Democrats & Liberals: Archives

How many of us live in states that have representatives who load bills with pork projects? All of us! Why are we voting for these people?

I don’t know. I used to. But, no more.

I’ll give ya 20:1 odds that there’s not a single State Rep. who doesn’t add some Pork to the barrel.

Our government is gambling for much higher stakes. The lives of the American people.

That’s a little extreme don’t you think. Now if you said they were gambling with our countries future - the environment, economic stability, economic competitiveness, standard of living, world leadership status … I’d go along with that.

I’ll give ya 20:1 odds that there’s not a single State Rep. who doesn’t add some Pork to the barrel.

Tony, you could give 1000:1 odds and anyone would still be crazy to take that bet. lol

Why are we voting for these people?

I’m with Dan on this one. I’m tired of both parties spending money that is not there, loading bills with pork, etc… I’m not sure I’ll be voting straight non-party in the coming elections (it depends on the cantidates) but I certainly won’t be fooled into voting for one party just because they are a “lesser of 2 evils” again… Both main parties have become just about equally evil in my book. I’ve had enough, and I think its time for a change.

Thanks for the post, Andre. One of the most basic, enduring principles of government is its responsibility to protect and defend its citizens. But with 5 of 8 FEMA execs having no disaster management experience (and what we’ve seen in NO as a result), it’s pretty safe to conclude that our government has failed that test.

There are many embarrasing pieces to this pie, to be sure, but one must surely be the focus on the next terrorist strike at the exclusion of other disasters — one reason why 3 out of every 4 FEMA dollars since 9/11 has been earmarked for counter-terrorism efforts. And you’re right…this administration did a good job of scaring us into buying the next man-made disaster instead of the next natural disaster. Yeah, hindsight is 20/20, but that’s no excuse when the safety of the people is as stake. By taking our eye off of natural disaters, our sole national focus became the next man-made disaster. Worse, some on the right are still playing that game.

In Virginia, for example, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore has publicly stated that the norious MS-13 gang, which has a cell in Northern VA, has direct ties to Al-Qaeda. But the FBI has also publicly stated that Kilgore’s assertion is false.

Until our leaders, or would-be leaders, stop pandering to fear in order to get votes and pass legislation, we will always have our focus on one form of potential disaster while suffering the consequences of other disasters that never had a chance to make it onto our radar.

What’s the difference between democrats and republicans? I don’t see none! Mainly in the Congress!

When I saw the title of this post, I sort of hoped it was about the Mayor of New Orleans sending all the policemen, firemen and emergency workers on expenses paid vacations to Las Vegas. Not only them, mind you, but their families.

A governement gambling problem indeed!

So let’s see. The city is bankrupt. The city’s infrasructure is destoyed, its services barely functioning or nonexistent. People’s homes are destroyed. The city is still a swamp.

But to hell with all that. Let’s spend money we don’t have to party in Vegas!! Obviously that’s the best use of taxpayer dollars at a time like this.

That tells you all you need to know about NO’s mayor, and goes a long way in explaining the origons of the whole mess and the mayor’s priorites.

You can only imagine what the left’s response would be if Bush’s response to Katrina were to throw a big casino party.

sanger, Nagin is really sending NO employees to Vegas…gratis? You’ve GOT to be kidding me. Can you provide a link to this madness?

sanger:

Talk about ignorance!!! Perhaps you were unaware of the large number of suicides among the NO Police, Firemen and Rescue Workers? Killing yourself is what happens when you abandon your own FAMILY so you could report to duty trying to save STRANGERS!!! I find your attitude and acceptance of stressed induced suicides sickening!!! Really… Republicans need to stop blaming our heroic rescue workers and act more human!!!

Sofocleto wrote, What’s the difference between democrats and republicans? I don?t see none! Mainly in the Congress!

Sofocleto. You’re right. There’s not much difference. See the many similarities here:
home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/MainPartySimilarities.htm

It’s now all too obvious that both parties are sort of just takin’ turns being irresponsible and unaccountable, gettin’ theirs, fillin’ their own pockets, peddlin’ influence, spendin’ like crazy (and I mean crazy), and generally, makin’ fools of all the tax payers (which is pretty accurate, since we amazingly keep votin’ for them….literally empowering them !

Hell of a deal !
I think I’ll run for office !
Get that cu$hy multi-million dollar pen$ion after only a few years,
vote myself some raises (oh that’s right, they’re automatic now),
OK, vote myself some perks and better healthcare, vote some pork-barrel (kick back$, ya know, etc.),
and all the while, laugh my ass off at the idiot voters that keep puttin’ me in office.
Hell yes !

And, the saddest part is, they won’t have to pay the high price that most of the rest of us will have to pay for so many decades of fiscal and moral bankruptcy.

From now on,
I’m only votin’ for non-main party candidates,
every election, repeatedly,
until the Executive branch and Congress
(the whole entity, that one team) starts solving
this nation’s top ten most important problems.

What should be on that top 10 hit list ?
Or perhaps it should be to 20 ?
Here’s a list to start with:

home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/PressingProblemsFacingTheUS_NoBackLinks.htm
I send that list to congress once per month (because it keeps growing…the problems keep growing in number and severity).
Feel free to send it to your Senators and Representatives, and Executive Branch.

