About the hold-up in the Sandy relief bill/pork-fest
Liberals’ new favorite Republican is Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor who this week slammed House Republicans for delaying action on a bill with aid for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. (They’ll be back to hating him the next time he goes on an anti-union rant or some such.) As I’ve said before, the real problem lies with those who lard up such bills with extra spending because they know those pet projects have a better chance of passing when attached to such an urgent measure.
Apparently that can be clear even to a politician in the storm-ravaged area, as long as that politician is not a moderate Republican running for re-election in a blue state. From Politicker.com:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously declined to slam House Speaker John Boehner over Congress’ stalled Hurricane Sandy aid, took his argument to the next level this morning and suggested federal lawmakers are partially to blame for the delay in the vote on the package because they insert “things that are totally extraneous” into bills such as this. Although Mr. Bloomberg didn’t specify the extraneous problem items, the legislation has been criticized by Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan for being “packed with funding for unrelated items, such as commercial fisheries in American Samoa and roof repair of museums in Washington, D.C.”
“There’s this ‘Christmas Tree effect’ where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something. The [Obama] administration does that, that’s why you have an omnibus bill — to force everybody to vote for things that would never stand up in the light of day if they were individual,” Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show with John Gambling. “I’m sympathetic. Yelling and screaming at [Mr. Boehner] is just not my style. It may be effective, it may not be. Everybody’s got to make their own decisions. I think the legislative leaders who criticize and those in the Legislature should stop and think, they do exactly the same thing in terms of ladling on things that are totally extraneous but it’s the only way they get them through.”
Exactly. Those who help wreck the legislative process shouldn’t complain when they find the legislative process is a wreck.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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686 comments Add your comment
josef
January 6th, 2013
1:51 pm
ZAMVET
Yeah, and you went to bed last night a liberal (or something resembling that
) and woke up this morning a conservative…jus sayin, but then, really you and I shouldn’t be airing our dirty laundry as guests at Kyle’s… 
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
1:51 pm
Poor Lil BB, his beloved far right wing, quasi-fascist party keeps getting absolutely stomped at the polls by America’s Jewish votes.
The cons have NEVER, EVER, EVER won that demographic in this country.
And guess what “Jew lovers”, (LOL!!!) you never, ever, ever will.
I guess we’re just the stupid, lazy mooches in the 47% who won’t leave the Dem plantation!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
1:54 pm
I’d say we never saw that last post from AmVet before, but of course we already have.
And have.
And have.
And have.
And have.
The one-note misanthrope is alive and well on Kyle’s blog.
mountain man
January 6th, 2013
1:55 pm
“Well, perhaps you’ll believe the 99% then.”
There was a group of climatologist that said that any weathercaster that did not believe in global warming should be immediately fired for incompetence. It is no wonder that 99% profess to believe in global warming with that threat out there. How many climatologist professors have failed students who didn’t accept their doctrine.
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
1:58 pm
One-note misanthrope. I like that! For a low-brow, Jew-hater yourself, that’s not bad, sunspot tibby…
getalife
January 6th, 2013
2:04 pm
Hagel will be Defense leader for the United States and the Pentagon agrees.
The Pentagon hates Israel?
Get a grip, if you were right about anything, President Obama would not have to clean up your mess.
Hate Speech Police
January 6th, 2013
2:06 pm
“Poor Lil BB, his beloved far right wing, quasi-fascist party keeps getting absolutely stomped at the polls by America’s Jewish votes.”
“One-note misanthrope. I like that! For a low-brow, Jew-hater yourself, that’s not bad, sunspot tibby…”
Oh, oh. Someone’s looking to get banned.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
2:06 pm
Once again AmVet posts ignorant and incorrect information (or opinion) about one of the posters on this blog.
Par for the course.
I hate no one or group.
I detest liars.
I have nothing but disdain for those who worship the State and try to use it’s power over the individual.
But I do not hate.
Unlike, of course, AmVet.
As can be seen by virtually each and every one of his posts.
carlosgvv
January 6th, 2013
2:10 pm
mountain man – 1:55
Do you believe a TV station would fire their weather person for not believing in global warming?
What evidence do you have to back up anything you’ve said on this post?
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
2:15 pm
mm, MORE global cooling conspiracies?
All of the tens of thousands of experts from Poland to Japan, from the Royal Academy of Sciences to National Geographic, from NOAA to NASA, from American Astronomical Society to the World Meteorological Organization have sold their souls and thrown away their amazing legacies of scientific discovery and excellence over the past hundred plus years just to p*ss off Republicans.
Too funny…
If this were a football game it would be like the Georgia Tech vs, Cumberland College game of 1922: GT 222, CC – 0
carlosgvv
January 6th, 2013
2:16 pm
Tiberius
Do you have any evidence that these 99% who believe in man made global warming get funding from those who want “preconceived answers.
