DC Numismatists Unite!!

Pick Your COIN!!!

Quiero noticia documento por favor

Me llamo Snowbunny. Tengo hambre. Quiero eggs y unvaso de agua. Es todo, gracias. Port tu ayuda. Salud!

Happy Memorial Day

Get out much?

Living in DC is a virtual smorgasbord of cultural opportunities. On any given day (Sunday included) you can go to any museum and see artifacts, sculpture, art – some guy’s idea of art, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. (I watched The King and I last night.)

But how many of us really get out and do all that stuff?? I know I don’t. The only time I go to a museum is a. where there is a new exhibit that I really want to see, or b. when family/company comes to town. Today was a nice combination of both.

My mom came to town a few days ago. We kept Frager’s in business and planted a – for lack of a better term – shit ton of flowers in my back yard. Today was her last day in the City so after we did our obligatory hour of church (church is really three hours – oops) we hopped on down to the National Gallery of Art for the opening of Afghanistan, Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul.

It was fabulous. And as one who has an almost unhealthy obsession with all things Mesopotamian/Middle Eastern – it was a particularly good time.

And…they sell pretty decent gelato in the café downstairs. The Afghanistan exhibit is in town until September and if you head upstairs there is an uber cool Matisse cut out exhibit. Notice the spacing on the blue flowers in the middle of the piece - very lovely.

Longer than your average board...

I'm not much of a skater, but I like to fake it. Truth be told, no surprises here - I'd rather be on snow.

(For the record...there are a few reasons why I like snowboarding better than skateboarding or surfing (although with surfing you are on a beach in board shorts and a rash guard, and that counts for A LOT). BUT, I heart snow. First, the board is attached to your feet. You don't ever have to worry about 'falling off' of a snowboard. Second, the ground doesn't move. The ground doesn't move on a skateboard either, but on a surfboard man that water is testy. Third, the snow is generally softer than pavement. Unless you hit a tree, you aren't going to do any really serious damage. That isn't to say that I haven't taken some really good spills on the snow. I jumped off a rail on time (or rather I fell off) and man, I just stayed on the ground for a good 5 minutes to let my back and shoulders and neck have a moment. My buddy thought I was dead. If that were to happen on a skateboard, you would have road rash and scars for the rest of your life.)

But I digress.

I got a skateboard from my riding, surfing, skating godfather last summer. He sent it to me in preparation for surf camp. It really helped my balance and I think I was a better surfer because of the skating. (Thanks GF!) It is a shortboard and I really like skating around town and to work on occasion. (Still looking for a park in DC.)

When I skate to work though, (and in general) it takes a whole lot of effort and bother. I figured that I should invest in a longboard. Now, Not Espresso (baby-mama and skater herself) loaned me her longboard a while back. I nearly killed myself. They go really fast, and her trucks were really tight so while it was very stable, it was hard to turn. I swore off the longboard, and happily spent my Sunday afternoons on my shortboard.

My godfather recently sent me a gift certificate to Zumiez skate shop, however and I had more than a couple bucks to burn. There is apparently a Zummiez in Maryland, but I never could find it. Against my better judgment I went online and with a final second opinion from Capitol Swell who is a closeted skater in a Hill staffer's body, clicked my way to a new board.

The Garuda Super Cruiser - Cosmic Series arrived yesterday, and I took it out for a spin today after the rain. It was awesome. It was very smooth. The wheel base is wider, as are the wheels than my short board and it rode like a dream down East Capitol. I still have no idea how to stop, but as long as I don't ever continue down Constitution Ave past the Dirksen Building. I'll be ok. (I hope.)

So, the moral of the story is... well there isn't a moral actually (just a really cool longboard with wave graphics).

oh yeah.

MY BILL PASSED

AND, I was on the Floor when it happened.

It was pretty cool.

Democracy rocks.

Heads and Wings - bodies not included

I am in legislative limbo. I am in procedural purgatory.

My boss has a bill. A very nice, non-controversial bill… very apple pie and baseball and all that is right with America (and not putting “in God we trust on the SIDE of the one dollar coin either) bill.

We were supposed to have our day of glory last Tuesday. I waited on the Floor of the House for FIVE, count them, FIVE hours. Because of Republican malfeasance we never got to my bill and everything was postponed for a week…

So THIS Tuesday I went to the floor again with my boss. He gave his speech, we were all set for a voice vote (all 7 Members of Congress who were actually ON the floor at the time) and then the Republican nonsense flared up again. They objected on the fact that a quorum wasn’t present. Which actually was true, because there were only 7 MOC’s on the floor. But there generally aren’t all that many folks hanging out on the floor at any given time. But anyway, it generally isn't a problem, and those on the floor say 'yes' and it's all good. The objection didn't have anything to do with my bill. The R's are unhappy about the Supplemental, blah, blah blah. (A conversation for another time.) ANYWAY, so some silly MOC from IDAHO objected sending my bill into legislative limbo. WTF?!

