By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

“I didn’t come here to do favors for TransCanada. Republican leaders may disagree but I’ll be voting no.”
–Elizabeth Warren

This first week of the new year has been quirky, improbable and distressing, wrapped in weather that, at least here in the Pea Patch, brings everything to a slow, frigid crawl. And it would be impossible to write about the news of the day without mentioning the deliberate attack on journalistic freedom of speech perpetrated against political cartoonists in France.

It’s not my topic this week, but the larger context of this story — the free exchange of ideas and concepts, the ability to speak candidly and without fear of censure — is always of primary concern at Planet Waves..

Two things became evident to me as I watched the world respond. First, the vast majority of humanity finds this kind of behavior barbaric and shocking, and the reaction from people of all races and religions has been a unified rejection of murder in the name of religious jihad. If the skewed tenets of radical Islam were, in fact, behind this strike, it did its cause no good.

The other thing that I find so twisted about these things is the insistence that they occur in defense of God. It should be obvious enough to true believers that if God is the supreme deity, then God requires no assistance from mere mortals. In fact, if God is that touchy about his reputation, logic dictates that he would do his own killing, which should prove easy enough with things like sink holes, tornadoes, and Ebola at his fingertips. Once again, mankind has created God in his own image and confused his own darkest impulse with righteousness.

Gratefully, that truth is glaringly evident to the majority of us witnessing the wreckage in France this week. Unfortunately, we’re still somewhat blindsided by how that breaks down within the Kabuki theatre we call Congress. This was the week that Joe Biden swore in dozens of newbie legislators to the 114th Congress, almost all Republicans. This was the week that House Leader John Boehner barely survived an attack against his speakership by hostile Baggers who think he’s too eager to work across the aisle (which history will show hasn’t happened in six years, and will likely not occur for at least two more).

And this was the week that Mitch McConnell lit on news, that 2014 was the best year for hiring since the turn of the century, like a duck on a bug. With unemployment fallen to 5.6 percent, Mitch declared that the United States was finally showing encouraging signs of fiscal growth and stability — here’s where improbable comes in — now that the Republicans have taken control. Twenty-four hours before that, of course, the country stood on the edge of fiscal oblivion, and here’s Jon Stewart’s spit-take as illustration. Paul Krugman has called this creative bookkeeping, and right-wing delusion, “the voodoo time machine.”

I’m not sure what level of perfidy it takes to ignore facts, make shit up and try to sell it to the world, but I’ll give it to Mitch, he schleps this particular brand of snake oil with a straight face and the party faithful lap it up. Much as he constructed a plan to obstruct anything ‘Obama,’ this time around he’s vowing to prove the Republican ability to govern because “I don’t want the American people to think that if they add a Republican president to a Republican Congress, that’s going to be a scary outcome. I want the American people to be comfortable with the fact that the Republican House and Senate is a responsible, right-of-center, governing majority.” I suppose that’s because Pubs have been so responsible and ethical these last six years, don’cha know, and if you don’t believe that just ask the short list of one percenters, who are doing better than ever — read that EVER — before.

As an aside, we should note that the odds of success on this front are frightfully slim. Republicans have no interest in the public good, only in privatization and corporate dominance, and their disdain for the rising populist movement makes them even more susceptible to self-delusion. Since the American people are decidedly progressive in their outlook, the full weight of Republican responsibility for national leadership should produce buyer’s remorse fairly quickly. Within their ranks, the Baggers are as contentious as ever, pitting themselves not just against ‘establishment’ leadership, but against doing ANYTHING with Dems to move the nation forward. Meanwhile, on the left, the Progressive caucus is picking up credibility, supported by Speaker Pelosi in most instances, and more energized than it has been in years.

There is no longer a sense of camaraderie in the nation’s capitol, providing opportunity to develop the personal relationships that made governance do-able in years past. There’s no longer any pretense of developing such a mutual space. 2015 finds our least moderate politicians nose to nose, although a streak of Libertarian distaste for plutocracy runs through both parties, and might provide alignment in the odd moment.

