One corrupt Alaska Republican down (Ted Stevens), another to go. And we're part way there with the latter. Don Young is stepping down from his position as Ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee.
Excellent. The quicker such soiled Republicans inside the Beltway are shown the door, the better.
It gets better. Our own Rep. Doc Hastings is running for the now vacant position. Good luck to him.
Posted by Eric Earling at December 10, 2008 09:29 PM | Email ThisIn any case: I hope Doc gets it. We're gonna need all the help we can get; to hold back the ''progressive'' flood-gates in the natural resources area. I can see it now:
Various and sundry eco-activists in the Sierra Club, NRDC, DOW, et. al. will be eagerly offering their ''services'' to the Obama Administration, to fill mid-level Presidential appointment positions in the Interior Department and US Forest Service. Katie bar the door....
I predict my beloved snowmobiling in Yellowstone to be the first to go. Then, there is any oil drilling in Alaska (polar bear, you know and thank you George Bush). Then, the nationalized auto industry will try to run the auto companies into the ground by regulating how many and what cars have to be produced.
Ugly is as ugly gets.
And Eric, through all the discussion on Bleepovich, not one of the liberals that like to post here have come forward and said, "come on guys, both sides have problems and the problem is power; let's work together to get rid of this plague." I hold out little hope that the Rs or the Ds will really clean house.
Posted by: swatter on December 11, 2008 06:59 AMFixing the corruption problem is easy. Federal funding of all elections. It should be a felony to give ANYTHING to a candidate, and all contact with lobbyists should be done in a public forum. Tell the 35,000 lobbyists in D.C. to put their "wishes" on the internet so we can all see what they "want" eh?
So Ken. The Methow is the most beautiful place on the planet. I am sure you would love to see it paved over from the headwaters of the Methow to Pateros. You know there is gold in "them thar" hills. Maybe we could have some strip mines, and mountaintop removal! Fill Pearrygin and Patterson with mercury, turn Sun Mountain into a military base! We could clear cut log the whole Twisp River, cut down every tree, and have every hillside fall into the river, just like in Chehalis! Your wet dream!!!
We don't need no stinkin' trees right Ken? Slash and burn!! BIAW!!!!
All them liberals trying to keep lead out of our children's toys, mercury out of our water, and the Greenland Ice Sheet from melting completely. Damn them liberals. We don't really need Florida!
Now go poach a cougar Ken. Don't need them neither. 500 species a day going extinct. Who cares. We don't need critters either right?
The global warming deniers are kinda like the folks that were telling Columbus that the world was flat, or the preachers telling "flock" that the sun had to orbit around the Earth.....
I have to hand it to Doc. At least he hasn't been arrested for anything yet....
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 07:39 AMI know why. WE all do. It's called hypocrisy.
I just love how Bush was gonna restore "integrity" to the White House. How's that working out by the way?
You Clinton haters are pathetic. I bet you believe every word Rush drools don't you....
Thinking "Republicons" are more "moral" than Democrats is just another manifestation of your derangement. Somehow the party of greed thinks they are the party of life. There's some twisted logic....
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 07:49 AMCan't corruption be tackled in a bipartisan manner?
Posted by: swatter on December 11, 2008 08:34 AMCriminals All!
Posted by: Kato on December 11, 2008 08:55 AMI know we probably agree on far more than we disagree on swatter. Funny isn't it.
You are right about one thing though swatter. I am upset. Our country has been looted by the ruling class once again. Enron 2 just happened, and I don't see anyone complaining. Billions gone down the Wall Street rat holes, fraud everywhere, and the SEC twiddling their thumbs, trying to figure out what bank they are gonna get a job lobbying for next year.
Why should only poor people get prosecuted? Attorneys, Accountants, CEO's and executives openly defraud investors and get bonuses for doing it instead of 10 plus years in the joint.
Don't tell me that I am the only one in America that understands when you loan money to millions of people that have no hope of paying it back there may be a "problem" ahead for you shareholders. You push bad loans just to inflate your numbers to justify you bonuses, and tell homeowners that houses will appreciate 10% forever so they don't have to worry about payments.
My god. Have you really taken a look at what just happened? Hundreds of billions going to the executives of these "financial institutions" and now the tax payers get left with the bill of their incomprehensible greed? Bush's "Wall Street getting drunk" actions? They are not drunk Bush. They are committing crimes that you and your cronies are ignoring. Duh.
