Senate Hall of Shame

The Hall of Shame is now complete.

The murderers of the upper house:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

John Barrasso (R-WY)

Roy Blunt (R-MO)

John Boozman (R-AR)

Richard M. Burr (R-NC)

Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Bob Corker (R-TN)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Michael D. Crapo (R-ID)

Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Steve Daines (R-MT)

Michael B. Enzi (R-WY)

Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

Cory Gardner (R-CO)

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)

Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT)

Dean Heller (R-NV)

John Hoeven (R-ND)

James M. Inhofe (R-OK)

Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

Ron Johnson (R-WI)

John Kennedy (R-LA)

James Lankford (R-OK)

Mike Lee (R-UT)

John McCain (R-AZ)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Rand Paul (R-KY)

Mike Pence

David Perdue (R-GA)

Rob Portman (R-OH)

Jim Risch (R-ID)

Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Michael Rounds (R-SD)

Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Ben Sasse (R-NE)

Tim Scott (R-SC)

Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)

Luther Strange (R-AL)

Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

John Thune (R-SD)

Thom Tillis (R-NC)

Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)

Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Todd Young (R-IN)

House of Representatives Hall of Shame

When the Senate couldn't come up with the votes to advance Trumpcare, the Republicans of the House of Representatives were miffed that they had had to cast their murderous votes for all to see, and all for nothing!

From Talking Points Memo:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) barely won reelection last fall in a district Trump lost by 8 points, and is a top Democratic target heading into 2018. He nevertheless voted for the bill after remaining silent on his position up until the vote itself. And he’s not pleased that Republican senators weren’t able to get their acts together.

Just for the record, here is the list of Representatives who voted to repeal and replace Obamacare with something far worse.

Don Young (R-AK)

Bradley Byrne (R-AL)

Martha Roby (R-AL)

Mike D. Rogers (R-AL)

Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL)

Mo Brooks (R-AL)

Gary Palmer (R-AL)

Rick Crawford (R-AR)

French Hill (R-AR)

Steve Womack (R-AR)

Bruce Westerman (R-AR)

Martha E. McSally (R-AZ)

Paul Gosar (R-AZ)

David Schweikert (R-AZ)

Trent Franks (R-AZ)

Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)

Tom McClintock (R-CA)

Paul Cook (R-CA)

Jeff Denham (R-CA)

David Valadao (R-CA)

Devin Nunes (R-CA)

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)

Steve Knight (R-CA)

Ed Royce (R-CA)

Ken Calvert (R-CA)

Mimi Walters (R-CA)

Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)

Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

Scott Tipton (R-CO)

Ken Buck (R-CO)

Doug Lamborn (R-CO)

Matt Gaetz (R-FL)

Neal Dunn (R-FL)

Ted Yoho (R-FL)

John Rutherford (R-FL)

Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

Bill Posey (R-FL)

Daniel Webster (R-FL)

Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)

Dennis A. Ross (R-FL)

Vern Buchanan (R-FL)

Tom Rooney (R-FL)

Brian Mast (R-FL)

Francis Rooney (R-FL)

Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)

Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)

Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA)

Drew Ferguson (R-GA)

Rob Woodall (R-GA)

Austin Scott (R-GA)

Doug Collins (R-GA)

Jody B. Hice (R-GA)

Barry Loudermilk (R-GA)

Rick W. Allen (R-GA)

Tom Graves (R-GA)

Rod Blum (R-IA)

David Young (R-IA)

Steve King (R-IA)

Raul R. Labrador (R-ID)

Mike Simpson (R-ID)

Peter Roskam (R-IL)

Mike Bost (R-IL)

Rodney Davis (R-IL)

Randy Hultgren (R-IL)

John Shimkus (R-IL)

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)

Darin M. LaHood (R-IL)

Jackie Walorski (R-IN)

Jim Banks (R-IL)

Todd Rokita (R-IN)

Susan W. Brooks (R-IN)

Luke Messer (R-IN)

Larry Buchson (R-IN)

Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN)

Roger Marshall (R-KS)

Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)

Kevin Yoder (R-KS)

Ron Estes (R-KS)

James Comer (R-KY)

Brett Guthrie (R-KY)

Harold Rogers (R-KY)

Andy Barr (R-KY)

Steve Scalise (R-LA)

Clay Higgins (R-LA)

Mike Johnson (R-LA)

Ralph Abraham (R-LA)

Garret Graves (R-LA)

Andy Harris (R-MD)

Bruce Poliquin (R-ME)

Jack Bergman (R-MI)

Bill Huizenga (R-MI)

Justin Amash (R-MI)

John Moolenaar (R-MI)

Fred Upton (R-MI)

Tim Walberg (R-MI)

Mike Bishop (R-MI)

Paul Mitchell (R-MI)

Dave Trott (R-MI)

Jason Lewis (R-MN)

Erik Paulsen (R-MN)

Tom Emmer (R-MN)

Ann Wagner (R-MO)

Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)

Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

Sam Graves (R-MO)

Billy Long (R-MO)

Jason Smith (R-MO)

Trent Kelly (R-MS)

Gregg Harper (R-MS)

Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS)

George Holding (R-NC)

Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

Mark Walker (R-NC)

David Rouzer (R-NC)

