Senator Roy Blunt (r) [file photo].

After Blocking Surgeon General Nominee, Republican Blames Obama For Surgeon General Vacancy

by Adam Peck Posted on October 19, 2014 at 12:55 pm

It has been nearly a year since Vivek Murthy was nominated by President Obama to serve as the next Surgeon General, but thanks in large part to the gun lobby and their Republican allies in the Senate, there has yet to be any movement on his confirmation.

That vacancy has become a central focus in the last week as government officials and medical professionals try to calm the public about the spread of Ebola.

On Sunday, Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) about the NRA’s role in blocking Murthy’s confirmation, but the Republican senator dismissed the question outright…

[….]

Shameless chutzpah.

Previously:

GOP goes Ebola crazy (October 18, 2014)

Have some knowledge for (a late) lunch (October 18, 2014)

From the United States Department of Labor, May 3, 2011:

Women’s Employment During the Recovery [pdf]

….Women are nearly 50 percent more likely to work in the public sector than are men with 18.2 percent of employed women working in public sector jobs….

….The unemployment rate averaged 8.6 percent among women in 2010. Data for March 2011 shows that the economic situation is improving for women, who have seen their unemployment rate decline to 8.3 percent. However, while the private sector has added 1.7 million jobs over the past 12 months, the public sector has lost nearly 400,000. Since women are disproportionately likely to work in the public sector, their unemployment decline has been smaller than that experienced by men. The unemployment rate for men averaged 10.5 percent in 2010 and has declined to 9.3 percent in March 2011. However women continue to have a lower unemployment rate than men, are less likely to be long-term unemployed, and have a median duration of unemployment that was 1.9 weeks shorter than men’s in 2010….

[emphasis added]

And then there’s this, today, from Representative Vicky Hartzler (r), via Twitter:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics-450,000 MORE Unemployed Women Since President Obama took over.[….] 7:25 AM – 25 Oct 12

(The link in the original Tweet takes you to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey – Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.)

There is the small matter of the Bush recession continuing until economic recovery programs, you know, like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 started to kick in.

Vicky Hartzler (r) in Blue Springs, Missouri, at a town hall on April 28, 2011:  

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 5 – Q and A (May 3, 2011)

Question: ….But, I don’t hear any of the, of our elected officials talking about eliminating federal jobs. Because it’s coming. And many things are coming. For example, I do not see how the Pell Grant is going to continue to exist. You just [inaudible], so. [scattered applause]

Representative Hartzler: Yeah, good point. Uh, the, as far as federal employees, uh, yeah, it has grown exponentially, the number of federal employees. I think if you’re gonna see some real change there, uh, we’re gonna have to take a, see some changes in the Senate next year and the White House in order to get that through. But, uh, it, I agree, there’s some, there’s a lot of areas in federal government that we don’t need. They should be, even according to the Constitution there’s only a few things that government should be doing. And the rest could be done at the state level , or the local level, or by private industry, or private citizens and, uh, we’ve got to get back to the original intent of what our founders wanted. And I think that’ll help take care of some of our debt crisis.

Voice: For, for, could you give some examples?

Representative Hartzler: So, let’s go, yeah [crosstalk]….

Women work in disproportionately higher numbers in the public sector. The federal government is a public sector employer. Vicky Hartzler, like almost all republican politicians in this day and age, advocates cutting public sector employment. Voila! Blame President Obama (D) for the number of unemployed women. Even though private sector employment has increased.

To continue, facts are an inconvenience:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): town hall in Blue Springs, part 5 – Q and A (May 3, 2011)

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) in Blue Springs, Missouri, listening to a question from a constituent at a town hall on April 28, 2011.

“….Yeah, good point. Uh, the, as far as federal employees, uh, yeah, it has grown exponentially, the number of federal employees. I think if you’re gonna see some real change there, uh, we’re gonna have to take a, see some changes in the Senate next year and the White House in order to get that through. But, uh, it, I agree, there’s some, there’s a lot of areas in federal government that we don’t need. They should be, even according to the Constitution there’s only a few things that government should be doing. And the rest could be done at the state level , or the local level, or by private industry, or private citizens and, uh, we’ve got to get back to the original intent of what our founders wanted….”

Too Many Federal Workers?

