“You know, you guys are in the majority,” Franken teased GOP senators as he entered the room.

[kpete]

“You know, you guys are in the majority,” Franken teased GOP senators as he entered the room.

With a reporting quorum secured, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to quickly move ahead with the committee’s agenda.

But Franken pressed his point, telling Grassley, “No, I want to say something about this.”

“You know when we were in the majority … we had the responsibility to provide a quorum,” Franken said. “And I thought that you guys, your side, didn’t show up because you just resented being in the minority. But now I know … it’s just sheer laziness.”

http://hoh.rollcall.com/al-franken-still-a-jokester/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=obclick&obref=obinsite
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/2/8/85626/65489

[Autumn]

1. That's gonna leave a sting.

[rhett o rick]

13. It will only sting if the "get it". I doubt they do. nm

[alfredo]

23. They will be offended even if they don't understand because it comes from

a Democrat and a Jew.

[rhett o rick]

24. Yes of course. nm

[SalviaBlue]

2. K&R

You gotta Al 😃

[Scuba]

3. Republicans are lazy. That's why they just cut and pasted their "new" healthcare plan from the old.

That's why they submit ALEC and corporation written laws without even trying to disguise them.

[Fred Sanders]

4. It is worse than that. They want to do nothing to "prove" government does nothing. This was

more than laziness, they want to drown government by abusing the established rules of democracy.

Wisconsin....rinse and repeat.

They do not care. They do not care to govern. They literally hate the "govern" part.

"At bottom, this was a simple honest observation by Sen. Franken. While in the majority, he had assumed that the Republicans’ refusal to attend committee hearings was part of a strategy of obstruction. Now that he’s in the minority, he realizes that it’s deeper than that. Many of their members simply don’t care about the actual job of being a U.S. Senator, which is to mark up legislation in committee hearings. They care so little about it, in fact, that they’re willing to let bills be marked up with Democratic majorities.

To be sure, the chairman won’t let this go so far as to allow the Democrats to hijack his bills by ramming home amendments that he opposes, but he has to take extra precautions and endure unwanted delays to avoid that happening because his colleagues are so disinterested in legislating.

If the Democrats were similarly disinclined to care about their jobs they would never provide a quorum for their opponents and make their work easier to conduct. But the Democratic senators are actually interested in marking up bills on “child pornography victims and public access to government information.”

Just for a moment, think about why Al Franken chose to sit down and concentrate on the business at hand rather than leaving until some Republican senators showed up to provide the needed quorum?

He sat down because he was reporting to work. He was ready to do his job.

Franken made an astute observation.

But it was't a joke"

[Fumesucker]

15. Republicans love government and want it to do stuff all the time

It's *who* the government is doing things for and what the government is doing for them that Republicans hate, they want the government to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted rather than the reverse.

[Plucketeer]

53. This is what I see....

the Rethugs DO care. They care about their posts or they wouldn't waste their lives in DC - but they do so because of who they're really working for. The BIG money folks they work with/for are dictating that these guys act as tho they don't care. By their lackadaisical ways, they inhibit regulations and social initiatives - the likes of which would grope for financing via taxes on those who could most afford it. LOL... Greece "gets it". Too bad Americans don't "get it".

This incident with Franken illuminates a symptom (don't you KNOW Jon Stewart would approve!) of the disease, but not the infecting bug. That infecting bug is money - it's money that's the cause , NO MATTER the symptom we bitch about. Money is THE overarching cause. Money is THE infection that instigates all the symptoms we see from the GOP.
It's fun to vent our frustrations here on DU. But Boehner's boners, McConnell's McStupids, Cruz's crap and all the other poop are symptoms of the buckets of money that keep the infection alive.

[CTyankee]

17. I they hate government so much, why did they want to become a part of it?

That is what I'll never understand. It doesn't make sense...

[JDPriestly]

35. They want to be there to throw a wrench in the works. They want to prevent government

from working well. It's a kind of sabotage of government. That's why they want to be there. They do not take responsibility for making sure we have good government. They want to impede successful government, make sure our government seems incompetent. Think about George W. Bush. Incompetence was his forte. He never did much of anything well really. Not anything he did himself. So the Republicans nominated him. His hey, me, I'm just the fool around here personality was entertaining to Republicans (Remember how they bragged that he was a guy you could drink a beer with?) and made government seem like an amateur sport.

Republicans do not like government and treat it with disdain even when they are part of it. The press, the journalists, do not seem to see that aspect of the Republican Party.

[Beartracks]

37. What better way to "prove" govt doesn't work than by getting elected and ruining it yourself?

What better way to make sure government wastes taxpayer money than by getting elected and wasting billions on wars and corporate welfare?

What better way to ensure government can't help solve problems than by getting elected and dismantling government services and regulatory bodies?

But the simple truth is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with government (and democracy, and self-rule) that getting Republicans out of it can't fix.

==================================

[JDPriestly]

43. So true.

[VanillaRhapsody]

30. Republicans are elected to PROVE Govt doesn't work!

that's why they CAN'T DO anything!

[annabanana]

52. ^^^^this^^^^ . . .n/t

[thesquanderer]

5. If your goal is to do nothing, then I guess you don't need to show up (n/t)

[underpants]

6. Grassley you are always an embarrassment

Grassley had said, “Hopefully, one more Republican will show up, so I’m not embarrassed.”

