"Senator Warner is one of my heroes," praised Mr. Byrd, which is quite a compliment from the outspoken Democrat and history buff, whose other heroes include Nathan Hale (he gave his life while spying on the British during the Revolutionary War), Francis Marion (the "Swamp Fox"), Nathanael Greene (a major general in the Continental Army), Daniel Morgan (another Revolutionary War standout), George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.
And going back further, there is Polybius, Didorus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Cornelius Neopos, Gaius Sallustius Crispus and Titus Livius - "blood brothers" of the silver-haired senator.
Like Hale and Marion and Greene and Washington, Mr. Warner "has always displayed the timeless virtues of patriotism and selfless devotion to duty in defending our country," said Mr. Byrd, pointing out that at the ripe young age of 17 Mr. Warner enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve in World War II, then came back as a U.S. Marine during the Korean war.
FEDERAL LEMONS
"[Y]ou'll love the way the federal bureaucrats make new cars," Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican, quipped Wednesday. "The new federalized auto industry will have the competence of FEMA, the pleasantries of the Post Office and the compassion of the IRS."
BAIL US OUT
Given an estimated $7.7 trillion is being committed to bailouts sought by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, and some $1.2 trillion will be paid in individual income tax for the 2008 tax year, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas Republican, proposes Americans not pay federal taxes for January and February 2009.