By Allan Holmes   09/07/10 07:08 pm ET

….There were fewer federal workers in 2009 than in 1990, 1980 and 1970. Now take a closer look at the OPM table. Much of the growth, understandably, occurred in Homeland Security agencies, increasing from 70,000 to 180,000 – a jump of 110,000. Justice Department jobs went from 98,000 to 113,000 — more than 15,000 new jobs added. (Again, crime and more Homeland Security related.) Jobs at the Veterans Department increased from 220,000 to 297,000 — that’s 77,000 more federal workers. Again, a result of Homeland Security, or rather staffing up to take care of thousands of veterans coming home from two wars. And there’s a lot of information technology jobs in there.

So, taking those three areas, the number of new jobs created in the last 10 years, which can be traced back to 9/11, was 202,000. That by itself accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total federal workforce growth from 2000 to 2009, which was 316,000 jobs. Hold those steady since 2002 (or even allow for some growth), and you would have less than 1.9 million workers in 2009, or slightly more. That’s about the same number of federal workers in 1962, the year Shlaes chooses as her benchmark to compare the number of government jobs to the number in the private sector (with public sector jobs accounting for an eighth of all jobs). Remember, that was before the Great Society programs geared up, popular programs that needed a slew of federal managers and clerks to oversee.

By the way, the number of jobs at the Interior, Transportation and Treasury departments fell from 2000 to 2009. And those at Health and Human Services, Education and the Social Security Administration grew from 1.26 million to 1.39 million — 130,000 jobs over 10 years, or about 13,000 new positions a year as the health industry expanded at a torrid pace….

Or:

Federal Government Employment Levels Through the Years (including the U.S. Postal Service)

Administration, number of federal employees, population, Executive Branch employees per 1,000 population

1970 (Nixon) 2.94 million 205 million 14.4

1975 (Ford) 2.84 million 215.9 million 13.2

1978 (Carter) 2.87 million 222.5 million 12.9

1982 (Reagan) 2.77 million 232.1 million 11.9

1990 (Bush) 3.06 million 249.6 million 12.3

1994 (Clinton) 2.9 million 263.1 million 11.1

2002 (Bush) 2.63 million 287.8 million 9.1

2010 (Obama) 2.65 million 310.3 million 8.4

Yeah, check out that “exponential” growth….

“…Uh, the, as far as federal employees, uh, yeah, it has grown exponentially, the number of federal employees…”

That’s real chutzpah.  

@lhfang Lee Fang

GOP is already hailing the midnight police raid on peaceful #OWS protesters. Trying to use it against Dems bit.ly/v09rnr 3 hours ago

The Communications Director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC):

@brianjameswalsh Brian Walsh

The acolytes for @elizabethforma in full effect in NYC attacking our first responders. Will anyone ask her to comment tomorrow? 3 hours ago

Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) is a Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

You mean these unionized first responders?:

9/11 responders bill defeated by Senate GOP filibuster

December 09, 2010|By the CNN Wire Staff

Senate Democrats failed Thursday to win a procedural vote to open debate on a bill that would provide medical benefits and compensation for emergency workers who were first on the scene of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The motion for cloture, or to begin debate, needed 60 votes to pass due to a Republican filibuster, but fell short at 57-42 in favor…

[emphasis added]

Chutzpah.

@brianjameswalsh Brian Walsh

What we’re seeing tonight in NYC are the supporters of @elizabethforma versus the public servants of the NYPD. 3 hours ago

What we saw in December 2010 was the Senate republicans versus the public servants of the NYPD. You’d think the Communications Director of the NRSC would be able to keep track of those things.

Chutzpah.

@brianjameswalsh Brian Walsh

The question is when will @elizabethforma show up in NYC to stand with her acolytes as they attack the NYPD? #OccupyWallSt 3 hours ago

Chutzpah.

@MBersin Michael Bersin

@brianjameswalsh Will Senate republicans show up to explain their Dec 2010 “support” for first responders? bit.ly/rZziSj 33 seconds ago

Just asking.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) complained via a retext of a republican talking point about legislative agenda productivity:

@gopconference GOP Conference by RepHartzler

Your budget was rejected by Senate 97-0 & Dems haven’t produced budget in 700+ days. Where is your economic plan? #AskObama 21 hours ago

Another in a slew of reasons why right wingnuts have zero credibility.

112th Congress is one of the least productive in years

Fervent partisanship and the standoff over the debt limit are partly to blame for lack of action in the Senate and House.

…the House isn’t exactly breaking records.