Still, there seems little chance for Republican leadership to show its “well-meaning” side, since it doesn’t actually have one, and it may have difficulty doing damage so long as Obama uses his veto pen (and the Dems don’t cave). So far, the Prez seems more than happy to wave that pen like a sword, willing — some even say eager — to slice and dice repressive legislation. The pen may well prove mightier than the sword in the coming months.

The first thing our new Pub Congress did this week was to create a few rules, propose a few bills to destabilize the very fiscal improvements they claim as their own, declaring them progress “for the American people.” (This is one of my pet peeves, as some of you know. Every time a Republican tells me s/he’s representing my best interests, Pinocchio’s nose gets longer and an angel plummets to earth).

Besides changing the way “math” works, with a process known as “dynamic scoring” in order to mask the financial consequences of legislation (think fiscal truthiness, as practiced by the Dubby’s White House), the Pubs went after the Volker Rule — a key reform in the endangered Dodd-Frank bill passed in 2010 — that was put in place to regulate banksters gambling with taxpayer money, known as proprietary trading. Essentially, when the ‘bet’ wins big, it’s reflected in an enormous bonus, so Wall Street has railed against Volker since its inception. Even though the Volker Rule has never been fully implemented, the Pub proposal would delay that implementation for another two years. This is only one of eleven deregulation changes proposed on Wednesday, but one that Elizabeth Warren thundered against as a “big bank giveaway that makes our economy and middle class families less safe.”

And although the Pub meme of moment is to further reduce the deficit — which they themselves ran sky high in Bushwar(s) II — Boehner’s kids quickly passed yet ANOTHER hit on Obamacare (that makes fifty-something, I’ll let you know when we reach sixty) which the Congressional Budget Office tells us could add as much as $53 billion to the debt. The argument on the right is that since companies are required to provide health benefits to anyone working over 30 hours, this cuts away at the established norm of the 40-hour work week by providing employers an incentive to hire for less than 30. The proposal raises the imposed fine threshold to 40 hours, although the CBO warns that this increases the risk of a million workers losing their employer-provided coverage, a substantial increase in Medicaid, more subsidized exchanges and CHIP service to kids, costing the taxpayer 21.4 billion bucks over the next decade.

The Pubs argue that they have anecdotal evidence from their own little ponds that none of this is true — and the “new math” is how they roll, anyway, so the CBO can go pound salt! Not to mention their sincere belief that the John Roberts court will deliver a blow to ACA this year, leaving upwards of ten million people without health insurance. And, yes, given the conservative activism made evident by prior decisions, it could happen.

In yet another strike against the most vulnerable, the new congress wasted no time in creating a pseudo-crisis regarding the viability of Social Security, putting 11 million disability recipients on line to lose 20% of their benefits. There is no SS funding crunch at hand, and won’t be for a couple of decades. And although the disability insurance trust fund requires a cash infusion from time to time, this has been done almost a dozen times in the last years with no beads of sweat dotting the national brow. But no longer, now we must twist in angst at the “takers” on disability running the fund dry. This requires immediate cuts to a defunct, limping “entitlement program.” (The Pub mantra on this issue, done in subliminal whisper? “Privatize, privatize, privatize!”)

When it’s plain that the vast majority of Americans not only want robust SS but depend on it, how do the Pubs rationalize constant attacks on a fund that is flush for at least two decades, and much longer with only slight tweaks? They lie, just as Reagan lied about the welfare queen who raked in multi-thousands under many different names. If we go over to the Crime page at Huffy, we’ll find reports of career criminals making attempts at this kind of fraud, but to assume that entire groups of people do this as a matter of course is sheer nonsense. This is the same meme that fuels the culture wars, that exaggerates racism and sexism and paints it all with the same black/white, us/them brush until it explodes.

Thus began the first week of the 114th Congress of the United States of America. And, as if that wasn’t enough — and as was announced by Mitch McConnell early in December — their very first matter of business was the Keystone XL Pipeline, pledging to override Obama’s decision-making process. Flexing his go-ahead-and-try muscles, Obama made it clear that he would veto any bill passing XL through, explaining once again that he has been waiting for further information regarding this controversy, especially a decision by the Nebraska Supreme Court on the legality of the former governor granting TransCanada permission to access private property.

