros to compare the First Lady to Marie Antoinette, the famously callous French queen of Louis XIV.

Making matters even worse for the ruling class--not one, not two, but three prominent Democrats are in hot water over alleged ethics violations.  The Rangel case by itself isn't likely to cause someone to say, "you know, Rangel is a crook, so I'm voting Republican."  Neither would the Waters case by itself, or the Manchin case by itself.  But to have all three come sloshing ashore at the same time, mere months away from an election already seething with anti-incumbent fervor...

To dyed-in-the-wool conservatives and newly aroused Tea Party activists, this kind of stuff doesn't do much.  Their Crap-o-Meters have been pegged in the red since that awful Sunday in March.  And dyed-in-the wool liberals are just fine with comparing Michelle Obama's Spanish flair to Laura Bush's visit to Africa; and Dems' ethics problems to a decades-old scandal with Newt Gingrich. What stuff like this does is to get under the skin of moderates and swing voters, a group of people not normally counted on to turn out for midterm elections.  But if the Obama regime keeps up the aloof, detached air of royalty, November 3 will be a heady morning for Democrats.


Gimme some feedback in the comments.

The Joe Biden Drinking Game!

Here, ladies and gentlemen, are the proposed rules for the Joe Biden Drinking Game.  Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

RULES:

A person is picked to be the "F-er" at the beginning of the game.  A special hat, preferably one adorned with plugs, must be worn by the "F-er."

Whenever Joe drops the F-Bomb, every body chugs, but the F-er gets to choose a person who has to buy the next round by pointing to them and saying, “stand up, Chuck.  Let’em see ya!”

Whenever Joe laments the passing of a dignitary’s living parent, everybody with a living parent chugs.

Whenever Joe mentions “7-11” or “Dunkin Donuts,” everyone says “big f-in deal!” with a slight Indian accent, and chugs.

Whenever Joe misspells a word, everyone stands up and says: “J-O-B-S is a three letter word!”  Then, every third person must chug.

Whenever Joe says “successful dump!” everyone chugs and a new f-er is chosen.  The new f-er must chug a second drink, then point to someone else and say: “_________ would probably have been a better choice.”

Whenever Joe mentions a site on the Internet, everyone chugs, then turns to the person on the right and says, “do you know the website number?”

Whenever Joe mistakes the name of a dignitary (like a Supreme Court Justice), every one says “give me a f-in’ break!” and chugs.

Whenever Joe says, “look folks,” everyone punches the f-er in the arm and chugs.

Whenever Joe says, “my friend,” everyone says “BARACK AMERICA!” and chugs.

Whenever Joe mentions 9/11, the f-er stands up and says, “a noun, a verb and Amen!”

When Joe  mentions African Americans, the f-er then gets to choose a “mainstream African American,” or MAA.  The MAA then has to say something articulate, or he chugs.

Have fun!

Gimme some feedback in the comments.

As expected, Reuters trots out the media's favorite adverb

It's beyond comical now.  Reuters reports on disappointing month-over-month existing home sales:

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Sales of previously owned homes fell unexpectedly in May as delays in processing mortgage applications hampered the closing of contracts benefiting from a popular homebuyer tax credit, an industry group said on Tuesday.

The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 2.2 percent month over month to an annual rate of 5.66 million units from an upwardly revised 5.79 million-unit pace in April.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected May sales to rise 5.5 percent to a 6.12 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.77 million units in April.

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Unexpectedly? Who didn't expect to see existing home sales fall in this economic climate? There is oil spewing in the Gulf. Small businesses face enormous uncertainty over the recently passed healthcare legislation. Banks face enormous new regulatory challenges and uncertainty from the new financial reform legislation. The oil and gas industry is reeling from an arbitrary six-month moratorium on offshore drilling. And to top it all off, the regime is pushing for another bite at the cap-and-trade apple.

Who are these "analysts" polled by Reuters, and what Ivory Tower are they living in? While home sales were up over the same month last year, the regime has created such a toxic climate of uncertainty that no self respecting, competent economist could predict anything other than continued volatility or continued weakness. This is not an economic climate that fosters growth. It is a climate that causes businesses and consumers to reduce risk and minimize exposure to uncertain future risks. Reuters blames bank processing delays in stalling applications. I think it's much more likely that both banks and consumers are taking a wait and see approach, and are holding off taking on the additional debt of new mortgages.

UPDATE: The e21 blog has a great analysis here, concluding that a day of reckoning must come to the real estate market.  The so-called "shadow inventory" of existing homes (homes held in foreclosure by banks and not yet on the market).  e21 also notes a NY Times piece on one reason for banks' reluctance to lend. 

Gimme some feedback in the comments.

Congress needs to stop the Deepwater Horizon hearings

Would it be too much for Congress to hold off on all the damned hearings in Washington, DC?  Just for a little while, so that the senior leadership of BP, TransOcean and Halliburton can focus on getting the leak stopped?

Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, burned and sank last month, we've had hearings before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittees on Oversight and Water and Wildlife, the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  Still to come are hearings before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  That's just the seven hearings that I know of.  

The Obama regime didn't have its WTF moment and realize that they had a problem in the Gulf until eight days after the incident began.  Since his May 2 visit to Louisiana, his Democrat henchmen have scheduled no less than seven congressional hearings.  Each hearing is before a committee having different oversight responsibility, meaning a different set of questions and a different set of interrogators.  This makes the corporate senior leadership engage their staff to interview boots-on-the-ground crew chiefs and team leaders to gather information.  They have to prepare testimony and fact check their statements. Then the senior leadership and their staff have to travel to Washington, DC and sit under the lights.  


Assuming the senior leadership of the three companies are the best leaders the company has on the payroll, wouldn't it make sense to hold off on the interrogations until the damned well is capped off and the spill is cleaned up?