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When 88% of the country is upset about the AIG bonuses, I guess you have to get creative about voting against Alan Grayson’s bill to limit the $1 billion more scheduled to be paid out this year. So Virginia Foxx goes on the floor of the House and says that Democrats have a "tar baby" on their hands:
She later rails about Grayson’s quote, which said of the vote "We’ll find out who are the people who understand that the public’s money needs to be protected, and who are the people who simply want to suck up to their patrons on Wall Street":
Foxx says, "I certainly hope that the gentleman from Florida wasn’t inferring that I, a Republican who opposes this bill, am a ‘corrupt lawmaker.’
I think she means "implying," and "corrupt" is just the beginning.
Tar baby? Did she really say that?
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Dear sweet Jane.
Do you think your tone might be becoming a bit harsh in these last two posts, dear?
More please?!
Take no prisoners.
I could read this stuff all day. *G*
Tar baby? I’m pretty sure that’s what I heard, alright.
No, neither “Corrupt” nor “implying”.
But I would say Missy has a little racism problem, and it’s showing.
Wow, that leaves me offended and amazed at the same time.
Virginai Foxx, Politically Incorrect Concern Troll.
Nice.
Representative Foxx’s office numbers:
DC Phone: 202-225-2071
DC Fax: 202-225-2995
yep.
pretty much.
third rail material? time will tell.
these people do know about recent poll ratings, right?
But tya know, Jane really didn’t say all that much. Just had to stand aside for the R comedy show. This has been great. Thanks Jane for interrupting the regularly scheduled programming.
Wonderful post, Jane.
Either she is racist or an idiot. Do the Rs ever think before they speak – obviously not.
What a terrible choice for her to make – shameful.
Let me get this straight. The Repugs are opposing bonuses on bankster bailout and just used racial slurs too…and cannot read a five page piece of legislation that has been available for a week? (Remember, the five pages are really four — page one is intro summary and list of sponsors basically.)
Tombstone party.
Did somebody from the prior thread want Cavuto-grayson?
I think this is it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITq19ezj_Xg
EPU’d
here is video of Congressman Grayson on Cavuto someone referenced downstairs.
scroll down to 3rd video on the page
note: it is some mouth-breather’s site – why look how our Neil “clobbered” that “abusive political operative” Grayson
linky
and your beverage of choice BL ?? :D
The real pleasure is that the Republicans are getting their asses handed to them by a gay man.
Oh the sweet irony.
Great, Obama gets to answer media questions about, “What do you think about Ginny telling the Dems they have a tar baby on their hands?” while at the G20.
And Steele is done with Obama? Oh my.
JUST CALLED ,and spilled my disgust to the southern staffer whoanswered,he said i dont think she meant it that way,i said ,it was completely offensive and an UGLY slur
It sears.
I think we need to all call and note, “Well, even Disney knows better dear.”
Yes, dat’s what Br’er Foxx sezee.
be offended and SHAME THEM if thats possible
klynn my 20 is to you
Virginia Foxx’s open secrets ‘Donors’ page
note the 2nd largest, um, patron :D
Racist corrupt old crone.
Folks like Rep Foxx luvs themselves their Unca Remus.
These people are insane. Now Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) is railing about the fact that the Dodd language was changed in conference.
Let’s review:
1) Republicans in the House didn’t vote for the bill when it didn’t have bonus language in it, and didn’t try to insert any.
2) The Senate passes a stimulus bill with Dodd bonus language in it, which goes to the House.
3) Language gets swapped in mark up.
4) Republicans didn’t vote for that, either.
5) Republicans get angry because Dodd bonus language was taken out
6) Republicans angry because Grayson bill puts Dodd language back in
??
Thanks Jane. I hope this shows up on Jon Stewart tonight. Anyone have his email?
Yeah, this piece of trash is from our state…..sux, don’t it? Iirc, SunnyNobility is the unfortunate pup who lives in her neck of the woods; otoh, I’m the pup stuck with keith schuler. Plenty of misery to go ’round. :-(((
From the top of your link:
Only in
SyriaNorth Carolina! LOLthe ignorant twins
insane and inane
is this on the teevee ? I got some chucklehead from New Jersey on mine – is there a CSpan link ?
hope her phone is ringing off the hook
Yeah that’s Scott Garrett. He’s going to oppose the bill because it applies to secretaries making $10 an hour.
