Tweet Beat: Numbers Edition

Lawmakers round up the year in deficits, NORAD, and photo ops

Written by Elliot Kort | Published on December 29, 2010

Members of Congress often toss out figures as a way to make a point: The deficit is x, the savings would be y, it requires z number of troops. But this week, numbers are flooding Twitter: the years NORAD has been tracking Santa Claus, the amount of Americans who don’t support net-neutrality legislation, the dollars “the other guys” wasted. In addition to those tweets, John Boehner welcomes iPads to the House chamber, Don Manzullo insists he’s a huge deal in Korea, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen gets her picture taken . . . a lot.

House Majority Leader John Boehner: @GOPLeader RT @nytimes G.O.P. to Open House to Electronic Devices http://nyti.ms/hb0axy

And we thought they didn’t get much done before. Just wait until Angry Birds is readily available on the House floor.

Representative Don Manzullo: @donmanzullo Korea’s largest daily newspaper profiles my selection as chair of Asia-Pacific subcommittee. http://tiny.cc/sv3l2

The congressman is so hot in Korea right now. They talk about him constantly.

Representative Chris Lee: @chrislee_ny26 Wonder why NORAD started tracking Santa more than 50 yrs ago? Check out the history behind it at http://bit.ly/fqQUdz (h/t @mikeallen)

I always thought it was because anything traveling that fast gets mistaken for a ballistic missile.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: @RosLehtinen Always glad to give interviews for Princeton school newspaper! http://yfrog.com/h88gccj

And to keep constituents happy, it seems.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: @RosLehtinen Pleased 2 b w/Bader/Kaplan fmly in my Miami Cong office. Young lady heading off to college soon! http://yfrog.com/h7zlnpj

Uh-oh. Seems like someone’s getting a little photo-op happy.

Representative Glenn Thompson: @CongressmanGT With Clinton Cnty owner of 43 yr business to discuss how big gov hurts #business & Obamacare would kill it. No business=No jobs #tcot #rs

Food for thought, Congressman: Over the last 43 years, the United States experienced efforts both to grow and to shrink the size of government.

Representative Mary Bono Mack: @MaryBonoMack Only 21% of Americans want the FCC to regulate the internet. A majority believe that #net neutrality will promote a political agenda. . . .

Over the remaining 79 percent, how many actually grasp what net neutrality means?

Representative John Shimkus: @RepShimkus 111th Congress added $3.22T to the debt. That’s 3-times more than the last GOP majority (109th Congress added $1.05T)

I’ve got to confess, I’ve never really like the whole approach of “Well, we were bad, but they were worse!”

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