Political Irony

© Matt Bors

Pretty much everyone is fed up with the government, but nobody has a good idea of how to fix it. Politicians who actually try to change the system are dismissed as “out of the mainstream” or not “serious” because they don’t raise enough money. That’s ironic, since money in politics is a big part of the problem.

Is something like No Labels likely to make a difference? I don’t know.

Business Insider put together an interesting chart showing GDP minus government spending. In other words, it shows economic growth coming from the private sector (not from stimulus spending):

The shaded part is the recession, where by early 2009 (when Obama took office) the economy was shrinking by 7.5%. But less than a year later, the (private sector) economy was growing again by 5%, which is not bad.

The problem is that as stimulus spending stops, those jobs go away, and the private sector is not creating enough jobs to replace them. It is pretty clear that the stimulus did its part of the job — stimulating the economy to get it going again, but unless the private sector does its part and starts hiring again we could risk a renewed recession, especially since the Republicans are trying to drastically cut government spending even more.

It is frustrating that the Republicans claim to be so concerned about deficits now, even though during the Bush administration they had no problems voting for unfunded entitlement programs like Medicare Part D, and starting two wars while simultaneously cutting taxes for the rich. I can’t think of an explanation for their behavior other than they want the economy to suffer.

Could this explain some of Michele Bachmann’s bizarre behavior? According to three people who have worked closely with Bachmann, the presidential candidate suffers from “debilitating” migraine headaches on a weekly basis that can “incapacitate” her for days.

Not only that, but allegedly she is constantly medicated to try to prevent them.

The migraines are so bad and so intense, she carries and takes all sorts of pills. Prevention pills. Pills during the migraine. Pills after the migraine, to keep them under control. She has to take these pills wherever she goes.

The headaches are so severe and so frequent they have put her in the hospital more than once.

A spokeswoman for Bachmann refused to talk about the candidate’s medical history.

UPDATE: Bachmann admits that she suffers from migraines but claims that it would not affect her job performance as president. Refuses to answer whether she was ever hospitalized for migraines. And today her aides “roughed up” a reporter for ABC News when he dashed after her with a camera and attempted to ask her if she had ever missed any votes in the House because of headaches.

“We’re getting closer and closer to the country going into default. We could be out of money by August 2nd. How many people are surprised by that? How many people are surprised we still have enough money to make it until August 2nd?” – Jay Leno

“Will we default on our debt, and will Canada let us crash on their couch for awhile?” – Stephen Colbert

“Congress is pledging to work around the clock until they’re absolutely certain they will get nothing done.” – David Letterman

“President Obama ordered Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to take what little money we have left and buy lottery tickets. I don’t think that ever works.” – Jay Leno

“I just read that George W. Bush is getting his own limited edition baseball card. You can tell it’s Bush’s card because eight years after you buy it, its value decreases $14 trillion.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A report says that a growing number of Americans are worth $1 million. The bad news: last year they were worth $5 million.” – Jay Leno

“Scientists say life on Earth is wiped out every 27 million years, and we have 16 million years left. So we’re all going to die just when we finally get our debt paid off.” – Jay Leno

‎”Is he teaching people not to be gay or is he like the ‘Green Mile’ guy and just absorbing it all?” – Jon Stewart [on Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus Bachmann]

“He’s so gay he calls ‘Top Gun’ ‘that volleyball movie.'” – Jon Stewart [struggling to repress the urge to crack gay jokes about Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus Bachmann]

“Of course I’d like to say Dr. Marcus Bachmann buys Brawny paper towels for the packaging, or he’s so gay Richard Simmons tells him to tone it down.'” – Jerry Seinfeld [playing Jon Stewart’s Comedy Repression Therapist during a cameo on The Daily Show]

“It’s so hot that instead of tapping phones, Rupert Murdoch has been tapping kegs.” – David Letterman

“It’s so hot that even Michele Bachmann believes in global warming.” – David Letterman

“You know the woman in Texas who gave birth to a 16-pound baby boy? Turns out if was a hoax. It wasn’t a baby at all. It was a Mexican trying to sneak into the country.” – Jay Leno

© Lee Judge

Message received, loud and clear.

UPDATE:

© Mike Keefe