Death to the Fairness Doctrine

There's nothing fair about it.

Democrats Consider Reviving 'Fairness Doctrine'

Congress has more important things to worry about. Leave the private sector alone! Let radio stations broadcast what makes them money, damn it!

Congress and its automatic pay raise

The fact that Congress doesn't even seem to want to take up the issue of foregoing its annual automatic pay raise is impressive. Thankfully, there are a few in Congress who realize that all Americans should tighten their belts. Even those who have contributed to the current financial mess.

(All emphases below are mine).

Matheson again fights automatic pay hike

"Despite the country's economic meltdown, Congress is about to receive an automatic $4,700 pay raise on Thursday — a 2.8 percent increase over the current $169,300 salary for most members.

Rep. Jim Matheson says that is unconscionable, and he's vowing to renew his annual fight to stop such automatic raises. He says the bad economy might just help him win this year, and a government watchdog group is joining his battle to say the raise is a bad idea in such times.

'In a situation where there aren't many people in this country who are seeing their salaries go up, and in fact a lot of people are losing their jobs, the notion that Congress should be having an automatic pay raise without even a vote just doesn't pass the smell test,' Matheson said earlier this month.

Agreeing is Tom Schantz, president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste — which also issued a call for Congress to stop its automatic pay raise.

'While thousands of Americans are facing layoffs and downsizing, Congress should be mortified to accept a raise,' Schantz said.

Worse, Schantz said Congress hasn't earned a raise because it allowed the deficit to balloon while Congress was 'plagued with corruptions allegations.' So, Schantz said, 'If congressional leaders believe that the taxpayers should give pay raises to this rogues' gallery of ineptitude and venality, they ought to step away from the spiked eggnog.'"

Congress doesn't deserve a raise? I concur.

I have to hand it to Matheson as he has been attempting to force a yearly vote on annual Congressional pay raises instead of leaving them as automatic, "Since Matheson entered Congress, he has attempted every year to force Congress to vote on whether to accept a raise rather than receive it automatically. He has always failed on procedural votes that would lead to such a straight up-or-down vote."

Congress gives itself a raise, part 2

While we are all struggling economically, Congress decides its worthy of a pay raise. What crap.

CCAGW OPPOSES CONGRESSIONAL PAY RAISE

'The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today urged lawmakers to make their first order of business when they reconvene in the nation’s capitol in January to introduce legislation to freeze congressional salaries at current rates. All Members of Congress are slated to get an automatic pay raise in January, 2009 unless they vote to block it. Each rank and file member of Congress is poised to see another $4,700 in his or her paycheck over the next year, an increase of 2.8 percent over their current $169,300 annual salary.

“Members of Congress don’t deserve one additional dime of taxpayer money in 2009,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “While thousands of Americans are facing layoffs and downsizing, Congress should be mortified to accept a raise. They failed to pass most of their appropriations bills, the deficit is on pace to reach an unprecedented $1 trillion, and the national debt stands at $10 trillion. In addition, this Congress has been ethically challenged, plagued with corruption allegations, convictions, and sex scandals.”

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) probably rues the day she so blithely promised that Democrats would ‘lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.’ Instead, there has been a relentless degradation of the ethics rules. While Congress has sat in judgment of everyone from oil company executives and financial services industry executives to domestic automaker CEOs, it has failed spectacularly to police itself.”

In a sad continuation of the unprincipled character of the 109th Congress, the 110th has also been riddled with examples of malfeasance. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) faces years in jail for his conviction on seven counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in improper gifts he received from 1999 to 2006. Alaska Rep. Don Young (R) reportedly has spent $1 million on defense attorneys related to a federal investigation into allegations of bribery. There are two investigations underway of House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) over alleged tax improprieties. Former Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) has been indicted and is awaiting trial on alleged bribery charges. The Senate Ethics Committee is looking at both Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) over sweetheart mortgage deals they may have received from Countrywide Financial. Rep. Vito Fosella (R-N.Y.) was convicted of drunk driving. And there have been a number of inappropriate sexual peccadillos surrounding Sens. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and David Vitter (R-La.), and Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.).

“If Congressional leaders believe that the taxpayers should gives pay raises to this rogue’s gallery of ineptitude and venality, they ought to step away from the spiked egg nog,” concluded Schatz.'

Congress gives itself a raise

Your tax money is already paying for the billions in industry bailouts and now you have to shell out another $2.5 million for Congressional pay raises.

