Tag: Special Interests

Blue Dog Bites The Dust

One of the original Blue Dogs, Mississippi’s Gene Taylor, has gone down in defeat in the 2010 mid-terms….a victim of “throw the bums out” mentality racing across the country….only this time it was a moronic vote that defeated Taylor….

Taylor is my, or was my, representative…..and in the past I have not been too pleased with his voting stances on many issues that I hold dear…..but this time I am on his side…..he was screwed by the big money that the GOP received to beat any and all Dems in office…..

What makes this all the more  moronic is that Taylor is a conservative Dem and voted like on on many issues…however he got a great rating by the group that watches middle class issues and also by the ARA a group that watches votes by Reps and then grades them on senior’s issues….which again makes his loss even more moronic….since most of the registered voters in his district are retired, most of them from the military and of course are staunch supporters of FOX News and subject to believe the lies and the misinformation that it deals out daily.

The voters of the 4th district in Mississippi voted against their own interests…now you can understand why Mississippi is at the bottom of so many lists…..what kind of mindless person votes against their own interests?

His area is a conservative area meaning pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay, so on and so on…but yet that was not good enough for the mindless voter that let FOX and Limbaugh do their thinking…..sad case of stupid!

For instance, 100% rating from the National Right To Life Committee,  76% rating from the Christian Coalition, given an “A” rating by the NRA, a 90% rating by the Association of Retired Americans, 100% by the Citizens For Tax Justice, 92% by the US Border Control for a sealed border, all the issues that the conservs and especially the Tea Party stand for……his ONLY crime was that he was a Dem in the House that was controlled by Pelosi…that was the ONLY thing that was not to the special interest liking….so many bucks were sunk into the campaign of his opponent Palazzo and they succeeded in getting the great unwashed of Mississippi to vote against their own interests……

I have watched and commented on the situation in Mississippi for many years and it should not surprise me at the depth of stupid that its voters can sink to at any given time….Like I have said many times, I have never been a strong supporter of Taylor in his 21 years in the House….but he deserved better from the people that he represented for those years….especially when he was always voting in their interests….but then…..

Stupid is as stupid does……..

It Is All So Much BS!

You know when you step in a pile of manure you just have to call it what it is…….

From the AP wire:

President Barack Obama is hailing a Senate vote to propel health care legislation toward final passage, calling it a “big victory for the American people.”By the thinnest possible margin, all 58 Democrats and the Senate’s two independents held together early Monday in a crucial test vote against unanimous Republican opposition. The move overcame a procedural effort that could have scuttled a final vote on the massive bill.

Obama said the Senate showed it could stand up to special interests and move the nation closer to a health insurance overhaul for families.

Please read it again……and think about what you have just read……(pause for reflection)…….

Do you recall the days after he won the election?  It was all abvout how the American people voted for change and how the American people voted for a new way of doing things in Washington….Remember?……

Partisanship is more entrenched than it ever was……..and look at the vote on health care….NOT ONE Repub voted for the Senate health reform bill….even though when read reads like a page out of a GOP playbook……and then Obama calls it a BIG win for the American people……where?…..yes 30 million more will have coverage….the problem is it is a forced coverage with a fine if it is not bought…the insurance companies got 30 million new customers without having to do anything but promise to eliminate the existing condition thing….which means that if you have an existing condition you will be able to buy insurance but it will cost several times more….

And then he goes on to say that it shows that we can stand up to special interests and win…really…if that is so damn true why did insurance stocks hit a 52 week high on the news of the vote?  Answer that one……

This is NOT a final bill but it is pretty much what the final version will look like….I would bet……

Are Lobbyists Running Scared?

We have all heard the horror stories of the power that lobbyists have in Washington…they represent every industry and spend oodles of money with lawmakers…but is there anything that can be done?

Lobbyists have been furiously lobbying the Obama White House to oppose restrictions on their ability to lobby.

The kafuffle began on September 23 when special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform Norm Eisen wrote that “the White House has informed executive agencies and departments that it is our aspiration that federally-registered lobbyists not be appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions.”

How many Industry Trade Advisory Committees — ITACs — are there?

The Washington Post says the system of these committees is “so vast that federal officials don’t have exact numbers for its size; the most recent estimates tally nearly 1,000 panels with total membership exceeding 60,000 people.”

Sixteen lobbyists who chair ITACs — including executives from Boeing, Harley-Davidson, the International Association of Drilling Contractors, Fanwood Chemical Inc., IBM and others — wrote to the president to protest the decision.

In another letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the lobbyists said that a “quick review of the impact of this new policy suggests that dozens of the most active — and most knowledgeable — Committee members who generate many of the documents needed by the Committee and our trade negotiators will be dismissed once the new charter term begins. This occurs because individuals who specialize in trade policy matters in their particular sectors often find that such specialization and expertise pushes them above the 20 percent lobbying activity threshold that triggers registration under the Lobbying Disclosure Act” or LDA.

“We explained to the ITAC chairs that this issue is not about the few corrupt lobbyists or specific abuses by the profession, but rather concerns the system as a whole. For too long, lobbyists and those who can afford their services have held disproportionate influence over national policy making… we decided that while lobbyists have a right to petition the government, it would best serve the interests of a fairer and more representative democracy if we limited their ability to do so from special positions of privileged access within the government. The result will be a Washington that is more reflective of all of America.”

These people have way too much pull on the Hill and with the President….somehow and somewhere limits have to be formed…….second only to Wall Street is the lobbyists, garnering much hate from the people of the country….

Personally, I like the idea that a Congress person can NOT become a lobbyists for at least 5 years after leaving the public trough……

How Many Pieces Of The Pie Are There?

Zoos, the bicycle industry and advocates of beach replenishment share something this holiday season: They’re all hoping for a slice of the mammoth economic-stimulus package President-elect Barack Obama and Congress hope to pass early next year.

The bill, which could amount to a gargantuan $850 billion in spending and tax breaks over two years, is supposed to ease the pain of the country’s worst recession in decades. With Obama transition officials and congressional Democratic leaders planning to make it their top priority in January, lobbyists for homebuilders, local governments, labor and other predictable interests are working to claim a share of the money.

Less obvious groups, though, also are lobbying hard for inclusion, underscoring how the sheer size and scope of the measure has made it irresistible to all sorts of industries and organizations that at first blush might not seem likely candidates for federal aid. It also suggests how difficult it may be for Obama and his allies to fashion a sharply focused bill, or even to decide which proposals are most worthy.

Despite their hopes, the incoming administration is vowing not to load up its stimulus package with special-interest goodies. “President-elect Obama and I are absolutely, absolutely determined that this economic recovery plan will not become a Christmas tree,” Vice President–elect Joe Biden said this week.

Is there a line for the homeowner?

Who Is Fueling Obama?

The New York Times notes that, “in an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size. Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama ‘bundlers,’ fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. … Given his decision not to accept public financing, Mr. Obama is counting on his bundlers to help him raise $300 million for his general-election campaign and another $180 million for the Democratic National Committee. An analysis of campaign finance records shows that about two-thirds of his bundlers are concentrated in four major industries: law, securities and investments, real estate and entertainment.”

Source: The New York Times, August 6, 2008