At the end of the day, I was under the impression that we didn’t need a vote, that perhaps the MOC from ID had withdrawn his objection. This clearly wasn’t the case (not even sure you can do that) and I came to work this morning only to discover that my bill was again on the suspension calendar.

So I waited all day in anticipation for the vote to happen. I had my meetings. I met with my port officials and my Egyptian ministers and my Army peeps. And then the vote list came out and I wasn’t on it. UG!!!

So I have to go another day into the bleak nothingness that is the floor of the House of Representatives. Late tonight I got Thursday’s vote list. My apple pie, baseball, I love America bill is again on the list. But, I swear if they don’t vote on my bill tomorrow I’m going to jump off my 7th floor ledge into the middle of the Rayburn horseshoe plaza.

Rabies

I went to a baby baptism today.

Actually, I missed the baptism proper, but I made it for BBQ at the after-party!! I was holding the baby (cute little thing) and thinking to myself, 'ok, he's cute, babies may be sort of cute...'

My thought process was interrupted when the kid puked ALL OVER me and my new Marc Jacobs jacket.

My hypothesis that Babies Have Rabies, was again confirmed.

But the Q was good.

ART

Went to Artomatic tonight. It was a pretty good time. Some good stuff, some creepy, weird, take your meds stuff, some nice photography. Check it out. It's in DC's newest, hippest neighborhood, Capitol Hill North or NoMa.

There was a tattoo parlor as well. I thought about it...
If you got a tattoo what would you get? If you have one, do you still like it?

Ground Rule Double

Nationals Book It After Foul Ball Accidentally Smashes Capitol Rotunda

WASHINGTON, DC—An 8,976-foot foul ball off the bat of Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman crashed through the U.S. Capitol Building rotunda Sunday afternoon, prompting both the Nationals and the opposing Pittsburgh Pirates to gasp, turn to each other in shock, and immediately run full speed out of Nationals Park.

"As soon as I hit it, I knew it was headed straight toward Capitol Hill—I just kept saying to myself, 'Not the dome, not the dome, not the dome,'" Zimmerman said. Both teams, all four umpires, and the 32,457 fans in attendance winced in horror, however, as the ball kept carrying, made a loud smashing noise, and left a gaping hole in the rotunda's neoclassical architecture.

"We are so dead," Zimmerman added.

As the teams grabbed the bases and scrambled out of the stadium, the Pirates yelled to the Nationals that they were in "big trouble." The Nationals refuted that claim, screaming that "if [Pirates left-fielder] Jason [Bay] could run at all, he would've tracked down the ball and caught it" before it struck the 200-year-old structure, which stands 1.7 miles from the ballpark.

However, as soon as the teams heard the Capitol Building's front door swing open, they put their differences aside and sped frantically back to their hotel rooms.

"Congress is going to be so mad," said Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson, peering out his window, expecting to see the 535 members of the House and Senate pull into the hotel parking lot. "This was the worst time to do it, too, because they're already in a bad mood, what with the election stuff and the war and the recession, and all."

"Aw, man, we're never gonna get that ball back," Johnson added.

The team, however, has urged outfielder Lastings Milledge to dress up in a suit, sneak into the Capitol Building, retrieve the ball, and make the necessary repairs on the shattered sandstone walls of the dome before anyone notices.

According to eyewitnesses in the Capitol, the ball smashed into the dome at about 3:35 p.m., tore through the Apotheosis Of Washington—a 150-year-old, 4,664-square-foot fresco painted on the inside of the rotunda—and broke the arm off of a National Statuary Hall sculpture of William Jennings Bryan. The ball then bounced into the Senate Chamber, where it interrupted a vote on a $542.5 billion defense authorization bill, and landed directly in the mashed potatoes of early-dinging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), covering him with gravy and prompting him to exclaim, "Zimmer-maaaaannnn!"

Although McConnell had no evidence at the time that Zimmerman was responsible for the damages, he was the chief suspect, as he is the only National able to hit the ball farther than 300 feet. Furthermore, Zimmerman dented McConnell's 1998 Buick LeSabre last week when he overthrew first base by 15,000 feet on a routine grounder.

"This is unacceptable—Capitol rotundas don't just grow on trees, you know," read a statement drafted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the event. "Not only are these damages going to cost a fortune—a fortune—to repair, but we specifically told the Washington Nationals baseball organization a thousand times before the season started to be extra-careful and to try not to hit the ball to left field."

The statement went on to demand that the Nationals pay for all the damages, which total over $400 million—more than five times the entire team payroll. Because of this, players are expected to either find part-time jobs to cover the cost or work off the expenses by taking positions as congressional aides in the offseason.

