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THE American Congress Thread pt 2 (merged)

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Get elected to Congress and get rich

Unread postby TheDude » Thu 16 Oct 2008, 06:06:13

For the edification of any US citizens who don't think we're living in a fascist oligarchy: Reuters

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hu Mar 13, 2008

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The personal wealth of members of the U.S. Congress has soared in recent years, leaving lawmakers on average far more well-to-do than most Americans as of 2006, said a study on Thursday.

The median net worth of senators was estimated at $1.7 million and House of Representatives members at $675,000, said the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group that monitors the influence of money on government.

The center released a report saying that until the recent economic slowdown, lawmakers "enjoyed an extraordinary run in their personal investments and other finances."

The report said, "Members of Congress, who are now paid about $169,000 annually, saw their net worths soar 84 percent from 2004 to 2006, on average."
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Re: Get elected to Congress and get rich

Unread postby Pretorian » Thu 16 Oct 2008, 06:11:43

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'F')or the edification of any US citizens who don't think we're living in a fascist oligarchy: Reuters

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hu Mar 13, 2008

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The personal wealth of members of the U.S. Congress has soared in recent years, leaving lawmakers on average far more well-to-do than most Americans as of 2006, said a study on Thursday.

The median net worth of senators was estimated at $1.7 million and House of Representatives members at $675,000, said the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group that monitors the influence of money on government.

The center released a report saying that until the recent economic slowdown, lawmakers "enjoyed an extraordinary run in their personal investments and other finances."

The report said, "Members of Congress, who are now paid about $169,000 annually, saw their net worths soar 84 percent from 2004 to 2006, on average."


If some legislators from eastern europe have seen this they'd laugh their asses off. They pay $4-5 M just to get in.
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Re: Get elected to Congress and get rich

Unread postby gollum » Thu 16 Oct 2008, 08:50:42

And eastern Europe should be our model? Seriously I really don't mind congressional pay and retirement. However after they retire they should never be allowed to work again.
I think there is a huge amount of corruption in our country not because of campaign finance or congressional pay but because after they leave they get cushy jobs serving on boards of directors, think tanks, and as lobbyists.
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Re: Get elected to Congress and get rich

Unread postby frankthetank » Thu 16 Oct 2008, 09:33:40

In Wisconsin we have one of the richest (Herb Kohl---$240million) and one of the poorest (Russ Feingold) senators.

This report doesn't surprise me.

Since the Senate/House is worthless...we might as well get rid of both and just have a king :)
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Re: Get elected to Congress and get rich

Unread postby TheDude » Thu 16 Oct 2008, 09:58:03

Is this Kohl fellow a bought and paid for tool of the Kraft Corporation, then? Will the doughty legions of Packers devotees toss him into a vat of curds?

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House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for!

Unread postby DryGuy » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:08:32

Obama - now you own it! Have you read the rubbish in this "stimulus" what a joke. Money down a rat hole. 100% Demacrac owned. See you in 2010 & 2012.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby heroineworshipper » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:15:47

U get what U vote for. The voters wanted to be ruled by a single party & throw their money at CEO's. Who knows what Stalin would have accomplished with today's mass brainwashing technology. Maybe we'd all be burning food to make gasoline. Wait a second...
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Daniel_Plainview » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:18:47

Indeed, no Republicans voted for this bullsh!t, and only 11 Dems were wise enough to jump ship.

link
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Ludi » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:21:06

What were you hoping to see in the bill?
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Daniel_Plainview » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:24:10

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'W')hat were you hoping to see in the bill?


Like to see money spent on solar tech, wind power, battery technology, mass transit, post-carbon education and technology ...
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Ludi » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:32:11

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DoomWarrior', '
')
Like to see money spent on solar tech, wind power, battery technology, mass transit, post-carbon education and technology ...


DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
ENERGY PROGRAMS
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
For an additional amount for ‘Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’, $18,500,000,000, which shall be used as follows:

(1) $2,000,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary for energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration and deployment activities, to accelerate the development of technologies, to include advanced batteries, of which not less than $800,000,000 is for biomass and $400,000,000 is for geothermal technologies.

(2) $500,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary to implement the programs authorized under part E of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6341 et seq.).

(3) $1,000,000,000 shall be for the cost of grants to institutional entities for energy sustainability and efficiency under section 399A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6371h-1).

(4) $6,200,000,000 shall be for the Weatherization Assistance Program under part A of title IV of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6861 et seq.).

(5) $3,500,000,000 shall be for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, for implementation of programs authorized under subtitle E of title V of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17151 et seq.).

(6) $3,400,000,000 shall be for the State Energy Program authorized under part D of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321).

(7) $200,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary to implement the programs authorized under section 131 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17011).

( 8 ) $300,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary to implement the program authorized under section 124 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15821) and the Energy Star program.

(9) $400,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary to implement the program authorized under section 721 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16071).

(10) $1,000,000,000 shall be for expenses necessary for the manufacturing of advanced batteries authorized under section 136(b)(1)(B) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17013(b)(1)(B)):

Provided, That notwithstanding section 3304 of title 5, United States Code, and without regard to the provisions of sections 3309 through 3318 of such title 5, the Secretary of Energy may, upon a determination that there is a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for particular positions, recruit and directly appoint highly qualified individuals into the competitive service: Provided further, That such authority shall not apply to positions in the Excepted Service or the Senior Executive Service: Provided further, That any action authorized herein shall be consistent with the merit principles of section 2301 of such title 5, and the Department shall comply with the public notice requirements of section 3327 of such title 5.