The 50 bills it has passed in the first five months of 2011 represent the lowest such number in more than 15 years. Republicans’ anti-Washington rhetoric translated into a schedule intended to keep lawmakers out of Washington. The result has been fewer days in session and fewer votes…

Remind us, which political party controls the House of Representatives? And obstructionism on the part of republicans in the Senate would have nothing to do with that, right?

That’s some serious chutzpah.

Update:

Oh, this gets even better. Representative Hartzler (r) retweeted right wing astroturf.

How Republicans and Tea Partiers Alike Used the Heritage Foundation’s #AskObama Script

By Abe Sauer | July 7, 2011

…A day before the event, The Heritage Foundation, a tax exempt, 501c(3) nonpartisan “educational institution” whose goal is “to formulate and promote conservative public policies,” published five Twitter questions to “put President Obama on the spot.”

These five questions, gift-wrapped by Ericka Anderson, Heritage Foundation’s senior digital communications associate and former communications director for Congressman Todd Rokita, were fascinating. And boy, did they get asked

Your budget was rejected by Senate 97-0 & Dems haven’t produced budget in 700+ days. Where is your economic plan? #AskObama….

[emphasis added]

Gee, that looks familiar.

Nonpartsan? Really?

We received the following press release from the White House:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Media Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 4, 2010

Cabinet Secretaries, Senior Officials Hold Events Across the Country to Highlight Administration’s Commitment to Job Creation, Economic Growth

….Friday, June 4th….

….Department of Transportation

Secretary Ray LaHood, along with Reps. Russ Carnahan and Jo Ann Emerson, will attend the ribbon cutting at Holcim’s newest Recovery Act-funded cement plant in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.  The plant supported 2,500 jobs during construction, and now supports 250 full-time permanent positions.

11:00am CDT

Holcim Ste. Genevieve Plant

…Bloomsdale, MO….

Wait a minute. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (r) was scheduled to attend the celebration of the fruits of the Recovery Act? Didn’t Jo Ann Emerson vote against the Recovery Act? Yep:

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 46

(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)

     H R 1      YEA-AND-NAY      28-Jan-2009      6:11 PM

QUESTION:  On Passage

BILL TITLE: Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009

—- NAYS    188 —

Emerson

We don’t know if she actually attended. If she did, that’s chutzpah for you.

What Jo Ann Emerson (r) has posted about the Recovery Act on her campaign blog:

Perryville Suntimes News: Emerson Says Stimulus Effect Lagging on MO Highways

March 11th, 2010

WASHINGTON Perry County’s representative in Congress, Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) voted against the stimulus bill passed by Congress in early 2009, and she says that bill which contained more than $800 billion in new federal spending continues to disappoint Missourians. According to the Eighth District’s member of Congress, only $86 million of the state’s $974 million in requests from two key transportation grant programs have been fulfilled.

“Hurry up and wait is not a good strategy for stimulating our economy. I opposed the stimulus for two reasons: the spending was irresponsibly high, and I saw no way this money could be spent accountably by the federal government. The administration has proven both of these criticisms to be correct,” Emerson said. “We have a real need to spur growth in our rural economy, and we need strong transportation infrastructure not only to create jobs, but also to keep them,” Emerson stated.

Cement plants. Don’t they have something to do with road construction? Just asking.

Update:

Representative Emerson (r) was there:

Jo Ann Emerson Great grand opening event at Holcim today. More than a billion dollar investment, 2000 construction jobs and 250 permanent jobs. Holcim chose SE Missouri over the entire country for this plant. Thanks to the wonderful workforce we have that made this possible!

Chutzpah!

Correction, June 11, 2010: The White House added the following to their press release on their web site:

CORRECTION: An error in this advisory sent on Friday stated incorrectly that Holcim directly received ARRA funds.

The plant didn’t directly receive stimulus funds. Still, all those stimulus infrastructure projects need to be built out of some kind of material, right?

Chutzpah – murdering your parents and then asking for leniency from the court because you’re an orphan. *

Via Balloon Juice:

Arizona agency seeks federal help on immigration law

The Arizona agency tasked with training 15,000 law officers to enforce the state’s controversial new illegal immigration law has asked federal authorities for assistance, but administration officials say it is unclear whether the government will help….

John Cole at Balloon Juice:

…How about this for an answer? NO.

You guys want a police state, pay for it yourself. You probably should have thought about this before you all passed the idiotic bill in the first place….

Mo Udall weeps….and laughs.

* Thanks to John Cole for the title of this post.