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Friday, January 19, 2007

Dear Joe

Dear Joe,

Normally I write about what I want to and not what someone else wants me to. But as I stumbled across this story on CNN.com I couldn't help but be reminded of your complaint. Even though it was like complaining that someone hasn't finished their Christmas shopping on Aug 21st (oh the humanity!!!), I decided to respond.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Democrats brought their "100-hour" legislative
agenda to a successful close Thursday evening with passage of legislation
designed to force oil and gas companies to pay more royalties on some offshore
leases and end subsidies and tax deductions they have been receiving amid record
prices for crude.

The final vote on the bill -- the sixth of six items Democrats had vowed to
pass in 100 hours of legislative action -- was 264 to 163, with 36 Republicans
crossing the aisle to support the Democrat-sponsored bill.

The House finished work on all six measures in about 42 hours of floor
time, less than half the limit set on their self-imposed clock. However, the
legislation must still navigate the Senate, which tends to operate at a more
leisurely pace, and could also face President Bush's veto pen.


Your Friend,

That Damn Dirty Hippie

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Dems did not make their hundred hour deadline, and it is only by creative timekeeping that they are making this claim (consider the source - CNN is generally as slanted to te left as Fox is to the right).

In short, the Democrats aren't count minutes spent on business unrelated to those six bills, which makes the boast meaningless. By this method of timekeeping, they might as well have promised a hundred new bills in the first hundred days.

Anyway, its not the speed with which legislation is passed or the quantity of legislation but the quality that matters, right?

Sure, it's a rather petty criticism (the Starkist affair is not so petty), but you know you'd be griping about it if it were comng from the other side of the aisle.

If you want to continue to naively champion the Dems, go ahead. You are setting yourself up for persnal disappointment and public embarrasment.

Basically, the main difference in our views is I hate one more policitcal party than you do.

Have a nice day, ya Damn Dirty Hippie.


http://www.nypost.com/seven/01132007/news/nationalnews/time_stands_still_on_dems_100_hr__clock_nationalnews_.htm

1/19/2007 12:05:00 PM  
Blogger Tom G said...

Actually, I think the difference is you believe most parties are practicing business as usual. To me, that is naive. To recap, here's what has occurred just in the last 6 years (admittedly some of these faults lie with the administration but the Republicans controlled the oversight responsibilities):
- Spying of US citizens without a warrant
- Claiming right to torture (at least what was constituted as torture before they changed the definition)
- Attacking a country without provocation
- Everything surrounding Katrina
- The billions of dollars unaccounted for in Iraq
- The lack of habeus corpus rights to US citizens

I could go on and on but I would hope this gets my point across.


BTW, I agree with all the legislation. Am I supposed to "fake outrage" just so I can appear balanced. Balanced doesn't mean you have an equal number of example, if those examples don't have the same weight. Is it balanced to have both the scientist and Intelligent Design dude views on evolution?

CNN as unreliable as Fox - eyes rolling (who is the equivalent to Glenn Beck on Fox from a liberal vantage point?). And I guess Craig's List is now a legitimate news source.

I enjoy that whenever I point out facts that contradict your worldview they are dismissed. Either the source is biased or the calculation is wrong. Beautiful! And I'm the one without an open enough mind.

1/19/2007 01:19:00 PM  
Blogger Mike K said...

Wow. What a worthless article! Does it really matter how the 100 hours were tracked? What really matters is what was passed. As far as I'm concerned... they did a lot in a short period of time. End of story.

As far as the Starkist thing goes.... Give it up! Need I bring up the bridge that goes to nowhere in Alaska? Talk about corruption at the tax payers expense!

Most likely the Somoa minimal wage thing will be fixed. It also has not been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Pelosi excluded them intentionally.

1/19/2007 01:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It very much matters how the hours are tracked. There nothing unusual about it taking under a hundred hours to process 6 bills; whatwould hav ebeen notable is pushing thru 6 bills in the first hundred hours of Congress time. Why are you so quick to defend this lame and misleading boast? You like people in suits or something? You really think the Dems are the party that cares, don't you.

If Lou Dobbs were dead he'd be turning over in his grave.

Oh, and bring up the Alaska bridge thing by all means (I assume you are referring to the 'Internet is a bunch of tunnels' brain trust). I have no use for that scum bag. You're the partisan guy, not me.

Why do you have such faith in Pelosi? On what basis do you say that the Samoan minimum wage thing will 'most likely be fixed'? Faith?

Why can't you be skeptical of BOTH parties? I say this matter of factly, not venemously. You might well have a high IQ and be a nice person, but you are incredibly naive. Trust needs to be earned, not won by default.

