WEEK OF FEBRUARY 22, 2009 For those of you who look upon the recently approved Stimulus Bill to be the salvation of America, or don't really care one way or another, here are some things to consider. It's about time that more of us did. It's obvious that 60 senators and 246 representatives did not.
So how, you may ask, will all of this new paper money be spent? Surely it will be used to put people back to work and significantly stimulate the economy. Well, most of the members of Congress who voted to approve it did not really know, because so few of them had the time to read through the 1,000-plus page bill before they voted to approve or reject it. To help answer this question, you are invited to visit StimulusWatch to see how some of this "stimulus" money will be spent in your state. RETURN TO ARCHIVES PAGE RETURN TO HOME PAGE
Each and every day we receive e-mail messages from individuals and
groups asking us to sign a petition, to send an e-mail message, or flood the telephone
lines of politicians or bureaucrats in Washington in order to convince them to adopt a
certain position on this or that issue. We saw how ineffective this methodology was in
stifling the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009,
otherwise affectionately known as the “Stimulus Bill that is not Stimulating”,
the “Great American Bailout Bill”, and the “European Socialization Act of
2009”. Opponents of the bill swamped the phone lines of Congress, sent hundreds of
thousands of e-mails, and an unknown numbers of faxes. The only apparent benefit that was
derived of all of this effort was to stiffen the spines of congressional Republicans but,
thanks to the Three Little Pigs, the Bill was passed anyway. There is just one tried to
true cure for examples of governmental stupidity, and that is to throw the bums out of
office. But there is a problem here as well. American voters seem to suffer from a mass
case of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), or perhaps it is a mass
onset of the early stages Alzheimer’s disease. Whichever it is, it manifests itself
in their inability to remember any farther back than which teams played in this
year’s Super Bowl. Our founding fathers must have anticipated this when they
established the requirement that members of the House of Representatives must run for
re-election every two years. Hey Ben, Tom, and Alex, two years has become too long for
today’s American voter to stay focused. Maybe you should have made House terms six
months instead of two years, so that we could more easily keep track of things. And those six-year Senate terms! Even Harry Reid or Mark Udall should
be able to dilute their records by doing at least one thing right in six years. Maybe
their terms should have been set at two years instead, since there are much fewer senators
to be tracked. In any event, I will be instituting a new service for my readers and
for all American voters. Beginning with this issue of The D&C, I will be posting a
separate website page that lists each senator and each representative in Congress, along
with their votes on key issues, whether the pass or not, beginning with the Stimulus Bill.
In 2010, as the next elections approach, the information will be there for all to review
and use to determine how to vote for each congressional seat. Additionally, a brief description of each issue
will be provided. If it proves successful, it will be expanded beyond 2010. You can see how each member of Congress voted on the Stimulus Bill by clicking HERE.
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A Solution to Finding a new Commerce
Secretary Not that he is likely to seek my advice, but as a member of the loyal
opposition, I would offer the following to President Obama anyway. In an effort to help
resolve the problems that he has had filling
the position of Secretary of Commerce, I would suggest that it be split into three
divisions, with a separate head over each. Its new name would be the Department of Winkin,
Blinkin, and Nod, and the Division heads would be headed up by three staunch liberals who
have been parading around RETURN TO ARCHIVES PAGE RETURN TO HOME PAGE
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