Friday, November 03, 2006

Congress has Got to Go

I'm not deluded enough to think that the Senate is going to change from Republican to Democratic hands next Tuesday. As much as poker players would like to see all those assholes thrown out, it's just not going to happen. There are seven close races, and the Democrats would have to win six of them. Not impossible, but unlikely.

One of those "close" races is here in Tennessee, Harold Ford vs. Bob Corker. Ford is the Democrat, and if he was elected, he would be the first black senator ever elected by the people in the South. Corker has spent more money on television advertising than any other politician in the country, and that doesn't even include ads by the RNC, including one accused of being racist.

I asked a few of my fellow Tennesseans if they thought Ford had a shot of winning they said "No way." When I asked why, the answer was always the same. "Duh. He's black!"

But I don't know about the House of Representatives. Maybe there's a chance that the Republican dominance can be overturned in the House. It simply has to be. You think the last-minute addition of the UIGEA to the Port Security Act was sleazy? The fuckers in the house pulled an even sleazier move with the Iraq Anti-Corruption Investigation Agency.

The Republicans were very annoyed by this agency in Iraq that kept finding evidence of bribery, corruption and conspiracies on the part of companies like Halliburton and Parsons, as well as failures by the military to properly track weapons meant for Iraqi security forces.

What's a Republican congress to do? TERMINATE THE AGENCY. Of course.

How do they do it? Their favorite trick. Sneak it into some legislation at the last minute and get a vote done before anyone actually reads it.

This one stinks even worse than the UIGEA. Not only are those who voted it in unaware it was even in the legislation, NOBODY KNOWS WHEN IT WAS ADDED. Everybody is saying "It wasn't there when I read it."

These people have got to be stopped.

4 comments:

Todd said...

So are you saying that it's preferable to have clueless Democrats running the country?

I don't agree with many of the things being done either, but you hafta admit, the Democrats aren't really presenting a compelling case on their own behalf.

"Vote for us, we don't read the laws before we vote... if we vote"

C.L. Russo said...

I think the point is that the GOP may have put it in AFTER the vote.

But, that point aside, the House has been having votes without debates, without amendments, and, in some cases, without giving members even twenty-four hours to review bills that are thousands of pages long.

The Dems aren't perfect, but they're not clueless. They know how to oppose Bush, which will cause bills to move more slowly Congress, and expose them to more scrutiny and debate. I think you'll see more bipartisanship, even if it's inadvertent.

If nothing else, at least they'll provide some oversight, instead of trying to cover Bush's ass.

You really think the GOP deserves another two years in power?

DuggleBogey said...

Sure, the democrats are incompetent. But the republicans are EVIL.

You fucking Republicans. You can't even defend yourselves, all you can say is "the other guys are fucked up too."

I never said anywhere I wanted the democrats running the country. I even say in my post that the GOP will probably win the Senate. That would basically prevent the democrats from "running the country," wouldn't it?

I am not a democrat, I don't vote for democrats.

I'm a Libertarian. I vote for GRIDLOCK.

Jestocost said...

If gridlock is your goal, then you ought to be pleased witgh what happens after this election. The Senate hasn't been able to get much done with their current majority and will get less done with a narrower marjority no matter which party is on top.

One of the biggest problems with the "throw the bums out" movement is that while a majority of people think "Congress" is doing a bad job, those same people think their Congressman is doing OK. It's not my Congressman who's the problem, it's yours. They just never seem to connect the dots.