I do not worship the state.
You, on the other hand, are a true blue worshiping tool of The Republican Party and Big Business.
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
2:17 pm
I have nothing but disdain for America, her people, and our system of government.
Unlike, of course, AmVet.
Towncrier
January 6th, 2013
2:19 pm
““Well, perhaps you’ll believe the 99% then.”
ROFL. Unfazed by my previous rebuke and challenge, he then (undaunted) links to yet another liberal blog article written by no less that this man:
http://sheagunther.org/about/
Truth by consensus. Creepily Orwellian. One more time there, buddy: if what you want to believe was proven, we would not be talking about consensus. I hope you did not invest in real estate in 2006-7 when the “consensus” was you can’t lose in that market.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 6th, 2013
2:21 pm
JamVet: Poor Lil BB, his beloved far right wing, quasi-fascist party
——————–
And yet it is the Democrat party that seeks more and more government control of more and more facets of our lives. And it is the Republican party that seeks to keep the Democrat desire for bigger government and more government intrusion in check.
JamVet: Cheerleader for the liberal fascist Democrat party.
getalife
January 6th, 2013
2:26 pm
Yet, w grew government.
Dr. Freud
January 6th, 2013
2:26 pm
“mm, MORE global cooling conspiracies?
Read this (written by a formerly liberal Jew, by the way) , take two aspirin and don’t call me in the morning:
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-03-11/news/why-i-am-no-longer-a-brain-dead-liberal/
MarkV
January 6th, 2013
2:29 pm
mountain man @ 1:48 pm
“The difference between global warming and other controversial theories is that people are wanting to institute large amounts of new taxes on all energy, a tax that will impact the poor most of all, in order to fix a predicted problem that not everyone agrees is a serious issue.
When 97-98% of those most qualified to judge agree that it is a serious issue, sounds like a pretty good reason to consider it a serious issue.
Kamchak - You cons said Elmer Fudd could defeat Obama, so why didn't you nominate him?
January 6th, 2013
2:30 pm
liberal fascist
There’s your sign.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 6th, 2013
2:33 pm
There’s your sign
I accept your unconditional surrender, madam.
Kamchak - You cons said Elmer Fudd could defeat Obama, so why didn't you nominate him?
January 6th, 2013
2:35 pm
madam
There’s your sign.
getalife
January 6th, 2013
2:36 pm
Let me be clear, if you cons were right about anything, President Obama would not have to spend four years cleaning up your failed party’s mess.
Show some humility and admit this fact.
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
2:37 pm
“Truth by consensus.”
Hello???
Science IS truth by consensus!
Consensus of experiments, evidence, facts and data.
And that is why you cons have NOTHING. Not the first credible alternative explanation, much less superior explanation. Just silly Limbaughesque nonsense that is roundly dismissed for what it is.
Speaking of which, Liberal fascist is just the latest entry in Lil BB’s Republican Dictionary of Made Up Definitions…
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
2:38 pm
“Do you have any evidence that these 99% who believe in man made global warming get funding from those who want “preconceived answers.”
Given that most grants to universities, think tanks, and the like come from government, yes. And given the fact that government has proven that it’s primary function is to control, tax, and expand itself, yes.
“I do not worship the state.”
The you obviously are writing fiction when you post.
“You, on the other hand, are a true blue worshiping tool of The Republican Party and Big Business.”
Once again, I am not a Republican. I’m a Constitutionalist, which is why you lose every debate you have with me. You’re just not enlightened enough for that. I do not mind big business, nor do I mind small business. I like anything that provides me with a useful product at a competitive price.
Which is why I have nothing but disdain for government, as it does neither.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 6th, 2013
2:40 pm
The mess is the unprecedented, un-American level of deficits, debt, poverty, joblessness, and cronyism our nation has been suffering for the last four years. None of which occurred or were caused by the GOP or Our President Bush.
Obozo: A failure of historic proportion.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
2:41 pm
“Let me be clear”
That would be a first . . .
Kamchak - You cons said Elmer Fudd could defeat Obama, so why didn't you nominate him?
January 6th, 2013
2:42 pm
Obozo: A failure of historic proportion.
And yet the best man you could pick to defeat him, couldn’t get the job done.
Big Daddy
January 6th, 2013
2:42 pm
Tiberius
Let’s us know with facts that Big Oil scientists are getting paid worldwide by to come up with a set climate change notion
Thought so
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
2:46 pm
“And that is why you cons have NOTHING.”
Nice absolutist statement from someone who provides nothing but “97% of climatologists agree” as his only argument.
