White House: John Boehner Way Out Of Touch To Call Financial Crisis An “Ant”
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It’s sad that a press flack has to state the obvious because the press won’t do it.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, took aim at Mr. Boehner, who in a newspaper interview this week called the financial legislation nearing final approval an excessive response to the problem. ‘This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon,’ Mr. Boehner told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Monday.
At his daily briefing, Mr. Gibbs said Mr. Boehner was ‘opening one’s mouth and removing most of the doubt that you’re completely out of touch with America,’ noting that millions of Americans lost their jobs or their savings because of the financial crisis that the legislation is intended to prevent. ‘It demonstrates how out of touch you are currently and it demonstrates exactly the type of mindset that he would bring to leading the House of Representatives,’ he added.
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
“Shut up, hippie. I get my 13,000 a month from the government. We don’t need stimulus”-John Boehner
So the human glowstick is against reforming the industry whose practices nearly sent the global economy into a sustained depression?
Good thing he’s not an influential person, like say the House Minority Leader or anything.
“We need more invisible hands” he says, “to rub more tanning fluid all over my rich corinthian leather body.”
Are the Republicans ever going to stop handing the Democrats gifts on a silver platter?
And are the Democrats ever going to accept those gifts and use them to, you know, win?
You guys must be REALLY worried about November if “Operation Alinsky-ize Boehner” is starting this early.
Yes, SF, we got Boehner to say what he did for Gibb’s benefit, that’s how we Alinskites work these days.
Orange Julius strikes again. SF, too. What the hell?
Love the choice of pic!
Nice picture, Oliver. Too bad it will do nothing to change the growing public perception that the philosophy of the Obama administration can be neatly summed up by this bumper sticker.
And for those who don’t remember the previous Administration, there is this.
oo bad it will do nothing to change the growing public perception that the philosophy of the Obama administration can be neatly summed up by this bumper sticker.
Yea, a bumpersticker slogan. Wow, that’ll show ‘em!
Pathetic. All wingnuts just sit on the side lines and cry like girls over anything Obama says or does, and the oil spill is no different.
Just what do you propose Obama do? Should he go camp out on the beach and dig? Can he pilot the cool underwater robot thing? I thought wingnuts always think the private sector is the cure-all for everything in life. Well, the oil companies are doing their jobs, right? So why does the dreaded federal govt need to step in, considering they don’t have experience in these matters?
You’d be bitching like a 4 year old if Obama was all up in the clean up process either way.
You’re just looking for something to whine about, anything really. Obama bad! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
I thought wingnuts always think the private sector is the cure-all for everything in life. Well, the oil companies are doing their jobs, right? So why does the dreaded federal govt need to step in, considering they don’t have experience in these matters?
Was it the private sector who turned down the Dutch offer of oil skimmers on day 3? Was it the private sector who took 70 days to finally accept 22 offers of assistance from 12 countries?
Was it the private sector who delayed the approval of building sand berms along the LA coast because they were worried about the “environmental impact” they would have (vs. the alternative of thousands of gallons washing ashore, I guess).
Was it the private sector who shut down the cleanup operation for an entire day because someone noticed that the box marked “Fire Extinguishers Confirmed Installed on Oil Skimmer Barges” was dangerously unchecked?
Was it the private sector who continues to this day to refuse to allow the operation of a giant, 500,000 barrel per day oil skimmer (the A-Whale) that can clean 99% of the oil from the water because the federal standard is 99.9985% (I guess the lesson here is if it’s not perfect, don’t try)?
Do you see the trend here? The federal gov’t (led by Barack “Now watch this putt” Obama) can’t do anything to resolve the problem, but when it comes to throwing up roadblock after roadblock to those trying to do so, they’re efficient as hell.
I just can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want the gov’t in charge of our health care.
And let’s not forget what a bangup job the MMS did of overseeing BP’s operations in the first place. After all, the MMS has known since February that there were problems with this particular well.
BP woulda made everything better if just left to their own devices. Riiiight…
Back to reality and on topic, what exactly is Boehners proposal?
Dave, was it the private sector that blew up the oil rig?
Yes. Yes, it was.
Dave, was it the private sector that blew up the oil rig?
Yes. Yes, it was.
And they did it despite the gov’t agency responsible for oversight of their operations knowing about problems with that well a full month in advance. Where was the MMS for that month? And did anyone bother calling the golf course and advising Obama that we might have a problem here?
How can an accident like this occur in a regulated industry with gov’t oversight?
And they did it despite the gov’t agency responsible for oversight of their operations knowing about problems with that well a full month in advance.
Solution: Less oversight!! Awesome!
As for the “knowing about problems a full month in advance,” you (and all the other birds who have been chirping about this) apparently don’t have time to actually read the article you like to link.
BP reported some problems. They also reported the actions they took to deal with the problems. Those actions are so common they have names, like “cement squeeze.” How common are the types of problems BP reported with the Deepwater Horizon? I don’t know and neither do you.
Maybe Dave in SoCal is building up to his “Big Solution”. I can feel it. Here it comes.
Psyche. As always, aint got nothing.
Back to reality and on topic, what exactly is Boehners proposal?
Not exactly the “leave old people in the street to die” proposal that Democrats like to characterize.
Link
Solution: Less oversight!! Awesome!
Actually, my preference would be for better oversight.
