August 2, 2014

Oh, how quickly they forget, especially when it's convenient. During Friday's floor debate over the supplemental appropriations for the border crisis, Rep. Tom Marino stood at the microphone and told an outright lie when he claimed Democrats did nothing about immigration when they had the majority in office.

Does anyone among us remember the passage of the DREAM Act in 2010? Yes. Well, so did Pelosi, and she reminded him. Right there in front of everyone, and he didn't like it much. He didn't shake his fist at her, but he did taunt her, saying "I did the research on it. You might want to try it. You might want to try it, Madam Leader. Do the research on it. Do the research. I did it. That’s one thing that you don’t do."

ABC News:

Marino then urged lawmakers to support the border supplemental because “apparently I hit the right nerve.”

After Marino concluded his remarks, Pelosi quickly crossed the chamber, enraged, pointing and sticking her finger in Marino’s face.

She then followed Marino up a Republican aisle, and continued arguing with him. Another Republican member spoke out to tell the chair that the House was not in order, in an effort to halt the bickering.

You can't really see the "enraged" Pelosi in the video after she crosses the floor but you can hear her. In fact, she was arguing off-camera with Marino, and it sounds like perhaps some others had joined her. Later, her office released a statement explaining that she was fact-checking him over his convenient memory erasure regarding the DREAM Act.

According to Pelosi spokeswoman Evangeline George, “Leader Pelosi just wanted to remind the Congressman that House Democrats had the courage to pass the DREAM Act – and have the courage to stand up for what the American people want: bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.”

George added that “Pelosi accepted the Congressman’s apology.”

Evidently the Congressman doesn't understand irony, because he shot back that he never, ever apologized, nor will he. Why am I not surprised?

It is so utterly cynical of Republicans to stand up and posture about Democrats not acting on immigration. After all, if they hadn't filibustered in the Senate, the DREAM Act would have passed. And if they weren't such hate-filled bigots, they'd actually give a damn about kids fleeing horrors and abuse in their own countries. Instead we get treated to this kind of nonsense. It's not hard to see why Pelosi lost her temper.

Rep. Marino thinks "doing something" about immigration is passing a bill to send these kids back to countries that would just as soon kill them as let them live. That fact speaks for itself.

Oh, one more thing. I'll award bonus points for the first person to correctly name the woman in blue and yellow sitting behind Marino putting on her best Mean Girl Shocked Face. For the life of me, I cannot remember her name.

Update:

1. disqus_CwkmKlN8Tq wins the bonus points. Ms. Mean Girl is Kay Granger from TX.

2. I see an interesting meme in the comments emerging that suggests 'both sides' are equally to blame for Congressional dysfunction. This is blatantly false. For evidence of that, look to 2009-2010, when Congress passed the stimulus bill, Dodd-Frank, the ACA, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Matthew Shepard Act, the Credit CARD Act, confirmed 2 Supreme Court Justices, repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and managed to get a budget passed by both houses.

Since January 2011 when the Tea Party Republicans took over the House of Representatives, very little has been done.

So no. Both sides do not do it.

[h/t Liberaland]

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