Chupacabra Report

News that Gets My Goat

-Yes, you are entitled to your own opinion. No, you are not entitled to your own facts.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission voted down a move by Republicans to remove language referring to "deregulation," "shadow banking," "interconnection," or ‘Wall Street.’ Republicans on the committee then issued their own report, scrubbed of the offensive terms.

-Today Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that they won’t approve the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty endorsed by five former Secretaries of State and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Our top concern should be the safety and security of our nation, not some politician's desire to declare a political victory and host a press conference before the first of the year.” Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock maintained by the board of directors of the Union of Concerned Scientists at the University of Chicago stands at six minutes till midnight.

-Last week Texas Reps. Aaron Pena of Edinburg and Allan Ritter of Nederland announced that they were leaving the Democratic Party and joining the GOP, giving the Republicans a supermajority in the Texas House. Add them to the list of unprincipled party jumpers such as Rick Perry, Phil Gramm, and Kent Hance, the only politician to ever beat George W. Bush in an election. (He did it with dirty tricks.) State Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie called on Pena and Ritter to resign and run as Republicans to keep their seats; don’t hold your breath. These guys aren’t bothered by a little voter disenfranchisement. Consider former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels or former County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, both of whom resigned immediately after being re-elected, so that the Republican Commissioners Court could appoint their successors. In related news, State Senator Dan Patrick announced that more than 50 legislators had joined the Tea Party Caucus. (Patrick didn’t switch parties, he merely changed his name. He was Daniel Scott Goeb back when he was suing people.) Patrick said the Tea Party movement is “the most important movement of our lifetime” –more important than the John Birch Society, the Ku Klux Klan, or Ross Perot’s Reform Party?