It's December 23rd

Time to start my Christmas shopping.


Back in my bachelor days I usually waited until Christmas Eve to buy my yuletide gifts until one year I got stuck dealing with a minor crisis at the hotel I was General Manager at the time. When everything was finally under control it was after 9PM and went shopping to find that the stores had closed early. So I had to hide out for 2 days. I learned my lesson from that episode so now I start shopping on the 23rd because it's hard to hide from the wife for 48 hours. Not that I've got any better at gift buying.

So I will wander out today and do my best to stimulate the economy. After the black Friday thing starting at midnight on Thanksgiving I expect to see after Christmas sales to start at midnight on the 24th.







I'm not the only one doing some last minute shopping.

Obama, Bo sneak out of White House for shopping


Home alone at the White House, President Barack Obama headed on an impromptu Christmas shopping trip Wednesday with first dog Bo, searching for some holiday cheer despite the latest stalemate with Congress.



Of course the usual suspects objected to the President's shopping trip. Sometimes I think these people object to the fact that he is breathing the same air.

McCain to Obama: More work, less shopping with Bo

Cantor to Obama: First Dog Can Come to Negotiations


And The Corner drove way over the right wing cliff with this one. To their credit the commenter's shot it down.

Bo and B.O.

This may not be the biggest story of the year, and in all likelihood it probably isn’t even true. But did the president really order the first dog back from Hawaii to the White House to be a prop for a Petsmart photo op?

Just about every blogger with a knowledge of history compared this nonsense with the Fala idiocy of the 1940's. President Roosevelt may just have won the 1944 election with this speech:

"These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. [laughter] Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. [laughter] You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. [laughter] He has not been the same dog since. [laughter] I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog! [laughter]"

Steve Bennen brings it up to date:

I recommend Obama go on TV and give the following speech:

Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Bo. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Bo does resent them. You know, Bo is Portuguese, and being a Portuguese water dog, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on a Hawaiian island and had sent a 747 back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Iberian soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I'm constantly apologizing for America. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog!

Barletta and Marino back Cantor's response to Hurricaine Irene

A few days ago I asked Lou Barletta's press guy if our Congressman agreed with Republican Majority Eric Cantor stance that whatever bills the federal government racks up paying for the recovery efforts will have to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere.


He didn't get back to me and that hurt my feelings but Barletta did answer the question when asked by our local press.


Irene victims about to face budget storm

In the article Barletta spews off about some foreign aid program that costs $42 million that he thinks should be cut. What the hell has that to do with a hurricane that has caused billions in damage when people need help yesterday? Tom Marino said “Everything is on the table; we need to downsize the government.”

Maybe they should listen to this guy


GOP Gov. Christie Slams Cantor's Idea to Negotiate Hurricane Aid


“You’re going to turn it into a fiasco like that debt-limit thing where you’re fighting with each other for eight or nine weeks and you expect the citizens of my state to wait? They’re not gonna wait, and I’m going to fight to make sure that they don’t,” Christie said putting the Tea Party-driven House on notice that its slash and gut politics will not be tolerated.


Funfest

I got this press release from Lou:


U.S. Rep. Barletta secures U.S. Navy flyover for Funfest parade on Sept. 11

So there is enough money in the budget for a flyover but not enough to help out the folks in the back mountain who don't have power or water.

What a failure as a Congressman. When we had Dan Flood and Kanjo in the House the response would have been immediate.

Paying for Irene

Many people are saying that Hurricaine Irene was less than advertised. Tell that to the families of the people who were killed or suffered significant property damage. Our neck of the woods was spared major damage for the most part although Harveys Lake and Wyoming County and points north took some hard hits. I kept getting updates from Congressman Lou Barletta's office yesterday about his tour of the damage and alerting me to his press availabilities.


Good morning. Representative Barletta is touring flood damage in the 11th District today.There will be media availability with Rep. Barletta at The Shawnee Inn, River Road, Shawnee on Delaware, at noon.

Barletta media availability

Rep. Barletta will be at the Luzerne County EMA building on River Street, Wilkes-Barre, at about 3 p.m. to talk to the media about Hurricane Irene damage

He put out a statement earlier

HAZLETON – U.S. Representative Lou Barletta, PA-11, issued the following statement in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which impacted all five counties of his congressional district:

I want to extend my condolences to the families of those who were killed here in Northeastern Pennsylvania during this storm. They and their families will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Many parts of the 11th Congressional District have felt the impact of Hurricane Irene’s strong winds and heavy rain. Thousands of people are without power, and some will remain that way for days. Some cannot access roads or bridges. Some have seen personal property destroyed, while others are still threatened with the loss of their property.

My office has received – and will continue to receive – updates and briefings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service, and other federal and state agencies in order to ensure the safety of the residents of the 11th Congressional District.

I will work with those agencies to make sure the federal government provides the appropriate response to this natural disaster. I will tour storm-damaged areas starting Monday morning so I can see first-hand the damage caused by Hurricane Irene, and will relay my observations and concerns at the federal level.

Sunday evening, Governor Tom Corbett asked President Obama to make a Presidential Disaster Declaration for several Pennsylvania counties, including Monroe County. Based on the firsthand reports I received from Monroe County officials, I fully support that declaration, and I will send a letter of support for that declaration to the president
Rep. Barletta will be at the Luzerne County EMA building on River Street, Wilkes-Barre, at about 3 p.m. to talk to the media about Hurricane Irene damage.


Lou Barletta is doing what he is supposed to do but getting help for the people who suffered damage may be tough to get.

Hurricane Irene relief funding sets up budget fight


Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate has declined to predict how much recovery efforts from Hurricane Irene will cost, but with widespread damage along the East Coast, it could run well into the billions. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that whatever bills the federal government racks up paying for the recovery efforts will have to be offset with spending cuts elsewhere.


I'm all for Congress establishing a permanent disaster fund but they haven't done it so you have to deal with the latest storm.

Steve Benen says it better than I

And in case this story isn’t quite mind-numbing enough, also note that FEMA has been forced to temporarily suspend “some payments to rebuild roads, schools and other structures destroyed during spring tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and Southern states and other recent natural disasters” in order to respond to Hurricane Irene.

That this is happening in the wealthiest nation in the world, simply because the Republican Party has been taken over by charlatans and fools, is a national disgrace.

For all of our differences over party, ideology, and creed, we know that when disaster strikes and our neighbors face a genuine emergency, America responds. We don’t ask what’s in it for us; we don’t weigh the political considerations; we don’t pause to ponder the larger ideological implications.

We act. It’s who we are; it’s what we do.

Or it was, right up until Americans elected a radicalized House majority.


I have asked Barletta's spokesman if he agrees with Cantor. I await his response.