Free Byrd (of limited interest to non-US members)

[Sue U]

Million-year-old fossil Robert C. Byrd has finally succumbed to the ravages of the gay Capitol lifestyle, and a stunned nation wonders: Where will we ever find another fiddle-playing Klansman to fill his seat/shoes/socks/etc. for another century?

In successfully engineering his demise today, wily old Byrd outfoxed the Republicans once again, as everyone was expecting Dick Cheney to top the latest death news.

[Lord Jim]

Yes, I saw that on the news this morning...

Tragic...cut down in the prime of life....

I remember Byrd getting a lot of undeserved heat for never having been in the military...

That was a complete smear....

The fact is that the Senior Senator From West Virginia served with distinction in The War Of 1812....

[Big RR]

Nah, he fought with Washington first in the French and Indian war, and this is what prompted Madison to call him up in 1812, an aging soldier with strange portrait in his attic.

[Lord Jim]

One thing I'll always remember Byrd for, was probably the weirdest performance I've ever seen take place on the floor of the United States Senate...

It was a few years ago, and they were debating an Iraq War funding authorization bill...

Byrd was talking about it, and then all of a sudden he wandered off into a lengthy digression about the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances...

He went on about the show for about ten minutes....describing the plot, the characters, etc....

And then, without even attempting to try to make some sort of connection, he switched gears and started talking about the bill again, as though he didn't even realize that he'd just spent 10 minutes on the floor of the Senate giving a review of a television show...

[Guinevere]

And here I thought you'd be crowing, LJ. A chance for your party to "brown" a long-time Dem seat.

[Lord Jim]

Well, the Governor of West Virginia is a Democrat, Guin, (I checked) so we won't pick up the seat immediately...

What happens after that is apparently a matter of some dispute:

While the governor will appoint a fellow Democrat to serve as the next senator from West Virginia, it remains an open question how many months the appointed senator would serve.

Democrats believe that the filing deadline for November has passed and an interim senator should remain in office through the remainder of Mr. Byrd’s term, which ends on Jan. 3, 2013.[gee, that's a surprise ] But some Republicans believe that West Virginia law provides for a special election to be held in November because more than two and a half years of Mr. Byrd’s Senate term remains.

The question – being urgently explored by lawyers on both sides – could ultimately be decided in the courts.

If a special election is held in November, Republicans would be well positioned to pick up the seat, given the national mood and fragility of Democrats in West Virginia.

A Republican victory could put them within reach of winning control of the Senate.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010 ... nate-seat/

I disagree with that last sentence...

Even if the GOP prevails in the courts and forces a November election in West Virginia, and even if we win it, and even if we win Senate seats where we have a realistic chance in usually unlikely places like California and New York, (and Pennsylvania) we have at the same time been busy stupidly pissing away our chances in two states that should have been no brainers; Nevada and Kentucky...

And on top of that, the three way race in Florida, (It will almost certainly be either Rubio or Crist...my understanding is that the Demo candidate is pretty much a hopeless case...) is another one that's up in the air that should have been an easy win....

No matter how much good fortune drops into our laps, never underestimate my party's ability to form a circular firing squad....

[Lord Jim]

Speaking of the upcoming elections, I have what I think would be a really good campaign tactic for the GOP to use in those marginal swing districts that we need to win back if we're going to take back control of the House....

The Democrat incumbents in those districts, who are trying to run as moderates or even conservatives in order to try to save their seats, should be subjected to a public campaign calling on them to "Take The Pledge"...

"The Pledge" in this case would be a promise from them that should they be re-elected, they would not vote to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker Of The House....

None of them would do this of course....

But this approach would really drive home the fact that, "A Vote For Congressman Smith Is A Vote For Nancy Pelosi"

Nancy Pelosi has a popularity rating in middle America just slightly above Tony Hayward...

If I were a strategist working for a GOP candidate in one of those swing districts, I would hang Nancy Pelosi around my opponent's neck like a burning tire....

[Sue U]

Well, I live in one of those districts and the GOP candidate is certainly trying everything he can to link the incumbent freshman Democrat to Nancy Pelosi. Unfortunately for him, his own initiatives so far consist solely of "term limits and a balanced budget," and whatever else his campaign masterminds might dredge up from Newt Gingrich's Contract On America. Which, had they actually been in place, would have totally screwed the district, as its prior long-term (GOP) congressman, due to his seniority and experience, was instrumental in salvaging the Fort Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst military complex, a major employer and source of revenue for NJ-3. Plus, this guy has some ethical issues of his own:

Runyan raises donkeys for a tax break
by: Jason Springer
Sat Jan 23, 2010 at 02:02:20 PM EST

The jokes just write themselves with this one as Congressional candidate to be Jon Runyan is also a farmer apparently:

Former Philadelphia Eagle Jon Runyan is getting a break on his property taxes for his lavish Mount Laurel homestead - thanks in part to his four donkeys.
Runyan, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House, paid $57,000 in taxes last year on five of his acres, which contain his home.

