Grumpy Editor

DOES SEN. CRUZ’S TRIP TO MEXICO SHELVE FUTURE PLANS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT?

With Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) undoutedly considering running for president again, did his trip to Mexico last week dampen that outlook, asks Grumpy Editor.

As USAToday notes:  "Cruz's ambitions could be complicated after flying to Mexico as his home state of Texas was weathering the aftermath of a deadly winter storm that left millions without power and running water in freezing temperatures.”

 "Natural disasters have a way of upending politicians careers,” declares Republican strategist Alex Conant, who points to examples including President George Bush during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"For politicians, the first rule of any natural disaster is to show up and Cruz broke that rule.”

Meanwhile, NBC’s Saturday Night Live joins the national roast of Mexico-visiting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with Aidy Bryant playing Cruz, saying he's sorry for abandoning his state as millions tried to survive without heat, power and water.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

TEXANS GET HUGE ELECTRIC BILLS.   Temperatures last week that overwhelmed Texas’s power grid, triggering rolling blackouts and power outages also bring catastrophic electric bills.  Some Texans are hit with power bills totaling as much as $17,000 for only a few days of electricity.

BIG CROCODILE UNDERGOES SURGERY.  A 350-pound, 10.5-foot-long crocodile undergoes successful surgery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida to remove a shoe it swallowed that fell off a tourist’s foot.  

NEWSPAPER ACQUISITION IN WORKS.  New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital, largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing Co., reaches a deal to acquire the rest of the newspaper operation that includes the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune.

BUFFET ADDS STAKES IN VERIZON, CHEVRON.  Billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm adds stakes in Verizon Communications Inc. and Chevron Corp. to its portfolio. 

WATCH OUT FOR LONG DRIVES.  Drivers who spend more than 20 minutes in their cars are at risk of exposure to formaldehyde and benzene, according to a study from the University of California, Riverside. Drivers may be inhaling those dangerous, cancer-causing carcinogens.

PETA FROWNS ON MARINES GULPING SNAKE BLOOD.  PETA, the animal rights group, petitions the Pentagon to end the practice of Marines and soldiers decapitating snakes and consuming their blood during survival training at the annual Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand.

SENATORS SET TO UNDERGO SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING

U.S. senators and their staffs will undergo sexual harassment training in the next 60 days and at least once every two years under terms of a Senate resolution approved late last week sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D.-Minn.), ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee and co-sponsored by 19 others, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.), notes Grumpy Editor. 

“All offices will have to certify to the secretary of the Senate that they and their employees here in Washington, as well as those working in our home states, have, in fact, taken the training and complied with the resolution,” says Klobuchar in a CNSNews.com report. “These certifications will be posted online for the public to view.”

“We are all too aware that sexual harassment continues in our workplaces,” she adds.

“A recent study found that one in four women has been sexually harassed in the workplace and that three-quarters of individuals who have experienced sexual harassment at work have not reported the incidences. 

"Civil service is actually among the top five industries with the highest sexual harassment incidences.”

Adds Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R.-Iowa):  “By passing this resolution, we take a step to ensure that all who work for the Senate are able to do their job without feeling unsafe or uncomfortable.” 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

WAL-MART SHOPPER WINS $7.5 MILLION VERDICT.  Wal-Mart shopper in Phenix City, Ala, who claims he tripped and broke his hip while buying a watermelon, wins a $7.5 million verdict in his lawsuit against the retailer. He says his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath the watermelons as he reached for one.

WINDY CITY EYES FINE FOR TEXTING WHILE CROSSING STREET.  Chicago is considering a fine of $90 to $500 to folks texting or talking on the phone while crossing streets.  “Everybody does it and then everybody is irritated when someone else does it. So my total view is I want to look at it. I think it has something to do with peoples' own safety,” says Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

JAIL TIME FOR SPREADING HATE MESSAGES.  Venezuela’s constitutional assembly passes a wide-reaching law that clamps down on social media and broadcasters by ordering prison sentences of up to 20 years for anyone who spreads a message through television, radio or social media that instigates violence or hate. The new law says public and private media outlets are “obligated to broadcast messages aimed at promoting peace, tolerance, equality and respect."

ABOUT THIRD OF COUNTRY FEELS SAFER.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 31 percent of likely U.S. voters believe the country today is safer than it was before the New York City terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 while 52 percnt disagree and feel the country is less safe, and 17 percent are not sure.

ANOTHER L.A. POLICE CHASE ON TV.  A police chase reaching speeds of up to 120 m.p.h. ends in bizarre fashion when a suspected carjacker releases a "fuzzy white dog" from a stolen vehicle and then trips and falls as he attempts to run from officers. The pursuit, broadcast live via helicopter, begins in North Hollywood and ends in a residential neighborhood in Palmdale.