Where are the prosecutions? Where is the outrage?
It was clearly another ponzi scheme just like Enron. I don't blame Republicons entirely, but their corporations can do no wrong attitude is more at fault than any other single factor.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 08:58 AMTo late, the cat is out of the bag. LOL
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 11, 2008 08:59 AMSo, Facts, this problem is greater than one dirty party over another. It is two parties that by definition are corrupt.
I know one potential candidate for Federal office who went to DC to check out the digs and meet the leaders and the funders. His first comment back was he was seduced by all the glitz and was appalled (using BO's term) at all the lobbying structures surrounding the place of worship- the Federal capitol. This is/was a respected R.
Posted by: swatter on December 11, 2008 09:40 AMHave a great day.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 10:03 AMBut please, do go on railing against the moral depredations of the Clenis, and how no Democrat ever spoke out against Bill as they were all too busy giving each other high-fives. It does make you sound ever so relevant to the concerns of today....
Posted by: @4 on December 11, 2008 10:09 AMWhat I know is that if the big guy, who creates the jobs, doesn't make a normal profit, they won't spend the money and just hoard it. That means no jobs for the working class. That is both Rs and Ds and not one party over another. So, the key is to make the business environment advantageous for the big guy so they spend the money to help the working guy. Rs and people like me agree with that philosophy.
Sometimes that comes off as Rs being against the little guy and the Rs are the party of greed. And while the big guys are getting richer and I hate it that there is a widening gap, it is the way of the system. Other options include complete socialism/communism.
It is the system we had and the system that made our country so great.
Posted by: swatter on December 11, 2008 10:42 AMI am glad you have acknowledged the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. I don't believe in communism, just regulating capitalism where the working stiffs get a larger share of the pie, and the folks buying the yachts have to buy smaller yachts.... All the productivity increases in the last 30 years have benefited the wealthy, and not most of the workforce. You gotta have a boat for anything to lift it.... This is destroying our country now. We actually give companies tax incentives to outsource. Go figure.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 11:33 AMTypical, he is rewarded by the republicans for covering up republican corruption.
And @4: Moral relativism is the repuiblican response to Larry Craig, Davids Vitter, Foley, Abramoff, DeLay and others - the republicans did not even have the cajones to censure convicted felon Ted Stevens.
Posted by: correctnotright on December 11, 2008 12:23 PMsome small facts:
"The top executives of America's biggest companies are more willing to open their wallets for John McCain than his Democratic rival, donating 10 times as much to the Arizona senator's campaign as to Barack Obama's. Obama's campaign seized on the findings of The Hill's review of campaign finance records to suggest that the gap was due to 'special favors' McCain has given corporations."
Link: The Hill
http://mobile.thehill.com/
More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims
POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN. The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.
Where are the prosecutions? -Posted by All Facts Support My Positions at December 11, 2008 08:58 AM
Chicago
Ka-Ching: Dems rake cash from business
AT&T, the American Association for Justice (the trial lawyers' political action committee), the American Bankers Association, the American Hospital Association, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Credit Union National Association, General Electric, the lobbying and law firm Holland & Knight, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the National Multi Housing Council, Northwest Airlines, Qwest Corp., Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America and U.S. Telecom are among those who have donated to victorious Democratic challengers since the election results were official. ...
...That's why many of the biggest donors are switching sides this year. For corporate America, access almost always trumps ideology.
And that doesn't even include the UNION THUGS buying "access".
At least the Dems try to help the little guy some of the time..... -Posted by All Facts Support My Positions at December 11, 2008 10:03 AM
Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho ....you're making my sides hurt from uncontrolled laughter.
NAME one program or project that helped "the little guys" that in the end dind't harm them more.
Just ONE.
What made our system great was taxing the crap out of the rich, so they would invest their money into their corporations, and not hoard the cash. -Posted by All Facts Support My Positions at December 11, 2008 11:33 AM
Is it really necessary for you to continually display your ignorance?
MONEY is not a zero sum game. It is not stagnant. The wealthy CREATE JOBS. They start businesses to make a profit and those business benefit EVERYONE including the owner. Boeing was started by a PERSON. Should it be disemboweled because his heirs benefitted with money?
FREE, unfettered, unregulated, fairly taxed ENTERPRISE IS the engine of this country.
