From the political dictionary: “smell of jet fuel”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’m ashamed.”
— Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), in a Face the Nation interview, on how Congress has conducted its business.
Boehner Never Visited Giffords
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s (D-AZ) husband scolded House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “for failing to visit his wounded wife while she was recovering from injuries sustained in a shooting in his and Giffords’ new book,” according to The Hill.
Boehner was in Houston for a basketball game while Giffords was in rehabilitation in the same city.
Writes Mark Kelly: “Considering that she was a member of Congress and he was the highest-ranking member, we thought he’d ask to visit Gabby or at least give a call to see how she was doing. Our only contact with him had been a simple get-well card he’d sent a few days after Gabby was injured.”
Congress Says Pizza is a Vegetable
House Republicans released a final version of a spending bill “would unravel school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year, which included limiting the use of potatoes on the lunch line and delaying limits on sodium and delaying a requirement to boost whole grains,” the AP reports.
“The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. USDA had wanted to prevent that.”
Why Can Congress Trade on Inside Information?
60 Minutes ran a devastating report on how lawmakers and their aides “have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have
made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they
regulate. For now, the practice is perfectly legal, but some say it’s
time for the law to change.”
Angriest Congressman Ever?
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) got a little heated at a local restaurant and started screaming at his constituents.
Giffords Vows to Return to Congress
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) “vows to return to Congress in a new book that details months of intense therapy and her emotional battle to come to terms with what happened when a gunman opened fire in front of a Tucson grocery store,” the AP reports after obtaining a copy of her memoir, called Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, due out later this month.
The book also describes lighter moments, “like when President George H.W. Bush
and his wife, Barbara, visited Giffords at the Texas hospital. Giffords
kept replying to Bush with the only word she was able to say: ‘chicken.’ At another point, a specialist showed her various politicians
to see if she recognized people. When she saw former California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, she said: ‘Messin’ around. Babies.'”
“60 Minutes” Grills Both Pelosi and Boehner
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “pushed back hard” against an upcoming 60 Minutes report “that is expected to raise questions about potential conflicts of interest between congressional leaders’ personal stock holdings and their involvement in legislation that may affect those investments,” Politico reports.
Pelosi Questioned
60 Minutes is apparently doing a piece on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as correspondent Steve Croft showed up at a routine press conference today to ask her about a conflict of interest with her investments.
Rich Lawmakers Get Richer
Members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion
in 2010, a nearly 25% increase over the 2008 total, Roll Call reports.
Nearly 90% of that increase is concentrated in the 50 richest lawmakers.
