And the madness continues

For the first time since President Obama was sworn in the debt ceiling* was raised and it did not happen after a government shutdown or any of the other GOP right wing shenanigans. As a parting gift to newly minted Speaker Ryan, outgoing Speaker Boehner handed him a gift-wrapped budget through 2017.

With any luck, by the time the ceiling has to be raised again and a new budget passed, we will have a Democrat in the White House and a democratically controlled Senate.

(Senator Paul Rand’s filibuster of the debt ceiling increase lasted 18 minutes).

Remember the budget guru is now Speaker and his goals are to, among other things, raise the retirement age and replace Medicare with a voucher program.

And of course more tax cuts for the rich.

*The debt ceiling needs to be raised to pay the bills for expenses already incurred; it is not to spend additional dollars as right-wingers love to say, and prior to 2008, it was raised by voice vote with no muss nor fuss.

In case you missed it, there was another of the interminable Republican debates on Wednesday. Another debacle. The candidates spent their time attacking each other, Hillary Clinton and the moderators. (Moderators of these debates may want to watch past debates moderated by Jim Lehrer). The candidates led by The Donald and the Gentle Doc Carson have decided they do not like the way the debates are being handled and want the format changed.

The chair of the Republican National Committee, not to be outdone, has cancelled the upcoming debates on NBC and Telemundo.

Can these people be any more dysfunctional than they currently are?

Speaking of dysfunctional, it is painful watching Jeb Bush campaign.  I wonder how he was elected Governor of Florida, oh, that’s the answer, Florida.  Anyway, is he in the race because like Gentle Ben his friends told him he should run? (We know his mother told him not to). One of his donors whispered that he is not donating any more money to him and expects him to be out of the race within 3 months.  I look at that Car of Clowns and there is not one man or woman who I can see sitting at that desk in the Oval Office, except perhaps Kasich. As I examine this crew, if I were a member of the GOP, I would start a draft Jon Huntsman movement.

The Wall Street moguls are giving more to the Republican candidates than to Democrats. Hmm, I wonder why. They know that a Republican in the White House will allow them the freedom to make sure the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and if they wreck the economy, so what. There were fines from the 2008 debacle, but not one of them saw the inside of a cell.

Iowa is a faith-based state; Gentle Doc Carson is a soft-spoken deeply religious man. He is therefore ahead of The Donald and will probably win the Iowa caucus, which is good for Democrats. The last time a Republican won the caucus and the White House was 2004 (Bush) and for the Democrats, Bill Clinton in 1996.

Finally, the lawsuit against the Koch Brothers company Georgia Pacific, Jeb Bush and Rick Scott is going to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Georgia Pacific has been dumping toxic waste into the St. John’s River, which is designated as “Florida’s American Heritage River”. That of course meant nothing since the Koch brothers are the godfathers of the GOP.