WonderfulPessimist.com

Folks on Capitol Hill aren’t seeing much of the promised “quiet, low profile” reign from Minnesota’s freshman senator, former comic and failed liberal radio talk show host Al Franken. In a closed-door meeting this week, Franken tore into Axelrod and the Obama administration for a “failure of clear direction and leadership” on health care and other major bills on the Dem agenda.

Axelrod particularly needed a stainless steel backsplash to fend off Franken’s frankly frank assessment of the White House leadership mess. When a former comic and SNL skit writer sounds like the most serious guy in the room, you know there’s trouble in the donkey party…

Massachusetts US Senator-elect Scott Brown was scheduled to be seated on Thursday, February 11, but will now be sworn in about a week early, on Thursday, February 4. Brown demanded his official seating in the US Senate take place sooner when he learned some Dems in the Senate were trying to schedule key votes prior to his taking office. Brown, a Republican, is the 41st GOP vote and ends the Dems’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate – at least until some rogue RINO breaks ranks.

While this means Dems no longer have unfettered access to the MMF drawer, it by no means diminishes their substantial majority and ability to pass just about anything they want to pass, considering they are nine votes over a 50-50 split even with Sen. Brown sworn in.

Of course, look for Sen. Harry Reid to blame anything and everything that doesn’t work out on Sen. Brown and the GOP from here on out, because, of course, anything short of a “we don’t have to play fair” majority is, for Reid, “a stranglehold on power by the GOP.”

Whatever.

In what may become the silliest moment yet in an already silly presidency, President Barack Obama’s administration today announced its intent to… believe it or not… start up a governmental investigation of the NCAA’s Bowl Championship Series, with the goal of pressuring the NCAA to adopt a post-season playoff season.

Yes, you read that right. This president, beset by economic hardships, double-digit unemployment, terrible war rumors in Iran and more, feels his biggest priority is to move college football toward a true playoff system. Really.

Tear up the floor tiles in the White House, while you’re at it, Mr. President. I mean, why not?

Actually, this is even a silly campaign promise for the Illinois Democrat! In 2008, Obama was quoted as saying that, if elected, he’d like to “to throw my weight around a little bit” to move football toward a playoff system rather than a bowl system.

Hey, whether you like or hate the college post-season as it stands, let’s be serious: is this anything a sitting U.S. president should be wasting his time on?

He’s the president of the United States, last I checked, not the president of the NCAA.

After his stunning victory in liberal Massachusetts, Scott Brown is being courted by some in the GOP to be their anti-Obama candidate in 2012. The main problem with this is that he’d be only as experienced as Obama himself was when he first ran; while Brown is the hero of the moment, the GOP needs to realize that however poorly he is faring, Obama will not lack executive experience in 2012, so fielding a candidate with a bit more gravitas might be the better course.

Senator-elect Brown is also a bit of a question mark; not perceived as particularly conservative, he doesn’t have enough experience to show his true colors yet, and the party could end up with a second John McCain headlining their presidential ticket, which is no way to win against the most clearly socialist president in US history.

The GOP would be better served by not only someone with more experience and gravitas, but someone who clearly strikes a clearer contrast to Obama.

My suggestions? Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, and Rick Perry are all good names; even John Thune would make some sense! Send ‘em all some personalized gifts and see what happens!

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke lives in the shadow of predecessor Alan Greenspan; and now, with the economy faltering largely under his leadership, the wizard of bailouts now looks like his second term is in doubt.

Although Obama has announced his intention to renominate Bernanke for a second term, key Democrats are off the bandwagon and the Fed Chair needs 60 votes to survive. The support of GOP lawmakers is in doubt because of Bernanke’s poor job performance handling the US economy.

Dems want Bernanke out, but for their own reasons; Obama would then be free to nominate someone of his own choosing. While no one’s issuing insurance quote on Bernanke’s job security, and the President is currently supportive, that could change if it becomes clear that Bernanke doesn’t have the votes to survive.

Of course, the administration is sounding all gloom-and-doom of Bernanke isn’t reappointed, but really… after the way he’s handled the economy in his first term, how bad does a Fed Reserve Chair have to screw up before making a change would be seen in a positive light?

Sure, I don’t trust Obama to appoint anyone who’s better… but I also doubt it could get worse much more quickly under anyone else, since the economy’s still spiraling downward under Bernanke anyway.

Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd, facing strong GOP opposition in his own home state and who decided not to run for re-election as a result, is going down swinging at anyone he can connect with… fellow Dems included. Following last week’s GOP success in Massachusetts, the nothing-to-lose senator from Connecticut suggested his party should take at least a one-month time out from trying to reform health care, to allow everyone to regroup following his party’s loss of its filibuster-proof majority.

