While working Americans choose between filling their tanks and filling their refrigerators, a Republican senator threw a Capitol Hill birthday party for his bulldog — custom baby carriage, cowboy hat, and all.

West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice hosted the celebration for Babydog's seventh birthday earlier this September, the Daily Caller reported. Dozens of politicians, staffers, and journalists showed up. Babydog wore a cowboy hat and red bandana and was rolled down a Capitol hallway in a custom baby carriage. Photos were available afterward.

This isn't even the first time. During the October 2025 federal government shutdown — when federal workers were furloughed and sent home without pay — Justice threw Babydog another party, complete with balloons and bulldog-themed cake pops. Staffers lined up and applauded as she was wheeled around.

Days after this year's bash, Justice told the Washington Examiner that his own party has "glossed over" normal Americans who are "really hurting" from high housing, fuel, and grocery prices.

"We, as Republicans, can become tone deaf," Justice said. "I think we, as Republicans, should own it. This is not to say, 'Well, our president screwed up, or Congress screwed up,' or whatever it may be. We ought to own it. Period."

He's right about the tone-deaf part. Diesel averaged $6.50 per gallon nationwide as of late September. The midterm landscape is dominated by cost-of-living anger. And a sitting GOP senator is throwing parties for his pet on the taxpayer's dime in the people's building.

The Daily Caller framed the episode as a moment of self-reflection for Justice, noting a staffer may have nudged him after realizing how bad it looks when diesel hits $6.50 and you're partying with your dog. Justice's donor ties — who funds the man who can afford custom carriages for his bulldog — remain an open question neither outlet explored.

Meanwhile, HotAir reported on another Republican who appears to have been gaming the system from a different angle: former Rep. Adam Kinzinger is under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for prediction-market trades he made tied to his own presidential pardon.

Kinzinger admitted he placed wagers on Kalshi — a prediction market platform — on whether he would receive a pardon from Joe Biden and on whether Biden would issue preemptive pardons before leaving office. He claimed he had "no inside information" because he had been out of Congress for two years. "I was not a congressman or candidate, and had been out of office for two years, and had no inside information," Kinzinger said.

HotAir wasn't buying it, noting Kinzinger's proximity to the Biden White House and the Jan. 6 committee apparatus. He received that pardon in Biden's final hours. Both the CFTC and Kalshi are reviewing the trades.

Two Republicans, two snapshots of the same problem. One throws Capitol parties for his dog while constituents can't afford groceries. The other bets on his own pardon and swears he had no inside track. Justice at least admitted the GOP is tone deaf. Kinzinger just denies everything.

But admission without action is just another performance — and the working Americans who built this country aren't on the guest list for either show.