Today that body issued a decision granting permission for the pipeline to go forward, although ” …the court ruling was split with four of the court’s seven judges agreeing with a lower court that the 2012 law used to grant TransCanada that permission was unconstitutional. However, Nebraska requires a supermajority of at least five judges to strike down a law.” There is now a two-week period in which federal agencies are invited to comment on the proposed route, which gives Obama some wiggle room.

The White House issued an immediate statement, warning that “The State Department is examining the court’s decision as part of its process to evaluate whether the Keystone LX Pipeline project serves the national interest.” Confirming the continuance of the proposed veto, the statement included language making it clear that Obama objects to the challenge to his Executive authority, which would prevent “the thorough consideration of complex issues that could bear on U.S. national interests.” Obama’s position on the pipeline has seemingly taken twists and turns over the years, but his own thoughts on the venture — if that’s what we’re seeing now — seem to consider it, on the whole, problematic for the nation and environment without producing adequate national benefit. And it probably sweetens the pot just a tad that our newly assertive president knows how badly the Pubs want that win, after six years of Obama-bashing.

Amazingly, the economy is working in the liberals’ favor on this issue. The plunge of global oil prices and the upswing in U.S. production make expensive tar sand recovery less attractive to investors, and TransCanada has already shifted its process of product movement toward (the dangerous practice of) transport by rail. “Clearly, the economics are threatening the project,” said Robert Bryce, a senior energy fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute research center. “There’s no doubt the Republicans in Congress are going to pass a bill that intends to force approval. But they can’t make the pipeline get built.”

Perhaps Obama was listening when Elizabeth Warren had her say on the Congress floor, to be found here. Don’t miss it. It’s short but sweet, as are most of Ms. Warren’s objections to those who punish the average citizen. And the Pubs pretended not to hear either the Senator or the President as the proposed legislation passed out of the newly convened Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with a vote of 13-9. There will be a floor vote next week in the House. The fight may or may not be won on the left, but there’s no question that it has created a shift in environmental activism, and that’s not a baby step — that’s a leap.

If you haven’t made your own wishes known on this topic, you might want to add your name to the one of the petitions floating around the blogosphere. I signed one again today at Earthjustice, a not-for-profit legal assistance organization focused on environmental law that began as a small community project. Surprisingly intimate, Earthjustice is now global in its reach, but continues to focus on the needs of individual communities in their struggle to determine their own environmental future.

I particularly like the Earthjustice motto: ” … because the world needs a good lawyer.” In this day and age, that’s the most expedient way to address these critical issues, and this organization has an excellent record. In July of last year, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a couple of little towns could use local zoning laws to ban heavy industry, including oil and gas production, within their borders. That case was argued by an Earthjustice lawyer and set a precedent that, one can easily imagine, led to the recent state ban of fracking entirely. Do visit and read about the diverse causes Earthjustice supports. This organization is well-rated, with 82% of funding going to projects and 72% raised through individual contributions.

So there’s our flagship congressional week, giving us a heads-up on what the future holds. So much for the quirky, improbable and distressing. Oh, and quirky, yes: it’s true, Mitt Romney is considering a third run (because ‘destiny’) so add that bit of quirk to your own examples of weird, perhaps as strange and unexpected as mine, to flesh out the picture.

And do lighten up, as you can, in the coming week. While all this seems pretty serious and difficult, especially with news full of downed planes, disgruntled cops and assassinated journalists, be mindful of how you’re feeling about things from moment to moment. Taking care to give our emotions a harmless expression will keep them from festering, unexplored and turned toxic. We must not turn our backs on what is happening around us, but we do not have to ‘enter in’ to it, either. It’s ours to mend, not to wallow in.

As always, there are ethical considerations and human consequences to everything we do, what we choose to support, how we wish to create our world. The more kindness, compassion and care we can bring to the issues, the higher the vibratory rate that lifts us all. Remember, we can’t go wrong if we come from heart, extending the best of our humanity to one another and the world. These are the years when we set a new foundation for the future: color it with love.