New Congress at war over everything

By: Patrick O’Connor

In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.

The GOP lawmakers, all of whom had expressed interest in a bipartisan deal on the SCHIP legislation, were furious that the Democratic leader from Maryland had not reached out to them in a more serious way early on. They also criticized him and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois for failing to stop his allies outside Congress from running attack ads in their districts, while they were discussing a bipartisan deal.

The result was a predictable one for this bitterly divided Congress. The House vote for a second SCHIP bill was a healthy majority, but not the two-thirds needed to override another veto vowed by President Bush. Only one Republican switched his vote — to oppose the measure.

Democrats accused Republicans of hurting kids. Republicans howled about a heavy-handed, uncompromising Democratic majority. And another chance at bipartisan consensus slipped away.

Read the rest.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Cal.) made some rather disgusting comments on the floor of the House last week about kids being sent “to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

On Tuesday, Stark apologized for his previous statement.

I want to apologize to my, first of all my colleagues, many of whom I have offended, to the President and his family, to the troops that may have found in my remarks as were suggested in the motion that was just voted on.

And I do apologize.

And, for this reason: I think that we have a serious issue before us: the issue of providing medical care for children; the issue of what we do about a war we are divided about ought to end.

I hope that with this apology I will become as insignificant as I should be, and that we can return to the issues that do divide us, but that we can resolve in a better fashion.

Did you see the apology on TV? If not, here’s the video of his apology.

Soldier photo tribute banned at U.S. post office in California
(h/t to Michelle Malkin)

Central coast post office is forced to take down photographs of local soldiers serving overseas.

Some are likening it to a wall of shame. Since 2001, pictures of men and women in the military have been a fixture of the Paso Robles Post Office until this morning.

“What happened to the pictures? Why were they taken down?” asked Shelley Reeger, who is a military wife.

All morning Paso Robles postal employees were answering tough questions.

That is because just before the post office opened its doors Friday morning, a board covered with pictures of local soldiers had to be taken down after a compliant was made to its Consumer Affairs Department…

…The wall of photos got its start after some post office employees wanted to show their support for local troops back in 2001.

But a spokesperson for the United States Post Office says regulations specify that only official postal announcements and other government notices can be put up on the walls.

“We just cannot put those photos back up, they should not have been up there to begin with,” said United States Postal Service spokesperson Richard Maher.

Policy or not, even the Mayor of Paso Robles has stepped in.

“I’m looking forward to hearing from the congressmen. They have indicated to me that they are looking into this,” said Paso Robles Mayor Frank Mecham.