.

Way to go Texas Republican Phil Gramm!  This is now the fourth investigation of USB.

And like Bess says, at least this one isn’t about tax evasion.

The good news is it has nothing to do with tax evasion. The bad news is the bank may have manipulated Libor rates.

Way to go Phil – way to turn a respected bank into a criminal enterprise.

You got something you want to taint with money hocus-pocus?  Call Phil – he’s the expert.  But, if Phil ain’t around, any Republican will do.

.

Michelle Bachman.  Need I say more?

Michele Bachmann fired back at the media Tuesday, saying her Revolutionary War gaffe was only reported because she is a conservative politician.

So it has nothing to do with the fact that she said it twice.  And that it was funny.

Glad she cleared that up.

.

Juanita believes that the teabaggers severely unrated the American people when it comes to unions.

“Americans have not forgotten who gave us the 40 hour work week, child labor laws, safe working conditions, and Norma Rae,” Juanita says.  “The latest bum who needs throwing out is Republican Governor of Ohio, John Kasich.

Kasich barely defeated incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) last November, winning by a slim 49% to 47%. But if they could do it all over again, 55% of voters now say they would vote for Strickland, while only 40% say they’d go with Kasich.

But it gets even better when you ask the why they wouldn’t support Kasich again.

If there was any doubt that Kasich’s showdown with unions irked his constituents, the PPP poll also addressed that issue, finding that voters overwhelmingly sided with the unions.

Nearly six in ten said they supported the unions in the budget battle, while 37% said they backed Kasich.

“So,” she concludes, “we would do well to look for the union label — on our politicians.”

.

The Texas Tribune has become one of Juanita’s favorite hanging-out places and this new dohicky is icing on the cake.

You get to see how lobbyists are spending $1.2 million to wine, dine, and gift our state legislators – and that’s just in the last two months.

On the day my state representative was sworn in, he was sent a jar of M&M’s with his picture on them.  This lovely and thoughtful gift was sent by the Texans for Tort Reform because everybody would trade their right to sue an incompetent doctor for cutting off the wrong leg for a jar of M&M’s!

Juanita told him not to eat those darn things because whatever is in them is probably what makes state representatives such sluts to the lobbyists.  Clever of them to hide it in a candy where you have to eat your face, huh?

Anyway, have fun at the Tribune.  It’s got a lot of good stuff.

.

“So, the Republican Chairman of the Texas House Appropriations Committee is wondering whether or not the Governor approves of using the rainy day fund to do piddlin’ stuff like educating children or feeding grandma in the nursing home,” Juanita begins this morning as we arrive for morning coffee time at the beauty salon.

“They hold a a hearing, and ask the Gov or his staff to come chat about how we’re going to pay for … well, pay for Texas for the next two years.  Which seems like a reasonable request.”

“The Gov disconnected the phone in his office and is probably playing computer games and smokin’ cigars,” she reports.

“Rick Perry has no clue how to pay for Texas, but he’s real good at smokin’ cigars and hiding out.  Hell, we should have just elected Kinky Friedman.”

“Rick’s newest reason for not using the rainy day fund in the midst of this thunderstorm came within the last few days.  Rick now says that we need that money in case of a natural disaster, you know, like Japan.  Be afraid, Bubba!  Be very afraid!”

“Yeah,” she adds, “we need that money to get the DPS Troopers out to help like they did last Saturday.  Those boys know trouble when they see it.”

“The truth is that Rick Perry follows the demands of his teabagger overlords and the rest of the time, well, he lives under a bridge.”

.

Customer Ralph told Juanita this morning, “As a civic minded Texan I feel that we have a duty to out-crazy these guys in Florida, but they are not making it easy.”

Juanita agrees.

State Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, introduced S.B. 1246 to the Senate on Tuesday. As written, it would make it a first-degree felony to photograph farming activities in the state.

Jim Norman: Nakkid Bull

“Now Jim says,” Juanita relates, “that this is to protect the intellectual property rights of the farmer.  You know, like how to dig a hole or operate something with John Deere written on the side without instructional materials.  Or how to tell the difference between a cow and bull if they are wearing clothes.”

Juanita and most people with a thinker mechanism think that Ole Jim doesn’t want people to see how farm animals are treated in Florida.

Jim finally fessed-up and said that people do horrible things.  Just horrible.

“A concern of many of our farmers and ranchers are the extremist groups that intentionally and maliciously want to come on a farm and try to shed bad light on a farming operation,” he says. “They might take pictures of animals in different positions so it looks like they might be being hurt or whatever it might be, and we’ve heard in many cases from what’s happened out west and in other places, so we want to get ahead of the curve before they hit here in Florida and try to do the same thing.”

“It’s dinner.  Close  your eyes and eat, dammit.”