Month: January 2013

Saxby Chambliss (R, Georgia) to retire.

The two-term Senator will not be seeking a third one; and, contra the DSCC (try being THOSE poor buggers this cycle), Chambliss choosing not to get into what was probably going to be a vicious primary actually makes this seat safer for the Republicans.  In fact, I’m only really bringing this up because it should be realized that Senator Chambliss, despite what anybody out there might think of him, did a very valuable thing for us in the 2008 election: to wit, his decisive win of the runoff election between him and Democratic challenger Jim Martin demonstrated that there was a sharp upper limit to Barack Obama’s coattails.  And that Barack Obama lacked the backbone to take risks.

Seriously, having Chambliss, Cao, and Fleming win those elections immediately after the 2008 debacle was a lifesaver.  We were close to the ragged edge of despair; thank God that Obama decided to break contact, instead of finishing the rout.  It may have cost the Democrats the House in 2010.

Federal appeals court nixes Obama’s recess appointments.

Boom.

In a case freighted with major constitutional implications, a federal appeals court on Friday overturned President Obama’s controversial recess appointments from last year, ruling he abused his powers and acted when the Senate was not actually in a recess.

The three-judge panel’s ruling is a major blow to Mr. Obama. The judges ruled that the appointments Mr. Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board are illegal, and the board no longer has a quorum to operate.

But the ruling has even broader constitutional significance, with the judges arguing that the president’s recess appointment powers don’t apply to “intrasession” appointments — those made when Congress has left town for a few days or weeks.

We got our specialists over at RedState working out the consequences to this one – the only thing that I’m a specialist at, frankly, is at being an absolutely insufferable [expletive deleted] – but the short version is that if this gets upheld by the Supremes (and the thinking is that the court is going to either uphold the smaller decision 7-2, or 9-0) then pretty much every favor Barack Obama’s done Big Labor lately ain’t worth diddly.

Yes.  Weep, my droogies.  Weep.

Moe Lane

PS: Constitutional scholar, my [expletive deleted].

Heads up: bad news about Scott Walker’s new budget numbers…

… well, it’s bad news if you’re a progressive Wisconsinite, that is.

Wisconsin’s budget picture brightened Thursday, with new estimates that show a surplus will grow to $484 million, giving Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker even more room to pursue their tax cutting agenda.

The estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau was nearly $137 million better than one Walker’s administration released in November. The numbers will be used by Walker as he puts the final touches on his two-year spending plan, which he’s set to unveil on Feb. 20.

Yes, I’m a dirty so-and-so. So?

Via Althouse, via Instapundit.

Harry Reid… does not *cave* on the filibuster. Rather, he *disengages*.

Call it a “fighting retreat.” Or a disinclination to fight in a burning house.

So, the big news today is that Harry Reid apparently voluntarily spit out some of his fangs on the filibuster.  They’re modifying the rules to give the minority party a bit more input in the process:

…the deal Reid struck with McConnell doesn’t end the filibuster against the motion to proceed. Rather, it creates two new pathways for moving to a new bill. In one, the majority leader can, with the agreement of the minority leader and seven senators from each party, sidestep the filibuster when moving to a new bill. In the other, the majority leader can short-circuit the filibuster against moving to a new bill so long as he allows the minority party to offer two germane amendment that also can’t be filibustered. Note that in all cases, the minority can still filibuster the bill itself.

Apparently, some of the anti-filibuster people are livid, given that Reid’s given up a bit, not least of which is (in at least some cases) his time-honored trick of filling up the amendment tree (ie, not allowing Republican Senators the option to offer amendments to bills).  And, sure, they’re marketing this as a win – but, realistically?  The Democrats aren’t actually able to pass legislation right now that’s unacceptable to the House, so why not run things the way that they like in the Senate anyway? Continue reading Harry Reid… does not *cave* on the filibuster. Rather, he *disengages*.

Michigan Big Labor ready to sue its own captive membership.

You know it’s bad when a group decides to emulate the Old East German response to people voting with their feet:

The president of Michigan’s largest union is instructing officials to prepare to sue its own members, according to a leaked memo issued after the state adopted right-to-work laws in December.

Steven Cook, president of the Michigan Education Association, circulated an email to local unions officials and staff instructing them to monitor revenue streams in light of the right-to-work laws, which are set to go into effect on March 27, 2013. The law allows workers to opt out of union membership unless they have an existing contract with their employer.

Continue reading Michigan Big Labor ready to sue its own captive membership.

JJ Abrams to direct Star Wars VII.

I predict three things:

  1. There is going to be a tremendous amount of bitching, moaning, whining, yelling, thoughtless ranting, thoughtful ranting, justifiable complaints, baseless complaints, and pretty much an open state of kanly among the science fiction community over every. Single. Scrap of news that comes out between now and opening night.
  2. We’re all going to be there opening night anyway.
  3. Sometimes between now and then, JJ Abrams will get caught – seriously, he keeps trying to keep a lid on it, publicity-wise – doing something very decent for somebody wrt access to his Star Wars movie.

Moe Lane

PS: Reading the stories on this… dammit, Cloverfield deserves more love.  I had fun watching that flick; I always wanted to know what it was like to have a worm’s eye view of a Godzilla attack.

Harry Reid screws up online gambling bill by being… Harry Reid.

Gimme one good reason why I, or any Republican, should do Harry Reid a favor.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had promised Nevada’s gambling industry a federal law to legalize Internet poker by the end of 2012, calling it the state’s “most important issue” since the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain was scuttled.

But in the end, Reid rolled snake eyes. And as the 113th Congress gets under way, the odds of legislation passing are even worse.

After all, as the article later notes Harry Reid himself thought that this bill was less important than getting Shelley Berkley elected over Dean Heller.  The GOP is under no actual obligation to put policy over politics when the Other Side has openly abandoned the former for the latter; but if Reid really wants this bill to pass, well, there are ways.  First, we pass a budget: then Harry Reid can find existing spending to cut that would offset the costs of this bill, plus a little bit extra of spending cuts – that’s for the house, you understand.  Reid’s from Nevada, technically: he should understand the concept.