How many Americans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
According to President-elect Barack Obama, 2.5 million. Obama has a new plan, he says, to save or create at least 2.5 million jobs. "We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs
AND maybe he can hire a few more folks for the HAZMAT teams need to dispose of the broken and burned out mercury laden "efficient" bulbs! I recommend IncorrectAndAlwaysWrong for the job.
Of course, the dirty little secret about those "public works" jobs is that those workers would be required to join the only UNION whose thug numbers are actually growing: government workers.
But Obama's ideology won't allow him to indulge in tax cuts "for the rich," which might work to get us out of the depression faster.
AND how's he going to pay for it all?
Truly snortworthy!
Just for once, please try to actually THINK.
My God, it's truly frightening to think there are so many like you out there and who are now controlling government. YOU are going to get exactly what you wanted and deserve with them. GOOD!
We'll be here to pick up the pieces.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 11, 2008 12:41 PMMonths ago a cartoon moppet said she was running for Republican Committeeperson of Prickley City, and had a good chance of winning because all other Republicans had been outed or indicted.
As for party rehab, a modest proposal: Willingham-Palin 2012 ... Can't Lose 'Em All? Yes We Can!
Posted by: Retardlican Party Reptile on December 11, 2008 12:43 PMAmerica works best if EVERY WORKER does better. Not just the extremely wealthy.
Unions are responsible for much of America's wealth. Henry Ford didn't screw his workers. He wanted them to all be able to afford a Ford. You can love the brownshirts all you want, but America does better if everyone does better.
How is he gonna pay for it? How did Bush pay the trillions he poured down the military rat hole? What did we get for that? A few hundred million people hating me, and you.
Ragnar neither one of us want tax dollars wasted any more than they have to be. Military spending sucks compared to infrastructure spending, and farm subsidies. Spending needs to be done right, and that is not easy. I just don't want America to be a 3rd world nation, and that is where we are heading if we don't make some changes..... If the rich gotta pay more taxes so folks can take their kids to a doctor, I don't give a sh#t. They won't even miss it. They have made out so well the last 8 years it ain't funny.
Asset tax baby! To heck with just taxing the folks that have to work for a living.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 12:56 PMCant' read, eh?
Pay Attention:
The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.
52
America works best if EVERY WORKER does better.
Right. And they need JOBS to do better.
The Government may "create" jobs but they have no money with which to pay for them... except that which they TAKE via raised TAXES from the very people for whom those jobs will be created.
What a deal.
All those bridges and newly installed efficient light bulbs Barry is going to install won't mean a tinkers damn in hell if we don't have a MILITARY to protect and defend them.
I just don't want America to be a 3rd world nation, and that is where we are heading if we don't make some changes.....
WHAT form of government do all those third world countries have? What mindset do they share? What economic policies?
THINK!
You don't want to be a "3rd world nation" but every single idea YOU defend leads us there.
Don't you love the "clean coal" commercials. Clean coal is like saying clean murder.
We don't need coral reefs either.... Don't click on this link. The ocean has absorbed 40% of the carbon, and it is killing the reefs.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/co2-pollution-c.html
Why don't you deny ya gotta pee sometimes too....
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 01:08 PMGenerally, and we will go back to basics, there are more millionaire reps and sens. from the D party.
Today, the richies give to Ds more than Rs. You can quote someone's cherry-picked so-called study and pick a subset that doesn't fit the theme, but can't you just admit that it is a two-way street and we, the people, should be concentrated on getting rid of the corruption instead of pointing out the foibles of the other side?
cnr, that is my Xmas wish, after all.
Posted by: swatter on December 11, 2008 01:09 PMOver 650.
Yeah.. it is just so logical to believe any industry would be willing to pay off nearly 700 instead of accepting that 52 could be attention/grant money hungry.
Keep those laughs coming.
Just don't try to sell/share those mushrooms.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 11, 2008 01:14 PM
So, you're saying his name should be... wait for it... I'm full of Beans and All FATS Support My Position?
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 11, 2008 02:03 PMYou can call me all the names you want. Reality is reality.
Swatter. Obama has done more work on corruption than anything else recently. When he talks about "changing the politics", it is more than a Dem / Con thing. It is the effect that all that cash has on both sides. I suggest we all help him stamp out corruption, and demand all the sleazebags on both sides be prosecuted.