NEWLY-LAUNCHED DRIVERLESS VEGAS BUS SMACKS TRUCK.  Within two hours after its launch, complete with unveiling ceremonies, a driverless shuttle bus in downtown Las Vegas hit a semi-truck.  None of the eight passengers aboard is injured.

FISH STORY FROM TOKYO.  Mainstream media get excited when President Donald Trump feeds koi carp at the Akasaka palace in Tokyo.  He’s seen on video, with Japanese Prime Minister Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by his side, spooning fish food out of a box.  Trump then empties the remainder of the box into the pond.  Media call the action uncivilized and ignorant.  But Trump merely follows what Abe does (not captured by cameras) moments earlier.  

PARROT SHAKES UP NEIGHBORHOOD.  Screams from a home that sounded like a person in great distress fills the air near Clackamas, Ore. So responding to a call, a deputy cautiously approachs the residence. When he sees the source of the screams he lets out a sigh of relief, followed by a chuckle. The screamer is a parrot — named Diego.

Shutdown drama plays on in Washington --- without snow

With most print and broadcast media busy focusing titanic attention on the looming federal government partial shutdown tonight, noting it would be the first such action in nearly two decades, Grumpy Editor calls attention to a more recent shutdown --- less than seven months ago with scant coverage --- when Washington turned off the lights.

Reason? 

Washington comes to a standstill when only a few inches of snow cripples the area.  Thus, it was a “snow day” --- without coast-to-coast, wide-scale front-page fuss over federal operations shuttered in the region. 

That’s what happened March 6 this year in the District of Columbia when the U.S. Office of Personnel Management called a snow day, allowing federal workers to stay home with full pay. 

About 320,000 federal workers are affected when Washington closes office doors. 

Media didn’t get too excited with a questionable shutdown (via a snow day) in Washington that occurred Christmas week, 2009.  With a heavy snowfall on Friday night (Dec. 18) and Saturday, many federal employees stayed home on Monday, without losing pay --- 36 hours after the flakes stopped falling. 

With the approaching national shutdown, about 40 percent of the federal workforce of 2 million people could be furloughed without pay. 

In the countdown to a shutdown, Republican action from the House two days ago would keep the government funded through Dec. 15, delay the health care law, repeal a 2.3 percent medical device tax and assure payments to military personnel.

While House members were busy trying to hammer out a solution over the weekend, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., gave members of his legislative chamber the weekend off. 

Senators return today at 2 p.m. --- 10 hours before the fiscal year ends. 

Meanwhile, with the shutdown drama on Capitol Hill, the Washington Post reported President Obama on Saturday played golf at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. 

As for today's weather, no snow is in the forecast.

 

Most newspapers snub Sen. Cruz’s endurance

Grumpy Editor asks:  If you were a newspaper editor, would you front-page someone speaking 21 hours and 19 minutes non-stop while standing continuously and with no “rest period” breaks or time out for food? 

Well, most editors around the nation looked the other way when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, engaged in a talkathon against the health care law in the Senate starting last Tuesday afternoon. 

Most of the next day’s major newspapers ignored the effort.

Absolutely no front-page mention, even in briefs, was observed in the New York Times, Detroit News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald. 

However, The Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe worked in front-page references to stories inside the “A” sections. 

Despite extraordinary use of his voice, before going home Cruz then went on Rush Limbaugh’s radio talk show for a further discussion. 

 

In case you missed these… 

More staff chopping ahead at Tribune Co.?   The parent of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and others is in a budget review process that will determine further staff reductions.  Over the last three years, the company slashed about 2,200 jobs, with about 11,500 remaining on payrolls…London’s Lloyds List, the world’s oldest continuously published newspaper, will end its print edition in December and go digital.

In marketing developments:  Burger King promotes new lower fat/calories fries in the U.S. --- produced by Canadian firm McCain Foods Ltd., which also makes fries for Wendy’s and McDonalds…Wrong placement?  A TV commercial for blackhead dissolving gel aired over the weekend on the Wall Street Journal Editorial Report on Fox News Channel.

A nifty deal tailored for “Norm” on the old Cheers TV show:  Groupon, the daily deals website, last week offered eight hours of an open bar at a Las Vegas Strip location for $24.99 --- “a $50 value.”

Harry Reid's 'cliff' remarks trigger drop in stock market

Business writers and editors now have to keep a close ear on what Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) says, after his downbeat "fiscal cliff" remarks near the close of the stock market yesterday were credited with sending it to the lows of the day, observes Grumpy Editor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after being in and out of positive territory, tumbled 89.24 points to 12878.13 at the close.

