...my very own Congressman and nice guy, Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville....No, Jim, a thousand times, NO!
RHETORICAL QUESTION OF THE CENTURY: ROGER SIMON ASKS, IS MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING THE BIGGEST SCHUCK OF ALL TIME?
GLOBAL WARMING BILL SET FOR TODAY THERE'S NOTHING I loath more, especially when I have a zillion other things to do, than to make a lot of phone calls to people and work my way through mostly busy signals. I hate to do it and yet, like so many other things, when I force myself and then get it done, I'm so glad I did.
Today, case in point. I called each of Tennessee's Congressional delegation and found out exactly where each of them stands. Then I either congratulated or scolded each of their well-trained phone people in as civilized a way as I could.
Here's the head count: All Republican Congressmen (Roe, Duncan, Blackburn, Wamp), are voting nay. And Two Democrats--Rep. Lincoln Davis and Rep. John Tanner are both voting nay too! (Tanner says it's not the right time for this bill, with the economy in shambles and he also thinks his mostly agricultural constituents will be penalized more as this bill is now written.) The other Dems are voting yes, or on the fence---Rep. Bart Gordon and Rep. Steve Cohen--or at least they say they're still undecided. I certainly tried to give a few talking points to their staff that might be compelling enough to pass on.
The biggest disappointment is my Congressman, Jim Cooper from Nashville, who likes to purport himself a fiscal conservative. Fiscal conservative my hind-end! His rationale is simply---are you ready for this?---jobs creation. That's it. Totally. It sounds pretty lame to me. Never mind that to create some of these green jobs, many more jobs will be destroyed through higher costs of doing business not to mention higher taxes and costs passed on to consumers.
All-in-all, Jim Cooper gets my No Cigar Award today and I will now actively work against his re-election next year. He's a nice fellow who I personally like, but I have no patience with his voting for this bill. No doubt, he's been schmoozing with my neighbor Al Gore and feels like he owes him this vote. What about us!?
Today, case in point. I called each of Tennessee's Congressional delegation and found out exactly where each of them stands. Then I either congratulated or scolded each of their well-trained phone people in as civilized a way as I could.
Here's the head count: All Republican Congressmen (Roe, Duncan, Blackburn, Wamp), are voting nay. And Two Democrats--Rep. Lincoln Davis and Rep. John Tanner are both voting nay too! (Tanner says it's not the right time for this bill, with the economy in shambles and he also thinks his mostly agricultural constituents will be penalized more as this bill is now written.) The other Dems are voting yes, or on the fence---Rep. Bart Gordon and Rep. Steve Cohen--or at least they say they're still undecided. I certainly tried to give a few talking points to their staff that might be compelling enough to pass on.
The biggest disappointment is my Congressman, Jim Cooper from Nashville, who likes to purport himself a fiscal conservative. Fiscal conservative my hind-end! His rationale is simply---are you ready for this?---jobs creation. That's it. Totally. It sounds pretty lame to me. Never mind that to create some of these green jobs, many more jobs will be destroyed through higher costs of doing business not to mention higher taxes and costs passed on to consumers.
All-in-all, Jim Cooper gets my No Cigar Award today and I will now actively work against his re-election next year. He's a nice fellow who I personally like, but I have no patience with his voting for this bill. No doubt, he's been schmoozing with my neighbor Al Gore and feels like he owes him this vote. What about us!?
Ugh. If you have time, there are still Congressmen on the fence and calls mean a lot to them and sometimes affects how they vote. Can't tell you how glad I am I took the time today.
Tennessee delegation
8 comments:
Living in Williamson County means never having to wonder where your representative's brains are. Come on down!
Treg
Isn't that the truth and don't we love Marsha! Believe me, I'm very tempted...
Big brother takes another step!
My biggest problem with global warming is the absolute certitude of some of its' proponents (Example: Al Gore staing that "The science has been settled!").
Let’s try for some perspective, time-wise.
For those comfortable with the metric (S.I.) system, imagine a line about 4.6 kilometers long (a bit under 3 miles). That would represent the 4.6 billion year age of the Earth at 1,000,000 years/meter; 1 mm (about the thickness of a paper clip) would represent a THOUSAND years.
That line would span the downtown area of quite a few large cities, with some to spare.
Here in Houston, the downtown streets are 16 to the mile, making their spacing about 100 meters. Thus, that line would be about 46 blocks.
The reign of the dinosaurs ended around 65 million years ago (65 meters, about 2/3 of a city block down that line from today).
The first of our ancestors verging on intelligence may have emerged from 2 to 4 million years ago (2 to 4 meters, say 6.5 to 13 feet; your living room could be around 4 meters in one of its' dimensions).
What we call "modern" man may go back 40,000 years or so (40 mm, TWO finger-widths on that line).
Written history goes back 6000 years (six millimeters, 1/4 inch on that line).
Fahrenheit's thermometer is around 300 years old ( 0.3 mm, you’re approaching the thickness of a business card now, or the diameter of a grain of salt).
The portion of that time-line during which precise temperature measurements were recorded would be literally microscopic.
And from that portion, we dare to make really long range climate predictions, and mandate actions based on them?.
I live about three miles west of some of Houston's major downtown buildings, so I can easily visualize that line.
Looking at that time-line of Earth's history (the universe's may be four times that), and the flyspeck of our own existence upon it, the notion of asserting that ANY science has been "settled" strikes me as arrogance beyond comprehension (as in "only a politician could possibly believe that").
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The problem with the conservative view on this issue is that it is single faceted. There are many, like myself, who are not science deniers, that recognize the data supports the reality that human activities have contributed to global warming, yet are skeptical that a man-made solution is practical or possible in the imminent future. I am generally liberal but am not whole heartedly in favor of this bill.
If you are conservative, you must fall is line and believe: global warming is a scam and is part of a larger Marxist conspiracy. There are no shades of gray, it's as simple as black and white. That's the way they think.
If you are conservative, you must fall is line and believe: global warming is a scam and is part of a larger Marxist conspiracy. There are no shades of gray, it's as simple as black and white. That's the way they think.
Ellen: I consider myself a conservative.
With all due respect, "B*LLSH*T!!!
:-)
thanks Paul!
Good, Paul and Webutante, tell us how you think differently!
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