Tag Archives: funding

While the Senate Takes a Break, Four Thousand FAA Employees are Furloughed

23 Saturday Jul 2011

Posted by in Congress, Politics, Unemployment

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Dysfunctional government marches on. While the Senate takes a break, 4,000 FAA employees are now furloughed without pay:

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) partially shut down Saturday, as Congress failed to reauthorize the agency’s funding.

“I’m very disappointed that Congress adjourned today without passing a clean extension of the FAA bill,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a Friday statement. “Because of their inaction, states and airports won’t be able to work on their construction projects, and too many people will have to go without a paycheck. This is no way to run the best aviation system in the world.”

About 4,000 FAA employees are now furloughed without pay, according to the FAA, as the Senate on Friday failed to approve a controversial House-passed extension of taxes that help fund the FAA.”

That kind of careless inaction couldn’t possibly be responsible for this, could it?

“A new CNN poll finds that 55 percent of voters have a negative view of the Republican Party, tied for their second-highest unfavorable score since CNN began asking this question in 1992…The news for Democrats is not any better. Some 49 percent of voters now hold a negative view of the party, according to the poll. Although this figure is slightly better than for Republicans, it matches the Democrats’ record high unfavorable rating of September 2010 and is part of an upward trajectory that has persisted for the past three years.

The combined unfavorable score for both parties — 104 percent — is also a record, and represents the first time that the figure has been above 100.”

A well-deserved record. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest all their nether regions.

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House Chickens Out on Libya Funding Cut

24 Friday Jun 2011

Posted by in Congress, Democrats, Libya, Politics, Republicans

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Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the United States House of Representatives:

After voting down a bill earlier today which would give Congressional approval to the war that’s not really a war in Libya by a 295-123 margin, our esteemed Congresschickens turned around and rejected another bill which would have cut off funding for the Libyan non-war— 180 were in favor of the funding cut, 238 against. And it wasn’t even a complete de-funding, there were exceptions for search and rescue, aerial refueling, operational planning, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

So to re-cap, 295 were against supporting the Libyan operations, but only 180 were in favor of cutting off just a portion of the funding. Chickens.

Here are the two roll call votes. First the bill for support, then the vote on funding.

So this is for all you clucking cowards who voted against the funding cut after voting against support. First, the Republicans. I don’t ever again want to see you waving that copy of the Constitution you so proudly carry in your inside pocket. I don’t ever want to hear you cackle again about the president overstepping his constitutionally prescribed powers. You had your chance to at least take a step in the direction of reining in some of that power today and you didn’t do it. From now on, shut the hell up.

Democrats, the next time a Republican president makes up a reason to go to non-war, and by your acquiescence to King Obama and his convoluted definition of “hostilities” you have made that a guaranteed ‘when’ not a conditional ‘if,’ I don’t want to hear anything from you either. Remember today and shut the hell up.

A pox on both your houses.

Senate Turns Down Extension of Unemployment Benefits

17 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by in budget, Congress, Democrats, economy, Politics, Republicans

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The Republicrats in the Senate gave a big middle finger to the long-term unemployed yesterday, as 12 Democrats joined all the Republicans in voting down the extension of unemployment benefits, citing their hypocritical concerns about increasing the deficit as the reason:

“I’ve said all along that we have to be able to pay for what we’re spending,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat who voted against the bill. “$77 billion or more of this is not paid for and that translates into deficit spending and adding to the debt, and the American people are right: We’ve got to stop doing that.”

Funny, Sen. Nelson didn’t have any problem with deficit spending when he voted for $165 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2008 and 2009.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) also voted again the extension over her concerns that unemployment benefits are so generous that they encourage people to not look for a job:

“We have 99 weeks of unemployment insurance,” Feinstein said. “The question comes, how long do you continue before people just don’t want to go back to work at all?”

Right DiFi, the unemployed are getting fat and happy living on benefits that are about one-third of their previous wages. This coming from the ninth richest member of Congress whose assets in 2005 were estimated at $40 million. And oh by the way, whose husband, Richard Blum, just happens to own two defense contractors that benefitted greatly from Sen. Feinstein’s time as chairman of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee.

Feinstein was echoing what Congressman John Linder (R-GA) said last week:

“Georgia Republican Rep. John Linder suggested Thursday that extended unemployment benefits keep people from looking for work…”[N]early two years of unemployment benefits are too much of an allure for some,” said Linder.”

OK, Rep. Linder, let’s apply your logic to the Pentagon. Since you also voted for the $165 billion in funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, isn’t that “too much of an allure” for the continuation of both wars? Let’s cut off their funding and end their addiction.

Last but not least, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) turned up the stoopid yesterday with his proposal that the unemployed undergo drug tests in order to receive benefits. Right, Orrin. The 46% of the unemployed who have been out of work for more than 6 months, the highest number since the Labor Department started keeping that statistic in 1948, would rather sit around the house, get high and watch the tube than go to work. Idiot.

I propose that members of Congress undergo drug testing. Or maybe more appropriately, brain scans.