With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise

Its a good thing that Congress doesn't get paid based on performance.

The two-party political monopoly in American politics

Yesterday, I voted Libertarian for president. I could not bring myself to vote for either the republican or democratic candidates since neither of them come close to my personal views. After the votes were tallied, 98.4% of the vote went to either McCain or Obama. I think that it would do a lot of good for our country if a strong third party could emerge. But less that 2% of the total popular vote went to presidential candidates from third parties.

Radley Balko has written an excellent opinion piece, which is posted both on foxnews.com and on his own website, about the monopoly that the Democrats and Republicans have on our voting system.

Here are some excerpts:

"Bob Barr has no chance of winning the election. But regardless of what you may think of his politics, or that of third-party candidates like Ralph Nader or Chuck Baldwin, this system is rigged. The two major parties have effectively cemented their grip on power by creating laws that make it virtually impossible for upstarts to compete with them. They have effectively done with campaign laws what federal business regulations tend to do in the private sector — protect the behemoth, entrenched dinosaurs that dominate the industry by making it too expensive and difficult for anyone to challenge them.

Consider these two figures: Congress' approval rating right now is a dismal 19 percent. Clearly, we aren't happy with the people who are governing us. Yet 90-95 percent of the incumbents running for re-election to Congress will be victorious on election night. Many will run unopposed. Between gerrymandering their districts to ensure a friendly electorate, campaign finance legislation, debate rules that effectively bar third-party participants, onerous ballot access rules, and the privileges of office, the Democrats and Republicans have ensured that the vast majority of the country will chose only between one of two candidates this year — candidates who, when it comes right down to it, really aren't all that different.

The system we have now selects for the sorts of people who want to make a career of politics. If, in order to successfully run for high office, you have to spend years culling favors and working your way up through one of the two major parties, the winners in this game are going to be the party loyalists and power-hungry climbers who couldn't hack it in the private sector — frankly, the last personality type we want governing."

Senate Passes $700B Financial Bailout

The Senate has passed a $700 billion financial bailout. Any idea where the government will get all of this money? It will come out of your pocket. Right after you cough up the money to pay off our ridiculous deficit.

Obama and McCain

Not that I agree with a bailout of any private corporations by our federal government with our tax dollars, but at least McCain wants to do what he is getting paid to do - work in Congress.

McCain Suspends Campaign to Help With Bailout: "John McCain will suspend his presidential campaign Thursday and has asked to postpone his debate Friday with Barack Obama so the two senators can return to Washington to help negotiate a Wall Street bailout, an approach that Obama promptly rejected."

So John McCain has decided to see if he can help, as a member of Congress, with our current financial situation. He wants to go back to Congress to do the job he has, not the job he wants.

Obama disagrees with McCain essentially saying (in my interpretation), "screw Congress and the financial crisis, I want to be the next president, let's debate!" BHO said: "Such disruptive measures were unnecessary." BHO thinks that if McCain delays the debate to do the job for which McCain (and Obama) are being paid, that's "disruptive."

More Obama: "There are times for politics and there are times to rise above them, do what is right for the country. This is one of those times." Hey you big dummy, Congressional votes are part of politics, voting on bills and issues is part of what is right for the country and its your current occupation. Staying on the campaign trail and missing a large majority of Congressional votes is not right for the country. Members of Congress should get paid according to the number of times that they vote "yes" or "no" on issues. Showing up and voting "present" shouldn't count.

The prefix "Con-" is the opposite of the prefix "Pro-" which makes Congress the opposite of progress. Obama examplifies this idea.

I'm gonna go drink a couple more beers. This election is depressing. I'd vote for Bob Barr if it wasn't the equivalent of voting against McCain and for the next Vladimir Lenin.

More government regulation to "fix" things

One of my favorite Congressional commies, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. is shooting off her mouth, without really understanding economics, and threatened the nationalization of the oil industry because she thinks that it will lead to lower gas prices. What a bunch of shit. How do people like Ms. Waters, who have very little understanding of economics but have control over our tax money, continue to be in power? Why do we keep voting for these dopes?

WorldNetDaily.com: Congresswoman threatens to nationalize oil industry:
Maxine Waters warns Shell president in House committee hearing. In a grilling of oil executives by a House panel yesterday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., threatened to nationalize the industry if it didn't do something about the rising prices at the pump.

