What Were They Expecting?

[K C Muffin]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14092210/

Check out the story. I guess people thought that the thugs would move elsewhere....looks like they're back. It's going to take more than a hurricane and flood to rid New Orleans of this kinda stuff. Hopefully, we all learn from it.

[lurker]

Methinks it's too late to give N-O back to France so let's keep it and proudly show it as a prime example of how social programs fail.

[lurker]

Posted on Sat, Jul. 29, 2006

Tiahrt's bill on government waste doesn't go to vote

BY ALAN BJERGA
Eagle Washington bureau

WASHINGTON - As the U.S. House of Representatives wrapped up before its August break, Rep. Todd Tiahrt's bill to create waste-fighting federal commissions failed to get a House vote, as united Democrats and worried Republicans stopped a bill that once seemed destined to pass.

"We didn't have the votes we needed" to pass the legislation, said Chuck Knapp, spokesman for Tiahrt, R-Goddard.

Tiahrt's Government Efficiency Act proposes to let either Congress or the president create federal commissions to evaluate specific federal programs and make recommendations for how they could be changed or abolished to reduce duplication or wasteful spending.

Creating an anti-waste commission has long been a goal of Tiahrt.

His bill is the closest any of his efforts have come to passing the U.S. House.

But Democrats and some moderate Republicans balked at the commission, as groups including labor unions and veterans organizations expressed fears that waste-fighting commissions could become an excuse to cut programs that help their constituents without any public input or accountability.

"On our own efforts, over 12,000 people contacted their members," said Heather Taylor, deputy legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group based in New York.

The scales tipped against Tiahrt's bill when House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and other members of the House Appropriations Committee, which Tiahrt sits on, expressed concern that the bill would take away power from Congress.

Tiahrt's bill was actually the less controversial of two separate commission proposals proposed by Republicans, neither of which made it to a vote. The House's top Democrat, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the lack of a vote showed that it wasn't something Republicans were willing to fight for.

"The truth is, the Republicans didn't take it seriously enough to put it on the floor," she said.

Pelosi said Democrats tend to make their own announcements on how to reduce government waste.

"I'm all for looking at waste, fraud and abuse," she said.

Knapp said Tiahrt still supports his bill and plans to push for the bill in September.

But with only a few weeks of Congress before it adjourns to campaign in October, getting it back on the crowded House calendar could be difficult.

"We'll see what happens," Knapp said. "There aren't any guarantees."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Alan Bjerga at 202-383-6055 or abjerga@mcclatchydc.com.


© 2006 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansas.com

This will never end as long as CONgress separates US from our money at the payroll level.

[TexKan]

KC the story didn't surprise me in the least - seen Houston's crime rate lately???

[K C Muffin]

Originally Posted by TexKan

KC the story didn't surprise me in the least - seen Houston's crime rate lately???

Yep. And with the heat up here, the crime rate's through the ceiling. So much unemployment and underemployment and when people get hot, trouble starts to brew. Makes me afraid to even go into KCMO. I drive the long way around the south side to get to Lees Summit these days.

I have to chuckle now, but it seemed damned stupid to me. There was a 20-year-old gunned down at a car wash in KCMO today. The TV reporter said nobody had any idea why he was there. Oh. Surely he wasn't washing his car......

Wish I could do something about it - but since I can't, I believe I'll just try to stay out of the way!

[K C Muffin]

nope, no concealed carry for me. I can't hit the broad side of a barn with a tractor. Don't suppose it would be safe for me to carry. I dunno, though - it doesn't have to be loaded to command respect. (that is, till they find out it ain't loaded!!)

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by K C Muffin

nope, no concealed carry for me. I can't hit the broad side of a barn with a tractor. Don't suppose it would be safe for me to carry. I dunno, though - it doesn't have to be loaded to command respect. (that is, till they find out it ain't loaded!!)

My Dad taught me that you never pull a gun on someone unless you intend to use it. Good advice. If you aren’t mentally and physically prepared to use a tool like a firearm, club, or whatever, it will become a liability instead of an asset.

[K C Muffin]

I know. I know! I know!!!

But just once, I'd like to scare the shit outta one of these jerks!

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by K C Muffin

I know. I know! I know!!!

But just once, I'd like to scare the shit outta one of these jerks!

This might work!

[Made in the USA]

Might be a little hard to conceal-------Nope, wait, I can stick it down my pants leg-----