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
mountain man
January 5th, 2013
12:57 pm
“For that reason, reasonable people may agree to restrictions that do not hurt the economy significantly but no more until there is more conclusive evidence.”
That is where I am also. I am a great proponent of energy conservation (negawatts), because not only does it not have a negative economic effec, it can have a positive economic effect. I even wrote Energy Secretary Chu when Obama was looking for “shovel-ready” projects for economic stimulus (he never wrote back, and rather than give loans to individuals and churches, for example, to install ground-source heat pumps, he chose to loan money to Solyndra). Leave the carbon tax out of it until we have more data.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
January 5th, 2013
1:01 pm
Local vertical land movement – So, the savant from Dekalb County was on to something regarding Guam after all?
Does climate change cause that, or is it man made weight gain, or is is just Bush’s fault?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:01 pm
OK, let’s try this in stages.
td – Kamchak is lying. There is no such thing going on at kookman’s blog.
I didn’t say anyone was name jacking at Jay’s what I said was, “the same individual is next door at Jay’s trying to be provocative as well”
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
1:02 pm
“Well hopefully Kyle and Jay will ban the IP address. I wish they would change the rules to publish the IP address, email address and screen name of all name jackers.”
Banning IP addresses does nothing to fix the problem, since that is reset upon a reconnection to the Internet by DHCP with any modern Windows OS. And there are many other ways to change or alter one’s IP address. Requiring registration with a working e-mail address will help things, but a person may have and create any number of addresses – so it is only akin to a speed bump. Probably the best approach would involve automatic programmatic content screeners that would, in effect, flag any posted comment that violated one of the rules. I don’t know what software is commercially available for this purpose, but one can custom code a pretty good solution if desired.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:05 pm
Kamchak – Who’s being “provocative” over at kookman’s?
Hillbilly D
January 5th, 2013
1:06 pm
The only remedy that I see is to convert the blogs to the same register and sign in that the rest of the AJC site uses.
That’s probably about the only way and that’s not 100%. One drawback, however, is that I tried to post a response to an news article on AJC, when they first started doing that, a while back. It wouldn’t let me post under this name, said it was taken (even though I never registered it anywhere), and it wouldn’t let me register under another name. I’d say they got bugs to work out.
The baseball team blogs are run by Discus (which has it’s own problems). One thing there is that people post under names, just like here, but a quick move of the cursor over a screen name revels the IP address to all the world. There are name-jackers there, as well, but they are easy enough to spot.
getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:07 pm
The libs and cons got along last night.
Dusty was even nice for a change.
If she can do it, all you cons can do it too.
getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:10 pm
There are no rules on Discus comments so I like to use it at drudge links.
I invited td over there but he refused.
If you want to fight with no rules, Discus threads are the best.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:11 pm
Registering an account with a screen name so that you have to sign in to that account to use that screen name is a simple, fool proof way to resolve the issue. But then what would the liberals do for excitement?
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
1:11 pm
You have to love politicians who act upon impulse rather than reasoned and sound decisions (and many, if not most, are that way):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/04/connecticut-lawmaker-wants-names-gun-owners-to-be-made-public/
How do these guys get into office, anyway – the whole lot of them. It’s like choosing a team on the basketball court but none of the real athletes want to play.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:11 pm
Fourth try:
Notice how Kamchak seems to be here just for the opportunity to attack Conservative bloggers? I’m not going to accuse it of name jacking but if the shoe fits….
No one on these blogs — with the possible exception of Granny Godzilla — has been name jacked more than me, so I will not engage in what I deem to be a reprehensible act. I was name jacked on a daily basis next door at Cynthia Tucker’s blog, undoubtedly by the same sociopath.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:14 pm
Who’s being “provocative” over at kookman’s?
twinkie boy. AKA: Communist AJC, LA, Who Dat?, Grand Forks, the gerbil, Fresh Prince etc.
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
1:15 pm
“Registering an account with a screen name so that you have to sign in to that account to use that screen name is a simple, fool proof way to resolve the issue.”
