So. Eric Massa is retiring. Eric. Massa.

You know Eric Massa: he’s the progressive Congressman from NY-29 who doesn’t know what ‘treason’ is. Remember this?

Yeah, they just ate that up with a spoon at the Netroots Nation thing. And now Massa’s retiring, officially for health reasons; but amid… allegations. Which is interesting; because the first, logical assumption that such allegations involved “show us on the doll where the Congressman touched you, son” may be a bit off of the mark. It may be more along the lines of the Congressman attacking a subordinate’s sexual orientation in a manner reminiscent of anti-gay bigots, virulent homophobes, and/or the new Chair of the House Ways & Means committee. At least, that’s how I’m reacting to his admission of ‘salty language‘…

But all of that pales before the real question: when is Massa giving back Rangel’s dirty money? I won’t bother asking why he took it in the first place, as I already know the answer. Besides, as of 3:30 PM EST the man’s irrelevant anyway.

Well. More irrelevant.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

*I* could run a subway yard switchboard at the age of 7, Ed.

I could also drive a subway train, take tickets, tell people which platform to take, and – most importantly – stand around on the steps and the clock and shoot the breeze with my dad’s fellow employees and union members*.  It’s a NYC thing: hard to explain to people who aren’t from the area.

So, regarding the kid doing ATC work at JFK: it sounds like: a, the adult was right there; and b, the child was easily up for handling the not-particularly-challenging task of repeating that various airplanes were cleared for takeoff.  Which means I’m not going freak out over it.

Moe Lane

*Hell, if it weren’t for nepotism rules I’d probably be a railroad man myself; my family has a knack for it.

Quarterly reminder: no resolution to Wasilla Church Burning. #rsrh #tcot

If you’re wondering when I’m going to drop this particular subject; I’m not.  I don’t like it when people try to murder women and children.  Judging from the hate mail I usually get from these posts, my disapproval is harshing the mood of at least a (very) few people’s masturbation fantasies, which is all the justification that I need right there.

Harvard: Erm, that WH policy means tripling the price of gas.

But, hey: small price to pay to pander to people’s religious beliefs, right? It’s not like Democratic politicians ever pump their own gas.

To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon.

To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of driving must simply increase, according to a forthcoming report by researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

The 14 percent target was set in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal 2010.

Ace of Spades Headlines has already used the ‘tar, feathers, and pitchforks’ joke, so let me go to my backup response: if the 111th Congress raises the average price of gas to seven bucks a gallon, the major result will be that the 2010 Election Night map will give the impression that the entire country was dipped in raspberry jam.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Ah, Carol Shea-Porter. Dear, *dear*, deeply off-message, Carol Shea-Porter. #rsrh

I couldn’t improve on this Ed Morrissey post, no matter how hard that I tried.  So just watch the video:

…and privately chuckle at how expanded the New Hampshire Democratic party’s Maalox budget must be, these days. Ach, well, nobody held a gun to their head and made them run a howling progressive for Congress.

Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

No, really.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. And Campaign Spot readers.

The New Ledger sat down with Governor Rick Perry a few weeks ago, and in the course of talking about Perry’s success (and his working principles of governing) came this exchange:

TNL: …do you think Republicans will win if they embrace that sort of approach in other states with all their challenges? And what does that look like?

Perry: Well, look at a state like Virginia, where Bob [McDonnell] just won by doing something very similar. He said we’re going to stop spending irresponsibly, we’re going to cut taxes, we’re going to encourage and enable those who risk their capital — job creators — and having what I would describe as a progressive energy policy, where he’s going to drill offshore in a way that’s environmentally sensitive and happens to be supported by his two Democratic senators.

That’s all pretty simple. These are not complex things — they’re challenging, but they’re straightforward. It’s not about understanding what you need to do as much as it is about having the courage to do it.

You look at a state like California. There are going to be some really tough decisions that have to be made to save that state. If Jerry Brown gets up and says “I’ve figured out a way to make this less painful,” well, here, smoke this — because at the end of the day, it’s going to be painful. Because that’s a state that has for too long made the easy decisions instead of the hard decisions.

If you are a state that has just said yes all the time to everything, there is a comeuppance, a day of reckoning for you. It’s right now.

It’s ‘right now’ in New Jersey, too. Continue reading Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

Charlie Wrangled: to step down as Ways & Means Chair.

UPDATE: OH MY GOD HE’S GOING TO GO DOWN SWINGING THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER.

Ahem.

Charlie Rangel emerged from a closed-door meeting in Nancy Pelosi’s office Tuesday night to declare that he’s still the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and hasn’t agreed to give up his gavel – even as some media outlets were reporting that he’d done just that.

___________

At last.

Harlem Democrat Charles Rangel now says he will step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, NBC News has learned.

He may make the move as early as tonight and Michigan Democratic Rep Sander Levin will temporarily take over the committee.

See also: AoSHQ, JammieWearingFool.

Two things:

  1. Note: his replacement is not Pete Stark. I wonder why.
  2. “John Carter of Mars Texas, thou art avenged!“

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Another Democratic bite at the Big Apple?

So, it’s reported that they’re trying to ease out Gov David Paterson of NY:

Democratic Party officials are putting pressure on New York Gov. David A. Paterson to resign from office as additional details emerge about his alleged effort to intervene in a domestic-violence case involving a senior aide.

The state Democratic chairman, Jay Jacobs, headed to Albany Tuesday morning to meet with Mr. Paterson and encourage him to step aside, according to a source. Mr. Jacobs declined to comment, as did the Paterson administration.

(Via AoSHQ) For those keeping track, this would mean that if Paterson resigns (and people are trying to get him to go) New York would have its third governor in two years, and its first completely unelected governor since… well, I think since William Tryon, Royal Governor of New York.  And next January, NY would have had four governors in three years.

The question is whether it’d be a fourth Democratic governor.  I understand that AG Cuomo is eager for the job (in a suitably deniable fashion), but at some point we have to ask: just how many politicians will NY Democrats get to cycle through before the electorate gets tired of the game?  We started this particular run with a crusading district attorney, and look what happened to him.

Moe Lane

PS: Yes, yes, yes: Cuomo’s a shoo-in over, say, Rick Lazio.  He’s at Martha Coakley-levels of inevitability at this point, in fact.

*And one who needed a court decision to be seated.

Crossposted to RedState.