I know that Democrats equate MORE oversight with BETTER oversight, but unfortunately that often isn’t the case.
you (and all the other birds who have been chirping about this) apparently don’t have time to actually read the article you like to link. BP reported some problems. They also reported the actions they took to deal with the problems.
I read the story. Did you? From the link:
Doesn’t sound like they dealt with the problem, does it?
How common are the types of problems BP reported with the Deepwater Horizon? I don’t know and neither do you.
But others do. Also from the link:
Maybe Dave in SoCal is building up to his “Big Solution”. I can feel it. Here it comes.
Psyche. As always, aint got nothing.
As noted above, Timmy’s solution appears to be “rub tanning fluid all over Boehner’s leathery body”.
Let us know how that works out for you.
Helpful hint: If he asks you to “go lower”, just say No.
Just what do you propose Obama do?
Obama’s To-Do List
1. Waive the Jones Act
2. Accept International Assistance [Done today... finally. Hooray, Obama!]
3. Lift the Moratorium
4. Release the S.S. A-Whale
5. Remove State and Local Roadblocks
6. Allow Sand Berm Dredging
7. Waive or Suspend EPA Regulations
8. Temporarily Loosen Coast Guard Inspections
9. Stop Coast Guard Budget Cuts
10. Halt Climate Change Legislation
See the link for details on each action. You’re welcome.
Amazingly the Heritage Foundation thinks suspending regulations is the key, in addition to being just wrong on 2 and 6 and hilarious on 9.
does anybody ever read wingnut links?
rub tanning fluid all over Boehner’s leathery body
If you’re trolling for weekend dates I already said I’m too young for you and don’t go that way. Stick to websites designed for that sort of thing.
Actually, my preference would be for better oversight.
A liberal conservative? Next you’ll be trading the “smaller government” mantra for “smarter government”. But all the popular mainstream conservatives, like Palin, Beck, Bachmann, Coulter, Malkin, Hannity, Limbaugh, Steele, Cheney, Paul, Angle… may have a problem with that. First off, to sell SCF or VHT nuclear reactor technologies as a safe and sane foundation upon which to build renewable energy sources, conservative leaders will have to be able to pronounce “nuclear” correctly. What if Einstein had been raised in Texas, would we even have nukes today? “I wanna tell ya’ll boys ‘bout nukular fishin.” “Boo! Get the hillbilly outta here!”
Did I go SaveFerris or what? Whathehell’s my point? Conservatives will have to learn to trust and respect intellectual elites again for “better oversight”.
You have to love how Dave’s definition of “better legislation” is, completely predictably, “abolition of legislation.”
Dave likes to blame the current Administration for the regulatory capture of the MMS that occured during the last Admin. I remember a GAO report not too long ago about MMS employees from the last Admin who worked very, very closely with the industry they were trying to regulate. Something about free junkets, drug use on the job, and sexual interactions with energy lobbyists.
However, I don’t want to give the impression that all the current MMS problems can be blamed upon BDS. This Admin had some time to work to correct the problem before the spill occurred. But as Axlerod recently said to Jon Stewart, they were pretty busy just holding the economy and two wars together.
People not in government need to understand that change in the bureaucracy generally occurs slowly and only in the direction that the political leadership wants it to go. If a regulatory agency had a period of eight years where it’s main mission was compromised by poor leadership and improper management, it can take some time to weed out the bad actors and change the culture within that agency. From what I hear about MMS, they were always very, very close to their industry. That kind of highly specialized expertise shared among a pretty small group of people makes the revolving door and regulatory capture problem much more significant. It took weeks after the spill (when the Hill started to have hearings) before DoI announced its recent reorganization. Considering just how much the royalties collection branch was raking in, it was ripe for abuse.
This, of course, brings up another concern about regulatory agencies in government. When they operate through user fees/royalties obtained from the industries they regulate, does this create a systemic problem? FDA has been collecting more and more user fees across its product categories.
Is the underfunding of regulatory agency budgets (a real problem since 1994) undermining regulatory efforts when these agencies must resort to user fees and royalties just to keep the lights on?
does anybody ever read wingnut links?
Not very often, I suspect. Wouldn’t want to burst that warm, protective cocoon of “progressive truth” you’ve all wrapped around yourselves.
Amazingly the Heritage Foundation thinks suspending regulations is the key
Let’s actually read the proposal, shall we?
The suggestion is that we allow water that is 85-90% pure to be dumped back in the ocean despite the fact that it doesn’t meet the EPA’s much higher (99.99+%) standard.
The liberal answer is apparently that it’s better to leave all that oil in the water than to try to make it 99.99% pure.
in addition to being just wrong on 2 and 6 and hilarious on 9.
No doubt you can explain exactly how.
You have to love how Dave’s definition of “better legislation” is, completely predictably, “abolition of legislation.”
Not as much as you have to love Prodigal’s complete lack of reading comprehension. Show me where I stated “abolition of legislation” as the answer. If you’re referring to item 7, see the above.
I remember a GAO report not too long ago about MMS employees from the last Admin who worked very, very closely with the industry they were trying to regulate.
You remember incorrectly.
If you’re trolling for weekend dates I already said I’m too young for you and don’t go that way.
Sorry, it wasn’t me. You must be thinking of some other conservative you’ve flirted with.
Dave in SoCal: And they did it despite the gov’t agency responsible for oversight of their operations knowing about problems with that well a full month in advance.
Translation: “It’s not MY fault the rig was unsafe and killed people. It’s YOUR fault for not stopping me.”
Standing ovation for the party of personal responsibility.