That would solve the problem of name-jacking. It does not solve the problem of people logging on to deliberately violate the rules of the blog and re-institute the “bedtime” policy.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:19 pm
Hillbilly D
I had trouble registering until I turned off the ghostery plug-in. It seems the plug in was interfering with the process. There is a box with letters/numbers that you have to repeat, but I could never see the box until I paused ghostery.
Upchuck
January 5th, 2013
1:19 pm
“No one on these blogs — with the possible exception of Granny Godzilla — has been name jacked more than me, so I will not engage in what I deem to be a reprehensible act. I was name jacked on a daily basis next door at Cynthia Tucker’s blog, undoubtedly by the same sociopath.”
There is no need to name jack when you can create a similar moniker/handle for satiric purposes – isn’t that right, Kamchak? I think it is important to…uuhhh…[Lifts toilet seat] HUUUURGGEHH…
Hillbilly D
January 5th, 2013
1:19 pm
If you want to fight with no rules, Discus threads are the best.
I haven’t been on any Discus threads except the baseball team sites. It’s rare but I have seen a couple of people get banned there. They also have a filter, sort of like what this site uses, that flags on certain words, etc. and holds posts in moderation, except there, once they’re in moderation, they never seem to come out.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:19 pm
Who’s being “provocative” over at kookman’s?
twinkie boy. AKA: Communist AJC, LA, Who Dat?, Grand Forks, the gerbil, Fresh Prince etc.
Oh, I get it. A “Conservative” posts his point of view over at kookman’s and that’s provocative. And, if I’m following this bizarre train of thought correctly, that same provocative “Conservative” comes over to the Wingnut blog and jacks the names of, get this…….Conservatives.
Okay.
Echo Chamber Worker
January 5th, 2013
1:25 pm
“Oh, I get it. A “Conservative” posts his point of view over at kookman’s and that’s provocative.”
Absolutely, as that destroys the harmony of the echoes in the chamber. And then that is felt all the way up the Matrix. Soon agents are sent and things get bad quickly.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:25 pm
Oh, I get it.
No, it’s painfully obvious you do not.
A “Conservative” posts his point of view over at kookman’s and that’s provocative.
No, twinkie boy has been trying to stir things up for days over there, but not by “post[ing] his point of view.”
that same provocative “Conservative” comes over to the Wingnut blog and jacks the names of, get this…….Conservatives.
The guy is first and foremost a sociopath
Big Daddy
January 5th, 2013
1:26 pm
Kyle
I tried to tell you. Mind you there is that crazy fool who is name jacker, but most of the other culprits didn’t disappoint.
Seeing that has been their m.o for years on these blogs, why would they change.
Heck I think you have had to scold and suspend some of the same ones I mentioned
Oh well, back to monitoring.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:31 pm
Echo – Take it even a step further, what if the likes of “twinkie” et al were straw men being posted by a liberal? To make Conservatives look bad and keep the libs all righteously foamed up? It wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
Really, all the intelligent Conservatives that ever posted over there are long gone. She even banned @@. @@ for God sakes.
Sigmund F.
January 5th, 2013
1:32 pm
“The guy is first and foremost a sociopath”
Yah…I can most definitely affirm that diagnosis though I have never met the person or interviewed him. His superego is at war with his id and that allows many, many suppressed subconscious impulses arising from trauma in the womb to manifest themselves in antisocial behavior, such as interacting on AJC political blogs. I would suggest he undergo a frontal lobotomy (as many so-called “progressives” seem to already have).
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:32 pm
Worth reposting here:
Jay
January 4th, 2013
5:40 pm
And just for the record, in a previous alter ego “Upchuck” was pleading for more civility, politeness and straightforward debate on issues.
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
1:33 pm
Stop the madness:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/01/03/putnam-county-wont-give-gun-info-to-paper/
Big Daddy
January 5th, 2013
1:35 pm
Not sure how intelligent they were, but except for one or two, you mean banned for their stupidity and unwillings and ability to act like an adult
That’s what you meant, but no problem. Glad I could clear it up.
No need to thank me.