“Not the first credible alternative explanation,”
As if you could define “credible’, let alone recognize it when it bit you on the butt.
“much less superior explanation.”
Just because you don’t like the alternative, doesn’t mean it isn’t superior to yours.
getalife
January 6th, 2013
2:47 pm
Our President’s first term was historic and competent.
Passed a healthcare bill, no new occupations, no collapses, no attacks on the homeland, got obl and aq, etc…
The list of accomplishments is large.
I hope his second term is even better for our country.
Towncrier
January 6th, 2013
2:47 pm
“When 97-98% of those most qualified to judge agree that it is a serious issue, sounds like a pretty good reason to consider it a serious issue.”
Well, then, actually PROVE global warming is mostly anthropogenic. Spend your time and money figuring out how to do that. It will end all of the political campaigning and nonsense.
This from our very own Judith Curry on consensus (linked earlier as well):
http://judithcurry.com/2012/10/28/climate-change-no-consensus-on-consensus/
This from the Wiki on the Global warming controversy:
Speaking to the difficulty of establishing scientific consensus on the precise extent of human action on climate change, John Christy, a contributing author, wrote:
“Contributing authors essentially are asked to contribute a little text at the beginning and to review the first two drafts. We have no control over editing decisions. Even less influence is granted the 2,000 or so reviewers. Thus, to say that 800 contributing authors or 2,000 reviewers reached consensus on anything describes a situation that is not reality.[63]”
He added:
“I’ve written a number of papers about the precision of our climate records. The impact of Kyoto-like proposals will be too small for we scientists to measure due to the natural variations of climate and the lack of precision in our observing system. In other words we will not be able to tell lawmakers with high confidence that specific regulations achieve anything in terms of climate in this country or the world. Additionally, the climate system is immensely complicated and really cannot be tweaked for a predictable outcome.[63]“
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
January 6th, 2013
2:50 pm
“None of which occurred or were caused by the GOP or Our President Bush.”
A bit of a stretch there, LBB. Much of the legwork for this current recession got it’s germination in the Bush administration.
Caused? Somewhat.
Should have been addressed before it got this bad? Absolutely.
JamVet
January 6th, 2013
2:52 pm
Which is why I have nothing but disdain for government.
Unashamed America haters – your new and improved GOP!
Kyle Wingfield
January 6th, 2013
2:53 pm
Immediate commenting is over. Thank the name-jacker.
Towncrier
January 6th, 2013
3:05 pm
“Science IS truth by consensus! Consensus of experiments, evidence, facts and data.”
No, it is not. It is truth by the absence of INVALIDATION. Consent and dissent exist within science, but as part of the process of scientific inquiry. Something can be known to be true when it cannot be INVALIDATED by “experiments, evidence, facts and data”. Consensus of opinion or belief (no matter how sincerely held or seemingly justified by correlations, patterns, models and the like) does NOT VALIDATE a theory.
Again, from Curry’s article:
“The linear model of expertise works well for ‘tame’ problems, where everyone essentially agrees on both the problem and the solution. Successes in managing tame problems are evident in the domains of engineering and regulatory science. Climate change has been framed by the UNFCCC/IPCC as a relatively ‘tame’ problem that requires a straightforward solution, namely the top-down creation of a global carbon market. However, climate change is arguably characterized better as a ‘wicked problem’ or a ‘mess’. ‘Messes’ and ‘wicked problems’ are characterized by multiple problem definitions, methods that are open to contention and solutions that are variable and disputed, and ‘unknown unknowns’ that suggest chronic conditions of ignorance and lack of capacity to imagine future eventualities of both the problem and the proposed solutions.”
I believe she is absolutely correct is what she says. Until someone can figure out a way to untangle this “mess” so that variables can be isolated and tested alone, I am afraid that we are left with the opinions and judgements of “experts”. But that is not scientific truth. It is scientific opinion.
kevin
January 6th, 2013
4:38 pm
For the people of the Sandy flooding it rings loud to mankind. The people of Katrina still recovering…and some may never. Same things with the people of Sandy, it is indeed ashame that we shaun our own people slowly getting them help…I man they need help just like Katrina families but the slow process remains. Put yourself in anyone of those people place and I can assure you it will and has move many of us to tears. America is slipping further and further back and will soon be the laughing stock of the world. Other countries is looking at us….seeing how stupid and how we have let our very own kind down. Yet, we move swiftly to aid, assist, give, support and send our soldiers to other countries; but, can’t do the same things here in America. It is deeply a sad sight to see America’s citizens suffer in both Katrina and Sandy!
mountain man
January 6th, 2013
5:04 pm
http://www.examiner.com/article/global-warming-activists-launch-campaign-to-silence-dissent-among-weathermen