Richard Hudson (R-NC)

Robert Pittenger (R-NC)

Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC)

Mark Meadows (R-NC)

Ted Budd (R-NC)

Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)

Don Bacon (R-NE)

Adrian Smith (R-NE)

Tom MacArthur (R-NJ)

Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)

Steve Pearce (R-NM)

Mark Amodei (R-NV)

Lee Zeldin (R-NY)

Peter T. King (R-NY)

John J. Faso (R-NY)

Elise Stefanik (R-NY)

Claudia Tenney (R-NY)

Tom Reed (R-NY)

Chris Collins (R-NY)

Steve Chabot (R-OH)

Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)

Jim Jordan (R-OH)

Bob Latta (R-OH)

Bill Johnson (R-OH)

Bob Gibbs (R-OH)

Warren Davidson (R-OH)

Pat Tiberi (R-OH)

Steve Stivers (R-OH)

James B. Renacci (R-OH)

Jim Bridenstine (R-OK)

Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)

Frank D. Lucas (R-OK)

Tom Cole (R-OK)

Steve Russell (R-OK)

Greg Walden (R-OR)

Mike Kelly (R-PA)

Scott Perry (R-PA)

Glenn Thompson (R-PA)

Bill Shuster (R-PA)

Tom Marino (R-PA)

Lou Barletta (R-PA)

Keith Rothfus (R-PA)

Lloyd K. Smucker (R-PA)

Tim Murphy (R-PA)

Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Jeff Duncan (R-SC)

Trey Gowdy (R-SC)

Tom Rice (R-SC)

Kristi Noem (R-SD)

Phil Roe (R-TN)

John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN)

Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)

Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)

Diane Black (R-TN)

Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

David Kustoff (R-TN)

Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Ted Poe (R-TX)

Sam Johnson (R-TX)

John Ratcliffe (R-TX)

Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

Joe L. Barton (R-TX)

John Culbesron (R-TX)

Kevin Brady (R-TX)

Michael McCaul (R-TX)

K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)

Kay Granger (R-TX)

Mac Thornberry (R-TX)

Randy Weber (R-TX)

Bill Flores (R-TX)

Jodey Arrington (R-TX)

Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Pete Olson (R-TX)

Kenny Marchant (R-TX)

Roger Williams (R-TX)

Michael C. Burgess (R-TX)

Blake Farenthold (R-TX)

John Carter (R-TX)

Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Brian Babin (R-TX)

Rob Bishop (R-UT)

Chris Stewart (R-UT)

Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

Mia Love (R-UT)

Rob Wittman (R-VA)

Scott Taylor (R-VA)

Tom Garrett (R-VA)

Robert W. Goodlatte (R-VA)

Dave Brat (R-VA)

Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

Paul D. Ryan (R-WI)

Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

Glenn Grothman (R-WI)

Sean P. Duffy (R-WI)

Mike Gallagher (R-WI)

David B. McKinley (R-WV)

Alex X. Mooney (R-WV)

Evan H. Jenkins (R-WV)

Liz Cheney (R-WY) 

Whores for the fossil fuel industry

No, this blog is not about hookers, but thanks for reading.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt wants scientists to debate climate change on television. He thinks a group of scientists should meet on TV and have it out and settle the question once and for all in "a robust discussion for all the world to see."

Of course, scientists have been having this discussion now for decades, using the scientific method, which is a kind of debate in which the scientists with the best evidence win.

So, really, the robust debate has already settled the matter. Most of climate science's detractors are either people who distrust big government, or people in the pay of the fossil fuel industry. Many are not scientists; many of the ones who are scientists have no expertise in climate; many are politicians.

I have mentioned here before that there are some people whose distrust of big government is so all-consuming that it blinds them to other big entities that are not trustworthy. Industry, for example. Once upon a time, the whores worked for the tobacco industry. Now they're in the employ of the fossil fuel industry.

George Lakoff addresses a thorny problem, but is he successful?

Friends have been posting a lot of links to George Lakoff recently. He addresses one of the questions we liberals and progressives tear our hair out over: Why do Trump supporters not turn away from him, even when his policies hurt them?

Lakoff's answer is that voters vote their morality. Liberals and conservatives have different world views, which have more to do with how they vote than individual issues.

This, I think, is more true of conservatives than liberals. The liberal world view has more rationality to it.

Lakoff posits a Strict Father Family to account for conservatives' votes, and I think it works to explain a lot of the right's voting. In a family with a strict father, the father (and the family members agree) sees himself as the bringer of God's truth, and his duty is to make his wife and children obey. Strict punishment for straying from the true path is required. And truth is just what the father thinks it is, because God has made it so. These people vote as they do because they want to keep the country from moving away from God.

Lakoff thinks that we can't address the problem without understanding the cause. In this article, Lakoff doesn't provide any strategies for persuading conservatives to vote in line with their own interests, but elsewhere he has talked about how progressives need to reframe issues, for example calling regulations "protections." I am not at all sure that even these reframings can convince a person with these views to change his or her votes. Not only are many of these people against regulations, they're really morally opposed to protections, too.

Once again we see that being convinced that God has endorsed your way of life leads to suffering. Psychiatrists' couches are full of people with strict fathers who were idiots.