MarkV
January 5th, 2013
1:36 pm
Dusty @ 12:47 pm
“I believe the earth is changing and always has with or without emissions.”
Dusty,
That is as science-ignorant statement as can be. Since you are working in the health field, let’s try this good measure: The human body is changing and always will. So let’s ignore any signs that some people (like physicians) call illness.
“If we could post “canaries” all over the world, perhaps we could get a more definite approach. “
We do not need canaries anymore. We have instruments, both in mines and around the world.
“I find the nebulous climate and weather control not on my first list of what to do next. “
That is you opinion. Scientists have a different one. And there is nothing nebulous about climate changes.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:38 pm
Big Daddy – Define intelligence.
td
January 5th, 2013
1:38 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:11 pm
Fourth try:
Notice how Kamchak seems to be here just for the opportunity to attack Conservative bloggers? I’m not going to accuse it of name jacking but if the shoe fits….
“No one on these blogs — with the possible exception of Granny Godzilla — has been name jacked more than me,”
I will give you a run for your money on that one. I was name jacked on Jim’s blog before the 2010 elections multiple times per day for a few months.
Big Daddy
January 5th, 2013
1:39 pm
*willingness
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 5th, 2013
1:39 pm
Obozo couldn’t even get cap-and-trade through a filibuster-proof Congress.
Must not have been all that important.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:42 pm
I was name jacked on Jim’s blog before the 2010 elections multiple times per day for a few months.
Not even close. Tucker’s blog was up and running for at least two years.
td
January 5th, 2013
1:42 pm
MarkV
January 5th, 2013
1:36 pm
“That is you opinion. Scientists have a different one. And there is nothing nebulous about climate changes.”
Over the past 5 or so years there are more and more scientist on the other side of the argument coming out and saying man made global warming has a far less impact then the scientist you believe are saying.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
January 5th, 2013
1:42 pm
Whoops—’Cash for Clunkers’ Actually Hurt the Environment
http://news.yahoo.com/why-cash-clunkers-hurt-environment-more-helped-024848694.html
————————–
Now the helpless blue-stater Sandy victims know who to blame.
MarkV
January 5th, 2013
1:43 pm
mountain man @ 12:32 pm
“ At one time all the “expert” geologists were theorizing a “land bridge” …” “At one time the “experts” knew the earth was flat. Until evidence proved them wrong. …”
You have just provided a first class refutation of the argument of the deniers that earlier some people thought the earth was cooling.
“We know that over geologic time CO2 levels have been WAY higher than today.”
Yes, and earth temperatures were way higher than now.
“When the evidence comes in of a GLOBAL rise of sea level of 1 foot, then I will accept the global climate change THEORY. “
Hopefully, people will not be that horrendously ignorant to wait for that.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:45 pm
Hopefully, people will not be that horrendously ignorant to wait for that.
They already are.
JamVet
January 5th, 2013
1:47 pm
Over the past 5 or so years there are more and more scientist on the other side of the argument coming out and saying man made global warming has a far less impact then the scientist you believe are saying.
100% wrong, and why you will never provide even one single, solitary link, citation, reference or quote.
MarkV
January 5th, 2013
1:48 pm
td @ 1:42 pm
“Over the past 5 or so years there are more and more scientist on the other side of the argument coming out and saying man made global warming has a far less impact then the scientist you believe are saying.”
Actual surveys show that about 97-98 % of climatologists are convinced of global warming and the role of humans in it.
carlosgvv
January 5th, 2013
1:49 pm
Barry – 9:08
No, I don’t have any idea what you mean.
What I do know is that you started at the bottom, and it’s been downhill every since.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 5th, 2013
1:52 pm
OK, I’ll answer my question as to what constitutes intelligence and civility over at what’s left of the kookman blog, now that all of the thoughtful Conservatives have been banned, I give you the last five comments from there -
I dropped my twinkie
January 5th, 2013
1:29 pm
You eating a whole bottle of baby aspirin proves that you’re not smart.
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getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:31 pm
twink,
I was two years old.
When are you going to grow up and act like an adult?
