The image is from the same site as in the previous post. Another good one. Clearly there's something really rotten in the state of the Senate when one guy can block legislation. That's minority rules gone wild. Also, it's pretty pathetic that the Ds have, in essence, acquiesced, having little hissy fits but letting the guy go beddie-bye at night. That's filibuster gone even softer than the Rs could have dreamed. (Congressional Ds are nothing if not spineless. Gotta admire the ol' hurler on that score.) In this era of problems potentially fatal to the republic, not to mention the planet, our government simply can't continue to operate under the current Senate rules. And, whereas both parties are perfectly happy with the rules depending on which is in or out of power, if we don't elect enough legislators with the wisdom and guts to make the changes, we may as well toss in the towel. Spend the rest of our savings, have a little fun, then hook up the hose.
On the other hand -- and this makes it even worse -- the guy has a point: he wants the costs of the jobs bill to be folded into the stimulus money. Now he's voted against "pay-go" rules in the past; and, like most Rs, he was fine with the deficits that came from the Bush tax cuts and prescription drug program. So, yeah, he's a hypocrite. (And, I'm told, since being elected, he breathes air.) Plus, there are effects of his action that go far beyond the jobs bill. To make his point by poking it into the eye of so many people is a little raw.
The jobs bill up which he is holding is a pathetic little bill, pared down from a significantly bigger and potentially more effective one on which there'd been some bipartisan agreement, to one made up nearly exclusively of tax cuts; one about which there's little to no enthusiasm from economists. A complete capitulation, in other words, to Republican ideas. Useless and bass-ackwards, just the way they like it. Nevertheless, taking the $18B from the stimulus money, so it doesn't add further to debt, doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me. I admit to not knowing the fine points, or why it might not be possible, if that's the case. Still -- as one who has always believed in the idea of pay-go except in extraordinary circumstances (like the worst economic crisis since the Depression, for example) -- I'd say there's some merit to the guy's demand, even though he seems to be an asshole's asshole.
So here we are, once again, in the throes of stupidity on all sides of the Senate, bounded by outdated and ineffectual rules, with solutions needed, provided inadequately, and still unmanageable. As usual, Jon Stewart explains it best.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Senate After Dark | ||||
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[....Time passes.....] So he just gave up the filibuster, as it seemed Ds were ready to make him stay up all night. But now he's placed a hold on ALL presidential nominees. And, as one of the articles confirms, just a month ago he voted against pay-go rules. So he's still an asshole and a hypocrite, and the Senate rules still suck.
One guy blocking legislation???
ReplyDeleteOh you mean like when ex-Grand Kleagle Robert Byrd (D, West Virginia)spoke non-stop for 14 hours filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964???
Boy its great that Racists like that aren't allowed in the Senate anymore...whatever happened to him???
Gotta give you credit though, admitting Senator Bunning has honorable intentions...
Unlike myself, I've NEVER been able to collect unemployment, even when I've been unemployed...something about how getting "Fired" makes you inellgible...
So Eff all those free loaders!!!
Frank
Yes, Frank. That's exactly what I mean.
ReplyDeleteOh Sid! You have done it! You've convinced me, for the first time, that "throwing in the towell" may be an interesting proposition!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Jon Stewart!
ReplyDeleteOff topic but ties into unemployment.
I have a friend who was laid off at least a year and a half ago..maybe more ..from medical billing. She is still collecting unemployment and just told me she is in the 3rd tier going into the 4th with I think 6 weeks left.
I confess it irks me because I know for a fact she is not looking for work, merely does her required unemployment job fair requirements and is collecting about 200 a week.
And she only worked for them a little over a year.
I on the other hand worked for the hospital for 20 yrs and lifeline (2nd job also contracted through the hospital system),simultaneously during the last 5 yrs, but when I got sick in 2006 and was out all winter on disability and then back out again in May for what was then an undetermined amount of time ..the corp let me go. (I'm in good standing with them/only because of illness at the time) It was only because my position needed to be filled as hardship for staff covering. I could've fought it..but goody-two-shoes that I can be ..I did not want to put others out. I actually told the lifeline boss she'd need to get someone because I didn't want to do that to her since it was just the 2 of us.
Anyway ..disability ran out ..but I was cleared not long after.
I would not take advantage of the system like that and would rather be employed. It just bothers me because I did work so hard all those years. It's the principal of it.
Anyway ..I wonder how many people are just milking the system when they really could get a job? Why aren't unemployment staff doing a better job at checking up. Now people just send out their resumes to corporations and my friend follows protocol but doesn't put her best effort into the resume.
And believe me ..I know people DO need the benefits to sustain them until they can find work. Just that so much is probably being paid out that does not have to be. If my friend was not getting the money ..she'd be working by now... most likely and if you multiply that...
I think there is something to our having created a free handout society kills the work ethic.
That being said ..we are supposed to help the poor and less fortunate... and I would ALWAYS want to do that.
Too bad there isn't an effective way to remove the abusers of the system. My friend knows she has been wrong and confesses it to me out of guilt sometimes ..but the money is coming in and she gets help her family with babysitting.
If that last comment was too off track you can delete if you want either way is okay with me. Just venting. I love my friend and am happy it works out for her ..just when I compare out work hx ..does bug me a little... and I'm probably wrong to feel that and of course never would say it.
ReplyDelete