This is a guy who voted against raising the minimum wage. Because he cares so very much? Who’s he kidding?
just got it 707
methinks Keif might have him as WPITW
I’m off the sauce for quite a few years now. Got any Fresca?
Helps if your peeps come from the region :-)
BTW, Barney has the last five minutes. Now. C-Span 1
pesto rocks….g
It would be great if Grayson can get this passed. But in an of itself it is a diversion from the real problem though a good start. It’s amazing what you won’t find in the US MSM. This from the Guardian UK.
This is just a partial list of those companies too big to fail with off shore tax haven accounts.
OFFSHORE SUBSIDIARIES OF U.S. FRAUDULENT FINANCE SPECIALISTS
• A.I.G.: Last time we checked: 728 subsidiaries in offshore centers.
• Bank of America: 59 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands.
• Citigroup: 427 subsidiaries: 21 in Jersey, 91 in Luxembourg, 19 in Bermuda, 158 in the Caymans.
• Countrywide Financial: Two subsidiaries in Guernsey.
• Goldman Sachs Group: Three subsidiaries in Bermuda, Five in Mauritius, 15 in the Caymans.
• Lehman Brothers: 31 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands.
• News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch): 33 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands. Others known.
• Wachovia: 18 Subsidiaries in Bermuda, three in the British Virgin Islands, 16 in the Caymans.
Art History prolly sophmore year
her office will be receiving a call from Winston-Salem NAACP in 5..4..3
i guess they count on people not being able to grasp a story for more than a day or two at a time. unless it’s some lady with 14 kids.
PIGS are more worthy than these carbuncles of pus
bows,and claps hands….U rock
The Octopussy
Newest Brand in Clown Car Production.
not watching. garrett says secretaries couldn’t get bonuses if they work at a firm that takes TARP $ ? know what? i’m fine with that.
they really played us……
lol. c’mon. this is serious stuff going on in the hallowed halls of Congress. seriously.
me too
howzabout
A LIVING WAGE?
I knew you’d be along soon!
Seriously tragic stuff.
Sorry. I won’t evah do it again.
Citigroup: 427 subsidiaries: 21 in Jersey, 91 in Luxembourg, 19 in Bermuda, 158 in the Caymans.
—————————–
that Robert Rubin is some piece of work
What exactly is Cardoza talking about? Let’s not burden community banks with bonus regulation because it might make them not take TARP money?
Isn’t that what we want?
speaking of which . . . did I miss the Interpretive Dance roll out on Boehner’s budget ??
Ah you noticed too?
Who could miss it.
REGULATION= dirty word
and its REALLY scary shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
LOL!!!!!
There went my ice tea!
The American people understand the simplicity of this: if your bank is successful enough not to need TARP money, go ahead and pay whatever bonuses you deem necessary. Otherwise, you know, not.
meglomaniac,a tad smaller than Sandy W
Toni Morrison talked about the meaning of “tar baby.” For most of my life that wasn’t a negative term. Only in recent history, because of the total ignorance of racists, did the meaning get dragged through the mud. It was originally invented by African Americans.
Work It Dennis !
from his open secrets page
uh-huh
Jane. Do not look for logic. I know it’s hard in that you’d think people elected to office would be able to think, but no.
Greed over logic anyday.
~~~Edited in moderation to clear filters.~~~
not to be used as an epithet from a racist white person imo
Just catching up to this, well played and smartly struck Mz. Hamsher, with VERVE!
This is the stuff that needs to go viral on the toobz every time they open their mouths.
It’s April, of 2009. Tarbaby. Foxx is, like her party, livin a fantasy that’s been killed long ago but just won’t die, goldangit.
When They Go Bad, Ya Got To Put Them Down.
Give the boy the rifle, ma.
One would think. And one would think that the taxpayers shelling out billions to a trillion or so dollars should be able to set some conditions.