In connection with negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, Reid said, "They talked some happy talk about doing revenues, but we only have a couple weeks to get something done. So we have to get away from the happy talk and start talking about specific things.

"I'm extremely hopeful and I do not believe that the Republicans are going to allow us to go over the cliff," continued Reid, adding he hoped Republicans can agree to tax-rate increases and that Democrats were happy to deal with entitlements.

The tax-rate dispute is the central obstacle to an agreement that would prevent the U.S. from plunging off the fiscal cliff, a convergence of an estimated $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts.

With key financial matters, media focus on comments by Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, at speeches and especially after Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings.

Bernanke's messages, after being digested, often send the stock market south.

But now, Reid will probably have more business writers at his press conferences.

No sooner back in D.C., lawmakers eager to leave town

As soon as Congress returned from a five-week recess on Monday, Capitol Hill talk immediately turned to taking more time off, starting with senators on Friday, finds Grumpy Editor. 

Such action --- or inaction --- underscores why taxpayers give the lawmakers a record-low approval rating. 

Senators are the most eager to get more free time, some to campaign in their home states, and return after the Nov. 6 elections.  Party leaders would like to depart again on Friday, says Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), majority whip. 

However, senators face action on a six-month stopgap measure to keep the federal government operating after Oct. 1. 

Also eager to finish business early is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.). 

But he is not giving a target date, although “the word is out” (as Reid likes to say), that Senate offices have been alerted unofficially that they would recess at the end of this week. 

The House is scheduled to leave for recess at the end of next week and return for a few more days in October. 

Some lawmakers want Congress to stay in session to finalize action on a multiyear farm bill.  

Members of Congress “need to show they’re doing their job,” says Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University. 

An August Gallup poll finds only one in 10 Americans approves the work Congress is doing.  That record low compares with 84 percent in 2002.

‘Little bird out of the blue’ tells Sen. Reid about Romney

In a variation of the vintage expression, “a little bird told me,” Sen. Harry Reid this week said he learned via an out-of-the-blue telephone caller that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years, notes Grumpy Editor.

The unsubstantiated “revelation,” nevertheless, grabbed much print space and broadcast time. 

Other than Reid saying the call came from “an investor in Bain Capital,” the private equity firm cofounded by Romney, there was no way to determine the authenticity --- or even if there was a call to the Senate majority leader. 

The Nevada Democrat told the Huffington Post, “Now, do I know that that’s true?  Well, I’m not certain.” 

Reid has said without more disclosure by the Republican presidential candidate, Romney “couldn’t be confirmed as dog catcher.” 

A Romney spokesman said Reid’s charge was baseless and below the belt. 

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh yesterday suggested interrogation of Reid by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

After making his charge, Reid challenged the media --- rather than utilizing his large staff or Senate investigators --- to dig into Romney’s finances. 

Then the senator added the fuzzy (and perhaps revealing) line:  “What if he (Romney) has paid no taxes, like I am saying he hasn’t.” 

Meanwhile, as a test to see how “easy” it is to contact Reid with a tidbit, try a call to his Washington office at (202) 224-3542.

 

‘Sensitive’ voting machines being eyed today in Nevada

With Nevada’s primary election today, some voters will be keeping sharp eyes on electronic voting machines that were a source of questionable vote tallies in the 2010 election that resulted in a close victory for Democrat Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, notes Grumpy Editor. 

In a tight race with Republican Sharron Angle at that time (she was ahead in polls right up until the election) some early voters --- in a state that allows early voting in such places as supermarkets, shopping malls and trailers --- found Reid’s name already checked on ballot pages of electronic units. 

The happening received scant national media attention at that time. 

Clark County registrar of voters in 2010, without conducting an intensive investigation, declared there was no voter fraud but blamed the checkmarks alongside Reid’s name on sensitive screens. 

Larry Lomax at that time also blamed the faulty voting action on seniors, mentioning elderly citizens have difficulty in casting their ballots. 

Following that weak explanation, former House majority leader Dick Armey, now Freedom Works chairman, said with early voting there “is less security” that creates a “great opportunity” for voter fraud, especially in major urban areas. 

This year’s early voting in Nevada ran from May 26 to June 8. 

Top race in Nevada’s current voting is for the U.S. Senate, pitting Democrat Shelley Berkley against Republican Dean Heller. 

Nevada requires no photo identification or verification of identity for people who vote.

