Author: Moe_Lane

Of *course* K Street thrived in 2009.

The Democrats currently run the government, remember?

Surely nobody actually believed that the Democrats were seriously going to cut back in the amount of lobbying that was done, given both that party’s a: natural predilections and b: habit of creating and passing ridiculously expensive and over-complicated legislation last year? The resultant explosion of lobbying cannot be a surprise…

Though the Obama administration has tried to put the squeeze on lobbyists, the president’s multifaceted reform agenda has had the unintended consequence of serving as a K Street stimulus, as industries seek to tweak policy.

Bolding (indicating exceptional stupidity) mine: I almost included ‘put the squeeze,’ except that the HuffPo author was actually right there.  Admittedly, it was for the wrong reason: if you click the link, you’ll see that it’s actually a story about how the administration’s vaunted war on lobbyists has resulted in the lobbyists simply deregulating* themselves, then conducting business as more-than-usual.  This was no doubt helpful when Democrats in Congress needed to put together those bills on health care and energy policy…

It’s not that I have any objection to industries and movements protecting their business interests through lobbying, provided that they do so in a transparent manner.  And neither do I have an objection to the Other Side being heavily against the concept and practice of lobbying.  What I do object to is the Democratic party’s hypocrisy in piously condemning lobbyists in public, while eagerly taking their money in private.  Particularly when the Democrats also demonstrate that they intend to make up for lost time.

Moe Lane

*Use of liberal obscenity done with malice aforethought, mostly because the author of the second HuffPo story was so assiduous in using the word ‘deregistering.’

Crossposted to RedState.

Movie of the Week: Paranormal Activity.

It’s odd: I like horror movies, but I’m not often scared by them – at least, in the ‘cosmic terror and dread’ sort of way that a good horror novel can scare me*. So I didn’t have the reaction to Paranormal Activity that a lot of people had – but it was excellent, and I enjoyed it immensely, and people who insist on spending obscene amounts of cash for special effects should take a good, hard look at this film.

And so we say farewell to the Cthulhu Mythos epic Pleasantville…

*In fact, the one movie that has ever gotten the most of that kind of Lovecraftian response out of me was United 93, which isn’t even conventionally a horror movie at all.

Quote of the Day, Health Care Hot Potato edition.

Philip Klein:

It turns out “ping pong” means that House and Senate Dems both say the ball is in the other’s court.

More here and here, although it should be noted that Rep. Frank is apparently backpedaling from this morning’s assurances that he would be respecting the fact that elections have consequences, no doubt to spite me…

Crossposted to RedState.

Well, this is depressing (XPAC edition).

Not that it’s happening; and not even that Hannah Giles’s blanket invitation of all under-30 conservatives doesn’t actually apply to me (40 in a couple of months). It’s that I had forgotten for a moment that I’m well over the age of 29. It’s like how Houdini died: punch him when he expected it and he could shrug it off, but a blow out of nowhere, well…

OK, so that’s not really like how Houdini died. And damned if I’d know what to do with myself if I was that age again anyway. Aside from getting an early start at quitting smoking, I guess.

Jim Geraghty is nicer than I am.

He’s referring to the President’s current problem as “Obama Doesn’t Have Much Experience With Political Rejection.” I typically refer to said problem as “Obama’s never been smacked in the face with a lead pipe.*”

Hey, it gets people’s attention.

Anyway, Jim and I both agree on the central point: we’ve got a President who has never really had to face the consequences of failing before. I’m really hoping that the President learns quickly. Or that he learns quickly how to learn quickly…

Crossposted to RedState.

*Metaphorically, for the slow of brain. Or the outrage fetishists.

Only Rep. Frank could go kill health care rationing…

…and he just did.

“I know some of my Democratic colleagues had been thinking about ways to, in effect, get around the results by working in various parliamentary ways, looking at the rules, trying to get a health care bill passed that would have been the same bill that would have passed if [MA AG] Martha Coakley [D] had won, and I think that’s a mistake,” Frank said. “I will not support an effort to push through a House-Senate compromise bill despite an election. I’m disappointed in how it came out, but I think electoral results have to be respected.”

And if you’re wondering why Barney Frank did this, it’s because he can read a map.He’s the only member of the MA Congressional delegation whose district went completely for Coakley [UPDATE: Actually, no, that was Capuano’s district.  OTOH, Rep. Frank is one of the safest Members of Congress right now, so the point fortunately still stands], and at least two of them are personally sweating the election results right now – so if anybody’s going to be taking the lead in walking back from the precipice, it should be the guy who can take the hit and still be favored to keep his seat in November.  Mildly disappointing, from a Republican point of view… but killing this abomination of a health care bill is the best thing for the country, which of course should be our paramount concern.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

The Insidious… Centaur Conspiracy?

This fellow seems to be quite adamant on the subject (via @EdDriscoll).  I’m trying to figure out why centaurs: I mean, sure, let one of them start drinking and the next thing you know you’ve got a six-limbed Dionysian frenzy all up in your face, but that’s a known problem.  Running through the recent portrayals in the arts… well, there was Prince Caspian, and aside from apparently casting a lookalike for the Rock as one of them I don’t see anything that would actually spark much ire, there.

Is this a Generation-whatever-we’re-up-to-these-days thing?  I don’t have cable TV, so it takes me a bit to catch up with new cultural trends, sometimes.

Moe Lane

Gooooooood MORNING, Massachusetts Members of Congress!

Did you SLEEP well?

[UPDATE: Jove nods: I switched out Frank and Caputo.  My bad, and thanks to reader jack for pointing it out.  The basic point remains.]

Hi, John Olver!
Hi, Richard Neal!
Hi, Jim McGovern!
Yeah, hi, Barney Frank. [UPDATE: Excuse me, that’s Barney Frank]
Hi, Niki Tsongas!
Hi, John F. Tierney!
Hi, Ed Markey!
Hi, Michael Capuano! [Michael Capuano.]
Hi, Stephen Lynch!
Hi, William Delahunt!

…Why the colors?  Because of this map, of course:

…Members of Congress who have towns whose voters went for Scott Brown are in red; Barney Frank (who is blessed with a Boston district) is in blue.  They’re all Democrats, so no need to distinguish there.  Interesting, huh?  And it makes me want to ask a couple of questions:

  1. How do the people on that list really feel about the current health care bill in the Senate?  More importantly, how do they think that their constituents feel about it?
  2. Do they really think that it’s appropriate for Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Kerry (D-MA) to use crude sexual imagery when referring to their constituents?  Particularly the ones that are really, really motivated to vote?

I think that these are questions that really should be answered.  Soon.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Redstate.