FunnyDiva
I really hope someone, especially Rachel, rakes the stupid Rs over the coals for their game-playing. Pure obstruction, thanks very much.
greed,hypocricy,stupidity,jealousy,and CORUPTION
plantation repukes
Local banks are pissed because they pay for FDIC insurance and their rates are about to be increased, and all the money is going to the NY banks.
So there was going to be a gimme somewhere, now we have it. The personal financial gain of their executives.
Sweet.
Good stuff!
Howie Klein Covered Some Of This Yesterday
Cassano. And off shore accounts. He wasn’t the only one doing it, either. But he sure has a racket going, and all the big boys got to play with him or someone LIKE him.
WOOT! For more sunshine. *G*
Hey, watch it Tedster. Where I come from “Crone” is good thing :D
Wise and full of piss and vinegar.
OMG! wish i could do photoshop
MS Foxx in a replay of the Lillian Helman play
THE LITTLE FOXES
I linked to the article about that yesterday…I’ll try to find it again.
Paging Darkblack! DB to the white “courtesy” telephone…
FunnyD
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
– Bible, Song of Solomon (ch. II, v. 15)
The fox has many tricks, the hedgehog only one.
[Lat., Multa novit vulpes, verum echinus unum magnum.]
– Desiderius Gerhard Erasmus, Adagia
Tar-baby ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, en brer Fox, he lay low.
– Joel Chandler Harris,
Tar-Baby Story–Legends of the Old Plantation
(ch. XII)
So, actually, that sounds like the execs at smaller banks want their slice of the pie, too–for being execs and because handouts are being handed out.
I can see being upset at higher FDIC rates when they weren’t the ones trashing the system. And I can see them being upset at not getting some sort of $$$ support for their legitimate work in regional banking, if needed.
FunnyDiva
and old play about Southern bankers stealing money from each other how quaint
Just spoke with a Young man in Rep. Foxx’s office. He was very interested in where I’d seen Foxx say “Tar Baby”.
He said, she didn’t mean it in a bad way – just that the democrats are in a “Sticky Situation” right now…
To which I replied with reading him the last paragraph in Random House’s Word of the day feature on “Tar Baby”:
The expression tar baby is also used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people (in the U.S. it refers to African-Americans; in New Zealand it refers to Maoris), or among blacks as a term for a particularly dark-skinned person. As a result, some people suggest avoiding the use of the term in any context.
(bolded mine, and also emphasized it for him.)
hey ya know,idont know anybody whoeven got a raise in the past 4 years letalone a big bonus…funny dat diva
bravo
“Ya gotta make, the pie, higher.” ;-)
But yaknow, sweet Jane is the consummate minimalist. Kindly “lets” the opposition be her guest; stands aside with that pixie smile, and allows them to do all their own digging. A master at work.
OT
Larry Summers is MUCH worse than you think.
the American people have been played……reamed stemed and expensively drycleaned
i always thought he was subzero
Yeah, best example I have seen of Jane’s matador routine – the colossally foot-in-mouth’d Conn Carroll. via Bloggingheads.TV
Sub-which-zero? Looks like it might be absolute zero.
Blue Texan is upstairs!
The GOP is Officially Michael Steele’s Party Now
just saw that –
and how long did it take you to remember his sexist sh* was about women and math ? :D
That would be ‘paging Darkblack to the melting-off-the-walls puce courtesy phone.’
i just read article……….OMG!!! JEEBUS on a cracker
she is gorgeous,and a wizbang!
Yeah, no shit.
I think the regionals should be happy and capitalize (oops, pun alert!) on the Behemoths’ bad press to up their deposit base. I bet they could get lots of new accounts. Especially if they offer a couple of boxes of free checks to start (just ordered checks? Don’t worry, the first box is on us!). Seems to me the best way to make lemonade out of this is for the small, solid regionals to be doing more of what The People aren’t outraged about (and none of what We are outraged about) and to shout that from the housetops.
Boeing Employee Credit Union is sure going for it right now!
FunnyD
I lift up my pie-eys unto the Fed, whence cometh my help?
