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PATH: BS | Government | Insatiable Hubris
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Anatomy of How Congress Works (or Doesn't Work)
Posted by Pile
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 Rolling Stone has produced an epic outline of the behind-the-scenes deals involved in getting bills passed in the U.S. Government and the story is informative and downright frightening. When one discovers the handouts their tax dollars are paying for, such as $100,000 for a single street light, and the unbridaled cronyism and corporate control in government, you may never look at Congress the same again.
...When Rep. Chris Smith complained about Bush's policy toward veterans, he was relieved of his seat as the Veterans' Committee chairman. When Joel Hefley locked horns with Dennis Hastert during the Tom DeLay ethics flap, Hefley lost his spot as the House Ethics Committee chairman.
...The Rules Committee is supposed to wait out a three-day period before sending the bill to the House, ostensibly in order to give the members a chance to read the bill. The three-day period is only supposed to be waived in case of emergency. However, the Rules Committee of DeLay and Dreier waives the three-day period as a matter of routine. This forces members of Congress to essentially cast blind yes-or-no votes to bills whose contents are likely to be an absolute mystery to them.
...The Export-Import bank loan was a policy so dumb and violently opposed to American interests that lawmakers who voted for it had serious trouble coming up with a plausible excuse for approving it. In essence, the U.S. was giving $5 billion to a state-subsidized British utility (Westinghouse is a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels) to build up the infrastructure of our biggest trade competitor (CHINA), along the way sharing advanced nuclear technology with a Chinese conglomerate that had, in the past, shared nuclear know-how with Iran and Pakistan.
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READ MORE | 3 comments since 2005-08-18 18:32:06 | Comment on this Article |
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White House's McClellan Does A Jig For Press Corps Over Rove
Posted by Pile
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[News Media] |
 Bush White House press secretary Scott McClellan shows his fancy dance moves as some of the press awaken from their groupthink slumber and actually start acting a little bit like journalists:Q: Scott, can I ask you this: Did Karl Rove commit a crime?
MCCLELLAN: Again, David, this is a question relating to a ongoing investigation, and you have my response related to the investigation. And I don't think you should read anything into it other than: We're going to continue not to comment on it while it's ongoing.
Q: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003, when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby, and you said, "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me they are not involved in this"?
MCCLELLAN: And if you will recall, I said that, as part of helping the investigators move forward on the investigation, we're not going to get into commenting on it. That was something I stated back near that time as well.
Q: Scott, this is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us, after having commented with that level of detail, and tell people watching this that somehow you've decided not to talk. You've got a public record out there. Do you stand by your remarks from that podium or not?
MCCLELLAN: I'm well aware, like you, of what was previously said. And I will be glad to talk about it at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is when the investigation...
Q: (inaudible) when it's appropriate and when it's inappropriate?
MCCLELLAN: If you'll let me finish.
Q: No, you're not finishing. You're not saying anything. You stood at that podium and said that Karl Rove was not involved. And now we find out that he spoke about Joseph Wilson's wife. So don't you owe the American public a fuller explanation. Was he involved or was he not? Because contrary to what you told the American people, he did indeed talk about his wife, didn't he?
MCCLELLAN: There will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time to talk about it.
At that point, the room went dark for a few moments and McClellan reappeared basked in an otherworldly red glow. Sounds of flames and screaming people could be heard off in the distance...
MCCLELLAN: David.. David.. David.. I told you before we weren't going to talk about this right now. How would you like it, if for example, I mentioned that your cousin who's in Iraq is currently located at Lat: 307.2 Lon: -122.4 and will be going out on patrol in an un-armored Humvee at 07:30 UTC? Or that as we speak, Rove is feeding a story to Fox and CNN on how your wife slept with ten black guys at Plato's retreat while you masturbated wearing Donald Duck pajamas? Don't make me show the video Dave.. don't make me. Be a good little reporter and ask how the President's dog is doing. By the way you're never allowed in this room ever again.
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USDA Parades Dog-And-Pony Show Over Mad Cow Disease
Posted by Pile
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The online free encyclopedia Wikipedia defines "dog-and-pony show" as a public "display that is somewhat pathetically contrived." That's what the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, is convening this Thursday, June 9, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Secretary Johanns will lead a roundtable discussion dominated by the most powerful agricultural lobby organizations in the United States to spread the good news that mad cow disease is no longer a problem in North America. The invited participants include the American Farm Bureau, the American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the National Meat Association, the National Milk Producers and the National Renderers Association. Not a single consumer, human health or public interest group was invited to speak, nor were any scientists who research mad cow and related diseases, such as Nobel laureate Dr. Stanley Prusiner. The USDA hopes to convince the assembled news media that it's time to open the U.S. border to Canadian cattle and time for Japan and Korea to accept U.S. beef and cattle.
There's just one problem with this rosy picture of mad cow disease in North America: it has little or no basis in fact. |
READ MORE | 2 comments since 2005-06-15 14:39:45 | Comment on this Article |
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An email message which suggested the Bush Justice Department was looking to blame environmentalists for a break in the New Orleans levee and the ensuing flood has sparked vehement responses among the Democratic caucus in Congress.
In what can only be hailed as the pinnacle of short-sightedness, the Bush Administration, in an effort to toss money at the Hurricane Katrina disaster in order to deflect ever-increasing criticism over the Federal government's botched handling, is proposing on the back end, that the money used to rebuild New Orleans be obtained via cutting various government programs, including funding to the Army Corps of Engineers and other projects involved in strengthening the Louisiana levee system. Unbelievable!
In an interview on MSNBC, a Mississippi resident who has lost everything interrupts an interview with the Vice President to express his feelings about the government's response.
A flurry of CIA officials have posted a formal letter regarding recent events and their feelings on the national security implications of exploiting people in service to their country for political gain.
As more and more evidence appears, linking Karl Rove to the 
As if the governor of Florida hasn't anything better to do; as if the dead horse that is the Terri Schiavo case doesn't need any more beating, the illustrious Jeb Bush now wants to open an investigation into what caused the collapse into a coma of Terri Schiavo fifteen years ago. 
UK's Mirror has reported that 
The Eiffel Tower's likeness had long since been part of the public domain, when in 2003, it was abruptly 
The U.S. force that scoured Iraq for weapons of mass destruction has