Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[ATV]

It's not in operation because Clinton was to busy get blow jobs from chubby interns to address real problems that be deemd controversial.

Yes, that's probably it. And just to make sure, it wasn't the months-long Repubelican witchunt, either. It had to have been the 5-minute blowjob. That explains why Yucca Mountain isn't in operation.

[rjs246]

A list of the items deemed 'wasteful' in the stimulus bill by the GOP

My two cents on a few of them...

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
- Would create jobs and have a positive impact on health costs long term. I don't find it wasteful.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
- Not wasteful. Would create jobs and is needed.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
- Irony? Would create jobs. Not wasteful.

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
- Would create jobs short term and provide a service. Not wasteful.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
- Might not belong here but it's money to (relatively) low wage workers. Not wasteful.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
- A drop in the bucket. Would probaby create a small number of jobs and provide a service. Meh, whatever.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
- Again, this will create jobs and potentially prevent future government spending on flood recovery. Not wasteful.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
- Not wasteful at all. Would create job short term and reduce costs long term. It would also reduce dependency on foreign resources.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
- I'm sort of torn since we spend a lot of money fighting massive wildfires in the west every year. I'll say wasteful but could easily be convinced otherwise if something like this is actually effective.

• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
- Summer JOBS programs. Lends itself to increased long-term productivity of the next generation of workers as well. Not wasteful.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
- Creates jobs.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
- Jobs.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
- Jobs.

• $850 million for Amtrak.
- Not wasteful in the slightest. Creates jobs short term. Increases efficiency and reduces dependency on foreign resources long term. If anything this isn't enough money.

Basically everything else I agree would be wasteful and should be cut.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Let me email my congressman with your comments.  Thanks.

[Phanatic]

Feds may limit execs' pay at banks that get aid

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_bailout_6

[rjs246]

Let me email my congressman with your comments.  Thanks.

My point is simply this. The price tag on this thing is huge, but is about 5% of our nation's economy. I doubt that injecting 5% of our nation's worth into the economy will do much. It's actually very easy to argue that this stimulus bill should be 3 times the size that it is if it's actually going to have an immediate impact.

Of course a $2.5 tillion stimulus will never ever EVER get approved, so if we're going to do something on a smaller scale, something that is unlikely no matter what to cause an immediate shift in things we should be focusing long-term as well as short term. So while certain things may not cause a Q3 2009 turnaround in the economy they will have a lasting impact and should be included.


Also, regarding Phanatic's link, I think that if the government is giving banks money to save their business it has every right to dictate the pay scale of its employees until they are operating independently of government sponsorship.

[stalker]

That would depend on how the money is obtained. If collateralized and the government owns bank stock. They should have as much voting rights as their shares entail them to.

[Phanatic]

How is that money going into these companies? Are they just handing over $$$ or are they just giving them loans with the expectation that they'll get their money back at some point. Considering that it is tax payer money they've been given, I think the government should make sure that they're acting responsibly with our money because if they go under that money is gone. If they're just handing it over well... that's just stupid.

[rjs246]

So, uh, does anyone in Washington actually pay their taxes?

What a clusterfarg. Way to vet your nominees, Barry.

[phillymic2000]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_killefer

He should add the tax question to the questions he asks these asshats.

Obama took no questions Tuesday after announcing his choice of Sen. Judd Gregg to be commerce secretary. He left the White House lectern ignoring a shouted question about why so many of his nominees have tax problems.

So when is Mr. President going to answer questions like this and the lobbyist issue? I gave him a pass on the reporter that bugged him about the lobbyist in the press quaters, but has he even had a press conference to talk about that yet?

[rjs246]

The lobbyist question his team has answered citing extenuating circumstances where the nominee's specific skill set were needed. That's a lame answer and he's getting killed for it, but I doubt you'll hear much more from him about it.

The tax evasion question is definitely legit. Missing it on one nominee is embarrassing. Missing it on three is farging negligent.

[phillymic2000]

I do remembering hearing that, and that was when thereporter asked him about the two lobbyists at that point, isn't it up to 17 lobbyists now?

[rjs246]

The administration's rules on lobbyists say that anyone who has been a lobbyist in the past 2 years is not eligible unless they are deemed unique in their skillset and in that case they will be banned from working on issues for (or against) which they lobbied.

I don't know how many of their nominees (there have been over 1000 people nominated for positions in the administration) fall into this gaping loophole, but 17 or so wouldn't be surprising.

Here's the problem, there was no way they would have been able to follow the 'no lobbyists' rule 100%. They had to know that going into this. They had to realize that some of the people they would need would have worked as lobbyists, which is why they created the loophole in the first place. They should have backed off of the rhetoric a little because the truth is that even with these loop holes they are improving things dramatically with the rules they have in place, but because they drove the point home so hard they are looking like fools for doing something that they basically had to do to get the best people on board.

[phillymic2000]

^ 

[Butchers Bill]

The tax evasion question is definitely legit. Missing it on one nominee is embarrassing. Missing it on three is farging negligent.

I find it hysterical that the very people who want to raise taxes, refuse to pay their fair share.

[rjs246]

Um, no one is even considering raising taxes at this point. All stimulus plans being discussed include lowering taxes. Let it go. Your tax dollars are not the beginning middle and end of politics.