Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do.-Ricky Ricardo

On some positions a coward has asked the question is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question is it right? And there come a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.



The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.



A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King, Jr.



I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bill Clinton

There are 31 House Democrats and 27 House Republicans who voted No on the bill on Monday and voted Yes on the bill on Friday. So what changed between Monday and Friday? A lot of pork was piled into this bill. David Freddoso wrote an excellent piece at NRO about these changes. An excerpt:

Some conservatives, as fans of lower taxes, prefer that the special tax-credit provisions (such as the benefit this bill confers upon wooden-arrow-makers) not be called "earmarks." "Calling tax cuts "earmarks" is very unhelpful and completely wrong from a fiscal conservative perspective", reads a memo from Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform. "There is no such thing as a tax earmark."



Indeed, narrow, targeted tax cuts are not the same as handouts of federal money. But if they are not "earmarks", the tax advantages for wooden arrows and other special interests are still pernicious. At best, they are an attempt by the federal government to manipulate people's behavior through the tax code. At worst, they are a successful attempt by various special interests to feather their nests by attaching tax wish-lists to must-pass legislation.

I don't claim any expertise on predicting how people are going to vote, but I am going to print out the list below to see if any of these incumbents lose their election this time around. I sense a loathing and distrust for current occupants of Congress and the White House. There is a Washington-speak that is spoken to us out in the hinterlands, and we are tired of hearing it.



Arizona

Shadegg (R-AZ-3)

Pastor (D-AZ-4)

Mitchell (D-AZ-5)

Giffords (D-AZ-8)



California

Thompson, M. (D-CA-1)

Woolsey (D-CA-6)

Lee (D-CA-9)

Schiff (D-CA-29)

Solis (D-CA-32)

Watson (D-CA-33)

Baca (D-CA-43)



Florida

Buchanan (R-FL-13)

Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL-18)



Georgia

Lewis, John (D-GA-5)

Scott, D. (D-GA-13)



Hawaii

Abercrombie (D-HI-1)

Hirono (D-HI-2)



Illinois

Rush (D-IL-1)

Jackson, J. (D-IL-2)

Biggert (R-IL-13)



Indiana

Carson, A. (D-IN-7)



Iowa

Braley (D-IA-1)



Kentucky

Yarmuth (D-KY-3)



Louisiana

Alexander, R. (R-LA-5)

Boustany (R-LA-7)



Maryland

Edwards, D. (D-MD-4)

Cummings (D-MD-7)



Massachussetts

Tierney (D-MA-6)



Michigan

Hoekstra (R-MI-2)

Kilpatrick (D-MI-13)

Knollenberg (R-MI-9)



Minnesota

Ramstad (R-MN-3)



Missouri

Cleaver (D-MO-5)



Nebraska

Terry (R-NE-2)



Nevada

Berkley (D-NV-1)



New Jersey

Pascrell (D-NJ-8)

Frelinghuysen (R-NJ-11)



New York

Kuhl (R-NY-29)



North Carolina

Coble (R-NC-6)

Myrick (R-NC-9)



Ohio

Schmidt (R-OH-2)

Tiberi (R-OH-12)

Sutton (D-OH-13)



Oklahoma

Sullivan (R-OK-1)

Fallin (R-OK-5)



Oregon

Wu (D-OR-1)



Pennsylvania

Gerlach (R-PA-6)

Shuster (R-PA-9)

Dent (R-PA-15)



South Carolina

Barrett (R-SC-3)



Tennessee

Wamp (R-TN-3)



Texas

Green, A. (D-TX-9)

Conaway (R-TX-11)

Thornberry (R-TX-13)

Jackson Lee (D-TX-18)

Ortiz (D-TX-27)

Cuellar (D-TX-28)



Vermont

Welch (D-VT-AL)