Quick Hits

Update:

In a phone call placed to Hagan's DC Senate Office, the nice young female staffer answering the phones stated Senator Hagan's stance as the following.

"Senator Hagan has not made an official statement, but is leaning towards supporting the bill, because she sees that the federal government needs bailing out."

So now the federal government needs bailing out...that is news to me Senator Hagan. I thought the Democrats were going to take care of that for us, if we elected them into office?

In a surprise move this morning, Senator Kay Hagan has hired former CapStrat mogul James Protzman to run her communications department in DC.

That is a joke, but I do think James could single-handedly be more useful than her current group of staffers, especially Mr. Hoffman.

This story was featured in Politico, but I did not see it on this blog and thought it deserved its day in Under the Dome Court of Opinion.

The most interesting statement is “A large part of Sen. Hagan’s job as a U.S. senator is keeping folks informed.”

I find this funny, because Hagan has not even offered her stance on the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. She is going to tout credit for the money on a bill that has not even completed the amendment process in the Senate.

Shenanigans: Hagan hitches ride on omnibus

Sen. Kay Hagan replaced Elizabeth Dole in the Senate, but that hasn’t stopped her from trying to take some credit for Dole’s past doings, anti-Haganites say.

Hagan sent out a release last week boasting about the omnibus bill:

“HAGAN ANNOUNCES $5.2 MILLION IN FUNDING TO HELP PUT PEOPLE BACK TO WORK, EXPAND ACCESS TO EDUCATION.”

More: “U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.) announced today North Carolina will receive more than $5.2 million in funding as part of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which is expected to be voted on next week.”

She’s super-duper excited about all the “funds [that] will create jobs, expand access to education, provide hardworking North Carolinians with greater access to affordable housing, strengthen our infrastructure and keep our communities safe. There are nearly 397,000 North Carolinians out of work right now, and as we work hard to get our economy back on track, many of these projects will help spur the economic growth we need.”

That’s funny. It’s nice that she’s excited about money that’s coming to her state, but she clearly had nothing to do with that money.

Luckily, there’s a short sentence — which is the best line in the whole thing — where she does admit: “The funds were requested for 13 projects across North Carolina by former Sen. Elizabeth Dole.”

One North Carolina GOP-er scoffs: “In this new era of transparency, at least Hagan acknowledges that she had nothing whatsoever to do with securing the funding and that it hasn’t even passed yet — not that that would get in the way of trying to take credit for it.”

Hagan spokesman David Hoffman tells Shenan, hey, wait a sec. She’s just doing her job. “We’re simply announcing funding in North Carolina that main municipalities have been waiting on,” he defends.

“A large part of Sen. Hagan’s job as a U.S. senator is keeping folks informed.” And he does note that they do give Dole credit.

Quotable:

“It is time for Mr. Liddy to come back from whatever planet he is on and visit us here in reality.”

— Rep. Elijah Cummings calling on AIG CEO Edward Liddy to come back to Earth

Rep. Allred also referred to our "Nazi government" during the hearing as well...let it just be understood that there were people in that room, both elected and not, who have relatives who ACTUALLY experienced a Nazi government. And promoting a public health bill wasn't what happened during the 1930s and 1940s...