Did these congressional leaders--Reps. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Steve King (Iowa), Bill Cassidy (La.), John Fleming (La.), Justin Amash (Mich.), Michele Bachmann (Minn.) Kristi Noem (S.D.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Tom Price (Ga.), Phil Gingrey (Ga.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Austin Scott (Ga.) and Tim Graves (Ga.)--actually vote against a bill designed to prevent violence against women? These 13 represent a majority of the 2014 potential Senate Republican candidates. Yes, the group even included former presidential candidate from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, who barely squeaked through in 2012. Am I wrong or is she a female? The dirty 13 blamed it on provisions related to the LGBT community, Native Americans and immigrants.

Well, they can blame it on whatever they want because the bill passed anyway, but it certainly has fired up Senate Dems to go after those seats next year.

Read more here: [link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/violence-against-women-act_n_2784454.html|

I know it's the law but don't you think this dysfunctional gang of incompetents in Congress felt smug all along realizing that their pay couldn't be touched? Of course they did. And it just gets worse when House Speaker John Boehner accuses President Obama of being the one holding up negotiations. Obama has said from the beginning that when they came back to the table for this March deadline, the deal would have to be a combination of more revenue with spending cuts. Both the GOP and Dems were behind this plan when it evolved in 2011, primarily made necessary due to the fact that Republicans were perfectly willing to allow a debt default.

Although results of the sequester won't be noticeable right away, $85 billion has to be cut from the budget, and because the framers designed this mess to be so God-awful that no rationally thinking group would let it happen, they made the cuts specifically mandatory so there would be no possibility of a strategic approach. It is hard to believe that we have mature grown men and women in Congress. We don't.

Well anyway, the Congressional Budget Office says that even with all the tax cuts looming, the economy will still grow at an inflation-adjusted rate of 1.4% this year. Not enough to help economic recovery.

"Will the US Senate fix the Washington mess?" is the title of a recent post I did in my Nasty Jack Blog. I did an earlier post, "How to fix a broken U.S. Government,” which emphasizes the need to return to the days of Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn when negotiating was not only an art, but the primary means to keep our government running smoothly. I don't want to overemphasize this political strategy, but there isn't a trace of arbitration in Washington recently, and maybe it is time to somehow force Congress to the table in issues like "Sequestration," keeping them there until they reach a decision. Attorneys do that in litigation; why not in a dysfunctional government such as we have now.

Any ideas?

link:http://nastyjackbuzz.blogspot.com/2013/02/will-us-senate-fix-washington-mess.html

link:http://nastyjackbuzz.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-fix-broken-us-government.html