Late Night Video — Eric Cantor Has Control of the House CR

Late Night Video — Eric Cantor Has Control of the House CR

Interesting, yes? The House GOP quietly passed a rule change on October 1 that changes the House rules from letting any member of the House bring forward a bill with amendments WITHOUT the amendments; to only Eric Cantor can bring ask for a vote on a bill with controversial amendments WITHOUT the amendments. Go that? Apparently they went to this length of changing the rules so that they could continue to control their caucus -- even when they would weaken as the government shutdown persisted. Contrast that with Harry Reid hanging on to the filibuster. The GOP loudly has been wringing its hands and warning that changing the filibuster rules would be a "nuclear event" in the Senate. But here we have the House GOP going so far as to making certain that their guys face all of the damage being done to them -- and they made this rule change while no one was looking. No reason to come to any accommodation with these fools any time soon, I'm thinking. If they want to burn down the house, make sure they are firmly locked in it. This is Chris Val Hollen on the House floor showing how the new rule works (a little over 5 minutes):
GOP Bamboozlement on SNAP Benefits

GOP Bamboozlement on SNAP Benefits

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SNAP benefits have been in the news over the past few weeks as Congress tries to pass a Farm Bill. The Senate passed a bill that made some cuts to the SNAP program, while the House separated SNAP from the Farm Bill and proceeded to cut SNAP so that 5 million people would no longer be eligible for food support. The GOP ( including the locals who don't have much to say other than to repeat the talking points sent to them each day, and the media, unfortunately) are pushing messaging that tries to link the SNAP program with economic recovery. This messaging ignores some key points....

Taking the Mittens Off

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We've all been pointing and laughing at the Romney campaign as they find it simply impossible to defend not releasing his tax returns. Between throwing up a shiny bit of news bait of Condi as VP, stupid allegations of cronyism (from a guy who won't tell who funds him or who bundles contributions) and even the desperation of taking the President's words out of context -- they can't find their footing. Jonathan Chait writes in NY Magazine that Mitt Romney Gets Angry. And in getting angry, they aren't going to get smarter, they are going to morph into the comments section of (insert rightwing blog site here) . So that John Sununu trying to tell people that President Obama is not American is not a mistake of the news day -- it is the signal that more is coming.