We PAY them for this shoddy service!

Concerns Raised on Wider Spying Under New Law - New York Times

The dispute illustrates how lawmakers, in a frenetic, end-of-session scramble, passed legislation they may not have fully understood and may have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought.

You know, I used to think members of Congress were some of the stupidest people on the planet. They pass stupid bills, say and do stupid things, and generally just appear to be stupid.

But I think they're stupid like a fox. They continually get re-elected, do nearly nothing, have fantastic benefits (perks, health coverage, and other amenities like junkets to foreign lands for free), take TONS of vacation, don't listen to their constituents, and we PAY THEM FOR IT.

Who's stupid now?

Condoleeza Rice subpoenaed by Congress

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Henry Waxmax, has subpoenaed Secretary of State Rice in order to ask her questions about the long-dispelled claim that Saddam Hussein attempted to buy enriched uranium from Niger.

Rice didn't take too kindly to the subpoena, indicating that she may not comply with it since "I addressed these questions, almost the same questions, during my confirmation hearing. This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered."

She says she will answer the questions in a letter but not in person. There must be a reason. If she really thought that the questions had been answered. Furthermore, she's hiding behind executive privilege, the concept that presidential advisers cannot be forced to testify before Congress.

If all this is true, then why is she bothering to answer the questions in a letter? Why not just say "No."

I think it's just one more pissing match that Congress and the Bush administration are so apt to engage in. It's sad that our government is so broken that it has come to this.

Congress should have asserted its power while these things were going on, not 4 years later. Too bad nobody in Congress had the fortitude to do the right thing at the right time.

Rice signals rejection of House subpoena - Yahoo! News

Oversight...one thing Congress should have been doing for, oh, the last 6 years!

It's about freakin' time!

Revival of Oversight Role Sought - washingtonpost.com

It's about time Washington did its job on fuel economy standards

It's been quite a while since the CAFE standards lapsed, with Washington's politicians turning a blind eye towards global warming, dependence on foreign oil, and funding terrorists.

Let's face it: Every time each of us fuels our fat SUV, we're sending a terrorist to suicide school. Kind of like the United Way fighting hunger. Only worse. Much, much worse.

Detroit Faces Bipartisan Fire Over Fuel Economy - washingtonpost.com

Fired US Attorneys headed for Iraq

*** SATIRE ***

The 8 United States federal attorneys that were fired that sparked Congress' fury and ire are headed for Iraq in a compromise move by President Bush. While the link takes you to Andy Borowitz' site, which is made up news like The Onion, I bet Bush has wished he'd have sent them over there already :)

Congress in action (Congress inaction?)

Those do-gooders in Congress decided to screw with the Daylight Savings time (I had no idea there was a law!) and change the dates on which the "savings" went into effect. From the Chicago Tribune

Actually, it's a potential problem in any software that was programmed before a 2005 law decreed that daylight-saving time would start three weeks earlier and end one week later, beginning this year. Congress decided that more early-evening daylight would translate into energy savings.

So they think they can screw up my calendar? I think NOT!

Bush pushes for additional 20,000 troops in Iraq

Well, there, he did it. President Bush told us last night that he'll be sending another 20,000+ troops to Iraq, presumably to "win" (whatever that means). I guess he can order anything he wants (he is Commander in Chief, you know, and the "war president"). However, it will be interesting to see how Congress, of which the Democrats now have a slight majority, reacts.

According to the Boston Herald, Ted Kennedy is "pushing legislation that would prevent Bush from committing more troops without approval from Congress, a proposal some say amounts to an unconstitutional infringement on the president’s power as commander in chief."

While nobody thinks this proposal will fly, it is apparent, and has been for a while, that most Democrats and many Republicans are against such a buildup.

Now, it has been suggested that Congress could refute Bush's plan by not funding the escalation. However, this presents a terrible "worst-case scenario" for Democrats and Republicans who run counter to Bush's direction: If they vote NOT to fund the war build-up, they'll undoubtedly be portrayed as unpatriotic come election time. If they vote for funding the buildup, then they'll run counter to the majority of Americans who simply want us to "cut and run."

This is clearly a case where representative government would do the right thing. However, we don't really have such a government. Rather, we have a government of elected officials who "know better than us."

They're smarter than us so they'll do the right thing. Right?

Sure, their "sheeple" mentality is what got us into this war.

powered by performancing firefox

The Horror! Congress will work 2+ days per week!!

The new Democratic Congress will be in session five days a week (sure, how long will that last?), according to a recent article at breitbart.com. Last year, they worked 103 days. Most of us working stiffs, their employers, work at least 250 days a year, yet most of us don't make what they make.

Here's a quote from a disgruntled Repugnican --

"Marriages suffer. The Democrats couldn't care less about families -- that's what this says," Congressman Jack Kingston told The Washington Post.

I guess they're so important and effective that they can work less than half than us and get more done.

Oh, wait, that's not it. They basically do nothing but write legislation to benefit their friends and family (hello, MCI?) or to banish things like abortion, gayness, and equitable health care.

I love these guys (and gals)! They're champs. Or is that chumps? You decide.