"Hofmeister replied: 'I can guarantee to the American people, because of the inaction of the United States Congress (I am amazed, Congressional....inaction.....not my Congress!!), ever-increasing prices unless the demand comes down.'"

"The Shell exec said paying $5 at the pump 'will look like a very low price in the years to come if we are prohibited from finding new reserves, new opportunities to increase supplies (emphasis mine).'"

"Waters responded, in part, 'And guess what this liberal would be all about. This liberal will be about socializing … uh, um. …...Would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies."

"The oil executives responded, according to Fox News, by saying they've seen this before, in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela."

Way to go Maxine, nationalize the oil industry, I'm sure that will help things out and get prices low enough for your liking (or reelection). Of course, building more refineries and drilling in our own country and off-shore of Florida (25 miles from the coast where the curvature of the earth would prevent the spoiling of the view) might help. Increasing supply and/or lowering demand is the way to reduce gas prices. Not more over-reaching government regulation in what once was a free market economy.

I watched a large part of the hearings on C-SPAN. What a useless dog and pony show! Members of Congress, please stop wasting my friggin tax money (which pays your salaries) with these useless bullshit hearings. Spend your tax payer funded time doing something useful like closing the boarder, lower my tax burden, allowing for drilling offshore and in Alaska and stop trying to restrict my gun rights.

Politics at its finest

The way many members of both political parties try to ram legislation through Congress is impressive. Much of it is done so we don't notice. Dianne Feinstein (Commie) and Larry Craig (Pinko) appear to be adding an immigration amendment to the Iraq funding bill. Why?? Because they know that Bush won't veto the bill, even with the unrelated amendment in it, since a veto would look bad for Bush's war in Iraq.

A few quotes from transcripts of the Lou Dobbs show on May 16: "This meeting yesterday at the Senate Appropriations Committee convened to vote on funding U.S. spending in Iraq. But late in the day 100 pages were added to the bill that would make an estimated three million people illegal alien farm workers and their families eligible to work in the United States and it passed 17 to 12.

Pro-amnesty senators tonight making a new effort to ram their open border's agenda down the throats of the American people, now let's go back to June 28, 2007 when the American people made their views known to the United States Senate and the closer vote failed. It was very clear at that point what the will of the majority in this country was, but now two senators, suddenly have added an amendment that would provide amnesty for illegal alien farm workers in this country, they and their family amounting to some three million people. And they're putting this little number into a bill funding the war in Iraq. You're not supposed to notice. We're not supposed to notice. And the American people are not supposed to notice. These two senators added the amendment in the dark of night, and they did so without debate. They're duplicitous, deceitful, and absolutely dishonorable in doing so (emphasis mine)."

Also from Lou Dobbs: SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R), ALABAMA: Why would they stick it on a war supplemental? That is a deliberate attempt to bypass scrutiny and to see if they can slide it through without the American people realizing what's happening, on a bill that we really need to pass."

That is an excellent question, why don't these two fine Senators (one from each party) work up a single bill with total transparency which deals with only the immigration issue??

I'm not saying that I am for or against the war in Iraq. But if Congress really wanted to stop the war in Iraq, they could do it. But why stop the war when they can use the war in Iraq to their advantage?

More on the issue at TheHill.com: Senate panel approves Iraq funding bill: "Republicans say Democrats are putting troops at risk by loading up the supplemental, which Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) characterized as 'horse-blank.'

'What hogwash. Let’s all have a big laugh,' he said before mockingly laughing out loud.

'By the end of 2008, the war in Iraq will have cost over $600 billion,' the 90-year-old Byrd said in a scathing 30-minute opening statement. 'More than $600 billion dollars for every minute since our lord Jesus Christ was born. That’s a staggering figure.'

A number of Republicans have joined Democrats in pushing to beef up the domestic spending in the supplemental measure, recognizing that the must-pass bill remains one of the few pieces of legislation likely to become law before November’s elections."

How in the world could anyone stand to listen to Robert KKK Byrd about anything for 30 minutes?! While the claims that these unrelated amendments are "putting troops at risk" are debateable, people from both paties are playing dirty Congressional politics.

Each of these issues should be voted on in separate bills with total transparency to the American people. Congress is screwing all of us.

Congress vs. Progress

Thought for the day:

If the prefix "con-" is the opposite of "pro-" does that make Congress the opposite of progress?

Based on how lame our Congress has been in getting anything tangible done, I'd have to say yes.