GOPoop

That should be their new name. Some bits and pieces from the recent week:

Did you know that Bootstraps™ are actually bezoars? The GOP seems to think so, as they're nearly eliminating funding for poison control:

Eliminating nearly all the money for poison control centers would save $27 million — not even a rounding error when it comes to the deficit. Yet it is so foolish that it perfectly illustrates the thoughtlessness of the House Republican bill to cut $61 billion from the budget over the next seven months.

The nation’s network of 57 poison control centers takes four million calls a year about people who may have been exposed to a toxic substance. In three-quarters of all cases, the centers are able to provide treatment advice that does not require a visit to a hospital or a doctor, saving tens of millions of dollars in medical costs.

[...]

The centers, which collect poison reports, can also act as an early warning system for pandemics or large toxic exposures, allowing a quick response.

The federal government pays about 20 percent of the cost of the centers, with states, cities and philanthropy picking up the rest. Many strapped state and local governments have cut back their financing, and experts say that the virtual elimination of federal money would force many centers to close and sharply damage the effectiveness of the national network.

Who needs poison control centers, right? /snort

The elimination of poison control funding is really, really fantastic when you also take in the news that the GOP has decided to drastically slash the EPA and gut programs that regulate air and water pollution and the enforcement of environmental laws:

The Environmental Protection Agency and global warming programs government-wide stand to lose big in the battle over the federal budget.

The House already passed its bill to fund the federal government for the rest of this year, and it doesn't just cut EPA programs — it also steamrolls the Obama administration's environmental policy.

The House bill would slash the EPA budget by nearly a third — more than any other agency. It would stop the agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it would gut many other programs that prevent air and water pollution and enforce environmental laws.

Senate Democrats say the bill drafted by House Republicans would hobble the EPA.

"They have essentially unleashed war against the EPA, and in doing so, they are going to hurt the American people. And we have to stop it," says Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who heads the Senate Environment Committee.

[...]

It was one of a cascade of amendments to block EPA initiatives such as restoring the Chesapeake Bay and Florida Everglades, and cleaning up coal ash waste and mountaintop coal mining.

House Republicans also took aim at climate change programs across the government. Many new House Republicans deny what scientists widely accept: Climate change will have catastrophic consequences, and people are a significant cause of it because they burn fossil fuels.

[...]

Some of the biggest EPA reductions would come in projects to update water treatment and sewage systems. Rep. Donna Edwards, a Democrat from Maryland, tried but failed to talk colleagues out of these cuts.

"Just last month out in my district, in a cold winter morning not far from Capitol Hill, a 54-inch water main broke, created massive destruction, overturned cars, destroyed businesses and left residents like me without safe drinking water for days," Edwards said.

Hey, who needs updated water and sewage systems, right? /snort Certainly not the GOPoop!

And just to show how much they hate the environment (and Nancy Pelosi), the GOP has decided to bring back Styrofoam:

Four years after our nation's esteemed governing body decided to stop using one of the most destructive, ungreen materials in existence, our lawmakers have decided it's time to cancel the program that supported biodegradable packaging, and to bring Styrofoam back.

Congress switched to biodegradable packaging, along with a number of other green initiatives like composting, as part of its Green the Capital program. But the program was lead by Nancy Pelosi, whom, you may have heard, is unliked in certain conservative circles. So John Boehner -- the new Speaker of the House -- and company dismantled her program, largely as a political jab.

An anonymous congressional staffer sent in pictures, which you can check out here. They also canceled the composting program, so it all heads to landfills.

They literally are a total garbage nightmare.