Republicans in the House are infantile:
The House on Wednesday passed Republicans' own version of the Buffett Rule, which allows wealthy Americans to voluntarily pony up to reduce the deficit.Besides not addressing the problem of large deficits at a time when the rich are paying extraordinarily little in taxes, the law is ... well, it's a joke, obviously, but even if it weren't a joke, it would be a solution in search of a problem:
The bill, labeled the Buffett Rule Act, passed by voice vote.... Under the legislation, which would still need Senate approval, taxpayers could check a box on their taxes and send in a check for more than they owe to the IRS.
"If Warren Buffett and others like him truly feel they're not paying enough in taxes, they can use the Buffett Rule Act to put their money where their mouth is and voluntarily send in more to pay down the national debt, rather than changing the entire tax code to inflict more job-killing tax hikes on hard-working Americans," said Rep. Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who wrote the bill....
Current law already allows taxpayers to send money to pay down the debt, but Republicans said that process is onerous. Under their new plan, taxpayers would have an easy option on their tax returns allowing them to pay more.Right -- because preparing tax returns is such an onerous burden for people like like Warren Buffett, who can't afford accountants and have to struggle along with a calculator and scratch paper.
In their ideal world, Republicans in Congress would do nothing but the likes of this. Every bill they introduced would be called the "SUCK IT LIBTARDS! Act of [insert year]."
But because there are also Democrats in Congress, Republicans must sometimes confine themselves -- particularly in the Senate -- to blocking legislation written by grown-ups:
Senate Republicans stopped the veterans jobs bill Wednesday by forcing a budget point of order vote.And just so we're clear on what that means:
... Democrats needed 60 votes, but got only 58.
... The Veterans Jobs Corp Act would have created new job-training programs to help veterans find work in targeted fields such as national park conservation, historic preservation projects, police work and firefighting, among others.
Sens. Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Dean Heller (Nev.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) were the only Republicans who voted for the waiver, in a 58-40 vote....
mccain, graham (SC), lugar, hutchinson voted to block Veteran's Job bill #MythicalRepubModerates senate.gov/legislative/LI…
— lvdjgarcia (@lvdjgarcia) September 19, 2012
But it's Obama and his fellow Democrats who are insufficiently patriotic, right?
