House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D – MD) appears to believe that the task would be onerous, particularly a lengthy bill. And primarily any upcoming health care legislation. He would not expect the vast majority of his fellow congressman to plow through a lengthy bill before being called upon to vote.
Why? Apparently he believes that the multiple staff and review board meetings over pending legislation, are typically sufficient for Congressional leaders to understand all the details. Hence, little need to actually read the bill before the vote.
Seems like some political officials in Congress view their responsibility as stewards of American taxpayer money and future, as not significant enough to warrant their 100 per cent attention.
Consider going to your next exam having studied only the condensed cheat notes, and see if you can achieve 100 per cent score. Understanding the depth and breadth of legislation is not significanlty different than preparing for a presentation or exam.
The difference is that the legislator will not be graded, directly affected, nor have the money to pay for the legislation come out of his or her own pocket. So then perhaps that is why, some legislators take so cavalier and relaxed attitude toward their public servant position. For they carry on only for the laud, and not for the advocacy of their constituents.
A solution herein.
Let Freedom Ring, a Delaware-based conservative organization, is circulating a pledge that asks members of Congress to promise to read the entirety of the final text of a health-care reform bill before they vote on it. They also are asking that the full bill be made available for review by the public for 72 hours before Congress votes on it.
Let’s see just how many members of Congress make the pledge. Then consider whether they may be worthy of re-election in the future.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) would like to see Senate office expeditures available on line to the public. Fascinating since Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already been supportive of publishing the House’s office expeditures on line to facilitate public access. This is in contrast to the current system that entails requesting the accounting information from bound books that can be accessed through certain government offices. The old fashioned way, in old fashioned time consuming method.
On line posting of such information could help provide faster access and additional government transparency. And it could force a little more responsible spending when House and Senate officials can see what each other is spending their millions on, and for what purposes.
Members receive between $1.3 million and $4.5 million for their annual office allowances, which they can spend on everything from BlackBerrys to plane tickets back to their districts.
Taxpayer money use should be readily accountable and that information accessible to the those who empty their pockets on the government’s behalf.
Joke of the day. “Murphy Finds Religion and his Hat.” Also found at Darling Downs.
Murphy showed up at Mass one Sunday and the priest almost fainted when he saw him. Murphy had never been seen in church in his life.
After Mass, the priest caught up with him and said, “Murphy, I am so glad ya decided to come to Mass. What made ya come?”
Murphy said, “I got to be honest with ya Father, awhile back, I misplaced me hat and I really, really love that hat. I know that McGlynn had a hat just like me hat, and I knew that McGlynn comes to church every Sunday. I also knew that McGlynn had to take off his hat during Mass and figured he would leave it in the back of church. So, I was going to leave after Communion and steal McGlynn’s hat.”
The priest said, “Well, Murphy, I notice that ya didn’t steal McGlynn’s hat. What changed your mind?”
Murphy said, “Well, after I heard your sermon on the
10 Commandments, I decided that I didn’t need to steal McGlynn’s hat after all.”
The priest gave Murphy a big smile and said, “After I talked about ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ ya decided you
would rather do without the hat than burn in Hell, right?”
Murphy slowly shook his head and said, “No, Father, after ya talked about ‘Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery’, I remembered where I left me hat.”
Now here is a real selling point. Drink beer to relieve stress. North Korean Taedonggang Beer Factory commerical touts the benefits of drinking beer and claims it is healthy. At BBC.
Despite the communism of North Korea, the state run government ran it’s first beer commericial for a U.K. brewery that was bought and moved to the capital of Pyongyang. Smiling actors imbibing in gusto, may just help to further fuel sales in the impoverished country, or perhaps beyond its own borders. Capitalism anyone?
Kim Jong-Il has apparently taken an interest. The Ledger hit the nail on the head with, Kim Jong Ale anyone?
Imagine having a cup of that joe some morning in place of your regular brew, and getting an unexpected surprise at the morning ’s work presentation in front of the company head honchos. In FRONT of the podium?
From the 12th century until 1780, The Clink was Britain’s most notorious prison, detaining heretics and priests, debtors and rebel rousers. With the clink of a lock, inmates were condemned to a diet of bread and water. Things change. On May 11th 2009, The Clink re-opened at Her Majesty’s Prison High Down, Sutton, Surrey. This time, however, it is a restaurant serving gourmet and wholesome food to prison staff, visitors and the public.
Don’t mind the handy panic alarms and the plastic dinnerware. The food and service are making the raves.
…dishes include breast of chicken with pepperonata served with radicchio risotto and grilled plaice fillets, with spinach, broccoli and potato Salad…
Interested parties must get security clearance before obtaining reservations.
One can always count on Vice President Joseph Biden revealing a little more than what many inside the White House administration might feel comfortable with at any time. Biden brought up a phenomenal revelation on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
“The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy.”
First, it would be nice if he were to define “we.”
Second, it would be nice to understand how he factored ”everyone else” into that analysis.
At the minimum, “we” would most likely include Biden and the White House administration, including the president and all those pseudo-astute advisers and spinmeisters.
At best, “everyone else” would probably exclude those who do not support the current administration.
Just in case you want to biodegrade a little faster after your burial, avoid embalming and consider placement in a coffin made of banana sheaves, or recycled newspaper or cardboard. Durability about 6 months to 2 years. A real breather!
Ecocoffins of Colorado has been offering its special final containers for some time now. They have been available in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Select funeral homes carry them. Marketing them however is a novel task.
“We either get an, Oh, my,’ or, That’s very interesting,’ ” Passarelli said. “Some people think it’s a great idea. We’ve had funeral directors look at them and say, I guess you can go to hell in a handbasket now.’ “
