Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Super Congress: Eight White Guys, One Woman, No Color

Three quarters of the new "Super Congress" (which is so dramatically mis-named as to be laughable, if not completely illegal) has been selected and the picks are predictable:

On the one hand, we have six white men from the far right wing of the Republican party who are dead set against everything. On the other side, we have two white men and a white woman from dead center in the Democratic Party who will likely be easily steamrolled.

The choices are: Senators Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Pat Toomey (Pa., a former Club for Growth member who was an invited guest at President Obama's last Super Bowl party) and Rob Portman (Ohio) and Representatives Dave Camp (Mich.), Fred Upton (Mich.) and Jeb Hensarling (Texas). The Republicans have signed Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform pledge that they will not vote to raise taxes under any circumstances. Democrats are Senators John Kerry (Mass., who, had he beaten Bush for the presidency, would likely have helped us avoid the state we're in now and he certainly would have had us out of a couple of wars), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Max Baucus (Mont.). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has not made her appointments, but one would hope there would be at least another woman or two and maybe even--praise be--a face with a little darker hue than we're seeing now.

If you think this group even has a marginal chance at reaching agreement on something as niggling as the shape of the table they'll sit at, I need to talk to you about your investment portfolio.

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