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I dropped my twinkie
January 5th, 2013
1:34 pm
Get, yes you are two years old.
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getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:35 pm
twink,
How old are you?
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indigo
January 5th, 2013
1:35 pm
twinkle toes – 10:05
I don’t know what makes you so stupid, but it really works.
And believe me, it’s been that way for a while now.
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
1:54 pm
“And just for the record, in a previous alter ego “Upchuck” was pleading for more civility, politeness and straightforward debate on issues.”
Yes…I recall. That is when debate was actually occurring rather than the childish “ankle-biting” persisted in by certain posters on Jay’s blog – you know, the sort that only care to post repetitive and inane things like “drudgey spam”, “there’s your sign”, “the smoking gun is in the mushroom cloud” and so on. Have any idea who that might be, Kamchak? Actually, this is the most I have seen you post in an truly argumentative way – ever. Good for you! I like it.
What does JS say is the purpose of satire?
As with a moral View design’d
To cure the Vices of Mankind:
His vein, ironically grave,
Expos’d the Fool, and lash’d the Knave.
It’s all in good fun, to hold up a kind of mirror to people’s behavior.
I am as game to satirized as the next person. You don’t object to Redneck Convert’s posts do you? That is satire, to be sure.
getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:55 pm
Where are the Friday document dumps and scandals with this President?
Where are the endless hearings from the rw conspiracy nuts?
You cons are slippin.
getalife
January 5th, 2013
1:57 pm
Yes, I talked to a twinkie.
So?
What is your point?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 5th, 2013
1:58 pm
Good for you! I like it.
Most excellent.
Because when I first awoke this morning I said to myself, “Self, what can you do today to make towncrier like me more?”
Always gratifying to have my goals validated.
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
2:00 pm
“What is your point?”
That you add next to nothing to any ongoing debate but are mostly content to snark on the sidelines. Show me where you have ever debated anything using reasoning and evidence at length? I mean, I have no IDEA what your positions are except that you seem to despise conservatives.
Big Daddy
January 5th, 2013
2:02 pm
Town
You don’t call names and ankle bite at all, huh?
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
2:03 pm
Alright…I’m out guys. Have a great afternoon. It will be nice to get some warmer weather next week!
getalife
January 5th, 2013
2:03 pm
crier,
I cut the bs and tell it like it is.. Like Christie on this issue.
I have been blogging for over a decade and don’t answer to any con.
Towncrier
January 5th, 2013
2:08 pm
“You don’t call names and ankle bite at all, huh?”
I have in the past – part of the time. But no more. If someone’s views or behavior are consistently off kilter, then I may satirize them from time to time – especially when little is being debated. It is much better than name calling and ankle biting, because it is humorous and can cause us all to reflect. I really like Redneck Convert’s posts on Jay’s blog. There is a shred of truth in them for conservatives.
Okay…now I’m gone.
td
January 5th, 2013
2:15 pm
“John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel, and various other critics have called the theory that human use of carbon-based fossil fuels will lead to catastrophic global warming or climate change a “hoax.” It is, but it’s more than that, it’s criminal.”
“Here are some of the scientific questions at the core of this issue:
Is the climate changing? Of course. The climate always has changed and always will.
Is the earth getting warmer? We should hope so for at least two reasons: First, the world emerged from the Little Ice Age in the 19th century, so it would be worrisome if it weren’t getting warmer. Second, all the history indicates that humans thrive more during warmer periods than colder ones.”
“Are we humans causing the warming by our carbon emissions? Actually, most of the “greenhouse effect” is due to water vapor, which makes one wonder why the EPA hasn’t designated H2O a harmful pollutant that they must regulate. Meteorologist Brian Sussman’s calculations in his book “Climategate” show humanity’s share of the greenhouse effect as .9 of 1 percent.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/09/16/climate-change-hoax-or-crime-of-the-century/
getalife
January 5th, 2013
2:33 pm
Tell Christie it is a 60 billion dollar hoax.
We will need more money for extreme weather disasters and fast reaction teams to save lives.
We should be getting better responding to extreme weather disasters not worse like the gop house did.