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Post by Jaga on Nov 12, 2005 12:41:16 GMT -7
Kai, who is this guy from Alaska who is a chairman of transportation committee and got so much money for the bridge in Alaska? Later when they asked him whether he would resign from the bridge for Katrina victims he grinned really terrible and seem offended. Now, when the CEO of gas companies were investigated in the congress and one of the senators asked why their bonuses (just the bonuses not the salaries) are 300 times more that the lowest salary he just stopped the investigation preventing from asking the CEOs anymore uncomfortable questions? Did you vote for this hero?  |
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Post by Jaga on Nov 12, 2005 12:49:23 GMT -7
When Energy Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska, $102,190) announced that he would not require the executives to give their testimony under oath, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash., $9,400) asked for a vote on the issue. Stevens shot back: "There will be no vote . . . It's the decision of the chairman, and I have made that decision." "I move that we swear in witnesses," Cantwell persisted. "I second the motion," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif., $9,450). "That's the last we're going to hear about that, because it's out of order," a piqued Stevens replied. When the two women continued their protest, the chairman informed them that "I intend to be respectful of the position that these gentlemen hold." Stevens did not fail in this goal. When Boxer later displayed a large chart showing the executives' pay, Stevens cut her off.
We'll stop the clock right here for you, Senator," Stevens said, ordering the chart taken down because it was not "information that pertains to our issue."
From the audience, a woman called out: "How about the consumers?" When the same woman later let out a cheer, Stevens threatened to "clear the room."... from WashingtonPost www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110902058.html |
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Post by Jaga on Nov 12, 2005 12:57:34 GMT -7
Just the last post about new American aristocracy (powerful senators and CEOs). Do these people live in the same world as the rest of us?
One of the amendments that Senator Coburn introduced to H.R. 3058, the Transportation, Treasury, HUD, Judiciary and District of Columbia Appropriations Act, was designed to divert $125 million from two Alaskan bridge boondoggles to repair the hurricane-damaged Twin Spans Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. This amendment was defeated by a vote of 82-15.
A second amendment would have blocked $1.65 million in funding for a sculpture park in Seattle, an animal facility in Rhode Island and a parking garage in Nebraska. In Washington terms, $1.65 million is chump change, but nevertheless the Senate tabled (killed) the amendment by a vote of 86-13.
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, one of the Senate’s “kings of pork,” gave an impassioned speech opposing Sen. Coburn’s amendment, “I will put the Senate on notice -- and I don't kid people -- if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state and take money only from our state, I will resign from this body.”
The Senate missed a golden opportunity to send the pork-packing Stevens back to the frozen tundra.
These amendments were about more than simply diverting funds from unneeded pork projects to projects that have obvious merit. Senator Coburn’s amendments served to expose the true nature of the Senate, that is, “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Sure, we’ve always known that this is the way politicians operate, but now it is in the Congressional Record.
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Post by kaima on Nov 13, 2005 8:46:46 GMT -7
Kai, who is this guy from Alaska who is a chairman of transportation committee and got so much money for the bridge in Alaska? Later when they asked him whether he would resign from the bridge for Katrina victims he grinned really terrible and seem offended. Now, when the CEO of gas companies were investigated in the congress and one of the senators asked why their bonuses (just the bonuses not the salaries) are 300 times more that the lowest salary he just stopped the investigation preventing from asking the CEOs anymore uncomfortable questions? Did you vote for this hero? The representative you refer to is Don Young, known as the Idiot of Fort Yukon. In Fort Yukon he was a teacher some 30 years ago and was pretty well known for stupidity and braggadocio in the village. He also has no sterling reputation among congressmen, one of the good things I can say about the judgment of congress! The only thing he has going for him is seniority in office. Uh, no, you might guess that I vote against him at every opportunity. I agree with Mark Twain. We have the best congress that money can buy. Kai |
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Post by kaima on Nov 13, 2005 8:58:39 GMT -7
Senator Stevens is another case entirely. The fellow has been around forever and has done a lot of good for Alaska. He has been called a "six star general" for the power he wields. He is almost universally praised in Alaska for the money he brings to the State, some of it quite deserved, some very much Pork Barrel money. He has a very valid point that we are playing 'catch up' with our infrastructure, but it seems to be carried well beyond that point. I am afraid that the statement "power corrupts" may apply in this case. He is a good man who has been in power too long and his values (along with the values of our nation) have been corrupted. His son is a local politician with fully developed ego and contempt for the citizen, yet he is re-elected to the State government and is probably a strong candidate to replace his father. Stevens could do a lot of good, and has in the past, but it seems he goes off the deep end more and more often with the passing years. Still, it will be hard times for Alaska when he leaves office, but I expect it will be hard times for the nation with Stevens and Bush spending wildly on borrowed dollars and leaving a legacy of debt for the nation. That is the opposite of true conservatism! Kai |
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Post by kaima on Nov 13, 2005 9:15:10 GMT -7
Just the last post about new American aristocracy (powerful senators and CEOs). Do these people live in the same world as the rest of us? Yes, this pretty well wraps up the topic. With the elitism in America today I fear we are entering a modern feudalistic age where there are the few super-rich and powerful and then there are the masses suffering in poverty. The living standard of the worker in America seems to have slipped substantially in my lifetime and the population is guying into it. Much as in feudalism, the powerful get the peasants and the peasant soldiers to fight against one another when ordered. The latest example of selling "security" at the cost of personal freedoms in the name of a "War on Terrorism" is the latest example. Americans love to say "Freedom is not free", yet they are not willing to sacrifice 3,000 lives every three years to preserve their freedoms, and this from a nation with population approaching 300,000,000. We should be willing to accept some risk and cost in preserving our freedoms, but it is easier to create a police state and give up the privacy and freedoms. The excessive wages of CEO's and the powerful are getting more extreme with time. Compared to Japan and Britain and Germany, the compensation for CEO's is magnitudes greater than in these other bastions of democracy and capitalism. We have to look to the oligarchs in Russia and the super-rich in the third world to exceed the greed in America today. At the same time America preaches "Christianity", but a redefined version where greed is good and your neighbor is not to be treated as your brother. I am not optimistic. I believe these times will go down in history as some of the most corrupt times this nation has ever experienced. Kai |
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Post by Jaga on Nov 13, 2005 13:12:51 GMT -7
Kai,
thank you for your extensive information about two guys. I understand that Alaskian people need a strong representation. Sometimes it bothers me how Alaska is omitted from "continental " USA so that people would not think about Alaska as a bare land with nothing on it and no people to care about. BUt the case of this senator Stevens seem to be similar as Murkowski - aristocracy - with senatorship going from the father to the son. A bit like Kennedys or Bushes also.
As for the inequality - do we all have different stomachs? Yes, I understand that the work of some people can be more valuable than the others - but it is possible that some people can work 300 times better than others (Then they got their big bonuses). I do not believe so. THe only explanation is "THEY CAN" - give themselves or their friends bonuses, therefore they are so rich.
It reminds me today reading in the church about the talents - I like this gossip (One guy had 5 talents and got 5 more, another have 1 and buried it). But this gospel can be misunderstood justifying richness...
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