Other people are noticing what I commented on the other day.
Who are these people to complain that the Iraqis aren’t making sufficient political progress.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Weblogs/TWSFP/TWSFPView.asp#2264
The U.S. Congress appears almost dysfunctional, unable to address pressing issues of national welfare. And now there’s more alarming news: Congress is failing to meet certain benchmarks–even those that have already been allowed to slip before. Congressional Quarterly says “Deadlines Are Piling up in September for Must-Pass Legislation”:
” After failing to meet several previous goals for going to conference on Food and Drug Administration overhaul bills, lawmakers in both chambers are committing to a new wrap-up date of Sept. 21.
The legislation (HR 2900, S 1082) would reauthorize the FDA program that approves new drugs. Without a funding renewal, the agency will have to start laying off workers at the end of this month, when current funding expires.”
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Because Congress has not cleared a single one of the 12 appropriations bills needed to run the government, we face the prospect of entire departments closing their doors on October 1, when current funding expires:
” Setting the stage for what one budget analyst predicted will be “great budgetary theater” is the clock. The 2008 fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and Congress has yet to send to the president a single appropriations bill needed to keep government agencies running.
The House has passed all 12 appropriations bills, but the Senate has passed just one.”
We can expect Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid to try to gloss over this–to invent new benchmarks with the hope of convincing the American people that they are making progress. But we need to face reality: this Congress simply doesn’t work. It seems that the current leadership is too heavily identified with just one faction and is incapable of bringing together divergent interests. It may be time to toss the lot and hold new elections–or, at the very least, to withhold financial support as a signal of our dissatisfaction.
I’m thinking of redeploying to Okinawa.
You crack me up with your “people in glass houses” routine, Keith.
Because, according to you, since we don’t have a well oiled machine for a government, that completely justifies spending hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands and thousands of American lives.
I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll stop throwing rocks, when the Iraqis finally have a house to throw them at.
Deal?
You can throw rocks Pogue, it is the Congress which cannot get its own house in order. That may be true of you as well, but I haven’t made it over yet.
Oh Lance, my house is in complete disarray. But the difference is of course, is that nobody is dieing a fiery death, nor is anyone spending billions of dollars because I haven’t gotten around to replacing my water heater.
And the same is true for the US congress.
Sure they can’t seem to pass simple legislation due to their own incompetence, and some might argue that that is a good thing, but I don’t see tens of thousands dieing in the street because of that fact.
To compare the two is beyond ridiculous. And to justify our expense at that comparison is moronic.
Cheers.
Hmmm… I thought it was funny, Pogue, but of course in my mind us being there is not causing the fiery deaths at this point, but preventing a great many. I may be wrong, but that makes the point a bit more important given that belief. Which doesn’t excuse their inability to get their act together, but it also shows coming to agreement is hard, and we shouldn’t expect it to be quick. That is the point, as unsatisfying as it may be.
Put Pogue, the Democrats running for President describe such a dire state of the nation, and here you are claiming, that people aren’t dieing as a result of their inaction.
What about, all those deaths from global warming, unregulated guns, abortions not being performed, relaxed environmental regulations, fetal stem cells not being collected and turned into miracle medicine, etc…
If things are as dire as they say they are, they ought to have made getting our own house in order a priority.
The point is, the Democrats made big promises, and are failing to deliver. And they aren’t being shot at. And they’ve had years of practice at this democracy thing.
This isn’t to justify anything except a call for a bit of patience and perspective. Something missing from many peoples arguments.
Pogue doesn’t mind people dying in Iraq or other countries.
As long as they don’t show up on his (her?) news. Which is the big issue in Iraq for the stalinists, it’s taking up pwecious news cycles. Before America showed up, the population was being slaughtered anonymously. Now suddenly we have to hear about it, we have to act like we care. We just can’t abide that, can we Pogue?
But Keith, I’m making no such claim. Your pulled quote is unimpressively mocking the Dems for not getting things done about FDA overhaul bills and appropriation bills. Where do you get, “you are claiming, that people aren’t dieing as a result of their inaction.”
I mean honestly, where the hell did that come from???
Besides, that’s not the point I’m making anyway.
My point is that your point makes no sense.
It’s the FACT that no one is getting shot at, and we’re not spending hundreds of billions of my tax dollars abroad that makes the comparison fallacious. If it were the opposite, then you might be able to backbite congress.
Otherwise, the comparison is just silly.
Cheers.
Jsoh,
You’re just a twit.
Yeah, I’m just a Stalinist pretending to care about thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. I’m simply doing this for shits and giggles.
Puh-leez.
I may not agree with Pogue on much, but I’ll second the twit thing. It’s not nice to show up to the party flinging poo at those who have been there awhile. You’re out of your element here Jsoh.