FunnyD
Yes. Yes he is. Also, check out the Chris Hedges’ piece on the bestest and the brightiest lemmings a commenter there links to:
http://www.truthdig.com/report…..brightest/
nah, to the white-byotch’s-so-called-courtesy melting off the wall puce phone.
FunnyD
And to lesserdevil at 62. The original Uncle Remus stories had their origins in West African folk tales and came to the rest of the country via the oral traditions of the African Americans of 19th century Georgia as written down by Joel Chandler Harris. In the Uncle Remus tale the tarbaby was concocted by Brer’ Rabbit, the clever underdog, to outwit the larger but slower bully Brer’ Bear. In picking a fight with the tarbaby Brer Bear finds himself literally stuck in a situation of his own making. I’m not sure if the rep. from North Carolina is using the metaphor correctly (and I have been listening to her self-righteous rants for the past few weeks so I am well aware of her ignorance) and there may be some racism intentional or not, but as klynn and lesserdevil imply let’s not rush to counter that with criticism which is itself not fully informed.
hahahahahaha
best and brightest was oxymoron ,no?
Fork THAT shizz, pal.
See Jacqrat at #80.
FunnyDiva
well said,but,SC is suspicious in that they couldnt wait to turn down a black presidents stimulus money…imo
I called too. He said the same thing, “they (Democrats) are in a sticky situation.” And that she didn’t vote for the bailout bill. That doesn’t matter, I told him, it’s law now.
I said, “What do you mean, they? Are you a Republican? Is Rep. Foxx a Republican?” No no, Democrat.
So i explained that we are in a sticky situation as a whole country and obstructing needed laws isn’t getting the job done.
A bill that would LIMIT our money, OUR money, being paid out to rich guys on Wall Street is a good thing and it looks bad for her to be on their side. Whose side is she on, my side or the rich guys’ side? He assured me she was on my side.
I told him she definitely was not being perceived like that and he said he’d pass it on.
well said….claps hands
Jane has her identified as a Republican uptop
I am well aware of the history.
I think Toni Morrison is communicating that a negative can be made into a positive in order to counter the intent of the slur made by one against another. Then, becoming a source of strength.
My references have been to point out Rep Foxx’s ignorance at least, her racism at worst. Fully informed or not.
Thanks. Good article. Like Hedges, I too went to an Ivy League college, so I was curious to see how he explained those of us who came out differently. He does it simply: sez we never fit in. Yep. Story of my life.
oops then i misunderstood the young man, beg pardon.
Actually, knowing the way the Republicans identify themselves these days (recall all the incidences of Faux News mislabeling Goopers as Dems), you may have been purposefully misinformed.
Tar baby – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tar-Baby was a doll made of tar and turpentine, used to entrap Br’er Rabbit in the second of the Uncle Remus stories. The more that Br’er Rabbit fought the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he became. In contemporary usage, “tar baby” refers to any “sticky situation” that is only aggravated by additional contact. The only way to solve such a situation is by separation.[1]
In one tale, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear construct a doll out of a lump of tar and dressed it with some clothes. When Br’er Rabbit comes along he addresses the tar “baby” amiably, but receives no response. Br’er Rabbit becomes offended by what he perceives as the Tar Baby’s lack of manners, kicks it, and in doing so becomes stuck. Now that Br’er Rabbit is stuck, Br’er Fox ponders how to dispose of him. The helpless, but cunning, Br’er Rabbit pleads, “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch,” prompting Fox to do exactly that. As rabbits are at home in thickets, the resourceful Br’er Rabbit escapes. Using the phrases “please don’t throw me in the briar patch” and “tar baby” to refer to the idea of “a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it” became part of the wider culture of the United States in the mid-20th century. The story was originally published in Harper’s Weekly by Robert Roosevelt; years later Joel Chandler Harris wrote of the tar baby in his Uncle Remus stories. A similar tale from African folklore in Ghana has the trickster Anansi in the role of Br’er Rabbit.