One thing though. I do not support any Dem that appears to be corrupt, or has been prosecuted. I see far too many Republicons following Reagan's 13th Commandment. Do not complain about other Republicans. Regardless how slimy they are. This also goes both ways, but not kicking the Bob Ney's, Tom DeLay's, and Ted Stevens's out to the curb has really hurt the GOP, and we all know it. There is a difference between the two parties. Imagine if someone on Clinton's staff outed undercover CIA agents like Rove, Libby, and Armitidge did. There is a double standard. I will let you take care of "yours" and we will take care of "ours" if you will.....
My congressman isn't corrupt, and I know it.
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 06:49 PMBy the way, it is snowing today in Houston, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana. The snow flurries in Houston tied a 64-year record for the earliest snowfall, and today's snow in New Orleans was also among the earliest recorded in the winter season. It is also worth mentioning that more than 650 scientists are challenging the UN / Al Gore "global warming consensus." One environmental physical chemist from Japan said of global warming alarmism, "When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists."
Icecaps... except for the ones that ARE NOT melting, but growing.
A recent study, no shocker to real climatologists (but perhaps to climate doomsayers), demonstrates this simple physics. It appears in the latest SciencExpress, and it shows that the vast majority of the Antarctic landmass is rapidly gaining ice and snow cover.
It appears one of them... NoFacts or those ice caps, are confused... care to hazard a guess?
More than 90 percent of the world's glaciers are growing thicker
20 Oct 2005 Greenland icecap growing thicker
15 Feb 07 - Himalayan Glaciers Not Shrinking Glacial Experts Question Theory of Global Warming
15 Feb 08 - The ice between Canada and southwestern Greenland has reached its highest level in 15 years.
Arctic Sea Ice Melt Season Officially Over; ice up over 9% from last year
It will be interesting to see what they offer in the October press release. Plus we'll be watching how much ice we add this winter, and what next year's melt season will look like. Hopefully we won't have a new crop of idiots like Lewis Gordon Pugh trying to reach the "ice free north pole" next year.
The Oceans hold 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water. Physics has given us a way to calculate the rise of temperature of water knowing its mass, specific heat and the amount of heat input. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming is 1.6 watts per sq. meter which works out to a heat input of 800TW on the surface area of 500 Tera sq. meters for the whole planet. This heat input for the whole year without considering the night-time radiation from the sea surface, can only raise the temperature of the sea by ½ degree over a period of 111 years! It is therefore impossible for the global warming arising out of the greenhouse gases to warm the sea enough to melt the polar ice caps from underneath.Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 11, 2008 08:06 PM
Reality is reality. All the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone in my lifetime. The Northwest Passage has finally opened. The north pole may be ice free any time.
No global warming?
Believe what you want buddie.....
Posted by: All Facts Support My Positions on December 11, 2008 08:31 PM52 v 650+
And isn't it ever so interesting that the alarmist rallying cry is no longer "global warming" but has conveniently changed to the all encompassing whatever YOU want it to mean "climate change".
What arrogance that you people think human action can affect the climate of te earth and its atmosphere. Of course after the atheist cheering, lecturing and proselytizing with their gospel of hateful intolerance here lately, it's not surprising that you folks think YOU are the beginning and the end.
I don't think you're stupid, NoFacts. I think you are willfully ignorant.
Follow the dots, dude.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 11, 2008 08:58 PMWhere's the arrogance there?
I think counting noses to prove a scientific argument is absurd - the sun didn't really revolve around the earth despite the "settled" thinking of the day. Facts prevailed.
You can do better than that.
Posted by: BA on December 11, 2008 10:31 PMYou can do better than that. ... I would certainly hope.
Maybe not.
"Capitalism is dead, may capitalism rest in peace!" We all knew you were a stinking commie and now you've made it official. Just one more reason to ignore your inane babblings.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 12, 2008 06:19 AMYour number of scientists mean SQUAT and you are STUPID. The UN assembled the best atmospheric scientists, glaciologists and others IN THE WORLD. They wrote the report and the large majority (over 90% of the scientists who actually STUDY global warming) say that is is indisputably happening.
Ragnut would have argued that HIS scientists said the world was flat. What a freekin' MORON!
I love the Ragnut argument: It is cold in winter so global warming is not happening. How DUMB can you be? No - don't answer that - you have demonstrated it.
Posted by: correctnotright on December 13, 2008 09:01 PM
Read much?
Comprehend ANYTHING?
over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN.Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on December 13, 2008 10:51 PM
