In case you missed it, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has decided to get personal on the floor of the House in recent days.
Big words coming from a guy too chicken to go head-to-head with Michael Bloomberg for Mayor this past year.
The saddest part of this whole clip: The issue on the floor was repealing insurance companies' protection from anti-trust regulations - an issue that had bipartisan support. Not exactly a polarizing issue. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation, with only 19 members opposing the legislation.
So Weiner takes this opportunity to be a "tough guy", but it sounded more like the wimpy kid on the playground standing behind all his tough friends - a cheap shot.
Is this misplaced anger? Is married life taking its toll already?
No, it's party politics exhibited at its most insidious. I think this is a calculated partisan move - an Obama attack dog looking for red meat at a time when the President's numbers are slipping and the perception is that the Democratic-led government is not doing anything to help the American people.
Forget that Democrats are spending money like it's going out of style and getting little result in return. Forget shenanigans like the Charlie Rangel edition of "Let's Make a Deal" that the Democratic leadership is playing. (so much for draining the swamp, huh Ms. Pelosi?) Forget the whole BP thing, two ongoing wars, unemployment, and think Arizona, people!
Put the blame for it all on the big-business-loving evil opportunists in red (you know, red, just like the color of the devil) and appear to be offended and offensive at the same time.
Liberal weenies (pun intended) will eat it up (again, pun intended).
Next thing you know, President Obama will be a guest on "The View", and DNC Chair Tim Kaine will label all Republicans as Tea Party "fanatics". That would smell like desperation, wouldn't it?
Wait, that happened today, too.
The good news out of all this for Republicans is this: all these tactics are acknowledgment that Republicans control the current narrative and are looking to ride that narrative to re-taking the legislature.Batten down the hatches, folks. If this is any indication, then it's going to be a combative few months leading up to Mid-Term Elections.
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Post-script: Weiner also flipped his proverbial wig at Republicans for the failure of the 9/11 Health Bill - making a spectacle of himself again on the House floor. Of course, he conveniently left out that the Democratic leadership required that it pass by 2/3 vote rather than simple majority. The "devil" is in the details!
You should pay attention to what he says towards the end of that clip. From 4:20 for about 25 seconds he actually says something that is true. He is absolutely right about the face that there are inequities in the insurance market, but he is in denial about the cause of those inequities. The source of all of the inequities is government intervention in the insurance market for more than half a century. And what he refuses to admit, or maybe just fails to realize, is that you can't fix problems caused by government intervention with more government intervention, it just doesn't work. More government intervention will just make more problems and more inequities.
ReplyDelete"The source of all of the inequities is government intervention... ."
ReplyDelete"you can't fix problems caused by government intervention with more government intervention, it just doesn't work."
I think I need to frame these quotes on the site somewhere!
The Dems are scared, and so is Anthony Weiner!!!
ReplyDeleteBob Turner 4 Congress!!
"Call him brash, confident, conniving, abrasive, ambitious or all of the above, we got to know the real Anthony Weiner. And unfortunately the “real” Weiner is someone you would not want next to you in a foxhole as you are about to charge over the hill. When the going gets tough, Anthony Weiner is gone. He will do anything that is remotely advantageous for him and everyone else be damned."
ReplyDeleteRead the rest here: http://www.junipercivic.com/juniperberryarticle.asp?nid=650