Although the term’s provenance arose in African folklore, some Americans now consider “tar baby” to have negative connotations revolving around pejorative images of African-Americans.[2] Specific reasons why the term developed negative racial aspects are difficult to identify. In recent years, several politicians who have publicly used the term have encountered some controversy, mocking, and censure from African-American civil rights leaders, members of the popular daily media, and other politicians.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The criticisms of the ‘tar baby’ as racially driven icon could be interpreted as myopic, viz. the entire criticism seems to be rooted in the fact that tar is black. Regardless, the history of ‘the tar baby’ in its original form by far precedes the accusations of its racist associations.
SOURCE – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby
yes,and it just rolled out of her mouth like sweet nothings
I live in her district (and dare I mention the next district belongs to Patrick McHenry, so I’m always embarrassed by this dynamic duo.
Just got off the phone with her office, they are trying to spin it off as a colloquialism that is not racially rooted. Told the staffer I didn’t care how it was spun, she shouldn’t be standing on the floor of the House making this comment.
Nah, that fits in with what I think of Larry Summers.
Thanks for you and Hugh and a few others for outing him.
And the minions of Greenspan, the progeny of Ann Rynd and all the others. *G*
Lou Reed.
Every. Time. I. Read.
Sweet Jane.
All I hear is Lou Reed.
“Standing on the corner,
Suitcase in my hand.”
Damn That Big Apple!
*G*
Hattip. *G*
Leaving her racist slip aside for a moment, you think her opposition to the bill could be left-over pique from the way her hometown bank got punked by Wells Fargo? There must be a lot of pissed-off Wachovia execs who didn’t get the bonuses they expected. So give her a break – she’s just fighting for her constituents.
Check out this Dec. 19 article from theStreet.com
Wells Fargo To Slash Wachovia Investment Banker Bonuses By 90%
Dan Freed reports for theStreet.com:
The estimated 4,600 employees from Wachovia’s investment banking division will see bonuses cut 90% this year, according to a manager in the unit.
Though it is widely understood that top executives at Wachovia acquirer Wells Fargo, are opposed to the high compensation awarded to investment banking employees, the drastic size of the cut was still a surprise to some.
“[Wells Fargo Chairman] Dick Kovacevich has said he wants to bring rationality to investment banking pay, but 90% isn’t rational, it’s cruel. What does that say about an institution?” says Rik Kopelan, executive recruiter with Capstone Partnership. Kopelan believes virtually the entire investment banking unit will leave at the first opportunity.
As Homer Simpson would say:
“DOUGH?”
CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
In order to gain the political control they’ve enjoyed over the last ten years, Republican moderates and Reagan conservatives made a pact with the devil (faux Christians, bigots and misanthropes) to achieve the numbers they needed to defeat Democrats. They made a strategic decision to manipulate and exploit the ignorance, fears and hatreds of dysfunctional and vulnerable voters in order to win elections rather than lose them by being intellectually and morally honest.
Today, those who conspired with the devil are caught between wanting to disassociate themselves with and or casting out the devil they empowered and the karmic reality that they don’t have the numbers to hold on to or regain power without continuing to accept and “advocate” the immoral values, hypocrisies and corruptions that are dividing and destroying their party.
The survival of today’s shrinking Republican Party has become so dependent on extremism that they have no significant power left WITH or WITHOUT the support of America’s increasingly pernicious lunatic fringe.
The idiom “caught between the devil and the deep blue sea” is certainly appropriate as Republicans are facing the dilemma of choosing between two equally undesirable alternatives that both result in Republican impotence in mainstream American politics. They are suffering the consequences of their treachery.
Their irresponsible propping up of George W. Bush cost them their credibility, and their disgraceful and shameless licking of Rush Limbaugh’s storm trooper boots is costing them their viability.
Is Virginia giving away votes?
Not sure where you are actually coming down on the side of this sitch, so I’m gong to reply in opposition of what I THINK is your position that we should cut Foxx some slack.
Hey, If I’m wrong about that, would you please then grant me credit for responding in such a passionate and grand manner. And I’ll immediately owe ya a tall, cool one of yer choice. And I’ll once again, have been preaching to the choir.
