Fresh Loaf

Ringeth thine patriot bells and proclaimeth this day Teabagger Day throughout The Land!

So declareth Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who co-introduced a flowery resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives today honoring the people who participated in the September 12, 2009 so-called 9/12 tea party (official name: Taxpayer March on Washington).

Price, who represents East Cobb, North Fulton and the Dunwoody-bits of DeKalb, describes the 9/12ers thusly:

“[H]undreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval.”

Nevermind actual media reports of the event estimate 75,000, not “hundreds of thousands” to “1,700,000″ as Price’s resolution claims.

Who cares though?

When you’re trying to save America from IslamoCommuHomoFascistTyranny™, facts are an unnecessary luxury.

The resolution has 76 Republican co-sponsors.

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You’ve heard about the birthers, right? Those tragic souls who insist that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii, but in Kenya? They will not rest until the president — who’s totally an illegal alien, y’all — is ousted from office and sent to a supermax prison, where he will confess he’s a Muslim and write books about jihad and the audacity of mandatory life sentences.

The Huffington Post dispatched a reporter to ask Republican Congressmen whether they believed Obama was born in the United States. In a hilarious video, most of the lawmakers — probably scared they’ll lose the cherished never-leaves-the-house demographic — run from the reporter, hide in an office-supply store, and lovingly tell the journalist he’s the “scum of the Earth.” Only one lawmaker says Obama is a U.S. citizen.

The back of U.S. Rep. Tom “Flanders” Price, R-Ga., has a brief cameo at around 2:00.

After the jump, a Price spokesman tells us why the Congressman fled the scene — and what he thinks about Obama’s citizenship.

(more…)

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The AJC calls attention today to Georgia’s boast that its Congressional delegation includes more doctors (four of the 16 currently in office) than any other state — which would seem to be a positive, considering the debates over health-care reform being waged at this very moment in Congress.

So just who are these MD’s who make Georgia so proud?

Well, there’s Rep. Phil Gingrey, of “Better Know a District” fame; there’s Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee; Rep. John Linder, who apparently counts even though he’s a dentist; and Rep. Paul Broun.

Yes, that Paul Broun, who once compared Pres. Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and accused him of trying to establish a Marxist dictatorship. Broun also happens to be a licensed doctor. And who better to represent Georgia’s medical community on the national stage? After all, Broun has already demonstrated his scientific acumen by declaring on the floor of the U.S. House that all the suggested evidence in support of human-induced global warming — the academic reports, temperature records dating back for thousands of years, the bewildered polar bears frequently photographed swimming in vain for a block of ice — are all just part of a “one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community.”

I would request that Rep. Broun do his best not to embarrass Georgia anymore, but it may already be too late:

Under Broun’s [health care] plans, doctors and pharmacies would be encouraged to post prices for their services just as a restaurant might post a dinner menu. Doing so, Broun said, would spur competition and therefore help bring down costs.

Because who hasn’t wished their health care operated with the same level of efficiency and quality of service as a middle-tier chain restaurant?

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How’s that for a headline, eh?

Tomorrow night at the Capitol, thousands of people will gather as part of the Atlanta Tea Party, one of more than 500 scheduled on Tax Day. There, outside one of the most beautiful and useless buildings in the state, the crowd will complain about something that’s been going on for years — gross misuse of taxpayer dollars and business-as-usual politics. Emceeing this affair will be Sean Hannity, Fox News’ angriest white man.

Turns out Hannity and some of the various dignitaries who’ve signed on for the event might not get the warmest of welcomes. A tipster tells us that some members of the state Libertarian Party — have they gone rogue?!? — have printed more than 600 signs that scold the talk show host and politicians for turning their heads during Bush-era bank bailouts and excessive spending. (Even if you disagree with their policies, Libertarians have an incredible sense of humor. The Allen Buckley radio ads during the U.S. Senate race gave that grueling contest a much-needed jolt of excitement.)

(UPDATE: Just spoke with Daniel Adams, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Georgia. He wanted to stress that these signs were made by individual party members and not endorsed or approved by the party. Adams says the state party is co-sponsoring Atlanta’s April 15 protest to show support for the grassroots movement that’s organized these events. He says the website listed on the signs is a mirrored site belonging to the national party, not that of the state’s.)

The aforementioned tipster was kind enough to pass along PDFs of the signs, which I’ve posted after the jump. You can download them all here. Print ‘em out and join the crowd! It’ll be fun!
(more…)

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Remember those Georgia Republican Congressmen who bellyached about President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan? Their constituents might see most of its benefits.

From Jim Galloway at the AJC:

Not surprisingly, according to the White House, the stimulus will be the greatest boon in north metro Atlanta congressional districts whose Republican representatives opposed it.

The package will create or save about 9,900 jobs in Georgia’s 7th congressional district, represented by John Linder of Duluth.

Another 9,200 jobs will be created or saved in Georgia’s 6th District, which is represented by Republican Tom Price of Roswell.

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A lot of Fulton County residents may want to throw the bums out of Congress. Just not their bums.
Eighty-three percent of Americans say the country’s headed in the wrong direction, and Congress regularly gets lower approval ratings than President Bush.

But Georgia’s districts are so well gerrymandered to protect incumbents from one party or the other that our congressmen only face the risk of losing in their party’s primary. And in July each of the state’s 13 incumbent U.S. House members won their nomination.

That’s why — barring a strike of lightning between now and January — Republican Tom Price, who represents North Fulton; Democrat John Lewis, who represents the county’s midsection, including Atlanta; and Democrat David Scott, who represents South Fulton, are certain to return to Congress. (more…)

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