Senator Jim Bunning

My understanding is that Senator Jim Bunning (Republican of Kentucky) objected to a "Unanimous Consent" decrees with regard to some legislation that bundled together the extension of unemployment insurance, avoids cuts to fees for Medicare and TRICARE benefits and deals with Cable TV Access.

OK, so Senator Bunning's objection is that the US Senate, earlier this year, promised to not do this sort of thing without having the funding—or in other words, to not increase the Federal Deficit and Federal Debt.

But, still, it is the extension of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans and the avoidance of old people on Medicare and TRICARE finding their PCPs♠ pulling back.

But, the number one problem we face is the debt, especially foreign debt.

What I don't understand is why the US Senate doesn't just buckle down and treat this like a bill, breaking it up into its part and then voting for it.  There are 99 other Senators out there.  What are they doing?  Sitting around, doing nothing?

I started this point on Friday evening. Now, on Saturday morning, we have this from The Washington Post (note this is Democratic Party Senator Chuck Schumer, not Republican Senator Jim Bunning

"We have to be careful here. We need job creation. . . . At the same time, we're really worried about deficits and too much spending," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently told reporters. Of Obama's request for an additional $267 billion to boost the economy, he said: "Whether we could get something as big as $270 billion through the Senate or even through the House, I just don't know."

I am, unusual as it may be, with Senator Chuck Schumer on this.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Primary Care Physicians.

Au Revoir Desiree Rogers

Here is the LA Times take on the departure of Desiree Rogers from her position as Social Secretary at the White House.  And it includes a bit of a civics lesson on how things operate, in Washington and in Chicago.

Frankly, I don't think the gate crashing Salahi couple were such a big deal.

Good luck to you, Desiree, in your next adventure.

UPDATE:  Julianna Smoot is the new Social Secretary and deputy assistant to the president.

Regards  —  Cliff

Ignorance of the Military

Derrick Jackson, writing about "The military's evolution on gays" shows some confusion about the military.

For example, he has Admiral Mike Mullen serving with gay soldiers since 1968.  What do you bet those were actually sailors.  Did the Admiral perhaps say service members?

Then Mr Jackson talked about "the individual commanders of the Marines, the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force" testify on Capitol Hill. The only problem is, the Chiefs of Staff are not commanders.  It is an important point.  It is about our civil military relations.  Way back in 1958, then President Dwight D Eisenhower asked Congress to take the Chiefs of Staff out of the Chain of Command, which subsequently ran from the individual service units up through the Unified and Specified Commanders—the Combatant Commanders in the words of Congress and Title 10—to the Secretary of Defense and the President.

The one place where Mr Jackson really missed the boat was in his last paragraph:

While “don’t ask’’ is not yet dead, the burial is in sight.  This is no longer your 1993 military waving the white flag at paranoia.  America is deciding that soldiers are not to be judged by their sexual orientation, but by their character on the battlefield.

He didn't mention the US Congress, which has to repeal DADT♠ and associated activities banned by the UCMJ.♥  While one might think that this would be easy for the US Congress, I have my doubts.  If we are looking for the last holdouts, they are on Capitol Hill and they aren't all Republicans.

Doesn't the Department of Defense Public Affairs Division run some sort of "boot camp" for reporters?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
♥  Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Senator Scott Brown Vote

Our new US Senator, Scott Brown, voted for cloture over the jobs bill.

$15 billion. As Ev Dirkson used to say, a billion here, a billion there and it soon adds up to real money.

The bill offers tax rebates for small businesses who hire the unemployed. That is a good thing.  The second Lowell Conference on ending homelessness, Friday, 11 March at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center, will have two presentations on that very issue.  Even now there are tax incentives for hiring this or that person.

That said, I would probably have gone the other way.  But, I am not in the position right now.  And it is easy to make the wrong call.  Just look at the Dutch Speed Skater in the 10K.

Over at The Wall Street Journal, Mr James Taranto had a column, "In Defense of RINOs".♠

One local Republican said this:

Let's think about considering this one a brilliant first vote.  It was not a perfect bill for sure, none are.  But in reality Scott voted for a tax break for small businesses on this one, if I read it correctly.  With this vote though, no one can say he's there to just another Democrat Program spoiler.  By himself, he's shut down the liberal "see, I told you so", trash talkers.  Trust me on this one, the Democrats are stunned...

Well, we would like to think the Democrats are stunned, but maybe not.

What this does say is that with Scott Brown around there may be some put up or shut up action in the US Senate, and that might not be all bad.  With Scott Brown there the resort to the nuclear option,♥ as it used to be known, will become more dangerous.

And, maybe the Democratic Party Leadership will begin to consider some of the ideas of Republicans.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Republican in Name Only.
♥  That is to say, using reconciliation for things it was not meant to be used for.

The Key Election in 2012?

Probably for the position of President of Mexico.

Whoever we elect as US President will muddle through for four more years.  Well, that is not guaranteed.  Mr Charles Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner in Berkshire Hathaway, sees the U.S. economy in trouble, and said so in Slate.

But, here is a comment by someone I know on the internet:

It's not a given to me that the Presidente that follows [President Felipe] Calderon is going to continue to fight the drug wars, or that he will be friendly to us.  Clearly, capturing a friend at the top in Mexico would be a coup for [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez.  It is also not a given that he himself will still be in office by 2012, but I'm not betting against him.

A hostile Mexico on our border, or even one that is just badly broken, will be a major problem for us.  While we can't, and shouldn't, fix Mexico's problems, we need to be attentive and helpful.

For example, if you are a happy and fully employed Mexican, why would you try to do the illegal border crossing thing to the US?  On the other hand, if Mexico is broken and you need a job, why wouldn't you try the United States?

A good outcome in 2012 means doing the groundwork today.  The clock is ticking.

Regards  —  Cliff

Flying

This is what flying is all about.

Three French Mirage fighters, and early on, a tanker—to take them to the Sahara desert.  That little quick stop, at the beginning of the video, when the airplane is taxiing out of the hardened aircraft shelter, is so the bottom of the tires can be checked for cuts and nicks that could cause a tire to blow out.

Regards  —  Cliff

Denial vs Denial

From Instapundit to PJ Media, where we have Charlie Martin writing about the The World's Biggest Story, Everywhere But Here".

For those of you in Rio Linda or in denial,♠ it is about Climategate.

Which is not to say that the shifting of the climate won't impact the lives of people and require costly adjustments.♥  But, the scientists who have done some of the work that underwrites the idea of AGW seem to have been less than candid and straight forward about their work and its value.  One could appeal to Galileo Galilei, but he had to fudge on comets, which he could not explain.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  You know who you are.
♥  Let us hope just costly and not also intrusive.