House puts new restrictions on Gitmo closing

By GottaLaff

I'm sure Fayiz will be thrilled to hear this:

The House on Thursday used the first spending bill for 2010 to notify the White House that it will not go along with President Barack Obama's plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The House voted 259-157 for the $64.4 billion package to fund many of Obama's law enforcement and science priorities in the budget year starting in October. But the bill denies Obama money to close the facility next year and establishes strict restrictions for the transfer of detainees.

Already this week, the House showed its defiance of Obama's goal of shutting down the facility by approving a $100 billion war-spending bill that stipulates that it will not allow the use of federal money to close Guantanamo in the final months of this budget year. That bill passed the Senate on Thursday and is heading to the White House.

Both the House and Senate want to impose strict requirements on the administration before detainees at Guantanamo can be transferred to the United States, U.S. territories or third countries. [...]

It would allow the transfer to the United States of detainees for prosecution or detention only after Congress has had two months to read a White House report on how it plans to shut the detention facility and disperse the inmates.

The House bill also requires the Obama administration to notify lawmakers of any plans to transfer detainees to other countries. It turns down the $60 million the administration had requested to initiate the closure.

I will be posting at least two more entries that might cause a few people to wish that Gitmo would be shut down sooner than this bill allows. Each day, week, month that goes by is one more day, week, month of hell, especially if you don't deserve to be there in the first place.

Tattoo removal is the new marsh mouse

By GottaLaff

Did you know that an anti-crime program that saves lives and increases employment for reformed gang members is pork? Speaking of pig derivatives, Hannity and Drudge are trying to frame it that way:

Conservatives are hammering the House’s new $410 billion spending bill because it contains $200,000 for what they’re derisively referring to as “tattoo removal.” Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Drudge, and at least one GOP official on MSNBC, among others, have been all over this today.

But a little reporting reveals that that this “tattoo removal” program is an anti-crime program in the San Fernando Valley that re-integrates reformed gang members and makes it easier for them to find jobs. Two Los Angeles law enforcement officials I just spoke to — one who identified himself as a “conservative Republican” — swore by the program for reducing crime and saving lives.

Leave it to Hannity to turn something positive into a bald-faced lie:

Fox’s Hannity then jumped on the tattoo tale, flashing on the screen a list of what Fox dubbed “pure pork” and describing the tattoo money as merely being $200,000 for “tattoo removal,” with no explanation. Hannity blasted the pork as “outrageous.”

Here's what the program, which is run out of the Providence Holy Cross hospital in San Fernando Valley, actually entails:

“It helps people who want to get out of the gang life,” [Robert Ordelheide, chief of San Fernando Police Department] said, adding that the program was “important.”

“It reduces attacks” and causes a “reduction in gang rivalry,” he added. “$200,000 is a good investment if we can save lives.”

Harold Gold, a probation officer with a local specialized gang unit:

“It can get the kids jobs — if you have gang tattoos, you can’t get a job,” Gold said. “This program is one of the best life-saving and life-changing programs out here. I am about as right wing a conservative as you would ever find.”

Drudge and Hannity are the real crime. If only we could have them removed.

H/t: TPM

Gramm-pa McCain Skips Vote on Spending Bill

By GottaLaff

Gramm-pa McCain sure has a funny way of showing how much he cares about his country:

One of the Senate's longest-running streaks hit 115 today.

Ooo! Ooo! I know! Call on me! Ahem: The streak is about the 115 times that Gramm-pa said, "You don't understand!"

No? That's not it?

After returning to Washington early this morning, ostensibly to help with congressional negotiations on bailout legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) missed a pair of votes on a massive spending bill that keeps the federal government running for the next five months.

Gramm-pa doesn't understand.

In missing today's votes, McCain passed up the opportunity to critique a bill that -- as he said in last night's debate -- has more than 2,200 special spending provisions known as earmarks, most of which have never seen the light of day until the legislation was released late this week.

So that makes him a-- D'oh, what's that word again? Oh yeah-- hypocrite?

McCain, who has not voted since April 8, has now missed five-and-a-half months of roll calls in the Senate, during which 115 votes have been held.

According to a database created by washingtonpost.com, McCain has missed more than 64 percent of his votes in the 110th Congress, more than any other senator.

Obama's attendance record hasn't exactly been stellar either. But Grammps takes the cake.