{"id":131671,"date":"2016-09-28T22:33:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T04:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/28\/our-remarkably-low-expectations-for-the-us-congress.html"},"modified":"2016-09-28T22:33:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T04:33:49","slug":"our-remarkably-low-expectations-for-the-us-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/28\/our-remarkably-low-expectations-for-the-us-congress.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Remarkably Low Expectations for the US Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It says something about the dysfunction in Washington, DC (largely the fault of the Republicans, in my opinion, but I digress) that it&#39;s actual headline news when they manage to pass a budget to keep the government from shutting down.<\/p>\n<p>(It also says something when news that federal funding to fight the Zika virus has been secured isn&#39;t presented as a &quot;Hey, look, we&#39;re fighting back against this scourge&quot; as much as &quot;Hey, look, Congress finally got around to doing something about it.&quot;)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"sm2wp\"><p>\n<a style='display:inline;' href='http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2016\/09\/28\/politics\/congress-deal-zika-flint-avoid-shutdown\/index.html?adkey=bn'><br \/>\n<img src='https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/c8cA-Ox7lph3pfKws_roEfJ07v2mdJYvRZ1tD01ke6TpT0LQcv0TNtVi47CXw9CpKqZmsh8p8iKBrx1jm5WvQ3x2o-gfB7u6X0WrfYKp2Hm_UME6oxm5bQThV8jxfRbMfpRG1Yg7Tc348jv-sta-NKM=w506-h910' border='0' style='max-width:650px;'\/><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<span style='font-size:large;'><a href='http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2016\/09\/28\/politics\/congress-deal-zika-flint-avoid-shutdown\/index.html?adkey=bn'>Congress passes bill to avoid government shutdown<\/a><\/span><br \/>\nCongress cleared a bill Wednesday to fund the government and the federal response to Zika, avoiding a potentially embarrassing government shutdown just weeks before the election.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style='font-size:small;'><a href='https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+DaveHill47\/posts\/GwRnoyzEiJp'>View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It says something about the dysfunction in Washington, DC (largely the fault of the Republicans, in my opinion, but I digress) that it&#39;s actual headline news when they manage to pass a budget to keep the government from shutting down. (It also says something when news that federal funding to fight the Zika virus has &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/28\/our-remarkably-low-expectations-for-the-us-congress.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Our Remarkably Low Expectations for the US Congress&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":134879,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/01\/oh-hey-look-congress-uninsured-9-million-children-pregnant-women.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":0},"title":"Oh, hey, look, Congress uninsured 9 million children and pregnant women","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 1-Oct-17 11:26pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Though, to be fair, it wasn't through some intentional belt-tightening free-marketing tax-cutting cruelty-injecting policy action, but by simply never getting around to renewing the CHIP program. Advocates for children\u2019s health started worrying months ago that congressional incompetence would jeopardize the nation\u2019s one indisputable healthcare success \u2014 the Children\u2019s Health Insurance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/unnamed-27.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":127915,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/09\/hey-rocky-watch-me-pull-another-government-shutdown-out-of-my-hat.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":1},"title":"&quot;Hey, Rocky! Watch me pull another government shutdown out of my hat!&quot;","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Sep-15 8:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\"But that trick never works!\"This time, conservative GOPers in Congress are pushing to close down the federal government down unless Planned Parenthood is defunded.Do we dare hope people will remember these shenanigans come November 2016? Conservatives Embark on Another Futile Shutdown Fight - The Atlantic The strategy has never worked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137390,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/24\/the-great-communicator.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":2},"title":"The Great Communicator","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 24-Oct-18 4:33pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In case you wondered how the Most Incredibly Rich Person (They Have No Idea How Rich) In History could have ever possibly ended up in multiple bankruptcies, maybe it has to do with his attention to details and his ability to figure out how and when things can be done.Nah,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136608,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/27\/complete-this-pattern.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":3},"title":"Complete this pattern &#8230;","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-May-18 10:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Granted there are lots of twists and turns and nuances involved, but the basic sequence of events in each pair is clear: 1. People who can make money doing dangerous and risky things try to do so, leading to substantial societal loss and harm (affecting most strongly those who weren't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Capture252B_2018-05-25-19-55-45-1.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Capture252B_2018-05-25-19-55-45-1.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Capture252B_2018-05-25-19-55-45-1.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135989,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/03\/27\/mr-mattis-build-wall.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":4},"title":"&#8220;Mr. Mattis, build up that wall!&#8221;","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 27-Mar-18 8:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Having been unable to get Mexico to do it, and even unable to get Congress -- even a GOP-majority Congress[1] to actually fund his zany border Wall proposal -- the Donald has lit upon the genius idea of having the Department of Defense build it! After all ... (a) This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/unnamed-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":129368,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/06\/dear-nra-when-youve-lost-even-bill-oreilly-youve-got-a-problem.html","url_meta":{"origin":131671,"position":5},"title":"Dear NRA: When you&#039;ve lost even Bill O&#039;Reilly, you&#039;ve got a problem","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 6-Jan-16 9:18am","format":false,"excerpt":"Quoth O'Reilly, \"The NRA and the gun owners should be reasonable. The FBI should background check anyone buying a firearm in America. That just makes sense. If you are paranoid and believe the government is stockpiling information so they can come to your house and take your guns, that\u2019s your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}