UPDATE:  As Juanita Jean has already pointed out, Congressional Republicans reversed themselves on dismantling the Office of Congressional Ethics after withering criticism from everyone including Cheeto Jesus.  An embarrassing start to what promises to be an embarrassing Congressional session.

Oh, and BTW – Best Tweet of the Day:

Well, we now know how this is going to go.  In it’s first action of the new Congress, Republicans dismantled the independent Office of Congressional Ethics which was put in place after the Jack Abramoff scandal.  You remember Jack, don’t you?  He was the guy who confessed to multiple counts of corruption during the GWB administration leading to the conviction of 21 officials all the way up to the White House.  I guess we don’t need no oversight anymore, yes?

About Republicans:

They approve of the American farmer — but they are willing to help him go broke.

They stand four-square for the American home — but not for housing.

They are strong for labor — but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights.

They favor a minimum wage — the smaller the minimum the better.

They indorse educational opportunity for all — but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools.

They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine — for people who can afford them.

They approve of Social Security benefits — so much so that they took them away from almost a million people.

They believe in international trade — so much so that they crippled our reciprocal trade program, and killed our International Wheat Agreement.

They favor the admission of displaced persons — but only within shameful racial and religious limitations.

They consider electric power a great blessing — but only when the private power companies get their rake-off.

They say TVA is wonderful — but we ought never to try it again.

They condemn “cruelly high prices” — but fight to the death every effort to bring them down.

They think the American standard of living is a fine thing — so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people.

And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.

Now, my friends, that is the Wall Street Republican way of life. But there is another way — there is another way — the Democratic way, the way of the Democratic Party.

Who said it?  Harry Truman, October 13, 1948.  So there.

Krugman compares the fall of the Roman Empire to modern day US politics.  And it’s scary.

In a 2-to-1 ruling by the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said that the Legislature’s remapping in 2011 violated both the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it aimed to deprive Democratic voters of their right to be represented.  Finally, a court has been brave enough to take on gerrymandering, and Wisconsin was a good place to start.

The court used a simple mathematical calculation to measure gerrymandering called (more…)