Boy are you in for a grand disillusionment.

1/19/2007 02:06:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom-

Re: business as usual

No, I would agree that the W admin is uniquely horrific. But I said as much a post or two ago (ie. "I think W is the worst president we've ever had").

Also, I said the CNN is generally as slanted to the left as Fox and I stand by that.

I would add however that I think CNN overall is more polished than FOX, more professional, less sensational. But certainly no less politically biased.

CNN might be compared to a left biased broadsheet (like the NY Times or WA Post - biased but an excellent prioduction in many respects nonetheless), whereas FOX is like a right biased tabloid (think NY Post).

1/19/2007 02:17:00 PM  
Blogger Tom G said...

Yeah, I'm naive. That and being a damn dirty hippie!!! Get a life, please Joe. So even though you agree that the past 6 years have been uniquely bad, both sides are equally bad. SIGH! Woe is me! My head hurts from trying to figure out that logic. Then again, why would I expect logic from someone who thinks Fox News and CNN are the same thing just on opposite sides of the spectrum. Again, tell me which liberals have a show on Fox? There are opposing viewpoints found by columnists and shows on CNN and NY Times.

BTW, up until recently you were supporting The Bush/McCain Excellent Adventure. Funny how quick you were to be skeptical of the Bush administration.

1/19/2007 03:13:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're confused.

First, regarding CNN amd Fox, opinion shows don't come into the equation when one talks of bias in reporting. Shows where the host or hosts have obvious positions(either right or left or right vs left, as the case may be) is the video equivalent of an opinion column in a newspaper - they are openly opinionated.

When people talk of bias they are talking about the way the news is reported - what stories are selected, how they are reported and edited and so forth. What you're saying is like reading a right wing or left wing Op-Ed piece and saying "HOW BIASED!" (Smacks forehead in frustration)

Now, regarding W and the war...

You won't find a post of mine
anywhere where I support Bush. I've always been critical of W ,and I've always held the position, as I do now, that regardless of whether we ever shuld have went in to Iraq, the conclusion must be satisfactory for the US and its interests.

The Dems and hippies like yourself seem to salivate at the prosepct of an American 'defeat', as though its a defeat for W and not their country and its interests.

As for the question of whether or not the troops should've gone in, that question became moot the second the first soldiers boot hit the ground. Having gone in, we must finish what was started. If we simply up and run, as the Dems seem to want to do, we would in effect be handing the country over to Mugtada al-Sadr (essentially a proxy for Iran) and an assmeblage of competing interests (Al Quaeda, Sunni 'insurgents', former Baathists, etc.) Essentially, the place would at best be the new Lebanon and at worst be an extention of a nucler Iran. This is unacceptable.

Moreover, while the public generally disapproves of the way the war is being handled, they are not in favor of 'redeployment'. If the dems are perceived as 'cutting and running' instead of finishing what was started, they will pay a huge price for it at the polls.

I have no idea what you mean by 'Bush and McCain's Excellent Adventure". As for Ws 'surge' plan, I think its inane. Not because he wants to asend more troops, but because he isn't sending nearly enough. I suspect they would need tenfold the amount proposed by Bush.

However, I certainly hope they do succeed, because unlike you, I realize this is America's fight, not W's fight, and a 'loss' there is an American proiblem, not a W problem.

1/19/2007 03:43:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Also, I don't know what your point is with respect to this issue of who's worse, the dems or repubs.

Its really quite simple - I sincerely loathe both parties; they ar eboth bad enough to warrant our suspcion and skepticism at every turn, and anyone who doesn't is a fool in my opinion. I don't find it particularly meaningful to argue over which one shold be labled 'worstest' - both are bad enough. If you derive some satisfaction out of giving the label of 'worstest' to the Republicans, be my guest - I don't care.

Take a deep breath.

1/19/2007 03:49:00 PM  
Blogger Tom G said...

(Banging head in frustration)That's right, (1) I'm gloating for the thousands of Americans lost and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis lost (2) I want America to be defeated. Guess when someone disagrees with you the best solution is to attck their patriotism. Then again, I am a damn dirty hippie and should be shackled in Guantanamo with all the other freedom hating losers.

So to summarize, we need to be skeptical about whether the Dems actually passed 6 bills in 100 true Congressional hours but we shouldn't be skeptical of the administration's torture tactics (I do recall us arguing over this so I assume you took the administration's side).

For someone who claims to be "independent", you sure crammed a bunch of GOP/Fox News talking points into 1 comment. And for your fragile ego, no, I'm not calling you a Republican. I'm just pointing out your use of their talking points.

1/19/2007 03:56:00 PM  

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