The Pirates have promised to chip in $5, claiming that is all they have right now.

"This stinks," said Zimmerman, who attempted to persuade local resident Henry Adelson, a Nationals season-ticket holder and D.C.-area insurance claims adjuster, to take the rap for him and say he was the one who hit the ball. "We shouldn't have to stop playing just because the lousy U.S. Capitol got in the way. And also hitting the Capitol Building should be an automatic home run."

On Tuesday, Congress announced an initiative to move the Nationals franchise from D.C. to Oklahoma City, Portland, or anywhere far enough away that a batted ball or errant throw will not cause significant damage to American landmarks.

However, President Bush has called such actions "unnecessary" and "too harsh," saying that all will be forgiven if the players come down from their hotel rooms, say they're sorry, promise to be more careful, and allow Bush to participate in team batting practice every day from now through the 2016 season.

I'm sorry - really??? REALLY?!?!!??

We can pay for the freakin farm bill and entertain a gas tax holiday - but the Blue Dogs get all upset about giving educational benefits to returning soldiers??

SERIOUSLY.

CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
May 7, 2008 – 10:55 p.m.

‘Blue Dogs’ Force Delay of War Bill
By Josh Rogin and David Clarke, CQ Staff

House Democratic leaders Wednesday faced an unexpectedly stubborn revolt by the conservative Blue Dog Coalition that forced them to postpone plans to bring the supplemental war spending bill to the House floor this week.

Republican delay tactics also contributed to the bill’s delay, by eating up valuable floor time that Democrats needed to clear other priorities before waging their supplemental fight.

The Blue Dogs, troubled that the spending package includes enhanced education benefits for veterans not offset by other spending reductions, warned Wednesday that they may vote against the rule for debate over the measure, something no Republicans were expected to support. If the rule is not adopted, the Democratic leadership’s carefully crafted plan for adopting the overall package would collapse.

“I would think that they would have a difficult time getting a bill to the floor that creates a new entitlement,” said Allen Boyd, D-Fla., a leader of the 47-member Blue Dog Coalition.

Despite appeals by House leaders to the Blue Dogs not to oppose the plan to bring the supplemental bill to the floor on Thursday, there was no breakthrough, and House leadership aides said the measure would not reach the floor until next week.

Earlier, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had argued that “pay-as-you-go” rules, which require offsetting new mandatory spending, should not apply to the portion of the war supplemental covering new benefits for veterans.

“We are going to spend nearly $200 billion on the war in Iraq, and it’s not paid for. So I think it’s OK for us not to pay for the education of our troops when they come home,’’ she said.

Despite the Blue Dog threat, Pelosi said she intended to bring the spending bill to the floor Thursday, unless that plan was held up by Republicans, who have been using procedural moves to delay floor action in protest against Democrats’ closed process for moving the supplemental.

But hours later, the Rules Committee sent out a notice that it did not plan to consider a rule for debate of the supplemental measure until next week — a clear indication that the House leadership’s appeals to the Blue Dogs had failed.

Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee prepared to mark up Thursday its own version of the supplemental war funding bill, which is expected to include billions of dollars in added domestic spending.

Blue Dogs ‘Unified’ and ‘Upset’
Blue Dogs have made the pay-as-you-go rule, which requires new mandatory spending or tax cuts to be fully offset, their signature issue. They argue that attaching the veterans’ educational benefits, which were taken from Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb’s GI Bill (S 22), to an emergency spending bill violates the pay-as-you-go principle that Democrats have heralded as proof that they govern in a fiscally responsible manner.

“I’ve never seen the Blue Dogs this unified, this upset,” said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.

House Majority leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said he was sympathetic to the Blue Dogs’ concern about adding the new veterans benefits even though they don’t technically violate the pay-as-you-go rule.

“It clearly is an entitlement, and their concern is justified,” Hoyer said.

But Hoyer said he hoped Blue Dogs would not help defeat the rule for considering the supplemental and spent time Wednesday in closed discussions with the fiscally conservative Democrats.

At the same time, members of the liberal Out of Iraq Caucus, while not threatening to torpedo the bill, wrote to party leaders Wednesday asking for a vote on an amendment by Barbara Lee, D-Calif., that would “fence off” the war funding and designate that it could be used only to pay for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“The American people put the Democrats in the majority to end the occupation, not to extend the occupation,” the letter stated.

As Democratic leaders juggled these competing demands, Republicans continued to challenge Democratic assertions that the domestic spending in the supplemental measure was limited and frugal.

Democrats said Wednesday that the supplemental spending measure would total $183.7 billion and that the veterans’ benefits would cost $720 million in the first two years.