And, here’s some solutions for some of these probelms: home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/NinePointPlan.htm

And, here’s the reasons and benefits:
home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/BenefitsAndReasons.htm

Maybe if we start naggin’ the hell out of them, start votin’ their lazy, greedy butts out of office, then maybe they’ll start acting so irresponsibly. If they don’t we ought to keep votin’ them out, and recalling some of these clowns, until they start addressing at least 10 of the most obvious, uncontentious, no-brainer problems on the list.

So, come on everyone.
Be a pest.
Send this list of pressing problems to your governments and tell them you’re all gonna start votin’ non-incumbent/non-main-party if they don’t start acting responsibly, and start solving some of these many problems they’ve been ignoring for so long.

Here is a link to the story

Aldous, suicidal cops, firemen and rescue workers is a problem to be addressed by mental health care professionals, not Neil Diamond singing in a rhinestone suit.

Shipping emergency workers off to play the one-armed bandits in Vegas is not a responsible fiscal policy at a time of city-crisis, and it is no way of addressing their mental health needs either.

All it is is a way of showing that the same incompetent leadership and absurd priorities that led to the Katrina disaster in the first place.

tony:

I?ll give ya 20:1 odds that there?s not a single State Rep. who doesn?t add some Pork to the barrel.

I wouldn’t take that bet, but we have a close call. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Sen. Russ Feingold from Wisconsin has been about as good as it can get from Washington in the realm of pork. He has fought against it at almost every turn. He’s a Dem, and was quite the spender in the state senate when he was there, so I’m not quite sure what happened between Madison, WI and DC.

Feingold has a number of stances I do not agree with, but his aversion to pork is one I definitely applaud him for (hanging preposition and all).

sanger:

Once again the ignorance!!! Where do you think the Government are sending the Mental Healthcare Professionals? Las Vegas is being turned into a convenient halfway House where those who need the most help can be processed.

I suppose you favor letting all the suicidals stay in New Orleans? I can imagine why Republicans think the lives of a few Rescue People would be a waste of taxpayer money. Republicans DID cut FEMA’s budget repeatedly afterall.

sanger,

You talked about showing responsible fiscal policy at a time of city-crisis. I have two quesitons for you:

I’ll give ya 20:1 odds that there?s not a single State Rep. who doesn?t add some Pork to the barrel.

Chi Chi wrote: I wouldn?t take that bet, but we have a close call. I can?t believe I?m saying this, but Sen. Russ Feingold from Wisconsin has been about as good as it can get from Washington in the realm of pork.

Well, McCain isn’t one of the worst, and he has been a pork-barrel critic. But, recently he sneaked a $1 million dollar item (for the brown tree snake in Guam) into the 2005 defense appropriations bill.
____________________________________

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold seems to be one of the few that is pretty responsible (regarding pork-barrel). The only questionable item perhaps (on Funding for Chronic Wasting Disease , August 13, 2002) was when Feingold was disappointed that the $17 million contained in the bill to fight Chronic Wasting Disease was blocked. CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affecting elk and deer (cervids) in North America.
______________________________
OK, this is important, but we’ve probably got much more important matters to deal with.

Otherwise, Feingold seems to be one of the more responsible politicians. But, he and others like him need to be waving big red flags, and explaining to the people how all this pork and waste is bankrupting the country. Sure, politics operates on a bit of grease, but there’s way too much of it.

So, that brings the odds down to 1 : 535
Still, I’d be afraid to take that bet, because there may be some pork-barrel we don’t know about. After all, with bills laden with so much pork, consisting of tens of thousands of pages, it’s hard to tell for sure…which is why we need a law that restricts bills to ONE purpose ONLY . Then, we’ll know exactly who voted for or against a bill, and they won’t be able to dance around the real reasons (i.e. bringin’ home the pork-barrel, etc.).

d.a.n.,

How dare you call for simplifying government processes?
Next thing you’ll want is transparency in government.
Or competent leaders who don’t know how to use those wonderful loopholes in the tax laws.
Have you noticed that the biggest @$$ holes know the best loopholes. Dick Cheney is a great example.

Ain’t it the truth.

Yes, it didn’t take long to pervert the tax code so that those that abuse wealth and power could abuse the tax laws and lower income tax payers, but it takes an eternity to just get a stupid tax, like the “marraige penalty” tax, to get reduced (it still hasn’t been removed, and it may be re-instated). Congress can vote itself a raise, and vote for pork-barrel in a heart-beat, but they can’t vote for fair taxes, election reform, term limits, etc.

By the way, I agree with your statement:

Our government is gambling for much higher stakes. The lives of the American people.

This is not the first time some have committed criminal negligence that killed many people. In the past, in California, there have been damns that gave way due to negligence. Some were held criminally responsible. But, I doubt anyone in government will ever be held accountable for any of the mess in New Orleans. Local and state governments are mostly the problem, because they repeatedly ignored the looming disaster. Then when it occurred, they blamed everyone else.