But hey, I’m workin on my blog chops . . . . *G*
So here goes:
Look, the term itself has roots and history.
But to the majority of american’s the term is based and grounded in the deep south’s racism.
And that’s the context with which this person was using it, and intended it to be.
And any phool making speech in public in this day and age would have enough sense to know NOT to use that ‘tag’ for fear KNOWING it was a racist slur, etc.
I don’t think ANYONE can make the arguement that Foxx was using the ‘tag’ as a reasoned, scholarly and wizened analogy to her insane and inane (h/t to who coned that) criticism of Grayson.
So let’s just cut this crap for what it was.
A STOOPID mistake, by a stoopid old white woman of a modicum of power and representation in our community (the planet) that just ended her career. Like Jesse Helms, only shorter in service.
It was a slur, it will always be a slur, and to use it in a public place of service WHILE delivering service she is PAID to do to represent others? Is just pure teh stoopid, and revealing.
End of story. She outed herself, her career is over.
Just like Old Yeller. She went rabid.
Only one thing left to do.
“Jack he is a banker, Jane she is a clerk.”
*G*
Nope … ’tis political speak amongst fans of George Macaca Allen
I doubt that Mz. Foxx has a CLUE as to who Toni Morrison is.
Much less an educated background to the source of the slang.
*G*
The only thing she’s fighting for is the GOP party line and she’s on board.
If she wasn’t, they’d be targeting her with someone else when she’s up.
They. Eat. Devour. Their. Own.
It’s how they have played the game for a long, long time now.
Anyone’s constituents are secondary to party line.
She was spouting party line, and THAT’S what got the racist slur injected into her public speechafying.
And that’s why they are drowning in their own excrement.
All of them. Following Party Line.
The Bluedog Dem’s now, they are following the CAPITALIST Line. The one that got them elected.
And so, the two are forever intertwined like The Bramble And The Rose.
*G*
And they sure prick, but don’t smell as good.
I am so happy that I live within an hours drive of the districts of the following people…Foxx, McHenry, Shuler(I helped this asshat get elected) and my real address is in Myrick’s district. Born and bred North Carolinan…..damn I cringe when they put that NC next to those people’s name. Only comfort I have is, besides my real addy, I rent a house and spend 6 months of the year in the district that just sent Larry Kissel to the house.
/by the way….Virginia Foxx wasn’t born here. Thank Goodness.
//Walter Jones is another FINE congress critter from NC, if I’m not mistaken he co-sponsered the wicked witch of the midwest’s bill to “protect” the dollar.
Gregg Levine is upstairs!
Note: Bring your spash-guards
Grayson Seeks tor Restrict Bonuses; Sends Cavuto’s BP Through Roof
The Republican economic debacle is costing every person in the world over $7,000. When do the people begin to put the heads of these banksters on pikes? If the citizens in the U.S. are unwilling, all in due time others from around the world will oblige.
It’s a great pleasure to meet a partner in representation misery; I’m stuck with shuler. Hope to see you at the Lake again.
You are correct, of course. Mine was a lame attempt at irony.
Yes, all the figures in Song of The South were African-American motifs, drawn from African tales. So all the B’rers…as well as Uncle Remus were black.
I’d also point out that it isn’t the non-Blue Dogs that are in a “tar pit”…it’s the Blue Dogs. After all, how can they support the wealthy executives in this? Don’t they agree that if a corporation accepts TARP funds that there should be no bonuses to the executives? It would, after all, limit the acceptance of funds that they claim to have opposed. They should support this!
One can only think that they oppose it because they support tax-payer money going into executive pockets rather than being applied to dealing with the lending issues it was intended for. Why do these people hate their constituents, yet hide beneath a cheap veneer of “populism”?
I suspect that Rep. Foxx’s intent and her background bring both a racist and a metaphorical context to her use of the term and, given her age and uneducated use of colloquial language, I am not sure how much of either connotation was intentional. This is not a justification for the woman. She is clearly playing to and inciting the many bigotries of her base. This is but one more example of the sheer arrogance and ignorance of so many elected officials. It is depressing and still shocking.