The WaPo reports:
Another high-ranking former employee of the Environmental Protection Agency came under fire Tuesday as members of Congress grilled him about accepting an $8,000 discount on a Mercedes-Benz allegedly arranged by a lobbyist and friend who did business with the EPA.
Robert Brenner, a former deputy assistant administrator in EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, acknowledged that he accepted the discount from the lobbyist, identified as Patrick M. Raher. During questioning, Brenner also said he had recommended another close friend and subordinate, John C. Beale, for a second round of lucrative “retention bonuses” three years after Beale bought out Brenner’s share of a Cape Cod, Mass., home they owned.
This is just stupid! Everyone knows it should have been a Prius.
How this crisis can (maybe) now work out in the GOP’s favour…
Okay so all except the most one-eyed conservative has to admit the reality that the GOP will be blamed by voters for the budget / gov’t shut down crisis. But an interesting thing may very well happen on the way to next month’s circus.
The debt ceiling D-Day is just around the corner. In fact it’s so close that it now seems VERY probable that the budget / shut down crisis will not be resolved by mid Oct and THEN an interesting thing may happen – the budget / shut down / Obama-care crisis and the debt ceiling crisis will combine into one ENORMOUS crisis that revolves around both issues.
This could be VERY interesting. Mainly because just as the public supports the Dems on the budget / shut down issue, they broadly support the GOP on the debt ceiling issue. So if the two fights turn into one BIG fight, who will the public end up supporting?
It could be a hail-mary / gift from God situation that saves the GOP.
Boehner has made it clear that he wanted to avoid the shut down confrontation in order to save his ammo for the debt ceiling crisis. And he may kinda sorta get what he wants now. The conservative wing of the GOP (I think that may be me) may then get what they really want – the opportunity to force changes to the ACA set-up with the FULL BACKING of the US electorate. Because the political conversation / vicious trench war will be about balancing our national kitty, we can make changes to Obama-care by making the simple argument that the US simply can’t afford the ACA. Because it is a financial reality and not an ideologically based argument, independent voters are much more likely to respond to it.
With a bit of luck our gleefully anticipated thumping at the polls in the mid-term elections will then remain a Democrat pipe-dream and the ACA will be amended as we’d like.
Maybe.
Reblogged this on Edonurwayup's Blog and commented:
Government corruption.
What a shock, what a surprise…..the Environmental Deception Agency cannot be trusted….