 

Publicist’s nightmare: Ex-Sen. Specter barks at KTCN host

What makes a day rough for a book publicist is for a book-plugging author to get nasty during a live radio interview in which the host is called “absolutely insulting,” as was the case Monday when former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter appeared on a Twin Cities station, finds Grumpy Editor.

Specter, making the rounds promoting “Life Among the Cannibals” published by Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin’s Press, made it to Jason Lewis, a conservative talk show host at KTCN (a Clear Channel Communications station in Minneapolis that prefers to be identified as News/Talk 1130), when he let loose with an outburst near the close of an interview.

“I have one final comment,” said Specter who turned Democrat from Republican in April 2009. “I gave you 10 minutes. You’ve been over every subject except for my book. I’ve listened to two rounds of your commercials. I think it’s insulting. I’ve been in a lot of interviews in the course of the past 30 years and you are absolutely insulting.”

Lewis fired back with:  “Good God. This is not public radio. I don’t have a government grant. We’ve got to pay the bills.  They’re called commercials. Capitalism.”

Replied Specter:  “I’m talking about someone who’s civilized. I told you the last time around I wasn’t going to sit around and listen to your commercials, and I didn’t want to hang up on you. This is no way for anybody to run an interview. I’m as experienced as you are, if not more so.”

The call wrapped up with Specter saying, “That’s all I have to tell you, so goodbye.”

Lewis countered, “Good Lord, senator, no wonder you got beat.” 

 

Congress takes off more in 2012, finds Grumpy Editor

Wonder why there are a lower number of  Washington datelines in newspapers?  Congress has been quiet, mostly out of town.  But some action resumes today with a call of the House at 6:30 p.m., Eastern, notes Grumpy Editor.

But House members are only scheduled for six days in session this month while the Senate convenes next Monday. 

On the way to fewer sessions this year despite pressing matters, don’t look for any solid month of action in the House. February, the shortest month on the 2012 calendar (despite being Leap Year), will see the House active the most days:  14.  Among the leanest months, the House is scheduled to meet only eight days in April, three in August and five in October. 

The Senate, meanwhile, schedules a number of “state work periods” that allows members more time to spend with constituents in their home states --- and for “fact finding” trips.  For the House, time spent in home districts is called “constituent work week.” 

Despite the many days off, Washington press corps’ reports will imply that just about every day --- even during holiday periods --- carries a full slate of pursuits by lawmakers busy in the nation’s capital.

( House and Senate calendars, below.)

2012 Senate schedule, 112^th Congress, 2^nd session

Jan. 23 - Senate convenes

Non-legislative days

Feb. 20 – 24, state work period

April 2 – 13, state work period

April 30 – May 4, state work period

May 28 – June 1, state work period (Memorial Day, May 28)

July 2 – 6, state work period (Independence Day, July 4)

Aug. 6 – Sept. 7, state work period (Labor Day, Sept. 3)

Oct. 8 - Columbus Day federal holiday

Nov. 12 -  Veterans Day federal holiday

Adjournment date to be determined

 

2012 House schedule, 112^th Congress, 2^nd session 

Legislative days

Jan. 17, 18, 23-25, 31

Feb. 1-3, 6-9, 14–17, 27–29

March 1, 5-8, 19-22, 26-29

April 16-19, 24-27

May 7-10, 15-18, 30, 31

June 1, 5-8, 18-21, 26-29

July 9-12, 17-20, 23-26, 31

Aug. 1-3

Sept. 10-14, 19-21

Oct. 1-5

Nov. 13-16, 27-30

Dec. 3-6, 11-14

 

Schedules are subject to change.

 

Connecticut Senator seeks federal funding for diapers

While much of the U.S. is focused on creating jobs, lowering taxes, improving education, thwarting terrorism, avoiding foreclosures and observing pre-election action, Connecticut continues to get to the bottom of things, dwelling on --- diapers, finds Grumpy Editor.

On the heels of last Thursday’s Diaper Need Awareness Day, observed solely in Connecticut after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy issued a declaration, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) yesterday introduced legislation, adding child-care services funding to purchase diapers and diapering supplies.

At the Oct. 27 diapers event in New Haven, activists and advocates gathered for a panel discussion on diapers as a public health issue.  It was followed by a fundraiser.

As explained by Pete Kasperowicz, writing in The Hill, Blumenthal’s bill, S. 1778, would amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to allow diapers and related supplies to be bought with grant money provided to states. 

A summary of Blumenthal's bill, Kasperowicz added, indicated it would "include the provision of diapers and diapering supplies among the activities for which funds may be employed to improve the quality of and access to child care." 

Diaper makers Pampers, a Procter & Gamble Co. product, and Huggies, manufactured by Kimberly-Clark Corp., should be delighted by the move.