Republicans dismissed those figures, countering that the veterans’ spending would cost $51.1 billion over 10 years if it were allowed to continue. Pointing to what they said were other discrepancies in the Democrats’ calculations, they clocked the total cost of the supplemental at $245 billion.

As Republicans stepped up their delaying tactics to protest the Democrats’ supplemental plan, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, vowed to continue to obstruct business on the House floor.

“At some point, the majority has an obligation to treat the minority with respect,” he said. “It is not happening, and that’s why we’re going to continue to wage this fight.”

Senators to Add Domestic Spending
In the Senate, the Appropriations Committee prepared to mark up its own version of the bill on Thursday.

The Senate panel was expected to report out two amendments — one with war funding and another with domestic spending. Chairman Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., chose to defer consideration of Iraq policy language to the floor debate.

Byrd’s effort may prove to be nothing more than an exercise in regular appropriations procedure, because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has made it clear that he intends to bring the House bill to the floor.

Byrd then would need 60 votes to substitute his committee’s mark for the House bill, which seems unlikely.

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., expressed the hope that some Republicans would support including the committee’s work on the floor.

“The question is whether or not we can come up with [a version] that has bipartisan appeal,” said Durbin, who added he was talking with Republicans to see if there were provisions that could garner their support.

But Senate Republicans signaled they, too, might not support Byrd’s version of the war spending bill, which appeared certain to have much more domestic spending than the House bill.

“There’s too much domestic spending, but we just don’t know yet what we’re going to do,” said Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M.

Byrd released some details of his committee’s bill Wednesday evening. Like the House’s bill, the Senate version includes provisions for unemployment insurance, veterans’ education benefits and delays for seven Medicaid regulations. Not counting those provisions, the Senate provides $193 billion, about $9 billion more than the House and President Bush’s $183.8 billion request.

The Senate version would also fund a variety of items that Bush did not request and that the House did not include, such as law enforcement grants, highways and the Food and Drug Administration.

The bill would provide $10.4 billion for recovery efforts from hurricanes and other natural disasters. The House version included $5.8 billion for levees in fiscal 2009, matching Bush’s request.

The bill also would provides $490 million for Byrne formula grants that assist state and local law enforcement agencies. The Federal Highway Administration emergency relief program would receive $451 million. The FDA would receive $275 million, including $125 million for food safety and $100 million for medical product and drug safety activities.

Small Little Fish

I don't rant very often. At least I try not to. I try to be the happy and enlightening blogger who spreads sunshine throughout...every post but this one.

I am from a state where there is an uber-dominate political party. As a disclaimer, I do not belong to that party. Uber-dominance creates bad government - whomever is doing the dominating. But I digress...

They say all politics is local and in a state where one party dominates and there is no system of checks or balances, local politicians can get to be a bit on the arrogant side. They also loose touch with reality. (I realize that I am saying this knowing full well that I have a big cup of Potomac fever for breakfast.)

So onto my rant.

I went to play softball with some folks from my home state. They are lovely people all of them and we happily interact on a very bi-partisan and kumbayah fashion. There just happened to be a local state senator visiting the game. (Local as in, 'not full time legislator, part time wears a nifty pin for 45 days in February and thinks he is nifty' local.) He is testifying before a Congressional committee next week and the committee wanted to talk to him before they put him in the hot seat.

So the political fish bowl in said uber-dominated state is very small. If you know one fish, you know them all. And if you know a big fish, you REALLY know them all. Well as UDS (uber-dominated state) is a REALLY small fishbowl, I know many of the players.

I know, I know, onto my rant.

We get to talking this state senator and I and I get the feeling that he thinks he is a lot more important than he is (and most certainly more important than I AM). He starts using that patronizing tone and speaking slowly so I can understand him. (This sometimes happens in the uber-dominat religion of the uber-dominated state.) It is beyond annoying. He went on about states rights and how he doesn't want federal bureaucrats getting in his business and blah, blah, blah.

At this point I realize that he was one of the crazed state legislators who voted during the legislative session to pull the US out of the UN. I am NOT making this up. (Because a. it is a state's job to dictate that sort of action and b. it's a super good idea to pull out of the United freakin' Nations.)

We talked for as long as I could be civil and discussed his upcoming hearing. The more condescending he got, the more angry I got. I finally said, "good luck with that" and went back to keeping score. (We won, btw.)

Long story longer.

I'm just going to talk to my friends at the committee before which he is testifying next week and make sure he squirms during the Q&A. I'm betting he'll never figure out why Representative X knows so DAMN much about him.

The lesson for today is: Be nice to everyone. Don't think that just because you are in a suit and the person to whom you are talking is in a softball skirt that you are a. smarter, b. more connected or c. never going to see them again. Because chances are that you 1. aren't 2. aren't and 3. will.

1B / 6-3