[efilon]

22. Grassley is an embarrassment

And now we've got the idiot Joni Ernst there to embarrass us even more. Who the hell voted for her? Now Iowans will look like the stupidest people in the nation. Not saying we don't have our share of idiots but our elected officials seem to have a higher percentage than the general population.

[EDINKY]

40. Don't overestimate Iowa's national stupidity ranking

We in Kentucky surely take first place in national stupidity with our senators McConnell and Rand Paul.

[Terra Alta]

42. Welcome to DU.

I feel your pain. Here in NC we are stuck with Richard Burr, and now Thom Tillis, the latter of which said restaurants should be able to allow employees to opt out of washing their hands after visiting the restroom.

[randys1]

54. anybody with a first post like that deserves a big WELCOME

[gopiscrap]

56. welcome to DU

[47of74]

47. Yeah I can't stand Senator Breadbags McCutyernutzoff

I really can't. If I could I would have moved out of Iowa after the election and every time this idiot opens her trap my desire to move out of Iowa rises again.

[libodem]

7. Oh Hell, yeah!

[SunSeeker]

8. I love Al. nt

[louis-t]

9. He got that right.

Repugs are the laziest people on the planet.

[turbinetree]

10. Right Wing Hypocrites

All they are, and and they stand for is AUTHORITARIAN CAPITALISM.
And Franken is totally correct in his summation of there right wing hypocrisy

[tblue37]

11. Franken is great. Wish we had more like him and Warren in the Senate. nt

[mountain grammy]

12. When voters can't be bothered to show up to vote..

the party elected by default doesn't show up either.

[Beartracks]

38. Plus. One. Thousand. n/t

[Major Nikon]

14. Like Cheney says, they have better things to do than serve their country

[ND-Dem]

16. I hope this gets a lot of publicity; i suspect it's not well-known amongst the general public.

[Yavin4]

18. This is the kind of thing that the Dems should use in campaigns

Will they do it? Probably not.

[ND-Dem]

29. unfortunately, they probably won't.

[City Lights]

19. Haha. I love Al!

[Madmiddle]

20. the republican agenda is all about ways to

cheat their way into office. Gerrymandering is fucking cheating and as long as that shit is allowed, the cheating pricks win...

[calimary]

27. That's the only way they can win.

They sure can't win on a national level with that manure pile of an agenda.

[spanone]

21. ZING!

[Raine1967]

25. This part blew me away:

The exchange prompted lots of laughter in the room before Grassley urged members to “go back to the agenda.” Moments before Franken’s entrance, Grassley had said, “Hopefully, one more Republican will show up, so I’m not embarrassed.”

But while the GOP-led committee did ultimately rely on Democrats to get the final numbers it needed, the partisan divide was hardly drastic. In the end, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a slim 6-5 attendance level. Though Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., — a would-be No. 7 — briefly ducked into the room after the meeting had adjourned.

[calimary]

26. LOVE it!!!!

Stick it in and twist it! Twist it one extra time - just for ME!

[Hekate]

28. M'WAH! Loveya, Al!

[SleeplessinSoCal]

31. Your Republican Party. Doing all they can to prove government "doesn't work"

[Bluenorthwest]

32. Al Franken as a member of the minority will be a different creature than Al of the majority...

He's been very judicious about employing his extra legislative skills while in the majority, but I think that as a minority Party Senator Al will find ample opportunity for the well worded barb.

[3catwoman3]

33. Minnesota has every reason to be very proud of...

...both its senators.

[Duval]

34. You tell them, Al!

Thanks, kpete. I always try to read your posts.

[Half-Century Man]

36. I wonder, if this congress is made up of more millionaires than ever before.

And they can't be bothered to actually work.
How did they ever earn the vast amounts of money they have?

Oh yeah. They didn't earn it themselves, most inherited it.

[Cha]

39. Lazy butt republicons.. why should they work for their money? Sen Franken nailed them.

[blm]

51. Lazy - Entitled - Fraudulent - Duplicitous

EVERYTHING Republicans CLAIM to be countering when they are preaching to their dumbed down voter base.

[Historic NY]

41. Smack them down, cut no slack, make them look back...

and them fuck'em.


*note I added 'em. its different.

[demigoddess]

44. K&R

[dreamnightwind]

45. Sadly they're too busy dialing for dollars

from their corporate donors. Democrats too, unfortunately. One article I read estimated congresspeople spend roughly 2/3 of their time in office soliciting money from donors, who then "suggest" the passage of precisely worded legislation that gives the donor their return on investment.

[czarjak]

46. Please proceed...

Senator.

[redruddyred]

48. when did truth = comedy?

is this this jon stewarts fault? someone's news network's slogan is "news you can trust", but that was what comedy central was for. I always thought.

[liberal N proud]

49. You will not hear Brian Williams reporting that one

Or any other news anchor.

They squelch that kind of noise.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

50. Grassley

needed to be put out to pasture a lllllllllong time ago. Iowa certainly deserves better.
Al, on the other hand, had me at his book, Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot." He's obviously still got his great sense of humor.

[Puglover]

55. I love my Senator.

I am proud to be represented by this brilliant and compassionate man.

With a razor sharp tongue that can peel paint off the side of a garage.