Dodd’s need for an effective fat burner diet pill aside, he provided a rare common-sense comment on the issue he was demagoguing to swift passage only a few days ago. Dodd apparently blames the Obama-Reid-Pelosi hardball push on health care reform on his own perilous drop in the polls and “voluntary” decision not to run for re-election.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Former US Senator Norm Coleman, seen by many as the candidate in either party most likely to broker a stadium deal for the Minnesota Vikings, has decided to sit out of the race to replace presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty, who decided to forego a possible third term as Minnesota governor.

Coleman lost a tough, close battle with Al Franken for the US Senate seat from Minnesota, in an election marked by allegations of ACORN-inspired election fraud – even though the court system refused to consider such evidence.

While many saw Coleman as the biggest name the GOP could field to replace Pawlenty, the truth is that Coleman is a notorious RINO and was not considered a welcome entrant by the conservative wing of the party. By sitting out the race, there remains a chance a real conservative could prevail from the primary fight.

Still, one has to wonder why Coleman chose to sit out an election he thought he could win; does Franken have pictures of Coleman taking womens vitamins or something? Doubtful.

The RINO factor could make today’s Senate special election moot, even if Republican Scott Brown wins the seat. Why? Because even with only 40 seats in the Senate currently, at least eight of them are still in the hands of RINOs.

These fake Republicans who consistently vote with the Democrats have tenuously held together so far in opposing ObamaCare, but once the Dems lose their filibuster-proof majority, any one of them could be a legit threat to jump ship and vote with the Dems, even if they remain in the GOP.

They include, in no particular order, Susan Collins, Olympia Snow, John McCain, George Voinovich, Lisa Murkowski, Richard Lugar, Robert Bennett and Thad Cocharan.

It doesn’t require an online degrees to see that even if Brown is elected – and he a potential RINO himself – it may not be as big a deal as some conservatives are hoping it is.

If Scott Brown, Republican, wins in Massachusetts today, the Obama Administration could face an unsavory scenario; lacking a 60-vote majority could force them to ask the House to approve the Senate bill as-is with no changes, sending the legislation directly to Obama’s desk, then tweak the details during the budgeting process.

If they choose this method of passage, that could not only result in more mud thrown over Obama-Reid-Pelosi’s promises of “transparent” government, it could result in outright stealth tactics on all the details. Such secrecy has no place in American government.

Brown’s election should be more welcomed than a cure for hemorrhoids, among people who wish to see such governmental arrogance taken down a peg or two.

Regardless of today’s special election in Massachusetts that could take away the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the nation will see some kind of health care reform, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The power-drunk Dem diva said, “Let’s remove all doubt, we will have healthcare one way or another. Certainly the dynamic would change depending on what happens in Massachusetts. Just the question about how we would proceed. But it doesn’t mean we won’t have a health care bill.”

Never mind that most Americans would rather hear William Shatner discuss acne home remedies than hear another presentation on ObamaCare; we’re gonna get it shoved down our throats no matter what, apparently. After all, 59 votes is still a vast majority.

Today, Massachusetts will hold an election to fill the vacant Senate seat once filled by the late Teddy Kennedy, and it appears that a Republican may have a chance to not only win the seat in liberal Massachusetts, but could go on to take away the Dems’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. That could help stop the ObamaCare plan that looks to imperil the nation’s budget, as well as its quality of care.

According to RealClearPolitics, Brown currently leads Democrat Coakley by nine points. In liberal Massachusetts. Wow. Of course, it helps that Brown is talking issues while Coakley is mumbling something about handing out Nordic Track promotion codes or some such nonsense.

Levity aside, a nine-point lead could be enough to put Brown beyond the margin of error; all eyes will be on Massachusetts over the next 24 hours or so.

You know, more and more people are pursuing their degrees online these days, and I’ve noticed something that makes the online degree programs at Western Governor’s University unique: they are more affordable than most. Whether you’re going for your bachelors or your masters degree online makes no difference because it’s still affordable.

I was looking at their tuition rates and they do something quite unique: they charge students on a per-semester basis, not on credit hours. And at under $3,000 per six month term, that’s almost as affordable as when I went to college back in the second half of the 1980s.

In fact, I may have paid more, since I paid on a credit-hour basis. Getting a good degree is hard enough; getting one affordably these days is even more difficult. Western Governor’s University is a great solution on both scores, it seems.