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
For an additional amount for ‘Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability,’ $4,500,000,000: Provided, That funds shall be available for expenses necessary for electricity delivery and energy reliability activities to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability of the energy infrastructure, energy storage research, development, demonstration and deployment, and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply, and for implementation of programs authorized under title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17381 et seq.): Provided further, That of such amounts, $100,000,000 shall be for worker training: Provided further, That the Secretary of Energy may use or transfer amounts provided under this heading to carry out new authority for transmission improvements, if such authority is enacted in any subsequent Act, consistent with existing fiscal management practices and procedures.

Advanced Battery Loan Guarantee Program
For the cost of guaranteed loans as authorized by section 135 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17012), $1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That of such amount, $10,000,000 shall be used for administrative expenses in carrying out the guaranteed loan program, and shall be in lieu of the amount set aside under section 1106 of this Act: Provided further, That the cost of such loans, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Institutional Loan Guarantee Program
For the cost of guaranteed loans as authorized by section 399A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6371h-1), $500,000,000: Provided, That of such amount, $10,000,000 shall be used for administrative expenses in carrying out the guaranteed loan program, and shall be in lieu of the amount set aside under section 1106 of this Act: Provided further, That the cost of such loans, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program
For an additional amount for ‘Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program’ for the cost of guaranteed loans authorized by section 1705 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, $8,000,000,000: Provided, That of such amount, $25,000,000 shall be used for administrative expenses in carrying out the guaranteed loan program, and shall be in lieu of the amount set aside under section 1106 of this Act: Provided further, That the cost of such loans, including the cost of modifying such loans, shall be as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

Fossil Energy
For an additional amount for ‘Fossil Energy’, $2,400,000,000 for necessary expenses to demonstrate carbon capture and sequestration technologies as authorized under section 702 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

Science
For an additional amount for ‘Science’, $2,000,000,000: Provided, That of such amounts, not less than $400,000,000 shall be used for the Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy authorized under section 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538): Provided further, That of such amounts, not less than $100,000,000 shall be used for advanced scientific computing.


http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1/text
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Ludi » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:42:59

Which do you think are especially crappy (or especially good, if any) parts of the bill? Are they different in the Senate version? Which version do you prefer? Have you called your reps about the bill?
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby mos6507 » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:45:42

OK, some quick math. That's $18.5 billion on the "green new deal".

The Manhattan project was $24 billion in 2008 dollars.

Not too shabby.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby CamelJockey » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:51:25

they need to cut me a nice fat stimulus check out of that money
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby frankthetank » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 21:59:50

Can't wait until my $20 bill buys a loaf of bread, shouldn't be long now. No wonder gold is above $900.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby Tanada » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 22:09:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'O')K, some quick math. That's $18.5 billion on the "green new deal".

The Manhattan project was $24 billion in 2008 dollars.

Not too shabby.


850,000,000,000/18,500,000,000= 2.1% Sounds pretty dang shabby to me, especially when this monster doesn't actually do squat to generate jobs.

Hell if they had just funded 10,000 windmills that would have cost a measly 50 Billion and they would have actually generated a lot of jobs building them and upgrading the grid to sync them in. Or they could have fully funded laying high speed long distance passenger rail for Amtrack so that we could get away from planes burning fossil fuels and moved to rail burning renewable or nuclear electricity.

There are about 850 things they could have spent a Billion on that would have generated jobs and helped us through the transition to a post fossil fuel world.

1.Windmills
2.Electric Grid upgrade
3.Solar plants
4.wave power
5.tidal power
6.geothermal power
7.ocean thermoelectric power
8.desalination plants in California to releive the stress of water demand on Lake Meade
9. Biochar carbon sequestration, even if its nill for crops it does that
10. High speed rail construction

Those ten are off the top of my head, feel free to add more.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby frankthetank » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 22:13:17

History is forgotten quickly these days...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_S ... ct_of_2008

More pork and welfare.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby mos6507 » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 22:21:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '
')2.Electric Grid upgrade


Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability covers that.

This is really the government acting like an angel investor rather than directly undertaking massive Hoover Dam or Transcontinental Railroad style projects.
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby DryGuy » Wed 28 Jan 2009, 23:16:51

It's not what's in the bill or what's not in the bill. It's the bill period. An excuse to grow government.
I would rather see a tax return to TAXPAYERS then to throw money on this thing. We are going to pay for this for the rest of our lives not to mention my kids and grandkids. Let the people have the money. We are the ones that grow the economy. Get out of the way!
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Re: House (D) pass $819 Billion bill - Not one (R) voted for

Unread postby eastbay » Thu 29 Jan 2009, 00:14:34

2% for so-called renewable energy. 98% for trash, cash flushed right down the toilet.

There is no problem that can be fixed by tossing our kids money at it. This is completely insane. But so is expanding the idiotic Wars to Create Terror, and voters demanded that too.

It's annoying to find myself in agreement with the Republicans on anything. That doesn't occur very often at all! 8O
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