But on most of his property - 20 acres - he paid $468 in taxes, according to township records.

On his application for a farmland assessment in July, Runyan said he uses five acres as grazing land for his donkeys and 15 for timber, harvesting seven cords of firewood that he sold for $810.

You may remember the farmland assessment issue rearing its head in such races as Ellen Karcher v. Jen Beck and most recently Scott Garrett v. Dennis Shulman. As Babs pointed out in this Ken Bank diary, the GOP was relentless against Karcher on the issue. Up until recently Runyan wasn't fulfilling his dream of raising donkeys, but was motivated by the potential of losing that tax break:

Runyan didn't always have the four donkeys. Last January, the township assessor wrote to Runyan that one donkey wasn't enough to justify the tax break.

"Although your application was approved for 2009, this acreage will not qualify in the future if you do not have enough animals to justify the five acres," the letter said.

A year later, Runyan reported having four donkeys grazing on five acres, and kept his tax break.

Russell said Runyan had long planned to breed the donkeys but wasn't ready to do that just yet.

I guess the potential increase in taxes provided the motivation to finally fulfill those plans. At 1.25 acres per donkey, they have more land than most NJ residents. I wonder what the big elephant in Ocean County George Gilmore thought over his morning coffee learning about Runyan and his affinity for donkeys.

http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/14248/r ... -tax-break

[Guinevere]

I was in federal court this afternoon and the flag was at half-mast. I assume it was for Byrd. I didn't notice any other flags around Boston lowered though.

[Lord Jim]

I saw a documentary recently that showed how many things, (roads, buidings, bridges, etc.) in West Virginia are named after Byrd...

They might as well rename the state "Byrd Land"....

But it's understandable...

Nobody brought home the pork like Bobby Byrd....He was the gold standard in that regard....

[Jarlaxle]

He might have beat out even Tip O'Neill for that.

But Tip still has a bigger boondoggle named for him than Byrd EVER will!

[Guinevere]

The construction of the Dig was certainly a boondoggle, but its done what it promised it would -- which is make traffic getting into, out of, and in some cases around Boston much improved.

[Andrew D]

I saw a documentary recently that showed how many things, (roads, buidings, bridges, etc.) in West Virginia are named after Byrd...

They might as well rename the state "Byrd Land"....

But it's understandable...

Nobody brought home the pork like Bobby Byrd....He was the gold standard in that regard....

Which might not be such a bad thing, considering that when Byrd went to the Senate, and for a long time thereafter, West Virginia was the US's Bangladesh ....

[BoSoxGal]

I admired Byrd in many ways, though of course like any seasoned politician, he offered much to be criticized.

Here is a nice piece from NPR, for anyone interested:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/med ... =128172284

Not sure why the URL posted that way - I'm not able to access the link from my work computer, so it may be altered. You can listen by visiting yesterday's All Things Considered program at http://www.NPR.org

[Gob]

There was a gap between the end of your url and the [/url] BSG, I sorted it for you.

[quaddriver]

Which might not be such a bad thing, considering that when Byrd went to the Senate, and for a long time thereafter, West Virginia was the US's Bangladesh ....

Was not gonna post but...andrew is right.

WV is the northern version of mississippi. Only with democrats in charge.

Byrd was king. I would not call what he brought home pork. Moving federal agencies OUT of DC is a GOOD thing. Martinsburg WV has more feds per capita than DC does. And no lobbyists.

My bet for first on the chopping block? the USCG operations center. its funny seeing admiral-dressed guys running around in back-hick-woods country.

at any rate, the term remaining for Byrd is long enuf that Manchin will appoint a party faithful and it will be someone he himself can beat next election as he wants the seat himself. (it was initially speculated that Manchin would appoint himself...)

USDA, Treas, BATF, VA, Homesec, FBI, USCBP are all safe bets for the next foreseeable decade.

[Jarlaxle]

The construction of the Dig was certainly a boondoggle, but its done what it promised it would -- which is make traffic getting into, out of, and in some cases around Boston much improved.

"Much improved" is being very generous! It helped, sort of...only, what, 1300% over budget, already falling apart, and has only killed one person so far. Should have never even broken ground on it.